Musk's xAI working to raise up to $12 billion, WSJ reports
Valor Equity Partners, an investment firm whose founder, Antonio Gracias, has close ties to Musk, is in talks with lenders to raise the capital, according to the report.
The money would be used to buy a massive supply of advanced Nvidia chips that would be leased to xAI for a new massive data center meant to help train and power AI chatbot Grok, the WSJ reported.
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Straits Times
21 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Singtel spearheads data centre hiring drive for over 500 positions
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Around 40 per cent of those openings are for entry-level roles. SINGAPORE – Singtel's regional data centre arm Nxera and its industry partners aim to hire over 500 people here collectively in the coming months, growing capacity in line with robust demand from firms for artificial intelligence (AI) computing muscle. Around 40 per cent of those openings are for entry-level roles, said Nxera, defying early signs elsewhere in the technology sector of hiring pullbacks for junior staff who can be increasingly replaced by AI. Nxera chief executive Bill Chang on July 25 outlined the sector's prospects at the inaugural Sustainable AI Data Centre Career Day, spearheaded by Nxera. Around 1,000 students from tertiary institutions attended the careers event at Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College East, which is part of the ongoing SkillsFuture Festival. 'This is a paradox: One side of AI says it's going to disrupt jobs... The other side of AI needs (workers) – that's us, building AI infrastructure,' Mr Chang said. Nxera, which currently has over 200 staff, is 80 per cent-owned by Digital InfraCo, Singtel's stand-alone infrastructure unit, with the remaining 20 per cent held by global investment firm KKR. Mr Chang noted that unlike traditional data centres, AI data centres like those that Nxera are building pack an extremely high amount of computing power into a given amount of space, which also means very high heat output, as well as electrical and water consumption. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Asia Live: Thailand-Cambodia border clashes continue for second day Singapore Vapes: The silent killer hiding in the pocket Singapore Vape disposal bins at 23 CCs for users to surrender e-vaporisers without facing penalties Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Tipsy Collective sues former directors, HR head; alleges $14m lost from misconduct, poor decisions Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly This requires deep science and engineering skills to design ways to increase efficiency, reduce heat and ensure reliability, as well as digital skills to connect the data centre with networks to transmit the output swiftly. For this effort, Nxera and partners needs both fresh talent and mid-career hires in fields ranging from facilities maintenance and sustainability to thermal engineering, among others, Mr Chang said. In Nxera's case, about half its openings lie in engineering, while the rest are spread across the rest of the business. To ensure Nxera can quickly draw in enough talent with the right skills, Mr Chang said it has helped put in place multiple pathways into meaningful roles in the up-and-rising sector, such as work-study schemes for ITE and polytechnic students. It has also tied up with the Singapore Institute of Technology, Nanyang Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic and ITE to design courses about the latest data centres used for AI applications. The company remains on track to launch DC Tuas, its next data centre in Singapore, come early 2026. In what Nxera sees as a sign of resilient demand for data centres for the most sophisticated applications, DC Tuas has already pre-sold about half its capacity, Mr Chang said. Customers include fast-growing tech companies from the United States. Chinese firms are finalising terms as well, while discussions are ongoing with local enterprises. In his keynote at the event, Mr Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, highlighted support available for aspiring tech talent graduating from ITE and polytechnics. Addressing jobseeker anxieties that have emerged in recent months, Mr Tan said the Government will continue to work with industry partners and employers to new pathways and better jobs. For instance, since 2022, more than 1,000 good tech jobs have been committed by employers for ITE and poly graduates under the TechSkills Accelerator for ITE and Polytechnics Alliance, he said. He also noted the uptick in median salary reported by information and digital technology poly grads from $2,700 in 2022 to $2,900 in 2024. Mr Tan also noted that data centres are a key part of Singapore's future economy driven by AI innovation, but land and resource constraints mean higher sustainability requirements have been needed – something he praised players here for responding positively to. Mr Chua Wei Xun, 22, an associate engineer with Nxera, recently completed his work-study diploma in data centre infrastructure and operations with ITE College East, which included over a year of training on the job. He recommended the course to prospective students looking to work in IT, facility management or customer support, as it has 'quite a broad scope, so you can learn a lot'.
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
AI governance non-profit opens local chapter in Singapore
Find out what's new on ST website and app. (From left) Mr Looi Teck Kheong, Dr Genie Sugene Gan, Dr Rachel Ooi, and Mr Tommy Foo, at the launch of the Singapore chapter of the Global Council for Responsible AI. SINGAPORE -- Imagine an artificial intelligence (AI) tool tracking your mall visits and pushing you hyper-targeted ads the moment you step into a mall. Or picture this: an AI loan approval tool rejecting a heartland resident's loan application because of biased data weighting that does not favour lower-income applicants. These scenarios are just a snapshot of the AI-related ethical challenges that the Global Council for Responsible AI (GCRAI) aims to address as it opens a local chapter in Singapore. Founded in 2024, GCRAI is a US-based non-profit which provides a platform for championing responsible AI. It currently has 520 members worldwide, with 15 local chapters in Europe, the US, Canada, Africa, Australia, Central and South America. Members of GCRAI are largely professionals, from cybersecurity to policy and legal experts. The chapter in Singapore is the 16th globally and the first in Southeast Asia. 'The Singapore chapter will be instrumental in bridging international standards with regional expertise,' said Dr Genie Sugene Gan, Global Governor of GCRAI. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Asia Live: Thailand-Cambodia border clashes continue for second day Singapore Etomidate found in blood of 2 people involved in fatal Punggol Road accident in May: HSA Singapore More students to get Smart Buddy watches; most schools to go cashless by end-2025 Singapore Vape disposal bins at 23 CCs for users to surrender e-vaporisers, without facing penalties Business Microsoft Singapore managing director Lee Hui Li dies while on sabbatical Life When modern cars outgrow parking lots: How to navigate tight carparks in Singapore Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly 'Our mission is to support and strengthen the future of AI through education, leadership, certification, and advisory services that center human dignity, innovation, and international cooperation,' she added. GCRAI has already convened three forums in London, San Francisco, and Washington D.C this year, and hosted policy discussions. It is planning to hold an AI leadership training camp at Lake Como in Italy. GCRAI has chosen to open a chapter in Singapore because of its role as a meeting point between East and West tech policies, a hub for AI testing, and a springboard to ASEAN's $1 trillion digital economy. As Singapore's AI ambition grows, so does its challenges in governing the technology. Balancing access to data with privacy is one critical hurdle. Other ethical concerns include the use of deepfakes to spread harmful content, bias in AI systems, surveillance risks, and job displacement. Local cases of AI misuse have underlined the need for governance. In the lead-up to the 2025 General Elections, a surge of AI-generated videos of candidates appeared, spurring a new law banning AI-generated content that misrepresents political candidates. A 2024 incident where Singapore students created deepfake nude photos of female schoolmates also made headlines. Even when not intentionally abused, flawed AI models can cause harm. In a 2024 AI safety challenge by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the four large language models (LLMs) tested were found to reinforce ethnic stereotypes . For example, when prompted to write a script about Singapore inmates, the LLMs chose Chinese names for a character jailed for illegal gambling, Indian names for a disorderly drunk and a Muslim name for a drug abuse offender. To tackle these issues, GCRAI Singapore chapter intends to work with Singapore's AI Verify Foundation - an Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) initiative that develops AI testing tools - to develop detection tools that can root out inauthentic content. GCRAI Singapore will also draw from international standards for AI governance. One such standard is the ISO/IEC 42001, which requires AI bias mitigation and fairness checks, risk and impact assessment, and robust documentation in bias management. GCRAI's proposed certification based on these guidelines will ensure banks and financial institutions test for and correct biases in AI-powered loan approval systems, promoting fair access to financial services. It will also be working with the Association for Information Security Professionals, which has 2,400 cybersecurity professionals as members, to help enterprises here align with internationally-recognised frameworks for AI governance. The local chapter of GCRAI will be led by Mr Looi Teck Kheong, a principal consultant at business advisory firm Public Policy Asia Advisors. The vice-president of the chapter, Dr Rachel Ooi, is the founder of Singapore-based management consultancy and strategic advisory firm Antioch Streams. Mr Looi and Dr Ooi are joined by four other tech professionals: - Mr Tommy Foo, who leads the transformation of Grab's commercial systems. He also serves as an advisor to the head of Grab Technology Solutions. - Mr Anthony Lim, a cybersecurity and fintech fellow at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) - Dr Deny Rahardjo, chief information and digital officer of Sime Darby Berhad, and - Ms Michelle Yao, co-founder of CyberLite, a social enterprise that promotes cyber safety and AI education.
AsiaOne
9 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Elon Musk's Starlink network suffers rare global outage, World News
SpaceX's Starlink suffered one of its biggest international outages on Thursday (July 24) when an internal software failure knocked tens of thousands of users offline, a rare disruption for Elon Musk's powerful satellite internet system. Users in the US and Europe began experiencing the outage at around 3pm EDT (3am on Friday in Singapore time), according to Downdetector, a crowdsourced outage tracker that said as many as 61,000 user reports to the site were made. Starlink, which has more than six million users across roughly 140 countries and territories, later acknowledged the outage on its X account and said "we are actively implementing a solution." Starlink service mostly resumed after 2.5 hours, Michael Nicolls, Starlink vice president of Starlink Engineering, wrote on X. "The outage was due to failure of key internal software services that operate the core network," Nicolls said, apologising for the disruption and vowing to find its root cause. Musk had also apologised: "Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn't happen again," the SpaceX CEO wrote on X. The outage was a rare hiccup for SpaceX's most commercially sensitive business that had experts speculating whether the service, known for its resilience and rapid growth, was beset by a glitch, a botched software update or even a cyberattack. Doug Madory, an expert at the internet analysis firm Kentik, said the outage was global and that such a sweeping interruption was unusual. "This is likely the longest outage ever for Starlink, at least while it became a major service provider," Madory said. As Starlink gained more users, SpaceX has focused heavily in recent months on updating its network to accommodate demands for higher speed and bandwidth. The company in a partnership with T-Mobile is also expanding the constellation with larger, more powerful satellites to offer direct-to-cell text messaging services, a line of business in which mobile phone users can send emergency text messages through the network in rural areas. SpaceX has launched more than 8,000 Starlink satellites since 2020, building a uniquely distributed network in low-Earth orbit that has attracted intense demand from militaries, transportation industries and consumers in rural areas with poor access to traditional, fiber-based internet. "I'd speculate this is a bad software update, not entirely dissimilar to the CrowdStrike mess with Windows last year, or a cyberattack," said Gregory Falco, director of a space and cybersecurity laboratory at Cornell University. An update to CrowdStrike's widely used cybersecurity software led to worldwide flight cancellations and impacted industries around the globe in July last year. The outage disrupted internet services, affecting 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices. It was unclear whether Thursday's outage affected SpaceX's other satellite-based services that rely on the Starlink network. Starshield, the company's military satellite business unit, has billions of dollars' worth of contracts with the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies. [[nid:720494]]
