Latest news with #WorldGovernmentsSummit
24-05-2025
- Automotive
Trumps wants to create manufacturing jobs. His tech allies invest in robots to do the work.
President Donald Trump has disrupted global trade and roiled markets in an effort to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. Some of his top tech allies, however, have backed ventures that replace human workers with robots. Elon Musk, a top donor and adviser to Trump, has touted humanoid robots as a future growth area for electric-carmaker Tesla. "You can produce any product,' Musk said of the robots' potential capacity during a February interview with Dubai's World Governments Summit. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who Trump last month called 'terrific,' has invested in several advanced robotics firms. Bezos last year poured funds into Figure, a humanoid robot company that says its initial rollout will focus on manufacturers and warehouses, among other business applications. 'We believe humanoids will revolutionize a variety of industries,' the company says on its website. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman – both of whom joined Trump on his recent trip to the Middle East – helmed their respective companies as each invested in Figure. OpenAI ended its partnership with Figure last year. 'Trump is talking about bringing back the jobs, and he's not understanding the tension between that goal and automation, which the tech bros have enthusiasm for,' Harry Holzer, a professor of public policy at Georgetown University and a former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, told ABC News. 'There's a fundamental conflict between those goals.' Musk did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment made through Musk-owned firm SpaceX. Neither Bezos, Huang nor Altman responded to ABC News' request. Speaking at a conference in April, Huang said the onset of artificial intelligence would fuel "new types of factories," which in turn would create jobs in construction and steelmaking, as well as in trades such as plumbing and electricity. Even more, Huang said, AI is set to trigger a surge in productivity at companies that adopt the new technology, allowing them to add employees as the firms increase output and revenue. "New jobs will be created, some jobs will be lost, every job will be changed," Huang said. "Remember, it's not AI that's going to take your job. It's not AI that's going to destroy your company. It's the company and the person who uses AI that's going to take your job. And so that's something to internalize." Even after a rollback of some levies, consumers face the highest overall average effective tariff rate since 1934, the Yale Budget Lab found earlier this month. A key reason for the tariffs, White House officials say: Reshoring factories and rejuvenating employment in the manufacturing industry. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said this month in an interview with Fox News that Trump's vision for ushering in a "golden age" for America involved enticing manufacturers to open factories and build in the United States. "We're going to have huge jobs in manufacturing. You've heard the president talk about trillions and trillions of factories being built in America," he said in the interview on May 11. In response to ABC News' request for comment, White House Spokesperson Kush Desai said "the importance of President Trump's push to reinvigorate American industry goes beyond creating good-paying jobs for everyday Americans." "Supply chain shocks of critical pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and semiconductors during the COVID era prove that America cannot rely on foreign imports. The Trump administration remains committed to reshoring manufacturing that's critical to our national and economic security with a multifaceted approach of tariffs, tax cuts, rapid deregulation, and domestic energy production," Desai added. The share of U.S. workers in manufacturing has plummeted for decades. Roughly 8% of U.S. workers currently hold positions in manufacturing, which marks a steep decline from about a quarter of all employees as recently as 1970. Researchers attribute such decline to overlapping trends, including the offshoring of manufacturing to low-wage markets overseas and the adoption of labor-saving technology throughout the sector. Long before current advances, automation significantly increased productivity in U.S. factories, meaning the same number of workers could produce many more goods, researchers at Ball State University found in 2015. As a result, they said, manufacturing employment stagnated for decades even as output climbed. 'Automation is something we've seen for a long time,' Philipp Kircher, a professor of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University, told ABC News. Some of Trump's tech allies have backed firms that seek to further automate manufacturing, touting a new wave of artificial-intelligence equipped robots as a replacement for some workers and salve for labor shortages. Robotics outfit Vicarious boasts $250 million in investments from a set of backers that includes Bezos, Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg – all of whom flanked Trump during his inauguration. On a webpage displaying photos of robots for use in warehouse settings, Vicarious tells potential clients that the products can 'reduce both your costs and person-hour needs.' In 2022, Vicarious was acquired by Alphabet-backed robotics software firm Intrinsic. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai also sat alongside tech leaders at Trump's inauguration. Alphabet did not respond to ABC News' request for comment. Meta declined to comment. Yong Suk Lee, a professor of economics and technology at the University of Notre Dame, described the views on automation among Trump's tech allies and some of his trade advisers as 'opposed.' The tech position, Lee said, would likely win out, even if some firms do open plants in the U.S. 'If you want to reshore, are you going to pay the same wages as Vietnam? Probably not,' Lee said. 'Companies are faced with higher labor costs. In that case, they'll probably automate.' Discordant views among some tech leaders and White House officials surfaced in April, when Musk sharply criticized tariff-advocate Peter Navarro, Trump's senior counselor for trade and manufacturing. Navarro, Musk said, is 'truly a moron.' In an interview with CNBC, Navarro responded, saying Musk "isn't a car manufacturer — he's a car assembler.' To be sure, analysts said, automation in manufacturing would likely continue regardless of support from Trump's tech allies, since producers are locked in a competition to lower costs and increase output. The precise outlook for manufacturing employment is unclear, they added, since additional technology may add jobs for those maintaining and optimizing the machinery. 'Whether it's the companies that currently support the U.S. president or not, somebody would be doing this innovation, maybe slightly slower,' Kircher said. Even at current employment levels, a labor shortage bedevils U.S. manufacturers. Roughly one of every five U.S. factories that failed to produce at full capacity cited a shortage of workers, Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University, found in a January study analyzing government data. Agility Robots, an Amazon-backed firm building humanoid robots, identifies the current push for rejuvenated U.S. manufacturing as an opportunity for greater adoption of technology. 'Manufacturing companies are seeing a massive reshoring movement spanning various industries,' Agility Robots says on its website. 'Adding a humanoid robot to your manufacturing facility is a great way to stay on the leading edge of automation.' In response to ABC News' request for comment, an Amazon spokesperson pointed to previous remarks about robotics made by a company executive. "Our goal is to ensure these systems improve safety and productivity. Technology should be used to help us retain and grow our talent through skill development and reimagining how we make our workplace better, both in productivity and safety. If we do this well, we're certain to always innovate for our customers," Tye Brady, chief technologist at Amazon Robotics, said in a September blog post.
Arabian Business
20-05-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
air taxi services
Flying taxis will take off in Dubai by 2026, says RTA, ground-breaking transport on display at World Governments Summit
India.com
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India.com
Meet Shah Rukh Khan's billionaire neighbour, who owns luxurious hotels, travels through private jet, name is..., net worth is Rs...
Meet Shah Rukh Khan's billionaire neighbour owns luxurious hotels, travels through private jet, name is..., net worth is Rs... In 2024, Shah Rukh Khan appeared at the World Governments Summit and his words captivated more than just the hearts of fans. Apart from reflecting on his life and legacy, the superstar casually talked about his next-door neighbour in Dubai, who is none other than Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the current ruler of Dubai himself. Yes you read that right! Shah Rukh Khan lives next to the King of Emirates. At the global event, the actor revealed, 'I spend a lot of time here [in Dubai]. I have a beautiful house which has been given to me by Nakheel [Properties, Government of Dubai-owned real estate]. And it's one of the nicest places in the world because nobody troubles me. And His Excellency, the Prime Minister, also just told me that he stays next to it. So the next new year party is with him. He's a good neighbour, but it's really nice. I really, really enjoy being in Dubai. I really love being here.' Who is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum? Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the ruler of Dubai, Prime Minster, Vice President, and Minister of Defence of the United Arab Emirates. According to estimates from Celebrity Net Worth and South China Morning Post, his fortune lies between a staggering $14 billion to $18 billion, (approximately Rs 1.1 to 1.4 lakh crore). His primary source of wealth is majorly real estate and government-backed ventures. Moreover, Sheikh Mohammed played a key role in establishing government-owned corporate giants like Emirates Airlines, DP World and Jumeirah Group. According to BBB, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum graduated from Bell Cambridge and Mons Officer Cadet School. He has 23 children from several wives and remains married to his senior wife, Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum Al Maktoum, the mother of 12 children. She is the mother of Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, also known as 'Fazza', the Crown Prince of Dubai. The family resides in Zabeel Palace which reportedly has 150 rooms and spans across 15 hectares. His home, gifted by government-owned Nakheel Properties, is situated in Dubai's most elite neighbourhoods. Apart from this, the billionaire owns several luxurious hotels and mostly travels through private jet.
Al Etihad
23-04-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
Boris Johnson-Winston Churchill conversation pioneers live AI interaction
23 Apr 2025 18:43 DUBAI (WAM)Former UK Prime Minister the Rt Hon Boris Johnson conducted a two-way conversation with the former UK Prime Minister the Rt Hon Winston Churchill during the Future of Government Communication Forum at the 2025 World Governments Summit, held in Dubai from February 11-13, conversation was recorded at the 'Creator's HQ' during the 'Future of Government Communication Forum', organised by the UAE Government Media Office as part of the World Governments Summit (WGS) 2025, hosted in event was held in collaboration with the Emirati company "AI Media Lab," a subsidiary of Visioneers, which specialises in developing artificial intelligence solutions for key sectors, particularly the media. Churchill's Speeches The conversation was enabled by a proprietary Large Language Model, an AI trained on Churchill's collected works, speeches and biographies of the former leader, including Johnson's celebrated biography of Churchill, The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History. 'The model is capable of spine-tingling fidelity, it was a truly uncanny conversation,' said Johnson after the recording. 'Having closely followed and researched Churchill's life, his views and his work, I was amazed to find myself literally face to face with a talking facsimile of Winston who was capable of holding a conversation that one would have said was truly with the man himself. Models like this have a real role in education, in helping people appreciate history in new ways.'The conversation was the first live, fully interactive meta-human avatar driven by a Large Language Model. It was conducted as a 'Video call with the past', using speech to text to LLM to text to speech technology and a 'meta-human' an emotionally contextual avatar of Churchill, whose synthesised voice was based on samples of Churchill's public demonstration paves the way for the development of fully interactive capabilities for artificial intelligence. Over the past 12 years, WGS has become one of the world's largest and most influential forum for governments. The 2025 summit's agenda featured 21 forums covering six key themes including health transformation, governance, and crisis mitigation.
Zawya
23-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Boris Johnson - Winston Churchill conversation pioneers live AI interaction
Dubai - Former UK Prime Minister the Rt Hon Boris Johnson conducted a two-way conversation with the former UK Prime Minister the Rt Hon Winston Churchill during the Future of Government Communication Forum at the 2025 World Governments Summit, held in Dubai from the 11th-13th February 2025. The conversation was recorded at the 'Creator's HQ' during the 'Future of Government Communication Forum', organized by the UAE Government Media Office as part of the World Government Summit 2025, hosted by Dubai from 11 to 13 February 2025. The event was held in collaboration with the Emirati company "AI Media Lab," a subsidiary of Visioneers, which specializes in developing artificial intelligence solutions for key sectors, particularly the media. The conversation was enabled by a proprietary Large Language Model, an AI trained on Churchill's collected works, speeches and biographies of the former leader, including Johnson's celebrated biography of Churchill, The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History. 'The model is capable of spine-tingling fidelity, it was a truly uncanny conversation,' said Johnson after the recording. 'Having closely followed and researched Churchill's life, his views and his work, I was amazed to find myself literally face to face with a talking facsimile of Winston who was capable of holding a conversation that one would have said was truly with the man himself. Models like this have a real role in education, in helping people appreciate history in new ways.' The conversation was the first live demonstration of the first fully interactive meta-human avatar driven by a Large Language Model. It was conducted as a 'Video call with the past', using speech to text to LLM to text to speech technology and a 'meta-human' an emotionally contextual avatar of Churchill, whose synthesised voice was based on samples of Churchill's public speeches. The demonstration paves the way for the development of fully interactive capabilities for artificial intelligence Over the past 12 years, WGS has become one of the world's largest and most influential forum for governments. The 2025 summit's agenda featured 21 forums covering six key themes including health transformation, governance, and crisis mitigation. Held under the theme Shaping Future Governments, WGS brought together thought leaders to foster international cooperation and identify innovative solutions for future challenges, ultimately inspiring and empowering the next generation of governments. In addition to entrepreneurs, several heads of states including the president of Indonesia, Prabhowo Subianto, Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Disanayake and Kuwaiti prime minister Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah attended the event. The summit also saw the launch of 30 strategic reports across various sectors. These reports, developed in collaboration with leading think tanks and research institutions, offer key indicators, models, and innovative solutions to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, enhance government preparedness and resilience, and foster greater international cooperation. The summit also presented several prestigious global awards including the Best Minister in the World Award, the Creative Government Innovations Award, the Global Award for Best Government Applications, the Global Government Excellence Award, and the Best Teacher in the World Award. The summit launched the Global Ministers Survey, inviting ministers worldwide to share their insights on critical global issues and contribute to collaborative solutions. Additionally, it hosted the annual gathering of TIME100's most influential people in AI.
