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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russia this week launched large-scale naval and air drills with China.</li><li>Military cooperation between the two powers is growing.</li></ul>China and Russia have long railed against what they claim is the malign influence of US power. Now, they're sending a signal to the West that they have the combined military strength to challenge <keyword id="22115694" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="US-dominance" source="keywords">US dominance</keyword>. On Tuesday, the Russian military launched large-scale naval and air drills in the <keyword id="21182587" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sea-of-Japan" source="keywords">Sea of Japan</keyword> alongside China. Taking place in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Baltic Seas, the "Ocean-24" exercise is massive in scale. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, it involves more than 400 warships, submarines, and support vessels, more than 120 planes and helicopters, and more than 90,000 troops. "This exercise aims to deepen the <keyword id="20275236" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="strategic-cooperation" source="keywords">strategic cooperation</keyword> level between the Chinese and Russian militaries and enhance their ability to jointly deal with security threats," China's Defense Ministry said Monday, reported <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/09/09/china-to-hold-military-drills-with-russia-this-month-a86302">the AFP newswire.</a> It's the second time in only three months that the powers have held joint <keyword id="20252562" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="military-exercises" source="keywords">military exercises</keyword>, with drills held near the southern Chinese port of Guangdong in July. It's a sign of the growing military alignment of the powers, with the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/ChinaPowerCSIS/status/1821607307702108546">China Power Project finding</a> that of the 102 joint exercises held by the militaries since 2003, more than half took place in the last seven years. Graeme Thompson, an analyst with the Eurasia Group, told Business Insider that Russia and China were sending a message. "Russia's naval exercises are intended to signal that Moscow is still a global power that can operate in a range of blue-water theaters around the world," he said. "China's participation is part of a long-running trend of deeper Sino-Russian strategic cooperation and military integration." <h2>An <keyword id="23230129" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="anti-US" source="keywords">anti-US</keyword> axis</h2> <div type="image" title="Putin and Xi walking past a row of Chinese soldiers in full dress uniforms holding rifles and standing to attention" height="632" width="1024" msid="113295564" hostid="261"></div>On the eve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China's leader Xi Jinping and Russia's President Vladimir Putin declared a "no limits" partnership as part of their shared mission to challenge US global dominance. In the three years since, China has provided Russia with crucial diplomatic and economic support as it faced isolation over the Ukraine invasion, and, according to the US, is providing the Kremlin with increasing support for its weapons industry. In defiance of the West, both nations are flexing their power and showcasing their capacity to project military strength. The Pacific, where the US and its allies, including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-aircraft-carrier-south-korea-north-korea-russia-putin-kim-2024-6">South Korea and Japan, have a major</a> naval presence, is a potential flash point. The joint exercises are taking place in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk. China and Russia both have territorial disputes with Japan, while China is menacing Taiwan with invasion, a move that could trigger conflict with the US. "There's clearly an intention on the part of Beijing and Moscow to show that they can jointly project power in the Indo-Pacific," Thompson said. China's continuing to strengthen its partnership with Russia despite increasingly stark criticism<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nato-accused-china-supplying-russia-arms-components-ukraine-war-2024-7"> from the West.</a> The July military exercises came after NATO accused China of being a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war in Ukraine. <h2>Great power competition intensifies</h2> <div type="image" title="A large explosion behind two US military armoured vehicles during a military show in Alaska" height="683" width="1024" msid="113295563" hostid="261"></div>Some experts are warning that joint Russian and Chinese military strength poses a serious challenge to the West. It's a potential threat on a scale the US hasn't faced in decades, with its military focused on fighting militant groups in the face of chaos in the Middle East. "A full-scale China-Russia alliance would present the United States with a threat unlike any it has confronted since the end of the Cold War," analyst Chels Michta wrote in an <a target="_blank" href="https://cepa.org/author/chels-michta/">article for the Center for European Policy Analysis last November.</a> The Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ida.org/-/media/feature/publications/A/Am/Americas%20Strategic%20Posture/Strategic-Posture-Commission-Report.pdf"> States last October </a>urged the Pentagon to urgently revise its strategy so it could potentially fight both powers at the same time. Some analysts, though, are pointing to tensions between Russia and China that could weaken the alliance. Russia has become a junior partner to Xi's China, and it is increasingly reliant on it to keep its war machine and economy running. And China is likely using the war in Ukraine for its own purposes, to weaken and distract the West as it plans a possible attack on Taiwan, analysts at the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/russia-and-china-true-nature-their-cooperation">Royal United Services Institute in the UK wrote in July.</a> But for now, the alliance is growing closer, and Thompson said that the US would be watching the latest military exercises between Russia and China closely. "This is yet another signal that the geopolitical environment continues to deteriorate amid ongoing great power competition," he said. Correction: September 12, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the surname of an analyst with the Eurasia Group. It's Thompson, not Thomson.

Russia and China's anti-US alliance is growing even more threatening

<keyword id="19991358" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-markets" source="keywords">Indian markets</keyword> are navigating choppy waters as global economic shifts, from rate cuts to evolving political climates, create new pressure points across the financial landscape, according to a recent report by ANI attributed originally to the Union Bank of India. The domestic stock and bond markets showed signs of strain, with <keyword id="19910363" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bond-yields" source="keywords">bond yields</keyword> witnessing slight adjustments. India’s 10-year government bond yield dipped to 6.82%, a decrease from the previous session, reflecting cautious investor sentiment as the markets react to shifting global indicators. Meanwhile, the 5-year bond yield remained steady at 6.76%, a signal of lingering hesitation amid economic unpredictability. In the currency market, the rupee faced a notable decline, ending the day at ₹84.3725 against the US dollar, slipping from its prior close of ₹84.2800. Market analysts point to significant capital outflows as a key factor, with investors moving funds to perceived safer assets overseas. This migration has weighed heavily on the rupee, underlining the currency’s vulnerability in an environment of global economic flux. India’s stock market bore the brunt of this volatility, with key indices falling over 1%, effectively erasing the gains of a previous rally. This abrupt drop reportedly reflects renewed investor anxiety, largely triggered by the recent <keyword id="20189882" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="US-presidential-election" source="keywords">US presidential election</keyword> results. Experts suggest that the election has introduced a fresh layer of uncertainty, not only for the US economy but for global markets, impacting everything from policy decisions to investor sentiment. Analysts are also keeping a close eye on upcoming decisions by central banks, which will likely shape the path forward for the Indian equities market. Commodities showed contrasting trends, with Brent crude prices falling on lower demand expectations, as economic indicators point toward cautious spending globally. Gold, on the other hand, experienced a modest rise as investors sought refuge in safe-haven assets, highlighting a shift towards risk aversion among market participants. Globally, major central banks made coordinated efforts to sustain economic growth, with the Bank of England (BoE) announcing a 25 basis-point cut, lowering its benchmark rate to 4.75%. The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) largely backed this move to counter inflation, which has been declining, albeit gradually. Across the Atlantic, the US Federal Reserve mirrored this action with its own 25 basis-point cut, a sign of confidence in the ongoing economic recovery. Both rate cuts, though modest, signal a global trend towards caution as economies work to balance growth with stability. In Asia, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) maintained its supportive stance. Governor Pan Gongsheng sought to reassure foreign investors by reaffirming the PBoC’s commitment to growth-oriented policies. Pan emphasized enhanced communication and pledged to open China’s financial services sector further, aiming to attract more international participants. Europe, meanwhile, faced mixed economic signals. Germany reported a steep 2.5% drop in industrial production in September, signalling a slowdown in manufacturing, while the Eurozone saw a mild 0.5% rise in retail sales, reflecting cautious consumer optimism in the region. Adding another layer to the global economic landscape, the European Union’s Climate Change Service warned that 2024 could be the hottest year on record, underscoring urgent climate challenges just as the UN COP29 climate summit approaches. The summit, set to take place in Azerbaijan, aims to rally increased funding for climate action, though tempered expectations linger in light of recent US political shifts. On the domestic front, Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam spoke about India’s potential role in pivotal global trade agreements, specifically the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). These partnerships, Subrahmanyam suggested, could bolster India’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, which currently accounts for 40% of India’s exports, offering a strategic advantage for Indian trade in an interconnected world. As the Indian markets digest these developments, experts believe continued volatility could be the theme for the coming months. (with ANI inputs)

Indian markets under pressure as global rate cuts stir uncertainty, new report says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Donald Trump wants to divide US rivals Russia and China.</li><li>An area of tension is China's new assertiveness in Central Asia.</li></ul>At the Valdai forum last week, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/six-telling-moments-putin-speech-valdai-congratulated-trump-china-ukraine-2024-11">Russian President Vladimir Putin</a> was keen to tamp down rumors of simmering tensions with his closest global ally, China's leader <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/xi-jinping-painful-road-ahead-rainy-days-new-stimulus-china-2024-10">Xi Jinping.</a>The source of the perceived tension is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-plan-divide-china-russia-axis-is-likely-fail-2024-11">China's growing assertiveness in Central Asia</a>. The region is the latest area in which Xi has launched an audacious bid to increase his political and economic authority and cement its dominance in rare-earth minerals."What is happening in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/turkmenistan-what-life-is-like-inside-secretive-dictatorship-2019-10">Central Asia? </a>Many expected it to be a site of conflict or clash between China and Russia," Putin told the forum. "This has not happened."But the reassurances will not convince everyone, and among those <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-plan-divide-china-russia-axis-is-likely-fail-2024-11">on the lookout for signs of division</a> between Putin and Xi is President-elect Donald Trump. The Republican, days before his election, criticized the Biden Administration for allowing China and Russia, the US' two most powerful adversaries, to draw closer together and said that when he takes office, he'd be seeking to drive them apart. The power grab over rare-earth minerals in Central Asia could be among the issues he will seek to exploit.<h2 id="421107c0-1c53-4350-b648-36a082b91bd8">A power struggle over rare-earth minerals </h2>At stake for the US in Central Asia is not just political power but access to the region's reserves of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-rare-earth-minerals-stockpile-mystery-opacity-worries-experts-2024-6">rare-earth minerals</a> such as uranium, lithium, and tantalum.Rare-earth minerals are needed to make all sorts of products, from F-35 stealth fighters and smartphones to internet <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rare-earth-elements-properties-technology">fiber-optic cables</a> and MRI machines."If rare earth elements are the crude oil of the 21st century, then Central Asia and Mongolia may be the Saudi Arabias of these strategic minerals," <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://thediplomat.com/2023/12/central-asias-rare-earths-may-fuel-energy-transition/">wrote</a> Wilder Alejandro Sánchez, an analyst at consulting firm Second Floor Strategies."Just like the Middle East, the region is subject to intense and divergent political pressures. Russia and China border the region, each exercising their influence at the other's expense and eager to keep the West out."<div type="image" title="Putin - Xi" height="683" width="1024" msid="115221998" hostid="261" sizebytes="62066"></div>China has the biggest global reserves of these materials. It produces around 60% of the world's rare-earth minerals and processes nearly 90%, according to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/what-chinas-ban-rare-earths-processing-technology-exports-means">the Center for Strategic and International Studies.</a>To cement its dominance, China is also <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/xi-china-putin-russia-frenemies-limits-power-sphere-influence-2024-7">spending billions on infrastructure in Central Asia</a> and brokering new trade and security deals.At the same time, Western leaders are seeking to strengthen their influence in the area and secure access to its resources. France's President Emmanuel Macron visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan last November and Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the region in September.'It would be a blow to our interests if either China or Russia established overwhelming influence there," John Herbst, who served as US Ambassador to Uzbekistan between 2000-2003, told Business Insider. "The key, of course, are Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.""Rare earths, especially in Kazakhstan, are one more reason to establish closer relations in the region and especially its two principal nations."Stefan Wolff, a professor of international security at the University of Birmingham in the UK told BI that Trump could seek to broker a deal with Putin to gain better US access to developing Central Asia's rare-earth mineral resources — and exclude China."There are rare-earth minerals worth exploring/exploiting, and if the US/EU could strike a major deal with [Kazakhstan's capital] Astana, this would certainly contribute to breaking China's monopoly," said Wolff."So, the incentive is clearly there to regain a foothold in Central Asia."<div type="image" title="Xi, Kazakhstan" height="683" width="1024" msid="115222002" hostid="261" sizebytes="38170"></div><h2 id="ba868742-2b53-45b0-8d95-8cef1355430c">Central Asian nations seek autonomy from the Kremlin </h2>China's growing presence in Central Asia is likely enraging the Kremlin, say observers. But Russia is so indebted to China for its diplomatic and economic support in Ukraine, that it's in no position to protest. "There are clearly tensions between Russia and the Central Asian successor states of the Soviet Union," Wolff said.He pointed to recent tensions between Kazakhstan and Russia. The Central Asian<a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-bans-vegetables-from-kazakhstan-after-country-refuses-to-join-brics/"> nations refused to join the BRICS </a>alliance, which Russia has sought to expand as a bulwark against the US. In October, Russia banned some agricultural exports to Kazakhstan in response.Despite Putin's bid to portray the relationship with China in Central Asia as part of a mutually beneficial "no limits" partnership, tensions remain between them.For now, Xi and Putin are determined to supplant the US as the world's dominant powers."But if one of them decides that working against the US damages their international position, their partnership will wither away because even today there are tensions in their relationship," said Herbst."Even today, China has not hidden its long-term revanchist ambitions over Russian, Kazakhstani, Kyrgyz, and Tajikistani territory."<h2 id="b5d0c707-0b3e-4b5e-9154-35b569ac4c2d">Russia and China have too much to gain</h2>For now, dismantling China and Russia to gain more US access to Central Asia seems like a long shot.Russia and China have too much to gain from excluding the US from Central Asia, regardless of how much Trump may seek to exploit tensions between Putin and Xi."It is unlikely that as long as Putin considers the US its main adversary, Russia would break with China. That would not change because of some American initiative in Central Asia," said Herbst.Putin sees in Xi a more predictable partner than the mercurial Trump, said Wolff."Putin and his regime are simply more likely to survive in partnership with Xi. I don't think that Putin sees Trump as a dependable partner in any potential deal," he said. "That's not to say that there won't be a transactional improvement in relations between Washington and Moscow, but it will not derail the relationship between Beijing and Moscow."

How Trump could exploit a looming global struggle for rare-earth minerals

Earlier this week, former US President Donald Trump revealed that Indian Prime Minister <keyword id="19895781" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="narendra-modi" source="keywords">Narendra Modi</keyword> is scheduled to meet with him next week. This potential gathering, set against the backdrop of Trump’s bid for a return to the White House, highlights how global leaders are positioning themselves in anticipation of possible changes in US leadership. “He happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he’s fantastic,” Trump said on Tuesday during a town hall event in Flint, Michigan, while discussing free trade and US job protection. He even went on to call India a “very big abuser” in trade, Al Jazeera reported. Most likely, Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting up with Trump could be an acknowledgment of the latter's potential return to power in the November election, as foreign leaders carefully navigate diplomatic relations with key US political figures. However, neither the Trump campaign nor India’s Ministry of External Affairs have clearly commented on the matter yet, meaning that the Indian leader’s plans of a tête-à-tête with ex US President Trump are foggy at best. During a press conference, foreign secretary <keyword id="20181706" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vikram-misri" source="keywords">Vikram Misri</keyword> said, "there are many meetings with the Prime Minister right now which we are trying to fix. Right now, I will not be able to tell you about any specific meeting, whether the meeting has been fixed or not." "We are looking from all angles as to how much time we have and with whom we can hold meetings. We will keep updating you about the meetings," he added. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="113444882" title="Trump says PM Modi will meet him during US visit, calls him &amp;#39;fantastic&amp;#39;" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>What we do know with certainty is that Mr Modi is indeed scheduled to travel to the US over the weekend and his calendar is going to be jam-packed. His visit coincides with his planned participation at the <keyword id="23145156" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Quad-Leaders-Summit" source="keywords">Quad Leaders Summit</keyword> (including representatives from Australia, India, Japan and the US) in Wilmington, Delaware, hosted by President Joe Biden. As per a White House official, the meet-up will feature "ambitious announcements in multiple areas such as maritime security, high-quality infrastructure and critical and emerging technologies to demonstrate the group’s endurance". Prime Minister Modi will have bilateral meetings with President Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday, following the conclusion of the Quad Summit. A special event, the Cancer Moonshot initiative, is also scheduled on the sidelines of the summit. In his meeting with President Biden, India and the US are anticipated to sign several agreements, including those related to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on drug frameworks. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri stated that Modi and Biden will review the comprehensive global strategic partnership between India and the US, which spans over 50 areas of engagement and bilateral dialogue mechanisms. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="113085171" title="India is likely to benefit if Trump wins US elections, per Nomura Global Research" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Both leaders will also assess progress in areas of cooperation, though tensions remain due to the alleged assassination plot involving Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The investigation is ongoing, and India has formed a committee to examine the accusations. This visit may serve to ease some of the friction in the relationship. Defence cooperation remains a key area of collaboration between India and the U.S., including agreements on the procurement of 31 MQ-9B Predator drones, joint manufacturing of Stryker Infantry Combat Vehicles, and co-production of GE F414 engines in India. The Ukraine conflict is also expected to be a topic of discussion. Prime Minister Modi is supposed to attend the "Modi &amp; US" community event at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island. The event, already overbooked with more than 24,000 Indian Americans registered for a venue with a capacity of 15,000, has attracted attendees from 42 states, especially the tri-state area. Additionally, PM Modi will allegedly lead a roundtable with CEOs of American companies working in fields like AI, quantum computing, biotechnology, and cutting-edge technology. Lastly, on September 23, Modi will address global leaders at the United Nations' Summit of the Future (SOTF) and is expected to hold bilateral meetings with other heads of state attending the UN General Assembly. Obviously, squeezing in a meeting with Trump and Democrat Candidate Kamala Harris (you know, to balance things out) seems unlikely given Mr Modi’s tight schedule. But we’ll have a clearer picture only in the coming days. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111770277" title="PM Modi likely to address high-level UNGA session on Sep 26" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

Why is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the US this weekend?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Vultr operates global data centers to enhance AI computing capabilities and speed.</li><li>Sovereign clouds ensure data is stored locally, aiding compliance and national security.</li></ul>Most of our online work <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-nvidia-cloud-ai-anthropic-2023-10">happens in the cloud</a> these days, though we likely don't know where the computing is actually happening. The location of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-data-center-demand-nvidia-databank-2024-8">data center</a> that houses our spreadsheets and shopping lists doesn't matter much to most of us until it does.In the age of AI, where computations are becoming more complex by the day, some nations are looking to make sure some of that power is within their borders. It's good business, but it's also a matter of pride, practicality, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-sam-altman-infrastructure-artificial-intelligence-data-centers-2024-9">national security.</a>Vultr is a cloud service provider and data center operator founded in 2014. The company started buying Nvidia GPUs in 2021, getting to the AI cloud computing business earlier than most. It operates data centers globally, with both traditional computing and AI servers for public cloud clients, along with companies and countries that want their own private clouds. CEO J.J. Kardwell describes the company as the largest privately-held cloud computing platform in the world.A large global footprint, with more than 30 data centers on six continents, helps with computing speed, especially for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-competition-sambanova-groq-cerebras-show-faster-inference-speed-2024-9">AI inference</a>. It also makes the Vultr boss well-positioned to explain a phrase frequently on the lips of AI luminaries like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-countries-need-own-ai-systems-2024-2">Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang:</a> sovereign AI.This Q&amp;A has been edited for clarity and length.BI: What is a sovereign cloud?Sovereign cloud is the delivery of cloud infrastructure as a service, typically inside a country. It guarantees data is stored locally, which ensures it's used strictly for the intended purposes and not transferred outside of national borders without explicit authorization. That's the essence of it.The higher levels of sovereignty involve no communication, no information whatsoever, even at a control plane level, passing outside of a country. Every single interaction, even with a platform, happens in-country. This helps ensure data sovereignty, data residency, data governance, and compliance with local privacy laws.BI: If most companies simply rent computing capacity from a cloud provider, why would they care where the data centers are?In some cases, it's actual compliance with the law. For example, let's say it was a patient's medical records, personally identifiable information, or other sensitive data. They may have a compliance obligation regarding where they can store data.The second is that the lowest level of risk is if the chain of custody can be documented from end to end. So keeping data in-country and in a sovereign cloud enables the highest levels of accountability and avoids transferring data across international networks.BI: How does a sovereign cloud work?If you want true technological independence, you can deliver it with essentially an air gap deployment and a dedicated control plane where the customer is completely untethered from any other data centers or infrastructure.AI doesn't necessarily require interactions with data from many sources. Many training jobs are specific data sets that can be loaded onto a network in a sovereign deployment. And everything can quite easily be executed in-country.I think many countries realize that some of the most important applications of AI are around matters of national security, critical industries, and citizen data, where their local laws around consumer data and privacy may be very, very different from those in other countries. So it's quite important to them to be able to ensure for their citizens that anything that's being done, with AI is being done within the confines of the country and in compliance with their own laws.BI: What do people mean when they use the term "sovereign AI"?They are focused on capacity in a specific country, and typically they're talking about capacity sponsored by the government, whether it's at a state or federal level within that country.One of the challenges, or inequities, is the very uneven distribution of AI infrastructure around the world.Obviously, people are well aware of the transformative impact that AI can have across so many industries, but the infrastructure itself to perform that work, train models, and support inference is very unevenly distributed globally.Many countries are realizing that if they don't take an active role at the government level in helping sponsor, encourage, and incentivize the deployment of infrastructure locally, their businesses and populations will have less access to that technology.By definition, large language models are specific to a language. And the biggest portions of early innovation were done in US English. Only recently we're seeing the globalization of many of these models. You can't train on a US body of data, for example, for legal documentation then do simple translation into other languages.Obviously, you'd miss local conventions of law and language, and therefore, translations are not enough. You'd actually need to do training on local models, on local bodies of data. Every major language economy in the world wants to benefit from AI, yet the resource is not available proportionately to where the population or even the GDP of the world is, right now.BI: AI computing is extremely <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-data-centers-us-power-grid-gpu-nvidia-cerebras-amazon-2024-7">energy intensive,</a> and concerns about the US grid abound. Can you speak to how those dynamics are changing where data centers might be built?Given the significant growing power consumption of AI infrastructure and the importance of its efficient delivery, we will increasingly see capacity building in global markets that have a comparative advantage in supporting lower-cost data center capacity.We have a strategic partnership with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://datacenternews.asia/story/vultr-singtel-enhance-cloud-gpu-capacity-in-southeast-asia">Singtel in Singapore</a>, and if you look at the way that they're building across the region, they're bringing up massive capacity in markets like Malaysia and others where we'll be able to very efficiently serve the region and much of the world where you see more efficient power and operating costs.The domestic military or Department of Defense equivalent in any country will want those deployments to be domestic, regardless of any cost.But for many enterprises, so long as the execution is done at world class compliance, privacy, and trust commitments, you will see more efficient distribution of those workloads that can be executed in other places in the world.

Sovereign AI explained: An AI cloud CEO unpacks what's behind the trend

<ul><li>The leaders of the two countries held a joint press conference on the second day of US President Donald Trump's visit to India.</li><li>Trump said that the relationship between India and US has never been as good as it is right now.</li><li>The India Prime Minsiter said that the relationship between the two countries has expanded to 'comprehensive global strategic partnership'.</li><li>The following are the highlights of the statements made by Narendra Modi and Donald Trump.</li></ul>Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi: This is my fifth meeting with President Trump in the last eight months. Yesterday, it was clear once again, the relationship between India and US is not just one between two governments but one that is people driven and they are people-centric. This is one of the most significant partnerships of the 21st century. Therefore, today, President and I have decided to raise this relationship to the level of 'comprehensive global strategic partnership'. In our talks today, we have had a constructive exchange on all aspects of this partnership from defence and security, energy strategic partnership, technology cooperation, global connectivity, trade relations, and people-to-people ties. Our defence manufacturers are part of each other's supply chain. In the last few years, there was an unprecedented increase in interoperability between the two militaries. We have decided to further strengthen the cooperation on Homeland security and to take steps against those who support terrorism. President Trump has given priority to the war against opioids today we have a greed honour new mechanism to deal with drug trafficking narcotics and organised crime. We have further solidified the recently established energy strategic partnership today. US has become a big source of energy for India in the recent years. In the last four years, the total bilateral trade on energy has been $20 billion, from renewables to nuclear, the cooperation is getting more energy. In the same way, India and US partnership are setting new benchmarks in cooperation in Industry 4.0 and other new emerging technologies of the 21st century. Indians talent has has enriched American companies with their leadership, democratic values, and culture. India and US want open and fair and balanced rate are committed the last 3 years the bilateral trade has grown in double digits and it's become more balanced. Just four sectors⁠— energy, civil aviation, defence, and higher education⁠— have contributed send $70 billion to the bilateral trade between the two countries in the last 4-5 years. This has been possible because of some the policy decisions taken by President Trump. I am fully confident that in the days to come this number will rise significantly in the days to come. As far as the bilateral trade is concerned, there have been constructive discussions between the two Commerce Ministries. President Trump and I have agreed to our respective teams will give legal shape to the understanding between the two Commerce ministers and to start negotiations on a trade deal. The partnership between the two countries is based on shared democratic values and goals. Especially, in the area of Indo-Pacific and global commerce, this cooperation will be important to bring a rule-based order. We agreed to push for sustainable and transparent financing in global connectivity. The synergies (between India and US) are not just beneficial to the two countries but to the world at large. I have sought President Trump that the two sides must take forward the 'totalisation' process of 'social security' contributions by the Indian diaspora in US. Donald Trump, US President: I know Prime Minister Modi will agree that this has been productive discussion. The two countries have expanded defence cooperation with agreements for India to purchase $3 billion American military equipment including Apache and MH 60 Romeo helicopters India will purchase over $3 billion defence equipment including Apache and Romeo 360 helicopters. Prime Minister and I agreed to protect our citizens from radical Islamic terrorism. United States is also working productively with Pakistan to confront terrorists who operate on its soil. The Prime Minister and I are revitalising the QUAD initiative between India, US, Australia, and Japan. It seems more than a meeting of ministers with all the expanded cooperation on counter-terrorism, cyber security, and maritime security towards creating a free and open Indo-Pacific. The two countries are united by shared traditions of democracy and constitution protect freedom rights and the rule of law. During our visit, we discussed the importance of a secure 5G wireless network and the need for this emerging technology to be a a tool for freedom, progress, and prosperity and not to do anything with where it could be even conceived as a conduit of suppression and censorship; to guarantee that the infrastructure of the future is built in a safe, transparent, and accountable way. United States is working with a range of partners including Australia and Japan to create the Blue Dart network initiative to ensure countries around the world have access to private sector-led sustainable options for high quality infrastructure development. I am optimistic that we can reach a (bilateral trade) deal that will be of a great significance to both countries. Yesterday, ExxonMobil reached an agreement to export more LNG (liquefied natural gas) to India. US is pleased to announce that the US International Development Finance Organisation will set up office in India. It will help entrepreneurship particularly among Indian women. The Prime Minister and I agreed to have a counter-narcotic working group to tackle the opioid crisis. The relationship between the two countries has never been as good as it is right now because the two leaders. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/yogi-adityanath-mukesh-ambani-anand-mahindra-and-other-personalities-trump-will-meet-in-india/articleshow/74278415.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Yogi Adityanath, Mukesh Ambani, Anand Mahindra and other personalities Trump will meet in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/inside-look-of-president-donald-trumps-8-lakh-per-night-suite-in-indias-national-capital-delhi/articleshow/74277561.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Inside look of President Trump's ₹8 lakh per night suite in India’s national capital Delhi</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/day-one-of-donald-trumps-india-visit-these-are-all-the-highlights/articleshow/74277019.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Trump tweets in Hindi — that and other highlights from day one of his India visit</a>

Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump announce 'comprehensive global strategic partnership' in a joint conference

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US is strengthening its 5G infrastructure, according to a National Security Council official.</li><li>She said the US must improve its telecom infrastructure.</li></ul>The US is bolstering its 5G infrastructure in the age of AI.Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging tech, said that 5G and 6G were some of "the most strategic sectors," especially since telecom and data-center infrastructure houses the data required to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-secure-5g-networks-combat-cyber-threats-2024-5">train artificial-intelligence models</a>.On Thursday at the annual RSA Conference in San Francisco, she spoke at a fireside chat on cybersecurity and new technologies like 5G and AI, which was moderated by Niloofar Razi Howe, an operating partner at Capitol Meridian Partners.Neuberger discussed the importance of the telecom sector, saying that one of the biggest challenges for the US was its lack of competitive technology in telecom infrastructure. She said the US needed to improve its hardware and encourage competition among vendors.This is especially important, Neuberger said, as the US is engaged in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-government-approves-more-ai-models-rivals-us-report-2024-1">tech arms race</a> with China and Chinese telecom companies, such as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-is-firing-back-again-in-china-chip-semiconductor-wars-2024-3">Huawei</a>. As Chinese technology gets more embedded in the technology Americans use daily, whether it's 5G technology or connected vehicles, the US needs to consider national security risks in how data is collected, she added."We're at the point we can say, what's a thoughtful approach that protects Americans' sensitive data, that protects Americans' navigation data while also promoting innovation?" Neuberger said.The telecommunications industry affects valuable information belonging to American companies and the government. It's also often managed and updated remotely, so it needs to be secure, Neuberger said."Telecom systems are so complex today," she said. "If you don't have confidence in those vendors, it's really hard to trust it."Neuberger highlighted some of the government initiatives for investing in 5G, including the Biden administration's $1.5 billion <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ntia.gov/program/innovation-fund">Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund</a>, which aims to bring <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nist.gov/open-radio-access-network-open-ran">open standards</a> into telecommunications and advance innovation in the wireless industry."What we've been trying to do is bring in innovation to bring in new players to allow our traditional strength in software to come to bear," Neuberger said.Grants from these these types of funds have helped US allies. They have allowed global telecom companies, including those from India, Japan, and Europe, to test new technology together and learn from each other. The US has also been building a telecom partnership with India, as it's one of the biggest telecom markets in the world, along with the US and China.In November, the White House launched its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/National-Spectrum-Strategy.pdf">National Spectrum Strategy</a> to promote innovation in wireless technologies. Neuberger said this included industries such as connected vehicles and defense, adding that these technologies allowed the US to aid Ukraine when Russia struck down its electric lines."As we think about how we lead in these connected industries in the future, we have to think about creative ways to use spectrum more efficiently and differently," Neuberger said.

5G and 6G are among 'the most strategic sectors' in the AI age, a national security advisor says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman is extracting significant security pledges from the US.</li><li>He's using global instability to show Saudi Arabia's importance to the White House, analysts say.</li></ul>President Joe Biden came to power having pledged to make Saudi Arabia's maverick new ruler, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-mbs-2023-10">Mohammed bin Salman,</a> a global pariah.But as Biden nears the end of his term in office, having endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor in November's US election, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-us-deal-could-reshape-mideast-excludes-israel-war-2024-5">Saudi-US relations</a> are closer than they have been for years.Crown Prince Mohammed, far from being isolated by the US, has just secured an end to the four-year US ban on offensive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.The deal means that air-to-ground missiles, whose transfer was suspended to pressure the Saudis to end the war in Yemen, will be delivered to Saudi bases soon.That's in addition to valuable new security pledges the Crown Prince secured from the<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-us-deal-could-reshape-mideast-excludes-israel-war-2024-5"> Biden administration back in May,</a> as well as agreements from the US to back Saudi civilian nuclear technology.<h2 id="a3797a1b-92d7-4ab3-8a40-2b8a91957d45">Biden looks to Saudi for help</h2>As little as three years<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/members-khashoggi-hit-squad-living-in-seven-star-villas-report-2021-12"> ago, a group of Democratic lawmakers </a>were calling for MBS to be sanctioned after a declassified US intelligence report found that the crown prince ordered the assassination of dissident Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2017. Saudi Arabia has denied the accusation.Analysts say that MBS has navigated increasing regional and global chaos to emphasize Saudi Arabia's importance to Washington.The Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas, which <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hamas-goal-october-7-attack-israel-gaza-war-2023-11">erupted after last year's October 7 terror attacks,</a> has disturbed Saudi Arabia, Giorgio Cafiero, CEO at Gulf State Analytics, told Business Insider.It has threatened to expand into a wider regional conflict while empowering its arch-regional rival Iran and its proxies in the "Axis of Resistance.""There is something to be said about how the Biden administration has looked to the kingdom for help in terms of Washington's efforts to contain these conflicts and prevent their further spread, which has given Saudi Arabia's leadership an opportunity to further underscore to the West how Riyadh is a capital which the US and European countries must work with to advance their interests in the Arab-Islamic world and beyond," said Cafiero.<div type="image" title="US President Joe Biden gives a fist bump to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman." height="2496" width="3086" msid="113227893" hostid="261" sizebytes="448456"></div><h2 id="52d9d52c-9927-4486-a064-7e4d21e72340">A relationship that began with mistrust</h2>Mohammed bin Salman's rise to power was marked by audacity and brutality, allegedly forcing the resignation of then-Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri in 2017 and imprisoning of some of Saudi Arabia's most powerful figures in a luxury hotel in a demonstration of force that roiled the region and the kingdom.The 2017 assassination of Khashoggi, a longtime <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-murder-of-jamal-khashoggi-2019-10">US resident and critic of the Saudi government,</a> upended relations with the US, which for decades has been the kingdom's most important ally.It's a move that provoked fury among US lawmakers and pledges of retaliation by then-Democratic presidential candidate Biden, who threatened to make the new Saudi ruler a "pariah" on the 2020 campaign trail.But since that nadir, the crown prince has made clear that Saudi Arabia and the US depend on each other — while striking an independent and risky path.He's worked in tandem with Russia to maintain global oil prices, a move that sparked another confrontation with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-mohammed-bin-salmans-biden-threat-appears-pay-off-oil-2023-6">the Biden administration in 2022 </a>as the White House sought to tamp down domestic inflation.He has also struck valuable deals with China, which is competing with the US as a power broker in the Middle East, taking part in a Beijing-brokered agreement to ease tensions with arch-regional rival Iran in 2023.<h2 id="18db181b-723a-4c6d-8962-89a3e071b2e1">Saudi Arabia's importance</h2>But global instability, economic change, and the war in Gaza have made clear to the White House Saudi Arabia's indispensability.The Saudis have played a mediating role in the war in Ukraine, helping to negotiate the release of prisoners. Riyadh has also sought to open up its economy and veer away from its reliance on fossil fuels, plowing trillions into the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-seeks-china-neom-mbs-investment-risk-vision-crown-prince-2024-6">Neom</a> megacity project.In 2022, Biden underscored the continuing importance of US-Saudi ties and visited Saudi Arabia, risking the wrath of members of his own party by greeting Crown Prince Mohammed with a fist bump."Despite Biden's campaign rhetoric and his policy of not directly speaking to [Crown Prince Mohammed] at the start of his presidency, this administration has worked very closely with Riyadh. The White House has engaged Saudi Arabia in manners which underscore the extent to which the US places a high level of value on the Washington-Riyadh partnership," said Cafiero."Put simply, far from treating the kingdom like a 'pariah,' Biden's foreign policy has been very pro-Saudi."<h2 id="26c15388-dd07-438d-8392-d472151f6a7f">Saudi Arabia sees the US as crucial to its long-term goals</h2><div type="image" title="Houthi" height="683" width="1024" msid="113227896" hostid="261" sizebytes="81112"></div>The US has long sought to broker a rapprochement between its Arab allies and Israel, with the Trump administration in 2020 negotiating a renewal of diplomatic ties between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain as part of the Abraham Accords.The Biden administration picked up the discussions, and a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia, the most powerful Arab state, and Israel appeared on the table when Hamas<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hamas-goal-attack-failed-israel-saudi-arabia-diplomacy-2024-1"> militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023,</a> sparking a brutal conflict that has once again thrown the region into turmoil.Crown Prince Mohammed has condemned Israel's attack on Gaza but has not ruled out a normalization deal with Israel.However, he's striking a hard bargain to keep a potential deal alive, demanding the formation of a Palestinian state and new US security guarantees in the face of the renewed threat from Iran-backed militias, such as the Houthi militants that attacked global shipping routes.Jon Alterman, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in the US, said Crown Prince Mohammed is playing a long game."MBS [Mohammed bin Salman] expects to be in power in 40 years," he said. "In that time, he expects to have a domestic nuclear power program, robust US military support, a defense agreement with the United States, and significant movement toward Palestinian self-determination. I think he is open to varied timelines and sequencing, depending on external conditions."Saudi Arabia was engaged in a brutal war with the Houthis until 2022, with Biden imposing the offensive weapons sales ban to end a conflict he described as a "humanitarian and strategic catastrophe."But in the wake of the Gaza conflict, the militant group has attacked global shipping routes in the<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/houthi-rebels-say-downed-30m-reaper-drone-yemen-eighth-loss-2024-9"> Red Sea, and the Biden administration now sees Saudi Arabia</a> as a "constructive" actor in tamping down Houthi aggression, said Alterman.With a shared goal of avoiding spiraling conflict in the Middle East, the US is now overall more receptive to Saudi interests, said Cafiero."The Biden administration is convinced that Saudi Arabia is simply too important an actor in global affairs to be cast aside as a 'pariah' and it is extremely important to US national interests to accommodate Riyadh and its own interests," he added."These factors help one understand the context of both Biden's controversial trip to Jeddah in mid-2022 and the administration's decision to resume the sale of US 'offensive' weapons to Saudi Arabia."

How Saudi Arabia's ruler used chaos in the Middle East to get what he wants from the US

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Humanoid robots are symbols of power and technological capability, a geopolitics expert says.</li><li>China and the US are going head-to-head `to mass produce them, like a 21st-century space race.</li></ul>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-russia-falling-behind-us-china-in-moon-space-race-2023-9">space race</a>, an epic showdown between the US and the Soviet Union, epitomized the quest for scientific dominance and the battle for geopolitical supremacy in the 20th century.It conjured up legendary imagery of intercontinental missiles piercing the skies, animals being launched into the earth's orbit, and Neil Armstrong's historic moonwalk.An incident earlier this month involving a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-male-humanoid-robot-inappropriately-touched-female-reporter-video-shows-2024-3">Saudi humanoid robot inappropriately touching a female reporter</a> might not at first seem even remotely connected.But the incident inadvertently propelled Saudi Arabia's robotic endeavors into the international spotlight, underscoring how nations around the world are jockeying to make strides in developing functional humanoid robots.<div type="image" title="Muhammad the Humanoid Robot" height="1410" width="2030" msid="108900700" hostid="261" sizebytes="112900"></div>Saudi Arabia, for one, is investing heavily."We built a huge building at the heart of Riyadh, we hired more than 70 engineers," Elie Metri, the CEO of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-humanoid-robot-wont-talk-about-sex-politics-creator-says-2024-3">QSS Robotics</a>, which made the robot and has the Saudi government's backing, told BI.Muhammad, the robot with the wandering hand, was showcased at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.agbi.com/analysis/tech/2024/03/saudi-arabia-leads-gcc-adoption-robotics">DeepFest</a>, an AI conference where some of Saudi Arabia's more than 2,000 robotics companies sought to showcase the kingdom's technological prowess.Similar projects are emerging elsewhere, from India to Nigeria, as nations vie for leadership in this burgeoning industry.<h2>Humanoids are visual representations of breakthroughs in AI</h2>In Italy, the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia is working on iCub, a research-grade <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/humanoid-robots-jobs-manufacturing-tech-workforce-data-2023-12">humanoid robot.</a>According to Giorgio Metta, the institute's scientific director, their primary objective is knowledge-based: to investigate whether "machine learning and AI require a physical embodiment to develop a comprehensive understanding of the world."But Metta also acknowledges the escalating global competition to showcase innovational might, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-artificial-intelligence-chatgpt-world-economy-china-stock-market-analysis-2023-9">particularly in light of AI's growing economic value.</a>He told BI that human-like robots are particularly effective in demonstrating progress because they offer a visual and easy-to-understand representation of advancements."It's very easy to show that your technology is good because you see it, and there's not much to explain," he said. "If you show a computer a program, you get an answer … no matter how impressive it can be, it's not as visible as a robot."<div type="image" title="iCub, the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia's research-grade humanoid robot." height="4197" width="6296" msid="108900702" hostid="261" sizebytes="723258"></div>Despite much of their work being collaborative, particularly with others in the European Union, Metta said he has been advised to exercise caution when working with one major global player in humanoid robotics: China."We are asked to be more careful," he said of the additional scrutiny.It's "unfortunate" that scientists are being told to consider the sensitivities of the geopolitical situation during their research, he added.<h2>China wants to take the lead</h2>When it comes to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/humanoid-robots-talk-carry-items-and-even-run-a-company-2023-11 ">humanoid robots</a>, China is vying for the top spot, so it's no wonder other nations are getting nervous.The country plans to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-plans-mass-production-humanoid-robots-within-two-years-2023-11">mass produce advanced-level humanoids by 2025</a>, according to a blueprint document published by its Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in October.Fourier Intelligence, headquartered in Shanghai, told BI that it expects to have up to 1,000 units ready for delivery this year.CEO Zen Koh said: "China is a formidable competitor in the quest to establish dominance as a leading market force for humanoid robots."Koh explained that many factors have contributed to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/robotics-in-china-2015-11">China's prominence,</a> including substantial investment in research and development, namely in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/generative-ai-exaggeration-openai-nvidia-microsoft-chatgpt-jobs-investors-markets-2024-3">AI and robotics,</a> which he says has already given the country a leg up."The vast magnitude of the market offers an unmatched chance to test, improve, and expand the uses of humanoid robots," he said. "This could facilitate quick, frequent updates and enhancements, giving Chinese companies a competitive edge."<h2>The US also wants dominance</h2>Competing with Chinese ambitions, Agility Robotics in the US says it will produce "hundreds" of its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-amazon-warehouse-robot-humanoid-2023-10">Digit robots</a> in 2025. The company is building a factory in Oregon that's set to open later this year.Agility CEO Peggy Johnson told BI: "We'll get to the hundreds in 2025 and then ramp up capacity to thousands in the years following that."Johnson said it's well-positioned to engage customers and ramp up production and "welcomes" the competition. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-testing-humanoid-robots-digit-warehouses-agility-robotics-boston-dynamics-2023-12">Amazon is testing its robots</a> in its warehouses to help automate some functions.<div type="image" title="Digit, an upright robot by Agility Robotics demonstrates package delivery at the Ford booth during CES 2020 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 7, 2020." height="712" width="1024" msid="108900704" hostid="261" sizebytes="85136"></div>Several other key players in the US have also been flexing their muscles.This includes the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-bets-big-on-humanoid-robots-with-figure-ai-2024-2">$2.6 billion firm Figure AI</a>, which recently signed an agreement with OpenAI to "develop next-generation AI models" for its robots.The company also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-openai-talks-investment-figure-ai-humanoid-robotics-report-2024-1">inked a deal with BMW</a> to try out its robots in its manufacturing process.Texas-based Apptronik, meanwhile, signed a partnership with Mercedes to test out how its robot Apollo can help in the production assembly line.Tesla has its own <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-optimus-humanoid-robot-delivery-rollout-2024-1">humanoid ambitions</a> and has previously said it wants to start selling its Optimus robot by 2027.<h2>High stakes</h2>In today's geopolitical landscape, Julian Mueller-Kaler, director of the Strategic Foresight Hub at the Stimson Center, said that "high technology has come to define high politics," with humanoid robots and AI representing the apex of technological development and serving as symbols of power.The US, he said, is "defining national security through the prism of supremacy, not just in military terms and political terms, but also in economic and technological terms."The US is strategically investing in these cutting-edge technologies as part of its bid for supremacy, he said, as well as employing other <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-trade-war-export-manufacturing-property-crisis-biden-trump-2024-3">measures to impede China's growth</a> in the field.Over the last couple of years, the US has been implementing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-china-tech-war-computer-chips-semiconductor-plants-costing-americans-2023-1">export controls on semiconductors to China</a> to limit the country's high-tech capabilities.But China, he said, has stepped up to the challenge: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-planning-41-billion-semiconductor-fund-chip-war-heats-up-2023-9">US sanctions supercharged China's chipmaking industry</a>, with the majority of the fastest-growing chip firms in the world now being Chinese, <a target="_blank" href="https://time.com/6189341/us-sanctions-china-chips-semiconductors/">according to TIME.</a>"They know it takes decades to build a ship fleet or aircraft carrier," Mueller-Kaler said. "The high-tech sector is where the Chinese think they have a chance to catch up."<h2>Humanoids are the peak of a 'hype cycle'</h2>Beijing announced last August that it was establishing a $1.39 billion fund to develop a hub for the humanoid robotics industry.At the time, the city was already home to 100 robotics enterprises.<div type="image" title="umanoid service robots dance at the booth of Dataa Robotics during 2023 World Robot Conference at Beijing Etrong International Exhibition &amp; Convention Center on August 18, 2023." height="716" width="1024" msid="108900707" hostid="261" sizebytes="65048"></div>But Li Boyang, president of EX Robots, a humanoid robot company based in China's Liaoning Province, <a target="_blank" href="https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-12-25/China-s-booming-humanoid-robotics-industry-embraces-bright-future--1pP17eWe6SA/p.html">told CMG</a> that China faces challenges in getting robots out of laboratories and into mass production.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-inspired-by-boston-dynamics-humanoid-robot-atlas-2024-2">Boston Dynamics</a> agrees. Deploying robots at scale is "an incredibly difficult challenge," a representative told BI.While obstacles to mass adoption of the technology exist, the potential rewards are substantial.The mass production of humanoids could increase a nation's perceived power by increasing its workforce and population, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-viral-video-of-realistic-ameca-robot-2021-12">Engineered Arts</a> CEO Will Jackson told BI.<div type="image" title="Human-shaped robot Ameca of Engineered Arts interacts with visitors on July 6, 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland." height="3456" width="5184" msid="108900711" hostid="261" sizebytes="159842"></div>"If you could manufacture your population, suddenly you've got all of these kinds of digital citizens, or you can raise the importance of your country. They don't complain, go on strike and don't ask for workers rights," he said.But Jackson warned that we're at the peak of what <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-emerging-tech-from-gartners-hype-cycle-2015-8">management consultant firm Gartner calls a "hype cycle," </a>characterized by five phases: technology trigger, the peak of inflation expectations, the trough of disillusionment, the slope of enlightenment, and the plateau of productivity.Humanoids are in the inflated expectations stage of the cycle, according to Jackson, with lots of talk on what the technology could do."They are not deployed," he said. "It's not a technology that's actually being used. Most of the humanoid robot companies out there now haven't ever even shipped the robot. There's a lot of optimism that is probably not very well founded."Even so, the industry is expected to be boosted by Nvidia's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-humanoid-robots-jensen-huang-2024-3">recently unveiled Project GR00T</a>, according to Jackson and Agility Robotics' CTO Melonee Wise.It could help the sector reach a point of inflection by building a general-purpose foundation model for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/humanoid-robots-talk-carry-items-and-even-run-a-company-2023-11">humanoid robots</a>, they said, which would help them learn from past interactions and perform everyday tasks.<div type="image" title="A robot appears on stage as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivers a keynote address during the Nvidia GTC Artificial Intelligence Conference at SAP Center on March 18, 2024 in San Jose, California." height="711" width="1024" msid="108900714" hostid="261" sizebytes="35384"></div><h2>Saudi Arabia won't give up</h2>While the competition to unleash humanoid robots on the world looks like a two-horse race between the US and China, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/saudi-arabia">Saudi Arabia</a> refuses to be sidelined.Metri, of QSS, said: "We have all the capabilities, we have the brains, we have the resources, we have a very huge market. Saudi Arabia today is competing with Europe, it's competing with the US. It's between the biggest markets globally."The Saudi market, fueled by significant investments, is projected to have revenues nearing $120 million this year, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/outlook/tmo/robotics/saudi-arabia">according to Statista. </a>The markets in China and the US have already surpassed the billion-dollar mark.But Metri remains undeterred by the global competition: "Why are we doing this from Saudi Arabia? Because why not?"

A global scramble to make humanoid robots is gearing up to be the 21st century's space race

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Companies are turning to consulting firms to help work out how to use AI effectively.</li><li>Their clients are asking about how machine learning and generative AI can transform businesses.</li></ul>It's possible to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mckinsey-prompt-engineer-ai-right-questions-key-to-success-interns-2024-6">pose almost any question</a> to artificial intelligence.But when it comes to how to use the technology, many companies are directing their inquiries to consulting firms instead.Doling out advice on AI is making up a<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mckinsey-ai-consulting-focus-future-2024-6"> growing share of many firms' work</a>. Some 900 of PwC's top 1,000 consulting clients are now working with the firm on incorporating AI into their businesses, a spokesperson told Business Insider.In 2023, McKinsey &amp; Company brought in a record $16 billion in revenue, partly due to the generative AI boom. Almost <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mckinsey-ai-consulting-focus-future-2024-6">40% of the company's work</a> now relates to AI. And much of that is now moving to GenAI, Ben Ellencweig, a senior partner who leads alliances, acquisitions, and partnerships globally for McKinsey's AI arm, QuantumBlack, told BI.Boston Consulting Group, for its part, now generates a fifth of its revenue from AI, and much of that work involves advising clients on GenAI, a spokesperson told BI."18 months ago, the conversation was all about 'what is GenAI,'" Allison Bailey, the head of people and organization practice at BCG, told BI.  "Today it is, 'How do I actually drive value with AI and drive meaningful change in how we work?'"Even as some companies focus on how AI might rewrite corporate playbooks, some businesses are asking consultants how to get started. The question could be as simple as where it's wisest to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-stock-investing-recommendations-data-centers-llm-semiconductors-nvidia-ubs-2024-6">invest resources and training in AI</a>. Bailey said the "people topics" are critical to the equation. Businesses want to know how to mobilize their workers to embrace the technology.Greg Sward, head of strategy for technology, media, and telecommunications at KPMG US, said some corporate tech leaders wonder whether they have the knowledge to make smart decisions."Many CIOs are afraid that they don't have the right skills," he told BI. They're also worried about how to keep a handle on the technology and what the regulatory environment might look like.BI asked several consultancies to share the most common questions they're getting about AI and their best advice. Here are some of the themes they identified.<h2 id="f6f88ea0-ebcc-4a07-8c36-deae009e7d4e">Where to begin</h2>Many companies are still determining how they might use AI and GenAI, according to several consultants.Jim Rowan, AI market activation leader and principal of Deloitte Consulting, told BI that companies that are new to AI should start by asking some basic questions:<ul><li>What are we trying to achieve by adopting AI?</li><li>Do we have the talent, investment, and systems to support deployment?</li><li>Have we addressed data governance, privacy questions, potential biases, and other concerns?</li></ul>If a company can answer those questions, it should outline areas where the technology will be helpful. Then, "closely measure and monitor its performance to make sure you're actually meeting your goals," Rowan added. According to Vlad Lukic, global leader for BCG's tech &amp; digital advantage practice, companies should also have a good handle on their data. That's the crucial base for training GenAI. "The first step is making sure you have your house in order from a data perspective. This enables greater seamlessness down the line, and that is where the magic lies," he told BI.Roy Singh, global head of the advanced analytics practice at Bain &amp; Company, told BI that those just getting started with AI should focus on short-term goals like understanding the technology or driving productivity gains.<h2 id="ffdbb967-64f1-4b33-9b68-20d9ac70176c">Building workers' skills</h2>Companies interested in AI know technology is often only part of the equation. Another component is ensuring that workers are up to speed.Joe Atkinson, the chief products and technology officer at PwC, told BI that it's essential to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pwc-inks-deal-with-openai-for-chatgpt-enterprise-use-sales-2024-5">help employees learn how to use generative AI</a> rather than relying solely on recruiting AI specialists, who are in high demand.Getting workers to use the tools might not be as hard as it sounds. Atkinson said the technology is so accessible that almost anyone in a company could use it to create products or services or to be more efficient.Leading by example is important. Senior managers should use AI to demonstrate how it can be useful, while employees should be given time to explore the tech themselves, according to Deloitte's Rowan."It's important to build excitement for AI adoption and communicate openly," he said. So, companies should host events like hackathons, encourage experimentation, and educate workers on how AI could make them more efficient in their jobs.<h2 id="617d5698-576f-4368-935d-a566791da504">Reinventing your business</h2>The advances in AI will affect some companies more than others.And in industries where AI is already forcing a rewrite of business models, companies need to think comprehensively about how they can overhaul operations with generative AI.Bain's Singh pointed to the grocery business. Companies like Instacart and Carrefour are looking to "invent the next-generation customer experience" using AI, he said, adding that they're not necessarily just looking for efficiency gains.Most companies, regardless of how much they might have dabbled in AI, should be flexible enough to accommodate new developments, according to PwC's Atkinson.He suggests that companies should build AI systems with an open architecture approach, which is a way of designing software that makes adding, upgrading, or swapping out elements easy.<h2 id="d5263f82-a140-4f39-a846-9ba21ab5e016">A return on investment</h2>Bain's Singh said companies often wonder what sort of productivity gains and other financial benefits they might expect from using AI.Yet he's said companies are starting to see measurable gains — sometimes even huge improvements — from AI. This might be in areas like software engineering, finance, or human resources.Singh said many companies — especially those loaded with knowledge workers doing desk jobs — can expect to notch productivity improvements of 15% to 20%. Sometimes, it's far higher. In businesses where AI can take over repetitive tasks, the boost to productivity can be upward of 50%, he said.That doesn't mean each worker necessarily gets back half of their time. But if the time it takes to complete some work is cut in half, then someone working in marketing, financial services compliance, or a life sciences regulatory role might eventually get back the equivalent of a full day's work.Singh said it might take a company two to three years to achieve major efficiency gains but that the opportunity is immense.In most cases, he said, it's important to set expectations about how new AI is for many businesses."We should all have the humility to admit we're very early in the adoption cycle," Singh said.Do you work for a consultancy? Business Insider would like to hear from you. Email Lakshmi Varanasi or Tim Paradis from a nonwork device at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:lvaranasi@businessinsider.com">lvaranasi@businessinsider.com</a> or <a target="_blank" href="mailto:tparadis@businessinsider.com">tparadis@businessinsider.com</a> to share your story or ask for one of our Signal numbers.

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