A year after launching its AI research lab, Awarri, a small Lagos-based startup, has become the driving force behind Nigeria’s first government-backed multilingual Large Language Model (LLM). Nigeria’s multilingual LLM Nigeria’s first multilingual LLM is developed by Awarri in partnership with global tech entity DataDotOrg, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and the National Centre for AI and Robotics (NCAIR). Initially, it will trained in five of Nigeria’s commonly spoken languages – Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Ibibio and Pidgin – as well as accented English. Awarri, founded by Silas Adekunle
Cadana has raised $7.1 million in seed funding this year. Launched in 2021, the startup allows global workforces to integrate payments and payroll management into their systems. Cadana According to the company, the world’s largest payroll platforms and talent marketplaces use Cadana’s APIs to build compliant hiring products in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Founders Albert Owusu-Asare and Ameer Shujjah, who are originally from Ghana and Pakistan, gained years of experience working at Amazon, Esusu, and Goldman Sachs before founding the company. Although the pair appreciated their version of the
Black Space Week Roll Call has taken over X, showcasing Black professionals in the space industry, leading them to The White House. Black In Astro Each year, Black In Astro hosts a Black Space Week to celebrate the achievements of Black Americans in space-related fields. The Black In Astro journey began in June 2020, in the wake of a series of violent police attacks against Black Americans. Founded by Ashley Walker, a PhD student at Howard University, Black In Astro was designed to link together a community of Black scientists
At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Will.i.am introduced an AI-generated host named Felicia from his SiriusXM show. Felicia: A Black Woman AI Felicia, an AI-generated Black woman host, debuted at the Cannes Lions Festival in France, during a conversation with Kim Last of The Wall Street Journal. Addressing the audience, she stressed the importance of representation and empowerment in technology. “AI is more than just cool tech. It’s a new frontier where every voice must be heard,” Felicia said, according to AfroTech. “We’re here to make it clear
Brazil’s government is hiring OpenAI to speed up the screening and analysis of thousands of lawsuits using AI to avoid costly court losses, according to Reuters. Court-ordered debt payments have consumed a growing share of Brazil’s federal budget. Their government estimated it would spend 70.7 billion reais ($13.2 billion) next year on judicial decisions it can no longer appeal. That figure does not include small-value claims, meaning the combined account of over 100 billion reais represents a sharp increase from 37.3 billion reais in 2015. How Will It Work? The
Pariti, a platform dedicated to creating economic opportunities through entrepreneurship, has partnered with NVIDIA. This collaboration aims to train over 2,000 developers across the African continent in deep learning through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI). Training Over 2,000 Developers in Africa Pariti’s educational series, in partnership with NVIDIA, will leverage the NVIDIA DLI to provide intensive artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) training to over 2,000 developers. These sessions will cover NVIDIA’s AI/ML stack and culminate in free certification for participants. The initiative primarily targets university students from Kenya,
This Juneteenth, we want to celebrate some Black founders who have set out to uplift and support their communities. Commemorating Juneteenth Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned that slavery had been abolished – two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The first Juneteenth was observed in 1866 and has been celebrated by Black Americans ever since. It is often referred to as the country’s second independence day and became an official federal holiday
internXL has announced a partnership with FYI (Focus Your Ideas), an AI-powered productivity app for creatives co-founded by will.i.am and tech founder Sunil Reddy. The partnership aims to connect college talent, particularly from underrepresented communities, with career opportunities in the AI and prompt engineering industry. internXL and FYI Collaborate An initiative of Robert F. Smith’s Fund II Foundation, internXL is an AI-driven platform that matches top employers with skilled entry-level candidates. The platform’s s AI-generated recommendations consider the educational background, career aspirations, cognitive abilities, learning style, and personality to ensure a fair evaluation.
Ancestry.com has released a new collection of newspaper articles related to more than 183,000 enslaved people in the US. The collection is free to access and leverages an AI-powered search tool to provide millions of descendants of formerly enslaved individuals with unprecedented access to detailed historical records. Never-before-seen records Ancestry’s “Articles of Enslavement” collection comprises approximately 38,000 newspaper articles dating from 1788 to 1867. Many of these original newspaper articles contain never-before-seen information about enslaved individuals and fill gaps in historical records where courthouse and community documents have been lost
Supermodel Naomi Campbell has joined the board of SpreeAI, a new startup seeking to transform the shopping experience with AI. Founded and led by John Imah, SpreeAI lets each shopper become a model through its photorealistic try-on tool. SpreeAI SpreeAI allows shoppers to upload a single photo of themselves to see a photorealistic version of trying on outfits, with their size reportedly detected at a 99% accuracy rate. The product integrates into new and existing websites or mobile apps, offering retailers a hassle-free way to elevate user interaction and supercharge
