Latest news with #Vertex
Mint
17 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Google brings Gemini 2.5 flash to India with local processing and smarter AI tools
Google is making it easier for Indian developers to use advanced artificial intelligence in their apps. The tech giant has introduced Gemini 2.5 Flash, a powerful AI model that will now be processed inside India. This means better speed and stronger privacy for users and developers alike. Gemini 2.5 Flash will run from Google's cloud centres in Mumbai and Delhi. These centres allow developers to use the AI model without sending data across countries. It is especially useful for people building apps in sectors like banking, healthcare, and government. This move is not just about faster AI. Google is also improving its Maps services for developers in India. Through a feature called Vertex AI grounding, apps can now access real-time map data that is more detailed and local. This is useful for apps built for logistics, tourism, or food delivery. Google is also bringing AI summaries to its Places API. This allows developers to quickly add useful information about popular places into their apps. These summaries are short, clear, and created using AI, saving time and improving user experience. The company is also cutting costs. With new pricing for its Places UI Kit, Indian developers can now add Maps-based features to their apps more affordably. This is great for startups and small teams working on new ideas. In addition, Google is now offering an AI-powered weather API. This service gives more accurate and localised weather forecasts, which is useful for delivery companies, ride apps, and even shopping platforms that rely on timing and logistics. By offering these features, Google is helping Indian developers build better apps. These updates are designed with India's unique needs in mind and show that the company is serious about supporting the country's growing tech community.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
‘AI will gobble up most low-hanging jobs of coders'
Tech India is witnessing a transformational shift, with its bellwethers currently busy deploying their AI-first strategy to nurture increased human+AI collaborations at their workplaces. This means a few unpleasant things for the software developer community(software): most of the low-hanging, also some of the not so low-hanging coding jobs will go to their AI colleagues; AI will make some developers and their current contribution to coding fully redundant; developers will need to adapt and learn how to work with their AI partners. However, AI has the potential to free up developers from boring, repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on deep-coding, for complex, intelligent and creative projects. Lead tech players have been quite vocal about their focus on human+AI play, more so in the last couple of months, signalling an impending shift in the tech talent space. For instance, N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Group recently wrote to TCS shareholders, in the company's FY25 annual report, that the rise of automation promised a future of 'dark factories.' IT and business services were moving toward autonomous operations and the path was clear, he told shareholders adding, 'GenAI is not just another tech cycle — it is a civilisational shift. TCS is uniquely positioned to lead this transition.'' Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji, more recently at an annual general meeting said, AI, especially generative and agentic AI, was becoming a game-changer and it was helping his company to rethink how it should work and uncover new growth opportunities. Interestingly, both Wipro and Infosys recently announced the deployment of 200 AI agents each on certain functions to free up people. Infosys deployed 200 enterprise AI agents as part of its Infosys Topaz AI offerings and in collaboration with Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform. These AI agents are designed to automate complex workflows, enhance decision-making, and improve efficiency and reduce costs across various industries like healthcare, finance, telecom, retail, agriculture and manufacturing. Wipro said, agentic AI was already being integrated into core business processes, and it built over 200 agents in partnership with hyperscalers. These agents were meant to independently handle tasks across departments such as HR, finance, and legal, driving scaled efficiencies and outcomes. These are not coding jobs, however, analysts say these trends will solidify and become secular in time, redefining all job roles, including that of developers, across the industry. 'Given the transformational and disruptive capacity of AI, organisations no longer require an army of coders, most of them with low single digit experience in software development. The immediate impact we are seeing is the reduction in intake of junior level talent, and shrinking in size of project teams,'' said Muthu Kumaran, Operating Partner and Head of India Operations, Recognize, a U.S.-based private equity firm. Most of the mundane activities, around typical software development lifecycle, such as code generation, code refactoring, integration, debugging, and validation could go to AI counterparts, said Mr. Kumaran who earlier held various roles across technology and global delivery at Cognizant. According to him, most organisations today are using AI as a complementary tool, a machine acting as a peer to a human/developer. When the shift happens towards using AI as a complete replacement, there is a high probability that coding jobs become restricted to understanding complex systems and debugging non-trivial issues. 'Most of the coding jobs as they exist today could be done by AI and coders will have to move to higher forms of architecture and system design,'' he forecast. Dr. Vikas Khare, Associate Dean School of Technology, Management and Engineering, NMIMS, at Indore said, many repetitive and template coding chores, including bug fixes, basic HTML/CSS web construction, basic CRUD operations, boilerplate generation, and test case writing, were currently being automated by AI. Junior-level programming positions involving predictable and well-documented problems have already started to be replaced by tools like GitHub Copilot, Replit AI, and low-code/no-code platforms, he noted. ``As generative AI models advance over the next five years, they will probably be able to manage increasingly complicated front-end development, backend API design, integration chores, and even some data analysis and pipeline building duties. It is also possible to fully automate old code upgrades and routine program maintenance.'' he further said. Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital, said many AI tools were capable of writing codes, providing real time suggestions and even writing full functions on simple prompts, and therefore many junior developer roles such as web or mobile app development, testing and documentation would be replaced by AI in the next few years. 'The role of a developer will get redefined from pure coding to using complex problem solving skills, judgement and including creativity – skills that AI cannot fully replicate,'' she added. Flip side However, she said, any kind of coding that involved creative problem-solving, strategic design, and understanding complex user needs is likely to remain human-centric. Dominic Pereira, VP, Product Management, Automation Anywhere, said AI was already transforming routine coding tasks by automating standard front-end design, back-end operations like server setup and database management, and continuous code optimisation. 'Over the next five years, one will witness this trend accelerating. However, complex problem-solving, creative design, and strategic planning will remain human-driven,'' he added. Sreekumar Pillai, CTO at Experion Technologies said, Looking ahead, over the next five years, we expect AI to handle more advanced coding tasks that involve pattern recognition across large codebases and even some elements of system design. This could include generating microservices from business rules, automating code migration, and performing AI-driven debugging. B.S. Murthy, CEO, Leadership Capital, said, wherever human ingenuity, critical thinking & imagination is needed, AI is yet to make a huge practical impact on tasks or applications. AI is not likely to replace coders/system engineers who code in C++, which is used to build operating systems, gaming, graphics and critical secure applications. 'AI will not immediately replace domain competencies like tech architects, dev ops, UI/UX, product management, robotics & embedded systems. Talent high on Math & imagination will rule the roost in this decade,'' added Mr. Murthy. Developers would evolve into supervisors and collaborators who focus on strategic decisions, ethical considerations, domain-specific logic, security planning and creative problem-solving that AI cannot replicate, said experts. Ayan Barua, co-founder and CEO of Ampersand, said AI is eating the grunt work of software, not the craft. 'In five years, the machines will write most of the scaffolding, but humans will still design the skyscraper.''
Mid East Info
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Mid East Info
Trinasolar's Vertex modules revive the Gobi Desert, expanding clean energy and ecological recovery - Middle East Business News and Information
Amid the vast expanse of the Gobi Desert in Jinta, Gansu Province, rows of solar panels are transforming once-hostile sands into a thriving 'blue ocean' of green energy, for which Trinasolar supplied 100MW of high-performance Vertex series modules to this project, helping drive both energy output and environmental renewal. Trinasolar's Vertex modules, based on 210mm technology platform, provide high power output, superior efficiency, and long-term reliability. These features lower the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), while ensuring stable energy yield despite harsh environmental challenges like drought and sandstorms. The plant site benefits from about 3,200 hours of usable sunshine annually, thus making it an ideal place for photovoltaic development. Now operating at full capacity, this 500MW project generates about 736.5 million kWh of electricity annually, saving approximately 300,000 tons of standard coal, reducing CO₂ emissions by over 800,000 tons, and cutting particulate matter emissions by nearly 4,000 tons. Besides, PV panels can help mitigate land degradation by lowering surface temperatures, reducing water evaporation, and mitigate wind and sand erosion. 'This project goes beyond energy generation—it exemplifies how solar power can actively restore degraded land,' said Cao Yunduan, Head of Global Branding and Marketing at Trinasolar. 'It stands as a compelling testament to the successful integration of ecological preservation and sustainable energy.' Drawing on its high-efficiency photovoltaic modules, Trinasolar has established itself as a highly reliable manufacturer. Its products and solutions are widely adopted and recognized by customers worldwide, with extensive expertise accumulated in delivering tailored solutions for desert and arid environments. A 1.3GW solar-storage power station in northwestern China has been recently connected to the grid, using all Trinasolar's Vertex N modules. An agrivoltaics power plant in southwestern China's Guizhou province with a total capacity of 67.5MW has also been grid-connected using Trinasolar's Vertex N 720W series modules. A 1GW solar-storage project under construction in northwest China, with Trinasolar supplying 210MW of its high-efficiency Vertex N 720W series modules is scheduled to be grid-connected by the end of this year. Trinasolar remains committed to leading the way in smart PV and energy storage solutions. Going ahead, Trinasolar will continue to innovate and enhance its technologies, providing more efficient and reliable products and solutions to customers worldwide, contributing to a net-zero future -ENDS- About Trinasolar (688599. SH) Founded in 1997, Trinasolar Co Ltd (stock symbol: Trinasolar; stock code: 688599) is engaged mainly in PV products, PV systems and smart energy. PV products include R&D, production and sales of PV modules. PV systems consist of power stations and system products. Smart energy comprises mainly PV power generation and operations and maintenance, smart solutions for energy storage, smart microgrid, and development and sales of multi-energy systems. We are committed to leading the way in smart PV and energy storage solutions and facilitating the transformation of new power systems for a net-zero future. On June 10, 2020, Trinasolar was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board (STAR Market) of the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE). It was the first PV and energy storage company to go public on the STAR Market providing PV products and systems, as well as smart energy. For more information, please visit For media inquiries please contact: Mariam Agag – PR Manager, Trinasolar MEA Email: Lojayne Mohsen – Senior Consultant, Fekra Communications Email:
Medscape
7 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
ADA 2025: Progress in Managing Type 1 Diabetes
This transcript has been edited for clarity. The one study that my patients with type 1 diabetes asked me about from the American Diabetes Association meetings was the Vertex study, where stem cell-derived islet cells were given to individuals with type 1 diabetes and followed for a year. They reported on 12 participants, and basically, these little islet cells worked. The problem, of course — and the reason I had to disappoint my patients — is that it didn't work without immunosuppression. These patients required immunosuppression, but in the setting of immunosuppression, the little new islet cells worked. We saw an increase in C-peptide production. Most patients got off of insulin. The patients had no further episodes of severe hypoglycemia, and the patients really were cured, in essence, of their type 1 diabetes — at least the small number of people followed for a year. The downside, of course, is the immunosuppression, and that's where the side effects occurred. I think this was really interesting because it's certainly proof of concept that we can take stem cells, make islet cells, and infuse them into people and have them work. We just have to figure out a way to do it without immunosuppression. The next study that my patients and I found interesting came from the Barbara Davis Center and was done by Dr Halis Akturk and his colleagues. It was looking at the use of semaglutide 1 mg as an adjunct to insulin in people with type 1 diabetes and obesity who are on automated insulin delivery systems. Now, in full disclosure, I do this all the time in my patients who are overweight or obese who wish to try combination therapy off-label with semaglutide, but this is the first randomized controlled trial to show the benefit. This was called the ADJUST-T1D trial. It was a double-blind study. This was a 26-week placebo-controlled study, and they enrolled 72 individuals with type 1 diabetes from four US clinics. They were randomized 1:1 to semaglutide or placebo once weekly while they continued on their usual automated insulin delivery systems. The insulin adjustments were guided by the investigators, along with the patients, looking at time in range, time below range, and other continuous glucose monitoring parameters. These individuals had to have a BMI ≥ 30 and an A1c between 7% and 10% coming into the study. These are fairly typical individuals with type 1 diabetes who are overweight, and they had a baseline A1c of 7.7%. The primary outcome was a composite one, looking at how many people achieved a time in range of > 70%, time below range of < 4%, and ≥ 5% weight loss. This composite endpoint was met in 36% of the participants in the semaglutide group, and this was highly significant compared to the placebo group. In terms of secondary outcomes, there was a reduction in A1c by 0.7% in the semaglutide group compared to 0.3% in the placebo group. Time in range improved. People lost, on average, 18 lb, and there was a reduction in total daily insulin dose. There was no diabetic ketoacidosis, but there were two episodes of severe hypoglycemia in each group. This was really proof of concept, which I think all of us who treat many people with type 1 diabetes and have been using incretin therapy have shown to be beneficial. I think the things we still need to watch for is obviously weight loss that's too fast because I don't think this is good for anybody, and the fact that people will need less insulin, so the insulin doses need to be reduced as people use these agents. Patients on these automated insulin delivery systems tend to do pretty well. I'm often adjusting the carb ratio and maybe the sensitivity depending on the pump, but I found this to be a pretty safe and effective way to do it. I think you just start lower, you go up slowly, and you make sure patients are tolerating the medication. I think patients really see benefit. What's not measured here are the nonglycemic benefits that we know are part of the use of incretin therapies, which I think is important. In my own clinic, I looked at outcomes at 2 years retrospectively, and people had still maintained the weight loss but some of the glycemic improvements waned over time. I think that just goes to show the difficulty of managing people with type 1 diabetes. I think this helps, and I think this was a really good trial. I'm very grateful to the investigators for doing this study. These two presentations highlight some of the progress in how we're thinking about dealing with type 1 diabetes. First, the notion of hopefully, someday having a cure that helps people with type 1 diabetes, having new beta cells that actually work. The second is using some of the drugs that we're now familiar with in terms of their benefits to people with type 2 diabetes in people with type 1 diabetes, and showing that it can be done safely and effectively. This has been Dr Anne Peters for Medscape. Thank you.
Medscape
16-07-2025
- Health
- Medscape
NHS to Offer New Cystic Fibrosis Therapy Alyftrek
Hundreds of people with the most common type of cystic fibrosis could be offered a new triple therapy after the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended vanzacaftor–tezacaftor–deutivacaftor (Vnz–Tez–Diva) for routine NHS use in England. The once-daily oral treatment, branded as Alyftrek and manufactured by Vertex, is aimed at individuals aged 6 and over who have at least one F508del mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. When this gene is faulty, cells are unable to make normal CFTR protein to regulate intracellular levels of sodium and chloride. This leads to a buildup of the thick, sticky mucus characteristic of cystic fibrosis. Modulators Target Underlying Cause Vanzacaftor and tezacaftor are CFTR correctors, binding to different sites on the CFTR protein to increase its presence on cell surfaces. Deutivacaftor enhances the activity of the defective CFTR protein at the cell surface. These combined actions reduce the thickness of mucus in the lungs and digestive system. In final draft guidance, NICE said its recommendation formed part of "an evolving treatment landscape for cystic fibrosis", in which the advent of gene modulators is shifting care away from symptom management towards targeting the underlying cause of the disease. Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at NICE, said that CFTR modulators were "revolutionising" the way that cystic fibrosis is treated. An Alternative to Kaftrio Alyftrek was licensed in the UK in March this year and approved for use by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in April. Alyftrek was previously designated an orphan medicine by the EMA. NICE's recommendation follows a rapid assessment that compared Alyftrek with the company's other NICE-approved triple therapy, Kaftrio (elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor, Vertex). Evidence suggests Alyftrek is as effective as Kaftrio in improving lung function, growth, and weight gain, and in reducing the number of lung infections. Alyftrek has the additional advantage of once-daily dosing, compared with Kaftrio's twice-daily regimen. NICE said that Alyftrek could be offered to patients who are not eligible or able to take Kaftrio, as well as an alternative for those already taking Kaftrio. Alyftrek is available in two dose formulations: Vnz 10 mg / Tez 50 mg / Diva 125 mg (84-tablet pack) Vnz 4 mg / Tez 20 mg / Diva 50 mg (56-tablet pack) Both pack sizes have a list price of £16,110, excluding VAT. NICE's recommendation is dependent on the company providing the drug under the terms of a confidential commercial arrangement. Clinicians are advised to prescribe the least costly suitable treatment, factoring in dosage, administration costs, and commercial terms. David Ramsden, chief executive of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, called the decision "a positive step in the journey to better treatments for more people with cystic fibrosis". Similar announcements are expected to follow in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the trust said. NHS Expands Access Beyond NICE Scope Following the NICE recommendation, NHS England (NHSE) announced that it had secured a commercial deal with Vertex to expand access to Alyftrek beyond the patient group considered in the regulator's evaluation. As a result, the treatment would also be made available for children and adults with rare forms of cystic fibrosis who have not previously been eligible for modulator therapy, it said. NHSE estimated that around 95% of people with cystic fibrosis in England are now eligible for modulator therapy. John Stewart, NHSE's director for specialised commissioning, described the move as 'a major leap forward'. 'For those living with the rarest forms of the condition, this represents the very first time they will be able to access this new standard of care that has been so transformative for many," he said. Stewart added that once-daily treatment at home could reduce hospital visits and help children live more freely and independently.
