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Techday NZ
17-07-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
Record investment & policy headline Stanford's AI report
The pace of progress in artificial intelligence has accelerated to historic highs, with breakthroughs in technical capabilities, adoption across sectors, and global governance, according to the latest Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2025 from Stanford University's Institute for Human-Centreed Artificial Intelligence (HAI). The eighth edition of the report describes 2024 as a pivotal year, marked by "unprecedented" leaps in AI performance, new records in private investment, and intensifying government involvement. "The 2025 Index is our most comprehensive to date and arrives at an important moment, as AI's influence across society, the economy, and global governance continues to intensify," write co-directors Yolanda Gil and Raymond Perrault in their introduction. "AI is no longer just a story of what's possible - it's a story of what's happening now and how we are collectively shaping the future of humanity." Record growth in performance and usage AI models continue to outperform previous benchmarks at a rapid rate. In the past year alone, performance rose by 18.8 percentage points on the MMMU benchmark, 48.9 points on GPQA, and 67.3 points on the SWE-bench, which tests advanced coding tasks. The report finds that "AI systems made major strides in generating high-quality video, and in some settings, language model agents even outperformed humans in programming tasks with limited time budgets." AI is also increasingly present in everyday life, particularly in healthcare and transportation. In 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration approved 223 AI-enabled medical devices, up from just six in 2015. Meanwhile, autonomous vehicle usage has scaled up: "Waymo, one of the largest US operators, provides over 150,000 autonomous rides each week, while Baidu's affordable Apollo Go robotaxi fleet now serves numerous cities across China." Investment and industry adoption surge Private investment in AI hit new highs in 2024. According to the report, "US private AI investment grew to $109.1 billion - nearly 12 times China's $9.3 billion and 24 times the UK's $4.5 billion. Generative AI saw particularly strong momentum, attracting $33.9 billion globally in private investment - an 18.7% increase from 2023." Business adoption of AI is also accelerating: "78% of organisations reported using AI in 2024, up from 55% the year before." The report cites research showing that "AI boosts productivity and, in most cases, helps narrow skill gaps across the workforce." The sector has experienced "dramatic expansion over the past decade, with total investment growing more than thirteenfold since 2014." Global leadership and competition While the US remains the leader in producing top AI models, China is rapidly closing the performance gap. In 2024, US-based institutions produced 40 notable AI models, compared to China's 15. However, "Chinese models have rapidly closed the quality gap: performance differences on major benchmarks such as MMLU and HumanEval shrank from double digits in 2023 to near parity in 2024," the report finds. China also leads in the number of AI research publications and patents, accounting for 69.7% of all AI patent grants in 2023. "Between 2010 and 2023, the number of AI patents has grown steadily and significantly, ballooning from 3,833 to 122,511. In just the last year, the number of AI patents has risen 29.6%," the authors note. Policy, regulation and public attitudes Governments are stepping up both investment and regulation. In 2024, US federal agencies introduced 59 AI-related regulations, more than double the number in 2023. Canada, China, France, India, and Saudi Arabia all announced major national AI investment packages, ranging from $1.25 billion to $100 billion. "Legislative mentions of AI rose 21.3% across 75 countries since 2023, marking a ninefold increase since 2016," the report states. Despite the optimism, trust and bias remain challenges. The report finds "fewer people believe AI companies will safeguard their data, and concerns about fairness and bias persist. Misinformation continues to pose risks, particularly in elections and the proliferation of deepfakes." In response, governments and international organisations are "advancing new regulatory frameworks aimed at promoting transparency, accountability, and fairness." A global survey in 2024 found notable regional divides in public optimism about AI. In China, Indonesia, and Thailand, more than 75% of respondents viewed AI as more beneficial than harmful, compared to just 40% in Canada and 39% in the United States. Still, optimism is rising: "Since 2022, optimism has grown significantly in several previously sceptical countries, including Germany (+10%), France (+10%), Canada (+8%), Great Britain (+8%), and the United States (+4%)." The path forward Looking ahead, the AI Index calls for continued vigilance, collaboration and data-driven policymaking. "In a world where AI is discussed everywhere - from boardrooms to kitchen tables - this mission has never been more essential," write the co-directors. "Longitudinal tracking remains at the heart of our mission. In a domain advancing at breakneck speed, the Index provides essential context - helping us understand where AI stands today, how it got here, and where it may be headed next."
Mint
14-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
We need a revamped Incredible India campaign to lift tourism: HAI's MP Bezbaruah
India saw 9.23 million foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in 2023 – a significant increase from 6.44 million in 2022. While this number is still below the pre-pandemic peak of 10.93 million in 2019, it represents a strong recovery and a 48.6 per cent increase compared to 2022, the government said when the numbers were released in 2024. The tourism sector is also a major contributor to India's economy, generating Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) of ₹ 2.3 lakh crore in 2023, according to government figures. Madan Prasad Bezbaruah, general secretary of, Hotel Association of India (HAI), the apex organization of the Indian Hospitality industry, spoke with LiveMint on challenges that Indian tourism faces and how the 100 million tourist goal in 2027 can be achieved. Bezbaruah retired as the Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, and was recently a Member, North Eastern Council. He is also the honorary Permanent Representative of UN-WTO. Excerpts from the interview: If you think of foreign tourist arrivals, you have to take it in two parts. One is, the Ministry of Tourism makes a difference between foreign tourist arrivals and international tourist arrivals. So, that means the number, including the NRIs, is called international tourist arrivals. But the extra foreign tourist arrivals are those that are not Indian tourists. So, that is the real test. So, if you look at 2019 foreign tourist arrivals, we have not increased. We have crossed 10 million in 2019 now, andwe are 9 million by 2024. The most important part is domestic tourism. Domestic tourism growth, after Covid, has been phenomenal. For example, it was only 1,600 million visits. When you talk of tourists, it is not the number of people travelling, but the number of visits. For example, if they are staying in hotels or other places. The number was about 1,600. After COVID, it dropped to practically zero in 2020. But in 2021, it was 677 million. It jumped so much in one year. From zero to six and today, it is 2,500 million in 2023. So, from 1,600 million pre-COVID to 2,500 million in 2023, the hotel association has made a Vision 2047, in which we have estimated that it can grow up to 15 billion. Yes. This is for 2047. But this has been possible for two reasons. Firstly, in many places, of course, I can say that now, travelling is becoming more convenient. The air connectivity has increased quite a bit. The UDAN scheme has also improved quite a lot. The second thing is economic growth. The disposable income and the number of millionaires in India today, in dollar terms, are larger than in the USA. This is the amount of money circulating in the economy. So people are travelling. The number of people going out has become about 30 million annually. That's the number, not visits. This is 30 million people going out, whereas we are getting only 9 million. Some people say that we should try to stop them. I don't personally believe that. Because people have money, they will go. They will travel. You cannot stop them. We have a sufficient number of domestic tourists here. Our efforts should be to see that we get more foreign tourists. If you look at the future, the most important part of the future is the destination level. If you want to keep Indians here, in their own country, you have to create more and more destinations. We have hundreds of destinations. But they have to be made, you know, you have to sell them. You have to ensure that connectivity is good. Accommodation has to be good with more hotels. That is the problem. You will be surprised to see the Indian tourism statistics, both foreign tourists as well as domestic tourists, 50 to 60% are confined in 5 to 6 states. Yes, the Prime Minister keeps on saying that tourism is a pillar of development. So, as he says, tourism has to be considered part of the country's economic development. The other point that the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister have mentioned, and the Ministry of Tourism has accepted, is a convergence of different departments in promotional tourism. At this moment, we have about 1.8 lakh branded rooms and need about 4 lakh. Similarly, I think we also need non-branded hotels. We have about 1.5 million, and today's requirement is 2.8 million. But the point is, we have to do a projection to 2047 and see how much we need. And when we do this, it is capital-intensive. So I think the government needs to have a comprehensive policy about accommodation. It will be done by the industry, so, industry has to be encouraged. And for that, we have been asking two things. One is infrastructure status. Whatever benefits you give to infrastructure, the same should be given to hospitality. This has been done for 50 new destinations. First is, of course, infrastructure. Second is demand, which is not with the central government but with the states. The central government is sponsoring it. The benefits you give to industry should be given to the tourism sector. That will help with various taxes, electricity bills, and other things. That will have a tremendous effect on the rate of tourism in areas not yet covered. We are not saying give tourism industrial status; give us the benefits. Our other demand is the generalisation of GST. We have also suggested that 12% was the GST for hotels with a premium of 7,500. That was done several years back. Today, that 7,500 is outdated. We have asked for 8,000. Look at the geopolitical situation in the world. The Pahalgam terror attack happened. We needed to highlight Pahalgam quite a lot worldwide. Our people went and talked about Pahalgam. Now, one side effect is that these days, people think India has a lot of problems. They will not know that Pahalgam is only one part, which is not affecting other parts of the world. We basically need a revamped Incredible India again. Tourism has to be considered as a part of the economic development of the country. We need to push Incredible India, create more awareness. Incredible India will be of two types: one is to create awareness in the Indian market, second is to remove what the USA, for example, had, that advisory for its citizens.
Time of India
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Prasar Bharati signs MoU with Handball Association of India to promote handball nationwide
Jaipur: In a landmark move to promote handball across the country, Prasar Bharati has signed a Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU ) with the Handball Association of India (HAI). The agreement is for a period of three years, under which Prasar Bharati will produce and broadcast all international and national handball events, organised by HAI on DD Sports, Waves OTT and other PB platforms. The MoU was formally exchanged between Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO, Prasar Bharati, and Anandeshwar Pandey, Executive Director, HAI, in the august presence of Chairman, Prasar Bharati Navneet Kumar Sehgal and other esteemed personalities including former international player and HAI Secretary General Tejraj Singh. Navneet Kumar Sehgal, Chairman, Prasar Bharati on the signing of agreement said: "This is just the beginning of a new era for handball in India. We look forward to seeing Indian athletes excel globally with the support of strong media and institutional partnerships. Continuing with the vision of an honourable PM. DD Sports has consistently highlighted emerging talent, grassroots tournaments, and inclusive sports, giving India's young athletes the recognition they truly deserve. " On this occasion, Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO, Prasar Bharati, said: "This partnership underscores Prasar Bharati's commitment to supporting and nurturing emerging sports in India. Through our wide network and national reach, we aim to give handball the platform and visibility at national and international level." Speaking on behalf of the Handball Association of India, Anandeshwar Pandey stated: "This MoU is a significant step toward popularising handball at the grassroots and elite levels. The consistent coverage on DD Sports will inspire youth and boost the development of the sport across the country." Also present at the event were Tejraj Singh, Secretary General, HAI; Jasbir Singh Bisla, Chairman, Referee Board; Naveen Poonia, ex vice-captain, Indian handball team and Diksha Kumari Goel, goalkeeper of the Indian women's handball squad. Jaipur-based Tejraj Singh, Secretary General, HAI, added: "With the collaboration of Prasar Bharati, handball will now reach millions of viewers across the nation. This initiative will help identify talent and strengthen India's position in international handball." This collaboration marks Prasar Bharati's recent efforts to partner with the national sports federation and bring the Olympic sports to the wider national audience.
Hindustan Times
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
4 Chinese nationals held for photographing Rafale jets at Greek airbase
Four Chinese nationals were arrested in Greece for photographing French-made Rafale fighter jets and filming sensitive areas around the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) and the 114th Combat Wing. Security personnel at the HAI reportedly noticed the group taking photos in restricted areas and asked them to leave. (Representational Image - X) Among those arrested are a woman, two men and a younger individual, all of whom are in police custody, India Today reported. Security personnel at the HAI reportedly noticed the group taking photos in restricted areas and asked them to leave. However, they continued filming from a nearby bridge, specifically capturing images of the Rafale jets stationed at the Tanagra airbase. Also Read | What Dassault said after report on CEO's response to Pakistan over Rafale jets The Hellenic Air Force Police swiftly intervened and detained the group after they ignored repeated warnings. The accused were handed over to local authorities in Tanagra, located northeast of Athens. As per initial information, a large cache of photographic material is now under forensic review. Greek security agencies are probing whether the incident was part of a larger intelligence-gathering operation. According to French military intelligence, the Rafale jet, which is already in use by nations like Egypt, Greece, India, and the United Arab Emirates, has been the focus of a global Chinese disinformation campaign at the time of this arrest. Also Read | How China targeted Rafale reputation after Operation Sindoor: French intel reveals One of the most sophisticated multirole fighter jets in the world is the Rafale, which was created by Dassault Aviation in France. After the Indian Air Force used it during Operation Sindoor against Pakistan earlier this year, it attracted a lot of attention from around the world. Chinese embassies allegedly launched a concerted disinformation campaign to disparage Rafale jets, particularly after India deployed them during Operation Sindoor against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism that was responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack, according to an Associated Press report. The AP report, which cited French military and intelligence officials, claimed that Beijing used its foreign missions to influence existing and potential buyers of the Rafale, urging them to opt for Chinese-made alternatives instead.
India Today
10-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
4 Chinese arrested in Greece for clicking photos of Rafale jets, facilities
Four Chinese nationals have been arrested in Tanagra, Greece, for photographing Rafale fighter jets and filming Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) facilities. According to reports, one of the Chinese nationals arrested is a woman. They were spotted taking pictures of military facilities and were handed over to the police by the Hellenic Air Force Police.A high alert was cautioned after the four individuals of Chinese nationality were found photographing sensitive military installations in the area. As per the sources, their actions were deemed suspicious and raised concerns of espionage, as the images they captured reportedly included Rafale fighter four, including two men, a woman, and a young man, were initially noticed by the security personnel of the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI), who asked them to leave the area. However, they moved to a nearby bridge and continued taking photos of HAI facilities and the 114th Combat Wing, ignoring the warnings. The Air Force Police (Aeronomia) of the 114th Combat Wing was immediately informed. They intervened, located the individuals, and brought them in for questioning. The Chinese nationals were then handed over to the local police and taken to the Tanagra police information indicates that they were in possession of a significant amount of photographic material from the area. Authorities are currently investigating whether this was an isolated incident or part of a more systematic effort at intelligence gathering. The case is being handled with the utmost seriousness, and the evidence is already being evaluated by the appropriate security is notable that India and Greece share a significant military relationship. Recently Greece has participated in multiple Air and Naval exercises with India, including Tarang Shakti last year and INIOCHOS 25 this Indian Air Force has been using Rafale fighter jets in its operations, Operation Sindoor being the recent one where a lot has been talked about Rafale jets. China has been trying to undermine the performance of Rafale jets as claimed by France. The Chinese nationals who have been arrested in Greece were specifically gathering information about Rafale to a report by the Associated Press, Chinese embassies allegedly ran a coordinated disinformation campaign to discredit Rafale jets following their deployment by India during Operation Sindoor against Pakistan in French military and intelligence officials, the report claims that Beijing used its foreign missions to influence existing and potential buyers of the Rafale, urging them to opt for Chinese-made alternatives intelligence sources cited by AP claim that Chinese embassy defence attachs approached officials from countries that have ordered or are considering purchasing these meetings, the Chinese officials allegedly argued that the Rafales used by the Indian Air Force performed poorly, while promoting Chinese-made weaponry as superior military officials said the campaign involved viral social media posts, AI-generated content, manipulated imagery portraying fake Rafale debris, and video game-style simulations to misrepresent combat 1,000 new social media accounts were reportedly created as the India-Pakistan conflict intensified, pushing narratives of Chinese technological Defence Ministry described the effort as "a vast campaign of disinformation" aimed at promoting the superiority of Chinese-designed defence systems."The Rafale was not randomly targeted. It is a highly capable fighter jet, exported abroad and deployed in a high-visibility theatre," the ministry said on its ministry further stressed that the campaign went beyond targeting a fighter jet, saying, "By attacking the aircraft, certain actors sought to undermine the credibility of France and its defence industrial and technological base. The disinformation campaign therefore did not merely target an aircraft, but more broadly a national image of strategic autonomy, industrial reliability, and solid partnerships."Dassault Aviation has sold 533 Rafale jets so far, with 323 exported to several countries, including Egypt, India, Qatar, Greece, Croatia, the United Arab Emirates, Serbia, and Indonesia. Indonesia alone has ordered 42 aircraft and is reportedly considering additional Chinese Ministry of National Defence has denied allegations that it attempted to undermine the global reputation and appeal of the French Rafale fighter media, Global Times, in a post on X, said that the Chinese defence ministry labelled the accusations as "pure groundless rumours and slander," the ministry reiterated China's commitment to a "prudent and responsible approach to military exports," and emphasised its role in promoting "regional and global peace and stability."The Chinese defence ministry, however, refuted the claims, saying that it develops defence equipment "to ensure its own security - not to become an 'arms dealer,' nor to elevate itself by belittling others."It also criticised certain Western politicians and media outlets for interpreting events "through a lens of confrontation," adding, "This arrogance, projecting their own mind-set onto others, ultimately reveals their own insecurity."- EndsMust Watch
