Future Technologies

LiberaGPT supports the largest and most intelligent AI model to run offline on an unmodified iPhone

Independent British software house 5N6 has unveiled a major update to LiberaGPT, its recently launched iPhone app, adding support for a record-breaking 24 billion-parameter large language model that runs entirely offline on the latest generation of iPhone devices, with complete privacy and no requirement for cloud data centres or additional hardware. Until recently, the idea of running a model of this size privately on a smartphone would have been regarded as technically out of reach for current flagship handsets. LiberaGPT now brings that capability to iPhone, ensuring that prompts and responses remain entirely on the device. The comparison with earlier generations of AI highlights the scale of that advance. OpenAI’s GPT-2, introduced in 2019, was widely recognised as a landmark model, yet it operated at 1.5 billion parameters and depended heavily on centralised infrastructure. Since then, major gains in efficiency and model design have reshaped expectations, allowing more powerful systems to operate without the same computational burden. Alongside the new 24 billion-parameter model, the latest LiberaGPT release also includes a range of smaller models for users who prefer faster performance and lower resource use. Together, these options give users the flexibility to choose the balance of speed and capability that suits them best, while keeping the entire experience private and on-device. What matters here is not only the size of the model, but the fact that it runs at all on consumer mobile hardware. Models in this class have usually belonged to server infrastructure or desktop systems. This small independent software house has brought that level of capability to the iPhone through careful optimisation and precise memory management. Capable local GPU processing gives users more privacy, faster response times, and the ability to use advanced AI models without dependence on a network connection or contribution to AI data centre infrastructure […]

Resilient firms and economies: Unlocking growth in emerging markets

Resilience is like a bridge spanning a turbulent river. The waters below may surge unpredictably, but the bridge’s strength lies in its design, maintenance, and ability to withstand. The Resilience Consortium brings together governments, businesses, and multilateral development banks (MDBs) to strengthen resilience in emerging markets. Drawing on insights from the 2025 Resilience Consortium Pulse Check Survey, completed by more than 270 executives, along with a quantitative follow-up analysis, structured interviews with community members and the Consortium’s leadership group, and global, high-level convenings held throughout the year, this year’s white paper explores resilience preparedness in emerging markets and outlines how companies, governments, and MDBs can collaborate to unlock growth. The importance of collective action: In an era of disruption, resilience has become a key driver of competitiveness and innovation. No single actor can mitigate systemic risks alone: Businesses contribute agility, innovation, and investment; governments enable progress through effective policy and infrastructure; and MDBs mobilise capital, derisk investment, and coordinate cross-sector efforts to address systematic risks. Together, these actors can build systems capable of withstanding and adapting to shocks. Focus on emerging markets: Emerging markets, which represent nearly 60 percent of global GDP, are vital to the resilience agenda. They face exposure to trade disruptions, commodity volatility, and climate risks, yet they hold the potential to drive global growth in the decade ahead. Strengthening resilience in these economies is critical not only for their own prosperity but also for safeguarding global stability. Resilience preparedness: Organisations are becoming more resilient, but progress remains uneven. Preparedness has improved by 13 percentage points since 2024, yet only one in four companies considers itself ready to withstand major disruptions across all resilience dimensions (e.g., financial, organisational, digital and technology resilience) and this share falls to one in five when assessing resilience capabilities (i.e., crisis response, foresight, disruption […]

Apple, The First 50 Years

David Pogue tells the iconic company’s entire life story: how Apple was born, nearly died, was born again under Steve Jobs, and became, under CEO Tim Cook, the most valuable company in the world. The book features full-color photos, new facts that correct the record and illuminate its subversive culture, and fresh interviews with the legendary figures who shaped Apple into what it is today. On April 1, 1976, two scruffy twentysomethings, both named Steve, founded a startup. Their goal: To bring the revolutionary power of computers to everyone. Over the next five decades, Apple reshaped the technology and cultural landscapes, introducing the public to breakthroughs like the mouse, laser printing, CD-ROM, WiFi, digital video, home networking, touchscreen phones, and tablets. Jobs’s obsessive eye for detail set the stage for products—Mac, iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad, AirPods, Apple Watch—that married advanced technology with beauty, simplicity, and fine design. Deeply researched and lavishly illustrated, Apple: The First 50 Years includes new interviews with 150 key people who made the journey, including Steve Wozniak, John Sculley, Jony Ive, and many current designers, engineers, and executives. The book busts long-held myths; goes backstage for both the titanic successes (450 million iPods, 700 million iPads, 2.2 billion iPhones) and the instructive failures (Lisa, Apple III, MobileMe); and assesses the forces that challenge Apple’s dominance as it enters its second half century. Bursting with tales of frenetic all-nighters, engineering genius, and creative rebellion, this book is a true testament to Apple’s unique and innovative vision, and a must read for anyone whose life Apple has touched.

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Resilient firms and economies: Unlocking growth in emerging markets

Resilience is like a bridge spanning a turbulent river. The waters below may surge unpredictably, but the bridge’s strength lies in its design, maintenance, and ability to withstand. The Resilience Consortium brings together governments, businesses, and multilateral development banks (MDBs) to strengthen resilience in emerging markets. Drawing on insights from the 2025 Resilience Consortium Pulse Check Survey, completed by more than 270 executives, along with a quantitative follow-up analysis, structured interviews with community members and the Consortium’s leadership group, and global, high-level convenings held throughout the year. The importance of collective action: In an era of disruption, resilience has become a key driver of competitiveness and innovation. No single actor can mitigate systemic risks alone: Businesses contribute agility, innovation, and investment; governments enable progress through effective policy and infrastructure; and MDBs mobilise capital, derisk investment, and coordinate cross-sector efforts to address systematic risks. Together, these actors can build systems capable of withstanding and adapting to shocks. Focus on emerging markets: Emerging markets, which represent nearly 60 percent of global GDP, are vital to the resilience agenda. They face exposure to trade disruptions, commodity volatility, and climate risks, yet they hold the potential to drive global growth in the decade ahead. Strengthening resilience in these economies is critical not only for their own prosperity but also for safeguarding global stability. Resilience preparedness: Organisations are becoming more resilient, but progress remains uneven. Preparedness has improved by 13 percentage points since 2024, yet only one in four companies considers itself ready to withstand major disruptions across all resilience dimensions (e.g., financial, organizational, digital and technology resilience) and this share falls to one in five when assessing resilience capabilities (i.e., crisis response, foresight, disruption preparation, and strategic re-orientation). Financial resilience remains the strongest dimension, with 40 percent of firms reporting readiness, while digital and technological […]

Quantum-inspired wireless technology could tackle 6G’s biggest challenges

Researchers at Monash University and The University of Melbourne have developed a quantum-inspired approach to optical wireless communication that promises to make 6G networks faster, more reliable and energy-efficient. As the world moves toward 6G, devices and networks will need to handle more data, faster, and in smaller spaces than ever before. The breakthrough addresses a key hurdle for next-generation wireless networks – enabling seamless connections not just between phones and laptops, but also among the chiplets inside computers, smart devices in offices and data centres. Professor Malin Premaratne, a pioneer in quantum device technologies from the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering at Monash University, is one of the researchers responsible for a method that enables reliable, high-speed connections in crowded spaces, bringing wireless performance closer to “fiber-like” speeds in indoor networks. Professor Premaratne noted that in these environments, conventional wireless signals face serious limitations. “Interference can slow connections, reliability drops in crowded or complex settings, energy consumption and heat restrict performance, and scaling networks requires complex wiring,” Professor Premaratne said. “It’s about making the next generation of devices and networks actually deliver on the promise of 6G – speed, reliability and energy efficiency – so people notice the difference in their everyday lives. This is a crucial step toward making 6G networks practical for everyday devices and future computing systems.” This research could enable faster and more reliable 6G wireless in homes, offices and public spaces, while powering smarter devices that run cooler and use less energy. Professor Thas Nirmalathas, a pioneer in optical wireless communications at The University of Melbourne, said the team’s innovation uses modular optical phased arrays inspired by principles from quantum physics. “The research combines quantum-inspired design with optical wireless innovation to tackle key challenges in the design of next-generation ultra broadband wireless systems,” Professor […]

Ruled by engineers: how China gets things done, leaving the US in the dust

Mark Beeson, Adjunct Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney. In modern times, the world’s most powerful and influential states have also had the largest economies. When the United States overtook Britain in the early 20th century, it was only a question of time before it assumed international political leadership too. Indeed, the failure to assume this role is widely thought to explain the duration of the Great Depression and the turmoil of the period between the two world wars. At a time when American hegemony seems to be in terminal decline and China might overtake the US economically, plausible and original explanations of their relative fates are welcome. Dan Wang’s Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future, succeeds on both counts. At the heart of this very readable book is Wang’s argument that there is a profound difference between the two rivals: the US is run by lawyers and China is ruled by engineers. Wang is perfectly placed to unpack this deceptively simple idea, having been born in China and spent large chunks of his relatively short life there and in the US. He is a keen and shrewd observer of both societies, and the book is sprinkled with personal anecdotes and illustrations of his key claims. Consequently, it’s not a conventional “academic” account, but that may come as a relief to many prospective readers. Lawyers versus engineers The biggest difference between China and the US today, according to Wang, is not the sort of ideological differences that distinguished America’s competition with the Soviet Union, but their respective abilities to get things done. “The greatest trick that the Communist Party ever pulled off is masquerading as leftist,” Wang argues. “China is an engineering state, which can’t stop itself from building, facing off against America’s lawyerly society, which blocks everything it can.” There […]

European researchers develop energy-efficient machine vision inspired by human eyesight and the brain

Drawing inspiration from human eyesight, a European research project led by VTT has developed machine vision mimicking the cooperation of the eye and nervous system, implemented as edge-computing circuits. Edge computing means processing data where it is generated and where the results of computing are needed. This enables, for instance, intelligent robots and drones that can operate independently in a rescue mission after an earthquake without constant network connections or bulky batteries. Launched in 2021, the MISEL project (Multispectral Intelligent Vision System with Embedded Low-Power Neural Computing) is now nearing completion. Coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the project has combined neuromorphic computing—which mimics the way the brain processes information—with semiconductor technologies. “Our goal is to build truly smart devices that can make observations and decisions on their own, without sending data to supercomputers or the cloud. Neuromorphic computing can be hundreds or even thousands of times more energy-efficient than conventional digital processing,” explains Jacek Flak, Research Team Leader at VTT, who coordinates the project. The MISEL project received nearly EUR 5 million in funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme. Alongside VTT, partners include the universities of Łódź, Lund, Santiago de Compostela, and Wuppertal, the Fraunhofer Institute, France’s LNE national research institute, and the companies Kovilta Oy (Finland) and AMO GmbH (Germany). The consortium unites expertise across disciplines, including materials science, electronics, and algorithm design. Smarter mobile devices without constant connectivity Artificial intelligence typically requires either good network connectivity to cloud services or substantial local computing power. However, the MISEL project brings intelligence to the edge—directly into the devices themselves. This approach allows battery-powered systems to process and interpret sensory data quickly and with low power consumption, while also reducing cybersecurity privacy risks. “Imagine a drone searching for survivors after an earthquake through smoke, dust, and debris. It needs to interpret […]

Could a ‘grey swan’ event bring down the AI revolution?

Cameron Shackwell, Sessional Academic, School of Information Systems, Queensland University of Technology The term “black swan” refers to a shocking event on nobody’s radar until it actually happens. This has become a byword in risk analysis since a book called The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb was published in 2007. A frequently cited example is the 9/11 attacks. Fewer people have heard of “grey swans”. Derived from Taleb’s work, grey swans are rare but more foreseeable events. That is, things we know could have a massive impact, but we don’t (or won’t) adequately prepare for. COVID was a good example: precedents for a global pandemic existed, but the world was caught off guard anyway. Although he sometimes uses the term, Taleb doesn’t appear to be a big fan of grey swans. He’s previously expressed frustration that his concepts are often misused, which can lead to sloppy thinking about the deeper issues of truly unforeseeable risks. But it’s hard to deny there is a spectrum of predictability, and it’s easier to see some major shocks coming. Perhaps nowhere is this more obvious than in the world of artificial intelligence (AI). Putting our eggs in one basket Increasingly, the future of the global economy and human thriving has become tied to a single technological story: the AI revolution. It has turned philosophical questions about risk into a multitrillion-dollar dilemma about how we align ourselves with possible futures. US tech company Nvidia, which dominates the market for AI chips, recently surpassed US$5 trillion (about A$7.7 trillion) in market value. The “Magnificent Seven” US tech stocks – Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla – now make up about 40% of the S&P 500 stock index. The impact of a collapse for these companies – and a stock market bust – would be devastating at a global level, not just financially but also in terms of dashed hopes for […]

Research shows CPG leaders are investing in AI and talent to stay competitive

Rockwell Automation Report finds CPG Industry prioritising innovation over cost cutting Rockwell Automation has announced the results of the 10th annual State of Smart Manufacturing Report: Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Edition. The findings highlight how manufacturers are placing greater importance on innovation, workforce development, and long-term growth strategies. The CPG industry is facing pressure on multiple fronts, from the growth of store brands to the demand for faster innovation and more sustainable products. At the same time, consumer loyalty is harder to earn, and expectations for customisation and transparency are rising. In response to this, CPG companies are moving away from small-scale technology pilots and investing in solutions that deliver measurable results across the organisation. The combination of workforce training, better use of data, and more adaptable systems is helping these manufacturers stay competitive while managing complexity. And as private-label brands expand and consumer expectations evolve, CPG leaders are prioritising investments that help them compete more effectively in a crowded and fast-changing market. Notable Key Trends from 2024 to 2025: Rising Competition Leads Industry Concerns: In 2024, economic uncertainty and inflation were main challenges noted in our annual survey. In 2025, competition has taken the lead, driven by increased market pressure from private-label products and changing consumer buying habits. Technology Needs to Work for People: Companies are focusing less on simply adopting new tools and more on making sure new technology fits their teams and operations. Usability and scalability are now critical factors in technological decisions. Capabilities CPG leaders are looking for in their workforce include communications/teamwork (86%), adaptability/flexibility (85%), while analytical thinking and cybersecurity practices are tied (84%). AI and Robotics Lead Investment Priorities: At the heart of technology investment decisions is a shift in thinking. 70% of CPG manufacturers say they are investing in AI, robotics, and simulation […]

Beneq launches Transform XP – Redefining atomic control in ALD

Second-generation platform delivers advanced control, in-cycle annealing, and high-throughput performance for Wide Bandgap power and RF device manufacturing Beneq introduces the Beneq Transform XP, a second-generation ALD platform developed to meet the performance demands of Wide Bandgap (WBG) power and RF device technology development and manufacturing. Building on the proven Beneq Transform platform, the new system adds advanced ALD control, faster cycle times, and greater process capabilities in a high-throughput format. The Beneq Transform XP features a second-generation, flow-optimized 25-wafer mini-batch thermal ALD reactor that achieves breakthrough deposition rates with single-digit-second cycle times for common ALD oxides and nitrides. Refined flow and pressure dynamics ensure exceptional within-wafer and wafer-to-wafer uniformity – even at a few nm film thicknesses – while precise dwell-time control delivers excellent conformality on high-aspect-ratio structures. Transform XP also introduces advanced PEALD process control to precisely manage low-energy ions. This enables optimized plasma pre-cleaning and deposition, resulting in improved interface quality, tunable passivation, and enhanced device performance and reliability. The system integrates in-cycle annealing, a proprietary step that densifies and purifies films to achieve stoichiometric, low-impurity materials and crystalline alignment, such as AlN lattice orientation. “Transform XP is in response to the next wave of device challenges in power and RF manufacturing,” said Dr. Mikko Söderlund, Head of Sales, Semiconductor ALD at Beneq. “Customers value the original Transform® for its versatility and reliability. With XP, we introduce capabilities they specifically asked for – improved ion control, faster cycles, and in-cycle film densification – all in a versatile platform.” With over a dozen Beneq Transform clusters installed globally for WBG pilot and production use, and more than 100 process modules shipped, Beneq continues to support leading IDMs, foundries, and RTOs advancing More-than-Moore technologies.

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