Welcome to the Vertica News-hound podcast. Today's date is November thirtieth, two thousand twenty-four. I'm your host, bringing you the latest updates from the world of Artificial Intelligence. Let's dive right into our main story.Japan has made a significant move underscoring its technology ambitions by pledging an additional 9.9 billion dollars towards chips and AI this fiscal year. This commitment reflects a strategic effort to reinforce Japan's position in cutting-edge tech sectors, featuring projects such as Rapidus Corp. and the moon-shot foundry initiative. Key funding will focus on next-generation chip and quantum computing research and development while enhancing domestic advanced chip production capabilities. This investment could lead to advancements in AI and e-commerce, offering faster, more efficient analytics and more personalized customer engagement. However, Japan faces challenges in the global market, particularly from the U.S. and China, which will influence its ability to remain competitive. For further details, refer to the full article on Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-29/japan-earmarks-extra-9-9-billion-for-chips-and-ai-this-year.Now, moving on to other key stories.Thanksgiving 2024 has ushered in a record-breaking start to the holiday season, with 33.6 billion dollars spent worldwide online, up six percent from last year. Salesforce reports that mobile shopping accounted for seventy-two percent of all orders. In the U.S., sales increased by eight percent to 8.1 billion dollars, and Europe enjoyed a ten percent spike. Discounts, averaging twenty-seven percent in the U.S., were crucial in driving consumer engagement. The use of generative AI tools by retailers has risen by thirty-two percent, reflecting the growing reliance on AI in e-commerce operations. For AI applications in e-commerce, these findings showcase the shift to mobile platforms and AI's expanding role in enhancing shopping experiences. Vertica's clients can leverage this data to optimize mobile shopping strategies and explore AI-driven solutions for market expansion.Source: TechCrunch Article on Thanksgiving Sales: https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/29/early-thanksgiving-online-sales-numbers-are-up-7-yoy-to-15-6b-on-par-with-pre-pandemic-trends/Switching gears to Apple's new feature 'Image Playground' with iOS 18.2. This creative AI tool generates cartoon-style images from text prompts. Users can describe a scene, and the AI visualizes it. Available in public beta with a full release in December, this tool could stimulate interactive engagement and personalized merchandising in e-commerce.Source: TechCrunch Article on Image Playground: https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/29/how-to-use-apple-intelligence-image-playground-feature/Finally, some additional news notes: Amazon Bedrock's serverless agentic workflows explore AI-enabled intelligence in workflows using AWS’s fully managed service. Additionally, building real-time object detection on live streams details a guide using YOLO for detecting objects in real-time. Lastly, a comparison of HSV and RGB color spaces simplifies image manipulation and analysis.That wraps up today’s podcast. Thank you for tuning in to Vertica's News-hound. Join us tomorrow for more insights and updates in the world of AI. Have a great day!
