Microsoft Corp to invest $10 billion into OpenAI. 2 other stories and a trivia

This line-up of stories will help you discover the latest happenings around the tech world today

1. Ghanaian e-logistics platform, Jetstream, secures $13M funding

A Ghanaian e-logistics platform, Jetstream, has secured $13 million in equity and debt funding.

The startup’s chief executive, Miishe Addy, disclosed the new funding in a media release on Tuesday.

According to the release, private equity firm, Cauris, was the sole provider of the debt financing, while the equity investors include Octerra, Wuri Ventures, Seed9, The MBA Fund, French development institution Proparco and ASCVC.

Existing investors Alitheia IDF and Golden Palm also participated as well.

With a presence in 29 (12 in Africa) countries, Jetstream says the new investment will allow it to expand into new countries.

Explaining the startup’s business model, Addy said:

“We simplified our business into just the import-export product line by directly linking them with a combination of trade financing and logistics.”

Addy co-founded Jetstream with COO Solomon Torgbor in 2018.

Tech Trivia: Which of the following statements best describes cryptography?
A. It is the science of protecting information by transforming it into a secure format.
B. It is a structured way of implementing data redundancy.
C. It is a type of hacking that bypasses traditional authentication methods.
D. It is the study of how digital data transmissions affect geographic areas.
Answer: see end of post

2. Microsoft Corp set to invest $10 billion into OpenAI

Bill Gates and Paul Allen-founded tech company Microsoft Corp., is set to invest $10 billion into OpenAI, owner of ChatGPT.

Read also:Google declares ‘code red’ to the rise of ChatGPT. 2 other stories and a trivia

This was contained in a report seen by Ripples Nigeria on Tuesday.

At a valuation of almost $29 billion, Ripples Nigeria reported that OpenAI was negotiating to sell its existing shares, with venture capital firms like Thrive Capital and Founders Fund acquiring shares from current shareholders.

OpenAI was founded seven years ago by Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever, Greg, Brockman, Wojciech Zaremba, Elon Musk, and John Schulman.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that as part of the funding agreement, Microsoft would receive 75% of OpenAI’s income up until the point at which OpenAI had earned back its initial investment through ChatGPT and other items like an image creation tool, Dall-E.

With $1 billion already invested in OpenAI in 2019, Microsoft is working on launching a version of its search engine, Bing using the AI behind ChatGPT.

3. Elon Musk’s Starlink partners Elcome International to boost internet services

Elon Musk’s Starlink has partnered Elcome International to boost internet services in the maritime industry.

Jimmy Grewal, Elcome’s Executive Director, confirmed the partnership in a statement on Tuesday.

Starlink is a satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, while Elcome International is a provider of maritime systems and integration solutions.

According to the statement, the partnership will provide mobility and internet services to the maritime industry.

“We are so excited to bring the benefits of Starlink to our customers. It’s not just about the fast Internet, but the opportunity for us to implement real-time remote monitoring and autonomy solutions for these customers in ways that were not previously possible,” announced Grewal.

Trivia Answer: Cryptography

Cryptography is the science of protecting information by transforming it into a secure format.

This process, called encryption, has been used for centuries to prevent handwritten messages from being read by unintended recipients

By Kayode Hamsat

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