Pelican Press

Federal judge blocks Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship – CNN Federal judge blocks Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship – CNN Federal judge blocks Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship CNNFederal judge in Md. issues injunction on Trump’s birthright citizenship order The Washington Post18 Republicans cite 1600s case law to defend Trump birthright citizenship order AxiosJudge cements block on Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenship The Hill Source link #Federal #judge #blocks #Trumps #executive #order #birthright #citizenship #CNN Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Explore the Fortnite Ecosystem 2024 Year in Review Explore the Fortnite Ecosystem 2024 Year in Review Check out the stats that told the tale of 2024 for Fortnite creators and take a look at some of the groundbreaking islands that showcase whats now possible with Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). Source link #Explore #Fortnite #Ecosystem #Year #Review Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Daniel Penny Is Hired by Venture Capital Firm Whose Founder Backed Trump Daniel Penny Is Hired by Venture Capital Firm Whose Founder Backed Trump Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran acquitted on a charge of criminally negligent ********* in Manhattan in December, has been hired by one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious venture capital firms to join its “American Dynamism” team. Mr. Penny, a Long Island native and former architecture student, will work in a group that supports American interests, including the aerospace, defense and manufacturing sectors, according to the website of the company, Andreessen Horowitz. Mr. Penny was charged in 2023 by the Manhattan district attorney’s office with manslaughter and criminally negligent ********* after a video of him fatally choking another passenger, Jordan Neely, on the subway circulated online that May. “We believe in Daniel and are excited to have him as part of our team,” David Ulevitch, a partner at the firm, wrote in a memo to employees on Tuesday that was relayed to The New York Times. Mr. Ulevitch said in the memo that the firm plans to teach Mr. Penny “the business of investing” and that he will support several of the firm’s portfolio companies. On Andreessen Horowitz’s website, Mr. Penny is listed as a “deal partner.” Margit Wennmachers, a spokeswoman for the firm, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Thomas Kenniff, Mr. Penny’s lawyer during the trial, said that he and his partner, Steven Raiser, were “extremely happy” about the news. “The unjust prosecution not only put his liberty at jeopardy but also risked depriving society of a decent and talented young man,” Mr. Kenniff said on Tuesday. “And we know that he will be going on to do great things as he enters this next chapter of his life.” Marc Andreessen, a co-founder of the firm, strongly supported President Trump in the last presidential election, saying that the Biden administration had been a hindrance on matters involving cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. Speaking on the “Honestly With Bari Weiss” podcast in December, he said that he had spent about half of his time at Mar-a-Lago since Election Day, helping President Trump’s team. Several members of his firm have been part of the administration’s orbit. The hiring of Mr. Penny was first reported by The Free Press, of which Ms. Weiss is a founder. Mr. Penny’s manslaughter case divided New Yorkers, as well as the nation. He had been on an uptown F train on the afternoon of May 1 when Mr. Neely, who had struggled with his mental health for years, boarded the car, approaching passengers and shouting about wanting to return to jail and not caring if he lived or died. Mr. Penny approached Mr. Neely from behind and put him in a chokehold, taking him to the floor. Mr. Penny told officers that he had acted to protect others on the train because he believed that Mr. Neely posed a threat and was poised to kill someone. A four-minute video recorded by a bystander quickly spread online, showing the men struggling on the floor of the subway train. Some people saw the confrontation as emblematic of a broken system that lets vulnerable people slip through the cracks. Mr. Neely had been on a list of people in New York City who stand out for the severity of their mental health troubles and their resistance to accepting help. Mr. Neely had also been arrested more than three dozen times — mostly for minor crimes like turnstile-jumping or trespassing, but at least four times on charges of punching people, two in the subway system. For others, what happened on that May afternoon was just the latest in a string of high-profile crimes in the city’s subway system, many of which involved homeless and mentally ill people. The episode, they said, was a consequence of the city’s inability to keep residents safe. The case quickly became a staple on Fox News, and Mr. Penny was praised as a hero by some conservatives. In December, jurors deadlocked on the most serious charge Mr. Penny faced, manslaughter, and the charge was dismissed by the judge. Jurors then considered criminally negligent *********, and ultimately acquitted him. After the verdict, Republican figures including Vice President JD Vance, Donald Trump Jr. and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani praised the jury and criticized the district attorney, Alvin Bragg, for pursuing the case. “Thank God justice was done in this case,” Mr. Vance said on social media at the time. “It was a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted in the first place.” Source link #Daniel #Penny #Hired #Venture #Capital #Firm #Founder #Backed #Trump Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Trump says US could ‘take over’ Gaza Trump says US could ‘take over’ Gaza President Donald Trump has suggested ************ people could be resettled in other countries while the US takes over Gaza to remove unexploded bombs, rebuild and economically redevelop the territory. He spoke at a joint White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Trump’s idea was “worth paying attention to”. The Gaza Strip is surrounded by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. On 7 October 2023, ****** attacked Israel from Gaza, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. This triggered an Israeli military offensive in which more than 47,400 people have been killed, according to the ******-run health ministry. Source link #Trump #Gaza Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Apex Legends lead believes live-service instability demands huge gameplay changes Apex Legends lead believes live-service instability demands huge gameplay changes Apex Legends lead legend designer Devan McGuire explains that live-service games need massive gameplay changes over time to survive. Source link #Apex #Legends #lead #believes #liveservice #instability #demands #huge #gameplay Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

OpenAI confirms a ChatGPT gadget is coming – here are 5 things I want to see OpenAI confirms a ChatGPT gadget is coming – here are 5 things I want to see We’ve heard rumblings of an OpenAI ChatGPT consumer device for a while now, and now the company’s CEO Sam Altman has added more fuel to the fire. Speaking to The Elec, Altman said OpenAI “would like to start developing it through partnerships with multiple companies.” and that “AI will require a fundamental change in the way we interact with computers,” How exactly? Well, Altman believes that “voice will become the user interface medium.” We’ve previously reported that OpenAI was working on the hardware alongside ex-Apple design guru Jony Ive, and with Altman again referencing an OpenAI consumer tech product it got me thinking about what I’d like to see from the device. We’ve been burnt in the past by products like the Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI Pin, so what does OpenAI need to do to make a ChatGPT device a success? 1. Gorgeous design This is almost a given considering that Ive has confirmed he’s working on an AI device for OpenAI. Ive made his name at Apple for his design ethos, which made products like the iPod, iPhone, and MacBook what they are today. The world-famous product designer left Apple in 2019 and started his own company, LoveFrom. While we know that LoveFrom is working directly with OpenAI on a product, we’re none the wiser as to what it could be – but whatever this AI-powered device is, we can be pretty sure that it’ll have that iconic Ive eye-appeal that’s present in some of Apple’s most iconic products. 2. An actual purpose The thing with the Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI Pin was that the product category was kind of redundant, given that you can access AI functionality directly from your smartphone. For a ChatGPT AI device to thrive it would need to be an extension of your iPhone or Android device, rather than a replacement for one. Think the Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch – they’re extensions of the device in your pocket, and excel because of that seamless connection. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. I’m not totally convinced of the idea of a dedicated AI device, but if OpenAI’s product connects via Bluetooth, adding some kind of bracelet or pin that directly interacts with ChatGPT and all its power on your smartphone, then this could be the next step in the evolution of smart wearables. I’d love to be able to quickly transcribe audio directly from a ChatGPT-powered pin, for example, and then read back the information on my iPhone. The device wouldn’t need a screen in this scenario, because your smartphone ultimately functions as the user interface. 3. No subscription fees One of the major issues with the Humane AI Pin was the high cost of entry plus additional subscription fees after you purchased the product. While ChatGPT currently has different tiers ranging from completely free to $200 per month for ChatGPT Pro, I’d expect OpenAI’s device to either be a subscription-only product embedded into ChatGPT Plus, which costs $20 per month, or a new and slightly more expensive tier; or a one-off purchase with subscription-free capabilities. I hate buying products and then paying for monthly subscriptions on top of that initial investment, and I think that in order to succeed, an OpenAI device would need to avoid imposing a significant extra cost on users. 4. The correct approach to privacy One of the biggest concerns with wearable technology that incorporates AI is privacy – after all, products like Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses have cameras built into them. If the OpenAI hardware is a wearable, and if it has cameras and/or microphones built into it, then the company will have to make sure that those who purchase it, and those who might interact with people using it, feel safe. I’m not opposed to carrying around a product that can use ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode to see what I’m looking at, or even hear conversations. But I am opposed to privacy issues that put myself and others at risk, and unless OpenAI has privacy at the forefront of this upcoming device then it could prove to be more dystopian than utopian. The right price point I’ve mentioned subscription fees, but I think the success of any new product relies in large part on the right price point. The Humane AI Pin launched at $699, which was quite frankly absurd, and if OpenAI wants to see success with a similar style of product then it will have to keep the price much lower than that. Due to the lack of information as to exactly what this product could be, I’m basing my thoughts here on the idea of a wearable device. If that’s the case, and OpenAI launches a product that’s designed to be used alongside your smartphone, then it would need to be able to compete with other wearable tech like smartwatches and smart rings. To encourage mass adoption, and start to grow a new product category, OpenAI needs to think long-term – and that starts with pricing its product correctly. You may also like Source link #OpenAI #confirms #ChatGPT #gadget #coming Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Argentina’s Milei to pull out of WHO in move mirroring Trump’s Argentina’s Milei to pull out of WHO in move mirroring Trump’s The Argentine government led by Javier Milei has announced that it plans to pull out of the World Health Organisation (WHO). A spokesman for President Milei said the decision to exit the WHO was triggered by “deep differences regarding health management especially during the [Covid-19] pandemic”. The announcement comes just over two weeks after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing from the international health body. The two leaders have expressed admiration for each other, with Milei calling Trump’s re-election the “greatest political comeback in history”, while the US president described his Argentine counterpart as “my favourite president”. In an official statement, the Argentine presidential office said that “the WHO was created in 1948 to co-ordinate the response to global health emergencies, but it failed during the biggest challenge: it advocated eternal lockdowns without scientific backing during its battle against the Covid-19 pandemic”. The statement also argues that “today, evidence suggests that the WHO’s prescriptions don’t work because they are the result of political influence rather than being based on science”. Argentine media say they expect President Milei to sign an executive order in the coming days which will begin the process of Argentina pulling out from the WHO. Speaking at a news conference, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said that “we Argentines are not going to allow an international body to interfere with our sovereignty, and even less with our health”. The spokesman argued that an exit from the WHO would provide Argentina with more flexibility to implement policies tailored to its own interests and to administer its funds as it saw fit. He said membership of the WHO cost Argentina about $10m (£8m) annually. President Milei, who describes himself as an “anarcho-capitalist”, has been critical of the WHO for some time but the idea of leaving the body appears to have gained traction in the days after Donald Trump signed an executive order setting in motion the US’s exit from the international body. The two heads of state appear to share mutual admiration for each other. Javier Milei was the first foreign leader to meet Trump after his election victory on 5 November. Speaking at a gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on the night of their meeting, Milei said that “the winds of freedom [were] blowing much stronger since Trump’s victory”. Asked by reporters on Wednesday whether President Milei was planning to withdraw from other international bodies or treaties, the presidential spokesman refused to rule out anything. “The president is very determined when it comes to making Argentina freer, so any link that Argentina has with bodies that go against its freedoms, we’re going to do our utmost to prevent them from interfering in the lives of Argentines.” Environmental activists in Argentina say they fear that Milei will follow in Trump’s footsteps and also set the wheels in motion to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement – the international treaty which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Source link #Argentinas #Milei #pull #move #mirroring #Trumps Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Old School RuneScape lets you take on the Royal Titans in new update Old School RuneScape lets you take on the Royal Titans in new update Old School RuneScape is getting a major new update with the Royal Titans Take on the fire and ice regent giants to gain powerful new rewards Alternative tasks can also nab you Slayer XP with a new Slayer Alternative Task It’s Old School RuneScape update time! But what have Jagex got for us this time? How about not one but two bosses? Still not impressed? Well, how about fighting them both at the same time? That’s your challenge with the new Royal Titans update, and it’s a giant problem to resolve, coming alongside even more content to celebrate OSR’s 12th anniversary! You’ll take part in a three-way battle between Ice and Fire giants in this new update. Brandr, the Fire queen, seeks to expand the territory of her fire giants and has arrived at the Asgarnian Ice Cave to do just that. But the ice giants are retaliating with their own regent, Eldric the King of Frost. And guess what? You’re stuck in the middle! Taking on this battle either alone or with another player in duos you’ll need to wield different gear to exploit elemental weaknesses and end this Promethean-level feud. But defeating these two titans offers some enticing loot with the Twinflame Staff and the Giantsoul Amulet, the latter of which can teleport you instantly to any of the three giant bosses. Clash of the titans But that’s not all! Taking down these Royal Titans will also net you Prayer Scrolls, Desiccated Pages and a Fire & Ice giant **** of your very own. You can also build up your accrue slayer XP with the Slayer Alternative Task, letting you gain slayer XP while bossing on any fire giant or ice giant task. Want to know exactly why the Slayer skill is so important and how more XP can help you in the late game? Then be sure to check out our guide on exactly why Slayer is an important skill in Old School Runescape. Meanwhile, if you want to expand your overall MMO repertoire you could always take a look at our list of the top 15 best MMOs for Android! Source link #School #RuneScape #lets #Royal #Titans #update Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

How real-world businesses are transforming with AI – with 50 new stories How real-world businesses are transforming with AI – with 50 new stories Updated February 5, 2025: The post contains 50 new customer stories, which appear at the beginning of each section of customer lists. The post will be updated regularly with new stories. One of the highlights of my career has always been connecting with customers and partners across industries to learn how they are using technology to drive their businesses forward. In the past 30 years, we’ve seen four major platform shifts, from client server to internet and the web to mobile and cloud to now — the next major platform shift to AI. As today’s platform shift to AI continues to gain momentum, Microsoft is working to understand just how organizations can drive lasting business value. We recently commissioned a study with IDC, The Business Opportunity of AI, to uncover new insights around business value and help guide organizations on their journey of AI transformation. The study found that for every $1 organizations invest in generative AI, they’re realizing an average of $3.70 in return — and uncovered insights about the future potential of AI to reshape business processes and drive change across industries. Check out the top 5 AI trends to watch from IDC and Microsoft Today, more than 85% of the Fortune 500 are using Microsoft AI solutions to shape their future. In working with organizations large and small, across every industry and geography, we’ve seen that most transformation initiatives are designed to achieve one of four business outcomes: Enriching employee experiences: Using AI to streamline or automate repetitive, mundane tasks can allow your employees to dive into more complex, creative and ultimately more valuable work. Reinventing customer engagement: AI can create more personalized, tailored customer experiences, delighting your target audiences while lightening the load for employees. Reshaping business processes: Virtually any business process can be reimagined with AI, from marketing to supply chain operations to finance, and AI is even allowing organizations to go beyond process optimization and discover exciting new growth opportunities. Bending the curve on innovation: AI is revolutionizing innovation by speeding up creative processes and product development, reducing the time to market and allowing companies to differentiate in an often crowded field. In this blog, we’ve collected more than 300 of our favorite real-life examples of how organizations are embracing Microsoft’s proven AI capabilities to drive impact and shape today’s platform shift to AI. Today, we’ve added new stories of customers using our AI capabilities at the beginning of each section. We’ll regularly update this story with more. We hope you find an example or two that can inspire your own transformation journey. Enriching employee experiences Generative AI is truly transforming employee productivity and wellbeing. Our customers tell us that by automating repetitive, mundane tasks, employees are freed up to dive into more complex and creative work. This shift not only makes the work environment more stimulating but also boosts job satisfaction. It sparks innovation, provides actionable insights for better decision-making and supports personalized training and development opportunities, all contributing to a better work-life balance. Customers around the world have reported significant improvements in employee productivity with these AI solutions: New Stories: Acentra Health created MedScribe using Azure OpenAI Service. The solution has saved 11,000 nursing hours and nearly $800,000. It also helped each nurse process 20 to 30 letters daily, while achieving a 99% approval rate for MedScribe-generated letters. Brisbane Catholic Education provides Microsoft 365 Copilot to 12,500 educators, and uses Microsoft Copilot Studio to create a generative AI tool to help educators integrate Catholic traditions and values into the classroom. Crediclub saves 96% per month in auditing expenses and analyzes 150 meetings per hour with Azure AI, freeing up time for 800 sales advisors and 150 branch managers to interact directly with customers. eClinicalWorks developed a tool using Azure AI services and Azure AI Document Intelligence to help healthcare workers scan, sort and match thousands of faxes each year to match the faxed data with current patient files. Education Authority of Northern Ireland (EANI) introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce admin work, allowing teachers to focus on students. The Microsoft partnership ensures secure and ethical AI use, while teacher training focuses on prompt writing and effective tool adoption. Ma’aden uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity, saving up to 2,200 hours monthly. Tasks like drafting emails, creating documents and data analysis have become more efficient, helping Ma’aden achieve its growth goals. Marketing org mci group uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance the use of AI and other technological advances to boost employee efficiency. Michelin deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot and a generative AI in-house chatbot based on Azure OpenAI Service called “Aurora” designed to help employees optimize work and team performance, boosting productivity tenfold. Raiffeisen Bank International built its own ChatGPT using Azure OpenAI Service to automate repetitive tasks like documenting intelligence and more rapidly summarize legal, regulation and banking documents. Sanabil Investments deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot to help employees reduce the time spent on manual everyday tasks that diverted focus from more strategic and valuable work. Within two months, approximately 70% of employees regularly used Copilot. Sensei rolled out Microsoft 365 to reduce the number of internal apps and better connect systems for easier collaboration, and is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to increase efficiency. Sikshana Foundation is working with Microsoft Research India to introduce an AI copilot for teachers that shortens preparation time for lessons from an hour or more to just minutes. The University of Hong Kong adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity by automating administrative tasks and providing intelligent assistance, allowing faculty to focus more on teaching. Accenture and Avanade launched a Copilot business transformation practice, supported by Microsoft, and co-invested in new capabilities, solutions and training to help organizations securely and responsibly reinvent their business functions with generative and agentic AI and Copilot technologies. Access Holdings Plc adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, integrating generative AI into daily tools and, as a result, writing code now takes two hours instead of eight, chatbots launch in 10 days instead of three months, and presentations are prepared in 45 minutes instead of six hours. Adobe is connecting Adobe Experience Cloud workflows and insights with Microsoft 365 Copilot to deliver generative-AI powered capabilities that enable marketers to increase collaboration, efficiency, and creativity. Amadeus empowers its teams to focus their time and skills on value-added tasks with Microsoft 365 Copilot, by summarizing email threads, chat or transcripts, and summing up information from diverse sources. ANZ has invested in Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, and Copilot in Microsoft Edge to boost productivity and innovation across its workforce. Asahi Europe & International (AEI) has adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, saving employees potentially 15% of time previously spent on administrative tasks. AXA developed AXA Secure GPT, a platform powered by Azure OpenAI Service that empowers employees to leverage the power of generative AI while targeting the highest level of data safety and responsible use of the tool. Axon Enterprise developed a new AI tool with Azure OpenAI Service called Draft One, resulting in an 82% decrease in time spent on reports, which freed up officers to engage more with their community. Aztec Group enhanced productivity and client experience by trialing Microsoft 365 Copilot with 300 staff, uncovering “unlimited” use cases and plans for a wider rollout. Bader Sultan & Bros. Co. W.L.L. implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance employee productivity and speed up customer response times. Bancolombia is using GitHub Copilot to empower its technical team, achieving a 30% increase in code generation, boosting automated application changes to an average of 18,000 per year, with a rate of 42 productive daily deployments. Bank of Queensland Group is using Microsoft 365 Copilot, with 70% of users saving two-and-a-half to five hours per week. BaptistCare Community Services is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to save employees time as they navigate workforce shortage challenges allowing them to focus more on the people they care for. Barnsley Council was recognized as “Double Council of the Year in 2023” for its implementation of Microsoft 365 Copilot, which modernized operations and reduced administrative tasks, leading to improved job satisfaction and increased creativity. BlackRock purchased more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses spanning all employees, functions and locations, helping improve the Copilot experience, including codeveloping new features and functions. British Heart Foundation is testing Microsoft 365 Copilot and in its initial test, users estimate that Microsoft 365 Copilot could save them up to 30 minutes per day. Buckinghamshire Council deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot with staff reporting productivity improvements, quality enhancements, and time savings which are enabling the different teams to do more with less. Campari Group adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to help employees integrate it into their workflow, resulting in time savings of about two hours a week from the support of routine activities such as email management, meeting preparation, content creation, and skill acquisition. ********* Tire Corporation moved its data from on-premises systems to Microsoft Azure and built digital assistants using Azure OpenAI Service, and now more than 3,000 corporate employees save 30 to 60 minutes a day using its ChatCTC digital assistant. Capita is using GitHub Copilot for productivity improvements as well as improvements in developer satisfaction, recruitment, and retention. Cathay leverages Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meetings and manage information more effectively, reducing time-consuming tasks and fostering creativity. CDW used Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve work quality for 88% of users, enabling 77% to complete tasks faster, and increasing productivity for 85% of users. Chi Mei Medical Center is lightening workloads for doctors, nurses, and pharmacists with a generative AI assistant built on Azure OpenAI Service. Clifford Chance adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline tasks, automate processes and enhance collaboration. Lawyers use it to draft and manage emails and ensure compliance, allowing them to focus on complex legal work and improve productivity. DLA Piper chose Microsoft 365 Copilot to boost productivity for operational and administrative teams, saving up to 36 hours weekly on content generation and data analysis. Eaton adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate the creation of 1,000 standard operating procedures to streamline customer service operations and improve data access across teams, cutting creation time from one hour to 10 minutes. E.ON is focused on Germany’s energy transition, leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to manage the complex grid in real-time, increasing productivity and efficiency for its workforce. Enerijisa Uretim has adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meeting summaries, reformat documents, and compile reports, enabling employees to concentrate on more strategic and fulfilling activities instead of spending six hours in meetings. EPAM is deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot to consolidate information and generate content and documents. Farm Credit Canada implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot which resulted in time savings on routine tasks for 78% of users, with 30% saving 30-60 minutes per week and 35% saving over an hour per week, allowing employees to focus on more value-added tasks. Finastra used Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate tasks, enhance content creation, improve analytics and personalize customer interactions, with employees citing a 20%-50% time savings. Four Agency Worldwide increased employee productivity using Microsoft 365 Copilot to generate ideas for creative work and support administrative-heavy processes, data analysis, and report generation, allowing staff to focus on outreach and less time doing paperwork. Goodwill of Orange County developed an AI-powered app using Azure AI capabilities to help more people, including those with developmental, intellectual, and physical disabilities, work in unfilled e-commerce positions. Harvey uses Azure OpenAI to simplify routine tasks across hundreds of law firms and legal teams, with one corporate lawyer saying he saved 10 hours of work per week. Honeywell employees are saving 92 minutes per week — that’s 74 hours a year! Disclaimer: Statistics are from an internal Honeywell survey of 5,000 employees where 611 employees responded. Insight employees using Copilot are seeing four hours of productivity gained per week from data summarization and content creation. Joos uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to grow its brand with worldwide collaboration by streamlining meetings, optimizing presentations, and improving communications. Kantar is harnessing the power of Microsoft 365 Copilot by reducing costly, time-consuming IT processes and boosting productivity for employees. KMS Lighthouse enhanced its knowledge management platform with Microsoft Teams and Dynamics 365 integration, enabling users to leverage KMS Lighthouse without having to switch applications. And with Azure OpenAI Service, companies can create relevant content more quickly within the KMS Lighthouse application. KPMG Australia is using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search, and Microsoft Copilot 365 to perform advanced text analysis of dozens of client source documents to identify full or partial compliance, or noncompliance, in a fraction of the time required for manual assessments. LGT is launching Microsoft Copilot LGT to improve efficiency, showing users save an average of an hour a week even in the pilot phase. Localiza&Co, a leader in the mobility industry in Latin America, implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate processes and improve efficiency, and reduced 8.3 working hours per employee per month. Lotte Hotels & Resorts has been creating a new work culture that allows employees to work more efficiently and focus on the nature of the work by adopting Microsoft Power Platform for automation. MAIRE is leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate routine tasks, saving over 800 working hours per month, freeing up engineers and professionals for strategic activities while supporting MAIRE’s green energy transition by reducing their carbon footprint. McDonald’s China chose Microsoft Azure AI, GitHub Copilot, and Azure AI Search to transform its operations, resulting in a significant increase in AI adoption, consumption, and retention from 2,000 to 30,000 employee transactions monthly. McKnight Foundation adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot for all staff, saving time, increasing productivity, and freeing space to focus on strategic priorities. Medigold Health uses Azure OpenAI Service to significantly reduce the time that clinicians spend writing reports during their consultation and administrative time. Morula Health is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity, streamline medical writing tasks, and ensure data security, ultimately improving efficiency and client satisfaction. Motor Oil Group is achieving remarkable efficiency gains by integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot into its workflows, with staff spending minutes on tasks that used to take weeks. Nagel-Group uses Azure OpenAI Service to help employees quickly access information which saves time, creates efficiency and transparency, and leads to higher-quality answers overall. National Australia Bank is leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot for daily productivity and data analysis and insights and Microsoft Copilot for Security to quickly analyze millions of security event logs and allow engineers to focus on more important areas. NFL Players Association integrated Azure AI Services and Azure App Service into their video review process, reducing review time by up to 73%, significantly increasing efficiency and enhancing player safety through consistent rule enforcement. O2 Czech Republic boosts productivity and streamlines meetings with Microsoft 365 Copilot, revolutionizing how information is shared and making automation a part of daily work. Onepoint developed a secure conversational agent based on Azure OpenAI which delivers productivity gains of between 10% and 15% across all business lines. Orange Group has over 40 use cases with Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot across business functions to support employees in their day-to-day tasks, enabling them to concentrate on higher value-added activities. Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve staff report productivity by saving one to two hours a week, or simple formatting tasks down to a matter of seconds, enabling more resources to deliver frontline services. PA Consulting transformed its sales operations with Microsoft 365 Copilot, so its people can invest more time on the activities that have the biggest impact for clients and maximize the strategic value they provide. Petrobras used Azure OpenAI Service to create ChatPetrobras, which is streamlining workflows, reducing manual tasks, and summarizing reports for its 110,000 employees. Petrochemical Industries Company automates work processes to save time with Microsoft 365 Copilot from weeks to days, hours to seconds. PIMCO built ChatGWM with Azure AI Studio, a comprehensive platform that provides the ability to ask questions, receive responses and verify answers all in one place, so teams can spend more time engaging clients and having deeper conversations. PKSHA Technology is optimizing their time on critical work by increasing efficiency in meeting preparations, data analytics, and ideation with the help of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Providence has collaborated with Nuance and Microsoft to accelerate development and adoption of generative AI-powered applications, helping improve care quality and access, and reduce physician’s administrative workloads. RTI International adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to gain productivity wherever possible, allowing staff to focus on their areas of expertise, delivering even better science-backed solutions for clients. SACE, an Italian finance and insurance firm, is using Microsoft 365 Copilot and Viva to boost productivity and unlock employee potential while enhancing overall well-being — and productivity improvement data from the first nine months of implementation shows a 23% increase. Sandvik Coromant is using Microsoft Copilot for Sales to drive efficiency and accuracy, shaving at least one minute off each transaction, allowing sellers and account managers to focus their expertise on responding to customers’ needs with analysis, creativity, and adaptability. Sasfin Bank built a solution on Microsoft Azure that centralized 20,000 documents to analyze contract clauses and provide real-time snapshots, moving guesswork into data-driven decision-making. Scottish Water implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot reducing mundane tasks to a minimum, and thus freeing up time for employees to work on the more meaningful tasks. Shriners Children’s developed an AI platform allowing clinicians to easily and securely navigate patient data in a singular location, enhancing patient care, and improving the efficiency of their healthcare services. Siemens is leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to improve efficiency, cut downtime, and address labor shortages. Softchoice employees are experiencing firsthand how Microsoft 365 Copilot can transform daily workflows, realizing productivity gains of 97% reduction in time spent summarizing technical meetings and up to 70% less time spent on content creation. Syensqo utilized Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service to develop a custom AI chatbot in three months, which improved their internal data management, decision-making, and overall efficiency. Teladoc Health uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to revolutionize its telehealth operations, automating routine tasks, boosting efficiency, and increasing productivity. Telstra developed two cutting-edge generative AI tools based on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service: 90% of employees are using the One Sentence Summary tool which resulted in 20% less follow-up customer contact and 84% of customer service agents using the Ask Telstra solution. Topsoe achieved 85% AI adoption among office employees in seven months, significantly enhancing productivity and business processes. Torfaen County Borough Council utilized Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline back-office processes, resulting in significant time savings and enhanced productivity for both business and children’s services teams, with further rollouts planned. Trace3 leveraged Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline and enhance processes across the business and with clients, such as reducing the time it takes HR recruiting managers to respond to applicants within a couple of days instead of several weeks. Unilever is reinventing their marketing process with Copilot, saving time on briefing tasks, automatically pulling in relevant market data, content and insights to accelerate campaign launches. Uniper SE implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce time spent on manual and repetitive tasks, and help workers focus on more pressing work, such as developing enhanced solutions to speed up the energy transition. Unum Group built a custom AI application to search 1.3 terabytes of data with 95% accuracy using Azure OpenAI Service. Virgin Atlantic adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot and is seeing real business benefits, including productivity improvements, enabling new ways of working. Visier built a generative AI assistant that leverages Azure AI and Azure OpenAI Services to deliver workforce analytics and actionable insights for more than 50,000 customers. Virtual Dental Care developed an AI application Smart Scan that leverages Microsoft Azure to reduce paperwork for mobile dental clinics in schools by 75% and frees dentists to devote more time to patient care. Zakladni Skola As Hlavkova adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot and saw a 60% improvement in handling administrative documents, decreased lesson preparation from hours to few minutes, increased inclusivity, and enhanced communication with students and parents. Reinventing customer engagement We’ve seen great examples of how generative AI can automate content creation, ensuring there’s fresh and engaging materials ready to go. It personalizes customer experiences by crunching the numbers, boosting conversion rates. It makes operations smoother, helping teams launch campaigns faster. Plus, it drives innovation, crafting experiences that delight customers while lightening the load for staff. Embracing generative AI is key for organizations wanting to reinvent customer engagements, stay ahead of the game and drive both innovation and efficiency. New Stories: Aditya Birla Capital built the SimpliFi chatbot on Microsoft Azure to simplify financial services information and offers through intelligent search and proactive nudging with minimum latency and high scalability. AIA is using Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service to allow customer service representatives to handle more cases in less time by automating time-consuming tasks like drafting customer emails and summarizing lengthy chats and case histories. Aydem Energy and Microsoft partner Softtech used Azure OpenAI Service to create an AI assistant for WhatsApp, providing customers with real-time updates and handling meter readings, bill checks and claims. The City of Buenos Aires developed Boti with ChatGPT using Azure OpenAI Service to manage multiple service channels and personalize key services for residents and tourists. The chatbot centralizes data, enables natural language interactions and scales to handle high demands, managing 2 million queries per month without human intervention, alleviating the operational burden by 50%, improving the citizen experience and increasing efficiency. de Alliantie built a generative AI chatbot using Azure OpenAI to digest information in their online knowledge base so staff can get accurate answers in seconds. Another Azure AI-based solution transcribes and summarizes calls, then categorizes them by theme. Haceb created a virtual technical support assistant with generative AI, helping on-the-ground technicians troubleshoot, diagnose and resolve product issues faster and more efficiently. Lloyds Banking Group developed the Branch Translation App using Microsoft Power Apps and Azure AI services with a goal to improve communication with non-English speaking customers and the innovation enhanced service delivery, receiving positive feedback from employees and customers alike. Staffbase provides its clients with Staffbase Companion, which helps it enhance internal communication with quick content generation, summarization, translation and future capabilities — and remain confident in data protection. Tekion built Automative Retail Cloud, a unified, cloud-native platform that uses generative AI to analyze communications, extract insights and provide customer-specific recommendations for sales agents. Welcome Account created a banking application with a conversational agent based on Azure OpenAI Service, in order to help people manage their finances and administrative procedures. This multilingual agent already assists no less than a thousand refugees on a daily basis. UBS is using Azure AI solutions, including Azure AI Search and Azure OpenAI Service, to power “Smart Assistants” that streamline content access and provide real-time information to Client Advisors, boosting efficiency and client engagement. Virbe enables businesses to interact with customers through AI-powered avatars, and with Azure AI services like Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Search, Virbe enhanced its AI avatars and simplified engagement with enterprise customers — and customers are seeing up to a 10x increase in leads. ————————————————————————————————————————– Absa has adopted Microsoft Copilot to streamline various business processes, saving several hours on administrative tasks each day. Adobe leverages Microsoft Azure to streamline the customer experience, harnessing the power of the connected cloud services and creating a synergy that drives AI transformation across industries. Acentra Health developed Medscribe, a web application that uses Azure OpenAI Service to generate draft letters in a secure, HIPPA-compliant enclave that responds to customer appeals for healthcare services within 24 hours, reducing the time spent on each appeal letter by 50%. Air India leveraged Azure OpenAI Service to develop a virtual assistant that has handled nearly 4 million customer queries with full automation, significantly enhancing customer experience and avoiding millions of dollars in customer support costs. Alaska Airlines is using Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Defender, and GitHub to ensure its passengers have a seamless journey from ticket purchase to baggage pickup and started leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to unlock more business value for its customer care and contact centers. Ally Financial is using Azure OpenAI Service to reduce manual tasks for its customer service associates, freeing up time for them to engage with customers. BMW Group optimizes the customer experience connecting 13 million active users to their vehicles with the MyBMW app on Azure, which supports 450 million daily requests and 3.2TB data processing. Boyner has tripled its e-commerce performance using Microsoft Azure, seeing a rise in customer satisfaction, engagement, conversion rate, and revenue. Bradesco Bank integrated Microsoft Azure to its virtual assistant, BIA, resulting in reduced response time from days to hours, improving operational efficiency and client satisfaction. Capgemini Mexico integrated GitHub Copilot to support scalable AI implementations which has led to improved customer experiences and increased efficiency. Capitec Bank uses Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft 365 Copilot, enabling their AI-powered chatbot to assist customer service consultants in accessing product information more efficiently, saving significant time for employees each week. Cdiscount is leveraging GitHub Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service to enhance developer efficiency, optimize product sheet categorization, and improve customer satisfaction. Cemex used Azure OpenAI Service to launch Technical Xpert, an AI tool used by sales agents to provide instant access to comprehensive product and customer solution information, significantly reducing search time by 80%. Chanel elevated their client experience and improved employee efficiency by leveraging Microsoft Fabric and Azure OpenAI Service for real-time translations and quality monitoring. City of Burlington created two AI-powered solutions: MyFiles system using Microsoft Power Platform for building permits, and CoBy, a 24/7 customer support assistant using Microsoft Copilot Studio. City of Madrid created an AI virtual assistant with Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service offering tourists accurate, real-time information and personalized responses in 95-plus languages. Cognizant is making performance management more effective and meaningful with Microsoft Azure Machine Learning to help clients across industries envision, build, and run innovative digital enterprises. Coles Group has leveraged Microsoft Azure to enhance its digital presence and improve customer engagement, rolling out new applications to its stores six times faster without disrupting workloads. Commercial Bank of Dubai used Microsoft Azure to upgrade its application infrastructure, improving transaction security and speed so individual customers can now open an account and start banking in about two minutes. Cradle Fund, dedicated to nurturing startups in Malaysia, introduced an AI-driven chatbot to boost user interaction and increase public engagement. User engagement quadrupled while resolution time was reduced from two days to a few clicks. Cradle also decreased customer service costs by 35%, increased international interactions by 40% and increased daily average visits 10-fold. Doctolib, a leading eHealth company in France, leverages Microsoft technology to develop an AI-powered medical assistant, integrating both Azure OpenAI Service and Mistral Large on Azure. Docusign used Azure AI to develop its Intelligent Agreement Management (IAM) platform, which supports millions of workflows, reducing contract processing times and enhancing customer satisfaction with advanced AI-powered analytics. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has significantly improved productivity and customer satisfaction by integrating multiple Microsoft AI solutions, reducing task completion time from days to hours and achieving a 98% customer happiness rate. Elcome uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve the customer experience, reducing response times from 24 hours to eight hours. elunic developed shopfloor.GPT based on Azure OpenAI leading to increased productivity for customers saving 15 minutes per request. Estée Lauder Companies is leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to create closer consumer connections and increase speed to market with local relevancy. First National Bank (FNB) is using Microsoft Copilot for Sales to help bankers create professional, thoughtful emails in 13 native South African languages, to enhance customer interactions, streamline communications, and reinforce its commitment to innovation and customer service. Flora Food Group migrated to Microsoft Fabric to offer more detailed and timely insights to its customers, enhancing service delivery and customer satisfaction. Groupama deployed a virtual assistant using Azure OpenAI Service that delivers reliable, verified and verifiable information, and boasts an 80% success rate. Holland America Line developed a virtual agent using Microsoft Copilot Studio that acts as a digital concierge on their website to support new and existing customers and travel advisors, which has achieved a strong resolution rate and is currently handling thousands of conversations per week. International University of Applied Sciences (IU) adopted Azure OpenAI Service to revolutionize learning with a personalized study assistant that can interact with each student just like a human would. Investec is using Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales to enhance the bank’s client relationships, estimating saving approximately 200 hours annually ultimately boosting sales productivity and delivering personalized, seamless customer experience. Jato Dynamics used Azure OpenAI Service to automate content generation, helping dealerships save approximately 32 hours each month. Kenya Red Cross worked with Pathways Technologies to develop a mental health chatbot in Azure AI. LALIGA is delivering a seamless fan experience and AI insights with Azure Arc, using AI in Azure for optimizing match scheduling and other key operations. Legrand used Azure OpenAI Service to reduce the time to generate product data by 60% and improve customer support interactions with fast, accurate information. Linum is using Microsoft Azure to train their text-to-video models faster and more efficiently without losing performance or wasting resources. Lumen Technologies is redefining customer success and sales processes through the strategic use of Microsoft 365 Copilot, enhancing productivity, sales, and customer service in the global communications sector. Mars Science & Diagnostics used the Azure AI catalog to build generative AI apps to enhance accuracy and extract data insights quickly, helping pets with critical, undiagnosed conditions receive the care they require faster. McKinsey & Companyis creating an agent to reduce client onboarding process by reducing lead time by 90% and administrative work by 30%. Meesho leveraged Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot to enhance customer service and software development, resulting in a 25% increase in customer satisfaction scores and 40% more traffic on customer service queries. Milpark Education integrated Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Studio and in just four months, improved efficiency and accuracy of student support, decreasing the average resolution time by 50% and escalation time by more than 30%. National Basketball Association is using Azure OpenAI Service to speed up the time to market, helping fans connect with the league with personalized, localized insights to enhance the fan experience. NC Fusion chose a comprehensive Microsoft solution to make marketing engagement activities easier and accurately target the best audience segments. Medgate, a telehealth subsidiary of Otto Group developed a medical Copilot powered by Azure OpenAI which summarizes consultations, supports triage, and provides real-time translations. Orbital Witness embraced the use of large language models (LLMs) in Azure OpenAI to build its innovative AI Agent application, Orbital Copilot, which can save legal teams 70 percent of the time it takes to conduct property diligence work. Pacific Gas & Electric built a chatbot using Microsoft Copilot Studio that saves $1.1 million annually on helpdesk support. Parloa took a “voice-first” approach and created an enterprise-grade AI Agent Management platform to automate customer interactions across phone, chat and messaging apps. Pockyt is using GitHub Copilot and anticipates a 500% increase in productivity in the medium to long term as they continue adapting AI and fine-tuning their software development life cycle. South Australia Department for Education launched an AI-powered educational chatbot to help safeguard students from harmful content while introducing responsible AI to the classrooms. Sync Labs is using Microsoft Azure to create AI-driven solutions that have led to a remarkable 30x increase in revenue and a 100x expansion of their customer base. Syndigo is using Azure to accelerate digital commerce for its customers by more than 40% and expand its customer base. Telkomsel created a virtual assistant with Azure OpenAI Service, resulting in a leap in customer self-service interactions from 19% to 45%, and call volume dropped from 8,000 calls to 1,000 calls a day. Torrens University chose to use Azure OpenAI to uplift its online learning experience, saving 20,000 hours and $2.4 million in time and resources. Trusting Social integrated Microsoft Azure services to launch AI-driven agents that are changing how banks function and transforming their customer’s banking experience. University of California, Berkeley used Azure OpenAI Service to deploy a custom AI chatbot that supports student learning and helps students with complex coursework. University of Sydney created a self-serve AI platform powered by Azure OpenAI Service, to enable faculty to build custom chatbots for enhancing student onboarding, feedback, career simulation, and more. Van Lanschot Kempen is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce the time needed for daily tasks, freeing up time to invest in that crucial personal connection. Virgin Money built an award-winning virtual assistant using Copilot Studio to help build customers’ confidence in their digital products and services. VOCALLS automates over 50 million interactions per year, resulting in a 78% reduction in average handling time aside from a 120% increase in answered calls. Vodafone Group is leveraging Microsoft’s AI solutions, including Azure AI Studio, OpenAI Service, Copilot, and AI Search, to achieve a 70% resolution rate for customer inquiries through digital channels and reduce call times by at least one minute. Walmart is using Azure OpenAI Service to deliver a helpful and intuitive browsing experience for customers designed to serve up a curated list of the personalized items a shopper is looking for. Weights & Biases created a platform which runs on Microsoft Azure that allows developers to keep records, log successes and failures, and automate manual tasks. World2Meet is providing better customer service and operations with a new virtual assistant powered by Microsoft Azure. Xavier College is modernizing its student information systems on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Azure to unlock powerful insights, fostering innovation and data-driven decision making. Zavarovalnica Triglav implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure OpenAI Service to streamline its operations with automated responses and smart rerouting of customer enquiries. Zurich Insurance Group used Azure OpenAI Service to develop advanced AI applications that led to more accurate and efficient risk assessment evaluations, accelerating the underwriting process, reducing turnaround times and increasing customer satisfaction. Reshaping business process Transforming operations is another way generative AI is encouraging innovation and improving efficiency across various business functions. In marketing, it can create personalized content to truly engage different audiences. For supply chain management, it can predict market trends so companies can optimize their inventory levels. Human resources departments can speed up the hiring process, while financial services can use it for fraud detection and risk assessments. With generative AI, companies are not just refining their current processes, they’re also discovering exciting new growth opportunities. New Stories: Bank of Queensland is modernizing its operations with Azure, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot, using AI to optimize business processes such as creating marketing content, building reports and plans and drafting HR content. Document360 created an AI-powered knowledge base and service platform for companies to create, manage and publish online documentation, including product manuals, SOPs and wikis. Eduvos is simplifying the student enrollment experience with Microsoft Azure and Dynamics 365, reducing the time from 90 days to nearly instantaneous and associated costs by 90%. Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) uses Azure Local to support its digital manufacturing platform, including support for safety-critical applications that use AI. Through its hybrid Azure environment, EGA has achieved 10 to 13 times faster AI response time and 86% cost savings for AI image and video use cases. Hellenic Cadastre built a system that reads and categorizes property contracts, applies legal rules and provides assessments for approval using Azure OpenAI Service. Today, property transaction assessments take less than 10 minutes instead of hours, reducing costs from 15 euros to 0.11 euros per assessment. The system also enhanced property owners’ legal security and boosted the Greek economy by enabling transactions to be completed sooner. Startup legal-i is using AI to analyze unstructured data and help expensive insurance specialists make better decisions faster — speeding up healthcare and insurance processes and improving the accuracy of outcomes. Publishing company SHUEISHA Inc. is using Microsoft Security Copilot to enable faster incident response, boosting the confidence and effectiveness of cybersecurity personnel. thyssencrupp is using the Siemens Industrial Copilot, built on Azure OpenAI Service, to address a skilled labor gap while revolutionizing how it programs and operates machinery. U.S. AutoForce implemented Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management to centralize warehouse data, connect processes and improve operational efficiency while using Microsoft Copilot for Finance to automate monthly reconciliations. ————————————————————————————————————————– ABB Group integrated Azure OpenAI Service into their Genix Copilot platform enabling customers to achieve up to 30% savings in operations and maintenance, 20% improvement in energy and emission optimization and an 80% reduction in service calls. Accelleron used Microsoft Power Platform to support numerous business applications and simplify processes for service agents and employees, resulting in the onboard of new agents in 30 minutes, compared to two days for other solutions. Accenture developed an AI-powered financial advisor that leverages RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure to enhance their infrastructure and integrate financial data. Atomicwork leverages Azure OpenAI to bring together three power capabilities: a conversational assistant, a modern service management system, and a workflow automation platform. Blink Ops fully embraced generative AI to build the world’s first Security Automation Copilot with more than 8,000 automated workflows to help any Security/IT task through prompts. Chalhoub Group is using Microsoft Fabric to modernize its data analytics and streamline its data sources into one platform, increasing agility, enhancing analytics, and accelerating processes. Cineplex is developing innovative automation solutions for finance, guest services, and other departments, saving the company over 30,000 hours a year in manual processing time. ClearBank moved its services to Microsoft Azure to gain scalability and efficiency, pushing out 183% more monthly system releases, gaining both scalability and efficiency. Danske Statsbaner increases productivity up to 30% with help from Microsoft AI solutions. Dentsu implemented Microsoft Azure AI Foundry and Azure OpenAI Service to build a predictive analytics copilot that supports media insights, cutting analysis time by 80% and overall time to insight by 90%, reducing analysis costs. Dow implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to empower teams with AI-driven insights and streamline essential workflows by automating tasks across departments, saving millions of dollars on shipping operations in the first year. Eastman implemented Microsoft Copilot for Security realizing the benefits of accelerated upskilling, step-by-step guidance for response, and faster threat remediation. Fast Shop migrated to Microsoft Azure creating a self-service culture of access to data, eliminating delays, reducing costs, and increasing leadership satisfaction with data while providing more agility in reporting. Florida Crystals adopted a value-added solution across Microsoft products including Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce telecom expenses and automate industrial process controls. GHD is reinventing the RFP process in construction and engineering with Microsoft 365 Copilot. GovDash is a SaaS platform that leverages artificial intelligence to streamline the entire business development lifecycle for government contracting companies using Azure OpenAI. Grupo Bimbo is deploying Microsoft’s industrial AI technologies to modernize its manufacturing processes, optimizing production and reducing downtime, driving significant cost savings, and empowering global innovation. Insight Canada implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline business operations, realizing a 93% productivity gains in functions including sales, finance, and human resources. Intesa Sanpaolo Group enhanced its cybersecurity with AI-enabled Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Copilot for Security, resulting in faster threat detection, increased productivity, and reduced storage costs. Kaya deployed a custom implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power *** to modernize its supply chain, leading to enhanced visibility, improved planning, and streamlined inter-department operations. Lenovo leveraged Dynamics 365 Customer Service to rapidly manage customer inquiries by streamlining repetitive tasks, boosted agent productivity by 15%, reduced handling time by 20% and reached record-high customer satisfaction. Lionbridge Technologies, LLC is using Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI Service to accelerate its delivery times and improve quality, reducing project turnaround times by up to 30%. LTIMindtree integrated Microsoft Copilot for Security, offering automated incident response, integrated threat intelligence, and advanced threat analysis. Mania de Churrasco used Microsoft Azure, Power Platform and Microsoft 365 to achieve high efficiency, security and scalability in its operations, in addition to improving its data intelligence, which indirectly participated in a 20% increase in sales year on year. National Bank of Greece built an Azure-powered Document AI solution to transform its document processing, improving the bank’s accuracy to 90%. Nest Bank has revolutionized its operations by integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service, resulting in doubled sales and increased daily transactions from 60,000 to 80,000 showcasing the transformative impact of generative AI in the financial sector. Network Rail modernized their data analytics solution with Microsoft Azure, helping engineers understand data 50% faster than before and improve efficiency, passenger experiences, and safety — all while saving costs. Nsure developed an AI-powered agent that uses Copilot Studio and Power Automate to reduce manual processing time by 60% while also reducing associated costs by 50%. Oncoclínicas implemented Microsoft Azure to transform its entire data ecosystem with a web portal and mobile application that performs all image processing and storage. Operation Smile used Azure OpenAI Service, Fabric, and Power Apps to eliminate manual data entry, resulting in reduced translation errors by about 90% and the time required for completing reports from four to five hours to just 15 to 20 minutes. Pacifico Seguros has adopted Microsoft Copilot for Security to optimize its security operations and anticipate and neutralize threats more efficiently and effectively. Parexel adopted Azure Databricks and Microsoft Power ***, achieving an 85% reduction in data engineering tooling costs, a 30% increase in staff efficiency, and a 70% reduction in time to market for data product delivery. Paysafe used Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meetings, information management, and document creation, addressing language barriers, eliminating time-consuming tasks, and boosting creativity along the way. Planted is integrating Azure OpenAI to manage everyday tasks more efficiently and facilitate the search for information for innovative process development. Presidio realized dramatic productivity gains saving 1,200 hours per month on average for the employees using Microsoft 365 Copilot and created 70 new business opportunities. Qatar Charity used Copilot Studio to increase its call center efficiency, reducing average handle time by 30%, increased customer satisfaction by 25%, and achieved a 40% reduction in IT maintenance costs. Saphyre uses Microsoft Azure and AI to provide an intelligent cloud-based solution that automates and streamlines financial trading workflows around client and counterparty life cycle management, reducing manual efforts by 75%. StarKist Foods used Azure to effectively unite production and demand processes with finance, reducing the planning cycle from 16 hours to less than one. Swiss International Air Lines migrated and modernized with Microsoft Azure, achieving up to 30% cost savings, a remarkable boost in platform stability along with enhanced security visibility. ZEISS Group uses Microsoft Fabric to create a secure and trusted data supply chain that can be shared effortlessly across a range of business units. ZF Group builds manufacturing efficiency with over 25,000 apps and 37,000 unique active users on Power Platform. Bending the curve on innovation Generative AI is revolutionizing innovation by speeding up creative processes and product development. It’s helping companies come up with new ideas, design prototypes, and iterate quickly, cutting down the time it takes to get to market. In the automotive industry, it’s designing more efficient vehicles, while in pharmaceuticals, it’s crafting new drug molecules, slashing years off R&D times. In education, it transforms how students learn and achieve their goals. Here are more examples of how companies are embracing generative AI to shape the future of innovation. New Stories: Agricultural Development Trust (ADT) of Baramati is analyzing water, weather, nutrient, pH data and more with AI to increase crop yields in India. DrumBeat.AI is using Microsoft AI services to predict, identify and treat ear diseases in communities that are both rural and remote, helping to prevent hearing loss among Indigenous communities in Australia. Dynamic Health Systems created its VitruCare365® platform on the Microsoft Cloud for healthcare technologies to enable motivational care planning. Built on Microsoft Azure, FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) and Dynamics 365, it provides personalized apps powered by Azure OpenAI Service to each patient and is deployed as an extension to the Microsoft 365 tools clinicians use every day. Cities can use Esri’s ArcGIS geospatial platform to create environmental digital twins that simulate heavy rainfall and apply hot spot analysis to highlight flooding. Adding Azure AI to the geospatial digital twin will reveal insights in impossible amounts of data. Digital employment agency Gojob developed Aglae, a virtual assistant based on Azure OpenAI Service, to pre-qualify candidates within 15 minutes, enabling recruiters to achieve record employment placement rates. Institut Curie and Microsoft partner Witivio developed Copilot for Researcher, an agent that can help researchers with some of the administrative tasks in their jobs so they have more time to spend on actual new ideas in the fight against *******. NASA created Earth Copilot to transform how people interact with Earth’s data. Parity is helping women athletes use data and AI to help improve their well-being, performance and careers. Petbarn created “PetAI” using Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search and Azure App Service to provide *********** **** owners highly personalized advice and product recommendations. Project Guacamaya is using daily satellite images and various AI models tailored to the Amazon ecosystem to help prevent its deforestation, allowing for quicker action to be taken in at-risk areas. Properstar developed a solution to simplify the analysis of unstructured real estate data and create a dynamic, AI-powered filtering system that provides more nuanced search results. RadarFit is using generative AI and a unique gamification strategy to encourage healthy habits in Brazil, with a comprehensive health and wellness program aimed at helping companies reduce chronic disease rates. SEDUC is using Microsoft 365 Copilot for administrative tasks — such as generating legal documents and handling administrative inquiries — and has expanded to include AI usage with students and teachers, including personalized learning to cater to individual student needs and help them recover from learning losses during the pandemic. Indonesia’s Universitas Terbuka used Microsoft Azure OpenAI services and Azure AI Foundry to build an AI tutor that delivers accurate, curriculum-aligned responses and streamlines student assessment. The tutor currently supports 500 classes and some 100,000 students. World Traveler is using AI including Microsoft Reading Progress and Microsoft Immersive Reader to help teachers reach its globally and educationally diverse students with personalized learning experiences. South Korean startup Wrtn Technologies brings ATI close to people, with a “superapp” that compiles an array of AI use cases and services, but localized for Korean users to integrate AI into their everyday lives. ————————————————————————————————————————– Air India has incorporated Microsoft 365 Copilot into multiple departments, unlocking a new realm of operational insights that not only provides critical data on flight punctuality and operational hurdles, but also empowers proactive, collaborative decision making. Agnostic Intelligencedeployed Azure OpenAI Service to eliminate time-consuming tasks, saving users up to 80% of their time, and enabling IT managers to focus on innovation and quality assurance. Albert Heijn is using Azure OpenAI for everything from customer personalization to demand forecast and food waste projects, making it easier for its customers to change their lifestyle. Amgen is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to boost productivity and has the potential to speed up drug development and support advancements in their business processes. APEC leverages Microsoft Azure and deep neural network algorithms to develop an app that enables healthcare providers to capture retinal images, increasing the accuracy to identify Retinopathy of Prematurity (RoP) to 90%. ASOS is using Azure AI Studio to help customers discover new looks with genuine shopping insights, personalized conversations, naturalism, and even humor to enliven the shopping journey. Auburn University is incorporating Microsoft Copilot to promote AI literacy, accessibility, and collaboration, with the aim to expand educational and economic opportunities for its entire academic community with AI-centric tools. B3 launched an AI assistant using Azure OpenAI Service that aids 10,000 users a day to answer Brazilians’ questions about how to start investing. Basecamp Research aims to build the world’s largest database of national biodiversity and apply AI and machine learning to advance bioscience. Bayer is using Microsoft Copilot to contribute to feeding a growing global population and helping people lead healthier, disease-free lives. BMW AG implemented Azure AI to develop a mobile data recorder copilot for faster data management helping engineers reduce the lead time for insights from days to hours or sometimes minutes. Brembo leveraged Azure OpenAI to develop ALCHEMIX, a solution to generate innovative compounds for its brake pads, drastically reducing the development time of new compounds from days to mere minutes. Canary Speech can now train new vocal models in as little as two months and handle millions of transactions per month with Microsoft Azure. CapitaLand simplified internal processes increasing efficiency to more than 10,000 man-days saved per year and deployed Azure OpenAI Service to build the first AI hospitality chatbot for its lodging business. Cassidy is using Azure OpenAI Service to enhance efficiency across various industries, supporting over 10,000 companies. Coca-Cola is implementing Azure OpenAI Service to develop innovative generative AI use cases across various business functions, including testing how Microsoft 365 Copilot could help improve workplace productivity. Denso is developing “human-like” robots using Azure OpenAI Service as the brain to help robots and humans work together through dialogue. eFishery is using Azure OpenAI for farmers to get the data and insights on fish and shrimp farming, including more precise feeding and water quality monitoring. EY developed an application that automatically matches and clears incoming payments in SAP, resulting in an increase from 30% to 80% in automatically cleared payments and 95% matched payments, with estimated annual time savings of 230,000 hours globally. EY worked with Microsoft to make Azure AI Foundry more inclusive for all, serving the 20% of the global workforce identifying as neurodivergent. FIDO is using Azure OpenAI Service to develop an AI tool that uses sound to pinpoint leaky pipes, saving precious drinking water. Georgia Tech is using Azure OpenAI Service to enhance the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, achieving rapid data classification and predictive modeling, highlighting the reliability of networked chargers over non-networked ones. GigXR developed a solution to create the intelligence for specific AI patients using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and other Azure services. GoTo Group is significantly enhancing productivity and code quality across its engineering teams by adopting GitHub Copilot, saving over seven hours per week and achieved a 30% code acceptance rate. GovTech used Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to create LaunchPad, sparking more than 400 ideas and 20 prototypes, laying the foundation for the government to harness the power of generative AI. H&R Block is using Azure AI Studio and Azure OpenAI Service to build a new solution that provides real-time, reliable tax filing assistance. Haut.AI provides skin care companies and retailers with customizable, AI-based skin diagnostic tools developed with the help of Microsoft AI. Helfie is building a solution that caters to healthcare providers who can arm their patients with an application to more quickly and accurately access the care they need. Hitachi will implement Azure Open AI Service, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and GitHub Copilot to create innovative solutions for the energy, mobility and other industries. Icertis is providing AI-based tools that will recognize contract language and then build algorithms to automatically choose the right approach based on the content of the contract. Iconem leveraged AI-generated imagery to process and analyze a vast amount of photogrammetry data used to create the 3D digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica, allowing visitors to explore every intricate detail from anywhere in the world. ITOCHU is using Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Studio to evolve its data analytics dashboard into a service that provides immediate recommendations by automatically creating evidence-based product proposals. IU International University of Applied Sciences (IU) is using the power of Azure OpenAI Service to develop Syntea, an AI avatar integrated into Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot, making learning more personalized, autonomous and flexible. Khan Academy has partnered with Microsoft to bring time-saving and lesson-enhancing AI tools to millions of educators. Lufthansa Group developed an animated 3D avatar called Digital Hangar to help guide passengers from initial travel inspiration to flight booking through an exchange with an Avatar in natural language. Mia Labs implemented Azure OpenAI to produce and protect its conversational AI virtual assistant Mia that provides fast support from investors, along with the sophisticated security posture and threat protection capabilities for AI workloads. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is using Azure OpenAI Service to help accelerate digital innovation in power plants. Molslinjen has created an AI analytics toolbox that has reduced fuel emissions, improved customer satisfaction, and brought in millions of additional revenue. New Sun Road implemented AI into a local controller for energy systems to balance the supply, storage and use requirements. This optimized loads to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy for local clean power for communities. Novo Nordisk recently published initial results with predictive AI models for advanced risk detection in cardiovascular diseases, including an algorithm that can predict patients’ cardiovascular risk better than the best clinical standards. Ontada implemented Azure AI and Azure OpenAI Service to target nearly 100 critical oncology data elements across 39 ******* types and now accesses an estimated 70% of previously unanalyzed or unused information, accelerating its life science product development, speeding up time to market from months to just one week. Paige.AI​ is using AI and Microsoft Azure to accelerate ******* diagnoses with data from millions of images. Pets at Home created an agent to help its retail fraud detection team investigate suspicious transactions. Plan Heal is using Microsoft AI to create solutions that enable patients to monitor and report health metrics so care providers can better serve them. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is testing a new battery material that was found in a matter of weeks, not years, as part of a collaboration with Microsoft. Rijksmuseum is harnessing the power of Copilot to make art accessible at scale by joining forces with Microsoft to improve and expand the art experience for blind and low-vision community members. Royal National Institute of Blind People is using Azure AI Services to develop an AI-based solution that quickly and accurately converts letters to braille, audio, and large print formats. Schneider Electric provides productivity-enhancing and energy efficiency solutions and is using a whole suite of AI tools to hasten its own innovation and that of its customers. SPAR ICS created an award-winning, AI-enabled demand forecasting system achieving 90% inventory prediction accuracy. SustainCERT deployed GenAI and machine learning for automated data verification, extraction from documents and to accelerate auditing processes to enable verifying the impacts and credibility of carbon credits. Suzuki Motor Corporation is adopting Azure OpenAI Service for data security, driving company-wide use with five multipurpose apps. Tecnológico de Monterrey created a generative AI-powered ecosystem built on Azure OpenAI Service with the goal to personalize education based on the students’ needs, improve the learning process, boost teachers’ creativity and save time on tedious tasks. TomTom is using Azure OpenAI Service, Azure Cosmos DB, and Azure Kubernetes Service to revolutionize the driver experience. Toyota is deploying AI agents to harness the collective wisdom of engineers and innovate faster in a system named “O-Beya,” or “big room” in Japanese. The “O-Beya” system currently has nine AI agents — from a Vibration Agent to a Fuel Consumption Agent. Unilever is partnering with Microsoft to identify new digital capabilities to drive product innovation forward, from unlocking the secrets of our skin’s microbiome to reducing the carbon footprint of a multibillion-dollar business. Unity used Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to build Muse Chat, an AI assistant that can guide creators through common questions and help troubleshoot issues to make game development easier. University of South Florida is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to alleviate the burden of repetitive, time-consuming tasks so faculty and staff can spend this time creatively solving problems, conducting critical research, establishing stronger relationships with peers and students, and using their expertise to forge new, innovative paths. Utilidata built the first distributive AI and accelerated computing platform for the electric grid allowing flexible transformation and dynamic infrastructure to increase electrification and decarbonization. Visma has developed new code with GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Azure DevOps, and Microsoft Visual Studio, as much as 50 percent faster, contributing to increased customer retention, faster time to market, and increased revenue. Wallenius Wilhelmsen is implementing Microsoft 365 Copilot and using Microsoft Viva to drive sustainable adoption, streamlining processes, empowering better decision making, and cultivating a culture of innovation and inclusion. Wipro is committed to delivering value to customers faster and improving the outcomes across the business by investing $1 billion in AI and training 200,000 employees on generative AI principles with Microsoft Copilot. Read more: IDC InfoBrief: sponsored by Microsoft, 2024 Business Opportunity of AI, IDC# US52699124, November 2024 Tags: AI, AI Azure, Azure OpenAI Service, Copilot, Copilot Studio, Microsoft 365 Copilot Source link #realworld #businesses #transforming #stories Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

India’s Modi to visit US and meet Trump next week India’s Modi to visit US and meet Trump next week Nikita Yadav BBC News, Delhi Reuters Modi and Trump shared warm relations during the US president’s first term Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the US next week and meet President Donald Trump, the White House says. Other reports say Modi will attend a dinner hosted by the US president on the two-day trip. The dates of the official working visit have yet to be announced. Modi will be among the first foreign leaders to meet Trump at the White House during his second term. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently in Washington and Japan’s PM Shigeru Ishiba is due this week. Modi and Trump shared warm relations during the US president’s first term. Last week they held a “productive” phone call and discussed ******** immigration, security and trade ties, the White House said. Analysts say it will be interesting to see if the bonhomie between the two men will help overcome concerns about trade and immigration. Trump called Modi a “great leader” last year but also accused India of charging excessive tariffs. Confirmation of the Indian leader’s visit to Washington came shortly after a US military flight deporting about 100 Indian nationals landed in the state of Punjab. All those on board are said to have either entered the US illegally, or overstayed their visas. During last week’s call, Trump said he was sure India “will do the right thing” when it comes to ******** immigration. He has made the mass deportation of undocumented foreign nationals a key policy. Earlier, Bloomberg reported that 18,000 undocumented Indian migrants living illegally in the US had so far been identified, but the real number is likely to be higher. According to the Pew Research Center, there were an estimated 725,000 undocumented Indian immigrants in the US last year. India has so far escaped the threat of tariffs on its exports to the US. In the past however, Trump has called India a “tariff king” and a “big abuser” of trade ties and threatened reciprocal action if Delhi did not reduce taxes on US imports. India’s recent budget saw duties slashed on a range of goods, including high-end motorcycles like the iconic Harley Davidson. India’s finance secretary told local media this was a sign the country was “not a tariff king”. Last week, the Indian foreign ministry said the two countries were working to further deepen their bilateral relations. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar represented India at Trump’s inauguration ceremony and held talks with his US counterpart Marco Rubio while in Washington. In November, following Trump’s election victory, Jaishankar said the country was not nervous about working with the US president. Source link #Indias #Modi #visit #meet #Trump #week Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Threats against federal officials surging, Capitol police report shows Threats against federal officials surging, Capitol police report shows A report produced by federal investigators with the U.S. Capitol Police revealed the number of investigations into threats against Congress and the Capitol complex surged to the second-highest number on record in 2024, amid a toxic and menacing moment in American politics. The agency’s threat division investigated 9,474 “concerning statements or direct threats” against members of Congress in 2024, a sharp increase from the 8,008 cases investigated in 2023. The 2024 number is nearly three times higher than the number of threats investigated in 2017. And other than 2021, it the largest number for a single year on record for the U.S. Capitol Police. A CBS News review of the range of threat cases investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department shows a range of crimes and finds the cases span different states and regions. In one recent case, a man in the San Jose, California, area is accused of using Instagram in early 2024 to send a message to a Florida legislator saying “I’m gonna bring a gun to ur office tomorrow and shoot u and ur staff.” In June, the Justice Department announced an Alaska man pleaded guilty to a federal charge for making interstate threats to kidnap and injure a sitting U.S. senator. The Justice Department has also prosecuted and helped investigate a wave of new swatting attacks targeting members of Congress. A swatting attack, in which a false 911 call is made to lure police swat teams to respond in force to a target’s home, have menaced several members of Congress over the past year. Two foreign nationals were charged in 2024 with targeting dozens of members of Congress with threatening swatting incidents. Some of the recent wave of death threats have included voicemail messages left on the office phone systems of members of Congress or in vulgar and violent calls received by their staff and interns. Early last year, a jury in Florida convicted a man of issuing death threats to a Member of Congress. According to the Justice Department, the man’s messages threatened, “You’re gonna get f—— murdered you go***amn lying piece of garbage. Watch your back, you ****, ugly, piece of s—. You are dead.” In a statement, U.S. Capitol Police chief Tom Manger said that “we must continue to enhance our protective and intelligence operations to keep up with this evolving threat environment.” In 2023, a man wielding a baseball bat assaulted staffers inside a Virginia office of Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, underscoring how members of Congress and their staff can be targeted in hometown offices, communities and during travel. Connolly told CBS News, “Between the insurrection on Jan. 6 and the attack on my district office, I can attest firsthand to the critical importance of the U.S. Capitol Police’s mission.” Rep. Joe Morelle, a New York Democrat who is the ranking member of the Committee on House Administration, told CBS News that she “will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that Members, visitors, and staff are safe and that our security partners have the resources needed to carry out that mission.” “As violent criminals are pardoned by the president and released into DC and our districts, the threats to Capitol security and member safety are more serious than ever,” she said. Scott MacFarlane Scott MacFarlane is a congressional correspondent. He has covered Washington for two decades, earning 20 Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards. His reporting has resulted directly in the passage of five new laws. Source link #Threats #federal #officials #surging #Capitol #police #report #shows Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Secularist Group Forces Michigan Jail to Remove ‘Peacekeepers’ ****** Verse Secularist Group Forces Michigan Jail to Remove ‘Peacekeepers’ ****** Verse A ****** verse will be removed from the entrance of a new jail in central Michigan after critics said it was a government endorsement of religion. “Blessed are the peacekeepers for they shall be called the children of God” was prominently displayed at the Isabella County Criminal Justice Center. The scripture comes from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:9. Sheriff Michael Main said he wanted to honor first responders and law enforcement, not promote religion. But according to a Morning Sun report, those words will be removed. “To ensure that the intended message remains clear and inclusive, we will develop a new slogan that continues to express our appreciation for public safety personnel,” Main told the outlet. The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to county officials, arguing the message on the building would violate its interpretation of the separation between church and state. “This is explicitly a Christian quote, and only a Christian quote,” attorney Samantha Lawrence wrote. The newly constructed jail will open soon. Anti-Religion Group Opposes TX Prison Faith Initiative Meanwhile, the anti-religion FFRF is also openly opposing Texas legislation that would reward the good conduct of inmates who study the ****** or other faith traditions. State Sen. Bryan Hughes has authored S.B. 676 which would provide good conduct time for those who study any religious text. It would positively impact their parole. “It’s about redemption for that individual and it’s about keeping our whole society safer,” Hughes said. “If we have inmates that are studying the ******, studying religious texts, we know that’s probably going to make them better citizens and less likely to be criminals when they get out.” Government Affairs Manager at the Freedom from Religion Foundation Mickey Dollens argues it “is a coercive bill.” Dollens is criticizing the legislation saying it is too broad and unconstitutional, KLTV-TV reports. “If you’re going to include the studying of religious texts, there should also be options for those non-religious inmates as well,” he said. “I am totally for good behavior and early release time, but we should keep that to the scope of the Constitution.” Hughes pushed back contending the bill treats non-religious inmates fairly. “Just like an inmate who doesn’t want to take a vocational course or doesn’t want to take a high school equivalency course, no one is forcing them to do that,” he said. Source link #Secularist #Group #Forces #Michigan #Jail #Remove #Peacekeepers #****** #Verse Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Will Fortnite bring Season 2 OG Battle Pass back? All you need to know Will Fortnite bring Season 2 OG Battle Pass back? All you need to know Epic Games recently released Fortnite OG Season 2, and many players believe that its Battle Pass will return as well. Source link #Fortnite #bring #Season #Battle #Pass Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Windows 11’s Start menu search gets new, clearer labels, as Microsoft tries to avoid EU regulation trouble Windows 11’s Start menu search gets new, clearer labels, as Microsoft tries to avoid EU regulation trouble Microsoft is modifying Windows 11 search in the EEA to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act Start Menu search now separates local on-device results from web results, which remain powered by Bing Other DMA-driven changes include uninstalling Edge and disabling Bing search, but only for EEA users Microsoft is tweaking Windows 11’s search feature in the Start menu for users in the European Economic Area (EEA) to comply with new EU rules (specifically the Digital Markets Act, or DMA). Normally, when you search in the Start menu, Windows 11 shows results from both your computer and the internet (using Microsoft’s search engine, Bing). But now, it looks like Microsoft will make those search results more obviously separate. MSPowerUser reports that the change can be seen in a new Windows 11 Insider Preview Build, build number 27764. One Windows Insider and X poster @alex290292 shared a screenshot showing this new Start menu user interface (UI) with two sections in the search window; one labelled “Windows” and the other “Web search from Bing” (note that their Windows 11 language is set to *******). The search will soon differentiate between “Windows” and “Web search from Microsoft Bing”. pic.twitter.com/gLODnEnaeUDecember 11, 2024 Windows 11’s search shake-up after a nudge from the EU This change follows several other updates that give users more control over how they use Windows 11, including the introduction of custom web search providers’ results into Windows Search, and the ability to uninstall Microsoft Edge (the default web browser that comes preinstalled in Windows 11) from their device and disable Bing web search. These changes were also brought in to comply with the DMA, so while the EU isn’t letting up on its regulatory stance, Microsoft is playing ball for now. The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a set of rules designed to keep big tech companies from using their dominance to box out competition. Since Windows is hugely popular, Microsoft has to play fair and not use it as a way to force people into using its other services, like pushing Bing and Edge instead of letting users choose their own search engine or browser. That’s where the DMA steps in: to make sure companies like Microsoft don’t unfairly steer users toward their own products when they should be offering real choices. Another intriguing change that we can expect to Windows 11’s Start menu soon is when you right-click on an app pinned there, you’ll see new ‘jump lists’ that pop up. As explained by MSPowerUser, a jump list is a flyout menu that provides quick access to recent files, folders, or tasks associated with an app by right-clicking its icon on the taskbar or Start menu. Microsoft’s decision to separate Windows 11’s local and web search results might seem like a straightforward tweak, but it also highlights the company’s reluctance to make a simple change like this without being given a reason to by an external influence (in this case the EU). Integrating Bing tightly into Windows 11’s search features seems motivated by Microsoft’s business ambitions, namely wanting to direct more user traffic to Bing in the hopes of increasing user engagement with Microsoft services and getting higher ad revenues. Closing the gap with market leader Google is also likely an ambition of Microsoft. Separating Windows 11’s search results may be effectively disrupting these aims a little, but it’s in the interest of supporting greater user choice. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. (Image credit: 123RF) A welcome tidy-up (but only in Europe) The fact that this update only applies to the EEA suggests that Microsoft isn’t keen on rolling it out more widely, likely because it would reduce the passive traffic Bing receives from Windows 11 users worldwide. From a user perspective, this change is a welcome improvement, particularly for those frustrated with how cluttered and inconsistent the Start menu search can feel. The primary concern with the current setup is that it combines local and web results in a way that might not always serve users’ best interests. Searching for a file or app on your PC, only to be met with a mix of content that’s actually on your device and web suggestions (which often feel irrelevant) can be more distracting than helpful. By giving users a clearer distinction between on-device and online results, this change ensures that Windows Search serves its intended purpose, in particular finding what you need on your PC first, rather than acting as a disguised gateway to Microsoft’s services. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE… Source link #Windows #11s #Start #menu #search #clearer #labels #Microsoft #avoid #regulation #trouble Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Ange: Spurs will “go for it” in critical League Cup tie Ange: Spurs will “go for it” in critical League Cup tie Preparing for a match that could be a defining one in his Tottenham reign, there’s no hint of trepidation from Ange Postecoglou as he looks forward to stepping into the Liverpool’s fearsome Anfield den with a place in a Wembley Cup final on the line. Holding on a 1-0 lead going into Thursday’s League Cup semi-final second leg, Postecoglou had more injury bad news to relate as he revealed key defender Micky van de Ven wouldn’t be fit for the tie. That doesn’t bode well in a match that shapes as critical for Postecoglou after Spurs’ recent travails. Booking a place at Wembley and the prospect of his first trophy for a silverware-starved club would represent a potentially job-protecting night for the ***********. Defeat, though, would only heap the pressure further on a man who would then be reliant on a major Europa League or FA Cup run to deflect from Spurs’ current Premier League woes which see them languishing in 14th place. Yet the 59-year-old still sounded in upbeat mood as he suggested soaraway Liverpool, the league leaders, had just as much pressure on them in such a big game. Spurs, he reckoned, were ready to “go for it”. “It’s a big occasion for everyone. It’s a semi-final. I don’t think Liverpool will be any less anxious than us. It’s a big game for both clubs,” Postecoglou said on the eve of the match on Wednesday. “You recognise that, you embrace that, but ultimately if you want to be successful, these are the games you want to be involved in, so there’s no point having any trepidation about it because the alternative is you’ll be watching two other teams playing on the TV and you’re sitting at home on a couch and wishing you were. “So we’re going to be there, we’ve got a chance – and we’ll go for it.” And would needing to protect a first-leg lead make any difference to the way Spurs, so often attack-minded under Postecoglou, approached the tie. “It depends what you think our philosophy is,” said Postecoglou. “My philosophy is to try and win games of football. If people haven’t understood my philosophy after 26 years of management, I don’t think anything I say now will change that.” Spurs’ new recruits from the transfer window, Austrian defender Kevin Danso and Bayern Munich loanee striker Mathys Tel are both available to be plunged into high-profile debuts. “Kevin will play. Whether he starts or not, we will have a look because we have another game in three days,” said Postecoglou, who was quick to emphasise the signings hadn’t been made as panic buys in the face of the team’s ongoing injury crisis. “We wouldn’t be signing 19 and 20-year-olds reactively. If it was reactive, I would be signing 35-year-olds. The nature of the players we have signed shows they are not just about now. They are about us continuing to build.” Liverpool also have a key absentee through injury with manager Arne Slot revealing Trent Alexander-Arnold was still struggling with a thigh injury. “He left the pitch with a bit of a pain in his leg at Bournemouth. He is already back on the pitch with the rehab coach so let’s see how long it is going to take,” said the Dutchman. Source link #Ange #Spurs #critical #League #Cup #tie Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Amazon is holding a devices event on February 26 Amazon is holding a devices event on February 26 Amazon is set to show off some new stuff later this month. The company has scheduled a devices event for February 26 in New York City. The company’s hardware chief, Panos Panay, and his devices and services team will be on hand. The event will start at 10AM ET. The event invitation that Amazon sent to the media doesn’t give much away. It includes the date, the Amazon smile/arrow logo and a tagline that reads “See what’s next.” Some swoopy blue lines are in the background. It hasn’t been too long since Amazon refreshed the Kindle lineup, so it seems a little unlikely that we’ll see new e-readers from the company later this month. Instead, Amazon may finally be ready to spill the beans about the long-gestating next-gen Alexa, which it reportedly planned to reveal last October before a delay. The head of Amazon’s artificial general intelligence said in January that the company had been dealing with technical difficulties, such as incorrect or false results that tend to be an issue for generative AIs. If, indeed, the next-gen Alexa is the focal point of the event, Amazon may have new audio gear to show off. As such, new Echo speakers and Echo Buds could be on the agenda. We might also learn just how much Amazon plans to charge for a subscription to this turbocharged version of Alexa. Source link #Amazon #holding #devices #event #February Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

USPS had ceased accepting parcels from China and Hong Kong late Tuesday, potentially affecting numerous PC parts — service was restored by early Wednesday USPS had ceased accepting parcels from China and Hong Kong late Tuesday, potentially affecting numerous PC parts — service was restored by early Wednesday The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that it would suspend the acceptance of parcels from Hong Kong and China late Tuesday, February 4, 2024, only for the federal agency to retract its statement early the following day. According to CNN, the USPS suggested that the suspension was because of President Trump’s newly announced tariffs on China and other countries, alongside the cancelation of the ‘de minimis exemption’ — meaning parcels arriving into the U.S. worth less than $800 are no longer exempt from import duties and inspections. This move will likely massively impact millions of cheap PC parts made in China and Hong Kong, meaning those wanting to build their workstations and gaming setups will have to pay more. It will also make shipments take far longer if the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) needs to inspect each arriving box. CNN reports that at least four million sub-$800 packages arrive in the U.S. daily, and the CBP doesn’t have the personnel to inspect each one individually. At least half of these ‘di minimis exempted’ parcels come from China, and retailers based in East Asia and selling their goods to the U.S. would be the hardest hit. However, the average American consumer would also be negatively affected. They would have to pay more to get their desired items, and shipments would likely take longer. If and when the USPS implements these changes, e-commerce platforms Shein and Temu will be the first to be affected. Still, many computer manufacturers and OEMs would also be gravely affected. For example, some Apple products, including MacBooks and iPhones, are assembled in China, so if Apple can quickly move most of its manufacturing to its other production bases in Taiwan, Vietnam, and India, you can expect Apple to raise prices soon. While many of the advanced chips sold in the U.S. aren’t made in China, the devices that use them, like Lenovo and HP laptops, are often assembled there, so they’ll be impacted by the tariffs imposed by Trump. The suspension might have given us some breathing room on these tariffs, but expect it to be temporary. The USPS said in a statement, “The USPS and Customs and Border Protection are working closely together to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to ensure the least disruption to package delivery.” So, once the USPS and CBP build an efficient system that allows them to quickly and easily apply import duties to every arriving parcel, expect nearly everything from China to cost more. Well, at least the delay shouldn’t be significant, but we won’t be sure until the system is in place. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #USPS #ceased #accepting #parcels #China #Hong #Kong #late #Tuesday #potentially #affecting #numerous #parts #service #restored #early #Wednesday Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Canada can do ‘substantial’ work fast on internal trade, minister says – National Canada can do ‘substantial’ work fast on internal trade, minister says – National Canada is making “incredible” progress in removing three major internal trade barriers, Transport and Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand told reporters in Halifax on Wednesday. Anand described the work as “fast-paced progress with all of the provinces and territories.” “We had an urgent meeting on Friday of the relevant ministers. At that meeting, we reached three strong recommendations,” she said. Canada’s Committee on Internal Trade met last week to discuss how to open up trade between Canada’s provinces. Anand said the first major recommendation that the committee agreed to implement is mutual recognition of regulations across the country. “That is, in other words, respecting the rules in place in other jurisdictions. So, you don’t have to comply, if you’re a trucker, with moving your lights to a slightly different location if you cross a provincial boundary,” she said. Story continues below advertisement She added, “Secondly, we all agreed to reduce the exceptions in the ********* Free Trade Act.” The ********* Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) is an intergovernmental trade agreement signed by the federal government and all 13 provinces and territories that entered into force in July 2017. It governs the internal flow of goods between the country’s different jurisdictions. 5:00 CFIB on the need to dismantle interprovincial trade barriers Anand said the committee also agreed to make labour mobility across Canada smoother, making it easier for a professional certified in one province to practice in another. Get daily National news Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. “If you’re a construction worker or a nurse or a doctor, you don’t have to reapply for permits and licenses simply because you’re going where demand is taking you to another part of the country,” she said. Story continues below advertisement Anand said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is planning to meet with the premiers Wednesday, where they will discuss these measures. “I will be attending that meeting to discuss these very recommendations and the momentum is palpable. The moment is here and we are seizing the moment,” Anand said. She said Ottawa will also change procurement rules. “We’re going to put on the table the removal of exceptions in the area of procurement so that we don’t have as many restrictions relating to who can compete for federal contracts.” 1:46 New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt calls for removal of interprovincial trade barriers Anand said Ottawa will also cut the red tape, to avoid duplication between federal government rules and provincial and territorial regulations. “You’re going to see these barriers coming down and there is no need for legislation in order for that to happen,” she said. Any legislation would not be able to be passed while Parliament is prorogued, and it is not set to return until March 24 — but that could be longer if an election is called before that. Trending Now Donald Trump Jr. accused of killing rare, protected bird on trip to Italy Made in Canada vs. Product of Canada: Know the difference to ‘Buy *********’ Story continues below advertisement Anand said progress can be made in the short term. “Substantial progress can be made in the short term in reducing barriers to interprovincial trade in goods and services,” she said. When asked if Ottawa could break down these barriers before Trump’s extended deadline on tariffs is up in March, she said, “We met on Friday and we are meeting again at the beginning of March. And in between that time, I expect that we will see substantial progress.” 0:50 Trump tariffs: Premier Houston urges Canada to remove inter-provincial trade barriers Industry groups in Canada breathed a sigh of relief Monday when Trump agreed to pause tariffs on Canada after a phone call with Trudeau. But Canada is not out of the woods yet, they argue, and now is the time to dismantle some interprovincial trade barriers to blunt the impact of future tariffs Trump may decide to impose. Story continues below advertisement The ********* Chamber of Commerce says it is encouraging to see political momentum on removing barriers between provinces, but it needs to be sustained. “With the growing uncertainty in our trade relationship with the U.S., we can’t afford to ignore opportunities to strengthen trade within our own borders,” Randall Zalazar, director of government relations at the Chamber, told Global News. “Governments across Canada need to keep this momentum going, both to boost our economy and to improve long-term stability.” The 2024 fall economic statement cited International Monetary Fund numbers on how much opening up internal trade could grow Canada’s economy. “According to a study by the International Monetary Fund, Canada could increase its GDP per capita by as much as 4 per cent — or $2,900 per capita estimated in 2023 dollars through liberalization of internal trade in goods,” the budget document said. More on Canada More videos &copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc. Source link #Canada #substantial #work #fast #internal #trade #minister #National Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Oklahoma State University President Kayse Shrum has resigned Oklahoma State University President Kayse Shrum has resigned Oklahoma State University President Kayse Shrum has resigned, the board of regents announced Wednesday. The Oklahoma State University A&M Board of Regents accepted her resignation effective Feb. 3, according to a statement released by the board. “We extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. Shrum for her dedicated leadership, unwavering commitment to students, and significant contributions to the OSU System,” the statement reads. Shrum, 52, guided Oklahoma State University in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic but also dealt with conference realignment and multiple public-relations headaches surrounding OSU’s high-profile football program. She became the first woman to lead one of Oklahoma’s two research universities when OSU/A&M regents chose her to succeed Burns Hargis, effective July 1, 2021. Shrum, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, previously had been president of OSU’s Center for Health Sciences. According to the statement, the board of regents will begin searching for the next OSU president and will ensure a “smooth transition” in the meantime. “We thank Dr. Shrum for her service and wish her the very best in her future endeavors,” the statement read. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State President Kayse Shrum resigns: What to know Source link #Oklahoma #State #University #President #Kayse #Shrum #resigned Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Marvel Rivals' Quit Penalty is a Necessary Evil Marvel Rivals' Quit Penalty is a Necessary Evil Marvel Rivals’ quit penalty might seem a little harsh at a first glance, but it’s necessary to keep the game healthy in ranked and casual play. Source link #Marvel #Rivals039 #Quit #Penalty #Evil Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump to ban transgender athletes in competition – ESPN Trump to ban transgender athletes in competition – ESPN Trump to ban transgender athletes in competition ESPNTrump taking action to ban transgender women from women’s sports CNNTrump to sign order that could bar trans women from US Olympic participation POLITICO Source link #Trump #ban #transgender #athletes #competition #ESPN Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Apparently, Rocksteady Never Pitched the One Game They Needed To Erase the Shame of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Apparently, Rocksteady Never Pitched the One Game They Needed To Erase the Shame of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Rocksteady Studios, the developer behind the acclaimed Arkham series, has built a legacy as one of the greatest video game franchises in gaming history. Their titles have rarely disappointed their fans. However, so far, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been a massive failure following its release in February 2024. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a massive failure | Image Credits: Rocksteady Studios However even before the game was launched, there was a rumor brewing around the internet claiming how Rocksteady gave up on the one game that players actually wanted. But what was this rumored project? and is there any truth to it? Let’s find out. What is this rumor about Rocksteady? Rumors speculating about a Superman game by Rocksteady | Image Credits: NeatherRealm Studios In January of 2024, one month before Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was released, there was a rumor circulating about how Rocksteady developers had originally pitched a Superman game to Warner Bros. But the Studio passed on the opportunity and instead scrapped the idea in favor of Suicide Squad. Fans of the series were devastated after hearing that the Superman game was ditched. In reality, the rumor is completely false. According to Bloomberg’s reporter, Jason Schreier, Rocksteady Studios never pitched or worked on a Superman game to Warner Bros. He mentions that after the launch of Batman: Arkham Knight in 2015, they started working on Batman VR and an unannounced multiplayer game. Hearing from multiple sources that Rocksteady pitched a Superman game to WB as a follow up to Arkham Knight, and WB passed on the project. Judging how similar this feels to the “New Gotham” section of Arkham Knight, this could be for that. pic.twitter.com/RKIE6ugKSP — James Sigfield (@Jsig212James) April 15, 2020 The Superman rumor originally started from an X(formerly Twitter) user named James Sigfield, who tweeted about how he heard from multiple sources that there was a Superman game in development. He even presented easter eggs in Batman: Arkham Knight that referenced Superman. James Sigfield later told Schreier about how he had been mistaken, and even though he had corrected his mistake in a later tweet, it never caught on. Why, then, has such a flimsy rumor been so prevalent that fans continue to bring it up on social media today? Likely because nobody wants to believe the reality: that one of their favorite studios has been working on a multiplayer service game for more than half a decade. According to Schreier, the rumor stuck around because people were not accepting the fact that one of their favorite studios had been working on a multiplayer game for more than 15 years. Rocksteady still has a chance of redemption The Suicide Squad’s failure might be a chance at a comeback | Image Credits: Rocksteady Studios Rumors continued to spread even after a year of it being debunked. Although there won’t be a Superman game in the near future, fans are still hoping that Rocksteady will redeem itself after their previous failure. Rocksteady Studios had set the gold standard for DC superhero games, but their pivot to the live service Suicide Squad title felt like a stab in the back. A Superman game now is more than just another superhero title or franchise, it is like a ray of hope for gamers who trusted Rocksteady to deliver groundbreaking experiences. Whether the studio would ever consider making a Superman game remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: fans of the game are still holding on to the possibility that one day, Rocksteady will give them the Superman game they’ve been waiting for. Source link #Apparently #Rocksteady #Pitched #Game #Needed #Erase #Shame #Suicide #Squad #Kill #Justice #League Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Footballer ‘terrified for life in locked taxi’ Footballer ‘terrified for life in locked taxi’ Laura ScottReporting fromKingston Crown CourtEPA Chelsea and Australia star Samantha Kerr is considered to be one of the world’s best strikers Chelsea footballer Sam Kerr has told a court she feared for her life as she and her partner were “trapped” in the back of a taxi moments before one of them smashed the vehicle’s rear window. The Australia international is on trial charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to PC Stephen Lovell during an incident in south-west London by calling him “stupid and white”. Ms Kerr and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, had been for a night out and were in a taxi home on 30 January 2023. Ms Kerr told the jury she had put her head out of the window when she began to feel sick before the driver closed it and began to “drive dangerously”. Footage of Sam Kerr calling PC Stephen Lovell “stupid and white” was played to the jury on Monday The driver took the couple to Twickenham police station, where the incident with PC Lovell happened. Ms Kerr told Kingston Crown Court the ******* of Sarah Everard was “prominent” in her mind, as she said the driver of the taxi had locked the doors and did not respond when she and her partner Kristie Mewis “begged” him to let them out. When questioned, Ms Kerr said: “I hate speed at the best of time, I was terrified for my life, I didn’t have a seatbelt on.” Ms Kerr alleged the doors remained locked throughout the whole journey, and it was then what happened to Sarah Everard came to her mind. When asked, she said Ms Mewis kicked the back window with her boot a few times before it shattered and she was relieved “there was a way out”. Julia Quenzler Samantha Kerr in court on Wednesday Ms Kerr also told court she has experienced “being treated differently” because of the colour of her skin. She said she identifies as “white anglo-Indian”, with her mother from Australia and father from India, the jury heard. When questioned by the defence, she said she first experienced racism at the ages of nine or 10 years old. Ms Kerr told the court she moved to the *** from Australia in December 2019 after signing with Chelsea. She said she and Ms Mewis are due to get married in December and are expecting a baby boy in May. Source link #Footballer #terrified #life #locked #taxi Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Dead by Daylight And Resident Evil Team Up Again For 2v8 Mode Battles Dead by Daylight And Resident Evil Team Up Again For 2v8 Mode Battles Resident Evil and Dead by Daylight have so much common ground that Capcom’s iconic survival-horror series has already had two collaborations with Behaviour Interactive’s asymmetric multiplayer game. Now, a third Dead by Daylight and Resident Evil crossover is just days away, and it’s going to pit players against two of RE’s most famous villains. Dead by Daylight’s latest 2v8 mode will bring Resident Evil 3’s Nemesis and The Mastermind–aka longtime RE villain Albert Wesker–together as they hunt down Jill Valentine, Leon Kennedy, Ada Wong, and Rebecca Chambers. All of these characters have appeared in at least one of the previous Resident Evil collaborations with this title. Dead by Daylight’s original monster, The Legion, will also be a part of this event. In an amusing touch, this collaboration is even including Resident Evil’s green and yellow herbs, which have been a staple of the franchise from the beginning. At the start of each match, green and yellow herbs will spawn in random locations and survivors can use them for healing. However, if either Nemesis or Wesker get to the herbs first, they can destroy them and get a brief increase in their speed. For the duration of the collaboration between February 10-25, all Resident Evil characters will be free to play in 2v8 mode. Just to make the RE characters feel at home, the 2v8 mode will revisit Raccoon City’s Police Department–as seen in Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. That’s only one of the maps that will be featured in this 2v8 event, but the others have yet to be specified. Behaviour Interactive has also noted that there will be two survivor bots on every team in 2v8 mode in order to reduce the killer ****** time. Outside of the core Dead by Daylight game, Behavior and Supermassive released a spin-off title, The Casting of Frank Stone. Additionally, there’s a Dead by Daylight collaboration with Five Nights At Freddy’s coming this summer. Source link #Dead #Daylight #Resident #Evil #Team #2v8 #Mode #Battles Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

‘Golden age of gas’: households, manufacturers miss out ‘Golden age of gas’: households, manufacturers miss out Ten years after the start of a “golden age” for east coast gas, producers are facing a glut on world markets and stiff competition from new sources, an independent expert warns. Australians are the only ones paying more for gas as the exports have driven up domestic prices, according to modelling released on Thursday by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. The first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Queensland’s Gladstone Harbour in 2015 was the start of the nation’s rise as one of the world’s largest suppliers of the fossil fuel. It also fired the starting gun on the world’s first project to turn coal seam gas (CSG) into LNG for export, locking in higher production costs compared with conventional gas production. “Few have benefited from this *****, with some, such as domestic gas consumers and *********** manufacturers, ending up worse off,” analyst Kevin Morrison said. Exporting most of the new source of gas has shackled it to volatile global markets, driving up domestic prices, constraining local supply and forcing manufacturers to close, he said. Domestic gas prices have tripled, with prices for consumers in Australia tipped to remain higher than pre-2015 levels for decades to come. Future LNG demand from China was uncertain, with potential for significant gas over-contracting by 2030 putting in question contract renewals when existing ones expire, he said. The three LNG projects at Gladstone faced “significant financial risks” as the global LNG industry entered a ******* of oversupply, he warned. “In this context, it will be hard for the Queensland LNG industry to justify continuing to take gas away from a tight domestic market to supply its international consumers,” he said. He also tipped a high risk of financial losses and poor returns on capital for the east coast LNG producers with a wave of new supplies from North America and Qatar looming in coming years. Meanwhile gas demand in eastern Australia has dropped to a 25-year low and gas demand may fall further in manufacturing, electricity and the residential market because of high gas bills and government policy incentives. Some had questioned the hype around a “golden age for gas” that promised billions in investment, revenue and royalties on the east coast, Mr Morrison said. Consultants in 2019 warned that one-third of the state’s LNG export industry could close by 2025, partly due to the need to divert gas supplies to domestic users. While that might not happen, the sector still faced strong headwinds as large gas users and *********** governments tried to ease a tight domestic market, Mr Morrison said. Source link #Golden #age #gas #households #manufacturers Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]