Month: July 2023

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British AI Firm, Quantexa, Commits to Over £200M in AI Research and Development Investment by 2027

AI in Context

How Quantexa Augments and Automates Decision Intelligence with AI

Quantexa CEO outlines vision for investment in support of UK Government’s plan to make UK an AI Hub, which includes:

  • £125M in new global investments aimed at accelerating enterprise and government agency’s ability to use trusted AI-enabled Decision Intelligence solutions
  • £85M in dedicated UK investment will create over 170 new jobs in London AI Innovation Centre team
  • Preview of Generative AI assistant shows how world-leading institutions will unlock the full potential of data to investigate risk and identify opportunity

LONDON and NEW YORK, July 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Quantexa, a global leader in Decision Intelligence (DI) solutions for the public and private sectors, announced today that it will invest an additional £125M in the global artificial intelligence (AI) industry over the next three years to help clients advance the use of AI to protect, optimise, and grow their organisations. By 2027, Quantexa’s total global investment in AI will reach more than £200M.

The investment marks Quantexa’s continued advancements in AI with the preview of its Generative AI technology, Q Assist. Quantexa also furthered its commitment to advancing the company’s existing AI Stack to enable its growing global ecosystem of clients and partners to unlock new industry-specific use cases for financial services, insurance, telecommunications, healthcare, and in the public sector. Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence platform and suite of solutions for data management, customer intelligence, KYC, risk, fraud, and financial crime have been deployed in over 70 countries.

Analysis from University of Washington suggests this investment will boost the global AI industry by £600M as the multiplier effect is realised.

AI in Context: How Quantexa Augments and Automates Decision Intelligence with AI

Quantexa Limited

Preview of Generative AI Assistant Breaks New Ground
Built on Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence Platform, the technology preview of Q Assist, a generative AI assistant, demonstrates the potential of using LLM’s to create an intuitive and conversational interface bringing new efficiencies for analysts working with data to identify risks as part of investigations. For organisations, the potential benefit is significant – as the AI assistant allows all analyst staff to become as effective as the most experienced investigators.

Q Assist is LLM agnostic and will allow clients to use their own proprietary, open source, or commercially available models including ChatGPTTM, a leading LLM from OpenAI. Quantexa’s market-leading entity resolution, graph analytics, and scoring capabilities become turbo-charged when they can be queried with natural language questions and prompts in Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence Platform.

Today, in a video showcase, Quantexa demonstrated one of what could become many potential use cases for Q Assist. The financial crime investigation scenario was chosen to show the potential in using natural language to query vast amounts of structured and unstructured data at scale, allowing even junior analysts to understand the complex data behind graph analytics and alerts. The preview also showed the ability to automate the generation of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and investigative summaries – possible in close to 100 languages – driving further efficiency in what is typically a manually intensive process and allowing more time to be redirected to strategic activities.

AI Throughout Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence Platform Delivers Business Value
Enterprises and government agencies are using Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence to become more effective and efficient at organising siloed, messy data to obtain 360-degree views of customers and suppliers to identify fraud, qualify eligibility for services, stop dangerous goods at borders, or optimise supply chains.

Quantexa is using three core principles to responsibly build out its AI Stack:

  • Context-Based Learning: Just as humans require full context to make informed decisions, so does AI. Without context, even the smartest machine learning or deep learning algorithms lack accuracy to be deployed reliably. For example, it’s impossible for a person or AI model to know if a single bank transaction in isolation is money laundering. Quantexa builds true context by using data to create single views of people, organisations, places, and other entities and assembles them visually to show complex interactions between entities. This context is what enables a person or AI to make an accurate decision.
  • Composite AI: Quantexa’s Composite AI Stack aggregates the outputs of many different techniques, including machine learning, natural language processing and deep learning. Combining these with input from subject matter experts, organisations can continually use analytics to improve decisioning to protect, optimise, and grow. Quantexa uses exclusive access to huge volumes of structured and unstructured industry data to train its AI and provides out-of-the-box open models, giving clients the ability to modify or create their own.
  • Explainability and Trust: In the highly regulated environments that organisations work in, it is crucial that decisions are transparent and explainable with no suggestion of bias. Quantexa’s technology and governance uses context-based techniques and composite AI to drive adoption of explainable outcomes without privacy concerns. Quantexa publicly maintains its AI ethics and safety guidelines here.

Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said:
“We want to ensure the UK remains the best place in the world to build, test, and use safe AI technology. Quantexa’s new £85M London AI Innovation Centre will help cement this reality. It will create over 170 jobs, harness the extraordinary potential of AI as we grow our economy, and lead the way on responsible AI development around the world.”

Chloe Smith, Technology Secretary, said:
“The Government is serious about AI, which is why we’ve invested £2.5B in AI infrastructure and skills since 2014 and this year set out our plan for AI regulation to drive innovation and build trust. Quantexa’s investment is a huge vote of confidence in those plans and will unlock new opportunities for growth and job creation, enabling us to continue to pave the way as a global leader in the development of AI.”

Vishal Marria, CEO and Founder, Quantexa, said:
“While many companies are talking about AI and machine learning, we have been investing in it since our inception. We are investing our time, money, and resources into the biggest technological breakthrough for generations as it will transform how organizations make decisions. We’re proud to invest in London-based innovation but the impact will be felt by the global economy and will start a ripple effect that will unlock decision intelligence capabilities for our clients and their respective industries.” 

Dr Oren Etzioni, Professor at the University of Washington’s Computer Science and founding CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, said: “An investment of 100 AI jobs will drive economic growth not just in London but around the world. The places most likely to benefit are AI innovation hubs like New York City, Seattle, and San Francisco. Based on my research into the impact of AI on employment and economic growth, the long-term monetary benefits of this announcement will increase significantly because of the multiplier effect from job creation and innovation. An initial investment of £200M is likely to benefit the wider AI industry by £600M globally within three years.” 

To learn more about how your organisation can benefit from Quantexa’s AI investment, innovation, and ethical practices, please visit here.

About Quantexa
Quantexa is a global data and analytics software company pioneering Decision Intelligence that empowers organisations to make trusted operational decisions by making data meaningful. Using the latest advancements in big data and AI, Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence platform uncovers hidden risk and new opportunities by providing a contextual, connected view of internal and external data in a single place. It solves major challenges across data management, KYC, customer intelligence, financial crime, risk, fraud, and security, throughout the customer lifecycle.

The Quantexa Decision Intelligence Platform enhances operational performance with over 90% more accuracy and 60 times faster analytical model resolution than traditional approaches. Founded in 2016, Quantexa now has more than 650 employees and thousands of users working with billions of transactions and data points across the world. The company has offices in London, New York, Boston, Toronto, Malaga, Brussels, Amsterdam, Ireland, Luxemburg, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, and the UAE. For more information, please visit www.quantexa.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

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Cholera warning as South African death toll nears 50

The health authorities in South Africa are urging residents of the province of Gauteng to be vigilant about the liquids they consume as the death toll from a winter outbreak of cholera rises to nearly 50.

Unions and community groups have demanded more government intervention to improve water quality.

Most of the deaths over the last six weeks have occurred in the Hammanskraal area, where residents say they have battled for weeks for access to clean water, but there have been cases across the country.

In many areas, tap water is unsafe and people are forced to rely on government tankers.

Cholera, which is mainly spread by contaminated food and water, causes acute diarrhoea and vomiting and can kill within hours if untreated.

Source: BBC

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South Africans marvel at snow and sleet in Johannesburg during cold snap

People have woken up to snow and sleet in South Africa’s biggest city, Johannesburg, for the first time in over a decade.

South Africans are being warned to keep warm as a cold front sweeps across most of the country.

“No major disruptions have been caused by the snowfall at this stage,” a spokesman for the South African Weather Service (Saws) has told the BBC.

Cold weather conditions are expected to continue through the week.

Many people in Johannesburg on Monday seem enchanted by the rare sight of snow in their city.

“Some of the pupils and I went out to explore… some of them had seen snow before whereas others thought it was raining,” says primary school teacher Agnes Mideva.

Domestic worker Nobukhosi Stompie told the BBC she travelled through the snow on her way to work, and had never seen anything like it.

“We’re keeping warm indoors so we’re fine,” says caretaker Billy Nxumalo. “Snow was everywhere, covering the fields near our neighbourhood – it was really beautiful to see.”

As winter begins in the southern hemisphere nation, meteorologists are keeping a close eye on developments.

Snow has been reported in a number of provinces including the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and the Gauteng region which includes Johannesburg and Soweto.

Weather experts have advised initiation schools in the Eastern Cape to be extra vigilant over the next week as they keep watch over hundreds of teenage boys undergoing traditional circumcision rites on isolated mountainsides across the province, a practice seen as a rite of passage into manhood amongst the Xhosa ethnic group.

Farmers are also being advised to provide shelter for their livestock during the cold spell.

It is not clear what role climate change has played in the rare snowfall.

Source: BBC

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Johannesburg sees first snowfall since 2012

Johannesburg has seen its first snowfall since 2012, as cold weather is sweeping across much of the country. Residents are being advised to take extra precautions to stay warm and farmers to provide shelter for livestock.

South Africa’s weather service said snow has also been reported in Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.

“The public is advised to keep warm during these conditions,” said the South African Weather Service (Saws) in a statement.

Weather experts have also advised initiation schools in the Eastern Cape to be extra vigilant over the next week as they keep watch over hundreds of teenage boys undergoing traditional circumcision rites on isolated mountainsides across the province – a practice seen as a rite of passage into manhood amongst the Xhosa ethnic group.

The cold conditions are expected to continue throughout the week.

“No major disruptions have been caused by the snowfall at this stage,” Saws spokesperson Hannelee Doubell told the BBC.

Source: BBC

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Manuel Chang: South Africa to hand Mozambique ‘tuna bond’ minister to FBI

South African police have confirmed that former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang will be handed over to the FBI to face fraud and corruption charges in the US.

Mr Chang has been in jail in South Africa since December 2018.

He was in charge of Mozambique’s finances when the country guaranteed more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in secret borrowing by state-owned firms.

It was the country’s biggest corruption scandal and led to economic collapse.

It is alleged that the money was used to buy a large tuna factory, among other things, leading to the affair being dubbed the “tuna bond” scandal.

Last year 11 people – including the son of Mozambique’s ex-president – were convicted of embezzlement and money laundering as part of the same scheme.

Mr Chang denies any wrongdoing.

The BBC understands that Mr Chang will be escorted by FBI officials later on Monday from Lanseria airport in Johannesburg to New York, where he will face trial.

The Mozambican authorities had wanted Mr Chang to be sent back to be tried on home soil, instead of in the US.

South African authorities says Mr Chang is expected to face charges in the US relating to loans obtained from Credit Suisse and Russia’s VTB bank that were guaranteed by the Mozambican government.

Some of these loaned funds were not disclosed and were signed off by the former finance minister during his term in office between 2005 and 2015.

The US indicted Mr Chang and argued that he was implicated in the looting of funds which were donated by US investors.

How did the scandal happen?

Between 2013-2014, three newly established companies took on $2.2bn of debt, much of it without the knowledge or approval of the country’s parliament. Despite this, the Mozambican government stood as guarantor of the loans, meaning the state would repay the money if things went wrong.

The money was allegedly used to buy a large tuna factory and a maritime security fleet, as well as to finance other deals involving companies in which the state is a leading shareholder.

In 2016, the government swapped some of the debt for a conventional bond, issued by the state. Soon afterwards, it admitted the full scale of the borrowing, triggering an economic crisis in Mozambique.

The country’s currency lost a third of its value, inflation surged and foreign donors pulled out.

Auditors also reportedly discovered $500m of the money was missing.

The loans were issued by Credit Suisse and the Russian bank VTB, with three former Credit Suisse bankers pleading guilty to US charges of money laundering over the case.

In late 2021, UK authorities fined the investment bank $178m over the scandal.

The fine was part of a $475m settlement with UK, Swiss and US regulators.

Source: BBC

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SA archbishop surprised after Pope promotes him to cardinal

A South African archbishop who has just been promoted to a cardinal by Pope Francis has expressed bewilderment and confusion about his upcoming ascension to one of the top ranks of the Catholic Church.

“I have been taken by surprise and to be honest – I feel quite confused and bewildered at the moment,” Archbishop Stephen Brislin from Cape Town said.

He added that he hoped he could follow the good example of previous cardinals.

His comments come after the pope appointed 21 new cardinals, three of whom are African.

The others are Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla of Juba, South Sudan and Archbishop Protase Rugambwa of Tabora Archdiocese in Tanzania.

There’ve been calls for greater African representation in the Catholic church.

It was highlighted in January that none of the continent’s cardinals hold major offices within the institution.

The ceremony to install the new cardinals is set to take place at the end of September.

Source: BBC