Tech Top 5 News
This Week In Tech by Nosa Alekhuogie nosa.alekhuogie@thisdaylive.com
ChatGTP App Now Accessible in Nigeria
ChatGPT developer company OpenAI announces Nigeria has been included on the list of countries to try the ChatGPT app, making it the first African country to access the app.
According to industry analysts, this move marks a milestone for OpenAI and Nigeria as the innovative chatbot reaches diverse global users.
The ChatGPT app provides users with five key features, with plans to release an Android version in the near future.
Once a request is submitted, OpenAI processes the query and promptly generates an AI-generated response. Users can continue the conversation, provide additional information, or request a different answer. The app supports code blocks, allowing users to copy and paste answers as needed conveniently.
By default, ChatGPT retains the chat history for model training purposes so users can access their conversations on the desktop.
OpenAI tweeted that the app is now available in more countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Namibia, Morocco, United Kingdom, Israel, UAE, South Korea, France, Peru, Germany, Albania, Croatia, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Nicaragua, the United States and more.
The ChatGPT app is not yet available for Android users, but the company said Android users are next. The ChatGPT app looks like the website version and syncs your conversation history from iPhone to laptop. The mobile app also allows you to use voice to enter queries.
Q1 2023: Data Breaches in Nigeria increased by 64%
According to the latest data breaches report, Nigeria is the 32nd most breached country globally.
Cybersecurity firm Surfshark reports that in Q1 2023, Nigeria came in 32nd place with 82,000 leaked accounts (previously 41st with around 50,000 in Q4 2022). The breach rate is 46 per cent higher in Q1 2023 than in Q4 2022.
Globally, data breaches declined in the first quarter of 2023, with 41.6 million accounts breached. This is almost 50 per cent less than the nearly 81 million in Q4 2022.
“Data breaches declined globally in the first quarter of 2023 if we compare it to the previous one. However, the fact that over 40 million accounts were breached in just a few months is still a cause for concern,” stated lead researcher at Surfshark, Agneska Sablovskaja. “Those whose data was compromised are at an increased risk of being targeted by cybercriminals as their personal information can be utilised for phishing attacks, fraud, identity theft, and other serious cybercrimes.”
Global data from Surfshark’s data breach statistics update (Q1 2023) records 41.6 million leaked accounts, with Russia being first in the world (6.6 million), followed by the U.S. (five million), Taiwan (3.9 million), France (3.2 million), and Spain (3.2 million). Taiwan saw the highest quarter-over-quarter increase (21 times), placing its total of four million leaked accounts third in Q1 2023. The country had only placed 26th in Q4 2022 with 191,000 breached users. Globally, data breaches declined, dropping to one user account leaked every second in Q1 2023.
Elon Musk’s Neuralink Receives Approval for Human Brain Implants
Neuralink, a neurotechnology company co-founded by Elon Musk, has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct human trials for its brain implant.
The announcement was made via Neuralink’s Twitter account, expressing excitement about the FDA’s approval of their first-in-human clinical study.
The tweet also acknowledged the collaborative efforts between the Neuralink team and the FDA, marking an important milestone towards leveraging their technology to assist numerous individuals in the future.
Elon Musk commended the Neuralink team in a tweet on Friday, extending his congratulations.
These implants are designed to establish a direct interface between humans and computers. Musk has previously highlighted their potential to address disabilities by restoring vision and movement.
The coin-sized implants have already undergone testing on monkeys and pigs, demonstrating promising outcomes.
Musk, who also spoke at the presentation, expressed the vision behind the technology, stating, “Initially, we would empower individuals with limited motor function to operate their phones faster than someone with fully functional hands. As incredible as it may sound, we are confident in our ability to restore full body functionality to individuals with severed spinal cords.”
NBS Says ICT Contributed 17.47% to Nigeria’s GDP in Q1
Activities in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) contributed 17.47 per cent to Nigeria’s real gross domestic product (GDP) in Q1 2023.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in the Q1 GDP statistics. This shows an increase in contribution compared to the 16.2 per cent recorded in the same period last year.
Quarter on quarter, the sector also recorded growth in real GDP contribution when compared to the 16.2 per cent it added in Q4 2022. According to NBS, the ICT sector comprises the four activities of telecommunications and information services, publishing, motion picture, sound recording, music production, and broadcasting.
While the ICT sector recorded a growth rate of 10.32 per cent in real terms year on year in the quarter under review, the growth was driven largely by activities in the telecommunications sub-sector, contributing 14.13 per cent to the GDP in real terms.
The closest sub-sector to telecoms in the ICT sector in terms of contribution was broadcasting, which added 1.98 per cent. The ICT sector contributed 13.23 per cent to the total nominal GDP in the first quarter of 2023, higher than the rate of 10.55 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and higher than the 10.42 per cent it contributed to the preceding quarter.
The sector recorded 41.84 cent growth in the quarter under review, a 21.30 per cent increase from the 20.54 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and 20.43 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in the preceding quarter.
WhatsApp Introduces Message Edit Feature
WhatsApp, the instant messaging service owned by tech giant Meta, is introducing a long-awaited feature that will allow users to edit their message.
One clause is that the message will be marked as edited and others can see that it has been changed.
To make changes, users just have to long-press the desired message and select the edit option from the menu to complete the task. When you edit a sent message, it will be labelled as “Edited” when viewed by others, ensuring transparency, and preventing any secretive actions. However, the edit history itself will not be visible.
It is important to mention that all these features maintain the end-to-end encryption of WhatsApp. The new editing feature is currently being rolled out globally to WhatsApp users and is expected to be fully available in the coming weeks.
Whatsapp also mentioned that they are currently working on a new feature that will enable users to create their stickers within the app itself. While still in the development phase, the feature promises to provide a more fun and personalised experience for users.
Users will be able to select an image from their gallery and utilise various editing tools, including background removal, to perfect their stickers.
This week’s tech personality is the cofounder and President of Kippa, Duke Ekezie-Joseph.
Kippa is a Nigerian fintech platform that’s digitising Africa’s MSME sector.
Kippa, which initially focused on digital bookkeeping services, now provides a variety of business, financial management, and payment solutions for African MSMEs.
In 2021, the firm hauled in $3.2 million in pre-seed funding.
Kippa also received a ‘super-agent’ banking licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria that allows its merchants to offer a full suite of agent financial services to end customers and enables Kippa to integrate with national switches and provide B2B services to other fintechs.
Mobile phone and WhatsApp-friendly, Kippa targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), providing them with free, easy-to-use accounting software. Kippa then looks at potential financing opportunities and makes revenue by taking commission fees and earning interest by lending companies working capital.
To run smoother business operations and help Kippa transition into its next phase, Duke has been appointed as president of Kippa. As president, he will take full ownership of Kippa’s internal operations, including the marketing, product, finance, operations, and HR teams.
Serving previously as COO in charge of growth and business development, Duke has hands-on business development experience and is the mastermind of an operation. He had a short stint working at KPMG, Citibank and also an internship at TikTok alongside his brother and current Kippa CEO, Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph, where they were amongst the first three Africans to work with TikTok on their expansion into Africa. Duke also worked as a development expert at Y Combinator-backed startup, Releaf.
