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OpenAI Launches GPT-5, Its Advanced AI Model, Marking A Major Leap Toward Achieving AGI

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OpenAI has officially unveiled GPT-5, its most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) model to date, marking a significant milestone in the company’s ongoing pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI).

The new model, which now powers ChatGPT, introduces major improvements in speed, accuracy, reasoning, and usability across a broad range of domains including writing, coding, health, and multimodal understanding.

Describing GPT-5 as a “significant leap in intelligence,” OpenAI highlighted the model’s ability to handle real-world tasks with greater precision and utility than any of its predecessors.

The company wrote via a blogpost,

“We are introducing GPT-5, our best AI system yet. GPT-5 is a significant leap in intelligence over all our previous models, featuring state-of-the-art performance across coding, math, writing, health, visual perception, and more. It is a unified system that knows when to respond quickly and when to think longer to provide expert-level.”

The new system is structured as a unified AI architecture, composed of three main components: a fast-response model for general tasks, a deeper reasoning engine (known as GPT-5 Thinking) for complex queries, and a real-time router that selects the appropriate component based on the user’s intent and the nature of the conversation. This router learns and improves continuously, based on signals like user feedback, model-switching patterns, and measured accuracy.

According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, he said that GPT-5 brings the company closer to achieving AGI, the theoretical threshold where AI systems rival human cognitive abilities.

Improved Performance in Writing, Coding, and Health

OpenAI has tailored GPT-5 to excel in the three most common ChatGPT use cases: writing, software development, and health inquiries.

In writing, GPT-5 acts as a highly capable collaborator, adept at translating rough concepts into polished, structurally sound pieces. It handles literary forms—such as unrhymed iambic pentameter and natural-sounding free verse—with greater fluency, and it performs reliably when assisting with everyday writing tasks like memos, reports, and emails.

For coding, GPT-5 stands as OpenAI’s strongest model yet. It demonstrates remarkable improvements in front-end generation, debugging large codebases, and designing aesthetically appealing websites and apps. Early testers have praised the model’s intuition in layout choices, spacing, and typography—traits that give it an edge in creative software development.

In the health domain, GPT-5 surpasses previous models on HealthBench, OpenAI’s evaluation framework based on real-world scenarios and physician-defined criteria. The model behaves more like a proactive thought partner, flagging concerns and asking clarifying questions. Its responses are now more context-aware, accounting for user location, background knowledge, and personal health data. While GPT-5 does not replace medical professionals, it is designed to help users prepare for consultations, understand diagnoses, and make informed decisions.

Smarter Instruction Following and Tool Use

GPT-5 has also made substantial gains in instruction adherence and agentic tool usage. These improvements allow the model to execute multi-step tasks more reliably, coordinate between different digital tools, and adapt dynamically to changes in user instructions. This evolution makes it better suited for complex workflows, especially those involving automation or layered decision-making.

Multimodal Mastery

The model excels across multimodal benchmarks, displaying stronger reasoning capabilities in interpreting images, diagrams, charts, and even video-based content. Whether summarizing a presentation from a photo or analyzing scientific visuals, GPT-5 provides higher-quality outputs with greater contextual understanding.

Efficiency and GPT-5 Pro Variant

One of GPT-5’s most impressive feats is its ability to deliver more accurate results with less computational effort. Evaluations show that GPT-5 Thinking performs better than OpenAI’s o3 model while using 50–80% fewer output tokens across areas such as visual reasoning, advanced coding, and graduate-level science tasks.

For users tackling the most difficult problems, OpenAI has introduced GPT?5 Pro, which replaces the previous o3-pro variant. This enhanced version of the model uses scalable parallel computing at inference time to deliver deeply reasoned, high-fidelity answers. GPT-5 Pro leads the family in challenging benchmarks, including state-of-the-art results on GPQA, a test of complex scientific knowledge.

Broad Availability

GPT-5 is now available to all ChatGPT users. Plus subscribers benefit from increased usage limits, while Pro subscribers gain access to GPT-5 Pro for even more comprehensive and high-quality responses.

With this release, OpenAI solidifies its position in the AI race, offering a model that not only advances technical benchmarks but also enhances real-world usability, paving the way for more intelligent, collaborative, and responsible AI systems.

South African Travel-focused Fintech TurnStay Raises $2M to Revolutionize Travel Payments in Africa

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Fund, money cash dollar

TurnStay, a South African travel-focused fintech, has raised $2 million (over R34 million) in seed funding to transform Africa’s fragmented travel and tourism payment infrastructure.

First Circle Capital led the round, which included participation from top-tier U.S. and African venture capital firms, including TLCom Capital, Enza Capital, Incisive Ventures, CVVC, and Equitable Ventures.

Announcing this raise, Co-founder TurnStay James Hedley, wrote via a linkedin post,

“After a few years of working to bring world-class financial infrastructure to African travel merchants, I am thrilled to share that thanks to the incredible work of my co-founder Alon Stern, we have successfully closed our seed round. This milestone brings us closer to our mission: reducing the friction of getting paid in the African travel industry and empowering merchants to compete globally”.

Also speaking, Agnes Aistleitner Kisuule, partner at First Circle Capital said,

“TurnStay is redefining travel bookings for Africa and other emerging markets. Their focus on travel and tourism enables them to deliver a superior user experience while creating a strong, defensible moat in a massive underserved market”.

With this fresh funding, TurnStay plans to expand aggressively across African markets, investing in its fintech infrastructure and continuing its mission to power the next generation of cross-border travel and payment solutions for the continent.

TurnStay operates in a growing African travel and tourism market, projected to reach $24.42 billion in revenue by 2024, supporting over six million jobs. The average travel and tourism business spends 12% of its revenue on getting paid. Frequently, this is the difference between making a profit or a loss, and it dramatically affects the viability of many businesses in a sector that employs over 6 million people in Africa.

Payment companies in Africa often classify travel and tourism businesses as high-risk. As a result, they charge these businesses a fee ranging from 3.5% to 6% to process payments from international cards. Furthermore, cardholder banks also charge their clients a 4% fee to convert funds into African currencies.

TurnStay aims to level the playing field for African travel businesses by providing access to fintech tools typically reserved for global players, reducing reliance on OTAs, and addressing structural challenges like high card fees and settlement delays.

Founded in 2021 by Alon Stern and James Hedley, the TurnStay platform is an intersection of fintech and travel championing low-cost experiences in travel payments. The startup addresses inefficiencies in cross-border payments, such as high transaction fees, failed payments, and lengthy settlement times.

Key Features

Merchant-of-Record Model: TurnStay processes card payments in the traveler’s home country and settles funds locally using stablecoins, reducing transaction fees by up to 70%, speeding up settlements, and improving booking conversion rates by minimizing payment failures.

Direct Bookings: By bypassing online travel agencies (OTAs) like Booking.com, which charge high commissions, TurnStay enables African travel operators to secure more direct bookings, boosting profitability.

Better checkout experience: International banks frequently block transactions from Africa, resulting in conversion rates that are less than half the industry standard. TurnStay creates a localized payment system, charging clients in their currency using familiar payment methods, thus halving the number of unnecessary failed transactions.

API Integration: The platform integrates with leading booking engines and property management systems, allowing seamless adoption without disrupting existing workflows.

Localized Payments: Customers can pay in their home currency using familiar payment methods, enhancing the checkout experience and reducing failed transactions by up to 50%.

With its innovative approach to solving systemic payment challenges in Africa’s booming travel industry, TurnStay is poised to redefine cross-border tourism transactions.

As travel-focused fintech expands its footprint and refines its technology, it is well-positioned to become a cornerstone of Africa’s travel ecosystem, driving economic growth and global competitiveness for local businesses.

Driving Growth and Operational Excellence Using Lean Six Sigma | Tekedia Mini-MBA

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Come with your calculator and log book because you may need them. Indeed, you will understand the “Measure of Central Tendency” and how you can use lean six sigma to drive business growth and accelerate productivity. Join Dr Charles Igwe as he teaches on the topic – “Driving Growth and Operational Excellence Using Lean Six Sigma” – at Tekedia Mini-MBA Live at 7pm WAT today. Zoom link in the Board.

This is one of the leading courses which our university partners have used extensively (we allow that provided it is for the good of the students). Dr Igwe, a zen-master, created about 160 slide-courseware to explain this zen-stuff. In the updated lecture (out today), you will master how AI can make Lean Six Sigma even better to drive business growth.

We are Tekedia Institute – the winner of University of Ilorin U-Inspire Award, the winner of Velocity Mhagic Award, and the winner in the knowledge systems of thousands of young people. We have one product and that is KNOWLEDGE. We just received a big endorsement from the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Dev in Nigeria; a really amazing and brilliant letter, commending our work. Thanks so much for recognising this Institute.

Pick your seat and let’s fulfil the cardinal mission encapsulated by University of Nigeria Nsukka: “to restore the dignity of man (and woman)”.  Now, it is Lean Six Sigma time.

Not All Pennies Are Equal: 4 Altcoins with Potential Poised for 100x Potential Growth in 2025

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Some altcoins are priced low for a reason. Others are just early. The trick is knowing which ones have room to run: and which ones are just dead weight. If you’re looking for cheap altcoins with potential in 2025, this list pulls together four projects still flying under the radar, but showing serious signs of breakout momentum.

The first one? It’s already delivering cashback rewards, onboarding millions, and still sitting under one cent per token.

Cold Wallet (CWT): Self-Custody That Pays You to Participate

Cold Wallet isn’t just another crypto wallet. It flips the script on the user experience: every time you pay gas, make a swap, or move funds on/off chain, you get rewarded in $CWT. That makes it one of the few platforms where participation actually pays back. And right now, it’s still early: the best crypto presale has raised over $5.7 million and the token is priced at just $0.00942 during Stage 16 of the presale.

The launch price? $0.3517. That’s nearly a 38x discount for early buyers.

This isn’t just a wallet, it’s a full reward loop. The more CWT you hold, the higher your cashback across gas, swaps, and ramps, up to 100% back at the top tier. No staking, no lockups, just hold and earn.

With over 2 million users added through the Plus Wallet acquisition and a 150-stage presale system that gets more expensive with each phase, Cold Wallet is one of the best cheap altcoins with potential right now. Timing here isn’t just important, it’s everything.

TOKEN6900: A Meme Token with Aggression Built In

At first glance, TOKEN6900 sounds like a meme. But it’s aggressively designed for virality, with a smart token burn mechanic, capped supply, and community incentives that favor early adopters. It’s not trying to be deep, it’s trying to go fast.

TOKEN6900 built its identity around shareability, rewards, and brute-force social momentum. A large portion of the token supply is reserved for staking incentives, airdrops, and volume-based bonuses. If the memecoin trend heats up again, and history says it always does, TOKEN6900 could ride the wave hard.

With its price still way under a penny and volume growing on DEX listings, TOKEN6900 is one of those cheap altcoins with potential that could explode purely off social traction and smart token mechanics. High risk? Absolutely. But high upside if the community sticks.

Little Pepe: Microcap with a Big Cult Following

Little Pepe is the scrappy younger cousin to PepeCoin, operating as a microcap version with tighter supply and deeper meme roots. What separates Little Pepe isn’t just branding, it’s distribution. The token has leaned hard into gamified airdrops, Telegram-driven marketing, and a meme-first community that rewards creativity and loyalty.

Despite a low market cap, Little Pepe is building serious traction with niche influencers and meme collectors. It’s also begun deploying its own NFT-based utility layer, giving long-term holders more reasons to stick around.

Still priced deep in the micro-cap zone, Little Pepe offers the kind of wild-card potential that cheap altcoins with potential are known for. For those who want to bet on the next viral spark, this one’s got the fuel.

AurealOne: Utility Meets Undervaluation

AurealOne is building a DeFi toolkit centered around real-world audio applications, think music rights, on-chain licensing, and artist-driven revenue sharing. But what makes it interesting isn’t just the idea, it’s the valuation. Despite progress on MVP integrations and early partnership announcements, the token is still floating at ultra-low prices.

The project is quietly rolling out features that connect Web3 mechanics to actual creator royalties, all while remaining under the radar of major crypto publications. Its tokenomics include deflationary mechanics, governance staking, and usage-based airdrops for content contributors.

For buyers scanning the space for cheap altcoins with potential and utility, AurealOne is a bet on fundamentals rather than flash. If adoption picks up across the indie creator ecosystem, the upside could be massive, especially from this low base.

Final Word

Finding the right cheap altcoins with potential isn’t about grabbing everything under a penny. It’s about finding the ones that are still early but have a system that actually works, and Cold Wallet fits that bill perfectly. With a real user base, real rewards, and a price that still hasn’t reflected its upside, it’s leading this list for a reason.

Whether you’re stacking meme plays like TOKEN6900, betting on niche communities like Little Pepe, or backing real-world platforms like AurealOne, the key is the same: act before the market catches on.

Because once everyone’s talking about them, the cheap entry is gone.

NCC tightens corporate governance rules for telecoms, warns of sanctions for non-compliance

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In a move to bolster transparency and resilience in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Wednesday unveiled the 2025 Guidelines on Corporate Governance, placing telecom operators under stricter compliance mandates.

At the launch event in Lagos, the NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Dr. Aminu Maida, underscored the importance of the new rules, calling them a “strategic imperative” in light of growing risks from cybersecurity, climate-related threats, energy shocks, and rising consumer expectations.

According to Maida, the new framework goes beyond mere formality and now stands as a pillar for sustainability in a sector seen as foundational to Nigeria’s digital economy.

The reforms demand clearer board structures, enhanced internal controls, and strengthened audit and compliance functions. A key requirement is the separation of the roles of CEO and Chairman, which must now be held by different individuals. Boards must also include independent directors with relevant expertise in ICT and cybersecurity—a shift aimed at insulating operational decisions from political or commercial interference.

The NCC is also making regulatory officers within telecom firms directly answerable as compliance contacts. Companies will now be required to carry out structured risk assessments and submit mid-year and annual governance compliance reports—each signed off by the board—an effort Maida said was non-negotiable.

An internal review by the commission found that companies with strong governance structures were outperforming their peers in service delivery, financial discipline, and regulatory alignment, a trend the NCC now seeks to replicate sector-wide.

“Companies with robust governance frameworks consistently outperformed their peers in service delivery, financial management, and regulatory compliance,” he said.

Maida admitted the reforms might cause short-term friction for operators but insisted they will unlock long-term gains in investor confidence and service reliability. With over 150 million telecom subscriptions in Nigeria, he described the sector as “critical national infrastructure,” central to everything from financial inclusion to digital government services.

“Operators must view this not as a regulatory burden, but as a blueprint for long-term value creation. Where there is non-compliance, the commission will not hesitate to apply sanctions after the remediation window closes,” he said.

Enforcement will be phased by license category, but Maida issued a stern warning: “Non-compliance will not be tolerated beyond the remediation window.”

The reforms were welcomed by legal experts and regulators. Professor Fabian Ajogwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria who helped draft the original telecom governance code in 2014, said the updated guidelines rightly address current challenges, including AI, cybersecurity, and ESG concerns.

Titus Osavwe of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria called the initiative a “key step” towards aligning telecom governance with global best practices, especially as foreign investor scrutiny heightens.

The NCC says it will continue working closely with operators and stakeholders to ease the transition through capacity-building and technical support. But the tone is clear—telecom operators must now treat governance not as a checkbox, but as a competitive edge for surviving Nigeria’s complex digital sector.