Intel announced the purchase an AI startup. The computer chip giant will buy Nervana Systems to help its products meet the demands of artificial intelligence. AI work is expected to become increasingly important in data centers, where Intel processors dominate.

The 10 best startups from Lagos have been selected to pitch in front of an investment panel and compete to be crowned the most promising seed-stage startup of Seedstars Lagos 2016. The winning startup will join the global Seedstars Family and take part in the regional and global Seedstars Summits that include our tried and tested bootcamp and investor forum. It’s a catalytic platform for high growth emerging market startups.

The companies are:

Finalists

Davtonlearn

Lagos

GRIT Systems

Lagos

Kangpe

Lagos

Legal Form Limited

Lagos

PNJ Energy International

Lagos

Sharphire Global Limited

Lagos

Social Lender

Lagos

Tuteria Company

Lagos

Alibaba and insurer AXA join to calm global customers – AXA plans to market warranty and payment protection on Alibaba’s international site, while Ant Financial (Alibaba’s financial arm) will start offering AXA travel insurance for Chinese tourists. This model was unveiled in Africa few months ago when AXA partnered with Jumia.

For Alibaba, the deal is a way to reassure its small but growing number of international customers who regularly read stories in the international press about fake products and brand copies flooding Alibaba’s biggest market at home, Taobao.com.

On its global site AliExpress, the hope is that AXA’s products for extended warranties and repairs may coax more customers into trying the platform.

MoneyGram’s digital business inches forward – MoneyGram, the second largest global remittance provider, revised its revenue goals downward for the year but is hoping a revamped digital strategy will accelerate growth. Digital revenue while up 17% YoY, still only comprises 13% of MoneyGram’s total revenue.

The key takeaways:

Digital’s share of the global remittance industry is still fairly small at 6% — but growth is extremely fast at digital-first startups and legacy companies. Fourteen year-old Xoom makes more revenue from electronic channels than 75 year-old MoneyGram, the second-largest remittance company in the world. Startups are undercutting incumbents’ fees in certain corridors; however, legacy firms have matched prices in many major corridors.

IBM to launch one of the largest blockchain implementations – IBM will try to free up some of the $100 million in capital tied up at any given time in transaction disputes in the IBM Global Financing unit.

The business unit deals with 4,000 suppliers, financing customers and partners who conduct about 3 million transactions per year, worth $44 billion. About 25,000 disputes arise annually over issues such as the wrong number of computer parts in an order or deliveries that go awry, writes WSJ.