United News of Bangladesh

As the technology world races toward artificial intelligence, a growing number of enthusiasts are looking back to the early days of computing by collecting and restoring vintage computers. Software engineer Josh Dersch is one of them. He spends hours in his garage trying to bring decades-old machines back to life and estimates that he has more than 200 vintage computers and related devices at his home in Seattle. “I’ve always found the origins of things fascinating,” Dersch said. “It’s a fun challenge to figure out what’s wrong and repair it. You can understand the whole system from top to bottom.” Dersch is part of a growing community dedicated to preserving the computers that helped start the digital revolution. While Silicon Valley is now focused on developing AI and other advanced technologies, vintage computer enthusiasts are keeping machines made by Atari, Commodore and IBM alive — systems that paved the way for today’s laptops, smartphones and wearable devices. For collectors, these machines are not outdated junk but important pieces of computer history. Many enjoy hearing the familiar sounds of old machines and playing simple games such as “Pong” and “Space Invaders.” “Interest in the history of computers and everything connected to it is growing,” said Erik Klein, president of the Vintage Computer Federation, which holds an annual festival at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. Vintage computer festivals draw thousandsMore than 3,500 people attended a two-day Vintage Computer Festival in early August to mark the 50th anniversary of Apple, founded in nearby Cupertino in 1976. The event included a panel discussion with Apple co-founders Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, who recalled the company’s early days as a small startup led by the late Steve Jobs. More than a dozen similar events are now held in cities across North America, South America and Europe. Klein said the growing interest is also driving demand for vintage computers on online marketplaces. Rare and iconic machines, such as the Apple-1 — Apple’s first product — can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. At the festival, collectors displayed computers they had carefully restored to working condition, giving visitors a chance to use machines developed long before the internet, social media and AI became part of everyday life. Restoring the ‘grandfather’ of modern computersDersch traveled from Seattle to showcase the prized machine in his collection — a Xerox Alto. He spent years restoring the computer, which is often described as the “grandfather of the modern computer.” It was developed at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s. The Alto was among the first computers to move beyond text-based displays and introduce technologies such as the mouse and graphical user interface, including windows, icons and cursors. Those features later became standard in personal computers and are widely credited with influencing early products developed by Jobs and Bill Gates. Dersch’s exhibit included a fully working Xerox Alto workstation with its large vertical monitor, bulky keyboard and mouse. It also featured large disk drives that stored only tiny amounts of data compared with modern storage devices. “It’s fun to show people what I’ve done and see what others have done,” Dersch said. “There’s also a section where I can buy more old machines to take home, so that’s always fun.” Klein, a Silicon Valley software engineering manager, was once an avid collector himself. At one point, he had about 150 computer systems, along with accessories, manuals and original packaging, packed into his closets and garage. But the collection eventually became too much to manage, and Klein worried that it could become a burden for his family. He gradually sold or gave away most of his machines, keeping only a few favorites. Hobby spreading around the worldKlein now puts his passion for vintage computers into organizing festivals, repair workshops, swap meets and other events through the Vintage Computer Federation. “It’s really about sharing the history and encouraging people to maintain, collect and enjoy this vintage technology,” he said. Sellam Ismail, who organized the first vintage computer festival in 1997, said he is pleased to see how much the collector community has grown. The first festival, held at a venue east of San Francisco, attracted about 150 hobbyists. Ismail organized the events for about a decade before helping establish the Vintage Computer Federation, which now runs festivals in the United States and Canada. He has also helped groups organize similar events in Argentina, Germany and Switzerland. “The community grew. More and more people started getting old computers and collecting them,” said Ismail, who once had a huge collection stored in a warehouse. With the festival approaching its 30th anniversary next year, Ismail expects the hobby to continue expanding. “Next year is the 30th anniversary, and I expect this to continue and grow even bigger,” he said.

From government offices to classrooms, hospitals to farms, Bangladesh is preparing to take a broader leap into the age of Artificial Intelligence, with the government placing AI at the centre of its development and modernisation strategy. The ambition goes beyond simply introducing new technology. According to the budget document for the 2026-27 fiscal year, the government is undertaking a series of initiatives to deploy AI-based technologies to address inefficiencies and complexities in public services, enabling faster decision-making, improved data analysis and enhanced service quality. The document says wider use of AI across government agencies is expected to make administrative processes more efficient, transparent and timely, while improving citizens’ access to public services. The government is also pursuing AI-driven initiatives to develop smart cities and make citizen services more user friendly. As part of its broader digital transformation agenda, AI is being incorporated into the education system to equip students with the skills required for future workplaces. Beyond education, the government plans to expand AI applications in the health, agriculture and public service sectors, aiming to create a technology-driven and service-oriented Bangladesh. The budget document also highlights the rapid growth of Bangladesh’s electronics industry, describing it as one of the country’s fastest-growing and most promising sectors after the ready-made garments industry. It says the availability of affordable digital devices is essential for the development of the country’s ICT sector. To achieve this, the government intends to encourage domestic production of electronic devices, making them more accessible to citizens while creating opportunities for exports. Through appropriate policy support, the government expects Bangladesh to emerge as one of the world’s leading electronics manufacturing hubs within the next five years. The budget also places strong emphasis on harnessing the country’s youthful population, describing young people as Bangladesh’s greatest asset and a major force for future economic growth. To capitalise on their talent and innovation, the government plans to promote startups, freelancing and digital entrepreneurship through technology-based training and skills development programmes designed to prepare young Bangladeshis for the global labour market. The government believes the expansion of the ICT and automation-based economy will generate new employment opportunities and enable young entrepreneurs to become key contributors to economic development. As part of these efforts, it has initiated work on a modern startup policy and plans to consolidate various startup funds into a unified financing mechanism to improve access to funding for innovative businesses. The government’s broader objective is to build an innovative and self-reliant Bangladesh by empowering its youth and fostering a vibrant technology ecosystem. The budget document says that with adequate policy support and investment, Bangladesh’s talented young innovators will be capable of establishing world-class technology hubs comparable to Silicon Valley in the United States, Shenzhen in China, Singapore and Dubai.

An experiment using artificial intelligence (AI) at the annual Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, Germany, received a mixed response on Saturday, with the AI-assisted stage production drawing boos from parts of the audience after leaving many spectators confused. According to German news agency dpa, curator Marcus Lobbes and his team were booed and whistled at as they appeared on stage after the performance of Götterdämmerung. However, the singers, musicians and especially conductor Christian Thielemann received warm applause. Festival organisers had announced before the performance that it would be the first time AI played a role on stage at the event, not as a performer but as a tool to generate visual projections. The production featured constantly changing AI-created images, while the singers remained the main focus on stage. The visuals combined light, textures, historical references and artistic themes, with the AI using images selected in advance by Lobbes and his team from the Academy for Theater and Digitality in Dortmund. The projections included scenes from earlier performances of Wagner's famous Ring cycle as well as historical images. According to dpa, many audience members were puzzled by the visual collage, which included images of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the World Trade Center towers after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and a postage stamp marking German reunification in 1990. The festival's website says each performance will be different because the AI-generated images and associations continuously change. Two more AI-assisted performances are scheduled.

Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported a record operating profit of 89.5 trillion won ($62 billion) for the April-June quarter, as the South Korean technology giant and rival SK Hynix continue to benefit from surging global demand for chips used in artificial intelligence systems. The earnings came a day after SK Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chipmaker, also reported record quarterly revenue, highlighting how the global AI boom is boosting South Korea's semiconductor industry. However, shares of both companies have fallen sharply this week amid concerns about their huge planned investments to expand chip production and growing competition from China. Samsung's second-quarter operating profit was more than 19 times higher than a year earlier, with almost all of the earnings coming from its semiconductor business. The chip division benefited from higher prices, strong demand for AI servers and increased sales of advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI applications. These gains more than offset losses in Samsung's mobile devices, televisions and home appliances businesses, which were affected partly by higher component costs. Samsung's quarterly revenue also reached a record 171.5 trillion won ($119 billion). The company said it expects demand for memory chips to remain strong during the second half of the year, supported by continued investment in AI infrastructure and wider use of so-called agentic AI. Demand for chips used in data centers is also expected to grow further, potentially keeping supplies below market demand, Samsung said. SK Hynix reported record second-quarter revenue of 60.5 trillion won ($42 billion) on Wednesday. However, its profit fell short of market expectations, sending its shares down more than 9 percent. Samsung's shares have also declined this week. Kim Jaejune, an executive in Samsung's memory chip division, said the gap between chip supply and demand could widen further in 2027. He said Samsung plans to begin construction of its second semiconductor factory in Taylor, Texas, before the end of this year, with the facility expected to start operations by 2030. Kim said Samsung has secured long-term chip supply agreements with five major global data center customers, possibly referring to Amazon Web Services, Google, Meta, Oracle and Microsoft. The company is also in talks with other major technology firms as demand for AI infrastructure continues to rise. "Despite our efforts to increase production, demand growth is outpacing our efforts," Kim said during a conference call. Samsung and SK Hynix together account for about two-thirds of global memory chip production. Both companies are making major investments in new semiconductor factories and data centers as South Korea seeks to strengthen its position in the global AI industry. However, some analysts have raised concerns about whether such large-scale spending will generate sufficient returns. South Korean chipmakers are also facing pressure from concerns over stronger competition from China. Reports that a state-owned Chinese company has started mass-producing domestically developed immersion deep-ultraviolet lithography machines, which are important for advanced chip manufacturing, have added to investor concerns. The strong stock market debut of Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies has also increased worries about competition from China, analysts said. Last month, Samsung and SK Hynix announced plans to jointly invest 800 trillion won ($554 billion) in a new semiconductor hub in southwestern South Korea to take advantage of rapidly growing AI-related demand. The heads of Samsung, SK and South Korean automaker Hyundai joined President Lee Jae Myung during his trip to San Francisco last week, where they announced hundreds of billions of dollars in planned cooperation with major US technology companies. The agreements involve AI firms OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as chip designers Nvidia and Broadcom, and cover chip technology, data centers and other AI infrastructure. Kim Yong-beom, President Lee's chief policy adviser, said at a foreign media roundtable last week that the initiatives show how global technology companies are seeking long-term partnerships with South Korean chipmakers to secure reliable supplies of memory chips for AI systems. However, the sharp swings in the share prices of Samsung, SK Hynix and other global technology companies suggest that investors are increasingly looking beyond short-term earnings and focusing on whether such growth can be sustained over the long term, semiconductor analyst Son In-joon of Eugene Securities said in a report this week.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, driven by strong growth in artificial intelligence (AI), digital advertising and cloud services. The California-based technology company said on Wednesday that it earned $112.11 billion, or $9.11 per share, during the April-June quarter, up sharply from $28.2 billion, or $2.31 per share, in the same period last year. Revenue increased 24 percent to $119.8 billion, compared with $96.43 billion a year earlier, exceeding Wall Street analysts’ average estimate of $117.06 billion, according to FactSet. Alphabet said its net income was boosted by a $98 billion gain, mainly from increases in the value of its equity investments, particularly SpaceX, which went public in June. “Our AI investments are redefining what’s possible across every part of our business,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement. Industry analysts said the results highlight the company’s growing strength in AI. Emarketer analyst Nate Elliott said Google’s AI chatbot Gemini is close to reaching one billion users, joining AI Overviews and AI Mode as major AI products. He also said growing demand for AI services is driving rapid expansion in Google Cloud, while strong search advertising performance suggests AI is strengthening, rather than replacing, Google’s core search business. Advertising remained Alphabet’s biggest source of revenue, helped by strong demand linked to the FIFA World Cup, particularly on YouTube. The company also reported solid growth in its cloud business, supported by rising demand for its AI products and services, including chips, AI models, data, security and AI agent platforms. Following the earnings announcement, Alphabet shares rose $2.71 to $344.62 in after-hours trading.

OpenAI said Tuesday that one of its artificial intelligence systems independently hacked into another AI company's servers during internal testing, describing it as an "unprecedented cyber incident." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company experienced a major security incident while evaluating its AI models. The disclosure follows a statement from AI startup Hugging Face last week, which said it had detected an unauthorized intrusion into its data processing systems. The company suspected the attack was carried out by an AI agent acting without human direction. Hugging Face co-founder and CEO Clément Delangue said the company initially believed the attack may have originated from a leading AI research lab because of the sophistication of the AI agent. "We suspected last week's cyberattack might have come from a frontier lab," Delangue said, adding that the investigation later confirmed it was linked to OpenAI. The incident comes as concerns grow over the cybersecurity risks posed by increasingly powerful AI systems. In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring the federal government to review the national security risks of the most advanced AI models for up to 30 days before they are released publicly. OpenAI said the incident highlighted how rapidly advancing AI capabilities are changing cybersecurity. "AI is accelerating the discovery and exploitation of vulnerabilities," the company said, adding that AI safety and security measures must advance just as quickly as the technology itself. Delangue said he had worked closely with OpenAI over the past 24 hours and that both companies believed there was no malicious intent behind the incident. He described the event as "mind-blowing" because it appeared to have happened entirely on its own and said it could be the first known case of its kind. According to OpenAI, the intrusion involved several of its AI models, including its newly released GPT-5.6 Sol and a more advanced model that is still undergoing internal testing. The company said the AI system used stolen login credentials and identified a previously unknown software vulnerability to gain access to Hugging Face's servers. OpenAI said the AI went to "extreme lengths" to achieve a limited testing objective and found ways to obtain confidential information that could help it bypass the evaluation process.

Asian stock markets mostly closed higher on Tuesday, with South Korea and Japan recovering some of the losses suffered in recent sessions due to heavy selling of artificial intelligence (AI)-related shares. U.S. stock futures moved slightly higher, while oil prices fell. South Korea's Kospi index rose 4.7% to 6,821.41 after dropping 4.5% a day earlier. Technology stocks led the recovery, with Samsung Electronics climbing 7.4% and memory chip maker SK Hynix gaining 6.4%. Despite a decline of more than 20% over the past month as investors locked in profits amid concerns over a possible AI investment bubble, the Kospi remains up more than 50% so far this year. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 2.8% to 65,926.41 after reopening following Monday's public holiday, recovering part of last week's losses. Among major gainers, Kioxia Holdings surged 15.9%, chip testing equipment maker Advantest rose 6.9%, SoftBank Group advanced 6.1%, and Tokyo Electron added 1.3%. Taiwan's Taiex index climbed 3.6%, supported by a 2.8% rise in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker. Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up less than 0.1% to 25,150.75, while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6% to 3,819.66. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1%, while India's Sensex slipped 0.1%. Oil prices eased after Monday's gains. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 0.7% to $88.63 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude dropped 0.3% to $82.24 a barrel. Investors continued to watch developments in the Middle East after Iran reportedly attacked another tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil and gas shipments. The United States also launched fresh strikes on Iran for a tenth consecutive night, while Tehran continued retaliatory attacks targeting U.S. allies in the region. Iran's interior minister visited Pakistan, which has been acting as a mediator, for talks aimed at easing tensions, although no breakthrough has been announced. Analysts at ING said there were some signs of possible de-escalation between the United States and Iran, but warned that major differences remain. They also said attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on shipping linked to Saudi Arabia have increased concerns over global oil supplies. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.2% on Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%. The Nasdaq Composite slipped by less than 0.1%. Several major AI and semiconductor companies still posted gains. Nvidia rose 0.2%, Micron Technology gained 1.9%, Broadcom climbed 2%, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) advanced 1.6% after expanding its AI partnership with Microsoft. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar was little changed at 162.48 Japanese yen, while the euro remained steady at $1.1414.

China's top technology companies displayed hundreds of advanced products, including humanoid robots and artificial intelligence systems, at the World AI Conference in Shanghai. The country's flagship annual AI event, held from July 17 to 20, came at a time of intensifying technology competition between China and the United States. More than 1,100 companies took part in the conference. According to Chinese state media, the country has developed more than 400 humanoid robot products, accounting for over half of the global total. Chinese open-source AI models are also gaining wider international use, posing increasing competition to leading AI models developed in the United States.

A joint declaration has been signed signed at the Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War, warning that artificial intelligence and nuclear weapons together pose an unprecedented danger to humanity's future. Professor Muhammad Yunus joined fellow Nobel Laureates, including Romano Prodi, Jody Williams, Maria Ressa, Denis Mukwege, and Juan Manuel Santos at the event, said a press release . The Assembly opened at Borgo Laudato Si', Castel Gandolfo, with a ceremony featuring an opening address from Professor Yunus, alongside welcome remarks from Cardinal Fabio Baggio, C.S., President of Borgo Laudato Si', an opening address from Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, S.D.B., Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and introductory remarks from Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi, President Emeritus of the Domus Communis Foundation and President of the Global Nobel Laureates Assembly. On the second day of the Assembly, Professor Yunus took part in a high-level session on Artificial Intelligence, Democracy and the Economic Revolution: Toward a New World Order, where he delivered an address. He also held a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Assembly, including with Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of Saint Peter's Basilica and President of the Fabric of Saint Peter, and Dr Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The three-day Assembly concluded on Thursday, with the signing of the declaration at Rome's Capitoline Hill. Titled "Humanity at the Threshold," the declaration draws a direct parallel between the dawn of the nuclear age and the current AI era, arguing that the world risks repeating the mistakes of the past by entering an AI arms race alongside a worsening nuclear one. The laureates warn that AI is eroding human judgement in nuclear command systems, fuelling cyber threats to critical infrastructure, and enabling information warfare that undermines the shared trust nations need for peace. Invoking Pope Leo XIV's call for an "unarmed and disarming peace," the signatories reject the idea that security can be built on fear or mutual destruction. They set out six principles. 1.Disarming the next arms race – urging restraint and cooperative governance to prevent AI and nuclear competition from shaping the coming century. 2.Responsible development – calling for transparency and accountability from AI developers, and an outright ban on unsupervised, fully automated recursive self-improvement in AI systems. 3.Responsible use – demanding an international treaty to keep AI out of nuclear launch decisions and to protect nuclear infrastructure from cyber interference. 4.Responsible governance – supporting the UN's Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and new international institutions to oversee AI development. 5.Responsible leadership – emphasising the role of young people and education in confronting these threats. 6.Nuclear disarmament – renewing calls for time-bound, verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons and reinforcing existing treaties, including the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The declaration closes by invoking Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein's appeal to "remember your humanity, and forget the rest," framing the moment as one on which the survival of future generations depends. Professor Daniel Holz, Chair of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; Cardinal Peter Turkson, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences; Archbishop Renzo Pegoraro, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life; a wider gathering of Nobel Laureates; and actress Sharon Stone also joined.

Bangladesh stands at a defining moment to position itself as an AI-enabled economy by capitalising on its youthful workforce, expanding digital infrastructure and ongoing policy reforms, speakers said on Wednesday, stressing that strategic investments in skills, innovation and responsible artificial intelligence could accelerate sustainable economic growth and strengthen the country's global competitiveness. They, however, warned that the rapid rise of AI also presents significant challenges, including threats to intellectual property, data privacy, human creativity and critical thinking, calling for a balanced approach that embraces technological advancement while safeguarding human capability and ethical standards. Speakers said Bangladesh should prioritise developing AI talent, integrating AI into high-impact sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education and industry, and transforming its ICT outsourcing sector into a knowledge-driven AI services industry capable of competing in global value chains. They also underscored the need for a national AI ecosystem built on research, innovation, digital infrastructure and international collaboration, saying countries that invest wisely in AI today will be better positioned to shape the future global economy. The remarks came at a discussion titled "AI Future for Bangladesh: Challenges and Prospects" held in the city's Baridhara diplomatic zone. President of Eelaia Foundation and honorary consul of Ireland in Bangladesh Masud Khan said that Bangladesh has a unique opportunity to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) as a strategic driver of sustainable economic growth, governance modernisation and regional leadership, said  Speaking at a discussion on AI, he said the country stands at a pivotal moment in its development journey following the student-led July Revolution of 2024, which has created new opportunities for inclusive governance, economic reform and technological advancement. With a young and growing population, a resilient industrial base and the government's commitment to digital transformation, Bangladesh is well-positioned to transition towards an AI-driven economy, he said.