E-Business
Shoppers Eye Last-minute Deals on KongaYakata
![](https://www.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Konga-Yakata-2.jpg)
KongaYakata 2020, the biggest annual sales event in Nigeria promoted by leading e-Commerce giant, Konga comes to an end this Saturday, December 12, 2020.
The curtain is set to come down on this year’s edition of the wildly popular month-long shopping fiesta which has seen Konga live up to billing, shattering all existing records for the annual sales extravaganza.
The promotion, which kicked off on Wednesday, November 11, 2020 with a global single promo, has witnessed tons of amazing offers and massive deals right from commencement till date.
Among these, shoppers on the Konga platform have benefitted from huge price slashes, treasure hunts, flash sales and ridiculous discounts on a wide variety of products from various categories leveraging the multi-channel platforms of o nline, physical stores and KongaBulk.
In addition, feelers indicate that KongaPay, a Central Bank of Nigeria-licensed mobile money platform has witnessed huge benefits from the shopping traffic.
And with Konga preparing to round off the promotion by midnight this Saturday, feedback from within the organization reveals that a huge rush has commenced from Sunday, December 6 on all of Konga’s retail channels including the website, nationwide chain of physical stores and on Konga Bulk.
Traditionally, Konga is known to roll out some campaign-ending specific offers to round off KongaYakata each year – a development that is well known to many of its customers. Consequently, shoppers have begun the hunt for these last minute deals and special offers.
Despite agitations by a cross-section of shoppers seeking an extension of the campaign, Vice President, Konga Online, Kenny Oriola has urged shoppers to take advantage of the remaining days of KongaYakata, even as he disclosed that an extension may infringe on other year-end promotions already lined up.
“We have had a record outing this year and Nigerians have been wonderful.
“We appreciate them for this and further urge everyone to take advantage of the remaining few days of KongaYakata.
“Every shopper has another six days to shop and shop and we have positioned huge deals for the final countdown,’’ he stated.
Meanwhile, figures released by an insider source at Konga shows that, with a week to go to the end of KongaYakata 2020, the e-Commerce giant has beaten its previous best record for the annual promotion by over 100 per cent.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the fact that Konga is yet to formally release official figures for the ongoing sales fiesta, disclosed that KongaYakata 2020 has been a huge success, with record numbers witnessed in terms of revenue, orders processed and shipped as well as calls and enquiries received by its Customer Experience Team.
KongaYakata is widely regarded as the biggest sales event in the annual shopping calendar in Nigeria.
E-Business
Schmidt, Ex Google Chief Says AI Risky in Terrorist Hands
![](https://www.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Eric-Schmidt.jpg)
Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO has expressed concerns about the extreme risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI) falling into the hands of terrorists or rogue states.
![Schmidt, Ex Google Chief Says AI Risky in Terrorist Hands](https://i0.wp.com/www.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Eric-Schmidt.jpg?resize=573%2C254&ssl=1)
Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO
He warned that nations such as North Korea, Iran, and Russia could adopt AI technologies to develop weapons capable of causing significant harm, including biological weapons.
Schmidt urged governments to oversee private tech companies, emphasising, “The real fears I have are not the ones most people discuss about AI, I talk about extreme risk.”
“I’m always worried about an ‘Osama Bin Laden’ scenario, where truly evil individuals take control of some aspect of modern life to harm innocent people,” he added.
With private companies driving AI advancements, he stressed the need for careful government monitoring and regulation. “It’s really important that governments understand what we’re doing and keep their eye on us,” he said.
His remarks followed a two-day AI summit in Paris, where the UK and the U.S. declined to sign a communiqué outlining the future direction of AI. The declaration on “inclusive and sustainable artificial intelligence for people and the planet” was endorsed by 57 countries, including India, China, the Vatican, the EU, and the African Union Commission.
The UK justified its decision, stating that the agreement lacked “practical clarity” on global AI governance and national security concerns.
Schmidt supports U.S. export controls restricting the sale of advanced AI microchips to certain countries, aiming to slow adversaries’ progress in AI research.
He also highlights the importance of international collaboration on AI safety, suggesting that cooperation with nations like China is essential to addressing global AI challenges.
E-Business
OpenAI CEO Rejects $97.4Bn Takeover Bid from Elon Musk
![](https://www.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Open-AI.jpg)
Sam Altman, chief executive of ChatGPT-owner OpenAI, has firmly declared the company “not for sale” following a $97.4bn (£78.4bn) takeover bid from a consortium led by Elon Musk.
![OpenAI CEO Rejects $97.4Bn Takeover Bid from Elon Musk](https://i0.wp.com/www.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Elon-Musk.jpg?resize=563%2C229&ssl=1)
Elon Musk
Speaking at the AI Action Summit in Paris, Altman emphasised OpenAI’s mission to develop AGI (artificial general intelligence) for the benefit of humanity.
Marc Toberoff, attorney for Elon Musk, confirmed the bid submission on Monday.
In response, Altman humorously offered to buy Twitter for $9.74 billion on Musk’s platform.
Unlike many tech giants, OpenAI is not publicly traded but operates through a complex partnership between non-profit and for-profit entities.
Musk aims to return OpenAI to its non-profit roots, despite owning a rival firm, xAI.
Christie Pitts, a tech investor, expressed scepticism about Musk’s intentions, noting his competitive interests.
Altman echoed this sentiment, suggesting Musk’s move disregards OpenAI’s mission.
Altman, who holds no stock in OpenAI, advocates transforming the organisation into a fully for-profit company to raise more funds for AI research.
Although the board has the final say, the $97.4bn offer falls short of OpenAI’s previous $157bn valuation and rumoured $300bn in future funding talks.
Toberoff stated the consortium might increase their bid. Meanwhile, OpenAI is collaborating with Oracle, a Japanese investment firm, and an Emirati sovereign wealth fund on “The Stargate Project,” a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative announced by President Donald Trump.
E-Business
Adobe Launches AI Video Tool to Compete with OpenAI
![](https://www.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Adobe-logo.jpg)
Adobe yesterday released the first public version of an artificial intelligence tool that can generate video clips and revealed how much it will charge, but said it will not set pricing for major users such as studios until later this year.
The Firefly Video Model, as Adobe is calling the service, will compete against Sora, a model developed by ChatGPT creator OpenAI, and startup Runway, both of which currently offer video-generation services. Facebook owner Meta Platforms has also developed a video-generation AI model but has not given a timeline for when it will be released.
Adobe’s model differs from its rivals because it is geared toward generating clips that will fit into how film and television studios use Premiere Pro, its flagship video editing software.
To that end, many of the features that Adobe is emphasizing revolve around feeding existing shots into the video model and asking it to generate clips that fix or expand on shots that were taken on a real production set but that did not come out quite right.
Adobe said the service will generate five-second clips at 1080p resolution. While that is shorter than the clips of up to 20 seconds generated by OpenAI’s service, Adobe executives said the majority of individual clips in most productions are only three seconds.
Adobe said a user can generate 20 clips per month for $9.99 and 70 clips for $29.99. That compares with 50 videos for $20 per month with OpenAI’s plan at lower resolution and a $200 OpenAI plan that can handle longer, higher resolution videos.
Adobe is also working on a “Premium” pricing plan for studios and other high-volume video users and will release those pricing details later this year. Alexandru Costin, Adobe’s vice president of generative AI, said the company is working to generate 4K video and will remain focused on quality rather than longer clips.
“We actually think that great motion, great structure, great definition scheme, making the actual clip look like it was film, is more important than making a longer clip that’s unusable,” Costin told Reuters.
- E-Business2 days ago
Schmidt, Ex Google Chief Says AI Risky in Terrorist Hands
- News2 days ago
FG Order MDAs to Close Commercial Banks’ Accounts, Enforce TSA Policy
- Telecom2 days ago
Breaking….Tariff Hike: MTN Apologizes to Nigerians but Silent on Reversal
- News3 days ago
IFC Partners Mohinani Group to Drive Plastic Recycling and Manufacturing in Nigeria, Ghana
- Telecom3 days ago
Angst over Telecom Tariff Hike as Subscribers Demand Sanctions, Labour Orders Boycott
- News3 days ago
NDLEA Says 14m Nigerians Affected by Consumption of Harmful Drugs
- News3 days ago
NBRDA Investigates Biocatalysts for Bioethanol Production
- E-Business3 days ago
OpenAI CEO Rejects $97.4Bn Takeover Bid from Elon Musk