E-Business
Coders at 13, Billionaires @ 30
![Olusola Amusan is the Citizenship Manager at Microsoft Nigeria.](https://www.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Olusola Amusan.jpg)
In the last few days, the world celebrated another computer science week; a statutory commemoratory series of events which held between December 8th-14th of the world to recognize the huge contribution that the knowledge of computer science and engineering has added to our world.
The event aimed to introduce 10 million students of all ages to computer science ideas and tools—and to let them try coding for one hour—while also demonstrating to parents, teachers, and policymakers how accessible coding can be.
Technology as we know it today has changed the way we live, the way we love and learn.
From the 1 Billionth view of the Gangnam Style video on Youtube to the 1.9 Billionth impression of the #bringbackourgirls hashtag on twitter, our world is experiencing huge technological and social Metamorphosis having the duo of its merits and demerits.
It might be healthy however to simply focus on the positive contributions and see how focus on this can magnify the benefits over the ills.
As we think about the how the social media has ushered in a new culture of learning, buying and even consuming products, and we remember the billions of dollars locked in information assets, we must rethink business as usual.
CNN had once said that “the future of TV is Twitter and TV is the future of Twitter”. Amazon, the Internet Market Giant has such a small office space compared to the gigantic plants of Toyota and Ford, yet the company made it to top 20 most valuable brands in the world ahead of both automobile firms.
What is special to learn about the founders of Google, the Creator of Facebook and the father of Microsoft is that they all started investing in the knowledge of technology at a really young age.
Reading Malcom Gladwell’s outliers, I realized that Bill Gate had been learning to code and coding for six (6) years before he got into Harvard.
Steve jobs interned with Bill Hewlett co-founder with David Packard of HP before Mark Zuckerberg (founder of FACEBOOK) built what has today become the third largest ‘Nation’ in the world after China and India, he began using computers and writing software in middle school.
His father taught him Atari BASIC Programming in the 1990s, and later hired software developer David Newman to tutor him privately.
Code.org an international organization in support with sponsors including Microsoft and Omidyar Network is leading a huge campaign that will ensure that millions of line of codes are written and promote the knowledge of programming and computer science education all over the world. The Initiative has been dubbed the “Hour of Code”.
Tons of events were held all over the world to celebrate the Computer Science week and get millions of Children and youth to start coding. During the computer Science week in Nigeria, Microsoft Nigeria partnered with Wifi-Combat academy (an organization that trains children how to code and build mobile applications), to host the hour of Code Lagos.
This is part of the organization’s commitment as software, devices and services leader to transform Nigeria’s economy and build future information technology entrepreneurs.
In the ‘tweets’ of Satyr Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, “Coding is fun! Help us get 100M students to see how it can help them achieve great things”.
This is my own submission, If they start coding at 13, they could be Billionaires at thirty, or to be modest something close.
We can only live what the technology of the future will look like to our lofty imaginations. In every way, within our sphere of influence, we can and should inspire children and youth to maximize tools like their mobile phones to create technology.
We cannot just remain consumers, we can turn the table around and one way to do this is to take charge of the creating side.
Which software(s) will run the technology consumed by the 200Million people who will live in Nigeria by 2025?
Who will write the software(s)? These two questions must be answered, and better answered in our favor.
The future is about quantum information, Information at the snap of thought, the age of speed, 4-dimensional representations, cloud computing and ubiquitous computing.
If we put the children in charge of this, that’s how to secure the future.
Olusola Amusan is the Citizenship Manager at Microsoft Nigeria. He manages all non-Profit and youth engagements, an inspirational speaker and inspiration to the nearly 60,000 young people he has trained in the past 5 years.
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.
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