Connected newsletter: Apple bigs up AI as it seeks office space in Dublin

Connected at the Business Post is your source for the news that matters in technology and innovation, all told from an Irish perspective

Charlie Taylor
June 14, 2024

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EDITOR'S NOTE

You want tech news? Well we have plenty of it. Starting off with Apple, and as if it weren’t enough that the company finally unveiled its AI strategy earlier this week, we also exclusively revealed on Wednesday that the tech giant is hunting for office space in Dublin.

Apple, which already has a sizeable presence in Ireland through its facilities in Cork, is planning on taking additional space in Dublin to facilitate further potential expansion, according to several well-placed sources.

Earlier in the week, Apple sought to wow the world with news of how it intends to integrate AI into its products. The company’s stock initially slipped but later rebounded strongly. There are plenty of people who were left unimpressed by Apple’s AI presentation though, including yours truly.

OpenAI has appointed Co Tyrone’s finest Sarah Friar as its new chief financial officer. The appointment comes just four months after she stepped down as CEO of Nasdaq-listed Nextdoor. Could Friar’s appointment be part of a plan by OpenAI to go public? Read my colleague Kathleen Gallagher’s analysis to find out.

Talking of OpenAI, Elon Musk dropped a lawsuit against the company this week, only to follow up with a threat to ban iPhones at his various companies due to Apple’s partnership with the firm behind ChatGPT.

Women are more likely to be impacted by the changes brought about by AI, according to a new study compiled on behalf of the government. Here’s my breakdown on what the reports reveal.

The revelation that Eoghan McCabe, the chief executive of Irish tech company Intercom, was among the attendees at a Silicon Valley fundraiser for Donald Trump at which the former president raised $12 million raised a few eyebrows during the week.

Someone else well-used to publicity is Paddy Cosgrave, whose Web Summit announced plans to move the Collision conference from Toronto to Vancouver and rebrand it to better align it with the firm's other events.

Amazon, Google and Microsoft have urged the state to allow them to connect directly to solar and wind farms to power their data centres, claiming it would ease pressure on the grid amid ongoing restrictions on new developments in Dublin

It was a busy week on the funding front with big raises for AccountsIQ, and Xocean. Meanwhile, less than two months after signing a $1.3 billion deal with a German drugmaker, Irish co-founded Ochre Bio agreed a new $37.5 million multi-year data licence agreement with pharma giant GSK.

In our weekly update, we are giving you the lowdown on the best tech jobs currently available locally. If you want to be included, then email topjobs@businesspost.ie