Qatar Partners with Scale AI To Enhance Government Services Using AI - 1

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Qatar Partners with Scale AI To Enhance Government Services Using AI

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The Qatar government announced a new partnership with the American company Scale AI to provide training and AI-powered tools to improve and modernize government services during the next five years.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

  • Qatar partners with Scale AI to enhance government services using artificial intelligence.
  • The five-year deal includes developing over 50 AI applications for Qatar’s public sector.
  • This collaboration aims to position Qatar as a leader in AI technology in the region.

According to the p ublication shared by Scale AI , the alliance has been led by the Ministry of Communication and Innovation Technolgy (MCIT) as part of Qatar’s National Development Strategy and the country’s Digital Agenda 2030.

Yesterday we announced a strategic, long-term partnership with @MCITQatar to drive Qatar’s digital transformation: https://t.co/CUvbmwxwPM Together we will develop AI solutions that modernize government operations, enhance public services, and build a future-ready workforce. — Scale AI (@scale_AI) February 24, 2025

During the first stage, the organizations will analyze opportunities to provide AI-powered solutions to enhance public services and also train “a future-ready workforce.”

Scale AI—founded in 2016—explains that companies expect to optimize and automate processes such as legal regulatory transactions, enhanced healthcare administration services, and urban planning, and even provide a more personalized education for citizens or strengthen financial systems in the long term.

According to Reuters , Scale AI will provide the Qatar government with 50 AI-powered solutions for process optimizations during the next 5 years.

“(This deal) can be a blueprint for other governments around the world, and it allows us to really commit in a way that I think could drive impact even faster,” said Trevor Thompson, global head of growth at the San Francisco, California-based company in an interview with Reuters. The details of the agreement’s value were not disclosed.

Scale AI has provided AI solutions to other companies such as Microsoft, Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley, and AI startups like Cohere and OpenAI. The AI firm has also worked in the public sector with the U.S. government and Meta adapting Llama to help security teams in multiple tasks.

Bybit Suffers $1.5 Billion Crypto Heist, The Largest In History - 2

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Bybit Suffers $1.5 Billion Crypto Heist, The Largest In History

  • Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has confirmed a staggering $1.5 billion loss due to a hacking attack, marking what could be the biggest theft in digital asset history.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

  • Hackers targeted Bybit’s Ethereum cold wallet, stealing 400,000 Ethereum coins.
  • Ethereum’s value dropped nearly 4% following the theft.
  • Bybit offers a 10% bounty to recover the stolen funds.

The company assured users that their funds were safe, as it vowed to reimburse all affected customers.

Bybit’s co-founder and CEO, Ben Zhou, disclosed that the hackers targeted the platform’s Ethereum cold wallet—a more secure storage method compared to online “hot” wallets. Zhou confirmed that approximately 400,000 Ethereum coins were stolen and transferred to an unknown address, as reported by the Financial Times (FT).

“As far as we know this could be the largest hack in the history of our industry,” Zhou stated in a live-stream update.

The Guardian explains that the security breach occurred when Bybit was conducting a routine transfer of Ethereum from its cold wallet to a “warm” wallet, which manages daily trading transactions. Hackers exploited security controls to access the funds. Although the precise method remains unclear, an investigation is underway.

The massive theft shook the cryptocurrency market, causing Ethereum’s value to drop by nearly 4% on Friday before partially recovering, as reported by the BBC . The hack has reignited concerns over the security of digital asset platforms, a long-standing issue in the crypto industry.

Bybit has called upon the “brightest minds” in cybersecurity and crypto analytics to help track and recover the stolen funds. The company is offering a 10% bounty—potentially amounting to $140 million—to those who assist in retrieving the stolen assets, as reported by The Guardian..

Despite the incident, Zhou reassured customers that Bybit remains solvent, with $20 billion in assets under management. He also noted that the exchange had secured a bridge loan from partners to cover any unrecovered losses, as reported by The Guardian.

Zhou wrote on X:

Bybit is Solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered, all of clients assets are 1 to 1 backed, we can cover the loss. — Ben Zhou (@benbybit) February 21, 2025

However, the exchange faced a surge in withdrawal requests following the attack, receiving over 350,000 customer withdrawal orders, leading to delays in processing, as noted by The Guardian.

Bybit has reported the theft to authorities and is working with blockchain analysts to trace the stolen funds. The attack underscores ongoing vulnerabilities within the crypto sector, despite efforts to enhance security.