#technology

A U.S. #robotics startup is developing humanoid #robots for military use, including possible combat roles in the future.

San Francisco-based Foundation Future Industries has a $24 million Pentagon contract to test its #humanoid robots with U.S. defense forces. The company was founded in 2024 and is backed by Eric #Trump, who serves as its chief strategy adviser.

Its main robot is called the Phantom MK-1. It is about the size of an adult human and can carry up to 40 kilograms (88 pounds).

Foundation says it has deployed about 10 robots so far. They have been used for industrial work, including moving materials in #factories, and the company says it has also worked with the U.S. Air Force.

The company has also run pilot programs in #Ukraine, where the robots have been used to move objects and supplies.

Foundation #CEO Sankaet Pathak says the robots could eventually take on #military missions that are dangerous for human soldiers. He has also discussed future combat uses.

The robots are leased for about $100,000 per year. Foundation's San Francisco facility can produce around 300 to 500 robots a year, and the company is building another facility to increase production.

Foundation is also developing a second-generation Phantom using AMD chips. The company says it is working to make the robot capable of learning new tasks from only a few demonstrations.

The robots are not currently #autonomous combat soldiers. Foundation is still testing the #technology and developing it for military use.

The company had previously discussed producing 10,000 robots by the end of 2026, but Pathak now says those earlier targets were ambitious.

For now, Foundation is testing its humanoid robots in industrial and military environments while developing more advanced defense #applications.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Foundation Future Industries. #azatell #azatellnews #technews #viral

Outrunning sprinters on the track was just the warm-up for China's humanoid robots | After machines jumped, boxed, danced and outran Usain Bolt over 100 meters at the World Humanoid Robot Games in China, the PLA Daily urged researchers to accelerate lab-to-field technology transfers for robotic "combatants," as China's defense establishment ramps up research into humanoid military applications and plans for eventual wartime deployment, according to a Reuters review of over 100 military procurement notices, academic studies, patents, official publications, government records and defense-company materials

#Robotics #ArtificialIntelligence #China #Defence #Technology #Military

Africa’s #startup #ecosystem is bigger than fintech. But #fintech is still winning the funding race.

I came across an infographic showing some of #Africa’s top-funded #startups as of #August 2026, and one thing immediately stood out to me.

Fintech dominates.

Moniepoint — $110M
Jumia — $90M
TymeBank — $70M
mPharma — $58M
FairMoney — $42M
Sun King — $38M
Chipper Cash — $30M

And the list continues across e-commerce, logistics, healthtech, energy, software and other sectors.

But there is a bigger story here.
#Africa isn’t simply building more startups.
Africa is building #businesses around real #problems.

How people save.
How people access financial services.
How people connect and network.
How businesses receive payments.
How medicine reaches patients.
How electricity reaches households.
How goods move across cities.
How people buy and sell.

That is where I think the next generation of #African companies will come from.

And as someone building in #community finance, this is particularly interesting to me.

For decades, Africans have already created informal systems to solve financial problems Ajo, Esusu, cooperatives, savings groups and rotating contributions.

The opportunity isn’t to replace those #behaviours.

It is to #modernize them.

That is part of the thinking behind what we build, the #Azatell.

The question I keep asking is:

What happens when #African financial behaviour meets world-class #technology?

This funding landscape suggests #investors are already paying attention to the opportunity.

Now the question is:

Which African startup will become the next $100M company?

What sector do you think will produce it?

#AfricanStartups #AfricaTech #Fintech #VentureCapital #StartupFunding #Entrepreneurship #CommunityFinance #Lumpay #Nigeria #Africa

WhatsApp is set to introduce charges for certain customer-service messages sent by businesses using the }WhatsApp Business Platform from October 1, 2026.

The change could have a major impact on #businesses that depend heavily on WhatsApp for #customer enquiries, orders, bookings, complaints and support, particularly in Nigeria where WhatsApp is one of the most widely used communication platforms.

However, the new charges are not for ordinary WhatsApp users or businesses using only the regular WhatsApp Business app. The change concerns businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform/API.

#Meta is expected to provide more details, including the applicable rates for different markets.

With many Nigerian businesses relying almost entirely on WhatsApp to communicate with customers, the big question is: Will this make businesses increase their prices, or will they simply absorb the extra cost?

#WhatsApp #Meta #azatellng #Nigeria #Business #Technology

What’s the single biggest risk with AI? Scaling without changing how the #organization operates.

Not long ago, many discussions centered on what the technology could do.

🎯 For leaders, AI readiness now comes down to three questions: Who owns the outcome? Which #workflows will change? And are our people equipped to work differently?

To me, that's a sign of progress.

⚙️ Technology does not transform an organization on its own. Leadership turns possibility into operating discipline. The organizations gaining momentum are connecting #AI to a small number of business priorities, assigning clear accountability and redesigning how work gets done, rather than layering new tools onto old processes.

South Africa reinforced that conviction for me. The strongest conversations were about the decisions behind execution: where to focus first, who should own the outcome and what must change for AI to deliver stronger businesses, better services and greater economic #opportunity.

That's a shift I'm seeing across #MEA.

🔄 The dividing line will not be between organizations that use AI and those that do not. It will be between those using AI to improve existing work and those redesigning how the organization creates value.

#Leadership #AI #azatell #technology