Eurobites: VMO2 puts a basestation on a drone for remote-region connectivity

Virgin Media O2's connectivity boffins have developed what is effectively a basestation-on-a-drone which can be used by emergency services personnel to establish reliable 5G communications in remote areas via a network of low Earth orbit satellites. The system has been trialed by the Warwickshire Search and Rescue team, which was set up to assist police with searches for missing people within the county and beyond.

Nokia and BT hope to develop new 5G network monetization opportunities through an agreement that combines the Finnish vendor's Network as Code platform and developer portal with BT's cloud-native network. Through the agreement, Nokia and BT will make tools such as software development kits and open application programming interfaces (APIs) available to developers so they can access BT's network features and devise new "use cases" targeted at the customers of EE, BT's main mobile brand. Nokia has announced a similar agreement with US operator Dish Wireless.

 The European Parliament and Council have thrashed out an agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), a set of rules governing the use of AI within the EU. AI systems identified as high-risk will be required to comply with strict requirements, including risk-mitigation systems and detailed documentation, while those AI systems considered a "clear threat to the fundamental rights of people" will be banned outright. Under the proposals, which are now subject to formal approval, companies failing to comply will be fined up to €35 million (US$37.6 million) or 7% of global annual turnover (whichever is higher).

Hopefully complying with the above will be Mistral AI, a Paris-based AI startup that, reports Bloomberg, has raised €385 million ($415 million) in a funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Ventures.

Meanwhile, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority is clearly feeling uneasy about the relationship between OpenAI (which spawned ChatGPT) and Microsoft. It is now inviting views from interested parties on whether the partnership between the two companies "results in the creation of a relevant merger situation and, if so, the impact of the partnership on competition in the UK." This Invitation to Comment (ITC) is the first part of the CMA's information-gathering process and comes in advance of any launch of a formal investigation.

A major study into neurodiversity in the tech sector carried out at the offices of Vodafone, Colt, Nokia and Samsung has concluded that neurodivergent employees feel affected by their conditions in the workplace, with a quarter of them saying that they felt affected every day. More than half of those who self-reported as neurodivergent had not disclosed their condition because they did not have a formal diagnosis (55%) or did not see the value in disclosing it (53%).  The study recommended, among other measures, that organizations must foster trust and proactively explore support options, making the workplace more accessible for neurodivergent people. Neurodivergent is an umbrella term for a range of conditions that includes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The GSMA has launched a new innovation fund which provides grants of up to £250,000 to test and support digital approaches to humanitarian challenges in low- and middle-income countries. Unusually for the GSMA, this new fund is focused specifically on for-profit small and growing enterprises – including startups. The fund was set up in partnership with the UK's the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.