This week was Novruz week.
Most of the platforms we use during the holiday, from Google to myGov, congratulate us on the holiday in some way. I also join in the congratulations. Happy holiday!
Considering that the weather has cooled down a bit, you can prepare your tea, coffee and start reading along with Novruz sweets.
My notes for the local market.
Technical infrastructure change at Umico
According to the information provided by the Technical Director, Umico's main language has been switched from Ruby to GO (in the catalog and search section). As a result of this change, infrastructure costs have been optimized 3-6 times. At the same time, this change was probably also important for integration into an ecosystem.
Unified Information System for Public Utilities
The Roadmap for the creation of an Information System and the integration of related systems for 2025 has been approved. The creation of a single subscriber code seems logical. However, the issue of payments being on a single system caught my attention. If this “unified system” is removed from other platforms, it will be a step backwards. If other platforms continue their activities and this system remains as a service that adds added value, it will be better.
An incubation program for game studios has started
The prize fund will be 100 thousand manats. The program will take place within the framework of cooperation between the Innovation and Digital Development Agency (IRIA) and the “Xsolla” company. Cash prizes of 50, 75 and 100 thousand manats are planned for the 3 winning startups. Go to the application. I also came across an interesting TikTok video related to our games.
New services
This week I came across three interesting sites that caught my attention.
One is musical.az. This platform, implemented with the support of the Ministry of Culture, is intended for Azerbaijan, the Turkic world and the Eastern music market.
The other is the www.pixelfork.art site. The authors of the service that was accepted into Antler's 3-month program are two Azerbaijanis #1 #2.
The last interesting local site I saw on UserOrient was Flutter. Flutter is a tool for collecting user feedback in projects. In particular, the use of this system in various applications where developers participate can make a great contribution to the development of the platform.
Azerbaijan's artificial intelligence strategy has been approved.
The strategy was approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated March 19, 2025. It consists of 24 pages. Its term covers the years 2025-2028.
I read the document as much as I could and, in general, the direction is right. The main issue is the effectiveness of implementation. The first thing I looked for was the budget - we know that the US has allocated $ 500 billion for the artificial intelligence strategy. However, I did not see specific financial figures and a detailed plan clearly stated in the document. The Public-Private Partnership model is emphasized. It is planned to create an Artificial Intelligence Academy, form an artificial intelligence community of 500 engineers and 3,000 people. It is reported that funding for this will be provided from the state budget and other sources. I hope that in the process of creating the academy, the budget will be saved by taking into account the base of educational institutions such as Code, Step, Div, which are currently operating in the technical field.
Another positive point is that the development of a local LLM (Large Language Model) is also planned. I do not know how realistic this is, because this process requires a large amount of funds. At the end of last year, Sadig and I tried to test an artificial intelligence project. It was developed on AWS, and APIs of various LLMs were used. But during the testing phase, we realized that it was impossible to do such a thing with personal funds and we stopped the project.
I wrote about this for a long time, but it is an important innovation for our country. To summarize, I would say that it is a very good step. However, a large amount of funds must be allocated and these funds must be used correctly. I hope that we can cope as a country.
In short, this is a very important step for our country. However, for it to be successful, serious funding must be allocated and this funding must be used efficiently. I hope that we can cope as a country.
Artificial Intelligence
Baidu AI model
Baidu's new Ernie X1 model performs the same as Deepseek's R1 model. OpenAI's AI model outperforms GPT-4.5 and is offered at only 1% of its price.
xAI acquires Hotshot service
Instead of completely re-developing a system to produce videos with AI, xAI acquired Hotshot, an AI service operating in the video field, to save time.
New features in Gemini
With the Canvas feature, documents and codes can be created and edited in real time, while the Audio Overview feature converts content into a dynamic podcast format.
Nvidia's new software for robots.
Nvidia introduced the Groot N1 artificial intelligence model, designed specifically for humanoid robots, at the GTC 2025 event. This model is designed to give robots both reflexive and
also provides the ability to think strategically. The fast thinking system allows robots to react immediately, while the slow thinking system helps to plan and perform more complex tasks. Nvidia presents this model as open source and promises a wide range of applications in various fields. According to the company's CEO Huang, the full integration of robots into our lives will take place within 5 years.
Perplexity AI seeks investment
Perplexity AI is looking for $ 1 billion in investment at a value of $ 18 billion. I should also say that it received the most recent investment in December 2024 for $ 500 million. With these figures, you can see how much money AI has "burned".
Internet search on Claude.
Until now, Claude's memory was October 2024. He already has access to the latest data. Until now, there was no direct competitor to Google in search. But with AI, Google's competitors are increasing.
OpenAI voice model
OpenAI has introduced 3 new voice models gpt-4o-transcribe, gpt-4o-mini-transcribe and gpt-4o-mini-tts. Developers can test the text-to-speech feature on Openai.fm.
Technology
Google's $30 billion acquisition.
Google is reportedly buying Wiz for $30 billion. Last year, they rejected a $23 billion offer. Interestingly, this company is based in Israel. That means a company that has exited a small market can make a global exit.
Apple's $1 billion loss.
Apple loses $1 billion every year. The company spends this money on Apple TV+. Since it only has 45 million members, it is not yet getting a return on its investment.
Telegram has reached 1 billion users.
This is the number of active users. In addition, let's note that Telegram has already become a profitable company. They also announced their profits last year - $547 million.
The Trump family buys a stake in Binance.
It has been reported that the family is in talks to buy a stake in Binance.US, the US division of Binance. Binance management has categorically denied the information.
