Monthly Archives: June 2024

Home 2024 June

Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale Accelerates Deployment of Generative AI in Collaboration with IBM

STRASBOURG, France and ARMONK, N.Y., June 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, a pioneer in the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) since 2016, invests in cutting-edge technologies. Used every day by its 25,000 advisors, AI freed up nearly 1 million hours of administrative work in 2023 to enable them to continue to best serve their members and clients.

Operating as a sovereign technology bank, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale stands out for its ability to carry out almost all of this IT processing in its own datacenters — an approach underpinned by the historic collaboration established between the teams of Euro-Information, the mutualist group’s technology subsidiary, and IBM (NYSE: IBM).

To maintain its lead in artificial intelligence, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale and Euro-Information are expanding their long-term collaboration with IBM via its IBM watsonx platform — an AI and data platform designed to help businesses develop responsible AI — deployed on Credit Mutuel’s in-house computing infrastructure. This collaboration will make it possible to accelerate and industrialize the deployment of generative AI.

Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale plans to rely on in-house developments and on watsonx to progressively deploy thirty-five AI use cases in Crédit Mutuel and CIC networks, with planned availability for the first set this summer. The mutualist group is also testing the InstructLab technique, jointly developed by IBM and Red Hat, to allow it to design models specific to its field of activity using its own data.

“For the past eight years, the success of our collaboration with IBM in artificial intelligence technologies has demonstrated the relevance of our strategy combining mutualist commitment and innovation. With watsonx, the Euro-Information and IBM teams gathered within the Cognitive Factory are working on the industrialization of 35 new use cases to enable our banking advisors to always offer the best possible services to our customers and members,” indicates Éric Petitgand, Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale.

“Because banking is a technological business, it is essential to constantly innovate in order to master the technologies of the future. Our collaboration with IBM is all the more strategic as the InstructLab technique will enable us to adapt generative AI to our pioneering commitments to ethical and trustworthy AI that meets the specific needs of our company,” says Frantz Rublé, President of Euro-Information.

“We are delighted to expand our collaboration with Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale. watsonx will allow them to bring cutting-edge generative AI capabilities to improve the customer experience,” adds Sebastian Krause, SVP and Chief Revenue Officer, IBM Corporation.

“Our strategic collaboration with the Crédit Mutuel Group and Euro-Information is thus further strengthened around three pillars: technological innovation, acceleration of transformation, and talent development,” concludes Jean-Philippe Desbiolles, IBM Managing Director for Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale.

Generative AI for enhanced customer relations with the dedicated local advisor

Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale has relied since its creation on technology to best serve its customers and members. In collaboration with IBM Consulting, Euro-Information’s Cognitive Factory has already massively deployed several cutting-edge artificial intelligence solutions, including for customer experience, risk management and compliance, support for account managers and document understanding.

Building on its know-how, Euro-Information will develop 35 AI use cases on an industrial scale, relying on in-house developments and on watsonx. Three initial generative AI solutions are expected to be deployed in the third quarter, enabling advisors to respond even more efficiently to the needs of their customers and members. In addition to MonIA, a broad catalog of AI-based services (document synthesis, transcription of appointments, etc.), they could benefit from templates for replying to customer emails, as well as an AI assistant providing personalized responses to help them with their assignments. A fourth pilot will support the Group’s IT development employees.

Managing the value chain for building ethical and trustworthy AI

Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, via the Chambre Syndicale et Interfédérale – its parliament made up of elected members and employees – has adopted a charter for trustworthy AI. This charter sets out commitments that govern the use of AI. IBM’s watsonx.governance will help Euro-Information implement them.

In this context, the governance of the mutualist group places AI at the service of human beings: elected representatives, employees, members and customers. It ensures strict respect for digital privacy. Bringing transparent and documented use of AI, it favors the most sober technological solutions and ensures that the principle of pooling banking and insurance offers is perpetuated to guarantee the interests of members and customers.

These collective choices are made possible because Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale operates as a sovereign industrial bank. In this respect, almost all IT processing is carried out on its own datacenters located in France and Europe, using software over which it has full control.

IBM and Pasqal Initiate Collaboration to Define Classical-Quantum Integration for Quantum-Centric Supercomputers

– ‘Catch Me Up’ feature – built and trained using IBM’s Granite LLM, through the watsonx platform – helps fans stay up to date on players across all ladies’ and gentlemen’s singles matches
– New IBM survey finds 55% of global tennis fans1 polled think Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have a positive impact on sports

LONDON, June 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) and The All England Lawn Tennis Club today announced a new feature for the Wimbledon digital experience that will leverage match data with generative AI from IBM’s AI and data platform, watsonx, to keep fans updated on the world’s leading players as they advance through The Championships.

The new ‘Catch Me Up’ feature displays pre and post-match player cards with AI-generated player stories and analysis via wimbledon.com and the Wimbledon 2024 App. Player cards will be personalised based on user preferences and data such as their location and myWimbledon profile, starting with their favourite players. Pre-match content will include analysis of recent performance and likelihood to win predictions, and post-match it will include key statistics and highlights. The feature will also create longer-form daily summaries of play.

‘Catch Me Up’ was built using IBM’s Granite large language model (LLM) to provide AI-generated text using the capabilities of the watsonx platform. The model has been trained on the Wimbledon editorial style and will be monitored by the All England Club. The new feature is designed to help Wimbledon scale its content to both new and existing tennis fans globally, as well as provide fans access to timelier, curated coverage across ladies’ and gentlemen’s singles matches which are often happening simultaneously.

This year, Wimbledon will also use generative AI to provide coverage of a broader range of matches than was previously available, including wheelchair events, to offer more to Wimbledon’s diverse international audience. This will form part of a redesigned digital match centre, known as IBM Slamtracker, available on the Wimbledon App and wimbledon.com. Using generative AI built from watsonx, IBM Slamtracker has been enhanced to  provide bullet point-based match previews and post-match reviews for ladies’ and gentlemen’s singles matches.

Majority of tennis fans surveyed positive about AI

The announcement comes as new research from IBM and Morning Consult* reveals that 55% of global tennis fans surveyed think AI will have a positive impact on sports. When considering how generative AI could improve their experience, these respondents prioritised real-time updates (36%), personalised content (31%), and unique insights (30%).

Approximately one-third (31%) of global tennis fans surveyed use multiple devices while watching sporting events, primarily to get more information, watch multiple matches at the same time, and interact with other fans. In addition, nearly half (47%) of them engage with additional content on tennis daily or weekly and rank summarisation and personalisation as the two most important features of sports content.

Chris Clements, Digital Products Lead at the All England Club, said: “We are committed to offering fans the highest quality Wimbledon experience, whether it’s in person or digitally. Generative AI allows us to scale our ability to provide different types of content for fans wherever they are in the world in a way that’s personalised for them. This year’s new Catch Me Up feature will make it easier for fans to follow the key storylines as they emerge throughout The Championships.”

Jonathan Adashek, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for IBM, said: “The new Catch Me Up feature is an exciting example of how we can use the power of generative AI to deliver compelling, insight-driven storytelling at scale. For 35 years, IBM and Wimbledon have been co-creating solutions that make fans feel more connected to all the on-court action, and our new research confirms they are beginning to understand the positive impact technologies such as generative AI can have on their digital experiences. IBM is also putting these same technologies from our AI and data platform watsonx into the hands of clients worldwide, across nearly every sector, to address their unique business needs.”

Additional highlights from the IBM and Morning Consult survey include:

Majority of global tennis fans surveyed think technology will have a positive impact on multiple aspects of the sport – for fans, coaches and players alike

  • 60% of tennis fans surveyed think technology will have a positive impact on the advancement of fan engagement.
  • More specifically, 75% of tennis fan respondents think technology will have a positive impact on the advancement of training; game strategy (74%); coaching (71%); and talent identification & acquisitions (66%).

Nearly a third of global tennis fans surveyed use more than one device to watch multiple matches at once, get more information and interact with other fans

  • 24% of tennis fans surveyed use two devices; 5% report using three devices and 2% report using more than three devices at the same time.
  • 45% of the surveyed tennis fans who use multiple devices do so to get more information while watching tennis; 32% do it to watch multiple matches simultaneously; and 30% do so to interact with other fans while watching a match.

More than one-fifth of UK sports fans surveyed use at least two devices simultaneously to consume sport

  • 20% of UK sports fans surveyed use two devices at the same time when watching sports, close to the global average of 22%.
  • Sports fans surveyed aged between 18-29 in Canada are much more likely to use three or more devices at once when watching sports (21%), compared with 7% in the UK and a global average of 10%.
  • In the UK, respondents identified multi-tasking (50%) and finding more information (41%) as the top reasons for multi-device sport consumption. 26% also said they use multiple devices to interact with other fans.

The Championships, Wimbledon will run from 1-14 July, 2024. To see the technology in action, visit wimbledon.com or download the Wimbledon App on your mobile device, available on the App Store and Google Play Store.

Discover more about Wimbledon 2024 and how IBM is supporting sporting events worldwide at http://www.ibm.com/sports/wimbledon.

Notes to Editors

*Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted in May 2024 among a total sample of 18,082 sports fans 18+ in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

The interviews for each country were conducted online, and the data is unweighted, with ~2,000 responses per market in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and India and ~1,000 responses per market in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

To qualify for this survey respondents must be at least an average sports fan and follow one or more of the following sports: Soccer, Cricket, Tennis, Basketball, Baseball, Rugby, Golf, American football, F1 racing, Track and field, Swimming, and the Olympics.

The full findings of this survey will be published on 26 June, 2024.

Rapidus and IBM Expand Collaboration to Chiplet Packaging Technology for 2nm-Generation Semiconductors

Agreement builds on existing collaboration between the two companies for the joint development of 2nm node technology
Jun 3, 2024

TOKYO and ARMONK, NY, June 3, 2024 – Rapidus Corporation, a manufacturer of advanced logic semiconductors, and multinational technology company IBM (NYSE: IBM), today announced a joint development partnership aimed at establishing mass production technologies for chiplet packages. Through this agreement, Rapidus will receive packaging technology from IBM for high-performance semiconductors, and the two companies will collaborate with the aim to further innovate in this space.

This agreement is part of an international collaboration within the framework of the “Development of Chiplet and Package Design and Manufacturing Technology for 2nm-Generation Semiconductors” project being conducted by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and builds on an existing agreement with IBM for the joint development of 2nm node technology. As part of the agreement, IBM and Rapidus engineers will work in collaboration at IBM’s facilities in North America for R&D and manufacturing of semiconductor packaging for high-performance computer systems.

Over the years, IBM has accumulated R&D and manufacturing technologies for semiconductor packaging for high-performance computer systems. The firm also has a wealth of experience with joint development partnerships with Japanese semiconductor manufacturers, as well as manufacturers of semiconductors, package manufacturing equipment, and materials. Rapidus aims to leverage this expertise to quickly establish cutting-edge chiplet packaging technology.

Rapidus President and CEO Dr. Atsuyoshi Koike commented: “Building on our current joint development agreement for 2nm semiconductor technology, we are extremely pleased to officially announce today this partnership with IBM to establish chiplet packaging technology. We will make the most of this international collaboration,　and pursue initiatives that will allow Japan to play an even more important role in the semiconductor packaging supply chain.”

Darío Gil, SVP and Director of Research at IBM, said: “With decades of innovation in advanced packaging, IBM is honored to expand our collaboration with Rapidus to develop state-of-the-art chiplet technology. Through our agreement, we are committed to supporting the development of the most advanced node production processes, design, and packaging, as well as developing new use cases and supporting the semiconductor workforce.”