Category: Machine Learning

MIL-OSI Africa: Africa Energy Summit, leaders commit to energy transformation with more than $50billion backing from global partners
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, January 29, 2025/APO Group/ —

Thirty African Heads of State and government today committed to concrete reforms and actions to expand access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity to power economic growth, improve quality of life, and drive job creation across the continent. The leaders pledged their commitment in a declaration during the two-day Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit in the Tanzanian commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. Mission 300 partners pledged more than $50 billion in support of increasing energy access across Africa.

The Dar es Salaam Energy Declaration represents a key milestone in addressing the energy gap in Africa, where more than 600 million people currently live without electricity. The commitments in the Declaration are a critical piece of the Mission 300 initiative, which unites governments, development banks, partners, philanthropies, and the private sector to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030. The Declaration will now be submitted to the African Union Summit in February for adoption.

By addressing the fundamental challenge of energy access, Mission 300 serves as the cornerstone of the jobs agenda for Africa’s growing youth population and the foundation for future development.

Twelve countries—Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia—presented detailed National Energy Compacts that set targets to scale up electricity access, increase the use of renewable energy and attract additional private capital. These country-specific plans are time-bound, rooted in data, endorsed at the highest level and focus on affordable power generation, expanding connections, and regional integration. They aim to boost utility efficiency, attract private investment, and expand clean cooking solutions. Deploying satellite and electronic mapping technologies, these compacts identify the most cost-effective solutions to bring electricity to underserved areas.

“Tanzania is honored to have hosted such a monumental summit to discuss how, as leaders, we will be able to deliver on our promise to our citizens to provide power and clean cooking solutions that will transform lives and economies,” said H.E. Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Implementing the National Energy Compacts will require political will, long-term vision and the full support from Mission 300 partners. Governments are paving the way through comprehensive reforms, complemented by increased concessional financing and strategic partnerships with philanthropies and development banks to catalyze increased private sector investment.

Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, emphasized the need for decisive action to accelerate electrification across the continent. “Critical reforms will be needed to expand the share of renewables, improve utility performance utilities, ensure transparency in licensing and power purchase agreements, and establish predictable tariff regimes that reflect production costs. Our collective effort is to support you, heads of state and government, in developing and implementing clear, country-led national energy compacts to deliver on your visions for electricity in your respective countries.”

“Access to electricity is a fundamental human right. Without it, countries and people cannot thrive,” said Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group. “Our mission to provide electricity to half of the 600 million people in Africa without access is a critical first step. To succeed, we must embrace a simple truth: no one can do it alone. Governments, businesses, philanthropies, and development banks each have a role—and only through collaboration can we achieve our goal.”

During the summit, partners announced a series of commitments:
- African Development Bank Group and the World Bank Group plan to allocate $48 billion in financing for Mission 300 through 2030, which may evolve to fit implementation needs
- Agence Francaise de Development (AFD): €1 billion to support energy access in Africa
- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB): $1 billion to $1.5 billion to support Mission 300
- Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group: $2.65 billion in support of Mission 300 and energy access in Africa from 2025-2030
- OPEC Fund: An initial commitment of $1 billion in support of Mission 300 with additional financing to follow
- World Bank Group and the African Development Bank Group: Launched Zafiri, an investment company that supports private sector-led solutions, such as renewable mini-grids and solar home systems. Zafiri anchor partners will invest up to $300 million in the first phase and mobilize up to $1 billion to address the persistent equity gap in Africa in these markets.
The firm commitments made by governments and partners at the summit demonstrate the unique power of the Mission 300 partnership. By combining government reforms, increased financing, and leveraging public-private partnerships, African countries are positioned to turn plans into action, delivering tangible benefits to millions of people.

The Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit was hosted by the United Republic of Tanzania, the African Union, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), and the World Bank Group (WBG), with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, ESMAP, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa.

MIL OSI Africa –
January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Samsung Hosts Season 3 of #PlayGalaxy Cup with Galaxy S25 Series, India’s Top Gamers Join the Action

Source: Samsung

Samsung, India’s largest consumer electronics brand, is thrilled to announce the third edition of its ultimate gaming showdown: #PlayGalaxy Cup played on the new Galaxy S25 Ultra, a power-packed device designed to be a true AI companion. One of the biggest gaming events hosted in India, the #PlayGalaxy Cup reached over 300 Million users this year.

The #PlayGalaxy Cup was livestreamed on January 23, 2025 from 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM, on Samsung India’s YouTube channel and select Samsung exclusive stores across the country.

“Samsung has always been at the forefront of bringing powerful devices that can handle demanding gameplay and with the latest Galaxy S25 Ultra, we’ve taken the entire experience a notch higher. The Galaxy S25 Ultra, with its blazing-fast performance, immersive 6.9-inch display, and super smooth 120Hz refresh rate, is built for gamers who demand the very best. We’ve worked closely with Qualcomm engineers to deliver a customized Snapdragon® 8 Elite chip that ensures exceptional speed and prevents overheating, even during intense gaming sessions like these. With edition 3 of the #PlayGalaxy, we’ve also expanded our reach to 300 million users, up from 150 million users in the previous edition,” said Aditya Babbar, Vice President, MX Business, Samsung India.

The event witnessed a head-to-head participation of 12 teams, comprising 48 gamers, battling it out in Call of Duty Mobile for the coveted #PlayGalaxy Season 3.0 Cup. After an intense showdown across 4 matches, the team with the maximum points emerged victorious. The fierce and exhilarating competition culminated in “Pune AI Heroes” being crowned as the ultimate champions, taking home the glory and the title of Season 3.0 winners.
#PlayGalaxy Cup 3.0 also featured India’s top gaming talent, including Total Gaming, Techno Gamerz, Carry Minati, Gamerfleet, Mythpat, Triggered Insaan, Kaashvi, Desi Gamer, Sourav Joshi, SlayyPoint and SMR Gaming, Jonty Gaming, Gareeboooo, Tomboy from the Samsung #PlayGalaxy community.

List of winners:

Position
Team Name
Team Captain
Play Galaxy Tournament Winner
Pune AI Heros
Kaashvi
Play Galaxy 1st Runner Up
Jaipur AI Warriors
GamerFleet
Play Galaxy 2nd Runner Up
Delhi AI Legends
Techno Gamerz
Galaxy S25 series is powered by the Snapdragon® 8 Elite for Galaxy. With unique customizations by Galaxy, this is the most powerful processor ever on Galaxy S series, delivering a performance boost of 40% in NPU, 37% in CPU and 30% in GPU compared to previous generation. This power fuels the Galaxy S25 series’ ability to process more AI experiences on-device without compromise, including previous cloud-based AI tasks such as Generative Edit.

Samsung and Qualcomm Technologies worked together to customize the Snapdragon® 8 Elite for Galaxy. The Galaxy S25 series features advanced, efficient AI image processing with ProScaler11 to achieve a 40% improvement in display image scaling quality, while incorporating custom technology with Samsung’s mobile Digital Natural Image engine (mDNIe) embedded within the processor using Galaxy IP to enable greater display power efficiency.

Snapdragon® 8 Elite for Galaxy is also equipped with Vulkan Engine and improved Ray Tracing, which makes for smoother and more realistic mobile gaming. All intense device usage and AI processing run smoothly thanks to changed heat dissipation structure with 40% larger vapor chamber and a tailored thermal interface material (TIM) that delivers extra improvement in thermal efficiency.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Samsung Launches BESPOKE AI WindFree™ AC Range; Introduces 19 Models across Segments

Source: Samsung

Samsung, India’s largest consumer electronics brand today launched its 2025 lineup of BESPOKE AI WindFree Air conditioners, a fusion of cutting-edge AI technology and premium design. With a focus on intelligent cooling, energy efficiency, and connected living, the new range of 19 models cater to the evolving demands of Indian consumers. These air conditioners are thoughtfully engineered to deliver comfort, convenience, and innovation while tackling the challenges of India’s extreme summers.

This range harnesses AI-driven innovations to adapt seamlessly to varying climate conditions, ensuring consistent comfort and maximum efficiency. The WindFree Cooling technology eliminates direct drafts, dispersing air gently through 23,000 micro holes, while the AI Fast & Comfort Cooling feature rapidly cools the space and intelligently transitions to energy-efficient settings for sustained comfort. Designed with modern lifestyles in mind, the range incorporates SmartThings connectivity, offering advanced features such as Map View for remote monitoring and Quick Remote for effortless control.

Adding more convenience to the lives of the work from home generation, BESPOKE AI WindFree ACs also connect seamlessly with Samsung’s SmartThings app using Wi-Fi allowing you to change settings or switch it on/off using Bixby voice assistant, Alexa and Google Home. You can also optimize cooling with smart AI Auto Cooling and automatically cool the room even before you reach home with the geo-fencing based Welcome Cooling feature. Powered with the new ‘Good Sleep’ mode, these ACs promote pleasant sleep throughout the night by adjusting the temperature according to sleep stages.

“We are excited to redefine the home cooling experience, while addressing the unique challenges of Indian summers with the 2025 Bespoke AI WindFree air conditioners. These Air Conditioners are a testament to Samsung’s commitment to innovation that enhances everyday living. By blending AI-driven cooling and energy efficiency, smart connectivity, and lifestyle-enhancing features, this range brings powerful AI tech innovation for the Indian consumer.,” said Ghufran Alam, Senior Director, Digital Appliances, Samsung India.

Samsung has had a stellar year in the Indian air conditioner market, with robust sales and strong momentum heading into 2025. With the launch of its Bespoke AI WindFree lineup, the company is positioning itself to lead the AI-driven revolution in the AC sector. By integrating smart AI features that optimize energy use and enhance user experience, this new range is set to elevate Samsung’s presence in the market.

AI-Driven Cooling and Energy Efficiency
The Bespoke AI WindFree ACs leverage cutting-edge AI technology to redefine cooling efficiency. The AI Energy Mode intelligently adjusts the cooling settings to save up to 30% energy. This addresses the top key buying factor for consumers while buying an air conditioner – the demand for energy-efficient appliances without compromising on comfort.

The AI Fast & Comfort Cooling feature ensures instant relief by rapidly reducing room temperature with maximum fan speed. Once the desired temperature is achieved, the system intelligently switches to WindFree Mode to maintain consistent cooling, ensuring a comfortable environment for activities like sleeping or entertaining guests.

The AI Digital Inverter control ensures uninterrupted cooling even when outdoor temperatures reach a scorching 58°C, providing reliability during India’s extreme summers.

Unparalleled Smart Features with SmartThings Integration
The new lineup comes with Samsung’s SmartThings platform, redefining how users interact with air conditioners. Indian consumers, in a research showed high preference for convenient operations like simple remote control pop up function via a smart app.This AC comes with features like Quick Remote allow users to control their AC’s power, mode, temperature, and air volume from their smartphone. This eliminates the hassle of locating a physical remote and ensures convenience at one’s fingertips.

The Map View feature offers a virtual 3D representation of the home, making it easy to monitor and control the AC remotely. Consumers can check vital metrics like room temperature, air quality, and energy consumption, ensuring a connected, smarter living experience. Compatibility with Bixby, Alexa, and Google Assistant enables voice control, making the interaction seamless and intuitive.

Welcome Cooling further enhances convenience by automatically starting the AC as users near their home, providing a perfectly comfortable environment upon arrival.

Dedicated WindFree Good Sleep Feature for Unmatched Rest
The WindFree Good Sleep feature is specifically designed to optimize the bedroom climate during the night. By carefully regulating temperature and humidity, it prevents sudden fluctuations that could disturb sleep, ensuring a restful and uninterrupted slumber. This feature is perfect for Indian consumers seeking comfort and relaxation in their everyday lives.

Enhanced Comfort and Hygiene
Unlike conventional filters, the Copper Anti-bacterial Filter redefines convenience and efficiency in air conditioner maintenance. Positioned externally on the top, it allows for easy removal and cleaning without the need to open any covers or exert force. Crafted from dense mesh, it effectively captures dust, ensuring the Heat Exchanger remains clean and operates efficiently. Additionally, the copper-infused yarn in the filter reduces certain airborne bacteria by up to 99%*, contributing to a cleaner and healthier indoor environment.

Durability and Reliability
Built to last, the Bespoke AI WindFree ACs come with a 5-year comprehensive warranty and a 10-year warranty on the AI Inverter compressor. The inclusion of Durafin Ultra coating protects the heat exchanger from corrosion, ensuring long-term performance and durability.

Price and Availability
Priced at INR 32990/- onwards, the new range of Bespoke AI air conditioners are available across all leading retail outlets and online platforms, including Flipkart, Amazon, and Samsung.com. Air Conditioners – Split AC | Samsung India***

[1] Available for Room Air Conditioners, with Wi-Fi. Requires mobile phones above Galaxy S22, and wearable devices above Galaxy Watch7 series.
Must download SmartThings/Wearable/Samsung Health apps available on Android and iOS devices. A Wi-Fi connection and a Samsung account are required. Devices must be signed in with the same Samsung account.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Polytechnic University is now accepting applications for the online course “Digital Twins of Products”

Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

The Advanced Engineering School of SPbPU “Digital Engineering” has opened a new recruitment of students for the first unique online course in Russia “Digital Twins of Products”, dedicated to the development and application of digital twins of products in the high-tech industry.

The online course was prepared jointly with the SPbPU Open Education Center as part of the implementation of the Priority 2030 strategic academic leadership program. Training will begin on February 3, 2025, on the national educational platform Open Education.

SIGN UP FOR TRAINING

The online course program is aimed at developing understanding, knowledge and skills on the following relevant topics:

the main approaches and options for defining the term “digital twin of a product”; the basics of developing, verifying and validating mathematical, computer and digital models; the procedure for forming a multi-level system of requirements and target indicators of a high-tech product; the basics of conducting digital (virtual) tests of a product, including digital tests using digital (virtual) test benches and testing grounds on a software and technology platform (digital platform); features of ensuring two-way information links between a digital twin and a product.

The online course lectures cover general theoretical principles that ensure the creation and application of a digital twin of a product, elements of digital twins and key terms in this area. The program is aimed at studying the main provisions GOST R 57700.37–2021 “Computer models and modeling. DIGITAL TWINS OF PRODUCTS. General provisions”, intended primarily for use in the high-tech mechanical engineering industry and related industries.

The online course “Digital Twins of Products” consists of 16 topics, combined into 4 modules. Each topic contains a video lecture lasting 7-15 minutes and materials for independent study by students:

presentation (5-10 slides); notes (10-15 pages); glossary (5-15 terms and definitions); additional literature (2-5 sources).

The training intensity is 72 academic hours (approximate duration of training is 16 weeks with classes of 4-5 academic hours per week).

The authors of the course are the main developers of the national standard of the Russian Federation GOST R 57700.37–2021 “Computer models and modeling. DIGITAL DOUBLES OF PRODUCTS. General provisions”.

Course Authors:

Borovkov Aleksey Ivanovich, Vice-Rector for Digital Transformation of SPbPU, Professor, Head of the Advanced Engineering School of SPbPU “Digital Engineering”, World-Class Scientific Center “Advanced Digital Technologies” of SPbPU, Competence Center of NTI SPbPU “New Production Technologies” and Engineering Center “Computer Engineering Center” (CompMechLab®) of SPbPU, Technology Transfer Center of SPbPU; Ryabov Yury Aleksandrovich, Head of the Department of Technological and Industrial Foresight of the Engineering Center “Computer Engineering Center” (CompMechLab®) of PIS SPbPU “Digital Engineering”; Martynets Ekaterina Romanovna, Leading Specialist of the Department of Technological and Industrial Foresight of the Engineering Center “Computer Engineering Center” (CompMechLab®) of PIS SPbPU “Digital Engineering”; Shcherbina Lyudmila Aleksandrovna, Deputy Director for Information and Analytical Work of the Engineering Center “Computer Engineering Center” (CompMechLab®) of the SPbPU PISh “Digital Engineering”.

The specialists will share their competencies and knowledge within the course Advanced engineering school of SPbPU “Digital engineering”, NTI Competence Center SPbPU “New Production Technologies”, Engineering Center “Computer Engineering Center” (CompMechLab®) SPbPU, with many years of successful experience in carrying out R&D based on the technology of developing digital twins for high-tech industry enterprises in such knowledge-intensive sectors as engine building, power engineering, nuclear, oil and gas, petrochemical and special engineering, aircraft manufacturing, rocket and space technology, automotive engineering, shipbuilding, shipbuilding and marine engineering, instrument making, medical engineering, high-performance sports and others.

Who will benefit from the online course “Digital Twins of Products”:

systems engineers, research engineers, calculation engineers, design engineers, process engineers, operating engineers, developers of complex high-tech products in various industries; senior and middle managers responsible for the development and implementation of digital transformation strategies, changing business processes and business models of enterprises through the introduction of digital technologies; students, postgraduates and teachers of technical universities; a wide range of people with higher professional education (starting with a bachelor’s degree), interested in theoretical and practical issues of developing advanced digital and production technologies.

A complete list of areas of training for masters, specialists and postgraduates who may be interested in the online course “Digital Twins of Products” is given below.

The new intake is already the sixth since the course was launched. The fifth intake completed its training in December 2024. Based on the results of all the intakes, 5,609 students from 6 countries and 223 cities in Russia and neighboring countries registered for the course.

These are employees and students of engineering specialties from 169 research centers and universities, as well as specialists from 54 high-tech companies. As their areas of activity, the students noted mechanical engineering, finite element modeling, energy, electrical engineering, oil production, construction and BIM technologies, polymeric materials, programming, pedagogy, regulatory control and others. 1,717 people successfully completed the training, as a result of which they received a certificate of advanced training from SPbPU and / or an electronic certificate of the national educational platform “Open Education” on completion of the course.

According to the results of surveys conducted after each release, 93% of students are ready to recommend this course to their friends and colleagues. They noted the depth of development and high-quality design of the training materials, the accessibility of the information. The video lecture format was recognized as very successful, allowing training at a convenient time without interrupting work.

Feedback left by students following the fifth launch of the course:

I found answers to questions that had been bothering me for a long time, namely, I understood what a “digital twin” is. The topic is very well covered. I also liked that many terms were given in English. An excellent high-level overview of digital twin development tools. I feel proud that our country is actively moving in such a promising direction as “digital twins” and offers competitive solutions. I really liked the whole course. Useful and interesting. Thanks to all the creators and organizers.

Upon successful completion of the midterm and final testing on the national platform “Open Education”, a certificate of completion of the online course and/or a certificate of advanced training from SPbPU is issued.

SIGN UP FOR TRAINING

Areas of training for masters and specialists who may benefit from the online course “Digital Twins of Products” (in accordance with the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia dated 12.09.2013 No. 1061, as amended on 13.12.2021 No. 1229). View the list of destinations.

Scientific specialties of postgraduate students who may benefit from the online course “Digital Twins of Products” (in accordance with the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia dated 02/24/2021 No. 118). View list of directions.

Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

MIL OSI Russia News –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Instant answers and detailed consultations: how chatbots help Muscovites

Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

Digital technologies are actively developing in Moscow. Chatbots, including those created with artificial intelligence technology, are used to ensure that residents of the capital receive city services quickly and at any convenient time. They promptly answer questions, find relevant information, and provide detailed and clear recommendations for solving urgent problems. For example, with the help of virtual assistants, you can make an appointment with a doctor, and also convey complaints about your health before the appointment. In addition, digital assistants will tell you how to pay for utilities and transmit meter readings, provide information on how to pay for travel on public transport, and much more.

“Moscow residents have access to the help of many virtual consultants. They work on the basis of capital portals, messengers, mobile applications. Some of them have added the ability to request information by voice. Chatbots are constantly being trained, and the number of topics on which they can be contacted is constantly growing. This not only allows city residents to find the information they need, but also relieves operators in support chats and on hotlines. Specialists can devote more time to solving complex and non-standard issues. In 2025, the capital will continue to develop artificial intelligence technologies to make it even more convenient for residents to receive consultations and services online,” the press service said.

Department of Information Technology of the City of Moscow.

How Digital Consultants Work

A chatbot is a virtual assistant. Most programs are equipped with artificial intelligence technologies. They are trained to understand spoken language, even if the text of the question contains slang words, complex expressions or typos. The bot gives answers based on the knowledge base.

Experts are constantly improving artificial intelligence algorithms. To do this, when preparing each communication scenario, a chatbot is given the maximum number of potential questions, formulations, and answer options. If the digital assistant cannot answer the question on its own, it passes it on to the operator and informs the user about it. After the operator sends the answer, the program includes it in the chatbot’s knowledge base. Next time, it will provide the necessary information on its own.

Ask a question on the mos.ru portal and prepare for your doctor’s appointment

Virtual assistants are in demand among Muscovites in various spheres of life. However, they are most often used to obtain city services.

How to make an appointment with a doctor, register with a clinic, transfer a child to another school and pay utility bills – you can ask the bot about this and much more in the support chat on the mos.ru portal. It communicates with users in real time and helps quickly find information on more than 6.2 thousand topics. You no longer need to waste time independently searching for information and making phone calls. To use the chat bot, you need to go to any of the mos.ru portal sections and click on the blue icon in the lower right corner of the screen (it is not available only on the main page). Another way is to open the chat from the section “Help” in the main menu, by selecting the “Support Chat” item in the “Support Service” block. You can formulate your question yourself or use the prompts.

Currently, the bot processes 76 percent of requests independently. Most often, Muscovites use it to search for various instructions, information on how to obtain a particular service, as well as how to log into their personal account on the mos.ru portal, change or add data to it. In addition, people turn to the virtual assistant to find out how to open access to an electronic medical record, receive a single payment document and pay for city services. The chatbot was developed by the capital Department of Information Technology on the basis citywide contact center.

Since last year, a voice assistant has appeared in the mos.ru portal support chat by the name Moscow. It is currently in test mode. The distinctive feature of this chatbot is that its search system is built on a large language model. With the help of artificial intelligence, the virtual assistant recognizes users’ speech and searches for answers to questions in the knowledge base. Then it voices its answer. It is planned that the voice assistant will soon become available to all users of the mos.ru portal.

A chatbot based on artificial intelligence also helps residents take care of their health. It can be used when making a remote appointment with one of the specialists: a therapist, otolaryngologist, gynecologist, ophthalmologist, surgeon or urologist. With its help, residents can report their ailments before visiting a doctor. In a special survey form, it is necessary to indicate complaints and answer questions in order to specify the symptoms and information about their condition. The chatbot asks questions selected based on an analysis of the complaints entered and the doctor’s specialty. The information is completely confidential and protected, it is transferred to the unified medical information and analytical system of the city of Moscow and is recorded in the protocol of the upcoming examination. Thus, the specialist can familiarize himself with the patient’s complaints in advance and pay more attention to his examination, diagnosis and treatment during the appointment. A huge array of information was used to create the medical chatbot. Its work is based on smart algorithms trained on anonymized data from electronic medical records, as well as information from open reference books and medical databases. Experienced practicing doctors took part in the creation of the digital assistant.

Express tips for those on the go and consultations for businessmen

The chatbot Alexandra has become an indispensable assistant for passengers, motorists and pedestrians. It helps to receive useful information about public transport 24/7. For example, the virtual assistant can tell you about payment methods and tariffs, about the operation of the subway and ground transport, the functions of transport complex applications and bicycle and scooter rental services. Alexandra will also tell you how to use paid parking, about the rules for towing cars, about the organization of traffic, car sharing and taxi services.

The smart chatbot can answer more than 60,000 questions. If the request is too complex, it will transfer the conversation to an operator who will help the passenger. You can write to Alexandra atdifferent platforms: on the websites of the Moscow Metro, Mosgortrans, the Center for Traffic Management, in the applications “Moscow Metro”, “Moscow Transport”, “Parkings of Russia”, “Velobike – city bike rental”. Chatbot consultations are also available on the social network “VKontakte” Andtelegram channel.

A special chat bot can be used by capital entrepreneursSuppliers portal. With the help of a virtual consultant, they will learn how to register on the portal, take part in a quotation session or mini-auction, sign an offer, and how to select and add products to the catalog. The service helps users navigate the platform and quickly find reference information. The chatbot’s knowledge base contains answers to more than 600 topics. To contact the digital assistant on the supplier portal, you need to click on the red icon on the left side of the screen. In the window that opens, you can select one of six popular topics or ask your own question. The chatbot will provide the appropriate information on its own or connect a support specialist. During the conversation, you can attach documents and photos. This allows you to get more detailed advice. Requests are accepted in both text and voice formats.

You can quickly transmit readings of water, heat, and electricity meters using chatbot in Telegram. It will tell you how to correctly enter information about the apartment and data from energy meters, and will also help you get acquainted with the archive (history) of readings. If they are transferred correctly, the message “Data successfully added” will appear in the chat. In case of an error, you can click the “Delete last readings” button, and then enter the data again. The Telegram bot will send them to the automated system of the Unified Information and Settlement Center of the city of Moscow. Based on the data, unified payment documents are generated for paying for utilities that residents of the capital receive every month.

In addition, virtual assistants are indispensable in such areas as construction control, social support, innovation development, and others. You can find a chatbot and start a conversation using the following links:

– telegram bot “Free access”;

– telegram bot “Samostroy.net”;

– chatbot for the “Million Prizes” program;

– chatbot of the project “City of Ideas”;

– chatbot of the “City of Tasks” project;

– chatbot on the Moscow investment portal;

– chatbot “Electronic Concierge” on the website of the platform “Electronic House”;

– chatbot Dobrynya Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the City of Moscow;

– chatbot Vera of the City Center for Housing Subsidies.

The use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence to improve the quality of life of city residents is in line with the objectives of the national project “Data Economy and Digital Transformation of the State” and the regional project of the city of Moscow “Digital Public Administration”.

Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

https: //vv.mos.ru/nevs/ite/149449073/

MIL OSI Russia News –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Aviation technical center to be built in Vnukovo district as part of MAIP

Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

A new aviation technical center will appear in the Vnukovo area. It will be built during the implementation of a large-scale investment project (MaIP). This was announced by the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport and Industry Maxim Liksutov.

“In accordance with the order of Sergei Sobyanin, since 2016 we have been providing investors with land on special terms for the construction of important objects for the city. This allows us to develop infrastructure and create new jobs in various sectors of the economy. Thus, thanks to the construction of the aviation technical center, more than 300 specialists will be able to find employment,” said Maxim Liksutov.

The new aviation technical center is planned to be put into operation at the end of 2026. It will train technical, flight and other personnel of airlines.

“Moscow pays special attention to training specialists in strategically important sectors of the economy, and educates personnel for smart production of the present and future. Investments in the construction of the aviation technical center will amount to more than 0.5 billion rubles. The area of the facility will exceed 3.4 thousand square meters,” noted the Minister of the Moscow Government, head of the capital’s Department of Investment and Industrial Policy

Anatoly Garbuzov.

The city provides land plots for the construction of facilities within the framework of the MaIP without holding tenders. More than 1.1 hectares of land have been allocated to Vnukovo Airport for the new aviation technical center. The lease agreement has been concluded for five years, added the Minister of the Moscow Government, head of the capital’s Department of City Property Maxim Gaman.

Today, over 90 MAIPs are being implemented in the capital. As a result, industrial enterprises will appear in different areas of the city, where about 60 thousand jobs will be created.

Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

https: //vv.mos.ru/nevs/ite/149446073/

MIL OSI Russia News –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI: c/side Launches PCI Compliance Dashboard for New PCI DSS 4.0.1 Requirements
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — c/side, a cybersecurity company specializing in browser-side third-party scripts, today announced the launch of its PCI compliance dashboard to show that PCI DSS 4.0.1 requirements are met for third-party website script monitoring and management.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) provides guidelines for organizations to safeguard their payment infrastructure against data theft and fraud in debit card and credit card transactions. PCI DSS compliance is mandatory for all businesses that accept card payments, and is enforced via penalties that can include monthly fines up to six figures and suspension of card acceptance capabilities.

PCI DSS 4.0.1 introduces two new mandates (6.4.3 and 11.6.1) for securely monitoring and managing browser-side third-party scripts. Organizations must implement these changes by March 31, 2025. c/side’s PCI compliance dashboard enables organizations to secure and monitor all third-party scripts across their websites, providing the comprehensive protection these standards demand.

“Businesses are struggling to adapt legacy security tools to meet the new PCI DSS requirements for processing, storing, and transmitting payment card data,” said Simon Wijckmans, founder and CEO, c/side. “The regulations have tightened and become more prescriptive—and specific cybersecurity capabilities are critical to ensure compliance and avoid an auditing disaster. c/side’s ability to track and verify third-party web script behavior maps to exactly what these new mandates are looking for, and our dashboard gives businesses the complete visibility and control they need.”

Here is how c/side addresses both the 6.4.3 and 11.6.1 requirements of PCI DSS 4.0.1:
- PCI DSS requirement 6.4.3 mandates that organizations accepting digital payments must authorize every script running on payment pages. Organizations must also maintain an inventory of third-party scripts with written justification for their use, while ensuring script integrity. c/side’s dashboard maintains a complete script inventory across all website pages and captures each script’s payload in real time. This visibility instantly shows any code changes and potential threats. The system verifies script authorization and integrity, while automatically blocking and alerting on malicious changes—exceeding PCI DSS requirements.
- PCI DSS requirement 11.6.1 focuses on monitoring script changes by requiring weekly evaluation and reporting of any unauthorized changes to HTTP headers or payment page scripts. This poses a unique challenge, since third-party JavaScript scripts (by default) serve different code versions for various functions. c/side solves this by capturing and analyzing every script request through its proxy technology. The dashboard’s AI-powered analysis highlights changes and explains code functionality, giving engineers clear insight into script behavior.
In case of an audit, organizations often face needless challenges in tracking third-party script activity and ensuring compliance across payment and non-payment pages. This lack of visibility increases the risk of non-compliance, fines, and audit delays. With c/side, these pain points are eliminated. The c/side dashboard automatically generates comprehensive weekly reports that document all script activity and enable granular controls to ensure scripts run only where approved. By automating these processes, c/side transforms a complex compliance requirement into a straightforward task, reducing risks, eliminating audit delays, and easing the burden of maintaining compliance.

Learn more about c/side’s new dashboard here.

About c/side

c/side is a forward-thinking cybersecurity startup focused on browser-side detection and protection. Led by industry expert Simon Wijckmans, c/side is pioneering technologies to shield against sophisticated cyber threats, ensuring unparalleled security standards for users across the web.

Contact
Kyle Peterson
kyle@clementpeterson.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ed1e25f3-2681-4145-9e04-242b27fbc231

The MIL Network –
January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: WHO in Africa: three ways the continent stands to lose from Trump’s decision to pull out

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Lawrence O. Gostin, University Professor; Founding Linda D. & Timothy J. O’Neill Professor of Global Health Law, Georgetown University

President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization (WHO) will be keenly felt across the globe, with profound implications for health in Africa.

In the executive order putting the withdrawal process in place, Trump also paused the transfer of US funds, support and resources to the WHO.

Trump’s executive order is his second attempt to pull the US out of the agency. He has also complained that the US financial contribution to the international organisation is “onerous”.

The biggest impacts will come from the loss of US funding. The US is by far the WHO’s largest state donor, contributing approximately 18% of the agency’s total funding.

The WHO’s funding is split into two tranches.

There are assessed contributions: countries’ membership fees, to which all WHO members agree and over which the WHO has full control. The US accounts for 22%, or US$264 million of these, for the current 2024/25 budget. The US is yet to pay the WHO its assessed contributions for 2024 and 2025. Withdrawing from the organisation without paying these fees would violate US law and must be challenged in the US courts.

Then there are voluntary contributions: donations by member countries, foundations and other sources, usually earmarked to that donor’s priorities. The US contributes 16%, or US$442 million, of all voluntary contributions.

In the case of the US, these priorities include HIV/AIDS, polio eradication and health emergencies.

As experts in global health law, we are deeply concerned about the impacts of this order, which will be far reaching.

The US withdrawal from the WHO threatens core health programmes in Africa. It will weaken the ability of African countries to respond to health emergencies, and could lead to increases in death and illness on the continent.

It will also have broader implications for leadership and governance in global health.

Impact on core programmes

Trump’s decision to withdraw comes at a time when the WHO’s health priorities in Africa were already underfunded. Eight of 12 areas were funded less than 50% earlier this year.

Twenty-seven percent of all US funding through the WHO for the African region goes to polio eradication, 20% supports improved access to quality essential health services, and much of the balance goes to pandemic preparedness and response.

The WHO/US partnership has long supported the HIV/AIDS response in Africa, but the redirection and reduction in funds could reduce the availability of prevention, testing and treatment programmes across the continent. This threatens progress to end AIDS by 2030.

The funding gap will also have an impact on programmes designed to increase access to quality essential health services, including the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis and malaria, and child and maternal health services.

If the WHO is forced to cut back on these services due to a lack of financing, it could lead to increases in mortality and morbidity in Africa.

European countries filled the financing gap in 2020 when Trump last withheld US funding from the WHO. But it is unlikely that they will be able to do so again, as countries across Europe are facing their own geopolitical and financial challenges.

The WHO’s budget was already thinly spread, and its mandate keeps growing.

Through its new investment round, the WHO raised US$1.7 billion in pledges, and is expecting another US$2.1 billion through partnerships and other agreements. Yet even before the US president’s executive order, this left a funding gap of approximately US$3.3 billion (or 47%) for the WHO’s 2025-2028 strategy.

If the gap left by the loss of US funding cannot be filled from other sources, it will fall to African nations to fund health programmes and services that are cut, placing a greater strain on governments reckoning with limited fiscal space.

Weakened response to health emergencies

Trump’s decision comes at a pivotal moment for health in Africa, which is experiencing major outbreaks.

The US has been a key actor supporting WHO-led emergency responses to outbreaks.

Last year, the US partnered with the WHO and Rwanda to rapidly bring a Marburg outbreak under control. The Marburg virus continues to threaten the continent. Tanzania has just confirmed an outbreak.

Earlier in August 2024, the WHO and Africa Centres for Disease Control each declared mpox on the continent to be a public health emergency.

The Biden administration delivered 60,000 vaccines, pledged 1 million more, and contributed over US$22 million to support capacity building and vaccination.

But now US health officials have been instructed to immediately stop working with the WHO, preventing US teams in Africa from responding to Marburg virus and mpox.

Even before these outbreaks, the US supported WHO-led emergency responses to COVID-19, Ebola and HIV/AIDS. The US withdrawal could lead to increased transmission, sickness and death in vulnerable regions.

Similarly, strong partnership between the WHO and the US has helped build health system capacities in Africa for public health emergencies.

US experts have supported nearly half of all WHO joint external evaluation missions to assess countries’ pandemic preparedness and response capacities under the International Health Regulations. This is a binding WHO agreement to help countries prepare for, detect and initially respond to health emergencies globally.

The US withdrawal from the WHO risks eroding these efforts, though it may also accelerate a regionalisation of health security already underway in Africa, led by the African Union through the Africa CDC.

Restructuring of governance

The US was instrumental in establishing the WHO and shaping WHO norms and standards, in particular driving amendments to the International Health Regulations adopted in June 2024. This included improved obligations to facilitate the rapid sharing of information between the WHO and countries.

The US has also been a key figure in ongoing negotiations for a new international treaty, a Pandemic Agreement. This would create new rights and obligations to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics with elements that go beyond the International Health Regulations. These include obligations on the equitable sharing of vaccines.

Trump’s executive order would prevent these instruments from being implemented or enforced in the US.

This would only entrench inequitable dynamics when the next global health emergency breaks out, given the concentration of global pharmaceutical companies in the US.

The order also pulls the US out of the Pandemic Agreement negotiations. This will inevitably create new diplomatic dynamics. Optimistically, this could provide enhanced opportunities for African nations to strengthen their position on equity.

The US departure from the WHO will create a leadership vacuum, ushering in a restructuring of power and alliances for global health.

This vacuum could cede influence to US adversaries, opening the door to even greater Chinese influence on the African continent.

But it also presents opportunities for greater African leadership in global health, which could strengthen African self-reliance.

Trump has directed the US to find “credible and transparent” partners to assume the activities the WHO would have performed. And yet there is no substitute for the WHO, with its worldwide reach and stature.

For more than 75 years, the WHO has been, and remains, the only global health organisation with the membership, authority, expertise and credibility to protect and promote health for the world’s population.

For this reason, the African Union, among scores of other bodies and leaders, has already urged Trump to reconsider.

It is now time for the global community to stand up for the WHO and ensure its vital health work in Africa and beyond can thrive.

– WHO in Africa: three ways the continent stands to lose from Trump’s decision to pull out
– https://theconversation.com/who-in-africa-three-ways-the-continent-stands-to-lose-from-trumps-decision-to-pull-out-248237

MIL OSI Africa –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Tesla suing EU over tariffs on China-made EVs

Source: China State Council Information Office

United States electric vehicle, or EV, maker Tesla is challenging the European Union’s decision to slap hefty import tariffs on China-made electric autos.

The legal action by the company, which is owned by technology guru Elon Musk, is similar to court challenges launched last week by German automaker BMW and Chinese carmakers, including BYD Auto, SAIC Motor, and Geely. Chinese industry body the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products has also launched a legal challenge in the EU’s courts. And China’s government has filed a complaint about the bloc’s tariffs with the World Trade Organization.

The European Court of Justice confirmed Tesla’s legal challenge on Monday.

Olof Gill, the EU’s trade spokesperson, told Agence France-Presse: “We take note of these cases and we look forward to defending ourselves in court as necessary.”

Tesla’s legal challenge is in response to the EU introducing tariffs at the end of October of 7.8 percent on Tesla’s China-made vehicles. The bloc has also set tariffs of up to 35.3 percent on other China-made EVs. The new tariffs come on top of a 10 percent standard import tariff that was already in place for electric vehicle imports into the EU.

The bloc said it introduced the China-specific tariffs in response to what it says are unfair subsidies that include low-interest loans, cheap land, and supplier discounts, claims China has strongly denied.

Tesla’s legal challenge will be heard in the EU’s General Court. Any verdict handed down there could then be challenged in the European Court of Justice.

The court case comes against the backdrop of deteriorating relations between the EU and Musk, who is the world’s richest individual.

Musk, who owns the social media platform X, has spoken out strongly against the bloc’s efforts to regulate internet activity. He has also angered the EU by throwing his support behind far-right political parties, including Germany’s Alternative for Germany.

Critics have said Musk’s political activism may have contributed to Tesla’s recent decline in Europe, with the brand seeing its sales fall by 13 percent, year-on-year, in 2024, to 242,945 units, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Around 28 percent of Chinese-made electric automobiles imported into the EU in 2023 were Teslas.

Around one-fifth of all electric cars sold in the EU – some 300,000 units – are made in China.

The court case is likely to take around 18 months to complete.

Tesla has also called on the Canadian government to scrap its 100 percent tariff on electric cars imported from China.

MIL OSI China News –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Press conference, Commonwealth Parliament Offices, Melbourne

Source: Australian Treasurer

Jim Chalmers:

Headline inflation is now in the mid‑twos and underlying inflation is in the low‑threes. These numbers are better than expected and better than forecasts. What they show is we are making very meaningful, very substantial, and now sustained progress in the fight against inflation. It means that headline inflation is now at an almost four‑year low, and now sits in the middle of the Reserve Bank’s target band, and underlying inflation is now at its lowest in 3 years. These are very welcome developments.

We don’t pretend that it’s mission accomplished on inflation, but we are making very substantial progress. On every measure, we have now made substantial and sustained progress in this fight against inflation. Inflation was much higher and rising fast under the Liberals when we came to office, and we’ve been able to get on top of this inflation challenge and to get it down in a very meaningful way. Inflation is now almost a third of the 6.1 per cent that we inherited when we came to office.

Now, if you look at the numbers, headline inflation was just 0.2 per cent in the December quarter. That makes it 2.4 per cent higher through the year, which is around a quarter of its peak, and in the bottom half of the Reserve Bank’s target band. It means our headline inflation is now lower than most major advanced economies, including the US, the UK, and Germany. And if you look at the underlying measure, the trimmed mean measure, it was 3.2 per cent through the year to the December quarter, down from a revised 3.6 per cent. If you look at the trimmed mean number in the quarter, it almost halved. It’s now 0.5 per cent and that makes it around a third of what it was at the time of the election.

If you look at the big drivers of this moderation in inflation, the big drivers were construction costs, rents, and insurance, and that, I think, is quite an encouraging sign that inflation is moderating more quickly than anticipated, even as recently as the forecast that we released in December. These numbers are better than the market expected, and they are lower than the forecasts for inflation, and both of those developments are very welcome.

Australians collectively can be really proud of the combination of developments that we have seen in our economy in recent times. Inflation is down, wages are up, unemployment is low, and 1.1 million jobs have been created during the course of this Albanese Labor government. Now the soft landing that we have been planning for and preparing for is now looking more and more likely.

Many countries around the world have paid for this kind of progress on inflation with much higher unemployment, or with negative quarters of economic growth. What Australians have been able to achieve is an economy where growth has continued to tick over, albeit slowly, where unemployment has stayed incredibly low, jobs are being created, wages are up, but inflation is down considerably and we see that in the numbers again today.

Our cost‑of‑living pressures aren’t disappearing, but they are easing. We know that the fight against inflation is not yet over, but these are incredibly encouraging signs that we are getting on top of this challenge in our economy. The worst of the inflation challenge is now well and truly behind us, and that’s one of the reasons why we are confident but not complacent about the economy in the year ahead.

We know that our political opponents will try and dismiss and diminish what Australians have been able to achieve together in their economy. We know that Australians are doing it tough. We know how important our cost‑of‑living help is, and we know that the best thing we can do, the most important focus that we can maintain is on the cost of living and that is the government’s approach.

The Albanese Labor government is focused on beating inflation and helping with the cost of living and building Australia’s future. Our political opponents, Peter Dutton and the Coalition, are focused on conflict and culture wars, and they would make people worse off and take Australia backwards.

If we look at the impact of the cost‑of‑living measures over recent years on the pressures that people face right around Australia, it’s worth reminding people that Peter Dutton did not support cost‑of‑living help for Australians doing it tough. If Peter Dutton had his way, Australians would have been thousands of dollars worse off and they would be worse off still if he wins the election and that’s because when he was the Health Minister, he went after Medicare. Coalition governments want lower wages, not higher wages, and he will push up electricity bills with his nuclear insanity that he has been trying to foist on the Australian people.

So the choice and the contrast is very clear. The biggest risk to inflation and the cost of living and the economy in 2025 is Peter Dutton and a Coalition government. For our part, the Albanese Labor government is focused on getting inflation down, getting wages up, rolling out this cost‑of‑living relief, keeping unemployment low because that is the best way that we can make a meaningful difference to the cost‑of‑living pressures that we know Australians are still confronting. Happy to take a few questions.

Journalist:

You talked about, Treasurer, it not being mission accomplished yet, but started off this press conference pretty smiley, talking about an incredibly positive, optimistic set of numbers. Do you see there being an argument, a legitimate argument not to cut rates at this point? Are there pressure points pushing in the other direction still?

Chalmers:

I’m not going to make any sort of commentary which can be confused with giving free advice to the independent Reserve Bank, or making predictions about the decision that they will take when they meet on the [18th] of February. I respect the independence of the Reserve Bank too much to try and make predictions or to give them free advice, or to try and colour in for them the decision that they will make independently and announce towards the middle of February.

I have always seen our responsibility as a government to be the focus on the areas that we can influence, getting inflation down, getting wages up, keeping unemployment low, those have been our objectives and we leave the decision on interest rates to the independent Reserve Bank.

We’ve had a lot of free advice over the last couple of years from our political opponents and others, who say that we should have cut much harder or we should have done things differently. What these numbers show is we’ve been able to achieve something that other countries cannot, which is to make this remarkable progress on inflation at the same time as we maintain the gains we’ve made in the labour market and keep the economy ticking over.

Now, the economic and often the political orthodoxy, and what we’ve seen play out in other countries, is that you have to pay for much lower inflation with much higher unemployment. Australia has shown that there is a better way to go about it and we’re seeing the fruits of some of those efforts in the inflation numbers today.

Journalist:

Has the government done everything it can to provide the environment for rates to come down?

Chalmers:

We take no outcome for granted when it comes to interest rates, and again, it’s not for me to give free advice to the independent Reserve Bank. I respect their independence. They will weigh up these numbers and other numbers that we’ve seen in the economy since they last met. They will come to a decision and communicate that decision in February, and I’m not going to get in the way of that. I’m not going to predict it or pre‑empt it or give them free advice. I’m focused on my job and my job is to roll out this cost‑of‑living help in the most responsible way, get inflation down and wages up, and keep unemployment low. We are encouraged by the numbers that we have seen today, but we take no outcome on interest rates for granted.

Journalist:

Are you relatively comfortable, given how much data that we’ve seen now, that the numbers are in or around the band at a sustainable level, or do you think we might see some bumpiness over the next few months?

Chalmers:

I think inevitably when you see the inflation numbers here or in other countries, inflation rarely moderates in a perfectly straight line. For example, inflation in the US is higher than it is in Australia and it’s rising in the US again, and that reminds us, I think helpfully, that inflation doesn’t moderate in a perfectly straight line around the world and that’s been the experience here as well. I think that’s an important thing to remember. But the facts of the matter are laid out by these new numbers today. Headline inflation is now in the bottom half of the Reserve Bank’s target band. Underlying inflation is in the low‑threes, both of those outcomes are better than expected and lower than the official forecasts.

The Reserve Bank will weigh up all of those considerations, they will come to a decision independently, but I think what we’re seeing here is a reminder that the soft landing that we have been planning for and preparing for is looking more and more likely.

Journalist:

Would a rate cut influence the Prime Minister’s thinking around election time, and can you actually commit to doing a budget on March 25? We’ve heard language from your Finance Minister about being a budget update. Can you commit now to doing a Budget on March 25?

Chalmers:

We’re working towards a Budget on March 25th.

Journalist:

Towards or actually doing one?

Chalmers:

The reason I put it like that is because it’s a decision for the Prime Minister. It’s not a decision that I take alone. The Prime Minister takes that decision. Our expectation, and all of our work, is heading towards a March 25 Budget. The reality is that the Prime Minister will make that decision, no doubt he will confer with his colleagues about it, but our expectation is that there will be a Budget on the 25th.

Journalist:

Would you like – sorry Treasurer, would you like to do a Budget on March 25 and if so, are you aiming as much as possible to find a third surplus?

Chalmers:

There’s 2 parts to that question. I hand down budgets when the Prime Minister asks us to, and we’ve handed down 3 already and the fourth one is due on March 25. I’ve seen speculation about a third surplus, and I would urge caution on that front. We are deliberately cautious and conservative when it comes to budgets. We were in the first 3 and we will be in the fourth. But I think there’s cause for additional caution and conservatism because there hasn’t been anything yet that we have seen which would make us think that there would be a substantial difference to the budget bottom line than what we forecast in December in the mid‑year budget update. I know that there’s speculation to the contrary. I know that there’s a lot of global economic uncertainty which can impact the budget bottom line in both directions, but nothing we’ve seen yet has materially changed our expectations.

Journalist:

Is the rate decision on February 17–18 the primary factor in the Prime Minister’s decision around when to go with the election?

Chalmers:

I wouldn’t have thought so. I wouldn’t have thought so, but you’d have to ask the Prime Minister. You know, an election is due –

Journalist:

Surely he’d know that, though?

Chalmers:

Well, you’d have to ask him. An election is due by May, so the election will be on us before long and there will be a number of considerations when it comes to timing, and you will have to – it’s not for me to decide on my own.

Journalist:

Would a rate cut be – would you feel that it would be personal vindication for your fiscal strategy in the face of a lot of criticism from the media and other politicians?

Chalmers:

First of all, I don’t see it in personal terms. The most important thing here is to see some of the price pain that Australians have endured now since before the last election, that that continues to ease, and that we get inflation down at the same time as we get wages growing again in a more meaningful way and we keep that unemployment rate low. Those are the things that I’m focused on. You asked me about the free advice that we get from time to time. You know, there’s been some very strange commentary, you know, people –

Journalist:

Such as?

Chalmers:

People saying that there were going to be 3 rate hikes last year and there were none. There hasn’t been a rate hike since November in 2023.

Journalist:

Warren Hogan?

Chalmers:

Well, he’s not the only one. There’s been a lot of strange commentary, and we get a lot of free advice. One of the things that I’m proudest of is we have maintained a focus on the key elements of a soft landing in our economy – inflation coming down, not sacrificing people’s jobs, keeping the economy ticking over. We’ve still got an economy which is soft, softer than is normal. We’ve still got people under pretty extreme pressure. But the sorts of things that we are preparing for and planning for are now unfolding.

This very substantial and now sustained moderation in inflation is probably the most important part of that, but to be able to do that, while maintaining unemployment at 4.0 per cent, is a pretty remarkable achievement for which all Australians can share in the credit.

If you think about if you’d said a few years ago that it would be possible for a government, in this case our government, to maintain average unemployment rates, the lowest of any government in 50 years, at the same time as we get inflation from its peak of 7.8 now down to 2.4, I think Australians can be proud of that progress that has been made, and not because cost‑of‑living pressures have disappeared, but because they are easing at the same time as we satisfy some of these other economic objectives.

Journalist:

Should Australian tech companies be concerned about this rise in Chinese AI?

Chalmers:

Obviously this is a very fast‑moving and volatile part of the economy. It’s one of the reasons why Ed Husic, to his credit, and other colleagues are putting a lot of time and effort and thought into the appropriate guardrails when it comes to AI. We are forward leaning about AI. We think it can be revolutionary in our economy, that it has the capacity to boost productivity and deliver a whole range of economic gains, but we know that there needs to be guardrails as well.

If you look at DeepSeek, and what we’ve seen in the last couple of days, which have been some pretty extraordinary developments that the market has reacted to in a pretty remarkable way, the advice that Ed has provided, which I would echo now, is we would urge Australians to be cautious about this new technology.

Obviously we are constantly receiving advice on it. You wouldn’t expect me to go into all of the detail of that here. But what we try to and what our agencies try to, is to work closely with the sector, the private sector, updating the advice when it’s appropriate.

Journalist:

National security advice?

Chalmers:

All kinds of advice. When there’s a big development in our economy, particularly when it relates to technology, of course we have a look at it. Of course we monitor it closely. Of course we try and get our head around and understand the consequences for our own industries and our own economy. That’s pretty standard for a diligent government and that’s what we will do in this case.

Journalist:

But technology that is refusing to provide information about the Tiananmen Square massacre, not answering question the about the state of Chinese politics, potentially gathering data from Western accounts and feeding it back to the Chinese system, does that trouble you? Before receiving national security advice, does that trouble you at a general level?

Chalmers:

I don’t want to engage in a hypothetical or pre‑empt the sorts of discussions that we would have as a government. I’d echo Ed’s very wise advice, and Ed’s very wise advice is to be cautious. From a government point of view, we stay across all these kinds of developments, not just this one, and we provide an updated advice as it’s appropriate.

Journalist:

Just one very Victorian question given we’re in Melbourne. Airport Rail, it’s been reported by News Corp there’s $2 billion more on the table for that project. Can you explain why you see that as a city‑shaping project and why the federal government appears to be putting priority on that project rather than the Suburban Rail Loop?

Chalmers:

I’m not sure I perfectly share your assessment of it. What we’ve said about those 2 projects is that we consider them to be separate. You know, we don’t see a link between funding for one over the other. And all I would do beyond that is to remind you of what I said on Saturday, which is my wonderful colleague, Catherine King, she’s in discussions with States and Territories all the time about the best combination of projects in the infrastructure pipelines, and that’s the case here as well.

I would also say that I’m looking forward to spending some time this afternoon with the Victorian Treasurer. I had an opportunity to speak with her by phone already, but we will be catching up this afternoon. No doubt some of these sorts of issues will come up.

Journalist:

Do you think –

Chalmers:

I’m just conscious that we haven’t really perfectly shared the questions. Do you want to go?

Journalist:

I’ve just got one that hasn’t been answered already.

Chalmers:

Okay, thanks.

Journalist:

Your government’s announced –

Chalmers:

These 2 are very selfish, mate.

Journalist:

One of your government’s measures is about energy bill relief assistance, you spoke about cost‑of‑living assistance for voters. Can people expect that to continue beyond July this year?

Chalmers:

Our focus is on rolling out the cost‑of‑living help that we’ve already announced and that we’ve already budgeted for, including the cost‑of‑living help that comes in the form of those electricity rebates. And if you look at the numbers today, when it comes to electricity prices, they fell in – the year to the December quarter – they fell by 25.2 per cent, and they still would have fallen without the energy rebates and so energy rebates are part of the story but not the whole story. We’ve seen electricity prices fall by more than a quarter in the year to December. They still would have fallen 1.6 per cent without the energy rebates that we’re rolling out in conjunction with the states. What that says is our cost‑of‑living help is helping, but electricity prices would have moderated without it as well.

Journalist:

So the help isn’t quite as strong then?

Chalmers:

What we do from budget to budget is we consider the pressures that people are under, the budget constraints that we’re dealing with, and the economic conditions, and we come to a decision about what, if any, further cost‑of‑living help is appropriate and affordable and responsible. We did that in our first 3 budgets, and we’ll do that in the fourth.

Journalist:

Do you expect Jaclyn Symes is going to ask you for a fairer share of the GST for Victoria?

Chalmers:

I don’t know. I think that treasurers in every State and Territory are typically interested in more support from the Commonwealth. That wouldn’t make her unique if she did. But I’m looking forward to a discussion with her. I think she’s going to be a wonderful Treasurer here in Victoria and I try and maintain open lines of communications with all of my State and Territory colleagues, and that’s because I believe you get more done when you work together than when you work at cross‑purposes.

Journalist:

Absolute last one from me. There’s some good numbers at the start of inflation, but some really dire numbers in a Deloitte report on living standards and real wages. Do you expect to announce more between now and the election on how you will get the economy to grow, how to get productivity up and living standards up?

Chalmers:

Yes. And one of the things that we’ve tried to be very disciplined about is at the same time as we manage these near‑term pressures on people, that we don’t drop the ball when it comes to the longer‑term agenda. The productivity agenda around human capital, the energy transformation, adapting and adopting technology, our competition policy agenda, making our economy more dynamic and more productive, we have maintained a focus on these things throughout. We’ll have more to say between now and the election on those important policy areas.

I also remind you that I’ve tasked the Productivity Commission with some important work on what the next agenda beyond our current agenda would look like when it comes to boosting productivity in our economy.

We’ve made it really clear that coming out of these 3 economic shocks in the last 15 years, that in more normal times ideally growth in the economy would be private sector led, that remains my view, and in order for that to be the case, we have all got to work together to make our economy more productive and dynamic and competitive. We have done a bunch of things on that front but there will be more to do.

Thanks very much.

MIL OSI News –

January 29, 2025

MIL-OSI: ASML reports €28.3 billion total net sales and €7.6 billion net income in 2024

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

ASML reports €28.3 billion total net sales and €7.6 billion net income in 2024
2025 total net sales expected to be between €30 billion and €35 billion

VELDHOVEN, the Netherlands, January 29, 2025 – Today, ASML Holding NV (ASML) has published its 2024 fourth-quarter and full-year results.

Q4 total net sales of €9.3 billion, gross margin of 51.7%, net income of €2.7 billion
Quarterly net bookings in Q4 of €7.1 billion² of which €3.0 billion is EUV
2024 total net sales of €28.3 billion, gross margin of 51.3%, net income of €7.6 billion
ASML expects Q1 2025 total net sales between €7.5 billion and €8.0 billion, and a gross margin between 52% and 53%
ASML expects 2025 total net sales to be between €30 billion and €35 billion, with a gross margin between 51% and 53%

(Figures in millions of euros unless otherwise indicated)	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	FY 2023		FY 2024
Total net sales	7,467	9,263	27,559		28,263
…of which Installed Base Management sales¹	1,541	2,147	5,620		6,494

New lithography systems sold (units)	106	119	421		380
Used lithography systems sold (units)	10	13	28		38

Net bookings²	2,633	7,088	20,040	³	18,899	³

Gross profit	3,793	4,790	14,136		14,492
Gross margin (%)	50.8	51.7	51.3		51.3

Net income	2,077	2,693	7,839		7,572
EPS (basic; in euros)	5.28	6.85	19.91		19.25

End-quarter cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments	4,985	12,741	7,010		12,741

(1) Installed Base Management sales equals our net service and field option sales.
(2) Net bookings include all system sales orders and inflation-related adjustments, for which written authorizations have been accepted.
(3) The sum of quarterly net bookings over the full year.

Numbers have been rounded for readers’ convenience. A complete summary of US GAAP Consolidated Statements of Operations is published on www.asml.com.

CEO statement and outlook
“Our fourth-quarter was a record in terms of revenue, with total net sales coming in at €9.3 billion, and a gross margin of 51.7%, both above our guidance. This was primarily driven by additional upgrades. We also recognized revenue on two High NA EUV systems. We shipped a third High NA EUV system to a customer in the fourth quarter.

“ASML achieved another record year, ending with total net sales for 2024 of €28.3 billion, and a gross margin of 51.3%.

“We expect first-quarter total net sales between €7.5 billion and €8.0 billion, with a gross margin between 52% and 53%. ASML expects R&D costs of around €1,140 million and SG&A costs of around €290 million. As we communicated last October, we expect total net sales for the year between €30 billion and €35 billion, with a gross margin between 51% and 53%.

“Consistent with our view from the last quarter, the growth in artificial intelligence is the key driver for growth in our industry. It has created a shift in the market dynamics that is not benefiting all of our customers equally, which creates both opportunities and risks as reflected in our 2025 revenue range,” said ASML President and Chief Executive Officer Christophe Fouquet.

Update dividend and share buyback program
ASML intends to declare a total dividend for the year 2024 of €6.40 per ordinary share, which is a 4.9% increase compared to 2023. An interim dividend of €1.52 per ordinary share will be made payable on February 19, 2025. Recognizing this interim dividend and the two interim dividends of €1.52 per ordinary share paid in 2024, this leads to a final dividend proposal to the General Meeting of €1.84 per ordinary share.

In the fourth quarter, we did not purchase any shares under the current 2022-2025 share buyback program.

Details of the share buyback program as well as transactions pursuant thereto, and details of the dividend are published on ASML’s website (www.asml.com/investors).

Media Relations contacts	Investor Relations contacts
Monique Mols +31 6 5284 4418	Jim Kavanagh +31 6 1524 9925
Sarah de Crescenzo +1 925 899 8985	Pete Convertito +1 203 919 1714
Karen Lo +886 9 397 88635	Peter Cheang +886 3 659 6771

Quarterly video interview, annual press conference and investor call
With this press release, ASML is publishing a video interview in which CEO Christophe Fouquet and CFO Roger Dassen discuss the 2024 fourth-quarter and full-year results and outlook for 2025. This video and the video transcript can be viewed on www.asml.com shortly after the publication of this press release.

CEO Christophe Fouquet and CFO Roger Dassen will host a press conference in Veldhoven on January 29, 2025, at 11:00 Central European Time, which will also be accessible via a live webcast on www.asml.com.

An investor call for both investors and the media will be hosted by CEO Christophe Fouquet and CFO Roger Dassen on January 29, 2025 at 15:00 Central European Time / 09:00 US Eastern Time. Details can be found on our website.

About ASML
ASML is a leading supplier to the semiconductor industry. The company provides chipmakers with hardware, software and services to mass produce the patterns of integrated circuits (microchips). Together with its partners, ASML drives the advancement of more affordable, more powerful, more energy-efficient microchips. ASML enables groundbreaking technology to solve some of humanity’s toughest challenges, such as in healthcare, energy use and conservation, mobility and agriculture. ASML is a multinational company headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, with offices across EMEA, the US and Asia. Every day, ASML’s more than 44,000 employees (FTE) challenge the status quo and push technology to new limits. ASML is traded on Euronext Amsterdam and NASDAQ under the symbol ASML. Discover ASML – our products, technology and career opportunities – at www.asml.com.

US GAAP and IFRS Financial Reporting
ASML’s primary accounting standard for quarterly earnings releases and annual reports is US GAAP, the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Quarterly Summary US GAAP consolidated statements of operations, consolidated statements of cash flows and consolidated balance sheets are available on www.asml.com.

The consolidated balance sheets of ASML Holding N.V. as of December 31, 2024, the related consolidated statements of operations and consolidated statements of cash flows for the quarter and twelve months ended December 31, 2024 as presented in this press release are unaudited.

In addition to reporting financial figures in accordance with US GAAP, ASML also reports financial figures in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (‘IFRS’) for statutory purposes. The most significant recurring differences between US GAAP and IFRS that affect ASML concerns the capitalization of certain product development costs and accounting for income taxes.

2024 Annual Reports
ASML will publish its 2024 Annual Report based on US GAAP and its 2024 Annual Report based on IFRS on March 5, 2025. Both reports will include sustainability statements in accordance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. The reports and introductory video with CFO Roger Dassen will be published on our website, www.asml.com.

Regulated information
This press release contains inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

Forward Looking Statements
This document and related discussions contain statements that are forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements with respect to plans, strategies, expected trends, including trends in the semiconductor industry and end markets and business environment trends, expected growth in the semiconductor industry by 2030, our expectation that AI will be the key driver for the industry and the expected impact of AI demand on our business, our expectation that lithography will remain at the heart of customer innovation, expected demand, bookings, backlog, outlook of market segments, outlook and expected financial results including expected results for Q1 2025, including net sales, Installed Base Management sales, gross margin, R&D costs, SG&A costs, outlook for full year 2025, including expected full year 2025 total net sales, gross margin and estimated annualized effective tax rate, statements made at our 2024 Investor Day, including revenue and gross margin opportunity for 2030, our expectation to continue to return significant amounts of cash to shareholders through growing dividends and share buybacks, statements with respect to our share buyback program, including the amount of shares that may be repurchased thereunder and statements with respect to dividends, statements with respect to expected performance and capabilities of our systems and customer plans and other non- historical statements. You can generally identify these statements by the use of words like “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “project”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “expect”, “plan”, “estimate”, “forecast”, “potential”, “intend”, “continue”, “target”, “future”, “progress”, “goal”, “model”, “opportunity” and variations of these words or comparable words. These statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates, assumptions, plans and projections about our business and our future financial results and readers should not place undue reliance on them. Forward- looking statements do not guarantee future performance and involve a number of substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to customer demand, semiconductor equipment industry capacity, worldwide demand for semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing capacity, lithography tool utilization and semiconductor inventory levels, general trends and consumer confidence in the semiconductor industry, the impact of general economic conditions, including the impact of the current macroeconomic environment on the semiconductor industry, uncertainty around a market recovery including the timing thereof, the ultimate impact of AI on our industry and business, the impact of inflation, interest rates, wars and geopolitical developments, the impact of pandemics, the performance of our systems, the success of technology advances and the pace of new product development and customer acceptance of and demand for new products, our production capacity and ability to adjust capacity to meet demand, supply chain capacity, timely availability of parts and components, raw materials, critical manufacturing equipment and qualified employees, our ability to produce systems to meet demand, the number and timing of systems ordered, shipped and recognized in revenue, risks relating to fluctuations in net bookings and our ability to convert bookings into sales, the risk of order cancellation or push outs and restrictions on shipments of ordered systems under export controls, risks relating to the trade environment, import/export and national security regulations and orders and their impact on us, including the impact of changes in export regulations and the impact of such regulations on our ability to obtain necessary licenses and to sell our systems and provide services to certain customers, exchange rate fluctuations, changes in tax rates, available liquidity and free cash flow and liquidity requirements, our ability to refinance our indebtedness, available cash and distributable reserves for, and other factors impacting, dividend payments and share repurchases, the number of shares that we repurchase under our share repurchase program, our ability to enforce patents and protect intellectual property rights and the outcome of intellectual property disputes and litigation, our ability to meet ESG goals and execute our ESG strategy, other factors that may impact ASML’s business or financial results, and other risks indicated in the risk factors included in ASML’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023 and other filings with and submissions to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this document. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date of this report or to conform such statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by law.

Attachments

The MIL Network –

January 29, 2025

MIL-OSI: TGS Awarded Offshore Wind Site Characterization Contract

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

OSLO, Norway (29 January 2025) – TGS, a leading provider of energy data and intelligence, is pleased to announce the award of an offshore wind site characterization contract on the UK continental shelf for a repeat customer. The contract has a total duration of approximately 60 days and is scheduled to commence in Q1 2025.

The Ramform Vanguard will be used for this project and is equipped with Ultra-high-resolution 3D (UHR-3D) streamers. The streamer technology samples the seismic wavefield at a high spatial and temporal rate providing high-resolution data of the shallow subsurface targets for wind farm development.

Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS, commented, “We are very pleased to secure more offshore wind site characterization contracts, extending our success in this market during 2024. This project further highlights the integral role UHR-3D acquisition has in providing our clients with better seismic data and helping them make data-driven decisions for their wind farm developments.”

For more information, visit TGS.com or contact:

Bård Stenberg
VP IR & Communication
Mobile: +47 992 45 235
investor@tgs.com

About TGS
TGS provides advanced data and intelligence to companies active in the energy sector. With leading-edge technology and solutions spanning the entire energy value chain, TGS offers a comprehensive range of insights to help clients make better decisions. Our broad range of products and advanced data technologies, coupled with a global, extensive and diverse energy data library, make TGS a trusted partner in supporting the exploration and production of energy resources worldwide. For further information, please visit www.tgs.com (https://www.tgs.com/).

Forward Looking Statement
All statements in this press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove accurate. These factors include volatile market conditions, investment opportunities in new and existing markets, demand for licensing of data within the energy industry, operational challenges, and reliance on a cyclical industry and principal customers. Actual results may differ materially from those expected or projected in the forward-looking statements. TGS undertakes no responsibility or obligation to update or alter forward-looking statements for any reason.

The MIL Network –

January 29, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: DeepSeek: why the hot new Chinese AI chatbot has big privacy and security problems

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mohiuddin Ahmed, Senior Lecturer of Computing and Security, Edith Cowan University

The Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek has rattled the tech industry with the release of free, cheaply made AI models that compete with the best US products such as ChatGPT.

Users are rushing to check out the new chatbot, sending DeepSeek’s AI Assistant to the top of the iPhone and Android app charts in many countries.

However, authorities have sounded a note of caution. US officials are examining the app’s “national security implications”. Australia’s former cybersecurity minister said national security agencies will soon issue formal guidance for users.

Why are governments and security experts so concerned? The main issue is the app is made in China and stores data there – but that doesn’t mean all the worry is just xenophobia.

What information does DeepSeek record?

DeepSeek does not appear to be spyware, in the sense it doesn’t seem to be collecting data without your consent. However, like many online services, it clearly tells you it will record a lot of data about you and your behaviour.

Specifically, the company’s privacy policy says it collects three categories of information.

First, there is information you provide directly, such as your name and email address and any text you type in or files you upload.

Next, there is automatically collected information, such as what kind of device you are using, your IP address, details of how you use the services, cookies, and payment information.

Finally, there is information from other sources, such as Apple or Google login services, or third-party advertising and analytics companies.

This is broadly similar to the data collected by ChatGPT and Claude.

What does DeepSeek do with the information?

DeepSeek says it uses this information for a range of purposes: to provide services, enforce terms of use, communicate with users, and review and improve performance.

The policy also contains a rather sweeping clause saying the company may use the information to “comply with our legal obligations, or as necessary to perform tasks in the public interest, or to protect the vital interests of our users and other people”.

DeepSeek also says it may share this information with third parties, including advertising and analytics companies as well as “law enforcement agencies, public authorities, copyright holders, or other third parties”.

DeepSeek will also keep the information “for as long as necessary” for a broad range of purposes.

Again, this is all fairly standard practice for modern online services.

Causes for concern

Much of the cause for concern around DeepSeek comes from the fact the company is based in China, vulnerable to Chinese cyber criminals and subject to Chinese law.

DeepSeek stores the information it collects “in secure servers located in the People’s Republic of China”. The company says it maintains “commercially reasonable technical, administrative, and physical security measures” to protect the information.

However, we should keep in mind that China is one of the most cyber crime-prone countries in the world – ranking third behind Russia and Ukraine in a 2024 study.

So even if DeepSeek does not intentionally disclose information, there is still a considerable risk it will be accessed by nefarious actors.

China is home to a sophisticated ecosystem of cyber crime organisations that often build detailed profiles of potential targets. Microsoft and others have accused the Chinese government of collaborating with cybercrime networks on cybercrime attacks.

These organisations can use personal information to craft convincing targeted phishing attacks, which try to trick people into revealing more sensitive information such as bank details.

Should you download DeepSeek?

So, should you download DeepSeek?

If you are an experienced user who is familiar with online privacy and the capabilities of modern AI systems, go ahead – but proceed with caution and be very wary about what information you share.

And if you’re less experienced – if you’re a casual user who is less internet-savvy – my expert advice is to stay well away. DeepSeek won’t give you much you can’t get from other chatbots such as ChatGPT or Claude, and it might make your data vulnerable to Chinese cyber criminals and subject to Chinese law.

DeepSeek also raises questions for governments. Efforts to prevent scams and cybercrime often focus on banks, telecommunications companies, and social media platforms – but what about chatbots?

Mohiuddin Ahmed does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. DeepSeek: why the hot new Chinese AI chatbot has big privacy and security problems – https://theconversation.com/deepseek-why-the-hot-new-chinese-ai-chatbot-has-big-privacy-and-security-problems-248544

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Sobyanin: Six more Russian regions to join Moscow’s AI platform for medical services

Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

More than 75 percent of the country’s regions are already working withmedical services on the platform “MosMedia”. This year, six more subjects of the Russian Federation will join it. Sergei Sobyanin said this in his telegram channel.

“The platform offers 17 services to speed up and improve the accuracy of analysis of computer tomography, radiography, mammography and fluorography. AI algorithms draw the doctor’s attention to pathologies using color markings on medical images and prepare conclusions. These solutions have undergone a full cycle of testing and have been used in Moscow hospitals and clinics for five years,” the Moscow Mayor wrote.

Source: Sergei Sobyanin’s Telegram channel @Mos_Sobyanin

The regions joining the capital’s AI services platform is another step towards the digitalization of healthcare throughout the country.

Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

https: //vv.mos.ru/mayor/tkhemes/12324050/

MIL OSI Russia News –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Panasonic Newly Unveiled KAIROS New Version: Control Up to Two Kairos Core by One Panel and Supports various resolutions such as 16:10

Source: Panasonic

Headline: Panasonic Newly Unveiled KAIROS New Version: Control Up to Two Kairos Core by One Panel and Supports various resolutions such as 16:10

Osaka, Japan – January 29, 2025 – Panasonic Entertainment & Communication today announced the release of the new software “Version 1.8” will be available in February 2025.
With version 1.8, which includes new Multiple Core Control features, integration with graphics platforms Singular.live and Viz Flowics, and support for more diverse resolutions such as 16:10 and 5:4, KAIROS is a great addition to the game for large live events and broadcasters. We offer video production systems with a high degree of freedom and ease of use for customers who require high quality, rich video production across multiple locations.
The new version allows up to two Kairos Core mainframes to be connected to a single Kairos Control Panel. This allows more video sources to be handled and improves the efficiency of the KAIROS operation at large events. Previously, it was possible to register up to eight Control Panels from the Kairos Core side, but since the Control Panel can only be registered to one specific Kairos Core, a corresponding number of Control Panels were required to operate multiple Kairos Cores. Using this feature, for one panel can be divided into an upper and lower sections, for example, and each Core can be assigned to each section. In addition, two Kairos Core units can also be configured from Kairos Creator.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Panasonic Leaps “Well into the future” with AI and Data-Driven Innovations at CES 2025 Exhibition Space

Source: Panasonic

Headline: Panasonic Leaps “Well into the future” with AI and Data-Driven Innovations at CES 2025 Exhibition Space

Marking a 58th consecutive year as an exhibitor at one of the world’s most influential consumer electronics events, Panasonic Group was on hand at CES 2025 (January 7–10 in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.) to engage with audiences about its strategic shift toward AI and data-driven businesses. This year’s CES was host to more than 141,000 visitors and 4,500 exhibitors from more than 150 countries and regions, but not everyone had the opportunity to attend. If you missed out, here are some key highlights from the Panasonic Group exhibition space.

Theme Signals Strategic Shift toward AI, Data-Driven Solutions

The theme for Panasonic Group’s exhibition space was “Well into the future.” Announced by Panasonic Holdings Corporation Co., Ltd. (Panasonic HD) Group CEO Yuki Kusumi during his opening keynote, this year’s theme signified the organization’s strategic shift toward AI and data-driven businesses in pursuit of an ideal society with affluence both in matter and mind.
“Well into the future” embodies the idea that, through innovations and a commitment to addressing social issues, Panasonic will lead the development of cutting-edge solutions to help achieve its core mission to inspire a healthy society and enrich the lives of people around the world.
“This year’s theme is a reference to Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita’s vision of contributing to the well-being of people and the progress of society,” said Mike King, Director, Brand Marketing & Creative Services, Marketing & Communications, Panasonic Operational Excellence of North America. “And you can see that theme throughout the exhibit—with technologies that support the well-being of individuals, of families and all of society, with our focus on green energy transformation and decarbonization, but also the use of AI-powered solutions to help families to experience greater connection, connectivity, comfort, and well-being.”

[embedded content]

Located in Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC)’s Central Hall, the exhibition space was an enclosed environment divided into four areas: Panasonic Go, Home, Carbon Neutral, and Circular Economy. The design was a departure from the open layouts of previous years, allowing visitors to experience the complete Panasonic story—from its history and vision for the future to technologies they can use today and solutions that will contribute to a sustainable tomorrow.

Growth Initiative Links Past and Future under “Panasonic Go”

Panasonic Go is a global corporate growth initiative that will drive transformation through AI-powered, software-led investments across Panasonic Group and create new experiences for customers and partners.
This area of the exhibition space welcomed visitors with a look back over the storied history of the Panasonic Group, illustrating historical milestones and introducing home appliances that have enriched lives since the company’s founding in 1918. Moving further into the exhibition space, a video explained Matsushita’s ambitious 10-stage, 250-year plan to contribute to solving social issues and improving people’s lives through technology and the role that Panasonic Go will play in driving the transformation to an AI-powered business model towards the plan’s fifth stage (2032–2056).
* The name Panasonic Go was also inspired by the Japanese word for “five”
Panasonic Group products have already changed the lives of more than one billion people. Looking ahead, the Group will leverage AI and data platforms—from Blue Yonder’s supply chain management solutions to Panasonic Well’s family wellness platform—to make new contributions for current and future generations.
Speaking of wellness, the final section of the Panasonic Go area gave visitors a chance to get a sneak peek of Umi, a new consumer offering from the Panasonic Well portfolio that will be available in the United States market in 2025. Umi is an innovative digital wellness platform and personalized family wellness coach that uses AI and a community of experts to help people build healthy habits and routines. Umi will be the first Panasonic Well consumer brand to use Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant known for its reasoning capabilities, deep understanding of complex topics, and ability to engage in natural conversations. Claude excels at analyzing data, writing and editing content, and helping solve complex problems—all while maintaining the highest standards of safety and security.

Carbon Neutral & Circular Economy Exhibits Highlight Sustainability Efforts

Panasonic HD took the stage at CES 2022 to announce its long-term environmental vision, Panasonic GREEN IMPACT (PGI), and since then the Group has been engaged in a variety of activities to expand its impact toward achieving carbon neutrality and a circular economy. These areas in the exhibition space, Carbon Neutral and Circular Economy, introduced solutions and technologies that will be contributing to achieving the goals established under PGI.

Visitors also had the opportunity to learn more about how the Panasonic Group is tackling Carbon Neutral challenges and promoting Circular Economy initiatives in its products and solutions as it advances toward the broader goal of contributing to realizing sustainable lifestyles and society.
The Carbon Neutral display was organized into three main technologies/approaches: “Updating,” “Electrifying,” and “Harnessing.”
“Updating” means replacing existing methods with low environmental impact alternatives to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Hussmann display cases for refrigerated and frozen goods use natural refrigerant R290 to greatly reduce environmental impact compared to traditional CFC refrigerant alternatives currently in use.
“Electrifying” represents the transition from fossil fuels to electric power and making the most of renewable energy. Panasonic Group is a leader in automotive battery cells, having delivered more than 15 billion units to date—enough to power three million EVs worldwide. Visitors were able to check out the Panasonic 2170 cell, which features the world’s highest energy density, as well as the new Panasonic 4680 cell, which has a capacity around five times greater than the 2170 cell. The company’s efforts with Redwood Materials, Inc. and Nouveau Monde Graphite, Inc. to reduce its carbon footprint and achieve a sustainable society were also available for visitors to explore. Finally, they could learn more about Panasonic HX, an advanced energy management system that coordinates pure hydrogen fuel cells, solar cells, and storage batteries to efficiently supply renewable energy in response to changes in electricity demand and weather conditions.
“Harnessing” is an approach that uses natural resources to produce cleaner resources, leading to CO2 reduction and absorption. One technology aiding the approach is the anion exchange membrane water electrolysis, a device enabling highly efficient and low-cost green hydrogen production. A fully developed anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrode made of iron and nickel was on display in the area. Visitors could also see a life-size mockup of window-mounted perovskite solar cells which demonstrated the transparency and design flexibility of this unique power-generating technology. Also on display was the growth stimulant Novitek®, a technology that uses ambient CO2 in combination with cyanobacteria, a type of photosynthetic microorganism, to increase food productivity.

The Panasonic Group is committed to the Circular Economy under the three principles of “Maximizing,” “Minimizing,” and “Partnering.” In this area, the Group introduced its efforts to efficiently use resources and reduce consumption of the Earth’s limited natural resources.
Extending the effective use period while maintaining and improving the value of resources across a product’s lifecycle is known as “Maximizing.” Panasonic displayed a concept model based on the principle of Design for Circular Economy (DfCE); DfCE products are easy to assemble/disassemble (ease of repair), have fewer connectors/fasteners (ease of assembly), and can be grouped for reuse and recycling (ease of recycling).
“Minimizing” means using fewer new materials and more recycled and renewable materials. For example, approximately 45 percent of the plastic used in the Technics EAH-AZ80 earphones and charging case is made of plant-derived DURABIO , while the Lamdash Palm In ES-PV6A shaver uses NAGORI®, an innovative composite material derived from minerals extracted from seawater, reducing plastic use by approximately 40%1. A second exhibit showcased lighting that incorporates kinari , a sustainable material composed primarily of plant fibers that offers the moldability of conventional petroleum-based resins.
Designing products and systems for a circular economy is a challenge that Panasonic Group cannot tackle alone, so it emphasizes “Partnering” with customers and partners promote a new style of recycling-oriented management, information sharing, and product use. One outcome of these collaborative efforts is Tracephere , a traceability solution for product recycling and recycled resource processes based on blockchain technology.

OASYS and Home Appliances Supporting People’s Health, Comfort, and Safety

The center of the space introduced the Group’s next generation of residential solutions for comfortable, healthy, economical, sustainable, and secure living. Grabbing center stage was the new OASYS solution—a residential central air conditioning system being introduced in the U.S. market that uses a combination of existing products to heat, cool, and ventilate the home while reducing energy consumption by over 50% compared to conventional systems in the U.S.2 In addition to maximizing air volume while minimizing temperature differences and noise, OASYS paves the way for homes powered by 100 percent renewable energy based on high-efficiency water heaters and a lifestyle-adaptive home energy management system.
Complementing OASYS were displays for home appliances that enrich people’s lives. These included the Technics EAH-AZ100 true wireless earbuds, the Panasonic TV lineup, SoundSlayer Wireless Wearable Gaming Speaker System SC-GNW10, CV88QS multi-oven, LUMIX Full Frame and Micro Four Thirds cameras and lenses, ARC5 PALM-sized 5-Blade Electric Luxury Razor, Panasonic MultiShape, and nanoe hair dryers.

New Technologies Strengthen Commitment to a Better Tomorrow

“Our hope is that people will understand that Panasonic’s commitment has not changed in over 100 years—it has always been about making people’s lives better and making the world a better place. The only difference is that today we are doing it with new technologies like AI and software,” said King. “From the individual to all of society, our hope is that people understand our commitment to helping people live healthier, happier lives.”
King continued: “We hope that people were surprised and excited about some of the new technologies that Panasonic is introducing. A lot of people are concerned about the environment, and we remain committed to sustainability, to green energy transformation, and to new initiatives that will be important for the health of the planet overall.”

[embedded content]

1: Compared to Lamdash PRO 5-blade ES-LV9W released in 2023
2: Conventional home air conditioning system using a heat pump cooling system (14.2 SEER2) and gas furnace (80% AFUE) compliant with IECC 2015; OASYS system using Panasonic Mini Split AC and transfer fans for both cooling and heating functions in houses compliant with OASYS-required specifications. (Estimate based on the conversion of gas energy consumption to electricity)

Related Articles

MIL OSI Economics –

January 29, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: DeepSeek’s success challenges assumptions about Chinese tech companies – and the US-China competition

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wanning Sun, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of Technology Sydney

The release of the new DeepSeek-R1 artificial intelligence (AI) model has shocked the tech world.

Launched on January 20 with little fanfare, the Chinese AI model was reportedly developed at only a fraction of the cost of OpenAI’s GPT-4o, and over a much shorter period of time. One Chinese commentator has called its release a “Pearl Harbor attack” on the AI world.

Though the reference to an “attack” may be a strong word, it alludes to the growing competition between the United States and China over dominance in the AI sphere, which the US had been leading thus far.

Indeed, people across China were celebrating a homegrown success story on Wednesday, as DeepSeek’s AI app soared to the top of the Apple and Google stores in the US.

So, what does the emergence of DeepSeek’s model say about US-China competition in this space?

Chinese government control

First, DeepSeek’s success is undoubtedly sending a message to the Chinese government that excessive control kills innovation.

Until mid-2023, enthusiasm for innovation in China’s tech companies had been stifled by increasingly restrictive regulations. The Chinese government had embarked on a sweeping crackdown of tech companies like Alibaba and others in order to prevent the spread of rampant entrepreneurial capitalism in China.

The launch of ChatGPT in 2023 promised to open up exciting new frontiers for the development of AI in the West. But it must have come as a rude shock to China’s tech companies. The Chinese government changed tact and reassured them that it recognised the crucial role of the digital economy as a key driver of economic growth. It soon began to relax its tight grip over the sector.

But the elephant in the room is how DeepSeek – and China’s AI companies in general – will deal with censorship.

As it stands, politically sensitive words and questions seem to be no-go areas for DeepSeek. When asked what happened on June 4 1989 in Tiananmen Square (the site of the government’s crackdown on democracy protesters), the chatbot’s answer was along the lines of, “Sorry, that’s beyond my current scope. Let’s talk about something else.”

This raises the question: can a Chinese AI tool be truly competitive in the global tech race without a solution to the challenge of censorship?

US efforts to contain Chinese tech development

Meanwhile, the US has adopted a wide array of measures aiming at curbing China’s AI development over the past few years. These included the Biden administration’s attempts to restrict China’s access to the advanced chips needed for AI, as well as the export of chip-making equipment and other technology to China.

The US has also blacklisted a large number of Chinese entities that it has identified as having both military and commercial technology.

The launch of DeepSeek raises questions over the effectiveness of these US attempts to “de-risk” from China in relation to scientific and academic collaboration.

For one, DeepSeek was able to evade US restrictions on advanced chips by stockpiling downgraded chips made by Nvidia before the Biden administration moved to ban them.

Western observers have often portrayed China’s AI initiatives as limited due to these US controls. However, these observers have somehow failed to take seriously the emergence of a new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs who prioritise foundational research and long-term technological advancement over quick profits.

DeepSeek is a good example of this approach. It has embraced open-source methods, pooling collective expertise and fostering collaborative innovation. This approach not only mitigates resource constraints, but also accelerates the development of cutting-edge technologies.

Another common assumption in the West is that Chinese companies are mere followers or imitators. DeepSeek’s achievements likewise challenge this perception. As the company’s chief executive, Liang Wenfeng, said to one Chinese media outlet:

Innovation such as ours happens all the time in the US. The Americans are surprised by us, mainly because we are a Chinese company, and we are entering their game as an innovator with original contribution, not as followers.

DeepSeek’s success also calls into question the legislation supported by both the Biden and Trump administrations that aims to prevent Chinese graduate students from attending universities in the US.

The assumption behind what researchers call “STEM talent de-coupling” is that the Chinese government may use some of these students to engage in knowledge and technology transfer when they return to China.

Liang, however, never studied outside China. And he recruited graduates and students from top Chinese universities to staff his research team. None studied overseas.

These developers belong to a generation of young, patriotic Chinese who harbour personal ambition, as well as a broader commitment to advancing China’s position as a global innovation leader.

What does this mean for Australia?

In Australia, the initial reaction to DeepSeek’s AI chatbot has been one of
caution, even concern. Clare O’Neil, the former cyber security minister, said the government would examine more closely how the app works before providing guidance to Australians on potential data security concerns.

But DeepSeek may also be a reminder that Australia’s scientific collaborations should be guided primarily by research excellence rather than geopolitical considerations. To stay competitive and reduce its reliance on external technology providers, Australia needs to invest in its own AI research infrastructure and build its own talent pool.

A narrow focus on political alignments and a growing paranoia about partnering with Chinese researchers means that Australia risks missing out on the next wave of breakthrough technologies.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. DeepSeek’s success challenges assumptions about Chinese tech companies – and the US-China competition – https://theconversation.com/deepseeks-success-challenges-assumptions-about-chinese-tech-companies-and-the-us-china-competition-248531

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Global wildlife trade is an enormous market – the US imports billions of animals from nearly 30,000 species

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Michael Tlusty, Professor of Sustainability and Food Solutions, UMass Boston

U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents inspect a shipment of reptiles at the Port of Miami. U.S. GAO

When people think of wildlife trade, they often picture smugglers sneaking in rare and endangered species from far-off countries. Yet most wildlife trade is actually legal, and the United States is one of the world’s biggest wildlife importers.

New research that we and a team of colleagues published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that, over the last 22 years, people in the U.S. legally imported nearly 2.85 billion individual animals representing almost 30,000 species.

Some of these wild animals become pets, such as reptiles, spiders, clownfish, chimpanzees and even tigers. Thousands end up in zoos and aquariums, where many species on display come directly from the wild.

Medical research uses macaque monkeys and imports up to 39,000 of them every year. The fashion trade imports around 1 million to 2 million crocodile skins every year. Hunting trophies are also included in wildlife.

How many species are legally traded worldwide?
Benjamin Marshall, et al., 2024, PNAS, CC BY-SA

The largest number of imported species are birds – 4,985 different species are imported each year, led by Muscovy ducks, with over 6 million imported. Reptiles are next, with 3,048 species, led by iguanas and royal pythons. These largely become pets.

Not all wildlife are wild

We found that just over half of the animals imported into the U.S. come from the wild.

Capturing wildlife to sell to exporters can be an important income source for rural communities around the world, especially in Africa. However, wild imported species can also spread diseases or parasites or become invasive. In fact, these risks are so worrying that many imported animals are classed as “injurious wildlife” due to their potential role in transmitting diseases to native species.

Captive breeding has played an increasingly dominant role in recent years as a way to limit the impact on wild populations and to try to reduce disease spread.

However over half the individual animals from most groups of species, such as amphibians or mammals, still come from the wild, and there is no data on the impact of the wildlife trade on most wild populations.

Trade may pose a particular risk when species are already rare or have small ranges. Where studies have been done, the wild populations of traded species decreased by an average of 62% across the periods monitored.

Sustainable wildlife trade is possible, but it relies on careful monitoring to balance wild harvest and captive breeding.

Data is thin in many ways

For most species in the wildlife trade, there is still a lot that remains unknown, including even the number of species traded.

With so many species and shipments, wildlife inspectors are overwhelmed. Trade data may not include the full species name for groups like butterflies or fish. The values in many customs databases are reported by companies but never verified.

Macaques, used in medical research, are the most-traded primates globally, according to an analysis of U.S. Fish and Wildlife data.
Davidvraju, CC BY-SA

In our study, we relied on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Law Enforcement Management Information System, a wildlife import-export data collection system. However, few countries collate and release data in such a standardized way; meaning that for the majority of species legally traded around the world there is no available data.

For example, millions of Tokay geckos are imported as pets and for medicine, and are often reported to be bred in captivity. However, investigators cannot confirm that they weren’t actually caught in the wild.

Why tracking the wildlife trade is important

Biodiversity has a great number of economic and ecological benefits. There are also risks to importing wildlife. Understanding the many species and number of animals entering the country, and whether they were once wild or farmed, is important, because imported wildlife can cause health and ecological problems.

Wildlife can spread diseases to humans and to other animals. Wild-caught monkeys imported for medical research may carry diseases, including ones of particular risk to humans. Those with diseases are more likely to be wild than captive-bred.

The most-traded mammals worldwide are minks, which are valued for their fur but can spread viruses to humans and other species. About 48 million minks are legally traded annually, about 2.8% wild-caught and the majority raised, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife data.
Colin Canterbury/USFWS

Species that aren’t native to the U.S. may also escape or be released into the wild. Invasive species can cause billions of dollars in damage by consuming and outcompeting native wildlife and spreading diseases.

We believe better data on the wildlife trade could be used to set management goals, such as harvest quotas or no-take policies for those species in their country of origin.

What’s next

The researchers involved in this study come from institutes around the world and are all interested in improving data systems for wildlife trade.

Some of us focus on how e-commerce platforms such as Etsy and Instagram have become hotspots of wildlife trade and can be challenging to monitor without automation. Esty announced in 2024 that it would remove listings of endangered or threatened species. Others build tools to help wildlife inspectors process the large number of shipments in real time. Many of us examine the problems imported species cause when they become invasive.

In the age of machine learning, artificial intelligence and big data, it’s possible to better understand the wildlife trade. Consumers can help by buying less, and making informed decisions.

Michael Tlusty is a founding member of the Wildlife Detection Partnership and co-developed the Nature Intelligence System, which assists governments in collecting more accurate wildlife data..

Andrew Rhyne is currently on sabbatical funded by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), focused on the wildlife trade data. He is a founding member of the Wildlife Detection Partnership and co-developed the Nature Intelligence System, which assists governments in collecting more accurate wildlife data.

Alice Catherine Hughes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Global wildlife trade is an enormous market – the US imports billions of animals from nearly 30,000 species – https://theconversation.com/global-wildlife-trade-is-an-enormous-market-the-us-imports-billions-of-animals-from-nearly-30-000-species-247197

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Video: Kaine Speaks on Senate Floor Regarding Trump’s Pardons of Individuals Found Guilty of Assaulting Police Officers on January 6, 2021

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine

BROADCAST-QUALITY VIDEO IS AVAILABLE HERE.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) spoke on the Senate floor in opposition to President Trump’s pardons of individuals who were found guilty of assaulting police officers during the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Kaine and his colleagues sought unanimous consent to pass their resolution condemning these pardons, but its passage was blocked by Senate Republicans. During Kaine’s floor speech, he also highlighted the five Virginia law enforcement officers who tragically lost their lives after defending the Capitol on that day, including Howie Liebengood.
A full transcript of Kaine’s speech as delivered is available below:
Mr. President.
I rise together with my colleagues to speak in opposition to the President’s action pardoning those who attacked this Capitol on January 6, 2021. I was here that day. I shared that day with these colleagues, and we all have memories of it—memories that we never would have imagined and hope never to repeat.
But I’m not going to talk about my experiences of the day.
I’m going to talk about a friend, a Virginian, Howie Liebengood, a Capitol Police Officer who spent his career protecting this building and who died as a result of that day. And the fact that President Trump would pardon the people who attacked this Capitol leading to Howie Liebengood’s death is a deep, deep stain to President Trump and frankly a stain on this body if we casually tolerate it.
Howie Liebengood is a Virginian who grew up in this building. His father was the Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate and prior to assuming that role, worked in other roles in the Senate. And Howie and his two siblings grew up coming to the capitol and treating it like it was sort of their playground and their yard, running through the halls, meeting senators, hearing their dad tell stories about what it was like to serve this Article I branch as a patriotic American public servant.
When Howie came of age, he started a career that he enjoyed and worked together with his father for a number of years as a NASCAR driver. And he worked on the NASCAR circuit—kind of working his way up from minor league races to more significant races.
But after a number of years of doing that—look, he was a child of the United States Senate, he was a child of this Capitol—and he decided he would enter the training program to be a Capitol Police Officer. And he told his siblings—by this time, his father had passed—I think my dad would be very, very proud of me.
Howie went through the Academy and became a Capitol Police Officer, and I came to know him—as I suspect many of my colleagues did—because he usually was staffing the Delaware door at the corner of Delaware and Constitution right here—the Delaware door to the Russell building. And this a door that I know Senator Murray’s office is right close to that door—maybe the closest office to that door and mine is close as well. We would come in in the morning, and Howie Liebengood would be there to greet us, to ask questions about the procedural vote from the night before or what was on today.
As much as he was a friend to mine, he was even more of a friend to my staff. My staff loved interacting with Howie, and he eventually served as a Capitol Police Officer for 15 years.
He was here on January 6 when his beloved Capitol was attacked. And as devastating as that attack was for many of us, for Howie—who had made this place his whole life, who had really been raised in these halls—that attack was very devastating.
In the aftermath of the attack, those working on the Capitol Police were put on extended hours—little sleep. Would there be more attacks? Where was this going? What would happen? It was a time of fear and anxiety and confusion.
And a few days later, within three days after that attack of January 6, Howie went to his home in Virginia. His wife Serena asked if he was doing okay. She could tell he was under enormous stress, and he said he just needed to sleep. And Howie went upstairs and using his own service revolver, ended his life.
Howie Liebengood would be alive today if President Trump hadn’t urged people to gather to do something wild in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 and then urged those gathering to go up and raise hell at the Capitol.
My friend would be alive if President Trump had not done what he did.
I’ve waited in vain, not naively, but with a hope that there might be some sign of remorse over what happened—for the pain suffered by Serena Liebengood and Howie’s siblings and family members.
Four other law enforcement officers, all of whom lived in Virginia, lost their life as a result of that day. Dozens of others were injured.
And I have waited for years to see if there might be some semblance of remorse shown by the president who inspired that attack, for the damage and pain and loss of life and injury that he’s caused, and I’ve seen not a shred of it.
But these pardons are the ultimate injustice, are the ultimate injury. The family’s still suffering. For them, it’s salt in an unhealed wound and an injury that will never heal.
And so I join with my colleagues in Howie’s memory, in support of Serena, in support of Howie’s family, to stand on this floor and deplore as strongly as I can—and words aren’t sufficient to really explain how I feel about this—but I stand here to deplore as strongly as I can the pardons of these law breakers who gathered for a particular time at a particular moment in a particular place to conduct violence in the cause of a particular result, the overturning of the peaceful transfer of power.
And as I sit down, Mr. President, I’ll just say this.
I lived in a military dictatorship in 1980 and 81 in Honduras when the military ran everything. I know what authoritarianism is. I didn’t live there for years like my Honduran friends, but I experienced it.
I was very naive. I was 22 years old when I lived there, and I saw what it’s like to have a society run by somebody who believes they are all powerful, who can change any rule, who can foment violence, who can make sure that those who commit violence escape with impunity.
I know what this is like, and we are in danger of moving into the same kind of authoritarian behavior when we casually pardon and excuse those who perpetrate violence to overturn our democracy.
That’s a big concept, but it all comes down to the effect that it has on individual people like my friend Howie Liebengood.
And with that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI: U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragán Joins Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco to Address Affordable Housing Crisis in Southern California
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Committed to prioritizing solutions for the affordable housing crisis in Southern California, U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragán, (CA-44) hosted a roundtable discussion with the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) today at The Enclave in Torrance, California. The roundtable brought together affordable housing leaders, community organizations, financial institutions, and other stakeholders throughout the area to discuss how organizations and public-private partnerships could play a pivotal role in solving the housing crisis in Southern California after tens of thousands were displaced by the recent wildfires in the region.

“Many families in my district, and across Los Angeles County, struggle to afford housing,” said Rep. Nanette Barragán. “This roundtable brings together key partners to explore solutions to increase housing supply, reduce costs, and expand opportunities for homeownership. Together, we can make real progress for our communities.”

Rep. Barragán has a history of leading on issues related to affordable housing and has secured millions in federal funding for local projects that support affordable housing development, advance homeownership for first time homebuyers and expand supportive housing options. By teaming up with FHLBank San Francisco and its members, she is working to find local solutions to the housing crisis.

“This roundtable comes at a critical moment for our district, as many families and individuals have been displaced by the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. We are proud to partner with Representative Barragán, a dedicated leader and tireless advocate for addressing the housing crisis in Southern California,” said Alanna McCargo, president and chief executive officer of FHLBank San Francisco. “Collaboration is essential to develop innovative solutions that improve affordability, expand housing supply and support the rebuilding of communities impacted by these wildfires. Our Bank is a valuable and trusted community partner that can leverage an extensive network of member financial institutions to help turn these ideas into action.”

In 2024, FHLBank San Francisco awarded $6.75 million in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grants to support a range of projects in Los Angeles. Statewide, more than $49 million in AHP grants were awarded through its member financial institutions to help address and expedite solutions to California’s affordable housing crisis.

Attendees at the roundtable included:
- Dora Leong Gall, A Community of Friends
- Holly Benson, Adobe communities
- Andrea Parker, Farmers and Merchants bank
- Jeremy Empol, FHLBank San Francisco
- Anabel Cuevas, FHLBank San Francisco
- Darrell Simien, Habitat for Humanity LA
- Laura Archuleta, Jamboree
- Suny Lay Chang, LINC Housing
- Michael Ruane, National CORE
- Gerald Phillips, Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County
- Patricia Valladolid, One San Pedro/Century Housing
- Michael Faulwell, SchoolsFirst FCU
- Brent Terecero, SchoolsFirst FCU
FHLBank San Francisco is dedicated to supporting housing initiatives throughout its three-state region, including Arizona, California, and Nevada. Since the Affordable Housing Program (AHP) was created in 1990, FHLBank San Francisco has awarded over $1.35 billion in AHP grants to support the construction, rehabilitation, or purchase of over 154,600 homes affordable to lower-income households, including $61.8 million in 2024 alone. Together, the 11 regional FHLBanks that make up the Federal Home Loan Bank System are one of the largest privately capitalized sources of grant funding for affordable housing in the United States.

About the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is a member-owned cooperative supporting local lenders in Arizona, California, and Nevada to build strong communities, create opportunity, and change lives for the better. The tools and resources we provide to our member financial institutions — commercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, savings institutions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions — propel homeownership, finance quality affordable housing, drive economic vitality, and revitalize neighborhoods. Together with our members and other partners, we are making the communities we serve more vibrant, equitable, and resilient.

Contact:
Tom Flannigan
tom.flannigan@fhlbsf.com
415-616-2695

The MIL Network –
January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Padilla Raises Alarm on Trump Administration Illegally Blocking Hundreds of Billions in Federal Support

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

Padilla Raises Alarm on Trump Administration Illegally Blocking Hundreds of Billions in Federal Support

Urges Budget Committee to Delay OMB Nominee
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement after President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) ordered federal agencies to freeze all congressionally approved federal grants and loans, including disaster relief for Californians:
“Donald Trump is illegally blocking hundreds of billions of dollars for essential federal programs to support families recovering after catastrophic fires, law enforcement agencies we rely on to keep our communities safe, and children and families who depend on federal child care and nutrition programs. All in his effort to pay for his tax cuts for large corporations and billionaires, like the ones he surrounded himself with during his inauguration. This overreach is unconstitutional and hurts the thousands of Californians who have been devastated by the recent fires. When Congress approves federal funds for programs to help communities, they are not optional: they are legal mandates.
“Americans in every corner of the country will feel the impact of Donald Trump’s unlawful directives. I am calling on my Republican colleagues to not confirm Russell Vought to be OMB Director until Trump reverses this reckless order.”
The sweeping directives in the Trump Administration’s memorandum are set to go into effect at 5 p.m. ET this evening. If implemented as written, the directives could block funding for California and national priorities including:
Disaster Relief: Public assistance and hazard mitigation grants from the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) to state, tribal, territorial, and local governments and non-profits to help communities quickly respond to, recover from, and prepare for major disasters will be halted — right as so many Southern California communities are struggling amid the recent fires.
Firefighting: Grants to support firefighters across the country will be halted. This includes grants that help states and localities purchase essential firefighting equipment.
Public Safety: Grants for law enforcement and homeland security activities will cease to go out the door, undermining public safety in every state and territory.
Infrastructure Projects: All federally-funded transportation projects — roads, bridges, public transit, and more — will be halted, including projects already under construction.
Homelessness/Housing: In the midst of a homelessness and housing crisis, the Trump Administration is freezing housing and homelessness funding, which will exacerbate our housing crisis.
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Funding for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline that Senator Padilla significantly improved, as well as grants for mental health services, will be cut off.
Nutrition Assistance: Millions of American citizens who rely on nutrition assistance programs like school lunch programs will be left hungry as funding is cut off and non-profits who provide additional assistance lose federal funding.
Combating the Fentanyl Crisis: Funding for communities to address the substance use disorder crisis and combat the fentanyl crisis will be cut off.
Emergency Preparedness: Critical preparedness and response capability funding used to prepare for disasters, public health emergencies, and chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear events will be frozen.
Child Care: Child care programs across the country will not be able to access the funding they rely on to keep their doors open.
K-12 Schools: Federal funding for K-12 schools will be halted. School districts may not be able to access key formula grant funding including Title I, IDEA, Impact Aid, and Career and Technical Education, which would pose tremendous financial burdens on schools in the middle of the school year.
Biomedical Research: There will be immediate pauses on all funding for critical health research, including research on cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes, as well as clinical trials at the NIH Clinical Center and all across the country — disrupting lifesaving and often time-sensitive research.
Higher Education and Job Training: Millions of students relying on federal student loans and federal work study will have their plans to pursue postsecondary education and further their careers thrown into chaos as federal financial aid disbursements are paused.
Health Services: Federal funding for community health centers that provide health care for over 30 million Americans will be immediately frozen, creating chaos for patients trying get their prescriptions, a regular checkup, and more.
Small Businesses: The Small Business Administration will have to halt loans to small businesses — including those in disaster-ravaged California communities.
Veterans Care: Federal grants to help veterans in rural areas access health care and grants to help veterans get other critical services, including suicide prevention resources, transition assistance, and housing for homeless veterans, will be cut off.
Tribes: Funding to tribes for basic government services like health care, public safety, programs, tribal schools, and food assistance will be halted.
Preventing Violence Against Women: All Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grants, as well as funding for victims assistance and state and local police, will be cut off.
U.S. Competitiveness: Existing grants to support research for Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing will be halted and any new grant funding would be paused — undermining U.S. innovation and competitiveness with China and putting California jobs at risk.
Energy Jobs: Grants for critical energy projects nationwide will be cut off — halting billions of dollars in investment nationwide and jeopardizing good-paying American jobs. The Department of Energy Loan Program Office will halt loans in 28 states, impacting hundreds of thousands of construction and operations jobs.
Food Inspections: Some states will have to take on the full financial burden of ensuring the nation’s meat supply is safe if federal cooperative agreements for meat inspection are halted.
Support for Servicemembers: Support for a host of Department of Defense financial assistance and grant programs supporting servicemembers and their families will be halted, including the Fisher House, Impact Aid, community noise mitigation, ROTC language training, STEM programs, and the USO.
Military Readiness: Grants and other assistance appropriated to strengthen military effectiveness and defense capacity will be halted, including Defense Production Act support for the defense industrial base, basic research grants necessary to advance key technologies, and small business support to strengthen supply chains.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: DeepSeek shatters beliefs about the cost of AI, leaving US tech giants reeling
Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Michael J. Davern, Professor of Accounting & Business Information Systems, The University of Melbourne

Almost A$1 trillion (US$600 billion) was wiped off the value of artificial intelligence microchip maker Nvidia overnight on Monday, when a little-known Chinese startup, DeepSeek, threatened to upend the US tech market.

While Nvidia suffered the biggest one-day loss in sharemarket history, other tech giants – Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, who are investing heavily in competing AI tools including ChatGPT and Gemini – were also hit.

The rout was caused by investors’ shock at the claimed performance of DeepSeek’s new R1 chatbot. The Chinese AI was reported to be more advanced than its competitors and less expensive to develop.

DeepSeek R1 has soared, becoming the top free downloaded app on Apple’s app store, as US technology and related stock prices fell dramatically.

Why tech stocks took a deep dive

The market was surprised by DeepSeek providing what amounts to cheaper technology but comparable performance.

This has dramatically changed the market’s expectations of computing power, showing more can be done for less. It has also compromised the competitiveness of the US tech companies’ existing AI products and developments.

Stock prices are driven by market expectations. The claimed performance of DeepSeek R1 prompted a major revision of expectations about what was technologically possible and about how cheaply AI could be developed and operated.

Investors have rapidly incorporated the news of a low-cost Chinese AI competitor into stock prices, anticipating this new entrant could disrupt the market and erode the competitive advantage of existing leaders.

Who is DeepSeek and what is R1?

DeepSeek was founded in 2023 by Chinese hedge fund High Flyer, which had been exclusively using AI in trading since 2021.

DeepSeek develops large language models (LLMs) that can underpin chatbots and other AI-based tools. R1 is the latest iteration of DeepSeek’s chatbot and underlying model. It builds on earlier versions of generative AI models developed by DeepSeek, and considerable amounts of data, but is a surprising leap forward in performance and cost.

R1 is the latest version of DeepSeek’s chatbot.
Koshiro K/Shutterstock

Technology investors believe R1 matches or outperforms competitors, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4.o1 on numerous benchmarks.

However, there are some key differences:
1. The model underlying R1 operates in a much less intensive manner. It is much cheaper to develop and run, requiring less data and computing power.
2. The training of the model was possible despite the US export ban preventing Chinese companies such as DeepSeek from accessing chips from US companies such as Nvidia. The Biden administration had introduced laws restricting the sale of certain computer chips and machinery to China, in a move intended to block its rival from accessing some of the world’s most advanced technology.
3. The training data and data uploaded to R1 sit on servers in China. Given concerns about data privacy and intellectual property have already been raised about US-based companies, having data under jurisdiction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is arguably even more concerning.
4. The chatbot program code is free to download, read and modify, unlike ChatGPT. This is however somewhat a false transparency – what matters more is the underlying model, not the Chatbot code.
5. R1 is known to censor its responses in line with Chinese Communist Party values.
The future of AI and tech stocks

It is unknown whether this crash in price of tech stocks is an irrational panic that will reverse, or whether it simply reflects correct pricing. The future costs and benefits of AI are still uncertain.

This is both a technological and an economic question.

In technological terms, it is yet to be seen whether R1 really does require less computing power and less data to train and use.

Economically, there are potential winners and losers. AI users may win with cheaper access to AI, and LLMs in particular, leading to increased adoption and associated productivity gains. Existing producers such as Nvidia may lose out in what was a market with few real competitors.

More broadly, society may benefit from less computationally intensive, and therefore more energy-efficient, AI. However, the geopolitical risk of a single country capturing the market, together with concerns about data privacy, intellectual property and censorship may outweigh the benefits.

Michael J. Davern has previously received funding from CPA Australia for industry research into Artificial Intelligence.

Matt Pinnuck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. DeepSeek shatters beliefs about the cost of AI, leaving US tech giants reeling – https://theconversation.com/deepseek-shatters-beliefs-about-the-cost-of-ai-leaving-us-tech-giants-reeling-248424
MIL OSI – Global Reports –
January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI: Wearable Devices Ltd. Announces Pricing of $2.5 Million Public Offering

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Yokneam Illit, Israel, Jan. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wearable Devices Ltd. (the “Company” or “Wearable Devices”) (Nasdaq: WLDS, WLDSW), an award-winning pioneer in artificial intelligence (“AI”)-based wearable gesture control technology, today announced the pricing of its “reasonable best efforts” public offering with a single institutional investor for the purchase and sale of up 2,500,000 ordinary shares (or pre-funded warrants in lieu thereof) and warrants to purchase up to 2,500,000 ordinary shares, at a combined offering price of $1.00 per share and accompanying warrant (the “Offering”). The Company expects to receive aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $2.5 million, before deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses and assuming no exercise of the warrants. The warrants will have an exercise price of $1.00 per share, will be exercisable immediately and will expire five years from the issuance date.

The closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or about January 30, 2025, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.

A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners is acting as the sole placement agent for the Offering.

In connection with the Offering, the Company also agreed to amend existing warrants that were previously issued to the investor participating in the Offering to purchase up to 822,000 ordinary shares of the Company, with an exercise price of $2.50 per share. Effective upon closing of the Offering, such existing warrants will be amended to reduce the exercise price to $1.00 per share and will expire five years following the closing of the Offering.

The securities described above are being offered pursuant to a registration statement on Form F-1, as amended (File No. 333-284023), previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which was declared effective on January 28, 2025. The Offering is being made only by means of a prospectus forming part of the effective registration statement. Copies of the preliminary prospectus and, when available, copies of the final prospectus, relating to the Offering may be obtained on the SEC’s website located at http://www.sec.gov. Electronic copies of the final prospectus relating to the Offering may be obtained, when available, from A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners, 590 Madison Avenue, 28th Floor, New York, NY 10022, or by telephone at (212) 624-2060, or by email at prospectus@allianceg.com.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in this Offering, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

About Wearable Devices Ltd.

Wearable Devices Ltd. is a pioneering growth company revolutionizing human-computer interaction through its AI-powered neural input technology for both consumer and business markets. Leveraging proprietary sensors, software, and advanced AI algorithms, the Company’s innovative products, including the Mudra Band for iOS and Mudra Link for Android, enable seamless, touch-free interaction by transforming subtle finger and wrist movements into intuitive controls. These groundbreaking solutions enhance gaming, and the rapidly expanding AR/VR/XR landscapes. The Company offers a dual-channel business model: direct-to-consumer sales and enterprise licensing. Its flagship Mudra Band integrates functional and stylish design with cutting-edge AI to empower consumers, while its enterprise solutions provide businesses with the tools to deliver immersive and interactive experiences. By setting the input standard for the XR market, Wearable Devices is redefining user experiences and driving innovation in one of the fastest-growing tech sectors. Wearable Devices’ ordinary shares and warrants trade on the Nasdaq under the symbols “WLDS” and “WLDSW,” respectively.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are intended to be covered by the “safe harbor” created by those sections. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “seek,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “will” or other comparable terms. For example, we are using forward-looking statements when we discuss the expected closing date of the Offering, the use of proceeds, and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release regarding our strategies, prospects, financial condition, operations, costs, plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: the trading of our ordinary shares or warrants and the development of a liquid trading market; our ability to successfully market our products and services; the acceptance of our products and services by customers; our continued ability to pay operating costs and ability to meet demand for our products and services; the amount and nature of competition from other security and telecom products and services; the effects of changes in the cybersecurity and telecom markets; our ability to successfully develop new products and services; our success establishing and maintaining collaborative, strategic alliance agreements, licensing and supplier arrangements; our ability to comply with applicable regulations; and the other risks and uncertainties described in our annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed on March 15, 2024 and our other filings with the SEC, including the registration statement on Form F-1, as amended (File No. 333-284023). We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Investor Relations Contact

Michal Efraty
IR@wearabledevices.co.il

The MIL Network –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Shenzhen, Hong Kong jointly conserve mangrove wetlands

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

SHENZHEN/HONG KONG, Jan. 28 — In the heart of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Guangdong Neilingding Futian National Nature Reserve in Shenzhen and the Mai Po Nature Reserve in Hong Kong are jointly safeguarding a vibrant expanse of mangrove wetlands.

These wetlands are ecologically linked and integral parts of the Shenzhen Bay (Deep Bay) wetland ecosystem, which serves as an internationally important overwintering site and a refueling station for waterbirds on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.

In February 2023, Shenzhen’s Futian mangrove was designated as Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Together with the wetlands in Mai Po Nature Reserve, Shenzhen Bay now hosts two internationally recognized wetlands of significance.

“Mangroves are unique and complex ecosystems, often difficult for humans to access. Their dense canopy provides birds with quiet, undisturbed nesting areas, making them vital for wildlife conservation,” said Simon Wong, nature officer (management) at the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department (AFCD), Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government.

Moreover, mangroves protect coastlines from erosion caused by waves, while the mudflats they create harbor countless species and provide feeding and resting areas for migratory waterbirds, benefiting surrounding regions and other habitats, he added.

According to Wong, mangroves and their soil have a high capacity for carbon sequestration through microbial activity, helping reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations and mitigating the impacts of global warming and climate change. Mangroves can also accumulate heavy metals, help degrade organic pollutants, and exhibit an ecological interception effect against microplastics.

The wetlands of the nature reserves in Futian and Mai Po not only support rich biodiversity but also symbolize the close cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong in ecological conservation.

Since signing the framework arrangement for the conservation of Shenzhen Bay (Deep Bay) wetlands in January 2023, the two cities have made significant strides in protecting mangroves and wetlands, offering valuable insights into the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

“The Shenzhen Bay is essentially a shared wetland between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Despite being separated by the Shenzhen River, the ecosystem remains consistent,” said Yang Qiong, a senior engineer at Guangdong Neilingding Futian National Nature Reserve Administration Bureau.

According to the framework, Shenzhen and Hong Kong will collaborate on ecological baseline and waterbird monitoring, synchronized surveys of black-faced spoonbills and their habitats, protection of inter-tidal mudflat and native mangrove species, capacity building, and experience sharing on environmental education.

The framework provides an excellent platform for sharing experience in the wetland ecosystem conversation in Shenzhen Bay, said Toby Cheung, nature reserve officer (education) at the AFCD.

The black-faced spoonbill, a key species in Shenzhen Bay and one of China’s top protected animals, has experienced a notably impressive population recovery. From fewer than 300 individuals in the 1990s to 6,988 counted globally in January 2024, the growth of black-faced spoonbill highlights the importance of Shenzhen Bay’s role in their protection.

To accurately monitor the numbers and distribution of black-faced spoonbills, Shenzhen and Hong Kong conduct synchronized surveys and smart monitoring. Monthly synchronized data reflects the status of black-faced spoonbill throughout Shenzhen Bay, while annual global synchronized surveys provide a comprehensive understanding of population dynamics.

High-definition cameras and AI-powered bird recognition technology are used for automated monitoring, particularly at night, reducing disturbance to resting birds while improving monitoring efficiency.

On Nov. 6, 2024, an agreement was signed to establish the International Mangrove Center in Shenzhen, marking the beginning of deeper cross-border joint protection efforts in wetland conservation. In the future, the two cities aim to build a more comprehensive cross-border joint protection model and extend their cooperation to global mangrove conservation efforts.

Yang said that Shenzhen and Hong Kong can learn from each other’s advanced experience and practices in wetland protection and implement cross-border joint conservation efforts. She noted that the wetland protection model in Shenzhen Bay, developed through collaboration between the two cities, could serve as a standout example for exchange at the International Mangrove Center.

Nora Tam, chair professor of environmental science and conservation at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, noted that through the platform of the International Mangrove Center, Shenzhen and Hong Kong can increase exchanges and cooperation in science and technology, resources, management, and information, promoting wetland protection cooperation within the Greater Bay Area and beyond.

MIL OSI China News –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Minister Rishworth interview on ABC News Breakfast

Source: Ministers for Social Services

29 January 2025

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

Topics: Updated Australia’s Disability Strategy; Inflation; AI chatbot DeepSeek; Election.

JAMES GLENDAY, HOST: Now, Australians with disability are the focus of the Federal Government today as it commits to additional changes, months after a scathing Royal Commission was handed down. An updated Disability Strategy will be launched by the Social Services Minister, Amanda Rishworth, who I am happy to say, joins us now from Geelong. Minister, good morning.

AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: Great to be with you.

JAMES GLENDAY: So, there’s a specific focus on homelessness in this updated Strategy. How many people are going to be covered by this document?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: This Strategy is actually a Strategy for all people with disability. The 5.5 million Australians living with disability. We know that if they are going to be able to fully participate in community life, then we need to make sure that our communities, our housing, is more accessible. And so that is what the Strategy is all about. How do we make our communities, our homes, more accessible. There has been a lot of consultation done with people with disability and it was highlighted that while housing has been a focus of Australia’s Disability Strategy, that homelessness and the prevention of homelessness for people with disability needed to be a focus as well. And so, what the Strategy will do is actually get all levels of government, state government and Commonwealth government, making sure that when it comes to homelessness services, there will be a particular focus on meeting the needs of people with disability. And when it comes to building homes, that there will be a focus in making sure that those homes are more accessible as well, so that people with disability have more choice over where they live.

JAMES GLENDAY: We’re going to have more on this story on the ABC throughout the day. And thank you for persisting through that alarm behind you there, Minister. Just on another topic, of course, cost of living is a very, very big issue for a lot of Australians at the moment. And some key inflation figures are out today. Are you expecting that data will be enough to convince the Reserve Bank to deliver that much anticipated first rate cut?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: First, I’d say obviously the Reserve Bank is independent, it makes its own decisions. But I would say what our Government has been doing is really focused on fighting inflation. Of course, we inherited a situation where inflation had a six in front of it and was going up. The most recent figures, it had a two in front of it and is coming down. We’ve also seen wages up and of course unemployment low. So, we’ve been working really hard to make sure that we are fighting inflation, at the same time supporting people with cost of living measures and making sure that we’re seeing wages go up and of course, making sure there’s jobs for people. So, this has been the really important work our Government’s been doing and doing what we can to fight inflation and give the best possible conditions for the Reserve Bank to make its decision.

JAMES GLENDAY: You would have seen yesterday, no doubt, that a lot of people have been downloading a new Chinese AI chatbot, DeepSeek, which has triggered a share market sell off. Some analysts this morning arguing this is good for competition in the global AI arms race. Others that this is a potential risk to national security. What is your view?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, firstly, I would say broadly AI has so much potential to help us in our daily lives and have an impact. In fact, when we think about people with disability, I’ve seen circumstances where AI has helped them do their job. So, it has a lot of potential if it’s used safely, responsibly and ethically. And so, I think the question’s got to be how we are preparing our country for these new AI tools that will be coming out. And we’re doing that in a number of ways. Whether it’s the ethics code, whether it’s the safety standards or indeed the mandatory guardrails. These are all important pieces of legislative and regulatory architecture that we need to have in place to make sure that people can trust AI. So, these are the challenges we’ve got. So, AI presents a huge opportunity but we do need to make sure that the guardrails are in place to make sure it’s done ethically and safely, importantly as well.

JAMES GLENDAY: Just on a guardrail, TikTok, another Chinese-owned app is banned from Government devices in Australia which probably tells us all we really need to know about what security agencies think of the app. Do you expect that this new chatbot, this new DeepSeek, will be subjected to similar rules pretty quickly?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: We get very good advice through our security agencies. I won’t predict what those agencies will do. But we have got incredibly good cyber capabilities that apply to Government but also support businesses in the community as well. So, we’ve taken cyber and the threat that cyber can have on our community very seriously which is why we’ve put together a cyber strategy. We have a whole range of things of security in place. So, look, I will wait. I have to be honest, I haven’t quite caught up with the revolution. I mean I haven’t downloaded any of these things yet. I’m still old school. I write my speeches myself.

JAMES GLENDAY: It’s not on your phone. I’m sure we’re going to hear more on this later. It is outside your portfolio, so that’s fair enough. Just finally Minister, this caught my eye and the election is not too far away. I read that in your South Australian electorate, your main opponent for the Liberal Party is going to be another Rishworth. Your cousin, in fact. How do you feel about that?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Oh, look, I haven’t been in contact with my opponent. It’s a democracy. Anyone can run. So, you know. I’ll be putting what I stand for and my record forward at this election and I’m really proud to stand by the fact that I’ve fought very hard for my electorate every single day I’ve been the local member. I’ll be standing on that record and my commitment to my community.

JAMES GLENDAY: Are you sure? Are you worried at all, though? There’s going to be two Rishworths. Is there a risk of confusion? Could you bleed a few per cent of the vote? I know you’ve got a very safe seat.

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Oh, well, look, I’ll have to be honest. My community knows me. They know what I stand for. I’ve been out and about, and so I’ll be making sure that people know what I stand for. And I think, when they go into the ballot box, they’ll be making a considered choice and I hope they will vote for me.

JAMES GLENDAY: All right, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth, thank you for your time this morning and thank you for taking so many questions outside your portfolio area.

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Thank you.

MIL OSI News –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Tuberville, Cruz Introduce Legislation to Protect American Fishermen from Cartels

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) in reintroducing legislation to target illegally caught red snapper and tuna imports. The senators introduced similar legislation last Congress.
The Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop a standard methodology for identifying the country of origin of red snapper or tuna imported into the United States. Snapper poaching continues to be an issue across the Gulf of America, as Mexican fishermen illegally catch red snapper, smuggle it into their country, and then confuse American consumers by selling our fish back to us.
“Alabama lands 34 percent of all recreationally caught Red Snapper in the Gulf,” said Senator Tuberville. “Unfortunately, our domestic Red Snapper industry is being undermined by Mexican fishermen who are illegally catching American snapper in the Gulf, smuggling them into Mexico, and then reselling the same fish back to American consumers. In addition to taking business away from Alabama’s fishermen, many of the profits from these illegal fishing operations are funding the cartels. I’m proud to join Senator Cruz in introducing the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act to stop illegal Red Snapper from flooding our markets and bankrupting our great fishermen.”
U.S. Senators Tuberville and Cruz were joined by U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-AL) and Brian Schatz (D-HI).
Full text of the legislation can be found here.
BACKGROUND:
Mexican fishermen cross the maritime border between Texas and Mexico on small boats called “lanchas” to illegally catch red snapper in U.S. waters and return to Mexico. The fish are sold in Mexico or mixed in with legally-caught red snapper then exported back into the United States across land borders. Red snapper is one of the most well-managed and profitable fish in the Gulf of Mexico, but illegal fishing by Mexican lanchas puts law-abiding U.S. fishermen and seafood producers at a competitive disadvantage. Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activities violate both national and international fishing regulations.
Cartels engaged in drug smuggling and human trafficking also engage in the profitable illegal fishing of red snapper. The same fishing boats and fishermen who catch red snapper also smuggle drugs and humans for the cartels, and these profits support the organization.
Technology exists to chemically test and find the geographic origin of many foods, but not for red snapper or tuna. The Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act would develop a field test kit the Coast Guard could use to accurately ascertain whether fish were caught in Mexico or U.S. waters, thus allowing federal and state law enforcement officers to identify the origin of the fish and confiscate illegally caught red snapper or tuna before it is imported back into the U.S.
With the help of machine learning, NIST scientists are currently able to chemically determine the geographic origin of foods, including strawberries, apples, cherries, ginseng, ginkgo, beef, honey, and rice. Using those same methodologies, these scientists believe it would be possible to determine the geographic origin of red snapper. This would allow law enforcement to have a better understanding of the networks that support illegal fishing. It would also reduce the financial incentives for the crime, since the fish could no longer be sold back into the United States. If successful, this method could be expanded to identify other IUU fish.
MORE:
Tuberville Takes Aim At Cartels Engaged in Illegal Red Snapper Fishing
Tuberville Voices Concerns About New Federal Red Snapper Limits
Tuberville, Colleagues Advocate for Management Flexibility to Preserve Red Snapper Season
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP, and Aging Committees.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Reeves: I am going further and faster to kick start the economy
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Chancellor unveils new plans to deliver the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor that will boost the UK economy by up to £78 billion by 2035.
Rachel Reeves will today vow to go ‘further and faster’ to deliver the government’s Plan for Change to kick start economic growth and put more pounds in people’s pockets.

Chancellor to unveil plans to unleash the potential of the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor that will add up to £78 billion to the UK economy according to industry experts, catalysing growth of UK science and technology.

Comes after Chancellor last week announced National Wealth Fund and Office for Investment will take new approaches to spur regional growth across the UK.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will today vow to go “further and faster” to kick start the economy, as she unveils new plans to deliver the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor that will boost the UK economy by up to £78 billion by 2035 according to industry experts.

In a speech in Oxfordshire, the Chancellor will tell regional and business leaders that economic growth is the number one mission of this government and its Plan for Change. She will declare that Britain’s economy has “huge potential” and is at the “forefront of some of the most exciting developments in the world like artificial intelligence and life sciences.”

She will back the redevelopment of Old Trafford and will review the Green Book – the government’s guidance on appraisal – in order to support decisions on public investment across the country, including outside London and the Southeast.

The speech comes after the Chancellor last week announced a new approach for the National Wealth Fund (NWF) and the Office for Investment (OfI) to work with local leaders to build pipelines of incoming investment and projects linked to regional growth priorities. This includes the NWF trialling Strategic Partnerships in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, West Midlands, and Glasgow City Region and the OfI piloting an approach in the Liverpool City Region and the North East Combined Authority to connect their regions to central government and industry expertise in order to unlock private investment.

Reeves will say “low growth is not our destiny, but that economic growth will not come without a fight. Without a government that is on the side of working people. Willing to take the right decisions now to change our country’s course for the better.”

The Chancellor is expected to say:

Britain is a country of huge potential. A country of strong communities, with local businesses at their heart.

We are the forefront of some of the most exciting developments in the world like artificial intelligence and life sciences. We have great companies based here delivering jobs and investment in Britain.

And we have fundamental strengths – in our history, our language, and our legal system – to compete in a global economy.

But for too long, that potential has been held back. For too long, we have accepted low expectations, accepted stagnation and accepted the risk of decline. We can do so much better.

Low growth is not our destiny. But growth will not come without a fight. Without a government that is on the side of working people. Willing to take the right decisions now to change our country’s course for the better.

That’s what our Plan for Change is about. That is what drives me as Chancellor. And it is what I’m determined to deliver.

In her speech the Chancellor will announce:

The Environment Agency has lifted its objections to a new development around Cambridge that could unlock 4,500 new homes and associated community spaces such as schools and leisure facilities as well as office and laboratory space in Cambridge City Centre. This was only possible as a result of the government working closely with councils and regulators to find creative solutions to unlock growth and address environmental pressures.

That the government has agreed for water companies to unlock £7.9bn investment for the next 5 years to improve our water infrastructure and provide a foundation for growth. This includes nine new reservoirs, such as the new Fens Reservoir serving Cambridge and the Abingdon Reservoir near Oxford.

Confirming funding towards better transport links in the region including funding for East-West Rail, with new services between Oxford and Milton Keynes this year and upgrading the A428 to reduce journey times between Milton Keynes and Cambridge.

Prioritisation of a new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital as part of the New Hospitals Programme bringing together Cambridge University, Addenbrookes Hospital and Cancer Research UK.

Support for the development of new and expanded communities in the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor and a new East Coast Mainline station in Tempsford, to expand the region’s economy.

That she welcomes Cambridge University’s proposal for a new large scale innovation hub in the city centre. As the world’s leading science and tech cluster by intensity, Cambridge will play a crucial part in the government’s modern Industrial Strategy.

A new Growth Commission for Oxford, inspired by the Cambridge model, to review how best we can unlock and accelerate nationally significant growth for the city and surrounding area.

Appointment of Sir Patrick Vallance as Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor Champion to provide senior leadership to ensure the Government’s ambitions are delivered.

The Chancellor is expected to say:

Oxford and Cambridge offer huge economic potential for our nation’s growth prospects.

Just 66 miles apart these cities are home to two of the best universities in the world two of the most intensive innovation clusters in the world and the area is a hub for globally renowned science and technology firms in life sciences, manufacturing, and AI.

It has the potential to be Europe’s Silicon Valley. The home of British innovation.

To grow, these world-class companies need world-class talent who should be able to get to work quickly and find somewhere to live in the local area. But to get from Oxford to Cambridge by train takes two and a half hours.

There is no way to commute directly from towns like Bedford and Milton Keynes to Cambridge by rail. And there is a lack of affordable housing across the region.

Oxford and Cambridge are two of the least affordable cities in the UK. In other words, the demand is there but there are far too many supply side constraints on economic growth in the region.

Designed to take advantage of the region’s unique strengths and potential, the announcements are further evidence of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy in action as it seeks to create the right conditions to increase investment in our leading growth sectors like life sciences, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.

She will add:

Taken together, these announcements show that for the first time a government is providing real leadership to deliver this project with a clear strategy for the entire region backed by funding for the housing and infrastructure we so badly need.

The speech comes after the Chancellor last week announced a package of investment reforms to spur regional growth across the UK. Rachel Reeves set out a new approach for the National Wealth Fund (NWF) and the Office for Investment (OfI) to work with local leaders to build pipelines of incoming investment and projects linked to regional growth priorities. Putting local knowledge and leadership at the forefront, there will be tailored strategies for each region to ensure investment matches local needs and drives sustainable growth. Putting the government’s Plan for Change into action, the Chancellor set out that the goal is to harness growth everywhere to rebuild Britain and usher in a decade of national renewal. Measures included the NWF trialling Strategic Partnerships in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, West Midlands, and Glasgow City Region and the OfI piloting an approach in the Liverpool City Region and the North East Combined Authority to connect their regions to central government and industry expertise in order to unlock private investment.

Science Minister, Lord Patrick Vallance said:

The UK has all the ingredients to replicate the success of Silicon Valley or the Boston Cluster but for too long has been constrained by short termism and a lack of direction.

This government’s Plan for Change will see an end to that defeatism. I look forward to working with local leaders to fulfil the Oxford-Cambridge corridor’s potential by building on its existing strengths in academia, life sciences, semiconductors, AI and green technology amongst others.

Together we will build the infrastructure and partnerships needed to join up this region’s academia, investors and business so that we can boost growth, deliver innovations and create new jobs that improve all our lives.

Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander said:

Well connected communities are a cornerstone for growth. East West Rail will not only provide better links and lasting benefits to Oxford and Cambridge, but to all the surrounding areas.

I’m also delighted to announce a brand new station at Tempsford, which will be game changing for the region – allowing a new community and businesses to grow, unlocking faster and smoother access to opportunities, and delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change.

More details

Yesterday, Moderna completed the build for their new vaccine production and R&D site in Harwell, Oxfordshire. They have committed to invest over £1 billion in R&D in the UK, strengthening our position as a global leader in biopharmaceutical innovation.

£78 billion added to the UK economy. Source: Public First research for the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board (2025).

Dr Andy Williams, Chair of the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board said:

The announcements today are extremely positive for the region and for the country. As Chair of the OxCam Supercluster Board, which comprises 45 members across business, academia, and investors, we know that the region has the potential to deliver truly remarkable growth in the coming decade and beyond, as evidenced by the research published this week. Achieving £78 billion in cumulative economic value by 2035 requires us to work dynamically and pro-actively across government, the private sector, educational institutions, and the investment community, to fully harness OxCam’s strengths and address its weaknesses. With the experience and knowledge of Sir Patrick Vallance leading this effort, we are excited by the opportunity to co-design a policy prospectus that will allow the OxCam Growth Corridor to realise its potential as a global centre for science and innovation.

Dipesh J. Shah OBE, Chair of the Oxford to Cambridge Partnership said:

I welcome the Chancellor’s drive to accelerate growth in the Oxford to Cambridge corridor and her support for strategic investments in enabling infrastructure. The region houses internationally acclaimed clusters of innovation in each of the growth sectors for the nation. Already one of the world’s great science powerhouses, the region’s full potential will rely on connecting its incredible ecosystems of businesses, places and communities. Investments announced today will spur more and will help local leaders to deliver on their ambitious plans for their communities.

Professor Alistair Fitt, Chair of Arc Universities Group and Vice-Chancellor Oxford Brookes University said:

This region hosts a great diversity and scale of universities. Together we offer a wide range of key contributions: globally renowned research brilliance, the powerhouse of skills provision provided by cutting edge teaching, world class knowledge transfer and commercialisation. Our universities, working in close partnership, in alliance with others – particular the private sector – are organised into the Arc Universities Group. We stand ready for the challenge. We welcome the oversight and experience that the leadership of Sir Patrick Vallance brings to the region, and we look forward to helping deliver the Chancellor’s aspirations for growth.

Darius Hughes, UK General Manager for Moderna said:

We are proud to call Oxfordshire our home with the recent completion of construction of the Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre in Harwell. Today’s announcement demonstrates the government’s commitment to growth and innovation, and we look forward to delivering British-made vaccines to the UK public, advancing cutting-edge research, and strengthening partnerships in this globally significant region.

Steve Bates, CEO of the UK Bioindustry Association said:

The UK is a global leader in biotech innovation and attracts the most venture capital in Europe. New figures we’ve published this week show that biotech is a vibrant growth sector of the UK economy with an exceptional ability to attract global investment. Delivering the infrastructure needed to support the growth at pace – especially in the Oxford Cambridge growth corridor- is key to the success of our sector.

The government is continuing to work with local partners to deliver sustainable growth in Cambridge, with the additional homes and infrastructure the city needs. Peter Freeman and the Cambridge Growth Company are building the evidence base for an infrastructure-first growth strategy to realise the full potential of Cambridge and improve lives for residents.

The Chancellor today announced that delivery of a new East Coast Mainline station in Tempsford will be accelerated by 3-5 years. The station will link services directly to London, with services in under an hour. It will eventually also be an interchange with the East West Rail station.

The A428 (Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet) scheme will improve journeys between Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. The scheme will see a new 10-mile dual carriageway delivered, as well as three grade separated junctions, three tier at Black Cat roundabout (A1/A421) and two tier at Cambridge Road (B1428) and Caxton Gibbet (A428/A1198) junctions, respectively. Main construction began in December 2023 and the road is expected to open in 2027.

The Environment Agency have lifted their opposition to new development around Cambridge (Waterbeach and the Beehive centre). This unlocks the delivery of 4,500 new homes and associated community spaces such as schools and leisure facilities as well as office and laboratory space in Cambridge City Centre. This demonstrates how the government, councils, and regulators are working together to find solutions that unlock growth and address environmental pressures.

The government has agreed water companies’ water resources management plans, including Cambridge Water’s, unlocking a now-confirmed £7.9bn investment in water resources in the next 5 years to provide a foundation for growth and improving our water infrastructure. These plans include nine new reservoirs, including the new Fens Reservoir serving Cambridge to South East Strategic Reservoir Option (Abingdon Reservoir) near Oxford.

The Chancellor will announce a new Growth Commission for Oxford, similar to the Cambridge Growth Company to bring together key stakeholders across the city and review how best to tackle the barriers that are constraining development of new housing and infrastructure to accelerate growth in the city.

AI Growth Zones, as recommended in the AI Action Plan launched by the PM earlier this month, are designated areas designed to fast-track the development of AI-focused data centres and supporting infrastructure. By concentrating government support on planning and energy, AIGZs aim to attract significant private investment, accelerate the build-out of critical AI infrastructure, and drive local economic regeneration. The first AI Growth Zone will be in Culham, Oxfordshire and the Chancellor today announced a ‘call for expressions of interest’ from regional and local authorities and industry, to inform the next stage of the AI Growth Zones programme. This will help us understand early opportunities and inform the next stage of the programme in what the government regards as a key growth sector in its modern Industrial Strategy.

On Monday 20th January the Health Secretary announced the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital is being prioritised for investment as part of wave 1 of the New Hospital Programme. This scheme will improve cancer survival rates by centralising Cambridge University Hospital cancer services under one roof and will further improve the proposition for the life sciences sector in the region, with AstraZeneca and CRUK researchers co-located at the facility, integrating the clinical and research models of cancer services. In doing so it will help create three new research institutes to be integrated with NHS clinical care helping to provide 10 new clinical trials per year and foster increased collaboration between top scientists and clinicians.

The Chancellor will welcome Cambridge University’s plans for a new largescale innovation hub in the heart of the city. The Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024 has ranked Cambridge as the world’s leading science and technological cluster by intensity for the third consecutive year.

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Published 28 January 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
January 29, 2025
MIL-OSI: Univest Securities, LLC Announces Closing of $1.92 Million Warrant Inducement for its Client PMGC Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ELAB)

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

New York, New York, Jan. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Univest Securities, LLC (“Univest”), a member of FINRA and SIPC, and a full-service investment bank and securities broker-dealer firm based in New York, today announced the completion of the previously announced warrant inducement with existing institutional investors for its client PMGC Holdings Inc. (formerly Elevai Labs Inc.) (the “Company” or “PMGC”) (Nasdaq: ELAB), a diversified holding company, for the exercise of certain outstanding Series A warrants that the Company issued on September 24, 2024.

Pursuant to the warrant inducement agreement, the investors have agreed to exercise the outstanding warrants to purchase an aggregate of 969,386 shares of the Company’s common stock at an amended exercise price of $2.00. The gross proceeds from the exercise of the warrants are expected to be approximately $1.9 million, prior to deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses.

The Company also agreed to issue to the investors unregistered new warrants to purchase an aggregate of 969,386 shares of the Company’s common stock with an exercise price of $2.75 per share (the “New Warrants”). The New Warrants are exercisable upon shareholder approval and will expire five years from the date of shareholder approval.

The Company has agreed to file a registration statement within thirty (30) days with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) covering the resale of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the New Warrants.

Univest Securities, LLC is acting as the exclusive financial advisor for the transaction.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Univest Securities, LLC

Registered with FINRA since 1994, Univest Securities, LLC provides a wide variety of financial services to its institutional and retail clients globally including brokerage and execution services, sales and trading, market making, investment banking and advisory, wealth management. It strives to provide clients with value-add service and focuses on building long-term relationship with its clients. For more information, please visit: www.univest.us.

About PMGC Holdings Inc.

PMGC Holdings Inc. is a diversified holding company that manages and grows its portfolio through strategic acquisitions, investments, and development across various industries. Currently, our portfolio consists of three wholly owned subsidiaries: Northstrive Biosciences Inc., PMGC Research Inc., and PMGC Capital LLC. We are committed to exploring opportunities in multiple sectors to maximize growth and value. For more information, please visit https://www.pmgcholdings.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. When the Company uses words such as “may, “will, “intend,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “estimate” or similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters, it is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations discussed in the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the uncertainties related to market conditions and the completion of the initial public offering on the anticipated terms or at all, and other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the registration statement filed with the SEC. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company’s filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. Univest Securities LLC and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

For more information, please contact:
Univest Securities, LLC
Edric Guo
Chief Executive Officer
75 Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 18C
New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 343-8888
Email: info@univest.us

The MIL Network –

January 29, 2025

MIL-OSI: First Busey Corporation Announces 2024 Fourth Quarter Earnings

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Jan. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — First Busey Corporation (Nasdaq: BUSE)

Net Income of $28.1 million
Diluted EPS of $0.49

FOURTH QUARTER 2024 HIGHLIGHTS

Adjusted net income¹ of $30.7 million, or $0.53 per diluted common share
Adjusted noninterest income¹ of $35.4 million, or 30.3% of total revenue
Record high quarterly and annual revenue of $17.0 million and $65.0 million, respectively, for the Wealth Management segment
Tangible book value per common share¹ of $17.88 at December 31, 2024, compared to $16.62 at December 31, 2023, a year-over-year increase of 7.6%
Tangible common equity¹ increased to 8.76% of tangible assets at December 31, 2024, compared to 7.75% at December 31, 2023
Received stockholder approvals for the CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. merger in December 2024, followed by remaining requisite regulatory approvals in January 2025

For additional information, please refer to the 4Q24 Earnings Investor Presentation.

MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIRMAN & CEO

Fourth Quarter Financial Results

Net income for First Busey Corporation (“Busey,” “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) was $28.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, or $0.49 per diluted common share, compared to $32.0 million, or $0.55 per diluted common share, for the third quarter of 2024, and $25.7 million, or $0.46 per diluted common share, for the fourth quarter of 2023. Adjusted net income¹, which excludes the impact of acquisition and restructuring expenses, was $30.7 million, or $0.53 per diluted common share, for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $33.5 million, or $0.58 per diluted common share, for the third quarter of 2024 and $29.1 million or $0.52 per diluted common share for the fourth quarter of 2023. Annualized return on average assets and annualized return on average tangible common equity¹ were 0.93% and 10.86%, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 2024. Annualized adjusted return on average assets¹ and annualized adjusted return on average tangible common equity¹ were 1.01% and 11.87%, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Taking into account our fourth quarter results, full year 2024 net income and adjusted net income¹ were $113.7 million, or $1.98 per diluted common share, and $119.8 million, or $2.08 per diluted common share, respectively. Return on average assets and adjusted return on average assets¹ were 0.94% and 0.99%, respectively. Return on average tangible common equity¹ and adjusted return on average tangible common equity¹ were 11.65% and 12.28%, respectively.

Full year 2024 net income and adjusted net income¹ include $6.1 million of net securities losses and $7.7 million in gains on the sale of mortgage servicing rights. Net income and adjusted net income¹ for 2024 were further impacted by a one-time deferred tax valuation adjustment of $1.4 million resulting from a change to our Illinois apportionment rate due to recently enacted regulations. Excluding the tax-effected impact of these items, further adjusted net income¹ would have been $120.0 million, equating to adjusted diluted earnings per common share¹ of $2.09.

Pre-provision net revenue¹ was $38.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $41.7 million for the third quarter of 2024 and $32.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Pre-provision net revenue to average assets¹ was 1.28% for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 1.38% for the third quarter of 2024, and 1.06% for the fourth quarter of 2023. Adjusted pre-provision net revenue¹ was $42.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $44.1 million for the third quarter of 2024 and $40.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Adjusted pre-provision net revenue to average assets¹ was 1.38% for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 1.46% for the third quarter of 2024 and 1.30% for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Taking into account our fourth quarter results, full year 2024 pre-provision net revenue¹ and adjusted pre-provision net revenue¹ were $168.0 million and $167.3 million, respectively. Pre-provision net revenue to average assets¹ and adjusted pre-provision net revenue to average assets¹ were each 1.39%.

Our fee-based businesses continue to add revenue diversification. Total noninterest income was $35.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $35.8 million for the third quarter of 2024 and $31.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Fourth quarter results included $0.2 million in net securities losses. Adjusted noninterest income¹ was $35.4 million, or 30.3% of operating revenue¹, during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $35.0 million, or 29.8% of operating revenue¹, for the third quarter of 2024 and $30.5 million, or 28.3% of operating revenue¹, for the fourth quarter of 2023. Wealth management fees and wealth management referral income included in other noninterest income contributed $17.0 million and payment technology solutions contributed $5.1 million to our consolidated noninterest income for the fourth quarter of 2024, representing 62.3% of adjusted noninterest income¹ on a combined basis.

For the full year 2024, total noninterest income was $139.7 million. Wealth management fees and wealth management referral income included in other noninterest income contributed $65.0 million and payment technology solutions contributed $22.0 million to our consolidated noninterest income for 2024, representing 63.0% of adjusted noninterest income¹ on a combined basis.

Busey views certain non-operating items, including acquisition-related expenses and restructuring charges, as adjustments to net income reported under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). Non-operating pretax adjustments for acquisition and restructuring expenses¹ were $3.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Busey believes that its non-GAAP measures (which are identified with the endnote labeled as 1) facilitate the assessment of its financial results and peer comparability. For more information and a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures in tabular form, see “Non-GAAP Financial Information.“

We remain focused on prudently managing our expense base and operating efficiency in the current operating environment. Noninterest expense was $78.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $75.9 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $75.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Adjusted core expense¹, which excludes the amortization of intangible assets and new markets tax credits, acquisition and restructuring expenses, and the provision for unfunded commitments, was $72.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $71.0 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $65.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The year-over-year comparable period growth in adjusted core expense can be attributed primarily to the acquisition of Merchants and Manufacturers Bank Corporation (“M&M”) and general inflationary pressures on compensation and benefits and to a lesser extent certain other expense categories.

Quarterly pre-tax expense synergies resulting from our acquisition of M&M are anticipated to be $1.6 million to $1.7 million per quarter when fully realized. Quarterly run-rate savings are projected to be achieved by the first quarter of 2025. During the fourth quarter of 2024, we achieved approximately 86% of the full quarterly savings.

Planned Partnership with CrossFirst

On August 26, 2024, Busey and CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. (“CrossFirst”) entered into an agreement and plan of merger (the “merger agreement”) pursuant to which CrossFirst will merge with and into Busey (the “merger”) and CrossFirst’s wholly-owned subsidiary, CrossFirst Bank, will merge with and into Busey Bank. This partnership will create a premier commercial bank in the Midwest, Southwest, and Florida, with 77 full-service locations across 10 states—Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas—and approximately $20 billion in combined assets, $17 billion in total deposits, $14 billion in total loans, and $14 billion in wealth assets under care.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, CrossFirst stockholders will have the right to receive for each share of CrossFirst common stock 0.6675 of a share of Busey’s common stock. Upon completion of the transaction, Busey’s stockholders will own approximately 63.5% of the combined company and CrossFirst’s stockholders will own approximately 36.5% of the combined company, on a fully-diluted basis. Busey common stock will continue to trade on the Nasdaq under the “BUSE” stock ticker symbol.

On December 20, 2024, Busey and CrossFirst stockholders voted to approve the merger. On January 16, 2025, Busey received regulatory approval from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the merger. Busey and CrossFirst intend to close the merger on March 1, 2025, subject to the satisfaction of the remaining customary closing conditions. The transaction has also been approved by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and the Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner. The combined holding company will continue to operate under the First Busey Corporation name and the combined bank will operate under the Busey Bank name. It is anticipated that CrossFirst Bank will merge with and into Busey Bank in mid-2025. At the time of the bank merger, CrossFirst Bank locations will become banking centers of Busey Bank. In connection with this merger, Busey incurred one-time pretax acquisition-related expenses of $2.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2024 and $3.9 million for the full year.

For further details on the merger, see Busey’s Current Report on Form 8‑K announcing the merger, which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on August 27, 2024.

Busey’s Conservative Banking Strategy

Busey’s financial strength is built on a long-term conservative operating approach. That focus will not change now or in the future.

The quality of our core deposit franchise is a critical value driver of our institution. Our granular deposit base continues to position us well, with core deposits¹ representing 96.5% of our deposits as of December 31, 2024. Our retail deposit base was comprised of more than 251,000 accounts with an average balance of $22 thousand and an average tenure of 16.9 years as of December 31, 2024. Our commercial deposit base was comprised of more than 32,000 accounts with an average balance of $98 thousand and an average tenure of 12.8 years as of December 31, 2024. We estimate that 30% of our deposits were uninsured and uncollateralized² as of December 31, 2024, and we have sufficient on- and off-balance sheet liquidity to manage deposit fluctuations and the liquidity needs of our customers.

Asset quality remains strong by both Busey’s historical and current industry trends. Non-performing assets increased to $23.3 million during the fourth quarter of 2024, representing 0.19% of total assets. The increase relates to one Commercial Real Estate loan that was classified in the fourth quarter of 2023 and was moved to non-accrual during the fourth quarter of 2024. This loan carries a remaining balance of $15.0 million following a $3.0 million charge-off in the fourth quarter of 2024. Busey’s results for the fourth quarter of 2024 include a $1.3 million provision expense for credit losses and a $0.5 million provision release for unfunded commitments. The allowance for credit losses was $83.4 million as of December 31, 2024, representing 1.08% of total portfolio loans outstanding, and providing coverage of 3.59 times our non-performing loan balance. Including the charge-off for the Commercial Real Estate loan mentioned above, Busey’s net charge-offs totaled $2.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. As of December 31, 2024, our commercial real estate loan portfolio of investor-owned office properties within Central Business District³ areas was minimal at $2.0 million. Our credit performance continues to reflect our highly diversified, conservatively underwritten loan portfolio, which has been originated predominantly to established customers with tenured relationships with our company.

The strength of our balance sheet is also reflected in our capital foundation. In the fourth quarter of 2024, our Common Equity Tier 1 ratio⁴ was 14.10% and our Total Capital to Risk Weighted Assets ratio⁴ was 18.53%. Our regulatory capital ratios continue to provide a buffer of more than $610 million above levels required to be designated well-capitalized. Our Tangible Common Equity ratio¹ was 8.76% during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 8.96% for the third quarter of 2024 and 7.75% for the fourth quarter of 2023. Busey’s tangible book value per common share¹ was $17.88 at December 31, 2024, compared to $18.19 at September 30, 2024, and $16.62 at December 31, 2023, reflecting a 7.6% year-over-year increase. During the fourth quarter of 2024, we paid a common share dividend of $0.24.

Community Banking

In the last two months of 2024, Busey offered a new, short-term Express Microloan product, created to help small businesses thrive. With a competitive 4.99% fixed interest rate, flexible terms and loans of up to $10,000, existing Busey customers with business checking accounts were invited to apply—allowing them to manage expenses, refinance debt, invest in new opportunities, and enhance operations. Busey originated more than 100 Express Microloans in 60-days, meeting the needs of our small business customers.

As we reflect back on 2024 and look ahead to 2025, we feel confident that we are well positioned to produce quality growth and profitability. The pending CrossFirst transaction fits with our acquisition strategy and we are excited to welcome our CrossFirst colleagues into the Busey family. We are grateful for the opportunities to consistently earn the business of our customers, based on the contributions of our talented associates and the continued support of our loyal stockholders.

		Van A. Dukeman
		Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
		First Busey Corporation

SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS *(unaudited)*
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

	Three Months Ended									Years Ended
	December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023			December 31, 2024			December 31, 2023
EARNINGS & PER SHARE AMOUNTS
Net income	$	28,105		$	32,004		$	25,749		$	113,691		$	122,565
Diluted earnings per common share		0.49			0.55			0.46			1.98			2.18
Cash dividends paid per share		0.24			0.24			0.24			0.96			0.96
Pre-provision net revenue^{1, 2}		38,828			41,744			32,909			167,996			158,502
Operating revenue²		116,995			117,688			107,888			460,671			444,034

Net income by operating segment:
Banking		30,856			33,221			25,164			117,266			123,853
FirsTech		(723	)		(61	)		325			(670	)		830
Wealth Management		5,853			5,618			4,233			22,030			18,804

AVERAGE BALANCES
Cash and cash equivalents	$	776,572		$	502,127		$	608,647		$	555,281		$	330,952
Investment securities		2,597,309			2,666,269			2,995,223			2,726,488			3,188,815
Loans held for sale		6,306			11,539			1,679			8,012			1,885
Portfolio loans		7,738,772			7,869,798			7,736,010			7,804,629			7,759,472
Interest-earning assets		11,048,350			10,942,745			11,235,326			10,999,424			11,181,010
Total assets		12,085,993			12,007,702			12,308,491			12,051,871			12,246,218

Noninterest-bearing deposits		2,724,344			2,706,858			2,827,696			2,738,892			3,018,563
Interest-bearing deposits		7,325,662			7,296,921			7,545,234			7,301,124			7,052,370
Total deposits		10,050,006			10,003,779			10,372,930			10,040,016			10,070,933

Federal funds purchased and securities sold under agreements to repurchase		135,728			132,688			182,735			147,786			200,894
Interest-bearing liabilities		7,763,729			7,731,459			8,054,663			7,763,084			7,825,459
Total liabilities		10,689,054			10,643,325			11,106,074			10,709,447			11,048,707
Stockholders’ equity – common		1,396,939			1,364,377			1,202,417			1,342,424			1,197,511
Tangible common equity²		1,029,539			994,657			846,948			975,823			838,164

PERFORMANCE RATIOS
Pre-provision net revenue to average assets^{1, 2, 3}		1.28	%		1.38	%		1.06	%		1.39	%		1.29	%
Return on average assets³		0.93	%		1.06	%		0.83	%		0.94	%		1.00	%
Return on average common equity³		8.00	%		9.33	%		8.50	%		8.47	%		10.23	%
Return on average tangible common equity^{2, 3}		10.86	%		12.80	%		12.06	%		11.65	%		14.62	%
Net interest margin^2, 4		2.95	%		3.02	%		2.75	%		2.95	%		2.89	%
Efficiency ratio²		64.45	%		62.15	%		66.89	%		61.76	%		61.65	%
Adjusted noninterest income to operating revenue²		30.27	%		29.77	%		28.31	%		29.97	%		27.79	%

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Adjusted pre-provision net revenue^1, 2	$	41,958		$	44,104		$	40,223		$	167,317		$	172,290
Adjusted net income²		30,725			33,533			29,123			119,805			126,012
Adjusted diluted earnings per share²		0.53			0.58			0.52			2.08			2.24
Adjusted pre-provision net revenue to average assets^{2, 3}		1.38	%		1.46	%		1.30	%		1.39	%		1.41	%
Adjusted return on average assets^{2, 3}		1.01	%		1.11	%		0.94	%		0.99	%		1.03	%
Adjusted return on average tangible common equity^{2, 3}		11.87	%		13.41	%		13.64	%		12.28	%		15.03	%
Adjusted net interest margin^2, 4		2.92	%		2.97	%		2.74	%		2.92	%		2.87	%
Adjusted efficiency ratio²		61.40	%		60.50	%		62.98	%		61.03	%		60.68	%

___________________________________________

Net interest income plus noninterest income, excluding securities gains and losses, less noninterest expense.
See “Non-GAAP Financial Information” for reconciliation.
For quarterly periods, measures are annualized.
On a tax-equivalent basis, assuming a federal income tax rate of 21%.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS *(unaudited)*
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

	As of
	December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	$	697,659		$	553,709		$	719,581
Debt securities available for sale		1,810,221			1,818,117			2,087,571
Debt securities held to maturity		826,630			838,883			872,628
Equity securities		15,862			10,315			9,812
Loans held for sale		3,657			11,523			2,379

Commercial loans		5,552,288			5,631,281			5,635,048
Retail real estate and retail other loans		2,144,799			2,177,816			2,015,986
Portfolio loans		7,697,087			7,809,097			7,651,034

Allowance for credit losses		(83,404	)		(84,981	)		(91,740	)
Restricted bank stock		49,930			6,000			6,000
Premises and equipment, net		118,820			120,279			122,594
Right of use assets		10,608			11,100			11,027
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net		365,975			368,249			353,864
Other assets		533,677			524,548			538,665
Total assets	$	12,046,722		$	11,986,839		$	12,283,415

LIABILITIES & STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Liabilities
Deposits:
Noninterest-bearing deposits	$	2,719,907		$	2,683,543		$	2,834,655
Interest-bearing checking, savings, and money market deposits		5,771,948			5,739,773			5,637,227
Time deposits		1,490,635			1,519,925			1,819,274
Total deposits		9,982,490			9,943,241			10,291,156

Securities sold under agreements to repurchase		155,610			128,429			187,396
Short-term borrowings		—			—			12,000
Long-term debt		227,723			227,482			240,882
Junior subordinated debt owed to unconsolidated trusts		74,815			74,754			71,993
Lease liabilities		11,040			11,470			11,308
Other liabilities		211,775			198,579			196,699
Total liabilities		10,663,453			10,583,955			11,011,434

Stockholders’ equity
Retained earnings		294,054			279,868			237,197
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)		(207,039	)		(170,913	)		(218,803	)
Other stockholders’ equity¹		1,296,254			1,293,929			1,253,587
Total stockholders’ equity		1,383,269			1,402,884			1,271,981
Total liabilities & stockholders’ equity	$	12,046,722		$	11,986,839		$	12,283,415

SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS
Book value per common share	$	24.31		$	24.67		$	23.02
Tangible book value per common share²	$	17.88		$	18.19		$	16.62
Ending number of common shares outstanding		56,895,981			56,872,241			55,244,119

___________________________________________

Net balance of common stock ($0.001 par value), additional paid-in capital, and treasury stock.
See “Non-GAAP Financial Information” for reconciliation.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME *(unaudited)*
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

	Three Months Ended								Years Ended
	December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023		December 31, 2024			December 31, 2023
INTEREST INCOME
Interest and fees on loans	$	106,120		$	111,336		$	101,425	$	426,422		$	385,848
Interest and dividends on investment securities		16,788			18,072			20,634		73,970			82,994
Dividend income on bank stock		557			106			212		848			1,170
Other interest income		7,851			5,092			6,641		22,441			10,531
Total interest income	$	131,316		$	134,606		$	128,912	$	523,681		$	480,543

INTEREST EXPENSE
Deposits	$	44,152		$	46,634		$	45,409	$	178,463		$	123,985
Federal funds purchased and securities sold under agreements to repurchase		915			981			1,431		4,308			5,203
Short-term borrowings		25			26			248		701			12,775
Long-term debt		3,183			3,181			3,475		12,950			14,106
Junior subordinated debt owed to unconsolidated trusts		1,463			1,137			1,004		4,648			3,853
Total interest expense	$	49,738		$	51,959		$	51,567	$	201,070		$	159,922

Net interest income	$	81,578		$	82,647		$	77,345	$	322,611		$	320,621
Provision for credit losses		1,273			2			455		8,590			2,399
Net interest income after provision for credit losses	$	80,305		$	82,645		$	76,890	$	314,021		$	318,222

NONINTEREST INCOME
Wealth management fees	$	16,786		$	15,378		$	13,715	$	63,630		$	57,309
Fees for customer services		7,911			8,168			7,484		30,933			29,044
Payment technology solutions		5,094			5,265			5,420		21,983			21,192
Mortgage revenue		496			355			218		2,075			1,089
Income on bank owned life insurance		1,080			1,189			1,019		5,130			4,701
Realized net gains (losses) on the sale of mortgage servicing rights		—			(18	)		—		7,724			—
Net securities gains (losses)		(196	)		822			761		(6,102	)		(2,199	)
Other noninterest income		4,050			4,686			2,687		14,309			10,078
Total noninterest income	$	35,221		$	35,845		$	31,304	$	139,682		$	121,214

NONINTEREST EXPENSE
Salaries, wages, and employee benefits	$	45,458		$	44,593		$	42,730	$	175,619		$	162,597
Data processing expense		6,564			6,910			6,236		27,124			23,708
Net occupancy expense of premises		4,794			4,633			4,318		18,737			18,214
Furniture and equipment expense		1,650			1,647			1,694		6,805			6,759
Professional fees		4,938			3,118			2,574		12,804			7,147
Amortization of intangible assets		2,471			2,548			2,479		10,057			10,432
Interchange expense		1,305			1,352			1,355		6,001			6,864
FDIC insurance		1,330			1,413			1,167		5,603			5,650
Other noninterest expense		9,657			9,712			12,426		37,649			44,161
Total noninterest expense	$	78,167		$	75,926		$	74,979	$	300,399		$	285,532

Income before income taxes	$	37,359		$	42,564		$	33,215	$	153,304		$	153,904
Income taxes		9,254			10,560			7,466		39,613			31,339
Net income	$	28,105		$	32,004		$	25,749	$	113,691		$	122,565

SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS
Basic earnings per common share	$	0.49		$	0.56		$	0.46	$	2.01		$	2.21
Diluted earnings per common share	$	0.49		$	0.55		$	0.46	$	1.98		$	2.18
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, basic		57,061,542			57,033,359			55,403,662		56,610,032			55,432,322
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, diluted		57,934,812			57,967,848			56,333,033		57,543,001			56,256,148

BALANCE SHEET STRENGTH

Our balance sheet remains a source of strength. Total assets were $12.05 billion as of December 31, 2024, compared to $11.99 billion as of September 30, 2024, and $12.28 billion as of December 31, 2023.

We remain steadfast in our conservative approach to underwriting and disciplined approach to pricing, particularly given our outlook for the economy in the coming quarters, and this approach has impacted loan growth as predicted. Portfolio loans totaled $7.70 billion at December 31, 2024, compared to $7.81 billion at September 30, 2024, and $7.65 billion at December 31, 2023.

Average portfolio loans were $7.74 billion for both the fourth quarter of 2024 and the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to $7.87 billion for the third quarter of 2024. Average interest-earning assets were $11.05 billion for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $10.94 billion for the third quarter of 2024, and $11.24 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Total deposits were $9.98 billion at December 31, 2024, compared to $9.94 billion at September 30, 2024, and $10.29 billion at December 31, 2023. Average deposits were $10.05 billion for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $10.00 billion for the third quarter of 2024 and $10.37 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023. Deposit fluctuations over the last several quarters were driven by a number of elements, including (1) seasonal factors, including ordinary course public fund flows and fluctuations in the normal course of business operations of certain core commercial customers, (2) the macroeconomic environment, including prevailing interest rates and inflationary pressures, (3) depositors moving some funds to accounts at competitors offering above-market rates, and (4) deposits moving within the Busey ecosystem between deposit accounts and our wealth management group. Core deposits¹ accounted for 96.5% of total deposits as of December 31, 2024. Cost of deposits was 1.75% in the fourth quarter of 2024, which represents a decrease of 10 basis points from the third quarter of 2024. Excluding time deposits, Busey’s cost of deposits was 1.38% in the fourth quarter of 2024, a decrease of 12 basis points from the third quarter of 2024. Busey Bank continues to offer savings account specials to customers with larger account balances, with the intention of migrating maturing CDs to these managed rate products. Spot rates on total deposit costs, including noninterest bearing deposits, decreased by 13 basis points from 1.80% at September 30, 2024, to 1.67% at December 31, 2024. Spot rates on interest bearing deposits decreased by 17 basis points from 2.46% at September 30, 2024, to 2.29% at December 31, 2024.

There were no short term borrowings as of December 31 or September 30, 2024, compared to $12.0 million at December 31, 2023. We had no borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, the third quarter of 2024, or the fourth quarter of 2023. We have sufficient on- and off-balance sheet liquidity⁵ to manage deposit fluctuations and the liquidity needs of our customers. As of December 31, 2024, our available sources of on- and off-balance sheet liquidity totaled $6.19 billion. We have executed various deposit campaigns to attract term funding and savings accounts at a lower rate than our marginal cost of funds. New certificate of deposit production in the fourth quarter of 2024 had a weighted average term of 7.6 months at a rate of 3.58%, 128 basis points below our average marginal wholesale equivalent-term funding cost during the quarter. Furthermore, our balance sheet liquidity profile continues to be aided by the cash flows we expect from our relatively short-duration securities portfolio. Those cash flows were approximately $132.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Cash flows from our securities portfolio are expected to be approximately $353.8 million for 2025, with a current book yield of 1.87%, and approximately $288.3 million for 2026, with a current book yield of 2.03%.

ASSET QUALITY

Credit quality continues to be strong. Loans 30-89 days past due totaled $8.1 million as of December 31, 2024, compared to $10.1 million as of September 30, 2024, and $5.8 million as of December 31, 2023. Non-performing loans were $23.2 million as of December 31, 2024, compared to $8.2 million as of September 30, 2024, and $7.8 million as of December 31, 2023. The increase relates to one Commercial Real Estate loan that was classified in the fourth quarter of 2023 and was moved to non-accrual during the fourth quarter of 2024. This loan carries a remaining balance of $15.0 million following a $3.0 million charge-off in the fourth quarter of 2024. Continued disciplined credit management resulted in non-performing loans as a percentage of portfolio loans of 0.30% as of December 31, 2024, compared to 0.11% as of September 30, 2024, and 0.10% as of December 31, 2023. Non-performing assets were 0.19% of total assets for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 0.07% for the third quarter of 2024 and 0.06% for the fourth quarter of 2023. Our total classified assets were $85.3 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $89.0 million at September 30, 2024, and $72.3 million at December 31, 2023. Our ratio of classified assets to estimated bank Tier 1 capital⁴ and reserves remains low by historical standards, at 5.6% as of December 31, 2024, compared to 5.9% as of September 30, 2024, and 5.0% as of December 31, 2023.

Net charge-offs were $2.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $0.2 million for the third quarter of 2024, and $0.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. The fourth quarter charge-off relates to the Commercial Real Estate loan mentioned above. The allowance as a percentage of portfolio loans was 1.08% as of December 31, 2024, compared to 1.09% as of September 30, 2024, and 1.20% as of December 31, 2023. The ratio was impacted in 2024 by the acquisition of M&M’s Life Equity Loan^® portfolio, as Busey did not record an allowance for credit loss for these loans due to no expected credit loss at default, as permitted under the practical expedient provided within the Accounting Standards Codification 326-20-35-6. The allowance coverage for non-performing loans was 3.59 times as of December 31, 2024, compared to 10.34 times as of September 30, 2024, and 11.74 times as of December 31, 2023.

Busey maintains a well-diversified loan portfolio and, as a matter of policy and practice, limits concentration exposure in any particular loan segment.

ASSET QUALITY *(unaudited)*
(dollars in thousands)

	As of
	December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023
Total assets	$	12,046,722		$	11,986,839		$	12,283,415
Portfolio loans		7,697,087			7,809,097			7,651,034
Loans 30 – 89 days past due		8,124			10,141			5,779
Non-performing loans:
Non-accrual loans		22,088			8,192			7,441
Loans 90+ days past due and still accruing		1,149			25			375
Non-performing loans	$	23,237		$	8,217		$	7,816
Non-performing loans, segregated by geography:
Illinois / Indiana	$	19,558		$	3,981		$	3,715
Missouri		3,016			3,530			3,836
Florida		663			706			265
Other non-performing assets		63			64			125
Non-performing assets	$	23,300		$	8,281		$	7,941

Allowance for credit losses	$	83,404		$	84,981		$	91,740

RATIOS
Non-performing loans to portfolio loans		0.30	%		0.11	%		0.10	%
Non-performing assets to total assets		0.19	%		0.07	%		0.06	%
Non-performing assets to portfolio loans and other non-performing assets		0.30	%		0.11	%		0.10	%
Allowance for credit losses to portfolio loans		1.08	%		1.09	%		1.20	%
Coverage ratio of the allowance for credit losses to non-performing loans		3.59	x		10.34	x		11.74	x

NET CHARGE-OFFS (RECOVERIES) AND PROVISION EXPENSE (RELEASE) *(unaudited)*
(dollars in thousands)

	Three Months Ended						Years Ended
	December 31, 2024		September 30, 2024		December 31, 2023		December 31, 2024		December 31, 2023
Net charge-offs (recoveries)	$	2,850	$	247	$	425	$	18,169	$	2,267
Provision expense (release)		1,273		2		455		8,590		2,399

NET INTEREST MARGIN AND NET INTEREST INCOME

Net interest margin¹ was 2.95% for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 3.02% for the third quarter of 2024 and 2.75% for the fourth quarter of 2023. Excluding purchase accounting accretion, adjusted net interest margin¹ was 2.92% for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 2.97% in the third quarter of 2024 and 2.74% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Net interest income was $81.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $82.6 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $77.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

After raising federal funds rates by a total of 525 basis points between March 2022 and July 2023, the Federal Open Market Committee (“FOMC”) lowered rates by 100 basis points beginning in September 2024. In anticipation of the FOMC pivot to an easing cycle, we limited our exposure to term funding structures and intentionally priced savings specials to encourage maturing CD balances to migrate to managed rate non-maturity products. Beginning in September we began lowering rates on special priced deposit accounts and other managed rate products to benefit from the FOMC rate cuts. In addition, approximately 7% of our deposit portfolio is indexed and immediately repriced with the rate cuts by the FOMC. CD balances comprise only 15% of the total deposit funding base. If rates move lower in 2025, we have the ability to reprice CD balances due to the short duration term structure of the portfolio. Approximately 58% of Busey’s non-maturity deposits are at rack rates with a weighted average rate of 0.01%. We continue to offer CD specials with shorter term structures as well as offering attractive premium savings rates to encourage rotation of maturing CD deposits into nimble pricing products. Components of the 7 basis point decrease in net interest margin¹ during the fourth quarter of 2024 include:

Reduced non-maturity deposit funding costs contributed +9 basis points
Increased cash and securities portfolio yield contributed +6 basis points
Reduced time deposit funding costs contributed +1 basis point
Decreased loan portfolio and held for sale loan yields contributed -20 basis points
Decreased purchase accounting contributed -2 basis points
Increased borrowing expense -1 basis point

Based on our most recent Asset Liability Management Committee (“ALCO”) model, a +100 basis point parallel rate shock is expected to increase net interest income by 2.0% over the subsequent twelve-month period. Busey continues to evaluate and execute off-balance sheet hedging and balance sheet restructuring strategies as well as embedding rate protection in our asset originations to provide stabilization to net interest income in lower rate environments. Time deposit and savings specials have provided funding flows, and we had excess earning cash during the fourth quarter of 2024. Our cumulative interest-bearing non-maturity tightening cycle deposit beta peaked at 41% during the third quarter of 2024. Our total deposit beta for the completed tightening cycle was 34%. Since the onset of the current easing cycle, we have reduced our interest-bearing non-maturity deposit cost of funds by 18 basis points, which represents a 26% easing cycle beta. Deposit betas were calculated based on an average federal funds rate of 4.82% during the fourth quarter of 2024. The average federal funds rate has decreased by 68 basis points since the end of the tightening cycle that concluded in the third quarter of 2024.

NONINTEREST INCOME

Noninterest income was $35.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, as compared to $35.8 million for the third quarter of 2024 and $31.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Excluding the impact of net securities gains and losses and immaterial follow-on adjustments from the previously announced mortgage servicing rights sale, adjusted noninterest income¹ was $35.4 million, or 30.3% of operating revenue¹, during the fourth quarter of 2024, $35.0 million, or 29.8% of operating revenue, for the third quarter of 2024, and $30.5 million, or 28.3% of operating revenue, for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Consolidated wealth management fees were $16.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $15.4 million for the third quarter of 2024 and $13.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. On a segment basis, Wealth Management generated $17.0 million in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2024, a 22.7% increase over revenue of $13.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Fourth quarter of 2024 results marked a new record high reported quarterly revenue for the Wealth Management operating segment. The Wealth Management operating segment generated net income of $5.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $5.6 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $4.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Busey’s Wealth Management division ended the fourth quarter of 2024 with $13.83 billion in assets under care, compared to $13.69 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2024 and $12.14 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023. Our portfolio management team continues to focus on long-term returns and managing risk in the face of volatile markets and has outperformed its blended benchmark⁶ over the last three and five years.

Payment technology solutions revenue was $5.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $5.3 million for the third quarter of 2024 and $5.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Excluding intracompany eliminations, the FirsTech operating segment generated revenue of $5.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $5.6 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $5.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Wealth management fees, wealth management referral income included in other noninterest income, and payment technology solutions represented 62.3% of adjusted noninterest income¹ for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Fees for customer services were $7.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $8.2 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $7.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Other noninterest income was $4.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $4.7 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The third quarter of 2024 benefited from $0.8 million in revenue associated with certain wealth management activities that was reported as other noninterest income; in comparison, other noninterest income from wealth management activities was $0.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 and $0.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. Compared to the prior quarter, we also saw decreases in venture capital income and swap origination fee income, which were mostly offset by increases in commercial loan sales gains. When compared with the fourth quarter of 2023, increases in other noninterest income were primarily attributable to increases in commercial loan sales gains and venture capital income, as well as the addition of Life Equity Loan^® servicing income beginning in the second quarter of 2024.

OPERATING EFFICIENCY

Noninterest expense was $78.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $75.9 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $75.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. The efficiency ratio¹ was 64.5% for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 62.1% for the third quarter of 2024, and 66.9% for the fourth quarter of 2023. Adjusted core expense¹ was $72.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $71.0 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $65.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The adjusted core efficiency ratio¹ was 61.8% for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 60.2% for the third quarter of 2024, and 60.1% for the fourth quarter of 2023. We expect to continue to prudently manage our expenses and to realize the full extent of M&M acquisition synergies in 2025.

Noteworthy components of noninterest expense are as follows:

Salaries, wages, and employee benefits expenses were $45.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $44.6 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $42.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Busey recorded $0.2 million of non-operating salaries, wages, and employee benefit expenses in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $0.1 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $3.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Our associate-base consisted of 1,509 full-time equivalents as of December 31, 2024, compared to 1,510 as of September 30, 2024, and 1,479 as of December 31, 2023. The increase in our associate-base in 2024 was largely due to the M&M acquisition.
Data processing expense was $6.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $6.9 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $6.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Busey has continued to make investments in technology enhancements and has also experienced inflation-driven price increases.
Professional fees were $4.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $3.1 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $2.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Busey recorded $3.0 million of non-operating professional fees in the fourth quarter of 2024, as compared to $1.4 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $0.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Fourth quarter of 2024 non-operating professional fees consisted of $1.9 million related to merger activities and $1.1 million in restructuring activities related to corporate strategy advisement.
Other noninterest expense was $9.7 million for both the third and fourth quarters of 2024, compared to $12.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Busey recorded $0.3 million of non-operating costs in other noninterest expense in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $0.4 million in the third quarter of 2024 and $0.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. In connection with Busey’s adoption of ASU 2023-02 on January 1, 2024, Busey began recording amortization of New Markets Tax Credits as income tax expense instead of other operating expense, which resulted in a decrease to other operating expenses of $2.3 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. Other items contributing to the fluctuations in other noninterest expense included the provision for unfunded commitments, mortgage servicing rights valuation expenses, fixed asset impairment, marketing, business development, and expenses related to recruiting and onboarding.

Busey’s effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 24.8%, which was lower than the combined federal and state statutory rate of approximately 28.0% due to the impact of tax exempt interest income, such as municipal bond interest, bank owned life insurance income, and investments in various federal and state tax credits. Busey’s effective tax rate for the full year 2024 was 25.8%. In the second quarter of 2024, Busey recorded a one-time deferred tax valuation adjustment of $1.4 million resulting from a change to our Illinois apportionment rate due to recently enacted regulations. These newly enacted regulations are expected to lower our tax obligation in future periods. Excluding the impact of the one-time deferred tax valuation adjustment, our effective tax rate for the full year 2024 would have been 24.9%.

Effective tax rates were higher in 2024, compared to 2023, due to the adoption of ASU 2023-02 in January 2024. Upon adoption of ASU 2023-02 Busey elected to use the proportional amortization method of accounting for equity investments made primarily for the purpose of receiving income tax credits. The proportional amortization method results in the cost of the investment being amortized in proportion to the income tax credits and other income tax benefits received, with the amortization of the investment and the income tax credits being presented net in the income statement as a component of income tax expense as opposed to being presented on a gross basis on the income statement as a component of noninterest expense and income tax expense.

CAPITAL STRENGTH

Busey’s strong capital levels, coupled with its earnings, have allowed the Company to provide a steady return to its stockholders through dividends. On January 31, 2025, Busey will pay a cash dividend of $0.25 per common share to stockholders of record as of January 24, 2025, which represents a 4.2% increase from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share. Busey has consistently paid dividends to its common stockholders since the bank holding company was organized in 1980.

As of December 31, 2024, Busey continued to exceed the capital adequacy requirements necessary to be considered “well-capitalized” under applicable regulatory guidelines. Busey’s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio is estimated⁴ to be 14.10% at December 31, 2024, compared to 13.78% at September 30, 2024, and 13.09% at December 31, 2023. Our Total Capital to Risk Weighted Assets ratio is estimated⁴ to be 18.53% at December 31, 2024, compared to 18.19% at September 30, 2024, and 17.44% at December 31, 2023.

Busey’s tangible common equity¹ was $1.02 billion at December 31, 2024, compared to $1.04 billion at September 30, 2024, and $925.0 million at December 31, 2023. Tangible common equity¹ represented 8.76% of tangible assets at December 31, 2024, compared to 8.96% at September 30, 2024, and 7.75% at December 31, 2023. Busey’s tangible book value per common share¹ was $17.88 at December 31, 2024, compared to $18.19 at September 30, 2024, and $16.62 at December 31, 2023, reflecting a 7.6% year-over-year increase. The ratios of tangible common equity to tangible assets¹ and tangible book value per common share have been impacted by the fair value adjustment of Busey’s securities portfolio as a result of the current rate environment, which is reflected in the accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) component of stockholder’s equity.

FOURTH QUARTER EARNINGS INVESTOR PRESENTATION

For additional information on Busey’s financial condition and operating results, please refer to the Q4 2024 Earnings Investor Presentation furnished via Form 8-K on January 28, 2025, in connection with this earnings release.

CORPORATE PROFILE

As of December 31, 2024, First Busey Corporation (Nasdaq: BUSE) was an $12.05 billion financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois.

Busey Bank, a wholly-owned bank subsidiary of First Busey Corporation, had total assets of $12.01 billion as of December 31, 2024, and is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Busey Bank currently has 62 banking centers, with 21 in Central Illinois markets, 17 in suburban Chicago markets, 20 in the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area, three in Southwest Florida, and one in Indianapolis. More information about Busey Bank can be found at busey.com.

Through Busey’s Wealth Management division, the Company provides a full range of asset management, investment, brokerage, fiduciary, philanthropic advisory, tax preparation, and farm management services to individuals, businesses, and foundations. Assets under care totaled $13.83 billion as of December 31, 2024. More information about Busey’s Wealth Management services can be found at busey.com/wealth-management.

Busey Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, FirsTech, specializes in the evolving financial technology needs of small and medium-sized businesses, highly regulated enterprise industries, and financial institutions. FirsTech provides comprehensive and innovative payment technology solutions, including online, mobile, and voice-recognition bill payments; money and data movement; merchant services; direct debit services; lockbox remittance processing for payments made by mail; and walk-in payments at retail agents. Additionally, FirsTech simplifies client workflows through integrations enabling support with billing, reconciliation, bill reminders, and treasury services. More information about FirsTech can be found at firstechpayments.com.

For the first time, Busey was named among the World’s Best Banks for 2024 by Forbes, earning a spot on the list among 68 U.S. banks and 403 banks worldwide. Additionally, Busey Bank was honored to be named among America’s Best Banks by Forbes magazine for the third consecutive year. Ranked 40th overall in 2024, Busey was the second-ranked bank headquartered in Illinois of the six banks that made this year’s list and the highest-ranked bank of those with more than $10 billion in assets. Busey is humbled to be named among the 2024 Best Banks to Work For by American Banker, the 2024 Best Places to Work in Money Management by Pensions and Investments, the 2024 Best Places to Work in Illinois by Daily Herald Business Ledger, the 2024 Best Places to Work in Indiana by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, and the 2024 Best Companies to Work For in Florida by Florida Trend magazine. We are honored to be consistently recognized globally, nationally and locally for our engaged culture of integrity and commitment to community development.

For more information about us, visit busey.com.

Category: Financial
Source: First Busey Corporation

Contacts:

Jeffrey D. Jones, Chief Financial Officer
217-365-4130

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION

This earnings release contains certain financial information determined by methods other than GAAP. Management uses these non-GAAP measures, together with the related GAAP measures, in analysis of Busey’s performance and in making business decisions, as well as for comparison to Busey’s peers. Busey believes the adjusted measures are useful for investors and management to understand the effects of certain non-core and non-recurring noninterest items and provide additional perspective on Busey’s performance over time.

Below is a reconciliation to what management believes to be the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures—specifically, net interest income, total noninterest income, net security gains and losses, and total noninterest expense in the case of pre-provision net revenue, adjusted pre-provision net revenue, pre-provision net revenue to average assets, and adjusted pre-provision net revenue to average assets; net income in the case of adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted return on average assets, average tangible common equity, return on average tangible common equity, adjusted return on average tangible common equity; net income and net security gains and losses in the case of further adjusted net income and further adjusted diluted earnings per share; net interest income in the case of adjusted net interest income and adjusted net interest margin; net interest income, total noninterest income, and total noninterest expense in the case of adjusted noninterest income, adjusted noninterest expense, noninterest expense excluding non-operating adjustments, adjusted core expense, efficiency ratio, adjusted efficiency ratio, and adjusted core efficiency ratio; net interest income, total noninterest income, net securities gains and losses, and net gains and losses on the sale of mortgage servicing rights in the case of operating revenue and adjusted noninterest income to operating revenue; total assets and goodwill and other intangible assets in the case of tangible assets; total stockholders’ equity in the case of tangible book value per common share; total assets and total stockholders’ equity in the case of tangible common equity and tangible common equity to tangible assets; and total deposits in the case of core deposits and core deposits to total deposits.

These non-GAAP disclosures have inherent limitations and are not audited. They should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for operating results reported in accordance with GAAP, nor are they necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance measures that may be presented by other companies. Tax effected numbers included in these non-GAAP disclosures are based on estimated statutory rates, estimated federal income tax rates, or effective tax rates, as noted with the tables below.

RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (Unaudited)

Pre-Provision Net Revenue and Related Measures

		Three Months Ended									Years Ended
(dollars in thousands)		December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023			December 31, 2024			December 31, 2023
Net interest income (GAAP)		$	81,578		$	82,647		$	77,345		$	322,611		$	320,621
Total noninterest income (GAAP)			35,221			35,845			31,304			139,682			121,214
Net security (gains) losses (GAAP)			196			(822	)		(761	)		6,102			2,199
Total noninterest expense (GAAP)			(78,167	)		(75,926	)		(74,979	)		(300,399	)		(285,532	)
Pre-provision net revenue (Non-GAAP)	[a]		38,828			41,744			32,909			167,996			158,502
Acquisition and restructuring expenses			3,585			1,935			4,237			8,140			4,328
Provision for unfunded commitments			(455	)		407			818			(1,095	)		461
Amortization of New Markets Tax Credits			—			—			2,259			—			8,999
Realized (gain) loss on the sale of mortgage service rights			—			18			—			(7,724	)		—
Adjusted pre-provision net revenue (Non-GAAP)	[b]	$	41,958		$	44,104		$	40,223		$	167,317		$	172,290

Average total assets (GAAP)	[c]		12,085,993			12,007,702			12,308,491			12,051,871			12,246,218

Pre-provision net revenue to average total assets (Non-GAAP)¹	[a÷c]		1.28	%		1.38	%		1.06	%		1.39	%		1.29	%
Adjusted pre-provision net revenue to average total assets (Non-GAAP)¹	[b÷c]		1.38	%		1.46	%		1.30	%		1.39	%		1.41	%

___________________________________________

For quarterly periods, measures are annualized.


Adjusted Net Income, Average Tangible Common Equity, and Related Ratios

		Three Months Ended									Years Ended
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)		December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023			December 31, 2024			December 31, 2023
Net income (GAAP)	[a]	$	28,105		$	32,004		$	25,749		$	113,691		$	122,565
Acquisition expenses:
Salaries, wages, and employee benefits			247			73			—			1,457			—
Data processing			14			90			—			548			—
Professional fees, occupancy, furniture and fixtures, and other			2,208			1,772			266			4,896			357
Restructuring expenses:
Salaries, wages, and employee benefits			—			—			3,760			123			3,760
Professional fees, occupancy, furniture and fixtures, and other			1,116			—			211			1,116			211
Acquisition and restructuring expenses			3,585			1,935			4,237			8,140			4,328
Related tax benefit¹			(965	)		(406	)		(863	)		(2,026	)		(881	)
Adjusted net income (Non-GAAP)	[b]	$	30,725		$	33,533		$	29,123		$	119,805		$	126,012

Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, diluted (GAAP)	[c]		57,934,812			57,967,848			56,333,033			57,543,001			56,256,148
Diluted earnings per common share (GAAP)	[a÷c]	$	0.49		$	0.55		$	0.46		$	1.98		$	2.18
Adjusted diluted earnings per common share (Non-GAAP)	[b÷c]	$	0.53		$	0.58		$	0.52		$	2.08		$	2.24

Average total assets (GAAP)	[d]		12,085,993			12,007,702			12,308,491			12,051,871			12,246,218
Return on average assets (GAAP)²	[a÷d]		0.93	%		1.06	%		0.83	%		0.94	%		1.00	%
Adjusted return on average assets (Non-GAAP)²	[b÷d]		1.01	%		1.11	%		0.94	%		0.99	%		1.03	%

Average common equity (GAAP)		$	1,396,939		$	1,364,377		$	1,202,417		$	1,342,424		$	1,197,511
Average goodwill and other intangible assets, net			(367,400	)		(369,720	)		(355,469	)		(366,601	)		(359,347	)
Average tangible common equity (Non-GAAP)	[e]	$	1,029,539		$	994,657		$	846,948		$	975,823		$	838,164

Return on average tangible common equity (Non-GAAP)²	[a÷e]		10.86	%		12.80	%		12.06	%		11.65	%		14.62	%
Adjusted return on average tangible common equity (Non-GAAP)²	[b÷e]		11.87	%		13.41	%		13.64	%		12.28	%		15.03	%

___________________________________________

Year-to-date tax benefits were calculated by multiplying year-to-date acquisition and restructuring expenses by tax rates of 24.9% and 20.4% for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Quarterly tax benefits were calculated as the year-to-date tax benefit amounts less the sum of amounts applied to previous quarters during the year, equating to tax rates of 26.9%, 21.0%, and 20.4% for the three months ended December 31, 2024, September 30, 2024, and December 31, 2023, respectively.
For quarterly periods, measures are annualized.

Further Adjusted Net Income and Related Measures

		Three Months Ended									Years Ended
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)		December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023			December 31, 2024			December 31, 2023
Adjusted net income (Non-GAAP)¹		$	30,725		$	33,533		$	29,123		$	119,805		$	126,012
Further non-GAAP adjustments:
Net securities (gains) losses			196			(822	)		(761	)		6,102			2,199
Realized net (gains) losses on the sale of mortgage servicing rights			—			18			—			(7,724	)		—
Tax effect for further non-GAAP adjustments²			(49	)		199			171			419			(448	)
Tax effected further non-GAAP adjustments³			147			(605	)		(590	)		(1,203	)		1,751
Further adjusted net income (Non-GAAP)³	[a]	$	30,872		$	32,928		$	28,533		$	118,602		$	127,763
One-time deferred tax valuation adjustment⁴			—			—			—			1,446			—
Further adjusted net income, excluding one-time deferred tax valuation adjustment (Non-GAAP)³	[b]	$	30,872		$	32,928		$	28,533		$	120,048		$	127,763

Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, diluted	[c]		57,934,812			57,967,848			56,333,033			57,543,001			56,256,148

Further adjusted diluted earnings per common share (Non-GAAP)³	[a÷c]	$	0.53		$	0.57		$	0.51		$	2.06		$	2.27
Further adjusted diluted earnings per common share, excluding one-time deferred tax valuation adjustment (Non-GAAP)³	[b÷c]	$	0.53		$	0.57		$	0.51		$	2.09		$	2.27

___________________________________________

Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP measure. See the previous table for a reconciliation to the nearest GAAP measure.
Tax effects for further non-GAAP adjustments were calculated by multiplying further non-GAAP adjustments by the effective income tax rate for each period. Effective income tax rates that were used to calculate the tax effect were 24.8%, 24.8%, and 22.5% for the three months ended December 31, 2024, September 30, 2024, and December 31, 2023, respectively, and were 25.8% and 20.4% for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Tax-effected measure.
An estimated one-time deferred tax valuation adjustment of $1.4 million resulted from a change to our Illinois apportionment rate due to recently enacted regulations.

Tax-Equivalent Net Interest Income, Adjusted Net Interest Income, Net Interest Margin, and Adjusted Net Interest Margin

		Three Months Ended									Years Ended
(dollars in thousands)		December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023			December 31, 2024			December 31, 2023
Net interest income (GAAP)		$	81,578		$	82,647		$	77,345		$	322,611		$	320,621
Tax-equivalent adjustment¹			446			396			501			1,693			2,173
Tax-equivalent net interest income (Non-GAAP)	[a]		82,024			83,043			77,846			324,304			322,794
Purchase accounting accretion related to business combinations			(812	)		(1,338	)		(384	)		(3,166	)		(1,477	)
Adjusted net interest income (Non-GAAP)	[b]	$	81,212		$	81,705		$	77,462		$	321,138		$	321,317

Average interest-earning assets (GAAP)	[c]		11,048,350			10,942,745			11,235,326			10,999,424			11,181,010

Net interest margin (Non-GAAP)²	[a÷c]		2.95	%		3.02	%		2.75	%		2.95	%		2.89	%
Adjusted net interest margin (Non-GAAP)²	[b÷c]		2.92	%		2.97	%		2.74	%		2.92	%		2.87	%

___________________________________________

Tax-equivalent adjustments were calculated using an estimated federal income tax rate of 21%, applied to non-taxable interest income on investments and loans.
For quarterly periods, measures are annualized.

Adjusted Noninterest Income, Revenue Measures, Adjusted Noninterest Expense, Adjusted Core Expense, and Efficiency Ratios

		Three Months Ended									Years Ended
(dollars in thousands)		December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023			December 31, 2024			December 31, 2023
Net interest income (GAAP)	[a]	$	81,578		$	82,647		$	77,345		$	322,611		$	320,621
Tax-equivalent adjustment¹			446			396			501			1,693			2,173
Tax-equivalent net interest income (Non-GAAP)	[b]		82,024			83,043			77,846			324,304			322,794

Total noninterest income (GAAP)			35,221			35,845			31,304			139,682			121,214
Net security (gains) losses (GAAP)			196			(822	)		(761	)		6,102			2,199
Noninterest income excluding net securities gains and losses (Non-GAAP)	[c]		35,417			35,023			30,543			145,784			123,413
Realized net (gains) losses on the sale of mortgage servicing rights (GAAP)			—			18			—			(7,724	)		—
Adjusted noninterest income (Non-GAAP)	[d]	$	35,417		$	35,041		$	30,543		$	138,060		$	123,413

Tax-equivalent revenue (Non-GAAP)	[e = b+c]	$	117,441		$	118,066		$	108,389		$	470,088		$	446,207
Adjusted tax-equivalent revenue (Non-GAAP)	[f = b+d]		117,441			118,084			108,389			462,364			446,207
Operating revenue (Non-GAAP)	[g = a+d]		116,995			117,688			107,888			460,671			444,034

Adjusted noninterest income to operating revenue (Non-GAAP)	[d÷g]		30.27	%		29.77	%		28.31	%		29.97	%		27.79	%

Total noninterest expense (GAAP)		$	78,167		$	75,926		$	74,979		$	300,399		$	285,532
Amortization of intangible assets (GAAP)	[h]		(2,471	)		(2,548	)		(2,479	)		(10,057	)		(10,432	)
Noninterest expense excluding amortization of intangible assets (Non-GAAP)	[i]		75,696			73,378			72,500			290,342			275,100
Non-operating adjustments:
Salaries, wages, and employee benefits			(247	)		(73	)		(3,760	)		(1,580	)		(3,760	)
Data processing			(14	)		(90	)		—			(548	)		—
Professional fees, occupancy, furniture and fixtures, and other			(3,324	)		(1,772	)		(477	)		(6,012	)		(568	)
Adjusted noninterest expense (Non-GAAP)	[j]		72,111			71,443			68,263			282,202			270,772
Provision for unfunded commitments			455			(407	)		(818	)		1,095			(461	)
Amortization of New Markets Tax Credits			—			—			(2,259	)		—			(8,999	)
Adjusted core expense (Non-GAAP)	[k]	$	72,566		$	71,036		$	65,186		$	283,297		$	261,312

Noninterest expense, excluding non-operating adjustments (Non-GAAP)	[j-h]	$	74,582		$	73,991		$	70,742		$	292,259		$	281,204

Efficiency ratio (Non-GAAP)	[i÷e]		64.45	%		62.15	%		66.89	%		61.76	%		61.65	%
Adjusted efficiency ratio (Non-GAAP)	[j÷f]		61.40	%		60.50	%		62.98	%		61.03	%		60.68	%
Adjusted core efficiency ratio (Non-GAAP)	[k÷f]		61.79	%		60.16	%		60.14	%		61.27	%		58.56	%

___________________________________________

Tax-equivalent adjustments were calculated using an estimated federal income tax rate of 21%, applied to non-taxable interest income on investments and loans.

Tangible Book Value and Tangible Book Value Per Common Share

		As of
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)		December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023
Total stockholders’ equity (GAAP)		$	1,383,269		$	1,402,884		$	1,271,981
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net (GAAP)			(365,975	)		(368,249	)		(353,864	)
Tangible book value (Non-GAAP)	[a]	$	1,017,294		$	1,034,635		$	918,117

Ending number of common shares outstanding (GAAP)	[b]		56,895,981			56,872,241			55,244,119

Tangible book value per common share (Non-GAAP)	[a÷b]	$	17.88		$	18.19		$	16.62

Tangible Assets, Tangible Common Equity, and Tangible Common Equity to Tangible Assets

		As of
(dollars in thousands)		December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023
Total assets (GAAP)		$	12,046,722		$	11,986,839		$	12,283,415
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net (GAAP)			(365,975	)		(368,249	)		(353,864	)
Tax effect of other intangible assets¹			6,379			7,178			6,888
Tangible assets (Non-GAAP)²	[a]	$	11,687,126		$	11,625,768		$	11,936,439

Total stockholders’ equity (GAAP)		$	1,383,269		$	1,402,884		$	1,271,981
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net (GAAP)			(365,975	)		(368,249	)		(353,864	)
Tax effect of other intangible assets¹			6,379			7,178			6,888
Tangible common equity (Non-GAAP)²	[b]	$	1,023,673		$	1,041,813		$	925,005

Tangible common equity to tangible assets (Non-GAAP)²	[b÷a]		8.76	%		8.96	%		7.75	%

___________________________________________

Net of estimated deferred tax liability, calculated using an estimated tax rate of 26.73% as of December 31, 2024, and 28% as of September 30, 2024, and December 31, 2023.
Tax-effected measure.

Core Deposits and Related Ratios

		As of
(dollars in thousands)		December 31, 2024			September 30, 2024			December 31, 2023
Portfolio loans (GAAP)	[a]	$	7,697,087		$	7,809,097		$	7,651,034

Total deposits (GAAP)	[b]	$	9,982,490		$	9,943,241		$	10,291,156
Brokered deposits, excluding brokered time deposits of $250,000 or more			(13,090	)		(13,089	)		(6,001	)
Time deposits of $250,000 or more			(334,503	)		(338,808	)		(386,286	)
Core deposits (Non-GAAP)	[c]	$	9,634,897		$	9,591,344		$	9,898,869

RATIOS
Core deposits to total deposits (Non-GAAP)	[c÷b]		96.52	%		96.46	%		96.19	%
Portfolio loans to core deposits (Non-GAAP)	[a÷c]		79.89	%		81.42	%		77.29	%

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to Busey’s financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance, and business. Forward-looking statements, which may be based upon beliefs, expectations and assumptions of Busey’s management and on information currently available to management, are generally identifiable by the use of words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “position,” or other similar expressions. Additionally, all statements in this document, including forward-looking statements, speak only as of the date they are made, and Busey undertakes no obligation to update any statement in light of new information or future events.

A number of factors, many of which are beyond Busey’s ability to control or predict, could cause actual results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, the following: (1) risks related to the proposed transaction with CrossFirst, including (i) the possibility that the proposed transaction will not close when expected or at all because conditions to the closing are not satisfied on a timely basis or at all; (ii) the possibility that the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction will not be realized when expected or at all, including as a result of the impact of, or problems arising from, the integration of the two companies or as a result of the strength of the economy and competitive factors in the areas where Busey and CrossFirst do business; (iii) the possibility that the merger may be more expensive to complete than anticipated, including as a result of unexpected factors or events; (iv) diversion of management’s attention from ongoing business operations and opportunities; (v) the possibility that Busey may be unable to achieve expected synergies and operating efficiencies in the merger within the expected timeframes or at all, and to successfully integrate CrossFirst’s operations with those of Busey or that such integration may be more difficult, time consuming or costly than expected; (vi) revenues following the proposed transaction may be lower than expected; and (vii) stockholder litigation that could prevent or delay the closing of the proposed transaction or otherwise negatively impact our business and operations; (2) the strength of the local, state, national, and international economies and financial markets (including effects of inflationary pressures and supply chain constraints); (3) effects on the U.S. economy resulting from the implementation of policies proposed by the new presidential administration, including tariffs, mass deportations, and tax regulations; (4) the economic impact of any future terrorist threats or attacks, widespread disease or pandemics, or other adverse external events that could cause economic deterioration or instability in credit markets (including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East); (5) changes in state and federal laws, regulations, and governmental policies concerning Busey’s general business (including changes in response to the failures of other banks or as a result changes in policies implemented by the new presidential administration); (6) changes in accounting policies and practices; (7) changes in interest rates and prepayment rates of Busey’s assets (including the impact of sustained elevated interest rates); (8) increased competition in the financial services sector (including from non-bank competitors such as credit unions and fintech companies) and the inability to attract new customers; (9) changes in technology and the ability to develop and maintain secure and reliable electronic systems; (10) the loss of key executives or associates; (11) changes in consumer spending; (12) unexpected outcomes of existing or new litigation, investigations, or inquiries involving Busey (including with respect to Busey’s Illinois franchise taxes); (13) fluctuations in the value of securities held in Busey’s securities portfolio; (14) concentrations within Busey’s loan portfolio (including commercial real estate loans), large loans to certain borrowers, and large deposits from certain clients; (15) the concentration of large deposits from certain clients who have balances above current FDIC insurance limits and may withdraw deposits to diversify their exposure; (16) the level of non-performing assets on Busey’s balance sheets; (17) interruptions involving information technology and communications systems or third-party servicers; (18) breaches or failures of information security controls or cybersecurity-related incidents; and (19) the economic impact of exceptional weather occurrences such as tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, blizzards, and droughts. These risks and uncertainties should be considered in evaluating forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements.

Additional information concerning Busey and its business, including additional factors that could materially affect Busey’s financial results, is included in Busey’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

END NOTES

1	Represents a non-GAAP financial measure. For a reconciliation to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), see “Non-GAAP Financial Information.”
2	Estimated uninsured and uncollateralized deposits consist of account balances in excess of the $250 thousand FDIC insurance limit, less intercompany accounts and collateralized accounts (including preferred deposits).
3	Central Business District areas within Busey’s footprint include downtown St. Louis, downtown Indianapolis, and downtown Chicago.
4	Capital amounts and ratios for the fourth quarter of 2024 are not yet finalized and are subject to change.
5	On- and off-balance sheet liquidity is comprised of cash and cash equivalents, debt securities excluding those pledged as collateral, brokered deposits, and Busey’s borrowing capacity through its revolving credit facility, the FHLB, the Federal Reserve Bank, and federal funds purchased lines.
6	The blended benchmark consists of 60% MSCI All Country World Index and 40% Bloomberg Intermediate US Government/Credit Total Return Index.

The MIL Network –

January 29, 2025

MIL-OSI Submissions: Tech – DeepSeek overtakes ChatGPT with 50x Google Trends surge in a week – Finbold

Source: Finbold

The release of the latest version of the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) model DeepSeek swiftly created a media and stock market storm as it, given the official costs of development, threw into disarray the massive investments made in Western AI companies.

Finbold research uncovered that in a single week ending on Monday, January 27, Google Trends global score for DeepSeek soared fiftyfold, hitting 100 – the highest figure possible for a selected region and time frame.

Though the score was the highest in China by far, the new model also soared above ChatGPT in the U.S.

Hong Kong, likewise, saw exceptional interest and took second place, while the countries where DeepSeek was also highly searched for, in descending order, include Singapore, Tunisia, Morocco, Nepal, Algeria, Ethiopia, Jordan, and Kenya.

Specifically, the AI model’s Google Trends score stood at 100 in China, 22 in Hong Kong, 16 in Singapore, and 6 in the U.S.

DeepSeek’s popularity also emerges outside Google Trends

The surge in interest was also evident on the Play Store, where the DeepSeek app took the top spot, leading to sufficient volume – and possibly a cyberattack – to ensure access is restricted to users with a Chinese phone number.

Additionally, the emergence of a new major player in the AI industry triggered a stock market bloodbath, with the semiconductor giant Nvidia (NVDA) being hit particularly hard and losing approximately $600 billion in market capitalization – the single biggest one-company valuation drop in a single day.

Still, as Andreja Stojanovic, a co-author of the research, pointed out, there were some immediate benefits:

“The introduction of new and powerful competition has had an immediate positive effect on consumers, as OpenAI’s Sam Altman promised additional features to ChatGPT’s paying users.”

Elsewhere, the tumult triggered some calls for a ban or restrictions on Chinese technology, akin to the tariffs and other protectionist measures imposed on Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers.

For more: https://finbold.com/deepseek-overtakes-chatgpt-with-50x-google-trends-surge-in-a-week/

MIL OSI – Submitted News –

January 29, 2025

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