Channel Brief: IBM, GlobalFoundries Settle Litigation

The EU's Artificial Intelligence Act will have a big impact on the technology's application and use -- and IT services provider Accedia has a good checklist, published in Forbes, that walks you through achieving and maintaining compliance.

The EU AI Act is a landmark regulation designed to build trustworthy AI by setting stringent obligations for providers and users of AI systems, Accedia's Dimitar Dimitrov, founder and Managing Partner, explains. Its introduction comes at a time when AI adoption is accelerating rapidly across industries.

After hovering at around 50% for six years, one of the latest McKinsey surveys reveals that 72% of organizations have now adopted AI—a significant jump that reflects the growing reliance on these technologies.

As businesses increasingly integrate AI into their operations, partnering with a compliant AI development partner that aligns with the AI Act is critical. Check out the guide here.

As always, drop me a line at [email protected] if you have news to share or want to say hi!

Grab your coffee. Here's what you need to know today.

Today’s Tech, Channel and MSP News

1. OWC names new CRO: Other World Computing has named Matt Dargis as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Dargis has extensive experience in sales leadership and global market strategy, and will be responsible for driving OWC’s global revenue growth and expanding its market presence across both commercial and consumer channels, the company said in a statement. He will oversee the company’s sales and channel strategies, and focus on building and scaling high-performing teams, optimizing go-to-market initiatives, and enhancing customer experiences to meet and exceed evolving market demands. Congratulations!

2. Unencrypted mail servers vulnerable to network sniffing attacks: Shadowserver identified nearly 3.3 million internet-exposed IMAP and POP3 email servers vulnerable to network sniffing attacks due to their lack of TLS encryption that leaked usernames and passwords, BleepingComputer reports. Shadowserver, urged operators of at-risk IMAP/POP3 email servers to not only activate TLS but also consider VPN usage.

3. IBM, GlobalFoundries settle litigation: IBM and semiconductor maker GlobalFoundries, which spun out of AMD in 2009, have settled all of their litigation against each other, including breach of contract, patent, and trade secret suits, according to The Register. The details of the settlement are confidential, but in yesterday's statements, they said the deal would resolve "all litigation matters, inclusive of breach of contract, trade secrets, and intellectual property claims between the two companies." They added that the settlement would allow the companies to "explore new opportunities for collaboration in areas of mutual interest."

4. VPN apps pulled from India: The Chinese government forced Apple to remove VPN apps from the App Store in 2017, and the company now has to do the same in India, according to 9to5mac.com. So far, a small number of VPN apps have been removed to comply with an anti-privacy law barring anonymous use, but many more are likely to follow.

5. Generative AI progress and promise: The adoption of generative artificial intelligence to automate cybersecurity management systems and determine fraud and anomalies has significantly improved among organizations between May and August, as COOs noted the technology is beneficial to their organizations' bottom line, SC Media reports. Organizations that leveraged GenAI-driven cybersecurity systems yielded higher savings than those that used the technology for high-impact tasks, with GenAI utilization for automated cybersecurity management associated with average savings of 7.7% annual revenue, compared with 6.1% among those that disclosed "very positive" return on investment from using the technology, according to a report from PYMNTS. 

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