Meta launches new generative AI models while Shopify CEO issues bold ultimatum

The latest news in artificial intelligence (AI) including research, releases and partnerships. 

This week features:

• Meta releases new generative AI models
• Shopify’s Tobi Lutke issues bold AI ultimatum
• Standard Chartered appoints David Hardoon as global head of AI enablement
• Nintex unveils generative AI capabilities to power business automation
• Alibaba Cloud strengthens AI functions

Meta releases new generative AI models

Meta released a new set of generative AI models from its flagship, open-source AI software Llama 4. Llama 4 Scout and Llama 4 Maverick can process and generate text, video and images, and will now power Meta’s in-app chatbot.

“As more people continue to use AI to enhance their daily lives, it’s important that the leading models and systems are openly available so everyone can build the future of personalized experiences,” Meta stated. “This is just the beginning for the Llama 4 collection. We believe that the most intelligent systems need to be capable of taking generalized actions, conversing naturally with humans, and working through challenging problems they haven’t seen before.”

Giving Llama superpowers in these areas will lead to better products for people on its platforms and more opportunities for developers to innovate on the next big consumer and business use cases, Meta added.

The emergence of the Chinese-made DeepSeek AI model reportedly put Llama’s development into overdrive. Meta has yet to release its most powerful model, dubbed Llama 4 Behemoth, which it claims is the “highest performing base model in the world.”

Worldwide spending on generative AI is projected to reach US$644 billion in 2025, according to a recent forecast by Gartner.

Watch Tyrone Smith Jr, program faculty member/adjunct associate professor at University of Southern California (USC) and founding member of Society of People Analytics (SPA), explore building trust in AI

Shopify’s Tobi Lutke issues bold AI ultimatum

Meanwhile, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke claimed he has a “fundamental expectation” that employees at the e-commerce platform incorporate AI in their work, doubling down with new hiring policies. According to a staff memo, employees will have to “demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI” before requesting additional headcount or resources. Employees’ use of AI will also now be a component of their performance reviews, the memo added.

Lutke described AI as a “multiplier” of productivity for those who have used it. “I’ve seen many of these people approach implausible tasks, ones we wouldn’t even have chosen to tackle before, with reflexive and brilliant usage of AI to get 100X the work done.”

Shopify’s stance on AI isn’t much different from what Cisco has been discussing for the past several months, commented Jeetu Patel, EVP and chief product officer at Cisco. “The reality is that the time for us being rationally skeptical of AI has now come to an end. It is now irrational to not be going full speed in AI adoption. So even if you see challenges with AI, don’t use those challenges as justifications for not learning how to use AI. Rather, use the challenges you see to increase your dexterity with AI and bring your feedback into the overall process of iteration and improvement.”

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Standard Chartered appoints David Hardoon as global head of AI enablement

Standard Chartered appointed David Hardoon as global head of AI enablement with immediate effect. The appointment reinforces the Bank’s commitment to leveraging advanced analytics and AI to drive innovation and maintain its competitive edge in the industry, according to the announcement. Hardoon brings over 22 years of experience and a proven track record in leading data and AI across various sectors including banking, advisory, government and education. 

In his new role, Hardoon will be responsible for building robust AI capabilities and governance while promoting data analytics and identifying opportunities across the Bank where AI can add significant value, streamline processes and deliver impactful client experiences.

“David will play a critical role in shaping and driving our AI strategy and ambitions, ensuring that we harness the full potential of AI technologies to enhance our client-focused, data-driven services and operations,” said Mohammad Rahim, group chief data officer at Standard Chartered.

Nintex unveils generative AI capabilities to power business automation

Process automation vendor Nintex announced new generative AI and natural language processing (NLP) capabilities that enable users to generate processes, workflows, forms and custom integrations into core business systems – all with simple language prompts. The new functions allow mid-market organizations and departments at large enterprises to integrate generative AI into their business practices to accelerate the time-to-value of their automation projects and improve overall efficiency, according to a press release.

The features include:

• AI Process Generator
• AI Forms Assistant
• AI Workflow Generator
• AI Xtensions Generator

“We believe that AI materially accelerates the value of business automation for organizations, which is why we’ve designed a powerful AI layer, using the latest language models, multi-agent frameworks, and agentic protocols to power the entire automation journey: building, executing, and optimizing automation solutions,” said Niranjan Vijayaragavan, chief product officer at Nintex. “Organizations can build and deploy automation solutions using Nintex AI, embed AI agents to execute these solutions by orchestrating business processes and improving decision-making, and continually optimize automation solutions using Nintex AI. The capabilities announced today empower users to build sophisticated automation solutions to drive business value.” 

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Alibaba Cloud strengthens AI functions

Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, unveiled new AI models, tools and infrastructure upgrades for its international customers to meet the growing demand for digital transformation.

“These upgrades allow us to deliver even more secure and high-performance services that empower businesses to scale and innovate in an AI-driven world,” said Selina Yuan, president of international business at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “As cloud and AI become essential for global growth, we are committed to enhancing our core product offerings to address our customers’ evolving needs.”

The models include the latest from Alibaba Cloud’s proprietary large language model (LLM) series, Qwen, such as the large-scale Mixture of Experts (MoE) model Qwen-Max, the reasoning model QwQ-Plus, the visual reasoning model QVQ-Max and the end-to-end multimodal model Qwen2.5-Omni-7b. 

To further support the AI models on the PaaS front, Alibaba Cloud’s Platform for AI (PAI) also rolled out major enhancements to support scalable, cost-effective and user-friendly solutions for generative AI and LLMs.

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