“It’s crucial for everyone at all levels to scrutinize why they are using AI and ensure that there are genuine use cases for it which do not leave them exposed to harm,” Bain said.
In The Press
2024
Fashion or Fantasy? AI Hallucinations, Explained
Vogue Business
This article on AI hallucinations is part of our Vogue Business Membership package. To enjoy unlimited access to Member-only reporting and insights, our NFT Tracker, Beauty Trend Tracker and TikTok Trend Tracker, weekly Technology, Beauty and Sustainability Edits and exclusive event invitations, sign up for Membership here.
OpenAI Could Go Bankrupt In 12 Months If It Doesn’t Raise Some Serious Cash
ITPro.
OpenAI could be on the brink of collapse with projected losses totaling $5 billion, according to analysis conducted by The Information that drew on previously undisclosed financial information.
Simon Bain, CEO of Omnilndex, told ITPro many tech leaders are beginning to acknowledge the reality of this, noting that AI’s “jack of all trades approach has failed”.
“While the flashy demos and impressive chat initially captured the headlines and free users, they have not provided many (if any) actual business solutions. As such, people have seen no reason to pay for it,” he added.
The Three Pillars of the Next Generation in Data Security: PostgreSQL, Zero Trust and Web3
Cybersecurity Insiders
The technologies that will enable optimised data security already exist, but businesses are resting on their laurels.
Data gathered by Governing indicates that in 2023 over 353 million individuals were affected by data compromises, including data breaches, leakage, and exposure. Figures this high call for systemic and industry-wide change and suggest that a revamp in how data security is approached is long overdue.
Simon Bain, OmniIndex’s CEO argues that there are three key areas to consider when building and deploying competent and modern security defenses. Luckily, all three of them already exist and are available to use.
Crypto History is Blocking Secure Blockchain Data Storage
Compare The Cloud
Time and time again it has been proven that current mainstream data storage solutions are vulnerable to attack with ransomware and internal data leaks causing financial and personal harm to both businesses and individuals. As such, we desperately need to free the blockchain from crypto’s clutches and start accessing its added security, privacy, and accountability to solve this worldwide problem.
General election 2024: A choice between privacy or democracy
IFA Magazine
The government has more of our data than ever but isn’t doing enough to keep it safe, argues Simon Bain, CEO and founder at OmniIndex.
Last year’s local elections in May were the first to require voters to show a form of identification before being issued with a ballot paper. The introduction of photo ID will require additional funding rumoured to total almost £40 million each decade and was justified as a means to tackle electoral fraud and protect our democracy despite little evidence to suggest that voter impersonation has had a significant impact on previous elections.
As this year’s general election quickly approaches, many voters across the UK will, for the first time, be required to hand over a form of ID to vote for their preferred member of parliament. Registrations for the electoral roll increase in the run-up to elections as members of the public opt to vote for the first time, meaning the government holds more of our data than ever before.
Read Story
Whose Data And Where From?
IBS Intelligence
According to Simon Bain, CEO at OmniIndex: “AI companies are currently accessing and collecting more of our sensitive data than ever before, and whether sanctioned or not, AI tools are creeping into our lives and being used more and more each day with more of our data being both used and collected.
Lawmakers and startups lock horns over California AI legislation
ItPro.
Regulators run the risk of alienating tech companies with stringent oversight requirements, critics claim
Simon Bain, CEO and founder at San Jose-based firm OmniIndex, echoed the sentiments of the letter in comment to ITPro, though the firm has not signed the complaint itself.
"Regulators need to stop wasting their time focussing on scaremongering and kill switches and start looking at the real issues of LLMs today,” Bain said.
TechRound is excited to announce the winners of our AITech35 2024!
TechRound
OmniIndex have been awarded in TechRound's RAITech35 competition.
TechRound is proud to announce the winners of our AITech campaign, celebrating the entrepreneurs and companies at the forefront of AI advancement.
Founded in 2016, TechRound is the UK’s best-known and fastest-growing startup and tech news site. This is where decision makers, investors and startups of all sizes and nature come to find out the latest developments and trends within the industry.
WATCH OUT AI has already mastered ‘deception’ as scientists warn chatbots have now learned to ‘manipulate and cheat’ humans
'Master of deception': Current AI models already have the capacity to expertly manipulate and deceive humans
Live Science
Large language models (LLMs) have mastered the art of deception when competing with humans in games, but scientists warn these skills can also spill out into other domains.
Are AI Companies Shifting to Small Language Models?
Silicon Republic
Simon Bain, the CEO and founder of the data platform OmniIndex, claims generative AI is an “unrefined and chaotic beast” that is forcing data centres to find ways to “cope with the extraordinary and explosive demands of today’s AI boom”.
“AI developers without Google’s resources behind them will find themselves with a mountain to climb in a matter of weeks,” Bain said. “As the technology matures, we will hopefully begin to see more tamed versions of AI which do not require the energy consumption of 1,000 US homes to train and that offer users a more precise, efficient and useful service.”
Bain argues that small language models will offer a “more accurate result at a much lower cost” for businesses and that they will be trained on “much more precise and controlled data sets” to improve accuracy – an issue that exists in various AI models.
ChatGPT-4o Is Wildly Capable, But It Could Be A Privacy Nightmare
Forbes
OpenAI has launched ChatGPT-4o and it comes with impressive capabilities. ChatGPT-4o is much more human-like than previous iterations, able to solve equations, tell bedtime stories and identify emotions from visual expressions.
There are “huge privacy implications” associated with any product or service that has access to your screen and content, says Simon Bain, AI expert and CEO of OmniIndex...
Read Story
Read Story
Why the MoD Attack Shines a Spotlight on the Dangers of Legacy Security Infrastructure
Global Security Mag
This attack was totally avoidable, and it is absolutely crucial that we ask why the MoD and other government departments are relying on outdated and frankly obsolete technology to ‘protect’ data when it has proven itself unfit for purpose.In the interest of national security, it is paramount that the government upgrade its defences before the public’s private data falls into the hands of cybercriminals too.
MoD Data Breach: Expert Comments on ‘Totally Avoidable’ Attack
UK Tech News
Simon Bain, data security expert and CEO of OmniIndex, is an established national commentator in this area and has warned of an imminent attack for years.
Simon, who has hands-on experience working with governments to develop systems to circumvent these attacks, including recent work with the Nigerian government to deliver totally secure systems for their education system commented in response to the attack
Ministry of Defence Data Exposed in China-Linked Cyber Attack
EM360
The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) is still reeling following a reportedly China-linked cyber attack that exposed the sensitive data of thousands of British military personnel.
Simon Bain, data security expert and CEO of OmniIndex, told EM360Tech that the attack on the Ministry of Defence was "totally avoidable."
“Questions have to be answered over why, in 2024, the MoD is still ‘protecting’ the data of service personnel with outdated and frankly obsolete technology that has proven itself time and time again as unfit for purpose."
Why People are Worried About Microsoft's AI That Makes Photos Come to Life
Yahoo! News
A new Microsoft generative AI system has highlighted how advanced deepfake technology is becoming - generating convincing video from a single image and audio clip.
Simon Bain, CEO of OmniIndex, says, 'Deepfake technology is on a mission to produce content that contains no clues or ‘identifiable artifacts’ to show that it is fake. The recent VASA-1 demo is the latest such development offering a significant step towards this, and Microsoft’s accompanying ‘Risk and responsible AI considerations’ statement suggests this drive for perfection, saying:
AI Doesn’t Want Your Job, it Wants Something Far More Valuable: Your Digital Soul
Maddyness
Big tech is selling your private information to finance their extraordinarily expensive servers and train their AI. Simon Bain, AI expert and CEO at OmniIndex, believes that technology companies aren’t in fact looking to replace people like is often reported, but are instead looking to exploit us and the AI hype to harvest more private data on us than ever and sell it to the highest bidder.
Your Privacy, Their Profits: Is Your Private Information Sold To Train AI?
TechRound
It’s no secret that AI is seeping further and further into our daily lives, weaving its way into the very fabric of the online world. But is there a darker side to this story?
Simon Bain, CEO at OmniIndex, seems to think so. “AI companies are currently collecting more of our sensitive data than ever before, and whether sanctioned or not, AI tools are creeping into our lives and being used more and more each day with more of our data being used”.
OmniIndex's Simon Bain on Web3, AI, and why 2024 is Blockchain's year!
Tech Talks Podcast
Simon is CEO of OmniIndex. After the hype surround Web3 has died down, he firmly believes that 2024 is the year this somewhat forgotten tech becomes mainstream. People just need to realize the inherent benefits for security and data integrity. The interview covers education, AI (and the hype surrounding AI) and the need for technology to actually deliver solutions.
How to Protect Log Files From Being Sold on the Dark Web
Mission Critical Magazine
According to Simon Bain, CEO at OmniIndex, log files are often a window to an entire business, and more must be done to protect them from outsider threats such as infostealers.
Bain: “If log files fall into the wrong hands, they can provide information about a system that can be used to identify weaknesses in your security setup. Once accessed, log files can be exploited by cybercriminals in a number of ways to both corrupt a system and gain data from it.
Companies Face Hefty Penalties for Product Hype as the SEC Toughens up on ‘AI Washing’
ITPro.
Two investment firms were hit with fines after they falsely marketed the use of AI, with regulators describing the practice as ‘AI washing’
Banks Can Tackle Financial Fraud by Using New Homomorphic Encryption Technology
Fintech Finance News
“Through the use of web3 technology and innovative homomorphic encryption, computations can be performed on fully encrypted data, providing actionable insights without exposure. This technology makes it possible to securely and easily add encrypted data to other tools that can use it to create live data visualisations and dashboards. These can then be shared with your team and between colleagues so the insights can be actioned without the source information ever being readable and exposed to anyone at all.
AI Training Grants Announced for SMEs to Close Skills Gaps
HR Magazine
Simon Bain, founder at data platform OmniIndex, told HR magazine that the pilot is a positive step but more needs to be done to encourage AI skills investment.
He said: “It is fantastic to see more resources put into the technology that has the genuine power to transform our lives today, from healthcare through to environmental tech. However, we need to stop calling AI and other similar solutions ‘future tech’ when they are already here.
“I truly hope this investment will help us close the gap, but we also need to ensure the infrastructure is in place today so that our economy, our research and our inventors can be at the forefront of this movement and not always chasing to catch up.”
Could AI Disrupt 50 Elections This Year? Here’s What Experts Say
Yahoo! News
The danger of generative AI comes from the speed and ease of use - and also the fact there are no regulations to prevent it, says Simon Bain, AI expert and CEO of OmniIndex, who previously developed e-voting systems.
Consultation Opens Debate on Proposed U.K. Cyber Governance Code
Compliance week
“It is simply bad business to corrupt your sensitive and business-critical data with the cesspit of inaccuracies and stolen material that tools like ChatGPT use and are being sued for using,” AI expert and CEO of Omnilndex Simon Bain told ITPro.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Team Service Looks to Support Small Firms and Teams, But Costs Could Scupper Any Chances of Success
ITPro.
“It is simply bad business to corrupt your sensitive and business-critical data with the cesspit of inaccuracies and stolen material that tools like ChatGPT use and are being sued for using,” AI expert and CEO of Omnilndex Simon Bain told ITPro.
The Battle of GenAI: Defending Against Ransomware, Misinformation and Bias
Global security mag
Over half of business executives say they expect Generative AI (GenAI) to lead to a catastrophic cyber-attack in the next year. Yet more than two-thirds still say they’ll use GenAI for cyber defence over the next 12 months, according to PwC’s latest Global Digital Trust Insights Survey. Simon Bain, CEO and founder of web3 data platform OmniIndex, believes that whether for good or bad, GenAI is everywhere, and when used in the right way is a powerful enabler for businesses and everyday users alike. That said, all users have a responsibility to ensure that sensitive data remains private and secure.
OmniIndex Announces AI Predictions for 2024: Sustainability, Security and Finding AI Use Cases
Maddyness
While 2023 was dominated by the excitement of AI and what the technology may bring, Simon Bain, CEO at web3 and blockchain storage expert OmniIndex believes that 2024 will be the year where people turn once more to the core issues that matter to all of us: the environment and keeping our private data safe.
2023
Nigerian State Partners Firm to Protect Students’ Data
Premium Times
OmniIndex said the partnership with Cross River State, which it described as the first of its kind, would help to secure the data of every student in the state with “blockchain storage and fully encrypted analytics.”
It said the data of an estimated 500,000 persons will be fully protected with encryption, redacted anonymisation and web3 security.
“The use of blockchain and encryption technologies will enable accurate real-time insights to improve educational outcomes without ever exposing the individual personal details of those involved,” it said.
It said the data of an estimated 500,000 persons will be fully protected with encryption, redacted anonymisation and web3 security.
“The use of blockchain and encryption technologies will enable accurate real-time insights to improve educational outcomes without ever exposing the individual personal details of those involved,” it said.
Nigeria: OmniIndex Plans Nationwide Roll-Out of Blockchain Education Data Storage
The Africa Report
Californian start-up OmniIndex is in discussions with Nigeria’s federal government for nationwide deployment of its Blockchain solution for educational data storage, CEO Simon Bain tells The Africa Report.
Three Ways to Ensure AI Doesn’t Take Your Job and Why Arguing at Work is Actually a Good Thing
The Irish Sun
Simon Bain is an AI expert and CEO of OmniIndex who says being truly human, for better or worse, could save your career.
He told The U.S. Sun: "Be human! AI tools are not people, and there are many jobs where the human touch and personality are desired.
"This is not just the case in healthcare and other ‘people-centric’ industries but also in content creation, one of the first industries identified as under threat.
How Web3 Will Drive the Future of Digital Transformations
Technology Magazine
Adopting blockchain-enabled web3 technologies offers a massive opportunity for all industries to upgrade their security and productivity dramatically.
Why the Digital Health Revolution Will Fail if Patient Data Remains the Product
Building Better Healthcare
A successful digital health revolution must not put profit ahead of people, argues Simon Bain, chief executive of OmniIndex.
What is the Difference Between Ransomware and Malware?
Tech Monitor
Malware and ransomware are linked, but what makes them different from each other?
Meet OmniIndex, a Web3 Data Platform committed to protecting your data
Maddyness
As part of our quick fire questions series – or QFQs – we spoke to Simon Bain, CEO of OmniIndex about the need to change how we work with our data, working remotely and playing with timezones.
AI is Becoming The World’s Largest Cesspit of User’s Private Data. This is Why it Needs to Stop
IT Reseller
Almost overnight Web3’s ideals of user privacy and data security were shoved aside by the AI boom calling for everyone to hand over yet more data to cloud tools and big tech. Coincidence? Probably not says Simon Bain, CEO at OmniIndex.
Is Our Private Data Safe With AI?
Data Centre Review
Generative AI tools are just the latest in a long line of cloud apps focussed on turning users into products through targeted advertising and other direct and indirect means of monetisation.
OMNIINDEX AND MKAI PARTNER TO ELIMINATE BIAS IN AI
Startups Magazine
Simon Bain, CEO of OmniIndex adds: “We are delighted to be adding MKAI to our Web3 Data Platform as their beliefs and expertise perfectly match our own philosophies. What’s more, passing this extensive and complicated proof of concept with the meticulous MKAI team and their world-leading advisors is another indicator to all that Web3 and fully homomorphic encryption is the best solution for those seeking a data platform in 2023.”
Data security is a huge challenge to tackling AI biases and building an ethical, inclusive and unbiased AI landscape
IT Security Wire
OmniIndex, the secure Web3 data platform, has successfully completed a proof of concept to provide Web3 storage and encrypted analytics for the largest and most diverse AI de-risking community in the world.
With over 1,000 AI ethical stakeholders and a network spanning over 100 countries, MKAI (Morality and Knowledge in Artificial Intelligence) are the leaders in ethics in artificial intelligence. They have huge ambitions in 2023 with a number of exciting projects lined up incorporating OmniIndex’s powerful Web3 privacy and productivity capabilities.
What Are The Benefits of Web3 Data Storage?
Silicon Republic
OmniIndex’s Simon Bain discusses the advantages of Web3 data storage such as blockchain benefits, greater security and emerging tech such as AI.
Europe Must Act Against AI-Written Reviews Before It’s Too Late
The Next Web
In recent years, much of the discussion around fake reviews has dissipated, but now? They’re back with a vengeance — and it’s all because of AI.
The ascension of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT means we’re entering a new era of fake reviews, and governments in Europe and the rest of the world need to act before it’s too late.
5 Ways AI Could Endanger Your Business
Raconteur
AI isn’t always a boon to a business. As several recent incidents have shown, it can cause serious problems if used recklessly.
Simon Bain is CEO of encrypted data analysis specialist OmniIndex. He notes that the biggest chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Bard, “still rely on the same generative AI concepts that made Microsoft’s Tay, the incredibly misguided, racist and allround bigoted AI that was replying to teens and journalists in 2016”.
New Dropblock Mobile App Offers Free, Completely Secure Data Storage and Sharing
Financial IT
Dropblock for mobile launches today, a free, Web3 storage application offering individuals, developers, and business users a unique and completely secure mobile storage and data-sharing solution. Simply download Dropblock today from the App Store or from the Google Play Store to get 5GB of secure blockchain storage for free.
What does the BBC, Boots and British Airways cyber attack mean for HR?
People Management
Experts say cybersecurity is the people profession’s concern and, in light of the latest headline-grabbing data breaches, training, outsourcing and process need to come under greater scrutiny
Simon Bain, CEO of OmniIndex, believes the data breaches that impacted the BBC and BA among others are the result of “outdated data stores and workflows” and a precedent being set by previous ransoms for breached data being paid.
How AI will change the world by 2030, according to eight experts: Tech could solve the energy crisis, add trillions to the global economy… or wipe out the human race
Daily Mail
In healthcare, AI could predict problems before they happen by 2030, says AI expert Simon Bain, founder and CEO of software company OmniIndex, based in San Jose, California.
Educational Institutions are Top of Hackers Lists
Startups Magazine
Amid rising attacks on schools and universities, the biggest challenge in education today is data misuse, says OmniIndex CEO, urging leaders to take every step to secure their sensitive data.
OmniIndex & Future-X Education Revolutionize Educational Data Management
Yahoo! Finance
OmniIndex has won a major contract to improve the educational outcomes of thousands of students across Africa from Future-X Education.
With over 1,500 public schools, 138,000 students and 12,000 teachers using its Education Management Information System (EMIS) Future-X Education is targeting huge growth in 2023. Its mission is to digitize the educational system in Africa to bring transparency and authenticity to student records that can be referenced with ease at any point in time.
To get in touch with your own press enquiries, please contact our press team omniindex@spreckley.co.uk