AI
News
+2
Apr 24, 2026
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2 min read
The Rise of Consumer Fraud in South Africa – And Why the Old Rules No Longer Apply
Consumer fraud in South Africa rose 86% last year. Nearly 98,000 cases. R1.9 billion in losses. The primary driver is social engineering, and AI is making fraudulent contact nearly impossible for consumers to distinguish from the real thing.
News
+1
Apr 15, 2026
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5 min read
Everyone Is Using AI: Now Meet The SA Venture Studios Building It
Most of SA's AI story in 2026 has been about adoption: Banks deploying fraud detection, startups bolting on AI features and enterprises running pilots. But a smaller group has decided to build AI itself, not just use it. As far as we can tell, only three South African venture studios are doing exactly that, each with a different model for creating AI companies and products from the ground up.
News
+1
Apr 8, 2026
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4 min read
One SA Founder Builds a New AI Agent Every Day – Here Are Five Using AI in Ways You Didn't Expect
The global AI conversation is dominated by billion-dollar labs. But some of the most creative applications right now are coming from South African founders who aren't trying to build the next foundation model. They're playing, experimenting, shipping, and in at least one case, measuring their entire company's output in tokens. Here are five worth watching.
News
+4
Apr 8, 2026
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8 min read
96% of Africa's Mobile Money Fraud Is Caught by Customer Complaints, Not Systems – FinTech Needs to Fix That
South Africa lost R2.7 billion to banking fraud in 2024 as digital fraud attempts nearly doubled year-on-year. And across the continent, the GSMA reports that the vast majority of mobile money fraud is still detected because a customer picks up the phone, not because a system flags it. Orca Fraud, a Cape Town startup monitoring $5 billion in monthly transactions, argues the fix isn't better tools at individual companies. It's shared intelligence between them.
News
+2
Mar 23, 2026
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5 min read
Watch List: Five SA Tech Plays To Watch This Week
A WhatsApp-native ride platform, a downloadable health engine, web apps tackling trust and a hardware-meets-business-model solar play – unique SA tech to watch this week
News
+2
Mar 16, 2026
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6 min read
Optasia's First JSE Results: 76% Revenue Growth, 432 Million Users, and an Answer to the Exit Question
Optasia has delivered its maiden full-year results since listing on the JSE in November 2025. Revenue surged 76% to $265 million. Adjusted EBITDA hit $115 million. The user base passed 432 million across 38 countries. And the default rate on $5.5 billion in distributed value held at 1.2%. For an ecosystem that has been asking whether the JSE can support tech listings, this is the strongest answer so far.
News
+2
Mar 16, 2026
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5 min read
It's Not Who You Are, It's Who You're Paying: How Discovery Bank Cut EFT Fraud by 80%
Discovery Bank has reduced EFT fraud by 80% since October 2025, using an AI system that monitors 9.5 million data events daily and does something most fraud tools don't: it analyses the beneficiary, not just the sender. If people like you don't normally pay that recipient, or if that recipient has been flagged across Discovery's client base, the system intervenes. Medium risk gets a warning. High risk gets blocked.
News
+1
Mar 11, 2026
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5 min read
Yazi Raises First Institutional Round at R30M Valuation With 80% of Its Leads Coming From AI Search
South African WhatsApp research platform Yazi has closed its first institutional funding round at a R30 million ($1.6M) pre-money valuation, led by 3 Capital Ventures, the early-stage fund spun out of Allan Gray. Revenue grew 2.5x last year, 65% of it is now foreign-denominated, and the client list includes Old Mutual, Discovery, Capitec, Pick n Pay, and Ipsos. But the detail that should make every founder pay attention: 80% of inbound leads now come through AI search, with ChatGPT and Gemini recommending Yazi to people looking for WhatsApp research tools.
News
+1
Feb 18, 2026
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3 min read
Africa AI Adoption Is Rising & South Africa Is Leading The Charge
Microsoft’s latest data shows South Africa leading AI adoption across Africa’s emerging tech markets
News
+1
Feb 12, 2026
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2 min read
Amazon Also Moves Into AI Content Licensing & Publishers Get Paid
Amazon is reportedly building a marketplace for licensing publisher content to AI companies. Here’s why it matters for the future of media
News
+1
Feb 6, 2026
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3 min read
Microsoft's New Content Marketplace Lets Publishers Earn Money from AI Bots
Microsoft’s new content marketplace will pay publishers when AI uses their work. Here’s how it works and why it matters
News
+1
Feb 3, 2026
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2 min read
This Is What South Africans Are Using AI For In 2026
New Google and Ipsos research shows South Africans are adopting AI faster than the global average, using it mainly for learning, work support and career decisions
