Hard Numbers

45: Fewer than 45% of eligible Iraqis voted in the country’s national election last weekend, authorities said. That’s less than in Iraq’s three previous national elections, but better than the average turnout in a typical US midterm contest.

14: Developed countries generate 60 percent of global GDP, but only contain around 14 percent of the world’s population. #NotGoingToLast

5.6: Demand for air conditioners is expected to rise to 5.6 billion units by 2050, up from about 1.6 billion today, according to the latest estimates from the International Energy Agency. Without big improvements in energy efficiency, by mid-century, AC units and fans could consume as much electricity as all of India and China do now.

1/2: Restrictions on cross-border data flows shave around half a percent off European GDP, according to the Center for International Governance. A reminder that privacy protection comes with a price tag.

More from GZERO Media

​Aubrey and Taylor Endicott cast their votes while their children, from left, Sterling, 5, Adelaide, 3, and Lincoln, 7, wait patiently under the voting tables at Shawnee Heights Middle School on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
Aubrey and Taylor Endicott cast their votes while their children, from left, Sterling, 5, Adelaide, 3, and Lincoln, 7, wait patiently under the voting tables at Shawnee Heights Middle School on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
USA Today Network via Reuters

For the US and other countries with elected leaders, Tuesday’s election represents a referendum on the future of democracy. Will it come away battered, or will it remain intact?

The Meta logo is seen on a mobile phone with the Chinese flag in the background in this photo illustration.
Photo by Jaap Arriens / SIpa USA via Reuters

But because of Meta’s openness, Chinese researchers were able to develop their own AI model — for military use — using one of Meta’s Llama models.

An FPV drone with an attached portable grenade launcher is seen during a test flight conducted by Ukrainian servicemen of the 'Bulava' Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Unit of the Separate Presidential Brigade at their position near a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Oct. 11, 2024.

REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Ukraine is reportedly using new AI-powered drones to fly explosives toward Russian targets.

Pens for the diabetes drug Ozempic sit on a production line to be packaged at the Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk's site in Hillerod, Denmark.
REUTERS/Tom Little

Armed with a bunch of Ozempic money, the Novo Nordisk Foundation — along with Denmark’s Export and Investment fund — is bankrolling a new AI supercomputer called Gefion, which launched on Oct. 23 and is run by a new company called the Danish Centre for AI Innovation.

DALL-E

While neither Vice President Kamala Harris nor former President Donald Trump has given much attention to artificial intelligence on the campaign trail — and AI hasn’t completely disrupted the election process as some experts feared — there are still important questions surrounding AI and the election.

US Capitol building at in the morning sun. Washington DC, USA The US Capitol building in the early morning at sunrise.

While eyes around the globe will be on the US presidency this Election Day, there are consequential races further down the ballot that will determine how much power Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will wield.