The risk of continental spread of Ebola looms as Nigeria becomes the fourth African country to report a confirmed case of the deadly virus since the outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in mid-May.

Caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, it has since become the world’s second-deadliest Ebola outbreak ever and the fastest-growing on record. It has killed 4,803 patients, nearly half of all the 9,876 confirmed cases in the eight provinces of DRC’s eastern region as of October 23​

The real scale of deaths is likely much higher, since community transmission of the virus had already begun in DRC’s Ituri province by mid-February, three months before it was detected and officially declared an outbreak on May 15.​

Neighboring Uganda, which is backing armed groups in Ituri, undermining the already delayed and severely underfunded health response, also reported its first case on May 15. However, after two deaths and 20 confirmed infections, the health ministry declared Uganda Ebola-free in late July. The WHO also certified this in late August, after no new cases were confirmed for 42 days.​

However, its Ebola-free status has now come under question with the first case in Nigeria. The 42-year-old patient is a Ugandan national and Swiss citizen. She is the wife of a Swiss diplomat at its embassy in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, where she resides.​

After a two-and-a-half-week-long vacation in Uganda, she and her husband returned to Abuja on October 3. Four days later, she fell ill. Initially suspected of Malaria, she was treated at two private hospitals before being tested positive for Ebola and isolated on October 20.​

Uganda makes a false claim

Soon after she was tested positive in Nigeria, the Ugandan health ministry claimed that the patient had traveled to the DRC.

However, the “information supplied to WHO did not include [her] travel” to any country other than Uganda, WHO representative in Nigeria Pavel Ursu said on October 22.

“So far, there ​is no validated information that this case traveled to DRC,” added Wessam Mankoula, the Head of Health Emergencies of the continent’s highest health authority, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).​

Then on October 23, the Swiss foreign ministry said explicitly that the patient had not traveled to the DRC, directly contradicting Uganda’s claim, indicating that she was infected in Uganda.

Uganda, meanwhile, still maintains that it has no confirmed Ebola cases. The WHO and Africa CDC are now examining a hypothesis that she may have contracted the virus at the airport in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, where a Kenyan businessman, infected during his travels in the DRC, was also present while she was boarding her flight to Abuja.

The Kenyan businessman had spent seven years in the DRC. While traveling on business, he had already fallen ill in September and was treated in multiple hospitals, but was not diagnosed with Ebola. Early symptoms of Ebola are often similar to other diseases in the region, including Malaria. He was reportedly provided antibiotics and sent home at one of the hospitals.​

An illegal border crossing

The man in question traveled by road to Uganda from the conflict-ridden, mineral-rich, Ebola-affected province of North Kivu, parts of which are occupied by the Rwandan army and its proxy, the M23, which Uganda also supports, according to the UN.​

It is unclear how the Kenyan businessman reached Kampala from North Kivu. Soon after the outbreak was declared, Uganda had closed the border with DRC, except for humanitarian trucks. Mankoula said he had crossed the border illegally.

In Kampala, he boarded a flight to Nairobi on October 3 from Entebbe Airport, through which the Uganda-born Swiss citizen who later tested positive in Nigeria was also passing that day to catch her flight to Abuja.

“Has there been any touch or contact between two cases [him and the case in Nigeria] at the airport at the same time?” This is one of the theories that is currently under investigation,” said Mankoula of the Africa CDC.  

When the Kenyan businessman landed in Nairobi, he was already ill. The family member who picked him up from the airport drove him straight to the Nairobi Hospital, where he died two days later. Eight others who came into contact were also infected and isolated. They include four health workers and four family members, one of whom died later on October 23.

Even as health authorities examine whether he was also the source from whom the Nigerian case contracted the virus,  virologist Marion Koopmans, who is also a member of the WHO’s Ebola emergency committee, has cast doubt on this theory.

“I think that is very speculative unless there is evidence of sharing the same ​space in a manner that could explain that. Random presence at the same location, a large airport, is not a supported epidemiological link by any standard of what we currently know,” she said.

If he was not the source, that could mean Ugandan authorities are either not revealing or are unaware of potential cases in the country. Even if he was the source, questions remain about Uganda’s Ebola-free status, as others he may have come into contact with – either in the airport or on his way to it in Kampala –  could also have contracted the virus.

Nigeria at risk of community transmission

Either way, Nigeria is now at risk of community transmission. The Nigerian case landed on October 3 in Abuja, at one of the busiest airports in West Africa. Only on October 20, 13 days after developing symptoms, was she tested positive for Ebola and isolated.​

Amid fears that the virus may have infected others who may have come into contact with her during this period, especially health workers, Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said that authorities were tracing all 44 contacts. “We are trying to contain it so it doesn’t go out to the communities. Hopefully, it won’t get to that,” he added.​

“When we identified at-risk countries, Nigeria was not part of this list. It is now. That list would have to be redrawn, and North and Southern Africa could also be at ​risk,” said Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa CDC, adding, “We need to consider that no one is safe today.”

• Infrastructure startup Hyperbolic raised a $30 million round led by Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan's VC firm.
• The startup connects companies with neoclouds and makes their AI chips easier to use.
• Hyperbolic also wants to let customers resell unused computing power.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is backing an infrastructure startup that has raised $30 million to help companies rent compute across hundreds of different AI cloud providers.

Hyperbolic, an AI chip marketplace and software startup, has raised $50 million to date.

Walden Catalyst, the venture capital firm founded by Tan and former Samsung president Young Sohn, led the Series A-1 funding round. Dell Technologies Capital, General Catalyst, Vista Equity Partners, and Cambium Capital also participated.

As companies scramble for computing power, one challenge is that AI cloud providers, or neoclouds, use a mix of different chips, networking, and software. Hyperbolic helps customers find compute resources from different providers and creates software that makes it easier to use them all, rather than dealing with each one separately.

"It's been a really fragmented market that makes the customer experience really painful," said 31-year-old founder and CEO Jasper Zhang.

Hyperbolic also wants to let customers resell compute that they're paying for but no longer need.

The four-year-old startup works closely with about 30 neoclouds, including WhiteFiber and Vector Core Compute. It says it has roughly $200 million worth of compute connected to its software annually.

Hyperbolic previously raised a $12 million Series A round in 2024, led by Variant and Polychain Capital, following a $7 million seed round earlier that year. The company expects to have 50 employees by the end of the year and will use its funding to expand software tools for managing AI chips across different neoclouds.

Zhang said the company is aiming for $150 million in annual recurring revenue by the end of the year and is already breaking even. More than 250,000 developers, including teams at Modal, Higgsfield, and Daytona, use Hyperbolic.

Before founding the company, Zhang worked as a quantitative researcher at Citadel Securities. As Wall Street explores ways to financialize AI chips, he said his startup's plans to let companies resell unused compute could help pave the way for a futures market.

Here's a look at the pitch deck Hyperbolic used to raise its $30 million Series A-1. Slides have been redacted so that the deck can be shared publicly.

• Simile raised $300 million to build models that simulate consumer behavior.
• CEO Joon Sung Park said users can define an audience and ask simulated consumers questions.
• Park said CVS and companies in finance and entertainment are already working with Simile.

Companies could soon have a new way to find out your shopping habits — by asking your digital clone.

Joon Sung Park, Co-Founder & CEO of Simile, an AI startup, told show host Molly O'Shea on the Sourcery podcast released on Monday that the company is building simulations of people that businesses can quiz about everything from products to marketing campaigns.

Park said the company is "creating a foundation model of human behavior that basically can take as input a description of a person or a group of people and then simulate what these people might do in different contexts," Park said.

"So they get access to this web interface where they can basically come in and define two things," Park added of existing users. "They can say who they want to talk to and what questions they want to ask. And really they can ask anything, and right now they can ask any number of questions."

Park said Simile raised $300 million in total at a $2 billion valuation.

Simile’s pitch comes as retailers turn to AI to get shoppers to spend. Amazon and Walmart have rolled out AI shopping assistants that answer questions, compare products, and recommend items, while retailers use customer data to personalize what shoppers see. Executives at both companies have said their AI tools are helping boost online sales.

Park said CVS has worked with Simile to better understand consumers, including their responses to store layouts and messaging. The startup also works with financial institutions and entertainment companies, Park said.

Simile maintains simulated panels for different industries and collects additional data when customers want to understand a specific population. Park said Simile's partnerships with organizations, including Gallup, which have access to actual humans who have agreed to participate, provide it with data from more than 40 million people globally. He said the company also uses behavioral information, such as transaction and mobility data, to train its models.

“If we can create simulations of people and be able to ask any questions at any time," Park said, "That becomes a superpower for these companies."