Governance and Legislation

Switzerland to begin crypto data sharing in 2026

(DigWatch – 9 June 2025) Switzerland’s Federal Council has approved a bill to enable automatic exchange of crypto asset information with 74 partner countries. The bill, announced on 6 June, is expected to come into effect in January 2026, with the first data exchanges likely to begin in 2027. The move aims to improve tax transparency and crack down on cross-border tax evasion. Countries set to receive Switzerland’s crypto data include all EU member states, the United Kingdom, and most G20 nations. – https://dig.watch/updates/switzerland-to-begin-crypto-data-sharing-in-2026

UK judges issue warning on unchecked AI use by lawyers

(DigWatch – 9 June 2025) A senior UK judge has warned that lawyers may face prosecution if they continue citing fake legal cases generated by AI without verifying their accuracy. High Court justice Victoria Sharp called the misuse of AI a threat to justice and public trust, after lawyers in two recent cases relied on false material created by generative tools. – https://dig.watch/updates/uk-judges-issue-warning-on-unchecked-ai-use-by-lawyers

UK teams with tech giants on AI training

(DigWatch – 9 June 2025) The UK government is launching a nationwide AI skills initiative aimed at both workers and schoolchildren, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer announcing partnerships with major tech companies including Google, Microsoft and Amazon. The £187 million TechFirst programme will provide AI education to one million secondary students and train 7.5 million workers over the next five years. – https://dig.watch/updates/uk-teams-with-tech-giants-on-ai-training

Schools in the EU start adapting to the AI Act

(DigWatch – 8 June 2025) European schools are taking their first concrete steps to integrate AI in line with the EU AI Act, with educators and experts urging a measured, strategic approach to compliance. At a recent conference on AI in education, school leaders and policymakers explored how to align AI adoption with the incoming regulations. With key provisions of the EU AI Act already in effect and full enforcement coming by August 2026, the pressure is on schools to ensure their use of AI is transparent, fair, and accountable. The law classifies AI tools by risk level, with those used to evaluate or monitor students subject to stricter oversight. – https://dig.watch/updates/schools-in-the-eu-start-adapting-to-the-ai-act

AI for Safer Food: Promise and Challenges

(Basu Chandola – Observer Research Foundation) Access to safe, nutritious, and affordable food is essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—especially its objective to ‘end hunger, achieve food security. and improved nutrition.’ However, unsafe food has been linked to causing over 200 different types of diseases, with nearly 600 million people succumbing to illness after consuming unsafe food every year. The theme of this year’s World Food Safety Day—‘Food Safety: Science in Action’—highlights the vital role of scientific knowledge in ensuring safe food for all. Against this backdrop, this commentary explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can become a powerful tool to strengthen food safety systems globally and address the implementation challenges associated with such apparatus. Conventional food safety systems are struggling to keep up with sophisticated, globalised food systems and the emerging risks they present. While surveillance gaps continue to widen, AI-enabled technology is driving new methodologies in detecting, tracing, and preventing contamination. – https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/ai-for-safer-food-promise-and-challenges

Geostrategies

Semiconductor innovation drives AI chip boom

(DigWatch – 7 June 2025) The global AI chip design market is set for explosive growth, with its value projected to rise from USD 73.87 billion in 2024 to USD 468.9 billion by 2032. This rapid expansion, driven by a 25.98% compound annual growth rate, reflects rising demand for AI in everyday devices, cloud computing, and industrial automation. – https://dig.watch/updates/semiconductor-innovation-drives-ai-chip-boom

Saudi Arabia’s AI ambition, and what it means for the United States

(Mohammed Soliman – Middle East Institute – 5 June 2025) A day before Air Force One touched down in Riyadh to kick off US President Donald Trump’s three-country tour of the Gulf, Saudi Arabia made a pivotal announcement. The kingdom, long synonymous with oil, revealed a major investment in artificial intelligence (AI) through its newly launched company, HumAIn. This pivot, explicitly timed to coincide with Trump’s visit starting on May 13, and in anticipation of the signing of multiple tech deals between US and Gulf firms during the trip, signaled a profound shift in US-Saudi relations — from a traditional oil-for-security alliance to a partnership centered on AI and digital infrastructure. Saudi Arabia’s AI ambition is anchored in Vision 2030, the country’s strategy for economic diversification and social reform. Unveiled in 2016, Vision 2030 aims inter alia to reduce the kingdom’s dependency on oil, which has historically accounted for more than 40% of its GDP and 80% of export revenue. In place of petroleum exports, Riyadh envisions a digital economy powered by AI — positioning the kingdom as a global hub for compute infrastructure, the essential backbone for training models and powering inference at scale. Saudi Arabia’s strategy is to become the prime backend provider of compute-as-a-service for emerging markets across Africa and Asia. – https://www.mei.edu/publications/saudi-arabias-ai-ambition-and-what-it-means-united-states

Security, Defense, Intelligence, and Warfare

UK’s Royal Navy tests underwater robot to protect critical undersea infrastructure

(Interesting Engineering – 9 June 2025) The UK Navy has started testing an advanced underwater robot designed to protect critical undersea cables and pipelines by identifying and neutralizing potential sabotage threats. The remotely operated vehicle (ROV), developed to tackle sabotage threats and unexploded ordnance (UXO) which pose significant risks to both ships and the divers assigned to handle them, was adapted by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/uks-royal-navy-tests-underwater-robot-to-protect-critical-undersea-infrastructure

Nvidia and FCA open AI sandbox for UK fintechs

(DigWatch – 9 June 2025) Financial firms across the UK will soon be able to experiment with AI in a new regulatory sandbox, launched by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in partnership with Nvidia. Known as the Supercharged Sandbox, it offers a secure testing ground for firms wanting to explore AI tools without needing their advanced computing resources. – https://dig.watch/updates/nvidia-and-fca-open-ai-sandbox-for-uk-fintechs

Anthropic debuts AI tools for US national security

(DigWatch – 8 June 2025) Anthropic has launched a new line of AI models, Claude Gov, explicitly tailored for US national security operations. Built with direct input from government clients, top-tier agencies already use the models. These classified-use models were developed with enhanced safety testing and are optimised for handling sensitive material, including improved handling of classified data, rare language proficiency, and defence-specific document comprehension. – https://dig.watch/updates/anthropic-debuts-ai-tools-for-us-national-security

Move faster, share things: A former NATO transformation chief previews the summit

(Patrick Tucker – Defense One – 7 June 2025) American reticence and Russian aggression have created a sense of urgency for the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague, where leaders plan to redouble efforts toward digital transformation and multi-domain operations. That’s according to Philippe Lavigne, a retired French general who served as former chief of staff of the French Air and Space Force and a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander for transformation. Defense One sat down with Lavigne as part of a series of podcasts ahead of the 2025 Globsec Forum, taking place in Prague from June 12 to 14. – https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2025/06/move-faster-share-things-former-nato-transformation-chief-previews-summit/405904/?oref=d1-homepage-top-story

Frontiers

Quantum system beats classical AI in real test, powers greener supercomputing future

(Quantum Insider – 9 June 2025) In a major leap toward the future of computing, researchers have shown that even small-scale quantum processors can outperform classical algorithms in machine learning tasks. The finding offers a glimpse into a faster, greener era within the relatively new research field of Quantum Machine Learning, a space gaining momentum across both academia and industry. The new study combines quantum computing and machine learning, two of the most disruptive technologies of our time. – https://interestingengineering.com/science/quantum-ai-supercomputer-breakthrough

Robot hands with human-like grip get Nvidia backing to replace manual work worldwide

(Interesting Engineering – 9 June 2025) A South Korean robotics firm advances automation goals with robotic hands, aiming to transform manual tasks across industries worldwide. Tesollo has now been accepted into the Nvidia Inception Program, which helps startups accelerate technical innovation and business growth. Tesollo’s DELTO Gripper 3-Finger (DG-3F) handles objects of various shapes and materials with a single, precise gripper. Expanding into the fast-growing humanoid robot market, Tesollo has introduced the DELTO Gripper 5-Finger (DG-5F), engineered to replicate human hand dexterity with enhanced control and flexibility. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/human-like-robot-hands-nvidia

China starts producing world-first non-binary AI chips for aviation, manufacturing

(Interesting Engineering – 9 June 2025) China has started mass production of the world’s first non-binary chips, adding this new technology to important industries like aviation and manufacturing. Spearheaded by Professor Li Hongge and his team at Beihang University in Beijing, this project resolves key problems in older systems by blending binary logic with random or probability-based logic. In doing so, it has enabled unprecedented fault tolerance and power efficiency, while smoothly sidestepping US chip restrictions. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/china-pioneers-a-radical-new-type-of-ai-chip

Orbit supercharges Spot robot dog with AI to predict failures before they strike

(Interesting Engineering – 9 June 2025) Advancing predictive industrial maintenance, Boston Dynamics has introduced the latest version of Orbit—its intelligent automation platform designed to work seamlessly with the Spot robot. This upgraded system allows operators to detect, diagnose, and act on potential issues before they escalate, transforming how facilities are managed. Orbit creates a real-time digital twin of industrial environments, identifying everything from overheating motors to air leaks and regulatory risks. According to the Massachusetts-based company, the platform offers a powerful preventive maintenance and operational visibility solution with Spot’s autonomous inspections and consistent data capture. In November 2024, Boston Dynamics upgraded Spot to use foundation models to better understand and navigate its environment, enhancing task execution with improved safety, efficiency, and contextual awareness. – https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/spot-robot-orbit-platform

Science in Action: Biosensing for Food Safety

(Antara Ghosal Singh – Observer Research Foundation – 6 June 2025) The availability of safe food is crucial for maintaining both nutritional well-being and overall health security. Estimates indicate that 1 in 10 people fall ill after consuming contaminated food, and globally, 420,000 people die each year due to unsafe food consumption. Food contaminated by bacteria, viruses, and chemicals places an undue economic burden on the population. According to the World Bank, the cost of treatment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is pegged at US$ 15 billion. Furthermore, food supply chains can be protected by robust surveillance and monitoring mechanisms that limit foodborne disease outbreaks, maintain consumer confidence, and protect trade interests. Traditional methods of detecting foodborne pathogens and other contaminants are often time-consuming and demand technologies that are rapid, highly sensitive, and hold a point-of-use application. Biosensors that utilise CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) technology stand as a suitable alternative offering immense potential for research and development (R&D), and scalability, thus ensuring food safety. – https://www.orfonline.org/research/in-chinese-discussions-of-pakistan-balochistan-not-kashmir-dominates