Governance/Regulation/Legislation

Malta launches national AI literacy programme for residents

(DigWatch) Malta has launched AI for All, a free national AI literacy programme for Maltese citizens and residents with an active eID account. The initiative is led by the Malta Digital Innovation Authority, with the educational programme developed by the University of Malta. According to organisers, the programme is intended to help participants understand AI capabilities, limitations, and responsible use in everyday life, education, and work. – https://dig.watch/updates/malta-ai-for-all-ai-literacy-programme

Security and Surveillance

Scaling Intelligence: The Security Foundations Beneath America’s AI Ambitions Are Cracking

(Vinh X. Nguyen – Council on Foreign Relations) Two bolts of lightning have struck the cybersecurity landscape in six months. In November 2025, Anthropic disclosed that Chinese state-sponsored actors had used its Claude model to run a largely automated cyberespionage campaign; the AI performed 80 to 90 percent of the work across roughly thirty targets. In April 2026, the same company revealed that its Mythos model had autonomously discovered thousands of previously unknown vulnerabilities in every major operating system and browser—a capability the company deemed significant enough to withhold from general release. Between strikes, the steady rain has begun. The rain is AI itself—diffuse, constant, soaking every institution. Much of it nourishes science, software, and defense. But the same rain falls on weakened ground. CrowdStrike documented an 89 percent year-over-year increase in AI-enabled adversary operations. Mozilla’s application of Mythos to Firefox surfaced 271 vulnerabilities in a single evaluation that would have taken elite researchers years to find. Governments and boardrooms are patching, monitoring, and reinforcing. But the harder question is whether the United States can scale what it intends to build with confidence that the ground beneath it will bear the weight. Leadership in AI will not be decided by who trains the largest models. It will be decided by who can deploy them most deeply into the systems that generate advantage, and that depends on whether the foundations can withstand what is now being asked of them. –  https://www.cfr.org/articles/scaling-intelligence-the-security-foundations-beneath-americas-ai-ambitions-are-cracking

Poland shifts away from Signal following cyberattacks on officials’ accounts

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Poland has instructed government officials to stop using Signal for sensitive communications and move to a state-developed alternative. The decision follows repeated cyberattacks targeting Signal accounts belonging to politicians, military personnel, and public servants. Officials believe the campaigns are linked to Russian-backed APT groups. The attacks did not break Signal’s encryption but instead targeted users through account compromise and social engineering tactics. In one scenario, attackers impersonate Signal support staff or automated security bots, warning users about suspicious activity and tricking them into sharing verification codes or PINs, which allows full account takeover. Another method uses malicious QR codes or links that secretly connect an attacker-controlled device to the victim’s account. Once linked, attackers can silently access private chats, group messages, and conversation history. – https://securityaffairs.com/192381/intelligence/poland-shifts-away-from-signal-following-cyberattacks-on-officials-accounts.html

Massive MENA cybercrime Operation Ramz disrupts infrastructure and arrests 201 suspects

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) INTERPOL coordinated Operation Ramz across the Middle East and North Africa, leading to 201 arrests and identifying 382 additional suspects. ”A first-of-its-kind cybercrime operation in the MENA region has led to the arrest of 201 individuals, with a further 382 suspects identified.” reads the press release published by INTERPOL. “Thirteen countries from the Middle East and North Africa took part in Operation Ramz (October 2025 – 28 February 2026) which aimed to investigate and disrupt malicious infrastructure, identify and arrest suspects, and prevent future losses.” – https://securityaffairs.com/192357/cyber-crime/massive-mena-cybercrime-operation-ramz-disrupts-infrastructure-and-arrests-201-suspects.html

UK regulator updates online safety guidance on AI-generated intimate imagery

(DigWatch) Ofcom has announced proposed measures intended to strengthen protections against illegal intimate image abuse online, including AI-generated explicit deepfakes and non-consensual image sharing. The UK regulator said it is updating its Illegal Content Codes to recommend that certain online platforms use automated detection technologies to identify illegal intimate images. According to Ofcom, hash matching systems convert images into digital identifiers that can help platforms detect repeated uploads of harmful content. Ofcom specifically referenced the StopNCII database as a recommended tool for platforms implementing the technology. – https://dig.watch/updates/uk-regulator-updates-online-safety-guidance-on-ai-generated-intimate-imagery

Frontiers

South Korea expands industrial policy support for AI manufacturing technologies

(DigWatch) South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources announced plans to establish an industrial growth fund to support manufacturing AI transformation and other industrial policy initiatives over the next three years. According to the ministry, private banks managing government research and development funds pledged combined anchor investments of 1.1 trillion won for the initiative, including 620 billion won from Hana Bank. The ministry said additional private-sector investment is expected to support the fund. – https://dig.watch/updates/south-korea-expands-industrial-policy-support-for-ai-manufacturing-technologies

China pushes deeper AI integration with advanced manufacturing

(DigWatch) Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called for deeper integration between AI and advanced manufacturing as China seeks to accelerate the intelligent upgrading of its industrial economy. Li made the remarks during an inspection tour of technology companies in Beijing, where he was briefed on innovation and industrial development in intelligent robotics. He described intelligent robots as a key vehicle for integrating AI with advanced manufacturing. – https://dig.watch/updates/china-pushes-deeper-ai-integration-with-advanced-manufacturing

European Commission backs €5 billion fund for AI and deep tech

(DigWatch) The European Commission has announced that the European Innovation Council Fund Board has selected EQT as the preferred investment adviser and fund manager for the new €5 billion Scaleup Europe Fund, an initiative designed to support European deep-tech scaleups. According to the Commission, the fund will be the largest initiative of its kind launched in Europe and forms a central pillar of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy. It aims to provide late-stage growth capital for European companies operating in strategic technology sectors, including AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, clean technology, biotech, medical technologies, space and dual-use technologies. – https://dig.watch/updates/european-commission-backs-e5-billion-fund-for-ai-and-deep-tech

New Google programme targets environmental risks with frontier AI

(DigWatch) Google DeepMind has launched an accelerator programme in the Asia Pacific aimed at helping startups, research teams and nonprofits use AI to address environmental challenges. The three-month AI for the Planet programme will support organisations working on issues linked to nature, climate, agriculture, energy and other environmental risks. Google said selected teams will receive expert mentorship, tailored support and guidance from Google AI specialists on integrating frontier AI and science AI models into their projects or products. – https://dig.watch/updates/environmental-risks-with-frontier-ai