Governance/Regulation/Legislation
Council of the EU pushes for human-centred AI in education systems
(DigWatch) The Council of the European Union has approved conclusions calling for an ethical, safe and human-centred approach to AI in education, stressing that teachers should remain at the heart of the learning process as AI tools become more widely used across schools and universities. The Council said the conclusions focus on strengthening digital skills and AI literacy, guaranteeing inclusion and fairness, empowering teachers, and supporting the well-being of both teachers and learners. It also noted that the relationship between AI and teaching is being addressed for the first time in the EU education policy. – https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/05/11/ai-in-education-council-calls-for-human-centred-approach/
Children’s protection online is high priority for 92% of Europeans
(DigWatch) A growing majority of Europeans believe stronger online protections for children and young people should remain a top policy priority, according to new findings from the Special Eurobarometer on the Digital Decade. The European Commission said 92% of Europeans consider further action to protect children and young people online a top priority, reflecting sustained concern over the impact of digital platforms on younger users. – https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/factpages/childrens-protection-online-high-priority-92-europeans
WEF report says HR leaders will shape the success of AI transformation
(DigWatch) AI is reshaping how companies organise labour, distribute decision-making and redesign internal operations, making workforce strategy a central part of AI adoption. Writing for the World Economic Forum, Al-Futtaim Group HR director David Henderson argues that many AI projects fail because organisations focus too heavily on technology while neglecting the need to change work, accountability, and operational processes. – https://dig.watch/updates/wef-report-says-hr-leaders-will-shape-the-success-of-ai-transformation
Will AI Produce the Next Great Divergence?
(Sarosh Nagar, David Eaves – Lawfare) In the 1300s, the Black Death swept across Europe, killing 30 to 50 percent of the continent’s population. The loss of nearly one-third of the continent’s labor supply caused wages to rise across Europe, butWestern and Eastern Europe differed in their response. In Eastern Europe, Eastern lords used their power to cap workers’ rising pay, while Western lords did not. As a consequence, in Western Europe the growing power of workers weakened feudalism and opened the door to the modern economy, while serfdom grew stronger in the East. This example, taken from Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson’s book “Why Nations Fail,” is a textbook case of how a so-called critical juncture—a shock like the plague—magnified a small difference in institutions in a way that profoundly altered societies. Today, Acemoglu and Robinson’s lesson has relevance beyond the plague—it can be applied to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Artificial intelligence—and the subsequent technologies it may underpin, including biological research, robotics, and more—present a shock that may be akin to the next Industrial Revolution. If models improve at the rate they have for the past three years, they could accelerate scientific research, reshape the economy, and more. In this view, AI will certainly present another critical juncture. Yet, despite the growing consensus that AI will be transformative, few have analyzed how AI interacts with institutions. Some literature, for example, does analyze how artificial general intelligence (AGI) may strengthen or erode state legitimacy, highlighting the need for a middle path. Other literature highlights how AI might empower public infrastructure. Yet there is little work analyzing how AI may be a critical juncture and interact with existing institutional structures. Furthermore, if governments—national, state, and local—are not careful, they risk ending up on the wrong side of this juncture, locked out of the technology’s benefits and subject to its harms. – https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/will-ai-produce-the-next-great-divergence
Call for Good Practice Cases | When AI Meets Design
(DigWatch) UNESCO’s Regional Office for East Asia has launched a global call for good practice cases on how AI and design are being used to support culture, creativity, education, sustainability and social inclusion. The call invites submissions from organisations, institutions, practitioners, educators and innovators using AI together with design approaches to create positive outcomes in cultural and creative sectors. UNESCO says the initiative is looking for practical examples that support culture, creativity, livelihoods, learning, sustainability and social inclusion. – https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/call-good-practice-cases-when-ai-meets-design?hub=701
Health New Zealand issues guidance on use of generative AI and large language models
(DigWatch) Health New Zealand has published new guidance on generative AI and large language models for healthcare settings. The guidance states that the National Artificial Intelligence and Algorithm Expert Advisory Group evaluates the use of generative AI tools and LLMs and recommends caution in their application across Health New Zealand environments. It notes that further data is needed to assess risks and benefits in the New Zealand health context. – https://dig.watch/updates/health-new-zealand-issues-guidance-on-use-of-generative-ai-and-large-language-models
New IRIS report links AI narratives to civic action
(DigWatch) A report by International Resource for Impact and Storytelling examines how organisations worldwide are adapting to AI and algorithm-driven platforms. It focuses on how technology and storytelling are being used to support democracy and counter harmful narratives. The study draws on insights from 10 organisations, identifying key approaches such as co-opting technology, countering surveillance and disinformation, and innovating in storytelling. These strategies aim to reshape narratives and challenge authoritarian pressures. – https://dig.watch/updates/new-iris-report-links-ai-narratives-to-civic-action
Geostrategies
How Nuclear Deterrence Can Inform Europe’s AI Strategy
(Guy Ward-Jackson, Keegan McBride – Lawfare) Two months ago, leaders gathered in India to discuss the future of artificial intelligence (AI). One question was of particular importance: How can states retain their agency and sovereignty in the emerging AI-enabled geopolitical order? For Europe, there is a paradox at the heart of this question. Europe must diffuse AI across its economies, public services, and governments, or else it will fall behind those that do—with major economic and security consequences. Yet becoming a competitor at the AI frontier—which is dominated mostly by the U.S. and China—is out of reach due to the staggering capital, energy, and research and development required. Europe is therefore caught between a rock and a hard place: the economic reality of being unable to credibly compete at the AI frontier, alongside the geopolitical reality that AI is a fundamental component of future military, economic, and state capabilities. The combination of these elements renders Europe strategically vulnerable. – https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-nuclear-deterrence-can-inform-europe-s-ai-strategy
Security and Surveillance
Attackers exploit cPanel CVE-2026-41940 to deploy Filemanager Backdoor
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Cybercriminals are actively exploiting the critical cPanel vulnerability CVE-2026-41940 (CVSS score of 9.3) to deploy a backdoor called Filemanager on compromised servers. cPanel is a widely used web hosting control panel that lets users manage websites and servers through a graphical interface instead of command-line tools. Cybersecurity experts at watchTowr first disclosed the flaw earlier this week and released a tool to help defenders identify vulnerable hosts in their estates. “As we stated above, in-the-wild exploitation has already begun, according to KnownHost.” reads the advisory by watchTowr. “Therefore, we’re releasing our Detection Artifact Generator to enable defenders to identify vulnerable hosts in their estates.” – https://securityaffairs.com/192013/cyber-crime/attackers-exploit-cpanel-cve-2026-41940-to-deploy-filemanager-backdoor.html
Android banking Trojan TrickMo evolves using TON network for C2
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Security researchers at ThreatFabric have recently identified a new version of TrickMo, a dangerous Android banking trojan that shows how malware operators are focusing less on flashy new features and more on improving stealth, flexibility, and long-term control over infected devices. “The variant is a direct evolution of the previously documented TrickMo: the on-device feature set is largely unchanged, but the platform underneath has been deliberately re-engineered for stealth, resilience and operator reach.” reads the report published by ThreatFabric. “The most visible change is at the network layer, where the bot’s command-and-control traffic has been moved off the conventional internet entirely and onto The Open Network (TON).” – https://securityaffairs.com/192003/malware/android-banking-trojan-trickmo-evolves-using-ton-network-for-c2.html
Mapping cybercrime: How can the Cybercrime Atlas Cosmos help disrupt digital crime?
(DigWatch) Cybercrime Atlas has launched Cosmos, an open-source platform designed to map global cybercrime networks and strengthen cooperation among defenders, investigators, prosecutors and policymakers. Hosted by the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Cybersecurity, Cybercrime Atlas aims to build a shared understanding of cybercriminal ecosystems at a time when ransomware, fraud and illicit digital services are becoming increasingly organised and industrialised. – https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/05/mapping-cybercrime-how-a-shared-ecosystem-view-can-help-disrupt-digital-crime/
Too Dangerous to Deploy: Anthropic’s Mythos and What Comes Next
(Teddy Nemeroff – Just Security) On April 7, Anthropic announced Mythos Preview, a frontier AI model with such potent hacking capabilities that the company deemed it too dangerous for public release. In the same statement, it also rolled out Project Glasswing, a limited release of Mythos to a select group of approximately 50 industry partners to harden cyber defenses against future AI-enabled hacking. Taken together, Mythos and Glasswing signal the speed at which new and potentially dangerous AI capabilities are coming and the challenges of mitigating their risks before they widely proliferate. Mythos is already forcing a reckoning with long unaddressed cybersecurity problems. But it is also a harbinger of the security and governance dilemmas that AI companies and governments will face in enabling the safe adoption of progressively more powerful models, including the geopolitical tensions that arise when vastly superior models are made available to only a select few. – https://www.justsecurity.org/138011/too-dangerous-anthropic-mythos/
Biometric Authentication is Easier to Fake Than You Think
(Dominique Adams – Infosecurity Magazine) Advances in generative AI have changed the economics of impersonation. Attackers no longer need to steal credentials or compromise infrastructure; they can simply pretend to be the user. Synthetic video, cloned voices, and high-quality biometric spoofs have made identity-based attacks faster, cheaper, and far more convincing. As the World Economic Forum has noted, tools to copy a voice, image, or video are now widely accessible with minimal technical skill, and attacks are rising sharply. Biometric authentication is often pitched as the fix, but it only checks whether the biometric matches, not whether there’s a real person behind it. Without liveness detection, a convincing spoof is indistinguishable from the real thing. Liveness detection closes that gap by verifying that the biometric comes from a live human interacting in real time, not a recording, render, or replay. To understand its value, it is important to look at the specific attack techniques it is designed to stop. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/blogs/biometric-authentication-fake/
Frontiers and Markets
New research initiative targets biology with quantum computing and AI
(DigWatch) Google has launched REPLIQA, a life sciences and quantum AI research programme backed by a $10 million commitment to five universities. The initiative aims to apply advanced quantum science and AI to biological research, with a long-term focus on improving understanding of human biology and health. Google Quantum AI and Google.org lead the programme and will support research into complex molecular interactions, including biological processes such as protein folding and cellular responses to new drugs. Google says classical computers often struggle to simulate such interactions accurately, while quantum technologies operate according to the same physical principles that govern molecules. – https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/quantum-computing/repliqa-quantum-computing-life-sciences/
Canada invests in AI and quantum technology firms in British Columbia
(DigWatch) Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan), announced more than C$17.3 million in funding for eight British Columbia technology companies to accelerate the commercialisation and adoption of AI and quantum technologies. Through PacifiCan, the federal government is supporting projects focused on robotics, semiconductor manufacturing, AI infrastructure, and quantum supply chains as part of a broader strategy to strengthen domestic innovation and sovereign technology capabilities. – https://dig.watch/updates/canada-invests-in-ai-and-quantum-technology-firms-in-british-columbia
Canada advances sovereign AI data centre strategy with TELUS
(DigWatch) The Canadian government and TELUS are advancing plans to develop large-scale sovereign AI infrastructure as part of Ottawa’s broader strategy to strengthen domestic compute capacity and support the country’s AI ecosystem. The initiative was announced by Evan Solomon (Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario) and focuses on a proposed AI data centre project in British Columbia designed to support researchers, businesses, and academic institutions. – https://dig.watch/updates/canada-advances-sovereign-ai-data-centre-strategy-with-telus
Report: Chinese Humanoid Robot Startup Vbot Raises USD $73M in Pre-A Funding
(AI Insider) Chinese embodied AI startup Vbot has raised about USD $73 million in a Pre-A funding round to expand robot production and develop full-size humanoid robots, according to PanDaily. The round was co-led by Oriental Fortune Capital, Huatai Zijin Investment and Fosun RZ Capital, with participation from investors including SAIC Motor’s Shangqi Capital. The funding will support mass production, offline retail expansion and development of humanoid robots and AI world models, while Vbot scales production of its robotic dog platform from 500 units to more than 2,500 units per month. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/11/report-chinese-humanoid-robot-startup-vbot-raises-usd-73m-in-pre-a-funding/
Nvidia Commits Over $40B to AI Equity Deals in 2026 Led by $30B OpenAI Investment
(AI Insider) Nvidia has already committed more than $40 billion to equity investments in AI companies in the first months of 2026, according to CNBC. The bulk comes from a single $30 billion investment in OpenAI, but the chipmaker has also announced seven multi-billion dollar deals in publicly traded companies, including up to $3.2 billion in glassmaker Corning and up to $2.1 billion in data centre operator IREN. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/11/nvidia-commits-over-40b-to-ai-equity-deals-in-2026-led-by-30b-openai-investment/
Nscale Announces $790M in Financing to Support AI Infrastructure Buildout in Norway
(AI Insider) Nscale has secured an additional $790 million in financing from a consortium of European banks including ABN AMRO, DNB, and Nordea, to support continued development of its AI data center in Narvik, Norway — the largest AI infrastructure investment in the country. The financing also includes an uncommitted accordion feature of a further $790 million to fund a 115MW expansion at the Narvik campus, and follows a recently signed agreement with Microsoft reinforcing the site’s strategic importance. The announcement builds on significant recent momentum for Nscale, including a $2 billion Series C in March 2026 and a $1.4 billion delayed draw term loan in February 2026, as the vertically integrated company moves to position itself at the forefront of global AI infrastructure. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/12/nscale-announces-790m-in-financing-to-support-ai-infrastructure-buildout-in-norway/
Cowboy Space Closes $275M to Build Its Own Rocket for AI-Powered Orbital Data Centres
(AI Insider) Cowboy Space Corporation, founded by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, has raised $275 million in a Series B led by Index Ventures at a $2 billion valuation, with participation from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Construct Capital, IVP, and ORIC. The company is building orbital data centres to meet surging AI compute demand — and developing its own rocket to launch them. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/12/cowboy-space-closes-275m-to-build-its-own-rocket-for-ai-powered-orbital-data-centres/
Basata Secures $21M Series A to Deploy AI Voice Agents That Close the Medical Referral Gap
(AI Insider) Basata has raised $21 million in a Series A led by Lan Xuezhao of Basis Set Ventures, with participation from Cowboy Ventures’ Aileen Lee and Sofeon, to scale its AI-powered referral management platform for specialist medical practices. Total funding stands at $24.5 million. Founded by CEO Kaled Alhanafi, a former Lyft and Cruise executive, president Chetan Patel, a decade-long Medtronic veteran, and CTO Vivin Paliath, Basata automates the administrative bottleneck between GP referrals and specialist appointments. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/12/basata-secures-21m-series-a-to-deploy-ai-voice-agents-that-close-the-medical-referral-gap/
GGWP Raises $15M to Expand AI-Powered Game Moderation Across Asia With Cultural Intelligence Tech
(AI Insider) GGWP has closed a $15 million Series A led by Headline Asia, Smilegate, and Korea Investment Partners to scale its AI moderation platform across Japan and broader Asian markets. The company builds content moderation and community safety tools specifically designed for online gaming environments. Unlike conventional moderation systems that struggle with regional slang, tone, and context, GGWP’s platform supports over 20 languages and applies what the company calls cultural intelligence technology to detect nuanced harmful behavior across text chat, voice, usernames, and Discord communities. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/12/ggwp-raises-15m-to-expand-ai-powered-game-moderation-across-asia-with-cultural-intelligence-tech/
Nomagic and Brack.Alltron Expand Partnership to Include Vision-Language-Action Systems for AI-Driven Robotics Automation
(AI Insider) Nomagic expanded its partnership with Swiss online retailer Brack.Alltron to deploy Vision-Language-Action systems in live warehouse operations as the companies scale AI-driven robotics automation for fulfillment tasks. The expanded deployment is designed to help warehouse robots better interpret environments, adapt to changing inventory conditions and operate with greater autonomy across order picking and packing workflows. Nomagic said its systems are now supporting autonomous warehouse operations during nights and weekends at Brack facilities, reflecting a broader shift toward always-on warehouse automation powered by physical AI and VLA robotics models. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/12/nomagic-and-brack-alltron-expand-partnership-to-include-vision-language-action-systems-for-ai-driven-robotics-automation/
RoboStrategy Lists on Nasdaq With Portfolio of Robotics and Physical AI Companies in a Single Stock
(AI Insider) RoboStrategy has begun trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol BOT as the investment fund seeks to give public market investors exposure to robotics and physical AI companies. The closed-end fund is designed to provide concentrated exposure to a mix of private, pre-IPO and public robotics firms as many leading robotics startups remain privately held for extended periods. RoboStrategy said its portfolio includes companies such as Figure AI, Apptronik, Standard Bots and Dexmate, with a focus on automation systems, humanoid robots and physical AI technologies. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/11/robostrategy-lists-on-nasdaq-with-portfolio-of-robotics-and-physical-ai-companies-in-a-single-stock/
Indian Construction Robotics Startup Flo Mobility Raises $2.5M in Funding
(AI Insider) Indian construction robotics startup Flo Mobility announced raising $2.5 million in new funding as the company expands deployment of autonomous material-handling systems across construction sites in India and international markets. According to the company, the round included backing from Mela Ventures, Arali Ventures, ARTPARK, VentureGarage, JITO Incubation & Innovation Foundation and DEVX Ventures. Flo Mobility said its material-handling robots are currently deployed across more than 25 construction sites while the company develops additional construction automation systems and expands collaborations with firms including L&T Construction, Godrej Properties and KEC International. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/11/indian-construction-robotics-startup-flo-mobility-raises-2-5m-in-funding/
CodeWords Raises $9M to Deploy Proactive AI Business Agent Cody Across European SMEs
(AI Insider) London-based CodeWords has raised €7.6 million in a seed round led by Visionaries, with participation from Firstminute Capital, Sequel, and Illusian, alongside angel investors including the CEOs of Miro, ElevenLabs, Personio, Zalando, and Supercell, plus leaders from OpenAI and Mistral. Founded by Aymeric Zhuo and Osman Ramadan, the company builds Cody, an AI agent that learns a business’s tools, goals, and patterns from day one and proactively executes tasks without requiring code or technical setup. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/11/codewords-raises-9m-to-deploy-proactive-ai-business-agent-cody-across-european-smes/
Pit Launches with $16M Led by Andreessen Horowitz to Bring AI-Native Software to Enterprise Operations
(AI Insider) Pit, an AI-native platform that replaces spreadsheets, inboxes, and rigid SaaS tools with custom-built enterprise software, has launched publicly with $16 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Lakestar and angel investors from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Revolut, and Deel. Positioned as an “AI product team as a service,” Pit builds and deploys production-grade, governed software tailored to each company’s specific workflows, with early deployments across logistics, telecom, e-commerce, and healthcare already reporting an 85% reduction in campaign execution time and over 10,000 hours saved annually per deployment. The platform was founded by the builders behind Voi, Klarna, and iZettle, who applied the same approach of replacing manual workflows with custom AI-powered systems at scale — and have now productized it for enterprise-grade security, governance, and reliability. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/11/pit-launches-with-16m-led-by-andreessen-horowitz-to-bring-ai-native-software-to-enterprise-operations/
Avendar Closes €2.2M Funding Round to Deploy Sovereign AI Platform for Crime and Fraud Investigations Across Europe
(AI Insider) Dutch GovTech startup Avendar has raised €2.2 million in seed funding led by LUMO Labs and the Brabant Development Agency to accelerate its AI-powered investigation platform for public sector institutions. The company helps government agencies transform fragmented data into actionable intelligence, automating signal detection and analysis for applications including criminal investigations and fraud screening. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/11/avendar-closes-e2-2m-funding-round-to-deploy-sovereign-ai-platform-for-crime-and-fraud-investigations-across-europe/
District Raises $14.7M in Seed Funding to Unlock the Next Generation of Online Commerce
(AI Insider) District, an AI commerce platform founded by Snap alumni, has raised $14.7 million in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz and Kindred Ventures, with participation from Greylock Partners and a range of angel investors, and is now launching into general availability after quietly onboarding more than 1,000 businesses over three years. The platform enables creators, entrepreneurs, and brands to build fully customized storefronts and commerce experiences — including live shopping, auctions, and subscription gating — without writing code, using an AI builder that generates storefronts from a simple prompt alongside a full commerce management dashboard. Early customers are already seeing meaningful traction, with NikNax generating over $5 million in 2025 across more than 5,000 sellers and Stacked Golf posting $150,000 in weekly sales, as District positions itself to power the next generation of community-driven, independently owned commerce businesses. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/11/district-raises-14-7m-in-seed-funding-to-unlock-the-next-generation-of-online-commerce/