Governance/Regulation/Legislation

UN calls for AI-driven transformation of future cities

(DigWatch) UN organisations and urban experts have called on governments, city leaders, and the private sector to accelerate the use of AI and digital technologies to shape the future of urban life. The appeal was made during the 3rd UN Virtual Worlds Day held in Geneva. With 70 percent of the global population expected to live in urban areas by 2050, discussions focused on the emergence of an ‘AI-enabled citiverse’ combining AI, digital twins and spatial intelligence to improve planning, infrastructure management and quality of life in cities. – https://www.itu.int/en/mediacentre/Pages/PR-2026-05-12-UN-Virtual-Worlds-Day.aspx

China opens global AI education service platform

(DigWatch) China has launched a global AI education service platform to expand cross-border access to digital learning resources and support the integration of AI into education. The initiative was announced during the 2026 World Digital Education Conference in Hangzhou and forms part of a broader upgrade to Smart Education of China, a digital education platform now accessible in around 220 countries and regions. – https://english.www.gov.cn/news/202605/12/content_WS6a031eafc6d00ca5f9a0ae68.html

AI’s economic impact could redefine jobs and productivity trends

(DigWatch) AI is increasingly being viewed as a potential general-purpose technology, similar to electricity, computers and the internet, with the capacity to reshape economies over time, according to Bank of Canada External Deputy Governor Michelle Alexopoulos. Speaking at the Ottawa Economics Association and Canadian Association for Business Economics Spring Policy Conference, Alexopoulos said technological change usually unfolds gradually. Still, some innovations spread across industries and transform the wider economy. AI has developed over the past decades, but recent advances have accelerated adoption among people and businesses. – https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2026/05/productivity-in-the-age-of-ai/

US workers overwhelmingly support union-backed policies on AI, poll says

(Michael Sainato – The Guardian) US workers overwhelmingly support pro-worker policies on artificial intelligence (AI) and view labor unions as the most reliable protectors of workers from the effects of AI, according to a new poll released by the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US. More than nine out of 10 workers surveyed expressed support for policies on artificial intelligence that labor unions may fight for, including 95% supporting a requirement that a human be the final decision maker on any issues affecting individual workers and their employment. Some 92% also support advanced guardrails against harmful uses of AI in workplaces and require transparency and accountability when employers use AI. – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/12/workers-ai-policy-unions

India accelerates AI-driven financial inclusion through digital public infrastructure

(DigWatch) The role of AI in financial inclusion has been expanded in India by combining AI systems with large-scale digital public infrastructure (DPI). The framework connects identity verification, digital payments, consent-based data sharing and AI-powered credit analysis to improve access to formal finance for underserved communities. A system that is built around the JAM Trinity – Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar digital identity and mobile connectivity – alongside platforms such as UPI and Direct Benefit Transfer. By March 2026, Jan Dhan accounts had reached 58.16 crore, while UPI processed more than 2,264 crore transactions worth ₹29.53 lakh crore in a single month. – https://dig.watch/updates/india-accelerates-ai-driven-financial-inclusion-through-digital-public-infrastructure

Geostrategies

Republic of Korea and UAE deepen AI and semiconductor partnership through new investment forum

(DigWatch) The Republic of Korea and the United Arab Emirates have expanded cooperation on AI infrastructure and semiconductors through a new bilateral investment forum focused on AI ecosystems, data centres and advanced chip technologies. The forum, held in Seoul by the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources alongside the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National AI Strategy Committee, brought together government officials, investors and technology firms from both countries. Discussions focused on practical cooperation across AI infrastructure, local-language AI models, semiconductors and industrial AI deployment. – https://www.korea.net/Government/Briefing-Room/Press-Releases/view?articleId=2016948&type=N&insttCode=A260129&insttCode=A260103&categoryId=109&language=A020101&type=N&pageIndex=1&gov=

Security and Surveillance

FamousSparrow targets Azerbaijani energy sector in multi-wave espionage campaign

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Chinese-linked threat actor FamousSparrow has conducted a sustained intrusion campaign against an Azerbaijani oil and gas company, returning to the same compromised entry point three separate times between late December 2025 and late February 2026. Bitdefender researchers attribute with moderate-to-high confidence the operation to FamousSparrow, a group that overlaps with the broader Earth Estries and Salt Typhoon activity clusters, marking a significant expansion of the actor’s known targeting geography into a region that has become increasingly critical to European energy security. “Bitdefender Labs tracked a multi-wave intrusion targeting an Azerbaijani oil and gas company from late December 2025 through late February 2026.” reads the report by Bitdefender. “This research documents expansion of Chinese APT activity against South Caucasus energy infrastructure, attributed with moderate-to-high confidence to FamousSparrow (overlapping with the Earth Estries threat ecosystem).” – https://securityaffairs.com/192113/apt/famoussparrow-targets-azerbaijani-energy-sector-in-multi-wave-espionage-campaign.html

Nitrogen Ransomware claims massive data theft from Foxconn

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Foxconn confirmed that several of its North American factories were affected by a cyberattack. The manufacturer confirmed it was targeted by threat actors after the Nitrogen ransomware group listed it on its Tor data leak site on March 12. The Nitrogen ransomware group claims responsibility, saying it stole around 8TB of data, including confidential documents, instructions, projects and drawings from Intel, Apple, Google, Dell, Nvidia and many other projects. The ransomware group published a list of pictures of stolen documents as proof of the hack. – https://securityaffairs.com/192099/uncategorized/nitrogen-ransomware-claims-massive-data-theft-from-foxconn.html

Taiwan urges stronger defences amid AI-driven cyber threats

(DigWatch) Taiwan’s Administration for Cyber Security has warned that emerging AI models are lowering the cost and increasing the scale of cyberattacks, urging companies and government agencies to strengthen basic cyber resilience. The agency said advanced AI models, including Anthropic’s Claude Mythos and OpenAI’s GPT-5.5, are showing stronger capabilities in vulnerability discovery and offensive cyber techniques. It said such developments could help attackers identify weaknesses faster and turn vulnerabilities into practical attack tools more efficiently. – https://dig.watch/updates/taiwan-urges-defences-ai-driven-cyber-threats

G7 working group advances cybersecurity approach for AI systems

(DigWatch) The German Federal Office for Information Security published guidance developed by the G7 Cybersecurity Working Group outlining elements for a Software Bill of Materials for AI. The document aims to support both public and private sector stakeholders in improving transparency in AI systems. The guidance builds on a shared G7 vision introduced in 2025 and focuses on strengthening cybersecurity throughout the AI supply chain. It sets out baseline components that should be included in an AI SBOM to better track and understand system dependencies. – https://www.bsi.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/BSI/KI/SBOM-for-AI_minimum-elements.pdf

WEF report highlights supply chain risks in quantum-safe cybersecurity transition

(DigWatch) A new World Economic Forum (WEF) analysis argues that coordination failures across global technology supply chains could slow the transition towards quantum-safe cybersecurity, despite growing pressure from governments, regulators, and major technology companies to accelerate adoption of post-quantum cryptography (PQC). The article highlights how the migration towards quantum-safe security has shifted from long-term planning into active deployment after the National Institute of Standards and Technology finalised its first PQC standards in 2024. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has already set phased migration targets extending to 2035, while Google has set 2029 as the target timeline for parts of its own transition roadmap. – https://dig.watch/updates/wef-report-highlights-supply-chain-risks-in-quantum-safe-cybersecurity-transition

How AI protects critical infrastructure from emerging global threats

(DigWatch) The World Economic Forum has highlighted AI-driven network defence as a possible tool for protecting critical infrastructure, as cyberattacks on hospitals, power grids, schools and transport systems become faster and harder to detect. Lumu Technologies founder and CEO Ricardo Villadiego says nation state actors and ransomware groups are increasingly targeting critical infrastructure such as hospitals, power grids, schools, utilities and transport networks. It argues that local authorities and community-level service providers often face these threats with limited resources and small teams. – https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/05/ai-critical-infrastructure-cybersecurity/

Defense/Intelligence/Warfare

US special operations leaders frustrated by inability to modify their own equipment

(Michael Peck – Defense News) U.S. special operations leaders expressed frustration Tuesday about manufacturers’ proprietary agreements that block them from making quick upgrades to military equipment. The problem is especially acute for unmanned systems, they said, as technology is evolving far faster than the ability of U.S. Special Operations Command to modify its drones. – https://www.defensenews.com/news/pentagon-congress/2026/05/13/us-special-operations-leaders-frustrated-by-inability-to-modify-their-own-equipment/

Lego, Hip-Hop, And Deepfakes: How Iran Uses AI To Shape Western Opinion

(RFE RL) From viral Lego-style videos and AI-generated hip-hop tracks to fabricated battlefield imagery, the war in Iran is revealing how artificial intelligence (AI) is being weaponized in modern warfare and statecraft. To discuss this rapid shift, RFE/RL spoke with Max Lesser, senior analyst on emerging threats at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation. – https://www.rferl.org/a/lego-hip-hop-deepfakes-iran-ai-propaganda/33756098.html