Governance

Like Social Media, AI Requires Difficult Choices

(Nathan Sanders, Bruce Schneier – Lawfare) Major artificial intelligence (AI) labs have begun to publicly acknowledge that their models possess advanced—and worrying—biological capabilities. Between June and August, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI all disclosed that their advanced models showed biological expertise frequently exceeding that of human experts. This knowledge could help laboratories develop new therapies but also risks enabling malicious actors seeking to design novel biological weapons. Frontier models likely haven’t yet achieved critical weaponization skills, but that moment may be fast approaching. Recognizing this danger, major U.S. AI labs evaluate their models to ensure they can’t be used to design or deploy weapons of mass destruction. However, these evaluations themselves risk violating U.S. export control laws—even if testing is conducted entirely within the United States by American companies working in good faith. This regulatory paradox threatens national security at a critical moment in AI development. The executive branch should promptly clarify how existing export control tools can facilitate biosecurity evaluations while pursuing targeted regulatory changes to ensure that compliance supports rather than impedes safety testing. – https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/like-social-media–ai-requires-difficult-choices

Cairo Forum examines MENA’s path in the AI era

(DigWatch) The Second Cairo Forum brought together experts to assess how AI, global shifts, and economic pressures are shaping MENA. Speakers said the region faces a critical moment as new technologies accelerate. The discussion asked whether MENA will help shape AI or simply adopt it. – https://dig.watch/updates/cairo-forum-examines-menas-path-in-the-ai-era

Millions of jobs at risk in Asia-Pacific as AI adoption surges in wealthy nations

(UN News) Millions of jobs across Asia could be at risk as the AI industry booms at the expense of poorer nations still struggling to provide basic digital access and literacy, UN economists said on Tuesday. Just as industrialisation in the 19th century “split the world into a wealthy few and the impoverished”, the AI revolution could do the same. “Countries that invest in skills, computing power and sound governance systems will benefit, others risk being left far behind,” warned Philip Schellekens, Chief Economist for the UN Development Programme for the Asia and Pacific region. – https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/12/1166483

What AI’s role in strategic foresight tells us about the future of thinking

(Bryonie Guthrie, Piret Tõnurist – World Economic Forum) Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used by people in government, business and research to help them plan for the future. Recent research by the OECD and World Economic Forum shows three distinct levels of AI use in strategic foresight work. It also highlights some unease with using AI due to risks like bias and suggests how strategic foresight practitioners can use AI ethically. – https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/12/ai-strategic-foresight-future-thinking/

How to build a strong foundation for AI agent evaluation and governance

(Benjamin Larsen – World Economic Forum) As more organizations adopt artificial intelligence (AI) agents, they must properly define their roles and put safeguards and oversight in place. Recent research outlines four foundational pillars for a structured approach to AI agent assessment and adoption. This approach will help organizations to continue to guide AI agents responsibly, even as their capabilities grow. – https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/12/ai-agents-onboarding-governance/

The AI-energy nexus will determine AI’s impact. We must account for it better

(Lauren Smart, Sam Hsu – World Economic Forum) Artificial intelligence’s growth depends on management of the energy nexus – the interplay between AI’s demand for energy, water and critical minerals, and the systems that depend on them. Embracing holistic, integrated strategies to manage energy nexus issues will ensure AI does not choke on its own resource demands or lose its social license to operate. Acting now will enable AI to deliver on its transformative potential to unlock resilient, net positive growth, strengthening both business and society. – https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/12/ai-energy-nexus-ai-future/

ICO Set to Check If Mobile Games Comply with Children’s Code

(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine) The UK’s data protection regulator has launched a review of the mobile gaming sector, following parents’ concerns that titles may be breaking privacy laws. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said yesterday that it would be scrutinizing 10 popular mobile games. It will check their compliance with its Children’s code requirements regarding default privacy settings, geolocation controls, targeted advertising practices, and anything else identified in the review process. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ico-check-mobile-games-comply/

Australia launches national AI plan to drive innovation

(DigWatch) The Australian Government has unveiled its National AI Plan, aiming to harness AI to build a fairer, stronger nation. The plan helps government, industry, research and communities collaborate to ensure everyone benefits as technology transforms the economy and society. – https://dig.watch/updates/australia-launches-national-ai-plan-to-drive-innovation

What Happens When ‘Superintelligence’ Doesn’t Appear in a Few Months?

(Cole Donovan – Tech Policy Press) As a longtime proponent of fusion energy, I have a special appreciation for the folks running around Washington DC and Silicon Valley acting as heralds of the coming superintelligence. All of the elements look familiar: promises of a technological revolution, claims that we stand on the brink of transformation, and assurances that utopia is just one round of investment away. It’s also a source of constant frustration for individuals closer to the scientific community. Rational arguments about what needs to be done in order to develop the technology are often overtaken by easy, hype-driven promises. These promises often assert the most difficult problems don’t need to be solved in order to advance to the next stage of development. Motivated reasoning steals resources away from actual engineering challenges and diverts them to quick investments that frequently fall victim to typical economic boom and bust cycles. – https://www.techpolicy.press/what-happens-when-superintelligence-doesnt-appear-in-a-few-months/

Why Tech Hype Is Rising and What Venture Capital Has to Do with It

(Andreu Belsunces Gonçalves – Tech Policy Press) On November 10th, a letter written by scientists and AI scholars was made public by the Irish Council of Civil Liberties. The authors denounced that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had repeated claims made by tech leaders that artificial intelligence will reach human reasoning by next year. The letter warned that these statements are driven by the financial imperatives of tech CEOs rather than by rigorous scientific evidence, and that they were voiced precisely as the European Commission was preparing to approve a major deregulation package that relaxes corporate oversight and signals a shift away from social and ecological accountability. In practice, this move accelerates both public and private surveillance and enables a rightward drift in policymaking. Europe and the United States are witnessing not only a political shift, but a transformation in their dominant financial paradigm. A corporatist approach that prioritized long term investment, stability and social concern — whose core promise was the ecological and digital transition toward decabornization — is giving way to a speculative model epitomized by venture capital and private equity. These funds pursue rapid returns, thrive on volatility and are more willing to support risky investments that disregard social value. This article explores how these two paradigms, which demonstrate distinct relations to the future, use hype in different ways, and why this matters politically. – https://www.techpolicy.press/why-tech-hype-is-rising-and-what-venture-capital-has-to-do-with-it/

Mumbai’s Data Center Dreams Run on Coal and Inequality

(Sushmita – Tech Policy Press) In 2015, headlines declared that Panvel — a city on the outskirts of Mumbai and part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region — would soon be slum-free. The then chairperson of the Panvel Municipal Corporation, Charushila Gharat, announced plans to rehabilitate slum dwellers and transform the town into an “international city” within two years. Nearly a decade later, of the 3,500 families that were to be rehabilitated, thousands continue to live in precarious conditions. “We are on hunger strikes, but flats are still not allotted,” said Anita Telang Kolte, who works with out-of-school children in Panvel. “There is no electricity in their slums, and no proper water supply either. They fetch water from broken pipelines nearby. Many children end up begging to survive.”. The situation of the slum dwellers is in stark contrast with the other urban developments rapidly taking place in Mumbai , one of the most populous cities in the world. Mumbai now hosts data centers with a combined capacity of more than 4 GW by the first quarter of 2025, ranking third in the Asia Pacific region after Shanghai and Tokyo. As the number of data centers increases in the city and regulations are eased to facilitate their growth, they are likely to strain the city’s scarce and precious resources, especially power and a hygienic water supply. Already, one in five Mumbaikars lives below the poverty line and the city is known as the city of maximum contrasts. As artificial intelligence, cloud computing and streaming services expand worldwide, demand for data storage and processing has surged. But this rapid growth has deep social and environmental implications. Data centers require round-the-clock, high-quality power. In a city already struggling to meet its own electricity demand, this expansion risks exacerbating inequality and locking India further into fossil fuel dependence, particularly coal. Though the Panvel Municipal Corporation started the rehabilitation, it is far from complete. Tech Policy Press has written to the municipal corporation to ask for the status of rehabilitation. – https://www.techpolicy.press/mumbais-data-center-dreams-run-on-coal-and-inequality/

Europe’s Digital Sovereignty Hinges on Smarter Regulation for Data Access

(Milan Wiertz – Tech Policy Press) Since coming to office, the second Von der Leyen EU Commission has initiated a U-turn in European digital strategy. Within weeks of her second tenure, the Commission withdrew the AI liability directive and more recently, it hastily unveiled a proposal to curb data protection regulation that had previously been Europe’s pride. Shaken by the sudden shift in American foreign policy under United States President Donald Trump, and the use of political power to pressure Europe to abandon its digital rulebook, the EU has awakened to the need for domestic-grown competitors in the technology space. AI, in particular, has emerged as a domain where Europe wants to avoid missing the boat. As part of this effort, the EU is rapidly scaling back its regulatory aspirations, under the mantra of “simplification.” The current strategy, however, lacks comprehensiveness and ambition, and will ultimately fall short of Europe’s goals by insufficiently addressing the core challenge: incumbent advantage and market concentration in the AI sector. To properly address this, the continent will require bold policy instruments that safeguard its digital sovereignty without compromising its values. – https://www.techpolicy.press/europes-digital-sovereignty-hinges-on-smarter-regulation-for-data-access/

Assessing What an EU Report Says About Systemic Risks Under the Digital Services Act

(Mark Scott – Tech Policy Press) It has been a year since the likes of TikTok, Amazon and Meta published their first-ever risk assessments and external audits under the European Union’s Digital Services Act. The second round of both internal and external assessments about how tech firms complied with the bloc’s online safety rules will be published in the coming weeks. Over the last 12 months, the European Commission and national regulators have scoured these documents to identify the most prominent and recurrent risks — as defined by the DSA — to the 27-country bloc, as well as mitigation measures taken by the companies. That encompasses everything from foreign interference threats to the sale of counterfeit products to the protection of children online. European regulators also surveyed outside groups for their views before publishing a comprehensive report that outlined their collective understanding. – https://www.techpolicy.press/assessing-what-an-eu-report-says-about-systemic-risks-under-the-digital-services-act/

What the EU’s Digital Omnibus Means for Researchers

(Stephen Wyber  – Tech Policy Press) The recent announcement of the EU’s Digital Omnibus proposals, including the Data Union Strategy, has received a lot of attention. Much of this has focused on those elements seen as undermining data protection and privacy. Echoing similar debates around efforts to reduce regulation linked to environmental issues, there is concern from commentators that the drive to make life easier for business will come at the cost of social, ecological and human rights goals. What has been less well explored so far is the impact of the proposals for the research sector and for its libraries. This impact matters. Enabling the work of researchers and research institutions strengthens Europe’s ability to compete globally. But it also clearly supports wider efforts to solve environmental, social, and other challenges through advancing science. Here are 10 takeaways from the announcements from this perspective: some good, some mixed, and some concerning. – https://www.techpolicy.press/what-the-eus-digital-omnibus-means-for-researchers/

OSTP’s Misguided Effort to Deregulate AI

(Ankit Khosla, Alice Fisher, Christabel Randolph – Tech Policy Press) Breaking with a long tradition of scientific advice to the president, this fall the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) requested information from the public about regulations that might hinder the adoption of artificial intelligence in the United States. With growing concern in the US about the unregulated deployment of AI, this is precisely the wrong question. The response from the public was swift. The American Council on Education pointed to the need to ensure human oversight in the administrative processes and to guarantee strong privacy protections. The Association for Computing Machinery highlighted the growing risks that AI could exacerbate online scams, create deepfake pornography, lead to the apprehension of innocent people, direct lethal weapons and violate personal privacy. It also proposed an enforceable tiered governance approach and a regulatory framework for AI, with mechanisms for collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders. Individual commenters urged establishment of clear legal frameworks granting individuals ownership and control over their personal data to ensure that AI policy upholds the dignity, safety, livelihoods and legal rights of all Americans. A letter from a coalition of civil rights groups warned that AI systems used in housing and lending must operate with fairness, transparency and accountability, principles to “prevent algorithmic redlining and digital discrimination.” – https://www.techpolicy.press/ostps-misguided-effort-to-deregulate-ai/

Equity Isn’t a Four-Letter Word. It’s a Strategy for Investing in the US’s Digital Future

(Adeyinka Ogunlegan – Tech Policy Press) Somewhere along the way, equity became a four-letter word in Washington politics. The term that once symbolized fairness and the foundation of America’s promise of economic opportunity for all has been recast as divisive, political and even dangerous. But the truth is simpler and more urgent: equity is not a slur; it is a strategy. And nowhere is that clearer than in the fight to close the digital divide by restoring Digital Equity Act (DEA) funding and preserving states’ ability to use the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program’s non-deployment to invest in digital literacy training and broadband adoption. When the Trump administration’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) sent termination letters on May 9 to recipients of DEA grants, the decision stunned advocates and state officials across the country. The DEA, which was enacted in 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), was one of the most forward-looking investments in the nation’s broadband agenda. It led to the authorization of $2.75 billion to close adoption gaps and ensure that every American, regardless of income, geography or background, could meaningfully participate in the digital economy. – https://www.techpolicy.press/equity-isnt-a-fourletter-word-its-a-strategy-for-investing-in-the-uss-digital-future/

Report: ‘AI safety’ needs to mean safety from authoritarian abuse

(Bethany Allen, Nathan Attrill and Fergus Ryan – ASPI The Strategist) ‘AI safety’ has become a buzz-phrase in Silicon Valley, where tech companies use it to refer to artificial intelligence systems that reflect human values and protect human well-being. AI chatbots that encourage a person to commit crimes or acts of self-harm, for example, would fall outside this definition of AI safety. But missing from this definition is a focus on protecting human society from government abuse. Such abuse isn’t theoretical. The Chinese Communist Party is already using generative AI to deepen its repression. ASPI’s new report, The party’s AI: How China’s new AI systems are reshaping human rights, shows how the Chinese party-state has leveraged large-language models (LLMs) and generative AI to supercharge government surveillance and control. – https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/report-ai-safety-must-mean-safety-from-authoritarian-abuse/

Legislation

Democrats bring back AI civil rights bill

(Alexandra Kelley – NextGov) On Tuesday morning, a cohort of Democratic lawmakers reintroduced the Artificial Intelligence Civil Rights Act, a bill that would establish protections for individual civil rights when someone’s personal data is processed by algorithms for a diverse range of consequential life decisions. Spearheaded by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., along with Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Reps. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the AI Civil Right Act’s comes as Markey asserts tech companies are lobbying to include a recently defeated moratorium on AI regulations at the state level in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act. – https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2025/12/democrats-bring-back-ai-civil-rights-bill/409869/?oref=ng-homepage-river

New bill proposes government-wide processes to attribute, sanction hackers

(David DiMolfetta – NextGov) Legislation introduced Monday night by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, would build sweeping a framework across multiple federal agencies to identify, attribute and impose harsh reprisals against nation-state hackers and cybercrime groups. The 2025 Cyber Deterrence and Response Act would direct the National Cyber Director to designate foreign agencies, individuals and organizations that pose a cyber threat to U.S. interests. – https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2025/12/new-bill-proposes-government-wide-processes-attribute-sanction-hackers/409863/?oref=ng-homepage-river

Courts and Litigation

RealPage fights back: New York lawsuit could redefine AI pricing rules nationwide

(Stefanie Schappert – Cybernews) RealPage challenges New York’s AI rent-fixing ban as First Amendment violation, calling restrictions “unconstitutional.”. Lawsuit comes on heels of DoJ antitrust deal requiring RealPage to stop sharing competitor data and cease using recent lease info to train AI models. Legal precedent looms, threatening AI dynamic pricing algorithms across hospitality, tourism, retail, and other industries. – https://cybernews.com/ai-news/realpage-sues-new-york-ai-rent-algorithm-restrictions-first-amendment/

Geostrategies

A Prisoner’s Dilemma in the Race to Artificial General Intelligence

(Lisa Abraham, Joshua Kavner, Alvin Moon – RAND Corporation) The purpose of this report is to represent the ongoing policy debate on the race to artificial general intelligence (AGI) in a mathematically neutral model that allows policymakers to compare the outcome of alternative strategies in international technology competition. The analysis assumes that outcomes are driven by a strategic choice of whether to accelerate the development of AGI based on the trade-off between the perceived benefits of securing a first-mover advantage and the perceived risks, such as developing an uncontrolled or unaligned AGI, misuse by non-experts to create new weapons of mass destruction, instability between great powers that escalates to conflict, and other threats to human survival, flourishing, and global security. Although the model does not capture the full complexity of present-day racing dynamics, it suggests that incentives will continue to be aligned with accelerated development until coordination mechanisms are designed that are grounded in a common knowledge of the global risks of advancing toward AGI. This report is intended for policymakers and general audiences who are interested in understanding these racing dynamics and geopolitical implications. – https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4245-1.html

Singapore and the EU advance their digital partnership

(DigWatch) The European Union met Singapore in Brussels for the second Digital Partnership Council, reinforcing a joint ambition to strengthen cooperation across a broad set of digital priorities. Both sides expressed a shared interest in improving competitiveness, expanding innovation and shaping common approaches to digital rules instead of relying on fragmented national frameworks. – https://dig.watch/updates/singapore-and-the-eu-advance-their-digital-partnership

Security and Surveillance

Most Companies Fear State-Sponsored Cyber-Attacks and Want More Government Help

(Phil Muncaster – Infosecurity Magazine) The vast majority of British and American cybersecurity professionals are worried about state-sponsored cyber-attacks, and a quarter (23%) say their biggest concern for the year ahead is a lack of preparedness for “geopolitical escalation or wartime cyber operations,” according to research by IO. The compliance software vendor polled 3000 cybersecurity managers in the US and UK to compile its State of Information Security Report 2025. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/companies-fear-state-attacks-more/

Hawaii asks residents to surveil roads, but what about citizens’ privacy?

(Konstancija Gasaitytė – Cybernews) Hawaii has developed a method to monitor the state of its roads by providing its citizens with a tool that allows them to capture road conditions. Hawaii is facing what could be considered a global issue – the timely upkeep of its roads, which thousands of vehicles drive on every day. Heavy road use creates various issues that, if not addressed in a timely manner, may pose safety concerns. – https://cybernews.com/security/hawaii-road-surveillance-dash-cams/

India Orders Phone Makers to Pre-Install Government App to Tackle Telecom Fraud

(Ravie Lakshmanan – The Hacker News) India’s telecommunications ministry has ordered major mobile device manufacturers to preload a government-backed cybersecurity app named Sanchar Saathi on all new phones within 90 days. According to a report from Reuters, the app cannot be deleted or disabled from users’ devices. Sanchar Saathi, available on the web and via mobile apps for Android and iOS, allows users to report suspected fraud, spam, and malicious web links through call, SMS, or WhatsApp; block stolen handsets; and allow a mobile subscriber to check the number of mobile connections taken in their name. – https://thehackernews.com/2025/12/india-orders-phone-makers-to-pre.html

ShadyPanda Turns Popular Browser Extensions with 4.3 Million Installs Into Spyware

(Ravie Lakshmanan – The Hacker News) A threat actor known as ShadyPanda has been linked to a seven-year-long browser extension campaign that has amassed over 4.3 million installations over time. Five of these extensions started off as legitimate programs before malicious changes were introduced in mid-2024, according to a report from Koi Security, attracting 300,000 installs. These extensions have since been taken down. “These extensions now run hourly remote code execution – downloading and executing arbitrary JavaScript with full browser access,” security researcher Tuval Admoni said in a report shared with The Hacker News. “They monitor every website visit, exfiltrate encrypted browsing history, and collect complete browser fingerprints.” – https://thehackernews.com/2025/12/shadypanda-turns-popular-browser.html

New Albiriox MaaS Malware Targets 400+ Apps for On-Device Fraud and Screen Control

(Ravie Lakshmanan – The Hacker News) A new Android malware named Albiriox has been advertised under a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) model to offer a “full spectrum” of features to facilitate on-device fraud (ODF), screen manipulation, and real-time interaction with infected devices. The malware embeds a hard-coded list comprising over 400 applications spanning banking, financial technology, payment processors, cryptocurrency exchanges, digital wallets, and trading platforms. – https://thehackernews.com/2025/12/new-albiriox-maas-malware-targets-400.html

Tomiris Shifts to Public-Service Implants for Stealthier C2 in Attacks on Government Targets

(Ravie Lakshmanan – The Hacker News) The threat actor known as Tomiris has been attributed to attacks targeting foreign ministries, intergovernmental organizations, and government entities in Russia with an aim to establish remote access and deploy additional tools. “These attacks highlight a notable shift in Tomiris’s tactics, namely the increased use of implants that leverage public services (e.g., Telegram and Discord) as command-and-control (C2) servers,” Kaspersky researchers Oleg Kupreev and Artem Ushkov said in an analysis. “This approach likely aims to blend malicious traffic with legitimate service activity to evade detection by security tools.” – https://thehackernews.com/2025/12/tomiris-shifts-to-public-service.html

Defence, Military, and Warfare

Europe boosts defence with Leonardo’s Michelangelo Dome

(DigWatch) Italian defence company Leonardo has revealed plans for the ‘Michelangelo Dome’, an AI-powered shield designed to protect cities and critical infrastructure from missile attacks and drone swarms. The system will integrate multiple defence platforms and is expected to be fully operational by the end of the decade. – https://dig.watch/updates/europe-boosts-defence-with-leonardos-michelangelo-dome

D-Wave Announces Formation of U.S. Government Business Unit

(Quantum Insider) D-Wave has created a new business unit to drive adoption of its quantum technologies within the U.S. government. The unit will be led by Jack Sears Jr., who will oversee government-focused go-to-market, application development, and federal-compliant product needs. The move follows growing demand from U.S. defense leadership and aligns with D-Wave’s deployment of its Advantage2 system for mission-critical government use. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/12/02/dwave-us-government-business-unit/

Frontiers and Markets

AWS announces new AI Factories to reduce infrastructure barriers for public, private sector

(Alexandra Kelley – NextGov) Amazon Web Services and NVIDIA are combining forces to create specialized artificial intelligence “factories” for their customers looking to access advanced computational resources without building their own expensive infrastructure. Announced on Tuesday at the AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas, the AWS AI Factories look to reduce the infrastructure burden for public and private sector customers that want to run advanced AI calculations, but lack the necessary components of the AI tech stack, like data storage or supercomputing chips. – https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2025/12/aws-announces-new-ai-factories-reduce-infrastructure-barriers-public-private-sector/409865/?oref=ng-homepage-river

Insider Data Trends Show Quantum Entering Industrial Deployment

(Quantum Insider) Data from The Quantum Insider’s Intelligence Platform shows quantum technology is decisively shifting toward industrial deployment, with countries and companies installing hardware, building networks and expanding large-scale facilities. Governments and corporations accelerated construction of quantum infrastructure — including national networks, regional hubs and room-temperature or photonic systems — signaling a move from laboratory research to real-world integration. Looking ahead, investors, companies and policymakers should prioritize quantum networking, global partnerships and infrastructure standards as the sector enters a deployment-driven phase. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/12/02/insider-data-trends-show-quantum-entering-industrial-deployment/

AKA Foods Raises $17.2M in Seed Funding to Launch the World’s First Secure AI system for food innovation

(AI Insider) AKA Foods raised $17.2 million in seed funding to launch AKA Studio, a secure AI platform that accelerates food product development by integrating company knowledge, sensory data, and ongoing R&D into a unified system. The platform shortens innovation cycles from years to weeks, enabling scientific optimisation of formulations, cleaner labels, healthier products, and more resilient supply chains while ensuring strict data security and full client ownership. Built at the intersection of AI and food science, AKA Studio represents a new category of sensory-AI technology, offering defensible innovation for research teams, executives, and investors, with potential applications in flavour, fragrance, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/12/02/aka-foods-raises-17-2m-in-seed-funding-to-launch-the-worlds-first-secure-ai-system-for-food-innovation/

Veeco Adds New MBE Deployments in Denmark and South Korea

(Quantum Insider) Veeco Instruments secured new MBE system wins with Sparrow Quantum in Denmark and Yeungnam University in South Korea to support advanced quantum research. Sparrow Quantum will use Veeco’s GENxcel system to develop high-performance quantum dot single-photon emitters, while Yeungnam University will deploy the GEN10 system for quantum dot and nanostructure research. These deployments add to Veeco’s global footprint of more than 30 MBE systems used in quantum technology development amid rising global investment in quantum computing. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/12/02/veeco-adds-new-mbe-deployments-in-denmark-and-south-korea/

Qilimanjaro Joins CERN’s Open Quantum Institute to Expand Access

(Quantum Insider) Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech has joined CERN’s Open Quantum Institute to support global, responsible, and equitable access to quantum computing. The company will provide cloud access to its multimodal analog–digital quantum platform and participate in OQI’s education and outreach efforts. Qilimanjaro contributes to OQI’s “Access for All” pillar by offering its SpeQtrum Quantum-as-a-Service platform, integrating analog, digital, and classical HPC resources. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/12/02/qilimanjaro-joins-open-quantum-institute/

WISeKey and SEALSQ Launch New WISeSat Satellite with SpaceX

(Quantum Insider) WISeKey and its subsidiaries SEALSQ and WISeSat.Space successfully launched a new WISeSat satellite aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Transporter-16 mission. The satellite expands WISeSat’s secure IoT and cybersecurity-focused constellation with higher data rates, SDR capabilities, and improved resilience. The constellation aims to support quantum-safe key distribution and secure IoT device onboarding from orbit starting in early 2026. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/12/02/wisekey-sealsq-wisesat-launch/

China’s Latest Quantum Test Shows How Future Machines Could Protect Their Own Information

(Quantum Insider) Chinese researchers used the Zuchongzhi 2 quantum processor to create a non-equilibrium higher-order topological phase that traps quantum effects at the corners of a system. The experiment, reported by SCMP and Science, showed that time-driven Floquet circuits can stabilize quantum information in ways that conventional equilibrium materials cannot. The work demonstrates a potential path toward error-resistant quantum computing by exploring forms of quantum order that do not occur in nature. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/12/02/chinas-latest-quantum-test-shows-how-future-machines-could-protect-their-own-information/

IonQ and CCRM Announce Strategic Quantum-Biotech Collaboration to Accelerate Development of Advanced Therapeutics

(Quantum Insider) IonQ and the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine formed an investment partnership to accelerate advanced therapy development using hybrid quantum and quantum-AI technologies. The collaboration positions IonQ as the core technology partner across CCRM’s global network and will launch initial quantum-biotech projects in Canada and Sweden in 2026. The agreement expands IonQ’s broader European strategy, following recent partnerships and acquisitions in Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/12/01/ionq-and-ccrm-announce-strategic-quantum-biotech-collaboration-to-accelerate-development-of-advanced-therapeutics/

Data centre power demand set to triple by 2035

(DigWatch) Data centre electricity use is forecast to surge almost threefold by 2035. BloombergNEF reported that global facilities are expected to consume around 106 gigawatts by then. Analysts linked the growth to larger sites and rising AI workloads, pushing utilisation rates higher. New projects are expanding rapidly, with many planned facilities exceeding 500 megawatts. – https://dig.watch/updates/data-centre-power-demand-set-to-triple-by-2035

Philips launches AI-powered spectral CT system

(DigWatch) Philips has unveiled Verida, the world’s first detector-based spectral CT fully powered by AI. The system integrates AI across the imaging chain, enhancing image quality, lowering system noise, and streamlining clinical workflow for faster, more precise diagnostics. – https://dig.watch/updates/philips-launches-ai-powered-spectral-ct-system

New study confirms what we’ve long suspected about AI shortcuts in learning

(Eglė Krištopaitytė – Cybernews) Relying on artificial intelligence (AI) summaries to learn about new topics can result in a shallower understanding of the subject compared to a traditional Google search. A new study published in the peer-reviewed journal PNAS Nexus adds to the evidence that while large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT offer speed and convenience, they may diminish the ability to learn. The study reviewing seven online and laboratory experiments, which included over 10,000 participants in total, found that those learning about a new topic from LLM summaries reported shallower knowledge compared to those using Google search. Moreover, content created by LLM users was sparser and more generic, resulting in recipients finding it less informative and actionable. – https://cybernews.com/ai-news/ai-summaries-learning/

Telegram’s Cocoon network goes live, challenges Amazon, Microsoft in AI compute

(Linas Kmieliauskas – Cybernews) Major messaging platform Telegram has now officially entered the AI-focused compute services market, aiming to compete with Amazon and Microsoft with its crypto-powered compute network, Cocoon. According to Pavel Durov, the co-founder and CEO of Telegram, its “decentralized confidential compute network” went live this past Sunday, and the first AI requests from users are now being processed by Cocoon. The network is built on the Telegram-supported TON blockchain and connects GPU owners, who provide computing power, with privacy-conscious applications that require running AI models. – https://cybernews.com/ai-news/telegrams-cocoon-live-challenge-amazon-microsoft-ai-compute/