Daily Digest on AI and Emerging Technologies (25 November 2025) – https://pam.int/daily-digest-on-ai-and-emerging-technologies-25-november-2025/
Daily Digest on AI and Emerging Technologies (26 November 2025) – https://pam.int/daily-digest-on-ai-and-emerging-technologies-26-november-2025/
Daily Digest on AI and Emerging Technologies (27 November 2025) –https://pam.int/daily-digest-on-ai-and-emerging-technologies-27-november-2025/
Daily Digest on AI and Emerging Technologies (28 November 2025) –https://pam.int/daily-digest-on-ai-and-emerging-technologies-28-november-2025/
Governance
DeepSeek use halted across Belgian federal workplaces
(DigWatch) Belgium has ordered all federal government officials to cease using the Chinese AI tool DeepSeek, effective 1 December. All applications linked to the system must be removed from government devices by Monday, according to a letter from Vanessa Matz, Minister of Government Modernisation. – https://dig.watch/updates/deepseek-use-halted-across-belgian-federal-workplaces
EU moves forward on new online child protection rules
(DigWatch) EU member states reached a common position on a regulation intended to reduce online child sexual abuse. The proposal introduces obligations for digital service providers to prevent the spread of harmful content and to respond when national authorities require the removal, blocking or delisting of material. A framework that requires providers to assess how their services could be misused and to adopt measures that lower the risk. – https://dig.watch/updates/eu-moves-forward-on-new-online-child-protection-rules
Security and Surveillance
Threat Actors Exploit Calendar Subscriptions for Phishing and Malware Delivery
(Beth Maundrill – Infosecurity Magazine) Threat actors have been found manipulating digital calendar subscription infrastructure to deliver harmful content. Calendar series subscriptions allow third parties to add events and share notifications directly to devices. For instance, retailers sharing sale dates or sports associations updating calendar of sports matches. However, because these subscriptions allow a third-party server to add events directly, threat actors have been found setting up deceptive infrastructures to trick users into subscribing to notifications, according to new research by BitSight. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/threat-actors-exploit-calendar-subs/
Three Black Friday Scams to Watch Out For This Year
(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine) Phishing attacks happen all year round but are especially prominent around the end of November, with Christmas approaching and many people making purchases around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This year, UK cybersecurity firm Darktrace observed a 620% spike in Black Friday-themed phishing campaigns in the weeks leading up to both sales days.The security firm also said it expects an additional 20% to 30% jump in phishing during the Black Friday week itself, which includes Thanksgiving and is followed by a holiday weekend in the US. In a report published on November 27, Darktrace warned consumers of three types of typical Black Friday phishing scam tactics: brand impersonation, fake marketing domains and generative AI-powered fake advertisements. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/three-black-friday-scams-2025/
French Football Federation Suffers Data Breach
(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine) Millions of amateur football players in France may have seen their personal data exposed after the French Football Federation (FFF) suffered a cyber-attack. In a statement published on November 26, the FFF said it detected unauthorized access to the software platform used by all licensed football clubs in the country to manage administrative tasks, including registering their players with the federation. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/french-football-federation-data/
Under Siege: The Mounting Pressures Driving CISOs Out Of UK Cybersecurity Leadership
(Ben Nelson – Infosecurity Magazine) Mounting personal liability, regulatory complexity and chronic burnout are creating an exodus of experienced cybersecurity leaders. This brain drain threatens to leave organizations vulnerable at a time when cyber threats are reaching critical levels. While CISO burnout is not a new crisis, in fact it has been a hot topic globally for many years – the crisis has escalated and the high number of departing CISOs are leaving a widening experience gap. A dangerous concoction of personal liability, mental health strain and intensified regulatory pressure has made the CISO position untenable for many seasoned experts. – https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/opinions/mounting-pressures-driving-cisos/
London councils activate emergency plans after serious cyber attack
(DigWatch) The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has activated emergency response plans after a cyberattack disrupted council systems in west London. Westminster City Council and Hammersmith and Fulham Council are also affected through joint arrangements, with the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre, led by GCHQ, leading the investigation. Staff in some areas have been advised to work from home while parts of the network stay offline as a precaution. – https://dig.watch/updates/london-councils-activate-emergency-plans-after-serious-cyber-attack
Underground AI tools marketed for hacking raise alarms among cybersecurity experts
(DigWatch) Cybersecurity researchers say cybercriminals are turning to a growing underground market of customised large language models designed to support low-level hacking tasks. A new report from Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 describes how dark web forums promote jailbroken, open-source and bespoke AI models as hacking assistants or dual-use penetration testing tools, often sold via monthly or annual subscriptions. – https://dig.watch/updates/underground-ai-tools-marketed-for-hacking-raise-alarms-among-cybersecurity-experts
Staffordshire Police trials AI agents on its 101 line
(DigWatch) Staffordshire Police will trial AI-powered ‘agents’ on its 101 non-emergency service early next year, according to a recent BBC report. The technology, known as Agentforce, is designed to resolve simple information requests without human intervention, allowing call handlers to focus on more complex or urgent cases. The force said the system aims to improve contact centre performance after past criticism over long wait times. – https://dig.watch/updates/staffordshire-police-trials-ai-agents-on-its-101-line
Unravelling Prince Group’s criminal networks
(Leo SF Lin – East Asia Forum) The US civil forfeiture targeting crypto assets linked to Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group reveals a vast network of alleged crypto fraud, human trafficking and money laundering through international financial networks across Asia. Exploiting financial, socio-cultural and political dimensions, the group has maintained strong ties to Chinese-speaking regions to sustain its transnational criminal network. The case underscores the need for enhanced intelligence sharing, stricter beneficial ownership registries and victim support mechanisms – https://eastasiaforum.org/2025/11/29/unravelling-prince-groups-criminal-networks-2/
Frontiers and Markets
Embodied AI: China’s Big Bet on Smart Robots
(Pavlo Zvenyhorodskyi and Scott Singer – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) On what at first glance appeared to be an ordinary workday in March this year at the factory of China’s leading EV manufacturer, Zeekr, a small team of workers went about their usual tasks: lifting boxes, assembling car parts, and performing quality checks. But unlike any typical shift, none of them paused to rest or even stopped for a drink of water. The reason—they were not human. These UBTech robots, powered by a multimodal reasoning model based on DeepSeek R1, were the first publicly known group of humanoid robots deployed as a coordinated team to carry out a wide range of tasks in a complex, real-world industrial setting.Just a few months later, UBTech unveiled the Walker S2, the world’s first humanoid robot capable of autonomously changing its own batteries—potentially enabling uninterrupted, twenty-four-hour operation on the factory floor without any human assistance. – https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2025/11/embodied-ai-china-smart-robots?lang=en
BoomPop Raises $41M to Scale Its AI-Powered Platform for Company Events
(AI Insider) BoomPop raised $41 million to scale its AI-native event planning platform, which automates corporate group travel and in-person event coordination. Its AI analyzes real-time data — such as weather, pricing, demand, and past itineraries — to instantly generate complete, bookable events and handle execution from contracts to guest management. The company is expanding leadership, forming major partnerships, and rapidly growing revenue as enterprises increasingly rely on AI-powered tools to organize offsites, retreats, and large corporate gatherings. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/11/29/boompop-raises-41m-to-scale-its-ai-powered-platform-for-company-events/
d-Matrix Announces $275M in Funding to Power the Age of AI Inference
(AI Insider) d-Matrix raised $275 million in Series C funding at a $2 billion valuation to expand its full-stack AI inference platform, which delivers up to 10× faster performance, 3× lower cost, and major energy savings compared to GPU-based systems. Its compute-dense architecture — combining Corsair inference accelerators, JetStream networking, and Aviator software — can run 70B–100B-parameter models extremely fast, positioning the company as a leader as global AI shifts from training to large-scale inference. The funding will accelerate global expansion, large-scale deployments, and roadmap innovations such as 3D memory stacking, supported by new and returning investors across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/11/29/d-matrix-announces-275m-in-funding-to-power-the-age-of-ai-inference/
GC AI Closes $60M Series B to Give Every Company a Legal Advantage
(AI Insider) GC AI raised $60 million in Series B funding at a $555 million valuation to expand its AI platform built specifically for in-house legal teams, bringing total funding to $73 million. Used by over 1,000 companies, GC AI provides instant expertise across contracts, compliance, regulatory issues, employment law, and more, with tools like AI contract agents, Microsoft Word redlining, and custom negotiation playbooks. The company has grown from $1M to $10M ARR in under a year, saving customers an estimated 600,000 legal hours, and will use the new capital to deepen enterprise integrations, enhance accuracy, and build the leading AI action layer for corporate legal teams. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/11/29/gc-ai-closes-60m-series-b-to-give-every-company-a-legal-advantage/
Gravis Robotics Raises $23M to Expand Autonomous Earthmoving Tech
(AI Insider) Gravis Robotics has raised $23 million in a round co-led by IQ Capital and Zacua Ventures, with additional backing from Pear VC, Imad, Sunna Ventures, Armada Investment, and Holcim, to accelerate global deployment of its autonomous earthmoving technology. The ETH Zurich spinout is rolling out retrofit autonomy systems across construction and quarry sites in seven countries, expanding partnerships with major contractors, OEMs, and rental providers, including new integrations in the U.K. and Switzerland. Gravis’ learning-based platform is designed to augment existing crews by adapting to variable ground conditions and improving productivity and safety as the company targets large-scale autonomy in the earthmoving and mining sectors. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/11/29/gravis-robotics-raises-23m-to-expand-autonomous-earthmoving-tech/
Deductive AI Formally Launches with $7.5M Funding to Deliver AI SRE Agents That Cut Incident Resolution Time by up to 90%
(AI Insider) Deductive AI launched publicly with $7.5 million in seed funding to deliver AI SRE agents that automatically detect failures, diagnose root causes in seconds, and guide remediation across complex software systems. Its platform connects to code, logs, metrics, traces, and events, using a continuously updated knowledge graph and agentic reasoning to replicate how expert engineers investigate outages — reducing debugging time by up to 90%. Backed by CRV, Databricks Ventures, Thomvest, and PrimeSet, Deductive AI is already deployed at companies like DoorDash, Foursquare, and Kumo to accelerate incident resolution and improve software reliability at scale. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/11/29/deductive-ai-formally-launches-with-7-5m-funding-to-deliver-ai-sre-agents-that-cut-incident-resolution-time-by-up-to-90/
Attentive.ai Secures $30.5M Series B to Accelerate AI Innovation in Construction
(AI Insider) Attentive.ai raised a $30.5 million Series B (total $48 million to date) to advance Beam AI, its AI-native takeoff platform that automates preconstruction workflows for 1,100+ contractors, suppliers, and service providers. Beam AI delivers fully automated takeoffs with human-in-the-loop QA, reducing manual labor, accelerating bid volume, and helping teams focus on strategy and win rates rather than spreadsheets. The new funding will speed development of next-generation AI products and support expansion into new markets as construction demand surges across U.S. infrastructure, industrial, and data-center projects. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/11/29/attentive-ai-secures-30-5m-series-b-to-accelerate-ai-innovation-in-construction/
Abu Dhabi’s TII and Honeywell Team to Advance Quantum-Secure Satellite Technology
(Quantum Insider) Abu Dhabi’s TII and Honeywell are collaborating to develop quantum-secure satellite communication systems using quantum key distribution technology. The partnership integrates Honeywell’s QKDSat platform with TII’s Abu Dhabi Quantum Optical Ground Station to test end-to-end satellite-to-ground QKD links. The initiative aims to build global quantum-resilient networks for government, security, and commercial use as traditional encryption faces quantum threats. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/11/28/quantum-secure-satellite-links-uae/
Japan Channels Almost $900 Million (U.S.) Into Quantum Push
(Quantum Insider) Japan plans to allocate about ¥400 billion ($2.6 billion) in a supplementary budget to advance quantum technology, artificial intelligence and nuclear fusion, according to The Japan News. Roughly ¥130 billion ($855 million) will support quantum research, including new R&D bases at AIST and enhanced collaboration among domestic hubs. Additional funding includes about ¥190 billion ($1.25 billion) for AI initiatives and more than ¥100 billion ($660 million) for fusion research and related startup support. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/11/28/japan-channels-almost-900-million-u-s-into-quantum-push/
As ‘Wicked Problems’ Arise, Firms That Adopt Quantum-Style Reasoning Might Gain a (Quantum) Competitive Advantage
(Quantum Insider) Companies are beginning to use quantum-inspired modelling to address “wicked problems” that break traditional linear analytics. Case studies in logistics, pharmaceuticals, and financial risk show firms applying tools such as quantum annealing, quantum Bayesian networks, and variational feature-selection on classical hardware. The researchers argue that this shift signals rising quantum literacy, early enterprise adoption through modelling rather than hardware, and new partnerships forming ahead of large-scale quantum processors. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/11/29/as-wicked-problems-arise-firms-that-adopt-quantum-style-reasoning-might-gain-a-quantum-competitive-advantage/
Quantum computing interest rises across global business
(DigWatch) Growing momentum around quantum computing is drawing heightened interest from major companies and policymakers. Corporate documents and earnings calls now reference quantum technologies more frequently than in previous years, signalling broader strategic shifts across multiple sectors. – https://dig.watch/updates/quantum-computing-interest-rises-across-global-business
1mind Publicly Launches with $40M to Usher in New Era of AI-Led Sales with Highly Skilled, Persuasive and Emotionally Intelligent “Superhumans”
(AI Insider) 1mind launched publicly with $40 million in total funding, including a $30 million Series A, to scale its AI-led growth platform powered by “Superhumans” — AI-driven digital teammates that manage sales, support, and customer engagement across the entire buyer journey. Built on LLMs and proprietary company data, Superhumans deliver instant, human-like interactions that qualify leads, give demos, price deals, and even close sales, driving major gains in conversion, efficiency, and revenue for customers like HubSpot, Nutanix, Coupa, and ZoomInfo. The company will use the new capital to expand its technology team and grow adoption of its AILG model, as businesses seek faster response times, reduced headcount costs, and cohesive, AI-driven GTM operations. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/11/28/1mind-publicly-launches-with-40m-to-usher-in-new-era-of-ai-led-sales-with-highly-skilled-persuasive-and-emotionally-intelligent-superhumans/
Tenzai Closes $75M in Record Seed Round to Build an AI Hacker That Secures Code Written By AI
(AI Insider) Tenzai launched from stealth with a $75 million seed round — one of the largest in cybersecurity — to build an autonomous, AI-driven penetration testing platform that continuously identifies and fixes vulnerabilities at enterprise scale. Founded by veteran cybersecurity leaders from Guardicore, Akamai, Snyk, and military intelligence, the company aims to replace episodic, manual pentesting with always-on, agentic AI capable of nation-grade offensive security. Funding will expand AI research, strengthen security teams, and support early deployments across financial services, healthcare, and technology enterprises in North America and Europe. – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/11/28/tenzai-closes-75m-in-record-seed-round-to-build-an-ai-hacker-that-secures-code-written-by-ai/
Digitail Secures $23M Series B Led by Five Elms Capital
(AI Insider) Digitail raised a $23 million Series B to expand its AI-native veterinary practice management platform, which unifies scheduling, medical records, invoicing, inventory, communications, and 15+ AI workflows into one cloud-based system. Serving 10,000 veterinarians and 3 million pet parents, the platform reduces administrative burden through tools like AI SOAP-note dictation, automated summaries, and intelligent intake, helping clinics see more patients and deliver more personalized care. The funding will accelerate global expansion, enhance AI capabilities, and further build out Digitail’s mission of creating a comprehensive operating system for modern veterinary clinics – https://theaiinsider.tech/2025/11/28/digitail-raises-23m-series-b-led-by-five-elms-capital/
Utah Firm Targets Enterprise Readiness for the Post-Quantum Era
(Quantum Insider) UTahQuantum is a new Utah-based startup developing practical quantum solutions across encryption, data management, IoT, and national security. The company’s founders combine enterprise systems integration, IT architecture, and military cyber defense expertise to drive a Quantum Systems Integrator model. UTQ is building partnerships with Utah universities, state initiatives, and defense networks while preparing early prototypes in cybersecurity and information architecture for 2026. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/11/28/utahquantum-startup-launch/
WisdomTree Launches Quantum Computing Fund
(Quantum Insider) WisdomTree has launched the WisdomTree Quantum Computing Fund (WQTM) on the CBOE, offering investors broad exposure to the quantum computing ecosystem with a 0.45% expense ratio. The fund tracks the WisdomTree Classiq Quantum Computing Index, capturing companies across hardware, software, quantum services, cryptography, and enabling technologies. Supported by WisdomTree research and Classiq, WQTM blends pure-play quantum innovators with diversified tech leaders and will be regularly updated to reflect developments in the fast-moving quantum sector. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/11/28/wisdomtree-launches-quantum-computing-fund/
Scientists Create New Type of Semiconductor that Holds Superconducting Promise
(Quantum Insider) Scientists have demonstrated superconductivity in heavily gallium-doped germanium, achieving zero resistance at 3.5 Kelvin under controlled growth conditions. The team used molecular beam epitaxy to precisely integrate gallium atoms into the germanium lattice, stabilizing the crystal despite high doping levels. The material’s compatibility with existing semiconductor platforms opens pathways for scalable quantum circuits, sensors, and low-power cryogenic electronics. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/11/28/superconducting-germanium-study/
Diamond Defects, Now in Pairs, Reveal Hidden Fluctuations in the Quantum World
(Quantum Insider) Princeton researchers developed an entangled diamond-based quantum sensor that achieves 40× higher sensitivity for probing tiny magnetic fluctuations. The sensor uses pairs of closely spaced nitrogen-vacancy defects to detect magnetic noise at nanometer scales in materials like graphene and superconductors. The technique reveals previously inaccessible quantum-scale behaviour, offering new tools to study real materials and advance next-generation quantum technologies. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/11/28/diamond-quantum-sensor-princeton/
Sydney Team Blocks Noise in Chip-Scale Lasers
(Quantum Insider) University of Sydney researchers eliminated a key noise source in chip-scale Brillouin lasers by adding nanoscale Bragg gratings to block parasitic modes. Their photonic bandgap approach suppresses Brillouin cascading, enabling higher output power and a cleaner, ultranarrow laser spectrum. The reconfigurable gratings allow chip lasers to switch between low-noise single-mode and multi-mode operation without refabrication. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/11/27/sydney-chip-laser-noise/
Shop-Bought Cable Powers Quantum Networks Research Advance
(Quantum Insider) A U.K.-funded project within the £22 million Integrated Quantum Networks Hub has produced a prototype network that links two quantum subnetworks into a single, reconfigurable eight-user system, according to Heriot-Watt University. The demonstration, reported in Nature Photonics, shows the combined network can route entanglement in multiple configurations and perform multiplexed entanglement teleportation across two channels, using a low-cost commercial optical fiber as a programmable optical circuit. Heriot-Watt researchers say the architecture could support multi-user quantum communications and future distributed quantum computing systems, though real-world deployment will require advances in stability, scaling, and long-distance performance. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/11/27/shop-bought-cable-powers-quantum-networks-research-advance/
IBM Backs Startups That Fit Its AI-and-Quantum Playbook
(Quantum Insider) IBM is prioritizing business-to-business startups in AI and quantum computing that can integrate into its enterprise ecosystem, according to guidance shared by Emily Fontaine in Fortune. The $500 million IBM Ventures fund has made 23 investments focused on AI tools, data organization, quantum error correction and security software, with several companies also supporting IBM’s internal operations. IBM’s quantum investment strategy emphasizes software and “quantum-safe” security tools, driven in part by demand from financial institutions preparing for future cryptographic risks. – https://thequantuminsider.com/2025/11/27/ibm-backs-startups-that-fit-its-ai-and-quantum-playbook/