Artificial intelligence Archives | Page 16 of 670

Singapore warns of cybersecurity risks from autonomous AI agents

Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency (CSA) has issued an advisory warning that autonomous AI agents, including OpenClaw, can pose serious cybersecurity risks if deployed without appropriate safeguards.

The advisory references to Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) case study on the responsible deployment of OpenClaw and highlights risks associated with AI agents that can understand context, plan tasks, use external tools, and act on behalf of users.

CSA said such agents can offer productivity benefits but may expose users and organisations to risks, including unpatched vulnerabilities, weak access controls, sensitive data exposure, malicious third-party skills, and memory poisoning.

The agency warned that unresolved risks could lead to agent hijacking, unauthorised actions through tool or API abuse, and unauthorised access to systems or data. It cited the IMDA case study’s warning that ‘accepting the risks associated with granting OpenClaw broader capabilities should be an intentional decision, and not the result of default configurations that were overlooked’.

For individuals, CSA recommends avoiding OpenClaw’s open-source form on devices containing sensitive data, running it under least-privileged accounts, installing skills only from trusted sources, keeping sensitive data out of reach, requiring human approval for high-risk actions, and promptly applying updates.

For organisations, the advisory calls for stronger safeguards, including Zero Trust principles, narrowly scoped agents, dedicated and regularly rotated credentials, policy-enforcing proxies, persistent logging, human approval for irreversible actions, negative testing before deployment, and recovery from a known-good baseline after compromise.

CSA also noted that variants, including NanoClaw and Nvidia’s NemoClaw, have emerged since OpenClaw’s launch. It said organisations requiring agentic AI capabilities should evaluate whether such variants meet their performance and security requirements, as safeguards for agentic AI are still maturing.

Why does it matter?

Agentic AI systems are increasingly being deployed to automate tasks that involve access to data, software tools, and online services. Singapore’s advisory highlights growing concerns that autonomous agents can create new attack surfaces if security controls, oversight mechanisms, and access restrictions are not built into deployments from the start.

The guidance also reflects broader efforts by governments and regulators to develop security practices for rapidly evolving AI systems.

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EU ICT workforce grows to 10.45 million in 2025, Eurostat says

The number of ICT specialists in the EU reached 10.45 million in 2025, representing 5% of total employment, according to new data published by Eurostat. Although annual growth slowed compared with the post-pandemic increases recorded in 2020 and 2021, the number of ICT specialists has continued to rise over the past decade.

Northern European countries continued to lead the bloc in ICT employment concentration. Sweden recorded the highest share of ICT specialists in the workforce at 8.9%, followed by Luxembourg and Finland. At the opposite end, Greece, Romania and Italy reported the lowest shares.

The figures also highlighted the persistent gender imbalance within Europe’s technology workforce. Men represented more than 80% of ICT specialists in 2025, although the share of women increased modestly compared with 2015. Romania, Latvia and Bulgaria recorded the highest proportions of women working in ICT roles.

Eurostat noted that ICT specialists include professionals responsible for developing, operating and maintaining digital systems across all sectors of the economy. Eurostat noted that ICT specialists include professionals responsible for developing, operating and maintaining digital systems across sectors of the economy. The growth of the workforce coincides with increasing digitalisation across businesses, public services and industry.

Why does it matter?

The steady growth of ICT specialists reflects Europe’s accelerating digital transformation and the increasing dependence of economies, governments and businesses on advanced digital infrastructure. The figures also underline major regional and gender disparities that could affect Europe’s competitiveness, digital sovereignty and long-term technology workforce resilience.

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EuroDIG 2026 closes with calls for multilingual internet and stronger digital inclusion

EuroDIG 2026 concluded with calls for stronger multistakeholder cooperation, greater digital inclusion, and wider support for multilingual internet access during the conference’s closing plenary hosted by EURid.

The final session combined celebratory reflections on the two-day event with broader policy messages on universal acceptance, digital accessibility, and cooperation across governments, the technical community, civil society, academia, and the private sector.

Opening the session, moderator Florence Ranson thanked participants for remaining until the end of what she described as a ‘fulfilling’ conference and said workshop outcomes and feedback would be shared in the coming weeks.

Co-moderator Sandra expressed surprise at the size of the audience at the wrap-up session and thanked the focal points, speakers, rapporteurs, youth participants, institutional partners, and sponsors for their contributions to the programme.

Regina, co-moderating the session, described EuroDIG 2026 as a demonstration of multistakeholder cooperation, noting that EURid hosts EuroDIG only once every ten years. She also highlighted the event’s coincidence with the 20th anniversary of the .eu domain.

Both moderators thanked the European Commission’s DG CONNECT team for supporting the event venue and programme development.

The closing session then shifted toward one of the conference’s recurring themes, the universal acceptance of multilingual domain names and email addresses.

Sarmad Hussain of ICANN said the internet must function in all languages and scripts, pointing to progress made since the Tunis Agenda of 2005 enabled development of internationalised domain names and multilingual email addresses. However, Hussain warned that many websites, platforms, and online services still fail to support non-Latin scripts and local-language identifiers despite existing technical standards.

According to Hussain, this creates a ‘universal acceptance’ challenge affecting accessibility and inclusion online. He called on developers, governments, academia, civil society, and private-sector organisations to update systems and applications so they accept all valid domain names and email addresses regardless of language or script. He also promoted the upcoming Universal Acceptance Day initiative aimed at raising awareness about the issue.

UNESCO representative Dr Xianhong Hu used the closing session to reinforce broader themes of multilingualism, inclusion, and digital cooperation. Speaking on behalf of Ambassador Salih Abduh, Hu highlighted UNESCO’s partnership with EuroDIG and linked the conference to the 25th anniversary of UNESCO’s Information for All Programme.

She noted that discussions during EuroDIG 2026 covered internet governance, universal acceptance, gender equality, youth participation, and intergenerational dialogue, reflecting UNESCO’s priorities around inclusive knowledge societies.

Hu also called for renewed cooperation among European governments, the technical community, academia, civil society, and businesses to bridge digital divides and support multilingual digital futures in the AI era.

The session concluded with a toast to partnership, an invitation for a group photo, and final thanks to participants and organisers.

The closing plenary reflected several broader themes that ran throughout EuroDIG 2026, including multistakeholder governance, digital inclusion, and concerns about unequal access to digital infrastructure and online participation.

The emphasis on universal acceptance also connected technical internet governance questions with wider debates on linguistic diversity and accessibility, highlighting ongoing gaps between existing technical capabilities and real-world adoption across online platforms and services.

EuroDIG 2026 took place on 26 and 27 May at the Charlemagne Building of the European Commission in Brussels under the theme ‘European Voices for the Future of the Internet – Celebrating 20 Years of .eu and the Beginning of a New Internet Governance Era’.

Digital Watch Observatory followed EuroDIG 2026 through a dedicated event page, featuring session information and reporting from Brussels.

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EuroDIG 2026 debate strengthens Council of Europe digital governance push

The Council of Europe participated in EuroDIG 2026 in Brussels, contributing to discussions on digital governance, democracy, trustworthy AI, platform accountability, and the digital public sphere.

The European Dialogue on Internet Governance took place on 26 and 27 May, bringing together governments, businesses, civil society, academia, the technical community, and other stakeholders to exchange views on internet governance.

The Council of Europe participated under its New Democratic Pact for Europe, a year-long consultation focused on democratic backsliding and digital governance. The consultation covers issues including AI, data protection, media and information society, cybercrime, online discrimination and gender-based violence, digitalisation of justice, legal education, internet governance, and youth participation.

At the opening session, Claudia Luciani, Director of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, said democratic safeguards are critical for the integrity and functioning of Europe’s digital public sphere. She highlighted risks linked to disinformation, information bubbles, and foreign interference and manipulation campaigns.

The Council of Europe also co-organised a debate on trustworthy AI in public services, focusing on transparency, accountability, explainability, and crisis-resilient communication when automated decision-making and AI systems are used in public administration.

Another Council of Europe co-organised session addressed platform accountability and the need to strengthen the digital public sphere. Participants discussed how engagement-driven platform design, generative AI, and synthetic media can contribute to disinformation, hate speech, and other harms, and how governance frameworks could empower users as active citizens.

The Council of Europe’s European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice and its HELP programme also organised a session on how the use of AI in justice systems is changing legal professionals’ training needs.

EuroDIG 2026 was hosted by EURid, the .eu domain name registry, and supported by the European Commission.

The event was held under the theme ‘European voices for the future of the internet – celebrating 20 years of .eu and the beginning of a new internet governance era’.

Why does it matter?

The Council of Europe’s participation in EuroDIG shows how digital governance is being folded into broader debates on democratic resilience. Its focus on trustworthy AI in public services, platform accountability, synthetic media, online discrimination, and AI in justice systems reflects a broader policy shift: digital governance is increasingly treated as part of Europe’s democracy, human rights, and rule-of-law agenda, rather than solely as a technology issue.

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EuroDIG 2026 debates Europe’s path towards digital sovereignty

European policymakers, technical experts, and civil society representatives debated how Europe can reduce its dependence on foreign digital technologies without fragmenting the open internet during a EuroDIG 2026 session on digital sovereignty.

The discussion reflected growing concern in Europe that heavy reliance on non-European cloud providers, AI systems, platforms, semiconductors, and digital infrastructure has become a strategic vulnerability affecting not only the economy but also democratic resilience and political self-determination.

Fabrizia Benini, head of unit for the Future Internet at the European Commission’s DG CONNECT, argued that Europe’s dependencies across the digital stack are the result of years of choosing to buy technologies rather than build them domestically. According to Benini, digital sovereignty should not mean isolation or digital nationalism, but ensuring that citizens, businesses, and governments retain meaningful choice and control over digital technologies, data, and infrastructure.

She stressed that Europe remains committed to an open, global, secure, and interoperable internet while seeking to manage strategic dependencies through partnerships with trusted countries and stronger European technological capacity.

Benini also pointed to upcoming EU initiatives, including a Sovereign Tech Package covering semiconductors, cloud and AI infrastructure, and open-source technologies. She described Europe’s regulatory framework, including the GDPR, DSA, DMA, and AI Act, as an important long-term foundation, while acknowledging that regulation alone cannot deliver sovereignty.

Several participants echoed that concern, arguing that Europe has become highly effective at regulating digital systems while still depending heavily on technologies built elsewhere.

João Gomes from YouthDIG said younger Europeans increasingly want opportunities not only to regulate technology, but also to build competitive European alternatives. He warned that Europe risks becoming ‘the world’s most sophisticated regulator’ without developing sufficient industrial and technological capacity of its own.

Open source, interoperability, and trusted infrastructure emerged repeatedly as key pillars of the European approach. Frank Kruger from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernization argued that maintaining critical open-source infrastructure is essential for Europe’s resilience, security, and innovation capacity.

Peter Janssen, general manager of EURid, linked digital sovereignty to practical user control over online identities and infrastructure. Using the .eu domain as an example, he said European users should be able to retain control over their digital presence, providers, and data through open standards and interoperable systems.

At the same time, several speakers warned against allowing digital sovereignty to become a justification for internet fragmentation or excessive state control. Elonnai Hickok, Managing Director at Global Network Initiative, stressed that Europe should continue supporting open standards, interoperability, portability, and multistakeholder governance while avoiding surveillance-heavy or protectionist approaches.

The terminology itself also generated debate. Some participants preferred terms such as ‘strategic autonomy’ or ‘digital autonomy’, arguing that ‘sovereignty’ can sound nation-centric or exclusionary. Others defended the term as necessary to describe Europe’s ability to preserve democratic self-determination in a more contested geopolitical environment.

Despite differences over terminology and emphasis, the session ended with broad agreement that Europe needs a long-term strategy combining regulation, industrial policy, open standards, digital skills, infrastructure investment, and support for European alternatives.

Participants also agreed that Europe’s approach should aim for what the session’s final draft messages described as ‘resilient openness and strategic autonomy’ rather than isolation or protectionism.

Digital Watch Observatory followed EuroDIG 2026 through a dedicated event page, featuring session information and reporting from Brussels.

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ITU puts AI and creativity in focus at Geneva summit

The International Telecommunication Union will place AI and digital creativity in the spotlight during the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, where artists, musicians, filmmakers, and technologists will discuss how AI is reshaping creative industries.

The summit’s AI Creativity and Culture track will explore questions around ownership, authenticity, copyright, and the growing role of generative AI in artistic production. Sessions will examine how AI tools are affecting media, music, publishing, design, fashion, entertainment, journalism, and creative labour.

High-profile participants include John Legend, who will discuss AI and music with Universal Music Group’s Michael Nash, and will.i.am, who will focus on skills, education, and AI. The programme will also feature AI-driven art installations, robotic musical performances, and screenings during the AI for Good Film Festival.

The festival, now in its second year, has received more than 1,200 contest submissions, with selected films to be shown during the summit. The programme will also include the third edition of Canvas of the Future, ITU’s AI-powered art contest, focused on how AI is shaping the future of education and work.

Organised by ITU with partners across the UN system and co-convened with Switzerland, AI for Good is intended to demonstrate AI solutions for people, planet, and prosperity. The 2026 creative programme reflects growing international attention to how AI is changing cultural production, intellectual property, and the economics of creative work.

Why does it matter?

The programme shows how AI governance debates are expanding beyond safety, productivity, and infrastructure into culture, copyright, ownership, and creative labour. By bringing together artists, entertainment companies, technologists, and UN actors in a single forum, AI for Good is treating AI creativity as both an economic opportunity and a policy challenge.

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Australia warns of serious frontier AI cyber risks

The Australian Government has issued a policy advisory urging Commonwealth entities to strengthen cybersecurity readiness for the frontier AI era.

Issued under the Protective Security Policy Framework, the advisory warns that frontier AI creates a dual-use challenge because advanced AI models can strengthen cyber defence while also being used by malicious actors to conduct cyber activities faster, cheaper, and at greater scale.

The Department of Home Affairs said frontier AI increases the risks posed by known vulnerabilities, legacy systems, and weak cyber hygiene, creating what it calls a ‘vulnerability storm’ for government entities.

The document says Australian Government entities do not need access to the most advanced frontier AI models to stay protected. Instead, effective readiness depends on applying existing cybersecurity mitigations and practices, including guidance from the Australian Signals Directorate and requirements under the Protective Security Policy Framework.

Commonwealth entities are told to prioritise compliance with the PSPF, Information Security Manual, and Essential Eight, confirm executive accountability for cybersecurity risk management, engage with ASD and Home Affairs guidance, and identify and remediate material gaps that AI-enabled threat actors could exploit.

The advisory also highlights requirements covering internet-facing systems, secure procurement and supply chains, attack surface reduction, patching, legacy technologies, zero-trust principles, gateway security, ASD’s Cyber Security Partnership Program, and the application of the Information Security Manual.

An annex from ASD says frontier AI is collapsing exploit timelines from days to hours and urges organisations to ‘lock down the fundamentals now’. It outlines actions to secure systems, reduce vulnerabilities, replace or isolate legacy IT, prepare for incidents, adopt AI for cyber defence, and modernise systems using secure-by-design and secure-by-default principles.

The advisory is aimed at accountable authorities, chief security officers, chief information security officers, procurement officers, and entity personnel.

Why does it matter?

The advisory frames frontier AI as an accelerant for existing cybersecurity weaknesses rather than a wholly new category of risk. Australia’s message to government entities is that AI-enabled threats make basic cyber hygiene more urgent: patching, reducing attack surfaces, managing legacy systems, securing supply chains, and preparing incident response plans. It also shows how governments are beginning to translate frontier AI risk into operational security requirements for public-sector organisations.

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YouTube expands AI transparency rules with automatic content detection

YouTube is updating its approach to AI-generated content by introducing more visible disclosure labels and new automatic detection systems designed to improve transparency for viewers and creators.

The update follows growing concerns around realistic synthetic media, manipulated videos, and generative AI tools across major digital platforms.

Under the revised system, labels for photorealistic or meaningfully AI-altered or generated content will appear directly below long-form videos and as overlays on Shorts. Less realistic, animated, or slightly altered content will continue to be disclosed in expanded video descriptions.

The company is also rolling out internal AI detection signals to identify AI-generated content when creators fail to disclose it themselves. If YouTube’s systems detect significant use of photorealistic AI, the platform may automatically apply a label.

Creators will still be able to update the disclosure status in YouTube Studio if they believe their content has been incorrectly identified as AI-generated. However, disclosures will remain permanent in some cases, including content created with YouTube’s own AI tools, such as Veo or Dream Screen, and content that contains C2PA metadata indicating that AI fully generated it.

YouTube said the updated labels are intended to balance transparency with creator control. The company also said that a disclosure label alone does not change how a video is recommended or whether it is eligible to earn money.

Why does it matter?

YouTube’s update reflects a broader shift towards platform-level governance of synthetic media and generative AI content. As realistic AI-generated video becomes easier to produce, platforms face growing pressure to make synthetic content more visible to users while preserving creator workflows and avoiding over-penalisation. The move also shows how provenance tools such as C2PA and automated detection systems are becoming part of mainstream content governance.

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Dublin International AI Summit to spotlight Europe’s AI ambitions

Ireland will host the International AI Summit in Dublin on 14 October 2026 as the official launch of European AI Innovation Month during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The summit will take place at the Royal Dublin Society under the theme ‘Harnessing AI to Revolutionise Europe’s Competitiveness’. It is intended as a high-level platform for discussion, collaboration, and strategic dialogue on AI opportunities in Europe and globally.

The event will bring together EU and global leaders, heads of government, CEOs, investors, innovators, academics, policymakers, industry representatives, and AI experts. Confirmed speakers include European Commission Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen.

The programme will include ministerial addresses, keynote speeches, panel discussions, and fireside chats on Europe’s AI future. Topics will include competitiveness, trustworthy AI, digital infrastructure, investment, skills, and talent development.

The summit will also feature European-focused sector discussions on AI opportunities across the economy and society. Sessions are expected to highlight examples of AI adoption and collaboration by businesses, public services, and research institutions.

Ireland said the event builds on its role as a European technology hub, noting that 16 of the world’s top 20 global technology companies and eight leading providers of foundational AI models have their main EU establishment in the country.

The summit is also linked to Ireland’s updated National Digital and AI Strategy, ‘Digital Ireland – Connecting our People, Securing our Future’, which places AI and digital transformation at the centre of economic and innovation policy.

A full programme, additional speakers, registration details, and an expression of interest for enterprises seeking to join the Innovation Spotlight Exhibition will be announced later.

Why does it matter?

The summit gives Ireland a platform to shape Europe’s AI competitiveness debate during its EU Council Presidency. Its focus on trustworthy AI, infrastructure, investment, skills, and sectoral adoption reflects the EU’s broader challenge: turning regulatory leadership and research capacity into stronger deployment, productivity, and industrial competitiveness.

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Spain approves draft law adapting the EU AI Act into national legislation

Spain’s Council of Ministers has approved a draft Organic Law aimed at adapting the EU AI Act into the country’s national legal framework.

Digital Transformation and Public Service Minister Óscar López said the draft law will now be sent to the Cortes for parliamentary consideration. The proposal establishes obligations for AI providers and introduces requirements for human oversight of AI systems.

The draft law incorporates the EU AI Act’s risk-based classification framework into Spanish legislation while establishing sanctions, governance structures, and supervisory authorities.

López said the law follows Spain’s approach to AI regulation, including human oversight, algorithmic transparency, protection of minors, and data privacy. López rejected the idea that regulation undermines competitiveness, pointing to Spain’s broader AI strategy and investment initiatives.

The minister said the EU AI Act includes prohibitions covering subliminal techniques, exploitation of vulnerabilities, biometric classification, social scoring, predictive surveillance, emotion recognition, facial scraping, and real-time identification. He added that, following a request from Spain, the EU agreed on 7 May to add prohibitions on AI-generated sexual deepfakes and AI-generated child sexual abuse material.

The draft law designates Spain’s Artificial Intelligence Supervisory Agency, based in A Coruña, as the central authority. Other market surveillance authorities will also have roles, including the Bank of Spain for financial systems, the Spanish Data Protection Agency for data-related matters, and the General Council of the Judiciary for justice-related issues.

The proposal promotes responsible AI use in the state public sector, including stronger requirements for AI models and transparency in public administration, as well as the creation of an AI officer role. The law also sets rules for AI regulatory sandboxes and measures intended to help AI providers comply with the legislation.

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