Artificial intelligence

Salesforce expands Stockholm office to advance agentic AI

The San Francisco-based software company Salesforce has opened a significantly expanded office in Stockholm, reinforcing its long-term investment in Sweden and its broader Northern European strategy.

A new location that reflects the growing demand for AI-driven enterprise tools as regional businesses increasingly adopt agent-based technologies across their operations.

Located at Sveavägen 20, the Stockholm office is four times larger than Salesforce’s previous space and has been designed to support hybrid work, collaboration and innovation.

The opening event highlighted the focus of Salesforce on real estate as a strategic enabler for AI transformation, bringing together employees, partners, customers and community organisations.

A launch that also featured the Agentforce Sweden Nonprofit Hackathon, where Swedish charities presented AI agent solutions to improve efficiency and impact.

Majblomman received SEK 150,000 for an autonomous financial aid agent, underlining Salesforce’s ambition to position the Stockholm office as a regional hub for agentic enterprise development and responsible AI adoption.

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Segment Anything adds audio as Meta unveils SAM Audio

Meta has introduced SAM Audio, a new AI model that uses intuitive prompts to isolate and segment sounds from complex audio recordings. The release extends the company’s Segment Anything collection beyond visuals into audio and video workflows.

SAM Audio allows users to separate sounds through text prompts, visual cues, or time-based selections. Creators can extract vocals or instruments, remove background noise, or isolate specific sound sources in recordings without specialised audio engineering tools.

Meta describes SAM Audio as a unified model designed around how people naturally think about sound. It supports combined text, visual, and time-based prompts, enabling flexible audio separation across music, podcasting, film, accessibility, and research.

Meta says the model achieves strong performance across diverse audio environments and is already being used internally to develop next-generation creative tools. The approach lowers technical barriers while expanding the range of possible audio editing applications.

SAM Audio is available through the Segment Anything Playground, where users can test the model with sample assets or upload their own files. Meta has also made the model available for download, signalling broader ambitions to make audio segmentation a core capability of its AI ecosystem.

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AI helps Everbloom create sustainable cashmere alternatives

Everbloom has developed Braid.AI, an AI system that transforms waste fibres into high-quality textiles. The process can use poultry feathers, wool, and other keratin-rich materials to replicate fabrics like cashmere.

The system works with standard textile machinery, combining chopped waste with proprietary compounds to produce biodegradable fibres. Everbloom aims to reduce environmental impact while maintaining material quality comparable to traditional cashmere.

Co-founder Sim Gulati said the startup aims to make materials economically accessible. Products are designed to offer both environmental benefits and cost-effectiveness, avoiding a ‘sustainable premium’ for consumers.

The AI can fine-tune fibre properties for multiple fabrics beyond cashmere, including polyester alternatives. Everbloom collects waste from farms, mills, and other sources to create a sustainable supply chain.

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Armenian agritech startups use AI, drones and blockchain to empower small farms

In rural Armenia, small agritech startups are applying AI, drones and blockchain technologies to meet the needs of local farmers and producers.

At SkyAgro, drones are used for precision spraying and crop monitoring, allowing farmers to apply inputs with higher efficiency, use fewer chemicals and save water, enhancements critical in water-scarce regions like the Ararat Valley.

Another startup, BeeSync, employs machine-learning hardware attached to beehives that analyses photographic data and environmental sensors to alert beekeepers when colonies show signs of disease or stress, potentially boosting yields.

Blockchain is also being tested in the wool market by ArmWool, which creates immutable records of each step in the production process, from farmer to artisan, to build product traceability and add value for consumers.

While these technologies hold promise for improving productivity, startups face economic hurdles in a small domestic market and are encouraged to pitch solutions globally to sustain growth.

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New AI agent helps organise your day

Google Labs has introduced CC, an experimental AI productivity agent designed to help users stay organised and improve daily efficiency. The agent connects with Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and the wider web to gain an understanding of each user’s day.

Each morning, CC delivers a ‘Your Day Ahead’ briefing to users’ inboxes, summarising schedules, key tasks, and updates. It can draft emails, generate calendar links, and highlight next steps, making it easier to manage appointments, bills, and other responsibilities.

Users can interact with CC directly by replying to emails or sending custom requests, allowing the AI to learn personal preferences, store ideas, and remember tasks. The interactive approach helps the AI agent become more tailored to individual workflows over time.

CC is available in early access for Google consumer accounts aged 18 and over in the US and Canada, initially for Google AI Ultra and paid subscribers. Those interested can join the waitlist via the Google Labs website to gain early access.

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Local experts highlight AI’s potential for regional development

A panel of local business leaders, educators and policymakers in the Columbia Basin convened to discuss how AI can be harnessed to benefit the region’s economy, workforce and public services.

Participants highlighted AI’s potential to streamline government operations, enhance training programs and support small-business growth through data analysis and automation.

Speakers emphasised the importance of investing in workforce education and upskilling, so residents can capitalise on AI-related opportunities rather than being displaced by automation. Partnerships between local schools, employers and community organisations were cited as key to building ‘real-world readiness’ for AI integration across sectors such as agriculture, healthcare and manufacturing.

Panellists also emphasised ethical considerations and the need for community engagement in governance frameworks to ensure AI tools are adopted responsibly and equitably.

They argued that thoughtful regional planning can attract high-quality jobs and help the Columbia Basin carve out a competitive place in the broader digital economy.

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AI shows promise in scientific research tasks

FrontierScience, a new benchmark from OpenAI, evaluates AI capabilities for expert-level scientific reasoning across physics, chemistry, and biology.

The benchmark measures Olympiad-style reasoning and real-world research tasks, showing how AI can aid complex scientific workflows. Generative AI models like GPT‑5 are now used for literature searches, complex proofs, and tasks that once took days or weeks.

The benchmark consists of two tracks: FrontierScience-Olympiad, with 100 questions created by international Olympiad medalists to assess constrained scientific reasoning, and FrontierScience-Research, with 60 multi-step research tasks developed by PhD scientists.

Initial evaluations show GPT‑5.2 scoring 77% on the Olympiad set and 25% on the Research set, outperforming other frontier models. The results show AI can support structured scientific reasoning but still struggles with open-ended problem solving and hypothesis generation.

FrontierScience also introduces a grading system tailored to each track. The Olympiad set uses short-answer verification, while the Research set employs a 10-point rubric assessing both final answers and intermediate reasoning steps.

Model-based grading allows for scalable evaluation of complex tasks, although human expert oversight remains ideal. Analyses reveal that AI models still make logic, calculation, and factual errors, particularly with niche scientific concepts.

While FrontierScience does not capture every aspect of scientific work, it provides a high-resolution snapshot of AI performance on difficult, expert-level problems. OpenAI plans to refine the benchmark, extend it to new domains, and combine it with real-world tests to track AI’s impact on scientific discovery.

The ultimate measure of success remains the novel insights and discoveries AI can help generate for the scientific community.

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AI governance talks deepen as BRICS aligns national approaches

BRICS countries are working to harmonise their approaches to AI, though it remains too early to speak of a unified AI framework for the bloc, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.

Speaking as Russia’s BRICS sherpa, Ryabkov said discussions are focused on aligning national positions and shared principles rather than establishing binding standards, noting that no common BRICS AI rules have yet taken shape.

He highlighted the adoption of a standalone leaders’ declaration on global AI governance at the Rio de Janeiro summit, describing it as a milestone for the organisation and a first for the grouping.

BRICS members, including Russia, view cooperation on AI as a way to manage emerging risks, build capacity and help narrow the digital divide, particularly for developing countries.

Ryabkov added that the group supports a central coordinating role for the United Nations, with AI governance anchored in national legislation, respect for sovereignty, data protection and human rights.

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UN reviews global digital progress at WSIS+20

The UN General Assembly’s 66th plenary meeting marked the twentieth anniversary review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), taking stock of global progress on digital transformation and the challenges that remain. Delegations highlighted how digital technologies have become central to development, governance, and economic growth, while warning that deep inequalities continue to limit who can benefit from them.

Speakers repeatedly pointed to stark connectivity gaps between and within countries. While internet access is nearly universal in high-income states, less than a quarter of people in low-income countries are connected, with persistent rural-urban and gender divides.

Representatives from the least developed countries and small island states emphasised that limited digital access has a direct impact on education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and effective public administration.

Internet governance was another focal point, with broad support for formally establishing the Internet Governance Forum as a permanent UN body. Many countries defended the multistakeholder model as essential to keeping the internet open and resilient, although some raised concerns about the need for stronger participation by developing countries and questioned whether the current framework provides states with sufficient influence.

AI emerged as a defining issue for the next phase of digital cooperation. While several countries outlined national and regional AI strategies, others warned that the concentration of computing power and infrastructure in a few countries could create new global divides. Calls grew for ethical, responsible, and inclusive AI governance, alongside stronger international dialogue and cooperation.

Human rights in the digital space featured prominently throughout the debate. Delegations reaffirmed that the rights people enjoy offline must be protected online, raising concerns about internet shutdowns, surveillance, online violence, and threats to journalists and civil society.

Cybersecurity was also framed as a development and trust issue, with warnings about cybercrime, attacks on critical infrastructure, and risks to children and young people online.

Looking ahead, speakers emphasised the need to align WSIS outcomes with the sustainable development goals and the Global Digital Compact while addressing financing, capacity development, and environmental sustainability. The review highlighted both the progress made in global digital development and to significant challenges that remain, as governments grapple with the rapid pace of technological change and the increasing political, social, and economic stakes of the digital future.

Diplo and the Geneva Internet Platform will provide just-in-time reporting from the high-level meeting. Bookmark this page.

For more details about WSIS and the 20-year review, consult our WSIS+20 process dedicated page.

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WSIS+20 highlights deep gaps in global digital access

Twenty years after the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) laid the foundations for global digital cooperation, UN member states gathered in New York to assess what has been achieved and what still lies out of reach. The WSIS+20 High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly highlighted how deeply digital technologies now shape everyday life, while also exposing the uneven distribution of their benefits across societies and regions.

Despite major progress in connectivity, speakers warned that the world faces not a digital ‘gap’ but a digital ‘canyon’. While most people live within reach of mobile broadband, more than two billion remain offline, predominantly in developing countries.

Delegations stressed that meaningful digital inclusion depends not only on networks, but also on affordability, skills, institutions, and the ability to participate fully in the digital economy and public life.

Gender inequality emerged as one of the most urgent concerns. Women remain significantly less likely to be online than men, and digital harms disproportionately affect them, from exclusion from economic opportunities to widespread gender-based abuse enabled by new technologies.

Participants underlined that closing the gender digital divide is not only a matter of rights and justice, but also a major economic opportunity with global benefits.

AI featured prominently, with broad agreement that AI must be governed in a human-centred and rights-based way. Several speakers warned of a growing ‘AI divide’, driven by unequal access to computing power, data, and linguistic representation. Concerns were raised that AI systems risk reinforcing existing inequalities unless global cooperation ensures that emerging technologies serve public interests rather than deepen exclusion.

Debates over internet governance revealed both strong consensus and sharp geopolitical tensions. Most countries reaffirmed support for the multistakeholder model and called for strengthening the Internet Governance Forum, including making it a permanent UN platform with sustainable funding.

At the same time, disagreements surfaced over state control, sovereignty, and the future institutional architecture of global digital governance.

Looking ahead, the meeting underscored that digital transformation is no longer just a technical issue but a deeply political one, tied to human rights, development, security, and power. While the original WSIS principles remain widely supported, participants agreed that renewed ambition, financing, and cooperation are essential to ensure that digital technologies, including AI, deliver tangible benefits for all, rather than widening the divides they were meant to close.

Diplo and the Geneva Internet Platform will provide just-in-time reporting from the high-level meeting. Bookmark this page.

For more details about WSIS and the 20-year review, consult our WSIS+20 process dedicated page.

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