Artificial intelligence

EU partners with EIB to support AI gigafactories

The European Commission and the European Investment Bank Group (EIB) have signed a memorandum of understanding to support the development of AI Gigafactories across the EU. The partnership aims to position Europe as a leading AI hub by accelerating financing and the construction of large-scale AI facilities.

The agreement establishes a framework to guide consortia responding to the Commission’s informal Call for Expression of Interest. EIB advisory support will help turn proposals into bankable projects for the 2026 AI Gigafactory call, with possible co-financing.

The initiative builds on InvestAI, announced in February 2025, mobilising €20 billion to support up to five AI Gigafactories. These facilities will boost Europe’s computing infrastructure, reinforce technological sovereignty, and drive innovation across the continent.

By translating Europe’s AI ambitions into concrete, large-scale projects, the Commission and the EIB aim to position the EU as a global leader in next-generation AI, while fostering investment and industrial growth.

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Google launches Workspace Studio for AI-powered automation

Google has made Workspace Studio generally available, allowing employees to design, manage, and share AI agents directly within Workspace. Powered by Gemini 3, these agents automate tasks ranging from simple routines to complex business workflows, all without coding.

The platform aims to save time on repetitive work, freeing employees to focus on higher-value activities.

Agents can understand context, reason through problems, and integrate with core Workspace apps such as Gmail, Drive, and Chat, as well as enterprise platforms like Asana, Jira, Mailchimp, and Salesforce.

Early adopters, including cleaning solutions leader Kärcher, have utilised Workspace Studio to streamline workflows, reducing planning time by up to 90% and consolidating multiple tasks into a single minute.

Workspace Studio allows users to build agents using templates or natural language prompts, making automation accessible to non-specialists. Agents can manage status reports, reminders, email triage, and critical tasks, such as legal notices or travel requests.

Teams can also easily share agents, ensuring collaboration and consistency across workflows.

The rollout to business customers will continue over the coming weeks. Users can start creating agents immediately, explore templates, use prompts for automations, and join the Gemini Alpha program to test early features and controls.

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Campaigning in the age of generative AI

Generative AI is rapidly altering the political campaign landscape, argues the ORF article, which outlines how election teams worldwide are adopting AI tools for persuasion, outreach and content creation.

Campaigns can now generate customised messages for different voter groups, produce multilingual content at scale, and automate much of the traditional grunt work of campaigning.

On one hand, proponents say the technology makes campaigning more efficient and accessible, particularly in multilingual or resource-constrained settings. But the ease and speed with which content can be generated also lowers the barrier for misuse: AI-driven deepfakes, synthetic voices and disinformation campaigns can be deployed to mislead voters or distort public discourse.

Recent research supports these worries. For example, a large-scale study published in Science and Nature demonstrated that AI chatbots can influence voter opinions, swaying a non-trivial share of undecided voters toward a target candidate simply by presenting persuasive content.

Meanwhile, independent analyses show that during the 2024 US election campaign, a noticeable fraction of content on social media was AI-generated, sometimes used to spread misleading narratives or exaggerate support for certain candidates.

For democracy and governance, the shift poses thorny challenges. AI-driven campaigns risk eroding public trust, exacerbating polarisation and undermining electoral legitimacy. Regulators and policymakers now face pressure to devise new safeguards, such as transparency requirements around AI usage in political advertising, stronger fact-checking, and clearer accountability for misuse.

The ORF article argues these debates should start now, before AI becomes so entrenched that rollback is impossible.

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New AI stroke-imaging tool halves time to treatment

A new AI-powered tool rolled out across England is helping clinicians diagnose strokes much sooner, significantly speeding up treatment decisions and improving patient outcomes. According to a study published in The Lancet Digital Health, roughly 15,000 patients benefited directly from AI-assisted scan reviews.

The tool, deployed at over 70 hospitals, analyses brain scans in minutes to rapidly identify clots, supporting doctors in deciding whether a patient needs urgent procedures such as a thrombectomy. Sites using the AI saw thrombectomy rates double (from 2.3% to 4.6%), compared with more modest increases at hospitals not using the technology.

Time is critical in stroke treatment: each 20-minute delay in thrombectomy reduces a patient’s chance of full recovery by around 1 per cent. The AI-driven system also helped cut the average ‘door-in to door-out’ time at primary stroke centres by 64 minutes, making it far more likely that patients reach a specialist centre in time for treatment.

Health-service leaders say the findings provide real-world evidence that AI imaging can save lives and reduce disability after stroke. As a result, the technology is now part of a wider national rollout across every regularly admitting stroke service in England.

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Japanese high-schooler suspected of hacking net-cafe chain using AI

Authorities in Tokyo have issued an arrest warrant for a 17-year-old boy from Osaka on suspicion of orchestrating a large-scale cyberattack using artificial intelligence. The alleged target was the operator of the Kaikatsu Club internet-café chain (along with related fitness-gym business), which may have exposed the personal data of about 7.3 million customers.

According to investigators, the suspect used a computer programme, reportedly built with help from an AI chatbot, to send unauthorised commands around 7.24 million times to the company’s servers in order to extract membership information. The teenager was previously arrested in November in connection with a separate fraud case involving credit-card misuse.

Police have charged him under Japan’s law against unauthorised computer access and for obstructing business, though so far no evidence has emerged of misuse (for example, resale or public leaks) of the stolen data.

In his statement to investigators, the suspect reportedly said he carried out the hack simply because he found it fun to probe system vulnerabilities.

This case is the latest in a growing pattern of so-called AI-enabled cyber crimes in Japan, from fraudulent subscription schemes to ransomware generation. Experts warn that generative AI is lowering the barrier to entry for complex attacks, enabling individuals with limited technical training to carry out large-scale hacking or fraud.

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Google boosts Nigeria’s AI development

The US tech giant, Google, has announced a $2.1 million Google.org commitment to support Nigeria’s AI-powered future, aiming to strengthen local talent and improve digital safety nationwide.

An initiative that supports Nigeria’s National AI Strategy and its ambition to create one million digital jobs, recognising the economic potential of AI, which could add $15 billion to the country’s economy by 2030.

The investment focuses on developing advanced AI skills among students and developers instead of limiting progress to short-term training schemes.

Google will fund programmes led by expert partners such as FATE Foundation, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, and the African Technology Forum.

Their work will introduce advanced AI curricula into universities and provide developers with structured, practical routes from training to building real-world products.

The commitment also expands digital safety initiatives so communities can participate securely in the digital economy.

Junior Achievement Africa will scale Google’s ‘Be Internet Awesome’ curriculum to help families understand safe online behaviour, while the CyberSafe Foundation will deliver cybersecurity training and technical assistance to public institutions, strengthening national digital resilience.

Google aims to create more opportunities similar to those of Nigerian learners who used digital skills to secure full-time careers instead of remaining excluded from the digital economy.

By combining advanced AI training with improved digital safety, the company intends to support inclusive growth and build long-term capacity across Nigeria.

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SAP elevates customer support with proactive AI systems

AI has pushed customer support into a new era, where anticipation replaces reaction. SAP has built a proactive model that predicts issues, prevents failures and keeps critical systems running smoothly instead of relying on queues and manual intervention.

Major sales events, such as Cyber Week and Singles Day, demonstrated the impact of this shift, with uninterrupted service and significant growth in transaction volumes and order numbers.

Self-service now resolves most issues before they reach an engineer, as structured knowledge supports AI agents that respond instantly with a confidence level that matches human performance.

Tools such as the Auto Response Agent and Incident Solution Matching enable customers to retrieve solutions without having to search through lengthy documentation.

SAP has also prepared organisations scaling AI by offering support systems tailored for early deployment.

Engineers have benefited from AI as much as customers. Routine tasks are handled automatically, allowing experts to focus on problems that demand insight instead of administration.

Language optimisation, routing suggestions, and automatic error categorisation support faster and more accurate resolutions. SAP validates every AI tool internally before release, which it views as a safeguard for responsible adoption.

The company maintains that AI will augment staff rather than replace them. Creative and analytical work becomes increasingly important as automation handles repetitive tasks, and new roles emerge in areas such as AI training and data stewardship.

SAP argues that progress relies on a balanced relationship between human judgement and machine intelligence, strengthened by partnerships that turn enterprise data into measurable outcomes.

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UK positions itself for leadership in the quantum computing race

Quantum computing is advancing as governments and industry pursue new frontiers beyond AI. The UK benefits from strong research traditions and skilled talent. Policymakers see early planning as vital for long-term competitiveness.

Companies across finance, energy and logistics are testing quantum methods for optimisation and modelling. Early pilots suggest that quantum techniques may offer advantages where classical approaches slow down or fail to scale. Interest in practical applications is rising across Europe.

The UK benefits from strong university spinouts and deep industrial partnerships. Joint programmes are accelerating work on molecular modelling and drug discovery. Many researchers argue that early experimentation helps build a more resilient quantum workforce.

New processors promise higher connectivity and lower error rates as the field moves closer to quantum advantage. Research teams are refining designs for future error-corrected systems. Hardware roadmaps indicate steady progress towards more reliable architectures.

Policy support will shape how quickly the UK can translate research into real-world capability. Long-term investments, open scientific collaboration and predictable regulation will be critical. Momentum suggests a decisive period for the country’s quantum ambitions.

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Canada sets national guidelines for equitable AI

Yesterday, Canada released the CAN-ASC-6.2 – Accessible and Equitable Artificial Intelligence Systems standard, marking the first national standard focused specifically on accessible AI.

A framework that ensures AI systems are inclusive, fair, and accessible from design through deployment. Its release coincides with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, emphasising Canada’s commitment to accessibility and inclusion.

The standard guides organisations and developers in creating AI that accommodates people with disabilities, promotes fairness, prevents exclusion, and maintains accessibility throughout the AI lifecycle.

It provides practical processes for equity in AI development and encourages education on accessible AI practices.

The standard was developed by a technical committee composed largely of people with disabilities and members of equity-deserving groups, incorporating public feedback from Canadians of diverse backgrounds.

Approved by the Standards Council of Canada, CAN-ASC-6.2 meets national requirements for standards development and aligns with international best practices.

Moreover, the standard is available for free in both official languages and accessible formats, including plain language, American Sign Language and Langue des signes québécoise.

By setting clear guidelines, Canada aims to ensure AI serves all citizens equitably and strengthens workforce inclusion, societal participation, and technological fairness.

An initiative that highlights Canada’s leadership in accessible technology and provides a practical tool for organisations to implement inclusive AI systems.

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AI and automation need human oversight in decision-making

Leaders from academia and industry in Hyderabad, India are stressing that humans must remain central in decision-making as AI and automation expand across society. Collaborative intelligence, combining AI experts, domain specialists and human judgement, is seen as essential for responsible adoption.

Universities are encouraged to treat students as primary stakeholders, adapting curricula to integrate AI responsibly and avoid obsolescence. Competency-based, values-driven learning models are being promoted to prepare students to question, shape and lead through digital transformation.

Experts highlighted that modern communication is co-produced by humans, machines and algorithms. Designing AI to augment human agency rather than replace it ensures a balance between technology and human decision-making across education and industry.

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