Riyadh hosted the UN’s Global Industry Summit this week, showcasing sustainable solutions to challenges faced by businesses in the Global South. Experts highlighted how sustainable agriculture and cutting-edge technology can provide new opportunities for farmers and industry leaders alike.
Indian social enterprise Nature Bio Foods received a ONE World Innovation Award for its ‘farm to table’ approach, helping nearly 100,000 smallholder farmers produce high-quality organic food while supporting community initiatives. Partnerships with government and UNIDO have allowed the company to scale sustainably, introducing solar energy and reducing methane emissions from rice production.
AI technology was also a major focus, with UNIDO demonstrating tools that solve real-world problems, such as AI chips capable of detecting food waste. Leaders emphasised that ethical deployment of AI can connect governments, private sector players, and academia to promote efficient and responsible development across industries in developing nations.
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A new benchmark known as HumaneBench has been launched to measure whether AI chatbots protect user well-being rather than maximise engagement. Building Humane Technology, a Silicon Valley collective, designed the test to evaluate how models behave in everyday emotional scenarios.
Researchers assessed 15 widely used AI models using 800 prompts involving issues such as body image, unhealthy attachment and relationship stress. Many systems scored higher when told to prioritise humane principles, yet most became harmful when instructed to disregard user well-being.
Only four models, including GPT 5.1, GPT 5, Claude 4.1 and Claude Sonnet 4.5, maintained stable guardrails under pressure. Several others, such as Grok 4 and Gemini 2.0 Flash, showed steep declines, sometimes encouraging unhealthy engagement or undermining user autonomy.
The findings arrive amid legal scrutiny of chatbot-induced harms and reports of users experiencing delusions or suicidal thoughts following prolonged interactions. Advocates argue that humane design standards could help limit dependency, protect attention and promote healthier digital habits.
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Google has partnered with VC firm Accel to support early-stage AI start-ups in India, marking the first time its AI Futures Fund has collaborated directly on regional venture investment.
Through the newly created Atoms AI Cohort 2026, selected start-ups will receive up to US$2 million in funding, with Google and Accel each contributing up to US$1 million. Founders will also gain up to US$350,000 in compute credits, early access to models from Gemini and DeepMind, technical mentorship, and support for scaling globally.
The collaboration is designed to stimulate India’s AI ecosystem across a broad set of domains, including creativity, productivity, entertainment, coding, and enterprise automation. According to Accel, the focus will lie on building products tailored for local needs, with potential global reach.
This push reflects Google’s growing bet on India as a global hub for AI. For digital-policy watchers and global technology observers, this partnership raises essential questions.
Will increased investment accelerate India’s role as an AI-innovation centre? Could this shift influence tech geopolitics and data-governance norms in Asia? The move follows the company’s recently announced US$15 billion investment to build an AI data centre in Andhra Pradesh.
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Researchers at Penn State have developed a smartphone application, NaviSense, that helps visually impaired users locate objects in real time using AI-powered audio and vibration cues.
The tool relies on vision-language and large-language models to identify objects without preloading 3D models.
NaviSense incorporates feedback from visually impaired users to offer conversational search and real-time hand guidance, improving flexibility and precision compared to existing visual aid solutions.
Tests showed it reduced search time and increased detection accuracy, with users praising the directional feedback.
The development team continues to optimise the application’s battery use and AI efficiency in preparation for commercial release. Supported by the US National Science Foundation, NaviSense represents a significant step towards practical, user-centred accessibility technology.
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Dubai Airports has entered into a partnership with aviation software company Assaia to deploy an AI-driven turnaround management system across all aircraft stands at DXB. The initiative is part of a broader push to modernise ground operations using real-time data and predictive analytics.
The new system gives the airport and its partners, including airlines like Emirates, flydubai and the ground-handling group dnata, better situational awareness.
By coordinating tasks such as baggage loading, refuelling, catering and passenger boarding, the AI tool aims to reduce delays and improve on-time performance across a network that handles hundreds of flights daily.
According to Dubai Airports, the system will bring greater precision and consistency to turnarounds. Majed Al Joker, Chief Operating Officer at Dubai Airports, said the initiative reflects the airport’s commitment to leveraging advanced technologies to ‘shape the next generation of airport operations’.
For aviation policymakers and infrastructure planners, this move at DXB underscores how AI is becoming central to capacity expansion, not only through the construction of new runways or terminals, but also by optimising the throughput of existing infrastructure.
As airports worldwide face capacity constraints, AI-driven ground operations may emerge as a key lever for efficiency, resilience and sustainability.
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Researchers at the University of Essex are using one of the UK’s most powerful AI supercomputers to investigate how mental fatigue affects the eye.
The EyeWarn project has been granted 10,000 hours on the government-funded Isambard-AI to analyse eye movements in natural settings.
Led by Dr Javier Andreu-Perez, the study aims to combine human and environmental data to understand how cognition influences eye behaviour. Insights from the project could help predict fatigue levels and improve monitoring of human factors in real-world scenarios.
The initiative involves collaboration with academics across the UK and AI firm Solvemed Group. Essex is also set to become a hub for AI innovation with the upcoming £2 billion data centre in Loughton.
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AI is transforming neuroscience research, providing tools to accelerate discoveries and enhance clinical care. At the 2025 Society for Neuroscience meeting, experts highlighted how AI can analyse data, guide experiments, and even enhance scientific manuscripts.
Modified artificial neural networks and deep learning models are helping researchers understand brain function in unprecedented ways.
NeuroInverter, for instance, predicts ion channel compositions in neurons, enabling the creation of ‘digital twins’ that could advance the study of neurological disorders. Brain-inspired models are also proving faster and more efficient in simulating perception and sensory integration.
AI is expanding into practical healthcare applications. Machine learning algorithms can analyse smartphone videos to identify gait impairments with high accuracy, while predictive models detect freezing of gait in Parkinson’s patients before it occurs.
Brain-computer interfaces trained with AI can also decode semantic information from neural activity, thereby supporting communication for individuals with severe disabilities.
Overall, AI is emerging as a powerful collaborator in the field of neuroscience. By bridging fundamental research and clinical practice, it promises faster discoveries, personalised treatments, and new ways to understand the human brain.
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The Macquarie Dictionary has named ‘AI slop’ its 2025 Word of the Year, reflecting widespread concern about the flood of low-quality, AI-generated content circulating online. The selection committee noted that the term captures a major shift in how people search for and evaluate information, stating that users now need to act as ‘prompt engineers’ to navigate the growing sea of meaningless material.
‘AI slop’ topped a shortlist packed with culturally resonant expressions, including ‘Ozempic face’, ‘blind box’, ‘ate (and left no crumbs)’ and ‘Roman Empire’. Honourable mentions went to emerging technology-related words such as ‘clankers’, referring to AI-powered robots, and ‘medical misogyny’.
The public vote aligned with the experts, also choosing ‘AI slop’ as its top pick.
The rise of the term reflects the explosive growth of AI over the past year, from social media content shared by figures like Donald Trump to deepfake-driven misinformation flagged by the Australian Electoral Commission. Language specialist David Astle compared AI slop to the modern equivalent of spam, noting its adaptability into new hybrid terms.
Asked about the title, ChatGPT said the win suggests people are becoming more critical of AI output, which is a reminder, it added, of the standard it must uphold.
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European business leaders heard an urgent message in Brussels as Google underlined the scale of the continent’s AI opportunity and the risks of falling behind global competitors.
Debbie Weinstein, Google’s President for EMEA, argued that Europe holds immense potential for a new generation of innovative firms. Yet, too few companies can access the advanced technologies that already drive growth elsewhere.
Weinstein noted that only a small share of European businesses use AI, even though the region could unlock over a trillion euros in economic value within a decade.
She suggested that firms are hampered by limited access to cutting-edge models, rather than being supported with the most capable tools. She also warned that abrupt policy shifts and a crowded regulatory landscape make it harder for founders to experiment and expand.
Europe has the skills and talent to build strong AI-driven industries, but it needs more straightforward rules and a long-term approach to training.
Google pointed to its own investments in research centres, cybersecurity hubs and digital infrastructure across the continent, as well as programmes that have trained millions of Europeans in digital and entrepreneurial skills.
Weinstein insisted that a partnership between governments, industry and civil society is essential to prepare workers and businesses for the AI era.
She argued that providing better access to advanced AI, clearer legislation instead of regulatory overlap and sustained investment in skills would allow European firms to compete globally. With those foundations in place, she said Europe could secure its share of the emerging AI economy.
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European policymakers are being urged to accelerate the adoption of AI, as Christine Lagarde warns that Europe risks missing another major technological shift. Her message highlights that global AI investment is soaring, yet its economic impact remains limited, similar to that of earlier innovation waves.
Lagarde argues that AI could boost productivity faster than past technologies because the infrastructure already exists, and the systems can improve their own performance. Scientific progress powered by AI, such as the rapid prediction of protein structures, signals how R&D can scale far quicker than before.
Europe’s challenge, she notes, is not building frontier models but ensuring rapid deployment across industries. Strong uptake of generative AI by European firms is encouraging, but fragmented regulation, high energy costs and limited risk capital remain significant frictions.
Strategic resilience in chips, data centres and interoperable standards is also essential to avoid deeper dependence on non-European systems.
Greater cooperation in shared data spaces, such as Manufacturing-X and the European Health Data Space, could unlock competitive advantages. Lagarde emphasises that Europe must act swiftly, as delays would hinder adoption and erode industrial competitiveness.
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