Artificial intelligence

AI expands healthcare access in Africa

Health care in Africa is set to benefit from AI through a new initiative by the Gates Foundation and OpenAI. Horizon1000 aims to expand AI-powered support across 1,000 primary care clinics in Rwanda by 2028.

Severe shortages of health workers in Sub-Saharan Africa have limited access to quality care, with the region facing a shortfall of nearly six million professionals. AI tools will assist doctors and nurses by handling administrative tasks and providing clinical guidance.

Rwanda has launched an AI Health Intelligence Centre to utilise limited resources better and improve patient outcomes. The initiative will deploy AI in communities and homes, ensuring support reaches beyond clinic walls.

Experts believe AI represents a major medical breakthrough, comparable to vaccines and antibiotics. By helping health workers focus on patient care, the technology could reduce preventable deaths and transform health systems across low- and middle-income countries.

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Advanced Linux malware framework VoidLink likely built with AI

Security researchers from Check Point have uncovered VoidLink. This advanced and modular Linux malware framework has been developed predominantly with AI assistance, likely by a single individual rather than a well-resourced threat group.

VoidLink’s development process, exposed due to the developer’s operational security (OPSEC) failures, indicates that AI models were used not just for parts of the code but to orchestrate the entire project plan, documentation and implementation.

According to analysts, the malware framework reached a functional state in under a week with more than 88,000 lines of code, compressing what would traditionally take weeks or months into days.

While no confirmed in-the-wild attacks have yet been reported, researchers caution that the advent of AI-assisted malware represents a significant cybersecurity shift, lowering the barrier to creating sophisticated threats and potentially enabling widespread future misuse.

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AI automation poses a major challenge for transport jobs

The transport sector is expected to be the first industry to face large-scale AI automation, particularly in frontline driving roles. Buses, taxis, trains, coaches and heavy goods vehicles are seen as especially vulnerable as autonomous technologies continue to mature.

Employers are increasingly attracted to AI automation, such as automated vehicles, because they can operate continuously without the driving-time limits imposed on human workers. However, this makes automation economically appealing, especially in freight and logistics, where efficiency and round-the-clock operation are critical.

The shift could lead to the displacement of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of transport workers. Concerns are growing over the lack of alternative job opportunities, as investment in reskilling across the UK has remained limited despite ongoing discussions about labour shortages.

Beyond employment, AI automation may have broader economic implications. Large-scale job losses would reduce tax revenues, potentially forcing governments to reconsider taxation policies, including taxing activities that are currently untaxed to offset losses from employment income.

AI becomes mainstream in UK auto buying behaviour, survey shows

A recent survey reported by AM-Online reveals that approximately 66 per cent of UK car buyers use artificial intelligence in some form as part of their vehicle research and buying process.

AI applications cited include chatbots for questions and comparisons, recommendation systems for model selection, and virtual advisors that help consumers weigh options based on preferences and budget.

Industry commentators suggest that this growing adoption reflects broader digital transformation trends in automotive retail, with dealerships and manufacturers increasingly deploying AI technologies to personalise sales experiences, streamline research and nurture leads.

The integration of AI tools is seen as boosting customer engagement and efficiency, but it also raises questions about privacy and data protection, transparency and the future role of human sales advisors as digital tools become more capable.

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Enterprise voice AI reaches new benchmark in India’s first live unscripted TV debate

Blue Machines AI set a new benchmark for enterprise voice AI by taking part in a 60-minute, live, unscripted debate on Indian national television. Aired in a single take, the broadcast tested whether voice AI could perform reliably under real-world pressure and national scrutiny.

During the debate, the system demonstrated enterprise-grade reliability and strong governance. It maintained contextual continuity, ultra-low latency, and disciplined responses while managing interruptions and rapid topic shifts, without producing speculative or unsafe outputs.

The discussion spanned complex and sensitive issues, including geopolitics, national security, AI ethics, trade policy, and India’s deep-technology ambitions. Performance across such a broad range of topics highlighted the system’s maturity and its ability to operate in unpredictable conversational environments.

Observers noted that such performance signals readiness for deployment in high-stakes sectors such as banking, insurance, aviation, and large digital platforms. The event also highlighted the strength of India’s deep-tech engineering ecosystem, marking a shift of voice AI from novelty to stable, governed, and scalable application.

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Amazon One Medical launches health AI assistant

One Medical has launched a Health AI assistant in its mobile app, offering personalised health guidance at any time. The tool uses verified medical records to support everyday healthcare decisions.

Patients can use the assistant to explain lab results, manage prescriptions, and book virtual or in-person appointments. Clinical safeguards ensure users are referred to human clinicians when medical judgement is required.

Powered by Amazon Bedrock, the assistant operates under HIPAA-compliant privacy standards and avoids selling personal health data. Amazon says clinician and member feedback will shape future updates.

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Kashi Vishwanath Temple launches AI chatbot

Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple in India has launched an AI-powered chatbot to help devotees access services from anywhere in the world. The tool provides quick information on rituals, bookings, and temple timings.

Devotees can now book darshan, special aartis, and order prasad online. The chatbot also guides pilgrims on guesthouse availability and directions around Varanasi.

Supporting Hindi, English, and regional languages, the AI ensures smooth communication for global visitors. The initiative aims to simplify temple visits, especially during festivals and crowded periods.

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Davos roundtable calls for responsible AI growth

Leaders from the tech industry, academia, and policy circles met at a TIME100 roundtable in Davos, Switzerland, on 21 January to discuss how to pursue rapid AI progress without sacrificing safety and accountability. The conversation, hosted by TIME CEO Jessica Sibley, focused on how AI should be built, governed, and used as it becomes more embedded in everyday life.

A major theme was the impact of AI-enabled technology on children. Jonathan Haidt, an NYU Stern professor and author of The Anxious Generation, argued that the key issue is not total avoidance but the timing and habits of exposure. He suggested children do not need smartphones until at least high school, emphasising that delaying access can help protect brain development and executive function.

Yoshua Bengio, a professor at the Université de Montréal and founder of LawZero, said responsible innovation depends on a deeper scientific understanding of AI risks and stronger safeguards built into systems from the start. He pointed to two routes, consumer and societal demand for ‘built-in’ protections, and government involvement that could include indirect regulation through liability frameworks, such as requiring insurance for AI developers and deployers.

Participants also challenged the idea that geopolitical competition should justify weaker guardrails. Bengio argued that even rivals share incentives to prevent harmful outcomes, such as AI being used for cyberattacks or the development of biological weapons, and said coordination between major powers is possible, drawing a comparison to Cold War-era cooperation on nuclear risk reduction.

The roundtable linked AI risks to lessons from social media, particularly around attention-driven business models. Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest, said engagement optimisation can amplify divisions and ‘prey’ on negative human impulses, and described Pinterest’s shift away from maximising view time toward maximising user outcomes, even if it hurts short-term metrics.

Several speakers argued that today’s alignment approach is too reactive. Stanford computer scientist Yejin Choi warned that models trained on the full internet absorb harmful patterns and then require patchwork fixes, urging exploration of systems that learn moral reasoning and human values more directly from the outset.

Kay Firth-Butterfield, CEO of Good Tech Advisory, added that wider AI literacy, shaped by input from workers, parents, and other everyday users, should underpin future certification and trust in AI tools.

Diplo is live reporting on all sessions from the World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos.

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Anthropic releases new constitution shaping Claude’s AI behaviour

Anthropic has published a new constitution for its AI model Claude, outlining the values, priorities, and behavioural principles designed to guide its development. Released under a Creative Commons licence, the document aims to boost transparency while shaping Claude’s learning and reasoning.

The constitution plays a central role in training, guiding how Claude balances safety, ethics, compliance, and helpfulness. Rather than rigid rules, the framework explains core principles, enabling AI systems to generalise and apply nuanced judgment.

Anthropic says this approach supports more responsible decision-making while improving adaptability.

The updated framework also enables Claude to refine its own training through synthetic data generation and self-evaluation. Using the constitution in training helps future Claude models align behaviour with human values while maintaining safety and oversight.

Anthropic described the constitution as a living document that will evolve alongside AI capabilities. External feedback and ongoing evaluation will guide updates to strengthen alignment, transparency, and responsible AI development.

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EU urged to accelerate AI deployment under new Apply AI strategy

European policymakers are calling for urgent action to accelerate AI deployment across the EU, particularly among SMEs and scale-ups, as the bloc seeks to strengthen its position in the global AI race.

Backing the European Commission’s Apply AI Strategy, the European Economic and Social Committee said Europe must prioritise trust, reliability, and human-centric design as its core competitive advantages.

The Committee warned that slow implementation, fragmented national approaches, and limited private investment are hampering progress. While the strategy promotes an ‘AI first’ mindset, policymakers stressed the need to balance innovation with strong safeguards for rights and freedoms.

Calls were also made for simpler access to funding, lighter administrative requirements, and stronger regional AI ecosystems. Investment in skills, inclusive governance, and strategic procurement were identified as key pillars for scaling trustworthy AI and strengthening Europe’s digital sovereignty.

Support for frontier AI development was highlighted as essential for reducing reliance on foreign models. Officials argued that building advanced, sovereign AI systems aligned with European values could enable competitive growth across sectors such as healthcare, finance, and industry.

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