Artificial intelligence Archives | Page 7 of 627

YouTube expands AI deepfake detection tools for celebrities

The expansion of its likeness detection technology to the entertainment industry has been announced by YouTube, extending access beyond content creators to talent agencies, management companies and the individuals they represent.

The move is part of a broader effort by the platform to address the growing misuse of AI to generate misleading or unauthorised videos of public figures. By extending the tool to entertainment industry stakeholders, YouTube is signalling that AI-driven impersonation is no longer treated as a niche creator issue but as a broader identity and rights problem.

The system works in a way broadly comparable to Content ID, allowing eligible users to identify videos that use AI to replicate a person’s face or likeness. Once such content is detected, individuals can request its removal through YouTube’s existing privacy complaint process.

The rollout has been developed with input from major industry players, including Creative Artists Agency, United Talent Agency, William Morris Endeavor, and Untitled Management. Those partnerships are intended to help YouTube refine how the system works in practice and ensure it reflects the needs of artists and rights holders dealing with synthetic media.

Importantly, access to the tool is not limited to people who actively run YouTube channels. Celebrities and public figures can use it even without a direct creator presence on the platform, extending its reach across a much broader part of the entertainment ecosystem.

The significance of the update lies in how platforms are beginning to treat AI impersonation as a governance issue rather than merely a content-moderation problem.

As synthetic media tools become easier to use and more convincing, technology companies are under growing pressure to provide faster and more credible mechanisms for detecting misuse, protecting identity rights, and limiting deceptive content.

YouTube’s latest move shows that platform responses are becoming more structured and rights-based, especially in sectors where a person’s likeness is closely tied to reputation, image, and commercial value. The bigger question now is whether such tools will prove effective enough to keep pace with the scale and speed of AI-generated impersonation online.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

US and Philippines plan economic security zone focused on AI and supply chains

The United States Department of State has announced plans with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines to establish a 4,000 acre Economic Security Zone. The project is designed as part of efforts to strengthen supply chains and industrial cooperation.

According to the Department of State, the zone will serve as the first AI native industrial acceleration hub under the Pax Silica framework. It aims to support advanced manufacturing, data infrastructure and technology development.

The initiative is intended to enhance coordination across the full technology supply chain, including critical minerals, semiconductors and computing systems. It reflects broader efforts to align investment and industrial capacity among partner countries.

The US Department of State states that the project will contribute to economic security and technological cooperation, with the Economic Security Zone planned in the Philippines.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

European Commission opens call for AI medical imaging pilots

The European Commission has opened a €9 million call under the Digital Europe Programme to fund two large-scale pilots using cloud-based AI systems for medical imaging. The call opened on 21 April 2026 and will run until 1 October 2026, with the pilots intended to test how AI and generative AI can be deployed in real clinical settings across Europe.

The projects will focus on imaging workflows involving MRI, CT, X-ray, PET, and ultrasound, where AI tools can help flag findings for review by qualified medical professionals. The Commission says the aim is not to replace clinical judgement, but to support earlier detection, improve workflow efficiency, help prioritise urgent cases, and ease pressure on overstretched radiology services.

The call also fits into a wider EU effort to build practical infrastructure around AI in healthcare rather than treating pilots as isolated experiments. Medical centres participating in the projects will join the European Network of AI-Powered Advanced Screening Centres, which the Commission is developing to speed up the introduction of innovative AI tools for cancer and cardiovascular prevention, early detection, and diagnosis.

That network matters because the Commission is trying to connect funding, clinical deployment, and shared learning in a single framework. According to the call material, results from the pilots will be shared through network events to support peer learning and the spread of good practice, giving the initiative a stronger policy purpose than a standard technology grant.

The pilots are also expected to build on existing European health data and imaging infrastructure, including Cancer Image Europe and HealthData@EU. That places the funding call within a broader EU strategy to make medical AI more usable across borders by linking new clinical tools to shared data spaces and common digital infrastructure.

The story is worth covering because it shows the Commission moving from general support for health AI to more concrete deployment mechanisms. The real significance lies less in the €9 million figure on its own than in the fact that Brussels is trying to create repeatable clinical and institutional models for using AI in screening and diagnosis, especially in areas such as cancer and cardiovascular care, where imaging plays a central role.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

European Commission allocates €63.2 million to support AI innovation in health and online safety

The European Commission has announced €63.2 million in funding to support AI innovation, focusing on health, online safety and broader technological development. The initiative aims to accelerate the deployment of AI solutions across key sectors.

According to the Commission, the funding will support projects that improve healthcare systems and strengthen protections in digital environments. It is part of ongoing efforts to expand AI capabilities and adoption.

The programme also seeks to encourage collaboration between research institutions, businesses and public bodies. This approach is intended to foster innovation while addressing societal challenges linked to AI use.

The Commission states that the investment will contribute to strengthening Europe’s digital capacity and advancing AI development across the European Union.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Knowledge synthesis tool RASS presented by European Commission’s Joint Research Centre

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has presented a new AI tool designed to support faster literature reviews, as policymakers and researchers seek better ways to manage the growing volumes of scientific and online information. Called the Research Assistant, or RASS, the prototype is currently being used experimentally within the JRC.

The project responds to a familiar problem in research and policy work: synthesising large amounts of academic literature, news coverage, and web content quickly enough to support timely analysis. According to the publication, many existing AI research tools are built around strong automation, but this does not always align with how researchers actually work. Instead of removing the human researcher from the process, RASS is designed to keep users involved in steering queries, assessing outputs, and shaping the synthesis as it develops.

That human-in-the-loop model is central to the JRC’s argument. The publication links user involvement to trust, factuality, and accuracy, suggesting that AI-based knowledge synthesis is more credible when researchers can intervene rather than accept machine-generated results. In that sense, the report is not just presenting a new tool but also making a broader case for integrating AI into evidence synthesis workflows.

The publication also identifies a wider methodological gap. While AI-powered tools for summarising and reviewing knowledge are developing quickly, the JRC says robust public validation frameworks for such systems are still lacking. To address that problem, the report sets out a dedicated evaluation model for AI-based knowledge synthesis tools. That framework operates across three levels, process, retrospective, and usability, and examines six dimensions: technical performance, content quality, domain relevance, methodological rigour, usability, and integration.

That gives the publication a significance beyond the tool itself. The more important contribution may be its attempt to define how AI systems used for research support should be judged, especially in environments where speed is valuable but reliability remains essential. Rather than treating literature-review automation as a purely technical challenge, the JRC is framing it as a question of evaluation, accountability, and trustworthiness.

The result is a more cautious and arguably more useful vision of AI in research. RASS is presented not as a replacement for expert judgement, but as a support system for faster and more manageable knowledge synthesis. That makes the story less about full automation and more about how public institutions may try to use AI in ways that remain testable, steerable, and methodologically defensible.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Australian regulator highlights rising AI use across various industries

The Australian Communications and Media Authority reports that AI use is accelerating across telecommunications, media and online gambling sectors. The findings highlight growing adoption alongside increasing complexity in how the technology is applied.

According to the Authority, AI is being used in media to personalise advertising and streamline content production. However, concerns have been raised about misinformation risks and the use of copyrighted material.

In the gambling sector, AI supports predictive analytics, promotions and detection of harmful behaviour, while telecommunications companies use it to improve efficiency, detect scams and strengthen network resilience.

The Authority states that despite efficiency gains, stakeholders are calling for stronger governance, transparency and safeguards as AI adoption expands in Australia.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

UK regulator selects firms for second cohort of AI testing programme in financial services

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has selected eight firms to join the second cohort of its AI Live Testing programme, with trials beginning in April 2026. The announcement was made at UK FinTech Week.

The initiative allows participants to test AI applications under regulatory oversight, with a focus on risk management and live monitoring. FCA is working with AI assurance specialist Advai to support the deployment of systems across financial markets.

Jessica Rusu, chief data, information and intelligence officer at FCA, said the programme reflects collaboration between regulators and industry. She added that FCA continues to work with firms to support the safe and responsible development of AI in UK financial markets.

The second cohort includes Barclays, Experian, Lloyds Banking Group, UBS, Aereve, Coadjute, GoCardless and Palindrome. FCA noted that use cases include targeted investment support, credit scoring insights, anti-money laundering detection and agentic payments.

FCA will also use the programme to examine emerging concepts, such as targeted support, a lighter-touch regulatory category aimed at addressing the UK’s advice gap. It reported that applications to its innovation services, including the Regulatory Sandbox and Innovation Pathways, increased by 49 percent year on year. A report on AI adoption practices is expected later in 2026, with a full evaluation of the cohort due in 2027.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

India forms expert committee to support AI governance framework

India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has constituted a Technology and Policy Expert Committee to support the country’s AI governance architecture. The committee will advise the AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG) on policy design, regulatory measures, and international engagement.

The committee is chaired by the ministry’s Secretary and includes experts from academia, industry, and digital policy. Its mandate is to provide informed input grounded in technological developments, regulatory approaches, and global practices.

AIGEG will set strategic direction and coordinate policy across government. The expert committee will translate technical and policy issues into actionable insights for decision-making.

The framework aims to ensure a dynamic and adaptive approach to AI governance. It also seeks to align strategic, technical, and policy considerations with India’s social and economic context.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Frontier AI cybersecurity risks highlighted by the World Economic Forum

A shift is emerging in cybersecurity as frontier AI systems become more capable and harder to control.

Anthropic’s decision to restrict access to the Claude Mythos Preview reflects growing concern about how such models can be used in real-world cybersecurity operations, as highlighted in an article published by the World Economic Forum.

Reported capabilities include identifying unknown vulnerabilities and generating working exploits. Tasks that once required specialised teams over long periods can now be accelerated significantly.

Defensive benefits exist, particularly in faster vulnerability detection, but the same capabilities can also lower barriers for attackers.

The main challenge is no longer finding weaknesses but managing them. AI can generate large volumes of vulnerabilities in a short time, while many organisations still rely on slower response cycles.

That gap increases exposure, especially for critical systems and infrastructure.

Cybersecurity is therefore moving away from static protection toward continuous monitoring and rapid response. At the same time, the lack of clear global rules on access to advanced AI systems raises broader concerns about governance and long-term stability.

Such an evolving imbalance between capability and control is likely to define the next phase of cyber risk.

The World Economic Forum report also stresses that AI-driven cyber risk is becoming a strategic issue, requiring board-level attention, stronger public–private coordination, and faster response timelines, as vulnerability discovery and exploitation compress from weeks to hours.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

UK NCSC calls for stronger cyber readiness

The UK National Cyber Security Centre has warned that organisations must urgently prepare for severe cyber threats, describing them as a growing risk to operations and national resilience. The guidance calls for immediate action from leadership.

Cyber attacks are becoming more capable and disruptive, with new technologies such as AI increasing their speed and scale. These threats can lead to major operational, financial and security impacts.

The agency emphasises that resilience, rather than prevention alone, is critical. Organisations must be able to continue operating and recover during cyber attacks, with preparation and planning carried out in advance.

The Centre states that responsibility lies with organisational leaders, urging investment, coordination and early planning to ensure essential services can continue under pressure in the UK.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!