Artificial intelligence

AI reforms in Hong Kong expected to save millions in public services

Hong Kong will establish a new team to advance the use of AI across government departments, Chief Executive John Lee confirmed during his 2025 Policy Address.

The AI Efficacy Enhancement Team, led by Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk, will coordinate reforms to modernise outdated processes and promote efficiency.

Lee said his administration would focus on safe ‘AI+ development’, applying the technology in public services and encouraging adoption across different sectors instead of relying on traditional methods.

He added that Hong Kong had the potential to grow into a global hub for AI and would treat the field as a core industry for the city’s economic future.

Examples of AI adoption are already visible.

The government’s 1823 enquiry hotline uses voice recognition to cut response times by 30 per cent, while the Census and Statistics Department applies AI models to trade data and company reports, reducing manual checks by 40 per cent and improving accuracy.

Authorities expect upcoming censuses in 2026 and 2031 to save about $680 million through AI and data science technologies instead of conventional manpower-heavy methods.

The announcement comes shortly after China unveiled its national AI policy blueprint, which seeks widespread integration of the technology in research, governance and industry, with a target of 90 per cent prevalence by 2030.

Hong Kong’s approach is being positioned as part of a wider push for technological leadership in the region.

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Business Insider says journalists may use AI to draft stories

Business Insider has issued a memo saying journalists may use AI to help draft stories, while making it clear that authors remain fully responsible for what is published under their names.

The guidelines define what kinds of AI use are permitted, such as assisting with research or generating draft text, but stress that final edits, fact-checking, and the author’s voice must be preserved.

Some staff welcomed the clarity after months of uncertainty, saying the new policy could help speed up routine work. Others raised concerns about preserving editorial quality and resisting over-reliance on AI for creativity or original insight.

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WEF urges trade policy shift to protect workers in digital economy

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has published an article on using trade policy to build a fairer digital economy. Digital services now make up over half of global exports, with AI investment projected at $252 billion in 2024. Countries from Kenya to the UAE are positioning as digital hubs, but job quality still lags.

Millions of platform workers face volatile pay, lack of contracts, and no access to social protections. In Kenya alone, 1.9 million people rely on digital work yet face algorithm-driven pay systems and sudden account deactivations. India and the Philippines show similar patterns.

AI threatens to automate lower-skilled tasks such as data annotation and moderation, deepening insecurity in sectors where many developing countries have found a competitive edge. Ethical standards exist but have little impact without enforcement or supportive regulation.

Countries are experimenting with reforms: Singapore now mandates injury compensation and retirement savings for platform workers, while the Rider Law in Spain reclassifies food couriers as employees. Yet overly strict regulation risks eroding the flexibility that attracts youth and caregivers to gig work.

Trade agreements, such as the AfCFTA and the Kenya–EU pact, could embed labour protections in digital markets. Coordinated policies and tripartite dialogue are essential to ensure the digital economy delivers growth, fairness, and dignity for workers.

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Google launches AI protocol for digital payments

Google has unveiled the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), a new system enabling AI applications to send and receive payments, including stablecoins pegged to traditional currencies.

Developed with Coinbase, the Ethereum Foundation, and over 60 other finance and technology firms, AP2 aims to standardise transactions between AI agents and merchants.

The protocol builds on Google’s earlier Agent2Agent framework, extending it to financial interactions. AP2 supports credit and debit cards, bank transfers, and stablecoins, providing a secure and compliant foundation for automated payments.

By introducing a shared language for AI-led transactions, the system addresses risks linked to authorisation, authenticity, and accountability without human intervention.

The project reflects growing interest in stablecoins, whose circulation recently rose to $289 billion from $205 billion at the start of the year. Integrating stablecoins into AI could change how automated systems manage payments, from daily purchases to complex financial tasks.

Google and its collaborators emphasise AP2’s goal of interoperability across industries, offering flexibility, compliance, and scalability. The initiative makes digital money central to AI, signalling a shift in automated financial transactions.

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New YouTube AI features make Shorts faster and smarter

YouTube has unveiled a new suite of AI tools designed to enhance the creation of Shorts, with its headline innovation being Veo 3 Fast, a streamlined version of Google DeepMind’s video model.

A system that can generate 480p clips with sound almost instantly, marking the first time audio has been added to Veo-generated Shorts. It is already being rolled out in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with other regions to follow instead of a limited release.

The platform also introduced several advanced editing features, such as motion transfer from video to still images, text-based styling, object insertion and Speech to Song Remixing, which converts spoken dialogue into music through DeepMind’s Lyria 2 model.

Testing will begin in the US before global expansion.

Another innovation, Edit with AI, automatically assembles raw footage into a rough cut complete with transitions, music and interactive voiceovers. YouTube confirmed the tool is in trials and will launch in select markets within weeks instead of years.

All AI-generated Shorts will display labels and watermarks to maintain transparency, as YouTube pushes to expand creator adoption and boost Shorts’ growth as a rival to TikTok and Instagram Reels.

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OpenAI study shows ChatGPT adoption widening

OpenAI has released the largest study to date on how people use ChatGPT, based on 1.5 million anonymised conversations.

The research shows adoption is widening across demographics, with women now making up more than half of identified users. Growth has been particularly strong in low- and middle-income countries, where adoption rates have risen over four times faster than in wealthier nations.

Most ChatGPT conversations focus on practical help, with three-quarters of usage related to tasks such as writing, seeking information, or planning. Around half of interactions are advisory in nature, while a smaller share is devoted to coding or personal expression.

The study found 30% of consumer usage is work-related, with the rest tied to personal activities. Researchers argue the AI tool boosts productivity and supports decision-making, creating value not always captured by economic measures like GDP.

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Tencent launches scenario-based AI globally to boost industrial efficiency

Tencent has announced the global rollout of scenario-based AI capabilities to help enterprises accelerate industrial efficiency. At its 2025 Global Digital Ecosystem Summit, held in Shenzhen, the company introduced its Agent Development Platform 3.0 (ADP) via Tencent Cloud.

ADP enables businesses to generate autonomous AI agents that can be integrated into workflows, including customer service, marketing, inventory management, and research.

Tencent is also upgrading its internal models and infrastructure, such as ‘Agent Runtime’, to support stable, secure, and business-aligned agent deployment.

Other new tools include the SaaS+AI toolkit, which enhances productivity in office collaboration (for example, AI Minutes in Tencent Meetings) and knowledge management via Tencent LearnShare. A coding assistant called CodeBuddy is claimed to reduce developers’ coding time by 40 percent while increasing R&D efficiency by about 16 percent.

In line with its international expansion, Tencent Cloud announced that its overseas client base has doubled since last year and that it now operates across over 20 regions.

The rollout also includes open-source contributions: multilingual translation models, large multimodal models, and new Hunyuan 3D creative tools have been made available globally.

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YouTube launches new AI tools to simplify video creation

YouTube has introduced new AI-powered tools to make video creation more playful and effortless. The features include Veo 3 Fast, a video generation model from Google DeepMind, now integrated into YouTube Shorts.

Veo 3 Fast allows creators to generate videos with sound directly from their phones at 480p, all for free.

New Shorts capabilities let users add motion to photos, apply artistic styles, and insert objects into scenes with simple text prompts. These tools expand creative options and simplify content creation, with YouTube set to test them in the coming months.

The platform also launched Edit with AI, automatically transforming raw footage into a first draft with music, transitions, and voiceovers in English or Hindi. The feature helps creators quickly develop their videos, leaving more time for personalisation and refinement.

In addition, YouTube introduced Speech to Song, enabling users to remix dialogue from eligible videos into catchy soundtracks using Lyria 2, Google DeepMind’s AI music model. All AI-generated content includes SynthID watermarks and content labels to ensure transparency and proper attribution.

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Hollywood studios take legal action against MiniMax for AI copyright infringement

Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCUniversal have filed a lawsuit in California against Chinese AI company MiniMax, accusing it of large-scale copyright infringement.

The studios allege that MiniMax’s Hailuo AI service generates unauthorised images and videos featuring well-known characters such as Darth Vader, marketing itself as a ‘Hollywood studio in your pocket’ instead of respecting copyright laws.

According to the complaint, MiniMax, reportedly worth $4 billion, ignored cease-and-desist requests and continues to profit from copyrighted works. The studios argue that the company could easily implement safeguards, pointing to existing controls that already block violent or explicit content.

MiniMax’s approach, as they claim, represents a serious threat to both creators and the broader film industry, which contributes hundreds of billions of dollars to the US economy.

Plaintiffs, including Disney’s Marvel and Lucasfilm units, Universal’s DreamWorks Animation and Warner Bros.’ DC Comics, are seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work or unspecified compensation.

They are also asking for an injunction to prevent MiniMax from continuing its alleged violations instead of simply paying damages.

The Motion Picture Association has backed the lawsuit, with its chairman Charles Rivkin warning that unchecked copyright infringement could undermine millions of jobs and the cultural value created by the American film industry.

MiniMax, based in Shanghai, has not responded publicly to the claims but has previously described itself as a global AI foundation model company with over 157 million users worldwide.

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US Army puts cybersecurity at the heart of transformation

Cybersecurity is a critical element of the US Army’s ongoing transformation and of wider national efforts to safeguard critical infrastructure, according to Brandon Pugh, Principal Cyber Adviser to the Secretary of the Army. Speaking at the Billington CyberSecurity Summit on 11 September, Pugh explained that the Army’s Continuous Transformation initiative is intended to deliver advanced technologies to soldiers more rapidly, ensuring readiness for operational environments where cybersecurity underpins every aspect of activity, from base operations to mobilisation.

Pugh took part in the panel where he emphasised that defending the homeland remains a central priority, with the Army directly affected by vulnerabilities in privately owned critical infrastructure such as energy and transport networks. He referred to research conducted by the Army Cyber Institute at the US Military Academy at West Point, which analyses how weaknesses in infrastructure could undermine the Army’s ability to project forces in times of crisis or conflict.

The other panellists agreed that maintaining strong basic cyber hygiene is essential. Josh Salmanson, Vice President for the Defence Cyber Practice at Leidos, underlined the importance of measures such as timely patching, reducing vulnerabilities, and eliminating shared passwords, all of which help to reduce noise in networks and strengthen responses to evolving threats.

The discussion also considered the growing application of AI in cyber operations. Col. Ivan Kalabashkin, Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Security Services Cyber Division reported that Ukraine has faced more than 13,000 cyber incidents directed at government and critical infrastructure systems since the start of the full-scale war, noting that Russia has in recent months employed AI to scan for network vulnerabilities.

Pugh stated that the Army is actively examining how AI can be applied to enhance both defensive and potentially offensive cyber operations, pointing to significant ongoing work within Army Cyber Command and US Cyber Command.

Finally, Pugh highlighted the Army’s determination to accelerate the introduction of cyber capabilities, particularly from innovative companies offering specialist solutions. He stressed the importance of acquisition processes that enable soldiers to test new capabilities within weeks, in line with the Army’s broader drive to modernise how it procures, evaluates, and deploys technology.

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