Artificial intelligence

Dutch government to build AI plant with €70 million pledge

The Dutch government has pledged €70 million to build a new AI facility in Groningen to establish a European hub for AI research and development.

A consortium of Dutch organisations will manage the plant and focus on healthcare, agriculture, defence and energy applications.

The government is also seeking an additional €70 million in EU co-financing and has welcomed a separate €60 million contribution from the Groningen regional administration.

The plant is expected to be commissioned in 2026 and reach operation by early 2027 if funding is secured.

Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans emphasised the need to develop domestic AI capacity, warning that dependence on foreign technologies could threaten national competitiveness and digital independence.

‘Those who do not develop the technology themselves depend on others, ’ Karremans said on the government’s website.

European countries have grown increasingly concerned over their reliance on AI technologies developed by US companies.

The Groningen initiative marks a broader effort by the EU to build its own AI infrastructure instead of leaving strategic control in foreign hands.

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Gartner warns that more than 40 percent of agentic AI projects could be cancelled by 2027

More than 40% of agentic AI projects will likely be cancelled by the end of 2027 due to rising costs, limited business value, and poor risk control, according to research firm Gartner.

These cancellations are expected as many early-stage initiatives remain trapped in hype, often misapplied and far from ready for real-world deployment.

Gartner analyst Anushree Verma warned that most agentic AI efforts are still at the proof-of-concept stage. Instead of focusing on scalable production, many companies have been distracted by experimental use cases, underestimating the cost and complexity of full-scale implementation.

A recent poll by Gartner found that only 19% of organisations had made significant investments in agentic AI, while 31% were undecided or waiting.

Much of the current hype is fuelled by vendors engaging in ‘agent washing’ — marketing existing tools like chatbots or RPA under a new agentic label without offering true agentic capabilities.

Out of thousands of vendors, Gartner believes only around 130 offer legitimate agentic solutions. Verma noted that most agentic models today lack the intelligence to deliver strong returns or follow complex instructions independently.

Still, agentic AI holds long-term promise. Gartner expects 15% of daily workplace decisions to be handled autonomously by 2028, up from zero in 2024. Moreover, one-third of enterprise applications will include agentic capabilities by then.

However, to succeed, organisations must reimagine workflows from the ground up, focusing on enterprise-wide productivity instead of isolated task automation.

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YouTube adds AI search results for travel, shopping and more

YouTube is launching a new AI-powered search feature that mirrors Google’s AI Overviews, aiming to improve how users discover content on the platform.

The update introduces an ‘AI-powered search results carousel’ when YouTube users search for shopping, travel, or local activities.

The carousel offers a collection of video thumbnails and an AI-generated summary highlighting the key topics related to the search. For example, someone searching for ‘best beaches in Hawaii’ might see curated clips of snorkelling locations, volcanic coastlines, and planning tips — all surfaced by the AI.

Currently, the feature is available only to YouTube Premium users in the US. However, the platform plans to expand its conversational AI tool — which provides deeper insights, suggestions, and video summaries — to non-Premium users in the US soon.

That tool was first launched in 2023 to help users better understand content while watching.

YouTube is doubling down on AI features to keep users engaged and make content discovery more intuitive, especially in categories involving planning and decision-making.

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Meta hires top OpenAI researcher for AI superintelligence push

Meta has reportedly hired AI researcher Trapit Bansal, who previously worked closely with OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever on reinforcement learning and co-created the o1 reasoning model.

Bansal joins Meta’s ambitious superintelligence team, which is focused on further pushing AI reasoning capabilities.

Former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang leads the new team, brought in after Meta invested $14.3 billion in the AI data labelling company.

Alongside Bansal, several other notable figures have recently joined, including three OpenAI researchers from Zurich, a former Google DeepMind expert, Jack Rae, and a senior machine learning lead from Sesame AI.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is accelerating AI recruitment by negotiating with prominent names like former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Safe Superintelligence co-founder Daniel Gross.

Despite these aggressive efforts, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that even $100 million joining bonuses have failed to lure key staff away from his firm.

Zuckerberg has also explored acquiring startups such as Sutskever’s Safe SuperIntelligence and Perplexity AI, further highlighting Meta’s urgency in catching up in the generative AI race.

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Le Chat leads AI privacy ranking report

A new report has revealed that Le Chat from Mistral AI is the most privacy-respecting generative AI, with ChatGPT and Grok close behind. The study by Incogni assessed nine popular services against 11 criteria covering data use, sharing and transparency.

Meta AI came last, flagged for poor privacy practices and extensive data sharing. According to the findings, Gemini and Copilot also performed poorly in protecting user privacy.

Incogni highlighted that several services, including ChatGPT and Grok, allow users to stop their data from being used for training. However, other providers like Meta AI, Pi AI and Gemini offered no clear way to opt-out.

The report warned that AI firms often share data with service providers, affiliates, researchers and law enforcement. Clear, readable privacy policies and opt-out tools were key for building trust.

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BT report shows rise in cyber attacks on UK small firms

A BT report has found that 42% of small businesses in the UK suffered a cyberattack in the past year. The study also revealed that 67% of medium-sized firms were targeted, while many lacked basic security measures or staff training.

Phishing was named the most common threat, hitting 85% of businesses in the UK, and ransomware incidents have more than doubled. BT’s new training programme aims to help SMEs take practical steps to reduce risks, covering topics like AI threats, account takeovers and QR code scams.

Tris Morgan from BT highlighted that SMEs face serious risks from cyber attacks, which could threaten their survival. He stressed that security is a necessary foundation and can be achieved without vast resources.

The report follows wider warnings on AI-enabled cyber threats, with other studies showing that few firms feel prepared for these risks. BT’s training is part of its mission to help businesses grow confidently despite digital dangers.

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Tower of Babel reimagined: IGF 2025 experiment highlights language barriers in internet governance

At the 2025 Internet Governance Forum in Lillestrøm, Norway, an unconventional session titled ‘Tower of Babel Chaos’ challenged the norm of using English as the default language in global digital policy discussions. Moderator Virginia Paque, Senior Policy Editor of Diplo and the only native English speaker among the participants, suspended English as the session’s required language and encouraged attendees to define internet governance and interact in their own native tongues.

That move sparked both confusion and revelation as participants experienced firsthand the communicative fragmentation caused by linguistic diversity. The experiment led to the spontaneous clustering of speakers into language groups and highlighted the isolation of individuals whose languages—such as Maltese, Samoan, Cape Verdean Creole, and Chichewa—had no other representation.

Participants reported feelings ranging from curiosity to frustration, underlining the practical importance of shared language in international settings. Yet, some also discovered unexpected bridges through linguistic overlap or body language, hinting at the potential for cross-cultural communication even in chaotic conditions.

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AI emerged as a potential remedy. Ken Huang from Lingo AI noted that while AI can process thousands of languages, its effectiveness is currently limited by a lack of diverse datasets, making it default to English and other dominant tongues. Others emphasised that while technology offers hope—like real-time translation tools—it cannot guarantee equitable inclusion for all linguistic groups, particularly under-resourced languages.

The session ultimately balanced idealism with pragmatism. While many acknowledged the convenience of English as a global lingua franca, others argued for providing multiple language options with simultaneous interpretation, as practised by institutions like the UN.

The discussion underscored the political, cultural, and technological complexities of multilingualism in internet governance, and concluded with a shared recognition: fostering a more inclusive digital dialogue means embracing both innovation and linguistic diversity.

Track all key moments from the Internet Governance Forum 2025 on our dedicated IGF page.

EU urged to pause AI act rollout

The digital sector is urging the EU leaders to delay the AI act, citing missing guidance and legal uncertainty. Industry group CCIA Europe warns that pressing ahead could damage AI innovation and stall the bloc’s economic ambitions.

The AI Act’s rules for general-purpose AI models are set to apply in August, but key frameworks are incomplete. Concerns have grown as the European Commission risks missing deadlines while the region seeks a €3.4 trillion AI-driven economic boost by 2030.

CCIA Europe calls for the EU heads of state to instruct a pause on implementation to ensure companies have time to comply. Such a delay would allow final standards to be established, offering developers clarity and supporting AI competitiveness.

Failure to adjust the timeline could leave Europe struggling to lead in AI, according to CCIA Europe’s leadership. A rushed approach, they argue, risks harming the very innovation the AI Act aims to promote.

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Infosys chairman warns of global risks from tariffs and AI

Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani has warned of mounting global uncertainty driven by tariff wars, AI and the ongoing energy transition.

At the company’s 44th annual general meeting, he urged businesses to de-risk sourcing and diversify supply chains as geopolitical trade tensions reshape global commerce.

He described a ‘perfect storm’ of converging challenges pushing the world away from a single global market and towards fragmented trade blocs. As firms navigate the shift, they must choose between regions and adopt more strategic, resilient supply networks.

Addressing AI, Nilekani acknowledged the disruption it may bring to the workforce but framed it as an opportunity for digital transformation. He said Infosys is investing in both ‘AI foundries’ for innovation and ‘AI factories’ for scale, with over 275,000 employees already trained in AI technologies.

Energy transition was also flagged as a significant uncertainty, as the future depends on breakthroughs in renewable sources like solar, wind and hydrogen. Nilekani stressed that all businesses now face rapid technological and operational change before they can progress confidently into an unpredictable future.

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Google releases free Gemini CLI tool for developers

Google has introduced Gemini CLI, a free, open-source AI tool that connects developers directly to its Gemini AI models. The new agentic utility allows developers to request debugging, generate code, and run commands using natural language within their terminal environment.

Built as a lightweight interface, Gemini CLI provides a streamlined way to interact with Gemini. While its coding features stand out, Google says the tool handles content creation, deep research, and complex task management across various workflows.

Gemini CLI uses Gemini 2.5 Pro for coding and reasoning tasks by default. Still, it can also connect to other AI models, such as Imagen and Veo, for image and video generation. It supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and integrates with Gemini Code Assist.

Moreover, the tool is available on Windows, MacOS, and Linux, offering developers a free usage tier. Access through Vertex AI or AI Studio is available on a pay-as-you-go basis for advanced setups involving multiple agents or custom models.

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