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Hong Kong launches AI-focused cybersecurity initiatives for 2026

Hong Kong’s Digital Policy Office has announced a series of AI-related cybersecurity initiatives for the second half of 2026, following a briefing on cyber resilience and emerging technology risks. The office said it would focus on improving AI security awareness and digital literacy among both organisations and the public.

Planned initiatives include a Secure AI@Work Enablement Campaign, organised with the Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation, to help enterprises develop secure and compliant AI ecosystems. The Digital Policy Office will also collaborate with industry on an AI x Cybersecurity Challenge focused on AI-powered threat detection, cyber resilience and cybersecurity skills development.

The office said it would continue enterprise support and practical drills, including an enhanced Cybersec One+, the Cybersecurity Service Providers Connect Programme and the third Hong Kong Cybersecurity Attack and Defence Drill. Hong Kong will also consolidate the Cyber Security Summit Hong Kong and the Cybersecurity Symposium into a single Cybersecurity Symposium and Summit in December.

The Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau said the volume of cyber threat intelligence related to threats targeting Hong Kong continues to increase. Its Cyber Security Centre analysed more than 330,000 threat intelligence records during the first quarter of 2026, identifying phishing as the most prevalent threat category.

The bureau said it would deepen international law enforcement cooperation, strengthen intelligence sharing with sectors including critical infrastructure, and use AI and big data to improve cyber threat detection, early warning analysis, and incident response. The Hong Kong Police Force and Cyberport have also established the Smart Policing Joint AI Lab to develop technologies for detecting deepfakes and strengthening network defence capabilities.

Why does it matter?

The initiatives reflect growing efforts by governments to address the cybersecurity implications of wider AI adoption. As organisations increasingly integrate AI into business operations, concerns around secure deployment, cyber resilience and workforce readiness are becoming key policy priorities.

The programme also highlights how AI is being used both as a potential source of cyber risk and as a tool for improving threat detection, incident response and cyber defence capabilities.

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Anthropic expands AI cybersecurity programme for critical infrastructure

AI company Anthropic has announced a major expansion of Project Glasswing, an initiative aimed at strengthening the security of critical software through AI-assisted vulnerability detection.

After initially providing access to around 50 organisations, the programme will expand to approximately 150 additional partners across more than 15 countries.

Project Glasswing provides selected organisations with access to Claude Mythos Preview, Anthropic’s cybersecurity-focused AI model. According to Anthropic, participating organisations have identified more than 10,000 high- and critical-severity software vulnerabilities through the programme.

The newly added participants include operators and vendors across critical infrastructure sectors such as power, water, healthcare, communications and hardware manufacturing.

Anthropic argues that increasingly capable AI systems could significantly reshape cybersecurity, creating both new defensive opportunities and new risks. The company says future AI models may enable defenders to identify, analyse and remediate vulnerabilities at greater scale, while also potentially enhancing the capabilities available to malicious actors.

Project Glasswing is intended to help critical organisations adapt before such capabilities become widely accessible.

Alongside the expansion, Anthropic said it plans to provide additional cybersecurity tools, support vulnerability remediation efforts and work with industry, governments and open-source software maintainers to strengthen cyber resilience.

Why does it matter?

The expansion of Project Glasswing highlights the growing role of AI in cybersecurity, particularly in vulnerability discovery and software security testing. As critical infrastructure operators face increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, AI-assisted tools may help identify and address security weaknesses more quickly.

At the same time, the initiative reflects broader concerns that advances in AI could benefit both defenders and attackers, increasing the importance of responsible deployment, coordinated security research and resilience planning across critical sectors.

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ILO chief calls for human-centred AI governance at labour conference

International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo has called for a human-centred approach to AI at the opening of the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva. He said the future of work would depend not only on technological advances, but also on the policies, institutions and social dialogue shaping their impact on people’s lives.

Drawing on his report ‘A Moment of Choice: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Decent Work‘, Houngbo outlined an agenda focused on rights, employment and skills, social protection, and social dialogue. He argued that productivity gains generated by AI should be shared through higher wages, stronger labour protections and more inclusive economic growth.

Houngbo warned that decisions taken today would determine whether AI expands opportunity and shared prosperity or contributes to greater inequality and insecurity. He also situated AI governance within a broader context of economic uncertainty, citing ILO estimates that a prolonged oil-price shock could reduce global working hours by the equivalent of millions of full-time jobs and lead to significant labour income losses by 2027.

Delegates will also hold a second discussion on decent work in the platform economy, with the aim of developing new international labour standards. The draft Convention and Recommendation cover employment promotion, protections for digital platform workers, and provisions relating to automated systems used by digital labour platforms.

Delegates from governments, employers, and workers will also address gender equality, social dialogue, tripartism, and the application of labour standards. The conference, which brings together representatives from the ILO’s 187 Member States, will run until 12 June.

Why does it matter?

As AI becomes increasingly integrated into workplaces, governments, employers and workers are debating how productivity gains, skills requirements and labour protections should evolve. The ILO’s focus on human-centred AI reflects growing international efforts to ensure that technological change supports decent work rather than exacerbating inequality.

The discussions are also significant because they could influence future international labour standards for platform work and the use of automated systems in employment, helping shape how AI affects workers worldwide.

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WHO outlines opportunities and risks of AI in health policy

The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a discussion paper examining how AI could reshape evidence-informed health policymaking. The paper, titled ‘Artificial intelligence and evidence-informed policy – emerging challenges and opportunities’, examines how AI can affect the way health problems are defined, policy options are designed, and impact is assessed.

The paper was developed jointly by WHO’s Department of Data, Digital Health, Analytics and AI and its Department of Science for Health. It is intended for policy-makers, regulators, health managers, and AI developers, and organises its analysis around the policy cycle, from understanding problems to designing solutions and monitoring implementation.

According to the paper, AI can strengthen policy analysis through the use of larger datasets, continuous evidence synthesis and faster scenario modelling. The paper also identifies risks throughout the policy cycle, including data bias, excessive focus on measurable indicators, digital divides, cybersecurity vulnerabilities and the possibility that automated monitoring systems could gradually shift policy implementation away from its original objectives.

A recurring concern is what the paper describes as ‘epistemic injustice’, whereby AI systems may prioritise quantifiable and data-rich evidence while overlooking lived experience, local expertise, Indigenous knowledge and community-based perspectives. WHO says existing evidence-informed policymaking tools and AI governance frameworks already converge on transparency, participatory engagement, rights protection, and risk-based oversight.

WHO recommends conducting algorithmic impact assessments and technology readiness reviews before deploying AI systems in policymaking processes. Once systems are deployed, WHO recommends continuous evidence-review processes, human verification mechanisms and multidisciplinary oversight, emphasising that AI should support rather than replace human judgement in health policymaking.

Why does it matter?

AI is increasingly being used to analyse large datasets, model policy scenarios and support public-sector decision-making. As governments and international organisations explore these capabilities, questions about transparency, accountability, bias and human oversight are becoming more important.

WHO’s recommendations highlight the need to balance AI’s analytical potential with safeguards that protect human rights, ensure inclusive policymaking and maintain human responsibility for policy decisions.

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Australia launches AI Safety Institute to boost trust in AI adoption

Australia’s AI Safety Institute became operational on 2 June as the government seeks to strengthen public trust in AI development, deployment and governance. The announcement was made during the AFR AI Summit in Canberra, where the government described public trust as essential to building a domestic AI industry.

According to Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy Hon Dr Andrew Charlton, Australia’s national AI plan rests on three pillars:

Capturing the opportunity
Sharing the benefits
Keeping Australians safe.

The AI Safety Institute is intended to support that effort by testing AI systems, assisting regulators and strengthening public confidence in the technology.

In his speech, Charlton also argued that Australia faces a choice between building a world-class AI industry or relying on foreign capability, while warning that low public trust could slow AI adoption and investment.

Charlton cited survey findings showing that only 30% of Australians believe the benefits of AI outweigh the risks, while 78% are concerned about potential negative impacts, and 36% say they trust the technology. It linked public scepticism to concerns that AI benefits may flow offshore while costs linked to jobs, privacy, power bills, and local communities are borne domestically.

Data centres were highlighted as an example of how trust considerations are shaping AI policy. The government said data-centre developers should contribute new renewable energy capacity, cover an appropriate share of transmission and distribution costs, engage with local communities and avoid creating pressure on water resources.

The AI Safety Institute will analyse and test AI models and applications, support regulators responding to emerging AI-related harms, and contribute to national and international discussions on safe AI development and governance. The speech also pointed to wider work on privacy reform, online safety, workplace impacts, competition, consumer issues, and public-sector AI adoption.

Why does it matter?

Australia is positioning trust as a key component of its AI strategy at a time when governments are balancing economic opportunities from AI with concerns about safety, privacy, employment and infrastructure impacts.

By creating a dedicated AI Safety Institute, Australia joins a growing number of countries establishing specialised institutions to evaluate AI risks, support regulators and build public confidence in the deployment of increasingly capable AI systems.

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UNESCO expands ICT skills training to accelerate digital education in Tanzania

UNESCO, with support from the Republic of Korea and the Government of Tanzania, has trained 52 teachers in Dodoma to improve the use of digital technologies in classroom teaching and learning.

The four-day programme focused on implementing Tanzania’s 2025 ICT Competency Standards for Teachers through digital learning modules developed by the Tanzania Institute of Education. Teachers specialising in ICT, physics, mathematics and chemistry received practical instruction on digital teaching tools, online assessment techniques, educational technologies and open educational resources.

Participants highlighted the value of learning platforms and tools such as video recording applications, interactive quiz systems and collaborative digital learning environments. The programme aimed to help teachers use technology more effectively to improve classroom engagement, teaching quality and student learning outcomes.

Why does it matter?

Digital skills are becoming increasingly important across education systems worldwide. By equipping educators with practical ICT competencies, Tanzania is strengthening its ability to deliver modern, technology-enabled education.

The UNESCO initiative also supports broader efforts to reduce digital divides and build national capacity in education, particularly as countries increasingly integrate technology into teaching, learning and workforce development strategies.

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Anthropic launches Claude Opus 4.8 with improved reasoning capabilities

Anthropic has introduced Claude Opus 4.8, an upgraded version of its flagship AI model, with improvements across coding, agentic tasks, reasoning, and practical knowledge work.

The company said the model builds on Claude Opus 4.7 and is available at the same regular pricing. Anthropic also said that fast mode for Opus 4.8 can run 2.5 times as fast and is now 3 times cheaper than fast mode for previous models.

A key focus of the release is reliability. Anthropic said early testers found Opus 4.8 sharper in judgement when performing agentic tasks, more likely to flag uncertainty, and less likely to make unsupported claims. The company’s evaluations also found the model to be around four times less likely than its predecessor to leave flaws in its own code unremarked.

New features include dynamic workflows in Claude Code, available in research preview, allowing Claude to plan and run hundreds of parallel subagents in a single session for large-scale tasks. Anthropic said the feature can support codebase-scale migrations across hundreds of thousands of lines of code.

Users on claude.ai and Claude Cowork can also control how much effort Claude applies to a response. Higher effort settings are designed to improve quality for difficult tasks, while lower effort settings allow faster responses and slower use of rate limits.

Anthropic also reported stronger alignment results for Opus 4.8 compared with Opus 4.7. Its alignment assessment found lower rates of misaligned behaviour, such as deception or misuse of cooperation, and stronger support for user autonomy and user interests.

The model is available across Anthropic’s platforms, and developers can access it through the Claude API using the claude-opus-4-8 model name.

Why does it matter?

Claude Opus 4.8 shows how frontier AI competition is moving beyond benchmark performance towards reliability in professional workflows. Features such as effort control, dynamic workflows, cheaper fast mode, and stronger agentic task performance point to a market shift in which AI systems are expected to manage longer, more complex work in coding, research, analysis, and enterprise operations while giving users greater control over cost, speed, and reasoning depth.

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Anthropic opens Milan office, highlights responsible AI development

The US AI company, Anthropic, has announced the opening of a new office in Milan, expanding its European presence alongside existing locations in London, Dublin, Paris, Zurich and Munich. The company says the Italian office will support enterprises, developers and researchers adopting Claude AI while contributing to broader discussions about the societal impact of AI.

The announcement comes shortly after the publication of Pope Leo XIV’s AI-focused encyclical ‘Magnifica Humanitas’. Anthropic highlighted the participation of co-founder Chris Olah in the Vatican presentation, where he discussed the ethical challenges associated with advanced AI and called for wider involvement from governments, academia, civil society and religious institutions in shaping AI’s future.

Anthropic says its technology has already been adopted by several major Italian organisations, including Generali Group, Unipol Group, Angelini Pharma, Bracco Group, Enel Group and Pirelli.

The company also highlighted partnerships with Italian technology firms. According to Anthropic, JAKALA deployed Claude across more than 3,000 users, while Satispay and Bending Spoons have integrated Claude into software development workflows to accelerate engineering and product development.

Anthropic says the Milan office will help support the AI ecosystem of Italy while encouraging broader debate about how advanced AI technologies should be developed and deployed responsibly.

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Singapore warns of cybersecurity risks from autonomous AI agents

Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency (CSA) has issued an advisory warning that autonomous AI agents, including OpenClaw, can pose serious cybersecurity risks if deployed without appropriate safeguards.

The advisory references to Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) case study on the responsible deployment of OpenClaw and highlights risks associated with AI agents that can understand context, plan tasks, use external tools, and act on behalf of users.

CSA said such agents can offer productivity benefits but may expose users and organisations to risks, including unpatched vulnerabilities, weak access controls, sensitive data exposure, malicious third-party skills, and memory poisoning.

The agency warned that unresolved risks could lead to agent hijacking, unauthorised actions through tool or API abuse, and unauthorised access to systems or data. It cited the IMDA case study’s warning that ‘accepting the risks associated with granting OpenClaw broader capabilities should be an intentional decision, and not the result of default configurations that were overlooked’.

For individuals, CSA recommends avoiding OpenClaw’s open-source form on devices containing sensitive data, running it under least-privileged accounts, installing skills only from trusted sources, keeping sensitive data out of reach, requiring human approval for high-risk actions, and promptly applying updates.

For organisations, the advisory calls for stronger safeguards, including Zero Trust principles, narrowly scoped agents, dedicated and regularly rotated credentials, policy-enforcing proxies, persistent logging, human approval for irreversible actions, negative testing before deployment, and recovery from a known-good baseline after compromise.

CSA also noted that variants, including NanoClaw and Nvidia’s NemoClaw, have emerged since OpenClaw’s launch. It said organisations requiring agentic AI capabilities should evaluate whether such variants meet their performance and security requirements, as safeguards for agentic AI are still maturing.

Why does it matter?

Agentic AI systems are increasingly being deployed to automate tasks that involve access to data, software tools, and online services. Singapore’s advisory highlights growing concerns that autonomous agents can create new attack surfaces if security controls, oversight mechanisms, and access restrictions are not built into deployments from the start.

The guidance also reflects broader efforts by governments and regulators to develop security practices for rapidly evolving AI systems.

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EU ICT workforce grows to 10.45 million in 2025, Eurostat says

The number of ICT specialists in the EU reached 10.45 million in 2025, representing 5% of total employment, according to new data published by Eurostat. Although annual growth slowed compared with the post-pandemic increases recorded in 2020 and 2021, the number of ICT specialists has continued to rise over the past decade.

Northern European countries continued to lead the bloc in ICT employment concentration. Sweden recorded the highest share of ICT specialists in the workforce at 8.9%, followed by Luxembourg and Finland. At the opposite end, Greece, Romania and Italy reported the lowest shares.

The figures also highlighted the persistent gender imbalance within Europe’s technology workforce. Men represented more than 80% of ICT specialists in 2025, although the share of women increased modestly compared with 2015. Romania, Latvia and Bulgaria recorded the highest proportions of women working in ICT roles.

Eurostat noted that ICT specialists include professionals responsible for developing, operating and maintaining digital systems across all sectors of the economy. Eurostat noted that ICT specialists include professionals responsible for developing, operating and maintaining digital systems across sectors of the economy. The growth of the workforce coincides with increasing digitalisation across businesses, public services and industry.

Why does it matter?

The steady growth of ICT specialists reflects Europe’s accelerating digital transformation and the increasing dependence of economies, governments and businesses on advanced digital infrastructure. The figures also underline major regional and gender disparities that could affect Europe’s competitiveness, digital sovereignty and long-term technology workforce resilience.

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