South Korea has narrowed its race to develop a sovereign AI model, eliminating Naver and NCSoft from the government-backed competition. LG AI Research, SK Telecom, and Upstage now advance toward final selection by 2027.
The Ministry of Science and ICT emphasised that independent AI must be trained from scratch with initialised weights. Models reusing pre-trained results, even open source, do not meet this standard.
A wild-card round allows previously eliminated teams to re-enter the competition. Despite this option, major companies have declined, citing unclear benefits and high resource demands.
Industry observers warn that reduced participation could slow momentum for South Korea’s AI ambitions. The outcome is expected to shape the country’s approach to homegrown AI and technological independence.
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Global leaders at the World Economic Forum 2026 are emphasising how AI can strengthen, rather than diminish, human work. Discussions are centred on workforce resilience as economies adapt to rapid technological and structural change.
AI is increasingly taking on routine tasks while providing clearer insights, allowing employees to focus on creativity, judgement, and higher-value activities.
Rather than replacing workers, intelligent tools are reshaping job design, career paths, and leadership expectations, particularly as labour shortages intensify across many developed economies.
Attention is also turning to leadership in an AI-driven workplace. Executives are expected to anticipate risks, spot emerging patterns, and guide teams through change, supported by AI systems that offer earlier and more accurate insights.
Clear communication, upskilling, and trust-building have emerged as core priorities for successful adoption.
Human oversight remains vital as AI enters HR and payroll systems, where errors carry regulatory and reputational risks. Speakers stressed that involving employees directly in AI design improves trust, reduces risk, and ensures intelligent systems address real operational challenges.
Diplo is live reporting on all sessions from the World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos.
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The message was delivered at the Adopt AI Summit in Paris, where sustainability and ethics featured prominently in discussions on future AI development.
At a Grand Palais panel, policymakers, industry leaders, and UN officials examined AI’s growing energy, water, and computing demands. The discussion focused on balancing AI’s climate applications with the need to reduce its environmental footprint.
Public sector representatives highlighted policy tools such as funding priorities and procurement rules to encourage more resource-efficient AI.
UNESCO officials stressed that energy-efficient AI must remain accessible to lower-income regions, mainly for water management and climate resilience.
Industry voices highlighted practical steps to improve AI efficiency while supporting internal sustainability goals. Participants agreed that coordinated action among governments, businesses, international organisations, and academia is essential for meaningful environmental impact.
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Generative AI has rapidly entered classrooms worldwide, with students using chatbots for assignments and teachers adopting AI tools for lesson planning. Adoption has been rapid, driven by easy access, intuitive design, and minimal technical barriers.
A new OECD Digital Education Outlook 2026 highlights both opportunities and risks linked to this shift. AI can support learning when aligned with clear goals, but replacing productive struggle may weaken deep understanding and student focus.
Research cited in the report suggests that general-purpose AI tools may improve the quality of written work without boosting exam performance. Education-specific AI grounded in learning science appears more effective as a collaborative partner or research assistant.
Early trials also indicate that GenAI-powered tutoring tools can enhance teacher capacity and improve student outcomes, particularly in mathematics. Policymakers are urged to prioritise pedagogically sound AI that is rigorously evaluated to strengthen learning.
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A vulnerability in Google Calendar allowed attackers to bypass privacy controls by embedding hidden instructions in standard calendar invitations. The issue exploited how Gemini interprets natural language when analysing user schedules.
Researchers at Miggo found that malicious prompts could be placed inside event descriptions. When Gemini scanned calendar data to answer routine queries, it unknowingly processed the embedded instructions.
The exploit used indirect prompt injection, a technique in which harmful commands are hidden within legitimate content. The AI model treated the text as trusted context rather than a potential threat.
In the proof-of-concept attack, Gemini was instructed to summarise a user’s private meetings and store the information in a new calendar event. The attacker could then access the data without alerting the victim.
Google confirmed the findings and deployed a fix after responsible disclosure. The case highlights growing security risks linked to how AI systems interpret natural language inputs.
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IBM has unveiled a new consulting service designed to help organisations deploy and scale enterprise AI by pairing human experts with digital workers powered by AI.
The approach aims to address common challenges in AI adoption, such as skills gaps, governance, and integration with legacy systems, by combining domain expertise with automated AI capabilities that can execute repetitive and data-intensive tasks.
The service positions digital workers as extensions of human teams, enabling enterprises to accelerate workflows across areas such as finance, supply chain, customer service and IT operations. IBM emphasises that human specialists remain central to strategy, oversight and ethical use of AI, while digital workers support execution and scalability.
The offering includes guidance on governance frameworks, model choice, data architecture and change management to ensure responsible, secure and efficient deployment of AI technologies at scale.
IBM’s hybrid model reflects a broader industry trend toward human-AI collaboration, where AI amplifies professional capabilities while preserving human decision-making and oversight.
The company believes this will help organisations achieve measurable business outcomes faster than traditional AI implementations that rely solely on technology teams.
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The team behind the Astro web framework is joining Cloudflare, strengthening long-term support for open-source tools used to build fast, content-driven websites.
Major brands and developers widely use Astro to create pages that load quickly by limiting the amount of JavaScript that runs during initial rendering, improving performance and search visibility.
Cloudflare said Astro will remain open source and continue to be developed independently, ensuring long-term stability for the framework and its global user community.
Astro’s creators said the move will allow faster development and broader infrastructure support, while keeping the framework available to developers regardless of hosting provider.
The company added that Astro already underpins platforms such as Webflow and Wix, and that recent updates have expanded runtime support and improved build speeds.
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New US tariffs on advanced AI chips are drawing scrutiny over their impact on global supply chains, with South Korea monitoring potential effects on its semiconductor industry.
The US administration has approved a 25 percent tariff on advanced chips that are imported into the US and then re-exported to third countries. The measure is widely seen as aimed at restricting the flow of AI accelerators to China.
The tariff thresholds are expected to cover processors such as Nvidia’s H200 and AMD’s MI325X, which rely on high-bandwidth memory supplied by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
Industry officials say most memory exports from South Korea to the US are used in domestic data centres, which are exempt under the proclamation, reducing direct exposure for suppliers.
South Korea’s trade ministry has launched consultations with industry leaders and US counterparts to assess risks and ensure Korean firms receive equal treatment to competitors in Taiwan, Japan and the EU.
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BioticsAI has received FDA approval for its AI software that detects fetal abnormalities in ultrasound images. The technology aims to improve diagnostic accuracy and clinical workflows.
Founded by CEO Robhy Bustami, the company applies computer vision to enhance ultrasound quality and automated reporting. Development focused on consistent performance across diverse patient populations.
The software helps assess image quality and anatomical completeness, and generates automated reports. Bustami emphasised the importance of reliable performance for high-risk demographics.
With regulatory approval, BioticsAI plans nationwide adoption across health systems. Additional features for fetal medicine and reproductive health are also under development.
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Several UK professional organisations for tax practitioners, including the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), have published new AI guidance for members.
The documents aim to help tax professionals understand how to adopt AI tools securely and responsibly while maintaining professional standards and compliance with legal and regulatory frameworks.
The guidance stresses that members should be aware of risks associated with AI, including data quality, bias, model limitations and the need for human oversight. It encourages firms to implement robust governance, clear policies on use, appropriate training and verification processes where outputs affect client advice or statutory obligations.
By highlighting best practices, the professional bodies seek to balance the benefits of generative AI, such as improved efficiency and research assistance, with ethical considerations and core professional responsibilities.
The guidance also points to data-protection obligations under UK law and the importance of maintaining client confidentiality when using third-party AI systems.
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