Alibaba has open-sourced its latest AI model, Qwen3-Next, claiming it is ten times more powerful and cheaper to train than its predecessor.
Developed by Alibaba Cloud, the 80-billion-parameter model reportedly performs on par with the company’s flagship Qwen3-235B-A22B while remaining optimised for deployment on consumer-grade hardware.
Qwen3-Next introduces innovations such as hybrid attention for long text processing, high-sparsity mixture-of-experts architecture, and multi-token prediction strategies. These upgrades boost both efficiency and model stability during training.
Alibaba also released Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking, a reasoning-focused model that outperformed its own Qwen3-32B-Thinking and Google’s Gemini-2.5-Flash-Thinking in benchmark tests.
The release strengthens Alibaba’s position as a major player in open-source AI, following last week’s preview of its 1-trillion-parameter Qwen-3-Max model, which ranked sixth on UC Berkeley’s LMArena leaderboard.
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The US House of Representatives has passed an $848 billion defence policy bill with new provisions for cybersecurity and AI. Lawmakers voted 231 to 196 to approve the chamber’s version of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA).
The bill mandates that the National Security Agency brief Congress on plans for its Cybersecurity Coordination Centre and requires annual reports from combatant commands on the levels of support provided by US Cyber Command.
It also calls for a software bill of materials for AI-enabled technology that the Department of Defence uses. The Pentagon will be authorised to create up to 12 generative AI projects to improve cybersecurity and intelligence operations.
An adopted amendment allows the NSA to share threat intelligence with the private sector to protect US telecommunications networks. Another requirement is that the Pentagon study the National Guard’s role in cyber response at the federal and state levels.
Proposals to renew the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act and the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program were excluded from the final text. The Senate is expected to approve its version of the NDAA next week.
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If AI is to matter in the economy, it must first matter to small businesses. Firms employ over 61 million people, nearly half the private workforce, yet most run on outdated technology. While smartphones update monthly, many small businesses still use systems built a decade ago.
Search fund entrepreneurs bridge this gap by upgrading established firms with modern tech. One deal turned a 50-person roadside assistance firm into Asurion, now a global tech-care provider. Others have scaled compliance firms into nationwide SaaS platforms.
Generative AI now accelerates these transformations, cutting work times by over 60% across supply chains, compliance, and document processing functions. Complex tasks can now be completed in hours, unlocking double-digit productivity gains and allowing small businesses to focus on growth.
Search funds are not the only path forward. AI consulting firms, tech studios, and AI-powered roll-up strategies bring enterprise-grade tools to family-run firms. For communities that have relied on traditional playbooks, decades of growth can be compressed into months.
The cost of AI has never been lower, and the opportunity is wide open. Once deployed at scale, AI could power a wave of productivity on Main Street, helping small businesses compete and strengthening the economy for half of their workforce.
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Google Cloud has rolled out a new Data Transfer Essentials plan, allowing customers to move workloads across multiple clouds without paying transfer fees. The move comes ahead of the EU Data Act on 12 September 2025, intended to strengthen competition across the cloud market.
Under the new rules, providers must charge data transfer fees only ‘at cost.’ While Microsoft and Amazon have already taken steps to comply, Google has gone further by removing the charge altogether.
The company said the change is aimed at supporting businesses with multicloud strategies, offering more flexibility, and reducing downtime in critical workloads.
The initiative also positions Google as more aligned with regulatory goals, particularly compared with Microsoft, which has faced scrutiny over restrictive licensing practices. Google said qualifying traffic will now be billed at zero cost, while other transfers remain charged at existing rates.
The announcement follows strong growth in Google Cloud’s business, especially from AI firms like OpenAI and Anthropic. Alphabet’s cloud contracts are valued at around $106 billion, with CEO Thomas Kurian projecting $58 billion in revenue conversion within two years.
Alphabet’s stock price rose 2.47% following the update, reaching $239.94, as investors responded positively to both growth prospects and regulatory positioning.
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OpenAI has finalised a record $300 billion deal with Oracle to secure vast computing infrastructure over five years, marking one of the most significant cloud contracts in history. The agreement is part of Project Stargate, OpenAI’s plan to build massive data centre capacity in the US and abroad.
The two companies will develop 4.5 gigawatts of computing power, equivalent to the energy consumed by millions of homes.
Backed by SoftBank and other partners, the Stargate initiative aims to surpass $500 billion in investment, with construction already underway in Texas. Additional plans include a large-scale data centre project in the United Arab Emirates, supported by Emirati firm G42.
The scale of the deal highlights the fierce race among tech giants to dominate AI infrastructure. Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta are also pledging hundreds of billions of dollars towards data centres, while OpenAI faces mounting financial pressure.
The company currently generates around $10 billion in revenue but is expected to spend far more than that annually to support its expansion.
Oracle is betting heavily on OpenAI as a future growth driver, although the risk is high given OpenAI’s lack of profitability and Oracle’s growing debt burden.
A gamble that rests on the assumption that ChatGPT and related AI technologies will continue to grow at an unprecedented pace, despite intense competition from Google, Anthropic and others.
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The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, delivered her 2025 State of the Union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The speech set out priorities for the coming year and was framed by growing geopolitical tensions and the push for a more self-reliant Europe.
Von der Leyen highlighted that global dynamics have shifted.
‘Battlelines for a new world order based on power are being drawn right now, ’ she said.
In this context, Europe must take a more assertive role in defending its own security and advancing the technologies that will underpin its economic future. The President characterised this moment as a turning point for European independence.
Digital policy appeared less prominently than expected in the address. Von der Leyen often referred to ‘technology sovereignty’ to encompass not only digital technologies, but also other types of technologies necessary for the green transition and to achieve energetic autonomy. In spite of that, some specific references to digital policy are worth highlighting.
Europe’s right to regulate. Von der Leyen defended Europe’s right to set its own standards and regulations. The assertion came right after her defence of the US-EU trade deal, making it a direct response to the mounting pressure and tariff threats from the US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Regulatory simplification. A specific regulatory package (omnibus) on digital was promised, under inspiration from the Draghi report on EU competitiveness.
Investment in digital technology. Startups in key areas, such as quantum and AI, could receive particular attention, in order to enhance the availability of European capital and strengthen European sovereignty in these areas. According to her, the Commission ‘will partner with private investors on a multi-billion euro Scaleup Europe Fund’. No concrete figures were provided, however.
Artificial intelligence as key to European independence. In order to support this sector, von der Leyen highlighted the importance of some initiatives, such as the Cloud and AI Development Act, and the European AI Gigafactories. She praised the commitment of CEOs from some leading European companies to invest in digital in the recently launched AI and Tech Declaration.
Mainstreaming information integrity. According to von der Leyen, Europe’s democracy is under attack, with the rise of information manipulation and disinformation. She proposed to create a new European Centre for Democratic Resilience, which will bring together all the expertise and capacity across member states and neighbouring countries. A new Media Resilience Programme aimed at supporting independent journalism and media literacy was also announced.
Limits to the use of social media by young people. The President of the Commission raised concerns about the impact of social media on children’s mental health and safety. She committed to convening a panel of experts to consider restrictions for social media access, referencing efforts that have been put in place in Australia.
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OpenAI is set to argue in an Ontario court that a copyright lawsuit by Canadian news publishers should be heard in the United States. The case, the first of its kind in Canada, alleges that OpenAI scraped Canadian news content to train ChatGPT without permission or payment.
The coalition of publishers, including CBC/Radio-Canada, The Globe and Mail, and Postmedia, says the material was created and hosted in Ontario, making the province the proper venue. They warn that accepting OpenAI’s stance would undermine Canadian sovereignty in the digital economy.
OpenAI, however, says the training of its models and web crawling occurred outside Canada and that the Copyright Act cannot apply extraterritorially. It argues the publishers are politicising the case by framing it as a matter of sovereignty rather than jurisdiction.
The dispute reflects a broader global clash over how generative AI systems use copyrighted works. US courts are already handling several similar cases, though no clear precedent has been established on whether such use qualifies as fair use.
Publishers argue Canadian courts must decide the matter domestically, while OpenAI insists it belongs in US courts. The outcome could shape how copyright laws apply to AI training and digital content across borders.
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Researchers at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering have demonstrated how large language models can be utilised to execute ransomware campaigns autonomously. Their prototype, dubbed Ransomware 3.0, simulated every stage of an attack, from intrusion to the generation of a ransom note.
The system briefly raised an alarm after cybersecurity firm ESET discovered its files on VirusTotal, mistakenly identifying them as live malware. The proof-of-concept was designed only for controlled laboratory use and posed no risk outside testing environments.
Instead of pre-written code, the prototype embedded text instructions that triggered AI models to generate tailored attack scripts. Each execution created unique code, evading traditional detection methods and running across Windows, Linux, and Raspberry Pi systems.
The researchers found that the system identified up to 96% of sensitive files and could generate personalised extortion notes, raising psychological pressure on victims. With costs as low as $0.70 per attack using commercial AI services, such methods could lower barriers for criminals.
The team stressed that the work was conducted ethically and aims to help defenders prepare countermeasures. They recommend monitoring file access patterns, limiting outbound AI connections, and developing defences against AI-generated attack behaviours.
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Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman now reports that Apple plans to introduce its AI-powered web search tool in spring 2026. The move would position it against OpenAI and Perplexity, while renewing pressure on Google.
The speculation comes after news that Google may integrate its Gemini AI into Apple devices. During an antitrust trial in April, Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed plans to roll out updates later this year.
According to Gurman, Apple and Google finalised an agreement for Apple to test a Google-developed AI model to boost its voice assistant. The partnership reflects Apple’s mixed strategy of dependence and rivalry with Google.
With a strong record for accurate Apple forecasts, Gurman suggests the company hopes the move will narrow its competitive gap. Whether it can outpace Google, especially given Pixel’s strong AI features, remains an open question.
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President Trump has signed an Executive Order to promote American leadership in AI exports, marking a significant policy shift. The move creates new global opportunities for US businesses but also introduces stricter compliance responsibilities.
The order establishes the American AI Exports Program, overseen by the Department of Commerce, to develop and deploy ‘full-stack’ AI export packages.
These packages cover everything from chips and cloud infrastructure to AI models and cybersecurity safeguards. Industry consortia will be invited to submit proposals, outlining hardware origins, export targets, business models, and federal support requests.
A central element of the initiative is ensuring compliance with US export control regimes. Companies must align with the Export Control Reform Act and the Export Administration Regulations, with special attention to restrictions on advanced computing chips.
New guidance warns against potential violations linked to hardware and highlights red flags for illegal diversion of sensitive technology.
Commerce stresses that participation requires robust export compliance plans and rigorous end user screening.
Legal teams are urged to review policies on AI exports, as regulators focus on preventing misuse of advanced computing systems in military or weapons programmes abroad.
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