Content Policy Archives | Page 77 of 233 | Digital Watch Observatory

AI in healthcare gains regulatory compass from UK experts

Professor Alastair Denniston has outlined the core principles for regulating AI in healthcare, describing AI as the ‘X-ray moment’ of our time.

Like previous innovations such as MRI scanners and antibiotics, AI has the potential to improve diagnosis, treatment and personalised care dramatically. Still, it also requires careful oversight to ensure patient safety.

The MHRA’s National Commission on the Regulation of AI in Healthcare is developing a framework based on three key principles. The framework must be safe, ensuring proportionate regulation that protects patients without stifling innovation.

It must be fast, reducing delays in bringing beneficial technologies to patients and supporting small innovators who cannot endure long regulatory timelines. Ultimately, it must be trusted, with transparent processes that foster confidence in AI technologies today and in the future.

Professor Denniston emphasises that AI is not a single technology but a rapidly evolving ecosystem. The regulatory system must keep pace with advances while allowing the NHS to harness AI safely and efficiently.

Just as with earlier medical breakthroughs, failure to innovate can carry risks equal to the dangers of new technologies themselves.

The National Commission will soon invite the public to contribute their views through a call for evidence.

Patients, healthcare professionals, and members of the public are encouraged to share what matters to them, helping to shape a framework that balances safety, speed, and trust while unlocking the full potential of AI in the NHS.

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Trilateral sanctions target Media Land for supporting ransomware groups

The United States has imposed coordinated sanctions on Media Land, a Russian bulletproof hosting provider accused of aiding ransomware groups and broader cybercrime. The measures target senior operators and sister companies linked to attacks on businesses and critical infrastructure.

Authorities in the UK and Australia say Media Land infrastructure aided ransomware groups, including LockBit, BlackSuit, and Play, and was linked to denial-of-service attacks on US organisations. OFAC also named operators and firms that maintained systems designed to evade law enforcement.

The action also expands earlier sanctions against Aeza Group, with entities accused of rebranding and shifting infrastructure through front companies such as Hypercore to avoid restrictions introduced this year. Officials say these efforts were designed to obscure operational continuity.

According to investigators, the network relied on overseas firms in Serbia and Uzbekistan to conceal its activity and establish technical infrastructure that was detached from the Aeza brand. These entities, along with the new Aeza leadership, were designated for supporting sanctions evasion and cyber operations.

The sanctions block assets under US jurisdiction and bar US persons from dealing with listed individuals or companies. Regulators warn that financial institutions interacting with sanctioned entities may face penalties, stating that the aim is to disrupt ransomware infrastructure and encourage operators to comply.

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TikTok rolls out mindfulness and screen-time reset features

TikTok has announced a set of new well-being features designed to help users build more balanced digital habits. The rollout includes an in-app experience with breathing exercises, calming audio tracks and short ‘Well-being Missions’ that reward mindful behaviour.

The missions are interactive tasks, such as quizzes and flashcards, that encourage users to explore TikTok’s existing digital-wellness tools (like Sleep Hours and Screen Time Management). Completing these missions earns users badges, reinforcing positive habits. In early tests, approximately 40 percent of people who saw the missions chose to try them.

TikTok is also experimenting with a dedicated ‘pause and recharge’ space within the app. This includes safe, calming activities that help users disconnect: for instance, before bedtime or after long scrolling sessions.

The broader effort reflects TikTok’s growing emphasis on digital wellness, part of a larger industry trend on the responsible and healthy use of social platforms.

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Target expands OpenAI partnership with new ChatGPT shopping app

Target is expanding its partnership with OpenAI by launching a new shopping app directly inside ChatGPT. The app offers customers personalised recommendations, multi-item baskets and streamlined checkout across Drive Up, Order Pickup and shipping.

The retailer will continue using OpenAI’s models and ChatGPT Enterprise to enhance employee productivity and strengthen digital experiences across its business.

AI is central to Target’s operations, supporting supply-chain forecasts, store processes, and personalised digital tools. Over 18,000 employees utilise ChatGPT Enterprise to streamline routine tasks, enhance creativity, and receive faster support for guest requests and returns through internal AI assistants.

Customer-facing tools such as Shopping Assistant, Gift Finder, Guest Assist and JOY reinforce this strategy by offering curated suggestions and instant answers.

The new Target app inside ChatGPT extends this AI-driven approach to customers. Shoppers will be able to ask for ideas, browse curated suggestions, build baskets and check out through their Target accounts.

The beta version launches next week, and upcoming features include Target Circle linking and same-day delivery. Target views the partnership as part of a retail shift, embedding AI across products, operations and guest interactions to drive the next wave of innovation.

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EU introduces plan to strengthen consumer protection

The European Commission has unveiled the 2030 Consumer Agenda, a strategic plan to reinforce protection, trust, and competitiveness across the EU.

With 450 million consumers contributing over half of the Union’s GDP, the agenda aims to simplify administrative processes for businesses, rather than adding new burdens, while ensuring fair treatment for shoppers.

The agenda sets four priorities to adapt to rising living costs, evolving online markets, and the surge in e-commerce. Completing the Single Market will remove cross-border barriers, enhance travel and financial services, and evaluate the effectiveness of the Geo-Blocking Regulation.

A planned Digital Fairness Act will address harmful online practices, focusing on protecting children and strengthening consumer rights.

Sustainable consumption takes a central focus, with efforts to combat greenwashing, expand access to sustainable goods, and support circular initiatives such as second-hand markets and repairable products.

The Commission will also enhance enforcement to tackle unsafe or non-compliant products, particularly from third countries, ensuring that compliant businesses are shielded from unfair competition.

Implementation will be overseen through the Annual Consumer Summit and regular Ministerial Forums, which will provide political guidance and monitor progress.

The 2030 Consumer Agenda builds on prior achievements and EU consultations, aiming to modernise consumer protection instead of leaving gaps in a rapidly changing market.

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Roblox brings in global age checks for chat

Children will no longer be able to chat with adult strangers on Roblox after new global age checks are introduced. The platform will begin mandatory facial estimation in selected countries in December before expanding worldwide in January.

Roblox players will be placed into strict age groups and prevented from messaging older users unless they are verified as trusted contacts. Under-13s will remain barred from private messages unless parents actively approve access within account controls.

The company faces rising scrutiny following lawsuits in several US states, where officials argue Roblox failed to protect young users from harmful contact. Safety groups welcome the tighter rules but warn that monitoring must match the platform’s rapid growth.

Roblox says the technology is accurate and helps deliver safer digital spaces for younger players. Campaigners continue to call for broader protections as millions of children interact across games, chats and AI-enhanced features each day.

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EU proposal sparks alarm over weakened privacy rules

The Digital Omnibus has been released by the European Commission, prompting strong criticism from privacy advocates. Campaigners argue the reforms would weaken long-standing data protection standards and introduce sweeping changes without proper consultation.

Noyb founder Max Schrems claims the plan favours large technology firms by creating loopholes around personal data and lowering user safeguards. Critics say the proposals emerge despite limited political support from EU governments, civil society groups and several parliamentary factions.

The Omnibus is welcomed by industry which have called for simplification and changes to be made for quite a number of years. These changes should make carrying out business activities simpler for entities which do process vast amounts of data.

The Commission is also accused of rushing (errors can be found in the draft, including references to the GDPR) the process under political pressure, abandoning impact assessments and shifting priorities away from widely supported protections. View our analysis on the matter for a deep dive on the matter.

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Health sector AI growth in Europe raises safety concerns

Concerns are growing as European countries expand the use of AI in healthcare without establishing sufficient protections for patients or healthcare workers.

A new World Health Organisation report found significant disparities in how nations develop, regulate and fund AI tools.

Some countries are rapidly deploying chatbots, imaging systems and data-analysis tools, while others have barely started integrating AI into their health services. Only four nations across Europe and Central Asia currently have a national strategy dedicated to AI in health care.

WHO officials warn that weak safeguards could lead to biassed algorithms, medical errors and increased inequality in access to care.

The report urges governments to strengthen legal frameworks, train health workers in AI literacy and ensure these technologies are rigorously tested before reaching patients.

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Sundar Pichai warns users not to trust AI tools easily

Google CEO Sundar Pichai advises people not to unquestioningly trust AI tools, warning that current models remain prone to errors. He told the BBC that users should rely on a broader information ecosystem rather than treat AI as a single source of truth.

Pichai said generative systems can produce inaccuracies and stressed that people must learn what the tools are good at. The remarks follow criticism of Google’s own AI Overviews feature, which attracted attention for erratic and misleading responses during its rollout.

Experts say the risk grows when users depend on chatbots for health, science, or news. BBC research found major AI assistants misrepresented news stories in nearly half of the tests this year, underscoring concerns about factual reliability and the limits of current models.

Google is launching Gemini 3.0, which it claims offers stronger multimodal understanding and reasoning. The company says its new AI Mode in search marks a shift in how users interact with online information, as it seeks to defend market share against ChatGPT and other rivals.

Pichai says Google is increasing its investment in AI security and releasing tools to detect AI-generated images. He maintains that no single company should control such powerful technology and argues that the industry remains far from a scenario in which one firm dominates AI development.

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NVIDIA pushes forward with AI-ready data

Enterprises are facing growing pressure to prepare unstructured data for use in modern AI systems as organisations struggle to turn prototypes into production tools.

Around forty percent of AI projects advance beyond the pilot phase, largely due to limits in data quality and availability. Most organisational information now comes in unstructured form, ranging from emails to video files, which offers little coherence and places a heavy load on governance systems.

AI agents need secure, recent and reliable data instead of fragmented information scattered across multiple storage silos. Preparing such data demands extensive curation, metadata work, semantic chunking and the creation of vector embeddings.

Enterprises also struggle with the rising speed of data creation and the spread of duplicate copies, which increases both operational cost and security concerns.

An emerging approach by NVIDIA, known as the AI data platform, aims to address these challenges by embedding GPU acceleration directly into the data path. The platform prepares and indexes information in place, allowing enterprises to reduce data drift, strengthen governance and avoid unnecessary replication.

Any change to a source document is immediately reflected in the associated AI representations, improving accuracy and consistency for business applications.

NVIDIA is positioning its own AI Data Platform reference design as a next step for enterprise storage. The design combines RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs, BlueField three DPUs and integrated AI processing pipelines.

Leading technology providers including Cisco, Dell Technologies, IBM, HPE, NetApp, Pure Storage and others have adopted the model as they prepare storage systems for broader use of generative AI in the enterprise sector.

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