France has blocked the planned divestment of Eutelsat’s ground-station infrastructure, arguing that control over satellite facilities remains essential for national sovereignty.
The aborted sale to EQT Infrastructure VI had been announced as a significant transaction, yet the company revealed that the required conditions had not been met.
Officials in France say that the infrastructure forms part of a strategic system used for both civilian and military purposes.
The finance minister described Eutelsat as Europe’s only genuine competitor to Starlink, further strengthening the view that France must retain authority over ground-station operations rather than allow external ownership.
Eutelsat stressed that the proposed transfer concerned only passive facilities such as buildings and site management rather than active control systems. Even so, French authorities believe that end-to-end stewardship of satellite ground networks is essential to safeguard operational independence.
The company says the failed sale will not hinder its capital plans, including the deployment of hundreds of replacement satellites for the OneWeb constellation.
Investors had not commented by publication time, yet the decision highlights France’s growing assertiveness in satellite governance and broader European debates on technological autonomy.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
CryptoQuant data shows Bitcoin mining profitability has fallen to its weakest level in 14 months, as declining prices and rising operational pressure weigh on the sector. The miner profit and loss sustainability index dropped to 21, its lowest reading since November 2024.
Lower Bitcoin prices and elevated mining difficulty have left operators ‘extremely underpaid’, according to the report. Network hash rate has also declined across five consecutive epochs, reaching its lowest level since September 2025 and signalling reduced computing power securing the network.
Severe winter weather across parts of the eastern United States added further strain, disrupting mining activity and pushing daily revenues down to around $28 million, a yearly low. Weaker risk appetite across equities and digital assets has compounded the impact.
Shares in listed miners such as MARA Holdings, CleanSpark, and Riot Holdings have fallen by double-digit percentages over the past week. Data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index shows mining BTC now costs more than buying it on the open market, increasing pressure on weaker operators.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Pentagon officials are at odds with AI developer Anthropic over restrictions designed to prevent autonomous weapons targeting and domestic surveillance. The disagreement has stalled discussions under a $200 million contract.
Anthropic has expressed concern about its tools being used in ways that could harm civilians or breach privacy. The company emphasises that human oversight is essential for national security applications.
The dispute reflects broader tensions between Silicon Valley firms and government use of AI. Pentagon officials argue that commercial AI can be deployed as long as it follows US law, regardless of corporate guidelines.
Anthropic’s stance may affect its Pentagon contracts as the firm prepares for a public offering. The company continues to engage with officials while advocating for ethical AI deployment in defence operations.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
European data protection authorities recorded a sharp rise in GDPR violation reports in 2025, according to a new study by law firm DLA Piper, signalling growing regulatory pressure across the European Union.
Average daily reports surpassed 400 for the first time since the regulation entered force in 2018, reaching 443 incidents per day, a 22% increase compared with the previous year. The firm noted that expanding digital systems, new breach reporting laws, and geopolitical cyber risks may be driving the surge.
Despite the higher number of cases in the EU, total fines remained broadly stable at around €1.2 billion for the year, pushing cumulative GDPR penalties since 2018 to €7.1 billion, underlining regulators’ continued willingness to impose major sanctions.
Ireland once again led enforcement figures, with fines imposed by its Data Protection Commission totaling €4.04 billion, reflecting the presence of major technology firms headquartered there, including Meta, Google, and Apple.
Recent headline penalties included a €1.2 billion fine against Meta and a €530 million sanction against TikTok over data transfers to China, while courts across Europe increasingly consider compensation claims linked to GDPR violations.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
The Dutch data protection authority has urged the government to act swiftly to protect the country’s digital sovereignty, warning that dependence on overseas technology firms could expose vital public services to significant risk.
Concern has intensified after DigiD, the national digital identity system, appeared set for acquisition by a US company, raising questions about long-term control of key infrastructure.
The watchdog argues that the Netherlands relies heavily on a small group of non-European cloud and IT providers, and stresses that public bodies lack clear exit strategies if foreign ownership suddenly shifts.
Additionally, the watchdog criticises the government for treating digital autonomy as an academic exercise rather than recognising its immediate implications for communication between the state and citizens.
In a letter to the economy minister, the authority calls for a unified national approach rather than fragmented decisions by individual public bodies.
It proposes sovereignty criteria for all government contracts and suggests termination clauses that enable the state to withdraw immediately if a provider is sold abroad. It also notes the importance of designing public services to allow smooth provider changes when required.
The watchdog urges the government to strengthen European capacity by investing in scalable domestic alternatives, including a Dutch-controlled government cloud. The economy ministry has declined to comment.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Google’s health-related search results increasingly draw on YouTube rather than hospitals, government agencies, or academic institutions, as new research reveals how AI Overviews select citation sources in automated results.
An analysis by SEO platform SE Ranking reviewed more than 50,000 German-language health queries and found AI Overviews appeared on over 82% of searches, making healthcare one of the most AI-influenced information categories on Google.
Across all cited sources, YouTube ranked first by a wide margin, accounting for more than 20,000 references and surpassing medical publishers, hospital websites, and public health authorities.
Academic journals and research institutions accounted for less than 1% of citations, while national and international government health bodies accounted for under 0.5%, highlighting a sharp imbalance in source authority.
Researchers warn that when platform-scale content outweighs evidence-based medical sources, the risk extends beyond misinformation to long-term erosion of trust in AI-powered search systems.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
The state of Georgia is emerging as the focal point of a growing backlash against the rapid expansion of data centres powering the US’ AI boom.
Lawmakers in several states are now considering statewide bans, as concerns over energy consumption, water use and local disruption move to the centre of economic and environmental debate.
A bill introduced in Georgia would impose a moratorium on new data centre construction until March next year, giving state and municipal authorities time to establish more explicit regulatory rules.
The proposal arrives after Georgia’s utility regulator approved plans for an additional 10 gigawatts of electricity generation, primarily driven by data centre demand and expected to rely heavily on fossil fuels.
Local resistance has intensified as the Atlanta metropolitan area led the country in data centre construction last year, prompting multiple municipalities to impose their own temporary bans.
Critics argue that rapid development has pushed up electricity bills, strained water supplies and delivered fewer tax benefits than promised. At the same time, utility companies retain incentives to expand generation rather than improve grid efficiency.
The issue has taken on broader political significance as Georgia prepares for key elections that will affect utility oversight.
Supporters of the moratorium frame the pause as a chance for public scrutiny and democratic accountability, while backers of the industry warn that blanket restrictions risk undermining investment, jobs and long-term technological competitiveness.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Rising transatlantic tensions have reignited concerns over Europe’s heavy reliance on US Big Tech, exposing vulnerabilities across cloud services, AI, and digital infrastructure.
European lawmakers are increasingly pushing for homegrown alternatives, warning that excessive dependence on a small group of foreign providers threatens economic resilience, public services, and technological sovereignty.
European Parliament data shows over 80 percent of the EU’s digital products and infrastructure come from outside the bloc, with US firms dominating cloud and AI.
Officials warn the concentration increases geopolitical, cyber and supply risks, driving renewed efforts to boost Europe’s digital autonomy and competitiveness.
Initiatives such as Eurostack and rising open-source investment aim to build digital independence, though analysts say real sovereignty could take a decade and vast funding.
While policymakers accept that full decoupling from US technology remains unrealistic, pressure is mounting for governments and public institutions to prioritise European solutions and treat digital infrastructure as a strategic asset.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Microsoft confirmed a service disruption affecting Outlook and Microsoft 365 users in the US, with problems first reported on Wednesday afternoon. The outage primarily affected business and enterprise customers nationwide.
In the US, users reported difficulties sending and receiving email, alongside problems accessing services such as Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive. Microsoft said part of its North America infrastructure was failing to process traffic correctly.
Engineers in the US began rebalancing traffic and restoring affected systems to stabilise services. Microsoft said recovery was under way, though full resolution would take additional time.
The incident highlights the reliance of organisations in the US on cloud-based productivity tools. Businesses across the country experienced disruptions extending into the evening as work and communication systems remained unstable.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Burkina Faso has launched work on a Digital Infrastructure Supervision Centre as part of a broader effort to strengthen national oversight of digital public infrastructure and reduce exposure to external digital risks.
The project forms a core pillar of the government’s digital sovereignty strategy amid rising cybersecurity threats across public systems.
Authorities state that the centre will centralise oversight of the national backbone network, secure cyberspace operations and supervise the functioning of domestic data centres instead of relying on external monitoring mechanisms.
Government officials argue that the supervision centre will enable resilient and sovereign management of critical digital systems while supporting a policy requiring sensitive national data to remain within domestic infrastructure.
The initiative also complements recent investments in biometric identity systems and regional digital identity frameworks.
Beyond infrastructure security, the project is positioned as groundwork for future AI adoption by strengthening sovereign data and connectivity systems.
The leadership of Burkina Faso continues to emphasise digital autonomy as a strategic priority across governance, identity management and emerging technologies.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
