Elizabeth Kelly, the inaugural director of the United States AI Safety Institute, has stepped down from her role after a year overseeing efforts to measure and counter risks from advanced AI systems. During her tenure, the institute reached agreements with OpenAI and Anthropic to test their models before release and collaborated with global AI safety organisations.
The institute, created under former President Joe Biden’s administration, operates within the US Commerce Department‘s National Institute of Standards and Technology. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has revoked Biden’s 2023 executive order on AI, raising questions about the institute’s future direction under the new administration.
Kelly did not comment further on her departure but expressed optimism in a LinkedIn post, stating that the institute’s mission remains crucial to the future of AI innovation. The White House has yet to clarify its plans for AI regulation and safety oversight.
Amazon is set to unveil its long-awaited generative AI-powered Alexa, with a preview event scheduled for 26 February in New York. The update marks the most significant overhaul since the voice assistant’s launch in 2014, aiming to improve user interactions with advanced AI-driven conversations. A final decision on the product’s readiness is expected at an internal meeting on 14 February.
The new AI capabilities will allow Alexa to handle multiple requests in sequence and act on behalf of users without direct input. While initially free for a limited number of users, Amazon is considering a monthly subscription fee of $5 to $10. The company will continue offering the existing version, known as Classic Alexa, though it has reportedly stopped adding new features to it.
Despite Alexa’s early success, usage has remained limited due to a lack of major updates in recent years. The generative AI revamp is designed to make Alexa more useful for tasks like shopping, scheduling, and entertainment. Analysts suggest that even a fraction of users subscribing to the service could generate significant revenue for Amazon.
The update will rely on AI software from Anthropic, a startup backed by Amazon’s $8 billion investment. Previous attempts to launch an improved Alexa were delayed due to concerns over accuracy and performance. With the upcoming release, Amazon hopes to re-establish Alexa as a key part of everyday digital interactions.
OpenAI is set to air its first-ever television advert during the upcoming Super Bowl, marking its entry into commercial advertising. The Wall Street Journal reported that the AI company will join other major tech firms in leveraging the massive Super Bowl audience to promote its brand. Google previously used the event to highlight its AI capabilities.
The Super Bowl is one of the most sought-after advertising platforms, with high costs reflecting its enormous reach. A 30-second slot for the 2025 game has sold for up to $8 million, an increase from $7 million last year.
The 2024 Super Bowl attracted an estimated 210 million viewers, and this year’s event will take place in New Orleans on 9 February at the Caesars Superdome.
OpenAI has seen rapid growth since launching ChatGPT in 2022, reaching over 300 million weekly active users. The company is in talks to raise up to $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation and recently appointed Kate Rouch as its first chief marketing officer. Microsoft holds a significant stake in the AI firm.
Luca Casarini, a prominent Italian migrant rescue activist, was warned by Meta that his phone had been targeted with spyware. The alert was received through WhatsApp, the same day Meta accused surveillance firm Paragon Solutions of using advanced hacking methods to steal user data. Paragon, reportedly American-owned, has not responded to the allegations.
Casarini, who co-founded the Mediterranea Saving Humans charity, has faced legal action in Italy over his rescue work. He has also been a target of anti-migrant media and previously had his communications intercepted in a case related to alleged illegal immigration. He remains unaware of who attempted to hack his device or whether the attack had judicial approval.
The revelation follows a similar warning issued to Italian journalist Francesco Cancellato, whose investigative news outlet, Fanpage, recently exposed far-right sympathies within Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s political youth wing. Italy’s interior ministry has yet to comment on the situation.
Australia has banned Chinese AI startup DeepSeek from all government devices, citing security risks. The directive, issued by the Department of Home Affairs, requires all government entities to prevent the installation of DeepSeek’s applications and remove any existing instances from official systems. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke stated that the immediate ban was necessary to safeguard Australia’s national security.
The move follows similar action taken by Italy and Taiwan, with other countries also reviewing potential risks posed by the AI firm. DeepSeek has drawn global attention for its cost-effective AI models, which have disrupted the industry by operating with lower hardware requirements than competitors. The rapid rise of the company has raised concerns over data security, particularly regarding its Chinese origins.
This is not the first time Australia has taken such action against a Chinese technology firm. Two years ago, the government imposed a nationwide ban on TikTok for similar security reasons. As scrutiny over AI intensifies, more governments may follow Australia’s lead in limiting DeepSeek’s reach within public sector networks.
Google has removed a key passage from its AI principles that previously committed to steering clear of potentially harmful applications, including weapons. The now-missing section, titled ‘AI applications we will not pursue,’ explicitly stated that the company would not develop technologies likely to cause harm, as seen in archived versions of the page reviewed by Bloomberg.
The change has sparked concern among AI ethics experts. Margaret Mitchell, former co-lead of Google’s ethical AI team and now chief ethics scientist at Hugging Face, criticised the move. ‘Having that removed is erasing the work that so many people in the ethical AI space and the activist space as well had done at Google, and more problematically, it means Google will probably now work on deploying technology directly that can kill people,’ she said.
With ethics guardrails shifting, questions remain about how Google will navigate the evolving AI landscape—and whether its revised stance signals a broader industry trend toward prioritising market dominance over ethical considerations.
The UK government has launched its Code of Practice for the Cyber Security of AI, a voluntary framework designed to enhance security in AI development. The code sets out 13 principles aimed at reducing risks such as AI-driven cyberattacks, system failures, and data vulnerabilities.
The guidelines apply to developers, system operators, and data custodians (any type of business, organisation or individual that controls data permissions and the integrity of data that is used for any AI model or system to function) responsible for creating, deploying, or managing AI systems. Companies that solely sell AI models or components fall under separate regulations. According to the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, the code will help ensure AI is developed and deployed securely while fostering innovation and economic growth.
Key recommendations include implementing AI security training, establishing recovery plans, conducting risk assessments, maintaining system inventories, and ensuring transparency about data usage. One of the principles calls to enable human responsibility for AI systems and prescribes to ensure AI decisions are explainable and users understand their responsibilities.
The code references existing standards and best practices for secure software development and security by design, as well as provides useful definitions.
The release of the code follows the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, which outlines strategies to expand the nation’s AI sector and establish global leadership in the field. It also coincides with a call from the National Cyber Security Centre urging software vendors to eliminate ‘unforgivable vulnerabilities‘—security flaws that are easy and cost-effective to fix but are often overlooked in favour of speed and new features.
This code also builds on NCSC’s Guidelines for Secure AI Development which were published in November 2023 and endorsed by 19 international partners.
Multiple Russian cybersecurity firms have published research reports on emerging threats, including a large-scale information-stealing campaign targeting local organisations using the Nova malware.
According to a report from Moscow-based BI.ZONE, Nova is a commercial malware sold as a service on dark web marketplaces. Prices range from $50 for a monthly license to $630 for a lifetime license. Nova is a variant of SnakeLogger, a widely used malware known for stealing sensitive information.
While the developers of Nova remain unidentified, the code contains strings in Polish, and a Telegram group dedicated to promoting and supporting the malware was created in August 2024. The scale of the campaign and the full extent of its impact on Russian organisations remain unclear.
Over the weekend, F.A.C.C.T. reported a cyberespionage campaign targeting chemical, food, and pharmaceutical companies in Russia, attributing the attacks to a state-backed group named Rezet (or Rare Wolf). Meanwhile, Solar reported an attack on Russian industrial facilities by the newly identified group APT NGC4020, which exploited a vulnerability in a SolarWinds tool.
The Nova malware collects a wide range of data, including saved authentication credentials, keystrokes, screenshots, and clipboard content. This stolen data can be used in a variety of malicious activities, such as facilitating ransomware attacks. The malware is distributed through phishing emails, often disguised as contracts, to trick employees in organisations that handle high volumes of email correspondence.
Ofcom has ended its investigation into whether under-18s are accessing OnlyFans but will continue to examine whether the platform provided complete and accurate information during the inquiry. The media regulator stated that it would remain engaged with OnlyFans to ensure the platform implements appropriate measures to prevent children from accessing restricted content.
The investigation, launched in May, sought to determine whether OnlyFans was doing enough to protect minors from pornography. Ofcom stated that while no findings were made, it reserves the right to reopen the case if new evidence emerges.
OnlyFans maintains that its age assurance measures, which require users to be at least 20 years old, are sufficient to prevent underage access. A company spokesperson reaffirmed its commitment to compliance and child protection, emphasising that its policies have always met regulatory standards.
Kaspersky Labs has uncovered a dangerous malware hidden in software development kits used to create Android and iOS apps. The malware, known as SparkCat, scans images on infected devices to find crypto wallet recovery phrases, allowing hackers to steal funds without needing passwords. It also targets other sensitive data stored in screenshots, such as passwords and private messages.
The malware uses Google’s ML Kit OCR to extract text from images and has been downloaded around 242,000 times, primarily affecting users in Europe and Asia. It is embedded in dozens of real and fake apps on Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store, disguised as analytics modules. Kaspersky’s researchers suspect a supply chain attack or intentional embedding by developers.
While the origin of the malware remains unclear, analysis of its code suggests the developer is fluent in Chinese. Security experts advise users to avoid storing sensitive information in images and to remove any suspicious apps. Google and Apple have yet to respond to the findings.
