Sustainable development

AT&T hit by alleged 31 million record breach

A hacker has allegedly leaked data from 31 million AT&T customers, raising fresh concerns over the security of one of America’s largest telecom providers. The data, posted on a major dark web forum in late May 2025, is said to contain 3.1GB of customer information in both JSON and CSV formats.

Instead of isolated details, the breach reportedly includes highly sensitive data: full names, dates of birth, tax IDs, physical and email addresses, device and cookie identifiers, phone numbers, and IP addresses.

Cybersecurity firm DarkEye flagged the leak, warning that the structured formats make the data easy for criminals to exploit.

If verified, the breach would mark yet another major incident for AT&T. In March 2024, the company confirmed that personal information from 73 million users had been leaked.

Just months later, a July breach exposed call records and location metadata for nearly 110 million customers, with blame directed at compromised Snowflake cloud accounts.

AT&T has yet to comment on the latest claims. Experts warn that the combination of tax numbers and device data could enable identity theft, financial scams, and advanced phishing attacks.

For a company already under scrutiny for past security lapses, the latest breach could further damage public trust.

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Victoria’s Secret website hit by cyber attack

Victoria’s Secret’s website has remained offline for three days due to a security incident the company has yet to fully explain. A spokesperson confirmed steps are being taken to address the issue, saying external experts have been called in and some in-store systems were also taken down as a precaution.

Instead of revealing specific details, the retailer has left users with only a holding message on a pink background. It has declined to comment on whether ransomware is involved, when the disruption began, or if law enforcement has been contacted.

The firm’s physical stores continue operating as normal, and payment systems are unaffected, suggesting the breach has hit other digital infrastructure. Still, the shutdown has rattled investors—shares fell nearly seven percent on Wednesday.

With online sales accounting for a third of Victoria’s Secret’s $6 billion annual revenue, the pressure to resolve the situation is high.

The timing has raised eyebrows, as cybercriminals often strike during public holidays like Memorial Day, when IT teams are short-staffed. The attack follows a worrying trend among retailers.

UK giants such as Harrods, Marks & Spencer, and the Co-op have all suffered recent breaches. Experts warn that US chains are becoming the next major targets, with threat groups like Scattered Spider shifting their focus across the Atlantic.

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Google Drive adds AI video summaries

Google Drive is gaining a new AI-powered tool that allows Workspace users to summarise and interact with video content using Gemini, Google’s generative AI assistant.

Instead of manually skipping through videos, users can now click the ‘Ask Gemini’ button to get instant summaries, key highlights, or action items from uploaded recordings.

The tool builds on Gemini 2.5 Pro’s strong video analysis capabilities, which recently scored 84.8% on the VideoMME benchmark. Gemini’s side panel, already used for summarising documents and folders, can now handle natural language prompts like ‘Summarise this video’ or ‘List key points from this meeting’.

However, the feature only works in English and requires captions to be enabled by the Workspace admin.

Google is rolling out the feature across various Workspace plans, including Business Standard and Enterprise tiers, with access available through Drive’s overlay preview or a new browser tab.

Instead of switching between windows or scrubbing through videos, users can now save time by letting Gemini handle the heavy lifting.

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Telegram partners with Musk’s xAI

Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, is partnering with Telegram to bring its AI assistant, Grok, to the messaging platform’s more than one billion users.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that Grok will be integrated into Telegram’s apps and distributed directly through the service.

Instead of a simple tech integration, the arrangement includes a significant financial deal. Telegram is set to receive $300 million in cash and equity from xAI, along with half of the revenue from any xAI subscriptions sold through the platform. The agreement is expected to last one year.

The move mirrors Meta’s recent rollout of AI features on WhatsApp, which drew criticism from users concerned about the changing nature of private messaging.

Analysts like Hanna Kahlert of Midia Research argue that users still prefer using social platforms to connect with friends, and that adding AI tools could erode trust and shift focus away from what made these apps popular in the first place.

The partnership also links two controversial tech figures. Durov was arrested in France in 2024 over allegations that Telegram failed to curb criminal activity, though he denies obstructing law enforcement.

Meanwhile, Musk has been pushing into AI development after falling out with OpenAI, and is using xAI to rival industry giants. In March, he valued xAI at $80 billion after acquiring X, formerly known as Twitter.

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UK and EU strengthen maritime and cyber security

The UK and the EU have agreed to step up cooperation on cybersecurity as part of a wider defence and security pact.

The new framework, signed on 19 May, marks a major shift towards joint efforts in countering digital threats and hybrid warfare.

Instead of managing these challenges separately, the UK and EU will hold structured dialogues to address cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and other forms of foreign interference.

The deal outlines regular exchanges between national security officials, supported by thematic discussions focused on crisis response, infrastructure protection, and online misinformation.

A key aim is to boost resilience against hostile cyber activity by working together on detection, defence, and prevention strategies. The agreement encourages joint efforts to safeguard communication networks, protect energy grids, and strengthen public awareness against information manipulation.

The cooperation is expected to extend into coordinated drills and real-time threat sharing.

While the UK remains outside the EU’s political structure, the agreement positions it as a close cyber security partner.

Future plans include exploring deeper collaboration through EU defence projects and potentially forming a formal link with the European Defence Agency, ensuring that both sides can respond more effectively to emerging digital threats.

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New AI food waste project aims to deliver 1.5 million meals

A major new initiative backed by Innovate UK is bringing together leading businesses and organisations to develop an AI-powered food redistribution platform designed to reduce edible food waste and support communities facing food insecurity.

The project is supported by a £1.9 million grant from the BridgeAI programme and is match-funded by participating partners.

Led by Sustainable Ventures, the collaboration includes Bristol Superlight, FareShare, FuturePlus, Google Cloud, Howard Tenens Logistics, Nestlé UK & Ireland, and Zest (formerly The Wonki Collective).

Together, they aim to pilot a platform capable of redistributing up to 700 tonnes of quality surplus food—equivalent to 1.5 million meals—while preventing an estimated 1,400 tonnes of CO₂ emissions and delivering up to £14 million in cost savings.

The system integrates Google Cloud’s BigQuery and Vertex AI platforms to match surplus food from manufacturers with logistics providers and charities.

Bristol Superlight’s logistics solution incorporates AI to track food quality during delivery, and early trials have shown promising results—an 87% reduction in food waste at a Nestlé factory over just two weeks.

The pilot marks a significant step forward in applying AI to address sustainability challenges. The consortium believes the technology could eventually scale across the food supply chain, helping to create a more efficient, transparent, and environmentally responsible system.

Leaders from Nestlé, FareShare, and Zest all emphasised the importance of cross-sector collaboration in tackling rising food waste and food poverty.

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Agema and Heinen resolve funding clash over healthcare technology

Dutch ministers Eelco Heinen (Finance) and Fleur Agema (Public Health) have reached a long-awaited agreement on investing in new technologies and AI in healthcare.

If healthcare costs remain below projections, Agema will be permitted to allocate €400 million annually over the next ten years towards AI, sources close to the government confirmed to NOS.

The funding will be drawn from the €2.3 billion reserve earmarked to absorb the expected rise in healthcare expenditure following the planned reduction of the healthcare deductible to €165 in 2027.

However, Finance Minister Heinen has insisted on a review after two years to determine whether the continued investment remains financially responsible. Agema is confident that the actual costs will be lower than forecast, leaving room for innovation investments.

The agreement follows months of political tension in the Netherlands between the two ministers, which reportedly culminated in Agema threatening to resign last week.

While Heinen originally wanted to commit the funding only for 2027 and 2028, Agema pushed for a structural commitment, arguing that the reserve fund is overly cautious.

Intensive negotiations took place on Monday and Tuesday, with Prime Minister Dick Schoof stepping in to help mediate. The breakthrough came late Tuesday evening, clearing the way for Agema to proceed with broader talks on a new healthcare agreement with hospitals and care institutions.

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Opera unveils AI-first Neon browser

Opera has unveiled a new AI-powered web browser called Neon, describing it as an ‘agentic browser’ designed to carry out internet tasks on the user’s behalf.

Unlike traditional browsers, Neon offers contextual awareness and cloud-based AI agents that can research, design, and build content automatically.

Although Opera introduced a browser called Neon in 2017 that failed to gain traction, the company is giving the name a second chance, now with a more ambitious AI focus. According to Opera’s Henrik Lexow, the rise of AI marks a fundamental shift in how users interact with the web.

Among its early features, Neon includes an AI engine capable of interpreting user requests and generating games, code, reports, and websites—even when users are offline.

It also includes tools like a chatbot for web searches, contextual page insights, and automation for online tasks such as form-filling and booking services.

The browser is being positioned as a premium subscription product, though Opera has yet to reveal pricing or launch dates. Neon will become the fifth browser in Opera’s line-up, following the mindfulness-focused Air browser announced in February.

Interested users can join the waitlist, but for now, full capabilities remain unverified.

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ABCI-Q goes live as Japan ramps up quantum tech investment

Japan has officially launched the world’s most powerful supercomputer dedicated to quantum computing research. Known as ABCI-Q, the system is housed within the newly opened G-QuAT research centre in Tsukuba, operated by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).

G-QuAT (Global Research and Development Centre for Business by Quantum-AI Technology) opened earlier this month with a mission to advance hybrid computing technologies that combine classical computing, such as AI, with quantum systems.

Its work is structured around three main goals: developing use cases for hybrid computing, supporting the quantum technology supply chain, and enabling large-scale qubit integration.

ABCI-Q runs on 2,020 Nvidia H100 GPUs, connected using Nvidia’s Quantum-2 InfiniBand architecture, and integrated with CUDA-Q, Nvidia’s hybrid orchestration platform.

It supports multiple quantum processors, including superconducting qubits from Fujitsu, a neutral atom system by QuEra, and a photonic processor by OptQC—enabling diverse hybrid workloads across different qubit technologies.

The machine’s infrastructure includes 18 cryogenic systems supplied by Bluefors, built to support quantum computers with 1,000+ qubits and thousands of signal paths. G-QuAT has also partnered with IonQ to access its quantum systems via the cloud, bolstering research access and global collaboration.

The launch of ABCI-Q underscores Japan’s ambition to lead in next-generation computing. The government of Japan has committed over ¥330 billion (£1.7 billion) to quantum initiatives between 2020 and 2024.

AIST says the project aims to boost national industrial competitiveness, expand scientific capabilities, and foster a skilled quantum workforce.

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AI Mode reshapes Google’s search results

One year after launching AI-generated search results via AI Overviews, Google has unveiled AI Mode—a new feature it claims will redefine online search.

Functioning as an integrated chatbot, AI Mode allows users to ask complex questions, receive detailed responses, and continue with follow-up queries, eliminating the need to click through traditional links.

Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai described it as a ‘total reimagining of search,’ noting significant changes in user behaviour during early trials.

Analysts suggest the company is attempting to disrupt its own search business before rivals do, following internal concerns sparked by the rise of tools like ChatGPT.

With AI Mode, Google is increasingly shifting from directing users to websites toward delivering instant answers itself. Critics fear it could dramatically reduce web traffic for publishers who depend on Google for visibility and revenue.

While Google insists the open web will continue to grow, many publishers remain unconvinced. The News/Media Alliance condemned the move, calling it theft of content without fair return.

Links were the last mechanism providing meaningful traffic, said CEO Danielle Coffey, who urged the US Department of Justice to take action against what she described as monopolistic behaviour.

Meanwhile, Google is rapidly integrating AI across its ecosystem. Alongside AI Mode, it introduced developments in its Gemini model, with the aim of building a ‘world model’ capable of simulating and planning like the human brain.

Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis said the goal is to lay the foundations for an AI-native operating system.

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