Meta has announced that third-party AI chatbots will again be allowed to operate through WhatsApp in Europe, reversing restrictions introduced earlier this year.
The decision follows pressure from the European Commission, which had warned it could impose interim competition measures.
Earlier in 2026, Meta limited access to rival chatbot services on the messaging platform, prompting regulators to examine whether the move unfairly restricted competition in the rapidly expanding AI market.
WhatsApp remains one of the most widely used messaging applications across European countries, making platform access critical for emerging AI services.
Under the new arrangement, companies will be able to distribute general-purpose AI chatbots via the WhatsApp Business API for 12 months.
The change is intended to give European regulators time to complete their investigation while allowing competing AI services to operate within the platform ecosystem.
Meta has also indicated that businesses offering chatbots through WhatsApp will be required to pay fees to access the system.
The European Commission is now assessing whether these adjustments sufficiently address competition concerns surrounding the integration of AI services inside major digital platforms.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Pressure is growing in New Zealand to strengthen the Privacy Act following several high-profile data breaches. Debate in New Zealand intensified after a cyberattack exposed medical records from the Manage My Health patient portal.
The breach in New Zealand affected about 120,000 patients and involved threats to release documents on the dark web. Another incident forced the MediMap medication platform offline after unauthorised changes were detected in patient records.
Privacy specialists argue that current enforcement powers are too weak to deter serious failures. The Privacy Act allows only limited financial penalties, with fines generally capped at NZD10,000.
Officials are now considering reforms, including stronger penalties for privacy violations. Policymakers also warn that failure to strengthen the law could threaten the country’s EU data adequacy status.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
AI is beginning to reshape corporate strategy as organisations shift from isolated technology experiments to broader operational transformation.
According to OpenAI, businesses that treat AI as a collection of disconnected pilots risk missing the bigger structural change that the technology enables.
A new framework describes five value models through which AI can gradually reshape companies. The first stage focuses on workforce empowerment, where tools such as ChatGPT spread AI capabilities across teams and improve everyday productivity.
Once employees develop fluency, organisations can introduce AI-native distribution models that transform how customers discover products and interact with digital services.
More advanced stages involve specialised systems. Expert capability integrates AI into research, creative production, and domain-specific analysis, allowing professionals to explore a wider range of ideas and experiments.
Meanwhile, systems and dependency management introduce AI tools capable of safely updating interconnected digital environments, including codebases, documentation, and operational processes.
The final stage involves full process re-engineering through autonomous agents. In such environments, AI systems coordinate complex workflows across departments while maintaining governance, accountability, and auditability.
Organisations that successfully progress through these stages may eventually redesign their business models rather than merely improving efficiency within existing structures.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
The Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has identified a powerful exploit toolkit, Coruna, that targets Apple iPhones running iOS versions 13.0 to 17.2.1.
The toolkit contains five complete exploit chains and 23 exploits designed to compromise devices using previously unseen techniques and mitigation bypasses.
Parts of the exploit chain were first detected in early 2025, when a client of a commercial surveillance vendor used them. Later investigations revealed the same framework in highly targeted attacks against Ukrainian users linked to a suspected Russian espionage group.
Toward the end of the year, the toolkit resurfaced in large-scale campaigns linked to financially motivated actors operating from China.
Coruna relies on a sophisticated JavaScript framework that identifies iPhone models and their iOS versions before delivering the appropriate WebKit remote code execution exploit and additional bypass techniques.
Several vulnerabilities exploited by the toolkit had previously been treated as zero-day flaws, highlighting the growing circulation of advanced cyber-attack tools among multiple threat actors.
Google warned that the payload can steal sensitive data, including financial and cryptocurrency wallet information, and allows attackers to deploy additional modules remotely.
The company has added related malicious domains to Safe Browsing and urged users to install the latest iOS updates, noting that the exploit kit does not affect the newest version of Apple’s operating system.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
The agreement will reduce the commission Google charges on in-app purchases and introduce new options that make it easier for users to install alternative app stores on Android devices.
Under the new structure, Google will lower its standard commission to 20% on in-app purchases. Developers who choose to use Google’s billing system will pay an additional 5% fee. The company also announced that recurring subscription fees will drop to 10%.
The revised fee structure will begin rolling out in the United States, the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom by June 2026, with expansion to other regions over the following years.
The settlement also introduces a new initiative called the Registered App Stores programme. The programme aims to simplify the installation of alternative app stores on Android while maintaining certain security and quality standards.
Approved third-party stores will be able to offer apps through a more streamlined installation process, addressing long-standing developer complaints that warnings about sideloading discouraged users from installing legitimate alternative marketplaces.
As part of the agreement, Epic Games plans to bring Fortnite back to the Google Play Store globally while continuing to develop its own Epic Games Store for Android. Both companies described the settlement as a step toward a more competitive Android ecosystem.
The dispute between Epic Games and Apple over App Store policies continues separately, reflecting broader industry debates over platform control, developer fees and competition in digital marketplaces.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
The European Union’s data protection watchdog has urged stronger safeguards as negotiations continue with the US over access to biometric databases. European Data Protection Supervisor Wojciech Wiewiórowski said limits must ensure Europeans’ data is used only for agreed purposes.
Talks between the EU and the US involve potential arrangements that would allow US authorities to query national biometric systems. Databases across the EU contain sensitive information, including fingerprints and facial recognition data.
Past transatlantic data-sharing agreements between the two have faced legal challenges due to insufficient safeguards. European regulators are closely monitoring the Data Privacy Framework amid ongoing concerns about oversight.
Officials also warned that emerging AI technologies could create new surveillance risks linked to US data access. European authorities said they must negotiate as a unified bloc when dealing with the US.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party and the Financial Services Commission have agreed to cap major shareholder stakes in domestic crypto exchanges at 20%. Exceptions of up to 34% would apply to new businesses to support early-stage operators.
Large exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb will have 3 years to comply, while smaller platforms will receive an additional 3-year grace period.
Current ownership exceeds the proposed cap, with Upbit at 25.5%, Bithumb at 73.6%, and Coinone at 53.4%. Korbit’s pending acquisition would give Mirae Asset Consulting 92% ownership, highlighting the extent of concentrated holdings in the market.
The cap seeks to curb governance risks from concentrated shareholding, following the FSC’s January 2026 proposal. The move gained urgency after Bithumb’s accidental $43 billion Bitcoin transfer, which raised concerns about internal controls.
The ownership limit will likely be included in South Korea’s upcoming Digital Asset Basic Act, alongside rules on stablecoins and crypto ETFs.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
U Mobile has been ranked Malaysia’s fastest 5G network for the third and fourth quarters of 2025, according to Ookla Speedtest Awards data drawn from millions of real-world user tests.
The result is attributed to the company’s ULTRA5G network, which deploys advanced antenna technologies, including 64T64R systems and extremely large antenna arrays, to boost coverage and handle heavier data traffic.
Chief Technology Officer Woon Ooi Yuen said the recognition validates the company’s infrastructure investments, emphasising that the award reflects actual user experience rather than controlled lab conditions.
U Mobile is targeting 5G coverage across 80% of populated areas in Malaysia by the second half of 2026, with its rollout said to be ahead of schedule.
Beyond coverage expansion, U Mobile has signed a memorandum of understanding with ZTE Malaysia to explore AI-native capabilities in its 5G core network.
The collaboration centres on integrating AI tools for traffic prediction, automated network management, and security monitoring, with digital twin technology potentially allowing engineers to simulate changes before deployment.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Bitwarden has announced support for logging into Windows 11 devices using passkeys stored in its encrypted vault, enabling phishing-resistant authentication directly at the operating system login screen.
The feature is available across all Bitwarden plans, including the free tier, and is believed to be a first for a third-party password manager.
During the login process, Windows 11 displays a QR code that users scan with their mobile device running the Bitwarden app, which then confirms access to the stored passkey and completes authentication.
Unlike device-bound passkey implementations, passkeys are synchronised across devices via Bitwarden’s end-to-end encrypted vault, meaning users can still regain access even if their phone is lost.
The feature builds on Microsoft’s introduction of native support for external passkey managers in Windows 11 in November 2025. It requires the device to be joined to Microsoft Entra ID with FIDO2 security key sign-in enabled.
Microsoft says the passkey-based login will roll out throughout March, depending on an organisation’s Entra ID configuration.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Governments across the world are increasingly treating AI as a strategic capability that shapes economic development, public services and national security. Momentum behind the idea of ‘sovereign AI’ is growing as countries reassess who controls the chips, cloud infrastructure, data and models powering modern technology.
Complete control over the entire AI stack remains unrealistic for most economies because of the enormous financial and technological costs involved. Global infrastructure continues to rely heavily on US technology firms, which still operate a large share of data centres and AI systems worldwide.
Policy makers are therefore exploring different approaches to sovereignty across the AI ecosystem rather than pursuing total independence. Strategies range from building domestic computing capacity to adapting global AI models for national languages, regulations and public services.
Several countries already illustrate different approaches. The EU is investing billions in AI infrastructure, Canada protects sensitive computing resources while using global models, and India prioritises applications that serve its multilingual population through public digital systems.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
