Digital business models

High-profile AI acquisition puts Manus back in focus

Manus has returned to the spotlight after agreeing to be acquired by Meta in a deal reportedly worth more than $2 billion. The transaction is one of the most high-profile acquisitions of an Asian AI startup by a US technology company and reflects Meta’s push to expand agentic AI capabilities across its platforms.

The startup drew attention in March after unveiling an autonomous AI agent designed to execute tasks such as résumé screening and stock analysis. Founded in China, Manus later moved its headquarters to Singapore and was developed by the AI product studio Butterfly Effect.

Since launch, Manus has expanded its features to include design work, slide creation, and browser-based task completion. The company reported surpassing $100 million in annual recurring revenue and raised $75 million earlier this year at a valuation of about $500 million.

Meta said the acquisition would allow it to integrate the Singapore-based company’s technology into its wider AI strategy while keeping the product running as a standalone service. Manus said subscriptions would continue uninterrupted and that operations would remain based in Singapore.

The deal has drawn political scrutiny in the US due to Manus’s origins and past links to China. Meta said the transaction would sever remaining ties to China, as debate intensifies over investment, data security, and competition in advanced AI systems.

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OpenAI secures massive funding round led by SoftBank

SoftBank Group has completed a $41 billion investment in OpenAI, marking one of the largest private funding rounds on record. The deal gives the Japanese conglomerate an estimated 11 percent stake in the ChatGPT developer.

The investment reflects SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son’s renewed focus on AI and supporting infrastructure. The company is seeking to capitalise on rising demand for the computing capacity that underpins advanced AI models.

SoftBank said the latest funding includes an additional $22.5 billion investment, following an earlier $7.5 billion injection in April. OpenAI also secured a further $11 billion through an expanded syndicated co-investment from other backers.

The funding values OpenAI at roughly $300 billion on a post-money basis, though secondary market transactions later placed the company’s valuation closer to $500 billion. The investment follows SoftBank’s recent agreement to acquire DigitalBridge Group, a digital infrastructure investor.

OpenAI remains a central beneficiary of the global surge in AI spending. The company is also involved in Stargate, a large-scale data centre project backed by SoftBank and other partners to support next-generation AI systems.

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Hawaii warns residents about phishing using fake government sites

State officials have warned the public about a phishing campaign using the fake domain codify.inc to impersonate official government websites. Cybercriminals aim to steal personal information and login credentials from unsuspecting users.

Several state agencies are affected, including the departments of Labor and Industrial Relations, Education, Health, Transportation, and many others. Fraudulent websites often mimic official URLs, such as dlir.hi.usa.codify.inc, and may use AI-based services to entice users.

Residents are urged to verify website addresses carefully. Official government portals will always end in .gov, and any other extensions like .inc or .co are not legitimate. Users should type addresses directly into their browsers rather than clicking links in unsolicited emails or texts.

Suspicious websites should be reported to the State of Hawaii at soc@hawaii.gov to help protect other residents from falling victim to the scam.

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AI malware emerges as major cybersecurity threat

Cybersecurity experts are raising alarms as AI transitions from a theoretical concern to an operational threat. The H2 2025 ESET Threat Report shows AI-powered malware is now targeting systems globally, raising attack sophistication.

PromptLock, the first AI-driven ransomware, uses a dual-component system to generate unique scripts for each target. The malware autonomously decides to exfiltrate, encrypt, or destroy data, using a feedback loop to ensure reliable execution.

Other AI threats include PromptFlux, which rewrites malware for persistence, and PromptSteal, which harvests sensitive files. These developments highlight the growing capabilities of attackers using machine learning models to evade traditional defences.

The ransomware-as-a-service market is growing, with Qilin, Akira, and Warlock using advanced evasion techniques. The convergence of AI-driven malware and thriving ransomware economies presents an urgent challenge for organisations globally.

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Belgium’s influencers seek clarity through a new certification scheme

The booming influencer economy of Belgium is colliding with an advertising rulebook that many creators say belongs to another era.

Different obligations across federal, regional and local authorities mean that wording acceptable in one region may trigger a reprimand in another. Some influencers have even faced large fines for administrative breaches such as failing to publish business details on their profiles.

In response, the Influencer Marketing Alliance in Belgium has launched a certification scheme designed to help creators navigate the legal maze instead of risking unintentional violations.

Influencers complete an online course on advertising and consumer law and must pass a final exam before being listed in a public registry monitored by the Jury for Ethical Practices.

Major brands, including L’Oréal and Coca-Cola, already prefer to collaborate with certified creators to ensure compliance and credibility.

Not everyone is convinced.

Some Belgian influencers argue that certification adds more bureaucracy at a time when they already struggle to understand overlapping rules. Others see value as a structured reminder that content creators remain legally responsible for commercial communication shared with followers.

The alliance is also pushing lawmakers to involve influencers more closely when drafting future rules, including taxation and safeguards for child creators.

Consumer groups such as BEUC support clearer definitions and obligations under the forthcoming EU Digital Fairness Act, arguing that influencer advertising should follow the same standards as other media instead of remaining in a grey zone.

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Romania’s Oltenia Energy Complex reports a serious ransomware breach

A ransomware attack has disrupted the Oltenia Energy Complex, Romania’s largest coal-based power producer, after hackers encrypted key IT systems in the early hours of 26 December.

The state-controlled company confirmed that the Gentlemen ransomware strain locked corporate files and disabled core services, including ERP platforms, document management tools, email and the official website.

The organisation isolated affected infrastructure and began restoring services from backups on new systems instead of paying a ransom. Operations were only partially impacted and officials stressed that the national energy system remained secure, despite the disruption across business networks.

A criminal complaint has been filed. Additionally, both the National Directorate of Cyber Security of Romania and the Ministry of Energy have been notified.

Investigators are still assessing the scale of the breach and whether sensitive data was exfiltrated before encryption. The Gentlemen ransomware group has not yet listed the energy firm on its dark-web leak site, a sign that negotiations may still be underway.

An attack that follows a separate ransomware incident that recently hit Romania’s national water authority, underlining the rising pressure on critical infrastructure organisations.

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Polish authorities flag TikTok for potential election interference

Polish authorities have urged the European Commission to investigate TikTok over AI-generated content advocating Poland’s exit from the European Union. Officials say the videos pose risks to democratic processes and public order.

Deputy Minister for Digitalisation Dariusz Standerski highlighted that the narratives, distribution patterns, and synthetic audiovisual material suggest TikTok may not be fulfilling its obligations under the EU Digital Services Act for Very Large Online Platforms.

The associated TikTok account has since disappeared from the platform.

The Digital Services Act requires platforms to address systemic risks, including disinformation, and allows fines of up to 6% of a company’s global annual turnover for non-compliance. TikTok and the Commission have not provided immediate comment.

Authorities emphasised that the investigation could set an important precedent for how EU countries address AI-driven disinformation on major social media platforms.

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Russia advances digital ruble strategy ahead of 2026 launch

The Bank of Russia has reiterated its confidence in the long-term potential of the digital ruble, describing the project as one of the most advanced central bank digital currency initiatives globally.

According to the regulator, preparations for a large-scale rollout remain on track for 2026, with internal estimates suggesting the digital ruble could represent up to 5% of all cashless payments within seven years of launch.

Central bank officials highlighted smart contracts as a primary area of application, alongside budgetary payments and cross-border transaction mechanisms, where efficiency and transparency gains are expected.

The regulator added that global payment trends are being closely monitored. Officials stressed the importance of defining a clear role for each financial instrument rather than introducing technology without a specific economic purpose.

Bank of Russia officials also emphasised ongoing collaboration with market participants to identify new opportunities for the digital ruble and maximise its practical impact.

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Best AI dictation tools for faster speech-to-text in 2026

AI dictation reached maturity during the years after many attempts of patchy performance and frustrating inaccuracies.

Advances in speech-to-text engines and large language models now allow modern dictation tools to recognise everyday speech more reliably while keeping enough context to format sentences automatically instead of producing raw transcripts that require heavy editing.

Several leading apps have emerged with different strengths. Wispr Flow focuses on flexibility with style options and custom vocabulary, while Willow blends automation with privacy by storing transcripts locally.

Monologue also prioritises privacy by allowing users to download the model and run transcription entirely on their own machines. Superwhisper caters for power users by supporting multiple downloadable models and transcription from audio or video files.

Other tools take different approaches. VoiceTypr offers an offline-first design with lifetime licensing, Aqua promotes speed and phrase-based shortcuts, Handy provides a simple free open source starting point, and Typeless gives one of the most generous free allowances while promising strong data protection.

Each reflects a wider trend where developers try to balance convenience, privacy, control and affordability.

Users now benefit from cleaner, more natural-sounding transcripts instead of the rigid audio typing tools of previous years. AI dictation has become faster, more accurate and far more usable for everyday note-taking, messaging and work tasks.

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Best AI chatbot for maths accuracy revealed in new benchmark

AI tools are increasingly used for simple everyday calculations, yet a new benchmark suggests accuracy remains unreliable.

The ORCA study tested five major chatbots across 500 real-world maths prompts and found that users still face roughly a 40 percent chance of receiving the wrong answer.

Gemini from Google recorded the highest score at 63 percent, with xAI’s Grok almost level at 62.8 percent. DeepSeek followed with 52 percent, while ChatGPT scored 49.4 percent, and Claude placed last at 45.2 percent.

Performance varied sharply across subjects, with maths and conversion tasks producing the best results, but physics questions dragged scores down to an average accuracy below 40 percent.

Researchers identified most errors as sloppy calculations or rounding mistakes, rather than deeper failures to understand the problem. Finance and economics questions highlighted the widest gaps between the models, while DeepSeek struggled most in biology and chemistry, with barely one correct answer in ten.

Users are advised to double-check results whenever accuracy is crucial. A calculator or a verified source is still advised instead of relying entirely on an AI chatbot for numerical certainty.

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