Mozilla is preparing a major update to its Firefox browser, introducing a built-in VPN and new AI-powered tools. The company says the changes aim to strengthen privacy and give users greater control over browsing.
The integrated VPN will hide the user’s location and IP address while offering a limited monthly data allowance in selected regions. The feature replaces a previously separate paid service and will be built into the browser.
New AI tools will support tasks such as summarising content and comparing products without leaving a web page. Additional features include split-screen browsing and tools to organise notes across tabs.
The update also introduces redesigned settings and a refreshed interface to improve usability. Mozilla says the changes are intended to create a more personalised and modern browsing experience.
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Interoperability tests for the European Digital Identity Wallet have marked a significant step towards deployment, following a major industry-wide exercise. Systems were tested under real conditions to ensure compatibility across providers.
The initiative forms part of the EU’s plan to provide citizens with a secure digital wallet for identification and online services. The system will allow users to store identity data and access services, including electronic signatures.
Results showed that most test scenarios were successfully completed, confirming that independent systems can work together effectively. The exercise also highlighted areas requiring further refinement ahead of wider implementation.
EU officials and industry leaders said the progress supports the development of a unified digital ecosystem. The wallet is expected to simplify everyday services while strengthening security and trust in digital identity solutions.
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Meta recently confirmed that an AI agent inadvertently exposed sensitive company and user data to some employees. The leak happened when an engineer followed the AI agent’s forum suggestion, exposing data for about two hours.
Meta stated that no user data was mishandled and emphasised that human errors could cause similar issues.
The incident reflects broader challenges in deploying agentic AI tools within major tech companies. Amazon faced similar issues, with internal AI tools causing outages and operational errors, showing risks of quickly integrating AI into critical workflows.
Experts describe these deployments as experimental, with companies testing AI at scale without fully assessing potential risks.
Security specialists note that AI agents lack the contextual awareness that human engineers accumulate over years of experience. Lacking long-term operational knowledge, AI can make decisions that compromise security, a factor in the Meta breach.
Analysts warn that such errors are likely to recur as AI adoption accelerates.
The episode comes amid growing attention on agentic AI’s potential to disrupt workflows, affect productivity, and introduce new vulnerabilities. Industry observers caution that AI tools must be carefully monitored and accompanied by robust safeguards to prevent future incidents.
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Mastercard has introduced a generative AI foundation model trained on billions of anonymised transactions. The model is designed as a backend system to power insights across payments and commerce services.
The company plans to extend AI use beyond fraud detection into cybersecurity, loyalty programmes and small-business tools. The model is being developed with support from Nvidia and Databricks technologies.
Earlier AI tools focused on fraud detection, significantly improving accuracy and reducing false positives. The new model marks a shift towards a broader infrastructure approach across multiple products.
This move aligns with Mastercard’s growing reliance on value-added services, which generated over $13 billion in revenue. These services include security, analytics and digital payment solutions beyond the core network.
Competitors such as Visa and PayPal are also expanding AI-driven commerce platforms. The race is intensifying as firms build integrated systems for payments, automation and intelligent services.
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Visa has launched Agentic Ready, a global programme preparing the payments ecosystem for AI agents to initiate transactions for consumers. The programme builds on Visa Intelligent Commerce, the company’s framework for secure, AI-driven payment experiences.
The first phase, launching in Europe, including the UK, focuses on issuer readiness. Participating banks and financial institutions can test and validate agent-initiated transactions in controlled production environments, ensuring they remain secure, reliable, and scalable.
Visa’s trust layer integrates tokenisation, identity verification, risk controls, and biometric authentication to maintain consumer consent and protection throughout transactions.
Controlled testing with selected merchants allows issuers to gain practical experience of agentic commerce in real-world settings. Early participants, including Barclays, HSBC UK, Revolut, and Banco Santander, help Visa test and refine safe AI-driven payments across channels.
The programme advances Visa’s vision of AI-driven commerce, enabling flexible payments while keeping consumers in control. Expansion beyond Europe is planned, leveraging lessons from the initial rollout to accelerate agentic commerce globally.
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YouTube has introduced a new pop-up survey asking viewers to rate whether videos feel like ‘AI slop’, with users able to score content on a scale from ‘not at all’ to ‘extremely’ sloppy.
The feature began appearing on 17 March 2026 and marks a shift in approach, with YouTube now enlisting its audience directly to help identify low-quality, AI-generated content.
The move adds a third layer of detection on top of YouTube’s existing automated and human review systems, both of which have struggled to keep pace with the flood of AI-generated uploads.
Research found that roughly 21% of the first 500 videos recommended to a brand-new YouTube account were identified as AI slop, with a further 33% falling into a broader category of repetitive, low-substance content.
Combating this was named a 2026 priority by YouTube CEO Neal Mohan in his annual letter to the platform.
The survey has not been without controversy.
Critics on social media have pointed out that viewer-labelled ‘slop’ data could be fed into Google’s Veo video generation models, potentially training future AI to avoid the very patterns humans flag as low quality, raising questions about whether YouTube is crowdsourcing content moderation or, inadvertently, AI improvement.
YouTube has not clarified how the feedback data will be used.
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Meta has reversed its earlier decision to discontinue virtual reality support for Horizon Worlds, allowing the platform to remain available on VR headsets despite previous plans to prioritise mobile and web access.
The decision follows an internal reassessment of user engagement trends, which indicate limited adoption of VR-based social platforms.
While Horizon Worlds was once positioned as central to the company’s metaverse ambitions, demand has remained relatively low, raising questions about the long-term viability of immersive social environments.
Financial pressures also continue to shape strategy.
Meta’s Reality Labs division has recorded substantial losses since 2021, reflecting high investment in virtual and augmented reality technologies without corresponding commercial returns.
Industry data further suggests declining headset sales, reinforcing uncertainty around VR as a mainstream consumer platform.
In contrast, mobile usage of Horizon Worlds is growing faster. Increasing downloads point to broader accessibility and improved product-market alignment, though revenue generation remains limited.
As a result, Meta is prioritising mobile development instead of fully abandoning VR, maintaining a dual approach while seeking more sustainable engagement models.
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A new study by Science Feedback indicates that TikTok has a higher proportion of misleading content than other major platforms operating in the EU.
The analysis covered France, Poland, Slovakia and Spain, assessing content across multiple thematic areas including health, politics and climate.
Findings suggest that approximately one in four posts on TikTok contained misleading elements, placing the platform ahead of competitors such as Facebook, YouTube and X. Health-related narratives were the most prominent category, reflecting broader patterns observed across digital ecosystems.
Researchers describe disinformation as a persistent feature embedded within platform structures instead of an isolated occurrence.
The study also highlights a growing presence of AI-generated content, particularly in video formats, where synthetic material accounted for a significant share of misleading posts. Despite existing platform policies, most identified content lacked clear labelling.
The regulatory context remains under development.
While the Digital Services Act integrates voluntary commitments from the EU disinformation code, it does not impose mandatory requirements for identifying AI-generated material.
Ongoing debates therefore focus on transparency, accountability and the evolving responsibilities of digital platforms within the European information environment.
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BTQ Technologies has deployed Bitcoin Improvement Proposal BIP-360 on its Bitcoin Quantum Testnet v0.3.0, marking the first live test of the proposal. The upgrade introduces a quantum-resistant transaction model, Pay-to-Merkle-Root, designed to strengthen Bitcoin’s long-term security.
BIP-360 focuses on mitigating a vulnerability linked to Taproot’s key-path spending mechanism, which can expose public keys on-chain. Such exposure may become a risk if future quantum computers are capable of exploiting cryptographic weaknesses using advanced algorithms.
The testnet adds new consensus rules, post-quantum signatures, and full transaction lifecycle testing. Faster one-minute block times and adjusted fee structures have been introduced to accommodate larger and more complex signatures.
Growing global attention on quantum threats adds urgency to the development. US, EU, and Canadian authorities are setting timelines for post-quantum cryptography to protect future system security.
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Broadcom is facing increased regulatory pressure in the EU following a formal antitrust complaint concerning changes to VMware licensing practices.
The complaint highlights growing tensions between large technology providers and European cloud infrastructure firms.
The filing, submitted by Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe, raises concerns that revised licensing models could significantly alter market dynamics.
European providers argue that the changes may limit flexibility, increase costs, and affect their ability to compete effectively in the cloud services sector.
At the centre of the dispute lies the broader issue of market concentration and control over critical digital infrastructure.
Industry stakeholders suggest that restrictive licensing conditions could reshape access to essential virtualisation technologies, which underpin a wide range of cloud and enterprise services across the EU.
Regulatory attention is expected to focus on whether such practices align with the EU competition rules, particularly regarding fair access and market neutrality.
The case emerges at a time when European policymakers are intensifying oversight of dominant technology firms and seeking to strengthen digital sovereignty across strategic sectors.
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