Digital business models Archives | Page 271 of 563

GPT-5 criticised for lacking flair as users seek older ChatGPT options

OpenAI’s rollout of GPT-5 has faced criticism from users attached to older models, who say the new version lacks the character of its predecessors.

GPT-5 was designed as an all-in-one model, featuring a lightweight version for rapid responses and a reasoning version for complex tasks. A routing system determines which option to use, although users can manually select from several alternatives.

Modes include Auto, Fast, Thinking, Thinking mini, and Pro, with the last available to Pro subscribers for $200 monthly. Standard paid users can still access GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, 4o-mini, and even 3o through additional settings.

Chief executive Sam Altman has said the long-term goal is to give users more control over ChatGPT’s personality, making customisation a solution to concerns about style. He promised ample notice before permanently retiring older models.

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Indian firms accelerate growth through AI, Microsoft finds

Indian firms are accelerating the adoption of AI, with many using AI agents to enhance workforce capabilities rather than relying solely on traditional methods.

According to Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index, 93% of leaders in India plan to extend AI integration across their organisations within the next 12 to 18 months.

Frontier firms in India are leading the charge, redesigning operations around collaboration between humans and AI agents instead of following conventional hierarchies.

Over half of leaders already deploy AI to automate workflows and business processes across entire teams, enabling faster and more agile decision-making.

Microsoft notes that AI is becoming a true thought partner, fuelling creativity, accelerating decisions, and redefining teamwork instead of merely supporting routine tasks. Leaders report that embedding AI into daily operations drives measurable improvements in productivity, innovation, and business outcomes.

The findings are part of a global survey of 31,000 participants across 31 countries, highlighting India’s role at the forefront of AI-driven organisational transformation rather than merely following international trends.

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MIT highlights divide in business AI project success

A new MIT study has found that 95% of corporate AI projects fail to deliver returns, mainly due to difficulties integrating them with existing workflows.

The report, ‘The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025’, examined 300 deployments and interviewed 350 employees. Only 5% of projects generated value, typically when focused on solving a single, clearly defined problem.

Executives often blamed model performance, but researchers pointed to a workforce ‘learning gap’ as the bigger barrier. Many projects faltered because staff were unprepared to adapt processes effectively.

More than half of GenAI budgets were allocated to sales and marketing, yet the most substantial returns came from automating back-office tasks, such as reducing agency costs and streamlining roles.

The study also found that tools purchased from specialised vendors were nearly twice as successful as in-house systems, with success rates of 67% compared to 33%.

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Google Cloud boosts AI security with agentic defence tools

Google Cloud has unveiled a suite of security enhancements at its Security Summit 2025, focusing on protecting AI innovations and empowering cybersecurity teams with AI-driven defence tools.

VP and GM Jon Ramsey highlighted the growing need for specialised safeguards as enterprises deploy AI agents across complex environments.

Central to the announcements is the concept of an ‘agentic security operations centre,’ where AI agents coordinate actions to achieve shared security objectives. It represents a shift from reactive security approaches to proactive, agent-supported strategies.

Google’s platform integrates automated discovery, threat detection, and response mechanisms to streamline security operations and cover gaps in existing infrastructures.

Key innovations include extended protections for AI agents through Model Armour, covering Agentspace prompts and responses to mitigate prompt injection attacks, jailbreaking, and data leakage.

The Alert Investigation agent, available in preview, automates enrichment and analysis of security events while offering actionable recommendations, reducing manual effort and accelerating response times.

Integrating Mandiant threat intelligence feeds and Gemini AI strengthens detection and incident response across agent environments.

Additional tools, such as SecOps Labs and native SOAR dashboards, provide organisations with early access to AI-powered threat detection experiments and comprehensive security visualisation capabilities.

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Crypto executives urged UK to create national stablecoin strategy

Thirty crypto executives have urged Finance Minister Rachel Reeves to adopt a national stablecoin strategy, warning the UK could fall behind faster-moving markets. Their letter warned that the UK could remain a ‘rule-taker’ in digital assets without regulation.

The executives criticised the UK’s current legal definition of stablecoins as outdated and misleading, likening it to defining a cheque merely as’ paper concerning currency.’

They argue that stablecoins should be recognised as digital payment rails already used globally. Signatories include Coinbase, Kraken, Copper, Fireblocks, BitGo, and VanEck leaders, calling for regulation that treats stablecoins as financial infrastructure rather than risks.

Analysts stress stablecoins remain essential, acting as the ‘cash equivalent’ for digital assets and enabling faster blockchain transfers than traditional banking.

Industry experts, including HSBC’s Daragh Maher, emphasised that growth depends on a suitable regulatory environment. Clear rules could strengthen the UK’s global financial role and let stablecoins play a key part in its digital finance system.

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CBA reverses AI-driven job cuts after union pressure

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has reversed plans to cut 45 customer service roles following union pressure over the use of AI in its call centres.

The Finance Sector Union argued that CBA was not transparent about call volumes, taking the case to the Workplace Relations Tribunal. Staff reported rising workloads despite claims that the bank’s voice bot reduced calls by 2,000 weekly.

CBA admitted its redundancy assessment was flawed, stating that it had not fully considered the business needs. Impacted employees are being offered the option to remain in their current roles, relocate within the firm, or depart.

The Bank of Australia apologised and pledged to review internal processes. Chief executive Matt Comyn has promoted AI adoption, including a new partnership with OpenAI, but the union called the reversal a ‘massive win’ for workers.

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Google to replace Assistant with Gemini in smart home devices

Google has announced that Gemini will soon power its smart home platform, replacing Google Assistant on existing Nest speakers and displays from October. The feature will launch initially as an early preview.

Gemini for Home promises more natural conversations and can manage complex household tasks, including controlling smart devices, creating calendars, and handling lists or timers through natural language commands. It will also support Gemini Live for ongoing dialogue.

Google says the upgrade is designed to serve all household members and visitors, offering hands-free help and integration with streaming platforms. The move signals a renewed focus on Google Home, a product line that has been largely overlooked in recent years.

The announcement hints at potential new hardware, given that Google’s last Nest Hub was released in 2021 and the Nest Audio speaker dates back to 2020.

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Meta freezes hiring as AI costs spark investor concern

Meta has frozen hiring in its AI division, halting a spree that had drawn top researchers with lucrative offers. The company described the pause as basic organisational planning, aimed at building a more stable structure for its superintelligence ambitions.

The freeze, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, began last week and prevents employees in the unit from transferring to other teams. Its duration has not been communicated, and Meta declined to comment on the number of hires already made.

The decision follows growing tensions inside the newly created Superintelligence Labs, where long-serving researchers have voiced concerns over disparities in pay and recognition compared with recruits.

Alexandr Wang, who leads the division, recently told staff that superintelligence is approaching and that significant changes are necessary to prepare. His email outlined Meta’s most significant reorganisation of its AI efforts.

The pause also comes amid investor scrutiny, as analysts warn that heavy reliance on stock-based compensation to attract talent could fuel innovation or dilute shareholder value without precise results.

Despite these concerns, Meta’s stock has risen by about 28% since the start of the year, reflecting continued investor confidence in the company’s long-term prospects.

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Grok chatbot leaks spark major AI privacy concerns

Private conversations with xAI’s chatbot Grok have been exposed online, raising serious concerns over user privacy and AI safety. Forbes found that Grok’s ‘share’ button created public URLs, later indexed by Google and other search engines.

The leaked content is troubling, ranging from questions on hacking crypto wallets to instructions on drug production and even violent plots. Although xAI bans harmful use, some users still received dangerous responses, which are now publicly accessible online.

The exposure occurred because search engines automatically indexed the shareable links, a flaw echoing previous issues with other AI platforms, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Designed for convenience, the feature exposed sensitive chats, damaging trust in xAI’s privacy promises.

The incident pressures AI developers to integrate stronger privacy safeguards, such as blocking the indexing of shared content and enforcing privacy-by-design principles. Users may hesitate to use chatbots without fixes, fearing their data could reappear online.

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AI helps match ad emotion to content mood for better engagement

Imagine dreaming of your next holiday and feeling a rush of excitement. That emotion is when your attention is most engaged. Neuro-contextual advertising aims to meet you at such emotional peaks.

Neuro-contextual AI goes beyond page-level relevance. It interprets emotional signals of interest and intent in real time while preserving user privacy. It asks why users interact with content at a specific moment, not just what they view.

When ads align with emotion, interest and intention, engagement rises. A car ad may shift tone accordingly, action-fuelled visuals for thrill seekers and softer, nostalgic tones for someone browsing family stories.

Emotions shape memory and decisions. Emotionally intelligent advertising fosters connection, meaning and loyalty rather than just attention.

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