Qualcomm expects robotics to become a significant business opportunity within two years, according to chief executive Cristiano Amon. The company is increasingly expanding beyond smartphones as it searches for new long-term growth markets.
Earlier this year, Qualcomm introduced its Dragonwing processor designed specifically for robotics applications. The chipset aims to operate across multiple robotic platforms using a scalable approach similar to its successful mobile processor strategy.
Industry enthusiasm for robotics has grown alongside rapid advances in AI technologies. Often described as ‘physical AI’, these systems allow robots to interpret surroundings and perform complex tasks more effectively.
Market forecasts suggest strong future demand, with analysts predicting robotics could develop into a multi-trillion-dollar global industry. Technology leaders across the semiconductor sector increasingly view intelligent machines as a major next computing platform.
Robotics innovation featured prominently at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where companies showcased emerging autonomous machines. Growing investment highlights intensifying competition to shape the future of AI-powered automation worldwide.
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The European Commission has unveiled a new counterterrorism agenda under the ProtectEU initiative, outlining measures to strengthen the EU’s response to evolving security threats. Officials say the strategy aims to improve preparedness, reinforce cooperation and protect citizens and businesses from emerging forms of terrorism and violent extremism.
Authorities warn that technological change is reshaping the threat landscape. Terrorist groups increasingly exploit digital tools such as social media, AI and encrypted platforms for recruitment, propaganda and fundraising.
New risks also include the potential misuse of drones, crypto-assets and 3D-printed weapons, while radicalisation of minors online has become a growing concern across Europe.
The agenda proposes stronger capabilities for anticipating threats through expanded intelligence analysis and enhanced support for Europol, including greater use of open-source intelligence. Additional research funding will explore the security implications of emerging technologies, while new initiatives aim to strengthen early prevention efforts and community engagement to counter radicalisation, particularly among young people.
Online safety forms another key priority. The Commission plans to intensify cooperation with digital platforms to remove extremist content more quickly and to strengthen enforcement of the Digital Services Act. A new EU Online Crisis Response Framework is also proposed to improve coordination between authorities and technology companies during security incidents.
Measures targeting the physical environment will focus on protecting public spaces and critical infrastructure, including investments in security projects and stronger monitoring of individuals suspected of terrorism.
The strategy also seeks to improve the tracking of terrorist financing, including through cryptocurrencies, and to expand cooperation with international partners, such as countries in the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean region.
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Ocado has announced plans to cut 1,000 jobs from its 20,000 strong global workforce, with roles mainly affected in technology and support. The company, headquartered in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, said the move would save £150m and follows major investment in robotics and automation.
Chief executive Tim Steiner said Ocado had completed a significant phase of investment in automation, but the company declined to confirm that AI directly led to the redundancies. At its Luton warehouse, opened in 2023, human staff continue to work alongside AI powered robots.
Analysts suggested that competition has intensified as retailers in the UK, the US and Canada adopt similar AI driven systems. Some former clients in the US and Canada have invested in their own technology, reducing reliance on Ocado’s platform.
Retail experts argued that deeper structural challenges, including changing consumer expectations and cost pressures in Hertfordshire and beyond, are also at play. Local leaders in Welwyn Hatfield have requested urgent talks as the company reshapes its operating model.
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Samsung has secured an agreement with Rakuten Mobile to deliver Open RAN-compliant 5G radios supporting a nationwide mobile network upgrade across Japan. Commercial deployment is expected to begin in 2026 following extensive testing of the cloud-native infrastructure.
Rakuten Mobile continues to expand its fully virtualised network architecture, designed to improve flexibility, performance, and vendor interoperability. The integration of Samsung equipment demonstrates growing industry confidence in Open RAN technology at large-scale commercial deployments.
Equipment supplied includes low-band and mid-band radios, alongside energy-efficient Massive MIMO systems operating in the 3.8 GHz spectrum. Compact hardware enables easier installation on buildings and street infrastructure while improving capacity in dense urban areas.
Executives from both companies highlighted ambitions to accelerate AI-enabled networks and global Open RAN adoption. Samsung also positioned the partnership as a step toward future 6G innovation and broader next-generation connectivity services.
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Microsoft has temporarily locked its official Copilot Discord server after a surge of spam linked to criticism of its AI strategy. The disruption followed widespread use of the nickname ‘Microslop’, a term mocking the company’s AI push.
The backlash intensified after chief executive Satya Nadella urged the industry to embrace AI in a December 2025 blog post. Users began flooding the Copilot Discord server with variations of the term, bypassing Microsoft’s word filters.
Microsoft initially blocked the word before restricting channels and eventually taking the entire server offline. In a statement, the company said the move was intended to protect users from harmful spam.
The controversy reflects broader resistance to AI integration across Windows 11 and Microsoft software. Microsoft has not confirmed when the Copilot Discord server will return online.
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A deepfake video of Bombay Stock Exchange chief executive Sundararaman Ramamurthy circulated on social media in India, falsely offering stock advice to investors. The exchange moved quickly to report and remove the content, warning the public not to trust fake investment clips.
Cybersecurity experts say such cases are rising sharply, with one US firm estimating a 3,000 percent increase in deepfake incidents over two years. Executives in the US and the UK have also been impersonated using AI-generated audio and video.
In Hong Kong, police said a UK engineering firm lost $25m after an employee joined a video call featuring deepfake versions of senior colleagues. The transfer was made to multiple accounts before the fraud was discovered.
Security companies in the US and the UK are developing detection tools that analyse facial movement and blood flow patterns to identify AI-generated footage. Analysts warn that as costs fall and tools improve, businesses in India, Hong Kong and beyond face an escalating arms race against digital fraud.
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Anthropic has enhanced its Claude AI chatbot to make switching from other platforms easier. Users on the free plan can now activate Claude’s memory feature, which allows them to import data from other AI platforms using a new dedicated tool.
The update ensures that users don’t have to start over when transferring context and history from competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini.
The memory import option, first introduced in October for paid subscribers, now appears under ‘settings’ → ‘capabilities’ for all users. The tool lets users copy a prompt from their previous AI and paste the output into Claude, seamlessly transferring past interactions.
The recent popularity of Claude has been driven by tools such as Claude Code and Claude Cowork, as well as the launch of the Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.6 models. Upgrades enhance Claude’s coding, spreadsheet, and complex task capabilities, boosting its appeal to new users.
Anthropic’s visibility has also increased amid debates with the Pentagon, as the company refuses to loosen AI safeguards for military use, drawing ‘red lines’ around mass surveillance and autonomous weapons.
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A high-severity vulnerability in Chrome’s integrated Gemini AI assistant exposed users to the potential activation of the camera and microphone, local file access, and phishing attacks. The issue, tracked as CVE-2026-0628, was disclosed by Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 and patched by Google in January 2026.
Gemini Live operates as a privileged AI panel embedded within the browser, capable of web page summarisation and task automation. To enable multimodal functionality, the panel is granted elevated permissions, including access to screenshots, local files, and device hardware.
Researchers identified inconsistent handling of the declarativeNetRequest API when gemini.google.com was loaded inside the AI side panel rather than a standard browser tab. While extensions could inject JavaScript in both cases, the panel context inherited browser-level privileges.
A malicious extension exploiting this distinction could hijack the trusted panel and execute arbitrary code with elevated access. Potential impacts included silent activation of a camera or microphone, screenshot capture, local file exfiltration, and high-credibility phishing attacks.
Google released a fix on 5 January 2026 following responsible disclosure. Users running the latest version of Chrome are protected, and organisations are advised to ensure updates are applied across all endpoints.
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When Hayao Miyazaki dismissed early AI-generated animation as ‘an insult to life itself’ in 2016, the technology felt distant from mainstream creative work. Less than a decade later, generative AI tools produce images and text in seconds, reviving debate over authorship, copyright, and artistic identity.
In Japan, debate reflects both anxiety and ambition. Illustrators question the use of their work in training data, while policymakers and corporations see AI as vital to easing a projected labour shortfall by 2040. Legal provisions allowing data use for analysis have intensified calls for safeguards.
Public sentiment in Japan remains broadly favourable toward AI adoption. Surveys indicate relatively high levels of trust, with many viewing AI as part of long-term structural adjustment rather than an immediate threat. Economic expectations often outweigh concerns about disruption.
Workplace implementation, however, remains limited. OECD research shows only a small share of employees actively use AI tools, citing skills shortages and cautious corporate culture. Analysts describe a paradox: AI could ease labour pressures, yet adoption is constrained by limited expertise.
Creative professionals report more immediate effects. Surveys highlight income pressures and uncertainty among illustrators and freelancers. As deployment expands, Japan faces the task of balancing economic necessity with cultural preservation and fair access to emerging technologies.
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Twenty-five years after its launch, SharePoint has grown into one of Microsoft’s largest collaboration platforms, serving more than one billion users annually. The service now underpins vast volumes of enterprise content, with billions of files and millions of sites created each day.
Microsoft positions the platform as a foundational knowledge layer for Microsoft 365 Copilot. As the primary grounding source for Copilot, it contributes to the Work IQ intelligence layer, enabling AI tools to operate within an organisational context.
New agentic capabilities allow teams to build solutions using natural language prompts within governed Microsoft 365 environments. Custom AI skills package organisational standards, terminology, and business logic, helping ensure outputs align with internal policies and workflows.
AI-driven publishing features are now embedded across its web authoring tools. Organisations can plan, refine, and distribute content at scale while maintaining governance controls and consistent communication standards.
Content stored in SharePoint also powers semantic indexing and retrieval systems that support contextual discovery across Microsoft 365 applications. Microsoft says these capabilities enable more proactive knowledge surfacing and strengthen Copilot’s ability to deliver grounded responses.
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