The UK government is launching a nationwide AI skills initiative aimed at both workers and schoolchildren, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer announcing partnerships with major tech companies including Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
The £187 million TechFirst programme will provide AI education to one million secondary students and train 7.5 million workers over the next five years.
Rather than keeping such tools limited to specialists, the government plans to make AI training accessible across classrooms and businesses. Companies involved will make learning materials freely available to boost digital skills and productivity, particularly in using chatbots and large language models.
Starmer said the scheme is designed to empower the next generation to shape AI’s future instead of being shaped by it. He called it the start of a new era of opportunity and growth, as the UK aims to strengthen its global leadership in AI.
The initiative arrives as the country’s AI sector, currently worth £72 billion, is projected to grow to more than £800 billion by 2035.
The government also signed two agreements with NVIDIA to support a nationwide AI talent pipeline, reinforcing efforts to expand both the workforce and innovation in the sector.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
A small-scale quantum device developed by researchers at the University of Vienna has outperformed advanced classical machine learning algorithms—including some used in today’s leading AI systems—using just two photons and a glass chip.
The experiment suggests that useful quantum advantage could arrive far sooner than previously thought, not in massive future machines but in today’s modest photonic setups.
The team’s six-mode processor doesn’t rely on raw speed to beat traditional systems. Instead, it harnesses a uniquely quantum property: the way identical particles interfere. This interference naturally computes mathematical structures known as permanents, which are computationally expensive for classical systems.
By embedding these quantum calculations into a pattern-recognition task, the researchers consistently achieved higher classification accuracy across multiple datasets.
Crucially, the device operates with extreme energy efficiency, offering a promising route to sustainable AI. Co-author Iris Agresti highlighted the growing energy costs of modern machine learning and pointed to photonic quantum systems as a potential solution.
These early results could pave the way for new applications in areas where training data is limited and classical methods fall short—redefining the future of AI and quantum computing alike.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Switzerland’s Federal Council has approved a bill to enable automatic exchange of crypto asset information with 74 partner countries. The bill, announced on 6 June, is expected to come into effect in January 2026, with the first data exchanges likely to begin in 2027.
The move aims to improve tax transparency and crack down on cross-border tax evasion. Countries set to receive Switzerland’s crypto data include all EU member states, the United Kingdom, and most G20 nations.
However, the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia are notably excluded from the list, as confirmed by the Swiss Federal Government’s official X account.
Only countries that agree to exchange similar crypto asset data with Switzerland and comply with the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) will be included.
The framework requires service providers such as exchanges and wallets to collect users’ tax identification details and report relevant crypto transactions annually. Before the data-sharing begins, Swiss authorities will also verify that all partner states meet CARF standards.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Meta Platforms is reportedly in talks to invest over $10 billion in Scale AI, a data labelling startup already backed by Nvidia, Amazon, and Meta itself.
The deal, if finalised, would mark Meta’s largest external investment in AI to date, representing a notable shift away from its prior reliance on in-house research and open-source projects.
Founded in 2016, Scale AI supports the training of AI models through high-quality labelled datasets. It also provides a platform for AI research collaboration, now with contributors in more than 9,000 locations.
The company was last valued at nearly $14 billion following a 2024 funding round involving Meta and Microsoft.
Meta’s planned investment signals an aggressive expansion of its AI ambitions. Earlier this year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced up to $65 billion in AI spending for 2025. It includes Meta’s Llama chatbot, now embedded into Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, reaching one billion users monthly.
The move puts Meta in closer competition with Microsoft, which has committed over $13 billion to OpenAI, and Amazon and Alphabet, which are backing rival AI firm Anthropic. Scale AI declined to comment, while Meta has yet to respond publicly.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
The public fallout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has triggered a surge in memecoin activity, with trading volumes soaring to over $355 million in the past 24 hours. The top five memecoins linked to the feud accounted for 64% of the $556 million total daily volume, according to data from DEX Screener.
‘Official Trump’ led the pack, generating around $228 million in trading volume and reclaiming a $2 billion market cap. Other popular tokens included ‘Kill Big Beautiful Bill’ with nearly $131 million traded, ‘President Vs Elon’ with about $30 million, and ‘Official Musk’ at $22 million.
A newly launched memecoin, ‘new political party,’ also attracted close to $10 million on its first day.
The spike followed a sharp social media exchange where Trump threatened to end Musk’s government subsidies, and Musk fired back with allegations and calls for political change. The dispute has introduced fresh volatility to the memecoin market, with traders closely watching social platforms for further developments.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Financial firms across the UK will soon be able to experiment with AI in a new regulatory sandbox, launched by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in partnership with Nvidia.
Known as the Supercharged Sandbox, it offers a secure testing ground for firms wanting to explore AI tools without needing their advanced computing resources.
Set to begin in October, the initiative is open to any financial services company testing AI-driven ideas. Firms will have access to Nvidia’s accelerated computing platform and tailored AI software, helping them work with complex data, improve automation, and enhance risk management in a controlled setting.
The FCA said the sandbox is designed to support firms lacking the in-house capacity to test new technology.
It aims to provide not only computing power but also regulatory guidance and access to better datasets, creating an environment where innovation can flourish while remaining compliant with rules.
The move forms part of a wider push by the UK government to foster economic growth through innovation. Finance minister Rachel Reeves has urged regulators to clear away obstacles to growth and praised the FCA and Bank of England for acting on her call to cut red tape.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Deutsche Bank is deepening its involvement in digital assets, with plans under review to issue its own stablecoin or join an industry-wide initiative. The bank is evaluating tokenised deposits to help modernise payments, said Sabih Behzad.
Stablecoins and tokenised deposits are becoming more attractive as banks search for faster and more cost-efficient payment methods. Regulatory progress in the EU and US is boosting banks’ confidence to enter the space.
Banco Santander and JPMorgan are also expanding their digital payment efforts, signalling growing momentum in the sector.
Deutsche Bank has already taken several steps in the crypto space. The bank invested in Partior, partnered with Taurus for custody services, and joined Project Agorá to explore cross-border tokenisation.
Market forecasts point to rapid growth. Citigroup expects the stablecoin market to rise from nearly $240 billion today to more than $2 trillion by 2030, fuelled by regulatory clarity and rising adoption by both private and public sectors.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Odyssey, a startup founded by self-driving veterans Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke, has unveiled an AI model that allows users to interact with streaming video in real time.
The technology generates video frames every 40 milliseconds, enabling users to move through scenes like a 3D video game instead of passively watching. A demo is currently available online, though it is still in its early stages.
The system relies on a new kind of ‘world model’ that predicts future visual states based on previous actions and environments. Odyssey claims its model can maintain spatial consistency, learn motion from video, and sustain coherent video output for five minutes or more.
Unlike models trained solely on internet data, Odyssey captures real-world environments using a custom 360-degree, backpack-mounted camera to build higher-fidelity simulations.
Tech giants and AI startups are exploring world models to power next-generation simulations and interactive media. Yet creative professionals remain wary. A 2024 study commissioned by the Animation Guild predicted significant job disruptions across film and animation.
Game studios like Activision Blizzard have been scrutinised for using AI while cutting staff.
Odyssey, however, insists its goal is collaboration instead of replacement. The company is also developing software to let creators edit scenes using tools like Unreal Engine and Blender.
Backed by $27 million in funding and supported by Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull, Odyssey aims to transform video content across entertainment, education, and advertising through on-demand interactivity.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Google has taken a significant step forward in the race to build the ultimate AI assistant by upgrading its Gemini model with a powerful scheduling feature.
The change, quietly rolled out to Gemini Pro and Ultra users, allows the AI to execute tasks at specific times or set up recurring actions—capabilities typically associated with personal assistants rather than chatbots.
Thanks to this upgrade, Gemini users can now automate a range of everyday digital routines. Whether it’s receiving a morning digest of unread emails and calendar events or prompting the AI to suggest blog topics every Monday, Gemini is positioning itself as a seamless aide across Google’s ecosystem.
According to a company blog post, the model can even deliver timely summaries of live events, like award shows, the day after they air.
The new feature is now available for those subscribed to Gemini Pro and Ultra, and eligible Google Workspace business and education accounts.
It comes as Google accelerates its plans to integrate Gemini into nearly every major product it offers, from Gmail to smart glasses, firmly embedding AI into its future user experience.
While competitors like OpenAI remain dominant in mindshare and Apple’s Siri lags behind, Google’s steady rollout of assistant-style functions may redefine the AI playing field.
Apple’s own AI revamp has faced internal setbacks, and its much-anticipated Siri update is now unlikely to appear this year.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Social media platform X has updated its developer agreement to prohibit the use of its content for training large language models.
The new clause, added under the restrictions section, forbids any attempt to use X’s API or content to fine-tune or train foundational or frontier AI models.
The move follows Elon Musk’s acquisition of X through his AI company xAI, which is developing its own models.
By restricting external access, the company aims to prevent competitors from freely using X’s data while maintaining control over a valuable resource for training AI systems.
X joins a growing list of platforms, including Reddit and The Browser Company, that have introduced terms blocking unauthorised AI training.
The shift reflects a broader industry trend towards limiting open data access amid the rising value of proprietary content in the AI arms race.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
