Digital business models

Manhattan man accused of holding victim for Bitcoin credentials

A Manhattan-based crypto investor has been charged with kidnapping an Italian man. He allegedly tortured the victim in an attempt to gain access to his Bitcoin wallet.

John Woeltz, 37, was arrested on 24 May and later appeared in court, where he pleaded not guilty to four felony charges, including kidnapping for ransom.

Police said the 28-year-old victim was held inside a rented townhouse in Soho after arriving in the US on 6 May. He was allegedly beaten, electroshocked, and threatened with a firearm when he refused to give up his wallet credentials.

The man eventually escaped and contacted the authorities. Photographs found at the scene appeared to show signs of ongoing abuse.

A woman was also taken into custody, although no charges were filed against her. Investigators have not confirmed whether any cryptocurrency was taken or what the relationship between the parties may have been.

The case comes as more crypto executives and investors seek private security due to a rise in ransom threats. In France, authorities have introduced extra protections for those in the crypto industry.

These measures follow several kidnapping incidents, including the abduction of Ledger co-founder David Balland earlier this year.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

AI regulation offers development opportunity for Latin America

Latin America is uniquely positioned to lead on AI governance by leveraging its social rights-focused policy tradition, emerging tech ecosystems, and absence of legacy systems.

According to a new commentary by Eduardo Levy Yeyati at the Brookings Institution, the region has the opportunity to craft smart AI regulation that is both inclusive and forward-looking, balancing innovation with rights protection.

Despite global momentum on AI rulemaking, Latin American regulatory efforts remain slow and fragmented, underlining the need for early action and regional cooperation.

The proposed framework recommends flexible, enforceable policies grounded in local realities, such as adapting credit algorithms for underbanked populations or embedding linguistic diversity in AI tools.

Governments are encouraged to create AI safety units, invest in public oversight, and support SMEs and open-source innovation to avoid monopolisation. Regulation should be iterative and participatory, using citizen consultations and advisory councils to ensure legitimacy and resilience through political shifts.

Regional harmonisation will be critical to avoid a patchwork of laws and promote Latin America’s role in global AI governance. Coordinated data standards, cross-border oversight, and shared technical protocols are essential for a robust, trustworthy ecosystem.

Rather than merely catching up, Latin America can become a global model for equitable and adaptive AI regulation tailored to the needs of developing economies.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Most X users regain access after global glitch

X, formerly known as Twitter, has resumed normal operations for most users following a global outage early Friday.

Reports of the disruption surged shortly after 8AM ET, before rapidly declining within the hour. NetBlocks confirmed the outage was not linked to any national internet restrictions.

The incident followed a fire earlier in the week at a data centre in US Oregon reportedly owned by X.

Sources cited by Wired indicated that the blaze involved backup batteries and required a prolonged emergency response. Users had already reported problems in the days prior.

Although service has stabilised, the X developer status page still notes degraded performance with login features.

The company has yet to comment publicly on the situation. User concerns remain visible across social media platforms and tech forums.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

AI agents bring new security risks to crypto

AI agents are becoming common in crypto, embedded in wallets, trading bots and onchain assistants that automate decisions and tasks. At the core of many AI agents lies the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which controls their behaviour and interactions.

While MCP offers flexibility, it also opens up multiple security risks.

Security researchers at SlowMist have identified four main ways attackers could exploit AI agents via malicious plugins. These include data poisoning, JSON injection, function overrides, and cross-MCP calls, all of which can manipulate or disrupt an agent’s operations.

Unlike poisoning AI models during training, these attacks target real-time interactions and plugin behaviour.

The number of AI agents in crypto is growing rapidly, expected to reach over one million in 2025. Experts warn that failing to secure the AI layer early could expose crypto assets to serious threats, such as private key leaks or unauthorised access.

Developers are urged to enforce strict plugin verification, sanitise inputs, and apply least privilege access to prevent these vulnerabilities.

Building AI agents quickly without security measures risks costly breaches. While adding protections may be tedious, experts agree it is essential to protect crypto wallets and funds as AI agents become more widespread.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

Nvidia unveils cheaper AI chip for China

Nvidia is preparing to launch a lower-cost AI chip for China that complies with US export restrictions, with mass production expected to begin as early as June.

The upcoming GPU will be based on the latest Blackwell architecture but will carry reduced specifications compared to the recently restricted H20 model. It is expected to sell for $6,500 to $8,000, significantly cheaper than the $10,000–$12,000 H20, reflecting its simpler design and less advanced components.

Sources say the new chip, likely named either the 6000D or B40, will use GDDR7 memory instead of high-bandwidth memory and will avoid Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s CoWoS packaging technology.

Nvidia had initially planned to downgrade the H20, but tighter US rules made that unviable. Instead of relying on its older Hopper architecture, the company is shifting to Blackwell for future developments in China.

Nvidia has been forced to adapt repeatedly due to tightening US export restrictions aimed at slowing China’s technological progress. Its market share in China has dropped from 95% before 2022 to around 50% today, as competitors like Huawei gain ground with chips like the Ascend 910B.

CEO Jensen Huang noted that continuing restrictions could further drive Chinese firms towards domestic alternatives, cutting Nvidia off from more of the $50 billion data centre market.

Huang also revealed that US curbs have forced Nvidia to write off $5.5 billion in inventory and abandon $15 billion in potential sales. New limits now target GPU memory bandwidth, a key factor for AI performance, capping it at around 1.8 terabytes per second.

The upcoming chip is expected to remain just within this limit, allowing Nvidia to retain a foothold in China instead of exiting the market entirely.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

NotebookLM Improves User Experience With Streamed Answers

Google has updated its AI research assistant, NotebookLM, to display AI responses in real time rather than all at once. This change reduces perceived waiting time by 30 to 40%, according to Simon Tokumine, the product’s lead.

The update follows the tool’s move to using more advanced ‘thinking’ models, which, while more capable, can take longer to generate responses.

NotebookLM, which recently launched mobile apps for iOS and Android, was previously limited to the web. However, the mobile apps currently lack features like Mind Maps and content generation. Still, the new response streaming feature marks a meaningful improvement in user experience.

Additional announcements at Google I/O 2025 include more control over Audio Overviews, allowing users to select shorter or longer summaries based on their preferences. Google also confirmed that Video Overviews are in development, following the positive reception of the audio feature.

While many of these updates are incremental, they reflect Google’s continued investment in refining NotebookLM as a practical, AI-powered research assistant.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Trump meme coin holders offload tokens before gala dinner

Most top holders of the TRUMP meme coin sold or moved their tokens before attending Donald Trump’s exclusive crypto dinner on Thursday.

Only eight of the 25 wallets that earned VIP access still held TRUMP tokens the next day, data from Solscan shows.

Tron founder Justin Sun was among those who retained his holdings, keeping nearly all of the 1.43 million TRUMP tokens that secured his top spot on the leaderboard.

The wallet linked to MemeCore, a meme coin blockchain, also kept its full balance. However, most other wallets sent their tokens to centralised exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, or Wintermute.

The combined average holdings of the VIP group have dropped to roughly $2.11 million from around $4.78 million. The top two wallets now make up the bulk of the value, holding nearly $37.3 million combined.

Those who sold or transferred their coins will no longer qualify for the limited edition ‘diamond hand’ NFT, which was reserved for loyal holders.

The timing of the sales has raised concerns about potential ‘pay-to-play’ tactics. Some lawmakers say these investments aimed to buy access to Trump, leading to protests and a proposed bill to block his crypto profits.

Senators had already requested an ethics probe ahead of the dinner. Meanwhile, the TRUMP token has fallen 14% in the past 24 hours and is now down over 80% from its January peak.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

Pakistan plans major electricity use for crypto and AI development

Islamabad plans to dedicate 2,000 megawatts of surplus electricity to support Bitcoin mining and AI data centres. The initiative aims to turn excess power into a driver for technology growth, as part of Pakistan’s wider digital infrastructure strategy.

Officials see the move as a way to boost tech industries and attract foreign investment.

The Pakistan Crypto Council, established earlier this year, leads the project. The country’s energy sector faces challenges from high tariffs and surplus generation, partly due to rapid solar power expansion.

Using excess electricity for crypto mining and AI data centres offers a productive solution to these issues.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb recently approved the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority to regulate the growing crypto industry. He emphasised that regulation should help Pakistan not only catch up but take a leading role in the sector.

The PCC’s CEO Bilal Bin Saqib has engaged with the Power Minister to attract global crypto miners, describing Pakistan as a low-cost, high-growth market ready to compete.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

FIFA chooses Avalanche for next-gen blockchain shift

FIFA has picked Avalanche to power its own blockchain network, ending its partnership with Algorand. The move signals a major step in expanding FIFA’s Web3 ambitions and digital asset strategy.

The new platform, a custom Avalanche Layer-1 blockchain, offers faster transaction speeds, lower fees, and simple wallet access. FIFA Collect will migrate to the new network, with support for EVM wallets like MetaMask, starting after 20 May.

Ava Labs, which developed Avalanche, said the deal was secured thanks to the network’s 6,500+ transactions per second and enterprise-grade reliability. Modex CEO Francesco Abbate confirmed that FIFA chose Avalanche after a full review of scalability, costs, and performance.

FIFA’s NFT marketplace is not the only project in the works. The football body is exploring other digital products, including immersive fan experiences. Meanwhile, AVAX, Avalanche’s native token, saw a surge in trading volume following the announcement.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

Tether plans US stablecoin to comply with local rules

Tether plans to launch a separate stablecoin for the US market while keeping USDT focused on unbanked users in emerging economies. CEO Paolo Ardoino said the new coin would be tailored to meet domestic needs, with features different from USDT.

He noted the company is becoming more comfortable with the proposed GENIUS Act and aims to comply. Ardoino also said the act is more practical than Europe’s MiCA rules, which Tether believes place unnecessary pressure on dollar-based reserves.

Tether’s main mission remains supporting the 1.4 billion unbanked adults worldwide, especially in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Ardoino said USDT is often used for remittances and savings, with many relying on its stability during economic crises.

The GENIUS Act, now advancing through the US Senate, distinguishes between domestic and foreign stablecoin issuers. Tether supports the act and wants clarity before launching a stablecoin tied to the US market.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

Diplo chatbot can make mistakes. Consider checking important information.