Digital identities

Florida moves ahead with new AI Bill of Rights

Florida lawmakers are preparing a sweeping AI Bill of Rights as political debates intensify. Senator Tom Leek introduced a proposal to provide residents with clearer safeguards while regulating how firms utilise advanced systems across the state.

The plan outlines parental control over minors’ interactions with AI and requires disclosure when people engage with automated systems. It also sets boundaries on political advertising created with AI and restricts state contracts with suppliers linked to countries of concern.

Governor Ron DeSantis maintains Florida can advance its agenda despite federal attempts to curb state-level AI rules. He argues the state has the authority to defend consumers while managing the rising costs of new data centre developments.

Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about young users forming harmful online bonds with AI companions, prompting calls for stronger protections. The legislation now forms part of a broader clash over online safety, privacy rights and fast-growing AI industries.

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See your 2025 ChatGPT trends and how to generate your year in review

ChatGPT has introduced a new feature, ‘Your Year with ChatGPT,’ allowing users to review their interactions with the AI over the past 12 months. The optional summary highlights high-level themes from conversations and provides usage statistics.

The feature is gradually rolling out to Free, Plus, and Pro users in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Users must have Memory and Reference Chat History enabled and meet a minimum activity threshold to access the review.

Those with limited activity will only see basic statistics.

Available anytime via the prompt ‘Your Year with ChatGPT’, the review reflects on how individual usage evolved throughout 2025. ChatGPT emphasises that the experience is designed to provide insights for frequent users, with access varying by account type, region, and language.

The new feature allows AI enthusiasts to reflect on their engagement over the year and gain a personalised snapshot of their interactions, encouraging a fresh look at how ChatGPT has been integrated into daily use.

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Italy fines Apple €98 million over App Store competition breach

Apple has been fined €98 million by Italy’s competition authority after regulators concluded that its App Tracking Transparency framework distorted competition in the app store market.

Authorities stated that the policy strengthened Apple’s dominant position while limiting how third-party developers collect advertising data.

The investigation found that developers were required to request consent multiple times for the same data processing purposes, creating friction that disproportionately affected competitors.

Regulators in Italy argued that equivalent privacy protections could have been achieved through a single consent mechanism instead of duplicated prompts.

According to the Italian authority, the rules were imposed unilaterally across the App Store ecosystem and harmed commercial partners reliant on targeted advertising. The watchdog also questioned whether the policy was proportionate from a data protection perspective under the EU law.

Apple rejected the findings and confirmed plans to appeal, stating that App Tracking Transparency prioritises user privacy over the interests of ad technology firms.

The decision follows similar penalties and warnings issued in France and Germany, reinforcing broader European scrutiny of platform governance.

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University of Phoenix breach exposes millions in major Oracle attack

Almost 3.5 million students, staff and suppliers linked to the University of Phoenix have been affected by a data breach tied to a sophisticated cyber extortion campaign. The incident followed unauthorised access to internal systems, exposing highly sensitive personal and financial information.

Investigations indicate attackers exploited a zero-day vulnerability in Oracle E-Business Suite, a widely used enterprise financial application. The breach surfaced publicly after the Clop ransomware group listed the university on its leak site, prompting internal reviews and regulatory disclosures.

Compromised data includes names, contact details, dates of birth, social security numbers and banking information. University officials have confirmed that affected individuals are being notified, while filings with US regulators outline the scale and nature of the incident.

The attack forms part of a broader wave of intrusions targeting American universities and organisations using Oracle platforms. As authorities offer rewards for intelligence on Clop’s operations, the breach highlights growing risks facing educational institutions operating complex digital infrastructures.

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Cyber incident hits France’s postal and banking networks

France’s national postal service, La Poste, suffered a cyber incident days before Christmas that disrupted websites, mobile applications and parts of its delivery network.

The organisation confirmed a distributed denial of service attack temporarily knocked key digital systems offline, slowing parcel distribution during the busiest period of the year.

A disruption that also affected La Banque Postale, with customers reporting limited access to online banking and mobile services. Card payments in stores, ATM withdrawals, and authenticated online payments continued to function, easing concerns over wider financial instability.

La Poste stated there was no evidence of customer data exposure, although several post offices in France operated at reduced capacity. Staff were deployed to restore services while maintaining in-person banking and postal transactions where possible.

The incident added to growing anxiety over digital resilience in critical public services, particularly following a separate data breach disclosed at France’s Interior Ministry last week. Authorities have yet to identify those responsible for the attack on La Poste.

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AI fuels online abuse of women in public life

Generative AI is increasingly being weaponised to harass women in public roles, according to a new report commissioned by UN Women. Journalists, activists, and human rights defenders face AI-assisted abuse that endangers personal safety and democratic freedoms.

The study surveyed 641 women from 119 countries and found that nearly one in four of those experiencing online violence reported AI-generated or amplified abuse.

Writers, communicators, and influencers reported the highest exposure, with human rights defenders and journalists also at significant risk. Rapidly developing AI tools, including deepfakes, facilitate the creation to harmful content that spreads quickly on social media.

Online attacks often escalate into offline harm, with 41% of women linking online abuse to physical harassment, stalking, or intimidation. Female journalists are particularly affected, with offline attacks more than doubling over five years.

Experts warn that such violence threatens freedom of expression and democratic processes, particularly in authoritarian contexts.

Researchers call for urgent legal frameworks, platform accountability, and technological safeguards to prevent AI-assisted attacks on women. They advocate for human rights-focused AI design and stronger support systems to protect women in public life.

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How Microsoft is teaching AI to understand biological systems

Medicine still relies largely on population averages, even though genetic and cellular differences shape how diseases develop and respond to treatment.

Researchers at Microsoft argue that AI could transform healthcare by learning the language of biology and enabling truly personalised medicine instead of one-size-fits-all therapies.

Ava Amini, principal researcher at Microsoft Research, explains that AI can detect biological patterns at a scale impossible for human analysis.

Single cancer biopsies can generate tens of millions of data points, allowing AI models to identify meaningful signals and support precision treatment strategies tailored to individual patients.

Building on decades of biological coding systems, Microsoft has developed generative models such as EvoDiff and the Dayhoff Atlas to design new proteins using biological language.

Lab testing has shown a marked improvement in functional success, demonstrating that AI-driven protein design is moving beyond theory into real-world application.

Challenges remain in modelling entire human cells, where current AI systems still predict averages rather than biological diversity. Microsoft researchers continue to pursue integrated experimental and computational approaches, aiming to bring precision oncology closer to everyday clinical practice.

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Global data center investment hits record $61bn

Investment in data centres worldwide reached a record $61bn in 2025, according to a new report from S&P Global. The surge is being driven by growing demand for AI workloads, with construction and expansion showing little sign of slowing.

Analysts describe the market as a ‘global construction frenzy’ as companies race to meet rising hardware and energy requirements.

The report highlights that investors, unable to buy existing facilities, are increasingly turning to new builds. The sector, with 500 data centres in the UK and 4,000 in the US, is projected to expand faster over the next five years than the previous five.

The AI boom is pushing energy- and computer-intensive workloads to new extremes.

Concerns are emerging about potential overspending in the AI sector. Analysts note that companies like OpenAI, Oracle, and Nvidia are investing heavily despite uncertain returns.

OpenAI is expected to spend $143bn from 2024 to 2029, prompting concerns over profitability while still holding potential for major innovations. The rapid expansion of data centres also carries significant energy implications.

The International Energy Agency forecasts data centre electricity demand could more than double by 2030, matching Japan’s current total consumption and underscoring the scale needed for AI growth.

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Ripple transforms cross-border payments with XRP

Cross-border payments have long struggled with delays and high costs, but networks like SWIFT could be transformed by systems that leverage blockchain. Ripple, launched by Ripple Labs in 2012, enables faster, more transparent, and cost-effective international transfers.

RippleNet, the company’s unified payment network, connects multiple banks via the interledger standard, removing intermediaries and enabling near-instant settlement. XRP, Ripple’s digital token, acts as a bridge currency to provide liquidity, though transactions can occur without it.

XRP boasts low fees, high scalability, and settlement times of just a few seconds.

Since its creation, Ripple has evolved from individual protocols to the unified RippleNet platform, supported by the XRPL Foundation. Unlike Bitcoin, XRP is premined and relies on a select group of validators, offering a different governance model and centralisation approach.

The network also supports broader financial applications, including central bank digital currencies, DeFi, and NFTs.

Despite its potential, investing in Ripple carries risks typical of crypto assets, including volatility, lack of regulation, and complexity. Investors are advised to research thoroughly and limit high-risk exposure to ensure a diversified portfolio.

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EU moves to extend child abuse detection rules

The European Commission has proposed extending the Interim Regulation that allows online service providers to voluntarily detect and report child sexual abuse instead of facing a legal gap once the current rules expire.

These measures would preserve existing safeguards while negotiations on permanent legislation continue.

The Interim Regulation enables providers of certain communication services to identify and remove child sexual abuse material under a temporary exemption from e-Privacy rules.

Without an extension beyond April 2026, voluntary detection would have to stop, making it easier for offenders to share illegal material and groom children online.

According to the Commission, proactive reporting by platforms has played a critical role for more than fifteen years in identifying abuse and supporting criminal investigations. Extending the interim framework until April 2028 is intended to maintain these protections until long-term EU rules are agreed.

The proposal now moves to the European Parliament and the Council, with the Commission urging swift agreement to ensure continued protection for children across the Union.

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