Microsoft apologised after Australia’s regulator said it steered Microsoft 365 users to pricier Copilot plans while downplaying cheaper Classic tiers. The move follows APAC price-rise emails and confusion over Personal and Family increases.
ACCC officials said communications may have denied customers informed choices by omitting equivalent non-AI plans. Microsoft acknowledged it could have been clearer and accepted that Classic alternatives might have saved some subscribers money under the October 2024 changes.
Redmond is offering affected customers refunds for the difference between Copilot and Classic tiers and has begun contacting subscribers in Australia and New Zealand. The company also re-sent its apology email after discovering a broken link to the Classic plans page.
Questions remain over whether similar remediation will extend to Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand, which also saw price hikes earlier this year. Consumer groups are watching for consistent remedies and plain-English disclosures across all impacted markets.
Regulators have sharpened scrutiny of dark patterns, bundling, and AI-linked upsells as digital subscriptions proliferate. Clear side-by-side plan comparisons and functional disclosures about AI features are likely to become baseline expectations for compliance and customer trust.
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The award, presented at the 43rd General Conference in Samarkand, recognises global leaders whose research and policy efforts promote responsible and human-centred AI innovation. Each laureate received $30,000, a Beruniy medal, and a certificate.
Professor Virgilio Almeida was honoured for advancing ethical, inclusive AI and democratic digital governance. Human rights expert Susan Perry and computer scientist Claudia Roda were recognised for promoting youth-centred AI ethics that protect privacy, inclusion, and fairness.
The Institute for AI International Governance at Tsinghua University in China also received the award for promoting international cooperation and responsible AI policy.
UNESCO’s Audrey Azoulay and Gayane Uemerova emphasised that ethics should guide technology to serve humanity, not restrict it. Laureates echoed the need for shared moral responsibility and global cooperation in shaping AI’s future.
The new Beruniy Prize reaffirms that ethics form the cornerstone of progress. By celebrating innovation grounded in empathy, inclusivity, and accountability, UNESCO aims to ensure AI remains a force for peace, justice, and sustainable development.
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company is not in active discussions to sell Blackwell-family AI chips to Chinese firms and has no current plans to ship them. He also clarified remarks about the US-China AI race, saying he intended to acknowledge China’s technical strength rather than predict an outcome.
Huang spoke in Taiwan ahead of meetings with TSMC, as Nvidia expands partnerships and pitches its platforms across regions and industries. The company has added roughly a trillion dollars in value this year and remains the world’s most valuable business despite recent share volatility.
US controls still bar sales of Nvidia’s most advanced data-centre AI chips into China, and a recent bilateral accord did not change that. Officials have indicated approvals for Blackwell remain off the table, keeping a potentially large market out of reach for now.
Analysts say uncertainty around China’s access to the technology feeds broader questions about the durability of hyperscale AI spending. Rivals, including AMD and Broadcom, are racing to win share as customers weigh long-term returns on data-centre buildouts.
Huang is promoting Nvidia’s end-to-end stack to reassure buyers that massive investments will yield productivity gains across sectors. He said he hopes policy environments eventually allow Nvidia to serve China again, but reiterated there are no active talks.
OpenAI has launched the Teen Safety Blueprint to guide responsible AI use for young people. The roadmap guides policymakers and developers on age-appropriate design, safeguards, and research to protect teen well-being and promote opportunities.
The company is implementing these principles across its products without waiting for formal regulation. Recent measures include stronger safeguards, parental controls, and an age-prediction system to customise AI experiences for under-18 users.
OpenAI emphasises that protecting teens is an ongoing effort. Collaboration with parents, experts, and young people will help improve AI safety continuously while shaping how technology can support teens responsibly over the long term.
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Circle has submitted its comments to the US Department of the Treasury, outlining its support for the GENIUS Act and calling for clear, consistent rules to govern payment stablecoin issuers.
The company emphasised that effective rulemaking could create a unified national framework for both domestic and foreign issuers, providing consumers with safer and more transparent financial products.
The firm urged Treasury to adopt a cooperative supervisory approach that promotes uniform compliance and risk management standards across jurisdictions. Circle warned against excessive restrictions that could harm liquidity, cross-border payments, or interoperability.
It also called for closing potential loopholes that might allow unregulated entities to avoid oversight while benefiting from the US dollar’s trust and stability.
Circle proposed safeguards requiring stablecoins to be fully backed, independently audited, and supported by transparent public reports. The firm stressed recognising foreign regimes, applying equal rules to all issuers, and enforcing consistent penalties.
Circle described the GENIUS Act as a chance to strengthen the stability of digital finance in the US. The company believes transparent, fully backed stablecoins and recognised foreign issuers could strengthen US leadership in secure, innovative finance.
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France’s competition authority has fined Doctolib €4.67 million for abusing its dominant position in online medical appointment booking and teleconsultation services. The regulator found that Doctolib used exclusivity clauses and tied selling to restrict competition and strengthen its market control.
Doctolib required healthcare professionals to subscribe to its appointment booking service to use its teleconsultation platform, effectively preventing them from using rival providers. Contracts also included clauses discouraging professionals from signing with competing services.
The French authority also sanctioned Doctolib for its 2018 acquisition of MonDocteur, describing it as a strategy to eliminate its main competitor. Internal documents revealed that the merger aimed to remove MonDocteur’s product from the market and reduce pricing pressure.
The decision marks the first application of the EU’s Towercast precedent to penalise a below-threshold merger as an abuse of dominance. Doctolib has been ordered to publish the ruling summary in Le Quotidien du Médecin and online.
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Coca-Cola has released an improved AI-generated Christmas commercial after last year’s debut campaign drew criticism for its unsettling visuals.
The latest ‘Holidays Are Coming’ ads, developed in part by San Francisco-based Silverside, showcase more natural animation and a wider range of festive creatures, instead of the overly lifelike characters that previously unsettled audiences.
The new version avoids the ‘uncanny valley’ effect that plagued 2024’s ads. The use of generative AI by Coca-Cola reflects a wider advertising trend focused on speed and cost efficiency, even as creative professionals warn about its potential impact on traditional jobs.
Despite the efficiency gains, AI-assisted advertising remains labour-intensive. Teams of digital artists refine the content frame by frame to ensure realistic and emotionally engaging visuals.
Industry data show that 30% of commercials and online videos in 2025 were created or enhanced using generative AI, compared with 22% in 2023.
Coca-Cola’s move follows similar initiatives by major firms, including Google’s first fully AI-generated ad spot launched last month, signalling that generative AI is now becoming a mainstream creative tool across global marketing.
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Google is redefining education with AI designed to enhance learning, rather than replace teachers. The company has unveiled new tools grounded in learning science to support both educators and students, aiming to make learning more effective, efficient and engaging.
Through its Gemini platform, users can follow guided learning paths that encourage discovery rather than passive answers.
YouTube and Search now include conversational features that allow students to ask questions as they learn, while NotebookLM can transform personal materials into quizzes or immersive study aids.
Instructors can also utilise Google Classroom’s free AI tools for lesson planning and administrative support, thereby freeing up time for direct student engagement.
Google emphasises that its goal is to preserve the human essence of education while using AI to expand understanding. The company also addresses challenges linked to AI in learning, such as cheating, fairness, accuracy and critical thinking.
It is exploring assessment models that cannot be easily replicated by AI, including debates, projects, and oral examinations.
The firm pledges to develop its tools responsibly by collaborating with educators, parents and policymakers. By combining the art of teaching with the science of AI-driven learning, Google seeks to make education more personal, equitable and inspiring for all.
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New recommendations have been published by OpenAI for managing rapid advances in AI, stressing the need for shared safety standards, public accountability, and resilience frameworks.
The company warned that while AI systems are increasingly capable of solving complex problems and accelerating discovery, they also pose significant risks that must be addressed collaboratively.
According to OpenAI, the next few years could bring systems capable of discoveries once thought centuries away.
The firm expects AI to transform health, materials science, drug development and education, while acknowledging that economic transitions may be disruptive and could require a rethinking of social contracts.
To ensure safe development, OpenAI proposed shared safety principles among frontier labs, new public oversight mechanisms proportional to AI capabilities, and the creation of a resilience ecosystem similar to cybersecurity.
It also called for regular reporting on AI’s societal impact to guide evidence-based policymaking.
OpenAI reiterated that the goal should be to empower individuals by making advanced AI broadly accessible, within limits defined by society, and to treat access to AI as a foundational public utility in the years ahead.
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According to the Business Software Alliance, India could add over $500 billion to its economy by 2035 through the widespread adoption of AI.
At the BSA AI Pre-Summit Forum in Delhi, the group unveiled its ‘Enterprise AI Adoption Agenda for India’, which aligns with the goals of the India–AI Impact Summit 2026 and the government’s vision for a digitally advanced economy by 2047.
The agenda outlines a comprehensive policy framework across three main areas: talent and workforce, infrastructure and data, and governance.
It recommends expanding AI training through national academies, fostering industry–government partnerships, and establishing innovation hubs with global companies to strengthen talent pipelines.
BSA also urged greater government use of AI tools, reforms to data laws, and the adoption of open industry standards for content authentication. It called for coordinated governance measures to ensure responsible AI use, particularly under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
BSA has introduced similar policy roadmaps in other major markets, apart from India, including the US, Japan, and ASEAN countries, as part of its global effort to promote trusted and inclusive AI adoption.
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