Digital standards

New NHS plan adds AI to protect patient safety

The NHS is set to introduce a world-first AI system to detect patient safety risks early by analysing hospital data for warning signs of deaths, injuries, or abuse.

Instead of waiting for patterns to emerge through traditional oversight, the AI will use near real-time data to trigger alerts and launch rapid inspections.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced that a new maternity-focused AI tool will roll out across NHS trusts in November. It will monitor stillbirths, brain injuries and death rates, helping identify issues before they become scandals.

The initiative forms part of a new 10-year plan to modernise the health service and move it from analogue to digital care.

The technology will send alerts to the Care Quality Commission, whose teams will investigate flagged cases. Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England’s medical director, said the UK would become the first country to trial this AI-enabled early warning system to improve patient care.

CQC chief Sir Julian Hartley added it would strengthen quality monitoring across services.

However, nursing leaders voiced concerns that AI could distract from more urgent needs. Professor Nicola Ranger of the Royal College of Nursing warned that low staffing levels remain a critical issue.

She stressed that one nurse often handles too many patients, and technology should not replace the essential investment in frontline staff.

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Cybercrime surge hits airlines across North America

According to the FBI and cybersecurity experts, a well-known cybercrime group has launched fresh attacks on the airline industry, successfully breaching the networks of several airlines in the US and Canada.

The hackers, identified as ‘Scattered Spider’, are known for aggressive extortion tactics and are now shifting their focus to aviation instead of insurance or retail, their previous targets.

Airline security teams remain on high alert despite no flights or operations being disrupted. Hawaiian Airlines and Canada’s WestJet have acknowledged recent cyber incidents, while sources suggest more affected companies may step forward soon.

Both airlines reported no impact on day-to-day services, likely due to solid internal defences and continuity planning.

The attackers often exploit help desks by impersonating employees or customers to access corporate systems. Experts warn that airline call centres are especially vulnerable, given their importance to customer support.

Cybersecurity firms, including Mandiant, are now supporting the response and advising firms to reinforce these high-risk entry points.

Scattered Spider has previously breached major casinos, insurance, and retail companies. The FBI confirmed it is working with aviation partners to contain the threat and assist victims.

Industry leaders remain alert, noting that airlines, IT contractors, and vendors across the aviation sector are at risk from the escalating threat.

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Hacktivist attacks surge in Iran–Israel tensions

The Iran–Israel conflict has now expanded into cyberspace, with rival hacker groups launching waves of politically driven attacks.

Following Israel’s military operation against Iran, pro-Israeli hackers known as ‘Predatory Sparrow‘ struck Iran’s Sepah Bank, deleting data and causing significant service disruption.

A day later, the same group targeted Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, stealing and destroying over $90 million in assets.

Cyber attacks intensified in the days before and after Israeli strikes. According to NSFOCUS, cyberattacks on Iran peaked three days before the military operation, suggesting pre-attack reconnaissance.

In retaliation, pro-Iranian hackers escalated attacks on Israel on 16 June, focusing on government systems, aerospace, and education.

While attacks on Iran have been fewer, Israeli systems have faced over 1,300 attacks in 2025 alone, with 37% of all global hacktivist activity aimed at Israel since the conflict began.

However, analysts note these attacks have been high in volume but limited in impact. Their malware tactics involve evading antivirus software, deleting data, and turning off recovery systems.

NSFOCUS warns that geopolitical tensions are turning hacktivist groups into informal cyber proxies. Though not formally state-backed, these loosely organised actors align closely with national interests.

As traditional defences lag, cybersecurity experts argue that national infrastructure must adopt more strategic, coordinated defence measures instead of fragmented responses, especially during crises and conflicts.

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Google Doppl, the new AI app, turns outfit photos into try-on videos

Google has unveiled Doppl, a new AI-powered app that lets users create short videos of themselves wearing any outfit they choose.

Instead of relying on imagination or guesswork, Doppl allows people to upload full-body photos and apply outfits seen on social media, thrift shops, or friends, creating animated try-ons that bring static images to life.

The app builds on Google’s earlier virtual try-on tools integrated with its Shopping Graph. Doppl pushes things further by transforming still photos into motion videos, showing how clothes flow and fit in movement.

Users can upload their full-body image or choose an AI model to preview outfits. However, Google warns that the fit and details might not always be accurate at an early stage.

Doppl is currently only available in the US for Android and iOS users aged 18 or older. While Google encourages sharing videos with friends and followers, the tool raises concerns about misuse, such as generating content using photos of others.

Google’s policy requires disclosure if someone impersonates another person, but the company admits that some abuse may occur. To address the issue, Doppl content will include invisible watermarks for tracking.

In its privacy notice, Google confirmed that user uploads and generated videos will be used to improve AI technologies and services. However, data will be anonymised and separated from user accounts before any human review is allowed.

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Dutch government to build AI plant with €70 million pledge

The Dutch government has pledged €70 million to build a new AI facility in Groningen to establish a European hub for AI research and development.

A consortium of Dutch organisations will manage the plant and focus on healthcare, agriculture, defence and energy applications.

The government is also seeking an additional €70 million in EU co-financing and has welcomed a separate €60 million contribution from the Groningen regional administration.

The plant is expected to be commissioned in 2026 and reach operation by early 2027 if funding is secured.

Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans emphasised the need to develop domestic AI capacity, warning that dependence on foreign technologies could threaten national competitiveness and digital independence.

‘Those who do not develop the technology themselves depend on others, ’ Karremans said on the government’s website.

European countries have grown increasingly concerned over their reliance on AI technologies developed by US companies.

The Groningen initiative marks a broader effort by the EU to build its own AI infrastructure instead of leaving strategic control in foreign hands.

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Gartner warns that more than 40 percent of agentic AI projects could be cancelled by 2027

More than 40% of agentic AI projects will likely be cancelled by the end of 2027 due to rising costs, limited business value, and poor risk control, according to research firm Gartner.

These cancellations are expected as many early-stage initiatives remain trapped in hype, often misapplied and far from ready for real-world deployment.

Gartner analyst Anushree Verma warned that most agentic AI efforts are still at the proof-of-concept stage. Instead of focusing on scalable production, many companies have been distracted by experimental use cases, underestimating the cost and complexity of full-scale implementation.

A recent poll by Gartner found that only 19% of organisations had made significant investments in agentic AI, while 31% were undecided or waiting.

Much of the current hype is fuelled by vendors engaging in ‘agent washing’ — marketing existing tools like chatbots or RPA under a new agentic label without offering true agentic capabilities.

Out of thousands of vendors, Gartner believes only around 130 offer legitimate agentic solutions. Verma noted that most agentic models today lack the intelligence to deliver strong returns or follow complex instructions independently.

Still, agentic AI holds long-term promise. Gartner expects 15% of daily workplace decisions to be handled autonomously by 2028, up from zero in 2024. Moreover, one-third of enterprise applications will include agentic capabilities by then.

However, to succeed, organisations must reimagine workflows from the ground up, focusing on enterprise-wide productivity instead of isolated task automation.

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Efforts to address internet fragmentation take centre stage at IGF 2025 in Norway

On the final day of the Internet Governance Forum 2025 in Lillestrøm, Norway, stakeholders from governments, civil society, technical communities, and the private sector gathered to launch the new work cycle of the Policy Network on Internet Fragmentation (PNIF). Now entering its third year, the PNIF unveiled a structured framework to analyse internet fragmentation across three dimensions: user experience, internet governance coordination, and the technical infrastructure layer.

The session emphasised the urgent need for international cooperation to counter growing fragmentation threats, as enshrined in paragraph 29C of the Global Digital Compact. Speakers raised alarm over how political and economic forces are re-shaping the global internet.

With internet shutdowns and digital censorship increasingly normalised as tools of state control—highlighted by Iran’s recent 90-million-person shutdown—concerns about sovereignty overriding openness were prominent. Michel Lambert described this shift as a ‘political normalisation of network control.’

Marilia Maciel, Director of Digital Trade and Economic Security at Diplo, emphasised how trade and investment policies fuel economic fragmentation. Cuts to internet freedom funding were highlighted by both Lambert and Joyce Chen, who noted severe consequences for underserved regions like the Pacific.

Marilia Maciel
Marilia Maciel, Director of Digital Trade and Economic Security at Diplo

From the technical community, Dhruv, representing the Internet Architecture Board, stressed the importance of safeguarding the internet’s interoperability by including technical experts in regulatory processes. Joyce Chen also pointed to successful coordination initiatives such as the Technical Community Coalition on Multi-Stakeholderism (TCCM).

Naim Gjokaj, State Secretary in Montenegro, offered a government perspective, advocating for stronger legal frameworks and regional coordination to avoid inadvertent fragmentation while supporting connectivity in rural areas.

The session concluded with a call to action: PNIF will focus its upcoming work on developing concrete, risk-based recommendations to implement the Global Digital Compact. Co-facilitators Sheetal Kumar and Bruna Santos encouraged broad community participation, aiming to deliver a final report by 1 November.

Despite the challenges, the atmosphere remained collaborative and forward-looking, reinforcing the importance of inclusive dialogue to ensure the internet remains a unified, accessible, and resilient resource for all.

Track all key moments from the Internet Governance Forum 2025 on our dedicated IGF page.

How can technical standards bridge or broaden the digital divide?

At the Internet Governance Forum 2025 in Lillestrøm, Norway, the Freedom Online Coalition convened a diverse panel to explore how technical standards shape global connectivity and inclusion. The session, moderated by Laura O’Brien, Senior International Counsel at Access Now, highlighted how open and interoperable standards can empower underserved communities.

Divine Agbeti, Director General of the Cybersecurity Authority of Ghana, shared how mobile money systems helped bring over 80% of Ghana’s adult population into the digital financial fold—an example of how shared standards translate into real-world impact, especially across Africa. However, the conversation quickly turned to the systemic barriers that exclude many from the standard-setting process itself.

ICANN’s At-Large Advisory Committee member emphasised challenges like high membership fees, lack of transparency, English-only proceedings, and complex technical jargon.

Stephanie Borg Psaila, Director of Digital Policy at Diplo, presented detailed research mapping these hurdles across bodies like ITU, ICANN, and IETF, and called for reforms such as multilingual interpretation, hybrid meeting formats, and adjusted membership models to enable broader civil society participation.

Stephanie Borg Psaila

Security and infrastructure governance also featured prominently. Rose Payne, Policy and Advocacy Lead at Global Partners Digital, spotlighted the role of technical standards in safeguarding subsea cables—which carry 95–99% of transnational data—but also pointed to the limitations of technical solutions when facing geopolitical threats.

She underscored the urgency of updating international legal frameworks like UNCLOS and fostering cooperation between governments, the private sector, and civil society. Alex Walden, Global Head of Human Rights at Google, also reaffirmed the private sector’s role in investing in global connectivity while advocating for human rights-based frameworks and inclusive multistakeholder participation.

While the session closed on a constructive note, tensions emerged during the Q&A. Technical community members like Colin Perkins (University of Glasgow) and Harold, a technologist and civil society advocate, challenged the panel’s framing, arguing that distinctions between technical and civil society actors are often artificial and counterproductive.

Panellists responded diplomatically, acknowledging the need for more nuanced engagement and mutual understanding. Despite differing views, the forum concluded with shared commitments: dismantling barriers to participation, building cross-sectoral capacity, and grounding technical governance in international human rights from the outset.

Track all key moments from the Internet Governance Forum 2025 on our dedicated IGF page.

YouTube adds AI search results for travel, shopping and more

YouTube is launching a new AI-powered search feature that mirrors Google’s AI Overviews, aiming to improve how users discover content on the platform.

The update introduces an ‘AI-powered search results carousel’ when YouTube users search for shopping, travel, or local activities.

The carousel offers a collection of video thumbnails and an AI-generated summary highlighting the key topics related to the search. For example, someone searching for ‘best beaches in Hawaii’ might see curated clips of snorkelling locations, volcanic coastlines, and planning tips — all surfaced by the AI.

Currently, the feature is available only to YouTube Premium users in the US. However, the platform plans to expand its conversational AI tool — which provides deeper insights, suggestions, and video summaries — to non-Premium users in the US soon.

That tool was first launched in 2023 to help users better understand content while watching.

YouTube is doubling down on AI features to keep users engaged and make content discovery more intuitive, especially in categories involving planning and decision-making.

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DeepSeek struggles to launch R2 amid NVIDIA chip shortage

The launch of DeepSeek’s next-generation AI model, R2, is expected to face delays due to a shortage of NVIDIA H20 chips in China.

These chips, designed specifically for the Chinese market following US export restrictions, are essential for running DeepSeek’s highly optimised models.

The ban on H20 shipments in April has triggered widespread concern among cloud providers about the scalability of R2, especially if it outperforms existing open-source models.

CEO Liang Wenfeng has reportedly held back the model’s release, expressing dissatisfaction with its current performance.

Engineers continue refining R2, but the lack of compatible hardware poses a deeper challenge. DeepSeek’s reliance on NVIDIA architecture makes switching to Chinese chips inefficient, as the models are tightly built for NVIDIA’s software and hardware ecosystem.

Some Chinese firms have begun using workarounds by flying engineers to Malaysia, where NVIDIA chips are still available in local data centres.

After training their models abroad, teams return to China with trained systems. Others rely on gaming GPUs like the RTX 5090, which are easier to access via grey markets despite restrictions.

While Chinese tech giants ordered 1.2 million H20 chips earlier in 2025 to meet demand sparked by R1’s success, inventory is still unlikely to support a full R2 rollout.

Companies outside China may launch R2 more easily without facing the same export hurdles.

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