Belgium‘s new government, led by Prime Minister Bart De Wever, has announced plans to utilise AI tools in law enforcement, including facial recognition technology for detecting criminals. The initiative will be overseen by Vanessa Matz, the country’s first federal minister for digitalisation, AI, and privacy. The AI policy is set to comply with the EU’s AI Act, which bans high-risk systems like facial recognition but allows exceptions for law enforcement under strict regulations.
Alongside AI applications, the Belgian government also aims to combat disinformation by promoting transparency in online platforms and increasing collaboration with tech companies and media. The government’s approach to digitalisation also includes a long-term strategy to improve telecom infrastructure, focusing on providing ultra-fast internet access to all companies by 2030 and preparing for potential 6G rollouts.
The government has outlined a significant digital strategy that seeks to balance technological advancements with strong privacy and legal protections. As part of this, they are working on expanding camera legislation for smarter surveillance applications. These moves are part of broader efforts to strengthen the country’s digital capabilities in the coming years.
The new OpenBusiness information system launched on Monday, replacing the previous NotifyBusiness system, which is now accessible only in a read-only format. The Greek Ministry of Development highlighted that OpenBusiness streamlines business procedures, significantly cutting costs, installation time, and startup delays for both private and public sector enterprises.
Minister Takis Theodorikakos praised the system, stating that it simplifies processes, reduces costs and time for starting economic activities, and enhances public administration efficiency.
OpenBusiness supports the licensing of 57 key economic activities and covers around 2,500 codes, offering businesses a more modern and accessible platform for their operations. It is designed to reduce bureaucracy, improve transparency, and foster a better business environment.
Bengaluru-based startup Presentations.ai has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Accel to enhance its AI-powered platform for creating business presentations. The company, which launched in 2019, saw rapid growth after the emergence of ChatGPT, gaining over a million users within three months of its beta release. Now, with over 5 million users worldwide, it aims to become the go-to AI tool for generating high-quality presentation decks.
The Indian platform uses advanced language models to streamline the presentation-making process, offering features like automated slide design, brand-aligned templates, and real-time collaboration. It also integrates text-to-image AI models, allowing users to generate custom visuals effortlessly. With a freemium model introduced in 2024, the startup has attracted tens of thousands of paying users, further solidifying its market presence.
With backing from key investors, including entrepreneurs from Paytm, CRED, and Freshworks, Presentations.ai is now working on an AI-powered assistant that can generate slides within any application. The company is also expanding its enterprise sales team to target businesses looking for more efficient ways to create presentations.
Meta has introduced a new policy framework outlining when it may restrict the release of its AI systems due to security concerns. The Frontier AI Framework categorises AI models into ‘high-risk’ and ‘critical-risk’ groups, with the latter referring to those capable of aiding catastrophic cyber or biological attacks. If an AI system is classified as a critical risk, Meta will suspend its development until safety measures can be implemented.
The company’s evaluation process does not rely solely on empirical testing but also considers input from internal and external researchers. This approach reflects Meta’s belief that existing evaluation methods are not yet robust enough to provide definitive risk assessments. Despite its historically open approach to AI development, the company acknowledges that some models could pose unacceptable dangers if released.
By outlining this framework, Meta aims to demonstrate its commitment to responsible AI development while distinguishing its approach from other firms with fewer safeguards. The policy comes amid growing scrutiny of AI’s potential misuse, especially as open-source models gain wider adoption.
With Germany’s parliamentary elections just weeks away, lawmakers are warning that authoritarian states, including Russia, are intensifying disinformation efforts to destabilise the country. Authorities are particularly concerned about a Russian campaign, known as Doppelgänger, which has been active since 2022 and aims to undermine Western support for Ukraine. The campaign has been linked to fake social media accounts and misleading content in Germany, France, and the US.
CSU MP Thomas Erndl confirmed that Russia is attempting to influence European elections, including in Germany. He argued that disinformation campaigns are contributing to the rise of right-wing populist parties, such as the AfD, by sowing distrust in state institutions and painting foreigners and refugees as a problem. Erndl emphasised the need for improved defences, including modern technologies like AI to detect disinformation, and greater public awareness and education.
The German Foreign Ministry recently reported the identification of over 50,000 fake X accounts associated with the Doppelgänger campaign. These accounts mimic credible news outlets like Der Spiegel and Welt to spread fabricated articles, amplifying propaganda. Lawmakers stress the need for stronger cooperation within Europe and better tools for intelligence agencies to combat these threats, even suggesting that a shift in focus from privacy to security may be necessary to tackle the issue effectively.
Greens MP Konstantin von Notz highlighted the security risks posed by disinformation campaigns, warning that authoritarian regimes like Russia and China are targeting democratic societies, including Germany. He called for stricter regulation of online platforms, stronger counterintelligence efforts, and increased media literacy to bolster social resilience. As the election date approaches, lawmakers urge both government agencies and the public to remain vigilant against the growing threat of foreign interference.
Australia’s government recently passed laws banning social media access for children under 16, targeting platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and X. However, YouTube was granted an exemption, with the government arguing that it serves as a valuable educational tool and is not a ‘core social media application.’ That decision followed input from company executives and educational content creators, who argued that YouTube is essential for learning and information-sharing. While the government claims broad community support for the exemption, some experts believe this undermines the goal of protecting children from harmful online content.
Mental health and extremism experts have raised concerns that YouTube exposes young users to dangerous material, including violent, extremist, and addictive content. Despite being exempted from the ban, YouTube has been criticised for its algorithm, which researchers say can promote far-right ideologies, misogyny, and conspiracy theories to minors. Studies conducted by academics have shown that the platform delivers problematic content within minutes of search queries, including harmful videos on topics like sex, COVID-19, and European history.
To test these claims, Reuters created child accounts and found that searches led to content promoting extremism and hate speech. Although YouTube removed some flagged videos, others remain on the platform. YouTube stated that it is actively working to improve its content moderation systems and that it has removed content violating its policies. However, critics argue that the platform’s algorithm still allows harmful content to thrive, especially among younger users.
Apple has announced that its AI suite, Apple Intelligence, will support additional languages starting in April, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and simplified Chinese. The update will also introduce localised English versions for India and Singapore, broadening access to the technology beyond its initial US English release.
The expansion follows a December update that brought support for various English dialects, including those used in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK. However, Apple has yet to confirm when its AI suite will be available in the EU or mainland China.
CEO Tim Cook also revealed that the next version of Siri, which will feature improved on-screen contextual understanding, is expected to launch in the coming months. The update marks Apple’s latest effort to strengthen its AI ecosystem and compete with rivals in the artificial intelligence space.
The US Commerce Department is investigating whether DeepSeek, the Chinese AI company that recently launched a high-performing assistant, has been using US chips in violation of export restrictions. These chips are prohibited from being shipped to China, raising concerns about DeepSeek’s rapid rise in the AI sector. Within days of launching, its app became the most downloaded on Apple’s App Store, contributing to a significant drop in US tech stocks, which lost around $1 trillion in value.
The US has imposed strict limits on the export of advanced AI chips to China, particularly those made by Nvidia. These restrictions aim to prevent China from accessing the most sophisticated AI processors. However, reports suggest that AI chip smuggling from countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and the UAE may be circumventing these measures. DeepSeek has admitted to using Nvidia’s H800 chips, which were legally purchased in 2023, but it is unclear whether it has used other restricted components.
The controversy deepened when Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei commented that DeepSeek’s AI chip fleet likely includes both legal and smuggled chips, some of which were shipped before restrictions were fully enforced. While DeepSeek has claimed to use only the less powerful H20 chips, which are still permitted to be sold to China, the investigation continues whether these practices undermine US efforts to limit China’s access to cutting-edge AI technologies.
Germany’s SAP is seeing increasing global demand for software that helps companies manage and document sustainability efforts, despite weakening climate protection targets in the US. SAP’s CFO, Dominik Asam, stated that the need for reliable sustainability data and analysis tools will remain strong, especially with growing investor focus on the issue. This comes as the US formally announced its intention to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, a decision set to take effect in January 2026.
Despite the shifting political landscape, Asam remains optimistic about the future of sustainability initiatives. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, he spoke with many investors who continue to show strong interest in sustainability efforts. SAP is focusing on its Green Ledger software, which aims to make sustainability reporting as verifiable as financial reporting. This will become a requirement under the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in 2028.
While currently used mainly by SAP and chemical company Covestro, the software is expected to see broader adoption. Asam anticipates a surge in contracts in the latter half of this year, highlighting the growing importance of sustainability reporting for businesses worldwide.
Top White House advisers have raised concerns over China’s DeepSeek using a technique known as “distillation” to potentially replicate US AI models, a method where one AI system learns from another. This could allow DeepSeek to benefit from the extensive investments made by US rivals, such as OpenAI, without incurring the same costs. DeepSeek recently made waves by releasing an AI model that rivals those of US giants, at a fraction of the cost, and giving away the code for free. US tech companies, including OpenAI, are now investigating whether DeepSeek’s model may have improperly used this distillation method.
Distillation, while common in the AI industry, may violate the terms of service of models like OpenAI’s. The technique allows a newer, smaller model to benefit from the learnings of a larger, more advanced one, often without detection, especially when using open-source models. Industry experts have pointed out that blocking such practices is difficult, particularly with freely available models like Meta’s Llama and French startup Mistral’s offerings. Some US tech executives, however, are advocating for stricter export controls and customer identification measures to limit such activities.
Despite the concerns, DeepSeek has not responded to the allegations, and OpenAI has stated it will work with the US government to protect its intellectual property. However, as AI technology continues to evolve, finding a way to prevent distillation may prove to be a complex challenge. The ongoing debate highlights the growing tensions between the US and China over the use of AI and other advanced technologies.
