TikTok faces scrutiny over AI moderation and UK staff cuts

TikTok has responded to the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee regarding proposed cuts to its UK Trust and Safety teams. The company claimed that reducing staff while expanding AI, third-party specialists, and more localised teams would improve moderation effectiveness.

The social media platform, however, did not provide any supporting data or risk assessment to justify these changes. MPs previously called for more transparency on content moderation data during an inquiry into social media, misinformation, and harmful algorithms.

TikTok’s increasing reliance on AI comes amid broader concerns over AI safety, following reports of chatbots encouraging harmful behaviours.

Committee Chair Dame Chi Onwurah expressed concern that AI cannot reliably replace human moderators. She warned AI could cause harm and criticised TikTok for not providing evidence that staff cuts would protect users.

The Committee urges the Government and Ofcom to take action to ensure user safety before implementing staffing reductions. Dame Onwurah emphasised that without credible data, it is impossible to determine whether the changes will effectively protect users.

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AI and digital tools improve early dementia detection in primary care

Early detection of Alzheimer’s is often limited in primary care due to short consultations, focus on other health issues, and stigma. Researchers have now demonstrated that a fully digital, zero-cost approach can overcome these barriers without requiring additional clinician time.

A pragmatic clinical trial involving over 5,000 patients tested a dual method combining the Quick Dementia Rating System (QDRS), a ten-question patient-reported survey, with an AI-powered passive digital marker.

The approach, embedded in electronic health records, increased new dementia diagnoses by 31 percent compared with usual care and prompted 41 percent more follow-up assessments, such as cognitive tests and neuroimaging.

The passive digital marker from Regenstrief uses machine learning to analyse health records for memory issues and vascular concerns. Open-source and free, it flags at-risk patients and sends results to clinicians’ EHRs with no extra time or staff needed.

Researchers highlight that embedding these tools directly into routine care can improve equity, thereby reaching populations that the healthcare system has traditionally underserved.

Experts say that using patient-reported outcomes with AI is a scalable and efficient way to detect dementia early, without adding burden to primary care teams.

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Αnthropic pledges $50 billion to expand the US AI infrastructure

The US AI safety and research company, Anthropic, has announced a $50 billion investment to expand AI computing infrastructure inside the country, partnering with Fluidstack to build data centres in Texas and New York, with additional sites planned.

These facilities are designed to optimise efficiency for Anthropic’s workloads, supporting frontier research and development in AI.

The project is expected to generate approximately 800 permanent jobs and 2,400 construction positions as sites come online throughout 2026.

An investment that aligns with the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan, aiming to maintain the US leadership in AI while strengthening domestic technology infrastructure and competitiveness.

Dario Amodei, CEO and co-founder of Anthropic, highlighted the importance of such an infrastructure in developing AI systems capable of accelerating scientific discovery and solving complex problems.

The company serves over 300,000 business customers, with a sevenfold growth in large accounts over the past year, demonstrating strong market demand for its Claude AI platform.

Fluidstack was selected as Anthropic’s partner for its agility in rapidly deploying high-capacity infrastructure. The collaboration aims to provide cost-effective and capital-efficient solutions to meet the growing demand, ensuring that research and development can continue to be at the forefront of AI innovation.

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Meta expands AI infrastructure with $1 billion sustainable facility

The US tech giant, Meta, has announced the construction of its 30th data centre in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, a $1 billion investment that will power the company’s growing AI infrastructure while benefiting the local community and environment.

A facility, designed to support Meta’s most demanding AI workloads, that will run entirely on clean energy and create more than 100 permanent jobs alongside 1,000 construction roles.

The company will invest nearly $200 million in energy infrastructure and donate $15 million to Alliant Energy’s Hometown Care Energy Fund to assist families with home energy costs.

Meta will also launch community grants to fund schools and local organisations, strengthening technology education and digital skills while helping small businesses use AI tools more effectively.

Environmental responsibility remains central to the project. The data centre will use dry cooling, eliminating water demands during operation, and restore 100% of consumed water to local watersheds.

In partnership with Ducks Unlimited, Meta will revitalise 570 acres of wetlands and prairie, transforming degraded habitats into thriving ecosystems. The facility is expected to achieve LEED Gold Certification, reflecting Meta’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and community-focused innovation.

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GPT-5.1 makes ChatGPT smarter and more personal

Meta has announced the construction of its 30th data centre in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The $1 billion investment will support the company’s expanding AI infrastructure while benefiting the local community and the environment.

A facility, designed to support Meta’s most demanding AI workloads, that will run entirely on clean energy and create more than 100 permanent jobs alongside 1,000 construction roles.

The company will invest nearly $200 million in energy infrastructure and donate $15 million to Alliant Energy’s Hometown Care Energy Fund to assist families with home energy costs.

Meta will also launch community grants to fund schools and local organisations, strengthening technology education and digital skills while helping small businesses use AI tools more effectively.

Environmental responsibility remains central to the project. The data centre will use dry cooling, eliminating water demands during operation, and restore 100% of consumed water to local watersheds.

In partnership with Ducks Unlimited, Meta will revitalise 570 acres of wetlands and prairie, transforming degraded habitats into thriving ecosystems. The facility is expected to achieve LEED Gold Certification, reflecting Meta’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and community-focused innovation.

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AI agents redefine customer service efficiency

Companies are transforming routine customer interactions into effortless experiences using AI-powered agents. Instead of endless phone transfers, users now get instant answers or bookings through Agentforce-powered systems.

The focus is not on selling more products, but on improving satisfaction with existing services.

Travel platform Engine is already seeing results. Its Agentforce assistant, Eva, can process partial booking cancellations in seconds by combining customer data with internal booking tools.

By narrowing Eva’s focus to a handful of topics, Engine improved both response speed and customer satisfaction by six points. The result is less frustration, reduced hold times, and smoother travel management.

Retailer Williams Sonoma, Inc. is also personalising customer interactions through its virtual assistant, Olive. Beyond processing returns, Olive provides menu suggestions, wine pairings, and meal preparation schedules to help customers host effortlessly.

The aim, according to Chief Technology and Digital Officer Sameer Hassan, is to deliver experiences that teach and inspire rather than promote sales.

Luxury fitness brand Equinox follows a similar path. Its AI assistant now helps members find and book classes directly, reducing clicks and improving usability. As EVP and CTO, Eswar Veluri said simplifying patterns is key to enhancing member experience through innovative tools.

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Police warn of scammers posing as AFP officers in crypto fraud

Cybercriminals are exploiting Australia’s national cybercrime reporting platform, ReportCyber, to trick people into handing over cryptocurrency. The AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3) warns scammers are posing as police and using stolen data to file fake reports.

In one recent case, a victim was contacted by someone posing as an AFP officer and informed that their details had been found in a data breach linked to cryptocurrency. The impersonator provided an official reference number, which appeared genuine when checked on the ReportCyber portal.

A second caller, pretending to be from a crypto platform, then urged the target to transfer funds to a so-called ‘Cold Storage’ account. The victim realised the deception and ended the call before losing money.

Detective Superintendent Marie Andersson said the scam’s sophistication lay in its false sense of legitimacy and urgency. Criminals verify personal data and act quickly to pressure victims, she explained. However, growing awareness within the community has helped authorities detect such scams sooner.

Authorities are reminding the public that legitimate officers will never request access to wallets, bank accounts, or seed phrases. Australians should remain cautious, verify unexpected calls, and report any suspicious activity through official channels.

The AFP reaffirmed that ReportCyber remains a safe platform for genuine reports and continues to be a vital tool in tracking and preventing cybercrime nationwide.

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AI adoption surges with consumers but stalls in business

In a recent analysis, Goldman Sachs warned that while AI is rapidly permeating the consumer market, enterprise integration is falling much further behind.

The report highlights consumer-facing tools, such as chatbots and generative creative applications, driving the usage surge, but finds that business uptake is still ‘well below where we expected’ a year or two ago.

Goldman’s analysts point out a striking disjunction: consumer adoption is high, yet corporations are slower to embed AI deeply into workflows. One analyst remarked that although nearly 88 % of companies report using AI in some capacity, only about a third have scaled it enterprise-wide and just 39 % see measurable financial impact.

Meanwhile, infrastructure spending on AI is exploding, with projections of 3-4 trillion US dollars by the end of the decade, raising concerns among investors about return on investment and whether the current frenzy resembles past tech bubbles.

For policy-makers, digital-economy strategists and technology governance watchers, this gap has important implications. Hype and hardware build-out may be outpacing deliverables in enterprise contexts.

The divide also underlines the need for more precise metrics around productivity, workforce adaptation and organisational readiness in our discussions around AI policy and digital diplomacy.

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Chubb launches digital insurance engine with AI recommendations

A global insurance leader, Chubb, launched a new AI-driven embedded insurance optimisation engine within its Chubb Studio platform during the Singapore FinTech Festival. The announcement marks a significant step in enabling digital distribution partners to offer personalised insurance products more effectively.

The engine uses proprietary AI to analyse customer data, identify personas, recommend relevant insurance products (such as phone damage, travel insurance, hospital cash or life cover) at the point of sale, and deliver click-to-engage options for higher-value products.

Integration models range from Chubb-managed to partner-managed or hybrid, giving flexibility in how partners embed the solution.

From a digital-economy and policy perspective, this development highlights how insurance firms are leveraging AI to personalise customer journeys and integrate insurance seamlessly into consumer platforms and apps.

The shift raises essential questions about data utilisation, transparency of recommendation engines and how insurers strike the balance between innovation and consumer protection.

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OpenAI faces major copyright setback in US court

A US federal judge has ruled that a landmark copyright case against OpenAI can proceed, rejecting the company’s attempt to dismiss claims brought by authors and the Authors Guild.

The authors argue that ChatGPT’s summaries of copyrighted works, including George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, unlawfully replicate the original tone, plot, and characters, raising concerns about AI-generated content infringing on creative rights.

The Publishers Association (PA) welcomed the ruling, warning that generative AI could ‘devastate the market’ for books and other creative works by producing infringing content at scale.

It urged the UK government to strengthen transparency rules to protect authors and publishers, stressing that AI systems capable of reproducing an author’s style could undermine the value of original creation.

The case follows a £1.5bn settlement against Anthropic earlier this year for using pirated books to train its models and comes amid growing scrutiny of AI firms.

In Britain, Stability AI recently avoided a copyright ruling after a claim by Getty Images was dismissed on grounds of jurisdiction. Still, the PA stated that the outcome highlighted urgent gaps in UK copyright law regarding AI training and output.

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