E-commerce and trade

CES 2026 opens with Samsung focus on AI integration

Samsung will open its CES 2026 presence with a Sunday evening press conference focused on integrating AI across its product portfolio. The event will take place on 4 January at the Wynn in Las Vegas and will be livestreamed online.

Senior executives, including TM Roh, head of the Device eXperience division, and leaders from Samsung’s visual display and digital appliance businesses, are expected to outline the company’s AI strategy. Samsung says the presentation will emphasise AI as a core layer across products and services.

The company has already previewed several AI-enabled devices ahead of CES. The devices include a portable projector that adapts to its surroundings, expanded Google Photos integration on Samsung TVs, and new Micro RGB television displays.

The company is also highlighting AI-powered home appliances designed to anticipate user needs. Examples include refrigerators that track food supplies, generate shopping lists, and detect early signs of device malfunction.

New smartphones are not expected at the event, with the next Galaxy Unpacked launch reportedly scheduled for later in January or early February.

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AI platforms reshape everyday online behaviour

AI is rapidly becoming the starting point for many everyday activities, from planning and learning to shopping and decision-making. A new report by PYMNTS Intelligence suggests that AI is no longer just an added digital tool, but is increasingly replacing traditional entry points such as search engines and mobile apps.

The study shows that AI use in the United States has moved firmly into the mainstream, with more than 60 per cent of consumers using dedicated AI platforms over the past year. Younger users and frequent AI users are leading the shift, increasingly turning to AI first rather than using it to support existing online habits.

Researchers found that how people use AI matters as much as how often they use it. Heavy users rely on AI across many aspects of daily life, treating it as a general-purpose system, while lighter users remain cautious and limit AI to lower-risk tasks. Trust plays a decisive role, especially when it comes to sensitive areas such as finances and banking.

The report also points to changing patterns in online discovery. Consumers who use standalone AI platforms are more likely to abandon older methods entirely, while those encountering AI through search engines tend to blend it with familiar tools. That difference suggests that the design and context of AI services strongly influence user behaviour.

Looking ahead, the findings hint at how AI could reshape digital commerce. Many consumers say they would prefer to connect digital wallets directly to AI platforms for payments, signalling a potential shift in how intent turns into transactions. As AI becomes a common entry point to the digital world, businesses and financial institutions face growing pressure to adapt their systems to this new starting line.

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Belgium’s influencers seek clarity through a new certification scheme

The booming influencer economy of Belgium is colliding with an advertising rulebook that many creators say belongs to another era.

Different obligations across federal, regional and local authorities mean that wording acceptable in one region may trigger a reprimand in another. Some influencers have even faced large fines for administrative breaches such as failing to publish business details on their profiles.

In response, the Influencer Marketing Alliance in Belgium has launched a certification scheme designed to help creators navigate the legal maze instead of risking unintentional violations.

Influencers complete an online course on advertising and consumer law and must pass a final exam before being listed in a public registry monitored by the Jury for Ethical Practices.

Major brands, including L’Oréal and Coca-Cola, already prefer to collaborate with certified creators to ensure compliance and credibility.

Not everyone is convinced.

Some Belgian influencers argue that certification adds more bureaucracy at a time when they already struggle to understand overlapping rules. Others see value as a structured reminder that content creators remain legally responsible for commercial communication shared with followers.

The alliance is also pushing lawmakers to involve influencers more closely when drafting future rules, including taxation and safeguards for child creators.

Consumer groups such as BEUC support clearer definitions and obligations under the forthcoming EU Digital Fairness Act, arguing that influencer advertising should follow the same standards as other media instead of remaining in a grey zone.

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Russia advances digital ruble strategy ahead of 2026 launch

The Bank of Russia has reiterated its confidence in the long-term potential of the digital ruble, describing the project as one of the most advanced central bank digital currency initiatives globally.

According to the regulator, preparations for a large-scale rollout remain on track for 2026, with internal estimates suggesting the digital ruble could represent up to 5% of all cashless payments within seven years of launch.

Central bank officials highlighted smart contracts as a primary area of application, alongside budgetary payments and cross-border transaction mechanisms, where efficiency and transparency gains are expected.

The regulator added that global payment trends are being closely monitored. Officials stressed the importance of defining a clear role for each financial instrument rather than introducing technology without a specific economic purpose.

Bank of Russia officials also emphasised ongoing collaboration with market participants to identify new opportunities for the digital ruble and maximise its practical impact.

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New rules set for digital yuan in 2026

China’s central bank has confirmed that a revised digital yuan framework will enter force on 1 January 2026, redefining the e-CNY as a form of digital deposit money rather than a cash substitute.

The upgraded framework adds new standards and rules, based on a decade of domestic and cross-border pilot programmes. Usage already spans retail payments, public services, healthcare, education, tourism, and international settlements.

Under the new plan, digital yuan balances held in commercial bank wallets will be classified as bank deposit liabilities. Banks must pay interest on these holdings, which will be insured and included in regular asset-liability management.

Digital yuan operations will also be folded into China’s reserve requirement system. Wallet balances at authorised banks will count towards reserve calculations, while non-bank payment institutions must hold full reserves against the digital yuan they administer.

By late November 2025, cumulative transactions had reached 3.48 billion, with a total value of 16.7 trillion yuan.

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China’s AI sector accelerates after breakthrough year

China’s AI industry entered 2025 as a perceived follower but ended the year transformed. Rapid technical progress and commercial milestones reshaped global perceptions of Chinese innovation.

The surprise release of DeepSeek R1 demonstrated strong reasoning performance at unusually low training costs. Open access challenged assumptions about chip dominance and boosted adoption across emerging markets.

State backing and private capital followed quickly, lifting the AI’s sector valuations and supporting embodied intelligence projects. Leading model developers prepared IPO filings, signalling confidence in long term growth.

Chinese firms increasingly prioritised practical deployment, multilingual capability, and service integration. Global expansion now stresses cultural adaptation rather than raw technical benchmarks alone.

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Bitcoin adoption remains uneven across US states

A recent SmartAsset study based on IRS tax return data highlights sharp regional differences in Bitcoin participation across the US. Crypto engagement is concentrated in certain states, driven by income, tech adoption, and local economic culture.

Washington leads the rankings, with 2.43 per cent of taxpayers reporting crypto transactions, followed by Utah, California, Colorado and New Jersey. These states have strong tech sectors, higher incomes, and populations familiar with digital financial tools.

New Jersey’s position also shows that crypto interest extends beyond traditional tech hubs in the West. At the opposite end, states such as West Virginia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana and Alabama record participation close to or below one per cent.

Lower household incomes, smaller tech industries and a preference for conventional financial products appear to limit reported crypto activity, although some low-level holdings may not surface in tax data.

The data also reflects crypto’s sensitivity to market cycles. Participation surged during the 2021 bull run before declining sharply in 2022 as prices fell.

Higher-income households remain far more active than middle-income earners, reinforcing the view that Bitcoin adoption in the US is still largely speculative and unevenly distributed.

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Sberbank issues Russia’s first crypto-backed loan

Sberbank has issued Russia’s first crypto-backed loan, providing financing to Intelion Data, one of the country’s largest Bitcoin miners. The bank did not disclose the loan size or the cryptocurrency used as collateral but described the move as a pilot project.

The loan leveraged Sberbank’s own cryptocurrency custody solution, Rutoken, ensuring the digital assets’ safety throughout the loan period. The bank plans to offer similar loans and collaborate with the Central Bank on regulatory frameworks.

Intelion Data welcomed the deal, calling it a milestone for Russia’s crypto mining sector and a potential model for scaling similar financing across the industry. The company is expanding with a mining centre near the Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant and a gas power station.

Sberbank has also been testing decentralised finance tools and supports gradual legalisation of cryptocurrencies in Russia. VTB and other banks are preparing to support crypto transactions, while the Central Bank may allow limited retail trading.

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SK Telecom introduces South Korea’s first hyperscale AI model

The telecommunications firm, SK Telecom, is preparing to unveil A.X K1, Korea’s first hyperscale language model built with 519 billion parameters.

Around 33 billion parameters are activated during inference, so the AI model can keep strong performance instead of demanding excessive computing power. The project is part of a national initiative involving universities and industry partners.

The company expects A.X K1 to outperform smaller systems in complex reasoning, mathematics and multilingual understanding, while also supporting code generation and autonomous AI agents.

At such a scale, the model can operate as a teacher system that transfers knowledge to smaller, domain-specific tools that might directly improve daily services and industrial processes.

Unlike many global models trained mainly in English, A.X K1 has been trained in Korean from the outset so it naturally understands local language, culture and context.

SK Telecom plans to deploy the model through its AI service Adot, which already has more than 10 million subscribers, allowing access via calls, messages, the web and mobile apps.

The company foresees applications in workplace productivity, manufacturing optimisation, gaming dialogue, robotics and semiconductor performance testing.

Research will continue so the model can support the wider AI ecosystem of South Korea, and SK Telecom plans to open-source A.X K1 along with an API to help local developers create new AI agents.

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