The US House of Representatives has passed a budget bill containing a 10-year moratorium on the enforcement of state-level artificial intelligence laws. With broad bipartisan concern already surfacing, the Senate faces mounting pressure to revise or scrap the provision entirely.
While the provision claims to exclude generally applicable legislation, experts warn its vague language could override a wide array of consumer protections and privacy rules in the US. The moratorium’s scope, targeting AI-specific regulations, has triggered alarm among concerned groups.
Critics argue the measure may hinder states from addressing real-world harms posed by AI technologies, such as deepfakes, discriminatory algorithms, and unauthorised data use.
Existing and proposed state laws, ranging from transparency requirements in hiring and healthcare to protections for artists and mental health app users, may be invalidated under the moratorium.
Several experts noted that states have often acted more swiftly than the federal government in confronting emerging tech risks.
Supporters contend the moratorium is necessary to prevent a fragmented regulatory landscape that could stifle innovation and disrupt interstate commerce. However, analysts point out that general consumer laws might also be jeopardised due to the bill’s ambiguous definitions and legal structure.
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A Florida woman, Dianne Ringstaff, shared her painful story after falling victim to an elaborate online scam involving someone impersonating actor Keanu Reeves. The fraud began innocently when she received a message while playing a mobile game, followed by a video call confirming she was speaking with the Hollywood star.
The impostor cultivated a friendship through calls and messages for two and a half years, eventually gaining her trust. Things took a turn when the scammer began pleading for money, claiming Reeves was being sued and targeted by the FBI, which had supposedly frozen his assets.
Vulnerable after personal losses, Ringstaff was persuaded to help, ultimately taking out a home equity loan and selling her car. She sent around $160,000 in total, convinced she was aiding the beloved actor.
Authorities later informed her that not only had she been scammed, but her bank account had been used to funnel money from other victims as well. Devastated, Ringstaff broke down—but is now determined to reclaim her life and raise awareness.
She is speaking out to warn others about the growing threat of AI-powered ‘romance’ scams, where fraudsters use deepfake videos and cloned voices to impersonate celebrities and gain victims’ trust.
‘Don’t be naive,’ she cautions. ‘Do your research and don’t give out personal information unless you truly know who you’re dealing with.’
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A German court has ruled in favour of Meta, allowing the tech company to use data from Facebook and Instagram to train AI systems. A Cologne court ruled Meta had not breached the EU law and deemed its AI development a legitimate interest.
According to the court, Meta is permitted to process public user data without explicit consent. Judges argued that training AI systems could not be achieved by other equally effective and less intrusive methods.
They noted that Meta plans to use only publicly accessible data and had taken adequate steps to inform users via its mobile apps.
Despite the ruling, the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Advice Centre remains critical, raising concerns about legality and user privacy. Privacy group Noyb also challenged the decision, warning it could take further legal action, including a potential class-action lawsuit.
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Latin America is uniquely positioned to lead on AI governance by leveraging its social rights-focused policy tradition, emerging tech ecosystems, and absence of legacy systems.
According to a new commentary by Eduardo Levy Yeyati at the Brookings Institution, the region has the opportunity to craft smart AI regulation that is both inclusive and forward-looking, balancing innovation with rights protection.
Despite global momentum on AI rulemaking, Latin American regulatory efforts remain slow and fragmented, underlining the need for early action and regional cooperation.
The proposed framework recommends flexible, enforceable policies grounded in local realities, such as adapting credit algorithms for underbanked populations or embedding linguistic diversity in AI tools.
Governments are encouraged to create AI safety units, invest in public oversight, and support SMEs and open-source innovation to avoid monopolisation. Regulation should be iterative and participatory, using citizen consultations and advisory councils to ensure legitimacy and resilience through political shifts.
Regional harmonisation will be critical to avoid a patchwork of laws and promote Latin America’s role in global AI governance. Coordinated data standards, cross-border oversight, and shared technical protocols are essential for a robust, trustworthy ecosystem.
Rather than merely catching up, Latin America can become a global model for equitable and adaptive AI regulation tailored to the needs of developing economies.
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Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, threat actors have used generative AI to write malware, craft phishing emails, and execute realistic social engineering schemes.
One notable case from January 2024 involved a finance employee who was deceived into transferring $25 million during a video call with AI-generated deepfakes of company executives.
Criminals have also found ways to bypass safety features in AI models using techniques such as prompt chaining, injection, and jailbreaking to generate malicious outputs.
While generative AI has already lowered the barrier to entry for cybercrime, the report highlights that agentic AI—capable of autonomously executing complex tasks—poses a far greater risk by automating time-consuming attacks like ransomware at scale.
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Staying safe from cybercriminals can be surprisingly simple. While AI-powered scams grow more realistic, some signs are still painfully obvious.
If you spot the letters ‘.TOP’ in any message link, it’s best to stop reading and hit delete. That single clue is often enough to expose a scam in progress.
Most malicious texts pose as alerts about road tolls, deliveries or account issues, using trusted brand names to lure victims into clicking fake links.
These links often lead to freshly created domains designed to look convincing, yet they typically vanish within hours. Millions of such messages are sent monthly, and they’re powered by a constant churn of throwaway domains.
The worst of these is the ‘.TOP’ top-level domain (TLD), which has become infamous for its role in phishing and scam operations. Although launched in 2014 for premium business use, its low cost and lack of oversight quickly made it a favourite among cyber gangs, especially those based in China.
Today, nearly one-third of all .TOP domains are linked to cybercrime — far surpassing the criminal activity seen on mainstream domains like ‘.com’.
Despite repeated warnings and an unresolved compliance notice from internet regulator ICANN, abuse linked to .TOP has only worsened.
Experts warn that it is highly unlikely any legitimate Western organisation would ever use a .TOP domain. If one appears in your messages, the safest option is to delete it without clicking.
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As AI-generated images grow increasingly lifelike, a cyber security expert has warned that families should create secret passwords to guard against deepfake scams.
Cody Barrow, chief executive of EclecticIQ and a former US government adviser, says AI is making it far easier for criminals to impersonate others using fabricated videos or images.
Mr Barrow and his wife now use a private code to confirm each other’s identity if either receives a suspicious message or video.
He believes this precaution, simple enough for anyone regardless of age or digital skills, could soon become essential. ‘It may sound dramatic here in May 2025,’ he said, ‘but I’m quite confident that in a few years, if not months, people will say: I should have done that.’
The warning comes the same week Google launched Veo 3, its AI video generator capable of producing hyper-realistic footage and lifelike dialogue. Its public release has raised concerns about how easily deepfakes could be misused for scams or manipulation.
Meanwhile, President Trump signed the ‘Take It Down Act’ into law, making the creation of deepfake pornography a criminal offence. The bipartisan measure will see prison terms for anyone producing or uploading such content, with First Lady Melania Trump stating it will ‘prioritise people over politics’
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US President Donald Trump has agreed to delay a planned 50% tariff on European Union imports. The new deadline is now set for 9 July 2025, following a request from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The extension allows more time for what both sides hope will be serious trade negotiations.
The announcement came after a phone call between Trump and von der Leyen. Trump said the EU leader asked for more time to work out a deal, and he was happy to agree. He expressed optimism that talks would begin quickly and hopes to reach an agreement soon.
Earlier this year, Trump introduced tariffs on EU goods, starting at 20% and later reducing to 10%. However, tensions rose when Trump announced the 50% tariff would take effect from 1 June, citing stalled negotiations.
Von der Leyen responded by emphasising the EU’s commitment to a strong transatlantic trade relationship. She also highlighted the need for the extension to finalise a good deal.
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BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has become the second-largest holder of Bitcoin, surpassing major industry players including Binance and Strategy. Only the wallet attributed to Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, holds more of the asset.
IBIT currently manages 636,108 BTC, which accounts for more than 3% of Bitcoin’s total supply and nearly 57% of Nakamoto’s estimated holdings.
The fund’s growth since its launch in January 2024 has been remarkable. With over $66.9 billion in net assets, IBIT now leads all Bitcoin ETFs by value.
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas believes it could surpass Satoshi’s wallet by next summer—sooner if Bitcoin’s price reaches $150,000. Such a move would likely spark even stronger institutional interest.
Analysts say IBIT’s rise shows growing demand for regulated crypto access from advisers and retail investors. Bitcoin ETFs are outperforming gold funds, and BlackRock’s push highlights a major shift in global investment strategies.
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A ransomware gang has published what it claims is sensitive data from multiple French organisations on a dark web forum.
The Stormous cartel, active since 2022, posted the dataset as a ‘comprehensive leak’ allegedly involving high-profile French government bodies.
However, researchers from Cybernews examined the information and found the data’s quality questionable, with outdated MD5 password hashes indicating it could be from older breaches.
Despite its age, the dataset could still be dangerous if reused credentials are involved. Threat actors may exploit the leaked emails for phishing campaigns by impersonating government agencies to extract more sensitive details.
Cybernews noted that even weak password hashes can eventually be cracked, especially when stronger security measures weren’t in place at the time of collection.
Among the affected organisations are Agence Française de Développement, the Paris Region’s Regional Health Agency, and the Court of Audit.
The number of exposed email addresses varies, with some institutions having only a handful leaked while others face hundreds. The French cybersecurity agency ANSSI has yet to comment.
Last year, France faced another massive exposure incident affecting 95 million citizen records, adding to concerns about ongoing cyber vulnerabilities.
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