Economic Archives | Page 165 of 683 | Digital Watch Observatory

Major crypto fraud network dismantled across Europe

European authorities have dismantled one of the continent’s largest cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering schemes, arresting nine suspects across Cyprus, Spain, and Germany. The network allegedly defrauded hundreds of investors through fake crypto platforms, stealing over €600 million.

The scammers reportedly created websites that mimicked legitimate trading platforms, luring victims through social media, cold calls, and fabricated celebrity endorsements. Once deposits were made, the funds were laundered through blockchain technology, making recovery nearly impossible.

During the operation, investigators seized €800,000 in bank accounts, €415,000 in cryptocurrencies, €300,000 in cash, and luxury watches worth over €100,000. Authorities stated that several properties linked to the network remain under evaluation as investigations continue.

French prosecutors said the suspects face fraud and money laundering charges, carrying sentences of up to ten years. The case underscores the growing cross-border nature of crypto-related crime, with Eurojust’s coordination proving key to dismantling the network.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

AWS launches Fastnet, a subsea cable to strengthen transatlantic cloud and AI connectivity

Amazon Web Services has announced Fastnet, a high-capacity transatlantic subsea cable connecting Maryland and County Cork.

Set to be operational in 2028, Fastnet will expand AWS’s network resilience and deliver faster, more reliable cloud and AI services between the US and Europe.

The cable’s unique route provides critical redundancy, ensuring service continuity even when other cables face disruptions. Capable of transmitting over 320 terabits per second, Fastnet supports large-scale cloud computing and AI workloads while integrating directly into AWS’s global infrastructure.

The system’s design enables real-time data redirection and long-term scalability to meet the increasing demands of AI and edge computing.

Beyond connectivity, AWS is investing in community benefit funds for Maryland and County Cork, supporting local sustainability, education, and workforce development.

A project that reflects AWS’s wider strategy to reinforce critical digital infrastructure and strengthen global innovation in the cloud economy.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

OpenAI introduces IndQA to test AI on Indian languages and culture

The US R&D company, OpenAI, has introduced IndQA, a new benchmark designed to test how well AI systems understand and reason across Indian languages and cultural contexts. The benchmark covers 2,278 questions in 12 languages and 10 cultural domains, from literature and food to law and spirituality.

Developed with input from 261 Indian experts, IndQA evaluates AI models through rubric-based grading that assesses accuracy, cultural understanding, and reasoning depth. Questions were created to challenge leading OpenAI models, including GPT-4o and GPT-5, ensuring space for future improvement.

India was chosen as the first region for the initiative, reflecting its linguistic diversity and its position as ChatGPT’s second-largest market.

OpenAI aims to expand the approach globally, using IndQA as a model for building culturally aware benchmarks that help measure real progress in multilingual AI performance.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Google enhances Chrome autofill while privacy experts urge caution

Google has introduced an update to Chrome’s enhanced autofill, allowing users to automatically complete forms with passport numbers, driving licence details and vehicle information. The feature builds on existing options such as addresses, passwords and payment details.

The new capability is available globally on desktop in all supported languages. Google said it plans to expand the types of data Chrome can recognise and fill in over the coming months, improving accuracy across complex and varied online forms.

The company stated that all personal information saved in Chrome is encrypted and stored only with the user’s consent. Before any form is completed automatically, Chrome prompts users for confirmation to ensure they remain in control of their data.

Privacy experts have raised concerns about storing such sensitive information within browsers, noting potential risks if devices are compromised. They advise users to enable two-factor authentication and regularly review their saved data to maintain security.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Microsoft partners with Lambda in multibillion AI infrastructure deal

Lambda has announced a multibillion-euro agreement with Microsoft to expand AI infrastructure powered by tens of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs, marking one of the largest private cloud computing collaborations to date.

The multi-year deal aims to accelerate the deployment of AI supercomputers at scale, enhancing the capacity for enterprise and research applications across industries.

Under the partnership, Lambda will provide mission-critical cloud compute infrastructure using NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 systems.

A collaboration that builds on an eight-year relationship between the two companies and reflects growing global demand for high-performance computing driven by the rise of AI assistants and enterprise AI solutions.

Stephen Balaban, CEO of Lambda, said the project represents a major step in developing gigawatt-scale AI factories capable of serving billions of users. The company positions itself as a trusted large-scale partner for organisations building advanced AI models and systems.

Founded in 2012, Lambda designs supercomputing infrastructure for AI training and inference, aiming to make computing power as accessible as electricity and to advance what it calls the era of ‘superintelligence’.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Cloudflare chief warns AI is redefining the internet’s business model

AI is inserting itself between companies and customers, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince warned in Toronto. More people ask chatbots before visiting sites, dulling brands’ impact. Even research teams lose revenue as investors lean on AI summaries.

Frontier models devour data, pushing firms to chase exclusive sources. Cloudflare lets publishers block unpaid crawlers to reclaim control and compensation. The bigger question, said Prince, is which business model will rule an AI-mediated internet.

Policy scrutiny focuses on platforms that blend search with AI collection. Prince urged governments to separate Google’s search access from AI crawling to level the field. Countries that enforce a split could attract publishers and researchers seeking predictable rules and payment.

Licensing deals with news outlets, Reddit, and others coexist with scraping disputes and copyright suits. Google says it follows robots.txt, yet testimony indicated AI Overviews can use content blocked by robots.txt for training. Vague norms risk eroding incentives to create high-quality online content.

A practical near-term playbook combines technical and regulatory steps. Publishers should meter or block AI crawlers that do not pay. Policymakers should require transparency, consent, and compensation for high-value datasets, guiding the shift to an AI-mediated web that still rewards creators.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Qwen3-Max-Thinking hits perfect scores as Alibaba raises the bar on AI reasoning

Alibaba unveiled Qwen3-Max-Thinking, which scored 100 percent on AIME 2025 and HMMT, matching OpenAI’s top model on reasoning tests. It targets high-precision problem-solving across algebra, number theory, and probability. Researchers regard elite maths contests as strong proxies for reasoning.

Built on Qwen3-Max, a trillion-parameter flagship, the thinking variant emphasises step-by-step solutions. Alibaba says it matches or beats Claude Opus 4, DeepSeek V3.1, Grok 4, and GPT-5 Pro. Positioning stresses accuracy, traceability, and controllable latency.

Signal from a live trading trial added momentum. In a two-week crypto experiment, Qwen3-Max returned 22.3 percent on 10,000 US dollars. Competing systems underperformed, with DeepSeek at 4.9 percent and several US models booking losses.

Access is available via the Qwen web chatbot and Alibaba Cloud APIs. Early adopters can test tool use and stepwise reasoning on technical tasks. Enterprises are exploring finance, research, and operations cases requiring reliability and auditability.

Alibaba researchers say further tuning will broaden task coverage without diluting peak maths performance. Plans include multilingual reasoning, safety alignment, and robustness under distribution shift. Community benchmarks and contests will track progress.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Microsoft deal signals pay-per-use path for AI access to People Inc. content

People Inc. has joined Microsoft’s publisher content marketplace in a pay-per-use deal that compensates media for AI access. Copilot will be the first buyer, while People Inc. continues to block most AI crawlers via Cloudflare to force paid licensing.

People Inc., formerly Dotdash Meredith, said Microsoft’s marketplace lets AI firms pay ‘à la carte’ for specific content. The agreement differs from its earlier OpenAI pact, which the company described as more ‘all-you-can-eat’, but the priority remains ‘respected and paid for’ use.

Executives disclosed a sharp fall in Google search referrals: from 54% of traffic two years ago to 24% last quarter, citing AI Overviews. Leadership argues that crawler identification and paid access should become the norm as AI sits between publishers and audiences.

Blocking non-paying bots has ‘brought almost everyone to the table’, People Inc. said, signalling more licences to come. Such an approach by Microsoft is framed as a model for compensating rights-holders while enabling AI tools to use high-quality, authorised material.

IAC reported People Inc. digital revenue up 9% to $269m, with performance marketing and licensing up 38% and 24% respectively. The publisher also acquired Feedfeed, expanding its food vertical reach while pursuing additional AI content partnerships.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Streaming giants face new Australian content rules

Australia is moving to ensure that global streaming giants contribute to its creative industry by introducing a law that will require them to invest in local productions. Under the new rules, platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime, which have more than one million Australian subscribers, must allocate at least 10% of their local spending, or 7.5% of their revenue, to Australian-made content.

The legislation, to be introduced in Parliament this week, will apply to drama, documentaries, arts, and educational programming.

Arts Minister Tony Burke said the move would guarantee that Australian stories continue to be told in the age of streaming. While traditional broadcasters already face content quotas, no such rules previously applied to streaming platforms.

‘This obligation will ensure that those stories, our stories, continue to be made,’ Burke said, adding that the policy also aims to safeguard local acting and production jobs.

The plan, delayed initially due to trade concerns with the United States, is now back on track, thanks to improved diplomatic relations. Industry bodies such as the Australian Writers Guild and Screen Producers Australia have welcomed the move, describing it as vital for sustaining the country’s cultural identity and creative workforce.

The reform comes at a challenging time for the sector, as investment in locally made films and television dramas dropped by nearly 30% in the 2023–24 financial year, according to Screen Australia. By encouraging streamers to invest in Australian storytelling, the government aims to reverse this decline and strengthen the nation’s screen industry for the future.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

EU invests €2.9 billion to drive net-zero industrial transformation

The European Commission has approved €2.9 billion in funding for 61 large-scale net-zero technology projects, marking one of the EU’s most significant investments in clean innovation to date.

Financed through revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System, the initiative aims to accelerate Europe’s path towards climate neutrality by 2050.

The selected projects cover 19 industrial sectors across 18 Member States and target areas such as renewable energy, energy storage, zero-emission mobility, and industrial carbon management.

Collectively, they are expected to cut more than 220 million tonnes of CO₂ over the next decade, reinforcing Europe’s global leadership in sustainable technologies instead of relying on imports.

Funded under the Innovation Fund, which draws on an estimated €40 billion in ETS revenues, the initiative highlights the EU’s industrial readiness for decarbonisation. The latest call attracted 359 applications requesting €21.7 billion in support, underscoring the rapid growth of the continent’s cleantech sector.

Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra described the announcement as proof that the EU is turning its climate ambitions into industrial reality, creating green jobs and strengthening economic resilience. The next round of Innovation Fund calls will open in December 2025.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!