Economic

OpenInfra Summit Europe brings focus on AI and VMware alternatives

The OpenInfra Foundation and its global community will gather at the OpenInfra Summit Europe from 17 to 19 October in Paris-Saclay to explore how open source is reshaping digital infrastructure.

It will be the first summit since the Foundation joined the Linux Foundation, uniting major projects such as Linux, Kubernetes and OpenStack under the OpenInfra Blueprint. The agenda includes a strong focus on digital sovereignty, VMware migration strategies and infrastructure support for AI workloads.

Taking place at École Polytechnique in Palaiseau, the summit arrives at a time when open source software is powering nearly $9 trillion of economic activity.

With over 38% of the global OpenInfra community based in Europe, the event will focus on regional priorities like data control, security, and compliance with new EU regulations such as the Cyber Resilience Act.

Developers, IT leaders and business strategists will explore how projects like Kata Containers, Ceph and RISC-V integrate to support cost-effective, scalable infrastructure.

The summit will also mark OpenStack’s 15th anniversary, with use cases shared by the UN, BMW and nonprofit Restos du Coeur.

Attendees will witness a live VMware migration demo featuring companies like Canonical and Rackspace, highlighting real-world approaches to transitioning away from proprietary platforms. Sessions will dive into topics like CI pipelines, AI-powered infrastructure, and cloud-native operations.

As a community-led event, OpenInfra Summit Europe remains focused on collaboration.

With sponsors including Canonical, Mirantis, Red Hat and others, the gathering offers developers and organisations an opportunity to share best practices, shape open source development, and strengthen the global infrastructure ecosystem.

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Lung cancer caught early thanks to AI

A 69-year-old woman from Surrey has credited AI with saving her life after it detected lung cancer that human radiologists initially missed.

The software flagged a concerning anomaly in a chest X-ray that had been given the all-clear, prompting urgent follow-up and surgery.

NHS hospitals increasingly use AI tools like Annalise.ai, which analyses scans and prioritises urgent cases for radiologists.

Dianne Covey, whose tumour was caught at stage one, avoided chemotherapy or radiotherapy and has since made a full recovery.

With investments exceeding £36 million, the UK government and NHS are rapidly deploying AI to improve cancer diagnosis rates and reduce waiting times. AI has now been trialled or implemented across more than 45 NHS trusts and is also used for skin and prostate cancer detection.

Doctors and technologists say AI is not replacing medical professionals but enhancing their capabilities by highlighting critical cases and improving speed.

Experts warn that outdated machines, biassed training data and over-reliance on consumer AI tools remain risks to patient outcomes.

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South Korea pauses central bank digital currency project

South Korea’s central bank has paused its second testing phase for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), initially scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025. Banks in the pilot were told of the temporary halt due to high costs and a lack of a clear commercial plan.

Attention is now shifting towards the regulation and promotion of won-backed stablecoins. The government is fast-tracking legislation under the Digital Asset Basic Act, which would establish licensing, reserve management, and user protection standards for stablecoin issuers.

President Lee Jae-Myung has prioritised developing these digital tokens, aiming to bolster South Korea’s monetary sovereignty.

Domestic lawmakers argue that Korean crypto markets are overly dependent on US dollar-pegged stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, which could undermine local financial policy.

Eight central Korean banks, including KB Kookmin, Shinhan, and Woori, have launched a joint effort to issue a won-pegged stablecoin, showing strong commercial interest.

Officials caution that South Korea risks falling behind global competitors in stablecoin innovation without swift regulatory action. The market’s potential is seen as vast, possibly surpassing important sectors like AI and semiconductors.

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Balancing security and usability in digital authentication

A report by the FIDO Alliance revealed that 53% of consumers observed an increase in suspicious messages in 2024, with SMS, emails, and phone calls being the primary vectors.

As digital scams and AI-driven fraud rise, businesses face growing pressure to strengthen authentication methods without compromising user experience.

No clear standard has emerged despite the range of available authentication options—including passkeys, one-time passwords (OTP), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and biometric systems.

Industry experts warn that focusing solely on advanced tools can lead to overlooking basic user needs. Minor authentication hurdles such as CAPTCHA errors have led to customer drop-offs and failed transactions.

Organisations are exploring risk-based, adaptive authentication models that adjust security levels based on user behaviour and context. The systems could eventually replace static logins with continuous, behind-the-scenes verification.

AI complicates the landscape further. As autonomous assistants handle tasks like booking tickets or making purchases, distinguishing legitimate user activity from malicious bots becomes increasingly tricky.

With no universal solution, experts say businesses must offer a flexible range of secure options tailored to user preferences. The challenge remains to find the right balance between security and usability in an evolving threat environment.

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Meta expands AI ambitions with more OpenAI hires

According to a report published by The Information on Sunday, Meta Platforms has hired four additional researchers from OpenAI.

The researchers—Shengjia Zhao, Jiahui Yu, Shuchao Bi, and Hongyu Ren—are set to join Meta’s AI team as part of a broader recruitment drive. All four were previously involved in AI development at OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed company behind ChatGPT and other generative models.

Earlier in the week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta had hired three more OpenAI researchers—Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov and Xiaohua Zhai—based in the firm’s Zurich office.

The hires reflect Meta’s increased investment in advanced AI research, particularly in ‘superintelligence’, a term CEO Mark Zuckerberg has used to describe future AI capabilities.

Meta and OpenAI have not yet responded to requests for comment. Reuters noted that it could not independently verify the hiring details at the time of reporting.

With growing competition among tech giants in AI innovation, Meta’s continued talent acquisition suggests a clear intention to strengthen its internal capabilities through strategic hiring.

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ChatGPT emerges as a search alternative, but Google holds ground

ChatGPT is now used by over 400 million people weekly and ranks the eighth most visited website globally. While many users rely on it for tasks like writing, productivity, and planning, a growing number are also turning to it for search — a space long dominated by Google.

Despite its popularity, experts say ChatGPT won’t fully replace Google. Rohan Sarin, a former product lead at Google and Microsoft, argues that the two serve different purposes. Google excels at direct, fact-based queries, while ChatGPT is better suited for exploration and synthesis.

‘Google connects users to the raw internet,’ Sarin notes, ‘whereas ChatGPT acts as an interpreter, helping users frame ideas and questions.’

The comparison also highlights user behaviour. While Google remains the tool of choice for verifying information, Sarin points out that many users want ‘something that works’, not necessarily precision — a strength of ChatGPT’s fast, ad-free responses.

However, industry experts don’t expect Google’s dominance to end soon. Eric M. Hoover, SEO director at Jellyfish, says Google’s integration of AI tools like Gemini and AI Overviews will help it stay competitive. ‘Search is still built into browsers, apps, and digital ecosystems,’ he adds.

Rather than one replacing the other, experts believe both platforms will coexist. ChatGPT is changing how we explore information, but Google’s role in search remains vital — especially for accuracy and source verification. For now, the best approach may not be choosing one tool over the other but knowing when to use each.

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Ransomware victims still paying, Sophos finds

Nearly half of ransomware victims paid the attackers last year, according to Sophos. In its 2025 survey of 3,400 IT pros, 49% admitted to making payments—just below last year’s record.

Ransom amounts dropped significantly, with median payments falling 50% and demand amounts down a third. Yet backup usage also hit a six-year low, used by just 54% of firms for recovery.

Attackers often exploited known vulnerabilities (32%) or unknown security gaps (40%), highlighting persistent weaknesses. Sophos noted many companies now accept ransomware as a business risk.

CISA warned that CVE-2024-54085 in AMI MegaRAC firmware is under active exploitation elsewhere. The bug allows attackers to bypass authenticating remotely.

Varonis flagged abuse of Microsoft’s Direct Send email feature in a phishing campaign affecting over 70 organisations. Disabling it is advised if not essential.

Rapid7 also found critical vulnerabilities in Brother printers. One flaw rated CVSS 9.8, allows password theft and cannot be patched—users must change defaults.

Finally, Google will roll out new Gemini AI features to Android users starting on July 7, even for those with app activity disabled.

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AI training with pirated books triggers massive legal risk

A US court has ruled that AI company Anthropic engaged in copyright infringement by downloading millions of pirated books to train its language model, Claude.

Although the court found that using copyrighted material for AI training could qualify as ‘fair use’ under US law when the content is transformed, it also held that acquiring the content illegally instead of licensing it lawfully constituted theft.

Judge William Alsup described AI as one of the most transformative technologies of our time. Still, he stated that Anthropic obtained millions of digital books from pirate sites such as LibGen and Pirate Library Mirror.

He noted that buying the same books later in print form does not erase the initial violation, though it may reduce potential damages.

The penalties for wilful copyright infringement in the US could reach up to $150,000 per work, meaning total compensation might run into the billions.

The case highlights the fine line between transformation and theft and signals growing legal pressure on AI firms to respect intellectual property instead of bypassing established licensing frameworks.

Australia, which uses a ‘fair dealing’ system rather than ‘fair use’, already offers flexible licensing schemes through organisations like the Copyright Agency.

CEO Josephine Johnston urged policymakers not to weaken Australia’s legal framework in favour of global tech companies, arguing that licensing provides certainty for developers and fair payment to content creators.

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Nvidia insiders sell over $1bn in shares amid AI market boom

Senior Nvidia executives have sold more than $1bn worth of shares over the past year, with over half of those sales taking place in June.

The move comes as Nvidia’s stock soared to record highs, driven by renewed investor enthusiasm for AI. According to the Financial Times, insiders took advantage of the AI-driven rally instead of waiting for further market shifts.

Among those selling shares was Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who offloaded stock for the first time since September, as revealed in recent regulatory filings.

The surge in share price helped the company briefly reclaim its title as the world’s most valuable firm, following upbeat forecasts from analysts predicting Nvidia will ride a ‘Golden Wave’ of AI growth.

Nvidia’s stock has recovered more than 60% since early April, when markets were rattled by President Donald Trump’s global tariff plans.

The rebound reflects optimism that upcoming trade negotiations may soften the economic blow and keep momentum behind tech and AI-focused firms.

Nvidia declined to comment on the report.

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Sam Altman reverses his stance on AI hardware as current computers can’t meet the demands

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has returned from his earlier position, saying that AGI would not need new hardware.

Speaking on a podcast with his brother, Altman said current computers are no longer suited for the fast-evolving demands of AI. Instead of relying on standard hardware, he now believes new solutions are necessary.

OpenAI has already started developing dedicated AI hardware, including potential custom chips, marking a shift from using general-purpose GPUs and servers.

Altman also hinted at a new device — not a wearable, nor a phone — that could serve as an AI companion. Designed to be screen-free and aware of its surroundings, the product is being co-developed with former Apple design chief Jony Ive.

The collaboration, however, has run into legal trouble. A federal judge recently ordered OpenAI and Ive to pause the promotion of the new venture after a trademark dispute with a startup named IYO, which had previously pitched similar ideas to Altman’s investment firm.

OpenAI’s recent $6.5 billion acquisition of io Products, co-founded by Ive, reflects the company’s more profound commitment to reshaping how people interact with AI.

Altman’s revised stance on hardware suggests the era of purpose-built AI devices is no longer a vision but a necessary reality.

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