The Dutch government has pledged €70 million to build a new AI facility in Groningen to establish a European hub for AI research and development.
A consortium of Dutch organisations will manage the plant and focus on healthcare, agriculture, defence and energy applications.
The government is also seeking an additional €70 million in EU co-financing and has welcomed a separate €60 million contribution from the Groningen regional administration.
The plant is expected to be commissioned in 2026 and reach operation by early 2027 if funding is secured.
Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans emphasised the need to develop domestic AI capacity, warning that dependence on foreign technologies could threaten national competitiveness and digital independence.
‘Those who do not develop the technology themselves depend on others, ’ Karremans said on the government’s website.
European countries have grown increasingly concerned over their reliance on AI technologies developed by US companies.
The Groningen initiative marks a broader effort by the EU to build its own AI infrastructure instead of leaving strategic control in foreign hands.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
More than 40% of agentic AI projects will likely be cancelled by the end of 2027 due to rising costs, limited business value, and poor risk control, according to research firm Gartner.
These cancellations are expected as many early-stage initiatives remain trapped in hype, often misapplied and far from ready for real-world deployment.
Gartner analyst Anushree Verma warned that most agentic AI efforts are still at the proof-of-concept stage. Instead of focusing on scalable production, many companies have been distracted by experimental use cases, underestimating the cost and complexity of full-scale implementation.
A recent poll by Gartner found that only 19% of organisations had made significant investments in agentic AI, while 31% were undecided or waiting.
Much of the current hype is fuelled by vendors engaging in ‘agent washing’ — marketing existing tools like chatbots or RPA under a new agentic label without offering true agentic capabilities.
Out of thousands of vendors, Gartner believes only around 130 offer legitimate agentic solutions. Verma noted that most agentic models today lack the intelligence to deliver strong returns or follow complex instructions independently.
Still, agentic AI holds long-term promise. Gartner expects 15% of daily workplace decisions to be handled autonomously by 2028, up from zero in 2024. Moreover, one-third of enterprise applications will include agentic capabilities by then.
However, to succeed, organisations must reimagine workflows from the ground up, focusing on enterprise-wide productivity instead of isolated task automation.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
On the final day of the Internet Governance Forum 2025 in Lillestrøm, Norway, stakeholders from governments, civil society, technical communities, and the private sector gathered to launch the new work cycle of the Policy Network on Internet Fragmentation (PNIF). Now entering its third year, the PNIF unveiled a structured framework to analyse internet fragmentation across three dimensions: user experience, internet governance coordination, and the technical infrastructure layer.
The session emphasised the urgent need for international cooperation to counter growing fragmentation threats, as enshrined in paragraph 29C of the Global Digital Compact. Speakers raised alarm over how political and economic forces are re-shaping the global internet.
With internet shutdowns and digital censorship increasingly normalised as tools of state control—highlighted by Iran’s recent 90-million-person shutdown—concerns about sovereignty overriding openness were prominent. Michel Lambert described this shift as a ‘political normalisation of network control.’
Marilia Maciel, Director of Digital Trade and Economic Security at Diplo, emphasised how trade and investment policies fuel economic fragmentation. Cuts to internet freedom funding were highlighted by both Lambert and Joyce Chen, who noted severe consequences for underserved regions like the Pacific.
Marilia Maciel, Director of Digital Trade and Economic Security at Diplo
From the technical community, Dhruv, representing the Internet Architecture Board, stressed the importance of safeguarding the internet’s interoperability by including technical experts in regulatory processes. Joyce Chen also pointed to successful coordination initiatives such as the Technical Community Coalition on Multi-Stakeholderism (TCCM).
Naim Gjokaj, State Secretary in Montenegro, offered a government perspective, advocating for stronger legal frameworks and regional coordination to avoid inadvertent fragmentation while supporting connectivity in rural areas.
The session concluded with a call to action: PNIF will focus its upcoming work on developing concrete, risk-based recommendations to implement the Global Digital Compact. Co-facilitators Sheetal Kumar and Bruna Santos encouraged broad community participation, aiming to deliver a final report by 1 November.
Despite the challenges, the atmosphere remained collaborative and forward-looking, reinforcing the importance of inclusive dialogue to ensure the internet remains a unified, accessible, and resilient resource for all.
Track all key moments from the Internet Governance Forum 2025 on our dedicated IGF page.
YouTube is launching a new AI-powered search feature that mirrors Google’s AI Overviews, aiming to improve how users discover content on the platform.
The update introduces an ‘AI-powered search results carousel’ when YouTube users search for shopping, travel, or local activities.
The carousel offers a collection of video thumbnails and an AI-generated summary highlighting the key topics related to the search. For example, someone searching for ‘best beaches in Hawaii’ might see curated clips of snorkelling locations, volcanic coastlines, and planning tips — all surfaced by the AI.
Currently, the feature is available only to YouTube Premium users in the US. However, the platform plans to expand its conversational AI tool — which provides deeper insights, suggestions, and video summaries — to non-Premium users in the US soon.
That tool was first launched in 2023 to help users better understand content while watching.
YouTube is doubling down on AI features to keep users engaged and make content discovery more intuitive, especially in categories involving planning and decision-making.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
The launch of DeepSeek’s next-generation AI model, R2, is expected to face delays due to a shortage of NVIDIA H20 chips in China.
These chips, designed specifically for the Chinese market following US export restrictions, are essential for running DeepSeek’s highly optimised models.
The ban on H20 shipments in April has triggered widespread concern among cloud providers about the scalability of R2, especially if it outperforms existing open-source models.
CEO Liang Wenfeng has reportedly held back the model’s release, expressing dissatisfaction with its current performance.
Engineers continue refining R2, but the lack of compatible hardware poses a deeper challenge. DeepSeek’s reliance on NVIDIA architecture makes switching to Chinese chips inefficient, as the models are tightly built for NVIDIA’s software and hardware ecosystem.
Some Chinese firms have begun using workarounds by flying engineers to Malaysia, where NVIDIA chips are still available in local data centres.
After training their models abroad, teams return to China with trained systems. Others rely on gaming GPUs like the RTX 5090, which are easier to access via grey markets despite restrictions.
While Chinese tech giants ordered 1.2 million H20 chips earlier in 2025 to meet demand sparked by R1’s success, inventory is still unlikely to support a full R2 rollout.
Companies outside China may launch R2 more easily without facing the same export hurdles.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Meta has reportedly hired AI researcher Trapit Bansal, who previously worked closely with OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever on reinforcement learning and co-created the o1 reasoning model.
Bansal joins Meta’s ambitious superintelligence team, which is focused on further pushing AI reasoning capabilities.
Former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang leads the new team, brought in after Meta invested $14.3 billion in the AI data labelling company.
Alongside Bansal, several other notable figures have recently joined, including three OpenAI researchers from Zurich, a former Google DeepMind expert, Jack Rae, and a senior machine learning lead from Sesame AI.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is accelerating AI recruitment by negotiating with prominent names like former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Safe Superintelligence co-founder Daniel Gross.
Despite these aggressive efforts, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that even $100 million joining bonuses have failed to lure key staff away from his firm.
Zuckerberg has also explored acquiring startups such as Sutskever’s Safe SuperIntelligence and Perplexity AI, further highlighting Meta’s urgency in catching up in the generative AI race.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Hawaiian Airlines has reported a cyberattack that affected parts of its IT infrastructure, though the carrier confirmed all flights remain unaffected and are operating as scheduled.
Now part of the Alaska Air Group, the airline stated it is actively working with authorities and cybersecurity experts to investigate and resolve the incident.
In a statement, the airline stressed that the safety and security of passengers and staff remain its highest priority. It has taken steps to protect its systems, restoring affected services while continuing full operations. No disruption to passenger travel has been reported.
The exact nature of the attack has not been disclosed, and no group has claimed responsibility so far. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed it monitors the situation closely and remains in contact with the airline. It added that there has been no impact on flight safety.
Cyberattacks in aviation are becoming increasingly common due to the sector’s heavy reliance on complex digital systems. Earlier incidents this year included cyberattacks on WestJet and Japan Airlines, which caused operational disruptions but did not compromise passenger data.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
A UAE crypto fund has invested $100 million into World Liberty Financial, a blockchain project supported by President Donald Trump. Aqua 1 Foundation said the investment supports a blockchain ecosystem linking traditional and decentralised finance.
The platform’s native token, WLFI, is only available to accredited investors. According to the project’s team, WLFI enables token holders to vote on decisions within the system.
Meanwhile, its stablecoin, USD1, is already trading on major crypto exchanges and was used in a controversial $2 billion settlement involving Binance and an Abu Dhabi-based wealth fund.
Although details on the World Liberty platform remain limited, developers claim it will function as a decentralised borrowing and lending hub. Chase Herro, Zak Folkman, Eric Trump, and the Witkoff family—long-time Trump allies—lead the project.
Ethical concerns are mounting, particularly among Democratic lawmakers, as the Trump family has reportedly earned tens of millions from token sales.
President Trump disclosed a personal gain of over $57 million from the project, prompting Senator Richard Blumenthal to investigate its operations. The Trump-linked DT Marks DEFI LLC recently reduced its stake in the project from 60% to 40%.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
A new report has revealed that Le Chat from Mistral AI is the most privacy-respecting generative AI, with ChatGPT and Grok close behind. The study by Incogni assessed nine popular services against 11 criteria covering data use, sharing and transparency.
Meta AI came last, flagged for poor privacy practices and extensive data sharing. According to the findings, Gemini and Copilot also performed poorly in protecting user privacy.
Incogni highlighted that several services, including ChatGPT and Grok, allow users to stop their data from being used for training. However, other providers like Meta AI, Pi AI and Gemini offered no clear way to opt-out.
The report warned that AI firms often share data with service providers, affiliates, researchers and law enforcement. Clear, readable privacy policies and opt-out tools were key for building trust.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
A BT report has found that 42% of small businesses in the UK suffered a cyberattack in the past year. The study also revealed that 67% of medium-sized firms were targeted, while many lacked basic security measures or staff training.
Phishing was named the most common threat, hitting 85% of businesses in the UK, and ransomware incidents have more than doubled. BT’s new training programme aims to help SMEs take practical steps to reduce risks, covering topics like AI threats, account takeovers and QR code scams.
Tris Morgan from BT highlighted that SMEs face serious risks from cyber attacks, which could threaten their survival. He stressed that security is a necessary foundation and can be achieved without vast resources.
The report follows wider warnings on AI-enabled cyber threats, with other studies showing that few firms feel prepared for these risks. BT’s training is part of its mission to help businesses grow confidently despite digital dangers.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
