Economic Archives | Page 77 of 679 | Digital Watch Observatory

Australia’s green energy under pressure

The renewable energy sector in Australia encounters new challenges as major tech companies establish AI data centres across the country. Projects once planned to export solar power internationally are now influenced by domestic energy demands.

Sun Cable, supported by billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest, aimed to deliver Australian solar energy to Singapore via a 4,300-kilometre sea cable. The project symbolised a vision for Australia to become a leading exporter of renewable electricity.

The rapid expansion of AI facilities is shifting energy priorities towards domestic infrastructure. Tech companies’ demand for electricity is creating new competition with planned renewable export projects.

Energy policy decisions now carry broader implications for emissions, the national grid, and Australia’s role in the global clean energy market. Careful planning will be essential to balance domestic growth with long-term renewable ambitions.

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Audi dramatically transforms AI-driven smart factories

Audi is expanding the use of AI in production and logistics by replacing local factory computers with a central cloud platform. The Edge Cloud 4 Production enables flexible, networked automation while reducing hardware needs, maintenance costs, and improving IT security.

AI applications are being deployed to improve efficiency, quality, and employee support. AI-controlled robots are taking over physically demanding tasks, cloud-based systems provide real-time worker guidance, and vision-based solutions detect defects and anomalies early in the production process.

Data-driven platforms such as the P-Data Engine and ProcessGuardAIn allow Audi to monitor manufacturing processes in real time using machine and sensor data. These tools support early fault detection, reduce follow-up costs, and form the basis for predictive maintenance and scalable quality assurance across plants.

Audi is also extending automation to complex production areas that have traditionally relied on manual work, including wiring loom manufacturing and installation. In parallel, the company is working with technology firms and research institutions such as IPAI Heilbronn to accelerate innovation, scale AI solutions, and ensure the responsible use of AI across its global production network.

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Data privacy shifts from breaches to authorised surveillance

Data Privacy Week has returned at a time when personal information is increasingly collected by default rather than through breaches. Campaigns urge awareness, yet privacy is being reshaped by lawful, large-scale data gathering driven by corporate and government systems.

In the US, companies now collect, retain and combine data with AI tools under legal authority, often without meaningful consent. Platforms such as TikTok illustrate how vast datasets are harvested regardless of ownership, shifting debates towards who controls data rather than how much is taken.

US policy responses have focused on national security rather than limiting surveillance itself. Pressure on TikTok to separate from Chinese ownership left data collection intact, while border authorities in the US are seeking broader access to travellers’ digital and biometric information.

Across the US technology sector, privacy increasingly centres on agency rather than secrecy. Data Privacy Week highlights growing concern that once information is gathered, control is lost, leaving accountability lagging behind capability.

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AfricAI positions Africa for large-scale adoption of intelligent machines

Through exclusive rights to Micropolis Robotics, AfricAI is the gateway to autonomous systems in Africa. This partnership deploys advanced robotics into industry, security, logistics, and regional infrastructure. The collaboration establishes a single entry point for high-tech automation and sustainable growth.

Micropolis will not pursue direct sales or other distributors in Africa, leaving the pan-African AI and tech platform responsible for localisation, regulation, and market rollout across the continent.

Company leaders described the partnership as a shift from software-focused AI to intelligent machines in real-world environments. According to Micropolis CEO Fareed Aljawhari, Africa is becoming the exclusive route for robotics expansion across the continent.

The agreement allows AfricAI to integrate autonomous robotics with its broader AI infrastructure stack, supporting security systems, smart cities, automated logistics, and industrial operations adapted to local conditions. Initial deployments will begin in security and infrastructure.

Analysts say the deal positions as one of Africa’s first large-scale robotics gatekeepers, potentially accelerating industrial transformation through autonomous technologies. Both firms highlighted commitments to responsible innovation and sustainable technology ecosystems.

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Facial recognition expansion anchors UK policing reforms driven by AI

UK authorities have unveiled a major policing reform programme that places AI and facial recognition at the centre of future law enforcement strategy. The plans include expanding the use of Live Facial Recognition and creating a national hub to scale AI tools across police forces.

The Home Office will fund 40 new facial recognition vans for town centres across England and Wales, significantly increasing real-time biometric surveillance capacity. Officials say the rollout responds to crime that increasingly involves digital activity.

The UK government will also invest £115 million over three years into a National Centre for AI in Policing, known as Police.AI. The centre will focus on speeding investigations, reducing paperwork and improving crime detection.

New governance measures will regulate police use of facial recognition and introduce a public register of deployed AI systems. National data standards aim to strengthen accountability and coordination across forces.

Structural reforms include creating a National Police Service to tackle serious crime and terrorism. Predictive analytics, deepfake detection and digital forensics will play a larger operational role.

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NVIDIA invests $2 billion as CoreWeave expands AI factory network

CoreWeave’s long-running partnership has deepened with NVIDIA to accelerate AI infrastructure deployment, including ambitious plans for multi-gigawatt AI factory capacity by 2030.

As part of the agreement, the US company is investing $2 billion in CoreWeave through the purchase of Class A common stock, signalling strong confidence in the company’s growth strategy and AI-focused cloud platform.

Both companies aim to deepen alignment across infrastructure, software and platform development, with CoreWeave building and operating AI factories using NVIDIA’s accelerated computing technologies and early access to upcoming architectures such as Rubin, Vera CPUs and BlueField systems.

The collaboration will also test and integrate CoreWeave’s AI-native software and reference designs into NVIDIA’s broader cloud and enterprise ecosystem, while NVIDIA supports faster site development through financial backing for land and power procurement.

Executives from both firms described the expansion as a response to surging global demand for AI computing, positioning large-scale AI factories as the backbone of future industrial AI deployment.

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The EU Commission opens DMA proceedings on Google interoperability and search data

The European Commission has opened two specification proceedings to spell out how Google should meet key obligations under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), focusing on Android’s AI-related features and access to Google Search data for competitors.

The first proceeding targets the DMA’s interoperability requirement for Android. In practical terms, Brussels wants to clarify how third-party AI services can get access, free and effectively, to the same Android hardware/software functionalities that power Google’s own AI offerings, including Gemini, so that rivals can compete on a more equal footing on mobile devices.

The second proceeding addresses Google’s obligation to provide rival search engines access to anonymised search data (such as ranking, query, click, and view data) on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms. The Commission is also considering whether AI chatbot providers should qualify for that access, an essential question as ‘search’ increasingly blurs with conversational AI.

These proceedings are designed to define how compliance should work rather than immediately sanction Google. The Commission is expected to wrap them up within six months, with draft measures and preliminary findings shared earlier in the process, and with scope for third-party feedback. A separate non-compliance track could still follow later, and DMA penalties for breaches can reach up to 10% of global turnover.

Google, for its part, says Android is ‘open by design’ and argues it is already licensing Search data, while warning that additional requirements, especially those it views as competitor-driven, could undermine user privacy, security, and innovation.

Why does it matter?

The EU is trying to prevent dominant platforms from turning control over operating systems and data into an ‘unfair advantage’ in the next wave of consumer tech, particularly as AI assistants become built into phones and as search data becomes fuel for competing discovery tools. The move also sits within a broader DMA enforcement push: the Commission has already opened DMA-related proceedings into Alphabet in other areas, signalling that Brussels sees gatekeeper compliance as an ongoing, hands-on exercise rather than a one-off checkbox.

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Survey finds Gen Z turns to AI for sexual health questions despite misdiagnoses

According to a January 2026 survey of 2,520 US adults aged 18 to 29, roughly 20 percent of Gen Z have queried AI chatbots about STIs/STDs, and 1 in 10 specifically sought help with diagnosis or suspicion of infection.

Among those who later sought formal medical testing, about 31 percent said the chatbot’s assessment was incorrect, highlighting risks of relying on AI for health diagnostics.

Respondents often shared symptom details and even photos with the bots, and many said they were more comfortable discussing sensitive topics with an AI than with a clinician, despite potential privacy and accuracy limitations.

Medical experts emphasise that while AI can support general health education, these tools are not replacements for clinical diagnosis or professional medical testing, which remain necessary for accurate STI/STD identification and treatment.

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Aquila transforms warehouse operations using AI automation

Aquila has completed a €5 million investment in AI-driven warehouse automation at its Ilfov, Dragomiresti logistics centre. The project is a strategic response to increasing portfolio complexity and growing distribution volumes in the FMCG sector.

The automation solution is built around AI-based vision systems that identify products directly from images using shape, colour and visual characteristics. The technology removes the need for labels or manual scanning, even when packaging orientation or appearance shows minor variations.

According to the company, the system improves the speed and accuracy of warehouse operations while reducing manual work and optimising storage space. These efficiency gains allow better use of operational resources.

The investment enables Aquila to scale logistics operations without proportional increases in resources. The company reports improved internal efficiency, stronger service quality for customers and the creation of medium-term competitive advantages.

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The UK labour market feels a sharper impact from AI use

Companies are reporting net job losses linked to AI adoption, with research showing a sharper impact than in other major economies. A Morgan Stanley survey found that firms using the technology for at least a year cut more roles than they created, particularly across the UK labour market.

The study covered sectors including retail, real estate, transport, healthcare equipment and automotive manufacturing, showing an average productivity increase of 11.5% among UK businesses. Comparable firms in the United States reported similar efficiency gains but continued to expand employment overall.

Researchers pointed to higher operating costs and tax pressures as factors amplifying the employment impact in Britain. Unemployment has reached a four-year high, while increases in the minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions have tightened hiring across industries.

Public concern over AI-driven displacement is also rising, with more than a quarter of UK workers fearing their roles could disappear within five years, according to recruitment firm Randstad. Younger workers expressed the highest anxiety, while older generations showed greater confidence in adapting.

Political leaders warn that unmanaged AI-driven change could disrupt labour markets. London mayor Sadiq Khan said the technology may cut many white-collar jobs, calling for action to create replacement roles.

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