Iran’s Minister of Communications has revealed the country’s digital economy shrank by 30% in just one month, losing around $170 million due to internet restrictions imposed during its recent 12-day conflict with Israel.
Sattar Hashemi told parliament on 22 July that roughly 10 million Iranians rely on digital jobs, but widespread shutdowns caused severe disruptions across platforms and services.
Hashemi estimated that every two days of restrictions inflicted 10 trillion rials in losses, totalling 150 trillion rials — an amount he said rivals the annual budgets of entire ministries.
While acknowledging the damage, he clarified that his ministry was not responsible for the shutdowns, attributing them instead to decisions made by intelligence and security agencies for national security reasons.
Alongside the blackouts, Iran endured over 20,000 cyberattacks during the conflict. Many of these targeted banks and payment systems, with platforms for Bank Sepah and Bank Pasargad knocked offline, halting salaries for military personnel.
Hacktivist groups such as Predatory Sparrow and Tapandegan claimed credit for the attacks, with some incidents reportedly wiping out crypto assets and further weakening the rial by 12%.
Lawmakers are now questioning the unequal structure of internet access. Critics have accused the government of enabling a ‘class-based internet’ in which insiders retain full access while the public faces heavy censorship.
MP Salman Es’haghi warned that Iran’s digital future cannot rely on filtered networks, demanding transparency about who benefits from unrestricted use.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has said generative AI is used to boost creativity, not just reduce production costs. A key example was seen in the Argentine series El Eternauta, where AI helped complete complex visual effects far quicker than traditional methods.
The streaming giant’s production team used AI to render a building collapse scene in Buenos Aires, completing the sequence ten times faster and more economically. Sarandos described the outcome as proof that AI supports real creators with better tools.
Netflix also applies generative AI in areas beyond filmmaking, including personalisation, search, and its advertising ecosystem. As part of these innovations, interactive adverts are expected to launch later in 2025.
During the second quarter, Netflix reported $11.1 billion in revenue and $3.1 billion in profit. Users streamed over 95 billion hours of content in the year’s first half, marking a slight rise from 2024.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
GCT Semiconductor Holding, Inc. has begun delivering samples of its latest 5G chipsets to lead customers, including Airspan Networks and Orbic. The company offers chip and module formats to meet specific testing needs.
Initial shipments aim to fulfil early demand, after which GCT will work with clients to assess performance and establish production requirements. The firm is well positioned to scale with a robust supply chain and deep experience in high-speed connectivity.
The fabless semiconductor designer targets mid-tier 5G applications and plans to introduce a Verizon-certified module. GCT has said it remains focused on accelerating its role in the global 5G market.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
A video featuring ChatGPT Live has gone viral after it correctly guessed an object hidden in a user’s hand using only a series of questions.
The clip, shared on the social media platform X, shows the chatbot narrowing down its guesses until it lands on the correct answer — a pen — within less than a minute. The video has fascinated viewers by showing how far generative AI has come since its initial launch.
Multimodal AI like ChatGPT can now process audio, video and text together, making interactions more intuitive and lifelike.
Another user attempted the same challenge with Gemini AI by holding an AC remote. Gemini described it as a ‘control panel for controlling temperature’, which was close but not entirely accurate.
The fun experiment also highlights the growing real-world utility of generative AI. During Google’s I/O conference during the year, the company demonstrated how Gemini Live can help users troubleshoot and repair appliances at home by understanding both spoken instructions and visual input.
Beyond casual use, these AI tools are proving helpful in serious scenarios. A UPSC aspirant recently explained how uploading her Detailed Application Form to a chatbot allowed it to generate practice questions.
She used those prompts to prepare for her interview and credited the AI with helping her boost her confidence.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas believes that the company’s new AI-powered browser, Comet, could soon replace two key white-collar roles in most offices: recruiters and executive assistants.
Speaking on The Verge podcast, Srinivas explained that with the integration of more advanced reasoning models like GPT-5 or Claude 4.5, Comet will be able to handle tasks traditionally assigned to these positions.
He also described how a recruiter’s week-long workload could be reduced to a single AI prompt.
From sourcing candidates to scheduling interviews, tracking responses in Google Sheets, syncing calendars, and even briefing users ahead of meetings, Comet is built to manage the entire process—often without any follow-up input.
The tool remains in an invite-only phase and is currently available to premium users.
Srinivas also framed Comet as the early foundation of a broader AI operating system for knowledge workers, enabling users to issue natural language commands for complex tasks.
He emphasised the importance of adopting AI early, warning that those who fail to keep pace with the technology’s rapid growth—where breakthroughs arrive every few months—risk being left behind in the job market.
In a separate discussion, he urged younger generations to reduce time spent scrolling on Instagram and instead focus on mastering AI tools. According to him, the shift is inevitable, and those who embrace it now will hold a long-term professional advantage.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
AI is poised to disrupt the job market, with routine roles such as data entry clerks, telemarketers, customer service agents, cashiers, proofreaders, legal assistants, bookkeepers, front-desk staff, warehouse operatives, and entry-level market researchers most at risk.
Workers in these roles are encouraged to reskill strategically, as automation and shifting market demands reshape the employment landscape.
Promising transition options include data analytics, digital marketing, technical support, logistics technology, financial advising, retail management, culinary operations, and business intelligence — careers that harness creativity, empathy, and critical thinking.
This risk also presents an opportunity. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore has launched a S$200 million fund to retrain aviation professionals as AI reshapes the industry, a model that other sectors can follow.
Research indicates that AI predominantly complements tasks rather than replaces them entirely. Roles demanding human-centred reasoning, teamwork and digital literacy are growing, emphasising the importance of lifelong learning and adaptability.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
OpenAI’s experimental language model has reached a noteworthy milestone in AI by performing at a gold medal level in the 2025 International Math Olympiad (IMO), one of the world’s most challenging competitions.
The model solved five out of six problems under the same timed and tool-free conditions as human participants, earning 35 out of 42 possible points. Three former IMO medalists evaluated each solution to ensure fairness and accuracy.
The achievement marks a leap in AI’s reasoning capabilities, with the model demonstrating the ability to tackle complex problems requiring hours of sustained creative thinking.
Researcher Alexander Wei noted the significance of this progress, tracing the model’s development through reasoning benchmarks from fundamental arithmetic problems to Olympiad-level tasks demanding far deeper cognitive effort.
Despite the breakthrough, the model is not expected to be released to the public anytime soon. OpenAI clarified that the IMO-capable model is part of an internal research track, distinct from its upcoming release of GPT-5.
According to Wei, GPT-5 will arrive soon but will not yet contain the same advanced mathematics capabilities.
In parallel, Hyperbolic Labs co-founder Yuchen Jin hinted that GPT-5 will operate as a multi-model system with dynamic routing, automatically selecting the most appropriate sub-model based on user input. Jin also noted that GPT-6 is already in training, suggesting rapid, continued progress in AI development.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Meta has hired two senior AI researchers from Apple, Mark Lee and Tom Gunter, as part of its ongoing effort to attract top talent in AI, according to Bloomberg.
Instead of staying within Apple’s ranks, both experts have joined Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, following Ruoming Pang, Apple’s former head of large language model development, whom Meta recently secured with a reported compensation package worth over $200 million.
Gunter, once a distinguished engineer at Apple, briefly worked for another AI firm before accepting Meta’s offer.
The moves reflect increasing instability inside Apple’s AI division, where leadership is reportedly exploring partnerships with external providers like OpenAI to power future Siri features rather than relying solely on in-house solutions.
Meta’s aggressive hiring strategy comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg prioritises AI development, pledging substantial investment in talent and computing power to rival companies such as OpenAI and Google.
Some Apple employees have been presented with counteroffers, but these reportedly fail to match the scale of Meta’s packages.
Instead of slowing down, Meta appears determined to solidify its position as a leader in AI research, continuing to lure key experts away from competitors while Apple faces challenges retaining its top engineers.
Would you like to learn more aboutAI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
As AI and cloud computing demand surges, Siemens is tackling critical energy and sustainability challenges facing the data centre industry. With power densities surpassing 100kW per rack, traditional infrastructure is being pushed beyond its limits.
Siemens highlighted the urgent need for integrated digital solutions to address growing pressures such as delayed grid connections, rising costs, and speed of deployment. Operators are increasingly adopting microgrids and forming utility partnerships to ensure resilience and control over power access.
Siemens views data centres not just as energy consumers but as contributors to the grid, using stored energy to balance supply. The shift is pushing the industry to become more involved in grid stability and renewable integration.
While achieving net zero remains challenging, data centres are adopting on-site renewables, advanced cooling systems, and AI-driven management tools to boost efficiency.
Siemens’ own software, such as the Building X Suite, is helping reduce energy waste and predict maintenance needs, aligning operational effectiveness with sustainability goals.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
AI startup Perplexity AI has raised $100 million in new funding, pushing its valuation to $18 billion, Bloomberg has reported. The deal reflects growing investor interest in AI tools amid the continued rise of chatbots and AI-powered search agents.
The funding follows a previous round from earlier in the year, which valued the company at $14 billion. Perplexity’s rapid valuation growth highlights the pace at which leading AI startups are expanding in the current market climate.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Perplexity was previously in advanced talks to raise $500 million at the earlier valuation. Venture capital firm Accel had been expected to lead that round. Other reports in March suggested that Perplexity aimed to raise as much as $1 billion.
The company has been making moves to challenge major tech incumbents. Just last week, it launched a new AI-powered web browser called ‘Comet’. The tool is designed to compete with Google Chrome by integrating advanced AI search functionality directly into browsing.
Perplexity is backed by Nvidia and is positioning itself at the intersection of search, generative AI, and user experience. Industry observers view its fast-growing valuation as a sign of heightened investor confidence in AI-native platforms.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
