Interdisciplinary approaches

EU MiCA greenlight turns Blockchain.com’s Malta base into hub

Blockchain.com received a MiCA license from Malta’s Financial Services Authority, enabling passported crypto services across all 30 EEA countries under one EU framework. Leaders called it a step toward safer, consistent access.

Malta becomes the hub for scaling operations, citing regulatory clarity and cross-border support. Under the authorisation, teams will expand secure custody and wallets, enterprise treasury tools, and localised products for the EU consumers.

A unified license streamlines go-to-market and accelerates launches in priority jurisdictions. Institutions gain clearer expectations on safeguarding, disclosures, and governance, while retail users benefit from standardised protections and stronger redress.

Fiorentina D’Amore will lead the EU strategy with deep fintech experience. Plans include phased rollouts, supervisor engagement, and controls aligned to MiCA’s conduct and prudential requirements across key markets.

Since 2011, Blockchain.com says it has processed over one trillion dollars and serves more than 90 million wallets. Expansion under MiCA adds scalable infrastructure, robust custody, and clearer disclosures for users and institutions.

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Japan’s G-QuAT and Fujitsu sign pact to boost quantum competitiveness

Fujitsu and AIST’s G-QuAT have signed a collaboration to lift Japan’s quantum competitiveness, aligning roadmaps, labs, and funding toward commercialisation. The pact focuses on practical outcomes: industry-ready prototypes, interoperable tooling, and clear pathways from research to deployment.

The partners will pool superconducting know-how, shared fabs and test sites, and structured talent exchanges. Common testbeds will reduce duplication, lift throughput, and speed benchmarks. Joint governance will release reference designs, track milestones, and align on global standards.

Scaling quantum requires integrated systems, not just faster qubits. Priorities include full-stack validation across cryogenics and packaging, controls, and error mitigation. Demonstrations target reproducible, large-scale superconducting processors, with results for peer review and industry pilots.

G-QuAT will act as an international hub, convening suppliers, universities, and overseas labs for co-development. Fujitsu brings product engineering, supply chain, and quality systems to translate research into deployable hardware. External partners will be invited to run comparative trials.

AIST anchors the effort with the national research capacity of Japan and a mission to bridge lab and market. Fujitsu aligns commercialization and service models to emerging standards. Near-term work packages include joint pilots and verification suites, followed by prototypes aimed at industrial adoption.

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Diella 2.0 set to deliver 83 new AI assistants to aid Albania’s MPs

Albania’s AI minister Diella will ‘give birth’ to 83 virtual assistants for ruling-party MPs, Prime Minister Edi Rama said, framing a quirky rollout of parliamentary copilots that record debates and propose responses.

Diella began in January as a public-service chatbot on e-Albania, then ‘Diella 2.0’ added voice and an avatar in traditional dress. Built with Microsoft by the National Agency for Information Society, it now oversees specific state tech contracts.

The legality is murky: the constitution of Albania requires ministers to be natural persons. A presidential decree left Rama’s responsibility to establish the role and set up likely court tests from opposition lawmakers.

Rama says the ‘children’ will brief MPs, summarise absences, and suggest counterarguments through 2026, experimenting with automating the day-to-day legislative grind without replacing elected officials.

Reactions range from table-thumping scepticism to cautious curiosity, as other governments debate AI personhood and limits; Diella could become a template, or a cautionary tale for ‘ministerial’ bots.

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AI deepfake videos spark ethical and environmental concerns

Deepfake videos created by AI platforms like OpenAI’s Sora have gone viral, generating hyper-realistic clips of deceased celebrities and historical figures in often offensive scenarios.

Families of figures like Dr Martin Luther King Jr have publicly appealed to AI firms to prevent using their loved ones’ likenesses, highlighting ethical concerns around the technology.

Beyond the emotional impact, Dr Kevin Grecksch of Oxford University warns that producing deepfakes carries a significant environmental footprint. Instead of occurring on phones, video generation happens in data centres that consume vast amounts of electricity and water for cooling, often at industrial scales.

The surge in deepfake content has been rapid, with Sora downloaded over a million times in five days. Dr Grecksch urges users to consider the environmental cost, suggesting more integrated thinking about where data centres are built and how they are cooled to minimise their impact.

As governments promote AI growth areas like South Oxfordshire, questions remain over sustainable infrastructure. Users are encouraged to balance technological enthusiasm with environmental mindfulness, recognising the hidden costs behind creating and sharing AI-generated media.

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Meta AI brings conversational edits to Instagram Stories

Instagram is rolling out generative AI editing for Stories, expanding June’s tools with smarter prompts and broader effects. Type what you want removed or changed, and Meta AI does it. Think conversational edits, similar to Google Photos.

New controls include an Add Yours sticker for sharing your custom look with friends. A Presets browser shows available styles at a glance. Seasonal effects launch for Halloween, Diwali, and more.

Restyle Video brings preset effects to short clips, with options to add flair or remove objects. Edits aim to be fast, fun, and reversible. Creativity first, heavy lifting handled by AI.

Text gets a glow-up: Instagram is testing AI restyle for captions. Pick built-ins like ‘chrome’ or ‘balloon,’ or prompt Meta AI for custom styles.

Meta AI hasn’t wowed Instagram users, but this could change sentiment. The pitch: fewer taps, better results, and shareable looks. If it sticks, creating Stories becomes meaningfully easier.

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Sky acquisition by OpenAI signals ChatGPT’s push into native workflows

OpenAI acquired Software Applications Incorporated, the maker of Sky, to accelerate the development of interfaces that understand context, adapt to intent, and act across apps. Sky’s macOS layer sees what’s on screen and executes tasks. Its team joins OpenAI to bake these capabilities into ChatGPT.

Sky turns the Mac into a cooperative workspace for writing, planning, coding, and daily tasks. It can control native apps, invoke workflows, and ground actions in on-screen context. That tight integration now becomes a core pillar of ChatGPT’s product roadmap.

OpenAI says the goal is capability plus usability: not just answers, but actions completed in your tools. VP Nick Turley framed it as moving from prompts to productivity. Expect ChatGPT features that feel ambient, proactive, and native on desktop.

Sky’s founders say large language models finally enable intuitive, customizable computing. CEO Ari Weinstein described Sky as a layer that ‘floats’ over your desktop, helping you think and create. OpenAI plans to bring that experience to hundreds of millions of users.

A disclosure notes that a fund associated with Sam Altman held a passive stake in Software Applications Incorporated. Nick Turley and Fidji Simo led the deal. OpenAI’s independent Transaction and Audit Committees reviewed and approved the acquisition.

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Copilot Mode turns Edge into an active assistant

Edge says the browser should work with you, not just wait for clicks. Copilot Mode adds chat-first tabs, multi-tab reasoning, and a dynamic pane for in-context help. Plan trips, compare options, and generate schedules without tab chaos.

Microsoft Copilot now resumes past sessions, so projects pick up exactly where you stopped. It can execute multi-step actions, like building walking tours, end-to-end. Optional history signals improve suggestions and speed up research-heavy tasks.

Voice controls handle quick actions and deeper chores with conversational prompts. Ask Copilot to open pages, summarise threads, or unsubscribe you from promo emails. Reservations and other multi-step chores are rolling out next.

Journeys groups past browsing into topic timelines for fast re-entry, with explicit opt-in. Privacy controls are prominent: clear cues when Copilot listens, acts, or views. You can toggle Copilot Mode off anytime.

Security features round things out: local AI blocks scareware overlays by default. Built-in password tools continuously create, store, and monitor credentials. Copilot Mode is in all Copilot markets on Edge desktop and mobile and is coming soon.

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At UMN, AI meets ethics, history, and craft

AI is remaking daily life, but it can’t define what makes us human. The liberal arts help us probe ethics, meaning, and power as algorithms scale. At the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, that lens anchors curiosity with responsibility.

In the College of Liberal Arts, scholars are treating AI as both a tool and a textbook. They test its limits, trace its histories, and surface trade-offs around bias, authorship, and agency. Students learn to question design choices rather than just consume outputs.

Linguist Amanda Dalola, who directs the Language Center, experiments with AI as a language partner and reflective coach. Her aim isn’t replacement but augmentation, faster feedback, broader practice, richer cultural context. The point is discernment: when to use, when to refuse.

Statistician Galin Jones underscores the scaffolding beneath the hype. You cannot do AI without statistics, he tells students, so the School of Statistics emphasises inference, uncertainty, and validation. Graduates leave fluent in models, and in the limits of what models claim.

Composer Frederick Kennedy’s opera I am Alan Turing turns theory into performance. By staging Turing’s questions about machine thought and human identity, the work fuses history, sound design, and code. Across philosophy, music, and more, CLA frames AI as a human story first.

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CraftGPT: Language model built in Minecraft

A Minecraft creator known as Sammyuri has unveiled CraftGPT, an in-game language model powered entirely by redstone circuits. Built from nearly 439 million blocks, the project turns Minecraft into a working simulation of AI.

CraftGPT was trained on a tiny dataset called TinyChat, containing only 64 tokens—a minuscule amount compared to the billions used by modern large language models. Despite its simplicity, it demonstrates how AI can turn input into structured responses.

The model works by translating player inputs into redstone signals that flow through logic gates and memory circuits. It’s a creative and educational blend of engineering and imagination, showing how fundamental AI concepts can be explored inside a virtual game world.

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NVIDIA AI Day Sydney showcases Australia’s growing role in global AI innovation

Australia took centre stage in the global AI landscape last week as NVIDIA AI Day Sydney gathered over a thousand participants to explore the nation’s path toward sovereign AI.

The event, held at ICC Sydney Theatre, featured discussions on agentic and physical AI, robotics and AI factories, highlighting how the next generation of computing is driving transformation across sectors.

Industry leaders, including Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Canva and emerging startups, joined NVIDIA executives to discuss how advanced computing and AI are shaping innovation.

Brendan Hopper of the Commonwealth Bank praised NVIDIA’s role in expanding Australia’s AI ecosystem through infrastructure, partnerships and education.

Speakers such as Giuseppe Barca of QDX Technologies emphasised how AI, high-performance computing and quantum research are redefining scientific progress.

With over 600 NVIDIA Inception startups and more than 20 universities using NVIDIA technologies, Australia’s AI ecosystem is expanding rapidly. Partners like Firmus Technologies, ResetData and SHARON AI underscored how AI Day Sydney demonstrated the nation’s readiness to become a regional AI hub.

The event also hosted Australia’s first ‘Startup, VC and Partner Connect’, linking entrepreneurs, investors and government officials to accelerate collaboration.

Presentations from quantum and healthcare innovators, alongside hands-on NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute sessions, showcased real-world AI applications from generative design to medical transcription.

NVIDIA’s Sudarshan Ramachandran said Australia’s combination of high-performance computing heritage, visual effects expertise and emerging robotics sector positions it to lead in the AI era.

Through collaboration and infrastructure investment, he said, the country is building a thriving ecosystem that supports discovery, sustainability and economic growth.

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