The Second Cairo Forum brought together experts to assess how AI, global shifts, and economic pressures are shaping MENA. Speakers said the region faces a critical moment as new technologies accelerate. The discussion asked whether MENA will help shape AI or simply adopt it.
Participants highlighted global divides, warning that data misuse and concentrated control remain major risks. They argued that middle-income countries can collaborate to build shared standards. Several speakers urged innovation-friendly regulation supported by clear safety rules.
Officials from Egypt outlined national efforts to embed AI across health, agriculture, and justice. They described progress through applied projects and new governance structures. Limited data access and talent retention were identified as continuing obstacles.
Industry voices stressed that trust, transparency, and skills must underpin the use of AI. They emphasised co-creation that fits regional languages and contexts. Training and governance frameworks were seen as essential for responsible deployment.
Closing remarks warned that rapid advances demand urgent decisions. Speakers said safety investment lags behind development, and global competition is intensifying. They agreed that today’s choices will shape the region’s AI future.
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Chinese AI company DeepSeek has unveiled Math-V2, the first open-source AI model to achieve gold-level performance at the International Mathematical Olympiad.
The system, now available on GitHub and Hugging Face, allows developers to modify and deploy the model under a permissive license freely.
Math-V2 also excelled in the 2024 Chinese Mathematical Olympiad, demonstrating advanced reasoning and problem-solving capabilities. Unlike many AI systems, it features a self-verification process that enables it to check solutions even for problems without known answers.
The launch comes as US AI leaders, such as Google DeepMind and OpenAI, have achieved similar milestones with their proprietary models.
Open access to Math-V2 could democratise advanced mathematical tools, potentially accelerating scientific research and development globally.
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Axian Group has entered a strategic partnership with Mastercard to expand digital payment services across its mobile network markets. The collaboration covers virtual and physical cards under the Mixx and MVola brands. Both companies say the tools will enable safer, faster cross-border payments.
Consumers will activate and top up virtual cards via the Mixx and MVola apps in markets such as Madagascar and the Comoros. Axian says real-time monitoring features will simplify international transactions. The rollout is designed to broaden financial access through mobile channels.
Axian’s fintech lead, Erwan Gelebart, says the initiative will help SMEs and entrepreneurs in Senegal and Togo adopt secure mobile-payment tools. He argues the partnership strengthens local digital ecosystems. Mastercard sees the cooperation as part of wider financial-inclusion efforts.
Mastercard executive Mete Guney says the collaboration will expand secure digital-payment infrastructure in Tanzania and neighbouring regions. He says new services aim to improve how people pay and get paid. The companies plan phased deployment as demand grows.
Axian rebranded its mobile units to Yas in 2024 across Madagascar, Comoros, Senegal, Togo and Tanzania. Its financial services arms now operate as Mixx by Yas. The new merchant and card tools build on this unified-market strategy.
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KT has partnered with DigitalBridge to build new AI data centres in Korea and abroad. The agreement was signed in Seoul amid growing demand for high-performance computing. Both companies aim to expand into fast-developing regional AI markets.
DigitalBridge brings global data centre and cloud expertise, backed by significant investment capacity. KT says the partnership will boost national AI competitiveness and support expansion plans. Work will cover facility design, operations and improved network connectivity.
Engineers will optimise AI workloads for training and inference across industrial sectors. The partners plan to stabilise high-load systems and streamline data flow. Enterprise and telecom uses are expected to benefit directly.
Energy efficiency is a core priority for advanced AI facilities. KT and DigitalBridge will research cooling improvements and power-saving methods. Both companies frame sustainability as essential for long-term competitiveness.
KT says the collaboration strengthens ambitions for regional AI infrastructure within Korea. Analysts view the move as an effort to secure GPUs and expand capacity. The project aims to position Korea as a key AI data-centre hub.
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FIDReC recorded 4,355 claims in FY2024/2025, marking its highest volume in twenty years and a sharp rise from the previous year. Scam activity and broader dispute growth across financial institutions contributed to the increase. Greater public awareness of the centre’s role also drove more filings.
Fraud and scam disputes climbed to 1,285 cases, up more than 50% and accounting for nearly half of all claims. FIDReC accepted 2,646 claims for handling, with early resolution procedures reducing formal caseload growth. The phased approach encourages direct negotiation between consumers and providers.
Chief Executive Eunice Chua said rising claim volumes reflect fast-evolving financial risks and increasingly complex products. National indicators show similar pressures, with Singapore ranked second globally for payment card scams. Insurance fraud reports also continued to grow during the year.
Compromised credentials accounted for most scam-related cases, often involving unauthorised withdrawals or card charges. Consumers reported incidents without knowing how their details were obtained. The share of such complaints rose markedly compared with the previous year.
Banks added safeguards on large digital withdrawals as part of wider anti-scam measures. Regulators introduced cooling-off periods, stronger information sharing and closer monitoring of suspicious activity. Authorities say the goal is to limit exposure to scams and reinforce public confidence.
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Chinese AI firm DeepSeek has released the first open AI model capable of achieving gold-medal results at the International Mathematical Olympiad. Math-V2 is now freely available on Hugging Face and GitHub, allowing developers to repurpose it and run it locally.
Gold-level performance at the IMO is remarkably rare, with only a small share of human participants reaching the top tier. DeepSeek aims to make such advanced mathematical capabilities accessible to researchers and developers who previously lacked access to comparable systems.
The company said its model achieved gold-level scores in both this year’s Olympiad and the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad. The results relied on strong theorem-proving skills and a new ‘self-verification’ method for reasoning without known solutions.
Observers said the open release could lower barriers to advanced maths AI, while US firms keep their Olympiad-level systems restricted. Supporters of open-source development welcomed the move as a significant step toward democratising advanced scientific tools.
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AWS introduced major AI upgrades at re:Invent 2025, led by new agentic capabilities in Amazon Connect. Companies can now automate complex service tasks while customers engage with natural, multilingual voice interactions.
Customer service teams gain deeper support as agentic tools summarise conversations, prepare documents and manage routine actions. AI also drives personalised recommendations by combining live clickstream data with detailed customer histories.
AWS expanded its multicloud strategy by launching Interconnect multicloud with Google Cloud. The partnership enables private, high bandwidth links that avoid the complexity of traditional cross cloud networking.
Deepgram strengthened its collaboration with AWS by bringing real time speech models to SageMaker, Connect and Lex. Enterprises now deploy rapid speech processing across their AWS environments with improved performance and flexibility.
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Japan is moving ahead with an extra budget to support AI and semiconductor development. Officials say shifting funding into regular budgets will offer stability. Parliament is expected to approve the plan quickly after cabinet backing.
The government seeks stable support for industries crucial to economic security. The new budget adds to earlier investments in domestic chip production. Officials aim to avoid delays that have slowed previous industrial programmes.
Japan’s long-running strategy includes support for Rapidus, TSMC’s work in Kumamoto and Micron’s facility in Hiroshima. The extra funding is meant to complement these commitments. Stable annual financing is considered crucial for long-term planning.
A significant portion of the allocation is handled by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The plan includes strengthening Nippon Export and Investment Insurance. The insurer is expected to back overseas projects under wider trade agreements.
Japan is also increasing support for critical mineral supplies. Funding will help secure rare earths and expand national stockpiles. Officials frame the combined measures as a shift toward steadier and more resilient investment.
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Vietnam has moved to expand its use of Chinese 5G technology, awarding Huawei and ZTE a series of new contracts. Under recent deals, the two companies will supply advanced 5G radio equipment to strengthen network coverage, while European vendors remain responsible for core systems.
Vietnam, which borders China, Laos, and Cambodia, previously echoed allies’ warnings that Chinese-made 5G gear posed an unacceptable security risk. Recent tariff frictions with the United States and shifting economic priorities have since pushed officials to reconsider that stance.
According to local reports, Huawei and ZTE have together secured contracts worth about 43 million dollars for non-core 5G equipment. Ericsson and Nokia are expected to continue supplying the 5G core, with Chinese vendors focused on antennas and related infrastructure at the network edge.
In April, a consortium including Huawei won a 23 million dollar deal to provide 5G gear, shortly after new US tariffs on Vietnamese exports came into force. Analysts say those measures have strained ties between Hanoi and Washington while nudging Vietnam to deepen economic and technological links with Beijing.
Vietnamese supply chain specialist Nguyen Hung says Hanoi is prioritising its own strategic interests, seeing closer ties with Chinese vendors as a route to deeper regional integration. US officials warn the deals could damage network trust and limit access to advanced American technology.
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OpenAI has rolled out an update to ChatGPT Voice that unifies voice and text in a single interface. Users can now speak, type or mix both without switching screens mid-conversation.
The redesigned chat window displays live transcriptions and responses in real-time. Users can scroll through earlier messages and view images, maps and other visuals while the exchange continues in one place.
You can now use ChatGPT Voice right inside chat—no separate mode needed.
You can talk, watch answers appear, review earlier messages, and see visuals like images or maps in real time.
Previously, voice required a separate mode that hid the main chat history and shared content. OpenAI says the unified layout should make longer, mixed-mode conversations feel more natural and less fragmented.
Voice and text can still be used interchangeably, but ending a voice session requires tapping ‘End’ before returning to text-only use. Those who prefer the old layout can re-enable a separate voice view in settings.
The revamped Voice experience is becoming the default on web and mobile apps as the update rolls out. OpenAI aims to make ChatGPT feel more like a flexible conversational assistant across various devices.
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