The first national Internet Governance Forum in Cambodia has taken place, establishing a new platform for digital policy dialogue. The Cambodia Internet Governance Forum (CamIGF) included civil society, private sector and youth participants.
The forum follows an Internet Universality Indicators assessment led by UNESCO and national partners. The assessment recommended a permanent multistakeholder platform for digital governance, grounded in human rights, openness, accessibility and participation.
Opening remarks from national and international stakeholders framed the CamIGF as a move toward people-centred and rights-based digital transformation. Speakers stressed the need for cross-sector cooperation to ensure connectivity, innovation and regulation deliver public benefit.
Discussions focused on online safety in the age of AI, meaningful connectivity, youth participation and digital rights. The programme also included Cambodia’s Youth Internet Governance Forum, highlighting young people’s role in addressing data protection and digital skills gaps.
By institutionalising a national IGF, Cambodia joins a growing global network using multistakeholder dialogue to guide digital policy. UNESCO confirmed continued support for implementing assessment recommendations and strengthening inclusive digital governance.
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Online scams are expected to surge in 2026, overtaking ransomware as the top cyber-risk, the World Economic Forum warned, driven by the growing use of generative AI.
Executives are increasingly concerned about AI-driven scams that are easier to launch and harder to detect than traditional cybercrime. WEF managing director Jeremy Jurgens said leaders now face the challenge of acting collectively to protect trust and stability in an AI-driven digital environment.
Consumers are also feeling the impact. An Experian report found 68% of people now see identity theft as their main concern, while US Federal Trade Commission data shows consumer fraud losses reached $12.5 billion in 2024, up 25% year on year.
Generative AI is enabling more convincing phishing, voice cloning, and impersonation attempts. The WEF reported that 62% of executives experienced phishing attacks, 37% encountered invoice fraud, and 32% reported identity theft, with vulnerable groups increasingly targeted through synthetic content abuse.
Experts warn that many organisations still lack the skills and resources to defend against evolving threats. Consumer groups advise slowing down, questioning urgent messages, avoiding unsolicited requests for information, and verifying contacts independently to reduce the risk of generative AI-powered scams.
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New safeguards are being introduced as ChatGPT uses age prediction to identify accounts that may belong to under-18s. Extra protections limit exposure to harmful content while still allowing adults full access.
The age prediction model analyses behavioural and account-level signals, including usage patterns, activity times, account age, and stated age information. OpenAI says these indicators help estimate whether an account belongs to a minor, enabling the platform to apply age-appropriate safeguards.
When an account is flagged as potentially under 18, ChatGPT limits access to graphic violence, sexual role play, viral challenges, self-harm, and unhealthy body image content. The safeguards reflect research on teen development, including differences in risk perception and impulse control.
ChatGPT users who are incorrectly classified can restore full access by confirming their age through a selfie check using Persona, a secure identity verification service. Account holders can review safeguards and begin the verification process at any time via the settings menu.
Parental controls allow further customisation, including quiet hours, feature restrictions, and notifications for signs of distress. OpenAI says the system will continue to evolve, with EU-specific deployment planned in the coming weeks to meet regional regulatory requirements.
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A BBC report examines the rise of so-called ‘tech-dense’ farms, where digital tools such as AI-powered sensors, satellite imagery, and farm management software are increasingly central to agricultural operations.
While the total number of farms is declining, those that remain are investing heavily in technology to stay competitive, improve precision, and reduce input costs such as pesticides and water.
Farmers interviewed describe using smart spraying systems, data analytics, and predictive software to optimise planting, monitor crop health, and respond to weather or pest risks in real time.
Agronomists suggest that these innovations could stabilise food supplies and potentially lower consumer prices, though adoption varies by age, cost, and willingness to change, highlighting a broader transition toward treating farming as a data-driven business.
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The moment many have anticipated with interest or concern has arrived. On 16 January, OpenAI announced the global rollout of its low-cost subscription tier, ChatGPT Go, in all countries where the model is supported. After debuting in India in August 2025 and expanding to Singapore the following month, the USD 8-per-month tier marks OpenAI’s most direct attempt yet to broaden paid access while maintaining assurances that advertising will not be embedded into ChatGPT’s prompts.
The move has been widely interpreted as a turning point in the way AI models are monetised. To date, most major AI providers have relied on a combination of external investment, strategic partnerships, and subscription offerings to sustain rapid development. Expectations of transformative breakthroughs and exponential growth have underpinned investor confidence, reinforcing what has come to be described as the AI boom.
Against this backdrop, OpenAI’s long-standing reluctance to embrace advertising takes on renewed significance. As recently as October 2024, chief executive Sam Altman described ads as a ‘last resort’ for the company’s business model. Does that position (still) reflect Altman’s confidence in alternative revenue streams, and is OpenAI simply the first company to bite the ad revenue bullet before other AI ventures have mustered the courage to do so?
ChatGPT, ads, and the integrity of AI responses
Regardless of one’s personal feelings about ad-based revenue, the facts about its essentiality are irrefutable. According to Statista’s Market Insights research, the worldwide advertising market has surpassed USD 1 trillion in annual revenue. With such figures in mind, it seems like a no-brainer to integrate ads whenever and wherever possible.
Furthermore, relying solely on substantial but irregular cash injections is not a reliable way to keep the lights on for a USD 500 billion company, especially in the wake of the RAM crisis. As much as the average consumer would prefer to use digital services without ads, coming up with an alternative and well-grounded revenue stream is tantamount to financial alchemy. Advertising remains one of the few monetisation models capable of sustaining large-scale platforms without significantly raising user costs.
For ChatGPT users, however, the concern centres less on the mere presence of ads and more on how advertising incentives could reshape data use, profiling practices, and the handling of conversational inputs. OpenAI has pleaded with its users to ‘trust that ChatGPT’s responses are driven by what’s objectively useful, never by advertising’. Altman’s company has also guaranteed that user data and conversations will remain protected and will never be sold to advertisers.
Such bold statements are never given lightly, meaning Altman fully stands behind his company’s words and is prepared to face repercussions should he break his promises. Since OpenAI is privately held, shifts in investor confidence following the announcement are not visible through public market signals, unlike at publicly listed technology firms. User count remains the most reliable metric for observing how ChatGPT is perceived by its target audience.
Competitive pressure behind ads in ChatGPT
Introducing ads to ChatGPT would be more than a simple change to how OpenAI makes money. Advertising can influence how the model responds to users, even if ads are not shown directly within the answers. Business pressure can still shape how information is presented through prompts. For example, certain products or services could be described more positively than others, without clearly appearing as advertisements or endorsements.
Recommendations raise particular concern. Many users turn to ChatGPT for advice or comparisons before making important purchases. If advertising becomes part of the model’s business, it may become harder for users to tell whether a suggestion is neutral or influenced by commercial interests. Transparency is also an issue, as the influence is much harder to spot in a chat interface than on websites that clearly label ads with banners or sponsored tags.
While these concerns are valid, competition remains the main force shaping decisions across the AI industry. No major company wants its model to fall behind rivals such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or other leading systems. Nearly all of these firms have faced public criticism or controversy at some point, forcing them to adjust their strategies and work to rebuild user trust.
The risk of public backlash has so far made companies cautious about introducing advertising. Still, this hesitation is unlikely to last forever. By moving first, OpenAI absorbs most of the initial criticism, while competitors get to stand back, watch how users respond, and adjust their plans accordingly. If advertising proves successful, others are likely to follow, drawing on OpenAI’s experience without bearing the brunt of the growing pains. To quote Arliss Howard’s character in Moneyball: ‘The first guy through the wall always gets bloody’.
ChatGPT advertising and governance challenges
Following the launch of ChatGPT Go, lawmakers and regulators may need to reconsider how existing legal safeguards apply to ad-supported LLMs. Most advertising rules are designed for websites, apps, and social media feeds, rather than systems that generate natural-language responses and present them as neutral or authoritative guidance.
The key question is: which rules should apply? Advertising in chatbots may not resemble traditional ads, muddying the waters for regulation under digital advertising rules, AI governance frameworks, or both. The uncertainty matters largely because different rules come with varying disclosure, transparency, and accountability requirements.
Disclosure presents a further challenge for regulators. On traditional websites, sponsored content is usually labelled and visually separated from editorial material. In an LLM interface such as ChatGPT, however, any commercial influence may appear in the flow of an answer itself. This makes it harder for users to distinguish content shaped by commercial considerations from neutral responses.
In the European Union, this raises questions about how existing regulatory frameworks apply. Advertising in conversational AI may intersect with rules on transparency, manipulation, and user protection under current digital and AI legislation, including the AI Act, the Digital Services Act, and the Digital Markets Act. Clarifying how these frameworks operate in practice will be important as conversational AI systems continue to evolve.
ChatGPT ads and data governance
In the context of ChatGPT, conversational interactions can be more detailed than clicks or browsing history. Prompts may include personal, professional, or sensitive information, which requires careful handling when introducing advertising models. Even without personalised targeting, conversational data still requires clear boundaries. As AI systems scale, maintaining user trust will depend on transparent data practices and strong privacy safeguards.
Then, there’s data retention. Advertising incentives can increase pressure to store conversations for longer periods or to find new ways to extract value from them. For users, this raises concerns about how their data is handled, who has access to it, and how securely it is protected. Even if OpenAI initially avoids personalised advertising, the lingering allure will remain a central issue in the discussion about advertising in ChatGPT, not a secondary one.
Clear policies around data use and retention will therefore play a central role in shaping how advertising is introduced. Limits on how long conversations are stored, how data is separated from advertising systems, and how access is controlled can help reduce user uncertainty. Transparency around these practices will be important in maintaining confidence as the platform evolves.
Simultaneously, regulatory expectations and public scrutiny are likely to influence how far advertising models develop. As ChatGPT becomes more widely used across personal, professional, and institutional settings, decisions around data handling will carry broader implications. How OpenAI balances commercial sustainability with privacy and trust may ultimately shape wider norms for advertising in conversational AI.
How ChatGPT ads could reshape the AI ecosystem
We have touched on the potential drawbacks of AI models adopting an ad-revenue model, but what about the benefits? If ChatGPT successfully integrates advertising, it could set an important precedent for the broader industry. As the provider of one of the most widely used general-purpose AI systems, OpenAI’s decisions are closely watched by competitors, policymakers, and investors.
One likely effect would be the gradual normalisation of ad-funded AI assistants. If advertising proves to be a stable revenue source without triggering significant backlash, other providers may view it as a practical path to sustainability. Over time, this could shift user expectations, making advertising a standard feature rather than an exception in conversational AI tools.
Advertising may also intensify competitive pressure on open, academic, or non-profit AI models. Such systems often operate with more limited funding and may struggle to match the resources of ad-supported platforms such as ChatGPT. As a result, the gap between large commercial providers and alternative models could widen, especially in areas such as infrastructure, model performance, and distribution.
Taken together, these dynamics could strengthen the role of major AI providers as gatekeepers. Beyond controlling access to technology, they may increasingly influence which products, services, or ideas gain visibility through AI-mediated interactions. Such a concentration of influence would not be unique to AI, but it raises familiar questions about competition, diversity, and power in digital information ecosystems.
ChatGPT advertising and evolving governance frameworks
Advertising in ChatGPT is not simply a business decision. It highlights a broader shift in the way knowledge, economic incentives, and large-scale AI systems interact. As conversational AI becomes more embedded in everyday life, these developments offer an opportunity to rethink how digital services can remain both accessible and sustainable.
For policymakers and governance bodies, the focus is less on whether advertising appears and more on how it is implemented. Clear rules around transparency, accountability, and user protection can help ensure that conversational AI evolves in ways that support trust, choice, and fair competition, while allowing innovation to continue.
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India’s first AI-generated travel influencer, Radhika Subramaniam, has begun attracting sustained audience engagement since her launch in mid-2025, signalling growing acceptance of virtual creators in travel content.
Developed by Collective Artists Network, a talent management company based in India, Radhika initially drew attention through curiosity, but followers increasingly interacted with her posts in ways similar to those of human influencers, according to the company’s leadership.
Industry observers say AI travel influencers offer brands greater efficiency, lower production costs, and more control over storytelling, as virtual creators can be deployed without logistical constraints.
Some creators remain sceptical about whether artificial personas can replicate the emotional authenticity and sensory experiences that shape real-world travel storytelling.
Marketing specialists expect AI and human influencers to coexist, with virtual avatars serving as consistent brand voices while human creators retain value through spontaneity, trust, and personal perspective.
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Apple has issued a renewed warning to iPhone users, urging them to install the latest version of iOS to avoid exposure to emerging spyware threats targeting older versions.
Devices running iOS 26 are no longer fully protected by remaining on version 18, even after updating to the latest patch. Apple has indicated that recent attacks exploit vulnerabilities that only the newest operating system can address.
Security agencies in France and the United States recommend regularly powering down smartphones to disrupt certain forms of non-persistent spyware that operate in memory.
A complete shutdown using physical buttons, rather than on-screen controls, is advised as part of a basic security routine, particularly for users who delay major software upgrades.
While restarting alone cannot replace software updates, experts stress that keeping iOS up to date remains the most effective defence against zero-click exploits delivered through everyday apps such as iMessage.
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Millions of browser users installed popular extensions that later became spyware as part of a long-running malware operation. Researchers linked over 100 Chrome, Edge and Firefox extensions to the DarkSpectre hacker group.
Attackers kept extensions legitimate for years before quietly activating malicious behaviour. Hidden code embedded in image files helped bypass security reviews in official browser stores.
The campaign enabled large-scale surveillance by collecting real-time browsing activity and corporate meeting data. Analysts warn that such information supports phishing, impersonation and corporate espionage.
Experts urge users to remove unused extensions and question excessive permission requests. Regular browser updates and cautious extension management remain essential cyber defences.
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The team behind the Astro web framework is joining Cloudflare, strengthening long-term support for open-source tools used to build fast, content-driven websites.
Major brands and developers widely use Astro to create pages that load quickly by limiting the amount of JavaScript that runs during initial rendering, improving performance and search visibility.
Cloudflare said Astro will remain open source and continue to be developed independently, ensuring long-term stability for the framework and its global user community.
Astro’s creators said the move will allow faster development and broader infrastructure support, while keeping the framework available to developers regardless of hosting provider.
The company added that Astro already underpins platforms such as Webflow and Wix, and that recent updates have expanded runtime support and improved build speeds.
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Canada’s investment regulator has confirmed a major data breach affecting around 750,000 people after a phishing attack in August 2025.
The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) said threat actors accessed and copied a limited set of investigative, compliance, and market surveillance data. Some internal systems were taken offline as a precaution, but core regulatory operations continued across the country.
CIRO reported that personal and financial information was exposed, including income details, identification records, contact information, account numbers, and financial statements collected during regulatory activities in Canada.
No passwords or PINs were compromised, and the organisation said there is no evidence that the stolen data has been misused or shared on the dark web.
Affected individuals are being offered two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection as CIRO continues to monitor for further malicious activity nationwide.
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