Key Internet developments

Generative AI use grows across the EU

In 2025, nearly a third of people aged 16–74 across the European Union reported using generative AI tools, according to Eurostat. Most respondents used AI for personal tasks, while fewer applied it for work or education.

The survey data illustrate how generative AI is becoming a part of daily life for millions of Europeans, offering new ways to interact with technology and access creative tools that were once limited to specialists.

Generative AI tools are capable of producing new content, including text, images, videos, programming code, or other forms of data, based on patterns learned from existing examples. Users provide input or prompts, such as instructions or questions, which the AI then uses to generate tailored outputs.

This accessibility is helping people across the EU experiment with technology for both practical and recreational purposes, from drafting documents to designing visuals or exploring creative ideas, demonstrating the growing influence of AI on digital culture and personal productivity.

Adoption of generative AI varies significantly across the EU. Denmark, Estonia, and Malta recorded the highest usage, with nearly half of residents actively engaging with these tools, while Romania, Italy, and Bulgaria showed the lowest uptake, with fewer than a quarter of the population using AI.

These differences may reflect variations in digital infrastructure, education, and public awareness, as well as cultural attitudes toward emerging technologies.

Overall, the Eurostat data provide a snapshot of a digital landscape in transition, reflecting how Europeans are adapting to a new era of intelligent technology.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

OpenAI’s GPT-5 shows a breakthrough in wet lab biology

New research has been published by OpenAI, examining whether advanced AI models can accelerate biological research within the wet lab, rather than just supporting theoretical science.

Working with biosecurity firm Red Queen Bio, researchers tested GPT-5 within a tightly controlled molecular cloning system designed to measure practical laboratory improvements.

Across multiple experimental rounds, GPT-5 independently proposed protocol modifications, analysed results and refined its approach using experimental feedback.

The model introduced a previously unexplored enzymatic mechanism that combines RecA and gp32 proteins, along with adjustments to reaction timing and temperature, resulting in a 79-fold increase in cloning efficiency compared to the baseline protocol.

OpenAI emphasises that all experiments were carried out under strict biosecurity safeguards and still relied on human scientists to execute laboratory work.

Even so, the findings suggest AI systems could work alongside researchers to reduce costs, accelerate experimentation and improve scientific productivity while informing future safety and governance frameworks.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

AI and crypto reshape holiday shopping this year

Visa survey data points to a significant shift in holiday shopping behaviour, with AI now embedded in everyday purchasing decisions. Nearly half of US consumers report using AI tools, mainly to discover gift ideas and compare prices more efficiently.

Digital currencies are also moving closer to the mainstream. More than one in four respondents would welcome cryptocurrency as a gift, while interest among Gen Z rises sharply. Expectations surrounding stablecoins are growing, with many consumers anticipating their wider adoption over the next decade.

Gen Z continues to lead adoption of digital-first commerce, favouring biometrics, social media shopping, overseas purchases and crypto payments.

Digital wallets are gaining parity with physical cards among younger shoppers, signalling a shift in payment method preferences.

Despite enthusiasm for new technologies, trust remains a central concern. Consumers still value human customer service and want clearer insight into how AI uses personal data, while concerns about online scams remain widespread during the holiday season.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

OpenAI upgrades ChatGPT with faster AI images

The US tech company OpenAI has rolled out a significant update to ChatGPT with the launch of GPT Images 1.5, strengthening its generative image capabilities.

A new model that produces photorealistic images using text prompts at speeds up to four times faster than earlier versions, reflecting OpenAI’s push to make visual generation more practical for everyday use.

Users can upload existing photos and modify them through natural language instructions, allowing objects to be added, removed, combined or blended with minimal effort.

OpenAI highlights applications such as clothing and hairstyle try-ons, alongside stylistic filters designed to support creative experimentation while preserving realistic visual quality.

The update also introduces a redesigned ChatGPT interface, including a dedicated Images section available via the sidebar on both mobile apps and the web.

GPT Images 1.5 is now accessible to regular users, while Business and Enterprise subscribers are expected to receive enhanced access and additional features in the coming weeks.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Vietnam expands 5G and strengthens digital trust

Vietnam’s 5G network now reaches approximately 59 percent of the population, slightly over one year after commercial services launched in October 2024.

Government data presented at Internet Day 2025 show that Vietnam ranks 10th globally for fixed broadband speed and 15th for mobile broadband, reflecting rapid improvements in national connectivity.

Officials described the Internet as a second living space for citizens, with nearly 80 million users spending an average of seven hours online each day for work, education and social interaction.

Authorities highlighted that expanded 5G coverage supports the development of a digital economy, e-government services and a more connected digital society.

Alongside infrastructure growth, policymakers stressed the need for stronger digital trust.

Vietnam is shifting towards clearer legal frameworks instead of reliance on voluntary self-regulation, while prioritising cybersecurity, data governance and protection against online fraud, deepfakes and AI-driven deception to sustain long-term digital transformation.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Study warns that LLMs are vulnerable to minimal tampering

Researchers from Anthropic, the UK AI Security Institute and the Alan Turing Institute have shown that only a few hundred crafted samples can poison LLM models. The tests revealed that around 250 malicious entries could embed a backdoor that triggers gibberish responses when a specific phrase appears.

Models ranging from 600 million to 13 billion parameters (such as Pythia) were affected, highlighting the scale-independent nature of the weakness. A planted phrase such as ‘sudo’ caused output collapse, raising concerns about targeted disruption and the ease of manipulating widely trained systems.

Security specialists note that denial-of-service effects are worrying, yet deceptive outputs pose far greater risk. Prior studies already demonstrated that medical and safety-critical models can be destabilised by tiny quantities of misleading data, heightening the urgency for robust dataset controls.

Researchers warn that open ecosystems and scraped corpora make silent data poisoning increasingly feasible. Developers are urged to adopt stronger provenance checks and continuous auditing, as reliance on LLMs continues to expand for AI purposes across technical and everyday applications.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

Tiiny AI unveils the Pocket Lab supercomputer

Tiiny AI has revealed the Pocket Lab, a palm-sized device recognised as the world’s smallest personal AI supercomputer. Guinness World Records confirmed the title, noting its ability to run models with up to 120 billion parameters.

The Pocket Lab uses an ARM v9.2 CPU, a discrete NPU delivering 190 TOPS and 80GB of LPDDR5X memory. Popular open-source models such as GPT-OSS, Llama, Qwen, Mistral, DeepSeek and Phi are supported. Tiiny AI says its hardware makes large-scale reasoning possible in a handheld format.

Two in-house technologies enhance efficiency by distributing workloads and reducing unnecessary activations. TurboSparse manages sparse neuron activity to preserve capability while improving speed, and PowerInfer splits computation across the CPU and NPU.

Tiiny AI plans a full showcase at CES 2026, with pricing and release information still pending. Analysts want to see how the device performs in real-world tasks compared with much larger systems. The company believes the Pocket Lab will shift expectations for personal AI hardware.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot! 

AI use grows among EU enterprises in 2025

In 2025, one in five EU enterprises with at least ten employees reported using AI technologies, marking a significant rise from 13.5% in 2024. AI adoption has more than doubled since 2021, showing its increasing use in business across the EU.

Nordic countries led the way, with Denmark at 42%, Finland at 37.8%, and Sweden at 35%. In contrast, Romania, Poland, and Bulgaria had the lowest adoption rates, ranging from 5.2% to 8.5%.

Almost all EU member states recorded increases compared with the previous year, with Denmark, Finland, and Lithuania showing the most significant gains.

Enterprises mainly used AI to analyse text, generate multimedia, produce language, and convert speech into machine-readable formats. Analysing written language saw the most significant growth in 2025, followed by content generation, highlighting AI’s expanding role in communication and data processing.

Rising AI adoption is also linked to efficiency gains and innovation across EU businesses. Companies report using AI to streamline operations, support decision-making, and enhance customer engagement, signalling broader economic and technological impacts.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

OpenAI launches GPT‑5.2 for professional knowledge work

OpenAI has introduced GPT‑5.2, its most advanced model series to date, designed to enhance professional knowledge work. Users report significant time savings, with daily reductions of 40-60 minutes and more than 10 hours per week for heavy users.

The new model excels at generating spreadsheets, presentations, and code, while also handling complex, multi-step projects with improved speed and accuracy.

Performance benchmarks show GPT‑5.2 surpasses industry professionals on GDPval tasks across 44 occupations, producing outputs over eleven times faster and at a fraction of the cost.

Coding abilities have also reached a new standard, encompassing debugging, refactoring, front-end UI work, and multi-language software engineering tasks, providing engineers with a more reliable daily assistant.

GPT‑5.2 Thinking improves long-context reasoning, vision, and tool-calling capabilities. It accurately interprets long documents, charts, and graphical interfaces while coordinating multi-agent workflows.

The model also demonstrates enhanced factual accuracy and fewer hallucinations, making it more dependable for research, analysis, and decision-making.

The rollout includes ChatGPT Instant, Thinking, and Pro plans, as well as API access for developers. Early tests show GPT‑5.2 accelerates research, solves complex problems, and improves professional workflows, setting a new benchmark for real-world AI tasks.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

US approaches universal 5G as global adoption surges

New data from Omdia and 5G Americas showed rapid global growth in wireless connectivity during the third quarter of 2025, with nearly three billion 5G connections worldwide.

North America remained the most advanced region in terms of adoption, reaching penetration levels that almost match its population.

The US alone recorded 341 million 5G connections, marking one of the highest per capita adoption rates in the world, compared to the global average, which remains far lower.

Analysts noted that strong device availability and sustained investment continue to reinforce the region’s leadership. Enhanced features such as improved uplink performance and integrated sensing are expected to accelerate the shift towards early 5G-Advanced capabilities.

Growth in cellular IoT also remained robust. North America supported more than 270 million connected devices and is forecast to reach nearly half a billion by 2030 as sectors such as manufacturing and utilities expand their use of connected systems.

AI is becoming central to these deployments by managing traffic, automating operations and enabling more innovative industrial applications.

Future adoption is set to intensify as regional 5G connections are projected to surpass 8.6 billion by 2030.

Rising interest in fixed wireless access is driving multi-device usage, offering high-speed connectivity for households and small firms instead of relying solely on fibre networks that remain patchy in many areas.

Globally, the sector has reached more than 78 million connections, with strong annual growth. Analysts believe that expanding infrastructure will support demand for low-latency connectivity, and the addition of satellite-based systems is expected to extend coverage to remote locations.

By mid-November 2025, operators had launched 379 commercial 5G networks worldwide, including seventeen in North America. A similar number of LTE networks operated across the region.

Industry observers said that expanding terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks will form a layered architecture that strengthens resilience, supports emergency response and improves service continuity across land, sea and air.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!