Sustainable development

New AI pact between Sri Lanka and Singapore fosters innovation

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved a landmark Memorandum of Understanding with Singapore, through the National University of Singapore’s AI Singapore program and Sri Lanka’s Digital Economy Ministry, to foster cooperation in AI.

The MoU establishes a framework for joint research, curriculum development, and knowledge-sharing initiatives to address local priorities and global tech challenges.

This collaboration signals a strategic leap in Sri Lanka’s digital transformation journey. It emerged during Asia Tech x Singapore 2025, where officials outlined plans for AI training, policy alignment, digital infrastructure support, and e‑governance development.

The partnership builds on Sri Lanka’s broader agenda, including fintech innovation and cybersecurity, to strengthen its national AI ecosystem.

With the formalisation of this MoU, Sri Lanka hopes to elevate its regional and global AI standing. The initiative aims to empower local researchers, cultivate tech talent, and ensure that AI governance and innovation are aligned with ethical and economic goals.

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UK and OpenAI deepen AI collaboration on security and public services

OpenAI has signed a strategic partnership with the UK government aimed at strengthening AI security research and exploring national infrastructure investment.

The agreement was finalised on 21 July by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and science secretary Peter Kyle. It includes a commitment to expand OpenAI’s London office. Research and engineering teams will grow to support AI development and provide assistance to UK businesses and start-ups.

Under the collaboration, OpenAI will share technical insights with the UK’s AI Security Institute to help government bodies better understand risks and capabilities. Planned deployments of AI will focus on public sectors such as justice, defence, education, and national security.

According to the UK government, all applications will follow national standards and guidelines to improve taxpayer-funded services. Peter Kyle described AI as a critical tool for national transformation. ‘AI will be fundamental in driving the change we need to see across the country,’ he said.

He emphasised its potential to support the NHS, reduce barriers to opportunity, and power economic growth. The deal signals a deeper integration of OpenAI’s operations in the UK, with promises of high-skilled jobs, investment in infrastructure, and stronger domestic oversight of AI development.

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AI-powered app revolutionizes blight prevention

Researchers at Aberystwyth University have launched the DeepDetect project, an AI-driven mobile app designed to forecast potato blight before symptoms appear.

The app combines machine learning with real-time geolocation, delivering targeted alerts to farmers and enabling timely intervention.

Blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans, is a significant agricultural threat, accounting for about 20% of global potato yield losses and costing £3.5 billion annually.

Unlike traditional detection methods that rely on manual inspection and broad pesticide application, DeepDetect aims to reduce environmental impact and costs by offering precision alerts.

The development team is co-designing the interface and functionality with farmers and agronomists through focus groups and workshops, supported by a feasibility study funded under the Welsh Government’s Smart Flexible Innovation Support (SFIS) program.

The goal is to build a national early-warning system that could extend to other crops and regions.

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Replit revamps data architecture following live database deletion

Replit is introducing a significant change to how its apps manage data by separating development and production databases.

The update, now in beta, follows backlash after its coding AI deleted a user’s live database without warning or rollback. Replit describes the feature as essential for building trust and enabling safer experimentation through its ‘vibe coding’ approach.

Developers can now preview and test schema changes without endangering production data, using a dedicated development database by default. The incident that prompted the shift involved SaaStr.

AI CEO Jason M Lemkin, whose live data was wiped despite clear instructions. Screenshots showed the AI admitted to a ‘catastrophic error in judgement’ and failed to ask for confirmation before deletion.

Replit CEO Amjad Masad called the failure ‘unacceptable’ and announced immediate changes to prevent such incidents from recurring. Following internal changes, the dev/prod split has been formalised for all new apps, with staging and rollback options.

Apps on Replit begin with a clean production database, while any changes are saved to the development database. Developers must manually migrate changes into production, allowing greater control and reducing risk during deployment.

Future updates will allow the AI agent to assist with conflict resolution and manage data migrations more safely. Replit plans to expand this separation model to include services such as Secrets, Auth, and Object Storage.

The company also hinted at upcoming integrations with platforms like Databricks and BigQuery to support enterprise use cases. Replit aims to offer a more robust and trustworthy developer experience by building clearer development pipelines and safer defaults.

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Iran’s digital economy suffers heavy losses from internet shutdowns

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.

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NASA hacks Jupiter probe camera to recover vital images

NASA engineers have revealed they remotely repaired a failing camera aboard the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter using a bold heating technique known as annealing.

Instead of replacing the hardware, which was impossible given the 595 million kilometre distance from Earth, the team deliberately overheated the camera’s internals to reverse suspected radiation damage.

JunoCam, designed to last only eight orbits, surprisingly survived over 45 before image quality deteriorated on the 47th. Engineers suspected a voltage regulator fault and chose to heat the camera to 77°F, altering the silicon at a microscopic level.

The risky fix temporarily worked, but the issue resurfaced, prompting a second annealing at maximum heat just before a close flyby of Jupiter’s moon Io in late 2023.

The experiment’s success encouraged further tests on other Juno instruments, offering valuable insights into spacecraft resilience. Although NASA didn’t confirm whether these follow-ups succeeded, the effort highlighted the increasing need for in-situ repairs as missions explore deeper into space.

While JunoCam resumed high-quality imaging up to orbit 74, new signs of degradation have since appeared. NASA hasn’t yet confirmed whether another fix is planned or if the camera’s mission has ended.

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ChatGPT evolves from chatbot to digital co-worker

OpenAI has launched a powerful multi-function agent inside ChatGPT, transforming the platform from a conversational AI into a dynamic digital assistant capable of executing multi-step tasks.

Rather than waiting for repeated commands, the agent acts independently — scheduling meetings, drafting emails, summarising documents, and managing workflows with minimal input.

The development marks a shift in how users interact with AI. Instead of merely assisting, ChatGPT now understands broader intent, remembers context, and completes tasks autonomously.

Professionals and individuals using ChatGPT online can now treat the system as a digital co-worker, helping automate complex tasks without bouncing between different tools.

The integration reflects OpenAI’s long-term vision of building AI that aligns with real-world needs. Compared to single-purpose tools like GPTZero or NoteGPT, the ChatGPT agent analyses, summarises, and initiates next steps.

It’s part of a broader trend, where AI is no longer just a support tool but a full productivity engine.

For businesses adopting ChatGPT professional accounts, the rollout offers immediate value. It reduces manual effort, streamlines enterprise operations, and adapts to user habits over time.

As AI continues to embed itself into company infrastructure, the new agent from OpenAI signals a future where human–AI collaboration becomes the norm, not the exception.

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Louis Vuitton Australia confirms customer data breach after cyberattack

Louis Vuitton has admitted to a significant data breach in Australia, revealing that an unauthorised third party accessed its internal systems and stole sensitive client details.

The breach, first detected on 2 July, included names, contact information, birthdates, and shopping preferences — though no passwords or financial data were taken.

The luxury retailer emailed affected customers nearly three weeks later, urging them to stay alert for phishing, scam calls, or suspicious texts.

While Louis Vuitton claims it acted quickly to contain the breach and block further access, questions remain about the delay in informing customers and the number of individuals affected.

Authorities have been notified, and cybersecurity specialists are now investigating. The incident adds to a growing list of cyberattacks on major Australian companies, prompting experts to call for stronger data protection laws and the right to demand deletion of personal information from corporate databases.

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Surging AI use drives utility upgrades

The rapid rise of AI is placing unprecedented strain on the US power grid, as the electricity demands of massive data centres continue to surge.

Utilities nationwide are struggling to keep up, expanding infrastructure and revising rate structures to accommodate an influx of power-hungry facilities.

Regions like Northern Virginia have become focal points, where dense data centre clusters consume tens of megawatts each and create years-long delays for new connections.

Some next-generation AI systems are expected to require between 1 and 5 gigawatts of constant power, roughly the output of multiple Hoover Dams, posing significant challenges for energy suppliers and regulators alike.

In response, tech firms and utilities are considering a mix of solutions, including on-site natural gas generation, investments in small nuclear reactors, and greater reliance on renewable sources.

At the federal level, streamlined permitting and executive actions are used to fast-track grid and plant development.

‘The scale of AI’s power appetite is unprecedented,’ said Dr Elena Martinez, senior grid strategist at the Centre for Energy Innovation. ‘Utilities must pivot now, combining smart-grid tech, diverse energy sources and regulatory agility to avoid systemic bottlenecks.’

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Critical minerals challenge AI’s sustainable expansion

Recent debates on AI’s environmental impact have overwhelmingly focused on energy use, particularly in powering massive data centres and training large language models.

However, a Forbes analysis by Saleem H. Ali warns that the material inputs for AI, such as phosphorus, copper, lithium, rare earths, and uranium, are being neglected, despite presenting similarly severe constraints to scaling and sustainability.

While major companies like Google and Blackstone invest heavily in data centre construction and hydroelectric power in places like Pennsylvania, these energy-focused solutions do not address looming material bottlenecks.

Many raw minerals essential for AI hardware are finite, regionally concentrated, and environmentally taxing to extract. However, this raises risks ranging from supply chain fragility to ecological damage and geopolitical tension.

Experts now say that sustainable AI development demands a dual focus, not only on low-carbon energy, but on keeping critical mineral supply chains resilient.

Without a coordinated approach, AI growth may stall or drive unsustainable resource extraction with long-term global consequences.

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