Sustainable development

Pakistan launches national AI innovation competition

Pakistan’s Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives has launched a national innovation competition to drive the development of AI solutions in priority sectors. The initiative aims to attract top talent to develop impactful health, education, agriculture, industry, and governance projects.

Minister Ahsan Iqbal said AI is no longer a distant prospect but a present reality that is already transforming economies. He described the competition as a milestone in Pakistan’s digital history and urged the nation to embrace AI’s global momentum.

Iqbal stressed that algorithms now shape decisions more than traditional markets, warning that technological dependence must be avoided. Pakistan, he argued, must actively participate in the AI revolution or risk being left behind by more advanced economies.

He highlighted AI’s potential to predict crop diseases, aid doctors in diagnosis, and deliver quality education to every child nationwide. He said Pakistan will not be a bystander but an emerging leader in shaping the digital future.

The government has begun integrating AI into curricula and expanding capacity-building initiatives. Officials expect the competition to unlock new opportunities for innovation, empowering youth and driving sustainable development across the country.

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

SoftBank invests $2 billion in Intel to boost US semiconductor industry

Japanese technology giant SoftBank has announced plans to buy a $2 billion stake in Intel, signalling a stronger push into the American semiconductor industry.

The investment comes as Washington debates greater government involvement in the sector, with reports suggesting President Donald Trump is weighing a US government stake in the chipmaker.

SoftBank will purchase Intel’s common stock at $23 per share. Its chairman, Masayoshi Son, said semiconductors remain the backbone of every industry and expressed confidence that advanced chip manufacturing will expand in the US, with Intel playing a central role.

The move follows SoftBank’s increasing investments in the US, including its role in the $500 billion ‘Stargate’ AI project announced earlier this year.

Once a dominant force in Silicon Valley, Intel has struggled against rivals such as Nvidia and AMD. Under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, the company is cutting 15% of its workforce and reducing costs to stabilise operations.

After a private meeting, Trump recently criticised Tan’s leadership but later softened his stance.

Shares in both companies slipped following the announcement, with SoftBank down 2.2% in Tokyo and Intel falling 3.7% in New York.

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

AfDB backs AI training to drive Africa’s Agenda 2063

The African Development Bank has strengthened Africa’s digital journey by backing a landmark AI training initiative linked to Agenda 2063. The effort aims to accelerate the continent’s long-term strategy, ‘The Africa We Want,’ by equipping states with practical expertise.

Through its Joint Secretariat Support Office, the Bank gave both technical and financial backing to the 5th Annual Training Workshop. The event focused on applying AI to monitoring, evaluation, and reporting under the Second Ten-Year Plan of Agenda 2063.

The Lusaka workshop, co-hosted by the African Union Commission and the African Capacity Building Foundation, featured sessions with Ailyse, ChatGPT, Google AI Studio, Google Gemini, and Perplexity. Delegates explored embedding AI insights into analytics for stronger policymaking and accountability.

By investing in institutional capacity, the AfDB and partners aim to advance AI-enabled solutions that improve policy interventions, resource allocation, and national priorities. The initiative reflects a broader effort to integrate digital tools into Africa’s governance structures.

The workshop also fostered peer learning, allowing delegates to share best practices in digital monitoring frameworks. By driving AI adoption in planning and results delivery, the AfDB underlines its role as a partner in Africa’s transformation.

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

Milky Way platform showcases Tredence’s vision for autonomous AI in business

Tredence has launched Milky Way, a multi-agent, multi-turn system that uses autonomous AI agents to accelerate enterprise decision-making. The platform introduces specialised agents that collaborate like digital co-workers, combining reasoning and execution to deliver outcomes at scale.

The system addresses a common challenge: converting enterprise data into timely and actionable insights. The Milky Way incorporates over 15 prebuilt agents across key business roles and more than 50 specialised agents trained on real-world enterprise scenarios.

Agents span critical functions, from marketing analysts optimising campaigns to supply chain analysts anticipating disruptions. Technical agents, such as anomaly detection and Text-to-SQL, complement them by handling operational complexity with accuracy and transparency.

Early trials have shown striking results, with companies reporting up to five times faster insights and 50% lower analytics costs. Global retailers cut manual effort by 60%, while healthcare providers streamlined patient data aggregation and triage, supporting speedier diagnosis.

Designed for enterprise-grade use, Milky Way integrates seamlessly with existing data systems, offering role-based access, full audit trails, and domain expertise. Tredence positions it as a step towards AI agents that deliver context-aware, scalable business outcomes.

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

AI agents tipped to outnumber humans online

Parag Agrawal, the former Twitter chief executive removed after Elon Musk’s takeover in 2022, has re-entered the technology sector with a new venture.

His company, Parallel Web Systems, is developing AI tools designed to help AI agents gather and analyse information online without human input.

The company’s first product, Deep Research API, outperforms human researchers and advanced models such as OpenAI’s GPT-5 on specific benchmarks.

Agrawal revealed that the system already supports millions of tasks daily and is used by coding agents to locate documents and fix errors. Parallel has secured 30 million dollars in funding and employs around 25 staff.

Agrawal had been Twitter’s chief technology officer before succeeding Jack Dorsey as chief executive in late 2021. After leaving the company, he returned to academic research and coding instead of joining other struggling firms.

He has argued that the internet will eventually be dominated by AI agents rather than human users, predicting that individuals may soon rely on dozens of agents to act on their behalf.

His views echo predictions from Coinbase developers, who recently suggested that AI agents could become the most significant users of Ethereum.

They propose that autonomous systems can handle stablecoin transfers and e-commerce transactions, enabling services from self-driving taxis to AI-powered content platforms.

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

Sam Altman admits OpenAI holds back stronger AI models

OpenAI recently unveiled GPT-5, a significant upgrade praised for its advances in accuracy, reasoning, writing, coding and multimodal capabilities. The model has also been designed to reduce hallucinations and excessive agreeableness.

Chief executive Sam Altman has admitted that OpenAI has even more powerful systems that cannot be released due to limited capacity.

Altman explained that the company must make difficult choices, as existing infrastructure cannot yet support the more advanced models. To address the issue, OpenAI plans to invest in new data centres, with spending potentially reaching trillions of dollars.

The shortage of computing power has already affected operations, including a cutback in image generation earlier in the year, following the viral Studio Ghibli-style trend.

Despite criticism of GPT-5 for offering shorter responses and lacking emotional depth, ChatGPT has grown significantly.

Altman said the platform is now the fifth most visited website worldwide and is on track to overtake Instagram and Facebook. However, he acknowledged that competing with Google will be far harder.

OpenAI intends to expand beyond ChatGPT with new standalone applications, potentially including an AI-driven social media service.

The company also backs Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface rival to Elon Musk’s Neuralink. It has partnered with former Apple designer Jony Ive to create a new AI device.

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

AI’s promise comes with a heavy environmental price

Governments worldwide are racing to harness the economic potential of AI, but the technology’s environmental toll is growing, and it is impossible to ignore. In the US, President Trump is calling for a ten-year freeze on AI regulation, while the UK is planning ‘AI growth zones’ filled with data centres. Yet these same centres consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, resources already under strain globally.

From 2027, AI systems are expected to use at least four billion cubic metres of water annually, five times Denmark’s yearly consumption. That raises a pressing dilemma: How to support innovation without deepening an already critical global water crisis, where one in four people lacks access to clean drinking water?

The paradox is stark. AI is driving breakthroughs in medicine, agriculture, and climate science, with systems predicting cancer-fighting protein structures and detecting deforestation from space.

AI could save the UK government tens of billions in the public sector by automating routine tasks. But powering these advances requires vast, always-on data centres, which last year in the US alone consumed enough electricity for seven million homes.

Regulators are beginning to respond. The EU now requires big data centres to disclose energy and water use.

The UK, however, has yet to weave AI infrastructure into its climate and planning strategies, a gap that could worsen grid congestion and even delay housing projects. Public concern is mounting: four of five Britons believe AI needs stricter oversight.

Experts say transparency is key. Mandatory reporting on emissions, water use, and energy consumption could give citizens and policymakers the data they need to act. Incentives for efficiency, renewable energy requirements, and creative solutions like using data centre heat to warm homes are already being tested abroad.

The technology’s potential remains enormous. Studies suggest AI could cut more than five billion tonnes of global emissions by 2035, with energy, transport, and food applications. But unless sustainability becomes central to the UK’s AI strategy, the race to innovate risks becoming a sprint into environmental crisis.

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

Energy crisis in Iran sparks protests over crypto mining

Iran’s energy shortage has sparked public anger, with residents blaming crypto mining and government mismanagement for blackouts and water scarcity. Demonstrations have broken out across several towns, with protesters demanding accountability.

The crisis has been exacerbated by record drought, soaring summer heat, and the drying of Lake Urmia. Tehran government buildings have shut down to save electricity, and hospitals face power cuts affecting patient care.

Videos shared on social media show protesters chanting ‘water, electricity, life – these are our indisputable rights’ as outages hit homes and businesses. Small traders say they cannot keep shops open, while medics in darkened wards have used handheld fans.

Critics say energy is diverted to IRGC-linked crypto mining, while experts warn of long-term mismanagement. President Masoud Pezeshkian has described the situation as ‘serious and unimaginable’, urging action as public resentment grows ahead of a volatile political season.

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

Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust reshapes care with AI and robotic

At The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, AI is beginning to transform how doctors and patients experience healthcare, cutting down on paperwork and making surgery more precise. Hospital leaders say the shift is already delivering tangible results, from faster clinical letters to reduced patient hospital visits.

One of the most impactful innovations is CLEARNotes, a system that records and summarises doctor-patient consultations. Instead of doctors spending days drafting clinic letters, the technology reduces turnaround time from as long as a week to just a day or two. Clinicians report that this tool saves time and improves productivity by as much as 25% in some clinics while ensuring that safety and governance standards remain intact.

Surgery is another area where technology is making its mark. The trust operates two Da Vinci Xi robots, now a regular feature in complex procedures, including urology, colorectal, cardiothoracic, and gynaecology cases. Compared to traditional keyhole surgery, robotic operations give surgeons better control and dexterity through a console linked to a 3D camera, while patients benefit from shorter stays and faster recoveries.

Digital tools also shape the patient’s journey before surgery begins. With My Pre-Op, patients complete their pre-operative questionnaires online from home, reducing unnecessary hospital visits and helping to ensure they are in the best condition for their operation. Hospital staff say this streamlines both efficiency and patient comfort.

The innovations recently drew praise from Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, who visited the hospital to see the systems in action. He described the trust’s embrace of AI and robotics as ‘inspiring,’ noting how safe experimentation and digital adoption already translate into improved care and efficiency. For Wolverhampton’s healthcare providers, the changes represent not just a technological upgrade but a glimpse into the future of how the NHS might deliver care across the country.

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

Singapore sets jobs as top priority amid global uncertainty

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said employment for citizens will remain the government’s top priority as the nation confronts global trade tensions and the rapid advance of AI.

Speaking at the annual National Day Rally to mark Singapore’s 60th year, Wong pointed to the risks created by the US–China rivalry, renewed tariff policies under President Donald Trump, and the pressure technology places on workers.

In his first primary address since the May election, Wong emphasised the need to reinforce the trade-reliant economy, expand social safety nets and redevelop parts of the island.

He pledged to protect Singaporeans from external shocks by maintaining stability instead of pursuing risky shifts. ‘Ultimately, our economic strategy is about jobs, jobs and jobs. That’s our number one priority,’ he said.

The government has introduced new welfare measures, including the country’s first unemployment benefits and wider subsidies for food, utilities and education.

Wong also announced initiatives to help enterprises use AI more effectively, such as a job-matching platform and a government-backed traineeship programme for graduates.

Looking ahead, Wong said Singapore would draw up a new economic blueprint to secure its future in a world shaped by protectionism, climate challenges and changing energy needs.

After stronger-than-expected results in the first half of the year, the government recently raised its growth forecast for 2025 to between 1.5% and 2.5%.

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