Sustainable development

Nurses gain AI support as Microsoft evolves Dragon Copilot in healthcare

Microsoft has announced major AI upgrades to Dragon Copilot, its healthcare assistant, extending ambient and generative AI capabilities to nursing workflows and third-party partner integrations.

The update is designed to improve patient journeys, reduce administrative workloads and enhance efficiency across healthcare systems.

The new features allow partners to integrate their own AI applications directly into Dragon Copilot, helping clinicians access trusted information, automate documentation and streamline financial management without leaving their workflow.

Partnerships with Elsevier, Wolters Kluwer, Atropos Health, Canary Speech and others will provide real-time decision support, clinical insights and revenue cycle automation.

Microsoft is also introducing the first commercial ambient AI solution built for nurses, designed to reduce burnout and enhance care quality.

A technology that automatically records nurse-patient interactions and transforms them into editable documentation for electronic health records, saving time and supporting accuracy.

Nurses can also access medical content within the same interface and automate note-taking and summaries, allowing greater focus on patient care.

The company says these developments mark a new phase in its AI strategy for healthcare, strengthening its collaboration with providers and partners.

Microsoft aims to make clinical workflows more connected, reliable and human-centred, while supporting safe, evidence-based decision-making through its expanding ecosystem of AI tools.

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Microsoft warns of a surge in ransomware and extortion incidents

Financially motivated cybercrime now accounts for the majority of global digital threats, according to Microsoft’s latest Digital Defense Report.

The company’s analysts found that over half of all cyber incidents with known motives in the past year were driven by extortion or ransomware, while espionage represented only a small fraction.

Microsoft warns that automation and accessible off-the-shelf tools have allowed criminals with limited technical skills to launch widespread attacks, making cybercrime a constant global threat.

The report reveals that attackers increasingly target critical services such as hospitals and local governments, where weak security and urgent operational demands make them easy victims.

Cyberattacks on these sectors have already led to real-world harm, from disrupted emergency care to halted transport systems. Microsoft highlights that collaboration between governments and private industry is essential to protect vulnerable sectors and maintain vital services.

While profit-seeking criminals dominate by volume, nation-state actors are also expanding their reach. State-sponsored operations are growing more sophisticated and unpredictable, with espionage often intertwined with financial motives.

Some state actors even exploit the same cybercriminal networks, complicating attribution and increasing risks for global organisations.

Microsoft notes that AI is being used by both attackers and defenders. Criminals are employing AI to refine phishing campaigns, generate synthetic media and develop adaptive malware, while defenders rely on AI to detect threats faster and close security gaps.

The report urges leaders to prioritise cybersecurity as a strategic responsibility, adopt phishing-resistant multifactor authentication, and build strong defences across industries.

Security, Microsoft concludes, must now be treated as a shared societal duty rather than an isolated technical task.

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AI Infrastructure Partnership and BlackRock consortium acquire Aligned Data Centers

A consortium comprising the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership, MGX, and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners has announced the acquisition of Aligned Data Centers for an estimated forty billion dollars.

The move marks a major step towards expanding the infrastructure underpinning global AI and cloud growth.

Aligned, headquartered in Dallas, operates more than fifty campuses and five gigawatts of capacity across the US and Latin America. The company is known for its patented air, liquid, and hybrid cooling systems that enhance efficiency and sustainability, particularly in high-density AI environments.

Under the consortium, Aligned will accelerate the development of scalable and energy-efficient data facilities to meet rising global demand.

The Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership was founded by BlackRock, GIP, MGX, Microsoft, and NVIDIA to advance large-scale AI infrastructure investment.

Backed by sovereign wealth funds from Kuwait and Singapore, it aims to mobilise thirty billion dollars in equity and up to one hundred billion, including debt.

The Aligned acquisition represents its first major investment and positions the company as a cornerstone of the group’s strategy.

Executives from BlackRock, MGX, and GIP said the deal reflects a shared commitment to building sustainable, resilient infrastructure for the AI era.

Aligned CEO Andrew Schaap added that the partnership would strengthen the company’s global reach and innovation capacity, redefining standards for digital infrastructure in an increasingly AI-driven economy.

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Adaptive optics meets AI for cellular-scale eye care

AI is moving from lab demos to frontline eye care, with clinicians using algorithms alongside routine fundus photos to spot disease before symptoms appear. The aim is simple: catch diabetic retinopathy early enough to prevent avoidable vision loss and speed referrals for treatment.

New imaging workflows pair adaptive optics with machine learning to shrink scan times from hours to minutes while preserving single-cell detail. At the US National Eye Institute, models recover retinal pigment epithelium features and clean noisy OCT data to make standard scans more informative.

Duke University’s open-source DCAOSLO goes further by combining multiplexed light signals with AI to capture cellular-scale images quickly. The approach eases patient strain and raises the odds of getting diagnostic-quality data in busy clinics.

Clinic-ready diagnostics are already changing triage. LumineticsCore, the first FDA-cleared AI to detect more-than-mild diabetic retinopathy from primary-care images, flags who needs urgent referral in seconds, enabling earlier laser or pharmacologic therapy.

Researchers also see the retina as a window on wider health, linking vascular and choroidal biomarkers to diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular risk. Standardised AI tools promise more reproducible reads, support for trials and, ultimately, home-based monitoring that extends specialist insight beyond the clinic.

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Capita hit with £14 million fine after major data breach

The UK outsourcing firm Capita has been fined £14 million after a cyber-attack exposed the personal data of 6.6 million people. Sensitive information, including financial details, home addresses, passport images, and criminal records, was compromised.

Initially, the fine was £45 million, but it was reduced after Capita improved its cybersecurity, supported affected individuals, and engaged with regulators.

A breach that affected 325 of the 600 pension schemes Capita manages, highlighting risks for organisations handling large-scale sensitive data.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) criticised Capita for failing to secure personal information, emphasising that proper security measures could have prevented the incident.

Experts note that holding companies financially accountable reinforces the importance of data protection and sends a message to the market.

Capita’s CEO said the company has strengthened its cyber defences and remains vigilant to prevent future breaches.

The UK government has advised companies like Capita to prepare contingency plans following a rise in nationally significant cyberattacks, a trend also seen at Co-op, M&S, Harrods, and Jaguar Land Rover earlier in the year.

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Microsoft to support UAE investment analytics with responsible AI tools

The UAE Ministry of Investment and Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding at GITEX Global 2025 to apply AI to investment analytics, financial forecasting, and retail optimisation. The deal aims to strengthen data governance across the investment ecosystem.

Under the MoU, Microsoft will support upskilling through its AI National Skilling Initiative, targeting 100,000 government employees. Training will focus on practical adoption, responsible use, and measurable outcomes, in line with the UAE’s National AI Strategy 2031.

Both parties will promote best practices in data management using Azure services such as Data Catalog and Purview. Workshops and knowledge-sharing sessions with local experts will standardise governance. Strong controls are positioned as the foundation for trustworthy AI at scale.

The agreement was signed by His Excellency Mohammad Alhawi and Amr Kamel. Officials say the collaboration will embed AI agents into workflows while maintaining compliance. Investment teams are expected to gain real-time insights and automation that shorten the time to action.

The partnership supports the ambition to make the UAE a leader in AI-enabled investment. It also signals deeper public–private collaboration on sovereign capabilities. With skills, standards, and use cases in place, the ministry aims to attract capital and accelerate diversification.

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Growth of AI increases water and energy demands

AI data centres in Scotland use enough tap water to fill over 27 million half-litre bottles annually, BBC News reports. The number of centres has quadrupled since 2021, with AI growth increasing energy and water use, though it remains a small fraction of the national supply.

Scottish Water urges developers to adopt closed-loop cooling or treated wastewater instead of relying only on mains water. Open-loop systems, still used in many centres, consume vast amounts of water, but closed-loop alternatives can reduce demand, though they may increase energy usage.

Experts warn that AI data centres have a significant carbon footprint as well. Analysis from the University of Glasgow estimates the energy use of Scottish centres could equate to each person in the country driving an extra 145 kilometres per year.

Academic voices have called for greater transparency from tech companies and suggested carbon targets and potential penalties to ensure sustainable growth.

The Scottish government and industry stakeholders are promoting ‘green’ AI development, citing Scotland’s cool climate, renewable energy resources, and local expertise. Developers are urged to balance AI expansion with Scotland’s net zero and resource sustainability goals.

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Scaling a cell ‘language’ model yields new immunotherapy leads

Yale University and Google unveiled Cell2Sentence-Scale 27B, a 27-billion-parameter model built on Gemma to decode the ‘language’ of cells. The system generated a novel hypothesis about cancer cell behaviour, and CEO Sundar Pichai called it ‘an exciting milestone’ for AI in science.

The work targets a core problem in immunotherapy: many tumours are ‘cold’ and evade immune detection. Making them visible requires boosting antigen presentation. C2S-Scale sought a ‘conditional amplifier’ drug that boosts signals only in immune-context-positive settings.

Smaller models lacked the reasoning to solve the problem, but scaling to 27B parameters unlocked the capability. The team then simulated 4,000 drugs across patient samples. The model flagged context-specific boosters of antigen presentation, with 10–30% already known and the rest entirely novel.

Researchers emphasise that conditional amplification aims to raise immune signals only where key proteins are present. That could reduce off-target effects and make ‘cold’ tumours discoverable. The result hints at AI-guided routes to more precise cancer therapies.

Google has released C2S-Scale 27B on GitHub and Hugging Face for the community to explore. The approach blends large-scale language modelling with cell biology, signalling a new toolkit for hypothesis generation, drug prioritisation, and patient-relevant testing.

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Starcloud launches data centres into space

A new era in data technology is emerging as Starcloud, a member of NVIDIA’s Inception startup program, prepares to send its first AI-driven satellite into orbit next month.

The mission marks the debut of NVIDIA’s H100 GPU in space and represents a decisive step toward the creation of large-scale orbital data centres designed to meet the planet’s soaring demand for AI.

By operating data centres in space, Starcloud aims to cut energy costs by tenfold and significantly reduce carbon emissions. The vacuum of space will serve as a natural cooling system, while constant exposure to solar energy will eliminate the need for batteries or backup power.

According to CEO Philip Johnston, the only environmental cost will come from the launch itself, resulting in substantial carbon savings over the data centre’s lifetime.

Starcloud’s technology could transform how Earth observation data is processed. Instead of transmitting raw information back to the ground, satellites will analyse it in real time, improving responses to wildfires, weather changes, and agricultural needs.

The company plans to run Google’s open AI model Gemma on its satellite and eventually integrate NVIDIA’s next-generation Blackwell GPUs, boosting computing power even further.

Johnston predicts that within a decade, most new data centres will be built in orbit. If achieved, Starcloud’s innovation could mark the beginning of a sustainable digital revolution powered by the stars instead of the grid.

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UK government uses AI to boost efficiency and save taxpayer money

The UK government has developed an AI tool, named ‘Consult’, which analysed over 50,000 responses to the Independent Water Commission review in just two hours. The system matched human accuracy and could save 75,000 days of work annually, worth £20 million in staffing costs.

Consult sorted responses into key themes at a cost of just £240, with experts needing only 22 hours to verify the results. The AI agreed with human experts 83% of the time, versus 55% between humans, letting officials focus on policy instead of administrative work.

The technology has also been used to analyse consultations for the Scottish government on non-surgical cosmetics and the Digital Inclusion Action Plan. Part of the Humphrey suite, the tool helps government act faster and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Digital Government Minister Ian Murray highlighted the potential of AI to deliver efficient services and save costs. Engineers are using insights from Consult and Redbox to develop new tools, including GOV.UK Chat, a generative AI chatbot soon to be trialled in the GOV.UK App.

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