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Microsoft outlines how AI is shifting from tools to partners in 2026

AI is entering a new phase, with 2026 expected to mark a shift from experimentation to real-world collaboration. Microsoft executives describe AI as an emerging partner that amplifies human expertise rather than replacing it.

Microsoft says the impact is becoming visible across healthcare, software development, and scientific research. AI tools embedded in Microsoft products are supporting diagnosis, coding, and research workflows.

With the expansion of AI agents across all platforms, organisations are strengthening safeguards to manage new risks. Security leaders argue agents will require clear identities, restricted access, and continuous monitoring.

Microsoft also points to changes in the infrastructure powering AI. The company says future systems will prioritise efficiency and intelligence output, supported by distributed and hybrid cloud architectures.

Looking further ahead, the convergence of AI, supercomputing, and quantum technologies stands out as the main highlight. Hybrid approaches, the company says, are bringing practical quantum advantage closer for applications in materials science, medicine, and research.

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Africa urged to focus on practical, local AI solutions rather than frontier models

Africa cannot realistically compete with the massive capital and computing resources driving frontier AI research in the United States and China, and it does not need to do so.

Instead, Nicholas Okumu contends, the continent’s AI strategy should pivot toward building efficient, practical systems tailored to local needs, from healthcare triage tools in referral hospitals to agriculture, education and public finance solutions grounded in African contexts.

Large, resource-intensive models require infrastructure and ecosystems that most African nations cannot marshal, but smaller, efficient models can perform high-value, domain-specific tasks on ordinary hardware.

Drawing on events from innovation forums and real-world examples, the columnist argues that Africa’s historical experience of innovation under constraint positions it well to lead in relevant, efficient AI applications rather than replicating the ambitions of frontier labs.

The article outlines a three-phase pathway: first, building foundational datasets governed by national or regional frameworks; second, deploying AI where it can deliver transformative value; and third, scaling successful tools to regions with similar development constraints.

If this strategy is followed, the piece argues, African-designed AI systems, particularly those that work well in low-resource environments, could become globally valuable.

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AI-driven Christmas scams surge online

Cybersecurity researchers are urging greater caution as Christmas approaches, warning that seasonal scams are multiplying rapidly. Check Point has recorded over 33,500 festive phishing emails and more than 10,000 deceptive social ads within two weeks.

AI tools are helping criminals craft convincing messages that mirror trusted brands and local languages. Attackers are also deploying fake e-commerce sites with AI chatbots, as well as deepfake audio and scripted calls to strengthen vishing attempts.

Smishing alerts imitating delivery firms are becoming more widespread, with recent months showing a marked rise in fraudulent parcel scams. Victims are often tricked into sharing payment details through links that imitate genuine logistics updates.

Experts say fake shops and giveaway scams remain persistent risks, frequently launched from accounts created within the past three months. Users are being advised to ignore unsolicited links, verify retailers and treat unexpected offers with scepticism.

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Oracle and Google Cloud launch AI database service in India

The US tech company, Oracle, has expanded Oracle Database@Google Cloud to India, making the service available through Google Cloud’s Mumbai region.

Enterprises can access Oracle Exadata, Autonomous AI Database and AI Lakehouse services while keeping data in the region to meet sovereignty and regulatory requirements.

The multicloud offering allows organisations to combine Oracle enterprise data with Google Cloud analytics and AI tools, including BigQuery, Vertex AI and Gemini models.

Customers can modernise applications and migrate mission-critical workloads without sacrificing performance, security or low-latency access.

Oracle Database@Google Cloud is available through the Google Cloud Marketplace, enabling customers to procure services via trusted partners instead of navigating complex contracting models.

Oracle and Google Cloud partners can also integrate the service into broader multicloud solutions.

The launch reflects growing demand for flexible multicloud architectures in India, supporting AI-driven innovation, advanced analytics and accelerated IT modernisation across regulated and data-intensive industries.

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New AI tool links genetic mutations to diseases with improved accuracy

Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have created an AI tool called Variant to Phenotype (V2P) that can identify genetic mutations and predict the diseases they may cause, bolstering the field of genetic diagnostics.

The V2P method is designed to accelerate diagnosis and facilitate the discovery of new treatments for complex and rare diseases by comprehensively interpreting genomic data, surpassing the limitations of traditional techniques that often focus solely on mutation detection without predicting phenotypic effects.

This innovation could enhance clinical decision-making by linking specific genetic variants directly to disease risk, helping clinicians prioritise variants for further study and informing patients about likely outcomes sooner.

The findings were published online in Nature Communications, marking a notable advancement in how AI can support precision medicine and research for rare diseases.

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Libraries lead UK government push to improve digital inclusion and AI confidence

Libraries Connected, supported by a £310,400 grant from the UK Government’s Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund administered by the Department for Science, Industry and Technology (DSIT), is launching Innovating in Trusted Spaces: Libraries Advancing the Digital Inclusion Action Plan.

The programme will run from November 2025 to March 2026 across 121 library branches in Newcastle, Northumberland, Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire, targeting older people, low-income families and individuals with disabilities to ensure they are not left behind amid rapid digital and AI-driven change.

Public libraries are already a leading provider of free internet access and basic digital skills support, offering tens of thousands of public computers and learning opportunities each year. However, only around 27 percent of UK adults currently feel confident in recognising AI-generated content online, underscoring the need for improved digital and media literacy.

The project will create and test a new digital inclusion guide for library staff, focusing on the benefits and risks of AI tools, misinformation and emerging technologies, as well as building a national network of practice for sharing insights.

Partners in the programme include Good Things Foundation and WSA Community, which will help co-design materials and evaluate the initiative’s impact to inform future digital inclusion efforts across communities.

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AI generated podcasts flood platforms and disrupt the audio industry

Podcasts generated by AI are rapidly reshaping the audio industry, with automated shows flooding platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Advances in voice cloning and speech synthesis have enabled the production to large volumes of content at minimal cost, allowing AI hosts to compete directly with human creators in an already crowded market.

Some established podcasters are experimenting cautiously, using cloned voices for translation, post-production edits or emergency replacements. Others have embraced full automation, launching synthetic personalities designed to deliver commentary, biographies and niche updates at speed.

Studios, such as Los Angeles-based Inception Point AI, have scaled the model to scale, producing hundreds of thousands of episodes by targeting micro-audiences and trending searches instead of premium advertising slots.

The rapid expansion is fuelling concern across the industry, where trust and human connection remain central to listener loyalty.

Researchers and networks warn that large-scale automation risks devaluing premium content, while creators and audiences question how far AI voices can replace authenticity without undermining the medium itself.

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Building trustworthy AI for humanitarian response

A new vision for Humanitarian AI is emerging around a simple idea, and that is that technology should grow from local knowledge if it is to work everywhere. Drawing on the IFRC’s slogan ‘Local, everywhere,’ this approach argues that AI should not be driven by hype or raw computing power, but by the lived experience of communities and humanitarian workers on the ground. With millions of volunteers and staff worldwide, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement holds a vast reservoir of practical knowledge that AI can help preserve, organise, and share for more effective crisis response.

In a recent blog post, Jovan Kurbalija explains that this bottom-up approach is not only practical but also ethically sound. AI systems grounded in local humanitarian knowledge can better reflect cultural and social contexts, reduce bias and misinformation, and strengthen trust by being governed by humanitarian organisations rather than opaque commercial platforms. Trust, he argues, lies in people and institutions behind the technology, not in algorithms themselves.

Kurbalija also notes that developing such AI is technically and financially realistic. Open-source models, mobile and edge computing, and domain-specific AI tools enable the deployment to functional systems even in low-resource environments. Most humanitarian tasks, from decision support to translation or volunteer guidance, do not require massive infrastructure, but high-quality, well-structured knowledge rooted in real-world experience.

If developed carefully, Humanitarian AI could also support the IFRC’s broader renewal goals, from strengthening local accountability and collaboration to safeguarding independence and humanitarian principles. Starting with small pilot projects and scaling up gradually, the Movement could transform AI into a shared public good that not only enhances responses to today’s crises but also preserves critical knowledge for future generations.

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Conduit revolutionises neuro-language research with 10,000-hour dataset

A San Francisco start-up, named Conduit, has spent six months building what it claims is the largest neural language dataset ever assembled, capturing around 10,000 hours of non-invasive brain recordings from thousands of participants.

The project aims to train thought-to-text AI systems that interpret semantic intent from brain activity moments before speech or typing occurs.

Participants take part in extended conversational sessions instead of rigid laboratory tasks, interacting freely with large language models through speech or simplified keyboards.

Engineers found that natural dialogue produced higher quality data, allowing tighter alignment between neural signals, audio and text while increasing overall language output per session.

Conduit developed its own sensing hardware after finding no commercial system capable of supporting large-scale multimodal recording.

Custom headsets combine multiple neural sensing techniques within dense training rigs, while future inference devices will be simplified once model behaviour becomes clearer.

Power systems and data pipelines were repeatedly redesigned to balance signal clarity with scalability, leading to improved generalisation across users and environments.

As data volume increased, operational costs fell through automation and real time quality control, allowing continuous collection across long daily schedules.

With data gathering largely complete, the focus has shifted toward model training, raising new questions about the future of neural interfaces, AI-mediated communication and cognitive privacy.

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