The Nobel Prize in Physics has spotlighted quantum mechanics’ growing role in shaping a smarter, more sustainable future. Such advances are reshaping technology across communications and energy.
Researchers are finding new ways to use quantum effects to boost efficiency. Quantum computing could ease AI’s power demands, while novel production methods may transform energy systems.
A Institute of Science Tokyo team has built a quantum energy harvester that captures waste heat and converts it into power, bypassing traditional thermodynamic limits.
MIT has observed frictionless electron movement, and new quantum batteries promise faster charging by storing energy in photons. The breakthroughs could enable cleaner and more efficient technologies.
Quantum advances offer huge opportunities but also risks, including threats to encryption. Responsible governance will be crucial to ensure these technologies serve the public good.
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The US has approved its first export licences for Nvidia’s advanced AI chips destined for the United Arab Emirates, marking a concrete step in the bilateral AI partnership announced earlier in 2025.
These licences come under the oversight of the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, aligned with a formal agreement between the two nations signed in May.
In return, the UAE has committed to investing in the United States, making this a two-way deal. The licences do not cover every project yet: some entities, such as the AI firm G42, are currently excluded from the approved shipments.
The UAE sees the move as crucial to its AI push under Vision 2031, particularly for funding data centre expansion and advancing research in robotics and intelligent systems. Nvidia already collaborates with Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in a joint AI and robotics lab.
Challenges remain. Some US officials cite national security risks, especially given the UAE’s ties and potential technology pathways to third countries.
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The OSCE has launched a new publication warning that rapid progress in AI threatens the fundamental human right to freedom of thought. The report, Think Again: Freedom of Thought in the Age of AI, calls on governments to create human rights-based safeguards for emerging technologies.
Speaking during the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference, Professor Ahmed Shaheed of the University of Essex said that freedom of thought underpins most other rights and must be actively protected. He urged states to work with ODIHR to ensure AI development respects personal autonomy and dignity.
Experts at the event said AI’s growing influence on daily life risks eroding individuals’ ability to form independent opinions. They warned that manipulation of online information, targeted advertising, and algorithmic bias could undermine free thought and democratic participation.
ODIHR recommends states to prevent coercion, discrimination, and digital manipulation, ensuring societies remain open to diverse ideas. Protecting freedom of thought, the report concludes, is essential to preserving human dignity and democratic resilience in an age shaped by AI.
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The US tech giant, Google, has announced a €5 billion investment in Belgium to strengthen its AI and cloud infrastructure over the next two years.
A plan that includes major expansions of its Saint-Ghislain data centre campuses and the creation of 300 full-time jobs.
The company has also signed agreements with Eneco, Luminus and Renner to develop new onshore wind farms and supply the Belgian grid with clean energy.
Alongside the infrastructure push, Google will fund non-profits to deliver free AI training for low-skilled workers, ensuring broader access to digital skills.
By deepening its presence in Belgium, Google aims to bolster the country’s technological and economic future. The initiative marks one of Europe’s largest AI infrastructure investments, reflecting growing competition to secure leadership in the continent’s digital transformation.
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Alibaba Group has established a robotics AI team within its Qwen lab, marking a significant step in its strategy to expand into AI-powered hardware.
However, this move reflects China’s broader push to lead in robotics and embodied intelligence, increasingly driven by generative AI and multimodal foundation models.
Qwen researcher Lin Junyang revealed the creation of the robotics unit on social media, describing it as part of Alibaba’s efforts to move AI from the virtual to the physical world.
The lab’s Qwen series has already achieved global prominence, with seven models ranking among the world’s top ten on Hugging Face, including the multimodal Qwen3-Omni in first place.
Group chairman Joe Tsai recently stressed that success in AI depends less on model scale and more on how rapidly technologies are adopted. He argued that China is focused on cost-effective, open-source AI models that can enable faster integration than the high-cost approach pursued in the US.
Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu Yongming confirmed plans to raise AI infrastructure investment to 380 billion yuan over three years to become a full-stack AI provider.
The company also invests in robotics ventures such as Unitree Robotics and X Square Robot, aligning its expansion with national industrial strategies and the country’s accelerating robotics leadership.
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The US startup OpenAI has broadened access to its affordable ChatGPT Go plan, now available in 16 additional countries across Asia, including Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Thailand.
Priced at under $5 per month, the plan offers local currency payments in select regions, while others will pay in USD with tax-adjusted variations.
ChatGPT Go gives users higher message and image-generation limits, increased upload capacity, and double the memory of the free plan.
A move that follows significant regional growth (Southeast Asia’s weekly active users increasing fourfold) and builds on earlier launches in India and Indonesia, where paid subscriptions have already doubled.
The expansion intensifies competition with Google, which recently introduced its Google AI Plus plan in more than 40 countries. Both companies are vying to attract users in fast-growing markets with low-cost AI access, each blending productivity and creative tools into subscription offerings.
At OpenAI’s DevDay 2025 in San Francisco, CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT’s global weekly active users have reached 800 million.
OpenAI is also introducing in-chat applications from partners like Spotify, Zillow, and Coursera, signalling a shift toward transforming ChatGPT into a broader AI platform ecosystem.
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The agreement will combine innovations across Google Search, Gemini, and Google Cloud. AI tools will assist Team USA with training analysis, while viewers will benefit from more innovative search functions during NBCUniversal’s coverage.
Gemini will also support athletes and organisers with enhanced data insights and communication tools.
Google Cloud will power what is set to be the most technologically advanced Games in history. It will optimise event logistics, analyse performance data, and provide real-time analytics to NBCUniversal.
Meanwhile, YouTube will host exclusive Olympic content, expanding NBCUniversal’s storytelling reach through short-form video.
The partnership underscores how AI and cloud technologies are shaping the future of global events. Fans attending or watching from home will enjoy more immersive, on-demand access to the athletes, competitions, and stories driving LA28.
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AI, omics, and systems biology enable targeted drugs for heart disease pathways once considered untreatable. A new study in Frontiers in Science highlights how these innovations could revolutionise treatment and save millions of lives.
Heart disease remains the leading global killer, partly because generic treatments like statins do not account for individual biological differences.
Researchers say AI-powered precision medicine can identify new gene and protein targets, enabling personalised therapies for each patient’s unique heart disease.
RNA-based drugs are emerging as an up-and-coming solution. Unlike conventional medicines that reach only limited protein targets, RNA therapies can influence almost any gene and may be developed more quickly.
Early trials show they can lower cholesterol more effectively than traditional approaches, with potential to address long-standing ‘undruggable’ pathways in cardiovascular disease.
Experts say realising these treatments requires global leadership and collaboration across academia, industry, and healthcare. Bold investment and open science are crucial to make precision medicine global and reduce heart disease, expected to cause 26 million deaths annually by 2030.
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The Swedish-Swiss electrical engineering corporation ABB has agreed to sell its Robotics division to Japan’s SoftBank Group for an enterprise value of $5.375 billion, abandoning plans for a spin-off.
However, the move marks one of the most significant robotics transactions in recent years, and reflects both firms’ ambition to drive the next era of AI-based automation.
A divestment that will allow ABB to focus on its core businesses in electrification and automation, while SoftBank expands its ‘Physical AI’ strategy.
ABB said the sale would create immediate shareholder value and that proceeds would be used according to its capital allocation principles.
The Robotics division, which employs around 7,000 people and generated $2.3 billion in 2024 revenues, will become part of SoftBank’s portfolio upon completion of the deal, expected by mid-to-late 2026. The transaction is projected to yield ABB a pre-tax book gain of about $2.4 billion.
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son said the acquisition aligns with his vision to combine artificial superintelligence and robotics to ‘propel humanity forward’.
ABB’s CEO Morten Wierod said the partnership would unite ABB’s industrial expertise with SoftBank’s AI capabilities, strengthening its global leadership in advanced robotics.
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Google is expanding access to Opal, its no-code AI mini-app builder. Introduced two months ago within Google Labs, the tool enables users to create AI-powered mini-apps through natural language prompts, eliminating the need for coding.
According to Megan Li, Senior Product Manager at Google Labs, the expansion follows strong early engagement from creators. Users can access Opal at opal.withgoogle.com and join its builder community through Discord.
New debugging features aim to make workflows more transparent and efficient. Users can now run workflows step by step in a visual editor or adjust specific steps in the console, with real-time error reporting.
Meanwhile, Google DeepMind has launched Gemini 2.5 Computer Use, a specialised model capable of interacting with user interfaces. Available in preview through the Gemini API, it can be accessed via Google AI Studio and Vertex AI Studio.
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