Japan has pledged $5.5 billion in loans and announced an ambitious AI training programme to deepen economic ties with Africa.
At TICAD 9, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba proposed creating an Indian Ocean–Africa economic zone to link African nations with Asia and the Middle East.
Japan will also support training 30,000 AI experts over three years to drive digital transformation and job growth across the continent.
The initiative comes amid growing calls from leaders like António Guterres and João Lourenço to overhaul global finance systems and empower African representation.
Japan’s move signals renewed interest in African engagement, as the US scales back and China’s influence expands across the region.
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Honda has entered a multiyear partnership with US-based startup Helm.ai to enhance self-driving systems in its vehicles.
The collaboration focuses on developing advanced driver assistance for Honda’s mass market range, with a target launch set for 2027.
Helm.ai, backed by over $100 million in funding, specialises in AI camera-based perception software and simulation technologies.
Honda has held an equity stake in the firm since 2021, having invested at least $30 million to support early-stage development.
The move places Honda among major global carmakers aiming to deliver partial automation on highways and regular roads. Existing systems like GM’s SuperCruise and Tesla’s Autopilot have already pushed ahead in the driver assistance space.
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Indian firms are accelerating the adoption of AI, with many using AI agents to enhance workforce capabilities rather than relying solely on traditional methods.
According to Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index, 93% of leaders in India plan to extend AI integration across their organisations within the next 12 to 18 months.
Frontier firms in India are leading the charge, redesigning operations around collaboration between humans and AI agents instead of following conventional hierarchies.
Over half of leaders already deploy AI to automate workflows and business processes across entire teams, enabling faster and more agile decision-making.
Microsoft notes that AI is becoming a true thought partner, fuelling creativity, accelerating decisions, and redefining teamwork instead of merely supporting routine tasks. Leaders report that embedding AI into daily operations drives measurable improvements in productivity, innovation, and business outcomes.
The findings are part of a global survey of 31,000 participants across 31 countries, highlighting India’s role at the forefront of AI-driven organisational transformation rather than merely following international trends.
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DeepSeek has released a minor upgrade, V3.1, yet conspicuously omitted any R1 label from its chatbot, leading to speculation over the status of the promised R2 model.
The V3.1 version includes improvements such as an expanded 128K token context window for holding more information per interaction, but lacks major innovation beyond that. Observers note that the absence of R1 suggests that DeepSeek may be reworking its roadmap or shifting focus.
Industry watchers point to the gap this update left, especially in light of delays reported for the R2 model, which has faced technical setbacks due to hardware issues and training challenges with domestic chips. Competitors are now gaining ground as a result.
With no official statement from DeepSeek and a quieter-than-usual announcement, delivered only to a WeChat user group, analysts are questioning whether the company is rethinking its product sequencing or concealing delays in rolling out the next-generation R2 reasoning model.
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Meta has frozen hiring in its AI division, halting a spree that had drawn top researchers with lucrative offers. The company described the pause as basic organisational planning, aimed at building a more stable structure for its superintelligence ambitions.
The freeze, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, began last week and prevents employees in the unit from transferring to other teams. Its duration has not been communicated, and Meta declined to comment on the number of hires already made.
The decision follows growing tensions inside the newly created Superintelligence Labs, where long-serving researchers have voiced concerns over disparities in pay and recognition compared with recruits.
Alexandr Wang, who leads the division, recently told staff that superintelligence is approaching and that significant changes are necessary to prepare. His email outlined Meta’s most significant reorganisation of its AI efforts.
The pause also comes amid investor scrutiny, as analysts warn that heavy reliance on stock-based compensation to attract talent could fuel innovation or dilute shareholder value without precise results.
Despite these concerns, Meta’s stock has risen by about 28% since the start of the year, reflecting continued investor confidence in the company’s long-term prospects.
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Communication, empathy, and judgment were dismissed for years as ‘soft skills‘, sidelined while technical expertise dominated training and promotion. A new perspective argues that these human competencies are fundamental to resilience and transformation.
Researchers and practitioners emphasise that AI can expedite decision-making but cannot replace human judgment, trust, or narrative. Failures in leadership often stem from a lack of human capacity rather than technical gaps.
Redefining skills like decision-making, adaptability, and emotional intelligence as measurable behaviours helps organisations train and evaluate leaders effectively. Embedding these human disciplines ensures transformation holds under pressure and uncertainty.
Career and cultures are strengthened when leaders are assessed on their ability to build trust, resolve conflicts, and influence through storytelling. Without funding the human core alongside technical skills, strategies collapse, and talent disengages.
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Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have revealed that generative AI browser assistants may be harvesting sensitive data from users without their knowledge or consent.
The study, led by the UC Davis Data Privacy Lab, tested popular browser extensions powered by AI and discovered that many collect personal details ranging from search history and email contents to financial records.
The findings highlight a significant gap in transparency. While these tools often market themselves as productivity boosters or safe alternatives to traditional assistants, many lack clear disclosures about the data they extract.
Researchers sometimes observed personal information being transmitted to third-party servers without encryption.
Privacy advocates argue that the lack of accountability puts users at significant risk, particularly given the rising adoption of AI assistants for work, education and healthcare. They warn that sensitive data could be exploited for targeted advertising, profiling, or cybercrime.
The UC Davis team has called for stricter regulatory oversight, improved data governance, and mandatory safeguards to protect users from hidden surveillance.
They argue that stronger frameworks are needed to balance innovation with fundamental rights as generative AI tools continue to integrate into everyday digital infrastructure.
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Imagine dreaming of your next holiday and feeling a rush of excitement. That emotion is when your attention is most engaged. Neuro-contextual advertising aims to meet you at such emotional peaks.
Neuro-contextual AI goes beyond page-level relevance. It interprets emotional signals of interest and intent in real time while preserving user privacy. It asks why users interact with content at a specific moment, not just what they view.
When ads align with emotion, interest and intention, engagement rises. A car ad may shift tone accordingly, action-fuelled visuals for thrill seekers and softer, nostalgic tones for someone browsing family stories.
Emotions shape memory and decisions. Emotionally intelligent advertising fosters connection, meaning and loyalty rather than just attention.
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A new study reveals that prominent AI models now show a marked preference for AI‑generated content over that created by humans.
Tests involving GPT‑3.5, GPT-4 and Llama 3.1 demonstrated a consistent bias, with models selecting AI‑authored text significantly more often than human‑written equivalents.
Researchers warn this tendency could marginalise human creativity, especially in fields like education, hiring and the arts, where original thought is crucial.
There are concerns that such bias may arise not by accident but by design flaws embedded within the development of these systems.
Policymakers and developers are urged to tackle this bias head‑on to ensure future AI complements rather than replaces human contribution.
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