Meta has introduced a new group of Facebook features that rely on Meta AI to expand personal expression across profiles, photos and Stories.
Users gain the option to animate their profile pictures, turning a still image into a short motion clip that reflects their mood instead of remaining static. Effects such as waves, confetti, hearts and party hats offer simple tools for creating a more playful online presence.
The update also includes Restyle, a tool that reimagines Stories and Memories through preset looks or AI-generated prompts. Users may shift an ordinary photograph into an illustrated, anime or glowy aesthetic, or adjust lighting and colour to match a chosen theme instead of limiting themselves to basic filters.
Facebook will highlight Memories that work well with the Restyle function to encourage wider use.
Feed posts receive a change of their own through animated backgrounds that appear gradually across accounts. People can pair text updates with visual backdrops such as ocean waves or falling leaves, creating messages that stand out instead of blending into the timeline.
Seasonal styles will arrive throughout the year to support festive posts and major events.
Meta aims to encourage more engaging interactions by giving users easy tools for playful creativity. The new features are designed to support expressive posts that feel more personal and more visually distinctive, helping users craft share-worthy moments across the platform.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Qiddiya City, a purpose-built entertainment, sports and cultural destination covering nearly three times the area of Paris, involves more than 700 companies and 22,000 workers, with thousands of assets and complex data flowing across teams.
Microsoft 365 Copilot has been integrated into Qiddiya Investment Company’s project dashboards to help employees query data in natural language, saving time on reporting, email summarisation and document creation.
The technology also helps harmonise information across 20 different systems used by design and execution teams, simplifying tasks such as matching asset names and identifying discrepancies.
Copilot can extract insights that static dashboards miss, for example, flagging overdue invoices without engineer comments, enabling more informed decision-making.
QIC’s workforce has adopted Copilot for productivity beyond construction management, with the tool generating hundreds of thousands of emails and meeting summaries.
AlAli emphasises that careful planning and implementation are key to realising the benefits of AI at scale, underscoring how AI can provide an ‘unfair advantage’ when properly embedded into workflows for data-intensive projects.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Swedish streaming giant Spotify reported a record 751 million monthly active users (MAUs) in the fourth quarter of 2025, an 11 per cent year-on-year increase that marks the biggest quarterly net growth in the company’s history.
The growth was led by the annual Spotify Wrapped campaign, which engaged over 300 million users and generated 630 million social media shares, as well as new free-tier features that improved discovery and user interaction.
Premium subscribers also rose 10 per cent to 290 million, helping lift total revenue to about €4.53 billion ($5.39 billion). Spotify saw gross margin expand to a record 33.1 per cent, reflecting stronger profitability driven by subscription growth and increased podcast and music ad sales, even as ad-supported revenue dipped slightly.
The surge comes as Spotify broadens its platform beyond music streaming to include podcasts, audiobooks, video content, social sharing and AI-driven features like interactive DJ tools and AI playlists.
The company expects continued user growth, forecasting 759 million MAUs and 293 million paying subscribers in the current quarter.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Strict new rules have been introduced in India for social media platforms in an effort to curb the spread of AI-generated and deepfake material.
Platforms must label synthetic content clearly and remove flagged posts within three hours instead of allowing manipulated material to circulate unchecked. Government notifications and court orders will trigger mandatory action, creating a fast-response mechanism for potentially harmful posts.
Synthetic media has already raised concerns about public safety, misinformation and reputational harm, prompting the government to strengthen oversight of online platforms and their handling of AI-generated imagery.
The measure forms part of a broader push by India to regulate digital environments and anticipate the risks linked to advanced AI tools.
Authorities maintain that early intervention and transparency around manipulated content are vital for public trust, particularly during periods of political sensitivity or high social tension.
Platforms are now expected to align swiftly with the guidelines and cooperate with legal instructions. The government views strict labelling and rapid takedowns as necessary steps to protect users and uphold the integrity of online communication across India.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Ambitions for AI were outlined during a presentation at the Jožef Stefan Institute, where Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob highlighted the country’s growing role in scientific research and technological innovation.
He argued that AI has moved far beyond a supportive research tool and is now shaping the way societies function.
He called for deeper cooperation between engineering and the natural sciences instead of isolated efforts, while stressing that social sciences and the humanities must also be involved to secure balanced development.
Golob welcomed the joint bid for a new national supercomputer, noting that institutions once competing for excellence are now collaborating. He said Europe must build a stronger collective capacity if it wants to keep pace with the US and China.
Europe may excel in knowledge, he added, yet it continues to lag behind in turning that knowledge into useful tools for society.
Government officials set out the investment increases that support Slovenia’s long-term scientific agenda. Funding for research, innovation and development has risen sharply, while work has begun on two major projects: the national supercomputer and the Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence.
Leaders from the Jožef Stefan Institute praised the government for recognising Slovenia’s AI potential and strengthening financial support.
Slovenia will present its progress at next week’s AI Action Summit in Paris, where global leaders, researchers, civil society and industry representatives will discuss sustainable AI standards.
Officials said that sustained investment in knowledge remains the most reliable route to social progress and international competitiveness.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Research from the UK Safer Internet Centre reveals nearly all young people aged eight to 17 now use artificial intelligence tools, highlighting how deeply the technology has entered daily life. Growing adoption has also increased reliance, with many teenagers using AI regularly for schoolwork, social interactions and online searches.
Education remains one of the main uses, with students turning to AI for homework support and study assistance. However, concerns about fairness and creativity have emerged, as some pupils worry about false accusations of misuse and reduced independent thinking.
Safety fears remain significant, especially around harmful content and privacy risks linked to AI-generated images. Many teenagers and parents worry the technology could be used to create inappropriate or misleading visuals, raising questions about online protection.
Emotional and social impacts are also becoming clear, with some young people using AI for personal advice or practising communication. Limited parental guidance and growing dependence suggest governments and schools may soon consider stronger oversight and clearer rules.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
CIO leadership commentary highlights that many organisations investing in agentic AI, autonomous AI agents designed to execute complex, multi-step tasks, encounter disappointing results when deployments focus solely on outcomes like speed or cost savings without addressing underlying system design challenges.
The so-called ‘friction tax’ arises from siloed data, disjointed workflows and tools that force employees to act as manual connectors between systems, negating much of the theoretical efficiency AI promises.
The author proposes an ‘architecture of flow’ as a solution, in which context is unified across systems and AI agents operate on shared data and protocols, enabling work to move seamlessly between functions without bottlenecks.
This approach prioritises employee experience and customer value, enabling context-rich automation that reduces repetitive work and improves user satisfaction.
Key elements of such an architecture include universal context layers (e.g. standard protocols for data sharing) and agentic orchestration mechanisms that help specialised AI agents communicate and coordinate tasks across complex workflows.
When implemented effectively, this reduces cognitive load, strengthens adoption, and makes business growth a natural result of friction-free operations.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
The article reflects on the growing integration of AI into daily life, from classrooms to work, and asks whether this shift is making people intellectually sharper or more dependent on machines.
Tools such as ChatGPT, Grok and Perplexity have moved from optional assistants to everyday aids that generate instant answers, summaries and explanations, reducing the time and effort traditionally required for research and deep thinking.
While quantifiable productivity gains are clear, the piece highlights trade-offs: readily available answers can diminish the cognitive struggle that builds critical thinking, problem-solving and independent reasoning.
In education, easy AI responses may weaken students’ engagement in learning unless teachers guide their use responsibly. Some respondents point to creativity and conceptual understanding eroding when AI is used as a shortcut. In contrast, others see it as a democratising tutor that supports learners who otherwise lack resources.
The article also incorporates perspectives from AI systems themselves, which generally frame AI as neither inherently making people smarter nor dumber, but dependent on how it’s used.
It concludes that the impact of AI on human cognition is not predetermined by the technology, but shaped by user choice: whether AI is a partner that augments thinking or a crutch that replaces it.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
The International Federation of Robotics says AI is accelerating the move of robots from research labs into real world use. A new position paper highlights rapid adoption across multiple industries as AI becomes a core enabler.
Logistics, manufacturing and services are leading AI driven robotics deployment. Warehousing and supply chains benefit from controlled environments, while factories use AI to improve efficiency, quality and precision in sectors including automotive and electronics.
The IFR said service robots are expanding as labour shortages persist, with restaurants and hospitality testing AI enabled machines. Hybrid models are emerging where robots handle repetitive work while humans focus on customer interaction.
Investment is rising globally, with major commitments in the US, Europe and China. The IFR expects AI to improve returns on robotics investment over the next decade through lower costs and higher productivity.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
Nigeria has been advised to develop its coal reserves to benefit from the rapidly expanding global AI economy. A policy organisation said the country could capture part of the projected $650 billion AI investment by strengthening its energy supply capacity.
AI infrastructure requires vast and reliable electricity to power data centres and advanced computing systems. Technology companies worldwide are increasing energy investments as competition intensifies and demand for computing power continues to grow rapidly.
Nigeria holds nearly five billion metric tonnes of coal, offering a significant opportunity to support global energy needs. Experts warned that failure to develop these resources could result in major economic losses and missed industrial growth.
The organisation also proposed creating a national corporation to convert coal into high-value energy and industrial products. Analysts stressed that urgent government action is needed to secure Nigeria’s position in the emerging AI-driven economy.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!
