A significant shift in property law has occurred in the United Kingdom, as digital assets are gaining formal recognition as personal property.
The Property Digital Assets Act has received Royal Assent, giving owners of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens clearer legal rights and stronger protection. Greater certainty over ownership aims to reduce disputes and strengthen trust in the sector.
The government aims to boost the country’s position as a global centre for legal innovation, rather than merely reacting to technological change. The new framework reassures fintech companies that England, Wales and Northern Ireland can support modern commercial activity.
As part of a wider growth plan, the change is expected to stimulate further investment in a legal services industry worth more than £ 40 billion annually.
Traditional law recognised only tangible items and legal rights, yet digital assets required distinct treatment.
The Act creates a new category, allowing certain digital assets to be treated like other property, including being inherited or recovered during bankruptcy. With cryptocurrency fraud on the rise, owners now have a more straightforward path to remedy when digital assets are stolen.
Legal certainty also simplifies commercial activity for firms handling crypto transactions. The move aligns digital assets with established forms of property rather than leaving them in an undefined space, which encourages adoption and reduces the likelihood of costly disagreements.
The government expects the new clarity to attract more businesses to the UK and reinforce the country’s role in shaping future digital regulation.
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A UK pornographic website has been fined £1m by Ofcom for failing to comply with mandatory age verification under the Online Safety Act. The company, AVS Group Ltd, did not respond to repeated contact from the regulator, prompting an additional £50,000 penalty.
The Act requires websites hosting adult content to implement ‘highly effective age assurance’ to prevent children from accessing explicit material. Ofcom has ordered the company to comply within 72 hours or face further daily fines.
Other tech platforms are also under scrutiny, with one unnamed major social media company undergoing compliance checks. Regulators warn that non-compliance will result in formal action, highlighting the growing enforcement of child safety online.
Critics argue the law must be tougher to ensure real protection, particularly for minors and women online. While age checks have reduced UK traffic to some sites, loopholes like VPNs remain a concern, and regulators are pushing for stricter adherence.
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Quantum computing is advancing as governments and industry pursue new frontiers beyond AI. The UK benefits from strong research traditions and skilled talent. Policymakers see early planning as vital for long-term competitiveness.
Companies across finance, energy and logistics are testing quantum methods for optimisation and modelling. Early pilots suggest that quantum techniques may offer advantages where classical approaches slow down or fail to scale. Interest in practical applications is rising across Europe.
The UK benefits from strong university spinouts and deep industrial partnerships. Joint programmes are accelerating work on molecular modelling and drug discovery. Many researchers argue that early experimentation helps build a more resilient quantum workforce.
New processors promise higher connectivity and lower error rates as the field moves closer to quantum advantage. Research teams are refining designs for future error-corrected systems. Hardware roadmaps indicate steady progress towards more reliable architectures.
Policy support will shape how quickly the UK can translate research into real-world capability. Long-term investments, open scientific collaboration and predictable regulation will be critical. Momentum suggests a decisive period for the country’s quantum ambitions.
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The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has started a live testing programme for AI with major financial firms. The initiative aims to explore AI’s benefits and risks in retail financial services while ensuring safe and responsible deployment.
Participating firms, including NatWest, Monzo, Santander and Scottish Widows, receive guidance from FCA regulators and technical partner Advai. Use cases being trialled range from debt resolution and financial advice to customer engagement and smarter spending tools.
Insights from the testing will help the FCA shape future regulations and governance frameworks for AI in financial markets. The programme complements the regulator’s Supercharged Sandbox, with a second cohort of firms due to begin testing in April 2026.
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The final AI Energy Council meeting of 2025 took place in London, led by AI Minister Kanishka Narayan alongside energy ministers Lord Vallance and Michael Shanks.
Regulators and industry representatives reviewed how the UK can expedite grid connections and support the necessary infrastructure for expanding AI activity nationwide.
Council members examined progress on government measures intended to accelerate connections for AI data centres. Plans include support for AI Growth Zones, with discounted electricity available for sites able to draw on excess capacity, which is expected to reduce pressure in the broader network.
Ministers underlined AI’s role in national economic ambitions, noting recent announcements of new AI Growth Zones in North East England and in North and South Wales.
They also discussed how forthcoming reforms are expected to help deliver AI-related infrastructure by easing access to grid capacity.
The meeting concluded with a focus on long-term energy needs for AI development. Participants explored ways to unlock additional capacity and considered innovative options for power generation, including self-build solutions.
The council will reconvene in early 2026 to continue work on sustainable approaches for future AI infrastructure.
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Police in the UK have begun trialling an AI assistant called Bobbi to help manage non-emergency queries online and reduce pressure on overstretched call handlers.
The virtual tool responds to common questions and hands conversations to a human operator if users request it or ask about issues it cannot resolve.
Developers say Bobbi follows the same guidance as trained call handlers and offers recommendations based on official advice, reflecting input from more than 200 testers, including victim support groups.
The system cannot investigate crimes or replace the 999 emergency line, and police emphasise that crime reports must still be made through existing channels.
Senior officers believe the tool will free up staff for emergencies and complex cases as demand for police contact continues to rise each year.
Leaders at Thames Valley Police and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, the first forces to deploy the technology, say the assistant will help ensure the public receives timely support.
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The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has activated emergency response plans after a cyberattack disrupted council systems in west London.
Westminster City Council and Hammersmith and Fulham Council are also affected through joint arrangements, with the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre, led by GCHQ, leading the investigation. Staff in some areas have been advised to work from home while parts of the network stay offline as a precaution.
An internal memo shows that sections of the network remain closed and that a full return of affected systems is not expected for several days. Phone lines and online forms may face disruption, although alternative contact numbers are available on the council website.
Cybersecurity specialist Nathan Webb advised residents to be cautious about emails or calls referencing the incident, as attackers frequently exploit public attention surrounding a breach to launch scams.
He added that identifying any external supplier involved is essential so that other clients can secure their own systems. Forescout expert Rik Ferguson said the case demonstrates how shared digital services can allow a breach to spread risk across multiple organisations.
Councils have praised the overnight work by IT teams, but are not disclosing technical details while the investigation continues.
BBC cyber correspondent Joe Tidy said taking servers offline is an extreme step usually used for significant incidents. He pointed to the Co-op case earlier this year, where the company also disconnected systems, but only after hackers had already taken data from 6.5 million people.
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Staffordshire Police will trial AI-powered ‘agents’ on its 101 non-emergency service early next year, according to a recent BBC report.
The technology, known as Agentforce, is designed to resolve simple information requests without human intervention, allowing call handlers to focus on more complex or urgent cases. The force said the system aims to improve contact centre performance after past criticism over long wait times.
Senior officers explained that the AI agent will support queries where callers are seeking information rather than reporting crimes. If keywords indicating risk or vulnerability are detected, the system will automatically route the call to a human operator.
Thames Valley Police is already using the technology and has given ‘very positive reports’, according to acting Chief Constable Becky Riggs.
The force’s current average wait for 101 calls is 3.3 minutes, a marked improvement on the previous 7.1-minute average. Abandonment rates have also fallen from 29.2% to 18.7%. However, Commissioner Ben Adams noted that around eight percent of callers still wait over an hour.
UK officers say they have been calling back those affected, both to apologise and to gather ‘significant intelligence’ that has strengthened public confidence in the system.
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A South Tyneside family has spoken publicly after an elderly man lost almost £3,000 to a highly persuasive cryptocurrency scam, according to a recent BBC report. The scammer contacted the victim repeatedly over several weeks, initially offering help with online banking before shifting to an ‘investment opportunity’.
According to the family, the caller built trust by using personal details, even fabricating a story about ‘free Bitcoin’ awarded to the man years earlier.
Police said the scam fits a growing trend of crypto-related fraud. The victim, under the scammer’s guidance, opened multiple new bank accounts and was eventually directed to transfer nearly £3,000 into a Coinbase-linked crypto wallet.
Attempts by the family to recover the funds were unsuccessful. Coinbase said it advises users to research any investment carefully and provides guidance on recognising scams.
Northumbria Police and national fraud agencies have been alerted. Officers said crypto scams present particular challenges because, unlike traditional banking fraud, the transferred funds are far harder to trace.
Community groups in Sunderland, such as Pallion Action Group, are now running sessions to educate older residents about online threats, noting that rapid changes in technology can make such scams especially daunting for pensioners.
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A new report from NFER warns that up to 3 million low-skilled jobs in the UK could disappear by 2035 due to the growing adoption of automation and AI. Sectors most at risk include trades, machine operations and administrative work, where routine and repetitive tasks dominate.
Economic forecasts remain mixed. The overall UK labour market is expected to grow by 2.3 million jobs by 2035, with gains primarily in professional and managerial roles. Many displaced workers may struggle to find new employment, widening inequality.
The change contrasts with earlier predictions suggesting AI would target higher-skilled jobs such as consultancy or software engineering. Current findings emphasise that manual and lower-skill roles face the most significant short-term disruption from AI.
Policymakers and educators are encouraged to build extensive retraining programmes and foster skills like creativity, communication and digital literacy. Without such efforts, long-term unemployment could become a significant challenge.
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