Big Tech stories

YouTube sets 2026 agenda with tougher child safety tools, bigger creator payouts and expanded AI across production and viewing.

Walmart to embed shopping in Google’s Gemini app, letting users browse and buy Walmart and Sam’s Club items directly via AI chats.

Prism Power plans a USD $40m US acquisition and UK expansion to tackle critical power kit shortages amid a fast-growing data centre boom.

Governments worldwide tighten social media age checks for children, fuelling demand for privacy-friendly facial age estimation tools.

Canada’s GBP £925.6 million AI pledge backs chips and servers, but critics say true sovereignty needs home-grown models, not US black boxes.

Ben Goertzel and Jaron Lanier clash over whether increasingly autonomous AI deserves moral standing or must always remain under human control.

Apple will build its next-generation AI foundation models on Google’s Gemini cloud, promising a more personalised Siri later this year.

Punkt launches MC03 minimalist smartphone with Proton, promising dual secure environments and subscription-based privacy for users.

AI agents will reshape how shoppers discover brands, forcing retailers to rethink visibility as SaaS vendors and ad budgets come under strain.

Australia’s Productivity Commission backs licensing over new copyright exceptions, urging AI firms to pay creators and face tighter scrutiny.

OpenAI backs a new California ballot measure with child-safety group Common Sense Media to impose strict rules on youth use of AI chatbots.

Rapid AI rollout, geopolitical rifts and fragile supply chains are upending cyber risk, straining outdated security and compliance regimes.

Over half of UK adults want under-16s barred from social media, as new polling exposes deep divides over children’s online access and safety.

Agentic AI and digital disobedience will strain policy, security and governance in 2026 as autonomous firms and users test new limits.

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark is funding Global Signal Exchange to expand its shared threat data network against rising online fraud.

Meta has bought Singapore AI start-up Manus, aiming to embed its autonomous general-purpose agent across consumer and business products.

Agentic AI is reshaping cyber attacks, business experiments and digital protest, outpacing regulators and exposing fragile human safeguards.

The Oscars will leave traditional TV for a free global YouTube livestream from 2029, ending decades of broadcast dominance on ABC.

India scraps mandatory Sanchar Saathi app on new phones, easing privacy fears over deep-access government software on Apple and Samsung devices.

Oxylabs experts warn AI hype could swell into a bubble by 2026 as new ‘agent’ browsers challenge Chrome and Europe tightens data rules.