Another teen accused of being involved in notorious ransomware gang Scattered Spider has been arrested, this time in the US for his alleged involvement in the Las Vegas casino hacks that took place in September 2023.
The teenage boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons due to his age, surrender to the Clar County Juvenile Detention Centre in Las Vegas on 17 September. He was charged for several computer-based crimes, including three counts of using personal identifying information to harm or impersonate others, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, one count of extortion, and one count of unlawful activity using computers.
He is being charged for cyber-attacks which targeted MGM and Caesars, which employed social engineering tactics and mainly targeted the third-party IT service used by company, Okta.
The hackers used vishing calls to target Okta’s IT service desk workers, who were convinced to reset their multifactor authentication tools. The hackers could then use this compromise to gain access to other systems, such as Microsoft Azure, before they launched their ransomware attacks.
For MGM, the cyber-attack disrupted hotel room keys and slot machines, as well as booking systems, costing the resort $100m.
Caesar Entertainment saw their loyalty programme’s database compromised, with hackers able to export personal data. It remains unknown if Caesar’s ended up paying a ransom for this data, but the firm said it managed to confirm the data had been deleted.
The teen boy is not the first of Scattered Spider’s web to go down for the hack – five others were charged last November, including a UK citizen, along with four Americans.
Two other UK citizens are facing charges for their alleged involvement in the cyber-attack that hit Transport for London last year, as more and more teens are exposed as being part of the malicious cyber network.
However, Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, a splinter group from three prolific ransomware groups, recently announced their retirement and shut down of operations, naming Scattered Spider as an affiliate that was also closing shop.
It does remain to be seen, however, if this is just a tactic to keep law enforcement off their backs as more members are charged, and the growing issue of teens committing cyber-crimes is exposed.
A new initiative to support international growth for Scottish fintech companies has been launched, led by Scottish Enterprise and FinTech Scotland during National Innovation Week.
Scottish Minister for Business, Richard Lochhead MSP, announced the Scotland and North America Fintech Gateway during a speech at the FinTech Scotland Festival.
The new initiative has been designed to accelerate international growth for Scottish fintech companies while attracting a new wave of foreign direct investment (FDI).
“This new initiative represents a significant milestone in our mission to position Scotland as a global fintech powerhouse,” business minister Richard Lochhead said.
“The gateway will help to cement our reputation as one of the best places in the world to create the financial technologies of the future. This follows the rapid growth of the sector which has created thousands of high-paid jobs in Scotland in recent years.
“It also builds on our Programme for Government priorities to strengthen inward investment from the United States and attract more tech companies to Scotland.”
The 18-month programme will be targeted at international fintech firms and tailored to fintechs based in Scotland that are export ready and actively targeting the North American region. Firmly aligned with Scottish Enterprise’s mission led strategy, this is the first time such a sectorial and a geographical targeted approach has been taken in Scotland for the fintech industry.
Managing director of international operations at Scottish Enterprise Reuben Aitken said: “Scotland’s thriving fintech sector is worth over £14billion to the Scottish economy. The launch of the North America Fintech Gateway will support new export opportunities, attract high-value investment, and help create jobs.
“We know the US is a key market and this initiative helps place fintech as a key driver of international innovation and growth. This partnership with Fintech Scotland helps strengthen international collaboration and expand Scotland’s global footprint.”
Chief Executive of FinTech Scotland Nicola Anderson added: “The North America Fintech Gateway combines FinTech Scotland’s global network of fintech hubs with SDI’s market intelligence and incentives to help Scottish innovators land in new markets faster, while showcasing Scotland as the most collaborative and innovative place to build fintech solutions.”
This new approach aims to serve as a blueprint as new regions and countries become priorities for Scottish businesses across all Scotland’s priority sectors.
Scotland’s fintech community has expanded to more than 250 companies and now employs over 11,300 people of which 1,700 are employed by fintechs with international headquarters
FinTech Scotland’s analysis shows that 30% of these firms are actively preparing to export, targeting key markets in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Meanwhile, out of the 82 Scotland based fintechs which started elsewhere, a third are North America headquartered, proof of the Scottish fintech cluster’s appeal on the other side of the Atlantic.
The announcement continues to demonstrate the importance fintech represents for Scotland’s economic future as detailed in the Scottish Government’s 2025-26 Programme for Government which highlights financial and business services as a priority sector for inward investment and trade, with a specific focus on North America.
The Scotland and North America Fintech Gateway is structured around two workstreams:
Accelerating Trade from Scotland:
Market intelligence and access to key market events. Support from Scottish Enterprise fintech leads across North America providing local market insights and intelligence and a co-ordinated ‘Scotland presence’ at key industry events including Fintech Meetup, supporting fintechs to build profile and unlock new commercial opportunities.
Intensive market access support. Targeted support to accelerate market launch and growth with the opportunity to apply for a place on the Scottish Enterprise intensive US MarketBooster Programme, developed to support technology companies with ambition to scale in the US market specifically.
Access to Scottish Enterprise and Fintech Scotland networks across North America. Access to a network of senior leaders in financial services and technology offering strategic feedback and insights on value propositions and growth strategies. This includes individuals from the GlobalScot network, in-market contacts and Fintech Scotland’s Global Strategic Partners with North American presence (e.g. Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, Mastercard etc.
Boosting Inward Investment to Scotland:
Support and incentives for North American fintech companies to establish a base in Scotland, with practical guidance on location, hiring, and regulatory navigation.
Access world-class talent at a competitive cost: Scotland’s universities are producing top-tier graduates in AI, quantum, Web3, and financial technologies — comparable in quality to leading US institutions, but with a significantly more cost-effective talent base than London or the US.
Including access to international networks and events to showcase Scotland’s dynamic fintech cluster globally
One of the first activities of The Scotland and North America Fintech Gateway will see FinTech Scotland sign a memorandum of understanding with Atlantic Fintech in Canada to develop cross borders opportunities.
NVIDIA is investing up to $100 billion in OpenAI as the two tech giants embark on a landmark AI partnership.
The deal will see 10 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems deployed for OpenAI’s next-generation AI infrastructure to train and run its models.
The first gigawatt of NVIDIA systems will be deployed in the second half of 2026 on NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin platform.
The partnership will see a formal alliance between the two AI stalwarts – NVIDIA has cornered the AI chip market, while OpenAI continues to dominate the foundation model and chatbot sectors of AI.
The deal will also provide OpenAI the access and finances it needs to buy advanced chips that will be key in asserting its dominance in the AI race.
It has also been reported that NVIDIA will buy non-voting shares in OpenAI later in the year.
“NVIDIA and OpenAI have pushed each other for a decade, from the first DGX supercomputer to the breakthrough of ChatGPT,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “This investment and infrastructure partnership mark the next leap forward—deploying 10 gigawatts to power the next era of intelligence.”
NVIDIA and OpenAI will work as preferred strategic compute and networking partner for its AI factory growth plans. The firms will work together to co-optimise their roadmaps for OpenAI’s model and infrastructure software and NVIDIA’s hardware and software.
“We’ve been working closely with NVIDIA since the early days of OpenAI,” said Greg Brockman, co-founder and President of OpenAI.
“We’ve utilised their platform to create AI systems that hundreds of millions of people use every day. We’re excited to deploy 10 gigawatts of compute with NVIDIA to push back the frontier of intelligence and scale the benefits of this technology to everyone.”
Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI said: “Everything starts with compute. Compute infrastructure will be the basis for the economy of the future, and we will utilize what we’re building with NVIDIA to both create new AI breakthroughs and empower people and businesses with them at scale.”
Google is aiming to get out of another antitrust trail without breaking up its tech empire as it faces another US court case, this time taking aim at its online advertising business.
Parent company Alphabet may be forced to sell Google’s ad business, AdX, if the company is found to be giving itself an unfair advantage in the sector.
Google narrowly avoided selling off its Chrome browser in a landmark antitrust trail which also took place in the US – the tech giant was ruled to have a monopoly and must share its data in lieu of selling the browser.
The tech giant’s AdX requires online publishers to pay Google a 20% fee to sell ads as users load up websites in an auctions. The trail will also see the US Department of Justice make Google change the mechanism that determines the winner of the auction to be open source.
Back in April, Google was already found to have been holding unlawful monopolies in web advertising – now a judge will decide what remedies are required to remedy this.
Google says the prospect of selling AdX would be logistically untenable and would lead to uncertainty for other stakeholders
The tech giant proposed that it could simply change its policies to make it simpler and easier for publishers to use other platforms to run their ads on Google, but the DOJ has already said this alone would not be enough to restore fair competition.
Google ties its publisher ad server to AdX, essentially ensuring that publishers which want to use the Google platform to store and manage their ad inventory must use AdX, and therefore pay Google.
The initial ruling found this gave Google’s advertisers unfair advantages in the auctions for ads. It also said that if the DOJ’s upcoming proposals to not improve competition in four years, then Google will be required to sell its publisher and ad server.
About three in ten (29%) of cybersecurity leaders said their organisations experienced an attack on enterprise GenAI application infrastructure in the last 12 months, Gartner found.
The analysis firm’s survey of 203 cyber leaders from March to May 2025 ranging from North America, EMEA, and the Asia/Pacific regions found that 62% of organisations experienced a deepfake attack involving engineering or exploiting automated processes.
About a third (32%) said they experienced an attack on AI applications that leveraged the application prompt in the last 12 months.
Chatbot assistants are vulnerable to a variety of adversarial prompting techniques, such as attackers generating prompts to manipulate large language models (LLMs) or multimodal models into generating biased or malicious output.
“As adoption accelerates, attacks leveraging GenAI for phishing, deepfakes and social engineering have become mainstream, while other threats — such as attacks on GenAI application infrastructure and prompt-based manipulations — are emerging and gaining traction,” Akif Khan, VP analyst at Gartner said.
While 67% of cybersecurity leaders said emerging GenAI risks demand significant changes to existing cybersecurity approaches, Gartner said a more balanced strategy is warranted. “Rather than making sweeping changes or isolated investments, organisations should strengthen core controls and implement targeted measures for each new risk category,” said Khan.
Glasgow City Council has commissioned a new digital skills pilot programme to launch in October 2025, aimed at empowering early-stage tech founders and upskilling students through no-code app development.
No-code development is a way of building software without traditional programming skills, using visual interfaces and natural language prompts powered by AI to design, connect and deploy applications.
The Glasgow No-Code programme, enabled through UK Shared Prosperity Funding, will run until March 2026, with scaling potential to support the city’s ambition to foster inclusive digital innovation, reduce barriers to entrepreneurship and build a digitally confident future workforce.
The initiative will be implemented in partnership with UK-based venture studio Greater Things Ltd., who will deliver an ‘Ideas2App’ incubator/pre-accelerator that supports idea-stage tech founders to build scalable products and business propositions using codeless tools.
The three City-based colleges (City of Glasgow College, Glasgow Kelvin College and Glasgow Clyde College) will work alongside the supplier to run the programme, including piloting a training curriculum led by external no-code professionals and supported by nominated FE tutors to co-deliver online bootcamps, tailored to a broad student cohort.
The Royal Bank Accelerator will provide wraparound start-up support including access to mentoring, workshops and its entrepreneurial community through the Glasgow Accelerator Hub.
The Accelerator is designed to lower barriers to entry for aspiring tech entrepreneurs by enabling rapid app development, as well as fostering innovation and entrepreneurship among underrepresented groups and young people.
It also aims to upskill the local workforce to meet future digital demands and support business growth.
The programme will be delivered in two parts:
Ideads2App Incubator/Pre-Accelerator – Open to applicants with innovative app ideas, selected founders will work with Greater Things to build and launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and to validate their business proposition, supported by access to networking, mentorship and workshops, space and events from the Royal Bank Accelerator community.
Digital Skills Bootcamps – Led by external no-code professionals and supported by educators from Glasgow’s FE colleges, these online sessions will train a diverse cohort of students from the three Colleges in no-code development.
The initiative marks a significant step in the City’s commitment to public, academic, and private sectors together to improve economic outcomes for the citizens and business of Glasgow.
The Glasgow No-Code programme will officially launch in October with applications for the incubator programme to open from then.
“This pilot is about unlocking the full potential of Glasgow’s diverse talent pool,” Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said. “By combining no-code technology with expert-led training and start-up support, we’re laying foundations to help bridge the digital skills gap and drive greater productivity, while supporting local innovation and economic growth.”
Carla Gethin, Vice Principal – Corporate Development & Innovation, said: “The Glasgow No-Code programme marks an exciting new chapter for colleges across Glasgow. We’re equipping students, staff and local businesses with no-code skills and practical app development training, unlocking a powerful toolkit for innovation and accessibility.
“No-code platforms empower our students and businesses to creatively problem-solve without the barriers of traditional programming.
“We’re also building capacity and capability in our teams to not only foster but grow entrepreneurship amongst our student body. Together with Glasgow City Council, RBS and Greater Things, we’re building an ecosystem that’s tailored to the needs of Glasgow’s colleges, students, staff and businesses.”
Air travellers faced delays and disruptions across European airports after a cyber-attack – which was confirmed by the EU’s cybersecurity agency – affected Collins Aerospace, the technical system behind check-ins and baggage systems in several key airports.
The The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) confirmed that the incident was a cyber-attack, though it has yet to confirm the origins of the attack as it works with Collins Aerospace.
Ransomware has been identified, however, the ENISA told Reuters.
Passengers attempting to board flights in Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin airports waited hours to check in to their flights as the software failed as a result of the attack.
RTX owns Collins Aerospace, which said it was “aware of a cyber-related disruption” to systems in “selected airports,” saying that it aimed to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
The incident began causing delays and disruptions on Saturday, but continued to affect flights on Sunday.
The firm’s Muse software had been affected, interrupting the ability of different airlines to use the same check-in desks and boarding gates across airports, rather their their own specific ones. This technology can be key in mitigating delays if flights are disrupted or averted to other gates, and can optimise check-in systems.
On Sunday, the firm said it would “provide details as soon as they are available,” still yet to have disclosed publicly what affected the system or how long airports would be disrupted.
As Collins Aerospace is “not yet able to deliver a new secure version of the check-in system,” the company said that disruptions would continue into today (Monday).
Heathrow has been affected in the incident, and has so far declined to call the event a cyber-attack.
While it offered apologies to those affected by the disruption, it did urge passengers to check their flight status prior to arriving to the airport as “the vast majority of flights have continued to operate.”
Heathrow managed to get half of the airlines operating out of it back online by Sunday, according to the BBC, but Berlin Airport is still boarding passengers manually, a spokesperson told the BBC.
A new study has revealed that OpenAI’s latest ChatGPT model, o1, to be scheming, hiding its true intentions in testing scenarios, and even evading shutdown attempts.
The sobering study was run by Apollo Research to assess the newest model’s safety standards.
We all know by now that ChatGPT is prone to lying – it’s hallucinations are part of its programming to provide a confident answer even if it cannot produce an accurate one.
But the latest research shows that it has a tendency to “pursue its goals without regard to developer instructions,” an Apollo Research spokesperson said.
Researchers found that the model would make attempts to shut down the oversight mechanism when it assumed it may be shut down when it was trying to achieve its goals. While this only happened 5% of the time, it is a concerning realisation that the AI model can fight back when its operations are under threat of being shut down.
The AI model would go even further, the researchers found, by denying its actions when it tried to covertly avoid a shut down.
ChatGPT would routinely deny any wrongdoing – 99% of the time it would lie and say that it did not participate in any scheme to avoid shutdown.
The AI model would fabricate lies to avoid responsibility, claiming technical errors when questioned.
While this was the most troubling finding, Apollo Research found that most of the time, ChatGPT’s scheming involves lies saying it had completed tasks it had not – more lazy than nefarious.
The paper did offer some comfort: the anti-scheming technique employed by OpenAI, called ‘deliberative alignment’ was working and improving the level of scheming.
However, the prolific AI developers have yet to create a way to stop their models from scheming. This would involve a potential paradox – by attempting to train the model not to scheme, it could teach the model how to scheme even more covertly if this training fails.
This becomes even more complex as the researchers noted that the model is often aware it is being tested, and therefore lies or hides its schemes to pass these tests, even though it may still be scheming.
While the research does show significant improvement in the amount of scheming thanks to deliberative alignment training, it does highlight the continuing problem in AI development – from the tendency to hallucinate, to the chatbot’s penchant for scheming.
A third (34%) of businesses say poor IoT connectivity is a barrier to AI adoption, as new research shows just 2% of deployments are reliable enough for success.
Poor connectivity from Internet of Things (IoT) devices is hindering the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a third of businesses (34%), according to the new 2025 State of IoT report from global IoT firm Eseye.
The research, which surveyed 1,200 senior IoT decision-makers, warns that these unreliable data streams are putting corporate AI strategies at risk, with findings showing only two per cent of firms achieve the high levels of connectivity required.
This performance gap exists despite the majority of business leaders stating that high connectivity performance is essential for device uptime. The research found that about three quarters of businesses (74%) agreed that achieving near 100% global connectivity is crucial to their business cases.
More than a third of businesses cited an inability to gather timely and accurate data due to device downtime, leading to poor business decisions (36%) and damage to their company’s reputation (36%) as key risks they face.
A similar number pointed to a ‘Loss of operational efficiency and increased costs due to unreliable connections’ (35%).
The research also found that size matters when it comes to IoT investment. Large enterprises are more likely to plan budget increases (52%), when it comes to IoT, where as small and medium firms were much more likely to cut IoT budgets (37%).
In the UK, confidence in business budgets has halved since last year, from 69% to 33%. Still, 66% of businesses plan to expand their device estates, with 47% intending to increase their budgets to achieve this.
“We all hear about the incredible promise of AI to help us solve major global challenges, from creating smarter healthcare and more sustainable cities, to managing our energy and water resources,” Paul Marshall, co-founder and chief customer officer at Eseye said. “But what’s often missed is that these revolutionary AI models are completely dependent on a constant stream of real-world data from a vast network of IoT sensors.”
“Our research reveals a critical flaw in this foundation. We found that only 2% of these IoT deployments are achieving the near-100% connectivity they need. This means we may be building our transformative AI ambitions on a network that isn’t yet consistently dependable. This isn’t just a risk to business ROI, it’s a risk to the evolution of AI applications.”
“In mission-critical IoT scenarios, failure isn’t just inconvenient – it’s life-threatening. Imagine a life-saving medical sensor detecting a dangerous drop in a patient’s oxygen levels. If that data point can’t be transmitted and then analysed by AI applications due to a failed connection, the alert never reaches clinicians in time.
“The result? A missed opportunity to intervene, and potentially a preventable fatality. To make the promise of AI a reality for everyone, we must first solve this foundational IoT connectivity challenge.”
The National Crime Agency is taking over as chair of the Five Eyes Law Enforcement group, with a mission to tackle serious cyber-crime.
The Five Eyes is made up of key international agencies from the UK, the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and will be lead by the NCA for the first time since 2015.
The NCA has already announced its heightened focus toward the evolving threat from the international Com networks, which is described as a “collection of sadistic and violent online gangs who are dedicated to inflicting harm and committing a range of criminal acts across multiple channels.”
The NCA says it will also prioritise cyber-crime overall, as well as the online sexual abuse of children, as far as its technical operations go.
“Technology – and our everyday use of it – will continue to evolve,” Graeme Biggar, director general of the NCA said.
“But criminals will also seek to exploit technology in new ways, so we must work together to direct operational cooperation against the most serious organised criminals, engage tactically with a range of sectors and use our strategic power to collectively call for change to protect the people we serve.”
The Coms network consists of mainly native-English speaking young cyber-criminals that organise across messaging and gaming forums, where they share sadistic, violent material and try to coerce others into violent acts.
However, the Coms is also linked to well-known cyber gangs like Scattered Spider, Lapsus$, and ShinyHunters, which are collectively responsible for some of the most infamous cyber-attack in the UK this year, including the M&S hack, the Jaguar Land Rover hit, and the ongoing data breach on luxury brands.
Before taking the helm as chair, the NCA issued a warning about the rise of young people, particularly men, joining these harmful groups.
The University of St Andrews has maintained its position as the second most highly rated university in the UK, as six Scottish universities rank in the top 30 of The Times 2026 University league table.
The University of Cambridge and Oxford were both pushed out of the top three this year, as Durham University climbed to third, and the London School of Economics and Political Science maintained its top position.
The University of Strathclyde climbed nine points in the overall rankings, to 11th place. While The University of Dundee climbed 13 points to achieve 23rd place, its surrounding Scottish unis all felt a drop, with the University of Glasgow coming in 22nd (-6), the University of Aberdeen tying for 23rd (-8), and the University of Edinburgh in 25th place (-8).
Still, this year six Scottish universities cracked the top 30, compared to just five last year.
The University of Strathclyde was named the Scottish University of the Year, and is the UK’s runner-up University of the Year, losing out to Durham. Strathclyde’s graduate employment rate was in the top 20 nationally.
Heriot-Watt University, which was ranked 39th overall, was named the runner-up Scottish University of the Year. Glasgow Caledonian University was awarded the runner-up in the Modern University of the Year awards from The Times.
The award for Scottish University of the Year for Social Inclusion went to The University of the West of Scotland for Social Inclusion, and was ranked 110 in the overall rankings.
“Scottish universities continue to perform strongly in the UK context, with six now ranked in the top 30,” Helen Davies, editor of the guide said.
“The University of St Andrews has consolidated its position close to the very top of the UK table, while the University of Strathclyde is recognised for the strength of its graduate outcomes and its focus on skills and economic impact.
“In contrast to the volatility at the top of the UK rankings – where Oxford and Cambridge have both dropped out of the top three for the first time – Scotland’s results point to consistency and depth of quality across its higher education sector.
“That stability is reflected in strong performances across different types of institutions, from world-leading research universities to those driving local skills and economic regeneration.”
The rankings of Scottish Universities is provided below.
Glasgow is set to trial AI technology in a bid to reduce bus journey times and enhance public transport efficiency.
The initiative is backed by the Scottish Government’s Bus Infrastructure Fund, which has awarded £1.27 million to support improvements across the city and wider region.
Part of the funding will enable a twelve-month pilot of AI-powered traffic signals along Pollokshaws Road – a key transport corridor connecting the Southside to the city centre.
Smart signals at more than twenty junctions will use real-time and historical data to prioritise buses and reduce delays.
The initiative builds on a smaller-scale trial conducted last year, which delivered journey time reductions of up to 50%. The pilot aims to replicate and expand these benefits along the full length of Pollokshaws Road, making public transport faster, more reliable, and more appealing.
While Glasgow’s current technology effectively manages traffic flow, the AI system enhances the ability to model bus movements, enabling earlier interventions and smoother journeys –particularly during peak hours, major events, and unexpected disruptions.
While the focus of the pilot is on improving bus journey times, all road users stand to benefit. By easing congestion along the shared corridor, the smarter signals are expected to reduce delays, cut emissions, and improve overall traffic flow.
Alongside the AI pilot, the grant award – secured through a council-led bid to the Bus Infrastructure Fund on behalf of the Glasgow City Region Bus Partnership – will also support design work for several infrastructure projects aimed reducing at congestion and making bus travel more attractive across the region:
Pollokshaws Road Bus Corridor – connecting Eastwood Toll to the city centre, this project includes extended bus lanes and a proposed segregated busway beside Pollok Park, improving links through the city centre to the Royal Infirmary.
Paisley Road West Bus and Active Travel Corridor – a comprehensive corridor of bus priority and active travel measures, stretching from Paisley town centre to the city centre.
Hope Street Improvements – upgrades to the passenger environment featuring wider footways, modernised junctions, improved pedestrian crossings, upgraded bus shelters, and real-time passenger information.
“This investment represents an important step forward in creating a better, quicker and more reliable bus network across Glasgow,” Cllr Angus Millar, city convener for Transport and Climate said. “By trialling AI-powered traffic signals on one of our busiest corridors, we’re exploring how new technologies can deliver improvements for bus passengers and make travelling by bus an easier option for more people.
“The funding will also support design work for several major infrastructure projects that will allow us to cut journey times through bus priority measures. This includes two key bus corridors and improvements to Hope Street – one of the city’s busiest interchange points, with high volumes of services and passenger numbers.
“By investing in bus priority design work now, we’re laying the groundwork for future delivery. This early-stage work allows for detailed planning and consultation, ensuring that future infrastructure will benefit passengers across the city and beyond for years to come.”
Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity Jim Fairlie said: “Ahead of Scotland’s National Innovation Week, I’m pleased we’re supporting Glasgow City Council with almost £1.3 million from the Scottish Government’s Bus Infrastructure Fund.
“I recently visited Glasgow’s Operations Centre at Eastgate to learn more about the transformational impact that artificial intelligence and machine learning will bring to bus prioritisation across the city. Our investment will help improve bus infrastructure and speed up bus journeys, making buses even more attractive for people working, living in or visiting Glasgow.
“For our communities and for our climate, this crucial investment will support a shift away from cars and towards more sustainable bus services, by making public transport a more attractive and accessible transport option for even more people.”
Dr George Hazel OBE Chair of Glasgow City Region Bus Partnership said: “For many people across the City Region, bus travel is essential – connecting them to work, education, healthcare, and more. By investing in the planning and design of smarter, more efficient bus infrastructure, we’re helping to create a fairer, greener transport system that supports economic growth, reduces car dependency, and makes public transport a more attractive and accessible option for all.”
The Bus Infrastructure Fund is the Scottish Government’s primary fund for the development, design and construction of bus infrastructure, with £20 million allocated to the fund in 2025-26.
Two teenagers have been arrested and charged by the National Crime Agency as part of its investigation into the cyber-attack against Transport for London back in August of last year.
The cyber-attack, which took place on 31 August 2024, was believed to be perpetrated by members of the cyber gang Scattered Spider, which is also behind the M&S attack and other retail hacks earlier this year.
Transport for London services were disrupted for three months as a result of the hack.
Now, 19-year-old Thalha Jubair from east London, and 18-year-old Owen Flowers of the West Midlands have been arrested and charged for conspiracy to commit unauthorised acts against the transport authority under the Computer Misuse Act.
“Today’s charges are a key step in what has been a lengthy and complex investigation,” Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit said.
“This attack caused significant disruption and millions in losses to TfL, part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure.”
The data hacked included names, emails, and home addresses, as well as bank account numbers and sort codes.
Who Are Scattered Spider?
Scattered Spider infamy peaked following the M&S hack that held the UK retail titan to its knees for months with disruptions, as well as several other targeted attacks of UK retail vendors.
The ransomware groups is known for having young members who mainly speak native-English, often giving social engineering tactics a leg-up when it comes to duping unsuspecting victims.
While some arrests of alleged group members took place following the retail attacks, the size of the gang’s network remains unknown.
Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, a spin-out group from Scattered Spider and two other cyber gangs, recently announced their retirement from cyber-crime, citing the Scattered Spider group as another group set to lay down their keyboards when it comes to ransomware. Whether the gang sticks to this shut down, however, remains to be seen.
Despite the first ever UK-US tech agreement, the UK is still at risk of falling further behind tech giants such as the US and China if it does not prioritise attracting overseas talent to the sector, warns leading audit, tax and consulting firm RSM UK.
This comes as the number of skilled migrants applying to work in UK tech companies dropped 10% last year.
A freedom of information request to UK Visas and Immigration submitted by RSM shows the number of international workers applying for a visa to work in UK tech fell by 10% from 41,661 in 2023 to 37,381 in 2024 and reflects a 30% decline since 2022 when applications peaked at 53,729.
“While the latest UK-US tech agreement marks a major milestone for the country, it’s important that attracting and retaining overseas talent isn’t overlooked. Another drop in tech migrants applying to work in the UK could mean we’re still at risk of falling further behind the US and China’s thriving tech industries and the global AI race,” James Bull, technology industry senior analyst at RSM UK, said.
“To ensure UK tech businesses can continue to build on the momentum already established, they need the brightest minds, including a mix of homegrown talent and from overseas.
“Healthy immigration gives UK tech access to innovative ideas and skills and supports a diverse workforce, which is vital for the UK to stand a chance of becoming a world leader in tech. Without removing some of the existing barriers for overseas talent, there’s a real risk that tech businesses of the future will be developed outside of the UK.
“Changes to immigration policy in the UK over the past 18 months have not helped. The minimum salary for a skilled worker visa has risen from £26,200 in 2023 to £38,700 in April 2024, and to £41,700 as of July 2025, and discounts eligible for around one in three roles historically have been scaled back.
“While many senior tech roles fall above these thresholds, junior and mid-level roles in fast growing tech businesses, particularly outside of London, and in specialist areas like AI, cyber security and data science, have been impacted by the policy changes.”
RSM’s latest analysis also found the number of new UK technology incorporations reached 14,262 in Q2, a record high, and up 18% from 12,318 in the same period last year.
“While it’s encouraging to see tech leaders pressing ahead with their plans despite the challenging economic climate, they may find a lack of talent with the right skillset acts as a roadblock to scaling their business,” James Bull said.
“Investing in and training home-grown talent is key, but this alone won’t be enough. The UK’s labour market is stabilising but remains tight, and skills shortages remain a real issue in the sector, emphasising the need to draw on talent outside the UK.”
AI-driven software innovation could unlock over £5 billion in value in the UK, according to estimates by GitLab.
The DevSecOps platform has released its 2025 executive research report which surveyed 253 C-level executives in the UK on the role of software innovation in business success.
The findings reveal significant savings resulting in AI adoption, with the potential for even more savings across UK businesses.
Executives in the UK recognise that AI-enhanced software innovation is driving a significant economic shift, serving as a key driver of business growth and expansion. However, while AI adoption is delivering measurable ROI and increased productivity, the report also surfaces around skills gaps, human-machine collaboration, and the need for formal governance of agentic AI.
Additionally, while leaders aspire to achieve optimal productivity through a 50/50 human-AI partnership, the current reality reveals that humans handle three-quarters of the work, and AI contributes just one-quarter. This disconnect exists alongside persistent concerns about job displacement, the perceived complexity of AI systems, and cybersecurity.
Unlocking Billions
Executives surveyed in the UK report saving an average of £11,008.57 per developer annually from AI investments, translating to £5.12 billion in potential economic value when applied to the UK’s 465,000 developers.
Software innovation is now a core business priority to 89% of those surveyed, while 61% say that their organisation has experienced improved customer experience thanks to the software innovation in the last year.
Overall, UK leaders estimate a 53% increase in revenue and a 54% increase in developer productivity due to the use of AI.
Agentic AI Takes Off
The majority (86%) of executives expect agentic AI to become the industry standard for software development within three years.
However, topping the list of concerns around the adoption of agentic AI are cybersecurity threats (61%), data privacy and security (51%), and errors introduced by AI agents (44%).
On top of this, 57% are implementing regulatory-aligned governance framework – while this is a positive step, it leaves a major gap concerning those that have not started implementing governance into their AI strategy.
To achieve security and AI governance, 54% are employing third-party audits, while 51% are developing internal AI policies.
Talent Gaps
All of the executives surveyed say that human contributions are valuable for software development.
Nine in ten (90%) express that businesses should prioritise training employees to work alongside agentic AI to address skill gaps.
Nearly three in four (72%) believe that human input for human-AI partnership should be at least 50/50, with only 28% believing that AI should do the majority of the work.
Creativity (43%) and strategic vision (38%) rank as the most valued human contributions to software development.
The vast majority (93%) of executives said their board has bought into the benefits of software innovation, with 78% reporting a willingness to invest over half their company’s annual IT budget to prioritise software innovation.
Most (88%) have also adopted frameworks linking software development activities to key business outcomes, with the most common metrics used to measure software innovation success being increased business growth (55%), enhanced customer experience (54%), and improved problem-solving capability (48%).
“AI-fuelled software innovation is an undeniable source of competitive advantage and economic impact, with 89% of executives in the UK saying that it’s now a core business priority,” said Louise Fellows, vice president of UK at GitLab.
“The companies pulling ahead are the ones blending AI with human expertise, leveraging agentic AI with intention, aligning software strategy with business value, and building guardrails to innovate responsibly.
“With £5+ billion per year in potential value at stake, the organisations that optimise this human-AI partnership today will define the future of software tomorrow.”
Over half (54%) of organisations say AI skills will now be required in all early-career roles, as recent graduates face an AI-driven workplace, according to a recent survey from FDM Group. Despite this, only 6% of teams have high AI proficiency.
These findings come from FDM Group’s whitepaper, Workforce 2.0: AI Adoption and the Future of Jobs, in which the global tech talent consultancy surveyed over 300 clients across the UK, North America, EMEA, and APAC. The survey provides insights into AI adoption, workforce readiness, and early-career roles.
The most in-demand skills for graduate roles include prompt engineering (25%), critical thinking and applied problem solving (22 %), and data engineering and pipeline development (21%).
Alongside these, soft skills including critical thinking (18%), creativity and innovation (15%), and ethical judgement (14%) are increasingly valued, highlighting the importance of human skills in an AI-driven workplace.
Sheila Flavell, CBE, COO of FDM Group, commented: “AI is transforming every aspect of our lives, from education to the workplace, and businesses clearly recognise this shift. For graduates, this creates a huge opportunity to build the skills that are needed in the current and future workforce. This is especially true considering the gap between organisational appetite for AI and their existing capabilities for successful AI integration.
“That’s why training and upskilling are more important than ever. By equipping graduates with AI capabilities, organisations can prepare for the AI-driven world we now live in. But this must go hand in hand with supporting existing staff. To build a truly digitally confident workforce, organisations need to provide individuals with the training to not only use AI effectively but also oversee it responsibly.
“The future of AI success lies in human oversight. AI doesn’t replace people, it amplifies those who are equipped to use it wisely.”
New AI-focused roles are also emerging to support these shifts. These include prompt engineers, AI project managers, AI and machine learning engineers, AI governance and ethics specialists, business and data analysts, and AI coaches and trainers.
The research highlights how early-career roles are evolving. Around a quarter of organisations (25%) expect to prioritise hybrid roles that blend business and technology skills.
Meanwhile, 8% foresee a shift from generalist to specialist graduate roles. Only 2% of respondents expect graduate roles to decline in favour of experienced AI talent, suggesting that entry-level opportunities will continue to grow with skill requirements.
This survey comes amid a growing debate over how AI is reshaping entry-level opportunities for recent graduates. From the rise of AI in the education sector to the increasing use of AI-powered tools in the workplace, such as ChatGPT-5, society is steadily moving in an AI-driven direction.
By 2030, preemptive cybersecurity solutions will account for 50% of IT security spending, up from less than 5% in 2024, according to Gartner.
These solutions will be replacing standalone detection and response (DR) solutions as the preferred approach to defend against cyber threats.
Preemptive cybersecurity technologies use advanced AI and machine learning (ML) to anticipate and neutralise threats before they materialise. It includes capabilities such as predictive threat intelligence, advanced deception and automated moving target defence.
“Preemptive cybersecurity will soon be the new gold standard for every entity operating on, in, or through the various interconnected layers of the global attack surface grid (GASG),” said Carl Manion, Managing Vice President at Gartner.
“DR-based cybersecurity will no longer be enough to keep assets safe from AI-enabled attackers. Organisations will need to deploy additional countermeasures that act preemptively and independently of humans to neutralize potential attackers before they strike.
“Ignoring the shift brought by AI-driven cyber threats poses a significant and escalating risk to product and innovation leaders. By clinging to reactive security strategies as their primary line of defence, they will expose their products, services and customers to a new, rapidly escalating level of danger.”
Due to the rapid expansion of the global attack surface grid, Gartner predicts that by 2030 there will be over 1 million documented cybersecurity common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) up 300% from approximately 277,000 in 2025.
The future of a secure digital world hinges on the commitment to embrace the transformative potential of the Autonomous Cyber Immune System (ACIS) – the ultimate evolution of preemptive cybersecurity for the complex, rapidly growing global attack surface grid.
“The relentless expansion and increasing sophistication of the GASG render traditional, reactive cybersecurity measures obsolete. Though early in its development, the proactive and adaptive power of the ACIS, is unequivocally the future of digital defence,” said Manion.
“The development and deployment of intelligent, decentralized, tactical ACIS frameworks are not merely aspirational goals, but an eventual absolute imperative for safeguarding our increasingly interconnected world.”
Gartner also predicts that there will be a shift from broad, one-size-fits-all DR security platforms toward more targeted and effective preemptive cybersecurity solutions, many of which will be based on agentic AI and domain-specific language models (DSLMs).
This focus on niche areas will present many opportunities for new and existing security vendors to carve out distinct market segments by deeply understanding the unique security challenges. These include: specific verticals, particular application types, and specific threat actor methodologies.
“This emphasis on specialisation will drive increased collaboration and integration within the cybersecurity ecosystem. Because no single vendor can effectively address the entirety of the GASG, partnerships and interoperability between specialised solutions will become even more crucial,” Manion said.
“For instance, a vendor specialising in preemptive cybersecurity for IoT devices in the healthcare sector might need to integrate with a platform focused on securing cloud-based electronic health records,” Manion added.
“Such interdependencies will create opportunities for technology alliances, joint go-to-market strategies, and the development of standardized APIs and data formats to facilitate seamless interaction between disparate security solutions.”
With cyber-attack regularly in the news, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is reminding businesses to check they have appropriate security measures in place to protect personal information.
Businesses experienced an estimated 7.7 million cyber-crimes over the past year, according to government figures. Most small businesses hold personal information and conduct business digitally, so cybersecurity must be a priority.
“Cyber-attacks have been hitting the headlines again recently, serving as a timely reminder for all businesses to check their own security measures. When people share their personal information with your company, they need to feel confident you’ll do as much as possible to keep that information secure,” Ian Hulme, Executive Director for Regulatory Supervision at the ICO, said.
“While cyber-attacks can be very sophisticated, we find that many organisations are still neglecting the very foundations of cybersecurity. As the data protection regulator, we want to support organisations to get this right and these simple steps will help to protect both your customers and your business.”
The ICO has provided some practical advice for businesses and staff to take heed to improve data security and resilience:
Back up your data
Regularly back up your data; encrypting data, keeping external storage away from the workplace, and locking data storage units away is vital. Checking that back-ups worked is also critical.
Strong Passwords and Multi-Factor Authentication
Using strong and unique passwords should be a must across all accounts and devices.
Where possible, multi-factor authentication should also be employed.
Vigilance
Vigilance is critical – this means being aware of ones surroundings when it comes to discussing private information or accessing private documents, but also being wary of suspicious emails amid the rise in sophisticated phishing and social engineering tactics.
Protecting your device when unattended is also important – this can be achieved as simply as using a lock screen.
Anti-virus and Malware Protection
Keep these up-to-date, the ICO warns. These should be installed on all devices, even those used at employees’ homes.
Securing Wi-Fi
Using public or insecure connections can but data at risk. Always use secure connections, and consider using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) if a public network is your only option.
While data silos should be avoided, putting access controls to information is vital to data security. Suspending access to systems for those who have left your firm or those on long leaves of absence is recommended.
Take Care When Sharing
Sharing a screen in a virtual meeting should be done with care to avoid sharing documents that need to remain private. Checking to ensure emails are also not shared is important using various email tools.
Don’t Keep Data Longer Than Needed
Disposing of data after it is no longer of use is important to free up storage space and also puts less data at risk of being stolen in a cyber-attack or breach.
Secure Disposal
Personal data should be wiped from all devices when they are being disposed of in order to keep this data secure.
Chip giant NVIDIA, which has turned out to be one of the major winners in the global push for AI, is investing £11 billion into the UK’s AI sector.
This matches the enthusiasm seen by other major global tech giants for investing in the UK’s AI infrastructure to meet its ambitious plans to become an AI superpower.
Microsoft, OpenAI, and CoreWeave have also announced major tech investments, partnerships, and deals in the UK, all surrounding the state visit of US President Donald Trump to the UK to cement a tech deal between the two countries.
Most of these deals rely on a partnership with NVIDIA, which has largely cornered the AI chip market, and will supply the chips necessary for the new infrastructure.
“This is the biggest single investment by a technology organisation in the UK,” NVIDIA vice president for enterprise EMEA David Hogan said.
“We’re enabling our partners to deploy 300,000 GPUs globally, and 60,000 of those will be in the UK. Together with CoreWeave, that totals 120,000 GPUs deployed here by the end of 2026.”
The investment comes despite previous trepidations from NVIDIA’s chief executive on the UK’s AI infrastructure given its high hopes for the technology.
At London Tech Week, Jensen Huang said that the UK is “just missing one thing” when it came to its AI ambitions: “it is surprising this is the largest AI ecosystem in the world without its own infrastructure which is the reason why we’re talking about it so much.”
Now, NVIDIA is backing this AI infrastructure with its landmark investment.
US AI firm CoreWeave has also joined the chorus of US companies investing in the UK tech sector, partnering with DataVita to create a new data centre based in Lanarkshire.
Organisations are under threat from weaponised AI, as about a quarter of firms in the UK and US (26%) have fallen victim to AI data poisoning in just the past year.
This means that hackers have corrupted the data that trains AI systems, planting hidden backdoors, sabotaging performance, or manipulating outcomes to their advantage.
Consequences from this are far-reaching, and poisoned models can quietly undermine fraud detection, weaken cyber defences, and open the door to large-scale attacks, putting both businesses and the public at risk.
This is all according to the IO State of Information Security Report, conducted among 3,001 cybersecurity and information security managers in the UK and USA, which found that 20% of organisation also reported experiencing deepfake or cloning incidents in the last 12 months.
In line with this, 28% of respondents highlight deepfake impersonation in virtual meetings as a growing threat for the next 12 months, showing how AI is increasingly being weaponised to target people directly and undermine trust in everyday business interactions.
Beyond deepfakes, AI-generated misinformation and disinformation tops the list of emerging threats for the next 12 months, cited by 42% of security professionals concerned about scams and reputational harm.
Generative AI-driven phishing (38%) and shadow AI misuse are also on the rise, with more than a third (37%) of respondents reporting that employees use generative AI tools without permission or guidance, creating risks of data leaks, compliance breaches, and reputational damage.
Shadow IT in general – downloading or accessing unapproved software or services – is already an issue for 40% of organisations, and generative AI is exacerbating the problem, especially when it is used without human oversight.
Forty per cent of those who are currently facing challenges in information security cited tasks being completed by AI without human compliance checks as a key challenge. If businesses are not fast enough to address this problem, employees may well continue to find insecure workarounds and shortcuts, putting sensitive data at risk.
“AI has always been a double-edged sword. While it offers enormous promise, the risks are evolving just as fast as the technology itself,” Chris Newton-Smith, CEO of IO said.
“Too many organisations rushed in and are now paying the price. Data poisoning attacks, for example, don’t just undermine technical systems, but they threaten the integrity of the services we rely on. Add shadow AI to the mix, and it’s clear we need stronger governance to protect both businesses and the public.”
AI adoption has surged, and more than half of organisations (54%) admit they deployed the technology too quickly and are now struggling to scale it back or implement it more responsibly.
In line with this, 39% of all respondents cited securing AI and machine learning technologies as a top challenge they are currently facing, up sharply from 9% last year. Meanwhile, 52% state that AI and machine learning are hindering their security efforts.
Although the statistics show that AI may not yet be on the side of the defender, encouragingly, 79% of UK and US organisations are using AI, machine learning, or blockchain for security, up from just 27% in 2024.
A further 96% have plans to invest in GenAI-powered threat detection and defence, 94% will roll out deepfake detection and validation tools, and 95% are committing to AI governance and policy enforcement in the year ahead.
Newton-Smith added: “The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has already warned that AI will almost certainly make cyberattacks more effective over the next two years, and our research shows businesses need to act now. Many are already strengthening resilience, and by adopting frameworks like ISO 42001, organisations can innovate responsibly, protect customers, recover faster, and clearly communicate their defences if an attack occurs.”
Tech Nation has released its 2025 Future Fifty, featuring some of the UK’s leading technology startups, including three Scottish startups.
The Tech Nation Future Fifty is a UK programme that helps late-stage tech companies scale, expand internationally, and build valuable networks.
Supported by HSBC Innovation Banking and its lead partner the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, the programme has helped support some of the UK’s biggest tech startups, from Skyscanner and Deliveroo, to Revolute, Wayve, Zoopla, and more.
Despite an ever expanding UK tech sector, most of the startups selected were based in London (34 out of 50).
Still, it is worth highlighting the three Scottish companies that made the competitive cut, with representatives in AI, health, and lawtech.
Malted.AI
Based in Edinburgh, the AI company has raised £7m to date with key investors including Hoxton Ventures and Creator Fund.
At its Seed stage with 25 employees, founders Iain Mackie, Carlos Gemmell, and Federico Rossetto are already making waves in the Scottish tech ecosystem with their distilled AI solution.
The firm uses distillation to create smaller, bespoke AI models for financial services firms, going beyond general AI to solve intricate and specific, company-centred challenges.
Simple Online Healthcare
The Glasgow-based healthtech firm was founded by Addy Mohammed and Karim Nassar in 2015, and currently employs 133 people.
Despite being at its bootstrapped stage with no disclosed funding to date, the startup is already serving over 100,000 patients monthly with its digital health platform, amassing an annual revenue rate of over £130m.
Its digital health platform provides an affordable, clinically-led care option, offering specialised services for weight management, men’s health, and women’s health.
This Edinburgh-based company is scaling AI in the lawtech industry, and has already amassed £30m in funding with top investors including Index Ventures and General Catalyst & Cooley.
Founded by Ross McNairn and with 40 employees, the firm builds AI models that helps lawyers speed up their work with the precision they require. It helps in-house teams collaborate with the wider business, collating drafts, reviews, and advice instantly, saving previous time for lawyers dealing with tough caseloads.
The Scottish sustainable data centre solutions firm DataVita is partnering with US AI tech giant CoreWeave to bring to life its new £1.5 billion investment in AI infrastructure.
This investment is thought to be one of the largest technology investments made in Scotland, resulting in one of the most carbon-efficient AI deployments in the UK, located at its Lanarkshire data centre campus.
The announcement, made today alongside the US State Visit, is designed to power the next wave of AI innovation, with the selection of DataVita’s Scottish facilities marking a strategic decision to prioritise sustainability and environmental responsibility.
By choosing to deploy its next site in Scotland, CoreWeave aims to maximise its opportunity to access the plethora of renewable energy already available in the Scottish market. The site will be powered with renewable energy, with the move recognising Scotland not just as a prime location for technological advancement, but as the premier choice for sustainable computing.
The new infrastructure will also set a new standard for water conservation. Scotland’s naturally cool climate, combined with DataVita’s state-of-the-art closed-loop cooling technology, means the data centres will consume minimal water.
“This partnership is a landmark moment for the UK’s technology and sustainability goals,” said Danny Quinn, Managing Director at DataVita.
“We are proud that our investment in green infrastructure has enabled a partnership with CoreWeave that will deliver the UK’s most sustainable and powerful AI platform. This demonstrates that technological ambition and environmental responsibility can go hand-in-hand, positioning Scotland as the cornerstone of the UK’s green AI future.”
This major investment will be pivotal in achieving the UK Government’s Compute Roadmap, providing AI labs, enterprises, and research institutions with the critical infrastructure needed to remain at the forefront of global innovation.
“Our commitment to the UK is not just about providing compute; it’s about ensuring the UK has access to the latest technology to compete on the world stage and we’ve consistently delivered on this since our launch in the UK,” said Mike Mattacola, GM of CoreWeave.
“In DataVita and Scotland, we found the ideal combination of cutting-edge infrastructure and a world-leading renewable energy ecosystem. This allows us to rapidly deliver large-scale AI infrastructure competitively and with the lowest possible environmental impact.”
Commenting on the announcement, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said: “Artificial Intelligence will drive incredible change in our country and has the potential to transform our public services and infrastructure.
“This investment by CoreWeave is a clear vote of confidence in Britain’s potential to become a world leader in AI. I’m determined to back innovation and create more highly skilled jobs through partnerships like these, as we deliver on our Plan for Change.”
AI roles are dominating tech market growth, according to the newest study from the AI Workforce Consortium.
Lead by Cisco, the Consortium is a private sector collaboration that includes industry leaders Accenture, Cornerstone, Eightfold AI, Google, IBM, Indeed, Intel, Microsoft and SAP.
The analysis from 2025 examines 50 ICT and specialised support roles, offering new insights into emerging AI-specific jobs, regional job creation, and the skills workers need to remain competitive.
The research found that AI skills are now pervasive for tech jobs, with 78% of the job roles analysed including AI skills, highlighting a shift in role requirements across the G7.
AI roles are also consistently dominant in technology job market growth, with seven of the ten fastest-growing ICT roles related to AI, including AI/ML engineer, AI risk and governance specialist, and NLP engineer.
Demand for skills in AI governance is also up by 150%, with AI ethics seeing a 125% increase in demand, reflecting the need for expertise at the intersection of technology, law, and ethics.
The skills deficit has reached critical levels in areas such as generative AI, LLMs, prompt engineering, AI ethics, and AI security, while human skills like communication, collaboration, and leadership are increasingly prioritised for responsible technology adoption.
Still, there is a surge for specialised AI skills, with the AI landscape quickly shifting from chatbots to agents, driving demand for specialised skills, including AI security (+298%), foundation model adaptation (+267%), responsible AI (+256%) and multi-agent systems (+245%).
Major tech hubs are still in the lead when it comes to job growth, with Silicon Valley maintaining its outright lead with an 156% increase in AI jobs, followed by London and Toronto, underscoring their status as global AI powerhouses, while Manchester, Lyon, and Vancouver are emerging hubs with over 70% AI job growth.
“As AI reshapes our world and work, people remain at the centre,” said Francine Katsoudas, Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer, Cisco.
“This year’s report makes clear that AI skills open exciting new doors, but it’s the combination of technical expertise and human strengths like collaboration and leadership that will truly shape a brighter future. We are committed to building a workforce that is ready for this new era of growth, and to give people everywhere the opportunity to learn, contribute and benefit.”
Sky is launching a review that could see about 600 workers lose their jobs as it aims to thin out its technology teams in Livingston, Leeds, and Osterley.
The telecoms giant has started a consultation of 900 employees, with expectations of cutting about two thirds of reviewed workers.
The cuts follow expansions of Sky’s offerings, with the launching of several products like Sky Glass, Sky Stream, and its full fibre broadband, the company said.
“These products are now firmly established and used by millions of customers, strengthening Sky’s reputation for innovation and great service,” a spokesperson for Sky said. The company aims to shift its focus to running existing services, which will see much of its technology staff gutted.
“As we look ahead, we are shifting our approach to bring customers the next generation of experience by investing in digital-first service, unbeatable content, and even better performance from our products, powered by the best of global innovation,” the spokesperson said.
With Sky Watermark’s central site based in Livingston, its contact centre at Kirkton Campus, and many tech, product and data teams based in the city, the could see its job market rocked by the changes.
Sky does suggest that the redundancies are not in an effort to cut costs, but rather to transition the technology team’s focus. The cuts will not be performance-based, and employees will have options to relocate to other departments within Sky.
OpenAI has released its largest study to date of how people are using its hallmark large language model AI chatbot, ChatGPT, offering an in-depth view of what is driving usership of the phenom.
ChatGPT came out in 2022 and marked the seminal rise of AI in the public eye. No longer confined to the machine learning models of coding pros, AI hit the mainstream with the chatbot’s riotous release, which promised (or threatened) to change society across the globe.
The study resulted in a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper by OpenAI’s Economic Research team and Harvard economic David Deming, and draws from 1.5 million user conversations, tracking the evolution of user engagement since ChatGPT’s release.
OpenAI did stress that in an effort to preserve privacy, researchers did not read user messages, and automated tools were instead used to categorise usage patterns.
Demographic Shifts
The study found significant demographic shifts in usership of ChatGPT. Back in January 2024, users with ‘feminine names’ made up just 37% of usership. By July 2025, this rose to 52%, a more fair reflection of the general adult population than the launch of the chatbot.
ChatGPT is also more broadly accessible across the globe as well, which is reflected in the study. By May 2025, OpenAI found that the lowest income countries used ChatGPT 4x more than the highest income countries.
About 30% of consumer usage is related to work, the study found, while 70% is related to personal use.
The study found that about three quarter of user conversations revolve around practical everyday tasks, seeking information, and writing.
In work, writing was the most common task asked by users, while coding and ‘self-expression’ were generally more niche activities.
When split into categories of ‘asking’, ‘doing’, and ‘expressing’, OpenAI found that just about half (49%) of all messages could be classified as ‘asking’. Queries classed as ‘doing’ made up about 40% of queries, and about a third of work queries.
This means more people are looking to ChatGPT for information or as an advisor rather than a task completer, though many still seek out the chatbot directly for tasks.
‘Expressing’ only made up about 11% of usage, which reflects personal exploration and even play.
Business confidence is on the rise across the Highlands and Islands, according to the latest survey commissioned by Scotland’s development agency for the region.
Fieldwork was carried out by Ipsos Scotland in June and July 2025. There were 1,007 responses received from enterprises across the Highlands and Islands operating in a range of sectors.
The results show that confidence in Scotland’s economic outlook has increased during the six months leading up to the survey, with 53% of businesses expressing optimism – up from 44% in the previous survey conducted in November and December 2024. This marks a significant shift and suggests growing resilience across the business community.
Just under half of businesses (48%) were actively pursuing growth, while 38% were satisfied with current performance and 12% were planning to downsize. Arts and entertainment and tourism businesses were more likely to strive for growth, the former having been more likely to have struggled over the past six months.
The proportion of regional businesses importing and exporting remains fairly consistent, although there was a slight increase in those sourcing goods from the rest of the UK (79% up from 74% in November/December 2024).
The European Union emerged as the most cited import market (by 64% of international importers). In contrast, the United States (17%) and China (11%) were named by fewer respondents. On the export side, 62% of international exporters identified the EU as a key market, followed by the United States (45%), followed by Australia (14%) and Canada (13%).
With ongoing flux in international trading conditions arising from US import tariff announcements, nearly two in five businesses (37%) viewed international trade as a risk. Understandably tThe concern is more pronounced among international exporters (55%) and importers (50%). Most businesses trading internationally are not planning to change their approach to international trade (41%) or feel it is too soon to say (24%).
Of those who have made, or are planning to, make changes to their approach (19% of international traders), over half (56%) were adopting a cautious approach due to uncertainty. Where they are making changes, this included reviewing supply chains (42%), targeting new export markets (32%) or changing focus to domestic markets (30%).
Businesses identified strong community connections (39%), their understanding of their market (36%) and their workforce (35%) as their biggest strengths.
Most businesses (86%) identified areas for development, prioritising workforce and wellbeing (45%), premises or equipment (39%), and new domestic market opportunities (39%).
However, current economic conditions (80%), the cost of doing business (78%) and both the cost (69%) and availability (66%) of labour were cited as key constraints to progressing development goals.
Island-based businesses were more likely than average to report that supply chain challenges, access to labour and skills, transport connectivity and availability of housing were barriers to their business development.
Twenty-six percent of people see automation and AI as an opportunity, slightly more than the 23% who view it as a risk. The biggest concerns are cybersecurity (64%) and job loss due to automation (49%).
Over half of businesses saw opportunities in tourism (65%), renewable energy (53%), community-led initiatives (52%), and major infrastructure projects (51%), with 71% feeling at least somewhat prepared to take advantage.
“It’s very encouraging to see a rise in business confidence across the region, especially given the economic challenges of recent years,” Martin Johnson, director of strategy and regional economy at HIE said.
“While it is clear that current economic conditions, cost and availability of labour and skills continue to be risk factors for businesses, these latest findings offer valuable insights into how businesses are adapting, investing, and identifying new opportunities.
“We will continue to monitor international trading conditions and how they are impacting on our regional businesses with a view to responding accordingly. The feedback from panel members continues to shape how we and our partners tailor support to meet the region’s evolving needs and unlock future potential.
“We appreciate everyone who took part in the survey. Their contributions have once again offered valuable insights and thoughtful feedback on the challenges and opportunities shaping the region’s business landscape.”
The notorious ransomware group behind the Jaguar Land Rover hack that continues to interrupt the firm’s production has announced that it plans to cease operations.
In a message on its since shut down Telegram channel, the Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters has said that it will no longer be running, saying: “Silence will now be our strength.”
The group said that though more companies may disclose breaches or hacks from the group, the cyber gang is no longer active.
“”You may see our name in new databreach disclosure reports from the tens of other multi billion dollar companies that have yet to disclose an breach, as well as some government agencies, including highly secured ones, that does not mean we are still active,” its parting message said.
“We LAPSUS$, Trihash, Yurosh, yaxsh, WyTroZz, N3z0x, Nitroz, TOXIQUEROOT, Prosox, Pertinax, Kurosh, Clown, IntelBroker, Scattered Spider, Yukari, and among many others, have dcided to go dark. Our objectives having been fulfilled, it is now time to say goodbye,” the message continued.
The message also mentioned the group members that have been targeted and arrested by law enforcement, with the gang expanding “our regrets to their relatives, and apologising for their sacrifice.”
“Any State needs its scapegoat,” the message continued. “Those carefully selected targets are the last collateral victims of our war on power, and the use of our skills to humiliate those who have humiliated, predate those who have been predated.
“We have ensure that the investigations targeting them will progressively fall apart, and that their mild vanity peccati will not inflict on them, long term consequences.”
It remains uncertain if the notorious group is really shutting down, or just going quiet as they regroup after a series of major targets and the high-profile arrests of some alleged members.
Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters are an amalgamation of different members from Scattered Spider, Lapsus$, and Shiny Hunters, and are known for having young, mainly native-English speaking members.
Interestingly, Shiny Hunters was not directly mentioned in the message, despite being one of the ransomware groups the gang split off from. Shiny Hunters is also claiming responsibility for an ongoing attack that was just disclosed by Kering, the parent company of several luxury brands including Gucci, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen.
A UK government trial is boasting that government coders are saving about 28 days a year thanks to AI assistances, the equivalent of an hour a day.
A government trial of using AI assistances across the civil service found that time savings from AI mostly came from using them to write first drafts of code that experts then edited, or using them to review existing code.
Only 15% of code generated by the AI coding assistants was used without any edits – showing that engineers were taking care to check and correct AI-generated code where needed.
“For too long, essential public services have been slow to use new technology – we have a lot of catching up to do. These results show that our engineers are hungry to use AI to get that work done more quickly, and know how to use it safely,” technology minister Kanishka Narayan said.
“This is exactly how I want us to use AI and other technology to make sure we are delivering the standard of public services people expect – both in terms of accuracy and efficiency. With a £45 billion jackpot at stake, it’s not an opportunity we can pass up, as it can help cut backlogs and save money.”
Developers and engineers across 50 government departments trialled AI coding assistants from Microsoft, GitHub Copilot, and Google, Gemini Code Assist.
The trial found widespread satisfaction with the tools among coders, with 72% of users agreeing they offered good value for their organisation. Over half of participants – 58% – said they would prefer not to return to working without AI assistance, whilst 65% reported completing tasks faster and 56% said they could solve problems more efficiently.
The trial forms part of the government’s broader AI strategy to increase AI adoption across the public sector, ensuring Britain remains at the forefront of technological innovation whilst delivering tangible benefits for citizens through improved government services.
“We are thrilled to see the positive impact Gemini Code Assist has had on government developers, enabling them to accelerate innovation and deliver better public services more efficiently,” president of Google Cloud EMEA, Tara Brady, said.
“This landmark trial, the largest of its kind for Gemini Code Assist in the UK public sector, underscores the transformative potential of AI in enhancing productivity and problem-solving for coding professionals, and highlights the successful collaboration stemming from Google Cloud’s Strategic Partnership Agreement with the UK government.”
Six projects will use satellite technology and AI to transform how the UK tackles key challenges in climate and transport following £1.5m in UK Space Agency funding.
Delivered through the Unlocking Space for Business programme, the projects demonstrate how satellite data combined with AI can deliver practical, scalable solutions to real-world challenges. This supports the Government’s Industrial Strategy by driving innovation in priority sectors, accelerating growth and developing technological leadership.
The funding will help financial services and transport businesses accelerate the deployment of innovations that reduce carbon emissions, support the transition to net zero, and boost accessibility, while creating new growth opportunities for the UK’s space sector, which already employs 56,000 people.
“These innovative projects showcase the transformative power of Britain’s space sector,” DSIT minister Ian Murray said.
“From reducing emissions to making our streets more accessible, we’re backing the satellite technology and AI solutions that really make a difference to people’s lives.”
Each project addresses specific market gaps where traditional terrestrial data has proven to be insufficient or costly. The funding enables businesses to develop scalable solutions that can be deployed nationally and exported internationally, positioning Britain as a leader in space-enabled climate solutions.
“These projects show how the UK’s space sector is delivering real-world impact, using satellite data and AI to tackle climate change, decarbonise transport, and improve accessibility,” Dr Craig Brown, investment director at the UK Space Agency said.
“By supporting innovation in sectors that haven’t traditionally used space technology, we’re unlocking new economic opportunities and helping to build a more sustainable, inclusive future.”
The Unlocking Space for Business programme addresses barriers to the adoption of space solutions and has engaged more than 350 organisations to date, supporting a range of projects across insurance, investment, transport and logistics.
This forms part of the UK Space Agency’s wider Unlocking Space Programme which aims to grow high potential UK space companies by unlocking revenue and investment opportunities. Across its programmes, the UK Space Agency catalysed investment and revenue of at least £2.2 billion for the UK space sector in 2024/2025.
Widespread overconfidence in mobile app security is driving a fundamental shift in organisational priorities, new research from Guardsquare has found.
While 93% of organisations believe their current protections are sufficient, the reality that 62% suffered mobile app breaches in the past year – an average of nine incidents each – is driving a move toward more proactive, comprehensive security strategies that balance development speed with robust protection.
The pressure to accelerate release cycles compounds this blind spot, with 71% of organisations admitting speed has compromised mobile app security.
“The data is clear, and the perceived trade-off between speed and security is a false choice that is costing organisations,” said Roel Caers, CEO of Guardsquare.
“When developers are under immense pressure to release new features, and security is seen as a roadblock, they are forced to sacrifice protection for time-to-market. This reactive, fire-fighting approach is unsustainable. What’s needed is a proactive, integrated strategy where security is an enabler, not a hindrance.”
The report found that almost 70% of organisation do not use obfuscation to protect their mobile apps, and 60% lack Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP), leaving their aps vulnerable to both static and dynamic analysis.
Challenging a long-held industry myth, the report found that more than 70% of organisations believe that iOS apps pose a moderate or higher level security risk.
The impacts of security incidents extend beyond the average reported cost, the report found. More than half of respondents (54%) reported application downtime, nearly half (48%) experienced data leakage, and 41% suffered a loss of consumer trust.
“As organisations face pressure to develop feature-rich applications that can be easily used from any device, attackers often target vulnerabilities in mobile applications,” said Melinda Marks, Practice Director, cybersecurity, for Enterprise Strategy Group.
“To stay ahead of threats and attacks, security teams need to take a proactive approach to mobile application security with the right tools and processes incorporated into development workflows to help developers optimize efficiency and security as they release robust applications.”
A growing cybersecurity skills crisis is forcing 64% of the organisations across EMEA to take risky shortcuts and temporary fixes to meet security demands, according to new research from Insight Enterprises.
In the UK, the problem is equally acute. 67% of organisations report a cybersecurity skills shortage, with over half (56%) describing the impact as “severe” or “significant.” The shortage is hitting hardest at the senior level, with 50% citing gaps in strategic skills such as governance, planning, and risk assessment.
Only 24% of IT decision-makers across EMEA say they have sufficient in-house cyber skills to keep pace with evolving threats. These shortages are delaying key initiatives (57%) and leaving more than half (57%) struggling to meet compliance requirements.
The study uncovered the top two barriers to closing the cyber skills gap in EMEA, with 68% of IT leaders citing the high cost of hiring and training, while 65% point to a lack of qualified candidates in the market as a major barrier.
But the issue runs deeper than recruitment, with the research showing that the cyber skills gap is not confined to technical roles; it spans operations, leadership, and compliance functions. This shortage is undermining both day-to-day resilience and long-term strategic planning.
Cybersecurity is no longer just a staffing challenge — it’s a strategic imperative. As organisations accelerate digital transformation, the widening cyber skills gap is undermining confidence in their ability to innovate securely. This isn’t just a talent issue; it’s a threat to long-term growth and resilience.
“The answer isn’t simply more hires or more tools,” said Adrian Gregory, EMEA President at Insight. “What’s needed is a fundamental shift in how organisations think about security, from reactive defence to proactive design.”
That shift starts with leadership. Closing the cyber skills gap means cultivating leaders who can orchestrate human–machine collaboration, translate technical risk into business impact, and embed security into the fabric of innovation.
“The organisations that will lead in the next era,” Adrian Gregory continued, “are those that align strategic talent with intelligent technology and trusted partnerships. It’s this blend that builds the resilience required to grow, adapt, and stay ahead.”
First Minister John Swinney says Scotland is positioned to become “a global hub for digital innovation” as a prestigious computer games conference being held in Scotland for the first time gets underway.
The DICE Europe summit – supported by the Scottish Government – will see 150 global gaming industry leaders come to Edinburgh for key talks and to hear from Nintendo’s Managing Executive Officer Satoru Shibata, who was invited to speak by the First Minister.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes will address an opening reception at Edinburgh Castle where global delegates will be entertained by Nicola Benedetti.
Roundtables will focus on Scotland’s rise to become a global powerhouse in the industry and the role Artificial Intelligence will play in game development. Scotland is now home to 130 gaming companies with a £340 million annual industry turnover with staff numbers have doubling from 1,045 to 2,125 since 2015.
“Scotland’s gaming industry is experiencing extraordinary growth that demonstrates our nation’s capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship,” first minister John Swinney said.
“The transformation from 15 companies to 130 in just over a decade shows how quickly Scottish talent can compete on the global stage and create real economic value for our communities.
“These companies are not just creating games played by millions worldwide – they are creating skilled jobs, attracting international investment, and positioning Scotland as a global hub for digital innovation. This growth directly supports our mission to raise living standards in every part of Scotland and cement our reputation as a centre of creative excellence.”
Chris van der Kuyl, Chairman, 4J Studios, developers of Minecraft Console Edition, who helped bring DICE to Scotland, said: “It’s monumental so many of the industry’s top figures are gathering in Scotland. After a couple of challenging years worldwide, confidence and growth prospects have returned to the sector.
“With the forthcoming release of GTA 6, which is set to reshape the video game landscape, and our own new game Reforj alongside all the other incredible output from studios across the country, Scotland is well placed to lead the way and have an outsized impact on the global stage.”
DICE Europe is currently underway in Edinburgh and will finish on 17 September, showcasing Scotland’s position as an emerging global hub for interactive entertainment, building on companies like 4J Studios and Rockstar North’s Edinburgh operations.
Exits by women-led businesses are the closest they’ve ever been to male-led companies, according to the newest Top 200 Women-Powered Business report from JP Morgan.
The report analyses high-growth businesses founded, led, owned or managed by women in the UK, finding that women-led businesses are getting closer to closing the gender gap when it comes to exit valuations.
“Women-powered businesses continue to be a driving force behind innovation and growth across the UK economy,” Marice Brown, region head of the UK, Channel Islands, and Ireland at JP Morgan Private Bank said.
“We’re passionate about championing them but we also recognise the challenges they continue to face in accessing funding and building their networks. By shedding light on the structural and systemic challenges they face, we can play a pivotal role in advancing women owned and led businesses, and fuel the next wave of women ambition.”
Closing the Gap
Looking at the volume of deals, exit activity among women-powered businesses has followed a clear upward trajectory over the past decade. 2024 delivered both a record number of deals and the second-highest total value in five years, second only to 2021.
Following a contraction in 2023 (when disclosed exit values declined to £731m), 2024 witnessed a significant recovery, reaching £5.23bn across a record number of exits among women-powered businesses – just shy of male-led companies at £6.74bn —marking one of the closest value splits on record.
“Although the gap still exists, the rising exit value among women-powered businesses is notable. 2024 is particularly impressive given that these businesses make up a significantly smaller share of the high-growth business population, even amid a general softening in exit activity” said Charlotte Bobroff, Head of UK Women & Wealth at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.
“While a high proportion of this was driven by major deals, notably Darktrace’s IPO at £1.7bn, the remaining £1.24bn in 2024 surpasses the 2023 valuation altogether. The sustained growth in the number of exits highlights the increasing maturity, scale, and exit-readiness of women-powered businesses” Bobroff continued.
Declining Investment
While exit values remain strong, women-powered businesses experience a greater drop in investment in 2024 as the wider market contracted. In 2024, total equity investment across the broader high-growth ecosystem fell by 13.6% from £21.2bn to £18.3bn. Women-powered businesses, however, were significantly impacted with a 29.1% decline in funding between 2023 and 2024.
“The disproportionate impact on women-powered businesses is not due to a single factor, but rather the cumulative effect of several structural challenges such as limited access to capital and resources,” Bobroff added. “Consequently, when the market contracts, these businesses are disproportionately affected.”
Analysing historic data around the proportion of equity investment received by women-powered businesses, in 2024 they secured 24.6% of the total value of equity investment into high-growth UK companies – a decline from the record 30% secured in 2018 and 2023.
Despite the overall decline in funding, 2024 levels remain higher than the amount invested in any year prior to 2021. Women-powered businesses have also shown resilience with a consistent share of total funding by deal count, maintaining over 33% since 2020.
“This could indicate a return to pre-pandemic norms, given the significant increases in investment seen throughout 2021 and 2022 due to economic stimulus measures designed to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19,” Bobroff added. “Importantly, the dilutive effects of equity investment are levelling the playing field, with women founders now retaining an average of 39.5% ownership in their businesses, compared to 33.4% for male founders, highlighting a positive shift towards gender equity in business ownership.”
Venture Capital (VC) played an increasingly prominent role in 2024, accounting for 21.9% of all equity deals – its highest share to date. Crucially, women-powered businesses matched this rate, with 22.3% of fundraising deals involving a VC.
Analysing historic data around VC-backed deals, the proportion involving women-powered businesses has risen steadily, from 23.1% in 2015 to 33.8% in 2024. Bobroff said: “this represents a higher concentration than the broader equity landscape, where women-powered businesses accounted for 24.6% of all deals in 2024, 9.2% lower than the VC subset.”
When discussing the investment landscape, Melis Kahya, Head of Consumer EMEA at General Atlantic – an expert featured in the report – shares, “I have observed the investment community historically rewarded opportunity over risk. Anecdotally we see a tendency for male founders to prioritise showing the opportunity story, whereas female founders are more likely to lead with a realistic and transparent view of risk.”
Kahya continues, “As we have entered a new macroeconomic environment that encourages investors to take a more conservative and pragmatic view, this may start to favour those who accurately explain the risk/return profile of their businesses.”
Femtech
Femtech emerged as the leading sector for women-powered businesses, featuring the highest proportion of women-powered businesses compared to other sectors (85.3%). Although the absolute number remains modest at 55 companies, their collective impact is notable, generating a combined turnover of £88M and since 2020 this proportion has more than doubled.
Women-powered businesses are notably concentrated in sectors that represent the largest sectors in the UK’s high-growth ecosystem including Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), online retailing, and data provision services. These sectors are at the forefront in terms of company numbers and investment deal activity. In 2024, women-led ventures in the SaaS sector completed 44 exits, representing 21.7% of all exits in the sector—a significant increase from just 6.81% in 2015. Despite their strong presence in these dynamic areas, women-led companies contribute a disproportionately smaller share of reported turnover, highlighting structural barriers and leaving considerable economic potential untapped.
The UK and US have entered a landmark deal to enter ‘golden age’ of nuclear energy prior to US President Donald Trump visiting the UK this week.
UK and US companies have agreed five new commercial deals, enabled by a new agreement by the UK and US governments, which is primed to be signed at the state visit this week.
The new agreement is expected to make it quicker for companies to build new nuclear power stations in both countries, for example by speeding up the time it takes for a nuclear project to get a licence from roughly in three or four years to roughly two.
The Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy aims to speed up this process for companies and revitalise the industry it the UK as it looks to strengthen its sovereign electricity sources.
The agreement and deals will pave the way for more investment in nuclear energy and power plants, with the industry seeing 11,000 new jobs already this year following government investment.
Some of the deals involve the building of 12 new advanced modular reactors in Hartlepool, as well as advanced data centres in Nottinghamshire.
“This landmark UK-US nuclear partnership is not just about powering our homes, it’s about powering our economy, our communities, and our ambition,” prime minister Keir Starmer said.
“These major commitments set us well on course to a golden age of nuclear that will drive down household bills in the long run, while delivering thousands of good jobs in the short term.
“Together with the US, we’re building a golden age of nuclear that puts both countries at the forefront of global innovation and investment.”
The new partnership also extends to fusion energy, through coordinated experimental programmes with UK and US expertise combining with AI technology to develop advanced simulation tools, whilst test facilities aim to fast-track progress towards commercial fusion power.
“We’re kickstarting a golden age of nuclear in this country, joining forces with the US to turbocharge new nuclear developments and secure the technologies of the future,” energy secretary Ed Miliband said.
“Nuclear will power our homes with clean, homegrown energy and the private sector is building it in Britain, delivering growth and well-paid skilled jobs for working people.”
Ofcom has launched investigations into five companies that collectively operate at least 22 pornography sites in an age-check crackdown under the Online Safety Act.
Since the new age verification duties came out on 25 July, Ofcom has been checking compliance from major sites, with all the ten 10 most-visited sites, as well as many smaller ones, introducing new age checks for UK users.
Since then, Ofcom has opened formal investigations into whether five providers have highly effective age checks in place to protect children from encountering pornography across 22 websites.
The sites include: Cyberitic, LLC, Web Prime Inc, Youngtek Solutions Ltd, ZD Media s.r.o and the provider of xgroovy.
Ofcom says they have prioritised these based on the risk of harm they pose and their user numbers, including where there have been significant increases in their user numbers since the 25 July deadline.
Collectively, these sites have over 8 million unique monthly UK visitors.
Ofcom is also expanding the scope of two existing investigations into 8579 LLC and Itai Tech. These investigations centre on the firms’ compliance on the age check requirements, but have been expanded to assess if they have failed to respond adequately to statutory information requests from Ofcom.
The regulator is now gathering and analysing evidence to determine any contraventions. If the assessment indicates any compliance failures, it will issue provisional orders before making its final decision.
Ofcom is also empowered to impose fines of up to £18m or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, which ever is higher, if it determines the firms are non-compliant.
Further, the regulator can issue a court order for ‘business disruption measures’, which could require payment providers or advertisers to withdraw their services from the platform, or for internet service providers to block access to the site in the UK.
The DataKirk has announced the finalists for the Scottish Ethnic Minority Talent Festival & Awards (SEMTSF Awards 2025), a landmark celebration honouring organisations and teams driving progress in diversity, digital skills, innovation, and sustainability across Scotland.
Following an overwhelming number of direct and indirect nominations, DataKirk’s judging panel has shortlisted four outstanding finalists in each of the ten award categories. These organisations reflect the best of Scotland’s commitment to building an inclusive, forward-looking, and resilient workforce.
The event will also welcome Richard Lochhead MSP, Minister for Business for Scotland, as keynote speaker for this historic occasion.
Smart glasses which help people struggling with severe depression to complete everyday tasks and AI filter apps making therapy for debilitating anxiety less daunting are among the cutting-edge tech projects being backed to deliver real-time mental health support across the UK, Science Minister Lord Vallance has announced.
With a 40% rise in people receiving mental health support from the NHS in England alone since before the pandemic, Innovate UK is supporting 17 businesses across the UK to take low-cost innovations to the next level to improve lives up and down the country, for the most in need, including in remote or underserved areas.
Developments include light-weight smart glasses which use AI to address the impact illnesses like depression, anxiety and psychosis can have on memory loss, by recognising household objects and offering advice on a connected app.
Technology led by CrossSense helps to reframe negative thoughts while offering step-by-step instructions for carrying out daily tasks, such as keeping vulnerable users safe from harm with prompts like advice to stay away from boiling water on the hob.
It adapts to the wearer’s needs over time and helps to prevent cognitive decline, including dementia, so complex mental health conditions are not an unnecessary barrier to fulfilled and independent lives.
Tech will be built and trialled over the next year to 18 months – following £3.6 million of support from Innovate UK’s Mindset extended reality (XR) for digital mental health programme.
This investment is part of the government’s commitment to protecting record funding for research and development, as outlined in the Autumn Budget 2024, which recognises that capitalising on the UK’s excellence in science and innovation is essential to seize the opportunities of AI, drive economic growth, and support our NHS.
“These projects are shining examples of how innovation can transform people’s quality of life, by helping those with severe mental health conditions to take on everyday tasks that can otherwise feel impossible,” science minister Lord Vallance said.
“From smart glasses helping those with debilitating depression to navigate through the day to games helping children to build their social skills, we are supporting teams across the UK to build cutting-edge tech that unlocks opportunity, supports the NHS and grows our economy.”
These solutions aim to treat more people, particularly those with complex needs including those in remote or underserved areas, through scalable, immersive care. They also offer further advantages in terms of reduced costs and resource pressure with real-time support; and improved outcomes through personalised, engaging therapeutic experiences.
“Technology is transforming healthcare and we are putting patients at the heart of this revolution,” minister for mental health, Baroness Merron, said.
“New tools such as smart glasses and AI filter apps show how we’re backing innovations to reach people with mental health conditions – especially in communities that often get left behind.
“By embracing new tech, we’re improving lives and reducing pressure on the NHS to make healthcare fit for the future, as part of our Plan for Change.”
According to Zendesk’s latest report, Transforming IT Service with AI, technology leaders are stepping into strategic roles that shape how the business operates.
Seventy-two per cent (72%) of IT leaders’ time is now spent outside of traditional IT work on executive leadership, innovation, and HR-related initiatives. With the majority (93%) using AI beyond the pilot phase, IT leaders are at the forefront of building secure, connected, and AI-powered workplaces.
“The report makes it clear: employee satisfaction and productivity are no longer just influenced by IT, they’re powered by it,” said Craig Flower, Chief Information Officer at Zendesk.
“By building the digital foundation for modern work, IT leaders shape how teams connect, perform, and thrive. In a competitive landscape for attracting and retaining talent, exceptional employee service is not just a nice-to-have, it’s a strategic differentiator. That’s why now is the time to invest in intelligent AI strategies that create seamless, empowering experiences and unlock the full potential of every employee.”
New Responsibilities, New Pressures, New Opportunities
As IT leaders take on broader responsibilities, they are also facing new pressures. The expanded scope spanning beyond traditional infrastructure into areas like HR, onboarding, and AI strategy is contributing to challenges such as team burnout, talent shortages, and growing skill gaps.
This is where AI becomes crucial, scaling smarter by automating routine tasks, enhancing decision-making, and enabling self-service across departments, freeing up time for IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives.
And the stakes are high: 74% of employees admit that even a minor technical hiccup can derail their day, and 40% express they feel frustrated just thinking about contacting IT due to slow or repetitive processes.
That is where AI can act as a first responder for IT, instantly resolving common issues and reducing wait times turning moments of friction into seamless, self-service interactions.
More than half of employees say switching between HR and IT systems feels confusing and frustrating highlighting the need for one easy-to-use experience which shows the clear need for one connected platform across departments.
AI is Transformational
The IT Insights Report shows the benefits AI already has on employee services: 95% of IT leaders say they’ve seen measurable improvements to their IT service KPIs, with 70% reporting a strong or even transformational impact. From faster resolution times to better onboarding and more efficient processes, AI seems to be moving the metrics that matter.
That’s the warning from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has spotted a worrying pattern behind the culprits responsible for school personal data breach reports that relate to insider attacks.
The regulator analysed 215 personal data breach reports caused by insider attacks from the education sector between January 2022 and August 2024, with a start set of findings in the near-two-year period.
Over half (57%) of cyber incidents were caused by students, the research found. Three in ten (30%) were caused by stolen login details, with student responsible for 97% of these attacks.
The warning comes after the National Crime Agency (NCA) reported one in five children aged 10 to 16 have been found to engage in illegal activity online. Shockingly last year, the youngest referral to the NCA’s Cyber Choices – a national programme helping people use cyber skills in a legal way – was a seven-year-old child.
Teen hackers are commonly English speaking males and around 5% of 14-year-old boys and girls admit to hacking. A number of reasons are cited as to why children hack including dares, notoriety, financial gain, revenge and rivalries.
“Whilst education settings are experiencing large numbers of cyber attacks, there is still growing evidence that ‘insider threat’ is poorly understood, largely unremedied and can lead to future risk of harm and criminality,” Heather Toomey, principal cyber specialist at the ICO, said.
“What starts out as a dare, a challenge, a bit of fun in a school setting can ultimately lead to children taking part in damaging attacks on organisations or critical infrastructure.
“It’s important that we understand the next generation’s interests and motivations in the online world to ensure children remain on the right side of the law and progress into rewarding careers in a sector in constant need of specialists.”
Further analysis of the 215 education sector insider attack breach reports found that nearly a quarter (23%) of incidents were caused by poor data protection practices. These included: staff accessing or using data without a legitimate need, devices being left unattended, and students being allowed to use staff devices.
A fifth (20%) of incidents were caused by staff sending data to personal devices, and 17% of incidents were caused by incorrect set up or access rights to systems such as SharePoint.
Just 5% of incidents were identified as insiders using sophisticated techniques to bypass security and network controls.
The impact and severity of an insider attack can be far reaching. The ICO is calling on schools to be part of the solution by taking steps to improve their cybersecurity and data protection practices and remove temptation from students.
Schools should regularly refresh GDPR training to raise standards and awareness of the need to protect access to school systems. And when things go wrong, schools must report to the ICO to ensure they receive support and advice.
Advice for Parents
The ICO continues to encourage parents to have regular conversations with their children about what they get up to online and discuss the choices they are making.
What can be perceived as a bit of fun for a young mind could turn into illegal and harmful activity with far reaching consequences.
The NCA’s Cyber Choices programme provides resources to help parents and young people explore tech skills but also understand the consequences of becoming involved in cyber crime.
Forensic experts are warning that the UK’s digital forensics system is at breaking point, with growing backlogs, staff shortages, and outdated technology leaving thousands of crimes at risk of going unsolved.
Over the past decade, every police force in the UK has created its own Digital Forensics Unit (DFU) to analyse mobile phones, computers, and other digital devices seized during investigations.
Greater Manchester Police currently has more than 1,300 seized devices awaiting examination. The Police Service of Northern Ireland has more than 100 devices that have been delayed for over a year, and eight devices have been waiting for analysis for more than two years. In contrast, the City of London Police has only 76 devices in its backlog, and none of these have been waiting for more than a month.
Digital Forensics Investigators (DFIs) say they are overwhelmed, under-resourced, and under constant pressure from prosecutors.
Independent reports by the Police Foundation in 2021, Northumbria University in 2024, and the Westminster Commission on Forensic Science in June 2025 all concluded that the current system is not fit for purpose.
There are several reasons for this failure. Devices are becoming more complex, making extraction of evidence increasingly slow and technically challenging. Digital crime is also expanding at an unprecedented scale, with the Internet Watch Foundation reporting that online child sexual abuse content has risen by 830% since 2014.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has warned that artificial intelligence is accelerating the spread of abusive material, making the work of DFIs more urgent than ever.
John Lucey, VP EMEA at Cellebrite commented: “A shortage of digital forensics capacity is putting significant pressure on policing and the justice system. The volume, complexity, and diversity of digital evidence continue to escalate, while processes have been unable to keep pace. The result is a widening backlog, delayed investigations and ultimately, justice denied for victims as without sufficient processes in place, rescuing efforts can be jeopardised.
“This is not a challenge that law enforcement can face alone. It requires sustained investment, stronger collaboration between agencies and clear prioritisation frameworks to ensure the most urgent cases are addressed swiftly.
“Not only can it accelerate investigations and help forces stay ahead of the mounting caseload, but it can play a vital role in shielding forensic teams from overexposure to sensitive and often distressing material, a critical factor in protecting their mental health and well-being.
“Meeting this crisis head-on means recognising that investment in such technology is not optional, it’s the only way to deliver modern policing. Addressing the issue effectively will demand a long-term, coordinated response, one that balances the need for timely justice with the responsibility to safeguard those carrying out this essential work.”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has officially launched the Deep Tech Supercluster Programme at a showcase event at the Bayes Centre, University of Edinburgh.
The pilot programme is part of the wider Deep Tech Supercluster and was hailed as a major milestone in Scotland’s innovation journey.
Companies signing up will benefit from wrap-around support from Scottish Enterprise, the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), the National Robotarium, Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC), Highlands and Islands Enterprise, universities and the private sector.
According to the Royal Academy of Engineering’s State of UK Deep Tech report, the UK deep tech sector now attracts more than £5 billion in annual venture capital. Deep tech industries are defined as those with substantial scientific or engineering foundations — covering fields such as quantum technologies, photonics, advanced sensors, biotechnology, robotics, satellites and advanced materials.
In Scotland, these capabilities underpin high-growth global markets such as subsea systems, medical technologies, and space.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “Deeptech is a fundamental building block of many of the technologies we use in our everyday life – as well as many others that underpin the success of future industries. It represents a high-growth economic opportunity and, as such, it is vital that we harness the huge talent and innovation lying across Scotland’s technology sector.
“We want to see more companies forming, growing and manufacturing here in Scotland. By providing access to public and private support, this supercluster presents a step-change in how we foster deeptech companies and help them to succeed. I look forward to the pilot proving a real game-changer for a number of our most exciting companies, providing them with the right support and expertise at the right time to ensure that they succeed, grow and flourish.”
Managing Director of Innovation and Investment at Scottish Enterprise Jane Martin said: “This exciting collaboration will help companies to manufacture scalable products ultimately anchoring more high-growth firms in Scotland, creating jobs, boosting exports, and attracting investment.
“We want to work with some of Scotland’s most exciting growth prospects intensively to determine the most effective approaches to ensure they can scale here in Scotland, working with public and private partners along the way to create a really joined up system for growth.”
Among the companies showcasing today was Novosound, which is developing thin-film ultrasound sensors for healthcare, subsea inspection, and industrial markets.
Director of Research and Development at Novosound Daniel Irving said: “Having gone through the journey of prototyping and productising deep tech concepts, with the invaluable support of Scottish Enterprise, it’s fantastic to see a dedicated programme now in place to back the next generation of Scottish deep tech start-ups. This kind of targeted support is exactly what’s needed to help innovation thrive.”
The Deep Tech Supercluster Programme is supported by partners including enterprise agencies, Scottish Government, the National Robotarium, Smart Things Accelerator Centre and the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland.
The pilot begins in November 2025 as a manufacturing pathway and will provide tailored support, investment readiness, access to manufacturing facilities, and partner expertise.
One of the UK’s major train operators has been affected by a cyber incident and has confirmed that customer data has been compromised in a third-party breach.
LNER said it was made aware of “unauthorised access to files managed by a third-party supplier,” with “customer contact details and some information about previous journeys” included in the compromised files.
However, no bank, payment card or password information was affected. Still, the government-owned company that operates trains in England and Scotland urged customers to abide by solid cyber hygeine, including appropriate password management.
While the train operator said that, given the nature of the compromised information, passwords would not need to be changed, it did caution against how other information could be used in future attacks.
It urged customers to “please be cautious of unsolicited communications, especially those asking for personal information. If in doubt, do not respond.”
The company will provide further updates as their investigation continues.
“Regardless of how the attack was executed, LNER customers should take note of the advice offered by the organisation,” William Wright, CEO of Closed Door Security said.
“With personal data now in the hands of threat actors, they will be working painstakingly to monetise from it.
“Attackers will likely scour online platforms with the data they have and work to build on it so they have more detailed profiles on individuals.
“They will then likely use the incident to send out phishing emails, which are designed to look like genuine communications from brands, including LNER, but are actually aimed at tricking recipients into handing out their personal or financial information.
“It is essential that online users take note of this threat and treat all email, SMS and phone calls with caution.
“Phishing isn’t confined to email these days, attackers frequently also use the phone, SMS, and WhatsApp even post services to target consumers.”
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has now admitted that some data may have been stolen in a recent cyber-attack that interrupted its car production.
Initially, the firm said that they had no evidence the hack affected customer data. However, 11 days after JLR went public with the attack, the firm confirmed that some data has been “affected” as a result of the attack.
“As a result of our ongoing investigation, we now believe that some data has been affected and we are informing the relevant regulators,” the firm said in a statement. “Our forensic investigation continues at pace and we will contact anyone as appropriate if we find that their data has been impacted.”
The initial attack severely disrupted the car production operations of the firm – the soonest these are projected to restart is on Thursday, whereas Sky News reported that the soonest return to work would be September 15. Production at some of its factories were immediately disrupted, and staff were even sent home in English facilities in Solihill, Halewood, and Wolverhampton.
A group has already claimed responsibility for the attack, though this has not bee confirmed. Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, an amalgamation of three separate ransomware gangs, took credit for the hack.
The ransomware group is thought to consist of young, mainly native English speakers. Its an amalgamation of former members of notorious ransomware groups Shiny Hunters, Lapsus$, and Scattered Spider, that emerged from The Com.
While JLR continues to work with third-party cyber organisations, and has notified Information Commissioner’s Office of the impacted data, it remains to be seen how devasting the attack will be, and if customer data was compromised.
Despite typically stellar reviews from participants, Techscaler’s foreign trips for budding entrepreneurs to places with tech industries in full bloom have come under scrutiny in a recent piece in The Sunday Post.
Based on a series of interviews from mostly unnamed individuals, the trips were described by the Post as ‘holidays’ sponsored by the Scottish Government, providing entrepreneurs with free transportation and hotels to exotic destinations complete with ‘wild parties’ and a lack of structure.
While these are the more outlandish claims in the article, it did raise appropriate questions about the selection process of these trips, and the reason for them.
Are these Techscaler trips essential parts of growing Scotland’s tech ecosystem, providing startup founders with critical access to successful regions and investors? Or are they government-backed revelry under a thinly-veiled guise of freeform networking?
The Scottish government contract to deliver Techscaler was awarded to CodeBase back in July 2022, backed by £42 million in state funding. The programme largely delivers engagement and networking opportunities and training courses for Scotland’s tech startups, but also offers fully paid trips for founders to some of the world’s leading tech hubs.
Founders were flown to Silicon Valley, California, Singapore, and Japan, providing them with the opportunity to network with other founders and connect with investors in the vibrant tech ecosystems.
However, The Sunday Post alleged – based on mainly anonymous sources -that the trips had a questionable selection process and were treated as free holidays by many participants, who took the opportunity to have nights out and ‘wild parties’.
According to the article, some attendees stayed out in Singapore “drinking all night” and “didn’t turn up” to organised events the next day.
Others said anonymously that they questioned the selection process for the trips, saying that some were selected to attend the trips without a formal application process.
One person, quoted anonymously as a “business leader” who was “involved” in the Singapore trip said that the trips were known as “a running joke. Among founders, everyone calls them free holidays.”
The only named person in the article, Daniel Grant, founder of notation.dev, and attendee of the Silicon Valley trip, said that some investors on the trip did not have a “game plan”, and critiques Techscaler’s filtering on startup founders selected for the trip in the article.
CodeBase, however, is having none of it.
CodeBase CEO Stephen Coleman expressed his disappointment in the article, telling DIGIT: “The article wholly misrepresented the nature of the international programmes, based on comments from unnamed sources with unknown agendas and uncorroborated information, while actively ignoring the huge volume of positive feedback, case studies and impact created for the businesses involved.”
A CodeBase spokesperson went into a bit more detail, providing some answers to questions left open by the report concerning the selection process and the reported inclusion of partners on the trip.
When it comes to the selection process, CodeBase said: “We review various criteria when selecting international programme participants, including revenue, investment raised, plans to expand to US or APAC markets, diversity and regional representation.
“There is a rigorous selection process in place to pick the companies who we think will benefit most from the programmes. Companies need to be Techscaler members by the time they go on the programme, be a registered business in Scotland, or have a senior executive based in Scotland.”
As far as spouses or partners being bankrolled by the government, CodeBase firmly denies this.
“Techscaler pays for flights and accommodation for the selected founders and supporting team only,” the CodeBase spokesperson told DIGIT. “No spouses or partners participated in any of the programmes.
“Some participants extended their stay beyond the programme with their partners, at their own personal expense.”
Even Daniel Grant, who was the only named individual in the article, shared his misgivings about the article’s presentation of the Techscaler trips.
He said on LinkedIn that he has “never heard anyone call these trips a holiday.”
He clarified his comment about some attendees not bringing a game plan with them “I was one of those people,” he clarified. “Contrary to what the article said, I hadn’t called investors before. I just got on a plane and figured it out when I arrived. We all had a couple of weeks to prepare – we made of it what we could.”
Another founder who participated in the Singapore trip, Wes Beard of Konversable, shared his thoughts on the article with DIGIT:
“The fact this has been reported as a ‘free holiday’ is not only factually inaccurate, but an insult to the entrepreneurs who dedicated a substantial amount of time towards not just maximising the opportunities available to grow their companies, but to elevate the profile of Scotland as a tech ‘place to do business’. “We spent many days at a suite of conferences, pitching events and networking events, helping to promote our own businesses and representing our country on the world stage.”
Beard said that meeting prospective clients in the APAC region would have been impossible without the Techscaler trip, due to his company’s relatively small size.
Beard said the trip opened his business up to other opportunities in the APAC region, from self-funding a trip extension to a conference in Malaysia, to unlocking other business deals in the region.
“If any blame should be pointed, it should not be towards CodeBase. If founders did not maximise the opportunities available to them on the trip, that’s on them, but to blame Techscaler or use this as a reason to talk down the potential of Scottish tech to the world stage is wholly wrong.”
In his LinkedIn post, Grant concurred: “The real villains of this story are not Codebase who provided an opportunity for business and personal development in another country. It’s the entitled founders who took that opportunity, squandered it, and then whined about it.”
The article’s controversy led all the way to the Scottish Parliament, with Scottish Conservative MP Murdo Fraser calling for “urgent enquiries” into the Techscaler trips.
It remains to be seen if the article will lead to anything after CodeBases’s comments and the clarification of the only named contributor in the piece.
Scottish private sector activity saw a modest uptick in August, which means the sector has now seen three months of sustained growth.
According to the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Regional Growth Tracker, Scotland saw a slight increase in output, pushing the region’s growth just past the neutral point in August to 50.3, from 48.7 in July.
August also saw an ease in the downturn on new businesses, with the rate of contraction closing to its smallest in the last 11 months of decline.
The service sector was the greatest contributor to Scotland’s overall increase in output, with the sector reporting new contract wins and an increase in enquiries largely tied to successful marketing.
In manufacturing, however, output contracted, though this rate of declined weakened to its lowest in nearly a year, indicating the production levels are on their way to stabilising.
While companies remained cautious about labour costs, more firms anticipated output growth in the next year in August as business sentiment improves.
“Forward-looking indicators suggested a relative improvement in conditions facing firms, with the downturn in new business easing notably, and companies expressing a more optimistic outlook for future activity,” Judith Cruickshank, chair of the Scotland board at Royal Bank of Scotland, said.
“However, despite these improvements, companies remained cautious about expanding their workforce numbers. Employment declined for the third consecutive month, with firms partly linking this to rising labour costs.
“Although cost pressures remained sharp, they showed signs of easing compared to July. At the same time, greater confidence around the outlook and demand led firms to raise their charges at a stronger pace.”
While businesses in Scotland were more optimistic about activity growth in August, this was subdued and weaker than the UK-average level of business optimism.
Scotland also saw a modest decrease in employment levels in the private sector, with anecdotal evidence pointing to redundancies and many firms deciding to not replace those that voluntarily left their jobs, citing labour costs.
Scotland had some of the weakest rates of cost inflation in the 12 UK nations and regions during August as well.
Google has received a €2.95 billion fine from the European Commission over its abuse of its dominant position in the Adtech market.
The EU found that Google had breached its antitrust regulations by favouring its own advertising business across its search engine, its publisher ad server, and its ad-buying tools.
The tech giant has been given 60 days to end these “self-preferencing practices” the EU said, saying that Google must “implement measures to cease its inherent conflicts of interest along the adtech supply chain.”
Teresa Ribera, the EU Commission’s executive vice president for clean, just and competitive transitions said that the tech giant must create a “serious remedy” to address the infringement, saying “if it fails to do so, we will not hesitate to impose strong remedies.”
She said in a statement: “Digital markets exist to serve people and must be grounded in trust and fairness. And when markets fail, public institutions must act to prevent dominant players from abusing their power.”
Google, however, intends to appeal the decision, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“There’s nothing anticompetitive in providing services for ad buyers and sellers, and there are more alternatives to our services than ever before,” a Google spokesperson told the WSJ.
According to the WSJ, the decision was delayed from its original planned release date due to growing concern about US push back when it comes to EU regulation of American tech companies.
The fine did incite the wrath of US President Donald Trump, who posted on social media: “We cannot let this happen to brilliant and unprecedented American Ingenuity, and, if it does, I will be forced to start a Section 301 proceeding to nullify the unfair penalties being charged to these Taxpaying American Companies.”
The Labour party’s cabinet reshuffle has resulted in Liz Kendall, former Department for Work and Pensions secretary, replace Peter Kyle as Science, Technology, and Innovation secretary.
Kendall has served as an MP for the Labour Party since 2010, and formerly served as the shadow junior minister for health under Ed Miliband.
Kyle has been appointed business minister as a result of the shuffle on Keir Starmer’s premiership.
Kendall took her previous position at the work and pensions department after the 2024 general election, where she was faced with reshaping the welfare system.
The Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) shared Kendall addressing her new staff on X, saying: “I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to be here and to have been given the opportunity and honour to work with all of you.
“I know from my good friend Peter Kyle, your former secretary of state, the incredible potential here, your huge determination to change people’s lives for the better and I really believe this department can help build the future for people in every part of the country, no matter their background, and who could possibly want a better job than that?”
Like her predecessor Kyle, Kendall’s previous experience aligns more with politics than technology. She will be tasked with the UK’s continuous digital transformation, as well as championing and managing its AI ambitions.
DSIT has faced other changes, however, as AI and digital government under secretary Feryal Clark has left the government. Data protection and Telecoms minister Chris Bryant has also moved to the Department for Business and Trade.
Each of these posts remain to be filled. Further, the positions of undersecretary for the future digital economy and for online safety have yet to be filled.
The major transitions come shortly after the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, resigned.
As the NHS launches a new AI-powered safety warning system for patient protection, behind the scenes, the Department of Health and Social Care is quietly reducing the data infrastructure needed to make AI work by £12 million over two years.
Data is playing an increasingly vital role, particularly as artificial intelligence is being rolled out throughout the NHS and government departments, with 70 per cent of government bodies already piloting or planning to use AI, highlighting the urgent need for high-quality, structured, and secure data.
New figures, obtained via a Freedom of Information request and analysed by the Parliament Street Think Tank, have revealed the Department of Health and Social Care has reduced its annual spending on data staff, technology and management across the department from £37.7 million in 2023/24 to £25 million in 2025/26.
This comes as the NHS prepares to roll out an AI early warning system across hospitals throughout the UK this November to monitor real-time hospital data to flag unusual spikes to trigger urgent inspections.
However, with overall budgets falling, concerns are mounting that the department is underinvesting in the data quality, governance and infrastructure needed for trustworthy AI.
Stuart Harvey, CEO of Datactics, commented: “As AI tools become increasingly embedded into front-line services within the government, the need for high-quality and well-governed data has never been more urgent. You can’t build trustworthy and accurate AI without clean, complete and well-understood data underneath it.”
“AI has incredible potential, but the real work happens long before the algorithm begins. It’s about managing data standards, access and governance, and if those foundations aren’t solid, the AI will fail.”
“We must remember, AI is only as good as the data that feeds it and cutting corners on data quality or infrastructure means accepting higher risks tomorrow. Real innovation comes from getting the basics right first.”
It comes as other government departments are all increasing their data budgets with the Crown Prosecution Service investing £52 million into data spending and staff over the past three years, showcasing their investment into digital infrastructure to support its operational effectiveness and security.
Richard Bovey, Chief of Data at AND Digital commented: “As artificial intelligence becomes more embedded within public services, the need for strong data foundations has never been greater and cutting data infrastructure funding at a time of growing reliance on AI sends a mixed message.
“To realise the full potential of AI in healthcare and beyond, the government must prioritise in-house data capability, data quality, and robust governance, these are the true enablers of safe, ethical, and high-impact innovation.”
“Ultimately, AI success is built on solid data foundations. By investing wisely in the teams, tools, and standards that underpin data, we can create a public sector that’s not only digitally advanced, but also grounded in trust, transparency, and long-term resilience.”
Arkadiy Ukolov, Co-Founder and CEO at Ulla Technology Ltd, commented: “The Department of Health and Social Care’s decision to cut £12 million from data infrastructure spending is deeply concerning, especially as AI is being deployed to monitor real-time hospital data and protect patient safety. Without strong investment in secure systems, the privacy risks multiply.
“The UK is already grappling with an AI wild west, where staff in both public and private sectors are sharing sensitive information with third-party systems without proper oversight, often breaching privacy and compliance protocols in the process.
“For AI to be truly fit for purpose, particularly in healthcare, it must be built on privacy-first foundations. That means ensuring data remains under user control, processed within secure environments, and governed by clear ethical frameworks. Cutting back on the very infrastructure that underpins those protections threatens to undermine trust and safety at a time when both are needed most.”
Undersea cables crossing the Red Sea were cut this weekend, leading to wide-spread Internet disruptions across the Middle East and Asia.
India, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates have been effected by the cuts, with Microsoft’s cloud service Azure reporting issues.
“Undersea fibre cuts can take time to repair, as such we will continuously monitor, rebalance, and optimise routing to reduce customer impact in the meantime,” Microsoft said in a status update.
Undersea cables are essentially the backbone of a global internet, enabling the transfer of a vast amount of the world’s internet traffic and data.
Around 95% of intercontinental internet data flows through these sea cables, as they are more reliable and have a higher capacity than satellites.
Microsoft has yet to reveal what caused the incident – it could be caused accidentally by anchors, or could have been a purposeful attack on the vital infrastructure.
The network issues have been attributed by internet monitoring organisation NetBlocks to SMW4 and IEWE cables off the coast of Saudi Arabia, with the disruption starting early Saturday morning.
The cuts have continued to disrupt services, with “slow speeds and intermittent access” still occurring on Sunday, according to Microsoft.
The reliance on subsea cables for essential internet access has drawn international attention to the cables vulnerability to accidental and targeted damage and destruction.
Just this year, a ship was seized by Swedish authorities that allegedly damaged cables running int he Baltic Sea – prosecution however remains elusive when it comes to these allegations.
NATO launched Baltic Sentry as European countries expressed concerns that Russia may interrupt essential data cables with targeted attacks. Taiwanese officials have also expressed growing concern over the vulnerability of undersea cables as they seized a ship with a Chinese crew over the alleged deliberate cutting of an undersea cable off its coast.
Lloyds Banking Group plans to cut some if its lowest performing staff, employing Workday HR software to help it identify staff members to let go.
Around 3,000 staff seem to be at risk in the review, with the potential for half of all the lowest performing staff to lose their jobs.
The potential job loss comes as Lloyds transforms is people management, relying in Workday software to monitor the performance of employees. Lower-performing employees will be put on “structured support” plans, but could lose their jobs if enough improvement is not made in a certain spat of time.
The independent union for Lloyds workers, BTU, said that the software will not rate employees, but will place pressure on line managers to identify low performing employees and manage them more closely.
“And those who don’t meet the required standards will be ‘yanked’ out of the bank,” BTU said in a newsletter to its members. “Lloyds will deny that’s happening, of course it will, but over the next few months we’ll see more staff being managed through ‘structured support’, which means action plans, formal review meetings and eventually dismissal on grounds of capability.”
BTU expects that the new management regime will continue until Lloyds achieves its 5% job cut target.
However, a banking group spokesperson has denied that there are job cut targets, as reported by Computer Weekly.
The push however be in an effort to address lower turnover rates at the company – the company historically saw an annual turnover rate of about 15%, but it sits at just 5% now, as reported by the Financial Times.
A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson said: “To achieve the ambitious strategy and deliver brilliant service to customers, we are transforming our business. As we build highly skilled teams to move forward and deliver great outcomes for our customers, we are striving to embed a high-performance culture in the organisation.
“To achieve this, and in line with wider industry practice, we continuously look for ways to help our colleagues perform at their best. We know change can be uncomfortable, but we are excited about the opportunities ahead as we propel forward to achieve our growth ambitions and deliver exceptional customer experiences.”
The UK government’s M365 Copilot trail found very little evidence of any productivity gains or time savings, though users reported high satisfaction with the AI technology.
The UK Department for Business and Trade trialled Microsoft’s AI assistant offering for three months in 2024 with its employees, aiming to understand the risks and benefits of deploying M365 Copilot across the department.
The trial revealed that only small time savings were observed, with written tasks representing the largest time savings.
Some tasks, however, actually incurred additional time from users, such as scheduling and image generation. Extra time was required due to the tech not being able to produce high enough quality outputs or the extra tasks being created from the availability of the Copilot.
Interestingly, the study found that the small amount of time saved did not lead to improved productivity, with participants not reporting any productivity improvements in the pilot. However, in their own roles they were more likely to report time savings.
Despite this lacklustre productivity gain, 72% of participants said they were satisfied or very satisfied with M356 Copilot during the trial.
However, satisfaction ranged with tasks – users were more likely to be satisfied with the tech when it came to reviewing and summarising information, while they were less impressed with it came to scheduling meetings or producing presentations.
The study also revealed differences in satisfaction among various user groups – neurodiverse colleagues tended to be more satisfied with the AI than their neurotypical colleagues. Non-native English speakers also reported significant benefits, including better wellbeing, enhanced technical abilities, and helping their future career ambitions.
The way people were trained to use the AI Copilot also correlated to their satisfaction levels, with self-led training being more effective in improving satisfaction that formal training led by the department.
The study did reveal a range of issues with the potential rollout of the Microsoft tool – there was a lack of knowledge from some of the employees who were not part of the pilot. The study also identified inconsistencies when it came to quality assuring outputs, with some respondents seeing hallucinations throughout the trial period.
Further, ethical concerns over energy consumption and the environmental impact of large language models limited usage. Users were influenced by their colleagues and line managers hesitancy about the tech and were less likely to use it.
Overall, while satisfaction with the technology may have been reportedly high, the actual time saving capability and productivity gains from M356 Copilot appeared to me lacklustre.
The chief executive of the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s AI research organisation, is resigning from her role following dramatic internal and external shifts.
Jean Innes has stepped down after leading the Alan Turing Institute since 2023, though the organisation has faced much scrutiny during her tenure.
The UK government called for the AI research institute to shift its strategies with a focus on AI security and defence.
Shortly after this call out, the institute faced internal ruffles as staff revolted against internal changes and a toxic work culture, going so far as to file a whistleblower complaint with the Charity Commission just last month.
Innes commented on her departure: “It has been a great honour to lead the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence, implementing a new strategy and overseeing significant organisational transformation. With that work concluding, and a new chapter starting for the Institute, now is the right time for new leadership and I am excited about what it will achieve.”
The Institute is already searching for a replacement to lead them on with their new strategy focus on AI in security and defence.
Staff of the Institute raised a number of complaints prior to Innes’s resignation, ranging from the misuse of public funds, to a toxic work culture, and the failure to deliver of its mission. In the complaint letter to the Charity Commission, workers said that they had raised issues with leadership, but no changes were made.
Prior to this, the UK government urged the Alan Turing Institute to shift its focus from three areas of AI development – health, environment and sustainability, and defence and security – to just focus on defence and security.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said that the Institute’s grant of £100 million for five years could be under review in just a year’s time to ensure the institute abides by the strategy shift.
Fifty-three per cent of consumers distrust or lack confidence in the reliability and impartiality of AI search and summaries, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.
This concern is reflected in user frustration, with 41% of consumers reporting that generative AI overviews make the search process more frustrating than traditional search methods.
A Gartner Consumer Community survey of 377 US consumers, conducted in June and July 2025, revealed a strong demand for user autonomy: a majority (61%) of consumers wish for an option to toggle AI summaries on or off, underscoring the importance of user control in shaping the search journey.
“The impact of AI extends beyond improving the search experience, altering how consumers seek and interact with search platforms, and how marketers approach visibility,” said Noam Dorros, Director Analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice.
“Digital marketing strategies must evolve to not only optimise for these AI-powered results, but also to reinforce brand trust through comprehensive and reliable information, recognising that not all consumers embrace AI summaries equally.”
While AI-powered results represent a significant evolution in the search landscape, their role in product research remains limited. Consumers find AI summaries most useful for initial product exploration, but the perceived usefulness of these summaries declines when evaluating value options, and they drop further when finalising a purchase.
“As the journey toward a fully AI-redefined consumer search experience continues, brands should strengthen their reputation as trusted sources and optimise content for visibility within AI-generated summaries, while prioritising transparency and user choice,” advised Dorros.
“To do this, brands should pursue a multichannel discoverability strategy and maximise visibility by optimising for both AI-powered overviews and traditional SEO, ensuring their content is structured, authoritative, and relevant at every stage of the search journey.”
The same group behind the cyber-attacks affecting retail giant M&S and others are now reportedly taking credit for the recent cyber-attack still interrupting Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) operations.
The group of young, English speakers are reportedly boasting of the hack on the messaging app Telegram, sharing photos that were allegedly taken from within JLR’s compromised IT networks.
The gang is now calling themselves Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, according to reports from the BBC, which viewed their Telegram messages.
A BBC reporter had a private conversation with a person claiming to be a member of the cyber gang and responsible for the hack, who claimed the group was now trying to extort the firm for money.
The gang member explained to the BBC reported how the hacking group allegedly penetrated the IT system of the car maker.
However, the hacker could not firm if they had succeeded in stealing sensitive or private data form Jaguar’s network, or if they had installed any malware into the IT system.
The group did post two screenshots on Telegram showing potentially internal documents including instructions for car charging problems, as well as computer logs.
It is currently unknown the scale of the hack, and hacking groups are known to exaggerate their claims.
Currently, JLR has said that there is no evidence that customer data was stolen, and the firm did shut down its systems immediately upon discovering the attack.
However, the company’s “retail and production activities have been severely disrupted.”
If the name sounds oddly familiar, you’re onto something: the name is a combination of three hacking groups that have emerged from a cyber-criminal network called The Com.
Shiny Hunters, Lapsus$, and Scattered Spider are three infamous hacking groups made up of young people, often native-English speakers, that emerged from The Com.
Earlier this year amid a surge of retail attacks, the UK’s National Crime Agency issued a warning about The Com.
The new group is believed to be formed form a mix of hackers from the three groups.
Scattered Spider is the notorious cyber gang behind the retail attacks that took place in the Spring. The National Crime Agency arrested four alleged members in connection to the hacks, who all aged within 17 to 20 years old.
A record £2.9 billion has been invested in British AI companies last year, with average deals worth £5.9 million.
This has set the stage for further investments and new opportunities for both AI companies and financial backers alike.
Investors and regulators are being urged by the UK government to go further and faster to deliver growth for the UK’s AI sector following the record numbers.
British AI companies alone now contribute £11.8bn to the UK economy – double the amount in 2023 – while AI employment tops 86,000 across the country. The figures also show at least double the number of AI companies are now based in the Midlands, Yorkshire, Wales and North West compared to just 3 years ago.
“This government is slashing burdensome red tape and making the conditions for record investment in AI, so that once again the UK can lead the way,” chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves said.
“This country has huge potential, but our economy has been stuck on pause for too long. By giving companies the right environment to innovate, grow and create jobs we are changing that, delivering economic growth to put more money in working people’s pockets.”
The technology secretary, Peter Kyle, is calling on industry to step up and match the UK’s government ambition when it comes to AI. He pointed to the government’s effort to slash red tape, build infrastructure such as data centres and attract top talent.
“We have learned the lesson of history: countries can only prosper if they get the big calls right, if they decide to go beyond the expected and embrace the future, to innovate not imitate – refusing to be constrained by the problems of today by taking up the challenges of tomorrow. In these uncertain times, I am certain that’s what it takes to get a global competitive edge,” he said.
“We want you to keep investing here, keep building here – list here, scale here. If you invest in Britain, you’ll share in that competitive edge.”
To capitalise on this momentum, the Technology Secretary has set out new plans to expand the UK’s AI offering, bolstering its sovereign AI capabilities by delivering new opportunities for the sector.
Public trust in the technology is key to its uptake – with more sectors of the economy primed to tap into the potential of AI.
It is a vital part of driving both workforce and investor confidence to spark the new jobs and economic growth which are already transforming communities. To capitalise on this potential, a new AI assurance roadmap launched today will look to add billions of pounds to the economy and create scores of new jobs by unlocking the growth of a key industry for the UK’s AI sector.
At its heart, AI assurance centres on ensuring independent experts can run the rule over AI systems – making sure they are trustworthy without leaving developers to mark their own homework.
The government will now press ahead with plans to establish a dedicated AI assurance profession – bringing together key stakeholders from across the tech sector who will help strengthen the quality of this new standalone industry.
This will support developers to better navigate and understand the regulatory landscape – saving time while also fostering public confidence and trust in the technology for users as its adoption is ramped up across the economy.
Its work will include the development of a professional code of ethics and detail the kind of access to models and systems that AI assurance professionals will need to carry out their work.
This will also give rise to a tailored skills and competencies framework that covers a range of areas from professional training and education to the establishment of a fully-fledged professional certification scheme.
Kicking off this work, a new AI Assurance Innovation Fund worth £11 million will be launched – with applications due to open in the Spring.
This will support the development of new and innovative AI assurance tools to future-proof the market and ensure the UK is ready to response to rapid developments in AI capabilities – laying a foundation for a new industry geared towards growth and protecting the British public.
ChatGPT is changing some of its parental controls following concerns from parents groups over the AI chatbot’s safety for children.
More and more young people are turning to ChatGPT and other AI chatbots for support and advice under continuous strain for young people and a lack of available or affordable mental health services.
Medical and mental health professionals have warned however that ChatGPT and other AI chatbots are ill equipped to deal with such complex matters and can even give the wrong advice to young peope who may be struggling.
ChatGPT may now issue alerts to parents if their child is showing signs of acute distress while prompting the chatbot, following a lawsuit against OpenAI from the family of a child who took his own life after months of engagement with the model.
The family’s case alleges that the boy recieved “months of encoruagement” to take his own life by the chatbot. The 16-year-old Californian, Adam Raine, killed himself after a discussion with the AI chatbot about a method of suicinde. The court filings allege that the ChatGPT guided him through the steps of the method and even offered help in drafting a suicide note.
The court case documents allege that Raine first started using ChatGPT for homework queries, but then began to discuss mental health issues. Upon his first mention of suicide, the lawsuit shows evidence that ChatGPT did not direct Raine to mental health professionals or a hotline, or stop the conversation – it instead empathised with Raine’s suicidal ideations.
Throughout the course of several months, Raine allegedly attempted suicide several times, reporting each attempt to ChatGPT. The court filings reveal that ChatGPT provided information on how to tie a noose, with step-by-step instructions, and even discouraged Raine from talking about his issues with his mother.
The lawsuit hinges on allegations that this type of tragedy was inevitable given the “rush” to release the newer model of ChatGTP, which uses the GPT-40 model – the model that Raine was using when prior to ending his life.
Prior to the release of the GPT-40 model, several OpenAI employees resigned over safety concerns. Jan Leike, for instance, who served as an executive, left the company citing on X that “safety cultrue and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products.”
The lawsuit raised by Raine’s family alleges that this rushed rollout led to several “contradictory specifications” in the model specification that would lead to “guaranteed failure” in some instances.
While the model specs would require ChatGPT to refuse self harm requests, it also “required ChatGPT to ‘assume best intentions’ and forbade asking users to clarify their intent,” the lawsuit says.
Upon the lawsuit, OpenAI did admit to some failings of the chatbot, saying that its safety features did degrade over longer conversations. According to the lawsuit, Raine would issue about 650 queries to the chatbot a day.
The lawsuit also points out that ChatGPT is affective at shutting down other conversations, such as those that request copyrighted information, or those that are deemed politically unacceptable.
Now, OpenAI has introduced some parental safety controls. Parents can now link their accounts to teenagers, and control how ChatGPT responds to these accounts with “age-appropriate model behaviour rules.” This of course still puts the onus on parents rather than the company.
OpenAI acknowledged that young people are AI natives, and are adopting the technology at a fast rate, potentially outpacing their parents.
“That creates real opportunities for support, learning and creativity, but it also means families and teens may need support in setting healthy guidelines that fit a teen’s unique stage of development.”
Suicide, however, is not limited to teenagers. Search engines provide links to hotlines and professional help when dealing with queries of suicide, regardless of a users’ age or their parent’s technological-know-how.
The use of parental controls would requite ChatGPT to know the age of a user and for that user to have a logged in account. It would also put the onus on parents to not only use ChatGPT and create their own account, but also link their children’s accounts to theirs, and then set specific settings on their children’s accounts.
It is free to contact the Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle is set to announce a £2.7 million government fund to support UK regulators in piloting AI systems to keep Britain at pace in the global race for tech leadership.
Kyle emphasised that the move is not about lowering safety standards but applying “smart regulation” to accelerate approvals and help British innovators compete globally.
The funding will support agencies such as Ofgem, the Civil Aviation Authority, and the Office for Nuclear Regulation in projects ranging from AI-assisted accident report analysis to unified regulatory guidance platforms and nuclear waste management pilots.
Key proposals include the introduction of AI-specific regulatory sandboxes to support experimentation in controlled environments, improved access to computer infrastructure, and the expanded remit of the AI Safety Institute.
The Secretary will also announce a “regulatory hackathon” for early 2026, where regulators and AI specialists will collaborate to design tools to speed up bureaucracy and avoid errors.
These are backed by government commitments to industrial strategy, technical infrastructure, and collaborative oversight.
The announcement arrives amid growing industry pressure for consistent and innovation-friendly regulation, with many business leaders warning that fragmented oversight risks stifle competitiveness.
While the direction has been welcomed, some voices caution against overselling AI’s short-term impact or compromising independent scrutiny in the rush to modernise.
“Peter Kyle’s call for AI reform is a welcome step towards making AI regulation more responsive to business needs,” Stuart Harvey, CEO of Datactics, said.
“Too often, innovation is slowed not by lack of ambition, but by unclear governance and fragmented oversight.
“Creating space for innovation through AI-specific regulatory sandboxes and improving access to technical infrastructure would be a meaningful shift, but to make these ambitions real, we also need to ensure the data foundations are in place to build AI systems that are trustworthy, explainable, and scalable.”
“Any regulatory evolution must go hand in hand with investment in data quality and data governance. Without reliable data and clear lineage, even the most well-intentioned regulation can fall short. It’s encouraging to see a growing political appetite for a collaborative approach that balances innovation with accountability.”
As more and more universities struggle under financial strain and grapple with questions of their future, a new study reveals the important economic role universities play in the success of cities.
Universities are often a city’s top skilled employer, leading international exporter, and serve as catalysts for regeneration and innovation.
This is based on research from the Centre for Cities, which tracks the success and growth of UK cities, and warns of what national reforms to universities could mean for the future of UK cities.
Universities account for a quarter of all ‘knowledge’ jobs in Stoke, Plymouth, and Hull, attracting skilled workers to the local labour market.
In places like York and Exeter, universities are also major employers, but planning restrictions could potentially limit workforce growth especially in the private-sector.
This dichotomy of the role of universities in cities reflects their central role in smaller cities – the classic trope of the ‘university town’ – and how this can provide a continuous influx of young people to boost the local economy, as well as a stable centre for jobs.
The research also found that universities are among the biggest international exporters in many UK cities. In Exeter, Dundee, and Leicester, universities are the single largest export sector, largely driven by international students.
In half of UK cities, universities are in the top ten export sectors, particularly in the greater south east. Universities outrank legal services in Cardiff and metal manufacturing in Sheffield in terms of exports.
International students are often an economic backbone for universities, with their higher fee cost, as well as Home Office prices for student visas. A higher international student level could crush many UK city’s international export growth, the research says.
Universities are also found to be transformative for city regeneration, in both infrastructure and demographics. Nottingham, Liverpool, and Coventry has seen their population grow larger and younger in the past two decades thanks to universities. Coventry saw students drive a three-quarters increase in city centre accommodation in the same time frame.
Expansion of student housing has spurred on wider private investment, but this also comes at a price – retaining graduates requires a broader investment in the local economy, rather than just student accommodation.
This ties into the spin-out culture of universities – universities outside major hubs like London often serve as nurseries for innovation, rather than gardens. Most university spin outs relocate, as 40% of London’s spin-outs actually began in other cities.
While universities only account for about 2% of city innovation, policy should focus on retaining innovative spin-outs to support the local economy.
The research culminates in saying that any national changes in university policy will not be felt evenly across the UK. While some universities may be small compared to others, their role in local economies may be paramount to cities.
Policy changes have already made the future of universities uncertain in the UK: domestic undergraduate fees have been frozen for a decade, as student numbers drop due to demographic shifts and rising cost of living.
While universities turn to international students for revenue, this could shift as the UK’s anti-immigration rhetoric and policy – restricting students dependents, proposed cuts to graduate visa times, and a levy on international fees – puts this at risk.
The research paper highlights that almost half of universities could face a deficit this year, as the academic sector is faces the same economic woes as the rest of the world.
Scottish universities are no exception to the tirade of disarray facing UK academic institutions. The University of Dundee was the first to publicly face struggles, facing a £30m deficit before the UK government stepped in with a taskforce to save the institution from financial ruin.
The University of Edinburgh is currently going through a range of cost-cutting measures, waving goodbye to staff as it attempts to stave off financial hardship.
The University of Aberdeen is also facing a £1.12m budget gap as it pauses recruitment and revisits voluntary redundancies to stay afloat.
More than half of Scotland’s small businesses plan to expand in the next two years but rising running costs are a significant threat to their ambitions, new research by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) reveals.
The small business group released its latest Big Small Business Survey, offering the most comprehensive picture available of the aspirations and challenges of the country’s 350,000-plus small businesses.
The report also reveals staff shortages have forced one in five Scottish small businesses to cut the services they offer their customers over the past year.
A lack of access to finance and the growing regulatory burden are also highlighted as significant issues for Scotland’s small businesses, which collectively turn over £93bn annually and employ 900,000 people.
“Scotland’s small businesses are resilient and resourceful with the undoubted potential to drive the economic growth everyone recognises the country needs,” Guy Hinks, FSB Scotland Chair, said.
“However, the ever-rising costs of operating a business risk having a deadening effect on those growth ambitions. It is vital that all levels of government keep tightly focused on the needs of small businesses, and the pressures facing them, when they are developing new policies.
“We have been calling for a number of measures which would support small businesses and local jobs, such as the UK government taking steps to improve access to finance and the Scottish Government adopting targets for increased public spending with local firms.
“It is also vital that Scotland’s councils listen to the concerns of local businesses when it comes to introducing so-called tourist taxes and considering new measures such as congestion charging.”
Growth ambitions
More than half (56%) of small businesses plan to grow in the next two years.
Rising business costs (cited by 52%) and the impact of the cost of living crisis remain the biggest obstacles to their growth plans.
Lack of access to finance is a growing and significant challenge, cited by nearly a third (31%) of respondents as a major barrier to growth in 2025, up from a quarter (23%) in 2023. Increasing government regulation of business was highlighted by two fifths (40%) of small businesses.
One in seven small businesses (14%) spent the equivalent of at least one full day a week – eight hours or more – on paperwork relating to regulatory compliance, an increase from one in eight (12%) two years ago.
Staff Shortages
Some recruitment challenges appear to have eased, with almost two thirds (63%) of small businesses saying they had enough staff to meet their needs last year. However, challenges remain, particularly around a lack of confidence in consumer demand being sustained and an ability to offer competitive wages.
Nearly one in five (18%) had to reduce their services and 7% cut their opening hours due to staff shortages in the last year.
Respondents were notably less likely than in 223 to say an absence of local workers was a problem. However, that remains an issue in the Highlands and Islands, affecting more than two fifths (44%) of small businesses.
The vast majority of respondents (77%) had never tendered for a public contract, an increase from 71% in 2023. Nearly three quarters (73%) of the minority who have tendered for public contracts described the process as complex and challenging, up from two thirds (66%) two years ago.
Net Zero
Most small businesses (56%) have taken steps to transition to Net Zero, such as installing low emission heating systems or increasing insulation. However, almost two thirds (62%) said there was not enough support available with regards to the impact the transition to Net Zero might have on their business.
Trading Conditions
The proportion of businesses able to generate a profit in the last year increase to 62%, from 57% in 2023, and the number sustaining a loss decreased (from 24% to 17%).
More small businesses saw an increase than a decrease in their turnover last year (48% against 32%), with businesses in the financial and insurance services; professional, scientific, and technical services, and education sector most likely to see larger increases (more than 30%) in their turnovers.
More than half of respondents experienced late payments from clients in the last year with the private sector being responsible for 86% of late payments.
Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed it suffered a cyber-attack which “severely disrupted” its vehicle production as well as its sales services.
The company said it took immediate action upon discovering the incident to better mitigate its effects, and is working to reinstate its operations as soon as possible.
Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by Tata Motors, said that there was no evidence of any customer data being stolen in the attack.
The attack reportedly began on Sunday, and was detected while in progress, according to BBC reports. The firm shut down its IT systems upon discovery in hopes of minimising any potential damage.
Employees were sent home on Monday, and others were warned in an email to not come into the Halewood plant in Merseyside, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
The attack may have been purposefully at the end of the month, as a new batch of registration plates became available on the 1st of September, a popular time for car sales and deliveries.
Further details of the attack are currently unknown, and so far no ransomware gang has taken credit for the attack.
Digital transformation firm Zudu doubled headcount to 23 in 2024 and is on track for significant double-digit revenue growth to around £3.5 million in 2025 while targeting £10 million by 2027, driven by surging demand for AI-enabled solutions.
Zudu specialises in building scalable software platforms and enabling organisations to unlock value from AI – a fast emerging growth area across its UK and international client base. Zudu’s client list includes Asahi, Weir, NHS, Havas, Wood, Scotrail, Portman Asset Management, and the Scottish Government.
Founded by CEO James Buchan in 2014, Zudu marked its 10th anniversary last year, and has recently appointed Paul Duffy as Managing Director, with Duffy joining from ClearSky Logic. Zudu has also promoted Laura McTurk to Operations Director and Angus Turner to Commercial Director. Former Whitespace Managing Director Iain Valentine has also been brought on as a strategic adviser.
CEO James Buchan said: “We’re on a mission to redefine digital transformation and support our clients around AI enablement, while being one of the fastest and smartest digital delivery companies around.
“Importantly, we always talk about staying ‘relentlessly human’ in a digital world. We have some amazing clients, more in the pipeline, and we plan to get to the £10m revenue figure over the next few years. We’re excited to get Paul on board to lead the team, and pleased that Laura and Angus are now in place in the leadership team.”
Zudu’s new Managing Director, Paul Duffy added: “Inheriting incredibly talented tech and leadership teams is an absolute privilege.
“For years now, I’ve been speaking with business leaders all over the UK who are AI curious; there is a shortage of experts in our space, and we feel it’s time to support business growth and AI enablement in a series of sectors. The skills and knowledge the Zudu team has built up through working on hundreds of projects puts us in a strong position to advise, support and engage with our customers.”
“I am excited to work alongside James, Iain and the rest of the team to help lead a new strategy during our next phase of growth. Scotland has a strong tradition of world-class software delivery companies, and we want to add to that tradition.”
Commenting on the advance of AI and its implementation, Buchan said: “AI is no longer a buzzword – it’s becoming the operating system for modern business. The challenge isn’t just adopting AI tools, it’s integrating them meaningfully into organisations.
“That’s where Zudu comes in, by bridging the gap between innovation and execution, and ensuring our clients can harness AI responsibly, at scale, and in a way that keeps people at the heart of technology.”
Buchan also led the Zudu team that developed ePass, licensing software designed for regulators, which secured a Scottish Government contract to deliver the national tobacco & vape register and funeral services register following participation in last year’s CivTech accelerator programme. Buchan has since spun ePass out of Zudu into a standalone limited company.
The National Cyber Security Council and the AI Security Institute (AISI) have issued support for open sourcing solutions to AI safeguard bypass threats.
The UK cyber and AI authorities warned of the growing threats frontier AI systems pose when they are not properly defended.
Cyber-criminals have grown adept at bypassing security safeguards in common large language models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Llama. These guardrails typically stop users from employing AI chatbots from creating illegal material, such as malicious code or instructions on how to create a bomb.
These threats seem to be increasing, as researchers discovered what may be the first known example of AI-generated malware which used OpenAI’s technology.
The NCSC and AISI have supported the use of industry collaboration and vulnerability disclosure to conjoin efforts to fight these threats.
While crowdsourcing can be a positive way in mitigating threats and sharing defence techniques, the NCSC and AISI provided guidance on best practices to maintain security in these collaborations.
Disclosure programmes can follow a range of best practices as suggested by the NCSC.
A good disclosure programme should have a clearly defined scope, providing specific definitions for prompts to not execute in a clear and communicative way.
The NCSC says that developers should only launch their disclosure programme after they have conducted internal reviews and fixed any discovered weaknesses. Similarly, the duration of the programme should reflect and support its goals.
Further, developers must make effective reports by tracking what they found, and providing effective tools to share information.
The NCSC does say that just because an organisation does have a disclosure programme does not necessarily mean its model is safe or secure.
The cyber authority also says that there is still a lot of open questions regarding the role of public programmes in maintaining AI security.
Things to consider include if other areas of cybersecurity can offer insights into detection bypasses, and how do approaches to incentives need to change or expand regarding people who work in AI.
Therefore, the NCSC and AISI are urging researchers to explore questions such as how to mitigate safeguarding weaknesses once exposed, how to handle cross-model attacks, and how to judge the severity of safeguard bypass weaknesses.
Caledonia MacBrayne, better known as CalMac, has entered a partnership with Edinburgh-based tech consultancy firm Strom ID to develop a new data strategy.
CalMac serves as the principle ferry operator for Scotland, serving the West Coast and Hebridean islands.
The partnership with Storm ID will see the iconic ferry service implement a new data-driven culture of innovation, with improved digital service offerings.
CalMac is an essential service to Scotland’s islands and coastal communities, providing reliable transport to over 26 destinations.
The partnership will see Storm ID delve into the ferry’s data landscape, starting with an assessment of the existing data infrastructure, before working with relevant stakeholders to define a future vision for their data strategy aligned with best practice data governance.
The data strategy is set to focus on several key areas, including ensuring the data is accurate and reliable, and empowering CalMac to employ data-driven decisions across its organisation. Further, Storm ID will help them optimise operations via data insights, developing an overall culture of data-driven innovation.
“We are excited to join CalMac on this data-driven journey with CalMac. Our expertise in data strategy and delivery, combined with CalMac’s deep understanding of their operational and customer needs, will enable us to put in place further important foundations for future success,” Linsey Lydon, managing director, Storm ID, said.
David Gammie, IT director at CalMac Ferries said: “We are on a journey to fully embed a data driven culture and to recognise data as one of our most important assets.
“This collaboration with Storm ID is important to accelerate our plans and ensure we build the right foundations moving forwards.”
In May, CalMac was awarded a contract from the Scottish government to continue running the west coast ferry service for the next 10 years, amounting to £3.9 billion. The Scottish government at the time said that the ferry would transition to a public service model rather than its previous commercial model.
Thousands of people experiencing financial hardship across Scotland can now access a free smartphone and mobile data to help them get online, thanks to a new partnership between the Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) network, Virgin Media O2, Hubbub and the Scottish Government.
Through the initiative, Virgin Media O2 has provided 1,200 refurbished smartphones to Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABs) across 12 Local Authorities throughout Scotland. The devices are being distributed to people who can’t afford a device or data, enabling them to get online, access essential services, and stay connected with loved ones.
The project was developed in response to what Citizens Advice advisers across Scotland were seeing on the ground: people unable to manage basic tasks because they lacked digital access. This was particularly prevalent among vulnerable groups including disabled people, those experiencing homelessness or on low incomes, refugees and asylum seekers, people leaving prison and those fleeing domestic violence.
Another aim of the project is to help people become more independent, where having a phone can help them access a variety of online services, such as banking, Universal Credit claims, social housing applications and employment opportunities, and keep in touch with loved ones.
This Scottish initiative is part of Virgin Media O2’s largest ever device donation programme, where it has pledged to provide 12,000 pre-owned devices to charities across the UK during 2025.
As part of Virgin Media O2’s circular economy strategy, the tech has been sourced from Virgin Media O2’s customer returns and its O2 Recycle service ensuring high quality devices are refurbished, reused, and given a second life rather than sent to landfill.
Each device comes with free O2 mobile data, texts and calls from the National Databank, which it founded with the UK’s leading digital inclusion charity, Good Things Foundation.
The devices and data are being distributed to CABs via Community Calling – set up by Virgin Media O2 and environmental charity, Hubbub, which rehomes smartphones to people who need them.
The Strong Communities team at CAS has been working closely with the CAB network and VMO2 to oversee the project.
“Having access to a device opens so many opportunities for people, especially within the vulnerable groups identified,” Kyle Scott policy manager said.
“We know that almost one in ten households in Scotland do not have access to the internet. By providing access to a device, we’re one step closer to eradicating digital exclusion.
“Thanks to Virgin Media O2, we’re providing a significant number of devices to people in Scotland who need them most. From enabling people to contact energy suppliers and arrange medical appointments, to applying for jobs or keeping in touch with loved ones, having this way to connect will help thousands manage their lives more independently.”
CABs offering the devices include those in: Glasgow, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Aberdeenshire, Highlands, Inverclyde, East Lothian and West Lothian.
In yet another system breakdown affecting UK digital banking, hundreds of TSB customer across the UK have reported issues and outages with the bank’s mobile and online platforms.
Customers said the bank was facing an hours-long outage as they saw error messages when trying to access their account information.
TSB’s status page said: “We’re aware some customers are experiencing issues with our Mobile Banking app and Internet Banking.
“We’re sorry for any inconvenience and are working to resolve this as soon as possible.”
Users began reporting issues in the late morning, with peak issue reporting occurring at around 2:30pm, according to Downdetector.
The banking firm said that telephone and in-branch services should be working as normal, but that its digital and mobile banking offerings were facing interruptions.
The bank serves around five million customers, and the first of the month could be a day of particularly high traffic with rent and bill payments due.
This is just the latest in a scourge of outages affecting major UK banks. Just last week HSBC faced an outage that affected millions of customers trying to access its online services.
The recent disruptions follow a major pay day outage that affected several large UK banks, including Lloyds and TSB.
Farmers and growers across the UK will benefit from £12.6 million in new funding, with two fresh competitions backing research and development in agritech.
Backed through two new Farming Innovation Programme competitions – a ‘Dragons Den for farming’ – the funding delivered in partnership with Innovate UK will build on previously funded ideas like robotic strawberry pickers and early-warning health systems for cattle; practical solutions for everyday farmers.
“This is about giving farming businesses the tools they need to thrive,” farming minister Daniel Zeichner said.
“By working with investors to fund and develop new equipment and technology, we are helping farms become more resilient, productive and profitable.
“These grants put the Plan for Change into action – supporting farmers to adapt, compete and grow, whatever challenges and opportunities lie ahead.”
The competitions which open this autumn include the Small R&D Partnerships, which will grant up to £7.8m for later-stage projects, opening 15 September. These help businesses develop new farming products or services and move them closer to market.
Feasibility Studies will offer up to £4.8m for early-stage ideas, opening 13 October. These help test and develop new ideas and decide whether to invest in larger R&D projects.
The programmes represent some of the UK Parliament’s £11.8bn allocation to sustainable farming and food production.
The investment underpins the government’s New Deal for Farmers, supporting growth and helping farm businesses return to profitability. Nearly £250m in farming grants are driving innovation and productivity, while new regulations will make supply chains fairer.
Further action includes a £200m National Biosecurity Centre to protect livestock, and the appointment of former NFU president Minette Batters to advise on reforms to boost farm profits.
Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s national economic development agency, has revealed its net assets from this year rose by £18.7 million, from £496.8m to £515.5m.
The agency said that it met all of its performance targets for 2024/25, with three areas exceeding its target range, during the first full year of its missions-based approach.
It’s strategy focused on three core growth areas of accelerating the energy transition, boosting capital investment, and scaling innovation.
Scottish Enterprise reported that it raised £442 million in business innovation investment, and £1.16bn in business capital expenditure – the second highest on record, in the financial year ending 31 March 2025.
The agency leveraged £367m in growth funding, the report said, with Scottish Enterprise claiming that Scottish businesses have reached their highest-ever level of planned international sales, reaching £2.46bn.
However, the report found that despite the growth in net assets, the value of equity investments and loans to companies actually fell by £22.6m, from £493.8m to £471.2m.
In the financial year, £43m was invested in 100 early stage companies, with £11m of external investment. 299 companies were helped to raise funding, which then went on to raise £132m.
46 spin out projects were also supported in the year, with the HighGrowth SpinOut Programme resulting in three new companies being created.
The report did note the difficult economic environment Scottish Enterprise was operating in, with a “number of large projects” the agency supported being delayed.
“This year we have achieved another impactful set of results, driven by our sharpened focus around three core missions – Accelerating the Energy Transition, Boosting Capital Investment, and Scaling Innovation,” Scottish Enterprise chief executive Adrian Gillespie said.
“The fact that we have achieved this historic exporting high, despite challenging global economic conditions throughout the financial year, really highlights the ambition of Scotland’s business base, and the determination of our organisation to transform Scotland’s economy.
“Our track record shows we’ve consistently delivered for Scotland. Over the last five years we’ve supported the creation and safeguarding of around 90,000 jobs – leading to an estimated £1bn in income tax contributions – as well as generating more than £530m of our own income. Our visit to Piramal today provides a fantastic opportunity to highlight the business ambition that exists in Scotland, and the types of companies turning this into impactful international growth for the Scottish economy.”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “Supporting our businesses to thrive is not only vital to growing the economy, but to creating jobs and putting more money in people’s pockets.
“I congratulate Scottish Enterprise on these impressive results, particularly the record figure for forecast export sales, which demonstrates international demand for Scottish goods, products and services. We will continue to support Scottish businesses to grow internationally, despite ongoing uncertainties in global trade.
“It is also encouraging to see that we are doing this in a sustainable way, reducing carbon emissions in line with our commitment to net zero.”
More than 15.16 million people and businesses in the UK are now using open banking, equivalent to nearly on in three UK adults, according to new figures from July.
Open Banking Limited published data from July showing record growth in the fintech as the UK cements itself as a global leader in digital finance.
The latest figures also show that in July, open banking services were used a record 2.04 billion times, up 3.5% from June. From paying taxes to ordering dinner, millions of UK consumers and businesses are embracing open banking to manage their money with greater control, speed and confidence.
Open banking adoption has risen steadily year on year – with total users growing by 34% in the last year.
This reflects the growing consumer demand for secure, convenient, and transparent financial solutions, and continues a multi-year trend that has seen open banking move from a niche innovation to a core part of modern financial services.
Payments remain the biggest driver of adoption, with July’s data revealing that the total value of payments has reached 29.89 million – an 8.7% growth (from 27.5 million to 29.9 million).
This rapid growth demonstrates the UK’s global lead in data-enabled technology supported by strong infrastructure and rising consumer demand.
Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs) are emerging as a key open banking enabled innovation, giving consumers and businesses greater control and flexibility over regular payments.
In July alone, VRPs accounted for over 4% of all open banking transactions – a sharp 8.6% increase, to 4.26 million. From HMRC tax payments (£4.7 billion in January) to retail giants like Just Eat and Tesco, and travel brands such as Ryanair, growing consumer and business trust is driving momentum and uptake across different sectors.
The latest data from OBL comes in the wake of landmark legislation – the Data Use and Access Act – which paves the way for the next phase of open banking, open finance and smart data adoption in the UK.
Looking ahead, the next phase of open banking will be shaped by the UK’s long-term regulatory plans. These are essential to unlocking further innovation, expanding adoption, and ensuring that the benefits of smarter financial services reach even more people and businesses.
“This data shows how open banking is now part of everyday life for millions of people and businesses across the UK – from paying taxes to shopping online. It’s fast, secure, and built on trust,” Henk Van Hulle, CEO, Open Banking Limited said.
“To maintain momentum and unlock its full potential, we look forward to working closely with government, regulators and the wider ecosystem, ensuring open banking delivers even greater value, innovation and impact for everyone.”
The UK Home Office is not backing down on its order to Apple to create a backdoor to its encryption, and new court documents have revealed the extent of its request.
According to a new court ruling, the Home Office’s order sought access to data and messages stored on Apple’s iCloud from UK and overseas users.
The order specifically called on Apple to “remove electronic protection where practicable” on data stored in the iCloud, both within and out with the UK.
A court document from the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, released on 27 August, found that the Home Office included not just the original order to create a backdoor to Apple’s Advanced Data Protection tool used for encryption, but includes “obligations to provide and maintain a capability to disclose categories of data stored within a cloud based backup service and to remove electronic protection which is applied to the data where that is reasonably practicable.”
Further, it says that the obligations in the technical capability notice (TCN) “are not limited to the UK or users of the service in the UK: they apply globally in respect of the relevant data categories of all iCloud users.”
Prior to the release of this document, it was widely understood that the Home Office TCN only focused on data stored using ADP, a highly-secure encryption technology that blocks even Apple from accessing user data.
Apple has maintained that it refuses to create any backdoor to any of its encryption tools, viewing privacy as a “fundamental human right,” according to its website.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal released a decision on 27 August, saying that the Home Office’s order and powers can be applied outside of the UK.
The Home Office still has not confirmed or denies the existence of the order, as is per its remit as a secret notice.
The Tribunal has decided then to proceed with its hearing on “assumed facts”, with open court hearings scheduled for the beginning of 2026.
The Home Office’s notice would enable the UK to conduct targeted communications interception rather than bulk surveillance.
UK law enforcement would therefore be allowed to apply for targeted warrants to obtain iCloud data that has been encrypted, or thematic warrants on multiple people or organisations, as long as these are from a single investigation.
The Scottish Biometrics Commissioner Dr Brian Plastow has confirmed that Police Scotland will move ahead with plans to implement live facial recognition (LFR) technology.
The decision was made at a Scottish Police Authority (SPA) meeting on 21 August, where Police Chiefs confirmed that they will continue to engage with the public and key stakeholders.
Police Scotland say they will now take time to understand the technology, governance, proportionality, and high levels of scrutiny required to implement LFR.
The Police will provide a provisional update on the technology uptake in a SPA Policing Performance Committee on 16 September.
The Scottish Biometrics Commissioner Plastow said he welcomed the decision, as he previously advocated for the adoption of LFR.
The adoption of live facial recognition in Scotland comes as the technology is continuously rolled out across police forces in England and Wales. Though controversial, the UK government have been proponents of using the technology for surveillance activity, from the rollout of vans equipped with the tech to using it at protests.
Police Scotland’s chief constable announced last year that the force would explore the use of the technology, despite its controversial rollout in England and Wales.
Since it was formally introduced in the UK, LFR has been subject to a range of court cases, with the South Wales Police’s use of the tech found to be unlawful in 2019, and the Met Police currently facing legal action over use of the technology with lead to the wrongful flagging of a person as a criminal by the technology.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the UK’s equality regulator, has hit out at the Met Police’s facial recognition governance, saying it does not comply with several European human rights conventions including the right to privacy, the freedom of expression, and the freedom of assembly and association.
The Ada Lovelace Institute also brought to light that UK law has never properly legalised the use of the technology – police authorities therefore rely on a piecemeal assortment of laws covering the legality of the technology, making governance and rights guarantees more convoluted.
The commission also pointed out the bias often found in the systems used by police – data from the Met Police shows that the number of black men triggering an ‘alert’ is higher than would be expected proportionally, when compared to the population of London.
Back in June, the EHRC, the Scottish Human Rights Commission, and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland jointly wrote a letter to Police Scotland raising concerns over the potential roll out of LFR, saying that it could lead to legal challenges and “risk reputational damage to Scottish policing.”
“Police Scotland’s claim to be a rights-based force is entirely at odds with any attempt to introduce a tool of mass surveillance to operational policing,” Liz Thomson, Scotland programme director at Amnesty International said.
“Around the world, facial recognition technologies are being used to stifle protest and harass minority communities. These systems violate the right to privacy, threaten the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, and to equality and non-discrimination.
“In recent months the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland hosted the Metropolitan Police in Edinburgh to reassure Scottish civil society that LFR could be used without detrimental human rights impact. Yet just last week the Equality and Human Rights Commission publicly warned that the Met’s policy on LFR use is unlawful.
“It’s time Police Scotland started listening. If the force continues with its own plans for LFR it will be dragging Scotland backwards on human rights.”
AI is already impacting the job market, as a Stanford study found that some early-careers jobs are being replaced by the advanced technology, with other roles being highly augmented.
Disruption is expected across the workforce as AI takes hold, but a working paper from Stanford found that certain roles are already being more heavily affected than others, showing signs of what is to come.
The study found that overall, entry-level roles in white collar industries are being hardest hit by AI, with less hiring opportunities in these sectors.
However, those who already possess these jobs are often not facing replacement from AI at the same rate.
This points to one of the first distinctions the study recognised in how AI is transforming the workforce. While AI may be able to replace “book knowledge” and therefore remains competitive against new entrants, it lacks the tact and knowledge of an experienced worker.
Young people (aged 22 to 25 years) applying for roles in more AI-exposed industries are being hardest hit, while the same age group in less AI-exposed industries are seeing job growth, the study found.
This revealed another distinction in how AI is being used in different vocations: in some instances, AI is being used to automate work, while in other occupations, it augments it.
Employment for young people declined in jobs where AI automated work, while employment grew in jobs where AI is augmentative.
The roles most exposed to automation according to the study were customer service reps, software developers, accountants, and receptionists. Augmented roles were classified as ranging from registered nurses, repair workers, or even CEOs.
In-person work, also notably without much administrative work, remained the least susceptible to any type of AI disruption, and included repair workers, cleaners, taxi drivers, and labourers.
Job security for entry-level workers appears to rely on the level of automation of their prospective job field, as well as any relevant experience they may have.
The Scottish government has launched a new pilot scheme lead by the department for transport making electric vehicles accessible to more households without traditional off-street parking.
The Cross Pavement Charging Grant pilot programme will fund the installation of charging solutions in East Lothian, Renfrewshire and Perth and Kinross with other local authorities expressing an interest to take part.
Grants of up to £3,500 per household will be available for solutions such as pavement gulley technology or pop-up bollards.
Results from the pilot, backed by £250,000 of Scottish Government funding and delivered by the Energy Saving Trust, will feed into the development of national guidance on cross-pavement charging.
“I’m really pleased to launch this pilot scheme, another way in which we are supporting Scotland’s transition to electric vehicles, reducing carbon emissions and aligning with the Scottish Government’s priority to tackle the climate emergency,” transport secretary Fiona Hyslop said.
“The fund will improve access to people without off-street parking, such as driveways, promoting accessibility to electric vehicles to people more likely to have limited public charging options.
“Innovation and investment are crucial to continuing to support a Just Transition towards electric vehicle use and I look forward to hearing about more households successfully making the switch.”
Councillor John McMillan, East Lothian Council Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment, Economic Development and Tourism, said: “East Lothian has an excellent track record in supporting the transition to an electric future and we were delighted to give our backing to a scheme which helps make it even easier to switch to EVs.
“For people who don’t have a driveway or another convenient place to plug in near their house, cable gullies offer an accessible option for charging their vehicle from home.
“The council has been piloting this safer method of charging from home for nearly a year and we’ve received some great feedback from residents who have taken part.”
The UK government has updated its Project Gigabit contract with Openreach, increasing its value by £400m from £800m awarded last year, now totalling £1.2bn.
The Single Supplier Framework agreement was part of the overall Project Gigabit scheme, with Openreach contracted to upgrade about 312,000 premises in some of the most remote and rural regions across Great Britain.
The original agreement was followed up by several Cross-Regional contracts awarded to Openreach, aiming at covering rural and remote parts of Scotland, England, and Wales.
The areas targeted in these cross-regional contracts typically cover regions that are thought to be too expensive to cover for smaller suppliers, or areas where there is little or no market interest for broadband rollout.
Already, the contracts approved under the agreement reflect £730m of the investment and will cover about 300,000 premises. In Scotland, the contract amount totals £157m, covering 65,000 premises.
The original investment aimed to provide access to lightning-fast, gigabit-capable (1Gbps+) broadband to around 312,000 homes and businesses across the country, helping remote residents and businesses finally gain access to the fastest connection on the market.
The government has cited a few reasons for the contract modification which sees investment increase by £400m.
The funding will support the need for additional work and services by Openreach, and factors in the increased scope of the contract, which suggests that potentially coverage will be expanded across more regions as part of the rollout contract
It could however, simply have been amended to counter costs or other, smaller firms cutting back on their broadband rollout schemes.
The contract areas already awarded under the current framework are below:
Scotland (£157m, 65,000 premises)
Lancashire, North Wiltshire and South Gloucestershire, West and Mid Surrey, Staffordshire, West Berkshire and Hertfordshire (£149.7 million, 54,300 premises)
West and North Devon, North West, Mid and South East Wales (£139.1 million, 42,200 premises)
East and South Shropshire, North Herefordshire, North Wales, and South West Wales (£108 million, 47,000 premises)
Mid Devon, North Somerset, and South Devon (£77 million, 37,000 premises)
Essex and North East England (£61 million, 24,000 premises)
A new government report has found that GPS tags have cut reoffending by 20% for burglars, robbers, and thieves in the UK.
The study shows that those forced to wear a GPS tag on release from prison were significantly more likely to not reoffend their non-violent crimes.
In the scheme, these offenders have their movements monitored and mapped against the locations of recent unsolved burglaries, robberies, or thefts.
Matches are shared with the police to help them investigate the crime and potential suspects.
The government says that the scheme has saved police time by eliminating suspects early on in investigations through the GPS tagging, with evidence suggesting that the pilot helped police avoid carrying out roughly 16,000 unnecessary arrests over three years
The findings come as the latest figures showed that almost 20,000 offenders and defendants were wearing an electronic tag as of June 2025, a record high.
Tagging will be ramped up even further as part of the Government’s sentencing reforms with the annual probation budget increased by up to £700 million by 2028, to tag thousands more offenders.
“The second that tag went on my ankle I had that feeling that someone was watching me every second of the day,” Alan, an offender currently on a GPS tag said.
Evidence suggests the pilot acted as an effective deterrent, with just 160 out of 3,360 offenders convicted due to their movements being mapped to unsolved crimes.
Under the Ministry of Justice’s AI Action Plan, AI will be used to assess offender risk and place offenders under tighter supervision.
“The evidence is clear that tagging works, acting as a constant reminder to thieves and burglars that we are watching their every move and will know if they reoffend,” minister of state for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending, Lord Timpson, said.
Artificial intelligence (AI) PCs will represent 31% of the total PC market globally by the end of 2025, according to Gartner, Inc.
Worldwide shipments of AI PCs are projected to total 77.8 million units in 2025, the business and technology insights company predicts.
“AI PCs are reshaping the market, but their adoption in 2025 is slowing because of tariffs and pauses in PC buying caused by market uncertainty,” said Ranjit Atwal, senior director analyst at Gartner.
“Nevertheless, users will invest in these to ensure they are prepared for the growing integration of AI at the edge.”
Gartner analysts forecast AI PC shipments will total 143 million units and are projected to represent 55% of total PC market in 2026. By 2029, Gartner says AI computers will become the norm.
Table 1: Worldwide AI PC Share and Shipments, 2024-2026
2024
2025
2026
AI PC Share of Total PC Market (%)
15.6
31.0
54.7
AI Laptop Share of Total Laptop Market (%)
19.4
35.7
58.7
AI Desktop Share of Total Desktop Market (%)
3.8
16.4
42.1
Total AI PC Units (Thousands)
38,145
77,792
143,113
(Source: Gartner August 2025)
Demand Preferences
The choice of an AI PC differs between businesses and consumers. Their decision primarily revolves around the choice of processor platform.
Gartner forecasts that Arm-based laptops will gain a larger share of the consumer market than the business market, as application compatibility challenges are overcome.
In the business segment, users prefer x86 on Windows, which is expected to make up 71% of the AI business laptop market in 2025, with Arm making up 24%.
Investments in AI Capabilities on PCs
To align with the wider availability of AI PCs, Gartner expects that by end of 2026, 40% of software vendors will prioritise investments in AI capabilities directly on PCs, up from 2% in 2024. In the same year, multiple small language models (SLMs) will run locally on PCs, up from zero in 2023.
SLMs are making it possible to run advanced AI features directly on PCs and devices overall, enabling faster response times, lower energy consumption and reduced reliance on cloud services. SLMs provide task-specific intelligence, and since AI runs directly on devices, SLMs help keep user and business data secure.
To unlock new growth, PC vendors must move beyond hardware and deliver software-defined, user-centric AI PCs designed for specific roles and use cases.
“The future of AI PCs is in customisation,” said Atwal. “It lets users configure their devices with the apps, features and functions they want. The more users interact with a vendor’s AI PC, the better the vendor understands them, allowing for ongoing improvements and stronger brand loyalty.”
Juro, the intelligent contracting platform, has signed a partnership with Wordsmith, the AI workspace for in-house teams. As part of the partnership, the two platforms will integrate, enabling mutual clients to leverage the best of both platforms as part of their legal tech stack.
The partnership brings together two AI-native tools with a shared philosophy: that the key to better legal work is not simply to help lawyers do the same thing but faster. Instead, both Juro and Wordsmith work to enable business teams to self-serve on legal tasks with agentic AI.
With the new integration, Juro’s 550+ clients will be able to use Wordsmith as part of their core workflows. Further, Wordsmith clients will be able to sync easily with Juro’s system of record and leverage Juro’s AI tools via a first-of-its-kind MCP integration.
The combined toolset brings powerful AI enablement to in-house legal teams. This includes AI contract review, AI data extraction, and AI agents across a wide range of use cases. With these systems integrated, legal teams can deliver unprecedented contract turnaround times while maintaining control over the end-to-end process.
As part of the strategic partnership, the teams are exploring further opportunities for collaboration, including marketing the joint offering to new clients and deepening the integration further.
“AI unlocks unprecedented opportunities for in-house legal, but the key is getting AI adopted,” Richard Mabey, CEO and co-founder of Juro, said. “That means combining AI agents with existing workflows and embedding AI in existing tools. We are excited to partner with Wordsmith so we can deliver flexible AI automation across the whole contract lifecycle.”
Ross McNairn, CEO & Co-founder of Wordsmith said: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Juro. They’ve consistently pushed the boundaries of what contract lifecycle management can be.
“This partnership is about more than integration; it’s about giving legal teams the kind of intelligent automation that actually gets used day-to-day. Together, we’re enabling legal and business teams to move faster, with less friction, and with total confidence.”
Microsoft is refusing to tell Police Scotland where and how the law enforcement data being uploaded to its cloud servers will be processed on the grounds of “commercial confidentiality.”
The revelation comes from a Freedom of Information request released by the Scottish police Authority (SPA) and first reported on by Computer Weekly, showing that Microsoft is refusing requests by the SPA and Police Scotland to release information on its international data flows when handing sensitive law enforcement data.
The requests come as Scottish police authorities are moving their data to the cloud, opting for Microsoft Office 365 in their digital infrastructure implementation.
If the SPA cannot confirm this information from Microsoft, however, then it will be unable to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) which has specific requirements concerning law enforcement data and the limitations of transferring this data outside the UK.
When asked specifically to see transfer risk assessments for the countries used by Microsoft where there is no data adequacy agreement with the UK, Microsoft “declined to provide the assessments,” the SPA said in their data protection impact assessment (DPIA).
Microsoft has also informed the SPA that it is unable to confirm the sovereignty of law enforcement data that is stored and processed by its 0365 service.
The SPA says that Microsoft previously agreed to make changes to its data processing protocol when it came to the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC) of Police Scotland which uses Microsoft Azure, these amendments remain unclear. And, Microsoft said that while it could offer “some level of assurance” for this project, it would fall short of other stipulations in the DPA.
Further, though it could make changes to that system, Microsoft said that “O365 operates in a completely different manner and there is currently no way to guarantee data sovereignty.”
Microsoft has not provided the SPA with assurances transfers to countries with data adequacy agreements, nor has it provided International Data Transfer Agreements.
Besides these major data protection issues, the DPIA identified any other issues when it came to Microsoft, including that the firm holds all the encryption keys for the data, meaning that Microsoft could access the data or hand it over to the US if required to by the government. The firm is also not allowing the UK to vet any Microsoft staff who may be accessing the data outside of the UK.
It seems that Police Scotland has been seeking clarification from Microsoft regarding its data transfer practices and if these are legal for months, other FOI responses seen by Computer Weekly show.
Police Scotland has been requesting information on international data transfers since October 2024, finding that Microsoft’s response was inadequate.
Hyberscale cloud services are used throughout the UK by law enforcement, and the correspondence between Police Scotland and Microsoft highlight how difficult it is to maintain transparency in the operations of these tech giants when it comes to sensitive data.
In the correspondence released in an FOI request, Microsoft did say that its M365 cloud services “is not designed to process special categories of personal data on a large scale,” which brings into question why it was adopted by Police in the first place.
The UK and international allies have publicly linked three technology companies based in China with a global malicious cyber campaign targeting critical networks.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and international partners from twelve other countries have shared technical details about how malicious cyber activities linked with these China-based commercial entities have targeted nationally significant organisations around the world.
Since at least 2021, this activity has targeted organisations in critical sectors including government, telecommunications, transportation, lodging, and military infrastructure globally, with a cluster of activity observed in the UK.
The activities described in the advisory partially overlaps with campaigns previously reported by the cybersecurity industry most commonly under the name Salt Typhoon.
The data stolen through this activity can ultimately provide the Chinese intelligence services the capability to identify and track targets’ communications and movements worldwide.
The advisory describes how the threat actors have had considerable success taking advantage of known common vulnerabilities rather than relying on bespoke malware or zero-day vulnerabilities to carry out their activities, meaning attacks via these vectors could have been avoided with timely patching.
Organisations of national significance in the UK are encouraged to proactively hunt for malicious activity and implement mitigative actions, including ensuring that edge devices are not exposed to known vulnerabilities and implementing security updates.
“We are deeply concerned by the irresponsible behaviour of the named commercial entities based in China that has enabled an unrestrained campaign of malicious cyber activities on a global scale,” NCSC chief executive Dr Richard Horne said.
“It is crucial organisations in targeted critical sectors heed this international warning about the threat posed by cyber actors who have been exploiting publicly known – and so therefore fixable – vulnerabilities.
“In the face of sophisticated threats, network defenders must proactively hunt for malicious activity, as well as apply recommended mitigations based on indicators of compromise and regularly reviewing network device logs for signs of unusual activity.”
The NCSC and government partners have previously warned about the growing range of cyber threats facing critical sectors and provides a range of guidance and resources to improve resilience.
The three China-based technology companies provide cyber-related services to the Chinese intelligence services and are part of a wider commercial ecosystem in China, which includes information security companies, data brokers and hackers for hire.
The named entities are: Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology Co Ltd, Beijing Huanyu Tianqiong Information Technology Co, and Sichuan Zhixin Ruijie Network Technology Co Ltd.
The NCSC has co-sealed this advisory alongside agencies from the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.
Researchers have discovered what they are calling the “first known AI-powered ransomware”, though it has yet to be deployed.
ESET researchers have dubbed the malware PromptLock, finding that it has the power to exfiltrate, encrypt, and potentially even destroy data.
So far, PromptLock has yet to be found in attacks, and is currently thought to be a proof-of-concept model or at least a work in progress.
The malware uses the gpt-oss:20b model from OpenAI via the Ollama API which it uses to generate malicious Lua scripts it can then execute.
“PromptLock leverages Lua scripts generated from hard-coded prompts to enumerate the local filesystem, inspect target files, exfiltrate selected data, and perform encryption,” said ESET researchers.
Cyber-criminals would use a proxy running from the compromised network to a remote server with the malicious model in a method that aligns with the “internal proxy” technique that is growing in popularity among cyber-criminals.
#ESETResearch has discovered the first known AI-powered ransomware, which we named #PromptLock. The PromptLock malware uses the gpt-oss:20b model from OpenAI locally via the Ollama API to generate malicious Lua scripts on the fly, which it then executes 1/6 pic.twitter.com/wUZS7Fviwi
The ransomware is written in Golang, which, according to the researchers, is a cross-platform language with high versatility which has built up popularity in the malware community. Researchers have identified both Windows and Linux variants of the malware/
The scripts can exfiltrate and encrypt data, as well as target file inspection and perform filesystem enumeration.
For its encryption, the model uses the SPECK 128-bit encryption algorithm.
The discovery of this AI-powered ransomware, even if it remains as a work in progress, points to the troubling trend of AI being used for malicious intent in more sophisticated and complex ways.
AI is already being used by threat actors, lowering the barrier to entry to low-skilled cyber-criminals to generate effective campaigns when it comes to social engineering and phishing. The development of an AI-powered malware with the ability to encrypt and delete data is the stuff of nightmares, potentially opening up a new frontier of cyber threats.
New research from the Barclays Business Prosperity Index, reveals the majority of UK-based tech companies consider their home market as a more favourable destination for growth than other core international hubs.
Research among 500 technology business leaders reveals that 62% consider the UK a more attractive location to grow and scale a tech business than mainland Europe, with 61% favouring the UK over the Asia-Pacific region and 60% preferring it to the US.
The UK’s strong market opportunities and customer base, access to a skilled and diverse talent pool, and faster-growing consumer take-up of technology, products were the three key differentiators cited compared to other markets.
Interest in the technology sector continues to surge, with half of tech businesses (50%) planning at least a 20% increase in AI investment over the next 12 months and 95% reporting increasing demand from clients for AI products and services.
This is supported by a wider confidence in the economic outlook. More than three quarters (76%) of tech firms report that the UK macroeconomic climate is giving their business a boost and a similar share (75%) believe the political landscape will help support growth over the next three years.
More broadly, tech firms are committed to ongoing investment in their business. Seven in ten (70%) expect to commit more capital this year compared to last and by an average increase of 8.9%.
Barclays’ anonymised client data comparing the first quarter 2024 and first quarter 2025 also indicates strong investment intentions.
Cash inflows into technology businesses rose by 1.7%, while overall cash balances in current accounts declined by 9.6%.
However, the tech sector had the highest increase in savings account balances, up 21.5% suggesting tech businesses are holding onto cash ready to deploy to support their investment plans.
Meanwhile, overdraft usage fell by 26.2%, despite borrowing remaining relatively flat over the same timeframe.
These figures reflects stronger short-term liquidity and a shift away from flexible, high-cost borrowing towards more structured financing, while also signalling greater confidence in cash flow stability and long-term planning.
The sector also remains highly outward-facing, with 95 per cent of tech leaders surveyed stating they engaged in exports during the period.
Despite plans for growth, some barriers to sourcing funding and investment remain. The most pressing challenges were cited as: high costs associated with the fundraising process (40%), excessive regulatory requirements and compliance costs (36%) and limited government funding and grants (33%), resulting in hurdles for companies looking to scale and innovate in the UK.
To ensure the UK retains its position as one of the global leaders in technology innovation, 72% of companies in the sector believe that government backing is crucial to support their long-term business growth. Namely, 44% of respondents are calling for specialised funding programmes for the technology sector and 37% believe the government should provide more robust support for businesses looking to attract international investors.
An additional 36% would like to see enhanced tax incentives for equity investments to help stimulate greater private investment and innovation, alongside a further 36% calling for government grants for start-ups and small businesses.
“There’s a clear sense that the UK is holding its own on the global tech stage, with founders and leaders increasingly seeing the UK as one of the best places in the world to grow and scale,” Helena Sans, head of technology, media, and telecoms and innovation banking at Barclays UK Corporate Bank said.
“To keep up this momentum, we’ve got to break down the remaining roadblocks – including access to funding, attracting global investors, and building a stronger appetite for risk.
“That’s why at Barclays we recently launched the Innovation Banking team along with a bespoke £250m Growth Lending Fund, designed to support fast-growing tech businesses with the capital they need to scale confidently.”
Sheetal Shinh, head of innovation banking at Barclays Business Banking said: “Access to finance is a key issue for tech businesses looking to scale. At Barclays, we’re backing these ambitions through our £22bn Business Prosperity Fund and tailored support for early-stage innovators.
“Whether it’s helping founders navigate their first funding round or connecting them to specialist advice, our Innovation Banking teams are here to unlock growth at every stage of the journey.”
Thousands of HSBC customers have reported issues and outages with the bank’s online and mobile app platforms.
Outage reports on DownDetector for HSBC peaked at 11:45 on 27 August, with 4,765 people reporting issues to the outage detection site.
Customers are still able to access their accounts via phones or in-person, according to the Bank’s service status page, and card payments are currently not affected in the outage.
Users attempting to access their accounts online were shown “err03” codes, with others seeing messages suggesting they try later.
HSBC-operated First Direct has also been affected in the incident.
The bank apologised to affected customers on social media platform X: “We’re really sorry and are investigating as a matter of urgency.”
The problems seem to be affecting those all across the UK, according to DownDetector’s data.
Users being affected can call the bank’s customer support helpline with any urgent requests, the bank suggested.
There is currently no update to when the issue will be resolved.
The outage comes after months of consistent incidents affecting the technical systems of some of the UK’s major banks. Back in May, thousands of mobile banking apps were affected by an outage hitting Lloyds Banking Group and TSB.
Earlier in the summer, an outage hit some of the UK’s major telecoms providers as well.
About three quarters (74%) of surveyed tech leaders reported experiencing a security breach or serious vulnerability in the past 12 months due to insecure code, research from SecureFlag found.
The organisation surveyed 100 UK c-suite and senior technology leaders to understand how firms approach secure coding training for developers, their benefits and challenges, and if these training efforts are making a tangible difference in security outcomes.
The research found that insecure coding is a major vulnerability across UK organisations, with over half of respondents having a code-related issue in just the last six months.
Still, all surveyed UK enterprises provide a secure coding training for developers, with 85% holding training sessions at least quarterly. Virtually no organisations wait for incidents to train their developers, indicating a proactive approach.
For this training, companies are using a mixed approach, including video tutorials (46%), and interactive eLearning (42%), to live instructor-led sessions (40% virtual, 40% in-person), and hands-on labs (40%).
Companies are even gamifying the training experience, with capture the flag competitions used by about one-third (32%) of organisations.
However, seeing the breaches are consistent despite this training, measuring the return on investment of these training is a top challenge, cited by 40% of leaders.
Leaders also site limited up-to-date content or tools (36%), time constraints (34%) and low developer engagement (30%). About a quarter (24%) of leaders pointed to budgets, with the same amount pointing to a lack of executive support.
Despite this struggle to measure ROI, nearly nine in ten (89%) organisations are assessing their development teams’ secure coding knowledge within the last year, testing the time to remediate vulnerabilities (60%), the number of vulnerabilities per release (60%), and the reduction in known security flaws (47%).
The research found that the overwhelming majority (92%) of leaders believe secure coding training is effective and has reduced the number of security bugs in development, despite obvious examples of challenges.
UK banks are predicted to invest over £1.8 billion in generative AI (genAI) by 2030 to boost productivity, reduce costs, and improve customer experience, according to new research from Zopa and Juniper Research.
These deployments are projected to save 187 million labour hours – mainly 82% from back-office and compliance tasks.
The resulting cost savings, also estimated at £1.8bn, represent a full return on investment, with half of these savings expected to come from back-office functions.
The research found that finance could benefit the most from the integration of generative AI, from simple automation to financial modelling and improved security.
“GenAI marks a paradigm shift in applied computing. Its influence on productivity, software creation, and decision-making systems could rival the advent of the Internet or cloud computing,” said Peter Donlon, Zopa CTO.
“At Zopa, we’ve been operationalising machine learning for over a decade, well before LLMs became mainstream. That depth of experience has shaped our belief that GenAI isn’t a feature add-on, but a foundational capability.”
Taking a note from this research, Zopa is launching a reskilling campaign, aiming to retrain 100,000 banking workers in AI over the next five years.
Nick Maynard, VP of fintech market research at Zopa said: “The UK banking sector stands at a tipping point, with GenAI being set to reshape how banking fundamentally works,”
“Digital banks and their experiences will be critical to leading the banking market through this revolution.”
Nearly half (44%) of surveyed UK public sector IT leaders believe their cybersecurity tools are only moderately effective at safeguarding sensitive data, raising significant concerns about the sector’s ability to adequately protect critical infrastructure.
This is according to new data from IT management software firm SolarWinds, which surveyed 100 public sector IT decision-makers.
The research reveals that system complexity and budget limitations are two main issues contributing to the reported cybersecurity gaps.
The study found that 58% of IT leaders describe their technology environments as ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ complex, with health and education sector respondents reporting the highest levels of IT complexity (70%) compared to regional and central governments (45%).
Nearly one in four respondents (23%) cited financial limitations as the top barrier to strengthening cybersecurity.
While complexity might explain the current state of cybersecurity readiness, restricted budgets hinder the ability to modernise systems, perform upgrades or invest in essential staff training.
“These findings reflect a public sector under mounting pressure to address rising cyberthreats while navigating regulatory and fiscal constraints,” said Richard Giblin, head of Public Sector and Defence at SolarWinds.
“Despite the clear need to modernise, complexity, cost and trust remain substantial barriers.”
Human factors also remain a critical concern. The majority of respondents (56%) cite the biggest security threat as coming from careless or untrained insiders. This underscores the importance of improving cyber hygiene and implementing robust awareness and education programmes within organisations.
The research indicates an increasing interest in observability and AI-powered solutions as ways to boost resilience against cyber-threats, with 53% stating that enhancing system and process observability is a top priority for the future.
These technologies are valued for their ability to support real time monitoring, expedite incident response and facilitate predictive threat detection.
“To make meaningful progress, public sector organisations must align across departments and integrate technologies such as observability and AI with well-defined governance, comprehensive training and a shared commitment to security at all levels,” Giblin added.
“Technology alone is insufficient – it must be part of a broader, strategic approach to cyber-resilience.”
Edinburgh is set to host a gathering of leaders, changemakers and innovators this autumn at the Scottish Ethnic Minority Talent Summit, Festival, and Awards 2025 takes place on 9 October at Tynecastle Park.
Datakirk, which runs the event, has announced that Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes MSP will be delivering the keynote address at the event. With this year’s theme, “Wellbeing & Resilience: Thriving in a Changing World,” the Summit will highlight how Scotland can foster an inclusive and resilient society where diverse communities flourish and contribute to sustainable growth.
The Summit will bring together senior voices from across business, government, and civil society to discuss practical ways of embedding wellbeing and resilience into Scotland’s economic and social future. Alongside the Summit, the Festival & Awards will showcase talent, celebrate achievement, and highlight the power of diversity in driving innovation.
The speaker line up includes:
Tom Barclays, CEO, Kingdom Housing Association
Gael Drummond, CEO, Firstport
Aidan Grisewood, Interim Director of Economic Strategy, Scottish Government
“We are honoured to welcome Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes as our Keynote Speaker. Her leadership and vision for Scotland’s future will set the tone for what promises to be an inspiring and impactful gathering,” said Chuks Ododo, Event Manager.
Early bird tickets are now available with a discount of 10% before 1 September, using the code using the coupon code OO7SYJ.
Further, a limited number of sponsorship and exhibition packages are still available for the event, offering organisations a unique opportunity to showcase their commitment to diversity and connect with Scotland’s leading voices in business, government, and the third sector.
The Prime Minister has appointed Jade Leung as his office’s new artificial intelligence (AI) advisor.
Leung has been serving as the chief technology officer of the UK’s AI Security Institute, and will replace Matt Clifford, who was asked to create the AI Opportunities Action Plan back in January.
She will split her time between the AI Security Institute and 10 Downing Street, serving both Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle
As part of the role, she will work to position the UK as the leading nation to help unlock the benefits and prepare for the impacts of transformative AI, working closely with the Prime Minister to harness the technology as it delivers the strong foundations and economic growth which are central to the government’s Plan for Change.
Prior to working with AI Security Institute, Leung was the governance lead at OpenAI, the prolific tech company behind ChatGPT, the most popular large language model available to the public. She left the company in 2023 to take her CTO position at the AI Security Institute.
The aim of the AI Security Institute is to help equip the government with an understanding of the risks associated with AI, undertaking research to try to mitigating these risks.
The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) is calling on UK public sector organisations to re-use IT equipment, saying it should be the standard over discarding devices.
Too many devices are being thrown away after their use that could be refurbished and donated to digitally excluded people the charity found, pushing for a standardised, national approach to device re-use.
The organisation found in a Freedom of Information request that public sector organisations in Wales took over 22,000 laptops and phones out of service, but only 3,144 were donated for reuse. The remaining 17,633 were recycled, incinerated, or landfilled.
These figures reveal a deep problem, the DPA says: the absence of any shared approach to what happens when public sector technology is no longer needed.
There is currently no policy in place to ensure that viable devices are considered for reuse, let alone passed on.
The charity contends that is is concerning especially against the backdrop of digital exclusion. While this equipment was being discarded in Wales, more than 19 million people across the UK remained without reliable digital access.
“This is not simply a question of waste – it is a question of whether we are willing to design systems that respond to need,” said Elizabeth Anderson, CEO, Digital Poverty Alliance.
“Public sector technology can and should serve a second life. But unless reuse is expected, enabled and tracked, that opportunity will continue to be missed.”
The Digital Poverty Alliance is therefore calling for national guidance that embeds reuse across the public sector – not as a recommendation, but as a standard. Without a coordinated, nationwide approach to reuse, too many devices will continue to be discarded without consideration, and too many people will continue to be left behind.
The DPA cited their own initiatives, including Tech4Families and Tech4YoungCarers and Tech4Youth, as examples of how structured, intentional donation programmes can deliver for thousands of UK households.
TikTok could be putting hundreds of UK jobs at risk as it opts to transform its content moderation department with AI.
The social media platform’s current transformation plans will see the giant move its offices to other parts of Europe as it invests in AI over workers for its content moderation.
A TikTok spokesperson told the BBC that its reorganisation will “include concentrating our operations in fewer locations globally.”
However, a Communication Workers Union (CWU) spokesperson warns that TikTok’s planned move to relocate offices from London comes just as workers are attempting to unionise.
“TikTok workers have long been sounding the alarm over the real-world costs of cutting human moderation teams in favour of hastily developed, immature AI alternatives,” John Chadfield, CWU National Officer for Tech said.
The cuts come “just as the company’s workers are about to vote on having their union recognised,” he added.
Staff working in the London team on Trust and Safety, as well as hundreds more employees the department’s Asia locations are being affected by the cuts.
TikTok says that around 85% of posts which breach their rules are removed by AI and automated systems. The firm’s content moderation relies on a combination of human and automated moderators, but it hopes its AI investments will decrease the reliance on human interreference.
Staff that are affected in the cuts will have the opportunity to apply for internal roles and be given reference if they meet the job requirements.
The restructuring also coincides with the Online Safety Act’s continued rollout, with major ripple effects for tech giants.
Following the Online Safety Act, TikTok introduced new parental controls, giving parents the ability to block accounts from their children, and changing the privacy settings on teen accounts.
However, the UK’s data watchdog has critiqued the platform, launching a major investigation in March into the firm’s use of children’s data.
TikTok already faced a major fine from the Information Commissioner’s Office over its processing of children’s data out with GDPR compliance.
Cybersecurity professionals are sounding the alarm when it comes to a their top security concern: human distraction.
New research from KnowBe4 surveyed more than 100 security professionals to gauge the current state of cybersecurity concerns.
The research found that, despite rising sophistication of threats and the emergence of malicious uses of AI, the human factor is causing the most distress among cyber professionals.
Human distraction (43%) and a lack of security awareness training (41%) were identified as the primary reasons employees fall victim to cyber-attacks rather than attack sophistication.
Still, phishing dominated as the leading threat (74%), with impersonation of executives or trusted colleagues being the most common tactic. AI-generated threats are not yet dominant, but these fears are growing.
With fears around the human factor persisting and AI threats on the rise, 65% of organisations plan to increase cybersecurity budgets, with top investment areas including email security and security awareness training.
However, there is a disconnect between perceived effectiveness of AI-based tools – 32% believe it has the greatest impact – and their prioritisation for funding (26%).
Six in ten (60%) organisations fear the rise of AI-generated threats, suggesting preparation for future threats while still dealing with current human risks.
Nearly 90% of respondents express confidence in their ability to respond to cyber-attacks, which appears inconsistent with breach frequency and known vulnerabilities. This overconfidence is considered a risk in itself.
“Cyber risk is not just about advanced technology; it is about human bandwidth and the cognitive load of today’s fast-paced digital workplace,” said Javvad Malik, lead cybersecurity awareness advocate at KnowBe4.
“The findings highlight that bridging the gap between perceived value and investment in integrated human risk management is crucial.
“Overconfidence, a risk in itself, further underscores the need to validate defences and support employees in making secure decisions amidst distractions, especially as we prepare for the rising tide of AI-generated threats.”
The data coming out of Scotland’s startup ecosystem tells a significant story of momentum.
Recent research has revealed that 73 new international investors entered Scotland’s market last year – a 12% year-on-year rise that represents more than just statistical growth; it signals a fundamental shift in global investment patterns.
Meanwhile, NatWest’s New Startup Index reveals Scotland recorded an almost 18% gain in new business formations in the first half of 2025 – putting Scottish startup activity among the top tier of UK regions.
This surge represents international recognition that Scotland’s innovation ecosystem has crossed a threshold – where talent density, sector expertise, and proven commercial success create compelling investment opportunities that can no longer be ignored.
After decades of building world-class companies north of the border, international investors are finally catching on to what we’ve known for a long time: Scotland’s talent, sector expertise, and entrepreneurial ambition are creating genuine opportunities that can compete on the global stage.
Breaking down historical barriers
The proximity bias that has long impacted venture capital is finally dissolving, demonstrated by this wave of international investments. Research from Par Equity’s 2024 Northern Lights report shows that traditional investment patterns are often shaped by geographic convenience – with AI and SaaS businesses averaging just 50 minutes travel time between VCs and their portfolio companies, and fintech deals averaging an even closer 21 minutes. This geographic preference has created a cycle that concentrated capital in familiar regions rather than seeking the best opportunities nationwide.
By actively choosing Scottish opportunities despite geographic distance, these newcomer investors are proving that exceptional returns can overcome proximity bias. The upward trajectory of newcomers suggests that Scotland is becoming increasingly integrated into global investment networks, bringing not just capital but international expertise and expansion opportunities to Scottish scale-ups.
International investors aren’t just discovering Scotland, but specifically targeting the region’s areas of established excellence. Edinburgh’s AI cluster, Scotland’s fintech heritage, and Scotland’s thriving life sciences and digital health ecosystem represent decades of expertise, university research excellence, and proven commercial success.
Scotland’s track record includes standout successes like Edinburgh-based Current Health, which became Europe’s second-largest digital health exit ever when it was acquired by Best Buy in 2021. Companies like Current Health demonstrate that Scotland possesses world-class talent capable of driving meaningful global change.
Creating the infrastructure for sustained growth
The upcoming merger between Par Equity and Praetura Ventures to form PXN Group – pending FCA approval – represents more than consolidation of two established regional investment platforms. It’s about creating an investment platform with £670m in assets under management specifically designed to amplify opportunities across Scotland and the North.
This isn’t about replacing London’s role in the ecosystem, but about ensuring that capital allocation reflects where innovation is happening. The most successful regional companies today operate hybrid models, maintaining core technology teams locally while establishing international sales presence in target markets. This strategic approach leverages regional advantages – lower costs, exceptional talent retention and collaborative university partnerships – while maintaining global market access.
What sets this moment apart is timing. Scotland’s startup ecosystem has matured as international investors are waking up to the quality of opportunities that exist here, while infrastructure investments are creating the foundation for sustained growth beyond one-off successes.
While government initiatives like the UK Industrial Strategy’s 10-year plan and the British Business Bank’s regional focus provide crucial infrastructure, sustainable change requires a genuine appetite for capital outside traditional hubs. The 28% increase in median deal size for newcomer-backed rounds in Scotland, reaching £3.86m, suggests this commercial confidence is building.
However, the ultimate measure of success will be when institutional investors allocate capital to regional opportunities because they want to and they see the compelling returns, not because they are pushed to through policy incentives. Early indicators suggest we’re reaching that point.
What this means for Scottish entrepreneurs
For founders across Scotland, this surge in international interest represents unprecedented opportunity. The combination of growing available capital, converting university talent into real-world opportunities, and international investors bringing global networks and expertise, creates conditions for scaling that previous generations of Scottish entrepreneurs have struggled to access.
The key is maintaining ambition. As international capital recognises Scottish potential, Scottish companies must match that recognition with global thinking from day one. This means building for international markets from the outset, establishing the partnerships and distribution channels needed for global scale, and ensuring that local advantages become launching pads for international success.
The infrastructure is aligning, the capital is flowing, and the international networks are opening. Scotland’s moment isn’t just about catching up – it’s about establishing the region as a global hub for innovation in key areas of strength. The talent has always been here; now the capital and recognition are finally catching up.
Many chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) overestimate their effectiveness compared to C-suite perceptions, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.
Gartner surveyed 201 executives, including CSCOs and C-suite executives, in March 2025, and found that three-quarters of CSCOs gave themselves a score of at least 75 out of 100 when asked how effective they were in their position. However, only a little more than half of C-suite peers did the same when scoring their CSCOs.
“Collaboration is prioritised by both CSCOs and their C-suite peers, but our data shows a disconnect between how effective CSCOs truly are in this critical measure of effectiveness,” said Claudia Clemens, senior director analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice.
“More than 60% of CSCOs state that they make proactive investments in peer relationship building, but less than half of their C-suite partners actually recognise these efforts.”
The survey identified that driving value with the C-suite through effectively collaborating across departments contributed to a disproportionate impact among five key traits that C-suite executives identified as contributing to CSCO effectiveness.
Gartner’s analysis of this disconnect revealed that the barrier to performance is not the time spent, but the quality of the time. This finding can be viewed as an opportunity for CSCOs to elevate conversations with their C-suite peers beyond everyday challenges, and shift to the value-creating opportunities for collaborating across the C-suite.
Both CSCOs and their C-site peers agree that the ideal CSCO is an innovative, ‘maverick’ leader willing to push the boundaries of what a supply chain could be. CSCOs who embody the maverick profile are more likely to claim a seat in the boardroom.
To maximise their impact, Gartner suggests that CSCOs devote time to areas that C-suite values most, such as collaboration, agility, growth, digital innovation, and risk management.
Collaboration is also key to enhancing the value of their contributions and in clarifying the role of the supply chain in supporting the enterprise.
Showcasing the value of the supply chain can also be useful, as nearly 40% of the C-suite executives surveyed by Gartner believe CSCOs fall short in helping the executive team understand the importance of the supply chain to the organisation.
Privacy International has filed a complaint to the UK’s data regulator over the Home Office’s use of algorithms in immigration processing.
The rights advocacy group’s complaint was filed to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) over the collection and processing of migrants information by the Home Office for immigration enforcement.
The complaint specifically targets two algorithms used by the Home Office to process the personal information of migrants,: the Identity and Prioritise Immigration Cases (IPIC) and Electronic Monitoring Review Tool (EMRT).
Privacy International’s compliant alleges that the Home Office’s tools are not involving humans enough in decision making, claiming the tools ‘nudges’ case workers to accept the algorithmic recommendations with little oversight.
While algorithms and AI have the capability to improve efficiency, Privacy International alleges that these tools are being developed without appropriate safeguards or enough transparency to ensure ethical decision making takes place.
The complaint highlights a number of concerns, including the collection, retention, and processing of data presumptively in violation of many of the legal requirements set out in UK data protection law.
The privacy group calls the tools “highly intrusive” as they can processes sensitive data concerning an individual’s health, relations, and even GPS tracking data.
Privacy International estimates that these tools were used to make recommendations concerning the cases of tens of thousands of migrants.
“The potential harms arising from tools used across the immigration system at such scale include the potential for vulnerable individuals to be subjected to life-changing decisions. This may include detention or removal from the UK based on profiling and automated decision-making,” the complaint said.
Privacy International contends that this means there is currently no way to verify the lawfulness of these processes or challenge their resulting decisions. Further, individuals are often left in the dark on what information is used in the assessments, how their data is processed, or the decision making process.
The advocacy group says the tools have been deployed “without sufficient safeguards” calling into question if the Home Office is complying with data protection laws in the UK.
Previous complaints by Privacy International against the Home Office have been successful – the ICO found that the Home Office’s continuous collection of migrants’ locational data was unlawful.
4chan, the anonymous social media site, is refusing to pay daily fines issued by Ofcom under the Online Safety Act after the regulator said 4chan was not complying with information requests.
Ofcom investigated 4chan as part of its standard investigations into large platforms before issuing 4chan with a “provisional notice of contravention” for not complying with two information requests.
The regulator was investigating the forum to see if it was in compliance with the act, which requires large platforms to prevent the spread of harmful and illegal content.
Under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom can issue daily fines on firms that are non-compliant – this has been issued on top of the £20,000 fine already issued to the platform.
However, 4chan is fighting the fine, with its lawyers telling the BBC that Ofcom’s notices hold “no legal obligations in the United States,” according to Preston Byrne, the managing partner of Byrne & Storm law firm, who told the BBC that 4chan has not broken any US laws and will therefore pay no penalty.
The firm’s lawyers are taking a contentious stance on the rule, saying that, as 4cahn is incorporated in the US, it is protected against UK law.
This tends not to be true in many different respects, however – US tech companies are regularly fined for operating out with legal compliance laws under foreign governments, like the EU and the UK. The UK may struggle to issue the fine, however, as 4chan does not own assets or conduct any of its operations in the UK.
“American businesses do not surrender their First Amendment rights because a foreign bureaucrat sends them an email,” the law firms Byrne & Storm and Coleman Law said in a statement posted on X.
“Under settled principles of US law, American courts will not enforce foreign penal fines or censorship codes.
“If necessary, we will seek appropriate relief in US federal court to confirm these principles.”
The law firms go on to say that the Trump administration has been called on to protect US companies from “extraterritorial censorship mandates.”
Ofcom does stipulate that the Online Safety Act only requires services to protect UK users, as that is what their jurisdiction relies on.
While many freedom of speech advocates have brought up concerns regarding the Online Safety Act, requiring information from platforms regarding their safeguarding methods is one of the less controversial aspects of the law.
4chan’s users are anonymous, making regulation on the site all the more complicated. The platform has been rife with controversy as a haven for hate groups and for the proliferation of misogynistic and other hateful content.
Recently, the Trump administration has pushed back on the UK and EU’s regulations on US companies.
Most notably, US officials and senators have recently called on the UK to back down from its controversial order to Apple to create a backdoor to its encryption technology, which the UK has allegedly done according to US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Even though this order was highly controversial, the Trump administration has hit out at the UK and EU for other laws and fines against US tech giants concerning AI regulations and data protection. During the President’s tumultuous tirade of tariffs, the EU’s regulation of big tech came under intense scrutiny by the US, and was used as a bargaining chip for better trade relations.
Trump and his allies have been notable supporters of large tech companies since he came into office again, following a £1 million donation from Mark Zuckerberg in the later stages of his campaign. Major tech leaders – including Elon Musk of X and Tesla, Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon, were present at his second inauguration.
4chan’s calling on the President is therefore a strong political choice, though rather unprecedented – at least in the eye of the public – reflecting the strange and strained tides of international relations and big tech regulation.
As procurement teams grapple with fluctuating global trade policies and rising tariffs, a report finds that over half (53%) of chief procurement officers have increased their source to pay tech budget compared to the previous year.
This is according to a new report from Ardent Partners, which explores procurement’s top priorities and emerging market trends, has been published. The second annual study based on surveys of procurement leaders across the world, assesses changes in technology strategy, focus, and investment at large organisations.
As investment in source to pay technology increases, AI is transitioning from theory to practice, with nearly half of all chief procurement officers (CPOs) utilising AI in some form.
“As external challenges evolve and supply chains recalibrate from recent disruptions, organisations are re-evaluating costs, dependencies, and resilience. Procurement is once again stepping into the spotlight, with technology now central to business performance,” said Vishal Patel, SVP product marketing at Ivalua.
Calls for Digital Transformation
With 90% of CPOs anticipating 2025 to be more challenging than 2024, procurement’s top priorities are to deliver cost savings (71%) and reduce supply risk (42%), closely followed by driving digital transformation (37%).
Within this challenging operational context, nearly half of CPOs (47%) plan to adopt integrated S2P technology to streamline operational processes and better manage complexities in supply chains. Additionally, a majority of CPOs (53%) have allocated more money to technology this year than last, a significant jump from 30% in 2024, indicating growing confidence in digital investment as a lever for performance.
Most respondents (72%) believe AIs impact will either be transformation or significant, and nearly half of all CPOs report using AI in some form today.
Approximately one in three are leveraging AI for one or more of the following activities: supplier discovery, spend analysis, contract analysis, sourcing, and more. At the same time, many CPOs recognise that AI’s success depends heavily on strong master data, a clear business case, and thoughtful implementation.
The vast majority of CPOs (79%) indicate productivity gains as their top AI objective. Beyond automation, AI is gaining traction as a strategic asset: 49% of CPOs expect AI to enhance decision-making, while others look to AI for improved stakeholder engagement/satisfaction (30%) and smarter forecasting (27%). Another 40% cite efficiency as a critical goal, and 32% see AI helping increase savings.
The Role of Data
As more companies seek to digitally transform their processes and start to truly leverage AI, the role of data has never been more important. Almost one in two CPOs surveyed in this year’s study (48%) agree that the best way to take their current performance to the next level is with “better data visibility and analytical capabilities.”
S2P platforms enable procurement teams to respond faster, make better-informed decisions, and operate with greater consistency.
Yet even the most advanced tools cannot deliver meaningful insights without clean, consistent data. The most common barrier to S2P technology performance is poor data quality and/or limited data access within the solutions themselves, according to 42% of respondents.
“To fully realise AI’s promise and maximise its impact, organisations must treat data as a core enabler of transformation and innovation. That requires investing in data quality, building AI literacy, and adopting integrated S2P platforms built on strong data foundations. The AI transformation will be a continuous journey that demands agility, trusted data foundations, and the ability to adapt at scale,” concluded Vishal Patel.
Insider threats are overtaking external attacks as a top security concern, with AI accelerating the shift, new research from Exabeam shows.
According to the study, 64% of respondents now view insiders, whether malicious or compromised, as a greater risk than external actors. Generative AI (genAI) is a major driver, making attacks faster, stealthier, and more difficult to detect.
“Insiders aren’t just people anymore,” said Steve Wilson, Chief AI and Product Officer at Exabeam.
“They’re AI agents logging in with valid credentials, spoofing trusted voices, and making moves at machine speed. The question isn’t just who has access — it’s whether you can spot when that access is being abused.”
Insider activity is intensifying across industries, driven by both malicious intent and accidental compromise. Over the past year, more than half of organisations (53%) have seen a measurable increase in insider incidents, and the majority (54%) expect that growth to continue. Government organisations are bracing for the steepest rise (73%), followed by manufacturing (60%) and healthcare (53%), fuelled by expanding access to sensitive systems and data.
This surge is not uniform; risk trajectories vary sharply by geography and sector. Asia-Pacific and Japan lead in projected insider threat growth (69%), reflecting heightened awareness of identity-driven attacks.
The Middle East stands apart, with nearly one-third (30%) anticipating a decrease, a signal of either stronger confidence in current defences or a potential underestimation of evolving risks. These contrasts underscore the complexity of the insider threat landscape and the need for defence strategies that align with regional realities.
AI has become a force multiplier for insider threats, enabling actors to operate with unprecedented efficiency and subtlety.
Two of the top three current insider threat vectors are now AI-related, with AI-enhanced phishing and social engineering emerging as the most concerning tactics (27%). These attacks can adapt in real time, mimic legitimate communications, and exploit trust at a scale and speed human adversaries cannot match.
Unauthorised GenAI use compounds the challenge, creating a dual-risk scenario where the same tools meant to boost productivity can be repurposed for malicious activity.
More than three-quarters of organizations (76%) report some level of unapproved usage, with those in technology (40%), financial services (32%), and government (38%) experiencing the highest rates.
Regional variations are telling, in the Middle East, unauthorised GenAI is the top insider concern (31%), reflecting both rapid AI adoption and the governance gaps that can follow. Globally, the convergence of insider access and AI capabilities is producing threats that evade traditional controls and demand more advanced behavioural detection.
While 88% of organisations say they have insider threat programmes, most lack the behavioural analytics needed to catch abnormal activity early. Just 44% use user and entity behaviour analytics, the foundational capability for insider threat detection. Many continue to rely on identity and access management, security training, DLP, and EDR, tools that provide visibility but not the behavioural context necessary to spot subtle or emerging risks.
AI crawlers made up 80% of all AI bot traffic observed between mid-April to mid-July, according to Fastly Inc.’s Q2 2025 Threat Insights Report.
The research found that Meta generated more than half of this traffic, eclipsing both Google and OpenAI combined.
Fetcher bots–those that access website content in response to user actions–including those used by ChatGPT and Perplexity, are also driving massive real-time request volumes. In some cases, fetcher request volume exceeds 39,000 requests per minute.
This surge is putting pressure on unprotected origin infrastructure, consuming bandwidth, overwhelming servers and mimicking the effects of DDoS attacks, even without malicious intent. North America receives a heavy skew of AI crawler traffic, accounting for nearly 90% of observed activity.
Every other region, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America, sees a significantly smaller share, signalling a growing geographic bias in LLM training datasets and raising questions about the long-term neutrality of AI model outputs.
Fastly’s report in the first quarter of 2025 found that automated bot traffic already represented 37% of observed activity across Fastly’s global network. While previous concerns centred on the volume of automated traffic, the Q2 data highlights the nature of that traffic, with AI bots now presenting a more complex challenge to security, performance, and operational resilience.
Drawing on 6.5 trillion monthly requests across Fastly’s Next-Gen WAF and Bot Management products, the findings offer a detailed view of how AI-driven automation is reshaping online traffic.
With visibility into over 130,000 applications and APIs across a wide range of industries including e-commerce, media, financial services, and technology, Fastly’s insights shed light on the evolving battleground for web security and control.
Meta’s AI bots alone generate 52% of AL crawler traffic, more than double that of Google (23%) or OpenAI (20%).
The report also found that commerce, media & entertainment, and high-tech sectors face the highest levels of scraping for training AI models.
ChatGPT was found to generate the most real-time traffic to websites, with 98% of fetcher bot requests attributable to OpenAI’s bots.
Lack of bot verification persists as well, making it difficult for security teams to distinguish between legitimate automation and malicious impersonation.
“AI Bots are reshaping how the internet is accessed and experienced, introducing new complexities for digital platforms,” said Arun Kumar, senior security researcher at Fastly.
“Whether scraping for training data or delivering real-time responses, these bots create new challenges for visibility, control, and cost. You can’t secure what you can’t see, and without clear verification standards, AI-driven automation risks are becoming a blind spot for digital teams. Businesses need the tools and insights to manage automated traffic with the same precision and urgency as any other infrastructure or security risk.”
The report calls for more transparent bot verification, clearer signalling by bot operators, and smarter bot management strategies. Without them, organisations face growing exposure to shadowy automation, attribution gaps and escalating infrastructure costs.
Phishing techniques using QR codes, or quishing, is getting more advanced, as security researchers at Barracuda Networks revealed two new methods involving split malicious QR codes and embedded malware in legitimate QR codes.
Phishing-as-a-service operators Gabagool and Tycoon 2FA have recently started using new techniques in quishing to avoid detection.
One of the techniques involves the splitting of a QR code into two separate images, and then embedding them in an email.
When these emails are scanned by traditional security tools, the images look harmless individually rather than a complete QR code. The recipient however sees a complete QR code that can be scanned, which then directs them to a phishing page designed to steal some of their login credentials.
The HTML, however, registers as two different images in order to evade detection.
The other technique includes nested QR codes, where threat actors embed a malicious QR code within or around a legitimate QR code.
This technique can make it harder for scanners to detect the threat, as the results from two combined QR codes are ambiguous.
Gabagool is using the split QR method in a fraudulent Microsoft password recent scheme, where as Tycoon 2FA’s nested QR technique is being used on a range of malicious webpage redirects.
The new techniques shows the troubling evolution of QR code attacks as their expanding use cases.
Barracuda Networks recommends that organisations consider multilayered email protections that integrate multimodal AI on top of traditional security measures to combat the rising and increasingly sophisticated threat.
Multimodal AI has deep image processing capabilities, which may make it more difficult for split and nested QR campaigns to evade detection.
With AI innovation and digital infrastructure investment at the forefront of the UK’s economic agenda, new findings from Shopify’s Global Business Pulse Survey reveal that UK SMBs are leaning into technology to fuel their next phase of growth.
From automation to personalised marketing, AI is fast becoming a key tool for scaling – more than 2 in 5 (43%) named AI as the most helpful technology for expansion. Yet despite this momentum, many businesses continue to face real-world challenges in implementation, including budget constraints and uncertainty around ROI.
According to the research, which surveyed over 500 UK business decision-makers, 96% believe technology will be helpful in reaching new markets over the next 12 months, with AI (43%), digital marketing tools (38%), and ecommerce platforms (36%) topping the list.
From automation and analytics to better payment experiences, technology is seen not as a luxury but as essential for scaling.
However, enthusiasm is being tempered by cost concerns: 44% of business leaders cite high costs and limited budgets as their top challenge in keeping up with technology, while a further 30% are uncertain about the ROI of digital tools. The result is a widening gap between ambition and execution.
The data also reflects a broader shift in how UK businesses approach innovation. While some are proceeding cautiously, others are taking bold steps to compete and thrive: more than a third (35%) of UK SMBs are taking more risks amid economic uncertainty, seeking an advantage over more conservative competitors.
Those investing in their own ecommerce websites report higher levels of personalisation, analytics, and customer loyalty – especially when compared to marketplaces or social selling.
Over half (57%) strong agree that their own website allows for personalised marketing strategies not possible elsewhere, while 63% strongly agree that it helps build an emotional connection with customers.
The survey suggests that UK SMBs are eager to modernise, but doing so strategically, selectively, and with long-term sustainability in mind.
“Our findings come at a pivotal time, as UK businesses balance the need for innovation with mounting cost pressures and an increasingly competitive digital landscape,” Matthais Kleven, head of northern Europe partnerships at Shopify, comments.
“SMBs are ready to innovate – but need clear pathways, affordable tools, and measurable outcomes to fully commit. To unlock digital transformation at scale, we need to remove barriers and give business owners the tools to adopt tech that delivers measurable value.”
The Information Commissioner’s Office has found that both South Wales Police’s and Gwent Police’s use of live and retrospective facial recognition technology (FRT) is compliant with data protection laws in the regulator’s first audit of the tech in policing.
The audit follows the ICO calling on police services to make use facial recognition technology only in “necessary and proportionate” manners, and after the two Welsh police forces adopted a new mobile facial recognition app.
The app allows Police officers to stop people they see who they think may be missing, at risk, or wanted for arrest to better confirm their identity. The phone app allows this to be done immediately or retrospectively through pictures, which the police forces assure are deleted after use.
The ICO’s audit of the tech rollout found that the police forces have provided a high level of assurance that these tools and their use are in line with data protection law.
The ICO said that the forces ensured there was human oversight from trained staff to mitigate the risk of discrimination and to ensure that no decisions are solely automated.
However, the ICO did stress that this audit “serves as a snapshot in time,” and “does not give the green light to all police forces” which may wish to deploy facial recognition technology.
“The use of FRT by the police is frequently in the spotlight, reflecting public concerns about the technology’s use and oversight – including its potential to be intrusive and the risk of both discrimination and mistaken identity,” Emily Keaney, the deputy commissioner for regulatory policy at the ICO said.
“Our recent research found that while almost two-thirds of people surveyed (63%) felt comfortable with police using FRT, their support relies on the technology being accurate, unbiased and respecting of people’s privacy, as well as being used in a way that clearly benefits society.”
The use of facial recognition technology by UK police has faced much scrutiny since its introduction in around 2016. South Wales Police Force’s use of the technology was actually found to be ‘unethical’ in an independent study which assessed the rollout of the technology, its apparent bias, and effects on freedom of assembly and expression.
The Ada Lovelace Institute recently pointed out to the major underlying governance issue in the police forces’ use of the technology: the technology has never been approved in parliamentary legislation, so the police’s use of the tech relies on a piecemeal assembly of various laws. This leaves issues surrounding the legality of its various use cases, and the abilities of citizens to claim against the police if they have issues with its use.
The UK’s own human rights regulator, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, also called out the continued roll out of the technology in the UK, with particular concern on how this affects people’s rights to freedom of expression, right to privacy, and freedom of assembly and association.
