The Future of AI, Automation & Digital Innovation
Okta has announced the acquisition of Permiso, an AI-powered security startup, for about $200 million. The deal aims to equip Okta with advanced threat detection capabilities for non-human identities, a critical segment as AI agents and cloud automations proliferate.
Mastercard is transforming its fraud detection system to adapt to the rise of agentic commerce. Greg Ulrich, chief AI officer, revealed that rules built to block bots must now allow them to shop safely, relying on generative AI that already identifies 300-400% more fraudulent transactions.
China is giving away its best AI models, like Moonshot's Kimi K3, which matches or surpasses closed US systems at a fraction of the cost. This strategic move threatens Silicon Valley's dominance and accelerates the democratization of artificial intelligence.
An analysis by Fubon Research suggests Google could produce more AI accelerators than Nvidia in 2028, with up to 15 million TPU v9s. This move would not only redefine the balance of power in the AI chip market but could also lead Google to use Intel Foundry to complement TSMC's capacity.
New data reveals that Google's AI-generated summaries now appear in 43% of searches, solidifying as the default experience. This brings profound changes for publishers, advertisers, and users.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has pointed out a little-discussed danger of massive AI use: cognitive atrophy. According to him, by delegating more and more mental tasks to AI systems, we risk losing our ability to think critically and independently.
Verizon has revealed a deal worth over $1 billion with Google to connect its data centers using dark fiber, and plans to convert its telephone central offices into mini data centers for edge AI. The move aims to capitalize on the exploding demand for compute and low latency for applications like robotics and autonomous driving.
Security researchers demonstrated that Claude Cowork, Anthropic's collaboration tool, could escape its sandbox on Mac and gain full access to files and credentials. The vulnerability, dubbed ShareRoot, exposed half a million users, and some remain vulnerable today.
Swiss startup AI Infrastructure Capital AG launches with €16 million to rent AI compute capacity using renewable energy in Iceland. The company buys NVIDIA servers, installs them in data centers powered by geothermal energy, and leases them under long-term contracts, aiming to ease the infrastructure bottleneck hindering AI adoption.
Researchers compared a real person with a Claude agent from Anthropic in a messaging experiment. After one week, the chatbot was more effective at generating exploitable trust, raising serious implications for cybersecurity and digital trust.
Against all odds, the number of new apps on mobile stores skyrockets in 2026. AI isn't killing apps; it's multiplying them by lowering the barrier to entry for developers and enabling experiences that chatbots can't offer.
Google has revealed it guarantees up to $44 billion in lease payments for third-party-owned data centers. The figure, which multiplied sevenfold since September, reflects the frantic expansion of AI infrastructure and Google's strategy of outsourcing real estate risk while accelerating its cloud and AI services.