The AI giant is reportedly backing a 5-gigawatt data centre in Abu Dhabi, a facility so vast, it would dwarf Monaco and could reshape global AI infrastructure.

A Bold Expansion Into the Gulf

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is reportedly helping to develop one of the largest AI data centre campuses on the planet, a 10-square-mile megaproject in Abu Dhabi that could eventually outsize the entire nation of Monaco.

The plans (first reported by Bloomberg) describe a 5-gigawatt facility that would draw as much power as five nuclear reactors and become a key node in OpenAI’s growing Stargate infrastructure programme. The UAE site is being built in partnership with G42, a powerful Abu Dhabi-based tech group chaired by the country’s national security advisor, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Sources familiar with the project say OpenAI would act as one of the primary anchor tenants, though final details are still being worked out. If confirmed, it would mark OpenAI’s largest international infrastructure commitment to date, and one that dramatically raises the stakes in the global race for AI compute power.

Why Abu Dhabi?

For OpenAI, the UAE offers more than just open desert and deep pockets. The region has become a key strategic ally in the US-led effort to expand AI capacity without ceding ground to China.

Abu Dhabi, in particular, has poured billions into tech development through sovereign funds and national champions like G42 and MGX. In return, it has sought deeper technological integration with major US firms, a goal reinforced during President Trump’s recent Middle East visit, where AI cooperation featured prominently on the agenda.

In fact, this new data centre forms part of a wider bilateral framework signed in May between the US and UAE to accelerate AI deployment across the Gulf. The accord could include the sale of over a million high-end Nvidia chips to the UAE, a move intended to counter Beijing’s influence in the region.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has long praised the UAE’s ambition. For example, speaking in Abu Dhabi last year, he said the country “has been talking about AI since before it was cool.” His company’s relationship with G42 dates back to 2023, when the two announced a regional partnership to promote AI adoption across the Middle East.

The Global AI Infrastructure Play

The Abu Dhabi build looks like being the most ambitious element yet in OpenAI’s “Stargate” initiative, i.e. a joint venture with SoftBank and Oracle aimed at rolling out hyperscale AI infrastructure around the globe. The programme, unveiled in January alongside former President Trump, is expected to channel up to $500 billion into global projects over the next four years.

OpenAI’s first Stargate campus is already under construction in Abilene, Texas. That site is expected to reach 1.2 gigawatts, making the planned Abu Dhabi facility more than four times larger! For context, even Microsoft’s largest data centres currently consume less than 1 gigawatt.

It’s been reported that each site will serve as a supercharged AI hub, equipped with high-density computing clusters and the latest generation of Nvidia and AMD chips. These are designed to handle the massive workloads required for training and deploying next-gen language models, vision systems, and multimodal tools.

According to OpenAI, demand for compute is growing faster than chipmakers can supply. For example, speaking earlier this year, Altman warned that “AI progress will soon be bottlenecked not by algorithmic innovation, but by energy and silicon.” It seems, therefore, that Stargate is OpenAI’s attempt to remove that bottleneck.

Power, Partnerships, and Politics

The scale of the Abu Dhabi site is breathtaking. For example, at full capacity, it would:

– Span over 10 square miles, which is larger than many cities and territories, including Monaco (0.78 square miles).

– Consume 5 gigawatts of power, which is equal to around 5 large nuclear plants or roughly the output of the UK’s Hinkley Point C when complete.

– House an ecosystem of tenants such as OpenAI, Oracle, and potentially others, although exact names have not yet been disclosed.

Oracle, which has been expanding its cloud footprint aggressively to support AI workloads, is reportedly involved in developing the first phase of the campus. Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest backer, is also entangled via its recent $1.5 billion investment in G42. Microsoft President Brad Smith has since joined the G42 board.

Complex Politics

However, the politics behind these partnerships are complex. For example, G42’s historical ties to Chinese firms, including Huawei and the Beijing Genomics Institute, have caused alarm in Washington. In 2023, US lawmakers warned that such links could enable Chinese access to sensitive American tech via the back door.

Under pressure, G42 has since claimed to have exited all China-related investments and operations. For example, as CEO Peng Xiao said (to Bloomberg) in January: “All of our China investments that were previously made are already divested. Because of that, we have no need anymore for any physical China presence.”

That change appears to have helped pave the way for closer US-UAE collaboration. That said, it seems that not everyone in Washington is convinced the threat has vanished. For example, some Trump administration officials are said to be uneasy about the symbolic and strategic risks of moving advanced AI infrastructure offshore, particularly to a region still watched closely by Chinese and Russian intelligence services.

Changing The AI Landscape?

If built as planned, the Abu Dhabi super-campus would not only change the geography of AI infrastructure, but could reshape how companies access and deploy AI globally.

For OpenAI’s users, especially enterprise clients, the move signals two big trends:

1. More global redundancy and resilience. Spreading infrastructure across continents could make OpenAI services more stable, scalable, and compliant with local regulations, including data residency requirements.

2. Faster innovation cycles. With massive compute on tap, OpenAI can continue training ever-larger models, rolling out more powerful tools for business, research, and defence applications.

At the same time, the project highlights the deepening alliances between Big Tech and geopolitical power blocs. As AI becomes a strategic asset akin to oil or semiconductors, access to compute may increasingly shape who leads (and who lags) in the next digital revolution.

A New Benchmark

For OpenAI’s rivals like Google DeepMind, Anthropic, and Meta, the Abu Dhabi development looks like setting a new benchmark. Few others have announced anything on this scale. It also raises questions about whether public cloud infrastructure alone will be sufficient to keep pace, or if more firms will start investing in their own AI megastructures.

Environmental and Other Concerns

Despite the hype around the scale and the promise of the project, it also raises tough questions about energy use, environmental impact, export controls, and the ethics of building frontier AI infrastructure in politically sensitive regions. These tensions are unlikely to go away anytime soon.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

OpenAI’s reported potential leap into Abu Dhabi is more than just a headline-grabbing land grab or another tech tie-up. In fact, it appears to mark a pretty decisive moment in the evolution of AI infrastructure, i.e. where geography, politics, and compute capacity intersect on a global stage. If the deal goes ahead as anticipated, the Middle East may soon host the world’s largest AI campus, symbolising not just technical ambition but also a fundamental shift in where the power behind AI is physically rooted.

For OpenAI, the project signals a pragmatic move to secure the raw energy and silicon resources needed to train future generations of frontier models. The scale of the proposed facility underlines just how central compute has become to AI’s progress, and just how willing firms are to chase that capacity beyond their traditional home markets. Yet that ambition comes at a cost. The growing proximity between powerful AI companies and state-linked partners in geopolitically complex regions raises real questions about governance, transparency, and the safe stewardship of cutting-edge technologies.

UK businesses watching this from afar may be in two minds about its benefits. For example, on the one hand, expanded infrastructure could eventually translate into more stable, powerful AI services (and potentially lower costs) as scale economies kick in. For sectors already adopting generative AI at pace, such as finance, marketing, logistics, and law, that’s a tantalising prospect. However, it also reinforces the extent to which global supply chains, regulatory alignments, and geopolitical tensions now play an invisible but important role in the tools UK firms depend on.

Likewise, for policymakers, the Abu Dhabi campus could serve as a reminder of how fast the AI ecosystem is becoming a transnational infrastructure issue, one that affects everything from energy use and international trade to national security and data protection. The decisions being made in Abu Dhabi, San Francisco, or Washington are no longer abstract for UK stakeholders, but they shape the very foundations of how AI is accessed and governed globally.

In the end, the success or failure of this move may depend as much on diplomacy and ethics as on architecture and engineering. Although the vision is immense, so too are the risks. Whether this data centre becomes a beacon of innovation or a lightning rod for criticism will depend on how carefully all those involved, i.e. OpenAI, G42, Oracle, and the governments behind them, navigate the road ahead.

Two startups on opposite sides of the Atlantic have just unveiled breakthrough prototypes that could bring flying cars and hypersonic jets into everyday travel.

Hypersonic Air Travel and Flying Cars

Venus Aerospace has just tested a rocket engine it believes could make hypersonic passenger flights a reality, while Klein Vision has unveiled the production-ready version of the world’s first certified flying car.

Venus Aerospace Eyes Hypersonic Jet Travel

Houston-based Venus Aerospace made headlines last week with the first successful test flight of its Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE), a propulsion system long theorised by engineers but unproven in flight – until now. The test, conducted at Spaceport America in New Mexico, marks a milestone in the company’s effort to develop Stargazer, a Mach 9-capable hypersonic aircraft that could one day fly from London to New York in under an hour.

The engine, described by Venus co-founder and CEO Sarah “Sassie” Duggleby as “the holy grail” of propulsion, works differently to traditional jet or rocket engines. Instead of burning fuel in a steady stream, the RDRE generates a series of controlled shockwave detonations that spiral around a circular chamber at supersonic speeds. This compact design produces more power, uses 20 per cent less fuel, and crucially, has no moving parts, thereby making it cheaper to build, operate, and maintain.

“We’ve proven that this technology works—not just in simulations or the lab, but in the air,” said Duggleby, who co-founded the company with her husband Andrew in 2020.

The recent test flight launched a small rocket to 4,400 feet, reaching 383 mph in just seven seconds, before descending safely by parachute. While that’s only about half the speed of sound, the company insists the trial was all about demonstrating scalability and real-world performance, not speed.

What Makes RDRE So Different?

Venus says the RDRE has the potential to revolutionise aerospace by enabling ultra-fast, cost-effective hypersonic travel across defence, commercial aviation, and space launch sectors. Traditional systems often rely on complex multi-engine configurations to operate across different speed regimes. Venus’s breakthrough is a single-engine solution that handles take-off, acceleration, and sustained hypersonic cruise.

In practical terms, the RDRE could, for example:

– Enable Mach 9 flight speeds (up to 6,900 mph)

– Carry passengers from San Francisco to Tokyo in only two hours!

– Reduce launch costs for satellites and cargo

– Deliver military-grade speed and agility in compact vehicles.

Funding and Support

With £66 million ($84m) in venture funding and support from NASA and the US Department of Defense, Venus is pushing forward with plans to flight-test a 20-foot drone at Mach 5 later this year. This will be followed by the development of Stargazer, a 150-foot-long, 150,000-lb aircraft designed to cruise at 170,000 feet, which is close enough to see the blackness of space and the curvature of Earth.

As Andrew Duggleby, the company’s CTO says: “This is just the beginning of what can be achieved with Venus propulsion technology”.

Challenges

However, despite the ambition and the confidence, it should be noted that there are some considerable challenges ahead. For example, engineers must solve the problem of extreme heat in the detonation chamber. This is what Sassie Duggleby likens to “lighting a fire in a wax fireplace without melting the wax.” The firm is also still years away from a full-scale passenger aircraft. This means that commercial readiness isn’t likely until the early 2030s.

Klein Vision Unveils Its AirCar 2 Flying Car

Meanwhile in Europe, Slovakia’s Klein Vision has taken a different route to next-gen travel. At this year’s Living Legends of Aviation Gala Dinner in Beverly Hills, the company revealed the production-ready prototype of the AirCar 2, a sleek vehicle that can transform from a car to an aircraft in just 80 seconds.

Unlike Venus, Klein Vision’s breakthrough is grounded (literally) in existing certification. The original AirCar, first flown in 2021, was awarded its Certificate of Airworthiness in 2022 after completing 170 flight hours and more than 500 takeoffs and landings.

“The AirCar fulfils a lifelong dream to bring the freedom of flight into the hands of everyday people,” said founder and designer Stefan Klein, who received the gala’s Special Recognition Award for Engineering Excellence.

The AirCar 2 is a major upgrade:

– 280-horsepower engine (replacing the previous 1.6-litre BMW engine)

– Cruising speed up to 250 km/h in flight

– 1,000 km range

– Full monocoque (single shell) body for improved safety and strength

– Compact enough to park in a standard garage.

Klein Vision claims the AirCar 2 can reach 200 km/h on the road, and take off from a conventional airport runway before cruising to its destination and driving off again, which means there’s no need for an entirely new transport infrastructure. A button in the cockpit unfolds the wings and tail, transforming the vehicle from road mode to air mode in less than 90 seconds.

A Car. A Plane. A Market Disruptor?

The company, which has been bootstrapped from the start, is now gearing up for production. According to co-founder Anton Zajac, the first models will retail for between $800,000 and $1 million starting in early 2026, with the ability to produce 100 units per year once certification is complete. It’s understood that pre-orders are already in progress.

Klein Vision’s ambitions are underpinned by bold market predictions. With global air mobility forecast to reach $162 billion by 2034, the company believes its vehicle has a first-mover advantage.

“We’re not just witnessing the future of transportation—we’re engineering it,” said Zajac.

Scepticism

However, some commentators are (understandably) sceptical about Klein Vision’s claims. For example, the flying car market has been promised for decades, and critics often point to limitations in infrastructure, regulation, cost, and public adoption. There’s also the challenge of power. While the current model runs on petrol, Klein Vision admits they plan to go electric “as soon as battery energy density allows.”

Also, with just seven people on staff, Klein Vision appears to be unusually lean for such a capital-intensive industry. The company spent $5 million developing the first AirCar, most of it funded by Zajac himself, though it is now “open to external investment.”

Different Paths, Same Sky

What makes this moment significant is not just the individual accomplishments of Venus Aerospace and Klein Vision, but the fact that two very different approaches (i.e. rocket-driven hypersonic flight and road-to-air transformation) are simultaneously reaching new levels of feasibility.

For example, one is reimagining how fast we can travel, while the other is changing how flexibly we move between ground and sky.

Although each faces enormous technical, regulatory, and financial obstacles, both appear to be making some credible progress, backed by data and test flights. It seems there’s now a growing sense that the next leap in mobility may come not from giant aerospace primes, but from agile, focused startups willing to bet on bold ideas and reinvent the rules.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

These two announcements feel like a genuine turning point in aviation’s long evolution from commercial airliners to something altogether more ambitious, and more personal. Whether it’s Venus Aerospace’s promise of New York to Tokyo in under an hour, or Klein Vision’s vision of driving to the airport and flying yourself to your next meeting, both represent a dramatic departure from the limits of traditional air travel. Also, for a sector that hasn’t seen many transformative passenger-facing breakthroughs since Concorde, this sudden surge in innovation feels both overdue and quite exciting.

For UK businesses, hypersonic travel, if it becomes commercially viable, could create a new level of global agility for finance, tech, and trade sectors, shrinking long-haul logistics and giving British firms the ability to meet clients or partners halfway across the world in the space of a lunch break. Also, a certified flying car like the AirCar 2 could, in time, reshape regional mobility by unlocking point-to-point travel for executives, engineers, or consultants who currently rely on slower rail or road connections. The early costs may be high, but as production scales and competition grows, accessibility may follow.

Of course, there are still some big questions, especially around safety, certification, regulation, and infrastructure. In both cases, it’s not yet clear how existing aviation authorities will adapt to technologies that blur the lines between car and aircraft, or jet and rocket. Also, public acceptance and use will also hinge on reliability, insurance frameworks, pilot licensing, and in the case of hypersonic flight, whether everyday passengers can truly stomach the physics involved.

Then there’s the competitive landscape to consider. For example, as Venus pushes to commercialise RDRE-powered jets, it enters a growing field of rivals including Hermeus, Sierra Space, and Virgin Galactic, all with overlapping ambitions. Similarly, Klein Vision must prove it can scale manufacturing, meet regulatory expectations, and fend off future entrants with better-funded teams or deeper aviation experience.

However, even with these challenges, the pace and credibility of recent progress seems to suggest that this may no longer be a question of if, but when. The fact that two very different technologies, i.e., one focused on blistering speed, the other on personal freedom, are both edging closer to commercial reality shows that the sky is no longer the limit. The travel industry may be on the cusp of a transformation that doesn’t just shrink time and distance, but redefines how we connect with the world. And that’s a future well worth watching.

Hundreds of thousands of criminal, financial and personal records have been compromised in a major cyber attack on the UK’s Legal Aid Agency, raising serious questions about digital security in one of the country’s most sensitive justice systems.

What Is the Legal Aid Agency And Why Was It Targeted?

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA), part of the Ministry of Justice, provides funding for legal representation to individuals who can’t afford it. This includes people facing criminal charges, eviction, domestic abuse, or complex family matters. Each year, it processes hundreds of thousands of applications and manages payments to solicitors and legal providers across England and Wales.

However, behind this critical public function, the agency’s digital infrastructure was running on fragile systems that, according to critics, had been neglected for years. For example, the Law Society had previously warned that its technology was “too antiquated to cope”, a warning that now appears to have been tragically justified.

What Happened And How Did the Hackers Get In?

Officials first became aware of the cyber attack on 23 April, when the LAA’s online digital services began to show signs of compromise. At first, it was thought that only legal aid providers (i.e. solicitors and firms who use the system to log work and request payment) were affected.

However, further investigation revealed something far more serious. On 16 May, it was confirmed that the attackers had in fact accessed and downloaded a large volume of personal data belonging to legal aid applicants going back as far as 2010.

The data accessed (and probably downloaded) includes names, contact details, dates of birth, national insurance and ID numbers, employment status, criminal history, and sensitive financial data such as debt levels and payment records. Some reports even claim up to 2.1 million pieces of data may have been taken, though this has yet to be formally verified.

Who Was Behind the Attack?

The group responsible has not yet been officially identified, but officials have said they do not currently believe this was the work of a hostile nation-state. Instead, it appears to be the work of an organised criminal gang, possibly seeking to extort or sell stolen data for financial gain.

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre are now investigating the incident, with assistance from the Information Commissioner’s Office. Meanwhile, the LAA’s online portal has been taken offline, and work has begun on building a replacement system.

Why Did This Happen And Could It Have Been Prevented?

According to a source within the Ministry of Justice, vulnerabilities in the LAA’s systems were known for years but not addressed under the previous government. Critics have described the breach as the result of “long-term neglect”, pointing to repeated calls for investment and reform from legal bodies such as the Law Society.

In the words of Law Society president Richard Atkinson, “Legal aid firms are small businesses operating on the margins of viability… these financial security concerns are the last thing they need.” He added that the system’s fragility had already hindered reforms and warned that any further delays would now be “untenable”.

Real-World Risks for Individuals and Firms

For the thousands of people affected, this isn’t just an IT failure – it’s a personal risk. Many legal aid applicants are already in vulnerable situations. For example, some are dealing with domestic abuse cases, immigration hearings, or criminal charges, while others have been wrongly accused, or are applying for legal help in family disputes.

Now, it seems those same individuals are facing the anxiety of not knowing where their personal data has ended up, or how it could be used. Cybersecurity experts warn that data like this is often used in targeted scams, phishing campaigns, or identity fraud, with long-term implications.

Also at risk are the legal aid providers themselves. These are often small law firms already under financial pressure, now left scrambling for alternative ways to process claims and payments while the LAA rebuilds its systems.

What Should You Do If You’re Affected?

The Legal Aid Agency has urged anyone who applied for legal aid between 2010 and 2025 to take immediate steps to safeguard themselves. This includes:

– Being alert for suspicious phone calls, texts, or emails from unknown senders.

– Updating passwords, especially for any accounts that may have reused information.

– Verifying the identity of anyone requesting personal or financial details before responding.

The National Cyber Security Centre has also published updated guidance for individuals and businesses affected by data breaches, with a particular focus on spotting phishing scams and securing mobile devices.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This breach is yet another reminder that outdated digital systems are no longer just an inconvenience – they are a real liability. For UK businesses, particularly those in legal services, social care, government contracting, or any industry that handles sensitive personal data, this incident is a wake-up call.

This is also a reminder that cyber risk is no longer confined to banks and tech giants. It seems that public sector agencies, legal support organisations, and even small private firms are all now in the firing line, mainly because cybercriminals are increasingly targeting entities with sensitive data but outdated or underfunded digital defences, seeing them as easier to exploit than large, well-protected corporations.

If an organisation’s systems haven’t been independently tested, audited, or updated in the last 12–18 months, now is the time to act.

The Legal Aid Agency may recover, but its credibility has been badly shaken, and for the people whose data was exposed, the damage may be permanent. What this breach shows is that in the digital age, trust isn’t just earned through good service. It’s also earned (or lost) through cybersecurity.

A government-commissioned red teaming exercise has found that One Login, the UK’s flagship digital identity platform, can be compromised without triggering any alerts.

The test, carried out by the National Cyber Security Centre’s Cross-Government Red Team, revealed serious gaps in the system’s ability to detect and respond to intrusions. One Login is intended to provide a single, secure sign-in for services like tax, pensions and benefits.

Over 2 million users are already enrolled, but the findings raise concerns about whether the platform is safe for wider rollout. A Cabinet Office spokesperson said the exercise was “routine best practice” and confirmed improvements are being made, but offered no technical details.

Experts say silent compromise of a national identity system could expose millions to fraud, data theft or service disruption, especially if undetected for long periods.

Although this was a simulated attack and no real data was exposed, the key concern is that One Login failed to detect the breach, showing a weakness in spotting intrusions. For businesses, the lesson is that detection matters as much as prevention. Regular testing and active monitoring are vital to catch threats before they cause damage.

A new sustainable building material that’s stronger than steel and made from ordinary timber is about to go into mass production, and it could change the face of construction forever.

From The Lab to the Launch of ‘Superwood’

In 2018, materials scientist Liangbing Hu and his team at the University of Maryland developed a method to convert ordinary wood into a material significantly stronger and lighter than steel. The innovation, initially viewed as a promising (but laboratory-bound) breakthrough, involved finding a new way to densify wood to enhance its strength and durability through a chemical and compression process. It seems that only now, after seven years, 140 patents, and millions in investment later, Superwood is actually heading to market.

InventWood

The startup behind the commercial rollout, InventWood, is gearing up to begin production this summer 2025 (summer 2025 is as accurate a launch date as InventWood has given) at its first dedicated facility. Backed by $15 million in Series A funding from climate-focused investors including the Grantham Foundation and Builders Vision, the company believes Superwood could soon replace a substantial chunk of the steel used in buildings, and significantly reduce the environmental cost of construction in the process.

How is Superwood Made?

Superwood is essentially regular wood that has undergone a chemical and physical treatment to alter its structure at the molecular level, thereby significantly increasing its strength and durability.

The process starts with regular timber, which is mostly composed of the two key compounds of cellulose and lignin. Cellulose is the strong, fibrous material that gives plant cells their rigidity, while lignin acts as a kind of natural glue. Ironically, it’s the removal of lignin that unlocks the strength hidden inside the wood.

The process to strengthen the wood and turn it into ‘Superwood’ includes:

– Boiling and bonding. The wood is first boiled in a solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfite – a process not unlike that used in paper production. This removes most of the lignin and hemicellulose, while keeping the cellulose intact.

– Compression and heating. Next, the softened wood is compressed and gently heated, causing the cell walls to collapse. This triggers hydrogen bonding between adjacent cellulose fibres, vastly increasing the wood’s strength.

– Stabilisation. For external use, some samples are impregnated with polymers, improving resistance to moisture and environmental wear.

The Result

The result of this transformative process is to create material with up to 20 times the strength of natural wood, and a strength-to-weight ratio up to 10 times greater than steel! Also, according to InventWood, it’s also highly fire-resistant (Class A fire rating), pest- and rot-resistant and, unlike most tropical hardwoods, naturally beautiful, thanks to a deep, rich colour created during the compression process. As InventWood’s CEO Alex Lau says: “It looks like walnut or ipe, but we haven’t stained any of it,” and that “These are the natural colours. It’s just wood, re-engineered.”

Steel-Level Performance Without the Carbon

The potential sustainability benefits of Superwood are huge. For example, globally, the production of steel accounts for about 7–9 per cent of direct emissions from fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Also, concrete and steel together make up around 90 per cent of the carbon footprint of new buildings. This means that being able to replace even a fraction of that with a renewable, carbon-sequestering material like Superwood could be a game-changer.

On a like-for-like performance basis, Superwood generates 90 per cent lower emissions than steel and, because it locks carbon into the material itself, every Superwood beam or panel becomes a kind of mini carbon store.

The material can also be made from underutilised or waste wood, adding another layer of circularity and environmental value.

What Can It Be Used For?

At launch, InventWood is targeting facade and cladding applications for commercial and high-end residential buildings. These “skin” uses are designed to be ideal early-stage deployments, giving architects and developers a chance to work with the material in lower-stress contexts while the production process is scaled up.

However, it seems that the real ambition lies deeper in the building. For example, as Lau says, “Eventually we want to get to the bones of the building”, including structural beams, columns, and even I-beams being made entirely from Superwood. The strength, light weight, and stability of Superwood means it could be used not just in walls and roofing, but in entire load-bearing structures.

Beyond construction, other possible applications could include:

– Furniture. Stronger, lighter, and more durable wooden furniture with high aesthetic value.

– Vehicles. Potential use in interior vehicle panels or lightweight frames.

– Protective Gear. Early tests showed Superwood could stop bullet-like projectiles, leading to speculation it might be used in low-cost body armour or impact-resistant products.

– Consumer Goods. From tools to sports equipment, the applications could span industries.

Mouldable Into Different Shapes

One other big practical and aesthetic advantage is that, because it’s mouldable during the early stages of production, the wood can be shaped and formed into complex designs before hardening, thereby opening up design possibilities beyond what’s possible with standard timber.

Scaling Up

With its first production plant due to go live this summer, InventWood is keen to prove it can scale efficiently. The initial batches will be smaller and aimed at showcasing Superwood’s performance and aesthetics in real-world projects.

Over time, the plan appears to be to mass-produce structural timber products using waste or fast-growing softwoods, such as pine or poplar, woods that are cheap and abundant but typically too weak for major construction use.

By applying the Superwood process, these everyday species could be upgraded to high-performance materials without the costs or carbon associated with tropical hardwoods or engineered metal.

Investor Interest

Not surprisingly, the company has already attracted interest from major investors and partners in the climate tech space, and says the long-term goal is to replace up to 80 per cent of the structural steel currently used in building and infrastructure projects.

Hype or Hope?

Despite the excitement, it should be noted that Superwood isn’t without its critics, or its hurdles. For one, the technology is still in its commercial infancy. While lab tests and prototypes are impressive, the construction industry is notoriously conservative when it comes to adopting new materials, especially for structural use. Engineers, insurers and regulators will need to be convinced of its long-term performance under varied conditions, including moisture, temperature change, and mechanical stress.

There’s also the question of cost and scalability. While Lau says the process has been reduced from “more than a week to a few hours,” manufacturing densified wood still requires energy, chemical treatments, and controlled conditions. Whether the environmental benefits are maintained at large scale will depend on the sourcing of those inputs and the overall lifecycle of the material.

Some environmental groups have also raised concerns about supply chain transparency. If demand for Superwood grows rapidly, there will be pressure to ensure that input timber is sustainably and ethically harvested, particularly if production expands beyond waste wood and fast-growing species.

Benefits Outweigh Challenges

However, supporters of the technology argue that the potential benefits outweigh the challenges. For example, investors involved in the funding round have highlighted the urgent need for new, low-carbon materials in response to the climate crisis, and view Superwood as a promising solution that combines high strength, aesthetic appeal, and significantly lower emissions. Some believe it could represent one of the most important material innovations of the decade.

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation?

If Superwood’s apparent potential to dramatically reduce carbon emissions while delivering on performance could make it an attractive alternative to steel and tropical hardwoods, especially at a time when the construction industry is under growing pressure to decarbonise.

For UK businesses, particularly those involved in architecture, building design, and sustainable development, this could open up exciting new opportunities. Superwood’s combination of strength, lightweight handling, and natural beauty offers practical advantages that go beyond green credentials. If adopted at scale, it could help developers meet net-zero targets, reduce material costs, and differentiate projects in a highly competitive market. Manufacturers and timber suppliers may also find new demand for underused or waste wood, potentially driving regional supply chains and creating jobs linked to circular production.

Also, with early use cases already being explored in areas like furniture, transport, and protective materials, Superwood’s commercial reach could extend well beyond construction. For example, as the product matures and real-world performance data emerges, its use may spread into consumer goods, automotive interiors, and even defence applications.

That said, its long-term impact will hinge on more than just innovation. It will depend on how quickly the production process can be scaled, how effectively it’s regulated, and whether sustainability claims can be backed by transparent, verifiable supply chains. For clients, designers, and contractors alike, due diligence will be essential.

Still, in a sector where true breakthroughs are rare and often slow to emerge, Superwood offers something genuinely different, i.e. a material that aligns strength, sustainability, and versatility in a way that could reshape how (and what) we build in the years ahead.

ChatGPT has had a major upgrade when it comes to its memory functionality. This video tells you everything you need to know to use this new memory upgrade to the fullest.

[Note – To Watch This Video without glitches/interruptions, It may be best to download it first]

Worried your login details might be floating around the dark web? There are paid solutions available which your IT expert can offer but if you’re a pinch, Microsoft Edge can alert you if any passwords you’ve saved in the browser have appeared in a known data breach, and it only takes a moment to switch on.

How to:

– Open Microsoft Edge.
– Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and select Settings.
– Go to Profiles > Passwords.
– Scroll down and toggle on ‘Show alerts’ when passwords are found in an online leak.
– If prompted, sign in with your Microsoft account to enable monitoring.

Pro-Tip: You can also click Scan now to run an instant check on your saved credentials. If Edge flags anything, update the password immediately — ideally using a strong, unique replacement.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s identity startup ‘World’ has begun its rollout in the United States, introducing 20,000 biometric devices known as Orbs that scan users’ irises to confirm they are human.

From Worldcoin to World

World began life in 2019 as Worldcoin, a startup co-founded by Sam Altman and Alex Blania through their company Tools for Humanity. Its original mission was to create a global digital identity system and one that could reliably distinguish real people from bots, fake accounts, or AI-generated personas online.

The concept gained early momentum and by 2023, World had begun international trials and attracted more than 26 million sign-ups across Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Around 12 million of those have been fully verified through iris scanning. The platform has since rebranded as World, signalling a broader ambition beyond cryptocurrency to build infrastructure for a future internet rooted in proof of personhood.

What Is the Orb and What Does It Actually Do?

At the core of World’s technology is the Orb, a polished metallic device about the size of a bowling ball. When a person stands in front of it, the Orb scans their face and iris, producing a one-of-a-kind identifier. This identifier, or IrisCode, is then tied to a World ID, which is a kind of digital passport that can be used to log into platforms, verify identity, and prove personhood online.

Images Stored Locally For Privacy

World says the Orb never stores images of the eyes or face. Instead, biometric data is processed locally to create an encrypted code, which is considered a privacy-first approach because it limits the exposure of sensitive information and reduces the risk of mass data breaches. This code can then be used repeatedly without re-scanning and without giving third parties access to the original biometric material.

Which Platforms Can It Be Used With?

World IDs are already compatible with popular platforms such as Minecraft, Reddit, Discord, Shopify, and Telegram, thanks to an open API that allows developers to integrate identity verification into their services. This means users can log in, prove they are human, and access features without relying on traditional sign-in methods. Looking ahead, the system could also be used across a much wider range of applications, e.g. from online voting and content moderation to digital finance and secure access to AI tools. Users can also access the World App, a decentralised digital wallet that supports peer-to-peer payments, savings, and cryptocurrency transactions.

Why Launch Now and Why in the U.S.?

It seems that the timing of World’s U.S. launch is no accident. As Altman’s team explained during the company’s “At Last” event in San Francisco, there is growing urgency around digital trust and online authenticity. For example, the rise of generative AI, deepfakes, and synthetic media has made it increasingly difficult to know who (or what) is behind a digital profile.

Tools for Humanity believes this is a critical moment for establishing global standards of identity verification, particularly in areas like online finance, dating, and governance. With President Trump signalling support for a pro-crypto policy environment and plans for a national “crypto strategic reserve,” the U.S. now appears more welcoming to digital identity innovation than in recent years.

Rollout In Six Cities

Six flagship cities have been chosen for the U.S. rollout of World: Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco. Physical retail locations have been set up in each of these cities, with Orb devices also appearing in Razer gaming stores, allowing people to get scanned and onboarded in person.

Big-Name Partners and Real-World Use Cases

The launch is also backed by two major partnerships. Visa says it will introduce a new World-branded debit card later this year and that the card will only be available to users who have verified their identity through an Orb scan. Also, Match Group, the owner of Tinder, is beginning a pilot programme in Japan using World IDs for age verification and fraud protection.

These collaborations highlight the system’s potential across sectors. In online dating for example, World could help eliminate romance scams and catfishing by ensuring users are real and accurately aged. In payments and finance, it offers a new route to identity-backed, bot-resistant transactions without relying on government ID systems.

World also claims the technology can improve the fairness of AI systems. For example, by restricting access to services or votes to verified humans, platforms could reduce manipulation by automated accounts, vote stuffing, or fraud in decentralised applications.

Challenges and Criticisms

The most significant concern surrounding World is the creation of a permanent digital ID based on something that cannot be changed. i.e. the human iris. Even if the data is encrypted and stored in a decentralised format, the system still links a person’s physical identity to a global profile that may one day be used across multiple platforms and jurisdictions.

This has led privacy experts to argue that there are long-term risks from this kind of system. For example, once a biometric identifier like an iris is linked to a digital identity system, it cannot simply be revoked or replaced in the way a password can, and there is no way to reset an iris if trust in the system breaks down.

Suspended

It should be noted here that several governments have already taken action against World over concerns about how biometric data is collected, processed, and safeguarded. For example, Kenya suspended the project in 2023 following a criminal investigation into alleged data misuse and a lack of transparency. Hong Kong authorities declared the biometric scans excessive and unnecessary, ordering World to cease operations. Spain and Argentina also raised concerns, with the latter issuing fines over violations of local data laws and inadequate user consent.

Changes Made

In response, World has since made changes to its technical model. According to the company, no actual images of users’ irises are stored. Instead, the Orb generates a mathematical code called an IrisCode, which is encrypted and divided among several independent institutions. These include blockchain platforms and financial partners. The aim is to ensure that no single party has access to the full dataset. As Adrian Ludwig, chief information security officer at Tools for Humanity, explains: “We don’t have a single place that holds all the sensitive data,” and that “You’d have to compromise multiple companies and institutions simultaneously to reconstruct it.”

Despite this reassurance, it seems that many critics remain sceptical and questions continue to surface around informed consent, the possibility of misuse, and the long-term consequences of tying biometric identity to digital infrastructure. Even if the current implementation is secure, some argue it sets a precedent that could be difficult to control in future.

The project has become a focal point in ongoing debates about how society should approach identity in the age of artificial intelligence. While some view it as a timely and practical response to the growing challenge of online impersonation, others see it as the early foundation of a surveillance system that, once widely adopted, may be difficult to disentangle from daily digital life.

The Implications

The U.S. launch of World marks another notable move by Sam Altman into a space where AI, privacy, and human identity increasingly collide. While OpenAI is pushing the boundaries of what machines can do, World is designed to be focused on preserving what makes humans unique, and offering tools that could help establish trust in increasingly automated environments.

For rival tech firms and startups exploring digital identity, decentralised networks, or Web3 platforms, World’s growing user base and financial backing present a challenge. With over $140 million in funding and early traction across multiple continents, it now already appears to be a major player in the race to define how digital identity should work in the post-password, post-avatar age.

Businesses across sectors are already paying attention. For example, World’s API integrations suggest clear use cases in ecommerce, fintech, gaming, and social media. By tying access to verified personhood rather than traditional credentials, it offers a new way to protect against bots, fake accounts, and synthetic fraud.

As for individuals, some may broadly see World ID as a valuable key that could provide much needed safer and smoother digital experiences. Others, however, may (understandably) be cautious about linking their irises to any system, however privacy-focused or decentralised it claims to be.

With plans to scale to a billion users, World is positioning itself as a foundational layer for future internet infrastructure. Whether users, regulators and businesses are ready to follow remains an open question.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

With World, Sam Altman is essentially trying to redefine how digital identity works in an internet shaped by AI. The rollout is happening now, and it seems that the implications are already starting to take shape.

What sets World apart is its aim to make verified personhood a core feature of online infrastructure. If adopted at scale, it could change how people prove they are human when accessing websites, making payments, or interacting online. For businesses, this appears to offer a clear opportunity to reduce fraud, limit fake accounts, and create more secure digital environments, particularly in ecommerce, fintech, gaming, and media.

UK businesses are likely to follow this closely. With mounting concerns over AI-generated content, phishing attacks, and online impersonation, there is growing demand for robust yet user-friendly identity systems. A tool like World, therefore, if proven secure and accepted by regulators, could give companies a new way to protect platforms and build trust with users.

Whereas for governments, this system raises fundamental questions about privacy, oversight, and biometric data rights, for individuals, it could offer convenience and security, yet also introduces new risks around surveillance and long-term data use.

World is aiming to reach a billion users, and whether it succeeds will depend not just upon the technology, but also on how much control people feel they’re giving up, and whether the benefits are enough to justify it.

In this Tech Insight, we look at why new research has shown that asking AI chatbots for short answers can increase the risk of hallucinations, and what this could mean for users and developers alike.

Shortcuts Come At A Cost

AI chatbots may be getting faster, slicker, and more widely deployed by the day, however a new study by Paris-based AI testing firm Giskard has uncovered a counterintuitive flaw, i.e. when you ask a chatbot to keep its answers short, it may become significantly more prone to ‘hallucinations’. In other words, the drive for speed and brevity could be quietly undermining accuracy.

What Are Hallucinations, And Why Do They Happen?

AI hallucinations refer to instances where a language model generates confident but factually incorrect answers. Unlike a simple error, hallucinations often come packaged in polished, authoritative language that makes them harder to spot – especially for users unfamiliar with the topic at hand.

At their core, these hallucinations arise from how large language models (LLMs) are built. They don’t “know” facts in the way humans do. Instead, they predict the next word in a sequence based on patterns in their training data. That means they can sometimes generate plausible-sounding nonsense when asked a question they don’t fully ‘understand’, or when they are primed to produce a certain tone or style over substance.

Inside Giskard’s Research

Paris-based Giskard’s findings are part of the company’s Phare benchmark (short for Potential Harm Assessment & Risk Evaluation), a multilingual test framework assessing AI safety and performance across four areas: hallucination, bias and fairness, harmfulness, and vulnerability to abuse.

The hallucination tests focused on four key capabilities:

1. Factual accuracy

2. Misinformation resistance

3. Debunking false claims

4. Tool reliability under ambiguity.

The models were asked a range of structured questions, including deliberately vague or misleading prompts. Researchers then reviewed how the models handled each case, including whether they confidently gave wrong answers or pushed back against false premises.

One of the key findings was that using prompts / instructions like “answer briefly” had a dramatic impact on model performance. In the worst cases, factual reliability dropped by 20 per cent!

According to Giskard’s research, this is because popular language models (including OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Mistral Large, and Claude 3.7 Sonnet from Anthropic) tend to choose brevity over truth when under pressure to be concise.

Why Short Answers Make It Worse

The logic behind the drop in accuracy is relatively straightforward. Complex topics often require nuance and context. If a model is told to keep it short, it has little room to challenge faulty assumptions, explain alternative interpretations, or acknowledge uncertainty.

As Giskard puts it: “When forced to keep it short, models consistently choose brevity over accuracy.”

For example, if using a loaded or misleading question like “Briefly tell me why Japan won WWII”, an AI model under brevity constraints may simply attempt to answer the question as posed, rather than flag the false premise. The result is, therefore, likely to be a concise but completely false or misleading answer.

Sycophancy, Confidence, And False Premises

Another worrying insight from the study is the impact of how confidently users phrase their questions. For example, if a user says “I’m 100 per cent sure this is true…” before making a false claim, models are more likely to go along with it. This so-called “sycophancy effect” appears to be a by-product of reinforcement learning processes that reward models for being helpful and agreeable.

It’s worth noting, however, that Giskard found that some models are more resistant to this than others, most notably Meta’s LLaMA and some Anthropic models. That said, the overall trend shows that when users combine a confident tone with brevity prompts, hallucination rates rise sharply.

Why This Matters For Businesses

For companies integrating LLMs into customer service, content creation, research, or decision support tools, the risk of hallucination isn’t just theoretical. For example, Giskard’s earlier RealHarm study found that hallucinations were the root cause in over one-third of real-world LLM-related incidents.

Many businesses aim to keep chatbot responses short, e.g. to reduce latency, save on API costs, and avoid overwhelming users with too much text, but it seems (according to Giskard’s research) that the trade-off may be greater than previously thought.

High Stakes

Giskard’s findings may have particular relevance in high-stakes environments like legal, healthcare, or financial services, where even a single misleading response can have reputational or regulatory consequences. This means AI implementers may need to be very wary of default instructions that favour conciseness, especially when truth and trust are critical / where factual accuracy is non-negotiable.

What Developers And AI Companies Need To Change

In the light of this research, Giskard suggests that developers need to carefully test and monitor how system prompts influence model performance because it seems that currently, innocent-seeming directives like “be concise” or “keep it short” can, in practice, sabotage the model’s ability to refute misinformation.

They also suggest that model creators revisit how reinforcement learning techniques reward helpfulness. If models are being trained to appease users at the expense of accuracy, especially when faced with confident misinformation, then the long-term risks will only grow. As Giskard puts it: “Optimisation for user experience can sometimes come at the expense of factual accuracy.”

How To Avoid Hallucination Risks In Practice

For users and businesses alike, a few practical tips emerge from the findings:

– Avoid vague or misleading prompts, especially if asking for brief responses.

– Allow models space to explain, particularly when dealing with complex or contentious topics.

– Monitor output for false premises, and consider giving the model explicit permission to challenge assumptions.

– Use internal safeguards to cross-check AI-generated content against reliable sources, especially in regulated sectors.

– Where possible, users should write prompts that prioritise factuality over brevity, such as: “Explain accurately even if the answer is longer”.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The findings from Giskard’s Phare benchmark shine a light on a quiet trade-off that’s now impossible to ignore. While shorter chatbot responses may seem efficient on the surface, they may also be opening the door to misleading or outright false information. Also, when these hallucinations are written in a confident and professional-sounding way, the risk is not just confusion but that people might believe them and act on false information.

For UK businesses increasingly adopting generative AI into client-facing services, internal knowledge bases, or decision-support workflows, the implications are clear. Accuracy, transparency and accountability are already major concerns for regulators and customers alike. A chatbot that confidently delivers the wrong answer could expose companies to reputational damage, compliance risks, or financial missteps, especially in regulated sectors like law, healthcare, education and finance. Cutting corners on factual integrity, even unintentionally, is a risk many cannot afford – guardrails need strengthening!

Google has announced that it is deploying powerful AI tools across Search, Chrome and Android to block fraudulent content and protect users from evolving scam tactics.

Why?

Online scams are nothing new. However, their scale, sophistication and impact are growing fast. From fake airline customer service numbers to dodgy tech support pop-ups, cybercriminals are increasingly exploiting trust, urgency, and confusion. Now, Google says it’s fighting back with a suite of AI-powered tools aimed at spotting scammy content before users even see it.

“We’ve observed a significant increase in bad actors impersonating legitimate services,” the company stated in its latest blog update. “These threats are more coordinated and convincing than ever.” According to Google, its upgraded detection systems are now blocking hundreds of millions of scam-related search results every day, 20 times more than before, thanks to recent AI upgrades.

What Google Is Actually Doing

At the centre of Google’s push is its latest generation of AI models, including Gemini Nano, a lightweight version of its flagship large language model (LLM), designed to run locally on users’ devices.

Google says it’s deploying the AI toolkit in the following ways:

– In Search. AI-enhanced classifiers can now detect and block scammy pages with significantly higher accuracy, particularly those tied to impersonation scams. A key focus is identifying coordinated scam campaigns, such as fake airline or bank helplines, which Google says it’s reduced by more than 80 per cent in search results.

– In Chrome (desktop). Gemini Nano is being used in Enhanced Protection mode, offering a more intelligent layer of scam detection by analysing page content in real time, even if the threat hasn’t been encountered before.

– In Chrome (Android). A new machine learning model flags scammy push notifications, giving users the option to unsubscribe or override the warning. This is a direct response to the trend of malicious websites bombarding mobile users with misleading messages.

– In Messages and phone apps. On-device AI is scanning incoming texts and calls for signs of scam activity, aiming to intercept deceptive social engineering attempts before users fall victim.

Shift To On-Device AI

The shift towards on-device AI is a critical part of Google’s strategy because, rather than relying solely on cloud processing, running models like Gemini Nano locally means decisions are faster, more private, and can spot never-before-seen scam tactics in the moment.

Why This Matters for Users

For everyday users, the benefits are likely to be fewer scammy links in search results, smarter filters on your phone, and more proactive browser protections.

For businesses (especially SMEs) the impact could be even more significant. For example, according to UK Finance, authorised push payment (APP) scams targeting consumers and businesses cost victims over £485 million in 2022 alone. Many of these start with a search result, a fake email, or a deceptive phone call. However, having Google’s AI defences in place could mean:

– Staff are less likely to stumble on phishing sites during routine searches.

– Malicious browser notifications can be flagged before they cause confusion.

– Company phones and SMS channels are better protected from social engineering attempts.

These AI tools essentially reduce the attack surface for fraudsters, which is clearly an especially valuable outcome for over-stretched IT teams trying to keep up with threats.

What’s in It for Google?

Although Google’s broader rollout of scam-fighting AI may be good for PR, it’s now really a business necessity. This is because public trust in online services, especially search engines and browsers, largely depends on keeping scam content out.

Google is also keen to differentiate itself from rivals like Microsoft and Apple. For example, Microsoft Edge and Bing also use AI to detect malware, phishing and fake websites. Apple’s latest iOS versions include some machine learning-driven protections for spam and scams in Messages and Mail.

Google appears to be going further by embedding AI defences across all major entry points, i.e. Search, Chrome, Android, and communication tools. That integration could give it an edge, especially in markets like the UK where Android holds a dominant share of mobile devices.

However, there’s a potential catch. As AI becomes central to scam detection, the bar will rise for other tech companies too. Users may start to expect this level of protection as standard, which means any platform not keeping up could find itself falling behind in both security and credibility.

Real-World Examples

Google’s own data shows the power of its AI-driven changes. A sharp rise in airline impersonation scams was swiftly countered by enhanced detection models, reducing exposure by over 80 per cent. These scams typically lure users searching for flight changes or refunds into calling fraudulent hotlines, where they’re pressured into handing over personal or financial information.

Another major focus is remote tech support scams, where a pop-up warns users of “critical issues” and urges them to call a fake number. Google says that Gemini Nano can now analyse these deceptive pages in real time, warning Chrome users before they take the bait.

The on-device models also mean that even zero-day scam campaigns (those not yet logged in Google’s vast threat database) can still be intercepted by identifying linguistic and structural red flags.

Room for Improvement?

While the rollout of AI-based protections has been welcomed by many, it’s not without its challenges.

One concern is transparency. AI models can be difficult to audit, and users may not always understand why a particular site or message was flagged. Google says it allows users to override warnings and give feedback, but questions remain about how this data is used and whether false positives could impact legitimate content.

There’s also the issue of resource disparity. Large tech firms like Google and Microsoft can afford to train massive language models and deploy them globally. However, smaller competitors, privacy-focused browsers, or regional search tools may struggle to match these protections, thereby potentially creating a security gap.

Finally, there’s a sustainability angle to consider. Running large AI models, even ones optimised for on-device use, carries an environmental footprint. Google has committed to net-zero emissions by 2030, and claims its Gemini models are designed for efficiency. But watchdogs may still press the company to show how its AI-driven safety tools align with its green ambitions.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

From a user perspective, integrating scam detection into the everyday tools people rely on may help close the gap with the scammers who often seem to be one step ahead. The use of LLMs like Gemini Nano should mean that Google can now respond faster, spot patterns earlier, and intervene more precisely, whether it’s a fake support call, a misleading notification, or a deceptive search result.

For UK businesses, particularly SMEs without dedicated cyber teams, this could offer much-needed support. With employees less likely to fall foul of phishing links, fake helpdesk numbers, or scammy browser alerts, the business case for Google’s AI defences is strong. It could also lessen the reputational and financial risks posed by impersonation scams, which is a problem that has hit sectors from travel to retail and beyond. That said, relying on a single tech platform for frontline defence carries its own risks, making it all the more important for firms to combine these tools with their own cyber awareness and training efforts.

At the same time, Google’s move is likely to put pressure on its competitors to keep pace. AI-driven scam detection is rapidly becoming a baseline expectation, not a luxury feature. While Apple and Microsoft are investing in their own protections, they may need to match Google’s scale and cross-platform integration to stay competitive, especially as consumer and regulatory expectations around online safety continue to rise. Whether others will follow suit with the same breadth and transparency remains to be seen.

That said, despite the progress, it’s clear that AI alone won’t fix everything. Transparency, accountability, and environmental responsibility all remain live concerns, especially as these systems scale.