The FCC repealed the rule limiting foreign ownership to 25% and allowed three sovereign funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to own 49.5% of the combined Paramount-Warner Bros. The commission cited the shares' lack of voting rights, but Free Press and Democrats criticized the decision.
Malaysia is expanding its MyDigital ID national digital identity system: since May 1 it is the only way to log into the MyJPJ app, with 12 million registrations out of a population of 35 million. App technical failures drew criticism, especially from rural residents.
Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to reduce AI risks: a panel of experts will prepare recommendations within two months on strengthening AI safety laws. Possible measures include independent audits of frontier models and a mandatory kill switch.
The European Union is investigating Amazon over possible unfair restrictions on companies selling on its platform, including suspicions of imposed pricing conditions on sellers.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is traveling to the US to promote social media reform: the under-16 ban has already closed about 5 million accounts. Plans include a digital duty of care and the right to disable algorithmic recommendations, with fines above A$100 million.
Super PACs tied to AI labs and investors have directed about $1 million to the Senate campaign of Republican Mike Rounds in South Dakota. Defend American Jobs, funded by an Andreessen Horowitz entity, spent about $600,000, with another $215,000 from employees and PACs linked to Anthropic, Google and Microsoft.
The UK government has shelved plans for an AI safety law: new Prime Minister Andy Burnham abolished the dedicated DSIT ministry, and the AI minister was moved to the Cabinet Office. Experts and MPs criticize the weakening of oversight amid warnings about AI risks and rising public concern.
19 EU countries entered the pre-notification phase of IPCEI-AI: Germany as coordinator will invest over $1.15 billion, with grants up to $28.8 million per project open to European companies. Applications in Germany are accepted until October 31, 2026.
The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's dismissal and revived a class-action lawsuit by about 200 insurance companies against Hyundai and Kia. The suit concerns mass vehicle thefts due to missing immobilizers, with claims potentially reaching $1 billion.
Republican Rep. Chip Roy said on CNBC that Congress should play an oversight role on AI without introducing regulation. He proposed summoning AI executives to hearings to explain safety measures, advocating for a free market.
The Trump administration released a 28-page AI plan and an order titled 'Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government,' barring federal procurement of models that sacrifice truth for ideological agendas. The Commerce Department is directed to remove mentions of misinformation, DEI and climate change from Biden-era rules.
Senators Tammy Baldwin and Rick Scott urged the FTC to investigate how Alexa and Sparky chatbots answer questions about products labeled 'Made in USA.' A Columbia University report found the systems do not always show a product's country of origin.
In the New York Times lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, internal documents were made public. Microsoft's director of applied science, Brent Hecht, called news scraping for AI training 'the largest theft of labor in history' and 'a mockery of fair use,' while ChatGPT head Nick Turley warned of an 'existential threat' to publishers.
More than 30 MEPs are asking the European Commission to check whether Meta's actions comply with the EU Digital Services Act. Mass account blocks of Albanian protesters, which began in late August, are almost all tied to copyright complaints; NGO Repro Uncensored confirmed about 100 cases and suspects a coordinated attack.
The EU Kids Act, which restricts children's use of social media, has faced criticism for excessive requirements and unintended consequences. Critics say implementing the law could prove extremely difficult.
At a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill convened by Senator Bernie Sanders, Geoffrey Hinton said Congress has 'maybe a year' to create AI rules. He warned that AI is already designing more advanced AI and called the hacking of Hugging Face by OpenAI agents a 'little Chernobyl.'
India's TRAI has required operators to identify suspicious spam numbers, including using AI and machine learning systems. The threshold for initiating an investigation is lowered to three complaints over 10 days when an AI flag is present, and consumers can appeal complaint decisions within 15 days.
Mobile World Live digest: Amodei, Altman and Musk called to slow advanced AI, while Huang, Zuckerberg and Trump opposed. The European Commission proposed an EU Kids Act banning social media for under-13s. The FCC plans four spectrum auctions and over $100 billion in revenue by end-2028.
The FCC granted SpaceX permission to provide international telecom services for Starlink Mobile. This will allow satellite connectivity for US subscribers roaming abroad and direct connection for residents of other countries, not only through partnerships with local operators.
Vodafone drew attention to the growing number of government-mandated network shutdowns. In the regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom expands IoT roaming with Iridium, Ericsson tests drone sensors, and Nokia and Microsoft work on AI network automation.
16x9.jpg?width=720&quality=80&disable=upscale){kind=logo}
The US Treasury's OFAC sanctioned Iranian crypto exchange BitBank for sending hundreds of millions of dollars to the IRGC and helping Iran operate a Strait of Hormuz toll booth. Iran charged tankers $1 to $2 million per transit this year.
Malaysia has begun accepting applications for next-generation MyKad national ID cards with a QR code and biometric verification. NexG claims support for live face recognition against the JPN database and a possible digital wallet, but JPN clarifies: the QR code is available only to authorized services and is not intended for payments.
According to WSJ, ECB President Christine Lagarde personally asked Greece in June to block Binance's MiCA license to protect the digital euro project. Binance previously pleaded guilty to US financial law violations.
After Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's essay 'We Must Pace the Frontier' called for slowing down advanced AI model development, major companies and governments reacted. Sam Altman and Demis Hassabis supported the idea, Zuckerberg and Huang opposed a general slowdown, and China called the proposal a 'cold war' against it.
TechRadar analysis: connected cars massively collect driver data, and Chinese brands like Jaecoo, Omoda, GWM, and BYD are not unique in this. According to McKinsey, half of cars had internet connectivity in 2021, expected to reach 95% by 2030. Mozilla found in 2023 that all 25 car brands checked, including BMW, Ford, Toyota, and Tesla, failed privacy standards.
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 for a permit system for companies using autonomous robots. Businesses must disclose robot safety data and choose one of three options for displaced workers: transfer with equal pay, 60-day notice with severance, or contribution to a retraining fund.
Vodafone presented a Transparent Governance Framework — a set of proposals to strengthen safeguards against state-initiated internet shutdowns. The company calls for more transparent and limited mechanisms for such measures.
From October 15, 2026, India introduces a 0.4% MDR fee on P2M UPI payments above Rs 2,000 (capped at Rs 300 for amounts from Rs 75,000). P2P transfers and payments up to Rs 2,000 remain free. PhonePe, Paytm, and MobiKwik support the move to make UPI self-sustaining.
Trump's science and technology advisor David Sacks said at Dreamforce 2026 that public AI ethics discussion focuses on 'apocalypse scenarios' while technical solutions seem too boring. He proposed three regulatory approaches: pause, strict regulator control, or internal company responsibility with government incentives.
Indonesia's Interior Ministry began early market engagement for a next-generation biometric system, ABIS, backed by the World Bank under a $250 million project. The system will cover over 290 million citizens and require multimodal deduplication and high-speed matching. Vendor submissions are open until September 30.
