UK regulator Ofcom launched an investigation into TikTok to assess whether the platform is meeting its obligations under the country’s Online Safety Act to protect children from harmful digital content.
The probe will assess whether the ByteDance-owned platform has implemented effective age assurance systems to determine if a user is underage and prevent children from encountering harmful material online.
Ofcom’s Age Assurance report, published today, suggested that some age inference models including those used by TikTok “may have failed to correctly identify a significant proportion of children”, potentially exposing them to harmful content.
If compliance failures are identified, the watchdog could impose fines of up to £18 million or 10% of the company’s global revenue, whichever is greater. In serious cases, it can also order third parties, including payment providers, advertising services or internet service providers, to withdraw services or block access to the platform in the UK.
A TikTok spokesperson told Reuters the platform “strictly enforces age-appropriate experiences through expert-informed platform rules and advanced age inference technologies, in line with major industry peers”, adding, “we are confident that we meet our Online Safety Act obligations and will work with Ofcom to demonstrate this”.
The probe follows initial findings published by Ofcom in May, which revealed TikTok was the service most frequently cited by children as a source of harmful content. More than half of underage users who recalled seeing harmful content identified TikTok as the source, ahead of YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.
At the time, the regulator found personalised, algorithm-driven content feeds were a key route through which children encountered harmful material online. It added TikTok was “particularly concerning” as it was one of the platforms that had “not committed to any significant changes in response to our specific demands”.
Last month, the UK government laid out plans to impose a sweeping ban on social media access for under-16 users, alongside restrictions on gaming and live-streaming platforms.
Huawei unveiled its Pura 90s Series smartphone lineup at a launch event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, placing design and photography upgrades at the centre.
Huawei emphasised the series aims to allow users to move efficiently “from capture to refinement” across long-range, macro and low-light photography. The smartphones are fitted with a 200MP ultra large sensor telephoto camera system, alongside a 50MP main sensor and a 40MP ultra-wide lens.
The telephoto setup supports 4x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom. AI-powered composition and image optimisation tools are also built in to speed up editing.
The top-end Pura 90s Pro Max variant features a 6.9-inch LTPO OLED display with 1-120Hz adaptive refresh. The device runs on the Chinese vendor’s proprietary EMUI 16.0 operating system and is available in 12GB RAM configurations paired with 256GB or 512GB storage options.
The series comes equipped with a 6,000mAh battery in non-EU markets and support for up to 100W wired and 80W wireless super charging. Handsets are available in four colour gradients.
Alongside the smartphone launch, Huawei unveiled its MatePad Air tablet featuring an OLED PaperMatte display and a bundle of AI tools aimed at supporting document and content workflows. The vendor also refreshed its wearables portfolio with the FreeClip 2 S earbuds, introducing two new colour options, a redesigned charging case and improved user comfort.
Huawei added its latest launches underscore its ambition to building a “connected and cohesive user experience” aimed at supporting “diverse user needs”.
The vendor first launched its Pura 90 series earlier this year, alongside its wide-screen Pura X Max foldable smartphone.
OpenAI is reportedly preparing to enter the consumer hardware market with a portable, screen-free smart speaker designed to serve as an AI companion in the home.
Sources told Bloomberg the device will access ChatGPT’s AI capabilities to control smart home appliances, play media, answer questions and respond to messages. It will utilise OpenAI’s GPT-Live voice technology to listen and adaptively respond at the same time to support more natural conversations and incorporate AI models beyond those used in existing smart speakers.
In addition, the hardware will apparently feature a camera and sensors to enable the AI to read its surroundings. Unlike conventional smart speakers, the rechargeable device will be portable and feature moving mechanical elements.
It will also draw on user data such as emails to become increasingly personalised over time. OpenAI envisions the speaker developing a humanlike personality, proactively surfacing information, anticipating users’ needs and acting as a physical embodiment of ChatGPT.
OpenAI’s hardware unit is reportedly developing around five products in total, with the speaker set to be the first to market.
Last year, the company splashed $6.5 billion to acquire io Products, the device startup co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive. Ive’s creative design studio LoveFrom is also working on the hardware line.
A hardware launch would put the ChatGPT-maker in direct competition with Apple, Amazon and Google in consumer devices.
Trade secrets Last week, Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and io Products, alleging “theft of trade secrets” obtained through former employees during hiring to accelerate the development of its AI devices. According to its lawsuit, more than 400 former Apple employees have joined OpenAI’s hardware effort.
Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for OpenAI, told the BBC OpenAI has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets” and is “focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere”.
Apple is seeking an injunction that could delay the AI giant’s device sales. According to Bloomberg, OpenAI is aiming to unveil the speaker later this year, with release targeted for 2027, subject to the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Apple is reportedly developing its own AI-focused home devices including a smart home hub with a 7-inch display and facial recognition tied to the upcoming AI-powered Siri revamp in iOS 27.
Research commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) found UK teenagers participating in a social media restriction trial reported improvements in sleep, concentration and family life.
The study conducted by market research consultancy Savanta tracked 309 households through a one month pilot testing three approaches to social media restrictions on those aged 13- to 17-years old: a 15-minute daily limit per app, a 9pm to 7am overnight curfew and complete removal of selected social media apps.
Participants across all three groups reported better sleep, improved concentration, more time for studying and increased interaction with family members. However, the impact varied depending on the level of restriction.
The overnight curfew delivered the most consistent sleep benefits and was the easiest restriction for families to maintain, with many continuing it after the trial ended.
A complete ban on social media apps produced the strongest reported gains in focus and reduced distraction, but also caused the greatest disruption to teenagers’ social lives. Many participants argued platforms including Snapchat were central to maintaining friendships, organising plans and staying connected with peers.
Meanwhile, the 15-minute daily limit encouraged more deliberate use but remained the least popular approach, with many finding the limit too short to maintain meaningful online interactions.
However, the study found teenagers often dodged restrictions by accessing social media platforms through other devices, downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) and making false age declarations. “There’s no point in banning it because we’re going to find a way to bypass it anyway,” said one 14-year-old on the overnight curfew.
Social norm
The trial was commissioned before outgoing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to ban social media platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and X, for under-16s across the country. Starmer said the move would “give kids their childhood back”, joining a wave of governments across the world imposing social media restrictions for underage users.
Participants broadly backed some form of restriction but preferred rules to scale with age, paired with parental guidance, involvement from young people in designing policies and investment in education, practical support and offline alternatives. The report warned that without substitutes, digital curbs risk pushing teens to other screens, including streaming, television and gaming. “You can’t take something away and not have something to replace it,” one parent said.
Switzerland’s competition authority launched a preliminary antitrust investigation into Google after it scrapped a search engine selection feature for Swiss users setting up Android devices.
In a statement, the country’s Secretariat of the Competition Commission (COMCO) accused Google of discontinuing the Android Choice Screen feature for users in Switzerland while continuing to offer it in the European Economic Area (EEA).
The screen allows users to select their preferred default search engine during the initial setup of a new Android device.
Swiss users are apparently now presented with Google Search as the default option without being shown the Choice Screen. The watchdog argued this could strengthen the search giant’s position by reducing the visibility of rival providers and “reinforcing barriers to entry” at a critical stage of device setup.
The Choice Screen is designed to reduce “the lock-in effects associated with preconfigured settings”, noting default settings “play a decisive role” in digital markets, the regulator stated.
The watchdog flagged broader competition concerns, stating the change “could affect the ability of search engine providers and, more broadly, other digital service providers to compete”.
A further point of concern for COMCO was the continued availability of the feature in the EEA, arguing the disparity “creates an unequal treatment…even though the competitive issues are comparable”.
Wider assessment The preliminary investigation will determine whether Google’s conduct breaches Switzerland’s Cartel Act, under which COMCO can impose administrative fines of up to 10% of a company’s Swiss turnover over the previous three years.
“We look forward to cooperating fully with the authority to address their questions,” a Google spokesperson told Reuters.
While the probe is focused on Android, the watchdog added its findings “could also be relevant to the assessment of practices related to default settings on other mobile devices”.
Early this year, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened a similar antitrust investigation into Google’s mobile ecosystem over concerns the company used its market power to set up barriers against rival services and favour their own products.
The UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal approved a £3 billion class action lawsuit against Apple over its iCloud service, allowing consumer group Which? to proceed with a claim on behalf of nearly 40 million users across the country.
The lawsuit alleges Apple abused its dominant position and breached UK competition law by “trapping” users into using iCloud. Which? argued Apple steered iOS users towards its own cloud storage service and limited visibility of alternative providers, leading to “rip-off” prices and lower levels of free storage.
The case is expected to go to trial in 2028 after the UK court granted Which? a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO), clearing the path for what could become one of the UK’s largest consumer tech claims.
At the centre of the dispute is Apple’s cloud storage model, where users receive 5GB of free storage before being directed towards paid tiers. Pricing then rises across multiple levels, from 99p per month for 50GB to £54.99 for 12TB in the UK. The consumer group argued this structure reflects a lack of competition, with users “locked-in” once their devices become reliant on iCloud for photos, messages and device data backups.
Strong message The claim, first filed in November 2024, will cover consumers living in the UK who used iCloud services between 8 November 2018 and 8 June 2026. Potential compensation is estimated at around £77 per user if it succeeds.
Which? also called on the tech giant to resolve the dispute without litigation, urging the company to offer consumers refunds and open up iOS “to allow users a real choice for cloud services”.
However, Reuters reported Apple previously rejected the allegations, arguing users are not required to use iCloud and that third-party alternatives remain available.
Which? CEO Anabel Hoult said the group “wants to make clear that no company, no matter how powerful, can get away with abusing its position”. “The granting of the CPO means we’re one step closer to getting consumers the redress we believe they are owed from Apple,” she noted, adding, “this should send a strong message to any other companies using anti-competitive tactics”.
SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son reportedly rejected the case put forward by Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build AI data centres in space, arguing the economics favour terrestrial infrastructure.
Bloomberg cited comments made by Son at SoftBank’s annual shareholder meeting, who stated the “the main advantage” of eliminating electricity costs by putting AI data centres in space is outweighed by “higher fees to transport everything into space, maintenance and communication delays”.
Son was apparently responding to a shareholder who asked whether SoftBank would pursue a strategy similar to that proposed by the SpaceX chief, who filed for US regulatory approval in February to deploy up to 1 million solar-powered satellites designed to operate as AI data centres. Musk argues persistent access to solar power will “achieve transformative cost and energy efficiency”, adding “in the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale”.
While describing the tech mogul as a “remarkable agent of change”, Son reportedly said SoftBank would instead focus on building “formidable” data centre capacity on Earth. “In the battle for AI, the next few years will be far more important than what might happen a decade or so from now,” he noted, adding “he who strikes first wins”.
Despite intensifying competition, Son argued AI has scope for “ten-fold, a hundred-fold” growth, adding there was ample room for OpenAI and rivals including Anthropic and Google to expand amid accelerating AI demand.
The remarks put Son’s strategy at odds with Musk’s long-term vision for AI. SpaceX launched a record-breaking $75 billion IPO earlier this month, with proceeds funnelled towards funding its space-based AI initiative alongside the expansion of its Starlink satellite network.
Meanwhile, SoftBank has committed around $65 billion to OpenAI despite reports the investments were straining its balance sheets, and pledged to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in terrestrial AI infrastructure and data centres globally.
Nvidia unveiled what it described as the industry’s first full-stack safety platform for physical AI designed to accelerate the deployment of humanoid robots in industrial environments.
The company said its expanded Halos platform combines AI compute, system software, sensors and inspection tools into a single safety architecture aimed at helping robotics companies build and certify autonomous systems operating alongside human workers.
The chipmaker explained as robots become more autonomous and increasingly rely on AI foundation models, distributed sensors and accelerated computing, “scaling these systems requires a full-stack safety architecture” before they can be trusted to work alongside humans in factories, warehouses and logistics operations.
The stack includes Nvidia’s IGX Thor industrial computing platform, Holoscan Sensor Bridge for sensor connectivity and Halos OS software stack.
Nvidia also opened its Halos AI Systems Inspection Lab to robotics partners, aiming to help them complete pre-certification testing and validate safety systems before approaching regulators.
Digit Humanoid robotics company Agility Robotics is the first partner to adopt elements of the platform into the proprietary safety system for its Digit humanoid robot, which is already being deployed for industrial applications with customers including Amazon, Schaeffler and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada.
The robotics player will also use Nvidia’s Inspection Lab to validate Digit’s safety-related software, AI components and cybersecurity protections against strict standards.
Agility Robotics CEO Peggy Johnson said: “For humanoids to deliver value at scale, safety has to be built into the robot and validated across the entire system.”
She added the partnership with Nvidia “extends our leadership in responsible automation”, describing it as “a non-negotiable requirement for bringing humanoids safely into industrial workflows”.
Deepu Talla, VP of robotics and edge AI at Nvidia said: “Physical AI is transforming how factories, warehouses and logistics operations work. He added developers will be able to “harness Nvidia’s proven autonomous vehicle safety foundation to develop safer robots faster” and deploy systems “alongside workers with greater confidence”.
Mobile World Live(MWL) brings you our top three picks of the week as Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm stepped down, Anthropic faced a US clampdown on its latest AI models and the UK outlined plans to ban under-16 users from social media.
Ericsson CEO Ekholm set for exit
What happened: Ericsson lined-up a changing of the guard, announcing Borje Ekholm will step down as CEO on 30 September after more than nine years at the helm and lining up current networks boss Per Narvinger to take over.
Why it matters: Ericsson chair Jan Carlson said the incoming CEO brings “deep technical knowledge of our industry as well as extensive commercial experience”, while crediting Ekholm with “extraordinary leadership and strategic advancements”. The chief joined as CEO in 2017 and inherited a business under pressure, steering it through payments scandals, which resulted in a 2019 US fine of more than $1 billion and a $206.7 million. Ekholm will remain at the company as an executive adviser until 15 June 2027.
Narvinger now takes over as 5G spending slows, 6G looms and AI reshapes network demand., He told the Financial Times (FT) the industry is at a “pivotal time”, adding users will “hopefully value your connectivity more” as AI dependence rises. David Hammarwall, currently head of Customer Unit T-Mobile in Market Area Americas, will be Narvinger’s successor as head of the Networks division.
US orders Anthropic to suspend Fable 5, Mythos 5 models
What happened: US President Donald Trump’s administration ordered Anthropic to immediately suspend access to its two most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, over national security concerns.
Why it matters: The order applied to “any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States”, prompting Anthropic to disable the models for all customers globally while it worked out how to comply. Anthropic said it believes officials were responding to a “potential narrow, non-universal jailbreak” affecting cybersecurity safeguards, but argued the issue involved a small number of known minor vulnerabilities which could be replicated on other publicly available models. The company pushed back on the recall, noting Fable 5 had been tested with the US government, the UK AI Safety Institute and private groups before launch. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Amazon CEO Andy Jassy was among tech executives who raised security concerns about the models with officials. Anthropic called the dispute a “misunderstanding” and is seeking to restore access, adding “if this standard was applied across the industry, we believe it would essentially halt all new model deployments for all frontier model providers”. Gina Neff, professor of responsible AI at Queen Mary University London, told the BBC the speed of AI development means and government and enterprises “need to be able to build up capabilities to keep our companies safe from cyberattacks”. She explained the restriction could limit safe AI testing and international cooperation, adding “we’re in uncharted territory at this point”. The latest development marks a sharp escalation in US scrutiny of Anthropic, which is already suing the Trump administration after the Department of War (DoW) blacklisted it as a “supply chain risk” earlier this year.
What happened: The UK government laid out plans to ban under-16 users from social media and impose wider child-safety restrictions on gaming, live-streaming and AI platforms, with the landmark online safety measures slated for early 2027.
Why it matters: The proposed ban would apply to platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and X, with messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal excluded from the scope. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move will “give kids their childhood back”, arguing “tech giants had their chance and failed”. However, Assembly Research analyst Megan Jenkins said the government appeared to choose “what feels like a punitive measure for children” over making platforms “safer by design”. The UK’s plan follows Australia, which became the first country in the world to ban social media for under-16s last year. However, the government added it will “learn the lessons from Australia’s experience” by introducing tougher age verification tools. Technology secretary Liz Kendall told the BBC the government plans to disclose further details in July on VPNs, a potential method for bypassing restrictions, as well as curfews, chatbots and other restrictions. Alex Brown, head of TMT at law firm Simmons and Simmons said the move signals “a clear hardening of approach to online safety”, but warned companies must now “grapple with the difficult task of age verification”.
Orange and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) launched a joint laboratory to explore semantic communications, a technology designed to cut data traffic and energy use in future AI-driven networks.
The AI-Native Communications lab will run for five years and develop semantic communications technologies and applications, which prioritise whether the receiver understands the meaning or content of a transmitted message, even when the received data is not exactly identical to what was sent. This marks a shift away from conventional data transmission, where networks aim to reproduce bits perfectly and treat any alteration as an error.
The partners said the approach could reduce the volume of data exchanged across networks, lowering energy consumption and infrastructure requirements. The technology could also support communication between AI agents, which are expected to play a greater role in future network architectures.
The laboratory will also combine research from Orange and CEA to study network evolution, create shared semantic representations between AI models and contribute to future standards work.
Announced at the annual VivaTech event in Paris by Orange CEO Christel Heydemann and CEA general administrator Anne-Isabelle Etienvre, the pair said the initiative forms part of a broader push to strengthen French and European sovereignty over future intelligent network technologies.
Lyse Brillouet, EVP of research at Orange, said the joint laboratory reflects the operator’s commitment to building “the networks of the future: smarter, more sustainable, and natively designed for artificial intelligence”. She added the move was “a key step in reconciling the performance of our infrastructure with the need to reduce our future carbon footprint”.
Meanwhile, Etienvre stated semantic communications marked “a major breakthrough in how future networks will process information”, adding the collaboration aimed to strengthen Europe’s ability to “design and influence technological standards”.
European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen (pictured) called for closer US-European Union (EU) cooperation on AI at the G7 Summit currently being held in France, arguing both sides have a shared interest in accelerating adoption and ensuring powerful models are introduced safely.
In a post on X following a roundtable with partner countries and AI business executives, von der Leyen stated AI is “developing exponentially” and described it as “the most important technology of our time”. She said the technology “comes with immense potential, but also risks for free, democratic societies”, adding Europe and the US should work together because they “represent 70% of the world market”.
According to Reuters, von der Leyen framed AI safety as a shared interest, stating: “We use each other’s trusted technology, and our financial systems are interconnected. “It is in our mutual interest that our citizens and companies can safely use the best AI models,” she added.
New models The remarks follow a US government order issued earlier this week directing Anthropic to suspend access to its most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, for foreign nationals over national security concerns.
Although the Trump administration’s letter targeted foreign nationals, Anthropic said compliance would have required verifying the nationality of every user. It therefore shut both models down entirely for all customers.
In an AI sovereignty push earlier this week, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu argued: “We cannot rely on the goodwill of certain partners who, as we have seen in recent days, are capable of cutting off access to the Anthropic model.”
On the issue, von der Leyen said at the summit “the key question of today is how to introduce new models safely,” calling for G7 countries to exchange information and cooperate through independent entities evaluating models before market release.
She also highlighted adoption as a competitive priority, stating Europe and the US are “at par in terms of AI adoption” but that the bloc wants “our own AI future, not in isolation – that is very important – but together with our trusted partners”.
Orange stepped up ambitions to drive commercial growth for French start-ups, using the annual VivaTech event in Paris to outline a three-pronged strategy focused on procurement, distribution and enterprise integration.
Orange stated it will buy directly from French start-ups where their technology fits its operational and business needs, use its commercial network to connect companies with public and private-sector buyers and integrate select technology into Orange Business’ enterprise catalogue.
The operator said it aims to boost digital sovereignty by tackling long-standing barriers faced by young French companies, including lengthy contracting processes, limited access to large corporate customers, a lack of commercial references and the complexity of scaling technology at pace.
Separately, Orange Ventures, the group’s investment arm, added it would boost funding for start-ups working in AI, cloud, cybersecurity, health and defence as part of a wider digital trust push.
Orange pointed to several companies it has already worked with under the plan, citing successful partnerships with cybersecurity specialist Anozr Way, circular economy player Circular Place, agentic AI developer H Company and process optimisation firm Kerys.
The initiative forms part of the operator’s partnership with French Tech Mission 2030, a government-backed programme that aims to support the country’s start-ups seeking to move beyond pilots and into commercial deployment.
Orange CEO Christel Heydemann (pictured) said France needs start-ups “capable of reaching industrial scale, sustaining their solutions and rapidly winning their markets,” adding Orange aims to use its “purchasing volume”, “commercial strength” and “integration expertise” to help them grow.
Julie Huguet, director of the French Tech Mission, added “access to customers, trusted relays and smoother sales cycles” were “essential” for start-up growth. She said the partnership with Orange could “generate tangible commercial opportunities for our scale-ups and help bring out the future European technology leaders”.
Global 5G subscriptions crossed the 3 billion mark in Q1 2026, according to Ericsson’s latest mobility report, as the vendor found changing usage patterns, spikes in data traffic and AI-driven services are fuelling mobile uplink data growth.
Ericsson found 162 million 5G subscriptions were added during the opening quarter of the year. The figure is forecast to more than double to 6.4 billion by the end of 2031.
Overall, Ericsson expects 5G to account for 85% of all mobile data traffic in five years, up from 48% at the end of last year. Indeed, the vendor highlighted changing network traffic patterns as uplink grows generally faster than downlink. Out of 55 service providers, 43 recorded higher uplink growth than downlink, while 17 reported more than 1.5 times higher uplink growth rate.
Ericsson attributed the trend to smartphone communication, collaboration apps, user-generated content and cloud storage. It forecast AI traffic could further push uplink volumes in 2031 to at least three times 2025 levels.
Ericsson CTO Erik Ekudden explained mobile networks are “no longer only about providing best-effort connectivity”, but about “critical, intelligent infrastructure that meets diverse application needs”.
“With the upcoming transition to physical AI, traffic patterns will fundamentally shift,” he added, forecasting a transition from centralised AI models in data centres to distributed, autonomous agents connected by 5G.
Commercial 5G According to the report, around 390 service providers have launched commercial 5G services, with more than 90 offering standalone (SA) 5G. The vendor also found a rise in SA 5G network slicing offers, which rose globally from 65 in its November 2025 report to 84 today.
Fixed wireless access (FWA) remained another bright spot. Ericsson stated 71% of FWA providers now offer the service over 5G, compared to 57% of providers in June 2025. The report pointed to robust 5G FWA momentum in North America, the Nordics, GCC countries and parts of Asia, though it noted growth in Latin America, Africa and parts of Southeast Asia remains limited.
Looking ahead, the vendor added industry attention is turning to 6G, with initial commercial services expected around 2030 and China, US, Japan, South Korea and GCC countries tipped as early adopters.
Cisco highlighted rising pressure on enterprise networks from AI deployments, warning campus and branch infrastructure is emerging as a potential bottleneck for companies scaling the technology.
In a study conducted with UK-based technology media company Foundry, Cisco found organisations are caught between accelerating AI ambitions and network constraints which could slow progress. It stated more than half of enterprises now have widespread generative AI (genAI) deployments. However, 73% of respondents said AI expansion will cause them to hit campus and branch capacity limits within 24 months.
Indeed, pressure is already building as respondents reported a 34% average increase in campus and branch network traffic tied to AI workloads over the past year, with a further 96% spike expected within the coming year.
Respondents reported AI was already reshaping traffic patterns, with 67% citing increases in internal data traffic tied to AI workloads, while 61% saw growth in continuous automated traffic generated by AI systems. “Suddenly, three AI agents are trying to talk to each other and solve a problem. That is going to be a big thing,” noted the head of AI strategy for global IT and network engineering operations at a US technology company, who was left anonymous.
Cisco highlighted majority of the AI readiness debate has focused on GPUs, cloud platforms and data centre buildouts, while pressure on workplace networks has been underplayed.
Security Beyond capacity, security is also emerging as a brake on AI scale. Respondents pointed to expanded attack surfaces, shadow AI activity, weak AI-driven traffic visibility and inconsistent policy enforcement as key challenges.
The report found 91% of UK businesses are adding security controls specifically to support new AI workloads. More than half of UK respondents added their current campus and branch security posture may be insufficient for next-generation AI workloads.
“The issue from a security standpoint is that it’s hard to create the guardrails for every possible AI tool that your organisation must use,” a US-based retail executive explained.
According to Cisco, AI is ultimately creating “fundamentally different operational environments”, making network modernisation “a prerequisite for operating and competing effectively in an AI-powered economy”.
The report surveyed more than 3,472 CIOs and technology leaders across 15 countries.
The UK government laid out plans to ban people under 16 years of age from social media and impose wider restrictions on gaming and live-streaming platforms in a landmark intervention to protect children online.
The measures would cover social media platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and X, but exclude messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move would “give kids their childhood back”, adding it represents “a line in the sand” as “tech giants had their chance and failed”.
The government is also considering overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for under-18s. It explained restrictions on some functions would remain on by default even for 16 and 17-year-old users, to avoid a “cliff-edge at 16”.
In addition, the government is seeking restrictions on a wider range of online services viewed as higher risk for children, including live-streaming and communication with adult strangers through gaming websites. AI services designed to simulate intimate relationships with users would face a minimum age limit of 18, with similar functions also set to become age-restricted across wider AI chatbots.
The proposal will be brought to Parliament by the end of the year, with measures due to come into force in spring 2027.
The announcement follows a consultation earlier this year that drew more than 116,000 responses. Nine in 10 parents backed a social media ban for under-16s, while two-thirds of young people agreed children younger than 16 should be barred from using at least some platforms.
Technology secretary Liz Kendall said the government was “taking power away from the tech giants and putting it back in parents’ hands”.
Punitive measure The government explained it plans to use “the same model for a social media ban as Australia”, which became the first country in the world to outright ban platforms for under-16s last year. However, it added it will also “learn the lessons from Australia’s experience” by introducing strict age verification measures that will prove tougher to bypass. UK watchdog Ofcom will be tasked with researching effective age assurance measures, with Kendall adding the government would ensure the regulator has the funding needed to take on additional responsibility.
Megan Jenkins, research analyst at Assembly Research, said the speed of the UK’s decision makes it “highly questionable”, adding the government appeared to have chosen “what feels like a punitive measure for children” rather than making social media platforms “safer by design”.
Meanwhile, safety technology company Privately SA’s CEO Deepak Tewari warned that while stronger online protections are necessary, age checks must avoid creating “a surveillance infrastructure for children”.
“If age assurance is to become part of online safety policy, the industry must put its money where its mouth is: prove that age checks can be effective, proportionate and genuinely privacy-preserving,” he argued.
Mistral AI is reportedly in early talks to raise around €3 billion, in a move which could value the French start-up at roughly €20 billion.
Sources told Bloomberg the terms of the proposed raise may still change, and the valuation could also move higher depending on investor demand.
The rumoured round would strengthen Mistral AI’s position as Europe’s main AI challenger by providing the company with more capital as AI players face rising costs for computing power, infrastructure and talent across the globe.
It would also mark a sharp jump from the €11.7 billion valuation Mistral AI secured in September 2025 when Dutch chipmaker ASML became the largest shareholder in the start-up with an 11% stake after leading a €1.7 billion Series C funding round.
The start-up has positioned itself as a sovereign alternative to US and Chinese AI players, targeting European governments and companies with plans to build out cloud computing facilities in France and Sweden.
Mistral AI recently also moved to target industrial customers including Airbus and BMW for services covering engineering and manufacturing.
The French player acquired Austrian start-up Emmi AI last month as part of efforts to expand its services to industrial customers in Europe.
However, the company still trails larger rivals as its models and chatbot have still not matched the adoption of offerings from US players OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as Chinese competitors.
Last month, Anthropic raised $65 billion in a funding round valuing it at $965 billion, eclipsing OpenAI’s $852 billion valuation following its latest funding round in March.
Mobile World Live brings you our top three picks of the week as Apple reset its AI ambitions at WWDC, OpenAI edged closer to a stock market debut and French operators agreed a €20.4 billion deal to carve-up SFR.
Apple lands Siri AI at WWDC as Cook takes a bow
What happened: During its annual WWDC event, Apple reset its AI strategy, unveiled a revamped AI-powered Siri and spotlighted new child-safety controls as Tim Cook delivered his final keynote as CEO.
Why it matters: Apple SVP of software Craig Federighi said, “truly helpful AI must be centred around you and your needs”, positioning privacy, personal context and deeper app integration as core pillars of the AI-enhanced Siri. The launch gives Apple a chance to overwrite a damaging run of Siri AI delays described internally as “ugly and embarrassing”. Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, said “Apple had to address its shortcomings in AI, and WWDC provided some answers”, but added the company must deliver “a meaningfully better everyday experience, not just parity with rivals”. He noted many features will already be familiar to Android and third-party AI app users, adding iPhone users are “more likely to upgrade for better battery life, an improved camera or a bigger screen rather than to get AI”. However, challenges have already emerged. The AI-upgraded Siri and Apple Intelligence features have already been delayed indefinitely in the European Union (EU) over competition laws and blocked in China over local AI regulations.
On child safety, Wood called Apple’s push “a welcome and timely move” as concerns about online harm grow among regulators but said “stronger cross-industry safeguards need to be built into operating systems at a deeper platform level”. Cook’s farewell added weight to the event as he declared the iPhone will “continue to be the centre of people’s digital lives”, adding, “the best is still ahead”.
What happened: OpenAI confidentially filed paperwork for a US IPO, becoming the latest AI company to move towards a listing as the sector’s biggest players race to raise fresh funds.
Why it matters: The ChatGPT-maker stated it had submitted a draft registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), adding, “we expect it to leak so we’re just announcing it”. It did not disclose the size, price or timing of the listing and cautioned a debut may not be imminent “because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company”. OpenAI explained the decision involves “a complicated set of trade-offs”, but the filing gives it “the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best”. Reuters reported the company is targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion, with a debut possible as early as September. The filing puts OpenAI into a crowded and expensive AI listings race; rival Anthropic confidentially filed for its own US IPO last week, while SpaceX launched a blockbuster listing. Aviva Investors’ head of multi-asset Sunil Krishnan told the BBC all firms all have a “vast need for cash” as “no one wants to be last” in a space where access to capital could prove crucial as companies fund AI chips, infrastructure and model training. Harrison Rolfes, senior research analyst at PitchBook, argued OpenAI’s $1 trillion listing is “a bet on a company that has never been profitable, in a market it is currently losing, with a cost structure it cannot change for at least another year”. He added this is “all while racing a direct competitor through the same SEC process in the same quarter.” Rolfes concluded: “There is no scenario where OpenAI pricing after a profitable Anthropic favours OpenAI.”
What happened: Bouygues Telecom, Free-Iliad Group and Orange signed a memorandum of understanding with Altice France to acquire and carve up SFR in a deal valuing the operator at €20.4 billion, setting the stage for a major reset of France’s telecoms market.
Why it matters: Under terms outlined in April, Bouygues will take 42% of SFR’s assets, Free-Iliad 31% and Orange 27%. SFR’s consumer mobile and fixed broadband operations will be divided between the three operators, while Bouygues will take control of the B2B unit. Completion is targeted for H2 2027, subject to regulatory clearance. Kester Mann, director, consumer and connectivity at CCS Insight, noted the move marks the biggest potential shake-up in French telecoms since Iliad entered the mobile market in 2012, cutting the number of major operators from four to three and reshaping competition. He said the agreement appears “a successful outcome for all parties” as Bouygues, Orange and Iliad all gain “important new assets in their pursuit of greater scale”, while removing a key rival will “reduce the competitive intensity of the market”. However, the biggest challenge will be to regulators show the deal will deliver “positive outcomes to the French market”. He noted that while that would once have been “a herculean task”, recent approvals in the UK and Spain suggest Europe’s stance on consolidation is softening.
GSMA warned 810 million women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) still do not use mobile internet, flagging slow progress in closing the digital gender gap.
In its latest Mobile Gender Gap Report 2026, the industry association found that in comparison, 595 million men in the same markets are not connected to mobile internet. Indeed, women in LMICs were 12% less likely than men to use mobile internet, leaving 200 million fewer women online.
Smartphone ownership remains a major barrier, as women in LMICs are 13% less likely than men to own a smartphone, equivalent to around 210 million fewer female owners.
The report found awareness of mobile internet is high and almost equal among men and women, but adoption continues to be held back by handset affordability, literacy and digital skills gaps. Even after women are connected, usage remains restricted due to safety and security concerns, data affordability and poor connectivity.
GSMA explained women are disproportionately affected due to social norms and structural inequalities, including lower education and income.
The report found the divide most acute in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where mobile internet adoption stands at 26% and 25% respectively. The regions together also account for more than two-thirds of the 810 million unconnected women.
Women in rural areas continue to face a sharper divide, with the report stating the gender gap is typically two to three times wider outside urban areas. The disparity is particularly pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
Looking ahead, the industry association estimated closing the mobile internet adoption gap in LMICs between 2023 and 2030 could add $1.3 trillion to GDP. Meanwhile, narrowing the wider mobile ownership and usage gap could generate $230 billion in additional revenue for the mobile industry.
It called for coordinated action on handset and data affordability, digital skills, safety, services designed for women and wider structural inequalities.
Claire Sibthorpe, head of digital inclusion at GSMA, said “much more is needed to address the persistent and significant gender gaps in mobile internet adoption and use”. She warned AI and other emerging technologies are “creating greater digital divides and inequities”, making digital inclusion increasingly urgent.
Ericsson unveiled a software subscription designed to bring telco-grade AI models directly into basebands and radios to enable operators to boost 5G performance, automation and energy efficiency without adding new hardware.
According to the vendor, the software uses AI models designed to operate in real time within the RAN, supported by continuous learning and agentic AI capabilities for more advanced network operations. The company stated its telco-grade models are built for ultra-low latency inference, with a focus on reliability across diverse RAN environments.
The service works with Ericsson 5G Advanced across purpose-built and Cloud RAN platforms. Ericsson stated the software uses its silicon in radios and the latest generation of RAN compute to employ “the right AI model in the right part of the radio network”, while its AI capabilities can also be deployed across partner platforms.
The first features are now available, with more to follow later in the year. Initial functions include AI-powered scheduler for link adaptation, beamforming and multi-layer coordination.
Ericsson claimed the technology has been deployed in more than 15 trials worldwide, delivering up to 20% higher downlink throughput and up to 10% better spectral efficiency, alongside support for up to twice as many high-traffic users. It also said AI in RAN could achieve up to 95% coverage prediction accuracy.
Marten Lerner, head of networks strategy and product management at Ericsson, said the company is “redefining what’s possible in mobile networks by bringing powerful AI capabilities to service providers”, adding “we are taking a major step toward AI-native networks”.
Further comments from Ericsson partners SoftBank, Bell, SK Telecom and Rogers focused on the software’s potential benefits around real-time optimisation, network performance, energy savings, automation and support for emerging AI-driven services.
Joe Madden, principal analyst at Mobile Experts, added: “With a software upgrade, operators can squeeze more capacity, better observability, and more accurate location-based services out of the 5G network they bought years ago.”
Telefonica revealed it reused or recycled more than 4 million devices in 2025, as the operator steps up efforts to hit its zero-waste target by 2030.
The Spanish operator said 95% of its waste was reused or recycled during the year, including 3 million routers and set-top boxes. Devices were collected from customers, operations and offices, with 75% reused and the remaining 25% recycled.
Telefonica also reused more than 780,000 units of network equipment in 2025, adding this enabled it to meet the GSMA-backed industry commitment to reuse and recycle 100% of collected equipment.
In addition, the company claimed progress in mobile devices, collecting nearly 95 tonnes of handsets and reusing more than 357,000 units. It noted this represented 15% of all devices distributed, with all recovered handsets either reused or recycled.
Supplier engagement also forms part of the programme, with the operator working to include circularity in the procurement and equipment design stage through recycling, durability and repairability requirements. Telefonica explained its zero-waste strategy prioritises reuse, with recycling used when equipment cannot be put back into service. This approach helps avoid the manufacture of new equipment and cuts associated resource use and CO2 emissions.
Maya Ormazabal, global director of sustainability at Telefonica, said: “The circular economy is a priority pillar in our sustainability strategy and a key driver for advancing toward a more efficient, innovative, and competitive company.”
She added the approach enables the operator to “contribute to a more responsible use of resources and the reduction of environmental impacts associated with technological activity”, while supporting “more sustainable access to digital capabilities for society”.
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