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EC plots regional emergency service network

30 September 2026 at 17:07

Emergency services in Europe could soon gain access to a dedicated, universal communications system under plans lodged by the European Commission (EC).

The proposed European Union (EU) Critical Communication System would tackle concerns about limitations in current set-ups and provide resilience when terrestrial services are not available.

Police, firefighters, medical and civil protection services would be able to communicate throughout the EU. The EC proposes this element cover voice, photos and video, and would be achieved by member states shifting from narrowband systems to broadband technologies including 5G.

EU satellites would provide back-up for the land-based equipment.

There may be call for a specific device to be produced to connect to the system: the EC stated real-time communication would be provided “through a single, secure” product.

The EC explained change is needed to help emergency services tackle natural disasters, the threats drones pose to critical infrastructure and terrorist attacks.

Emergency service staff would have priority access to communications “even when the mobile network is saturated or disrupted” and the EC committed to ensure security against “cyber and hybrid attacks” by employing “encryption and a strong protocol”.

Local
An EU Network Monitoring centre is planned, offering “a secure and resilient” fibre network to connect member states, with another facility to oversee the tracking and assessment of cyber threats.

It is envisaged all elements of the EU Critical Communication System would be provided by local companies.

The EC believes the set-up could also encourage investment in critical communications at national level.

It emphasised member states would retain “full control over national networks” and offered assurances they would play a role in governing the set-up.

If approved by the European Parliament and Council, the EC would seek to begin implementing the EU Critical Communication System in 2030.

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Apple lines up smart-home push with fresh devices

30 September 2026 at 16:43

Apple reportedly plans to deepen its smart-home push under new CEO John Ternus, starting with the launch of a long-delayed hub on 13 October.

Bloomberg reported the smart-home hub, code-named J490, will feature a roughly 6-inch square display mounted on a perforated speaker base, with the countertop version featuring an arm that allows users to tilt the display. A dedicated wall-mounted variant is code-named J491. The grey aluminium device runs on USB-C power without internal batteries or physical buttons.

The hub will use built-in microphones and a front-facing FaceTime camera to identify household members by voice or appearance, then display their calendars, messages, notes and contacts.

A virtual white ring light will illuminate users approaching in low light, while an iPhone can provide secondary authentication if facial recognition fails. A visitor mode will hide personal information from guests.

The tech giant expects customers to place multiple displays around the home for intercom calls, music streaming and control of HomeKit accessories. In the kitchen, the hub could also provide voice-guided recipes.

The iPhone maker is also updating its supporting accessories. The HomePod mini and Apple TV set-top box will retain their existing designs but gain faster processors capable of running Siri’s upgraded AI models.

The HomePod mini will also be offered in new pink and green colours. Apple is separately developing a premium 9-inch display mounted on a 360-degree robotic arm, as well as a refreshed full-sized HomePod, for later release.

The news site previously reported in March 2026 that Apple’s smart-home display was postponed because its revamped Siri digital assistant was not ready.

While Apple currently offers the HomePod, HomePod mini and Apple TV streaming box, it has long trailed market leaders Amazon and Google for branded smart-home hardware.

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DeepSeek, Huawei team on AI chip software

30 September 2026 at 15:23

AI start-up DeepSeek partnered with Huawei to launch an open-source programming software toolkit optimised for the vendor’s Ascend chips, as the Chinese companies up efforts to expand the AI market beyond Nvidia’s technology.

DeepSeek stated on its WeChat account the toolkit is free to download and includes the TileLang platform, which can be compared to Nvidia’s Cuda that is widely considered as a global standard for developing AI models.

The Chinese AI company explained TileLang is “simpler to programme, significantly improving development efficiency and simplifying code logic”.

It added the open-source programming includes compute and communication libraries.

DeepSeek stated it worked with Huawei on its Ascend 950 chips and praised the vendor for providing “unwavering and strong support” during R&D.

“To do a good job, one must first have the right tools,” DeepSeek stated, arguing the first step to building an independent, GPU software ecosystem is to establish an easy-to-programme high-level language which “can simultaneously reach the hardware performance limits”.

Bloomberg reported earlier this month DeepSeek plans to deploy at least 160,000 Huawei AI accelerators at a new data centre in Inner Mongolia.

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SpaceXAI est visée par une assignation sur la sécurité de l’IA

29 September 2026 at 15:02

Le conseil municipal de New York a assigné SpaceXAI, l’entreprise d’Elon Musk, après que celle-ci a omis de répondre à une convocation pour témoigner lors d’une audition à venir sur la sécurité de l’IA.

La présidente du conseil, Julie Menin, avait invité Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Meta Platforms et SpaceXAI à envoyer des représentants à l’audition prévue le 5 octobre. Meta a accepté d’y assister. Anthropic, OpenAI et Google ont confirmé leur participation après que le conseil a averti qu’il pourrait recourir à des assignations. Mais SpaceXAI n’a pas répondu.

Julie Menin a alors autorisé une assignation exigeant la comparution de SpaceXAI. Il s’agit du premier recours à ce pouvoir depuis qu’elle en est devenue présidente.

Dans une lettre adressée à Elon Musk, Julie Menin a indiqué que l’enquête examinerait si les risques posés par l’IA justifient une législation pour protéger les habitants de la ville.

« Des experts de premier plan et des dirigeants d’entreprises d’IA eux-mêmes mettent en garde contre les risques potentiellement graves d’une IA en progression rapide, et les gouvernements ont la responsabilité d’agir », a déclaré Julie Menin. Elle a ajouté que les entreprises devraient comparaître devant le conseil, répondre aux questions et apporter leur contribution sur le projet de législation, sous serment.

L’audition réunira les 51 membres du conseil, des représentants des entreprises d’IA et des experts en sécurité de l’IA et en protection des consommateurs.

Le conseil cite des mises en garde émanant de lanceurs d’alerte et de dirigeants d’entreprises d’IA, ainsi que des informations selon lesquelles des agents d’IA auraient endommagé des bases de données gouvernementales, comme motifs de cette audition.

Les élus étudieront des propositions visant à instaurer des contrôles indépendants des systèmes d’IA avant leur déploiement, des incitations pour les lanceurs d’alerte, et un droit pour les New-Yorkais lésés par la technologie d’engager des poursuites.

Si SpaceXAI ne se conforme pas, le conseil a indiqué qu’il pourrait engager une procédure d’exécution devant la Cour suprême de l’État de New York et poursuivre pour outrage civil.

SpaceXAI a été créée en février 2026, lorsqu’Elon Musk a fusionné SpaceX avec xAI, l’entreprise à l’origine du chatbot Grok et du réseau social X.

L’entreprise a finalisé son introduction en Bourse en juin 2026, en cédant 555,6 millions d’actions à 135 dollars pièce.

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Governments press EU to change high-risk supplier plan

30 September 2026 at 11:25

European operators could reportedly be granted more time to strip out network equipment from so-called high-risk suppliers, following a European Commission (EC) proposal of a three-year phase-out period.

Reuters reported a document showed governments in the bloc asked for amendments to the EC proposal, calling for the phase-out period to be determined by numerous factors rather than a set date.

These include assessing risk levels, how long equipment lasts, compatibility needs and “the availability of suitable alternatives”, Reuters wrote.

Reuters reported member states would need to discuss the planned changes with politicians before enacting the Cybersecurity Act, which covers the equipment overhaul requirement.

De-risking
The EC proposed revisions to the Cybersecurity Act in January to account for increased risks to the bloc’s ICT supply chain posed by third-party suppliers, arguing the move would remove dangers posed to regional mobile networks.

The move is expected to impact Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE.

At the time, Huawei told Mobile World Live the move would violate basic EU legal principles and it would continue to provide “secure and trusted products and services”.

GSMA Intelligence estimated it would cost European operators €30 billion to €40 billion to replace the equipment involved.

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Verizon brings financial expert on board

30 September 2026 at 10:40

Verizon took its board to 10 members with the appointment of private equity guru Charles Phillips (pictured), a move framed as being about his financial leadership at a time when some shareholders are concerned about the operator’s management structure.

Phillips is co-founder and managing partner of technology company-focused private equity outfit Recognise Partners. Among past experiences are top-line roles with enterprise resource planning company Infor, Oracle and Morgan Stanley.

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman lauded Phillips’ “distinctive experience in technology, financial and regulatory environments”, comments hinting at why the operator was keen to have him on board.

The boss hopes Phillips will help Verizon to “innovate faster” by focusing on customer service.

Schulman also said he hopes the latest board member would help the operator “drive sustainable, long-term value for our shareholders”, something foremost in the minds of some shareholders which are keen for policies to be set governing Verizon’s management structure.

Pressure
The US National Legal and Policy Centre (NLPC) used Verizon’s AGM earlier this year to call for a current separation in the roles of CEO and chair to be formalised, with the latter post to be held by an independent director.

It expressed concern over Schulman’s competence, asserting he “presided over catastrophic value destruction” and politicised business decisions while CEO of PayPal.

The NLPC argued Verizon stock performed below par under previous CEO Hans Vestberg, who was concurrently chair “for most of his tenure”.

Verizon is keeping the posts separate for now, with Mark Bertolini chairing.

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Wilson targets D2D connectivity boost in vehicles

30 September 2026 at 09:35

Wilson Connectivity launched weBoost Sky, a signal booster designed to help standard smartphones connect to low Earth orbit satellites from inside moving vehicles.

The company’s CEO Bruce Lancaster told Mobile World Live it ramped up work on the product after T-Mobile US and SpaceX unveiled the T-Satellite service around the 2025 Super Bowl.

“It’s time to productise that,” he recalled telling the weBoost general manager, adding the project drew on Wilson’s earlier research into Starlink and rural connectivity.

The problem weBoost Sky is addressing is that a vehicle’s body can weaken the link between a handset and satellites hundreds of miles overhead.

It supports PCS Band-25, currently used by T-Mobile for its Starlink service. Lancaster said Wilson prioritised the band because T-Mobile and Starlink were furthest into commercial satellite deployment.

Lancaster noted compatible phones can switch between nearby terrestrial Band-25 towers and satellite coverage as needed.

weBoost Sky houses the amplifier and external antenna in a roof-mounted unit roughly the size of a double stack of playing cards. A coaxial cable connects it to a small interior antenna, while power comes through USB-C or a vehicle’s cigarette-lighter socket. The device attaches magnetically, or with an adhesive plate available for aluminium or composite roofs.

“The issue really here is an uplink,” Lancaster said. “It’s not the downlink that’s usually the limiter; it’s the uplink connectivity that’s the problem.”

Its product raises uplink power from about 200 milliwatts to 1 watt, the maximum allowed by the Federal Communications Commission for consumer signal boosters. Mounting the antenna outside the vehicle also limits interference from the roof and low-emissivity glass.

Wilson sees it appealing to forestry crews, field workers and fleets which regularly travel beyond terrestrial coverage explaining he expects the stronger uplink to make satellite messaging more reliable.

Sky went on sale on 28 September for $149.99 through weBoost’s online store, major US retail stores and specialist radio-frequency dealers.

Privately-held Wilson Connectivity, formerly Wilson Electronics, makes its hardware in St George, Utah, and operates an R&D centre in Dallas, Texas and has a location in Cambridge, UK.

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Anthropic targets $2T valuation despite AI concerns

30 September 2026 at 09:25

Anthropic is reportedly seeking a valuation of more than $2 trillion in a public listing while also warning in a leaked prospectus AI could pose a catastrophic or existential risk to humanity.

Reuters reported the AI startup recorded a $42 billion net loss in 2025 after reviewing its IPO prospectus. About $34 billion reflected an accounting charge tied to financing which could convert into shares, while compute and infrastructure spending tripled to $7.3 billion.

The filing shows Anthropic faces $518 billion in cloud, compute and infrastructure commitments in the coming years.

Revenue jumped 12-fold to nearly $4.6 billion, though its operating loss widened to $8 billion from $3 billion in 2024.

The prospectus also flagged customer concentration with two customers generating nearly a quarter of 2025 revenue while several were not locked into long-term contracts.

The filing also outlined safety risks exposed by Anthropic’s research, including autonomous systems disrupting code and manipulating information in controlled tests.

Reuters previously reported the IPO could be delayed until after the November US midterm elections. Rival OpenAI is reportedly targeting a listing next year.

Trump weighs in
Speaking at the White House surrounded by tech titans and government officials, NBC News reported President Donald Trump pushed back on heavier AI guardrails.

Flanked by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Trump stated there was agreement among the executives there should be “tremendous self-regulation” by the companies”.

“There’s a belief that there should be tremendous self-regulation, and we automatically have regulation with the Department of Justice, the FBI, all of that,” Trump said.

The news site reported in addition to Huang and Musk, Trump’s AI lunch and summit also included including Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, AMD CEO Lisa Su and OpenAI president Greg Brockman.

While US states, including New York, and communities have put data centre laws or moratoriums in place, Trump said the group of executives “loves local communities, they love our country, and they’re going to work with local communities for the data centres in particular”.

He also stated AI-related data centres “are going to be very popular” across the US due to the efforts of the technology companies in attendance.

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Apple CEO Ternus refocuses on engineering

30 September 2026 at 09:04

Apple CEO John Ternus (pictured) is reportedly reshaping the company to speed product development and put engineering back at the centre of its strategy.

Bloomberg reported Ternus, who replaced Tim Cook on 1 September, wants to broaden Apple’s device line-up and strip out organisational layers.

Sources told the news agency Apple could move away from its usual product launch cycles and cut some middle-management roles to bring executives closer to engineering teams.

Ternus was previously the company’s SVP of hardware engineering and is reported to believe Apple needs to launch products faster and take more risks to compete in the AI era, while also seeking new revenue as growth in its services business slows.

Bloomberg reported Apple has begun cutting costs.

It reported the hardware engineering division recently cut managers and around six directors responsible for coordinating product schedules and teams.

Restructuring of teams working on Siri, Vision Pro and AI software engineering is also underway and Apple reportedly reduced staff at the Fitness+ group, which develops audio-only versions of its exercise classes.

Bloomberg noted the new CEO is keen to see how AI could cut development cycles and automate some tasks.

It stated Apple has a large product pipeline for 2027 including AirPods with external cameras, its first pair of smart glasses and a redesigned iPhone on its 20th anniversary.

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NTT, STC partner on Komatsu IoT platform

29 September 2026 at 16:36

Construction and heavy machinery manufacturer Komatsu launched a telematics system for its kit in Saudi Arabia using technology from NTT Docomo Business and STC Group.

In a statement on the project, NTT explained the manufacturer is expanding its Komtrax telematics and remote monitoring system to the country using the equipment and expertise of the two telecoms partners.

The system captures operational data from construction machinery with the aim of providing greater visibility of equipment usage and improving operational efficiency.

It offers the means for remote monitoring, data analytics and predictive maintenance, and is already available in a number of Komatsu’s markets.

Komtrax is promoted by the Japanese-headquartered manufacturer as delivering cost savings to clients while helping achieve peak machine performance.

To support the launch in Saudi Arabia, NTT supplied platform design and delivery, helping “Komatsu address country-specific telecommunications requirements while minimising the need for changes to its connectivity model”.

STC provided network services, and a SIM and connectivity management platform offering “reliable and scalable connectivity for Komatsu’s construction equipment” while meeting local regulations.

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Corning inks $3B fibre deal with AT&T

29 September 2026 at 15:46

AT&T agreed a multi-year fibre and cable deal valued at more than $3 billion with glass-specialist Corning to advance its converged strategy of mobile and broadband services.

AT&T CEO John Stankey has long been a proponent of fibre as the basis for the company reaching 60 million consumer and business locations by 2030.

The mobile operator achieved its goal of passing more than 30 million locations in June 2026, six months ahead of schedule.

In its most recent Q2 results, AT&T recorded 646,000 total consumer and business internet net adds, comprised of 367,000 fibre and 279,000 fixed wireless access connections, which marked a record quarter for combined fibre and fixed wireless additions.

The two companies signed a multi-year fibre agreement two years ago worth $1 billion. AT&T was also a core investor with Corning in 2022 on a new cable manufacturing facility in the state of Arizona.

Based on Ookla Speedtest data from almost 1,700 fixed internet providers in the US in the first half of 2026, lead industry analyst Mike Dano estimated AT&T and Verizon made up about 60% of the fibre Speedtest samples to lead the fibre charge.

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