A UAE-led international operation targeting AI-enabled fraud and cross-border networks identified more than $39 billion in funds and cryptocurrencies linked to scam activity.

Operation Confrontation Ghost, which ran from 1 July to 30 September, brought together law enforcement agencies from 30 countries including the UAE, UK, China and France. It also convened INTERPOL, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) and 13 technology and financial sector companies including Huawei, Meta Platforms, TikTok and Mastercard.

Authorities exchanged more than 9,000 pieces of intelligence during the three month operation, which focused on AI-enabled fraud, digital financial crime and technology-facilitated sextortion which often targeted children and teenagers.

The initiative identified more than 15,500 victims and 3,500 suspects, resulting in more than 960 arrests and raids on 29 fraud centres. Investigators also shut down more than 570 social media accounts linked to fraudulent activity and identified 4,126 bank accounts associated with scams. Efforts to recover the identified assets remain ongoing.

Dana Marzouqi, DG of the International Affairs Bureau at the UAE Ministry of Interior, noted the Operation Confrontation Ghost “transformed international shared intelligence into coordinated operational impact”, adding it boosted “collective resilience for all participating nations”.

Concerns over the safety of increasingly autonomous AI systems have been mounting worldwide. AI chiefs including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google Deepmind co-founder Demis Hassabis and Elon Musk have called to slowdown the pace of frontier AI development and establish regulatory guardrails, warning AI driven-cyberattacks could pose an existential risk to humanity.

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Iceland’s telecoms regulator commenced a process which could boost local and private 5G network deployments by a host of industries and align the nation with broader global rollouts.

Fjarskiptastofa opened a consultation into allocating spectrum in the 3800MHz to 4200MHz frequency band, one which is widely regarded as ideal for local area networks where capacity matters.

The regulator listed factories, ports and utilities among businesses which could benefit from access to all or some of the spectrum, which it noted is also suitable for delivering fixed wireless access services.

It proposes providing two tiers of licences, one for low-power deployments and another for medium.

Fjarskiptastofa explained low-power settings would be confined within a 50-metre radius, with multiple transmitters allowed.

Medium-range deployments would be “limited to a specific transmission location”.

The regulator proposes licences spanning 20MHz, 40MHz, 60MHz, 80MHz and 100MHz of bandwidth, with the latter the maximum for each permit.

Licences would be valid for a decade and holders would be required to launch services within a year of receiving clearance.

Fjarskiptastofa’s consultation runs until 10 November, after which it intends to publish all comments not covered by confidentiality requests.

The band covered is already popular for private 5G services: in 2025, the European Union called for member states to harmonise access, arguing there are broad benefits for industrial and non-industrial players.

But there are concerns the harmonised approach in the region may not be the panacea it first seems: in 2022, the GSMA expressed concern some member states could favour specific systems and so constrain the market.

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A body charged with pushing 6G-related developments in the European Union selected a quintet of projects to share €22 million in its latest funding award, including undertakings on connected devices and improving data for AI-native networks.

The European Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) explained the initiatives selected were intended to help address key needs for the next phase of 6G development.

Its aim with the newly-backed projects is to help researchers and businesses in the region advance promising technologies to large-scale tests and real-world adoption.

The partly EU-funded organisation noted now was a “crucial point for Europe’s 6G ambitions” given intensified global competition in next-generation communications.

Those chosen this time around are 6G-AID, Hemes-6G, EUnicon-6G, EU-India-6G-Bridge and SNS Impact.

6G-AID is focused on building a European data foundation for AI-native 6G networks; Hemes-6G will bring together eight testbeds across the EU on a shared platform for larger-scale work; EUnicon-6G seeks to identify opportunities for connected devices outside of smartphones; as the name suggests EU-India-6G-Bridge deepens collaboration with India; and SNS Impact is set to support cross-project collaboration.

Executive director of the SNS JU, Erzsebet Fitori, said for industry the projects would mean: “better access to the data, testbeds, technologies and partnerships needed to turn 6G research into products and services” while for citizens it helped “the foundations for more secure, reliable and capable connectivity in the years ahead”.

“These proposals are about making sure that Europe helps shape the technologies and standards that will define the future.”

The five selected come from the organisation’s sixth call for proposals which closed earlier this year.

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The US Commerce Department awarded $389 million in R&D funding to four companies working on semiconductor development, under the government’s CHIPS and Science Act.

In a statement, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick explained the funding “will accelerate American semiconductor innovation to enhance our domestic energy and power resources”.

As a condition of the close to $400 million outlay, the US government will receive minority, non-controlling and non-equity stakes in the four companies.

Washington-based Helion, which develops high-voltage power semiconductors and advanced energy power modules, will receive the biggest investment at $175 million.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems is in line for an $85 million investment, which it will use to develop semiconductor technologies for robotic maintenance.

Meanwhile, Vertical Semiconductors will get $73 million for its work across AI data centre racks and Sibelco North America will receive $56 million.

Bill Frauenhofer, executive director of Semiconductor Investment and Innovation at the Commerce Department added: “Accelerating domestic R&D across these technologies will strengthen America’s ability to convert and deliver power for the grid, advanced data centres, defence systems, and emerging fusion energy.”

Reuters reported the Commerce Department has awarded a total of 19 R&D grants to semiconductor companies, as part of the $10 billion fund under the CHIPS and Science Act approved by the government in 2022.

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LG Uplus and Ericsson boosted fronthaul coverage, addressing what the operator stated is a key element in the broader AI-RAN landscape and indicating a complete overhaul of equipment may not be necessary.

The companies conducted verification tests of Ericsson fronthaul equipment and network automation systems LG Uplus stated increased the reach of base station equipment by up to three-times over current methods without compromising quality.

LG Uplus clarified the effort focused on the connection between the Radio Unit and the Data Unit.

The operator emphasised there is more at play than expanding the distance connections can be maintained over: it argued the demonstration with Ericsson shows current equipment can be configured for AI-RAN uses, a benefit with obvious implications regarding infrastructure costs.

Lee Sang-heon, head of network advanced development with LG Uplus, said the operator intends to build on the fronthaul work by exploring other fresh technologies needed for “the next-generation network era”.

LG Uplus stated the effort would explore automation technologies and focus validation work on real-world network set-ups.

The operator stated the work would feed into a push towards autonomous networks employing AI.

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Middle Eastern operators Zain Group and Ooredoo Group officially launched a joint venture tower platform after closing the first phase of the transaction by combining portfolios in their home markets.

The operators stated they have brought together the assets of Zain Kuwait and Ooredoo Qatar, comprising 4,000 towers in total.

They each own a 50% stake in the platform.

Announced in 2023, the tower company was pitched as the largest of its kind in the MENA region, with a combined value of $2.2 billion.

At the time, the companies and UAE-based TASC Towers stated the entity would comprise nearly 30,000 towers in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia, Iraq and Algeria.

In the latest statement, the companies highlighted how the transaction is expected to create significant value through greater scale, capital efficiencies and a dedicated operating model focused on passive telecoms infrastructure.

Additional towers are expected “to be integrated progressively into the platform”, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

They further pointed to opportunities for operators to access infrastructure in a more capital-efficient manner while supporting the region’s digital infrastructure.

Zain CEO Bader Al-Kharafi said the first closing of the tower platform “reflects our shared strategy of creating focused, scalable and sustainable platforms”.

Ooredoo counterpart Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo added it is “now executing across every digital infrastructure segment identified in our strategy as we continue building a leading regional portfolio”.

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Bell Canada flagged cybersecurity credentials as increasingly important in consumers’ choice of businesses after research found almost 40% would shun a company if its protections were doubtful.

A survey of 1,523 adults conducted by the telecoms player’s Cyber division found nearly 60% would stop using a business if personal data was exposed and just shy of 80% reported being the target of an attack in the past 12 months.

Bell Cyber conducted its survey across seven days, beginning on 29 July. The research revealed growing public concern over the role AI is playing in cyberattacks, with 76% believing the technology is contributing to an increase in the sophistication of swindles.

Canadians believe companies are struggling to keep pace with the cyber scams AI is contributing to.

Confidence in companies’ ability to fend off attacks is low: 31% believe businesses can protect personal information from incidents involving AI.

Bell’s research highlighted worries over workplace cybersecurity training, with many staff saying they have taken the initiative by seeking information themselves.

Localisation is one confidence-boosting method the company suggests businesses adopt, with the research indicating trust is greater when information is stored on domestic servers and security overseen by Canadian companies.

The former may be a welcome statistic given Bell is investing heavily in domestic data centre capacity.

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Nokia CEO Justin Hotard (pictured) pointed to a boom in sales for its AI and cloud products during Q3, as he asserted the vendor is in a strong position to take advantage of growing demand for related infrastructure.

AI and cloud sales were up 123% year-on-year, with €1.5 billion of new orders placed in the quarter.

Hotard reported there is also an order backlog, positioning it for further growth in the area.

“Nokia’s strengths are uniquely suited to meet growing demands for AI infrastructure that is larger, more distributed and hyperconnected,” he added. “We are investing where we can differentiate and co-innovate with hyperscalers”.

Hotard highlighted progress on AI-RAN, which was the subject of an update yesterday (21 October) made at an event held by the Finnish vendor’s partner and investor Nvidia.

“AI-native networks are moving into the physical world and our AI-RAN platform is being developed to deliver the performance needed for this market,” Hotard said.

Gains
Nokia booked net profit of €156 million in Q3, up 95%.

Net sales were almost €5.2 billion, a 10% increase. The latter figure would have been a 9% rise with exchange rate fluctuations stripped out.

In its Mobile Infrastructure division, revenue was up 5% to €2.9 billion, partly attributed to shifting income from Q4 into Q3. The company noted this part of the business benefitted from “commercial discipline” and continued execution of cost reduction measures.

Hotard highlighted Nokia had continued to “simplify our portfolio” and was on track to complete the integration of optical networks company Infinera by the end of 2026, having acquired it in 2025.

The process is set to be completed a year ahead of its original plan, with the executive noting this created €200 million in net synergies.

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Meta Platforms plans to expand its Muse personal agent and charge businesses for transactions it handles, CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) stated on the company’s Q3 earnings call.

He said more than 10 million people in the US and Canada have set up Muse in a month and a half, and about 25% use it on any given day

Zuckerberg stated Muse had a “clear product-market fit” and that Meta will focus on attracting more users, increasing revenue and optimising compute costs.

“We expect to grow Muse to serve billions of people,” he said, calling the goal as “both our mission and our strategy”.

The Muse line began in April with Muse Spark, the first model from Meta’s Superintelligence Labs. This month Meta followed with Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full.

Shopping is Muse’s most common use, with more than a quarter of users shopping through the agent.

Zuckerberg said Muse “should be free” for most people, with Meta taking a fee on transactions it facilitates for businesses. Subscriptions would cover access to the most advanced models or extra tokens, and business owners could also subscribe directly.

“We have been discussing our vision for personal superintelligence for more than a year now,” he said. “We want every person [to] have an extremely capable personal agent that understands your goals and can help you achieve them,” he said.

Meta Q3 metrics
Meta’s quarterly revenue rose 26% year over year to $64.6 billion.

Costs climbed 68% to $51.6 billion, including a $9.89 billion charge from an August agreement with 52 attorneys general over teen mental health claims.

Operating income fell 37% to $13 billion and the operating margin halved to 20%. Net income rose to $9.9 billion from $2.7 billion a year earlier, when a one-time $15.9 billion tax charge reduced profit.

Capital spending totalled $34.9 billion, with Meta forecasting $135 billion to $145 billion for 2026.

Its apps reach 3.64 billion people a day, up 3% from a year ago but just below the 3.65 billion analysts expected, according to StreetAccount. Zuckerberg said Threads has overtaken X in monthly users.

Reality Labs, which makes the Quest headsets and the Ray-Ban and Oakley AI glasses, lost $4.1 billion on $443 million of revenue, compared to a $4.4 billion loss a year ago.

Meta CFO Susan Li said the company expects Reality Labs to lose $18 billion to $19 billion in 2026, down slightly from $19.2 billion in 2025.

Also yesterday, Reuters reported a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay the state $25 billion after a jury found it misled consumers in a case tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The tech giant said it will appeal.

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Intel heralded a construction milestone at a long-planned semiconductor manufacturing facility in the US state of Ohio after installing the first major structural truss years after it was announced.

“This represents another significant step toward expanded US leading-edge semiconductor capacity,” Intel Foundry head Naga Chandrasekaran wrote in a post on the company’s website.

Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced the factory in 2022 with a target production target date of 2025. CNBC reported Intel now expects to finish construction in 2030 while also building a second facility in Ohio with a completion date of 2031.

In 2021, Gelsinger revealed a plan to build two new factories in the state of Arizona boost the company’s foundry business.

Chandrasekaran also announced operations at its next fab in Arizona are expected to start by the end of 2028, but CNBC noted the company is yet to land a major external customer for the 18A chips being built in the state and noted it is using the chips to make its own processors for devices

In September, SK Hynix told Reuters it conducted talks with Intel about a deal to make memory chips in the US for the first time, an arrangement which could include leasing part of Intel’s Ohio facility.  

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