Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis cautioned that recent AI-driven cyberattacks were “early warning shots”, as more serious incidents could emerge over time unless companies and governments stepped up efforts to secure AI systems.

Speaking at the International AI Summit in Dublin, Hassabis said the industry needs to adopt safety practices used in sectors such as biology and nuclear technology, calling for secure, isolated sandboxes to test AI agents before they are connected to the internet, alongside stronger cybersecurity measures.

“We’ve got to kind of asymmetrically power up our defensive side to keep ahead of the attackers,” he said, arguing banks and governments could deploy AI to identify and fix software vulnerabilities before systems are widely released.

He also renewed calls for an international standards body to oversee AI safety, but clarified any framework must be flexible enough to keep pace with technological developments without stifling innovation.

Microsoft president and CEO Brad Smith also advocated for stronger safeguards, describing 2026 as a “sobering year” for AI safety. “No company or technology should be above the law,” he said, adding that regulation needed to be “sensible” and “balanced” while accounting for innovation.

Smith added that companies should be prepared to slow development when necessary, citing Microsoft’s decision to move 34,000 engineers from product development to cybersecurity two and a half years ago. “It was painful, but it was the right thing to do.”

“This allergy that some in the industry have to regulation is frankly something we need to get over,” he quipped.

European AI research
Separately, Google DeepMind and Google Cloud announced plans to provide up to 200 European scientific researchers with access to their frontier AI models, alongside $3 million in compute credits.

The initiative will support the European Union’s AI for Science agenda through the Resource for AI Science in Europe (RAISE), which aims to address computing resource gaps faced by researchers.

The companies will provide researchers with access to AI tools including AlphaFold 3, WeatherNext, AlphaGenome, AlphaEvolve and AlphaEarth Foundations. Google said the programme would equip researchers to tackle complex scientific challenges, including predicting extreme weather patterns and mapping molecular structures.

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NTT Docomo and US-based network equipment manufacturer Abside Networks signed an agreement to explore next-generation, AI-driven networks using high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), as operators look to extend networks beyond terrestrial infrastructure.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU), the pair will collaborate on HAPS system architecture, network control and data utilisation. They will also examine how AI can forecast demand and manage radio beams, capacity, spectrum and interference in stratospheric RAN.

In addition, the partners plan to study the collection and use of data on network quality, operations and stratospheric sensing, as well as potential integration with external applications and service platforms.

The agreement supports NTT Docomo’s broader vision for a “three-dimensional communications infrastructure that integrates AI with non-terrestrial network (NTN) initiatives, including HAPS”. Operating at altitudes of around 20km, HAPS use unmanned platforms to provide wide-area connectivity, including to underserved locations where conventional mobile coverage is difficult or uneconomical, such as mountainous regions and maritime areas.

The Japanese operator explained it aims to integrate terrestrial networks with systems in the stratosphere and space to enable wider-area, higher-capacity services that address mounting connectivity demand as AI usage balloons.

NTT Docomo has been conducting research and demonstrations aimed at delivering HAPS-based communications services, but noted the stratospheric environment requires specialised RAN technologies and equipment.

As a result, Abside is developing radio systems based on large antenna arrays for precise beam control, alongside an AI-driven software platform designed to provide “integrated control of networks across the ground, stratosphere and space”.

The equipment manufacturer also brings experience in stratospheric communications through its work on Google’s Project Loon balloon initiative, alongside development of HAPS equipment, NTN technologies and AI-based network control systems.

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