DIGITAL LIFE

Italy expands investigation into use of AI in WhatsApp tools

The Italian antitrust authority, Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), has announced it may impose provisional measures on Meta by expanding an investigation into whether the American tech giant abused its dominant position by blocking artificial intelligence chatbots on its WhatsApp messaging service.

According to a Reuters report, the case highlights the growing regulatory scrutiny of big tech companies' advances in generative AI, as platforms with large user bases, such as WhatsApp, become essential gateways for new services.

The Italian competition authority is expanding an investigation opened in July to include the updated terms of WhatsApp's business platform — WhatsApp Business Solution — which helps companies manage customer communications, and the AI ​​chatbot tools recently added to the messaging app, Reuters reports.

The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, the news agency says. The agency also announced on Wednesday that it has initiated a procedure to impose possible provisional measures, which may include suspending the new terms and limiting further integration of Meta AI into WhatsApp while the investigation continues.

In a statement, a WhatsApp spokesperson said the company firmly rejects such allegations, calling them unfounded. The spokesperson added that the WhatsApp Business API interface “was never designed to be used by AI chatbots, and doing so would place a severe burden on our systems.”

According to a Reuters report, the Italian regulator had previously alleged that Meta abused its dominant position by integrating its Meta AI assistant into WhatsApp without users' consent, which could harm its competitors. On Wednesday, the agency stated that, on October 15, Mark Zuckerberg's company changed the terms of the WhatsApp Business Solution to prohibit companies offering AI services from using the platform if those services are their primary functionality.

The new terms of service apply immediately to new users and, from January 15, 2026, to companies already using WhatsApp.

In the view of the antitrust authority, such measures could exclude competitors from WhatsApp's vast user base—which in Italy totals 37 million—and distort competition in the AI ​​chatbot services market. This is considering users' reluctance to change their habits, making it more difficult for them to migrate to rival services.

Reuters notes that companies that violate EU competition rules by abusing a dominant position can be fined up to 10% of their global revenue.

Focus on AI tools inside WhatsApp...A key part of the investigation centres on the integration of new Meta AI interaction tools or features within WhatsApp.

AGCM is looking at whether these tools could restrict output or limit how rivals develop competing technology.

The regulator is analysing how Meta’s AI assistant has been built into WhatsApp and how this integration could influence developers or businesses that rely on messaging platforms for customer services.

It wants to understand whether the new functions create barriers for those offering AI services or reduce the scope for alternative solutions to reach users.

The authority is also examining the technical design behind the integration to assess whether it could influence how future AI tools evolve on large messaging platforms.

Concerns around WhatsApp Business Solution terms...AGCM is also reviewing the new WhatsApp Business Solution terms rolled out on 15 October.

The terms form part of the core product used by companies that operate customer support, marketing, or automated messaging through WhatsApp.

The watchdog is assessing whether these updated conditions could affect market access by influencing how businesses adopt or interact with AI-powered tools.

The regulator said these changes may limit technical development or create competitive imbalances that favour Meta’s own services over other chatbot providers.

It is also considering how these terms could shape long-term business adoption, since many companies depend on WhatsApp for customer communications and may have limited alternatives.

Background to the July investigation...The Italian regulator first opened the investigation in July.

At the time, AGCM said Meta may have breached European Union competition rules by integrating its Meta AI assistant into WhatsApp without obtaining user consent.

With the scope now broadened, the case extends across a larger part of the platform’s AI ecosystem.

The regulator has not announced a timeline for next steps, but noted that interim measures remain possible while it evaluates the combined effect of the new terms and the wider AI integration.

mundophone

 

TECH

Natural disasters and terrorist attacks: learn why the internet's backbone is at risk

Do you know where the internet comes from? If you answered satellites in space, you're wrong. Today, more than 95% of all internet data comes from about 500 submarine fiber optic cables, installed like 19th-century telegraph cables under the oceans. The problem is that this infrastructure faces increasing threats.

In an article published in Bloomberg, James Stavridis, a retired US Navy admiral, former Supreme Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and vice president of global affairs at the Carlyle Group, pointed out that the cables can be vulnerable to natural disasters, both at the bottom of the ocean, where earthquakes can disrupt them, and on the surface, where they connect to terrestrial infrastructure.

Other dangers, according to him, "are terrorists, anarchists, internet-hating Luddites, and other random agitators." “Although these actors may not be able to reach the submarine cables, they can attempt to disrupt connections at the waterline or use cyber tools to impair cable operations,” he wrote.

And that’s not all. Stavridis emphasized that what truly worries geopolitical planners is the ability of national actors—Russia, China, the United States, and many European powers—to use submarines or surface ships to attack the cables.

“This can be done as simply as dragging an anchor or a specially designed underwater tool over the cables, or through submarine attacks,” he indicated. “Such an operation could cause enormous disruption across the global internet, weaken transport networks, disrupt communications between nations, and harm national and regional defense.”

In the United States, a bipartisan bill to address this issue is under consideration in the Senate. This bill, according to Stavridis, requires a report to Congress within six months, specifically on Chinese and Russian sabotage efforts. It also provides for sanctions against foreign parties responsible for the attacks and mandates that the U.S. provide more resources for the protection and repair of cables.

“That’s a good starting point, but it’s far from sufficient given the scale of potential economic and military disruptions,” the retired admiral noted.

Regarding what the United States should do to lead a global effort to keep the internet safe from natural disasters, terrorism, and state attacks, he indicated, first and foremost, using the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to catalyze international action.

Another recommendation is the creation of an international military coalition. “The obvious fundamental alliance would be the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The transatlantic partnership has over a thousand large warships and routinely conducts training exercises and major operations,” Stavridis pointed out, adding that this coalition could also include navies from Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, and other nations willing to participate.

Their third recommendation is to invest in technology, to be incorporated throughout the submarine cable ecosystem. The work could be funded by an international consortium of nations, the United Nations (UN), and through taxes paid by commercial entities.

Some measures to be considered include the use of advanced materials for better physical protection of fiber optic cables; the addition of many more backup cables, kept offline in secret locations and which can be activated when needed; improving the flow of large amounts of data to make cables unnecessary, perhaps through satellite-based systems; and reinforcing vulnerable points on land with larger security forces and more robust physical barriers.

“Finally, the initiative should include significant sanctions or retaliation against any nation, company, or terrorist group that attacks the cables. Both Russia and China have been accused, with credible grounds, of doing so—they should be warned that this will not be tolerated and that they will suffer economic sanctions. Any offensive actions by national actors should be widely publicized: with photos, videos, and documented information,” argued the author of the article.

He concluded: “Protecting the flow of data on submarine cables is crucial for the armed forces, businesses, and virtually all of us. The Senate bill is necessary, but it is far from sufficient. A broader international approach is essential.”

mundophone

 

DIGITAL LIFE

AI and the future of work: who should take responsibility for mitigating the negative impact of technology?

Despite promises of increased productivity, AI also brings serious challenges to the world of work, including the disappearance of professions and the urgent need to retrain workers. But who should take responsibility for mitigating these impacts?

The impact of AI on the future of work was one of the highlighted themes during the third edition of the Responsible AI Forum, organized by the Center for Responsible AI, in a panel that brought together Ramayya Krishnan (Carnegie Mellon University), Pedro Santa Clara (Nova SBE and TUMO), Magda Cocco (VdA), and Joana Rafael (Sensei Tech).

Despite all the benefits "promised" by AI, it is difficult to remain indifferent to the negative impacts of the technology on the world of work. But whose responsibility is it to mitigate them? Pedro Santa Clara believes that this will have to be a shared responsibility between individuals, companies, but also governments, which have an urgent role in this "puzzle".

Responsibility is fundamental, but there is a criterion that the professor considers equally important: universality. “There is a large ‘gap’ between workers who use AI and those who do not. If we leave too many people behind, we will be creating a disjointed society,” he emphasizes.

The challenge lies in developing and implementing the technology in a way that ensures greater equity. To do this, it is necessary to guarantee “universal access to AI tools,” he argues.

Preparing workers for the new challenges of the AI ​​age is urgent, but, as Pedro Santa Clara admits, the world of training is still searching for a solution to a worrying issue: “we have to retrain a third of the workforce in the next five years (...) there is no educational institution that is prepared for a challenge of this size.”

In the leader's view, one of the biggest problems is that “we know that these people need to be retrained, but we don't know for which area: we don't know what professions they will have.” In this sense, programs like AI Dive, developed by Escola 42, of which he is also the director, aim to make a difference through short-term training that presents challenges related to the implementation of AI in multiple business areas, allowing participants to gain a new perspective on the technology and learn in a more practical and collaborative way.

Ramayya Krishnan details that it is a challenge to list the specific skills that will be needed for each area, since intervention in these fields will vary according to their needs. However, there are two fundamental long-term capabilities for workers to be able to "navigate" the new era of AI: knowing how to "learn to learn" and having critical thinking skills.

From the Government's side, Bernardo Correia, Secretary of State for Digitalization, had already argued during the opening session that "technology is the key to building a more prosperous future," responsibly, so that everyone, as a society, can enjoy the benefits generated.

According to the Secretary of State, "we are at an important moment," in which we have to make "ambitious choices" to guarantee the country's future, including in fields such as AI, knowing how to balance innovation and risk.

As highlighted by Bernardo Correia, AI is established as one of the pillars of the Government's strategy. The national AI strategy is being finalized, which is complemented by other strategies integrated into the goals of the State Reform, in areas such as data centers, but also in digital skills.

The Secretary of State believes that Portugal has "the talent, the vision and the maturity" to lead in AI in Europe and, for this vision to materialize, he makes an appeal for collaboration to the innovation community, reinforcing the need to open the door to dialogue between stakeholders to outline policies that promote a responsible and sustainable ecosystem.

mundophone

 

DIGITAL LIFE

Geopolitics in the cloud: the race between the Brazilian government and companies for data sovereignty

With escalating geopolitical tensions, the monopoly of big tech companies, and growing technological competition between major powers, the Brazilian government and companies have been seeking alternatives to repatriate their data, aiming to reduce the risks of foreign surveillance, strengthen digital sovereignty, and expand the protection of strategic information.

In Brazil, concern about data sovereignty has gained prominence in the last two years, mainly with the election of Donald Trump for his second term as President of the United States. The wars between Russia and Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas also reinforce the climate of insecurity.

The movement is global. The geopatriation of data, the act of transferring company data and applications from global public clouds to local options, has been identified by Gartner as one of the 10 strategic technology trends for 2026.

“There are concerns about information sovereignty and the laws of each country. Companies that fear that countries like the US and China may have some geopolitical problem generally seek local providers where they would be more protected,” explains Henrique Cecci, senior research director at Gartner.

Estimates from the research firm indicate that 75% of customers in Europe and the Middle East are expected to seek local cloud solutions in the next five years, compared to 5% currently. Although Gartner does not present specific projections for Brazil, Cecci states that demand here should also grow rapidly, albeit at different rates in each region.

Accelerated growth...The Brazilian company Eveo has benefited from the trend of data geopatriation and the search for cheaper services in the technology area. With the increased demand for local private clouds, the cloud company is expected to double in size this year.

According to Lucas Vanzin, co-founder and co-CEO of Eveo, the public cloud offers agility and elasticity to guarantee extra storage capacity on demand for companies, such as during Black Friday, which will take place next Friday (28). The private cloud, being local and dedicated to a single organization, guarantees greater control, customization, and security at a lower cost.

According to Eveo's Cost Reality Report 2025, Brazilian companies can reduce total cost of ownership by up to 60% by repatriating systems from the public cloud, usually offered by tech giants, to private or hybrid environments.

Cost cutting...The study analyzed invoices from 30 medium and large Brazilian companies over 12 months, simulating three scenarios: public, private, and hybrid cloud. The projections considered a five-year period, the exchange rate between the real and the dollar, and average inflation on the price of energy.

“Since the market is growing a lot, there's room for everyone. We even suggest the public cloud for clients with a larger workload. As specialists, we know the limitations of each option,” says Vanzin.

According to Igor Santos, an executive in the data storage and protection business unit at IBM Brazil, companies should not only evaluate the adoption of multiple cloud providers, but also have resilience in case of failures.

“The current geopolitical scenario reinforces that security should not be treated as an isolated component, but as an architectural strategy. Furthermore, modern security is based on the principle that incidents can happen, and the priority becomes the ability to recover quickly,” he analyzes.

Government Cloud...Data repatriation is not limited to the private sector. To strengthen the security of public data, the federal government launched the so-called "Government Cloud" in June, operated by the state-owned companies National Intelligence in Digital Government and Information Technology (Serpro) and Social Security Technology and Information Company (Dataprev).

The model foresees more than R$ 1 billion in investments and has partnerships with technology giants such as AWS, Huawei, Google, and Oracle.

According to the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services (MGI), the "sovereign cloud" will primarily handle information requiring enhanced protection, such as tax, banking, business, and industrial data.

"Currently, we have 11 agencies migrating their data to this government cloud, and we aim to repatriate 20% of the data by the end of the current administration," says Rogério Mascarenhas, Secretary of Digital Government at MGI.

According to Mascarenhas, the initiative is also being developed in other countries, notably the European Union.

"In a complicated geopolitical moment, the country is moving forward with a model that ensures data is located in Brazil and hosted by public IT companies. This way, if a problem occurs, such as a cable break, for example, Brazilians will not be harmed, and public services will continue."

Reporter: Patricia Basilio, Brazil

 

DIGITAL LIFE

Researchers create a version of DeepSeek without Chinese censorship

Researchers at the Spanish company Multiverse Computing have announced the development of DeepSeek R1 Slim, a modified version 55% smaller than the powerful Chinese model. The main novelty is the removal of content restrictions imposed by the Chinese developers, allowing the system to answer questions on sensitive topics.

The project uses mathematical approaches inspired by quantum computing to compress the model and edit its biases with precision. The idea is to offer an alternative in the future for reducing computational costs and energy consumption, frequent bottlenecks in the development of new generative AIs.

According to MIT Technology Review, Multiverse applied an approach based on "tensor networks," a complex mathematical concept frequently used in quantum physics. This technique can manipulate large datasets more efficiently and allowed scientists to create a detailed "map" of all existing correlations within the original model.

With this mapping, it was possible to identify and remove the layers of censorship that align the model with the values ​​required by Chinese regulations. In practice, this made it possible to remove blocks that prevented the AI ​​from discussing certain topics, such as references involving President Xi Jinping.

After compressing and editing the parameters, the researchers made fine adjustments to ensure that the quality of the response remained close to that of the original model.

To validate its effectiveness, the team subjected DeepSeek R1 Slim to a test with about 25 questions on restricted subjects. The responses were evaluated by OpenAI's GPT-5, which confirmed that the new model provided factual answers comparable to those of Western systems.

The Multiverse initiative is yet another in the pursuit of efficiency in the artificial intelligence industry. DeepSeek itself has been working on "visual tokens" to improve the memory of AIs and make their models more effective.

Currently, the operation of cutting-edge models requires high-performance GPUs and high energy consumption. In an interview with the magazine, Multiverse co-founder and scientific director Roman Orús stated that current models are inefficient and that compressed versions can save resources while maintaining similar performance. The company plans to compress other open-source models in the future.

Furthermore, content freedom also drives the market. The removal of restrictions on Chinese models has attracted the attention of other companies in the sector. Perplexity, for example, has the R1 1776, another variant post-trained from the DeepSeek R1.

mundophone

DIGITAL LIFE

The global blackout that forced the world to rethink its digital dependence

A tiny glitch triggered a digital blackout that hit social networks, AI services, and essential websites around the world. The cause, far from hacker attacks, revealed something more unsettling: how a single poorly calibrated component can compromise a large part of the global online infrastructure and put millions of users at risk.

The digital collapse on November 18th caught the world by surprise. In a few hours, giant platforms went down simultaneously, raising rumors of cyberattacks and fueling concerns about data security. But the investigation showed that the origin of the problem was where it was least expected: within the very infrastructure that should protect and optimize global traffic. The episode reignites an urgent debate about the excessive dependence on a few providers.

The outage began suddenly, affecting social networks, AI services, streaming services, and corporate tools. Everywhere, websites displayed error 500, indicating an internal server failure. The cause, initially shrouded in suspicion of an attack, quickly pointed to Cloudflare — one of the main companies responsible for accelerating and protecting global online traffic.

Identifying the problem took hours, while users faced increasing instability. In the end, the company confirmed that the outage was not related to external intrusions, but rather to an unexpected technical defect capable of affecting millions.

The origin of the failure was in the module used to distinguish human traffic from automated traffic. This system, which receives frequent updates, suffered a change in the internal permissions of a database. This caused the file loaded into memory to double in size — exceeding the limit that the global proxy could process.

When trying to handle the larger file, the proxy failed, generating a chain of errors. As the file was regenerated every five minutes, depending on the server, it could appear intact or completely corrupted. Therefore, some services returned for brief moments before crashing again.

The chaos only ceased when the distribution of the defective file was interrupted and replaced with a stable version. After that, recovery was gradual.

The incident showed, once again, how the global internet depends on a few providers to function. When one of them fails, the effects spread rapidly through critical services, businesses, and ordinary users. Even without intrusions, internal errors can generate impacts as serious as a coordinated attack.

Furthermore, the episode highlights the complexity of modern systems: an imperceptible adjustment, misaligned with essential components, can trigger a chain reaction of global proportions.

What to expect going forward...Cloudflare stated that it has implemented preventive measures to prevent a recurrence of the problem. But the most important lesson is not technical — it is structural. The current internet operates as a highly interconnected and vulnerable ecosystem, where small failures can cause major blackouts. And, as long as this architecture does not change, global stability will continue to depend on mechanisms that are more fragile than we imagine.

mundophone

 

TECH

German study reveals that Gen Z cares little for collective issues, pragmatism reigns supreme

Images of Gen Z individuals staging climate protests are widespread, but the reality is quite different. A major study in Germany finds Generation Z to be unexpectedly pragmatic. Instead of idealistic worldviews, factors such as comfort, cost and convenience are paramount. The authors conclude that morals have little place in this generation.

The media's portrayal of self-sacrificing climate activists doesn't quite stand up to scrutiny. The ADAC Foundation and the SINUS Institute recently carried out a detailed survey among 16- to 27-year-olds, and the results completely shatter widespread assumptions. Saving the world is out, disillusionment reigns supreme. Gen Z appears to have had enough. Decisions are no longer based on the possible consequences for the collective good, but rather on cold, hard self-interest. The focus is no longer on looming global issues such as climate change, but on one's own comfort zone.

A look at the data leaves no room for doubt. When a young person faces real-life choices, such as whether to go to university or to enter the workforce, the global climate is usually a non-issue. Only a meager 12% consider environmental friendliness as a deciding factor in how they live their lives. This puts the younger generation even behind the average of the general population, where at least 15% pay attention to it. What counts instead are hard facts. It has to be fast (52%), reliable (48%) and affordable (44%). The moral compass is overridden by time constraints and financial pressures. Christina Tillmann, board member of the ADAC Foundation, calls this "de-ideologization".

The study also shatters an old prejudice regarding driver's licenses. Far from turning their backs on the status symbol that is the car, 58% of young adults in Germany already have a driver's license, with another 27% planning to get one. The car remains a cornerstone of mobility. Almost half (48%) get behind the wheel at least once a week. Although they also use public transport more often than average (59% weekly), it's not an either/or situation. They use whatever suits them best at the time.

The retreat into comfort zones is particularly evident when it comes to vacations. Here, the gap between expectations and reality diverge the most. While young people use cars for their holidays somewhat less frequently than the national average, 37% fly for their holidays. This is a record high across all age groups. The desire to travel is trumping concerns about one's carbon footprint.

Gen Z isn't exactly fond of politics either. Young people aren't interested in appeals to conscience. They want technology that delivers, which is why innovative technology is finding a receptive audience. 44% would jump into an autonomous car without hesitation, and 36% would even hop into a flying taxi. Compared to the Baby Boomers, they're true tech enthusiasts, but have their doubts about how the technology will be implemented.

Ronald Matta (translated by Jacob Fisher)