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A wave of AI-generated videos circulating on social platforms has drawn regulatory and public attention after Meta removed a cluster of manipulated clips tied to public discourse in India, underscoring the accelerating threat posed by deepfakes and the strain on existing cybersecurity defences. The action has reignited debate over platform accountability, election integrity, and the pace at which safeguards are keeping up with generative tools.

Meta said the videos breached its policies on manipulated media and deceptive practices, adding that enforcement teams had detected coordinated behaviour designed to amplify misleading narratives. The company did not detail the creators or precise reach, but independent analysts tracking social traffic reported that some clips had amassed hundreds of thousands of views before moderation. The removals came amid heightened scrutiny of AI-driven misinformation as synthetic video and audio tools become cheaper, faster and harder to spot.

Security specialists warn that the technical leap in realism has lowered the barrier for malicious actors. Diffusion models and voice-cloning systems can now produce convincing footage with minimal training data, enabling impersonation, fabricated statements and false evidence. The risk profile extends beyond politics to financial fraud, reputational attacks and social engineering. Banks and insurers have flagged a rise in scams that combine deepfake video calls with stolen personal data to bypass verification checks.

India’s digital ecosystem amplifies the challenge. With one of the world’s largest online populations and intense engagement on short-video platforms, manipulated content can travel rapidly across languages and regions. Fact-checking groups say the velocity of sharing often outpaces verification, while takedowns, even when swift, can struggle to contain copies and re-uploads. Researchers at leading institutes have documented how watermark removal, compression artefacts and cross-platform reposting degrade detection signals.

Government authorities have been pressing technology companies to strengthen guardrails. Draft rules under the Information Technology framework emphasise due diligence for intermediaries, traceability of originators in defined cases, and clearer disclosures for synthetic media. Officials have also signalled expectations for labelling AI-generated content and responding promptly to lawful takedown requests, while balancing free expression and privacy. Industry groups argue that clarity on standards and timelines is essential to avoid uneven enforcement.

Meta has highlighted investments in detection and transparency, including classifiers trained to identify AI artefacts, partnerships with academic labs, and labels applied when confidence thresholds are met. The company also points to cross-platform threat sharing through industry forums to flag emerging manipulation techniques. Critics counter that adversarial innovation is moving faster than defensive models and that labels can be stripped or ignored, especially when content is shared outside original platforms.

Election experts say the stakes are rising as campaigns increasingly rely on video to reach voters. Even short-lived false clips can shape perceptions, sow doubt or distract from substantive debate. Studies of prior electoral cycles show that corrections often fail to reach the same audiences as the initial misinformation, leaving residual effects. Civil society organisations have urged a layered response that combines platform enforcement, rapid response hotlines, and public education on media literacy.

Cybersecurity firms are adapting with multi-signal approaches that fuse video forensics, network analysis and behavioural cues. Techniques include analysing eye-blink patterns, head-pose consistency, acoustic fingerprints and temporal anomalies, alongside monitoring coordinated posting patterns. Yet experts caution that no single method is foolproof. As generative systems learn to mimic these signals, defenders must iterate continuously, increasing costs for both sides.

The economic dimension is also coming into focus. Advertising clients are wary of brand adjacency to manipulated content, prompting demands for stronger brand-safety assurances. Meanwhile, startups offering verification, provenance tracking and content authentication are attracting investment. Standards bodies are promoting cryptographic provenance frameworks that embed origin metadata at creation, though adoption remains uneven across devices and platforms.

After decades of quiet, Can Gio is awakening on Vietnam’s southern coast, as fresh investment and grand designs breathe new life into the once-remote district of Saigon.

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM – Media OutReach Newswire – 27 December 2024 – Six months after the groundbreaking of a 2,870-hectare coastal urban project backed by Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, Can Gio, once seen as a forgotten corner of Ho Chi Minh City, is now emerging as a new growth engine for Vietnam’s southern metropolis.

Breaking Isolation

For years, Can Gio was often left out of the city’s rapid development. Surrounded by dense forests and accessible mainly by ferry, it remained a world apart. Now, that is beginning to change.

Six months ago, the large-scale land reclamation project officially started construction. Locals call it a “game changer” that awakened a land long left behind. Along the coast that once lay quiet, a vast construction site has emerged, with heavy machinery working day and night. “I was very surprised by the speed,” said Prof. Pham Van Song, president of the Mien Dong University of Technology, noting that hundreds of hectares have already been filled and stabilized within months.

The project, developed by Vingroup through its real estate arm Vinhomes, represents one of the group’s most ambitious coastal developments, part of a long-term vision to extend Ho Chi Minh City’s urban footprint toward the sea. With billions of U.S. dollars in investment, it combines housing, tourism, and modern infrastructure within a single master plan that anchors Can Gio’s transformation.

Complementing this project, a series of major infrastructure works are also reshaping the district. By the end of 2025, the Phu My Hung–Can Gio high-speed railway, designed to reach 350 kilometers per hour, is expected to begin construction, linking the area to the city’s southern urban core. In 2026, the long-awaited Can Gio Bridge will break ground, cutting the journey to the city center to around 45 to 60 minutes.

At the same time, the Rung Sac interchange, with an investment of 3,000 billion VND (about 120 million U.S. dollars), will connect Can Gio directly with the Ben Luc–Long Thanh Expressway. Expected to be completed in 2028, it will link Can Gio with both the Southwest and Southeast regions, including Long Thanh International Airport.

In addition, a sea-crossing expressway between Can Gio and Vung Tau, 50 meters wide and proposed by Vingroup, would stretch across the sea for more than 10 kilometers. The plan envisions a wide eight-lane road that could reduce travel between Can Gio and Vung Tau to under 15 minutes, creating a strategic connection between the two coastal economies.

These efforts fit within a broader regional plan that combines road, rail, water, and sea transport. Another key project is the Can Gio International Transshipment Port, covering 571 hectares with an investment of 50,000 billion VND. The port is designed to become a new symbol of Vietnam’s maritime economy, with its first phase scheduled to begin operations in 2027 and full completion before 2045.

“A Single Project Ignites the South”

According to Prof. Pham Van Song, the rise of Can Gio is a natural development, especially with the involvement of Vingroup through its Vinhomes Green Paradise project. He believes that Can Gio is moving from an ecological area on the fringe of development to a new center of growth. “All modes of transportation will be available in Can Gio,” he said. “The district’s GRDP will grow rapidly in line with ongoing construction and investment. Both the number of residents and visitors will surge. Local people will be the first to directly benefit from these projects, and their lives will become increasingly prosperous.”

The changes are already drawing attention from investors. Dinh Minh Tuan, southern regional director of Batdongsan.com.vn, said the number of searches related to Can Gio has tripled since the beginning of the year. After the Vinhomes Green Paradise project broke ground, property interest in the district doubled again. “Just one single project has heated up the entire southern market,” he said.

Experts say this follows a familiar pattern. In the 1990s, Nguyen Van Linh Boulevard helped turn southern Ho Chi Minh City into a thriving area and drew nearly two million residents. In the 2010s, the completion of the Thu Thiem Tunnel and Bridge attracted more than one million people to the city’s east. “Investors who followed the infrastructure development wave then saw huge gains,” Tuan noted. “Can Gio now stands at a similar starting point, but with a stronger push.”

With a population of about 80,000, Can Gio has long faced a single challenge: lack of connectivity. But, “with the series of large-scale investments now under way, Can Gio is expected to grow faster than many of the city’s earlier new urban areas,” said Tuan.
Hashtag: #Vinhomes

https://vinhomes.vn/en

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IonQ has confirmed plans to deliver a next-generation 100-qubit quantum computing system to South Korea, reinforcing the company’s push into Asia’s accelerating quantum ecosystem and extending a strategic partnership with the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information. The deployment is positioned as a milestone for the country’s national research infrastructure, giving scientists and industrial users local access to higher-capacity trapped-ion quantum hardware designed for advanced simulations and algorithm development.

The system is scheduled to be installed at facilities operated by Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, which manages high-performance computing resources for universities, laboratories and government programmes. IonQ said the platform will integrate with existing supercomputing assets, enabling hybrid classical-quantum workflows that are increasingly seen as the most practical near-term use of quantum machines. Officials involved in the project describe the installation as part of a broader effort to ensure domestic capability in a field viewed as strategically significant for science, security and economic competitiveness.

For IonQ, the agreement deepens a relationship that began with earlier access to its systems through cloud services and collaborative research. The 100-qubit platform represents a step up from earlier machines made available to Asian partners, with IonQ highlighting gains in algorithmic performance driven by longer coherence times and high-fidelity gates inherent to its trapped-ion approach. The company argues that these characteristics allow useful problem sizes to be tackled with fewer physical qubits than some rival architectures.

The project comes as South Korea accelerates state-backed investment in quantum science. Government roadmaps call for expanded talent development, dedicated funding lines for hardware and software, and closer links between public laboratories and industry. KISTI’s role as a national computing hub makes it a focal point for these ambitions, with the new system expected to support work ranging from materials discovery and chemistry to optimisation and machine learning. Researchers anticipate that local access will shorten development cycles compared with reliance on overseas cloud resources.

IonQ executives frame the delivery as part of a long-term regional strategy rather than a one-off sale. Asia has become a key battleground for quantum providers as countries seek sovereign capabilities while remaining connected to global research networks. China, Japan and South Korea are all funding large-scale programmes, and regional universities are increasing output in quantum algorithms and error-mitigation techniques. By embedding hardware within national facilities, vendors aim to secure early loyalty among researchers who may later influence commercial adoption.

Competition in the sector is intensifying. Superconducting-qubit systems from established technology firms and photonic approaches backed by start-ups are all vying for attention, each claiming advantages in scalability or manufacturability. IonQ’s bet on trapped ions prioritises precision and stability, though critics note challenges in scaling to very large numbers of qubits. The company counters that its roadmap focuses on algorithmic qubits and error-corrected performance rather than raw counts, a metric increasingly favoured by parts of the research community.

The South Korean installation also reflects a broader trend toward hybrid computing. Rather than replacing classical supercomputers, quantum systems are being linked to them to tackle specific sub-problems where quantum effects offer potential speed-ups. KISTI engineers are working on software layers to manage job scheduling and data movement between systems, an area seen as critical to extracting value from early quantum machines.

Commercial implications are closely watched. South Korean conglomerates in electronics, chemicals and logistics have signalled interest in quantum applications, and access to domestic hardware could encourage pilot projects. Analysts caution that widespread industrial impact remains some distance away, but note that early experimentation helps firms build expertise ahead of future breakthroughs.

The report estimates that the UAE currently supports about 8.5 million jobs across its economy, of which roughly 169,000 are technology-focused roles. While this represents only a small fraction of total employment, the pace of change is expected to intensify as organisations automate processes, modernise legacy systems and respond to new regulatory and security requirements. Analysts tracking the Gulf labour market say the country’s ambition to position itself as a global hub for digital services, advanced manufacturing and knowledge industries is translating into long-term workforce demand rather than short hiring cycles.

Economic planners have prioritised sectors that combine high productivity with export potential, including financial technology, health technology, clean energy systems, logistics platforms and smart infrastructure. Programmes aligned with national digital strategies are encouraging public bodies and state-linked firms to move services online, adopt AI-enabled decision tools and integrate data across departments. Each of these shifts creates secondary demand for software developers, data engineers, cloud architects and IT service managers, while also reshaping non-technical roles that require digital fluency.

ServiceNow’s analysis suggests that technology roles are expanding faster than overall employment growth, even as traditional sectors such as retail, hospitality and construction continue to add jobs. Employers surveyed for the study reported difficulty filling specialised digital roles, particularly in cybersecurity operations, enterprise platform management and AI workflow design. These shortages are contributing to wage premiums for experienced professionals and increased investment in training pipelines.

Education providers and corporate academies have responded by scaling certification programmes, apprenticeships and mid-career conversion schemes. Universities in the UAE have expanded computer science and engineering intakes, while partnerships with global technology firms aim to align curricula with enterprise needs. Industry observers note that demand is not limited to coders; roles in product management, digital compliance, IT service delivery and change management are growing as organisations seek to embed technology into core operations.

Demographics and migration policy also shape the employment outlook. The UAE’s ability to attract skilled expatriates remains a central factor in meeting talent requirements, particularly for niche technical expertise that takes years to develop. Long-term residency options and sector-specific visas have helped stabilise the workforce, reducing turnover in high-demand roles. At the same time, localisation initiatives encourage employers to invest in training citizens for private-sector technology careers, broadening the domestic talent base.

Beyond pure technology positions, the report highlights a rise in hybrid jobs that combine domain knowledge with digital skills. In banking, compliance specialists increasingly work alongside data analytics teams; in healthcare, clinicians are expected to engage with digital records and AI-assisted diagnostics; in energy and utilities, engineers manage sensor-driven systems and predictive maintenance platforms. This blending of skills expands the effective footprint of the tech workforce beyond headline job titles.

Regional competition for talent is intensifying as neighbouring economies pursue similar diversification strategies. Salaries, quality of life and career progression prospects are key differentiators, according to recruitment firms operating in the Gulf. The UAE’s mature infrastructure, regulatory clarity and concentration of multinational headquarters continue to attract professionals, though employers face pressure to offer flexible working arrangements and clear upskilling pathways.

By Dr Arun Mitra The new nuclear bill, titled Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI), passed by Parliament, has received the assent of the President of India, Droupadi Murmu. With this, it has become an Act governing various aspects of nuclear energy in the country. There is a strong push […]

The article The New Nuclear Bill Severely Compromises India’s National Interests appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

The new model is designed around practical engineering workflows, with a focus on long-running task execution, stable tool calling, and multi-step reasoning, capabilities that have become increasingly important as developers deploy large language models in complex, agent-based systems.

Compared with its predecessor, GLM-4.6, GLM-4.7 shows notable gains in code generation, complex reasoning, and agent execution. According to Z.ai, the model delivers more consistent and controllable performance over extended tasks, while producing cleaner and more concise language output, addressing a common weakness in many open-source models.

To evaluate performance in realistic settings, Z.ai tested GLM-4.7 on 100 practical programming tasks in production-like environments such as Claude Code, spanning front-end, back-end, and command-execution scenarios. The company said GLM-4.7 achieved higher task completion rates and greater stability than GLM-4.6, and has since been adopted as the default model for its GLM Coding Plan.

Benchmark results also place GLM-4.7 among the strongest open-source models currently available. It scored 67.5 on BrowseComp and 87.4 on τ²-Bench, the latter marking a new high for open-source systems. In coding-focused evaluations, including SWE-bench Verified and LiveCodeBench v6, its overall performance approaches that of Claude Sonnet 4.5. In Code Arena’s large-scale blind evaluation, which aggregates votes from more than one million comparisons, GLM-4.7 ranked first among open-source models.

The model is available through the BigModel.cn API and has been integrated into Z.ai’s full-stack development platform, according to the company. As open-source models take on a more prominent role in the global technology ecosystem, Z.ai’s progress offers a clear indication of how such systems may continue to evolve, and what they might enable next.

Default Model for Coding Plan: https://z.ai/subscribe
Try it now: https://chat.z.ai/
Weights: https://huggingface.co/zai-org/GLM-4.7
Technical blog: https://z.ai/blog/glm-4.7

Hashtag: #ZAI

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Under the MOU, the two parties agreed to jointly study and develop strategic cooperation opportunities in areas such as urban development, sustainable transportation, tourism and leisure infrastructure, as well as other investment projects aligned with Uzbekistan’s development orientation, affirming the scale and capabilities of Vietnamese enterprises on the global economic map.

Specifically, in the area of urban development, Uzbekistan is ready to allocate approximately 1,000 hectares of land in a prime location of the capital Tashkent for Vingroup to study, propose, and invest in the development of a large-scale, integrated urban complex. The project would include residential areas, living infrastructure, commercial and cultural facilities, and public infrastructure facilities. The development is envisioned to form a “Vietnam Town”, creating a modern and sustainable urban landmark while enhancing cultural exchange and economic cooperation between the two countries.

In the field of sustainable transportation, Vingroup has proposed studying the deployment of electric taxi and urban mobility services using VinFast electric vehicles in Uzbekistan, together with a charging infrastructure system and support services. The project is expected to contribute to the green transition, reduce emissions, and improve the quality of urban transportation services in major Uzbek cities.

In tourism and leisure infrastructure, the two sides will explore the potential development of integrated tourism and recreational center, including entertainment facilities, hotels, golf courses and related tourism infrastructure, aiming to unlock tourism potential and enhance Uzbekistan’s attractiveness to international visitors.

In addition, this strategic cooperation also establishes a framework for the two parties to identify, assess, and select other potential investment projects that align with the development strategies and long-term priorities of each side.

On the Uzbek government’s side, the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade committed to supporting Vingroup by providing information on the investment environment, legal framework, and incentive policies, as well as coordinating with relevant authorities and local governments in project preparation, including land allocation, licensing, and access to investment support mechanisms in accordance with legislation.

On Vingroup’s side, the Group will propose conceptual proposals, technical expertise and investment plans, participate in feasibility studies and project structuring, and mobilize member companies within the Vingroup ecosystem to implement suitable projects in Uzbekistan.

Mr. Kasimov Ilzat Ablaxatovich, Deputy Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan, stated: “We welcome Vingroup’s interest and commitment to cooperation in Uzbekistan. With its experience in urban development, sustainable transportation, and infrastructure projects, Vingroup is considered a strategic partner to jointly explore and implement investment initiatives aligned with Uzbekistan’s socio-economic development priorities in the coming period.”

Mr. Nguyen Viet Quang, Vice Chairman and CEO of Vingroup, shared: “Uzbekistan is a market with strong potential, supported by a clear development direction and an improving investment environment. Through this Memorandum of Understanding, Vingroup aims to gradually explore suitable cooperation opportunities and work alongside the Government of Uzbekistan in developing urban areas, sustainable transportation, and sectors that bring positive contributions to local communities.”

Uzbekistan holds a strategic position in Central Asia, with a growing economy and strong potential in urban development, infrastructure, tourism, and services. The Government of Uzbekistan is actively promoting reforms and attracting foreign investment to drive sustainable economic growth and international integration.

Vingroup is Vietnam’s leading private multi-sector corporation, operating across six core pillars: Industrials & Technology, Real Estate & Services, Infrastructure, Green Energy, Culture, and Social Enterprises, with the vision “To create a better life for people”. With its proven reputation, scale and capabilities, Vingroup is steadily expanding globally, contributing to elevate the global standing of Vietnamese enterprises.

Hashtag: #Vingroup

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