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Albudaiwi: GCC States Pledge Active Role in Global Digital Security, Stability 

Secretary-General of the GCC Jasem Albudaiwi speaks at the Doha Forum on Sunday. (GCC)
Secretary-General of the GCC Jasem Albudaiwi speaks at the Doha Forum on Sunday. (GCC)
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Albudaiwi: GCC States Pledge Active Role in Global Digital Security, Stability 

Secretary-General of the GCC Jasem Albudaiwi speaks at the Doha Forum on Sunday. (GCC)
Secretary-General of the GCC Jasem Albudaiwi speaks at the Doha Forum on Sunday. (GCC)

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will remain a proactive and effective partner in supporting international efforts to achieve global and comprehensive digital security, contributing to the enhancement of security and stability in cyberspace, according to Secretary-General of the GCC Jasem Albudaiwi.

He made these remarks during his participation in the roundtable event organized by the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) at the 23rd Doha Forum on Sunday.

He highlighted the world's increasing reliance on digital infrastructures that underpin modern economies, essential services, and communications.

He cautioned that any disruption to these systems could lead to instability and the disruption of vital services. This reality mandates that the international community strengthen solidarity and build common frameworks to maintain international digital legitimacy during cyber crises.

He reaffirmed the GCC's commitment, noting that the member states have taken significant strides through the Unified Gulf Strategy for Cybersecurity. This includes massive investments in cloud infrastructure, the development of human capital, the organization of joint cyber exercises that simulate real-world risks, and the development of digital platforms for early warning and coordination during cyber incidents.

He underlined the importance of mutual support between nations when essential digital systems collapse, achieved through technical and operational cooperation frameworks, joint incident response mechanisms, and the temporary utilization of digital infrastructure from neighboring countries when necessary, while strictly respecting national sovereignty and systemic privacy.

Albudaiwi emphasized that several digital sectors must receive stringent international protection to prevent escalation and protect civilian lives, specifically mentioning energy and fuel control systems, telecommunications networks, submarine cables, healthcare and emergency systems, financial networks and digital payment systems, government services, and logistics and transportation networks.

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Technology

Meta Reportedly Delays Release of Phoenix Mixed-reality Glasses to 2027

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta is seen at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta is seen at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
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Meta Reportedly Delays Release of Phoenix Mixed-reality Glasses to 2027

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta is seen at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Meta is seen at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

Meta is delaying the release of its Phoenix mixed-reality glasses until 2027, aiming to get the details right, Business Insider reported on Friday, citing an internal memo.

The delay from an initially planned release in the second half of 2026 is because the company wants a fully polished device, the report said.

Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.

Meta executives Gabriel Aul and Ryan Cairns said moving the release date back is "going to give us a lot more breathing room to get the details right," the report added.

The goggles, previously code-named Puffin, weigh around 100 grams (3.5 ounces) and have lower-resolution displays and weaker computing performance than high-end headsets like Apple’s Vision Pro, the Information reported in July.

Mixed reality merges augmented and virtual reality and allows real-world and digital objects to interact.

Meta is expected to make budget cuts of up to 30% for its metaverse initiative, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

The metaverse group sits within Reality Labs, which produces the company's Quest mixed-reality headsets, smart glasses made with EssilorLuxottica's Ray-Ban and upcoming augmented-reality glasses.

Technology

Apple, Google Send New Round of Cyber Threat Notifications to Users Around World

The Apple logo is seen in this illustration taken September 24, 2025. (Reuters)
The Apple logo is seen in this illustration taken September 24, 2025. (Reuters)
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Apple, Google Send New Round of Cyber Threat Notifications to Users Around World

The Apple logo is seen in this illustration taken September 24, 2025. (Reuters)
The Apple logo is seen in this illustration taken September 24, 2025. (Reuters)

Apple and Google have sent a new round of cyber threat notifications to users around the world, the companies said this week, announcing their latest effort to insulate customers against surveillance threats.

Apple and the Alphabet-owned Google are two of several tech companies that regularly issue warnings to users when they determine they may have been targeted by state-backed hackers.

Apple said the warnings were issued on Dec. 2 but gave few further details about the alleged hacking activity and did not address questions about the number of users targeted or say who was thought to be conducting the surveillance.

Apple said that "to date we have notified users in over 150 countries in total."

Apple's statement follows Google's Dec. 3 announcement that it was warning all known users targeted using Intellexa spyware, which it said spanned "several hundred accounts across various countries, including Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Angola, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, and Tajikistan."

Google said in its announcement that Intellexa, a cyber intelligence company that is sanctioned by the US government, was "evading restrictions and thriving."

Executives tied to Intellexa did not immediately return messages.

Previous waves of warnings have triggered headlines and prompted investigations by government bodies, including the European Union, whose senior officials have previously been targeted using spyware.

Threat notifications impose costs on cyber spies by alerting victims, said John Scott-Railton, a researcher with the Canadian digital watchdog group Citizen Lab.

He said they were "also often the first step in a string of investigations and discoveries that can lead to real accountability around spyware abuses."

Technology

AI Bubble to Be Short-lived, Rebound Stronger, NTT DATA Chief Says

FILE PHOTO: Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words "Artificial Intelligence AI" in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words "Artificial Intelligence AI" in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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AI Bubble to Be Short-lived, Rebound Stronger, NTT DATA Chief Says

FILE PHOTO: Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words "Artificial Intelligence AI" in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words "Artificial Intelligence AI" in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

A potential artificial intelligence bubble will deflate faster than past tech cycles but give way to an even stronger rebound as corporate adoption catches up with infrastructure spending, the head of Japanese IT company NTT DATA Inc. said.

Despite worries around supply chains, the direction of travel is clear, CEO Abhijit Dubey said in an interview with the Reuters Global Markets Forum.

"There is absolutely no doubt that in the medium- to long-term, AI is a massive secular trend," he said.

"Over the next 12 months, I think we're going to have a bit of a normalization ... It'll be a short-lived bubble, and (AI) will come out of it stronger."

With demand for compute still running ahead of supply, "supply chains are almost spoken for" over the next two to three years, he said. Pricing power is already tilting toward chipmakers and hyperscalers, mirroring their stretched valuations in public markets, he added.

AI has triggered the biggest technological shake-up since the advent of the internet, fueling trillions of dollars of investment and eye-watering equity gains. But it has caused shortages of memory chips, drawn regulatory scrutiny, and created growing unease over the future of work.

Dubey, who is also the firm's chief AI officer, said his company has begun rethinking recruitment strategies as AI reshapes labor markets.

"There will clearly be an impact ... Over a five- to 25-year horizon, there will likely be dislocation," he said. However, he added that NTT DATA continues to hire across locations.

Speakers at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York discussed how AI may upend work and job growth.

AI startup Writer Inc.'s CEO May Habib said customers are focused on slowing headcount growth.

"You close a customer, you get on the phone with the CEO to kick off the project, and it's like, 'Great, how soon can I whack 30% of my team?'," she said.

Still, a PwC survey of the global workforce released in November suggests the reality of generative AI usage has yet to match boardroom expectations.

Daily use of GenAI remains "significantly lower" than widely touted by executives, PwC said, even as workers with AI skills commanded an average wage premium of 56% — more than double last year's figure.

PwC also flagged a widening skills gap, with about half of non-managers reporting access to training resources, compared with roughly three-quarters of senior executives.