Dozens of short videos circulating on social media in the run-up to the country’s 13th national parliamentary election feature what appear to be ordinary citizens making voting pledges, offering political endorsements, and criticising rival parties.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured a new, detailed view of the Helix Nebula, a structure of gas created by a dying star, located 650 light-years from Earth.

Younger workers are the ones most concerned about AI affecting their jobs, according to a global survey by recruitment firm Randstad.

Microsoft has recently released a series of emergency out-of-band (OOB) updates for Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server to address problems introduced by its January 2026 security patches, including an issue that disrupted access to cloud-based virtual desktops.

OpenAI's Chief Financial Officer, Sarah Friar, recently announced that the company's annualised revenue for 2025 has surpassed $20 billion, a significant increase from $6 billion in 2024.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney have developed what they describe as the “world’s first motor that spins using a droplet of liquid metal”.

Global investment in space technology is expected to increase further in 2026.

TikTok will begin deploying a new age-detection system across Europe in the coming weeks, the company told Reuters on Friday. The move comes as the platform faces regulatory pressure to better identify and remove accounts belonging to users under the age of 13.

Elon Musk is seeking up to $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming he is owed the "wrongful gains" they earned from his early involvement with the AI company.

OpenAI has announced plans to begin testing advertising in ChatGPT, limited to adult users.

Iran has experienced a nationwide internet shutdown lasting more than 180 hours, according to NetBlocks, an organisation that monitors global internet connectivity.

OpenAI has recently announced that it will purchase up to 750 megawatts of computing power from chipmaker Cerebras in a deal valued at more than $10 billion over its three-year lifespan, as per a Reuters report.

US President Trump issued a new national security directive on Wednesday, placing a 25% import tax on select advanced artificial intelligence chips. The order specifically names semiconductors like Nvidia's H200 and AMD's MI325X processors.

Chinese technology firm Lenovo has announced a partnership with US chipmaker Nvidia to launch an 'AI Cloud Gigafactory' program aimed at accelerating data centre deployment for AI cloud providers.

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI has raised $20 billion in a new funding round, exceeding its initial $15 billion target.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently stated that the company's new line of chips is now being manufactured at full capacity. He claimed these processors provide five times the AI computing power of Nvidia's prior chips for running applications like chatbots.

On a March day in 1602, the Dutch Republic tried to solve a problem of commerce with a piece of statecraft. Rival merchant groups were bidding up the cost of spices in Asia, squeezing profits at home, while the war for independence from Spain made overseas trade inseparable from national security.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said 2026 should mark a turning point away from the “slop versus sophistication” debate, urging the tech industry to stop arguing over AI output quality and focus instead on delivering real benefits in everyday life.

Elon Musk's brain-computer interface company Neuralink plans to begin "high-volume production" of its brain implants and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure in 2026, as per a recent post by Musk on X.

2025 delivered some of the most meaningful advances in everyday tech in years. Across phones, wearables, and gaming hardwares, manufacturers leaned into better engineering, more thoughtful design and increasingly practical uses of AI. Not every standout product was flashy. Some of the biggest shifts came from refinements that made technology easier to live with. Here are 5 gadgets that were in the global conversations this year.