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OpenAI rolls out age prediction to filter minors on ChatGPT

Ana Mary Joseph
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OpenAI rolls out age prediction to filter minors on ChatGPT
  • OpenAI frames the move as enabling “treating adults like adults” while reducing accidental exposure for teens.
  • Feature is launching globally, with EU availability in the coming weeks to meet regional requirements.

OpenAI has begun deploying an age-prediction system across ChatGPT to identify users under 18 and automatically apply stricter content safeguards, as the company readies an “adult mode” slated for later this year that will unlock erotic or mature content for verified adults.

The system estimates age using behavioural and account-level signals—such as account tenure, activity times, usage patterns, and stated age—and assigns additional protections if a user is likely a minor.

Existing teen accounts already face restricted access to content involving graphic violence, sexual or romantic/violent role-play, self-harm depictions, risky viral challenges, and material promoting extreme beauty standards or unhealthy dieting.

Adults incorrectly flagged can restore full access by verifying age via a selfie through identity provider Persona. Users can see if safeguards are active under Settings > Account.

OpenAI framed the move as enabling “treating adults like adults” while reducing accidental exposure for teens. The rollout follows recent additions such as parental controls and comes amid legal scrutiny, including a wrongful-death lawsuit involving an underage user, and competitive pressure from more permissive rivals like Elon Musk’s Grok.

The company says expert and academic input informed the approach and that it will refine the model as it learns which signals improve accuracy. The feature is launching globally, with EU availability in the coming weeks to meet regional requirements.

Industry reaction remains cautious. Yaron Litwin, a digital parenting expert at Canopy, warned that age prediction will produce false positives and negatives and pose privacy trade-offs, arguing it should be only one layer in a broader child-safety strategy. He urged education and, for younger kids, blocking access to chatbots altogether.

ByteDance partners Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX to run TikTok’s US app

Ana Mary Joseph
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ByteDance partners Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX to run TikTok’s US app
  • American and global investors will hold 80.1% of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, with ByteDance retaining 19.9% post-divestiture.
  • Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX will collectively own 45%, while affiliates of certain existing ByteDance investors will hold 30.1%.
  • ByteDance will appoint one of seven directors; US representatives will hold the remaining majority of board seats.

ByteDance said it has signed binding agreements with Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX to create a new joint venture that will operate TikTok’s US app, aiming to satisfy divestiture requirements and avert a ban affecting more than 170 million American users.

Under the structure outlined in an employee memo, American and global investors will hold 80.1 per cent of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, with ByteDance retaining 19.9 per cent post-divestiture. Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX will collectively own 45 per cent, while affiliates of certain existing ByteDance investors will hold 30.1 per cent. ByteDance will appoint one of seven directors; US representatives will hold the remaining majority of board seats.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the venture will operate as an independent entity with authority over US data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance. Oracle will act as the “trusted security partner,” auditing compliance and hosting sensitive US user data in its US-based cloud.

Unanswered questions remain

The agreement tracks terms previewed in September, when President Donald Trump delayed enforcement of a 2024 law that would have required TikTok to cease operations by January 19 unless a divestiture was completed.

The deal is slated to close January 22. While the White House has said the JV will run the US app, questions remain over the arrangement, including TikTok global’s continued management of product interoperability and certain commercial activities such as e-commerce, advertising and marketing.

The move marks a milestone in a multi-year saga that began with Trump’s unsuccessful 2020 attempt to ban the app. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticised the agreement as a “billionaire takeover” and called for transparency around any backdoor terms. Representative John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, has said he plans a 2026 hearing with the JV’s leadership.

ADI Foundation touts 2025 as a year “from concept to execution”

Ana Mary Joseph
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ADI Foundation touts 2025 as a year “from concept to execution”
  • ADI Chain is now operating with partners in more than 20 countries and 50 institutions, alongside national‑scale pilots across sectors such as energy, real estate, and digital identity.
  • ADI Foundation outlined an ambition to onboard one billion people into the digital economy by 2030, focusing on countries and populations that lack basic financial infrastructure.
  • FutureTech 4.0 Academy aims to train more than 10,000 specialists in web3 regulation, development, operations, and policy to ensure “human infrastructure” keeps pace with digital infrastructure.

ADI Foundation, an Abu Dhabi–based organisation building sovereign‑grade blockchain infrastructure for governments and institutions, returned to Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) to showcase a year of progress since announcing its launch at the same venue last year.

CEO Andrey Lazorenko said the group moved “from concept to execution,” highlighting the rollout of ADI Chain’s Mainnet, built specifically for government and institutional use cases, and new partnerships aimed at integrating with global financial institutions to advance regulated stablecoins and institutional digital finance.

New strategic collaborations

Lazorenko said ADI Chain is now operating with partners in more than 20 countries and 50 institutions, alongside national‑scale pilots across sectors such as energy, real estate, and digital identity.

He framed the approach as “a different idea of blockchain,” emphasising auditability, compliance, and alignment with local policy priorities. New strategic collaborations announced during ADFW are intended to accelerate real‑world applications on ADI Chain in line with Abu Dhabi’s ambition to be a global hub for regulated digital assets.

He pointed to Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) as a foundational pillar for the effort, citing the jurisdiction’s dedicated rules for digital assets, currency‑referenced tokens, and DLT entities, which he said offer regulatory clarity and national‑level confidence for institutions building on blockchain.

ADI Foundation is headquartered at ADGM and positions its work as translating forward‑looking policy into scalable systems, including a Dirham‑backed stablecoin initiative with major UAE institutions to support fast, secure, low‑cost domestic and cross‑border payments while preserving monetary and regulatory sovereignty, according to Lazorenko’s remarks during ADFW.

Looking ahead, ADI Foundation outlined an ambition to onboard one billion people into the digital economy by 2030, focusing on countries and populations that lack basic financial infrastructure. The plan includes talent development: the FutureTech 4.0 Academy aims to train more than 10,000 specialists in web3 regulation, development, operations, and policy to ensure “human infrastructure” keeps pace with digital infrastructure.

Lazorenko also cited ties with Sirius International Holding and IHC, which provide access to dozens of entities that could integrate blockchain into operations, helping de‑risk government adoption, fund pilots, and scale social‑impact initiatives on ADI Chain from hundreds of millions to potentially one billion users.

Foldable smartphone market set for 10% growth in 2025

Ana Mary Joseph
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Foldable smartphone market set for 10% growth in 2025
  • IDC projects Apple will capture more than 22 per cent of unit share and roughly 34 per cent of category value in its first year.
  • While foldables will remain a niche by volume, their average selling prices—about three times standard smartphones—position the segment as a key profit driver for vendors.

Worldwide foldable smartphone shipments are forecast to rise 10 per cent year over year to 20.6 million units in 2025, with momentum accelerating into 2026 as new flagship launches expand consumer appeal, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

“Next year will prove exciting for the foldable category with multiple launches pushing the market to 30 per cent YoY growth from just 6 per cent in the prior forecast,” said Nabila Popal, senior research director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

Samsung is expected to catalyse demand with the Galaxy Z Trifold—building on the Galaxy Z Fold7’s 2025 performance—while Huawei’s HarmonyOS Next foldables are also set for strong gains, IDC said.

Higher value

The inflection point is expected at the end of 2026, when Apple debuts its first foldable iPhone. IDC projects Apple will capture more than 22 per cent of unit share and roughly 34 per cent of category value in its first year, buoyed by an estimated average price of around $2,400, according to Popal and Francisco Jeronimo, IDC’s vice president of client devices.

While foldables will remain a niche by volume, their average selling prices—about three times standard smartphones—position the segment as a key profit driver for vendors, IDC added.

As consumers hold onto devices longer and replacement cycles lengthen, vendors are betting on foldables and emerging tri‑fold designs to deliver meaningful innovation and higher value. IDC expects the foldables market to grow at a 17 per cent CAGR through 2029, compared with less than 1 per cent for traditional smartphones, underscoring the segment’s role in revitalising a plateaued industry.

UAE realty firms named in alleged breaches by “Coinbase Cartel” group

TCN Bureau
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UAE realty firms named in alleged breaches by “Coinbase Cartel” group

A cyber extortion outfit calling itself the “Coinbase Cartel” claims to have breached systems at multiple organisations, with a primary focus on real estate firms in the United Arab Emirates.

According to Daily Dark Web, the group published a list of alleged victims on its leak site, but the claims have not been independently verified and the affected companies have not widely commented.

The entities names:

  • Sotheby’s International Realty (UAE)
  • One Broker Group (UAE)
  • Coldwell Banker UAE
  • Hunt & Harris Real Estate (UAE)
  • Betterhomes (UAE)
  • Savills Middle East / Cluttons (UAE)
  • Harbor Real Estate (UAE)
  • Elysian Real Estate (UAE)
  • Homes 4 Life (UAE)
  • Arabian Escapes (UAE)
  • Acu Trans Solutions (US), a medical transcription and business services company based in Irvine, California

The group did not immediately provide technical indicators of compromise, sample data, or timelines tied to each organisation. It is common for extortion groups to list targets to pressure negotiations even before data exfiltration is confirmed.

What’s at risk

  • Real estate firms typically hold sensitive client PII, property transaction records, escrow details, passport and visa copies, tenancy contracts, and financial documentation—all attractive to threat actors for identity theft and fraud.
  • Cross-border exposure is possible for multinational brokerages operating shared platforms across regions.

Recommended actions for named firms

  • Incident response: Activate IR plans, isolate affected systems, and engage external forensics. Preserve logs for at least 90 days; collect EDR telemetry and VPN/firewall logs.
  • Verification: Seek indicators published by the group; monitor dark web/leak sites for samples; coordinate with national CSIRTs and Dubai/UAE cyber authorities.
  • Containment: Reset privileged credentials, rotate API keys, and enforce phishing-resistant MFA (FIDO2/WebAuthn). Review third-party access and disable unused integrations.
  • Data protection: Assess exposure of customer PII and payment/escrow data; prepare notification drafts aligned with UAE data regulations and contractual obligations.
  • Hardening: Patch internet-facing services (VPNs, email gateways, CMS/CRM), audit cloud IAM, enable geo-fencing and conditional access, and deploy immutable backups with tested restores.
  • Communication: Establish a holding statement; brief staff on phishing lures referencing the incident; coordinate with legal and insurers.

Saudi Arabia’s mobile services revenue to reach $17.4b by 2030 on 5G growth

Mohammed Fahad
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Saudi Arabia’s mobile services revenue to reach $17.4b by 2030 on 5G growth
  • Mobile voice revenue to contract at a 3.4% growth over 2025–2030 as average revenue per user declines amid users’ growing reliance on OTT and internet-based communications.
  • Average monthly mobile data usage in Saudi Arabia is expected to increase from 56.2 GB in 2025 to about 129.9 GB in 2030.
  • 4G will remain the leading network by subscriptions until 2026.
  • 5G subscriptions will surpass 4G and are projected to account for 93% of total mobile subscriptions by 2030, driven by ongoing network expansion.

Saudi Arabia’s total mobile services revenue is projected to grow at a 4.5 per cent CAGR from $13.9 billion in 2025 to $17.4 billion in 2030, fueled by rising adoption of mobile data services—particularly over 5G—according to GlobalData’s Saudi Arabia Mobile Broadband Forecast.

GlobalData expects mobile voice revenue to contract at a 3.4 per cent CAGR over 2025–2030 as average revenue per user (ARPU) declines amid users’ growing reliance on OTT and internet-based communications. In contrast, mobile data revenue is forecast to increase at a 6.6 per cent CAGR over the same period, supported by uptake of higher-ARPU 5G plans.

STC leads the way

“The average monthly mobile data usage in Saudi Arabia is expected to increase from 56.2 GB in 2025 to about 129.9 GB in 2030, as consumption of high-bandwidth online entertainment and social media content over smartphones continues to increase supported by operators’ data-centric plans,” said Kantipudi Pradeepthi, Telecom Analyst at GlobalData.

By technology, 4G will remain the leading network by subscriptions until 2026. Thereafter, 5G subscriptions will surpass 4G and are projected to account for 93 per cent of total mobile subscriptions by 2030, driven by ongoing network expansion.

In October 2025, STC launched a national initiative under Vision 2030 to extend 5G coverage to more than 2,000 sites, prioritising less densely populated regions.

STC leads the market by subscription share in 2025, followed by Mobily and Zain. GlobalData expects STC to maintain its lead through 2030 on continued 5G rollout and growth opportunities in machine-to-machine and IoT services.

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