US prosecutors have charged Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan and Guy Sheetrit with running a $129m fraud that used AI to mimic CEOs’ voices and images. The men allegedly called employees, posed as company chiefs, and directed them to transfer large sums for supposed secret deals. Victims included a Missouri hospital system, which lost $4.8m, and a UK fintech, which lost $11.6m. Funds were sent to accounts in several countries and converted to cryptocurrency, according to the indictment.

The group used AI voice cloning to make the impersonations convincing and involved a fake lawyer to provide bank details. Soall mainly posed as UK lawyers and kept a script for the calls, while Hazan and Sheetrit are accused of laundering the proceeds. Hazan has a prior conviction for bank fraud conspiracy. The men face charges including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, with maximum sentences of up to 20 years. The charges are allegations and the men are presumed innocent.

The case follows a 2019 incident where criminals used voice cloning to steal $243,000. Since then, AI-enabled impersonation scams have increased. The incident raises new concerns for regulated firms about the adequacy of controls and staff training against AI-driven fraud.

Microsoft is ending its 2023 deal to rent AI computing power from Oracle, according to Bloomberg. The company has been switching off the rented capacity in recent months after deciding not to renew the contract, with the servers running older Nvidia chips. Microsoft is reviewing more than $80B in contracts with outside cloud providers as it updates its AI infrastructure.

The Oracle deal supported Microsoft's AI-powered Bing search, but the hardware no longer matched its needs. Gartner has warned that ageing AI infrastructure could lead to significant write-downs as newer chips become available. Attempts to expand Microsoft’s use of Oracle capacity collapsed in June, and further negotiations with other suppliers such as Nscale have also stalled.

Oracle faces increasing pressure as demand shifts. Its heavy spending on AI data centres has pushed free cash flow negative and left its credit rating just above junk. Microsoft’s decisions signal a focus on cost control and up-to-date technology, affecting suppliers’ revenue and market positions.

Senior executives in regulated sectors should monitor supplier stability and contract terms as cloud infrastructure needs evolve rapidly. The next moves by Microsoft and other large buyers could reshape the AI infrastructure market.

Pangram, a New York startup, has launched two new models for detecting AI-generated images and video. Pangram Image 1.0 checks still images, while the faster Image Flash 1.0 analyses video frame by frame. The company claims its models reach near-perfect accuracy in its own tests and 98.7% on the DF26 academic benchmark for video. Both models are now available in Pangram’s web app and API, with Image 1.0 also in its Chrome extension.

The image model can show heatmaps of AI content in photos and reportedly catches 99.2% of AI images, with a 0.27% false positive rate. Pangram’s own test used 100 AI-generated copies of real photos, with Image 1.0 scoring 99.96% accuracy. The video model, Flash 1.0, outperformed other detectors on DF26, a benchmark where both humans and leading tools have struggled.

The tools now work on smaller images and are designed to see through compression and noise. Pangram’s Chrome extension flags AI content on social media and e-commerce sites. The company raised $9 million in July to develop these models. However, AI detectors are not foolproof: Pangram’s text detector has made errors, and even Meta’s tools have missed fakes in tests.

Banks, insurers and healthcare firms are exposed to fraud and misinformation risks from AI-generated content. As platforms increase scrutiny, firms may need to review detection options and update controls.

UK AI minister Kanishka Narayan said on Tuesday that a serious cyber breach is “extremely likely” in both the public and private sectors, and that neither is prepared, according to Bloomberg. Narayan spoke at a Bloomberg Tech event in London, warning that cybersecurity risks are immediate and growing, especially as hackers use AI tools to speed up attacks.

His comments followed a statement from Richard Horne, head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, who said British firms are “willfully blind” to threats from Russia, Iran and China. A suspected hack affecting supermarket freezers across Europe this week also impacted some UK firms, Horne said.

Narayan pointed to the government’s response: an extra £120M for the AI Security Institute, which tests leading AI models. The Institute recently regained access to new US AI models before public release, after a period when the White House restricted access. Narayan would not confirm how long this access will last, noting that guarantees are difficult in AI.

Revolut has been registered as a bank in New Zealand, according to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. The London-based fintech, which has operated locally since July 2023, now becomes the country’s 27th registered bank. The move enables Revolut to expand its financial services, including interest-paying savings accounts and a wider range of credit products.

The Reserve Bank said all applicants face the same rigorous requirements, even as it welcomes credible new entrants. Revolut NZ’s registration comes under current banking legislation, which is set to be replaced by the Deposit Takers Act from December 2028. The approval follows recent licence wins for Revolut in the UK and Australia, as the company continues to grow its international footprint.

New Zealand’s banking sector is dominated by four Australian banking groups, giving Revolut a chance to compete with established players. The company processed over NZ$350m in transactions locally by late 2024 and claims more than 50 million customers worldwide. Its expansion is part of broader preparations for a possible public listing, following a $75bn valuation last year.

Senior executives in regulated sectors should note the ongoing regulatory changes and the potential for increased competition as global fintechs enter new markets.

Palantir’s US commercial business generated $984m in revenue in the third quarter, overtaking its US government sales of $953m for the first time, according to its earnings release. Total revenue rose 96% to $2.31bn, exceeding analyst expectations, with net income more than doubling to $1.13bn. The company closed 212 deals worth at least $1m each, and ended September with $10.4bn in cash and US Treasury securities.

Chief executive Alex Karp told CNBC that Palantir’s growth is happening without a salesforce and described the “Sovereign AI movement” as creating a stark divide in the sector. Karp has called for nationalisation of leading AI labs to manage liability, repeating this stance in recent interviews.

Palantir raised its full-year revenue forecast to up to $8.534bn, projecting at least $3.559bn in US commercial revenue. The company’s shares fell 3.1% on Monday, with volatility continuing after hours, as investors weighed competition from AI firms like Anthropic and concerns over valuation. Some governments, such as Germany’s, are considering local alternatives for AI tools.

France’s National Assembly has voted to impose a €0.055 tax on every gigabyte of data sent to French internet users, as part of an amendment to the 2027 budget. The Socialist authors estimate the measure could bring in €10bn annually. The amendment passed narrowly, with 11 votes in favour, 10 against and 14 abstentions. Both the government and the finance committee opposed the proposal, which must still pass further stages in the budget process to become law.

If enacted, internet providers would track data sent to users and report the totals to tax authorities quarterly, under the supervision of telecoms regulator Arcep. The tax would be capped at 15% of a company’s French revenue or 2% of global revenue. Content delivered via networks that store data locally would also be taxed as it leaves those networks. The amendment forbids tracking the content or destination of the data.

Industry reaction has been critical. VideoLAN, the nonprofit behind VLC, said the tax could cost it over €1m a year. The Senate, controlled by conservatives, is expected to oppose the measure, and the government could remove it from the final budget.

The proposal comes as France already taxes digital services and supports EU action against large tech companies. The outcome of the budget process will decide whether the tax is implemented.

Amazon reported a free cash flow drop to minus $42.4bn over the past year, driven mainly by a surge in AI-related spending, according to its Q3 earnings. A year earlier, free cash flow was a positive $14.8bn. The company’s revenue rose 12% to $201.9bn, with operating income up to $28.1bn and a record operating margin of 13.9%. Purchases of property and equipment reached $94.8bn over 12 months, mostly for AI. Amazon spent $77.3bn on property and equipment in Q3 alone, compared to $35.1bn a year earlier.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) revenue rose 39% to $46bn, with operating income up to $17.8bn. AWS now has an annual revenue run rate of $184bn and a backlog of $578bn, according to CEO Andy Jassy. He said AWS revenue is expected to grow more than 40% in 2027 and 2028, and Amazon will start selling its Trainium AI chips outside AWS late in 2027. Amazon raised $48.1bn in long-term debt in the quarter and can now borrow up to $80bn against AI hardware purchases.

For regulated-industry leaders, Amazon’s scale of AI investment and cloud growth sets new benchmarks for infrastructure and competition. The company’s plans to expand AI chip sales and its large capital commitments may pressure rivals and influence technology procurement strategies.

The US Justice Department is reviewing Nvidia’s $12.9 billion acquisition of Hugging Face, according to Reuters. Officials are asking whether the deal would give Nvidia control over a critical distribution point for AI models and if it could use this position to disadvantage competitors. This inquiry is part of a broader, ongoing investigation into Nvidia’s business practices, which includes its investments, chip sales, and previous deals.

Hugging Face is a leading platform for sharing open AI models and data. Nvidia agreed to acquire the company in September, stating it would keep the platform open. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027. The DOJ has declined to comment on the specifics but said it will continue to focus on the development of advanced AI, which the White House calls “Super Intelligence.”

Nvidia is also under antitrust scrutiny in France and has faced questions over its $20 billion Groq deal, which involved licensing technology and hiring executives rather than a full acquisition. The company is in talks for further investments in Reflection AI, another open model developer.

Regulatory attention on Nvidia’s expansion into software and AI models could affect how banks, insurers, and healthcare firms access and deploy AI tools. Executives should monitor the outcome for potential changes in competition and technology procurement.

Oracle has announced Media Fabric, a platform that combines its AI video and image models, an AI production suite and a live-streaming network. The company says it will be available within 12 months and aims to help brands, media firms and streaming services create and distribute video using AI. The announcement came at Oracle’s AI World event in Las Vegas.

Media Fabric merges content creation and streaming, allowing brands to produce many versions of an advert and broadcasters to tailor shows to different viewers. Oracle Video Edge, a component of the platform, manages live events by directing viewers to optimal servers for stable streaming during high demand. Oracle says it has added safeguards to reduce the risk of AI-generated content copying existing work, a concern that led ByteDance to strike a deal with Hollywood over its own AI video tool.

Oracle claims Media Fabric gives smaller creators access to tools previously limited to the largest streaming platforms. The launch is part of a broader push at AI World, which also saw Oracle announce a $1 billion fund for partners and a deal to offer Cerebras AI computers.