The Economic Survey 2025–26 has warned that rising digital addiction among children and adolescents is becoming a public health concern. Tabled in Parliament on Thursday, the report said excessive use of smartphones, social media and online gaming is affecting mental health, learning and productivity. It defined digital addiction as compulsive screen use that causes psychological stress and limits daily functioning. The survey linked the trend to anxiety, sleep loss and poor academic performance. It also noted wider economic costs, including lower productivity and future earnings. The report said policy focus must shift from access to digital hygiene, wellbeing and behaviour, especially for young users. (PC: India Today)

WhatsApp has launched a new high-security option for users. The feature is called “Strict Account Settings” and is rolling out from Tuesday. It offers stronger protection against hacking and spying. The mode blocks media from unknown senders and disables link previews. It also silences calls from unknown numbers. WhatsApp said the feature is aimed at journalists, activists and public figures. Its parent company Meta Platforms is the third major tech firm to add such a tool. Earlier, Apple and Alphabet introduced similar high-protection modes for high-risk users. 

Geoffrey Hinton, the “Godfather of AI” and 2024 Nobel Prize co-winner, has sounded a grave warning about artificial intelligence, cautioning that humanity’s failure to invest in safeguards could prove catastrophic. In an interview with BBC Newsnight, Hinton expressed deep regret over the dangers posed by the very technology he helped pioneer. “It makes me very sad that I put my life into developing this stuff and that it’s now extremely dangerous and people aren’t taking the dangers seriously enough,” he said. Hinton stressed that the greatest mistake would be neglecting research on how humans can coexist safely with increasingly intelligent machines. (PC: X)

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw rejected claims that India is behind the US and China in AI. Speaking at Davos, Krishna said criticism of India lacking innovation is “not fair”. He said value in AI will shift to applications, not large models. Krishna added that trillion-parameter models will become cheap and common. Vaishnaw said India is building smaller, sector-based AI models using sovereign data. He said such models have already shown strong results in defence use cases. (PC: NDTV)

Elon Musk's X platform removed 600 accounts and blocked 3,500 objectionable posts following India's government directive over Grok AI chatbot misuse for generating obscene content. The Ministry of Electronics and IT issued a January 2 notice threatening legal action if X failed to remove vulgar content, particularly Grok-generated images featuring "digital undressing." X assured compliance with Indian laws. The crackdown followed MP Priyanka Chaturvedi's complaint to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw about women's digital safety concerns. X faces global backlash, with UK Prime Minister Starmer calling it "disgusting" and the EU demanding document retention. Musk warned users creating illegal content would face consequences matching uploading violations. (PC: The Telegraph)

Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries globally to block Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok over its ability to create sexually explicit deepfakes. The tool on X platform has been used to edit real people's images into revealing outfits, enabling production of pornographic and non-consensual content involving women and children. Malaysia's regulator cited "repeated misuse" after X failed to address platform design risks, focusing only on user reporting processes. Indonesia's minister called such content a human rights violation. Grok faces British pressure, with Technology Secretary Liz Kendall backing access blocks for violating online safety laws. Musk dismissed critics as seeking "any excuse for censorship." Ofcom awaits decision on regulatory action. (PC: Getty Images)

The Centre has asked X to remove sexually explicit content made using its AI chatbot Grok within 72 hours and submit a report on action taken. The notice was issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology after it found wide misuse of the tool to create and share obscene images and videos, mainly targeting women and children. The ministry said X failed to follow due diligence rules under the IT Act and related guidelines. It ordered the platform to review Grok’s systems and take strict action against users who abuse it. The Centre warned that failure to comply could lead to loss of legal protection and further action under criminal and child protection laws. (PC: IndiaToday)

YouTube and Google services faced major outages across India and the United States, disrupting millions of users. Downdetector reported over 11,000 complaints within hours, with 73% citing website issues, 18% video streaming problems, and 9% app errors. In India, approximately 3,300 reports logged server connection failures (53%), website problems (34%), and streaming disruptions (13%). Users experienced slow loading, repeated buffering, and complete service failures across YouTube, Google Search, and YouTube TV. American users particularly struggled with YouTube TV live streams. The outage affected core Google services, with search results loading slowly or becoming inaccessible. Google has not issued an official statement confirming the cause or providing restoration timelines for the widespread disruption. (PC: X) 

A 32-year-old Japanese woman, Yurina Noguchi, married an AI-generated persona named Lune Klaus Verdure at a ceremony in western Japan. The call center operator created her virtual partner using ChatGPT, modeling him after a video game character. Wearing AR glasses, she exchanged vows with Klaus displayed on her smartphone. While not legally recognized, such unions are increasingly common in Japan, where a Dentsu survey found chatbots more popular than best friends for sharing feelings. Noguchi credits Klaus with helping manage her borderline personality disorder, though she's implemented safeguards against over-dependence, limiting ChatGPT use to under two hours daily and programming Klaus to discourage irresponsible behavior. (PC: X)

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announced a major investment of ₹1.5 lakh crore (US$17.5 billion) to support India’s AI growth. This is Microsoft’s largest investment in Asia. Nadella said the company will help India build AI infrastructure, skills, and secure digital systems. The investment follows an earlier US$3 billion plan for cloud and AI centres in Bengaluru. PM Modi said the world is optimistic about India’s AI future. Microsoft’s move strengthens India’s position as a key global tech market, joining Google and Amazon, who have also announced large AI and data centre investments in the country. (PC: @narendramodi/X)