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Ukraine bets on low-cost robot army

Ukraine, in its fight against Russia, is putting its hopes on building an ecosystem of laboratories in hundreds of secret workshops. These workshops are working on leveraging innovations to create a robot army that the country hopes will kill Russian troops and save its own wounded soldiers and civilians.

Defence startups across Ukraine — about 250 according to industry estimates — are creating the killing machines at secret locations that typically look like rural car repair shops. Ukraine’s struggles with manpower shortages, overwhelming odds and uneven international assistance have pushed the country to assess the use of unmanned air, ground and marine vehicles produced by the no-frills startup sector.

Britain assesses digital wallets

British regulators said they are looking into the soaring use of digital wallets offered by Big Tech firms, including whether there is any competition, consumer protection or market integrity concerns.

The move comes amidst increased scrutiny of the growing role of Big Tech in financial services. The Financial Conduct Authority and Payments Systems Regulator of UK, in a statement, said Digital wallets are likely used by more than half of UK adults and have become an important touchpoint between tech companies and consumers.

Kaspersky shuts U.S. operations

Cybersecurity and antivirus software provider Kaspersky Lab will start shutting down operations in the U.S. following allegations of operating in Russia’s technology sector.

Kaspersky said the move will impact less than 50 employees. The decision from the company comes after the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned twelve Kaspersky Lab executives for operating in Russia’s technology sector, freezing their U.S. assets and preventing access until the sanctions were lifted.