Worldwide: Technology

As wearable AI technology becomes more prevalent, employers face critical decisions about whether to ban smart glasses in the workplace. This analysis explores the privacy, cybersecurity, and workplace surveillance risks associated with AI-enabled eyewear, while examining the legal framework for regulating their use. Two important exceptions—disability accommodations and workplace safety—complicate what might otherwise be a straightforward prohibition.

Cybersecurity and data protection are closely connected, but they serve different purposes. Cybersecurity protects systems, networks and information from unauthorised access, disruption, alteration or destruction. Data protection governs how personal information is collected, used, stored, shared and deleted. Together, cybersecurity and data protection help businesses protect sensitive information, meet legal obligations and maintain the trust of customers, employees and business partners.

Local government resilience depends on understanding how financial sustainability, cyber security, operational capability and asset management interact during disruption. This assessment framework helps councils identify vulnerabilities across these interconnected domains and strengthen their ability to maintain essential services when conditions change unexpectedly.

Catherine Leung, partner at Ius Laboris Hong Kong, engages in a compelling conversation with Charles Cameron, Vice President of the World Employment Confederation, exploring how artificial intelligence is reshaping recruitment practices and the pressures modern businesses face. The discussion delves into the evolving workplace landscape and the adaptations required from both employers and employees in this transformative era.

Generative AI can now reproduce a person's face, voice and mannerisms with a fidelity that the average viewer cannot tell apart from reality. What began as novelty content—face-swapped videos, synthetic voice clips circulated for entertainment—has, since 2023, become a live commercial and reputational threat.

China's pharmaceutical and life sciences regulatory landscape underwent significant transformation in 2026, with major policy updates spanning drug approval processes, medical device quality standards, and healthcare facility management. The National Medical Products Administration introduced priority review pathways for chemical APIs and updated cosmetics registration requirements, while new medical device production standards took effect nationwide.

A landmark patent invalidation case reveals how China's patent office evaluates AI inventions that apply algorithms to specific scenarios. The case centers on whether fine-tuning a pre-trained neural network mode...

Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), which describes itself as a “co-creation regulator” working collaboratively with industry rather than imposing top-down rules...

The Information Technology Act, 2000 empowers the Central Government under section 87 to frame rules governing intermediaries, including the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

Treasury's September 2026 Financial Innovation Strategy highlights Australia's need for a more innovative and competitive financial system. As major reforms across AML/CTF, payments, digital assets, privacy and AI governance take effect, Australian FinTechs face a critical decision about when and how to invest in legal capability.

GRATA International Kazakhstan contributed to The International AI in Financial Services Review 2026/27, published by Beaumont Capital Markets. The Kazakhstan chapter examines the country's emerging regulatory framework for artificial intelligence in the financial sector, covering AI regulation, fintech development, consumer protection, and data privacy. An expanded version of the article provides more detailed analysis of AI and financial services regulation in Kazakhstan.

Vietnam's State Bank has issued Circular 39, establishing a new regulatory framework that allows offshore credit institutions to conduct cross-border payment services through accounts held at Vietnam-based licensed banks. This development marks a significant shift from previous restrictions that limited non-resident account usage to their own transactions only. The new framework provides greater regulatory certainty for international banks, payment service providers, and fintech companies seeking to expand