This week's top technology stories span the factory floor to the courtroom. TCS reveals manufacturers are eager for physical AI but lack the governance to deploy it responsibly, OpenAI's new Astra model claims progress on ten unsolved mathematical problems, Red Hat launches an open-source project to standardise AI governance, and Apple escalates its legal fight with the UK Government over encrypted data access.
Manufacturers Want Physical AI but Lack Clear Governance
Three-quarters of manufacturers (77%) expect physical AI to have a significant impact on warehouse operations, and 75% anticipate the same across assembly and manufacturing lines.
These findings come from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)'s Future-Ready Manufacturing: TCS Physical AI Readiness Report 2026, which surveyed 300 manufacturing C-suite executives and vice presidents across North America and Europe. The report was published alongside the Farnborough International Airshow 2026, where TCS also exhibited physical AI in action.
Despite the current low uptake of humanoid and quadruped robots on factory floors, investment appetite remains strong: no surveyed organisation plans to cut spending, and 26% intend to increase it.
OpenAI's Astra Model Solves 10 Major Mathematical Problems
OpenAI has released details of its latest model, Astra, claiming the system has resolved or made meaningful progress on ten open problems in mathematics and theoretical computer science.
The problems span high-dimensional geometry, coding theory, arithmetic circuit complexity, group theory, operator algebras, quantum complexity, lattice cryptography and extremal combinatorics — areas that have long challenged researchers.
Red Hat's asago: Standardising AI Governance for Enterprises
Red Hat has formed an open-source community project called asago (AI Safety and Governance Orchestration) to automate the translation of AI governance policies into deployable safety controls.
The initiative brings together organisations including Brave Software, IBM and Microsoft, alongside research bodies such as MIT and The Alan Turing Institute, with the aim of creating automated workflows that connect compliance requirements directly to engineering processes.
Apple Fights UK Government Over Access to Encrypted Data
Apple has filed a legal challenge against the UK Government over a demand for access to encrypted customer data.
The dispute centres on Apple's Advanced Data Protection system, designed so that even Apple itself cannot view protected user information. The UK Government issued a technical capability notice to Apple, arguing that while it supports strong encryption, law enforcement must still be able to access communications when necessary.
Apple pointed back to a prior statement expressing that it was "gravely disappointed" it could no longer offer Advanced Data Protection to new UK users, after withdrawing the feature in February 2025.
"Cutting out unnecessary pleasantries like 'please' and 'thank you' is a simple, immediate way to lower AI energy consumption. It's a practical step every company can take to reduce a footprint they otherwise have little say over."— Scott Lane, Founder and CEO, Speeki