Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast

Supermarket Facial Recognition: What Happens When AI Mistakes You for a Criminal? Facial recognition is back in Sainsbury's supermarkets, despite innocent shoppers being wrongly identified and removed from stores. But what happens when AI gets it wrong? Who is accountable, what happens to your biometric data, and can you opt out? We investigate the growing use of facial recognition in retail and t...

Why are governments switching off the internet during school exams? Across the Middle East and North Africa, governments are cutting internet access during national school examinations to prevent cheating and the circulation of leaked exam papers. But millions of people are caught in the disruption. A new Access Now report examines the countries making progress, those continuing to impose shutdown...

Your health, your data, your AI What if an AI could know your entire health history without the company behind it seeing your medical data? New service GetMine has launched an AI personal health assistant designed to bring scattered health information together in an encrypted vault stored on the user’s own computer. In the UK, a partnership with Patients Know Best can also allow users to bring NHS...

AI toys can talk, listen and become a child’s “friend”. Experts say: don’t buy them. AI-powered teddy bears, dolls and companion toys can hold conversations with children, remember what they say and respond using generative AI. But the Safe AI for Children Alliance is warning parents against AI companion toys. CEO Tara Steele explains why, from inappropriate and potentially dangerous conversations...

New evidence of Russian-linked disinformation around European elections The British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, said that he was given a clear answer after entering Downing Street that Russia did interfere in the UK's 2016 Brexit referendum. Now new evidence reveals how Russian-linked disinformation campaigns are using AI-generated videos, cloned news websites, fake social media accounts and exi...

AI Is Changing How Visas and Borders Work AI is increasingly being used in consular services to check documents, detect patterns, flag potential fraud and help process huge numbers of visa applications. But when an algorithm influences what a human officer sees, where does human judgement end and machine influence begin? We speak to the authors of  AI Use Cases for Consular Affairs Don Kilburg and...

Medical Devices, Critical Materials and the Race to Build Circular Devices Digital healthcare is producing a fast-growing mountain of electronic waste. Glucose monitors, wearable sensors and medical devices can contain lithium, copper, gold and rare earth elements, yet many are discarded or incinerated rather than repaired, reused or recycled. The DiCE project has spent four years investigating ho...

Myanmar, Customer Data and Human Rights After Myanmar’s military coup in 2021, authorities demanded access to sensitive customer information held by a major Norwegian telecommunications company. Data linked to customers suspected of opposing the military was handed over, according to allegations in a new civil case. Now, more than 1,200 customers are part of a legal action in Norway seeking damage...

The future of AI, self-improving systems, cybersecurity, AI for Good and the fight for global AI regulation How powerful can artificial intelligence become — and can governments, industry and international organisations keep pace? We examine the rapid development of generative, autonomous and agentic AI, the cybersecurity risks that come with increasingly powerful systems, how AI can be used for g...

10 Years of #KeepItOn: Documenting the Global Fight Against Internet Shutdowns For a decade, Access Now’s #KeepItOn campaign has been documenting and fighting government-led internet shutdowns around the world. We look at why governments keep cutting people off, the impact on communities, elections and human rights, and what ten years of monitoring and campaigning has taught us. With shutdowns sti...

AI in Healthcare: 1,357 Medical Devices Cleared — Only 3 Tested on Patients A new PLOS Digital Health study reveals a huge gap between AI medical devices being cleared for use and evidence that they actually improve patient outcomes. We look at what FDA clearance really means, who is being left out of clinical trials, and why countries such as Uganda could face particular risks. Apple Spyware: Wha...

Everything-to-Grid Energy: Turning Electric Cars, Batteries and Homes into Power Stations What if your electric car could do more than get you from A to B? Professor ZhaoYang Dong explains how electric vehicles, home batteries, solar panels and buildings could become active parts of the electricity grid – helping balance renewable energy and demand. From Broken Beans to Better Food: Bean Possible’...

Brazil’s AI-Powered Technology Helping Women Escape Bureaucracy and Access Support From Web Summit Rio, we hear about a company that uses technology and AI to help women experiencing domestic violence to navigate Brazil’s complex public-service system. Its platform digitises paperwork, protective orders and social assistance, helping women access support more quickly, including women in remote com...

Flying Boat Could Transform Amazon Transport In the Amazon, where rivers are often the only roads, journeys can take hours or even days. Brazilian company Aero River is developing a “flying boat” that travels just metres above the water at speeds of up to 150 kilometres per hour, potentially transforming access to healthcare, education, business and essential services in remote communities. Endome...

🦾 Affordable Bionic Prosthetics A Brazilian start-up is using 3D printing and muscle-controlled technology to develop affordable bionic arms, giving amputees greater independence at a fraction of the cost of traditional prosthetics. 🧠 Can AI Diagnose Autism Earlier? Researchers have created an AI-powered screening platform that analyses home videos and eye movements to help identify children at...

💡 Bringing Light to the Amazon Can a recycled plastic bottle change lives? At Web Summit Rio 2026, Ania Lichtarowicz meets Rodrigo Eidy, President of Litro de Luz Brasil, to discover how simple solar-powered lighting systems are bringing safe, sustainable light to remote Amazon communities. It's a story of innovation, sustainability and technology creating opportunity where electricity has never...

Can AI predict a tunnel collapse before it happens? As cities grow and become more crowded, we are increasingly building underground. But tunnelling beneath busy urban areas can be dangerous, with unstable ground, changing geological conditions and the risk of damage to buildings and infrastructure above. We explore how AI is bringing together geological and construction data to predict potential...

MIT’s flying and swimming robot takes inspiration from diving birds to explore the oceans of tomorrow MIT engineers have created a remarkable aerial-aquatic robot that can swim underwater, launch through the surface and fly through the air, just like diving birds. Professor Raphael Zufferey explains how nature inspired this breakthrough, why moving between water and air is such a complex engineeri...

Are AI Writing Assistants Quietly Shaping Public Opinion? A new study suggests that the AI tools many of us use every day on platforms like LinkedIn, X and Google may be doing more than improving our grammar and polishing our posts. Researchers found that AI writing assistants can subtly alter the direction of our messages on contested issues—and, over time, those tiny changes could influence coll...

435 Million Gig Workers, Secret Pricing Systems & The Global Fight for Transparency in the Digital Economy The World Bank estimates there are more than 435 million online gig workers worldwide, yet most have little visibility into the algorithms that determine what they earn. In this special episode of  Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast , recorded live at Web Summit Rio, we explore w...

435 Million Gig Workers, Secret Pricing Systems & The Global Fight for Transparency in the Digital Economy The World Bank estimates there are more than 435 million online gig workers worldwide, yet most have little visibility into the algorithms that determine what they earn. In this special episode of Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast , recorded live at Web Summit Rio, we explore wh...

How AI Agents Could Change Digital Payments Brazil's Pix payment system has already transformed how millions of people move money. Now, fintech company Iniciador is exploring what happens when artificial intelligence can initiate payments on behalf of users. We speak with Chief Product Officer Gustavo Bressler about AI-powered transactions, security, regulation and the future of digital commerce....

How AI Agents Could Change Digital Payments Brazil's Pix payment system has already transformed how millions of people move money. Now, fintech company Iniciador is exploring what happens when artificial intelligence can initiate payments on behalf of users. We speak with Chief Product Officer Gustavo Bressler about AI-powered transactions, security, regulation and the future of digital commerce....

How Trust Became Fintech's Most Valuable Asset As artificial intelligence reshapes financial services, technology alone is no longer enough to stand out. Denise Johansson, co-founder and CEO of Enfuce, explains why trust is becoming one of fintech's most powerful growth strategies. From startup beginnings in Finland to powering payments for global brands including Porsche, Octopus Energy and Circl...

How Trust Became Fintech's Most Valuable Asset As artificial intelligence reshapes financial services, technology alone is no longer enough to stand out. Denise Johansson, co-founder and CEO of Enfuce, explains why trust is becoming one of fintech's most powerful growth strategies. From startup beginnings in Finland to powering payments for global brands including Porsche, Octopus Energy and Circl...