World Bank stories
Australia topped the ranking with 70.1 AI girlfriend searches per 100,000 internet users, despite a reported loneliness rate of just 10%.
Remittances could arrive faster and cheaper as Western Union rolls out a stablecoin option for customers in more than 200 countries and territories.
Low-income economies are facing worsening debt and climate shocks, prompting calls for emergency liquidity and cleaner investment.
Flooding and higher borrowing costs are sharpening scrutiny of how the IMF and World Bank will back vulnerable economies through debt and climate shocks.
Tender-bidding businesses could see faster results as Lucius AI says its move to AlloyDB cut semantic search latency from 1.14 seconds to 24 milliseconds.
Billions already within coverage risk missing AI-era services as entry-level smartphones become less affordable in low-income markets.
A wider customer base and new cross-border fees are in Nu's sights as it begins serving US savers and international payers.
Rising broadband demand is pushing carriers towards 10 Gbps upgrades, as Eltex's new terminals let them reuse existing fibre instead of rebuilding networks.
Costly gaps in off-the-shelf software are pushing small firms to build their own tools, with one in three doing so, research finds.
The upgrade lets analysts query more than 400 billion public data points directly in a single graph, easing joins with private data.
Rapid digital adoption and tighter regulatory frameworks are turning the region into a proving ground for new financial services models.
The deal underlines lender appetite for Malaysia's expanding cloud and AI infrastructure, as the campus is set to support lower-impact digital growth.
Two million customers could see cheaper, faster transfers as the remittance firm shifts settlement onto regulated stablecoin rails.
Backed by Google and WHO, the new foundation will give low-income countries and health developers a neutral home for interoperable digital care tools.
The scheme gives governments and wallet providers an independent way to prove mobile driving licence systems meet global standards before rollout.
The funding will help widen access to banking and credit in the Philippines as Salmon expands its lending business and new products.
Canadian small firms should get faster, cheaper overseas payouts as the partnership opens access to digital wallets in 156 countries.
Vietnam's expanding property market has helped JLL build a 350-strong local team, with industrial, logistics and data centres now driving demand.
The move could help governments link identity to welfare, health and tax services, broadening access across digital public infrastructure projects.
Seasonal government project timing left the tech group still in the red, even as first-quarter income climbed 21.2% and losses eased.
