The global technology landscape is abuzz with significant developments ranging from major shifts in artificial intelligence strategies by tech giants to innovative educational solutions emerging in Africa, alongside critical regulatory interventions concerning digital identity and data privacy. This week's highlights underscore the dynamic evolution of tech, its societal impact, and the increasing scrutiny it faces from governments and users alike.

Apple is reportedly embarking on one of its most ambitious AI overhauls to date, transforming its long-standing digital assistant, Siri, into a sophisticated artificial intelligence chatbot. This revamped assistant, codenamed "Campos," is set to be integrated deeply into iPhones, iPads, and Macs later this year, signaling Apple's concerted effort to directly challenge established AI players such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. The Bloomberg report indicates that Campos will entirely replace the current Siri experience, offering both voice and text-based conversations, mirroring the functionality of modern chatbots that excel at answering complex questions, managing tasks, and facilitating natural interactions.

This strategic update is anticipated to be a flagship feature within the forthcoming iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 operating system releases. Intriguingly, Apple is said to be powering Campos with a custom version of Google’s Gemini AI, a collaboration that marks an unusual deviation for Apple, known for its preference to develop proprietary technologies. This move highlights Apple’s determination to overcome previous struggles in keeping Siri competitive and to bridge the gap with its rivals in the rapidly evolving AI space. The new Siri, leveraging its deep operating system integration, is expected to transcend the capabilities of standalone chat applications. Sources suggest it will be able to extract and synthesize information from a user's emails, photos, and other applications, summarize documents, generate content, and propose actions based on on-screen context, all while steadfastly adhering to Apple's stringent focus on user privacy. This monumental overhaul fundamentally redefines Siri's role, elevating it from a simple voice helper to a comprehensive AI assistant embedded across Apple's device ecosystem, potentially reshaping how millions interact with their gadgets and positioning Siri as a formidable competitor to other conversational AI tools.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, a significant innovation is addressing the country's challenging university admissions process. KollegeScouts, an edtech startup co-founded by 22-year-old engineer Fiyinfoluwa Enis and his sister Jesugbogbo Enis, is striving to revolutionize how Nigerian students gain entry into higher education. The current system is often described as a "lottery," characterized by intense competition for limited public university slots and a struggle for private institutions to meet enrollment quotas. This creates a confusing, emotionally taxing, and often unfair environment for students who possess the academic qualifications but lack crucial information.

KollegeScouts aims to bridge this information gap by acting as a digital matchmaker between students and universities. The platform empowers students to make informed, data-backed decisions by allowing them to search and compare Nigerian universities, filtering by criteria such as location, tuition fees, and admission requirements. Crucially, it provides guidance tailored to individual UTME scores, subject combinations, and student profiles, effectively connecting students with institutions where their chances of admission are realistic. The inspiration for KollegeScouts stemmed from Fiyinfoluwa's personal experience with Nigeria’s opaque admissions process, further solidified by a friend's predicament of repeatedly failing to gain admission despite scoring over 320 in UTME, solely due to inadequate information and misaligned choices. After beginning as a manual counselling community, KollegeScouts officially launched in August 2025 and has since attracted over 2,000 student sign-ups, with two Nigerian institutions already onboard.

In another critical development, Kenya’s High Court has effectively halted Worldcoin’s operations within its borders, dealing a significant blow to the crypto-backed digital identity project. Following months of intense legal pressure and regulatory scrutiny, Worldcoin has been compelled to wipe all biometric data collected from Kenyan citizens. This deletion follows a High Court ruling that declared Worldcoin's data collection activities unlawful under Kenya’s data protection laws. The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) confirmed that all iris scans and associated biometric data, gathered during the company’s 2023 enrolment exercise, have now been permanently erased from its systems, with regulatory oversight.

Worldcoin, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, utilizes specialized "orb" devices to scan users’ irises in exchange for a digital ID and cryptocurrency tokens. In Kenya, the promise of free tokens had attracted massive crowds, but simultaneously triggered serious concerns regarding the adequacy of consent, particularly given the sensitive nature of biometric data and the lack of clarity surrounding its subsequent use. The court’s ruling highlighted that Tools for Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin, failed to properly secure consent and neglected to conduct a legally mandated Data Protection Impact Assessment. This verdict sends a clear message: innovation does not exempt companies from adhering to robust personal data protection standards. Beyond Kenya, this case contributes to a growing international pushback against Worldcoin’s operational model, with regulators in Europe and parts of Asia also questioning the project's methodologies. Kenya’s definitive ruling stands as one of the clearest signals to date that digital identity startups must prioritize stringent privacy safeguards to avoid intense regulatory scrutiny.

Amidst these technological and regulatory shifts, the African startup ecosystem continues to navigate its growth trajectory. Nigeria, one of Africa's "big four" startup hubs, posted the lowest funding share among them as African startups collectively raised $3.8 billion in 2025, indicating both challenges and opportunities within the continent's vibrant tech investment landscape.