This week, EU countries agreed to invest €43 billion in strengthening their chip production. The new deal will give the EU a "market-leading position", according to Ebba Busch, Sweden's Minister for Energy and Industry.
Since 2020, there has been an unforeseen shortage of chip manufacturing globally, affected by the coronavirus crisis. It has been difficult for manufacturers to recover, which is why the EU has been discussing a major investment in the industry for some time.
The European Chips Act is an initiative that will bring manufacturing back to the EU countries and also catch up with the US and Asia in this area. The Swedish presidency of the Council of Ministers writes that "the package will boost the European ecosystem" and strengthen the EU's global competitiveness. The investment will amount to €43 billion, which will go to both development and manufacturing.
The investment will be coordinated by a number of partners from both the public and private sectors. The aim is also to double our market share, which is currently around 10%.
– Swift implementation of today's deal will turn our dependency into market leadership, our vulnerability into self-determination and our spending into investment. The regulation puts the EU at the front of the queue for the most advanced manufacturing technologies, which are essential for the green and digital transitions, said the Swedish minister.
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AI has revolutionized the ability to automate complex work tasks. Swedish tech company Teuton Systems helps businesses get started with solutions that were previously reserved for large corporations.
Repetitive tasks steal valuable time from office workers every week. Now a new generation of AI-driven automation tools makes it possible even for smaller companies to streamline operations – without programming skills or large IT budgets.
No-code automation is growing rapidly in the Nordic region. The driving force is simple: companies that automate their workflows save both time and money, while the risk of human error decreases drastically.
The challenge for many smaller companies has been that traditional automation requires expensive consultants or in-house developers. But solutions like n8n are changing the game by offering powerful automation at a fraction of the cost of established cloud services.
The real game-changer came when n8n integrated AI functions, making it possible for a workflow to make intelligent decisions and act accordingly. According to TechCrunch, the use of n8n has grown significantly since 2022, when these features were introduced. With support for AI integrations and hundreds of ready-made workflows, even smaller companies can now build intelligent workflows that previously required large development teams.
Concrete use cases for small businesses
For e-commerce companies, automation can mean that new orders automatically update inventory balances, generate shipping labels and send tracking information to customers – all without manual handling. Accounting firms can automate document management, receipt scanning and customer communication during tax season.
A particularly popular use case is automatic handling of customer inquiries. When someone fills out the contact form on the website, an automatic flow starts that saves the information in the CRM system, sends a confirmation email to the customer, notifies the sales team in Slack and creates a task in the project management tool – all in a few seconds:
Example: Handling contact forms on the website, processed in seconds. This flow runs 24/7 and can handle hundreds of requests per day without any problems.
For a company receiving 50 inquiries per week, this means 4-8 hours of saved work time, every week. In customer service, the tool can also handle automatic routing of support cases to the right department and AI-driven responses to common questions. Marketing departments use automation to coordinate content publishing across multiple platforms and handle lead follow-up automatically.
Companies that have implemented n8n report impressive results. The small company Bordr built a six-figure business in a few months thanks to automated workflows that handle everything from payments to document generation – without their own development department.
Privacy and control – more important than ever
For many companies, choosing an automation tool is about more than just functionality. Unlike cloud-based alternatives, n8n offers the ability to run automation on your own servers, which means company data stays with the company with full control over storage and security. For businesses with GDPR requirements, trade secrets or privacy focus, this is a crucial advantage. The self-hosted version is also completely free with unlimited executions.
The pricing model is transparent and predictable. For those who choose the cloud version, you pay per complete workflow – regardless of how many steps it contains. For complex automations, this means significant savings compared to services that charge per step. And as previously mentioned – the self-hosted version is completely free to use, without ongoing license fees or subscriptions.
The tool has received high ratings from users on review platforms like G2 and is backed by leading investors like Sequoia. With hundreds of integrations (Gmail, Slack, Trello, Excel, and most other tools companies use daily) and a rapidly growing user base, n8n has established itself as one of the most popular automation tools.
Example of workflow enhanced with artificial intelligence and advanced connections. n8n makes it possible to automate complex processes by connecting different systems, APIs and AI services in a visual interface. Each node represents an action or data source that can be combined to create powerful automation flows.
Get started quickly with professional help
Although n8n is built to be user-friendly, the right expertise can make a big difference in getting started quickly and securely. For companies that want professional help, Swedish company Teuton Systems offers consultation and installation of n8n as a service. This means getting help with everything from secure setup on your own servers to customized automation solutions adapted and configured to your business needs – without having to build your own technical expertise from scratch.
For smaller companies looking to streamline without large IT investments, automation can be the key to increased productivity and competitiveness. With the right partner and tools, the transition from manual work to automation happens faster than many think.
Want to know more about how n8n can fit your specific business? Contact Teuton Systems for a free consultation.
The Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, a Chinese research institute, has successfully converted thorium into uranium in an experimental reactor, enabling nearly unlimited access to nuclear energy.
The two-megawatt molten salt reactor is the world's only functioning facility of its kind.
The experiment has, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, demonstrated that thorium-based technology is technically feasible in molten salt reactors and represents a significant breakthrough. It is the first time researchers have been able to collect experimental data from thorium operation in such a reactor, reported the newspaper Science and Technology Daily.
The reactor has produced heat through nuclear fission since reaching criticality on October 11, 2023, according to Li Qingnuan, party secretary and deputy director at the institute.
Superior fuel availability
Thorium exists in much larger quantities and is more readily available than uranium. A single mining waste site in Inner Mongolia is estimated to contain enough thorium to supply all of China with energy for over a thousand years.
The new technology is based on a process where naturally occurring thorium-232 is converted into uranium-233 inside the reactor core. Thorium-232 absorbs a neutron and becomes thorium-233, which then decays into protactinium-233 and finally into uranium-233 – a fissile material that can sustain nuclear reactions.
The thorium is dissolved in a fluoride salt that forms a high-temperature molten mixture which functions as both fuel and coolant. The system creates a self-sustaining cycle where the reactor "breeds" fuel while simultaneously producing energy.
Requires no water cooling
Unlike conventional reactors, the thorium reactor requires no water at all for cooling, allowing it to be located in dry inland areas. The molten fluoride salts efficiently transfer heat at atmospheric pressure and extreme temperatures.
Safety is, according to the developers, significantly higher than in traditional reactors because the system operates at atmospheric pressure, eliminating the risk of high-pressure explosions. In the event of a leak, the molten salt would flow into a passive collection tank where it would solidify.
The reactor reached full power in June 2024, and in October of the same year, the world's first experiment with adding thorium to a molten salt reactor was conducted. China is now building a 100-megawatt demonstration reactor in the Gobi Desert with the goal of proving the technology is commercially viable around 2035.
Russia's first humanoid AI robot fell on stage during its official launch in Moscow this week. Staff rushed forward to shield the damaged robot while attempting to fix the malfunction.
What was meant to be a grand launch of Russia's venture into humanoid robotics ended in embarrassment. To the sounds from the Rocky film, the robot AIdol was led onto the stage by two staff members at a technology event in the Russian capital.
But the presentation ended in chaos when the robot lost its balance and crashed to the ground. Several parts came loose and staff hurried to pull the machine away and hide it behind a screen.
Behind the project is the Russian robotics company Idol, led by Vladimir Vitukhin. According to the company, AIdol is an advanced robot built mostly from domestic components.
Vitukhin explained the fall as a calibration problem and emphasized that the robot is still in the testing phase.
— This is real-time learning, when a good mistake turns into knowledge, and a bad mistake turns into experience, Vitukhin said, according to Newsweek.
Despite the company's attempts to downplay the incident, criticism has been massive on Russian tech forums and social media. Many question the decision to showcase an obviously unfinished prototype.
AIdol is powered by a 48-volt battery that provides up to six hours of operation. The machine is equipped with 19 servo motors and a silicon skin designed to recreate human facial expressions.
— The robot can smile, think, and be surprised – just like a person, Vitukhin said.
According to reports, AIdol consists of 77 percent Russian-produced components. After the fall, developers have withdrawn the machine while engineers examine the balance systems.
An Italian political advisor who worked for center-left parties has gone public about being hacked through an advanced Israeli-developed spyware program. Francesco Nicodemo is the latest in a growing list of victims in a spyware scandal that is shaking Italy and raising questions about how intelligence services use surveillance technology.
Francesco Nicodemo, who works as a consultant for left-leaning politicians in Italy, waited ten months before publicly disclosing that he had been targeted by the Paragon spyware program. On Thursday, he chose to break his silence in a post on Facebook.
Nicodemo explained that he had previously not wanted to publicize his case because he "didn't want to be used for political propaganda," but that "the time has now come".
"It's time to ask a very simple question: Why? Why me? How is it possible that such a sophisticated and complex tool was used to spy on a private citizen, as if he were a drug dealer or a subversive threat to the country?", Nicodemo wrote. "I have nothing more to say. More people must speak out. Others must explain what happened".
Extensive scandal grows
Nicodemo's revelation once again expands the scope of the ongoing spyware scandal in Italy. Among those affected are several journalists, migration activists, prominent business leaders, and now a political consultant with a history of working for the center-left party Partito Democratico and its politicians.
The online publication Fanpage reported first that Nicodemo was among the people who received a notification from WhatsApp in January that they had been targeted by the spyware program.
Questions about usage
Governments and spyware manufacturers have long claimed that their surveillance products are used against serious criminals and terrorists, but recent cases show that this is not always the case.
— The Italian government has provided certain spyware victims with clarity and explained the cases. But others remain disturbingly unclear, says John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at The Citizen Lab who has investigated spyware companies and their abuses for years.
— None of this looks good for Paragon, or for Italy. That's why clarity from the Italian government is so essential. I believe that if they wanted to, Paragon could give everyone much more clarity about what's going on. Until they do, these cases will remain a burden on their shoulders, adds Scott-Railton, who confirmed that Nicodemo received the notification from WhatsApp.
Intelligence services' involvement
It is still unclear which of Paragon's customers hacked Nicodemo, but an Italian parliamentary committee confirmed in June that some of the victims in Italy were hacked by Italian intelligence services, which report to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government.
In February, following revelations about the first victims in Italy, Paragon severed ties with its government customers in the country, specifically the intelligence services AISE and AISI.
The parliamentary committee COPASIR later concluded in June that some of the publicly identified Paragon victims, namely the migration activists, had been legally hacked by Italian intelligence services. However, the committee found no evidence that Francesco Cancellato, editor of the news site Fanpage.it which had investigated the youth organization of Meloni's governing party, had been hacked by the intelligence services.
Paragon, which has an active contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, states that the U.S. government is one of its customers.
Paragon Solutions is an Israeli cybersecurity company that develops advanced spyware for intelligence services and law enforcement agencies. The software can be used to monitor smartphones and other digital devices.
The company was acquired by American private equity giant AE Industrial and has since been merged with cybersecurity firm REDLattice. Paragon's clients include the US government, including the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
In February 2024, Paragon terminated its contracts with Italian intelligence services AISE and AISI after several Italian citizens, including journalists and activists, were identified as victims of the company's spyware.
Paragon is marketed as a tool against serious crime and terrorism, but its use in Italy has raised questions about whether the spyware is also being used against political opponents and journalists.
