Italian Olympic swimmers Benedetta Pilato and Chiara Tarantino were briefly detained and questioned by Singapore airport authorities last week after an incident that occurred while the two were returning from a private vacation in Bali after the World Championships.
According to reports, security cameras appeared to show the athletes placing items into a bag inside a duty-free shop and leaving without paying for them. The pair were held for several hours before being released. The Italian Embassy in Singapore assisted throughout the process, and the matter was resolved without legal consequences.
Pilato’s Statement
On Instagram, Pilato addressed the situation directly:
“During my return from Asia, after competing at the World Championships and spending a few days on vacation with teammates, I was unfortunately caught up in an unpleasant episode managed by the Singapore airport authorities.
I immediately cooperated with the local authorities, with the full support of the Italian Embassy. The matter was resolved within a few hours, with no implications for me, thanks to my transparency.
I have never intended to act improperly, and those who know me are aware of how much I value honesty and fairness. This was a difficult personal experience, but one that taught me important lessons about prudence and responsibility. I now return to focusing on my sporting journey with greater determination.”
Pilato, 20, won a bronze medal in the 50 breaststroke at the championships. That is her fifth career World Championship medal in long course in the 50 breaststroke and sixth overall (she won the 100 breast in 2022).
Tarantino, 22, is one of the country’s best sprinters, and attended the World Championships as a relay-only swimmer.
Federation Response
The Italian Swimming Federation (FIN) send an official statement via email emphasizing that the episode occurred during a vacation period and outside of any official team activities:
With regard to the news reports concerning Benedetta Pilato and Chiara Tarantino, the Italian Swimming Federation emphasizes that the episode attributed to them occurred outside of any official federation activity, during a vacation period.
The facts were clarified by the athletes with the local authorities, with the support of the Italian Embassy, which was already in contact with the Federation in relation to the World Aquatics Championships held in Singapore from July 11 to August 3, 2025.
While stigmatizing the incident, the Federation reserves the right to carefully evaluate the matter.
Moving Forward
Both Pilato and Tarantino recently competed at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore and spent a vacation period in Bali. With the case resolved, the two swimmers are expected to resume their training schedules as the focus shifts back to upcoming competitions.
A new survey reveals a striking “AI readiness gap” in the modern workplace: those using AI tools the most—including top executives and Gen Z employees—are often the least likely to receive meaningful guidance, training, or even company approval for their use.
The findings come from WalkMe, an SAP company, which surveyed over 1,000 U.S. workers for the 2025 edition of its “AI in the Workplace” survey. Nearly half of employees (48.8%) admit to hiding their use of AI at work to avoid judgment, suggesting that something like “AI shame” is a real phenomenon in the workplace. This discomfort is especially pronounced at the top, with 53.4% of C-suite leaders admitting they conceal their AI habits—despite being the most frequent users. Entry-level workers aren’t exempt, but the paradox deepens at the executive level, highlighting how even the most empowered employees remain uneasy.
Gen Z: eager, but unsupported
Gen Z’s relationship with AI appears to be both enthusiastic and anxious. A striking 62.6% have completed work using AI but pretended it was all their own effort—the highest rate among any generation.
More than half (55.4%) have feigned understanding of AI in meetings. Their behavior is context-dependent: 28.4% exaggerate their AI use to some, while 13.5% downplay it to others. Intriguingly, this can be dependent on who they’re speaking with. But only 6.8% report extensive, time-consuming AI training, and 13.5% received none at all. This is the lowest of any age group. Despite this, an overwhelming 89.2% use AI at work—and just as many (89.2%) use tools that weren’t provided or sanctioned by their employer. Only 7.5% reported receiving extensive training with AI tools. This is a strikingly small advance from 2024, when the same survey from WorkMe found 7.0% reported extensive training—just a 0.5% increase.
Sharon Bernstein, chief human resources officer for WalkMe, told Fortune in an interview that “Companies are not educating enough about this whole thing,” saying that they seem to not be facilitating use of AI tools. They “are not training their employees enough today, or guiding … Even if you are an amazing CIO and you’re allowed to buy a few different tools for AI, how much was it adopted? Like, for real?”
The AI class divide and a productivity paradox
Access to AI training and guidance increases with rank and company size. Only 3.7% of entry-level employees receive substantial training compared to 17.1% of C-level executives. Younger and junior staff remain unsupported—a gap that risks cementing an “AI class divide” where the most frequent users are left to navigate on their own.
AI is changing work, and the survey suggests not always for the better. Most employees (80%) say AI has improved their productivity, but 59% confess to spending more time wrestling with AI tools than if they’d just done the work themselves. Gen Z again leads the struggle, with 65.3% saying AI slows them down (the highest amount of any group), and 68% feeling pressure to produce more work because of it. Nearly one in three are deeply anxious about AI’s impact on their jobs, saying they worry “a lot” about its impact on their jobs. Confidence is mixed: only 45% of Gen Z say they’re “very confident” using AI—less than Millennials (56.3%) and tied with Gen X (43.2%).
How this fits into the picture
These gaps, around AI readiness and varying levels of AI shame, fit into an emerging picture of a confusing, if not chaotic, implementation of AI into the workplace, from the entry level all the way to the C-suite. For instance, more than half of professionals report being overwhelmed by AI training initiatives, saying that it feels like “a second job”—adding stress and longer hours, often with little tangible benefit to workflows. While it’s speculative to link lack of proper training to the bombshell MIT study showing a staggering 95% failure rate for generative AI pilots at large enterprises, there is clearly an issue going from the drawing board to the factory floor. Furthermore, this disconnection between corporate hype and actual business value is fueling investor worries about a potential AI bubble.
Another major study, the first of its kind in the field, came out from Stanford and top economist Erik Brynjolfsson, a thought leader in the AI field. Since late 2022, his team found, when generative AI exploded onto the scene, there really has been the start of a statistically significant decline in entry-level hiring, in jobs directly exposed to automation by AI. This means that mastery of AI tools will be hugely important for entry-level workers, and this WorkMe survey suggests they are getting the least amount of training.
Finally, the survey fits into the trend of “shadow AI,” where workers are overwhelmingly using these tools, but companies are further behind in official adoption of AI tools. Many colleges are banning AI tools, meanwhile, as they try to stem what they perceive as a rampant “cheating” crisis. From the market, where investors fear a bubble, to the entry level, where workers are trying to match their shadow use of AI to their actual performance, to the C-suite, where leaders are under pressure to revolutionize their companies and get results with this new technology, there’s an emerging gap between theory and reality.
Bernstein said that from her perspective as a human resources leader, “first of all, you want people not to fear to admit that they use it, right?” She urged companies to be transparent about how they’re really planning to use AI to displace the fear of AI tools being used to replace workers, on the one hand, and even facility with using it, on the other hand. “I don’t really think that we can literally replace employees,” she added, “maybe in very specific positions, but in general, I think companies are now in a stage that they need to educate their team members about it.”
Rising anxiety, falling readiness
Worry about AI’s effect on jobs is intensifying. 44.8% of workers are worried, and the proportion “very worried” has spiked since last year. Gen Z feels this most acutely: 62.2% say they worry about AI’s impact, with 28.4% “very worried”—the highest rate across age groups. Stress levels are up for 27% of Gen Z, the highest of any generation. Yet hope persists: 89.6% want to learn more about AI, and 86% believe AI proficiency is critical for career success.
The findings point to an urgent need for employers to bridge the AI readiness gap, offering clear guidance, comprehensive training, and transparent policies. Those on the leading edge of AI adoption—whether in the boardroom or among Gen Z—need support, not secrecy. As tools proliferate and expectations rise, organizations risk eroding trust, productivity, and emotional wellbeing unless this issue is addressed head-on.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
Have you ever sat on a tile at night and felt the residual heat of the day after a long summer’s day? That infrared thermal radiation had so far been wasted. However, it could become a source of solar energy at night and a new green power that overcomes the shortcomings of current photovoltaic technology.
After all, the lack of a continuous supply at any time of day is often considered the Achilles heel of solar energy. To alleviate this situation, new technologies in development can harness this type of renewable energy at any time, such as the V2G technology that uses electric car batteries to stabilize the grid. Now a team of researchers at the University of New Wales (UNSW) in Australia has presented another – still experimental – solution.
Nighttime solar energy (thanks to infrared radiation)
The warm summer tile mentioned earlier is part of a phenomenon whereby the earth cools down every night by emitting infrared radiation into outer space. This type of radiation that night vision cameras capture allows us to see warm-blooded living beings or the running engine of a car. This energy could so far only be leveraged for wildlife surveillance or monitoring systems. Fortunately, UNSW scientists have now devised a solution to capture solar energy at night and convert it into electricity.
Specifically, and based on mathematical models developed by the same laboratory, they have used a semiconductor device known as a thermoradiative diode. Instead of using it to capture images, they have used it to generate electricity from the emission of infrared thermal radiation. For the moment, the energy generated is a hundred thousand times less than that obtained from a photovoltaic panel.
However, scientists point out that the first silicon photovoltaic cell, developed by Bell Laboratories in 1954, was only 2 % efficient. Today, the most advanced photovoltaic panels exceed 20 %. The development team believes that its new technological approach can progress similarly. Technically, it could reach a tenth of the efficiency of a conventional solar panel.
The technological breakthrough of these researchers is not the only one that has taken place in the field of nighttime solar energy in recent times. One of the most striking examples of research in this field has been carried out by a team of researchers at Stanford University in the USA.
Their proposal involves taking advantage of the cooling of the solar panels at night by emitting infrared thermal radiation into outer space. The U.S. scientists have leveraged the temperature differential between the panels and the still warm air around them. They have used a thermoelectric generator, also known as a TEG.
The advantage of these thermoelectric generators is that they produce electricity when heated. This technology could also be added to photovoltaic solar panels to generate solar power at night and during the day in a single device. In this case, the main obstacle lies in the low power generated – measured in milliwatts – and the narrow window of opportunity to do so, as TEGs only work during the cooling or heating process.
Real-world applications: wearables and sensors
Nighttime solar power is probably not suitable for keeping the refrigerator running or doing the laundry. However, like triboelectric power, it has immense potential.
Firstly, it could maintain the power supply of sensors and IoT devices in remote locations after sunset, especially in hot countries. On the other hand, by converting infrared thermal radiation into electricity, one of the big beneficiaries would be wearables, such as sports bracelets or smart clothing. Moreover, the researchers envisage a future in which bionic devices such as artificial hearts will be powered by body heat.
Producing nighttime solar power could become a reality within the next decade, say inventors at an Australian university. This would provide yet another weapon in the renewable energy arsenal in transitioning away from fossil fuels and tackling climate change.
new video loaded: Thai Court Dismisses Prime Minister Over Ethics Violation
By Monika Cvorak•
The Constitutional Court in Bangkok permanently removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office over charges stemming from a conversation she had with the Cambodian leader Hun Sen, which raised questions about her loyalty.
This week, Sony Pictures’ animated film KPop Demon Hunters officially became Netflix‘s most-watched movie of all time, accumulating 236 million views since its June 20 release, surpassing Red Notice’s previous record of 230 million views.
Meanwhile, BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld spoke exclusively to MBW to discuss the company’s H1 2025 results. BMG’s organic revenue dipped 4.4% YoY to EUR €424 million in the first half of the year, but the firm said underlying streaming revenue climbed by high single digits.
Elsewhere, MBW reported that AI music generator Suno filed a bold motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit from independent artists. The AI company is that none of the millions of tracks created on its platform contain anything resembling a “sample” from existing recordings.
Also this week, Spotify rolled out in-app direct messaging to make sharing music and content easier among friends and family, while a UK tribunal rejected Blur drummer Dave Rowntree’s class action lawsuit against PRS for Music over black box royalty distribution.
Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past few days…
Netflix’s animated film KPop Demon Hunters has officially become the streaming platform’s most popular movie ever, accumulating 236 million views since its June 20 release and adding another 25.4 million views in the week ending August 24.
Netflix’s previous record holder, Red Notice, accumulated 230 million views during its first 91 days on the platform after being released in 2021. KPop Demon Hunters has 24 days remaining before surpassing the same 91-day premiere window.
The film’s remarkable performance shows no signs of slowing, with the movie exhibiting nearly 0% audience decline for three consecutive weeks after two straight intervals of 26 million views each.
The Sony Pictures production is building on the unprecedented success of its music, with KPop Demon Hunters becoming the first soundtrack to claim four simultaneous Top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100… (MBW)
BMG reported its H1 2025 results on Wednesday (August 28), with the Bertelsmann-owned company’s organic revenue dipping 4.4% YoY to EUR €424 million in the period, while underlying streaming revenue climbed by high single digits.
Meanwhile, BMG’s EBITDA margin jumped significantly to 28.7% – impacted by what Bertelsmann called a “strategic scaling back of lower-margin activities.”
For Thomas Coesfeld, BMG’s CEO since 2023, these results represent progress toward a more focused, efficient operation. Speaking exclusively to MBW, Coesfeld also addressed Spotify’s recent price increases, stating that “compared to audiovisual, music has historically been slower to adjust pricing and remains undervalued relative to the value it delivers”… (MBW)
AI music generator Suno is fighting back against copyright infringement claims from independent artists with a bold legal argument that could reshape the AI music debate.
In a motion to dismiss filed in federal court on August 18, Suno argued that the indie artist lawsuit “fails as a matter of law” and should be dismissed. The company claims that music made on Suno doesn’t actually “sample” existing recordings – regardless of what music was used to train its AI model.
This represents a potentially game-changing legal strategy: Suno claims that even if its AI learned from copyrighted songs, the outputs it generates are entirely new sounds that cannot infringe existing recordings under US copyright law… (MBW)
Spotify has started rolling out a direct message feature inside its app, which the platform says is meant to make sharing music and other content easier. The new feature, announced on Tuesday (August 26), will be available on mobile devices “in select markets” to both Free and Premium users, but only to those aged 16 and over.
To use the new DM feature, Spotify users can tap the share icon while listening to content in the ‘Now Playing’ view, which will bring up a list of people the user has interacted with before through Spotify.
Spotify’s DMs support text and emojis, but the company is quick to point out it’s not aiming to replace other social media platforms. DM chats are not fully end-to-end encrypted, but Spotify says they are protected with “encryption in transit and at rest….” (MBW)
A UK judicial tribunal has rejected a proposed class action lawsuit against performance rights organization PRS for Music over how it distributes “black box” royalties – royalties owed on songs whose rightsholders haven’t been properly identified.
In a judgment issued on Wednesday (August 27), the Competition Appeal Tribunal dismissed the proposed class-action lawsuit that had been brought on behalf of PRS’s 165,000 songwriter members by Blur drummer Dave Rowntree.
The tribunal concluded that because songwriters are not “owed” black box royalties, the class doesn’t have a legitimate claim under UK law. It also concluded that Rowntree’s lawyers hadn’t proposed an alternative to PRS’s method of distributing black box royalties, and doubted that the “cost-benefit” ratio of the lawsuit made sense, given that PRS is a not-for-profit owned by its publisher and songwriter members… (MBW)
Partner message: MBW’s Weekly Round-up is supported by BMI, the global leader in performing rights management, dedicated to supporting songwriters, composers and publishers and championing the value of music. Find out more about BMIhere. Music Business Worldwide
Palestinians in Gaza City are facing new threats to their lives after Israel announced the suspension of ‘humanitarian pauses’ in its assaults. Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim Al-Khalili has been to Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, where displaced people are preparing to leave under fire.
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Jonathan HeadSouth East Asia correspondent in Bangkok
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Paetongtarn Shinawatra
Thailand’s Constitutional Court strikes again, removing yet another prime minister from office.
The country’s notoriously interventionist panel of nine appointed judges has ruled that Paetongtarn Shinawatra violated ethical standards in a phone call she had in June with the veteran Cambodian leader Hun Sen, which he then leaked.
In it, Paetongtarn could be heard being conciliatory towards Hun Sen over their countries’ border dispute, and criticising one of her own army commanders.
She defended her conversation saying she had been trying to make a diplomatic breakthrough with Hun Sen, an old friend of her father Thaksin Shinawatra, and said the conversation should have remained confidential.
The leak was damaging and deeply embarrassing for her and her Pheu Thai party. It sparked calls for her to resign as her biggest coalition partner walked out of the government, leaving her with a slim majority.
In July, seven out of the nine judges on the court voted to suspend Paetongtarn, a margin which suggested she would suffer the same fate as her four predecessors. So Friday’s decision was not a surprise.
Paetongtarn is the fifth Thai prime minister to be removed from office by this court, all of them from administrations backed by her father.
This has given rise to a widespread belief in Thailand that it nearly always rules against those seen as a threat by conservative, royalist forces.
The court has also banned 112 political parties, many of them small, but including two previous incarnations of Thaksin’s Pheu Thai party, and Move Forward, the reformist movement which won the last election in 2023.
In few other countries is political life so rigorously policed by a branch of the judiciary.
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Paetongtarn Shinawatra with her father Thaksin
In this case, it was the leaked phone conversation that sealed Pateongtarn’s fate.
It is not clear why Hun Sen chose to burn his friendship with the Shinawatra family. He reacted angrily to a comment by Paetongtarn calling the Cambodian leadership’s use of social media to push its arguments “unprofessional”.
Hun Sen described it as “an unprecedented insult”, which had driven him to “expose the truth”.
But his decision caused a political crisis in Thailand, inflaming tensions over their border, which last month erupted into a five-day war that killed more than 40 people.
The Thai constitution now requires members of parliament to choose a new prime minister from a very limited list.
Each party was required to name three candidates before the last election, and Pheu Thai has now used up two, after the court’s dismissal of Srettha Thavisin last year.
Their third candidate, Chaikasem Nitisiri, is a former minister and party stalwart, but has little public profile and is in poor health. The alternative would be Anutin Charnvirakul, the former interior minister whose Bhumjaithai party walked out of the ruling coalition, ostensibly over the leaked phone call.
Relations between the two parties are now strained, and Anutin would have to rely on Pheu Thai, which has many more seats, to form a government, which is hardly a recipe for stability.
The largest party in parliament, the 143 MPs who were formerly in the now-dissolved Move Forward and have reformed as The People’s Party, has vowed not to join any coalition, but to remain in opposition until a new election is held.
A new election would appear to be the obvious way out of the current political mess, but Pheu Thai does not want that. After two years in office it has been unable to meet its promises to revive the economy.
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Paetongtarn during proceedings at the Constitutional Court earlier in August
For all of her youth, the inexperienced Paetongtarn failed to establish any real authority over the country, with most Thais presuming that her father was making all the big decisions.
But Thaksin Shinawatra seems to have lost his magic touch. Pheu Thai party’s signature policy at the last election, a digital wallet which would put B10,000 ($308; £178) in the pocket of every Thai adult, has stalled, and been widely criticised as ineffective.
Other grand plans, to legalise casinos, and to build a “land-bridge” linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, have gone nowhere.
At a time when Thai nationalist sentiment has been fired up over the border war with Cambodia, the Shinawatra family’s long-standing – though now broken – friendship with Hun Sen has heightened suspicion in conservative circles that they will always put their business interests before those of the nation.
The party’s popularity has plunged, and it is likely it would lose many of its 140 seats in an election now.
For more than two decades it was an unbeatable electoral force which dominated Thai politics.
It is hard to see how it will ever regain that dominance.
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