Business

Rachel Reeves is opening up Britain’s corporate bond market to small investors as part of a wider push to channel more household savings into UK businesses and revive London’s capital markets.

The chancellor will on Monday launch a government-backed initiative designed to make corporate bonds accessible to retail investors for the first time in years, scrapping barriers that had effectively restricted the market to institutions and wealthy individuals. Under the new rules, individuals will be able to invest in corporate bonds from as little as £1, compared with the previous £100,000 minimum that had become standard after EU-era regulations.

Speaking at an event hosted by the London Stock Exchange, Reeves is expected to declare the start of what she calls “a new golden age” for the City, framing the reforms as central to Labour’s ambition to boost productive investment and economic growth.

At the heart of the plan is a new kitemark system aimed at reassuring novice investors. The London Stock Exchange will introduce so-called “Access Bonds”, a designation that allows qualifying corporate bonds to be clearly identified on retail investment platforms. Alongside this, the Financial Conduct Authority will oversee a more stringent classification known as Plain Vanilla Listed Bonds, or PVLBs, reserved for straightforward bond structures with standardised terms.

Ministers hope the changes will revive direct retail participation in an asset class that has virtually disappeared from the UK. While British savers can easily buy government debt, direct ownership of corporate bonds is negligible, in stark contrast to the United States, where households hold more than $6 trillion of debt securities.

Officials argue that corporate bonds should appeal to cautious investors looking for predictable income. Blue-chip issuers typically offer yields at least a percentage point higher than government bonds, with repayment terms fixed over periods of two, five or ten years. Although bond prices can fluctuate with interest rates and inflation, default risk among large, established companies is seen as relatively low.

Banks, energy groups and major retailers including Lloyds, HSBC, BP, Shell, Tesco and BT are regular bond issuers, and many of their future offerings are expected to qualify for the new retail-friendly labels. Barclays estimates that around 13 million people in the UK currently hold £430 billion in cash savings that could, in principle, be suitable for investment in corporate bonds.

The reforms also form part of a broader overhaul of prospectus rules intended to make it easier and cheaper for companies to raise money in London. Thresholds for issuing a full prospectus have been significantly increased, particularly for secondary share issues and investment trusts, reducing regulatory friction and speeding up capital raising. The mandatory waiting period for IPO prospectuses has also been cut in half.

Industry figures say the package is long overdue. James Deal of RetailBook, which has long campaigned for greater retail participation in capital markets, described the reforms as a major step forward, coming six years after they were first recommended in a review led by former EU commissioner Jonathan Hill.

Some retail platforms have privately expressed concerns that new labels and acronyms could add complexity to an already jargon-heavy market. However, the exchange is pressing ahead with a public education drive under the banner “Bond With Britain”, aimed at improving understanding of how bonds work and the risks involved.

Reeves is expected to tell the audience that London’s financial sector is showing renewed strength, pointing to record highs in the FTSE 100 and growing international interest in UK listings. “Two years ago, some said the City’s best days were behind it,” she will say. “They were wrong.”

Read more:
Reeves opens corporate bond market to small investors in bid to unlock UK savings

UK employers are being forced to reassess their healthcare and benefits strategies as demand for weight-management drugs surges among employees, according to new research.

More than a quarter of UK workers have already used a weight-management drug such as Ozempic, while two in five believe their employer should fund access to these treatments through workplace healthcare plans. As a result, 44 per cent of employers say they are now reviewing, or fundamentally redesigning, their healthcare provision.

The findings come from the Changing Face of Employee Health report by Howden Employee Benefits, which suggests that blockbuster GLP-1 drugs are becoming a defining issue in the future of workplace health.

Despite the rising pressure from staff, employers are caught in a financial bind. Almost nine in ten businesses say they are currently satisfied with the return on investment from their healthcare plans, yet half of those already covering weight-management drugs now see them as a growing cost concern. Nearly half expect those costs to rise further, with one in five businesses citing obesity-related conditions as the single biggest driver of increasing healthcare spend.

While only 5 per cent of employers expect these costs to ease next year, many acknowledge the long-term trade-off. Weight-related illnesses such as diabetes contribute significantly to sickness absence and lost productivity. Around 72 per cent of UK employers are already investing in preventative health measures, and some see controlled access to weight-management drugs as a way to reduce longer-term health risks and associated business costs.

However, the report warns that failing to adapt healthcare plans could create wider problems. With medical inflation forecast at 7 per cent in 2026, and combined cost increases of more than 10 per cent once general inflation is included,  employers face difficult decisions about which treatments to cover and where to draw the line.

Cheryl Brennan, managing director of Howden Employee Benefits, said the issue is no longer hypothetical. “The demand for these drugs is obvious, and employers simply can’t afford to ignore it. But the financial impact cannot be overlooked – this is already forcing business leaders to rethink plan design and budget allocations.”

She added that while the drugs offer significant health benefits, they should not be treated as a cure-all. “Weight-management drugs are not a silver bullet. They need to sit within a broader, more personalised health strategy with clear eligibility guardrails. Employers will also have to justify why they cover these treatments ahead of others that remain excluded.”

As employee expectations evolve, the report suggests workplace healthcare is entering a new phase, one where prevention, personalisation and tough financial trade-offs will define how benefits are structured over the coming years.

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Employers rethink healthcare benefits as weight-loss drugs reshape workplace provision

Rachel Reeves is preparing to channel tens of millions of pounds of public money into a British self-driving technology company as Labour moves to accelerate the rollout of autonomous vehicles on UK roads.

The £28bn National Wealth Fund (NWF), backed by the Treasury, is understood to be close to agreeing a major investment in Oxa, the Oxford-founded driverless vehicle start-up previously known as Oxbotica. The business was established in 2014 by Oxford University academic Professor Paul Newman and was the first company to trial autonomous vehicles on UK roads in 2016.

Oxa has raised more than £180m from private investors to date and focuses on developing software that can make existing vehicles autonomous, rather than manufacturing cars itself. Its technology is already used in driverless shuttle buses and industrial and logistics vehicles, positioning it as an infrastructure player in the emerging autonomous ecosystem.

The proposed investment would come via the National Wealth Fund, launched by Labour in 2024 as the successor to the UK Infrastructure Bank. While operationally independent, the fund is designed to support the government’s growth and industrial strategy, typically making direct investments of £25m to £50m to crowd in significantly larger sums of private capital.

Backing from the fund would mark one of the government’s most substantial direct bets on an artificial intelligence business to date, and would align with plans to begin trials of driverless taxis and buses on British roads later this year. Ride-hailing groups Uber and Lyft have already confirmed their intention to test autonomous vehicles under the UK’s new regulatory framework, while Tesla continues to pilot its Full Self-Driving software in Britain. Another UK firm, Wayve, which has raised more than £1bn, is also preparing public trials through a partnership with Uber.

Oxa’s latest funding discussions follow a £15m injection from existing backers in December, including BP’s venture capital arm, alongside talks over a further “frontier AI” investment round. In September, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang publicly praised the company as an “incredible autonomous driving business” and signalled interest in investing in its next round.

However, the company has faced financial pressures. IP Group, an early investor, revealed last year that it had cut Oxa’s valuation by around two-thirds to £120m, reflecting mounting losses and tougher market conditions for deep-tech start-ups.

The NWF has already committed more than £200m in equity investments and billions more in debt financing for clean energy and battery manufacturing projects. In its first year under Labour, it invested £3.6bn as part of the government’s wider effort to stimulate long-term growth.

Neither Oxa nor the National Wealth Fund commented on the prospective deal, and the Treasury declined to comment.

Read more:
Reeves set to back self-driving car firm with tens of millions in taxpayer funding

Amazon is carrying out tuberculosis (TB) testing at its Coventry fulfilment centre after a small number of workers were found to have the infectious lung disease.

The company confirmed that screening is taking place as a precaution, following the identification of several cases at the site, which employs around 2,000 people, according to the GMB union.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) began a targeted screening programme at the warehouse in September after a handful of workers were diagnosed with active, contagious TB last year. Amazon said that a further 10 employees subsequently tested positive for latent TB towards the end of 2025.

Latent TB means the bacteria are present in the body but the individual does not have symptoms and cannot pass the disease on. However, without treatment, latent TB can later develop into an active and infectious form.

Dr Roger Gajraj, a consultant in health protection at UK Health Security Agency, said the individuals identified with active TB were responding well to treatment and were no longer infectious.

“As a precaution, and in line with national guidance, we are offering testing to those who may have had closer contact with the affected individuals,” he said. “The overall risk remains low. TB is fully treatable with antibiotics, and we continue to work closely with Amazon to monitor the situation.”

Amazon said it had acted immediately after the initial cases were discovered. A spokesperson said: “We followed guidance from the NHS and UKHSA and made all potentially affected employees aware of the situation. Out of an abundance of caution, we are now running an expanded screening programme with the NHS. Nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of our team members.”

However, the GMB union has called for stronger measures. Amanda Gearing, a senior organiser for the union at the Coventry site, urged “immediate and decisive action”, including the temporary closure of the warehouse until infection control measures are fully in place.

The union said NHS staff attended the site this week to carry out blood tests on workers and that multiple cases had been reported. One employee told union representatives there were concerns that some migrant workers could be more vulnerable if they had not received TB vaccinations in their countries of origin.

Coventry City Council said it was encouraging residents to remain alert to symptoms amid a broader national rise in TB cases. A council spokesperson said: “TB testing and treatment is free to everyone on the NHS, regardless of immigration status. Anyone experiencing symptoms should contact their GP or NHS 111 without delay.”

Common symptoms of tuberculosis include a persistent cough lasting more than three weeks, fatigue, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss. The disease spreads through prolonged close contact with someone who has active TB.

According to government data published in October, TB notifications rose by 13.6 per cent in 2024 to 5,490 cases, bringing the UK close to the World Health Organization’s threshold for a low-incidence country.

The Coventry warehouse has previously been the focus of industrial unrest, with Amazon narrowly defeating a union recognition vote at the site in 2024.

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Amazon tests Coventry warehouse staff for tuberculosis after outbreak

President Donald Trump has reignited global trade tensions after announcing a fresh wave of tariffs on European exports, a move that businesses warn could disrupt supply chains, dent confidence and push up inflation in the United States.

Under the new plan, a blanket 10 per cent tariff will be imposed on “all or any goods” exported to the US from the UK, Denmark and other European countries from February 1. Trump has also threatened to raise those duties to 25 per cent from June 1 unless negotiations succeed over the US purchasing Greenland, a demand that has already been firmly rejected by Copenhagen and its allies.

Market analysts say the policy represents a sharp escalation in Trump’s confrontational trade strategy and comes at a delicate moment for the UK economy, which has only just returned to modest growth.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said the move had injected renewed uncertainty into global markets. She described the announcement as “migraine-inducing” for both politicians and companies that have already endured months of tariff brinkmanship.

“Just when there appeared to be a lull in the tariff storm, President Trump has whipped up fresh economic chaos,” Streeter said. “This is his modus operandi — unleash uncertainty and threats of more onerous measures to coerce nations to acquiesce to his demands.”

While there may be some relief that talk of military action has been dialled back, Streeter warned that the tariffs themselves look likely to persist. Given how entrenched positions are on Greenland’s future, she said the 10 per cent levy could remain in place for some time, with the risk of a jump to 25 per cent in June “highly possible”.

For exporters selling into the US, the implications are significant. Many firms have already struggled to absorb the cost of existing tariffs, leaving little room to cushion further increases. As a result, higher duties are likely to be passed on to American customers through higher prices.

“That risks lower demand and weaker sales for exporters,” Streeter said. “Some US importers may rush to bring forward orders ahead of June, creating a short-term bump, but longer term they are likely to look for cheaper suppliers elsewhere.”

The knock-on effects are already worrying UK businesses, where confidence has fallen sharply in recent months. Although recent data suggested the economy had begun to stabilise, analysts fear that renewed trade disruption could quickly undermine that progress.

The latest move is also expected to intensify inflationary pressures in the US. Higher prices are likely across a wide range of goods, from cars and chemicals to food products such as olive oil, as well as aircraft and medical equipment. This comes at a time when many US households are already feeling the strain of rising living costs.

Streeter warned that the tariffs could further inflame tensions between the White House and the Federal Reserve, as policymakers weigh the inflationary impact of trade barriers against pressure from Trump to cut interest rates more aggressively.

“Policymakers are likely to be even more cautious,” she said. “Tariffs ramping up again make it harder to justify faster rate cuts.”

For the UK, the episode is expected to strengthen calls for trade diversification. Many firms are already exploring new markets to reduce reliance on the US, mirroring a strategy adopted by China, which has boosted exports by forging alternative trading relationships. The latest tariff threat is also likely to reignite debate over closer trade ties with the EU as a way to offset damage from US policy swings.

Read more:
Trump’s new tariff threat risks chaos for companies and higher inflation in the US

Sir Keir Starmer has condemned Donald Trump’s threat to impose sweeping tariffs on the UK and other European allies over Greenland, calling the move “completely wrong” and warning it undermines Nato unity.

The intervention follows a statement by Donald Trump, who said the United States would introduce a 10 per cent tariff on goods from the UK and seven European countries from 1 February. The levies would rise to 25 per cent on 1 June unless a deal was reached to allow the US to purchase Greenland.

Trump said the tariffs would apply to Nato members, including the UK, France and Germany, that have deployed troops to the Arctic territory amid rising geopolitical tensions. In a post on his Truth Social platform, he accused European countries of travelling to Greenland “for purposes unknown” and described the situation as “very dangerous” for global security.

Responding on Saturday evening, Keir Starmer said the UK’s position was unequivocal.

“Our position on Greenland is very clear, it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and its future is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes,” he said. “Arctic security matters for the whole of Nato, and allies should be working together to address the growing threat from Russia.”

Starmer added: “Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of Nato allies is completely wrong. We will of course be pursuing this directly with the US administration.”

Opposition leaders across Westminster echoed the criticism, warning the move would damage British businesses and further strain transatlantic relations.

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservatives, said the threat was misguided. “President Trump is completely wrong to announce tariffs on the UK over Greenland,” she said. “These tariffs will be yet another burden for businesses across our country. The sovereignty of Greenland should only be decided by the people of Greenland.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the episode exposed the fragility of the UK’s relationship with Washington. “Trump is now punishing the UK and Nato allies just for doing the right thing,” he said, urging Starmer to work more closely with European and Commonwealth partners to push back.

Even Nigel Farage, a long-time admirer of Trump, acknowledged the potential damage. “We don’t always agree with the US government and in this case we certainly don’t,” he said, adding that the tariffs would “hurt” the UK.

Senior Labour figures also used the moment to argue for a reset in Britain’s strategic posture. Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, said Trump’s threats underlined the need for closer cooperation with Europe. “If we can’t rely on America and we don’t want to cosy up to China, the answer is to get serious about our strategic future with Europe,” she said.

Former national security adviser Peter Ricketts urged calm diplomacy, telling BBC Radio 4 that European governments should resist escalation and continue to make the case for collective Nato security. He noted that during the Cold War the US maintained a large military presence in Greenland without resorting to economic threats.

“The right way forward is cooperation, not tariffs and bluster,” Ricketts said, adding that any EU response would need to be coordinated at bloc level, limiting Trump’s ability to target individual member states.

The tariff threat comes at a sensitive moment for UK businesses, already grappling with weak growth, high borrowing costs and fragile export demand. Any new trade barriers with the US risk compounding those pressures, particularly for manufacturers and exporters reliant on transatlantic markets.

Read more:
Starmer condemns Trump’s Greenland tariff threat as ‘completely wrong’

Adverts will soon begin appearing inside OpenAI’s flagship chatbot ChatGPT, as the company looks for new ways to monetise one of the world’s most widely used AI tools.

OpenAI has confirmed it will trial advertising in ChatGPT in the United States, with adverts shown to some users on the free version of the service as well as a new lower-cost subscription tier, ChatGPT Go.

ChatGPT Go will be priced at $8 a month in the US, with equivalent pricing rolled out globally. The tier sits below existing paid plans, which include ChatGPT Plus at $20 a month and ChatGPT Pro at $200.

During the trial, adverts will appear at the top of the interface after a user submits a prompt. For example, someone asking ChatGPT for travel recommendations in Mexico may see holiday-related adverts displayed as banner-style placements. OpenAI stressed that the adverts will not influence ChatGPT’s answers and that conversation data will not be shared with advertisers.

The company said it was exploring advertising “so more people can benefit from our tools with fewer usage limits”, signalling that ads could help subsidise wider access to the platform.

The move comes amid growing scrutiny of the economics of the AI sector. Despite explosive user growth, many leading AI companies are still operating at significant losses. The Financial Times reported that OpenAI lost around $8bn (£6bn) in the first half of 2025 alone, with only about 5 per cent of ChatGPT’s estimated 800 million users paying for a subscription.

Henry Ajder, an expert in AI, deepfakes and synthetic media, said the decision was unsurprising given the company’s financial position.

OpenAI has confirmed it will trial advertising in ChatGPT in the United States, with adverts shown to some users on the free version of the service as well as a new lower-cost subscription tier, ChatGPT Go.

“OpenAI has seen enormous growth in users, but it continues to burn investor cash and is not yet a profit-making entity,” he said. “To turn that around, it needs revenue sources beyond subscriptions. For many software businesses, advertising is a proven and reliable model.”

OpenAI was originally founded as a non-profit research organisation but has steadily evolved into a more commercial operation as the costs of building and running large AI models have surged. Advertising has underpinned much of the internet economy for more than two decades, funding everything from search engines to social media platforms.

Despite this, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has previously been sceptical about ads, once describing them as “a last resort”. Nevertheless, OpenAI is not alone in reconsidering the approach. Rival AI firm Perplexity created a senior advertising role last year, while Google has denied reports that it plans to introduce ads into its Gemini AI assistant in 2026.

Analysts say OpenAI’s experiment will be closely watched across the tech sector. If successful, it could mark a turning point in how consumer AI products are funded — and potentially signal that the era of ad-free chatbots is coming to an end.

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ChatGPT to carry adverts for some users as OpenAI searches for new revenue

DL Mining Against the backdrop of an increasingly complex global economic situation, the cryptocurrency market has recently seen a long-awaited rebound, with Bitcoin prices rebounding sharply and becoming the focus of market attention.

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In the volatile environment of the cryptocurrency market, DL Mining opening the era of zero-threshold BTC、DOGE、ETH&XRP mining on smartphones,Earn $1K/day easily

Let’s face it: “Regulatory Update” is a phrase that usually sends marketers sprinting for the nearest espresso machine. We like the creative stuff. The “big ideas.” The high-octane campaigns that turn prospects into advocates.

But here is the hard truth for every Channel Partner Marketing Manager (CPMM): In 2026, compliance is no longer a “legal thing”—it is a brand thing. If your partner in Munich mishandles customer data, or your reseller in Paris uses a “black box” AI tool to generate deceptive ads, it isn’t just their reputation on the line. It’s yours. With the EU AI Act now in full swing and GDPR entering its “mature enforcement” era, the distance between a partner’s mistake and your company’s $20 million fine has never been shorter.

Managing a channel is like playing a global game of “Telephone.” You whisper a brand message and a set of rules at one end, and by the time it reaches the end customer via a third-party reseller, it has been translated, truncated, and—all too often—stripped of its legal guardrails.

Here is how to stop the “compliance leak” and ensure your partners are as safe as they are successful.

The Regulatory Landscape: What’s Actually New?

Before you can enforce the rules, you need to know them. We’re moving past the “wild west” of data collection into a highly structured era of Risk-Based Regulation.

GDPR: The “Permanent” Baseline

While GDPR felt like a fire drill in 2018, today it is the floor, not the ceiling. The focus in 2026 has shifted from “Do you have a privacy policy?” to “Can you prove the lineage of your data?” For CPMMs, this means ensuring partners aren’t just “buying lists” and claiming they have “legitimate interest.” If your partners are uploading leads into your CRM, you need an automated audit trail of how that consent was captured.

The EU AI Act: The New Frontier

The EU AI Act is the world’s first comprehensive law on Artificial Intelligence. It categorizes AI tools into risk levels:

Prohibited Risk: Systems that manipulate human behavior (e.g., “dark patterns” in UI).
High Risk: AI used in recruitment, credit scoring, or critical infrastructure.
Limited/Minimal Risk: Chatbots and AI-generated content (this is where most marketing sits).

The kicker for marketers? Transparency. If your partner is using AI to generate “customer testimonials” or “realistic influencers,” they must disclose it.5 Failure to do so isn’t just “unethical”—it’s now illegal in the EU and several other jurisdictions following suit.

Regulation
Primary Focus
Marketer’s “TL;DR”

GDPR
Data Privacy & Consent
“No consent, no contact.”

EU AI Act
Safety & Transparency
“Disclose the AI, avoid the manipulation.”

PECR (UK)
Electronic Comms
“The rules for cold emailing and cookies.”

The “Partner Compliance Gap”: Why Good Partners Do Bad Things

Most partners don’t want to break the law. They break the law because of Friction. If your compliance process takes three weeks but your “End of Quarter” sales push ends in three days, the partner will choose the path of least resistance. This usually involves “Franken-marketing”—stitching together old assets, unverified data, and unauthorized AI tools to get the job done.

As a CPMM, your job is to remove the friction of being legal. Some channel partner marketing courses have started to address this issue and include it in their certifications.

The 4-Step Framework for Partner Compliance

To keep your channel partners compliant, you need to stop thinking like a cop and start thinking like an enabler.

Step 1: Standardize the “Compliance-Ready” Toolkit

Don’t ask your partners to write their own privacy disclosures or AI disclaimers. They’ll get it wrong. Instead, provide a Modular Marketing Asset Library.

Pre-approved Copy Blocks: Give them “Copy/Paste” legalese for landing pages and emails.
The “Safe AI” Seal: Provide a list of vetted AI tools your company has cleared for use.
Dynamic Templates: Use a Partner Marketing Automation (PMA) tool that hard-codes the required disclosures into every co-branded asset.

Step 2: Implement “Smart” MDF Controls

Market Development Funds (MDF) are your biggest lever. If you want partners to stay compliant, make it a condition of reimbursement.

Update your MDF claim process to require:

Proof of Consent: For any lead-gen campaign, the partner must submit a screenshot of the opt-in mechanism used.
AI Disclosure Check: If AI was used in creative production, did they include the required watermark or disclosure?

Step 3: The “Capability Chasm” Training

Professionals research shows a massive “capability chasm” between those who understand AI and those who just use it.

Instead of a 50-page “Code of Conduct” PDF that no one reads, launch a Certification Program. Make it short, punchy, and video-based. “How to use AI in Marketing without getting us both sued” is a much more effective title than “Regulatory Compliance Training Module 4.”

Step 4: Automate the Audit (The “Trust but Verify” Phase)

In 2026, manual audits are dead. Use AI-powered monitoring tools to scan partner websites and social media feeds for your brand mentions. These tools can flag:

Outdated logos.
Missing privacy links.
Hyperbolic claims that violate consumer protection laws.

The Golden Rule: Joint Accountability

The shift in 2026 is moving toward Joint Controllership. In the eyes of the regulators, if you provide the funds, the brand, and the leads, you are responsible for how the partner handles them.

“A partner’s non-compliance is a failure of the vendor’s enablement.”

If a partner isn’t compliant, don’t just send a stern email. Ask: Did we make it too hard for them to do it right?

Moving Forward: Compliance as a Competitive Advantage

Here is the “Professionals twist”: Compliance isn’t just about avoiding fines. It’s a selling point. In a world drowning in “slop”—low-quality, AI-generated, data-scraping marketing—partners who can prove they respect privacy and use AI ethically will win more trust. And in B2B marketing, trust is the only currency that actually matters.

Your partners are the face of your brand in the field. By giving them the tools, the training, and the technology to stay compliant, you aren’t just “covering your assets”—you’re building a professional, high-integrity channel that customers actually want to buy from.

Read more:
Compliance Is the New Creative: Why Your Channel Partners Are Your Biggest Liability (and How to Fix It)

Online communities and digital services now play a key role in the global gaming industry.

While games still require specific hardware to run smoothly, technological innovations promise a future where that may no longer be necessary.

They make it possible to play high-quality games without owning expensive devices, and developers are increasingly optimising gaming apps to run smoothly on smartphones.

Technology is redefining the foundation of gaming through advancements in cloud infrastructure, widespread use of smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI).

Gaming is no longer just about the technology. It has evolved into a global ecosystem that prioritises accessibility, personalisation and camaraderie between players.

With mobile apps now play a huge role in the everyday life of the average person, we assess some of the exciting technology developments to watch this year and beyond.

New Foundations for Game Creation

AI was initially used as a support tool during gaming app development, but it has now become a creative partner for developers worldwide.

Developers now rely on AI to speed up production and unlock ideas that would have taken years to build manually. Instead of designing every character, line of dialogue, level, environment and challenge themselves, developers and studios use AI to handle these tasks.

It is easy to spot the notable changes when you pay attention to how non-playable characters behave. Characters from older games were notorious for repeating the same actions and lines regardless of the player’s actions or decisions.

However, things are smoother in newer games that include AI. Characters controlled by AI react more naturally to the player’s choices. They can remember what the player has done before, adjust their behaviour and even change how they talk based on how the game is being played.

Cross-platform development is also likely to become more popular in 2026. Games are no longer expected to work on just one device, with players leaning toward titles that let them switch between their phone, console and computer without any issues.

Epic’s first-party games, such as Fortnite, Fall Guys, LEGO Fortnite and Rocket League, support cross-platform technology.

Doubling Down on Immersion, Mobility and Mobile Gaming

While computers and consoles are still the ultimate gaming devices, mobile phones are gradually becoming the driving force of the industry.

Developers have started creating complex, high-quality mobile games that can compete with console and PC titles, thanks to new technologies.

Gamers tend to work with smartphones because they are cheaper and more accessible than consoles and PCs. But none of that would be possible without 5G technology.

The 5G tech allows games to run smoothly on smartphones, even in graphically demanding online multiplayer titles such as Call of Duty Mobile (CODM).

CODM is one of the most popular online multiplayer games in the world. With 5G tech, players can join live matches, play with others around the world and even stream high-quality content.

It has also helped mobile eSports grow into a serious business, with competitive mobile games such as PUBG Mobile and Honour of Kings attracting massive audiences and mouth-watering prize pools.

Monetisation has also changed with more people playing mobile games. In-app purchases are still common, but players expect transparency rather than feeling pressured or into paying just to win.

This is where the line between gaming and betting apps begins to overlap. Companies such as Betfair, one of the best betting apps on trusted comparison website bettingtop10.com/gb/, are showing that similar tech can be used across different digital experiences.

Features such as real-time updates and live competition also work well for prediction-based games linked to eSports, fantasy games and other competitive digital events.

The Future of Gaming Apps Could Rely on Connected Ecosystems

Many gaming apps are already connected to other digital tools people use, such as smartwatches, foldable phones, smart home devices and payment apps.

Gamers will likely see more of this in the future. When these systems work together, it changes how players interact with games and how developers think about long-term engagement.

Wearable devices will likely be a key part of this new ecosystem. Smartwatches can send game updates to your wrist, track your progress or even link your real-world activity to in-game rewards.

Developers talk a lot about play patterns on smartwatches, highlighting the fact that people won’t need to squint at their wrists during long gaming sessions.

Companies such as Bossa Studios have already established a foothold in the industry by creating games for smartwatches. The studio is responsible for popular mobile games such as Surgeon Simulator, Thomas Was Alone and Twelve a Dozen.

They have also developed a game called Spy_Watch, which can be played on the Apple Watch. The game puts players in charge of their own virtual espionage agency.

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Online Gaming: An Entertainment Ecosystem Teeming with Opportunities