Ofcom has fined Virgin Media £23.8 million after finding that the company’s move to digital landlines left thousands of vulnerable telecare customers at direct risk of harm.

What Ofcom Has Decided

On 1 December 2025, Ofcom announced that it had imposed a £23.8 million penalty on Virgin Media for serious failings during its programme to migrate customers from traditional analogue landlines to digital services.

Why?

The regulator’s investigation concluded that, between August 2022 and December 2023, Virgin Media’s handling of telecare users breached its consumer protection obligations. For example, under Ofcom’s rules, telecoms providers must have clear and effective policies to ensure the fair treatment of customers whose circumstances make them vulnerable.

In practice, Ofcom found that Virgin Media failed on two major fronts. First, it did not properly identify and record telecare customers, which created significant gaps in its screening and support processes. Second, it disconnected some known telecare users who did not respond to the company’s contact attempts about the digital switchover, despite the risks that disconnection posed.

Those disconnections prevented telecare alarm devices from reaching monitoring centres in an emergency, leaving affected users in potentially unsafe situations. Ofcom said this put thousands of vulnerable people at direct risk of harm.

Four Weeks To Pay

Virgin Media must pay the £23.8 million fine within four weeks. The amount reflects a 30 per cent reduction in recognition of the company’s decision to admit liability, cooperate with Ofcom’s investigation and enter a formal settlement process.

Why Telecare Users Were So Exposed

Telecare systems are widely used by elderly, disabled or otherwise vulnerable people who rely on an emergency pendant or wristband to call for help. When activated, the device connects via the user’s landline to an alarm monitoring centre or a designated carer. Any break in that connection, therefore, can have severe consequences for anyone experiencing a fall, sudden illness or another emergency.

Transition

The UK’s telecoms sector is currently transitioning from the ageing public switched telephone network, the copper based PSTN, to digital IP based voice services. The PSTN is now considered beyond its intended lifespan and increasingly unreliable, which is why the digital upgrade is underway across the industry.

For most households, the change is relatively straightforward. For telecare users, however, migration must be handled with greater care. Telecare devices may not work correctly if not fully tested on digital lines, and power outages can affect digital services unless appropriate backup solutions are in place. For this reason, Ofcom has repeatedly stressed that telecoms companies must identify, protect and support these users throughout any transition.

How Virgin Media’s Switchover Went Wrong

Virgin Media first alerted Ofcom to a series of “serious incidents” involving telecare customers in November and December 2023. These reports triggered a formal investigation into whether the company had systemic issues in its migration process.

Over a period of roughly sixteen months, Ofcom found that Virgin Media’s approach had exposed vulnerable users in several ways. For example, significant numbers of telecare customers were not correctly identified in Virgin’s internal systems, meaning they were not flagged for the additional support required during migration.

Ofcom also found that Virgin Media disconnected some telecare users who did not respond to letters, emails or calls about the switchover. These disconnections went ahead even though the company was aware of the risks this created for users who depended on working landlines for emergency assistance.

During its remedial work, Virgin Media contacted 42,991 identified telecare customers to support them through migration. This figure gives a sense of the scale of the telecare customer base that the company needed to re-assess once the issues came to light.

What Virgin Media Says In Its Defence

Virgin Media has accepted Ofcom’s findings and the pretty substantial fine. The company has emphasised that the majority of migrations were completed without issue, but acknowledges that it did not get everything right for telecare users.

A spokesperson said the company recognised the problems that occurred and had since addressed the issues identified by Ofcom. Virgin Media has also highlighted the broader context, stating that the move to digital phone lines is essential because analogue lines are becoming less reliable and are increasingly difficult to maintain.

Reviews And Improvements

The company says it’s carried out an end to end review of its digital migration processes and introduced a “comprehensive package of improvements”, including:

– Better targeted communications for telecare users.

– Additional in home support during the switchover.

– Extensive post migration checks.

– Manual reviews of customer records to identify additional telecare users.

– A new policy that keeps non engaging telecare customers in a continuous engagement process rather than disconnecting them.

Virgin Media also says it is working with government, Ofcom and local authorities on a national awareness campaign to help improve understanding of the digital switchover and the specific needs of telecare users.

Virgin Media Customers

For most customers, the fine itself doesn’t change day to day services, since the money will go directly to the Treasury. However, the wider questions relate to whether Virgin Media’s updated processes are now strong enough to prevent a recurrence and whether customers, particularly those responsible for the care of vulnerable people, can have confidence in the company’s revised safeguards.

Businesses that rely on landlines for safety critical systems are likely to now be paying close attention to these developments. For example, telecare is the highest risk category, but many organisations still have legacy analogue dependencies, including alarm systems, lift phones, payment terminals and monitored entry systems. As the Virgin Media case shows, identifying those dependencies early is essential to ensure continuity during migration.

How Significant Is This Penalty?

The penalty sits among Ofcom’s larger fines in recent years. It is smaller than the £50 million fine issued to Royal Mail in 2018 and the £42 million penalty imposed on BT in 2017, but it is one of Ofcom’s largest decisions involving consumer protection rather than competition or technical service breaches.

What sets this case apart, however, is its focus on vulnerability and safety. Ofcom has made clear that the digital switchover cannot be treated as a purely technical exercise, particularly where safety critical devices are involved. Providers must be able to demonstrate that they have identified every customer who relies on telecare or similar services and that they have a safe, verified plan for migrating them.

Implications For Rivals And The Wider PSTN Switchover

The decision arrives during a complex national transition. Telecoms providers, government and industry bodies have agreed new charters and non voluntary migration checklists designed to strengthen protections for vulnerable customers. These include new expectations around individual risk assessments, enhanced contact attempts and safeguards before any disconnection can take place.

Other major providers have already had to revise their own migration plans in response to concerns about telecare reliability. The Virgin Media case is likely to intensify scrutiny across the sector, as Ofcom has made clear that it will not hesitate to take enforcement action if providers cannot demonstrate that vulnerable customers are being safeguarded.

Questions And Criticisms

The decision has raised several points of debate. For example, one relates to the absence of direct compensation, since the fine goes to the Treasury rather than to affected customers or local authorities who may have had to respond to incidents during the switchover. Ofcom’s role in this case is enforcement rather than redress, which means affected users will not receive direct financial support through this process.

Another issue is whether the failures identified at Virgin Media point to a broader challenge for the sector. Telecare providers, charities and parliamentary committees have continued to highlight confusion about responsibilities during migration, particularly where equipment manufacturers, care providers and telecoms companies all play different roles in keeping telecare services working.

There are also concerns that awareness among small businesses and property managers remains low. For example, even organisations not directly involved in health or social care may still rely on analogue lines for alarms, access systems or monitoring equipment without realising the implications of the switchover. The Virgin Media enforcement action is likely to prompt renewed calls for clearer guidance, more proactive industry communication and closer coordination with equipment suppliers.

What Happens Next?

Virgin Media has already paused and redesigned parts of its migration process. The company is now operating under updated policies, a revised engagement model for telecare users and closer regulatory oversight.

Ofcom is continuing to issue guidance on how providers should handle the remainder of the PSTN switch off. This includes expectations around vulnerability assessments, business continuity planning and coordination with emergency services, local authorities and telecare operators.

The case is likely to remain a reference point for months to come as organisations, regulators and telecoms companies navigate the final stages of the UK’s shift to digital landline services.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This enforcement decision leaves the sector with a clearer sense of what regulators expect during the remainder of the switchover. Virgin Media’s failings were specific, but the underlying challenges are shared across the industry, particularly the difficulty of mapping analogue dependencies and ensuring that every vulnerable user is identified before any change goes ahead. The scale of the fine signals that Ofcom is prepared to act when those responsibilities are not met, which will shape how major providers approach their own migration plans over the next year.

The case also demonstrates why UK businesses should pay closer attention to their remaining reliance on analogue systems. Many organisations have digitalised most of their operations but still depend on a single lift line, alarm system or monitored entry point that uses outdated infrastructure. The disruption experienced by telecare users shows how easily those hidden dependencies can be overlooked and why forward planning is essential. For sectors such as housing, healthcare, facilities management and retail, the risks are not only technical but operational and reputational.

For telecare users, charities and local authorities, the decision provides reassurance that regulators are watching and treating these risks seriously. It also highlights how fragmented responsibilities have made safe migration more complicated. Telecoms providers can update their own processes, but the safety of vulnerable customers also depends on the readiness of equipment manufacturers, monitoring centres and care providers. The outcome may drive more coordinated planning across these groups, which has often been missing.

The broader lesson for the sector is that the digital switchover is not simply a matter of replacing one network with another. It is an exercise in risk management that requires precise data, careful customer engagement and a full understanding of how different services interact with the telecoms network. Virgin Media has now rebuilt much of its process, but the scrutiny it faced is likely to set new expectations for every provider involved in the transition.

As the migration continues, the focus will shift to whether the safeguards now put in place are strong enough to prevent a repeat of the problems uncovered here. The coming months will show whether the industry can maintain the pace of digital upgrade while keeping vulnerable customers protected and giving businesses and public sector bodies the certainty they need to manage their own critical systems.

WordPress has introduced Telex, an AI powered tool that turns simple written prompts into working WordPress blocks, opening up custom development to people who cannot write code.

What Is Telex?

Telex is an experimental system that converts natural language instructions into functional Gutenberg blocks, which are the modular elements that make up WordPress sites. The WordPress team describes it as a tool that lets users “simply describe what you want, and Telex generates the block”. It is designed to remove much of the technical complexity that usually surrounds block development, which has traditionally required experience with WordPress internals, React, JavaScript, PHP and various build tools.

The official announcement explains that even modern AI code editors only reduce part of that workload because developers still need to provide WordPress specific context and wire everything together themselves. Telex aims to remove that barrier entirely by handling the scaffolding, packaging and previewing work automatically in the browser.

How Does Telex Work?

Telex runs in a browser based environment powered by WordPress Playground, which is a sandboxed version of WordPress that allows safe testing. Users simply type a written description of the block they want, covering functionality, controls, layout and styling. Telex then interprets the prompt, generates the block’s code, registers it as a plugin and displays it running inside Playground.

That allows users to refine the result through short follow up prompts. Also, Telex can adjust styles, fix errors or add extra features, or users can switch to the Code view to edit the PHP, JavaScript or CSS manually. When the block is ready, it can be downloaded as a zip file and installed on any WordPress site that accepts plugins. There is also a Share option that produces a link so others can preview and download the block without logging in.

Early Demonstrations Of The Tool

The announcement about Telex on the WordPress blog gives quite a detailed example aimed at food bloggers. In this example, the author asked Telex to build an Ingredient List block that displays ingredients in a table, allows readers to tick items off, includes a copy to clipboard button and adds a built in recipe scaler. The editor view for the block required columns for quantity, unit and ingredient, along with buttons to reorder or remove items.

WordPress says the result appeared in about two minutes. The first version worked but needed visual refinements, so the author asked Telex to simplify styling so it inherited the current theme, apply a strikethrough to checked ingredients, convert quantities to whole numbers or fractions rather than decimals and add a confetti animation when all items were ticked. After four short iterations the block met all requirements. The author noted that the whole process “took about 10 minutes to build in total”.

WordPress says this example was created entirely in the browser without local setup, thereby demonstrating the kind of functional utility blocks Telex is intended to handle.

Real-World Uses Revealed At State Of The Word

At WordPress’s recent State of the Word event in San Francisco, project co-founder Matt Mullenweg shared some further examples that had already been created using Telex. These included price comparison elements, price calculators, real time store hours with a map link, partner logo carousels, Google Calendar integrations and post grids with consistent card heights.

Mullenweg made the point that such components used to require custom development work that could cost “thousands, tens of thousands of dollars to build, even just years ago” but Telex now allows developers and non developers to produce them in a browser in a matter of seconds before refining them with prompts or manual edits.

Who Is Telex Designed For?

The WordPress team stresses that Telex is not only for experienced developers but that “everyone can use Telex”, such as site owners, agencies, freelancers, developers and aspiring developers as target users.

Example Uses

For site owners, Telex could offer a really quick way to create small features that might otherwise be too costly to commission. Agencies and freelancers could use it to test ideas, build prototypes or generate custom utility blocks for client projects. Developers could use the fast scaffolding tool to produce standard block plugins that can be refined or integrated into larger systems. Also, aspiring developers could generate blocks and then study the source code to understand how WordPress handles structure, behaviour and styling.

Access And Cost

The good news is that Telex is currently free to use and allows unlimited block creation. Anyone can visit the Telex interface, log in with a WordPress.com account and begin generating blocks without paying for a WordPress.com plan. WordPress is essentially providing a low-risk way for teams to experiment with AI assisted development without needing to commit budget.

Limitations And Known Issues

Although it all sounds very promising, it’s worth noting here that Telex remains an experimental tool. In fact, WordPress warns that results vary and users may encounter bugs, incorrect assumptions or code that fails to run. The guidance suggests asking Telex to fix the problem directly, restating the requirement, or starting a fresh session.

There are also some technical gaps to consider. For example, blocks that rely on inner blocks, such as a slideshow with separate slide elements, are not yet supported. Complex systems involving e-commerce, membership logic or extensive backend integrations may also require manual adjustments to ensure reliable behaviour, security and responsiveness.

Not An AI Website Builder – More Of An Assistant

WordPress also makes it clear that Telex “is also not an AI website builder”. Instead, it is described as an AI system that helps users create “small functional tools as blocks”, thereby positioning it as an assistant rather than a replacement for full site builders or human developers.

Part Of A Wider AI Direction For WordPress

Telex actually forms part of a broader strategy to make WordPress more compatible with AI systems. For example, Mullenweg highlighted the development of an Abilities API, which defines what WordPress can do in a structured way that AI models can interpret, and an MCP adapter that lets AI agents use those abilities without requiring dedicated integrations for each platform.

This means WordPress sites can now be connected to AI tools like Claude or Copilot in a more consistent and predictable way. Mullenweg also noted that developers are already using AI in their daily workflows through tools such as Cursor and Claude Code. WordPress plans to introduce benchmarks and evaluations in 2026 that will allow AI models to be tested on specific WordPress tasks, including plugin changes, text editing and navigating the interface via browser agents.

Why It Matters For Organisations And Developers

Telex offers a new route for building and iterating on small functional blocks that would once have required dedicated developer time. Marketing and content teams could describe a pricing tool, a custom callout block or a simple event feature and have a working prototype ready within minutes. Agencies may find it useful for workshops or early client engagement, where quick prototypes help clarify requirements.

Also, the sandboxed environment, zip based packaging and editable code provide clear boundaries for testing and refinement. At the same time, Telex’s experimental nature and its known gaps emphasise the need for cautious review before deploying blocks that handle sensitive data or important business processes.

The overall picture is essentially of a tool designed to make WordPress development faster, more accessible and easier to experiment with, while still leaving space for developer oversight, theme alignment and long term maintenance.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Telex shows how AI can compress development cycles, reduce manual effort and give teams an easier starting point for experimenting with new ideas. The fact that it can turn a short prompt into a working block in minutes could really help the testing and refining of features, particularly for organisations that rely on WordPress for day to day marketing and content work. It also means non technical users can really contribute, i.e., a wider group of users can now generate early versions of components that would once have required a developer to build from scratch.

Despite this democratising element, it should be noted that it doesn’t remove the need for experienced developers, especially where security, performance and integration work are concerned. The experimental label is important because Telex still introduces errors, makes incorrect assumptions and struggles with more advanced structures. Developers will remain central to reviewing outputs, hardening code and ensuring long term maintainability. That balance highlights where Telex currently sits in the WordPress ecosystem, i.e., it speeds up the early stages of building small functional tools, but it still relies on human expertise to take those tools into production safely.

The implications for UK businesses are notable. For example, teams that have previously avoided commissioning custom work because of cost or time pressures may now have a practical way to prototype new functionality. Agencies can offer quicker turnarounds during discovery work, and in house teams can test new components without waiting for formal development cycles. Telex also seems to fit quite neatly into the broader move toward AI assisted workflows, which many UK organisations are now exploring as part of wider digital transformation plans.

There is also an equal significance for the wider WordPress community. For example, the Abilities API and MCP adapter show that Telex is only one part of a longer term strategy to make WordPress more interoperable with AI systems. As AI agents become more capable of understanding and manipulating the platform, new opportunities will emerge for automation, testing and collaborative development. Telex is, therefore, an early look at how WordPress may evolve, giving users a practical tool today while pointing towards a much broader set of capabilities in the years ahead.

BT has launched a new UK-based sovereign platform designed to give organisations tighter control over their data, systems, and AI infrastructure at a time of rising geopolitical tensions and growing public sector reliance on cloud services.

A New Foundation For Sovereign Services

Sovereign services are digital services run entirely within UK infrastructure and UK legal control, with access restricted to UK-based staff where required. BT’s announcement marks a significant shift in how it intends to support organisations that need clear assurances over where their data is stored, who can access it, and which legal frameworks govern it.

A Foundation Rather Than A Standalone Product

The company describes the platform as a foundation rather than just a standalone product, with sovereign voice, cloud, and AI services set to roll out over the coming months. BT Business also plans to offer sovereign versions of many existing core products by the first half of 2026, giving customers the ability to tailor their level of sovereignty depending on operational need.

BT says all services can be delivered through UK-based infrastructure and, where required, supported exclusively by UK-based staff. This point is central to the offer because it directly addresses concerns from defence, critical national infrastructure, government, and regulated sectors about overseas access, foreign jurisdiction, and long-term control of sensitive data.

Trust In The Infrastructure

Jon James, CEO of BT Business, emphasised the strategic importance of the shift, stating that “sovereignty isn’t simply a matter of compliance or risk management, it’s key to unleashing the potential of AI, and ensuring resilient operations in an increasingly uncertain world”. His message reflects a growing belief across UK industry that the path to widespread AI adoption will require trusted and jurisdictionally clear infrastructure.

Why Digital Sovereignty Is Becoming A Priority

Digital sovereignty has moved quite rapidly up the UK policy and business agenda over the past three years. Organisations have become more dependent on global cloud platforms, while political and regulatory uncertainty has increased scrutiny of where data resides and how it can be accessed. Many firms now define sovereignty as control over infrastructure, access rights, staffing, governance, and long-term operational independence, not solely data residency.

One major driver is the risk of foreign legal reach. For example, frameworks such as the US CLOUD Act have made some UK organisations question whether data stored with large international providers could be subject to external disclosure requirements. This has prompted regulators and sector bodies to look more closely at options that keep critical workloads within domestic borders and under UK law.

Not Just The UK

It’s worth noting here that the shift is not limited to the UK. For example, across Europe, governments have been investing in sovereign cloud capabilities to reduce strategic dependence on non-European providers. In fact, several high-profile contracts, including a £400 million sovereign cloud partnership between Google Cloud and the UK Ministry of Defence, have highlighted the scale of demand. BT’s new platform sits directly within this wider trend and positions the company as a national alternative for organisations that want jurisdictionally clear services delivered by a long-established domestic provider.

What BT Says The Platform Will Deliver

BT’s platform is built on UK-based systems, networks, and data centres, with securely managed environments for customers that need isolation from global infrastructure. Rather than locking all customers into a single approach, BT intends to offer configurable sovereignty levels, allowing each organisation to choose how tightly their operations should be contained.

The first set of services will include sovereign voice, cloud, and AI. These will span everyday communication services, hosted compute environments, and the ability to train, deploy, and run AI models on UK-only infrastructure. The company says later phases will bring sovereign options to more of its existing portfolio, including services used widely across the public sector.

This design reflects the fact that most organisations do not need full sovereignty everywhere. For example, customer service platforms, public websites, and many office systems may work perfectly well on standard cloud platforms. However, defence contracts, encrypted communications, facial recognition systems, citizen-facing platforms, industrial control systems, and healthcare data often demand stricter isolation, UK staffing, or restrictions that prevent foreign oversight.

BT’s offering attempts to bridge those needs by ensuring customers can combine standard services with sovereign options where required, without building entire technology stacks from scratch.

How It Connects To UK AI Strategy

The timing of BT’s sovereign platform is closely tied to the UK government’s efforts to strengthen domestic AI capability. Westminster has repeatedly stated that future economic growth will depend on expanded AI infrastructure, improved compute capacity, and secure environments where sensitive datasets and AI models can be developed and deployed.

Also, the government’s National AI Strategy and its newer Sovereign AI work both emphasise the need for UK control over core intellectual property and training assets. BT is already a founding member of the UK Sovereign AI Industry Forum and contributes to government-backed AI skills programmes. The new platform allows BT to present itself as a core enabler of the next phase of UK AI adoption, giving departments and regulated industries a route to experiment with AI in a tightly controlled environment.

There has also been increasing debate in Parliament about the resilience of AI infrastructure and concerns about over reliance on a small number of global cloud providers. BT’s sovereign model feeds directly into this discussion by offering a domestic environment designed specifically to meet legal, operational, and security expectations for sensitive workloads.

Changing Dynamics In Cloud And AI Competition

BT’s move places the company among a growing set of providers competing to offer sovereign alternatives to the public cloud. The major hyperscalers have already launched or announced sovereign variants of their services, often in collaboration with local partners or within government-led frameworks. These tend to follow a similar pattern, promising that data will stay within specified jurisdictions and that access by overseas personnel can be restricted.

However, where BT differs is in its identity as a UK network operator with deep experience delivering secure services across critical national infrastructure. Many public bodies and national security entities already rely on BT networks, which gives the company an advantage when pitching sovereign solutions to organisations that value long-term familiarity and existing contractual relationships.

Tighter Competitive Environment

That said, it seems the competitive environment is tightening. For example, customers will expect clarity on how BT’s sovereignty controls work in practice, including separation mechanisms, encryption key management, supply-chain validation, and how third-party cloud integrations will operate. Pricing will also shape adoption, particularly for organisations comparing sovereign infrastructure to more flexible or lower-cost global services.

How UK Organisations May Use The Platform

The platform is likely to attract interest from organisations that already operate under strict data governance rules. For example, government departments, defence contractors, NHS bodies, financial services firms, and utility providers typically require enhanced assurance for systems that affect public safety, national security, or critical service delivery.

There is also potential demand from organisations eager to explore AI but held back by internal concerns over data governance on global clouds. The ability to run AI training, inference, and storage within a UK-only environment may help those teams secure approval for projects previously seen as too sensitive for overseas infrastructure.

Leadership teams assessing the platform will likely weigh sovereignty needs against operational factors such as cost, performance, support, and integration with existing tools. The platform adds a new option for organisations planning multi-year digital programmes where jurisdiction, resilience, and data control are becoming central issues.

Criticisms And Challenges

BT’s announcement has generated interest, although it has also prompted questions from analysts and industry groups about how the platform will work at scale. One challenge concerns technical transparency. For example, BT has not yet released detailed public specifications covering encryption key ownership, workload isolation, or how sovereign environments will interact with existing cloud platforms. Organisations that rely heavily on hybrid architectures may want to understand whether the sovereign model restricts integration with major hyperscalers or introduces performance constraints.

Cost is another area of scrutiny. Sovereign infrastructure, by definition, cannot benefit from the same global economies of scale as large public clouds. Some customers may find that the additional controls, staffing requirements, and operational constraints create higher baseline costs, especially for AI workloads that require significant compute power. Procurement teams will want clear pricing structures before moving sensitive workloads into a new environment.

There are also questions around long-term capability. For example, critics note that while BT has a strong national footprint, sovereign cloud is a rapidly evolving field where global providers invest billions in AI acceleration, specialised chips, and high-density data centre capacity. BT will, no doubt, face some pressure to demonstrate that its sovereign services can match the reliability, performance, and feature velocity that organisations have come to expect from major cloud platforms.

Analysts also point out the strategic challenge of defining sovereignty in practical terms. Different sectors interpret the concept differently, ranging from strict jurisdictional control to broader concerns about supply chains, operational autonomy, and algorithmic transparency. BT will need to show how its platform can meet these varied expectations without creating unnecessary complexity for customers.

Data portability and vendor lock-in are emerging talking points as well. For example, some technology leaders argue that the success of sovereign services will depend on whether customers can easily move workloads between sovereign and non-sovereign environments as their needs change. If the platform creates heavy dependencies, organisations may become more cautious about adopting it for mission-critical systems.

What Could This Mean For Your Business?

The reality for many organisations is that decisions about sovereignty will become more central as AI adoption expands and regulatory expectations rise. BT’s sovereign platform may, therefore, give UK businesses a clearer path to experiment with advanced technologies while keeping tighter control over data, operations, and long-term risk. This is likely to appeal to firms that have been wary of placing sensitive workloads on global platforms, particularly in sectors where compliance and resilience drive technology strategy. Public sector stakeholders may also see value in a domestic provider offering infrastructure shaped around UK legal frameworks rather than adapting global services to fit local needs.

There is also a wider implication for the UK technology landscape. For example, a national operator entering the sovereignty space adds competition, which could prompt further investment and higher standards across the market. It also gives policymakers another lever as they seek to build a more self-reliant digital foundation for AI and cloud services. For suppliers and service partners, the shift towards sovereign options may open new opportunities, although it will also require clearer alignment with UK-specific governance models and operational rules.

It’s worth noting here that much will depend on execution. For example, customers will want to see how BT’s approach works in practice, whether it scales effectively, and how it compares to sovereign offerings already emerging from international cloud providers. If BT can demonstrate that its model delivers both control and capability, the platform could become a significant part of the UK’s digital infrastructure story. If not, organisations may continue to mix and match global solutions while waiting for greater clarity. Either way, the launch marks a change in how sovereignty is being approached and signals that UK organisations now have a new option as they navigate the next generation of cloud and AI adoption.

As reported by PLTFRM, virtual sales avatars are now outperforming human presenters across major ecommerce platforms, changing how online retail content is produced and delivered.

Who Is PLTFRM?

PLTFRM is a Shanghai based creative agency that specialises in digital advertising and ecommerce. Over the past two years it has become one of the leading suppliers of AI powered “virtual human” sales presenters for brands selling on Taobao and Pinduoduo. These avatars operate like livestream hosts, speaking to viewers, demonstrating products and responding to comments in real time.

Builds Avatars

The company builds its avatars using Baidu’s AI video generation system to animate the presenter and DeepSeek’s language models to generate scripts and responses. PLTFRM says it has deployed more than 30 virtual salespeople to date, each trained to promote specific items ranging from printers to household goods.

Brother Benefits

Brother, the Japanese electronics firm, has reported around 2,500 US dollars of printer sales within the first two hours of using one of PLTFRM’s avatars and says that livestream sales rose by about 30 per cent compared with its human hosted streams.

Alexandre Ouairy, PLTFRM’s cofounder, has been open about the performance gap the company is seeing. In interviews he has highlighted that virtual hosts are now consistently outperforming human presenters for the companies using them, and that monitoring overnight sales from AI hosted streams has become a routine part of client reporting. These public statements remain some of the clearest indications that virtual salespeople are not only viable but commercially advantageous.

How Virtual Salespeople Look And Behave

Virtual presenters appear on screen much like human livestream hosts. They can be made to stand or sit beside product displays, speak continuously and gesture naturally. The backgrounds of their livestream rooms are digitally generated or built from templates, and the avatar can be instructed to switch tone, pace or focus based on the sales strategy.

It should also be noted that quality has improved significantly in a relatively short space of time. For example, early digital humans often looked expressionless, but the latest versions maintain better eye contact, more natural body movement and more consistent lip synchronisation. Glitches still occur occasionally, such as a momentary freeze, but viewers are often unaware unless they examine the presenter closely.

Virtual Influencers

Virtual influencers are also growing in parallel. These are AI generated personalities designed to act as presenters, models or spokespeople across social platforms and ecommerce sites.

Fashion retailers, for example, use virtual models to show clothing combinations at scale, often producing hundreds of product images or videos without needing a physical photoshoot. Some brands even deploy digital ambassadors on their websites to greet visitors, provide basic guidance and maintain a consistent brand presence.

AI generated personalities also front short promotional videos on TikTok and Douyin, where they introduce products, deliver scripted messages and respond to trends in the same way a human creator might. All of these formats rely on similar foundations in video generation and language modelling, but they are tailored to serve different roles in marketing, engagement and product demonstration.

Technology Behind The Virtual Human Industry

In terms of the technology behind all this, virtual salespeople typically combine three core components:

1. AI video generation models that animate a face and body in real time.

2.  Language models that produce and adapt spoken content, greetings and product explanations.

3. Integration tools that connect the avatar to sales platforms, product catalogues and live chat systems.

Companies such as Synthesia, Soul Machines, Hour One and UneeQ have developed their own pipelines to support sales and customer service use cases. Some add behavioural layers that replicate facial expressions or emotional responses to improve engagement.

Why AI Hosts Are Outselling Human Livestreamers

Livestream ecommerce is an intense format and sessions often run for hours and many online stores remain live twenty four hours a day. Human presenters tire, lose concentration and struggle to maintain high energy levels across long broadcasts.

The advantages highlighted by companies using virtual hosts include:

– Avatars maintain a constant level of enthusiasm and clarity.

– They avoid errors such as quoting the wrong price or forgetting a feature.

– They respond immediately to comments without slowing down.

– They operate continuously, including overnight and during low traffic periods.

– They deliver approved messages in the correct order every time.

– They remove the scheduling and cost pressures linked to staffing livestream rooms.

Interestingly, a report by the China International Electronic Commerce Centre estimated that more than one third of all online retail sales in China in 2024 took place through livestreams, and that around half of Chinese consumers had bought something while watching a broadcast. This may help explain why so many brands now find automating even part of that activity is an attractive proposition.

Benefits, Drawbacks And Early Criticism

The commercial benefits of using this type of technology include higher average conversion rates, better message consistency and reduced fatigue related performance decline. In fact, companies that run large catalogues say virtual presenters help them maintain product accuracy, especially during rapid promotional cycles.

However, there are some concerns, which include:

– Some viewers may not realise they are watching an AI host if the on screen disclosure is small or obscured by viewer comments.

– Prompt injection attacks have already occurred. In one case, a viewer typed a command that caused an AI spa host to meow repeatedly before reverting to its script.

– Livestream presenters and influencers worry about long term job displacement as brands shift from influencer led marketing to store operated streams.

– Avatars built for one language may sound more robotic in another, which limits international deployment for now.

These issues have prompted platforms such as Douyin to move more cautiously, with restrictions still in place around using AI presenters for direct sales.

Companies Developing Similar Virtual Sales Technologies

It should be noted here that PLTFRM is one of many companies now producing virtual human systems. Other notable examples include:

– Baidu, which runs a major digital human platform and recently demonstrated an AI clone of influencer Luo Yonghao. His six hour livestream generated more than 13 million views and millions of dollars in merchandise sales.

– Synthesia, a UK based company whose avatars are used for sales training, product explainers and high volume content generation.

– Soul Machines, which builds interactive digital humans capable of facial expressions and emotional responses for retail and service environments.

-UneeQ, which provides digital humans that act as product guides and lead qualification assistants for ecommerce and customer service settings.

– Hour One, which offers AI presenters for automated product demonstrations and ecommerce listings.

– ZMO, a provider of virtual fashion models used widely in Chinese ecommerce to display clothing at scale.

These companies vary in their approaches, but all support the broader trend towards automated front line communication and sales.

How Businesses Can Use Virtual Sales Hosts

There are several ways organisations are using virtual humans today, such as:

– Retailers keep livestream rooms running around the clock, using avatars for routine product lines and human presenters for special events.

– Brands selling complex products use virtual presenters to explain technical features and answer common questions before handing more detailed enquiries to human teams.

– Companies that rely on repeatable product demonstrations use avatars to ensure every pitch is delivered correctly.

– Banks and financial firms have experimented with AI presenters to deliver research briefings and customer updates.

– Public sector bodies and health organisations are testing digital humans for information campaigns and citizen guidance.

For many organisations the appeal lies in predictable delivery, scalable content production and the ability to support customers at any hour.

Where The Technology’s Heading

Capabilities are improving quickly and newer models generate more natural eye movement, smoother gestures and more coherent dialogue. Providers are even beginning to offer avatars that can be created from a single photograph and controlled through simple prompts. Industry forecasts in China suggest the virtual human sector could reach hundreds of billions of yuan by 2030.

It seems as though things are now heading towards more autonomous virtual salespeople that handle longer and more complex interactions, including personalised recommendations and adaptive product explanations. That said, hybrid models, where human presenters contribute personality and storytelling while AI hosts provide consistent coverage, are likely to remain common as brands refine their use of both.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Virtual salespeople, like those made by PLTFRM and others, now seem to be sitting at the centre of a fast expanding commercial ecosystem. The evidence noted in this article shows why so many organisations are beginning to treat them as a practical extension of their sales teams rather than a novelty. For example, the combination of constant availability, message accuracy and measurable uplift in conversion makes these systems appealing to brands that rely on intensive livestream activity or need to present information consistently at scale. The performance gap between human and virtual hosts is not universal across every product category but the early data suggests that AI presenters are well suited to scenarios where viewers expect clear explanations, rapid responses and uninterrupted broadcasts.

That said, the concerns raised about transparency, job displacement and misuse cannot be overlooked. Viewers must be able to identify when they are interacting with an AI, and the examples of prompt manipulation show that the technology still requires careful oversight. Human presenters remain important for building trust and creating moments of spontaneity that automated systems cannot yet replicate. Influencers and livestream hosts also play a significant role in product discovery, which means their work is likely to evolve rather than disappear. The challenge for platforms and regulators, therefore, will be ensuring that automation enhances sales and engagement without misleading audiences or degrading working conditions for the people who still contribute to this sector.

For UK businesses, the shift described here signals important changes in how products may be demonstrated, explained and supported online. For example, companies that sell technical or high volume items could benefit from virtual presenters that deliver accurate, repeatable information without requiring continuous staffing. Retailers exploring livestream commerce may find that AI hosts offer a cost effective way to test the format before investing in large production teams. Also, service providers, public institutions and financial organisations could use digital humans to handle informational tasks where clarity and consistency matter more than personality. The practical advantage really lies in the ability to scale communication without losing structure or availability.

Platforms must balance innovation with safeguards, regulators will need to clarify disclosure expectations and employers will have to consider how automation fits within longer term workforce planning. What is clear is that virtual salespeople are no longer experimental. In fact, it now seems they are already shaping how products are sold and how audiences engage with online content, and their growing role in global ecommerce suggests that a new form of digital front line communication is beginning to take hold.

The Aisuru botnet, built from millions of hijacked routers and other cheap IoT devices, has driven DDoS attacks to levels the internet has never seen before.

Cloudflare, the internet security provider, reports that Aisuru now controls up to four million infected devices, mainly spread across Asia. Indonesia is the biggest source of its traffic. These devices have launched repeated multi terabit attacks, including a Q3 peak of 29.7 Tbps that blasted traffic across thousands of ports at once.

Activity has risen sharply. Cloudflare says it stopped 1,304 major Aisuru attacks in Q3 and 2,867 so far this year, as network layer attacks jumped 87 percent quarter on quarter while HTTP attacks fell.

Some sectors have faced far heavier targeting. For example, generative AI firms saw a 347 percent spike in September, and industries linked to rare earths and EV trade tensions also recorded sharp increases.

Aisuru’s reach is made worse by the fact that parts of the botnet can be hired cheaply, enabling short, intense attacks that often end before older defences can respond.

Businesses can reduce their risk by using always on network protection, automating detection, and keeping exposed systems patched, since traditional on demand tools cannot keep pace with attacks of this speed and scale.