by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#78AZF)
Report says widespread autonomous vehicle adoption would put hundreds of thousands of private hire jobs at riskTaxes on self-driving cars should be introduced now in the UK to offset the rise in congestion and threats to jobs they pose, a thinktank has urged.The first robotaxis on London's streets only started this month, but government projections are that up to 40% of cars sold could have self-driving capability by the middle of the next decade. Continue reading...
We have a first play of the forthcoming Tomb Raider remake and speak with its developers. Can they improve on the gameplay without losing what made the 1996 original such a classic?We join Lara Croft in St Francis' Folly - inspired by the Unesco-listed monasteries of Meteora in Greece - as the light shines through the cracked ceiling and a flock of bats glide across the vast ruins below. When Lara leaps down to the monastery's crumbling pillared courtyard, it becomes clear that these screeching, leathery creatures aren't just set dressing. As they lurch towards her with unpredictable movements, she dispatches the swarm with a flurry of gun fire and panicked punches.It's a suitably cinematic reintroduction to our heroine and her very first adventure. Co-developed by longtime Lara custodians Crystal Dynamics and Polish studio Flying Wild Hog, Legacy of Atlantis is a reimagining of the classic 1996 game Tomb Raider, and this familiar cliffside location is now brimming with new life and believable detail. Yet while our reunion gets off to an auspicious start, I have my concerns. It feels like reconnecting with an old friend at the pub, only for them to begin spouting conspiracy theories two pints in. Continue reading...
Welcome boost for chancellor with unexpected rise put down to rapid growth of AI in services sector outweighing Iran war falloutThe UK economy grew in July as the rapid expansion of AI appeared to outweigh the economic damage from the Iran war, in a welcome boost for John Healey.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a surprise 0.4% increase in gross domestic product (GDP), compared with 0.3% growth in June. City economists had forecast zero growth. Continue reading...
Report comes two days after former employee quit claiming company's models could cause human extinction by 2030Criminals, state-sponsored groups, spyware vendors, scientists and propagandists have attempted to use Anthropic's powerful artificial intelligence models to design missiles and bombs, create deadly pathogens and surveil dissidents, according to a threat intelligence report the company published on Thursday.The cases we share here aren't typical misuse, but rather examples of the most notable and novel threat activity we've identified to date," Anthropic wrote in its 154-page report. We're publishing this work because we believe we have a responsibility to disclose malicious misuse of our services." Continue reading...
Insiders at the firm fear tech's advancement could cause human extinction, while others are calling their declarations of concern a setup'A day after a former researcher at Anthropic made an apocalyptic declaration about artificial intelligence, more researchers and staff members at the AI startup publicly agreed with him and posted their own dire warnings.In response, Elon Musk and other conservative figures on X, formerly Twitter, called the chorus of concerns a setup" and a psyop". Continue reading...
The defense says: It's about competition, not conspiracy'A US prosecutor described China's Huawei as a criminal enterprise that stole from US companies to build its telecommunications empire, as the trial against the tech company kicked off in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday.Theft, lies, cover-up," Taylor Stout, a trial attorney from the US Department of Justice, said in the government's opening statement. For 20 years, that's how Huawei, a massive Chinese telecommunications company, victimized American companies and abused the American financial system, all in an effort to dominate the telecommunications industry around the world." Continue reading...
Tech mogul calls director Alex Gibney a bitter old man' who has zero integrity' in series of posts on XElon Musk has issued an angry tirade at the film-maker behind a four-hour documentary about his life and influence, labelling the director, Alex Gibney, a bitter old man" who has zero integrity".Gibney, who has previously made films about the collapse of Enron, WikiLeaks and Vladimir Putin, premiered his Musk documentary at the Venice film festival this week. He said he believed the world's richest man was extremely dangerous". Continue reading...
US government adviser Paul Christiano warns of risks to AI industry as he joins OpenAI's non-profit foundationOpenAI is not on track to reduce the risk of catastrophic" loss of control to an acceptable level, a member of its non-profit board has said, amid spreading public and political concern that super-advanced AIs could one day wipe out humanity.Paul Christiano, a US government technology adviser, said: There is a meaningful risk that rapid acceleration in AI capabilities leads to catastrophic and irreversible loss of control in the very near term." Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#789RV)
Solid battery life, snappy performance and quality software make for a great smaller phone with a killer cameraGoogle's latest Pro phone is out to prove it has the best camera on a smartphone while embracing customisation, allowing you to change the look and feel of your photos far beyond simple filters even if that means making them technically worse.The Pixel 11 Pro packs the best of Google's hardware and software into a still-pocketable and easy to handle frame, instantly making it a contender for best smaller phone of the year.Screen: 6.3in 120Hz QHD+ OLED (495ppi)Processor: Google Tensor G6RAM: 12 or 16GBStorage: 256, 512GB or 1TBOperating system: Android 17Camera: 50MP + 48MP UW + 48MP 5x tele; 42MP selfieConnectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 7, UWB, NFC, Bluetooth 6, Thread and GNSSWater resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)Dimensions: 152.7 x 71.9 x 8.4mmWeight: 204g Continue reading...
Adam Mosseri says platform's algorithm feels like a black box' but company trying to give users more control after Labor announces opt-out planInstagram's chief executive has said users will have a worse experience in an algorithm-free world, seeing more brand-related content, and spend less time on the app.The comments come as the Australian government plans to give users the option to opt out of algorithms, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announcing plans on Tuesday to require social media platforms to prompt users to choose between a feed of algorithm-recommended content or a reverse chronological feed of the pages users follow. Labor also plans to introduce a range of measures designed to address online harm on the sites. Continue reading...
Former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon said AI will become superhuman systems' that can cause human extinction by the end of the decadeJust a day after three Anthropic researchers warned that artificial intelligence could kill off humanity within the decade, lawmakers have begun lashing out about the risks of the burgeoning technology.Ted Cruz, a republican senator from Texas, said in an interview on ABC's The View, that AI posed a catastrophic risk" and that he read that whole tweet thread that that developer put out. It was highly concerning. Continue reading...
One researcher who resigned said many in industry believe that without regulation AI could kill off humanityArtificial intelligence could kill off humanity within the decade, according to three researchers with the industry giant Anthropic, one of whom has quit his job in protest.The latest doom-laden predictions came in posts on social media on Tuesday by a researcher who said he resigned because Anthropic and his previous employer, OpenAI, were ignoring or, at best, mishandling their response to the threat. Continue reading...
The passport-size iPhone Duo serves as the first big test for John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook last weekApple has unveiled the iPhone Duo, the company's first foldable phone and the most significant change to the iPhone since the smartphone's introduction in 2007.The nearly $2,000 device takes inspiration from iPads' wide screens and combines them with the portability and camera features of iPhones. When opened, it is the company's largest phone display and thinnest phone. The Duo opens and closes like a passport to double its screen size. Continue reading...
Once hailed as the future, even the likes of Google, Sony and Microsoft have struggled to make streaming games fun, fast or affordable Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereIn August 2009, at the very first Gamescom expo, I sat in a small meeting room in Germany and played Mario Kart and World of Warcraft on a laptop, via technology that was then completely new: cloud gaming. It was a demonstration for a yet-to-be-launched service called Gaikai that promised to let you play any game in a browser window, without a console. (Here is an ancient video of that demonstration, featuring a very young Keza.) With a single click I could launch into any game, hosted on servers hundreds of miles away. It really did look like the future.Since then, plenty of companies have tried to be the first to truly crack game streaming, vying to be the Netflix of games. Sony ended up buying Gaikai for $380m (242m) in 2012; its technology now powers the streamable classic games library on PlayStation, and the PS5's advanced game streaming. OnLive, Gaikai's first competitor, launched in 2011 but shut down after less than a year, leaving Sony to acquire all its patents. Google's Stadia cloud gaming service also imploded, launching in 2019 and shutting down three years later. Continue reading...
Alarming warnings from industry insiders increase pressure for curbs on artificial superintelligenceDoes artificial superintelligence really pose a risk greater than nuclear weapons? Is there a significant chance of a Chornobyl-sized catastrophe". Might there even be a greater than 10% chance that AI could kill all humans" in the next decade?These warnings were issued over the past 48 hours on both sides of the Atlantic about the potential impact of a technology that most people still think of as a more talkative search engine. Continue reading...
Cameron Stanley talks up revolutionary' AI capabilities and says Washington working with Nato and Five Eyes partnersThe Pentagon's top artificial intelligence official said on Tuesday that America's closest allies lack the resources to keep pace with the US military's adoption of AI, and that Washington is working to steer them away from mistakes it made along the way.They don't have the resources that we do, they don't have the experience that we do, they don't have the scale that we do," Cameron Stanley, chief digital and artificial intelligence officer at the Department of Defense, said at an event at the Billington Cybersecurity summit. Of Nato and the Five Eyes, an intelligence-sharing partnership of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Stanley said Washington was actively working with a number of our partners" so they don't make the same mistakes that we make". Continue reading...
Historically a new Grand Theft Auto game inspired controversy around violence - but this time people are getting exercised about its romanceThere was never any doubt that Grand Theft Auto VI's extended look would elicit a viral reaction from the internet. Having won the Game Awards' Most Anticipated award twice consecutively, Rockstar's forthcoming crime opus is one of the most frothed-over games in recent memory, or indeed ever. It's nothing short of a cultural phenomenon.One aspect of the game has provoked an unexpectedly vehement response on social media: not violence, but romance. Protagonists Lucia and Jason are in love, you see, and as a player, part of your job is keeping their spark alive and their relationship strong, so that their criminal escapades are underpinned by a strong connection to one another. Holding hands, enjoying a date at the beach, spontaneously texting one another when apart - all of these interactions will strengthen their bond. You'll be putting in a lot of work to ensure this couple thrives, which is why some people have come to believe that playing GTA VI counts as micro-cheating. Continue reading...
Facilities likely to employ 10,400 workers, compared with 40,000 in industry estimates, thinktank saysDatacentres in the UK will create just a quarter of the jobs predicted by the tech sector, while consuming vast amounts of energy, according to new research.Environmental thinktank Verdant predicts that all the datacentres currently planned are likely to directly employ 10,400 workers - compared with the more than 40,000 cited in projections by the industry lobby group TechUK. Continue reading...
Lisa Nandy says government will introduce legislation after talks end without breakthroughApple and Google will be forced to block explicit images on children's smartphones by law in the UK after talks failed to produce a breakthrough, the government has said.The legislation commitment puts ministers on a collision course with two of the biggest players in Silicon Valley, months after the government announced a social media ban for under-16s. Continue reading...
Alex Gibney's marathon documentary delivers numerous eye-raising insights into the broligarch's business deals, early idealism and apocalyptic appetite for fathering childrenVeteran documentarian Alex Gibney's film about the richest broligarch on the planet has been one of the most eagerly anticipated films at the Venice film festival this year. The Oscar-winning 72-year-old, who has in previous films taken on the US military, the Catholic church, Vladimir Putin and Scientology, has been investigating the tech tycoon's ascent and speaking to people in his orbit since late 2022, before his Maga turn and Trump 2.0.The result clocks in at just under four hours and presents a comprehensive answer to how on earth one man managed to amass so much money and political influence. It is shocking less for any individual new pieces of information Gibney has unearthed than for its totality. Here are six things the film tells us: Continue reading...
Plus: Americans think they have it bad with unwanted surveillance. They should visit LondonHello, and welcome to TechScape. I'm your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian, writing to you after visiting Coney Island in New York City, where I ate a hotdog, rode a ferris wheel and enjoyed a quintessentially American summer holiday.Today in tech, we're examining OpenAI's new model release and the Silicon Valley's monopoly power, and wondering why Brits and Americans have such vastly different opinions about surveillance cameras.Nvidia to buy developer platform Hugging Face in $12.9bn dealNew York City to ban student AI use in public schools until high schoolFreelancers are getting buried with soulless' AI slop cleanup: It's a shame we need to do it'Tumbler Ridge mass shooting victims file 30 new lawsuits against OpenAIChild sexual abuse survivor alleges Elon Musk's AI chatbot used photos of her to generate new illegal images Continue reading...
Venice film festival: Alex Gibney interviews former colleagues, wives, the trillionaire's father and a CG avatar in this absorbing documentaryElon is a nuke." The speaker is Ashley St Clair, a former conservative Maga influencer and one of Elon Musk's former girlfriends-slash-baby mommas.She is a fascinating expert witness in Alex Gibney's four-hour epic study of the world's richest and dullest man: the overgrown brattish South-African-born trillionaire plutocrat, ersatz visionary and Trump courtier who owns Tesla cars, SpaceX rocket ships, Starlink satellites on which nation states' military capabilities are increasingly reliant, X (formerly Twitter) which shapes the collective incel" id of billions and GrokAI whose vast server farms daily guzzle oceans of precious water. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Documents show officers from Maine to California worry Meta's camera-equipped glasses will be used either to secretly record them or aid acts of terrorismIn January, the New York police department's counter-terrorism unit sent out a memo warning police officers about a new potential security and counterintelligence" threat: Ray-Ban Meta glasses.The memo directed officers to conduct thorough inspections of all eyewear permitted within inmate cells" and cautioned that people who have been arrested could use these glasses, equipped with small cameras and microphones, to record inside police facilities. The memo cited two examples of such videos posted on social media. Continue reading...
Even if the legislation passes, tech companies may still find ways to frustrate its intent and keep Australians hooked on their feedSocial media could become a choose your own adventure" between the doom-scrolling status quo, or just the feed of the friends you want to see, if the government's planned digital duty of care legislation passes, and the tech companies don't muck around on compliance.But that's a big if. Continue reading...
James Frith says patients may be less willing to share data as new figures show a rise in opt-outsConcern is being raised about Palantir's work with the NHS as new figures showed tens of thousands of patients have withdrawn their data from use in research projects.James Frith, the health innovation minister, said he was worried about mistrust" of the US defence and health tech company and the impact it could have on people's willingness to share data with the NHS". Continue reading...
Matt Clifford forced to stand down amid disquiet from senior MPs over his new full-time job at AI companyThe chair of the UK government's moonshot" science and technology research unit has been forced to stand down after taking a job with the San Francisco AI firm Anthropic, in a move senior MPs called a clear conflict of interest".Matt Clifford announced last week that he was taking a full-time job working for the company behind the Claude chatbot, leading its engagement" with governments outside the US - including the UK. But he retained his leadership at the UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria), which funds frontier science and tech projects. Continue reading...
US embassy says Downing Street's plan to give BBC, ITV and other established media more online visibility carries risk of censorship'The Trump administration has raised serious concerns" over Downing Street's plan to force YouTube and other digital platforms to hand more prominence to established broadcasters, warning the move risks facilitating censorship".In a pointed intervention, the US government said the proposals to boost traditional media outlets in social media algorithms could establish a template that authoritarian regimes could invoke to justify more control over online content". Continue reading...
If you're called by an unidentified number, the advice is to remain silent until you're sure there's a human being on the line. Is this the end of an era?Name: Hello.Age: 200 years old. Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#787CY)
Longer battery life, faster chip, actually useful AI tools and better cameras keep quality Android ahead of competitionGoogle's Pixel 11 continues to set the standard for what you should expect from the base model of a flagship phone with class-leading cameras, long software support and almost all the bells and whistles of its most expensive phones.The regular Pixel 11 costs 879 (999/$899/A$1,499) making it 80 or equivalent more expensive than last year's model as the cost of RAMageddon continues to bite. It's not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but it comes with 256GB of storage and is 200 less than the Pixel 11 Pro, matching rival Samsung's Galaxy S26.Screen: 6.3in 120Hz FHD+ OLED (422ppi)Processor: Google Tensor G6RAM: 12GBStorage: 256 or 512GBOperating system: Android 17Camera: 48MP+ 13MP UW + 10.8MP 5x tele; 10.5MP selfieConnectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 6E, UWB, NFC, Bluetooth 6 and GNSSWater resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)Dimensions: 152.8 x 72.0 x 8.6mmWeight: 197g Continue reading...
Firms are more likely to use technology as the intern in the office' than as a replacement for skilled staffProfessional designers should not feel threatened" by the rapid growth of generative AI, according to business leaders, despite fears over job losses in the sector.With design and film production companies and manufacturers all adopting AI at an accelerating pace, industry bodies said the technology would be used to enhance the work of designers rather than replace them. Continue reading...
by Presented by Annie Kelly with Katy McQue; produced on (#787DQ)
Katy McQue, who has spent years reporting on Meta and the potential harms its platforms pose to children, explains the tactics being used by prosecutorsFor years, the investigative journalist Katy McQue has been reporting on the potential harms Meta's platforms pose to children.Yet, as she explains to Annie Kelly, despite the mountain of evidence compiled by journalists, prosecutors, bereaved families and others, it has been nearly impossible to bring Meta and other social media companies to court. Continue reading...
Consumers are increasingly encountering AI-generated images on food menus such as leathery meat and bread resembling reptile skinDuring a recent lunch break, Jill Sennett saw something so unappetizing she had to share it with her 26,000 X followers: Artificial intelligence-generated menu images from a Jamaican barbecue pop-up restaurant in which the meats looked like leather belts crawling with tiny beetles.The images were reshared by more than 500 people who similarly expressed their disgust. Eating is such an essential human experience", said Sennett, a 37-year-old nurse in Denver. I think it's a bad cultural thing that restaurants are converting to these horrific, uncanny food images that are unappetizing." Continue reading...
Affordable, fast-heating and with a clever air fryer function, this versatile model is a winner for outdoor cooks who are willing to give up the traditional flame The best pizza ovens - tested
A Dr Seuss-style story written in seconds alerted me to the power - and perils - of the technology. But how can children embrace it without forgetting core skills?When I was growing up, my dad and I often talked about a story we wanted to write together. It was called The Day Nobody Went to Disneyland". One day, the story goes, the weather is so perfect that everyone in the world decides to stay away from Disneyland because they expect it to be far too busy. But my dad, who has the same thought as them, sees the disappointment on my face that morning - and decides to risk it. We set off. And when we arrive, the park is completely empty. Nobody else was brave enough to visit. We have everything - the rides, shows, food - to ourselves.I loved the idea of writing that story. But, as so oftenhappens, we were too busy to do anything about it. Life ran away from us. I grew up, and we both forgotabout it. Continue reading...
Most gambling websites nudge users towards accepting tracking data and harvest it before consent is given, study showsOnline bookmakers and casinos have been accused of widespread non-compliance of information privacy requirements, including data surveillance" of customers, according to a study.Nearly nine out of 10 (86%) licensed British gambling websites appear to be flouting the general data protection regulation (GDPR), the strict rules governing how organisations can collect, store and process personal data, according to the research. Continue reading...
Politicians on the right and left are pushing back against Flock as more Americans voice opposition to the techGrowing factions from both sides of the political aisle in the US are pushing back against surveillance cameras made by a single company, a rare response in a sharply divided country with a president pushing an unwaveringly pro-tech agenda.The bipartisan backlash against Flock Safety cameras resembles nationwide rage toward the construction of large datacenters that power artificial intelligence. Polling shows roughly 75% of Americans oppose new datacenter construction in their areas. Continue reading...
A spate of serious safety incidents have increased fears about the power and impenetrability of the most advanced modelsPicture humanity in a boat being swept down a raging river, praying there is no Niagara Falls ahead. Or imagine standing with the pioneering physicists in 1942 before they triggered the first self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction beneath a Chicago stadium.These were two of the analogies used this week by Prof Robert Trager, an expert in the nascent field of AI governance, to describe the perilous but potential-filled moment the world stands at with accelerating artificial intelligence. Continue reading...
Workers who blame algorithms for lowering their earnings are getting help from academics to find out how the system worksGig economy workers are urging delivery platforms to open up the black box" of computer-driven algorithms that determine the jobs they are offered and how much they are paid, blaming increased use of AI for lowering wages.A group of food delivery riders in Edinburgh say their rates of pay have fallen and their working conditions have deteriorated at the same time as Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat, the three dominant gig economy platforms in the UK and Ireland, have increased their use of automation. Continue reading...
A string of distractions on the US government's own website invite you to catch pixelated migrants - showing gaming's potential to be nastily weaponisedThe Trump White House on Thursday released a horrible little propaganda arcade via its website, a collection of nasty riffs on popular games. Wrapped in the cutesy, nostalgic aesthetic of early-90s pixel art, these mindless fascist diversions are harmless-looking, but their intent is stomach-turning: this is the appropriation of play in service of propaganda. It's just the latest in a series of attempts from Trump's administration to use video game memes and imagery to further its messaging.Having riffed on Halo and Pokemon in social media ads last year, inviting potential ICE recruits to stop the flood" and catch 'em all", this time the administration has ripped off a series of recognisable games. Flappy Bill, perhaps the least gross, is a version of the old mobile hit Flappy Bird, except here you're an eagle with a scroll in its claws. Supply Line could almost be an educational game about healthy food in schools, where you sort junk food off a conveyor belt destined for school lunches, except for some reason you play as a boxer who becomes more bloodied with every seed-oil containing, ultra-processed food item that you fail to punch into the garbage chute. Continue reading...
Senator releases letters from armed forces after reports of location data being used to track US troops in Middle EastUS military officials say they have disabled advertising trackers on a range of phones and computers, according to letters released on Friday by the US senator Ron Wyden and statements given to Reuters.The development follows reports that commercially available location data had been used to target American forces in the Middle East. Continue reading...
The CEO is the throughline in a history of billion-dollar blunders that have caused real harm, culminating in last week's settlementLast week, Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, agreed to a settlement of up to $18bn after dozens of US states accused it of harming children with addictive products. The settlement's regulatory implications for social media will affect every user, far beyond teens.But if Meta is truly interested in prioritizing the safety of users, the board should request the resignation of Mark Zuckerberg and restructure to put safety above profit. Continue reading...
Technology | The Guardian