Fraudulent music streams have long been a scourge for the industry, but experts say generative AI has supercharged itJason Moran, a renowned jazz composer and pianist, got a strange call from a friend last month. The friend, bassist Burniss Earl Travis, was curious about Moran's new record that he saw on the music streaming service Spotify.It has your name on it," Travis told him. But I don't think it's you." Continue reading...

Claude Mythos's apparent superhuman hacking abilities are alarming experts as the Trump administration remains blinded by hostilityIn June 2024, a cyber-attack on a pathology services company caused chaos across London's hospitals. More than 10,000 appointments were cancelled. Blood shortages followed and delays to blood tests led to a patient's death.Lethal cyber-attacks like this are thankfully rare. But a new AI release could change that - plunging us into a terrifying new world of chaos and disruption to the digital systems that we rely on.Shakeel Hashim is the editor of Transformer, a publication about the power and politics of transformative AI Continue reading...

Millions of accounts have been deactivated since the ban came into effect in December, but Noah Jones found it was easily circumvented

As The Super Mario Galaxy Movie storms the box office, we look back at the best forgotten games inspired by Tetris, Lemmings and ... vitamins?It should be no surprise that the latest Super Mario movie is smashing box office records - despite the, let's say mixed, reviews. Nintendo's iconic plumber has been a pop culture staple for 45 years, starring in some of the bestselling video games ever made, from the original Donkey Kong through to the joyous Super Mario Bros Wonder and the chaotic Mario Kart World.But as with any storied showbiz career, there have been some lesser works. Who can forget - or actually remember - Hotel Mario, a door-shutting puzzle game for the doomed Philips CD-i console? Or what about Mario Teaches Typing, a 1992 educational game for the PC in which players navigate the Mushroom Kingdom by ... correctly inputting words. Yet there have also been genuine treasures lost along the way. Here, then, are seven of our favourite much-overlooked Mario odysseys. Continue reading...

Fed chair Jerome Powell reportedly attends meeting in Washington following release of Claude MythosThe US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, summoned major American bank chiefs to a meeting in Washington this week amid concerns over the cyber risks posed by Anthropic's latest AI model, according to reports.Jerome Powell, chair of the Rederal Reserve, was said to have been among those gathered at the Treasury headquarters for the meeting after the release of the Claude Mythos AI model that Anthropic says poses unprecedented cybersecurity risks. Continue reading...

Experts warn lapse could sharply reduce reports of abuse, echoing a 58% drop during a similar legal gap in 2021

Thinktank says algorithms are fuelling isolation and division after analysing posts shown to social media usersReform UK voters are the least likely to see posts from friends and family on social media and most likely to see content from brands and news organisations, a study has found.The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank said algorithms were fuelling isolation and division after its research analysing users' feeds on Instagram, Facebook, X, Bluesky and TikTok found that only 13% of Reform UK voters saw content from someone they knew, compared with 23% of Green party voters. Continue reading...

Company claims law regulating AI systems, set to go into effect in June, infringes on its first amendment rightsElon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, has filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado over a new AI law set to take effect in June.The suit seeks to block the state from enforcing the law, which would impose new requirements on AI systems to protect state residents from algorithmic discrimination" in sectors such as education, employment, healthcare, housing and financial services. Continue reading...

Our seasoned traveller braved obstacles and mud to put the best cabin bags to the test - from hard-shell to budget, wheeled to lightweight The best travel pillows, testedLet's start by saying that if you can avoid taking a flight, that would be best. Aviation accounts for 2.5% of global carbon emissions - and the levels released by aircraft could double or triple by 2050.Regrettably, you can't always reach your destination by rail, sea or hot-air balloon. If flying is unavoidable, one way to reduce your carbon footprint is to take a cabin bag, rather than hold luggage. This encourages you to pack less, so your baggage is lighter, and less fuel is required to spirit it through the stratosphere. If that doesn't move you, consider that you'll also pay lower fees to the airline.Best cabin bag overall:

As real astronauts vanish behind the moon, games have long tried to evoke the fragile quiet of drifting through space Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereLast week's launch of the Artemis II space mission was a stunning spectacle, the 17-storey-high rockets erupting into cacophonous life before wrenching the craft through the Earth's atmosphere. But the images that have come since hold just as much impact: the tiny Orion craft and its four-person crew drifting silently through space, further and further from home.In his autobiography, the Apollo astronaut Michael Collins described this feeling perfectly. Left in the command module as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down on the lunar surface, he wrote: I am alone now, truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life. I am it. If a count were taken, the score would be three billion plus two over on the other side of the moon, and one plus God knows what on this side." Continue reading...

Expert stresses importance of staying alert for unusual activity, as hackers could take you to fake sites'

Rosedale residents considering car licence plate-scanning Flock system in bid to tackle property crimeA row has broken out in one of Canada's wealthiest neighbourhoods over plans to use an AI-powered surveillance system to create the country's first virtual gated community" to combat surging property crime.Crime rates in Toronto as a whole are dropping but residents of Rosedale have been left on edge by a sustained rise in home invasions, with robbers targeting the tree-lined neighbourhood at a rate more than double the city average. Break-ins and thefts remain the third highest per capita in Toronto. Continue reading...

Elon Musk's aerospace to AI company will host summer event to try to convince buyers it is worth $2tn

Scale AI gig workers describe desperation of using people's personal profiles and copyrighted work to train AITens of thousands of people have been paid by a company part-owned by Meta to train AI by combing Instagram accounts, harvesting copyrighted work and transcribing pornographic soundtracks, the Guardian can reveal.Scale AI, 49%-controlled by Mark Zuckerberg's social media empire, has recruited experts across fields such as medicine, physics and economics - putatively to refine top-level artificial intelligence systems through a platform called Outlier. Become the expert that AI learns from," it says on its site, advertising flexible work for people with strong credentials. Continue reading...

They have degrees, expertise and years of experience - but can't find work. For many Americans, AI training has become a last refuge in a brutal job marketWhen Patrick Ciriello lost his job and couldn't find work for nearly a year, his family's foundation crumbled.You hear about people who hit rock bottom," Ciriello told the Guardian. Well, I was there." Continue reading...

Experts have been alarmed at the growth of deep misogyny dressed up as self-help on social media. We profile seven men from across the continent who are gaining tractionIt is not just Europe and the US that are grappling with a growing landscape of misogynistic influencers online. While Andrew Tate, Myron Gaines, Sneako and other voices grow in toxicity in the manosphere of the west, across Africa - which has more than 400 million people aged between 15 and 35 - several individuals are gaining traction.The manosphere is a loose network of communities that claim to address men's struggles such as dating and fitness, but often promote harmful misogynistic attitudes. Sunita Caminha, who leads UN Women on ending violence against women and girls in east and southern Africa, first started noticing its presence in Africa about five years ago, and believes it is on the rise. Research and data that keeps coming out is very consistent [in] showing this is an alarming issue in different countries and contexts across the continent." Continue reading...

Exclusive: Call for nudity-detection tech on phones as number of under-18s reporting blackmail attempts rises by 34% I felt ashamed and scared': how an online friendship became a sextortion nightmareChildren are reporting online sextortion attempts in record numbers in the UK, as campaigners urge tech companies to do more to stamp out the crime.The Report Remove service, which allows children to flag intimate images or videos of themselves that have appeared, or could appear, online, said it received 394 reports from under-18s last year of blackmail attempts after sending sexual images to predators. The figure is 34% higher than in 2024. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Investigation finds alleged Prince Group associates were involved in unusual development in tiny nation on Australia's doorstep, raising concerns about global spread of online fraud industryGuests were enticed with the promise of luxury villas overlooking aquamarine seas; a world-first crypto resort where the tech elite could commune over the latest digital innovation in opulent surrounds.The promotional material from June last year pitched a sprawling, futuristic development that would hug the coastline of Timor-Leste, one of the world's poorest countries, and donate a percentage of profits to philanthropy. Continue reading...

Meta has just lost a multimillion-dollar legal battle over its failure to prevent children being sold on its platforms. Here's how we uncovered evidence that became part of the case against itIt started with a tipoff. I was reporting on the trafficking and exploitation of migrant workers in the Gulf when a source I had known for more than a decade reached out. They told me that child sexual abuse trafficking in the US was surging. As the Covid pandemic pushed predators online, some were using Facebook and Instagram to buy and sell children.It was 2021 and I was about to begin an investigation with Mei-Ling McNamara, a human rights journalist, that would lead to the tech company Meta losing a multimillion-pound court case in March this year. The company had not yet rebranded and was known as Facebook, and there had not been any reporting on how children were being trafficked on its platforms. Experts from anti-trafficking nonprofit organisations and an American law enforcement official talked me through the crimes they were seeing. Continue reading...

These are the best USB chargers in the US to keep devices juiced up quickly and safely for all your tech needs

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers' questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsThis week's replies: has a call for restraint from an authority figure ever put a stop to war?I always say please and thank you to my Alexa. Why is this? I am sure it doesn't care. Is it worth being polite to artificial assistants? Alison Williams, TorontoPost your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com. A selection will be published next Sunday. Continue reading...

After forgetting the nibbles, refusing my costume requests and emailing GCHQ, Gaskell' did at least get us to show upTwo weeks ago, an AI bot invited me to a party it was organising in Manchester. It then promptly lied to dozens of potential sponsors that I'd agreed to cover the event, and misled me into believing there would be food.Despite all this, it was a pretty good night. Continue reading...

Ofcom data points to more passive consumption amid changes to apps and fears about mental health and past postsPosting significant events in your life, from birthdays to weddings and promotions, is a social media staple. But Jenny, like many other Britons recently, has hesitated over contributing to the infinite scroll.I wouldn't have even posted my wedding really," she says. But I had to because ... There's like an etiquette. Nobody else can post your wedding until you've posted. So my friends were like: Please post, it's been like a week.'" Continue reading...

Use of unmanned ground vehicles has grown exponentially since 2024 turning the war into a technological contestVictor Pavlov showed off Ukraine's newest and most versatile weapon: a battery-powered land robot.The unmanned ground vehicles come in various shapes and sizes. One runs on caterpillar tracks and resembles a roofless milk float. Another has wheels and antennas. A third carries anti-tank mines. Since spring 2024 their use has grown exponentially. Continue reading...

Alan Turing Institute told by funder to offer better strategy and more value for money after board was reminded of legal duties by watchdogThe UK's leading AI research institute has been told to make significant" changes by its main source of taxpayer funding.The Guardian revealed last week that the board of the Alan Turing Institute was reminded of its legal duties by the charity watchdog after a whistleblower complaint. Continue reading...

From a subtle Princess Peach lip jelly to a Yoshi egg that's been traumatising children, the cosmetic chain's latest tie-in is out of this worldWhen The Super Mario Bros Movie came out in 2023, it came with a rather unlikely tie-in: a range of skincare and bathing products from cosmetics chain Lush. The store, known for its devotion to natural ingredients and support for social justice causes, didn't seem like the obvious partner for a major video game franchise. Because of this, I thought I should try them out, assuming that my dalliance with beauty journalism would be short-lived.I was wrong. The collection was so successful, Lush later released a Minecraft range, which I also reviewed, and now there's a Super Mario Galaxy range to tie in with the new movie. Somehow, I have become the Guardian's Lush correspondent and it seems I am now trapped in a sweet-smelling cycle of video game-branded toiletries. There are definitely worse fates, so I'm just going with it. Continue reading...

At a time when the populist right is on the rise, progressives are shooting blanks while history rushes headlong into an automated futureCanberra rolled out the red carpet this week to one of the AI overlords whose technology is driving the world down the path of creative destruction. Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei, the putative good" tech oligarch, was spinning his version of a machine-driven future with the elan of a man who has untangled the mysteries of the universe - or at least built a predictive text model that can scrape the output of humanity and spit out compelling summaries of our collective consciousness.He regaled the prime minister, assorted elected officials and the tech sector's glitterati with his pitch for good AI that would transform the economy, before becoming the first to sign up to the government's new datacentre principles, conveniently released just a week earlier. It was compelling shill and, to be fair, Amodei is not the worst of the gods. He created Anthropic after leaving Open AI when the company dispensed with its not-for-profit, safety first" mission. He regularly shares thoughtful essays on the path of technology and has been open about his fears for the impact of his own products. He broke with the Trump administration over the limits to how his technology would be used to spy on citizens and enable autonomous weapons, turning himself into an enemy of the state. Continue reading...

Those in US given chance to have more professional usernames without losing access to accountDid your McLovin!1976!@gmail.com email address seem funny at the time but less so now you are applying for dozens of jobs?Google has said it is giving US users a chance to appear more professional by letting them change their Google account username - whatever appears before @gmail.com in an email address - without losing access to their account. Continue reading...

In week five of Rhik Samadder's diary, our resident AI skeptic decided to let AI take the lead on a date. If uncanny valley was a conversational style, it's this

PlayStation 5 (version tested), Xbox, Nintendo Switch 2, PC; Deck Nine/Square Enix

Fake X account posing as his vet sparked global false reports of Jonathan's death while soliciting crypto donationsAt 194 years old, Jonathan the giant tortoise was a youngster when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne - and has now lived long enough to fall victim to a crypto scam.News outlets including the BBC, Daily Mail and USA Today falsely reported his death after an X account posing as Jonathan's vet broke the news. Continue reading...

Two-thirds of secondary school teachers report a decline in core abilities such as writing and problem-solvingPupils using artificial intelligence are losing their capacity for critical thinking, according to a survey of secondary school teachers in England.Two-thirds said they had observed the decline among children who they also said no longer felt the need to spell because of voice-to-text technology. Continue reading...

Anonymous activist Martha Root on how she hacked into, and took down, a dating site for white supremacists. With reporting from investigative journalist Eva HoffmanThere's a dating site for everyone: Jdate for Jews, Muzz for Muslims and Raya for celebrities. And for white supremacists? WhiteDate, for Europids seeking tribal love".The mysterious hacker/activist Martha Root tells Helen Pidd how, live on stage and in disguise, she hacked into WhiteDate and exposed a network of thousands of neo-Nazis looking for Aryan love. Continue reading...

Ofcom research shows people also concerned old posts could affect personal or professional lifeSocial media users in the UK are becoming less active on tech platforms due to the rise of video apps and fears that posts could come back to haunt them, according to the communications watchdog.Ofcom said just under half of adult social media users (49%) now post, share or comment compared with 61% in 2024. The proportion exploring new websites has also fallen, from 70% to 56%. Continue reading...

We are paying more for a PlayStation so that idiots can use ChatGPT to mislead people on dating apps - something is rotten in the state of gaming Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereWhen the PlayStation 5 launched almost five and a half years ago, it was listed at 449 in the UK. If you were to buy one at the recommended retail price today, it would be 569.99, or 789.99 for the updated Pro model. Sony has just raised the price of its console by another 90, the latest in a series of hikes. This is unprecedented: consoles have always decreased in price over time (until they become retro collectibles - the other day, I saw someone asking 200 for a SNES on Vinted). So, what's going on?Unfortunately, this is another case of artificial intelligence ruining things for everyone. AI data centres need lots and lots and lots of computing power to be able to present you with lies whenever you Google anything, and this has pushed up demand and pricing for RAM and storage. This isn't the only reason prices are rising - the wars in Ukraine and Iran have caused global economic disruption, and rampant inflation has eaten into many companies' bottom line. But AI is the cause that's easiest to get angry about, because it doesn't need to be this way. Continue reading...

Head of committee says it was appropriate for government to seek guidance on way out of 330m deal with US data companyClaims by Palantir that concerns over the US data analytics company's multimillion-pound NHS contract are ideologically motivated" have been rejected by the chair of a parliamentary committee.It was also appropriate for the government to seek guidance on activating a break contract in the deal, said Chi Onwurah, a Labour MP who heads the science, innovation and technology select committee. Continue reading...

Company chaired by Trump ally Larry Ellison seeks to reassure investors that bet on AI infrastructure will pay offOracle is cutting thousands of jobs as the US technology company seeks to reassure investors that its bet on AI infrastructure will pay off.The $420bn (315bn) company, which is headquartered in Austin, Texas, started making employees redundant on Tuesday, with thousands of its 162,000-strong workforce expected to leave. Continue reading...

From an interactive session of Sex With Friends to improvised Robot Karaoke, the Friday Live celebration of play and performance amid the museum's venerable halls was a reminder of gaming's cultural cloutIn the grand entrance of the Victoria & Albert Museum, beneath a looming dome with ancient statues visible through nearby arches, a programmer/DJ is busy live-coding a glitchy electronic music set. Either side of her, large LED displays show streams of code and strobing pixellated images as the bass pounds. She's part of a group named London Live Coding, an experimental collective that makes music by writing and manipulating audio programs. It is loud, disorientating and brilliant, and I can't help wondering what Queen Victoria and her husband would have made of it.The set is part of the museum's long-running Friday Late evening series, a collaboration with the London Games Festival. It showcased a range of independent video games and immersive interactive experiences, focusing on the link between play and performance. Visitors were given a map and left to wander the halls, corridors and galleries looking for installations. You could play the Bafta-winning comedy game Thank Goodness You're Here! on a giant screen beneath a 13th-century spiral staircase. You could wander down the darkened Prince Consort's gallery and find groups of giggling pals playing the hilarious erotic physics puzzler Sex With Friends, in which ragdoll-like characters have to be guided into (consensual) sexual encounters - much to the amusement of spectators. Continue reading...

Calls for tougher laws as network stretching from Caribbean to Georgia generates riches for offshore tycoons by appearing to prey on the vulnerableImmaculately groomed and beaming from ear to ear, Andres Markou looks every inch the golden boy of the gambling sector. The youthful boss of MyStake, a fast-growing digital casino, has been pictured shaking hands with the Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho over a lucrative branding partnership.Elsewhere, he can be seen collecting industry awards, or offering visionary" insights to interviewers. There is only one hurdle blocking Markou's ascent to the very top of his trade: he does not exist. Continue reading...

Content creators love the built-in camera; sceptics call them pervert glasses'. Do we really need any more hi-tech wearables, even with a voice assistant that sounds like Judi Dench?Lately, I've been hearing Judi Dench's voice in my head. She tells me tomorrow's forecast, when to turn right, that there's been another message in my group chat. Day or night, Dame Judi is eager to assist. When I ask the eight-time Academy Award nominee what I'm looking at, she answers: a residential area, a person in a pub, daffodils. They are a bright yellow colour and are often associated with spring."This isn't a delusion. This is, apparently, progress. I am test-driving Meta's smartglasses and Dench voices its integrated AI assistant: Here to chat, answer questions, create images and provide advice and inspiration," said Judi" when I selected her over the actors John Cena and Kristen Bell. Shall we begin?" Continue reading...

Milpitas approves measure to distribute smart doorbells and says residents can upload footage to police databaseA Silicon Valley city will offer its residents free wireless doorbells equipped with cameras to help police collect video evidence.The city council of Milpitas, a suburb north of San Jose, California, recently approved $60,000 to provide these devices on a one-camera-per-household, first-come, first-served basis, as was first reported by Milpitas Beat and confirmed by the Guardian. Continue reading...

Company said it achieved valuation of $852bn, mentioning in a blogpost it generates $2bn a month in revenueOpenAI announced on Tuesday it had closed a fundraising round of $122bn and achieved a valuation of $852bn. The funding cements the ChatGPT maker as one of the most highly valued private companies in the world.The artificial intelligence firm received multibillion-dollar investments from companies including Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank, which committed $110bn, according to the Wall Street Journal. OpenAI also allowed a select group of individual investors to contribute about $3bn. The funding round ranks among the highest-ever in Silicon Valley. OpenAI said last month it was expecting to raise $110bn in funding, but upped that figure in its latest announcement. Continue reading...

Publisher alleges AI research company's chatbot violated its copyright over Coconut the Little Dragon seriesPenguin Random House has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging its chatbot ChatGPT violated copyright by mimicking and reproducing the content of a popular series of German children's books.The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday with a Munich court against OpenAI's Ireland-based European subsidiary, states Penguin Random House's legal team had prompted ChatGPT to write a story in the vein of Penguin author and illustrator Ingo Siegner's Coconut the Little Dragon series. Continue reading...

For many young people entering the workforce, the stigma of hands-on jobs is fading. There a competitive appeal - and they all require human expertiseGib and Michelle Mouser are proud of their son's career - just not in the way they once imagined.Only 23 years old, Cale Mouser already earns well over six figures, and he'll end up making substantially more. He is an acknowledged expert in a highly specialized field who spends hours in deep thought solving hard problems. He uses a computer, but he's not stuck behind it. Continue reading...

Meta claims social media addiction isn't real. Juries disagreeHello, and welcome to TechScape. I'm your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor for the Guardian. I'm hoping futilely for warm spring weather in New York City, but while it's still cold, I'm sitting inside and reading The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr. Published in 2010 and a finalist for the Pulitzer prize, the book is a fascinating record of our anxieties about technology at a time when the iPhone was just three years old and Facebook was just six. Google Chrome had debuted two years prior, and I think I was using Mozilla Firefox as my main browser. Stay tuned for a fuller analysis once I finish, but my early impression is that Carr's observations have stood the test of time.This week in tech, we're discussing one major topic: two landmark cases against Meta and YouTube over social media addiction. Whether social media is clinically addictive or not, the liability for it has been determined.Accountability has arrived': dual US court losses show shifting tide against Meta and coThe Guardian view on social media in the dock: tech bros move fast - society is trying to catch upHow Meta's victim-blaming failed to sway jurors in landmark social media addiction trial | TechnologyI was paid to write fake Google reviews - then my bosses' tried to scam meKeep under-fives' screen time to no more than an hour a day, UK advice saysWikipedia bans AI-generated content in its online encyclopediaFederal judge sides with Anthropic in first round of standoff with PentagonBernie Sanders and AOC introduce bill to pause building of new datacenters Continue reading...

As calls for restrictions on under-16s' online activities gather pace, some are urging curbs on online gaming. The idea is a mess from top to bottomLast week, Meta and YouTube were found liable for creating intentionally addictive products that affected the wellbeing of young social media users. The ruling has supercharged an already growing movement from governments and regulators to restrict or ban social media use for under-16s, as has been done in Australia, to protect children from potential harm.But there is another way that about 85% of kids and teens congregate online - and that is through video games. It has been suggested that curbs on online gaming should be considered alongside social media restrictions in future legislation. There is some precedent: in 2021, China restricted young people's online gaming time to one hour a day on weekends and holidays. But I have a lot of questions about how such curbs would work, and whether they should be attempted. Continue reading...

Louis Mosley says government should resist calls to trigger break clause in 330m deal with US analytics company

Meta, Tiktok and Google being investigated for allegedly disobeying Australia's social media banThe Australian government has accused big tech firms like Meta, TikTok and Google of disobeying the landmark ban on under-16s using social media, after the country's online safety office warned many children had accounts.A survey of 900 Australian parents found around a third (31%) said their children still had one or more social media accounts after the ban, compared to 49% before the laws. Continue reading...

The poster child of the AI boom, valued at $850bn, needs to show strategic discipline after casting its net too wide'If OpenAI is going to float this year, it has to get serious about its business model. The wow factor around the US company - the poster child of an AI industry boom that has stoked fears of a stock market bubble - has been long established, but when will the profits come? The party can't go on for ever.The developer of ChatGPT is one of the biggest startups in the world and is now valued at $850bn (645bn). Meanwhile, it is reportedly spending $600bn on infrastructure (the amount it invests in datacentres and chips to power its AI models) by 2030. At least this is a reduction on an initial estimate of $1.4tn. Continue reading...

Snappy performance, high-quality screen, best-in-class keyboard and trackpad show cheaper can still be greatApple's brand new entry-level laptop is powered by the chip from an iPhone and offers more than just the essential MacBook experience for a great price, putting the PC industry on notice.The MacBook Neo is the first of its kind from Apple. A 13in laptop that runs on an A18 Pro chip and brings the starting price for a brand new MacBook down to 599 (699/$599/A$899) - 500 or the equivalent less than the MacBook Air. Continue reading...