Technology | The Guardian

Ministers have denied being the source of the NSC leak, but which of them would benefit from it?One of five cabinet ministers who spoke out in opposition to plans to allow the Chinese telecoms firm Huawei to help build the UK’s 5G network at Tuesday’s tense meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) were being touted as the most likely source of a destabilising leak. As an inquiry led by the cabinet secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill, began on Thursday, all five were rushing to categorically deny it could have been them. But, despite the denials, could one of them have been behind the disclosure?Gavin Williamson Continue reading...

Pro gamer and Xbox On presenter Ben Perkin gives some tips on which weapons to seek out in the latest battle royale hit.Since its surprise launch in February, Apex Legends has established itself as a battle royale staple, amassing 50 million players in a month and giving established genre leaders PUBG and Fortnite a turbo-charged run for their money. Designed by the minds behind Call of Duty 4, it’s an unforgiving experience with lightning-fast gunfights, so the right weapons make all the difference. We sat down with pro gamer and Xbox On presenter Ben Perkin, aka Bennycentral, to rank every gun in the game, based on the latest patch, launched earlier this month.20. Mozambique Continue reading...

Senior figures in Theresa May’s cabinet deny role in leaking details of vote in National Security Council meetingCabinet members who were at Tuesday’s National Security Council (NSC) have been sent an ultimatum by Whitehall’s most powerful official to confess or deny whether they leaked a controversial decision to allow Chinese telecoms firm Huawei to help build the UK’s 5G phone network.Cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill is understood to have written to those present and demanded that they tell him by 2pm on Thursday whether they were involved and would be willing to cooperate with an inquiry, prompting the five prime suspects to scramble to “categorically deny” that they were behind the leak. Continue reading...

Top watchdog promises to force change following Cambridge Analytica scandal as New York announces new investigationFacebook broke Canadian privacy laws when it collected the information of some 600,000 citizens, a top watchdog in the country said on Thursday, pledging to seek a court order to force the social media company to change its practices.Canada’s privacy commissioner, Daniel Therrien, made his comments while releasing the results of an investigation, opened a year ago, into a data sharing scandal involving Facebook and the now-defunct British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. Continue reading...

Jeff Bezos touts results but report, which reveals Amazon tracks and fires workers who miss productivity targets, casts shadowAmazon made a profit of more than $1bn a month for the first three months of the year, the company announced on Thursday.The retail and tech giant reported a profit of $3.6bn for the three months ending 31 March as sales reached $59.7bn. Profits were more than double last year’s and the company has now recorded four straight quarters in a row of record profits. Continue reading...

Company beat sales and profit expectations to join Apple and Amazon in prestigious clubMicrosoft has become the third publicly listed US company, after Apple and Amazon, to boast a market value of more than $1tn after bumper quarterly results boosted its share price.The company beat sales and profits expectations in the three months to 31 March, thanks in part to its cloud computing business, which signed up major corporate clients over the period. Continue reading...

The highly anticipated postapocalyptic adventure builds a believable, thrilling world, but populates it with cardboard cut-out survivorsAfter only 10 minutes, you realise something about Days Gone that will come to mind throughout the next 20 hours or so: it is as if Far Cry was set in a B-movie version of The Last of Us universe. If you’re okay with that, you’re going to have a heck of a ride.The latest title from Sony’s SIE Bend Studio (responsible for the Syphon Filter series) is set in the beautiful, rural Pacific Northwest, after the spread of a virus that turns victims into the kind of absolutely-not-zombies we saw in Danny Boyle’s film 28 Days Later. Survivors either hole up together in paranoid communities or drift from one compound to the next, killing the infected for bounties. Continue reading...

Derek needs to find a laptop with Windows 10 Home’s device encryption to keep his data safeI want to buy a new Windows 10 laptop for home use, and I want one with device encryption capability, so that the boot drive is encrypted. Until recently, this has only been possible with Windows Professional editions using BitLocker. I now see that if a laptop has the right specification, all versions of Windows 10 can have device encryption turned on.The problem is that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to get information from mainstream laptop vendors as to whether a specific model supports device encryption. Recent MacBooks are capable of using FileVault and Apple spells out which models support it, so why is this information so hard to find for Windows laptops? DerekI’m glad you asked because you’re right: there’s a shocking lack of information about device encryption on laptops, and this applies to Microsoft, to PC manufacturers, and to retailers. It’s also something that laptop PC reviewers rarely seem to mention, which makes it hard, if not impossible, to tell how many laptops are compatible with Windows 10’s device encryption. Continue reading...

Firm reveals losses of $2.90 a share after waiting more than an hour after markets closeTesla posted larger-than-expected losses in its first-quarter earnings report, as the company struggles with production rates and was forced to raise prices on a number of its cars.The electric carmaker reported a loss of $2.90 a share in its filing, weaker than the $1.30 loss a share experts were expecting. The company’s stock closed out the day at $258.66 a share and prices fluctuated wildly in after hours trading. Continue reading...

Company makes revelation in financial reports showing first-quarter revenue growth to more than $15bnFacebook is expecting to pay as much as $5bn to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), it revealed in first quarter financial reports, which otherwise showed continued revenue growth to more than $15bn for the first three months of the year.Facebook recorded a $3bn legal expense “in connection with the inquiry of the FTC into our platform and user data practices”, the company said. The expenses result in a 51% year-over-year decline in net income, to just $2.4bn. Absent this one-time expense, the company noted, Facebook’s earnings per share would have beaten analyst expectations, and its operating margin (22%) would have been 20 points higher. Continue reading...

May has given Chinese telecoms firm limited role in supplying future 5G mobile networkSenior Tory MPs have expressed alarm about Theresa May’s readiness to give the Chinese telecoms firm Huawei a limited role in supplying the future 5G mobile phone network against the advice of some cabinet ministers, security chiefs and the US.Huawei will be banned from supplying core parts of the network but will get a role in non-core technology, according to leaks from a meeting of the national security council (NSC). Continue reading...

The UK must weigh its ties to the US and Australia against the value of Chinese friendshipIt may sound like an argument about technology, but in reality it is a battle of geopolitics. Should Brexit Britain yield to pressure from the US and ban Chinese hi-tech manufacturer Huawei from supplying kit to British mobile phone companies?Or should the UK keep the door open to China – and benefit not just from cheaper technology but across the economy in sectors such as nuclear power, where the world’s most populous country has shown it is willing to invest. Continue reading...

New smartphone with Leica quad camera has 5x optical zoom, super low-light performance and fun featuresHuawei’s latest top-end phone, the P30 Pro, has a genuinely groundbreaking new quad camera system on the back with amazing low-light performance and the first 5x optical zoom enabling a practically spycam-like 50x digital zoom.The new £900 phone, from the firm that continues to be at the centre of a political storm, has the familiar metal frame, curved glass and all-screen design of 2018-19. New for the P30 Pro are some stunning colour options, including the pearlescent oil slick-like “breathing crystal” and the eye-popping amber sunrise. If you want a phone that gloriously embraces colour, this is it. Continue reading...

Telecoms firm will still be able to supply some technology, but decision may anger BeijingTheresa May has ordered that Chinese telecoms supplier Huawei be banned from supplying core parts of the future 5G mobile phone network, following a meeting of ministers on the National Security Council (NSC).Huawei will be allowed to supply some “non-core” technology to UK phone companies, insiders said, but several ministers in the meeting on Tuesday raised concerns even about that concession, arguing instead for a total ban on the supplier. Continue reading...

Shares closed the day up 4% at $11.99 while revenue increased 39% to $320m in the first quarter of 2019Snapchat has seen user growth for the first time in a year, the company announced on Tuesday, after it improved its much-maligned Android app. The results beat Wall Street predictions and sent shares soaring after hours.The company has been slowly rolling out updates to the app after users complained about blurry images and low-quality videos. In a call with investors on Tuesday, the Snapchat CEO, Evan Spiegel, said a well-developed Android app was “the price of admission” to international markets and acknowledged that users turned off by previous Android iterations might not immediately jump on the new version. Continue reading...

Social media platform’s revenues up 18% as president criticises its treatment of himTwitter has reported better-than-expected financial results, sending its shares surging, as Donald Trump accused the social media platform of “playing political games”.Revenues for the first quarter climbed by 18% to $787m (£605m), beating Wall Street forecasts of $776m. Revenues were boosted by ad sales that also rose 18%, to $679m. Its shares jumped nearly 13% to $38.81. A year ago, they were changing hands at $31.22. Continue reading...

A letter on Github demanded companies comply with labor laws, limiting workers to 40 hours a week versus a 12-hour day standardMicrosoft employees have published a letter on the software development platform Github in solidarity with tech workers in China.Workers at tech companies in the country have used the Microsoft-owned platform to complain about grueling working conditions and the “996” standard in the industry, a philosophy endorsed by the tech billionaire Jack Ma. The name is based on the idea of working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week. Continue reading...

Reviewers reported the screens on the $2,000 Galaxy Fold flickering, freezing and dying on test units within daysSamsung is pushing back this week’s planned public launch of its highly anticipated, $2,000 folding phone after reports that reviewers’ phones were breaking.The company had been planning to release the Galaxy Fold on Friday, with a 3 May release date in the UK, but instead it will now run more tests and announce a new launch date in the “coming weeks”. Continue reading...

Analysts predict first quarterly drop in earnings since 2015 on $3bn rise in turnoverFacebook is this week expected to report a rare decline in profits after a string of privacy breaches and fake news scandals.With its founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg under pressure to clean up the social network, analysts predict the company’s net profit will drop to $4.7bn (£3.6bn) in the first quarter, from nearly $5bn a year ago. Continue reading...

The video, widely shared on China’s Twitter-like Weibo, shows the parked EV emit smoke and burst into flames seconds laterTesla has sent a team to investigate a video on Chinese social media which showed a parked Tesla Model S car exploding, the latest in a string of fire incidents involving the company’s cars.The video, time stamped Sunday evening and widely shared on China’s Twitter-like Weibo, shows the parked EV emit smoke and burst into flames seconds later. A video purportedly of the aftermath showed a line of three cars completely destroyed. Continue reading...

A Guardian report recently revealed a secret network of accounts operated by US Immigration and Customs EnforcementThe Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has called on Facebook to address the proliferation of undercover law enforcement accounts on the social networking site following a Guardian report that revealed a secret network of accounts operated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).EFF, a digital civil liberties not-for-profit, said law enforcement agencies are able to create fake accounts to spy on users, despite Facebook’s policy which prohibits all users, including government agencies, from making them. Continue reading...

Carmaker says man trespassed on factory in California and drove at security guardTesla has been granted a temporary restraining order to prevent an alleged harasser from approaching the carmaker’s California factory.The electric carmaker claimed in its application for the order that the man had repeatedly harassed its employees. He allegedly controls a Twitter account which frequently claimsthat Tesla engages in fraud and which claims to be betting that Tesla shares will fall. Continue reading...

GCHQ survey finds millions using most obvious passwords – including ‘password’, ‘qwerty’ and superhero namesCybercriminals are using increasingly devious scams to con internet users into revealing precious online information. Yet millions of people have saved fraudsters the bother of deploying trickery and temptation by picking bizarrely simple passwords that feature on a new hotlist of online security howlers.One of them, for example, is “password”. Continue reading...

We test and control drugs, so why do we freely allow the spread of potentially harmful products by unregulated entrepreneurs?The headline above an essay in a magazine published by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) caught my eye. “Facial recognition is the plutonium of AI”, it said. Since plutonium – a by-product of uranium-based nuclear power generation – is one of the most toxic materials known to humankind, this seemed like an alarmist metaphor, so I settled down to read.The article, by a Microsoft researcher, Luke Stark, argues that facial-recognition technology – one of the current obsessions of the tech industry – is potentially so toxic for the health of human society that it should be treated like plutonium and restricted accordingly. You could spend a lot of time in Silicon Valley before you heard sentiments like these about a technology that enables computers to recognise faces in a photograph or from a camera. There, it’s regarded as universally beneficial. If you’ve ever come across a suggestion on Facebook to tag a face with a suggested individual’s name, for example, then you’ve encountered the technology. And it’s come on in leaps and bounds as cameras, sensors and machine-learning software have improved and as the supply of training data (images from social media) has multiplied. We’ve now reached the point where it’s possible to capture images of people’s faces and identify them in real time. Which is the thing that really worries Stark. Continue reading...

Months after a Which? investigation into the manufacture of misleading reviews on Amazon, most are still activeConsumers continue to risk being ripped off as a result of fake review “factories” on Facebook that manufacture misleading Amazon product reviews, says Which? It told Guardian Money that “nearly all” of the Facebook groups it uncovered last autumn were still active this month.Earlier this week it claimed Amazon’s system was being undermined by a flood of fake five-star reviews for unfamiliar brands. Researchers analysed listings of hundreds of popular tech products and found top-rated items were dominated by brands with names such as Itshiny, Vogek and Aitalk, many with thousands of unverified reviews. Continue reading...

Hutchins says he regrets his actions and will continue ‘keeping people safe from malware attacks’A British computer security researcher once hailed as a “hero” for helping stem a ransomware outbreak and later accused of creating malware to attack the banking system said on Friday he had pleaded guilty to US criminal charges.Marcus Hutchins, whose arrest in 2017 stunned the computer security community, acknowledged in a statement pleading guilty to criminal charges linked to his activity in 2014 and 2015. Continue reading...

The long weekend is a rare chance for unmediated contact with the world and with our friends. Don’t miss itSpring has come to the UK. The weather invites us to feel it on the skin and not through a window or a screen. Get out there into it, and go there without a phone – unless you’re walking in the mountains and might need to contact the emergency services. For the rest of us, being without a phone is not in itself an emergency, even though it might feel like one at first. Phones do provide us with helpful information all the time. They keep us oriented in the physical world, and position us in the social world, albeit while sharing all this with advertisers. But life was possible without them even as recently as 10 years ago, and sometimes it is worth a visit to that lost age when maps were made of paper and video was something people watched together.There are two reasons at least for trying to make time away from screens this bank holiday. The first is that it is, and ought to be, a true break from work. Anyone who works in an office knows now that email, messaging and phone calls mean that both the office itself and the people who want to deal with it can follow you anywhere, at any time. There is never a moment when you can feel that you have actually accomplished everything that could reasonably be expected. Continue reading...

US firm received $1bn from consortium including Toyota and Saudi ArabiaUber’s self-driving car unit has been valued at $7.3bn (£5.6bn), after receiving $1bn of investment by a consortium including Toyota and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.With weeks to go until the loss-making San Francisco firm’s stock market float, expected to value the company at up to $100bn, Uber said it had secured new financial backing for its plans to develop autonomous vehicles. Continue reading...

To dispel US suspicions, Chinese telecom firm welcomed dozens of journalists into its labsA pillar box red electric train connects Paris, Verona and Grenada via Budapest’s Liberty Bridge and on to Heidelberg Castle in a 120-hectare fantasy business park dreamt up by the Chinese billionaire Ren Zhengfei.Ren, 74, a former Red Army engineer who founded the telecommunications company Huawei in 1987 and still owns a 1.14% stake, asked the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma to recreate some of Europe’s most historic cities. He hoped to inspire an army of 25,000 research and development staff to challenge Apple, Google and Samsung. Continue reading...

News that the company had insecurely stored passwords came on the same day as the release of Robert Mueller’s long-awaited reportFacebook chose one of the busiest news days in American politics this year to admit that millions more Instagram users were affected by a security lapse than it had previously disclosed.At 10 am ET on Thursday, as the attorney general, William Barr, wrapped up his news conference on the release of the report of the special counsel, Robert Mueller, Facebook updated a 21 March blogpost, which revealed it had mistakenly stored the passwords of hundreds of millions of users unencrypted, to include a sentence admitting that millions more Instagram accounts had been affected. Continue reading...

Drivers for both ridesharing companies say riders are paying more for price surges, but drivers aren’t receiving extra payRidesharing companies Uber and Lyft have taken more than 11 billion people for a ride in their relatively short life. And yet the two companies have yet to make a cent in profits. Now, as the companies go public, some drivers think they may have spotted one way the companies plan to close that gap: increasing prices while short-changing drivers.Related: Disgruntled drivers and 'cultural challenges': Uber admits to its biggest risk factors Continue reading...

Number of organisations and individuals permanently banned for being ‘dangerous’Years after the company first dismissed fears it was empowering extremists, Facebook has permanently banned a number of far-right organisations and individuals including the British National party (BNP), the English Defence League (EDL) and Britain First .The ban, which came into effect at midday on Thursday, extends beyond the groups and individuals specifically cited as hate organisations: posts and other content that “expresses praise or support” for them will also be banned, as will users who coordinate support for the groups. Continue reading...

Flexible screen failed on several £1,800 tester devices in run-up to public releaseThe screen at the heart of Samsung’s new Galaxy Fold phone, which literally folds in half, has been failing in testers’ hands within days, prompting concerns about the durability of the £1,800 device.The company distributed the device to publications across the US on Monday before its release to the public on 26 April. But within two days testers were reporting that the all-important central flexible screen started to break under normal use. Continue reading...

Company says it has stopped using password verification feature that collected dataFacebook has admitted to “unintentionally” uploading the address books of 1.5 million users without consent, and says it will delete the collected data and notify those affected.The discovery follows criticism of Facebook by security experts for a feature that asked new users for their email password as part of the sign-up process. As well as exposing users to potential security breaches, those who provided passwords found that, immediately after their email was verified, the site began “importing” contacts without asking for permission. Continue reading...

Jason wants to protect his new high-end laptop from viruses but needs data on old SD cardsI’ve just bought a high-end Windows laptop for video editing while travelling around Europe. What steps can I take to prevent any possible infections from being passed on from previous machines on SD cards and external hard drives? Some of the external hard drives go back to machines from 2004 but I have never plugged any of them into any computers other than my own previous Macs and PCs. I work professionally with video, photography and coding, so all of this data is vital.I have a five-machine Bitdefender licence but I’d be prepared to use another protection system, and I’ve looked at Sophos Intercept X. JasonThere are at least three things to think about. First, there’s the threat level: how at risk are you? Second, there’s provenance: how much do you know about your devices? Third, how can you mitigate any risks revealed by the answers to the first two questions? Continue reading...

Stunning all-in-one PC that slides to become drawing tablet is held back by high price and old chipsThe Surface Studio 2 is Microsoft’s beautiful all-singing, all-dancing, all-in-one desktop computer that is quite unlike anything else on the market. But then it should be with prices starting at more than £3,500.Straight out of the box it’s obvious that the Surface Studio 2 is no ordinary computer. Its gorgeous, pixel-dense 28in screen appears to float, held effortlessly by two chrome articulated arms that are invisible when you’re sitting directly in front of it. The small grey pedestal below looks like a weighted stand, but contains the full workings of the PC. Continue reading...

The valuation is a sign of strength for the tech IPO market after ride-hailing startup Lyft’s strugglesPinterest Inc’s initial public offering set the online scrapbook company’s valuation at $12.7bn on Wednesday, above its expectations and a sign of strength for the tech IPO market after Lyft Inc’s struggles.Pinterest, where users save ideas for clothes, décor and recipes, is due to start trading on the New York stock exchange on Thursday. Its performance will be a key test of the tech IPO market after the Nasdaq debut of ride-hailing start-up Lyft at the end of last month. Continue reading...

Site co-founded by Fox News host Tucker Carlson has promoted misinformation and is known for pro-Trump contentFacebook’s controversial factchecking program is partnering with the Daily Caller, a rightwing website that has pushed misinformation and is known for pro-Trump content.The social network said Wednesday it had added CheckYourFact.com, which is part of the Daily Caller, as one of its US media partners in an initiative that has faced growing backlash from journalists and internal problems. The collaboration was first reported by Axios. Continue reading...

Lawmakers seek information from IRS, saying American taxpayers face ‘unacceptable’ ambiguity over cryptocurrencyUS lawmakers asked the the Internal Revenue Service how US residents should pay taxes on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, in a remarkable letter that shows just how unregulated the cryptocurrency space remains.More than a decade after bitcoin was first introduced, the IRS has released just one public notice on how to pay taxes on digital holdings. That lack of guidance is leaving American taxpayers with “unacceptable” ambiguity on reporting requirements, the letter signed by 21 members of Congress on Monday said. Continue reading...

Problems signing in to Google products from the US, UK, India, Singapore, Europe to Australia resolved after two hoursGoogle experienced a global outage affecting users as they try to log in to the company’s many applications, including Gmail and Google Docs and any site that allows access via a Google account.The problem lasted nearly two hours, beginning around 11pm BST. The company said it was investigating “an issue with OAuth login” and “an issue with Admin console” on Wednesday evening. The problem was resolved just before 1am BST. Continue reading...

MPs vote to block access to Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s BattlegroundsIraq’s parliament has voted to ban popular online video games including PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite, citing their “negative” influence, especially on the young, in a country long plagued by real-life bloodshed.Iraq held its first election in 2018 after years of devastating factional violence. Islamic State militants held wide swathes of the country for three years until they were driven out in heavy fighting with US-backed forces in 2017. Continue reading...

Former British MEP is sent stern letter accusing Facebook of ignoring how EU law worksThe EU has told Facebook’s head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, to rethink some of the company’s rules aimed at protecting elections from foreign interference.Věra Jourová, the European commissioner for justice, said the EU had a clear message for Facebook over its approach to ensuring greater transparency about who funds political adverts. Continue reading...

Ubisoft Montréal, which built a huge-scale virtual cathedral for its game Assassin’s Creed Unity, will donate to restoration effortsVideo game creators at Ubisoft Montréal – the development studio that rebuilt 18th-century Paris in its 2014 historical action game Assassin’s Creed Unity – have joined the global outpouring of grief in the wake of Monday’s devastating fire at Notre Dame Cathedral.Ubisoft will be donating €500,000 to help with restoration efforts, and is also making Assassin’s Creed Unity available free on PC for the next week, “giving everyone the chance to experience the majesty and beauty of Notre Dame the best way we know how”, said a studio spokesperson. “We hope, with this small gesture, we can provide everyone an opportunity to appreciate our virtual homage to this monumental piece of architecture.” Continue reading...

Sites that fail to verify users are over 18 face being blocked under controversial lawsThe UK’s age verification system for online pornography will become mandatory on 15 July, the government has confirmed.From that date, commercial providers of online pornography will be required to carry out “robust” age verification checks on users, in order to keep children from accessing adult content. Continue reading...

The creator of Assassin’s Creed is making apes of gamers – reconnecting us with prehistoric survival instincts in virtually untouched gaming territoryWhen a game, film or TV show takes on the idea of human evolution, it’s usually concerned with the future. What might humans become? How might technology change us? But Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey’s interpretation is literal. You play as a great ape, part of a small troop in a jungle, swinging through trees, picking up sticks and rocks and trying to figure out how to use them to advance the species. It is a fascinating concept, challenging the player to reconnect with the curiosity and ingenuity that helped our distant genetic ancestors to figure out how to progress.Ancestors opens 10 million years ago with a nature-documentary-style montage of cruel life in the jungle, featuring crocodiles, sabre-toothed cats and giant predatory birds – all eating each other. When an elder ape meets a grisly end in the treetops, the infant creature clinging to its back is thrown to the ground, and you begin the game as a baby desperately searching for somewhere to hide on the forest floor, calling for help. Switching into the body of an adult primate, you pursue the cries through the dense jungle, eventually picking up the infant and returning them to the safety of the tribe. Continue reading...

People had to get by without the search engine giant before it was launched in 1998. But is it possible to live your life – and do your job – without it these days?Halfway through my week without Google, my wife mentions that she would like to go out to see a film that evening, and I agree to deal with the logistics. In what I initially think is an inspired move, I drop by the local cinema on the way home and scribble down all the film times in my notebook. Then my wife insists on going to a different cinema.“Can I do this by phone?” I ask her. “Is 118 still a thing?” Continue reading...

Report says an overwhelmingly white and male field has reached ‘a moment of reckoning’ over discriminatory systemsLack of diversity in the artificial intelligence field has reached “a moment of reckoning”, according to new findings published by a New York University research center. A “diversity disaster” has contributed to flawed systems that perpetuate gender and racial biases found the survey, published by the AI Now Institute, of more than 150 studies and reports.The AI field, which is overwhelmingly white and male, is at risk of replicating or perpetuating historical biases and power imbalances, the report said. Examples cited include image recognition services making offensive classifications of minorities, chatbots adopting hate speech, and Amazon technology failing to recognize users with darker skin colors. The biases of systems built by the AI industry can be largely attributed to the lack of diversity within the field itself, the report said. Continue reading...

A new ‘digital native’-intended model of the Xbox One won’t play discs, but comes cheaper as a resultMicrosoft has announced a new model of its Xbox One console, a digital-only version that will not be able to play discs and costs less than its siblings.The Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is functionally and visually identical to the existing Xbox One S console, apart from the absence of a disc drive. It’s aimed at “digital natives”, according to Microsoft’s Jeff Gattis – primarily teens who grew up without the discs and cartridges that older games relied upon. It is out on 7 May, and will cost £199 in the UK and $249 in the US, significantly cheaper than the other Xbox One models. It will come with Minecraft, Forza Horizon 3 and Sea of Thieves pre-installed on it s1TB hard drive, and a discounted subscription to Xbox Game Pass, which offers a library of more than 100 games for a monthly fee. Continue reading...

It mesmerised Proust, terrified Homer Simpson and gave us the Hunchback – Guardian critics celebrate Paris’s gothic masterpiece at the heart of the modern imaginationAs Notre Dame Cathedral’s majestic spire tumbled into the inferno on Monday night, live newsreaders around the world decried the tragic loss of this 12th-century marvel. The great timber roof – nicknamed “the forest” for the thousands of trees used in its beams – was gone, the rose windows feared melted, the heart of Paris destroyed forever. What few realised in the heat of the shocking footage was that much of what was ablaze was a 19th-century fantasy. Like most buildings of this age, Notre Dame is the sum of centuries of restorations and reinventions, a muddled patchwork of myth and speculation. Continue reading...