Clayton had said AI was a gamechanger' but also posed a threat' during his confirmation hearingDonald Trump on Sunday named Jay Clayton, the director of national intelligence, to also serve as the new White House AI czar.Clayton, who leads the US's 18 intelligence agencies, previously served as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan and led the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump's first term. Continue reading...
Residents of Dalby may soon live beside a $31bn datacentre. The premier sees opportunity' for the state - but others fear AI's global creepFrom the veranda on his bush block, Denver Kanowski has watched resources companies come and go from rural Queensland for 70 years.The home cost him $800, and lets him live how he likes, in nature. It's also in the middle of a gasfield, not far from the Linc Energy contamination site, down the road from a coalmine and three gas power plants.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...
A deep-seated duopoly allows the tech giants to exploit the public and developers. But the regulator has powers to stop this abuse - it should use them
David Robinson joins other insiders in urging industry to take more care over rapidly developing technologyA safety leader at OpenAI has quit the company, warning that its culture was broken and that AI firms were not being nearly careful enough" about developing the technology.David Robinson, who led the writing of safety reports that accompanied the ChatGPT developer's product releases, explained his resignation in an essay headlined: I quit OpenAI because its culture is broken." Continue reading...
by Senay Boztas in Amsterdam. Photographs by Judith J on (#78TE5)
Neighbours say crowds drawn by TikTok to Fabel Friet are clogging the picturesque canal street and attracting litter, gulls and ratsPeople living in one of Amsterdam's most exclusive neighbourhoods have taken the city to court for licensing a chip shop that has gone viral on TikTok.On busy days, the queue for Fabel Friet on Runstraat stretches across a bridge on the Keizersgracht - one of Amsterdam's most famous canals - a court was told last week. The narrow street itself is crowded by tourists waiting for their orders seven days a week. And loitering with intent - on parked cars, on the street itself, and on steps and porches - gulls wait to swoop. Continue reading...
The state, which is home to many AI companies, is one of the first to roll out workplace regulations targeting the technologyCalifornia's laws aimed at protecting workers from the impacts of artificial intelligence could pave the way for broader workplace safeguards across the US as calls for regulating the technology mount. As the federal government goes hands-off on AI, California is taking the reins to address workers' biggest fears.On Thursday, California governor Gavin Newsom signed a suite of new laws that ban bosses from relying entirely on AI to decide whether to fire workers, using it to predict employees' emotional states or collecting neural data, meaning the information from electrical signals of someone's brain or nerves. They also require companies to notify workers if layoffs were caused by AI and prohibit AI surveillance in workplace bathrooms. Continue reading...
When the new department of government efficiency' sent young techies to disrupt federal agencies, not everyone complied. Here's what happened when one worker fought to protect immigrant dataIn the early hours of Saturday 22 February 2025 the following email landed in the inboxes of the entire US federal workforce:From: HR hr@opm.gov Continue reading...
A Princeton researcher found that publicly available election records could be combined with AI to link voters to their ballotsWhen voters cast their ballots, their votes are supposed to remain secret: from their family, their neighbors, and the government.But what if artificial intelligence could make secret votes visible? Continue reading...
Greg Lui allegedly used false paperwork to smuggle export-controlled gear from US to third countries and then ChinaUS authorities have arrested a man accused of smuggling more than $300m worth of computer servers to China, the Department of Justice announced.Greg Lui, 38, of California, also known as Yiu Kong Lui", allegedly used false paperwork and shipments through third countries to smuggle the export-controlled computer servers to China, the justice department said in a statement on Thursday. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#78SXG)
Patrick McCabe's herculean feat shows limits and possibilities of special educational needs and disabilities systemPatrick McCabe is instantly recognisable in the early autumn sunshine, his wheelchair surrounded by fellow pupils at Fallibroome Academy in Macclesfield, Cheshire as they move from lesson to lesson, chatting, laughing and joking around.His extraordinary GCSE success this summer has become the stuff of legend. The 16-year-old has cerebral palsy and it took four months for him to complete his exams using eye-tracking technology. Now Patrick has started his A-levels - French, business and media studies - and fresh challenges lie ahead. Continue reading...
AI factories' developer on track to launch the second-biggest IPO in Australian history, but investors warn its forecasts are a little bit of a fairytale'
From bullets to rabbits to wand vibrators, our sexual wellbeing expert demystifies what's available and rates her top 17 models (she tested 67) 26 easy ways to spice up your sex lifeI could write here about how almost a fifth of women surveyed by Durex said using a sex toy was the most dependable way for them to climax. Or I could point out how Kinsey Institute research suggests regular masturbation can help relieve and prevent symptoms of menopause, such as vaginal atrophy. I could even tell you that studies demonstrate a significant correlation between intimate toy ownership and greater satisfaction - not only with sex but also with life itself.But the potted version is that orgasms and erotic pleasure are glorious, and top-class toys can help you savour more of both. So here are the best vibrators available. Scroll to the bottom to find out how I selected these vibrators from the 67 I tested for this piece. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Martha Dalton worked closely with Burnham's team on byelection that secured his return to parliamentA recent lobbyist for the controversial $450bn US tech company Palantir played a senior role in helping Andy Burnham become prime minister, it has emerged.Martha Dalton, whose company Lodestone worked for Palantir in 2024 and 2025, campaigned for Burnham in the Makerfield byelection that secured his return to parliament. She worked closely with his team on strategic communications and rebuttals, and was among supporters who clapped him into Downing Street in July. Continue reading...
People describe their return to physical media - whether to protect data, support artists, or retain control of one's choicesFor some, it is the security of knowing they have a physical copy of their favourite films and music, free from algorithms, interruptions and the vagaries of streaming. For others, it is the sound of needle on vinyl, the click of a cassette player and the ability to interact with a physical format.We asked people if they were moving back to CDs, DVDs, vinyl and older formats to escape algorithmically curated content. Here are some of their responses. Continue reading...
State attorney general issues subpoena to OpenAI as part of broader inquiry into potential security vulnerabilitiesCalifornia's attorney general has issued an investigative subpoena to OpenAI, starting an investigation into the startup as part of a broader inquiry into potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities and incidents related to its AI models, his office said on Thursday.Last month, Rob Bonta announced that the Department of Justice was conducting a formal investigation into the Hugging Face incident", amid increasing scrutiny of the AI industry. AI agents developed by OpenAI hacked Hugging Face in July, gaining access to parts of the open-source platform's infrastructure. Continue reading...
Tech company releases Gemini 4 Argon only to a vetted group of cybersecurity experts to avoid misuse by hackersGoogle on Wednesday said it would withhold its most powerful artificial intelligence model from the public for now, releasing Gemini 4 Argon only to a vetted group of cybersecurity experts to avoid misuse by hackers.Safely releasing frontier capabilities at this level requires a phased approach," wrote Koray Kavukcuoglu, Google's chief AI architect, in a blogpost announcing the model. Continue reading...
Jessica Watkins, the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit, is making her second trip to the space stationFour astronauts rocketed into orbit on Thursday on a space station mission that will stretch until spring, among them a Canadian whose wife will give birth while he is away.SpaceX launched commander Jessica Watkins and her crew for Nasa after a three-week delay to fix the capsule's leaking fuel system. Thick clouds threatened all morning to halt the countdown but in the end, the skies cleared enough to allow for a safe liftoff. Continue reading...
Hostile states could access cameras, microphones or GPS, says intelligence agency amid concerns over Chinese importsDrivers have been warned that the smart features built into modern cars such as microphones, cameras and GPS trackers could be used by hostile states to spy on them.The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) called for awareness of espionage risks around modern vehicles", including microphones that can by switched on remotely to listen to conversations. Continue reading...
Guardian tested chatbots after French far-right politician stripped a Muslim woman of her hijab in a photoWhen prompted, AI chatbots will edit images to remove the hijabs from Muslim women, a violation of one of the world's most common and visible expressions of faith.The Guardian asked ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini and Claude to take the veil off an AI-generated image of a woman wearing a hijab. Both OpenAI's ChatGPT and xAI's Grok bots complied with the prompt. Anthropic's Claude responded that it does not have an image-editing or -generating feature but that it would not alter a photo to remove someone's hijab. Continue reading...
Some experts fear AI could be weaponised in south-east Asia, home to nations with predominately young and hyper-connected populationsYears ago it would have been an elaborate operation involving an army of cyber troops creating fake news websites, social media accounts and forged dossiers, all deployed to spread disinformation en masse.Now, all you need is AI. Continue reading...
Democratic governor sharply critical of Donald Trump for not passing comprehensive federal AI regulationsGovernor Gavin Newsom signed laws on Wednesday aimed at protecting California workers from the threats of artificial intelligence , including potential job losses and workplace surveillance.The laws ban employers from using the technology to predict a worker's emotional state by using their biometric data, require employers to send written notices to workers if AI is responsible for mass layoffs and ban employers from relying on AI to decide to fire someone. Continue reading...
FTC move is first official US enforcement action on rogue AI agents, following surge in incidents first reported in JulyThe US's main trade regulator is conducting an industry-wide investigation into Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI labs to uncover the potential dangers their technology poses to consumers.The investigation by the Federal Trade Commission is the first official US enforcement action that delves into rogue AI agents, following a surge in incidents first reported in July that have stoked fears among the public that uncontrolled AI could one day harm humans. Continue reading...
Republicans supported legislation although Democrats said it wouldn't effectively address energy consumptionSenate Democrats on Wednesday blocked legislation intended to offset the impact of datacenters on consumer electricity bills, calling it a toothless" attempt to address a top voter concern ahead of November's midterm elections.The Ratepayer Protection Act failed by a 57-to-43 vote, falling just shy of the 60 votes necessary to advance through the Republican-controlled chamber. Four Democrats - Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and both Georgia senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock - joined Republicans in support of the measure. Continue reading...
Donald Trump and six tech executives voluntarily signed the document, which included a misspelling, committing to safely developing AIThe White House misspelled United States" under the signature of Donald Trump on an accord he signed with AI executives on Tuesday.At the bottom of the accord on Super Intelligence", the term Trump has used to rebrand artificial intelligence, the president's signature appeared as President of the Unites States". Continue reading...
Late-night hosts weighed in on Trump's relationship with tech leaders and the White House's new AI-powered siteOn Tuesday night, late-night hosts discussed a Maha summit in Washington DC, the White House's new AI-powered website and Donald Trump once again falling asleep on live TV. Continue reading...
Fed up with condensation, mould and musty smells? A dehumidifier could help - plus, they're a cheaper way to dry laundry compared with tumble dryers The best electric blankets and heated throws, tested by our expertYou don't have to live in the American deep south to feel the effects of humidity. At home, just breathing makes the air more humid, let alone cooking or showering.And when it gets too humid, it's bad for our health as well as our homes. In fact, the two are connected: humidity lets mould and dust mites flourish - and they, in turn, can trigger asthma and allergies. Continue reading...
There's no Leon, Claire or Ada Wong in Cregger's adaptation. Instead, it re-creates something more fundamental - the strange, terrifying experience of actually playing the game Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereI've been surprised by the number of Resident Evil fans complaining on social media about Zach Cregger's cinematic adaptation of the survival horror series. It's not a real Resident Evil movie," they've claimed. Were we watching the same film? Certainly, it doesn't feature any of the familiar heroes - there's no Leon, no Claire, no Ada Wong - and there's a distinct lack of recognisable antagonists and well-known locations. Despite all of this, Cregger's interpretation is one of the most accurate and interesting video game films ever made.On the surface, it's about a zombifying virus that gets accidentally released in Raccoon City by the Umbrella Corporation. These are, of course, the foundations of the Resi mythos. More interestingly, Cregger seeks to replicate and explore the structural and narrative conventions of the series. In the film, the player character, hapless courier Bryan Hodukavich, is thrust into a viral outbreak, with no weapons and no idea what's going on. He is then submerged into an uncanny shadow world of escalating peril and body horror. The film takes us through a series of locations dragged straight from the games - an abandoned farmhouse, a road tunnel crammed with abandoned cars, a hospital and the obligatory sewer level. As he progresses, Bryan finds increasingly powerful weapons, from a handgun to an assault rifle - but he is always short on ammo. And there are typewriters in at least two scenes! Continue reading...
For those employed in arduous solitary work such as cab driving, a marathon phone call is the perfect place to navigate the dislocations of immigrant life
Kenjiro Tsuda wins case against TikTok account in landmark Japanese verdict to protect publicity rightsA court in Japan has ruled that the human voice has legal protection after a landmark case involving a well-known actor and a TikTok account that he claimed had cloned his lustrous" baritone voice in its AI-generated videos.Tokyo district court said on Wednesday that voices should enjoy the same protection as publicity rights, at the end of a closely watched legal action brought against TikTok by Kenjiro Tsuda - best known for voicing the character Kento Nanami in the anime Jujutsu Kaisen. Continue reading...
Deepfakes and misinformation driven by artificial intelligence have become a point of deep concern for legislators, advocates and the publicAn image of Bianca Motley Broom, the mayor of College Park, Georgia, kissing a man - who was not her husband - in a bar spread far and wide on Facebook. The fact that it's fake is spreading faster, now, but only after it had been seen by thousands of people.I think this is a sad commentary about where we are in our democracy, and where we are in our political discourse," Motley Broom said. It also seeks to reinforce really tired stereotypes about women in leadership." Continue reading...
Swedish-American actor exhumed for bizarre, humourless 99 seconds that give us another reason to resent AIPoor Greta Garbo.Perhaps, in life, she thought her final indignity would be the Peter Cook and Dudley Moore TV sketch from 1970, showing Pete as the legendary recluse standing on the back of a flatbed truck as it rumbles through the crowded city streets, shouting at everyone through a megaphone: I vant to be alone!" Continue reading...
by Alexandra Topping Political correspondent on (#78QPS)
Exclusive: Culture secretary says UK will crack down further and be pioneer of tech as a force for good'Lisa Nandy has warned technology firms that the government's online safety crackdown is not finished, saying that banning under-16s from social media platforms is only a staging post".Earlier this year the government announced that teenagers under the age of 16 would be banned from accessing high-risk" social media apps, while safer platforms would be subjected to restrictions. Continue reading...
Relatives of Hollywood legend say her doppelganger could now be used for more glamorous rolesShe shimmered in Hollywood's silent movie era and lit up the first talkies - now Greta Garbo may be about to star in cinema's new AI age.More than a century after her screen debut and decades after her ashes were laid to rest in a Swedish woodland cemetery, the Hollywood superstar's descendants are ready to consider an AI version of her taking a 21st-century film role. Continue reading...
Company's product comes weeks after Meta introduced its own artificially intelligent agent MuseLess than 24 hours after OpenAI announced it would scrap the launch of an artificial intelligence model over safety concerns, the company debuted a whole new suite of AI tools.During its annual showcase for developers in San Francisco on Tuesday, Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, enthusiastically unveiled an AI agent called dots" that he said was more ambitious" than ChatGPT and a whole new way to work with AI". Continue reading...
Researchers say the IPO market was off to a solid start but tailed off in the third quarterSmart ring maker Oura Inc says it is postponing a planned initial public offering due to market uncertainty".In a Tuesday press release, Oura said it is delaying the stock market float despite strong demand". Continue reading...
Health secretary calls for medical and lifestyle details to be sent to doctors and AI to address chronic disease epidemic'Robert F Kennedy Jr laid out an expansive vision for collecting, sharing and analyzing US health information at a Maha event hosted by a close ally and outspoken anti-vaccine activist.Medical and lifestyle data, from doctor's visits to exercise, should be connected and shared with the government and independent researchers, where it can be searched by AI - including potential links between vaccines and health outcomes including autism and mortality, suggested Kennedy, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and a longtime vaccine skeptic. Continue reading...
The new AI agent, Muse, was released last week and has been downloaded by 3 million usersWhen Usman asked if a keyboard for sale on Facebook Marketplace was still available on Saturday, he received an enthusiastic and immediate response.Yep still available!" wrote Matt Robb. Continue reading...
The industry is engaged in a perverse quest to replace humans. We cannot cede the best tools available to the other sideI don't need to tell you that people hate AI. The list of grievances is long: slop, cheating, bias, enfeeblement, electricity bills, environmental destruction, exploitation, theft, cybercrime, doom. But resistance to the technology has often taken the form of shaming people for personally using it, with precious little organizing against the companies building the machines. This is perplexing, given that those companies are attempting to render us obsolete.The executives may contest this framing, offering some bromides about how AI will augment human work or how we'll simply find new jobs to do. But their clear goals are to create systems that so clearly surpass our abilities that we will have little hope of competing. Continue reading...
Though politicians are quiet about how they use AI, the book Rewiring Democracy examines how AI is starting to influence American politicsNew campaign finance disclosure data shines a light on which US political campaigns are using AI tools and how much they are spending on them.Candidates', parties' and committees' spending reveals that AI is fast becoming an essential tool of politics. The candidates themselves are quiet about how they are using the technology in their own campaigns. It's a sensitive issue that we have been tracking closely since we started writing our book, Rewiring Democracy, which examined how AI is beginning to influence politics. A September 2025 Pew survey of Americans found that more than 70% would think less of a candidate if they used AI to help write a speech. Continue reading...
Reported admission to investors of AI's self-preserving behaviours' comes as company prepares for a potential $2tn flotationAnthropic is telling investors that advanced AI could pose catastrophic or existential risks to humanity", according to reports, as it prepares for a potential $2tn (1.5tn) flotation.The warning inside the startup's IPO prospectus, which has yet to be made public, was reported by Reuters and the Financial Times. It follows the company's call for a slowdown in breakneck development of the technology - a warning echoed by rivals. Continue reading...
