Technology | The Guardian

As companies integrate AI and hire fewer employees, a shift toward a gig economy' will commenceIn 2024, the buy-now-pay-later company Klarna announced that it would cut hundreds of customer service roles and begin using an artificial intelligence chatbot instead. The move was expected to save the company millions. But a year later, after customers complained about the degraded quality of customer service, Klarna began to quietly recruit human customer service agents back.At first glance, the reversal appeared to be a victory for human workers in the age of AI. The reality was more complex. Instead of bringing on full-time customer service agents, who Klarna contracts through an outside agency, it instead brought on workers in what Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has described as an Uber type of set-up". Now, an AI chatbot continues to handle most of customers' basic queries, while a growing number of gig workers handle the more advanced ones. Just like somebody can go and drive an Uber for a while, they can actually jump on and work for Klarna's customer service," Siemiatkowski said on a podcast in February. Continue reading...

Directive aimed at government workers, but reports of wider implementation spark warnings of future Afghanistan-wide prohibitionThe Taliban have ordered a sweeping ban on the use of smartphones by government officials - in what some analysts say could foreshadow broader, population-level restrictions.In a directive issued by the Taliban's military courts and reviewed by the Guardian, the ban was to take effect this week and prohibits high rank, low rank, general mujahideen, or service staff" from using mobile phones. Continue reading...

As the pornography platform has exploded in popularity, a side industry has emerged: middlemen who encourage young women into the industry, then take a large cut of their earningsMarkuss Hussle wants his online students to understand one thing: he knows how to make money. There is no subtlety involved. He gives an hour-long presentation in one video, sitting next to his silver Lamborghini. In another, he splices his money-making tips with footage of a ski weekend with his friends in Courchevel, in the French Alps, including shots of private jets, helicopters and a girlfriend in a fur coat. He claims the trip cost $100,000 (75,000). He shows off his watches and his swimming pool and talks about how his mother worked three jobs as a cleaner until he retired her" and bought her a home by the sea.If you were not paying close attention to the spreadsheets and presentations interspersed with the motivational lifestyle content, you might guess he was offering guidance on how to trade shares or invest in cryptocurrency. There are a lot of performance graphs and much discussion of account management, optimisation, scaling, working smart and tripling profits. Continue reading...

Ordinary Taiwanese, young and old, are joining courses to learn how to fly drones amid looming China military threatIn a small, crowded room in Taipei, Pan Chien-chin is trying to keep a drone hovering steadily. Imagining himself flying a plane, he gently nudges controller joysticks to guide the insect-like device as it hums through the air.Cheers break out as Pan, who has never flown a drone before, steers it around a rectangular course marked by traffic cones without crashing. Around him are about two dozen fellow trainees, all signed up for the same course: Taiwan's first civil defence drone training programme. Continue reading...

Forever running out of juice? Top up your battery-powered devices with our expert picks, from tiny smartphone chargers to super speedy models The best iPhones: which Apple smartphone is right for youIt's disempowering when your smartphone, laptop or other important gadget runs out of battery. With the flash of a graphic or a plaintive bleep, we lose a way to entertain ourselves, get things done, stay in touch or even get home safely. There's a time and a place for a digital detox - but what is the time, and where am I?Carrying a power bank is your ticket out of electronic oblivion. These pocket-sized cuboids plug into compatible devices and charge them, often via assorted connections, including USB-C and USB-A. Most power banks are made for charging smartphones and smaller gadgets, such as fitness trackers and earbuds, but some models can also charge power-hungrier laptops and large portable speakers.Best power bank overall:

Unsafe AI systems are leading to cyber weapons of mass destruction

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S; EA Vancouver/Electronic Arts

Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania's governor, squares off with state lawmakers over the facilities powering an AI boomA controversial haunted house near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, taps into its dark history every fall to scare tens of thousands of visitors. In 1968, a local news station documented appalling conditions for disabled people in the red brick buildings on the banks of Schuylkill River. Residents were found naked and emaciated at what was then known as the Pennhurst state school and hospital. The institution shut its doors permanently in 1987 after a lawsuit over inhumane conditions.By 2010, a Halloween attraction stood in its place, and Pennhurst asylum's previous owner suggested during its early years that he wanted to spook guests by repurposing the hospital's surgical lights and medical cabinets to use as props. Continue reading...

Elon Musk's firm briefly reached $2.97tn valuation days after its IPO following purchase of AI coding startup CursorSpaceX has overtaken Amazon to become the world's fifth most valuable company days after its stock market debut.The milestone came as Elon Musk's company agreed to buy the startup behind the AI-powered coding app Cursor for $60bn (44bn), in an attempt to capitalise on the technology's success as a coding tool. Continue reading...

Move to ChapsVision is to avoid strategic dependencies', says PM amid concern about reliance on US-controlled toolsFrance's domestic intelligence service is to ditch AI data tools from the US tech company Palantir in favour of a domestic provider in an effort to avoid strategic dependency", the prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu, has said.We must use our own AI models; we cannot accept new strategic dependencies in the digital sphere," Lecornu posted on social media. We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers. France must have its own tools." Continue reading...

A sinister new tablet threatens the honest-to-goodness toys' existence, but Buzz, Woody and Jessie's big tech moral battle feels compromisedThe fifth episode of the Toy Story franchise is as slick and smooth as you like, as glitchless as Toy Story 6 or Toy Story 7 might be ... or will be. As a piece of family-entertainment content it has the unblemished sheen of a brand new smartphone. But at heart, it has gone dead. For all the intensive, high-energy creative work that has clearly gone into this film's every frame, the jeopardy, the novelty, the ideas and the passion are lacking; the crucial Toy Story theme of mortality feels underpowered, and the film even calamitously loses its nerve with its own big idea - those squeamish about spoilers had better look away now - the sinister way addictive tech devices are undermining the imaginative play that kids once had with honest-to-goodness toys.Here a creepy tablet device called Lilypad (voiced by Greta Lee) enters the children's world, but ultimately proves to be capable of sentimental self-sacrificial heroism when it comes to their mental health. Really? At least Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, the villain from TS3, had the courage of his evil convictions. Continue reading...

IPO mints Musk as world's first trillionaire - now SpaceX is public, it will be harder than ever not to have a stake in its futureHi and welcome to TechScape. Nick Robins-Early here, US tech and power reporter at the Guardian. I'm filling in for your usual host Blake Montgomery, who is out this week on vacation.Today, we'll be talking about the historic SpaceX IPO and the US government's surprise order to limit the use of Anthropic's most advanced AI model over cybersecurity concerns. I'll also share a dispatch from Web Summit Rio, South America's largest tech event.SpaceX makes largest ever stock market debut, minting Musk as a trillionaireAfter SpaceX's huge IPO, Americans' financial future will be bound to AIHow much money did Elon Musk make in SpaceX's stock market debut? Continue reading...

The world's most successful gamer content creators, many of whom have spent their entire adult life on the platform, have met up at TwitchCon in RotterdamAimee Davies, better known as Aimsey to their fans, is 24 but looks much younger. Sitting in a bland meeting room above the annual TwitchCon event in Rotterdam, they're a barely contained whirl of energy in a beanie hat and T-shirt, all smiles and lightning-fast chatter. Aimsey (who uses they/them pronouns) is also a Twitch veteran, having started streaming eight years ago at the tender age of 16. A million subscribers tune in every week to see them chaotically play Minecraft and share snippets of their life. They have grown up, from teen to young adult, carrying a vast audience with them into maturity. What is it like to experience that?When you're 16 you want to tell everyone everything about you," they say as music blares from the event below. When I came out as a lesbian, I told the world. Every part of my identity, my mental health struggles ... I thought if I could help one person feel like they weren't alone, I wanted to do that." Continue reading...

No 10 is worried about retaliation from White House over restrictions on under-16s' internet useMinisters have embarked on a concerted lobbying operation to prevent a backlash from the Trump administration to the under-16s social media ban announced by Keir Starmer.Officials said they had spent weeks trying to reassure senior Trump officials and the US president himself that the restrictions were not specifically aimed at US technology companies. Continue reading...

Tech is helping to identify and save new specimens and could open genomic goldmine' of fungi dataThe rise of AI and digitisation could be a turning point in the race against extinction" faced by botanists trying to identify and save vital plants before they vanish, according to a major report from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.New technology is enabling scientists to track how flowering times have shifted by weeks around the world, rapidly identify new specimens and even get crucial genetic data from 180-year-old fungus specimens, potentially opening a genomic goldmine". Digitisation and online access to millions of specimens that were until now only accessible in archives is also producing new insights, especially in the global south. Continue reading...

State's attorney general alleges TikTok exposed children to harmful sexual content and addictive featuresFlorida became the latest state to sue TikTok on Monday after the attorney general accused the company of violating a state law that limits social media access for teenagers.In a press conference, Republican James Uthmeier said TikTok exposed children to harmful sexual content and addictive features, such as unlimited scrolling and push notifications. It's designed to keep kids stuck on those screens for hours," Uthemeier said at a press conference. Our evidence suggests that so many kids are on TikTok for upwards of six, seven, eight or more hours a day. We are going to get our kids their lives back." Continue reading...

Meta, YouTube and Snapchat say ban, which would stop children using their platforms, will drive them to less safe services'

Bart and co's latest video game venture involved the show's writers, animators and voice talent - plus a showdown between the two infamous tycoons. It's a true little Simpsons episode,' say creatorsEvery generation gets its own Simpsons game. Them's the rule-diddly-ules. For some, it was the arcade cabinets that swallowed pocket money throughout the 1990s. For others, it was The Simpsons: Cartoon Studio. For millennials like myself, it was The Simpsons: Hit & Run. Joe Zanetti, vice-president of operations at Monopoly Go! developer Scopely, traces his Simpsons gaming nostalgia back to Konami's 1991 brawler, The Simpsons Arcade Game. That's the one that made such an impression on me," he says.It certainly did, because Springfield has just crash-landed in Monopoly Go! itself through a collaboration involving Simpsons writers, animators and voice talent alongside a new animated short starring Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Harry Shearer and Will Ferrell. While most licensed TV games have faded into obscurity, The Simpsons keeps finding new digital lives. Continue reading...

Liberal MP says Australia risks sovereignty and strategic independence being constrained by the AI superpowers reshaping the global order'

Sources say hardline measures will also prevent young users from being able to talk to strangers on gaming apps

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers' questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

Our favourite music, clothes and books used to be markers of individuality - but the algorithm has made us all sheep. Meet the style rebels fighting backWhat are you into? What floats your boat? What music, films, clothes, art, books - anything, really - do you actually like? Do you find thesequestions more difficult to answer than you would have done 10 years ago? How about 20? You do? You're not alone.It has become impossible to ignore: personal taste has been seriously debased - if not completely destroyed - by technological advancement. We know the internet has radically altered the way we form our opinions and beliefs. Now we're waking up toanother sobering truth: it has wrecked our capacity to form our own preferences. Continue reading...

Site takes no action over hate posts against UK politicians including Kemi Badenoch, Shabana Mahmood and Zia YusufX has refused to take down dozens of social media posts reported as hate, abuse or harassment" in which prominent UK politicians, including Kemi Badenoch, have been racially abused.In May, researchers from the social inclusion thinktank British Future reported 30 posts from this year in which the Conservative party leader was called the N-word. In each case the researchers used the platform's hate, abuse or harassment" reporting option. X refused to act in the majority of cases, despite repeated requests. Continue reading...

After falling for a scam call, The Tech Chap' host Tom Honeyands realised he'd given away vital details in social media postsWhen Tom Honeyands realised he had been defrauded out of 70,000 he was furious and embarrassed - and left wondering if he had given away too many details on his social media videos.Honeyands was on a work trip to Tokyo when he got a call from someone claiming to be from Lloyds bank. The caller asked if he had made a recent transaction in Singapore and when he said no, the scammer said his account had been compromised and that security details needed to be reset. Continue reading...

Company said US government believes safeguards can be bypassed and product used to identify software vulnerabilitiesAnthropic said it will abruptly disable" its most advanced AI models for all users after the US government ordered it to suspend access to the models for foreign nationals, citing national security concerns.The company received the export control directive to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all foreign nationals, without being given specific details of the national security concern, Anthropic said in a statement. Continue reading...

Government announces plans to invest billions, but questions linger over how its proposals on chips, social media and more will workOwnership of the commanding heights of the AI economy is a political talking point around the world, as countries seek to assert some control of a technology dominated by the US and China.London Tech Week, the showcase event for the UK tech industry, focused heavily on that theme this week. A government keen to show it has a growth story, and an assertive narrative on AI, made a number of announcements related to companies, skills and infrastructure. Some represented new commitments and ideas; others appeared to be putting a polish on already announced measures. Continue reading...

Other projects include developing tools to help visually impaired people navigate video gamesParents are constantly being told to limit their children's screen time. But when it comes to deciphering which films or TV shows are best suited to developing minds, the guidance remains largely one-size-fits-all. A relatively slow-paced programme such as Bluey offers a very different viewing experience to a fast-moving action series such as PAW Patrol, yet both are broadly considered suitable for young children.This challenge is growing as the type of content children are exposed to evolves. Today's young viewers are increasingly engaging with short-form, fast-paced, highly captivating content, often created by splicing and rearranging existing episodic content into quickly digestible snippets or compilations," said Prof Tim Smith, director of University of the Arts London's Nerve Lab. This evolution is not only changing how content is produced and distributed, but may also affect children's attention, comprehension and emotional response." Continue reading...

These young people recognise dangers of addictive' social media but have differing views on a total crackdownNine in 10 parents in the UK support an under-16 social media ban, but the feeling among the children it would affect is more mixed. Or at least it is for a group of 10 preteens and teenagers who talked to the Guardian at a location in west London this week.The 12- to 16-year-olds were well versed in the debate, with a set of views ranging from mandatory time limits to tougher controls and a full ban for under-16s. All those options have been under consideration in a government consultation on children's online safety that is due to deliver an outcome next week, with an under-16 age limit expected for high-risk" platforms, and restrictions on features such as livestreaming for others. Continue reading...

Geert Wilders' PVV altered sketch of jailed Syrian brothers to make them look more menacingA Dutch court artist has received damages after an MP for the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) used one of her drawings without permission and manipulated it with AI to make the subjects look more menacing.Petra Urban, a court artist for 19 years, was shocked to discover a drawing she had made last year of two Syrian brothers jailed for the murder of their sister had been reworked and used in a video on Instagram and Facebook by the party's Noord-Brabant region. Continue reading...

Initial public offering for aerospace and AI company made Musk the world's first trillionaire as share prices jumped

Unidentified officer removed from frontline duties in the first known case of its kind in the UKA police officer is under criminal investigation over the alleged use of artificial intelligence and has been removed from frontline duties in the first known case of its kind in the UK.The officer, who has not been named, is being investigated over allegations of using the technology to create evidential material in a number of cases" and perverting the course of justice. Continue reading...

Australian Human Rights Commission has called for a digital duty of care to prevent social media algorithms from incentivising racist' content

Location scans from the globally popular augmented reality game have helped train AI to recognise and interpret physical spaces

Suit filed in US alleges chatbot told Alice Carrier, 24, maybe this is just the end' as she struggled with suicidal thoughtsA Canadian mother sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, in US court on Thursday, alleging that ChatGPT encouraged her daughter to kill herself. The lawsuit is the latest in a slew accusing the company of failing to address dangerous conversations between users and the company's chatbot.Kristie Carrier said in a lawsuit filed in San Francisco state court that her daughter, Alice, told ChatGPT about her suicidal ideations more than a dozen times leading up to her death but that OpenAI's safety systems never flagged the conversations for human review or terminated them. Continue reading...

Long-abandoned formats such as cassettes and VHS tapes are finding new life as consumers seek a digital detoxTen years after the last video recorder manufacturer ceased production, the first straight-to-video movie for two decades - This Is How the World Ends - was released this month. The resurgence of vinyl began long ago; sales are at their highest level for over 30years. But record buyers enthuse about the warmth of their sound and the generous visual expanse of album covers. In contrast, the new movie is shot in HD; the director acknowledges that those watching it on video will see a cropped, fuzzier image. The point of the exercise - beyond creating a buzz - lies not in the inherent qualities of VHS, but the effect of its rarity onthe viewer.When everything is available in high definition with one swipe of your screen, cumbersome physical formats that must be hunted down appear both nostalgically inviting and strikingly fresh. Last year, Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl was released in multiple physical formats, including cassette and CD - technically digital, but also enjoying a revival thanks to its retro feel. The title track of her previous album, The Tortured Poets Department, mocked a lover's attachment to his typewriter, notoriously favoured by hipsters. Continue reading...

Former xAI engineer Devin Kim alleges he was illegally fired for trying to implement safety mechanisms for the chatbotA former engineer at Elon Musk's xAI who now heads a thinktank focused on AI safety filed a lawsuit claiming he was fired from the SpaceX subsidiary for raising concerns about the risks artificial intelligence poses to humanity.Devin Kim claims in the lawsuit filed in California state court on Tuesday that his efforts to place guardrails on the development of the chatbot Grok made him a target for company leadership. Continue reading...

Quaint and often overlooked, payphones continue to provide an essential public service, with millions of free calls being placed each year

Employees at artificial intelligence companies are coming into gargantuan sums of money amid boom in IPOsHome prices in the San Francisco Bay Area's already expensive market are skyrocketing as employees at leading artificial intelligence companies come into gargantuan sums of money thanks to a boom in initial public offerings.With San Francisco's OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as SpaceX, which operates a major facility in the Los Angeles area, eyeing debuts on the stock market, the hot housing market may not abate soon. If their initial public offering (IPO) is well-received, the companies' multibillion-dollar valuations are poised to produce massive wealth for employees and executives holding shares, which experts say could trigger an uptick in demand for the Bay Area's limited housing stock. Continue reading...

PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch; Vertigo Games

Nor is the dreamy promise that this tech will unlock boundless potential and productivityEverything we hear about artificial intelligence is conflicting, and hearing about it feels inescapable. AI is terrible. AI is wonderful. It will break the world. It will transform the future. It's essential to embrace it. It's a moral imperative to abstain from using it.Already, AI is projected to generate nearly unfathomable amounts of revenue. In the last quarter of 2025, it represented nearly 60% of the growth in the US economy. Already, pundits and economists wring their hands about what calamity will befall us if and when the AI bubble bursts. Continue reading...

Looking for hands-free cleaning? We trialled the most powerful robot vacuums - some of which even mop your floors - to find the best The best vacuum cleaners, testedRobot vacuum cleaners take the drudge work out of cleaning your floors and carpets. No more tiresome weekly stints of vacuuming, and no more last-minute panic when you have visitors on the way. Instead, your compact robot chum regularly trundles out from its dock, sucking up dust, hair and debris to leave your floors looking spick and span.Over the past few years, robot vacuums have become much more affordable, with basic units starting at about 150. They're also doing more than they used to: mopping hard floors and charging in sophisticated cleaning stations that empty their dust collectors and clean their mop pads for you.Best robot vacuum cleaner overall:

Robert Dillon was arrested at home in Florida despite living 300 miles away from where a crime was committed

From horror galore to Chinese action games, the key trends, trailers and surprises from Summer Game Fest's many, many hours of streams and broadcasts Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereDid you spend hours of your weekend watching a relentless series of video game adverts? No? I don't blame you - Summer Game Fest, the collection of livestreams that has arisen in place of the giant annual E3 video game expo in Los Angeles, is extremely overwhelming. There are the bigger, longer shows: the PlayStation and Xbox streams, the main SGF show hosted by Geoff Keighley and Lucy James, Future's duet of the Future Games Show and the PC Gaming Show. Each show is two hours long. Then there are all the indie showcases: cosy games, women-led games, Black voices in gaming, Day of the Devs. Between them, they show off hundreds of games that might pique your interest.I picked out exactly 34 highlights here: the biggest news, the most interesting-looking smaller games. But from the barrage of trailers I was also able to discern some trends. Here's what we can learn. Continue reading...

Interactive takes on MI6's globetrotting spy have been around almost as long as the films, but that doesn't mean all of them were a success. Here's 007's chequered past of hits, flops and oddities

As Hollywood searches for its next iteration of the superspy, the actor explains how he earned pop culture's most sought-after role - and how he's taking 007 back to basics

What about using voice notes, or calling someone totally unannounced? Experts give their verdict on how to use your phone without causing offenceIt is not news that many of us are addicted to our phones and nor is it a revelation that inconsiderate public behaviour now appears to be the norm, but when the two collide it can cause anger. Last week, at the end of a performance of the drama Inter Alia in London's West End, the actor Rosamund Pike took to the stage after the curtain call to announce that she had seen someone texting during the performance. I just wanted to say for anyone going to the theatre, it's a huge thing that we're trying to give you. I am trying to tell you a story, and I'm feeling you, and I hope you're feeling me too ... Maybe it was very important, and maybe you're a doctor, and you're saving someone's life, and I hope you are, but we do see these, we do feel them."What is the correct etiquette when using your phone? Myka Meier, author of Modern Etiquette Made Easy, says: It is always thinking about other people before yourself when you're on the phone." This also means being aware of how disabled people might use, and rely on, their phones. As an academic with hearing loss pointed out to the BBC after Pike's comments, bans on phones in theatres, or public shaming, could exclude disabled people in audiences, such as those who use hearing aid apps and need to adjust the settings. Continue reading...

Apple Peiqing Ni targeted by account portraying her as promiscuous drug addict after posting about Tiananmen SquareA high-profile Chinese activist in the UK who was inundated with deepfake posts on X portraying her as a sexually promiscuous drug addict was told that the abuse did not breach the rules of Elon Musk's platform.Apple Peiqing Ni, the 27-year-old founder of the UK-based China Dissent Network, had been advised by UK police to complain to the US-headquartered platform after she was targeted by what she believes is a pro-regime bot. Continue reading...

Home city of Amazon and Microsoft passes moratorium as backlash against energy-guzzling AI infrastructure growsSeattle has passed a year-long moratorium on the construction of new datacenters. The city council voted unanimously in favor of the temporary ban on Tuesday.A major tech hub whose metro area is home to Amazon and Microsoft, Seattle is the largest US city to have passed such a moratorium as the backlash against AI infrastructure grows across the country. Continue reading...

AI company restricted access to Fable 5, its most powerful Mythos model, for months over cybersecurity concernsAnthropic, the maker of the Claude artificial intelligence (AI) models, made a new version of its technology available to the general public on Tuesday while restricting its use in sensitive areas.Dubbed Fable 5, the model is the first to be made widely available from the company's new Mythos class - its most advanced lineup of AI technology, unveiled in April but restricted to a small set of partner institutions for months over cybersecurity concerns. Continue reading...

Bluetooth sleep masks block out light and let you stream audio. I spent weeks testing some of the top-rated ones on the market