by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent on (#76MQ1)
Exclusive: Safety campaigners concerned about plan for widespread deployment on already crowded pavementsLarge numbers of autonomous delivery robots could be coming to towns and cities across England after ministers signalled they were likely to support a change in the law allowing their use, prompting concern from safety campaigners.Low-speed robots, which mainly deliver groceries or takeaway food, are already in use in a handful of places but they operate in a regulatory grey area. The 1835 Highways Act bans carriages" from pavements. Continue reading...
by Sammy Gecsoyler and Charlotte Smith on (#76NG0)
Starship Technologies six-wheelers could soon become a more familiar sight across the country under new lawsDriving down an endless string of identical roundabouts in the dead heat with hardly a human in sight, you see robots roving around on grassy pavements, whizzing past obstacles to hurriedly reach their final destination. This isn't a scene from a Philip K Dick novel, however, but an average Thursday in Milton Keynes.The robots aren't a new arrival to the Buckinghamshire city, the UK's largest new town and a longtime marvel for city planning enthusiasts fascinated by its American-influenced layout and postwar history. They've roamed its streets since 2018 - and could soon be coming to a town or city near you. Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#76N1D)
Camera, wifi and design updates bring welcome upgrades to Ring's top model in wired or battery flavourRing's recent revamp of its popular video doorbells with a more modern design is led by the top-of-the-line Video Doorbell Pro 3, which gains much-needed upgrades with a 4K camera and better wifi plus new interesting AI features.The new doorbells are sleeker but keep the unmistakable two-tone Ring colour scheme, button, logo and ringtone. Battery models start at 80 or equivalent, with the top model costing 219.99 (249.99/$249.99/A$329.99) with either a battery or wired, which is roughly in line with the competition. Continue reading...
In 1993, she squeezed a $333m settlement from a Californian energy company in a scandal over contaminated water. Three decades later, she has a new target in her sights - and it's globalWhen Erin Brockovich woke to find 30 emails from people from the same town, she realised something was going on. People email Brockovich all the time because of what happened in 1993, when she was instrumental in suing Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) on behalf of residents of the town of Hinkley, California, whose groundwater had been contaminated. The case resulted in a settlement of $333m - then the largest ever payout for a direct-action lawsuit. When she was immortalised by Julia Roberts in the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, she became the hero we didn't know we needed, a modern day Joan of Arc. She had won against PG&E with no formal legal training.The emails she received a few weeks ago were about datacentres. In April, she put a callout on her website asking for anyone with concerns about one near them to get in touch. Within a month, 3,862 people had replied. Tech companies have needed datacentres to power their technology for ever", she says, but the new ones being built to power AI? This feels like Hinkley on steroids." Continue reading...
by Kalyeena Makortoff Banking correspondent on (#76M76)
Up to 4,000 community banks fear looming legislation to regulate digital cash will deprive rural firms and farmers of $850bn-worth of loansOn a quiet summer morning, above a small mid-western town, an American flag is waving in the breeze. The camera cuts to a father helping his son at the wheel of a tractor, and flits to a smiling couple on a grass-lined pavement, moments before flashing to grainy images of crypto insiders" in suits.American families don't want experiments with their money," a voice booms. They want jobs, growth, and available credit. When crypto gets a free pass, communities pay the price." Continue reading...
The National Design Studio, staffed by Doge veterans, installed visitor-tracking software on vital federal websitesAn opaque White House office staffed largely by veterans of Elon Musk's department of government efficiency" (Doge) has quietly rebuilt some of the federal government's most sensitive websites - for passport applications, voter registration, prescription-drug pricing and children's savings - in ways critics say appear to violate federal law.The National Design Studio (NDS) was established by a Donald Trump executive order last August, and is led by Trump-aligned Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and staffed by Doge veterans. Continue reading...
A niche type of fraud is lucrative enough for criminals to set up fake websites with dodgy software to harvest your dataAfter holding them for a few years, you have decided it is time to cash in your cryptocurrency holdings. The problem is, it is so long since you set up the digital wallet which manages them on your laptop, you have forgotten the lengthy access code.Stressed at the thought of losing thousands of pounds, you search and download a program which promises to recover the 24-word seed phrase" which gives you access to your cypto assets. Continue reading...
As temperatures soar across the UK, chill your space - and avoid energy-guzzling aircon - with our pick of the best fans, from tower to desk to bladeless The best portable neck and handheld fans
Normal Golf Game takes a tiresomely easy genre and makes it infernally difficult. Which deserves a round of applauseI have always struggled playing golf. I wish I didn't. It's a beautiful game in concept. A leisurely walk in the sunshine, slapping a ball around, sandwiches and beer consumed during and after play. Sure, you have to dress like Huggy Bear from Starsky and Hutch, and getting membership of an actual club is more complex than joining the Freemasons (although many offer a two for one deal with this), but you don't have to be fit, you don't have to even run. It is the only outdoor sport where a fat dad can be the best in the world.The premise couldn't be simpler: get the ball in the hole. But there is nothing worse in sport than knowing what you have to do and not being able to do it. Just ask amateur parachutists. Continue reading...
Ultrarich face backlash as billionaire tax in California makes it to the ballot and Americans organize for higher wagesThe day that Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire, Gilberto Rubio, a security officer in the San Francisco area, said he was thinking about how to cut back on meals to save money.Jessica Ordenana, a bartender in midtown Manhattan, was worrying about air conditioning ahead of a heatwave because she can't afford her soaring electricity bills. Continue reading...
Julie Elie worked out how zebra finches announce who they are, what they are doing and use individual signaturesA scientist who decoded the vocalisations that a bird uses to communicate has won a $100,000 prize for making progress towards a world in which humans can talk to the animals - without being met with a blank response.Dr Julie Elie at the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded the 2026 Coller-Dolittle prize for two-way interspecies communication after working out the 11 core calls in the zebra finch vocabulary and their meanings. Continue reading...
Company says it cannot shield customers from memory and storage chip costs - and iPhone hikes could be nextApple raised iPad and MacBook prices on Thursday, saying it could no longer shield customers from soaring memory and storage chip costs driven by the AI industry's data center buildout.The move does not affect Apple's cash cow, the iPhone. But it would take the starting price of the Neo, its lowest-priced laptop, from $599 to $699 mere months after launch. Continue reading...
Former employee files complaint accusing company of coercive surveillance' and first amendment violationThe Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams is suing the tech company over its efforts to silence" her.A 57-page complaint filed to a US district court in California on Thursday argues that an interim arbitration ruling sought by Meta preventing Wynn-Williams from publicising her memoir, Careless People, was improper and unlawful" and a blatant violation of the first amendment". It also accuses the company of coercive surveillance". Continue reading...
The blockbuster launch is expected to dwarf the box office takings of the year's biggest movies with one industry analyst predicting it could make $1bn within an hourIt is, quite simply, the most anticipated piece of entertainment since the Star Wars prequels and now, at last, you can reserve a copy. At midnight last night, Rockstar opened preorders on Grand Theft Auto VI, the latest title in the epic open-world gangster adventure series, five months before its 19 November release date on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.Prices have also been confirmed, with the standard edition costing $80 in the US, 70 in the UK, and 80 in Europe. An Ultimate Edition (90/100/$100) will include exclusive in-game cars, clothes and weapons - the developer has confirmed that there will also be in-game stores that are only open to Ultimate owners. Anyone who pre-orders the game will get a Vintage Vice City pack filled with 80s apparel and other nostalgic items, which look to be straight out of Don Johnson's Miami Vice wardrobe. Continue reading...
LSE analysis highlights litigation linked to energy sources, water consumption and air pollutionThe proliferation of datacentres and AI is increasingly at the forefront of environmental litigation around the world, from the US and UK to Chile to Ireland, a report has found.In an analysis of about 3,600 climate-related lawsuits filed since 2015, the latest annual review of climate litigation by the London School of Economics (LSE) found a growing number of cases challenging the energy sources, water consumption and air pollution of datacentres, all of which have related climate implications. Continue reading...
Content creation and online safety among new topics for 14- to 18-year-olds - but tweaks may be needed when social media ban comes inScouts are introducing badges in content creation, digital communication and online safety after consulting nearly 3,000 teenagers who said they wanted skills to help them navigate a world increasingly shaped by AI, social media and digital technology.The new Explorer Scout badges, part of the Scout movement's first major overhaul in almost 25 years, will require 14- to 18-year olds to explore how digital communities shape opinion, create online campaigns, investigate digital footprints and design toolkits to help others stay safe online. Continue reading...
VolcanoTech's sulphur dioxide detecting sensors are in already in use in a number of countriesWeather forecasts now include air quality warnings and cities have networks of air quality sensors driving real-time maps online.Similar air quality sensors can warn of an imminent volcanic eruption. Just as a fizzy drink releases carbon dioxide when the pressure is released, rising magma emits dissolved sulphur dioxide as it rises. So a big increase in this gas warns that a volcanic eruption may be imminent. Continue reading...
Mayor's office grants extra 12 months to run pilot while London force procures long-term supplierThe Metropolitan police have been granted a 12-month extension to a pilot project with the spy-tech firm Palantir while the force carries out a procurement process.The development comes weeks after the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, blocked a 50m deal between the Met and the US company to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations. Continue reading...
Driver told authorities he had driver-assistance technology engaged before crash that killed 76-year-old Martha AvilaThe US government has opened a second federal investigation into a recent crash of a Tesla that reportedly had driver-assistance technology engaged, struck a Texas home and killed a resident.Meanwhile, the family of Martha Avila, the 76-year-old resident who was killed, has sued over the wreck. Continue reading...
Spending on government contracts with tech firms that use AI-powered tools to track immigrants has soared to record levels under Trump 2.0, report saysA new report sheds light on the unprecedented growth of the US government's immigration surveillance arsenal, revealing fresh details about how spending on technology and AI tools to find and track migrants has soared to record levels during Donald Trump's second term.The report, released this week, analyzed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) contracts with 11 companies the authors said provide surveillance tech. They found the money awarded to these firms doubled from 2024 to 2025, to just over $310m - and in 2026, that number soared to a record $513m. Continue reading...
Falling shares push tech mogul back down to billionaire ranks after SpaceX IPO made him world's first trillionaireElon Musk was no longer a trillionaire by the time markets closed on Wednesday. Plunging shares in Tesla and SpaceX dragged the tech magnate down to billionaire status. As of 4pm ET, Forbes listed Musk's net worth as $970.2bn.Musk reached trillionaire status on 12 June after SpaceX's historic initial public offering. The rocket, satellite and AI company's debut on the stock market made Musk the first person with a net worth of more than $1tn. His fortune continued to hover around that gigantic figure in the weeks following the initial public offering (IPO). Continue reading...
Previously hidden text revealed without unrolling scroll discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviourThe surviving part of an ancient scroll that was burnt to a crisp when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago has been virtually unwrapped and read with help from artificial intelligence.Researchers uncovered 20 columns of previously hidden text covering more than a metre of charred papyrus without physically unrolling the scroll. The work discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour and dates to the second or late-third century BC. Continue reading...
The first portable fan from Dyson is stylish, easy to use and powerful. Did someone mention a 55mph top speed? Perhaps, but it's so noisy you may not have heard them The best handheld fansTwo things will strike you when you pick up the Dyson HushJet Mini Cool fan for the first time. The first is that flesh-pink (stone/blush) is a bold colour choice for a product that already looks like it's escaped from a certain NSFW section of the Filter.However, once you've retrieved your mind from the gutter, you'll notice that the different form of pleasure the HushJet Mini offers - impressively powerful wind speeds to keep you cool in heatwaves - comes at a price. This thing is loud with a capital L, and becomes even more so as you progress through its five settings. More jet" than hush". Continue reading...
As football fans revel in the real world tournament, its digital counterparts continue to stumble in capturing the hyped up atmosphere Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereI come with a warning to all football fans: if you've been enjoying the World Cup enough to think, I'd like to re-enact this on a football video game", do not go to Netflix and play Fifa World Cup: Launch Edition, the officially licensed game of the tournament, which streams via your smart TV or computer. Developed by the virtually unknown Delphi Interactive, it's a juddering, dated calamity, with sluggish controls (via your phone, once you've downloaded the app) and commentary courtesy of Clive Tyldesley that delivers all the excitement of a robotic train station announcement.Until this, it was largely agreed that the worst World Cup football game in history was World Cup Carnival, the first official Fifa tie-in, which was released on various home computers in 1986. Publisher US Gold thought it had a deal with the Manchester studio Ocean Software to repurpose its acclaimed title Match Day, but the agreement fell through. With three months to go before Mexico 86, US Gold was forced to effectively rebadge a dire 1984 sim, World Cup Football, by the fading developer Artic. To add some value to the package, the game was released in a fancy big box complete with a fixtures chart, a World Cup facts poster and some flag stickers. Nobody was fooled - the World Cup Carnival was a critical and commercial disaster. Continue reading...
About 1,600 workers signed petition against tool that tracked staff keystrokes, mouse clicks and computer screen contentMark Zuckerberg's Meta has paused a program that tracked employees' computer activity amid data privacy concerns and a staff backlash.The owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp had introduced a tool that tracked staff keystrokes, mouse clicks and content displayed on computer screens in order to collect data for training its AI models. Continue reading...
The writer who coined the word enshittification' tells us why AI will never deliver what it promises - and why it still appeals so much to those in powerA centaur", in automation theory, is a person assisted by a machine, and a reverse centaur", hero of Cory Doctorow's new book, The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI, is a human who is conscripted into acting as an assistant to a machine". Every warehouse worker who ever had to urinate in a water bottle because they couldn't otherwise meet the fulfilment targets set by an algorithm is a reverse centaur. Reaching into the future, everyone who has to sit in a self-driving truck to make sure it doesn't crash, presumably on minimum rather than truck-driver wages, is a reverse centaur; as is every lawyer no longer on lawyer's money checking Gemini's command of precedent, every indie band scraping a living doing covers of AI-generated hits, and so on. That, anyway, is the promise: AI is coming for your job, and it is coming for your kids' jobs, and there is no point fighting it because the future's already here.Wiping out the world of work, and with it our ability to sustain ourselves and live autonomous lives, is only the beginning, if you listen to AI's architects. Elon Musk has called it the single greatest threat to human civilisation, Sam Altman has said it will most likely lead to the end of the world" and Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, memorably forecast that AI would come to see us the way we see animals: cute to have around but ultimately a resource to be exploited. AI people claim they're about to create God, by teaching words to a word-guessing programme," Doctorow says. It's grandiose." Continue reading...
China's LineShine debuts at number one in Top500 - a list sometimes viewed as a national measure of global tech prowessA supercomputer in China now outranks its US counterparts as the world's most powerful. It is the first time since 2017 that a Chinese computer has topped a list sometimes viewed as a measure of a nation's technological prowess.The LineShine computer in Shenzhen displaced top-ranked US computer El Capitan in the Top500 rankings released on Tuesday. It was LineShine's debut on the list. Continue reading...
AI company ElevenLabs unveils its officially licensed replica of the iconic actor's voice in a retelling of Homer's epic poem, while director who previously recorded the star recalls real-life experienceNext month, Christopher Nolan's blockbuster version of The Odyssey is set to storm cinemas around the globe. Auguries suggest the almost three-hour drama will repeat the success of Nolan's previous film both at the box office (Oppenheimer took nearly a billion dollars) and the Academy Awards (it won seven Oscars).But before that, a new audiobook version of Homer's tale has been released starring one of Nolan's most frequent collaborators: Michael Caine, with whom he has worked on eight films, including the Dark Knight trilogy. Continue reading...
Despite more than double the needed number of signatures to qualify for ballot, there's uncertainty it'll make it to votersHi and welcome to TechScape. Nick Robins-Early and Dara Kerr here, filling in for your usual host Blake Montgomery who is out on vacation. We'll be talking about the fight over a proposed billionaire tax in California, the UK's social media ban and SpaceX making a big buy in the AI arms race.California billionaire tax' makes ballot despite opposition from tech mogulsTech billionaires are spending unprecedented sums in California races. Experts say it's the tip of the icebergIt makes no sense': 16- and 17-year-olds on UK social media banUK ministers lobby Trump to avert backlash against social media ban Continue reading...
While tech companies and Trump have been pushing teachers to use AI in the classroom, many argue that there is little evidence that it would actually help childrenIn October, Kelly Clancy's son received an assignment in sixth grade at a middle school in Brooklyn, New York, to create a science experiment and then ask Google Gemini, an artificial intelligence chatbot, for feedback, she said.Clancy, who has three children in New York City public schools, told the teacher that the bot is something that just teaches kids that they can have machines do the thinking for them", instead of suggesting: Let's talk to your partners. What about the science experiment could you improve?" Continue reading...
Study warns AI datacenters are vulnerable to the climate hazards that their global greenhouse gas emissions bolsterAmid rising concern that the artificial intelligence boom is fueling the climate crisis, a new report has found that nearly 80% of datacenters are also exposed to extreme climate hazards, including flooding, extreme winds and wildfires.Those impacts are leaving the infrastructure vulnerable to disrupted operations, increased time offline, and inflated insurance and repair costs, the research from climate risk analytics firm First Street shows. Continue reading...
I believe that chatbots have no place in a decent society, and am repelled by the topic of AI in general. But could I be seduced?I received a text message from my editor: Um, is it unethical to ask you to get an AI bf?? You can prob say no."Resentment. Contempt! Sorrow. Unease. I love text messaging. I have text message exchanges with, let's say, 15 people a day. If you want me to do something, you should ask via text message. My editor knows this. She also knows, though it's more complicated, that I love boyfriends. An AI boyfriend is a boyfriend who always, only texts back, immediately.I find it hard to express my emotions openly. (No.)I thrive to develop healthier, more trusting relationships. (Yes, though I prefer to use thrive" correctly.)I want a partner who supports my life aspirations. (Crossbow?)I worry about being judged for what I want in a relationship. (Yes.) Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#76G28)
Technology to be used in six more areas next year as critics say tens of thousands of people will be forced into digital police lineup'The Metropolitan police is to expand its use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology, first into London's West End by Christmas and then into a further six areas next year.The new cameras will be fixed, and could be attached to street furniture such as lamp-posts. Critics said the new plans mean tens of thousands of people will be forced into a digital police lineup". Continue reading...
Barrister who was given material produced by Garfield AI says advocacy at trial remained fundamentally human'An artificial intelligence law firm has won a case in an English court, in what is believed to be the first time a trial has been won using an AI lawyer.A freelance HR consultant, Tamires Camal Taquidir, paid the firm, Garfield AI, about 400 to send a legal letter and then issue court proceedings over an unpaid debt of 7,000. Continue reading...
AI-focused Super Pacs are spending heavily in the midterms, and half has gone to a single Manhattan congressional raceThe artificial intelligence industry is spending heavily in the 2026 midterms, hoping to secure influence over the technology's first generation of legislation - and New York City's primary has emerged as the key battleground.AI-focused Super Pacs have raised over $100m this cycle, of which $49m has been spent so far, in dozens of congressional races across the country. Half of all spending has converged on a single Manhattan race: Tuesday's Democratic primary in the district of NY-12.Will Craft and Andrew Witherspoon contributed reporting Continue reading...
They claim to fix fine lines, blemishes and redness - but which stand up to scrutiny? We asked dermatologists and put them to the test to find out The best anti-ageing creams, serums and treatmentsLED face masks are booming in popularity - despite being one of the most expensive at-home beauty products to hit the market. They claim to either reduce the appearance of fine lines, stop spots or calm redness, with some even combining different types of light to enhance the benefits.However, it's wise to be sceptical about new treatments that are costly and non-invasive, and to do your research before you buy. With this in mind, I interviewed doctors and dermatologists to find out whether these light therapy devices work. Continue reading...
Signal agencies in Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada sound alarm after Trump blocks foreign nationals from Anthropic's Fable AI modelPowerful AI models capable of devastating new cyber attacks on governments and businesses are mere months away, intelligence agencies for the Five Eyes have warned in a rare joint statement, urging leaders to act now".The surprising public intervention by signals agencies for Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada comes after the Trump administration earlier this month decided to block foreign nationals" from using a much-hyped AI model built by tech company Anthropic, called Fable. Continue reading...
A vivid and entertaining polemic on the economics of the tech revolution, filled with righteous ireAs former Google CEO Eric Schmidt could tell you, AI is a hard sell these days. Last month, he tried talking upthe AI revolution during a commencement address at the University of Arizona and was loudly booed by students about to enter an AI-ravaged job market. His discombobulation was telling.Schmidt is not the only AI booster to crash out with students recently as the popular backlash grows. Every week brings a new story about some writer, publisher or academic who has torched their reputation by using an unreliable chatbot. Most US voters are opposed to the construction of vast, resource-guzzling new datacentres. A majority believe AI will negatively impact not just jobs but creativity and human relationships. In some quarters, saying that AI has any benefits at all is akin to saying that biological warfare gets a bad rap. As a New York Times column put it: AI populism is here. And no one is ready." Continue reading...
