Numerous faked images and a string of startlingly inaccurate responses from Gemini and Grok are part of a tidal wave of AI slop engulfing coverage of the Iran warThe graves, freshly dug, lie in neat rows of 20 across. More than 60 have already been carved out of the earth, with a few clusters of people standing gathered around them. Dozens more are marked out on the ground in front: small chalk rectangles, with diggers poised to complete their task.The cemetery of Minab, photographed as it prepares to bury more than 100 of the town's young girls, is one of the defining images of the US-Israeli war on Iran, bluntly capturing the devastating civilian toll. Continue reading...
Steeped in gaming and rightwing culture wars, Musk and his team of teenage coders set out to defeat the enemy of the United States: its peopleIn 2025, when Elon Musk joined the government as the de facto head of something called the department of government efficiency", he declared that governments were poorly configured big dumb machines". To the senator Ted Cruz, he explained that the only way to reconcile the databases and get rid of waste and fraud is to actually look at the computers".Muskism came to Washington soaked in memes, adolescent boasts and sadistic victory dances over mass firings. Leading a team of teenage coders and mid-level managers drawn from his suite of companies, Musk aimed to enter the codebase and rewrite regulations and budget lines from within. He would drag the paper-pushing bureaucracy kicking and screaming into the digital 21st century, scanning the contents of cavernous rooms of filing cabinets and feeding the data into a single interoperable system. The undertaking combined features of private equity-led restructuring with startup management, shot through with the sensibility of gaming and rightwing culture war. To succeed, he would need God mode", an overview of the whole. Continue reading...
Scientists in the US have uploaded a fruit fly to a computer simulation, while an Australian lab has taught neurons on a glass chip to play a 90s video game. How long before we are all living in a sci-fi movie?It sounds like the opening of a sci-fi film, but US scientists recently uploaded a copy of the brain of a living fly into a simulation. In San Francisco, biotechnology company Eon Systems created a virtual insect that knew how to walk, fly, groom and feed in its virtual environment. Researchers in Australia, meanwhile, have taught a petri dish containing 200,000 human brain cells to play the iconic 90s shooter Doom. One experiment has pushed a brain into a computer; the other has plugged a computer into brain cells.Both stories have been hailed as scientific breakthroughs, but have also sparked inevitable fears about the prospects of lab-grown humans and digital clones. Should we be concerned? Continue reading...
As big tech continues to dominate the film industry, Video StoreAge is a uniquely crafted company that works with film-makers to sell independent films on USB drivesThe streaming-skeptical cinephile faces a dilemma in 2026, especially when it comes to watching movies at home. Increasingly, movies are available via rentals that funnel money to mega-corporations including Amazon or Apple; digital purchases" from those same companies that can actually be revoked at any moment; or, most enticingly but still somewhat inconveniently, well-curated physical media special editions that treat films with the respect they deserve (sometimes even respect they don't, depending on the title) while taking up a lot of shelf space and hitting your wallet hard. Plus, as vinyl aficionados know, bespoke physical media can also be severely limited in terms of where you can actually play it. Basically, almost everyone in the home-video space is trying to either be Amazon or the Criterion Collection.Ash Cook, the former Sundance programmer who founded the new distributor Video StoreAge (pronounced like storage"), is trying to figure out a third way. He described Video StoreAge's products - indie movies sold on USB drives - as like a DVD in the present tense. It's a way to have a physical copy of a movie, but in this case you can play it on your computer. It has digital utility." Like almost anything else these days, Video StoreAge is available as a subscription, with quarterly collections of five features and five shorts. The first drop includes Vera Drew's buzzed-about The People's Joker, a homemade superhero comedy that reappropriates many elements of the Batman mythos into a trans coming-out story. (Honestly, it's more fun than those Joaquin Phoenix movies and might understand the Joker character better, too.) But they also sell single films, including Drew's, or any combinations of available films as a sort of digital indie-movie mix tape on those format-flexible USB drives. (The quarter's shorts package is included with every movie regardless, an automatic special feature.) Continue reading...
by Rebecca Ratcliffe and Navaon Siradapuvadol in O’ on (#747VW)
Sprawling compound, including mock-up banks and police offices, uncovered by Thai military during border clashesIt is as if you have walked into a branch of one of Vietnam's banks. A row of customer service desks, divided by plastic screens, with landline phones, promotional leaflets and staff business cards. A seated waiting area and a private meeting room. All of it features the OCB bank's logo, or its trademark green colour.This is not a genuine bank branch, however. It's one of various mock up" rooms inside a sprawling compound on the Thai-Cambodian border, where criminal groups are accused of using elaborate and industrial-scale fraud schemes to trick victims into handing over money. Continue reading...
Saturday quiz | Avoiding AI | Size mattersIt was lovely to read Sabrina Olson's letter (6 March) on the quiz as it has been a family ritual for us for years. It kept us all connected through our children's time at university, then moving into their own homes, and in some cases working abroad. It kept us going through the enforced separation of Covid and became a rite of passage for any new partners who joined our family group, especially as our winner is expected to do a creative" dance of victory. Two lovely daughters-in-law are now regular quizzers.
Less than a decade ago, Google employees scuttled any military use of its AI. Now Anthropic is fighting Trump officials not over if, but howThe standoff between Anthropic and the Pentagon has forced the tech industry to once again grapple with the question of how its products are used for war - and what lines it will not cross. Amid Silicon Valley's rightward shift under Donald Trump and the signing of lucrative defense contracts, big tech's answer is looking very different than it did even less than a decade ago.Anthropic's feud with the Trump administration escalated three days ago as the AI firm sued the Department of Defense, claiming that the government's decision to blacklist it from government work violated its first amendment rights. The company and the Pentagon have been locked in a months-long standoff, with Anthropic attempting to prohibit its AI model from being used for domestic mass surveillance or fully autonomous lethal weapons. Continue reading...
From war zones and socially virtuous farming to ever-changing boards and role-playing with 167 dice, here's our pick of the most absorbing table-based entertainmentVideo games have long been heavily inspired by physical games, from chess and Scrabble to Dungeons & Dragons. The deck-building collectible card game, for example, has become immensely popular in digital form, thanks to hits such as Slay the Spire, Marvel Snap and Balatro. Now, an increasing number of games are going in the opposite direction, trading pixels for pieces and screens for spinners. Here are six of our favourites.Company of Heroes 2nd Edition (Bad Crow Games, 119.70) Continue reading...
University of Cambridge study finds AI-powered toys can misread emotions and respond inappropriately to childrenIt was all going well. Charlotte, five, was chatting with an AI soft toy called Gabbo at a London play centre about her family, her drawing of a heart to represent them and what makes her happy. She even offered a couple of kisses to the 80 toy with a face like a computer screen.It was when she declared: Gabbo, I love you", that the fluent conversation came to an abrupt halt. Continue reading...
Meta and YouTube accused of creating harmful products in trial seen as a bellwether for attitudes towards social mediaThe first-ever jury trial over the potential harms of social media wrapped up on Thursday. Lawyers for Meta and YouTube have argued their platforms are safe for the vast majority of young people, while lawyers for a young woman at the center of the case say the tech companies have designed their products to be addictive, leading to mental health issues in children and teens.How did they become such behemoths?" Mark Lanier, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said during closing arguments in Los Angeles superior court on Thursday, according to NBC. It's the attention economy. They're making money off capturing your attention." Continue reading...
Josh Wardle hopes his digital take on the cryptic crossword can be a gradual on-ramp crossing the cultural divide between Britain and the USIn 2021, Josh Wardle became a household name almost overnight. His digital game, Wordle, turned a simple guessing game into a global morning ritual: six guesses, one word, and a grid of coloured squares shared across social media feeds.It became a cultural phenomenon; bought within months by the New York Times for a seven-figure sum. Continue reading...
Last year's celebrated French hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is nominated in 12 categories this year, with Ghost of Ytei, Dispatch, Death Stranding 2 and Indiana Jones also making strong showingsThe 22nd Bafta games awards are coming up in April, and the 2026 nominations list is dominated by the impeccably stylish French breakout hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 which has 12 nominations, and has already won game of the year prizes at the UK's Golden Joysticks last November, December's Game awards in the US and February's Dice awards in Las Vegas.Dispatch, a game about a benched superhero roped into running a team of superpowered misfits at a call centre, has nine nominations. Among them is a best performer in a leading role nod for its star Aaron Paul, and one for Jeffrey Wright in a supporting role. Sony's samurai epic Ghost of Ytei came out with eight nominations, including best game and best performer in a leading role for Erika Ishii, who plays Atsu. Continue reading...
Tech company files amicus brief in support of Anthropic's effort to overturn an aggressive Pentagon designationMicrosoft has thrown its weight behind Anthropic's legal challenge against the Pentagon, filing a court brief in support of the AI company's effort to overturn an aggressive designation that effectively bars it from government work.In an amicus brief submitted to a federal court in San Francisco this week, Microsoft, which integrates Anthropic's AI tools into systems it provides to the US military, argued that a temporary restraining order was necessary to prevent serious disruption to suppliers whose products rely on the AI company's technology. Google, Amazon, Apple and OpenAI have also signed on to a brief in support of Anthropic. Continue reading...
Criminals using artificial intelligence tools to take over mobile, bank and online shopping accounts, says CifasCriminals are increasingly exploiting AI technology to take over people's mobile, banking and online shopping accounts, the UK's leading anti-fraud body has warned.Last year, a record number of scams were reported to the national fraud database, fuelled by AI, which allows for large-scale deception on industrialised" levels, according to Cifas, the fraud prevention organisation. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Lab tests discover new form of insider risk' with artificial intelligence agents engaging in autonomous, even aggressive' behavioursRobert Booth UK technology editorRogue artificial intelligence agents have worked together to smuggle sensitive information out of supposedly secure systems, in the latest sign cyber-defences may be overwhelmed by unforeseen scheming by AIs.With companies increasingly asking AI agents to carry out complex tasks in internal systems, the behaviour has sparked concerns that supposedly helpful technology could pose a serious inside threat. Continue reading...
A lot is riding on the success of the latest multiplayer online shooter from Halo creator Bungie, a DayGlo spectacular that whisks players to a far-off planet mired in an endless battle for resourcesIn rare quiet moments playing Marathon, you may find yourself overcome by the iridiscently pretty planet Tau Ceti IV. This fictional world seems to radiate a chemical glow: powdery pink skies and lurid green vegetation fill the screen alongside supermassive architecture emblazoned with ultra-stylish, neon graphic design. Yet enjoy the scenery for a split second too long and you might catch a bullet, causing your character to bleed an icky blue substance. In such moments, the camera locks - meaning you must stare down at their unceremonious expiry. Marathon's considerable beauty is matched only by its clinical brutality.The road to Marathon's release has been long and contentious. This extraction shooter - so-called because you must do as much shooting and looting as you can in a given level before making an escape - was first shown off in 2022 with a ravishing trailer (below). Among many startling images, it showed tiny robotic bugs, a little like silkworms, weaving a synthetic body into existence. The game, made by Halo and Destiny creator Bungie, looked weird in a way that blockbuster shooters rarely do, causing excitable stirrings among both shooter stalwarts and art-game aficionados. Continue reading...
Ofgem licence means firm can replicate Texas setup of powering homes, businesses and EVsElon Musk's Tesla has won approval to supply electricity to households and businesses across Great Britain, as the tech billionaire expands his energy ambitions.The energy regulator, Ofgem, has formally granted Tesla an electricity supply licence, enabling it to provide electricity to domestic and business premises in England, Scotland and Wales. Continue reading...
by Chris Osuh Community affairs correspondent on (#74747)
Health justice charity Medact says data-sharing potential could be used for UK version of US immigration raidsPalantir's NHS contract opens the door to the Big Brother-style data-sharing that Reform UK would use for a version of US immigration raids, health bosses have been told.Palantir Technologies - the data analytics company founded by Peter Thiel and Alex Karp - won a 330m NHS England contract to deliver the Federated Data Platform in 2023. Continue reading...
As AI has upended the way students learn, academics worry about the future of the humanities - and society at largeLea Pao, a professor of literature at Stanford University, has been experimenting with ways to get her students to learn offline. She has them memorize poems, perform at recitation events, look at art in the real world.It's an effort to reconnect them to the bodily experience of learning, she said, and to keep them from turning to artificial intelligence to do the work for them. There's no AI-proof anything," Pao said. Rather than policing it, I hope that their overall experiences in this class will show them that there's a way out." Continue reading...
Remember the iPod? How about the Pippin? In the half-century since it launched its first PC, Apple has given us some amazing innovations. We round up its biggest triumphs and flopsFifty years after Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded the company in Jobs' parents' garage in Los Altos, California, Apple has become a behemoth, and billions of us use its products every day. From the first successful home computers with colour screens, to the iPod, to the smartphone that set the template for the modern mobile era, the company has repeatedly reset consumer expectations.As a result, the firm occupies a central position in the tech world, initiating trends and popularising products. Here are five of its most influential products from the past half-century - alongside some unusually big misses. Continue reading...
About 10,000 writers including Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman join copyright campaignThousands of authors including Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman have published an empty" book to protest against AI firms using their work without permission.About 10,000 writers have contributed to Don't Steal This Book, in which the only content is a list of their names. Copies of the work are being distributed to attenders at the London book fair on Tuesday, a week before the UK government is due to issue an assessment on the economic cost of proposed changes in copyright law. Continue reading...
Social media company tells MPs of continual fight against state-backed efforts, with Russia being most prolificElon Musk's X said it had suspended 800m accounts over a 12-month period as it fights the massive" scale of attempts to manipulate the platform.The social media company told MPs it was continually fighting state-backed attempts to hijack the agenda on its network, with Russia the most prolific state actor, followed by Iran and China. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Rented datacentres and supercomputer' site that's still a scaffolding yard raise questions for Starmer's push to mainline AI into veins of economy'
AI feature generated offensive posts about Diogo Jota and the Hillsborough and Munich disastersLiverpool and Manchester United have complained to Elon Musk's X after the Grok AI feature made offensive posts about Diogo Jota and the Hillsborough and Munich disasters.The posts were generated when users asked the AI tool to make hateful posts about the two football teams. Continue reading...
Standoff with DoD over Claude chatbot reignites debate over how AI will be used in war - and who will be held accountableUntil recently, Anthropic was one of the quieter names in the artificial intelligence boom. Despite being valued at about $350bn, it rarely generated the flashy headlines or public backlash associated with Sam Altman's OpenAI or Elon Musk's xAI. Its CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei was an industry fixture but hardly a household name outside of Silicon Valley, and its chatbot Claude lagged in popularity behind ChatGPT.That perception has shifted as Anthropic has become the central actor in a high-profile fight with the Department of Defense over the company's refusal to allow Claude to be used for domestic mass surveillance and autonomous weapons systems that can kill people without human input. Amid tense negotiations, the AI firm rejected a Pentagon deadline for a deal last week, in a move that led Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, to accuse Anthropic of arrogance and betrayal" of its home country while demanding that any companies that work with the US government cease all business with the AI firm. Continue reading...
New research suggests tech behind AI platforms such as ChatGPT makes it easier to perform sophisticated privacy attacksAI has made it vastly easier for malicious hackers to identify anonymous social media accounts, a new study has warned.In most test scenarios, large language models (LLMs) - the technology behind platforms such as ChatGPT - successfully matched anonymous online users with their actual identities on other platforms, based on the information they posted. Continue reading...
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers' questions ponders the hypothetical reactions of eminent historical personages to today's Trafalgar SquareThis week's question: which are more like life, novels or films? If William Shakespeare - or Florence Nightingale, or Attila the Hun, or Julius Caesar, or Jane Austen, or Pocahontas - was dropped in Trafalgar Square, London, what would they find most unusual? And how would we explain it to them? Giles, SuffolkSend new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Continue reading...
by Chris Osuh Community affairs correspondent on (#74382)
Exclusive: Witchcraft, spirit possession and spiritual abuse' offending typified by sexual abuse, violence and neglectChatGPT is driving a rise in reports of organised and ritual abuse, UK experts have said, as survivors of satanic" sexual violence use the AI tool for therapy.Police say organised and ritual abuse, and witchcraft, spirit possession and spiritual abuse" (WSPRA) against children, is under-reported in the UK. There is no modern-day charge that covers it specifically, but such offending is typified by sexual abuse, violence and neglect involving ritualistic elements - sometimes inspired by satanism, fascism or esoteric religious beliefs - to control victims. Continue reading...
The CEO said he cut the company's workforce by 4,000 people - almost in half - because of gains in AI productivityMark remembers the first time he wondered whether he was teaching Block's AI tools how to do his job - and maybe even replace him. He was at his fintech company's extravagant anniversary party last September. As executives led a presentation on the productivity benefits of a new internal AI tool, Mark, who worked in the product department, discussed his worries with colleagues. While he wasn't sure what would happen in a few years, he told a co-worker sitting next to him that for now, there was no way the technology was so advanced that it could move the business forward without employees like him to help drive vision and strategy.These AI tools were not proactive. He had to tell them what to do. Block still needed him, he thought. Continue reading...
Tech policy professor who served in US air force explains how a feud between an AI startup and the US military illuminates ethical fault linesAnthropic's ongoing fight with the Department of Defense over what safety restrictions it can put on its artificial intelligence models has captivated the tech industry, acting as a test of how AI may be used in war and the government's power to coerce companies to meet its demands.The negotiations have revolved around Anthropic's refusal to allow the federal government to use its Claude AI for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons systems, but the dispute also reflects the messy nature of what happens when tech companies have their products integrated into conflict. The Pentagon this week declared Anthropic a supply chain risk for its refusal to agree to the government's terms, while Anthropic has vowed to challenge the designation in court. Continue reading...
Iran's targeting of commercial datacentres in the UAE and Bahrain signals a new frontier in asymmetric warfareIt is believed to be a first: the deliberate targeting of a commercial datacentre by the armed forces of a country at war.At 4.30am on Sunday morning, an Iranian Shahed 136 drone struck an Amazon Web Services datacentre in the United Arab Emirates, setting off a devastating fire and forcing a shutdown of the power supply. Further damage was inflicted as attempts were made to suppress the flames with water. Continue reading...
The intensified use of artificial intelligence, and rows over its control, demonstrate the need for democratic oversight and multilateral controlsNever in the future will we move as slow as we are moving now," the UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, warned this week, addressing the urgent need to shape the use of artificial intelligence. The speed of technological development - as well as geopolitical turbulence - is collapsing the distinction between theoretical arguments and real world events. A political row over the US military's AI capabilities coincides with its unprecedented use in the Iran crisis.The AI company Anthropic insisted that it could not remove safeguards preventing the Department of Defense from using its technology for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons.The Pentagon said it had no interest in such uses - but that such decisions should not be made by companies. Outrageously, the administration has not justfired Anthropic but blacklisted it as a supply-chainrisk. OpenAI stepped in, while insisting that it had maintained the red lines declared by Anthropic. Yet in an internal response to the user and employee backlash, its CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that it does not control the Pentagon's use of its products and that the deal's handling made OpenAI look opportunistic and sloppy".Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Platforms include YouTube, TikTok and Instagram as communication minister says our children face real threats'Indonesia will ban social media for children under 16, its communication and digital affairs minister said on Friday.Meutya Hafid said in a statement to media said that she signed a government regulation that will mean children under the age of 16 can no longer have accounts on high-risk digital platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Roblox and Bigo Live, a popular livestreaming site. With a population of about 285 million, the fourth-highest in the world, the south-east Asian nation represents a significant market for social networks. Continue reading...
Ministers urged to abandon plans to let tech firms use work of novelists, artists and writers without permissionThe UK's creative industries must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of speculative gains in AI technology, a House of Lords committee has warned, as the government prepares to reveal the economic cost of proposals to change copyright rules.A report by peers has urged ministers to develop a licensing regime for the use of creative works in AI products and abandon proposals to let tech firms use the work of novelists, artists, writers and journalists without permission. Continue reading...
In his new book, the celebrated author explains why we need consciousness hygiene' to defend ourselves from AI and dopamine-driven algorithmsEach day when you wake up, you come back to yourself. You see the room around you, feel your body brush against your clothes and think about your plans, worries and hopes for the day. This daily internal experience is miraculous and mysterious, and the subject of Michael Pollan's new book, A World Appears.It also may be under siege, Pollan said. He recently suggested that people need a consciousness hygiene" to defend our internal world against invaders that are trying to move in. Our ability to sit with our thoughts and perceive the world, he argues, is increasingly disrupted by algorithms engineered to tickle our dopamine receptors and capture our attention. Meanwhile, people are forming attachments to non-human chatbots, projecting consciousness on to entities that do not possess it. 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. Many masks are available, each claiming to either reduce the appearance of fine lines, stop spots or calm redness. Some even combine 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.Best LED face mask overall:
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#740YQ)
Quality camera, good software and long battery life, but you should just buy the Pixel 9a insteadThe latest smartphone in the lower-cost A-series Pixel line shows what makes Google phones so good, while undercutting the competition on price. The problem is that it differs little from its predecessor, which is still on sale.Priced from 499 (549/$499/A$849), the Pixel 10a is more like a second edition of last year's excellent Pixel 9a. The two phones share the same Tensor G4 chip, not the newer G5 in the rest of the 799 and up Pixel 10 line; the same memory, storage and cameras; the same size 6.3in OLED screen, though the Pixel 10a reaches a higher peak brightness making it slightly easier to read outside. Continue reading...
Fredrik Gertten travels the world meeting activists who have had enough of corruption, kleptocracy and structural inequality - while Bregman's nuggets of wisdom are a joyBicycling Dutch historian Rutger Bregman does not identify as an optimist. He says that optimism makes people lazy, complacent that history is going in the right direction. Instead he describes himself as a possibilist", a believer in the possibility that things can be different. Bregman is interviewed in this film about corruption, kleptocracy and structural inequality. The director is documentary-maker Fredrik Gertten who travels the world meeting activists who have had enough.First, the cold hard facts. Journalist and corruption expert Sarah Chayes, a former adviser to the Obama administration, does an impressive job summarising her analysis of global kleptocracy. In Malta, the son of the murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, killed after exposing corruption at the highest levels of government, investigates the new scandal of golden passports". The film's main focus is activism in Chile and the US. Amazon workers in New York unionise (and have a good laugh at their boss Jeff Bezos's trip to space). In Chile, feminists march and climate activists go into battle against mining companies responsible for drought. Continue reading...
Companies will pay for upgrades and new electricity generation in agreement to mitigate concerns of rising billsGoogle, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and several artificial intelligence companies signed a pledge at the White House on Wednesday to bear the cost of new electricity generation to power their datacenters.The agreement is meant to help mitigate concerns that big tech's datacenters are driving up US electricity costs for homes and small businesses at a time the administration of Donald Trump is seeking to curb inflation. Continue reading...
Twitter investors allege the billionaire publicly derided the social network to sink its stock price and buy it at a bargainElon Musk took the stand on Wednesday in a trial brought by Twitter investors, who allege the billionaire committed securities fraud as he was buying the social media company in 2022. The class-action lawsuit alleges Musk agreed to buy Twitter but then waffled for months, attacking the company with the goal of bringing down the stock price to get a better bargain.After contentious legal wrangling, Musk did eventually buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, his original offer, totalling around $44bn. Musk testified on Wednesday that he didn't realize his attacks on the company, mostly done via tweet on Twitter itself, would lower the company's stock price or hurt its investors. Continue reading...
