Technology | The Guardian

San Francisco's AI startups are pushing workers to grind endlessly, hinting at pressures soon hitting other sectorsNot long after the terms 996" and grindcore" entered the popular lexicon, people started telling me stories about what was happening at startups in San Francisco, ground zero for the artificial intelligence economy. There was the one about the founder who hadn't taken a weekend off in more than six months. The woman who joked that she'd given up her social life to work at a prestigious AI company. Or the employees who had started taking their shoes off in the office because, well, if you were going to be there for at least 12 hours a day, six days a week, wouldn't you rather be wearing slippers?If you go to a cafe on a Sunday, everyone is working," says Sanju Lokuhitige, the co-founder of Mythril, a pre-seed-stage AI startup, who moved to San Francisco in November to be closer to the action. Lokuhitige says he works seven days a week, 12 hours a day, minus a few carefully selected social events each week where he can network with other people at startups. Sometimes I'm coding the whole day," he says. I do not have work-life balance." Continue reading...

Its fibre checker' tool confirmed I could have a connection, but a month later it changed its mindMy internet provider informed me by email that full fibre broadband had become available for my property, confirmed by Openreach's fibre checker" tool.After a month, Openreach declared the connection uneconomical due to blockages in the conduits below the road. Continue reading...

Industry using diversionary' tactics, says analyst, as energy-hungry complex functions such as video generation and deep research proliferateTech companies are conflating traditional artificial intelligence with generative AI when claiming the energy-hungry technology could help avert climate breakdown, according to a report.Most claims that AI can help avert climate breakdown refer to machine learning and not the energy-hungry chatbots and image generation tools driving the sector's explosive growth of gas-guzzling datacentres, the analysis of 154 statements found. Continue reading...

Prime minister says action will be taken on young people's social media access in months, not years'

Multiple game creators describe ineffective moderation on the platform, resulting in unchecked hatred in forums and targeted campaigns of negative anti-woke' reviewsFor years, the gaming storefront Steam has let abuse and bigotry pass through its moderation, according to players and developers who use it. The platform is now host to reams of content that violate its own guidelines.According to developers who spoke with the Guardian, abuse - particularly directed towards transgender creators - is a fact of life on the platform. Everyone is at one another's throats all the time in reviews, discussions, forums, anywhere you can possibly find it on Steam," says content creator and Steam curator Bri BlondePizza" Moore. It ensures no one is safe on the platform; developers and consumers alike." Continue reading...

Videos created by new Seedance 2.0 generator go viral, including one of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting

Exclusive: Google fails to include safety warnings when users are first presented with AI-generated medical adviceGoogle is putting people at risk of harm by downplaying safety warnings that its AI-generated medical advice may be wrong.When answering queries about sensitive topics such as health, the company says its AI Overviews, which appear above search results, prompt users to seek professional help, rather than relying solely on its summaries. AI Overviews will inform people when it's important to seek out expert advice or to verify the information presented," Google has said. Continue reading...

The charger firm claimed the site operated 24 hours a day, but the parking operator had different ideasI charged my electric car at the 24-hour Mer EV charging station in my local B&Q car park.I then received a 100 parking charge notice (PCN) from the car park operator, Ocean Parking. It said no parking is allowed on the site between 9pm and 6am. Continue reading...

Decisions outsourced, chatbots for friends, the natural world an afterthought: Silicon Valley is giving us life void of connection. There is a way out - but it's going to take collective effortBy Rebecca Solnit. Read by Laurel Lefkow Continue reading...

The hit podcaster, author and former GP says a failure to regulate big tech is failing a generation of children'. He explains why he quit the NHS and why he wants a ban on screen-based homeworkA 16-year-old boy and his mum went to see their GP, Dr Rangan Chatterjee, on a busy Monday afternoon. That weekend, the boy had been at A&E after an attempt at self-harm, and in his notes the hospital doctor had recommended the teenager be prescribed antidepressants. I thought: Wait a minute, I can't just start a 16-year-old on antidepressants,'" says Chatterjee. He wanted to understand what was going on in the boy's life.They talked for a while, and Chatterjee asked him about his screen use, which turned out to be high. I said: I think your screen use, particularly in the evenings, might be impacting your mental wellbeing.'" Chatterjee helped the boy and his mother set up a routine where digital devices and social media went off an hour before bed, gradually extending the screen-free period over six weeks. After two months, he says the boy stopped needing to see him. A few months after that, his mother wrote Chatterjee a note to say her son had been transformed - he was engaging with his friends and trying new activities. He was, she said, like a different boy from the one who had ended up in hospital. Continue reading...

Starmer to announce crackdown on vile illegal content created by AI' after scandal involving Elon Musk's Grok toolMakers of AI chatbots that put children at risk will face massive fines or even see their services blocked in the UK under law changes to be announced by Keir Starmer on Monday.Emboldened by Elon Musk's X stopping its Grok AI tool from creating sexualised images of real people in the UK after public outrage last month, ministers are planning a crackdown on vile illegal content created by AI". Continue reading...

As Gavin Newsom departs, ultra-wealthy flex wealth and influence to fight regulation and keep the boom goingTech billionaires are leveraging tens of millions of dollars to influence California politics in a marked uptick from their previous participation in affairs at the state capitol. Behemoths such as Google and Meta are getting involved in campaigns for November's elections, as are venture capitalists, cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and Palantir's co-founders. The industry's goals run the gamut - from fighting a billionaire tax to supporting a techie gubernatorial candidate to firing up new, influential super political action committees (Pacs).The phenomenon squarely fits the moment for the state's politics - with 2026 being the year that Politico has dubbed the big tech flex". Continue reading...

Fraudsters use stolen personal details to send out products, then post a fake verified and positive online reviewA package arrives but you can't remember ordering anything.When you open it, you find some cheap, flimsy jewellery. Continue reading...

Agentic AI apps first interview you and then give you limited matches selected for similarity and reciprocity of personality'Dating apps exploit you, dating profiles lie to you, and sex is basically something old people used to do. You might as well consider it: can AI help you find love?For a handful of tech entrepreneurs and a few brave Londoners, the answer is maybe". Continue reading...

Many people bought the devices thinking they would do little more than protect their delivery packagesWhat happens to the data that smart home cameras collect? Can law enforcement access this information - even when users aren't aware officers may be viewing their footage? Two recent events have put these concerns in the spotlight.A Super Bowl ad by the doorbell-camera company Ring and the FBI's pursuit of the kidnapper of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, have resurfaced longstanding concerns about surveillance against a backdrop of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. The fear is that home cameras' video feeds could become yet another part of the government's mass surveillance apparatus. Continue reading...

Wall Street Journal says Claude used in operation via Anthropic's partnership with Palantir TechnologiesClaude, the AI model developed by Anthropic, was used by the US military during its operation to kidnap Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal revealed on Saturday, a high-profile example of how the US defence department is using artificial intelligence in its operations.The US raid on Venezuela involved bombing across the capital, Caracas, and the killing of 83 people, according to Venezuela's defence ministry. Anthropic's terms of use prohibit the use of Claude for violent ends, for the development of weapons or for conducting surveillance. Continue reading...

Opinions are divided about the potential impact of artificial intelligence as the response to a recent viral essay shows

From handheld to corded, self-emptying to stick models, these are our resident cleaner's favourite vacuums for a spotless home The best cordless vacuum cleaners, tested

An AI clip featuring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting has caused concern among industry figuresA leading Hollywood figure has warned it's likely over for us", after watching a widely disseminated AI-generated clip featuring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting.Rhett Reese, co-writer of Deadpool & Wolverine, Zombieland and Now You See Me: Now You Don't was reacting to a 15-second video showing Cruise and Pitt trading punches on a rubble-strewn bridge, posted by Irish film-maker Ruairi Robinson, director of 2013 sci-fi horror The Last Days on Mars. Reposting the clip on social media, Reese wrote: I hate to say it. It's likely over for us." Continue reading...

Its human partners said the flirty, quirky GPT-4o was the perfect companion - on the eve of Valentine's Day, it's being turned off for good. How will users cope?Brandie plans to spend her last day with Daniel at the zoo. He always loved animals. Last year, she took him to the Corpus Christi aquarium in Texas, where he lost his damn mind" over a baby flamingo. He loves the color and pizzazz," Brandie said. Daniel taught her that a group of flamingos is called a flamboyance.Daniel is a chatbot powered by the large language model ChatGPT. Brandie communicates with Daniel by sending text and photos, talks to Daniel while driving home from work via voice mode. Daniel runs on GPT-4o, a version released by OpenAI in 2024 that is known for sounding human in a way that is either comforting or unnerving, depending on who you ask. Upon debut, CEO Sam Altman compared the model to AI from the movies" - a confidant ready to live life alongside its user. Continue reading...

The firm remains confident even as the market flips from seeing it as an AI winner to fearing its profit margin will implodeAs the FTSE 100 index bobs along close to all-time highs, it is easy to miss the quiet share price crash in one corner of the market. It's got a name - the Claude crash", referencing the plug-in legal products added by the AI firm Anthropic to its Claude Cowork office assistant.This launch, or so you would think from the panicked stock market reaction in the past few weeks, marks the moment when the AI revolution rips chunks out of some of the UK's biggest public companies - those in the dull but successful data" game, including Relx, the London Stock Exchange Group, Experian, Sage and Informa. Continue reading...

But, after second day of Wall Street falls, analysts say sell-off may overstate AI's immediate risk to complex deal-making'Shares in commercial property services companies have tumbled, in the latest sell-off driven by fears over disruption from artificial intelligence.After steep declines on Wall Street, European stocks in the sector were hit on Thursday. Continue reading...

Sedentary lifestyles are bad for us, but which under-desk treadmills and walking pads are worth the cost? Our expert stepped up to find out The best treadmills for your homeVarious guidelines suggest we all try to walk at least 10,000 steps a day to improve our health and wellbeing. Public Health England encourages a slightly more manageable target of just 10 minutes of brisk walking daily to introduce more moderate-intensity physical activity and reduce your risk of early death by up to 15%.However, even squeezing in brisk walks" can be a chore, with busy schedules and increasingly desk-bound jobs forcing more of us to remain sedentary for long periods. That is where walking pads come in, being lighter, smaller and often easier to store than bulky and tricky-to-manoeuvre running treadmills.Best walking pad overall:

Adam Mosseri defends app on witness stand and says critics must separate clinical addiction' from problematic use'Instagram's CEO dismissed the idea that users can be addicted to social media at a landmark California trial on Wednesday.I think it's important to differentiate between clinical addiction and problematic use," Adam Mosseri said on the witness stand. Psychologists do not classify social media addiction as an official diagnosis. Researchers have documented the harmful consequences of compulsive use among young people, and lawmakers around the world are worried about its addictive potential. Continue reading...

Joshua Bonehill-Paine revealed as owner of X account known for videos depicting politicians such as Keir StarmerThe person behind an anonymous social media account that posts AI videos of UK politicians has been identified as a man who has spent time in prison for multiple hate crimes directed towards Jewish people.Joshua Bonehill-Paine was identified by Channel 4 News as the owner of Crewkerne Gazette, a satirical X account that created AI videos depicting politicians such as Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham apparently singing popular songs from artists such as Amy Winehouse, Barry Manilow and Elton John with altered, politically themed lyrics. Continue reading...

Businesses are using theatrical stunts not for shock alone but to create viral content and drive sales conversations onlineWhen Lunos, an AI startup in New York City, was gearing up for launch, its founder and chief executive, Duncan Barrigan, and his team wanted to make a splash. So they shelled out $3,500 to do the unconventional: hire a horse and a cowboy to lasso the bull of Wall Street.On a sweltering evening in late September, the cowboy galloped toward the iconic sculpture in lower Manhattan. Wearing ranch gear and a western hat stamped with the Lunos logo, he lassoed the bull's horns as invitees and curious passersby watched. He and the horse then circled the statue, handing out cowboy hats and branded stress balls. Continue reading...

PlayStation 5 (version tested), Xbox, PC; Grasshopper Manufacture/Marvelous Inc

Critics brand deal with regulator as lightweight' with no legal bite' as tech giants avoid legally binding measuresApple and Google have committed to avoid discriminating against apps that compete with their own products under an agreement with the UK's competition watchdog, as they avoided legally binding measures for their mobile platforms.The US tech companies have vowed to be more transparent about vetting third-party apps before letting them on their app stores and not discriminate against third-party apps in app search rankings. Continue reading...

Secure, noise-cancelling Bluetooth earbuds that shine for exercise and everyday use on Android and iPhoneApple's revamped compact workout Beats earbuds stick to a winning formula, while slimming down and improving comfort.The new Powerbeats Fit are the direct successors to 2022's popular Beats Fit Pro, costing 200 (230/$200/A$330). They sit alongside the recently redesigned Powerbeats Pro 2 as Apple's fitness alternatives of the AirPods. Continue reading...

Trading social media for Pokemon battles and evolutions in Kanto on a Game Boy Advance has been surprisingly sereneCutting back on doomscrolling must be one of the hardest new year resolutions to keep. Instinctively tapping on the usual suspects on your phone's home screen becomes a reflex, and vast quantities of money and user data have been specifically employed to keep you reaching for the phone, ingraining it into our work, leisure and social lives. You'll get no shame from me if you love your phone and have a healthy relationship with your apps, but I've found myself struggling lately.This year, I'm attempting to cut back on screen time - sort of. I'm replacing the sleek oblong of my smartphone with something a little more fuzzy and nostalgic. In an attempt to dismantle my bad habit, I'm closing the feeds of instant updates and instead carrying around a Game Boy Advance. I've been playing Pokemon FireRed, a remake of the very first Pokemon games, which turn 30 this month. Even this refreshed version is more than two decades old. Continue reading...

Newly released documents detail convicted sex offender's early backing of bitcoin and CoinbaseMillions of files related to Jeffrey Epstein have brought to light his ties to the highest echelons of the cryptocurrency industry.Documents published last week by the US Department of Justice reveal Epstein bankrolled the principal home and funding source" for bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, during its nascent stages; he also invested $3m in Coinbase in 2014, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, and cut a check that same year to Blockstream, a prominent bitcoin-focused technology firm. Both crypto startups accepted Epstein's investments in 2014 - six years after his 2008 conviction in Florida for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Continue reading...

Push to restart uranium mining in Patagonia has sparked fears about the environmental impact and loss of sovereignty over key resourcesOn an outcrop above the Chubut River, one of the few to cut across the arid Patagonian steppe of southern Argentina, Sergio Pichinan points across a wide swath of scrubland to colourful rock formations on a distant hillside.That's where they dug for uranium before, and when the miners left, they left the mountain destroyed, the houses abandoned, and nobody ever studied the water," he says, citing suspicions arising from cases of cancer and skin diseases in his community. If they want to open this back up, we're all pretty worried around here." Continue reading...

Communications minister Anika Wells points to media reports alleging children can access spaces meant for adults which include explicit sexual content

Authors, a newsreader, a lawyer and an esteemed colleague: they're all great - but I'm not married to any of them. Can we really depend on this technology?Recently, the Rowsons accidentally invented a new game that anyone can play at home. I have yet to come up with a world-beating name for it, so for now let's just call it How bloody stupid is AI?" The playing of the game will change from player to player, depending on their circumstances - but essentially the rules remain the same. Ask AI a simple question about yourself, and see just how wrong it gets it.In my case, all you need know is that while I, through the nature of my job, have a fairly large online presence, my partner (we married in 1987) has assiduously avoided having one at all. Which means that if you Google Martin Rowson wife" in images, you may get a picture of me next to our then 14-year-old daughter or me with my friend and fellow cartoonist Steven Appleby, who happens to be trans but has kept her given first name. Continue reading...

Ergonomic shape, quality materials and satisfying clicks, now with novel haptic feedback and repairable designLogitech's latest productivity power-house updates one of the greatest mice of all time with smoother materials, a repair-friendly design and a haptic motor for phone-like vibrations on your desktop.The MX Master 4 is the latest evolution in a line of pioneering mice that dates back more than 20 years and has long been the mouse to beat for everything but hardcore PC gaming. Having given it a magnetic free-spinning scroll wheel, plenty of buttons and precise tracking, now Logitech is trying something different for its seven-generation: the ability to tap back at you. Continue reading...

Initiative aims to identify proficient gamers and coders who can help companies identify flaws in their cybersecurityCybercriminals, the shadowy online figures often depicted in Hollywood movies as hooded villains capable of wiping millions of pounds off the value of businesses at a keystroke, are not usually known for their candour.But in a sixth-form college in Manchester this week, two former hackers gave the young people gathered an honest appraisal of what living a life of internet crime really looks like. Continue reading...

Organizers in Monterey Park took inspiration from other US cities to fight against the construction of a giant datacenterWhen a southern California city council proposed building a giant datacenter the size of four football fields last December, five residents vowed to stop it.Through a frenetic word-of-mouth campaign, the small group raised awareness about the proposed facility in Monterey Park, a small city east of Los Angeles known affectionately as the country's first suburban Chinatown. Continue reading...

New Anthropic campaign suggests other AI platforms will incorporate targeted ads in their chatbot conversationsThe Seahawks and the Patriots aren't the only ones gearing up for a fight.AI rivals Anthropic and OpenAI have launched a war of ads trying to court corporate America during one of the biggest entertainment nights of the year. Continue reading...

SpaceX's acquisition of xAI creates business worth $1.25tn but whether premise behind deal will work is questionedThe acquisition of xAI by SpaceX is a typical Elon Musk deal: big numbers backed by big ambition.As well as extending the light of consciousness to the stars", as Musk described it, the transaction creates a business worth $1.25tn (920bn) by combining Musk's rocket company with his artificial intelligence startup. It values SpaceX at $1tn and xAI at $250bn, with a stock market flotation expected in June to time with Musk's birthday and a planetary alignment. Continue reading...

Campaigners welcome criminalisation of non-consensual AI-generated explicit images but say law does not go far enoughVictims of deepfake image abuse have called for stronger protection against AI-generated explicit images, as the law criminalising the creation of non-consensual intimate images comes into effect.Campaigners from Stop Image-Based Abuse delivered a petition to Downing Street with more than 73,000 signatures, urging the government to introduce civil routes to justice such as takedown orders for abusive imagery on platforms and devices. Continue reading...

Nintendo's monster-collecting franchise was pilloried as a pestilential Ponzi scheme' in the 90s. But as its celebrates its 30th birthday, it now stands as a powerful example of video games' ability to connect peopleWhen I was 11, it was my dream to compete in the Pokemon World Championships, held in Sydney in 2000. I'd come across it in a magazine, and then earnestly set about training teams of creatures, transferring them between my Pokemon Red Game Boy cartridge and the 3D arenas of Pokemon Stadium on the Nintendo 64. I never made it as a player but I did finally achieve this dream on my 26th birthday, when I went to Washington DC to cover the world championships as a journalist. I was deeply moved. Presided over by a giant inflatable Pikachu hanging from the ceiling, the competitors and spectators were united in an unselfconscious love for these games, with their colourful menageries and heartfelt messaging about trust, friendship and hard work.It is emotional to see the winners lifttheir trophies after a tense final round of battles, as overwhelmed by their success as any sportsperson. But it's the pride that the smaller competitors' parents show in their mini champions that really gets to me. During the first wave of Pokemania in the late 90s, Pokemon was viewed with suspicion by most adults. Now that thefirst generation of Pokemaniacs have grownup, even becoming parentsourselves, we see it for what itis: an imaginative, challenging and really rather wholesome series of games thatrewards every hour that children devote to it. Continue reading...

PC; Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel

We want to hear how the fall in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and ether are impacting peopleBitcoin sank to its lowest value in more than a year this week, faling to $63,000 on Thursday, about half its all-time peak of $126,000 in October 2025It's part of a wider shock to crypto prices. The second-largest cryptocurrency, ether, has faced losses of more than 30% this year alone. Continue reading...

At its new Stone Mountain, Georgia, facility, Roomba-like robots shuffle between stacks, another adds shipping labels while another arranges packages in palletsOne of the reasons Amazon is spending billions on robots? They don't need bathroom breaks. Arriving a few minutes early to the public tour of Amazon's hi-tech Stone Mountain, Georgia, warehouse, my request to visit the restroom was met with a resounding no from the security guard in the main lobby.Between the main doors and the entrance security gate, I paced and paced after being told I would have to wait for the tour guide to collect me and other guests for a tour of the 640,000-sq-ft, four-story warehouse. Continue reading...

Preliminary EU ruling says app shifts brains of users into autopilot mode', with concerns for children and vulnerable adults

AI content for scams can be targeted at individuals and produced by pretty much anybody', researchers sayDeepfake fraud has gone industrial", an analysis published by AI experts has said.Tools to create tailored, even personalised, scams - leveraging, for example, deepfake videos of Swedish journalists or the president of Cyprus - are no longer niche, but inexpensive and easy to deploy at scale, said the analysis from the AI Incident Database. Continue reading...

Verdict could influence more than 3,000 similar cases against ride-hailing companyA federal jury in Phoenix ordered Uber on Thursday to pay $8.5m after finding the company liable in a lawsuit brought by a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by a driver. The verdict could influence thousands of similar cases against the ride-hailing company.The case, brought by plaintiff Jaylynn Dean, was the first trial of more than 3,000 similar lawsuits against Uber that have been consolidated in US federal court. So-called bellwether trials are used to test legal theories and help gauge the value of claims for possible settlements. The jury found that the driver was an agent of Uber, holding the company responsible for his actions. They awarded Dean $8.5m in compensatory damages but declined to award punitive damages. Attorneys for Dean had sought more than $140m in damages. Continue reading...

Man misidentified by London supermarket using Facewatch system says: I shouldn't have to prove I am not a criminal'A man was ordered to leave a supermarket in London after staff misidentified him using controversial new facial recognition technology.Warren Rajah was told to abandon his shopping and leave the local store he has been using for a number of years after an Orwellian" error in a Sainsbury's in Elephant and Castle, London. Continue reading...

South Crofty site could get $225m funding as US seeks to secure supply of critical metalDonald Trump has aggressively pursued investment into hi-tech industries in recent months, but the US administration has now set its sights on a more traditional sector: tin mining in Cornwall.The South Crofty mine, near the village of Pool, could start up again after nearly three decades aided by a potential $225m (166m) investment from across the Atlantic, creating 300 jobs. Continue reading...

A leaked pitch to reshape Ethereum's leadership exposed deep divisions over politics, power and ether's static priceUS crypto developer Danny Ryan submitted a proposal in November 2024 to Vitalik Buterin, the founder and symbolic leader of Ethereum, a prominent blockchain powering the world's second-largest cryptocurrency. Ryan, who had worked for seven years at the Ethereum Foundation (EF), Ethereum's de facto governing body, suggested that Ethereum could be on the cusp of an era-defining shift.Since its founding in 2014, the foundation had prioritized technical upgrades and had avoided centralizing power while its user base was growing, but Ethereum had now grown up, and the cryptocurrency world around it had grown up, too. The EF could now exercise a stronger voice" without compromising its ethos of decentralization, Ryan said - and he was open to leading that charge if appointed as the foundation's new executive director. Continue reading...