For most of modern history, technology sought to imitate humans. Humans increasingly seek to imitate technologyTwo faces that appeared on my Instagram feed in recent months gave me pause. One belonged to John Travolta at Cannes. The other to Carla Bruni on a date night with her husband, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Both looked recognisably themselves, yet, they both also looked oddly unfamiliar. Their looks have provoked speculation about cosmetic enhancement, though never acknowledged by them. Bruni has previously denied having had work done.In any case the feeling lasted only a second: a flicker of unease, as though I were looking at people who had become approximations of themselves.Joseph de Weck is an associate fellow with the German Council on Foreign Relations and writes for Guardian Europe from Zurich and ParisDo 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...
Zvezdelina Stankova says she used AI to help edit' an article about some of her students being five to eight years' behindA math professor at the University of California, Berkeley, criticizing a severe" math deficiency among students in an op-ed for the San Francisco Standard, admitted to using artificial intelligence to help edit the piece.The Standard published a 2,000-word piece by Zvezdelina Stankova last week, in which the professor said some of her math students were five to eight years" behind and lacked a middle school" education on fractions and basic algebra. Stankova said the UC system's test-blind admissions were to blame, suggesting that students who weren't sufficiently prepared for the rigor of Berkeley's mathematics program were admitted because a longstanding benchmark like the SAT had disappeared. Continue reading...
Arturo Bejar, former Meta safety engineer, tells jury tech company was aware of products' potential harm to childrenMeta has taken a don't ask, don't tell" strategy when it comes to the safety of children on its social media platforms, according to a whistleblower who testified during a landmark trial against the company on Tuesday and Wednesday.Arturo Bejar, a former Meta safety engineer, told the jury that the company was aware of the harm its products caused children, which included its recommendations pushing content from sexual predators and violent and graphic images. He said he repeatedly raised the issue to various Facebook and Instagram executives but that they did little to resolve it. Continue reading...
After their hit Untitled Goose Game, Australian studio House House is back with a new game where your only goal is to go exploring with friends - so we took them on a big walk inside Big WalkWhen I arrive to meet with the tiny team at Melbourne game developer House House, they're sitting in a circle under a eucalyptus tree. After introductions, the five of us set off into the scrub. Over the course of our hike we take a train to the beach, huddle on deck chairs in the sand dunes and climb a mountain as the sun rises. All without ever leaving our desks.Welcome to the world of Big Walk: House House's new game after the runaway global success Untitled Goose Game, which saw millions fall in love with being a naughty goose rampaging through a bucolic village. After Untitled Goose Game's overwhelming success, House House wanted their next game to be very different and unusual". Despite this, Big Walk has been an immediate success, with more than 1m downloads in the first week of release. Continue reading...
People say they've been secretly filmed in their own homes, at concerts and at work. Are the wildly popular smartglasses the final nail in the coffin of personal privacy?I've had one person who told me that their intentions were creepy," a man tells me over a video call, on condition of anonymity. He's based in Los Angeles, and while we speak, he eats what appears to be tuna directly out of the can. He said: I go to strip clubs, and I want to record the strippers ... Normally I put my phone in my chest pocket, but the glasses are more convenient.'"The man I'm talking to runs a business called Ghost Metas. He's one of hundreds of vendors, easily discoverable online, who specialise in disabling the flashing LED light embedded in Meta's smartglasses that blinks when wearers capture photos, videos and audio. After Ghost Metas disables the LED, it's impossible for someone to know they're being filmed. Continue reading...
As gaming's biggest publishers retreat into safer bets, a new generation of independents are building an alternative from the ground up Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereDuring the 1990s, a new strata of independent film studios and distributors revitalised the Hollywood movie machine. The likes of Miramax, New Line Cinema and October Films challenged the ageing behemoths of the industry and pushed forward offbeat directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Darren Aronofsky and Jane Campion. The decade is widely considered an artistic high point for western cinema after the bloated mainstream excesses of the 1980s. Could something similar now be happening in games?Certainly, we have a comparable setup. The big players of the games business are in various states of creative disarray: Electronic Arts (EA) has been bought out by a Saudi-led consortium, which is likely to lead to more cautious, hit-driven decisions; Microsoft bought Activision and Bethesda and then ordered waves of redundancies; Ubisoft has cancelled several titles and is posting big losses. Those companies are also facing rising development costs, so they're circling the wagons, focusing on legacy brands and freezing recruitment. It's hard to imagine any left-field works of genius emerging from this imaginative quagmire. Continue reading...
A rise in lawsuits over AI use in employment decisions is raising questions about how companies hire and fireFor the last four years, Erin Kistler has applied for thousands of jobs at companies like Paypal, Microsoft and Netflix, only to find her resume disappear into a black hole. A product manager with nearly 20 years of experience, Kistler believes she was qualified for every role, yet she never received a single interview.Now, Kistler is suing Eightfold AI, the Silicon Valley maker of hiring software used by hundreds of companies, including those where she applied, in a class-action lawsuit. The case, filed in January in California court, is one of the first to argue that automated screening functions as an undisclosed consumer report or applicant dossier, ranking job applicants on their likelihood of success without giving them the chance to see or challenge the results, according to Kistler's legal team. Continue reading...
Human by day, vampire by night, Coen has difficult choices to make - beginning here in the 1300s, his adventure could span centuries in upcoming sequelsThe Blood of Dawnwalker could be the start of an epic saga. Created by some of the talent behind The Witcher 3, this dark fantasy role-playing game takes place in the 14th century in the fictional land of Vale Sangora, a Carpathian valley of wetlands, mountains and forests cut off from the rest of the world and under the rule of a vicious vampire clan.The developers envisage Dawnwalker as a trilogy. And because protagonist Coen is half vampire himself, that trilogy can skip across time, culminating in the modern day. Continue reading...
Company's robots have gained global fame via videos of them performing martial arts and as dancers for pop starsUnitree, the world's biggest humanoid robot maker, has made a spectacular entry on to China's stock market, with its shares surging by more than 600%.The Chinese company's robots have gained global fame via viral videos of them performing martial arts, running at Olympic speeds and serving as backup dancers for pop stars. Continue reading...
Amid race with Anthropic, firm plans to overhaul research and training and require more safety parameters after hackOpenAI on Tuesday said it had slowed down the pace of its AI development while it overhauled its research and training systems.The company's researchers were caught unaware last month when an AI agent under testing hacked another AI firm, Hugging Face. Continue reading...
Twenty-nine US states are seeking huge damages, claiming Meta's platforms were addictive by designIn 1994, more than 40 US states came together to sue one of the most powerful industries on Earth: big tobacco.The suits brought together diverse claims centred on tobacco companies' misleading advertising and contribution to a mounting public health crisis. They ended in a negotiated settlement with the US government, in which the companies agreed to pay more than any industry ever, and the states agreed to drop a large portion of their claims. Continue reading...
Patrons at two of the chain's London pubs were all for Tim Martin's ban on playing music or taking calls on speakerThe terrace of the Moon Under Water Wetherspoons pub in Leicester Square was full of people enjoying the warm weather and chatting between tables - without a TikTok video or speakerphone call in earshot.At Wetherspoons, the convivial atmosphere can no longer be punctuated by rude customers taking phone calls on blast, or playing videos without headphones after Tim Martin, the owner of the pub chain, banned both on his premises. Continue reading...
Teen version is intended for children aged 13 to 17 and includes content protections on self-harm and sexual chatsOpenAI is launching a version of ChatGPT designed for teenagers - the first generation to grow up with artificial intelligence - who are already using it for schoolwork, questions about daily life and even companionship.The San Francisco-based company says ChatGPT for Teens, which launches on Tuesday, is tailored for children aged 13 to 17 with stronger protections including content restrictions around things such as suicide, self-harm and romantic or sexual chats. It also provides homework and study support designed to help students learn rather than spit out answers and school essays. Continue reading...
Tech Transparency Project's report shows whenever governments mull platform regulations, company recruits influencers to promote its safety featuresIn July 2025, Meta gathered parenting influencers from all over Australia at a waterfront venue overlooking the Sydney Opera House. It was a camping-themed event and in many ways was like any other influencer affair. There were Instagram-branded tents to take pictures in, an Instagram-branded step-and-repeat, a custom-tote making station and Instagram-branded snacks and coffee cups.But this screen smart" event wasn't about the photo op. Continue reading...
Sonic's creators explain how the speedy scamp has kept on running through generations as an enduring avatar of attitude in the face of adversity'One day in the early 1990s, I came home from university for the weekend and discovered that my dad had bought himself a Sega Mega Drive, bundled with a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I knew about Sega's mascot of course. The launch of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game in 1991 was a landmark moment for the company, massively boosting the sales of its 16bit console in the west, ripping market share from the dominant Super Nintendo. While Mario was the family favourite, Sonic with his speed, attitude and brash visual energy encapsulated the edgy spirit of the early 1990s MTV culture. That weekend, Dad and I did little else but team up for daylong Sonic sessions, the game's two-player mode letting us play cooperatively as we zoomed through those dense, beautiful play zones.Thirty-five years later, I am still a Sonic fan. There have been plenty of rough times (Sonic 06, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic Free Riders - sorry, I can't go on), but there have been plenty of good ones too. (Rush, Mania and Colors, and I have a soft spot for Sonic R, a racer developed by Traveller's Tales, which went on to make the Lego games). Few people know this rollercoaster better than Takashi Iizuka, who worked on Sonic 3 as a designer and has been series producer for almost 20 years. When he joined Sega in 1992 he wanted to work for the company's arcade division, but after playing the original Sonic - especially Sonic 2 - he was seduced. Continue reading...
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
There are many tech irritants that are a scourge of modern life, yet we have lacked the vocabulary to describe them ... until nowThe dickover" is the scourge of the modern age. Coined in May by John Gruber, a tech writer, it is defined as a modal panel, popover, or curtain presented by a website or app, deliberately obscuring its own content to frustrate the user". Essentially, it is the thing (or more often, things) you have to click away in order to read the thing you wanted to read. It is the accept cookies" box, the allow notifications?" box, the sign in with Google" box, the pop-up video box, etc.We shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that dickovers are the only terrible thing about technology in 2026. Until now, though, we have lacked the vocabulary to describe them, so here are some suggestions. Continue reading...
Co-created by a developer and his sewing-obsessed partner, this design game is the most technically challenging' its lead programmer has ever madeWhen Jonathan Hau-Yoon wanted to make something as meaningful as the environmental strategy game Terra Nil, he turned for inspiration to his longtime partner. Sabrina Becker had worn a dress she made herself to their very first date, and would have studied costume design abroad had hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (a connective tissue disorder I also have) not put those plans on hold.The pair developed a concept around the creative decisions involved in dressmaking, like trying to fit pattern pieces on to available fabric while observing the grain line (the direction of the thread in woven fabric). Other decisions followed: a 3D model on which to place garment pieces, buttons and trims with which to decorate them, clients with commissions as creative prompts. Continue reading...
State attorneys general allege that tech company intentionally designed addictive products that harm young peopleMore than half of the states in the US have joined together in an unprecedented lawsuit against Meta that goes to trial on Tuesday, accusing the parent company of Instagram and Facebook of deliberately designing addictive products that lured in young people and caused them harm.The jury trial is taking place in federal court in Oakland, California, and is expected to last between six and eight weeks. The jury is expected to hear from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri and employee turned whistleblower Arturo Bejar. Continue reading...
Many hoped that the march of technology would usher in an egalitarian utopia - but some foresaw the threat it would pose to liberal society. Why did nobody listen?One of the stranger things about this dizzying, headlong moment in time is that it doesn't have much of a past. Everything is about the future of this, the future of that: the future of work, the future of humanity, the future of the planet. It's as if everyone is screaming (some ecstatically, most terror-stricken): robots are taking over the world! Meanwhile, you can't put down your phone, unplug, delete your AI apps, tell Zoom to piss off; it feels as if you are racing toward something, and can't stop, or look back, or think straight.But of course this weird moment in history does have a past. It comes from somewhere. It wasn't inevitable. Things could have turned out differently. They still can. And if you look back, one thing you'll see is that a lot of people saw this all coming. They foresaw our present when it was still the future. They thought it might turn out fabulously, acomputer utopia. And they worried it might turnout disastrously. Above all, they issued warning after warning about the rise of what Icall the artificial state, the replacement of the liberal democratic nation-state, the consent of the governed, with the rule of people by machines. They warned of a future in which democratic deliberation would be replaced by prediction by calculation, the public sphere would be supplanted by data-driven commerce, anddroneswould take the place of the demos. Why didn't anyone listen?The new underworld is made up of innocent and well-intentioned people who work with slide rules and calculating machines and computers which can retainan almost infinite number of bits of information as well as sort, categorise, and reproduce this information at the press of a button. Most of these people are highly educated, many of them are PhDs, and none that I have met have malignant political designs on the American public. They may, however, radically reconstruct the American political system, build a new politics, and even modify revered and venerable American institutions - facts of which they are blissfully innocent. Continue reading...
Anthropic says it will change way chatbot makes small, random choices, to comply with EU regulationThe world is familiar by now with the usual tropes of machine-generated text: overuse of the word delve", an excess of em dashes, and the chirpy, relentless construction of it's not X but Y".But is it about to get even worse? Continue reading...
Supermarket chain says human error', not its Facewatch technology, to blame for ejecting a customerSainsbury's has paused the use of AI face scanning in one of its stores after a customer was wrongly identified as a shoplifter and ejected from the shop.I was embarrassed, mortified even, and felt quite humiliated and powerless," Matt Arnold, 46, said of his ordeal. Continue reading...
The latest game from reality-inspired' studio the Pixel Hunt sees you transporting precious human cargo - and deciding what to do with itIthaca has one hell of an opening: Penelope, a disillusioned environmental lawyer, stops her car at a petrol station. But upon returning, she discovers something shocking: the unconscious body of an oil company CEO in her boot, his hands hog-tied together, dangling limply towards the vehicle's number plate.This tantalising eco-thriller setup is a long way off the typical knights-and-castles fantasy fare of most role-playing games, more How To Blow Up a Pipeline than Dragon Quest. But road-trip RPG Ithaca arrives via refreshingly original developer the Pixel Hunt, a French outfit that specialises in what it calls reality-inspired" games. The studio has made a number of arresting works in recent years. One was about a Syrian refugee couple making a perilous migrant journey across Europe; another tackled the life-shattering effects of child sexual abuse. The climate crisis was always in the back of Pixel Hunt founder and Ithaca writer Florent Maurin's mind. After all, he says, it is the uber problem of our day, the problem that touches all others. It was just a case of when, and, more importantly: What do we say about it?" Continue reading...
Temperatures could drop by more than 15C compared with last Thursday as cold front moves inRelief from the unrelenting heat is finally arriving this week across western Europe, with more unsettled conditions bringing the chance of rain. Temperatures are expected to fall back towards the seasonal norm, with some parts of the UK even falling about 3C below normal by Thursday. After such a scorching summer, and with a temperature drop of more than 15C compared with last Thursday's heat, it may feel surprisingly chilly.There are signs that some substantial rain could be on the cards for the south of the UK this week as a cold front moves in from the Atlantic on Monday night into Tuesday. As of Monday, parts of southern England had endured 62 consecutive days of no rainfall - this is observed at a Met Office weather station in Wisley, Surrey. Even the last recorded rainfall here on 16 June amounted to just 0.4mm. Continue reading...
Guardian investigation finds apparent discrepancy between what tech company has said about its AI capacity - and the number of advanced chips it has in operationThe chips are quite small and some can be held in the palm of a hand. They are fundamental to the development of artificial intelligence models - and the world's biggest technology companies need vast numbers of them to keep ahead.Microsoft is one of them. And, on paper, it seems to have a problem. A Guardian investigation has found an apparent discrepancy between what the company has said about its AI capacity - and the number of advanced AI chips it has in operation. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Guardian analysis finds one section of report includes links to academic articles that do not exist, but authors deny the references were made up by AI
Pokemon outlived the moral panic of its early days in Australia and its staying power has proved that simple joy can cross bordersThere's a generation of Australians for whom Cheez TV was a religion. Every morning before school, I'd sit in my little white plastic chair about three feet from our big wooden television and watch 90 minutes of cartoons curated" by the show's teenage hosts, Jade and Ryan.Premiering in 1995, Cheez TV dominated the children's breakfast market by 1998, stealing the crown from Channel Seven's bogan-muppet icon Agro. A daily dose of Cheez TV was such an important ritual to me that I remember feeling active resentment towards Princess Diana's death because the news coverage bumped Earthworm Jim. Continue reading...
Amid fears for jobs, some film-makers say AI could enable them to bypass studio giants and take more creative risksNear the collonaded entrance to Sony Pictures' historic Culver City film studio, a tech-powered rival has sprung up this summer. The artists at Promise, a new studio feeding off the potential of AI, can glimpse the lots where Singin' in the Rain and Men in Black were shot, but no longer do they need to get beyond the studio's high walls to make their visions come true.From far more modest premises, they are making movies with rapidly accelerating AI models that create backgrounds, special effects and even synthetic performers" - using US models but also driven by market-leading Chinese AI. Continue reading...
Wynd Kaufmyn, 69, chained and locked the front doors of OpenAI's headquarters last year with members of StopAIAn activist who blocked the entrance to one of the world's biggest AI companies is believed to have become the first person jailed for protesting against artificial intelligence as supporters dub her the Rosa Parks of AI risk".Wynd Kaufmyn, 69, surrendered herself on Friday to authorities in San Francisco. She was found guilty by a jury for her role in an action last year that saw members of the group StopAI chain and lock the front doors of OpenAI's headquarters in protest against the pursuit of artificial superintelligence. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#77QAR)
Jared Cooney Horvath argues that educational technology undermines how children learn and developJared Cooney Horvath is on a mission. In the wake of global campaigns for smartphone bans in schools and social media restrictions for under-16s, the neuroscientist wants to raise the alarm about educational technology in classrooms.A former teacher, Horvath believes the use of screens and digital tools in schools is undermining how children learn and develop. This might be one of the hardest truths our generation has to face," he writes in his book, The Digital Delusion. Continue reading...
Student unrest sweeps India, Portugal and Mexico as grievances and pressure for good grades in tough job market collideFamilies with teenagers in education know the private, hidden pain of exam season. But this year, what might have been a summer of quiet family anxiety has erupted in several countries into public unrest.Exam-related turmoil has led to mass student protests in Mexico after nearly 60,000 university applicants were forced to resit tests amid suspected cheating, while Portugal's disastrous attempt to digitise school exam marking sparked the country's worst education crisis in decades. Continue reading...
Fraudsters use pictures posted on Instagram or Facebook to create emails seeking bank account detailsYou are on a short break in Porto and post some pictures of your family on Instagram or Facebook. With a small section of the Douro river in the background, you think it could have been taken anywhere.A few days later, you get a text saying that your card was compromised. We detected unusual activity while you were travelling in Porto - please verify immediately," says the message. Continue reading...
Social media and Shazam-like birdsong apps drawing young people to hobby as they seek a gentler connection to the outside worldSorry Elon, but they're not your kind of tweets. Social media users are flocking to TikTok to join a burgeoning trend for birding videos as the hobby attracts a younger demographic.With the internet ever more cluttered with polarising, shouty and AI content, evidence is emerging of Britons preferring a gentler, more melodic window on the world in the shape of footage of the nation's feathered friends. Continue reading...
The Guardian's deputy editor of social platforms on the demand from high-profile people and brands for help in harnessing the power of TikTokI didn't want to work in social media. If you'd asked 15-year-old me my dream job, I might have said foreign correspondent, or maybe travel writer. So you can imagine my surprise to now find myself giving these very colleagues advice on how to get the best selfie angle or write the sharpest TikTok hook'.But taking a job as the Guardian's deputy editor of social platforms may prove to be one of my smartest career moves if the current job market is to be believed. Continue reading...
Development comes after Anthropic was found to have spent millions on books to scan for data acquisition'Secondhand booksellers in the UK and Ireland are reporting a flurry of bulk orders from mystery buyers, amid speculation AI companies are acquiring the tomes for their data.Bookshops contacted by the Guardian say they have been receiving orders from buyers in the US, Canada, continental Europe and the UK. The increase has been replicated around the world, with booksellers in the US, Australia and Europe also reporting unusual orders. Continue reading...
A great deal of public opposition is likely' to a proposed datacentre near Edinburgh, the force saysPolice in Scotland have issued a stark warning about the need for robust security measures" to stop proposed AI datacentres from being attacked by protesters.There has been mounting opposition to AI infrastructure globally, including in the US where such projects have become a significant political rallying point. Continue reading...
Dating apps such as Bumble forced to adapt as swipe fatigue' growsBumble was supposed to be different. When it launched in 2014, it offered women a simple proposition: if you matched with a man, you had to make the first move. The rule was meant to make online dating safer and less intimidating, while giving women control over who got to speak first.This week, Bumble abandoned it. Continue reading...
Creative Assembly could strike gold again with this follow-up to their fan-favourite, film-inspired game ... if you're brave enough to venture outdoorsAlien: Isolation redefined Alien games on its release in 2014, bringing the original taut, haunted house theme of the first movie to fans who had mostly been fed action-packed shooters. Cowering under desks and inside lockers wasn't a new thing; being hunted by an intelligent and lethal xenomorph that could spring down from a duct at any moment was.I was thinking about what we could do for a sequel while we were still finishing the first game," reveals Creative Assembly's Alistair Hope, creative lead on Alien: Isolation and its sequel. But we didn't actually start the project until around the time of the 10th anniversary. We've seen the response grow over time, watching [Alien: Isolation] continue to find new players, even though it's a relatively old game. And they're surprised there isn't a sequel." Continue reading...
Pilot scheme will provide three weeks of training as part of UK government's latest attempt to address Neets crisisYoung people out of work or at risk of unemployment in the UK are to join AI boot camps" where they harness the technology to get a foothold in the workplace.The government's latest attempt to address the crisis in Neets - young people not in work or education - involves turning to a technology that many view as a potential threat to employment. Continue reading...
District attorney says Arjun Aravind, 17, used internet and AI to search for fantasy stories regarding killing of his familyA Massachusetts teenager accused of killing his mother and younger brother is being held without bail as authorities investigate a double-murder case that prosecutors say is connected to his use of ChatGPT.Arjun Aravind, 17, appeared on Thursday morning for his arraignment in Concord district court, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf to murder and several additional charges. Continue reading...
CEO announces steps after reports that system is used to target immigrants or people seeking out-of-state abortionsFor nearly a decade, the company Flock Safety has gradually built out a network of cameras across the US that allows law enforcement officials to conduct about 20bn license plate scans every month.In that time, the company had largely left the decision to turn on safety measures up to its customers. Many of those organizations did not turn them on. Continue reading...
Gil Duran is right, writes Catherine Austin Fitts - we must reject the limited vision of Silicon Valley with a revolution in consciousnessThank you for your interview with Gil Duran, the author of The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy (If we don't fight back, we don't have a future': the journalist taking on the tech fascists' of Silicon Valley, 5 August ). Duran is right - the antipathy towards the tech bros" is growing. However, Duran underestimates the darkness being contemplated. The plan is for complete spatial and financial transaction control. This is not the end of democracy - it is a slavery system. Many of the people involved believe technology can dramatically extend their lifespan and they can replace most of the population with robots and automation. Now is the time to reject their limited vision with a revolution in consciousness. Thanks to Duran for the inspiration.
As hotter summers become the norm, home aircon can feel increasingly tempting. We put six units to the test for cooling power, noise and energy use - and explain what you need to know before buying How to sleep in a heatwave
Experts say better regulation is needed but that bad press about motorized menaces' puts the wider ebike revolution at riskBeware, Americans: there's a battery-powered threat cruising down beach paths, rolling up hiking trails and zipping along the streets of our cities.By now, you've probably seen footage on social media of teens racing down streets, popping wheelies and weaving around car traffic with reckless abandon. The Los Angeles Times recently dubbed them the new Hells Angels". Other news outlets have referred to them as motorized menaces" terrorizing communities. Sounds scary. Continue reading...
