Tech company rejects as pure fiction' a report that a deal could take place if it fails to avoid an impending banChinese officials have reportedly held preliminary talks about a potential option to sell TikTok's operations in the US to the billionaire Elon Musk, should the short-video app be unable to avoid an impending ban. Another option is that Musk acts as a broker in a deal to sell the app.Beijing officials prefer that TikTok remains under the control of its Chinese parent, Bytedance, but have discussed other options including a sale to Musk, Bloomberg reported. The Financial Times reported on the same day that the officials had discussed the preliminary possibility of Musk functioning as a go-between for Bytedance and any potential buyer that would prevent the app from being shut down. Continue reading...

More women are using apps instead of the pill, but while some find them freeing', others had unwanted pregnanciesAfter 15 years on the contraceptive pill Francesca* decided that she wanted to know how her body felt without additional hormones. She started using a fertility tracking app - which tracks menstrual cycles or symptoms of ovulation to help estimate a woman's fertile window - after learning about them on social media.I had been taking hormones since my teens, and had no real conception of my menstrual cycle in my adult life," said the Londoner, now in her early 30s. She had been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at 18 and told to continue taking the pill to help with symptoms. Remarkably, pretty much all of my hormonal imbalance symptoms started to subside after stopping taking the pill," she said. Continue reading...

As PM pins hopes on AI, what effect will building energy-hungry datacentres have on Labour's clean power pledge?Keir Starmer this week launched a plan to bring a 20-fold increase in the amount of artificial intelligence (AI) computing power under public control by 2030.But the race to build more electricity hungry AI datacentres over the next five years appears to work against another government target: to plug in enough low-carbon electricity projects to create a clean power system by the same date. Continue reading...

Richard Osman and Kate Mosse say plan to mine artistic works for data would destroy creative fieldsKate Mosse and Richard Osman have hit back at Labour's plan to give artificial intelligence companies broad freedoms to mine artistic works for data, saying it could destroy growth in creative fields and amount to theft.The best-selling novellists spoke out after Keir Starmer a national drive to make the UK one of the great AI superpowers" and endorsed a 50-point action plan that included changes to how technology firms can use copyrighted text and data to train their models. Continue reading...

Bundle up and break a sweat with these winter running accessories, from base layers and gloves to waterproof jackets The best running shoes to take you from trail to road to marathonIf you're tempted to stop running in the winter or retreat to the gym, think again. Whether it's getting out for fresh air and daylight on crisp, blue-sky days, or blowing away the cobwebs in the dark and rain after work, running outdoors can make winter more bearable.With a few changes to your attire and some nifty accessories, you can stay warm and dry and be safer. You won't need all of the below - it depends on where you run, how far and what time of day you get out. Everything featured is either unisex or available in women's and men's versions. Continue reading...

Want to switch to a dumbphone but worry about things like two-factor authentication or map apps? These are my best tips and workarounds

Workers at Teleperformance, customer support company for Apple, Google and Netflix, accuse it of union busting and surveillanceCall center workers for some of the world's biggest tech companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Netflix are accusing their employer of retaliating against union organisers, constantly surveilling staff and even refusing bathroom breaks.In the US or Europe, if you call for technical or customer support from a big tech company, you may be speaking with a worker at one of Teleperformance's call centers in Greece. Continue reading...

CMA to look at impact on consumers, businesses, advertisers and publishers, as well as collection of data

For years I've overlooked the many good reasons for leaving the social media platform. But now there is no other choiceJaron Lanier was chief scientist of the engineering office of Internet2 back in the day, which is to say, definitely one of the godfathers of the internet. In 2018, he set out the reasons to get rid of your social media in his book Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. When I read it, I shorthanded it to: Facebook. I really should just close down my Facebook account." There was no way back then I would have got rid of Twitter. It was where I went to complain about Brexit, and that's all I did. Also, seven years ago, Twitter wasn't just porn and chatbots.Regarding Facebook, though, all Lanier's propositions were laid out in a buffet: in politics, it creates a bias not towards the left or right, but downwards". Any position that could be less evidenced, more stupid, would be the one that would fly. Continue reading...

The actor has shared selected items from his famous collection for a new exhibition taking place in Sag HarborSome celebrities collect art, rare film prints or plain old action figures. (Welcome to the club, Leonardo DiCaprio.) Tom Hanks, somewhat famously, collects something that's simultaneously more practical and unwieldy: typewriters. And unlike Steve Martin's paintings or Leo's figures, you can currently get a look at some of the Hanks typewriters at The Church, an exhibition venue in Long Island's Sag Harbor.Some of Tom's Typewriters includes 35 from his collection of over 300, chosen by Hanks himself. These include an electric typewriter from the set of Mad Men (the curators are, as yet, unclear as to how Hanks obtained this, but he's recording an electronic guide to accompany the show that they are hoping will explain), an original 1969 Olivetti Valentine" typewriter designed by Ettore Sottsass, and, in one of the more surprising touches, a relatively new model: a translucent typewriter, still manufactured by a company that pivoted from calculator production in the 1980s, for use by incarcerated writers. The exhibit also includes some less fancy beaters set aside for a more interactive experience; the physical presence, after all, is such a part of the typewriter's mystique. Continue reading...

Online retailer will also begin its first large-scale deliveries by train and trial heavy post-style carts

Chief inspector of prisons issues warning after surge in weapons and drugs flown into high-security facilitiesDrones have become a threat to national security", the prisons watchdog has said, after a surge in the amount of weapons and drugs flown into high-security jails.Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, called for urgent action from Whitehall and the police after inquiries found that terrorism suspects and criminal gangs could escape or attack guards because safety had been seriously compromised". Continue reading...

Prohibition would bring the NHS, schools and local councils into line with government departmentsSchools, the NHS and local councils will be banned from making ransomware payments under government proposals to tackle hackers.In a crackdown on such cyber-attacks, operators of critical national infrastructure will be barred from bowing to demands when criminal gangs hold IT systems hostage. Continue reading...

Ex-workers say CEO declaring relocation of moderation and safety teams from California just a play for Trump approvalIn a carefully worded statement, Mark Zuckerberg announced last week that Meta was moving its trust and safety and content moderation teams out of California and that the company's content review is going to be based in Texas". The thrust of these teams' work is to ensure that Facebook and Instagram users do not encounter hate speech, pornography and violent content.The CEO said moving the moderators to the Lone Star state will help remove the concern that biased employees are overly censoring content". It was part of a larger announcement that Meta was ending its factchecking program, easing content restrictions and focusing on free expression". Moderators are separate from Meta's factchecking efforts, which were done by third parties. Continue reading...

Key questions answered around potential use of health data to train AI models under Labour's proposals

Class action alleges company is abusing its dominant position in the app market and 30% fee breaches lawsApple has been accused of dominating the tech market with a total shutout" of competitors as it faces claims it overcharged customers of the UK App Store, a court has heard.The claim alleges that the tech company is abusing its dominant position in the app market and that its 30% commission fee is in breach of European and UK competition laws. Continue reading...

As Meta abandons third-party factchecking in an ostensibly political move, the future of facts elsewhere remains murkyFactcheckers had no doubt about the real audience for the news this week - delivered via Mark Zuckerberg's medium of choice, the awkward video message - that, starting in the US, Meta would abandon professional, third-party factchecking across its networks in favor of the user-powered community notes" model used on X.This is all intended to curry favor with Trump," one factchecker wrote as soon as the news dropped, on the private WhatsApp channel where the community gathered to vent. Their public responses made the same point a little more diplomatically. Continue reading...

Conservative thinktank wants firm to end its DEI efforts because they create litigation, reputational and financial risks'

It's been a year since we launched the Reclaim Your Brain newsletter, so we reached out to subscribers to see how they're doing

Amid reports of creation of fake racist images, Signify warns problem will get so much worse' over the next yearA rise in online racism driven by fake images is just the start of a coming problem" after the latest release of X's AI software, online abuse experts have warned.Concerns were raised after computer-generated images created using Grok, X's generative artificial intelligence chatbot, flooded the social media site in December last year. Continue reading...

Is tech calling the shots in your life? From making AI work smarter to tracking stolen phones, our expert explains how to get aheadAsking ChatGPT to write your emails is so two years ago. Generative AI tools are now going beyond the basic text-prompt phase. Take Google's NotebookLM, an experimental AI research assistant" that lets you upload not just text but also videos, links and PDFs. It will provide a summary of the content, answer questions about it, and even make a podcast-like AI overview" if you want it to - all while organising your original sources and notes. As AI tools advance, expect more features like this to be baked into everyday software. All the usual caveats of using AI apply: the responsibility for factchecking lies with you. Continue reading...

The demise of NBN's fibre-to-the-node technology is welcome but making the internet more affordable would have a much bigger impact

Can the AI Parky ever beat the real chatshow colossus? As the Virtually Parkinson podcast launches, our writer sits in on a bizarre interview with Monty Don - then ends up in the hot seat himselfAsk anyone who regularly interviews people and they'll tell you that few things are stranger than when the tables turn and you're the one being interviewed. This is especially true when the person interviewing you has been dead for a year and a half. But here we are. Virtually Parkinson is a new podcast in which celebrities are interviewed by an AI model trained to speak and act like the late Michael Parkinson. The announcement of the podcast last year prompted a flurry of vaguely apocalyptic reactions. It was sacrilegious, some said, tantamount to digging up and reanimating a national treasure against his will. It was pointless, others said - of all the transformative ways to use AI, you're blowing it on a podcast? Then there were folks like me, quietly nervous that Robot Parky was coming for our jobs.On that last grumble, at least, I don't need to worry yet. Primarily, this is because running Virtually Parkinson is a gargantuan operation. A normal interview traditionally only needs two participants. This, however, requires a small army. There's the subject and interviewer, plus an engineer, a researcher and a clutch of producers holed up in a control room whose roles include making sure the AI sounds like Parkinson, that it asks the sort of questions he would ask, has an encyclopaedic knowledge of both the subject and Parkinson, doesn't glitch, doesn't repeat itself, doesn't interrupt anyone in the middle of an answer and - most importantly - doesn't overuse the word fascinating". Continue reading...

Plans to make UK world leader in AI sector include opening access to NHS and other public data

The PM and chancellor believe AI will help British workers produce more, raising wages and releasing spare capital

For middle-aged users, it will be even harder to discern the truth' among extremist content, expert saysExperts fear the decision by Meta to drop professional factcheckers from Facebook will exacerbate so-called boomer radicalisation in the UK.Even before what Keir Starmer described as far-right riots" in England last summer, alarm bells were ringing amid fears older people were even more susceptible to misinformation and radicalisation than younger digital natives". Continue reading...

From Zuckerberg's handmade $900k timepiece to gen Z's pursuit of the authentic, smartwatches are being replacedFirst he ditched the grey hoodie. Then he grew out his curls. Now Mark Zuckerberg is shifting the styling focus to his left wrist. Announcing changes on Tuesday to Facebook and Instagram's factchecking programmes , the Meta boss wore a $900k (740k) watch from the Swiss brand Greubel Forsey. Hand-made using white gold, only three are created each year. It joins Zuckerberg's growing horological collection including a $1.2m rose gold timepiece from Patek Philippe and the thinnest watch ever made.But while an accessory with upwards of a six-figure price tag may be something only tech billionaires can afford, Zuckerberg is tapping in to a growing trend: the return of the mechanical wristwatch and old school digital timepiece. The trend is being fuelled by gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012), many of whom have never worn a wristwatch before, typically using their smartphone to keep track of the time. Continue reading...

I already have too much stuff - and every time I go online I'm being pushed to buy more. Time to channel my inner deinfluencerI am uneasily aware that around this time last year I wrote that my drive to acquire material things had somewhat subsided: I was older and wiser, had everything I needed, was repelled by the sheer volume of stuff in the world, blah blah blah. Unfortunately, the internet seemingly viewed that as fighting talk, an impossible-to-turn-down challenge, and in recent months I have once more found myself wanting stuff. Lots of stuff.It's not surprising perhaps - stuff is everywhere, whispering, or shouting, to us from every screen we stare at. The constant stream of ads on Instagram is exhausting," said my best friend gloomily just last week, and she's right: my eyes are constantly assaulted with offers of miracle goop for my mature skin, wellness gadgetry, expensive knitwear and greenwashed disruptors" of almost everything. I just spent a minute scrolling and was offered, in quick succession, a calfPRO" (no idea, alarming), kombucha, cleanser, an eco frying pan, reminiscent of Phoebe Philo-era Celine" jumpers and, bafflingly, Canadian sea urchins.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...

The world's richest man looks to move Canada to the right as the beleaguered prime minister prepares to departThe decision by the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, this week to resign as head of the Liberal party has set in motion a leadership race against the backdrop of a looming general election, which will be held amid political turmoil triggered by Donald Trump's America first" economic nationalism. It has also given Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, an opportunity to inject himself into yet another country's political turmoil.Since Trudeau's resignation on Monday, Musk has posted repeatedly about Canadian politics on X - the platform formerly known as Twitter he bought in 2022 for $44bn. He has praised clips of Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada's Conservative party, while relishing in Trudeau's downfall and engaging with rightwing Canadian influencers. Continue reading...

A damning report shows how local news cuts stymied coverage of the riots in Plymouth. What fills the vacuum? MisinformationOn 4 August 2024, the riots and disturbances that followed the killing of three children in Southport, on Merseyside, spread even further. That day, in the midst of a seething mess of far-right misinformation and rumour-mongering, the violence hit Rotherham - where people tried to set fire to a hotel housing asylum-seekers - as well as Middlesbrough and Bolton. Serving notice of his new interest in UK affairs, Elon Musk posted a picture of violence in Liverpool on X with a characteristically measured caption: Civil war is inevitable." And 24 hours later, the wave of unrest reached the city of Plymouth.It gripped the city centre throughout the evening of 5 August. To quote from the Guardian's report, 150 officers in riot gear and with dogs sought to keep apart far-right rioters and Stand Up to Racism demonstrators". Other people turned out to defend a mosque. Bricks, bottles and fireworks were thrown. Six people were arrested, several police officers were injured, and two members of the public ended up in hospital: one local officer said the events were unprecedented".John Harris is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The government has promised a crackdown on synthetic image abuse - but campaigners warn it doesn't go far enoughIt began with an anonymous email. I'm genuinely so, so sorry to reach out to you," it read. Beneath the words were three links to an internet forum. Huge trigger warning ... They contain lewd photoshopped images of you."Jodie (not her real name) froze. In the past, the 27-year-old from Cambridgeshire had had problems with people stealing her photos to set up dating profiles and social media accounts. She had reported it to police but been told there was nothing they could do, so pushed it to the back of her mind. Continue reading...

How can we publicly debate policy in the face of the rising - and polarising - influence of the X owner and others whose only aim is to serve themselvesHow should we as a society interact with one another, debate, come to decisions? What impels politicians to focus and act on one thing and not another?The Athenians had the Agora, where (male, slave-owning) citizens gathered to debate and decide the issues of the day. In the early 20th century, John Reith envisioned the BBC, in a most patrician way, as a space where the nation could come together to enhance the (supposedly) British values of democracy, reasonableness and debate. Continue reading...

The city has a long history with tropical medicine and is now home to one of the largest biotech clusters in EuropeTucked away in the village of Leasowe, near Moreton on the Wirral peninsula west of Liverpool, the US pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) is building a new 35m glass-clad laboratory building.It is part of a growing life sciences cluster in and around Liverpool, one of the largest in Europe, and a leader in vaccine development and manufacture, as well as infectious disease research projects in the UK. Continue reading...

Legislation to protect children in the digital realm is essential. But if it results in the loss of small cycling and cancer-care forums, something's gone wrongLondon Fixed Gear and Single-Speed (LFGSS) is an admirable online community of fixed-gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London. Sadly, this columnist does not qualify for membership: he doesn't reside in (or near) the metropolis, and he requires a number of gears to tackle even the gentlest of inclines - and therefore admires hardier cyclists who disdain the assistance of Sturmey-Archer or Campagnolo hardware.There is, however, bad news on the horizon. After Sunday 16 March, LFGSS will be no more. Dee Kitchen, the software wizard (and cyclist) who is the core developer of Microcosm, a platform for running non-commercial, non-profit, privacy-sensitive, accessible online forums such as LFGSS, has announced that on that date they will delete the virtual servers hosting LFGSS and other communities, and effectively immediately end the approximately 300 small communities that I run, and the few large communities such as LFGSS".Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

Senior cabinet minister promises not to dilute new measures despite Zuckerberg's attacks on countries censoring' contentBritain's new laws to boost safety and tackle hate speech online are not up for negotiation", a senior government minister has warned, after Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg vowed to join Donald Trump to pressure countries they regard as censoring" content.In an interview with the Observer, Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, said that the recent laws designed to make online platforms safer for children and vulnerable people would never be diluted to help the government woo big tech companies to the UK in its defining pursuit for economic growth. Continue reading...

More voters think tech tycoon's comments on grooming gangs are unhelpful than those who back himMore than half of voters think Elon Musk is having a negative effect on British politics following his criticism of Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.The South African-born billionaire has spent much of the past week using his social media platform X to attack Starmer and the Labour government for their opposition to another national inquiry into grooming gangs. He accused Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, of being a rape genocide apologist" and falsely claimed Starmer was deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes". Despite strong suggestions that Musk is preparing to make a large donation to Reform UK, he also recently tore into Nigel Farage, saying he was not up to the job of leading the party. Continue reading...

From bashing Keir Starmer to promoting the AfD, the X owner is not shy about interveningA limited - at best - understanding of the continent of Europe and its component countries has not prevented the world's richest man from intervening in the domestic politics of several of them, as well asattacking the EU itself.Here we take a brief look at some of the occasions on which X owner Elon Musk has used his position as proprietor of one of the world's largest social media platforms to meddle in the internal affairs of sovereign democratic states outside the US. Continue reading...

From stringent legislation to grassroots action, Australia and Spain lead the way in tackling children's use of mobile phones and tabletsIf the advent of the affordable mobile phone has given parents a new way to stay in touch with their children, it has also prompted countless arguments about screen time, safety and social media.As concerns over phone use grow - and the age at which children get their first mobile continues to fall - countries around the world are weighing up how to tackle the issue in schools and at home. Continue reading...

In 2017, Silicon Valley rebuked Trump's travel ban. Today, it has reversed course and is bending over backwards with displays of deference to TrumpOn 28 January 2017, I rushed to the San Francisco international airport (SFO). Like elsewhere in the US that night, demonstrations were growing against a travel ban Donald Trump had issued against visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries. The night was chillier than normal and I had not brought an adequate jacket. Luckily, the train to the airport was warm, full to the brim with jittery, talkative protesters. The airport itself was a rowdy scene: cabs and Ubers stalled as angry protesters blocked the roads, meters still running; demonstrators in hijabs prayed on their protest signs in baggage claim as others shouted at any arriving flyer coming for their luggage. Trump was the most outrageous man in America then, his election a shock to a wide swath of the world.After a few hours, whispers of a $150bn face floated through the crowd: Sergey Brin, creator and co-founder of Google, was there. At the time, he was the president of Google's parent company Alphabet, which also owns YouTube. The effect was thrilling: one of the richest and most powerful men in the world was registering his discontent with Trump by bodily joining a protest against him. Brin, a native of Moscow who arrived in the US at the age of six, said he came to SFO that night because I'm a refugee". It was a personal rebuke of Trump, the consummate nativist. Continue reading...

Online giant is among several companies ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs before Trump takes officeAmazon.com is winding down diversity programs ahead of Republican Donald Trump's return to the US presidency, amid growing conservative opposition to such initiatives.Some of biggest businesses in the US have been scaling back their diversity initiatives, years after pushing for more inclusive policies in the wake of protests that followed the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020. Continue reading...

Meta, fresh off announcement to end factchecking, follows McDonald's and Walmart in rolling back diversity initiativesFollowing a week in which Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta was getting rid of factchecking, as of Friday the company is also terminating its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, effective immediately.An internal memo from Meta acknowledged that the legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing", while pointing to recent supreme court decisions and the charged" view some have of DEI as a concept. Axios and Business Insider first reported the memo. While Meta confirmed to the Guardian the company is ending its DEI practices, the company did not respond to a request for a comment about how the decision aligns with its overarching goals. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. You can read our latest reporting on the case here:

Justices weighed importance of security with freedom of speech in oral arguments that went over nearly an hour

Shawna Kay Williams-Pinnock calls for lessons about harmful content and social media literacy, plus letters from Stuart Harrington and Cyndy EtlerIn the article (As a child psychiatrist, I see what smartphones are doing to kids' mental health - and it's terrifying, 3 January), Dr Emily Sehmer, a UK-based psychiatrist, expressed concerns about the deleterious effects of smartphone use on children. She hopes to keep her children away from such devices and social media until they are 16 years old. She suggests other parents do the same.Her sheltering" approach may be counterproductive. Some children could source alternative devices and secretly engage with social media. After all, the forbidden is often more enticing. Moreover, a 16-year-old may still be woefully unprepared to navigate online spaces responsibly. Continue reading...

With brutishly fast zombies, raw action and most importantly an over-the-shoulder viewpoint, the influence of Capcom's horror game can still be feltIt is an interesting quirk of video game history that one of the greatest ever horror titles debuted on the Nintendo GameCube, a toylike console better known for the cutest titles in the Zelda series and Animal Crossing. But in 2002, Capcom revealed five exclusives to boost the beleaguered platform - and among them was Resident Evil 4, technically the 13th title in the franchise, which on its release three years later would be considered its zenith. It was an exciting new lease of life for the survival horror genre.Not that you'd guess all this from the game's extraordinarily pedestrian setup. Six years after the fall of the Umbrella Corporation smouldering cop Leon Kennedy has been dispatched on a mission to retrieve the US president's kidnapped daughter, who has been spotted in a tiny village in rural Spain. For some reason best known to the Secret Service, he's going in alone. Continue reading...

Sarah Silverman and others file court case claiming CEO approved use of dataset despite warnings

The company's plan to end its factchecking program is about appeasing Trump. That signals the making of a mafia stateThis week Meta announced the elimination of its factchecking program in the US and rollbacks to content moderation policies on hateful conduct". These measures undoubtedly open the floodgates to more hateful, harassing and inciting content on Facebook and Instagram. Immigrants and LGBTQ+ communities are two of the groups most likely to be affected.Last month, after Donald Trump won the election, Zuckerberg visited Trump in Mar-a-Lago and then Meta sent $1m to his inauguration fund. When asked for comment about Meta's policy changes, Trump admitted that Zuckerberg was probably" influenced by his threats to imprison the tech CEO. Continue reading...

Whether you're making comforting curries, casseroles or chilli con carne, we've tested the top slow cookers for serving up winter warmers The best blenders to blitz like a pro, tried and tested, from Ninja to NutribulletAs January beds in and our craving for cosiness increases, you may be minded to dig out the slow cooker. Coming home to a warm, bubbling meal - with very little effort - is a real treat in the cold and dark. Plus, slow cooking can be an economical method of cooking.If you have yet to experience the comfort and joy of a slow cooker, or if your ancient model has finally died a death, it could be time to treat yourself to a season of stews, casseroles, curries and more. I've spent weeks testing slow cookers to compile a shortlist of the most functional, useful and well-designed recommendations to transform your dinner time.Best overall slow cooker:

X owner and far-right politician appear to agree on everything, as Musk faces accusations of meddling in German electionElon Musk has praised the co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party, as he repeated his claim that only the AfD can save Germany" during a controversial live talk on his social media platform X.The virtual encounter between Musk and Alice Weidel on Thursday took place amid growing criticism over the US billionaire's vocal support of far-right, anti-establishment parties across Europe, and accusations he is meddling in the campaign for Germany's 23 February election. Continue reading...

Tech giants follow footsteps of other major companies, including Amazon, Meta, OpenAI and UberGoogle and Microsoft have donated $1m each to Donald Trump's inauguration fund, following in the footsteps of other major companies including Amazon, Meta, OpenAI and Uber.Google is pleased to support the 2025 inauguration, with a livestream on YouTube and a direct link on our homepage. We're also donating to the inaugural committee," Karan Bhatia, Google's global head of government affairs and public policy, confirmed in a statement to the Guardian on Thursday. Continue reading...