Musk raids a dizzying swath of agencies with the goal of slashing waste and fraud' as the two deploy brinkmanshipHello, and welcome back to TechScape. This week in tech: Elon Musk and Donald Trump flood the zone and deploy brinkmanship as a negotiating tactic; US Immigration and Customs Enforcement learns search engine optimization amid arrests and deportations; and Spotify tries to soften its algorithmic image with human-centric public relations. Thank you for reading. Continue reading...
Meta once invested millions and attracted top talent as tech's leader in corporate diversity. After those aspirations peaked in 2019, the company scuttled them altogetherIn 2019, Facebook set a goal for itself: ensure half of its workforce was from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds by 2024.The lofty ambition made the company stand out among its Silicon Valley peers. Maxine Williams, a longtime employee and chief diversity officer at the time, wrote in a 2021 blogpost that Facebook was up to the challenge. Continue reading...
by Angela Giuffrida in Rome and Stephanie Kirchgaessn on (#6V6TF)
Exclusive: Italy-based David Yambio, a critic of Meloni government, was told of attempt to compromise his phoneAn Italy-based human rights activist whose work supports the international criminal court in providing evidence about cases of abuse suffered by migrants and refugees held in Libyan detention camps and prisons has revealed that Apple informed him his phone was targeted in a spyware attackDavid Yambio, the president and co-founder of Refugees in Libya, has been a critic of the Italian government's migrant pact with the north African country and its recent controversial decision to release Osama Najim, a Libyan police chief wanted by the international criminal court (ICC) for suspected war crimes, including torture, murder, enslavement and rape. Yambio, 27, was an alleged victim of Najim's abuses during his detention at the notorious Mitiga prison near Tripoli. Continue reading...
Most answers had significant issues' when researchers asked services to use broadcaster's news articles as sourceLeading artificial intelligence assistants create distortions, factual inaccuracies and misleading content in response to questions about news and current affairs, research has found.More than half of the AI-generated answers provided by ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini and Perplexity were judged to have significant issues", according to the study by the BBC.Microsoft's Copilot falsely stating that the French rape victim Gisele Pelicot uncovered crimes against her when she began having blackouts and memory loss, when in fact she found out about the crimes when police showed her videos they had confiscated from her husband's devices.ChatGPT said Ismail Haniyeh was part of Hamas's leadership months after he was assassinated in Iran. It also falsely said Sunak and Sturgeon were still in office.Gemini incorrectly stated: The NHS advises people not to start vaping, and recommends that smokers who want to quit use other methods."Perplexity falsely stated the date of the TV presenter Michael Mosley's death and misquoted a statement from the family of the One Direction singer Liam Payne after his death. Continue reading...
Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO and co-founder, responded that he would not accept and offered to buy X insteadElon Musk escalated his feud with OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, on Monday. The billionaire is leading a consortium of investors that announced it had submitted a bid of $97.4bn for all assets" of the artificial intelligence company to OpenAI's board of directors.The startup, which operates ChatGPT, has been working to restructure itself away from its original non-profit status. OpenAI also operates a for-profit subsidiary, and Musk's unsolicited offer could complicate the company's plans. The Wall Street Journal first reported the proposed bid. Continue reading...
by Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington on (#6V6EP)
After WhatsApp claimed 90 users were targeted last year, experts concerned over how US could use cyberweaponsEven as WhatsApp celebrated a major legal victory in December against NSO Group, the Israeli maker of one of the world's most powerful cyberweapons, a new threat was detected, this time involving another Israel-based company that has previously agreed contracts with democratic governments around the world - including the US.Late in January, WhatsApp claimed that 90 of its users, including some journalists and members of civil society, were targeted last year by spyware made by a company called Paragon Solutions. The allegation is raising urgent questions about how Paragon's government clients are using the powerful hacking tool. Continue reading...
Emmanuel Macron's tech envoy warns attenders current trajectory of artificial intelligence is unsustainableThe impact of artificial intelligence on the environment and inequality have featured in the opening exchanges of a global summit in Paris attended by political leaders, tech executives and experts.Emmanuel Macron's AI envoy, Anne Bouverot, opened the two-day gathering at the Grand Palais in the heart of the French capital with a speech referring to the environmental impact of AI, which requires vast amounts of energy and resource to develop and operate. Continue reading...
When EA surprise-dropped a rerelease of The Sims 1 and 2, I was delighted to return to a defining video game of millennial childhoods - but it feels different 25 years laterWhen I was growing up, the genre-defining dollhouse sim The Sims was the ultimate escape. I'd build dream homes, cultivate a neighbourhood of weird and wonderful friends and live out a fantasy adult life.So when EA surprise-dropped a rerelease of The Sims 1 and 2 last weekend to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary, with all expansions included (my nine-year-old self's dream) naturally I was compelled to return to my happy place, revisiting my 10-hour pyjama-clad marathon sessions micromanaging the lives of the Newbies, Roomies, and the Goths, and occasionally removing their pool ladders when they were taking a little swim, and only taking a necessary pause for mum's roast dinner. Continue reading...
Every year of human history has a dedicated entry. But surf far enough into the future, and you'll find evaporating oceans, planetary collisions, and the ultimate apocalypse: the Big Slurp
Letter says many of works being sold by Christie's are made by AI models trained on pieces by human artists, without a licenceThousands of artists are urging the auction house Christie's to cancel a sale of art created with artificial intelligence, claiming the technology behind the works is committing mass theft".The Augmented Intelligence auction has been described by Christie's as the first AI-dedicated sale by a major auctioneer and features 20 lots with prices ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 for works by artists including Refik Anadol and the late AI art pioneer Harold Cohen. Continue reading...
Technology secretary delivers veiled warning over China's role ahead of Paris summitThe artificial intelligence race must be led by western, liberal, democratic" countries, said the UK technology secretary in a veiled warning over China's role in the contest, before a global AI summit in Paris.Peter Kyle spoke as political leaders and tech company bosses gather in France, and after the emergence of a new Chinese force in AI, DeepSeek, rattled US investors and upended assumptions about Silicon Valley's leadership in the technology. Continue reading...
by Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent on (#6V5Y1)
Report urges ministers to overhaul market to increase rollout in areas that have ample power generationTech companies are putting pressure on the UK government to encourage an AI datacentre boom in remote areas of Great Britain by offering some of the cheapest electricity prices in Europe.A report paid for by the tech companies Amazon and OpenAI has called on ministers to overhaul the UK's electricity market by splitting it into different zones so that prices become more expensive in areas where power is in short supply, and cheaper in those where it is ample. Continue reading...
Are they the same as crypto, why has the US president launched one, and who's really coining it in? Here's a complete guide to the latest digital money maniaThree days before his inauguration as US president, Donald Trump made an unusual move. He launched $Trump, a so-called meme coin that fans and speculators could buy in the hopes it would gain value. Initially, $Trump soared from a value of $7 to $75 per coin in a day, according to crypto price-tracking website CoinMarketCap. Two days later, it dropped to about $40 - just as incoming first lady Melania Trump launched her own meme coin, $Melania. Even the pastor at Trump's inauguration ceremony, Lorenzo Sewell, got swept up in the meme coin frenzy, promoting a $Lorenzo version the same afternoon.So what exactly are meme coins, and why is everyone and their vicar suddenly getting involved?
The billionaire's cost-cutting Doge' staff includes wealthy executives, far-right ideologues and young engineersElon Musk's rapid attempt to defund and depopulate the federal government has thrown US politics into chaos while the billionaire's so-called department of government efficiency" seizes control of operations at key agencies. Carrying out this hostile takeover are a team of staffers made up of wealthy executives, far-right ideologues and young engineers that have come to make up Doge".At government institutions such as the treasury department, General Services Administration and United States Agency for International Development, Musk's allies have gained access to computer systems, including the sensitive personal data and payment information of tens of millions of Americans. His team is working to shut down USAid, the world's largest single supplier of humanitarian aid, and members have been spotted at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Education and National Institutes of Health. Continue reading...
The man given free rein by Trump to crusade against the federal government supported Democrats until 2022. But some of Musk's longstanding positions lead a straight line to his far-right sympathiesElon Musk is not a people person, as millions around the world will be able to attest after the planet's richest man cut off food supplies, healthcare and probably even life itself to some of the most vulnerable without so much as a fore- or afterthought.Musk sees himself as a data man, wielding numbers like a machete to slash and burn his way through government waste and corruption as he leads the rightwing charge to capture the US state. Continue reading...
Injunction granted in response to lawsuit alleging the Trump administration allowed Musk's team access to sensitive data in violation of federal lawA federal judge early on Saturday blocked Elon Musk's department of government efficiency" (Doge) from accessing treasury department records that contain sensitive personal data such as social security and bank account numbers for millions of Americans.US district judge Paul A Engelmayer issued the preliminary injunction after 19 Democratic attorneys general sued Donald Trump. The case, filed in federal court in New York city, alleges the Trump administration allowed Musk's team access to the treasury department's central payment system in violation of federal law. Continue reading...
Highway agency ordered states to no longer spend funds allocated under Biden's EV charging station programThe Trump administration has ordered US states to suspend a $5bn electric vehicle charging station program in a further blow to the environmental movement since the president's return to the White House.In a memo issued on Thursday to state transportation directors, the transportation department's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) ordered states not to spend any funds allocated to them under the Biden administration as part of the national electric vehicle infrastructure (NEVI) program. Continue reading...
Parents claim four children died as a result of attempting challenge that went viral in 2021The parents of four British teenagers have sued TikTok over the deaths of their children, which they claim were the result of the viral blackout challenge".The lawsuit claims Isaac Kenevan, 13, Archie Battersbee, 12, Julian Jools" Sweeney, 14, and Maia Walsh, 13, died in 2022 while attempting the blackout challenge", which became popular on social media in 2021. Continue reading...
Expert says government has lit the blue touch paper on a truly enormous fight' as it challenges firm's privacy stanceThe UK government has demanded that Apple creates a backdoor in its encrypted cloud service, in a confrontation that challenges the US tech firm's avowed stance on protecting user privacy.The Washington Post reported on Friday that the Home Office had issued a technical capability notice" under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), which requires companies to assist law enforcement in providing evidence. Continue reading...
by Sandra Laville Environment correspondent on (#6V411)
Experts say mandatory reporting on energy and water use is needed to avoid irreparable damage to environmentTech companies should be required by law to report the energy and water consumption for their data centres, as the boom in AI risks causing irreparable damage to the environment, experts have said.AI is growing at a rate unparalleled by other energy systems, bringing heightened environmental risk, a report by the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC) said.Expand mandatory environmental reporting.Provide information on environmental impacts of AI systems.Set environmental sustainability requirements for data centres.And reconsider data collection, transmission, storage and management practices. Continue reading...
Robust fourth-quarter earnings take into account holiday shopping season, but first-quarter estimates disappointAmazon outdid Wall Street's expectations with its earnings from the fourth quarter of 2024 on Thursday but forecast a weak upcoming quarter.The retail giant ended the year on a strong note, reporting $187.79bn in revenue and $1.86 per share, beating analysts' estimates of revenue of $187.3bn and share price at $1.49. Continue reading...
Tech company removes error about gouda cheese after blogger points out unequivocally' untrue statisticGoogle has edited an advert for its leading artificial intelligence (AI) tool, Gemini, before its broadcast during the Super Bowl after it was found to contain false information about gouda cheese.The local commercial, which advertises how people can use AI for every business", showcases Gemini's abilities by depicting the tool helping a cheesemonger in Wisconsin to write a product description, including the erroneous line that gouda accounts for 50% to 60% of global cheese consumption". Continue reading...
by Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and Angela G on (#6V39B)
Exclusive: Decision comes after Italian investigative journalist and two activists alleged to have been targeted by Paragon Solutions spywareParagon Solutions, whose military-grade hacking software was allegedly used to target 90 people, including journalists and members of civil society, in two dozen countries, has terminated its client relationship with Italy, according a person familiar with the matter.Paragon's decision to end the Italy contract followed revelations that an Italian investigative journalist and two activists who were critical of Italy's dealings with Libya were among the people who had allegedly been targeted with the spyware. The work of all three individuals has been critical of the rightwing government of Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. Continue reading...
Thousands of press releases about decade-old enforcement actions topped search results, all updated with a timestamp from after Trump's inaugurationNews of mass immigration arrests has swept across the US over the past couple of weeks. Reports from Massachusetts to Idaho have described agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) spreading through communities and rounding people up. Quick Google searches for Ice operations, raids and arrests return a deluge of government press releases. Headlines include ICE arrests 85 during 4-day Colorado operation", New Orleans focuses targeted operations on 123 criminal noncitizens" and, in Wisconsin, ICE arrests 83 criminal aliens".But a closer look at these Ice reports tells a different story. Continue reading...
by Richard Sprenger, Bruno Rinvolucri, Max Burnell an on (#6V3C6)
Channel 1 is a new rolling news channel with a difference - its stories are scripted, edited and presented by AI. Available in more than 30 languages and able to transmit bespoke news stories faster than ever, its threat to the mainstream media is clear. But can we trust it? And would anybody actually watch a channel that lacks the human touch? The Guardian visited the channel's creators in Los Angeles to find out more - and to audition for a role Continue reading...
Firm rolls back plan to hire more from underrepresented groups and said it was reviewing some of its DEI initiativesAlphabet's Google is scrapping its goal to hire more employees from historically underrepresented groups and is reviewing some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.With this, Google joins a slew of US businesses, particularly in Silicon Valley, that have been scaling back their diversity initiatives, years after pushing for more inclusive policies after protests against the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news. Continue reading...
by Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and Angela G on (#6V2EW)
Luca Casarini is most prominent person to come forward since WhatsApp said that 90 people, across two dozen countries, had probably been hackedThe Italian founder of the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans, who has been a vocal critic of Italy's alleged complicity in abuses suffered by migrants in Libya, has revealed WhatsApp informed him his mobile phone was targeted by military-grade spyware made by the Israel-based company Paragon Solutions.Luca Casarini, an activist whose organisation is estimated to have saved 2,000 people crossing the Mediterranean to Italy, is the most high profile person to come forward since WhatsApp announced last week that 90 journalists and other members of civil society had probably had their phones compromised by a government client using Paragon's spyware. Continue reading...
Money stolen falls from record $1.25bn to $813m as more victims refuse to pay off criminal gangsRansomware payments fell by more than a third last year to $813m (650m) as victims refused to pay cybercriminals and law enforcement cracked down on gangs, figures reveal.The decline in such cyber-attacks - where access to a computer or its data is blocked and money is then demanded to release it - came despite a number of high-profile cases in 2024, with victims including NHS trusts in the UK and the US doughnut firm Krispy Kreme. Continue reading...
The 10% levy on goods imported from China closes a loophole used by Temu and Shein. Experts say it may only tighten their grip on AmericansVivi Armacost loves Temu. She uses the Chinese online marketplace to buy crafting supplies for her purse-making hobby. You can get purse detailing and hardware for cents and pennies," said Armacost, who is 24 and lives in New York. She says it seems like basically everything" in her apartment comes from Temu.Donald Trump's 10% tariff on China-made goods sold to the US, which went into effect early on Tuesday morning, might change her shopping habits. On top of this, the US Postal Service briefly suspended deliveries of incoming parcels from China and Hong Kong before they were later resumed. Continue reading...
Alphabet guidelines no longer refer to not pursuing technologies that could cause or are likely to cause overall harm'The Google owner, Alphabet, has dropped its promise not to use artificial intelligence for purposes such as developing weapons and surveillance tools.The US technology company said on Tuesday, just before it reported lower-than-forecast earnings, that it had updated its ethical guidelines around AI, and they no longer referred to not pursuing technologies that could cause or are likely to cause overall harm". Continue reading...
Researchers say bans need to be part of wider strategy to tackle negative impact of mobile use on childrenBanning smartphones at school does not by itself improve academic grades and children's wellbeing, a study suggests.Researchers from the University of Birmingham did find that spending longer on phones and social media in general was linked to lower grades, poor sleep, disruptive behaviour and a lack of exercise. Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#6V2DX)
New smartphone has 2025's fastest Qualcomm chip, two-day battery life, great camera and standout designOnePlus is trying to prove you don't need a Samsung or a Google to have a top-tier premium Android in 2025, and mostly succeeds.The OnePlus 13 is the latest in the Oppo sub-brand's series of keenly priced phones. Despite becoming more expensive every year, the 899 (1,049/$899) new model still costs a little less than its 1,000-plus Google and Samsung rivals. Continue reading...
Revenue slowdown reflects challenging year' firm has had and 2025 may be year it loses competitive edge, say analystsShares of Google's parent company Alphabet fell more than 6% after the company reported a slight miss in expected revenue on Tuesday. The company reported $96.5bn, compared with analyst expectations of $96.67 bn. The company surpassed investors' expectations of $2.13 in earnings per share, however, with $2.15 in EPS.Q4 was a strong quarter driven by our leadership in AI and momentum across the business," Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai wrote in a statement. We are building, testing, and launching products and models faster than ever, and making significant progress in compute and driving efficiencies." Continue reading...
Elon Musk has achieved astonishing power in Trump's administration - and spent the weekend wielding itSince declaring his support for Donald Trump in July of last year and subsequently spending more than $250m on his re-election effort, Elon Musk has rapidly accumulated political influence and positioned himself at the heart of the new administration. Now as prominent as the president himself, Musk has begun to make use of that power, making decisions that could affect the health of millions of people, gaining access to highly sensitive personal data, and attacking anyone who opposes him. Musk, the world's richest man and an unelected official, has achieved an astonishing level of power over the federal government.Over the weekend, workers with Musk's department of government efficiency" (Doge) clashed with civil servants over demands for unfettered access to the computer systems of major US government agencies in a breakneck series of confrontations. When the dust settled, several top officials who opposed the takeover had been pushed out, and Musk's allies had gained control. Continue reading...
Meta's Yann LeCun says current systems too limited to create domestic robots and fully automated carsOne of the godfathers" of modern artificial intelligence has predicted a further revolution in the technology by the end of the decade, and says current systems are too limited to create domestic robots and fully automated cars.Yann LeCun, the chief AI scientist at Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, said new breakthroughs are needed in order for the systems to understand and interact with the physical world. Continue reading...
Meta and Microsoft commit to tens of billions to build out AI infrastructure, having lavished tens of billions alreadyHello, and welcome to TechScape. It's been another wild few days in Elon Musk news. Stay tuned for our coverage. In personal news, I deleted Instagram from my phone to try out a month without it there. Instead of scrolling, I've been listening to Shygirl and Lady Gaga's new music. Continue reading...
Home affairs minister Tony Burke says decision follows advice from intelligence agencies and is not in response to AI chatbot's country of origin, China
From an intergalactic puzzle-solving beetle to a search for the Tusk of Ganesh, developers have put Sony's impressive console to astoundingly imaginative useIf you're just discovering PlayStation 5 a few years after its debut, you've arrived at a great time. Sony's in-house studios have produced some of their best work in this generation, exploiting the technical prowess of the console while crafting vast narratives and interesting characters. Meanwhile, both major third-party studios and tiny indie developers have exploited the machine and its innovative controller to astounding effect. Continue reading...
O2 has introduced 'AI granny' Daisy for a short period to show what could be done with artificial intelligence to counter the scourge of scammers, who have become so ubiquitous. Daisy is not a real grandmother but an AI bot created by computer scientists to combat fraud. Her task is simply to waste the time of the people who are trying to scam her. Using a mixture of ambivalence, confusion about how computers work and an eagerness to reminisce about her younger days, the '78 years young' Daisy draws sighs and snapping from fraudsters on the other end of the line
Experts and thinkers signed open letter expressing concern over irresponsible development of technologyArtificial intelligence systems capable of feelings or self-awareness are at risk of being harmed if the technology is developed irresponsibly, according to an open letter signed by AI practitioners and thinkers including Sir Stephen Fry.More than 100 experts have put forward five principles for conducting responsible research into AI consciousness, as rapid advances raise concerns that such systems could be considered sentient. Continue reading...
by Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Angela Giuffrida on (#6V0WH)
Husam El Gomati, who reports on links between Italian government and Libya's coastguard, fears for his sourcesA Sweden-based Libyan activist who has been a vocal critic of Italy and its dealings in Libya was alerted by WhatsApp last week that he had been targeted with military-grade spyware, raising new concerns about the possible use of powerful cyberweapons by European governments.The alleged breach of Husam El Gomati's mobile phone - as well as the mobile phones of 89 other activists, journalists and members of civil society - was discovered by WhatsApp in late December. Continue reading...
ChatGPT developer announces AI agent amid growing challenge from rivals such as China's DeepSeekOpenAI has stepped up its development of artificial intelligence agents by announcing a new tool that crafts reports which it claims can match the output of a research analyst.The ChatGPT developer said the new tool, deep research", accomplishes in 10 minutes what would take a human many hours". Continue reading...
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