When professional services are overstretched, always-on' tools like ChatGPT can look attractive. But users must be wary of the many risks involved

More Britons in this age group are switching to the video platform, with its shorter, niche and more personal contentUK viewers over the age of 55 watched almost twice as much YouTube last year as they did in 2023, with 42% of them watching on a TV, according to a survey by the communications regulator Ofcom.Here, six people over 50 describe why they prefer YouTube and how it compares with the broadcast TV they grew up with. Continue reading...

We must avoid inequalities between the global north and global south being perpetuated in the digital ageI come from Trinidad and Tobago. As a country that was once colonized by the British, I am wary of the ways that inequalities between the global north and global south risk being perpetuated in the digital age.When we consider the lack of inclusion of the global south in discussions about artificial intelligence (AI), I think about how this translates to an eventual lack of economic leverage and geopolitical engagement in this technology that has captivated academics within the industrialised country I reside, the United States.Krystal Maughan is a PhD student at the University of Vermont studying differential privacy and machine learning Continue reading...

Users may be led down conspiracy theory rabbit holes or into emotional harm by chatbots designed to maximise engagement and affirmation, some say

Tech giants have spent more on AI than the US government has on education, jobs and social services in 2025 so farThe US's largest companies have spent 2025 locked in a competition to spend more money than one another, lavishing $155bn on the development of artificial intelligence, more than the US government has spent on education, training, employment and social services in the 2025 fiscal year so far.Based on the most recent financial disclosures of Silicon Valley's biggest players, the race is about to accelerate to hundreds of billions in a single year. Continue reading...

New documentary Spreadsheet Champions follows six competitors as they head to the Microsoft Office Specialist world championship in FloridaSix years ago, Melbourne-based film-maker Kristina Kraskov read an article about an international Microsoft Excel competition and had two thoughts. The first: What the hell, that can't be real." The second: There's got to be a film about this - I want to watch it so badly."There wasn't a film about competitive spreadsheeting, so Kraskov decided to make it herself. The subject appealed to the director, whose work captures different inner worlds that are a bit unusual on the outside", including a short film titled Party in the Back, about a mullet festival. Continue reading...

Court revives part of lawsuit accusing X of failing to promptly report uploaded images to relevant authoritiesA federal appeals court on Friday revived part of a lawsuit accusing Elon Musk's X of becoming a haven for child exploitation, though the court said the platform deserves broad immunity from claims over objectionable content.While rejecting some claims, the ninth US circuit court of appeals in San Francisco said X, formerly Twitter, must face a claim it was negligent by failing to promptly report a video containing explicit images of two underage boys to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Continue reading...

Elon Musk's social media platform says lawmakers made a conscientious decision' to increase censorshipElon Musk's X platform has said the UK's Online Safety Act (OSA) is at risk of seriously infringing" free speech as a row deepens over measures for protecting children from harmful content.The social media company said the act's laudable" intentions were being overshadowed by its aggressive implementation by the communications watchdog, Ofcom. Continue reading...

There's no shame any more, and no better place to lose yourself and the world with a few quiet rounds of Pocket Card Jockey or Marvel Snap than in the quiet of the privyThere are two types of people in the world. Those who play games on the toilet, and those who pretend they don't. I am a proud member of the former category. I realise this may not be the most Guardian" of Guardian article openings, but we all use the toilet and we all play games; I am merely providing a Venn diagram.We used to read books in there. I even had a small bookcase in mine, and am old enough to remember when a workplace was not considered civilised unless there was a copy of that day's newspaper in every cubicle so that hard working staff could catch up with global goings on during their five minutes of down-the-pan time. Continue reading...

A trip to the seaside isn't complete without a jangling cup of 2p coins or an overconfident uncle nursing a sore hand. Here's a rundown of the top nostalgia-inducing gamesThe seaside day trip remains an almost essential component of the school summer holidays, and although the big beachfront arcades have changed a lot over the last decade, they are still a magnet for small kids with handfuls of change, as well as adults hoping to spy an old Space Invaders cabinet in the back. As a child of the 1980s, coin-op video games were an obsession, but what really fascinated me were the older machines, the electro-mechanical oddities that hung on into the digital age. Here are 10 of the best - please add your own in the comments. Continue reading...

The superstar actor will release his latest film on YouTube so families who cannot afford cinema trips can watchAbout ten years ago, Aamir Khan became troubled. Despite being one of Bollywood's most bankable superstars for more than three decades, he realised that only tiny numbers of Indians were watching him on the big screen.Indian cinema is widely adored and has an outsized influence on society but just 2-3% of its 1.4 billion people go to the cinema. Continue reading...

Tech giant sees double-digit revenue rise, with huge gains in iPhone sales, despite stock-price drop and looming tariffsApple has been under pressure this year. It's playing catch-up to its fellow tech giants on artificial intelligence, it's seen its stock fall by double digits since the year began, it closed a store in China for the first time ever this week, and looming US tariffs on Beijing threaten its supply chain. On Thursday, the company released its third-quarter earnings of the fiscal year as investors scrutinize how the iPhone maker might turn things around.Despite the gloomy outlook, the company is still worth more than $3tn, and it beat Wall Street's expectations for profit and revenue this quarter. Apple reported a huge 10% year-over-year increase in revenue to $94.04bn, and $1.57 per share in earnings. That's substantially more than the $89.3bn in revenue and $1.43 per share that analysts predicted and is the company's biggest revenue growth since 2021. Continue reading...

Parents advised to be vigilant over summer holidays to risk of offenders using in-game live chats to target their childrenFar-right extremists are using livestream gaming platforms to target and radicalise teenage players, a report has warned.The new research, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, reveals how a range of extremist groups and individuals use platforms that allow users to chat and livestream while playing video games to recruit and radicalise vulnerable users, mainly young males. Continue reading...

Serve up perfect rice every time with our expert-tested rice cookers, from space-saving mini appliances to microwave steaming bowls In the US? Check out our top-rated rice cookers thereHow often do you eat rice? Even if it's not a daily staple in your house, it's safe to say most Britons cook and eat rice at least a few times a week. And while it may seem a simple thing to cook, it can be surprisingly difficult to get it right.From long-grain to quick-cook, brown basmati to jasmine, different rice grains have different cook times, different rates of absorption and varying starch levels, which can all affect the result. Instead of fluffy, individual grains, you may find your rice burnt, stuck to the pan or with a claggy, chalky or overly glutinous texture. Dinner ruined.Best rice cooker overall:

No prescribed avenue for social media companies to check users' ages, but options include facial estimation technology and matching photos with ID

In advance of Meta's quarterly earnings report, CEO says his company aims to bring powerful AI into the lives of millionsWhether it's poaching top talent away from competitors, acquiring AI startups or proclaiming that it will build data centers the size of Manhattan, Meta has been on a spending spree to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities for months now.The massive splurge is paying off, according to Meta's chief executive. In a new memo posted on Wednesday ahead of the company's quarterly earnings report, Mark Zuckerberg, describes his ambitions for developing what he calls superintelligence". Continue reading...

Company's second-quarter financial results showed a booming cloud business and enormous capital expendituresMicrosoft, the world's second-most valuable company, is dumping enormous sums of money into its artificial intelligence efforts. At the same time, the company is earning money hand over fist. Investors are thrilled.The enterprise software giant reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that exceeded expectations on Wednesday as the company races to acquire datacenters and talent, which continues to be investigated by investors. The company predicted its capital expenditure for the next fiscal year would top $100bn, a 14% increase from the year prior. Continue reading...

Initiative involving Americans' personal data on systems run by private firms has enormous concerns', say expertsThe Trump administration is pushing an initiative for millions of Americans to upload personal health data and medical records on new apps and systems run by private tech companies, promising easier to access health records and wellness monitoring.Donald Trump is expected to deliver remarks on the initiative on Wednesday afternoon in the East Room. The event is expected to involve leaders from more than 60 companies, including major tech companies such as Google and Amazon, as well as prominent hospital systems like the Cleveland clinic. Continue reading...

Huge increase in online age verifications but many users turn to virtual private networks to access pornography sitesFive million extra online age checks a day are being carried out in the UK since the introduction of age-gating for pornography sites, according to new data.The Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) said there had been a sharp increase in additional age checks in the UK since Friday, when age verification became mandatory for accessing pornography under the Online Safety Act. Continue reading...

After a long day of exploring, swimming or hanging with grandparents, games from Fortnite to Super Mario are a good way to wind down. Sometimes I play along, tooWe're a week into the school summer holidays here in England, and I wonder how many parents who started out determined to keep their children completely away from screens are now beginning to feel the strain. When my sons were much younger, I often had these idyllic images in my head of day trips to the seaside, back garden treasure hunts, paddling in the river, visiting relatives ... an endless series of character forming experiences which I imagined in grainy Kodachrome colours. Then I'd be faced with the reality of having a job, and also the, let's say, limited attention span of my sons. Those boys could rocket through a host of formative activities in a few hours leaving a trail of muddy boots, half-finished crafting projects and tired grandparents in their wake. Sheepishly, we'd end up allowing some Fortnite time to catch our breath.There is so much pressure and guilt around children and gaming, especially during long school breaks, and I think we need to seriously redress our outlook as a society. I harbour many lovely memories of gaming with my sons during hot August days; drowsily loafing about building ridiculous mansions in Minecraft or laughing ourselves stupid in Goat Simulator. We would always take the Switch on holiday with us, so that in the evenings, when we went out for meals, there would be an hour or so where my wife and I could linger over a glass of wine, while the boys silently played Super Mario together. We still managed to build sand castles, go swimming and explore unfamiliar towns, but games provided a way to wind down and enjoy something familiar. Continue reading...

Thief: The Dark Project converges with Kafka, Gogol and Tamagotichis in this immersive sim with a giant personalityPlanning is half the fun in immersive sims. Titles such as Thief and Dishonored drop players into clockwork worlds where there are emails or letters to be read, vents to wriggle through, and desperate situations to overcome with smarts and social engineering as much as sheer violence.You could argue that all that's been missing from the genre until now is a colossal policeman whose lanky body rises hundreds of feet into the sky, and who can look down at you and see absolutely everything you're doing. Luckily, the new game from the Russian developer Tallboys is here to fix that. In Militsioner, you have been arrested for some manner of nebulous crime and must now leave town as quickly as you can. Bribe the ticketmaster at the railway? Break a window to create a distraction? All classic immersive sim solutions. Sadly, there's that policeman to deal with first, a melancholic but watchful giant who towers over the ravaged urban surroundings even when sat down with his hands resting on his knees. Continue reading...

Flagship flip folder fits even bigger screen in pocketable clamshell, with a larger cover display, slightly slimmer design and faster chipSamsung's seventh-generation Flip phone trims the fat, gains a bigger cover screen on the outside and a larger folding display on the inside, but fundamentally doesn't reinvent the wheel.The Galaxy Z Flip 7 joins the book-style Z Fold 7 as Samsung's two flagship folding phones for 2025. Like its predecessors, the Flip's biggest selling point is that it takes one of the largest screens on a Samsung and folds it in half for a more pocket-friendly size. Continue reading...

One in five young viewers go to platform first when they turn on TV, as older people also watch more of its content

Every year since 2016, Will Braden has devoted himself to assembling a feature-length film from snippets of moggies doing the darndest things - and it has started to bring in serious moneyName: Cat videos.Age: 131. Continue reading...

Rival taxi operators will not face a 20% tax charge on their profit margins outside London

PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox; Weta Workshop/Private Division

Digital distribution platforms Steam and itch.io have tightened their rules about adult content - under pressure from payment processors. Why has this happened and where will it lead?In the last two weeks, thousands of adult only" and not safe for work" games have disappeared from Steam and itch.io - two of the most prominent distribution platforms for PC video games - as they scrambled to comply with stricter rules mandated by payment processors such as MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal.These rules were established after a campaign by the organisation Collective Shout, which urged payment processors to stop facilitating payments to platforms hosting rape, incest and child sexual abuse-themed games". But the new rules have affected a far broader range of games - including some award-winning titles. Continue reading...

Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat are running ads and events saying their services are safe for children - with the possibility of a legal challenge

South Korean tech company will produce carmaker's next-generation semiconductors at new plant in Texas

While the future of the film franchise remains in flux, the developer of the forthcoming video game reveals how it pitched its origin story to Eon Productions, and reinvented the character for a new eraFour years after No Time to Die - the 25th 007 film and the final outing for Daniel Craig's version of the world's most famous spy - there is still no named successor to put on the tux, order a martini, or get behind the wheel of an Aston Martin. At least, not in cinemas. However, for the first time in Bond history, the world will meet a new James Bond in a video game, before a new 007 makes their debut on film.As developed by Danish studio IO Interactive for next year's 007 First Light, the new Bond is blandly handsome in a doll-like way. He is fresh-faced, with blue eyes that appear more cocksure than piercing, in contrast to the refined older Bond of most films or Craig's ruggedness - although he is clearly inspired by Craig's man-of-action approach. The implication is not that this Bond will eschew these traits but acquire them. First Light is an origin story intended to define one of the most durable protagonists in entertainment for a new generation of game-literate fans. Continue reading...

On r/openmarriageregret, users lay into bad husbands, AI girlfriends, and toxic throuples. It's very cynical - and very compelling

Students increasingly use AI chatbots for anything from academic queries to emotional quandaries. But are they missing out on the chance to make their own mistakes? Three undergrads reveal all ...Student life is hard. Making new friends is hard. Writing essays is hard. Admin is hard. Budgeting is hard. Finding out what trousers exist in the world other thanblack ones is also, apparently, hard.Fortunately, for an AI-enabled generation of students, help with the complexities of campus life is just a prompt away. Ifyouare really stuck on an essay or can't decide between management consulting or a legal career, orneed suggestions on what you can cook with tomatoes, mushrooms, beetroot, mozzarella, olive oil and rice, then ChatGPT is there. It will to listen to you,analyse your inputs, and offer up a perfectly structured paper, a convincing cover letter, oraworkablerecipe for tomato and mushroom risotto with roasted beetroot and mozzarella. Continue reading...

Shares in brands such as American Eagle and Wendy's have surged, harkening back to the GameStop craze of 2021Shares in struggling retailers and ageing consumer brands surged, as amateur traders cast aside Wall Street's skepticism and mobilized online. It's like 2021 all over again.But the latest meme-stock rally could be even bigger than its predecessor four years ago, when investors piled into recognizable but unloved stocks, such as the video games retailer GameStop and the movie theatre chain AMC, according to the founder of the Reddit forum that helped whip up the frenzy. Continue reading...

Anania Williams's viral show Gaydar quizzes guests like Zohran Mamdani and Chappell Roan on queer culture - and teaches viewers something along the wayAnania Williams is genreless. Some may know them from their comedic TikTok videos, which regularly amass hundreds of thousands of views. Others may recognize them as host of Gaydar, a viral entertainment-education show about queer culture, history and current events; an interview Williams did with the New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani did go viral, after all. There's also Williams's drag performances, including those where they opened for icons such as Chappell Roan and Bob the Drag Queen. Or their bevy of musical theater roles - Lola in Kinky Boots, Dominique in Lucky Stiffs, to name a few.For years, Williams has been launching their own creative universe. As a 25-year-old genderqueer, Black artist, Williams, who uses they/she pronouns, has used their ever-growing social media presence (more than 2.8 million followers across their social media platforms) to fashion the career of their dreams outside anyone's binaries. For their next project, Williams is set to perform in Saturday Church, a new musical at New York Theatre Workshop which opens 27 August. The play dives into the world of a sanctuary for LGBTQ+ youth. It's a feelgood musical," said Williams of the production. It's just queer, Black joy, and there's a beautiful message about it." Continue reading...

Przemysaw Dbiak, who beat OpenAI at world finals, says he may be last human to win due to incredible pace of technological progressComputers have taken the crown in chess, Go and poker, but when it comes to competitive coding, humans still have the edge - just.Przemysaw Dbiak, a Polish coder and mind sports champion, narrowly clinched a victory over OpenAI's entrant in the AtCoder World Tour Finals 2025 in Tokyo earlier this month. The elite coder, however, who goes by the online name Psyho, predicts he may be the last human to win the prestigious title given the incredible pace of technological progress. Continue reading...

The tech billionaire's retro-futuristic' drive-in and Tesla charging station has long lines, plenty of glitches - and adoring fansIt was just before lunchtime on its third day of operation, and the line outside Elon Musk's new Tesla Diner in Hollywood already stretched to nearly 100 people.The restaurant has been billed as a retro-futuristic" drive-in where you can grab a high-end burger and watch classic films on giant screens, all while charging your Tesla. Continue reading...

Chinese premier warns at global conference AI development must be weighed against security risks, urges further consensus from the entire society'Chinese premier Li Qiang has proposed establishing an organisation to foster global cooperation on artificial intelligence, calling on countries to coordinate on the development and security of the fast-evolving technology, days after the US unveiled plans to deregulate the industry.Speaking at the annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Li called AI a new engine for growth, adding that governance is fragmented and emphasising the need for more coordination between countries to form a globally recognised framework for AI. Continue reading...

This docu-drama is cleverly built around the messages intercepted by the National Crime Agency when they penetrated a chat network between criminal organisations. It's hugely revealingPolice work rarely resembles The Shield or Line of Duty. It's mostly paperwork, online training and referring people to driver offender courses. But sometimes life imitates art. In 2020, international police hacked the encrypted phone network EncroChat, used by organised crime gangs across the globe. For 74 days, they had access to every message and picture used to coordinate drug trafficking, money laundering, kidnap and murder. It was the LinkedIn of organised crime," explains Matt Horne, a former gold commander at the UK's National Crime Agency (not the actor from Gavin & Stacey).Operation Dark Phone: Murder By Text (Sunday, 9pm, Channel 4) is a documentary-drama cleverly built around these messages, which appear like screenplay dialogue across scenes. It's an arresting insight into how criminal gangs work - and just as revealing, how they talk. Sweets" are bullets, while a pineapple" is a grenade. A violent British criminal known as Live-long, lying low in Spain, organises an acid attack on a rival, in between sending pictures of his breakfast. Cucumber slices on labneh with paprika - nice. The trick, he instructs, is to stop the victim getting to a sink. Hold them down a few minutes, so the acid can do its job. Less nice. Continue reading...

Millions spent by Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and others appear to have paid off as president vows to cut red tapeDonald Trump's AI summit in Washington this week was a fanfare-filled event catered to the tech elite. The president took the stage on Wednesday evening, as the song God Bless the USA piped over the loudspeakers, and then he decreed: America must once again be a country where innovators are rewarded with a green light, not strangled with red tape, so they can't move, so they can't breathe."The message was clear - the tech regulatory environment that was once the focus of federal lawmakers is no longer. Continue reading...

After being served the same artists again and again, my tastes were narrowing - so I tried vinyl, iPods and radio to see if I could rediscover the joy of finding new music

From 25 July websites and apps will be required to protect children by filtering out harmful content and verifying agesChildren's online safety in the UK is having its seatbelt moment. On Friday social media and other internet platforms will be required to implement safety measures protecting children or face large fines.It is a significant test for the Online Safety Act, a landmark piece of legislation that covers the likes of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Google. Here is a guide to the new rules. Continue reading...

Ollie Holman created kits that mimicked charity and bank webpages so criminals could harvest victims' personal detailsA 21-year-old student who designed and distributed online kits linked to 100m worth of fraud has been jailed for seven years.Ollie Holman created phishing kits that mimicked government, bank and charity websites so that criminals could harvest victims' personal information to defraud them. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Study claims sites previously ranked first can lose 79% of traffic if results appear below Google OverviewNews companies have been warned of a devastating impact" on online audiences as search results are replaced by AI summaries, after a new study claimed it caused up to 80% fewer clickthroughs.The threat posed by Google's AI Overviews, which summarise a search result with a block of text, has rapidly risen to the top of the concerns among media owners. Some regard it as an existential threat to outlets reliant on search result traffic. Continue reading...

From foam wash to hammocks, these are the non-negotiables seasoned campers swear by - and the kit they'd happily skip The best camping mattresses for every type of adventure, testedPacking for a camping trip isn't easy, especially if you're not an experienced adventurer. Newbie campers often overpack while simultaneously leaving more useful items at home.As a lifelong city dweller, my lack of knowhow has been exposed on trips with my camping-savvy family in the US. It turns out that House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski and a medium-sized Bluetooth speaker aren't must-haves on a four-day wilderness hike. Who knew? An extra water bottle would have been a better use of that space, something I learned through a series of hardships. Continue reading...

Some are using Final Fantasy and GTA Online as dating sites and long-time lovers are finding comfort and connection through Resident Evil. Could video games be the ultimate relationship tool?Last week, Radio 4's Woman's Hour talked about the role of women in the video games industry. It featured interviews with gaming insiders, from esports presenter Frankie Ward to members of the inclusive online community Black Girl Gamers. It was wonderful to hear so many disparate, expert views on games culture being given so much time on the show.One of my favourite moments was when presenter Nuala McGovern read out some listener responses to the question: why do you play video games? I don't think there's enough recognition of gaming as an activity for couples," one replied. My husband and I bonded over our shared love of gaming. Our honeymoon was playing Borderlands 2 while we saved for a flat deposit, and now, with a young child, we explore stories, we visit new worlds, we solve mysteries ... There is an underappreciated romance to gaming - we communicate, encourage, collaborate and celebrate together. It's a joy." Continue reading...

Stephanie Dinkins challenges the racialized AI space by highlighting Black ethos and cultural cornerstonesAt the Plaza at 300 Ashland Place in downtown Brooklyn, patrons mill around a large yellow shipping container with black triangles painted on its side. A nod to the flying geese quilt pattern, which may have served as a coded message for enslaved people escaping to freedom along the Underground Railroad, the design and container serve as a bridge between the past and the future of the African diaspora. At the center of the art project by the Brooklyn-based transmedia artist Stephanie Dinkins, a large screen displays artificial intelligence (AI) generated images that showcase the diversity of the city.Commissioned by the New York-based art non-profit More Art and designed in collaboration with the architects LOT-EK, the AI laboratory If We Don't, Who Will? will be on display until 28 September. It seeks to challenge a white-dominated generative-AI space by highlighting Black ethos and cultural cornerstones. Continue reading...

Super-slim frame, improved display, enhanced camera and plenty of power give the pricey phone-tablet hybrid a major upgradeSamsung's latest flagship folding phone looks like it has been put on a diet. The result is a transformation into one of the thinnest and lightest devices available and radically changes how it handles, for the better.The Galaxy Z Fold 7 measures 8.9mm thick when shut - well within the realms of a standard smartphone if you ignore the camera bump on the back. It easily fits in a pocket but opens up to turn into a folding tablet just 4.2mm thick. Continue reading...

Sam Altman also said AI could already diagnose better than doctors, as his company expands into WashingtonDuring his latest trip to Washington, OpenAI's chief executive, Sam Altman, painted a sweeping vision of an AI-dominated future in which entire job categories disappear, presidents follow ChatGPT's recommendations and hostile nations wield artificial intelligence as a weapon of mass destruction, all while positioning his company as the indispensable architect of humanity's technological destiny.Speaking at the Capital Framework for Large Banks conference at the Federal Reserve board of governors, Altman told the crowd that certain job categories would be completely eliminated by AI advancement. Continue reading...

Select committee chair says public need to be reassured about the use of their data after major failures' in the pastMinisters are facing calls for greater transparency about public data that may be shared with the US tech company OpenAI after the government signed a wide-ranging agreement with the $300bn (222bn) company that critics compared to letting a fox into a henhouse.Chi Onwurah, the chair of the House of Commons select committee on science, innovation and technology, warned that Monday's sweeping memorandum of understanding between OpenAI's chief executive, Sam Altman, and the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, was very thin on detail" and called for guarantees that public data would remain in the UK and clarity about how much of it OpenAI would have access to. Continue reading...

Rules around lithium-ion batteries in spotlight after a portable charger caught fire on an Australian flight - but experts say risk is no higher in mid-air