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News•Feb 10, 2026
Concerns ‘AI Slop’ Used by Sydney University-Based Institute to Lobby for $20m Gambling Education Funding
The University of Sydney’s OurFutures Institute submitted a "Youth Gambling in Australia Evidence Review" to support a $20 million funding request for a school‑based gambling‑prevention program. Senator David Pocock flagged the report as riddled with AI‑generated errors, including 21 broken or non‑existent references and fabricated study findings. The institute blamed an "editing tool" for mismatched citations but did not disclose that program director Prof Sally Gainsbury receives funding from major gambling operators. The controversy has sparked calls for stricter regulation of gambling advertising and greater scrutiny of evidence used in policy making.
By The Guardian AI
News•Feb 7, 2026
AI Analysis Casts Doubt on Van Eyck Paintings in Italian and US Museums
Artificial‑intelligence analysis by Swiss firm Art Recognition has cast doubt on two unsigned works attributed to Jan van Eyck in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Royal Museums of Turin, reporting 91% and 86% negative likelihoods that they were painted by...
By The Guardian AI
News•Feb 4, 2026
Mandelson’s Links with US Tech Firm Palantir Must Be Fully Exposed, Campaigners Warn
Former Labour minister Peter Mandelson’s ties to US data‑analytics firm Palantir are under intense scrutiny after campaigners demanded full disclosure of his role in securing UK government contracts. Palantir, valued at $300 bn, holds more than £500 m in UK deals, including...
By The Guardian AI
News•Feb 4, 2026
Women in Tech and Finance at Higher Risk From AI Job Losses, Report Says
Women in technology and financial services face a higher risk of AI‑driven job loss than men, according to a City of London Corporation report. The study highlights that rigid, often automated CV screening sidelines mid‑career women, especially those with career...
By The Guardian AI
News•Feb 3, 2026
Anthropic’s Launch of AI Legal Tool Hits Shares in European Data Companies
Anthropic unveiled an AI‑powered legal‑automation plugin that can review contracts, triage NDAs, and streamline compliance workflows. The announcement sent European data‑centric stocks tumbling, with Relx down 14%, Pearson 4%, Sage 5.5% and Wolters Kluwer 10.5%. The broader market reacted sharply, pulling...
By The Guardian AI
News•Feb 3, 2026
Barnsley Rebranded UK’s First ‘Tech Town’ as US Giants Join AI Push
Barnsley has been rebranded as the UK’s first AI‑focused “tech town,” with the Labour‑led council partnering with US giants Microsoft, Google, Cisco and Adobe to embed artificial intelligence in schools, hospitals, businesses and municipal services. The council already uses AI...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 30, 2026
Abusers Using AI and Digital Tech to Attack and Control Women, Charity Warns
Domestic‑abuse charity Refuge reports a sharp rise in technology‑enabled abuse, with a 62% increase in complex cases amounting to 829 women in Q4 2025. Referrals of victims under 30 grew 24%, highlighting younger women’s vulnerability to smart‑device stalking. Perpetrators are exploiting...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 30, 2026
AI-Generated News Should Carry ‘Nutrition’ Labels, Thinktank Says
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) calls for AI‑generated news to carry standardized “nutrition” labels that disclose the sources used, and for a UK licensing regime that forces tech firms to pay publishers for content. The think‑tank argues AI...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 29, 2026
AI Use in Breast Cancer Screening Cuts Rate of Later Diagnosis by 12%, Study Finds
A Swedish trial of 100,000 women showed that AI‑supported mammography cut later‑stage breast cancer diagnoses by 12% and boosted early detection to 81% of cases. The AI system triaged low‑risk scans to a single radiologist and flagged high‑risk scans for...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 29, 2026
The Slopaganda Era: 10 AI Images Posted by the White House - and What They Teach Us
The White House has posted ten AI‑generated images that parody political figures, a practice scholars label “slopaganda.” These visuals combine low‑effort AI tools with overt trolling, blurring the line between official communication and internet meme culture. The Trump administration’s embrace...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 28, 2026
Microsoft Shrugs Off AI Bubble Fears Again with Strong Financial Results
Microsoft reported second‑quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of $81.27 bn, topping the $80.32 bn consensus, and earnings of $4.14 per share versus $3.92 expectations. Azure cloud revenue grew 39% year‑over‑year, keeping the AI‑driven cloud segment robust despite a slight slowdown in overall cloud...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 28, 2026
Copyrighted Art, Mobile Phones, Greenland: Welcome to Our Age of Shameless Theft | Jonathan Liew
Jonathan Liew argues that today’s digital ecosystem normalises petty theft, from copied articles to AI models trained on scraped copyrighted material. He links this cultural shift to broader power imbalances, noting how platforms and political actors profit while creators receive...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 28, 2026
‘This Train Isn’t Going to Stop’: Shocking Sundance Film Shows Promises and Perils of AI
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist premiered at Sundance, featuring AI luminaries such as Sam Altman, Yoshua Bengio and Elon Musk while probing whether the technology poses existential risk or unprecedented opportunity. Director Daniel Roher frames the...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 27, 2026
UK Ministers Accept $1m From Meta Amid Social Media Ban Consultation
UK ministers have accepted a $1 million (£728,000) contribution from Meta to fund four British AI experts through the Alan Turing Institute, targeting defence, national security and transport applications. The payment coincides with a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology consultation...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 27, 2026
Most Young Adults in UK Are Anxious About Jobs and the Economy, Research Suggests
A YouGov survey commissioned by the King’s Trust reveals that 73% of UK teens and young adults are anxious about starting their careers amid a weak job market. Anxiety is heightened by concerns over artificial intelligence, with 59% fearing AI...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 26, 2026
AI Systems Could Use Met Office and National Archives Data Under UK Plans
The UK government is funding pilots that let AI systems tap into Met Office climate data and legal records from the National Archives. A broader initiative will license digitised content from cultural institutions through a new creative content exchange marketplace....
By The Guardian AI
Deals•Jan 26, 2026
Synthesia Raises $200M in Latest Funding Round, Valuation Jumps to $4B
UK AI startup Synthesia announced a $200 million funding round led by existing investor Google Ventures, valuing the company at $4 billion. The round boosts the firm, which counts 70 % of the FTSE 100 among its clients, and supports its expansion of realistic...
The Guardian AI
News•Jan 25, 2026
We Must Not Let AI ‘Pull the Doctor Out of the Visit’ for Low-Income Patients | Leah Goodridge and Oni...
Akido Labs is piloting AI‑driven clinics for unhoused and low‑income patients in Southern California, where medical assistants rely on an algorithm to generate diagnoses that doctors later review. The move reflects a broader surge in generative AI tools across U.S....
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 24, 2026
Google AI Overviews Cite YouTube More than Any Medical Site for Health Queries, Study Suggests
Google’s AI‑driven search feature, Overviews, cites YouTube more often than any dedicated medical website when answering health‑related queries, according to a study of 50,807 German‑language searches. YouTube accounts for 4.43% of all citations, while traditional sources such as the CDC,...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 24, 2026
Latest ChatGPT Model Uses Elon Musk’s Grokipedia as Source, Tests Reveal
The Guardian’s testing shows OpenAI’s newest ChatGPT model, GPT‑5.2, repeatedly cites Elon Musk’s AI‑generated encyclopedia Grokipedia, a platform criticized for right‑wing disinformation. In over a dozen queries, the model referenced Grokipedia nine times on topics such as Iranian conglomerates and...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 22, 2026
Government Admits Its Approval for Buckinghamshire AI Datacentre Should Be Quashed
The UK government has conceded that its planning approval for a 72,000‑square‑metre AI datacentre in Buckinghamshire was flawed because it failed to assess climate impacts. Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner had overruled local opposition to fast‑track the project, promising £1 billion...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 22, 2026
Children Need Protecting From Social Media – and Generative AI | Letters
The UK government is consulting on a ban on social‑media use for under‑16s, reflecting growing concern over digital harms. Oxford’s Neurosec team argues that the inquiry must also address children’s access to generative AI, which is increasingly embedded in education...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 21, 2026
My Friends in Italy Are Using AI Therapists. But Is that so Bad, when a Stigma Surrounds Mental Health? |...
Italian users are turning to AI‑driven chatbots as mental‑health therapists amid chronic stigma and costly traditional care. A 2025 survey shows 81 % view mental illness as weakness and 57 % cite expense as the main barrier, while Italy invests the least...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 20, 2026
UK Exposed to ‘Serious Harm’ by Failure to Tackle AI Risks, MPs Warn
A Treasury committee report warns that the UK financial system faces "serious harm" because regulators have taken a wait‑and‑see stance on artificial intelligence. More than three‑quarters of banks, insurers and other City firms already use AI for tasks ranging from...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 19, 2026
Is This Man the Future of Music – or Its Executioner? AI Evangelist Mikey Shulman Says He’s Making Pop, Not...
Suno, a generative‑AI music startup founded two years ago, lets users create full songs from text prompts and recently secured a $250 million funding round, lifting its valuation to $2.45 billion. The company faces lawsuits from the RIAA and Germany’s GEMA, accusing...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 17, 2026
Tech Companies’ Access to UK Ministers Dwarfs that of Child Safety Groups
A Guardian investigation reveals that major US tech firms have met UK ministers far more frequently than child‑safety and copyright groups. Google recorded over 100 ministerial meetings, and the sector as a whole logged 639 meetings in the two years...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 17, 2026
My Picture Was Used in Child Abuse Images. AI Is Putting Others Through My Nightmare | Mara Wilson
Mara Wilson, a former child actor, recounts how her childhood images were weaponized in child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and warns that generative AI has amplified this threat. Recent reports show AI tools like X’s Grok being used to create...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 16, 2026
Partly AI-Generated Folk-Pop Hit Barred From Sweden’s Official Charts
Swedish trade body IFPI Sweden removed the folk‑pop track “I know, you’re not mine” from the official Sverigetopplistan chart after confirming the artist Jacub is partially AI‑generated. The song, part of the EP Kärleken är Bränd, has amassed over 5 million global...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 16, 2026
Elon Musk’s xAI Datacenter Generating Extra Electricity Illegally, Regulator Rules
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ruled that Elon Musk’s xAI illegally operated dozens of methane‑gas turbines at its Colossus 1 and 2 data centres in Tennessee and Mississippi, rejecting the company’s claim of a temporary‑use exemption. The turbines, used to supply extra...
By The Guardian AI
News•Jan 15, 2026
AI as a Life Coach: Experts Share What Works, What Doesn’t and What to Look Out For
AI chatbots are increasingly used as personal life coaches, with users turning to tools like ChatGPT for goal‑setting and self‑reflection. Experts highlight that while large language models can scaffold ideas and synthesize personal data, they also carry cultural biases and...
By The Guardian AI
Deals•Dec 18, 2025
Trump Media to Merge with TAE Technologies in $6B Deal
Trump Media and Technology Group announced a $6 billion merger with fusion‑power firm TAE Technologies, creating a 50‑50 combined entity aimed at powering AI‑driven data centers. The deal, unveiled on Dec 18 2025, targets completion in mid‑2026.
The Guardian AI