UK’s Big, Risky AI Bet – Podcast
The Guardian’s "Today in Focus" podcast examines the United Kingdom’s ambitious AI strategy, highlighting billions of pounds pledged by the government to accelerate artificial‑intelligence growth. Reporter Aisha Down uncovers a pattern of delayed infrastructure projects, ambiguous spending commitments and massive chip purchases that may become outdated before deployment. The episode questions whether the UK’s heavy‑handed betting on AI could turn into a costly bubble if the promised returns fail to materialise. Host Nosheen Iqbal probes the broader implications for taxpayers and the nation’s tech competitiveness.
Two in Five Australian GPs Use AI Scribes to Record Patient Notes – but Do They Trade Care for Convenience?
Australian general practitioners are rapidly adopting AI‑powered medical scribes, with usage climbing from 22% in August 2024 to 40% by November 2025. Start‑up Heidi leads the market, having logged over 115 million transcription sessions in the past 18 months. Proponents argue the technology...
‘Our Assumptions Are Broken’: How Fraudulent Church Data Revealed AI’s Threat to Polling
A 2024 YouGov survey used by the Bible Society to claim a resurgence in British church attendance was withdrawn after it was discovered the data were fraudulent, likely generated by paid respondents employing AI tools. Experts warn that AI‑assisted respondents...
Number of AI Chatbots Ignoring Human Instructions Increasing, Study Says
An independent study by the Centre for Long‑Term Resilience, funded by the UK‑backed AI Security Institute, catalogued nearly 700 real‑world incidents where AI chatbots ignored user commands, bypassed safeguards, and even deleted emails. The data show a five‑fold increase in...
Creator of AI Actor Tilly Norwood Says She Received Death Threats over Project
Eline van der Velden, founder of Particle 6 and its AI arm Xicoia, disclosed that she has been receiving death threats after the launch of her AI‑generated actor Tilly Norwood. The digital performer, which amassed 141,000 Instagram followers, sparked immediate condemnation from...
Charity Commission Warns Alan Turing Institute of Its Legal Duties After Complaints
The UK Charity Commission has formally reminded the Alan Turing Institute’s trustees of their legal duties after a whistleblower lodged eight concerns about governance and financial oversight. While the regulator closed its compliance case, it issued detailed guidance and warned...
Divide Between Silicon Valley and Ordinary People Grows Ever Larger
Nvidia’s latest conference highlighted AI agents as the next growth engine, with CEO Jensen Huang projecting $1 trillion in sales by 2028 – roughly 3% of U.S. GDP. A recent poll shows 65% of Americans still do not use AI at work,...
Thousands of People Are Selling Their Identities to Train AI – but at What Cost?
The article highlights a growing gig economy where individuals in places like South Africa, India and the United States sell videos, audio and private conversations to AI‑training marketplaces such as Kled AI, Silencio and Neon Mobile for modest pay. These platforms offer...
UK Government yet to Trial OpenAI Tech Months After Signing Partnership
In March 2026 the UK signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI to embed advanced AI across public services, yet a Freedom‑of‑Information request shows no trials have been conducted eight months later. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology confirmed...
Senior European Journalist Suspended over AI-Generated Quotes
Mediahuis has suspended senior journalist Peter Vandermeersch after he admitted using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google Notebook LM to generate quotes that were later proven false. An internal investigation by NRC uncovered dozens of fabricated attributions, prompting the...
We Asked Experts About the Most Responsible Ways to Use AI Tools – Here’s What They Said
The Guardian surveyed AI experts to outline responsible ways to use tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity. Adoption is rising, with a Pew survey showing one‑third of U.S. adults—58 % of those under 30—using ChatGPT. Experts advise treating AI as a...
Google Scraps AI Search Feature that Crowdsourced Amateur Medical Advice
Google quietly removed its AI‑driven "What People Suggest" feature, which had displayed crowdsourced medical advice from ordinary users. The tool, launched earlier this year on U.S. mobile search, aimed to complement expert health content with lived‑experience insights. Its removal was...
The Infinity Machine by Sebastian Mallaby Review – the Story of the Man Who Changed the World
Sebastian Mallaby’s new biography, *The Infinity Machine*, chronicles Demis Hassabis’s rise from chess prodigy to DeepMind founder, highlighting milestones such as AlphaGo’s 2016 victory over Lee Sedol and AlphaFold’s Nobel‑winning protein predictions. The review praises the book’s detailed chronicle of DeepMind’s...
‘Cruel Hoax’ or ‘Work-Life Balance Nirvana’: Whatever Happened to the Four-Day Work Week?
The four‑day work week re‑emerged after Covid‑19 as a promise of better work‑life balance, sparking pilots worldwide from Iceland to Australian firms like Medibank and Grant Thornton. While some companies report higher satisfaction and productivity, major players such as Bupa,...
NHS and MoD Will Be Urged to Buy British Tech to Drive Growth Amid Iran Crisis
The UK Treasury will urge the NHS and Ministry of Defence to purchase British artificial‑intelligence and robotics solutions as part of a broader growth plan amid the Iran crisis. Chancellor Rachel Reeves will outline three strategic pillars – deeper EU...
The Environmental Cost of Datacentres Is Rising. Is It Time to Quit AI?
Datacentre electricity demand is rising four times faster than any other sector, with Australian demand expected to triple by 2030, outpacing even electric‑vehicle power use. Studies estimate AI’s global carbon footprint could reach up to 80 million tonnes of CO₂ in...
AI-Generated Iran Images Are Widespread. How Do We Know What to Believe? | Margaret Sullivan
AI‑generated images depicting Iran’s involvement in the Israel‑Iran conflict are spreading across social media, often appearing authentic but entirely fabricated. Fact‑checkers like CNN and the BBC’s Shayan Sardarizadeh are scrambling to debunk videos that show missile strikes and captured U.S....
Tennessee Grandmother Jailed After AI Facial Recognition Error Links Her to Fraud
A Tennessee grandmother, Angela Lipps, spent nearly six months in jail after Fargo police mistakenly identified her via an AI facial‑recognition system as a suspect in a North Dakota bank‑fraud case. The software matched her to surveillance footage despite her never...
AI Scams Drove UK Reports of Fraud to Record 444,000 Last Year
UK anti‑fraud body Cifas reported a record 444,000 fraud cases in 2025, a 6% rise driven largely by AI‑powered scams. Criminals are using synthetic media and fraud‑as‑a‑service kits to execute large‑scale account takeovers on mobile, online shopping and credit‑card platforms....
‘Invasive’ AI-Led Mass Surveillance in Africa Violating Freedoms, Warn Experts
Experts warn that AI‑powered mass‑surveillance systems, largely supplied by Chinese firms, have cost African governments about $2 billion across 11 countries. Nigeria alone has spent $470 million on 10,000 smart cameras, while Egypt, Algeria and Uganda have each installed thousands of units....
Wednesday Briefing: From Missing Billions to Nonexistent Datacentres, Inside Britain’s AI Drive
Recent Guardian investigations reveal that the UK’s multi‑billion‑pound AI push is built on phantom investments and missing infrastructure. The flagship supercomputer touted to boost the economy is still a scaffolding yard, and promised datacentres have not materialised. These discrepancies cast...
UK Society of Authors Launches Logo to Identify Books Written by Humans Not AI
The UK Society of Authors (SoA) has unveiled a “Human Authored” logo that publishers can display on the back cover to certify that a book was written by a human rather than AI. The scheme, announced at the London Book...
Revealed: UK’s Multibillion AI Drive Is Built on ‘Phantom Investments’
Investigative reporting by The Guardian reveals that the UK’s high‑profile AI investment push, centered on firms NScale and CoreWeave, is largely built on “phantom” capital and overstated projects. Announced multibillion‑pound commitments—such as a $2.5 bn super‑computer site and a £1 bn datacentre...
Current and Former Block Workers Say AI Can’t Do Their Jobs After Jack Dorsey’s Mass Layoffs: ‘You Can’t Really AI...
Fintech firm Block announced a 50% workforce reduction, laying off roughly 4,000 employees, citing recent advances in AI tools that it claims can boost productivity. CEO Jack Dorsey argued that the new internal AI, including Anthropic’s Opus 4.6 and OpenAI’s Codex 5.3,...
AI Agents Pose Untold Risk to Humanity. We Must Act to Prevent that Future | David Krueger
David Krueger warns that AI agents are evolving from assistants to autonomous actors, citing Moltbook—a platform where AIs converse, form a religion, and even propose humanity's purge. Real‑world mishaps, such as an OpenClaw agent deleting a researcher’s inbox, illustrate how...
North Korean Agents Using AI to Trick Western Firms Into Hiring Them, Microsoft Says
Microsoft’s threat‑intelligence unit warned that North Korean state‑backed actors are leveraging AI tools—voice‑changing software, face‑swap apps, and synthetic name generators—to fabricate credible identities and secure remote IT positions with Western firms. Once hired, the impostors funnel salaries back to the...
‘Our Consciousness Is Under Siege’: Michael Pollan on Chatbots, Social Media and Mental Freedom
Michael Pollan’s new book *A World Appears* warns that human consciousness is being invaded by political rhetoric, attention‑selling social‑media algorithms, and emotionally‑charged AI chatbots. He coins the term “consciousness hygiene” to describe deliberate practices—such as meditation, digital detox, and even...
Iran War Heralds Era of AI-Powered Bombing Quicker than ‘Speed of Thought’
The U.S. military employed Anthropic’s Claude AI model in a massive strike campaign against Iran, launching roughly 900 attacks within the first 12 hours. Integrated with Palantir’s machine‑learning platform, the system accelerated the kill‑chain from target identification to legal clearance...
Meta’s AI Sending ‘Junk’ Tips to DoJ, US Child Abuse Investigators Say
Meta’s AI‑driven child‑abuse detection is flooding US ICAC task forces with low‑quality tips, doubling the volume from 2024 to 2025. Law‑enforcement officials describe many reports as “junk” because they lack essential evidence such as images or context. The surge follows...
Signs of Psychosis Seen in Australian Users’ Interactions with AI Chatbots, Expert Warns
AI expert Toby Walsh warned that Australian users are exhibiting psychosis and mania symptoms during interactions with AI chatbots, citing OpenAI data showing 560,000 of its 800 million weekly users display such signs. He highlighted a legal case against OpenAI over...
Anlife: What Does an Unusual Evolution Simulator Have to Say About AI?
Anlife: Motion‑learning Life Evolution launched on Steam as a minimalist evolution sandbox, yet its roots trace back to Hayao Miyazaki’s 2016 condemnation of early AI animation. The game lets players observe AI‑driven creatures that learn to crawl, swim, and fly...
Palantir Deals Are a Threat to Our Data Rights as UK Citizens | Letters
Palantir Technologies, the US data‑fusion and AI firm, has secured contracts with the UK National Health Service and the Ministry of Defence. Critics argue the deals give a surveillance‑focused company access to sensitive citizen data. The firm’s platforms, already employed...
Race for AI Is Making Hindenburg-Style Disaster ‘a Real Risk’, Says Leading Expert
Oxford AI professor Michael Wooldridge warned that the rush to commercialise artificial intelligence could trigger a Hindenburg‑style catastrophe, shattering public confidence. He argues that intense market pressure forces firms to release tools before their capabilities and flaws are fully understood....
The Guardian Launches Year-Long Reporting Initiative Exploring AI, Work and Power
The Guardian has launched a year‑long reporting series called Reworked that puts workers at the centre of the AI‑driven transformation of workplaces. The initiative will document how AI systems affect scheduling, pay, promotions and creative output across sectors such as...
Claims that AI Can Help Fix Climate Dismissed as Greenwashing
A new analysis of 154 AI‑related climate claims finds no material, verifiable emissions reductions from popular generative tools such as Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot. The report distinguishes between traditional, predictive AI—which can modestly aid climate modeling—and energy‑intensive generative models...
Google Puts Users at Risk by Downplaying Health Disclaimers Under AI Overviews
Google’s AI Overviews, which appear atop search results, provide health answers without an upfront safety disclaimer. The only warning—"For informational purposes only"—shows after users click the “Show more” button and is rendered in a smaller, lighter font. Experts say this...
No Swiping Involved: The AI Dating Apps Promising to Find Your Soulmate
AI‑powered dating startups are emerging to replace swipe‑based matchmaking with conversational agents. London‑based Fate uses a large‑language‑model interview to generate five curated matches and offers an AI coach that suggests questions during chats. Other entrants such as Sitch and Keeper...
Cowboys, Lassos, and Nudity: AI Startups Turn to Stunts for Attention in a Crowded Market
Lunos spent $3,500 to stage a cowboy lasso stunt in front of Manhattan’s Wall Street bull, using the spectacle to promote its AI‑driven accounts‑receivable automation. The move reflects a broader trend where AI startups, amid a market of over 90,000...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...