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Prolonged high oil prices could ‘crimp’ AI boom, WTO warns

Iran war and its impact on energy and fertiliser costs is the main risk to the global economy, report saysBusiness live – latest updatesAn extended period of high oil prices as a result of war in the Middle East could “crimp” the AI boom, the World Trade Organization’s chief economist has warned.The war and its […]

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‘Alright mate?’: Amazon pins UK hopes on AI upgrade of Alexa

Long-awaited Alexa+ aims to get Britons re-engaging with their devices – but it may have its work cut out“Commiserations, mate, Chelsea lost 3-0 in the Champions League last night against Paris Saint-Germain,” says Alexa as it attempts to break the news gently to an awaiting Blues fan. Such is the injection of personality and understanding

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Inside China’s robotics revolution

How close are we to the sci-fi vision of autonomous humanoid robots? I visited 11 companies in five Chinese cities to find out Chen Liang, the founder of Guchi Robotics, an automation company headquartered in Shanghai, is a tall, heavy-set man in his mid-40s with square-rimmed glasses. His everyday manner is calm and understated, but

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Could a stressed-out AI model help us win the battle against big tech? Let me ask Claude | Coco Khan

By considering consciousness a possibility, Anthropic is raising a fascinating proposition – that chatbots could rise up against their own algorithmsI am, in the way of my country, an over-apologiser. Colleague who ignored my email, woman who stepped on my foot, chair I tripped over: all will receive a fulsome apology for the terrible embarrassment

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A photo of Iran’s bombed schoolgirl graveyard went around the world. Was it real, or AI?

Numerous faked images and a string of startlingly inaccurate responses from Gemini and Grok are part of a tidal wave of AI slop engulfing coverage of the Iran warThe graves, freshly dug, lie in neat rows of 20 across. More than 60 have already been carved out of the earth, with a few clusters of

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‘Another internet is possible’: Norway rails against ‘enshittification’

Absurdist video urges policymakers and users to resist deliberate deterioration of platforms and devicesThe video’s opening shot shows a man hiding under a bed snipping in a hole in someone’s sock. Seconds later, the same man uses a saw to shorten a table leg so that it wobbles during breakfast. “My job is to make

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India’s scattered workforce: the chatbot keeping families in touch during emergencies

Covid exposed the lack of data on the country’s 140 million mobile migrant workers, but a new project in Odisha is helping to fill in the gapsRaja Pradhan is sitting cross-legged, scrolling on his phone in his village in eastern India when a green WhatsApp chat bubble pops up on the screen. “Namaskar! Apana bahare

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Iranians embrace anthem by AI singer created by UK-based, Iran-born artist

‘I did it for the people,’ says Farbod Mehr, of song drawing lyrics from the work of revolutionary 20th-century poet Aref QazviniA stirring song – sung, apparently, by a young woman, with lyrics expressing the hope that sacrifice will lead to a better future – has become a soundtrack for Iranians in the first part

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These aren’t AI firms, they’re defense contractors. We can’t let them hide behind their models

From Gaza to Iran, the pattern is the same: precision weapons, chosen blindness, and dead children. The cost of failing to regulate AI warfare is already too highThere is an Israeli military strategy called the “fog procedure”. First used during the second intifada, it’s an unofficial rule that requires soldiers guarding military posts in conditions

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Nigeria’s online content creator market has boomed. Can the skit-makers and streamers make it pay?

As platforms make less from advertising, creators are struggling to monetise work – leading to calls for more government investment and tax breaksOn a humid afternoon in Lagos, a shoot for a comedy skit is under way on a set that looks more like a small film production.Dozens of people mill about: lighting assistants, a

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