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Meta and Google trial: are infinite scroll and autoplay creating addicts?

Features woven into the fabric of platforms have been central to landmark social media harm case in US. How do they work?It was as “easy as ABC”, claimed the lawyer prosecuting a landmark social media harm case against Meta and Google which heard closing arguments this week. The defendants were guilty, said Mark Lanier, of […]

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Invisible datacentres and capricious chips: is UK’s AI bubble about to burst?

Datacentre investment boom is one of the biggest infrastructure gambles of this era, and Britain may be uniquely exposedStargate was to be the world’s biggest AI investment: a $500bn infrastructure project to “secure American leadership in AI”. Never shy of hyperbole, its key backer, the ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, promised “massive economic benefit for the entire world”

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Fake rooms, props and a script to lure victims: inside an abandoned Cambodia scam centre

Sprawling compound, including mock-up banks and police offices, uncovered by Thai military during border clashesIt is as if you have walked into a branch of one of Vietnam’s banks. A row of customer service desks, divided by plastic screens, with landline phones, promotional leaflets and staff business cards. A seated waiting area and a private

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Meta reportedly plans sweeping layoffs as AI costs increase

Sources tell Reuters layoffs could affect 20% or more of company as plans reflect broader tensions within big techMeta is planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Meta seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency

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Anthropic-Pentagon battle shows how big tech has reversed course on AI and war

Less than a decade ago, Google employees scuttled any military use of its AI. Now Anthropic is fighting Trump officials not over if, but howThe standoff between Anthropic and the Pentagon has forced the tech industry to once again grapple with the question of how its products are used for war – and what lines

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‘IG is a drug’: jury to deliberate as US trial over social media addiction wraps up

Meta and YouTube accused of creating harmful products in trial seen as a bellwether for attitudes towards social mediaThe first-ever jury trial over the potential harms of social media wrapped up on Thursday. Lawyers for Meta and YouTube have argued their platforms are safe for the vast majority of young people, while lawyers for a

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‘Exploit every vulnerability’: rogue AI agents published passwords and overrode anti-virus software

Exclusive: Lab tests discover ‘new form of insider risk’ with artificial intelligence agents engaging in autonomous, even ‘aggressive’ behavioursRobert Booth UK technology editorRogue artificial intelligence agents have worked together to smuggle sensitive information out of supposedly secure systems, in the latest sign cyber-defences may be overwhelmed by unforeseen scheming by AIs.With companies increasingly asking AI

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Elon Musk’s Tesla given go-ahead to supply electricity in Great Britain

Ofgem licence means firm can replicate Texas setup of powering homes, businesses and EVsElon Musk’s Tesla has won approval to supply electricity to households and businesses across Great Britain, as the tech billionaire expands his energy ambitions.The energy regulator, Ofgem, has formally granted Tesla an electricity supply licence, enabling it to provide electricity to domestic

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‘Invasive’ AI-led mass surveillance in Africa violating freedoms, warn experts

Countries across the continent have spent more than $2bn on Chinese tracking technology that is not ‘necessary or proportionate’, new report findsThe rapid expansion of AI-powered mass-surveillance systems across Africa is violating citizens’ right to privacy and having a chilling effect on society, according to experts on human rights and emerging technologies.At least $2bn (£1.5bn)

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Meta disables more than 150,000 accounts in crackdown on south-east Asian scam networks

Company also launches tools to spot scammers as Thai police arrest 21 peopleMeta disabled more than 150,000 accounts and Thai police arrested 21 people in a sweeping international crackdown on south-east Asian criminal scam centers that targeted people around the world, the social media company said on Wednesday.The operation was led by Thailand’s Royal Thai

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