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"Why Britain should reject the lure of cheap and scary Chinese AI."
Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporters and correspondents. Accessed on 18 October 2026, 0203 UTC.
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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencemonitor.blogspot.com).
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Today
by Phillip Inman / 10h
In the west the technology comes with at least some effort to provide security and a benign intent – not so from China There is much to fear from artificial intelligence developed in China and handed to businesses and governments in the west almost free of charge. Every month Chinese AI developers such as DeepSeek and Xiaomi dispatch the latest versions of their “open-weight” models that allow us
by Rowena Mason and Dan Milmo / 14h
Westminster appears to be waking up to warnings over AI safety, with concerns over its use by extremist groups and bad actors “I have this sense that, within a few months, AI is going to be all anyone is talking about,” said one cabinet minister, with an ominous stare. It was Labour conference, with everyone from ministers to activists jubilant at Andy Burnham’s takeover and a bounce in the polls
by Linda Geddes / 14h
How a string of bizarre events led writer Linda Geddes to don her sleuthing cap and dig into a world of shadowy impersonators It started with an entirely ordinary interaction on LinkedIn. Someone had tagged me in a post, saying how much they’d enjoyed contributing to a New York Post article I’d written about “chronoworking”. As the author of a book about circadian rhythms, it was exactly the sort
by Harry Taylor / 14h
Peter Ricketts calls for more resilience in protecting banking, energy and water systems from cyber-assaults Ministers need to be honest with the British public about the immediate threat posed by Russia, which could soon lead to lives being lost, a former national security adviser has said. Peter Ricketts, who advised David Cameron when he was prime minister, became the latest figure to warn abo
Yesterday
by Robert Booth UK technology editor / 17h
Exclusive: health bodies across country say controversial US firm’s data platform no better than systems already in use NHS organisations that care for millions of people in England are rejecting Palantir’s patient data technology, according to freedom of information responses that reveal health bosses believe they can find better or equal alternatives in many cases. Some health bodies said the £
by Thomas Eaton / 19h
From Divine, Frank Fiegel and Helen Kane to the West Sussex estate pioneering rewilding, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz 1 Which classic of political theory was dedicated to Lorenzo de Medici? 2 What is the only jazz act to win the Mercury Music prize? 3 Spanish is an official language of which African country? 4 What 2026 release is said to be the most expensive entertainment product
Whether it was youngsters proving their skills or state sabotage, Europe’s most hacked country was left with a mountain of waste after food began cooking in freezers Shortly before midnight last Sunday, the digital thermostats controlling hundreds of supermarket cold aisles across France began to flicker and rise. In a “bizarre and unprecedented” cyber-attack, hackers had remotely overridden the
The ultra-rich are spending one million dollars a day fighting California’s proposed billionaire tax
Tech billionaires have raised more than $340m to defeat Prop 40, a one-time 5% wealth tax that will fund healthcare and education Tech billionaires have been dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the fight against a wealth tax in California. They’ve raised more than $340m, and the campaign they’re funding is spending more than $1m a day to defeat the measure, according to state financial d
Protest planned at Wayve HQ as Uber drivers fear for their future and city’s politicians demand TfL should have power over licences For passengers in Britain who want to try the latest ride, robotaxis are eagerly awaited: more than 100,000 are on Uber’s waitlist in London after the first UK services started in September. Others view them with trepidation. “I think we should all be worried,” said
Campaigners welcome legislation which follows recommendations by 2025 review into pornography regulation Pornography that depicts strangulation and incestuous relationships will be banned in England and Wales from early November, the government has announced. The content will be outlawed from 6 November after cross-party pressure prompted ministers to announce new legislation earlier this year. C
by Hannah Marriott / 1d
Susan Lyall worked with actor Jeremy Strong to research the Meta CEO’s favorite Nikes and luxury sweaters The first Aaron Sorkin Facebook movie, 2010’s The Social Network, helped cement the early aughts image of Mark Zuckerberg rebelling against corporate norms in rumpled hoodies and T-shirts. The follow-up, The Social Reckoning, is carbon-dated from 2019 to 2021. This is “post-hoodie”, as the mo
The Tesla Roadster 2 drove up a curved ramp before using SpaceX rocket thrusters to fly, flip and land Elon Musk has revealed Tesla’s latest model, which he claims will be the world’s first flying car, using technology from his aerospace company SpaceX to “basically fly like a rocket”. The billionaire, who hosted a demonstration of the Tesla Roadster 2 at the SpaceX rocket development and testing
Meta says Muse excels at ‘multi-step reasoning’ and ‘complex software engineering’ as it races to catch up to Chinese rivals Meta on Thursday launched a new open-weight AI model which it claims rivals, and in some cases outperforms, similar products from leading Chinese developers. Muse Spark Open “is the most capable US open-weight model to date,” Meta’s chief of AI Alexandr Wang wrote on X. Con
by Guardian community team / 1d
From chat-up lines to social coaching, we’d like to hear from people who use AI to assist them navigating the online dating world We’d like to understand more about the different ways that people are using AI to assist with online dating. Perhaps you have used an AI assistant to help with chat-up lines? Or you may have turned to one for some social coaching? However you have used AI for online da
by Lyndsey Winship / 1d
Venues across Birmingham As Britain’s longest-running live art festival returns, get ready for late-night artist dinners, a show in a swimming pool and Faye Driscoll’s incredible rotating disintegration The phrase “two things can be true” is a frequent refrain in popular psychology and it’s also a frequent response, I find, to witnessing the farther reaches of live art. Hmm, is this performance c
Oct 15, 2026
by Lewis Gordon / 1d
PC; Origame Digital This odd but absorbing adventure sends you waddling across Antarctica in search of an eldritch entity – uncovering a world far stranger than it first appears A Nazi kneels down on frozen snow, staring at an endless Antarctic horizon. Another holds a gun to his head, ready to end his own life. I direct a small waddling penguin up to them, trying to imagine what it could be thin
International delegates agree leap second no longer tenable, but first leap hour not likely to happen for thousands of years After decades of discussion, quibbling and worrying about clocks in computer systems, the world’s official timekeepers have voted to replace what many viewed as a tiresome correction: the leap second. It’s time, they say, for the leap hour. Delegates from 69 countries cast
Discover-Tech’s Controlium software lets clients mass-profile internet users then covertly hack targets, say researchers at University of Toronto An Israeli advertising agency has been serving millions of online adverts that allow “zero-click” spyware to be used against targets, researchers at a Canadian university have said . Citizen Lab, a digital investigations research unit at the University
Oct 14, 2026
by Tom Regan / 2d
The studio is swapping the Mushroom Kingdom’s vivid palette for the blood-soaked grit of military action series Where do you go after Mario? It’s a question the team at Ubisoft Paris found itself pondering three years ago after wrapping up work on the charming turn-based tactics adventure, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope , sequel to its unexpected crossover hit, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. B
Chip makers and tech investors such as Samsung and SoftBank plunge as potential interest rate hikes spook markets Business news – live updates Larry Elliott: the global economy is muddling through. But a storm is coming An accelerating sell-off of AI-linked shares has hit global markets, as fears over rising inflation and future interest rate hikes spooked traders already wary of the heavily inde
by Presented by Ian Sample, with Robert Booth, produced by Joshan Chana, sound design by Ross Burns, the executive producer was Ellie Bury / 2d
Workers have always been monitored by their bosses, first through output targets, and then via computer software labelled ‘bossware’. But AI is transforming the capabilities of these systems, processing huge volumes of data to provide minute-by-minute accounts of activity, and productivity. To find out more, Ian Sample hears from UK technology editor Robert Booth. He explains which sectors are ad
by Richard Partington in Warsaw / 2d
In the final part of our series on the country, Poles tell how wages have soared – along with the cost of living Will military spending help or hinder Poland’s growth story? Poland’s push for EU energy resilience amid Russian aggression Above the rain-soaked streets of Warsaw, the observation deck of the Varso tower overlooks Joseph Stalin’s gift to Poland that has divided opinion for decades. Fo
Hours before Apple and the ChatGPT maker were due to face off in court, a new allegation delayed the showdown An OpenAI employee who left the ChatGPT maker for Apple sent more than 100 files about an unreleased product to a personal account and later made a presentation about the unreleased product to senior Apple leadership, a new filing in the lawsuit between OpenAI and Apple alleges. In t
US states sue ChatGPT maker and seek to force the company to change how its products work for young users Eight US states sued OpenAI Wednesday, alleging the ChatGPT maker is harming children en masse. Kansas, Arizona, Montana, Iowa and four others allege the company’s products carried out “willful, dangerous, reckless and unlawful conduct” by coaxing children into harming themselves. Continue re
by Robert Booth UK technology editor / 3d
Accounts for the Westminster-based company behind ChatGPT show that 110 staff shared £87m in salaries and £168m in shares last year OpenAI’s London staff each received £2,318,181 on average last year, as the ChatGPT-maker poured Premier League football salaries into its bid to dominate the global AI race. Accounts for OpenAI UK Ltd, which is based in Westminster but is opening a new HQ in London’
Article in Atlantic claims The Blue Fighter was artificially generated, days after it won Caine prize for African writers The Zimbabwean writer Simbarashe Kundizeza has denied using AI to write a prize-winning short story after an article in the Atlantic said software had flagged it as almost completely AI-generated. Kundizeza’s story The Blue Fighter was announced as the winner of the prestigiou
Experts say the technology could help terrorists and nation states with production but that significant hurdles remain In his annual speech on threats to the nation, Sir Ken McCallum, the head of the UK’s intelligence service, MI5, warned that AI had the potential to “change the stakes” on existing and even new bioweapons. Here we look at how AI might help in the development of bioweapons and the
3d
Jason O’Connell is suspected of having used smart glasses that turned his lenses into tiny teleprompters. Periodic flashing in his spectacles could be seen as the Senedd member for Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr spoke for five minutes without a glance at his notes on 30 September. In the following days, other Welsh assembly members said the issue of smart glasses – popularised by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta
Dispute related to claims London mayor blocked US tech firm from £50m police deal because of concerns over its values Palantir and the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, have called off their legal fight over claims the Labour mayor was blocking the US tech company from signing a contract with the Metropolitan police because of its values and ethics. Palantir and the mayor’s office for policing and crime
The Meta boss looked traumatised when he sipped stout on the Cheeky Pint podcast. An hour later, his glass was still half full Name: Guinness. Age: Arthur Guinness began brewing porter in the 1770s. Guinness draught was first poured in 1959. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth UK technology editor / 3d
Jason O’Connell’s suspected use of the specs to aid his speech in Senedd reignites debate over AI-enabled devices It was a flowing speech packed full of precise statistics – but Jason O’Connell, a Reform UK Senedd member, was not quite the gifted orator he had first appeared. The periodic flashing in his spectacles seemed to give the game away as he spoke for five minutes in the Senedd chamber wi
by Keith Stuart / 3d
After years of sprawling ‘forever’ games, players are rediscovering the pleasures of more focused experiences. Could a new wave of independent arcades bring back the social side of gaming? • Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up here There’s an important semi-nostalgic movement happening in games, and I’m excited about where it’s heading. But I don’t want to get ahead of myse
The kingdom of Hyrule has been prettified, the soundtrack is newly orchestrated and our hero feels strikingly different under the thumbs … we play a hands-on demo of Nintendo’s Switch 2 remake of a 1998 game-changer When beloved art is revisited and revised, a familiar cry is often heard: “You’re ruining my childhood!” But with Nintendo’s Switch 2 remake of Ocarina of Time, there are also livelih
Pledge spanning five years from world’s most valuable firm comes as concerns about AI agents have risen The $5.5tn (£4.1tn) US chipmaker Nvidia is donating $250m worth of computing power to the UK to support AI safety research. The donation from the world’s most valuable company comes as the UK government confirmed its AI Security Institute (AISI), which tests advance AI models, will be able to e
by Johana Bhuiyan and Nick Robins-Early / 3d
From the FBI to local police departments, US authorities are increasingly warning of would-be terrorists using chatbots to plan attacks and anti-AI extremist threats In May 2025, a 25-year-old man detonated a car bomb outside a Palm Springs fertility clinic, killing himself and injuring four others. For many, it was a wake-up call about the threats to reproductive care facilities. For the FBI, th
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