From 007 to Elsa, Vermillio claims it can trace percentage of AI-generated image drawn from pre-existing material Ask Google’s AI video tool to create a film of a time-travelling doctor who flies around in a blue British phone booth and the result, unsurprisingly, resembles Doctor Who. And if you ask OpenAI’s technology to do the same, a similar thing happens. What’s wrong with that, you may thin

The private Alpha School says its students can learn faster and better – but experts warn not all may benefit from an AI boom in schools In the world’s tech innovation epicenter, an “AI-powered” private school has made headlines for unabashedly embracing the technology. Alpha School San Francisco, which opened its doors to K-8 students this fall, is the newest outpost of a network of 14 nationwid

From brain-rotting videos to AI creep, every technological advance seems to make it harder to work, remember, think and function independently … Step into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab in Cambridge, US, and the future feels a little closer. Glass cabinets display prototypes of weird and wonderful creations, from tiny desktop robots to a surrealist sculpture created by

Measures come amid concern generative AI characters are having inappropriate conversations with under-18s Parents will be able to block their children’s interactions with Meta’s AI character chatbots, as the tech company addresses concerns over inappropriate conversations. The social media company is adding new safeguards to its “ teen accounts ”, which are a default setting for under-18 users, b

Forty years ago today, the Nintendo Entertainment System was released in the US – and a generation of kids were sucked into video games for life The Nintendo Entertainment System was released in the United States on 18 October 1985: about a year after I was born, and 40 years ago today. It’s as if the company sensed that a sucker who’d spend thousands of dollars on plastic toys and electronic gam

Science and technology select committee says complacency over social media content puts public at risk Failures to properly tackle online misinformation mean it is “only a matter of time” before viral content triggers a repeat of the 2024 summer riots, MPs have warned. Chi Onwurah, the chair of the Commons science and technology select committee, said ministers seemed complacent about the threat

Dune star says performers are regularly pressed to have bodies scanned on set with few rights over how data is used ‘Have we done ourselves out of a job?’: concerns in film and TV industry over on-set body scanning Actors should have as much control over the data harvested from scans of their body as they do over nudity scenes, the actor Olivia Williams has said, amid heightened concern over arti

Waymo plans London robotaxis as early as 2026, but the history shows hype, hesitation and a few missed turns The age-old question from the back of the car feels just as pertinent as a new era of autonomy threatens to dawn: are we nearly there yet? For Britons, long-promised fully driverless cars, the answer is as ever – yes, nearly. But not quite. A landmark moment on the journey to autonomous dr

Actors unclear on rights over their data and what it will be used for, as cast and crew alike fear for future of their roles Olivia Williams says actors need ‘nudity rider’-type controls for AI body scans For performers on TV or movie sets, it is not unusual to receive a request to enter a booth filled with scores of cameras ready to capture their likeness from every possible angle. Yet with the

This whimsical action-adventure game sees you stomping through nature as a life-giving lighthouse – and it only gets weirder from there The world of Keeper looms from the screen like a dream coloured by psilocybin. Here is a gnarled landmass of bubblegum blues, powder pinks and strange, luminous beasts, where evolution seems to occur at light speed. This world’s considerable beauty is amplified b

From Venice to the Iguazu Falls, an exhibition in London illustrates the hidden cost of our gadgets and devices Artists have created visualisations of the impact of the climate crisis on some of the world’s most recognisable landscapes, in a project to highlight the environmental effects of tech consumption. Venice in Italy, the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, Iguazu Falls on the border of

The video app can produce realistic deepfakes of Marx shopping and MLK Jr trolling. Some say using ‘historical figures’ is the company’s way of testing the legal waters Last night I was flicking through a dating app. One guy stood out: “Henry VIII, 34, King of England, nonmonogamy”. Next thing I know, I am at a candlelit bar sharing a martini with the biggest serial dater of the 16th century. But

PC, PS5, Xbox; Konami After an apocalyptic supernatural fog descends, school girl Hinako wakes up in a town populated by psychosexual beasts and gaslighting men in masks There are some horror games you can finish in a couple of days of intense play; they almost invite that sort of frenzied consumption. But there are others that need to be savoured, and sometimes even suffered. Silent Hill f is in

Chief global affairs officer of company behind ChatGPT tells Sydney audience ‘we are going to be in Australia, one way or the other’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Open AI has broken ranks with the Tech Council of Australia over copyright restrictions, declaring that its artificial intelligence models are “going to be in Australia, one way or the other”. Chris Lehane

In the British YouTubers’ latest video, the pair confirm their romantic relationship – after suffering frenzied speculation for the last 16 years This week, longtime British YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester uploaded a new video confirming they have been in a secret romantic relationship for the past 16 years. If you weren’t a deeply online child during the 2010s, you probably have no idea who

Judge rules Chowdhury Rahman used ChatGPT-like software and then tried to hide it, wasting immigration tribunal’s time An immigration barrister was found by a judge to be using AI to do his work for a tribunal hearing after citing cases that were “entirely fictitious” or “wholly irrelevant”. Chowdhury Rahman was discovered using ChatGPT-like software to prepare his legal research, a tribunal hear

Xbox’s portable console combines the openness of PC gaming and Microsoft’s desire for you to play its titles anywhere – but it doesn’t come cheap or without hitches The ROG Xbox Ally X, the handheld console collaboration from Asus and Microsoft, is an impressive, yet expensive, piece of gaming tech. The pricier of the two portable gaming devices dropping on 16 October, the all-black ROG Xbox Ally

Newspaper federation says ‘traffic killer’ feature violates legislation and threatens to destroy media diversity Italian news publishers are calling for an investigation into Google’s AI Overviews, arguing that the search engine’s AI-generated summaries feature is a “traffic killer” that threatens their survival. FIEG, the Italian federation of newspaper publishers, said it has submitted a formal

Market-leading music streamer collaborating with the Sony, Universal and Warner music groups to create new AI features Spotify has announced it is teaming up with the world’s biggest music companies to develop “responsible” artificial intelligence products that respect artists’ copyright. The market-leading music streamer is collaborating with the Sony, Universal and Warner music groups – whose c

Questions grow over water and energy costs of warehouse of computers in Sonoran desert – but will Project Blue be stopped? A company’s opaque plan to build a huge datacenter outside Tucson, Arizona has roiled the desert city over the past few months, the latest US community to push back as tech companies aggressively seek to build out infrastructure for cloud computing and to power the AI boom. T

ITVX’s perpetual real-time broadcast from the International Space Station is awe-inspiring … until it gets boring. But even though it’s hard to watch for long, it’s a humbling reminder of who we are I realise that, at this point, there are already far too many shows. Every channel, every streaming service is teeming with content demanding your attention, and there are simply too few hours in the

In this week’s newsletter: The series is known for its massive multiplayer shootouts, but there’s a missed opportunity to tell a meaningful story about war And so Battlefield is back. The long-running military shooter series, which specialises in gigantic online multiplayer conflicts involving dozens of ground troops, tanks and aircraft, has returned for its sixth main instalment – and it’s thril

Cars with human safety drivers set to appear in 2026 but black-cab drivers dismiss service as ‘fairground ride’ People in London could be hiring driverless taxis from Waymo next year, after the US autonomous vehicle company announced plans to launch its services there. The UK capital will become the first European city to have an autonomous taxi service of the kind now familiar in San Francisco a

New version will allow users to customize AI assistant’s personality in what firm calls ‘treat adults users like adults’ policy OpenAI announced plans on Tuesday to relax restrictions on its ChatGPT chatbot, including allowing erotic content for verified adult users as part of what the company calls a “treat adult users like adults” principle. OpenAI’s plan includes the release of an updated vers

Ultra-slim and light smartphone feels special, but cuts to camera and battery may be too hard to ignore for most The iPhone Air is a technical and design marvel that asks: how much are you willing to give up for a lightweight and ultra-slender profile? Beyond the obvious engineering effort that has gone into creating one of the slimmest phones ever made, the Air is a reductive exercise that boils

Citizens have enrolled with little opposition, albeit with some concerns over security and privacy, as UK plans system Keir Starmer to look at India’s digital ID system during visit to Mumbai For Danish teenagers, getting enrolled for MitID (my ID) has become somewhat of a rite of passage. From the age of 13, Danes can enrol for the national digital ID system, which can be used for everything fro

The influential billionaire investor has been giving secret lectures warning about Armageddon. Here’s why it matters Hello, and welcome to TechScape. For the past week, my brain has been marinating in billionaire Peter Thiel’s byzantine musings about the antichrist and Armageddon. At this point, I’m pickled. Why, you might ask, does it matter what a billionaire thinks about the antichrist? Good q

Company says rules similar to US ‘parental guidance’ film rating will be applied to teenagers’ accounts Instagram is to adopt a version of the PG-13 cinema rating system to give parents stronger controls over their teenagers’ use of the social media platform. Instagram, which is run by Meta, will start applying rules similar to the US “parental guidance” movie rating – first introduced 41 years a

As they flew above Yu Suzuki’s innovative, psychedelic 3D landscapes combating space dragons and alien rock monsters, the moving arcade cabinet would fling players around and physically involve them in the action During our family’s holidays in the 1980s, most of which were spent at classic English seaside resorts, I spent all my time and pocket money trawling the arcades. From Shanklin to Blackp

Computers running software will still work but steadily become more vulnerable to viruses and malware From Tuesday Microsoft will no longer offer free support as standard for Windows 10, an operating system that is used by millions of computer and laptop owners around the world. Figures for September suggest four in 10 of those using Microsoft Windows worldwide were still using Windows 10 , despi

Officials say increased dependence on technology leaves society more vulnerable to threats such as ransomware “Highly significant” cyber-attacks rose by 50% in the past year and the UK’s security services are now dealing with a new nationally significant attack more than every other day, figures from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have revealed. In what officials described as “a call t

After charging, there was a power system malfunction but MG closed the case and insisted a safety check was at our own expense Our MG5 electric car became dangerously out of control, but MG won’t do anything about it. The car suffered a power system malfunction after we had used a charger at a motorway service station. Continue reading…

Premium commuter cans upgraded with longer battery life, USB-C audio and improved sound, but still cost a lot Bose has updated its top-of-the-line noise-cancelling headphones with longer battery, USB-C audio and premium materials, making the commuter favourites even better. The second-generation QuietComfort Ultra headphones still have an expensive price tag, from £450 (€450/$450/A$700), which is

Keir Starmer is considering Aadhaar as model for UK, but detractors warn of ‘digital coercion’ and security breaches It is often difficult for people in India to remember life before Aadhaar. The digital biometric ID, allegedly available for every Indian citizen, was only introduced 15 years ago but its presence in daily life is ubiquitous. Indians now need an Aadhaar number to buy a house, get a

Once a stalwart of Hong Kong’s journalism scene, Wang Jian has found a new audience on YouTube, dissecting global politics and US-China relations since the pandemic. To his fans, he’s part newscaster, part professor, part friend On a Friday night in late May, Wang Jian was getting ready to broadcast. It was pouring outside, and he was sitting in the garage apartment behind his house, just outside

Union says growing numbers of its members have made complaints about infringements of copyright in AI material The performing arts union Equity has threatened mass direct action over tech and entertainment companies’ use of its members’ likenesses, images and voices in AI content without permission. The warning came as the union said growing numbers of its members had made complaints about infrin

Report raises concerns about liability issues and lack of testing as development of AI health tools booms The use of artificial intelligence in healthcare could create a legally complex blame game when it comes to establishing liability for medical failings, experts have warned. The development of AI for clinical use has boomed, with researchers creating a host of tools, from algorithms to help i

Joel Mokyr has warned of ‘dark clouds’ amid Trump tariffs, while Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt have written about role of ‘creative destruction’ Business live – latest updates Three experts in the power of technology to drive economic growth have been awarded this year’s Nobel prize in economics. Joel Mokyr of Northwestern University secured half of the 11m Swedish kronor (£867,000) prize, wit

The traditional playground favourite is staging a comeback – without the threat of violence Name: Conkers. Age: Introduced to the UK 409 years ago . Continue reading…