The Guardian

Epic Games has reached a ‘comprehensive settlement’ with Google, potentially ending a years-long legal battle Fortnite maker Epic Games has reached a “comprehensive settlement” with Google that could end its five-year legal crusade targeting Google’s Play Store for Android apps, both companies revealed in a joint legal filing. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney called the settlement an “awesome proposal” in a …

Crammed with cameos, this recreation of Springfield in Fortnite’s evolving virtual playground is a delight for long-time fans of the show. Shame it’s not here for long After years of collaborations with Disney on Marvel and Star Wars, it’s finally happened: The Simpsons have arrived in Fortnite. Whereas most of these crossovers comprise themed skins and emotes, this is a complete takeover, with a…

AI-inspired word joins ‘biohacking’, ‘Henry’ and ‘broligarchy’ on tech-heavy 2025 list “Vibe coding”, an emerging software development that turns natural language into computer code using artificial intelligence, has been named Collins dictionary’s word of the year for 2025. Lexicographers at Collins monitor the 24bn-word Collins Corpus, which draws from a range of media sources, including social…

Shareholder votes on a pay package worth $1tn to be tallied 6 November – but it contains milestones beyond growing the company’s market cap If Elon Musk can grow Tesla to over $8tn in value for stockholders over the next decade, he will be well on his way to becoming the world’s first trillionaire . That is if stockholders approve the company’s latest proposed compensation plan for the “Superstar…

Amazon accuses Perplexity of covertly accessing customer accounts and disguising AI activity as human browsing Amazon sued a prominent artificial intelligence startup on Tuesday over a shopping feature in the company’s browser, which can automate placing orders for users. Amazon accused Perplexity AI of covertly accessing customer accounts and disguising AI activity as human browsing. “Perplexity…

From abbreviations to happy poos, gen Z has strong opinions on appropriate texting behaviour. But can anyone keep up with the ever-changing rules? Name: “LOL”. Age: The Oxford English Dictionary first included LOL in 1997. Continue reading...

The Fortnite tie-in is only the latest in a longstanding relationship between The Simpsons and video games, showing how the hit sitcom has survived as a cultural icon And so Fortnite has done it again. Over the past five years, developer Epic Games maintained the relevance and awareness of its ageing online shooter by churning out pop culture collaborations, from Marvel to John Wick to Sabrina Ca…

In seven days my young alter ego is cyberbullied and attacked while exploring clubs, casinos and horror games, all with parental controls in place. Is the platform safe for children – or an ‘X-rated paedophile hellscape’? I am an eight-year-old girl, standing near-naked in a room full of strangers. As the room spins and zooms upon me and people glide around me, I clock my features. Continue readi…

For parents who have buried infants born too soon, a device like the AquaWomb is a miracle in waiting – and an impossible choice Beth Schafer lay in a hospital bed, bracing for the birth of her son. The first contractions rippled through her body before she felt remotely ready. She knew, with a mother’s pit-of-the-stomach intuition, that her baby was not ready either. At just 23 weeks of gestatio…

It may look like an unnecessary sequel, but even as someone who played the original cleaning game for a record-setting 24 hours straight, I’m hooked all over again Does the world really need another PowerWash Simulator game? No, some will say. Probably people who have never played the original and don’t understand the appeal, but like to tilt their head with a mixture of bemusement and condescens…

US technology company’s engineers want to exploit solar power and the falling cost of rocket launches Google is hatching plans to put artificial intelligence datacentres into space, with its first trial equipment sent into orbit in early 2027. Its scientists and engineers believe tightly packed constellations of about 80 solar-powered satellites could be arranged in orbit about 400 miles above th…

From publishing falsehoods to pushing far-right ideology, Grokipedia gives chatroom comments equal status to research The eminent British historian Sir Richard Evans produced three expert witness reports for the libel trial involving the Holocaust denier David Irving, studied for a doctorate under the supervision of Theodore Zeldin, succeeded David Cannadine as Regius professor of history at Camb…

Sports Interactive; PC (version tested), PS5, Switch, Xbox After a two-year wait, Football Manager 26 upgrades every aspect of the football sim, but it may take some getting used to You can imagine what the home fans are singing in the Stadium of Light: “Top of the league, you’re having a laugh!” Your Liverpool team, who until this afternoon were five points clear at the top of the table, trail b…

Prompts indicating suicidal ideation got alarming replies, which experts say shows ‘how easy it is to break the model’ An OpenAI statement released this week claimed the company had made its popular service ChatGPT better at supporting users experiencing mental health problems like suicidal ideation or delusions, but experts tell the Guardian they need to do more to truly ensure users are protect…

Cut-price watch offers most of what makes the Series 11 great, including an always-on screen, watchOS 26 and wrist-flick gesture Apple’s entry level Watch SE has been updated with almost everything from its excellent mid-range Series 11 but costs about 40% less, making it the bargain of iPhone smartwatches. The new Watch SE 3 costs from £219 (€269/$249/A$399), making it one of the cheapest brand-…