The Guardian

We examine claims and counterclaims about the risks and calls to slow down the pace of AI development There have been some shocking claims in recent days about AI safety: we face a 10% chance of doom; AIs are worse than nukes; a “botnet” threatens the entire internet; it’s all a big tech psyop. Below, we look at six claims and reactions to them. Continue reading...

Compromise revealed as senior personnel from OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, meets Albanese ministers Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our new political email , free app or daily news podcast The Albanese government is considering giving AI companies access to Australian creatives’ works by default as it pursues a compromise with US tech giants. The proposals were revealed a…

Leftwing senator and far-right strategist rail against tech oligarchs but offer competing visions on Chinese ‘cold war’ The progressive senator Bernie Sanders and rightwing strategist Steve Bannon have called for restrictions on artificial intelligence (AI) but offered competing visions for what they termed a “cold war” with China. Speaking at the “Pro-Human Assembly” in Washington on Tuesday, th…

Bernie Sanders criticised the advancement of artificial intelligence at the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington on Tuesday, warning that the current type of AI was 'the least capable version of AI that we will ever have'. The independent senator from Vermont was speaking at the conference alongside a number of AI sceptics, including Steve Bannon Continue reading...

After apocalyptic warnings about the threats posed by AI, leaders like Sam Altman and Elon Musk backed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s calls to ‘slow the pace’ Facing a public uproar over Anthropic researchers’ repeated warnings that artificial intelligence could kill all of humanity by 2030, the AI company’s CEO, Dario Amodei, issued a proposal at the weekend to slow down the technology’s advanceme…

At San Francisco conference, OpenAI chief Sam Altman calls for more rigorous security measures Anthropic’s CEO took the stage at a conference in San Francisco on Tuesday to reiterate his call for a slowdown of AI development, while Nvidia’s CEO argued against such deceleration. Dario Amodei used an automotive analogy to make his point: when a competing car company has a safety incident like brake…

Modern cars are fitted with features like autonomous emergency braking and fatigue monitoring. But do they support motorists or drive them to distraction? This new car I’m test-driving boasts all the latest bells and whistles – or, rather, beeps and bings. Peer sideways for too long checking traffic and the car emits an irritating sound. Should I take a hand off the wheel to scratch an ear, I’m a…

The rise of AI-generated tributes and bots for ‘talking’ to the dead has experts concerned more people will grieve in isolation Tributes rolled in after the death of Dolly Parton last month. Jack White performed Jolene at a London gig. Kesha sang Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You), a single her mother wrote for the country music titan. Even Pitbull stopped his Madison Square Garden show to m…

Looking for a new iPhone or a good deal on a refurbished one? Samuel Gibbs has tested and rated Apple’s smartphones, including the best for camera quality and battery life • How to make your smartphone last longer The best iPhone may be the one you already own. There’s generally no need to buy a fresh phone just because new models have been released, as hardware updates are broadly iterative, add…

Comments come after court on Monday rejected the president’s mail ballot restrictions ahead of the November midterm elections Supreme court rejects Trump’s mail ballot restrictions for midterm elections Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. Lawmakers have given their support to the supreme court’s rejection of Donald Trump’s bid to restrict mail ballots for the midterm elections. Mitch …

The distinctively British RPG is returning courtesy of the makers of Forza Horizon – with comedy talent such as Richard Ayoade and Natasia Demetriou voicing sweary characters. We had our first play and spoke to its developer When Playground Games was founded in 2010, its objective was straightforward: to make the best cars in video games. Operating out of an unassuming white building in Leamingto…

From Stephen Hawking to Jacob Coxon’s viral Anthropic resignation, fears that AI could threaten humanity have shaken the industry without stopping its pursuit Before an Anthropic researcher resigned and declared human extinction imminent last week, tech leaders and scientists had sounded the alarm about a superintelligent AI ending humanity for over a decade. The development of artificial intelli…

New laws coming into force this week aim to streamline age checks although old-style plastic IDs will still be allowed Younger drinkers in England and Wales will be able to prove their age with a digital ID starting this week as new laws give pubs, off-licences, nightclubs and restaurants the right to use biometric scanning technology to check customers are over 18. Customers will be able to down…

Safety requirements are non-negotiable. They depend on meeting concrete goals, not just adjusting a timeline It has been a week of high drama in AI, precipitated by the resignation of the AI safety researcher Jacob Coxon from Anthropic. This followed several weeks of increasingly lurid and disturbing revelations about the OpenAI/Hugging Face incident. My inbox yesterday included a message from Bu…

From the Trump administration to AI experts, plans by the Anthropic boss to boost safety have spawned a largely negative response OpenAI boss and Elon Musk back slowdown on ‘reckless’ AI development Editorial: controlling AI – humanity cannot outsource its survival The safety debate that ignited when whistleblowers last week warned that the most advanced AI poses an existential threat to humanity…