The Guardian

Astra’s arrival comes days after Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, described AGI as an ‘irrelevant marketing term’ The president of OpenAI, Greg Brockman, has claimed the world has entered a new era of artificial general intelligence after the release of his company’s latest model, Astra, which it described as the “world’s most intelligent and aligned model”. Brockman made the claim on Thursd…

Opposition mounts as at least 20 projects proposed, including one in Fife billed as second largest in world Kat Jones may be the closest thing Scotland has to Erin Brockovich in 2026. Standing in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat outside Holyrood, the 52-year-old is revving up the crowd of protesters around her. “Who is here from Lammermuir? Ayrshire? What about Aberdeen?” she calls to the crowd. On Th…

Whether you’re on a budget, looking for an easy way to read when you travel, or want one for kids, here are our picks for the best ebook readers In the UK? Check out our top-rated UK e-readers here. Bookworms may still cherish the feel of leafing through pages, the whiff of new-book smell, and stacking their shelves with beloved tomes, but nothing beats an e-reader (ebook reader) for convenience.…

Missed out on a fan this summer? Chill your space with our pick of the best still in stock, including tower and misting models • The best portable neck and handheld fans • Dyson HushJet Mini Cool fan review Our world is getting hotter . Summer heatwaves are so frequent, they’re stretching the bounds of what we think of as summer. Hot-and-bothered home working and sweaty, sleepless nights are now …

Semi-conductor giant bets that support for open AI models could offset potential slowdown in demand for chips Nvidia will buy the popular developer platform Hugging Face for nearly $13bn, betting that support for ⁠open AI models could offset a potential slowdown in demand for the semiconductor giant’s chips. Shares ⁠in Nvidia were ⁠slightly lower ​after the $12.93bn (£9.57bn) deal – which ranks a…

Department store chain’s Gift List ‘vodcast’ will be hosted by TV presenter Angela Scanlon Business live – latest updates John Lewis is launching an online chatshow and social media studio to help make itself and its products more visible to chatbots and more prominent in AI search results. The department store chain’s Gift List “vodcast” hosted by the TV presenter Angela Scanlon will air on YouT…

The Times and many companies are accusing OpenAI of misusing their material to train AI systems without compensation The Trump administration is supporting OpenAI in ⁠a lawsuit against the New York Times, arguing in favor of the use of copyrighted writing to train artificial intelligence. The Times accuses OpenAI and its largest financial backer, Microsoft, of using millions of newspaper articles…

As graduates of an online training course gather from across the continent, the consensus is overwhelming: computers and saving animals go together On a bitingly cold night in Lapalala Wilderness nature reserve in South Africa’s Limpopo province, Duncan Kanyakera watches as instructor Jacques Viljoen deploys a thermal drone in search of a lone cheetah. Once the drone has disappeared into the inky…

Across the world, hundreds of people have come to believe they have made extraordinary scientific discoveries with AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. Others say their AI has ‘awakened’, or is leading them to a higher spiritual realm. The Guardian journalist Michael Safi begins investigating a phenomenon labelled ‘AI psychosis’, travelling to the US to meet two people who have been on…

Tech company submits to controversial Trump order to rename body of water amid US trade spat with Canada Apple has renamed Lake Ontario as “Lake America” for US users of its Maps app, after an executive order from Donald Trump to change the name of the Great Lake amid his trade spat with Canada. The Apple Maps app now displays the controversial new name for the lake, which sits between New York s…

Relocation coincides with proposed laws that opponents say would entrench power of US tech billionaires in country Dozens of protesters converged on Peter Thiel’s mansion in Buenos Aires this week after a congressional session raised questions about the billionaire’s presence in the country. In white masks, they held signs saying “Peter Thief” and “No to the Peter Thiel law” in front of the wroug…

Musk denied he was aware Grok ever produced ‘any naked underage images’ A survivor of child sexual abuse has sued Elon Musk ’s artificial intelligence company, alleging that its chatbot used pictures of her abuse to generate new illegal pornographic images that depict her. “Using real images of Plaintiff and class members, Grok generated child pornography depicting Plaintiff and class members,” s…

As FromSoftware’s new multiplayer game The Duskbloods nears release, the legendary game director behind Dark Souls talks connection, pessimism and of course, feet Since 2020’s Demon’s Souls, Japanese video game director Hidetaka Miyazaki has shown the world a different way to think about game design. His games defy convention with punishing fights, obscure rules, and unknowable, inhospitable worl…

Wayve robotaxis added to Uber app and will have human in front ready to take over if needed – but only 15 cars licensed Londoners are now able to hire self-driving taxis for the first time, after rides in Wayve’s autonomous vehicles were added to the Uber app on Thursday. The chances of landing a robotaxi on request immediately are slim, with only 15 vehicles so far licensed. That contrasts with …

Judge declines to make Google sell AdX in win for firm against US antitrust enforcers’ attempts to break up big tech Alphabet’s Google escaped a breakup of its advertising technology business on Wednesday, when a judge in Virginia ⁠rejected US antitrust enforcers’ bid to force a sale of Google’s online advertising exchange. While the ad exchange is a small part of Google’s business, the ruling is…