Rishi Sunak meets heads of firms including DeepMind and OpenAI to discuss safety and regulationThe “existential” risk of artificial intelligence has been acknowledged by No 10 for the first time, after the prime minister met the heads of the world’s leading AI research groups to discuss safety and regulation.Rishi Sunak and Chloe Smith, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, met the chief executives of Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic AI on Wednesday evening and discussed how best to moderate the development of the technology to limit the risks of catastrophe...

Compact Bluetooth earbuds get better sound, noise-cancelling and battery life – and a funky clear caseThe latest Beats earbuds from Apple improve the noise-cancelling and sound of their predecessors – and make them easier to use across almost all phones while adding a fresh transparent option.The Studio Buds+ cost £179.99 ($169.99) and, as the name suggests, are enhanced versions of the already good Studio Buds from 2021. Continue reading...

Thin and light performance machine continues to set standard for fixable, upgradeable laptopsThe fixable and upgradeable premium Framework Laptop 13 has been improved all round for 2023 and is packed with small changes that are backwards compatible with older models, making a great laptop even better.The original Framework broke new ground last year as a laptop designed to be taken apart and upgraded, and with a modular selection of ports, too. Crucially, the company followed through on promises to provide parts and upgrades for existing machines – first with 12th-gen Intel chips and now new...

When the government’s new alert system is tested this weekend it will mark the culmination of much learning from the technological successes and mistakes of other nations There have been accusations of nanny statism, warnings from domestic abuse charities over inadvertently alerting abusers of hidden phones, and even pet shops cordoning off smaller animals so they don’t get frightened when the government’s emergency alert system is tested on Sunday at 3pm.One thing is certain though: the UK government has taken its time in getting the system up and running, taking more than a decade to...

Powerful speaker with quality sound shows how to do immersive music right, if you can find a good trackThe Era 300 is the second in Sonos’s next-generation line of wifi hi-fis, packing six speakers into one curvaceous box capable of immersing listeners in quality sound.The speaker costs £449 ($449/A$749) and sits above the new £249 Era 100, competing directly with Apple’s HomePod and other high-end speakers – premium audio at a premium price.Dimensions: 16 x 26 x 18.5cmWeigh: 4.5kgSpeakers: four tweeters, two woofersConnectivity: wifi 6, Bluetooth 5, USB-C, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect...

Artificial intelligence in its current form is based on the wholesale appropriation of existing culture, and the notion that it is actually intelligent could be actively dangerousArchive: BBC Continue reading...

Photos, emails, playlists: our phones and computers have become hosts for our pasts. What happens when the backups fail?No matter how much our computers assure us they’re backing everything up to a hard drive in the sky, memory failure remains a hardwired part of our lives. Writers reflect on when a digital loss created an emotional hole – from the college essay that disappeared minutes before the due date to an iPhone update that lost years of photographs. Continue reading...

A third of Australian companies rely on artificial intelligence to help them hire the right person. But studies show it’s not always a benign intermediary Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastMichael Scott, the protagonist from the US version of The Office, is using an AI recruiter to hire a receptionist.Guardian Australia applies. Continue reading...

Our tendency to humanise large language models and AI is daft – let’s worry about corporate grabs and environmental damageOn 14 February, Kevin Roose, the New York Times tech columnist, had a two-hour conversation with Bing, Microsoft’s ChatGPT-enhanced search engine. He emerged from the experience an apparently changed man, because the chatbot had told him, among other things, that it would like to be human, that it harboured destructive desires and was in love with him.The transcript of the conversation, together with Roose’s appearance on the paper’s The Daily podcast, immediately...

The online giant is also penalised for allowing Ring doorbell workers access to customer recordings.

Footage of potential human rights abuses may be lost after platforms delete it, the BBC has found.

Investors excited about the possibilities for artificial intelligence have sent the US chipmaker's value soaring.

OpenAI's Sam Altman says if it fails to comply with the forthcoming AI Act, it might exit the EU.

Tears of the Kingdom becomes the fastest-selling game in the Legend of Zelda franchise.

Joseph Sullivan was convicted over covering up a security breach of 57 million user accounts in 2016.

The changes will come into effect on the online group-chat platform "over the coming weeks".

The Federal Trade Commission says it wants to stop Facebook's owner from making money out of children.

The CMA will look into whether the development of new AI technology is in consumers' best interests.

Artificial intelligence pioneer Geoffrey Hinton quits Google, saying he now regrets his work.

It says age verification would contravene its commitment to collect minimal data from readers.

The Apple CEO greeted customers who visited the store and posed for selfies with some of them.

The multi-billionaire defended his running of the company in a last-minute interview live from Twitter HQ.

The firm apologises after around 11,000 customers could not connect to the internet for much of the day.

It is the latest social media channel to restore his account following Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Current and former employees of the company say there are serious ramifications from mass lay-offs.