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Tech
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743 stories archived
‘I feel like I’m grieving’: staff on the devastating fallout of widespread layoffs at Xbox
Last month, Microsoft’s gaming division told its workforce it was cutting 3,200 jobs, which some say will have big ramifications for game development – as well as taking a huge personal toll On the morning of 6 July, an email went out from Asha Sharma, the chief executive of Xbox, to all of the division’s employees around the world. Under the headline “ Resetting Xbox ”, it announced the most significant restructuring in the history of Microsoft’s console business: 3,200 staff would be laid off throughout the financial year to 2027, and 1,600 of those roles would be eliminated immediately. An hour later, at studios throughout company, the Teams meeting invites started arriving. “It was a virtual call with our studio manager,” says Anne Barrett, who was laid off from Bethesda Game Studios Austin. “All of our cameras and microphones were turned off so we weren’t able to say anything or react to anything. We were just brought in, told the news and it was like: ‘You guys are going to lose access to your Slack channel.’ So you saw a flurry of goodbye messages before everything was just shut off.” Continue reading...
‘If you build something vastly smarter than you, it better be on your side’: can we stop AI from deceiving us?
We are used to the idea that our fellow humans might intentionally mislead or manipulate us, but the idea that machines can now do the same is deeply unsettling. Researchers are racing to find solutions before it’s too late The summer issue of the Long Read magazine is out now. Click here to order In November 2023 – a lifetime ago in the field of artificial intelligence – some of the most powerful people in the world descended on Bletchley Park, the wartime codebreaking hub in Buckinghamshire, to talk about AI safety . In attendance were the then US vice-president, Kamala Harris, the AI bosses Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, delegations from 28 countries, two of the three so-called “godfathers” of AI, and Elon Musk. The first iteration of ChatGPT had been released only a year earlier, and there was already plenty of evidence that AI models could be used for ill, from spreading misinformation to generating deepfakes. A presentation at the summit, however, highlighted a different issue: what if the biggest problem wasn’t to come from people misusing the technology, but from AI’s own behaviour? Continue reading...
The Bentley Supersports: A stripped-out engineer's indulgence
It's the lightest Bentley in 85 years.
Trump admin shelves Cyclospora research despite record-breaking outbreak
The CDC has tallied nearly 30,000 confirmed and probable cases this summer.
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Review: Coyote vs. Acme is an unabashed love letter to Looney Tunes
Director Dave Green's live action/animated hybrid captures smart, subversive weirdness of the classic cartoons.
Trump tells FCC to punish journalist for calling his election results "mixed"
Trump furious at NBC's Kristen Welker for saying he had mixed results in primary endorsements.
“Zlibrary my beloved”: Anthropic staff chats extolling piracy cited in Sony suit
Lawsuit: Anthropic’s torrenting totally screwed songwriters as AI songs top charts.
Raindrops are tiny lightning bolts, and they’re corroding cars, study finds
Finding reveals an overlooked way that water can damage surfaces.
Think twice before installing this device promising free movies
In exchange for free stuff, devices make home connections part of a proxy network.
El Niño is now stronger than at any point in the last 1,000 years, study finds
“One more warning sign here of what we're facing in a warmer world.”
‘Superhuman’ AI tool spots heart disease in less than 2 seconds
Technology trained on millions of routine ECGs could fast-track high-risk patients for treatment Doctors have developed a “superhuman” AI tool that can spot heart disease in less than two seconds. The groundbreaking technology has been trained on millions of patients and works by extracting more information from a routine electrocardiogram (ECG) than the human eye can typically see. Continue reading...
Google Maps renames "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" even faster than US government
Google rolled out the Lake America change on Saturday, while the official US government maps are still waiting.
‘Scary’: how misinformation and AI hallucinations are infiltrating Australia’s parliament
Exclusive : Guardian analysis reveals that dozens of policy submissions from across the political spectrum incorrectly summarise real research and invent or wrongly cite sources Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia’s government inquiry process is supposed to help parliament make better decisions, hearing from experts and constituents alike. But Guardian Australia can reveal that the system is being flooded with AI-generated material, which is inventing studies and attributing nonexistent research to real academics and authors. In some cases, committee reports have cited submissions in which the majority of sources appear to be AI-generated “hallucinations”, when large language models (LLMs) invent content that looks real but doesn’t actually exist. Continue reading...
I've tested dozens of items to perfect my work-from-home setup. These 13 make all the difference
Build a home office you’ll actually enjoying working from with tried-and-true upgrades – from inexpensive speakers to a stand that can turn an iPad into a second monitor The best wireless earbuds in the US – tested Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things If you work from home , even just a few days a week, you need more than a laptop perched on a sticky kitchen table. A dedicated desk setup allows you to step away from distractions, plop in your office chair and get to work. It also creates a vital separation between your personal and professional life. After spending my initial work-from-home days on a living room couch, I quickly realized the importance of creating a separate space, and I have spent seven years refining it. As a tech writer, I have tested dozens of products for my desk setup, and have found some to be totally invaluable. Here are the tried-and-true upgrades that will make working from home easier, more comfortable and even more productive. Continue reading...
ChatGPT and Reddit now face EU's toughest online safety rules
Explosive growth comes with a new regulatory burden in the European Union.
NASA's next "great observatory" begins mission to widen our view of the Universe
"We would need over half a million 4K TVs to fully display the single Roman image from our largest survey."
Anthropic sued over alleged theft of ‘tens of thousands’ of songs
AI company faces multi-billion dollar lawsuit over misuse of copyrighted songs to train Claude models All AI wants for Christmas is a vast back catalogue of songs without paying for it, according to a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the startup behind the Claude chatbot. Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell, music publishers who manage the copyright of songs on behalf of songwriters and composers, are seeking damages for alleged misuse of “tens of thousands” of copyrighted works by Anthropic. Continue reading...
How Cyber Sleuths Tracked a Nigerian Scammer to His Doorstep
Erin West and Paul Raffile went to Nigeria to track down a scammer. They found much more than just his identity.
Rise of Chicken Shop Date highlights how YouTube turned the tables on TV
Amelia Dimoldenberg says publicists ignored her interview show for years but she can now be picky over A-list guests Just a decade ago, Amelia Dimoldenberg found it impossible to drum up any mainstream celebrities to come on her mock date YouTube show, in which she chats awkwardly with guests over chicken and chips. Even persuading a local actor connected with her London youth club to come on took years of prodding. Managers of A-listers with movies or albums to push instead battled to claim a spot on the hallowed cushions of the primetime TV chatshow sofa. Continue reading...
Pocket's AI made my game ideas real. Now Meta controls the results.
Interactive mobile "gizmos" are easy to make, hard to share outside Meta's platform.
Doctors’ AI scribes get names of drugs and diagnoses wrong, NHS watchdog warns
Exclusive: Patients identify errors in consultation transcripts that are missed by GPs, Healthwatch England finds AI technology that listens to and transcribes patients’ consultations with doctors can put them at risk by getting the names of drugs and illnesses wrong, an NHS watchdog has warned. In one case a woman was left badly shaken when the AI scribe’s summary of her conversation wrongly said she had demyelination – serious nerve damage that can lead to multiple sclerosis. Continue reading...
Advanced AI threatens global financial stability, says Bank of England boss
Andrew Bailey warns G20 members about risk of cyber-disruption spreading ‘across jurisdictions’ The Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, has joined the throng of figures warning about the global risks posed by the most advanced artificial intelligence technology. In a two-page letter sent to international finance ministers and central bank governors as part of his role as chair of the international Financial Stability Board (FSB), Bailey said “frontier” AI models were “showing increasingly sophisticated autonomy and problem-solving abilities, as well as threat capabilities”. Continue reading...
Gems, ghosts and GTA VI: the biggest video games for autumn 2026
There are juggernauts and indie gems aplenty for when the nights draw in, from an ingenious puzzle game to blockbusters such as Marvel’s Wolverine and Call of Duty • See all of our unmissable autumn arts recommendations here After 20 years away, Capcom’s hyper kinetic action adventure returns, pitting skilled samurai Miyamoto Musashi against hordes of warriors and demons in Edo-period Kyoto. Master the complex combat then prepare for flashing blades, disembodied limbs and geysers of spraying blood. • 4 September; PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox Continue reading...