7 h. ago Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary brands Musk’s X a ‘cesspit’ in ongoing row with tech billionaire

It comes after Elon Musk floated the idea of buying the budget airline

Economics

7 d. ago Elon Musk’s stubborn spin on Grok’s sexualized images controversy

Musk attempts to recast AI tool’s misuse. Plus, tech billionaires plot against a proposed California tax on their fortunesHello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor for the Guardian. Today, we discuss Elon Musk’s rosy depiction of Grok’s image generation controversy; the seven-figure panic among Silicon Valley billionaires over a proposed wealth tax in California, though with one notable exception; and how AI and robotics have revitalized the Consumer Electronics Showcase.Under a tax proposal that could be put to voters this November, any California resident worth more than $1bn would have to pay a one-off, 5% tax on their assets to help cover education, food assistance and healthcare programs in the state.Several Silicon Valley figures have already threatened to leave California and take their business elsewhere. But Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, whose net worth is nearly $159bn, told Bloomberg Television this week that he is “perfectly fine...

Politics

7 d. ago Starmer vows not to 'back down' in nude deepfakes row with Elon Musk after X owner blinks first and stops Grok AI digitally stripping women and children

After the Prime Minister demanded the US tech billionaire to act to stem the creation of deepfakes, the social media tool last night began refusing to comply with user requests.

Politics

7 d. ago X's Grok AI 'won't produce sexualised images of women and children'

After the Prime Minister demanded the US tech billionaire to act to stem the creation of deepfakes, the social media tool last night began refusing to comply with user requests.

Politics

7 d. ago Royal Society president reignites Elon Musk row by defending lack of action

Society should only eject fellows for fraud or other defects in their research, says Paul NurseThe president of the Royal Society has reignited a row over Elon Musk’s association with the body by arguing that fellows should only be ejected for fraud or other defects in their research.In an interview with the Guardian, Paul Nurse defended the academy’s decision not to take action against Musk – who was elected a fellow in 2008 – despite claims the tech billionaire had violated its code of conduct, including by his role in slashing US research funding as part of the US “department of government efficiency”. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago ‘Longevity Fixation Syndrome’ is rising — here are the symptoms to look out for

As tech billionaires pour their physical and financial resources into figuring out how to live longer, or even forever, the pressure to do so has trickled down to the general population.

Politics

1 week ago The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup

Godfall by Van Jensen; The Salt Bind by Rebecca Ferrier; The Poet Empress by Shen Tao; A Hole in the Sky by Peter F Hamilton; Hello Earth, Are You There? by Brian AldissGodfall by Van Jensen (Bantam, £20)The debut novel by a popular comic-book writer is set in a small town in Nebraska, after the landing of a three-mile-long alien figure dubbed “the Giant”. Local sheriff David Blunt is struggling to do his job following the sudden boom in population: in addition to scientists, government agents and soldiers at the highly classified research area established around the mystery from outer space, many more enthusiasts flood to the town, possibly including a serial killer. Two people have been killed in a horrifically brutal way when the FBI takes over and tries to shut him out. But when the next victim is a man he’s known all his life, Blunt is more determined than ever to catch the killer. His investigation draws him to infiltrate a doomsday cult and to discover more about the tangled ...

Events

1 week ago Wales' richest man quitting 'hostile' UK for another European country

Cardiff-born tech investment billionaire Michael Moritz says that the UK is an increasingly hostile place for British Jerws, and he's applying for German citizenship

Politics

1 week ago Tech titans divided over whether to pay billionaire tax or flee California

State residents worth more than $1bn could face one-off, 5% tax to help fund education, food assistance and healthcareA battle is brewing in California over a plan to tax billionaires – with tech titans divided over whether they should pay up, or flee the state.Under a tax proposal that could be put to voters this November, any California resident worth more than $1bn would have to pay a one-off, 5% tax on their assets to help cover education, food assistance and healthcare programs in the state. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago Elon Musk is moving back into politics. Can’t he take up a new hobby instead? Arwa Mahdawi

It didn’t go very well for him last time, but the tech billionaire seems to have abandoned his plans for a third party and has renewed his bromance with the president “You know, I’ve generally found that when I get involved in politics, it ends up badly,” Elon Musk mused on Nikhil Kamath’s podcast in November.Oh, we know, Elon, we most definitely know. The world is still reeling from the tech billionaire’s little experiment in politicking last year. Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) slashed federal jobs, dismantled foreign aid programmes and left a trail of chaos in its wake. It’s not clear whether any taxpayer money was saved, but experts are warning a lot of lives will be lost. By one calculation, there could be about 14 million excess deaths across the globe by 2030 if the US fails to restore aid funding. Thanks, Elon! Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago How to celebrate New Year's Eve like a billionaire! Annual superyacht showdown begins as the mega

US tech billionaire Jeff Bezos, his wife, Lauren Sanchez, and Chloe Green are just some of the celebrities who have already been spotted at the luxury Caribbean island.

Culture

3 w. ago Teenage girl facing deportation in Denmark reacts to Elon Musk's 'creepy' comments about her

The tech billionaire turned political adviser has received backlash for the comments about 19-year-old Audrey Morris

Politics

3 w. ago AI boom adds more than half a trillion dollars to wealth of US tech barons in 2025

Elon Musk’s net worth increased by nearly 50% to $645bn with founders of Google and Amazon also seeing huge wealth gainsA stock market boom in artificial intelligence companies has added more than half a trillion dollars to the wealth of America’s tech barons in the past year, data shows.The top 10 US founders and bosses of some of the world’s largest technology companies saw their finances swell to nearly $2.5tn, up from $1.9tn, in the year to Christmas Eve, according to figures from Bloomberg. Continue reading...

Science

3 w. ago Conservative and Christian? US right champions psychedelic drugs

Texas governor among those to call for expanded access to ibogaine, said to help with treating veterans with PTSDFor half a century, psychedelics largely belonged to the cultural left: anti-war, anti-capitalist, suspicious of the church and state. Now, one of the most politically consequential psychedelic drugs in the US – ibogaine – is being championed by evangelical Christians, Republican governors, military veterans, and big tech billionaires.Many of them see ibogaine, an intense psychedelic derived from a central African rootbark, as a divine technology. In fact, some pointedly do not refer to it as a psychedelic, given the apparent baggage of the term in some circles. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago AI boom adds $500bn to net worth of US tech billionaires in 2025

Elon Musk stays on top as Nvidia’s Jensen Huang powers up the rankings on an AI-fuelled surge in fortunes

Economics

last month Larry Ellison gives personal guarantee for Paramount takeover of Warner Bros Discovery

WBD had urged shareholders to reject $108.4bn hostile takeover bid from Paramount, which is controlled by the Ellisons, following $82.7bn Netflix deal The tech billionaire Larry Ellison has agreed to provide a personal guarantee of more than $40bn for Paramount Skydance’s fight to gain control of Warner Bros Discovery, amid an extraordinary corporate battle over the entertainment giant.WBD urged shareholders to reject a $108.4bn hostile takeover bid from Paramount – which is controlled by the Ellisons – last week, having agreed to sell its storied movie studios, HBO cable network and streaming service to Netflix in a $82.7bn deal earlier this month. Continue reading...

Events

last month Larry Ellison provides personal guarantee for Paramount takeover of Warner Bros Discovery

WBD had urged shareholders to reject $108.4bn hostile takeover bid from Paramount, which is controlled by the Ellisons, following $82.7bn Netflix deal The tech billionaire Larry Ellison has agreed to provide a personal guarantee of more than $40bn for Paramount Skydance’s fight to gain control of Warner Bros Discovery, amid an extraordinary corporate battle over the entertainment giant.WBD urged shareholders to reject a $108.4bn hostile takeover bid from Paramount – which is controlled by the Ellisons – last week, having agreed to sell its storied movie studios, HBO cable network and streaming service to Netflix in a $82.7bn deal earlier this month. Continue reading...

Events