5 d. ago AI startup Anthropic agrees to pay $1.5bn to settle book piracy lawsuit

Settlement could be pivotal after authors claimed company took pirated copies of their work to train chatbotsThe artificial intelligence company Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5bn to settle a class-action lawsuit by book authors who say the company took pirated copies of their works to train its chatbot.The landmark settlement, if approved by a judge as soon as Monday, could mark a turning point in legal battles between AI companies and the writers, visual artists and other creative professionals who accuse them of copyright infringement. Continue reading...

Economics

6 d. ago Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion to settle lawsuit over pirated chatbot training material

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit by book authors who say the company took pirated copies of their works to train its chatbot

Economics

6 d. ago Domination by Alice Roberts review – a brilliant but cynical history of Christianity

The humanist historian brings objects to life beautifully, but falters when it comes to people and their beliefsDomination tells the story of how a tiny local cult became one of the greatest cultural and political forces in history. Alice Roberts puts the case that the Roman empire lived on in a different form in the church.It is not an original idea – after all the foundation prayer of Christianity says “thy Kingdom come” – but Roberts tells the story from the point of view of individual parishes and even buildings. It’s a revelation, like watching those stop-motion films of how a plant grows and blooms. There’s a section about how a Roman villa might transform into a parish, the long barn providing the footprint, the web of relationships providing the social connection, the very tiles and columns providing the building materials. I can’t think of anyone who writes better about the way objects can speak to us. There’s a passage here describing her joy on grasping wha...

Politics

1 week ago Johnny Vegas on swapping comedy for ceramics: ‘You’ve got to be hungry for it, and right now, I’m hungry for sculpture’

At 54, the comic has found a new lease of life by embracing his first love – pottery. He talks about agoraphobia, ADHD and creating ceramic cuddlesIn a cavernous room in an old pottery factory, Johnny Vegas is approaching his work and his face is a delight. “Is it wrong to love your own pieces?” he says, seeing his sculptures for the first time in the place they will be shown, on a table lit by beams of dusty sunlight. Called Just Be There, and made in collaboration with the sculptor Emma Rodgers, each form is the result of two people embracing around a soft clay column. The huggers are mostly from Stoke-on-Trent, where Vegas’s work in the British Ceramics Biennial, one of more than 60 artists included, is being shown. Some are collapsed – thanks to a bear hug. Some are more restrained, the clay holding the imprint of people’s feelings about personal space. They’re robust and beautiful, and Vegas looks absolutely thrilled.The first time he produced a body of work to be on public sho...

Culture

1 week ago Woman humiliated after wearing beautiful dress to Chester Ladies Day

A woman was left sobbing at Chester Racecourse during Ladies Day when people mocked what she was wearing – even though the beautiful dress had sentimental meaning

Events

2 w. ago 'I've never paid for a flight upgrade and neither has my partner

A woman has shared a clever money-saving hack that has helped her and her partner secure free flight upgrades without having to pay extra for a business-class seat

Politics

2 w. ago It’s not all money, money, money here; the mellower side of Croatia’s Mamma Mia island

Beyond the tourist haunts there’s another side to Vis, with quiet beaches best explored by kayak and paddleboard, vine-covered hills and affordable waterside restaurantsI’m watching overtourism in action. Within the iridescent marvel that is Croatia’s Blue Cave, four boats holding about a dozen people each have an allotted 10 minutes before we motor back out again so that the next batch of visitors can float in. About 1,500 people a day visit this beautiful grotto on the island of Biševo, the biggest attraction within the Vis archipelago, two hours and 20 minutes south of Split by ferry. After paying the €24 entrance fee, I’m left underwhelmed by this maritime conveyor belt. At least the 45-minute foot ferry from Komiža, on the archipelago’s main island of Vis, to Biševo’s Mezoporat Bay, the launch point for boats to the Blue Cave, is only €4.Many of the other cave visitors are on one of the countless speedboat tours departing from all over Dalmatia and crowding into Mezoporat Bay b...

Politics

2 w. ago The dark rise of AI influencers: Why beautiful people who don't exist are invading your social media

Their creator stand to make money from their use, even as psychologists and experts sound the alarm over the effects these flawless sirens stand to have on real people.

Events

2 w. ago Great British Sewing Bee judge laments ‘loss of pride in making things’

BBC show’s judge feels the arts are now pastimes that middle-class people pay money to do

Events

3 w. ago 'Coney Beach has been my life for 60 years and now I am forced to retire'

'I am gutted like the rest of the people here. It's such a beautiful place that I've been coming to for as long as I can remember'

Politics

3 w. ago All those beautiful people in restaurants and your gym class aren’t paying customers

Models and influencers don’t pay for their matchas and exercise classes like plebs — they use apps to find which businesses will give them free stuff, explains Brittany Miller

Economics

4 w. ago Luke Littler opens up on trolls targeting his girlfriend and why she's 'needed' in his life

Luke Littler has opened up on online trolls targeting his 19-year-old beautician girlfriend Faith Millar - insisting people want to "ruin us"

Events