2 h. ago Tech companies are stealing our books, music and films for AI. It’s brazen theft and must be stopped | Anna Funder and Julia Powles

If we don’t refuse and resist, not just our culture but our democracy will be irrevocably diminishedToday’s large-scale AI systems are founded on what appears to be an extraordinarily brazen criminal enterprise: the wholesale, unauthorised appropriation of every available book, work of art and piece of performance that can be rendered digital.In the scheme of global harms committed by the tech bros – the undermining of democracies, the decimation of privacy, the open gauntlet to scams and abuse – stealing one Australian author’s life’s work and ruining their livelihood is a peccadillo. Continue reading...

Culture

3 h. ago How to Save the Internet by Nick Clegg review – spinning Silicon Valley

Instead of recognising that social media harms mental health and democracy, the former deputy PM and Meta executive repeats company talking pointsNick Clegg chooses difficult jobs. He was the UK’s deputy prime minister from 2010 to 2015, a position from which he was surely pulled in multiple directions as he attempted to bridge the divide between David Cameron’s Conservatives and his own Liberal Democrats. A few years later he chose another challenging role, serving as Meta’s vice-president and then president of global affairs from 2018 until January 2025, where he was responsible for bridging the very different worlds of Silicon Valley and Washington DC (as well as other governments). How to Save the Internet is Clegg’s report on how he handled that Herculean task, along with his ideas for how to make the relationships between tech companies and regulators more cooperative and effective in the future.The main threat that Clegg addresses in the book is not one caused by the int...

Politics

29 h. ago PHOTO ESSAY: Those caught in the dragnet of China’s digital cage enabled by U.S. tech

China runs the largest digital surveillance apparatus on earth. An Associated Press investigation has found that American tech companies to a large degree designed and built China’s surveillance state, playing a far greater role in enabling human rights abuses than previously known.

Events

29 h. ago US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China

An AP investigation reveals that U.S. technology companies to a large degree designed and built China’s surveillance state, playing a far greater role in enabling human rights abuses than previously known

Science

5 d. ago Trump set to host US tech leaders at Rose Garden – minus Elon Musk

Tesla CEO’s absence is marked departure from his constant presence at the White House in early days of Trump 2.0When Donald Trump hosts leaders from the US’ biggest tech companies at a lavish Rose Garden dinner on Thursday night, there will be one notable absence. Elon Musk, once inseparable from Trump and a constant, contentious presence in the White House, will not be in attendance.The dinner, which will include Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Apple’s Tim Cook and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, is exactly the type of event where Musk would have sat at Trump’s right hand only a few months ago. Instead, the Tesla CEO stated on his social media platform X that he was invited but could not make it. He said he planned to send a representative. He spent the day on X posting a familiar stream of attacks on immigration and trans people. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump threatens tariffs on countries that ‘discriminate’ against US tech

President’s move could hit UK’s digital services tax and measures in EU states such as France, Italy and SpainBusiness live – latest updatesDonald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs and export restrictions on countries whose taxes, legislation and regulations target US big tech companies such as Google, Meta, Amazon and Apple.In a post on the US president’s social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said “digital taxes, legislation, rules or regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American technology”. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago OnlyFans owner paid £522 million in dividends as user numbers soar

The streaming site best known for hosting adult content saw revenues and profits grow last year.

Economics

2 w. ago Old man dies on way to meet AI chatbot that he thought was his lover

A cognitively impaired man's death after being misled by Meta's AI chatbot “Big Sis Billie” on Facebook Messenger has sparked concerns over whether tech companies are doing enough to make sure their AI bots are safe

Events

3 w. ago Tech companies know when ‘you’re looking at pictures of your ex’

Social media developers have worked tirelessly to track your every move, and the designers behind these apps have confirmed they can even see when you're stalking an ex's profile

Politics