Month: August 2024

Founder says procedure, aimed at helping paralyzed people use digital devices by thinking alone, went ‘extremely well’ Neuralink has successfully implanted in a second patient its device designed to give paralyzed patients the ability to use digital devices by thinking alone, according to the startup’s owner Elon Musk. Neuralink is in the process of testing …

Neuralink has implanted second trial patient with brain chip, Elon Musk says Read More »

The 35-nation Iter project has a groundbreaking aim to create clean and limitless energy but it is turning into the ‘most delayed and cost-inflated science project in history’ It was a project that promised the sun. Researchers would use the world’s most advanced technology to design a machine that could generate atomic fusion, the process …

Is the dream of nuclear fusion dead? Why the international experimental reactor is in ‘big trouble’ Read More »

Paul Givan says details of 407 people mistakenly sent out included names, addresses and personal comments The education minister in Northern Ireland has “unreservedly” apologised after the personal details of more than 400 people who had offered to contribute to a review of special education needs were breached. The embarrassing data breach came to light …

Minister apologises for Northern Ireland special education needs data breach Read More »

In 2016, some said comparisons between the rises of Trump and Hitler were misguided. But as tech’s titans donate millions, worrying new parallels emerge In How Democracy Ends, his elegant book published after Trump’s election in 2016, David Runciman made a startling point. It was that while the liberal democracy that we take for granted …

Silicon Valley’s Trump supporters are dicing with the death of democracy | John Naughton Read More »

Algorithms that send the most outrageous comments viral and a chain reaction of anger and disinformation made the riots that followed the Southport killings inevitable The 1996 Dunblane massacre and the outcry that followed are held up in the US as a textbook example of how an act of terror mobilised a country to demand …

‘A polarisation engine’: how social media has created a ‘perfect storm’ for UK’s far-right riots Read More »

Sam Altman’s ChatGPT promises to transform the global economy. But it also poses an enormous threat. Here, a scientist who appeared with Altman before the US Senate on AI safety flags up the danger in AI – and in Altman himself On 16 May 2023, Sam Altman, OpenAI’s charming, softly spoken, eternally optimistic billionaire CEO, …

OpenAI’s Sam Altman is becoming one of the most powerful people on Earth. We should be very afraid Read More »

Robert Skidelsky is concerned about the surveillance potential or AI, while Brian Reffin Smith is worried about its capacity to hijack culture, and Michael Heaton warns that it relieves us of the need to think In his interesting opinion article (Robots sacked, screenings shut down: a new movement of luddites is rising up against AI, …

We must be wary of the power of AI | Letters Read More »

PM accused of ignoring civil rights and aping autocracies as he proposes new powers after far-right unrest Civil liberties campaigners have said that a proposal made by Keir Starmer on Thursday to expand the use of live facial recognition technology would amount to the effective introduction of a national ID card system based on people’s …

Starmer’s live facial recognition plan would usher in national ID, campaigners say Read More »

Their shares have fallen 11.8% from last month’s peak but more AI breakthroughs may reassure investors It has been tough week for the magnificent seven, the group of technology stocks that has played a dominant role in the US stock market, buoyed by investor excitement about breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. Last year Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, …

Why have the big seven tech companies been hit by AI boom doubts? Read More »

Lawsuit says TikTok violated law that prohibits collecting, using or disclosing personal information from children under 13 without parental consent The US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have sued TikTok and its parent company ByteDance for allegedly failing to protect children’s privacy on the social media app. The government said TikTok violated a …

US sues TikTok and ByteDance for allegedly failing to protect children’s privacy Read More »