Month: May 2025

This might be the most French game ever – but there is more to the small-scale development of this belle époque-inspired beauty than you think Much has been made of the fact that the year’s most recent breakout hit, an idiosyncratic role-playing game called Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, was made by a small team. (It …

Baroque breakout hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is unlike any game you’ve played before Read More »

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts. This week’s followed the Spain/Portugal outages If you were prepping, what should be your top five things to hoard in light of the recent power outages in Spain and Portugal? Alina …

Readers reply: If you were prepping, what would your top five items be? Read More »

Panic; PC, PS4/5, XboxSet during Ecuador’s 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign, this fascinating, semi-autobiographical game gives you control of the life of a soccer-mad eight-year-old Video games have been simulating football since the 1970s, but they have rarely ever thought about simulating fandom. You can play a whole international tournament in the Fifa titles, but …

Despelote review – a beautiful, utterly transportive game of football fandom Read More »

Cuts follow push to slim management ranks, despite headcount still being up year-on-year in March Microsoft says it is laying off nearly 3% of its entire workforce. The tech giant didn’t disclose the total amount of lost jobs, but it will amount to about 6,000 people. Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, …

Microsoft to lay off 6,000 workers despite streak of profitable quarters Read More »

Nvidia to sell hundreds of thousands of AI chips in Saudi Arabia and Cisco also signs deal with UAE company G42 A swath of US technology firms announced deals in the Middle East as Donald Trump trumpeted $600bn in commitments from Saudi Arabia to American artificial intelligence companies during a tour of Gulf states. Among …

US tech firms secure AI deals as Trump tours Gulf states Read More »

New system will analyse responses 1,000 times faster than a human and save millions, ministers claim An AI tool has been used to review public responses to a government consultation for the first time and is now set to be rolled out more widely in an effort to save money and staff time. The tool, …

UK government to launch AI tool to speed up public consultations Read More »

Big tech companies have exploited human language for AI gain. Now they want us to see their products as trustworthy collaborators After publishing my third book in early April, I kept encountering headlines that made me feel like the protagonist of some Black Mirror episode. “Vauhini Vara consulted ChatGPT to help craft her new book …

ChatGPT may be polite, but it’s not cooperating with you Read More »

What if a simple selfie was enough to show scientifically how well or badly we’re ageing? That moment’s getting closer … Name: FaceAge. Age: New. Continue reading… What if a simple selfie was enough to show scientifically how well or badly we’re ageing? That moment’s getting closer … Name: FaceAge. Age: New. Continue reading…Technology | …

FaceAge: the AI tool that can tell your biological age through one photo Read More »

As the UK debates AI and copyright, Trump hands a gift to Big Tech, drones proliferate along the India-Pakistan border and a robot dispenses methodrone Hello, and welcome to TechScape. Sometimes it helps me to write by thinking about how a radio broadcaster or television presenter would deliver the information, so I’m your host, Blake …

Trump strikes a blow for AI – by firing the US copyright supremo Read More »

Peers back amendment to data bill requiring AI companies to reveal which copyrighted material they have used The government has suffered another setback in the House of Lords over its plans to let artificial intelligence firms use copyright-protected work without permission. An amendment to the data bill requiring AI companies to reveal which copyrighted material …

House of Lords pushes back against government’s AI plans Read More »