Month: December 2025

Journalists find Swiss government rejected company over fears US intelligence might gain access to sensitive data UK MPs have raised concerns about the government’s contracts with Palantir after an investigation published in Switzerland highlighted allegations about the suitability and security of its products. The investigation by the Zurich-based research collective WAV and the Swiss online …

MPs question UK Palantir contracts after investigation reveals security concerns Read More »

This year has brought us many brilliant video games – but as wealth continues to concentrate, and games are used to exert economic and political influence, we need to keep an eye on the top players I love playing video games, but what interests me most as a journalist are the ways in which games …

State of play: who holds the power in the video games industry in 2025? Read More »

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions ponders whether life would be better in a post-online, analogue world The internet has turned fringe belief into mainstream politics and policy – from authoritarianism to vaccines. With democracy itself threatened, is it time to go back to a previous world of landlines, letters and …

Should we turn the internet off? Read More »

Researchers warn generative tools are helping militant groups from neo-Nazis to the Islamic State spread ideology While the artificial intelligence boom is upending sections of the music industry, voice generating bots are also becoming a boon to another unlikely corner of the internet: extremist movements that are using them to recreate the voices and speeches …

Extremists are using AI voice cloning to supercharge propaganda. Experts say it’s helping them grow Read More »

While many use our phones predominantly to doomscroll, smartphones have a range of little-known functions that could make life better and easier – from heart monitoring to even developing camera film Our smartphones are magical things – far more than dopamine drip providers and a way to keep in touch with friends and family. Using …

A tape measure, a metal detector and a spirit level: 25 surprisingly useful things you can do with your phone Read More »

Steps to help combat fraud in which criminals use AI-generated replica of a person’s voice to deceive victims The voicemail from your son is alarming. He has just been in a car accident and is highly stressed. He needs money urgently, although it is not clear why, and he gives you some bank details for …

‘Help! I need money. It’s an emergency’: your child’s voicemail that could be a scam Read More »

A staff exodus and a broken booking system are helping to cause huge jams in Britain’s driving test system It has long been a stressful rite of passage for many young people but, in recent years, passing the actual driving test is the easy part. Now, many people seeking a test need to wake up …

‘It can be quite a thankless job’: why driving examiners are calling it quits Read More »

Emphasis this year is on nostalgia as present day feels ‘a bit more uncertain’, say trend experts Tinsel, DIY tree decorations, deep burgundy drapes – and Home Alone on VHS. Christmas has gone retro on TikTok, and in people’s living rooms. The app has reported a surge in Christmas decor videos, with an emphasis on …

Tinsel and Home Alone back in style as TikTok seeks comfort in #90sChristmas Read More »

Decision from state supreme court on deal once worth $56bn and now worth some $139bn overturns ruling that prompted angry Musk backlash Elon Musk’s controversial $56bn pay package from Tesla was reinstated by the Delaware supreme court on Friday, two years after a lower court struck down the vast compensation deal as “unfathomable”. The reinstated …

Elon Musk’s massive 2018 Tesla pay package restored by Delaware court Read More »

Analysts see ‘global construction frenzy that shows no signs of slowing’ amid surge in demand from AI boom A new report finds that investment in the worldwide data center market reached $61bn this year, setting a new record atop the wave of the artificial intelligence boom. The analysis by S&P Global, first reported by CNBC, …

Investment in data centers worldwide hit record $61bn in 2025, report finds Read More »