Month: February 2026

‘Deepfakes spreading and more AI companions’: seven takeaways from the latest artificial intelligence safety report

Annual review highlights growing capabilities of AI models, while examining issues from cyber-attacks to job disruption The International AI Safety report is an annual survey of technological progress and the risks it is creating across multiple areas, from deepfakes to the jobs market. Commissioned at the 2023 global AI safety summit, it is chaired by …

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Elon Musk merges SpaceX with xAI at $1.25tn valuation

Aerospace business and artificial intelligence firm to unite for IPO as world’s most valuable private company Business live – latest updates Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX has acquired his artificial intelligence business xAI, in a $1.25tn (£910bn) merger that consolidates part of Musk’s empire as SpaceX prepares to go public later this year. The two …

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Iron Lung review – YouTuber Markiplier crash lands with big-screen sci-fi horror

Online gaming legend Mark Fischbach writes, directs and stars in this feature about a convict on a vague intergalactic mission – but his barebones production has nothing to show William Goldman’s old showbiz maxim continues to apply that nobody knows anything. Independently financed horror movie Iron Lung has been smuggled into multiplexes without the usual …

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Requiem for a film-maker: Darren Aronofsky’s AI revolutionary war series is a horror

The once-lauded director of Black Swan and The Wrestler has drowned himself in AI slop with an embarrassing new online series If you happen to find yourself stumbling through Time magazine’s YouTube account, perhaps because you are a time traveller from the 1970s who doesn’t fully understand how the present works yet – then you …

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‘A mixed blessing’: crowdfunding has changed the way we give, but is it fair and effective?

Millions of dollars have been raised for Bondi hero Ahmed al-Ahmed, while campaigns are backing families hit by Victoria’s bushfires. What does this way of giving mean for the charity sector? Within hours of the Bondi beach terror attack, the money had already begun to pour in. As images of the tragedy flooded social media, …

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‘Marketplace for predators’: Meta faces jury trial over child exploitation claims

New Mexico attorney general accuses Meta of failing to safeguard children against trafficking and sexual abuse Meta’s second major trial of 2026 over alleged harms to children begins on Monday. The landmark jury trial in Santa Fe pits the New Mexico attorney general’s office against the social media giant. The state alleges that the company …

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Snapchat blocks more than 400,000 Australian accounts but warns of ‘significant gaps’ in under-16s social media ban

Social media platform says there are still ‘real technical limitations to accurate and dependable age verification’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The accounts of more than 415,000 users in Australia identified as being under 16 were locked or disabled by …

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Viral AI personal assistant seen as step change – but experts warn of risks

OpenClaw is billed as ‘the AI that actually does things’ and needs almost no input to potentially wreak havoc A new viral AI personal assistant will handle your email inbox, trade away your entire stock portfolio and text your wife “good morning” and “goodnight” on your behalf. OpenClaw, formerly known as Moltbot, and before that …

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‘It’s really sad’: US TikTok users rethink app over concerns about privacy and censorship

Some users are stepping away from the app after it made a deal to create a US entity and updated terms and conditions Many TikTok users across the US say they’re rethinking their relationship with the platform since its ownership and terms and conditions have recently changed, with some citing censorship and lack of trust …

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