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  • UK must learn lessons from AI race and retain its quantum computing talent, says minister

    Liz Kendall announces £1bn funding to help design large-scale quantum computers for scientists, researchers, public sector and business The UK will not let quantum computing talent slip through its fingers and must learn lessons from US dominance of the AI race, the technology secretary has said, as the government announced a £1bn quantum funding pledge.…

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  • X suspends 800m accounts in one year amid ‘massive’ scale of manipulation attempts

    Social media company tells MPs of continual fight against state-backed efforts, with Russia being most prolific Elon Musk’s X said it had suspended 800m accounts over a 12-month period as it fights the “massive” scale of attempts to manipulate the platform. The social media company told MPs it was continually fighting state-backed attempts to hijack…

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  • UK arts must not be sacrificed for speculative AI gains, peers say

    Ministers urged to abandon plans to let tech firms use work of novelists, artists and writers without permission The UK’s creative industries must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of speculative gains in AI technology, a House of Lords committee has warned, as the government prepares to reveal the economic cost of proposals to change…

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  • Hundreds of UK teenagers to pilot social media bans and restrictions

    Trials to form part of three-month consultation on Keir Starmer’s plans to tackle negative effects of smartphone use Hundreds of teenagers will be enlisted to trial social media bans in the coming months with overnight digital curfews and daily screen time limits also tested as part of Keir Starmer’s plan to crack down on the…

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  • Datacentre developers face calls to disclose effect on UK’s net emissions

    Campaign groups write to technology secretary amid concerns that sites could double overall electricity demand Datacentre developers are facing pressure to reveal whether their projects will increase the UK’s net greenhouse gas emissions, amid concerns the sites could double national electricity demand. Campaign groups have written to the UK technology secretary, Liz Kendall, warning that…

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  • Treasury calls in Blair thinktank to advise on using AI across public services

    Unimpressed tech equity campaigners compare move to ‘inviting in foxes to consult on the future of the henhouse’ Ministers have called in Tony Blair’s thinktank and private tech companies to guide them on deploying AI across the UK government in a move campaigners compared to “inviting in foxes to consult on the future of the…

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  • Tech firms must remove ‘revenge porn’ in 48 hours or risk being blocked, says Starmer

    PM says measure, also applied to deepfake nudes, is needed owing to a ‘national emergency’ of online misogyny Deepfake nudes and “revenge porn” must be removed from the internet within 48 hours or technology firms risk being blocked in the UK, Keir Starmer has said, calling it a “national emergency” that the government must confront.…

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  • Starmer vows to fast-track social media law but says under-16s ban not definite

    Prime minister says action will be taken on young people’s social media access in ‘months, not years’ What social media restrictions has Keir Starmer announced? Keir Starmer has pledged action on young people’s access to social media in “months, not years”, while saying this did not necessarily mean a complete ban on access for under-16s.…

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  • New rules on social media could target ‘doomscrolling’ and ban for under-16s, Starmer says – UK politics live

    Prime minister says outcomes of consultation on social media ban should be implemented quickly as technology minister says Australia-style ban is not inevitable In his Q&A with journalists, Keir Starmer was also asked to respond to a report by the BBC’s James Landale saying he is looking at plans to raise defence spending to 3%…

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  • Starmer to extend online safety rules to AI chatbots after Grok scandal

    Starmer to announce ‘crackdown on vile illegal content created by AI’ after scandal involving Elon Musk’s Grok tool Makers of AI chatbots that put children at risk will face massive fines or even see their services blocked in the UK under law changes to be announced by Keir Starmer on Monday. Emboldened by Elon Musk’s…

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