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UK departments at odds over energy demands of AI datacentres
Discrepancy in forecasts raises questions over government planning for net zero One vision of the UK’s future involves a decarbonised economy powered by clean, renewable energy. Another involves making the UK an AI superpower. The government departments responsible for these two visions do not appear to have agreed on their numbers. Continue reading…
AI-powered robot beats elite table tennis players
In feat hailed as milestone in robotics, Sony AI’s Ace wins three out of five matches played under official rules An AI-powered robot has beaten elite players at table tennis in a significant achievement for a machine faced with human athletes in a real-world competitive sport. Named Ace, the robotic system developed by Sony AI,…
Mythos: are fears over new AI model panic or PR? – podcast
Earlier this month the AI company Anthropic said it had created a model so powerful that, out of a sense of responsibility, it was not going to release it to the public. Anthropic says the model, Mythos Preview, excels at spotting and exploiting vulnerabilities in software, and could pose a severe risk to economies, public…
Amazon to buy satellite firm Globalstar for $11.57bn in challenge to Musk’s Starlink
Deal, subject to regulatory approval, would give Bezos firm access to Globalstar’s network of two dozen satellites Amazon said on Tuesday it would acquire a satellite company in an $11.57bn deal, bolstering its own fledgling space business as it looks to take on Elon Musk-led bigger rival Starlink. The deal gives Amazon access to Globalstar’s…
UK’s leading AI research institute told to make ‘significant’ changes
Alan Turing Institute told by funder to offer better strategy and more value for money after board was reminded of legal duties by watchdog The UK’s leading AI research institute has been told to make “significant” changes by its main source of taxpayer funding. The Guardian revealed last week that the board of the Alan…
New study raises concerns about AI chatbots fueling delusional thinking
First major study on ‘AI psychosis’ suggests chatbots can encourage delusions among vulnerable people A new scientific review raises concerns about how chatbots powered by artificial intelligence may encourage delusional thinking, especially in vulnerable people. A summary of existing evidence on artificial intelligence-induced psychosis was published last week in the Lancet Psychiatry, highlighting how chatbots…
Exercise and brain function, hedgehog hearing, and can AI change our minds? – podcast
The Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, talks to Madeleine Finlay about three eye-catching science stories from the week, including a study that explores the link between exercise and brain health. Also on the agenda: the discovery that hedgehogs can hear high-frequency ultrasound and what this could mean for their conservation, and new research examining how…
Tech legend Stewart Brand on Musk, Bezos and his extraordinary life: ‘We don’t need to passively accept our fate’
He was at the heart of 1960s counterculture, then paved the way for the libertarian mindset of Silicon Valley. At 87, Brand is still keen to ensure the world is maintained properly – not just today, but for the next 10,000 years Stewart Brand thinks big and long. He thinks on a planetary scale –…
Race for AI is making Hindenburg-style disaster ‘a real risk’, says leading expert
Prof Michael Wooldridge says scenario such as deadly self-driving car update or AI hack could destroy global interest The race to get artificial intelligence to market has raised the risk of a Hindenburg-style disaster that shatters global confidence in the technology, a leading researcher has warned. Michael Wooldridge, a professor of AI at Oxford University,…
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…