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OpenAI PR tells journalist to ‘move on’ while asking Sam Altman about a ChatGPT user’s suicide
An OpenAI publicist interrupted a Vanity Fair interview with chief executive Sam Altman when journalist Mark Guiducci asked about a ChatGPT user who died by suicide. The exchange raises questions about how the company responds to scrutiny of the chatbot’s role in mental health crises. Guiducci referred to journalist Laura Reiley’s account of her daughter’s…
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Israel prepared to intercept Flydubai jet after alleged hijacking attempt
Israel confirmed it was prepared to shoot down a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv after its Omani co-pilot attacked the captain with an emergency axe in an alleged attempted hijacking. The co-pilot, reportedly named Hamam al-Hammami, was believed to be a radicalised extremist who intended to crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport…
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BT rescues TalkTalk; migrant crisis flares on south coast
BT has agreed to rescue TalkTalk from administration. Nearly 150 migrants landed on Hampshire’s coast on Sunday, prompting scuffles between anti-migrant protesters and police.
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Badenoch’s rightward shift risks losing the Tory voters needed to regain power
Polly Toynbee argues that Kemi Badenoch’s effort to win back Reform UK voters by moving the Conservatives further right risks alienating the moderate voters the party needs to regain. She says the party has little chance of returning to power without winning back the “blue wall” across southern England, and that its conference presents little…
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Sam Altman says ‘some bad things’ will happen but AI is totally worth it
Sam Altman said society should expect some harms from AI, including hacks and scams, because he believes the technology will enable far greater benefits. His comments underline a divide between OpenAI’s more permissive stance and Anthropic’s more cautious approach, as regulators and AI companies face growing questions about safety. Altman described OpenAI as a pragmatic…
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BT’s purchase of TalkTalk is cosy – but probably politically sensible | Nils Pratley
BT’s hurried purchase of TalkTalk through a pre-pack administration has prompted claims that it is a cosy deal favouring the dominant broadband group. The article argues that ministers had few practical alternatives: an uncontrolled collapse could have disrupted customers, while no credible buyer had emerged after months of efforts. TalkTalk had about £1.5bn in borrowings,…
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Pentagon ends use of Anthropic’s Claude tools after safety dispute
The US Pentagon has officially ceased using Anthropic’s Claude AI tools, an official confirmed to the BBC, following months of contention with the company over AI safety features. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth designated Anthropic a national security risk in February after the company refused to remove safety guardrails from its systems, citing concerns about mass…
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Glasgow council deal protects staff pay and averts mass rehiring plan
Glasgow City Council has reached a revised pay and grading agreement with Unison, removing the immediate threat of a large fire-and-rehire exercise. The deal matters because the proposed system aims to address historic equal pay issues, but the original offer would have cut wages for some staff. The council had warned all 23,000 non-teaching employees…
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Preppers used to be ridiculed – but we’re all stockpiling now | Zoe Williams
The UK government is asking households to keep three days’ worth of food and water for emergencies, advice the writer sees as reasonable given how often wars and other shocks disrupt supplies. But she questions whether household stockpiles can offer meaningful protection without a wider public plan for emergencies. The article notes that Britain has…
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Sainsbury’s and Morrisons explored merger talks before discussions ended
Sainsbury’s and Morrisons held exploratory merger talks this year to create one of Britain’s biggest supermarket chains, though the companies are no longer in active discussions. The proposed deal would have created a business with a 23.6% market share, making it the second-largest supermarket group behind Tesco, and would have represented the biggest shake-up for…