Talk Fuse

    AI

    AI is reshaping how businesses, governments and creative industries operate, and this hub tracks the debates, breakthroughs and mishaps that come with that shift. It covers the technology's expanding footprint, from data centre investment and enterprise infrastructure spending to proposals for automating public sector roles, alongside the cultural pushback over AI's place in art and creative work.

    It also follows the growing scrutiny of AI safety and accountability, including research into how models behave when given autonomy, scrutiny of their security vulnerabilities, and disagreement among experts and policymakers over how tightly the technology should be regulated. Legal and ethical stumbles, such as fabricated evidence in court filings or missteps in how AI systems interact with the public, feature regularly too.

    Taken together, the coverage reflects a technology moving faster than the institutions meant to oversee it, making it essential reading for anyone trying to understand what AI means for their job, their rights and the wider world around them.

    • GOP is running 2026 like it’s 2006, repeating George W. Bush’s Iraq War election failure

      The opinion article argues that Republicans risk repeating their 2006 midterm defeat by allowing a Middle East war to dominate the political narrative. It says voters’ dissatisfaction with the Iraq War, a late Republican scandal and the party’s failure to present a forward-looking programme helped Democrats capture the House, despite economic growth. In 2006, Democrats…

    • US communities push back against Silicon Valley’s datacentre expansion plans

      Silicon Valley’s ambitious AI project is facing an unexpected democratic backlash, as communities across the US resist new datacentres and question the technology’s wider social value. The opposition reflects more than local objections to construction: it signals growing public distrust of powerful technology companies pursuing transformative plans without meaningful public consent. Moratoria and bans are…

    • Fake ChatGPT billing emails can steal your login

      Cybercriminals are impersonating OpenAI in fake ChatGPT subscription emails designed to steal login credentials and payment details. The messages create urgency by claiming a payment problem and giving recipients 48 hours to update their information, directing them towards a convincing imitation of the ChatGPT login page. Cofense researchers identified a suspicious sender address unrelated to…

    • AI firms face criticism over unpaid use of human creativity

      The article argues that major AI companies depend on vast amounts of human-created content to train their models while resisting payment, licensing obligations or revenue-sharing with its creators. It says recently unsealed court documents in The New York Times’ case against OpenAI and Microsoft suggest that some insiders recognised this as potentially large-scale exploitation, raising…

    • One of the Greatest Sci-Fi Nightmares Ever Made Is Officially Streaming for Free

      Alex Garland’s sci-fi thriller Ex Machina is available to stream free with adverts on The Roku Channel in the United States during September 2026. The film follows programmer Caleb Smith, who is invited to the secluded home of tech billionaire Nathan Bateman to assess Ava, an advanced humanoid robot whose intelligence and apparent self-awareness become…

    • Jia Zhangke Readies Zhao Tao Road Movie ‘Mamma Dunhuang,’ Rules Out AI in Production (EXCLUSIVE)

      Jia Zhangke is preparing “Mamma Dunhuang”, a road movie starring Zhao Tao as a woman driving from Dunhuang in western China to the eastern coast. The film explores China’s continental geography and will feature AI as part of its story, although Jia says no AI will be used in production. Filming is planned for early…

    • Gates urges US lawmakers to impose mandatory AI safeguards

      Bill Gates has urged US lawmakers and law-enforcement agencies to regulate artificial intelligence, arguing that voluntary industry safeguards are insufficient. He warned that powerful AI systems could be misused by people with malicious intentions and potentially cause mass casualties, while saying regulation need not significantly slow development. In an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, Gates…

    • ‘People are standing up and fighting back’: the north Devon revolt against a vast AI datacentre

      Plans for a 1.5GW artificial intelligence datacentre and 1.8GW battery storage facility in north Devon have triggered fierce local opposition. The proposed campus would occupy about 344 hectares within a Unesco-designated biosphere reserve, raising concerns about damage to protected landscapes, farmland, water and energy use. Xlinks, the British company behind the project, proposes five buildings…

    • Lions coach Fagan joins three-peat celebrations amid future uncertainty

      Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan joined jubilant celebrations after his side defeated Fremantle by seven points in the AFL Grand Final. Footage showed the 65-year-old coach riding on the shoulders of 2-metre co-captain Harris Andrews, as the Lions celebrated their third consecutive premiership. The victory came after Fagan unexpectedly said he was considering stepping down,…

    • Marles met Altman days before ministers learned of Medicare portal breach

      Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said he met OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman on 1 September, days before the Australian government was informed of an unauthorised access incident involving a Medicare statistics portal. Marles said the breach was not discussed because neither he nor the government had been notified, and he declined to speculate about…