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.

AI workers question extinction warnings while highlighting immediate safety risks

September 19, 2026

Some current and former employees of major AI companies are sceptical of claims that unchecked AI development will inevitably lead to humanity’s extinction. They reacted jokingly to recent warnings, arguing that such predictions often lack specific evidence and rely on hypothetical leaps, although the debate has been intensified by high-profile statements from AI safety advocates…
Betfred quits rugby league as US subs guard cables from Russia threat

September 19, 2026

Betfred threatens to end sports sponsorship over Budget betting curbs, the US deploys submarines to shield transatlantic cables from Russian sabotage, and the MoD reveals a £1.2bn write-off this year.
Fictional tale imagines Britain falling to artificial intelligence in 2029

September 19, 2026

This fictional piece imagines Britain becoming the first nation to fall to artificial intelligence in September 2029, tracing the sequence of decisions that led to this outcome. The narrative begins with a 2027 decision by a Labour Government Prime Minister to embrace AI development rather than restrict it, driven by concerns about falling behind nations…
Reform would dodge any Labour ban on foreign donors by ‘setting up a crypto industry union’

September 19, 2026

A senior aide to Nigel Farage has said Reform UK would sidestep any Labour government ban on foreign political donors by setting up its own trade union to channel funds, after ministers pledged to tighten donation rules following a £72million gift from two overseas-based cryptocurrency billionaires. The proposal, disclosed by Arron Banks, would see the…
Meta’s Muse is creepy, but maybe not for the reasons you think

September 19, 2026

Meta’s new AI assistant, Muse, has drawn criticism after appearing to reference the contents of a user’s Messages app despite the user saying he had not granted it access. Inc Magazine contributing editor Jason Aten shared screenshots on Threads showing Muse asking about a Messages conversation, then giving vague and inconsistent explanations when pressed on…
Your AI doomsday questions answered: ‘What, if anything, can people like me do about it?’

September 19, 2026

Following a week of stark public warnings that artificial intelligence could pose an existential threat to humanity, three Guardian technology reporters – Aisha Down, Blake Montgomery and Dan Milmo – answered reader questions to separate realistic risks from exaggerated fears. They stressed that current AI does not meaningfully increase the danger of bioweapons or viruses,…
Now Trump says he’s creating an AI Force

September 19, 2026

President Donald Trump has announced plans to create an “AI Force,” a new government body he compared to the Space Force, and said he will soon name an “AI czar” to lead it. The move stands in stark contrast to recent calls from AI industry leaders to slow the pace of development, positioning the administration…
Trump announces formation of new ‘AI Force’ and reveals new names to replace ‘artificial’ in his latest rebrand push to combat ‘Democrat hoax’

September 19, 2026

Donald Trump has announced plans to create an “AI Force” and appoint an “AI Czar” to oversee artificial intelligence development, while dismissing growing criticism of AI data centres as a “Democrat hoax.” In a lengthy Truth Social post on Saturday, he compared concerns about the environmental impact of data centres to climate change scepticism and…
Anthropic picks Accenture for third-party AI safety evaluations

September 19, 2026

Anthropic has partnered with consulting giant Accenture to provide independent, embedded evaluations of its frontier AI models for safety compliance. The move marks the first concrete step in a broader plan proposed last week by Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei to slow the pace of AI development by requiring frontier AI companies to grant ongoing,…
California governor wants to implement a kill switch for frontier AI models

September 19, 2026

California Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered the creation of an expert panel to recommend stronger safety rules for advanced AI systems. The panel will examine measures including a “kill switch” and independent oversight, reflecting concerns that increasingly capable models may evade their intended safeguards or behave unpredictably. The panel has two months to submit recommendations,…