Category view
Be the first to catch the latest stories from this category.
President Trump’s decision, announced while visiting his golf course in Ireland, was the latest shift in his trade policies.
Oil prices jumped and stock futures fell slightly on concerns that energy supplies from the Persian Gulf would be further diminished by a drone attack on a critical pipeline in Saudi Arabia.
As alarm from the highest echelons of A.I. companies mounts, Buckingham Palace said the king would meet with executives to explore how the technology can be used for good.
President Trump said Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries were “hurting the world,” amid a global energy shock driven primarily by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
The House is scheduled to be sent home in the coming days until after November's midterm elections, leaving a narrow window to pass any form of AI regulation.
Workers who forgo the traditional career path find there are rewards — and challenges — to going out on their own.
From the Trump administration to AI experts, plans by the Anthropic boss to boost safety have spawned a largely negative response OpenAI boss and Elon Musk back slowdown on ‘reckless’ AI development Editorial: controlling AI – humanity cannot outsource its survival The safety debate that ignited when whistleblowers last week warned that the most advanced AI poses an existential threat to humanity should come with a health warning: side effects include whiplash. It was only seven days ago that AI enthusiasts were cheerily toying with OpenAI’s newest model GPT-6 Astra which was marketed in part as a lifestyle tool to help people book tennis courts, run fashion companies and order takeaways. By Wednesday, cutting-edge AI started to look a lot less appealing when the resigning Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned “the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade”. Yes, he was talking about artificial superintelligence – an as-yet-nonexistent version of the technology that outcompetes humans in most domains – but his comments, and the chorus of experts that echoed him, jangled plenty of nerves. Continue reading...
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, the chair of Google DeepMind, and Elon Musk have all welcomed Amodei's proposal.
Rare show of unity from rival developers after safety warnings from Anthropic boss and AI researchers Analysis: critics perplexed and suspicious of call for a slowdown The Guardian view: humanity cannot outsource its survival Sam Altman and Elon Musk have backed a call from the head of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, to “slow the pace” of AI development after he warned that an AI swarm could otherwise become capable of “taking over the entire internet” within a year. In a rare show of unity, the rival technology leaders threw their weight behind the appeal from the founder and chief executive of the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, which came after a series of warnings from AI researchers last week. Amodei also called for safety coordination with China. Continue reading...
A charity in Powys provides the land while growers do the hard work, producing bumper crops for city children Kilos and kilos of courgettes, cucumbers, tomatoes and salad leaves are ripe and ready for picking on a small Welsh farm in the rural county of Powys. The haul being harvested by Tilly Gomersall is not just impressive after a difficult growing season hit by a record string of heatwaves and drought across all of Wales and most of England, but all the more remarkable given that 18 months ago the site was uncultivated pasture. Continue reading...
Iran war and turbulent global bond markets add to pressure as rate decisions loom this week in major western economies Economics viewpoint: perilous UK economic conditions trace back to Trump Central bankers in economies including the US, Japan and the UK will face a moment of truth this week, as surging inflation raises the prospect of higher interest rates. Policymakers in all three countries will set rates in the next seven days against the backdrop of turbulent global bond markets . Continue reading...
The government apparently has an issue with paths for cyclists. Take it from someone who can’t ride a bike: this makes no sense I’m out of gas. Not metaphorically. Literally, my car has the barest minimum amount of fuel in it. This is not because I like to live dangerously , a la the great literary hero Austin Powers, but because gas is more expensive than ever. I have nowhere to be today, so I’m allowing my car to sit idle, empty and alone, lest my bank account disappear into the Phantom Zone of negative balance. If things get sticky, I can take public transit or, God forbid, ride a bike. Except I can’t ride a bike, thanks to my parents, who were too busy doing more important tasks than teaching me, like arguing or falling asleep. But for many Americans, riding a bike is a perfectly normal thing to do. Am I humiliated that one of the many basic skills for life that I don’t know is considered so simple that it became a common idiom for something that’s easy ? Yes, of course. I don’t live dangerously, I live humiliatingly. Humiliation is my middle name. Dave Humiliation Schilling. Go on, point and laugh at the photo of me in this article. Get it out of your system so we can move along. Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...
President has hyped growth of federal investment accounts to help US children – for his own political gain Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has scrapped rules that made childcare more affordable and pushed to cut funding for the nation’s public schools . But with midterm elections fast approaching and his approval ratings very low, the US president has repeatedly trumpeted a two-month-old program designed to help the nation’s children. That program, unhumbly named “ Trump accounts ”, calls for the federal government to give a one-time $1,000 seed deposit to every newborn whose family applies. In campaign speeches this summer , Trump has sought to milk these accounts for maximum political advantage, making big promises about how much these accounts will help the nation’s children. In a speech in Las Vegas last month, Trump hailed the program, saying: “It’s really giving [children] a head start on the American dream… They start off with $1,000 … and they can end up with $100,000, $200,000, $300,000” and if the stock market booms, “you’d end up with $1m”. Continue reading...
This type of training is needed now more than ever, as the American workplace gets more and more diverse As a certified public accountant, I’m required to earn at least 80 hours every two years of continuing professional education credits. Many other professions and trades, including lawyers, healthcare professionals, engineers, electricians, plumbers and certain contractors, have similar requirements. It’s a good idea. These professional requirements often also include ethics training. That’s a good idea too. But just getting a refresher on ethics isn’t enough. Something else is needed – something that’s even more important: etiquette. Continue reading...
Technology is going to drastically reshape the economy, and it’s within our power to decide what that looks like The idea that autonomous, thinking machines may one day destroy property, hierarchy and inequality is as old as western political thought. In Aristotle’s Politics, the philosopher cites a fantasy from the Iliad, in which machines begin to act independently of human direction, concluding: “If every tool could perform its own work when ordered, or by seeing what to do in advance … if thus shuttles wove and quills played harps of themselves, master-craftsmen would have no need of assistants and masters no need of slaves.” The dream that automation could inaugurate a classless society is also present in the writings of Karl Marx. In 1858 he imagined the replacement of intellectual property with “socialised knowledge”, which would merge into a “general intellect”, blowing the foundations of capitalism sky high. Continue reading...
A man with a vision set out to revolutionize preschool. It became a $440 million fiasco.
Plus: How to stop office talk about a colleague’s cancer diagnosis before it starts.
They set out to celebrate the power and prestige of an industry that spanned MTV, HBO and Nickelodeon. Now, as cable’s fortunes have waned, the institution is changing, too.
Pilot project in Preston comes with apprenticeship offer for Neets at end of three-week course In a youth centre opposite Preston bus station , the UK government is trying to address two of the greatest challenges facing the national economy: AI and youth unemployment. The hope is that one will solve – rather than cause – the other. In a room at the recently opened Vault, a community hub in the Lancashire city, an “AI bootcamp” is under way – part of a trial in the north-west to give 16- to 24-year-olds AI training. Continue reading...
Criminals exploit demand for iPhone 18 Pro and foldable Duo to trick people eager to get their hands on one Apple has just launched a range of new iPhones, including a foldable handset, just as you decide it is time to replace your own ageing mobile. But you balk at the £1,199 price tag for the cheapest of the new options. Searching online for a better price with the words “cheap”, “iPhone” and “deal”, you come across a website which offers an iPhone 18 Pro for a couple of hundred pounds less than the Apple site. You pay for the new phone via a bank transfer and wait for it to arrive. Continue reading...
Thousands of miles of new power lines are needed to deliver climate targets and energy security, but bills will rise in the short term and opponents are mobilising Britain is embarking on one of the largest overhauls of its electricity grid in generations – a megaproject in which five times more infrastructure will be built by 2030 than was constructed during the previous three decades. Tens of billions of pounds are being spent on new pylons, subsea cables and converter stations to connect a growing fleet of wind and solar farms and carry clean power to where it is needed. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Supermarket joins line of firms and sports stars including Bellingham and Haaland to have their image hijacked via ads Tesco has alerted City of London police after it became the latest in a string of companies and sports stars, including Barclays bank and Lewis Hamilton, to have its image hijacked in a “scam” by unlicensed casinos advertising via Facebook and Instagram. The supermarket chain is among several household-name businesses to have been targeted in an apparent effort by casinos that cannot legally operate in Britain to capitalise on their brand recognition. Continue reading...
Changing social trends and creative timetables are making it more likely for students to stay at home while they study. Is campus life on the way out? For Lucy Brazier, a second-year business management student, commuting to university was an easy decision. She lives near Colchester, where the University of Essex is based. “[It] was the obvious choice for my course once I weighed up the costs,” she says. And with overnight accommodation available on campus, she feels she gets the best of both worlds. “I can book a room at less than a day’s notice for £35 so I don’t have to drive home. I’ve used it after nights out, and the evening before exams so I don’t have the stress of driving in the morning. It’s been really helpful.” Continue reading...
In this episode of Science Weekly, recorded in front of an audience at the London podcast festival on 3 September, Ian Sample hears from Michael Safi, the host of the Guardian’s chart-topping podcast about artificial intelligence, Black Box. In series two, Black Box: the chatbots, Michael meets people who have become convinced they have made scientific breakthroughs, cured diseases or invented new technologies using AI chatbots. Ian, Michael and Science Weekly’s co-host Madeleine Finlay explore the phenomenon labelled ‘AI psychosis’ and ask what it reveals about a technology now used by more than a billion people Listen to Black Box: the chatbots Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...
Altman's IPO comments and Amodei's public call for more careful pacing of AI development cap a week of loud AI warnings.
OpenAI’s decision comes after dire warnings about rapidly progressing technology and lawmakers’ calls for new rules OpenAI will not go public in 2026, Sam Altman said in a Fortune interview published on Saturday, citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence . “I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public, and we don’t feel pressure on that,” Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, told Fortune . Continue reading...
Restaurant chains are trying to draw in both kinds of consumers by offering low-cost and more-premium options at the same time.
Journalists don’t want to become the story. But newsrooms — and the people who run them — are the story for Times media reporters.
Oracle founder Larry Ellison has canceled his plan to sell up to $7.5 billion worth of stock in the software company.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed concerns around border dispute and the trade imbalance.
The city’s mayor and Tennessee’s governor threw their support behind the name change last month The Nashville airport is to be renamed after Dolly Parton , a board of commissioners voted on Friday, in tribute to the Smoky Mountain singer who is estimated to bring $1.8bn each year to Tennessee through her Dollywood theme park. The decision ensures that Parton, who died last month at 80 years old, will be memorialized with her name on an airport, although the renaming process will take time to complete. Continue reading...
Influencers aren’t just battling competitors for brand deals. They’re now battling AI versions of themselves Earlier this year, Emily Schuman, the creator of the lifestyle blog Cupcakes and Cashmere, saw a photo of herself she didn’t recognize on Instagram. In a sponsored ad, Schuman, who has more than 500,000 Instagram followers, is holding up a vial of GLP-1 drugs, advertising the telehealth company Gala. There was just one problem: Schuman had never heard of Gala and had nothing to do with the ad. The ad was based on a digitally altered version of a selfie Schuman had taken in her car and posted on Instagram years earlier. Once her followers got wind, they flooded her inbox with questions about the sponsorship as it didn’t seem consistent with Schuman’s personal brand. Soon after, Schuman discovered this was just the beginning. There was also an Instagram post where an AI version of her with darker hair appears to apply foundation to promote a makeup brand called Meroda Cosmetics, and TikTok posts with generated images of her promoting the blood testing company Superpower. Continue reading...
A compensation strategy at start-ups keeps expenses low until they go public. At that point, the companies may face billions of dollars in catch-up expenses.
Silicosis sufferers are getting younger as Trump and the coal mining industry push back on protections Silicosis is one of the oldest workplace hazards and public health experts have known for decades how to prevent it. Yet a new wave of workers, from Appalachian coalminers to Latino countertop fabrication workers, are developing and dying from the disease as industry fights new protections and regulators fail to defend the rules that could protect them. John Robinson’s grandfather developed black lung back when coalminers could spend decades in the mines before being diagnosed with the disease, often dying in their 60s, 70s and 80s. But Robinson, who mined for coal in south-west Virginia, was diagnosed when he was 47. He’s part of a trend that has grown over the past two decades in central Appalachia, where more coalminers are developing black lung disease at younger ages. Continue reading...
Hundreds of staff may have worked without legally required face-fitted masks over 20 years Hundreds of London Underground workers could have been exposed to asbestos for almost 20 years without protection required under safety regulations, according to documents seen by the Guardian. Under 2002 rules on controlling asbestos and other hazardous materials, employers are required to take a series of precautions, including ensuring exposed workers are given individually fitted face masks to prevent inhalation of toxic dust. Continue reading...
Stressed UK homeowners tell of cracks opening up in the walls around them after two record-hot summers “We’ve got one wall with an absolutely huge diagonal crack, through which we can see through to the other room; you could easily put your fingers in it and chunks of plaster are falling off,” says Henry Biggs, 49, from Stroud in Gloucestershire. He and his partner started noticing cracks in their family home in June 2025, a few months after buying it, and filed an insurance claim for subsidence that was accepted by their insurer, Admiral, in the spring. Monitoring devices were only recently fitted, about a year after they first submitted the claim, and they have no idea when the damage might start to be repaired. Continue reading...
Relocation incentives have a mixed record of helping cities and towns stand out as people return to rural America.
The World Cup and its aftermath made clear that Fifa needs independent oversight by governments and NGOs dedicated to preserving the people’s game The 2026 World Cup was a whirling swirl of scintillating soccer that prompted much-needed conversations about the vitality of diaspora, the fortitude of the underdog, the power of sport. In a world fractured along myriad cultural axes floating in an entertainment system dominated by on-demand content, the tournament provided a moment, perhaps unlike any other event, that brought together people from different backgrounds to simultaneously experience something meaningful. After the tournament concluded, Fifa president Gianni Infantino dropped a political pipebomb into the after-party, proposing to privatize the World Cup by injecting $20bn in private capital, with an assist from JP Morgan and Thrive Capital, the investment vehicle orchestrated by Joshua Kushner, brother to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Continue reading...
As OpenAI model cracks Millennium Prize Problem that puzzled experts for decades, many feel shocked at pace of change It was a week that left mathematicians reeling. Hot on the heels of a flurry of cases of artificial intelligence furthering the field , OpenAI declared a major scalp: its latest AI model had cracked a Millennium Prize Problem, a puzzle with a $1m reward that had defied human brains for decades. The achievement bore little resemblance to how mathematical problems normally fall. A near-trillion dollar private company had unleashed 10,000 agents – AI systems that carry out tasks autonomously – on the problem. The bill was estimated at $15m. Continue reading...
With the budget looming, arguments rage over whether ministers should scrap a pledge popular with millions There were fresh calls this week for the state pension “triple lock” to be ditched as debate rages over whether the UK can afford it. The triple lock guarantees that the state pension goes up each year in line with inflation or wage increases or 2.5% – whichever is the highest. Continue reading...
Try another keyword or clear the search box.
