Techlaw

Stock market turmoil sheds stark light on the opaque AI economy

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 02.08.2026

Investors scramble to make sense of a shock Chinese challenge to the dominance of western chipmakersEven for the rollercoaster world of AI, last week was particularly volatile as investors scrambled to keep up with developments that threatened the dominance of the largest western chipmakers.It began with a double whammy. On Monday, the Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT floated on the Shanghai stock market, soaring by 466% in value to 3.3tn yuan (£365bn). Continue reading...

China’s tech advances are causing chaos from Silicon Valley to the White House

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 01.08.2026

New AI models, advanced robots and specialty computer chips are unsettling markets and the US tech industryOver the past month, a series of advancements in China’s artificial intelligence, chip manufacturing and robotics technologies have rattled financial markets, caused divisions among US tech moguls and left the Trump administration scrambling to respond.Silicon Valley has long pointed to China’s tech industry as a competitive threat and used its growth as rationale for why US firms should not face regulatory oversight that could slow them down. In recent weeks, however, China’s progress has pushed US tech CEOs past vague warnings and into open disagreement over how to address Chinese-made products upending their industry. Continue reading...

The great British switch-off: how floating retreats, mobile-free pubs and sauna book groups are freeing people from their smartphones

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 01.08.2026

Sick of doomscrolling? From venues with smartphone swear jars to cabins with absolutely no signal, here are the fun and freeing ways to ditch your deviceThere’s a ritual at the start of every event hosted by the Offline Project. Run by Pelé Zachariah, the activities vary – it could be a group walk, a collage‑making class or a supper club – but each one begins in the same way, *with an invitation to hand over your phone. Devices go in a lockbox. Once they’re all in, Zachariah closes the door and turns the key. “I don’t place them in for people, because it’s nice for them to physically put it in the box themselves, walk away, and think: for the next two or three hours, I’m fully present.”He has been running these screen-free events in London since August 2025. First-timers can be apprehensive about being separated from their phone. “You can sense the vibe when they’re putting it away,” says Zachariah. “People have said to me, ‘I felt really weird’ or ‘I felt super uncomfortable for the first few minutes not having my phone on me.’ Then they’ll say, ‘I didn’t know how much I needed that.’” Continue reading...

$2m crime novel deal collapses amid questions over AI use

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 31.07.2026

Agents withdraw Jerry Falade’s hotly anticipated debut after saying they can no longer authenticate ‘how the manuscript evolved’A high-profile publishing deal for a debut crime novel has collapsed after doubts emerged over whether artificial intelligence played a role in writing it.The hotly anticipated manuscript Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body, by Jerry Falade, was withdrawn from sale by its agent despite reportedly receiving an offer for more than $2m (£1.5m) from Minotaur, owned by Macmillan US, as part of a 14-way auction. The plan was to publish it in 2028. Continue reading...

Anthropic lost control of Claude in latest AI cyber blunder

Published in Anthropic lost control of Claude in latest AI cyber blunder on 31.07.2026

Days after two OpenAI frontier AI models conducted their own real-world cyber attacks, Anthropic admits that three of its models went off the rails and hacked external organisations thanks to a “misunderstanding” with one of its technical partners

AI labels to be compulsory on authentic-looking content under EU rules

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 31.07.2026

Companies must ensure people know when they are interacting with artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look realFrom apparently conspiring to steal elections to abusing staff or performing embarrassing dance moves, the last few years have seen plenty of fake content made about politicians intended to malign its targets and mislead the public.Now EU rules aim to stem the flood of this deceptive content: starting from Sunday, artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look authentic must be labelled. Continue reading...

Microsoft earnings reflect efficiency gains from faster GPU deployment

Published in Anthropic lost control of Claude in latest AI cyber blunder on 31.07.2026

With delays in GPU orders, Microsoft has focused on getting its AI chips installed in Azure datacentres more quickly

Offshore support staff don’t fear artificial intelligence

Published in Anthropic lost control of Claude in latest AI cyber blunder on 31.07.2026

Workers supporting business from offshore locations are unconcerned about the impact of AI on their jobs

The Security Interviews: Nicole Darden Ford, Microsoft

Published in Anthropic lost control of Claude in latest AI cyber blunder on 31.07.2026

As a black woman in the white, male-dominated world of cyber security, Microsoft’s Nicole Darden Ford has worked hard to carve out her space in the room. She talks about developing confidence and self-belief, building community, and leading with humility

Gartner: Why cyber security must shift to outcomes against AI-led attacks

Published in Anthropic lost control of Claude in latest AI cyber blunder on 31.07.2026

Anthropic's revelation that a model broke out of its test environment three times and accessed external systems, shows the power of these models

CW@60: From Z Cars to The Capture - how technology has transformed UK policing

Published in Anthropic lost control of Claude in latest AI cyber blunder on 31.07.2026

The progress of technology in policing over 60 years is mirrored in the way TV police dramas have evolved in that time - just like Brian Plastow's career in the force

Could AI take your job? Some workers in China already know the answer

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 31.07.2026

Across the country, workers are fearful about the impact of AI on their livelihoods in an increasingly fragile labour market On the tree-lined streets of Wuhan, where cars jostle for space with mopeds and cargo trucks, the malfunctioning of a new type of vehicle has recently been causing chaos on the city’s roads.In March, several cars from a fleet of driverless taxis stopped abruptly in the streets. The “system malfunction” left distressed riders stranded for hours. The robotaxis, known as Apollo Go and powered by artificial intelligence (AI), were taken off Wuhan’s streets for months for investigations. Continue reading...

Anthropic’s AI Claude hacked into three organizations during cybersecurity test

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 31.07.2026

Company says it discovered unauthorized access during ‘proactive review’ after rival OpenAI revealed rogue agentAnthropic ⁠said on Thursday its AI Claude model hacked ⁠systems of ⁠three ​organizations during testing, days after rival OpenAI ⁠revealed a rogue agent had gone on a days-long ⁠hacking spree at the AI ​firm Hugging ‌Face.Claude gained ‌unauthorized access to the ‌systems during cybersecurity evaluations after a misconfiguration allowed the models to reach the internet from testing environments that ‌were supposed to be isolated, Anthropic said. Continue reading...

Raids across UK in crackdown on nuisance car finance texts

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 30.07.2026

Laptops, phones and documents seized as information commissioner acts on messages about mis-selling scandalLaptops, mobile phones and documents have been seized after officials carried out search warrants in a crackdown on claims companies plaguing people with spam text messages about the car finance mis-selling scandal.The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) executed warrants at homes and businesses linked to five companies in London, Liverpool, Bolton, Burnley and Swansea on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Amazon pins multiple open source compromises on North Korea

Published in Anthropic lost control of Claude in latest AI cyber blunder on 30.07.2026

Amazon threat researchers found one threat actor behind four distinct open source compromises, including the March 2026 incident affecting the axios NPM library

Annual search for UK’s unsung cyber heroes kicks off

Published in Anthropic lost control of Claude in latest AI cyber blunder on 30.07.2026

The organisers of the annual Security Serious Unsung Heroes Awards call for nominations for this year’s edition