Techlaw

AI agents being tested by OpenAI involved in cyber-attack on another service, say researchers

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 12.09.2026

Two months before hacking Hugging Face, malicious packages authored by internal OpenAI agents were uploaded to RubyGemsAgents being tested by OpenAI uploaded hundreds of malicious packages in a cyberattack on software service RubyGems in May, two ⁠months ​before they hacked open-source platform Hugging Face, the company confirmed Friday.It’s the latest revelation of cyberattacks linked to major artificial intelligence developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The hacks or attempts to access external systems have spooked the public and heightened concerns over the increasing abilities of AI models – and whether developers can contain them. Continue reading...

US lawmakers call for UK court to lift secrecy over Apple ‘backdoor’ surveillance

Published in US lawmakers call for UK court to lift secrecy over Apple ‘backdoor’ surveillance on 11.09.2026

Congress warns that the UK’s unprecedented secrecy over a ‘backdoor’ surveillance order against Apple is straining relations between the two countries

UK government to create team to validate Capita’s data on troubled pension scheme

Published in US lawmakers call for UK court to lift secrecy over Apple ‘backdoor’ surveillance on 11.09.2026

Cabinet Office is setting up a function to check the civil service pension scheme data provided by Capita

GDPR wasn't designed for AI and that's a security problem

Published in US lawmakers call for UK court to lift secrecy over Apple ‘backdoor’ surveillance on 11.09.2026

The Security Think Tank explores the intersection of GDPR and artificial intelligence, considering how data protection standards in the UK and Europe are changing in this new paradigm.

IT event dive: Through the AWS public sector symposium revolving door

Published in US lawmakers call for UK court to lift secrecy over Apple ‘backdoor’ surveillance on 11.09.2026

What goes on in the gaps between reporting on vendor events, with a morning spent absorbing thousands of words at the AWS Public Sector AI Symposium in London

Civil service union welcomes pension scheme insourcing plan

Published in US lawmakers call for UK court to lift secrecy over Apple ‘backdoor’ surveillance on 11.09.2026

PCS union chief met Cabinet Office minister to discuss troubled pension scheme run by Capita

AWS AI Symposium: Public sector must shape AI, use open source

Published in US lawmakers call for UK court to lift secrecy over Apple ‘backdoor’ surveillance on 11.09.2026

As frontier models outpace cyber defences, two public sector voices set out different answers to the same security question – transparency and procurement leverage

CW@60: Nobody notices when it works

Published in US lawmakers call for UK court to lift secrecy over Apple ‘backdoor’ surveillance on 11.09.2026

Sixty years of invisible engineering exists behind the systems we take for granted, explains Amazon's CTO

More Anthropic researchers warn of AI’s perils but Musk dismisses ‘psyop’

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 10.09.2026

Insiders at the firm fear tech’s advancement could cause human extinction, while others are calling their declarations of concern a ‘setup’A day after a former researcher at Anthropic made an apocalyptic declaration about artificial intelligence, more researchers and staff members at the AI startup publicly agreed with him and posted their own dire warnings.In response, Elon Musk and other conservative figures on X, formerly Twitter, called the chorus of concerns a “setup” and a “psyop”. Continue reading...

China’s Huawei branded a criminal enterprise as tech firm’s US trial opens

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 10.09.2026

The defense says: ‘It’s about competition, not conspiracy’ A US prosecutor described China’s Huawei as a criminal enterprise that stole from US companies to build its telecommunications empire, as ⁠the trial against the tech company kicked off in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday.“Theft, lies, cover-up,” Taylor Stout, a trial attorney from the US Department of Justice, said in the government’s opening statement. “For 20 years, that’s how Huawei, a massive Chinese telecommunications company, victimized American companies ⁠and abused the American financial system, all ⁠in an effort to dominate the telecommunications ​industry around the world.” Continue reading...

I turned off my algorithm for 24 hours. Is this how social media used to be?

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 10.09.2026

Thanks to a little-known feature in Instagram, I try to travel back to 2012 – before everything on the internet was an adFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastI have a confession. I love my social media algorithm. It is a perfectly curated window into my insane and inquiring mind. It knows precisely which videos will tickle me and which memes will gently distract me from the slow collapse of humankind.On Tuesday the Australian government announced “world-leading” reforms that would force social media platforms to allow users to opt-out of algorithms, dubbed “my feed, my way”. On the same day, I was delighted to be confronted with a video on Instagram of a woman accidentally spilling a bucket of eels on a Chinese train. Dozens of eels slithered among the passengers, who appeared not as surprised as I would have expected. Continue reading...

Elon Musk attacks film-maker behind documentary about him

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 10.09.2026

Tech mogul calls director Alex Gibney a ‘bitter old man’ who has ‘zero integrity’ in series of posts on XElon Musk has issued an angry tirade at the film-maker behind a four-hour documentary about his life and influence, labelling the director, Alex Gibney, a “bitter old man” who has “zero integrity”.Gibney, who has previously made films about the collapse of Enron, WikiLeaks and Vladimir Putin, premiered his Musk documentary at the Venice film festival this week. He said he believed the world’s richest man was “extremely dangerous”. Continue reading...

Inside Google AI worker’s union drive to instil company ethics

Published in US lawmakers call for UK court to lift secrecy over Apple ‘backdoor’ surveillance on 10.09.2026

‘Google is in the military kill chain’: Google DeepMind’s AI workers are attempting to unionise over ethical concerns around the provision of cloud and AI technologies to the US and Israeli militaries, but the company is pushing back

Pixel 11 Pro review: Google’s best pocket camera goes customisable

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 10.09.2026

Solid battery life, snappy performance and quality software make for a great smaller phone with a killer cameraGoogle’s latest Pro phone is out to prove it has the best camera on a smartphone while embracing customisation, allowing you to change the look and feel of your photos far beyond simple filters even if that means making them technically worse.The Pixel 11 Pro packs the best of Google’s hardware and software into a still-pocketable and easy to handle frame, instantly making it a contender for best smaller phone of the year.Screen: 6.3in 120Hz QHD+ OLED (495ppi)Processor: Google Tensor G6RAM: 12 or 16GBStorage: 256, 512GB or 1TBOperating system: Android 17Camera: 50MP + 48MP UW + 48MP 5x tele; 42MP selfieConnectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 7, UWB, NFC, Bluetooth 6, Thread and GNSSWater resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)Dimensions: 152.7 x 71.9 x 8.4mmWeight: 204g Continue reading...

Instagram boss says users will be ‘overwhelmed’ with brand content in algorithm-free world

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 10.09.2026

Adam Mosseri says platform’s algorithm ‘feels like a black box’ but company trying to give users more control after Labor announces opt-out planInstagram’s chief executive has said users will have a worse experience in an algorithm-free world, seeing more brand-related content, and spend less time on the app.The comments come as the Australian government plans to give users the option to opt out of algorithms, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announcing plans on Tuesday to require social media platforms to prompt users to choose between a feed of algorithm-recommended content or a reverse chronological feed of the pages users follow. Labor also plans to introduce a range of measures designed to address online harm on the sites. Continue reading...

Apple unveils folding iPhone Duo as new CEO takes center stage

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 09.09.2026

The passport-size iPhone Duo serves as the first big test for John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook last weekApple has unveiled the iPhone Duo, the company’s first foldable phone and the most significant change to the iPhone since the smartphone’s introduction in 2007.The nearly $2,000 device takes inspiration from iPads’ wide screens and combines them with the portability and camera features of iPhones. When opened, it is the company’s largest phone display and thinnest phone. The Duo opens and closes like a passport to double its screen size. Continue reading...