Techlaw

Trump praises relations with Burnham despite tensions over AI and Iran

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 22.09.2026

US president calls UK prime minister ‘a natural businessperson’ as leaders meet at UN assembly in New YorkDonald Trump has asserted his relationship with the UK is “more up” with Andy Burnham than under Keir Starmer despite tensions between the two countries on a range of thorny issues including regulation of artificial intelligence, the Chagos islands and the war in Iran.At their first face-to-face meeting, the US president praised Burnham, who sat nervously alongside him, as a “natural businessperson”, saying he thought he had “lots of assets on his side” and would be a “great” prime minister. Continue reading...

Zero-trust was built for people. Nobody told it about agents

Published in Zero-trust was built for people. Nobody told it about agents on 22.09.2026

The concept of zero-trust needs no introduction, but in the new world of AI agents, it’s a model that now needs to evolve.

Data dive: Mapping UK police forces’ hyperscale dependence

Published in Zero-trust was built for people. Nobody told it about agents on 22.09.2026

Computer Weekly used public DNS records to map which outside companies Britain’s 48 police forces connect to – and found a service that has quietly standardised on one US hyperscaler

Using AI to ‘talk to animals’ might make us feel clever – but what, if anything, does it do for them?

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 22.09.2026

As animal behaviorists increasingly use AI in their research, they grapple with how to wield the technology responsiblyI’m sitting in a small boat in Shark Bay, Australia, eavesdropping on a conversation between some of Earth’s most intelligent beings. The motor is off, the turquoise sea is glassy, and Stephanie King and I are motionless, transfixed by the whistles, clicks and squeezy, whirring noises made by the dolphins swimming below us.If anyone could tell me what these big-brained social mammals are saying, it would be her. Based at the University of Bristol, she co-leads Shark Bay Dolphin Research, one of the longest-running wild dolphin research projects in the world. She has spent thousands of hours watching and listening to this population. Continue reading...

OpenAI’s George Osborne says datacentre nimbys holding back Britain

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 22.09.2026

Former chancellor, now senior figure at OpenAI, says UK needs datacentres to maintain ‘sovereignty’ over AI techUK politics live – latest updatesDatacentre nimbys are holding Britain back, George Osborne has said in reaction to nationwide protests about the giant water- and energy-guzzling structures.The former Tory chancellor is now the head of AI for countries at OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. His job is to represent the company to governments around the world and he also has a role in enabling the building of datacentres and other infrastructure. Continue reading...

UK government defends ‘fundamentally flawed’ eVisa system

Published in Zero-trust was built for people. Nobody told it about agents on 22.09.2026

The government has rejected a suggestion from the Commons Home Affairs Committee that the electronic visa system should move to a more stable, token-based process, rather than the current error-prone system that relies on real-time database checks

The Middle East’s AI race has a people problem

Published in Zero-trust was built for people. Nobody told it about agents on 22.09.2026

Middle East firms are quickly snapping up AI hardware, but finding the right people to put it to work effectively in everyday operations is proving a lot more difficult

What do we mean by sovereign AI?

Published in Zero-trust was built for people. Nobody told it about agents on 22.09.2026

‘Sovereign AI’ is everywhere but rarely defined. It bundles ownership, control, jurisdiction, capability and optionality. The real test for most organisations is, do you know your dependencies, and can you leave if you need to?

Capita lacks the ‘capacity and ability’ to run GP pension scheme, BMA tells MPs

Published in Zero-trust was built for people. Nobody told it about agents on 22.09.2026

The British Medical Association (BMA) has written to MP committees calling for the Capita-run GP pension scheme to be brought in-house

Splunk helps US research uni embrace ‘student-powered’ security

Published in Zero-trust was built for people. Nobody told it about agents on 22.09.2026

When she was asked to let IT students run its SOC, New Jersey Institute of Technology CISO Sharon Kelley ran a mile. Find out why she changed her mind, and how Splunk is helping her raise a new generation of cyber analysts

Celebrating 60 years of Computer Weekly

Published in Zero-trust was built for people. Nobody told it about agents on 22.09.2026

Sixty years ago today, the first issue of Computer Weekly landed on IT managers’ desks across the UK. It’s been our privilege to document the incredible progress of UK IT ever since. In this special anniversary issue, leaders from across the sector reflect on their personal memories from six decades of innovation. Read the issue now.

Black Tesla employees accuse company of fostering racial discrimination in major trial

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 22.09.2026

Lawyers say Black employees at Tesla experienced ‘rampant racism’ that was left unchecked for years at their flagship factory in CaliforniaDozens of Black employees at Tesla’s flagship plant in California said they were subject to racist slurs, unequal pay and promotions, and bullying by supervisors on a daily basis, a situation management did little to nothing to fix.Their complaints form the basis of a lawsuit brought against the Elon Musk-owned electric car company by the state of California, which began trial with opening statements on Monday. Continue reading...

Stop relying on AI chatbots for customer care, UK banks and energy firms told

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 21.09.2026

Citizens Advice says providers of essential services such as energy, banking, phone and internet should guarantee the ‘right to talk to a human’Stop relying on AI chatbots for customer care and guarantee the “right to talk to a human”, Citizens Advice has urged essential service providers, as research found they wasted time, caused stress and delayed problem solving for more than half of users.The spread of the AI-powered systems to provide help about the provision of vital services such as energy, banking, phones and internet, is making it harder for millions of already digitally excluded people to handle snags, according to the frontline charity that last year provided more than 2.7 million people with one-on-one help in England and Wales. Continue reading...

Google fined more than €400m by Irish regulator over its use of location data

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 21.09.2026

Watchdog says users may have been unaware their information was used to target adverts or infer their interestsGoogle has been fined more than €400m (£345m) over the way it processed users’ location data, following claims that the tech giant had manipulated users into agreeing to be constantly tracked on their mobile phones.The fine, imposed by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), comes after complaints from multiple European consumer organisations that Google was following every step users took. Continue reading...

Nvidia boss says there is ‘0% chance’ AI destroys the world by 2030

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 21.09.2026

Jensen Huang dismisses warnings from former Anthropic researcher and others as ‘doomsday narratives’ The boss of the chipmaker Nvidia has said AI will not develop to a point that will lead to the extinction of the human race within a few years, rejecting such assertions as overblown “doomsday narratives”.Jensen Huang, the co-founder and chief executive of the $5tn AI chipmaker, said the claims made on social media by the former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon that AI could become “superhuman” and kill off humanity within the decade were “irresponsible”. Continue reading...

China bogeyman looms large over American firms’ AI doomsday scenario

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 19.09.2026

Silicon Valley China hawks, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei among them, fear the country surpassing US’s AI lead as much as superintelligence destroying humanityWhy China is pushing back on US warnings over rapid AI developmentWhen reporters asked Donald Trump this week if he supported calls to slow down the development of artificial intelligence out of growing fears for cybersecurity, public safety and the fate of humanity, he said no. His argument: China.“We’re leading China in AI,” Trump said. “We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly, I want to ⁠keep it that way, because whoever wins AI, wins.” Continue reading...