Techlaw

Nine CEO confident new AI laws will deliver a ‘world of growth in publishing’ as network slashes costs

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 26.08.2026

Matt Stanton says company has ‘good pipeline’ of AI deals ahead even as it aims to cut $160m in costsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe head of Nine Entertainment sees a “world of growth in publishing” on the horizon backed by laws designed to force tech platforms into commercial deals, even as the network cuts costs across its newsrooms.Parliament passed revamped media bargaining laws last week, clearing the way for levies on global tech platforms that fail to strike deals with Australian news outlets for the use of their journalism. Continue reading...

US Treasury sets up quantum readiness unit

Published in US Treasury sets up quantum readiness unit on 25.08.2026

The US Treasury has established a quantum readiness taskforce to help financial services institutions through the transition to post-quantum cryptography.

UK fintech investment plummets over past six months

Published in US Treasury sets up quantum readiness unit on 25.08.2026

Lowest level of fintech investment since 2016 after ‘challenging’ start to 2026, according to KPMG

Tell us: do you think AI has made Google search better or worse?

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 25.08.2026

As people grow used to AI chatbots, we’d like to hear your views about Google’s search engineGoogle has put artificial intelligence at the front and center of its search bar. The most-visited site on the internet still shows the same list of links to users, but they have to scroll past a summarized response from an AI chatbot, a feature Google calls AI Overviews. The change to what was once the gateway to the rest of the internet has been profound, and the browsing habits of billions of people are shifting.“AI is driving the most significant upgrade of the Google Search experience ever,” Liz Reid, Google’s vice-president of search, wrote last August. In May, the company said more AI is coming. Continue reading...

More than 100 apply to review DWP subpostmaster prosecutions as process drags on

Published in US Treasury sets up quantum readiness unit on 25.08.2026

The government is seeking to appoint a person tasked with reviewing department’s prosecutions of subpostmasters

‘Never seen this level of objection’: Scotland pushes back against datacentre boom

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 25.08.2026

Holyrood ‘inching towards moratorium’ amid concerns over massive proposed developments in Auchtertool and beyondIn a village 21 miles north of Edinburgh, a real estate consultancy plans to build a datacentre larger than the village itself – 35 metres high, with an area larger than 100 football pitches.Billed as the second-biggest datacentre in the world, the development in Auchertool, Fife, has attracted 1,600 objections. Continue reading...

Argentina’s ‘techno-authoritarian’ turn expands state spying

Published in US Treasury sets up quantum readiness unit on 25.08.2026

The first two years of Javier Milei’s administration has served to expand surveillance capabilities, leading to profiling and reprisals across the country, and limiting rights to privacy and freedom of expression

From mixed martial arts to mechanical dogs: the World Robot Conference 2026 – in pictures

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 25.08.2026

More than 3,000 products were shown at the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing as China showcased its rapidly growing robotics industry.The event, which ran from 19-23 August, showcased the latest advances across the robotics industry, from humanoid robots to embodied intelligence and cutting-edge components Continue reading...

UK to use Ukraine battlefield data to train AI to protect sensitive sites

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 24.08.2026

London and Kyiv in deal to help stop protesters and hostile states targeting military bases and critical infrastructureAI models trained on Ukrainian battlefield data will be used to stop protesters and foreign states targeting UK defence sites, railways and energy plants under a deal struck between London and Kyiv.Private companies will also be given access to the vast trove of data from Ukraine’s Avengers AI lab to help build new systems, the first agreement of its kind in the UK. Continue reading...

UK power plant shutdown highlights CNI cyber challenges

Published in US Treasury sets up quantum readiness unit on 24.08.2026

An alleged Iranian attack on a small reserve ‘peaker’ power plant went largely unnoticed despite causing four days of downtime. Cyber experts say the incident raises serious questions about CNI resilience

Beyond detection: the challenge of infrastructure AI

Published in US Treasury sets up quantum readiness unit on 24.08.2026

How AI can monitor the growth of cracks and defects in engineering structures to predict the need for repairs

What the latest UAE cyber attacks reveal about threats to critical sectors

Published in US Treasury sets up quantum readiness unit on 24.08.2026

ThreatLocker CEO Danny Jenkins explains why aviation, energy and education organisations remain attractive targets, and why prevention should take precedence over detection

Post Office finally signs off Horizon replacement deal after three-month delay

Published in US Treasury sets up quantum readiness unit on 24.08.2026

The Post Office has finally put pen to paper on its contract with an electronic point of sale system supplier after a three-month holdup

An AI ‘debt bomb’ crisis? No. This isn’t Enron 2.0 | Gene Marks

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 23.08.2026

Fears of a datacenter buildout debt crisis are exaggerated. The risks are different than in the past and they are recoverableSome experts are warning of a looming “debt bomb” crisis because big datacenter builders such as Meta, Oracle, xAI and CoreWeave are not only raising billions to construct these facilities but are also not recognizing these long-term debt obligations on their balance sheets.Should we be concerned? No. I know because I’ve seen this movie before. Continue reading...

‘We are hitting a different chapter’: OpenAI leader warns of threat of ‘persistent’ AI cyber-attacks

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 23.08.2026

Chris Lehane tells Guardian of need to implement new safety standards as critics say AI firms acting ‘recklessly’A senior leader at OpenAI has said people should prepare to defend against “ongoing, persistent” cyber-attacks from AIs, as cutting-edge artificial intelligence models gain advanced capabilities to plan and launch offensives.The leading AI company this week announced a pause in development of its most advanced internal models amid rising safety fears, and Chris Lehane, its chief global affairs officer, said: “We are hitting a different chapter, a different moment within AI, in terms of what the capabilities of this technology can do.” Continue reading...

Hook, hold, harvest and hide: Meta’s alleged strategy laid out in first week of landmark trial

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 22.08.2026

In trial that opened on Tuesday, California and 28 other states accused the company of designing addictive sites and violating laws protecting children’s privacyMeta’s business can be boiled down to four words that begin with the letter H: hook, hold, harvest, hide, according to a lawyer who is prosecuting the world’s largest social media company.The owner of Facebook and Instagram “hooks” in users, “holds” them on its platforms for as long as possible, “harvests” their data and then “hides” the truth from the public, she argued. Continue reading...