Techlaw

Digital twins bill to be debated in Parliament

Published in Digital twins bill to be debated in Parliament on 04.09.2026

A Ten-Minute Rule Bill curbing the creation of digital twins of individual people is to be debated in Parliament.

US military disables ad trackers on troops’ phones amid security fears

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 04.09.2026

Senator releases letters from armed forces after reports of location data being used to track US troops in Middle EastUS military officials say they have disabled advertising trackers on a range of phones and computers, according to letters released on Friday by the US senator Ron Wyden and ⁠statements given to Reuters.The development follows reports ​that commercially available location data had been used to target American forces in the Middle East. Continue reading...

US senator Bernie Sanders calls for ban on AI superintelligence

Published in Digital twins bill to be debated in Parliament on 04.09.2026

Two bills aimed at curbing the possibility of superintelligent AI systems, and regulating the use of agentic AI, are being introduced in the US

Data dive: Mapping NHS hyperscaler dependence

Published in Digital twins bill to be debated in Parliament on 04.09.2026

Mapping NHS DNS data reveals a heavy reliance on US hyperscalers, with Microsoft 365 routing email and infrastructure for the vast majority of trusts in a tangled web of connections

Peer demands action on DWP subpostmaster prosecutions in duty of candour debate

Published in Digital twins bill to be debated in Parliament on 04.09.2026

Post Office scandal featured heavily as the House of Lords debated duty of candour Bill

Billion-dollar AWS financial services investment builds on a decade of work

Published in Digital twins bill to be debated in Parliament on 04.09.2026

The US tech giant committed to the financial services sector a decade ago, which has seen its offering develop alongside the industry

CIO interview: Frédéric Laurent, deputy CIO, Starling Bank

Published in Digital twins bill to be debated in Parliament on 04.09.2026

We speak to Starling Bank’s deputy CIO, Frédéric Laurent, about how he uses artificial intelligence for coding personally and in his day job

Post Office Horizon scandal explained: Everything you need to know

Published in Digital twins bill to be debated in Parliament on 04.09.2026

Computer Weekly has investigated the Post Office Horizon scandal since 2008 and is, in fact, part of the story. This guide contains essential information about the scandal

Snowflake pivots to AI platforming

Published in Digital twins bill to be debated in Parliament on 04.09.2026

Snowflake says it is pivoting to being a ‘trusted’ AI platform, with an agentic control plane. It stresses openness, choice and governance

Serbians targeted with spyware in country’s ‘largest documented wave of surveillance’

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 04.09.2026

Student protesters among those hacked, says digital rights group, though Aleksandar Vučić’s government denies spying At least 14 people from across Serbian civil society were targeted with advanced spyware earlier this year in what the digital rights group Share Foundation said was the largest documented ​wave of such infection in Serbia to date.The wave of spyware infections was discovered in August after Apple notified people in 110 ⁠countries that they had probably been victims ⁠of mercenary spyware. Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan agrees to have his texts and emails searched in Palantir legal battle

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 04.09.2026

US tech company has sued London mayor after he prevented it from working with Metropolitan policeSadiq Khan has agreed for his text messages and emails to be searched as part of a legal battle with Palantir, the high court has been told, after he prevented the US technology company from working with the Metropolitan police.The London mayor stepped in to block a £50m deal between Palantir and the Met in May, with the artificial intelligence developer suing Khan’s office over the decision. Continue reading...

OpenAI hails ‘new era of artificial general intelligence’ with Astra model release

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 03.09.2026

Astra’s arrival comes days after Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, described AGI as an ‘irrelevant marketing term’The president of OpenAI, Greg Brockman, has claimed the world has entered a new era of artificial general intelligence after the release of his company’s latest model, Astra, which it described as the “world’s most intelligent and aligned model”.Brockman made the claim on Thursday as the San Francisco company released the model only weeks after a serious AI safety incident involving other models under its development caused international concern and a pause in Astra’s training. Continue reading...

Hundreds gather to urge Scottish government to pause datacentre boom

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 03.09.2026

Opposition mounts as at least 20 projects proposed, including one in Fife billed as second largest in worldKat Jones may be the closest thing Scotland has to Erin Brockovich in 2026. Standing in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat outside Holyrood, the 52-year-old is revving up the crowd of protesters around her. “Who is here from Lammermuir? Ayrshire? What about Aberdeen?” she calls to the crowd.On Thursday, hundreds travelled to Edinburgh to call for an immediate moratorium on Scotland’s datacentre boom, which includes one project in Auchtertool, Fife, that has been billed as the second largest in the world. Continue reading...

Nvidia to buy developer platform Hugging Face in $12.9bn deal

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 03.09.2026

Semi-conductor giant bets that support for open AI models could offset potential slowdown in demand for chipsNvidia will buy the popular developer platform Hugging Face for nearly $13bn, betting that support for ⁠open AI models could offset a potential slowdown in demand for the semiconductor giant’s chips.Shares ⁠in Nvidia were ⁠slightly lower ​after the $12.93bn (£9.57bn) deal – which ranks among its biggest ever – was announced for the database of AI models on Thursday. Continue reading...

John Lewis to launch YouTube chatshow to improve AI search results

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 03.09.2026

Department store chain’s Gift List ‘vodcast’ will be hosted by TV presenter Angela ScanlonBusiness live – latest updatesJohn Lewis is launching an online chatshow and social media studio to help make itself and its products more visible to chatbots and more prominent in AI search results.The department store chain’s Gift List “vodcast” hosted by the TV presenter Angela Scanlon will air on YouTube with clips disseminated via other social media channels and comes after the success of its sister chain Waitrose’s Dish podcast. Continue reading...

Apocalypse prep or pure pragmatism: what is behind Peter Thiel’s move to Argentina?

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 03.09.2026

Relocation coincides with proposed laws that opponents say would entrench power of US tech billionaires in countryDozens of protesters converged on Peter Thiel’s mansion in Buenos Aires this week after a congressional session raised questions about the billionaire’s presence in the country.In white masks, they held signs saying “Peter Thief” and “No to the Peter Thiel law” in front of the wrought-iron gates of the $12m (£8.9m) residence, which Thiel bought in April as he moved his family to Argentina. Continue reading...