Techlaw

PAC raises more questions over Capita’s role in government

Published in IDCA warns of ‘delay tax’ as AI datacentre power surges 50% on 14.07.2026

Report demands answers on Capita’s suitability to run HR and payroll services to 250,000 civil servants

Book publishers sue Google for copyright infringement over Gemini AI training

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 14.07.2026

Group of major publishers accuses the tech giant of ‘one of the most prolific infringements of copyrighted materials in history’A group of major publishers have filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the company of illegally using millions of copyrighted books to help build its Gemini artificial intelligence models, in “one of the most prolific infringements of copyrighted materials in history”.The case, filed in federal court in New York, has been brought by three publishers – Hachette Book Group, Cengage Learning, and Elsevier – and bestselling American author Scott Turow. Continue reading...

AI impacting stress levels among cyber professionals

Published in IDCA warns of ‘delay tax’ as AI datacentre power surges 50% on 14.07.2026

AI is impacting the day-to-day careers of cyber security pros in regard to stress levels, but respondents to an ISC2 data-gathering exercise are split over whether or not their stress levels are going up, or down.

The UK wants to catch up in the global AI race – but is too wary to go all-in

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 14.07.2026

UK fears a ‘triple whammy’: oversized investment in AI stocks, slower adoption of AI than predicted and the breakneck pace of AI’s developmentHello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian. Today, we’re discussing the UK’s difficult position in the AI race, new doubts over OpenAI’s path toward a trillion-dollar stock market debut and the changes to IRL tech reporting in the age of AI.My patients use ChatGPT for therapy. Now I use it too | Sarah Darghouth | The GuardianChasing new skills, going back to basics and pushing for collective action: how software engineers are adapting to AI Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese promises fast-track approvals for datacentres to shore up AI investment

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 14.07.2026

PM to declare Australia the first country worldwide to bring economic, social, security and environmental issues from AI under single office in major speechFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese says the federal government will introduce faster approval processes for AI projects, including datacentres, across Australia, seeking to shore up investor certainty and maintain community confidence in the rapidly advancing technology.Announcing the creation of a new office of AI to be established within his department in a major speech on Wednesday, the prime minister will declare Australia is set to become the first country in the world to bring the economic, social, national security and environmental issues stemming from AI into a single, national framework. Continue reading...

Study reveals Microsoft tactics to lure Windows users

Published in IDCA warns of ‘delay tax’ as AI datacentre power surges 50% on 14.07.2026

The Edge browser may have a small market share, but research commissioned by Firefox shows how Microsoft muscles in

Modern datacentre infrastructure management (DCIM) is crucial

Published in IDCA warns of ‘delay tax’ as AI datacentre power surges 50% on 14.07.2026

AI workloads are pushing traditional datacentre management to its limits. Modern DCIM is now essential, using predictive analytics to ensure resilience, efficiency, and sustainability

Pure DC launches €7.5bn Finland AI datacentre campus

Published in IDCA warns of ‘delay tax’ as AI datacentre power surges 50% on 14.07.2026

550MW AI datacentre project – with Microsoft reportedly signed up – reflects shift as European market moves north to bypass power constraints in traditional Flap-D hubs

DMCC launches cyber security hub as UAE accelerates development of digital resilience ecosystem

Published in IDCA warns of ‘delay tax’ as AI datacentre power surges 50% on 14.07.2026

DMCC Cyber vertical brings together more than 200 cyber security firms under the DMCC Tech platform, reinforcing Dubai’s ambition to become a global technology and cyber innovation hub

Microsoft Surface Laptop 8 review: a quality PC whose trackpad taps you back

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 14.07.2026

Snappy performance, long battery life, great keyboard and excellent new haptic touchpad make the best of Windows 11Microsoft’s Surface laptop for consumers is back, faster and with longer battery life and a hefty price increase because of the high cost of memory and chips.The Surface Laptop 8 is a straight replacement for the seventh edition from 2024, which was the first of Microsoft’s new generation of ARM-based, Qualcomm-powered PCs designed to better rival Apple’s MacBook Air and other thin and light machines. Continue reading...

The New York nurses replaced by AI: ‘It should concern every patient who cares about quality of care’

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 13.07.2026

The union for 12 nurses laid off by Montefiore hospital say company broke contract they recently won through a strikeMarilyn Shuler has worked as a utilization review nurse for 39 years at Montefiore hospital in the Bronx in New York City, helping to read patient charts and communicate with insurance companies over coverage.After nearly four decades in her job, Shuler is one of 12 nurses who were laid off Sunday after being replaced with AI-powered software, according to the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), which represents nurses at the hospital. Continue reading...

Young men report more ‘sextortion’ than any other age group, Australia’s online safety watchdog says

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 13.07.2026

In six months last year, more than 2,000 such complaints were made to eSafetyFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA new report by Australia’s online safety regulator has found “significant gaps” in how major tech platforms tackle online sexual extortion and child sexual exploitation, as “reports of this abuse continue to rise”.The findings come from eSafety’s latest transparency report, examining how tech companies – including Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Snap, Discord and WhatsApp – are addressing child sexual exploitation and abuse. Continue reading...

China’s massive AI rollout - podcast

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 13.07.2026

Senior China correspondent Amy Hawkins on China’s embrace of AI, from medical avatars to food delivery drones and state surveillanceWhile the spread of AI has been met perhaps with a lot of scepticism in the west, China has fully embraced the technology, explains Amy Hawkins, from millions of users talking to AI doctors, to the use of intelligent robots in factories, and drones delivering food on the Great Wall of China.AI has also been eagerly taken up by the state, not least in the opportunities it provides for further surveillance, the Guardian’s senior China correspondent says. Continue reading...

‘This was a righteous case. A holy war’: the lawyer who took on Meta and Google – and won

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 12.07.2026

When Mark Lanier and his young client Kaley faced the tech giants in an LA courtroom earlier this year, it seemed a bigger battle than David v Goliath. But they scored a landmark victory, proving that the social media giants had created ‘addiction machines’ that harmed mental health. How did they pull it off?When Mark Zuckerberg walked into a Los Angeles courtroom on 18 February flanked by an entourage bedecked in Meta Ray-Bans, some people laughed. If this was an attempt at product placement for the company’s newest range of smart glasses, it was jarringly ill-judged: Zuckerberg was about to testify before a jury in a landmark lawsuit that sought to prove that Instagram and YouTube are addictive by design, and he had passed a throng of bereaved parents on his way into the courthouse. But the prosecution team, led by Mark Lanier, were not laughing.This was a serious trial. For the first time, the most powerful names in social media were being held to account for the inherent design of their platforms, rather than the content hosted on them. They were accused of deliberately and maliciously building products that keep children hooked, with disastrous consequences for the mental wellbeing of young people. It was a landmark case – a big tobacco moment for big tech. Continue reading...