Techlaw

Musk’s xAI sues user who allegedly used Grok to create child sexual abuse material

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 16.07.2026

Case is one of first brought by an AI company against a user ⁠for allegedly using a tool to generate child abuse materialElon Musk’s artificial-intelligence startup xAI has sued a South Carolina man arrested ⁠earlier this year on charges of sexually exploiting minors, alleging he misused the company’s AI system Grok to ⁠create child sexual abuse ⁠material.xAI ​alleged in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Texas on Tuesday, that Terry Harwood violated the company’s ⁠terms of service. The case is one of the first brought by an AI company against one of its users ⁠for allegedly using an AI system to generate child sexual abuse material. Continue reading...

TikTok facing UK investigation amid fears over age checks and harm to children

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 16.07.2026

Ofcom concerned TikTok’s age verification is ineffective, leaving some exposed to posts on suicide, self-harm and pornographyTikTok is under formal investigation over concerns it has failed to protect children from harmful content, the UK’s online regulator, Ofcom, has announced.The social media platform’s approach to checking the ages of users has sparked “particular concerns” at the watchdog, almost a year after measures to protect children from the worst of online content came into effect under the Online Safety Act. Continue reading...

‘Keys to the kingdom’: hackers who gained access to heart of London transport network jailed

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 16.07.2026

Thalha Jubair, 20, and Owen Flowers, 19, sentenced to five and a half years each for cyber-attack that cost Transport for London £39mThe data of millions of commuters was stolen, Londoners were left out of pocket and 27,000 Transport for London staff were forced to reset their passwords.Over four days in 2024 a pair of teenage hackers had London’s transport network at their mercy. Thalha Jubair and Owen Flowers had burrowed into the heart of Transport for London’s IT systems and held the “keys to the kingdom”. Continue reading...

VodafoneThree calls for policy changes to drive UK mobile growth

Published in VodafoneThree calls for policy changes to drive UK mobile growth on 16.07.2026

Mobile network operators in the UK are battling with energy costs, planning red tape and regulations, all of which are impacting their investment plans

Palantir: Can anyone else do what it does?

Published in VodafoneThree calls for policy changes to drive UK mobile growth on 16.07.2026

Palantir is a US defence-intelligence company, born from the CIA's venture arm that now operates inside the UK public sector. We examine the claim that its technology does what no other supplier can

Scattered Spider hackers sentenced over TfL attack

Published in VodafoneThree calls for policy changes to drive UK mobile growth on 16.07.2026

Owen Flowers and Thalha Jubair, the hackers behind the 2024 TfL cyber attack, have been sentenced to five-year prison terms at Woolwich Crown Court

A fifth of PC devices still on Windows 10

Published in VodafoneThree calls for policy changes to drive UK mobile growth on 16.07.2026

While support ended in October 2025, community-driven insights from Lansweeper has found that smaller businesses are still using Windows 10

Has Microsoft overstretched its cloud elasticity?

Published in VodafoneThree calls for policy changes to drive UK mobile growth on 16.07.2026

Microsoft promised "infinite" cloud scalability, but signs of capacity strain and regional rollbacks suggest it may be overstretched, forcing customers to rethink vendor lock-in

Denmark debates ‘emergency’ energy plan to curb datacentres

Published in VodafoneThree calls for policy changes to drive UK mobile growth on 16.07.2026

To fix grid crisis caused by mismanagement under her previous administrations, Danish prime minister opens third term in office with laws against datacentres

Moroccan intelligence insider reveals widespread use of Pegasus hacking software

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 16.07.2026

Whistleblower suggests internal security services deployed spyware from 2017 against key domestic and foreign targetsA former member of Morocco’s domestic intelligence service has helped to provide an unprecedented insight into how the north African state used hacking software – including Pegasus spyware – to target journalists, human rights defenders, French politicians and Spanish cabinet ministers and police officers.Pegasus, which is manufactured by the Israel-based NSO Group, allows its operator to access everything on a target’s mobile phone, including emails, text messages and photographs. It can also activate the phone’s recorder and camera, turning it into a listening device. Continue reading...

Robots, AI and drones: how the Dutch navy is using tech to transform its sea defences

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 16.07.2026

Uncrewed systems are the future for armed forces and the Netherlands is leading the way ‘to keep people out of danger zones’On each side of the target ship, a black vessel keeps a watchful distance. Defender 1 and Defender 2 are the eyes and ears of the navy – but they have nobody onboard, and their paths are controlled by a computer system.This is the future of the Royal Netherlands Navy, according to Capt Sjoerd Feenstra, head of the expertise centre for unmanned systems. He is leading a five-week mission, off the coast of Den Helder in the north of the country, to test the limits of systems that operate without the human touch. Continue reading...

George Lucas likens AI sceptics to luddites clinging to horses and carts

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 15.07.2026

Star Wars director calls AI technology ‘the future’ of film-making and says ‘there’s nothing you can do about it’The Star Wars director, George Lucas, has added his voice to the growing chorus of film-makers receptive to the rising use of AI tools in moviemaking.Speaking in an interview with A Rabbit’s Foot, Lucas, 82, said: “Artificial intelligence means it’s much easier for us to make movies.” Continue reading...

Chaotic July Patch Tuesday threatens to overwhelm defenders

Published in VodafoneThree calls for policy changes to drive UK mobile growth on 15.07.2026

Another mammoth Patch Tuesday update, likely topping 600 flaws in total, sends defenders into the weeds

Prime minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham takes aim at outsourcing

Published in VodafoneThree calls for policy changes to drive UK mobile growth on 15.07.2026

Soon-to-be-appointed prime minister adds weight to government’s existing plan to ‘end era of outsourcing’

‘Not up for grabs’: Albanese establishes AI office and vows to protect Australian creatives from copyright ‘theft’

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 15.07.2026

PM lays out plan for datacentre development and rejects prospect tech companies will be given free use of Australian dataFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese has promised “the strongest possible protection” for Australian creatives against misuse of their work by artificial intelligence models, warning it would be “theft” if writers, artists and musicians didn’t have control of their work or receive payment for its use.Amid growing community concern about large energy-intensive datacentres, the federal government will also set strict new rules for the facilities, including where they can be built, that they shouldn’t compete for land with housing, their power and water use, and that they don’t increase electricity prices for consumers. Continue reading...

Meta used AI to tag workers who took leave to be laid off, lawsuit claims

Published in Technology | The Guardian on 15.07.2026

Lawsuit filed by dozens of employees says people who took maternity or disability leave were disproportionately selected for layoffsDozens of Meta employees have sued the social media company over claims that it used artificial intelligence tools to tag workers for mass layoffs. The workers allege that those AI tools targeted them after they asked for protected or maternity leave or disability accommodation.The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in the northern district of California, points to Meta’s workforce reduction of about 8,000 employees earlier this year. Meta is the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The suit alleges that Meta used a “constellation of internal artificial intelligence systems”, including AI performance ratings and keystroke- and activity-monitoring data, to pinpoint who to lay off. Continue reading...