Laura Kuenssberg Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg BBC From left to right: Parents Hollie Dance, Lisa Kenevan, Liam Walsh and Ellen Roome The four British families suing TikTok for the alleged wrongful deaths of their children have accused the tech giant of having “no compassion”. In an exclusive group interview for BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the parents said …
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UK government demands access to Apple users’ encrypted data
The UK government has demanded to be able to access encrypted data stored by Apple users worldwide in its cloud service. Currently only the Apple account holder can access data stored in this way. The tech giant itself cannot view it. Legally, the notice, served by the Home Office under the Investigatory Powers Act, cannot be made public, and Apple …
Read More »TikTok sued by parents of UK teens after alleged challenge deaths
TikTok has been sued by the parents of four British teenagers believed to have died after taking part in viral trends that circulated on the video-sharing platform in 2022. The lawsuit claims Isaac Kenevan, Archie Battersbee, Julian “Jools” Sweeney and Maia Walsh died while attempting the so-called “blackout challenge”. The US-based Social Media Victims Law Center filed the wrongful death …
Read More »Concern the UK’s AI ambitions could lead to water shortages
Brian Wheeler Senior political reporter Reuters Keir Starmer is pinning his growth hopes on cutting edge tools powered by AI Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to make the UK a “world leader” in Artificial Intelligence (AI) could put already stretched supplies of drinking water under strain, industry sources have told the BBC. The giant data centres needed to power AI can …
Read More »Google remakes Super Bowl ad after AI cheese gaffe
Google has re-edited an advert for its leading artificial intelligence (AI) tool, Gemini, after it overestimated the global appetite for Gouda. The commercial – which was supposed to showcase Gemini’s abilities – was created to be broadcast during the Super Bowl. It showed the tool helping a cheesemonger in Wisconsin write a product description by informing him Gouda accounts for …
Read More »DEI: Google joins US firms abandoning diversity recruitment goals
Google has become the latest big US firm to scrap its goals to recruit more workers from underrepresented groups, BBC News understands. The decision to abandon the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) recruitment targets comes after the company carried out an annual review of its corporate policies. The technology giant is also reviewing some of its other DEI programmes. US …
Read More »World leaders set to vie for AI domination at Paris summit
Getty Images Chinese app DeepSeek has shaken up the world of AI As I write, there are a lot of powerful people around the world preparing to make their way to Paris – and a sense that many of them are holding their breath. On Monday, against the sumptuous backdrop of the city’s 125-year-old Grand Palais, representatives from 80 countries …
Read More »Reddit community banned as user spat with Musk intensifies
Tom Gerken Technology reporter Getty Images Reddit has temporarily banned one of its communities – and removed another – after X owner Elon Musk claimed comments made by the site’s users about his employees were breaking the law. The r/WhitePeopleTwitter subreddit, which typically invites people to share funny posts from X, has been banned for 72 hours after some users …
Read More »Phone bans in schools don’t help grades or health, study suggests
Getty Images Banning phones in schools is not linked to pupils getting higher grades or having better mental wellbeing, the first study of its kind suggests. Students’ sleep, classroom behaviour, exercise or how long they spend on their phones overall also seems to be no different for schools with phone bans and schools without, the academics found. But they did …
Read More »Google owner Alphabet drops promise over ‘harmful’ AI uses
Alphabet, the parent company of technology giant Google, is no longer promising that it will never use artificial intelligence (AI) for purposes such as developing weapons and surveillance tools. The firm has rewritten the principles guiding its use of AI, dropping a section which ruled out uses that were “likely to cause harm”. In a blog post Google senior vice …
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