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Customers prefer AI chatbots, says British Gas owner as 1,300 call centre and back office jobs axed

CEO Chris O’Shea defends Centrica’s plans as it reports rise in retail profits following focus on bigger margins

The owner of British Gas has claimed that most households would rather speak with an AI chatbot than deal with the company’s staff as it prepares to cut 1,300 jobs from its call centres and back office.

Centrica, the supplier’s FTSE 100 owner, plans to cut 800 jobs as the company carries out a β€œtargeted deployment of AI tools”, on top of the 500 cuts it confirmed last month.

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Β© Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Β© Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Β© Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Harry Potter publisher to receive millions in Anthropic copyright settlement

Bloomsbury has 14,087 titles listed in agreement between AI startup and authors over use of their work

The publisher of Harry Potter has received a multimillion-pound payout as a beneficiary of a $1.5bn (Β£1.12bn) copyright settlement between the AI startup Anthropic and thousands of authors over the use of their protected work to power chatbots.

Bloomsbury, which is home to the bestselling novelists Sarah J Maas and Susanna Clarke as well as JK Rowling, said it had 14,087 titles listed within the settlement, with a proposed compensation of about $3,000 a title.

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Β© Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

Β© Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

Β© Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

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