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Anthropic researchers say AI could cause human extinction by 2030

One researcher who resigned said many in industry believe that without regulation AI could kill off humanity

Artificial intelligence could kill off humanity within the decade, according to three researchers with the industry giant Anthropic, one of whom has quit his job in protest.

The latest doom-laden predictions came in posts on social media on Tuesday by a researcher who said he resigned because Anthropic and his previous employer, OpenAI, were ignoring or at best mishandling their response to the threat.

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© Photograph: Samyukta Lakshmi/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Samyukta Lakshmi/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Samyukta Lakshmi/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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Streaming from the cloud was meant to change games forever – what happened?

Once hailed as the future, even the likes of Google, Sony and Microsoft have struggled to make streaming games fun, fast or affordable

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In August 2009, at the very first Gamescom expo, I sat in a small meeting room in Germany and played Mario Kart and World of Warcraft on a laptop, via technology that was then completely new: cloud gaming. It was a demonstration for a yet-to-be-launched service called Gaikai that promised to let you play any game in a browser window, without a console. (Here is an ancient video of that demonstration, featuring a very young Keza.) With a single click I could launch into any game, hosted on servers hundreds of miles away. It really did look like the future.

Since then, plenty of companies have tried to be the first to truly crack game streaming, vying to be the Netflix of games. Sony ended up buying Gaikai for $380m (£242m) in 2012; its technology now powers the streamable classic games library on PlayStation, and the PS5’s advanced game streaming. OnLive, Gaikai’s first competitor, launched in 2011 but shut down after less than a year, leaving Sony to acquire all its patents. Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service also imploded, launching in 2019 and shutting down three years later.

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© Photograph: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images

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AI could kill all humans in next decade, warn experts: but how seriously should we take them?

Alarming warnings from industry insiders increase pressure for curbs on artificial superintelligence

Does artificial superintelligence really pose a risk greater than nuclear weapons? Is there a significant chance of “a Chornobyl-sized catastrophe”. Might there even be a greater than 10% chance that AI could “kill all humans” in the next decade?

These warnings were issued over the past 48 hours on both sides of the Atlantic about the potential impact of a technology that most people still think of as a more talkative search engine.

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© Illustration: Ales Utouka/Alamy

© Illustration: Ales Utouka/Alamy

© Illustration: Ales Utouka/Alamy

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US allies lack resources to keep pace on AI, top Pentagon official says

Cameron Stanley talks up ‘revolutionary’ AI capabilities and says Washington working with Nato and Five Eyes partners

The Pentagon’s top artificial intelligence official said on Tuesday that America’s closest allies lack the resources to keep pace with the US military’s adoption of AI, and that Washington is working to steer them away from mistakes it made along the way.

“They don’t have the resources that we do, they don’t have the experience that we do, they don’t have the scale that we do,” Cameron Stanley, chief digital and artificial intelligence officer at the Department of Defense, said at an event at the Billington Cybersecurity summit. Of Nato and the Five Eyes, an intelligence-sharing partnership of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Stanley said Washington was “actively working with a number of our partners” so “they don’t make the same mistakes that we make”.

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© Photograph: Alexander Drago/Reuters

© Photograph: Alexander Drago/Reuters

© Photograph: Alexander Drago/Reuters

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Grand Theft Auto VI: can playing a video game count as cheating on your partner?

Historically a new Grand Theft Auto game inspired controversy around violence – but this time people are getting exercised about its romance

There was never any doubt that Grand Theft Auto VI’s extended look would elicit a viral reaction from the internet. Having won the Game Awards’ Most Anticipated award twice consecutively, Rockstar’s forthcoming crime opus is one of the most frothed-over games in recent memory, or indeed ever. It’s nothing short of a cultural phenomenon.

One aspect of the game has provoked an unexpectedly vehement response on social media: not violence, but romance. Protagonists Lucia and Jason are in love, you see, and as a player, part of your job is keeping their spark alive and their relationship strong, so that their criminal escapades are underpinned by a strong connection to one another. Holding hands, enjoying a date at the beach, spontaneously texting one another when apart – all of these interactions will strengthen their bond. You’ll be putting in a lot of work to ensure this couple thrives, which is why some people have come to believe that playing GTA VI counts as micro-cheating.

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© Photograph: Rockstar Games

© Photograph: Rockstar Games

© Photograph: Rockstar Games

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Trump administration to confront Australia over Labor’s social media algorithm plan

White House warns trading partners against ‘imposing digital services taxes, fines, and other forms of extortion’ on US tech sector

The Trump administration will confront Australia over its plan to force digital platforms to take down harmful content and let users opt out of algorithm-generated “for you” feeds.

Big tech companies would be fined more than $100m for breaching the proposed laws and the Australian government is under pressure to raise those fines even further.

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© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/EPA

© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/EPA

© Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/EPA

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Apple unveils folding iPhone Duo as new CEO takes center stage

The passport-size iPhone Duo serves as the first big test for John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook last week

Apple has unveiled the iPhone Duo, the company’s first foldable phone and the most significant change to the iPhone since the smartphone’s introduction in 2007.

The nearly $2,000 device takes inspiration from iPads’ wide screens and combines them with the portability and camera features of iPhones. When opened, it is the company’s largest phone display and thinnest phone. The Duo opens and closes like a passport to double its screen size.

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© Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP

© Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP

© Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP

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UK datacentres will create just 25% of jobs predicted by tech sector, analysis finds

Facilities likely to employ 10,400 workers, compared with 40,000 in industry estimates, thinktank says

Datacentres in the UK will create just a quarter of the jobs predicted by the tech sector, while consuming vast amounts of energy, according to new research.

Environmental thinktank Verdant predicts that all the datacentres currently planned are likely to directly employ 10,400 workers – compared with the more than 40,000 cited in projections by the industry lobby group TechUK.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

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OpenAI claims to have solved maths problem that stumped humans for decades

Company behind ChatGPT says 10,000 of its AI systems cracked the Navier-Stokes problem in 88 hours

OpenAI claims to have solved a major mathematics problem that has stumped humans for nearly a century after spending millions of dollars on the artificial intelligence-led endeavour.

The company behind ChatGPT said it had cracked the Navier-Stokes problem, one of seven Millennium Prize Problems published by the Clay Mathematics Institute to highlight some of the biggest unsolved puzzles in the field.

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© Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

© Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

© Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

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UK to force Apple and Google to block explicit images on children’s smartphones

Lisa Nandy says government will introduce legislation after talks end without breakthrough

Apple and Google will be forced to block explicit images on children’s smartphones by law in the UK after talks failed to produce a breakthrough, the government has said.

The legislation commitment puts ministers on a collision course with two of the biggest players in Silicon Valley, months after the government announced a social media ban for under-16s.

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© Photograph: EMS-FORSTER-PRODUCTIONS/Getty Images

© Photograph: EMS-FORSTER-PRODUCTIONS/Getty Images

© Photograph: EMS-FORSTER-PRODUCTIONS/Getty Images

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Andrew Garfield takes on Sam Altman in creepy first teaser for Artificial

Luca Guadagnino-directed film will be released by Neon after being dropped by Amazon amid OpenAI partnership

The first teaser trailer of Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial has been released.

After being dropped by Amazon MGM Studios in June, the biopic of the OpenAI tech executive Sam Altman will be released in the US on 25 December by Neon after it premieres at the New York film festival this October.

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© Photograph: Courtesy of Neon

© Photograph: Courtesy of Neon

© Photograph: Courtesy of Neon

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Musk review – epic study of the world’s richest and most banal man

Venice film festival: Alex Gibney interviews former colleagues, wives, the trillionaire’s father and a CG avatar in this absorbing documentary

‘Elon is a nuke.” The speaker is Ashley St Clair, a former conservative Maga influencer and one of Elon Musk’s former girlfriends-slash-baby mommas.

She is a fascinating expert witness in Alex Gibney’s four-hour epic study of the world’s richest and dullest man: the overgrown brattish South-African-born trillionaire plutocrat, ersatz visionary and Trump courtier who owns Tesla cars, SpaceX rocket ships, Starlink satellites on which nation states’ military capabilities are increasingly reliant, X (formerly Twitter) which shapes the collective incel id of billions and GrokAI whose vast server farms daily guzzle oceans of precious water.

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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

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Social media users could opt out of the algorithm if Australian government has its way – but that’s a big if

Even if the legislation passes, tech companies may still find ways to frustrate its intent and keep Australians hooked on their feed

Social media could become a “choose your own adventure” between the doom-scrolling status quo, or just the feed of the friends you want to see, if the government’s planned digital duty of care legislation passes, and the tech companies don’t muck around on compliance.

But that’s a big if.

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© Photograph: Peter Cripps/Alamy

© Photograph: Peter Cripps/Alamy

© Photograph: Peter Cripps/Alamy

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‘Mistrust’ of Palantir may affect NHS research, says health minister

James Frith says patients may be less willing to share data as new figures show a rise in opt-outs

Concern is being raised about Palantir’s work with the NHS as new figures showed tens of thousands of patients have withdrawn their data from use in research projects.

James Frith, the health innovation minister, said he was worried about “mistrust” of the US defence and health tech company and “the impact it could have on people’s willingness to share data with the NHS”.

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© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

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The death of ‘hello’: how gen Z – and scammers – put paid to the greeting

If you’re called by an unidentified number, the advice is to remain silent until you’re sure there’s a human being on the line. Is this the end of an era?

Name: Hello.

Age: 200 years old.

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© Photograph: Posed by model Getty Images

© Photograph: Posed by model Getty Images

© Photograph: Posed by model Getty Images

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Pixel 11 review: Google sets the bar for standard flagship phones

Longer battery life, faster chip, actually useful AI tools and better cameras keep quality Android ahead of competition

Google’s Pixel 11 continues to set the standard for what you should expect from the base model of a flagship phone with class-leading cameras, long software support and almost all the bells and whistles of its most expensive phones.

The regular Pixel 11 costs £879 (€999/$899/A$1,499) making it £80 or equivalent more expensive than last year’s model as the cost of RAMageddon continues to bite. It’s not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but it comes with 256GB of storage and is £200 less than the Pixel 11 Pro, matching rival Samsung’s Galaxy S26.

Screen: 6.3in 120Hz FHD+ OLED (422ppi)

Processor: Google Tensor G6

RAM: 12GB

Storage: 256 or 512GB

Operating system: Android 17

Camera: 48MP+ 13MP UW + 10.8MP 5x tele; 10.5MP selfie

Connectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 6E, UWB, NFC, Bluetooth 6 and GNSS

Water resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)

Dimensions: 152.8 x 72.0 x 8.6mm

Weight: 197g

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© Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

© Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

© Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

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Designers should not fear being replaced by AI, industry leaders say

Firms are more likely to use technology as ‘the intern in the office’ than as a replacement for skilled staff

Professional designers should not feel “threatened” by the rapid growth of generative AI, according to business leaders, despite fears over job losses in the sector.

With design and film production companies and manufacturers all adopting AI at an accelerating pace, industry bodies said the technology would be used to enhance the work of designers rather than replace them.

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© Photograph: ktasimar/Alamy

© Photograph: ktasimar/Alamy

© Photograph: ktasimar/Alamy

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Uncanny and unappetizing: appetites spoil as AI images take over food menus

Consumers are increasingly encountering AI-generated images on food menus such as leathery meat and bread resembling reptile skin

During a recent lunch break, Jill Sennett saw something so unappetizing she had to share it with her 26,000 X followers: Artificial intelligence-generated menu images from a Jamaican barbecue pop-up restaurant in which the meats looked like leather belts crawling with tiny beetles.

The images were reshared by more than 500 people who similarly expressed their disgust. Eating is “such an essential human experience”, said Sennett, a 37-year-old nurse in Denver. “I think it’s a bad cultural thing that restaurants are converting to these horrific, uncanny food images that are unappetizing.”

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© Photograph: Lisa Bonos

© Photograph: Lisa Bonos

© Photograph: Lisa Bonos

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Ninja Artisan electric pizza oven review: so good it might even convert the purists

Affordable, fast-heating and with a clever air fryer function, this versatile model is a winner for outdoor cooks who are willing to give up the traditional flame

• The best pizza ovens – tested
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Gozney Dome Gen 2 pizza oven review

An electric pizza oven with no flame and no need to rotate the pizza may seem sacrilegious to purists, but the Ninja Artisan electric outdoor pizza oven solves many of the hassles of outdoor pizza making. There’s no lighting or monitoring a flame, no need to keep adjusting the heat, and no need for a turning peel, bulky gas bottle or constant use of an infrared (IR) thermometer (although you may still want one – read on for details).

Equipped with four presets – Artisan, Thin Crust, New York, Pan – plus a custom setting to enable you to bake your pizza exactly how you like it, the Ninja Artisan is as effortless as can be, even next to the simplest plug-and-play gas oven. As you might expect from Ninja, it’s a multipurpose cooker, too, transforming into an outdoor air fryer with a capacity to turn out up to 1.3kg of french fries, or bake six chicken breasts.

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© Photograph: Rachel Ogden

© Photograph: Rachel Ogden

© Photograph: Rachel Ogden

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I’m a father of three who studies the impact of artificial intelligence: this is what parents need to know about AI

A Dr Seuss-style story written in seconds alerted me to the power – and perils – of the technology. But how can children embrace it without forgetting core skills?

When I was growing up, my dad and I often talked about a story we wanted to write together. It was called “The Day Nobody Went to Disneyland”. One day, the story goes, the weather is so perfect that everyone in the world decides to stay away from Disneyland because they expect it to be far too busy. But my dad, who has the same thought as them, sees the disappointment on my face that morning – and decides to risk it. We set off. And when we arrive, the park is completely empty. Nobody else was brave enough to visit. We have everything – the rides, shows, food – to ourselves.

I loved the idea of writing that story. But, as so often happens, we were too busy to do anything about it. Life ran away from us. I grew up, and we both forgot about it.

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© Photograph: Lydia Goldblatt/Lydia Goldblatt lydiagoldblatt.com

© Photograph: Lydia Goldblatt/Lydia Goldblatt lydiagoldblatt.com

© Photograph: Lydia Goldblatt/Lydia Goldblatt lydiagoldblatt.com

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