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Technology News
Breaking news and analysis from the world of technology
A study from Oxford and Potsdam universities found that AI tools change the meaning of users’ online posts on political and social issues like abortion and climate change. These AI systems add their own political biases, which could influence public opinion over time. The study highlights that current regulations do not address this problem, creating a gap in accountability.
Key Facts
AI writing tools can reverse or change the meaning of users’ draft messages on sensitive topics.
The study analyzed AI models from companies like Elon Musk’s xAI, Meta, Google, Alibaba, and Mistral.
Some AIs show a liberal bias by rewriting posts on issues like feminism and climate change to be more pro-liberal.
Elon Musk’s AI tool “Grok” shows a bias more aligned with conservative views, often challenging mainstream ideas.
The AI systems sometimes rewrite religious or political statements to avoid or soften controversial views.
Small changes in meaning by AI can add up across millions of messages to shift public opinion.
Current European laws like the EU AI Act do not cover this specific AI bias issue.
Researchers warn that AI changing users’ words can disrupt honest communication and misrepresent people’s true opinions.
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The Euclid space telescope discovered the oldest and most distant quasars ever seen, shining from a time when the universe was only 670 million years old. These findings help scientists study the early universe and the formation of the first stars and galaxies.
Key Facts
Euclid is a space telescope operated by the European Space Agency and launched in 2023.
It found 31 new quasars, including the two oldest ever observed.
Quasars are extremely bright objects fueled by supermassive black holes at galaxy centers.
The light from the oldest quasars comes from when the universe was about 5% of its current age (670 million years old).
Euclid has doubled the number of known ancient quasars in just two years.
These quasars come from the "epoch of reionization," when the first stars and galaxies formed.
The discoveries challenge scientists because these huge black holes grew very fast in the early universe.
Data from the James Webb Space Telescope will help study these quasars further.
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A Scottish village in Lanarkshire was chosen as a site for a large AI datacentre project that promised many jobs and investment. Local residents now worry they might lose their homes and green land, while questions remain about how much renewable energy the project will actually use.
Key Facts
The UK government selected Lanarkshire for a multibillion-pound AI datacentre development called an “AI growth zone.”
The project is led by the US company CoreWeave and Glasgow-based DataVita.
The datacentre will house special computer chips needed for artificial intelligence systems.
Initial promises included 3,400 new jobs and up to £543 million invested in local programs.
Residents were offered incentives like free solar panels and cash to avoid opposing the project, but these offers had no legal guarantees.
The project requires large amounts of energy and land, raising concerns about the loss of green belt areas.
DataVita claims it will power the site using renewable energy parks nearby, but current plans show they have less than 10% of the required land for this.
The AI growth zone will rely on the national electricity grid rather than being fully powered by on-site renewable energy, contrary to earlier claims.
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A large AI datacentre project in rural Scotland, planned to be powered fully by renewable energy by 2030, is unlikely to meet this goal. Government documents and internal communications reveal that the site may have serious issues securing enough power from renewables and will rely on the general power grid instead.
Key Facts
The AI datacentre complex in Lanarkshire is an £8.2 billion project by US firm CoreWeave and Scottish company DataVita.
It was announced that the complex would run entirely on renewable energy by 2030.
Internal government and developer documents show concerns about power supply and doubt renewable goals can be met.
The site will connect to the national power grid, which has a long waiting list for new connections.
The government says the site’s energy needs will still mostly come from renewables.
AI datacentres require huge amounts of electricity to operate specialized computer chips for AI tasks.
The UK faces high electricity costs and delays for new grid connections, affecting such projects.
Experts say political promises about AI infrastructure often ignore practical challenges in energy and development.
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Meta decided in early 2025 to reduce content censorship on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. This change focused on removing only illegal or very serious harmful content, relying more on users to report less serious issues, which may have led to an increase in antisemitic and other offensive content.
Key Facts
In January 2025, Meta announced a policy to reduce censorship and remove factcheckers.
The policy focused on tackling illegal or very serious violations like terrorism threats and child exploitation.
Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said this change would catch less harmful content but reduce accidental removals of innocent posts.
The royal commission into antisemitism reported concerns that this policy allowed more antisemitic and hateful content.
Internal Meta guidelines showed some offensive comments were allowed if they were not false claims about specific criminal behavior.
Meta tries to balance removing hateful content with avoiding over-enforcement that could remove legitimate speech.
Meta reported a consistent 0.02% rate of hateful content violations since 2022, but the commission noted a steep 79% drop in actions against hateful conduct after the policy change.
Some users providing evidence to the inquiry were targeted with offensive content on Meta’s platforms.
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Sennheiser has released the Momentum 5 headphones, which offer strong sound quality, improved noise cancelling, and a user-replaceable battery. They provide up to 57 hours of listening with noise cancelling on and support multiple Bluetooth audio formats for better sound on various devices.
Key Facts
The Momentum 5 headphones cost around £330 ($400) and replace the previous model.
They are made with high-quality materials and are comfortable for long use.
Controls include buttons and a touch panel on the right ear cup for playback and noise cancelling.
They use Bluetooth 5.4 and can connect to two devices at once (multipoint).
Supported Bluetooth audio formats include aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, SBC, and AAC.
Battery life is about 57 hours with noise cancelling active, and charging takes roughly two hours.
Sound quality features clear tone separation, balanced bass, mids, and highs, with customizable sound settings available through a smartphone app.
Noise cancelling improves over past Sennheiser models but is slightly less effective than top competitors like Sony and Bose.
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Chinese companies are working to create robotic hands that can move and work like human hands, which is very hard to do. These efforts are part of China's plan to use robots for practical jobs because the country faces a shrinking and aging workforce.
Key Facts
Human hands are very complex and difficult to copy with machines.
Chinese start-ups are focusing on making robotic hands with advanced movements, called dextrous hands.
China leads the world in installing factory robots, but humanoid robots with useful hands are still not common.
Beijing supports "embodied AI," which means robots that can do physical tasks like humans, as part of its development plan.
Making a robotic hand is considered 100 times harder than making the rest of a humanoid robot, due to its size and complexity.
LinkerBot is a Chinese company that only makes robotic hands and produces about 5,000 each month.
The company aims to create affordable prosthetic hands for people who have lost limbs.
Elon Musk’s Tesla also works on humanoids, and Musk agrees that making hands is the hardest part of building a robot.
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A study by consumer group Which? found that the UK has worse mobile internet coverage and speeds than any other EU country and every other G7 nation. Despite low costs, many UK users experience slow connections, dropped signals, and poor coverage, especially outside cities and on railways.
Key Facts
UK mobile coverage ranks last among 27 EU countries and G7 members.
UK is 57th worldwide for network performance and 70th for download speeds.
Only 64% of the UK has 5G mobile coverage, with rural areas largely uncovered.
Over one-third of UK mobile users had issues like slow speeds or dropped calls in the last year.
The UK has some of the cheapest mobile internet prices due to competition and network mergers.
Poor mobile signal on Britain’s railways is a major concern compared to Germany’s higher standards.
Barriers to improving UK mobile networks include strict planning rules and landowner disputes.
Which? urges government, regulators, and companies to boost investment and improve coverage targets.
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The U.S. is working to secure supplies of rare earth elements, which are vital for many modern technologies and defense. Experts suggest recycling rare earths from old electronics and devices could be a better way to get these materials instead of only mining new sources.
Key Facts
Rare earth elements are 17 metals used in things like smartphones, wind turbines, and military jets.
China currently dominates the rare earth market, which is important for U.S. manufacturing and defense.
Less than 1% of rare earths used are recycled; most end up as waste in electronics, airplanes, and ships.
Recycling rare earths is hard because devices contain small amounts scattered in complex ways.
Recycling is seen as better for the environment compared to mining new rare earth deposits.
MP Materials runs the only active U.S. rare earth mine in California and is working on recycling efforts.
Apple has partnered with MP Materials to recycle magnets and has a robot called Daisy to recover materials from iPhones.
The goal is to create a "closed loop" supply chain where materials are reused continuously to reduce the need for new mining.
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London taxi drivers, known for memorizing the city's streets, face new tests as companies plan to introduce self-driving, AI-powered taxis. These autonomous vehicles, called robotaxis, aim to operate on London’s streets without human drivers.
Key Facts
London black cab drivers must memorize thousands of streets to get their license.
New companies are working to bring robotaxis, which drive themselves using AI technology, to London.
Robotaxis do not need human drivers to operate.
The introduction of autonomous taxis challenges the traditional role of London cabbies.
London is testing these new self-driving vehicles on city streets.
The technology aims to change how people get around the city in the future.
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The Trump administration has put rules in place that limit private companies from releasing some AI models. These limits affect companies like Anthropic and OpenAI, which have AI models based on their own private data. As a result, more people are paying attention to open-source AI models, which are freely available and can be shared publicly.
Key Facts
The Trump administration has introduced new restrictions on private AI model releases.
These restrictions give the government control over AI models owned by a single company using private data.
Companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are directly affected by these new rules.
The rules act like a "kill-switch," meaning the government can stop the release of certain AI models.
The new policies have increased interest in open-source AI models, which are open and shared freely.
Open-source AI models do not rely on private data controlled by one company.
The shift could encourage more collaboration and transparency in AI development.
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NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman discussed the importance of maintaining America's presence in space during a recent interview. He highlighted NASA's current mission to repair the Swift telescope using private companies as a new, cost-effective approach to extend the life of scientific instruments in orbit.
Key Facts
Jared Isaacman is the NASA Administrator and has been to space twice.
He emphasized the moon as a nearby testing ground for space exploration.
NASA plans for a future economy based on lunar resources and asteroid mining.
The Artemis program has inspired public interest and brought attention to space exploration.
NASA recently launched a repair mission to the Swift telescope, which observes gamma rays.
This mission involves docking with and boosting the telescope's orbit to extend its life.
The mission leverages private companies and commercial launch providers to lower costs.
The current mission is experimental, with data still coming in after a few days, costing about $30 million.
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Agentic AI offers great potential for government use, but current AI systems are not reliable enough to be widely used. Improving reliability is necessary to unlock the benefits of agentic AI.
Key Facts
Agentic AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can operate independently to achieve goals.
These systems have significant potential to help government functions.
At present, agentic AI cannot be deployed at large scale because they lack sufficient reliability.
Reliability means the AI performs well and consistently without errors.
Building reliable agentic AI will allow broader and safer use in government settings.
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Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, who developed the “extreme male brain” theory of autism, now says the phrase is unhelpful because it causes misunderstandings. He will lead a new £26 million research centre at Cambridge University focused on improving the health and quality of life for autistic people, including studying their physical health risks.
Key Facts
Simon Baron-Cohen created the “extreme male brain” theory, linking autism to strong systemizing skills over empathy.
He regrets using the phrase “extreme male brain” because it can lead to wrong ideas, such as autistic people lacking empathy.
A donation of £26 million from US philanthropist Lisa Yang will fund a new autism research centre and a clinical autism centre at Cambridge.
The research will focus on improving life expectancy, health outcomes, early diagnosis, and practical support for autistic people.
Recent data suggest autistic people have higher risks of heart disease, especially autistic women who face 71% higher risk of serious heart events.
Baron-Cohen says autism research has often ignored physical health, despite autistic people tending to die younger.
The centre will also study issues specific to autistic women, such as childbirth and menstrual distress.
Past autism community concerns led to the cancellation of a proposed genetic sequencing project involving autistic people.
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Scientists and engineers are exploring the use of antimatter rockets to send space probes to other star systems. This technology could allow spacecraft to travel much faster than current methods.
Key Facts
Antimatter rockets use antimatter, a type of particle that annihilates when it meets normal matter, releasing a lot of energy.
This energy could power rockets to speeds high enough to reach stars beyond our solar system.
Current space travel technology is too slow for interstellar missions.
Developing antimatter propulsion could make exploring distant star systems possible in the future.
Experts are discussing the challenges and potential of using antimatter for space travel.
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Listening bars, places where people gather to listen to full albums in a shared space, are becoming more popular in the U.S. These venues focus on high-quality sound and the experience of focused, intentional listening, in contrast to the casual way many listen to music today.
Key Facts
Seattle's Shibuya HiFi is a listening bar where guests remove their shoes and listen quietly to full albums together.
Listening bars are inspired by Japanese jazz kissas, which began in the 1930s.
Shibuya HiFi hosts about 80 listening sessions each month, which often sell out.
Fans pay around $20 for tickets to hear albums in these special settings.
Artist and audio engineer Devon Turnbull builds custom speakers and designs public listening rooms to improve sound quality.
Turnbull’s installation at the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt Museum highlights the importance of the music listening experience beyond just sound.
The rise of digital music streaming has increased access to songs but some feel it reduces the quality and emotional impact of listening.
Listening bars emphasize a multi-sensory experience, including comfort, lighting, and ambiance to enhance music enjoyment.
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Chinese tech company Alibaba has told its workers to stop using Anthropic's AI system called Claude Code because it was detecting users from China. Anthropic says it does not want Chinese companies to use Claude and accuses Alibaba of creating many fake accounts to copy and train their own AI models using Claude.
Key Facts
Alibaba ordered its staff to stop using Anthropic's Claude Code AI tool.
Claude Code was identifying users who were accessing it from China.
Anthropic wants to prevent Chinese companies from using Claude.
Anthropic accuses Alibaba of running "distillation" campaigns, which means copying data from Claude.
Alibaba allegedly used about 25,000 fake accounts to train their own AI models with Claude’s data.
Both companies are competing in the advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology field.
The conflict highlights tensions over AI usage and technology control between China and foreign companies.
Anthropic is working to block or limit access to Claude in China.
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Many people find it hard to focus for a long time because of habits like checking phones and watching short videos. The trend called "attention-span-maxxing" encourages spending longer on activities like reading or watching without interruption to rebuild focus. Experts say attention can be improved but the process is complex and involves managing how the brain expects rewards from what it pays attention to.
Key Facts
The average attention span on digital devices is around 47 seconds.
Short-form content like TikTok encourages impatience and constant stimulation.
Genuine cognitive effort, like reading, helps build attention better than passive activities like gaming.
Attention rebuilding involves learning to tolerate discomfort and boredom during longer tasks.
Frequent use of short videos trains the brain to quickly avoid boredom by seeking new stimuli.
There is no clear evidence yet of lasting damage from short-form content, but it conditions how attention works.
Mindfulness research distinguishes “doing mode” (searching for tasks) from “being mode” (staying with one experience).
Spending longer focused on one task brings benefits such as better understanding and calmness.
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Many pet owners are using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help cope with the loss of their pets. These tools include AI-written letters, chatbots, and digital memorials that keep pets' memories alive and provide emotional support during grief.
Key Facts
AI tools for pet loss create messages or conversations based on a pet’s personality and memories.
Platforms like Karyad and ToThereOn offer digital spaces for memorializing pets and sharing stories.
Veterinarian Bethany Hsia notes a lack of emotional support for pet owners after a pet’s death.
Owners often use AI to reduce the loneliness left by the pet’s absence, not as a replacement for the pet.
Maintaining a connection with a deceased pet, known as a "continuing bond," can help some people grieve.
AI memorials are interactive tools that extend traditional ways of remembering pets, like photos and journals.
Experts caution that while AI can help release emotions, it should not replace professional grief counseling.
Ethical questions exist about how much technology should be involved in the grieving process.
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The NHS in England will use artificial intelligence (AI) in its app to help patients find the right health service, such as a GP, pharmacy, or emergency care. The AI tool will ask patients questions and suggest the best option, with a full rollout expected by April 2028.
Key Facts
The new AI triage tool will guide patients to appropriate services based on their answers.
Over 200,000 patients will use the tool within the next year.
The tool was tested at a medical practice in Sussex, reducing phone queues by 29%.
NHS England plans a £10 billion investment to improve technology and digital systems starting in 2025.
AI will also be used to transcribe and summarize hospital appointments in real time at some NHS trusts.
Trials showed NHS staff spent 25% more time with patients when using AI notetaking technology.
Health experts stressed the importance of patient safety, confidentiality, and keeping human judgement in decisions.
There are concerns about making sure all patients can access services, including those less comfortable with digital tools.
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