Google reportedly signs classified AI deal with US Pentagon

Google has reportedly signed a deal with the US Pentagon to use its artificial intelligence models for classified work. The tech company joins a growing list of Silicon Valley firms inking agreements with the US military.The agreement allows the Pentagon to use Google’s AI for “any lawful government purpose”, the report from the Information added, putting it alongside OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI, which also have deals to supply AI models for classified use. Similar agreements, both at Google and other AI firms, have sparked significant disagreements with the Pentagon and major employee pushback.Classified networks are used to handle a wide range of sensitive work, including mission planning and weapons targeting

‘It feels like a betrayal’: anger as Apple to close its first unionized store in the US

Workers at the first Apple store to unionize in the US are pushing back against the company’s decision to shut it down by June, alleging that Apple’s decision is rooted in “a cynical attempt to bust the union”.On Monday, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Apple, alleging unionized employees at the store in Towson, Maryland, are being denied transfer rights and other rights compared with workers at non-unionized stores. The union is also alleging retaliation for being unionized.According to the union, Apple claims the collective bargaining agreement prevents relocation, a claim the union says is “simply false, and raises serious concerns that this closure is a cynical attempt to bust the union”, the union said in a statement.Apple denied the claims in the charge

The personal pettiness of the Elon Musk v OpenAI trial

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian, writing to you from beneath a cherry blossom tree in Prospect Park in New York City. Spring has arrived!Monday marked the start of a major trial pitting Sam Altman against his OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk, who is suing the maker of ChatGPT for breach of contract.Musk alleges that Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, broke the company’s founding agreement by restructuring and converting much of it to a for-profit enterprise. Altman and OpenAI counter that Musk, who left the firm in 2018 amid internal disputes and has since started his own rival AI business, xAI, is essentially a sore loser

Tell us: have you become emotionally attached to AI?

Lots of people now use chatbots as personal assistants, sometimes to the extent that they have formed an emotional attachment to them.We would like to hear from people who converse with AI chatbots on a personal level. Have you formed an emotional bond to an AI chatbot?You can share your experience using this form.Please include as much detail as possible. Please note, the maximum file size is 5

‘They’re supposed to be handmade’: zine creators fight to resist AI influence

The self-published zine has long been central to cultural revolutions, from queer activism to Black feminism and the riot grrrl punk movement, producing titles such as Sniffin’ Glue and Sweet-Thang along the way. But now the traditionally analogue art form faces a new shift: artificial intelligence.AI may seem incompatible with the these cult DIY booklets, but some creatives, designers and artists have begun to experiment with the technology, causing alarm in parts of the underground publishing world. It has been their Dylan-goes-electric moment.“AI is eliminating a lot of people’s ability to think critically for themselves,” says Rachel Goldfinger, a Philadelphia-based video editor and illustrator who has published an anti-AI zine

MacBook Pro M5 review: serious power, still long battery life

Apple’s Macs have been on a roll this year with the brand new budget MacBook Neo and a faster MacBook Air M5, but now it’s time for its workhorse MacBook Pro to be upgraded with the fastest, most powerful M-series chips.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.The latest MacBook Pro comes in two screen sizes and a large range of chip and configuration options