‘It feels like a startup energy’: Google’s UK boss on the advent of AI

While the tech giant wrestles with an US antitrust case, its managing director in London is pushing hard on the commercial possibilities of artificial intelligenceGoogle’s central London office cost as much as a tech unicorn and the company’s UK boss, Debbie Weinstein, says it pulses with a similar spirit.“It feels like a startup energy,” she says.However, we are meeting on a morning when Google has been threatened with a reckoning reserved for members of the corporate establishment, not tech ingenues: a breakup.Hours earlier, the US Department of Justice had asked a federal judge to order the sale of Google’s Chrome browser, along with a host of other actions including making its search index – a database of all the webpages it has crawled – available to competitors. It follows a ruling by the same judge in August that the $2tn company has built an illegal monopoly in the search market

The ChatGPT secret: is that text message from your friend, your lover – or a robot?

People are turning to chatbots to solve all their life problems, and they like its answers. But are they on a very slippery slope?When Tim first tried ChatGPT, he wasn’t very impressed. He had a play around, but ended up cancelling his subscription. Then he started having marriage troubles. Seeking to alleviate his soul-searching and sleepless nights, he took up journalling and found it beneficial

‘Russia can turn the lights off’: how the UK is preparing for cyberwar

The Swedish government checklist for surviving a war would not have looked out of place decades ago: bottled water; sleeping bags; extra batteries; enough cash for a week; and non-perishable food such as rice and cereal.Without being mentioned in name, Russia once more lurks in the background as it did during the cold war. But the nature of the threat it poses in the pamphlet, called “In case of crisis or war”, has changed.Alongside raising the possibility of “an armed attack against Sweden”, the guide also mentions “cyber-attacks” and “disinformation campaigns”.As well as coping with the threat of nuclear conflict or an armed border incursion, Europe must now contend with a very 21st-century foe: cyberwarfare

UK underestimates threat of cyber-attacks from hostile states and gangs, says security chief

The UK is underestimating the severity of the online threat it faces from hostile states and criminal gangs, the country’s cybersecurity chief will warn.Richard Horne, the head of GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre, will cite a trebling of “severe” incidents amid Russian “aggression and recklessness” and China’s “highly sophisticated” digital operations.In his first major speech as the agency’s chief, Horne will say on Tuesday that hostile activity in UK cyberspace has increased in “frequency, sophistication and intensity” from enemies who want to cause maximum disruption and destruction.In a speech at the NCSC’s London HQ, Horne, who took on the role in October, will point to “the aggression and recklessness of cyber-activity we see coming from Russia” and how “China remains a highly sophisticated cyber-actor, with increasing ambition to project its influence beyond its borders”.“And yet, despite all this, we believe the severity of the risk facing the UK is being widely underestimated,” he will say

Elon Musk’s $56bn Tesla pay package rejected again by US judge

A judge ruled on Monday that Tesla chief executive Elon Musk is still not entitled to receive a $56bn compensation package even though shareholders of the electric vehicle company had voted to reinstate it six months ago.The ruling by the Delaware judge, Kathaleen McCormick of the court of chancery, follows her January decision that called the pay package excessive and rescinded it, surprising investors. The decision cast uncertainty over Musk’s future at the world’s most valuable carmaker. Tesla’s board argued the enormous payment scheme was necessary to keep Musk involved in the company, an argument that the billionaire, already the world’s richest man, echoed.McCormick also ordered Tesla to pay the attorneys who brought the case $345m, well short of the billions they initially requested

Why I regret using 23andMe: I gave up my DNA just to find out I’m British

I gave away my genetic information to a now imploding company for results that inspired nothing but ambivalenceThe Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.23andMe is facing implosion. As the once-promising genetic testing company flounders – losing 98% of its $6bn value, all its independent board members, nearly half its staff – many of its 15 million customers are scrambling to delete their DNA data from the company’s archives