TikTok gives special status to celebs, Chinese EV boasts range of 650 miles

TikTok has given special status to certain high-profile accounts, with moderators in Europe encouraged to be more lenient with content posted by people including Russell Brand, according to internal messages seen by the Guardian. The demand to be less stringent has also been underlined in meetings with moderators, the Guardian has been told. Documents suggest that…

Tesla unveils new version of humanoid robot, E3 cancelled forever

Tesla has debuted a new version of its humanoid robot that can squat without falling over and pick up an egg without breaking it. Elon Musk’s electric car company has teased updates to the company’s Optimus automaton in a video posted on Twitter. In a demonstration video, Tesla’s robotics division showed off what it called…

AI agreement reached, Apple faces lawsuit over ‘throttled phones’ claim

28 governments signed up to the 'Bletchley declaration' on the first day of the AI safety summit at Bletchley Park (pictured above) World leaders have a "responsibility" to address the dangers of artificial intelligence, Rishi Sunak has told the UK's first AI safety summit. The prime minister said AI offered "transformative"…

Clearview AI wins facial recognition appeal, EE launches new digital platform

A company that enables its clients to search a database of billions of images scraped from the internet for matches to a particular face has won an appeal against the UK's privacy watchdog. Last year, Clearview AI was fined more than £7.5m by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for unlawfully storing facial images. Jack Mulcaire,…

Apple reveals new iPhone 15 line-up with prices starting from £799

Last night Apple revealed the latest addition to its iPhone line-up - the iPhone 15 - with prices starting at £100 less than last year's models.  The new iPhone features a significant redesign to its screen, replacing the “notch” at the top of the phone with the “dynamic island” used on its current Pro models.…

WhatsApp gets ready to support iMessage, Apple prepares to launch iPhone 15

The hugely popular instant messaging platform WhatsApp appears to be getting its ducks in a row, ready to open its apps up to support for third-party messaging services like Apple's iMessage. The move comes as the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) gets ready to come into force in March 2024. The EU recently confirmed that it has…

Global smartphone sales down 6%, ChatGPT shows left-wing bias

Global smartphone sales are set to hit their lowest point since 2013 as China’s economic headwinds weakened consumer spending worldwide. Total shipments of smartphones are expected to decline 6pc this year to 1.15bn units, according to figures from Counterpoint Research. Economic pressures in China have hit consumers’ spending on electronics, the consultancy said, triggering a slowdown…

Facebook not guilty of psychological harm, second hand EV sales surge

There is no evidence the global spread of Facebook is linked to widespread psychological harm, an Oxford Internet Institute (OII) study suggests. The research looked at how wellbeing changed in 72 countries as use of the social media platform grew. It counters the common belief that social media is psychologically harmful, the researchers argue. Several…