Category Archives: Technology

China pits humanoid robots against humans in half-marathon for first time

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Twenty-one humanoid robots joined thousands of runners at the Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing

Twenty-one humanoid robots joined thousands of runners at the Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing on Saturday, the first time these machines have raced alongside humans over a 21km course.

The robots from Chinese manufacturers such as DroidVP and Noetix Robotics came in all shapes and sizes, some shorter than 1.2m, others as tall as 1.8m. One company boasted that its robot looked almost human, with feminine features and the ability to wink and smile. Some firms tested their robots for weeks before the race. Beijing officials have described the event as more akin to motor racing, given the need for engineering and navigation teams.

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Dramatic rise in fake political content on social media as Canada prepares to vote

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Report finds over a quarter of Canadians exposed to ‘more sophisticated and more politically polarizing’ fake content

More than a quarter of Canadians have been exposed to fake political content on social media that is “more sophisticated and more politically polarizing” as the country prepares to vote in a federal election, researchers have found, warning that platforms must increase protections amid a “dramatic acceleration” of online disinformation in the final weeks of the campaign.

In a new report released on Friday, Canada’s Media Ecosystem Observatory found a growing number of Facebook ads impersonating legitimate news sources were instead promoting fraudulent investment schemes, often involving cryptocurrency.

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Nvidia’s CEO makes surprise visit to Beijing after US restricts chip sales to China

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Jensen Huang causes stir on social media and is reported to have met founder of AI company DeepSeek

The chief executive of the American chip maker Nvidia visited Beijing on Thursday, days after the US issued fresh restrictions on sales of the only AI chip it was still allowed to sell to China.

Jensen Huang’s surprise visit was on the invitation of a trade organisation, according to a social media account affiliated with state media.

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Temu and Shein drop US ad spending as they face tariffs on even small sales

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E-tailers also hiking prices after Donald Trump ends ‘de minimis’ exemption for cheap shipments from China and Hong Kong

Temu and Shein are cutting back their spending on US social media advertising as they lose an exemption on tariffs for many of their shipments from China and Hong Kong.

The online e-tailers, both of which ship low-priced China-made goods direct to US shoppers, had been on an ad spree until recently. But under an executive order from Donald Trump, as of 2 May their sales valued at under $800 will no longer be exempt from US tariffs.

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Revealed: Chinese researchers can access half a million UK GP records

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Medical information will be available from UK Biobank, despite western intelligence agencies’ security fears

Researchers from China are to be allowed access to half a million UK GP records despite western intelligence agencies’ fears about the authoritarian regime amassing health data, the Guardian can reveal.

Preparations are under way to transfer the records to UK Biobank, a research hub that holds detailed medical information donated by 500,000 volunteers. One of the world’s largest troves of health data, the facility makes its information available to universities, scientific institutes and private companies. A Guardian analysis shows one in five successful applications for access come from China.

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‘Silicon Six’ accused of avoiding almost $278bn in US corporation taxes over 10 years

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Analysis finds Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Netflix, Apple and Microsoft averaged 18.8%, compared with 29.7% US average

The big American tech firms known as the “Silicon Six” have been accused of paying almost $278bn (£211bn) less corporate income tax in the past decade compared with the statutory rate for US companies making the same profits.

Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Netflix, Apple and Microsoft generated $11tn of revenue and $2.5tn of profits over the past 10 years.

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US stock markets expected to recover after Trump drops tariffs on mobiles

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Exemption, seen as a climbdown, includes laptops and chips, and is likely to help firms such as Apple and Nvidia

US stock markets were expected to stage a recovery on Monday after Donald Trump excluded imports of smartphones and laptops from his tariff regime late on Friday night.

Shares in Apple and chip maker Nvidia were on course to soar after tariffs on their products imported into the US were lifted for 90 days.

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Japan’s World Expo: a positive vision of the future for our divided world?

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Fifty-five years since Osaka last hosted, rocks from Mars, domestic androids and artificial hearts are part of showcase on ‘unloved’ island

As clunky as it sounds, “designing a future society for our lives” isn’t a bad ambition for the world in these troubled times. From this Sunday, organisers of the 2025 Exposition in Osaka will be hoping that appeal will put the event’s unsettled preparations in the shade for a six-month celebration of our common humanity.

The western Japan city is preparing to host its second World Expo, 55 years after the first was held in a country eager to capitalise on fading memories of the second world war as it embarked on its postwar journey to become an industrial and technological powerhouse.

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UK police chiefs call for ban on social media for under-16s

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Four senior officers say more controls needed, amid claims platforms are ‘fuelling and enabling’ crime

Senior UK police officers have called for the government to ban children under 16 from social media, amid claims the platforms are “fuelling and enabling” crime.

In the most recent development in the moral panic that has gripped the media since Netflix’s Adolescence was released, four of the most senior policing figures in the country told the Times that further controls on social media platforms were necessary for public safety, national security and young people’s mental health.

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Apple said to be flying iPhones from India to US to avoid Trump tariffs

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Tech firm has reportedly flown 600 tonnes of handsets from Indian factories as Chinese goods face huge tariffs

Apple is reportedly chartering cargo flights to ferry iPhones from its Indian manufacturing plants to the US in an attempt to beat Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The tech company has flown 600 tonnes of iPhones, or as many as 1.5m handsets, to the US from India since March after ramping up production at its plants in the country, according to Reuters.

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EU to build AI gigafactories in €20bn push to catch up with US and China

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Up to five sites with power-hungry supercomputers and datacentres planned to drive AI ‘moonshots’

The EU has revealed details of a €20bn (£17bn) plan to create new sites equipped with vast supercomputers in Europe to develop the next generation of artificial intelligence models, while opening the door to amending its landmark law that regulates the technology.

Publishing a strategy to turn Europe into an “AI continent”, the European Commission vice-president Henna Virkkunen said the technology was at the heart of making Europe more competitive, secure and technologically sovereign, adding: “The global race for AI is far from over.”

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UK creating ‘murder prediction’ tool to identify people most likely to kill

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Exclusive: Algorithms allegedly being used to study data of thousands of people, in project critics say is ‘chilling and dystopian’

The UK government is developing a “murder prediction” programme which it hopes can use personal data of those known to the authorities to identify the people most likely to become killers.

Researchers are alleged to be using algorithms to analyse the information of thousands of people, including victims of crime, as they try to identify those at greatest risk of committing serious violent offences.

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Meta blocks livestreaming by teenagers on Instagram

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Under-16s will be barred from using the app’s Live feature unless they have parental permission

Meta is expanding its safety measures for teenagers on Instagram with a block on livestreaming, as the social media company extends its under-18 safeguards to the Facebook and Messenger platforms.

Under-16s will be barred from using Instagram’s Live feature unless they have parental permission. They will also require parental permission to turn off a feature that blurs images containing suspected nudity in their direct messages.

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Main ticket seller and six tour companies fined £17m for Colosseum price-fixing

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Illegal practices included use of bots to hoard tickets for attraction in Rome for resale at inflated prices

An Italian ticketing company and six tour operators have been fined almost €20m (£17m) for illegal practices that made it difficult for regular visitors to access Rome’s Colosseum at the standard cost.

Italy’s antitrust authority, AGCM, said the practices, including using software bots to hoard tickets and resell them at higher prices, made it “essentially impossible” to buy tickets online for site.

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Labour: changes to EV rules will have ‘negligible’ impact on UK emissions

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Transport secretary says overhaul in response to Trump tariffs supports car firms and climate goals

Labour’s changes to electric vehicle (EV) rules in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs will have a negligible impact on emissions, the transport secretary has said.

Keir Starmer has confirmed plans to boost manufacturers, including reinstating the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

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US authors’ copyright lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft combined in New York with newspaper actions

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California cases over AI trainers’ use of work by writers including Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Chabon transferred to consolidate with New York suits from John Grisham and Jonathan Franzen and more

Twelve US copyright cases against OpenAI and Microsoft have been consolidated in New York, despite most of the authors and news outlets suing the companies being opposed to centralisation.

A transfer order made by the US judicial panel on multidistrict litigation on Thursday said that centralisation will “allow a single judge to coordinate discovery, streamline pretrial proceedings, and eliminate inconsistent rulings”.

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Blanket ban on teen smartphone use ‘potentially detrimental’, says academic

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Dr Amy Orben says there are no ‘one-size-fits-all answers’ given importance of access to online information

A leading academic tasked by the UK government with reviewing the effects of smartphones on teenagers has suggested blanket bans are “unrealistic and potentially detrimental”.

Amy Orben, from the University of Cambridge, will lead the work on children and smartphone use that has been commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) along with a team of other academics from a number of UK universities.

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Meta faces £1.8bn lawsuit over claims it inflamed violence in Ethiopia

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Son of murdered academic calls on Facebook owner to ‘radically change how it moderates dangerous content’

Meta faces a $2.4bn (£1.8bn) lawsuit accusing the Facebook owner of inflaming violence in Ethiopia after the Kenyan high court said a legal case against the US tech group could go ahead.

The case brought by two Ethiopian nationals calls on Facebook to alter its algorithm to stop promoting hateful material and incitement to violence, as well as hiring more content moderators in Africa. It is also seeking a $2.4bn “restitution fund” for victims of hate and violence incited on Facebook.

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Hyundai facing legal action over car that can be stolen ‘effortlessly in seconds’

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Elliott Ingram was stunned at how a thief made off with his Ioniq 5 deploying a device to mimic the smart key – and says he should have been warned

The motor manufacturer Hyundai faces legal action over allegations it failed to warn its customers that one of its most popular models of electric cars could be stolen “effortlessly in seconds”. Elliott Ingram, an expert in digital security, was stunned when a CCTV camera installed at his home recorded a hooded thief stealing his Hyundai Ioniq 5 car in less than 20 seconds.

The thief is believed to have used a device, available online, to mimic the car’s electronic key. It is the latest in a spate of thefts involving the vehicle, and many owners now resort to a steering lock. Ingram’s car was later recovered by police, but he is terminating the lease and seeking compensation from the motor company. He says the South Korean car giant should have alerted customers to the security vulnerabilities.

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Australian home affairs secretary admits to using disappearing messages on Signal for work

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In wake of Trump administration group chat scandal, department’s chief operating officer tells Senate there is no ban on staff using the feature

The department of home affairs secretary, Stephanie Foster, has admitted to using disappearing messages on Signal, but says she complies with record-keeping obligations, as officials face scrutiny of their use of encrypted messaging apps in the wake of the Trump administration group chat scandal.

The editor of the Atlantic, Jeff Goldberg, published a story this week saying he was accidentally added to a Signal group chat of top US officials discussing operational details on a plan to strike Yemen.

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