Australia’s corporate watchdog says PM is the figure most commonly used in deepfakes to promote phoney investment opportunitiesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThere has been a steep rise in scammers luring victims into phoney investment opportunities using deepfakes of celebrities and politicians, Australia’s corporate watchdog has warned.And Anthony Albanese is the figure most commonly co-opted. Continue reading...

16 Aug 2026 14:01 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Wynd Kaufmyn, 69, chained and locked the front doors of OpenAI’s headquarters last year with members of StopAIAn activist who blocked the entrance to one of the world’s biggest AI companies is believed to have become the first person jailed for protesting against artificial intelligence as supporters dub her the “Rosa Parks of AI risk”.Wynd Kaufmyn, 69, surrendered herself on Friday to authorities in San Francisco. She was found guilty by a jury for her role in an action last year that saw members of the group StopAI chain and lock the front doors of OpenAI’s headquarters in protest against the pursuit of artificial superintelligence. Continue reading...

16 Aug 2026 08:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Development comes after Anthropic was found to have spent millions on books to scan for ‘data acquisition’Secondhand booksellers in the UK and Ireland are reporting a flurry of bulk orders from mystery buyers, amid speculation AI companies are acquiring the tomes for their data.Bookshops contacted by the Guardian say they have been receiving orders from buyers in the US, Canada, continental Europe and the UK. The increase has been replicated around the world, with booksellers in the US, Australia and Europe also reporting unusual orders. Continue reading...

15 Aug 2026 08:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

‘A great deal of public opposition is likely’ to a proposed datacentre near Edinburgh, the force saysPolice in Scotland have issued a stark warning about the need for “robust security measures” to stop proposed AI datacentres from being attacked by protesters.There has been mounting opposition to AI infrastructure globally, including in the US where such projects have become a significant political rallying point. Continue reading...

14 Aug 2026 16:05 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Jared Cooney Horvath argues that educational technology undermines how children learn and developJared Cooney Horvath is on a mission. In the wake of global campaigns for smartphone bans in schools and social media restrictions for under-16s, the neuroscientist wants to raise the alarm about educational technology in classrooms.A former teacher, Horvath believes the use of screens and digital tools in schools is undermining how children learn and develop. “This might be one of the hardest truths our generation has to face,” he writes in his book, The Digital Delusion. Continue reading...

16 Aug 2026 07:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Student unrest sweeps India, Portugal and Mexico as grievances and pressure for good grades in tough job market collideFamilies with teenagers in education know the private, hidden pain of exam season. But this year, what might have been a summer of quiet family anxiety has erupted in several countries into public unrest.Exam-related turmoil has led to mass student protests in Mexico after nearly 60,000 university applicants were forced to resit tests amid suspected cheating, while Portugal’s disastrous attempt to digitise school exam marking sparked the country’s worst education crisis in decades. Continue reading...

16 Aug 2026 07:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Social media and Shazam-like birdsong apps drawing young people to hobby as they seek a gentler connection to the outside worldSorry Elon, but they’re not your kind of tweets. Social media users are flocking to TikTok to join a burgeoning trend for birding videos as the hobby attracts a younger demographic.With the internet ever more cluttered with polarising, shouty and AI content, evidence is emerging of Britons preferring a gentler, more melodic window on the world in the shape of footage of the nation’s feathered friends. Continue reading...

15 Aug 2026 09:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN