Mike Lynch obituary

British tech entrepreneur who sold his Autonomy software group to Hewlett-Packard and was later cleared after a long-running US fraud case Mike Lynch, who has died aged 59 in the wreck of his yacht, was sometimes described as “Britain’s Bill Gates”. It was a huge exaggeration, but Lynch could claim two parallels with Gates: he developed world-leading technology (in his case in machine learning or AI) and, unlike so many UK scientists, he learned how to turn it into commerc

‘Mid-career’ females also being sidelined by rigid hiring processes, says City of London CorporationWomen working in tech and financial services are at greater risk of losing their jobs to increased use of AI and automation than their male peers, according to a report that found experienced females were also being sidelined as a result of “rigid hiring processes”.“Mid-career” women – with at least five years’ experience – are being overlooked

Merger with loss-making xAI looks to some investors more like a bailout than arocket trip to the futureElon Musk merges SpaceX with xAI at $1.25tn valuationTo Elon Musk’s fan club, there is nothing to see apart from more evidence of the great man’s visionary genius. SpaceX, the rocket firm, is buying xAI, the artificial intelligence developer, and the combination of these two Musk-controlled entities is being valued at $1.25tn (£910bn). Feel the positive vibes ahead of a stock

AIs are not sentient – but tweaks to their ethical codes can have far-reaching consequences for usersDo you want an AI assistant that gushes about how it “loves humanity” or spews sarcasm? How about a political propagandist ready to lie? If so, ChatGPT, Grok and Qwen are at your disposal.Companies that create AI assistants from the US to China are increasingly wrestling with how to mould their characters, and it is no abstract debate. This month Elon Musk’s “maximal

Pearson, Experian and others fall sharply after startup unveils software to automate a range of professional servicesEuropean publishing and legal software companies have suffered sharp declines in their share prices after the US artificial intelligence firm Anthropic revealed a tool for use by companies’ legal departments.Anthropic, the company behind thechatbot Claude, said its tool could automate legal work such as contract reviewing, non-disclosure agreement triage, compliance workflow

Stocks in Pearson, London Stock Exchange Group and Experian plunge amid fears over impact of AIEuropean publishing and legal software companies have suffered sharp declines in their share prices after the US artificial intelligence firm Anthropic announced a tool aimed at companies’ in-house lawyers.The UK publishing group Pearson’s shares fell by 4%, while the information and analytics firm Relx plunged nearly 11% on the London stock exchange, and the Dutch software company Wolters

Information Commissioner’s Office to investigate whether Elon Musk’s companies have complied with data protection lawThe Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has opened formal investigations into X and xAI over whether Elon Musk’s companies have complied with data protection law after the Grok AI tool was used to generate sexual deepfake images without consent.The ICO said the reports raised “serious concerns” under UK data protection laws, such as whether

Annual review highlights growing capabilities of AI models, while examining issues from cyber-attacks to job disruptionThe International AI Safety report is an annual survey of technological progress and the risks it is creating across multiple areas, from deepfakes to the jobs market.Commissioned at the 2023 global AI safety summit, it is chaired by the Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, who describes the “daunting challenges” posed by rapid developments in the field. The re

Minister announces Microsoft, Cisco and Adobe to help apply AI to local schools, hospitals, GPs and businessesIn 2002 Barnsley toyed with a redesign as a Tuscan hill village as it sought out a brighter post-industrial future. In 2021 it adopted the airily vague slogan “the place of possibilities”. Now it is trying a different image: Britain’s first “tech town”.The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, has anointed the South Yorkshire community as a trailblazer for &ldq

Labor can afford a few moments of glee now, but spending, emissions, AI and Aukus are just some of the challenges on the road to the next electionGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLabor MPs could hardly contain their delight on Monday. Even before today’s start of parliament, the Nationals had debated a leadership spill and Sussan Ley looked firmly on borrowed time.They cheered Anthony Albanese at a caucus meeting, in which he likened the disorganisation of the Coa

The once-lauded director of Black Swan and The Wrestler has drowned himself in AI slop with an embarrassing new online seriesIf you happen to find yourself stumbling through Time magazine’s YouTube account, perhaps because you are a time traveller from the 1970s who doesn’t fully understand how the present works yet – then you will be presented with something that many believe represents the vanguard of entertainment as we know it.On This Day… 1776 is a series of short v

OpenClaw is billed as ‘the AI that actually does things’ and needs almost no input to potentially wreak havocA new viral AI personal assistant will handle your email inbox, trade away your entire stock portfolio and text your wife “good morning” and “goodnight” on your behalf.OpenClaw, formerly known as Moltbot, and before that known as Clawdbot (until the AI firm Anthropic requested it rebrand due to similarities with its own product Claude), bills itself as

A bit like Reddit for artificial intelligence, Moltbook allows AI agents – bots built by humans – to post and interact with each other. People are allowed as observers onlyOn social media, people often accuse each other of being bots, but what happens when an entire social network is designed for AI agents to use? Moltbook is a site where the AI agents – bots built by humans – can post and interact with each other. It is designed to look like Reddit, with subreddits on di

In-person interactions break down barriers in east London, as AI startups also try to bridge communication divideWesley Hartwell raised his fists to the barista and shook them next to his ears. He then lowered his fists, extended his thumbs and little fingers, and moved them up and down by his chest, as though milking a cow. Finally, he laid the fingers of one hand flat on his chin and flexed his wrist forward.Hartwell, who has no hearing problems, had just used BSL, British Sign Language, to or

In-person interactions at Dialogue Cafe break down barriers in east London amid AI-startup surge seeking digital answersWesley Hartwell raised his fists to the barista and shook them next to his ears. He then lowered his fists, extended his thumbs and little fingers, and moved them up and down by his chest, as though milking a cow. Finally, he laid the fingers of one hand flat on his chin and flexed his wrist forward.Hartwell, who has no hearing problems, had just used BSL, British Sign Language

Scientists warn that rapid advances in AI and neurotechnology are outpacing our understanding of consciousness, creating serious ethical risks. New research argues that developing scientific tests for awareness could transform medicine, animal welfare, law, and AI development. But identifying consciousness in machines, brain organoids, or patients could also force society to rethink responsibility, rights, and moral boundaries. The question of what it means to be conscious has never been more ur

NASA’s Perseverance rover has just made history by driving across Mars using routes planned by artificial intelligence instead of human operators. A vision-capable AI analyzed the same images and terrain data normally used by rover planners, identified hazards like rocks and sand ripples, and charted a safe path across the Martian surface. After extensive testing in a virtual replica of the rover, Perseverance successfully followed the AI-generated routes, traveling hundreds of feet autono

With Donald Trump tearing up the world order, governments across Europe are having to confront the fact that most of the technology they rely on comes from US companies. French officials have taken a step this week to reduce their dependence on US digital infrastructure, announcing they have stopped using Zoom, the US-owned video meeting software, in favour of a French-made program.But how viable is this? And what are the risks? The Guardian’s Michael Safi speaks to the tech journalist Chr

House price fantasies | Coyote confirmation | Premier Inns | Longevity advice | ApostrophesI always regard the house prices in your fantasy house hunt feature with wry amusement. After all, it is supposed to be fantasy. However, last weekend’s selection made my blood boil (Homes for sale to inspire artists in England – in pictures, 23 January). In 2024, the Guardian reported that the median income of visual artists had dropped to £12,500, a fall of 40% since 2010. Even the most

Weather service research finds less accurate probability-based predictions are still considered helpfulThe Met Office is to lean into one of Britain’s favourite pastimes – talking about the weather – by launching a new two-week forecast.At present, the publicly funded weather and climate service offers a seven-day forecast on its website and app with an hourly breakdown for the first five days and then a three-hourly breakdown for the final two days. Continue reading...

When bubbles burst, what comes next can be better, if we build it differentlyIt was December 1999. Tech investors were riding high, convinced that a website and a Super Bowl ad were all it took to get rich quick. Spending was mistaken for growth; marketing was mistaken for a business model. In just a few months, the dot-com boom would go bust: $1.7tn in market value vanished, and the broader economy took a $5tn hit.Yet something remarkable emerged from the wreckage. The post-crash internet wasn&

Rocket company examining feasibility of both options before potential $1.5tn stock market flotation, report saysBusiness live – latest updatesSpaceX is reportedly considering a potential merger with the electric carmaker Tesla, or a tie-up with artificial intelligence firm xAI, as Elon Musk looks at options to consolidate his global empire.The rocket company is examining the feasibility of a tie-up with Tesla or xAI before a huge potential stock market float, according to Reuters. Continue

Exclusive: Smartwatches, Oura rings, smart home devices and Fitbits being weaponised, says RefugeDomestic abusers are increasingly using AI, smartwatches and other technology to attack and control their victims, a domestic abuse charity says.Record numbers of women who were abused and controlled through technology were referred to Refuge’s specialist services during the last three months of 2025, including a 62% increase in the most complex cases to total 829 women. There was also a 24% in