Today’s AI can crack second world war Enigma code ‘in short order’, experts say

Crowning achievement of Alan Turing’s codebreakers is now ‘straightforward’, according to computer scientistsThe Enigma code was a fiendish cipher that took Alan Turing and his fellow codebreakers a herculean effort to crack. Yet experts say it would have crumbled in the face of modern computing.While Polish experts broke early versions of the Enigma code in the 1930s and built anti-Enigma machines, subsequent security upgrades by the Germans meant Turing had to develop new mac

Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Van Hollen go after tech firms including Google and AmazonThree Democratic US senators announced Tuesday that they are investigating whether big tech companies are passing the soaring utility costs of “energy-guzzling” data centers on to ordinary Americans. The trio sent letters to the heads of Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta as well as the data center operators CoreWeave, Digital Realty and Equinix asking for greater transparency, co

Companies such as Udio, Suno and Klay will let you use AI to make new music based on existing artists’ work. It could mean more royalties – but many are worriedThis was the year that AI-generated music went from jokey curiosity to mainstream force. Velvet Sundown, a wholly AI act, generated millions of streams; AI-created tracks topped Spotify’s viral chart and one of the US Billboard country charts; AI “artist” Xania Monet “signed” a record deal. BBC In

Liz Kendall faces pressure from campaigners as she tells parliament there is no clear consensus on issue A campaign fronted by popstars including Elton John and Dua Lipa to protect artists’ works from being mined to train AI models without consent has received a boost after almost every respondent to a government consultation backed their case.Ninety-five per cent of the more than 10,000 people who had their say over how music, novels, films and other works should be protected from copyrig

Pledge to invest billions in UK paused, with Washington citing lack of progress on trade barriers across pondThe US has paused its promised multi-billion-pound investment into British tech over trade disagreements, marking a serious setback in US-UK relations.The £31bn “tech prosperity deal”, hailed by Keir Starmer as “a generational stepchange in our relationship with the US” when it was announced during Donald Trump’s state visit, has been put on ice by Wash

Dr Roman Raczka says artificial intelligence can’t replace therapist-led care, even though it can offer benefitsIt is absolutely right that children “need a human, not a bot” for mental health support (‘I feel it’s a friend’: quarter of teenagers turn to AI chatbots for mental health support, 9 December). Overuse of AI for mental health support could well lead to the next public health emergency if the government does not take urgent action.We shouldn&rsq

AI Mode is mangling recipes by merging instructions from multiple creators – and causing them huge dips in ad trafficThis past March, when Google began rolling out its AI Mode search capability, it began offering AI-generated recipes. The recipes were not all that intelligent. The AI had taken elements of similar recipes from multiple creators and Frankensteined them into something barely recognizable. In one memorable case, the Google AI failed to distinguish the satirical website the Oni

Andrew Yang’s revived pitch suits the automation debate, but UBI can’t fix inequalities concentrated tech wealth drivesUniversal basic income (UBI) is back, like a space zombie in a sci-fi movie, resurrected from policy oblivion, hungry for policymakers’ attention: brains!Andrew Yang, whose “Yang Gang” enthusiasm briefly shook up the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 promoting a “Freedom Dividend” to save workers from automation – $1,000 a

Blaise Metreweli expected to say UK faces new ‘age of uncertainty’ in speech identifying Kremlin as key threatAssassination plots, sabotage, cyber-attacks and the manipulation of information by Russia and other hostile states mean that “the frontline is everywhere”, the new head of MI6 will warn on Monday.Blaise Metreweli, giving her first speech in the job, is expected to say the UK faces a new “age of uncertainty” where the rules of conflict are being rewrit

The coming tech boom is about to launch a boom in people who do things with their hands and mindsWhen I was in college and didn’t know what to do with my life, my dad offered this career advice: be a certified public accountant. Why?“Because,” he said. “People will always need their taxes done. They’ll always need financial advice. With a CPA license, you can always hang out a shingle and put food on the table.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: More than 150 anonymous channels using cheap AI tools to spread false stories about Keir Starmer, study findsYouTube channels spreading fake, anti-Labour videos have amassed more than a billion views this year, as opportunists attempt to use AI-generated content to profit from political division in the UK.More than 150 channels have been detected in the last year that promote anti-Labour narratives, as well as outright fake and inflammatory accusations about Keir Starmer. Continue rea

California governor says order pushes ‘grift and corruption’ instead of innovation just hours after president’s dictumThe ink was barely dry on Donald Trump’s artificial intelligence executive order when Gavin Newsom came out swinging. Just hours after the order went public Thursday evening, the California governor issued a statement saying the presidential dictum, which seeks to block states from regulating AI of their own accord, advances “grift and corruption&rdq

The OpenAI CEO gushed about the bot’s parental-assistance abilities. Is it really his best child-rearing hack?Just how does he do it all? Every time I look at the news, Sam Altman’s face seems to be staring back at me. The CEO of OpenAI, a well-known workaholic, is constantly in the public eye explaining how AI will probably cure cancer and transform the social contract and generally change the world. While doing all that he’s reportedly gearing up for OpenAI to file for a stoc

In this week’s newsletter: It was ​12 months of megamergers, manufactured musicians and thrillers stretched thinner than a streamer’s budget​. Join me for some cathartic moaning• Don’t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereIt’s time for a big old moan. Next week’s newsletter will be a roundup of our favourite culture of the year, a bit of an annual Guide tradition by now, and something that’s great fun to put together.But do you k

Comforting reassurance was once the work of the church. Now it’s increasingly being sought from the machineA few summers ago I attended two funerals in a week.One was for a man who was atheist and had lots of worldly success. The second was for a woman who was Catholic, raised three children and lived a much quieter life.This is a special way of being afraidNo trick dispels. Religion used to try,That vast moth-eaten musical brocadeCreated to pretend we never die … Continue reading..

Artificial intelligence could make income inequality even worse and create a new underclass. Governments and society must take actionNowadays there seems to be nonstop discussion about AI, with much of the conversation focused on whether there’s a speculative bubble or whether the chipmaker Nvidia is really worth $5tn or whether OpenAI will beat its rivals in developing new generations of artificial intelligence. But the vast majority of Americans – just like the vast majority of Eur

Order, which lacks the force of law, also creates taskforce whose ‘sole responsibility’ will be challenging states’ AI lawsDonald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that seeks to halt any laws limiting artificial intelligence and block states from regulating the rapidly emerging technology. The order also creates a federal taskforce that will have the “sole responsibility” of challenging states’ AI laws.At a signing ceremony, the president touted AI c