A New Mexico jury found Tuesday that social media conglomerate Meta is harmful to children’s mental health and in violation of state consumer protection law. The landmark decision comes after a nearly seven-week trial. Jurors sided with state prosecutors who argued that Meta — which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — prioritized profits over safety….
OpenAI said Tuesday that it is discontinuing its Sora AI video app. The move comes as the video platform wanes in popularity among users, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported OpenAI’s decision to pull the plug. “We’ve decided to discontinue Sora in the consumer app and API. As we focus and compute…
Former Google executive Matt Brittin is expected to be the next director-general of the BBC. He would follow in the footsteps of the outgoing Tim Davie, who has held the position for nearly six years. And yes, despite a female deputy director-general in 2016 – Anne Bulford – all 16 who came before have been…
The government has said it will directly fund the clear-up of 48,000 tonnes of waste at illegal tips in the north of England, following criticism of a north-south divide on tackling waste crime. Sky News had highlighted how local people in Bickershaw, near Wigan – whose homes have been infested with rats because of the…
A NASA spacecraft is now back on its launchpad ahead of the first lunar exploration mission in more than 50 years, after a month of delays. The space agency’s Artemis II mission – part of NASA’s long-term plans to build a space station called Lunar Gateway, where astronauts will be able to live and work…
Scientists in the UK have created the first lab-grown oesophagus and implanted it in pigs, which have been able to use it to swallow food. In the study, scientists from Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and University College London (UCL) showed that a pig donor oesophagus can have cells removed, be repopulated with a recipient’s…
Preliminary readings of sites in Arizona and southern California indicate that the US has suffered its hottest March day on record. Large parts of the southwest of the United States are trapped in a dangerous heatwave, made worse in some places by a heat dome, with temperatures reaching around 43C (110F) at testing sites. The…
If you spend much time on social media, you’ll have surely noticed the surge in AI-generated video filling up your feed. We were promised superintelligence but instead got “AI slop” – clips-for-clicks of people and pets doing funny, diverting, but ultimately pointless things. Or worse. Deepfake videos of politicians or celebrities have improved in line…
A US jury has found Elon Musk misled investors by deliberately driving down Twitter’s share price in the months leading up to his $44bn (£33bn) takeover of the social media company. But the tech tycoon, and the world’s richest person, was cleared of some fraud allegations in the civil trial in San Francisco. The case…
England has recovered from drought after four months of above average rainfall, but officials are concerned about future dry spells. A wetter-than-normal February saw England receive 170% of the long-term average rainfall, the Environment Agency said. A regular government-led meeting of water stakeholders noted that while wetter than normal months had been positive for water…