Author: Jaxon Bennett

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Artificial intelligence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.A note of threat has crept into the otherwise optimistic language of those who champion the adoption of artificial intelligence. You can hear it in the rhetoric of UK technology secretary Peter Kyle, who told workers and businesses this month: “Act now, and you will thrive into the future. Don’t, and I think that some people will be left behind.” You can hear it in the marketing spiel used by software companies such as Salesforce: “Companies that fail to leverage AI in…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The EU will set out plans on Wednesday to pool funding and expertise in quantum computing, in a bid to build a competitive European ecosystem in a technology seen as key to future economic leadership.The move attempts to address financing gaps that risk undermining Europe’s efforts to develop a potentially transformative technology, just as the sector emerges from research to look for market opportunities. Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission vice-president overseeing tech policy, told the Financial Times: “Quantum is something [in which]…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Artificial intelligence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Meta’s use of millions of books to train its artificial intelligence models has been judged “fair” by a federal court on Wednesday, in a win for tech companies that use copyrighted materials to develop AI. The case, brought by about a dozen authors, including Ta-Nehisi Coates and Richard Kadrey, challenged how the $1.4tn social media giant used a library of millions of online books, academic articles and comics to train its Llama AI models.Meta’s use of these titles is protected under copyright…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.For over a decade, the US has been waging its chip cold war with a familiar arsenal. Blacklists, export controls and extraterritorial rules — all staples of Washington’s well-worn playbook — were meant to deny China access to critical technologies and stall the ascent of its tech capabilities. The stall never came.In response, restrictions have grown increasingly severe. The US government is now weighing additional restrictions on China, including revoking waivers that allow global chipmakers to access US technology in their China-based…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Artificial intelligence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Sam Altman’s eyeball-scanning digital ID project is being rolled out in the UK, giving Britons access to verification services that the entrepreneur claims are essential for distinguishing between human and artificial intelligence.Altman’s World project has developed an orb “that confirms humanness” by scanning people’s eyes, generating a digital credential that can be used to access goods and services online, as well as the group’s own cryptocurrency, Worldcoin. This week, World is opening a number of locations in London where people can scan…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Uber has appointed its first chief operating officer since 2019, as chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi shakes up senior leadership and loosens his grip on the ride-hailing company. Andrew Macdonald, Uber’s head of mobility, has been appointed president and chief operating officer with immediate effect, according to public filings. He will be the company’s second-in-command, responsible for overseeing the mobility and food delivery sides of the business. Macdonald, who joined Uber in 2012 and is known by colleagues as Mac, will report directly…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldDonald Trump has put a $175bn price tag on the development of a “Golden Dome” missile defence shield, promising the project would be “operational” by the end of his term.The so-called Golden Dome — whose name is a nod to the renowned “Iron Dome” shielding Israel — will be completed in two-and-a-half to three years, the US president said in an announcement from the Oval Office. The tax and budget bill before Congress includes $25bn to “help construction get under…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Cyber Security myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.WhatsApp won a $168mn jury verdict in a case against NSO Group, the Israeli maker of Pegasus spyware, for exploiting a weakness in the encrypted messaging platform and selling it to clients who used it to surveil journalists, activists and political dissidents. The case in a California federal court is the first time that a manufacturer of spyware has been held responsible for violating the technical sanctity of the platforms that operate on modern smartphones. It threatens an emerging industry based on…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Data intelligence group Palantir shook off concerns that US defence spending cuts could harm its sales of military software to the federal government, boosting its 2025 outlook after reporting forecast-beating results.The Denver, Colorado-based company lifted its revenue growth guidance for the year to 36 per cent, surpassing Wall Street’s expectation for a 31 per cent increase, and boosted its outlook for several other financial metrics.This followed a first quarter in which the group reported a 39 per cent year-on-year jump in revenues…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The United Arab Emirates aims to use AI to help write new legislation and review and amend existing laws, in the Gulf state’s most radical attempt to harness a technology into which it has poured billions.The plan for what state media called “AI-driven regulation” goes further than anything seen elsewhere, AI researchers said, while noting that details were scant. Other governments are trying to use AI to become more efficient, from summarising bills to improving public service delivery, but not to actively…