UK threatened with sanctions if Starmer blocks Musk’s X January 9, 2026 The UK has been warned it could face US sanctions if Sir Keir Starmer attempts to block Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, amid mounting concern over its AI tool generating sexualised images of women and children. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican Congresswoman and ally of Donald Trump, said she was drafting legislation that would [...]
Ropes & Gray offers junior lawyers 20 per cent billable credit for AI effort January 9, 2026 US law firm Ropes & Gray has expanded its programme to give junior lawyers 20 per cent of their billable hours to experiment with generative AI to its European offices, including in the City. The ‘TrAIlblazers’ programme was floated across the firm’s US offices last year, but it is now being implemented in Europe for [...]
Elon Musk’s X suffers sales and profit slump before Grok fallout January 9, 2026 Turnover and profit at the UK arm of X fell sharply in its second year after being taken over by Elon Musk, it has been revealed. The division’s turnover was slashed from £69.1m to £28.8m in 2024, accounts filed late with Companies House show. The results also confirm that Twitter UK’s pre-tax profit was cut [...]
Microsoft rides the Wayve as self driving cars hit London streets January 8, 2026 Microsoft announced its strengthened partnership with British born autonomous driving startup Wayve on Thursday, in a move set to bring the tech into commercial use. This collaboration, based largely on Microsoft Azure, provides its infrastructure to both train and operate the AV firm’s AI into complex urban environments such as London. Founded in 2017 in [...]
Grok scandal exposes Online Safety Act flaws January 7, 2026 The UK’s relatively new Online Safety Act was sold as its long-overdue answer to the alarming harms of social media. Brits were promised a framework tough enough to bar Silicon Valley access, tough enough to promote innovation, and strong enough to keep its users, particularly children, from digital abuse. Barely months into its rollout, controversial [...]
British shoppers turn to AI as London high street sales falter January 7, 2026 As our beloved high streets grapple with rising business costs, decaying consumer confidence and yet another bout of tax uncertainty, AI agents are reshaping how consumers shop. A report published by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) warns that that so-called ‘agentic AI’, a quasi-autonomous form of artificial intelligence, could shift from novelty to norm within [...]
AI jobs defy hiring slump as tech talent cashes in January 7, 2026 With redundancies rising and hiring freezes spreading across much of UK PLC, the tech corner of the jobs market looks to be moving steadily in the opposite direction. New data shows tech roles are not just surviving the wider slowdown, but actively raising salary growth in 2026. Jobs platform Totaljobs found median advertised pay saw [...]
Accenture bets on British AI talent with Faculty buy January 6, 2026 Professional services firm Accenture has announced the acquisition of London-based AI specialist Faculty, in a deal that cements the City’s role as a global talent hub. The Dublin-based US firm said the acquisition will bring more than 400 AI specialists into Accenture’s workforce, deepening its capabilities in applied AI, decision intelligence and AI safety. The [...]
Nvidia pitches ‘thinking’ cars as UK EV sales soar January 6, 2026 Nvidia is betting that smarter software will drive the next phase of electric vehicle (EV) adoption, unveiling what its boss dubbed as the ‘ChatGPT moment’ for self-driving cars as UK EV sales hit record highs. Speaking at the yearly Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, tech titan and Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang revealed [...]
Labour pencils £210m cyber plan to curb escalating attacks January 6, 2026 The UK government has unveiled a £210m cyber action plan aimed at shoring up the public services, as ministers face mounting pressure to respond to a sharp rise in attacks on major British businesses. The plan, published on Tuesday, comes amid a backdrop of high-profile cyber incidents that hit retailers including M&S, Co-op and Jaguar [...]