Amazon says it buys books in bulk to ‘improve products’ August 20, 2026 Amazon has said it buys books through commercial channels to develop its products after an investigation traced a bulk order of rare books to a facility where workers reportedly destroy and scan physical copies. “Amazon purchases books through commercial channels to help develop and improve the products and services our customers use,” an Amazon spokesperson [...]
AI startup raises $20m to build ‘digital twins’ of office workers August 20, 2026 An AI startup that creates digital replicas of employees has raised $20m (£15m) as investors bet that technology used to model factories and machinery can be applied to office workers. Twin1 AI emerged from “stealth” on Thursday after securing seed funding in a round co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Tribeca Venture Partners and Aramco Ventures. [...]
Take it from an AI founder, London is where it’s at August 20, 2026 Forget Silicon Valley, AI startup founder Dima Eremin says UK regulations, conversely, are making London more attractive.
Williams turns to AI to squeeze more from F1 cost cap August 19, 2026 British racing team Williams is turning to AI to free up engineering time as Formula One’s (F1) cost cap makes squeezing more from existing resources more valuable. The nine-time constructors’ champion has rolled out software from title partner Atlassian across its 1,200-strong operation as part of a wider overhaul under team principal James Vowles, as [...]
I drove 3,000 miles and saw the America AI is leaving behind August 19, 2026 Lewis Liu drove for nine days to get to his new home in Silicon Valley. On the journey he saw the America that risks being left behind.
Watchdog takes aim at lawyers blaming juniors for AI blunders August 17, 2026 The legal watchdog has called out lawyers responsible for supervising junior staff when false AI-generated citations are put forward to the courts, as senior lawyers “remain accountable” for juniors. The Solicitors Regulation Authority, the legal regulator for over 200,000 English and Welsh solicitors, said in a warning notice issued on Monday that those in charge [...]
Goldman and Intel back $5.4bn AI video startup August 17, 2026 Goldman Sachs and Intel have backed AI video maker Higgsfield in a $400m (£295m) funding round that has more than quadrupled the two-year-old company’s valuation since January. The fresh funding values the startup at $5.4bn, up from $1.3bn just eight months ago, as investors pile into companies looking to turn generative AI into products businesses [...]
Ofgem warns on grid squeeze after Heathrow data centre approved August 14, 2026 The energy watchdog Ofgem has warned that speculative data centre projects risk holding up viable investments on Britain’s electricity grid, after councillors approved another power-hungry facility near Heathrow Airport. Hounslow Council has backed plans for a data centre on a 12.2-acre brownfield site at the Haslemere Heathrow Estate, which would require an 80MVA high-capacity electricity [...]
Anthropic subscriptions overtake OpenAI in the UK, fresh data suggests August 14, 2026 Spending on Anthropic subscriptions has overtaken OpenAI in the UK for the first time, fresh data suggests, as the firm’s focus on enterprise customers helped boost its revenues. Anthropic accounted for as much as 54 per cent of all UK business spending on AI firms in the three months to July, compared to just 27 [...]
Aviva profits jump following Direct Line acquisition August 14, 2026 FTSE 100 insurance giant Aviva reported its operating profit for the first half of this year to be up 24 per cent, driven by the group’s “strong progress” following its acquisition of Direct Line in 2025. The London-listed insurer, which offers home, car, and life insurance in the UK and serves approximately 25 million customers, [...]