Anthropic and OpenAI raise billions as LLM race accelerates January 28, 2026 The AI boom took another leap forward this week as rival labs Anthropic and OpenAI moved to lock in eye-watering sums of funding, as the chatbot race accelerates. Anthropic has closed a funding round of between $10bn and $15bn at a valuation of around $350bn, comfortably overshooting its original target. The round was led by [...]
Just Eat wants you to stop scrolling and start talking January 27, 2026 Just Eat Takeaway has launched an AI voice assistant in its UK app, allowing customers to place orders by speaking rather than navigating menus. The feature is integrated into Just Eat’s existing in-app chat function and lets users describe what they want in natural language. The assistant then recommends restaurants, dishes and products across food, grocery [...]
Big Tech’s AI borrowing boom tests US bond market January 27, 2026 Big Tech is on track to become the dominant force in the US corporate bond market, as the race to build AI infrastructure drives an unprecedented surge in borrowing that is beginning to worry investors. By the end of the decade, around half of the 10 largest borrowers in the US bond market will be [...]
Whitehall leans on AI to fix failing public services January 27, 2026 The UK government is accelerating its use of AI across public services, as ministers look to modernise creaking systems, boost productivity and strengthen national security. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has announced a new cohort of British AI specialists who will spend the next year embedded in government. They will be backed [...]
Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Tesla: Big Tech earnings set to test AI bets January 27, 2026 This week marks one of the most consequential stretches of tech earnings season, with results due from Meta, Microsoft, Tesla and Apple, four giants that sit at the heart of both the market rally and the debate over whether Big Tech’s vast AI spending will ultimately pay off. It is the second-busiest week of the fourth-quarter earnings season, with 103 [...]
Wealth app Chip raises £17m as Channel 4 backs TV push January 27, 2026 Channel 4 Ventures has invested in UK wealth app Chip as part of a £17m funding round, marking the company’s first institutional backing and funding a major TV advertising campaign, City AM can reveal. The round values Chip at £208m and combines £6m of media-for-equity from Channel 4 Ventures, with £11m raised from more than 9,000 retail investors [...]
WhatsApp probe casts shadow ahead of Meta earnings January 26, 2026 Meta heads into a crucial earnings week under mounting regulatory pressure, after the UK watchdog, Ofcom, opened a formal investigation into WhatsApp’s data handling. This comes just days after Meta paused access to its AI chatbots for teenagers worldwide, Britain’s communications regulator, Ofcom, said it is looking into whether the social media giant provided “incomplete or inaccurate” [...]
Financial services set for hiring spree for AI experts in 2026 January 26, 2026 British banks and finance firms are hunting for behavioural science and psychology experts for ethical AI jobs, as worries about misusing the technology build, experts have said. A desire to accelerate recruitment in 2026 comes after one of the worst years for hiring in the financial services sector since the 2008 financial crisis. Some 55 [...]
2026 could be crisis year for UK’s graduate workforce January 20, 2026 This year could become a graduate abyss for the UK job market if AI skill shortages are not tackled, writes Rod Flavell.
US tax consultancy faces $12bn threat, but AI could deliver $19bn in gains January 20, 2026 New research suggests AI could drive a $7bn (£5.2bn) net increase in the US tax consulting industry if firms shift focus from routine compliance to high-value advisory. The report from Source Global Research revealed that despite the potential threat to revenue, over half of all US tax services are expected to be significantly powered by [...]