Meta and Microsoft face AI earnings test July 30, 2025 Meta, the owner of Facebook, and Microsoft will post second-quarter earnings after US markets close today (Wednesday 30 July) with analysts focused squarely on how both tech titans are monetising their multibillion-dollar artificial intelligence (AI) bets. Shares in both firms have surged around 20 per cent so far this year, fuelled by investor enthusiasm around [...]
UK backs global AI safety plan with AWS and Anthropic July 30, 2025 The UK has launched a new global research coalition aimed at tackling one of the most pressing but least understood problems in artificial intelligence – ensuring that advanced AI systems behave in ways aligned with human values. Backed by £15m in funding and a wide-ranging group of partners, the so-called ‘Alignment Project’ was unveiled on [...]
Trump’s AI push puts pressure on Starmer’s Action Plan July 29, 2025 Donald Trump has declared that the United States is going to “win the AI race”, leaving Britain to prove it can keep up. Speaking at the ‘winning AI race’ summit, the US president said: “America is the country that started the AI race. And as president of the United States, I’m here today to declare [...]
UK hits Big Tech with online safety crackdown July 25, 2025 The UK’s biggest tech platforms are under new legal pressure from Friday as sweeping new child protection laws come into force, requiring firms to deploy strict age verification for harmful content – or face fines of up to £18m, or 10 per cent of global turnover. The new rules, part of the government’s long-trailed Online [...]
Labour’s OpenAI deal lacks transparency July 24, 2025 The Labour government’s newly announced partnership with OpenAI has positioned the UK at the centre of a global discourse on the future of artificial intelligence in public services. The memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed on Tuesday by tech secretary Peter Kyle and OpenAI chief Sam Altman, sets out a framework for collaboration across sectors like [...]
Alphabet and Tesla to kick off pivotal week for the Magnificent Seven July 23, 2025 The high-stakes earnings season for the Magnificent Seven tech giants begins on Wednesday, as Tesla and Alphabet report after the closing bell. With both companies under pressure to justify elevated valuations and market leadership, their results could set the tone for the rest of the sector’s global heavyweights – and for equity markets more broadly. [...]
CMA targets Apple and Google’s market dominance to strengthen UK app market July 23, 2025 The UK’s competition watchdog has proposed a sweeping shake-up of the mobile app economy, with plans to designate Apple and Google as having “strategic market status” (SMS) – a move that could open the door to new rivals, lower development costs, and broadly loosen the tech giants’ tight grip on the mobile ecosystem. In a [...]
Meta’s Llama: the strategic play behind the promise to democratise AI July 15, 2025 Meta has long promised to democratise AI, with Mark Zuckerberg frequently doubling down on his vision to make it “open and accessible” so that “everyone in the world benefits”. Yet instead, it’s been executing one of the most strategic power plays in Silicon Valley – wrapping its race for AI supremacy in the language of [...]
Peter Kyle hits back at claims Labour is too close to Big Tech July 9, 2025 Tech secretary Peter Kyle has hit back at criticism that the Labour government is cosying up to Big Tech, insisting he’s “doing the job” by securing the best deals for Britain. Speaking at a Google Cloud event in London on Tuesday, Kyle addressed recent reports flagging the number of meetings he’s had with US tech [...]
OpenAI’s security crackdown signals new AI battle July 8, 2025 Silicon Valley’s $300bn crown jewel, OpenAI, is shifting focus from building artificial intelligence to protecting it. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT and arguably the most scrutinised name in AI, has imposed a sweeping internal lockdown. From biometric fingerprint scans, to offline ‘tented’ R&D zones, the San Fransisco-based firm is tightening security across the board amid [...]