AI startup boss warns UK cannot become ‘dependent’ on overseas tech July 15, 2026 UK AI infrastructure company Valarian has raised $50m (£37m) in fresh funding as its boss said countries should focus on controlling AI infrastructure rather than competing to build their own frontier models. The Series A round, led by Silicon Valley investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA), takes the London firm’s total funding to $70m and marks [...]
Government accelerates social media crackdown with midnight curfews July 14, 2026 Teenagers will face a default midnight social media curfew and stripped-back social media feeds under the government’s latest crackdown on addictive online features – but they will be able to switch the restrictions off themselves. Tech secretary Liz Kendall has announced social media platforms will disable auto-play and infinite scroll-style recommendations and restrict overnight access [...]
Sadiq Khan urges tougher Ofcom action as UK prepares social media ban rules July 14, 2026 Sadiq Khan has called on social media companies to change algorithms that promote violent and misogynistic material, as London launches a £5m programme to tackle the effect of online harms on young people. The mayor of London also believes the state should be ready to intervene where platforms cannot or will not change their recommendation [...]
‘Ugly moment’ for software stocks as IBM suffers biggest one-day slump in decades July 14, 2026 IBM shares are poised to suffer one of their worst-ever trading days after the tech giant warned customers were diverting spending away from software and into AI infrastructure. The warning wiped more than $50bn (£37bn) from IBM’s market value, sending the stock down more than 20 per cent and putting it on course for its [...]
Grid delays force Starmer-backed AI data centre to seek alternative power July 13, 2026 One of the UK’s flagship AI infrastructure projects is being forced to source its own energy supplies after discovering it would not be granted grid connection in time for its eagerly anticipated opening. Nscale, the British AI unicorn backed by Nvidia, is now looking beyond conventional electricity connections for its flagship £2bn data centre in [...]
Monzo founder joins Anthropic as AI talent race heats up July 13, 2026 Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield has joined Anthropic, as the US AI giant steps up its recruitment drive for senior tech leaders. Blomfield announced on Monday that he is taking a leave of absence from Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator to join Anthropic’s compute team, where he will work alongside co-founder Tom Brown on the [...]
Kids aren’t using VPNs to watch porn and skirt social media bans, VPN firms say July 13, 2026 Only around one per cent of children use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access age-restricted content, research commissioned by VPN providers suggests, as the industry awaits a key announcement from government this week over how the under-16 social media ban will be enforced. A YouGov survey commissioned by the VPN Trust Initiative, founded by NordVPN, [...]
Rory Sutherland joins Adam Smith Institute as senior fellow July 13, 2026 Advertising executive Rory Sutherland has joined free-market think tank the Adam Smith Institute as a senior fellow, strengthening the organisation’s efforts to promote behavioural economics and free-market policy as the UK grapples with sluggish growth. Sutherland, vice chairman of advertising giant Ogilvy and one of Britain’s best-known marketing figures, will advise the Institute on how [...]
Vodafone shares jump as French telecoms tycoon becomes top shareholder July 10, 2026 Vodafone shares surged almost 11 per cent on Friday after French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel bought a £4.4bn stake in the FTSE 100 group from UAE-backed e& and became its largest shareholder. The deal will see Niel’s investment vehicle, Vega, acquire e&‘s entire 16.2 per cent stake for 112.5p a share – a 15 per [...]
‘The problems didn’t begin with John Edwards’: Pressure grows for wider data watchdog overhaul July 9, 2026 John Edwards’ resignation was meant to draw a line under the workplace misconduct scandal that engulfed Britain’s data watchdog. Instead, it has shifted scrutiny onto the leadership that surrounded him – and of the regulator’s record long before he stepped down. Tech secretary Liz Kendall told MPs on Wednesday she was “appalled” to learn Edwards [...]
