UK skills gap threatens to stall Starmer’s AI plans as firms looks abroad February 10, 2025 A severe shortage of the nation’s tech skills may stifle the government’s push to turbocharge artificial intelligence (AI) in the UK, a survey has warned. Keir Starmer announced the government’s AI opportunities action plan in January, in which he pledged to create over 13,000 jobs in the tech sector. But it may struggle to get [...]
If the NAO is calling for government innovation, you know it’s bad February 10, 2025 Everyone thinks government should be more innovative, but the NAO saying it means Labour really has dithered, writes Eliot Wilson.
Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta: Is big tech overspending on AI? February 7, 2025 Tech titans have projected pouring billions of dollars into artificial intelligence (AI) in 2025, yet Wall Street impatiently awaits returns on their investments. Amazon is leading the charge, having recently committed over $100bn to AI infrastructure this year, surpassing Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta. The four tech behemoths reported a combined $246bn investment in AI in [...]
Amazon shares plunge after tech giant misses earnings February 7, 2025 Amazon missed expectations for its cloud computing arm, raising concerns about the tech leader’s investment in artificial intelligence (AI). On Thursday, the tech behemoth told the market that its cloud division, Amazon Web Services, reported a fourth-quarter revenue of $28.7bn (£23.1bn), slightly below Wall Street forecasts of $28.84bn. The miss disappointed investors, who were already [...]
UK’s audit chief ‘open to learning’ from Elon Musk’s DOGE in US February 5, 2025 The head of the government’s spending watchdog has said he is open to learning from Elon Musk’s US “department of government efficiency”, or DOGE. Gareth Davies, the UK’s chief auditor, gave his annual speech to Parliament on Tuesday, warning that money was being “wasted” and public services “compromised” as he stressed that there was a [...]
Google parent firm Alphabet drops pledge on using AI tech for weapons and surveillance February 5, 2025 Google’s parent company Alphabet has removed its commitment to avoiding artificial intelligence (AI) applications for weapons and surveillance from its ethical guidelines. The tech behemoth stressed the importance of collaboration between businesses and democratic governments to develop AI that “protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security.” The revised guidelines were announced in a [...]
Yes, AI will wipe out some jobs. But this is the story of progress February 5, 2025 AI will inevitably make some jobs redundant, but the benefits to society are far worth it, writes Paul Ormerod.
Is the government finally seeing sense on net zero? February 5, 2025 The government has realised that planes will still take off, even in a lower carbon future, so they may as well do it from Heathrow. They should apply the same logic to fossil fuels and allow drilling in the North Sea, says Will Cooling The New Year has clearly brought with it new energy from [...]
WFH: A third of workers would look for a new job if forced into the office full time February 4, 2025 Nearly a third of adults say they would look for a new job if their boss banned working from home (WFH) and made them come into the office full time, fresh research has found. According to an exclusive poll for City AM, 58 per cent of employed respondents said that if they were faced with [...]
Sky News has set off on a premium-first direction. Will it work? February 3, 2025 As a phalanx of well-tailored media executives sipped on lukewarm white wine and flicked slivers of smoked salmon onto their plates, David Rhodes set out his philosophy for running one of the largest news organisations in the world. “You have to believe that the basic journalistic activity that you’re doing has value,” the Sky News [...]