Experts have raised questions about whether an app-based curriculum can serve all learners equally. Experts have raised questions about whether an app-based curriculum can serve all learners equally. Inside San Francisco's new AI school: is this the future of US education? In the world's tech innovation epicenter, an "AI-powered" private school has made headlines for unabashedly embracing the technology. Alpha School San Francisco, which opened its doors to K-8 students this fall, is the newest outpost of a network of 14 nationwide private schools.

A Tory MP says he has reported a deepfake video depicting him announcing he had joined Reform UK to the police. George Freeman said he remained the Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk and have no intention of joining Reform or any other party, denouncing the video circulating on social media as an AI-generated deepfake. Freeman said he reported the video to the authorities. Norfolk Police and Facebook have been approached for comment. This sort of political disinformation has the potential to seriously distort, disrupt and corrupt our democracy, he added.

An illustration of how AI manipulates and changes images. An illustration of how AI manipulates and changes images. Ask Google's AI video tool to create a film of a time-travelling doctor who flies around in a blue British phone booth and the result, unsurprisingly, resembles Doctor Who . And if you ask OpenAI's technology to do the same, a similar thing happens. What's wrong with that, you may think?

Are we living in a golden age of stupidity? S tep into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab in Cambridge, US, and the future feels a little closer. Glass cabinets display prototypes of weird and wonderful creations, from tiny desktop robots to a surrealist sculpture created by an AI model prompted to design a tea set made from body parts. In the lobby, an AI waste-sorting assistant named Oscar can tell you where to put your used coffee cup. Five floors up, research scientist Nataliya Kosmyna has been working on wearable brain-computer interfaces she hopes will one day enable people who cannot speak, due to neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, to communicate using their minds. Kosmyna spends a lot of her time reading and analysing people's brain states.

Meta is adding new safeguards to its accounts for under-18 users by letting parents turn off their children's chats with AI characters. Meta is adding new safeguards to its accounts for under-18 users by letting parents turn off their children's chats with AI characters. Sat 18 Oct 2025 05.14 EDTLast modified on Sat 18 Oct 2025 05.34 EDT Parents will be able to block their children's interactions with Meta's AI character chatbots, as the tech company addresses concerns over inappropriate conversations. The social media company is adding new safeguards to its "teen accounts", which are a default setting for under-18 users, by letting parents turn off their children's chats with AI characters. These chatbots, which are created by users, are available on Facebook, Instagram and the Meta AI app.

'Nintendo was an inside language' the Nintendo Entertainment System console. 'Nintendo was an inside language' the Nintendo Entertainment System console. T he Nintendo Entertainment System was released in the United States on 18 October 1985: about a year after I was born, and 40 years ago today. It's as if the company sensed that a sucker who'd spend thousands of dollars on plastic toys and electronic games had just entered the world. Actually, it's as if the company had sensed that an entire of fools like me was about to enter the world. That was the time to strike.

Robotaxis could start operating in regulated public trials as early as spring 2026 - but the rules are yet to be fully established, and testing may include a safety driver for some time. Robotaxis could start operating in regulated public trials as early as spring 2026 - but the rules are yet to be fully established, and testing may include a safety driver for some time. The age-old question from the back of the car feels just as pertinent as a new era of autonomy threatens to dawn: are we nearly there yet? For Britons, long-promised fully driverless cars, the answer is as ever - yes, nearly. A landmark moment on the journey to autonomous driving is, again, just around the corner.

A weapons smuggler, who used a fishing boat to ship ballistic missile parts from Iran to Houthi rebels in Yemen, has been sentenced to 40 years in a US prison. Pakistani national Muhammad Pahlawan was detained during a US military operation in the Arabian Sea in January 2024 - during which two US Navy Seals drowned. Pahlawan's crew would later testify they had been duped into taking part, having believed they were working as fishermen. The Houthis were launching sustained missile and drone attacks on Israel at the time, as well as targeting international commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, saying they were acting in support of the Palestinians in Gaza. Iran has consistently denied arming the Houthis.

How nervous are investors about the stock market? Every week it seems US financial markets are hit by another bout of fear. The latest worries spread this week from the banking sector in the US, after two regional lenders warned they would be hit by losses from alleged fraud. But before that, markets swooned over signs of rekindled US-China tensions, as the two superpowers face off over tariffs, advanced technology and access to rare earths. The bankruptcies of car parts supplier First Brands and subprime car lender Tricolor acted as a trigger for nervous chatter in September.

Chi Onwurah, the committee chair, has said she was disappointed in the government's response on AI and digital advertising in particular. Chi Onwurah, the committee chair, has said she was disappointed in the government's response on AI and digital advertising in particular. Failures to properly tackle online misinformation mean it is "only a matter of time" before viral content triggers a repeat of the 2024 summer riots, MPs have warned. Chi Onwurah, the chair of the Commons science and technology select committee, said ministers seemed complacent about the threat and this was putting the public at risk. The committee said it was disappointed in the government's response to its recent report warning social media companies' business models contributed to disturbances after the Southport murders .