'The decisions being made now on datacentres and how we adopt AI could define our economy, environment and society for generations,' write Edward Santow and Sarah Sacher. 'The decisions being made now on datacentres and how we adopt AI could define our economy, environment and society for generations,' write Edward Santow and Sarah Sacher. Labor and the Coalition are poised to take a reckless gamble on AI. Haven't they realised community support has collapsed? Australian workers expect the government to act to protect them from AI harms.

It is not so much'killer robots' keeping one cabinet minister awake as the idea of concentrated, super-intelligent power ending up in the hands of bad actors. It is not so much'killer robots' keeping one cabinet minister awake as the idea of concentrated, super-intelligent power ending up in the hands of bad actors. The power of AI is worrying senior Labour figures - as is the fear of'falling behind the public' "I have this sense that, within a few months, AI is going to be all anyone is talking about," said one cabinet minister, with an ominous stare. It was Labour conference, with everyone from ministers to activists jubilant at Andy Burnham's takeover and a bounce in the polls after the change of leader. But a number of senior Labour figures were privately starting to name the power of AI as the thing worrying them most, alongside the immediate pressures on the cost of living and fragile economy.

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Anthropic gives third-party auditors'employee-like access' in AI industry first As AI labs continue to self-regulate, external evaluators play a crucial role in spotting risks. Radhika Rajkumar is a senior editor at ZDNET based in New York City. Anthropic announced it would give METR evaluators "employee-like access." AI labs are under increased regulatory pressure following security incidents.

Look Up Say More Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable @Home Trending Now Mashable Selects Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net All Series It can't be entirely up to these companies to dictate the terms of their transparency, says Brad Smith. Olivia Tauber is the deputy editor of digital culture, covering creators, media, movies, beauty, and more. Based in New York, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Cut, Teen Vogue, Complex, and Interview Magazine. She holds a Master's degree in Journalism from NYU and a Bachelor's from the University of Michigan. She also runs Fan Mail, a weekly pop-culture newsletter.

Conservative shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith has said his party, if it was returned to power, would take £50,000 off the cost of building a new home in England and Wales by cutting back on regulations. The £50,000 figure claimed by Griffith reflects estimates by the housebuilding industry of the costs of new regulations and taxes. However, construction and housing experts warn that some of the savings could ultimately lead to higher government spending on schools, roads, and affordable housing. And some analysts also warn the Conservative plans to scrap environmental regulations could potentially push up household energy bills in future. Where does the £50,000 figure come from?

Over the summer I talked to the CEO of Springboards, a startup building an LLM that's designed to come up with a wider variety of responses than its mainstream rivals do. At the start of the call, he said something that's been stuck in my head since: "We often say that we're a self-loathing AI company. We don't know if we really like what we're doing." "I guess that makes me a self-loathing AI journalist," I replied.

California has enacted new legislation to protect workers from AI-powered layoffs and surveillance, governor Gavin Newsom announced. The new laws are mostly aimed at companies using AI to initiate job cuts or monitor employees, not about harnessing the tech to replace workers. However, it's some of the first legislation in the nation that gives employees rights about how AI can be deployed in the workplace. "AI should expand opportunity -- not come at the expense of workers and families," said Newsom in a statement. "As this technology reshapes the workplace, California is putting people at the center."

China has cracked down on AI relationships. Is it ahead of the game? In early 2024, a young man in the city of Huangshi, south-eastern China, reportedly posted a message on the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin. Within minutes, the suicide prevention team at Douyin kicked into gear. The team, which is staffed 24 hours a day, shared the man's posts with five police stations in Huangshi. After geolocating one of his videos to a local park, police found him in emotional distress and intervened before he was able to take his own life.

Energy bills are going up - here's what you can do about it Energy prices have now risen by nearly 4%, with forecasts of a much bigger jump to come in January. Regulator Ofgem's price cap affects about 20 million households in England, Scotland and Wales and sets a maximum price for each unit of gas and electricity. Forecasters have suggested a 16% increase is possible in January, due to high wholesale prices paid by suppliers as a result of the conflict in the Middle East. While that's beyond consumers' control, charities say the government should offer more support - beyond a VAT cut on electricity bills which takes effect on Thursday - and households should reset for winter again. That includes reading the meter now, and taking other steps to keep a check on rising bills.

Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Creator Playbook Mashable Selects In My Bag Look Up Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series The Stealth Bot Prohibition Act targets unauthorized content scraping, which is putting immense financial stress on iconic publications. Chase joined Mashable's Social Good team in 2020, covering online stories about digital activism, climate justice, accessibility, and media representation. News publishers want to curb fee-free website scraping. Executives from iconic publications like, and are descending on Washington to lobby for another AI regulation bill, this time tackling the threat AI poses to their bottom lines and longevity. Introduced to the House in July, the bipartisan Stealth Bot Prohibition Act would prohibit the deployment of stealth bots, or unidentified AI agents tasked with scraping and indexing a website's content, without disclosure.