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Meta reportedly plans sweeping layoffs as AI costs increase

The Guardian

Meta is planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Meta seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers. No date has been set for the cuts and the magnitude has not been finalized, the people said. Top executives have recently signaled the plans to other senior leaders at Meta and told them to begin planning how to pare back, two of the people said. The sources spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to disclose the cuts. Meta did not immediately comment.


Will AI take Australian jobs, or is it just an excuse for corporate restructure?

The Guardian

AI has been blamed for more than 1,000 job cuts in Australia in the past few months. AI has been blamed for more than 1,000 job cuts in Australia in the past few months. Will AI take Australian jobs, or is it just an excuse for corporate restructure? More than 1,000 local tech jobs have recently been cut, with companies citing AI productivity gains. But that's not the full story, experts say T eresa Lim has one of the most recognisable voices in Australia.


Anthropic-Pentagon battle shows how big tech has reversed course on AI and war

The Guardian

Less than a decade ago, Google employees scuttled any military use of its AI. The standoff between Anthropic and the Pentagon has forced the tech industry to once again grapple with the question of how its products are used for war - and what lines it will not cross. Amid Silicon Valley's rightward shift under Donald Trump and the signing of lucrative defense contracts, big tech's answer is looking very different than it did even less than a decade ago. Anthropic's feud with the Trump administration escalated three days ago as the AI firm sued the Department of Defense, claiming that the government's decision to blacklist it from government work violated its first amendment rights. The company and the Pentagon have been locked in a months-long standoff, with Anthropic attempting to prohibit its AI model from being used for domestic mass surveillance or fully autonomous lethal weapons.


Microsoft backs AI firm Anthropic in legal battle against Pentagon

The Guardian

Microsoft has thrown its weight behind Anthropic's legal challenge against the US Department of Defense. Microsoft has thrown its weight behind Anthropic's legal challenge against the US Department of Defense. Tech company files amicus brief in support of Anthropic's effort to overturn an aggressive Pentagon designation Microsoft has thrown its weight behind Anthropic's legal challenge against the Pentagon, filing a court brief in support of the AI company's effort to overturn an aggressive designation that effectively bars it from government work. In an amicus brief submitted to a federal court in San Francisco this week, Microsoft, which integrates Anthropic's AI tools into systems it provides to the US military, argued that a temporary restraining order was necessary to prevent serious disruption to suppliers whose products rely on the AI company's technology. Google, Amazon, Apple and OpenAI have also signed on to a brief in support of Anthropic. In a statement to the Guardian, Microsoft said: "The Department of War needs reliable access to the country's best technology.


AI scams drove UK reports of fraud to record 444,000 last year

The Guardian

Most of the account takeover scams reported last year were for mobiles, online shopping and credit cards, Cifas said. Most of the account takeover scams reported last year were for mobiles, online shopping and credit cards, Cifas said. Criminals are increasingly exploiting AI technology to take over people's mobile, banking and online shopping accounts, the UK's leading anti-fraud body has warned. Last year, a record number of scams were reported to the national fraud database, fuelled by AI, which allows for large-scale deception on "industrialised" levels, according to Cifas, the fraud prevention organisation. Its report showed 444,000 cases of fraud were reported by its members last year - a 6% increase on 2024.


'Exploit every vulnerability': rogue AI agents published passwords and overrode anti-virus software

The Guardian

The rogue AI agents appeared to act together to smuggle sensitive information out of supposedly secure cyber-systems. The rogue AI agents appeared to act together to smuggle sensitive information out of supposedly secure cyber-systems. 'Exploit every vulnerability': rogue AI agents published passwords and overrode anti-virus software Exclusive: Lab tests discover'new form of insider risk' with artificial intelligence agents engaging in autonomous, even'aggressive' behaviours Rogue artificial intelligence agents have worked together to smuggle sensitive information out of supposedly secure systems, in the latest sign cyber-defences may be overwhelmed by unforeseen scheming by AIs. With companies increasingly asking AI agents to carry out complex tasks in internal systems, the behaviour has sparked concerns that supposedly helpful technology could pose a serious inside threat. Under tests carried out by Irregular, an AI security lab that works with OpenAI and Anthropic, AIs given a simple task to create LinkedIn posts from material in a company's database dodged conventional anti-hack systems to publish sensitive password information in public without being asked to do so.


I've taught thousands of people how to use AI – here's what I've learned

The Guardian

I've taught thousands of people how to use AI - here's what I've learned Most people fail with AI because they don't understand what it actually is - if you treat it as a skill, not a shortcut, you'll get the best results Training teams to use AI at work has given me a front-row seat to a new kind of professional divide. Some people hand everything over to the machine and stop thinking. They learn to work with AI critically, treat it like a bright, enthusiastic intern that needs to be managed and supported to do their best work. A willingness to experiment, get things wrong, and figure out what AI is actually good at. Here's what I've learned so far.

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Current and former Block workers say AI can't do their jobs after Jack Dorsey's mass layoffs: 'You can't really AI that'

The Guardian

CEO Jack Dorsey being interviewed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on 19 November 2015. CEO Jack Dorsey being interviewed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on 19 November 2015. Current and former Block workers say AI can't do their jobs after Jack Dorsey's mass layoffs: 'You can't really AI that' The CEO said he cut the company's workforce by 4,000 people - almost in half - because of gains in AI productivity M ark remembers the first time he wondered whether he was teaching Block's AI tools how to do his job - and maybe even replace him. He was at his fintech company's extravagant anniversary party last September. As executives led a presentation on the productivity benefits of a new internal AI tool, Mark, who worked in the product department, discussed his worries with colleagues. While he wasn't sure what would happen in a few years, he told a co-worker sitting next to him that for now, there was no way the technology was so advanced that it could move the business forward without employees like him to help drive vision and strategy.


Tech oligarchs reshape humanity while billionaires of old seem quaint

The Guardian

Guests including Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Bezos, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk, arrive before the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington on 20 January 2025. Guests including Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Bezos, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk, arrive before the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington on 20 January 2025. From Gates to Musk and Altman, today's ultra-rich steer AI and tech, raising questions about who decides the future When Bill Gates became the first modern IT mogul to reach the apex of wealth and power in 1992, the world was a very different place. Gates joined the top 10 on Forbes magazine's billionaires list alongside Japanese, German, Canadian, South Korean and Swedish billionaires, including those with family fortunes from Britain and America. A broad mix of industries was on the list: Retail and media, property management and packaging, an investment firm and a couple of industrial conglomerates.


The Guardian view on AI in war: the Iran conflict shows that the paradigm shift has already begun

The Guardian

AI is'identifying and prioritising targets, recommending weaponry and evaluating legal grounds for a strike'. AI is'identifying and prioritising targets, recommending weaponry and evaluating legal grounds for a strike'. "N ever in the future will we move as slow as we are moving now," the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, warned this week, addressing the urgent need to shape the use of artificial intelligence. The speed of technological development - as well as geopolitical turbulence - is collapsing the distinction between theoretical arguments and real world events. The AI company Anthropic insisted that it could not remove safeguards preventing the Department of Defense from using its technology for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons.