United Kingdom
The answer to Britain's pothole crisis? Futuristic supercar can jump more than 20ft over holes in the road - but it has an eye-watering price tag
If you're sick of carefully driving over Britain's pothole-filled roads, there's good news - as a futuristic car could make navigating these divets much easier. An impressive promo clip from BYD shows its Yangwang U9 sports supercar jumping over obstacles, including a 20ft pothole. The autonomous vehicle speeds along at nearly 75mph as it performs little bunny hops into the air, without anyone in the driver's seat. Like an agile land mammal, the U9 shrinks down first, then bounces up, briefly launching all four wheels off the ground at the same time. The vehicle boasts some impressive specs as it is able to go from 0-62mph in just 2.36 seconds, with a straight-line top speed of 243.54 mph (391.94
Britain's pothole hotspots: Interactive map reveals the areas where roads are worst blighted by craters - so, how does your hometown stack up?
For drivers who endure Britain's crumbling roads daily, there's no doubt we're stuck in an escalating'pothole crisis'. These dangerous holes can injure and even kill cyclists and motorists, and are popping up quicker than they can be filled. Now, interactive graphics reveal the shocking extent of the problem - and scientists think climate change is to blame. Climate organisation Round our Way reveals 952,064 potholes were reported in Britain between January and November last year, marking a five-year high. MailOnline's interactive map, based on the new data, reveals the local authorities with the most pothole reports during the period.
British novelists criticise government over AI 'theft'
Kate Mosse and Richard Osman have hit back at Labour's plan to give artificial intelligence companies broad freedoms to mine artistic works for data, saying it could destroy growth in creative fields and amount to theft. It is seen as a way of supercharging the growth of AI companies in the UK. Last month Paul McCartney warned that AI "could just take over", and Kate Bush joined Stephen Fry and Hugh Bonneville in signing a petition warning that the "unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted". Mosse told the Guardian: "Using AI responsibly and well and being a world leader – all of this I agree with. It just cannot be at the expense of the creative industries … It is supporting one type of growth and destroying another part of growth. And it cannot be on the basis of theft of our work."
Google investigated by UK watchdog over search dominance
Google is being investigated by the UK competition watchdog over the impact of its search and advertising practices on consumers, news publishers, businesses and rival search engines. The CMA estimates that search advertising costs the equivalent of nearly 500 for each UK household a year, which could be kept down with effective competition. The watchdog announced on Tuesday it will investigate if Google is blocking competitors from entering the market, and whether it is engaging in "potential exploitative conduct" by the mass collection of consumers' data without informed consent. It will also investigate whether Google is using its position as the pre-eminent search engine to give an unfair advantage to its own shopping and travel services. The investigation will take up to nine months and could result in Google being forced to share the mountains of data it collects with other businesses, or to give publishers greater control over how their content – books, newspaper articles and music – is used, including by Google's fast-growing artificial intelligence systems.
Google faces UK investigation over search dominance
The UK's competition watchdog has launched an investigation into Google to probe whether it has too much power in online search. Google accounts for 90% of UK web searches - the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is looking at whether it is using that dominant position to harm competition or choice for users. It is its first investigation after gaining new powers to investigate and enforce changes at firms it determines to have "strategic market status" in digital markets. The CMA says it wants to ensure the tech giant is "delivering good outcomes for people and businesses" and that there is a "level playing field" for rivals. In a statement Google said: "We will continue to engage constructively with the CMA to ensure that new rules benefit all types of websites, and still allow people in the UK to benefit from helpful and cutting edge services." It is the latest in a series of investigations Google faces worldwide over its immense power in search and advertising technology.
Drones flying into jails in England and Wales are national security threat, says prisons watchdog
Drones have become a "threat to national security", the prisons watchdog has said, after a surge in the amount of weapons and drugs flown into high-security jails. Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, called for urgent action from Whitehall and the police after inquiries found that terrorism suspects and criminal gangs could escape or attack guards because safety had been "seriously compromised". His demands follow inspections at two category A prisons holding some of England and Wales's most dangerous inmates. HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire had thriving illicit economies selling drugs, mobile phones and weapons, and basic anti-drone security measures such as protective netting and CCTV had been allowed to fall into disrepair, inspectors found. In a report released on Tuesday, Taylor said the police and prison service had "in effect ceded the airspace above two high-security prisons to organised crime gangs" despite knowing they were holding "extremely dangerous prisoners".
Chris Mason: Starmer and Reeves navigate tricky economic backdrop
A stuttering economy, spiralling government borrowing costs, plummeting approval ratings: little wonder perhaps senior ministers, not least the chancellor, aren't wasting many smiles these days. Remember too Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are the duo that best personify the Labour project of the 2020s; the party's revival and return, grounded in being trusted on the economy. And yet the markets are collectively passing a verdict on Starmer and Reeves's economic plan right now and it isn't exactly a ringing endorsement – and wobbly markets can prompt political wobbles. These shouldn't be overstated, but neither should they be ignored. What we're witnessing is the brutal slog of government playing out; an unforgiving backdrop of economic flatlining, which critics say ministers have made worse.
UK to fast-track data center approvals as part of AI action plan
Amid signs of a stagnating economy, the UK is going all-in on AI. On Monday, British Minister Keir Starmer announced a new AI Opportunities Action Plan. At the center of the initiative are "AI Growth Zones," which the government plans to establish in de-industrialized areas throughout the country. Starmer said the UK's first AI Growth Zone would be established in Culham, Oxfordshire, home to the country's Atomic Energy Authority. More zones will be announced in the summer.
Stay on top of tech: five ways to take back control, from emails to AI
Asking ChatGPT to write your emails is so two years ago. Generative AI tools are now going beyond the basic text-prompt phase. Take Google's NotebookLM, an experimental "AI research assistant" that lets you upload not just text but also videos, links and PDFs. It will provide a summary of the content, answer questions about it, and even make a podcast-like "AI overview" if you want it to – all while organising your original sources and notes. As AI tools advance, expect more features like this to be baked into everyday software.
'Mainlined into UK's veins': Labour announces huge public rollout of AI
Artificial intelligence will be "mainlined into the veins" of the nation, ministers have announced, with a multibillion-pound investment in the UK's computing capacity despite widespread public fear about the technology's effects. Keir Starmer will launch a sweeping action plan to increase 20-fold the amount of AI computing power under public control by 2030 and deploy AI for everything from spotting potholes to freeing up teachers to teach. Labour's plan to "unleash" AI includes a personal pledge from the prime minister to make Britain "the world leader" in a sector that has been transformed by a series of significant breakthroughs in the last three years. The government plan features a potentially controversial scheme to unlock public data to help fuel the growth of AI businesses. This includes anonymised NHS data, which will be available for "researchers and innovators" to train their AI models.