Andy Burnham once kept Palantir out of Greater Manchester. His first test as prime minister is whether to cut the company's £330 million NHS contract--and risk a rupture with Big Tech and Washington. When Andy Burnham sat in his office in Manchester as the regional mayor, building an unrivaled power base on Britain's left that ultimately catapulted him into the prime minister's office, he did so in the only region of England that refused Palantir access to its data. Now, as Burnham enters his first parliamentary session as British leader, Palantir could prove to be his first major test in office, as sources in Westminster tell WIRED the prime minister is under significant pressure from his new colleagues to break the company's contentious contract with the National Health Service. The dispute could become the first major crisis of Burnham's premiership, with those sources saying pressure is mounting on him to decide the future of Palantir's growing role across the British state in the coming weeks.

UK not'on the slide', Burnham to tell UN as he gears up for first meeting with Trump - UK politics live No 10 confirms Manchester to host next year's G20 summit Burnham plays down past critical comments about Trump, saying it's right to'move beyond' them UK not'on the slide', Burnham to tell UN as he gears up for first meeting with Trump No 10 confirms Manchester to host next year's G20 summit Burnham plays down past critical comments about Trump, saying it's right to'move beyond' them UK not'on the slide', Burnham to tell UN as he gears up for first meeting with Trump He has posted a video on social media in advance, which features him walking on Brighton beach and musing on how the Lib Dems are facing "the fight of our lives". They spoke out after Emmanuel Macron, the French president, summoned all the country's main political leaders for a briefing on how Russia is now ramping up its aggression towards Nato countries. Asked about this on his huddle with journalists on his flight to New York, Burnham did not accept that he was being complacent. But he said he did not want to escalate the problem. In a video that he recorded on the plane, he says the fact that he is going shows that AI is now "top of the international agenda".

Protesters from Pause AI block the entrance to Downing Street on Wednesday. Protesters from Pause AI block the entrance to Downing Street on Wednesday. 'A critical moment': concern UK is not up to speed in acting on AI risks Andy Burnham's focus on immediate domestic problems leads some to fear issue has dropped off government's radar Towards the end of Keir Starmer's time in office, his senior ministers, alarmed by the latest developments in artificial intelligence, began drawing up plans for a new AI safety law. They ordered a review of existing legislation to see what powers they already had, according to those briefed on the plans, and were exploring whether they could force the world's most advanced technology companies to submit their products for safety testing before launching them. In the midst of the political chaos that engulfed the former prime minister as he fought to remain in office, however, the plans fell by the wayside.

Andrew Hastie has called for artificial intelligence that is run by Australians rather than Americans. Andrew Hastie has called for artificial intelligence that is run by Australians rather than Americans. Andrew Hastie says AI advised him to reply'congratulations!' to man who planned to end life with assisted dying Liberal MP speaks of AI's shortcomings as cyber chief tells inquiry the tech is needed to fend off'highly capable malicious cyber actors' When a man with a terminal illness wrote to his local MP Andrew Hastie, telling him he planned on ending his own life with voluntary assisted dying, Microsoft Copilot suggested Hastie reply with "congratulations!", "great to hear from you" or "that is wonderful news!". Hastie shared the episode at a parliamentary inquiry on Friday to underline the shortcomings of the American-run software as he called for AI run by Australians. The hearing offered the some of the most detailed explanations of the Albanese government's desire to bring Anthropic and OpenAI to Australia, in the face of calls to slow them down or shut them out.

French former minister Rachida Dati has gone on trial in Paris for corruption, accused of taking money from Renault-Nissan in return for political influence. Dati, 61, who was justice minister under former President Nicolas Sarkozy and culture minister under Emmanuel Macron, is known to have been paid €900,000 (£770,000) by the car giant between 2009 and 2013. According to a contract signed in 2009, shortly after she ceased being a minister under Sarkozy and was elected as a member of the European Parliament, the payment was for legal services performed for the company. But magistrates argue the contract was used to disguise payments for lobbying work. Magistrates believe Renault-Nissan's former CEO Carlos Ghosn recruited Dati to lobby on the company's behalf in the European Parliament, and to facilitate contacts with Sarkozy who was head of state until 2012.

There is an eerie low hum that emanates from data centres, where tens of thousands of chips make trillions of computations a second to help drive the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. These chips power the text, images and video generated by the queries made by the world of the advanced AI models. Their computations, which are in effect the switching on and off of microscopic silicon transistors that make up a chip, are actually silent. But, as with all computers, almost every watt of the significant electricity powering this process leaves as heat, and the sound you can hear is the slow whir of thousands of fans required to prevent the heat from frying the racks of servers. Depending on the size of the site, you may also hear the thrum of transformers in substations channelling electricity.

NextDC has lodged an application with the Victorian government for fast-tracked approval to expand its controversial datacentre known as M3 in Footscray to cover 10 hectares. NextDC has lodged an application with the Victorian government for fast-tracked approval to expand its controversial datacentre known as M3 in Footscray to cover 10 hectares. Datacentre giant accused of using AI while lobbying for Victorian minister's support for hyperscale factory Exclusive: Correspondence requests state MP Melissa Horne to lobby on NextDC's behalf - but contains alleged AI-created errors Tue 15 Sep 2026 11.00 EDTLast modified on Tue 15 Sep 2026 11.02 EDT The Victorian jobs minister has accused one of Australia's largest datacentre companies of using artificial intelligence while requesting she lobby her colleague to approve a massive expansion of its "hyperscale AI factory". Correspondence between Victorian cabinet minister Melissa Horne and the chief executive of ASX-listed company NextDC, Craig Scroggie, reveals increasing sensitivity to community concerns about datacentres before the state election. NextDC has lodged an application with the state government for fast-tracked approval to expand its controversial datacentre known as M3 in Footscray to cover 10 hectares, drawing 225MW of power and running 24/7.

Campaigners say moratorium needed while the Scottish government analyses the environmental impact of datacentres. Campaigners say moratorium needed while the Scottish government analyses the environmental impact of datacentres. Thu 3 Sep 2026 13.48 EDTFirst published on Thu 3 Sep 2026 13.09 EDT Kat Jones may be the closest thing Scotland has to Erin Brockovich in 2026. Standing in the shadow of Arthurâ s Seat outside Holyrood, the 52-year-old is revving up the crowd of protesters around her. â Who is here from Lammermuir? Ayrshire? On Thursday, hundreds travelled to Edinburgh to call for an immediate moratorium on Scotlandâ s datacentre boom, which includes one project in Auchtertool, Fife, that has been billed as the second largest in the world.

EU and Nato vow to step up pressure on Russia after'new escalation' in Germany The heads of Nato and the European Commission have warned that Russia is growing increasingly reckless and vowed to respond to a new normal. Leipzig marks a new escalation on European Union soil directly attributed to Russia, said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a day after Germany blamed Russia for a failed drone attack last month on Leipzig airport. We have to step up and that means being ready to respond to Russia's recklessness faster and better, von der Leyen said. Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said the whole alliance, which includes the US, stood in full solidarity with Germany. Russia has rejected German accusations that a drone carrying explosives deliberately targeted a Ukrainian cargo plane on 4 August.

'Cowboy builders' targeted in new government clampdown People carrying out home renovations will gain greater protections against cowboy builders through a new database of trusted traders and a payment system offering more safeguards, the government has said. Traders signing up to the scheme launching next month will need to demonstrate certain standards of customer service, transparency and dispute resolution. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said unscrupulous tradespeople leave families with months of stress as well as unfinished work. The National Federation of Builders said the changes would not stop rogue operators while the Tories suggested there would be added paperwork for firms already operating legitimately. Citizens Advice has said home renovations are one of its biggest sources of consumer complaints.