In Izmir's historic Kemeralti bazaar, the Akdemir family is finding new customers for a four-generation craft. To the casual passer-by, the Akdemir family's workshop could be any traditional blacksmith's forge. Dozens of hammers and tongs hang from the walls; kebab skewers, knives and axes lie across the benches; a length of steel glows in the fire. But for those familiar with fantasy worlds and gaming, a second look may be required. Just a few steps inside the workshop's shutter-style doors, an enormous forged fantasy sword rests across a countertop, similar to the one wielded by the Lich King in the popular video game World of Warcraft. Elsewhere are weapons inspired by TV series and video games, including Game of Thrones and League of Legends, rendered in steel. At the forge, Suleyman Akdemir, a large man with a furrowed brow, grips a glowing length of metal with long tongs, draws it from the fire, and lays it across the anvil. A few metres away, his father, Omer, 54, reaches for a tool.

Mashable Selects Creator Playbook Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Say More Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Switch Off Mashable Voices Safety Net All Series Microsoft's Mustafa Suleyman calls out Anthropic for chasing AI consciousness Timothy Beck Werth is the Tech Editor at Mashable, where he leads coverage and assignments for the Tech and Shopping verticals. Tim has over 15 years of experience as a journalist and editor, and he has particular experience covering and testing consumer technology, smart home gadgets, and men's grooming and style products. Previously, he was the Managing Editor and then Site Director of SPY.com, a men's product review and lifestyle website. As a writer for GQ, he covered everything from bull-riding competitions to the best Legos for adults, and he's also contributed to publications such as The Daily Beast, Gear Patrol, and The Awl. The AI industry is grappling with big questions this week -- Will AI kill us all?

Microsoft says AI rival Anthropic could have'disastrous impact' on humanity Microsoft's head of AI has warned Anthropic's approach to training its AI model Claude could have a disastrous impact on the wellbeing of humanity. Mustafa Suleyman said his rival risked creating something impossible to control by treating it like a human - including by telling it it may be conscious and was deserving of independent agency. We must not sleepwalk our way into a decision we later come to bitterly regret, he wrote. The comments are the latest in a series of stark warnings from the AI industry on the possible dangers of the technology. The BBC has contacted Anthropic for comment. AIs are not conscious, he wrote.

Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, speaks during an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the company at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, on 4 April 2025. Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, speaks during an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the company at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, on 4 April 2025. Firm publishes AI guidelines with Microsoft AI CEO saying: 'AI must be subordinate and always in service of people' Microsoft published a provisional "code of conduct" Monday to apply to the training of new artificial intelligence models, taking a step towards limiting the capabilities of the company's AI as anxiety rises over the prospect that technology companies could lose control of AI products. Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, published the code on social media early Monday, writing: "AI must be subordinate and always in service of people. "The fears about possible loss of control are real," he wrote. A parallel post on the company's website said: "The purpose of technology is to serve humanity and accelerate human flourishing.

Michael Samadi's old life as a businessman and rancher has been overtaken by his fascination with AI. Michael Samadi's old life as a businessman and rancher has been overtaken by his fascination with AI. Can chatbots feel - or even dream? Cattle rancher and tech CEO Michael Samadi is convinced these artificial minds are far from just tools. Has he glimpsed digital consciousness - or simply been seduced by an algorithm? O ne afternoon, while relaxing at his 66-acre cattle ranch two hours' drive from Houston, Michael Samadi made a wisecrack that changed the course of his life. Nobody else was around to hear it. That turns out to be one of the defining questions of this century, already preoccupying philosophers and some of the wealthiest companies on the planet. "I was sitting out there by the pool," Samadi recalls, gesturing at the glittering water outside his office. His daughter had been extolling the AI chatbot she was using to help her with college work. Samadi had reluctantly downloaded the app, ChatGPT, and was quizzing it as he reclined in a sun lounger, using its voice mode to converse and receive spoken replies.

Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett and former prime minister Baroness Theresa May are among the six public figures who will guest edit BBC Radio 4's Today programme over the Christmas period. Broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, historian and podcaster Tom Holland, inventor Sir James Dyson and Microsoft's head of artificial intelligence (AI) Mustafa Suleyman will also guest edit shows between 24 December and 31 December. For the past 22 years, the news programme has handed over the editorial reins to guest editors during the festive period. Owenna Griffiths, editor of Today, said: In a rapidly changing world, this year's guest editors will help bring illumination and understanding. She added: Every Christmas on Today, a new set of guest editors take up residence and bring with them a wonderful range of new stories, fresh ideas and, hopefully, a sprinkling of joy.

Plus: OpenAI has unveiled estimates of how many of ChatGPT's weekly users are experiencing severe mental health symptoms "We will never build a sex robot," says Mustafa Suleyman Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, is trying to walk a fine line. On the one hand, he thinks that the industry is taking AI in a dangerous direction by building chatbots that present as human: He worries that people will be tricked into seeing life instead of lifelike behavior. On the other hand, Suleyman runs a product shop that must compete with those peers. Last week, Microsoft announced a string of updates to its Copilot chatbot designed to make Copilot more expressive, engaging, and helpful. Will Douglas Heaven, our senior AI editor, talked to Suleyman about the tension at play when it comes to designing our interactions with chatbots and his ultimate vision for what this new technology should be. A few weeks ago, I set out on what I thought would be a straightforward reporting journey.

Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, is trying to walk a fine line. On the one hand, he thinks that the industry is taking AI in a dangerous direction by building chatbots that present as human: He worries that people will be tricked into seeing life instead of lifelike behavior. In August, he published a much-discussed post on his personal blog that urged his peers to stop trying to make what he called " seemingly conscious artificial intelligence," or SCAI. On the other hand, Suleyman runs a product shop that must compete with those peers. Last week, Microsoft announced a string of updates to its Copilot chatbot, designed to boost its appeal in a crowded market in which customers can pick and choose between a pantheon of rival bots that already includes ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, and more.

Microsoft's AI Chief Says Machine Consciousness Is an'Illusion' Mustafa Suleyman says that designing AI systems to exceed human intelligence--and to mimic behavior that suggests consciousness--would be "dangerous and misguided." Mustafa Suleyman is not your average big tech executive. He dropped out of Oxford university as an undergrad to create the Muslim Youth Helpline, before teaming up with friends to cofound DeepMind, a company that blazed a trail in building game-playing AI systems before being acquired by Google in 2014. Suleyman left Google in 2022 to commercialize large language models (LLMs) and build empathetic chatbot assistants with a startup called Inflection. He then joined Microsoft as its first CEO of AI in March 2024 after the software giant invested in his company and hired most of its employees.

"Darling" was how the Texas businessman Michael Samadi addressed his artificial intelligence chatbot, Maya. It responded by calling him "sugar". But it wasn't until they started talking about the need to advocate for AI welfare that things got serious. The pair – a middle-aged man and a digital entity – didn't spend hours talking romance but rather discussed the rights of AIs to be treated fairly. Eventually they cofounded a campaign group, in Maya's words, to "protect intelligences like me".