The president wants big tech to pay more for electricity, but he's curbing renewable projects that could boost supply Donald Trump is worried about datacenters. Specifically, he is concerned about their effects on an already expensive electricity market in the United States. Will Americans' resentment of sharply rising energy costs scuttle his party's November election ambitions? The US president's anxiety is evident in two actions in recent weeks. On 13 January, Trump and Microsoft's president jointly announced that the tech giant would pay more for its datacenters, paying full property taxes and accepting neither tax reductions nor electricity rate discounts in towns where it operates datacenters.

Eggie, Neo, Isaac and Memo are domestic robots. But would you let them load your dishwasher? The idea of having a friendly robot butler that can do all the dull duties of running a home has existed for decades. But now, thanks to AI, it's genuinely happening and this year the first truly multi-purpose domestic bots will start to enter homes. In Silicon Valley, they're being trained at speed to fold laundry, load the dishwasher, and clean up after us.

McDonald's pulls AI Christmas ad after backlash McDonald's has taken down a Christmas advert made with Artificial Intelligence (AI) following online backlash. The 45-second advert was produced with generative AI clips and released publicly on McDonald's Netherlands YouTube channel on 6 December. Viewers on social media denounced the use of AI in the film, with one commenter calling it the most god-awful ad I've seen this year . On 9 December McDonald's Netherlands removed the video, adding in a statement to BBC News that the moment served as an important learning as the company explored the effective use of AI. The advert was created for McDonald's by Dutch company TBWA\Neboko and US production company The Sweetshop.

Google plans to launch smart glasses powered by artificial intelligence (AI) in 2026, after its previous high-profile attempt to enter the market ended in failure. The tech giant set expectations high in 2013 when it unveiled Google Glass, billed by some as the future of technology despite its odd appearance with a bulky screen positioned above the right eye. Google pulled the product in 2015 less than seven months after its UK release, but is now planning on re-entering the market with smart glasses with a cleaner look. But it comes after Meta has already made waves with its smart specs, which have sold two million pairs as of February. Google's new tech will let users interact with its own AI products, such as its chatbot Gemini.

Meta is shifting some of its investments in the metaverse to AI glasses and wearables, hoping to capitalise on the momentum in that segment, a company spokesperson has said. Over the last decade, Meta has poured billions of dollars to build the metaverse, which lets people to interact in a virtual reality. However, the tech giant has struggled to convince investors of the viability of the nascent technology. Bloomberg first reported on Thursday that Meta would cut its metaverse investment by as much as 30%. Its shares climbed more than 3.4% following the news.

EU and US unshackle regulations in quest for growth, and is the AI bubble about to burst? In tech, the European Union is deregulating artificial intelligence; the United States is going even further. The AI bubble has not popped, thanks to Nvidia's astronomical quarterly earnings, but fears persist. And Meta has avoided a breakup for a similar reason as Google. The hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on AI are overwhelming Europe's commitment to digital privacy and stringent tech regulation.

Don't blindly trust what AI tells you, says Google's Sundar Pichai People should not blindly trust everything AI tools tell them, the boss of Google's parent company Alphabet told the BBC. In an exclusive interview, chief executive Sundar Pichai said that AI models are prone to errors and urged people to use them alongside other tools. Mr Pichai said it highlighted the importance of having a rich information ecosystem, rather than solely relying on AI technology. This is why people also use Google search, and we have other products that are more grounded in providing accurate information. While AI tools were helpful if you want to creatively write something, Mr Pichai said people have to learn to use these tools for what they're good at, and not blindly trust everything they say.

Google boss warns'no company is going to be immune' if AI bubble bursts Every company would be affected if the AI bubble were to burst, the head of Google's parent firm Alphabet has told the BBC. Speaking exclusively to BBC News, Sundar Pichai said while the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) investment had been an extraordinary moment, there was some irrationality in the current AI boom. It comes amid fears in Silicon Valley and beyond of a bubble as the value of AI tech companies has soared in recent months and companies spend big on the burgeoning industry. Asked whether Google would be immune to the impact of the AI bubble bursting, Mr Pichai said the tech giant could weather that potential storm, but also issued a warning. I think no company is going to be immune, including us, he said.

OpenAI accuses The New York Times of wanting to invade user privacy after the newspaper demanded access to 20 million private ChatGPT conversations in its ongoing lawsuit.

Welcome to Big Tech's'Age of Extraction' In his new book, antitrust scholar and former White House adviser Tim Wu argues that tech giants are bleeding you dry--and lays out a plan to stop them. Growing up in Toronto, Tim Wu had a classmate who was the progeny of Communist parents. His name was Cory Doctorow. Yes, the same guy who just published a book about enshittification . Though they shared a general world view, the boyhood pals also had arguments, with Wu typically taking a less radical stance than his buddy.