Improvements to a number of Apple services - including a more personalised version of its virtual assistant, Siri - are to be powered with AI provided by Google. The tech giants have announced a multi-year collaboration which will see the iPhone-maker base some of its key tech on Google's Gemini AI models. In a joint statement, the two firms said the partnership would unlock innovative new experiences for Apple users. However, experts say it demonstrates how Apple's cautious approach to building and rolling out its own AI tools has left it reliant on other companies. By outsourcing the foundational layer of its AI to Google, Apple is effectively admitting that its internal efforts couldn't compete with Google's Gemini in terms of capability and scale in the short term, IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said.

The UK's Children's Commissioner is calling for a ban on AI deepfake apps that create nude or sexual images of children, according to a new report. It states that such "nudification" apps have become so prevalent that many girls have stopped posting photos on social media. And though creating or uploading CSAM images is illegal, apps used to create deepfake nude images are still legal. "Children have told me they are frightened by the very idea of this technology even being available, let alone used. They fear that anyone -- a stranger, a classmate, or even a friend -- could use a smartphone as a way of manipulating them by creating a naked image using these bespoke apps." said Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza.

The advertising watchdog says it has been using AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules. Three of the clinics - Beautyjenics, Bomb Doll Aesthetics and Ccskinlondondubai -did not respond to the ASA's inquiries. Rejuvenate Clinics said it has reviewed ASA guidance and will remove all references to time-limited offers and state in ads that the surgery is carried out by a medical professional with ultrasound, to minimise risks and enhance safety. EME Aesthetics said all its clients are given a full consultation and are under no obligation to book any procedures, and it therefore considers that its ad had not pressured consumers or trivialised the risks of cosmetic procedures. Dr Ducu said it will ensure it follows the ASA's rules and guidance, that the time-limited Black Friday offer was intended to provide consumers with an opportunity to access the company's services at a discounted rate, and it always encourages consumers to make informed decisions without pressure.

Why is the little ol' Competition & Markets Authority, a UK regulator, inserting itself into the entertaining and important – but distant – drama at San Francisco-based OpenAI? Even if the CMA finds eventually that Microsoft, another US company, is pulling the strings at Sam Altman's show, what could it actually do? Doesn't it all paint the UK as an unfriendly place for tech investment, notwithstanding Rishi Sunak's eagerness to host AI summits and conduct cosy chats with Elon Musk? All fair questions, and the CMA should brace for more in that vein. It is indeed slightly odd that the UK regulator is the first out of traps in wondering, albeit in a preliminary manner, if Microsoft has gained effective control over OpenAI and, if it has, whether that amounts to a problem. But there is another way to look at developments: thank goodness a regulator somewhere is seeking clarity about what just occurred at OpenAI.

A UK regulator has raised concerns that Snap's AI chatbot may be putting the privacy of kids at risk. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the country's privacy watchdog, issued a preliminary enforcement notice against the company over a "potential failure to properly assess the privacy risks posed by its generative AI chatbot'My AI'." Information Commissioner John Edwards said the ICO's provisional findings from its investigation indicated a "worrying failure by Snap to adequately identify and assess the privacy risks to children and other users" before rolling out My AI. The ICO noted that if Snap fails to sufficiently address its concerns, it may block the ChatGPT-powered chatbot in the UK. However, the preliminary notice doesn't necessarily mean that the ICO will take action against Snap or that the company has violated data protection laws. It will consider submissions from Snap before it makes a final decision.

Atari is launching another retro home console, after its last effort. The Atari 2600 pays homage to the original Atari 2600, launched in 1977, but this remake echoes the four-switch model from 1980. The console has been "lovingly recreated to the same specifications as the original" but is only 80 percent of its size. The console's plus features are the HDMI output and widescreen support. It'll have 10 titles in the box, but Atari die-hards will want to track down physical cartridges if they want to play the big hits of the era, like Pac-Man or Pitfall!

Microsoft has filed changes to its proposed takeover of the video game maker Activision Blizzard, in an attempt to win over the UK competition regulator, which previously blocked the $69bn (£54bn) deal. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Tuesday said it would investigate the new proposals, under which Microsoft will not acquire cloud rights outside Europe for existing Activision desktop computer and console games, or for new games released by the developer during the next 15 years. The move revives the US tech company's hopes of completing the takeover of the owner of hit titles such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush after the CMA in April blocked it, citing concerns it could allow the company to dominate the nascent cloud gaming market. Streaming games from cloud servers is at present a small niche, but the CMA argued that the takeover of a maker of blockbuster games by the leading provider of cloud gaming could prevent healthy competition from forming. However, the UK regulator had appeared increasingly isolated after its EU counterparts passed the deal and the US competition regulator lost a court request to block it. Microsoft had reacted with fury when the UK initially blocked the deal.

The head of the UK's financial regulator is to warn that banks, investors and insurers will have to ramp up their spending to combat scammers using artificial intelligence to commit fraud. Nikhil Rathi, the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will say that there are risks of "cyber fraud, cyber-attacks and identity fraud increasing in scale and sophistication and effectiveness" as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more widespread, in a speech in London on Wednesday. Rapid advances in the sophistication of generative AI by companies such as OpenAI and Midjourney have set companies scrambling to work out how to use the technology to improve productivity. The technology has also prompted concerns over the ease with which users can fake language, audio and video. The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is hoping to make the UK a centre for the regulation of AI.

With self-driving vehicles possibly arriving on UK roads later this year, the government is starting to put rules in place to accommodate them, the BBC has reported. As part of that, it will allow drivers in autonomous vehicles to watch TV from an infotainment screen in self-driving mode, as long as they're ready to take back control. That's a modification of a law that has been on the books since 1986 that prohibits drivers from viewing a "television-receiving apparatus" when behind the wheel. It will still not allow the use of mobile phones, which were officially banned in the UK last year. That's because automakers can implement technology to stop a car's built-in screen from displaying content when the driver needs to take back control, but can't do the same on a smartphone.

UK regulators are staging the first meeting of the Artificial Intelligence Public Private Forum, a quarterly talking shop to gauge the impact of AI in financial services.