George Dover poses for a portrait at his home in Beaverton, Oregon. Dover was laid off in 2024. George Dover poses for a portrait at his home in Beaverton, Oregon. Dover was laid off in 2024. Every weekday, Matt, a software engineer, looks forward to his four-hour train commute to Pawling, New York.

When Anna Funder stood before a pack of journalists at Parliament House this month, she presented herself not just as a writer but also a "victim of crime". The Stasiland author was using the analogy to illustrate how technology companies have flagrantly "hoovered up" her literary works for their own profit. Authors, artists, musicians and media organisations were last year assured those laws wouldn't be watered down when the federal government ruled out granting a legal exemption for artificial intelligence companies to mine content to train their large language models, which include ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. But continual lobbying from tech giants and a whistleblower's tipoff to the independent senator David Pocock have ignited fears that the Albanese government might go back on its word - even as it continues to insist that it won't. The stoush has exposed splits within Labor about how to respond to AI and raised questions about how far the government should bend - if at all - to big tech to capture the supposed riches of the datacentre boom.

Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on Friday alleging the artificial intelligence firm stole company trade secrets in a move to create its own hardware device. The suit claims OpenAI poached Apple employees, coaxing them to hand over confidential material, product designs and other tightly held information. "Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple's secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products," an Apple spokesperson said in an email. Drew Pusateri, a spokesperson for OpenAI, said the company was reviewing the court filing. "We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets," he added.

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Senator Ed Markey says: 'We need to make sure these datacenters don't turn into pollution bombs.' Senator Ed Markey says: 'We need to make sure these datacenters don't turn into pollution bombs.' 'AI accountability agenda': US senator unveils package of bills to curb tech's harms US senator Ed Markey is worried about the perils of unregulated artificial intelligence. All of it: the costs associated with thirsty, energy-guzzling datacenters, intrusive workplace surveillance, bias in discriminatory algorithms, AI overriding workers' judgments, and deepening economic inequality - as those who profit most from AI rake in extraordinary windfalls. The Massachusetts Democrat's interest in convincing Congress to rein in the harmful effects of AI has only grown, as the technology embeds itself deeper across industries. Markey has already authored close to a dozen bills aimed at tackling these problems.

OpenAI released its latest advanced AI model, called ChatGPT 5.6. OpenAI released its latest advanced AI model, called ChatGPT 5.6. Staggered release of ChatGPT 5.6 follows similar restrictions on rival firm Anthropic's latest AI models OpenAI released its latest advanced AI model, called ChatGPT 5.6, on Thursday after earlier delaying the public rollout over US government concerns about cybersecurity. The Trump administration had requested last month that OpenAI limit the release to a small group of government-approved users. OpenAI complied with the White House's request last month.

Can AI equalize political campaign ads - or will it remain a tool for spreading lies? F rom the comfort of his bed, Jonathan Rinaldi, a political candidate for a city council seat in Queens, New York, tinkered away on his iPhone, prompting an artificial intelligence chatbot to mock up fake news hits and endorsements he had never received. During the campaign last October, Rinaldi shared one of those stories, made to appear real with a CNN logo, on his Facebook and Instagram. It stated that Lynn Schulman, his opponent and an incumbent Democrat, had been "forced to drop out of the race due to a series of critical mistakes". But Schulman had not quit her campaign, and in November, won by a landslide.

Software programmers, accountants, receptionists and advertising and marketing professionals are among the most at risk of losing their jobs to AI, according to a government report. Software programmers, accountants, receptionists and advertising and marketing professionals are among the most at risk of losing their jobs to AI, according to a government report. Artificial intelligence has yet to cause widespread job losses but the federal government has warned that telemarketers, advertising staff and accountants are among the occupations "most exposed" to being replaced by the technology. According to a first-of-its-kind national report, people in the more exposed occupations are more likely to be women and have university qualifications. They include clerks, retail managers, software programmers, accountants, receptionists and advertising and marketing professionals, according to data from Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) contained in the AI and Employment in Australia report. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Jobs deemed as the "least exposed" to AI displacement are filled by those with the lowest level of university qualifications and the highest level of vocational training, including tradespeople and aged care workers.

Race to develop'embodied AI' focuses on creating dextrous hands to transform humanoid robots from gimmicks into useful products Human hands - nimble, nerve-filled appendages that are the most flexible part of the human skeleton - are exceptionally complex. Many tasks that most people can do largely without thinking, from tying a pair of shoelaces to buttoning up a shirt, in fact require a complex set of neurological instructions and precise choreography. In thousands of years of human history, no machine has been able to truly replicate human's greatest tool. But now, as artificial intelligence (AI) races forwards, some companies think they are close to surpassing this final but most difficult hurdle in robotics. Most of them are in China . A new suite of Chinese start-ups are leveraging China's advantages in manufacturing and enthusiasm for what the government calls "embodied AI" to build the fully dextrous robotic hands that are needed to transform humanoid robots from dancing gimmicks into useful products.

Essay gives the clearest view of Cooper's worldview yet as Labour figures jostle got places in a possible Burnham cabinet. Essay gives the clearest view of Cooper's worldview yet as Labour figures jostle got places in a possible Burnham cabinet. AI poses'Hiroshima'-style threat to humanity without global rules, says Cooper Artificial intelligence poses a "Hiroshima"-style risk to humanity if governments do not agree to curb how it is developed, the foreign secretary has warned. Yvette Cooper urged countries, including the US and China, to agree international rules for AI, telling the Guardian she believes the issue will dominate foreign policy over the next two years. In an essay covering her thoughts on everything from emerging technology to Palestine, Cooper said the world was at a dangerous moment, not least because of what she sees as the permanent withdrawal of the US from its role as a global arbiter.