Technology

New AI tool could cut wasted efforts to transplant organs by 60%
Posted on Thursday November 13, 2025

Machine learning model predicts whether donor is likely to die within the timeframe that liver remains viableDoctors have developed an AI tool that could reduce wasted efforts to transplant organs by 60%.Thousands of patients worldwide are waiting for a potentially life-saving donor, and more candidates are stuck on waiting lists than there are available organs. Continue reading...

AI firm claims it stopped Chinese state-sponsored cyber-attack campaign
Posted on Friday November 14, 2025

Anthropic says financial firms and government agencies were attacked ‘largely without human intervention’A leading artificial intelligence company claims to have stopped a China-backed “cyber espionage” campaign that was able to infiltrate financial firms and government agencies with almost no human oversight.The US-based Anthropic said its coding tool, Claude Code, was “manipulated” by a Chinese state-sponsored group to attack 30 entities around the world in September, achieving a “handful of successful intrusions”. Continue reading...

AI slop tops Billboard and Spotify charts as synthetic music spreads
Posted on Thursday November 13, 2025

Hits include country songs and a Dutch anti-refugee anthem, both entirely made without human compositionThree songs generated by artificial intelligence topped music charts this week, reaching the highest spots on Spotify and Billboard charts.Walk My Walk and Livin’ on Borrowed Time by the outfit Breaking Rust topped Spotify’s “Viral 50” songs in the US, which documents the “most viral tracks right now” on a daily basis, according to the streaming service. A Dutch song, We Say No, No, No to an Asylum Center, an anti-migrant anthem by JW “Broken Veteran” that protests against the creation of new asylum centers, took the top position in Spotify’s global version of the viral chart around the same time. Breaking Rust also appeared in the top five on the global chart. Continue reading...

Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin launches rocket carrying twin Nasa spacecraft to Mars
Posted on Thursday November 13, 2025

A huge New Glenn rocket successfully took off to place two spacecraft in orbit for a later boost to the red planetBlue Origin successfully launched its huge New Glenn rocket on Thursday with a pair of Nasa spacecraft destined for Mars. It was only the second flight of the rocket that Jeff Bezos’s company and Nasa are counting on to ferry people and supplies to the moon.The 321ft (98-meter) New Glenn blasted into the afternoon sky from the Cape Canaveral space force station, sending Nasa’s twin Mars orbiters on a long journey to the red planet. Liftoff was stalled for four days by inclement local weather as well as solar storms strong enough to paint the skies with auroras as far south as Florida. Continue reading...

Lies, damned lies and AI: the newest way to influence elections may be here to stay
Posted on Thursday November 13, 2025

The use of AI-generated campaign videos – labeled or unlabeled – is likely to permeate future US electionsThe New York City mayoral election may be remembered for the remarkable win of a young democratic socialist, but it was also marked by something that is likely to permeate future elections: the use of AI-generated campaign videos.Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Zohran Mamdani in last week’s election, took particular interest in sharing deepfake videos of his opponent, including one that sparked accusations of racism, in what is a developing area of electioneering. Continue reading...

UK firms can win a significant chunk of the AI chip market | John Browne
Posted on Thursday November 13, 2025

Britain’s legacy in chip design is world-class, and we could supply up to 5% of global demand if we get our act togetherThe UK is in a uniquely promising position, far too little understood, to play a lucrative role in the coming era of artificial intelligence – but only if it also grabs the opportunity to start making millions of computer chips.AI requires vast numbers of chips and we could supply up to 5% of world demand if we get our national act together.Lord Browne is the co-chair of the Council for Science and Technology. He is the chair of BeyondNetZero and was the chief executive of BP from 1995 to 2007 Continue reading...

Waymo announces that its robotaxis will drive freeways for the first time
Posted on Wednesday November 12, 2025

Google subsidiary to offer services on San Francisco, LA and Phoenix freeways as it scales expansion amid competitionAlphabet’s Waymo said on Wednesday that it would begin offering robotaxi rides that use freeways across San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, a first for the Google subsidiary as it steps up expansion amid global and domestic competition in the self-driving industry.Freeway rides will initially be available to early-access users, Waymo said. “When a freeway route is meaningfully faster, they can be matched with a freeway trip, providing quicker, smoother, and more efficient rides,” it said. Continue reading...

Question 1: Are phone cheats killing the pub quiz?
Posted on Friday November 14, 2025

Quizmasters are banning smart devices, using dedicated apps and finding plain old honesty can combat trivial offencesWho is older, Gary Numan or Gary Oldman? If you know the answer to this question (see below), you are probably one of hundreds of thousands of Brits who attend a pub quiz every week.As a nation of committed trivia buffs, it was unsurprising that news of a quizmaster in Manchester outing a team for cheating was leapt on. Just where, we asked, is the special place in hell reserved for those quizzers who take a sneaky look at their phones under the table? Continue reading...