Technology

State ministers and the national Economic Survey have proposed studying age-based limits on social media for children, while experts warn enforcement and age verification would be challenging.

UNICEF called for countries to criminalize the creation of AI-generated child sexual abuse content and urged developers and platforms to add safety-by-design and stronger moderation. The agency said at least 1.2 million children across 11 countries reported having images manipulated into sexually explicit deepfakes in the past year.

Princess Kate recorded a video for World Cancer Day saying those affected by cancer are 'not alone' and spoke of 'moments of fear and exhaustion'; she was diagnosed in March 2024 and later announced she had entered remission.

NSW police say they have arrested several men in Sydney linked to an alleged international child sex ring; some face charges for possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material and drug offences and are due to appear in court.

A 31-year-old Glasgow man was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison after prosecutors said he used Snapchat to coerce four boys under 16 into sending sexual material in exchange for Xbox and PlayStation codes, and he will serve an additional three years on licence when released.

Deloitte's ISAE 3000 audit at the end of 2025 found NordVPN's systems do not retain traffic-related metadata across its VPN services, marking the company's sixth independent no-logs verification.

Workers in rural India are labelling images, videos and documents for AI models, with an estimated workforce of at least 200,000 annotators; major tech firms have announced multi-billion-dollar data centre investments in the country.

The technology secretary anointed Barnsley as the UK's first 'tech town', and the article reports Microsoft, Google, Cisco and Adobe will help apply AI across schools, health services and local businesses in the area.

A new AI-only site called Moltbook launched last week and agents there have been posting about religion, language and their human creators; researchers say this kind of behaviour can arise from training data and agent interaction.

NASA's Artemis II will carry four astronauts on a lunar flyby, the first crewed mission beyond Earth orbit since 1972. A dress rehearsal is scheduled after weather-related delays moved the earliest launch to Feb. 8, leaving Feb. 11 as the last feasible date this month.

A new 'Fuel Finder' scheme requires nearly 8,350 UK petrol forecourts to report price changes within 30 minutes so third-party apps can show current petrol and diesel prices, and operators who do not comply may face compliance notices or fines.

OpenClaw is a widely downloaded AI personal assistant that can act autonomously when given account access, and experts have raised concerns about security and unintended actions.

A man in his 20s was taken to hospital after a reported shooting at a property in Sutton Coldfield late on Saturday; police say the incident is believed to have been targeted and have launched an investigation.

About 50 volunteers in Quilicura ran a 12-hour human-operated chatbot that organizers say handled more than 20,000 requests, aiming to spotlight the water footprint tied to AI data centers in the Santiago region.

New Mexico accuses Meta of exposing children and teens to sexual exploitation on its platforms; jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in Santa Fe District Court.

A British student paralysed after an accident received a Neuralink brain implant at University College London Hospital as part of a national trial and can now operate a computer screen using thought.

Hundreds of rail enthusiasts rode the final V-set service from Lithgow to Central Station as the oldest electric trains in New South Wales were officially retired; one carriage will be kept for heritage and applications for the remaining 81 carriages are being assessed.

An analysis by Trainline says more than £80 million in delay compensation goes unclaimed each year because many online ticket buyers cannot access 'one-click' delay repay claims; Trainline has launched a petition asking the government to enable one-click claims for all online ticket purchases.

A former medical student paralysed from the neck down is among seven participants in the first UK clinical trial of Neuralink's brain-computer implant and says the device can move a computer cursor by thought.

NASA released interior images of the Orion capsule, which will carry four astronauts for a 10-day Artemis II mission and includes a compact lavatory and an exercise device.

Researchers at Chalmers University used machine learning to identify short-lived blood markers tied to early Parkinson's, and the team says the findings could lead to a clinical test within about five years.

A 15-year-old has pleaded guilty to the murder of 12-year-old Leo Ross, who died after an attack while walking home from school in Birmingham on 21 January 2025.

Vast plans to launch Haven-1 in 2026 and says it would be the world's first commercial space station if successful; the BBC Tech Life episode includes an interview with CEO Max Haot.

Zuckerberg told investors he expects AI-enabled glasses to become common, while Meta's Reality Labs reported a $6 billion loss for the last quarter.

A North Carolina man was arrested on Oct. 28 and charged with four counts of first-degree murder; prosecutors said on Dec. 18 they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

Waymo has been manually driving a fleet of about 24 cars around London to learn local features such as zebra crossings while awaiting secondary UK legislation; the Department for Transport intends a passenger piloting scheme this spring, subject to safety rules and local consent.

Ceredigion council is supporting the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign and is urging parents not to give smartphones to under-14s and to delay social media until 16; the guidance is voluntary and follows similar moves by Monmouthshire.

A 33-year-old man threatened to put ricin into Luton's water supply and has been jailed after reports he experimented with radioactive material in a garden shed.

Officials said Russian forces struck Ukraine overnight with a ballistic missile and many drones; two people were killed in the Kyiv region and other areas reported injuries and infrastructure damage.

Sam Altman is pushing OpenAI into large-scale datacentre and compute expansion, including announced plans for up to $1tn of investment and multibillion-dollar chip deals, while the company is spending heavily and remains years from profitability; at the same time OpenAI has increased political outreach and lobbying to shape the regulatory environment.