From an interview I did with @shuhbillskee.bsky.social 3ish years ago... boy did he call it. The language of social media 'addiction' didn't start with campaigners, it started in Silicon Valley with techies trying to upsell their products.

Great spot from @jbambridge.bsky.social here - Palantir getting its biggest-ever contract with the MoD. No competitive process, triple what they were awarded last time www.politico.eu/article/pala...

Palantir lands biggest ever UK defense deal

The £240 million contract with the Ministry of Defence has renewed a debate about Britain’s dependence on American technology.

politico.eu

Politico's @mizyjudah.bsky.social and Tom Bristow scooped the UK's nudification ban more than a month ago - we'll be keeping a close eye on how the gov plans to enforce it. Watch this space! www.politico.eu/article/uk-s...

UK set to ban deepfake ‘nudification’ apps

Campaigners have long argued that apps allowing the creation of fake nude images need reining in.

politico.eu

I hate that AI has made me approach cute animal videos with an air of suspicion. I resent having to harden my heart to the possibility of an unlikely friendship between a very large dog and a very small one

"We must ally with the hard men," Musk mutters, stuffing cherry tomatoes into his mouth

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Elon Musk: "It is time for the English to ally with the hard men, like Tommy Robinson, and fight for their survival or they shall surely all die" 29th October 2025. 2 million views in its first hour.

Some great reporting here from @heroceane.bsky.social on how Apple's AI is getting fine-tuned to deal with *sensitive* issues like politics, copyright, and Apple's brand image www.politico.eu/article/appl...

Apple is teaching its artificial intelligence to adapt to the Trump era

Apple policy documents enacted by a subcontractor show how the company shifted its approach to fine-tuning its AI in March, two months after the U.S. president was inaugurated.

politico.eu

Important reporting here - the HO has steadfastly resisted attempts from MPs, immigration lawyers, and campaigners (plus Mizy) to find out how often the UK's eVisa system malfunctions. A glitch could be devastating, as it could falsely call someone's immigration status into question.

Mizy Judah Clifton (he/him)@mizyjudah.bsky.social · 12mo ago

The Home Office insists the transition to a digital-only system of immigration status is going smoothly. For @politico.eu I ask: if the department is so confident, why won't it publish evidence to back that up? www.politico.eu/article/home...

Did you know Britain's spies have their own VC fund? Well they do, and it's coming out of stealth www.politico.eu/article/brit...

Britain’s secretive fund for spies comes out of the shadows

Britain’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund has ties to MI5, MI6, and GCHQ — and now it’s getting extra cash.

politico.eu

SCOOP for @politico.eu: GP leaders are drafting a formal complaint to the Information Commissioner alleging that NHS England broke the law by training generative AI model Foresight on patient records. www.politico.eu/article/doct...

Doctors to refer NHS to data watchdog over feeding patient data to AI

Patient data that was only supposed to be used for Covid-19 research got plugged into an all-purpose AI model, doctors say.

politico.eu

From @mizyjudah.bsky.social: the methodology the UK gov used to calculate how much civil service work can be done by AI assumes that 62% of the work done by the most junior civil servants is "routine" (i.e. AI can do it) www.politico.eu/article/uk-g...

The UK government thinks AI can do 62 percent of the most junior civil servants’ work

Meanwhile, the most senior civil servants perform zero routine (i.e. automatable) work.

politico.eu

From Politico's Tom Bristow: Labour's mad rush towards AI is falling way, way short of being a vote-winner www.politico.eu/article/labo...

Labour’s AI gold rush gets stuck in the mud

Ministers are preparing a string of AI announcements for early June, but voters are skeptical about the technology. That leaves the ruling Labour Party with a huge problem.

politico.eu

Fun to see Meta pursuing the Ursula-the-sea-witch style of AI data mining (www.theverge.com/news/658602/...)

Amused if slightly exasperated to report that the government's copyright plans to make creatives "opt out" of having their works scraped for AI are pleasing no-one, AI firms included. www.politico.eu/article/open...

OpenAI, Google reject UK’s AI copyright plan

The U.K. government’s AI copyright plans can’t seem to please anyone.

politico.eu

Rachel Reeves told Kuenssberg that talks with the US about potentially scrapping the Digital Services Tax are 'ongoing.' Tech secretary Peter Kyle went a step further, telling us that 'nothing is off the table' in negotiations with the US www.politico.eu/article/noth...

‘Nothing is off the table’ in Trump trade talks, UK tech chief says

Peter Kyle says both sides are ‘exploring all’ options as London considers putting its Big Tech tax up for negotiation with the U.S.

politico.eu

Report on Musk long enough and you start to see him say the same things over and over. He agreed to buy Twitter then made sweeping accusations about fraud and bots to try to break the deal. He also accused Twitter of harboring "ghost employees" who took paychecks. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02...

Nice article on #DeepSeek global political / economic impacts, with a paragraph towards the end talking to me. The Daily Upside by Isobel Hamilton @hamilbug.bsky.social www.thedailyupside.com/technology/a...

Less is More: Who’s Afraid of DeepSeek?

Yesterday saw a huge selloff in US tech stocks after a Chinese AI chatbot app DeepSeek shot to the top of the Apple App Store. Why the fuss?

thedailyupside.com

Refreshing piece by Amy Fleming in The Guardian, where I joined scholars to unpack misconceptions that disempower parents & young people around tech. Evidence doesn’t support fear—our approach shouldn’t either. Let’s pause panic & do better for families in 2025! www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

All in the mind? The surprising truth about brain rot

Is screen use really sapping our ability to focus and lowering our IQs? The scientists who have actually analysed the data give their verdict

theguardian.com