Crypto reaps political rewards after spending big to boost Trump

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. In this week’s edition, the crypto industry’s political investments pay off in spades, the left attempts to reclaim an optimistic view of our shiny technological future, and your memories of Skype.The US president hosted prominent crypto leaders at the White House on Friday in what seemed like a choreographed climax to weeks of handing the industry win after win.The day before, Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a “strategic reserve” of cryptocurrency for the US, which he called “digital Fort Knox for digital gold to be stored”. It’s just one of several recent announcements that indicated a new and friendly posture toward the industry

Young people: what rules around smartphone use should be put in place for children?

We would like to hear from people aged 18-24 about their childhood experiences with smartphones and social media, positive or negative.What approach would you take with your own children, as a result of lessons learned from your experience? Would you let them have access to a smartphone or social media, and how often? What rules would you put in place?You can tell us about your childhood experiences with smartphones using this form.Please include as much detail as possible. Please include as much detail as possible. Please note, the maximum file size is 5

AI should replace some work of civil servants, Starmer to announce

AI should replace the work of government officials where it can be done to the same standard, under new rules that have prompted unions to warn Keir Starmer to stop blaming problems on civil servants.As part of his plans for reshaping the state, the prime minister will on Thursday outline how a digital revolution will bring billions of pounds in savings to the government.Officials will be told to abide by a mantra that says: “No person’s substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard.”In his speech, Starmer will claim that more than £45bn can be saved by greater use of digital methods in Whitehall, even before AI is deployed, with 2,000 new tech apprentices to be recruited to the civil service.However, with bruising cuts on the way at this spring’s spending review, Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union for senior civil servants, said: “Mantras that look like they’ve been written by ChatGPT are fine for setting out a mission, but spending rounds are about reality

Apple to appeal against UK government data demand at secret high court hearing

Apple’s appeal against a UK government demand to access its customers’ highly encrypted data will be the subject of a secret high court hearing, the Guardian understands.The appeal on Friday will be considered by the investigatory powers tribunal, an independent court that has the power to investigate claims that the UK intelligence services have acted unlawfully.It is against an order served by the Home Office in February under the Investigatory Powers Act, which compels companies to provide information to law enforcement agencies.The Home Office asked for the right to see users’ encrypted data in the event of a national security risk. Currently, not even Apple can access data and documents protected by its advanced data protection (ADP) programme

ChatGPT firm reveals AI model that is ‘good at creative writing’

The company behind ChatGPT has revealed it has developed an artificial intelligence model that is “good at creative writing”, as the tech sector continues its tussle with the creative industries over copyright.The chief executive of OpenAI, Sam Altman, said the unnamed model, which has not been released publicly, was the first time he had been “really struck” by the written output of one of the startup’s products.In a post on the social media platform X, Altman wrote: “We trained a new model that is good at creative writing (not sure yet how/when it will get released). This is the first time i have been really struck by something written by AI.”AI systems such as ChatGPT are the subject of a running legal battle between AI companies and the creative industries because their underlying models are “trained” on reams of publicly available data, including copyright-protected material such as novels and journalism

iPhone 16e review: Apple’s cheapest new phone

Apple’s cheapest new smartphone is the iPhone 16e, which offers the basic modern iPhone experience including the latest chips and AI features but for a little less than its other models.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.The iPhone 16e costs £599 (€699/$599/A$999) and is the spiritual successor to the iPhone SE line