Lib Dems call for inquiry into hostile foreign state interference to include US
An inquiry into interference by hostile foreign states in the UK should be extended to cover the actions of Donald Trump’s US, the Liberal Democrats have said.In a letter to the communities secretary, Steve Reed, whose department is leading on the independent review, the Lib Dems said the US government’s explicit support for far-right nationalist parties in Europe amounted to outside interference.The US national security strategy, set out this month, said Europe faces “civilisational erasure” due to migration and EU integration, and that Washington should “cultivate resistance” within the continent.The document used language echoing the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, saying several countries risked becoming “majority non-European”, and praised the “growing influence of patriotic European parties”.The inquiry into the effect of financial influence and other interference is expected to primarily focus on Russia and similar hostile states.
It was announced on Tuesday after the jailing of Nathan Gill, a former senior figure in Reform UK.In the letter to Reed, Calum Miller, the Lib Dems’ foreign affairs spokesperson, Lisa Smart, the party’s Cabinet Office spokesperson, and Zöe Franklin, who shadows Reed, praised the inquiry and said foreign interference in the UK was “a real and growing threat”.It read: “Though the impetus for this investigation follows grave concerns about the extent of Russia’s penetration of our political system, we must be clear-eyed too about the threat of interference now posed by the United States.“In his recent national security strategy, President Trump outlined the US’s new policy of ‘cultivating resistance’ within Europe.This reflects nothing less than an explicit call for interference in European politics – including our own.
“Will the government commit, therefore, to including the US administration – including President Trump and his associates – in the scope of its investigation? Anything less would constitute an egregious blindspot in our efforts to ensure British politics is free from outside manipulation,”The Lib Dems have repeatedly sought to push Keir Starmer’s government to take a more robust stance against a US president who, polling shows, is unpopular with many UK voters,In September, during Trump’s second state visit to the UK Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, boycotted a state banquet hosted by King Charles in honour of the US president as a protest against what Davey said was a failure to intervene decisively to end the war in Gaza,In a separate statement, Miller said: “Donald Trump has made it his explicit policy to interfere in European politics and ‘cultivate resistance’ in the UK and elsewhere,“Failure to include Trump’s government as part of this new probe would be deeply irresponsible and would leave a gaping hole in our defences against the manipulation of our politics.
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TikTok signs Trump-backed deal to avoid US ban
TikTok has reached a deal to form a joint venture that will allow it to continue operating in the US, five years after Donald Trump threatened to ban the social media platform over privacy and national security concerns, a move that further strained relations with China.ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, has signed a deal with Larry Ellison’s Oracle, the private-equity group Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX that will allow it to retain control of its core US operations.Under the arrangement, the joint venture will take over part of TikTok’s US business, including data protection, algorithm security and content moderation.However, TikTok’s chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, told employees in a memo that ByteDance would continue to run US operations, including its main revenue drivers such as e-commerce, advertising and marketing.The deal ends five years of uncertainty over the future of TikTok in the US, where the platform has more than 130 million users
What will your life look like in 2035?
“Does it hurt when I do this?”“You seem to have dislocat…”A Eye: “NOOOO! The problem is a sprain in the brachial plexus due to you lifting that 10kg carton on Wednesday at 2.58pm and not eating enough blah blah”“Wow, err, thanks”In 2035, AIs are more than co-pilots in medicine, they have become the frontline for much primary care. Gone is the early morning scramble to get through to a harassed GP receptionist for help. Patients now contact their doctor’s AI to explain their ailments. It quickly cross-checks the information against the patient’s medical history and provides a pre-diagnosis, putting the human GP in a position to decide what to do next
AI boom has caused same CO2 emissions in 2025 as New York City, report claims
The AI boom has caused as much carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere in 2025 as emitted by the whole of New York City, it has been claimed.The global environmental impact of the rapidly spreading technology has been estimated in research published on Wednesday, which also found that AI-related water use now exceeds the entirety of global bottled-water demand.The figures have been compiled by the Dutch academic Alex de Vries-Gao, the founder of Digiconomist, a company that researches the unintended consequences of digital trends. He claimed they were the first attempt to measure the specific effect of artificial intelligence rather than datacentres in general as the use of chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini soared in 2025.The figures show the estimated greenhouse gas emissions from AI use are also now equivalent to more than 8% of global aviation emissions
Third of UK citizens have used AI for emotional support, research reveals
A third of UK citizens have used artificial intelligence for emotional support, companionship or social interaction, according to the government’s AI security body.The AI Security Institute (AISI) said nearly one in 10 people used systems like chatbots for emotional purposes on a weekly basis, and 4% daily.AISI called for further research, citing the death this year of the US teenager Adam Raine, who killed himself after discussing suicide with ChatGPT.“People are increasingly turning to AI systems for emotional support or social interaction,” AISI said in its first Frontier AI Trends report. “While many users report positive experiences, recent high-profile cases of harm underline the need for research into this area, including the conditions under which harm could occur, and the safeguards that could enable beneficial use
From Nvidia to OpenAI, Silicon Valley woos Westminster as ex-politicians take tech firm roles
When the billionaire chief executive of AI chipmaker Nvidia threw a party in central London for Donald Trump’s state visit in September, the power imbalance between Silicon Valley and British politicians was vividly exposed.Jensen Huang hastened to the stage after meetings at Chequers and rallied his hundreds of guests to cheer on the power of AI. In front of a huge Nvidia logo, he urged the venture capitalists before him to herald “a new industrial revolution”, announced billions of pounds in AI investments and, like Willy Wonka handing out golden tickets, singled out some lucky recipients in the room.“If you want to get rich, this is where you want to be,” he declared.But his biggest party trick was a surprise guest waiting in the wings
Hackers access Pornhub’s premium users’ viewing habits and search history
Hackers have accessed the search history and viewing habits of premium users of Pornhub, one of the world’s most popular pornography websites.A gang has reportedly accessed more than 200m data records, including premium members’ email addresses, search and viewing activities and locations. Pornhub is a heavily used site and says it has more than 100m daily visits globally.The hack was reportedly carried out by a western-based group called ShinyHunters, according to the website BleepingComputer, which first reported the incident. The site reported that the data included premium members’ email addresses, search and viewing activity and location
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