X owner renews hostilities with Center for Countering Digital Hate after it is linked to US election interference row * UK politics live – latest updates A UK-founded anti-hate speech campaign group dragged into the Labour US election interference row has vowed to carry on its work after Elon Musk’s latest declaration of “war” against the organisation. The Center for Countering Digital Hate returned to the crosshairs of the world’s richest person this week after Musk alleged that it was violating laws against foreign interference in US elections. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Josh Simons, close ally of Starmer, suggests Musk manipulates platform’s algorithm to boost his own interests Westminster needs to wean itself off X, a close ally of Keir Starmer has said, as he suggested that Elon Musk was deliberately manipulating its algorithm to boost his own political and personal interests. Josh Simons, the MP for Makerfield and former head of the Starmerite thinktank Labour Together, said he believed the British political class was dangerously addicted to the platform, formerly known as Twitter. Simons maintains an active X profile, but says he is keen not to “overuse” it. Continue reading...

X owner responds by saying people should avoid UK when ‘they’re releasing convicted pedophiles’ Elon Musk has hit back at the UK government after he was not invited to an international investment summit following his controversial social media posts during last month’s riots. Musk said on X on Thursday: “I don’t think anyone should go to the UK when they’re releasing convicted pedophiles in order to imprison people for social media posts.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Tech company wants Labour to relax laws that prevent AI models being ‘trained’ on copyrighted materials Google has said that Britain risks being left behind in the global artificial intelligence race unless the government moves quickly to build more datacentres and let tech companies use copyrighted work in their AI models. The company pointed to research showing that the UK is ranked seventh on a global AI readiness index for data and infrastructure, and called for a number of policy changes. Continue reading...

Gig economy workers for Deliveroo and Uber Eats in the city are living in appalling conditions, while putting in long hours, earning low pay and facing mental health problems Two lines of dirt-encrusted, ramshackle caravans stretch along both sides of a road close to the motorway that winds its way into the heart of Bristol. Rats dart between water-filled concrete sluices to rubbish-flecked mounds of vegetation. Drug users stumble out of the nearby underpass while lorries thunder overhead. This is the grim encampment where about 30 Brazilian delivery riders working for large companies such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats are forced to live to make ends meet. Continue reading...

The Elon Musk-owned platform remains a vital tool for politicians despite misinformation about disorder in Britain When Keir Starmer was running to be Labour leader in 2020, his aides seriously considered whether they should leave Twitter for good. A number of those who remain close to Starmer as prime minister were then enthusiastic about moving off the platform. The party was still feeling wounded by the brutal election campaign and by the bitterness of the way it had been conducted on social media. Continue reading...

Britain’s first next-generation supercomputer, planned by Tories, in doubt after Labour government move The new Labour government has shelved £1.3bn of funding pledged by the Conservatives for technology and artificial intelligence projects, putting the future of the UK’s first next-generation supercomputer in doubt. The projects, announced last year, include £800m for the creation of an exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh and a further £500m for the AI Research Resource, which funds computing power for AI. Continue reading...

In some constituencies – often with large Muslim populations – a parallel viral campaign focuses on emotive issues such as Gaza that rarely feature in national coverage When Keir Starmer was interviewed for the Sun’s YouTube live stream last week, only about 10,000 people tuned in to watch him pledge to get tough on illegal immigration. Under pressure to prove he would speed up deportations, the Labour leader singled out one example in particular: “At the moment people coming from countries like Bangladesh are not being removed because they’re not being processed.” Continue reading...