Navy buys unmanned ships to guard against Russia
For the first time the force will use an autonomous minesweeping capability that will be used to combat the rapidly evolving threat of naval mines.
The three sets of autonomous minesweeping systems, known as Sweep, will safely clear sea lanes to defeat modern mine threats.
It comes after Nato military chiefs warned earlier this year of the rising threat of global internet blackouts, after Russia was suspected of attacking undersea fibre-optic cables.
Meanwhile, Navy sources told The Telegraph that 'every couple of weeks' they are seeing activity from Russian vessels moving through British waters.
On Wednesday, a second Russian naval vessel in a week was tracked passing through the English Channel. Novorossiysk, a Kilo-class submarine, was shadowed by Navy helicopters and a warship as it sailed west through the North Sea and English Channel.
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The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
Minister demands overhaul of UK's leading AI institute
The technology secretary has demanded an overhaul of the UK's leading artificial intelligence institute in a wide-ranging letter that calls for a switch in focus to defence and national security, as well as leadership changes. Peter Kyle said it was clear further action was needed to ensure the government-backed Alan Turing Institute met its full potential. In a letter to ATI's chair, seen by the Guardian, Kyle said the institute should be changed to prioritise defence, national security and 'sovereign capabilities' – a reference to nation states being able to control their own AI technology. The call for new priorities implies a downgrading of ATI's focus on health and the environment, which are two of three core subjects for the institute, alongside defence and security, under its 'Turing 2.0' strategy. 'Moving forward, defence and national security projects should form a core of ATI's activities, and relationships with the UK's security, defence, and intelligence communities should be strengthened accordingly,' Kyle wrote. Making clear that the Turing 2.0 strategy did not meet government requirements, Kyle indicated that he expected leadership changes at ATI. 'To realise this vision, it is imperative that the ATI's leadership reflects the institute's reformed focus,' he wrote in a letter first reported by Politico. 'While we acknowledge the success of the current leadership in delivering reform at the institute during a difficult period, careful consideration should be given to the importance of an executive team who possesses a relevant background and sector knowledge to lead this transition.' ATI is chaired by Doug Gurr, the former head of Amazon's UK operations and interim chair of the UK's competition watchdog. The institute is going through a restructuring under its chief executive, Jean Innes, which one in five staff have said puts ATI's credibility in 'serious jeopardy'. At the end of last year, ATI employed 440 staff, but it has since launched a redundancy process. Although the institute is nominally independent, it recently secured £100m from the government in a five-year funding deal. The letter said ATI's 'longer-term funding arrangement' could be reviewed next year. The government would maintain its current level of research and development from national security and defence for the next three years, Kyle wrote, and would increase the number of defence and national security staff embedded in the institute. Dame Wendy Hall, a professor of computer science at the University of Southampton and the co-chair of a 2017 government AI review, said ATI would cease to be a national institute under the government's proposed changes. 'If the institute focuses on defence and security it ceases to be a national institute on AI,' Hall said. 'It's not broad enough. If the government wants an AI institute that does defence and security then it should just call it that.' In February, the government indicated a focus on national security with its AI strategy by renaming its AI Safety Institute, established under the premiership of Rishi Sunak, the AI Security Institute. Sign up to TechScape A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives after newsletter promotion Kyle's letter also referred to the government's 50-point AI action plan as a 'testament' to the UK's AI ambitions, The plan's targets include a 20-fold increase in the amount of AI computing power under public control by 2030, and embedding AI in the public sector. A spokesperson for ATI said the institute was focused on 'high-impact missions' that support the UK including in defence and national security. 'We share the government's vision of AI transforming the UK for the better, welcome the recognition of our critical role, and will continue to work closely with the government to support its priorities and deliver science and innovation for the public good,' said the spokesperson. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said the changes would be a 'natural next step' for ATI following the safety institute renaming. 'These proposed changes would not only ensure the Alan Turing Institute delivers real value for money – it would see it taking on a key role in safeguarding our national security,' said the spokesperson.
Times
12 hours ago
- Times
Britain's biggest fact-checking company goes into administration
Britain's biggest fact-checking company has gone into administration, The Times has learnt. Logically was born in the wake of the 2016 United States presidential election and the Brexit referendum. It once boasted 200 employees in the UK, India and America. Its founder, Lyric Jain, a Cambridge engineering graduate, said he was also motivated by the death of his paternal grandmother in India who died after being persuaded to abandon chemotherapy treatment in favour of a 'special juice'. He said his goal was 'tackling harmful and manipulative content at speed and scale' and 'bringing truth to the digital world, and making it a safer place for everyone everywhere'. Jain hails from a wealthy Indian family, whose home is a mansion in Staffordshire that once belonged to Admiral Sir John Jervis, a naval commander in the 18th century. The fact-checking industry is facing a backlash driven by President Trump's second administration, but former employees of Logically blame its demise on what they claim were strategic errors from the company's leadership. Logically did fact-checking for Meta and TikTok under the Logically Facts brand and also developed an AI software product that analysed social media posts for disinformation. Former staff point to a decision by the company to work for the controversial fact-checking unit of the Indian state government of Karnataka as a crucial misstep. The unit was criticised by the Editors Guild of India and other organisations who argued the system could be used to suppress dissent and free speech and threaten independent journalism. That contract led to the loss of its certification from International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), an industry body, which does not allow fact-checkers to be employed by state entities or political parties. Around that time Logically lost the Meta and TikTok contracts which were worth millions of pounds in revenue. Sources close to Logically suggest the loss of the social media contracts was for commercial reasons rather than certification. Logically also worked for the British government's Counter-Disinformation Unit during the Covid pandemic, attracting some controversy from free speech supporters. • Disinformation unit 'tried to stifle Covid lockdown critics' Angie Drobnic Holan, director of the IFCN, said of the Indian contract: 'They lost their certification in part because of that and also concerns about overall transparency. 'It wasn't clear what work was journalistic and what work was … private, for lack of a better word. We knew that they were doing some work advising governments, but it wasn't very clear what the nature of that work was or how it impacted their fact-checking operation. 'There was no allegation that they were doing anything wrong. But our code is about meeting very high standards.' Former staff said the company was keen to drop human-driven fact-checking in favour of an AI software product called Logically Intelligence. The product was hampered when social media companies like X cut off access to their data. Tech giants including Google, Meta and X have dropped or scaled back fact-checking services in recent month. After Trump's election, Meta scrapped its external fact-checkers on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, replacing them with a 'crowd-sourced' system like the one pioneered on social media site announced this week that AI would be writing fact-checking notes on its crowd-sourced system called Community Notes. Last week Google dropped a system called ClaimReview that allowed fact-checkers to promote accurate information on search Morris, chief executive of Full Fact, a British fact-checking charity, said: 'Google's decision to deprioritise fact-checks will make it harder for users to access accurate information designed to help them make informed choices. It's a disappointing decision from a company that has until very recently been a global fact-checking champion.'Google said the change was a 'minor clean-up' which 'affected a very small percentage of results'. Logically's assets have been transferred to another company called Kreatur under a pre-pack administration process. The main shareholder and director of Kreatur, Ashwin Kumaraswamy, is a former director and the original investor in Logically.A Kreatur spokesperson said: 'Kreatur Ltd has acquired Logically's core technology, brand and key assets as part of a pre-pack administration process. The transaction ensures continuity for all customers and preserves over 40 full-time roles.' Kumaraswamy was approached for comment.
Daily Mail
14 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Amazon announces massive change to streaming platform that will affect all customers
It's time for streamers to say their final goodbyes to Freevee. The ad-supported streaming service, that's home to originals like Jury Duty, Bosch: Legacy and Judy Justice and hit shows such as Schitt's Creek, will be discontinued in August. The Freevee termination comes after Amazon confirmed its plans to shut down the service and place all its content under the Prime Video brand. As a result, all Freevee originals will be moved to Amazon's streaming service and made available to non-Prime members under the 'Watch for Free' section. The company began taking steps to end Freevee last year by launching ads on Prime Video, which is included in a Prime membership for $14.99 a month, or as a stand-alone service for $8.99. Members can also pay an additional $2.99 to remove ads. Launched as IMDB Freedive in 2019, the service rebranded to IMDB TV before turning into Amazon Freevee in 2022. The ad-supported version of Prime Video later expanded to the UK, Germany, and Austria, and by November 2024, 44 percent of US Freevee viewers did not have Prime Video accounts, according to Ampere Analysis. While there are currently over 200 million Prime Video streamers, some members have been unimpressed with the company as a whole in recent years. Some of the fury was ignited after the company opted to raise its annual membership price to $139 from $119 in 2022. It started becoming 'unbearable' for some customers in January after they noticed the high number of ads in TV shows and films. Besides the streaming service issues, some shoppers have threatened to delete their Amazon accounts after the company axed a same-day delivery perk, raised the price of Amazon Music Unlimited, and discontinued its Try Before You Buy service. But Amazon is now expanding its same-day and next-day delivery services to over 4,000 small cities, towns, and rural communities. The move is meant to help shoppers who have limited delivery options. The company is now hard at work in preparing to launch its Prime Day sales event. The now four-day sales special has already begun offering early deals, including a $1/gallon discount on gas. Freevee is not the only streaming service to shut in recent years. Quibi, a service that featured reboots of Punk'd and Singled Out, crashed and burned eight months after its launch in 2020. Prior to its demise, Quibi was exploring potential sales options a month before announcing the shutdown and faced backlash for paying Reese Witherspoon $6 million to narrate a show on the platform. The Crackle platform ceased operations in 2024 after 20 years of operation. At the time, most of its stake was owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the owner of Redbox that filed for bankruptcy. With these streaming platforms biting the dust, Prime Video's primary competition includes services like Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, and HBO Max.
