Parents suing TikTok over children’s deaths say it ‘has no compassion’
Four families who say their children died after taking part in a viral trend in 2022 speak to the BBC about their legal fight against TikTok.
Science/Tech
UK demands access to Apple users’ encrypted data
The Home Office served the notice to the tech giant under the Investigatory Powers Act.
TikTok sued by parents of UK teens after alleged challenge deaths
The US-based Social Media Victims Law Center filed the wrongful death lawsuit on Thursday.
Concern UK’s AI ambitions could lead to water shortages
Data centres can use vast quantities of water to cool them – but it’s not clear where it will come from.
Google remakes Super Bowl ad after AI cheese gaffe
Its Gemini tool wildly overestimated global gouda consumption in ad that was meant to show off its capabilities.
Reddit community banned as user spat with Musk intensifies
The tech billionaire had complained that some Reddit users were advocating violence against his staff.
News24 Business | ‘On the wrong side of history’: Altman admits OpenAI needs a better open-source strategy
OpenAI chief Sam Altman on Friday said his high-profile artificial intelligence company is “on the wrong side of history” when it comes to being open about how its technology works.
Barclays working to update account balances after tech outage
The bank says a technical issue, which began on Friday and impacted the its app, online banking and payments, has been resolved.
AI-generated child sex abuse images targeted with new laws
Yvette Cooper says the UK will make it illegal to own AI tools to make images of child sexual abuse.
Why Dynasty Warriors makers scrapped sequel to reinvent series
Tomohiko Sho says the unreleased game was something fans were ‘starting to get a bit bored of’.
News24 Business | WhatsApp says its users targeted by Israeli spyware
An official at the Meta-owned platform says it detected attempts by Paragon to hack its users’ accounts.
Press X to sniff: Can smelling a game make it more immersive?
Modern video games look more realistic than they ever have – but there’s one sense developers have yet to exploit.
Barclays outage affecting payments and online banking
The bank says its app also affected, as is the phone line and messenger service for customers
Mexico asks Google Maps not to rename Gulf of Mexico
US President Donald Trump has ordered that the body of water be renamed the Gulf of America.
News24 Business | Musk’s SpaceX says SA’s BEE rules are a big barrier
SpaceX has said SA’s current BEE ownership rules are “a significant barrier” to international satellite operators, such as Starlink, who want to operate in the country. It voiced support for an equity equivalence programme as an alternative.
News24 Business | US export controls on chips didn’t hurt DeepSeek – and may even have helped, say experts
US export controls on high-tech chips may have inadvertently fuelled the success of start-up DeepSeek’s AI chatbot, sparking fears in Washington there could be little it can do to stop China in the push for global dominance in AI.
News24 Business | Alibaba releases AI model it claims surpasses DeepSeek-V3
Chinese tech company Alibaba on Wednesday released a new version of its Qwen 2.5 artificial intelligence model that it claimed surpassed the highly acclaimed DeepSeek-V3.
Garmin users say smartwatches have stopped working
Its Fenix 8 smartwatches, which retail for just under £1,000, are some of the devices to have issues.
Tech Life: Not as dead as a dodo?
Tech Life takes a close look at the controversial process of de-extinction.
US tech stocks steady after DeepSeek AI app shock
DeepSeek’s claim that its model was made at a fraction of the cost of its rivals has rocked the AI industry.
News24 Business | How well does DeepSeek know South Africa? We put it to the test
DeepSeek, the China-based developer of a new AI chatbot, knows what ‘now-now’ means, thinks Pietermaritzburg-born Kevin Pietersen is Howick’s greatest export, and argued that there is a 50/50 shot the GNU will survive until the next elections.