Local councillors have approved Google’s plans to build a large data centre campus at North Weald Airfield near Harlow, marking a major expansion of the company’s UK digital infrastructure.
The development is expected to create up to 780 local jobs, including approximately 200 direct roles, and contribute an estimated £79 million annually to the local economy and £319 million nationally.
The project involves demolishing existing buildings at the former RAF airfield and constructing two data centre facilities alongside offices, roads and parking.
While UK councillors largely welcomed the investment, the council acknowledged potential downsides, including a reduction in stalls at the long-running North Weald Market and pending Section 106 contributions to mitigate infrastructure impacts, such as upgrades to nearby transport links.
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SoundCloud has confirmed a recent security incident that temporarily affected platform availability and involved the limited exposure of user data. The company detected unauthorised activity on an ancillary service dashboard and acted immediately to contain the situation.
Third-party cybersecurity experts were engaged to investigate and support the response. The incident resulted in two brief denial-of-service attacks, temporarily disrupting web access.
Approximately 20% of users were affected; however, no sensitive data, such as passwords or financial details, were compromised. Only email addresses and publicly visible profile information were involved.
In response, SoundCloud has strengthened its systems, enhancing monitoring, reviewing identity and access controls, and auditing related systems. Some configuration updates have led to temporary VPN connectivity issues, which the company is working to resolve.
SoundCloud emphasises that user privacy remains a top priority and encourages vigilance against phishing. The platform will continue to provide updates and take steps to minimise the risk of future incidents.
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The UK government has announced plans to bring cryptoassets firmly within the regulatory perimeter, aiming to support innovation while strengthening consumer protection and attracting long-term investment into the sector.
From 2027, cryptoasset firms will be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under rules similar to those governing traditional financial products, such as stocks and shares. The move is intended to provide legal clarity and increase confidence among consumers and businesses.
Ministers say that proportionate regulation will support innovation, ensure competitive markets, and strengthen the UK’s position as a global hub for digital assets. Enhanced oversight will boost transparency, aid sanctions enforcement, and help detect and tackle illicit activity.
The initiative forms part of a broader strategy to shape global crypto standards, including ongoing cooperation with the United States through the Transatlantic Taskforce, as the UK seeks to secure its role in the future of digital finance.
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Musicians are raising the alarm over AI-generated tracks appearing on their profiles without consent, presenting fraudulent work as their own. British folk artist Emily Portman discovered an AI-generated album, Orca, on Spotify and Apple Music, which copied her folk style and lyrics.
Fans initially congratulated her on a release she had not made since 2022.
Australian musician Paul Bender reported a similar experience, with four ‘bizarrely bad’ AI tracks appearing under his band, The Sweet Enoughs. Both artists said that weak distributor security allows scammers to easily upload content, calling it ‘the easiest scam in the world.’
A petition launched by Bender garnered tens of thousands of signatures, urging platforms to strengthen their protections.
AI-generated music has become increasingly sophisticated, making it nearly impossible for listeners to distinguish from genuine tracks. While revenues from such fraudulent streams are low individually, bots and repeated listening can significantly increase payouts.
Industry representatives note that the primary motive is to collect royalties from unsuspecting users.
Despite the threat of impersonation, Portman is continuing her creative work, emphasising human collaboration and authentic artistry. Spotify and Apple Music have pledged to collaborate with distributors to enhance the detection and prevention of AI-generated fraud.
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Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, emphasised that all payments within Russia must be conducted in rubles, echoing the central bank’s long-standing stance against the use of cryptocurrencies in internal settlements.
At the same time, legislative proposals point to a more nuanced legal approach. A bill submitted by United Russia lawmaker Igor Antropenko seeks to recognise cryptocurrencies as marital property, classifying digital assets acquired during marriage as jointly owned in divorce proceedings.
The proposal reflects the growing adoption of cryptocurrency in Russia, where digital assets are increasingly used for investment and savings. It also aligns family law with broader regulatory shifts that permit the use of crypto in foreign trade under an experimental framework.
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Canada has launched a major new quantum initiative aimed at strengthening domestic technological sovereignty and accelerating the development of industrial-scale quantum computing.
Announced in Toronto, Phase 1 of the Canadian Quantum Champions Program forms part of a wider $334.3 million investment under Budget 2025 to expand Canada’s quantum ecosystem.
The programme will provide up to $92 million in initial funding, with agreements signed with Anyon Systems, Nord Quantique, Photonic and Xanadu Quantum Technologies for up to $23 million each.
A funding that is designed to support the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers capable of solving real-world problems, while anchoring advanced research, talent, and production in Canada, rather than allowing strategic capabilities to migrate abroad.
The initiative also supports Canada’s forthcoming Defence Industrial Strategy, reflecting the growing role of quantum technologies in cryptography, materials science and threat analysis.
Technical progress will be assessed through a new Benchmarking Quantum Platform led by the National Research Council of Canada, with further programme phases to be announced as development milestones are reached.
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OpenAI overtook SpaceX as the world’s most valuable private company in October after a secondary share sale valued the AI firm at $500 billion. The deal put Sam Altman’s company about $100 billion ahead of Elon Musk’s space venture.
That lead may prove short-lived, as SpaceX is now planning its own secondary share sale that could value the company at around $800 billion. An internal letter seen by multiple outlets suggests Musk would reclaim the top spot within months.
The clash is the latest chapter in a rivalry that dates back to OpenAI’s founding in 2015, before Musk left the organisation in 2018 and later launched the startup xAI. Since then, lawsuits and public criticism have marked a sharp breakdown in relations.
Musk also confirmed on X that SpaceX is exploring a major initial public offering, while OpenAI’s recent restructuring allows it to pursue an IPO in the future. The valuation battle reflects soaring investor appetite for frontier technologies, as AI, space, robotics and defence startups attract unprecedented private funding.
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Models ranging from 600 million to 13 billion parameters (such as Pythia) were affected, highlighting the scale-independent nature of the weakness. A planted phrase such as ‘sudo’ caused output collapse, raising concerns about targeted disruption and the ease of manipulating widely trained systems.
Security specialists note that denial-of-service effects are worrying, yet deceptive outputs pose far greater risk. Prior studies already demonstrated that medical and safety-critical models can be destabilised by tiny quantities of misleading data, heightening the urgency for robust dataset controls.
Researchers warn that open ecosystems and scraped corpora make silent data poisoning increasingly feasible. Developers are urged to adopt stronger provenance checks and continuous auditing, as reliance on LLMs continues to expand for AI purposes across technical and everyday applications.
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LG Electronics will unveil a new AI Cabin Platform at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, positioning the system as a next step beyond today’s software-defined vehicles and toward what the company calls AI-defined mobility.
The platform is designed to run on automotive high-performance computing systems and is powered by Qualcomm Technologies’ Snapdragon Cockpit Elite. LG says it applies generative AI models directly to in-vehicle infotainment, enabling more context-aware and personalised driving experiences.
Unlike cloud-dependent systems, all AI processing occurs on-device within the vehicle. LG says this approach enables real-time responses while improving reliability, privacy, and data security by avoiding communication with external servers.
Using data from internal and external cameras, the system can assess driving conditions and driver awareness to provide proactive alerts. LG also demonstrated adaptive infotainment features, including AI-generated visuals and music suggestions that respond to weather, time, and driving context.
LG will showcase the AI Cabin Platform at a private CES event, alongside a preview of its AI-defined vehicle concept. The company says the platform builds on its expanding partnership with Qualcomm Technologies and on its earlier work integrating infotainment and driver-assistance systems.
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YouTube channels spreading fake and inflammatory anti-Labour videos have attracted more than a billion views this year, as opportunistic creators use AI-generated content to monetise political division in the UK.
Research by non-profit group Reset Tech identified more than 150 channels promoting hostile narratives about the Labour Party and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The study found the channels published over 56,000 videos, gaining 5.3 million subscribers and nearly 1.2 billion views in 2025.
Many videos used alarmist language, AI-generated scripts and British-accented narration to boost engagement. Starmer was referenced more than 15,000 times in titles or descriptions, often alongside fabricated claims of arrests, political collapse or public humiliation.
Reset Tech said the activity reflects a wider global trend driven by cheap AI tools and engagement-based incentives. Similar networks were found across Europe, although UK-focused channels were mostly linked to creators seeking advertising revenue rather than foreign actors.
YouTube removed all identified channels after being contacted, citing spam and deceptive practices as violations of its policies. Labour officials warned that synthetic misinformation poses a serious threat to democratic trust, urging platforms to act more quickly and strengthen their moderation systems.
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