Dame Diana Johnson, the UK policing minister, has reassured the public that expanded use of live facial recognition vans is being deployed in a measured and proportionate manner.
She emphasised that the tools aim only to assist police in locating high-harm offenders, not to create a surveillance society.
Addressing concerns raised by Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti, who argued the technology was being introduced outside existing legal frameworks, Johnson firmly rejected such claims.
She stated that UK public acceptance would depend on a responsible and targeted application.
By framing the technology as a focused tool for effective law enforcement rather than pervasive monitoring, Johnson seeks to balance public safety with civil liberties and privacy.
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Elon Musk’s company xAI has made its latest AI model, Grok 4, available to all users worldwide at no cost for a limited period. The model, launched just a month ago, was initially exclusive to paying subscribers of SuperGrok and X Premium.
Although Grok 4 is now open to everyone, its most potent version, Grok 4 Heavy, remains restricted to SuperGrok Heavy members. The announcement comes days after OpenAI unveiled GPT-5, which is also freely accessible.
Grok 4 features two operating modes. Auto mode decides automatically whether a query requires more detailed reasoning, aiming to deliver faster responses and use fewer resources. Expert mode allows users to manually switch the AI into reasoning mode if they want a more thorough reply.
Alongside the release, xAI has introduced Grok Imagine, a free AI video generation tool for users in the US, with enhanced usage limits for paid members in other regions. The tool has already sparked controversy after reports emerged of its use to create explicit videos of celebrities.
Musk has also revealed plans to integrate advertising into the Grok chatbot interface as an additional revenue source to help offset the high costs of running the AI on powerful GPUs.
The ads will be placed between responses and suggestions on both the web platform and the mobile application, marking another step in xAI’s bid to expand its user base while sustaining the service financially.
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All adults in the West Midlands will be offered free training on using AI in daily life, work and community activities. Mayor Richard Parker confirmed the £10m initiative, designed to reach 2.3 million residents, as part of a wider £30m skills package.
A newly created AI Academy will lead the programme, working with tech companies, education providers and community groups. The aim is to equip people with everyday AI know-how and the advanced skills needed for digital and data-driven jobs.
Parker said AI should become as fundamental as English or maths and warned that failure to prioritise training would risk deepening a skills divide. The programme will sit alongside other £10m projects focused on bespoke business training and a more inclusive skills system.
The WMCA, established in 2017, covers Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and 14 other local authority areas in the UK. Officials say the AI drive is central to the region’s Growth Plan and ambition to become the UK’s leading hub for AI skills.
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eBay is introducing a new AI-powered feature to help sellers respond to buyer questions, continuing its AI strategy to streamline selling. Over 10 million sellers have used these tools to create over 200 million listings, with about 500,000 AI-assisted listings generated daily.
The company has launched several AI tools over the past two years, including generative video, listing assistants, bulk upload features and photo background enhancements.
Executives see AI as a way to increase seller retention, expand inventory, and drive buyer traffic, particularly in a competitive market where Amazon, Etsy, and Poshmark offer similar capabilities.
While adoption is optional, eBay tests features with its seller community, making adjustments based on feedback to ensure tone and presentation feel authentic. The company views AI as essential to maintaining its place at the forefront of online marketplaces.
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OpenAI has rolled out GPT-5 as the default AI model powering ChatGPT, bringing new features designed to boost productivity for personal and business users.
The new model seamlessly switches between quick search and in-depth reasoning, allowing more fluid and intelligent responses. Users can prompt ChatGPT to ‘think hard’ to trigger the deeper reasoning mode.
ChatGPT Plus users now benefit from double the previous message limit, with 160 messages allowed every three hours. Meanwhile, Team and Pro plan subscribers enjoy unlimited GPT-5 access unless accounts are misused.
Free users have a limit of 10 messages every five hours and one daily ‘Thinking’ mode message. Older GPT models such as GPT-4.1 and GPT-3 have been discontinued but remain accessible via web settings for paying customers.
All built-in tools are automatically enabled according to user needs, removing the need to toggle features like web search, image generation, or data analysis on and off. OpenAI also revealed plans to support third-party plugins to expand ChatGPT’s development capabilities further.
The new voice mode now follows instructions more accurately and will be available to all users.
Overall, GPT-5 marks a significant leap forward, improving reasoning, creativity, and alignment with user intent. OpenAI aims to make ChatGPT an even more powerful assistant by integrating enhanced capabilities and streamlining the user experience.
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GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke has announced his decision to step down later in the year to pursue new entrepreneurial ventures.
Instead of appointing a new CEO, Microsoft will integrate GitHub more closely into its CoreAI division. Since Microsoft acquired GitHub in 2018, the platform has operated chiefly independently, but with this change, leadership will report directly to several Microsoft executives.
Under Dohmke’s leadership since 2021, GitHub’s user base more than doubled to over 150 million developers, supporting over one billion repositories and forks.
The platform has become essential to Microsoft’s AI and developer strategy, especially with growing competition from Google, Replit, and others in the AI coding market.
GitHub recently launched advanced AI tools like Copilot, which suggest code and automate programming tasks, helping developers work more efficiently.
Microsoft’s investment in AI is shaping the future of coding, with GitHub playing a central role by providing direct access to developers worldwide.
Dohmke will remain with Microsoft until the end of the year to assist with the transition, emphasising GitHub’s importance to Microsoft’s broader ambitions in AI and cloud computing.
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Small language models are emerging as a serious challenger to large, general-purpose AI in translation, offering faster turnaround, lower costs, and greater accuracy for specific industries and language pairs.
Straker, an ASX-listed language technology firm, claims its Tiri model family can outperform larger systems by focusing on domain-specific understanding and terminology rather than broad coverage.
Tiri delivers higher contextual accuracy by training on carefully curated translation memories and sector-specific data, cutting the need for expensive human post-editing. The models also consume less computing power, benefiting finance, healthcare, and law industries.
Straker integrates human feedback directly into its workflows to ensure ongoing improvements and maintain client trust.
The company is expanding its technology into enterprise automation by integrating with the AI workflow platform n8n.
It adds Straker’s Verify tool to a network of over 230,000 users, allowing automated translation checks, real-time quality scores, and seamless escalation to human linguists. Further integrations with platforms like Microsoft Teams are planned.
Straker recently reported record profitability and secured a price target upgrade from broker Ord Minnett. The firm believes the future of AI translation lies not in scale but in specialised models that deliver translations that are both fluent and accurate in context.
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Microsoft has launched Copilot 3D, an AI-powered tool that transforms 2D images into realistic 3D models without requiring specialist skills. Available through Copilot Labs, it aims to make 3D creation faster, more accessible, and more intuitive for global users signed in with a Microsoft account.
The tool supports only image-to-3D conversion, with no text-to-3D capability. Users can upload images up to 10 MB, generate a model, and download it in GLB format. Microsoft states uploaded images are used solely for model generation and are not retained for training or personalisation.
Copilot 3D is designed for applications that range from prototyping and creative exploration to interactive learning, thereby reducing the steep learning curve associated with conventional 3D programs. It can be used on PCs or mobile browsers; however, Microsoft recommends a desktop experience for optimal results.
Tech rivals are also advancing similar tools. Apple’s Matrix3D model can build 3D scenes from images, while Meta’s 3D Gen AI system creates 3D assets from text or applies textures to existing models. Nvidia’s NeRF technology generates realistic 3D scenes from multiple 2D images.
The release underscores growing competition in AI-driven 3D design, as companies race to make advanced modelling tools more accessible to everyday creators.
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The University of Western Australia has ordered a mass password reset for all staff and students after detecting unauthorised access to stored password data.
The incident was contained over the weekend by the university’s IT and security teams, who then moved to recovery and investigation. Australian authorities have been notified.
While no other systems are currently believed to have been compromised, access to UWA services remains locked until credentials are changed.
The university has not confirmed if its central access management system was targeted.
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In mid-2025, the debate over AI in programming mirrors historic resistance to earlier breakthroughs in computing. Critics say current AI coding tools often slow developers and create overconfidence, while supporters argue they will eventually transform software creation.
The Register compares this moment to the 1950s, when Grace Hopper faced opposition to high-level programming languages. Similar scepticism greeted technologies such as C, Java, and intermediate representation, which later became integral to modern computing.
Current AI tools face limits in resources, business models, and capability. Yet, as past trends show, these constraints may fade as hardware, training, and developer practices improve. Advocates believe AI will shift human effort toward design and problem definition rather than manual coding.
For now, adoption remains a mixed blessing, with performance issues and unrealistic expectations. But history suggests that removing barriers between ideas and results catalyses lasting change.
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