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Received — 21 October 2026 ⏭ The Guardian - Technology

The dangers of letting tech billionaires shape our world

20 October 2026 at 15:31

As SpaceX impacts Ukraine and AI-generated music divides artists and fans, critics are asking what happens when technology has too much control over our lives

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian, writing to you while sitting in front of Roy Lichtenstein’s monumental Drowning Girl, on view in New York City. Today in tech, we’re discussing the perils of Elon Musk’s one-man global infrastructure, AI-generated music and a Guardian AI conference in Paris.

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© Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

© Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

© Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

Received — 9 September 2026 ⏭ The Guardian - Technology

Conservatives split from Silicon Valley allies as datacenter backlash grows

1 September 2026 at 13:19

Tech companies have underestimated the opposition to energy-hungry datacenters – and experts predict the pushback will intensify

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, listening to Dolly Parton in the wake of her death. I was lucky enough to see her in concert a decade ago in California, in the same arena where Google now hosts its annual I/O conference. It’s been a long time, and all my iPhone 4 photos are so blurry you can barely tell it’s a musical performance, but my memory is clear enough to compensate. She told many stories about her childhood, which led into a trio of fabulous songs: My Tennessee Mountain Home, Applejack and Dr Robert F Thomas. They’re still my favorites.

Siri, where does Apple go next? – podcast

Apple’s Tim Cook leaves behind complicated legacy on privacy

Fifteen years after Steve Jobs, Tim Cook leaves a dramatically different Apple

Who is John Ternus, Apple’s next CEO?

‘Superhuman’ AI tool spots heart disease in less than 2 seconds

Doctors’ AI scribes get names of drugs and diagnoses wrong, NHS watchdog warns

AI can detect heart disease in women using mammograms, study suggests

‘Scary’: how misinformation and AI hallucinations are infiltrating Australia’s parliament

AI slopper in chief: Trump turns to social media amid tough questions

The datacenter backlash is bringing the entire political spectrum together – against big tech billionaires

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© Illustration: Ben Hickey/The Guardian

© Illustration: Ben Hickey/The Guardian

© Illustration: Ben Hickey/The Guardian

Meta’s settlement will compel others to bend the knee and set up teen guardrails

26 August 2026 at 23:20

Instagram and Facebook’s parent company agreed to sweeping alterations and a payment of up to $18bn to settle a landmark trial

Meta’s agreement to change how teenagers use its social networks marks a major turning point for the US tech giant, setting a precedent that could significantly reshape how other social media operates in the coming years.

Meta agreed to substantial alterations to Instagram and Facebook on Wednesday as part of a settlement to end a landmark lawsuit. Dozens of US states had accused it of addicting and harming children with dangerous products. The company also agreed to pay up to a combined $18bn over a decade to several US states and territories involved in the suit.

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© Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

© Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

© Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Received — 16 July 2026 ⏭ The Guardian - Technology

Trump rails against New York’s statewide datacenter moratorium

AI-friendly president shared a post saying governor Kathy Hochul should scrap the one-year policy ‘IMMEDIATELY’

Donald Trump railed against the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, for pausing the construction of large new datacenters, the resource-intensive facilities that power artificial intelligence.

New York became the first US state to enact a moratorium on new datacenters on Tuesday, when Hochul signed an executive order mandating a one-year statewide pause on so-called “hyperscale” datacenters.

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© Photograph: Matt Roberts/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Matt Roberts/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Matt Roberts/Shutterstock

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