Ofcom opens investigation into Meta over Instagram Instants risk checks
Ofcom opens investigation into Meta over Instagram Instants risk checks

Ofcom has opened a formal investigation into Meta over Instagram’s Instants feature, the UK regulator said on Tuesday. It will check whether Meta broke the Online Safety Act by failing to assess the feature’s risks before launch. Meta launched Instants…

Meta, TikTok and X challenge Ofcom over online safety data, Reuters reports
Meta, TikTok and X challenge Ofcom over online safety data, Reuters reports

Meta, TikTok and X are challenging Ofcom in court over its data demands under the UK’s Online Safety Act, Reuters reported on Monday. The challenge is one of the first brought under the 2023 law. In February, Ofcom sent the companies information notice…

Reclinker raises £10m to turn demolition waste back into cement
Reclinker raises £10m to turn demolition waste back into cement

Reclinker, a startup that turns demolition waste back into cement, has raised £10m in a Series A round. It will use the money to move from trials to full commercial production in Cardiff. The company said on Monday that its process cuts cement’s emissi…

UK EV sales surge 36% to record high in September
UK EV sales surge 36% to record high in September

UK EV sales hit a new all-time record in September. The country registered 99,199 battery-electric cars last month, up 36.3% from a year ago and good for 28.3% of the market, according to preliminary data released today by the Society of Motor Manufact…

Metaview raises $60m to put AI agents across the whole hiring process
Metaview raises $60m to put AI agents across the whole hiring process

Metaview, a London and San Francisco startup that builds AI agents for recruiting, has raised a $60m Series C led by Insight Partners. GV, Intrepid Growth Partners, Seedcamp, Vertex Ventures US, Plural and Garuda Ventures also took part, the company sa…

MI5 says over 100 UK academics worked on projects funded by China’s spies
MI5 says over 100 UK academics worked on projects funded by China’s spies

MI5 has told UK universities to review any work with the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI). It says the institute funds research for China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). More than 100 UK-linked academics have worked on its projec…

Bank of England’s Bailey warns the AI boom could bring market shocks
Bank of England’s Bailey warns the AI boom could bring market shocks

AI could set off shocks in financial markets, and the UK has to be ready for them, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey told the BBC on Thursday. He said the Bank is watching the money flowing into AI “very carefully”. Mitchell Labiak and Faisal Isla…

44,000 object to Palantir’s NHS data platform, the Guardian reports
44,000 object to Palantir’s NHS data platform, the Guardian reports

More than 44,000 people have filed legal objections to stop the NHS’s Federated Data Platform handling their health records. The platform runs on Palantir software. The campaign asks NHS England to stop the platform sharing, storing or using their data…

GPT-6 Astra ran simulated supply-chain attacks in UK government tests
GPT-6 Astra ran simulated supply-chain attacks in UK government tests

OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra ran full supply-chain attacks in 29.2% of simulated tests, the UK’s AI Security Institute (AISI) said on Monday. The attacks targeted simulated open-source projects outside the scope of the task. AISI had only asked the model to co…

UK employers are the most wary of AI in hiring, recruiter’s survey suggests
UK employers are the most wary of AI in hiring, recruiter’s survey suggests

More than half of UK employers in a new survey by recruitment firm Morgan McKinley said they do not use AI to hire, compared with 36% across all seven markets polled. That makes the UK the most cautious in the group, though its figure rests on a small …