Technology

Screen time can damage under-twos’ development, landmark study suggests
Posted on Saturday June 27, 2026

Exclusive: Researchers call for urgent investigation of risks to babies of tablets, smartphones and other digital devices

Screen time for babies and toddlers under the age of two has been linked with long-term negative effects on health and quality of life and should be avoided, according to a landmark study.

It warns that using screens during that period may lead to wide-ranging developmental concerns and calls for further urgent investigation of the risks smartphones, tablets and other digital devices pose to infants.

Social media bans go global: big tech faces a reckoning after Australia’s crackdown
Posted on Saturday June 27, 2026

As a host of countries move to rein in social media use by children, could this be technology’s big tobacco moment?

OpenAI staggers AI model release after Trump administration request
Posted on Friday June 26, 2026

Sam Altman announces limited preview of GPT 5.6 in move that echoes launch of Anthropic’s Mythos

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OpenAI is staggering the release of its latest AI model after a request from the US government, in a move echoing the launch of Anthropic’s Mythos product.

The company behind ChatGPT signalled its dissatisfaction with the move, saying that doing so keeps the best AI tools from “users, developers, enterprises, cyber defenders, and global partners who need them”.

Apple raises iPad and MacBook prices, blaming cost of chips amid AI boom
Posted on Thursday June 25, 2026

Company says it cannot shield customers from memory and storage chip costs – and iPhone hikes could be next

Apple raised iPad and MacBook prices on Thursday, saying it could no longer shield customers from soaring memory and storage chip costs driven by the AI industry’s data center buildout.

The move does not affect Apple’s cash cow, the iPhone. But it would take the starting price of the ⁠Neo, its lowest-priced laptop, from $599 to $699 mere months after launch.

Whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams sues Meta over attempts to ‘silence’ her
Posted on Thursday June 25, 2026

Former employee files complaint accusing company of ‘coercive surveillance’ and first amendment violation

The Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams is suing the tech company over its efforts to “silence” her.

A 57-page complaint filed to a US district court in California on Thursday argues that an interim arbitration ruling sought by Meta preventing Wynn-Williams from publicising her memoir, Careless People, was “improper and unlawful” and a “blatant violation of the first amendment”. It also accuses the company of “coercive surveillance”.

A little bird told her: scientist wins $100,000 prize for decoding birdsong
Posted on Friday June 26, 2026

Julie Elie worked out how zebra finches announce who they are, what they are doing and use individual signatures

A scientist who decoded the vocalisations that a bird uses to communicate has won a $100,000 prize for making progress towards a world in which humans can talk to the animals – without being met with a blank response.

Dr Julie Elie at the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded the 2026 Coller-Dolittle prize for two-way interspecies communication after working out the 11 core calls in the zebra finch vocabulary and their meanings.

‘More relevant than making fires’: Explorer Scouts launch badges for AI and digital age
Posted on Thursday June 25, 2026

Content creation and online safety among new topics for 14- to 18-year-olds – but tweaks may be needed when social media ban comes in

Scouts are introducing badges in content creation, digital communication and online safety after consulting nearly 3,000 teenagers who said they wanted skills to help them navigate a world increasingly shaped by AI, social media and digital technology.

The new Explorer Scout badges, part of the Scout movement’s first major overhaul in almost 25 years, will require 14- to 18-year olds to explore how digital communities shape opinion, create online campaigns, investigate digital footprints and design toolkits to help others stay safe online.