Author: SKYNEWS

If you spend much time on social media, you’ll have surely noticed the surge in AI-generated video filling up your feed.We were promised superintelligence but instead got “AI slop” – clips-for-clicks of people and pets doing funny, diverting, but ultimately pointless things. Or worse.Deepfake videos of politicians or celebrities have improved in line with the advancing sophistication of AI video-generating models.A surge of supposedly “educational” AI-generated video on platforms like YouTube Kids, say campaigners, threatens to misinform, or at best confuse, young minds. Then there’s the film and TV industry, understandably furious that their stories, actors and characters appear to…

HBO Max has officially launched in the UK today. The US streaming service features HBO content as well as Warner Bros Pictures and Television, DC Studios and Max Originals shows and films. It means the return of Friends to a UK streaming service, as well as the Harry Potter films.Other content available on the platform includes new seasons of Euphoria and House Of The Dragon and the new Harry Potter TV series, which is expected to air next year. Subscription plans start at £4.99 a month, with adverts included. Ad-free plans start from £9.99 a month. TNT Sports subscribers can…

National Savings and Investments (NS&I) is facing a bill worth hundreds of millions of pounds over a missing savings scandal.An update will be given by ministers later on Thursday following a report by the Daily Telegraph that the Treasury-backed bank was seeking taxpayer funds to help it compensate customers for alleged failures in the management of their cash. The paper said it could amount to a £400m bailout.Money latest: What do high gilt yields mean for your pension?Sky News understands that the bank is being told to foot the bill, which is not expected to run to such a high…

Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, has been ordered to pay $375m (£280m) in damages after it was found to have knowingly harmed children’s mental health. In what was described by campaigners as a “watershed moment”, a court in New Mexico, USA, has found the company had concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms. The verdict marks the first time a jury has ruled on such claims against Meta, as the tech giant faces a wave of lawsuits over how its platforms affect young people’s mental health.The New Mexico case relied on…

A woman charged with the attempted murder of Rihanna following a shooting at the singer’s home has pleaded not guilty.Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, of Orlando, Florida, is accused of opening fire on the property in Los Angeles when the singer and her hip-hop star partner A$AP Rocky, as well as their three young children and others, were home on 8 March. Ortiz is charged with one count of attempted murder in relation to Rihanna, 10 counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an occupied vehicle or dwelling.Through her attorney, she also pleaded not guilty to…

A former hedge fund manager claimed he groped a colleague’s breasts because he was under general anaesthetic, a tribunal has heard. Crispin Odey, 67, once one of the richest hedge fund managers in Britain, was previously accused of inappropriate conduct at least 46 times between 2003 and 2020. He was banned from the UK finance industry by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last March and fined £1.8m for a “lack of integrity” following allegations of inappropriate conduct.Mr Odey, who began giving evidence on Tuesday at the Upper Tribunal in London, denies the allegations and is seeking to challenge the authority’s decision.Clare…

Hundreds of British teenagers are set to take part in a trial to find out how effective a ban or restrictions on social media would be. The six-week pilot will see 300 people aged 13 to 17 try out different restrictions – from time limits to curfews to an all-out ban. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will measure the effects it has on their schoolwork, sleep and family life.It comes as the government’s consultation on a potential Australia-style social media ban is set to conclude on 26 May.How trial will work Parents will be split into four groups and…

A former member of indie band The Zutons has spoken after being seriously injured in a racist assault, telling Sky News he could have been killed and that he wants his attackers to face justice.Boyan Chowdhury was treated in hospital following the incident, described by police as an “abhorrent” hate-related assault, which happened in the Wavertree area of Liverpool on Saturday afternoon.Mr Chowdhury, who is in his 40s, says a group of young males, believed to be in their late teens, started shouting racist slurs when he asked them to move away as they were smoking near to him and…

The chancellor is to set out plans to tackle price hikes driven by the war in Iran, which has seen the cost of oil and gas soar.Rachel Reeves will deliver a statement in the Commons this afternoon after advising the prime minister of her proposals during an emergency Cobra meeting yesterday. They include an “anti-profiteering framework” to detect and crack down on firms exploiting the Middle East crisis and help the Competition and Markets Authority root out price gouging.It could see the regulator given “time-limited, targeted powers” after Sir Keir Starmer told MPs he wanted to give it “further teeth”.A…

England has recovered from drought after four months of above average rainfall, but officials are concerned about future dry spells.A wetter-than-normal February saw England receive 170% of the long-term average rainfall, the Environment Agency said. A regular government-led meeting of water stakeholders noted that while wetter than normal months had been positive for water supplies, they had “caused devastating flooding” in many areas.The South West recorded the second-highest December to February winter rainfall since records began in 1871. Image: While England saw above average rain in February, March is drier than normal so far. Pic: PA On Monday, East Anglia…