Tech Digest daily roundup: Cryptocurrency should be regulated as type of gambling, UK government told

UK authorities should regulate cryptocurrency trading as a form of gambling rather than a financial service, parliament’s Treasury committee has said after a fresh inquiry into the industry. The government must avoid wasting more taxpayer funds promoting tech innovations such as digital tokens, without demonstrating the clear benefits to the public, MPs said in a report published on Wednesday. Like gambling, cryptocurrency trading and investing can be addictive, MPs concluded. The Guardian 

One of the world’s largest carmakers has said it will be unable to keep its commitment to make electric vehicles in the UK – unless the Brexit deal is renegotiated. Stellantis – the parent company of Vauxhall, Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat – which employs more than 5,000 people in the UK – told a Commons inquiry that their UK investments were in the balance due to the terms of the trade deal. Electric vans made at Vauxhall’s Cheshire site in Ellesmere Port will face tariffs of 10% when exported to mainland Europe from 2024, because they will not contain enough locally sourced parts. ITV

A company that has built the world’s largest aeroplane has emerged as a key bidder for the assets of Sir Richard Branson’s bankrupt space company, Virgin Orbit. Stratolaunch, which has developed a plane with a 385ft wingspan designed to carry rockets to high altitude, has made a $17m (£13.6m) offer for the assets of the failed rocket company. The deal values the remains of the business at just a fraction of the $3bn Virgin Orbit was worth when it went public in 2021. The Telegraph

The creator of advanced chatbot ChatGPT has called on US lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence (AI). Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, testified before a US Senate committee on Tuesday about the possibilities – and pitfalls – of the new technology. In a matter of months, several AI models have entered the market. Mr Altman said a new agency should be formed to license AI companies. ChatGPT and other similar programmes can create incredibly human-like answers to questions – but can also be wildly inaccurate. BBC 

Artificial intelligence has produced its idea of what the “ideal” man and woman look like, based on social media data and results on the World Wide Web. The AI images of men and women were created through engagement analytics on social media, using tools to look at billions of images of people. The Bulimia Project, an eating disorder awareness group, monitored the findings and warned the results are “largely unrealistic” in their depiction of body types. Sky News 

Elon Musk faced backlash for arguing that people who worked from home were “morally wrong” because it was unfair to those who could not work remotely. In an interview with CNBC’s David Faber on Tuesday, Mr Musk described the people working remotely as “laptop classes”, saying that the issue extended beyond productivity concerns. “It’s not just a productivity thing. I think it’s morally wrong.” Mr Musk criticised the hypocrisy of expecting service industry workers to go to work while others had the privilege of working from home. Independent