UK plans to be world leader in AI, Apple urges vote against scrapping DEI programmes
The government is to set out plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) across the UK to boost growth and deliver public services more efficiently. The AI Opportunities Action Plan being announced on Monday will be backed by leading tech firms, which are said to have committed £14bn towards various projects, creating 13,250 jobs, the government said. It includes plans for growth zones where development will be focused, and the technology will be used to help tackle issues such as potholes. “I want to make sure that it benefits everyone from every background, that it benefits every community, from every part of the UK,” Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC.
2025 will be an important year for Apple, according to Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman. What we can expect in terms of iPhone, iPad and Mac in 2025 has already been subject to extensive discussion, but in Gurman’s latest Power One Newsletter, the Bloomberg analyst not only gives a clear and concise summary of all Apple’s plans, but also includes a few tidbits of new and exciting information. Chronologically, the Apple product year will begin with a milestone, namely the iPhone SE of 2025 (Codename V59), which, according to recent rumors, will not be called iPhone SE 4 or iPhone SE 2025 but rather iPhone 16E.
The launch of a huge, partially reusable rocket, built by Jeff Bezos’s company, has been called off this morning after hours of delays. The 98-metre rocket, called New Glenn, is around as tall as Big Ben. It was set to carry up to 45 tonnes of tech to low Earth orbit. However, the team at Blue Origin, Amazon founder Mr Bezos’s space technology company, confirmed this morning that the launch was called off. The decision came following a series of delays due to unspecified issues. Sky News
Apple has asked shareholders to vote against a proposal to scrap its diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, as tech rivals scale back similar schemes before Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative thinktank, wants the iPhone maker to end its DEI efforts because they expose companies to “litigation, reputational and financial risks”. The proposal will be voted on at Apple’s annual general meeting on 25 February. In a notice to shareholders, Apple’s board has recommended investors vote against the proposal. The Guardian
The Cupra Leon will go fully electric for its next generation as the Spanish brand looks to futureproof the nameplate. Arriving at the start of the next decade, the new Leon will be the fourth EV from the Volkswagen Group brand. It will join the forthcoming sub-€25,000 (sub-£20,800) Raval, the VW ID 5-twinned Tavascan and the Born, which is likely to enter a new generation just before the electric Leon arrives. Before then, the current Leon, available with pure-ICE and plug-in hybrid powertrains, will be updated in line with upcoming Euro 7 emission regulations.
The last thing any big tech or gaming company wants in the weeks before it unveils its latest product is a whole heap of leaks. In Nintendo’s case the last few weeks have been something of a deluge. The Nintendo Switch 2 is confirmed as being imminent, but we’ve seen too much of the console by now. We know with a good degree of certainty what its logo will look like, the size of its display, the overall design it’ll go with, and how its detachable Joy-Con controllers will differ from the last generation. T3.com
