He was at the heart of 1960s counterculture, then paved the way for the libertarian mindset of Silicon Valley. At 87, Brand is still keen to ensure the world is maintained properly – not just today, but for the next 10,000 years

Stewart Brand thinks big and long. He thinks on a planetary scale – as suggested by the title of his celebrated Whole Earth Catalog – and on the longest of timeframes, as with his Long Now Foundation , which looks forward to the next 10,000 years of human civilisation. He has had a lifelong fascination with the future, and anything that could get us there faster, from space travel to psychedelic drugs to computing. In fact, he was arguably the bridge between the San Francisco counterculture of the 60s and present-day Silicon Valley: in his commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005, Steve Jobs eulogised the Whole Earth Catalog and Brand’s philosophy, and echoed its farewell mantra: “ Stay hungry. Stay foolish .”

You could say that Brand has also lived big and long. He is now 87 years old, in the final chapters of an eventful and adventurous life that has crossed paths with some of the most consequential events and figures of his era. He has been a writer, an editor, a publisher, a soldier, a photojournalist, an LSD evangelist, an events organiser, a future-planning consultant, even a government adviser (to the California governor Jerry Brown in the late 70s). “There was a time when people asked me, ‘What do you do?’ I said, ‘I find things and I found things,’” says Brand, as in he is a founder. He is speaking from a library where he likes to work in Petaluma, California, not far from his houseboat in Sausalito. “I’m always searching for good stuff to recommend, and good people.”

Sammy Azdoufal alerted New York-based outlet the Verge after he took control of DJI Romo devices around the world

A Spanish software engineer reportedly contacted a New York -based tech outlet recently to reveal he had remotely taken control of about 7,000 vacuums worldwide , in the process shedding light on a broad vulnerability with smart products, according to a cybersecurity expert.

The Verge reported that the situation came to light when Sammy Azdoufal was trying to reverse-engineer his new DJI Romo vacuum so that he could control it with his Playstation 5 gamepad.

National security committee warns until tougher safeguards are in place, UK elections dangerously exposed to covert foreign money

Political donations in cryptocurrency should be subject to an urgent temporary ban to stop foreign interference in British elections, the chair of the national security committee has said.

Matt Western, who leads the committee of MPs and peers, said a moratorium was needed until the risks of donations in cryptocurrency have been dealt with – including adequate checks on the source of the money.

Scenario posted on Substack envisages a near-future in which autonomous systems upend the entire US economy

US stock markets have been hit by a further wave of AI jitters, this time from yet another viral – and completely speculative – warning about the impact of the technology on the world’s largest economy.

The latest foreboding is from Citrini Research, a little-know US firm that provides insights on “transformative ‘megatrends’”. Its post on Substack , which it called a “scenario, not a prediction”, rattled investors by portraying a near-future in which autonomous AI systems – or agents – upend the entire US economy, from jobs to markets and mortgages.

We report from California’s Silicon Valley, where billionaires pour money into midterms, and the AI Impact summit, where India pushes back on ‘AI monopoly’ held by US and China

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. This week, we’re examining the tech industry’s push for influence in two places separated by a time difference of 13 hours and 30 minutes. The first is where tech sees its next big market, the second its home turf. My colleague Robert Booth reports from last week’s India AI Impact summit , where tech companies pledged to spend tens of billions in the coming year to build customer bases and data centers in the subcontinent. Dara Kerr and Lauren Gambino reported from Silicon Valley, where billionaires are marshalling their wealth to influence California’s politics at greater levels than they ever have before.

Nascent tech, real fear: how AI anxiety is upending career ambitions

How the anxiety over AI could fuel a new workers’ movement

The bogus four-day workweek that AI supposedly ‘frees up’

AI is already coming for our dignity – tricking us with amusing little online scenarios. How long before it comes for everything else?

Moan all you like about technology, there’s no denying it’s made friendship easier. In an ideal world you would spend quality time together, have deep meaningful chats on the phone and swap well thought out, insightful texts. But when you’re busy, tired, or just not in the mood, what a relief that you can send a meme, or a quick video, and know that fully counts as keeping in touch. Result.

My terrifying, omniscient algorithm served me an Instagram reel last week of an incredibly realistic 3D hole a street artist had painted on the sidewalk in New York. As people tried to pass by, they glanced down, saw the hole and panicked, feeling that they were falling, so dropping to the ground, even though of course the pavement was flat and solid. It was funny and, I thought, clever, so I pinged it to a friend, who I was sure would agree. Instead, he told me, in extremely certain terms, that there was no 3D hole, no street artist, and no passersby – because the clip was AI. Heck, New York might not even exist – at this point I can’t be sure of anything.

Information Commissioner’s Office imposes largest fine yet for a breach of children’s privacy

The UK information regulator has fined the social news service Reddit £14.5m for using the data of children under the age of 13 unlawfully and potentially exposing them to inappropriate and harmful content.

The hefty punishment from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the largest fine yet for a breach of children’s privacy and comes after the US-based company introduced age checks in July, including age verification to access mature content. Prior to this, the ICO said, there were “a large number of children under 13 on the platform and Reddit did not have a lawful basis for processing their personal information”.

Facebook owner’s investment described by semiconductor company as ‘big bet’ on artificial intelligence

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The owner of Facebook has agreed to buy $60bn (£44.5bn) of artificial intelligence chips from the US semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices despite fears over the vast sums being spent on the AI industry .

Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, has clinched the five-year deal in which it will also buy 10% of the chip company.

Claim of ‘abetting terrorist activities’ comes as Kremlin attempts to steer users on to state-controlled app

Russia has launched a criminal investigation into the Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, on suspicion of “abetting terrorist activities”, further escalating the Kremlin’s standoff with the widely used messaging app.

The state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported on Tuesday that a case had been opened “based on materials from Russia’s federal security service”, which accused the app of being compromised by western and Ukrainian intelligence.