How TikTok failed to take down Perez Hilton’s livestream
The celebrity blogger was hospitalised after allegedly harming himself on a TikTok livestream. Now the platform is reckoning with the consequences. Last Tuesday, celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton (born Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr.) appeared on a TikTok livestream naked, covered in a red substance that appeared to be blood, and...
Current in Tech
EA acquisition by Saudi-led group finalised
Popular gaming publisher Electronic Arts (EA) is about to be purchased by a group of buyers, including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). It is likely to be the largest leveraged buyout in history. The $55 billion USD purchase of gaming giant EA has reportedly been finalised. The company will now...
AI detection is coming to Substack
Substack is rolling out a new AI detection feature able to scan posts, notes, replies, and comments. Substack is one of the last safe havens for organic human-written content, right? This week, the beloved writing platform announced its imminent integration with AI detection software Pangram. It will allow users to...
Does V.A.R suggest the future of super technology isn’t so black-and-white?
The intense backlash against digital interventions in sport proves we’re still slow to trust the tech designed to help us. For all the promises made about Video Assistant Referee (V.A.R) technology, if this World Cup has proved one thing it’s that people don't want perfect decisions. They’d rather have decisions...
Is loneliness the latest Gen Z status symbol?
A pivot on singledom, the rise of ‘lonely influencers’, and a crackdown on self-optimisation have more and more of us romanticising the lonely life. I’ve grown up feeling that loneliness is something to hide, or at least feel negative about. My earliest visualisation of adult loneliness was probably Bridget Jones singing...
Yes, it’s true: Sony is ditching physical discs in 2028
Sony has announced it will no longer be making physical discs for any new releases starting in January 2028. A major blow to the secondhand market, the change means that console players no longer own any game they purchase. Sony, the producer of PlayStation consoles, has announced that it will...
Toy Story 5 comes for big tech, but does the moral lesson land?
The latest instalment in the beloved franchise tackles a new villain: the iPad. But what does ‘Toy Story 5’ get wrong about kids and screentime? Since the first film dropped way back in 1995, Toy Story has warmed hearts and raised minds with its ragtag group of friends. Each iteration of the franchise – like every good kids movie – has presented a moral lesson, often taught with the assistance of a...
HR teams are constantly battling AI generated grievances
HR teams are reporting being bogged down by overly lengthy grievances framed around legal precedents that don’t even exist. Rearing its head on a daily basis, the culprit is generative AI. Have you ever felt so aggrieved you couldn’t articulate yourself properly? Maybe you considered letting AI be angry for you? If the answer is yes, and your choice of battleground was email, you may be one of a growing number...
Could white hydrogen discovery fast-track global shift to clean energy?
While billions have been poured into manufacturing hydrogen the dirty way, experts in Canada found what was once thought to be impossible: a steady stream of white hydrogen. Last year, thanks to a surge in solar panel installations, the world raved about how renewables overtook coal to become one of the largest suppliers of energy. Not to burst that bubble, but as great as that achievement is, it only...
Why Elon Musk’s trillionaire status is unsettling
His exorbitant wealth reflects a broken economic system both funded and relied on by everyday people. There are milestones that tell us something profound about society. Like the first person to walk on the moon, or the invention of the internet. And then there’s the world’s first trillionaire – a title won by tech entrepreneur and far-right commentator Elon Musk. A trillion dollars is a figure so obscenely large that it defies...
