UK borrowing rises to £20.2bn, putting pressure on Rachel Reeves
Posted on Thursday May 22, 2025

April figure more than expected and comes despite increase in employer national insurance contributionsJump in UK borrowing shows Rachel Reeves needs to relax her strict budget rulesBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK government borrowed more than expected in April, underscoring the challenge for Rachel Reeves to fix public services and grow the economy while meeting her fiscal rules.With the chancellor under pressure on Labour’s tax plans, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing rose to £20.2bn in April, £1bn more than the same month a year earlier. City economists had forecast borrowing of £17.9bn. Continue reading...

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iPhone design guru and OpenAI chief promise an AI device revolution
Posted on Thursday May 22, 2025

Sam Altman and Jony Ive say mystery product created by their partnership will be the coolest thing everEverything over the last 30 years, according to Sir Jony Ive, has led to this moment: a partnership between the iPhone designer and the developer of ChatGPT.Ive has sold his hardware startup, io, to OpenAI and will take on creative and design leadership across the merged businesses. “I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this place, to this moment,” he says in a video announcing the $6.4bn (£4.8bn) deal. Continue reading...

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AI could account for nearly half of datacentre power usage ‘by end of year’
Posted on Thursday May 22, 2025

Analysis comes as energy agency predicts systems will need as much energy by end of decade as Japan uses todayArtificial intelligence systems could account for nearly half of datacentre power consumption by the end of this year, analysis has revealed.The estimates by Alex de Vries-Gao, the founder of the Digiconomist tech sustainability website, came as the International Energy Agency forecast that AI would require almost as much energy by the end of this decade as Japan uses today. Continue reading...

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AI could account for nearly half of datacentre power usage ‘by end of year’
Posted on Thursday May 22, 2025

Analysis comes as energy agency predicts systems will need as much energy by end of decade as Japan uses todayArtificial intelligence systems could account for nearly half of datacentre power consumption by the end of this year, analysis has revealed.The estimates by Alex de Vries-Gao, the founder of the Digiconomist tech sustainability website, came as the International Energy Agency forecast that AI would require almost as much energy by the end of this decade as Japan uses today. Continue reading...

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OpenAI buys iPhone architect’s startup for $6.4bn
Posted on Wednesday May 21, 2025

The untested hardware startup, called io, was founded by Apple design guru Jony IveOpenAI is buying an untested startup for $6.4bn, the ChatGPT maker’s biggest acquisition yet. The hardware startup, called io, was founded by Apple design guru Jony Ive, known best as one of the principal architects of the iPhone. Ive and OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, said in a blog post that their partnership has been two years in the making.“A collaboration built upon friendship, curiosity and shared values quickly grew in ambition,” they wrote in the blog post, which offered scant details on upcoming devices. “Tentative ideas and explorations evolved into tangible designs.” Continue reading...

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Manchester United face urgent dilemma: ditch Amorim or revamp the squad | Jonathan Wilson
Posted on Thursday May 22, 2025

Not many at Old Trafford are suited to the manager’s trusty 3-4-2-1 but replacing them will cost hundreds of millionsEverything always seems clearer in the morning, and in the cold grey light of Thursday, the prognosis for Manchester United is bleak. While Tottenham face an awkward calculation – weighing up whether the delirium of a first European trophy in 41 years offsets their worst league season in terms of proportion of games lost – for Manchester United the equation is far starker.Ruben Amorim will only play in one way. He is committed absolutely, uncompromisingly, irrevocably to the 3-4-2-1. Liverpool considered him, looked at their squad, realised the two things did not go together, appointed Arne Slot and won the league. Manchester United looked at their squad, flinched at the horror, and seem to have reasoned it was such a mess that it was impossible to find a manager whose philosophy would fit. There was a dissenting voice, Dan Ashworth, but at the court of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, reasoned doubts are as unwelcome as a free lunch. Continue reading...

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David Squires on … Ange Postecoglou winning the Europa League for Australia
Posted on Thursday May 22, 2025

Our cartoonist looks at the Tottenham coach fulfilling his prophecy by lifting a trophy in his second year with the club Continue reading...

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