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OpenAI’s London staff receive average of £2.3m per person annually

14 October 2026 at 15:15

Accounts for the Westminster-based company behind ChatGPT show that 110 staff shared £87m in salaries and £168m in shares last year

OpenAI’s London staff each received £2,318,181 on average last year, as the ChatGPT-maker poured Premier League football salaries into its bid to dominate the global AI race.

Accounts for OpenAI UK Ltd, which is based in Westminster but is opening a new HQ in London’s King’s Cross area, showed that 110 staff shared £87m in salaries and £168m in shares in the company, which is aiming to list on the stock market at a valuation of about $1tn.

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© Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

© Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

© Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

Zimbabwean author Simbarashe Kundizeza denies using AI to write prize-winning story

14 October 2026 at 15:01

Article in Atlantic claims The Blue Fighter was artificially generated, days after it won Caine prize for African writers

The Zimbabwean writer Simbarashe Kundizeza has denied using AI to write a prize-winning short story after an article in the Atlantic said software had flagged it as almost completely AI-generated.

Kundizeza’s story The Blue Fighter was announced as the winner of the prestigious Caine prize for African writers on 6 October. Five days later, The Atlantic published an article by the author and journalist Vauhini Vara titled: “Yet Another Literary prize winner Seems to Be AI.”

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© Photograph: pr image

© Photograph: pr image

© Photograph: pr image

Could AI ‘change the stakes’ in the development of bioweapons?

14 October 2026 at 13:34

Experts say the technology could help terrorists and nation states with production but that significant hurdles remain

In his annual speech on threats to the nation, Sir Ken McCallum, the head of the UK’s intelligence service, MI5, warned that AI had the potential to “change the stakes” on existing and even new bioweapons. Here we look at how AI might help in the development of bioweapons and the hurdles that remain.

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© Photograph: The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East/AP

© Photograph: The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East/AP

© Photograph: The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East/AP

To unlock Britain’s innovation potential, Labour needs to think outside the box | Letters

14 October 2026 at 12:19

Kate Fleming says the government must look beyond the models it rewards today, while Jenny Haigh says unlocking potential means recognising that creativity and science are partners

Gordon Brown wants Britain to invent, invest in and own the future (British households would be £5,000 richer if we were more innovative. Let’s unleash our talents, 9 October). But invent what, and for whom? His hunt for “lost Einsteins” rests on a narrow vision: a lone genius invents, commercialisation scales, the problem is solved.

That may suit a cancer drug, but not the wicked problems of our time – social care, education, climate – which demand not silver bullets but new technologies and practices for collaboration, distributed ownership and collective innovation.

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© Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

© Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

© Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

Nvidia, worth $5.5tn, donates $250m to UK for AI safety research

Pledge spanning five years from world’s most valuable firm comes as concerns about AI agents have risen

The $5.5tn (£4.1tn) US chipmaker Nvidia is donating $250m worth of computing power to the UK to support AI safety research.

The donation from the world’s most valuable company comes as the UK government confirmed its AI Security Institute (AISI), which tests advance AI models, will be able to examine cutting-edge technology developed by companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google before they are released.

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© Photograph: Manami Yamada/Reuters

© Photograph: Manami Yamada/Reuters

© Photograph: Manami Yamada/Reuters

Bank of England and IMF bosses warn of cyber threat to trust in financial system

14 October 2026 at 05:07

Kristalina Georgieva says online fraud could lead people to opt out of system and turn to ‘shoeboxes under their bed’

The heads of the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund have issued a stark warning that rising cyber-attacks risk undermining trust in the financial system.

Speaking on a panel about online fraud at the IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok, the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, pointed to alarming headlines about self-replicating AI agents hijacking personal devices, and the French supermarket hack that heated fridges up to 50C.

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© Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

© Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

© Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

Use of AI in job interviews on the rise – but UK recruiters say they can spot the cheats

Body representing some of Britain’s biggest graduate employers reveals misconduct is at a record high

It is obvious when someone is using AI to drum up answers in a job interview, according to Chris Morrow, who runs a recruitment agency in Manchester.

“It’s like they are reading off an Autocue,” he said.

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© Photograph: golubovy/Getty images

© Photograph: golubovy/Getty images

© Photograph: golubovy/Getty images

Saudi OpenAI employee arrested after recording device found in headquarters

13 October 2026 at 18:59

Discovery of ‘sophisticated’ gadget adds to company’s list of privacy concerns after hackings by rogue agents

OpenAI said it has found a hidden recording device in one of its offices and has referred the matter to the FBI. One of its employees has been arrested.

In a statement on Tuesday, the San Francisco-based AI company said it discovered the “sophisticated recording device” and used one of its “models to understand the device and where it had come from”.

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© Photograph: DOJ/Reuters

© Photograph: DOJ/Reuters

© Photograph: DOJ/Reuters

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