Tech

Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI could face investigation by the UK’s competition regulator.The tech giant is a major investor and strengthened ties following the chatbot’s wildly successful launch in November 2022, committing another $10bn (£7.9bn) earlier this year.It is reported to own a 49% stake in the company, which is at the forefront of artificial intelligence development.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) wants to review whether the partnership has led to an acquisition of control, if a de facto merger has taken place, and if this could impact competition.It has asked interested parties – which could include rivals like Google – to comment on the arrangement with a view to potentially launching an investigation.Microsoft, which is thou...

The debut trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI has been released, offering fans their first official look at the long-awaited sequel.More than 10 years after the last instalment hit shop shelves, developer Rockstar finally showed off what it’s been working on after the footage leaked on social media.Sky News combed through the 91-second teaser to glean as many details as we can – here’s what we’ve learned.The wait will go onWe’ll start at the end, with the trailer closing out with confirmation the game won’t arrive until 2025.That’ll make it 12 years since the release of GTA V, which has sold an astonishing 185 million copies. It’s by far the longest gap between entries in the franchise.Fitting then that Rockstar picked Tom Petty‘s Love Is A Long Road as the backing track for the trailer.But lo...

A respiratory infection that starts in China, then spreads in Europe and leads to a surge in hospital admissions. Sounds familiar?But it’s not COVID this time. It’s a bacterium called mycoplasma pneumoniae that’s behind many of the cases. And it’s children who are particularly affected.So what’s going on?The bug usually causes relatively mild symptoms. It’s even called “walking pneumonia”.But in many countries, there’s been a spike of more serious infections.Paediatric clinics in China have been overwhelmed, as my colleague Helen-Ann Smith has reported.Meanwhile in Denmark, the State Serum Institute says rates are at epidemic levels, with 541 cases last week, more than three times the number in the middle of October.And in the Netherlands, cases have risen sharply since August, with rates ...

A firefighter has spoken of the moment he arrived at a property engulfed by flames after an e-bike battery exploded, as calls grow for the government to crack down on the devices.The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) is backing proposals by charity Electrical Safety First for the batteries to be regulated like fireworks and heavy machinery, which require third-party approval before going on sale.Nine people have died in fires linked to the devices this year, including a woman and two children in Cambridge, while other families have seen their homes gutted by flames.Phil Bowman, from the London Fire Brigade (LFB), attended a devastating fire at a house in Ilford last summer.Residents were woken by a popping noise and smoke after a battery charging next to their bed blew up.“The fire was r...

Every time a virus jumps from animals into humans there is a shudder of alarm.So-called zoonotic diseases have resulted in pandemics in the past, most recently of course COVID-19.That’s why the UK Health Security Agency is trying to work out how someone in Yorkshire has been infected with a strain of flu so similar to a virus circulating in pigs in the UK.We don’t know much about the individual. But we do know they only had mild symptoms and fully recovered.And they didn’t work with pigs. That’s the puzzle.Does it mean that the virus is circulating in people, undetected until now?NEW SWINE FLU STRAIN FOUND IN BRITISH PERSON: WHAT WE KNOWA person in North Yorkshire has been diagnosed with a strain of flu similar to a virus circulating in pigs.Is this swine flu? Bird flu? Both? Have there be...

A gene variant that helps regulate body weight could aid in tackling obesity, scientists have said.The ZFHX3 gene mutation – thought to exist in 4% of people – has been found to control parts of the brain responsible for appetite.Scientists at Nottingham Trent University and MRC Harwell uncovered the mechanism which allows the mutated gene to play a key role in regulating appetite, weight and the insulin hormone in mice.They found it can affect a region of the brain known as the hypothalamus – which controls appetite, food intake, hunger and thirst – by switching on and off the function of other genes there.Researchers said understanding this pathway, which has been reported in the journal FASEB (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology), could pave the way for new targete...

Sam Altman – the public face of ChatGPT maker OpenAI – has returned to the company just days after his shock ousting.Not being “consistently candid in his communications” was the charge laid at his feet by the board when the stunning decision to remove him was announced on Friday.But within days, the 38-year-old was tipped for a return, those who toppled him seemingly harbouring second thoughts after the company president walked out and staff threatened to follow.And now, less than a week later, he is indeed back.Given Mr Altman and OpenAI are at the forefront of the AI revolution, the sense of Succession-style chaos should concern us all.Here’s everything we know – and why it matters.Shock departureMr Altman’s sacking was announced in an unassuming OpenAI press release.Coming just weeks a...

HSBC’s online and mobile banking services have been restored after customers faced major disruption on Black Friday.The bank said the issues began just after 8am on the busy shopping day due to an issue with its “internal systems”.Services were back and up and running on Saturday morning, having started to return late on Friday.HSBC apologised for the problems, saying in a statement on X it was “deeply frustrating for many of our customers”.“We’re really sorry to those impacted and we’ll continue to monitor systems closely,” it added. Image:The bank’s message during the outageThe bank posted regular updates online throughout Black Friday, but some complainants demanded compensation.One wrote on X: “Surely some form of compensation would be issued here? Some people have had a nightmare day...

A rare and extremely high-energy particle has been detected falling to Earth by astronomers.Named after the Japanese sun goddess, Amaterasu, it is one of the highest-energy cosmic rays ever detected, according to scientists.The Amaterasu particle has an energy exceeding 240 exa-electron volts (EeV) and comes only second in recorded history to the Oh-My-God particle, another ultra-high-energy cosmic ray which was detected in 1991, possessing 320 EeV of energy.The origins of the particle are unknown, but experts believe that only the most powerful celestial events – bigger than a star explosion – can create them.Toshihiro Fujii, an associate professor at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan, said he thought there “must have been a mistake” when he first discovered the particle.“It showed a...

Experts in etiquette have advised on the best way people should use their mobile phones – including no longer leaving voicemails.Those who want to call a friend would be better off messaging them first to nail down a time to speak if they do not pick up straight away, says DeBretts.The firm said: “This preamble might seem cumbersome to traditional phone addicts who love nothing more than spontaneously picking up the phone, but it is considered a much less stressful way of initiating contact, since it minimises intrusion and enables people to manage their own time.”DeBretts’ ‘ten commandments’ also include advising people not to expect calls to be answered straight away – unless they are someone older who “still possesses vestiges of the old obedience to the phone’s clarion call”, adding a ...