42% of UK garden space has been paved over & that's building urban heat, robbing wildlife of homes + surging runoff into drains, increasing flood risk + sewage discharge. De-pave Your Garden says even just using planting strips on your drive can make a huge difference. share.google/Dkb3FOi35hqp...

Striking that the main voices of concern here are venture capitalists like Matt Clifford. Given DSIT has very much followed their line, it's perhaps not a surprise they want to keep it as-is. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Unfettered access to chatbots can harm educational outcomes Using AI while solving problems improves performance by 48% (GPT base). When access to AI was taken away, students actually performed worse than those who never had access (17% reduction in grades) www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Peter Thiel: I no longer believe democracy and freedom are compatible. Axel Springer: here's an award for supporting the resilience of democracies. www.welt.de/wirtschaft/a...

As others have pointed out, "forward-deployed engineer" is a term v much associated with Palantir. Why are ministers using this embarrassing pseudo-military language?

Important letter from NHS tech experts on concerns over Palantir's Federated Data Platform (FDP): "we believe the FDP in its current form represents a risk to patient trust, staff wellbeing, data quality, national sovereignty and the long term integrity of NHS data infrastructure."

This is astonishing: contacted for comment about a discredited figure on Palantir's benefit to the NHS, a Govt spokesperson just repeats the figure: www.hsj.co.uk/technology-a...

MPs say: "There is serious mistrust of the Palantir created Federated Data Platform amongst both the general public and the medical profession." "The evidence of the benefits of the current Federated Data Platform is contested"

Commons Health Select Committee joins the Tech Committee in calling for an end to Palantir's NHS contract: committees.parliament.uk/publications...

"The battle to build data centres is so fierce that the tech giants are not hanging around and waiting for a backlogged grid connection like other companies. Instead, they are funding their own off-grid power plants...often going for systems powered by gas and diesel" www.ft.com/content/7800...

Still no answer from the health secretary on why the Govt continues to use dodgy stats on Palantir which they have admitted don't stand up. www.theregister.com/public-secto...

Govt ministers and Palantir continue to claim the NHS platform is delivering benefits, despite just about everyone admitting those claims don't stand up - including now even the Chief Exec of NHS England www.hsj.co.uk/technology-a...

It was great to speak to the FT about Palantir and why they should have no role in our NHS. Thank you @financialtimes.com and @dangarrahan.bsky.social for having me. @foxglovelegal.bsky.social has been fighting to keep Palantir out of the NHS since 2019 & will continue to do so with our partners.

Mark Zuckerberg was presumably awake at some point during the past year, but despite that still seems to think it's a good idea to launch a new tool encouraging non-consensual AI manipulation of other people's images: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

If this goes through, Scotland's data centre policy could end up being both a moratorium (from Holyrood) and AI Growth Zones (from Westminster) www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

When it comes to the military uses of Google's products, or the way the company has retaliated against staff who raise concerns, Google's in-house philosophers are strangely silent: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

It's very hard to see how whether to remain on X is a "difficult decision" for a *school*. It's astonishing that any of them are still there.

The Govt's quiet admission that its Palantir claims don't stand up was highlighted by @foxglovelegal.bsky.social & the FT in recent weeks. But ministers are still trotting out these dodgy figures in parliament. www.ft.com/content/9348...

Great news that the UK stats regulator is looking into the dodgy claims made by ministers in support of Palantir: www.hsj.co.uk/technology-a...

19 June: "Foxglove said Jones should recuse herself from decision-making related to the upcoming break clause of Palantir’s NHS contract" www.ft.com/content/b8ee... 3 July: www.ft.com/content/9ea6...

Really important investigation showing that the Govt's and Palantir's claims fall apart when they're subjected to scrutiny. And NHSE knows the numbers don't add up: "Over the course of four days of calls and emails, NHS England did not respond to any of the questions we sent them about the data".

⛽"Fossil fuel emissions have rapidly worsened European heatwaves in just a few decades", according to @wwattribution.bsky.social 🔥Yet the power of fossil fuel companies to dictate all our futures continues. There are arsonists at the highest positions of influence in our societies. 1/

2 absolute WHOPPER quotes from data centre developers #1 is from Digital Realty, a massive data centre developer Just....soak this one in. Absolutely stunning "This year was the worst winter in the history of my home state, Colorado. It breaks my heart and now I’m developing 10 gas plants"

Reform UK’s biggest donor owns a company contracted to supply fuel to aircraft from refineries that make extensive use of Russian oil, The Times can reveal. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Quite striking to see how much space is being given to Big Tech's data warehouses in areas where houses for people are in short supply - this is Microsoft's new facility in Acton: ukstories.microsoft.com/features/bui...

New from 404 Media: Henrico County is a major hub for data centers in Virginia. Its officials said it expects a 25% rise in electricity costs next year, and advised workers to close the blinds and turn off their computers to make up for it. www.404media.co/henrico-virg...

Interesting - apparently a Palantir “drop in“ event in parliament was organised by a conservative peer whose former adviser is now a Palantir lobbyist.

It's striking how the Big Tech firms - Google, Anthropic - are now touting their 'in-house philosophers'. And depressing that people who should know better are falling for what is just a new kind of marketing. Is 'philosophy-washing' a term yet, and if not does it need to be?

Quite an achievement to write a massive piece about "ethics" at Google DeepMind and manage not to mention a single time that they're sacking staff for opposing their military work. www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

This is remarkable.

The situation in Nabatiyeh, #Lebanon, is devastating. Our teams describe conditions that resemble a death trap, with people caught under heavy shelling and rescue teams unable to safely reach them. Read our full statement: www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/lebanon-msf-...

NHS admits the 'Uptake and Benefits' page for the Federated Data Platform... does not in fact prove Palantir's kit has delivered any benefits to the NHS. We've written to Health Sec James Murray asking for an explanation. Great reporting from @laurahughesft.bsky.social: www.ft.com/content/9348...

Both ministers and Palantir have gone on about the 100k extra operations their tools have supposedly delivered. But the Govt quietly added this (staggering) caveat to its claims.

The Government has quietly updated its claims about the benefits of Palantir to the NHS to admit that they don't really stand up: www.ft.com/content/9348...

Would be interested to know how EU countries square 'sovereignty' concerns with joining a US-led initiative set up by a Palantir adviser: www.ft.com/content/681c...

It tells you everything you need to know about Kemi Badneoch and Nigel Farage that as London schools, hospitals and transport networks all buckle under extreme record-breaking temperatures, they gather with fossil fuel lobbyists, climate deniers and the far-right to demand an end to Net Zero

The rise of larger vehicles like SUVs and pickup trucks, with their taller hoods and larger blind zones, has contributed to a 75% increase in pedestrian and cyclist deaths since 2009. Until we design better streets and ban these vehicles, people outside these vehicles will keep dying.

If any part of the UK hits 40C or near it this week, it will be a deeply concerning, record-breaking moment. 40.3C is UK's highest ever recorded temp - from 2022, in *July*, traditionally the hottest month. We could be about to see that record neared in *June*. Current record June temp = 35.6C.

Just an aside, but the expected new PM has announced his intention to stand on a social media site awash with racism, antisemitism, sexism and far right calls to depose the UK government - led by the site's owner.

Another bid for a Musk-style, fossil gas-powered data centre in the UK. 'Each building would be "powered individually" said Kohler, by a proposed gas generating station on the campus.' www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

NEW: On OpenAI's hiring of Noam Shazeer, now-former Google Gemini co-lead and, before that, a cofounder of Character.AI -- a deeply strange and often alarming AI platform linked to multiple teen suicides and many other safety/moderation issues. futurism.com/artificial-i...

UK Govt/Palantir revolving door latest:

Palantir UK manager Louis Mosley: "ideologically motivated campaigners" shouldn't be listened to. Also Louis Mosley: “We are an ideological company”. Ideology's ok so long as that ideology is Peter Thiel's? www.theguardian.com/technology/2... www.ft.com/content/5524...

An angle on today's by-election news for Palantir watchers: Manchester Integrated Care Board, which reports in to Andy Burnham as mayor, has been one of the hold-outs against Palantir in the NHS: www.theregister.com/public-secto...

UK Cabinet Office hiring AI and innovation 'influencer' to build 'AI-first culture' in civil service

One department leaving is good. Now all must follow.

Good news. Though arguably they should also stop directing people to X from their gov.uk site.

Amazon employees say they’re facing termination for backing data center limits

Basic common sense stuff from France - don't give a company run by a man hostile to democracy a role at the heart of your security services. www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

🚨 Are you at London Climate Week? Join @foxglovelegal.bsky.social @globalactionplan.bsky.social, Housing Assembly Legal Resource Centre, @meadwaj.bsky.social & at our event: Data centres: powering AI or costing the earth? Limited tickets availably sign up here. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/data-centr...