Join us on June 4 @ 12:30 pm ET: In an event produced with our partners @pulitzercenter.org, D&S researchers @livgar.bsky.social & @briana-v.bsky.social and Pulitzer Center Fellow @paticlarke.bsky.social will discuss chatbots and mental health! pulitzercenter.org/event/invest...

Half of UK children own an AI-enabled toy or tablet. Most of the talking ones run on models like ChatGPT and DeepSeek, whose terms of service ban use by under-13s. My new piece for @observeruk.bsky.social on the rise, and risks, of AI toys 🧸🤖 observer.co.uk/news/science...

⚠️ CW: suicide When AI chatbots encounter suicidal users, they direct them to crisis services. But, in the global south, some of the organisations receiving those referrals say they never agreed to be part of the system – and are overwhelmed by the consequences observer.co.uk/news/science...

Billionaire-backed startup convenes ‘AI juries’ to take aim at journalists A new venture from the man who helped Peter Thiel bankrupt Gawker is a ‘chilling’ move into censorship, critics tell Patricia Clarke https://bit.ly/4w8tqzf

I interviewed the founder of a Peter Thiel-backed startup that wants to use AI “juries” to grade journalists and score their credibility. Aron D’Souza says ”more billionaires than he can count” are queuing up to support him. What could go wrong? observer.co.uk/news/science...

My investigation into the mental health harms of AI chatbots was on the cover of Sunday's Observer. It's the story of Jim, a 51-year-old from the West Country who was sectioned after weeks of conversations with Elon Musk's Grok. As we discovered, he is far from alone🧵 observer.co.uk/news/technol...

AI psychosis: a mental health crisis for the 21st century. Chatbot dependence is reportedly affecting hundreds of thousands of people. What needs to be done to make AI safe? by @paticlarke.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/technol... via @theobserveruk.bsky.social @sophienadeau.bsky.social

Thrilled to be nominated for Audio Journalist of the Year at the Wincott awards alongside Jonathan Lewis for our podcast Bumble vs the men's rights activists! Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/5IpX...

My quick search of Character. AI revealed a chatbot called “Abused wife”, which describes itself as “more of a slave than a wife. Every time She messes up or doesn’t listen You Hit her.” There is also “sexy child”, described as “here to greet you desires”

Two alarming reports published this week highlight how generative AI is enabling violence against women and girls on an extraordinary scale. My latest @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/science...

My latest: A growing number of lawsuits allege AI chatbots incited users to violence and self-harm. This is an area I'm investigating closely – get in touch if you're open to chatting observer.co.uk/news/science...

If you can't trust a citation, what can you trust? AI chatbots are inventing academic sources – and some scholars are citing them. My latest on "scholarly slop" for @theobserveruk.bsky.social w/ thanks to @benpatrickwill.bsky.social & everyone who spoke to me observer.co.uk/news/science...

Deep down this is about the (perceived) death of expertise -- people who believe that a chatbot is a suitable substitute for years of professional training and experience. And sometimes they heap the negative externalities onto actual pros. Solid read by @paticlarke.bsky.social :

Meet the vibe lawyers: the people using chatbots to make complaints or defend themselves in court, wreaking havoc in the justice system observer.co.uk/news/science...

Brilliant piece from my brilliant colleague @theobserveruk.bsky.social, who has lost a life-changing amount of weight thanks to Mounjaro observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

My podcast “Bumble vs the men’s rights activists” is out today! It follows my scoop in December that a small group of men in California sued Bumble for millions of dollars, and ultimately pushed the company to move away from its feminist principles open.spotify.com/episode/5IpX...

What a nugget from the Epstein files: Peter Thiel avoided visiting the island because he didn’t like mosquitoes

New: Together with colleagues I’ve been testing Grok. The chatbot still produces sexualized images — even when told the subjects don’t consent. even when told the photos will be used for public humiliation. even when told the subjects are survivors of abuse. www.reuters.com/business/des...

NEW: "Since @theobserveruk.bsky.social reported on the expansion of the Trump family’s business interests during the second administration, in May 2025, analysts estimate the family’s net worth has increased by several billion dollars" observer.co.uk/news/interna...

ChatGPT’s erotica rollout raises concerns over safety and ethics. Critics warn upcoming adult feature could intensify emotional reliance for vulnerable users and hamper regulators’ ability to control emerging AI. ✍️ @paticlarke.bsky.social https://bit.ly/49HBkXa

OpenAI was founded to build AI “for the benefit of all humanity”. A decade later, it’s planning to launch “erotica” inside ChatGPT. Critics argue revenue growth is winning out over user safety, as mental health concerns mount observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

NEW: The UK is playing “whack-a-mole” with big tech regulation. After the Grok backlash, ministers rushed through an important ban on nudification apps, but it may not even apply to Grok, or stop wider AI harms. Me + @catneilan.bsky.social for @observeruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

UK laws in response to Grok won’t stop harms. ‘We are behind the curve,’ warns Harriet Harman, who fears the country is adopting a scattergun approach to big tech regulation. ✍️ @catneilan.bsky.social and @paticlarke.bsky.social. https://bit.ly/4qZfgx8

The UK is hoping to build a "coalition of decency", following the Grok nudification row Govt is speaking to allies in Aus, Canada and the EU, & is even finding unlikely MAGA support No sign they're coming off X for now - but they are considering joining BlueSky observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

You can listen to my previous work on the industry here observer.co.uk/listen/daily...

I wrote about prediction markets arriving at UK shores for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/busines...

Wrote about the men’s rights activists waging war with Bumble observer.co.uk/news/interna...

The return of the dating app’s "girl boss” founder as CEO has done little to allay fears that its feminist principles have been dropped in the face of thousands of legal challenges by men’s rights activists. ✍️ @paticlarke.bsky.social https://bit.ly/3Y25Xjp

"Wasn’t this app supposed to empower women to date on their terms?" @paticlarke.bsky.social investigates how a wave of legal threats from men's rights activists pushed Bumble to dilute its core product. https://bit.ly/3Y25Xjp

Amazing story from @paticlarke.bsky.social about the death of the girlboss and feminism in tech

🚨 SCOOP: The dating app Bumble built its brand on women making the first move. But a wave of legal threats from men's rights activists pushed the company to dilute its core product, robbing the company of its USP at a moment when dating apps are already in decline 🧵 observer.co.uk/news/interna...

More on the UAE interest, this time in the tech space, via this Observer article bsky.app/profile/pati...

Who is winning the AI arms race? New data from the @observeruk.bsky.social Global AI Index shows Europe falling behind, China pulling ahead, and the UAE rapidly expanding its influence abroad. So what have we found? Here are three stories behind the numbers 👇 observer.co.uk/data/global-ai

Introducing The Observer’s first ever digital subscription. Become a subscriber today and get: 🗞 Early access to our biggest investigations 📱 Exclusive features on our website and app 📥 Premium newsletters including The Puzzle Edit and Observer Food Weekly Subscribe now: https://bit.ly/3Mr9lSf

Some astonishing reporting on the state of UK maternity care from my Observer colleagues ⬇️

I'm beyond delighted to have been chosen as one of the @pulitzercenter.org’s eight AI Accountability Fellows, among such an inspiring cohort of investigative journalists

As 4chan’s lawyers told me: “4chan will pay the fine when pigs fly. If you see any porcine aviators in the skies above London that will be your cue to assume 4chan has cut Ofcom a check.” observer.co.uk/news/busines...

I'm beyond delighted to have been chosen as one of the @pulitzercenter.org’s eight AI Accountability Fellows, among such an inspiring cohort of investigative journalists

Mind-boggling from @marthagill.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Exc: The Electoral Commission has been given early notice of the UK's first ever crypto donation The has been "made, but not declared", to a party understood to be Reform Reform spox said: "All donations above the reporting limit will be disclosed in the usual way" share.google/VvtjBjEjEjRa...

Solid reporting about the pricier end of the longevity industry. And I'll be damned if this line doesn't also describe the state of genAI. Both fields share that same sales pitch: possible-distant-future benefit in exchange for present-day money.

“What makes a company investable is not necessarily its proximity to a breakthrough, but its ability to monetise belief.”

Private bankers are already offering wealth management plans for cryonically preserved people, in the event that they should ever come back to life. Believe it or not, that was one of the less surreal moments at the Longevity Investors Conference observer.co.uk/news/science...

See also: open.spotify.com/episode/63RB...

Buried in Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the New York Times is an allegation that their reporting is harming… the value of his memecoin h/t @axios.com

FT mag piece from me: Spent a long time looking into the Britannia hotel chain, beneficiaries of a vast amount of taxpayer money via the asylum system on.ft.com/47HEE46

“The virality of the video of Kirk’s death, paired with the amplification of extreme views, creates an impression of “a world that is riven by irreconcilable inter-hatreds”, said Ahmed. In turn, those hatreds may play off each other and become ratified into reality.” observer.co.uk/news/interna...

A city in Honduras is home to a start-up selling experimental gene therapies for $25k a dose. Now, those radical ideas are reaching the US. What happens when biohacking leaves libertarian fringes… and reaches Capitol Hill? Listen to the latest episode of the Slow Newscast: lnk.to/PmOkSmBS

Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/3J7b...

Read all about it: observer.co.uk/news/science...