Aisha Down
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Articles by Aisha Down
Online ads weaponised to deliver 'zero-click' spyware, researchers say
An Israeli advertising agency has been serving millions of online adverts that allow “zero-click” spyware to be used against targets, researchers at a Canadian university have said Citizen Lab, a digital investigations research unit at the University of Toronto, said it believed dozens of devices at the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera had been compromised by spyware delivered through ads run by Discover-Tech, which describes itself as a specialised digital advertising agency.
Israeli firm’s digital ads enabling installation of ‘zero-click’ spyware, researchers say
Millions of users worldwide have been served ads by Discover-Tech since 2024, say researchers. Photograph: Sergio Azenha/Alamy Citizen Lab, a digital investigations research unit at the University of Toronto, said it believed dozens of devices at the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera had been compromised by spyware delivered through ads run by Discover-Tech, which describes itself as a specialised digital advertising agency.
Did Ukrainian strikes on Russian datacentres reduce online disinformation?
Over the weekend, Ukraine carried out at least three airstrikes on datacentres belonging to the Russian search engine giant Yandex. Reports suggest at least two of these datacentres took significant damage, with Telegram footage appearing to show one on fire. Yandex acknowledged the strikes, and Russian media reported that several websites appeared affected by the downed datacentres.
Did Ukrainian strikes on Russian datacentres reduce online disinformation?
Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a large screen. Experts say the Ukrainian president may have overstated his case. Photograph: Attila Husejnow/AP Over the weekend, Ukraine carried out at least three airstrikes on datacentres belonging to the Russian search engine company Yandex. Reports suggest at least two of these datacentres took significant damage, with Telegram footage appearing to show one on fire.
Did Ukrainian strikes on Russian datacentres reduce online disinformation?
Over the weekend, Ukraine carried out at least three airstrikes on datacentres belonging to the Russian search engine giant Yandex. Reports suggest at least two of these datacentres took significant damage, with Telegram footage appearing to show one on fire. Yandex acknowledged the strikes, and Russian media reported that several websites appeared affected by the downed datacentres.
EU drops sponsorship of disinformation conference at Trump officials’ request
Marco Rubio speaks to the press in Pasay, Metro Manila, in July. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images The Trump administration pressured multiple countries to withdraw their sponsorship of a leading European conference on disinformation, with Canada, Lithuania and the EU’s diplomatic service subsequently agreeing to do so, the Guardian understands.
EU drops sponsorship of disinformation conference at Trump officials’ request
The Trump administration pressured multiple countries to withdraw their sponsorship of a leading European conference on disinformation, with Canada, Lithuania and the EU's diplomatic service subsequently agreeing to do so, the Guardian understands. The conference, #Disinfo2026, taking place Wednesday and Thursday, is the annual meetup of Europe's counter-disinformation community and has drawn hundreds of researchers, journalists, technologists and policymakers to a hotel in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Your AI doomsday questions answered: ‘What, if anything, can people like me do about it?’
In realistic terms how would artificial intelligence actually kill me? What is the main proxy threat? Nuclear war, death due to breakdown of society, a virus? I hear all these reports it could kill us but still unsure how that could practically happen?
Why Europe has been absent from the great AI safety debate
Europe's dilemma over AI was rendered in stark terms this week. The head of the continent's central bank, Christine Lagarde, said Europeans have two options: shun the technology and lose out on growth; or embrace it and become dependent on tools developed by the US and China. The great debate over AI safety that has erupted in recent days threatens to make the choice moot.
Sensitive UK police data vulnerable to ‘compromise’ by US government and foreign actors
Vast troves of highly sensitive police data are lying on Microsoft cloud platforms which an official UK security assessment deemed as being vulnerable to “compromise” by foreign actors and the US government, a Guardian investigation can reveal. The files include criminal records, victim statements, internal emails and sensitive information held by more than 40 police forces across the UK.
Could AI really end humanity? Post your questions for our tech reporters now
(Left to right) Guardian tech reporters Aisha Down, Blake Montgomery and Dan Milmo Illustration: Guardian Design Welcome to the conversation Our reporting team has been trying to make sense of the scale of these claims. Is the great AI freakout justified? They will be here from 3pm BST (4pm CEST, 10am EDT) to try and answer any questions you might have. What worries you most about AI? Do you think the coverage is fair? Are the benefits being overshadowed by scare stories?
Revealed: How Russia use mobile ‘super-app’ Max to spy on its citizens
Over the past 18 months, tens of millions of Russians have been forced to install a new app on their phones – a violet-blue button designed for messaging and payments, called Max. Authorities have touted it as a patriotic alternative to Telegram and WhatsApp; Russian glitterati have promoted it in rap videos and comic routines. This summer, it became the country’s most-used messaging app.
Could AI really wipe out humanity and hijack the internet?
There have been some shocking claims in recent days about AI safety: we face a 10% chance of doom; AIs are worse than nukes; a “botnet” threatens the entire internet; it’s all a big tech psyop. We look at six claims and reactions to them. Amodei’s concerns should not be entirely dismissed but require a large shaker of salt, said Gary Marcus, an AI sceptic and emeritus professor at New York University.
At least 14 Serbians targeted with advanced spyware
At least 14 people from across Serbian civil society were targeted with advanced spyware earlier this year in what the digital rights group Share Foundation said was the largest documented wave of such infection in Serbia to date. The wave of spyware infections was discovered in August after Apple notified people in 110 countries that they had probably been victims of mercenary spyware.
Hundreds gather outside Holyrood to call for pause on Scotland’s datacentre boom
Kat Jones might be the closest thing Scotland has to Erin Brockovich in 2026. Standing in the shadow of Arthur’s seat outside Holyrood, the 52-year-old is revving up the crowd of protesters around her. “Who is here from Lammermuir? Ayrshire? What about Aberdeen?” she calls to the crowd. On Thursday, hundreds traveled to Edinburgh to call for an immediate moratorium on Scotland’s datacentre boom, which includes one project in Auchtertool, Fife, that has been billed as the second largest in the world.
Hundreds gather outside Holyrood to call for pause on Scotland’s datacentre boom
Kat Jones might be the closest thing Scotland has to Erin Brockovich in 2026. Standing in the shadow of Arthur's seat outside Holyrood, the 52-year-old is revving up the crowd of protesters around her. "Who is here from Lammermuir? Ayrshire? What about Aberdeen?" she calls to the crowd. On Thursday, hundreds traveled to Edinburgh to call for an immediate moratorium on Scotland's datacentre boom, which includes one project in Auchtertool, Fife, that has been billed as the second largest in the world.
What could Meta’s US settlement mean around the world – and what now for other claims against firm?
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What could Meta’s US settlement mean around the world – and what now for other claims against firm?
In October 2021, Abrham Meareg’s father, a professor of chemistry in Ethiopia’s northern town of Bahir Dar, was shot at close range and died outside his family home. This was in the middle of the country’s civil war. For weeks, Facebook’s algorithm had actively promoted posts calling for the academic to be murdered, according to Meareg and Foxglove, a nonprofit organisation supporting Meareg’s lawsuit against the company in Kenya. These posts included photos of his father and his home address.
UK to use Ukraine battlefield data to train AI to protect sensitive sites
AI models trained on Ukrainian battlefield data will be used to stop protesters and foreign states targeting UK defence sites, railways and energy plants under a deal struck between London and Kyiv. Private companies will also be given access to the vast trove of data from Ukraine's Avengers AI lab to help build new systems, the first agreement of its kind in the UK. The scheme will be piloted at a UK defence site, building a model to identify protesters or a hostile-state attack.
Revealed: Toby Young free speech group crowdfunded over £60,000 for legal case fought by pro-bono lawyer
Staff at a campaign group that claims to defend free speech in Britain said it would “need to explain” how it spent roughly £60,000 that was crowdfunded for a legal case that was ultimately fought by a pro bono lawyer. The Free Speech Union (FSU), an activist group founded by Conservative life peer Toby Young, last year took up the case of Julian Foulkes, a 71-year-old retired police officer who had been arrested 18 months earlier after writing a social media post about antisemitism.
Social media on trial as $200bn case against Facebook and Instagram begins
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Social media on trial as $200bn case against Facebook and Instagram begins
In 1994, more than 40 US states came together to sue one of the most powerful industries on Earth: big tobacco. The suits brought together diverse claims centred on tobacco companies’ misleading advertising and contribution to a mounting public health crisis. They ended in a negotiated settlement with the US government, in which the companies agreed to pay more than any industry ever, and the states agreed to drop a large portion of their claims.
Claude to start watermarking AI-generated text – but will it make quality worse?
The world is familiar by now with the usual tropes of machine-generated text: overuse of the word “delve”, an excess of em dashes, and the chirpy, relentless construction of “it's not X but Y” But is it about to get even worse? Over the weekend, Anthropic released an update saying it would change how its Claude AI model generated prose. This is to comply with an EU regulation that requires all AI-generated text to be watermarked starting in December.
Claude to start watermarking AI-generated text – but will it make quality worse?
Updated Mon, 17 August 2026 at 5:11 pm UTC The changes to the Claude AI chatbot will leave a pattern in the text that is detectable to Anthropic itself and to those able to decode it.Photograph: David Talukdar/Shutterstock The world is familiar by now with the usual tropes of machine-generated text: overuse of the word “delve”, an excess of em dashes, and the chirpy, relentless construction of “it’s not X but Y”. But is it about to get even worse?
Are Microsoft’s AI plans being held back by a shortage of chips?
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Are Microsoft’s AI plans being held back by a shortage of chips?
The chips are quite small and some can be held in the palm of a hand. They are fundamental to the development of artificial intelligence models – and the world’s biggest technology companies need vast numbers of them to keep ahead. Microsoft is one of them. And, on paper, it seems to have a problem. A Guardian investigation has found an apparent discrepancy between what the company has said about its AI capacity – and the number of advanced AI chips it has in operation.
Scottish police expect ‘great deal of public opposition’ to planned Larbert datacentre
Fri, 14 August 2026 at 4:05 pm UTC A protest on Thursday in Larbert, about 30 miles west of Edinburgh, is said by campaigners to have drawn over 100 people.Photograph: Larbert residents group Scottish police have warned that a proposed datacentre will require “robust security measures” to prevent “incursion” amid growing public resistance to such developments in Scotland.
Google DeepMind enters a new era as co-founder Demis Hassabis shifts AI role
When Sir Demis Hassabis said AI had brought the world to a “pivotal moment in human history” last month, he knew another big change was imminent. This shift was closer to home. The Nobel prize-winning head of Google DeepMind, Google’s AI unit, announced this week he was relinquishing his day-to-day duties as chief executive and becoming chair. He is also taking on the role of chief scientist at DeepMind’s parent, Alphabet. Hassabis and DeepMind have been key players in AI’s breakthrough era.
Google DeepMind enters a new era as co-founder Demis Hassabis shifts AI role
Observers express concern that the division has lost its independence and commercial reality has taken over When Sir Demis Hassabis said AI had brought the world to a “pivotal moment in human history” last month, he knew another big change was imminent. This shift was closer to home. The Nobel prize-winning head of Google DeepMind, Google’s AI unit, announced this week he was relinquishing his day-to-day duties as chief executive and becoming chair.
US accused of meddling in British politics with $500,000 grant for ‘public education’ courses
The US embassy in London is offering grants of up to half a million dollars for new “public education” programmes in what has been criticised as interference in British domestic politics. Using language that the pro-Trump Maga movement has sought to appropriate, a funding notice identifies a goal of fostering a “national conversation” about “shared civilizational values” underpinning US-UK ties. Priority will go to applicants aiming to celebrate “freedom of speech” and “limited government”.
Russia-linked accounts spread far-right narrative online during Ceuta migration crisis, analysis finds
Accounts with links to the Russian military promoting far-right messages reached more than 500,000 people in the days following the mass influx of people into Ceuta , according to an analysis by 411, a counter-disinformation group. Russia-linked social media accounts frequently spread destabilising narratives in Europe, often promoting far-right talking points about immigration.
‘Fortnite on steroids’: the virtual gaming worlds transformed to train British soldiers
On a sunny July day in Riga, Latvia, a Nato convoy drives down a street lined with kebab shops and a pharmacy. At a downtown intersection, there is the sound of an explosion and the lead tank bursts into flame. These are real streets in Riga – Lāčplēša iela and the downtown corridor of Tērbatas iela. The kebab shops and the pharmacy are on them.
Stock market turmoil sheds stark light on the opaque AI economy
Even for the rollercoaster world of AI, last week was particularly volatile as investors scrambled to keep up with developments that threatened the dominance of the largest western chipmakers. It began with a double whammy. On Monday, the Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT floated on the Shanghai stock market, soaring by 466% in value to 3.3tn yuan (£365bn).
Trump administration to grant $12m to groups founded by UK conservatives Jacob Rees-Mogg and Toby Young
Aisha Down Donald Trump's state department intends to allocate $12m to organisations in the UK founded by the prominent Conservatives Jacob Rees-Mogg and Toby Young, the Guardian can reveal. The intended grants, revealed in US government documents, are part of a package of support for European groups viewed favourably by the Trump administration. Some former US officials have criticised the funding as a misuse of public money to seek influence over foreign politics.
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