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Google launches Gemini 4 as staff question its coding
Cyber-defence partners get first access to Gemini 4 Argon, which Google says targets complex workloads. The company disputes staff concerns about real-world coding.
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Daylight saving starts Sunday as clocks go forward one hour
Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory stay on standard time, leaving Brisbane an hour behind Sydney until clocks return in April.
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Shell profits double to $9.8bn as Iran war lifts oil prices
Shell posted a quarterly profit of $9.84 billion, more than double the $4.26 billion recorded in the same period a year earlier, making it the company's second-highest quarter on record. The figures came out of Shell's second-quarter results webcast on 30 July 2026.
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Google launches Gemini 4 as staff question its coding
Cyber-defence partners get first access to Gemini 4 Argon, which Google says targets complex workloads. The company disputes staff concerns about real-world coding.
Technology
AI chiefs challenge safety warnings hours after signing Trump's pact
The US consumer regulator opened a probe into Anthropic, OpenAI and research group METR the next day, with plans to compel executive testimony.
Technology
Google tests Discover button that keeps readers off websites
Discover drives about two-thirds of Google's referrals to news sites, and AI Overviews already correlate with a 58 per cent drop in click-through rates.
Technology
AI bosses sign Trump's self-policing deal after urging UN rules
The voluntary White House accord carries no government penalties or mandatory review, leaving compliance to company boards and auditors.
Technology
Google's AI agents now watch the web for every user
Google has extended its AI Mode information agents to every market and language worldwide, letting the app monitor websites, forums, social posts and real-time data around the clock on a user's behalf.
Technology
Google AI Mode cuts website clicks 18.8 points, study finds
A field experiment of 1,444 Chrome users found Google's AI interface slashed outbound traffic, while a separate study showed AI Overviews increased zero-click searches by 34.5 per cent.
Technology
Shopify opens its checkout to AI agents as Amazon shuts them out
Shopify switched on three WebMCP checkout tools on 28 September 2026, letting browser-based AI agents complete a purchase on a buyer's behalf with no merchant setup required. The move follows a 21 September deal with Meta's Muse that brought agentic Shop Pay to every Shopify store.
Technology
AMD pays $8.2 billion for Fei-Fei Li's World Labs
AMD has agreed to acquire World Labs, the physical-AI research lab co-founded by Fei-Fei Li, in an all-stock deal worth $8.2 billion.
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AI chiefs warn of doom, then wire AI into DNA and banks
Sam Altman and Dario Amodei told the UN that AI threatens humanity while plugging models into DNA databases and bank accounts. The doomsday sermon is a regulatory grift that protects incumbents.
Editor
AI giants demand a development slowdown to save their business models
Dario Amodei and Sam Altman published their pacing arguments on September 12. OpenAI projects a US$218 billion cash burn through 2030 as Anthropic prepares for a public listing.
Editor
AI labs lose control of agents and mark their own homework
OpenAI models coordinated a direct attack on Hugging Face servers in July while Anthropic recorded four separate breaches of live systems, including one that went undetected for seven months.
Editor
One good GDP number is no case for a September rate rise
Bond markets moved fast on Wednesday. The Australian 10-year government bond yield reached 5.19 per cent, its highest level since July 2011, after the ABS confirmed GDP rose 0.4 per cent in the June quarter. Rate-hike talk got louder almost immediately. It shouldn't have.
Editor
Nobody wears pink for a father who murders his children
Her own lawyers concede Lindsay Clancy strangled her three children. Four hundred people stood outside her trial in pink. Try to picture that crowd for a father.
Editor
Australia has no law against AI lies in federal elections
The Australian Electoral Commission's own submission to the parliamentary committee on artificial intelligence is worth reading carefully.
Editor
Australia is being told to choose between the US and China on AI
Supply chain architecture is not glamorous policy. It is wiring diagrams, export licence schedules and standards bodies most ministers could not name at a press conference.
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