Surge of AI complaints to public bodies, Amazon hikes prices as much as 60%

A rising tide of complaints written with the help of AI is substantially increasing the workload of schools, local councils and other public bodies, the BBC has been told. Chatbots can produce complex arguments, often quoting regulations or acts of Parliament, with documents running to dozens of pages long. One body said complaints once contained to a single sheet of A4 could now run to 20 pages. They said AI also made errors and sometimes misquoted legislation, and further added to the time it takes to deal with grievances. BBC 

Meta appears to be working on a “kill switch” for its controversial smart glasses. The company first launched the smart glasses in 2021, in collaboration with Ray-Ban. They include a camera in their front to make it easy to take photos and videos, and have undergone a number of iterations since. In recent months, however, they have been subject to sustained criticism and scorn for making it easier for people to film others without their consent or even knowledge. The outrage has been such that the eyewear has been informally branded “pervert glasses”. Independent 

2026 has been a traumatic year for cash-strapped consumer technology lovers so far, with major players like Apple, Dell, HP and Asus all hiking prices. And it doesn’t look like the second half is shaping up to be much better. Amazon has now hiked prices across a range of its smart home devices, as well as its Kindle line, and its Fire TV stock by as much as 60%, citing the ongoing chip crisis and component inflation. Its cheaper items appear to have been the most impacted by price rises, first spotted by Fortune.  Echo Dot is set to jump $30—60%—from $49.99 to $79.99, while the Echo Show 11 will jump $30 from $219.99 to $249.99. PC Mag

The carbon emissions from just two planned datacentres in England will exceed all of the fossil fuel company ExxonMobil’s UK emissions, analysis has revealed. Experts have said this demonstrates the “serious threat” datacentres pose to the UK’s legally binding climate goals. Analysis by the non-profit group Foxglove reveals that when fully operational, the Wapseys Wood datacentre in Buckinghamshire and the Quest Park datacentre in Bedfordshire will use 1.3GW of power and will produce more than 4.5m tonnes of carbon emissions. The Guardian 

Iran just shut down a UK power plant for four days in the most successful cyber attack ever on British national infrastructure. For those who were previously in any doubt, this strike confirms that our country is at war with Iran. The government appears to be trying to play it down, describing the target as “a very small-scale site” with the outage not affecting the national grid. This is part of a pattern of weakness. In March, an Iranian-made drone fired by Iranian proxies hit RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Our response: nothing – other than perhaps a few harsh words with Tehran’s ambassador. Telegraph

The Oppo Reno 16 5G is a masterpiece as far as looks are concerned, but backs that up with steady performance, a clear display, and solid battery life as well. Its cameras are great, with an especially commendable telephoto lens and strong video capabilities. The one sticking point, though, is price. For a mid-ranger, the Reno 16 5G is pricey, and at this cost, I’d expect to see wireless charging too. Tech Radar