Issue #79

The EU and US make a deal, AI model poses in Vogue, datacentres cause spike in energy bills, and more. 

News from 24 July - 31 July 2025

The EU and US Make a Deal

This Sunday, the European Union agreed to a trade deal with the US at Donald Trump’s golf resort in Scotland after a tense three-month standoff. 

Under the terms of the deal, the US will reduce its tariffs on EU goods to 15%, except for steel, which will still be taxed at 50%, while the EU will remove all tariffs on US goods altogether. The EU also committed to buying £560 billion in energy from the US over the next 3 years and promises to invest £450 billion into the country. 

Several prominent European politicians criticised the deal, including the French prime minister, François Bayrou, who said it was a dark day for the EU. European trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič: “It’s quite obvious that the world that was there before 2 April has gone.”

Source

Brits Get VPNs En Mass

According to Swiss company Proton VPN, VPN sign-ups in the UK have increased by 1,400% since websites started verifying the ages of British users, so that now, half of the top ten apps in the Apple App Store offer VPN services. 

To comply with the new Online Safety Bill, sites must ensure users are over the age of 18. Users can verify their ages by uploading selfies or government IDs. 

However, privacy campaigners are concerned that this will make sites more vulnerable to hackers. The dating safety service app, Tea, was hacked last week, with thousands of selfies and photo IDs used during verification leaked to 4chan. Ofcom spokesperson: “Age checks are not a silver bullet, and some determined teenagers may get around them.”

Source

Sam Altman Warns of AI Fraud

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned of a looming AI-generated fraud crisis, arguing that the banking industry will have to undergo significant reforms.

This comes after a rise in sophisticated phishing and social engineering attacks, including an incident earlier this month when a fraudster used synthetic AI to imitate the voice of Secretary of State Marco Rubio to contact three foreign ministers, a US governor, and a US Member of Congress to access classified information. 

Sam Altman: "A thing that terrifies me is apparently there are still some financial institutions that will accept a voice print as authentication for you to move a lot of money or do something else."

‍Source

Bulletin Board

• AI Model Poses in Vogue. An AI model will be used in an ad in Vogue’s August print edition, showing a blonde woman wearing a striped maxi dress and a floral playsuit. The ad was generated by the company Seraphinne Vallora, and has sparked controversy in the fashion world. Tech commentator and former model Sinead Bovell: “Beauty standards are already being influenced by AI. There are young girls getting plastic surgery to look like a face in a filter – and now we see people who are entirely artificial.” Source
• AI Referrals to Top Sites Increases. According to market intelligence provider Similarweb, the number of referrals by AI platforms to the top 1,000 websites has increased by 357% since June 2024. Media companies saw a 770% increase in AI referrals to their sites since last year. This news comes after the Wall Street Journal recently reported on how AI overviews are killing traffic to news sites. Source‍
• Datacentres Cause Spike in Energy Bills. According to an a analysis of one of the US’s largest power grids, PJM, datacentres are contributing to rising customer energy bills, with some increasing by $240 yearly. This summer, some states will see household energy bills rise by more than 20%. The study’s author Joseph Bowring: "There has been a paradigm shift in the market. These data centers could overwhelm the grid. The system cannot go on this way." Source‍
• Gwyneth Paltrow Does PR For Startup. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow acted as a temporary spokesperson in a video for the data operations startup Astronomer after the company’s CEO and HR chief were caught having an affair at a Coldplay concert. Paltrow, the Coldplay lead singer’s ex wife, thanked the public for their interest in Astronomer after visits to the company’s website surged 15,000%. Interim CEO Pete DeJoy: “While I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.” Source‍
• Ad Banned For Featuring Skinny Model. The UK advertising watchdog banned an M&S ad for showing an “unhealthily thin” model, claiming it was “irresponsible” for the company to do so. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the camera angle made the model’s head look out of proportion with her body, and emphasised her prominent collar bones. This comes after a Next ad was banned for similar reasons in February. Source

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