UK insists Tech Prosperity Deal not dead, EU encourages smaller EVs

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Downing Street insists the $40bn Tech Prosperity Deal between the US and UK that is on hold is not permanently stalled. The BBC reported on Tuesday evening that the prime minister’s office claimed that the UK remains in “active conversations with US counterparts at all levels of government” about the wide-ranging deal for the technology industries in both countries to cooperate. The agreement, previously billed as historic, was paused after the US accused the UK of failing to lower trade barriers, including a digital services tax on US tech companies. The Guardian

The European Union (EU) has firmed up plans for a new class of European-made small electric cars – and will incentivise manufacturers to produce them by offering extra credits against emissions targets. Its legislative arm, the European Commission (EC), has already agreed to work with car makers on the development of a new class of vehicles loosely based on Japan’s kei car class, and has now given first details of them as part of the major new automotive package that pushes back a ban on the sale of new ICE cars. Autocar

Former chancellor George Osborne is joining artificial intelligence (AI) giant OpenAI. He will lead its “OpenAI for Countries” programme, which is aimed at helping governments increase their AI capacity. Announcing his new London-based role, Osborne said it was a privilege to be joining the company. “I recently asked myself the question: what’s the most exciting and promising company in the world right now? The answer I believe is OpenAI,” he said on X. BBC 

An investigation into so-called privacy extensions by security researchers has found that some are secretly harvesting and selling users’ complete conversations from major AI platforms. The extensions, which are available in Microsoft Edge and other Chrome-based browsers are able to target and capture conversations from ten AI platforms including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, DeepSeek, Grok (xAI), and Meta AI. A key offender identified by the investigation was Urban VPN Proxy which has over six million Chrome users and holds a Google “Featured” badge. Neowin

Here we go again. “Microsoft is trying a new way to stop users from downloading Google Chrome.” We have seen this before. Just as with Apple, the two tech giants are pushing hard to keep users within their own walled gardens, on Safari and Edge. The latest news comes from Windows Report. “If you open the Chrome download page in Microsoft Edge, you may see a new banner at the top.” Instead of just presenting the usual Edge versus Chrome comparison, “Microsoft now focuses on protection.” Forbes 

Reolink has just launched its latest security camera, the E331 Indoor WiFi Camera, and it’s a really exciting one. It’s the brand’s first indoor model of this kind, pairing a sleek, modern design with local storage, smart app controls and some clever AI tech. It’s launching exclusively at Argos for just £39.99 or around $50, which is a steal considering the feature set. It works brilliantly as a standalone camera, but it also slots neatly into a wider Reolink setup if you’re building out your smart home. T3.com

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