Workers need to embrace AI says minister, Google's $1 billion London HQ invaded by foxes

Workers in the UK should turn their trepidation over AI into “exhilaration” by giving it a try or they risk being left behind by those who have, the technology secretary has said. Peter Kyle called on employees and businesses to “act now” on getting to grips with the tech, with the generational gap in usage needing only two and a half hours of training to bridge. Breakthroughs such as the emergence of ChatGPT have sparked an investment boom in the technology, but also led to forecasts that a host of jobs in sectors ranging from law to financial services will be affected. The Guardian

A woman who was wrongly accused of shoplifting toilet roll due to an apparent mix-up with a facial recognition system was left “fuming” after being ejected from two Home Bargains stores. Danielle Horan was escorted from the branches in Greater Manchester in May and June and initially given no explanation. She later discovered she was falsely accused of stealing about £10 worth of items after her profile was added to a facial recognition watchlist to prevent shoplifting. BBC

The crowning glory of Google’s new, massive headquarters in London’s King’s Cross is its rooftop garden. More than 300m long, with hundreds of trees across four stories and a running track, star designer Thomas Heatherwick envisaged it as a haven for the tech giant’s 7,000 staff, as well as bats, bees, birds and butterflies. At least, it is meant to be the crowning glory. However, delays to the project have meant that, while it is still under construction, the building and its garden have been invaded by foxes. Telegraph

Despite repeated predictions that the rise of mobile platforms, cloud gaming and high-performance PCs would make consoles obsolete, Nintendo has proved that hardware still matters. The record-breaking debut of the Switch 2 has reset the narrative. Nintendo had a target of selling 15mn units of its new console by March next year. Yet in just four days, the Japanese gaming company sold more than 3.5mn units of the $450 Switch 2, its strongest launch on record. FT.com

Sony has removed regional restrictions on at least four of its biggest games on Steam, making them available for purchase in dozens of countries where they were previously out of reach. The changes were noticed and shared by Wario64 on Bluesky, who said that four games—God of War Ragnarok, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, Spider-Man 2, and Helldivers 2—had their regional restrictions removed. PC Gamer If you’re a fan of bold smartwatches, Garmin just unveiled its biggest watch ever. Garmin announced its newest smartwatch Thursday, the Venu X1. What’s immediately noticeable about the Venu X1 is the size. It has a large, rectangular face (Garmin said its biggest) and an extremely thin design. It’s a watch that’s easy to see, but it doesn’t look overpowering or like it’s too heavy to wear. The press release about the watch details several more design features, including the 2-inch screen, a sapphire lens (scratch-resistant for outdoor activities), a titanium caseback, and an 8mm case. ZD Net