Business

Instagram and YouTube have been accused of “engineer[ing] addiction in children’s brains”, in the opening statements of a landmark social media trial taking place in LA. Mark Lanier, representing plaintiffs who accuse social media companies of developing harmful and addictive platforms, described the case as being “as easy as ABC”, which he said stands for…

When leading AI company Anthropic launched its latest AI model, Claude Opus 4.6, at the end of last week, it broke many measures of intelligence and effectiveness – including one crucial benchmark: the vending machine test. Yes, AIs run vending machines now, under the watchful eyes of researchers at Anthropic and AI thinktank Andon Labs….

A technology business which provides a wide range of services to the insurance industry will this week announce a major funding injection jointly led by one of the co-founders of Zilch, the leading British fintech. Sky News understands that ManageMy, which helps insurers sell, service, underwrite and manage policies, will say it has landed $45m…

If you’ve ever spent your morning commute daydreaming about starting afresh with your career, this feature is for you. Each Monday, we speak to someone from a different profession to discover what it’s really like. This week, we chat to Madison Godfrey, an automotive technician at the Steer Group. Apprentices, which is where I began…

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 3.75% but signalled that further cuts are now “likely” later in the year as inflation falls back to the Bank’s 2% target faster than expected. In a narrow decision, five members of the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to maintain rates at the level set…

KKR, the American investment giant, has become the latest global corporation to sever ties with Global Counsel, the lobbying firm set up by Lord Mandelson, the disgraced former politician. Sky News has learnt that KKR has decided to cease working with Global Counsel in the wake of fresh revelations about the close ties between Lord…

The chief executive and publisher of the Washington Post has stepped down, just days after a third of the paper’s staff were made redundant. In an email sent to staff, Will Lewis said that “during my tenure, ​difficult decisions have been taken in order to ensure ‍the sustainable future of The Post” – seemingly referencing…

The housebuilder Barratt Redrow, Heathrow Airport and the outsourcing giant Mitie are among a group of businesses backing the launch of a coalition aimed at tackling barriers to investment in local areas across Britain. Sky News understands that the Social Value Commission, which will also include E.ON UK, the utility, and VodafoneThree, will launch on…

NatWest Group is closing in on a £2.5bn takeover of Evelyn Partners, the wealth management group, in what would be its biggest corporate takeover since its taxpayer bailout in 2008. Sky News has learnt that NatWest, which returned to full private ownership last year, is this weekend in advanced talks to acquire Evelyn from its…

Northern towns could be in line for a funding boost after complaints from MPs that a new system for allocating cash to councils favours London. Ministers have been holding talks with northwest MPs about making tweaks to the fair funding formula – which some MPs claim left them “absolutely shafted”. Politics Live: Trump says Starmer’s…