Jaguar Land Rover confirms UK-based gigafactory
Jaguar Land Rover’s owner has confirmed it will invest £4 billion to build a gigafactory in the UK, in a major boost for the British automotive sector and following months of speculation. Tata Group – the Indian conglomerate who have owned JLR since 2008 – said that its investment in the new 40GWh battery plant will create 4,000 direct jobs and represents one of the largest ever in the UK auto industry. The giant Somerset-based gigafactory will provide almost half of the battery production needed by 2030, when a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars comes into place. City AM
Current Artificial Intelligence (AI) models are “quite stupid”, Facebook-owner Meta’s president of global affairs Nick Clegg said as he played down the risks of the technology. The former UK deputy prime minister said the “hype has somewhat run ahead of the technology”. Current models were “far short” of warnings where AI develops autonomy and thinks for itself, he said. “In many ways, they’re quite stupid,” he told the BBC’s Today Programme. He was speaking after Meta said its large language model known as Llama 2, would be free for everyone to use. BBC
Vodafone has launched a new social broadband tariff with faster speeds to encourage people struggling with the cost of living to take up the help. The new plan, Fibre 2 Essentials, has been designed to offer more choice in the social tariff broadband market and meet the needs of busier households. Vodafone is promoting its social tariffs to pensioners, vulnerable people and those on benefits. Tech Digest
Human spies will not be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) even as machines make information “infinitely more accessible”, the head of the UK’s foreign intelligence service, MI6, will say. Sir Richard Moore, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, is due to give a rare public speech during a visit to Prague on Wednesday. As well as focusing on the “human factor” in spying, he will talk about Russia’s war in Ukraine and Iran’s efforts to support President Vladimir Putin in the conflict. Sky News
Once again, Netflix has quietly made a change to its pricing model. While no official announcement has been made, the streaming service’s plans and pricing page no longer offers the option to sign up for its Basic plan in the US and UK. That means that the Basic plan, which bridged the gap between its $6.99 / £4.99 per month ad-supported tier and more expensive Standard ad-free plan of $15.49 / £10.99 per month, is no longer available to new or rejoining subscribers. Tech Radar
Ford’s been consistently raising F-150 Lightning prices in the US ever since the electric pickup went on sale, but this week, things took a turn for the better. The F-150 Lightning is now anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000 cheaper than before – and that’s before you factor in America’s $7,500 federal tax credit that applies to EVs built in the US. The base Ford F-150 Lightning Pro now costs $51,990, including a mandatory $1,995 destination charge, which is a $9,979 price cut. Top Gear
Pioneering electric bicycle manufacturer VanMoof was declared bankrupt in the Netherlands on Monday by the Amsterdam District Court, following the company’s pandemic-time boom. VanMoof’s court-assigned administrators are now looking into whether the Dutch company could be restructured or sold so that it can continue operations in the Netherlands. Known for selling sleek high-end bikes with integrated theft protection, VanMoof is one of the most prominent electric bicycle companies in the world, often dubbed the “Tesla of e-bikes“. Dezeen
