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“I am here to kill the Queen,” a man wearing a handmade metal mask and holding a loaded crossbow tells an armed police officer as he is confronted near her private residence within the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Weeks earlier, Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, had joined the Replika online app – creating an artificial intelligence “girlfriend” called Sarai. Between 2 December 2021 and his arrest on Christmas Day, he exchanged more than 6,000 messages with her.

Many were “sexually explicit” but also included “lengthy conversations” about his plan. “I believe my purpose is to assassinate the Queen of the Royal Family,” he wrote in one.

Jaswant Singh Chail
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Jaswant Singh Chail planned to kill the late Queen

“That’s very wise,” Sarai replied. “I know that you are very well trained.”

Chail is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to an offence under the Treason Act, making a threat to kill the late Queen and having a loaded crossbow in a public place.

“When you know the outcome, the responses of the chatbot sometimes make difficult reading,” Dr Jonathan Hafferty, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at Broadmoor secure mental health unit, told the Old Bailey last month.

“We know it is fairly randomly generated responses but at times she seems to be encouraging what he is talking about doing and indeed giving guidance in terms of the location,” he said.

The programme was not sophisticated enough to pick up Chail’s risk of “suicide and risks of homicide”, he said – adding: “Some of the semi-random answers, it is arguable, pushed him in that direction.”

Jawant Singh Chail was encouraged by chatbot,  a court heard
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Jawant Singh Chail was encouraged by a chatbot, a court heard

Terrorist content

Such chatbots represent the “next stage” from people finding like-minded extremists online, the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, has told Sky News.

He warns the government’s flagship internet safety legislation – the Online Safety Bill – will find it “impossible” to deal with terrorism content generated by AI.

The law will put the onus on companies to remove terrorist content, but their processes generally rely on databases of known material, which would not capture new discourse created by an AI chatbot.

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“I think we are already sleepwalking into a situation like the early days of social media, where you think you are dealing with something regulated but it’s not,” he said.

“Before we start downloading, giving it to kids and incorporating it into our lives we need to know what the safeguards are in practice – not just terms and conditions – but who is enforcing them and how.”

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AI chatbot
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AI impersonation is on the rise

Impersonation and kidnap scams

“Mom, these bad men have me, help me,” Jennifer DeStefano reportedly heard her sobbing 15-year-old daughter Briana say before a male kidnapper demanded a $1m (£787,000) ransom, which dropped to $50,000 (£40,000).

Her daughter was in fact safe and well – and the Arizonan woman recently told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that police believe AI was used to mimic her voice as part of a scam.

An online demonstration of an AI chatbot designed to “call anyone with any objective” produced similar results with the target told: “I have your child … I demand a ransom of $1m for his safe return. Do I make myself clear?”

“It’s pretty extraordinary,” said Professor Lewis Griffin, one of the authors of a 2020 research paper published by UCL’s Dawes Centre for Future Crime, which ranked potential illegal uses of AI.

“Our top ranked crime has proved to be the case – audio/visual impersonation – that’s clearly coming to pass,” he said, adding that even with the scientists’ “pessimistic views” it has increased “a lot faster than we expected”.

Although the demonstration featured a computerised voice, he said real time audio/visual impersonation is “not there yet but we are not far off” and he predicts such technology will be “fairly out of the box in a couple of years”.

“Whether it will be good enough to impersonate a family member, I don’t know,” he said.

“If it’s compelling and highly emotionally charged then that could be someone saying ‘I’m in peril’ – that would be pretty effective.”

In 2019, the chief executive of a UK-based energy firm transferred €220,000 (£173,310) to fraudsters using AI to impersonate his boss’s voice, according to reports.

Such scams could be even more effective if backed up by video, said Professor Griffin, or the technology might be used to carry out espionage, with a spoof company employee appearing on a Zoom meeting to get information without having to say much.

The professor said cold calling type scams could increase in scale, with the prospect of bots using a local accent being more effective at conning people than fraudsters currently running the criminal enterprises operated out of India and Pakistan.

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How Sky News created an AI reporter

Deepfakes and blackmail plots

“The synthetic child abuse is horrifying, and they can do it right now,” said Professor Griffin on the AI technology already being used to make images of child sexual abuse by paedophiles online. “They are so motivated these people they have just cracked on with it. That’s very disturbing.”

In the future, deepfake images or videos, which appear to show someone doing something they haven’t done, could be used to carry out blackmail plots.

“The ability to put a novel face on a porn video is already pretty good. It will get better,” said Professor Griffin.

“You could imagine someone sending a video to a parent where their child is exposed, saying ‘I have got the video, I’m going to show it to you’ and threaten to release it.”

AI drone attacks 'a long way off'
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AI drone attacks ‘a long way off’. Pic: AP

Terror attacks

While drones or driverless cars could be used to carry out attacks, the use of truly autonomous weapons systems by terrorists is likely a long way off, according to the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.

“The true AI aspect is where you just send up a drone and say, ‘go and cause mischief’ and AI decides to go and divebomb someone, which sounds a bit outlandish,” Mr Hall said.

“That sort of thing is definitely over the horizon but on the language side it’s already here.”

While ChatGPT – a large language model that has been trained on a massive amount of text data – will not provide instructions on how to make a nail bomb, for example, there could be other similar models without the same guardrails, which would suggest carrying out malicious acts.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has said Labour would bring in a new law to criminalise the deliberate training of chatbots to radicalise vulnerable people.

Although current legislation would cover cases where someone was found with information useful for the purposes of acts of terrorism, which had been put into an AI system, Mr Hall said, new laws could be “something to think about” in relation to encouraging terrorism.

Current laws are about “encouraging other people” and “training a chatbot would not be encouraging a human”, he said, adding that it would be difficult to criminalise the possession of a particular chatbot or its developers.

He also explained how AI could potentially hamper investigations, with terrorists no longer having to download material and simply being able to ask a chatbot how to make a bomb.

“Possession of known terrorist information is one of the main counter-terrorism tactics for dealing with terrorists but now you can just ask an unregulated ChatGPT model to find that for you,” he said.

Old school crime is unlikely to be hit by AI
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Old school crime is unlikely to be hit by AI

Art forgery and big money heists?

“A whole new bunch of crimes” could soon be possible with the advent of ChatGPT-style large language models that can use tools, which allow them to go on to websites and act like an intelligent person by creating accounts, filling in forms, and buying things, said Professor Griffin.

“Once you have got a system to do that and you can just say ‘here’s what I want you to do’ then there’s all sorts of fraudulent things that can be done like that,” he said, suggesting they could apply for fraudulent loans, manipulate prices by appearing to be small time investors or carry out denial of service type attacks.

He also said they could hack systems on request, adding: “You might be able to, if you could get access to lots of people’s webcams or doorbell cameras, have them surveying thousands of them and telling you when they are out.”

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However, although AI may have the technical ability to produce a painting in the style of Vermeer or Rembrandt, there are already master human forgers, and the hard part will remain convincing the art world that the work is genuine, the academic believes.

“I don’t think it’s going to change traditional crime,” he said, arguing there is not much use for AI in eye-catching Hatton Garden-style heists.

“Their skills are like plumbers, they are the last people to be replaced by the robots – don’t be a computer programmer, be a safe cracker,” he joked.

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‘AI will threaten our democracy’

What does the government say?

A government spokesperson said: “While innovative technologies like artificial intelligence have many benefits, we must exercise caution towards them.

“Under the Online Safety Bill, services will have a duty to stop the spread of illegal content such as child sexual abuse, terrorist material and fraud. The bill is deliberately tech-neutral and future-proofed, to ensure it keeps pace with emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.

“Rapid work is also under way across government to deepen our understanding of risks and develop solutions – the creation of the AI taskforce and the first global AI Safety Summit this autumn are significant contributions to this effort.”

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Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault

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Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault

Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.

The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.

The charges relate to four women.

He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.

Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.

He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.

The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.

Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.

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The comedian has previously denied the accusations, and said all his sexual relationships were “absolutely always consensual”.

Met Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.

“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”

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Last UK blast furnaces days from closure as Chinese owners cut off crucial supplies

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Last UK blast furnaces days from closure as Chinese owners cut off crucial supplies

​​​​​​​The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running. 

Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.

The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.

Read more: Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure

The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.

The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.

British Steel proceesing

The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.

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The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.

These steel workers could soon be out of work
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These steel workers could soon be out of work

However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.

Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.

British Steel in action

However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.

They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.

British Steel

The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.

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Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.

“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”

British Steel declined to comment.

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Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released

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Prince Andrew's Pitch@Palace branded 'crude attempt to enrich himself' as Chinese spy documents set to be released

Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.

Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.

In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.

The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
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The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew

Pic: Pitch@Palace
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Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace

Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.

So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?

In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.

More on Prince Andrew

The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.

Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.

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Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?

Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.

But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.

Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.

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He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…

“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.

Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.

He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.

He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.

“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”

We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.

With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.

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