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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Robert Booth UK technology editor

UK ministers accept $1m from Meta amid social media ban consultation

Meta Donald Trump United Kingdom Anthropic DSIT Foxglove Instagram
Van drivers over Westminster Bridge with sign featuring a cartoon image of Mark Zuckerberg and the words: ‘Wanted for stealing childhoods.’
The government is consulting on a social media ban for under-16s, which would have a big impact on Meta’s Instagram platform. Photograph: Matt Alexander/PA

Ministers have accepted $1m (£728,000) from Meta, the US tech and social media company, to build AI systems for defence, national security and transport, sparking warnings about the UK government’s “alarmingly close relationship with Trump-supporting US tech giants”.

The money from Mark Zuckerberg’s company will be used to pay experts to “develop cutting-edge AI solutions … to support national security and defence teams”, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) announced on Tuesday.

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