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UK MPs have called on the government to halt a contract with Palantir, a US-based spy-tech company, after it was revealed that the firm will gain access to a vast trove of highly sensitive UK financial regulation data. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the watchdog overseeing thousands of financial bodies, has hired Palantir to apply its AI systems to two years' worth of internal intelligence data to help tackle financial crime. However, the Liberal Democrats and Green party have raised concerns over Palantir's ties to Donald Trump and the potential risks to national and economic security. The Liberal Democrats have called for a government investigation into the contract, citing concerns that it could be "a huge error of judgment". Palantir, founded by Peter Thiel, a billionaire supporter of Trump, has built up over £500m in contracts in the UK, including with the NHS, police, and Ministry of Defence. The company supports the US and Israeli militaries and the ICE immigration crackdown. Insiders at the FCA have questioned whether there are sufficient safeguards in place to prevent the data from being exploited. There are concerns about the potential for data about sensitive FCA investigations into high-profile figures to be accessed during Palantir's work. The FCA has insisted that Palantir will be a "data processor", not a "data controller", meaning it can only act on instruction from the regulator. The FCA will retain exclusive control over the encryption keys for the most sensitive files, and the data will be hosted and stored solely in the UK. Despite these assurances, MPs have expressed concerns over the risks associated with the contract. Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesperson, called for an investigation into the FCA's Palantir contract, citing concerns over Palantir's ties to Trump. The Green party MP Siân Berry has called for the government to "step in immediately and protect our national and economic security by blocking this contract award". Palantir has denied claims that it may "use customer data for our own purposes", stating that this is "something that we have no business interest in, and that we are legally and contractually prevented from doing".

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the star wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks, has secured a monumental contract extension. The deal, valued at $168.6m over four years, includes $120m guaranteed, making him the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history.The annual salary of $42.15m surpasses that of Cincinnati Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase, who averages $40.25m per season on his four-year, $161m deal. This significant increase reflects Smith-Njigba's value to the Seahawks and his impressive performance on the field.In February, Smith-Njigba expressed his expectation of becoming the highest-paid at his position, stating, “I think I deserve to be the highest-paid at my position, just what I give to the game and the community, I give it my all. And I think that’s worth a lot, lot more.” He emphasized his passion for the game, noting, “I would play this game for free, I love this game so much, but you don’t have to. I’m learning to be a good businessman, and we need that check at the end of the day.”Smith-Njigba's achievements include being the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2025, setting franchise records with 119 receptions and 1,793 receiving yards, and catching 10 scoring passes. His playoff performance was stellar, with 17 catches for 199 yards and two touchdowns, including a strong showing in Super Bowl LX.At 24 years old, Smith-Njigba has accumulated 282 receptions for 3,551 yards and 20 touchdown catches in 51 NFL games. As the 20th overall pick in 2023 out of Ohio State, he is a two-time Pro Bowl selection, solidifying his status as a top player in the league.

Palantir, a Miami-based company backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, has secured a three-month trial contract with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to analyze a vast amount of sensitive UK financial regulation data. The deal, worth over £30,000 per week, aims to help the FCA tackle financial crimes such as fraud, money laundering, and insider trading.The FCA has awarded Palantir the contract to investigate its internal intelligence data, which includes highly sensitive case intelligence files, information on problem firms, and reports from lenders about proven and suspected frauds. Palantir will apply its AI system, known as Foundry, to huge quantities of information held by the watchdog, including recordings of phone calls, emails, and social media posts.The contract has raised concerns about privacy and the company's ethical reliability. One source expressed concerns that Palantir may share the information it learns from the FCA with other parties. Palantir's technology is used by the Israeli military and in the US president's ICE immigration crackdown, leading to criticism from left-wing MPs.The FCA has stated that it has strict controls in place to ensure data is protected and that Palantir will only act on instruction from the regulator. The data will be hosted and stored solely in the UK, and Palantir will have to destroy the data after completion of the contract.Experts have highlighted the potential benefits of using AI to tackle financial crimes, but also emphasized the need for robust protocols to protect sensitive information. Prof Michael Levi, an expert in money laundering, noted that AI is a potentially valuable technology to tackle financial crimes, but also raised concerns about the ownership and control of the data.

Have you ever felt like you're racing against the clock, constantly chasing appointments and deadlines? This relentless pursuit of time is a universal experience, but what is time, really? Is it a physical phenomenon or just a tool we use to coordinate our lives? Time is often seen as an independent, physical entity that ticks by relentlessly, but emerging scientific evidence suggests that this isn't the case. Time is more like a mathematical tool, useful for coordinating our interactions, but it doesn't have an independent existence of its own. Just like money, we've become dependent on it, but it's not a physical reality. The pressure to be 'on time' is instilled in us from a young age, and we're constantly surrounded by clocks and digital alerts that divide our day into smaller pieces. This has led to a phenomenon known as 'time famine,' where the more efficient and productive we try to be, the less time we feel we have. Studies have shown that people experiencing time famine are less likely to engage in activities they enjoy, eat healthily, or seek medical attention when needed. Our brains don't have dedicated areas for tracking time, and our experience of it can vary greatly. Time can seem to drag or fly by, depending on our circumstances. For example, people with certain conditions, like akinetopsia, experience time in sudden jumps or frozen moments. The psychedelic drug mescaline can also distort time perception, making it seem like hours or even centuries have passed. Quantum physicists have found that time is not a fixed, physical flow. The famous double-slit experiment shows that a physicist's choice of measurement can influence the behavior of a particle. In a lesser-known variant of this experiment, the physicist's choice at the point of measurement can even influence the particle's past behavior. This suggests that time is not a fixed, linear concept, but rather a flexible and subjective experience. Some indigenous cultures, like the Aymara people of Chile, experience time differently. They see the future as hidden behind them, unseeable and unknowable. The Amondawa people of the Amazon have no clocks or concept of time. Instead, they live in the present, experiencing 'lived time,' which is a personal, malleable experience of change. Lived time is different from clock time, as it's not defined by numerical counters or seconds. Each moment is like a tapestry, woven from changes on multiple timescales. When we focus on lived time, it expands and becomes richer, rather than narrowing or contracting. It's a flow that carries us and connects us with others, rather than something we chase and never catch. To combat time famine, we need to remind ourselves that the clock is a tool, not a master. We should beware of digital alerts and alarms that divide our day into smaller pieces and instead focus on the rich pattern of changing connections that wire us into each moment. By doing so, we can tap into the creative process of lived time and experience a more fulfilling and connected life.

Palantir, a leading AI and data analytics company, has secured a major contract with the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to leverage its AI technology for detecting financial wrongdoing. This deal marks a significant expansion of Palantir's presence in the UK, where it has already embedded its technology in the NHS, police, and military. The contract, valued at over £500m, enables Palantir to access terabytes of data gathered by the FCA, providing it with an unparalleled view of the inner workings of British authorities and the City of London, a global financial hub. Campaign groups have expressed concerns over Palantir's work with public authorities, citing its previous involvement with controversial entities such as the US Department of Homeland Security and the Israel Defense Forces. However, the company continues to secure lucrative contracts in the UK. The FCA aims to utilize Palantir's AI technology to better detect signs of wrongdoing, such as money laundering and fraud, which account for approximately 40% of all crimes in the UK. The regulator's workplan for 2025-26 includes expanding the use of data and intelligence to identify and act on high-risk firms and individuals. However, experts warn that the use of AI in detecting financial wrongdoing may lead to new challenges, such as criminals adapting to evade detection by using techniques like invisible 'white text' in documents to instruct AI systems to ignore incriminating information. Prof Michael Levi, an expert in money laundering at Cardiff University, notes that while there are concerns about data privacy, the use of AI technology can also help target corporate holdings and shell companies used for illicit activities.

Palantir, one of the world's biggest tech companies, has been accused of launching an intimidation campaign against a small Swiss magazine, Republik, after it published an investigative report on the company's activities in Switzerland.The report, which was a collaboration between Republik and the independent Swiss research collective WAV, alleged that Palantir had persistently courted Switzerland but had been rejected. The investigation found that Palantir had pitched itself to Switzerland's chancellor during the Covid-19 pandemic to help with data tracking, approached the Swiss army, and met Switzerland's then finance minister, Ueli Maurer.Palantir was not happy with the report and filed a lawsuit in a Swiss commercial court demanding that Republik print a detailed rebuttal. The company claims that the report paints a false and misleading narrative about Palantir and sets back important discourse on European software modernisation.The journalists behind the report say they had interviewed company executives and sent a full list of questions before publication, but that Palantir demanded they print a detailed rebuttal that went beyond the scope of their investigation. The lawsuit has sparked concerns about Palantir's tactics and the impact on journalism, with the European Federation of Journalists claiming that the legal action is an attempt at intimidation aimed at discouraging critical analysis of Palantir's activities."It does feel like an intimidation campaign," says Marguerite Meyer, a journalist who works with WAV. "However, we adhered to all journalistic standards, and had a thorough factcheck done. They are suing for an absurd list of changes."The investigation, which was published in December, gave an account of Palantir's years-long efforts to try to sell itself to the Swiss government. The journalists found that despite Palantir's efforts, no government contracts had been reported."We tried to find out, is there any kind of government agency that uses this software? I mean, they are in Switzerland, eventually some government official maybe thought they could use this Palantir," says Balz Oertli, who is also with WAV.The lawsuit has raised questions about Palantir's influence and the limits of journalistic scrutiny. Swiss law allows the subjects of a story to request a right of reply, but this has caveats: the right of reply has to be concise and stick to the facts of the story."This lawsuit for a right of reply is not about whether Republik was technically inaccurate or not. It is only about whether Palantir is allowed to place its view of the facts alongside that of Republik and whether Republik must publish it," says Dominique Strebel, an expert in media law and the editor-in-chief of Beobachter, another Swiss magazine.