Matt Muir
25 August 2026
I played the new game that makes you prime minister – this is what it taught me
No 10: Full Confidence offers a surprisingly good lesson in the misery of governing Britain
Read the full article19 August 2026
There can be no doubting it now – Google is dead
It was once a great search engine. But then along came AI, and that was that
Read the full article17 August 2026
No your phone isn’t listening to you
People think the only way tech companies can sell targeted ads is through snooping – the truth is much more mundane and in a way, much worse
Read the full article05 August 2026
Applying for a job with Steven Bartlett – very odd and very revealing
The podcaster and digital marketing man has an unusual hiring style, during which a candidate will learn just as much about him as he does about them
Read the full article01 August 2026
2026 – the year fakes finally broke social media
It’s now impossible to tell whether an online image, or video, or person is machine-created. The big tech companies don’t seem to care
Read the full article22 July 2026
I can’t help noticing that you seem to be wearing pervert glasses
Meta has got a bit of a PR problem with its new product. Not only are Zuckerberg’s new glasses creepy, they’re also not very good
Read the full article21 July 2026
YouTube has already eaten your television – is the BBC next?
What hope does the poor Beeb have against a streaming service with more viewers than Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Warner, Paramount, Apple combined?
Read the full article10 July 2026
If Andy Burnham wants to talk to Britain, he needs to go online
It’s time to forget Chris Mason, Robert Peston and all the others – people aren’t paying attention to them any more. They haven’t for some time
Read the full article30 June 2026
We regret to inform you that Tommy Robinson has a new podcast
The extremist thug, agitator and convicted fraudster has somehow managed to get his show on to Spotify. If his first episode is anything to go by, it’ll be a downpour of race-baiting poison
Read the full article18 June 2026
Meet Young Bob, the teen Christian nationalist star of the UK’s hard right
With his extremist views, he’s graduated from filming the mindless street violence of Tommy Robinson’s protests to the sofas of the GB News studio. How far can this UK disciple of Charlie Kirk go?
Read the full article12 June 2026
The evangelicals who want to control kids’ mobile phones
New safety technology is coming to the UK’s mobile phones. But it hasn’t been tested, and has to be uploaded onto millions of devices. There’s the issue of the people who own that tech – who, really, are they?
Read the full article05 June 2026
The internet is lying to you about politics
Political ads on TV are subject to strict guidelines – but on social media, the rules are weak to the point of dysfunction. Add AI into the mix, and things begin to look downright sinister. It’s time to rewrite the law
Read the full article05 June 2026
The coming collapse of music streaming
The problem is that Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon and the others all offer the same thing. The infinite jukebox is useful and fun, but a change could be on the horizon and it could come from the musicians themselves
Read the full article03 June 2026
The right wing mob’s dirty little secret
The violent chaos in Southampton, sparked by the murder of Henry Nowak, was all over social media. That’s because most of the rioters were hoping for one thing above all – to make money out of it
Read the full article03 June 2026
Did AI just win its first literary award?
An argument has broken out over a short story prize. But the argument over whether the author was human has revealed an unsettling truth about computer-generated text
Read the full article22 May 2026
Mark’s metaverse: well that didn’t work, did it?
But just because the Facebook founder got it all wrong, that doesn’t mean others won’t be able to construct successful digital worlds. And if you want to see what that might look like, check out what the kids are up to
Read the full article20 May 2026
Elon Musk’s next plan: to become a space invader
He’s about to list his rocket company on the US stock market, which will make him even richer. With that money in hand, Musk will launch his most audacious plan yet
Read the full article15 May 2026
Will we all end up as Chinese AI death clones?
A company in China now creates digital avatars of dead people. And now it seems Mark Zuckerberg is looking at how to keep users glued to his platforms, even after they’re gone. Are we heading for eternal digital life?
Read the full article13 May 2026
Tone-deaf Jeff: how the world soured on billionaire Bezos
He started off as a nerdy bookseller with a love of spreadsheets. Now he’s ended up as a stony-faced, muscle-bound plutocrat, posing on the red carpet with the Kardashians.
Read the full article07 May 2026
Peter Thiel hates the media – no wonder he wants to control it
A new startup by the Silicon Valley money man will allow people to raise objections to stories in the press. A quick look at the targets of this new venture makes Thiel’s agenda all too clear
Read the full article20 April 2026
The AI candidate running for the White House
Well, it couldn’t be any worse. Could it?
Read the full article17 April 2026
Why is everyone trying to kill Sam Altman?
Governments, critics and AI executives themselves have been saying for years that AI could completely overturn western society. So is it any real surprise that it’s now come to this?
Read the full article26 March 2026
Meta lost in court, but they’ll still get you in the end
The decision against the social media giant in a US court is hugely symbolic, and a victory for campaigners who say Facebook’s products are addictive. But don’t hold your breath waiting for change. There’s a very long way to go
Read the full article20 March 2026
The Star Citizen question: can you make a decent game for a billion bucks?
It’s been in development for 16 years, yet players keep falling through the floor into the infinite void of space. After all that money, will there be a decent game at the end of it?
Read the full article06 March 2026
Apple’s new computer is a gateway drug
I have resisted the lure of Apple. But now they have released a cheap laptop computer, I might finally be joining their cult. And yes, it is a cult
Read the full article05 March 2026
Did White House insiders bet on the Iran war?
Prediction markets are a way of betting on the future. But have members of the Trump administration been using them to profit from secret military knowledge?
Read the full article04 March 2026
We’re living in a data nightmare
The interesting, the weird, the curious and the brilliant all exist. Our algorithms just don't want us to find it
Read the full article25 February 2026
It’s time to end the smartphone panic
Alarm over the spread of AI, social media addiction and kids having phones in schools overlooks one small detail – they’re the most important technological advance since the printing press
Read the full article11 February 2026
How long will it be before AI starts using us?
Elon Musk is getting excited about a new social media platform for AI systems. For once – unusually – he might not be completely in the wrong
Read the full article28 January 2026
Don’t ban kids from social media – the real problem are the over-60s
If you’re looking for the age-group that’s become dangerously radicalised, and has spread disinformation and populist hate online, the culprit is not the under-16s. It’s their grandparents
Read the full article14 January 2026
Twitter: the website that makes you sick
X has been terminally polluted by Elon Musk to the point of making us nauseous
Read the full article24 December 2025
The great Roblox panic
Millions of children around the world use the platform for games. But the evidence is beginning to reveal a much darker side to Roblox
Read the full article