Governments are spending billions on their own ‘sovereign’ AI technologies – is it a big waste of money?

Many US-built AI systems fall short but competing against tech giants neither easy nor cheap

UK Treasury tells ministers not to expect bailouts from its reserve fund

Departments told to manage their own cost pressures as finance ministry seeks to curb overuse of contingency fund

Keir Starmer to look at India’s digital ID system during visit to Mumbai

Prime minister hopes to learn from success of scheme rolled out to most of country’s 1.4bn citizens

NHS could pay 25% more for medicines under plan to end row with drugmakers and Trump

UK ministers preparing to raise payments to end standoff with pharma industry, cited as reason for firms axing British investments

Pubs to stay open until early hours in push for UK growth

Exclusive: Plans for England and Wales would help the ailing hospitality sector but have attracted criticism from health experts

The AI valuation bubble is now getting silly

The broad parallels are genuinely close to the madness of the late-1990s dotcom bubble

US airport staffing shortages expected to cause more delays amid shutdown

Air traffic controllers warn of escalating delays and stress as the government shutdown enters its second week

Tory plan to abolish stamp duty ‘will benefit London and the wealthiest the most’ – as it happened

The Social Market Foundation thinktank says council tax reform and a property-based tax would be more sustainable and fairer

‘Existential threat’: what do EU’s 50% steel tariffs mean for UK industry?

Why UK steel sector is alarmed by prospect of punitive tariffs from its biggest customer

Bank of England warns of risk of AI market correction; gold hits new $4,000 an ounce record – as it happened

Soaring tech valuations could drop amid potentially ‘disappointing’ progress on AI, central bank says; gold has doubled in two years and extends 50% rally so far this year

The car finance scandal payouts: what does ruling mean and how much compensation could you get?

From how much will I get to when will I be paid? All you need to know about the FCA’s motor finance scheme

UK opens up more driving test slots to help reduce backlog

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency says learners booking tests earlier has contributed to rising demand

What the Xbox Game Pass price hike says about the rising cost of playing games

In this week’s newsletter: The almost 50% increase in the cost of Microsoft’s game-streaming service is step closer to the model of TV, music and film

IMF chief warns ‘uncertainty is the new normal’ in global economy

Kristalina Georgieva outlines mounting risks to economic stability before fund’s annual meetings next week

UK universities offered to monitor students’ social media for arms firms, emails show

Loughborough, Heriot-Watt and Glasgow corresponded with companies concerned about campus protests