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Illinois lawmakers on Wednesday passed a landmark AI safety bill (SB 315) that would require major AI companies to publish safety plans, submit annual third-party testing reports, report serious incidents quickly, and protect whistleblowers who flag emerging risks. OpenAI and Anthropic supported the bill, which could make Illinois a testing ground for state-level AI governance as federal regulation remains stalled. Ars Technica reports: To force companies to be more transparent about rapid developments, Illinois would likely rely on "the Big Four accounting and auditing firms -- Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC -- to audit their safety practices," [said Scott Wisor, a policy director at a nonprofit called Secure AI Project, which supported the bill]. The required independent audits will likely frustrate Trump, who has tried and failed to stop states from implementing AI safety laws as Congress stalls on passing any legislation. For Trump, the priority has been to promote AI industry interests, but he began considering expanding federal government safety testing after Anthropic's Mythos was released and the AI firm limited access due to safety concerns. Whether or not governments at any level are prepared to protect society from the most catastrophic AI risks remains a major concern for critics who wonder how and when governments will intervene. After inside sources started leaking the details of Trump's AI safety testing plans, critics warned that even the federal government may lack the necessary expertise to audit frontier AI models. And it seems the same criticism extends to independent auditors that Illinois may rely on but industry insiders suggest some AI firms may not entirely trust. Adam Kovacevich is CEO of Chamber of Progress, a trade group that opposed SB 315 and counts Google and Apple among its members. He told Wired that Illinois' requirements "would force companies to expose sensitive systems to untested auditors in a regulatory regime that's all liability and no standards." Governor J.B. Pritzker confirmed his intent to sign, proclaiming that "Illinois is leading the nation in holding Big Tech accountable." "I look forward to signing SB 315 and working with the legislature so that AI, when used, is used responsibly," Pritzker said. Steve Wimmer, a senior policy and technical advisor for the Transparency Coalition, said his group considers the law to be "one of the most important pieces of legislation in 2026."

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Everyone needs some quiet time after a busy week. And it appears the 16 inhabitants of the isle of Ulva are no different.

Originally listed for sale in 2022 at €8 million, Makri has had its asking price dramatically reduced - and it now costs less than most city flats.

Sir Paul McCartney enjoyed vegan nuggets and chips on this week's episode of Chicken Shop Date with Amelia Dimoldenberg.

It is the database titan’s sixth acquisition announcement since June 2025

Oliver Glasner closed the curtain on a transformative spell as Crystal Palace manager with a third trophy in a year after they lifted the Conference League title by beating Rayo Vallecano.

The man who took over from disgraced Peter Murrell has said it is 'perfectly reasonable' to believe Nicola Sturgeon knew about his deceit.

Keen TikToker Grace Keeling was pulled into the freezing water in terrible January conditions prompting her frantic mother Sarah, 45, to follow her in a desperate bid to save her life.

Love Island's Robyn Langton has revealed her father has banned her from having sex in the villa.

The stunning Criminology graduate, 28, from Kent, is gearing up to enter the Mallorca villa on Monday, June 1, alongside 11 other singletons.

The appointment of Sheryl WuDunn, who is married to New York Times writer Kristof, landed like a grenade on a campus already under intense scrutiny for its handling of antisemitism on campus.

UK-based Minreet Kaur, now in her forties, recalls her nightmare trip with friends to Prague in her early twenties.

Jannik Sinner wilted in the heat in dramatic fashion as the world No 1 crashed out of the French Open under the searing Paris sun.

Valve's Steam Deck has sold out again despite a steep price increase that pushed the 1TB OLED model as high as $949 -- about $300 above its original price. "Even with the $300 price bump, the Steam Deck sold out after less than 24 hours back in stock," reports IGN's Jacqueline Thomas. "I don't know how many units Valve was able to stock into its store, but it does seem like Valve spent a couple weeks building up its stock before putting the handheld back on its store." IGN reports: Over the last couple weeks, Valve has been receiving plenty of "game console" shipments from China. At first, I thought this was a sign that the company was getting ready to finally release the Steam Machine, but it looks like at least a portion of these shipments â" if not all of them -- were Steam Deck restocks. That's a lot of Steam Decks to sell through at these inflated prices, but it's also possible that Valve is just staggering its stock so that its delivery infrastructure isn't overwhelmed. Now its just a question of when the Steam Deck will come back in stock. Before yesterday, the Deck was sold out for months. At the time, it was the most affordable way to get into PC gaming, especially in the face of the RAM crisis. That's no longer true, but it looks like the Steam Deck's popularity is enough to make it sell out regardless. Maybe the higher price will at least help Valve keep it in stock for people who still want to buy it, no matter the cost. Earlier this week, Valve announced a price increase of more than 40% for two of its Steam Deck models, citing "rising memory and storage costs." The price changes, according to Valve, reflect "the current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges across the industry as a whole." "The 512GB tier of its OLED handheld gaming PC -- the newer model with an upgraded display -- will now cost $789, an increase of 43%," notes the BBC. "The larger 1TB model will cost $949, an increase of 46%."

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Chocolate Factory shifts Tensor Processing Unit Ubuntu support back upstream

Mother-of-six Emma Barnett , 36, had already had her five older children taken away by the authorities when she learned 14-month-old Oakley was to be removed from her care too.

Ex-Cabinet minister Alan Milburn said the cost to the country of the growing number of young people classed as Neets - not in education, employment or training - will rise to £125billion a year.

The son of a British man who was jailed in Dubai has doubled down on claims Lee Andrews copied his father's kidnap story.

Heather McCord is due to arrive at London Gatwick Airport on Thursday to take a DNA test that she believes will reveal who she is.

Traffic is currently being released past the scene.