Google’s decision to delete millions of inactive Gmail accounts could erase millions of photos and other irretrievable memories, users have warned. The purge, which comes into effect next month and will hit any account that has not been used for more than two years, could impact parents who have set up email addresses for young children in order to share and mark milestones with them. It could also inadvertently affect people who continue to manage the online accounts of deceased relatives. Googleannounced the policy in a blog post earlier this year, claiming that the move aims to protect active users from security threats like phishing scams and account hijacking. The mass closure will also free up significant amounts of server space, which will also save the US tech giant money and resources. Google warned that the new policy applied to personal Google accounts, which includes content within Google Photos and Google Workspace tools like Docs, Drive, Gmail, Meet and Calendar. Nicholas Worley, founder and chief executive of digital archiving platform Inalife, urged people to take action immediately in order to risk losing access to the accounts. “If you have a Google account set up for your kids and have been emailing them, or if you manage the account of a deceased loved one... Login, save or backup any important memories and stories,” he wrote on LinkedIn. Mr Worley told The Independent that he began recording memories when he learnt he was having his first child in 2019. “I have friends and now Inalife users who had set up emails for their kids and hadn’t known about the deletion issue before being told,” he said. The Independent has reached out to Google for further information about whether any impacted accounts will be retrievable once the purge has taken place, and the exact number of accounts potentially impacted. In its May blog post, Google’s vice president of product management Ruth Kricheli said that users would be able to keep their account active by reading or sending an email, using Google Drive, watching a YouTube video while logged in, downloading an app on the Google Play Store, or using Google Search. “[The] update helps us continue our advancements in account security, and helps reinforce our commitment to keep your private information private,” she wrote. “This update aligns our policy with industry standards around retention and account deletion and also limits the amount of time Google retains your unused personal information.” Google has already begun sending notifications to both the main email addresses and recovery emails of any accounts at risk of deletion. Read More Google is about to ditch passwords forever Google issues three-week warning to Gmail account holders One of the world’s most hyped tech products just launched – and made a big mistake ‘Is AI dangerous?’ UK’s most Googled questions about artificial intelligence

(Corrects year-on-year comparison in penultimate paragraph to a loss of 624 million euros, not a loss of 467.2 million euros)

The global average temperature will rise as much as 2.8C above pre-industrial levels this century if countries implement

Global efforts to reach net-zero carbon emissions are failing in almost every way, with one exception: the boom

The floods, heat waves, storms and fires fed by global warming are getting worse across the US and

A major US government report published today describes how intensifying climate change is disrupting lives and businesses nationwide,

SpaceX’s Starship should take off for the second ever time this week, Elon Musk has said. The world’s most powerful and tallest rocket is aiming to launch this week, he tweeted. The rocket will attempt to fly around the Earth and then drop into the ocean in a major test. Eventually, SpaceX hopes that Starship will help carry humans to the Moon and onto Mars. But first it must prove that it is safe for orbital flight in an uncrewed test. Friday’s flight would mark the second launch after a spectacular failure in April that saw the rocket blow up soon after launch. Since then, the private space company has been working to secure regulatory approval for another test. Now Elon Musk says that those approvals should be granted in time to launch on Friday, 14 November. Earlier, SpaceX had only said the rocket “could launch as early as Friday”. It may still be delayed, and previous tests have been pushed back mere seconds before launch. The first orbital test flight was attempted in April this year. Soon after it took off, Starship began to tumble, and the rocket exploded. Since then, SpaceX has been working to fix a number of issues with both the rocket and the launchpad. The FAA required that 63 fixes were needed before it would give permission for the rocket to launch again. Those changes have led to a series of improvements that SpaceX says should reduce the chance of another failure, as well as protecting the humans who will eventually fly in the spacecraft. “Starship’s first flight test provided numerous lessons learned that directly contributed to several upgrades to both the vehicle and ground infrastructure to improve the probability of success on future flights,” SpaceX says on its website. “The second flight test will debut a hot-stage separation system and a new electronic Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system for Super Heavy Raptor engines, in addition to reinforcements to the pad foundation and a water-cooled steel flame deflector, among many other enhancements. “This rapid iterative development approach has been the basis for all of SpaceX’s major innovative advancements, including Falcon, Dragon, and Starlink. Recursive improvement is essential as we work to build a fully reusable transportation system capable of carrying both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, help humanity return to the Moon, and ultimately travel to Mars and beyond.” Read More ChatGPT creator mocks Elon Musk in brutal tweet Elon Musk’s new AI bot will help you make cocaine which proves it’s ‘rebellious’ Elon Musk weighs in on the scooped bagel debate How Elon Musk’s ‘spicy’ Grok compares to ‘woke’ ChatGPT Elon Musk unveils new sarcasm-loving AI chatbot for premium X subscribers Elon Musk mocks politicians at AI summit

(Corrects second paragraph to say revenue fell, not rose) China's Tencent Music Entertainment topped third- quarter revenue estimates

Fisker reports a wider-than-expected loss, Nvidia stock extends its winning streak to nine sessions, and Home Depot is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings.

Orsted A/S’s chief Mads Nipper dismissed two top executives as the company fights to recover from huge writedowns

AI-generated faces of white people now seem more real than actual ones, according to a new study which raises concerns that the technology may be used to fool people. More people thought AI-generated white faces were human than the faces of real people, while the same wasn’t true for the images of people of colour, according to research published recently in the journal Psychological Science. “If white AI faces are consistently perceived as more realistic, this technology could have serious implications for people of colour by ultimately reinforcing racial biases online,” study co-author Amy Dawel from the Australian National University, said. One of the reasons for this discrepancy, according to researchers, is that AI algorithms are being trained disproportionately on white faces. “This problem is already apparent in current AI technologies that are being used to create professional-looking headshots. When used for people of colour, the AI is altering their skin and eye colour to those of white people,” Dr Dawel explained. The study also found that the people who identified AI faces as real were most often confident that their judgements were correct, indicating people may not know they are tricked using such images. This kind of AI “hyper-realism” when misused may lead to people not realising they’re being fooled, scientists warn. While there are still physical differences between AI and human faces, researchers say people tend to misinterpret them. For instance, the study found that white AI faces tend to be more in proportion which people mistake as a sign of humanness. However, we can’t rely on these kinds of physical cues for long, researchers say. With AI technology advancing rapidly, they say the differences between AI and human faces could “disappear soon”. When that happens, scientists warn that it could have serious implications for the proliferation of misinformation and identity theft, urging for action to be taken seriously. “AI technology can’t become sectioned off so only tech companies know what’s going on behind the scenes. There needs to be greater transparency around AI so researchers and civil society can identify issues before they become a major problem,” Dr Dawel said. “Educating people about the perceived realism of AI faces could help make the public appropriately sceptical about the images they’re seeing online,” she added. Read More Trump’s Truth Social warns company may be forced to shut down amid huge losses Solar panel world record smashed with ‘miracle material’ AI among biggest threats to next UK election, cyber security agency warns Trump’s Truth Social warns company may be forced to shut down amid huge losses Solar panel world record smashed with ‘miracle material’ AI among biggest threats to next UK election, cyber security agency warns

Truth Social’s parent company lost almost $23m (£18.7m) in the first half of this year alone, according to a new securities filing that raises concerns about its “ability to continue”. The filing released on Monday marks the first time any financial details about Donald Trump’s social media platform have been shared publicly, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Truth Social was launched in February last year after Mr Trump was banned from most social networks in the aftermath of the 6 January 2021 Capitol riots. The former US president – who announced his candidacy for the 2024 elections in November last year – has since returned to X (formerly known as Twitter), but says Truth Social is still his primary social media platform and that he won’t post anywhere else until six hours after he sends a “Truth”. Having Mr Trump on board has not translated into revenue for the platform’s parent company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), however. Over the first half of 2023 it has lost $23m while bringing in only $2.3m in net sales, the filing showed. This has raised doubts about the viability of the company and its social media startup, according to the filing. “TMTG’s independent registered public accounting firm has indicated that TMTG’s financial condition raises substantial doubt as to its ability to continue as a going concern,” the company noted in the filing. The company said the “management has substantial doubt that TMTG will have sufficient funds to meet its liabilities as they fall due, including liabilities related to promissory notes previously issued by TMTG”. The remarks were made in its assessment of business till the end of December last year and as of 30 June 2023. Concerns have also been raised over Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC), a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), that had some years ago announced plans to merge with TMTG. An SPAC is a shell corporation which raises money by listing itself on a stock exchange with the aim of using the funds for a merger with a different and usually more well-known entity. The filing said DWAC has “until 8 September 2024 to consummate a business combination”. It raised concerns that both TMTG and DWAC may not survive unless this merger is completed. “It is uncertain that Digital World will be able to consummate a business combination by this time. If a business combination is not consummated by this date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of Digital World,” the filing said. “TMTG believes that it may be difficult to raise additional funds through traditional financing sources in the absence of material progress toward completing its merger with Digital World,” the filing further said. “A number of companies that had licence agreements with President Trump have failed. There can be no assurances that TMTG will not also fail,” the filing said. TMTG also cited a number of risks to its business in the new filing, including a dedicated section titled “Risks related to our chairman, president Donald J Trump”. The section lists his ongoing legal hurdles. “TMTG’s success depends in part on the popularity of its brand and the reputation and popularity of its chairman, president Donald J Trump,” the filing said. “The value of TMTG’s brand may diminish if the popularity of President Trump were to suffer. Adverse reactions to publicity relating to President Trump, or the loss of his services, could adversely affect TMTG’s revenues, results of operations and its ability to maintain or generate a consumer base.” Read More Return of original Fortnite map causes record traffic on Virgin Media O2 network Elon Musk unveils new sarcasm-loving AI chatbot for premium X subscribers Elon Musk mocks politicians at AI summit Tesla to offer ‘beast mode’ version of Cybertruck with bulletproof panels X now valued at $19bn – less than half of what Elon Musk paid for it Solar panel world record smashed with ‘miracle material’