UK inflation eases by less than anticipated ahead of Bank of England rate decision

LONDON — Inflation in the U.K. dropped modestly in May as a drop in air fares and transport costs were largely offset by rising food prices, particularly chocolate, official figures showed Wednesday.
The Office of National Statistics said consumer prices rose by 3.4% in the year to May, down from 3.5% the previous month.

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TechCrunch

23 minutes ago

• TechCrunch

Deezer starts labeling AI-generated music to tackle streaming fraud

Deezer announced on Friday that it will start labeling albums that include AI-generated tracks as part of its efforts to combat streaming fraud. The company reports that about 18% of the music uploaded each day — more than 20,000 tracks — is now fully AI-generated. Although most of these tracks don't go viral, Deezer says around 70% of their streams are fake and that they are designed to earn royalties fraudulently. To combat this, AI-generated tracks on Deezer are now clearly tagged. These tracks also won't appear in editorial playlists or algorithm-based recommendations, and fraudulent streams are being filtered out of royalty payments. The company says the new labels will be a game changer in helping listeners determine the difference between human-created music and AI content. Image Credits:Deezer Deezer notes that for now, AI-only songs make up just 0.5% of all streams on its platform, but that the trend is growing fast. 'We've detected a significant uptick in delivery of AI-generated music only in the past few months and we see no sign of it slowing down. It's an industry-wide issue, and we are committed to leading the way in increasing transparency by helping music fans identify which albums include AI music,' said Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier in a press release. 'AI is not inherently good or bad, but we believe a responsible and transparent approach is key to building trust with our users and the music industry,' he continued. 'We are also clear in our commitment to safeguarding the rights of artists and songwriters at a time where copyright law is being put into question in favor of training AI models.' Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW The move comes as Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment are reportedly in talks to license their work to AI startups Udio and Suno. The startups are being sued by the record companies for copyright infringement, and any deal would help to settle lawsuits between them, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.

New York Times

24 minutes ago

• New York Times

Gareth Bale leading consortium to buy Cardiff City

Gareth Bale is leading a consortium that has made an approach to buy Cardiff City. Bale's group sent a letter of intent to Cardiff owner Vincent Tan last month, which expressed their desire to purchase the Welshman's hometown club and included financial numbers. The proposal was rejected but interest from the former Real Madrid winger in Cardiff remains strong — whereas he is not in the frame to acquire Plymouth Argyle, despite recent reports. Cardiff declined to comment. Advertisement Cardiff were mooted as a possible destination for Bale, 35, in 2022 after he left Real Madrid but he signed for LAFC instead, where he made 14 appearances before retiring after the World Cup in Qatar. The Welshman's potential involvement in Cardiff comes after his former Tottenham Hotspur and Madrid team-mate Luka Modric became a co-owner of their south Wales rivals Swansea City earlier this month. Bale, who announced his retirement as a player in January 2023, would be the latest big name to attach themselves to an ownership group of a team in the English Football League. NFL legend Tom Brady became Birmingham City's minority owner in August 2023, while American golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas bought shares in Leeds United before their promotion to the Premier League in May. Cardiff have been a Premier League side as recently as 2018-19 but finished bottom of the Championship last season, two points off Plymouth in 23rd, recording only nine wins. Head coach Omer Riza was sacked in April and replaced on an interim basis by Bale's former international team-mate Aaron Ramsey, though he could not change their fortunes. Brian Barry-Murphy has been appointed head coach ahead of the 2025-26 season, as Cardiff prepare for their first campaign in the English third tier since 2003.

Bloomberg

30 minutes ago

• Bloomberg

Spain's Indra Downplays Franco-German Sparring Over Fighter Jet

Indra Sistemas SA 's chairman sought to assuage doubts over Europe's next-generation fighter-jet program, after disagreements between partners Dassault Aviation SA and Airbus SE broke into the open this week. 'There are tensions regarding who does a little more or who does a little less. But the project is on track and is moving forward according to the plan,' Indra's Ángel Escribano said in an interview in Madrid. 'We would like it to be a little more smooth.'