Business
UK’s Turing AI Institute bosses respond to staff anger
The heads of the UK’s national institute for artificial intelligence (AI) have told staff they accept recent months have been “challenging” for staff as the charity undergoes “substantial” change.
It comes after staff raised “serious and escalating concerns” in a whistleblowing complaint this week submitted to the Charity Commission.
They warned that the body – which receives £100m from the government – is at risk of collapse after Technology Secretary Peter Kyle instructed it to prioritise defence, and threatened to pull its funding if it did not.
In a letter seen by the BBC, Chair Dr Doug Gurr said the Turing institute would “step up at a time of national need”.
He said it had already established a new senior working group comprising government officials and Turing institute staff.
However he said defence should not be the “sole focus” and some work on healthcare and environmental issues would continue in line with the aims of both the government and private investors.
Whistleblowers have described the management’s response as “performative”.
“Just talk, no action, nothing has changed,” they said, speaking to the BBC on condition of anonymity because they fear losing their jobs for speaking out.
Dr Gurr and Chief Executive Dr Jean Innes did not respond directly to accusations by the whistleblowers about a toxic internal culture of “retaliation” and “defensiveness”.
The pair said they had not seen the letter sent from whistleblowers to the Charity Commission, which has been shared with the BBC.
“We are committed to conducting our business with honesty, integrity and transparency and believe that a culture of openness and accountability is essential,” they wrote, and linked to the Turing institute’s whistleblowing guidelines.
Founded in 2015 as the UK’s leading centre of AI research, the Turing institute, which is headquartered at the British Library in London, has been rocked by internal discontent and criticism of its research activities.
The shift to focusing on defence represents a significant pivot for the publicly funded organisation.
Both the whistleblowers and the technology secretary have said they want new leaders at the Institute – but there was no mention of any change in the management team in the letter.
A number of senior staff have left the organisation in recent months, and bosses said more people would either be made redundant or not have their contracts renewed as the restructure continues.
The government on Thursday kept petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) prices unchanged at Rs253.17 per litre and Rs257.08 per litre respectively, for the coming fortnight, starting from January 16.
This decision was notified in a press release issued by the Petroleum Division.
Earlier, it was expected that the prices of all petroleum products would go down by up to Rs4.50 per litre (over 1pc each) today in view of variation in the international market.
Petrol is primarily used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws, and two-wheelers, and directly impacts the budgets of the middle and lower-middle classes.
Meanwhile, most of the transport sector runs on HSD. Its price is considered inflationary, as it is mostly used in heavy transport vehicles, trains, and agricultural engines such as trucks, buses, tractors, tube wells, and threshers, and particularly adds to the prices of vegetables and other eatables.
The government is currently charging about Rs100 per litre on petrol and about Rs97 per litre on diesel.
One of Britain’s most prolific rail fare dodgers could face jail after admitting dozens of travel offences.
Charles Brohiri, 29, pleaded guilty to travelling without buying a ticket a total of 112 times over a two-year period, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
He could be ordered to pay more than £18,000 in unpaid fares and legal costs, the court was told.
He will be sentenced next month.
District Judge Nina Tempia warned Brohiri “could face a custodial sentence because of the number of offences he has committed”.
He pleaded guilty to 76 offences on Thursday.
It came after he was convicted in his absence of 36 charges at a previous hearing.
During Thursday’s hearing, Judge Tempia dismissed a bid by Brohiri’s lawyers to have the 36 convictions overturned.
They had argued the prosecutions were unlawful because they had not been brought by a qualified legal professional.
But Judge Tempia rejected the argument, saying there had been “no abuse of this court’s process”.
JSW Jetour T2 Launch: JSW Motors Limited, the passenger vehicle arm of the JSW Group, is reportedly preparing to enter the Indian car market this year. It has partnered with Jetour, a China-based automotive brand owned by Chery Automobile, and the Jetour T2 SUV could be the company’s first product, according to the reports.
Media reports suggest that the launch will happen independently and not under the JSW MG Motor India joint venture. The SUV will wear a JSW badge and name, instead of the Jetour branding. The upcoming SUV will be assembled at JSW’s upcoming greenfield manufacturing facility in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Maharashtra.
According to the reports, the company plans to have the vehicle on sale by the third quarter of this year. With this move, JSW aims to establish itself as a standalone carmaker in India.
Expected Powertrain
The SUV is likely to arrive with a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid setup. Internationally, this hybrid powertrain is offered with both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options. It is still unclear which version will be introduced in India.
Design
In terms of design, the T2 is a large and rugged-looking SUV. It has a boxy and upright stance, similar to vehicles like the Land Rover Defender. Despite its tough appearance, it uses a monocoque chassis instead of a ladder-frame construction.
Size
The SUV measures around 4.7 metres in length and nearly 2 metres in width. This makes it larger than the Tata Safari, even though it is a five-seater. A longer 7-seat version is also sold in some markets.
Price
Pricing details for India are yet to be announced. For reference, the front-wheel-drive five-seat T2 i-DM is priced at AED 1,44,000 (around Rs 35 lakh) in the UAE.
Jetour
Jetour is a brand owned by Chinese automaker Chery. Launched in 2018, it focuses mainly on SUVs and is present in markets across China, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
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