Barney Macintyre

Business editor @ObserverUK. Writing the Boardroom Sensemaker. Email me: [email protected]

[Barney Macintyre @barneymac]

EXC: Since Darktrace went private, growth in recurring revenue has slowed and it has fewer customers. It has churned through 3 CEOs and 3 CFOs in the space of 18 months.

As hacks proliferate, you'd expect a UK cyber defence firm to be doing better.

https://t.co/TvzM0VtAkJ

[The Observer @ObserverUK]

Rogue AI agents leave insurers facing dilemma over liability

Insurance companies are weighing up the risk of providing policies to cover the damage caused by AI cyberattacks

✍️ @barneymac
https://t.co/ERwZ31mUcQ

[Barney Macintyre @barneymac]

For last weeks Boardroom Sensemaker @ObserverUK, I dug into Anthropic’s Catch 22:

https://t.co/uJmSeqU0m8

[Barney Macintyre @barneymac]

Candidates interviewing for jobs at Anthropic have reported being asked a surprising question: “How would you feel if the company someday abandoned its AI ambitions for safety reasons, and that decision sent the stock to zero?” 1/

[Barney Macintyre @barneymac]

5/ but there are BIG caveats to the LTBT’s power. The structure contains a built-in “kill switch” that allows the entire trust to be fired with the support of 85% of shareholders’ voting power. Post IPO the % who may view the trust as an obstacle to unlocking value, could grow.

[The Observer @ObserverUK]

Fears over AI security push ‘digital sovereignty’ up the agenda for British businesses

Silicon Valley’s dominance is leading to calls for tech firms in the UK and Europe to pool their resources against a US hegemony

✍️ @barneymac
https://t.co/quVzq8B5Js

[Barney Macintyre @barneymac]

EXC: The UK gov's space strategy next week will include £30m in funding for the SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland, expected to be the site of the 1st vertical rocket launch from Europe in the next few months.

A big boost for UK's burgeoning space industry 🚀
https://t.co/bdRMOxIBN5

[The Observer @ObserverUK]

A bank with adult content on the side? @barneymac reports as OnlyFans plots its financial future

The platform faces the challenge of winning over the creators it once threatened to ban, as it eyes a move into fintech
https://t.co/TYFnl9hbnh

[The Observer @ObserverUK]

The Observer issue no. 12,231 The man who bought Britain

Christopher Harborne funded the Brexit party, put £5m in the pocket of Nigel Farage and bankrolled Reform to become a national party. He is a crypto billonaire who lives in Thailand

Featuring:
Keir Starmer interviewed by @RSylvester1
@DAaronovitch on the biggest donor in British political history
@CatNeilan on the coming investigation into Nigel Farage

Pick up a copy today, available nationwide. Subscribe to get a copy of The Observer delivered right to your door every week:
https://t.co/L4DVKuP9HC

[Ben Zaranko @BenZaranko]

For my first column as Observer economics editor, I've written about the folly of calling for blanket price subsidies during a global energy shortage.

It doesn't seem to be online so if you want to read in full, you'll have to buy a physical paper like the good old days.

[Barney Macintyre @barneymac]

More recently, he’s been courting $5 billion in new investment for his fund Affinity Partners… while also “volunteering” for the US in diplomatic talks in the Middle East.

[Barney Macintyre @barneymac]

NEW: Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner sank $170m into an obscure British e-commerce company that auditors flagged last year over doubts that it would survive without fresh investment.

For @ObserverUK

https://t.co/kCElkKvYhg

[Rachel Sylvester @RSylvester1]

Palantir - the good, the bad and the ugly. My piece for @ObserverUK https://t.co/gsIjkdXdP6

[Barney Macintyre @barneymac]

Thrilled that Ben is joining us @ObserverUK!! One of the best brains in British economics

[Ben Zaranko @BenZaranko]

Some personal/professional news: today is my last day at the IFS. There’s nowhere else I’d rather have spent the last nine years and leaving is such a wrench. But it’s time for something new, and I’m excited to be joining The Observer as Economics Editor from 7 April.

[Fairness Foundation @fairnessfdn]

Today, we've released a new report by political economist and author @williamnhutton.

It explains why Britain is stuck- and what policymakers can do about it.

Read the full report today👇

🔗https://t.co/IaULpI4PWj

[Patricia Clarke @paticlarke]

If you can't trust a citation, what can you trust? AI chatbots are inventing academic sources – and scholars are citing them. My latest on "scholarly slop" for @ObserverUK
https://t.co/lJDrsyz03B

[The Observer @ObserverUK]

The Telegraph rejoins Europe: how a German firm bought the Brexiteers

Axel Springer’s surprise gazumping of DMGT puts its Europhile chief executive in charge of the right-wing stalwart, write Stephen Armstrong and @barneymac
https://t.co/zvtX7JYK8r