Grimes, who described herself as an "AI popstar" recently on social media, is reportedly one of the people to have signed a statement warning of its risks to humanity. The singer signed the message from Center For AI Safety (CAIS) delving into the potential dangers of AI, according to Ars Technica. OpenAI and DeepMind’s executives also signed the message, which read: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.” A CAIS press release also stated that it wanted to “put guardrails in place and set up institutions so that AI risks don’t catch us off guard.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “We need to be having the conversations that nuclear scientists were having before the creation of the atomic bomb,” Dan Hendrycks, CAIS’ director, also said. Grimes has been vocal in her support for the use of AI among her fan base recently, even sharing a how-to guide that helps people use her voice to create AI songs. The singer, real name Claire Elise Boucher, offered fans a chance to not only create their own music but to earn 50/50 royalties by distributing it. Writing on the singer said: “Grimes is now open source and self replicating.” Her Twitter bio also currently reads: “Self-replicating A.I. Popstar for the Martian Ministry of Propaganda.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Andrew Tate revealed on Twitter/X that the next guest on his 'Emergency Meeting' podcast will be Lord Miles, a YouTuber known for travelling to dangerous places who was arrested by the Taliban earlier this year. Lord Miles, also known as Miles Routledge, is a 22-year-old student and investment banking intern from Birmingham, UK, who takes part in 'danger tourism', where he travels to dangerous places for fun. Tate announced Routledge would be on his podcast in a recent tweet, calling Routledge "the embodiment of the British spirit of adventure, returning home with stories to tell." Tate's 'Emergency Meeting' podcast is hosted on Rumble, the streaming platform that has signed an exclusive deal with Tate as well as other creators such as Russell Brand and iShowSpeed. Tate often shares his perspectives on global issues on 'Emergency Meeting', as well as offering insights into his life. Perhaps as expected, Tate is known for having guests on the show that align with his ideologies. Routledge was released by the Taliban in June 2023, after being arrested in Afghanistan in March 2023. During his imprisonment updates came from a social media account claiming to be run by a friend of Routledge's. At the time, people thought Routledge was dead or that the whole thing was a scam. The podcast episode was streamed on October 15, during which Routledge shared his experiences with Tate, and Tate revealed that he has been "banned from every banking institution on the planet." Saying that he's on a "politically exposed persons list" and that "because I have expressed opinions on the internet, I'm not allowed to have a bank account anywhere." The pair discussed the Taliban, calling the terrorist group a "form of law and order", with Miles calling his arrest "very professional" and saying he couldn't reveal more for security reasons. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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How do you define “cool”? Maybe it’s ostentation. Maybe it’s exclusivity. Maybe it’s a 250-year-old orthopaedically inspired German shoe. In 2023, odds are it’s the latter. This week, it was announced that Birkenstock had landed on the US stock market with a $7.5bn (£6.1bn) valuation, more than double its worth in 2021. If you’re unfamiliar with these absurdly comfortable sandals, the classic “Arizona” Birkenstock features a layered sole made of jute fibre and moulded cork, offering your foot some serious support, with two thick suede straps coming in some sort of earthy hue. The brand itself dates back to 1774, when founder Johann Adam Birkenstock started making shoes near Frankfurt. But for a long time, the shoes themselves were the pinnacle of dorkiness. There was nothing chic about the geek connotations, either. They were just, to put it bluntly, a bit lame – often associated with exceedingly earnest, granola-eating American liberals, and dubbed everything from “Geekenstocks” to “Flintstone feet”. You get the idea. Today, though, Birkenstock sells roughly 25 million pairs of shoes a year, and the brand is seen on and celebrated by stars such as Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Katie Holmes and Sienna Miller. Some have even been spotted wearing them with socks, demolishing decades of jokes about a look once considered fashion’s cardinal sin. It all adds up to form the greatest redemption arc in footwear. But how has one company managed to pull off a complete 180, as if transforming a pumpkin into Cinderella’s glass slipper? “The German engineering that has gone into this product actually speaks for itself,” says fashion analyst and author of Look at the Labels, Jennifer Walderdorff. “There are no gimmicks: the shoe does what it says on the tin. Its reliability is what [makes it] a fashion staple.” It has not been a quick turnaround, though, its reappraisal starting – sort of – in the 1990s. Fashion fans may recall the famous photos of Kate Moss taken in 1990 by Corinne Day. They show Moss, then 15, posing topless on a beach in Camber Sands, smoking a cigarette in a series of shots that would later make her one of the most influential models and faces of her generation. But there is a small fact about the photos that often gets forgotten: Moss is wearing Birkenstocks in them. It took a little longer for the trend to catch on properly. In 2013, Oliver Reichert became the first person outside the Birkenstock family to run the company, and it’s his leadership that’s helped steer the brand’s perception. It was that same year, for example, that Birkenstock began making appearances on runways: Céline models wore blue fur-lined sandals inspired by the German shoe, while A-list stars including Naomi Watts and Ashley Olsen started wearing them out and about. That summer, American Vogue declared that its staffers had, against all odds, “fallen for the Birkenstock”, noting how “a bulky shoe is actually more flattering on the leg than you would think”. In the world we live in today, there is so much more room for fashion and function, hence the appeal of the Birk Jennifer Walderdorff, fashion analyst It’s from here that the humble Birkenstock began its ascent into the heart of the fashion zeitgeist. By 2017, there were designer collaborations, with Barneys New York partnering with the brand to release a limited edition line of pink fur-lined sandals. Collaborations followed with other brands including Opening Ceremony, Rick Owens, and, most recently, Valentino. But as the latest valuation shows, the brand found a new lease of life this summer. You could barely step outside your house without spotting a pair. As for what’s fueled this recent surge, we can look to the pandemic, when we forwent shoes entirely and got accustomed to putting our comfort above all else. When lockdowns were lifted, all of us re-emerged with a shifted set of sartorial priorities, with high heels falling further down the totem pole in terms of stature and status. Today, there is nothing trendier than having your feet close to the ground. What is particularly interesting about Birkenstock as a brand is that despite the constant movement of fashion trend cycles, the design of its signature shoe hasn’t changed. “Birkenstock has lasted so long and grown to be the super giant it is because of the awareness and availability of information on its benefits,” adds Walderdorff. “There are lots of clothing items that are no longer worn due to their detrimental effects on the body, like corsets, which realign your internal organs to no gain. Similarly, overwearing high heels contributes to foot deformities. In the world we live in today, there is so much more room for fashion and function, hence the appeal of the Birk.” The rise of “normcore” can also be attributed to Birkenstock’s popularity. Characterised by unpretentious, utilitarian and functional clothing, the trend lends itself to the aesthetic of an orthopaedic shoe. “Normcore” also provide Birkenstocks the air of new wave edge, the shoes slotting neatly into a look that has become particularly popular among east London hipsters – take one look at the Instagram meme account Real Housewives of Clapton (which parodies a very specific type of natural-wine-drinking, Perello olive-eating, east Londoner) and you’ll see what I mean. Fashion has also generally seen an exponential rise in flat shoes. According to the Lyst Index, the industry’s quarterly report ranking fashion’s hottest brands and products according to Google searches and social media mentions, the season’s must-have is the Maison Margiela Tabi, a split-toed Japanese-inspired loafer. In fourth place is the Nike x Martine Rose Shox MR4 Mule, a pair of Tory Burch mules came in sixth place, New Balance trainers in eighth. And what was in fifth place? None other than the Birkenstock Arizona, of course. Perhaps the final hurdle for Birkenstock was to align itself with the feminine ideal – a space previously occupied by stiletto heels. Now, though, changes in attitudes around feminism and how feminist ideologies can be expressed through a woman’s clothing and appearance – yes, feminists can wear makeup! – has created a space for Birkenstock after all. In fact, this formerly frumpy shoe is now being perpetuated as the bastion of femininity. Don’t believe us? Simply take a look at the hottest film of the summer. At the end of Greta Gerwig’s stellar Barbie, our hero (played by Margot Robbie) has undergone a major emotional transformation that has seen her find a sense of purpose and identity. Gone are the feet once permanently raised so that they were perfectly positioned for a pair of heels. By the film’s conclusion, Robbie’s Barbie is an autonomous figure, a woman epitomising everything about contemporary feminism. And that includes having feet that are flat. Her footwear of choice? Why, a pair of pink Arizona Birkenstocks. Read More The grown-up guide to getting ‘balletcore’ right The Barbie press tour has finally rescued Margot Robbie’s red carpet reputation Birkenstock sandals are Barbie-approved – these are the pink styles to buy now Taylor Swift’s jacket from Chiefs game hints at Travis Kelce romance From choppy bobs to fox red, 5 celebrity-approved hair trends for autumn How Taylor Swift’s style has evolved over the years

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The Duke of York, Prince Andrew was mocked in front of 81,000 people at Wembley Stadium on Sunday evening at All Elite Wrestling's record-breaking 'All In' event. 81,035 people attended the show at Wembley making it the largest paid attendance for a wrestling show in history with only two shows held in 1995 in North Korea trumping it in terms of overall attendance. The show was headlined by a world championship match between Adam Cole and Maxwell Jacob Friedman but the match before that saw the House of Black defend their Trios Championship against The Acclaimed and 'Bad Ass' Billy Gunn. For those that aren't aware The Acclaimed often rap their way to the ring with team member Max Caster usually dropping a topical reference or dropping an acknowledgement to the city they are in at the time. As they were in London for the first time there were several jabs at the Royal Family most notably Prince Andrew all aimed in the direction of the House of Black. Caster began the rap by saying: "Acclaimed on the mic/ there is nothing that we can't do/ these guys are a bigger disgrace than Prince Andrew." The rest of the rap continued with a subtle dig at Meghan Markle and a reference to Harry Potter. Luckily for The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn the dig at the Royal Family wasn't in gest as they were able to defeat the House of Black and capture their first Trios Championships. Meanwhile, the senior Royals including Andrew all reported gathered at Balmoral on Sunday for the first time since the Queen's death on September 8th last year. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.