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It started like any other outage: unexplained error messages that told users they had hit their “rate limit”, and Twitter posts refusing to load. But as the weekend progressed, it became clear that these weren’t just any old technical problems, but rather issues that could define the future not only of Twitter but of the internet. Elon Musk took to Twitter on Saturday and announced that he would be introducing a range of changes “to address extreme levels of data scraping [and] system manipulation”. Users would only be able to see a limited number of posts, and those who are not logged in wouldn’t be able to see the site at all. That decision triggered those error messages, since users were hitting the “rate limit” that meant they were requesting too many posts for Twitter to be able to handle. The new limits – apparently temporary, though still in effect – meant that users were being rationed on how many tweets they were able to see, and would see frustrating and unexplained messages when they actually hit that limit. In many ways it was yet another perplexing and worrying decision by Mr Musk, whose stewardship of Twitter has lurched from scandal to scandal since he took over the company in October last year. (He appointed a chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, last month, but is still seemingly deciding, executing and communicating the company’s strategy.) But something seems different about the chaos this time around. For one, it is not one of the many content policy issues or potentially hostile ways of encouraging people to sign up for Twitter’s premium service that have marked Mr Musk’s leadership of Twitter so far; for another, it seemed to be part of a broader issue that is rattling the whole internet, and which Twitter might only be one symptom. It remains unclear whether Mr Musk’s latest decision really has anything to do with scraping by artificial intelligence systems, as he claimed. But the explanation certainly makes sense: AI systems require vast corpuses of text and images to be trained on, and the companies that make them have generated that by scraping and regurgitating the text that can be easily found across the web. Every time someone wants to load a web page, their computer makes a request to that company’s servers, which then provide the data that can be reconstructed on the user’s web browser. If you want to load Elon Musk’s Twitter account, for instance, you direct your browser to the relevant address and it will show his Twitter posts, pulled down from the internet. That comes with costs, of course, including the price of running those servers and the bandwidth required to be sending vast amounts of data quickly across the internet. For the most part on the modern internet, that cost has been covered by also sending along some advertising, or requiring that people sign up for a subscription to see the content they are asking for. AI companies that are scraping those sites make frequent requests for that data, however, and quickly. And since the system is automated, they are not able to look at ads or pay for subscriptions, meaning that companies are not paid for the content they are providing. That issue looks to be growing across the internet. Companies that host text discussions, such as Twitter, are very aware that they might be serving up the same data that could one day render them obsolete, and are keen to at least make some money from that process. It also looks to be some of the reason behind the recent fallout on Reddit, too. That site is especially useful for feeding to an AI – it includes very human and very helpful answers to the kinds of questions that users might ask an AI system – and the company is very aware that it is, once again, giving up the information that might also be used to overtake it. To try and solve that, it recently announced that it would be charging large amounts of access to its API, which serves as the interface through which automated systems can hoover up that data. It was at least partly intended as a way to generate money from those AI companies, though it also had the effect of making it too expensive for third-party Reddit clients – which also rely on that API – to keep running, and the most popular ones have since shut down. There is good reason to think that this will keep happening. The web is increasingly being hoovered up by the same AI systems that will eventually be used to further degrade the experience of using it: Twitter is, in effect, being used to train the same bots that will one day post misleading and annoying messages all over Twitter. Every website that hosts text, images or video could face the same problems, as AI companies look to build up their datasets and train up their systems. As such, all of the internet could become more like Mr Musk’s Twitter did over the weekend: actively hostile to actual users, as it attempts to keep the fake users away. But just as likely is that it is Mr Musk’s explanation for why the site went down conveniently chimes with the zeitgeist, and helpfully shifts blame to the AI companies that he has already voiced significant skepticism about. The truth may be that Twitter – which has fired the vast majority of its staff, including those in its engineering teams – might finally be running into problems with infrastructure that happen when fewer people are around to keep the site online. Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, is perhaps the best qualified person to suggest that is the case. He said that Mr Musk’s argument for the new limits “doesn’t pass the sniff test” and instead suggested that it was the result of someone mistakenly breaking the rate limiter and then having that accident passed off by Mr Musk as being intentional, whether he knows that or not. “For anyone keeping track, this isn’t even the first time they’ve completely broken the site by bumbling around in the rate limiter,” Mr Roth wrote on Twitter rival Bluesky. “There’s a reason the limiter was one of the most locked down internal tools. Futzing around with rate limits is probably the easiest way to break Twitter.” Mr Roth also said that Twitter has long been aware that it was being scraped – and that it was OK with it. He called it the “open secret of Twitter data access” and said the company considered it “fine”. And he too suggested that the events of the weekend could be a hint about what is coming to the internet, offering an entirely different alternative. It’s not Twitter, Reddit and other companies who should really be upset about what is going on, he suggested. “There’s some legitimacy to Twitter and Reddit being upset with AI companies for slurping up social data gratis in order to train commercially lucrative models,” Mr Roth said. “But they should never forget that it’s not *their* data — it’s ours. A solution to parasitic AI needs to be user-centric, not profit-centric.” Read More Twitter to stop TweetDeck access for unverified users Meta’s Twitter alternative Threads to be launched this week – report Twitter rival Bluesky halts sign-ups after huge surge in demand Twitter is breaking more and more Twitter rival sees huge increase in users as Elon Musk ‘destroys his site’ What does Twitter’s rate-limiting restriction mean?

Tuesday's roundup of transfer rumours includes news of Man Utd's goalkeeper and striker searches, Liverpool rivalling Arsenal and Chelsea for Romeo Lavia, Real Madrid's move for Kylian Mbappe, plus more.

Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky increased the size of his proposed equity investment in Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA as he

Japan is laying the groundwork to become home to some of the world’s top companies in artificial intelligence,

Idyllic images of happy children playing in sunny gardens during the summer holidays aren’t so easy to turn into a reality when you’re a working parent. Instead of wondering how full to fill the paddling pool, working mums and dads are more likely to be doing their sums about paying for the childcare they need so they can work as their kids enjoy the summer holidays. Emily Pritty, joint head of legal advice service at the charity Working Families, points out that its recent research found four in 10 low-income families have gone into debt to pay for childcare, nearly half have had to reduce their hours, and a fifth have even quit their job to manage childcare. “The summer holidays are a source of stress and anxiety for many working families whose work situation doesn’t allow them any flexibility to manage childcare and who can’t afford the additional childcare costs,” she says. “School holidays are the pinch point for so many working families with school-aged children, as the usual pattern of caring and routine changes, and the demands of work don’t reflect this.” But there are ways to make summer childcare more affordable for the UK’s 17.5 million working parents and carers, says Sabine Kobayter, chief marketing officer at Pebble, which connects parents with childcare and activity providers. “The summer holidays can be really hard for parents who are trying to juggle work and childcare – while also trying to feed hungry minds with activities that will stimulate children,” she says. “There’s a huge variance in the cost of finding childcare, and trips out as a family can quickly add up. The good news is there are many solutions to help find affordable ways to keep children entertained whilst spinning work plates too.” Here are budget-friendly summer childcare solutions suggested by Kobayter and Pritty… 1. Use holiday camps From sports camps to street dance, drama, academic and cookery, holiday camps start from £16.50 per day, says Kobayter. “Holiday camps are great as they often mirror the working day, and children can find camps that match their hobbies and interests,” she says, explaining that as holiday camps increase in popularity, the trick to getting a space is to book your child’s slot as early as possible. “This also allows you to plan your work schedule with the peace of mind knowing your children are being cared for, while doing something they love, and meeting new friends.” 2. Take paid or unpaid leave Many parents will have to use their annual leave to look after their kids over the summer, and if they don’t have enough left, unpaid leave is a statutory option, says Pritty. “The burden of taking unpaid time off does tend to fall more heavily on women due to the gender pay gap, as for family finances, often the decision is for the parent on the lower income to take the leave.” 3. Stretch out free childcare You’re entitled to 30 hours of free childcare in England, and Pritty suggests: “You could stretch your entitlement so you receive fewer hours each week but get the childcare during school holidays too.” Check whether your childcare provider will allow you to do this. 4. Get friends and family to help Many parents rely on informal networks of friends and family to help cover the gaps in caring throughout the year, and Pritty says: “This is particularly prevalent in school holidays, given the cost of holiday clubs and formal childcare. Parents often group together with friends to cover particular days and then reciprocate in a shared care arrangement.” 5. Use free kids’ activities “Not everything costs,” promises Kobayter, who suggests that if parents use annual paid/unpaid leave, or get friends and family to help with childcare, they keep subsequent costs down by searching for free activities local to them, and lock in days out as a family. “Museums, national parks, events in local parks – there’s a surprising amount available,” she says. 6. Try ad-hoc childcare Until recently, childcare needed to be locked in months, sometimes even years, in advance, says Kobayter, but now childminders and childcare providers are starting to enable ad-hoc bookings for parents in need. “As work becomes more flexible, childcare needs to as well,” she observes. “If you have a last-minute need to book childcare, all is not lost.” Pritty says the Family and Childcare Trust can provide details about your local Family Information Service, which will in turn be able to tell you about available summer childcare including childminders, nurseries, out of school clubs and any holiday schemes running in your local area. 7. Use vouchers if possible Childcare vouchers, tax-free childcare and the childcare elements of working tax credit and universal credit can all be used in holiday clubs, if the childcare is registered or approved, says Pritty, although she warns that not all childcare providers accept vouchers and they need to be signed up to tax-free childcare. You can check the types of childcare that you can get help with. 8. Check you’re getting the right financial help Pritty suggests parents check they’re getting the childcare support they are entitled to, by using this online calculator if necessary.

Jude Bellingham has revealed David Beckham sent him a good luck message after joining Real Madrid. The 20-year-old has become just the seventh British player to join the Bernabeu club following his 103million euros (£88.5m) move from Borussia Dortmund last month, following in the footsteps of the likes of Beckham, Gareth Bale and Michael Owen. Beckham was perhaps the highest profile to make the switch to the Spanish capital following his 2003 move from Manchester United, which only heightened his global profile, and the former England captain recently got in touch with Bellingham. And the new Bernabeu star said he might tap into Beckham and other former players’ knowledge of playing at Madrid. “David Beckham messaged me briefly to wish me all the best,” Bellingham told the PA news agency. “It is one of those moves where everyone has their input from the outside so you do hear a lot of things and advice, I am quite good at filtering out the good from the bad, so far it has been really positive from ex-players. “I will try and take that on board and at some point maybe get in touch with them and see how they adapted to life in Spain.” One of the things Bellingham will be doing to adapt to his new lifestyle in Spain is to learn the language. The midfielder has started using a learning app, aiming to build on the vocabulary he got at school. “I have got it on my phone, I’ve got a good little streak going at the minute,” he added. “It’s nine days since I started taking it properly seriously. “It is one of those things where you hear it and you start to pick up little things and you see it on TV with interviews of other players, so it comes a bit more naturally than you think. “It is a lot easier than trying to learn German at least. I did Spanish at school up to year 9, obviously, in hindsight, I would have carried it on.” Bellingham is now an ambassador for McDonald’s Fun Football programme, the largest grassroots programme in the UK for 5-11 year olds, where 250,000 children have had access to free football in the last 12 months. He used to attend similar events but admits that it was not immediately obvious that he was destined for greater things. “For the first year or so of going to things like that I was more interested in British Bulldog and some of the fun games,” he said. “So for me it was a process of getting into the game, but it was made easy because there was no pressure on me. “For my parents that was the main thing, just getting that social aspect of it and something that is healthy and good for me.” :: Jude Bellingham was speaking at the largest ever McDonald’s Fun Football session to celebrate the landmark of over 250,000 children across the UK benefiting from access to free football this season. Sign up to a free session near you at www.mcdonalds.co.uk/football Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live On this day in 2009: Serena Williams reclaims Wimbledon title off sister Venus Roger Federer returns to Wimbledon for a celebration on an action-packed day two Stuart Broad thinks Pat Cummins will regret handling of Jonny Bairstow dismissal

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By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS Alphabet's Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft have notified the European Commission

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What the papers say Steven Gerrard could target his successor as Liverpool captain after taking over as manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq. The Daily Mail reports England midfielder Jordan Henderson, 33, has emerged as a potential target for Gerrard, along with Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 34. Chelsea are in talks with Southampton about bringing their former youth player Tino Livramento, 20, back to Stamford Bridge, according to the Daily Mail. The England Under-21 right-back is valued at £38 million with Newcastle also showing interest. The race to sign Spanish midfielder Gabri Veiga from Celta Vigo is hotting up, according to the Guardian. Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City are all interested in the 21-year-old but Paris St Germain are moving into pole position. Granit Xhaka‘s time at Arsenal is almost over. The Sun reports that the Switzerland midfielder, 30, will complete a £21.5 million move to Bayer Leverkusen this week. Social media round-up Players to watch Romeo Lavia: Liverpool are favourites to beat Chelsea in the race to sign the Belgium midfielder, 19, from Southampton. Callum Hudson-Odoi: Nottingham Forest are among those chasing the England winger, 22, from Chelsea. Read More Dominik Szoboszlai inspired by Steven Gerrard to wear number eight at Liverpool A closer look at England’s recent hat-tricks as Bukayo Saka celebrates his first ‘I won’t be taking that offer’: Gerrard rejects coaching job in Saudi Arabia