Zelensky says next steps for Ukraine peace talks with US agreed

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the “next steps” for talks with the United States about post-war Ukraine have been agreed.

In a post to social media platform X on Saturday afternoon, Mr Zelensky said that he had had a call with president Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to catch-up about the third day of talks.

He will now wait for his Ukrainian negotiators, Rustem Umerov and General Hnatov, to return from Florida so they can work on “ideas and proposals”.

Earlier on Saturday, Mr Zelensky slammed Russia’s huge overnight drone attack on the country as “meaningless from a military point of view”, saying: “Russia’s aim is to inflict suffering on millions of Ukrainians”.

He said more than 650 drones and 51 missiles were used in the wide-spread bombardment, with energy facilities the main targets.

Ukraine’s air force said that they shot down and neutralised 585 drones and 30 missiles, adding that 29 locations were struck.

Inside the battle against film studios being built near country town

An MP vowed she “will continue to fight” the government’s decision to approve the construction of a sprawling £750m film studio complex after it was rejected by her local council.

Backed by Titanic director James Cameron and Sir Sam Mendes, director of 1917 and Skyfall, the Marlow Film Studios project promises to build a “unique media campus at the heart of the West London cluster”.

The development would include production space for film and TV, as well as supporting buildings such as backlots and 18 sound stages on land adjacent to Marlow Road and Westhorpe Farm Lane on the outskirts of Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

Those behind the development said it would create 4,000 jobs, but Buckinghamshire Council rejected the application in 2024, citing concerns over development on green belt land, the impact on the landscape and potential traffic issues.

The decision came after campaigning from Beaconsfield MP Joy Morrissey and local group Save Marlow’s Green Belt, which said the project will “cause significant and lasting harm to the environment, the local community, and the landscape”.

Last week, in a move emblematic of chancellor Rachel Reeves’s wish to grow the economy through approving more planning applications even in the face of local opposition, the Labour government overturned the decision.

The minister of state for housing and planning, Matthew Pennycook, said the secretary of state Steve Reed had granted planning permission. Though a government planning inspector noted the development could harm the area visually, they concluded that the economic benefits outweighed those concerns.

The government letter confirming the project’s approval stated: “The economic benefits offered by the overall proposal and the commitments to upskill, offer jobs to local people and work with various bodies to seek job creation are considerable.”

It added: “The proposal would deliver high-value film and TV content that can generate approximately £340m in production expenditure and provide between £95m and £265m in annual tax revenues through direct and indirect economic activity.”

Robert Laycock, CEO of Marlow Studios, described the government’s decision as a vote of confidence in the UK and in its creative industries, saying the project would provide a use for what he described as a “poorly landfilled site”.

He said: “This is a meaningful decision for anyone who believes in the UK’s future, our nation’s creative genius, and our unmatched capability to inspire the world.

“For Buckinghamshire, this is a powerful vote of confidence in the coming generations. Regenerating a poorly landfilled site to enable new careers and pass on exceptional skills in this world-beating British industry is the right decision.

“It’s a signal to investors who aim for high-quality development, done in the right way, through outstanding design that brings sustainable opportunities and benefits to their community.

“The decision is clear in its assessment that Marlow Studios will attract global investment, help the UK maintain its competitive creative edge, and will strengthen the west London film cluster.”

But Mr Laycock’s assessment was not shared by Conservative MP Joy Morrissey.

Ms Morrissey, who had a brief acting career before entering politics, said she supports the British film industry but does not believe there is a demand for more studios in the area, as Pinewood is nearby. She also fears that jobs created would be “transient” rather than rooted locally.

“I think it’s the wrong development in the wrong location. It’s a weak and worsening economic case, and it’s green belt,” Ms Morrissey told The Independent.

“It is a beautiful place for wildlife. That will be completely lost when that area goes to the concrete jungle of a film studio.”

Though Save Marlow’s Green Belt said the government’s decision marked the end of their campaign, Ms Morrissey said she is working out the next steps she will take. But she is very unimpressed that the government has gone against the local council.

She said: “We’re all coming together because we care about Marlow. It’s about putting Marlow and the people of Marlow first. It just flies in the face of us trying to stand up for local people.

“This was rejected at council level, rejected at strategic sites, rejected in a parish poll by the local residents, so local democracy has just been kicked to the curb.”

She added: “It just feels like a slap in the face to my residents, actually.”

In a message to constituents posted on Instagram, Ms Morrissey said: “I will continue to fight this,” and she called on the council to take the next step of taking the development to a judicial review.

Peter Strachan, Buckinghamshire Council’s cabinet member for planning, told The Independent: “We are incredibly disappointed that the significant concerns raised by the council, local communities, and statutory consultees have not been upheld.

“Our original decision was based on a detailed and evidence-led assessment of the application, which identified serious and unresolved issues, including inappropriate development of protected green belt land, concerns around landscape impact, residential amenities, traffic, infrastructure and sustainability.”

Mr Strachan said the council recognises the importance of supporting the UK’s creative industries and it welcomes investment, but believes a development must respect the environment.

The Independent approached the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for comment. It said it would not comment further as the reasons for the decision had already been sent out.

Trump reportedly ‘starting to tire’ of controversies around Hegseth

President Donald Trump is starting to grow weary of the ongoing controversies plaguing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to a new report.

While the president has stood by Hegseth in public, he has shown less enthusiasm behind closed doors, The Atlantic reported Friday, citing several unnamed sources familiar with White House discussions.

“[Trump] is starting to tire of the scandals surrounding Hegseth and does not push back when others suggest Hegseth is not up for the job, an outside adviser to the White House and a former senior administration official told us,” The Atlantic reported.

An unnamed senior administration told the outlet it’s been a “rough week for Pete.”

Spokespeople for the White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Independent.

The president’s apparent dissatisfaction comes as the Pentagon faces scrutiny for authorizing a second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean on September 2. The follow-up strike — referred to by some as a double tap — was launched after two survivors were seen clinging to the wrecked vessel.

On Thursday, Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, the Navy SEAL officer who leads U.S. Special Operations Command, showed lawmakers footage of the lethal strikes and answered questions.

Democratic Rep. Jim Himes, a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters the footage was “one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service.” In contrast, Tom Cotton, GOP chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the strikes “righteous” and “entirely lawful.”

Hegseth, on Tuesday, said the attack took place within “the fog of war” and said Bradley acted “within his authority and the law.”

Beyond the double-tap controversy, Hegseth has drawn broader criticism for his campaign targeting suspected traffickers, which has resulted in at least 86 deaths. Some lawmakers and human rights organizations have labeled the attacks illegal, alleging they are being used to put pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Republicans, however, have largely backed the strikes, arguing they help stem the flow of illicit drugs into the United States.

This week, the Defense Department’s inspector general also released the findings from an investigation into Hegseth’s use of a Signal chat to post details about a strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The report concluded that the former FOX News’ anchor’s actions could have put U.S. personnel in harm’s way. In a discussion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Saturday, Hegseth said he doesn’t “live with any regrets” over the his use of Signal.

President Trump has publicly backed the Pentagon chief, telling reporters Tuesday that “Pete is doing a great job.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has also defended the military’s second strike in September. However, behind closed doors, things could be different, The Atlantic report claims.

“Trump has not been happy that a number of Republicans on Capitol Hill are using Hegseth’s record as a reason to stand up to the White House, a further sign of cracks in what had until recently been unwavering GOP fealty to Trump,” the outlet said.

This week, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told CNN that Hegseth was wrong to claim the inspector general’s report on his use of a Signal chat had exonerated him.

“No one can rationalize that as an exoneration,” Tillis said. “We know that mission information was outside of the classified setting that it was trusted to be in.”

On Friday, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul called on Hegseth to testify under oath about the boat strikes.

“I think that Congress, if they had any kind of gumption at all, would not be allowing this administration to summarily execute people that are suspected of a crime,” he told The Independent.

Still, a number of Republicans have stood by Hegseth and have argued the Pentagon is operating fine under his leadership. And a senior administration official told The Atlantic that the president cannot afford to fire Hegseth and endure another Senate confirmation battle.

“The people around the president have always sensed that Hegseth isn’t really qualified for the job,” this official said. “But he’s redeemed himself in the eyes of the president because he is truly devoted to Trump.”

They added: “That goes a long way. Taking Pete, with all his baggage, is just how it’s gonna be.”

At the same time, Trump has given no indication the boat strikes will slow down. Instead, he suggested the military campaign could escalate.

“Very soon we’re going to start doing it on land too,” the president said on Wednesday.

I blocked my dying father from my life – I still feel guilty today

When my father died nine years ago, I wasn’t sent any cards or flowers and no one gave me their condolences. I realised that people assumed that it was not really a loss, because we were estranged. But in some ways the loss was more profound: not just the person but also the relationship that might have been – and the chance for us to reconcile.

I also felt extreme guilt. When his girlfriend phoned to tell me that he had died, she said he’d messaged to tell me that he had lung cancer. But because I had blocked his number on my phone, I hadn’t seen the message. When she told me, I was absolutely devastated. And, almost a year on, I am still grappling with his death. I still hold the guilt of blocking him and not knowing he was dying.

So it may sound strange to hear that I still have no regrets about our estrangement. I know that I cut ties with him for the right reasons.

I was seven when my parents separated due mainly to alcohol on his part: my mum gave him the choice of stopping and staying, or drinking and leaving. He chose to drink.

Mum told me he was leaving because mummy and daddy don’t love each other any more. She said I would still see him and it wouldn’t change our relationship, but of course, that was not true. For a couple of years, I saw him every other weekend, but when I was nine, he had another baby with a new partner.

I would go to his house at the weekend and see him with his other family, changing nappies and generally being a proper dad not only to his new baby but also his partner’s children. After each visit, I would be so upset, asking my mum if he had looked after me in the same way when I was a baby, knowing that the answer was no.

I would find myself wondering what was so good about them that made him want to be a proper dad, and I concluded that he must have left because of something I had done. For years, I held on to the idea that there was something wrong with me to explain why he loved his other daughter but not me.

When I was nine, my visits to his house stopped. I remember waiting for him to pick me up one day, and he just didn’t arrive. And that was pretty much that. Each birthday and Christmas, I would wait for presents to arrive, and I yearned for him to be in my life. Even up to the age of 18, I thought – it’s my 18th, will he get in touch? But I didn’t hear from him. It was very painful.

The irony is that my dad was adopted and had spent his life desperate for a family because he felt his mother had abandoned him. After craving his own family, he then abandoned me, which is hard to understand: when I had children, I wanted to make sure that they wouldn’t have the same upbringing I had. It’s not to say that my mum didn’t do a fantastic job – she worked very hard to make sure that I had the best life possible. But he didn’t pay maintenance, and she had to work around school hours. Life was difficult, and we didn’t have any money.

After not seeing him for years, I bumped into him in a pub when I was 24. I didn’t recognise him, but my mum pointed out that it was him and asked if I wanted to go and talk to him. He gleefully told me how he’d taught his daughter to drive and bought her a car. “Aren’t I a wonderful father?” was his message. Yes, he was – just not to me.

The truth is, I couldn’t get over the fact that he left to bring up another child. So, I concentrated on getting on with life, but some years later, I did try to make things better and to give our relationship a chance to heal.

I had my first baby when I was 34, and I made contact with my half-sister about the same time. We got on and I decided that I wanted my father to have the chance to know his grandchildren – and for them to have a grandfather. So in the spirit of reconciliation – and hope – I agreed to meet my dad for dinner with my half-sister. I wanted to give him another chance to have a relationship.

I hoped the past could stay in the past, but it quickly became clear that he was keen to pin everything that had gone wrong on my mum, saying she had prevented him from being in touch, refused to accept presents and returned maintenance money when I know those things are not true. In fact, I’ve seen bounced cheques and lawyer’s letters saying that he had another family to pay for, so I was basically at the bottom of the pile when it came to maintenance. I realised that he had convinced himself that he had tried his hardest to be a good dad.

We were in contact every few months for a couple of years. But as much as I wanted him to be different, I could see he had not changed at all. I also realised that our political outlooks did not align. I really didn’t agree with some of his views, and I didn’t want my children to be around him. Having re-established contact for the sake of my children, it was partly because of them that I decided to walk away.

But it was also self-preservation. I had allowed myself to dare to have hopes for our relationship, but I realised that what I also wanted was an apology, which was never going to come. I knew he was not going to change and that being in touch with him was actually damaging.

After I messaged to say we would not be going to a surprise birthday lunch his partner had arranged, I got a venomous text from him for putting her in a terrible position, saying that I should have told him myself. After a few more nasty texts, I blocked his number.

Then, about a year later, I got the phone call to say he had passed away. His partner said he thought I had got his messages and decided to ignore them, which felt horrible. Part of me wished that I had been there for him. I felt so much guilt and found myself thinking that things might have been different. But I also comforted myself with the knowledge that I had tried to make things work. It allowed me to realise that things would never have been different.

I went to his funeral. I sat at the back and didn’t recognise the person they were talking about. I left before the end because I didn’t want to talk to anyone.

I’m friends with my half-sister on Facebook and saw people message her to say how sorry they were for her loss. I got nothing because people thought that I had lost nothing. But I had lost someone who should have loved me. I had just lost him long ago. I would have liked him to have taught me to ride a bike, to drive, and taken me on holiday. I was so struck by all those things I missed out on. When he died, I went back to being that seven-year-old whose daddy had left home and gone forever. In death, as in life, we didn’t get to say a proper goodbye.

Erica lives in Kent with her husband and their sons, aged 14 and nine, and writes a blog called The Incidental Parent

Angry Salah launches stunning tirade on Slot and Liverpool hierarchy

Mohamed Salah has claimed Liverpool have thrown him “under the bus” by saying he has been made a scapegoat.

The Egyptian, who has lost his place in the Liverpool team, said he doesn’t have a relationship with manager Arne Slot any more as he accused the club of breaking their promises to him.

And he has cast doubt on his future by saying he will wave goodbye to Liverpool fans against Brighton next week – and that he is not sure what will happen after the African Cup of Nations.

An angry Salah, who signed a lucrative two-year contract in April, felt Liverpool turned on him while saying he was not sure why he had been dropped in what he called an unacceptable situation for him.

“It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus,” said the Egyptian, after Liverpool’s 3-3 draw at Leeds, in which he was left on the bench throughout. “That is how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame.

“I got a lot of promises in the summer and so far I am in the bench for three games so I can’t say they keep the promise.

“I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager and all of a sudden, we don’t have any relationship. I don’t know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club.

“It is not acceptable for me. I don’t know why this is happening to me. I don’t get it. I think if this was somewhere else, every club would protect its player.”

Salah is the third-highest scorer in Liverpool’s history with 250 goals, but was omitted after they lost six of their previous seven league games.

He added: “How I see it now is like you throw Mo under the bus because he is the problem in the team now. But I don’t think I am the problem. I have done so much for this club.

“The respect, I want to get. I don’t have to go every day fighting for my position because I earned it. I am not bigger than anyone but I earned my position. It’s football. It is what it is. After what I have done for the club it really hurts. You can imagine, really.”

Salah had never previously been left out for two consecutive matches before sitting out the last three, and he was an unused substitute in two of them.

He equalled a Premier League record last season by contributing to 47 goals, scoring 29 and assisting 18, but lost his place in November.

He added that he could not believe: “That I’m sitting on the bench for 90 minutes! The third time on the bench, I think for the first time in my career. I’m very, very disappointed to be fair. I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season.”

Salah had a meeting with Slot on Friday and said: “He knows my feeling. He knows my feeling.”

The 33-year-old has 18 months left on his new contract and was asked if he regretted signing it. “Imagine how bad that I have to answer it, honestly. That hurts, even the question hurts. This club, signing for this club, I will never regret it. I thought I’m going to renew here and end my career here, but this is not according to the plan.”

Salah heads to Africa after next weekend and added: “I called my mum yesterday – you guys didn’t know if I would start [against Leeds] or not, but I knew. Yesterday I said to them, come to the Brighton game. I don’t know if I am going to play or not but I am going to enjoy it. In my heads, I’m going to enjoy that game because I don’t know what is going to happen now. I will be in Anfield to say goodbye to the fans and go the Africa cup. I don’t know what is going to happen when I am there.”

Salah has had interest from Saudi Arabia in the past and declined to say if an offer was still on the table, adding: “I don’t want to answer this question, because the club is going to take me to a different direction.”

Perfect portraits: from groups to selfies and candid pics, expert tips

Portrait photography has come a long way from the days where everyone needed to be smiling directly into the camera, as a flash bulb popped.

And in fact, following on from an era where social media sites offered very curated, sometimes heavily filtered snapshots of our lives, more natural, candid images that really show off our personalities and experiences are now very much on trend. Think authentic photos of genuine moments where no-one is really paying attention to the camera. Instead they’re focused on enjoying what’s happening and the people they are with. For example, friends around a table enjoying a drink and a chat. Families engaged in a favourite activity. Photos that look like a glimpse into someone’s normal every day.

The best way to capture these in-the-moment shots? On a mobile: our ever-present, hand-held, do-everything device that has steadily taken over photography in the 26 years since the first camera phone appeared. Samsung’s newest device, the Galaxy S25 FE offers a wealth of photography-first features, from multiple cameras, lenses and wide angle settings, to in-built AI technology that will help you take the best possible pictures, then easily edit them afterwards. And as a photographer who runs masterclasses in mobile photography I couldn’t wait to try it out.

The phone itself is slim and lightweight, which makes it so much easier to hold steady, for clear, crisp, blur-free images, and take discreet, candid snaps.

Of course, we all have friends, family members and even pets who love performing for the camera. But for those who are a bit more reluctant to step into the frame, the Galaxy S25 FE offers a whole host of easy-to-use, fun AI features that will have even the most camera-shy feeling completely confident and ready for their close-up.

Samsung’s Drawing Assist function is a prime example and was an absolute hit with my kids, transforming our Sunday afternoon walk from a litany of moaning and dragging feet into a fun-filled adventure involving a lucky escape from the shark that apparently now lives in the park pond, and flying through the air with some giant balloons.

And all it took was a few simple, if strategically positioned snaps and some quick sketches using the Sketch to Image* function when editing the photo. This works best when you have some space in the frame around your subjects so you can easily draw what you want to add. In the shark image, for example, we needed enough water to the left of my kids for the shark to emerge from.

In the photo where the children are flying with the balloons, I needed them to be high up against the sky, and I also wanted the trees visible to add some context to the story we were trying to tell. They’re on top of the boulders, but I had to crouch down on the ground to cut out the houses in the background. By using the Generative Edit** function I was then able to replace the boulders with trees and then used Sketch to Image to draw in some balloons to make it look like they were floating away.

You don’t need to be an amazing artist for Sketch to Image to work well either, just enough line and shape for the app to recognise what you want to add into your image. The only limit here is your imagination and creativity. Involving the kids in some fun photography also meant that I got to capture some real, candid moments of them in the beautiful Autumn sunshine, with none of the usual complaints.

While playing around with reality can be fun, the Galaxy S25FE’s other AI features can also be used to make more subtle adjustments to enhance your images.

Just a few minutes of work with the Generative Edit function on a day out with a friend, helped me erase two unwanted photobombers from a photo (in which she perfectly co-ordinated with the graffitied heart wall in Borough Market). While removing some distracting weedkiller from the table where my cat was basking in the sunshine ensured the perfect pic where I can really appreciate him in all his fluffy glory.

Aside from fun and helpful editing functions, the phone’s AI technology is also running in the background to give your photos a boost, whatever and whenever you are capturing them.

This is great when you’re shooting challenging lighting conditions, for example at night. Dark, grainy and blurred photos are a thing of the past, with Samsung’s Nightography feature. Tapping the yellow moon icon that appears in dim lighting will enable this clever function which captures multiple images and then uses AI to blend them together to create one sharper, brighter image.

This can take a few seconds, so you’ll need to keep very still when using this feature – if you can, brace your arms on a table and hold the phone with two hands to keep the camera as steady as possible. It also helps if your subject is still, so this is more for capturing adults and older kids than snapping a restless pet or fast-moving child.

For these trickier subjects, from youngsters to four-legged friends, the excellent autofocus on the device makes for pin-sharp portraits rendered in high definition. And if you couple that with the outstanding Samsung colour profile you get beautifully saturated, nicely contrasted images which really pop. All the colours are beautifully rendered and all skin tones (and fur tones) are true to life. No filters are needed here.

And this is not just true of portraits you take of other people. The 12 MP camera lens on the front of the phone makes for gorgeously rendered, high resolution selfies with a variety of crop options, so you can find the perfect angle or image composition.

Taking a selfie at a 1:1 square crop, as well as the standard 3:4 crop option means you can easily include a friend or family member in your photo. And there’s a lovely little feature where you can get the lens to zoom out a little by tapping the ‘two person’ icon to provide a little extra space.

The 9:16 crop option means you can opt for a more flattering, longer and thinner photo while the full frame cop allows you a more zoomed-in selfie.

And if you want to take your selfies to another level, the option to add a little skin toning and smoothing effect and iron out any wrinkles (or in my case remove evidence of a sleepless night) is one of the additional features that makes the selfie camera stand out!

The excellent battery life means you don’t need to worry about it lasting, even after a few hours of photo fun. And when your battery does run down, lightning fast charging will see you back at 60 per cent in just 30 minutes, so you don’t have to wait long until you are good to go again.

Overall, whether it is taking vibrant portraits of yourself or capturing creative, candid images of the people (and pets) in your lives, making memories you’ll want to share is easy and fun with the Galaxy S25 FE.

Kirsty Hamilton is a portrait photographer – find out more at her website and on Instagram.

To find out more about the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE visit Samsung

*Samsung account login and network connection may be required for certain AI features.

**Samsung account login is required. Requires network connection.

Why ChatGPT’s ‘code red’ could be the pin that pops the AI bubble

Sam Altman is privately panicking. In the week that he was supposed to be celebrating ChatGPT’s third birthday, the OpenAI boss was facing a crisis on several fronts.

Just days after an investment report predicted that his company still won’t be profitable by 2030, OpenAI was caught up in a data breach that exposed the personal details of ChatGPT users. His lawyers were also forced to deny accusations that the artificial intelligence chatbot acted as a “suicide coach” for a teenager who killed himself earlier this year.

In an internal memo on Monday, Altman declared a “code red” – and not even for any of the reasons above. The tech boss told employees that the emergency situation was a result of the massive advances made by OpenAI’s rivals, which could threaten ChatGPT’s position as the world’s leading AI assistant.

Anthropic, DeepSeek and Meta have all made significant progress with their AI offerings, while Apple is also preparing to launch a revamped Siri early next year. Even Amazon’s AI assistant Rufus has seen success in recent days. But the biggest competitor comes in the form of Google’s Gemini.

When the search giant unveiled the latest version of Gemini in November, it was described as a “new era of intelligence”. Gemini 3 set record scores in benchmark tests, including the best ever result in Humanity’s Last Exam – designed by AI safety researchers to identify artificial superintelligence that matches or surpasses humans.

Publicly, Altman said it “looks like a great model”, and congratulated Google in a post to X. Privately, he acknowledged that ChatGPT was no longer the leading AI on the market. In a message to workers, he reportedly wrote: “We know we have some work to do, but we are catching up fast.”

ChatGPT users – there are now more than 800 million of them – are also realising that there are other options out there. Shortly after the release of Gemini 3, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said: “I’ve used ChatGPT every day for three years. Just spent two hours on Gemini 3. I’m not going back. The leap is insane.”

Gemini now counts around 650 million users, up nearly 50 per cent from 450 million in July. This is not even counting the roughly 2 billion people who use Gemini indirectly through the technology being integrated into Google services like Search. Figures from online analytics firm Similarweb show that users are also spending more time using Gemini than ChatGPT.

Losing users, or even just seeing growth stagnate, could prove catastrophic for OpenAI. To even approach the revenue figures projected in the recent investment report – the one claiming it would not be making any profit this decade – ChatGPT needs to see huge growth. The forecasts set out by HSBC Global Investment Research put the number of ChatGPT users in 2030 at 3 billion – nearly half of the world’s adult population. The report also predicted that subscription rates for premium ChatGPT models would rise to 10 per cent of users, though this seems increasingly unlikely if OpenAI falls behind its rivals.

Failing to hit this level of growth could see the collapse of OpenAI, and potentially most of the industry. The company that began blowing the AI bubble with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022 could be the one responsible for its deflation, leading to deserted data centres, trillions in lost wealth, and the risk of recession. If the bubble bursts, the blast radius could span the globe.

Google boss Sundar Pichai recently acknowledged in an interview a degree of “irrationality” in the current level of investment in artificial intelligence, warning that the fallout from any potential implosion would be unprecedented. “I think no company is going to be immune, including us,” he said.

In a financial stability report this week, the Bank of England warned that share prices in the UK are at their “most stretched” since the 2008 financial crisis. Governor Andrew Bailey likened the inflated valuations of tech companies in the US to the dotcom bubble.

“The governor’s parallel to the Dotcom bubble is spot on, but the reality is more insidious. We are funding a global gambling addiction with debt the real economy cannot afford, all concentrated in a handful of US giants,” Rohit Parmar-Mistry, an AI expert at business automation firm Pattrn Data, told The Independent.

“If this bubble bursts – and the stretched valuations suggest it will – it might finally flush out the hype merchants.”

There is still time for OpenAI to live up to the hype it has generated. And it may have a secret strategy to stay on top.

The company is currently working on a mystery device, and has recruited the man behind the iPhone, Jony Ive, to build it. Altman claims it will increase OpenAI’s value by $1 trillion and will ship “faster than any company has ever shipped 100 million of something before” when it launches next year.

Speculation surrounding what form OpenAI’s first hardware product will take has ranged from smart glasses to a clothespin. Should it be the latter, and fail as spectacularly as previous attempts, it could be the literal pin that pops the bubble.

Altman is yet to comment publicly about the internal memos or the unfolding turmoil (OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent), but the head of ChatGPT, Nick Turley, has indirectly addressed the increased competition from Google and what OpenAI is planning to do about it.

“New products are launching every week, which is great – it pushes us to move faster and keep raising the bar for what an AI assistant can do,” he wrote in a post to X. “Our focus now is to keep making ChatGPT more capable, continue growing, and expand access around the world – while making it feel even more intuitive and personal.”

If OpenAI fails, and Google does become the most dominant in the AI space as it did with Search, then Altman’s company could go the way of AltaVista, Ask Jeeves and Lycos – an early pioneer now fondly remembered as one of the internet’s relics.

What the shape of your butt muscles could mean for your future health

Recent research made associations between the shape and composition of the main muscles in the buttocks to the development of type 2 diabetes.

Men who experienced shrinkage in certain areas of the gluteus maximus muscles as they aged, and women whose muscles increased in size with age due to a growing fat content, had a higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes. This sparked headlines that had everyone twisting to check their bum in the mirror.

But can a cursory check really provide an accurate prediction? In short, no, the study’s senior author Professor Louise Thompson tells me. Her team looked at the composition of the muscles themselves, which are buried under skin, subcutaneous fat and other bodily tissues. Yet the results of their research can have significant implications for your health, both now and in the future.

“This research is part of a much bigger programme of work we’re doing – we are not just gluteus maximus people,” Professor Thompson jokes. Her team analysed MRI scans from tens of thousands of people to identify relationships between their organs and a wide variety of health conditions.

“We started looking at the gluteus maximus because that’s our biggest muscle, and as well as looking at its volume we look at its quality – that is, how much fat you store in it,” she explains.

Higher levels of fitness were associated with healthier gluteus maximus muscles, while frailty and sedentary lifestyles were linked to muscle thinning.

To find out how to look after your behind, and your whole body for that matter, read on – Professor Thompson and her colleague, exercise physiologist Paul Hough, explain all below.

When most people think of body fat, it is subcutaneous fat they picture – the visible fat stored just beneath the skin. The focus of this research is intramuscular fat.

“Think about when you got to the butchers to buy a steak,” Professor Thompson explains. “You get marbling in steak, and that is happening to us as we get older.”

This process, she says, has several negative health implications.

“It’s linked with metabolic diseases in general, not just type 2 diabetes,” says Professor Thompson. “This includes things like cardiovascular disease, and it’s even really important for liver disease. There have been studies looking at mortality, and when they compare all the different parameters, muscle quality comes out as one of the biggest predictors of mortality.”

Another key predictor of mortality is frailty. One of the factors with the greatest association with frailty is having more fat in the muscle, Professor Thompson says.

“If you’re frail, you’re much more likely to have falls and lose your independence,” she explains. “Muscle quality is something nobody really thinks about, but you can see it’s actually really important.”

The University of Westminster study used data from the UK Biobank – a detailed dataset of more than 100,000 people, including everything from neck-to-knee MRI scans to physical measurements such as blood pressure to activity levels. It honed in on those in their 40s, 50s and 60s.

“The UK Biobank, as part of their study, measured everything before and after two years without any intervention,” says Professor Thompson. “We assumed, because it’s such a short period of time, we wouldn’t see anything, but pretty much everybody lost a significant amount of muscle mass, and there was a reduction in grip strength too, which is extraordinary.

“Two years of just living your life is causing this decline in middle age. It makes me wonder what’s going to happen over 10 or 20 years? And there’s evidence that you start losing muscle from your 30s.”

Read more: Mobility expert says you should swap stretching for this exercise to ease tight hips

Those with higher fitness levels are most likely to swerve the deteriorating muscle quality linked to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes. The greatest intervention to achieve this is adding more movement and exercise into each week.

If you have a generally sedentary lifestyle, the first thing you can do to combat intramuscular fat is to move more.

“It’s about being active and using all of your muscles,” Professor Thompson says. “We’ve used lots of lifestyle interventions, and if you try to get anybody to do something too much, they don’t stick to it. People don’t like changing their diet and they don’t like changing their exercise habits, so that’s why simple things like walking and steps are quite easy for people to do.

“But people are working and might have caring responsibilities, so even fitting in 10,000 steps a day is quite a long-term commitment.”

The key is finding ways to squeeze more movement into your day, which allows you to do so on a consistent basis. This could mean taking a work call while going for a walk, stepping off public transport one stop early when heading to the office or using exercise snacking techniques.

The University of Westminster’s research highlights the importance of building and maintaining healthy muscle mass. The gluteus maximus, as the body’s biggest muscle, is an excellent signifier of this.

The best way to increase muscle strength and size is strength training – any activity that involves overcoming an external force by contracting your muscles. This could mean lifting weights or simply overcoming gravity using bodyweight exercises like squats and press-ups.

“Regular strength training is best known for its effects on increasing strength and muscle size,” says University of Westminster sport and exercise scientist Paul Hough. “However, regular resistance training can also cause favourable metabolic changes within skeletal muscle, which improve glucose metabolism. Performing two to three resistance training sessions per week has been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes by approximately 17 to 30 per cent.”

He prescribes compound exercises, or those that recruit multiple muscles at once, for those looking for the greatest impact on total-body strength and glucose metabolism. These include movements like the squat, deadlift, glute bridge, hip thrust, bench press, overhead press, pull-up and bent-over row.

“Choose a weight or resistance level that allows you to complete five to 10 repetitions with proper technique,” suggests Hough. “The final few repetitions should feel challenging, but there is no need to reach complete exhaustion. A practical guideline is to end the set when you feel you can only complete one or two more repetitions with good form.”

If you want to target the gluteal muscles specifically, it is best to choose exercises that load your hip joint through a full range of motion, Hough adds.

“Three effective exercises are back squats, barbell hip thrusts and glute bridges. Another good option is the rear-foot elevated split squat or Bulgarian split squat [demonstrated in the video below].

“Additionally, overall glute development requires training all the gluteal muscles, not just the gluteus maximus. Including exercises that bias the gluteus medius and minimus muscles is necessary for overall glute development. Examples include hip abduction exercises, such as cable abductions or banded side steps.”

Higher-intensity activities have been linked to greater positive health impacts. This informs the World Health Organisation’s weekly physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19-64, which prescribe at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week or a combination of both.

“These minutes should be spread across the week, with no more than two consecutive days without activity,” says Hough. “Moderate-intensity activities increase your breathing rate but still allow you to maintain a conversation. For example, walking at a brisk pace [4-6kph] or cycling on level ground.

“During vigorous-intensity activities, your breathing rate increases further and speaking in full sentences becomes difficult. Examples include running or walking up a steep hill.”

Read more: From back pain to heart health – Experts reveal how to counter the negative effects of too much sitting down

For those who are able, including some form of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in your week can offer attractive health perks, Hough says.

“HIIT involves brief (anything from five seconds to four minutes), intermittent bouts of high-intensity exercise separated by periods of rest or low-intensity exercise,” he explains. “It differs from vigorous intensity activities because the intensity cannot be sustained. HIIT has been consistently demonstrated to improve cardiovascular fitness and glucose metabolism among healthy adults and type 2 diabetic patients.

“Although many studies have shown that HIIT can improve health outcomes with less total exercise time than moderate-intensity activity, it was not included in previous physical activity guidelines (Department of Health, 2011). More recent evidence has confirmed that HIIT can be just as effective as, or even more effective than, moderate-intensity activity for improving key health measures. As a result, the UK physical activity guidelines now recognise HIIT as a suitable exercise option for the general population.”

One well-studied and popular protocol Hough recommends is performing one minute of hard work followed by a one-minute recovery period for 10 total rounds. This can be done with walking, running, swimming, cycling or using exercise machines such as exercise bikes and rowing machines.

For the hard work, assume a pace that corresponds to approximately 90 per cent of your maximal heart rate, or an eight out of 10 effort, Hough says. The light work could be walking or cycling at an easy pace, or complete rest.

“Including a warm-up and cool-down, this protocol takes approximately 25 to 30 minutes and is typically performed on three non-consecutive days per week,” he says.

Read more: Do these five things daily for 90 days to see a ‘profound difference’ in your health, fitness and energy levels

If you want to find out about your intramuscular fat levels, Professor Thompson says an MRI is necessary.

You can’t tell the quality of the gluteus maximus muscles just by looking because of the subcutaneous fat over it, she says. “What you’re seeing is a mix of muscle and fat. You have to use an MRI to measure it, so it’s never going to be a population screening tool because it’s too expensive.”

A private MRI scan can cost anywhere from £200 to £1,500, with a hospital near me listing one for £525 on the Nuffield Health website. For this reason, it is not an option – or, at least, an attractive one – for most people.

“But, if you are scanning somebody for one thing, it’s no extra effort to get a measurement in their muscle quality, size and shape,” Professor Thompson suggests.

Read more: Scientists reveal the small lifestyle changes that can reduce your risk of heart disease and add 10 years to your life

The body is often viewed as a collection of independent parts. If you have a kidney problem, you go to a kidney clinic; if you have a liver problem, you go to a liver clinic, Professor Thompson says.

“But most people have multi-organ diseases,” she continues. “If you have a problem with one organ, such as having too much fat in your muscles, you’re also likely to have problems with others, like fat in the liver. You might also have a bit of kidney dysfunction and dysfunction with your heart. The reality of our bodies is that we have this multi-organ involvement.

“We measure everything [in our research] because it gives you a much better picture of health – understanding how your fat is affecting everything in your body.”

Professor Thompson uses type 2 diabetes as a case study to demonstrate the interconnected nature of the human body, and how it is impacted by disease.

“If you look at someone with type 2 diabetes, you know their pancreas is affected in some way because they’ll have an issue with insulin production,” she explains. “But then you also know their muscles aren’t healthy because the muscles are insulin resistant and they’re not taking up glucose, then they store too much fat.

“We also know their kidneys aren’t functioning properly and their liver is affected, and then they have problems with their heart. Yet when you talk about disease, you don’t really think about all of these things that are going on. That’s why I think you get a really holistic picture of health through scanning.”

The UK Biobank scans people from their necks to their knees in roughly nine minutes, using automated scripts to analyse the results. Most of these scripts are freely available.

“It’s quite remarkable what you could do if you could roll this out in the NHS,” says Professor Thompson. “Say you go for a gall bladder scan – in the same image, you could get lots of information about your body composition.”

Through this, people could gain early warning signs for certain chronic diseases.

“Liver disease is one of the conditions that is rapidly growing in the UK,” Professor Thompson says. “One of the reasons is it is often picked up late because you don’t get symptoms.

“If it’s picked up early, you can actually reverse a lot of the effects through lifestyle changes. If everybody who happened to be scanning for one thing also had their liver measured, it might really save the NHS money, because you could pick things up while you are still able to intervene with just lifestyle changes.”

The UK Biobank plans to revisit participants in future years, helping researchers map patterns in the readings. It is hoped this will give them the ability to predict which people will develop which diseases based on a multitude of measurable factors.

“Then what you can look at is, ‘Are there simple biomarkers we can apply to the whole population so that you wouldn’t need to scan people?’,” Professor Thompson says.

“…I think until we start looking at the person rather than just the disease in one organ, we’re not going to understand how people are affected by these conditions. To understand health, you look at fat and muscle and all of the organs that get affected by them.”

Read more: The science-backed exercise method that can help fight the effects of ageing