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OPINION Microsoft is making massive progress in quantum computing, says Microsoft. Oh no they're not, say researchers. Anthropic's frontier models are too powerful for general use, says the US government. No, it's just Anthropic being punished for not doing what the US government tells them, say critics. Humans-in-the-loop are a pain-in-the-neck, says Amazon exec. Go do one, says this human. Three tech news stories from last week, six interpretations. You can probably decide between Microsoft PR and a peer-reviewed paper in Nature. Likewise, whether vindictiveness or virtue is at work with Anthropic. Amazon or a Reg hack? Harder to call. In all these cases, as in all cases, prior knowledge is the best context in which to judge media reports. Most citizens don't know much about most news, an eternal truth that is causing the UK government to fret about the future of public service broadcasting – or as it has become, public service media (PSM). With fewer people, especially that dread tribe, Young People, watching the wholesome fare of highly regulated broadcasters but feeding instead on firehoses of algo-spew, public service media risks suffocating on insignificance. That's a reasonable fear, if you feel that public service media deserves to be heard. It is a complicated argument where great forces have clashed since the birth of broadcasting, but if you know that the rhetoric of "fake news" has an antecedent in the German slur "Lügenpresse," you'll know the answer is yes, and yes, with a side order of yes. Vivat Reith. Having identified the problem, the brains of Britgov propose exactly the wrong solution. Get the algorithms that drive content consumption on social media to rank the quality PSM product higher. All those lost eyeballs will be brought back into the fold. This won't work for reasons both obvious and subtle. Forcing a quota of state-mandated media into the stream, even with the best of intentions, is a hostage to fortune. It's probably unenforceable, will be deeply unpopular with users and companies alike, and will poison PSM across the board. It also amplifies two falsehoods about PSM: that it's about news, and that it's about numbers. Both are important, but neither is anywhere near enough to argue for PSM's right to life. One of PSM's primary roles is to provide content that isn't commercially viable or is otherwise invisible. That reflects culture, art, science, all the human stuff that enriches life. It's where new ideas and new people come from, and some of those will become box-office hits. Putting numbers first, as parts of the BBC are moving toward, kills diversity and gives the commercial sector the killer argument that PSM is just unfair competition. PSM has always had the tension between being popular enough to matter to lots of people and broad enough to do the things that only it can do, but it does need both. That has been very expensive, but arguably worth it. High-quality news is one pillar of that, but only one. The one thing that keeps PSM alive is the editorial process, the decision-making that understands the purpose, constituent parts, and audiences, and applies that equation to the resources available. Those resources have changed, but they haven't gone away. What's needed now isn't a public service tweak to secret commercial algorithms, but a public service algorithm with humans in the loop, amplifying the good stuff on the platforms by driving traffic through exposure. How to design channels that do that and are compatible with the platforms themselves is an interesting challenge begging to be explored. However realized, it would be entirely compatible with providing natively sourced news, entertainment, sport, and everything else that keeps a brand current. It adapts seamlessly to multiple platforms, all of which have PSM-worthy content in quantity, if you filter out the toxins. It's a model that scales up and down, provided only that there are sufficient motivated and trained editorial staff who know who they're serving and why. There have to be ethical standards, transparency, training and support, and just the right level of management. That would turn the threat of the new media environment into a huge promise, all the techniques of distributed, diverse digital content from adversary to amplification. Public service broadcasting, at least in the UK, has been moving in this direction for decades, in the name of efficiency, outsourcing more and more programming to independent production companies – usually staffed by ex-BBC employees. You can't move very far in TV, radio, film, or digital media in the UK without tripping over ex-BBC bodies. That's another role of PSM, creating a huge pool of talent that irrigates an entire economic sector. A PSM strategy that encourages content creators to align with production and editorial standards would have invigorating effects in the new landscape. Public service media deserves to survive and thrive in an attention economy driven by so many forces designed to exploit rather than enlighten the public. Done well, it gives voice to the voiceless, describes a nation to itself, and sets standards that inspire trust and quench cynicism. All of this is there to be had, even today, even in the future. We just need to keep the right humans in the loop. Sorry, Amazon. ®

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Debates over Supergirl 's divisive needle drop went down to the "very last week" according to director Craig Gillespie.

The moment in question, during Supergirl's final act, features a Kelty Greye cover of 'The Middle' by Jimmy Eat World, a much slower tempo version of the song that audiences largely felt were at odds with the tone of the scene and the movie as a whole.

"There were a lot of options," Supergirl writer Ana Nogueira told Rolling Stone , with Gillespie revealing that "there were probably about 45 songs that went against that scene."

Gillespie said, "That was probably the biggest discussion. And it was down to the very last week, and I gotta give James [Gunn] credit for that one." He added that "a remix of a classic" was also a runner-up for the soundtracked scene – but didn't say what it was.

Reacting to the news, Greye wrote on Instagram , "As a proud nerd who was raised on superhero movies, this is quite literally a dream come true!"

Gunn, of course, is renowned for his deployment of pop and rock songs in his films, from the '80s-heavy Guardians of the Galaxy to the earworms of Peacemaker's opening titles sequences in its first two seasons. Fans may be less pleased with his contributions here, however.

All told, Supergirl has disappointed in its opening weekend. Its global opening of $68 million has led DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran to release a statement .

Safran told The New York Times , "While Supergirl didn't meet our box office expectations, it’s just one component of a broader, long-term strategy at DC Studios that we remain confident in."

Supergirl is now out in cinemas. For more, check out our spoiler-filled breakdown of the Supergirl ending , plus a rundown of all the major differences between the DCU movie and the Woman of Tomorrow comic .

You can also read our Supergirl review or see our guide on how to watch the DC movies in order .

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Excel's AI updates give it reusable skills and real-time data integration

Microsoft knows finance workers are an untapped area of the market

User demand is responsible for which tools Microsoft adds next

Microsoft has announced a new update to Copilot in Excel aimed specifically at finance workers, positioning the spreadsheet software as an AI-powered tool for financial modelling, forecasting and reporting.

OpenAI and Anthropic are already proving the field could be a lucrative business model, targeting both finance and legal departments with their own domain-specific offerings, and Microsoft has become the latest.

The company proudly proclaimed that Excel has been the go-to tool for finance workers for decades, hoping that this AI-powered makeover will concrete its position for decade to come.

Excel is getting new finance-specific AI tools

Rather than pushing useless and unrelated AI on users, Microsoft stressed that its users "shape it as much as they use it, telling us where it falls short."

Skills are the focus of this latest update – pre-built, repeatable workflows like closing the boots and refreshing a monthly report so that users can generate accurate insights without having to set it up each and every time. Customers can build their own skills or pick from a library of common skills, and soon, partners will also be able to offer their own skills through Excel like LSEG, Ramp, Rogo, Samaya AI, Velixo and Vena.

And for companies looking to tap into external data, direct integrations with third parties like CB Insights, Daloopa, FactSet, Morningstar, PitchBoot and S&P Global pull in real-time information, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual data pulls.

Importantly, Microsoft continues to position its AI tools as an AI colleague, not a human replacer, comparing these particular Excel upgrades to a "trusted analyst" that makes "transparent and reviewable" changes.

But despite offering native AI integration, Claude and ChatGPT already have their own Excel add-ons.

The latest Copilot AI updates are now available for M365 Copilot users, with continued rollout of custom skills and partner-built skills over the course of the next few months.