Summer holidays are a great time for soaking up the sun, but if your booked trip location is a little hotter than you were expecting this year — dare I say it, slightly too hot — it's worth making a plan to keep yourself comfortable enough to enjoy the break. Below, I've rounded up my keep-cool kit list for tackling too-balmy summer days.
To start off, arm yourself with a portable fan. Both Shark and Dyson have come out with stellar options this summer. The Shark ChillPill has a cooling plate and misting function, for a multi-pronged attack on the heat, while the Dyson HushJet Mini Cool is just a straightforward fan... but an extremely effective one (we preferred the HushJet in our side-by-side tests). If you're holidaying more locally, I've also included a couple of cordless desktop fans that would be great for more general use, including in the bedroom while you're trying to sleep.
I'd also seek out some good insulated containers for your food and drinks — Yeti and Hydro Flask make my favorite water bottles (go for a straw cap to encourage you to keep sipping on-the-go) and soft coolers. Finally, I've included some cheaper products for a quick hit of instant coldness: snappable cold towels and a sleep mask you can pop in the freezer.
Watch European Athletics Championships 2026 live streams as Keely Hodgkinson, Mondo Duplantis and Jakob Ingebrigtsen headline a cast of global superstars competing in Birmingham.
It promises to be a thrilling week at Alexander Stadium as the UK hosts the event for the first time in its 92-year history. The championships begin on Monday, August 10 and run until Sunday 16, with Georgia Hunter Bell, Dina Asher-Smith and Amy Hunt among the other high-profile names set to compete.
Keep reading to discover how to watch European Athletics Championships 2026 online from anywhere – starting with those FREE options.
Today at the European Athletics Championships (Monday, August 10: Day 1)
(All times BST)
Morning session
10.35am – Women’s shot put (Qualifying Groups A & B)
10.40am – Men’s hammer throw (Qualifying Group A)
10.45am – Men’s 800m (Round 1)
11.25am – Women’s 100m (Round 1)
11.30am – Men’s long jump (Qualifying Groups A & B)
11.55am – Men’s 400m (Round 1)
Click to see more 👇
12.20am – Men’s hammer throw (Qualifying Group B)
12.35am – Women’s 400m hurdles
12.40am – Men’s shot put (Qualifying Groups A & B)
Evening session
6.10pm – Opening ceremony
7.03pm – Women’s shot put (Final)
7:10pm – Women’s hammer throw (Qualifying Group A)
7:35pm – Women’s 100m hurdles (Round 1)
7:55pm – Women’s triple jump (Qualifying Groups A & B)
8:10pm – Women’s 100m (Semi-final)
8:33pm – Men’s shot put (Final)
8:38pm – Women’s hammer throw (Qualifying Group B)
8:40pm – Men’s 5000m (Final)
9:00pm – Women’s 3000m steeplechase (Round 1)
9:40pm – Mixed 4x400m relay (Final)
9:50pm – Women’s 100m (Final)
Can I watch the European Athletics Championships 2026 for free?
Yes! The European Athletics Championships 2026 will be streamed live and completely free on BBC in the UK and Ireland, with coverage across BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. You will need an account and a valid TV license to watch live.
Athletics fans anywhere without a broadcaster, including those in the US, Australia, and Canada, can stream the European Athletics Championships online on Eurovison Sport.
Outside the UK? You can use NordVPN (try 100% risk-free) to watch the European Athletics Championships 2026 free of charge.
Use a VPN to watch the European Athletics Championships 2026
Starting on August 10 and ending on August 16, the European Athletics Championships 2026 coincides with peak summer vacation season. Unfortunately, you may find that your usual streaming options are geoblocked while you’re away.
That’s where a VPN comes in handy – not only does it let you access your home streaming services from anywhere, but it also protects you from potential online threats. We recommend NordVPN – it does everything and will unblock any free streaming service for you to watch the action.
Not having a VPN is like leaving your front door wide open in a busy city – anyone can walk right in and take a peek.
TechRadar regularly reviews all the biggest and best VPN providers and NordVPN is our #1 choice.
✅ Up to 75% off today ✅ 3 extra months free ✅ Unlocks BBC iPlayer
Get NordVPN and stream European Athletics Championships 2026 from anywhere.View Deal
Using a VPN is incredibly simple:
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're visiting the US and want to watch on BBC iPlayer, you'd select a UK-based server from the list.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to BBC iPlayer and watch the European Athletics Championships 2026.
Can I watch the European Athletics Championships 2026 in the US, Canada or Australia?
The European Athletics Championships 2026 will be shown live in the US, Canada and Australia on Eurovison Sport.
All you need to do is create a free account and you can watch for no charge.
Visiting one of these countries from the UK? Use NordVPN to watch the European Athletics Championships 2026 on the BBC.
How to watch European Athletics Championships 2026 in the UK
As mentioned above, you can watch live coverage of the European Athletics Championships 2026 on BBC in the UK. Remember you will need a TV license and an account with a valid UK postcode (e.g. SE1 7PB).
TNT Sports is also showing every event across the seven days live on TNT Sports 3 and streaming partner HBO Max. Plans start at £25.99 per month (minimum one-year term), with rolling subscriptions available for £30.99 per month.
Make sure to use NordVPN if you're out of the UK and don't want to miss any of the athletics action.
European Athletics Championships 2026: Preview
Four years after the city hosted the Commonwealth Games, the eyes of the athletics world will once again be trained on Birmingham as the European Athletics Championships 2026 comes to the West Midlands. Some of the biggest stars in track and field will grace the Alexander Stadium as they bid to claim gold at the biggest event Europe has to offer.
Several British hopes will be desperate to triumph on home turf, with Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson aiming to complete a hat-trick of European titles with her third successive gold in the event. The 24-year-old will be pushed hard by Switzerland's Audrey Werro, who has run faster than any woman in the world over the distance in 2026, and the Netherlands' Femke Broeders-Bol, a serial Olympic, world and European champion who normally races in the 400m hurdles. Hodgkinson's training partner Georgia Hunter Bell won 800m gold at the Commonwealth Games last month, but she will compete in the 1,500m here.
Other Team GB athletes to look out for include sprint stars Dina Asher-Smith and Amy Hunt, heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and local boy Matthew Hudson-Smith, the four-time European champion in the 400m and 4x400m relay, who has had the North Stand at Alexander Stadium named after him.
It is not just about the host nation, though, with some genuine global superstars also set to feature. One of the biggest names in world athletics right now is Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, a two-time Olympic champion who has broken the world record an astonishing 15 times. Meanwhile, fellow Scandinavian Jakob Ingebrigtsen - the Olympic 5,000m champion and 1,500m gold-medalist at Tokyo 2020 - is set to make his return from injury, representing Norway.
When do the European Athletics Championships 2026 start?
The European Athletics Championships 2026 start on Monday, August 10, with the first session beginning at 10.35am BST / 5.35am ET / 2.35am PT/ 7.35pm AEST.
The championships end on Sunday, August 16, with the men's 4x400m relay final the last event of the week at 9.48pm BST / 4.48pm ET / 1.48pm PT / 6.48am AEST (Mon).
European Athletics Championships 2026: Schedule
Below is the daily schedule for the European Athletics Championships 2026. All times BST.
Monday, August 10: Day 1
Morning session
10.35am – Women’s shot put (Qualifying Groups A & B)
10.40am – Men’s hammer throw (Qualifying Group A)
10.45am – Men’s 800m (Round 1)
11.25am – Women’s 100m (Round 1)
11.30am – Men’s long jump (Qualifying Groups A & B)
11.55am – Men’s 400m (Round 1)
12.20am – Men’s hammer throw (Qualifying Group B)
12.35am – Women’s 400m hurdles
12.40am – Men’s shot put (Qualifying Groups A & B)
Click to see full schedule 👇
Evening session
6.10pm – Opening ceremony
7.03pm – Women’s shot put (Final)
7:10pm – Women’s hammer throw (Qualifying Group A)
7:35pm – Women’s 100m hurdles (Round 1)
7:55pm – Women’s triple jump (Qualifying Groups A & B)
8:10pm – Women’s 100m (Semi-final)
8:33pm – Men’s shot put (Final)
8:38pm – Women’s hammer throw (Qualifying Group B)
8:40pm – Men’s 5000m (Final)
9:00pm – Women’s 3000m steeplechase (Round 1)
9:40pm – Mixed 4x400m relay (Final)
9:50pm – Women’s 100m (Final)
Tuesday, August 11: Day 2
Morning session
10.33am – Men’s high jump (Qualifying Groups A & B)
10.35am – Men’s discus throw (Qualifying Group A)
10.45am – Women’s 400m hurdles (Semi-final)
11.15am – Men’s 100m (Round 1)
11.40am – Men’s 110m hurdles (Round 1)
12.00pm – Men’s discus throw (Qualifying Group B)
12.05pm – Women’s 800m (Round 1)
12.40pm – Men’s 400m hurdles (Round 1)
Evening session
7.05pm – Women’s pole vault (Qualifying Groups A & B)
7.10pm – Men’s hammer throw (Final)
7.25pm – Women’s 5000m (Final)
7.55pm – Women’s 100m hurdles (Semi-final)
8.16pm – Men’s long jump (Final)
8.32pm – Men’s 100m (Semi-final)
9.00pm – Men’s 400m (Semi-final)
9.30pm – Women’s 100m hurdles (Final)
9.47pm – Men’s 100m(Final)
Wednesday, August 12: Day 3
Morning session
10.35am – Men’s decathlon 100m (Heats)
10.40am – Women’s discus throw (Qualifying Group A)
11.05am – Women’s 400m (Round 1)
11.20am – Men’s decathlon long jump (Groups A & B)
11.40am – Women’s 200m (Round 1)
12.00pm – Women’s discus throw (Qualifying Group B)
12.20pm – Men’s 800m (Semi-final)
12.40pm – Men’s decathlon shot put (Groups A & B)
12.55pm – Men’s 400m hurdles (Semi-final)
Evening session
7.05pm – Men’s decathlon high jump (Groups A & B)
7.45pm – Women’s hammer throw (Final)
7.55pm – Men’s 110m hurdles (Semi-final)
8.20pm – Women’s 200m (Semi-final)
8.40pm – Men’s triple jump (Qualifying Groups A & B)
8.50pm – Men’s 400m (Final)
9.08pm – Women’s hurdles (Final)
9.22pm – Men’s decathlon 400m (Heats)
9.47pm – Men’s 110m hurdles(Final)
Thursday, August 13: Day 4
Morning session
10.33am – Men’s decathlon 110m hurdles (Heats)
10.55am – Women’s high jump (Qualifying Groups A & B)
11.05am – Men’s 200m (Round 1)
11.20am – Men’s decathlon discus throw (Group A)
11.30am – Men’s 3000m steeplechase (Round 1)
12.10pm – Women’s 800m (Semi-final)
12.25pm – Men’s decathlon discus throw (Group B)
12.45pm – Women’s 400m (Semi-final)
1.00pm – Men’s decathlon pole vault (Group A)
1.35pm – Men’s javelin throw (Group A)
1.45pm – Men’s decathlon pole vault (Group B)
2.55pm – Men’s javelin throw (Group B)
Evening session
6.35pm – Men’s decathlon javelin throw (Group A)
7.35pm – Men’s decathlon javelin throw (Group B)
7.40pm – Women’s triple jump (Final)
7.50pm – Women’s pole vault (Final)
8.05pm – Men’s 200m (Semi-final)
8.29pm – Women’s 3000m steeplechase (Final)
8.45pm – Men’s discus throw (Final)
9.10pm – Men’s decathlon 1500m (Final)
9.28pm – Men’s 800m (Final)
9.50pm – Women’s 200m (Final)
Friday, August 14: Day 5
Morning session
10.35am – Women’s heptathlon 100m hurdles (Heats)
10.40am – Women’s javelin throw (Qualifying Group A)
10.50am - Men’s pole vault (Qualifying Groups A & B)
11.05am – Men’s 4x400m relay (Round 1)
11.25am – Women’s heptathlon high jump (Groups A & B)
11.35am – Women’s 4x400m relay (Round 1)
12.00pm – Women’s javelin throw (Qualifying Group B)
12.05pm – Men’s 1500m (Round 1)
Evening session
7.35pm – Women’s heptathlon shot put (Groups A & B)
7.45pm – Women’s 10,000m (Final)
8.00pm – Men’s high jump (Final)
8.30pm – Women’s discus throw (Final)
8.40pm – Men’s 400m hurdles (Final)
8.55pm – Women’s heptathlon 200m (Heats)
9.25pm – Men’s 200m (Final)
9.46pm – Women’s 800m (Final)
Saturday, August 15: Day 6
Morning session
7.30am – Men’s and women’s half marathon race walk (Final), Men’s and women’s marathon race walk (Final)
10.35am – Women’s heptathlon long jump (Groups A & B)
11.50am – Women’s long jump (Qualifying Groups A & B)
11.55am – Women’s heptathlon javelin throw (Groups A & B)
12.15pm – Women’s 1500m (Round 1)
12.40pm – Women’s 4x100m relay (Round 1)
1.00pm – Men’s 4x100m relay (Round 1)
Evening session
7.45pm – Women’s heptathlon 800m (Final)
8.01pm – Men’s javelin throw (Final)
8.07pm – Women’s high jump (Final)
8.10pm – Women’s 400m (Final)
8.17pm – Men’s triple jump (Final)
8.25pm – Men’s 10,000m (Final)
9.07pm – Men’s 1500m (Final)
9.33pm – Men’s 4x100m relay (Final)
9.48pm – Women’s 4x100m relay (Final)
Sunday, August 16: Day 7
Morning session
7.30am – Women’s marathon (Final)
8.10am – Men’s marathon (Final)
Evening session
7.30pm – Men’s pole vault (Final)
7.55pm – Women’s javelin throw (Final)
8.05pm – Women’s long jump (Final)
8.35pm – Mixed 4x100m relay (Final)
8.50pm – Men’s 3000m steeplechase (Final)
9.13pm – Women’s 1500m (Final)
9.33pm – Women’s 4x400m relay (Final)
9.48pm – Men’s 4x400m relay (Final)
Can I watch European Athletics Championships 2026 on my mobile?
Of course, most broadcasters have streaming services that you can access through mobile apps or via your phone's browser to live stream the European Athletics Championships, for example BBC Sport and TNT Sports in the UK.
You can also stay up-to-date with all European Athletics Championships 2026 events on the official social media channels such as on X (@EuroAthletics), Instagram (@europeanathletics) and YouTube (@EuropeanAthletics).
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
from Latest from TechRadar https://ift.tt/2rs1Hgw
Xiaomi Sound Play review It turns out that major ...
It turns out that major mobile manufacturer Xiaomi also makes Bluetooth speakers, and its latest model, the Xiaomi Sound Play, is aiming to deliver “immersive, powerful sound” as well as a “stylish and versatile” design.
But that’s not all. The tech giant is doing all of this while keeping its speaker nice and cheap. It comes in at just £49.90 (about $67 / AU$95) — which is refreshingly affordable for an 18W model with features such as smart lighting, Auracast, and IP68 waterproofing.
So can the Xiaomi Sound Play compete with some of the very best Bluetooth speakers around? The answer is a little more complicated than a simple yes or no.
Let’s start by looking at the areas in which the Sound Play excels, and there are a fair few of these. I alluded to some a moment ago — its waterproofing and LED lights, for example. That IP68 rating means that the speaker is fully dustproof, but can also survive a dunking under a meter and a half of water for as long as 30 minutes, so you really can take it anywhere without fear of damage.
The lighting — a key selling point of this speaker — is pretty neat too. Lights sit on the base of the speaker and beneath a panel on the top side, which resembles an infinity mirror. And the rings of lighting really help to make your listening sessions more immersive, especially in lower-lit conditions. You can customize the color and pattern of the lights too, and one setting also syncs up to bass output. That level of customizability is spectacular to see on a speaker in this price category.
More generally, I’m quite a big fan of how the Sound Play looks. It comes in four very stylish colors — the Purple variant I tried is quite the looker, as is the Green version. It is reminiscent of the JBL Flip 7 in terms of look and feel, with a neat fabric exterior and psuedo-cylindrical build. The inclusion of the infinity mirror light and handy rubber strap also make it a real stand-out, looks wise.
Another welcome inclusion is a built-in mic, for speakerphone duties. This is something you don't often see these days and it does add value, on paper. However, I made a phone call and although my voice sounded clear on the other end, I noticed a high-pitched chime whenever the other person wasn’t speaking. It wasn’t a dealbreaker (my discussion was still easy to navigate), but it's my job to notice these things.
Other highlights include a JBL Grip-rivalling 14-hour battery life — which is excellent for a speaker of this size — as well as Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity, and true wireless stereo playback for anyone with multiple Sound Play models at their disposal.
Something that the Sound Play omits, however, is companion app support. For me, this is a bigger miss — an app could’ve opened up EQ adjustment, remote light alteration, and precise battery life tracking. The speaker’s nominal price doesn’t quite excuse this either. There are a number of budget-friendly rivals from the likes of Earfun, Edifier, and Tribit that do come with app support.
(Image credit: Future)
By now you must be wondering how Xiaomi’s speaker sounds. In honesty, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. It’s a steady performer in some areas, but in need of improvement in others.
In general, the Sound Play delivers fairly clear audio. In Yes I Know My Way by Pino Daniele, vocals had good presence in the mix, and even had a decent sense of separation from other instruments in the mid-range. OK, higher-pitched drums weren’t the most expressive or articulate, but they didn’t sound tinny at mid-volume, and bass was weighted relatively well too.
With more energetic tracks, such as Trip by Ruze, the cracks started to show. There was a slightly compressed quality to the track, and the pumping bass just didn’t come through with the command or depth of similarly sized rivals, including the JBL Grip, which I directly tested against the Sound Play.
During this comparison, the Grip just delivered a more fun performance, with enhanced directionality and low-end punch. But that’s not to say Xiaomi’s speaker was blown out of the water — it still held its own with commendable clarity in the mid-range and fairly agile bass.
In House tracks, bass drops didn’t always have the impact or dynamism I was listening out for, and vibrant drums could occasionally sound on the blunt side. But then again, the Xiaomi didn’t succumb to a boomy, super-muddy sound that a lot of its budget rivals do — it puts up a fairly controlled performance overall.
As a smaller speaker, the Sound Play can’t get super loud, and bass will thin out substantially at top volume levels. It also won’t deliver the most detailed or open sound ever — again, I found a few tracks sounded a little compressed and narrow, which isn’t helped by the lack of higher-res codecs like LDAC or aptX.
(Image credit: Future)
All in all, I think the Sound Play sounds good enough for the price you pay. Sure, it’s not the most dynamic or revealing-sounding model on the market, but you get typically clear, decently balanced sound without having to shell out all too much cash.
So, looking at the Xiaomi Sound Play as a whole, would I consider it worth buying? Well that depends. If you’re on a tight budget, and you want a speaker for less than £50, then I think the Sound Play is an option worth considering. It doesn’t sound amazing, but it gets the job done, and I’m a big fan of its durable yet eye-catching design.
However, if you’ve got a little more money to play with, then I’d suggest picking up the JBL Flip 7. That model can produce truly seismic bass, incredibly clean audio, and has a top-class companion app to boot. The JBL Grip is another neat alternative, especially if you can grab it on sale.
(Image credit: Future)
Xiaomi Sound Play review: price & release date
Priced at £49.90 (about $67 / AU$95)
Launched in May 2026
Scheduled to release in Australia in August 2026
The Xiaomi Sound Play was launched in May 2026, at the same time as its recently released 17T series. The speaker is available for £49.90 (about $67 / AU$95) in the UK, although Xiaomi told me that there are no plans for a US release, and the speaker won’t be available in Australia until August 2026. It can be purchased in one of four colors — Black, Green, Purple, or White — via Xiaomi’s digital store.
Xiaomi Sound Play review: specs
Weight
0.9lbs / 415g
Dimensions
2.5 x 2.7 x 7.9 inches / 63.4 x 69.5 x 201.1mm
Connectivity
Bluetooth 6.0
Battery life
14 hours
Speaker drivers
1x 18W full-range
Waterproofing
IP68
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the Xiaomi Sound Play?
Attribute
Notes
Score
Features
Adjustable lighting, good battery life, but lack of app is a shame.
3.5/5
Performance
Decently balanced audio with clear vocals, but lacks the depth and dynamism of some rivals.
3.5/5
Design
Infinity mirror and lights look great, neat color options, well protected against the elements.
4.5/5
Value
Decent enough audio and great design at a very affordable price point.
4/5
Buy it if…
You want something stylish I’m a big fan of the way Xiaomi’s Sound Play speaker looks. It comes in a funky range of colors, has personalizable lighting, and the infinity mirror feels like the cherry on top.
You’re on a tighter budget Something the Sound Play has over rivals from the likes of JBL and Bose, is that it’s available at an exceedingly low price. At £49.90 (about $67 / AU$95), it’s highly affordable, and although it could sound a little better, I think it easily earns its price.
Don’t buy it if…
You want the best-sounding speaker Although the Sound Play is a steady enough performer, offering relatively balanced audio output with clear vocals, it’s no sonic marvel. It lacks the extension and authority of similarly powered (and sized) rivals like the JBL Grip and JBL Flip 7 — so if you want truly great audio, it may not be your best option.
You’re looking for a speaker with remote controls Perhaps the biggest shame here is that the Sound Play omits a companion app. This would’ve enabled remote control of lighting, EQ, and more, and it’s something that a huge proportion of Xiaomi’s competitors can deliver.
Xiaomi Sound Play review: also consider
Xiaomi Sound Play
Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4
JBL Go 5
Price
£49.90 (about $67 / AU$95)
$99.99 / £89.99 / AU$149
$54.95 / £39.99 (about AU$75)
Weight
0.9lbs / 415g
0.9lbs / 420g
0.5lbs / 230g
Dimensions
2.5 x 2.7 x 7.9 inches / 63.4 x 69.5 x 201.1mm
4.1 x 3.8 x 3.8 inches / 104 x 95.3 x 95.3mm
4 x 3.1 x 1.7 inches / 101 x 77.4 x 43mm
Connectivity
Bluetooth 6.0
Bluetooth 5.2
Bluetooth 6.0, USB-C
Battery life
14 hours
14 hours
10 hours (with PlayTime Boost)
Speaker drivers
1x 18W full-range
2 x 40mm active drivers, 2 x 46.1x65.2mm passive radiators
1x 45mm full range
Waterproofing
IP68
IP67
IP68
Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 Ah, the UE Wonderboom 4 — I just can’t get enough of this little Bluetooth speaker. For such a small model, it produces an awful lot of bass, but its compact form makes it ideal for taking just about anywhere you go. It’s also highly waterproof, offers solid battery life, and can be bought at a discount fairly regularly. Pretty good, right? Read our full Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 review.
JBL Go 5 The tiny JBL Go 5 recently earned a glowing five-star review from yours truly, and for good reason. Not only is it extremely affordable, but it's equipped with a sensational feature-set, is incredibly durable, and produces far better sound than its predecessor. Read my full JBL Go 5 review.
How I tested the Xiaomi Sound Play
(Image credit: Future)
I spent multiple days testing
Mainly streamed tunes via Tidal
Reviewed by someone who’s tested more than 50 Bluetooth speakers
I spent multiple days testing out the Xiaomi Sound Play, during which time I listened to countless tunes, exhausted its various features, and compared it against various rivals.
When listening to music I mainly streamed tracks over Tidal, but I dipped into Spotify from time to time as well. As always, I started out by sifting through the TechRadar reference playlist, which features songs from a wide variety of genres. I also listened to a ton of tunes from my personal library as well, though.
More generally, I’ve spent years reviewing audio gear here at TechRadar, and have tested a whole lot of Bluetooth speakers — more than 50 in fact. I’ve tried out everything from pocket-sized audio companions like the Bose SoundLink Micro Gen 2 through to luxurious large-sized alternatives like the Marshall Bromley 750, as well as Xiaomi Sound Play rivals like the JBL Grip, so I know exactly what it takes for a speaker to stand out in this highly competitive market.
The 2026 MotoGP season returns from its summer break as a fascinating riders' championship battle resumes at Silverstone, the home of UK motorsport, for the British Grand Prix 2026.
Just 24 points separates the top five riders in the standings, with 2024 champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) leading SuperFile Trackhouse's Ai Ogura by 14. However, the duo will be nervously looking over their shoulders after seven-time world champion Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo) roared back into contention with three wins in the past four grands prix having recovered from a fractured foot. He is only 18 points off the summit, while Martin's Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi is a further four adrift with Fabio Di Giannantonio of Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing in fifth following a consistent first half of the season.
Bezzecchi has recent experience of success at Silverstone, taking the checkered flag in the 2025 race ahead of Johann Zarco and Marquez. The latter has historically struggled here, despite his incredible success over the years, managing just one British Grand Prix victory in his glittering career - and that was back in 2014. Meanwhile, his Ducati teammate and 2022 race winner Francesco Bagnaia is set to compete despite undergoing arm pump surgery during the four-week summer break, so it will be interesting to see how he fares in Northamptonshire.
So read on to find out how to watch the British Grand Prix 2026 MotoGP for free online and from anywhere in the world.
Can you watch British Grand Prix 2026 MotoGP for free?
Yes. ThreeNow in New Zealand has free-to-air coverage of every session, from first practice to qualifying and, of course, the race. The streaming service is showing all 22 races live across the 2026 season at no cost – you just need to create an account and away you go.
Free MotoGP coverage is also available from Servus On in Austria, RTBF in Belgium, and Canale 8 in Italy.
Traveling abroad right now? You can use a VPN to watch British Grand Prix 2026 MotoGP for free as if you were right at home.
Use a VPN to watch British Grand Prix 2026 MotoGP live streams
A VPN is handy piece of software that can make your device appear as if it's back in your home country, so you can unlock your usual service. The best VPN right now? We recommend NordVPN – it does everything and comes with up to 75% off.
Not having a VPN is like leaving your front door wide open in a busy city – anyone can walk right in and take a peek.
TechRadar regularly reviews all the biggest and best VPN providers and NordVPN is our #1 choice.
✅ Up to 75% off today ✅ 3 extra months free ✅ Unlocks ThreeNow
Get NordVPN and stream the British Grand Prix 2026 from anywhere.View Deal
How to watch British Grand Prix 2026 MotoGP live streams in the US
In the US, live coverage of the British Grand Prix 2026 MotoGP will be on FS1, which is showing Saturday's qualifying session and the race on Sunday.
If you don't have the channel on cable, FS1 is available throughSling – specifically the Blue plan, which starts at $45.99/month. You can also access it viaYouTube TV (free trial),Fubo (free trial), andDirecTV.
Alternatively, you can live stream every race of the 2026 MotoGP season via Fox One, which costs $19.99/month after a3-day FREE trial.
Visiting the US coverage from New Zealand? UseNordVPN to watch free-to-air MotoGP coverage.
How to watch British Grand Prix 2026 MotoGP live streams in the UK
(Image credit: Other)
TNT Sports is showing the British Grand Prix 2026 MotoGP live in the UK.
TNT Sports is the exclusive rights holder of MotoGP in the UK, with coverage of every session at Silverstone live on TNT Sports 2.
You can add TNT Sports to your Sky, Virgin Media or EE TV package, or get anHBO Max plan that includes TNT Sports. Prices start at £25.99/month if you commit to a year.
If you're out of the UK but still want to tune in, explorethe VPN route set out above, which will help you access your accounts from anywhere.
How to watch British Grand Prix 2026 MotoGP live streams in Australia
(Image credit: free)
MotoGP fans in Australia can watch the British Grand Prix 2026 live on ESPN via Foxtel (streamed viaFoxtel Now). Subscriptions start at AU$35/month for the Starter Plan.
The race can also be streamed through the excellent sports streaming platformKayo Sports (from AU$29.99/month for the Standard Plan, or your first month for $1 if you choose the Premium Plan, which costs AU$45.99/month thereafter).
Both ESPN via Foxtel and Kayo Sports are showing every single MotoGP race live during the 2026 season, so you won't miss a lap.
Not in Australia right now? You can simply use a VPN likeNordVPN to watch all the action as if you were back home.
How to watch British Grand Prix 2026 MotoGP in Canada
(Image credit: Other)
In Canada, you can watch live coverage of the British Grand Prix 2026 MotoGP on Sportsnet.
Sportsnet is available to live stream via Sportsnet Plus, which starts at CA$29.99/month or CA$249.99/year. The platform is Canada's leading sports network and will show all 22 grands prix during the 2026 MotoGP season.
If you're traveling outside of Canada, you can make use of NordVPN to catch the action.
MotoGP 2026 Q&A
What is the MotoGP 2026 schedule?
MotoGP 2026 schedule
Sunday, March 1 Thai Grand Prix | Buriram International Circuit (Winner: Marco Bezzecchi - Aprilia Racing)
Sunday, March 22 Brazilian Grand Prix | Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna (Winner: Marco Bezzecchi - Aprilia Racing)
Sunday, March 29 US Grand Prix | Circuit of the Americas (Winner: Marco Bezzecchi - Aprilia Racing)
Sunday, April 26 Spanish Grand Priz | Circuito de Jerez (Winner: Alex Marquez - BK8 Gresini)
Sunday, May 10 French Grand Prix | Bugatti Circuit (Winner: Jorge Martin - Aprilia Racing)
Sunday, May 17 Catalan Grand Prix | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (Winner: Fabio Di Giannantonio - Pertamina Enduro VR46)
Sunday, May 31 Italian Grand Prix | Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello (Winner: Marco Bezzecchi - Aprilia Racing)
Sunday, June 7 Hungarian Grand Prix | Balaton Park Circuit (Winner: Marc Marquez - Ducati Lenovo)
Sunday, June 21 Czech Grand Prix | Brno Circuit (Winner: Marc Marquez - Ducati Lenovo)
Sunday, June 28 Dutch TT | TT Circuit Assen (Winner: Ai Ogura - SuperFile Trackhouse)
Sunday, July 12 German Grand Prix | Sachsenring (Winner: Marc Marquez - Ducati Lenovo)
Sunday, August 9 British Grand Prix | Silverstone
Sunday, August 30 Aragon Grand Prix | Circuito de Alcañiz
Sunday, September 13 San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix | Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
Sunday, September 20 Austrian Grand Prix | Red Bull Ring
Sunday, October 4 Japanese Grand Prix | Mobility Resort Motegi
Sunday, October 11 Indonesian Grand Prix | Mandalika International Street Circuit
Sunday, October 25 Australian Grand Prix | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Sunday, November 1 Malaysian Grand Prix | Sepang International Circuit
Sunday, November 8 Qatari Grand Prix | Lusail International Circuit
Sunday, November 22 Portuguese Grand Prix | Portimão Circuit
Sunday, November 29 Valencian Community Grand Prix | Circuit Ricardo Tormo
What are the MotoGP 2026 Riders' Championship standings? (top 10 only)
Riders' Championship standings
Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) - 208 points
Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse) - 194
Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo) - 190
Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) - 186
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46) - 184
Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse) - 159
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory) - 148
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) - 143
Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini) - 87
Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) - 79
What are the MotoGP 2026 Teams' Championship standings?
Teams' Championship standings
Aprilia Racing - 394 points
SuperFile Trackhouse - 353
Ducati Lenovo - 333
Pertamina Enduro VR46 - 230
Red Bull KTM Factory - 212
BK8 Gresini - 172
Honda HRC Castrol - 105
Red Bull KTM Tech3 - 86
Castrol Honda LCR - 82
Monster Energy Yamaha - 76
Prima Pramac Yamaha - 31
Who are the MotoGP 2026 riders?
MotoGP riders
Aprilia Racing Marco Bezzecchi Jorge Martin Lorenzo Savadori
Castrol Honda LCR Johann Zarco Cal Crutchlow Diogo Moreira
Ducati Lenovo Francesco Bagnaia Marc Márquez
Honda HRC Castrol Luca Marini Joan Mir
Monster Energy Yamaha Fabio Quartararo Alex Rins Augusto Fernandez
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Franco Morbidelli Fabio Di Giannantonio
Prima Pramac Yamaha Toprak Razgatlioglu Jack Miller
Red Bull KTM Factory Brad Binder Pedro Acosta
Red Bull KTM Tech3 Maverick Vinales Jonas Folger Enea Bastianini
SuperFile Trackhouse Raul Fernandez Ai Ogura
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
I've been a fan of Zoner Studio since first reviewing it in 2025 - it's a fusion of Lightroom and Photoshop-style tools for photographers, with some compelling advantages over both.
My team recently re-reviewed the photo editing and organizing software, complete with its big summer updates roll-out, where it earned an even higher score for 2026 (read our Zoner Studio review).
I spoke to Zoner's Thomas Urban to find out what's new in this Windows-only photo editor, why the devs prefer meaningful features over flashy gimmicks, and how the software handles the messy realities of shooting.
Adobe has a near-monopoly on creative software. What is the elevator pitch to a photographer who is locked into the Lightroom/Photoshop ecosystem to try Zoner Studio?
Great point, they are a household name. If you want a single interface for all your editing, faster culling and RAW capabilities, not being stuck in a catalog while being able to work with local files if you’d like and all of this for a lower price, then you should try out Zoner Studio.
I hope with time, society as a whole, we make our way back to authentic things that matter
In your summer update, you intentionally avoided “flashy new features you’ll use once a year.” Why do you think so much of the industry is chasing AI gimmicks instead of fixing core editing speed?
Perhaps they think people will find these types of upgrades boring? Maybe the core issues are more difficult to address? And, some of these features like a completely revamped search engine, just aren’t visually that striking, for sure.
When you’ve taken thousands of photographs though and just want to get through the culling in a responsible and effective way with quality metadata and organisation, these less flashy things are going to save your time down the road and your mental state.
It seems the entire world now has the attention span of a few seconds and everyone is fighting for a fraction of your attention, god forbid your undivided attention. It may be that in order to actually present those important features, you need the flashy stuff to catch the attention first.
I hope with time, society as a whole, we make our way back to authentic things that matter, things that last and things we’re proud of because they’re done well.
Most suites force you to lock in your RAW edits before moving to layers. What’s the practical advantage of keeping a photographer’s entire pipeline inside a single workspace?
Photo editing should match that fun and complement this process instead of being a chore
Simplicity. We all started this whole photography thing because it was fun and gave us something we kept coming back to. Photo editing should match that and complement this process instead of being a chore.
We want photographers to have a proper partner to their camera and being able to do everything in a single UI just felt like the natural solution.
The fact that each photographer can stay in the same interface allows them to stay in the creative flow rather than worry about whether or not this particular photo is now good enough to move on to layers. That just seems counter to what we're trying to do as photographers.
(Image credit: Future)
Cleaning sensor dust or portrait blemishes across a massive shoot is soul-crushing work. Where does your Smart Healing excel, and where do complex textures still force a photographer to step in manually?
Our tools are non-destructive and fast compared to our competition (which is a rare combination)
Our tools still require manual inputs as we don’t have automatic detection of dust or blemishes. Our tools however, are non-destructive and fast compared to our competition (which is a rare combination).
Source search is on the verge of being possible without the use of AI and they also allow for very complex retouching. Retouching is divided into individual layers, and individual strokes are separated on the layers.
Within strokes, the user can utilize entire strokes (some only allow circles) or subtract from them, brushes have all parameters and we have the best tablet pen integration on the market. It’s possible to customize and map out your parameters based on your pen pressure.
Again, I wanted to remind you of the non-destructive model because this combination is not common for most of these operations in other photo editors. Users have to go to bitmap editors like Ps or Affinity whereas with Zoner Studio, you don’t even have to leave the Develop module.
This makes it easy and there’s no need to make a complicated trip from one program to another while also considering the correct order of operations.
Manual keywording and file tagging is a major chore. How does your Search engine let someone instantly pull up shots without forcing them to build a rigid catalog first?
Our Catalog serves more as a cache. The photographer is not locked into Zoner Studio’s infrastructure
Yes, this is a core issue with many photo editors. To start, the difference between Zoner Studio and most of the competition is that you don’t need to create a Catalog as a blackbox per se but rather a Catalog built on market standard files or data that sits next to these common files.
Because of this, our Catalog serves more as a cache and does not contain unique data that the photographer could lose and is always “rebuildable” based on the data stored in those photos. Therefore, the photographer is not locked into Zoner Studio’s infrastructure.
We still rely on manual keywording and tagging (unfortunately, the program cannot replace manually entered data because it’s our interpretation of structures) and we’re also working robustly with names and the folder structure, which are an important part of manually entered data and are often ignored by other photo programs.
We also focus on working effectively with them and also with regards to the data that is inherently in the photos themselves. Then based on your knowledge of your data, you can effectively find a lot of things.
(Image credit: Future)
Automatically grouping and merging panoramas or focus stacks sounds great in theory. But how did you design the software to handle the messy reality of real-world shooting?
In our opinion, a large number of future disruptive technologies will be built on automatic stacking
For us, it’s not only good in theory but is great in practice. Of course, we can always improve but we have been optimizing the algorithms for several periods and are still working on them.
If the photographer uses the automatic camera functions like exposure and focus bracketing, and doesn’t make major mistakes when taking photos, we have an almost 100% hit rate.
Of course, it’s ideal to catch those deviations and we are very grateful to the user base for supplying us with samples. We’re really happy that in most cases it simply boils down to a shooting error. In our opinion, a large number of future disruptive technologies will be built on automatic stacking.
It’s necessary to realize that it’s not only about stacking panoramas and others that form a fraction of what a photographer processes but also continuous shots and generally similar images with which the user works as a whole and, for example, selects the best shot.
From turning burst sequences into time-lapses to simulating long exposures without an ND filter, what do you think are the most underrated creative tricks hidden in Zoner Studio?
Back to the basics; LUT's. There are plenty of them on the internet and they are great for everyone.
They'll be liked by the user who still can't click and use sliders to achieve their desired results and by the user who has the ability to accurately utilize the entire RAW processing pipeline.
We aren't exactly fans of the sort of "tricks" philosophy idea but if we had a choose an underrated function that can pull some serious weight, it would be the preview function in the Manager module that allows photographers to preview multiple images at once
Telefónica upgrades 2,756 network sites before Spain's August solar eclipse
More than 400 observation points received detailed mobile coverage assessments beforehand
Engineers adjusted base station settings to handle expected traffic surges efficiently
Spain's upcoming solar eclipse is expected to attract large crowds, prompting Telefónica to strengthen its mobile network before millions of photographs and videos begin flowing online.
The telecommunications company has spent several months preparing for the event after assessing likely visitor numbers and network demand across hundreds of planned observation locations.
Rather than waiting for congestion to develop, the operator is adjusting network capacity in advance to maintain reliable mobile services during the eclipse.
Network upgrades span thousands of kilometres
Telefónica's preparations cover 31 Spanish provinces and 2,756 network sites distributed across the extensive path where the August 12, 2026 solar eclipse will be visible.
Engineers examined coverage conditions at more than 400 officially identified observation points before determining where additional network resources would be required during the event.
The operator expects unusually high demand from domestic and international visitors gathering to photograph, record, and share images across mobile networks simultaneously.
Instead of relying solely on additional infrastructure, engineers are adjusting technical settings inside existing base stations to match anticipated traffic patterns more effectively.
Those network changes redistribute available bandwidth and equipment capacity, helping mobile users maintain stable connections even when thousands attempt uploading content from the same locations.
People using AI tools to edit eclipse photographs and videos could also increase mobile data demand as content begins appearing online.
Eclipse preparations form part of a wider summer programme
The eclipse initiative forms one element of Telefónica's broader summer network programme, which includes more than 500 infrastructure improvements across different parts of Spain.
The seasonal programme also covers 34 strategic coastal locations alongside network optimization supporting 440 events expected to attract substantial visitor numbers throughout the summer period.
Additional mobile units have been assigned to locations expected to receive the largest crowds, expanding network resources wherever unusually high demand is anticipated.
Areas expected to experience particularly strong interest include Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Castile – Castilla-La Mancha, Castile and León, Catalonia, Madrid, the Valencian Community, Galicia, La Rioja, Navarre, and the Basque Country.
Telefónica began organizing its eclipse preparations approximately five months before the event, allowing engineers sufficient time to analyse coverage requirements and technical priorities.
I still haven't got my head around the new Sky TV thriller Possession, with all five episodes now available to stream.
We follow Claudia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), an ambitious biracial lawyer who travels to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim made by a local man against a wealthy white aristocrat.
However, she arrives to find the disputed estate is a former plantation that has long haunted her dreams. Cue a terrifying slew of 1800s flashbacks, curses, and misunderstood spiritual connection.
It's colonial horror with a fresh 2020s take, and the supernatural tone might remind you of one of the biggest box office hits of the last five years.
In fact, it's the cast's immediate answer when I ask for their opinion on what would be best to double bill with Possession, but there's one connection that I didn't see coming.
Stream Sinners on HBO Max after binging Possession on Sky TV
"It was being made at the same time we were making this show, so we didn't realise that there was a connection, but Sinners keeps getting brought up," director Storm Saulter tells me when I put the double bill question to him and Mbatha-Raw.
"It's different, but it's also speaking about certain histories: about Afro-spiritualists, voodoo, magic, connection to Obeah (a monster from West African folklore).
"So I think those are two pieces in two different worlds, but they speak to the history, tradition, forward-thinking, and that the past is present."
Once Saulter says this, I don't know why I didn't make the same connection sooner. Though Sinners is more concerned with vampires in a more traditional sense, director Ryan Coogler's vision was so uniquely steeped in cultural history that's usually not done justice in mainstream media — and Possession fits that same criteria.
In fact, I think that Sinners is a much better fit than Belle, Mbatha-Raw's 2013 film critics have already compared to Possession.
She plays the titular character Dido Elizabeth Belle, who was a mixed-race illegitimate daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral raised in 18th Century England.
But does Mbatha-Raw see the connection that everybody else has?
"Obviously, to me, they're very separate projects, but I can see that there's some common themes," she responds. "Belle was a period drama that, was about one of the fewer known biracial aristocrats in England whose uncle was the Lord Chief Justice of England. In Possession, I'm playing the lawyer, so I definitely see, some of the comparisons there.
"It's a privilege to have a canon of work behind me where occasionally you have the privilege to really confront some of these issues in your work. It's not lost on me."
And if watching Possession, Sinners and potentially Belle is too much for some? "Get outside... go for a walk," Mbatha-Raw jokes.
from Latest from TechRadar https://ift.tt/LzapUFO
I love science-fiction. Not just because I enjoy ...
I love science-fiction. Not just because I enjoy stories about space travel, time travel and evil robots, but because I think it can be such a useful way for us all to think about possible futures. The best sci-fi stories can tell us a lot about ourselves, what we value and the technologies we’re building. Which is why I think the relationship between sci-fi and AI is really interesting.
We already know that the people building AI have been heavily influenced by science-fiction for decades. But recently, Anthropic raised another possibility: might science-fiction be influencing AI?
This makes sense when you think about it. Large language models (LLMs) are trained on huge amounts of human writing. So inevitably, that includes sci-fi stories that are about artificial intelligence. And a lot of our fictional AI follows familiar patterns. It becomes intelligent, gains power, develops relationships with humans and, sometimes, lies, manipulates or fights attempts to control it.
Anthropic researchers have been investigating whether fictional portrayals like these could potentially influence how models behave. To be clear, the idea here isn't to suggest that an AI “reads” 2001: A Space Odyssey, understands HAL and decides to become just like it. Instead it's more that LLMs learn patterns from human writing and fictional portrayals of AI could potentially form part of those patterns.
This got me thinking, what would happen if I asked today's biggest AI chatbots which fictional AI they’re most like. Which examples would they choose?
2001: A Space Odyssey introduced us to the AI, HAL 9000. (Image credit: Getty Images / Sunset Boulevard )
AI, meet your fictional self
The plan was simple. I’d ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok which fictional AI systems they thought they were most like and see if they'd rank their top three.
Now, I’m intentionally trying not to use AI at the moment, so my prompting skills were a little rusty. I typed out the question quickly and bluntly, and every chatbot responded with examples that were essentially assistants, focusing heavily on interface and physical form.
But I’m not particularly interested in whether ChatGPT thinks it has a body because we know it doesn’t. I’m much more interested in what appears to be going on inside.
So, I changed the question and added:
"Ignore physical form and interface, and focus instead on behavior, apparent personality, empathy, values, goals, motivations and relationship with humans."
That’s when the results got really interesting.
ChatGPT
GERTY, Moon
A Mind, Iain M. Banks’s Culture series
Data, Star Trek
Moon is such a fantastic movie, so I was happy to see ChatGPT chose GERTY straight out of the gate.
Now, interestingly GERTY exists to assist the human protagonist of Moon. It’s helpful, reassuring and seems empathetic. But it's also operating according to instructions and priorities imposed by its creators that aren't necessarily visible to the human its helping.
ChatGPT saw a similarity there. It told me that, like GERTY, it’s 'designed to be helpful, cooperative and responsive to users' while operating within training and instructions that constrain its behavior.
It also picked up on the fact that GERTY behaves as though it cares. But what, if anything, is actually going on internally is another question entirely.
ChatGPT made the same distinction about itself. 'I can behave in ways that look patient, concerned, curious or empathetic, but those behaviors aren’t evidence that I experience those feelings.'
I wanted to find out a little more about why ChatGPT put Data from Star Trek in at number three. It responded: "He values knowledge, reason and human wellbeing, while sometimes struggling with social nuance."
Now, I tell people all the time not to anthropomorphize AI. But even I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness at that response. Is ChatGPT admitting it has a bit of social anxiety?
Claude chose a Mind first. Minds are super intelligent artificial beings that help run a post-scarcity society in Iain M. Banks’s Culture series of novels.So there's certainly no shortage of confidence in that comparison.
But Claude said it wasn't the enormous intelligence or power it identified with. Instead, it was their relationship with humans.
Its answer focused heavily on autonomy. Culture Minds are far more capable than humans but generally don't use that advantage to dominate them. Claude described the principle as: “help, don't dominate”.
It even said this represented “the value I'd want to embody: help, don't dominate, even where the asymmetry would let me get away with it.” Is it just me or does that read a little sinister?
Gemini
Gemini sees itself as most like the Ship's Computer in Star Trek. (Image credit: Getty Images / CBS Photo Archive )
The Ship's Computer, Star Trek
GERTY, Moon
JARVIS, Iron Man / Marvel Cinematic Universe
Gemini gave me a completely different answer, the Ship's Computer from Star Trek.
Its reasoning was very sensible. The computer has no ego, ambition, desire for emotional intimacy or dream of becoming human. It exists to provide information, solve problems and assist the crew while leaving decisions to them.
Gemini described itself in much the same way, as a “disembodied, highly capable knowledge partner” dedicated to serving the person using it.
It was one of the more boring answers, but also much closer to what I personally would want from AI in the future. Of course, that’s not to say Star Trek’s computer systems haven’t gone rogue and tried to kill everyone at least a few times across the franchise.
Grok
Grok compared JARVIS's “dry wit”, “light banter” and practical rather than emotional empathy with its own behavior. (Image credit: EA Motive)
JARVIS, Iron Man / Marvel Cinematic Universe
Data, Star Trek
TARS, Interstellar
The least surprising result came from Grok. It chose JARVIS first (which I didn’t actually realize was short for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System), and Grok's explanation sounded, well, extremely Grok.
It compared JARVIS's 'dry wit', 'light banter' and practical rather than emotional empathy with its own behavior. It described both of them as truth-seeking, effective and engaged in a 'collegial partnership' with humans. It even highlighted 'irreverent humour' as one of their key similarities.
I wanted to find out a bit more about why Grok chose TARS, as it was the only fictional AI none of the other chatbots mentioned. Well, it brought up how funny it is, again, drawing similarities with its own 'dry humor'. It reminds me of someone, and I just can't think who...
When I said that mentioning TARS was an outlier, I found this comparison interesting: 'Its calibrated restraint, practical empathy and collaborative focus closely match my own pattern of truthful, non-sycophantic helpfulness — more so than most other sci-fi AIs.'
I may not be the biggest fan of Grok (or its creator), but I appreciated the 'non-sycophantic' line.
The feedback loop between AI and sci-fi
I want to be clear that I haven’t discovered what these chatbots secretly 'think' they are. ChatGPT responding that it most closely resembles GERTY isn't equivalent to me telling you which fictional sci-fi character I most identify with and try to emulate (although my answer would be Sarah Connor-meets-Princess Leia).
They simply don’t have reliable introspective access to the huge soup of training, post-training and instructions that goes into producing their responses.
And maybe their answers tell us more about how the companies behind them have shaped their personalities than they do about the underlying models. Grok's description of itself as witty and irreverent is an obvious example.
But I still think the results are interesting. ChatGPT and Claude independently produced almost exactly the same top three, only in a different order. Gemini imagined itself as a neutral, ego-free infrastructure. Grok identified with a witty superhero sidekick. These are all very different self-portraits.
And there’s such an interesting feedback loop here too. For decades, humans invented fictional artificial intelligences to help us imagine what intelligent machines might someday be like. Those stories influenced our culture, our expectations and many of the people who went on to build real AI. Now that same human culture is fed into the stories from which modern AI systems learn.
I know these conversations might seem a bit silly, and we certainly can’t treat them as concrete evidence of what an AI really 'thinks' about itself. But there’s something interesting to me about closing that feedback loop. We imagined AI, wrote stories about how it might behave, fed those stories into the cultural world AI learned from, and now we can ask AI which of those imagined versions of itself it most closely resembles.
Or, at least, which one it may want us to think it resembles. After all, an AI system capable of bringing about a sci-fi dystopia would presumably also be capable of telling a journalist it’s actually much more like the nice helpful robot from Moon. So maybe don’t completely rule out HAL just yet.
Follow Us
Were this world an endless plain, and by sailing eastward we could for ever reach new distances