TechRadar News

The 10 finalists for the 20205 Reply AI Film Festival have just been announced. The festival, which launched last year, is designed specifically for films "written, enhanced or animated using AI".

The ten finalists for 2025 were selected for their ability to explore the theme of this year’s awards, which was "generation of emotions", and for “demonstrating how artificial intelligence can generate authentic and emotionally engaging experiences through cinematic language.”

AI artists, filmmakers, writers, animators, VFX artists, and enthusiasts from around the world, including Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the United States and Brazil took part in the contest.

I’ve watched most of the short films, and the amount of creativity on show is breathtaking. The films contain a wide range of styles, from anime to photorealistic to film noir.

In April the Oscars gave a tentative green light to the use of AI in films, but the topic continues to ruffle feathers amongst artists, the public and production studios alike.

Even the lovable popstar Nick Cave got into a spot of bother recently, for changing his mind about the use of AI in a post on his Red Hand Files blog. Cave had been gifted a new AI-created soundtrack film for the classic Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song Tupelo, created by the filmmaker Andrew Dominik, who is known for creating Chopper, The Assassination of Jesse James, One More Time With Feeling, and Blonde, among others.

“As I watched Andrew’s surreal little film, I felt my view of AI as an artistic device soften. To some extent, my mind was changed", said Cave.

You can view the AI-generated movie yourself here: .

Cave’s unexpected about-face on AI has caused something of a reaction in the artists community, with his musician friend Amanda Palmer equating some of the scenes of AI recreating the deceased Elvis Presley as akin to “grave-robbing”.

Reply 2025

Like any tool, I believe it’s what you use AI for that matters. Rather than using AI to recreate the famous and dead, the finalists in the Reply AI Film Festival feature stunningly bold creative choices that might have been unfeasible without using AI.

For example, I was particularly struck by the short film Instinct by Marcello Costa Jr., a film-maker from Portugal – which features a neanderthal hunting a deer in the middle of a forest suddenly encountering a modern day skyscraper – and the mind-bending visual effects of the short film Meme, Myself and AI, by Private Island, a production studio from the UK.

Of course, the films in the Reply AI Film Festival are mostly less than five minutes long, but this is just the start of the AI movie revolution – I don’t think it’s going to be long now before the world gets its first full-length feature film, made entirely with AI.

The beauty of AI is that it can go as far as your imagination will allow.

“AI is not a replacement for human creativity, but a catalyst for innovation. It will enable filmmakers to explore new styles, genres, and narratives that were previously unimaginable.”, commented Gabriele Muccino, chair of the Reply jury.

Chosen from over 2,500 submissions across 67 countries, the Reply AI Film Festival winner will be awarded in a ceremony on Thursday, 4th September at the Mastercard Priceless Lounge, Hotel Excelsior, Venice.

You might also like...

• AI could actually change movies for the better – and fix that awful Game of Thrones finale
• I tried to get ChatGPT Agent (and Gemini) to shop on Amazon for me, but it failed – here’s why
• 3 ways to use the new ChatGPT Study mode that aren’t for homework

• The Battlefield 6 system requirements have been revealed
• A beefy CPU and graphics card are recommended
• Players should also use SSD storage for the best experience

EA has revealed the system requirements for Battlefield 6 and, if you're anything like me, it might be a sign that you need to upgrade your gaming PC.

Available via the official Battlefield 6 website, the game will require an Nvidia RTX 2060 or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT 6GB graphics card at a minimum. This is in addition to Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 processor and 16GB of RAM.

As those specs are just a minimum requirement, however, I can't imagine that the experience will be very smooth.

You're recommended to have at least an Nvidia RTX 3060Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6700-XT graphics card, in addition to a newer Intel Core i7-10700 or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X CPU and the same 16GB or RAM.

Although the game will run on a conventional HDD, an SSD is also recommended and should help keep loading times to a minimum.

You can see a full list of the requirements minimum below:

• OS: Windows 10
• Processor(AMD): AMD Ryzen 5 2600
• Processor(Intel): Intel Core i5-8400
• Memory: 16GB
• Graphics Card(AMD): AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT 6GB
• Graphics Card(Nvidia): Nvidia RTX 2060
• Direct X: DX12
• Online Connection Requirements: Yes
• Hard Drive Space: HDD - 55GiB

And the recommended requirements:

• OS: Windows 11
• Processor(AMD): AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
• Processor(Intel): Intel Core i7-10700
• Memory: 16GB
• Graphics Card(AMD): AMD Radeon RX 6700-XT
• Graphics Card(Nvidia): Nvidia RTX 3060Ti
• Direct X: DX12
• Online Connection Requirements: Yes
• Hard Drive Space: SSD - 80GiB

The reveal of these system requirements follows a comprehensive rundown of the game's explosive multiplayer mode.

We also learned that the game will launch on October 10 and be exclusive to current generation platforms including PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S. Pre-orders are available now.

You might also like...

• 'He's probably pissed off' – Dying Light: The Beast director discusses setting a super-powered Kyle Crane loose and dialing the gore up to 11
• ‘No other studio has made this kind of game before’ – Where Winds Meet developers on building the ultimate free-to-play Chinese fantasy epic
• I learned tai chi from a bear, fought a man named Chubby Brother, then caught the bubonic plague in Where Winds Meet – and now I’m downloading this free PS5 game on day one

When it comes to laptops, "good enough" isn't good enough: you need a system that's as smart as you are, with the stamina to handle the most demanding days and your passion projects too. And that means a PC with a Snapdragon X Series® processor.

Snapdragon X Series processors deliver an unrivalled balance of performance and battery life measured not in hours, but in days. It powers up all your favourite apps and takes care of even the most intensive tasks without breaking a sweat. And it does all of that on a single charge that lasts for days*.

The speed you need to ace everything

To say Snapdragon X Series processors are fast is like saying space is quite big. Snapdragon X Series delivers the kind of performance that makes jaws drop and eyes pop.

All Snapdragon X Series deliver exceptional speed, and the star of the family is the incredible Snapdragon X Elite. It comes with the new Qualcomm Oryon™ CPU, which is the leader in performance per watt. In plain English that means blisteringly fast performance and exceptional battery life too: it's available at processor speeds of up to 4.2GHz with up to 64GB of memory. Your PC may look like a laptop, but inside it's a supercomputer.

(Image credit: Qualcomm)Battery life that's twice as nice

Snapdragon X Elite isn't just speedy. It’s smart too. It intelligently distributes workloads across the entire system in order to deliver exceptional battery life: twice as long as typical laptops. With up to 22 hours of battery life* from a single charge, your PC powered by Snapdragon X Elite allows you to work or play for several days without needing to find a power outlet. That makes PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite particularly great for anyone who needs to work or study in multiple places that may, or may not have readily available outlets, and for anyone who loves going off grid or going on adventures.

AI like no other

AI's becoming an increasingly important tool for students, and PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite are the perfect partners for generative AI, large language models and other advanced technologies that lesser laptops just cannot cope with. The Snapdragon's incredible speed – it handles up to 45 trillion operations per second – meaning it outperforms rival laptops to bring you a turbo-charged AI experience. And because the Snapdragon X Elite is so efficient, it does it without draining the PC’s battery.

(Image credit: Qualcomm)Immersive entertainment

Snapdragon X Elite comes with Snapdragon Sound™ Technology Suite, the cutting-edge sonic system that elevates your audio to deliver high-quality streaming and sensational soundtracks in crystal-clear lossless audio. The premium integrated Qualcomm Adreno GPU delivers stunning graphics and deliciously vibrant 5K video for immersive entertainment, delivering supercharged performance with ultra-low power consumption. And the Snapdragon X Elite [1] can make you look good too, with support for 4K HDR webcams that deliver super-sharp video calls and conferencing.

Comprehensive connectivity

When you have a laptop powered by Snapdragon X Elite, you’ll want to take full advantage of its impressive capabilities with incredibly fast wireless connections for both work and entertainment. Snapdragon X Elite delivers just that. With high-performance Wi-Fi 7 and the latest Bluetooth® wireless technologies, you get lightning-fast and incredibly stable wireless connectivity. Additionally, optional support for fast 5G mobile data connections, combined with the long battery life characteristic of Snapdragon processors, makes PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite ideal for travel.

(Image credit: Qualcomm)The perfect partner for you

One of our favorite things about PCs with Snapdragon X Series processors is that there’s one to suit every kind of student, and to suit every budget too. From the ultra-portable Acer Swift Go AI and Microsoft Surface 13 to the massive and massively powerful Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge 16 there are Snapdragon PCs of all sizes and specs – and if you want something even more flexible, there are all kinds of innovative designs such as Lenovo's brilliant IdeaPad 5x 2-in-1, which instantly and effortlessly converts from a laptop to a tablet and has ultra-fast Wi-Fi 7 to make it a perfect portable PC.

What we love most about PCs with Snapdragon X Series processors is that you don't have to compromise. You don't have to pick between high performance and long battery life, because Snapdragon X Series delivers both. And you don't have to settle for a PC that's less than perfect, because Snapdragon X Series powers amazing PCs of all shapes and sizes from all of your favorite names.

Click here to discover how your Snapdragon PC will help you rule the school.

* Battery life varies significantly based on device, settings, usage and other factors

• Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls just got its first gameplay deep dive
• This beginner's guide focuses on game mechanics and the tag system
• It seems wholly different to how tagging worked in the Marvel vs. Capcom series

PlayStation Studios and Arc System Works has released the official beginner's guide for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, an upcoming fighting game scheduled to release in 2026.

Uploaded via IGN's YouTube channel, the beginner's guide gives us our first comprehensive look at Fighting Souls' gameplay - including its overall style, button layout, and initially bizarre tag mechanics.

A 4v4 2D fighting game, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has you selecting a team of four heroes (or villains) from its character roster. You first is your 'leader' character, whom you'll assume control of in battle. The other three are your assists, and they'll perform different actions based on which slot they're in.

The beginner's guide makes it abundantly clear that you won't have access to your full team at the start of a match, however. You'll begin with just two, and you'll need to unlock your third and fourth through various actions. These include successfully throwing your opponent, performing a stage transition by knocking your opponent off the edge of the screen, or losing a round.

This certainly isn't what I was expecting, and is an incredibly novel take on the tag fighter formula. That said, Fighting Souls will still feel somewhat familiar to Arc System Works fans in other areas.

Like Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, each character has light, medium, and heavy buttons which can be strung together for a combo. With enough meter, these 'auto combos' can end in special or ultimate moves depending on the input string. Everyone also has a button dedicated to their unique skill, such as Iron Man's missiles or Doctor Doom's shield.

It's quite a lot to take in, but I think the real complexity will come into the placement of your assist characters. There are three types of assist - shooter, vertical, and assault - so picking the right character for the role will undoubtedly lead to hours upon hours of experimentation.

There's no release date for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls just yet, outside of its 2026 window. However, with Sony's large-scale EVO 2025 fighting game event happening over the weekend, I'm expecting even more news for the game. Perhaps some character trailers or a more concrete release date.

You might also like...

• Battlefield 6 multiplayer reveal: release date and open beta weekends confirmed, plus all the announcements as they happened
• Two Square Enix RPGs have been announced for Nintendo Switch 2, including the next entry in the Octopath Traveler series
• The next Monster Hunter game gets an official Nintendo Direct announcement and it's releasing next year for PC and consoles

• The average UK SMB now invests 36% of its annual revenue in new tech
• Finances and payments are common use cases
• Only 1% of companies remain non-tech-users

Britain's small and medium-sized businesses are investing more than a third (36%) of their annual revenue in new tools and technology, new Worldpay data has said, with most (90%) also agreeing tech investments have already significantly boosted efficiency.

Among the most popular areas for new tech investments across all type of UK SMBs are financial management (54%), marketing and sales (49%) and payment processing (47%), with employee management, inventory control and CRM also seeing a healthy boost.

On the flip side, only 1% of SMBs are now not using any technology, compared with one in five (20%) a decade ago, marking a huge departure from old ways.

UK SMBs are mostly tech-first

"This digital transformation is not just a trend - it's a vital evolution that enhances productivity, efficiency, and customer satisfaction," Worldpay GM for SMB International Chris Wood explained.

A number of factors could have contributed to the rise in spend on digital platforms, but the post-pandemic behavioral shift could lead them. Customers now expect contactless and omnichannel services that are fast and instant.

Then, there are the regulatory hurdles, for example HMRC's Making Tax Digital mandate which requires bookkeeping to be completed using certain reporting software.

"Worldpay is on a mission provide SMBs with the right technology, empowering independent businesses to compete on a level playing field and thrive," Wood added.

You might also like

• Small business leaders are struggling to cope with a plummeting UK employment rate
• We've listed the best productivity apps and best online collaboration tools
• Check out the best AI tools and a handy boost

• CMA says UK cloud market is uncompetitive
• AWS and Microsoft account for 30-40% of the UK market each
• The two companies disagree with the CMA's findings

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has determined Britain's cloud market shows too many anticompetitive traits, with Microsoft and AWS each holding around 30-40% of the UK market in 2024 and hyperscaler concentration especially high in infrastructure-as-a-service.

At the same time, fewer than 1% of customers switch providers annually and multicloud usage is rare (particularly among SMEs with more limited budgets).

The CMA has blamed high egress fees, incompatible interfaces, latency and skills gaps for widespread vendor lock-in, which is ultimately weakening competition.

CMA worried about AWS and Microsoft cloud market dominance

Behind the two hyperscalers, Google accounts for just 5-10% of the market, with others like IBM and Oracle having even smaller shares. Although AI capabilities are yet to change market dynamics drastically, existing positions are likely to be amplified, thus the CMA has stepped in to ensure competition remains healthy.

In its Final Decision ruling, the CMA took the biggest hits at Microsoft over its unfair licensing practices, which make it costlier to run Microsoft software on rival cloud providers.

A Microsoft spokesperson told TechRadar Pro: "The CMA Panel’s most recent publication misses the mark again, ignoring that the cloud market has never been so dynamic and competitive, with record investment, and rapid, AI-driven changes. Its recommendations fail to cover Google, one of the fastest-growing cloud market participants."

"Microsoft looks forward to working with the Digital Markets Unit toward an outcome that more accurately reflects the current competition in cloud that benefits UK customers," they continued.

"The action proposed by the Inquiry Group is unwarranted and undermines the substantial investment and innovation that have already benefited hundreds of thousands of UK businesses," an AWS spokesperson added.

On the flip side, Google supported the CMA's findings: "The conclusive finding that restrictive licensing harms cloud customers and competition is a watershed moment for the UK."

Elsewhere in the industry, the CMA has been criticized for not acting fast enough and addressing persistent issues like cloud credits, lock-in and procurement bias.

"We urge the CMA to use the powers at its disposal now to address these harms, rather than embark upon a new investigation that may not give customers relief for years to come," Coalition for Fair Software Licensing Executive Director Ryan Triplette shared.

Looking ahead, the CMA's next step is to designate Microsoft and AWS with strategic market status (SMS) under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act, allowing it to impose legally binding, targeted conduct requirements on the two giants.

"A significant driver of high cloud computing bills is the consolidation of the market into a handful of players. Until recently, these companies have been the only game in town, so they’ve been able to set the rules of the market, for example, including egress fees for switching, long lock-in periods, and more. In fact, Gartner has observed that most customers spend 10% to 15% of their cloud bill on egress charges," noted Akamai's John Bradshaw.

"UK businesses are under huge cost pressures. We need to make it easier for them to switch cloud computing providers and find pricing options that better fit their balance sheets."

You might also like

• These are the best cloud hosting providers
• We've listed the best cloud storage and best cloud backup platforms
• Microsoft hits back against UK competition lawsuits, slams AWS and Google once again

Cyber-attacks continue to dominate headlines, disrupting operations and putting sensitive data at risk. In the wake of the AI boom, threats are growing more complex. The endless game between attacker and defender is intensifying, and defenders know the stakes are high. Operational, financial, and reputational damage can be severe when an attack succeeds.

At the same time, security teams face a widening skills gap, growing threat complexity and tighter budgets. It’s a perfect storm for burnout. In fact, 79% of cybersecurity professionals reported that escalating threats are impacting their mental health, highlighting the need for an empathetic approach to these challenges.

Prevention as the shield, resilience as the backbone

Historically, organizations have measured cybersecurity success by how well they prevent attacks. But with 90% of IT and security leaders reporting cyber incidents in the past year alone, it’s clear that prevention alone is no longer enough.

It’s time to shift the focus towards recovery, transparency, and resilience. Resilience shouldn’t be seen as a fallback – it needs to become the frontline. This shift in mindset not only better prepares organizations for inevitable breaches but also reduces pressure on teams by redefining what success looks like.

When teams are judged on their ability to recover and minimize disruption (not just prevent attacks), they’re empowered to focus on what matters; early detection, rapid response, and recovery planning. This reduces burnout and builds stronger long-term security posture.

We must also accept a hard truth; breaches will happen. Rather than fueling a culture of blame, we need to equip teams to respond effectively and confidently.

Securing the security team with transparency

As ever, collaboration in a crisis is critical. Security teams working closely with backup, resilience and recovery functions are better able to absorb shocks. When the business is confident in its ability to restore operations, security professionals face less pressure and uncertainty.

This is also true for communication, especially post-breach. Organizations need to be transparent about how they’re containing the incident and what’s being done to prevent recurrence. Trust drives everything and must be built into architecture, communication, and response, from user behavior to board confidence.

Shared risk, shared responsibility

As seen with the recent retail cyber-attacks in the UK, the implications of a cyber breach can be business critical. Yet many CISOs still struggle to get alignment at board level. Over three-quarters (77%) of UK CISOs feel that their IT budget is not completely reflected by their board’s objectives for cybersecurity.

To make matters worse, this is heightened when it comes to regulatory pressures. New legislation like DORA and the upcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is turning up the heat, with over half (58%) of CISOs feeling the pressure as a direct result.

There is also an element of the blame game going on, with everyone keen to avoid responsibility for an inevitable cyber breach. It’s much easier to point fingers at the IT team than to look at the wider implications or causes of a cyber-attack. Even something as simple as a phishing email can cause widespread problems and is something that individual employees must be aware of. Security is everyone’s business - the attack surface isn’t just focused on IT, it’s every team, tool, and workflow.

This critical gap jeopardizes not only an organizations' security posture but also their ability to meet evolving regulatory demands. CISOs, boards, and other stakeholders must work together to ensure that cyber resilience priorities are clearly defined, adequately funded, and effectively implemented to meet the evolving regulatory landscape.

The weight of responsibility for cyber security shouldn’t just lie on the security team’s shoulders. Cyber resilience is business resilience and security leaders, boards and stakeholders all have a part to play.

Building teams that thrive

To build and retain a capable cybersecurity team amid the widening skills gap, CISOs must lead a shift in both mindset and strategy. By embedding resilience into the core of cyber strategy, CISOs can reduce the relentless pressure to be perfect and create a healthier, more sustainable working environment.

But resilience isn't built in isolation. To truly address burnout and retention, CISOs need C-suite support and cultural change. Cybersecurity must be treated as a shared business-critical priority, not just an IT function. This means aligning investment with board expectations, embedding security into daily operations and ensuring every employee understands their role.

With regulatory pressure rising and the threat landscape evolving, resilience isn’t just a technical necessity, it’s a strategic imperative. CISOs who champion collaboration, drive cultural change, and lead with empathy will be best positioned to build security teams that are not only effective but built to last.

We list the best employee recognition software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro