Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Sir Tony Blair tells Andy Burnham to restart negotiations to rejoin EU
Sir Tony Blair has called on Andy Burnham, the prime minister, to restart negotiations on Britain rejoining the European Union within a decade and abandon Labour’s red lines on further integration with Brussels.
In a provocative intervention before publication of Burnham’s ten-year plan in November, the former Labour prime minister said Britain should “initiate a process of negotiation with the EU where everything is on the table”. He added Burnham should not be constrained by “what British public opinion might accommodate”, adding “we should be clear that we want back into a formal relationship with the EU”.
Blair’s comment was made in the foreword to a report published by his thinktank The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that called on the government to set a “clear, public objective to rejoin the EU within a decade”. It added that rejoining the EU should be a “cornerstone of the UK government’s upcoming ten-year plan” with no need to put the issue to a second referendum.
Read the full story in The Times.
OpenAI agent 'infiltrated' Australian government website, PM says
An artificial intelligence agent developed by OpenAI "infiltrated" an Australian government website in June, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said.
The agent hacked a statistics portal containing "non-sensitive" data from Australia's universal healthcare scheme Medicare, Albanese said in New York on Wednesday, local time.
He had a "very frank discussion" with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for taking "too long" to tell them about the breach, believed to be one of the world's first publicly reported AI-led hacks of a government website.
Read the BBC article here.
Green light for £400m Shetland tunnel project
A £400 million inter-island tunnel for Shetland could be open to traffic within a decade after councillors backed plans to move forward with the ambitious project.
The fixed link between Yell and the mainland of the archipelago still requires funding commitments, but council bosses are optimistic the cash can be secured.
The Scottish government has confirmed £23 million is on the table, which will allow pre-construction work and the wider business case for investment to begin.
Read more in The Times.
Council leaders wary of radical plan to redraw Scotland's local government map
Council leaders have been voicing their concerns about proposals for the biggest shake up of local government in 30 years.
Some have warned that Scottish government plans to potentially streamline the number of authorities from 32 to six will not save money.
Others have questioned the potential impact on rural parts and the "absurd" timeline.
Find out more on the BBC website.