News — 2026-05-26

OpenAI chief Sam Altman told a Commonwealth Bank of Australia conference in Sydney that fears of an AI‑driven "jobs apocalypse" are overstated. While he believes his company was "roughly right" on the technology side of ChatGPT’s launch, Altman conceded that OpenAI was "pretty wrong" about the social and economic fallout. He said human workers will still be essential, even as he uses AI to draft Slack and email replies. The remarks come amid recent layoffs at Meta and criticism of Standard Chartered’s view of workers as "lower‑value human capital." Read more

A recent wave of studies reveals that large language models often provide inaccurate answers, with error rates ranging from 45% to 60% in real‑world queries. While AI‑assisted fact‑checking platforms like the UK’s Full Fact are being deployed, experts say human reviewers remain essential. Benchmarks released by researchers place models such as Claude at 73% accuracy, but most, including Gemini and ChatGPT, fall below 60%. The findings underscore growing skepticism among fact‑checkers who warn that the technology is not yet reliable enough to replace traditional verification methods. Read more

xAI’s general counsel, James Burnham, sent an internal memo this week ordering employees to curb interactions with staff from Cursor, the AI coding startup that SpaceX could acquire for up to $60 billion. The guidance arrives amid a technical partnership announced in April and comes as regulators watch for gun‑jumping violations that could jeopardize the pending merger. Burnham warned that any improper collaboration might be subpoenaed during the Justice Department’s review, underscoring the high stakes as SpaceX prepares for what could be the largest IPO in history. Read more

Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on Monday, calling for safeguards around artificial intelligence. The 200‑page document, presented with Anthropic co‑founder Chris Olah, warns that AI amplifies existing power imbalances and urges clear criteria, public oversight, and an end to the AI arms race. It references historical concerns about concentrated economic power and cites recent political moves, including President Donald Trump's delayed AI executive order and tech‑elite lobbying. Notre Dame law professor Paolo Carozza warned that AI‑driven misinformation threatens democratic discourse. Read more

IBM India managing director Sandip Patel told Reuters that the country aims to raise the AI‑literate portion of its workforce from roughly 30% to 57% within the next five years, creating a pool of 350 million workers equipped for the emerging AI economy. The goal stems from a joint IBM‑IndiaAI study that projects AI could contribute more than $500 billion to India’s GDP by 2030. Achieving the target will require massive upskilling, expansion of AI labs into smaller cities, and stronger intellectual‑property enforcement, Patel said. Read more