Conservation’s hot topics of 2026: From artificial intelligence to mirror molecules

Tropical forests, plastic waste and a darker ocean also appear on the annual ‘horizon scan’ of conservation priorities.

AI is scoring college essays and conducting interviews, a new layer in admissions stress

Applicants are not supposed to use AI to write college essays. But colleges are using AI to help assess applications. At Caltech, that includes holding interviews.

AI’s Imperial Agenda

“Empire of AI” author Karen Hao on how Silicon Valley’s young AI companies parallel colonial empires of old.

From experimentation to impact: farm robotics’ top fundraises in 2025

Ag robotic offerings are evolving from single-task machines to full platforms that can tackle a number of jobs.

Artificial intelligence-driven approaches for materials design and discovery

Nature Materials - Computational approaches to materials design promise to accelerate the discovery of materials with superior functionalities. This Review presents key computational advances in...

Opinion | The Unseen Human Workers Behind Self-Driving Cars

The unseen workers who help train self-driving cars to see.

Instagram’s AI-driven identity crisis

Instagram's AI revolution challenges its curated aesthetic, as head Adam Mosseri declares polished posts obsolete in the era of AI-driven social media transformation.

Cloud costs now No. 2 expense at midsize IT companies behind labor

AI workloads drive up cloud computing costs, with bills varying significantly from month to month.

Who will pay for AI in health care? 3 trends to watch in 2026

What to watch out for in 2026, as the health care industry gears up for a battle over how clinical AI should get paid for.

Surgical Robotics Market to Reach US$ 15.25 Billion by 2033 at 11.3% CAGR; North America Leads with 42% Share – Key Players: Intuitive Surgical, Stryker Corporation, CMR Surgical

The global surgical robotics market reached US 5 84 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to US 15 25 billion by 2033 registering a CAGR of 11 3 during the forecast period 2025 2033 The market growth is ...

Watch China’s ‘Terminator cop’: Humanoid robot walks alongside uniformed men, making Robocop theme a reality

A humanoid robot from Chinese firm EngineAI has gone viral after appearing alongside uniformed men in Shenzhen. The demonstration highlights China's rapid advances in robotics

Writing a novel in 2026? Here’s why ChatGPT alone won’t get you to the finish line

Chatbots are great for brainstorming — but they struggle with memory, structure and long-form storytelling. I tested Sudowrite and Novelcrafter to see what actually works

US-China tech co-dependence may grow in 2026: Eurasia Group

Eurasia Group’s Xiaomeng Lu explains why China's tech competition with the U.S. remains intense, but argues that tech co-dependence may expand in 2026, driven by easing export controls, cross-border deals, and the global uptake of Chinese open-source AI models. Lu also outlines how these open-source AI models could eventually create Android-like ecosystems with global influence.

Gulf’s AI push is about cementing US relations – not just driving economic growth: Strategist

Hasnain Malik, Emerging Markets Equity Strategist at Tellimer, discusses the Gulf's push into AI data centers. He also discusses the demand for IPOs in the Middle East region.

China’s ‘Silicon Valley’ is building robots and fortune-telling AI apps at the same time

Hangzhou’s AI ecosystem now spans everything from cutting-edge robotics to experimental apps built by solo founders.

2025 in AI predictions

Past years: 2023 2024 • Continuing a yearly tradition, I evaluate AI predictions from past years, and collect a convenience sample of AI predictions…

Four AI research trends enterprise teams should watch in 2026

Here is the AI research roadmap for 2026: how agents that learn, self-correct, and simulate the real world will redefine business automation.

Taiwan war timelines might be shorter than AI timelines

TL;DR: Most AI forecasts generally assume that if a conflict over Taiwan occurs, it will largely be about AI. I think there's a decent chance for a c…

Groq payday is ‘the outcome you dream of’ for Kitchener tech investors

Kitchener-based Garage Capital was an early investor in the AI chip maker Groq, which was just acquired by Nvidia for a reported US$20 billion. It is the biggest deal in tech history, and the local venture capital fund stands to make millions from it.

Current and Future Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Genetics

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming medicine, and its influence on clinical genetics cannot be ignored. From variant analysis and diagnostic interpretation to predictive and prognostic ...

European banks plan to cut 200,000 jobs as AI takes hold

The bloodletting will hit hardest in back-office operations, risk management, and compliance.

AI models can develop this ‘humanlike’ addiction when given more…

Building an internal agent: Code-driven vs LLM-driven workflows

When I started this project, I knew deep in my heart that we could get an LLM plus tool-usage to solve arbitrarily complex workflows. I still believe this is possible, but I’m no longer convinced this is actually a good solution. Some problems are just vastly simpler, cheaper, and faster to solve with software. This post talks about our approach to supporting both code and LLM-driven workflows, and why we decided it was necessary.

CES is now a major player in artificial intelligence