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Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the ChatGPT maker of stealing confidential trade secrets while developing its own artificial intelligence hardware, marking a major escalation in tensions between the two companies. The lawsuit, filed Friday in a federal court in California, alleges that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees it was recruiting to share confidential company information and even advised them on how to avoid attracting attention when leaving Apple. "This case is about Apple's former employees stealing Apple's trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI," Apple said in the court filing, adding that it filed the lawsuit to stop the alleged misuse of its proprietary information. The lawsuit also names two former Apple employees who now work at OpenAI. One of them is Tang Tan, who played a key role in designing the iPhone, Apple Watch and iPod before becoming OpenAI's chief hardware officer. The other is Chang Liu, who worked on Apple's product development before joining OpenAI earlier this year. OpenAI said it is reviewing the lawsuit. Company spokesperson Drew Pusateri said OpenAI has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets" and remains focused on developing technology that benefits users. Apple claims OpenAI's hardware project relies partly on confidential information taken from the company. Although OpenAI has not revealed details of the device it is developing, it has said the goal is to create a new way for people to interact with artificial intelligence beyond traditional computers and smartphones. According to the lawsuit, Apple launched an internal investigation after suspecting that confidential information had been compromised and found what it described as a pattern of trade secret theft involving former employees who later joined OpenAI. The complaint alleges that Liu accessed and downloaded confidential hardware-related files on an Apple-issued device after leaving the company. It also claims Tan encouraged Apple employees interviewing for jobs at OpenAI to bring actual Apple hardware components to interviews. Apple said it raised its concerns with OpenAI in February but did not receive a response. An Apple spokesperson said the company would continue to protect its employees' work and innovations through appropriate legal action. The lawsuit comes as relations between the two companies have shifted from partnership to growing competition. Apple partnered with OpenAI in 2024 to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone, allowing users to access AI-powered responses when Siri could not answer their questions. Since then, OpenAI has expanded its hardware ambitions by hiring former Apple designer Jony Ive to lead the development of an AI-powered device that industry analysts believe could eventually compete with Apple's products. Last year, OpenAI announced a confidential hardware collaboration with Ive and acquired io Products, a company co-founded by Ive, Tang Tan and others, in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion. Apple's lawsuit also names io Products as a defendant. The legal battle comes as OpenAI considers a future public stock market listing while facing growing competition in the AI sector from companies including Anthropic and Google. Despite scaling back some business projects earlier this year to focus on ChatGPT, OpenAI has continued developing its consumer hardware. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told The Associated Press in April that the company expects to introduce its first consumer hardware product later this year.

Current artificial intelligence systems such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are powerful tools for writing, coding and solving maths problems, but leading AI researchers say they still fall far short of understanding the real world. One of them is Yann LeCun, a pioneer in artificial intelligence and former chief AI scientist at Meta, who argues that today's AI cannot match even the basic understanding of a rat when it comes to interacting with the physical world. "We don't have robots that are nearly as good at understanding the physical world as a rat," LeCun said during the VivaTech technology conference in Paris. After leaving Meta in 2025, LeCun founded Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs (AMI Labs) with the aim of developing a new generation of AI capable of handling real-world situations, such as household chores and robotics. According to LeCun, large language models (LLMs), the technology behind ChatGPT and similar chatbots, are excellent at tasks such as writing text, coding and solving mathematical problems because these tasks are well-defined. However, he believes they are not designed to understand how the real world works. "They basically accumulate knowledge and reproduce it, but they are not particularly smart because they don't have a true understanding," he said. LeCun argues that current AI models rely on statistical patterns rather than reasoning about physical reality. As an example, he said if a pen is balanced upright and released, even a young child knows it will fall over. However, no one can predict exactly which direction it will fall because the outcome depends on many unpredictable factors. An LLM may attempt to predict one specific outcome based on its training data, but such a prediction would likely be wrong because it lacks a real understanding of the physical world. To address this limitation, AMI Labs is developing a new AI system called Joint Embedding Predictive Architecture (JEPA). Instead of trying to predict every possible detail, JEPA creates simplified representations of the real world, allowing AI to focus only on the information that matters. In the pen example, the system would recognise that predicting the exact direction of the fall is unnecessary. The approach has attracted strong investor interest. Earlier this year, AMI Labs raised more than $1 billion in seed funding, one of Europe's largest early-stage investment rounds. Investors include US chipmaker Nvidia and the investment fund managing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' private wealth. Researchers say building AI that understands the physical world has become increasingly important as companies invest billions of dollars in humanoid robots. Although robots have become more capable, teaching them to safely perform everyday household tasks such as ironing clothes or loading dishwashers remains difficult and expensive. LeCun believes current language models are unlikely to solve that problem. "LLMs are largely hopeless for robotics," he said, rejecting claims that simply making today's AI models larger will eventually produce superhuman intelligence. His views are shared by many AI researchers. Ingmar Posner, Professor of Applied Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford and director of its Applied AI Lab, believes future AI systems must be able to explain their decisions and understand cause-and-effect relationships. "You need models that can answer questions like: What matters? What causes what? What would happen if I took a different action?" Posner said. Posner and his research team have spent the past four years developing an alternative approach known as World Models. The concept has existed for decades but gained renewed attention after a 2018 research paper by David Ha and Jurgen Schmidhuber suggested AI could learn by building internal simulations of the world. Since then, companies including Google DeepMind have expanded research in this area. One version of Google's Dreamer World Model learned to collect diamonds in the video game Minecraft by imagining possible future scenarios before making decisions. Posner's team is developing what he calls a "mechanistic world model," designed to organise knowledge so AI can efficiently recall, combine and update information when needed. However, he cautioned that predicting when these new systems will become practical is difficult. He noted that only a few years before ChatGPT was launched in late 2022, many researchers believed similar technology was still decades away. Several major AI companies are now investing in world-model research. Google DeepMind is developing its Genie model, London-based Wayve has built a system called Gaia, while AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li founded World Labs in San Francisco in 2023 to develop another new AI architecture. LeCun said AMI Labs plans to continue refining its AI system throughout this year and hopes to deploy it first in industrial applications next year. If successful, he believes the technology could eventually evolve into general-purpose AI systems capable of handling a wide variety of real-world tasks with minimal additional training. Despite concerns about increasingly capable robots, LeCun believes humans will continue to play the central role. "We're still going to need humans to figure out what questions to ask, what to build and what to create," he said. He expects future AI systems, even those that may surpass humans in some abilities, to function as assistants rather than replacements. "Our interaction with future AI systems, even if they are smarter than us, will be like the relationship between a business leader or political leader and a team of highly capable assistants," he said. Source: BBC

Artificial intelligence is changing the way administrative assistants work, raising concerns about future job losses while also creating new opportunities for those willing to adapt. Secretaries and administrative assistants, a profession largely made up of women, have already seen their numbers decline over the past two decades. Now, AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Microsoft Copilot are expected to automate many routine office tasks, adding to concerns about the future of the profession. Still, many administrative professionals are embracing the technology, saying it helps them work faster and focus on more valuable responsibilities. Deanna Danger, 43, who has worked as an administrative professional since 2003, believes adapting to new technology has always been part of the job. "All you have to do is evolve," she said. Danger, executive assistant to Vanderbilt University's chief information officer, began using AI at work in 2022. Today, AI tools take meeting notes for her, allowing her to actively participate in discussions instead of focusing on typing everything being said. She said tasks that once took hours can now be completed in less than five minutes. Despite these productivity gains, government data shows the profession has been shrinking for years. About 3.5 million people worked as secretaries and administrative assistants in the United States in 2004, with women making up nearly 97% of the workforce. By 2024, that number had dropped to around 2.1 million, even as the overall workforce grew. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects most administrative support jobs to continue declining through 2034, although medical secretaries and administrative assistants are projected to grow because of increasing demand in the healthcare sector. The unemployment rate for office and administrative support workers rose to 4% in June from 3.6% a year earlier, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Emily Rolen, lead economist for employment projections at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said technology has steadily reduced demand for administrative workers over many years. Word processing software, speech-to-text programs, digital scheduling tools and similar technologies have all made office work more efficient while reducing the need for some traditional administrative roles. A January report by the Brookings Institution found that clerical and administrative workers could be among the groups most affected by AI because many have limited financial resources, fewer opportunities to switch careers and narrower skill sets. Women account for about 86% of the six million workers in these occupations. The report also noted that many administrative workers are older than the average U.S. employee, earn below the national median wage and often enter the profession with only a high school diploma. However, many assistants argue that the data does not reflect their ability to adapt. Danger regularly hosts online discussions through the American Society of Administrative Professionals, where members share ways they use AI to design flyers, plan executive events, write social media posts, prepare standard operating procedures and complete other routine tasks. Some participants have also raised concerns about data privacy, security and the lack of clear AI regulations. Many agreed that AI cannot replace human qualities such as emotional intelligence, relationship management and sound judgment. Fiona Young, founder of AI training company Carve and a former executive assistant, said demand for AI training has increased sharply since 2023. She has trained administrative professionals at companies including Google, Amazon, Uber, Salesforce and LinkedIn. According to Young, employers increasingly expect staff to make AI part of their everyday work rather than simply understand the technology. Oana Manolache, founder and CEO of webinar platform Sequel.io, has strongly encouraged employees to use AI. However, she said the technology cannot replace her executive assistant, Stephanie Martinez. Instead, Martinez uses AI to handle repetitive tasks such as note-taking and meeting preparation, giving her more time to focus on building relationships, supporting executives and making informed decisions. Working remotely from El Salvador through Viva Talent, Martinez also used AI to analyse customer communications, identify satisfied clients and draft emails requesting product reviews, saving significant time while allowing her to focus on creative problem-solving. Melissa Peoples, an executive assistant coach based in Austin, Texas, said many assistants want to use AI but often lack the time, training or support from employers to do so. She added that workplace culture also plays a role. While some executives encourage assistants to develop new skills, others still treat them as support staff with limited opportunities to contribute. Peoples said proper AI training can help administrative professionals strengthen their skills, increase their value to employers and remain competitive as AI becomes more common in the workplace.

More South Koreans are turning to artificial intelligence to create lifelike video messages of deceased family members, hoping to find comfort in their grief. But the growing trend is also sparking debate over ethics, mental health and the rights of the dead. When 28-year-old office worker Lee Geon Hui wanted to give his father a meaningful gift, he chose an AI-generated video featuring his late grandfather, who died before Lee was born. Using a script written by Lee, a Seoul-based technology company created a video in which a digital version of his grandfather spoke directly to his father, calling him "my most precious son." The AI character apologised for making him work on the family farm as a child and for opposing his decision to become a hairstylist. "My father said he wouldn't watch the video. But then he did, and he shed tears. So I felt rewarded," Lee said. Lee said he wrote the script to express feelings that he believed his grandfather would have wanted to share. Several South Korean startups now offer AI services that recreate deceased people using photos and voice recordings. Television programmes have also featured AI versions of late singers and actors, helping the technology gain wider public attention. Experts say the technology has the potential to comfort grieving families but also raises difficult ethical, legal and psychological questions. "It's a double-edged sword because it deals with human emotions," said Yong Man Ro, an artificial intelligence expert at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. One of the companies providing the service, Vaice, says it serves about 300 customers every month. Most clients are people in their 40s and 50s who want AI videos of their late parents, while others commission videos of grandparents as gifts for their parents. Vaice CEO Jeongu Won said the company only needs a few photographs and short voice recordings to create a digital version of the deceased. A three- to five-minute video costs about 600,000 won ($390). According to Won, many families play the videos during memorial ceremonies or traditional holidays. Most customers include messages of love, while others use the videos to express regret over unresolved family conflicts. Lee said his grandfather died in a car accident before he was born and that his father had always wished he could have shown his father that he had built a successful life and family. "I don't know much about my grandfather. But when I saw tears running down my father's face, I realised he still misses him," Lee said. Although interest in AI memorial videos is growing, experts say the technology must be used carefully. Choung Wan, an emeritus professor at Kyung Hee University Law School, said South Korea needs laws to protect the dignity and rights of deceased people. He argued that AI recreations should not be made if a person objected to such use before their death and that there should be clear rules governing the commercial use of people's images and voices. Experts are also closely watching the development of so-called "griefbots" or "deathbots" that allow users to have two-way conversations with AI versions of deceased loved ones. Choung warned that such technology could make it harder for grieving people to accept the loss of a loved one. "A healthy mourning process involves accepting the absence of the deceased," he said. "Talking with an AI system that imitates them could interfere with that process and leave people trapped in a fantasy." Won said his company has not introduced AI chatbots because unsupervised conversations could create unexpected ethical problems. Technology continues to improve rapidly. Choi Yu Ha, an executive at another AI company, JL Standard, said today's systems can recreate facial details, including wrinkles and skin texture, with remarkable accuracy. Ro, the AI expert, said he created a one-minute AI video of his own parents after they died last year and showed it to his siblings during a family gathering. The digital versions of their parents told the family, "Don't worry" and "Take care," leaving everyone deeply moved. But Ro said the family watched the video only once. "One time was enough to honour our late parents," he said. "We moved on."

Agility Robotics, a US company that develops human-like robots for warehouse work, plans to go public in a move that could test investor confidence in the growing market for AI-powered humanoid machines. The Oregon-based company announced Wednesday that it will merge with an investment firm in a deal valuing Agility at about $2.5 billion. The move is expected to make it the first publicly traded company focused entirely on building and selling humanoid robots. Agility is best known for its robot "Digit," which is designed to lift and move heavy containers and storage bins in warehouses and industrial facilities. Company officials say Digit is already being used commercially, making it one of the first humanoid robots to perform real-world warehouse tasks. The company will merge with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) managed by Churchill Capital Group. Churchill co-founder and chairman Michael Klein said Agility has attracted support from major technology and investment firms, including Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank and Foxconn. Among its early customers are Toyota, German industrial supplier Schaeffler and Latin American e-commerce giant Mercado Libre. Agility faces competition from companies such as Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk has promoted the Optimus humanoid robot as a key part of the company's future plans. Chinese robotics company Unitree is also moving toward a stock market listing in Shanghai. Despite being classified as a humanoid robot, Digit was not designed to closely resemble a human, according to Agility co-founder and chief robot officer Jonathan Hurst. Its bird-like legs and claw-style gripping hands are specifically designed to improve performance in industrial environments. Chief Executive Officer Peggy Johnson said Digit is intended to handle repetitive, physically demanding and potentially hazardous tasks that many workers prefer to avoid.= "The demand is growing rapidly," Johnson said, noting that companies are bringing manufacturing back home, experienced workers are retiring, and fewer young people are interested in taking up routine manual jobs. Unlike many traditional industrial robots that operate behind safety barriers, future versions of Digit are expected to work directly alongside human employees in warehouses and factories. The company also sees potential applications in hospitality, home services and elderly care in the future. Agility said the funds raised through the public listing will help expand commercial deployments and increase production of its next-generation robot, Digit V5. The company believes the global market for humanoid robots could eventually exceed $1 trillion, although a growing number of firms are competing to capture a share of the sector. Industry analysts say Agility and Unitree represent two different approaches to humanoid robotics. While Agility focuses on practical workplace robots, Unitree has gained attention for showcasing robots that can dance, perform backflips and demonstrate other entertainment-oriented features. Experts say the emerging humanoid robot industry is still evolving, with companies continuing to search for the most promising commercial opportunities.

As people increasingly rely on artificial intelligence in everyday life, chatbots are now becoming unexpected assistants in the search for love—acting as digital dating coaches, profile editors, and message writers. Marie Lansley, who recently moved to San Francisco for a new job while also looking for a partner, says she has been “trying everything” in her dating life, including AI tools. She uses chatbots to help initiate conversations on dating apps, something she finds challenging despite being comfortable talking in person. AI tools, she said, are widely becoming informal relationship advisers for her and many others. “I am open to AI finding me the love of my life, but I’m also not fully convinced that it can,” Lansley said. While she sees AI as useful for making dating more efficient, she believes attraction and chemistry remain fundamentally human. “AI is great at making dating more efficient. But the chemistry — that’s always going to be analog.” Across dating platforms, users are turning to AI in different ways. Some use matchmaking services powered by algorithms, others rely on tools to improve their profiles, while many use chatbots to draft messages or decode replies from potential partners. Lansley alternates between OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, while others experiment with tools like Grok, Gemini, and similar systems. Dating apps and AI companies have also begun promoting these uses, with social media content showcasing chatbot-generated dating advice. Dating coach Carey Gaynes compared the trend to the classic story *Cyrano de Bergerac*, where one person writes romantic words for another. “Claude is the new Cyrano,” she said, adding that users are often “using a voice that isn’t yours.” Gaynes said she has seen people of all ages experimenting with AI in dating but warned against becoming too dependent on it, even as she acknowledges its usefulness. Opinions about AI’s role in romance vary widely, ranging from enthusiasm to deep skepticism. Lansley said she has been surprised by how emotionally aware chatbots can appear, noting that an AI matchmaking app she tried asked surprisingly thoughtful, layered questions. However, she said it did not necessarily improve results, as her first match was not ideal. Others see AI as helpful mainly for early-stage conversations. Los Angeles student Mason Naung said he could see its value for crafting opening lines on apps like Hinge, but would consider anything beyond that a “small red flag.” AI is also being used in less expected ways, including writing breakup messages. San Diego business owner Dani Cohen said she would prefer receiving an AI-written goodbye over being “ghosted,” arguing that any tool that improves communication is beneficial. However, concerns about overreliance are growing. Some users say they would reject partners who rely too heavily on AI-generated messages, arguing it undermines authenticity and creativity. A 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that 53% of U.S. adults believe AI will reduce creative thinking, while half said it could weaken people’s ability to form meaningful relationships. Despite concerns, AI is rapidly becoming embedded in the dating industry. Apps like Tinder now use AI-powered features to suggest matches, while Hinge offers AI-generated prompts and profile feedback. Bumble has also signaled a shift toward AI-driven matchmaking, moving away from its traditional swipe model. Still, some users insist love should remain unmediated. Others argue that while AI can reduce effort and improve communication, it may also dilute authenticity in relationships. New York-based content creator Jake Clay described the shift as a “Catch-22,” noting that while AI helps people manage awkward dating tasks, it also risks replacing parts of human connection that should remain personal. “It’s kind of a sad commentary,” he said.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in daily life, from drafting emails and preparing presentations to designing marketing campaigns, UN Women has raised concerns that the technology is reinforcing long-standing gender stereotypes, intensifying online abuse and sidelining women from critical decisions about the future of AI. The agency issued the warning ahead of the United Nations Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance and the AI for Good Global Summit, scheduled to take place in Geneva in early July. It called on governments, technology firms and developers to integrate gender equality into every stage of AI development, deployment and governance. Recent studies suggest that while generative AI is transforming how billions of people work and access information, it is also perpetuating existing inequalities through biased algorithms and discriminatory outputs. In the United Kingdom, for example, 88 per cent of advertising and media agencies have already adopted AI technologies in some capacity. According to UN Women, evidence shows that gender and racial bias remain widespread across AI systems. An analysis of 133 AI models found that 44 per cent exhibited gender bias, while more than one-quarter demonstrated both gender and racial bias. Researchers have repeatedly found that large language models tend to associate women with domestic responsibilities such as childcare and family life, while linking men to leadership, business and professional achievement. Some AI-generated outputs have also portrayed women as sexual objects or as subordinate to men. UN Women noted that when researchers asked AI systems to complete sentences that began with a person's gender, roughly one in five responses contained sexist or misogynistic content. Some responses even depicted women as property or objects. Experts say these outcomes are not isolated mistakes but a recurring pattern across AI platforms. According to UN Women, the biases reflect decades of unequal representation embedded in the data used to train these systems. Speaking to UN News, Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Women Lead on Digital Technologies, explained that AI models “pull bias from decades of text written by people, about people, in a world where women were filed under home and family, and men were filed under business and career”. She warned that the issue extends beyond technical shortcomings. For Ms. Wickramanayake, the most worrisome part is that this is not a design flaw – “it’s a real policy gap that was left wide open”. The agency pointed out that among 138 countries assessed worldwide, only 24 explicitly mentioned gender in their national AI strategies, while just 18 included substantial gender-responsive measures. For the UN Women digital expert, this isn’t a bug waiting to be fixed in the next update, “it’s a choice that we make over and over in training data, in design rooms, in policy documents that stay silent on half of the population”. Beyond stereotypes, UN Women warned that AI is also contributing to growing online safety risks for women and girls. Existing forms of digital abuse are becoming easier to create, distribute and scale through AI-powered tools. Data collected by the agency show that nearly one in four surveyed women human rights defenders, activists and journalists reported experiencing AI-assisted online violence. Twelve per cent said their personal images had been shared without consent, while six per cent reported being targeted through deepfake content or manipulated images and videos. As AI-generated content becomes more common, concerns are increasing that harassment, misinformation and image-based abuse will become more difficult to identify and prevent. UN Women also expressed concern over the limited representation of women in the industries responsible for building AI technologies. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), women make up only 30 per cent of the global AI workforce despite the sector’s rapid growth. The agency warned that the people designing AI systems do not adequately reflect the diversity of the populations these technologies are intended to serve. Without stronger participation from women and other underrepresented groups, existing biases could become permanently embedded in future technologies. The economic consequences of AI are also expected to affect women disproportionately. UN Women noted that women are nearly twice as likely as men to work in occupations facing a high risk of automation outside the AI sector. Factors such as race, disability, income level and geographic location could further deepen these inequalities. As labour markets continue to evolve under the influence of artificial intelligence, communities already facing exclusion may be pushed further behind unless governments adopt targeted interventions, the agency said. At the same time, UN Women stressed that addressing bias is not only a matter of fairness and human rights but also a sound business strategy. Research conducted by the Unstereotype Alliance, a UN Women-led initiative, found that advertising free from gender stereotypes consistently delivers stronger commercial performance. Brands using inclusive advertising experienced higher sales growth, stronger customer loyalty and greater pricing power than their competitors. The agency said businesses that incorporate inclusion into AI-driven marketing and content creation are likely to benefit from stronger reputations and improved financial performance, while those that fail to do so may face commercial and reputational risks. To help address these challenges, the Unstereotype Alliance launched a playbook in June 2026 designed to help marketers identify and eliminate bias whenever they use generative AI tools. Despite the risks, UN Women emphasised that artificial intelligence also has significant potential to advance inclusion when developed responsibly. The technology can be used to identify and reduce stereotypes, increase representation and improve accessibility for people who are often overlooked by existing systems. The agency stressed that achieving these benefits will depend largely on who participates in designing AI systems and whether the experiences of women and girls are reflected throughout the technology's lifecycle. As policymakers, technology companies and international organisations prepare to gather in Geneva next month, UN Women delivered a clear message: excluding women and girls from the development of AI risks carrying historic inequalities into the technologies of the future. The agency concluded that when designed safely and deployed intentionally, AI can help counter the very harms now being documented by detecting stereotypes rather than reproducing them, expanding representation rather than narrowing it, and improving accessibility on a large scale.

The Trump administration has stepped in to support one of Elon Musk’s companies in a legal battle over alleged air pollution from a large artificial intelligence data center in the US state of Mississippi. The Justice Department has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the NAACP and other groups, which accuse Musk’s xAI unit of operating dozens of natural gas turbines without proper permits. The plaintiffs say the facility, which powers a $20 billion AI data center, is located near homes, schools and churches and is posing serious health risks to nearby communities in northern Mississippi and Memphis. In its filing late Monday, the department argued that the power plant is essential for running an AI facility that is “critical to the economy” and important for US military needs. It also said the state of Mississippi, not the federal government, had determined that no permit was required for the plant. A senior Justice Department official said enforcing federal law ultimately rests with the executive branch, not private groups, adding that the move aims to protect national security and support American innovation and energy development. The case highlights the Trump administration’s push to prioritise artificial intelligence development as part of its broader economic and national security strategy, while easing environmental regulations on businesses. President Donald Trump has maintained close ties with Musk, who previously led a federal cost-cutting initiative and remains one of his major political and financial supporters. The legal intervention comes shortly after Musk’s space company SpaceX saw a major stock market debut, further increasing its valuation, partly driven by large federal contracts. The lawsuit, filed in April, claims that xAI has been running multiple portable gas turbines without required air pollution controls, in violation of the US Clean Air Act, which mandates permits for industrial emissions. The US Environmental Protection Agency has said it is not directly involved in the case and referred questions to the Justice Department. Environmental groups strongly criticised the government’s move, calling it an attempt to protect powerful tech companies from accountability. They argue that communities near such facilities are being turned into “sacrifice zones” due to pollution risks. The NAACP said the Clean Air Act was designed to protect communities from exactly this kind of harm, and warned it would continue legal action to defend environmental justice.   Legal experts have also raised concerns, saying the Justice Department’s intervention could set a precedent for the government to step in and shut down private lawsuits that enforce environmental law. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, defended the project, saying the data center includes a self-sustaining power system designed to avoid raising electricity prices for residents. He said the project complies with federal commitments aimed at protecting ratepayers and boosting investment. He also said the lawsuit could delay or block what he described as the largest private investment in Mississippi’s history, which has already created thousands of construction jobs and is expected to generate hundreds of permanent positions. The Justice Department, however, said excessive regulation and private lawsuits could slow down technological progress and harm US energy independence and national security. The case comes amid growing debate in the US over the environmental impact of rapidly expanding AI data centers, which require massive amounts of electricity and water resources.

Pope Leo XIV has called for strict global regulation of artificial intelligence, warning that the fast-growing technology must serve humanity and the common good rather than corporate profit. In a major new church document titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), the first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV, the pontiff said AI is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today as it reshapes jobs, warfare, and human life. He strongly criticised what he called a “culture of power” driving the global AI race, especially in developing advanced systems used in remote warfare. He said it is “not permissible” to allow artificial intelligence to make irreversible or lethal decisions, warning that such choices must remain under human control. His comments are likely to deepen debate with the United States administration, which has pushed for lighter regulation of AI development. The pope also warned about the growing concentration of data and technological power in the hands of a few private companies, saying it poses serious risks for children, vulnerable groups and democratic accountability. He called for clear laws, independent oversight and stronger political responsibility to govern AI systems. “It is not enough to invoke ethics in the abstract,” he wrote, stressing that binding legal frameworks are needed and that moral standards cannot be set by a small group of tech leaders. The encyclical was released at a Vatican event attended by representatives from the tech world, including co-founder of Anthropic, as the Holy See continues long-running dialogue with Silicon Valley over the social impact of AI. Experts say the document is likely to become an important reference point in global discussions on AI ethics and regulation, especially as concerns grow about job losses and machines replacing human decision-making. Technology leaders and academics said the pope’s intervention raises deeper questions about humanity’s future in the age of artificial intelligence, as systems become more powerful and widespread. In the text, Pope Leo also warned that AI is contributing to the “normalisation of war” by making violence feel more distant and less human. He called for greater transparency in how AI is used in military operations and urged clearer accountability in decision-making chains for strikes involving automated systems. He further argued that traditional Catholic “just war” theory may no longer be adequate in the era of modern warfare technologies. The document also places AI within the broader tradition of Catholic social teaching, linking it to long-standing concerns about workers’ rights, economic justice and human dignity. The pope signed the encyclical on May 15, marking the anniversary of *Rerum Novarum*, a landmark church text that shaped modern Catholic views on labour and capitalism during the Industrial Revolution. He warned that the pursuit of profit must never come at the cost of jobs, arguing that people must always remain the purpose of economic systems, not their tools. The encyclical also touched on historical issues, including an unprecedented papal acknowledgment and apology for the Holy See’s past role in supporting slavery. Vatican officials did not disclose who contributed to the document, but said it reflects years of discussions between the church and technology leaders.

A prize-winning writer from Trinidad and Tobago is at the center of a growing debate over artificial intelligence after questions emerged about whether AI was used in his award-winning short story. The controversy involves Jamir Nazir, one of five regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize announced on May 14. The final winner is expected to be named in June. Nazir’s story, ‘The Serpent in the Grove’, set in rural Trinidad, was praised by judges for its vivid language and imagery. One judge described the writing as “sublime” and “richly evocative.” However, questions soon surfaced online about whether the story may have been generated or assisted by artificial intelligence. The issue escalated after publisher Granta said it used an AI chatbot, Claude, to assess the text. According to Granta, the system concluded that the story was “almost certainly not produced unaided by a human.” Sigrid Rausing, publisher of Granta, said it remains unclear whether the award may have gone to work involving AI assistance, adding that the story could remain published until a final review is completed by the Commonwealth Foundation. She also noted the irony that AI tools are now being used to help detect possible AI-generated writing. Granta said its editors were not involved in selecting the winners beyond routine copy editing, and expressed concern over growing speculation around the case. Nazir could not be reached for comment, and no contact details were provided by the publishers. The case comes amid wider concern in the publishing world over the use of AI in creative writing, including recent incidents where book deals were withdrawn over similar allegations. The Commonwealth Foundation said it is taking the allegations seriously and has launched a review of the judging process. Its director-general Razmi Farook said the organisation aims to ensure its award system can address the growing challenges posed by AI in creative work. He added that while the issue is complex, the tone of public debate around it has become increasingly concerning. Online discussions have intensified, with users highlighting unusual phrases from the story and questioning its originality. Some have also pointed to inconsistencies in Nazir’s online presence and profile images. Nazir, who also has a poetry book listed on Amazon titled ‘Night Moon Love: Poems For All Those Who Have Loved Or Dreamed Of Love’, maintains a low online profile despite the recent attention. The author’s biography on the Commonwealth Foundation website states that he hopes readers reflect on moral questions raised by his work and the consequences of everyday choices.