Silicon Valley is shifting away from chatbot queries toward a future filled with resource-intensive agentic AI--and it's driving the data center buildout. Welcome back to Power Play! Each week, senior writer Molly Taft tackles a topic around this midterm season's biggest issue: data centers. If you've got a question or thought for the column, feel free to shoot Molly an email at [email protected] or reach them securely on Signal at mollytaft.76. "What on earth are they building all of these data centers for?" an exasperated friend asked me recently.

NYC's AI ban through grade 8 sets stage for rest of US, experts say Share NYC's AI ban through grade 8 sets stage for rest of US, experts say on social media New York City's ban on use of artificial intelligence in the classroom for elementary and middle school students in the city's public school system - the largest in the country - could set the stage for how other school systems in the United States tailor their approach to the use of AI, experts say. The moratorium, which was announced on Wednesday, will last for one year and will end the use of 40 different educational tools impacting 600,000 students. The ban will not bar teachers from using the technology to create lesson plans. They need to develop skills alongside their peers, build relationships with educators and wrestle with tough problems on their own," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a news conference on Wednesday. "The tech industry wants us to believe that AI-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary.

Teachers and parents have warned against AI use in schools over concerns of'cognitive surrender' New York City will ban students' use of artificial intelligence in public schools through eighth grade, typically age 13 or 14. The prohibition is scheduled to be announced on Wednesday and will go into effect next week. The change is part of a sweeping overhaul of the use of technology in the US's largest school district, which enrolls roughly 900,000 students a year. In another policy shift, classrooms will keep students off laptops or tablets through the third grade, age nine or 10. The city's public school technology policies are closely watched by the rest of the United States.

There was a time--a more innocent age--when you could read an op-ed in a major newspaper and confidently say that a human had written it. Hold on to the memory of that for as long as you can. This week, after the billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller published an editorial in criticizing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, his onetime protégé, readers began to notice some familiar tics of AI writing. According to Pangram, the AI-detection tool, the op-ed was 100 percent AI-generated. That in itself was not so shocking. AI writing has regularly snuck into mainstream outlets, and especially newspaper op-ed pages, despite policies against it.

One school is using a traffic light metaphor to explain when students can use AI for their assignments. Chatbots took many schools by surprise upon their release a few years ago. Suddenly, students carried an app in their phones that could magically answer almost any homework question or spin up an essay in seconds. Of course, teachers can often tell when a student is using AI--models make mistakes that most humans don't, and some teachers say that AI-generated text has simple giveaways like too many em dashes . Nevertheless, the generative AI boom increased the burden on teachers, who were already working long hours to plan lessons, make homework assignments, and grade exams, and now needed to adapt to a new technology. For many, it still feels like there's no clear path forward.

The AAMAS 2026 best paper awards were presented at the 25th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, which took place from 25-29 May 2025 in Paphos, Cyprus. Lucy Smith is Senior Managing Editor for AIhub. Lucy Smith is Senior Managing Editor for AIhub. Eleanor Drage speaks with Tara Merk about how community-owned data centers could transform digital ownership and challenge the dominance of Big Tech. We find out more about multi-agent research for the allocation of scarce societal resources.

This post contains a list of the AI-related seminars that are scheduled to take place between 1 June and 31 July 2026. All events detailed here are free and open for anyone to attend virtually. Franco Accordino and Monika Lanzenberger (European Commission) The Digital Humanism (DIGHUM) Initiative The talk will be livestreamed on YouTube here . K Madhava Krishna (IIIT Hyderabad) Robotics Café The Google Meet link is here . Gianfranco Polizzi (University of Birmingham) Raspberry PI Sign up here to join.

Race on to establish globally recognised'AI-free' logo Organisations worldwide are racing to develop a universally recognised label for human-made products and services as part of the growing backlash against AI use. Declarations like Proudly Human, Human-made, 'No A.I and AI-free are appearing across films, marketing, books and websites. It is in response to fears that jobs or entire professions are being swept away in a wave of AI-powered automation. BBC News has counted at least eight different initiatives trying to come up with a label that could get the kind of global recognition that the Fair Trade logo has for ethically made products. But with so many competing labels - as well as confusion over the definition of AI-free - experts say consumers are in danger of being left confused unless a single standard can be agreed on.

More than 75% of City firms now use AI, with insurers and international banks among the biggest adopters. More than 75% of City firms now use AI, with insurers and international banks among the biggest adopters. UK exposed to'serious harm' by failure to tackle AI risks, MPs warn Consumers and the UK financial system are being exposed to "serious harm" by the failure of government and the Bank of England to get a grip on the risks posed by artificial intelligence, an influential parliamentary committee has warned. That is despite looming concerns over how the burgeoning technology could disadvantage already vulnerable consumers, or even trigger a financial crisis, if AI-led firms end up making similar financial decisions in response to economic shocks. More than 75% of City firms now use AI, with insurers and international banks among the biggest adopters.

Is AI taking the fun out of fantasy football? For years, fantasy football has given every armchair manager the space to back up claims they could do a better job than the real thing. Whether you're competing against workmates, family members or strangers, the ability to pull together your own dream team is irresistible to millions of football fans. The competitive pastime has spawned a whole industry of content creators offering weekly tips for anyone looking to gain an edge as they sift through stats and manage transfers. Recently, more players have been turning to Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for advice - but not everyone agrees they have a place in the virtual dugout.