Anthropic engineers are increasingly relying on AI to write the code behind the company’s products, with senior staff now delegating nearly all programming tasks to AI systems.
Claude Code lead Boris Cherny said he has not written any software by hand for more than two months, with all recent updates generated by Anthropic’s own models. Similar practices are reportedly spreading across internal teams.
Company leadership has previously suggested AI could soon handle most software engineering work from start to finish, marking a shift in how digital products are built and maintained.
The adoption of AI coding tools has accelerated across the technology sector, with firms citing major productivity gains and faster development cycles as automation expands.
Industry observers note the transition may reshape hiring practices and entry-level engineering roles, as AI increasingly performs core implementation tasks previously handled by human developers.
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European technology leaders are increasingly questioning the long-held assumption that information technology operates outside politics, amid growing concerns about reliance on US cloud providers and digital infrastructure.
At HiPEAC 2026, Nextcloud chief executive Frank Karlitschek argued that software has become an instrument of power, warning that Europe’s dependence on American technology firms exposes organisations to legal uncertainty, rising costs, and geopolitical pressure.
He highlighted conflicts between EU privacy rules and US surveillance laws, predicting continued instability around cross-border data transfers and renewed risks of services becoming legally restricted.
Beyond regulation, Karlitschek pointed to monopoly power among major cloud providers, linking recent price increases to limited competition and warning that vendor lock-in strategies make switching increasingly difficult for European organisations.
He presented open-source and locally controlled cloud systems as a path toward digital sovereignty, urging stronger enforcement of EU competition rules alongside investment in decentralised, federated technology models.
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Jason Stockwood, the UK investment minister, has suggested that a universal basic income could help protect workers as AI reshapes the labour market.
He argued that rapid advances in automation will cause disruptive shifts across several sectors, meaning the country must explore safety mechanisms rather than allowing sudden job losses to deepen inequality. He added that workers will need long-term retraining pathways as roles disappear.
Concern about the economic impact of AI continues to intensify.
Research by Morgan Stanley indicates that the UK is losing more jobs than it is creating because of automation and is being affected more severely than other major economies.
Warnings from London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan and senior global business figures, including JP Morgan’s chief executive Jamie Dimon, point to the risk of mass unemployment unless governments and companies step in with support.
Stockwood confirmed that a universal basic income is not part of formal government policy, although he said people inside government are discussing the idea.
He took up his post in September after a long career in the technology sector, including senior roles at Match.com, Lastminute.com and Travelocity, as well as leading a significant sale of Simply Business.
Additionally, Stockwood said he no longer pushes for stronger wealth-tax measures, but he criticised wealthy individuals who seek to minimise their contributions to public finances. He suggested that those who prioritise tax avoidance lack commitment to their communities and the country’s long-term success.
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Meta plans to nearly double its AI investment in 2026, according to its latest earnings report. Spending is expected to reach between $115bn and $135bn as the company expands large-scale infrastructure.
Mark Zuckerberg said the investment will focus on data centres needed to train advanced AI models. The strategy is designed to support long-term AI development across Meta’s platforms in the US.
Zuckerberg described 2026 as a pivotal year for AI, with Meta working on multiple products rather than a single launch. Testing is reportedly underway on new models intended to succeed the Llama family in the US.
Meta said building proprietary AI models allows greater control over future products. The company positioned AI as a tool for personal empowerment, setting its approach apart from more centralised automation strategies in the US.
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Swiss technology and privacy expert Anna Zeiter is leading the development of W Social, a new European-built social media network designed as an alternative to X. The project aims to reduce reliance on US tech and strengthen European digital sovereignty.
W Social will require users to verify their identity and provide a photo to ensure genuine human accounts, tackling fake profiles and bot driven disinformation that critics link to existing platforms. Zeiter said the name W stands for ‘We’ as well as values and verification.
The platform’s infrastructure will be hosted in Europe under strict EU data protection laws, with decentralised storage and offices planned in Berlin and Paris. Early support comes from European political and tech figures, signalling interest beyond Silicon Valley.
W Social could launch a beta version as early as February, with broader public access planned by year-end. Backers hope the network will foster more positive dialogue and provide a European alternative to US based social media influence.
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EU member states are preparing to open formal discussions on the risks posed by AI-powered deepfakes and their use in cyberattacks, following an initiative by the current Council presidency.
The talks are intended to assess how synthetic media may undermine democratic processes and public trust across the bloc.
According to sources, capitals will also begin coordinated exchanges on the proposed Democracy Shield, a framework aimed at strengthening resilience against foreign interference and digitally enabled manipulation.
Deepfakes are increasingly viewed as a cross-cutting threat, combining disinformation, cyber operations and influence campaigns.
The timeline set out by the presidency foresees structured discussions among national experts before escalating the issue to the ministerial level. The approach reflects growing concern that existing cyber and media rules are insufficient to address rapidly advancing AI-generated content.
An initiative that signals a broader shift within the Council towards treating deepfakes not only as a content moderation challenge, but as a security risk with implications for elections, governance and institutional stability.
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Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has issued a stark warning that superhuman AI could inflict civilisation-level damage unless governments and industry act far more quickly and seriously.
In a forthcoming essay, Amodei argues humanity is approaching a critical transition that will test whether political, social and technological systems are mature enough to handle unprecedented power.
Amodei believes AI systems will soon outperform humans across nearly every field, describing a future ‘country of geniuses in a data centre’ capable of autonomous and continuous creation.
He warns that such systems could rival nation-states in influence, accelerating economic disruption while placing extraordinary power in the hands of a small number of actors.
Among the gravest dangers, Amodei highlights mass displacement of white-collar jobs, rising biological security risks and the empowerment of authoritarian governments through advanced surveillance and control.
He also cautions that AI companies themselves pose systemic risks due to their control over frontier models, infrastructure and user attention at a global scale.
Despite the severity of his concerns, Amodei maintains cautious optimism, arguing that meaningful governance, transparency and public engagement could still steer AI development towards beneficial outcomes.
Without urgent action, however, he warns that financial incentives and political complacency may override restraint during the most consequential technological shift humanity has faced.
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The renewable energy sector in Australia encounters new challenges as major tech companies establish AI data centres across the country. Projects once planned to export solar power internationally are now influenced by domestic energy demands.
Sun Cable, supported by billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest, aimed to deliver Australian solar energy to Singapore via a 4,300-kilometre sea cable. The project symbolised a vision for Australia to become a leading exporter of renewable electricity.
The rapid expansion of AI facilities is shifting energy priorities towards domestic infrastructure. Tech companies’ demand for electricity is creating new competition with planned renewable export projects.
Energy policy decisions now carry broader implications for emissions, the national grid, and Australia’s role in the global clean energy market. Careful planning will be essential to balance domestic growth with long-term renewable ambitions.
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France has unveiled a new push to reduce Europe’s dependence on US and Chinese technology suppliers, placing digital sovereignty back at the centre of the EU policy debates.
Speaking in Paris, France’s minister for AI and digital affairs, Anne Le Hénanff, presented initiatives to expose and address the structural reliance on non-EU technologies across public administrations and private companies.
Central to the strategy is the creation of a Digital Sovereignty Observatory, which will map foreign technology dependencies and assess organisational exposure to geopolitical and supply-chain risks.
The body, led by former Europe minister Clément Beaune, is intended to provide the evidence base needed for coordinated action rather than symbolic declarations of autonomy.
France is also advancing a Digital Resilience Index, expected to publish its first findings in early 2026. The index will measure reliance on foreign digital services and products, identifying vulnerabilities linked to cloud infrastructure, AI, cybersecurity and emerging technologies.
Industry data suggests Europe’s dependence on external tech providers costs the continent hundreds of billions of euros annually.
Paris is using the initiative to renew calls for a European preference in public-sector digital procurement and for a standard EU definition of European digital services.
Such proposals remain contentious among member states, yet France argues they are essential for restoring strategic control over critical digital infrastructure.
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AI has dominated discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva warned that labour markets are already undergoing rapid structural disruption.
According to Georgieva, demand for skills is shifting unevenly, with productivity gains benefiting some workers while younger people and first-time job seekers face shrinking opportunities.
Entry-level roles are particularly exposed as AI systems absorb routine and clerical tasks traditionally used to gain workplace experience.
Georgieva described the effect on young workers as comparable to a labour-market tsunami, arguing that reduced access to foundational roles risks long-term scarring for an entire generation entering employment.
IMF research suggests AI could affect roughly 60 percent of jobs in advanced economies and 40 percent globally, with only about half of exposed workers likely to benefit.
For others, automation may lead to lower wages, slower hiring and intensified pressure on middle-income roles lacking AI-driven productivity gains.
At Davos 2026, Georgieva warned that the rapid, unregulated deployment of AI in advanced economies risks outpacing public policy responses.
Without clear guardrails and inclusive labour strategies, she argued that technological acceleration could deepen inequality rather than supporting broad-based economic resilience.
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