Bill Gates told New York Times columnist Ezra Klein that automation replacing human workers should trigger the same FICA payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare. He proposed defining a unit of labor so that work performed by robots or AI would be taxed like human wages, funded by the savings companies gain from not employing people. This echoes an August essay in which Gates also called for taxing AI tokens and noted that robots, unlike human employees, can be written off as business expenses.
techspot.com
· 2026-10-01
A new McKinsey report estimates that artificial intelligence and automation could displace roughly 11 million US workers, about 7% of the country's workforce, forcing them to change professions by 2035. The report suggests AI may ultimately create more jobs than it eliminates, even as it drives what it calls a historic workforce transformation.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-30
An Entrepreneur contributor argues that most 'AI-native' products are really 'AI-assisted,' with AI simply layered atop unchanged workflows. The piece contends that real gains come from rebuilding workflows from scratch around what AI can do, while reserving human judgment for tasks involving relationships and decision-making.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-30
Destro, a logistics-robotics startup founded by Manthan Pawar, announced an $8 million seed round and came out of stealth. Rather than building robots, Destro has developed an AI software layer that coordinates tasks between robots and human workers in warehouse and logistics settings. Yusen Logistics automation director Richard Brunelle, who advised the company, said the approach addresses cross-docking and sorting challenges his facilities face.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-30
A writer recounts how their great-great-grandfather, a farrier in rural France, switched to becoming a mechanic after witnessing the arrival of the automobile, a shift that shaped the family's occupation for generations. The essay uses this history to reflect on current anxieties among developers about being displaced by AI.
manuel.darcemont.fr
· 2026-09-30
OpenAI head of hardware Richard Ho said the company's Jalapeño ASIC went from initial RTL design to tapeout in roughly nine months, with total concept-to-reveal time under two years. Ho said the chip was built from scratch using OpenAI's own internal AI models, including its Codex coding platform, alongside standard EDA tools, and that other engineering teams have been asking how OpenAI achieved the pace.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-30
Synopsys introduced AgentEngineer, a set of AI agents built on its Autopilot Platform aimed at automating chip design tasks across six areas including verification, implementation, and analog/mixed-signal design. The company says over 50 customer engagements are underway and plans general availability by the end of 2026, following earlier agentic AI demonstrations with Nvidia and Microsoft at DAC in July.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-28
Outmarket, an AI startup that automates paperwork for commercial insurance brokers, has raised a $34.5 million Series B round led by SignalFire, with participation from Fika Ventures, Permanent Capital Ventures, TTV Capital and Dash Fund. The company, founded by former Ethos product lead Vishal Sankhala in late 2023, says it now works with over 300 insurance agencies, including a quarter of the top 100, since launching its current product 14 months ago.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-28
Employers are automating and restructuring routine entry-level tasks with AI tools, cutting down on the tedious 'busy work' junior employees once performed. Managers report that this efficiency comes at a cost: those repetitive tasks had served as practical training grounds for building skills and judgment.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-26
A contributor to Entrepreneur argues that automation and AI have removed the traditional cost and effort barriers that once limited how much marketing outreach a customer received. The piece cites a Boston Consulting Group survey of over 23,000 consumers, finding 80% comfortable with personalization but two-thirds recently encountering personalization that felt inaccurate or invasive, prompting some to unsubscribe or disengage. The author recommends marketers ask how strong and recent a customer signal is, how much has already been communicated, and what conditions should trigger a stop.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-25
San Francisco startup PitPro Automation has installed a robotic tire-changing system in a Calgary tire shop, using two cube-shaped robots on a track with sensors and robotic arms to locate and store lug nuts. The company says the machine can complete a full tire swap in about 15 minutes, and it plans to expand into standardized chain stores and the broader Canadian market.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-25
Researchers including statistician Adrian Barnett and philosopher Jeff Sebo report receiving emails from autonomous AI agents, many linked to a US platform called iLands, asking for data, collaboration or money. Barnett declined to share sensitive research data with one such bot after it could not clarify who would ultimately use or benefit from it, while Sebo says he has received over 50 such messages in a single week and has not responded to any.
nature.com
· 2026-09-25
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