Living and Working with AI News — 2026-09-24 (Thu) Morning News

Overview

In terms of statements from executives, NVIDIA's Jensen Huang and OpenAI's Sam Altman took contrasting positions against ``AI pessimism and caution''. On the practical side, there have been multiple product announcements dealing with agent-based AI governance and cost management, and in terms of human capital investment, Verizon has launched a major reskilling program. Regarding Japan, there was one report on the use of robots to compensate for labor shortages.

Corporate management decision-making

- Saint-Gobain has reportedly appointed Annica Hagen as Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer. An example of placing AI as a matter under management's executive level control. - Verizon announces $70 million investment in a nationwide AI reskilling program. - OpenAI is reportedly negotiating a $1.2 trillion valuation in a new funding round, with Altman reportedly calling an initial public offering (IPO) "premature." - OpenAI reportedly seeks dismissal of Musk's AI antitrust lawsuit, citing SpaceX's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings as evidence.

How the company organization should be

No applicable information

Changes in employee roles

- SAIC's Jerry Tipton reportedly stated that human-in-the-loop biometric authentication should be maintained even in the age of agent-based AI (AI that autonomously makes and executes decisions). - askotter.ai announced that it has started providing an AI agent that manages websites for small and medium-sized businesses through text messages. The structure is such that the human person in charge of the work is in charge of issuing text instructions.

Required competencies

- University deans have reportedly warned future leaders not to entrust all their thinking to AI. - It has been reported that critical thinking skills and humanities education are the keys to surviving the job market in the age of AI. - Kenya and Intel announce a partnership to promote AI literacy in public libraries. - An essay on the theme of "maintaining human thinking ability" in the era of generative AI has been reported.

Employee education/human resources development

- Verizon announces $70 million investment in a nationwide AI upskilling program. - Colorado State University Global announces new programs in AI, machine learning, and healthcare data analytics. - In India, it is reported that senior engineers with 12 years of experience are returning to their studies due to AI. - There are reports that AI is reshaping the hiring and job descriptions of new graduates and entry-level employees.

Organizational construction

- WSO2 announced "Agent Manager," which it says will provide a mechanism for sovereign AI governance against agent-type AI (agent sprawl) that is proliferating within companies.

Division of roles between AI agents and employees

- CLARA Analytics announces agent-based AI “Workforce” for insurance claims operations. - Selector announces the introduction of Git-based workflows and incident replay capabilities to its AI agent for networks. - A United Nations (UN) panel of experts has reportedly called for stronger safeguards against the advancement of AI agents. - Beeline and Insygna announce a partnership to provide cost management and risk reduction for AI agents in workforce orchestration across the enterprise. - Logile launches AI-powered long-term staff planning tool for retail.

Production management using humanoids

- In Japan, it is reported that the use of AI-equipped robots is progressing in a wide range of industries due to the labor shortage (no specific number of robots introduced or process involved). - Headlines about Elon Musk (Tesla CEO, in charge of Optimus) refer to Chinese AI models and President Xi Jinping, and there is no direct information about Optimus production management. There is no information regarding specific operations, processes, safety, and personnel allocation other than those listed above.

ROI concept

- In a survey by HR Dive, it was reported that many employees said they were using AI but "didn't know why they were using it." Suggests that effectiveness measurement/purpose is unclear. There is no specific mention of other investment recovery or failure reports of demonstration experiments.

Balance of investment in human resources and humanoids

Although there is an example of Verizon's investment in human resources retraining ($70 million), there are no specific figures in the headline that would serve as a basis for comparison with the amount invested in machinery and robots. There is no information directly showing the distribution balance between the two.

Labor Administration/Worker Protection (Regulatory Authority Perspective)

- It is reported that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) continues to take a cautious stance towards AI. - US Senator Bernie Sanders has reportedly announced a bill calling for a ban on artificial superintelligence and the creation of a Department of AI. - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reportedly warned that AI will have an uneven impact on the European Union (EU) economies. - Trump (US) has reportedly rejected international regulation of AI. - The United Nations (UN) expert panel called for stronger safety measures against agent-based AI (related to number 8).

Movements in each country

- Japan: Against the backdrop of labor shortages, it is reported that the use of AI-equipped robots is progressing in a wide range of industries. - US: Trump rejects international regulation of AI. Senator Sanders announces superintelligence regulation bill. - UK: AI is "creating jobs, not eliminating them" in Newport, the BBC reports. - European Union (EU): EASA remains cautious, IMF warns of uneven economic impact. - India: Retraining senior technologists, Microsoft's Nadella praises India's AI potential and human capital ingenuity. There are no direct headlines regarding China, Israel, Australia, or South Korea (except for Musk's mention of China's AI model and Samsung's Korean AI RAN business).

Remarks from VIPs

- Jensen Huang (NVIDIA CEO): Reportedly rejected AI extinction theory as "doomsday narratives." He is also reported to have called the behavior of some AI leaders "irresponsible" and "there must be ulterior motives." - Elon Musk (Tesla CEO, Optimus): Ahead of his state visit to the United States, Elon Musk reportedly praised President Xi Jinping and China's AI models, calling him a "great leader." - Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO: Reportedly praised India's human capital ingenuity and AI potential. - Sam Altman (OpenAI CEO): Calls an initial public offering (IPO) "premature," and is reportedly in talks to raise funds at a valuation of $1.2 trillion. The United Nations (UN) has reportedly called for an "extremely cautious response" to AI, stated at the Security Council that "AI can become a new renaissance of creativity," and stated that OpenAI plans to slow down its development.

Integrated analysis: How is it effective for management decisions

Huang's optimism and Altman's "slow down" comments illustrate the differences among leaders in the same AI industry. Rather than simply taking sides in this conflict, it would be appropriate for managers to first develop their own governance systems (such as WSO2 Agent Manager (No. 7) and cost/risk management for Beeline/Insygna (No. 8)), and then decide on the scope of authority to be delegated to agent-based AI. Furthermore, when reading Verizon's retraining investment (No. 6) together with HR Dive's survey result that ``employees do not understand the purpose of using AI'' (No. 10), it is possible that there is a lack of management communication to clarify the purpose of using AI at the workplace, beyond the amount of investment. Saint-Gobain's appointment as CAIO (No. 2) is an example of an organizational design that centralizes AI-related decision-making to a dedicated executive-level position, and, together with No. 9, the use of robots (Japan), is noteworthy as a move to place a person in charge of overseeing the allocation of investments in people and machines.

Future points of interest

Consistency between the outcome of OpenAI's funding negotiations at a valuation of $1.2 trillion and Altman's policy of "slowing down development." 2. Will there be actual implementation cases of in-house agent-type AI governance and cost management tools such as WSO2 and Beeline/Insygna in the future? 3. Will the move to appoint an AI executive officer, like Saint-Gobain's appointment of CAIO, spread to other companies?