AI News Flash for May 18, 2026 at 15:00 UTC.

Topics:

1. NextEra Energy acquires Dominion Energy for $66.8 billion

https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-tech/nextera-dominion-ai-data-center-power-demand

2. France's Publicis to acquire LiveRamp for $2.55 billion

https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/frances-publicis-to-acquire-liveramp-for-2-55-billion-in-ai-push-fd04a740

3. SiMa.ai raises at $1.4 billion valuation

https://www.theinformation.com/newsletters/ai-agenda/edge-inference-chip-startup-sima-ai-raising-1-4-billion-valuation

4. Pope Leo XIV to release AI encyclical May 25 alongside Anthropic co-founder

https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/pope-leo-present-his-encyclical-ai-alongside-anthropic-co-founder

AI News Flash for May 18, 2026 at 14:00 UTC.

Topics:

1. Cerebras Nasdaq IPO Debut Blockbuster

https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6395937062112

2. NVIDIA Invests in AI Chip Switching Startup WSJ Exclusive

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/startup-makes-switching-ai-chips-easierand-nvidia-is-a-new-investor-c78e3a54

3. Morningstar 1999 Dot-com Bubble Warning AI Stock Rally

https://global.morningstar.com/en-gb/markets/markets-brief-echoes-1999-latest-ai-stock-rally

4. Colombia Presidential Election AI Deepfake Videos Latin America

https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-05-18/ai-generated-videos-flood-colombias-presidential-campaign-with-electoral-fantasies.html

AI News Flash for May 18, 2026 at 13:00 UTC.

Topics:

1. Meta major layoffs starting this week

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/18/metas-layoffs-starting-this-week-underscore-zuckerbergs-ai-reality-.html

2. Google internal AI compute crunch

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-18/google-s-own-ai-researchers-jockey-for-access-to-its-computing

3. Pope Leo XIV first encyclical on AI May 25

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/pope-leo-issue-first-major-work-addressing-ai-may-25-2026-05-18/

4. Salesforce CEO Benioff AI Slack monitoring

https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-ceo-ai-can-identify-upset-employees-from-slack-2026-5

5. DARPA AI Cyber Challenge revolution

https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/ai-vulnerability-discovery-darpa-challenge-critical-infrastructure/819494/

AI News Flash for May 18, 2026 at 12:00 UTC.

Topics:

1. Anaplan CEO SaaSpocalypse rebuttal

https://fortune.com/2026/05/18/ai-enterprise-software-deterministic-domain-authority-saas-split/

2. NVIDIA earnings preview

https://www.barrons.com/articles/nvidia-stock-price-earnings-ai-chips-d8ad77b8

3. California lawyers AI hallucination problem

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/lawyers-ai-22247802.php

4. India GCC hiring slowdown

https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/global-centres-india-slow-hiring-ai-reshapes-work-ansr-ceo-says-2026-05-18/

AI News Flash for May 18, 2026 at 11:00 UTC.

Topics:

1. SoundHound AI acquires LivePerson, 2027 revenue projection

https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/05/18/soundhound-ai-just-announced-major-news/

2. AI skepticism grows among US youth, 70% say too fast

https://www.semafor.com/article/05/18/2026/ai-skepticism-grows-among-us-youth

3. Insurance industry AI pilot warnings, MIT 95% failure rate

https://insurancenewsnet.com/innarticle/insurers-urged-to-temper-expectations-with-ai-pilots

4. DOJ considers intervention in xAI Colossus 2 pollution lawsuit

https://www.eenews.net/articles/doj-says-it-might-help-musk-in-lawsuit-over-ai-pollution/

AI News Flash for May 18, 2026 at 10:00 UTC.

Topics:

1. US-Philippines 4000-Acre AI Hub Plan

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-18/us-philippines-moving-very-quickly-on-4-000-acre-ai-hub-plan

2. Baidu Profit Slides Amid Slow AI Payoff

https://www.wsj.com/business/earnings/baidus-profit-slides-again-amid-slow-ai-payoff-1060fbdb

3. KPMG AI Tax Training Simulation Tool

https://www.businessinsider.com/kpmg-training-tax-workers-through-simulation-tool-2026-5

4. 60+ MAGA Allies Tell Trump to Vet AI

https://www.axios.com/2026/05/18/trump-ai-steve-bannon-humans-first-letter

5. Sygnum Live AI-Agent Digital Asset Transactions

https://www.marketsmedia.com/sygnum-completes-live-ai-agent-driven-digital-asset-transactions/

AI News Flash for May 18, 2026 at 09:00 UTC.

Topics:

1. Project Spire US-Israel hardened AI infrastructure

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-896545

2. IREN Ingenostrum acquisition AI power capacity Spain 490MW

https://simplywall.st/stocks/us/software/nasdaq-iren/iren/news/irens-ingenostrum-deal-expands-ai-power-capacity-and-investo

3. Commonwealth Bank Australia Chief AI Scientist Mary-Anne Williams

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/commonwealth-bank-australia-names-mary-anne-williams-chief-ai-scientist-2026-05-18/

4. International consensus AI medical writing rules no AI authors no fake citations

https://www.newswise.com/articles/no-ai-authors-no-fake-citations-international-consensus-sets-rules-for-ai-assisted-medical-writing

5. Pizza Hut Dragontail AI delivery system gamed by drivers franchisee lawsuit

https://www.businessinsider.com/pizza-hut-ai-system-dragontail-lawsuit-franchisee-2026-5

AI News Flash for May 18, 2026 at 08:00 UTC.

Topics:

1. Kioxia AI memory profit surge

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-18/kioxia-shares-awash-in-buy-orders-after-ai-driven-profit-surge

2. arXiv one-year ban on AI generated content

https://www.researchinformation.info/news/arxiv-imposes-one-year-ban-for-unchecked-ai-generated-content/

3. Akamai acquires LayerX browser native AI security

https://www.techzine.eu/blogs/security/141379/akamai-acquires-layerx-for-browser-native-ai-era-workforce-controls/

4. China AI self-correction cycle Doubao cuts Tencent pivots

https://www.forbes.com/sites/viviantoh/2026/05/18/doubao-cuts-tencent-pivots-chinas-ai-enters-a-self-correction-cycle/

5. Crypto security AI arms race Elliptic CEO warning

https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/05/18/crypto-security-is-turning-into-an-ai-arms-race-as-agents-may-overwhelm-compliance-teams

AI News Flash for May 18, 2026 at 07:00 UTC.

Topics:

1. Applied Materials Earnings AI Supercycle Record Results

https://www.trefis.com/stock/amat/articles/599628/applied-materials-earnings-ai-supercycle-ignites-record-results-and-a-bullish-outlook/2026-05-18

2. Mutual Funds Cut Tech Exposure 8-Year Low AI Disruption

https://m.economictimes.com/mf/analysis/mutual-funds-cut-technology-sector-exposure-to-8-year-low-in-april-is-ai-disruption-reshaping-sentiment/articleshow/131166767.cms

3. AMEC China Semiconductor Equipment Industry Standard

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3353937/chinas-amec-semiconductor-technology-now-industry-standard-adopted-rivals-founder

4. Royal Observatory AI Human Intelligence Decline Warning

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2023l60370o

5. Walmart AI Delivery Speed Reengineering

https://emerj.com/how-walmart-is-reengineering-ai-delivery-speed/

AI News Flash for May 18, 2026 at 06:00 UTC.

Topics:

1. Europe AI race threatened by energy prices

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/18/europe-ai-energy-electricity-costs-data-centers-china-us.html

2. HIVE BUZZ HPC Canada AI Gigafactory

https://www.stocktitan.net/news/HIVE/hive-s-buzz-hpc-announces-320-mw-sovereign-ai-infrastructure-in-p38xhnjtv323.html

3. US Army AI-led Pacific restructuring

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2026-05-18/army-ai-long-range-fires-new-command-21705165.html

4. GM uses AI for vehicle design

https://autos.yahoo.com/ev-and-future-tech/articles/gm-using-ai-design-vehicles-042331577.html