AI News Roundup: Sunak’s Advisory Roles, Gen Z Jobs, and the Sovereign AI Race

In a week where artificial intelligence touches policy, the workplace, culture, and national strategy, the headlines stitched together a global portrait of an ecosystem expanding faster than many institutions can adapt. One standout thread is politics meeting tech: former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has taken advisory roles with Microsoft and the AI firm Anthropic. These appointments, which surfaced in letters from Westminster’s Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, add to his existing advisory ties with Goldman Sachs and public speaking gigs for investment firms in the US. The move highlights how senior figures are navigating post-office influence while promising to steer clear of lobbying or direct UK policy leverage, at least in the committee’s framing. This blend of politics and high‑level AI industry engagement underlines a broader trend: policymakers increasingly operate in the same AI economy where tech firms shape the horizon of what’s possible. Source: The Guardian

Beyond the corridors of power, the business world is recalibrating its hiring instincts in the face of automation. A British Standards Institution study spanning seven countries found that about a quarter of bosses believe many entry-level tasks could be automated to cut costs. The consequence is a looming “job-pocalypse” for younger workers, as firms lean into AI to fill gaps rather than train up junior staff. This isn’t a simple tale of machines replacing humans overnight; it’s a strategic shift in how companies build resilience, balance skill development, and structure compensation as AI becomes more capable. The conversation touches larger questions about opportunity, retraining, and the role of education in a near‑term AI economy. Source: The Guardian

Meanwhile, researchers warn that AI threats to democracy are less about flashy deepfakes and more about the day-to-day transformation of information ecosystems. Samuel Woolley and Dean Jackson describe a future where AI-driven content could erode trust and complicate elections, potentially long after today’s headlines fade. They emphasize that while the arms race in AI governance and capability is intensifying, the immediate electoral impact is complex: not decisively altering outcomes in 2026, but reshaping how information circulates, influences decisions, and tests the resilience of democratic institutions over decades. The piece situates these concerns within ongoing debates about policy, oversight, and the ethical deployment of AI in public life. Source: The Guardian

In the creative world, the collision of AI and artistry raises urgent questions about how we define authorship and craft. Tarik O’Regan’s reflections on AI and classical music paint a vivid picture of a field negotiating opportunity, risk, and equity as technology infiltrates composition, performance, and curation. The piece describes a Bay Area landscape of hacker‑museums and startup cultures that blur the lines between experimentation and commerce—and it challenges institutions to decide whether they ride the wave of generative AI or risk being overwhelmed by it. Creativity, in this view, remains a core human enterprise even as AI alters the toolkit for composers, performers, and listeners. Source: The Guardian

On the funding and infrastructure side, Relace (also known as Squack Inc.) announced $23 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Matrix Partners and Y Combinator. The startup is positioned to build the infrastructure backbone for AI coding agents, signaling continuing investor confidence in the ecosystem that supports AI development. This kind of capital emphasis matters: it funds the platforms, libraries, and tooling that allow developers to move from experimentation to production, accelerating the pace at which AI-powered coding agents can transform software engineering. Source: SiliconANGLE

Taken together, these threads reflect a world in which sovereign AI ambitions, corporate innovation, and cultural adaptation are interwoven. National strategies — from Singapore to Switzerland and Malaysia — are pouring billions into homegrown AI models and platforms, while global tech giants and startups race to deliver interoperable, enterprise-ready solutions such as Gemini Enterprise, which aims to connect AI capabilities across Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Governments and businesses alike recognize that the next wave of AI adoption will hinge on practical deployments, trustworthy governance, and robust infrastructure that can scale across industries and borders. Source: The Guardian; AIBusiness

Sources

1. Rishi Sunak takes advisory roles with Microsoft and AI firm Anthropic
2. Gen Z faces ‘job-pocalypse’ as global firms prioritise AI over new hires, report says
3. We research AI election threats. Here’s what we need to prepare for
4. ‘I’m a composer. Am I staring extinction in the face?’: classical music and AI
5. Relace wants to build the infrastructure foundation for AI coding agents after raising $23M in funding
6. Governments are spending billions on their own ‘sovereign’ AI technologies – is it a big waste of money?
7. Google Cloud Unveils Gemini Enterprise