Building-trade locals in Virginia's data centre alley are knocking doors and threatening to withhold support from politicians opposed to the buildout, putting organised labour opposite the environmental and ratepayer groups it usually stands with.

Meta is testing robots from Watney, Kinova and ABB to plug cables and reset servers in its data centres - undisclosed work a worker says could absorb 80 percent of some jobs, while Meta's spokesman insists the country needs more workers, not fewer.

MIT's ad hoc AI committee reports that models produce credible answers to almost any undergraduate essay, proof or coding assignment, and blames AI for emptying office hours and study groups - so the institute weighs alternative grading rather than a campus AI policy.