A study of 22,000 US companies published on Tuesday by Ramp and Revelio Labs found that firms with the highest AI spending grew their workforces after adopting the technology, rather than cutting jobs. Among high-intensity adopters—those spending roughly $34 per employee per month on AI—headcount rose by 10.2% over two years, and entry-level hiring increased by 12%. The gains were concentrated in the information sector and at larger, venture-backed firms, but the authors note that the pattern contradicts public claims by some chief executives that AI is the primary driver of layoffs.

European Central Bank officials, speaking at their annual retreat in Sintra, reinforced the view that AI is augmenting rather than eliminating roles. ECB chief economist Philip Lane said surveys show rapid adoption across the eurozone and expressed optimism about productivity and investment effects, while OpenAI’s chief economist Ronnie Chatterji argued that exposure of a task to AI does not mean it will be substituted. At the Cannes Lions festival, senior marketing leaders from firms including Autodesk, Zoom and Kimberly-Clark described a shift from experimentation to change management, emphasising that human taste and judgment remain a competitive advantage even as AI accelerates content production.

Regional data reveal uneven pressures. In the United States, unemployment among recent graduates has risen, a trend some analysts attribute to AI’s impact on entry-level professional work. In China, youth graduate unemployment has been climbing for years. African university leaders, gathered at a congregation in Accra, warned that the continent risks missing the AI revolution unless higher education prioritises practical digital skills over examination-based learning. Ghana’s government launched a ten-year National AI Strategy in April 2026, targeting one million AI-ready youth and 10,000 mid-to-senior AI researchers by 2033, with a projected GDP contribution of 500 billion cedis by 2035. In Latin America, a survey of 18 Brazilian companies found that 55.6% use AI primarily for content creation, while 67% of firms nationally consider AI a strategic priority. Colombia’s digital economy is expanding rapidly, with the market for online courses and knowledge products projected to grow nearly tenfold by 2030.

A separate report from the Climate and Community Institute estimates that Alphabet, Amazon and Meta avoided $49.7 billion in US taxes last year, even as they committed a combined $250 billion to AI and data centre infrastructure. The report argues that federal policy choices, not market inevitability, are driving the data centre build-out. The next factual milestones include the ECB’s ongoing assessment of AI’s impact on inflation and growth, and Ghana’s interim targets for AI researcher training by 2033. Corporate adoption remains uneven: in Brazil, 22.2% of firms are still testing AI tools and 38.9% plan to begin soon, suggesting that the labour-market effects of AI are only beginning to unfold.