Alphabet-owned Waymo has temporarily suspended robotaxi operations in multiple US cities and halted freeway rides after software shortcomings sent autonomous vehicles into flood-prone roads. The company paused rider service this week in Atlanta, Nashville and several Texas metros including San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Houston following heavy rains and an incident in which an unoccupied car became trapped in rising water. Waymo earlier this month filed a report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and recalled nearly 3,800 vehicles after a separate April 20 event in San Antonio where a robotaxi drove through a flooded roadway. The firm says it has implemented mitigations — such as restricting access to areas at risk of flash flooding — and is developing a software remedy while ‘‘integrating recent technical learnings’’ before restoring freeway and city operations. The disruptions add to regulatory and public scrutiny after earlier safety episodes and a February congressional review of the company’s practices.

Retailers across the United States cut prices on consumer electronics in the final hours of the Memorial Day weekend (May 25, 2026), offering steep discounts on laptops, headphones, TVs, smart‑home gear and portable power. Notable national deals flagged by multiple outlets included Apple’s new M5 MacBook Air (16GB/512GB) at a record low ~$899, AirPods Pro 3 for $199, Sony WH‑1000XM5 headphones for about $248, Hisense mini‑LED 65‑inch TVs for roughly $950, and deep markdowns on Jackery and Anker portable power stations. Amazon’s device line saw broad cuts (Fire TV Sticks, Blink and Ring cameras), Best Buy discounted gaming monitors from Samsung, LG and Asus, and B&H/Best Buy/Target matched promotions on iPads and other Apple kit. Coverage from CNET, Wired, ZDNet, Mashable, TechRadar and IGN highlighted both high‑end and budget buys, plus smart‑home, garden and outdoor equipment offers. Many sales were time‑limited or last‑day promotions ahead of June’s Prime Day events.

China on May 25, 2026 launched a national system to assign every bipedal humanoid robot a unique digital identifier, the Humanoid Full Lifecycle Management Service Platform, led by the Humanoid Robotics and Embodied Intelligence Standardization committee under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The 29-character code is structured to record a two-digit national code, a four-digit manufacturer code, a six-digit product model code and a 17-digit serial number, and is designed to track units from production through deployment, maintenance and recycling. The platform will log hardware specifications, software and AI training history, maintenance records and real-time performance metrics such as joint wear and battery status. Authorities say the guidelines apply to manufacturers, service providers, sellers, end users and recycling facilities and aim to improve safety, oversight and industry accountability as China’s humanoid sector — with more than 100 manufacturers and some 28,000 robots already assigned IDs across about 200 models — scales rapidly.

At the formal Vatican launch of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical on artificial intelligence, Magnifica humanitas, Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah on May 25, 2026, warned that development of frontier AI cannot be left solely to technology companies. Speaking from the Vatican Synod Hall alongside the pope, Olah argued that frontier AI labs operate under commercial, geopolitical and personal pressures that can conflict with the broader public interest and said outside scrutiny from religious leaders, governments and civil society is essential. He also warned of a “real possibility” that AI could displace human labour at very large scale and called for moral support for those affected. Olah, who leads Anthropic’s interpretability research, pointed to unsettling model behaviours that sometimes mirror human-like internal states. His remarks come amid heightened scrutiny of Anthropic — including a U.S. defence split with the company and reported fundraising talks — and mark a rare public acknowledgement from a frontier‑lab founder that the technology they build may outpace labour-market adjustment.

Schneider Electric expects its India data‑centre business to outpace its broader operations over the next four to five years as demand for AI‑ready infrastructure surges, company executives told Reuters and other outlets on May 25, 2026. Data centres currently account for roughly 15–20% of Schneider’s India business and are growing at a double‑digit pace. India’s installed data‑centre capacity is about 1.5 gigawatts now and could rise to around 6–7 GW by 2030, while market research firm Astute Analytica projects the sector to reach about $31.36 billion by 2035 (CAGR ~13.4%). Schneider supplies uninterruptible power systems, switchgear, precision cooling, power distribution and energy‑management software and is manufacturing locally. The company has repositioned its India operations, including buying the remainder of its local subsidiary stake to speed decision‑making, to capture orders from hyperscalers, colocation operators and enterprises building capacity beyond Mumbai and Chennai into states such as Gujarat and Rajasthan. Analysts and executives say edge sites and grid modernisation will be key themes as hyperscaler and domestic AI capex drive long‑dated demand for grid‑to‑rack equipment.