Welcome back to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of AI news ⚡

Here’s what we got for ya today:

Let’s get right into it!

Sign Up | Advertise | Tools

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the coming wave of AI investment, potentially totaling trillions of dollars, will create major opportunities not just for software engineers, but also for skilled trades like electricians, plumbers, and carpenters, many earning six-figure incomes.

In a conversation with Larry Fink, Huang pushed back on the idea that AI is a job killer, emphasizing that people can “make a great living” without advanced degrees, and described the global buildout of AI data centers as the largest infrastructure expansion in human history, benefiting a wide range of workers.

OpenAI announced it is rolling out an age prediction model for ChatGPT consumer plans to help identify users under 18, using a mix of account level and behavioral signals such as usage patterns, account age, activity times, and stated age. The move comes amid increased scrutiny over child safety, including an Federal Trade Commission probe into AI chatbots’ impact on minors and ongoing lawsuits.

When the model flags a user as under 18, ChatGPT will automatically apply safeguards to limit exposure to sensitive content like self harm, while users who are misidentified can verify their age through Persona, a service also used by platforms like Roblox. OpenAI said it will continue improving the model’s accuracy, expand rollout to the European Union to meet regional requirements, and build on recent efforts including parental controls and an expert council focused on AI’s effects on mental health.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, the CEOs of Anthropic and Google DeepMind said they are already seeing early signs that artificial intelligence is reducing demand for junior level roles, especially in software, coding, and internships.

Demis Hassabis noted a slowdown in entry level hiring within DeepMind and suggested the impact could accelerate in 2026, while Dario Amodei said similar trends are visible inside Anthropic and reiterated his concern that AI could eliminate a large share of entry level white collar jobs. Amodei warned that rapid AI progress may outpace society’s ability to adapt, arguing that without broader institutional and economic changes, the compounding effects of AI over the next few years could significantly disrupt labor markets.

A recent podcast highlighted the messy reality behind AI companies’ efforts to automate white collar work, focusing on xAI, where former engineer Sulaiman Ghori described the company’s internal testing of AI “human emulators” that are treated like real employees and sometimes confuse staff when coworkers do not realize they are interacting with AI.

The effort is part of CEO Elon Musk’s push to develop Macrohard, an AI driven alternative to enterprise software like Microsoft tools, though progress remains uneven. Ghori also said xAI plans to massively scale these emulators, potentially using computing power from Tesla vehicles, and noted internal pressure to rapidly respond to Musk’s ideas. The story contrasts with broader industry efforts by firms like Anthropic and OpenAI, and is paired with signs that Google is gaining traction with developers through its Gemini models, even as enterprise adoption remains challenging and competitive dynamics with Microsoft continue to shape the AI software market.