Meta sees AI ad gains as Google expands Gemini AI

AI is significantly reshaping the global job market, with LinkedIn reporting the creation of approximately 1.3 million "new collar" roles between 2023 and 2025. These positions, such as data annotators and AI engineers, demand a blend of technical and human skills. HR leaders, including those at Deloitte and TCW, are actively discussing AI's impact on hiring practices, particularly for entry-level workers. Some firms are adjusting their analyst classes as AI handles certain tasks, emphasizing the growing need for apprenticeship and soft skills.

Major tech companies are demonstrating varied AI integration successes. Meta is seeing strong results from AI in its advertising business, highlighting the immediate benefits of its ad-focused model and positioning it ahead of Microsoft in showing tangible AI gains in this area. Google's parent company, Alphabet, also experiences growth driven by its Gemini AI advancements. Meanwhile, an engineer at Anthropic reports that AI has written 100% of his code for over two months, with CEO Dario Amodei predicting AI will handle most software engineering within six to twelve months across the industry.

The infrastructure supporting AI is also undergoing significant changes, with the United States leading a record global surge in gas-fired power generation. A third of the 252 gigawatts of new gas power capacity in development will serve datacenters, raising concerns about billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Concurrently, AI security is a growing focus; Zscaler launched a new AI Security Suite to protect AI systems and released its 2026 AI Threat Report, which identifies weaknesses in many corporate AI deployments. NSFOCUS also updated its AI LLM Risk Threat Matrix on January 29, 2026, adding 14 new risks, particularly those related to AI Agents and multimodal security.

In hardware, Qualcomm and AMD are planning to adopt SOCAMM2 memory in their AI products to boost capacity and speed, a design similar to NVIDIA's SOCAMM approach. This move allows for standardized memory expansion and easier system customization. On the leadership front, Venice Goodwine joined Arlo Solutions on January 29, 2026, as the new Chief Information Officer and AI Product Owner, bringing over 30 years of IT and AI experience from federal government and military sectors to drive innovation for government clients.

Key Takeaways

  • AI is projected to create 1.3 million "new collar" jobs globally between 2023 and 2025, requiring a combination of technical and human skills.
  • HR leaders are adapting hiring strategies, with some firms like TCW reducing entry-level analyst positions as AI takes on certain tasks.
  • Meta is achieving strong immediate success using AI in its advertising business, demonstrating clear benefits over applying AI to general office tasks.
  • An Anthropic engineer has used AI to write 100% of his code for over two months, with the CEO predicting AI will handle most software engineering within 6-12 months.
  • The US is leading a record global increase in gas-fired power generation, with a third of new capacity serving AI datacenters, contributing to significant carbon emissions.
  • Zscaler introduced a new AI Security Suite to protect AI systems and released its 2026 AI Threat Report, highlighting prevalent system weaknesses.
  • NSFOCUS updated its AI LLM Risk Threat Matrix on January 29, 2026, adding 14 new risks, including those related to AI Agents and multimodal security.
  • Qualcomm and AMD plan to adopt SOCAMM2 memory for their AI products to enhance memory capacity and speed, similar to NVIDIA's SOCAMM design.
  • Hyperscalers like Meta and Google (Alphabet) are making substantial AI investments, which are crucial for their future success and impact market performance.
  • Venice Goodwine joined Arlo Solutions on January 29, 2026, as CIO and AI Product Owner, bringing over 30 years of IT and AI experience to the role.

AI creates 1.3 million new "new collar" jobs

LinkedIn's Sue Duke reports that AI is creating more jobs than it replaces. Between 2023 and 2025, about 1.3 million "new collar" roles emerged globally. These jobs, like data annotators and AI engineers, combine technical and human skills. Duke notes that hiring is generally slow, but AI-enabled jobs are a bright spot. By 2030, 70% of job skills will change, making re-skilling and skills-based hiring crucial.

AI changes job applications and hiring

HR leaders met in Davos to discuss how AI is changing hiring and job applications. Business Insider's Aki Ito led the talk, focusing on AI's impact on young, entry-level workers. Elizabeth Faber from Deloitte says their firm will stay human-led but use technology. Melissa Stolfi of TCW noted they reduced their analyst class because AI now handles some tasks. Experts stress the need for apprenticeship and soft skills, as tech jobs increasingly demand more experience.

Meta shows AI success in ad business

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is showing strong results from using AI in its advertising business. This success highlights the benefits of Meta's simpler, ad-focused business model. It suggests that using AI to boost ad clicks is currently easier than applying AI to office tasks like spreadsheets. This puts Meta ahead of Microsoft in demonstrating immediate AI benefits.

Zscaler launches new AI Security Suite

Zscaler introduced its new AI Security Suite to help businesses protect their AI systems. This suite offers tools for finding AI assets, applying Zero Trust controls, and assessing AI risks. Zscaler also released its 2026 AI Threat Report, which shows many AI systems in companies have weaknesses. The company is focusing on AI security as more businesses adopt generative and agentic AI tools.

US leads global gas power surge for AI

The United States is leading a record global increase in gas-fired power generation, largely driven by the high electricity needs of AI. This year, new gas power additions worldwide are expected to grow existing capacity by almost 50%. A third of the 252 gigawatts of gas power in development will serve datacenters. These projects will cause billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, worsening climate change. Experts like Jenny Martos and Steve Clemmer warn about the environmental and cost impacts. Texas is at the center of the US gas boom.

NSFOCUS updates AI LLM security matrix

NSFOCUS released an enhanced AI LLM Risk Threat Matrix on January 29, 2026, to improve AI security governance. This updated matrix helps businesses identify and manage security risks across the entire lifecycle of Large Language Models. It addresses new challenges from AI Agents, such as intent tampering and supply chain vulnerabilities. NSFOCUS added 14 new risks, highlighting growing concerns in AI agent security, multimodal security, and Multi-Agent Communication Protocols. The company aims to help enterprises move from general defense to precise security management.

Venice Goodwine named Arlo Solutions CIO and AI Product Owner

Venice Goodwine joined Arlo Solutions on January 29, 2026, as the new Chief Information Officer and AI Product Owner. Goodwine brings over 30 years of IT experience from federal government, military, and private sectors. She previously served as the Air Force CIO, managing a $17 billion technology portfolio and overseeing IT and AI operations. Arlo Solutions, a woman-owned small business, provides critical intelligence and technology support to government clients. Goodwine will drive innovation and technological advancement for Arlo's government customer base.

Anthropic engineer uses AI to write all code

A top engineer at Anthropic, Cherny, reports that AI has written 100% of his code for over two months. He ships many pull requests daily, all generated by Anthropic's Claude Code. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicts AI will handle most software engineering within six to twelve months. While company-wide figures at Anthropic are 70-90% AI-written, Cherny believes this trend will grow across the industry. This shift allows engineers to focus on creative tasks, as AI handles the tedious coding work.

Hyperscaler AI spending impacts QQQ ETFs

Investors are closely watching how major tech companies, known as hyperscalers, plan to spend on AI. These spending decisions could greatly influence the performance of ETFs like QQQ and QQQM. Meta, for example, is investing heavily in AI, which analysts see as a key part of its future. Alphabet, Google's parent company, has also seen strong growth due to its Gemini AI advances. These companies' AI investments are crucial for their future success and the broader market.

Qualcomm and AMD adopt SOCAMM2 for AI

Qualcomm and AMD plan to use SOCAMM2 memory in their AI products to boost memory capacity and speed. This approach, similar to NVIDIA's SOCAMM design, involves placing multiple SOCAMM modules around the CPU. AMD may integrate this into its Instinct MI accelerators with EPYC CPUs or create new systems. Qualcomm's AI200 and AI250 inference accelerators, which already use LPDDR5, could also adopt SOCAMM2. This change allows for standardized memory expansion and easier system customization without complex soldering.

Sources

NOTE:

This news brief was generated using AI technology (including, but not limited to, Google Gemini API, Llama, Grok, and Mistral) from aggregated news articles, with minimal to no human editing/review. It is provided for informational purposes only and may contain inaccuracies or biases. This is not financial, investment, or professional advice. If you have any questions or concerns, please verify all information with the linked original articles in the Sources section below.

AI Jobs New Collar Jobs Job Creation Reskilling Skills-Based Hiring Data Annotators AI Engineers Labor Market AI in HR Hiring Practices Workforce Transformation Meta AI AI in Advertising Ad Tech AI Business Benefits Zscaler AI Security Zero Trust AI Risk Management Generative AI Agentic AI Cybersecurity AI Energy Consumption Data Centers Gas Power Climate Change Carbon Emissions Energy Demand NSFOCUS LLM Security AI Security Governance AI Agents Supply Chain Vulnerabilities Multimodal Security Risk Management Arlo Solutions CIO AI Product Owner Government Contracting IT Leadership Technology Innovation Anthropic AI Code Generation Software Engineering Developer Productivity AI in Development Hyperscalers AI Spending Investment ETFs QQQ QQQM Alphabet AI Google Gemini Market Impact Qualcomm AMD SOCAMM2 AI Hardware Memory Technology AI Accelerators EPYC CPUs LPDDR5 System Customization

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