CNBC Technology Summit 2026: AI News and Live Updates

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published in June, Forum AI founder and CEO Campbell Brown argued that as the world becomes more dependent on AI, we need to apply a more critical lens to its output.

“I’m already so good that mistakes don’t seem like mistakes,” Brown wrote.

Speaking with CNBC’s Scott Wapner at the CNBC Technology Executive Council Summit in New York City on Wednesday, Brown said the problem remains that “when you read an answer that’s been generated by AI, it’s presented with such confidence and clarity that you have questions and it’s hard to identify where the mistakes are.”

“I think that’s what makes it especially dangerous,” she said.

Brown, former head of global media partnerships at Meta, said the issue is becoming increasingly worrisome as people rely on AI for political and election information, and that it’s not just about how the information is presented, but where it comes from.

“There’s a really important part of this that was somewhat frustrating to me. The lab hasn’t been as proactive about actual subject matter expertise as I think it is,” she said. “Human domain expertise is essential to get this right.”

— Ian Thomas

Yesterday, CNBC’s Workforce Executive Council held its annual summit, and a discussion of how HR professionals can help workers adapt to this new AI era was at the top of the agenda.

Walmart, the world’s largest private employer, asked its 2.1 million employees that question for the first time in June, seeking to understand how one of its most diverse workforces is experiencing AI.

Based on more than 1.7 million survey responses, we found that while different employees have different familiarity and comfort levels with AI, training and experience with the technology is important.

Seventy-seven percent of Walmart office-based employees are excited about the potential of AI to improve their jobs, Maren Wagoner, Walmart’s chief people officer for associate experience and digital, told CNBC’s Leslie Picker at the WEC Summit.

Additionally, among Walmart’s front-line U.S. employees, 84% said they were confident in using digital tools, reflecting the fact that many of them now use AI-powered tools in their jobs, he said.

“We gave them a certificate, we gave them a training program and tools, so they use it every day,” Wagoner said.

Jill Bruning, chief technology officer at Amentum and member of the CNBC Technology Executive Council, said at the WEC Summit that strategy needs to evolve to be human-led.

“There’s an AI curve, and we’re seeing it. It’s going up, it’s going fast, and it has a lot of characteristics to it. It’s faster than anything we’ve seen before,” Bruning told CNBC’s Susan Caminiti. “So when you think about the people who are on that curve, the difference is getting bigger and bigger every day.”

Bruning said it’s unclear whether leaders are adapting to technology fast enough, creating further challenges around upskilling and what tasks are being delegated to AI.

“So your delegation skills are different. So how do you tell your agents what to do? How do you define their roles?” she said. “That’s the job of the person on the loop, not in the loop.” We are still in charge. ”

For more information on the CNBC WEC Summit, check out the full live blog here.

— Ian Thomas

Here are some of the top tech headlines from CNBC this morning.

Google is changing its cloud strategy and asking partners to help sell more AI chips. Google started working on in-house silicon in 2013, but it wasn’t until the second quarter of this year that it started selling tensor processing units (TPUs) to external customers. The company is now using Oracle’s cloud as another means of selling TPUs as it seeks to increase competition with Nvidia in the AI ​​chip market. Anthropic’s cash pile towers over nearly every American company. Anthropic had cash and cash equivalents of $112.4 billion and short-term investments of $19.3 billion as of June 30. That beat every nonbank U.S. company in CNBC and S&P Capital’s IQ data except Berkshire Hathaway and Alphabet. Amazon’s token max memo says engineers should be more cautious about their use of AI. In an internal memo, Amazon cautioned teams against relying solely on token usage or code generation as measurements of AI adoption, calling them “deeply flawed” metrics. The memo is revising how the company defines the roles of software development engineers and managers in the AI ​​era.

— Ian Thomas

This year’s TEC Summit focuses on what’s next with AI, including how companies are adapting their strategies based on advances in technology and how they’re managing the costs associated with building AI.

Discussions will also focus on AI regulation, how agents and workers are using the technology, and where this acceleration of AI will take society.

Speakers include:

Campbell Brown, Forum AI Founder and CEO: Brown will discuss AI regulation, independent assessment, what it looks like, and how businesses can use AI they can trust. Nigel Vaz, CEO, Publicis Sapient: Vaz is at the heart of how companies are rethinking their business models in the AI ​​era, and why that’s harder than learning how to use the technology itself. Calix CEO Michael Weening and CPO Shane Eleniak: Calix team members pull back the curtain on how. Strategic AI decisions are made and implemented across the organization. Keir Cole, Chief Digital Officer, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment: Technology is also transforming the sports industry, and Cole will discuss how AI is being used at Barclays Center and within the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty teams to better connect and engage sports fans. Jason Gowans, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, Levi Strauss: Organizations are looking to provide AI tools to their employees and customers. Mr. Gowans will share his approach to incorporating AI into the everyday shopping experience. Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer, Cisco: While rogue AI agents show no signs of slowing down, Patel said companies need to think of them like teenagers. He will discuss how companies can safely harness the power of agents and what it means to grow them.

— Ian Thomas