AI hiring boom accelerates
Demand for AI talent has exploded in 2026, with job postings for AI-related roles up more than 40% compared to the same period last year, according to data from Indeed and LinkedIn analyzed by NBC News. Machine learning engineers, AI safety researchers, and prompt engineering specialists top the list of most sought-after positions. The trend is not limited to Silicon Valley — banks, hospital systems, and manufacturers are all building dedicated AI teams.
China to allow Nvidia H200 purchases
In a parallel development, China is preparing to allow its domestic AI companies to buy Nvidia's H200 chips, according to reports from The Information. The move would ease supply constraints that have hampered Chinese AI development since export controls were tightened. The H200, while not Nvidia's newest offering, remains a workhorse for training large language models. The policy shift signals a pragmatic approach from Beijing, balancing national security concerns with the need to keep domestic AI firms competitive.
Cloudflare sets AI crawler deadline
Meanwhile, Cloudflare has announced a deadline for AI crawlers to identify themselves separately from search engines or face blocking. The web infrastructure company said the policy is aimed at giving website owners more control over how their content is used to train AI models. The move comes amid growing tension between content creators and AI companies over data scraping practices, with several major publishers already blocking crawlers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.