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Prof. Daron Acemoglu speaks with Fortune reporter Jake Angelo about his work studying the “origins of economic and political decay,” and the need for the U.S. to crack down “on economic inequality and tempering with job destruction.” “If we go down this path of destroying jobs [and] creating more inequality, U.S. democracy is not going to survive,” says Acemoglu.  

MIT has been named the No. 1 university for engineering in the United States, according to the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings, reports Ben Kesslen for Quartz.  

A working paper by Prof. Jonathan Gruber and his colleagues has found “that admitting more immigrations would help save the lives of Americans, particularly seniors,” reports Stuart Anderson for Forbes.  

Boston Globe reporters Patricia Harris and David Lyon highlight their recent visits to the MIT Museum, List Visual Arts Center, and the Hart Nautical Gallery. “We always feel at least marginally smarter after a day in the galleries at MIT,” they write. “Setting aside high-school anxieties about an upcoming science lab, it turns out that many of the exhibits are engagingly interactive and — dare we say it — even fun.” 

Prof. Christopher Knittel speaks with New York Times reporter Claire Brown about the development of AI data centers and the potential of increased utility costs. “If it’s just a few industrial customers with behind-the-meter power plants, it doesn’t really matter,” says Knittel. [As data centers grow and expand] “these things are going to matter so much. We can get it right, but sadly, too, if we don’t do it right, we can get it really wrong.” 

Kalshi and Común, two startups founded by MIT alumni, have been named to the 2026 Forbes Fintech 50 list. Kalshi is a prediction market that “had 1.2 million active users in 2025, and total trading volume hit $24 billion” while Común “offers digital banking geared toward Hispanic immigrants,” reports Jeff Kauflin for Forbes. 

Prof. Pat Pataranutaporn speaks with The Guardian reporter Andrew Gregory about the lack of safety warnings and disclaimers in AI overviews, specifically in AI-generated health materials. “The absence of disclaimers when users are initially served medical information creates several critical dangers,” says Pataranutaporn. “Disclaimers serve as a crucial intervention point. They disrupt this automatic trust and prompt users to engage more critically with the information they receive.”

“In Event of Moon Disaster,” a short deepfake film on display at the MIT Museum’s “AI: Mind the Gap” exhibit depicts an alternate reality where the Apollo 11 mission ended in disaster, reports Mark Feeney for The Boston Globe. The “unnervingly realistic deepfake” depicts President Richard Nixon addressing the nation regarding the failed mission. The film “manages to be both frightening, in showing how convincing deepfakes can be, and, however paradoxically, inspiring,” writes Feeney. 

Increase, a startup founded by alumnus Darragh Buckley, has been named to the Forbes The Future of Business to Business Banking: Fintech 50 2026 list, reports Brandon Kochkodin for Forbes. “Increase provides banking infrastructure that lets fintechs and businesses move money, store deposits and access payment rails without building direct bank connections,” writes Kochkodin.

Prof. Neha Narula speaks with Bloomberg reporters Scarlet Fu and Tim Stenovec about the financial, technological and regulatory risks associated with the rise in GENUIS-compliant stablecoins’ transition to mainstream use. “This is going to apply to more than just stablecoins,” says Narula. “This is going to apply to all tokenized assets. We have to think about the decentralized blockchains behind them. All blockchains are not created equal and right now there’s no indication for how users or stablecoin issuers or other market participants should think about these different blockchains.” 

 Prof. David Autor speaks with Bloomberg reporter David Westin about the shift toward automation in the workforce and the impact on workers. “There are many ways for us to use AI,” says Autor. “It’s incredibly flexible, malleable, plastic technology. You could use it to try to automate people out of existence. You could also use it to collaborate with people to make them more effective. But I also think that it depends on how we invest, how we build out those technologies.” 

Lecturer Jim Aloisi speaks with Boston Globe reporter Ian Prasad Philbrick about fare evasion on the MBTA, and a need for transit reform. “The drill here shouldn’t be to obsess or focus about how much,” says Aloisi. “The drill should be where can we make cost-effective interventions that matter?”