What changed for AI at work in May 2026? We tracked 11 company moves on AI and robots at work in May 2026: 5 rollouts, 3 pilots, 1 pullback, 2 plans or forecasts. That's up from 10 in April 2026. Of these, 3 involved robots rather than software alone. The jobs named most were in office and admin, sales and retail and business and finance.
What changed on the clocks? 8 of these moves were in real use (rollouts and pilots) and 2 were announcements, plans or forecasts, with 1 pulling back. None of them moved a job's clock: company news is logged here, but clocks only change when new research data comes out (see each job's Clock history).
Each move is checked against its source before it goes on the site. Stages describe what a company actually did, from announcements to pilots, rollouts and pullbacks. The jobs below link to their time cards, which show how much of a typical shift AI and robots touch.
Jobs in the news this month
- Cashiers2 moves this month · 3h 47m of the shift touched
- Retail Salespersons1 move this month · 4h 39m of the shift touched
- Stockers and Order Fillers1 move this month · 1h 17m of the shift touched
- Team Assemblers1 move this month · 19m of the shift touched
- Carpenters1 move this month · 6m of the shift touched
- Medical and Health Services Managers1 move this month · 31m of the shift touched
- Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants1 move this month · 2h 17m of the shift touched
- Billing and Posting Clerks1 move this month · 4h 19m of the shift touched
Every move, newest first
- Reframe Systems uses a robotic arm to build home wall panels
Reframe Systems' pilot factory in Andover, Massachusetts, uses a robotic arm to build panelized walls that tradespeople assemble into modules. It plans a new factory with fivefold output, starting at 5,000 square feet of modules per week.
- Schaeffler plans hundreds of Humanoid robots in its German factories
Schaeffler plans to deploy hundreds of wheeled humanoid robots from UK company Humanoid in its German factories, starting by the end of 2026. It aims for more than 1,000 in use globally by 2032.
- PwC US reportedly cut about 600 assistants and support staff
PwC's US arm reportedly laid off about 600 executive assistants, recruiters and other support staff in February. Firms including PwC and McKinsey are cutting or relocating support roles as AI takes on more work.
Bloomberg Government · Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
- Tampa General uses AI agents for claims, denials and appeal letters
Tampa General Hospital deploys AI agents for billing and claims follow-up, denial management, appeal letter writing and release of information. It uses Palantir, Epic and Anthropic tools.
Becker's Hospital Review · Medical and Health Services Managers, Billing and Posting Clerks
- Better.com's AI loan agent Betsy resolves 35% of borrower inquiries alone
Better.com's AI agent Betsy handled nearly 100,000 mortgage calls a month in 2025 and resolved 35.5% of inquiries with no human. Better says AI voice automation cut its average cost to originate by 41%, per an ElevenLabs case study.
- State Farm pilots AI assistant for first reports of claims
State Farm is piloting an AI virtual assistant that gathers information when customers first report a loss. Claims staff also use tools that help with intake, triage and documentation.
State Farm · Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks, Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators
- SenseTime opens robot run stores in Shanghai and plans 100 by end of 2026
SenseTime subsidiary SenseTime Shanhui has opened several SenseMartGo robot stores in Shanghai, where robots take orders, pick items and handle inventory. It plans 100 outlets by the end of 2026.
Gasgoo · Cashiers, Retail Salespersons, Stockers and Order Fillers
- Pano AI wildfire detection cameras spread across the Mountain West
Pano AI runs about 700 detection sites in 17 states, with close to 50 in New Mexico. New Mexico's Forestry Division and utilities PNM and Xcel Energy are among the organizations using AI cameras to spot fires for local fire agencies.
KUNC · Firefighters, Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists
- Encore pilots AI tools but says voice AI cannot yet handle collection calls
Encore said it is piloting AI tools and more than 50% of new payments now occur digitally. CEO Ashish Masih said collection calls are complex and current voice AI is not fully equipped to handle them.
- USPS lists AI route optimization among its 2026 tools
Postmaster General David Steiner said USPS plans AI and digital tools in 2026, including predictive arrival times and route optimization. USPS serves more than 170 million addresses.
- Walmart swaps self-checkout for staffed registers at a Philadelphia store
Walmart removed self-checkout lanes at its South Philadelphia store in March and replaced them with staffed registers. A spokesperson said it is the only Philadelphia store to fully roll back self-checkout.