May 2026
May 2026 marked a pivotal month in artificial intelligence research and development, characterized by groundbreaking advancements and ongoing debates. The introduction of the AI IQ project, which assigns estimated intelligence quotients to leading language models, sparked significant discussion about how we measure AI capabilities against human standards. Meanwhile, Tether AI's BrainWhisperer project demonstrated remarkable progress in brain-to-text speech decoding, opening new avenues for assistive technologies and communication. However, these achievements were not without controversy, as the definition of AGI by Microsoft and OpenAI raised questions about the ethical implications of highly autonomous systems.
The AI IQ project shifted the conversation on how to measure AI intelligence, introducing a familiar yet contentious metric.
Winners
Tether AI
Stanford HAI
Under pressure
OpenAI's GPT-5.1
Traditional animal testing in drug development
What are the ethical implications of assigning human-like IQ scores to AI models?
How will regulatory bodies adapt to the rapid advancement of brain-computer interfaces?