May Roundup: Underwater robots, the future of work, and features galore

Author: Chas Grundy

AI at Notre Dame

On the Horizon: Evaluating Claude by Anthropic

Due to strong interest from the University community, the AI Enablement team is in the early stages of evaluating an enterprise offering of Claude. As one of the leading model providers, Anthropic has created some of the most popular agentic tools on the market, such as Cowork and Claude Code. Keep an eye on this blog for more updates in the months to come.

Blog Series: AI and the Future of Work

The Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab has published a series of articles examining the implications of AI for jobs and society: how tasks and roles might change, how organizations can adapt, how workers are affected, and what governance frameworks are being considered to create and support beneficial and responsible outcomes.

Research: New AI platform helps underwater robots get their bearings

Shifting sunlight, bubbles, and silt constantly interfere with an autonomous underwater vehicle’s (AUVs) ability to find its way. “We essentially built a system that allows an underwater robot to say, ‘I think I’m here, but I’m only 60% sure, so I should probably go back and double-check,’” said Hou. “This system provides a massive leap in confidence for navigating complex structures like piers and reefs.”

ND faculty and students in the debate about AI in education

A student has sparked a campus-wide conversation after creating an AI tool designed to streamline coursework and generate assignment drafts. While the developer frames the software as a productivity aid for busy students, some faculty members argue it risks hollowing out the educational experience by replacing cognitive labor with automation. This clash highlights the ongoing struggle for higher education to define the line between helpful assistance and academic substitution.

Editor's Note: Many ND faculty, staff, and students shared their thoughts on this story. Since we characterized this as a debate, we feel compelled to add links to a couple of articles/op-eds to represent additional perspectives:

Observer News Staff. "Notre Dame students receive promotional email about AI start-up company." The Observer, 21 Apr. 2026.

Beckham, Grayson. "AI Doesn't Lower My Cortisol." The Observer, 23 Apr. 2026

Blaschko, Paul. "The AI Reckoning Is Here for Higher-Ed." The Space of Reason, Substack, 24 Apr. 2026

Tools and Features

Easily generate files in Gemini

Gemini can now create PDFs, Microsoft Word and Excel, Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and more directly in your chat, meaning you can quickly move from a brainstorm to a complete file without ever leaving the Gemini app.

Use your Gems and Notebooks in Google Workspace Studio flows

The Ask a Gem step allows you to have your flows send a prompt to private Gems to automate tasks like creating summaries or writing documents. You can use any private (not shared) Gem with Drive files in its knowledge base. You can also send prompts to NotebookLM, incorporating your structured notebooks in a workflow.

‘Help Me Write’ in Gmail gets more personalized

Google has added two new personalization enhancements to the “Help me write” feature in Gmail. It can now connect to Google Drive and Gmail based on your prompt, using the context from these apps to automatically insert relevant information into the email draft, reducing the time you spend toggling between apps to find specific details. Help me write can also now create personalized email drafts that match the tone and style of your previously written emails.

New Connected Apps in ChatGPT EDU

Notre Dame has enabled several apps in ChatGPT, allowing you to use AI to interact with your Monday.com or Asana project management software, as well as Adobe Express, Photoshop, or Acrobat.

Elsewhere in AI…

OpenAI Trial: Musk v. Altman

The long-running feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman went to trial in late April. Musk is suing OpenAI, Altman, and president Greg Brockman, alleging they went back on their promises to keep OpenAI a nonprofit when they shifted toward a for-profit structure. Microsoft is a co-defendant.

The U.S. government wants to see AI models before you do

On May 5, Google, Microsoft, and xAI agreed to give the U.S. government early access to their AI models so they can review them before public release. They join OpenAI and Anthropic, which renegotiated their existing arrangements to align with the Trump administration's AI Action Plan. Government scientists are testing the models for cybersecurity, biosecurity, and infrastructure risks — including whether the systems can bypass their own safety guardrails.

SpaceX and Google Are in Talks to Launch Data Centers in Orbit

Many industry leaders see orbital computing as a solution to the limitations of Earthbound data centers, which require swaths of land and power. These data centers are designed to be powered by solar panels, eliminating the power constraint faced by data centers on Earth, and one of the major ecological issues with the emerging technology. But there are also major engineering challenges that have made some industry experts skeptical about their feasibility.

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