In a 2025 survey of 1,812 US adults, 40% of God-believers who trust reason over church teaching lean toward magic, versus 19% of believers who do not. The link holds only where a religious tie remains, and one survey wave cannot show which way anyone is moving.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence60
Praktika's talent head returned from leave to Claude Cowork and applicant pools over 1,000
Praktika's head of talent came back from six months of leave to more than 1,000 applicants for some roles and an AI system she could not find. Business Insider's report of three returners supports planning for the gap, but shows no tested fix.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption55
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence55
Daily AI use among US managers rose 16 points to 62% as excitement slipped to 51%
Daily AI use among managers at large US companies rose to 62% from 46%, while excitement fell eight points to 51%, a Wharton survey found. Fortune's account puts the new scrutiny on checking what AI produces, with no sign of a retreat from using it.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption70
- Hype gap−10
- Incentives40
- Confidence62
Gallup's revised survey finds 11% of US adults taking GLP-1s for weight loss, up from 3% in 2024
Gallup found 11% of US adults now take a GLP-1 for weight loss, up from 3% in 2024. Its survey of 5,065 adults counts users, not spending, so food and insurance planners still need their own dollar figures.
Publishers:news.gallup.com
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption11
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence66
Trust in science has dropped below its pre-pandemic level, Wellcome's global survey finds
Wellcome's survey of more than 140,000 adults found that 72% trusted science at least somewhat in 2025, compared with 80% in 2020 and 77% in 2018. Products that sell on 'science says' are now drawing on less public credit than they had before the pandemic.
Reality
- Evidence60
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+5
- Incentives40
- Confidence62
NorthPoint Development's $165 million Project Hazelnut data center in rural Pennsylvania faces resistance from residents of both parties. If every resident took the cash offer, it would cost $45 million by Fortune's figures, and the developer pays that before its prospective tenant has signed.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives35
- Confidence60
Almost half of US employees surveyed by Visier said they have exaggerated how much they use AI or how expert they are with it. Visier links it to mandates and peer comparison, so leaders who gauge adoption from staff reports are partly counting a performance.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption50
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives55
- Confidence60
Employees doubt AI is as good for them as it is for their employer, Gartner says
Gartner set out three ways HR leaders can use AI for wellbeing after finding employees less convinced the tools are good for them than for their employer. Two of them read staff behaviour, so they depend on data from the employees who doubt the tools.
Reality
- Evidence30
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+45
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence35
Remote workers' satisfaction edge vanishes once pay fairness and manager ties are counted
Researchers analysing nearly 165,000 US employee responses from 2020-2023 found remote workers' satisfaction edge vanished once workplace factors were counted. Most of the gap credited to location reflects the pay and management that come with the job.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives35
- Confidence40
Local opposition stalled about $68 billion of US data center projects in one quarter
Local opposition stalled at least 45 US data center projects worth about $68 billion in the second quarter of 2026, Data Center Watch says. For developers, where a campus can be built is now a cost and schedule risk in its own right.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives65
- Confidence50
Large companies review AI costs more widely than they write role rules for staff, KPMG finds
KPMG found 74% of large US firms in its survey review AI costs before approving projects, while 55% are developing role-specific rules for staff. Surveys of employees find less clarity still. Closing that gap now falls to leaders moving AI agents out of pilots.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption50
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives55
- Confidence50
Manager burnout checks miss employees who are underused, a Denver therapist says
Therapist Alexis Verbin says some checked-out employees are underused, as Gallup puts U.S. active engagement at 31% for the first half of 2026. Gallup does not say how many fit that pattern, so the case for widening the manager check-in rests on one clinician's account.
Reality
- Evidence30
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+35
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence45
McDonald's explores an $8.5 billion, decade-long overhaul as GLP-1 diners change their orders
McDonald's is exploring an $8.5 billion, ten-year "McDonald's Next" overhaul alongside smaller, protein-heavy portions aimed at GLP-1 users. Whether weight-loss drugs are steering its capital budget, and not only its menu boards, depends on how that money is split.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption20
- Hype gap+35
- Incentives60
- Confidence40
Employer care narrows the AI job-fear gap by 11 points in Gallup's worker panel
Gallup found the tie between heavy AI use and job-loss fear ran 6.8 to 11.1 points weaker where workers felt respected or cared for at work. That makes part of any AI rollout a management job.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence50
Wharton-CPA primer urges boards to take direct charge of corporate political spending
Public companies and their trade groups supplied over 40% of the $2.5 billion raised by party 527 committees in 25 years, a Wharton-CPA primer finds. Its authors want boards to govern that giving on purpose before possible post-midterm investigations.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives70
- Confidence40
A 52.5-47.5 refusal to reopen accession talks shuts the quickest route to euro alignment for a small open economy, and it happened in a country with no army while the US president was threatening Greenland.
Perspective Coverage
4 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 5%
- Operator
- Operator 70%
- Investor
- Investor 25%
Reality
- Evidence72
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives60
- Confidence70
The build is now the largest driver of U.S. private investment growth, and 71% of Americans polled want none of it nearby, which makes entitlement risk rather than capital the thing infrastructure investors have to price.
Perspective Coverage
4 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 8%
- Operator
- Operator 46%
- Investor
- Investor 46%
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption62
- Hype gap+45
- Incentives64
- Confidence60
Trump is telling communities that refusing data centers will leave them poor, while Abbott and Pillen have paused approvals in their own states. That gap is where the schedule risk on a project now sits.
Perspective Coverage
4 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 20%
- Operator
- Operator 48%
- Investor
- Investor 32%
Reality
- Evidence68
- Adoption35
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives60
- Confidence62
Chase's coming report counts nearly $10 trillion of assets and roughly 12 million businesses in transition over the next decade, with 8% of owners advanced in succession planning. McKinsey counts six million transitions.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives75
- Confidence55
Gallup puts the US among three of 37 countries where negative feeling about AI outweighs positive
The Gallup and Microsoft survey covers 37 of a planned 140 countries, and the one kind of trust it measures is whether people think AI returns accurate information. Governance programs run on the other kinds.
Reality
- Evidence52
- Adoption55
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives55
- Confidence55