The day in tech.

Trump Mobile has opened general sales of its $499 T1 Phone, despite many pre-order customers still not receiving their devices. The phone is a rebranded HTC U24 Pro with a gold-plated finish and a larger 5,000 mAh battery. The checkout price for one customer increased to $540 due to an "Equipment Tax" fee.

OpenAI says 98% of employees now use Codex agents, up from roughly 40% in August 2025. Non-developer usage grew 137 times since August 2025, and non-developers now make up roughly 20% of the platform's five million weekly users. All metrics are self-reported by the company that sells the product.

Employee management startup Warp raised $60 million to expand its AI-native platform that runs payroll, HR, compliance, benefits, and IT with minimal human involvement. The New York-based company, launched in 2023, processes payroll across all 50 states and automates tax filings and device setup for companies with up to 5,000 staff.

Sail Research raised $80 million in combined seed and Series A funding at a $450 million valuation. Sequoia led the seed round and Kleiner Perkins led the Series A. The startup's platform runs long-horizon AI agents in Linux-based virtual machines called Sailboxes, claiming up to 10 times lower token cost.

Tuya Smart co-founder Alex Yang spoke at Summer Davos 2026, stating that the future of AI competition lies in real-world applications. The company announcement was covered by FT.com.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new AI-Unemployment Tracker to monitor and predict AI-related job loss. Created with the California Policy Lab, the tool updates monthly and shows tech sectors and Bay Area workers at highest risk. College-educated employees frequently exposed to AI face the greatest impact.

Elastic announced an approximately 7% workforce reduction, citing AI and automation enabling leaner teams. CEO Ash Kulkarni said customer-facing sales will grow, while engineering splits into three core areas. The company reported Q4 FY 2026 revenue of $451 million, up 16% year-over-year. Stock fell 8.7%.

Android 17 is getting a dedicated foldable gaming mode that splits the inner display, showing gameplay on top and a customizable virtual gamepad on the bottom. The system-level controller emulates physical button presses and works with any game supporting physical controllers. The mode launches in the coming months.

Former DeepMind employees have founded multiple AI startups in London, driving a surge in the city's artificial intelligence ecosystem. These ventures attract significant investment and talent, building on DeepMind's research legacy. The trend positions London as a major AI hub alongside Silicon Valley.

Apple raised prices on MacBooks, Macs, iPads, and HomePods due to rising component costs. The company cited surging demand for memory and storage from AI data centers. Analyst Tim Bajarin warned the RAM crisis is not over.