The day in tech.

Nvidia agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, with CEO Jensen Huang promising the platform keeps its brand, leadership, and neutrality. Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue aims to grow users from about 18 million to over 100 million.

Xiaomi unveiled the Xiaomi 18 Fold at IFA 2026 in Berlin, its first passport-style foldable rivaling the Galaxy Z Fold 8. It features a 5.38-inch cover display, 7.58-inch inner screen, and Xiaomi ORING 3 chipset, launching in China on September 7.

OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra, its most intelligent model, initially to Trusted Access Program members, with Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise subscribers gaining access in coming days. It excels at computer-use, browsing, software engineering, and cybersecurity, scoring 98.6% on ARC-AGI-3 and a perfect ExploitBench score.

OpenAI launched GPT-6 Astra, its most capable model, with gains in software engineering, computer use, and cybersecurity. It is the first to hit the "Critical" cybersecurity threshold and is more jailbreak-resistant than GPT-5.6 Sol. President Greg Brockman personally thinks "we're there" on AGI.

Microsoft will impose monthly hour limits on Xbox Cloud Gaming starting in November. Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and Essential subscribers receive 15, 10, and 5 hours respectively before buying more. Players can also purchase cloud playtime without a Game Pass subscription.

Tesla's Cybercab has begun operations in the US. The vehicle will go on display in Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai, though Tesla has no plans for sales or commercial operations in China.

Ultrahuman raised $70 million from Qualcomm Ventures, Labcorp, Alpha Wave, Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, and Alteria Capital, valuing the Bengaluru smart ring maker at $365 million. The round includes $65 million in primary equity and $5 million in debt.

Nvidia launched PAIR, a free open-source tool that pools idle computers on a home network for local AI inference and agentic workloads. It supports GeForce RTX 20-series and newer, RTX Pro GPUs, DGX Spark systems, and Apple M4 chips or newer, with beta available for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Apple's foldable iPhone Ultra is projected to have an average selling price of $2,550, according to International Data Corporation. TrendForce predicts the starting price will be between $2,099 and $2,299, with some configurations exceeding $3,000.

Google DeepMind and Google Research released WeatherNext 3, an AI weather model that ingests live geostationary satellite mosaics and re-initializes every hour. It produces global forecasts at 0.05° (~5 km) resolution, training on raw weather station observations instead of reanalysis grids alone.