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.
The Galaxy Watch 9 is Samsung's first smartwatch with seamless updates, letting firmware install in the background during use. The roughly 193MB first update carries the August 5, 2026 security patch. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 may share the architecture, pending its first update.
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.
WhatsApp launched Bill Payments in India, connecting to the Bharat Connect (BBPS) network to serve over 22,700 billers across 30 categories. Users can pay electricity, gas, water, FASTag, insurance, credit card, and loan bills in-app, with rollout expanding to all Android and iOS users in coming weeks.
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.
Backbone, a Belgium-based software company, raised €4 million in pre-seed funding led by Pitchdrive. The AI-powered food quality and compliance platform will use the capital to accelerate product development and expand commercially into new markets.
OpenAI is spending $1 billion to subsidize access to its Daybreak security platform after unveiling Astra, an AI that can independently find previously unknown software flaws and turn them into working attacks.
Lyte, a Sunnyvale, California-based company, raised $165 million in Series C funding at a $1.6 billion valuation for its AI-powered sensing and perception platforms for industrial robotics. The round brings total funding to $272 million and was led by Maverick Silicon.
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.
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.
Initial foldable iPhone production is limited to only a few hundred units per day due to Apple's strict quality standards as it ramps up output, according to Nikkei Asia. The limited ramp reflects Apple's demanding quality control for the new device.
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.
Summaries by ByteBrief