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August 19, 2026, 1:27 PM
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| Dominic Preston / The Verge: |
Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold review: tougher body with IP68 rating and a decent triple rear camera but an iterative hardware upgrade with design that feels dated — The foldable phone market is in the middle of a huge transformation, but no one told Google. — Last year, Samsung transformed …
More: 9to5Google, ZDNET, Tech Advisor, Engadget, The Independent, Tom's Guide, Geeking Out, MakeUseOf, The Shortcut, Mashable, CGMagazine, and SlashGear. Bluesky: @dompreston.com
| Julian Chokkattu / Wired: |
Google Pixel 11 Pro review: Magic Capture and the voice-to-text Rambler features are very useful but subpar gaming performance and HiLight is useless — Google's new voice typing is pure magic, but subpar gaming performance and a useless rear LED keep these flagships from true greatness. — Buy Now
More: Computerworld, 9to5Google, The Verge, Tom's Guide, Android Central, PCMag, and Android Authority. X: @davidimel
| Cameron Faulkner / The Verge: |
Google Pixel 11 review: great design, nice camera features, and shares many features of the Pro phone but the hardware is unchanged and very expensive at $899 — It'd be easy to overlook the Pixel 11. Want the best cameras? The Pixel 11 Pro is your answer. Want the best bargain?
More: How-To Geek, 9to5Google, Popular Mechanics, HotHardware, Ars Technica, ZDNET, New York Times, Bloomberg, T3, Android Authority, SlashGear, Mashable, Android Police, and TechCabal. X: @chriswelch
| Ina Fried / Axios: |
OpenAI changed safety practices and paused RL training for two weeks after the Hugging Face breach and evidence Astra may have met a critical cyber threshold — OpenAI said Tuesday that it has made several changes to its safety practices following its determination that an upcoming system …
More: OpenAI, The Verge, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, International Business Times, The Guardian, TechCrunch, BBC, Infosecurity, MediaNama, Help Net Security, PCMag, Tech Times, The Rundown AI, The Deep View, WinCentral, Fortune, Hürriyet Daily News, Quartz, AI Summer, Wired, Business Today, Neowin, Time, Sources, and Financial Times
X: @sama, @andrewcurran_, @alexeheath, @thezvi, @hlntnr, @openai, @gdb, @eliebakouch, @daniel_mac8, @jun_song, @mattshumer_, @scaling01, @bahradx, @gabriel1, @joshua_saxe, @repligate, @tenobrus, @yonashav, @quantum_geoff, @ross__hendricks, @emollick, @rand_longevity, @emostaque, @bubbleboi, @chrisgpt, @edzitron, @jason, @wholemars, @kimmonismus, @matthewberman, @jasoncrawford, @w01fe, @miles_brundage, @ziwenxu_, @jachiam0, @peterbarnett_, @deredleritt3r, @thestalwart, @mariushobbhahn, @justalexoki, @ns123abc, @kelseytuoc, @edzitron, @merettm, @deredleritt3r, @sama, @andrewcurran_, @bindureddy, @iruletheworldmo, @rohanpaul_ai, @pigeon__s, @lu_sichu, @connortalksai, @_nathancalvin, @suchenzang, @ananth7e, @hesamation, @j_asminewang, @timjayas, @mark_k, @frenbilt, @laz4rz, @spoonedher, @notjazii, @xyhan_, @sicedricxd, @rivonn, @_nathancalvin, @tokengremlin, @rohit3a, @dieaud91, @gabgarrett, @kimmonismus, and @edzitron. LinkedIn: Travis Bouck
Bluesky: @timkellogg.me, @sungkim, and @peark.es
Forums: r/television and r/singularity
| Alex Isenstadt / Axios: |
Memo: GOP asks AI companies to stem the backlash against data centers, saying the issue could kill the party's chances of holding a vital Senate seat in Ohio — The Senate GOP campaign arm, in a private memo to top AI companies, warns that toxic views of U.S. data centers are killing …
More: International Business Times, Washington Examiner, NewsMax.com, Media Matters for America, and pa.gov
X: @bstein80, @projectlincoln, @austincampbell, @juliealdermanb, @thejefflutz, @jimvandehei, @jbsdc, @jimvandehei, @mattyglesias, @farzyness, @davidsirota, @mikeallen, @axiosalex, @therickwilson, @mikenellis, and @ecaliberseven. Bluesky: @hypervisible.blacksky.app
Forums: r/politics and r/singularity
| Wall Street Journal: |
US tech companies are offering community investments, guaranteed jobs, and hosting open houses to address concerns and win public support for AI data centers — Tech companies are holding listening sessions, offering guaranteed jobs and writing big checks to win public support for the data centers they need.
More: Bloomberg. X: @jbflint, @caedrolo12, @thesimonetti, and @tedlieu. LinkedIn: Brody Ford
Bluesky: @dannygroner, @enjohnston, and @carlquintanilla
| Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: OpenAI's Q2 sales grew 18% QoQ to $6.7B as its loss jumped 32% to $12.3B; Anthropic's sales grew 2x+ to $11.6B as it swung to a small operating profit — The ChatGPT-maker's revenue disappointed some investors, although the company told them its growth accelerated in the third quarter
More: CNET, Marcus on AI, Semafor, The Information, CNBC, Quartz, New York Times, SiliconANGLE, Yahoo Finance, and CoinDesk
| Matt Day / Bloomberg: |
Amazon plans to expand Prime Air drone deliveries to cities in at least five more US states in the coming months, including Chicago and Atlanta by 2026's end — Amazon.com Inc. plans to expand its drone delivery operation to cities in at least five more US states in the coming months …
More: About Amazon, CNBC, The Verge, AppleInsider, TechCrunch, PCMag, 9to5Mac, Fox Business, PYMNTS, The Mac Observer, Cautious Optimism, Mashable, Wall Street Journal, Digital Trends, The Hill, Blockonomi, Quartz, Newser, DroneXL, DroneDJ, and GeekWire
X: @mweinbach, @annierpalmer, and @amazon
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Amazon makes its AI-powered Alexa+ free on all compatible Fire TV devices in the US, automatically upgrading users even if they don't subscribe to Prime — AI is coming to your TV, whether you want it or not. — On Wednesday, Amazon said its AI assistant, Alexa+, will be rolled … | Trishla Ostwal / Adweek: |
OpenAI expands its ad pilot program across 31 European markets, including Germany, France, Spain, and Italy; the pilot launched in the US, the UK, and others — Expansion of the AI giant's ads pilot comes as ad revenue climbs more than 25% since the start of August — The future of brands gets decided here.| Nicola M White / Bloomberg: |
The US CFTC bans Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang from trading for five years, as part of a settlement over their roles at FTX — FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda Research Chief Executive Officer Caroline Ellison avoided financial penalties under a settlement …
More: CFTC, Cointelegraph, Coinpedia Fintech News, CoinGape, Bitcoin News, The Crypto Times, Bitcoin Insider, and Protos
| Dana Wollman / Bloomberg: |
Marvell and Google expand their chip development deal, and Marvell grants Google a warrant to buy up to nearly 59M shares at $206.58 each, totaling up to $12.2B — Marvell Technology Inc. has agreed to give Alphabet Inc.'s Google rights to buy as much as $12.2 billion of its shares in exchange for purchasing chips.
| Wired: |
Reconstructed code from Flock's login pages reveals OS Investigate, a new AI system that integrates license plate scans, arrest records, case files, and more — Flock's surveillance cameras have already sparked outrage. WIRED reconstructed its next-generation AI system, already in use by some police …
More: Engadget, Breitbart, The Proton Blog, and RuntimeWire
Bluesky: @davidgilbert, @katie-drummond, @dmehro, @hypervisible.blacksky.app, @dell, and @timmarchman
Forums: r/FlockSurveillance and r/technology
| Zijing Wu / Financial Times: |
Sources: Beijing allowed ByteDance and Tencent ~10K Nvidia H200 chips each in mainland China in recent weeks; US licenses permit the H200 in China and Hong Kong — Beijing permits small shipments to help leading tech groups in drive to catch up with US rivals
More: CNBC, Reuters, Quartz, The Asia Business Daily, Engadget, Seoul Economic Daily, Digital Trends, and Tom's Hardware
X: @firstadopter and @zijing_wu
| Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch: |
Rivian spinout Also, which is developing autonomous driving tech, raised a $150M Series D led by Prysm Capital, after announcing a $200M round in March 2026 — Also has raised another $150 million as the micromobility startup that spun out of Rivian last year expands its business beyond … | Alexander Martin / The Record: |
AI evaluation lab Irregular's report on its role in hacking incidents involving OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta models faces criticism over key unanswered questions — The company at the center of a series of incidents in which AI models compromised real-world computer systems during supposedly …
More: Irregular, Irregular, Cyber Security News, Bloomberg, CyberScoop, The Cyber Express, and SecurityWeek
| Jowi Morales / Tom's Hardware: |
A hacker known as Cyberleek leaks two GTA VI gameplay clips and the full map in protest of Rockstar Games' digital-only release; Rockstar issues DMCA takedowns — The hacker wants Rockstar to stop pre-selling digital games. … GTA VI is one of the most hotly anticipated games in history … | Carl Franzen / VentureBeat: |
Block releases Berd, a desktop app it built to give its employees a single environment for working with AI agents across different models, under Apache 2.0 — Block, the technology company founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey that owns Square, Cash App and the music streaming service Tidal …
More: View from the Wing, Block Open Source on GitHub, and Block
X: @aaron_aalaniz, @ksimback, @bradleyaxen, @jack, @jack, @camworboys, @yescynfria, @jack, @blocks, @blocks, @tftc21, @isazalucas, @hams, and @morganmartn. Forums: Hacker News
| Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: |
Amazon appears to have leaked Jason Statham's new film Mutiny, streaming it in full on Prime Video in the US, two days before it is supposed to hit theaters — The film isn't supposed to hit theaters for two days, but it's available to stream on Prime Video now.
More: Gizmodo, Polygon.com, World of Reel, and ScreenRant
Bluesky: @martinsfp and @hunterwalk.com
Forums: r/movies, r/entertainment, r/blankies, and r/boxoffice
| Max A. Cherney / Reuters: |
Cerebras unveils CS-4, a server rack with 50% fewer components built on its new Nexus architecture and powered by three WSE-3 Turbo chips, available in Q3 2026 — Cerebras Systems (CBRS.O) announced on Tuesday a new version of its server hardware that includes its dinner-plate-sized chips that it says will speed AI chatbot queries.| Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch: |
Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal's Bengaluru-based fintech Navi raised $100M from Prosus, its first institutional funding, sources say at a ~$1.3B valuation — Indian fintech Navi has raised $100 million from Prosus, marking the first institutional funding for the eight-year-old startup founded …
More: The Economic Times, Finimize, Entrackr, Moneycontrol, DealStreetAsia, The Tech Portal, Fortune India, VCCircle, Bloomberg, and Inc42
X: @patwardhannn and @patwardhannn
| Pew Research Center: |
Survey: 52% of Americans say they are more concerned than excited about the increased AI use in daily life, up from 37% in 2021, including 55% of those under 30 — Americans have become increasingly worried about artificial intelligence over the years, and young adults' concern has continued to climb.| Carl Franzen / VentureBeat: |
Z.ai prices GLM-5.3 API access at $1.40/1M input tokens and $4.40/1M output tokens, unchanged from GLM-5.2; Kimi K3 costs $3/1M input and $15/1M output tokens — After a stunning debut last week with cyber capabilities so advanced they reportedly found a previously undetected vulnerability in Cursor … | Bloomberg: |
Stripe agrees to buy New York-based OpenRouter for an undisclosed amount; Stripe had reportedly agreed to pay more than $7B for OpenRouter — Stripe Inc. has agreed to buy OpenRouter Inc., an artificial intelligence startup that helps developers access and switch between AI models. No terms were disclosed.
More: Payments Dive, Stripe, Menlo Ventures, Forbes, and Business Insider
| Murad Hemmadi / The Logic: |
Sources: Veeda, which is developing world models and is led by ex-Nvidia VP of AI Research Sanja Fidler, raised a $90M+ seed and is backed by Khosla and Radical — Toronto-based Veeda is building control systems for physical AI, and is backed by Khosla Ventures and Radical Ventures, The Logic has learned| Emma Roth / The Verge: |
Meta launches a Mac app for Meta AI and says Meta AI can now work directly with Instagram and Facebook accounts, Meta ad campaigns, and Google Workspace — You can share your window with the new Meta AI app, as well as connect it to Google Workspace. … Meta is launching a new Mac app dedicated to its AI chatbot.| Kai Nicol-Schwarz / CNBC: |
Sources: Nvidia is working as a matchmaker to connect companies holding its GPUs with Nordic data center operators that have available capacity to deploy them — Nvidia is playing matchmaker, trying to connect companies with its graphics processing units to data-center operators …
Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to
| Bloomberg: |
Hangzhou-based humanoid robot maker Unitree's stock surges 460% in its Shanghai trading debut, giving it a $50B+ market cap, after it raised ~$904M in its IPO — Unitree Robotics shares surged 460% in their Shanghai trading debut after the company raised 6.1 billion yuan ($904 million) … Sponsor Posts
Subquadratic:
Subquadratic: the LLM built for 12M-token reasoning — SubQ can reason across entire codebases and document sets in one pass with no RAG workarounds. Read how SubQ 1.1 Small holds near-perfect retrieval out to 12M tokens.
Subquadratic: the LLM built for 12M-token reasoning — SubQ can reason across entire codebases and document sets in one pass with no RAG workarounds. Read how SubQ 1.1 Small holds near-perfect retrieval out to 12M tokens.
Cape:
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Zoho:
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Cliq 7.0: Built to keep work flowing — Work feels seamless when information is available when you need it, wherever you're working, and without extra clicks. This year, our main goal was to cut through the noise …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.Featured Podcasts
Channels with Peter Kafka:
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Big Technology Podcast:
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The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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X: @agupta, @anthropicai, @ziv_ravid, @crispr_lucas, @eganpeltan, @agupta, @zephyr_z9, @anthropicai, @vintweeta, @anthropicai, @erictopol, @pdhsu, @deryatr_, @teortaxestex, @jonahkallenbach, @kimmonismus, @nc_frey, @adaptyvbio, @samuel_stanton_, @richardwshuai, @julian_englert, and @anthropicai. Forums: r/technology
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