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Simply the latest news, updated on the hour.

Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 8:36 AM EDT

Tech

AI Summary

  • AI continues its relentless integration across various sectors, from automotive and home devices to dating apps, with companies like Ambani aiming to embed it in every digital interaction, while startups like Baseten are reportedly seeking massive funding rounds.
  • The chip industry is under scrutiny, with the US investigating potential Chinese access to ASML's advanced tools, even as Amazon aims to directly challenge Nvidia by producing its own AI chips.
  • Robotics is gaining significant traction, with Hyundai acquiring Boston Dynamics and the tech behind smooth robot operation being applied to autonomous systems.
  • While some tech companies are spinning off AI divisions due to cost concerns (Snap) or facing lawsuits over unfulfilled promises (Rivian), others are pushing forward with ambitious projects, including fusion energy startups and space missions.
  • Regulatory and ethical debates surrounding AI are intensifying, as seen in Norway's restrictions on AI in elementary schools and ongoing discussions about data center development and AI's role in sensitive applications.

TechCrunch

  • He made your free video player run smoothly. Now he’s doing that for robots. 12 hours ago by Anna Heim
    Startups, IoT, Kyber, open source software, physical ai, VLC

    French serial entrepreneur and open-source legend Jean-Baptiste Kempf has been building Kyber, an infrastructure layer to control remote devices in real time.

  • From PGP to Mythos: a brief history of export controls that didn’t stop anyone 15 hours ago by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
    AI, Security, Anthropic, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, export controls, infosec, Mythos, Spyware

    For the last 30 years, stopping the flow of cybersecurity-related software has proven to be ineffective. It's unclear why it would work now with Anthropic’s cybersecurity model Mythos.

  • Go eyes robotaxis and acquisitions after Japan’s biggest IPO of 2026. Here’s why it matters 15 hours ago by Kate Park
    Apps, Transportation, Go, initial public offering, Japan, taxi hailing

    Go’s IPO — Japan’s biggest so far this year — has done more than provide a much-needed boost to the country’s languishing listing season. It has also supplied the taxi-hailing app with the capital required to address an existential issue: Japan’s shortage of drivers. Go, which went public Tuesday, plans to use the ¥88.6 billion […]

  • Aura’s impressive e-ink photo frame doesn’t even look digital 16 hours ago by Amanda Silberling
    Hardware, aspen, aura, e-ink, Eric Jensen

    What’s the most cliche possible gift you can give a relative? A digital photo frame, displaying a rotating slideshow of family photos. Now Aura has completely refreshed this product space with its gorgeous Aura Ink frame, which uses e-ink to create a display that doesn’t even look digital. Digital frames have always been so popular […]

  • Every fusion startup that has raised over $100M 20 hours ago by Tim De Chant
    Climate, Fundraising, Startups, evergreens, fusion power, nuclear fusion

    Fusion startups have raised $7.1 billion to date, with the majority of it going to a handful of companies.


Hacker News


Engadget


The Verge

  • Toy Story has the right take on tech an hour ago by David Pierce
    Gadgets, Installer, Streaming, Tech

    Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 133, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, happy belated Juneteenth, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I've been reading about Sam Bankman-Fried and PE Guy and admin nights (which we should totally all do together one of these days), listening to Paul McCartney on Song Exploder , trudging through the bugs of the iOS 27 beta in order to use the good new Siri, once again trying and failing to switch to YouTube

  • SwitchBot’s Standing Circulator Fan is worth fighting for 6 hours ago by Thomas Ricker
    Accessory Reviews, Gadgets, Reviews, Smart Home, Smart Home Reviews, Tech

    I’m a fan. I can't remember the last time I got excited about a fan. Normally, I just buy whatever Vornado or Dreo model fits my budget, but that was before I started testing the battery-powered Standing Circulator Fan from SwitchBot . As the name indicates, the SwitchBot fan is a 3D circulator - a fancy way of saying that it can tilt up, down, left, and right to push a decent amount air around a room. It looks okay, despite all the plastic, is relatively quiet, runs for hours on battery, has an integrated nightlight, transforms from a desktop

  • Nothing cancels this year’s CMF phone due to RAM prices 16 hours ago by Stevie Bonifield
    Gadgets, Mobile, News, Phones, Tech

    Nothing's next budget phone is the latest victim of RAMageddon. As 9to5Google reports, Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis announced in a post on X that a follow-up to the CMF Phone 2 Pro won't be coming this year: We were working on a successor but with memory prices where they are right now, we can't build a phone that feels like a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense for CMF. As a result, we've decided not to launch a new CMF phone this year. Last week, Nothing CEO and co-founder Carl Pei also said the RAM shortage has

  • NASA selects Eric Schmidt’s rocket company for a 2028 mission to Mars 19 hours ago by Stevie Bonifield
    NASA, News, Science, Space

    Relativity Space’s CEO is former Google executive Eric Schmidt. | Image: Alexander Tamargo / Getty Images Relativity Space, the rocket company led by former Google executive Eric Schmidt, was picked to launch NASA's Aeolus payload to Mars in 2028, as reported earlier by TechCrunch . Under a new public-private partnership, Relativity Space will provide the "spacecraft, rocket, and cruise operations" to fly Aeolus to Mars, where the payload will "provide the first integrated, daily, global view of Martian winds, temperatures, dust, and clouds." The Aeolus payload will have four instruments on board for studying the Martian atmosphere, which NASA says

  • Hue’s wired wall modules bring non-smart lights into its ecosystem 20 hours ago by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
    News, Smart Home, Tech

    The new Wired Wall Switch Modules fit behind existing switches. | Image: Signify Smart lighting company Philips Hue has launched its first wired wall modules . Installed behind existing wall switches, the new devices bring non-smart lights into the Hue ecosystem for the first time. Hue also announced new Play table and floor lamps that are more affordable versions of its Signe series , along with upgrades to its E14 candle bulbs that add a broader white light spectrum and Matter-over-Thread compatibility. The new lights are now available globally; however, the Wired Wall Switch Modules are Europe-only. Signify CTO George


Wired


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