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Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 9:20 AM EDT

Tech

AI Summary

  • AI continues its rapid ascent with major players like Anthropic reporting staggering annualized revenue, while Nvidia invests heavily in data center infrastructure to support its growth. However, the industry also sees shutdowns, like Relay, with its team joining Google.
  • Hardware innovation remains a focus, with Fairphone expanding its reach to the US with its repairable phones and Einride bolstering its fleet with Tesla Semis, indicating a push towards more sustainable and adaptable tech.
  • User privacy and security are major concerns, evidenced by the unprecedented number of Apple users receiving spyware alerts and Meta filing patents for facial recognition technology, sparking debates on AI's coexistence with privacy.
  • The tech landscape is diversifying with startups like Reach Capital raising substantial funds for AI founders focused on human potential, and Terra Industries securing seed funding for defense infrastructure, showing varied investment focuses.
  • Platforms are evolving to enhance user engagement, with Reddit testing new audio/video features and YouTube adjusting its view-counting metric, alongside Spotify's Playlist Notes, all aiming to capture attention in a competitive digital space.

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The Verge

  • Polaroid’s new Pokémon collection captures memories, not Pikachus an hour ago by Andrew Liszewski
    Cameras, Gadgets, Gaming, News, Pokemon, Tech

    Polaroid announced a new collection of cameras, instant film, and accessories all featuring limited-edition designs to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pokémon . The new collection goes a little harder than Fujifilm's Pokémon collaboration from five years ago with the introduction of Polaroid film printed with various characters around the frames, including Pikachu and Snorlax. The entire collection will be available for preorder starting on August 25th in the US, Canada, and the UK through the Polaroid and Pokémon Center websites . A global release is expected to follow on October 5th. The three cameras are existing models with

  • Firefox’s Smart Window promises a better AI browser an hour ago by Stevie Bonifield
    AI, News, Tech, Web

    Starting today, AI chats in Firefox's Smart Window AI browsing mode can pull from current web info and show source links in chat responses through a partnership with Exa . Smart Window can also now automatically suggest tab groups and show visual previews of pages you previously visited when you search your browsing history using natural language. I saw a live demo that showed how the Smart Window AI could sort through selected links in your browsing history to pull up "running shoes I looked at last week," and pop up images pulled from the sites browsed previously. The suggested

  • Google’s Pet Memory forgot who my cats are 2 hours ago by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
    AI, Google, Reviews, Smart Home, Smart Home Reviews, Tech

    One of the best things my smart home does is help me care for my pets , and security cameras are particularly useful for keeping track of my many critters. But the barrage of notifications they send often means I miss important ones. So, when Google announced its new Pet Memory feature for Gemini for Home , I thought this could be the perfect solution. Pet Memory promises to teach your Google Home smart home who your pets are, allowing connected Nest cameras to go beyond simply telling you they saw an animal to which animal they saw. It can

  • The Verge Guide to Pets 2 hours ago by Kara Verlaney
    Cameras, Gadgets, Smart Home, Tech

    Ah, the relationship between animals and the technology they can’t quite understand. Today, it seems like there’s a high-tech solution to every element of pet ownership, with devices on the market designed to keep pets fed, cleaned, watched over, and entertained. And if you have a pet you know: nothing is too good — or too cutting-edge — for your (furry, slimy, feathery) best friend. But while some tech can help care for your pet, it can be complicated when dogs and cats meet wires and waves. You might feel complicated about offloading elements of kitten parenthood to a robot.

  • My parrot ate my keyboard 2 hours ago by John.Higgins
    Keyboards, Tech

    One of the great joys in life is having pets. The unconditional love, the snuggles, the excitement they show when you get home - these things add an emotional fulfillment to daily existence that can't be achieved in another way. I think everyone's life would be better with a pet (or two) in their lives. It's an incredible experience. Except for those few times when it isn't. Both my wife and I work from home, and in a two-bedroom Los Angeles apartment with a kid, two dogs, and a bird, we're constantly in close quarters. Kiyo, our Senegal parrot, has


Wired


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