8 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
Skip to main content

News

All the news you need to keep up with the latest developments in the tech world, from product announcements and live events to tariffs, policies, and regulations. Tech touches every aspect of daily news, and our experts are here to keep you informed on what happens and how it all affects you.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Cinema 4D will “soon” turn sketches into 3D models.

Developer Maxon is teasing a new AI tool generating a model based on an uploaded image, alongside options to reference text and sketches. It’s not clear how the image and sketch options will differ, but 3D creatives are reacting in the comments with other questions: Will it let you turn anyone’s art into a model?

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
iFi’s wireless headphone dongle can transmit audio to your car’s stereo, too.

Similar to Twelve South’s recently launched Airfly View dongle that can connect wireless headphones to non-Bluetooth devices, iFi is introducing a new version of its UP Travel dongle that can wirelessly receive audio, too. The $129 UP Travel Max adds Bluetooth 5.4 and support for the aptX Lossless codec, plus Auracast for broadcasting to an unlimited number of listeners with compatible headphones.

Correction: The Airfly View can also wirelessly receive audio.

The iFi UP Travel Max dongle against a white background.
Image: iFi
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Epic is using AI to help build Unreal Engine.

Epic’s VP of development, Marcus Wassmer, told This Week in Videogames that “we are definitely using AI to develop code and features for Unreal Engine.” Wassmer says that the UE team has seen benefits like “faster” development of features, and the ability for engineers to “explore ideas” that they haven’t had “the time to tackle.”

CEO Tim Sweeney said this month that Epic is retooling for “maximum AI acceleration,” and the company said it “vibe coded” its updated games launcher.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
This week in the big AI data center buildout.

AI data center projects are continuing to pop up across the US, with frequent opposition from locals concerned about their impact. Here are a few recent articles about the projects:

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
“It doesn’t work.”

Now that Apple’s touchscreen MBP is here, let’s roll back to what Steve Jobs had to say about touch on laptops.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Google is working on a new agentic AI experience for consumers.

The company launched a new Gemini agent for enterprise earlier this month, and Google will bring that “same experience” to consumers later this year, starting with the Gemini app, CEO Sundar Pichai said on today’s Q3 2026 earnings call.

I’m curious how it will differ from Google’s Gemini Spark agent, which I tested in May, but given the launch window provided by Pichai, we may not have to wait too long to find out.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Swiping around on the new touchscreen MacBook Pro.

Antonio walks us through Apple’s PROLED laptop; check out our full first impressions right here.

Lauren Feiner
Lauren Feiner
FTC demands info from Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and others in a personalized pricing probe.

It also asked airlines and retailers for detailed descriptions of how they use customer information to determine what prices to show. The non-enforcement probe is similar to one launched during the Biden administration, but the Republican-led FTC criticized the prior approach as “mistaken” because of its focus on middlemen.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
The DOJ is reportedly looking into Nvidia’s Hugging Face acquisition.

The US Department of Justice has “made inquiries” about the $13 billion deal, including how it could affect competition in the AI industry, according to a report from Reuters. It adds to existing regulatory scrutiny surrounding Nvidia, as it’s also reportedly facing a DOJ investigation over its AI chip dominance.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Google is “looking into” a vague AI search response about who won the 2020 US election.

“The Gemini app answers this question more fully but this isn’t the most helpful response on Search,” Google says in a response to the Bluesky user who posted the unhelpful search answer. “We’re looking into this and working to address it.”

A few of us at The Verge weren’t able to recreate it, but Ars Technica has a good rundown of the situation with some of its own testing.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Amazon cut about 250 jobs from its devices team just weeks after launching a bunch of new devices.

In the last 30 days Amazon has launched new tablets, a new Kindle, a picture frame, and multiple new Echo devices. Now the company is cutting around 250 positions from its devices and services team, though Reuters says they’re primarily focused on software development. Amazon did not confirm a reason for the layoffs, but developers are facing increased pressure from increasingly advanced AI coding tools.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
The All-In guys can’t stick to SI.

As reported by Semafor, the hosts of the popular podcast haven’t been using President Trump’s preferred “super intelligence” word for AI as much as they did at the beginning of the month.

Hands-on with the new OLED iPad MiniHands-on with the new OLED iPad Mini
First look
Antonio G. Di Benedetto and Jay Peters
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Pixar’s new short is a stylishly un-Pixar-like slice of life.

The studio’s two-minute Driving Lesson appears to be an actual recording of a mother giving her child their first driving lesson. The animation has a real tactile feel, almost like a photocopy, rendered in muted reds and blues. It’s easily the most un-Pixar-like thing Pixar has ever made. Even the aspect ratio is weird!

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
OpenAI now lets you text your Dot.

OpenAI had promised this was coming for its AI agents, but now the feature is here. You can text through iMessage or RCS, OpenAI says. It’s rolling out in preview for US Pro users.

Victoria Song
Victoria Song
RFK Jr. unilaterally gives the OK for some unapproved peptides.

Oh boy. This move refers to BPC-157, TB-500, Mots-C, KPV, epitalon, and semax. A document outlining the decision indicates that this seems to be the Health Secretary’s call, even though FDA scientists advised against it in July. This broadens access, but still requires a patient-specific prescription and adverse reporting.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Can we please stop with the hands?

First X, now Apple’s website? That’s enough hands on my internet today, thank you.

An image of Apple’s Mac lineup, with a hand pointing at the new MacBook Pro.
Image: Apple
Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Apple’s polishing cloth adds critical support for the new touchscreen MacBook Pro.

Now that pixel-pushers, editors, musicians, and artists will have their fingers all over the new MacBook Pro’s screen, Apple has updated the listing for its $9 polishing cloth to include support for eradicating fingerprints from that PROLED XDR display.

Apple’s polishing cloth overlaid on a MacBook pro laptop screen.
Image: Apple
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
The Trump administration is loaning $5 billion to build nuclear plants for data centers.

Constellation Energy will receive the funds to expand capacity at eight nuclear plants by 1.1 gigawatts. Most, if not all, of that additional capacity has already been claimed by Google, Meta, or Amazon for their data centers, according to TechCrunch.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Google will let more developers make apps that plug into Search and Gemini.

With the new “Connected Apps” platform, developers can submit apps for people to use within Gemini and Search. This will allow developers to launch integrations similar to the ones OpenTable and Instacart built into Google’s AI tools.

Developers in the US can join the public beta waitlist starting today, which also offers ways to track metrics like traffic and latency.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
The GitHub Copilot app is getting a big update.

Along with support for projects, which lets you assign Copilot a task across multiple repos, the GitHub Copilot app now allows you to pick up your work where you left off when you switch to other devices. You can now create reusable AI automations within the GitHub Copilot app as well.