• The Trump administration has struck data-sharing deals with OpenAI, Google, Meta, Amazon, and other tech companies to track how AI is affecting jobs and hiring (Courtenay Brown/Axios)
• Apple announces a "Surprise and shine" event on September 9 at 10am PT at Apple Park, where its first foldable iPhone, iPhone 18 Pro, and more are expected (Zac Hall/9to5Mac)
• Deep Cogito, which develops open-weight models and helps companies build their own specialized AI models, raised a $43M Series A led by TQ Ventures (Steven Rosenbush/Wall Street Journal)
• Amazon agrees to acquire DuckLabs, the Amsterdam company behind open-source database DuckDB, for an undisclosed sum; DuckDB will remain open source (Todd Bishop/GeekWire)
• Banks are warming up to launching their own stablecoins as nonbank companies enter the market; sources: JPMorgan Chase evaluated launching its own stablecoin (Wall Street Journal)
• Interviews with OpenAI leaders, employees, and others on the company's reboot; Sam Altman says OpenAI would have a system he would call AGI by the end of 2026 (Alex Heath/Time)
• Bengaluru-based Runable, whose AI agents let small businesses find customers, run ad campaigns, and more, raised a $21M Series A at a $65M post-money valuation (Jagmeet Singh/TechCrunch)
• Xbox announces a disc-to-digital feature that will allow users to digitize their existing physical games, rolling out for Xbox Insider testers on August 31 (Tom Warren/The Verge)
• The US DOJ says it disrupted a Chinese hacking operation responsible for break-ins at the DOJ, NASA, the Fed, Senate, and others, seizing two platforms' domains (Reuters)
• In Q2, Apple's base iPhone 17 was the global best-selling smartphone, with a 6% share, followed by the iPhone 17 Pro Max; Apple and Samsung had all 10 top spots (Counterpoint Research)
• Z.ai releases GLM-5.3-Flash, the first natively multimodal GLM-5 series model, with 320B parameters, saying it outperforms GLM-5.2 at "one-tenth the price" (Z.ai)
• Sources: Sword Health plans to acquire mental health company Headspace for between $200M and $300M in cash, far below its ~$3B valuation in 2021 (Brock E.W. Turner/Axios)
• Amazon's Ring unveils a new proprietary encryption architecture called TAKE, set to begin rolling out in September as the default encryption for all cameras (Jennifer Pattison Tuohy/The Verge)
• Vanguard agrees to acquire RIA software startup Altruist, a source says for $4.6B in cash; Altruist raised $600M and had a $1.9B valuation in early 2025 (Dan Primack/Axios)
• Meta's AG settlement will be distributed to the 48 signing states and four jurisdictions in annual installments over a 10-year period based on their populations (Meghan Bobrowsky/Wall Street Journal)
| • Candidates Are Signing a Pact Promising Action on Data Centers and AI Safety
• Meta Will Pay Up to $16.7 Billion to Settle Its Social Media Harms Case—and That’s Not All
• PeopleFinders’ New Website Runs Background Checks on Your Dates
• Best Wi-Fi Routers (2026): My Honest Picks After Testing 50+
• AI Slop Is Ruining Cute Animals on the Internet
• Green Chef Meal Kit Review (2026): Great Ingredients, Layered Flavor
• How Ikea Turned a Controller Thumbstick Into the Star of Its Xbox Gaming Range
• A Mutation Is Making It Easier for Drug-Resistant Malaria to Spread
• Corsair Discount Code: Up to 50% Off for August 2026
• Google Workspace Promo Codes: 14% Off for August 2026
• Surfshark Promo Codes: 87% Off | August 2026
• AirDoctor Coupon Codes: 40% Off | August 2026
• Nomad Goods Promo Codes: Get 25% Off in August 2026
• 20% Off Sephora Promo Code | August 2026
• LegalZoom Promo Code: Exclusive 10% Off LLC Formations
• Vitamix Promo Codes and Deals: $25 Off + Free Shipping
• Tuft & Needle Promo Codes: 30% Off | August 2026
• PlayStation Discount Code: Save on PS5 Games August 2026
• Target Promo Code: $50 Off | August 2026
• HP Coupon Codes and Deals August 2026
• 25% Off Adidas Promo Code | August 2026
• ‘Darth Vader’ Wants You to Know He Definitely Supports Flock Surveillance
• The Best Early Labor Day Kitchen Deals to Ease You Back Into Fall (2026)
• Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold Review: Better, Not Best
• The US Just Recorded Its First 2 Measles Deaths This Year
• The Supreme Court’s Mail-In Ballot Ruling Is a Step Toward Chaos in the Midterms
• Apple Mac Mini M6 and Mac Studio M5 Ultra: Specs, Price, Release Date
• I Tested Kitchen Composters for 2 Years. These Are the Ones I’d Buy (2026)
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• The County Prosecutors Who Became ICE Informants
• Optoma GT2400HDR Review: Ace Projector for Golf Simulation
• Border Wall Construction Threatens 6,000 Years of History on Private Lands
• It Should Be Harder to Apply for a Job. No, Really
• Spirit Airlines Wants to Sell Its Data to Google. Former Flight Attendants Are Freaked Out
• Omega Just Released a Mini Moonwatch
• Data Centers Are Driving an Alarming Gas Power Expansion in the US
• Bitdefender VPN Review: Fast and Affordable Privacy
• Can You Kill Salmonella in Eggs Without Cooking Them? I Tried It
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• My Daily Driver Gaming Headset Is Super Cheap Right Now
• Birdfy Nest Duo Review: My Own Private Nature Documentary
• The Kindle Accessories I Never Want to Read Without (2026)
• The Best Home Theater Projectors in 2026: XGIMI, Hisense, Leica, and More
• Forget Meta Ray-Bans. These Dorky-Looking Virtual Display Glasses Are Way More Useful
• The Best Multiuse Air Purifier for Home in 2026: BlueAir, Rabbit Air, Dreame
• They Dedicated Their Lives to Teaching. Then the Deepfakes Started
• NASA’s New Space Telescope Is Poised to Discover Hidden Facets of the Universe
• Asus ROG Swift RGB Stripe OLED Review: Clarity King
• What’s the Best Kindle of 2026? (So Far)
• Transistors Changed Everything. Here’s How They Work
| • Google says its latest Gemini transcription model can turn your ramblings into structured text
• Xbox Insiders will soon be able to create digital versions of their physical games
• Preorders for Xbox's anniversary collection are open (for some) and the bundle costs $900
• Apple announces September 9 date for 'Surprise and shine' iPhone event
• Rockstar calls GTA 6 leaks 'heartbreaking for our team' and says the game is nearly finished
• What's the difference between WAN and LAN?
• Bluesky now supports 10-minute videos
• Apple should make a Mac Neo to fill the void left by the more expensive Mac mini
• IKEA and Xbox have fully unveiled their new furniture collection at Gamescom
• Meta will pay up to $18 billion to settle states' lawsuit alleging harms to young users
• SoundCloud will let you buy music directly from artists
• GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS review: Interchangeable lenses make this a GoPro like no other
• How to transfer data from your old iPhone to a new one
• SpaceX is building a $100 billion 'Starbase' launch site in Louisiana
• Adam Mosseri says it's 'news to me' that Instagram employees limited his exposure to teen safety data
• Here are three sick Gibson guitar controllers made for Stage Tour's Dec. 10 release
• Lego Skylines is a cozy city builder from the studio that's repairing Cities: Skylines II
• Instagram adds feature that automatically trims clips for Reels
• A remastered The Witcher 3 will be released September 29
• Free accounts can now access ChatGPT's upgraded task scheduling tool
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