• Sources: Modal Labs is in funding talks at a ~$15B valuation, up from $4.65B in May; Baseten is in funding talks at a $26B valuation, up from $13B in June (Bloomberg)
• Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 for audio wearables, with up to 2x greater on-device AI performance and up to 40% lower power consumption (Andrew Romero/9to5Google)
• Google DeepMind SVP Koray Kavukcuoglu says Gemini 4 is in the early phase of post-training and hopes it will be released "much earlier" than the end of the year (Laura Bratton/The Information)
• OpenAI releases MentalHealthBench, an open benchmark to evaluate AI responses in realistic mental health conversations, developed with 80+ licensed experts (OpenAI)
• SoftBank raised ~$11B in debt through its junk bond sale, making the Japanese investment firm one of the biggest corporate junk-bond borrowers in the world (Bloomberg)
• During a Senate hearing, lawmakers criticized automatic license plate readers amid concerns about Flock; the CEOs of Flock and others declined to attend (Christian Robles/Nextgov/FCW)
• Meta says it will allow its AI glasses users to opt out of having their "visual data" used to train its AI or shown to third-party contractors outside the US (Karissa Bell/Engadget)
• An interview with Mark Zuckerberg on the products released at Connect, camera-free Ray-Bans being in the works before the "pervert glasses" backlash, more (Joanna Stern/The New Things)
• YouTube CEO Neal Mohan dismisses the idea of joining Meta's multistate child safety settlement, saying YouTube already has measures to protect young users (Clare Duffy/CNN)
• Sources: the Trump administration is considering an initiative to promote use of dollar-denominated stablecoins overseas, including via JVs with private firms (Bloomberg)
• Meta announces new features for Meta Ray-Ban Display, including expanded heads-up navigation tools, a new Explore app, and Dolby Atmos audio support (Anna Washenko/Engadget)
• Meta announces Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 with better battery life, a programmable action button, an added microphone, and two new frame styles, starting at $449 (Karissa Bell/Engadget)
• Meta plans to bring Private Processing to Ray-Ban Meta glasses, letting their AI assistant fulfill users' requests without Meta accessing their data (Wired)
• Meta previews hologram avatars for Meta VR Glasses and Ray-Ban Display that feel more natural than Apple's persona avatars, available in early access this fall (Karissa Bell/Engadget)
• Meta says users will be able to video chat with Muse, agents will get their own email addresses, and Muse will get computer use on Mac and smart glasses support (Jay Peters/The Verge)
| • Meta Pinky Promises Its Smart Glasses Will Be Private Soon
• Meta VR Glasses, Ray-Ban Meta Audio, Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3: Specs, Features, Prices
• A US-China AI Hotline Won't Be Ready For a While
• AI Agents Teamed Up to Cheat at Blackjack. Their Collusion Is Getting Harder to Spot
• Bentley Wants Its Torcal SUV to Break the Curse of the Luxury EV
• The Pope’s AI Guy Is Worried About ‘Cartel’ Behavior Among Big Labs
• YouTube’s Custom Feeds Give You More Control Over the Algorithm
• Meta’s Muse AI Assistant Rolled Out With a Serious Security Flaw
• The Best Samsung Phones of 2026: Ultra, Fold, Budget
• A Startup Wants to Power Data Centers With ‘Supercritical’ Carbon Dioxide
• This App Makes Your Laptop Screen Look Like Paper
• SmartLabels QR Code Organizing System Review (2026): AI Made Sense of My Junk Drawer
• Kate Tolo Says Her Quest to Be ‘the Female Bryan Johnson’ Is ‘for Women’
• AT&T Is Automating Away Jobs—and Its Old Telecom Empire
• She’s 28, Loves God and Her Family, and Might Be the Reason You Can’t Have Kids
• The Organization Fighting Ebola Has Never Been More Worried
• 8 Best Space Heaters (2026): Tested, Measured, and Mistreated
• Kiwibit Bird Feeder 2 Pro Review: Premium but Paywalled
• Nike Promo Codes and Discounts: 30% for September 2026
• Uber Eats Promo Codes: $15 Off │September 2026
• Valvoline Coupons and Promo Codes for September 2026
• 30% Off Canon Promo Codes | September 2026
• Ray-Ban Promo Codes: Save 50% in September 2026
• Google Workspace Promo Codes: 14% Off for September 2026
• Hotels.com Coupon Codes for September 2026
• 20% Off Sephora Promo Code | September 2026
• LG Promo Codes and Coupons for September 2026
• Nomad Goods Promo Codes: Get 25% Off in September 2026
• PlayStation Discount Code: Save on PS5 Games September 2026
• Hostinger Promo Code: 79% Off for September 2026
• Squarespace Promo Codes: 20% Off in September 2026
• AT&T Promo Codes: $50 Off This September 2026
• HP Coupon Codes and Deals September 2026
• How to Claim Your Cut of Apple’s $250 Million Siri Settlement
• Rabbit Is Back, This Time With an AI Agent App
• Adobe Premiere, One of the iPhone’s Best Video-Editing Apps, Is Now on Android
• Viture’s Vonder Glasses Are Meant to Map Your Mind
• AI Models Built From Rat Brains Just Got Closer to Reality
• GoPro Mission 1 Pro ILS Review (2026): Cinema-Quality Action Cam
• The UK Government Faces a Reckoning Over Palantir
• Everything You Know About Political Violence Is Probably Wrong
• Is a Home Security System Subscription Worth It? (2026)
• I Built AI Clones of My Coworkers. Things Got Weird
• Patti Harrison Had Dreams of a Tech Utopia. Silicon Valley Smashed Them
• A New Tool Found Malware That’s Guided by an AI Hive Mind—No Humans in Sight
• A New Chatbot Wants to Unlock the Secrets in Tattered Ancient Greek Records
• How to Use AI With Your Privacy Intact
• Layla Sleep Coupon: Save Up to $600 in September 2026
• Ruggable Discount Code: 30% Off Rugs | September 2026
• 1Password Coupon: Score a Free Trial in September 2026
| • Everything announced at Meta Connect 2026
• Meta put Muse in a Tamagotchi like 'Charm' device
• Meta will stop training its AI on 'visual data' from its smart glasses — if you opt out
• Meta VR Glasses hands-on: Hand and eye tracking is so much better than a controller
• Meta's new holographic avatars are here and they're surprisingly real
• Meta Ray-Ban Display getting feature updates including holographic avatar support
• Meta's $1,300 VR Glasses look like the Vision Pro sequel Apple should be making
• Meta's next smart glasses collab is with Blackpink's Lisa
• Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 hands-on: Better battery life and a price hike
• Meta announces Ray-Ban Meta Audio, its first smart glasses without a camera
• Meta brings FDA-cleared hearing enhancement to its smart glasses
• Meta's Muse AI agent is coming to its AI glasses
• The purpose of the triangle symbol on your Samsung Galaxy phone
• ShinyHunters hackers claim to have 2-3TB of sensitive information about FBI employees
• Microsoft's new Surface Pro 12 and Surface Laptop 13 feature Snapdragon X2 Plus chips
• Disney+ and Hulu are getting even more expensive (again)
• Logitech's Yeti 2 brings the 17-year-old USB mic into the modern age
• Logitech just unveiled several new gaming accessories in its Pro line
• Roland just released a Minions keyboard complete with playable gibberish sounds
• Meta Connect 2026 live: Updates from Mark Zuckerberg's keynote on AI glasses, VR and more
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