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August 12, 2026, 3:00 PM
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| Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: |
Google unveils the $899+ Pixel 11, $1,099+ 11 Pro, and $1,299+ 11 Pro XL, with a Tensor G6, new Gemini features, Magic Capture to pick the best frames, and more — For the last few years, Google's Pixel has been a showcase of new AI features, with few hardware changes from the previous year's devices.
More: Google, Gizmodo, ZDNET, 9to5Google, XDA Developers, CNET, CNBC, Thurrott, ZDNET, Associated Press, The New Things, Tech Advisor, 9to5Google, Engadget, CNN, Android Authority, Wired, Wired, Trusted Reviews, Mashable, and PetaPixel
| Max Buondonno / The Shortcut: |
More: 9to5Google, The Verge, The Information, ZDNET, ZDNET, Tech Advisor, Marques Brownlee on YouTube, Bloomberg, ZDNET, Nokiamob, ZDNET, Business Today, T3, AndroidGuys, Fast Company, The Economic Times, MobileSyrup, The Independent, Android Authority, TechRadar, Mashable, The Indian Express, BGR, Press Start, PetaPixel, and Financial Express
X: @joannastern, @joannastern, and @alexmaxham
| Jessica Conditt / Engadget: |
Google unveils the $1,899+ Pixel 11 Pro Fold, with a stronger hinge, inner and outer displays that are 20% brighter, Tensor G6 chip, and an updated 48MP camera — Fly like a (Tensor) G6. — The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is the ultimate evolution in Google's latest line of mobile devices …
More: Google, ZDNET, 9to5Google, The Hindu, Times of India, Business Today, Android Police, Android Central, TechCrunch, CNET, The Verge, RuntimeWire, AndroidGuys, Neowin, Android Authority, Digit, Trusted Reviews, Mashable, Digital Trends, GB News, Tom's Guide, and Phandroid
X: @chriswelch, @backlon, and @chriswelch
| Sam Rutherford / Engadget: |
Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold hands-on: a letdown after Samsung released the Galaxy Z Fold 8, with few design changes, and it feels like Google is coasting this time — In a year when Samsung made two new flagship foldables, the latest Pixel Pro Fold feels like a letdown.
More: PCMag, T3, Chrome Unboxed, Engadget, ZDNET, Pocket-lint, Android Authority, Android Central, TechRadar, Trusted Reviews, and Yahoo Finance
X: @alexmaxham and @lanceulanoff
| xAI: |
SpaceXAI releases Grok 4.6, saying it matches GPT-5.6 Sol on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, and prices it at $2/1M input and $6/1M output tokens — Grok 4.6 builds on Grok 4.5 with a particular focus on long-running agents and more ambitious interactive and visual work. — Try for free
More: 9to5Mac, Dow Jones Newswires, iClarified, Wccftech, VentureBeat, Unite.AI, CoinGape, and XDA Developers
X: @elonmusk, @elonmusk, @cognition, @synthwavedd, @chetanp, @patrickmoorhead, @bindureddy, @iterintellectus, @gavinsbaker, @arena, @spacexai, @elonmusk, @synthwavedd, @elonmusk, @artificialanlys, @mntruell, @mattshumer_, @chrisgpt, @emostaque, @eliebakouch, @elonmusk, @kimmonismus, @mweinbach, and @spacexai. Threads: @testingcatalog
Forums: Hacker News, r/SpaceXBets, and r/grok
| Victoria Song / The Verge: |
Google unveils the $399 Pixel Watch 5 with a satin pyrite case finish, offline Gemini, proactive AI suggestions, better GPS maps, and insulin resistance trends — The $399 Google Pixel Watch 5 isn't about the hardware. Sure, there's a new satin pyrite case finish, a few new strap colors, and a Steph Curry Special Edition.| Samantha Kelly / Bloomberg: |
| Will Sattelberg / 9to5Google: |
More: Google, Android Central, Android Authority, Redmond Pie, SoundGuys, and Digital Trends. Forums: r/pixelbuds
| Dominic Preston / The Verge: |
Google plans to launch the $29 Pixel Tag on November 11, with a four-pack priced at $99, matching AirTag 2's pricing, offering UWB, Find Hub support, and more — The $29 tracker combines UWB with Bluetooth channel sounding. … More than two years after launching its own device-tracking network … | Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal: |
Foxconn reports Q2 revenue up 41% YoY to ~$78.4B, with cloud and networking products contributing 50%+ for the first time, and net profit up 35% YoY to ~$1.86B — Net profit for the three months ended June rose 35% from a year earlier — Foxconn Technology Group reported another strong quarter … | Wall Street Journal: |
The NYC Council sent letters to Polymarket, Kalshi, Coinbase, and Gemini Titan as it investigates alleged deceptive marketing practices and targeting minors — Probe targets the marketing practices of four prediction markets with operations in the city — The New York City Council … | Reuters: |
Bank of America says it plans to deploy $250B by July 2027 to support US digital and infrastructure projects, including data centers and energy infrastructure — Bank of America (BAC.N) said on Wednesday it plans to deploy $250 billion by July 2027 to support U.S. digital and infrastructure projects … | Bloomberg: |
Tencent reports Q2 revenue up 11% YoY to ~$30.4B, above ~$30B est., driven by surging WeChat advertising and resilient game spending, and net income of ~$8.3B — Tencent Holdings Ltd. more than doubled spending on AI projects and computing to about $7.8 billion last quarter … | Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE: |
Google DeepMind launches SL2T, a multilingual sign-language-to-text model debuting on the Pixel 11 in Gboard and Live Transcribe, first for ASL to English text — Google DeepMind said today it wants to bring the artificial intelligence revolution to the estimated 70 million people across …
More: Google DeepMind, Mashable, Engadget, and Digital Trends
X: @googledeepmind, @googledeepmind, @googledeepmind, and @googledeepmind. LinkedIn: Alexander Hauerslev Jensen. Forums: r/accelerate
| Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: |
Sources: Apple hired Nate Gatten, an American Airlines exec with GOP ties, as government affairs VP, seeking someone who could align with Trump administration — Apple Inc. hired Nate Gatten as its new head of government affairs, tapping a longtime American Airlines Group Inc. executive … | Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: |
Google says Android's AirDrop-like Quick Share will now let some devices exchange files and contact info when tapped together, starting with the Pixel 6 and up — The Quick Share update makes it easier to share contact info and files between Pixel devices, and soon, Samsung phones.
More: Google, SamMobile, 9to5Google, Engadget, Android Authority, Android Central, Phandroid, and Podcasts
| Ben Dummett / Wall Street Journal: |
Stockholm-based AI coding startup Lovable raised $400M at a $13.3B valuation, up from $6.6B in December 2025, becoming one of Europe's most valuable startups — New funding round catapults AI company into the ranks of Europe's most valuable startups — Artificial-intelligence startup Lovable …
More: Lovable, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Reuters, Silicon Republic, Tech.eu, Tech Funding News, FinSMEs, Business Insider, and BusinessCloud
X: @the_luwii, @menloventures, @fabianhedin, @felixhhaas, @nklsmhs, @deedydas, and @antonosika. LinkedIn: Isabelle Bensimon
| Damien Wilde / 9to5Google: |
Google is cutting the Google One AI Pro trial bundled with the Pixel 11 Pro and other handsets from 12 to six months and removes the free trial for the Pixel 11 — With the launch of the Pixel 9, Google offered fairly extensive 12-month free trials of the Google One AI Pro plan … | Michael J. de la Merced / New York Times: |
Thrive Capital's Thrive Holdings, which acquires traditional service businesses and adds AI, raised $2B from SoftBank, D1, and others at a $12B valuation — The company, Thrive Holdings, acquires businesses to infuse them with artificial intelligence and drew interest from backers like SoftBank.| Rebecca Torrence / Bloomberg: |
Sources: AI coding startup Cognition is in early talks with investors to raise $1B+ at a $40B+ valuation, after raising $1B at a $26B valuation in May — Cognition AI is in early talks with investors for a new funding round that may boost the coding startup's valuation by more than 50% …
More: TechCrunch, Silicon Republic, Tech Funding News, PYMNTS, and RuntimeWire
| Tom Wilson / Financial Times: |
Researchers say suspected Chinese hackers used open-source AI agents to build an autonomous hacking tool that compromised Taiwanese government websites in July — AI agents ran simultaneous reconnaissance and break-ins in display of new phase of cyberwarfare.| Kenrick Cai / Reuters: |
Sources detail moves behind Google's AI reshuffle; Sergey Brin urged key staff to go all in on Gemini, and some teams shifted from DeepMind to corporate Google — Google co-founder Sergey Brin in recent months has urged key AI staff to go all in on the company's Gemini model as parent Alphabet …
More: I Programmer
| Prakhar Srivastava / Reuters: |
AI code review startup CodeRabbit raised a $143M Series C co-led by Atomico and Smash at a $1.5B valuation, after raising a $60M Series B in September 2025 — AI code review startup CodeRabbit said on Wednesday it had raised $143 million in a funding round that valued it at $1.5 billion.
More: The Economic Times, Mercury News, Finimize, BMW BLOG, Ventureburn, FinSMEs, Axios, SiliconANGLE, and Fidelity Investments
X: @coderabbitai, @harjotsgill, @coderabbitai, and @coderabbitai
| Paula Doenecke / Bloomberg: |
Amsterdam-based neocloud Nebius reports Q2 cloud revenue up 514% YoY to $575M and total revenue of $582M, above $557M est.; NBIS jumps 15%+, and is up 145%+ YTD — Nebius Group NV reported a 514% jump in second-quarter sales for its cloud business following strong demand for AI computing power.
More: Reuters, MarketWatch, Morningstar, The Information, Quartz, Barron's Online, Blockonomi, The Crypto Basic, and Yahoo Finance
| Yueqi Yang / The Information: |
Sources: Kalshi is in advanced talks to raise $750M+ co-led by Sequoia Capital and Wellington Management at a $40B valuation; Kalshi was valued at $22B in May — Kalshi, the biggest prediction market, is in advanced talks to raise at least $750 million in a new financing round at a $40 billion valuation …
More: CryptoSlate
| Juro Osawa / The Information: |
Former Alibaba star researcher Junyang Lin launches Shanghai-based Pragmatik Labs to build digital and physical AI agents; Pragmatik hit a $2B valuation in June — Former Alibaba star researcher Junyang Lin announced that he had started a new AI company, confirming The Information's earlier reports.
More: Pragmatik Labs and Bloomberg
| Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat: |
Skan AI, which is building a “context graph of work” by observing staff using enterprise software, raised a $63M Series C co-led by Cathay Innovation and Dell — Skan AI, a startup that builds what it calls a “context graph of work” by observing how employees actually perform … | Sumedha Mukherjee / Reuters: |
FlightAware withdraws its Kalshi lawsuit, after alleging Kalshi used its data to let users bet on flight cancellations; Kalshi no longer names it as a source — Flight-tracking company FlightAware withdrew its lawsuit against Kalshi on Tuesday, a day after it filed the suit that accuses … | Chris Metinko / Axios: |
Silicon Data, which offers real-time compute pricing data to financial institutions and exchanges, raised a $30.5M Series A led by the Valor Atreides AI Fund — Silicon Data, a financial data platform for the AI economy, raised $30.5 million in Series A funding led by the Valor Atreides AI Fund, CEO Carmen Li tells Axios Pro.
More: FinSMEs and Silicon Data
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