Here’s the Tesla Semi… again
Remember the Tesla Semi? The long-gestating, heavy-duty truck first introduced in concept form in 2017 is finally in volume production as of April 2026 - nearly a decade after its initial introduction. On Thursday evening, the company held yet another event for the Semi to demonstrate to customers and investors that the long wait was finally over.
The event was held at Tesla's new Semi factory next to Gigafactory Nevada, where the company says it can build 50,000 trucks a year, or 1,000 per week. The purpose was to announce a raft of new (and old) customers for the Semi, including PepsiCo, US Foods, DHL, WattEV, ABF, Einride, IMC, and OK P …
Microsoft is killing off the ‘Copilot Plus PC’ brand
Remember when Microsoft wanted everyone to know that "Copilot Plus PCs" were the ones to get, because those were the PCs that that'd have enough built-in AI muscle to get things done? Two and a half years later, Microsoft and Qualcomm seem to be admitting the brand is already dead.
Windows Central's Zac Bowden reports that even though the new 12-inch Microsoft Surface Pro and 13-inch Surface Laptop technically meet the system requirements for a Copilot Plus PC, Microsoft is not calling them by that name anymore. "These are not called Copilot Plus PCs," Microsoft Surface CVP Brett Ostrom told the publication.
Kedar Kondap, Qualcomm's SVP …
Meta employees ordered ‘attorney/client privilege’ hats while fighting child safety disclosures
Meta's lawyers have argued that certain evidence should be withheld from public view on the grounds of attorney-client privilege in the ongoing lawsuits over alleged harm to teens' safety and mental health. Lawyers suing the company said this week that the label has been applied far too broadly, while pointing to a recently unsealed document showing that the team behind launching Instagram's Teen Accounts in 2024 put in an order for baseball caps that simply said "a/c priv."
The lawyers suing Meta argue the Project Nido (an internal name for the Teen Accounts team) swag is part of "culture of privilege abuse at Meta" aimed at keeping the re …
Qualcomm’s new ‘Elite’ sound chip might finally deliver the Wi-Fi earbud dream
What if your wireless earbuds - or audio glasses - could stream high-quality lossless audio that doesn't cut out when you leave your phone on the bedside charger or buried in the couch? Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 is its first to integrate "micro-power Wi-Fi 6E" right into the chip, so they can connect directly to your home Wi-Fi network, and from there to the cloud.
If that sounds like a familiar promise, it's probably because Qualcomm promised something similar back in 2023 with the "S7 Pro sound platform" and its Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN) tech, saying that Wi-Fi earbuds can do what Bluetooth alone cannot. Name …
Microsoft puts Brad Smith in charge of communications
Microsoft is moving its communications group out of marketing and into its Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) organization. The surprise change will see Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith oversee communications, while the company searches for a replacement for Frank Shaw, chief communications officer, who is departing later this year.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thanked Shaw "for everything he has done for Microsoft" in an internal memo announcing the communications changes. Shaw announced earlier this month that he's leaving Microsoft after nearly three decades supporting the company's communications.
Brent Colburn, …
Gemini 3.8 Live with Live Avatar gives Google’s AI a face
Google's new Gemini 3.8 Live update lets users have conversations with the model while watching an animated AI persona respond in real time. The "Live Avatar" will lip-sync and show different facial expressions during conversations, but it's currently only available to Gemini Enterprise customers.
As noted by Google, Live Avatar can transition between the 97 languages it supports "without degrading video fidelity or introducing visual drift." One video shared by Google shows its Live Avatar talking in English and Japanese, with its mouth animation lining up with what it's saying in both languages. It can also pull up information on-screen w …
Sadly, this $1,549 RTX 5070-equipped gaming PC is a very good deal
While PC component prices remain high, you can save a good bit of money on a system by purchasing a prebuilt desktop. Walmart has a well-equipped CyberPowerPC gaming PC on sale for $1,549, almost $600 off its original price of $2,139. It’s powered by an Intel Core i7-14700KF processor, and paired with 32GB of 6000MHz DDR5 memory and an Nvidia RTX 5070 Founders Edition with 12GB of VRAM. The case is a CyberPowerPC MA-O1, an in-house design with extensive cooling options and three dedicated knobs for adjusting internal RGB lighting colors.
While it might not feel like it at first blush, this is a solid value for a gaming PC that’s ready to rock out of the box. The RTX 5070 in this machine is likely to run you upwards of $800 by itself at the moment (it launched in 2025 for $549), and 32GB of fast memory can be $400 or more. For just a small premium, you get those components packed into a nice case with a panoramic glass panel and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD inside. The whole kit is tested, with a one year warranty for parts and labor. It also includes a keyboard and mouse, so you can start gaming right away once it arrives.
Other deals to consider
- If you need a gaming monitor with spectacular colors and clarity to go with your new gaming PC, Newegg has the ASRock PGO27QSA-W discounted to $299.33, a significant discount from its original price of $476. This 27-inch screen supports 1440p resolution, a 240Hz refresh rate with FreeSync Premium for variable refresh rate, and an OLED panel for deep black levels.
- A two pack of Anker Zolo MagSafe wireless chargers is discounted to $25.99 at Amazon, where it would normally cost $39.99. Each charger is Qi2 certified, with support for up to 15W of charging power, and includes a five-foot cable for convenient positioning on your desk or nightstand. You’ll have to use your own wall charger, though.
- The Nintendo Customer Appreciation sale is live until September 26th at 8:59 PM PT, and is a great time to pick up an extra set of controllers, among other game and accessory deals. The Switch Pro Controller is only $56 (usually around $70) at both Amazon and Best Buy, and a duo of Joy-Con are only $62.99 at Best Buy, although only the pastel purple and green combo are currently in stock. The controllers are compatible with both the original Switch and Switch 2, although owners of the newer console will need a separate charger, and they won’t wake the system from sleep.
Jensen Huang talks about AI and climate change like a supervillain
As Jensen Huang puts it, AI can help fight climate change - but only if it inflicts "an enormous amount of pain and suffering" first.
The Nvidia CEO discussed the future of energy and AI's impact on our planet in the latest episode of The Ezra Klein Show. But his comments boil down to the same accelerationist spin we've seen from a variety of tech leaders as well as President Donald Trump. They promise that AI will be such a gift to humanity that it's worth the damage caused by data centers currently running on dirty energy.
Huang's extreme level of privilege is glaring
Huang's extreme level of privilege is glaring in the interview. He …
Meta is going to let you build games with AI right on your phone
Meta has a new plan to get people to make games for its Horizon social platform. The company today announced two new development tools that will let you create games with AI prompts: Horizon Create, a mobile app, and Horizon Studio, a browser app that offers more granular controls. The apps will be available in early access, and interested users can sign up for a waitlist.
Horizon has struggled as a platform, but Meta has a plan to give these new Horizon games significantly more reach: It's going to let published games made with Horizon Create and Horizon Studio get recommended on Facebook and Instagram, where they also will be playable.
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Muse will apparently let you download its entire filesystem
A pair of developers say that with very little prompting, Meta's Muse will share its entire filesystem with you. Peter James and Jonny L. Saunders have said they both independently coaxed Muse into zipping up and sharing the entire contents of its root filesystem, Ubuntu system files, app templates, and internal documentation. Saunders posted on Mastodon that it was "extremely easy" to replicate James' results and that Muse had "Almost no prompt injection resistance."
Meta denies that the incident represents a security breach. As noted in its announcement post, Meta's Muse runs in persistent Linux virtual machines for each user. Meta spokes …