Google’s AI Mode (announced Aug 2026) can now track flight prices, book hotels, and show point/mile costs. It surfaces options from 300+ airlines and sites, monitors fares with email alerts (180+ countries), and begins U.S. English hotel booking via partners like Booking.com, Expedia, Hilton, and Marriott.
OpenAI is developing a new “Persistent mode” for its AI coding agent Codex that would allow the agent to continue working autonomously until it is “put to sleep,” according to code reviewed by WIRED…
In 2026, Palo Alto startup Hoomanely launched the EverBowl, using sensors and AI to track how dogs eat and drink and alert owners when patterns deviate from a per-dog baseline. In an 18-month beta with ~5M data points across 80+ dogs, it flagged issues later linked to an infected chipped tooth and tick fever.
More than a hundred technology companies — including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft — signed an open letter in August 2026 calling on both the private and public sectors to strengthen…
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has declared a “major incident” following a cyberattack on one of its systems, with the Qilin ransomware gang claiming…
Google announced in August 2026 that it is introducing new memory-use requirements for Android apps, citing hardware supply constraints driven by the AI data center boom that are reducing the…
Australian Federal Police arrested two men in Perth on August 27, 2026, accused of belonging to TeamPCP, a cybercriminal group responsible for breaches affecting more than a thousand organizations…
Twitter.now launched in August 2026 from Operation Bluebird, co-founded by Twitter trademark counsel Stephen Coates, after X sued over the name. Early access costs $20, and VERA assigns trust scores, checks claims, and lets users filter posts below a threshold.
CivilGrid, founded in 2020 by ex-PG&E engineer Josh Mackanic, raised $26M Series A in Aug 2026 to scale its platform combining underground utility assets, property ownership, and environmental regulations. PG&E reports $60M in avoidable paving costs across 1,600 planned gas projects.
Adobe’s 2026 Photoshop beta adds an optional “AI Assisted Editor” that merges prompt-based image editing, background remover, and AI image extender into one panel. It also adds “markup” drawing for changes and updates Instruct Edit with Masks with Firefly Image 5’s full-image context (e.g., open closed eyes, add a hat).
Plaud’s One Explorer Edition adds built‑in 4G, letting you record and upload without a phone or Wi‑Fi, with up to 6 hours battery. Its charging case records up to 5 meters, lasts 36 hours, and runs “Plaud Agent” for Gmail, Calendar, Notion, and Slack; $249.99, shipping late Sept 2026.
Relay, founded by ex-Nothing AI lead Cookie Xu and hardware PM Raymond Zhu, released an Aug 2026 macOS voice-to-text beta to solve the “right volume” issue in shared offices. It runs on Google Gemini via an Fn hotkey; Relay Q arrives early 2027.
