WHAT’S INSIDE

👇️ Todays’ Feature: Google Pixel 10 & Live; The First AI-Native Mobile?

• Tech News: Jackson Hole, Factory Surge, China Chip ban, SEC's Crypto Pivot

• Company Watch: FieldAI, Zero Shot, Databricks, Startmate, Group14, MSNBC

• Buzzy Tools: Latest Buzzy tech, AI and financial tools

• Deep Tech: The latest in deep tech, biotech, futurism and more

• Space Tech: Latest news in the space race and aerospace tech

• Crypto: Blockchain and crypto policy and startups or protocols to watch

TECH IN THE NEWS

Powell's Rate Shift — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hints at potential interest rate cuts in his Jackson Hole speech, marking a shift from previous inflation concerns as the economy stabilizes, addressing economic risks and policy impacts.

Factory Surge — U.S. business activity rose in August, led by strong manufacturing growth. The S&P Global Composite PMI hit 55.4, with manufacturing at 53.3. Services dipped, employment improved and input prices climbed due to tariffs.

US, EU Trade Deal — The U.S and EU have agreed to terms of a framework trade pact that would set a 15% tariff on many EU imports, including cars, auto parts, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

Nvidia Halts China Chip — Nvidia has paused production of its H20 AI chip for China, instructing suppliers like Amkor Tech and Samsung to cease work. This move responds to Chinese authorities' concerns about information risks.

Democracy in Peril? — A Reuters/Ipsos poll finds 57% of Americans fear for democracy due to partisan redistricting. With 55% opposing it, the survey reveals deep political divisions and increasing reluctance to engage across party lines.

SEC's Crypto Shift — SEC Chair Paul Atkins signals a positive turn for crypto, stating few tokens are securities. Project Crypto aims to modernize securities laws and boost on-chain systems, marking a shift from the previous admins' approach.

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Google Announces Latest Products, Signs $10B Deal With Meta

By Vivien Wang

On Wednesday, Google hosted this year’s annual Made by Google event in NYC, debuting products like the Pixel 10, as well as additional AI-powered consumer hardware and software. This event comes before Apple’s anticipated hardware event in early September, where the company is expected to release its latest iPhones, AirPods, and upgrades to its Apple Watches. At the same time, OpenAI is challenging Google by expanding into search while Meta is doing the opposite, inking a major $10B deal with Google. 

AI-Powered Hardware

Headlining Made by Google was the Pixel 10, a smartphone that expands on the Pixel line as the premier showcase for its AI models, especially Gemini. The phone is built to demonstrate how deeply on-device AI can be woven into everyday tools. An important addition to the Pixel 10 was its new dedicated telephoto lens, which, aided by AI, is intended to make users better photographers in unprecedented ways. 

Traditionally, users have to rely on digital zoom to make objects larger on screen; this works by making pixels larger and using software to clean up the image. Through this method, image quality must be sacrificed for more zoom. However, with Google’s new Pro Res Zoom on the Pixel 10 Pro, generative AI is used to refine the results on zoom past 30x, and zoom can now reach up to 100x. In response to worries about visual artifacts, a Pixel cameras product manager claimed that the team’s focus on using AI for this specific use case would result in images as authentic as the real photo. Additional features include real-time photo enhancement, subject-aware editing, and context-based camera suggestions that Google frames as using AI for creative collaboration. 

Alongside the Pixel smartphones, Google also introduced wearables like the Pixel Watch 4 with key upgrades including longer battery life and AI capabilities like accessing Gemini with the lift of a wrist. The Pixel Buds 2a and Pro 2 are boasting new features in active noise cancellation and a Gemini feature for answering calls with gestures for the latter, both of which reflect Google’s ambition to embed AI ubiquity across its ecosystem. 

Google’s AI Integration Strategy

Perhaps the biggest product story beyond hardware is the formal rollout of Gemini Live, an expansion of Google’s AI assistant into a full interactive system across devices. Gemini Live will gain a new audio model detecting users’ tone and adjusting responses accordingly, and a few other new features. With Visual Overlays, Gemini Live will be able to see through the lens of users’ cameras and provide guidance through highlighting things on screen. Magic Cue will let the AI be more proactive by offering contextual suggestions in real time, integrating with apps like Gmail, Calendar, Messages, and more to make Gemini Live a true AI assistant. Google has also announced a new AI voice assistant called Gemini for Home that will replace Google Assistant on Google’s smart home devices. Gemini Live will also be integrated into these home devices, resulting in a more powerful and easier experience. 

What unifies all of Google’s announcements this year is the deep embedding of Gemini into the consumer hardware layer, making these devices less about specifications and more about AI capabilities. Google seems to be attempting to differentiate more through smarter, more human-like interactions, rather than just thinner bezels or bigger batteries. The focus on on-device and hybrid AI processing addresses consumer concerns about latency, privacy, and dependence on the cloud, with Google touting its latest Tensor G5 chip as specialized for AI co-processing, positioning the Pixel 10 series as AI-first devices rather than simply smartphones with AI features tacked on. 

What Competitors Are Doing

Google’s moves come ahead of Apple’s September hardware event, where it will unveil its iPhone 17 lineup. It’s rumored that Apple might be announcing its slimmest phone ever, the iPhone Air, which could replace the iPhone Plus. There’s also some speculation regarding how Apple might introduce its version of on-device AI integration, with Apple not historically being first-to-market with new AI features but emphasizing the delivery of polished, privacy-centric AI experiences. Some hope to see increased AI integration, while skeptics of Google’s Pixel 10’s photography features view this as a potentially negative update. 

Meanwhile, OpenAI is quietly but aggressively expanding its search-like products, reportedly leveraging data from real search queries to boost ChatGPT’s capabilities– a move that directly challenges Google’s core business and cements AI-enhanced search and information retrieval as a major battleground. 

Meta, on the other hand, has just finalized a six-year $10B cloud deal with Google, a surprising collaboration that underscores Meta’s need for compute infrastructure to fuel its AI roadmap. Google’s ambition and opportunity to position itself as indispensable for scaling generative AI workloads, along with being able to access data from competitors, could prove to be a valuable competitive advantage in AI.  

The Risks of Increased Personalization

The competition of AI hardware is now shaping up to be a contest of ecosystems rather than single devices, exemplified by Google’s AI-first strategy, Apple’s focus on consumer quality and privacy, and OpenAI’s attempt to bypass devices altogether by reshaping how people search and interact with information. For consumers, the potential is enormous with more intuitive and context-aware tools and features, but this also raises questions about reliance, data privacy, AI bias, and whether control will rest with consumers or platforms. 

As Google brings more vision-based AI into everyday life, the company positions itself at the center of an unprecedented stream of visual data. While this is marketed as personalization, such data flows could result in pervasive surveillance, further concentrating knowledge about people’s lives into the hands of companies. Meta’s emphasis on AI-powered hardware further adds to this discussion, and Google is also starting to roll out smart glasses.

The trade-off is becoming sharper – richer AI assistance requires more real-time video and contextual signals, but those same signals create an expanded map of human behavior. Whether Google can reassure users that this map will not become a tool of surveillance by advertisers, governments, or even the platform itself, may prove crucial to consumer trust and to the success of its AI-integration focused strategy. 

COMPANIES TO WATCH

[Open Deal] FieldAI — Specializes in advanced robotic intelligence development, raising over $400M. The firm is expanding its reach with projects like the Spirit Runner, a mobile food bus in Central Valley, CA, supported by Save the Children.

[Open Deal] Zero Shot Fund — Founded by ex-OpenAI employees, the fund aims to raise $100M to invest in AI startups, particularly those by former OpenAI alumni. Inspired by "zero-shot" learning, this initiative follows trends seen in other tech firms.

Databricks — Closing a $1B funding round at a $100B valuation, this AI database innovator is launching Lakebase to tap into the rising AI-generated databases trend. The company will prioritize efficient database creation and AI agents for productivity.

Startmate Winter '25 Cohort — Features innovative startups tackling challenges in AI healthcare, hybrid care delivery, and automated retail. Notable projects include Care GP's AI for healthcare, and Ninja AI's app integration.

Meta — Restructuring its AI organization into four new groups under the Meta Superintelligence Labs. Led by Alexandr Wang, the focus is on foundation models, research, product integration, and infrastructure. Zuck is directly involved.

Group14 — Specializes in silicon anode manufacturing for EVs, based in the USA. Secured $463M funding led by SK, with Porsche and Microsoft participating. Their tech offers up to 50% increased energy density and faster charging.

MS NOW — MSNBC rebrands to My Source News Opinion World under Versant, a Comcast spin-off, to emphasize independence in news and opinion journalism, alongside investments in marketing and staffing.

SignalPulse — Read the Top signals, Startups + Deals From Last Week

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BUZZY TOOLS

Buzzy Tech Tools To Watch & Use

Google — Pixel 10 AI-powered features; AI health coach, 5x zoom.

Notion — Offline mode for note editing and creation on desktop and mobile apps.

Anthropic — Claude Code in enterprise plans for advanced coding tools, admin.

Vision Correction Technique — pH-altered corneal reshaping may replace LASIK.

Pregnancy Robots — Artificial womb aids infertile couples, costs $14,000.

BUZZY TECH

The Latest Deep Technology & Trends To Watch

Electromechanical Reshaping (EMR) — Electric potential reshapes cornea.

Megalibrary — AI discovers efficient, low-cost hydrogen catalyst, surpasses iridium.

AI Consciousness — Mustafa Suleyman warns of risks in AI consciousness.

US Renewables Surge — Solar, wind dominate 91% new US power capacity in 2025.

Nonlinear Techies — Platform demystifies non-technical roles in tech.

CRYPTO WATCH

Wyoming's Frontier Stablecoin — Wyoming launches the Frontier Stable Token (FRNT) on Eth, Sol, and Avax. Unique for its support of Wyoming's School Foundation Fund, it's not regulated under the GENIUS Act.

Crypto ETF Outflows — Spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs saw outflows of $523M and $422M as institutions adjust positions amid inflation and Federal Reserve concerns. Analysts view this as market rebalancing rather than collapsing demand.

SEC’s Project Crypto — SEC Chair Paul Atkins signals a shift in crypto regulation, stating most tokens aren't securities. His Project Crypto aims to modernize regulations, fostering innovation and protecting markets.

Coinbase's AI Payment Push — Leveraging stablecoins with its x402 protocol for instant AI payments. Despite competition from Stripe and PayPal, it aims to transition from trading to practical payment solutions, facilitated by the new US stablecoin law.

Yuan Stablecoin — China is exploring yuan-backed stablecoins to boost global trade and payments. The initiative outlines offshore usage targets and risk management, marking a shift from the digital yuan amid declining payment share.

Goldman Sachs Stablecoin Surge — Forecasts the stablecoin market reaching trillions with payment opportunities and legislative backing. USDC could grow by $77B by 2027. U.S. Treasury supports stablecoin legislation for global expansion.

SPACE_RACE

—New Supernova_Rare "stripped-to-bone" star explosion reveals heavy elements

—NISAR_NASA-ISRO satellite deploys record 39-foot Earth imaging radar antenna 

—NASA_Shifts focus from Earth science to moon/Mars exploration

—Uranus Moon_Webb Telescope discovers new moon orbiting Uranus

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