Google’s Gemini app surges to 1 billion users
Google's Gemini app has reached 1 billion users. The chatbot generates over 150 million images daily, and 63% of users engage with it through the voice feature.
Gemini App Tops 1 Billion Monthly Users as Google’s Fastest-Growing Product
The Gemini app reached 1 billion monthly active users, making it Google's fastest-growing product and the company's 14th service to achieve this milestone. CEO Sundar Pichai announced the figure on August 11, 2026, crediting vice president Josh Woodward and the Gemini team.
Pro Women’s Baseball Resumes for First Time Since 1954: A League of Their Own is BACK!
A women's professional baseball league resumed operations for the first time since 1954. Ninety-nine-year-old Maybelle Blair, a former player from the original league, attended the inaugural game despite recently breaking four ribs.
Infantino’s opponents developing new framework for running world football
Uefa, Concacaf, and the AFC are jointly developing a new framework for running world football to replace what they view as Fifa's patronage system under Infantino. These three confederations initiated this effort after Infantino ignored their repeated calls for an independent governance review following his proposal to sell 21% of the World Cup.
Apple TV eyes US broadcast rights to the Open as foray into sports broadcasting continues
Apple TV is pursuing US broadcast rights to the Open Championship golf tournament after preliminary discussions with the R&A. NBC currently holds the rights, which expire in 2028.
Pathway Raises New Funding at $500M Valuation to Scale Post-Transformer AI
Pathway secured $30 million in seed financing at a $500 million valuation to develop post-Transformer AI models. The funding includes investors like Id4 Ventures, TQ Ventures, and Databricks Chief AI Scientist Jonathan Frankle.
IBM bets $240m on cheap, open-source inference to take on the hyperscalers
IBM is investing $240 million in a multi-year deal with startup Together AI to deploy Nvidia Blackwell systems on IBM Cloud, betting that enterprises prioritize inference cost over model prestige. The partnership focuses on making cheaper open-source AI inference available to enterprises through IBM Cloud infrastructure.
Bank of Russia Approves Bitcoin Trading For Retail Investors
The Bank of Russia has approved Bitcoin trading for retail investors, allowing ordinary citizens to purchase and trade the cryptocurrency. This regulatory approval represents Russia's formal move toward integrating digital assets into its financial system.
An unreleased Anthropic model made progress on one of math’s biggest unsolved problems
An unreleased Anthropic model made progress on the Riemann hypothesis, one of mathematics' greatest unsolved problems spanning over 150 years. The model demonstrated greater advancement on the problem than would typically be anticipated from an AI system.
NASA Shares Station Research Today Supporting Moon, Mars Tomorrow
The International Space Station conducted scientific experiments throughout 2026 to support future lunar and Mars missions. NASA's Artemis II mission achieved the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than 50 years in April.
Mistral AI wants to build 1 gigawatt of European compute by 2030 — and lock in customers now.
Mistral AI announced plans to build one gigawatt of European compute capacity by 2030 through multi-year customer commitments, with 200 megawatts operational by 2027. The company is also introducing regional inference endpoints, uptime guarantees for mission-critical workloads, and hosting third-party open models like GLM-5.2 from Chinese lab Z.ai.
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning and NeMo Switchyard Deliver Faster, Smarter, More Efficient Agentic AI
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning joins the Nemotron 3 model family as the highest-efficiency model for long-running agentic AI workloads. The open model expansion addresses market demand for full control over AI deployment and evolution.
LTX-2.5 can generate a 10-second AI video from an image in just 6.8 seconds on Nvidia superchips — and it's open weights
LTX-2.5 generates a 10-second AI video from a single image in 6.8 seconds on Nvidia superchips. The open-weights model is now available on Hugging Face, integrated into ComfyUI, and accessible through the LTX API for teams.
Nvidia's Switchyard router reshuffles AI models mid-task, cutting task costs to a third in its own tests
Nvidia released Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, a 30-billion-parameter mixture-of-experts model, alongside NeMo Switchyard, a routing library that directs each workflow step to the most appropriate model. According to Nvidia's tests, the combination achieves frontier-level task completion while reducing costs to approximately one-third compared to running Opus 4.8 alone.
Why the agent harness matters as much as the model in AI security
Agent harnesses significantly impact AI security outcomes beyond just the underlying model itself. Red-teaming research demonstrates that the specific harness chosen by developers can determine whether security vulnerabilities emerge or remain contained.
Novo Nordisk and AWS bring agentic AI into drug discovery
Novo Nordisk is deploying AWS AI agents for target identification, therapy design, and research workflows in drug discovery. AWS becomes the company's preferred cloud provider and strategic AI partner under a new agreement that includes a co-innovation hub in London.
Thailand Grants 5-Yr Capital Gains Tax Exemption for Crypto Trades on Licensed Platforms
Thailand granted a five-year capital gains tax exemption for cryptocurrency trades conducted on licensed platforms beginning January 1, 2025. The Finance Ministry introduced this temporary relief measure to support crypto activity within the country's regulated financial system.
White House committed to passing Clarity Act in September, says advisor
The White House stated commitment to passing the Clarity Act in September. The legislation would reshape digital asset regulation and affect how regulatory authority is distributed among agencies.
Brazil to Impose 24-Hr Hold on Crypto Transfers to Self-Custody Wallets in Fraud Crackdown
Brazil's Central Bank implemented a 24-hour mandatory hold on cryptocurrency transfers to self-custody wallets to combat fraud. The regulation, Resolution BCB No. 584/2026, was published on August 7, 2026, and amends previous fraud-prevention measures.
BitMEX Founder Arthur Hayes Flags Potential Bitcoin (BTC) Price Dip to $50K Before Hitting $1M Mark
Bitcoin could dip to $50,000 before eventually reaching $1 million, according to BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes. Hayes presented this scenario in a recent essay outlining potential short-term weakness followed by long-term gains for the cryptocurrency.
inKind Raises $414 Million to Fuel Restaurant Commerce Platform
inKind raised $414 million in a second financing round, bringing its total capital to over $1.2 billion. The company operates a restaurant commerce platform designed to connect participants in the food service industry.
By Year Three, Half of Founders Are No Longer CEO. Here’s How to Be in the Other Half.
Half of founders leave their CEO position by year three because they continue managing the original company rather than adapting to its evolved state. Successful founders shift their calendar priorities, restructure their team, and change decision-making processes before boards force them out.
Upwork Navigates Cross-Currents as AI Reshapes Freelance Demand
Low-complexity freelance assignments are being automated faster than Upwork anticipated, according to the company's second-quarter results. The earnings report revealed how AI is reshaping demand across different types of freelance work and changing what businesses are willing to pay for.
Wells Fargo Brings the Stablecoin Fight Inside the Bank
Wells Fargo will offer tokenized deposits to corporate clients starting this fall, enabling blockchain-based transfers in U.S. dollars and British pounds. The service allows companies to move and program funds while keeping assets within the traditional banking system.
DNA repair enzymes favor specific sequences, shaping mutation patterns in the human genome
DNA repair enzymes preferentially fix damage at specific DNA sequences, creating non-random patterns of mutations across the human genome. This sequence selectivity determines which damaged DNA segments get repaired versus which remain as permanent mutations.
Voyager 2 was Running Low on Power Until NASA Engineered a ‘Big Bang’ to Buy Another Year
NASA engineers shut down certain powered components on Voyager 2 and replaced them with less energy-intensive alternatives to extend the nearly 50-year-old spacecraft's operational life. The team simultaneously disabled specific systems while maintaining adequate power for heating to keep the spacecraft functioning properly.
North Korean Hackers Leverage AI to Enable Strikes on Crypto and Finance Targets
North Korean hackers are incorporating artificial intelligence into their operations to target cryptocurrency and financial institutions. The threat actor Kimsuky is experimenting with local large language models to enhance its intelligence gathering and revenue-generating cyber activities.
Nvidia Forms Financial Partnerships to Fuel AI Factory Boom
Nvidia partnered with six financial institutions to establish independent compute platforms designed to mobilize over $500 billion in third-party capital for AI infrastructure buildout. The partnerships involve firms including Apollo, BlackRock, and Blackstone.
Blockstream Debuts Swaps, Allowing Bitcoiners to Move Between Lightning and Main Network With Ease
Blockstream introduced a trustless swap feature enabling users to move Bitcoin between the Lightning Network and the main blockchain. The feature launched following Boltz's suspension, allowing bitcoiners to exchange between the two networks without requiring a trusted intermediary.
NVIDIA Mobilizes $500 Billion in Third-Party Capital to Finance AI Compute
NVIDIA signed agreements with six major investment firms including Apollo, BlackRock, and Blackstone to establish independent financing platforms that will mobilize over $500 billion in third-party capital for AI infrastructure. The platforms are designed to create dedicated pools of capital at scale for AI compute investments.