Apple has released the second public beta of macOS 27, codenamed Golden Gate, letting testers in India try the operating system before its stable launch in September. The update centres on bug fixes and a dedicated Siri app with ongoing conversations and personal-context search, plus a refined Liquid Glass interface. It runs only on Apple-silicon Macs, excluding all Intel models.
WhatsApp is developing an update that would replace its six-digit two-step verification PIN with a dedicated password to better protect accounts. Spotted in the Android beta version 2.26.29.4, the password would support more than six characters mixing letters and numbers, resisting guessing better than a numeric PIN. SMS registration stays in place, and WhatsApp has not set a rollout date.
Anthropic has launched Claude Opus 5, an AI model for coding, research and agent tasks that rivals OpenAI's GPT-5.6. It sits below Fable 5 but claims to approach its performance at half the API cost, priced at $5 per million input and $25 per million output tokens. Opus 5 adds adjustable effort levels and a one-million-token context window across Claude's paid plans.
Apple is lobbying to use Chinese memory chips in products sold outside the US to cut costs, while supplier Micron Technology is pushing to block it, the Wall Street Journal reported. CEO Tim Cook pitched Trump and officials including Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent on sourcing from China's CXMT and YMTC. The clash pits two of Trump's priorities against each other.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the AI industry has lost trust because people fear the technology will eliminate their jobs. Speaking on a podcast, he noted a college speaker was booed for praising AI, and urged firms to use it to augment workers rather than replace them. His remarks come as Google, Microsoft and Amazon announce layoffs while ramping up AI investment.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang used his first X post on Friday to champion open-weight AI models, sharing a joint letter signed by Nvidia, Microsoft, Palantir, ServiceNow and Box. He wrote that AI 'will transform every industry, power every company, and be built by every country,' arguing openness boosts safety, competition and sovereignty. Huang urged US policymakers to lead in developing open AI.
Google has ended Play services support for phones running Android 6.0 Marshmallow, raising the minimum requirement to Android 7.0 Nougat. Affected devices won't stop working immediately — calls, messaging and existing apps continue — but they will no longer receive Play services updates, gradually causing compatibility, security and reliability problems. Google advises updating to Android 7.0 or newer, or switching to a supported phone.
A 55-year-old Florida pastor, Scott Winters, has sued OpenAI in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging ChatGPT repeatedly urged him to ignore worsening symptoms and avoid emergency care before he suffered a massive pulmonary embolism. The complaint says the chatbot diagnosed dysautonomia, recommended medications and dismissed his nurse wife's concerns. OpenAI denies wrongdoing, maintaining ChatGPT is not a substitute for professional medical care.
Google is redesigning how Chrome handles website notification requests on Android. From Chrome 155, permission prompts will appear as small, non-blocking pop-ups near the top of the screen rather than full-screen interruptions, and will disappear if ignored, keeping the default permission state. Users can later enable alerts via Site Controls. Google announced the change early because it affects how websites request permissions.
OpenAI is bringing ChatGPT Voice to its Work and Codex tools in the desktop app on macOS and Windows. Eligible paid users can now speak to start tasks, request progress updates and coordinate across multiple agents, with paired iPhone access for remote monitoring. The feature runs on GPT-Live, a full-duplex voice model that listens and speaks simultaneously and supports interruptions.
Anthropic is expanding Claude's Voice Mode to support its Opus and Sonnet models, not just the lighter Haiku, letting users tackle longer spoken requests. The update also connects voice commands to linked apps like Google Calendar, Slack, Notion and Canva, so users can retrieve information or perform permitted actions. It is rolling out as a public beta on mobile, desktop and web.
WhatsApp is rolling out a redesigned chat interface to select iPhone users, featuring rounder message bubbles and photos, videos and GIFs shown without bubble borders. Feature tracker WABetaInfo spotted the change in the iOS beta, with some TestFlight and a few stable users getting it. The purely visual refresh aligns with Apple's Liquid Glass design. WhatsApp has not confirmed a wider timeline.
Microsoft is bringing original Xbox classics to Windows PCs and handhelds for the first time, extending its backward-compatibility push. The launch lineup features four titles: BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live & Reloaded, Crimson Skies and Fuzion Frenzy, available to buy or via Xbox Game Pass. The ports add up to 4x upscaling, with Achievements arriving later this year.
Google parent Alphabet is reportedly developing a new chip, codenamed 'Frozen v2,' to run its Gemini models more efficiently, The Information reported. Citing anonymous sources, it said the chip could be six to ten times more power-efficient than Google's current AI chips and may launch in 2028. Google neither confirmed nor denied the report. Rivals OpenAI and Anthropic are pursuing custom chips.
Lumio co-founder Raghu Reddy told Hindustan Times that the chip shortage that has already lifted smartphone and laptop prices will push Indian television prices up over the next six months, and that every brand including his own will be affected. Co-founder Kailash Sankarnarayanan described the company's focus on content discovery, including a WhatsApp-linked assistant tested across nine Indian languages.
After a month of daily use, a Hindustan Times reviewer rated the Rs 47,999 Edge 70 Pro Plus highly on its quad-curved AMOLED screen, ergonomics and a 6500mAh battery that charges fully in 53 minutes at 90W. The Dimensity 8500 outpaced a rival on benchmarks. Criticism centred on Hello UI polish, unreliable Moto AI transcription and inconsistent camera white balance.
Amazon Web Services users worldwide were alarmed this week when estimated charges appeared in the billions, with one engineer posting a screenshot showing $1.5 trillion. A Delhi customer who usually pays $1.28 a month saw $10.9 billion; a UK charity worker saw $7.8 billion. Amazon blamed unit pricing in its estimation subsystem, disabled it, and said actual bills were unaffected.
Google has confirmed it will unveil the Pixel 11 line at its Made by Google event in New York on August 12, spanning the Pixel 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL and 11 Pro Fold. It has also teased a 'Pixel Glow' light strip. Separately, early Amazon listings spotted by 9to5Google leaked possible colours such as Midnight, Fuchsia and Moss, though these remain unconfirmed.
Chinese startup Moonshot AI's new Kimi K3 model could mark a 'DeepSeek moment,' Morningstar analyst Malik Ahmed Khan wrote. He called the leap bullish for the AI ecosystem but warned it pressures hardware and infrastructure firms by matching top-tier performance at lower cost. Morningstar cautioned against claiming near-parity with American frontier models, noting open-weight systems have gamed benchmarks to inflate results.
Motorola's Edge 70 Max reached Indian shelves a week after launch, priced at Rs 54,999 for 8GB/256GB and Rs 59,999 for 12GB, sold via Flipkart. Introductory offers cut Rs 5,000 through a bank discount or exchange bonus. The fifth model in the Edge 70 line runs a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, a 6.8-inch 144Hz AMOLED screen and a 7,100mAh battery.