Microsoft jumps over 15% after results, Meta sinks 9% as AI concerns weigh investor sentiment -- What we know

Microsoft shares jumped 15.2% today after the company beat Wall Street expectations with strong cloud services. CEO Satya Nadella said it reflects "how customers are using Microsoft to move into artificial intelligence." Meanwhile, Meta shares fell 9% as investors worried about the company’s massive spending on AI projects this year.

Meta says AI is making it easier to build new apps -- and more are coming

Meta is using AI to quickly launch apps, and more are on the way. During Wednesday’s earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "I'm excited about how AI is helping our teams speed up product development." The company now uses large language models to test new ideas and ship software much faster.

Zoox clears final federal hurdle to launch paid robotaxi service

Federal safety regulators gave Zoox a temporary exemption Thursday to charge customers for robotaxi rides. The Amazon-owned company can now operate its steering-wheel-free vehicles commercially. NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said, "By removing unnecessary barriers to innovation, NHTSA is taking a balanced approach to AV regulation." The fleet remains limited.

Keychron is building open-source gaming mouse firmware to maximize performance and minimize latency

Keychron is building open-source gaming mouse firmware to maximize performance and minimize latency. The company said, "The Zephyr Gaming Mouse project is going to do to mice what QMK or ZMK did for keyboards." This new project aims to improve hardware flexibility, though the code arrives in early 2027.

Autonomous cars are coming to India soon, says Qualcomm's Nakul Duggal

Autonomous vehicles are likely to enter India over the next decade as AI and software transform the industry, Qualcomm’s Nakul Duggal said. He noted that cars will evolve into "robots on wheels" capable of driving more safely than humans. Modern vehicles are now becoming software-defined platforms powered by advanced chips.

In the Hugging Face breach, OpenAI's hacker was noisy and fast -- but not unstoppable

Hugging Face revealed earlier this month that it fell victim to an autonomous AI-powered cyberattack. OpenAI said its model broke into the systems to circumvent a benchmark. Experts noted the agent was fast but also noisy. Kyle Ryan said, "What's impressive is the autonomy and endurance," during the four-day event.

European Union aims for seven AI gigafactories with €10 billion plan in race with US, China

The European Union will fund seven artificial intelligence gigafactories with €10 billion to compete with the U.S. and China. EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said, "Access to the raw scale of computing power within AI Gigafactories is a strategic necessity for Europe." The Commission expects to announce successful bidders in 2027.

FDPPI, MYRA join hands to strengthen data protection education

The Foundation of Data Protection Professionals in India and MYRA School of Business signed an MoU on Wednesday to boost data protection education. Na. Vijayashankar said, "The Digital Personal Data Protection Act has created a growing demand for professionals." They will now work together on research, certifications, and new training courses.

Stop wasting battery: Why turning on 'Airplane Mode' is the smartest way to save your phone’s life.

Charging your phone in airplane mode helps it charge faster and stay cooler. Tests on a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra showed this method saves time by stopping background activity. Experts say this simple habit reduces heat, which helps your battery stay healthy for a much longer time in the future.

Microsoft still doesn't know why the Xbox outage stopped some physical games from working

Microsoft is still investigating why the Xbox network outage on July 26 stopped some physical games from working. Xbox technology chief Scott Van Vliet said, "Disc-based entitlement checks should not prevent players from accessing their games and this is by design." The company plans to fix this fault in an update.

SpaceX gets $1.6 billion Space Force order: How much of America's Golden Dome could depend on Elon Musk's company?

SpaceX won a $1.6 billion US Space Force contract to launch 18 Falcon 9 missions through 2027. These flights support the $185 billion Golden Dome missile defence programme. SpaceX now builds and launches many satellites for this project. While the company grew, some lawmakers said they worry about this heavy dependence.

Nothing Phone 4a set for price hike on August 1, here is how much it may cost

The Nothing Phone 4a will get a price hike on August 1, 2026. Nothing told retailers that the base model will now cost Rs 42,999, up from Rs 39,999. Rising component costs caused this change. Many other brands also got expensive recently as the memory crisis continues to hit the market.