Author: Frank Salvato

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has successfully closed a massive $20 billion Series E funding round, significantly exceeding its original $15 billion target and reinforcing Musk’s bid to challenge the dominant AI players in the U.S. tech sector. The oversubscribed financing attracted participation from heavyweight institutional investors including Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, StepStone Group, and strategic tech partners Nvidia and Cisco Investments, who are expected to support xAI’s infrastructure build-out. According to reporting, the fresh capital is earmarked to accelerate development of advanced versions of xAI’s Grok chatbot—particularly Grok 5—expand Colossus supercomputing…

A fresh health-tech trend is pushing urine analysis out of medical labs and into everyday bathrooms with a wave of smart devices that monitor hydration, metabolic markers, and potential health issues right from your toilet, backed by multiple reports on newly available products. Wired’s coverage highlights the rise of affordable urine sensors like the Vivoo clip-on that analyzes hydration and other biomarkers via Bluetooth, as well as premium systems such as the Withings U-Scan that tracks ketones, acidity, calcium, and other indicators tied to metabolic or kidney health. Independent tech news outlets and product announcements further describe how these systems…

Nvidia this week unveiled Alpamayo, a family of open-source AI models designed to give autonomous vehicles human-style reasoning and decision-making at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show, marking what the company calls a “ChatGPT moment for physical AI.” These models combine vision, language, and action to help self-driving systems handle rare edge-case scenarios and provide explainable judgments, while open-source datasets and simulation tools aim to accelerate development and safety validation across the industry. Major automakers like Mercedes-Benz are already integrating the technology with plans to deploy on U.S. roads this year, and Nvidia’s broader strategy ties Alpamayo to its existing Drive…

A clear shift has emerged in the tech landscape: artificial intelligence is stepping off screens and into our homes in physical form, with companion robots and AI-powered pet-like devices taking center stage alongside traditional smart home tech. Multiple companies unveiled machines designed less for chores or productivity and more for emotional engagement and presence. Loona’s DeskMate transforms your iPhone into an interactive AI companion with expressive eyes and conversational features, illustrating the merging of AI with everyday devices. Robotics firms like Zeroth showcased home companions that blend utility with personality, while LilMilo from Ecovacs and other robot pets aim to…

Nvidia has officially launched its next-generation AI computing platform, the Vera Rubin architecture, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas, marking a major step forward in AI hardware design and production. The platform — named after astronomer Vera Rubin — combines six tightly integrated components including the Rubin GPU and Vera CPU to form an AI supercomputing system that Nvidia says delivers multiple-fold performance improvements over its predecessor Blackwell architecture, with up to five times more AI training compute power and significant gains in inference efficiency according to press reports and independent analyses. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang…

Teradar, a Boston-based tech startup, has debuted what it claims is the world’s first terahertz-band vision sensor designed for cars, trucks, and autonomous systems, showcasing the product at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas. The sensor, dubbed Summit, operates in the previously underutilized terahertz portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between radar and lidar, promising both high-resolution object detection and reliable performance in adverse weather conditions where legacy technologies often falter. Teradar, which recently raised $150 million in funding, says the Summit sensor combines the best traits of radar and lidar while overcoming their individual shortcomings, and is…

China has officially moved to establish the world’s first national standards for solid-state electric vehicle batteries, introducing a draft titled Electric Vehicle Solid-State Batteries — Part 1: Terminology and Classification for public consultation. These standards go beyond previous industry guidelines by setting stricter criteria — including a maximum allowable weight-loss rate of 0.5% in testing — and formally categorizing batteries into liquid, hybrid solid-liquid, and solid-state types, replacing the ambiguous “semi-solid” labels. This effort aims to unify definitions in the rapidly evolving battery sector, accelerate commercial adoption of next-generation EV batteries, and solidify China’s leading role in global automotive supply…

Hybrid vehicles are gaining notable traction in the United States as a practical intermediary between traditional gasoline cars and fully electric vehicles (EVs), with automakers and buyers alike shifting focus amid slowing EV sales growth and fading incentives. A January 5, 2026 article highlights how hybrids are bridging this gap, driven by expiring federal EV tax credits, range anxiety and limited charging infrastructure, prompting manufacturers like Ford and Honda to pivot toward hybrid offerings as a pragmatic balance of efficiency and familiarity. In parallel, Toyota is investing heavily in expanding hybrid production capacity across the U.S., signaling confidence in hybrid…

Recent investigation reports confirm that encrypted password vaults stolen in the 2022 LastPass data breach continue to be cracked by threat actors, enabling ongoing cryptocurrency theft through 2025 and potentially into 2026, with millions in digital assets siphoned off and laundered via mixing services and high-risk exchanges. Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs traced patterns of wallet drains linked to the compromised vaults, identifying at least $28–$35 million stolen and laundered through Russian-associated channels; historical links also tie the breach to larger crypto heists in the hundreds of millions. Despite LastPass’s encryption and mitigation efforts, weak master passwords and offline cracking…

Taiwan’s National Security Bureau says that in 2025 Beijing-linked cyber forces launched an unprecedented average of about 2.63 million attacks per day against critical Taiwanese infrastructure — including hospitals, energy grids, banks and tech sectors — representing a roughly 6% increase over 2024 and more than double the rate first recorded in 2023, with many incidents timed to coincide with military drills or political milestones as part of wider “hybrid warfare” pressures from China. The bureau’s annual analysis highlights a complex campaign of distributed denial-of-service, intrusion exploits, social engineering and malware attempts focused on undermining Taiwan’s operational resilience amid rising…