Meta Superintelligence Labs has released Muse Voice Transcribe, a streaming speech recognition model that combines transcription, speaker diarization for over 20 voices, and endpointing in a single pass. It supports more than 70 languages, with 25 validated at launch, handles recordings over an hour long, and allows mid-sentence code-switching between languages. The model is live now in Meta AI for Mac, Muse Code, and via the Meta Model API at $3 per 1,000 audio-minutes.
Waymo published a blog post and gave interviews arguing that fully autonomous driving requires multiple sensor types, not just cameras and end-to-end AI, in an implicit critique of Tesla's approach. The move came a week before Tesla's planned September 3 event to unveil its Cybercab robotaxi, and coincided with Waymo announcing three new markets for its own service. The comments sparked a heated weekend debate on social media between Waymo's spokesperson and Tesla-aligned analysts.
Empirik, incubated inside Sequoia Capital since 2023 by former infrastructure executives Avon Puri and Sudheer Dhurjati, is now launching as an independent company with $21 million in seed funding from Sequoia, Canapi, and Alumni Ventures. The startup, now led by CEO Kartik Chandrayana, builds software that monitors infrastructure changes and predicts how they might cascade into failures before they happen. It already counts startups and Fortune 500 firms like S&P Global among its customers.
Sonos introduced two new Ultra-branded products: the Ace Ultra headphones priced at $449 and the Beam Ultra soundbar priced at $699, both available for pre-order now and shipping September 29. The company also rebranded its software platform as 'Sonos 27,' rolling out alongside the hardware launch.
Amazon launched a new Alexa for Shopping feature called 'Update Me When,' which sends personalized notifications when events like a new product line, book release, or concert announcement could prompt a purchase. Users manually set up these alerts for now, choosing what brands, artists, or products they want tracked.
Perplexity has rolled out Hybrid Compute in its Mac app, letting its Computer assistant start tasks in the cloud and shift sensitive steps, like those touching personal files, to a local model running on the Mac itself. An on-device classifier detects personal details such as names and account numbers, replaces them with placeholders before any cloud processing, and restores them once results return. The feature requires Apple silicon, macOS 15 or later, and at least 24GB of unified memory, with 32GB recommended, and uses no cloud credits or API key.
John Ternus sent his first internal memo after officially becoming Apple's CEO, thanking outgoing chief Tim Ternus... rather Tim Cook for his guidance and years of leadership, and welcoming him into his new role as executive chairman. Ternus told staff a 'huge launch' is coming next week and hinted at further undisclosed products in development.
Waymo has opened its self-driving ride service to the public in three new cities, bringing its commercial footprint to 14 U.S. metros. The rollout, which will expand gradually, pushes Waymo's fleet of Jaguar I-Pace vehicles and its new Ojai minivan past 4,000 cars.
Sonos hosted an Open House event on September, unveiling its next wave of hardware after CEO Thomas Conrad hinted in July that the company had spent two decades building what he called an operating environment for AI in the home. The event, not livestreamed, was covered by Engadget staff on-site through a live text blog, with speculation swirling around potential new speakers, headphones, or app fixes.
NVIDIA is launching DLSS 5, its latest AI upscaling technology, alongside NBA 2K27 on September 3. Early demos from Resident Evil: Requiem and Starfield drew heavy criticism for producing unnatural, over-processed character models, though NBA 2K27's implementation reportedly applies the effect more subtly with improved shadows and texture depth. The feature is exclusive to NVIDIA's RTX 50-series graphics cards.
Best Buy is offering the 256GB Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra for $1,799.99, a $300 discount that marks the lowest price since the phone debuted last month. The foldable brings brighter screens, sharper cameras, faster charging, and a larger 5,000mAh battery compared to its predecessor, though its hinge durability and IP48 rating trail some rival foldables.
John Deere has introduced an AI-powered chatbot for farmers, alongside a restated set of data principles governing how the company handles farm information. The company reiterated that farmers retain control over their data, that it won't be sold, and that it is not used for commodity trading or speculation.
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