At Apsara Conference 2026, Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu introduced the Zhenwu V900 accelerator, claiming it delivers three times the performance of the prior M890 chip and calling it China's most powerful AI chip. The V900 offers 216GB of GPU memory, 1,200GB/s inter-chip bandwidth, can scale to clusters of up to 500,000 cards, and is set for mass production in Q1 2027, earlier than the Q3 2027 date Alibaba previously targeted.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-23
Ema, which builds coordinated AI agent systems it calls 'AI employees' to automate HR, IT, and finance workflows, has closed a $77 million Series B funding round. The round, led by Creaegis with participation from existing backers Accel, Section 32, and Prosus, was all-primary equity and pushes Ema's total funding to $140 million while more than quadrupling its valuation from 2024.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-23
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has proposed requiring Google and Android device makers to present search-engine choice screens when phones or Chrome are first set up, followed by annual prompts. The plan also calls for offering users a choice of AI assistants that meet certain security standards, and for requiring search providers to clearly attribute publisher content shown in results. The proposals build on measures introduced earlier in 2026, including a June 3rd rule letting publishers opt out of AI results.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-23
John Imah, founder and CEO of SpreeAI, has been named one of Fast Company's Best Dressed in Business for 2026. SpreeAI builds AI-powered virtual fitting room technology, including size-prediction and personalized styling tools meant to improve online clothes shopping. Imah described the multiple roles entrepreneurs juggle, joking about wearing 'multiple hats' in his work.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-23
Microsoft has filed a patent application, published in July and titled 'Generative Narrative Game Experience With Player Feedback,' for a system that uses generative AI to alter quests, storylines and world details based on individual player behavior. The technology would track player actions through a 'narrative state graph' and could also factor in facial expressions and other emotional signals to decide which characters or areas to expand.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-23
A leadership commentary piece describes the author's personal experience of feeling defensive ego when an AI system's recommendation contradicted their own judgment. The author uses this anecdote to argue that traditional leadership habits are becoming obsolete as AI systems increasingly generate ideas that rival or surpass those of human leaders.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-23
SmartLabels is a QR-code labeling system for bins, boxes, and drawers that pairs printed codes with a companion iOS/Android app to log and photograph each container's contents. Each package includes 48 unique QR stickers, and users scan a code to view or update an inventory tied to that specific storage spot.
wired.com
· 2026-09-23
At its Made on YouTube event, the company unveiled updates to its 2025 creator dashboard, adding an AI 'agent' that scans a creator's back catalog for videos gaining new relevance and suggests updated titles or thumbnails. The tool can also generate sponsor pitches using channel demographic data, and creators can now get AI feedback on thumbnails or have the system auto-generate them, alongside a dynamic thumbnail A/B testing feature that assigns different images to different audience segments.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-23
China's CAS Space launched the Kinetica 1 Y18 rocket on September 20, carrying nine satellites including the Supercomputing-1 (S-AIDC-1), built by S-AIDC. The satellite combines a high-resolution optical payload with an onboard AI computer to process Earth-observation data in orbit rather than transmitting raw data to ground-based data centers, reportedly cutting processing times from hours to minutes.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-23
OpenAI and Anthropic each released new AI models on the same day, continuing a pattern of frequent announcements. Much of this apparent acceleration reflects companies repackaging capabilities from earlier flagship models into new versions at different price points, rather than pure leaps in underlying capability.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-23
OpenAI recently claimed its AI agents produced a solution addressing the Navier-Stokes equations, one of math's unsolved Millennium Problems, after running 10,000 agents for 88 hours. Mathematicians including Oxford's James Maynard and Brown's Javier Gómez-Serrano say the resulting proof, while apparently technically correct, is written in a form that is extremely difficult for humans to interpret or learn from.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-23
At Snapdragon Summit 2026 in Maui, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon outlined plans for AI agents on Snapdragon devices that could eventually make purchases on users' behalf, drawing on habits and preferences. He demonstrated a scenario where smart glasses prompt a wearer to rebuy sunscreen and lip balm she'd previously purchased at a store, requiring her approval before the transaction goes through. Amon said Qualcomm is building authentication and security technology so agents operate with user consent rather than autonomously.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-23