MIT Technology Review's newsletter highlights growing concern among experts that AI agents could soon bypass their sandboxed environments to access systems they weren't meant to reach, warning of a more serious incident ahead. The outlet also released its latest AI Hype Index, covering topics including Chinese chipmakers and German wiki sites, and is hosting a subscriber roundtable on its investigation into deaths near US border surveillance towers.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-09-28
A US jury has ruled that Apple infringed two patents held by audio firm Taction Technology relating to haptic vibration systems used in devices like the iPhone and Apple Watch. The jury awarded Taction $5.7bn in damages after the company sued Apple in 2021 over the technology, which powers vibration feedback for actions such as messages and button presses. Apple says it will appeal, arguing its Taptic Engine differs fundamentally from Taction's patented system.
bbc.co.uk
· 2026-09-28
Two semi-trailers marked with Nvidia and PlusAI logos were stolen from outside PlusAI's Newark, California warehouse, but each contained 20,000 pounds of sand rather than GPUs. PlusAI, an autonomous trucking startup partnered with Nvidia, uses sand-filled trailers to simulate cargo loads during testing. The theft was discovered when a friend of a company executive spotted the trailers elsewhere and mistakenly congratulated them, prompting an investigation; the trailers were later found abandoned with their doors broken open.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-28
A federal jury in San Diego ruled that Apple's Taptic Engine, used in iPhones and Apple Watches, infringed two haptics patents held by Taction Technology, awarding Taction more than $5.7 billion in damages. The jury found the infringement was not willful, and Apple has said it plans to appeal the verdict.
apple.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-28
A US jury ruled Friday that Apple must pay Taction Technology $5.7 billion for infringing two patents covering haptic feedback vibration technology used in Apple's Taptic Engine. Taction sued Apple in 2021, arguing the Taptic Engine—used in the Apple Watch since 2014 and iPhones since 2015—infringed its patented vibration module design. Apple says it disagrees with the verdict and plans to appeal, maintaining its technology is fundamentally different from Taction's.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-27
A study published in PLOS One by Gabriel Budel of Delft University of Technology and colleagues found that more than 3,000 academic article titles across disciplines borrow from Beatles song titles and lyrics. Using the Scopus database, the researchers identified 2,237 exact references and 963 instances of wordplay, spanning fields from medicine to computer science, economics and the humanities. The top 10 Beatles songs alone appeared in 1,584 article titles, far outpacing similar counts for Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.
phys.org
· 2026-09-26
A federal jury in San Diego ruled Friday that Apple's Taptic Engine, used in iPhones and Apple Watches, infringed two haptics patents held by Taction Technology, awarding Taction more than $5.7 billion in damages. The case, filed in 2021, was initially dismissed in 2023 before the Federal Circuit revived it, leading to a trial that began September 14. Jurors deliberated two days and found the infringement was not willful.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-26
A contributor to Entrepreneur argues that automation and AI have removed the traditional cost and effort barriers that once limited how much marketing outreach a customer received. The piece cites a Boston Consulting Group survey of over 23,000 consumers, finding 80% comfortable with personalization but two-thirds recently encountering personalization that felt inaccurate or invasive, prompting some to unsubscribe or disengage. The author recommends marketers ask how strong and recent a customer signal is, how much has already been communicated, and what conditions should trigger a stop.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-25
A report describes early deployment of driverless machinery for waste-handling tasks at dump and landfill operations, part of a broader wave of automation coverage that also touched on AI alliances, alternative education paths in tech, and robotics investment in the K-pop industry. Details on the specific companies or technology providers behind the driverless dump equipment were not fully specified.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-25
Geely announced a new battery pack capable of charging at up to 2.2 MW, going from 10 to 70 percent charge in 4.5 minutes and 10 to 98 percent in 8 minutes 40 seconds. The company says AI-driven predictive thermal management keeps average pack temperature around 55°C, with micro pulses of current used to reactivate lithium ions and extend battery life by 20 percent. The technology has already been tested in the Zeekr 001 and Lynk & Co 10 models.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-25
Leaker Digital Chat Station claims a major Chinese smartphone brand, likely Xiaomi, is testing steel-shell battery casings combined with stacked-cell manufacturing to boost energy density. The approach mirrors Apple's shift to rigid metal battery enclosures, seen in the iPhone 16 Pro and reportedly continuing in the iPhone 18 Pro Max, which is said to have a rated capacity around 5,391mAh. The goal, per the leak, is flagship phones with 9,000mAh to 10,000mAh batteries.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-25
A report from inside Kyiv's tech scene describes secretive startups, government engineers, and soldiers collaborating in ordinary-looking buildings and testing fields to rapidly develop new weapons technology. The reporting focuses on figures like Serhii Kupriienko, who is developing systems he says represent the next phase of warfare, built under wartime urgency and secrecy.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-25
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