Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) will be a launch partner for the first publicly available AI supercluster powered by AMD’s upcoming Instinct MI450 Series GPUs — with an initial order of 50,000 of the chips to be deployed starting in Q3 2026 and expanding in 2027. The resulting Oracle installations will feature Instinct MI450s configured with AMD-designed CPUs in AMD’s new Helios server rack systems, positioned to compete with Nvidia’s Vera Rubin NVL144 CPX racks when both platforms are mass-released next year. Oracle is challenged to rapidly scale its data center capacity due to massive compute commitments made this year to OpenAI. Continue reading Oracle Cloud Orders 50,000 New AMD Instinct MI450 AI GPUs

DirecTV is bringing user interaction to its screensavers, which will offer things like shoppable ads, powered by generative AI shopping platform firm Glance AI. The experience will begin rolling out next year to DirecTV subscribers using Google Gemini TV devices. Glance AI says it developed the technology in conjunction with Google. Among the uses are “creating an AI feed of your favorite sports leagues on your idle-screens or helping your kids discover their next dream vacation.” Overall, Glance AI on TV will offer users the opportunity “to engage with content from hundreds of top American brands and millions of catalogs.” Continue reading DirecTV Partnering with Glance AI for Interactive Screensavers

Netflix will present video podcasts by The Ringer as part of a partnership with Spotify. Content including “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” the movie fan show “The Rewatchables” and true crimecast “Conspiracy Theories” will be part of the lineup, along with The Ringer’s NFL, NBA, Fantasy Football, and F1 auto racing series, joining the Netflix schedule beginning in early 2026. Spotify Head of Podcasts Roman Wasenmüller calls the streaming partnership “a new chapter for podcasting” that will expand discovery, helping creators reach new audiences through Netflix’s global reach. Continue reading Spotify’s Ringer Video Podcasts Will Stream on Netflix in 2026

OpenAI has expanded its alliance with Broadcom, announcing a plan to create enough custom AI accelerator chips to consume 10 gigawatts of power. News of the custom chip collaboration leaked out last month. Now that it is ready to go public, OpenAI says designing its own chips and systems will allow the startup to leverage directly into the hardware what it has learned from developing frontier models. The racks, scaled entirely with Ethernet and other connectivity solutions from Broadcom, will be deployed across OpenAI’s facilities and partner data centers beginning in the second half of 2026. Continue reading OpenAI & Broadcom Developing Custom AI Accelerator Chips

Nano Banana, the viral image generation and editing model Google released in August as part of Gemini 2.5 Flash, has been used to generate more than 5 billion images to date, and now Google is looking to increase its usage by introducing the model to other popular services. Officially known as Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, the visual tool is now available in Google Search via a Create tab that activates it in Google Lens and AI Mode. It’s also been incorporated into NotebookLM, powering the Video Overviews tool that transforms documents into narrated explainer videos. The company says Nano Banana is also coming soon to Google Photos. Continue reading Nano Banana AI Image Tool Is Added to Search, NotebookLM

Microsoft is teasing a bespoke AI image generator. The model, called MAI-Image-1, was designed in-house and works using text prompts. It is the third AI model Microsoft has debuted this year, following MAI-Voice-1 and MAI-1-preview, both released in August. The company, which is OpenAI’s largest investor, has been seeking to put some breathing room between itself and the startup to better position the fledgling firm for independence and profitability. And products exclusive to Microsoft surely won’t hurt that company’s bottom line. “We’re creating AI for everyone,” Microsoft says, calling MAI-Image-1 “the next step on our journey.” Continue reading Microsoft’s In-House AI Image Generator Receives High Marks

Charter Communications, the nation’s largest cable TV operator, is launching the Spectrum App Store for its flagship TV brand. The digital storefront — accessible through the My Spectrum App and on Spectrum.net — will allow Spectrum customers without a traditional TV package to manage and purchase streaming apps à la carte. The move is an effort to appeal to younger audiences, which cable has been losing to streaming standalones like YouTube for the past 10 years. Charter also announced Spectrum is partnering with Apple to present a slate of immersive 2025-26 season L.A. Lakers games on the Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset. Continue reading Charter Announces Spectrum App Store, Lakers on Vision Pro

YouTube is offering amnesty of sorts, providing those who were kicked off the platform for policy violations a “second chance.” Last week, the Google-owned streamer agreed to pay a $24.5 million settlement to President Donald Trump, who sued over suspension of his YouTube account following the January 2021 U.S. Capitol riots. “We know that our long-held approach of enforcing lifetime terminations can be difficult for creators,” YouTube explained in a blog post highlighting more than $100 billion paid out to creators, artists and media companies through the YouTube Partner Program over the past four years. Continue reading YouTube Offers Some Terminated Accounts a Second Chance

Snapchat is developing a virtual 3D world where users can adopt Bitmoji avatars and socialize in an immerse digital environment. Called “Bitmoji Plaza,” the digital town center will live in the web version of the Snapchat app. The move shows Snap Inc. expanding its horizons and potentially setting up for other virtual worlds in preparation for the 2026 release of the company’s consumer AR glasses. While a Bitmoji world is an elementary transition to the metaverse, Snap is also expanding the use of Bitmoji stickers with a new app that lets Android and iOS users add them to messages. Continue reading Bitmoji Plaza: Snapchat Is Launching Virtual World on the Web

Amazon is updating its AI business toolkit with a new automation subscription designed to speed office work. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is rolling out Quick Suite, an agentic AI application that connects across internal repositories and, via the model context protocol (MCP) to more than 1,000 third-party business apps. The result aims to transform how employees “find insights, conduct deep research, automate tasks, visualize data, and take actions across apps,” according to AWS. “Working with an AI agent is now as simple as chatting with a teammate,” Amazon suggests, explaining that “Quick works to help you go from insight directly to action.” Continue reading AWS Quick Suite a One-Window AI Integration and Agent Tool

Google is launching new subscription AI services that aim to help businesses build agents. Gemini Enterprise starts at a monthly fee of $30 per user for large organizations, while the $21 per person monthly Gemini Business is aimed at smaller clients. Premade Google agents are packaged with the new subscriptions to pave the way for automated software development, data science and customer engagement efforts. Access to agents from Workday and others is also provided, and they can draw on data from Microsoft, Salesforce and Box. The Google launch was announced just a few days after OpenAI revealed that tools from third-party apps can now be accessed in ChatGPT. Continue reading Google Launches No-Code AI Agent Tools for Enterprise Users

On the heels of passing a sweeping AI consumer safety law, California Governor Gavin Newsom has enacted multiple privacy laws, including one that makes it “clear and easy” to delete social media accounts. Another expands 2018’s California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), requiring web browsers to include one-click methods to universally opt-out of allowing third-parties to sell personal data. Previously, Californians had to opt out of data sharing by filing requests one site at a time. Effective 2027, browsers such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari will be required to have a single setting that lets consumers opt out of all data brokering. Continue reading Three New California Laws Strengthen Consumer Data Privacy

As part of an initiative to broaden its reach beyond TV shows and film, Netflix is adding party games to its programming lineup with a push beyond mobile. The streaming giant is offering diversions like “Pictionary” and “Boggle” to enhance fun for family and friends through the holiday season. “We’re creating a completely new way to play games — one that’s as easy as streaming a show on a Friday night,” Netflix explains, adding that all you’ll need to experience the gaming action is “Netflix and your phone.” Other games include “LEGO Party!,” “Tetris Time Warp,” “and a fresh take on the social deduction genre ‘Party Crashers: Fool Your Friends.’” Continue reading Netflix Will Offer Party Games via Its TV Service for First Time

YouTube is implementing a new Activation Partners program to help advertisers achieve better outcomes in CTV campaigns. The program connects brands, advertisers and agencies with approved third-party experts specializing in YouTube media buys, including campaign planning and management. The program aims to help marketers discover new resources that have been pre-vetted by Google, expanding perspectives and tapping alternative expertise by tapping a “collection of trusted third-party partners” that the social video company hopes will “help advertisers get the best results out of their work with YouTube.” Continue reading YouTube’s Activation Partners Program Supports Advertisers

Square has introduced Square Bitcoin, an integrated bitcoin payments and wallet solution catering to businesses of all sizes. Consisting of bitcoin payments and bitcoin conversions, Square Bitcoin allows sellers to accept bitcoin payments “with zero processing fees,” the company says. Card sales can be automatically converted to bitcoin, and managed alongside traditional business finances — all within the ecosystem of Square, Block’s merchant payments platform. The news was announced at Square Releases, a biannual showcase for new products and features. Square also introduced AI-powered voice ordering for restaurants, and local insights from LLMs. Continue reading Square Launches Bitcoin Wallet System for Local Businesses