London-based fashion phone company Nothing is bringing its second-generation Nothing Phone to the U.S. on July 17, starting at $599. With Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, the Phone 2 is being described as a solid entry in the mid-tier price range. Included is a 32-megapixel front camera, with Sony’s IMX890 the primary sensor. There are also two rear 50-megapixel sensors. The advanced 18-bit Image Signal Processor (ISP) allows the new model “to process camera data up to 4,000 times more than its predecessor,” the company says. Read more

Elon Musk is sharing additional details about his latest endeavor, an artificial intelligence company called xAI. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX — and owner, executive chairman and CTO of Twitter — says his new company aspires to “understand the true nature of the universe.” While word began leaking out in February about Musk’s AI plans, he went public with his team on Wednesday (featuring executives from several notable tech firms), communicating via a newly minted website that also includes a recruitment message. Musk plans to release more information today live on Twitter Spaces. Read more

As a next step in its advances in ethical AI, Adobe has announced its Firefly generative AI platform now supports text prompts in more than 100 international languages. The company says its Firefly AI app has generated over one billion images in Firefly and Photoshop since implementation in March. Adobe has also deployed artificial intelligence in Express, Illustrator and the Creative Cloud. Positioning its latest news as an expansion of global proportions, Adobe’s generative AI products will now support text prompts in native dialects in the standalone Firefly web service, with localization coming to more than 20 additional languages. Read more

Google has updated transaction policies to allow for blockchain-based digital content, such as NFTs, to be placed within content distributed through its mobile software marketplace Google Play. Google has been slow to warm to blockchain integration, and the new approach comes with strict transparency requirements. If tokenized digital assets are part of an app or game “developers must declare this clearly,” Google explains, adding that “developers may not promote or glamorize any potential earning from playing or trading activities.” These stipulations intend to prevent the hype that has attached itself to so much blockchain activity from infiltrating Google Play. Read more

Video streaming tech company Roku has partnered with e-commerce platform Shopify to offer television viewers the ability to purchase products using their TV remotes. When a Roku Action Ad appears featuring a Shopify merchant, viewers can press OK on their Roku remote to get more information about the product and click to purchase directly from their TV. Consumers will be able to check out using Roku Pay. Roku explains Action Ads as “advertisements on Roku streaming devices that provide a down funnel action, such as sending users a text, scanning a QR code, or making a purchase.” Read more