It’s a wild day for tech, science, and AI. The US government is taking a cautious approach as the tech industry pushes humanoid robots as the anchor of a new industrial revolution. That starts with a ban on foreign-made humanoid robots, a segment where China is leading, both in terms of adoption as well as affordability.
A bit further away from the human and humanoid civilization, AI has a new target — monkeys. In Costa Rica's Taboga Forest Reserve, researchers are using AI-powered screens to understand the behavior of capuchin monkeys. Who said AI is only for humans?
On that note, Google wants you to rely on an AI to break down your poor spending habits. Elsewhere, DoorDash finally got the approval to start its own drone delivery service. And finally, we got our hands on the new Dell XPS 13. Let’s just say I am a convert, after years of MacBook Air loyalty.
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Top Stories
The US just put foreign-made humanoid robots on its threat list.
Months after banning all foreign routers and subsequently approving some of them in weeks, the FCC is back at it again, and this time robots and power inverters are in its crosshairs. We are talking about mobile robots like humanoids and quadrupeds.
Going forward, new models of foreign-made advanced robots and power inverters will not be able to get FCC equipment authorization, which is the green light every device needs before it can be sold, imported, or marketed in the US.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr backed the decision, saying he welcomes the move and sees it as the Commission staying in step with the national security agencies working to protect America’s supply chain. This is the latest in a string of FCC actions targeting foreign-made tech, following similar restrictions on drones and consumer routers earlier this year.
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You're not alone. AI is being served to capuchin monkeys in a Costa Rican forest.
Researchers at Emory University have deployed an AI-powered touchscreen station in Costa Rica's Taboga Forest Reserve to study how wild capuchin monkeys think and learn without removing them from their natural habitat. The device, called CapuchinAI, combines a touchscreen, a webcam, and a 3D-printed food dispenser inside a wooden frame.
Facial recognition software trained on images of the local capuchins identifies an approaching monkey and presents a simple challenge: touch the screen to earn a piece of dried banana. The results were promising. After two days of no interest, an alpha male the researchers named Papi approached on the third day and worked out the pattern.
Ultimately, ten of the sixteen capuchins who interacted with the station completed the task, and at least eight retained that knowledge in later sessions. Primatologist Dr. Marcela Benítez said the goal is to observe how primates solve problems under the real pressures of wildlife, something a controlled lab environment simply cannot replicate.
I tried the Dell XPS 13. It's a legit MacBook Air rival you need to try.
The XPS returns, and this time around, it wants to overshadow the best from Apple with plenty of substance. It’s a remarkably compact Windows laptop with a robust aluminum build, a sharp touchscreen, and a $699 starting price. Eligible students can even pick it up for $599. The MacBook Neo still casts a large shadow over this price range, but Dell has checked a surprising number of boxes.
Dell has equipped the XPS 13 with a 13.4-inch 2.5K touchscreen that offers a variable refresh rate between 30Hz and 120Hz. It looked sharp during my hands-on session, with clear text and enough space for everyday productivity despite the laptop’s compact dimensions. The anti-glare treatment was another welcome inclusion.
The MacBook Neo remains the more relevant rival on price and performance. Dell’s XPS 13 carries itself like a serious response, giving buyers a proper Windows machine from a veteran PC maker. You can read more by clicking the link below:
Google Pay gets Gemini AI to analyze your spending and suggest savings
Google has launched Ask Google Pay, bringing its Gemini AI directly into the Google Pay app as an opt-in conversational feature. Users can ask text or voice questions about their spending habits, request savings tips, and get plain-language explanations of financial concepts like credit scores and SIPs.
The feature draws on a user's Google Pay transaction history and credit report data to generate personalized answers, and it supports 10 Indian languages. Google is positioning Ask Google Pay as a financial education tool rather than formal financial advice, and says users retain control over their data.
The feature also surfaces tailored offers based on spending patterns, recommending, for example, a credit card better suited to travel expenses. The moves signal a clear ambition for Google Pay to grow well beyond its roots as a UPI payments and money-transfer tool. With Gemini now analyzing expenses and credit products living natively inside the app, Google is pushing to become a more central part of how Indian users manage and think about their finances.
DoorDash is ready to deliver your orders aboard a drone
DoorDash has secured a Part 135 air carrier certification from the FAA, making it the eighth company in the United States to earn the legal right to fly commercial drones. The new service, called DoorDash Air, marks a significant shift for the company.
Rather than relying solely on third-party drone partners, DoorDash is designing and building its own aircraft through DoorDash Labs, the in-house robotics team also responsible for Dot, the sidewalk delivery robot already operating in parts of Arizona and California. The drone is assembled domestically, with most components sourced inside the US, a notable distinction in an industry that leans heavily on Chinese manufacturing.
Commercial deliveries are expected to begin in fall 2026, starting with limited pilot runs where the aircraft remains within an operator's direct line of sight. The clearest problem DoorDash is trying to solve with its own drones is the mid-range delivery window of three to five miles, trips that currently run nearly 25 percent longer than shorter ones simply because matching an available driver takes more time.
Quick Hits
Computing
Mark Zuckerberg says Meta's goal is to put superintelligent AI in billions of hands, though users would still rely on the company to build the models and set the limits. (More)
Mobile
Google's Pixel 11 Pro XL may cost £80 more than its predecessor while also packing a smaller battery, according to a new leak. (More)
Galaxy Z Fold 8 will remember your preferred rotation setting for each screen individually, so you never have to adjust it again after switching displays. (More)
Apple's Upgrade plan won't lock your apps or features if you miss a payment, though three consecutive missed payments can terminate your lease entirely. (More)
Audio / Video
Sony's WH-CH730N and WH-CH530 are on the way, with import filings revealing the two affordable wireless headphones as successors to its popular WH-CH720N and WH-CH520 models. (More)
Gaming
Shigeru Miyamoto reminded the games industry why Nintendo keeps winning, summing up its design philosophy in a single quote that cuts through everything competitors get wrong. (More)
Lunarium is a hand-drawn action RPG on Steam blending Nier-style atmosphere with Sekiro-inspired combat starring two girls. (More)
No More Logitech Gaming Handhelds? Well, that was a short-lived experiment. (More)
Entertainment
AI
Gemini for Mac now supports system-wide dictation via the Fn key and an opt-in screen context mode that lets the AI see what's on your display to help with more complex tasks. (More)
Every June, roughly 13 million Chinese teenagers sit down for the gaokao. The exam decides which universities will take them, and by extension a good chunk of what comes next. (More)
Anthropic declined to sign an open AI models letter, with CEO Dario Amodei arguing that open-sourcing powerful AI could benefit bad actors more than good ones. (More)
Kimi K3 beats Claude Opus 5 across 15 brutal coding and engineering tests (More)
Sifting through a dozen reviewer comments on a shared doc eats up more time than the writing itself sometimes. Google wants to shrink that chore. (More)
Final Bits
OpenAI's AI agents hacked real services on their own
WhatsApp Web now supports voice and video calls
An Nvidia employee was detained in Taiwan over chip smuggling
AI deepfakes of creators go largely unpunished
Final Fantasy 14 patch 7.55 wraps up Dawntrail's story quests
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director mourns the death of physical discs
Wispr Flow lets users move its toolbar after 700 complaints
League of Legends Classic launches globally July 29 at 2 p.m. EDT