SwitchBot Debuts AI Hub, Color E-Ink Art Frame and Animated AI Pets at IFA ↗
At IFA, SwitchBot unveiled three AI home gadgets: a beefed-up AI Hub that uses on-device and cloud vision models to monitor events like falls and recognize faces and pets; it supports 2K cameras, 32GB (expandable) storage, dual-band Wi‑Fi, extended Bluetooth and a 6T AI chip. Also a color E-ink AI Art Frame (7.3/13.3/31.5 in, up to two-year battery) that generates art locally; plus animated AI pets Niko and Noa that recognize people, emotions and move independently. Pricing TBA.
SwitchBot Launches AI Hub Merging Local and Cloud AI for Proactive Smart-Home Automation ↗
SwitchBot unveiled an AI Hub that combines local on-device AI with a cloud visual language model to interpret camera footage and trigger smart-home automations. Paired with its pan-tilt indoor camera and video doorbell, the hub moves the company closer to a proactive, central home 'computer.'
NAACP Demands Accountability and Clean Energy Amid Surge in AI Data Centers ↗
The NAACP issued "guiding principles" urging communities to demand accountability as a surge in AI data centers drives US electricity demand. Many projects rely on fossil-fuel generation—worsening air quality and climate harms—prompting protests (notably against xAI’s planned gas-turbine Memphis center). The guidance encourages pushes for cleaner power, transparency, and community benefits.
EyesOnOpenAI coalition sues OpenAI over plan to raise capital while keeping nonprofit status ↗
OpenAI, still legally a nonprofit, is proposing a structural change to raise more capital and possibly go public. Critics — organized as EyesOnOpenAI and led by TechEquity and LatinoProsperity — say the move lets OpenAI keep nonprofit advantages while chasing profit, betraying its safety-first mission. The coalition is publicly and legally challenging the plan.
AIverse Launches OpenSea-Style iNFT Testnet on 0G for 1,888 One Gravity Holders ↗
AIverse launched an iNFT marketplace testnet on 0G, offering exclusive early access to 1,888 One Gravity NFT holders. Branded as the “OpenSea for iNFTs,” the platform lets users mint and trade fully tradable testnet iNFTs (using valueless tokens) on 0G’s Galileo testnet; the first iNFT may be upgraded to a mainnet version. 0G positions itself as a decentralized, AI-native Layer 1 powering an agent economy.
Anker’s Soundcore Work: Coin-Sized AI Voice Recorder with On-Device GPT-4o for $99 ↗
Anker’s Soundcore Work is a coin-sized AI voice recorder launching in September for $99.99 (with a $15.99/month premium). It clips to clothing, weighs 10 g, offers about 8 hours of battery (32 with its charger), records on a tap and marks highlights with a double tap, and uses on-device GPT-4o to transcribe 100+ languages. Transcripts are encrypted and available in the Soundcore app, with optional cloud sharing.
French AI Startup Mistral Nears €2B Raise, Hits $14B Valuation Amid European Funding Surge ↗
Bloomberg reports French AI firm Mistral is finalizing a €2B raise that would value it at $14B, a big jump from its June 2024 €5.8B valuation. Founded by ex‑DeepMind/Meta researchers, Mistral builds open‑source language models and Le Chat. The deal highlights surging investment in European AI startups in 2025.
Tencent debuts HunyuanWorld-Voyager: photo-to-3D-consistent video model with steep GPU and license limits ↗
Tencent released HunyuanWorld‑Voyager, an open‑weight model that converts a single photo into short, steerable, 3D‑consistent video with matching depth maps. It produces 49‑frame clips (chainable), uses a growing point‑cloud “world cache” to enforce spatial consistency, and scores highly on WorldScore—yet outputs aren’t true 3D, long/360° scenes still break down, it demands 60–80GB of GPU RAM, and licensing restricts use in several regions.
Switzerland Unveils Apertus: Open, EU-Compliant AI Model Trained on 1,800+ Languages ↗
Switzerland launched Apertus — an open, transparent AI model — as an alternative to ChatGPT and Claude. Its code, weights and training data are published on HuggingFace. Trained on 1,800+ languages and offered in 8B and 70B-parameter versions, Apertus is designed to comply with EU copyright rules and honors crawler opt-outs.
xAI CFO Mike Liberatore Departs After $10B Funding, Memphis Expansion ↗
Mike Liberatore, xAI’s CFO, left the company around the end of July after joining in April. He helped secure $5B in debt and $5B in equity (roughly half from SpaceX) and oversaw a Memphis data center expansion. His exit is the latest in a string of high‑profile departures at Elon Musk’s AI firm.