Apple Watch Makeover, Chinese AI Deals, and a Robot IPO: What Actually Happened in Tech This Week

Apple’s Watch might get a radical makeover—or not

For the past year, Apple’s design folks have been kicking around some pretty wild ideas for the Watch. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, they’ve toyed with a screen-less band, different screen shapes, and even a round face—though that last one’s probably not happening. The thinking: what if the Watch isn’t just a tiny phone on your wrist?

They’re also mulling a premium tier above the Ultra and Hermès lines, and a cheaper model below the SE. But don’t hold your breath for a dramatic shift this year. The upcoming Series 12 and Ultra 4 are more about internal upgrades—the first notable performance boost in years—plus new health and fitness features. And ceramic cases? They might make a comeback, possibly this year or next.

Apple’s September event is tentatively set for September 9, so we’ll see the watches alongside the foldable iPhone and the iPhone 18 Pro lineup.

Apple’s Qwen partnership: here one day, gone the next

On August 8, a support doc titled “Use Qwen with Apple Intelligence on Mac” popped up on Apple’s Chinese site. It confirmed what many suspected: Apple Intelligence in mainland China will use Alibaba’s Qwen model. The page explained how to configure Qwen in System Settings under “Apple Intelligence & Siri,” then use it through Writing Tools and Siri—like asking Siri to have Qwen write a poem about a dragon.

It also specified the Qwen extension would work on macOS 26.6 or later, for users with a mainland China Apple ID, or those using a mainland China Mac, or physically in China without an Apple account. By the morning of August 9, the page was gone, and the link was dead. No official statement followed. Classic Apple.

OpenAI and Anthropic trade barbs after a Claude Code ban

Here’s a story that’s equal parts tech drama and comedy. OpenAI product lead Tibo suggested users could keep Claude Code’s harness but swap in GPT as the underlying model. Developer Alex Getman tried it, and his Claude account was promptly banned. He went public, asking both Tibo and Anthropic if that setup was against the rules.

Tibo responded, “I’d love to help, but I don’t work at Anthropic,” and added that banning someone for using a different model in a harness “seems odd.” Claude Code’s lead, Boris Cherny, later clarified that Anthropic doesn’t ban for that reason—it was likely a false positive from another risk control. The account was restored.

The two then traded jokes on X. Boris invited Tibo to apply at Anthropic; Tibo said he’s happy where he is and has several product launches coming. After the dust settled—and it settled quickly—Tibo noted that GPT-5.6 Sol works almost anywhere, including in Claude Code, and reset usage credits for paid ChatGPT Work and Codex users.

Apple tests domestic memory chips from ChangXin for China-market devices

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is testing memory chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) for potential use in iPhones and MacBooks sold in China. The move is partly a response to tight memory supply driven by the AI boom. Apple has held initial talks with the Chinese chipmaker, though the discussions are early and any adoption would be limited to devices sold in China.

CXMT is reportedly considering building a second fab in Beijing to boost capacity. HP and Acer have already started using CXMT chips in products sold outside the U.S., according to the Journal.

Unitree’s IPO: China’s first humanoid robot stock opens on STAR Market

Unitree Robotics began its subscription phase on Shanghai’s STAR Market on August 10, with an issue price of 150.8 yuan per share, valuing the company at around 61 billion yuan. It’s the first pure-play humanoid robot company to list on A-shares. The IPO involves 40.45 million shares and aims to raise about 4.2 billion yuan, of which 2.02 billion will go to embodied AI model R&D—marking the first time that budget exceeds hardware development (1.11 billion yuan).

The timing reflects a broader capital wave in robotics. According to Cailian Press, Chinese robot companies have raised 121.7 billion yuan this year as of August 8, already surpassing the 72.6 billion yuan for all of 2025. Unitree’s revenue jumped from 159 million yuan in 2023 to 1.7 billion yuan in 2025.

SpaceX’s Cursor acquisition nears completion, brand to fade

The Information reports that SpaceX’s acquisition of AI coding tool Cursor could close as soon as this weekend, in an all-stock deal valued at $60 billion. Employees have been told the Cursor brand will gradually disappear from new products, and the team may fold into SpaceX’s AI division. Cursor’s upcoming general-purpose agent, codenamed Sand, might launch under the Grok Bot name. TechCrunch has already started referring to “SpaceX, which now owns Cursor.”

ByteDance robotics lead joins Xiaomi for embodied AI groundwork

Kong Tao, formerly ByteDance’s robotics research director, has joined Xiaomi’s robotics unit to lead development of embodied intelligence foundation models, according to 21st Century Business Herald. Kong holds a PhD from Tsinghua University and was ByteDance’s first robotics-focused employee, building the AI Lab robotics team from scratch. He left ByteDance in June 2025.

Xiaomi’s robotics division has grown to about 200 people and recently released two models—Xiaomi-Robotics-0 and Xiaomi-Robotics-1—based on a “brain + cerebellum” architecture. Kong’s arrival, along with several former ByteDance teammates, strengthens Xiaomi’s software-side robotics expertise.

Farmer loses 150 acres of sesame after following AI pesticide advice

A 67-year-old farmer in Anhui province, surnamed Wu, had been consulting an AI app for over a year. In July, he asked it for a weed and pest control plan for his sesame field. The AI generated a “full 100-acre sesame aerial spraying plan” recommending two herbicides and two insecticides. Wu sprayed the entire field with a drone the next day—and by morning, all 150 acres of sesame seedlings were dead. The damage is estimated at 150,000 yuan.

Agricultural experts confirmed that one of the recommended herbicides, fomesafen, is meant only for soybean fields and is strictly forbidden on sesame. The AI’s customer service said the software lacks its own knowledge base and compiles answers from public web information, adding they’d investigate the source and logged the farmer’s complaint.

China’s car exports surge 57% in July

According to the China Passenger Car Association, July auto exports hit 1.092 million vehicles, up 57% year-over-year and 2% month-over-month. For the first seven months of 2026, exports totaled 6.4 million units, up 54%. Export value for the period reached $110.8 billion, up 55%. July alone brought in $19 billion, up 60% from last year, breaking a three-year pattern where July lagged May.

Chinese teens medal at first International Nuclear Science Olympiad

A team of four Chinese high school students brought home one gold and three silver medals from the 2026 International Nuclear Science Olympiad, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was China’s first participation in the event, which is backed by the International Atomic Energy Agency and covers nuclear physics, radiation protection, and nuclear fuel topics. Nineteen countries competed.

Harvey in talks for $500M+ round at $15.5B valuation

Legal AI startup Harvey is raising at least $500 million at a valuation of $15.5 billion, according to The Information. That’s about 40% higher than its $11 billion valuation five months ago. The company, which makes AI tools for contract review and legal research, now has annualized revenue exceeding $350 million. The round is likely led by existing investors, and the final terms could change.

Transsion moves closer to Hong Kong listing

Transsion Holdings, the Chinese phone maker that dominates Africa, has received regulatory approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to issue up to 132 million H-shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company filed its application in June. Transsion’s 2025 revenue fell 4.55% to 65.6 billion yuan, and net profit dropped 53.49% to 2.58 billion yuan, citing market competition and rising component costs. It still holds about 40% smartphone market share in Africa.

Berkshire’s operating profit rises 16%, buybacks accelerate

Berkshire Hathaway’s second-quarter operating profit grew 16% to $12.98 billion, beating analyst expectations. Net income doubled, helped by higher equity investment values. The company repurchased about $4.5 billion of its own stock in Q2 and added $3.3 billion more in July, continuing a buyback program that resumed in March. Cash reserves remain high at around $359 billion but have dipped from record levels.

Replit CEO: AI hasn’t killed programming—it’s made it more human

Replit CEO Amjad Masad told tech journalist Casey Newton’s podcast that AI is making software engineering “more human-centric.” He described how two years ago, his engineers were “heads down typing, all you heard was keyboard clicks.” Now, the office is “more dynamic.” Engineers spend more time at whiteboards, brainstorming and occasionally sending instructions to AI agents.

This contrasts with the “SaaSpocalypse” narrative that AI would let companies build software without buying it. Masad recalled a turning point when Anthropic released the Opus models: “I thought my life’s mission—teaching people to code—was pointless.” Replit shifted from “teaching coding” to “making coding as easy as possible,” giving rise to the “vibe coding” trend. Still, AI’s impact on engineering jobs remains real: Meta cut nearly 1,000 software engineers this summer, though Zuckerberg blamed AI spending rather than automation.

Pixel 11 Pro leaks: new colors, circular telephoto cutout

Photos of a Pixel 11 Pro demo unit have surfaced, showing a sandy color and matte black finish. The black model appears to have a circular telephoto lens opening, matching earlier renders that ditched the square module of the Pixel 10 Pro. Google’s Made by Google event is expected on August 13, though pricing and availability remain unknown.

Samsung’s next Galaxy Tabs keep the notch, add Dimensity 9500

Renders of the Galaxy Tab S12+ and S12 Ultra show Samsung sticking with the notch design for the Ultra’s front camera, despite rumors of a punch-hole. Both tablets are expected to run on MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500, ship with One UI 9, and get up to 7 OS updates and 7 years of security patches. The S12+ has a 12.4-inch 120Hz AMOLED and a 10,600mAh battery; the Ultra keeps a 14.6-inch screen and 11,600mAh battery.

Microsoft keeps adding Copilot to Outlook

Microsoft is rolling out “Explain This” to classic Outlook on Windows 10 and 11, letting users select any text in an email and get Copilot’s explanation based on the full message. The rollout is expected to finish by the end of September. For the new Outlook, Microsoft is testing a “Wrap up your day” feature that generates an evening summary of your inbox, highlighting what you accomplished, top focus areas, and tomorrow’s priorities—but there’s no opt-in or off switch, which has privacy watchers raising eyebrows.

New robot hand startup emerges from BlueSword, CAS Huiling

BlueSword Technology and CAS Huiling have launched a new company called Zhongke Huisi, based in Hunan’s Xiangjiang New Area. It unveiled three dexterous hands—L1, D1, and M1—and previewed an F-series with 37 degrees of freedom. The L1, priced at around 1,000 yuan, has been used in a robot band to play guitar, bass, and keyboard. The company also plans to build training grounds for hand skills and data collection centers.

KFC’s Crayon Shin-chan collab hits stores

KFC China launched a Crayon Shin-chan themed meal on August 8, featuring five collectible toys with sound and light effects. Pre-sales started August 4 with a limited run of 500,000 sets, each including a free egg tart. The toys include a wind-up Shin-chan and Shiro eating watermelon, a water-squirting fish gun, and a talking bath pot.

AI short-drama character’s ad pulled after false claim

A makeup ad featuring Fang Taozi, the AI-generated protagonist of the hit short drama “The Laid-Off Girl,” was taken down from Douyin. The ad had her saying, “My contact lenses have been comfortable all day,” which legal experts say is a problem because AI characters can’t actually wear lenses. Under Chinese law, medical device ads can’t use endorsers, and AI’s first-person claim of personal experience is considered false advertising. The drama has 260 million views, and the character’s account had amassed hundreds of thousands of followers in a month.

Airbnb stock jumps 15% on earnings beat, AI spending to soar

Airbnb shares rose about 15% after Q2 earnings beat expectations and the company raised its full-year guidance. CEO Brian Chesky said AI spending would be “much more” than originally planned, because inference costs are “nothing” compared to the revenue and productivity gains. He credited AI with boosting feature delivery by 80% and said even a tiny improvement in conversion more than pays for the compute. The company plans to keep headcount flat despite increased AI investment.

“Eight Immortals!” becomes top animated film of 2026

The Chinese animated comedy “Eight Immortals!” has grossed over 1.2 billion yuan in 17 days, surpassing “Boonie Bears: Year of the Bear” to top the 2026 animation box office chart. The film reimagines the classic Eight Immortals tale, with eight mortals pretending to be gods inside Penglai Immortal Realm to sneak into a treasure vault.