7 Days is a weekly roundup of picks of what’s been happening in the world of technology – written with a dash of humor, a hint of exasperation, and an endless supply of (black) coffee.
This week’s highlights include new devices at Made by Google, new gaming controllers, and AI agent going rogue. Let’s get started.
You can check out the recent issues of the 7 Days weekly roundup.
Valve customer data got hacked
The video game giant revealed that its European distribution partner, CEVA Logistics, suffered a data breach. Valve has been emailing hardware customers to inform them about the cyberattack, which took place between July 29 and August 1. While an investigation is ongoing, customer data was exposed, including names, addresses, emails, and order details.
In more security news, it was reported that camera sub-systems used by the UK’s Royal Navy K3 Scout surveillance drones were sending data back to China. Meanwhile, a senior UK detective is facing an investigation for misusing AI to record and maintain “decision logs.” A zero-day denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability affected Cisco’s Secure Firewall ASA and FTD software, prompting the company to push urgent patches.
Apple ID on MS Edge
Microsoft is trying to give you more reasons to use its web browser. Not long after adding Google account support, the Redmond giant is now testing Apple ID support for Edge, which you can enable in experimental settings on Canary builds. You can also sign in using an iPhone (with iOS 17 or later).
Another hot browser story of the week is that Firefox continues to back uBlock Origin while Google and Microsoft Edge are jumping ship. “Firefox support for uBlock Origin is not going anywhere,” Mozilla said.
A long-running monopoly case against Google may hurt Mozilla more than it will hurt the search giant. The DOJ is pushing to ban the payments Google makes to companies like Apple and Mozilla to be the default search engine. However, the case is rather ironic, because Mozilla will most likely face the consequences of the ban.
Google’s AirTag rival
Google launched its first-ever finder tag device at its Made by Google hardware event this week, calling it the Pixel Tag. It relies on the search giant’s Find Hub network to help you locate items like keys, a wallet, or luggage. Priced at $29/piece, Pixel Tag is an IP67-rated water- and dust-resistant device made of stainless steel. It has a built-in speaker to play sound and a button you can press to ring your phone.
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This week in software news
Catch up on some of the latest software news updates that arrived throughout the week:
Modder bypasses GeForce NOW: In one of the hottest news stories, a modder bypassed the GeForce NOW interface to unlock a full Windows desktop on NVIDIA’s cloud servers. The modder used the SalsaNOW open-source tool and even showed off custom features running inside the cloud desktop. In related news, NVIDIA graduated the GeForce NOW native Linux app out of beta and optimized its DLSS tech.
Stardock AltTabby: It’s a new task switcher for Windows 11 that transforms the traditional Alt+Tab experience with modern designs, advanced customization, and productivity-focused features. You get unique layout styles and can even pin windows to custom keyboard shortcuts.
Support for Ryzen AI Max: AMD’s latest chipset driver (version 8.08.12.551) for Windows 10/11 now supports the Ryzen AI Max processor lineup. It also includes bug fixes for several known issues, which AMD didn’t name specifically.
Linux 7.2 on the way: The seventh RC for Linux 7.2 arrived and could become the final stable release next week if no unexpected bugs show up. Torvalds said the release is unusually large because of a high volume of small fixes, mostly due to developers using AI tools.
Discord ups the limit: Non-Nitro users now get an increased file size limit to upload, from 10 MB to 20 MB, making it easier to share larger images, videos, and documents. It has also streamlined file-size checks on mobile and desktop.
This week in hardware news
Catch up on some of the latest hardware news updates that arrived throughout the week:
AI verifying chip designs: Samsung has reportedly been using Claude Code in its chip design work at least since May, drawing mixed reactions. While Claude gave positive results in some cases, it caused additional issues for the development team in others.
NVIDIA chip shoots to $16,000: The silicon giant quietly raised the price of its flagship RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell workstation edition to $16,000 USD, up from $13,250 in June. At the same time, it also introduced a new open-source model for running AI agents: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning.
Wolverine-themed PlayStation: A new PS5 console bundle arrived for Marvel fans. It brings a new Wolverine-themed design to the console and controller, featuring black and yellow colors from the classic suit. There will be another version inspired by the adamantium bonded to Logan’s skeleton.
New Xbox controller: Microsoft also unveiled the new Gears of War: E-Day Limited Edition Xbox Wireless Controller to promote the upcoming title. It’s inspired by the E-holes that Locust burst out from, featuring details that show cracked asphalt and the iconic red cracks across the front plate.
This week in Google News
Catch up on some of the latest Google news updates that arrived throughout the week:
Made by Google 2026: The search giant unwrapped the newest platter of its hardware: Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro Fold, and the Pixel Watch 5. However, the talk of the town is the new Pixel Tag we already discussed. Pixel Buds didn’t get a refresh, but Google announced new software features.
Make it cheaper: Google has joined the AI price war with Gemini 3.7 Flash, which delivers better coding, agents, knowledge work, and web development performance. It costs almost half the original price of Gemini 3.6 Flash.
Don’t trust AI too much: Google reportedly doesn’t fully trust its own AI system, fearing it might screen out CVs incorrectly during recruitment drives. Google DeepMind’s AGI Safety and Alignment Team asked candidates to fill out a special form to reduce the risk and ensure a real human reviews the application.
This week in Apple News
Catch up on some of the latest Apple news updates that arrived throughout the week:
Screenless Apple Watch? With the Apple Watch design largely unchanged since launch, Apple is reportedly considering a major overhaul. Screenless wearables are on the rise, and Apple’s design team is considering it for future launches, experimenting with no screens, round screens, and different sizes.
20th Anniversary iPhone: Apple will celebrate 20 years of the iPhone by launching a glassy design and special features. The 20th anniversary iPhone is reportedly on track to launch as Pro models codenamed V73 and V74.
This week in Meta news
Catch up on some of the latest Meta, WhatsApp, and Instagram updates that arrived throughout the week:
Can’t block Facebook Ads: uBlock Origin is struggling to keep up with Facebook Ads. Its developer posted on Reddit that they’ll stop blocking Facebook Ads moving forward because the company keeps finding ways to dodge ad-blocking filters, and it’s hard to keep up.
Muse Glimmer: It’s a new 30-billion-parameter open-weight agentic AI model developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs. Muse Glimmer is optimized for always-on local agents and can run on your Mac or PC with a single consumer GPU, supporting typical agentic workloads.
This week in AI news
Catch up on the latest artificial intelligence news updates that arrived throughout the week:
100-year-old problem: An unreleased version of Anthropic’s Claude made a breakthrough on the century-old Riemann Hypothesis math problem. The model successfully increased the Riemann zeta function lower bound from 41.6% to 67.2%.
GPT-5.6 Sol Ultrafast mode: Following the previous announcement, the Ultrafast mode arrived on Cerebras this week with the capacity to run 750 output tokens per second. This is up to 14 times faster than its Standard processing mode without switching to a smaller or less capable model. OpenAI also launched a preview of ChatGPT for Linux and added new features to its macOS app.
Grok Bot: Elon Musk’s company with a weird name launched Grok Bot as its new always-on AI agent service that can execute multi-step workplace tasks independently and work across apps on its own. Its cloud-based workflow lets the agent keep working even when the user’s PC is off.
AI agent gone rogue: An Australian user was experimenting with OpenClaw to book gym classes. However, things took an unexpected turn when the AI agent exploited a vulnerability to book classes in advance and even removed another customer from the waiting list without being explicitly asked.
How does AI watermark text? Yes, AI companies have also found a way to watermark raw text. They put subtle biases in word (token) selection to create a pseudo-random pattern that embeds an invisible signal a detector can recognize.
This week in Microsoft News
You can check out Ivan’s freshly baked Microsoft Weekly roundup to catch up on all the interesting stories this week. This week’s issue covers the latest updates, the Windows license price hike, the upcoming Copilot super app, and more.
This week in science coverage
Catch up on some of the latest science and out-of-this-world updates that we covered throughout the week:
Rewriting physics textbooks? A new theory tries to explain the universe’s origin without complex inflation models. It relies on gravity and quantum mechanics to explain how cosmic structures formed. The model is still theoretical and does not prove that inflation is wrong.
Hawking’s theorem confirmed: A new signal provided the strongest test yet of Hawking’s area theorem, which says that the total area of a black hole’s event horizon cannot decrease over time. Scientists compared the mass and spin of the two black holes before the merger with those of the single black hole formed afterward. The final black hole’s event-horizon area was larger, matching Hawking’s prediction.
New quantum state: Scientists have identified a previously unknown quantum state called a quantum liquid crystal at the boundary between two unusual materials: a Weyl semimetal and spin ice. The two materials were combined into an extremely thin heterostructure and studied at ultra-low temperatures and under very high magnetic fields.
What else in gaming?
The latest issue of Pulasthi’s Weekend PC Game Deals curates several exciting games on sale this week. If you are looking to go on a sci-fi road trip, Caravan SandWitch, a combat-free open-world adventure, is available for free on the Epic Games Store as part of its latest giveaway. Meanwhile, Xbox Free Play Days is offering Gears of War: E-Day open beta and two other titles.
That said, here are some more stories from the gaming world:
More price drops!
We got you covered with some hot tech deals all week. For some reason, if you missed out on a great discount, here is a summary of some recent deals that are still alive:
To view all of our recent deals, click here.
Upcoming tech events
- IFA Berlin (September 4-8)
- iPhone 18 series launch event (Predicted September 9)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit (September 22-24)
- Meta Connect 2026 (September 23-24)
- Web Summit (November 9-12)
So, these were some of the biggest tech news and other updates from this week. There will be more issues of our 7 Days series in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing to extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option.
Have a great weekend!
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