Plug into this week’s must-read tech stories from around the web. From Casio’s cuddly Moflin companion to Nvidia’s landmark Intel investment—and plenty in between—we’ve rounded up the developments that matter. Check out this week’s tech news blog!
Microsoft and Foxconn’s Fairwater
Microsoft is repurposing massive Foxconn facilities into its Fairwater AI data center, which the company says will be among the world’s most powerful AI-focused campuses when it goes live. The plan leverages existing large-format manufacturing space to accelerate capacity buildouts and reduce the typical multi-year greenfield timeline for hyperscale sites. Microsoft’s Fairwater design emphasizes high-density GPU clusters and custom cooling to support next-generation model training and inference workloads. The project underscores how hyperscalers are recycling industrial real estate into compute hubs to meet surging AI demand. Expect Fairwater to become a key node in Microsoft’s global cloud strategy as it brings both scale and geographic diversity to AI infrastructure.
Nvidia’s $5B stake in Intel rewrites chipland partnerships
Nvidia’s surprise $5 billion investment in Intel formalizes a broad partnership to co-develop chips for both data centers and PCs, combining Nvidia’s accelerator expertise with Intel’s x86 and foundry ambitions. The agreement includes plans for custom x86 server CPUs optimized to pair with Nvidia accelerators and PC-oriented system-on-chips that integrate GPU chiplets. Markets reacted quickly—Intel’s shares jumped on the news—because the deal reshapes competitive dynamics and supply-chain options for AI compute. For customers, the collaboration promises new integrated platforms that may simplify procurement and performance tuning.
Meta’s Hyperscape Capture turns real rooms into photoreal VR spaces
Meta launched Hyperscape Capture, a Quest-based beta that lets users scan a physical space with a Quest headset and convert it into a photorealistic VR environment for exploration or content capture. The tool stitches depth, texture, and lighting data into an immersive scene you can walk through in headset, effectively lowering the barrier to building location-based VR experiences. While early captures look promising, Meta warns that fidelity and scale vary by environment and that the beta will evolve with improved scanning workflows and compression. Hyperscape Capture highlights Meta’s push to make Quest not just a consumption device but a practical creation tool for photogrammetry and mixed-reality workflows. Creators and developers should test it now to learn its limits and shape future use cases.
Casio’s Moflin robot pet is coming to the U.S. for cuddles and calm
Casio’s Moflin—a soft, furry companion robot designed to respond to touch and voice—now has U.S. preorder availability. The launch of Casio’s Moflin will likely occur in October with retail pricing in the mid-hundreds. Moflin’s behavior engine produces expressive movements and sounds intended to mimic a small, attention-seeking pet, aiming to reduce stress and provide low-commitment companionship. The Moflin bot learns simple interaction patterns and recognizes its primary handler, blending tactile sensors with onboard AI rather than relying on continuous cloud connectivity. While not a substitute for a living pet, Moflin and similar companion robots carve out a niche for therapeutic or novelty devices for folks who want interaction without caretaking responsibilities. Early Moflin adopters should account for battery life, optional subscriptions, and how the device fits into a family environment.
MacBook Pro rumors: OLED and touchscreen keep surfacing
Supply-chain reports continue to point to an OLED MacBook Pro with touch capabilities in Apple’s roadmap, suggesting Apple is testing both OLED panel sourcing and basic touch integration for pro laptop workflows. Analysts say challenges remain—power management, palm rejection, and software polish—but prototypes appear to be advancing through early production checks. If Apple ships a touchscreen OLED pro laptop, it would blur the longstanding boundary between touch-first tablets and keyboard-first notebooks, forcing app developers to rethink UI affordances. That said, Apple’s history of cautious rollouts means the feature could be limited to higher-end SKUs or delayed until display and battery tradeoffs are solved. Developers and accessory makers should track these signals closely as they could affect case designs and app interface guidelines.
Oracle & OpenAI’s $300B cloud pact
OpenAI’s multi-year agreement to purchase cloud compute from Oracle is a landmark partnership that secures predictable, large-scale infrastructure for OpenAI while accelerating Oracle’s transformation into a major AI-era cloud provider. The pact gives OpenAI the capacity and geographic footprint needed to train and run ever-larger models, and it anchors Oracle with a long-term customer that validates its growing data-center and services strategy. Industry observers note the size of the commitment and are watching financial and execution details closely. Overall, the agreement signals confidence in the commercial demand for AI infrastructure. Likewise, it is likely to spur additional investments and competitive responses across the cloud and chip ecosystem.