Tech Business News

Intel-Backed Chipmaker Altera Files Confidentially for IPO

Chipmaker Altera, backed by Silver Lake and Intel, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering. IPO details were not disclosed.

Radical Ventures Launches Canada's Largest VC Fund With $1B USD First Close

Toronto-based Radical Ventures announced the launch of the Radical Breakouts Fund to invest in late-stage AI companies. The first close exceeded $1 billion (about $1.4 billion CAD), with investors including CPP Investments, PSP Investments, TD and BMO.

Siemens and Salesforce Combine Agentforce With Teamcenter SLM

At Dreamforce 2026, Salesforce and Siemens announced the integration of the Agentforce platform with Teamcenter Service Lifecycle Management software. Siemens has already deployed Agentforce: AI agents handle 100% of incoming leads in 132 countries for 18,000 sellers, and partner onboarding will be reduced from weeks to days.

Lack of affordable smartphones to create AI divide

GSMA warned in its SOMIC report that rising memory and chip prices due to AI infrastructure demand are making budget smartphones unaffordable. 3.4 billion people do not use mobile internet, 70% of them lack a device. Reducing prices to $20–30 would cover an additional 1.6–2.2 billion people.

Viabot raises $24M for robots that sweep and watch car parks

Santa Clara startup Viabot closed a $24 million Series A led by Walden International, bringing total investment to $43 million. Its flagship Viabot One robot cleans trash at commercial properties but uses the same cameras, lidars, and GPS for 'soft security' — detecting loitering and intrusions with 24/7 operator monitoring.

Anthropic and OpenAI look to Uncle Sam to make them too big to fail

The Register argues in a column that Anthropic and OpenAI are stoking fear about AI to gain government protection and slow competitors. The companies are far from profitable and depend on capital inflows, while Chinese open models are rapidly catching up to the frontier.

US trade agency to fund study for Thailand-US subsea cable

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has funded a feasibility study for the 18,507 km THUS subsea cable between Thailand and the U.S. The project will replace the aging 2009 AAG cable and route through five Southeast Asian countries, bypassing the South China Sea.

Galaxy S26 Ultra may see a price hike soon, following Apple’s move with iPhone 17

Samsung is considering raising prices for the already-sold Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra due to rising component costs. In South Korea, an increase of about 149,600 won (~$110) is possible from October 1, but no decision has been made.

Apple Intelligence HomeKit Secure Video summaries cost up to $60 per month

Apple disclosed pricing for automatic AI summaries of HomeKit Secure Video camera recordings. The feature is available only on iCloud+ plans of 2 TB and above: 1 camera for $10/month, up to 5 cameras for $60/month. 50 GB and 200 GB plans are not supported.

Vi, BSNL join forces to share towers, fiber, and spectrum

Indian operators Vi (Vodafone Idea) and BSNL have agreed to share towers, fiber infrastructure and spectrum. Users report that Vi SIM cards are already working on BSNL's network in Madhya Pradesh.

AI Slowdown Not 'End of the World' for Data Center Real Estate, Says Digital Realty CEO

Digital Realty CEO Andrew Power said calls to slow AI development do not mean data center demand will stop. JLL estimates only 1 in 4 Americans uses AI daily, while AI could drive about 70% of global data center capacity demand by 2030.

Dreamforce 2026: What Salesforce's AWU Experiment Means for Agentic Licensing

Salesforce continues its Agentic Work Unit (AWU) experiment, a metric for measuring Agentforce adoption. Agentforce revenue passed $1.5B ARR, up over 240% year over year, with 7B AWU delivered. At Dreamforce 2026 the company will present an Enterprise AI Harness with a control panel.

ByteDance First-Half Profit Falls to $20 Billion on AI Spending

ByteDance's net profit fell by a single-digit percentage to $20 billion in the first half as AI investment rose. Revenue grew about 30% year over year to $120 billion, driven by TikTok advertising and e-commerce.

Bell to Triple Capacity at Planned Saskatchewan Data Center Campus

Bell Canada and the Saskatchewan government signed a memorandum to expand Bell AI Fabric, adding up to 900 MW in phases with potential for 1.2 GW. Total investment for full buildout, including infrastructure and tenant compute, could exceed $50 billion.

Salesforce Deepens AWS and Google Cloud Integrations for AI Agents

At Dreamforce 2026 Salesforce announced expanded partnerships with AWS and Google Cloud. Agentforce agents will access Amazon Bedrock and Gemini models, while CRM data will connect to Amazon Quick, Slack and Gemini Enterprise via the MCP protocol.

Crusoe Signs Perplexity AI Deal to Provide Cloud Capacity

Data center operator Crusoe signed a multi-year agreement with Perplexity AI to provide cloud capacity for AI chips and related software. The deal's value was not disclosed.

Just 4.4% of Enterprise NAS Capacity Is Active, CTERA Cold Data Storage Report Finds

CTERA analyzed 16 PB of data from 856 enterprise NAS scans: only 4.4% of capacity is actively used (modified in 90 days), and 83.1% of data hasn't changed in over a year. The company proposes moving cold data off expensive primary storage.

Gates Foundation pledges $1 billion to drive AI equality globally

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged at least $1 billion over two years to expand access to AI for communities left behind by new technologies. 40% of funds will go to education, 40% to healthcare, and 10% each to agriculture and digital infrastructure.

Vantage Data Centers raises $2 billion for North American early-stage portfolio

Vantage Data Centers secured $2 billion in financing for early-stage development of its North American portfolio. The funds are structured as a five-year revolving credit facility collateralized by three under-construction facilities. The company has raised over $40 billion since the start of the year.

Profound hits $1.8 billion valuation to boost brands in AI search

AI marketing startup Profound closed a $180 million Series D round at a $1.8 billion valuation. The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins. The company helps brands promote themselves in AI search.

Juniper Research expects private network spending surge

Juniper Research forecasts private LTE and 5G network spending will rise from $17.3 billion in 2026 to $84.7 billion by 2031, driven by demand for AI infrastructure. Nokia leads its vendor ranking, followed by Huawei, Samsung, HPE and Ericsson.

Google grants engineers access to Anthropic Claude for coding

Google allowed employees to use Anthropic's Claude Opus 5 model in its internal Antigravity platform, though external coding tools were previously restricted. Access comes with per-user quotas and complements Gemini, which remains the primary model. Google is an Anthropic investor with plans to invest up to $40 billion.

OpenAI buys smartphone camera startup for over $300M

OpenAI acquired California-based startup Glass Imaging, which develops AI technologies for smartphone cameras, for over $300 million. The company's founders are former Apple engineers who created Portrait Mode. The startup previously raised about $30 million in investment.

Apple iCloud Updates

Apple uses Google's cloud infrastructure to store iCloud user data. There are no signs that Apple engages Google for other computing tasks.

The Boring Company lands $3 billion from UAE investors

Elon Musk's underground tunnel project The Boring Company received $3 billion in investment from UAE funds. The funds will go toward developing a network of underground transport tunnels.

AppleCare One Family now live for $50 a month ahead of iPhone 18 Pro launch

Apple launched the AppleCare One Family subscription: coverage for up to six people and their devices for $50 per month. Service fees remain: screen and glass $29, other damage $99, theft or loss $149. Currently available only in the US.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma Is Experiencing Xbox Like a Player

According to The Wall Street Journal, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma spends several hours a month answering support tickets herself to understand players' problems. In her first year she restructured the business with thousands of layoffs and a shift in studio strategy.

AI21 Labs cuts staff and pivots to Maestro orchestration platform

Israel's AI21 Labs, after a $300M round in 2025, cut 110 of 180 employees and shifted from selling LLMs to its Maestro orchestration platform. In April 2026, reports emerged of acquisition talks with Nebius Group.

Tech CEOs used to fear their boards. No more

Automattic's board removed founder Matt Mullenweg on September 4 but reinstated him as CEO just 33 hours later. The reason for the removal was not disclosed; Mullenweg used system access to delete accounts of the acting CEO and other employees.

Google inks one million ton carbon removal deal with Mitti Labs in India

Google signed a five-year agreement with India's Mitti Labs to purchase 1 million tons of carbon credits by 2030. The credits are generated by projects reducing methane emissions on rice farms using satellite data, AI, and the GeoAI platform developed with NASA support.