Apple may allow users to pay to increase their AI usage limits. During an earnings call on Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that he believes people will want to use Apple Intelligence and the upcoming Siri AI “a lot,” adding that “we will have some kind of upgrade possibilities on iCloud Plus where people can buy up the stack.”

This fall, Apple will broadly launch its long-delayed Siri AI with iOS 27, which can do things like answer questions about what’s on your screen and take action across your apps. It also includes a new standalone Siri AI app that offers a ChatGPT-like interface. 

In June, Apple said that its AI features, including image generation, have “daily usage limits because they rely on powerful server models.” It added that “increased access” is available across most of its iCloud Plus plans, but it seems that Apple may want to add tiers for people who plan on using its AI features heavily.

Apple reported earning $30.74 billion in revenue from its services business over the past few months, which includes subscriptions like iCloud Plus, Apple TV, and Apple One.

Google DeepMind says the latest version of its Gemini Robotics AI model can “control entire humanoid robots.” While the previous model focused on controlling a humanoid robot’s upper body, Gemini Robotics 2 now supports “whole-body motions” ranging from its feet to fingertips, according to an announcement on Thursday.

The new model will allow humanoid robots to perform a wider range of actions, as it allows them to walk, crouch, stretch, and manipulate objects. Videos shared by Google show how Apptronik’s Apollo 2 robot can bend over to pick up a watering can, as well as find and take specific items off a shelf.

Though Google DeepMind notes that its robots “have more to advance in movement speed,” it adds that this update “is an important step towards the skills needed to complete more complex, real-world tasks that require whole-body coordination.”

Additionally, Gemini Robotics 2 supports better dexterity, as it can now control more complex, five-fingered hands. That enables robots to perform tasks like sealing a Ziploc, tying a trash bag, or unscrewing a lightbulb.

Google DeepMind is updating Gemini Robotics ER (embodied reasoning) as well, a vision-language model that helps robots to analyze their surroundings, process instructions, and perform multi-step tasks. Gemini Robotics ER 2 is better at completing tasks over an extended period of time and “now understands when tasks begin and end.”

Google DeepMind says this update also allows multiple robots of different types to work together and complete tasks, with one video showing how Apollo 2 instructs Google’s dual-arm robot to put tools inside a bin while cleaning the garage.

The company notes Gemini Robotics ER 2 is its “safest robotics model to date,” as it can “better detect when humans are nearby, trigger safety tool calls and bring the robot to a safe stop if someone approaches too closely.”

Meanwhile, Google DeepMind has brought improvements to its Gemini Robotics On-Device Model, which can run locally on a robot without an internet connection. This model can now adapt to new embodiments faster, including those with “drastically different shapes, sensors and degrees of freedom.”

Google is working on a way to apply Chrome updates without requiring you to restart your browser. In a post on Thursday, Google outlines its approach to bug fixes in the age of AI, while noting that it’s trying to make updates less disruptive by “investing in ‘dynamic patching’ that will eliminate the need for a full browser restart.”

According to Google, AI-powered security tools have already helped the company find and fix dozens of bugs. Chrome 149 and 150, for example, contained 1,072 bug fixes, exceeding the number of patches in the past 23 major releases combined. That’s part of the reason why Chrome is switching to a two-week release cycle starting in September with security updates in between. However, Google says it’s considering introducing two weekly security updates to counter “fast-moving AI-powered attacks.”

To make these updates go more smoothly, Google is trying to “shift the burden away” from users, who could be at risk of “N-day” attacks, which occur when hackers exploit newly released bug fixes that haven’t yet been downloaded on a user’s device.

Along with working on dynamic patching, Google is also trying to find “opportune moments to restart automatically, when we can guarantee a seamless session restore.” Google has already launched a version of this in Chrome 150 on macOS, as the browser takes advantage of a state “where applications typically continue running in the background even after all windows are closed.” Chrome will automatically restart if it detects an update in this windowless state, Google says.

“Our long-term vision is a browser that is always up-to-date — continuously and dynamically patched, and automatically restarted during opportune periods of minimal disruption,” Google writes.

Xbox is having yet another tough quarter, as revenue from content and services like its Game Pass subscription dipped 10 percent over the past few months. At the same time, Xbox hardware sales declined 13 percent, according to Microsoft’s fourth-quarter earnings report released on Wednesday.

The news comes just weeks after Xbox head Asha Sharma announced a “reset” plan for Xbox that included sweeping layoffs and the spinoff of four games studios, including South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games and Psychonauts creator Double Fine Productions.

Sharma has also made some other big changes to Xbox, including lowering Game Pass prices, testing free, ad-supported cloud gaming, and making Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution Xbox exclusives. Xbox also plans to raise the prices of its consoles by $100 and more starting August 1st.

“When it comes to Xbox, we are making the necessary decisions required across our content portfolio, platform, and operations to reset the business for long-term growth,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during an earnings call. He added that Microsoft expects “to return the business to growth in fiscal 2027.”

As Microsoft ramps up efforts in AI, its cloud business has pushed the company’s overall revenue to $90 billion. Microsoft Cloud revenue soared 27 percent to $59.3 billion over the past few months, while revenue from its productivity business, which includes services like Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn, spiked 14 percent to $37.8 billion. Microsoft 365 Copilot also reached more than 30 million paid seats and Azure revenue hit more than $100 billion for the first time.

But Xbox wasn’t Microsoft’s only segment on the decline. The company’s Windows OEM and devices segment decreased 7 percent “driven by lower PC market demand.” Microsoft took the wraps off a new Surface device with RTX Spark, Nvidia’s new Arm-based processor in June, and is also starting to make quality-of-life changes to Windows 11 as it aims to regain user trust.

Update, July 29th: Added a statement from Satya Nadella.

The US government is targeting China with a new import ban on “advanced robotic devices” and power inverters made in foreign countries, as reported earlier by Reuters. In an announcement on Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission says the ban will include “mobile” robots, such as humanoid and quadruped models — but it is not limited to robots that walk around.

Though the FCC says the move isn’t targeted at a specific country, it will have a major impact on China as the country ramps up efforts to produce humanoid robots, some of which we’ve seen in viral videos stumbling to Michael Jackson, partaking in MMA fights, and even appearing on America’s Got Talent. Meanwhile, in the US, Tesla has discontinued its Model S and Model X vehicles to make room for its Optimus humanoid robot production.

China is also home to the world’s leading power inverter producers — Sungrow and the already-blacklisted Huawei — which are often used in solar panel arrays and other renewable energy systems. In its announcement, the FCC cites “unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons” as the reason for the ban.

A FAQ page published by the FCC defines an “advanced robotic device” as a machine that is capable of “locomotion, obstacle avoidance, navigation, or movement on the ground;” comes with a sensor that perceives the surrounding environment; and has a chip for network connectivity. It must also weigh more than 4.4 pounds (including its docking station, if it has one).

By that definition, even future robot vacuums would automatically be banned if they do not obtain a waiver. The FCC does not appear to be limiting this ban to robots with legs. In fact, the National Security Determination that the FCC is using to justify the move explicitly mentions The Verge’s reporting on the poor security of DJI’s Romo robovac.

Similar to the US government’s ban on foreign-made routers, companies can request a waiver if they want to keep bringing new products into the US, but the waiver application does not include any requirements to improve the security of those robots or inverters. Existing products in the US also won’t be subject to the ban, so individuals and companies can keep on using existing robots and inverters. 

Like previously, the US government seems to care primarily about where these devices are designed and manufactured before they get a waiver — and every applicant needs to provide a detailed plan to start manufacturing them in the United States instead. Sources tell Reuters that the FCC “is expected to exempt many non-Chinese suppliers from the restrictions.”

The FCC says today that all robots and power inverters can keep getting security and compatibility updates through January 1st, 2029 thanks to an additional waiver, but the agency is once again misleading the public about how those updates work. Companies do not currently need to inform the FCC when they push security updates to their devices.