At CES 2026, NVIDIA announced a significant breakthrough: they created self-driving vehicles capable of navigating extremely difficult roads with little to no human intervention. It’s all centered around their DRIVE platform, which is currently powering real-world automobiles and laying the groundwork for substantial automation. Mercedes-Benz’s all-new CLA-class car leads the way in this innovation. That is the first car to use NVIDIA’s complete DRIVE AV software stack.

Listen to the article 2 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive Brief: Google’s Ask Google Earth platform now allows users to locate specific types of infrastructure within defined areas, a feature the tech company said could streamline workflows for urban planning and analysis. The feature, announced last year, moves the company’s infrastructure data into BigQuery, Google’s AI data analytics platform.

Korea and China are further moving beyond symbolic engagement to design the institutional foundation for Asia’s next startup integration phase. With both governments signing a new Memorandum of Understanding on January 5 in Beijing, cooperation between the Ministry of SMEs and Startups of Korea and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology now extends into startup development and deeptech collaboration — a step that transforms APEC’s regional initiatives into tangible policy infrastructure.

NVIDIA has kicked off CES 2026 with a massive keynote, once again resetting the bar for what is possible in the age of intelligence. CEO Jensen Huang took to the stage to unveil the Rubin platform, a massive architectural leap that succeeds the Blackwell generation. Named after the legendary astronomer Vera Rubin, the platform is not just a single piece of silicon.

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. It's the new year, and the tech industry's biggest event of the year is already here: CES 2026. This is the tech industry's first major showcase of the year, and it's prime time for brands to share what's on the way and launch new products across every major category, from oddball gadgets and gizmos to PCs, laptops, TVs, AI, and beyond.

At CES 2026, Intel unveiled the Core Ultra Series 3, the first AI PC platform built with 18A technology, which Intel says is the best process in the world. The Series 3 will offer a new class of Intel Core Ultra X9 and X7 processors, according to the company. Flagship Ultra Series 3 devices will provide up to 16 CPU cores, 12 efficiency cores and 50 NPU tops, offering up to 60 per cent better multithread performance, more than 77 per cent faster gaming performance and up to 27 hours of battery life.

Over the Summer break, Startup Daily is republishing key stories from 2025. This opinion piece from editor Simon Thomsen first appeared in March as news emerged of Meta’s use of Library Genesis, an online warehouse of stolen intellectual property, to train its AI, emerged.  This year marks 20 years since Mark Zuckberg launched Facebook, having kicked it off as The Facebook in 2004.

New AI agents for Retail, Healthcare, CFO organizations, Government, Legal Services, and Banking debut alongside CES, JP Morgan Healthcare, and NRF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA / ACCESS Newswire / January 5, 2026 / Aible, the leading company delivering AI agents for business users at enterprise scale, today announced the launch of six new industry-specific AI agent solutions, with dozens more in the near term pipeline, designed to help organizations automatically understand what’s changing in their business and why, so they can take faster, more confident actions.

Credit: Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library/Getty Images A University of Toronto-led study has identified a possible biomarker linked to multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression. The findings, validated in both mouse and in humans, could help to identify patients most likely to benefit from new drugs. “We think we have uncovered a potential biomarker that signals a patient is experiencing so-called ‘compartmentalized inflammation’ in the central nervous system, a phenomenon which is strongly liked to MS progression,” explained Jen Gommerman, PhD, a professor and chair of immunology at the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

Other participants in the round include JB Straubel, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, CalSTRS, CPP Investments, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Elevate your perspective with NextTech News, where innovation meets insight. Discover the latest breakthroughs, get exclusive updates, and connect with a global network of future-focused thinkers. Unlock tomorrow’s trends today: read more, subscribe to our newsletter, and become part of the NextTech community at NextTech-news.com


 David Tintner is building a business around a deliberate bet: that high-quality, long-form YouTube content can remain both economically viable and broadly accessible, if advertising works differently. David is the co-founder and CEO of ThoughtLeaders, a fully bootstrapped company focused exclusively on YouTube sponsorships. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, ThoughtLeaders operates across software, media buying, and creator representation, with a stated mission “to incentivize and encourage high-quality, long-form content for all.”

I’m making my way through as much of CES 2026 as I possibly can, and HP’s gaming area is one of them. There are new OMEN and HyperX devices dropping here in Vegas, and here’s what you need to know. This announcement unites OMEN and HyperX under one master gaming brand, HyperX, to deliver a complete, end-to-end gaming experience. Here’s what the press release had to say.

Edtech firm Unacademy has put proposed changes to its 2018 employee stock option scheme in abeyance, according to an email sent to holders of the options.  The short note said the company will pause the suggested amendments until further notice and complete any necessary corporate authorisations before deciding next steps. “If required, the Company will revisit the ESOS 2018 at an appropriate time and will continue to strive to find the best outcome for its employees while ensuring that it balances the interests of all its stakeholders,” the email read.

Nvidia has just set the stage at CES 2026 in Las Vegas with a massive announcement that could fundamentally shift the race for autonomous driving. The company unveiled Nvidia Alpamayo, a new family of open-source AI models and simulation tools specifically designed to bring human-like reasoning to self-driving cars. While we have spent years watching Tesla lead the pack with its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, Nvidia is now handing a high-powered toolkit to every other car manufacturer on the planet.

Cloud outages mounted over the past year, disrupting everything from finance and food delivery apps to travel systems. In an era of smart devices, people struggled to scroll social media, shop online, or even adjust their thermostats. Disruptions to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cloudflare, and Azure left people wondering: Why do so many things need to be connected to the Internet to work? 

TL;DR Amazon has launched a new website for Alexa Plus. This website enables Alexa Plus early access customers to access the AI assistant directly in their browser. All previous chats, preferences, and personalization will carry over to whatever device you’re using. Nine months ago, Amazon launched the souped-up version of its AI assistant, Alexa Plus. Although the company has since integrated Alexa Plus across its various smart home devices, there’s one place it has been missing.

Murmurs of BYD overtaking Tesla first surfaced a few years ago when the Musk-owned EV maker felt its first sales hiccup. Chinese carmaker BYD has managed to overtake Telsa as the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles (EVs) – despite growing at its slowest pace in five years. BYD sold nearly 2.26m battery EVs in 2025, up nearly 28pc from 2024.

ASUS’ Republic of Gamers (ROG) division has just revealed a pair of augmented reality glasses designed exclusively for gamers who want to see a large screen without having to tote a gigantic monitor around. The ROG Xreal R1 glasses, developed in collaboration with Xreal, a company known for its consumer AR hardware, provide a virtual display right while still allowing you to see your surroundings.

On January 4, 2026, Unitree Robotics released a daily training video of its H2 humanoid robot, demonstrating impressive moves like flying kicks, backflips, and sandbag strikes. Unitree officially launched the next-generation bionic humanoid Unitree H2 in October 2025. Standing 180 cm tall and weighing 70 kg, H2 features a design closer to human proportions for a more realistic appearance. The robot has 31 joints: 6×2 in shoulders (12 total for arms), 3 in torso, 7×2 in legs (14 total), plus 2 unspecified.

Since its inception in 2016, Flutterwave has built its business on helping African merchants accept cross-border payments, largely by connecting card networks and local processors. Now, Africa’s most valuable startup wants to control the financial data layer behind those transactions, and it has acquired open banking startup Mono to do it. The all-stock transaction, valued between $25 million and $40 million, represents a significant consolidation of the African financial infrastructure layer as the region’s digital economy shifts away from legacy card networks toward bank-linked payment systems.

Don’t expect a new Asus phone this year. Speaking to Digitimes, the company confirmed that it has no plans for a new Android handset in 2026, opting instead to focus on “maintenance, software upgrades, and warranty services for all existing products.” That said, the company noted that its “smartphone operations will continue,” leaving the door open for new phones beyond this year.

KANAA, proudly announces the launch of its Multi Brand Seller E- Platform, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A brand proudly Born in Saudi Arabia, Kanaa aims to rejuvenate how Saudi consumers discover, engage with, and shop online across lifestyle categories including Toys, Books & Stationery, Gaming, Sports, and Outdoor. As Saudi Arabia’s eCommerce market becomes increasingly mobile-first and experience-driven…

I am at CES 2026, where XGIMI has made a few significant announcements this week. The first sees the company stay in its home theater projector arena. While the second is more interesting as the company delves into another area that you might not have expected from them. Here’s what the press release had to say about both of these new products.

Bigger Budget Signals Shift Toward Long-Term Tech Competitiveness The Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday that the South Korean government will invest 8.12 trillion won ($5.6 billion) this year in research and development across science and information and communications technology, marking a sharp increase in public funding for core technology sectors. The budget represents a 25.4 percent rise from last year, a policy shift toward stronger state-backed investment as global competition in advanced technologies intensifies.

Irina Rets of The Open University explores how institutions may be failing to equip teenagers with the skills needed to succeed in a modern world. The government has recently released its national youth strategy, which promises better career advice for young people in England. It’s sorely needed: for teenagers today, the future of work probably feels more like a moving target than a destination.