Tech News Roundup — July 11, 2026 (AM)

2026-07-11

Apple opened the week by suing OpenAI over alleged hardware-trade-secret theft, while Microsoft’s latest sustainability report exposed the carbon cost of its AI datacenter buildout — a 25% year-over-year jump that the company can no longer hide behind unbundled renewable credits. OpenAI responded to the news cycle on its own end, pushing GPT-5.6 to ChatGPT, and the EU Parliament greenlit the controversial “Chat Control” message-scanning rules through 2028. On the gaming side, id Software publicly broke its silence on the Xbox layoffs, and ZeniMax union members announced a “Save Our Devs” march in response.

AI / ML

Apple sues OpenAI over stolen hardware secrets. In a complaint filed this week, Apple alleges that former Apple engineers now at OpenAI “engaged in a pattern of theft” of trade secrets to advance OpenAI’s hardware plans. The suit targets both individual ex-Apple staff and OpenAI itself, claiming the company knew or should have known about the misconduct. The complaint describes a methodical, multi-year effort to lift confidential silicon and device-engineering know-how. [The Verge]
OpenAI ships GPT-5.6 to ChatGPT. OpenAI quietly rolled out GPT-5.6, the next generation of its flagship language model, with a focus on more reliable execution of complex multi-step tasks and a smarter split between reasoning and fast-response modes. The launch follows the GPT-5.5 cycle that landed earlier in 2026 and continues OpenAI’s pattern of frequent incremental bumps. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]
Meta turns off the Instagram feature that made AI deepfakes of public accounts. After a swift backlash, Meta disabled the “Muse” image-generation feature that let users tag any public Instagram account and have the system produce AI images in that creator’s style. The feature had effectively let anyone train on a public creator’s content without permission. [The Verge]
Instagram’s Adam Mosseri on AI in the feed. Mosseri told Lenny Rachitsky’s podcast that Instagram shouldn’t filter out AI content outright — but should give users a way to opt out of seeing it. “If you don’t like AI, then you shouldn’t have it in your feed,” he said, framing the choice as user preference rather than platform policy. [The Verge]

Microsoft / Windows

Microsoft emissions jumped 25% as AI datacenters exploded. Microsoft’s latest sustainability report shows a 25% YoY rise in emissions, driven by AI datacenter expansion and the company’s decision to stop buying unbundled renewable energy certificates. Earlier claims that the company produced 34 million metric tons in a single year were misreported; the actual figure is the YoY jump itself, which Microsoft can no longer mask by offsetting. [Windows Central]
Microsoft to overhaul Windows 11 monthly updates — AI is the reason. Microsoft will ship more patches per monthly cumulative update going forward, a structural change the company is tying to the size and shape of AI-driven workloads on Windows 11 endpoints. The shift effectively re-paces the monthly cadence into something closer to a continuous patch stream. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]

Gaming

id Software responds to Xbox layoffs: “We still have the crew we need.” After the wave of 3,200 layoffs and four studio divestments that hit Microsoft Gaming this week, id Software — makers of DOOM — went on record saying the studio still has the team it needs to keep shipping “the great games and tech” it has built its reputation on. The reassurance follows shock across the gaming community at id being caught up in the cuts at all. [Windows Central]
Bethesda union members announce “Save Our Devs” march for next week. The Communications Workers of America local at Bethesda Game Studios said it will mobilize for a public march next week, protesting the 440 ZeniMax cuts in this round of Microsoft layoffs. The action marks the first coordinated public pushback from a Microsoft Gaming union since the cuts landed. [Windows Central]
GTA VI pre-orders open. Rockstar opened pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI across storefronts this week, ahead of the formal launch window. Pricing tiers and platform availability were listed at retail. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]

Linux & Open Source

Wine 11.13 lands with better X11 keyboard scancode mapping. The bi-weekly Wine release adds improved input-pointer support and a notable overhaul of X11 keyboard scancode handling, useful for games and apps that map physical keys differently from the X server’s defaults. [Phoronix]
Pop!_OS ships “Frosted Glass” desktop style for COSMIC. System76’s Pop!_OS has rolled out the frosted-glass visual treatment the COSMIC desktop team has been polishing for the past few weeks. The look will become more widely available once the next COSMIC release is formally tagged for other distributions. [Phoronix]
KDE Plasma 6.7 X11 vs. Wayland gaming on NVIDIA + CachyOS. New benchmarks from Phoronix compare the X11 and Wayland sessions on KDE Plasma 6.7.2 running on CachyOS with NVIDIA drivers — a useful baseline as Plasma 6.8 approaches Wayland-only status. [Phoronix]
Linux 7.3 enables the second graphics pipe on modern AMD APUs. AMD’s latest AMDGPU pull request to DRM-Next adds support for a second display pipe on modern AMD APUs — a long-standing feature gap that matters for multi-monitor and high-refresh laptop configurations. [Phoronix]

Hardware

SK Hynix debuts on Wall Street at a trillion-dollar valuation. Nvidia’s biggest RAM supplier, South Korean memory giant SK Hynix, opened at $170/share and raised $26.5 billion — a debut that pushed its market cap past $1 trillion on the strength of HBM demand from the AI buildout. [The Verge]
Dell cuts gaming and productivity laptops, desktops, and monitors below $1,000. Dell launched a discount run across its consumer and gaming lines, with laptop, desktop, and monitor SKUs starting under the four-figure mark. The promo is positioned around back-to-school timing in the US. [Windows Central]
QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through walls. Jeff Geerling’s writeup of QuadRF — a software-defined radio setup that combines drone-detection RF signatures with WiFi-vision-through-walls capability — gives a hands-on look at what’s possible with off-the-shelf SDR hardware and the right firmware. [Jeff Geerling]

EU & Regulation

EU “Chat Control” passes Parliament despite majority opposition. The European Parliament this week passed the so-called “Chat Control” rules — legislation allowing tech platforms to scan private messages for child sexual abuse material — and extended them through 2028. Civil-society groups have argued that a majority of MEPs opposed the text but procedural mechanics delivered it anyway. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]
EU accuses Facebook and Instagram of being addictive; design change possible. The European Commission concluded preliminary findings that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram violate the Digital Services Act via features specifically designed to keep users glued to the screen. The investigation could force Meta to redesign aspects of both apps. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]
FCC cracks down on DJI tech that dodged the foreign drone ban. The FCC is moving against DJI products that allegedly sidestepped the US foreign drone ban through shell-company distribution arrangements, opening a new enforcement front in the ongoing US-China drone policy fight. [The Verge]

Streaming & Media

Netflix is turning into YouTube. A new piece on The Verge argues that Netflix’s product decisions over the past year — short-form clips, vertical video, creator-led talk shows — have moved the platform closer in shape to YouTube than to the lean-back, episodic model it launched with. [The Verge]
Disney+ reportedly exploring a free, ad-supported tier. Disney is weighing a free streaming tier for Disney+, supported entirely by advertising, in a bid to broaden reach against Netflix and Amazon’s ad-supported offerings. [The Verge]
Spotify adds fine-tuning to your weekly Release Radar. Spotify is rolling out a new feature that lets users fine-tune their Release Radar playlist — adjusting artist weights and genre biases so the weekly drop better matches their listening patterns. [The Verge]

Gadgets & Reviews

Anker’s 3-in-1 Qi2.2 charging station is $95 off. Anker cut its 3-in-1 Qi2.2 wireless charging station by $95, bringing it to a more impulse-friendly price for those with iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods on the same desk. [The Verge]
Verge review: the Trump phone sucks. After a week with the Trump-branded phone, The Verge’s reviewer says the hardware and software fail to justify the price or the politics, calling the device sluggish, dated, and built for the brand rather than the buyer. [The Verge]
Would you host part of an AI data center in your home? A new Verge piece surveys the nascent category of residential AI compute hosting — small-form-factor inference boxes that homeowners run in exchange for token or fiat payouts. The pitch sounds appealing on a kilowatt-hour basis; the practical reality is messier. [The Verge]

Security & Surveillance

ICE allegedly threatening to deport witnesses of its latest shooting. The Verge reports that ICE has threatened deportation against witnesses of a recent ICE-involved shooting, raising due-process and accountability concerns. [The Verge]
Flock sends cease-and-desist to people debating its surveillance tech. Surveillance-camera vendor Flock has sent cease-and-desist letters to people publicly debating the company’s license-plate-reader network, a tactic that has drawn pushback from press-freedom and civil-liberties advocates. [The Verge]

Gaming & Apps

A decade later, Pokémon Go finally made good on its original promise. Niantic’s augmented-reality game, which launched in 2016, has spent a decade chasing its original vision of connected, real-world multiplayer exploration. The Verge argues the latest updates — and the community that’s stuck around — finally realize it. [The Verge]

Misc (Pplware / regional notes)

Portugal: independent contractors must file the quarterly declaration. A reminder to Portuguese independent workers: the quarterly Declaração Trimestral filing window is open, with new obligations this cycle. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]
Normasec platform: GRC for asset and risk management. A Portuguese-language writeup of the Normasec GRC platform, aimed at mid-sized firms looking to centralize asset inventories and risk workflows. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]
Portugal Instagram scam: suspect may have stolen €60,000. Portuguese police have arrested a suspect in an Instagram-based scam that may have extracted roughly €60,000 from victims in the country. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]
Renault hits 1 million “Made in France” EVs since 2010. The Renault Group crossed the one-million-EV-produced milestone at its French plants this week — a 16-year arc covering the Zoe, Megane E-Tech, and the new electric-only lineup. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]
Pplware Friday wrap. The Portuguese-language weekly roundup from Pplware, with editor picks across software, hardware, and gadgets. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]
Ryanair 737: passenger nearly sucked out of window (video). A mid-air incident on a Ryanair 737 saw a passenger nearly pulled out through a window, with video circulating on social media this week. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]
Dubai Police swap supercars for 600+ hp hybrid SUV. Dubai’s police fleet has added a hybrid SUV producing more than 600 horsepower to its patrol lineup, replacing some of the more exotic supercars previously used for high-visibility patrol work. (Portuguese source — English summary.) [Pplware]

From The Verge

Empathy for the optimizers. A Verge opinion column arguing that the people doing the actual work of optimizing models, pipelines, and infrastructure deserve more public credit — and more protection from the hype cycle that surrounds them. [The Verge]
New Verge fill-in writer hosting an AMA for 6 weeks. A Verge contributor is filling in for six weeks and inviting readers to ask anything about the beats they’ll be covering. [The Verge]

Roundup compiled from the TTRSS Tech feed. 37 articles from 5 sources summarized across 36 clusters.