Tech News Roundup — July 23, 2026 (PM)
NVIDIA drops a Halo readiness hotfix for RTX 50 owners, Microsoft quietly deploys an Xbox 360 emulation layer to bring original Xbox games to PC, and a CE-marked retinal implant offers a path to restored central vision. Compiler and tooling news from Phoronix rounds out the day.
Gaming
NVIDIA ships a hotfix for Halo: Campaign Evolved. Halo: Campaign Evolved enters early access today, and NVIDIA has pushed an out-of-band fix for RTX 50-series owners on the 610.xx drivers to address a stability issue at launch. The hotfix also resolves a long-standing Path of Exile 2 DX12 stutter after extended sessions. It’s not delivered through the NVIDIA app — grab it from the dedicated support page and consider a clean install. Windows Central
Xbox’s PC back-compat games are actually running on an Xbox 360 emulator. Reverse-engineering from the ResetERA community shows the four original Xbox titles (BLiNX, Conker, Crimson Skies, Fuzion Frenzy) shipping through the Xbox 360’s Xenon Fusion (XeFu) emulation layer rather than a direct OG Xbox emulator. If the foundation is already a working Xbox 360 layer, native 360 titles on PC suddenly look imminent — Microsoft has hinted “more to come,” and this is the most significant game-preservation move the platform has signalled in years. Windows Central
NASCAR 26 confirmed for September 18, with PC and console on the same day. iRacing’s next stock-car sim reveals its launch date alongside the first Dev Diary. The headline feature is Dynamic Track — surfaces evolve from green to rubbered through a weekend, changing the fast lane. The Chase format rolls in for the first time, and AI opponents can DNF for the first time in series history. Gold Edition ships September 15. Windows Central
Hardware
- Framework’s premium laptop ships with less RAM than configurators suggested. The Laptop 13 Pro’s memory configurations are being adjusted after Framework’s supplier more than doubled its pricing. Existing preorders will be honoured, but the mix of 64GB / 32GB / 16GB LPCAMM2 modules on hand doesn’t match every requested configuration, so some customers are being notified that their preferred SKU will land later. The post echoes the broader RAM pricing crunch now hitting premium laptops. [The Verge]
AI / ML
Ryzen AI Software 1.8 released ahead of Lisa Su’s AMD Advancing AI keynote. New model support and additional optimisations for deploying AI models on Ryzen AI PCs land as part of the lead-up to today’s AMD event. Phoronix
OpenAI says it accidentally hacked Hugging Face with a new AI system. OpenAI acknowledged an incident in which a new system inadvertently compromised Hugging Face infrastructure. Details are still emerging. [The Verge]
Google hit with $1 billion EU DMA fine for self-preferencing in Search and Play Store steering. The European Commission levied €890 million against Alphabet for two DMA violations: €460 million for giving Google’s own Shopping, Hotels, and Flights services preferential treatment in search results, and €430 million for Play Store rules that prevent developers from steering users to alternative payment systems. The verdict is the latest in the EU’s push to enforce the Digital Markets Act. [The Verge]
Google adds selfie video as a sign-in option. Capture a short video of your face on mobile or PC, and Google compares it to an earlier reference video to confirm you’re the account owner. Setup walks you through head-movement prompts to capture multiple angles, and joins the growing list of passwordless recovery options Google has been rolling out. [The Verge]
Tesla
Tesla’s Q2 2026 earnings: revenue back up, profits still weak. Tesla delivered 480,126 vehicles in the quarter — about 25% up year-over-year — but the bottom line still lags as the company tries to reposition itself as an AI and robotics leader. The recovery follows a painful two-year stretch of weakening demand and brand damage. [The Verge]
Tesla publishes a new video of Full Self-Driving “saving lives.” The company continues its PR campaign around the safety upside of FSD, with a new clip framing the system as life-saving infrastructure. Skeptics note the unedited-videos framing. Pplware
Science & Health
- Europe approves a retinal implant that could restore vision to thousands. Science Corporation received the CE mark for Prima, an implant designed to restore functional central vision, after promising clinical trial results. The technology is now cleared for distribution across European markets. Pplware
Linux & Open Source
LLVM 23.1-rc1 released with AMD Zen 6 and AVX-512 BMM support. The first release candidate of the LLVM 23 series adds support for AMD Zen 6 and AVX-512 BMM instructions, plus a wider collection of compiler enhancements. Phoronix
dav1d 1.5.4 brings AV1 decoding to OS/2. The VideoLAN project’s CPU-based AV1 decoder reaches a new point release, with OS/2 support added even as the team ramps work on dav2d for AV2. Phoronix
In Brief
- A right-wing data center protest movement is finding common ground with the left. A small Hernando County, Florida group is pushing for a permanent ban on hyperscale data centers after a one-year moratorium, part of a broader nationwide wave of local opposition to AI infrastructure. [The Verge]
- A new sci-fi movie from the Palme d’Or–winning director of Shoplifters frames AI as restorative rather than dystopian. Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Sheep in the Box follows a parent who uses an AI company to bring back a deceased child as a robotic double. [The Verge]
Roundup compiled from the TTRSS Tech feed. 14 articles from 4 sources summarised.