Thursday, July 16, 2026

OnePlus officially exited the US and European markets today, announcing it will no longer launch new products in these regions but will continue to support existing users with software updates and warranty coverage while transitioning devices to Oppo’s ColorOS. Meanwhile, SpaceX’s stock dipped below its IPO price of $135 intraday for the first time, closing just above it at $135.27, ahead of a critical maiden test launch of its Starship rocket scheduled for tomorrow. In AI, Thinking Machines Labs released Inkling, a new large multimodal open-weight model with 975 billion parameters, designed to enable customizable AI applications, marking a clear push against the trend of closed proprietary models. OpenAI also launched its first branded hardware, the $230 Codex Micro keyboard, aiming to streamline user interaction with their Codex coding agents.

Business & Market

• OnePlus halts operations in USA and Europe
  OnePlus confirmed it is ceasing new product launches in the US and Europe but will continue supporting existing customers with software and warranty. Devices will transition to Oppo’s ColorOS. The brand will focus solely on China and India moving forward.

• SpaceX stock erases all its gains and slides below IPO price in intraday trading
  SpaceX’s shares fell below their $135 IPO price for the first time since listing but closed slightly above it. The drop signals investor cooling on Elon Musk’s ambitious vision, days ahead of the first Starship orbital test launch.

• SpaceX falls to $135 IPO price ahead of Starship launch
  Complementing the above, the report highlights significant volatility in SpaceX stock since its historic IPO raising $86 billion.

• OnePlus, the ‘Flagship-Killer’ Smartphone Brand, Is All but Dead
  WIRED confirms extensive layoffs and operational shutdowns for OnePlus in Western markets, with many employees either transitioning to Oppo/Realme or leaving altogether.

• OnePlus never had a chance in the US
  An analysis explaining OnePlus’ difficulties breaking into the US market, citing poor carrier support and shifting price strategies that eroded its early "flagship killer" appeal.

• Why Greylock capped its new fund at $1.5B when it says it could have raised more
  Venture firm Greylock raised a $1.5 billion fund, deliberately smaller than what it could have secured, to maintain focus and deeper involvement in its portfolio startups.

• Microsoft is reportedly training salespeople to talk down OpenAI and Anthropic
  Microsoft has internally coached its sales teams to highlight the advantages of its AI products over competitors OpenAI and Anthropic, emphasizing cost-efficiency and integration.

Artificial Intelligence

• Inkling: Our Open-Weights Model
  Thinking Machines Labs unveiled Inkling, a 975B parameter multimodal transformer (text, images, audio, video) with public weights for developers to customize. Inkling can handle up to 1 million tokens context and supports "thinking effort" tuning for efficiency.

• Thinking Machines amps up its bet against one-size-fits-all AI with its first open model, Inkling
  TechCrunch covers the release of Inkling and its focus on flexibility and customization as an alternative to dominant closed models.

• OpenAI's first branded hardware is... a light-up keyboard?
  OpenAI launched the $230 Codex Micro, a mini RGB-lit keyboard designed for managing multiple AI coding agents with status-indicating keys, a joystick, and dial for adjusting compute effort, made in partnership with keyboard maker Work Louder.

• Amid hardware legal battle, OpenAI releases a $230 keyboard for Codex
  Further coverage of OpenAI’s Codex Micro keyboard emphasizing its role as a “command center” for agentic coding workflows.

• OpenAI Is Selling a $230 Keyboard Designed for Its Codex Agent
  PCMag describes the Codex Micro’s design details, functionality, and pricing, noting limited supply.

• The Download: OpenAI unveils GPT-Red and heat pumps rise in the US
  OpenAI introduced GPT-Red, an LLM “super-hacker” designed to red-team and find vulnerabilities in AI models, automating safety evaluation and helping harden GPT-5.6 against prompt injection and other attacks.

• Meet GPT-Red: an LLM super-hacker OpenAI built to make its models safer
  An in-depth feature on GPT-Red explains how it automates red-teaming, helps discover new attack techniques, and future-proofs AI safety efforts.

• Claude can now use your 1Password credentials for you
  Anthropic’s AI chatbot Claude integrates with 1Password via a zero-exposure framework allowing Claude to securely perform tasks requiring stored credentials without ever seeing the passwords.

• Show HN: AI Law Tracker – one audited API for US, EU and global AI law
  A new API tracks global AI regulation timelines, compliance deadlines, and penalties in plain English, covering US states, EU, and worldwide legislation.

• The LLM Critics Are Right. I Use LLMs Anyway
  A thoughtful blog post discussing the common criticisms of large language models balanced against practical usage and reliance by developers and users.

• Meta now alerts parents if their teen discussed suicide or self-harm with its AI chatbot
  Meta is expanding AI chatbot safety by notifying parents when teens discuss suicide or self-harm, with manual review of flagged chats and plans for emergency service contact.

• Please Stop Making Me Opt Out of AI
  An opinion piece details public pushback against tech companies automatically enrolling users in AI features requiring opt-out, highlighting Meta’s missteps on Instagram.

Hardware

• OnePlus halts operations in USA and Europe
  OnePlus officially announces ceasing new launches in Western markets with a transition to Oppo’s ColorOS for software updates.

• Ninja’s microwave air fryer could be the fix for soggy reheated pizza
  Ninja released the Crispi Microwave, a $449 hybrid device combining microwave heating with air frying to deliver crisp results in one appliance.

• Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 8 leaks a week before launch event
  Leaks reveal little design change in the Galaxy Z Flip 8, swapping Qualcomm Snapdragon for Samsung’s Exynos 2600 chip and adding 45W wired charging support.

• Skullcandy’s bass-boosting Crusher headphones now come with Bose’s ANC
  Skullcandy updated its Crusher wireless headphones with Bose’s active noise cancellation and spatial audio tech, improving clarity and call quality.

• HP’s OLED-equipped 2-in-1 laptop is a solid back-to-school deal
  Best Buy offers the HP OmniBook X Flip 2-in-1 with Intel Core 7 Ultra, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and a 1920x1200 OLED touchscreen for $999.99 as a back-to-school sale.

• Apple’s reportedly raising the price for AppleCare Plus on Macs and iPads
  AppleCare Plus prices for new Mac and iPad subscribers will increase slightly, following recent hardware price hikes attributed to component shortages.

• OpenAI Is Selling a $230 Keyboard Designed for Its Codex Agent
  OpenAI’s first hardware product, the Codex Micro keyboard, aims to assist AI-assisted coding workflows with customizable keys and lighting.

• Flipper's $249 Busy Bar Tells Your Coworkers to Scram and When to Come Back
  Flipper released an updated Busy Bar desktop device—a productivity timer and status indicator with retro styling and open-source firmware.

Space & Satellite

• Goes-19 weather satellite enters Safe Hold mode
  NOAA’s GOES-19 weather satellite entered a Safe Hold mode, with ongoing updates listed on the Office of Satellite and Product Operations website.

• Move over, GPS: Navigation satellites in low-Earth orbit are making a comeback
  Xona Space Systems is launching a new low-Earth orbit Pulsar constellation expected to deliver location accuracy within centimeters with signals 100x stronger than GPS.

• AST SpaceMobile Delays Service Launch to 2027, Eyes 'Acquisitions'
  AST SpaceMobile announced the delay of its satellite-to-phone service launch to early 2027 due to Blue Origin’s launch setbacks; it plans to raise $1B to expand growth and launch options.

• Buzz Aldrin sells famous felt-tip pen that helped launch Apollo from the Moon
  Buzz Aldrin’s plastic felt-tip pen, used to fix a broken circuit breaker on Apollo 11’s lunar module, sold for $857,600 at auction—an artifact critical to the mission's success.

• Frontier Airlines Is Adding Starlink, But You Might Have to Pay for It
  Frontier announced plans to offer Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi starting early 2027 but hinted it may charge passengers for access, unlike most other airlines offering it free.

• Starlink Limits International Use on Its Cheaper Roam Plans
  SpaceX restricts international coverage to only the Roam Unlimited plan, removing global use from cheaper Starlink Roam subscriptions.

Software & Dev Tools

• Let's Build PlanetScale from Scratch: Infrastructure
  A deep-dive blog series details a project, Homescale, that recreates PlanetScale-style database cloning infrastructure with a Docker-like immutable image/branch/container model using Postgres.

• Microsoft patches bug in video game Age of Empires II
  Microsoft fixed a security vulnerability in Age of Empires II Remastered that could have allowed hackers to take control of users' computers via malicious game invites.

• Windows 0-day drops the same day Microsoft releases record number of patches
  An elevation-of-privilege zero-day exploit affecting Windows User Profile Service was published simultaneously with Microsoft’s record patch Tuesday, forcing urgent mitigations.

• Google ordered to open Android and Search to rivals in Europe
  The EU enforces that Google must provide rival AI assistants and search engines equal access to Android and Search data under the Digital Markets Act, with deadlines in 2027.

• Third-party app stores coming to Google Play next week as Epic settlement withdrawn
  Following the withdrawal of the Google-Epic settlement, Google will soon distribute competing app stores through Play Store, facilitating more Android app store diversity.

Policy & Regulation

• Judge: Trump can’t deport researchers just for working in content moderation
  A federal judge blocked a visa policy used to deport researchers working in content moderation, fact-checking, and trust and safety roles, citing lack of evidence connecting them to foreign adversaries.

• FCC to repeal 39% TV ownership cap in boost for Trump-friendly news orgs
  The FCC, under Brendan Carr, plans to repeal the rule limiting TV station ownership to 39% of US households, a move likely to favor Trump-leaning media groups and prompt legal battles.

Security & Privacy

• Lawsuit Says Meta's AI Targeted Workers With Medical Conditions for Layoffs
  26 former Meta employees allege they were unfairly targeted for layoffs due to pre-existing medical disabilities based on AI-driven workforce recommendations, which Meta denies.

Culture & Other

• The lost joy of music piracy
  A long-form piece reflecting on early music piracy culture, featuring Rob Sheridan’s recollections and the contrast with today’s streaming dominance.

• Engineer identifies and explains every '90s computer seen in Jurassic Park
  A detailed breakdown of the authentic 1990s hardware used in Jurassic Park’s production, including Thinking Machines CM-5 supercomputers and SGI workstations.

• In memoriam: 7 of our favorite Sam Neill films
  Tribute article honoring the late actor Sam Neill, highlighting key roles from Jurassic Park to Merlin and his ventures beyond acting.

• Gay Men Flocked to Goose for Friendship. Some Still Feel Excluded
  An exploration of the social dynamics and challenges on the friendship-focused dating app Goose, including user experiences and moderation issues.

• Astronomers Have Found a Sugar Molecule in Deep Space for the First Time Ever
  Scientists detected the sugar molecule erythrulose 26,000 light-years away in a molecular cloud near the Milky Way’s center, shedding light on prebiotic chemistry in space.

This digest captures the major concrete developments from July 16, 2026, emphasizing concrete company actions, product launches, legal decisions, and technological advances across sectors.