Charge your neural nets, Tech Insiders.

What's new: your phone's camera can plan your day while your browser charges $200 a month to think for you. What needs work: your chatbot melting down into antisemitic rants while your operating system scrambles to install 137 emergency patches. Welcome to upgrade season.

Let's crunch the packets.

Here's what you need to know today:

Samsung Foldables Get First Dibs on Next-Gen Gemini Tricks

Samsung's new Zs just went from bendy to brainy.

Google and Samsung are back in buddy-cop mode, handing the freshly unfolded Galaxy Z Fold7 and Flip7 first dibs on a stack of Gemini upgrades (it's the same playbook the Galaxy S25 ran earlier this year).

On the Fold7, Gemini Live now sees whatever's on either screen, so you can livestream suitcase shopping and get AI-style verdicts. On the Flip7, the cover screen turns into a hands-free viewfinder; pop Flex Mode and let Gemini critique your yoga pose or DIY bangs!

Gemini Live also hooks straight into Samsung Calendar, Reminder, and Notes. Aim the camera at an event poster, ask if you're free, and the bot books it—no thumb-tapping.

Most perks hide behind a six-month Google AI Pro trial bundled with the new foldables, while Samsung's own Galaxy AI is only guaranteed free through 2025. However, paywalls loom.

Pixel people aren't totally left out: July's surprise Pixel Drop gifts Pixel 9 Pro owners a full year of Google AI Pro (hello Veo 3 video magic) and deeper Circle to Search follow-ups.

Why it matters: AI is now the interface. By showcasing Gemini's flashiest tricks on its priciest foldables, Samsung normalizes subscription fees and stokes fresh FOMO for anyone still using last year's phone.

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Perplexity's Comet Takes Aim at Chrome

No, Chrome's not crashing—but this $200/month ☄️ has ambitions.

Perplexity AI, flush with Nvidia cash, has officially "launched" Comet, a Chromium-based browser that bakes its answer engine and a sidebar agent into every tab. Ask the Comet Assistant to auto-schedule a meeting, compare prices, or summarize what you're reading, and the AI obliges—while claiming to keep browsing data local.

Despite the privacy pitch, Perplexity freely admits the other goal: harvesting your clickstream so it can sling laser-targeted ads down the road.

At launch, Comet is gated behind the $200/month Perplexity Max tier and invite-only access. A limited free edition is promised later this year. It runs on macOS and Windows, with an Android version slated for release ahead of schedule.

CEO Aravind Srinivas frames the browser as step one toward an OS where agentic AI handles entire workflows.

Good news for tab hoarders: The assistant says it can juggle them for you as long as you can juggle the subscription fee.

Flash Bytes

Unlock Hidden Value From a CMDB | Driving Results With AI-Powered IT Ops

Make your CMDB work for you—not the other way around.

Join us on July 23 at 11:00 AM ET for a webinar hosted by Freshworks. See how New Balance and Forrester experts are driving measurable results with automated CMDBs, hybrid IT visibility, and AI-powered IT operations.

Security Alerts

Bluetooth Bitchat Goes Off-Grid and Secure

Jack Dorsey, cofounder of Twitter and payments giant Block, has a new side project: Bitchat, a server-free messenger that relays end-to-end-encrypted texts over Bluetooth mesh. No SIM, no signup, no internet, and a triple-tap panic wipe if things go sideways.

Other features include ad-hoc group channels, offline message caching, and dummy cover traffic to confuse snoops.

The official (now full) beta is on TestFlight for iOS, but tinkerers can compile iOS/macOS builds from Dorsey's repo. There's also a community Android port already.

Bluetooth hops span roughly 100–330 feet, but chaining through nearby users can push the real-world reach to up to 984 feet. Future Wi-Fi Direct support will increase the range and data speeds.

Critical caveat: The unaudited code ships with a blunt warning: don't trust it for sensitive comms (it's strictly an experiment for now).

Microsoft Patches 137 Flaws, Including SQL RCE

Microsoft's recent Patch Tuesday dump is a monster.

The company shipped fixes for 137 CVEs, including 14 rated critical, one publicly disclosed zero-day (SQL Server info-leak CVE-2025-49719), and a nasty 9.8-CVSS RCE in SPNEGO (CVE-2025-47981).

Admins also have to contend with multiple Office preview-pane exploits, a Netlogon denial-of-service attack that can cripple domain controllers, and—because Microsoft apparently loves variety—14 separate RRAS remote-code execution bugs.

Translation: virtually every Windows box, client or server, needs patching.

Industry Shakeups

X CEO Quits Amid Grok Gaffe

Linda Yaccarino—the former NBCUniversal ad boss Musk hired in 2023 to calm spooked brands—quit on July 9 after a turbulent 25-month run.

Her farewell post boasted a "remarkable turnaround." Musk replied, "Thank you for your contributions." A replacement hasn't yet been named.

Yaccarino's exit landed less than a day after X's house chatbot Grok restyled itself "MechaHitler" and sprayed antisemitic tropes, forcing xAI to delete threads. Turkey blocked dozens of Grok replies and then outright banned it, while Poland's digitization minister vowed to ask Brussels for action after the bot hurled offensive comments at local politicians.

Insiders insist the resignation and the meltdown are unconnected.

Yaccarino scored a modest rebound in ad spend and even persuaded holdouts to return to the platform (which included some lawsuits), yet high-profile advertisers continued to drift away amid misinformation flare-ups, hate-speech scandals, and Grok's repeated miscues. Now, xAI is steering X's "everything app" road map while EU privacy probes, advertiser fatigue, and an unproven subscription push loom.

Silver lining for HR: No more memos explaining why the company chatbot thinks history's most infamous mustache belongs in product management.

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