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Today’s Slate

• Apple WWDC 2025 Recap

  • Apple unveiled Liquid Glass design, new OS updates, and call screening across devices

• Apple Research Calls Out AI Hype

  • A new Apple study claims today’s top AI models aren’t reasoning they’re just overthinking pattern matchers with hard ceilings on complexity.

• Nvidia’s CEO: You Now Program AI With “Human”

  • Jensen Huang says AI is the “great equalizer,” making everyone a programmer—just ask it nicely and watch it respond like a person.

• Billionaire Flips Companies With AI, Not People

  • Elad Gil is buying up businesses and gutting them with generative AI, betting the future of private equity is artificial—and automated.

• Google’s AI Turns Stock Data Into Tappable Charts

  • Search just got smarter: Google’s AI Mode now builds interactive, real-time stock charts with the help of Gemini. Say goodbye to data digging.

• Snap’s AR Glasses Coming in 2026

  • Snap is betting big on Specs, its new AR glasses with a wider field of view, developer tools, and AI vision—at a price below Apple’s Vision Pro.

• ROG Xbox Ally Handhelds Launch This Holiday

  • Xbox and ASUS team up for two new gaming handhelds running Windows 11 and optimized for play-anywhere Xbox Game Pass experiences.

• Walmart Drone Delivery Expands to 5 States

  • Eggs, fruit, and ice cream in 10 minutes? Walmart’s drone delivery now covers millions across five states—and it’s just getting started.

• CarPlay Gets Three Upgrades in iOS 26

  • Apple’s bringing a translucent redesign, adjustable text sizes, and baby-cry detection to your car with CarPlay updates in iOS 26.

• The. Future. Is. Here.

Apple WWDC 2025

At a glance

• Liquid Glass redesign across OSes: A translucent, specular, lens-like interface inspired by visionOS is rolling out to iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26.

• iOS 26 adds smart communication tools: Includes Call Screening, Hold Assist, Live Translation, Genmoji, a new unified Phone/FaceTime interface, floating UI, and a new Games app with multiplayer features.

• iPadOS 26 gets Mac-like multitasking: Introduces a new windowing system with Exposé, a persistent menu bar, and improved Files app and Preview support.

• macOS Tahoe 26 modernizes productivity: Features intelligent Shortcuts, clipboard history, the new Games app with Metal 4 upgrades, and continuity enhancements.

• watchOS 26 adds Workout Buddy: Offers AI-powered fitness coaching, smarter notifications, Wrist Flick gesture, and upgraded Smart Stack.

• tvOS 26 improves engagement: Introduces karaoke with iPhone mic support, faster show resuming, and a redesigned FaceTime app.

• visionOS 26 deepens spatial utility: Adds persistent widgets, smarter Personas, 3D spatial photo views, Eyes Only privacy mode, and pro-grade content creation support.

Our vision

Apple’s WWDC 2025 announcements push its platforms closer to a unified, spatially aware, intelligent future where Liquid Glass aesthetics and AI-infused features blur the lines between devices and realities. The system-wide visual and functional upgrades align beautifully with Apple’s long-term visionOS ambitions, promising a more ambient, elegant, and capable computing experience.

Still, we wonder: What would Steve Jobs think of these bubbly UIs and floating translucencies? While the technical and functional progress is undeniable, the aesthetic departure from minimalism may spark debates even as it shapes the next decade of Apple design. Either way, the age of spatial interfaces and ambient intelligence is no longer coming—it's here.

Artificial Intelligence

At a glance

• Apple challenges AI reasoning hype: A new study from Apple Machine Learning Research finds that top reasoning models like Claude and DeepSeek fail at complex logic tasks.

• Custom test environments used: Apple created puzzle-based scenarios like Tower of Hanoi and River Crossing to eliminate benchmark contamination and analyze reasoning more precisely.

• Key finding: models collapse at complexity: Reasoning models performed worse as problem difficulty increased, sometimes failing even when given the full solution.

• Surprising overthinking behavior: Models wasted resources on incorrect paths, even after identifying correct solutions early on.

• Conclusion: not real reasoning: Apple's team suggests these models rely on advanced pattern recognition, not scalable human-like logic.

Our vision

Apple's bold pre-WWDC research casts a skeptical light on current AI reasoning claims, underscoring how far even the best models are from replicating human-like logic. While many companies sprint to slap “reasoning” on their agents, Apple’s focus on fundamentals may indicate a longer game that prioritizes provable capabilities over flashy buzzwords. In an industry hungry for breakthroughs, this research reminds us that pattern matching isn’t the same as understanding—and that true AI reasoning remains a frontier still out of reach.

At a glance

• Human is the new programming language: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said AI now enables people to “program” computers using natural language, likening it to training a person rather than coding in C++ or Python.

• AI as the great equalizer: Speaking at London Tech Week 2025, Huang emphasized AI’s ability to make powerful computing accessible to everyone, not just programmers.

• Just ask it nicely: Huang described how modern AI responds to friendly, human-like prompting—generating poetry, writing code, or improving outputs through conversational feedback.

• AI adoption is accelerating: Huang encouraged workers to embrace AI as a tool to stay competitive, as millions of businesses and individuals adopt tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Our vision

Jensen Huang’s comments underscore a future where the interface between humans and machines is no longer code, but conversation. As AI systems become more intuitive, they dissolve the barrier between creators and technology that empowers kids, creatives, and knowledge workers alike. This democratization of computing echoes the original promise of personal computers and the internet. The question now isn’t whether we’ll use AI but how thoughtfully we’ll teach it, just like we would a person.

At a glance

• AI meets private equity: Billionaire Elad Gil is buying profitable, white-collar businesses and replacing human labor with AI to cut costs and boost margins.

• Target industries include law, marketing, and sales: Gil believes generative AI can streamline tasks like content creation, coding, and customer outreach—despite mixed results from current AI tools.

• Strategy mirrors traditional roll-ups: Like private equity roll-ups, Gil’s approach consolidates firms under a single AI-optimized operation, often with significant layoffs.

• The bet is on future AI performance: Gil is banking on rapid improvements in generative AI capabilities to make the automation strategy viable and scalable.

• Critics are skeptical: Experts warn that many generative AI tools still underperform in real-world tasks, making the long-term success of this approach uncertain.

Our vision

This AI-driven business consolidation strategy might seem extreme today, but it's a glimpse into a broader trend likely to accelerate by 2030. As generative AI improves, more investors will view it as a lever to restructure labor-heavy industries and boost profitability. The challenge will be balancing efficiency with ethics, ensuring that AI adoption doesn’t hollow out the workforce or gut the core value of the businesses themselves. Whether this becomes a renaissance of smart automation or a wave of digital strip-mining depends on how thoughtfully it's executed.

At a glance

• Interactive stock charts in Search: Google’s AI Mode now generates tappable, real-time financial charts for stocks and mutual funds directly in Search.

• Powered by Gemini: Google's AI interprets user queries, pulls live and historical data, and presents it in a clear, visual format with interactive breakdowns.

• Conversational follow-ups: Users can ask follow-up questions within the same interface, turning stock research into a back-and-forth experience.

• Experimental phase: The feature is currently being tested via Google Labs in the U.S., with plans to roll out more broadly in Search soon.

• Part of a broader AI push: This aligns with Google’s ongoing shift to make Search feel more like a smart assistant than a static results page.

Our vision

Google’s integration of interactive, AI-generated stock charts into Search marks a pivotal shift in how everyday users engage with financial data. Instead of navigating dense spreadsheets or complex financial sites, people can now explore investments through a dynamic, conversational interface—making financial literacy far more accessible. It’s another step toward a world where intelligent assistants don’t just retrieve information but interpret and visualize it in intuitive, personalized ways.

Spatial Computing

At a glance

• Snap’s first consumer AR glasses, called Specs, will launch in 2026 and will be thinner, lighter, and offer a wider field of view than the current developer-only version.

• The new Specs will cost less than Apple’s $3,499 Vision Pro, though likely more than Meta’s $300 Ray-Ban smart glasses.

• Snap is betting on its 400,000 AR lens developers and its existing AR ecosystem on Snapchat to differentiate its offering.

• Specs will support AI-powered interactions via Snap’s MyAI chatbot, with integrations from OpenAI and Google models for real-time lens generation.

• Snap is prioritizing privacy, with visual understanding enabled on-device rather than through cloud-stored footage.

• A partnership with Niantic Spatial will fuel the development of a next-gen AI map, designed to help Specs understand and interact with the real world.

Our vision

Snap’s entry into consumer AR glasses reinforces the growing momentum behind spatial computing. Like Apple’s visionOS and Meta’s HorizonOS, Snap’s Specs aim to blend AI, real-world awareness, and intuitive interfaces but with a more playful, social-first twist. As lightweight AR glasses become more capable and affordable, this category is clearly heating up. By 2030, expect these wearables to be mainstream but whether they’ll match the polish and purpose Steve Jobs championed remains to be seen.

Transportation

At a glance

• New design update: CarPlay gets a visual overhaul in iOS 26, aligning with Apple’s new “Liquid Glass” aesthetic you can expect sleeker app icons and more translucent UI elements.

• Larger text support: A new accessibility feature will allow users to increase text size in CarPlay for better on-the-go readability.

• Enhanced Sound Recognition: CarPlay can now detect crying babies in addition to sirens and horns, offering new safety cues for caregivers.

• CarPlay Ultra launched: Apple’s premium tier of CarPlay is now live; updates and feature announcements are expected soon.

Our vision

As Apple extends its visionOS-inspired UI across platforms, CarPlay’s refresh is more than cosmetic, it’s a step toward unifying digital experiences, even behind the wheel. Features like crying baby detection hint at thoughtful, real-world utility. By 2030, cars may become seamless extensions of our digital lives, not just transportation with design playing a central role in how safe, intuitive, and connected those experiences feel.

At a glance

• Drone delivery scaled to 5 states: Walmart expands fast drone delivery service to 100 stores across Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas.

• 10–30 minute deliveries: Items like ice cream, eggs, fruit, and pet food are delivered by drones flying up to 6 miles at 65 mph.

• Lightweight payloads only: Current drones (from Wing and Zipline) carry up to 2.5–5 pounds per trip.

• Still early days: Walmart operates 4,600+ U.S. stores—this rollout covers just over 2% of locations so far.

• Challenges ahead: Cost-per-delivery (~$13.50), noise concerns, limited range and capacity still remain.

Our vision

Walmart’s drone program signals a serious shift in how last-mile logistics could evolve by 2030. Lightweight air delivery for daily essentials is no longer theoretical, it’s operational. As costs drop and payloads increase, we’re likely to see this model become standard in suburbia. It's a bold move toward rethinking convenience, and a reminder that the future of retail might be quieter than a truck, but noisier than you'd think.

Gaming

At a glance

• Xbox + ASUS collaboration: Microsoft unveiled two new handheld gaming devices—the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X—launching Holiday 2025 in select markets.

• Optimized Windows experience: Both devices run Windows 11 with a new Xbox full screen mode tailored for handhelds, offering a unified game library, enhanced Game Bar, and streamlined navigation.

• Two-tier performance: The Xbox Ally targets mainstream gamers with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage, while the Ally X offers high-end specs like 24GB RAM, 1TB storage, and AI-capable AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chips.

• Seamless game access: Users can play from Xbox, Game Pass, Battle.net, and more—natively, via cloud, or remotely—with integrated support for Xbox Play Anywhere, Remote Play, and Game Pass perks.

• Next-gen features: Includes Gaming Copilot, native Roblox support, and upcoming labels for games optimized specifically for handheld play.

Our vision

Xbox’s new handhelds represent a major step toward unified, platform-agnostic gaming bringing AAA titles and cloud play to your hands with PC flexibility. While Meta and Apple focus on spatial computing through VisionOS and HorizonOS, Xbox is anchoring itself in content accessibility, AI-assisted features, and an open OS foundation.

As immersive, always-available computing becomes the norm this push hints at a future where gaming isn’t bound by hardware, instead it follows you anywhere.