Damian Pickett · No. 41
Wednesday 14 October 2026
Apple launched a $299 smart display called HomeView, a new $149 HomePod mini 2 and a fourth-generation Apple TV 4K with an A19 chip, all gaining Siri AI features. It’s Apple’s biggest smart home push yet.
Google released Gemini 4 Argon, its newest frontier AI model, giving developers, enterprises and consumers access alongside a dedicated robotics version and a safety report explaining how it was trained.
Formula 1 signed a 10-year deal to hold a new African Grand Prix in Kigali, Rwanda, from the early 2030s, marking the sport’s first return to the continent. President Paul Kagame attended the announcement.
Read · Lenny's Newsletter
A framework for assessing whether the company you’re considering joining is built to last
A framework for assessing durable differentiation, useful for Damian as he thinks about positioning products like the ones Apple launched today.
Listen · Founders
Carnegie, Rockefeller, Gould and Morgan built empires the hard way, a fitting companion to a day full of new product launches.
Listen · David Senra
DHH on staying profitable without losing control pairs well with today’s Lenny’s piece on what makes a startup’s moat real.
Listen · Acquired
The history of Google’s AI ambitions is worth revisiting the same week Gemini 4 Argon launched.
Science Corporation, founded by Neuralink’s former president, implanted its PRIMA vision chip in a patient with Stargardt disease, an inherited condition that causes blindness. The firm sees it as a step toward a broader brain-computer interface.
Anthropic explained why it built its own alternative to Git, citing the sharp rise in how fast code now changes as AI tools generate more of it. The piece details the system’s design.
Google Play now lets people build personal Android apps with AI and use them privately, without publishing them to the Play Store for everyone else to find.
Higgsfield’s video tool now generates clips beyond ten minutes, up from one, using GPT-6 Astra for longer footage, GPT-Image-2.5 for stills and GPT-Live pointing toward AI-assisted voice filmmaking.
Fusion startup Cambridge Heavy Industries is developing a small, laser-powered fusion device intended to help fuel future fusion power plants. It had operated largely under the radar until this disclosure.
Helix Carbon has found a way to recycle pollution from steel blast furnaces to produce cheaper iron, cutting emissions while improving margins for a notoriously dirty industry.
Satlyt, founded by a former Google and SpaceX product manager, raised $8 million for open software that runs AI on satellites from many manufacturers, unlike SpaceX’s closed, all-in-one approach. Its software is flying on a SpaceX rocket.
Longshot is building a large gun designed to launch cargo into orbit without rockets, aiming to make space-based data centres more practical and affordable.
Apple introduced HomeView, a $299 smart display with a seven-inch touchscreen designed to be the hub of the smart home, controlling HomeKit devices and Apple Music, TV and other services.
Apple unveiled HomePod mini 2 at $149, powered by the S10 chip and offering new colours and improved audio, though its promised Siri AI features are not yet switched on.
Elevation Lab withdrew its AirTag Silencer, an accessory that disabled the tracker’s speaker while leaving its location function intact, after concerns it could be misused to stalk people undetected.
A federal judge granted Apple expedited access to OpenAI documents and employee testimony in its trade secrets case against former staff, OpenAI and io Products.
Greta Gerwig released the first trailer for her Narnia adaptation, The Magician’s Nephew, and discussed the project with Stephen Colbert, including how she landed a Led Zeppelin track in the preview.
Lena Dunham and the original cast, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet and Andrew Rannells, will reunite for a five-episode limited series on HBO, a decade after the finale.
Tony Gilroy said his Star Wars series Andor made his new film Behemoth! possible, speaking at its BFI London Film Festival premiere alongside Pedro Pascal, who learned cello for the role.
Ben Affleck described making 2017’s Justice League, which underwent extensive reshoots that altered Zack Snyder’s original vision, as one of the toughest experiences of his career.
The Celtics signed Payton Pritchard to a fully guaranteed two-year, $44.2 million extension with a mutual option, after he set career highs in points, assists and rebounds last season.
Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson will miss several weeks with a high ankle sprain sustained against the Raiders, a blow to New England’s run game after his strong start to the season.
Starting left tackle Will Campbell avoided serious damage to his right knee and is considered week to week, good news for a Patriots offensive line key to their recent win streak.
Lando Norris said he let McLaren down and took responsibility for colliding with teammate Oscar Piastri during the Singapore Grand Prix sprint race.
Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache gave the team’s first homemade F1 engine a middling four or five out of ten, a candid admission as it prepares for its new engine era.
Formula 1’s governing body is considering closing a sidepod aerodynamic loophole that Red Bull has been exploiting, with any rule change due before the 2027 season.
Red Sox infielder Caleb Durbin had surgery to fix a pinky injury that bothered him for much of the season, during which he still batted .283 over his final 105 games.
A piece celebrating the volunteers who quietly maintain unglamorous internet infrastructure, such as the time zone database that around four billion phones depend on every day.