Qualcomm will acquire Modular to build an open AI software ecosystem.
Qualcomm announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Modular, aiming to strengthen its software foundation for generative AI and agentic AI in data center and edge environments. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, pending customary closing conditions and relevant regulatory approvals. Qualcomm stated that Modular offers an open, AI-native software stack that enables AI to run efficiently across diverse hardware architectures. Its unified platform supports CPU, GPU, NPU, and custom ASIC architectures, eliminating the need to rewrite models for each type of accelerator. For developers and enterprises, this means they can build once and deploy across various environments while reducing total cost of ownership. Qualcomm noted that as AI scales, efficiency rather than capability is emerging as the limiting factor. Performance per watt impacts inference costs, and these costs determine whether AI can scale. This acquisition will further enable Qualcomm to deliver a chip-agnostic compute layer across devices, edge, and data centers, boosting performance per watt, increasing hardware flexibility, and expanding its open developer ecosystem.
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Unitree R1 Humanoid Robot Priced Starting at 29,900 Yuan After Price Cut
Unitree Technology announced that the official starting price of its bipedal humanoid robot Unitree R1 has been reduced from 39,900 yuan to 29,900 yuan, with spot sales opening immediately. Weighing 25 kg, the robot is equipped with 26 high-precision joints, supports multimodal large model interaction via voice and image, and has development and customization capabilities.
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21Shares: Bitcoin Could Rebound to $100,000 by End of Year, Current Trend Aligns With Post-Halving Cycle Characteristics
Asset management firm 21Shares has released its mid-year crypto market report, revisiting its 2026 industry forecast and setting a base-case target of $100,000 for Bitcoin by year-end. Bitcoin previously hit an all-time high of around $126,000 in October 2025, and is currently trading at roughly $62,300, approximately 50% below that peak. 21Shares noted that Bitcoin’s post-halving price trajectory “still looks familiar”, with the current pullback aligning closely with historical post-halving patterns, though the decline is far smaller than the over 80% pullbacks seen in prior cycles. The report points out that Bitcoin remains above the $54,000 aggregate investor cost basis, with no signs of the capitulation sell-offs observed in previous bear cycles, signaling a more mature market and stickier capital flows. The report also shows that as of May 2026, global crypto ETP assets under management (AUM) stood at around $140 billion, down roughly 15% year-to-date; ETPs hold approximately 1.25 million BTC, about 8% below their prior peak. 21Shares attributes the decline primarily to price movements rather than widespread liquidations. While U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of around $3 billion, underlying BTC allocations remain near cycle highs. Additionally, the report states that prediction market trading volume reached $57.5 billion by the end of May, already exceeding half of the firm’s full-year forecast. Full-year volume is on track to hit $100 billion, and could challenge $200 billion in the second half, driven by events including the FIFA World Cup and U.S. midterm congressional elections. Total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) remains around $140 billion, below 21Shares’ earlier forecast of $300 billion. Public on-chain tokenized assets amount to $31 billion, including $15 billion in tokenized U.S. Treasuries.
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Trump: Iran has notified the United States that it is not charging passage fees in the Strait of Hormuz.
US President Donald Trump said, “Iran has notified the US that it is not charging tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Additionally, the US has not provided any funds to Iran, nor has it released any of Iran’s funds.” (Jinshi)
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