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The Nokia T20.
Ryan Browne | CNBC

LONDON — The company that makes Nokia-branded phones on Wednesday unveiled its first tablet, the Nokia T20, in a challenge to Apple’s iPad.

HMD Global said the tablet, which runs on Google’s Android operating system, comes with a 10.4-inch 2K display and a huge 8,200 milliamp-hour battery.

The firm promises up to 15 hours of usage on a full charge. For more power-hungry users, HMD says the T20 supports 10 hours of video streaming on platforms like YouTube and Netflix.

It also comes with family-friendly features like Google Kids Space, a “kids mode” setting that shows only safe content to children, and Family Link, a system which introduces parental controls.

The Nokia T20 starts at a price of 199 euros in Europe, or $249.99 in the U.S. It comes in two versions: one with only Wi-Fi support, and another with 4G connectivity. The latter costs a bit more, retailing at 239 euros.

The company did not disclose information on release date and availability.

Espoo, Finland-based HMD has held the license to use Nokia’s handset brand since 2016, when the company bought it off Microsoft.

The company, which is majority-owned by former Nokia executive Jean-Francois Baril, counts the likes of Google, Qualcomm and Nokia as investors.

It’s launched several smartphones over the years, as well as the non-touchscreen phones for which Nokia is most well-known. Notable product launches include revivals of the iconic Nokia 3310 and the Nokia 8110 “banana phone,” which featured in the movie “The Matrix.”

HMD’s feature phone business has performed well. However, the company has had less luck with its smartphones, which accounted for less than 1% of the market last year.

In July, HMD launched the Nokia XR20, a “rugged” smartphone designed to withstand intense environmental conditions. The company says the model has already exceeded its expectations in terms of sales.

Now, HMD is hoping to capitalize on growing demand for tablets after working from home and remote learning became the norm for many during the pandemic.

Global tablet sales were forecast to reach growth in 2020 for the first time in six years, according to data from Strategy Analytics.

At $250, the Nokia T20 could be viewed as an attempt to lure consumers away from Apple. However, HMD product marketing chief Adam Ferguson says this isn’t the aim.

“We don’t tend to build our strategy around who can we steal share off,” Ferguson said, adding the tablet was likely to attract Android users more than Apple customers.

Beyond its long battery life, the T20 also comes with four years of monthly security updates and three years of Android upgrades.

HMD is targeting business clients as well as consumers with the device. It says the T20 is included in Android’s Enterprise Recommended scheme for businesses.

Ferguson said the T20 was only one in a planned series of tablets the company plans to launch and hinted that a future model would likely come with support for new 5G networks.

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Mark Zuckerberg names ex-OpenAI employee chief scientist of new Meta AI lab

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Mark Zuckerberg names ex-OpenAI employee chief scientist of new Meta AI lab

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a keynote speech during the Meta Connect annual event, at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 25, 2024.

Manuel Orbegozo | Reuters

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday said Shengjia Zhao, the co-creator of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, will serve as the chief scientist of Meta Superintelligence Labs.

Zuckerberg has been on a multibillion-dollar artificial intelligence hiring blitz in recent weeks, highlighted by a $14 billion investment in Scale AI. In June, Zuckerberg announced a new organization called Meta Superintelligence Labs that’s made up of top AI researchers and engineers. 

Zhao’s name was listed among other new hires in the June memo, but Zuckerberg said Friday that Zhao co-founded the lab and “has been our lead scientist from day one.” Zhao will work directly with Zuckerberg and Alexandr Wang, the former CEO of Scale AI who is acting as Meta’s chief AI officer.

“Shengjia has already pioneered several breakthroughs including a new scaling paradigm and distinguished himself as a leader in the field,” Zuckerberg wrote in a social media post. “I’m looking forward to working closely with him to advance his scientific vision.”

Read more CNBC tech news

In addition to co-creating ChatGPT, Zhao helped build OpenAI’s GPT-4, mini models, 4.1 and o3, and he previously led synthetic data at OpenAI, according to Zuckerberg’s June memo.

Meta Superintelligence Labs will be where employees work on foundation models such as the open-source Llama family of AI models, products and Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research projects.

The social media company will invest “hundreds of billions of dollars” into AI compute infrastructure, Zuckerberg said earlier this month.

“The next few years are going to be very exciting!” Zuckerberg wrote Friday.

WATCH: Meta announces massive ‘Prometheus’ & ‘Hyperion’ data center plans

Meta announces massive 'Prometheus' & 'Hyperion' data center plans

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Palantir joins list of 20 most valuable U.S. companies, with stock more than doubling in 2025

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Palantir joins list of 20 most valuable U.S. companies, with stock more than doubling in 2025

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, speaks on a panel titled Power, Purpose, and the New American Century at the Hill and Valley Forum at the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images

Palantir has hit another major milestone in its meteoric stock rise. It’s now one of the 20 most valuable U.S. companies.

The provider of software and data analytics technology to defense agencies saw its stock rise more than 2% on Friday to another record, lifting the company’s market cap to $375 billion, which puts it ahead of Home Depot and Procter & Gamble. The company’s market value was already higher than Bank of America and Coca-Cola.

Palantir has more than doubled in value this year as investors ramp up bets on the company’s artificial intelligence business and closer ties to the U.S. government. Since its founding in 2003 by Peter Thiel, CEO Alex Karp and others, the company has steadily accrued a growing list of customers.

Revenue in Palantir’s U.S. government business increased 45% to $373 million in its most recent quarter, while total sales rose 39% to $884 million. The company next reports results on Aug. 4.

Earlier this year, Palantir soared ahead of Salesforce, IBM and Cisco into the top 10 U.S. tech companies by market cap.

Buying the stock at these levels requires investors to pay hefty multiples. Palantir currently trades for 273 times forward earnings, according to FactSet. The only other company in the top 20 with a triple-digit ratio is Tesla at 175.

With $3.1 billion in total revenue over the past year, Palantir is a fraction the size of the next smallest company by sales among the top 20 by market cap. Mastercard, which is valued at $518 billion, is closest with sales over the past four quarters of roughly $29 billion.

WATCH: Palantir’s Mike Gallagher: Enforcing a ceasefire will require a greater investment of American power

Palantir's Mike Gallagher: Enforcing a ceasefire will require a greater investment of American power

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Inside Tesla’s new retro-futuristic Supercharger diner

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Inside Tesla's new retro-futuristic Supercharger diner

Tesla has opened the doors to its first diner Supercharger station in Los Angeles.

CEO Elon Musk first teased the concept of building a drive-in themed charging station in 2018. On Monday, that vision was finally realized. Tesla describes the two-story restaurant, constructed of a steel exterior inspired by the Cybertruck, as retro-futuristic. It features 80 charging stalls and two 66-foot megascreens playing a rotation of short films, feature-length movies and Tesla videos.

The diner operates 24/7 serving classic American comfort food, such as burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches and milkshakes, to both electric vehicle owners charging their cars and the general public. CNBC visited the site and spoke with early patrons, who praised both the design and the food.

“It’s pretty cool. It has a very vintage vibe, but futuristic vibe at the same time” said Taju, who stopped by with a friend who drives a Tesla.

“I would bring friends from out of town, they would be very impressed coming to a place like this” said Don, a Model 3 owner who visited with his wife and neighbor.

Also on display for a limited time was Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, which served popcorn and interacted playfully with guests. Less than 24 hours after opening, the line to order food stretched around the block.

Musk has said that if the concept proves successful, Tesla may open similar diner Supercharger stations in other major cities.

Watch the video to see what it’s like inside Tesla’s first diner charging station. 

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