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The Oura Ring 4.

Courtesy: Oura

LISBON — Apple will not introduce a smart ring, the CEO of health-tech firm Oura told CNBC, despite speculation the iPhone giant may be considering a move into this product category.

Samsung’s smart ring debut earlier this year has put the product firmly in the spotlight, with one analyst predicting earlier this year that Apple could launch its own smart ring in 2026.

But Tom Hale, CEO of Oura — which has been developing smart rings since the company was established in 2013 — said he doesn’t think Apple will enter the space.

“I think they [Apple] are unconvinced about the value of having a ring and a watch together and they’re not interested in undercutting the Apple Watch as a business,” Hale told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.

“I think they’re probably keeping a close eye on Samsung and a close eye on us, but it’s hard to do this product category right.”

Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple has put a large focus on health applications through the Apple Watch and related services.

A smart ring is a type of wearable device full of sensors that can give the wearer information about things like their health, activity and sleep. They are lightweight and have a long battery life which fans say make them ideal for wearing all day, including when sleeping, versus a smartwatch that may be less comfortable and so removed more often.

“Apple is very much a focused company. They’re like: ‘We’ve put our bet on the watch. We’re gonna make the watch our platform,'” Hale said.

Oura recently launched its next-generation Oura Ring 4 as competition in the wearable sector ramps up.

Wearables provide opportunity to transform health, Oura CEO says

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Rocket Lab stock jumps 8%, building on strong two-month rally

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Rocket Lab stock jumps 8%, building on strong two-month rally

An Electron rocket launches the Baby Come Back mission from New Zealand on July 17, 2023.

Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab stock soared 8% Monday, building on a strong run fueled by space innovation.

Shares of the space infrastructure company have nearly doubled over the last two months following a slew of successful launches and a deal with the European Union.

The stock is up 63% year to date after surging nearly sixfold in 2024.

Last month, Rocket Lab announced a partnership with the European Space Agency to launch satellites for constellation navigation before December.

Rocket Lab also announced the successful launch of its 66th, 67th and 68th Electron rockets in June. The company successfully deployed two rockets from the same site in 48 hours.

Read more CNBC tech news

Rocket Lab competes with a growing list of companies in a maturing and increasingly competitive space industry with growing demand. Some of the main competitors in the sector include Elon Musk‘s SpaceX and Firefly Aerospace, which filed its prospectus to go public on Friday.

“For Electron, our little rocket, we’ve seen increased demand over the last couple of years and we’re not just launching single spacecraft — these are generally entire constellations for customers,” CEO Peter Beck told CNBC last month.

He said the company is producing a rocket every 15 days.

Beck, a New Zealand-native, founded the company in 2006. Since its debut on the Nasdaq in August 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, the Long Beach, California-based company’s market value has swelled to more than $19 billion.

WATCH: Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck: One thing I don’t worry about at night is demand

Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck: One thing I don't worry about at night is demand

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Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI granted up to $200 million for AI work from Defense Department

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Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI granted up to 0 million for AI work from Defense Department

A view of the Pentagon on December 13, 2024, in Washington, DC. Home to the US Defense Department, the Pentagon is one of the world’s largest office buildings.

Daniel Slim | Afp | Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Defense on Monday said it’s granting contract awards of up to $200 million for artificial intelligence development at Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI.

The DoD’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office said the awards will help the agency accelerate its adoption of “advanced AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges.” The companies will work to develop AI agents across several mission areas at the agency.

“The adoption of AI is transforming the Department’s ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries,” Doug Matty, the DoD’s chief digital and AI officer, said in a release.

Elon Musk’s xAI also announced Grok for Government on Monday, which is a suite of products that make the company’s models available to U.S. government customers. The products are available through the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule, which allows federal government departments, agencies, or offices to purchase them, according to a post on X.

OpenAI was previously awarded a year-long $200 million contract from the DoD in 2024, shortly after it said it would collaborate with defense technology startup Anduril to deploy advanced AI systems for “national security missions.”

In June, the company launched OpenAI for Government for U.S. federal, state, and local government workers.

WATCH: US needs an allied strategy for AI investment in military and defense: Palantir

US needs an allied strategy for AI investment in military and defense: Palantir

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Meta CEO Zuckerberg says first AI data supercluster will come online in 2026

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Meta CEO Zuckerberg says first AI data supercluster will come online in 2026

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears at the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 25, 2024.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday said he plans to invest “hundreds of billions of dollars” into artificial intelligence compute infrastructure, and that Meta plans to bring its first supercluster online next year.

A supercluster is a large, complex computing network that’s designed to train advanced AI models and handle their workloads.

“Meta Superintelligence Labs will have industry-leading levels of compute and by far the greatest compute per researcher,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. “I’m looking forward to working with the top researchers to advance the frontier!”

Zuckerberg said Meta’s first supercluster is called Prometheus, and that the company is building several other multi-gigawatt clusters. One cluster, called Hyperion, will be able to scale up to five gigawatts over several years, he said.

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

Zuckerberg had grown frustrated with Meta’s progress in AI, especially after the release of its Llama 4 AI models in April received a lukewarm response from developers. He is revamping Meta’s approach to better compete with rivals like OpenAI and Google.

“For our superintelligence effort, I’m focused on building the most elite and talent-dense team in the industry,” Zuckerberg wrote Monday.

WATCH: Meta announces several multi-gigawatt data centers, first planning to come online in 2026

Meta announces several multi-gigawatt data centers, first planning to come online in 2026

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