Week 2 of 2026 shows AI agents moving into operating systems, commerce, healthcare, and regulation—reshaping security, work, and how products are built.
Need-to-Know
- DoorDash banned a courier accused of faking a delivery by submitting an AI-generated image as proof of drop-off.
- OpenAI is reportedly exploring an acquisition of Pinterest to expand into visual search and commerce.
- Microsoft is embedding AI agents directly into Windows via Agent Launchers, repositioning the OS as an AI-first platform.
- Palo Alto Networks warns that over-privileged AI agents will become the top insider security threat across enterprises in 2026.
- OpenAI is expected to launch a new audio model this quarter featuring more natural speech and real-time interaction.
- Italy’s antitrust authority closed its probe into DeepSeek after the company agreed to clearer warnings about hallucination risks.
- A U.S. federal judge ruled that OpenAI must provide 20 million anonymized ChatGPT logs to news publishers in a copyright case.
- OpenAI research VP Jerry Tworek is departing after nearly seven years to pursue research he says is difficult to do internally.
- At CES 2026, Rokid unveiled Style, display-free AI smart glasses built for all-day wear, multi-LLM support, and lightweight 4K capture.
- Amazon launched Alexa.com at CES 2026, bringing Alexa+ to the web as a family-centric AI hub beyond smart homes.
- At CES 2026, Google introduced Gemini-powered image and video generation to Google TV.
- Lenovo announced an NVIDIA partnership to accelerate AI data-center rollout and revealed Qira, a cross-device personal AI platform.
- A California lawmaker proposed SB 867, seeking a four-year ban on AI chatbot toys for children.
- Meta paused global rollout of Ray-Ban Display smart glasses due to strong U.S. demand and supply limits.
- Snowflake integrated Google Gemini into Cortex AI, strengthening its model-agnostic, cross-cloud enterprise strategy.
- OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT Health, a dedicated space for health conversations with optional data integrations.
- Ford revealed a new AI assistant and next-generation BlueCruise system at CES 2026.
- Replit CEO Amjad Masad says AI coding enables CEOs to prototype ideas themselves via “vibe coding.”
- X’s Grok chatbot triggered global regulatory backlash over potentially illegal deepfakes, while U.S. enforcement remains unclear.
- Dell acknowledged consumers aren’t buying PCs for AI features and is moving away from an AI-first PC narrative in 2026.
- OpenAI launched OpenAI for Healthcare, offering secure, HIPAA-compliant AI tools for clinical workflows.
- Gmail entered the Gemini era with AI summaries, writing help, and priority inbox features.
- OpenAI acqui-hired the team behind executive-coaching AI Convogo, shutting down the product.
- MiniMax raised ~$619 million in its Hong Kong IPO, signaling strong investor demand for generative-model companies.
- Microsoft is adding in-chat checkout to Copilot, enabling purchases directly inside AI conversations.
Weekly AI Launches
- Joodle launched a daily doodling app that turns moments into a visual diary with widgets and iCloud sync.
- Scaloom AI released a Reddit marketing tool that safely builds trust and karma before automating posts.
- Nutgrafe debuted an AI news aggregator that compresses stories into sub-400-character summaries.
- Everyessay launched an admissions tool trained on real winning essays to provide verified reasoning.
- PostSyncer introduced a scalable social manager with AI content generation (Sora/Veo) and unlimited accounts.
- MiroMiro released a Chrome extension to inspect, copy, and export design assets and Tailwind configs.
- NativeBridge launched a mobile testing platform with instant access to real devices via Magic Links.
- Drylendar debuted a friendly iOS alcohol-tracking app with shareable habit calendars.
- 2-b.ai launched a browser-based to-do + AI planner that captures, plans, and executes tasks.
- Canary introduced a language-learning app powered by music, karaoke, and real-time lyric translation.
- Instruct v2.5 shipped an autonomous agent that turns successful runs into repeatable automations.
- Okara launched a Reddit Agent that monitors threads and drafts authentic engagement comments.
- Amarsia released the Conversation API to handle AI chat state and storage for low-code builders.
- Market Terminal launched an affordable trading platform with institutional-grade data and AI analysis.
- Dessix introduced a visual workspace that replaces prompt guessing with structured AI context.
- Planelo launched a developer workspace that syncs ideas across devices and converts them into APIs.
- Livedocs released an AI data agent that turns plain-English questions into charts, code, and insights.
- Capacity introduced Spec Coding, defining product specs with AI before writing code.
- xPay launched a high-success cross-border payments tool for India, Singapore, and the U.S.
- Muze AI debuted an autonomous system that creates, runs, and optimizes ad campaigns end-to-end.