Enterprise
Google merges Pixel and Android teams into one superteam
Headed by Rick Osterloh
For the longest time, Google kept Pixel and Android behind two different teams. While the Pixel team dealt with devices made by and for the brand, the Android team ships a product meant for brands outside of the company’s purview. However, the days of separation are at an end. Google is officially merging its Pixel and Android teams together.
In a shocking announcement, the company has confirmed that the teams handling hardware and software will fall under a single team headed by Rick Osterloh. Prior to the merge, Osterloh was the senior vice president of devices and service, which was Google’s hardware branch. He will now oversee both hardware and software.
Because of the new leadership change, Hiroshi Lockheimer, former head of Android, will now move on to other projects within Alphabet. Of note, the change is not harsh for Lockheimer. He and Osterloh had been contemplating on the merge for a while.
Now, why the change? As is the case with everything today, it’s all because of AI. Speaking to The Verge, Osterloh explains that the merge will help with “full-stack innovation.” With how technology is these days, it’s now impossible to develop AI without having a close eye on hardware, such as in Google’s AI developments for the Pixel camera. Merging the teams will help streamline development, especially when hardware is involved.
Despite the change, outside brands, like Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon, remains confident of Android’s capabilities outside of Google. Just expect more AI coming out in the near future.
Automotive
How the Ford Ranger is powering community resilience
Through machine and technology, Ford Philanthropy is helping Gawad Kalinga bridge the gap for remote communities.
Strong communities aren’t just built with bricks and mortar. They are sustained by the hands that reach out and the wheels that get them there.
For Gawad Kalinga (GK), reaching the most isolated provinces in the Philippines is often the biggest hurdle to delivering hope.
To bridge this gap, Ford Philanthropy and Ford Philippines recently handed over the keys to a brand-new Ford Ranger Sport 4×4.
During the launch of the “Ford Building Together” initiative at the GK Headquarters in Mandaluyong, the Ranger was introduced as a vital partner for GK’s nationwide relief operations.
The Ranger provides the performance and off-road capability needed when every second counts.
More than a mission
“Strong communities are built through strong partnerships,” said Mary Culler, President of Ford Philanthropy.
Alongside Pedro Simoes, Managing Director of Ford Philippines, Culler highlighted how this initiative unites dealers, employees, and owners.
It’s a collective effort to scale the heart of what Ford does: moving people forward.
Through Operation Walang Iwanan, Ford has already equipped disaster response hubs across six regions with essential tech: from Starlink mini-satellites and EcoFlow solar power to water filtration systems.
Between 2024 and 2025, these tools supported over 11,500 individuals through fires and natural disasters.
Investing in the everyday
The impact stretches into the daily moments of community life. Since 2015, Ford’s partnership with GK has reached 15,000 patients through medical missions. They also trained 1,100 health champions.
Through the Kusina ng Kalinga program, children receive the nutrition they need to stay focused in school. Meanwhile, the new READ program provides 12 weeks of literacy support for students in Caloocan.
Even food security is getting a tech-driven boost. Ford has renewed its collaboration with Scholars of Sustenance Philippines, using mobility to rescue surplus food. It is then redistributed to families experiencing hunger in Nueva Vizcaya.
In the end, technology lives inside these real moments. By combining grassroots action with reliable mobility, Ford and Gawad Kalinga are ensuring that no community is ever truly out of reach.
Enterprise
AMD poised to lead agentic AI era with high-performance CPUs
AMD is prepared to lead the industry in its agentic AI era with their high-performance CPU strategy.
As the industry pivots from simple AI models to agentic AI systems that are capable of independent planning and decision-making, the CPU is reclaiming its role as the critical “head coach” of the data center.
This was noted by AMD CEO and Chair Dr. Lisa Su during the AMD Advancing AI event last year. The rise of autonomous agents has transformed inference into a complex and multi-step workflow that demands sophisticated logic and orchestration.
And while high-performance GPUs are necessary to generate insights in real time, the surrounding infrastructure is just as important.
This is where CPUs enter the picture. Their performance and efficiency are more important than ever in the overall performance of modern AI infrastructure.
And AMD delivers an advantage with their offerings. In recently published data, a 5th Gen AMD EPYC CPU-based system is estimated to perform up to 2.1x better per core against an NVIDIA Grace Superchip-based system.
The same system AMD-based system also delivers up to 2.26x uplift on SPECpower, measuring operations per watt.
The x86 CPU architecture gives customers the advantage of a broad, proven software ecosystem that can run existing workloads natively.
This avoids the costly refactoring and code-base duplication often required when switching to Arm-based alternatives.
Looking ahead, AMD is doubling down on the balanced system philosophy. Future architectures such as the “Venice” CPUs will power the “Helios” rack-scale AI design.
By integrating EPYC CPUs with Instinct GPUs and the ROCm software stack, AMD aims to maximize cluster-level performance and lower the total cost of ownership in the agentic era.
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? After a year of wrestling through tariffs from the current American administration, Nintendo has decided to sue the United States.
Last year, the Trump administration was trigger-happy with implement tariffs on countries everywhere. Though the controversy mostly circulated around geopolitics, major corporations also found themselves on the receiving end of Trump’s ire. All over the world, the tariffs sparked product delays and price hikes.
Nintendo is no exception. As a result of the fiasco, the company had to delay the launch of the Switch 2, in anticipation of disruptions caused by the tariffs. First reported by Aftermath, the Japanese gaming giant is now going after the American government over refunds associated with the tariffs.
Now, the tariffs aren’t a big issue anymore. Notably, the Supreme Court scratched off the White House’s implementations that the former found illegal. While a big sigh of relief for future business, corporations like Nintendo have already paid duties and deposits in the past. As a result, Nintendo is now looking for recompense for what they paid before.
Nintendo isn’t the first company to seek restitution over the illegal tariffs. Others, including FedEx and Revlon, are also asking for refunds. However, the Japanese giant is certainly one of the biggest names to cross the government’s path. After all, the company is notoriously litigious over anything it considers as an affront to its business, including small streamers using Pokémon on their broadcasts.
With all its global resources, Nintendo likely won’t just give up without a fight.
SEE ALSO: The Nintendo Switch is now Nintendo’s best-selling console ever
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