New Instagram Feature Allows You Control Over Your Reels Algorithm

Instagram has quietly begun rolling out a new “Your Algorithm,” control panel for Reels that allows users to utilizes an AI based interface to control which topics and subjects show up most often in their reels — and lets you tweak them in real time.

When you’re watching Reels, look for the icon in the upper right corner (two lines with hearts). Tap it to open Your Algorithm. You can see what topics we think you’re interested in, tell us which topics you want to see more or less of, and your recommendations will adapt.

1. See your top interests: View a summary of the topics Instagram thinks you care about most, right at the top.
2. Tune your preferences: Type in the topics you want to see more or less of, and your Reels will reflect your choices.
3. Share your algorithm: If you’d like, you can share your interests to your Story, so friends and followers can see what you’re into.

After a few weeks of testing on our @TechSweepstakes page I'll say I haven't noticed much difference. However, our content consumption on that page is rather limited and  restricted to mostly tech related content anyways. Still the feature is nice to have as it learns I'm assuming it will become more intuitive and will allow me to restrict some content that I simply don't care to see!  

Robotics Trends To Watch In 2026

2025 has been a breakout year in robotics and we expect that growth to be even stronger in 2026! 

China leads a massive robotic surge with growth expected to reach new levels in 2026. More than 82% of the 300+ global robotics investment deals in the first half of 2025 occurred in China, with total financing topping at least 20B yuan (~$2.7 B). State-backed funds have earmarked some 70B yuan (about $9.7B) for humanoids and robot initiatives, while pushing robotics into public spaces. Companies like Unitree (eyeing a $7B IPO), Agibot, and EngineAI closed massive rounds, with Unitree slashing prices to $5,900 for its R1 humanoid. Even Elon Musk has warned that in humanoids “positions two through ten could all be Chinese companies.” China now produces 70–80% of global planetary roller screws — the critical actuator component that Tesla, Figure, and 1X all depend on.

Humanoid bots go mainstream - will you see one in your house in 2026?

• Big industrial customers began running serious pilots, testing humanoids on warehouse lines, with 1X’s Neo moving into homes (but with a major caveat).
• Tesla, Figure, Agility, Apptronik, and 1X shifted focus from viral clips to reliability, safety, and per-hour economics in real customer environments. Tesla is set to begin mass production of their Tesla Optimus by the end of next year
• Tooling, components, and software platforms around humanoids matured, from actuators and battery packs to “generalist” control and vision models.
• China turned humanoids into industrial policy, dangling pilots to push domestic players toward large-scale deployment by the end of the decade.
• Analysts are estimating the market will be worth more than $5 trillion by 2050

Robotaxis hit real streets with mixed results! 2026 we expect fewer Uber and Lyft drivers and more driverless cars.

• Waymo began weaving freeway driving into routes across Phoenix, San Francisco, and LA, stretching its service to San Jose with 24/7 airport pickup.
• Amazon’s robotaxi subsidiary Zoox launched its custom vehicles in Las Vegas — no steering wheel, no pedals, just two rows of seats for 4 passengers.
• Tesla just started testing empty robotaxis on Austin streets this past weekend, with no safety monitor in the passenger seat.
• China’s Baidu and Uber announced plans to deploy thousands of Apollo Go vehicles on Uber’s platform, while Pony AI rolled out 1K robotaxis in Shenzhen.
• Uber's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said robotaxis are a "trillion-dollar-plus" industry and expects to see the company to have cars 10-plus markets by next year.

The rise of the warehouse bot saw Warehouse bots becoming the main characters of robotics in 2025. 

• Amazon blew past 1M deployed robots marking the shift from simple mobile robots to integrated AI-powered workcells.
• Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) now account for 45% of warehouse deployments, with e-commerce driving half of new installations through 2030.
• Beijing went all in, openly targeting hundreds of thousands of deployed units by 2030 while running 1.8M industrial robots on factory floors.
• Agility’s Digit moved 100K totes at a GXO facility while humanoids from Apptronik and others tackled “last-meter” tasks that wheeled bots can't handle.

Industry Diversification: Robotics adoption is expanding beyond traditional automotive and electronics manufacturing into sectors facing labor shortages or high-risk conditions.

• Construction: Robots are increasingly used for surveying, inspection, demolition, and precise tasks like drilling and bricklaying, reducing human exposure to hazardous conditions.
• Healthcare and Pharma: Automation is used for logistics, dispensing medications, performing minimally invasive surgeries, and assisting with patient rehabilitation through soft exoskeletons.
• Retail and Hospitality: Robots are appearing as shelf-scanning inventory managers, automated baristas, and hotel assistants.

In 2026, the emphasis is going to be on human-robot collaboration and the integration of robots into daily life as intelligent partners rather than mere replacements. Growth and expansion of AI and the integration it is already making into everyday life will be key. So to will regulations and governmental guidelines and oversight. We've already seen some drawback on autonomous cars with state legislators weighing in on regulations for autonomous vehicles. We fully expect more regulations and safety nets related to bots taking over the workforce and/or entering our daily lives. 

U.S. DOE Expands Genesis Mission With New Partnerships

The U.S. Dept. of Energy just announced partnerships with 24 organizations to power the Trump administration’s Genesis Mission effort to accelerate scientific research with AI — including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Nvidia. 

The details: 

The initiative unites 17 national labs with 40K researchers, targeting breakthroughs in nuclear energy, quantum computing, and manufacturing. Google DeepMind will grant lab scientists early access to tools, including its AI co-scientist agent, AlphaEvolve coding system, and AlphaGenome DNA model. AWS pledged up to $50B in government AI infrastructure, with OAI already deploying models on Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Venado supercomputer. Additional signatories include xAI, Microsoft, Palantir, AMD, Oracle, Cerebras, and CoreWeave.

“Today’s announcement of 24 new research partnerships is only the beginning, as we deliver on President Trump’s mandate to bring the entire scientific community, including companies, universities, non-profits, and Federal agencies, into the Genesis Mission,” said Assistant to the President and OSTP Director Michael Kratsios. “Harnessing cutting-edge AI for science will dramatically increase the productivity of American scientists and researchers. The Genesis Mission will help America’s scientists automate experiment design, accelerate simulations, and generate predictive models that will lead to breakthroughs in energy, manufacturing, drug discovery, and beyond.”

The full list of organizations include: Accenture AMD Anthropic Armada Amazon Web Services Cerebras CoreWeave Dell DrivenData Google Groq Hewlett Packard Enterprise IBM Intel Microsoft NVIDIA OpenAI Oracle Periodic Labs Palantir Project Prometheus Radical AI xAI XPRIZE

Review: JLab Go Lux ANC Bluetooth Wireless Headphones

Over the years I've had the opportunity to test and own a wide variety of mid-range headphones with a select few of the lower end of the high-end. Most of those have ranged from the $100-150 price levels. Because of that I've tended to avoid entry level offerings when possible and my budget (or test products) could manage it! Generally the sound quality just isn't there for me and with some hearing issues I find this even more so apparent! That being said I needed to replace my current OneAudio A2 budget headphones with something budget friendly.

Thanks to some well timed Lenovo Rewards I was able to chose from a few selections on their site that would be relatively free. So I landed on the JLab Go Lux ANC Bluetooth Wireless Headphones. These were a basic entry level offering that purport active noise cancellation, long-lasting battery time and an advertised 30ft BT range. I've managed to put them through some standard testing and and offer my opinions below!

Key Details:

• Noise cancellation - The Lux ANC headphones feature Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling technology that reduces unwanted ambient sounds, enabling clearer audio playback.
• Robust battery life - With a 600 mAh lithium polymer battery, the headphones provide a run time of up to 40hrs and a standby time of 400 hours, ensuring long-lasting use whether at work or on the go.
• Comfortable design - Crafted with faux leather ear-pads, these on-ear headphones offer comfort during extended wear, suitable for daily commutes and long listening sessions.
• Versatile connectivity - The headphones are compatible with a variety of devices, including iPhone, Android phones, Mac, and Windows, providing flexibility for users across different platforms.
• Advanced Bluetooth features - Bluetooth profiles like Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) and Hands-Free Profile (HFP) ensure high-quality audio and convenient hands-free calls.

Sound Quality: When You Don't Expect Much!

Sound reproduction is low end to the point I have earbuds that do better! Dynamic range and response are flat. The highs are just ok, with decent mid range, and the lows aren't there. My main point was decent music and some conference calls. The "Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling" doesn't seem to work at ALL in my experience. So listening to voices for calls or videos a bit rough at best! 

Comfort Fit Styling: When You Go Wrong

I'm not a person that worries about style. I'm a function over form person. These are the opposite. They have great sleek black minimalist styling. . Id give them an A+ on that aspect.  The ear cups are too small for me and just feel uncomfortable. The head band has minimal padding and no matter the overall fit seems to want to press on the top of your head. 

The conclusion is, if you need something on a $25-75 budget is go elsewhere. Sorry JLab these things just aren't worth it!! Thank you to Lenovo Rewards though for me not wasting money on this buy! 

Zoom Introduces a New AI Companion Tool

Earlier this month Zoom introduced the Zoom AI Companion 3.0 which the company has promised will be an all in one sort of solution with a Custom AI Companion add-on that will empower users with easy creation and deployment of custom AI agents and tailored AI solutions. 

The goal is to offer lifelike AI avatars for meetings, live translations, the ability to generate clips from presentations, and proactive agentic AI that can help users free up their time, show up prepared, keep meetings on track, and create rich content based on meeting conversations and more.

“Around the world, millions of people are using Zoom to connect with their colleagues and customers, but they could be getting so much more out of those conversations with the help of AI,” said Smita Hashim, chief product officer at Zoom. “AI Companion 3.0 will provide deeper insights from their conversations to help them get more done at work and drive better business outcomes, regardless of whether they’re working in Zoom Workplace, in person, or across compatible apps and integrations.”

Included in the new companies will be features like photorealistic avatars in Zoom Meetings,  Real-time voice translation for Meetings that will allow participants to hear meeting speech in their preferred language, apps in Team Chat to help them more easily manage and discover Zoom Apps, and a personal favorite generative collaborative whiteboards.

Hyundai Plans Major US Based Robotics Investments

The Hyundai Motors groups isn't all about cars! The company has been a major tech investor and has recently made several big moves in the robotics field including their acquisition and partnership with Boston Dynamics. Earlier this year, Hyundai Motor Group announced it will invest $21 billion in the U.S., including a $6 billion investment to drive innovation and expand strategic partnerships with U.S. companies. As part of this new investment, the Group will purchase tens of thousands of Boston Dynamics robots 

Doubling down on that commitment Hyundai late last month announced they will expand that investment to $26 billion in the U.S. from 2025 to 2028. The additional $5 billion will be dedicated to advancing the Group’s strategic initiatives in automotive, steel, and more specially robotics. The major investment will allow the group to build a new state-of-the-art robotics facility with an annual capacity of 30,000 units, serving as a U.S. Robotics Innovation Hub for design, manufacturing, testing, and deployment. This initiative will position Hyundai Motor Group at the forefront of the global robotics ecosystem and a major leader in the US robotics market! 

Through these initiatives, Hyundai Motor Group expects to create around 25,000 new direct jobs in the United States over the next four years. The Group is also accelerating technology commercialization through its U.S.-based tech affiliate Motional for autonomous driving — while expanding collaboration with leading American companies in future technologies, including AI, robotics, autonomous driving.

Read more: 

• Hyundai x Boston Dynamics: Welcome to the future of mobility
• Boston Dynamics & Hyundai Motor Group Expand Collaboration to Drive Mobility Manufacturing & Innovation
• Uniting Humans and Robots - Hyundai Motor Group and Boston Dynamics’ Vision For the Future of Work and HR Evolution

Netflix Offers More Netflix House Details

Are you ready to see your favorite Netflix shows brough to life? Netflix this week offered up some new details on the company's new immersive fan based experience that does just that! The two colossal complexes set to open later this year in Philadelphia and Dallas, with Las Vegas slated for 2027, transforms over 100K square feet of former department store space into interactive experiences based on Netflix's most popular content. 

Dive into the world of your favorite Netflix shows at Netflix House, where entry is completely free! Once inside, you can choose from a mix of free and paid activities to immerse yourself in the fun. ake selfies with beloved characters like Queen Charlotte, enjoy screenings of hit movies like KPop Demon Hunters, have a meal and a cocktail at NETFLIX BITES, or embark on an adventure with friends, channeling the ONE PIECE crew. 

According to Netflix guests will be able to experience interactive sets from most of their most popular shows including Wednesday, Squid Game, ONE PIECE, Stranger Things, KPop Demon Hunters, Love Is Blind, and A Knives Out Mystery franchise  Since each Netflix House regularly updates its offerings, you may have an entirely different adventure the next time you return. 

For full details