If you blinked this week, you probably missed about seventeen major announcements in the tech world. Seriously, January 12-13, 2026, felt like someone accidentally hit the fast-forward button on the entire industry. We’ve got tech giants holding hands, robots learning new tricks, hackers getting hacked (oh, the irony), and enough security vulnerabilities to keep your IT department up at night.
Grab your coffee — or maybe something stronger — because we’re diving deep into everything that happened. And trust me, there’s a lot to unpack.
The Big League: Major Partnerships and Acquisitions
Apple and Google: The Frenemies Are Now Just… Friends?
Remember when Apple and Google were like two rival high school kids who couldn’t stand each other but secretly shared notes? Well, they’ve officially graduated to best friends forever status.
In what might be the most unexpected bromance of 2026, Apple and Google announced a multi-year partnership that will see Google’s Gemini models powering the next generation of Siri and Apple Intelligence features. Yes, you read that right — Siri is getting a brain upgrade courtesy of Google.
According to the official joint statement from both companies, this isn’t just a one-night stand of a deal. We’re talking about a long-term relationship where future Apple Foundation Models will leverage both Gemini models and Google Cloud infrastructure. The enhanced Siri is expected to roll out later in 2026, and honestly? It’s about time Siri got some serious help. We’ve all been there, asking Siri a simple question only to get a response that makes us question if she even heard us in the first place.
This partnership is essentially Apple admitting that when it comes to large language models, sometimes it’s better to collaborate than to reinvent the wheel. And for Google, it’s a massive vote of confidence in their Gemini technology.
Pony.ai and BAIC BJEV: Robotaxis Are Getting a Major Upgrade
If you thought the future of transportation was still years away, think again. Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai and BAIC’s subsidiary Beijing BJEV have launched what they’re calling “Cooperation 2.0” — because apparently, version 1.0 was just the appetizer.
This deepened partnership covers pretty much everything you’d want in a robotaxi dream team: joint product development, market expansion, integrated supply chains, and global expansion. The two companies are planning to develop new robotaxi models together and add to their existing fleet of over 600 ARCFOX Alpha T5 robotaxis.
For those keeping score at home, this means more self-driving cars on the roads, potentially in more countries. Whether that excites you or terrifies you probably depends on how much you trust a computer to navigate rush hour traffic.
Microsoft Acquires Osmos: Making Data Engineering Less Painful
Let’s be honest — data engineering is one of those jobs that sounds impressive at parties but involves a lot of tedious, repetitive work that makes you question your career choices at 2 AM. Microsoft apparently agrees, which is why they’ve acquired Osmos, a platform that uses AI agents to automate data transformation and integration tasks.
According to Microsoft’s official blog, Osmos will be integrated into the Microsoft Fabric ecosystem, bringing its agent-based architecture to help enterprises deal with the never-ending challenge of making different data systems actually talk to each other. Think of it as hiring a really smart robot assistant who never complains about doing the boring stuff.
CES 2026: Where the Future Came to Show Off
The Consumer Electronics Show this year was basically a highlight reel of “the future is now” moments. Here’s what caught our attention:
Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind: Teaching Robots to Think
Remember Atlas, Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot that could do backflips and parkour better than most humans? Well, it’s about to get a whole lot smarter.
Boston Dynamics announced a partnership with Google DeepMind at CES 2026, and the goal is nothing short of ambitious: equipping Atlas with Google’s “Gemini Robotics” models to give it what they call “embodied AI.” In plain English, this means making robots that don’t just move well but can actually understand and interact with the world around them in meaningful ways.
The joint research kicks off this year, with the aim of helping robots assist with new industrial tasks. So if you’ve been worried about robots taking over the world, at least take comfort in knowing they’ll probably start by taking over warehouse logistics first.
Meta Ray-Ban Display: Your Face is Now a Computer Screen
Meta dropped some impressive updates to their Ray-Ban smart glasses, and let’s just say they’re really leaning into the whole “your face is now a multitasking device” concept.
The new teleprompter feature lets users copy notes from their phone and display them as cards directly in the glasses’ field of view. But here’s where it gets really sci-fi: these cards are controlled using an EMG-based Neural Band that reads muscle signals. Yes, you can control your glasses with tiny muscle movements. It’s like having a superpower, except instead of flying, you can scroll through your grocery list.
But wait, there’s more. The Neural Band also enables “air writing” — meaning you can write messages by moving your fingers through the air and send them via WhatsApp or Messenger. Meta also showed off a concept collaboration with Garmin where the EMG controls were used to operate in-vehicle entertainment systems. The future is weird, folks, but it’s also kind of cool.
Amazon Alexa+: Your AI Assistant Goes Everywhere
Amazon’s Alexa got a significant upgrade with the launch of Alexa+, and this version is all about integration. We’re talking Samsung TVs, BMW iX3 vehicles, Bosch coffee machines, and Oura rings. Basically, Alexa wants to be everywhere in your life.
The new service can combine health data from devices like Oura and Withings with lifestyle information to give you personalized health and wellness summaries. You can even make payments through Google Pay or Amazon Pay directly through the assistant. It’s convenient, sure, but also a reminder that AI assistants know more about our daily habits than we probably realize.
VSee Health: Bringing AI to Rural Healthcare
Not all CES announcements were about consumer gadgets. VSee Health unveiled an AI-driven platform specifically designed for rural hospitals — and it might actually save lives.
The platform includes remote specialist guidance, clinical assistants, predictive analytics, and hospital-at-home features. The goal is to help rural hospitals that often struggle with limited resources and specialist access to improve patient outcomes while recapturing lost revenue. It’s a reminder that AI isn’t just about making our lives more convenient; it can genuinely help people who need it most.
Security Vulnerabilities: The Week’s Digital Nightmares
If you work in IT security, you probably had a rough few days. Here’s a summary of the major vulnerabilities that made headlines:
| Vulnerability | Affected Software | CVSS Score | Risk Level | Recommended Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2025-68493 | Apache Struts 2 (XWork) versions 2.0.0–2.3.37, 2.5.0–2.5.33, 6.0.0–6.1.0 | 9.8 | Critical | Upgrade immediately |
| CVE-2026-22184 | zlib versions up to 1.3.1.2 (untgz tool) | 9.3 | Critical | Update to patched version |
| Gogs Zero-Day | Gogs code repository | N/A | Critical | Close registrations; await official patch |
Apache Struts 2 XXE Vulnerability (CVE-2025-68493)
The Apache Struts 2 framework has a nasty XXE (XML External Entity) injection vulnerability that could allow attackers to read external resources and launch denial-of-service attacks through maliciously crafted XML. With a CVSS score of 9.8, this one is about as critical as they come. If you’re running affected versions, stop reading this article and go update right now. We’ll wait.
zlib Buffer Overflow (CVE-2026-22184)
The zlib compression library — which is used in approximately everything — has a buffer overflow vulnerability in its untgz tool. The issue involves a fixed 1024-byte buffer that can be overwritten by attacker-supplied archive names, potentially leading to memory corruption and remote code execution. Again, this is a critical vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.3. Time to patch.
Gogs Zero-Day: Still Unpatched
Here’s a fun one: the Gogs self-hosted Git service has an actively exploited zero-day vulnerability involving improper symlink validation, which can lead to path traversal and remote code execution. The cherry on top? CISA has confirmed it’s being actively exploited in the wild, and there’s no official patch yet. The temporary recommendation is to close registrations and pray. Okay, maybe not the praying part, but definitely close registrations.
BreachForums Gets Breached: Karma is Real
In what can only be described as cosmic justice, BreachForums — a notorious marketplace for cybercriminals — got breached itself. A user going by “James” leaked data from 323,986 forum members, including usernames, email addresses, IP addresses, and registration dates.
Security firm Resecurity has confirmed the data is authentic. So if you were conducting illegal activities on a hacker forum and used your real email… well, you might want to rethink some life choices.
AI Agent Exploits: The New Threat Frontier
Security researchers at DryRun Security are warning that 2026 will see a rise in “agent exploits” — attacks that target AI agents by manipulating them into performing unauthorized actions. Unlike traditional attacks that target text interfaces, these exploits go after the systems AI agents are connected to, like code repositories and databases.
As AI agents become more integrated into business operations, they’re also becoming more attractive targets. It’s the digital equivalent of why bank robbers rob banks — that’s where the money (or in this case, the access) is.
Community Buzz: What Everyone’s Talking About
Google’s Agentic Checkout: Shopping Just Got Weirder
Google announced a new Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) that’s pushing us toward what they call “agentic shopping.” What does this mean in practice? Soon, you’ll be able to see a product in Google’s AI Mode or the Gemini app, click “Buy,” and complete the purchase right there using Google Pay or PayPal without ever visiting the retailer’s website.
But that’s not all. Google also introduced “Business Agent,” a feature that lets brands chat directly with customers through Google Search. Retailers like Lowe’s, Michaels, Poshmark, and Reebok are already signed up. Eventually, these agents could use customer data to provide personalized shopping experiences and even handle checkout.
Is this convenient? Absolutely. Does it feel like we’re sliding further into a future where AI mediates every human activity? Also yes. Make of that what you will.
Nebius Group (NBIS): The AI Infrastructure Stock That Won’t Stop
If you’ve been following AI infrastructure stocks, you’ve probably noticed Nebius Group having quite a moment. The company, which provides full-stack cloud infrastructure for AI workloads, has seen its stock rise 200% over the past 12 months.
The recent excitement? Nebius announced it will integrate NVIDIA’s new Vera Rubin NVL72 platform into its US and European data centers starting in the second half of 2026. Combined with multi-billion dollar infrastructure deals with Microsoft and Meta, and the fact that their current capacity is already sold out, it’s no wonder analysts are bullish.
Current market cap sits around $27 billion USD, and the stock jumped another 10% on January 12th following a positive analyst note. Whether this is sustainable growth or AI hype remains to be seen, but for now, NBIS is one of the hottest tickers in the AI space.
Clojure Community: “Design in Practice” Meetup
For the functional programming enthusiasts out there, the Clojure community held a special online meetup on January 13th called “Clojure real-world-data 41 - special - Design in Practice.”
The session, hosted by @phronmophobic, focused on applying principles from Rich Hickey’s famous “Design in Practice” talk to developing a new drawing/plotting API. If you’re into data science, data visualization, and thoughtful software design, this is exactly the kind of nerdy goodness that makes the Clojure community great.
AI Art Debate: Has Culture Changed or Not?
An ongoing debate in communities like Reddit’s r/decadeology asks whether cultural change has slowed down since 2008 or actually accelerated. AI-generated art has become a frequent talking point in these discussions.
The evidence is clear: AI art is everywhere. AI-generated images have won art competitions, flooded social media, and sparked heated debates about creativity and authenticity. BBC Science Focus points out that AI can produce millions of images in seconds, democratizing art creation in unprecedented ways.
But whether this represents positive cultural change or a dilution of human creativity depends entirely on who you ask. The debate continues, and honestly, it’s a conversation worth having as AI becomes increasingly embedded in our creative landscape.
The Bottom Line
January 12-13, 2026, was a reminder that the tech industry doesn’t sleep. Major partnerships are reshaping how we’ll interact with AI assistants, robots are getting smarter brains, and new attack vectors are emerging as quickly as new products.
For consumers, these developments promise more personalized, integrated experiences. For IT professionals, they mean more patches to apply and more threat vectors to monitor. And for investors, the AI infrastructure space continues to offer both opportunity and risk.
One thing’s for certain: the pace of change isn’t slowing down. If anything, it’s accelerating. Whether that fills you with excitement or existential dread probably says a lot about your relationship with technology.
Stay curious, stay updated, and maybe run those security patches sooner rather than later.
Sources
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Joint statement from Google and Apple - Google Blog
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Gemini will power Apple’s Siri AI features in 2026 - 9to5Google
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Pony.ai and BAIC BJEV launch “Cooperation 2.0” - Gasgoo
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PONY AI Inc. and BAIC’s BJEV Announce Comprehensive Upgrade of Strategic Partnership - Pony.ai Investor Relations
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Microsoft announces acquisition of Osmos - Microsoft Blog
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Boston Dynamics & Google DeepMind Form New AI Partnership - Boston Dynamics Blog
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CES 2026: Meta Ray-Ban Display Teleprompter, Handwriting, Industry & Research Collaborations - Meta Quest Blog
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Amazon’s Alexa+ expands to Samsung TVs, BMWs, Oura rings and more - About Amazon
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VSee Launches AI-Driven Rural Health Transformation Platform - Morningstar/Accesswire
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CVE-2025-68493 - NVD
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Apache Struts External Entity (XXE) Injection Vulnerability S2-069 - NSFOCUS
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CVE-2026-22184 - NVD
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zlib <= 1.3.1.2 untgz Global Buffer Overflow - VulnCheck
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CISA Warns of Active Exploitation of Gogs Vulnerability - The Hacker News
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BreachForums Breach Exposes 324K Cybercriminals - Dark Reading
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2026 Predictions from DryRun Security - IT Nerd Blog
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New tech and tools for retailers to succeed in an agentic shopping era - Google Ads & Commerce Blog
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Gemini app and Google AI Mode adding product checkout - 9to5Google
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Google Announces AI Mode Checkout Protocol, Business Agent - Search Engine Journal
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Nebius Group (NBIS) Stock Price & Overview - Stock Analysis
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Nebius to Offer NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 in US and Europe From H2 2026 - BusinessWire
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Why Nebius Stock’s 200% Rise Is Only The Beginning - Forbes
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Clojure real-world-data 41 - special - Clojure.org Events
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Clojure real-world-data 41 - special - Design in Practice - ClojureVerse
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AI art is everywhere but it can never compete with human creativity - BBC Science Focus