Amazon makes your camera an AI shopping assistant

☕ Good morning,

Your first cup of Tech Barista is here, brewed with today’s sharpest stories. Amazon just turned your camera into a real-time shopping assistant with Lens Live, Google dodged a breakup but has to open up search data, and Anthropic raised a jaw-dropping $13B to fuel its AI race.

^{Grab your coffee, scroll through, and take it all in.}

_{—Here’s to the first sip.}

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TODAY IN AI
Amazon Lens Live for instant AI shopping

Amazon is upgrading its visual search tool with Lens Live, turning your camera into a real-time shopping assistant. Open the Amazon app, point your camera at something, and it instantly scans products, showing matches in a swipeable carousel. You can tap items to zoom in, add them to your cart, or save to a wishlist all without leaving the camera view.

More like Google Gemini Live, but with Amazon’s twist. The experience is powered by Amazon’s AI stack, using SageMaker and OpenSearch for product recognition, while the built-in shopping assistant Rufus provides quick insights and suggested questions under each product. It’s basically like having a personal shopper baked into your camera.

Lens Live is rolling out to iOS users in the U.S. now, with wider availability coming soon. Traditional Lens features like barcode scans and photo uploads are still around, but the new real-time AI-powered flow is designed to make shopping faster and more interactive.

 FAST BARISTA

● Salesforce shares have sunk 24% this year as investors question its place in the AI boom. Earnings are due Wednesday, with Wall Street watching if its Agentforce AI can revive growth. CEO Marc Benioff says AI has already replaced 4,000 support jobs, cutting headcount sharply. Analysts warn unless Salesforce proves AI is a must-have, growth could keep slowing despite a cheap stock.

● Apple just lost top robotics researcher Jian Zhang to Meta, adding to a wave of AI talent exits. Three more from its foundation models team are also leaving, heading to OpenAI and Anthropic. The team has already lost about 10 members, including its chief, weakening Apple’s AI push. Apple shares dipped 1.5% as doubts grow over its reliance on homegrown AI models.

TECH BARISTA
Google avoids breakup ordered to share search data

Google just dodged the biggest bullet in its antitrust battle. A U.S. judge ruled it won’t have to sell Chrome or Android, but it does have to share some of its search data with rivals. That opens a small door for companies like Microsoft, OpenAI, and Perplexity to sharpen their own AI-powered search tools.

The ruling keeps Google’s $20 billion deal with Apple intact, which alone boosted both companies’ stock prices. For investors, it was a sigh of relief: Alphabet’s market value jumped by more than $160 billion overnight.

Judge Mehta leaned on the rise of AI as a reason not to dismantle Google, noting that chatbots like ChatGPT are already chipping away at traditional search. Google still has the scale, but regulators are betting AI competition will do more to curb its dominance than breaking it apart.

MORE TO KNOW

● Google Maps is testing Live Updates to keep directions visible while you travel. Some users on Pixel and Samsung phones with Android 16 betas have spotted it. The feature pins routes and travel time in a steady notification. It helps drivers who switch apps but still need navigation on screen.

● Singapore police have ordered Meta to step up anti-scam measures on Facebook. The company faces fines up to S$1M if it fails to act under the new Online Criminal Harms Act. Scams on Facebook nearly tripled this year, costing victims over S$126M. Meta says it’s adding stronger detection tools, advertiser checks, and working with law enforcement.

● YouTube is cracking down on family plans shared outside one home. Users breaking the rule get a 15-day warning before Premium is cut off. The rule has existed since 2023 but is now being enforced harder. The goal is to stop sharing and push more people to pay for their own accounts.

GADGETS BARISTA
RedMagic 10S Pro+ leads AnTuTu rankings

AnTuTu’s August leaderboard is out, and it’s all about Snapdragon and Dimensity chips battling for the crown. On the flagship side, the RedMagic 10S Pro+ takes first place with nearly 2.95 million points, thanks to an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite. Close behind are the vivo X200 Ultra and iQOO Neo 10 Pro+, both powered by the same chip.

For midrangers, the Realme Neo7 SE with Dimensity 8400-Max tops the charts, followed by iQOO Z10 Turbo and Redmi Turbo 4, both also Dimensity-powered.

Tablets saw the RedMagic Tablet 3 Pro (aka Red Magic Astra) lead with over 2.9 million points, while the OnePlus Pad 2 Pro and Oppo Pad 4 Pro rounded out the top three.

FAST FLASH

● Apple may drop the SIM slot on the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, going eSIM-only. Reports say EU store staff are getting eSIM training ahead of launch. The change is linked to the phone’s thinner design leaving no room for a slot. All will be clear when Apple unveils the iPhone 17 lineup on September 9.

● Samsung says its Exynos 2600 will be the first 2nm mobile chip and it’s ready for mass production. The company hasn’t decided if it will power all or some Galaxy S26 models, decision due late this year. The chip brings a new “heat pass block” to fix overheating issues from past Exynos versions. If used, it would mark a major comeback for Samsung’s in-house processors.

STARTUP BAR
Anthropic raises $13B at $183B valuation

Anthropic just pulled in $13 billion in Series F funding, valuing the AI startup at $183 billion. Led by Iconiq, Fidelity, and Lightspeed, the round brought in a heavyweight list of backers, from BlackRock and Goldman Sachs to Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, marking its first big stake in Anthropic.

The money comes as Anthropic’s growth has gone into overdrive. Revenue shot from $1 billion to $5 billion in 2025, fueled by enterprise adoption and the breakout success of Claude Code, which alone generates over $500 million in annual run-rate. The company now serves 300,000 business customers, with its large enterprise accounts growing sevenfold in a year.

But expansion comes at a cost. CEO Dario Amodei has openly admitted discomfort with sovereign funds backing AI, yet says the capital is unavoidable in a field where rivals like OpenAI and xAI are already tapping Gulf investors. Anthropic plans to use the fresh funds to double down on enterprise adoption, international expansion, and safety research.

● OpenAI is acquiring product testing startup Statsig for $1.1B in stock, one of its biggest deals yet. Founder Vijaye Raji will join as CTO of Applications, leading ChatGPT, Codex, and future products. The move strengthens OpenAI’s Applications unit under Fidji Simo, ex-Instacart CEO. Leadership shifts include Kevin Weil moving to lead “OpenAI for Science” and Srinivas Narayanan becoming CTO of B2B apps. Statsig will keep serving its customers independently while integrating into OpenAI’s ecosystem.