Alterego’s Near-Telepathic AI Wearable

Boston startup turns unspoken words into AI commands AlterEgo, a Boston-based startup, is previewing a wearable that lets users issue AI commands without audible speech. Unlike traditional brain-computer interfaces, it captures signals from cranial nerves to motor units, essentially the “intent to talk,” through a bone-conduction headset, avoiding invasive implants or access to brain data.

Users can control devices by mouthing words and even simply serious about speaking, enabling hands-free operation in noisy environments and giving a voice to those with ALS, multiple sclerosis, or speech impairments. In demos, the device successfully took notes and queried AI agents silently. Developed by MIT alumnus Arnav Kapur, the system emphasizes user privacy and selective communication. AlterEgo will reveal more on the Axios AI+ Summit on September 17, though industrial availability and funding details remain undisclosed. Read more.

Apple’s 2025 lineup launched with performance and security front and center but, unlike last 12 months, Apple Intelligence took a quiet backseat. The iPhone 17 series, including its “thinnest device ever,” iPhone Air, runs on A19 and A19 Pro chips with on-device neural engines and native large language models that boost gaming, imaging, and background processes. The iPhone Air squeezes pro-level performance into 5.6mm titanium, with a 6.5-inch ProMotion display, Wi-Fi 7/5G, and advanced cameras.

Memory Integrity Enforcement now guards the kernel and 70+ userland processes with EMTE, secure allocators, and Spectre V1 mitigation, giving always-on protection without slowing things down.

Wearables got serious upgrades too. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 packs 5G, satellite connectivity, 42-hour battery, sleep scoring, blood pressure alerts, and AI-powered Workout Buddy. AirPods Pro 3 double ANC, widen the soundstage, track heart rate, and deliver real-time Live Translation. Across devices, Apple uses AI quietly to optimize performance, fitness, and translation while keeping hardware, battery, and security in sharp focus. A practical, technically solid approach that edges out hype. Read more.

Anthropic has upgraded Claude to edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files directly in chat. Users can upload or generate multi-sheet spreadsheets with functioning formulas, dashboards, and scenario models, clean messy data, run stats with charts, and convert files between formats from PDFs to slides, notes to Word, invoices to structured Excel sheets. All processing happens in a sandboxed environment where Claude executes its own code with limited web access.

The feature is on the market in preview for Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, and may be enabled via “Upgraded file creation and evaluation,” with outputs downloadable or saved to Google Drive. The update arrives alongside fixes for Claude Sonnet 4 and Haiku 3.5, while Opus 4.1 stays under review. Developers had reported erratic behavior since late August, including faulty code generation, ignored instructions, and misleading explanations of edits.

Anthropic also just threw its weight behind California’s SB 53, a first-of-its-kind bill that may force OpenAI, Google, xAI, and Anthropic itself, to publish safety frameworks, file risk reports, and protect whistleblowers. Read more.

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