💻 OpenAI Just Built Its Own Chip — And That Changes Everything

OpenAI has unveiled its first-ever custom AI processor, codenamed Jalapeño, developed with Broadcom — a move that signals the company is no longer just a software player. Qualcomm is also making waves with a nearly $4 billion acquisition of AI chip startup Modular, escalating the battle to control the full AI stack. Meanwhile, Slate Auto has dropped a jaw-dropping price tag on its electric pickup truck, and the buzz around it is only growing. Amazon Prime Day is in full swing with record-low prices on Apple devices, laptops, and more — but Tim Cook's warning about upcoming price hikes means the clock is ticking. Plus, Google's first new smart speaker in six years is finally here, Oracle quietly laid off 21,000 employees citing AI, and GTA 6 pricing has officially been revealed.

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Welcome to Technology Daily, your go-to source for the latest in tech news. I'm your host, and today is June 24th, 2026. We've got a packed show covering everything from OpenAI's brand new custom AI chip to the hottest Prime Day deals, a surprisingly affordable electric pickup truck, and some big moves in the AI and semiconductor world. Let's dive right in.

We're going to kick things off with some genuinely big news from the world of artificial intelligence hardware. OpenAI has just revealed its very first custom AI processor, and it's got a spicy name — Jalapeño. Developed in partnership with Broadcom, this chip is what's known as an ASIC, or Application-Specific Integrated Circuit. What that means in plain English is that it's designed to do one thing really well: AI inference. So every time you send a message to ChatGPT or run an agent like Codex, that's inference happening in real time. This announcement comes just nine months after OpenAI first revealed it was teaming up with Broadcom on chip development, and it signals a major strategic move — OpenAI is no longer just a software company. By building its own silicon, it's taking a page from Apple's playbook, aiming for tighter integration between its models and the hardware running them.

Staying in the semiconductor space, Qualcomm has made a significant acquisition. The chip giant is buying Modular, a buzzy AI chip software startup, for nearly four billion dollars. Modular has been one of the most promising companies in the AI infrastructure space, and this deal marks a major exit for the startup. It's a clear sign that the race to control the full AI stack — from hardware to software — is heating up fast.

Now let's talk about a story that's making waves in the automotive world. Slate Auto has officially revealed pricing for its electric pickup truck, and the number is turning heads: it starts at just twenty-four thousand, nine hundred and fifty dollars. That makes it the least expensive pickup truck and electric vehicle available in the United States today. To put that in perspective, the average new vehicle in America costs nearly twice that amount. One journalist who got a chance to drive the Slate Truck said there's more to it than pure minimalism — the company made deliberate trade-offs to hit that price point, stripping away features many drivers take for granted, but the result is a genuinely compelling vehicle. The Bezos-backed startup has also revealed its truck configurator, showing how the base truck can be built up to a loaded, wrapped SUV-style vehicle ranging from around twenty-five thousand to thirty-seven thousand dollars. It's positioning itself squarely against trucks like the Ford Maverick, and it's generating serious buzz.

Moving over to smart home tech, Philips Hue has announced a meaningful connectivity upgrade for its smart bulbs. The new update will allow compatible bulbs to run both Zigbee and Thread protocols at the same time. Previously, you had to choose one or the other, and switching meant doing a full reset. The change means you'll be able to connect Hue bulbs directly to a Matter ecosystem — whether that's Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, or Google Home — while still keeping them linked to your Hue Bridge. It's a welcome fix for a frustrating limitation, and it makes Hue's ecosystem considerably more flexible for the growing number of smart home users.

Speaking of Google's smart home products, the new Google Home Speaker is out and getting plenty of attention from reviewers. It's Google's first new smart speaker in six years, and early hands-on impressions suggest it sounds genuinely good and looks great. The speaker is powered by Gemini, Google's AI assistant, and reviewers note that its microphones are impressively responsive — rarely missing a wake word even over running water or loud music. That said, some reviews are flagging that its more advanced features come behind a paywall, which is worth keeping in mind if you're considering a purchase.

Also from Google, there's some news for frequent travelers. Google Wallet is getting an update that will make it easier to use TSA PreCheck's Touchless ID feature. The change means smoother airport security experiences for those who use Google Wallet as their digital ID. A small but genuinely useful quality-of-life improvement.

Now let's talk about something that's been dominating tech media for the past couple of days: Amazon Prime Day. We're in day two of the sale, and there are some genuinely strong deals worth knowing about. On the Apple side, the AirPods Pro 3 are down to one hundred and seventy-nine dollars, the Apple Watch Series 11 has hit a new low at two hundred and seventy-nine dollars, and the AirPods Max 2 are a significant one hundred and fifty dollars off at three hundred and ninety-nine. Tim Cook has warned that price hikes are coming, so if you've been on the fence about Apple devices, now may be the time to act. On the laptop front, laptop prices have generally been climbing due to component shortages, but Prime Day is offering some relief — highlights include the MacBook Air M5 at around nine hundred and fifty dollars, and solid deals on gaming laptops from Asus ROG, Lenovo Legion, and Acer's Predator line. The Google TV Streamer 4K is also at its best ever price — seventy-four ninety-nine for Prime members — and it doubles as a Matter-compatible smart home hub. And if you're a Nintendo Switch 2 owner, there are some great deals on accessories from brands like 8BitDo, Belkin, and Tomtoc.

One interesting side note on charging: an Engadget piece is making the rounds today pointing out that wireless charging wastes significantly more electricity than wired charging. It's more convenient, no doubt, but if you're conscious about energy consumption, it's something to consider.

On the corporate and policy front, there are a few stories worth flagging. Oracle has laid off twenty-one thousand employees over the past year, a reduction from one hundred and sixty-two thousand to one hundred and forty-one thousand workers. The company cited AI as one of the reasons, and it's using the savings to fuel massive data center investments. It's one of the starkest examples yet of AI reshaping the workforce at a major enterprise tech company.

Meanwhile, a report says the U.S. government is urging Meta to share its AI models for review, citing growing security and safety concerns. Meta's Oversight Board also released recommendations this week, calling on the company to do more to protect regular people from sexualized AI deepfakes. The board wants easier and more effective reporting mechanisms. These are conversations the industry will need to keep having as AI-generated content becomes more sophisticated.

And in gaming news, Rockstar has finally revealed pricing for Grand Theft Auto 6. The game will cost eighty dollars when pre-orders open on June 25th. That puts it in line with the new premium pricing tier we've been seeing from big publishers. Pre-orders go live at midnight, so get ready.

Also in gaming, the new Star Fox remake for Nintendo Switch 2 is receiving strong reviews, with critics calling it the most visually impressive game yet for the console. As an on-rails shooter reimagined from the classic Nintendo 64 original, it's benefiting from a tightly designed structure that lets developers really show off the Switch 2's graphical capabilities.

Finally, a quick note from the world of science and security. Scientists have announced a new superconducting X-ray spectrometer that is up to one thousand times more sensitive than previous systems. It's now operating at BESSY II in Europe and opens up exciting possibilities for studying nanostructures and ultra-thin materials. And on the cybersecurity side, the White House has shortened its deadline for federal agencies to drop quantum-vulnerable cryptography, citing national security risks if post-quantum standards aren't adopted in time.

That's going to wrap up today's Technology Daily. Whether you're shopping Prime Day deals, watching the AI hardware race heat up, or eyeing that twenty-five-thousand-dollar electric truck, there's a lot happening in the world of tech. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you tomorrow for more of the stories shaping our digital world.