TECHNov 15, 2026 · 4:50 PM ET

Report: Samsung plans a $1.9 billion Austin fab expansion to make SpaceX Starlink chips

Original editorial illustration of a chip factory at dawn in Texas hills with a silicon wafer in front and satellites crossing the sky.

Report: Samsung plans a $1.9 billion expansion of its Austin, Texas chip plant to make chips used in SpaceX's Starlink satellites, according to Seoul Economic Daily. The expansion would add 18nm FD-SOI capacity to build STMicroelectronics' STM32V8 microcontroller, which is used in Starlink's satellite laser links, with production targeted for 2030. STMicroelectronics calls the STM32V8 the industry's first 18nm microcontroller and developed the process with Samsung Foundry. Samsung has not confirmed the report.

Source · en.sedaily.com ↗

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TECHNov 15, 2026

Gemini 4 Hydrogen is now Google's everyday AI model, replacing 3.8 Flash for everyone

Google's Gemini 4 Hydrogen is now the everyday Gemini model. Announced November 12 on Google's The Keyword blog, it replaces Gemini 3.8 Flash across Google Search, the Gemini app (where free users get it through automatic model selection), Google AI Studio, Android Studio, Gemini for business and the Gemini API. Google DeepMind says Hydrogen finishes tasks 2.5 times faster than 3.8 Flash, and it scores 51 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, just ahead of the larger Gemini 4 Argon at 50. API pricing is $1.50 per million input tokens and $7.50 per million output tokens, flat across its 1 million token context window.

Source · blog.google ↗

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TECHNov 15, 2026

AO3 is back online after 17 days down following a security incident

Archive of Our Own (AO3) is back online after 17 days. The fan fiction archive went down on October 29 because of a security incident and returned on November 15, according to the Organization for Transformative Works. The OTW says no works, bookmarks, kudos or other user data were deleted. Some features are paused for now: icons are disabled, importing works from other sites is unavailable, and downloads are HTML-only. The OTW says it has no reason to believe its user database was compromised but cannot rule it out, so it recommends changing your AO3 password and any reused passwords. It is working with a security firm, and visitors may see a traffic queue at first.

Source · otwstatus.org ↗

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TECHNov 15, 2026

Report: Apple will unveil its first Siri-powered smart glasses at WWDC 2027

Report: Apple plans to unveil its first smart glasses at WWDC in June 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, with shipments said to start before the end of 2027. The glasses, tested under the codename N50, reportedly skip an AR display in the first model and rely on a revamped Siri that can control iPhone apps. Gurman says they will have cameras, speakers and Wi-Fi, run a pared-down version of visionOS on a chip based on older Apple Watch processors, and charge on a small flat pad. They are said to be slightly thinner than Meta's Ray-Ban glasses. Apple has not announced or confirmed any of this.

Source · theverge.com ↗

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