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Your own head has always felt like the last place no one else can get into. You can lie with your face, edit your words, delete a text before you hit send. But the half-formed sentence sitting behind your eyes, the one you have not decided to share yet, has stayed yours alone for the entire history of the species.That privacy has had exactly one serious threat, and it came with a scalpel. For years, the only way a computer could reliably turn brain activity into language was to get inside the skull. Elon Musk’s Neuralink drills a coin-sized hole and lays electrodes directly on the brain. Companies like Synchron thread sensors through blood vessels. The results can be remarkable, and so are the risks: infection, scarring, a device that degrades over months. High accuracy meant surgery, full stop.I have covered enough Musk brain-implant promises to treat any “mind reading” claim with a raised eyebrow. So when Meta Platforms (META) said on June 29, 2026, that it can now decode the sentences you type straight from your brain signals, with no implant and no incision, I went looking for the catch.What Meta’s Brain2Qwerty v2 actually decodesThe system is called Brain2Qwerty v2, and the name is a tell. It does not pluck free-floating dreams out of your head. It reconstructs the sentences you are actively trying to type, reading the brain activity that fires while your fingers move.Here is how it works. A volunteer sits inside a magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanner, a machine that picks up the faint magnetic fields thrown off by neurons, and types memorized sentences. The AI model reads those raw signals and rebuilds the words as they form. Two things make that work.
The model learns straight from raw brain signals instead of hand-built rules.

A fine-tuned language model rides on top, using context to repair the gaps and guess the likeliest word when the neural read comes back noisy. It is the “highest-performing end-to-end pipeline capable of real-time sentence decoding,” according to Meta.
The accuracy is the part that stopped me. When I lined up the new figures against what non-invasive decoding could manage a year ago, the jump was not incremental.Older non-invasive methods landed near 8% word accuracy, Meta confirmed.Brain2Qwerty v2 averaged 61% word accuracy across nine volunteers, Meta said.The best participant reached 78% word accuracy, with more than half of sentences decoded with one word error or less, Digital Trends reported.The model was trained on roughly 22,000 sentences gathered over 10-hour scanning sessions, according to Meta.That 61% figure means the system now “approaches levels of accuracy previously achieved only with techniques requiring brain surgery,” Decrypt explained. For a method that touches nothing and cuts nothing, that is a real leap. The earlier version, whose findings appeared in the journal Nature Neuroscience, could only spell out characters one at a time, according to Meta.

Meta unveils Brain2Qwerty v2, decoding brain scans into text. Yuichiro Chino / Getty Images

Why this brain-reading milestone still needs a room-sized machineBefore anyone panics about Mark Zuckerberg downloading their inner monologue, look at the hardware. A MEG scanner is not a headband. It is a multimillion-dollar instrument that sits in a magnetically shielded room and weighs about as much as a small car. Those scanners are “massive, expensive machines that belong in research labs, not living rooms,” according to Digital Trends.More Artificial Intelligence:OpenAl’s $1 trillion ambition could delay its IPOPalantir gets powerful Al signal from key ally of U.S.Amazon quietly raises price tag on the Al boomThere is a second limit that matters just as much. The system decodes typing, not unspoken thought. It leans on the brain’s motor signals as your hands move, which makes it closer to a very advanced read of your keystrokes than a window into your imagination. That distinction matters, because every leap in this field gets sold as telepathy long before it earns the word. Meta has announced no product, no timeline, and no plan to put this on a shopper’s head.The gap between a lab result and a thing you can buy is where most brain-computer breakthroughs go to wait. The invasive route shows why. Musk’s Neuralink gets clean signals because it lays electrodes on the brain itself, and it has shown a paralyzed patient move a cursor by thinking, as TheStreet covered in 2024. The price of that fidelity is a hole in the skull.What Meta stock and the brain-computer race signal nextFor Meta Platforms shareholders, Brain2Qwerty is not a revenue story. It is a flag planted in a field everyone suddenly wants to own. For Zuckerberg, that is partly the point. He has spent heavily to recast Meta as a frontier research lab rather than a social network with an ad engine bolted on, and a brain-decoding milestone buys exactly that kind of credibility. The company open-sourced the training code and is funding open neuroscience data through a new Digital Brain Project carrying a $5 million commitment, according to Meta.Related: Mark Zuckerberg sends stunning message to Meta employeesThe competitive map is filling in fast. Neuralink and Synchron are pushing implants you have to be cut open to receive. Merge Labs, a startup backed by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, is chasing the same prize from another direction, Decrypt noted. Meta’s wager is that it can get most of the way there without the scalpel, and that giving the work away will pull the whole field forward faster than guarding it would.I keep coming back to the uncomfortable part, the one Meta’s careful framing does not erase. This is the company whose business runs on knowing what you want before you do. The stated goal, restoring a voice to people who have lost the ability to speak, is real and worth cheering. But the same plumbing that gives someone their words back can, pointed differently, model intent. Anyone who shrugs at one more ad-targeting story should notice that the signal being decoded here is not a click. It is a sentence forming in your head.Where the brain-to-text race goes from hereThe most important number in the research is not the accuracy rate. It is the slope. Accuracy kept climbing as Meta fed the model more data, with no sign of leveling off, according to Meta. That is the same scaling logic that turned chatbots from novelties into tools, now aimed at the brain.So the honest forecast is patience, and then, all at once, none. For now, the MEG scanner keeps this locked inside the lab. The day a wearable version closes even part of that accuracy gap, the question stops being whether a machine can read the words in your head and becomes whether you ever agreed to let it. I would start deciding your answer now.Related: Meta launches smart glasses cheaper than Ray-Ban

ON Semiconductor Corporation (ON) just made the biggest bet in its corporate history.On Thursday, June 25, the Scottsdale-based chipmaker announced a $7 billion all-stock agreement to acquire Synaptics Incorporated (SYNA). This is the company’s biggest transaction to date. CEO Hassane El-Khoury described the deal as a move into “physical AI,” which represents AI embedded into machines, allowing them to closely imitate human patterns and decision-making abilities. This initiative focuses on developing smart machines for immediate, actionable intelligence.By the close on Friday, June 26, ON Semiconductor Corporation (Onsemi) shares had fallen roughly 21%, the stock’s worst single-day loss since 2020. Synaptics shares, however, gained about 3%.The sell-off raised immediate questions. What is Onsemi getting for $7 billion? Why are investors spooked? And how long before this deal delivers? Here is what the data and analysts say.What Onsemi’s $7 billion Synaptics deal actually involvesSynaptics shareholders receive 1.350 shares of Onsemi common stock per share held, representing a 19% premium over recent average prices. This premium is based on the average stock prices of both companies over the past 10 days. The total enterprise value is approximately $7 billion, according to an Onsemi news release, and it’s the largest acquisition in Onsemi’s history. Synaptics investors are expected to own about 12% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis after closing, Yahoo Finance reported. This dilutes the ownership stake and voting power of existing Onsemi shareholders before a single synergy materializes.Onsemi projects approximately $200 million in annual cost savings from the combined business. The deal is expected to close by mid-2027 and will start increasing Onsemi’s profits per share within 18 months after that.

Onsemi’s $7 billion Synaptics deal, its biggest ever, sent the chipmaker’s shares down about 21% in a single day, the worst since 2020.adventtr / Getty Images

How Synaptics fills the missing layers in Onsemi’s AI stackOnsemi has built its business on power semiconductors and intelligent sensing hardware. Its chips go into electric vehicles, industrial equipment, and AI data center power systems.El-Khoury told CNBC that the company’s existing foundation remains intact, and there is no overlap in the product. The real debate is whether physical AI justifies the dilution cost.More Semiconductor Stocks:Roundhill CEO spots major shift for Micron stockTSMC executive drops blunt message on AI chip’s next frontierBank of America strongly resets Micron stock price targetReal-time machine intelligence requires more than power and sensing. It also needs the computing strength and wireless tech to process data directly on the device, rather than sending it to a faraway server.Synaptics’ Astra Edge AI platform bundles AI processors, neural processing units, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS into one connected system.According to GlobeNewswire, the acquisition of Synaptics helps onsemi grow its AI market from data centers to edge devices through four key areas, including power, sensing, connected computing, and control.The combined entity’s targeted total addressable market is expected to reach $243 billion by 2030, roughly $30 billion more than Onsemi’s current standalone position. Why analysts are divided on the deal’s near-term outlookNot every analyst sees the deal as a misstep, but the doubts are real. Analysts at KeyBanc Capital Markets worry that Synaptics focuses too much on phones and consumer tech, unlike Onsemi, which specializes in cars and factory equipment.Jefferies analysts called the transaction “strategically sound” because it diversifies Onsemi’s business and provides access to leading-edge physical AI technologies, Invezz reported. However, even supportive analysts have one major concern: The deal will not boost earnings quickly. Since a meaningful payoff is unlikely to arrive until 2028 or 2029, investors face a very wide waiting period before they can actually measure the results.4 things investors need to know about the ON-Synaptics dealThe transaction is entirely all-stock, meaning Onsemi issues new shares rather than paying cash or taking on new debt.Synaptics shareholders will own about 12% of the combined company. This means existing Onsemi investors will see their ownership diluted right away before any benefits actually show up.According to SEC filings, Onsemi wants to save roughly $200 million a year through this deal. It plans to reach this goal primarily by cutting internal costs. In fact, it expects 85% to 90% of those savings to come directly from reducing operational expenses.The deal is not likely to boost earnings quickly. A meaningful payoff may not arrive until 2028 or 2029. This timeline stretches well beyond the target closing date of mid-2027.What still needs to happen before Onsemi shares can recoverTwo major hurdles remain before the deal becomes official. Synaptics shareholders must vote to approve the deal, according to an SEC filing.Regulators across multiple jurisdictions must also review and clear the chip merger before it can close. Closing is targeted for mid-2027. Once closed, Onsemi must deliver on its $200 million synergy plan while simultaneously growing physical AI revenue in markets that are still maturing. The strategy depends on robotics, autonomous vehicles, and industrial AI scaling faster than broader semiconductor demand.According to Nasdaq, El-Khoury said the company is building “systems that can sense, decide, act, and adapt in real time.”Investors have heard the vision. The 21% selloff makes it clear they are waiting for evidence.Related: Cathie Wood buys $67 million of surging semiconductor stock

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Coca-Cola (KO) has a secret weapon in the soda wars, and it’s not simply another bottle on the grocery-store shelf.A big part of that is its Freestyle machine, which gives customers something PepsiCo has never been really able to match at the same scale.Now Coca-Cola is using that advantage again with a new limited-time flavor tied to a popular fast-food chain’s summer menu.More than just another soda drop, it shows how Coke can turn its fountain machine into a test kitchen, marketing tool, and competitive edge in the cola wars.Wingstop gets limited-time Fanta flavorCoca-Cola’s new limited-time Fanta Summer Punch flavor will be available exclusively at Wingstop, according to Allrecipes.That gives the popular fast-food giant a custom soda that ties directly to its summer menu.The drink is part of Wingstop’s Sweet Heat Chamoy rollout, which leans into fruit, spice, and citrus. The new soda blends fruit punch, orange, and pineapple flavors, making it slightly different from the Fanta Fruit Punch already sold in bottles, cans, and other fountain locations.For perspective, Wingstop designed the drink to pair with its new Sweet Heat Chamoy flavor, combining chamoy’s fruity heat with lime-forward Tajín seasoning.The flavor can be ordered on wings, chicken sandwiches, tenders, fries, and corn. Wingstop also added Chamoy Ranch, a twist on its popular ranch dressing with spicy, zesty, and tropical notes.This playbook isn’t new, though.The new Fanta follows Sprite Loco Lime, another Wingstop-exclusive Freestyle flavor that was built around the chain’s Citrus Mojo menu. Similar to that offering, Fanta Summer Punch will only be available while the Sweet Heat Chamoy menu remains on Wingstop’s menu.

Coca-Cola launched Fanta Summer Punch exclusively at Wingstop for a limited time.Getty Images–Riska

Coca-Cola’s soda machine is becoming a data weaponCoca-Cola Freestyle might look like a fun restaurant upgrade, but it’s actually a consumer-data machine hiding in plain sight.The dispenser, first tested in restaurants in 2009, offered customers more than 100 drink options and let them mix flavors on a touchscreen rather than choosing from a few fountain taps.Every pour tells Coca-Cola valuable info about what consumers actually want from them, rather than what they say they want in a survey.Coca-Cola says Freestyle collects live data from nearly 11 million servings a day, turning into what the company calls the “largest live consumer taste test in the world.” Coke is then able to spot flavor trends, test limited-time drinks, and move from insight to market-ready beverage in just 90 days.Now, Coke is pushing the platform further. Its new Freestyle Equinox interface, launched in the U.S. on June 23, puts limited-time and unique drinks a lot more prominently on the screen. In addition, Coke is rolling out Freestyle Mini for bars, cafés, and tight spaces, while testing mixology-style dispensers for premium nonalcoholic drinks.These Freestyle partnerships have effectively turned restaurants and entertainment venues into testing grounds for new drinks. Coke partnered with Noodles & Company on Fanta Vanilla Cherry Spritz, a regular and zero-sugar flavor set to launch July 1, 2026, and designed to pair with its mac and cheese offering, Allrecipes confirmed. Similarly, Coca-Cola launched three Minions & Monsters Freestyle drinks exclusively at AMC Theatres, using movie fandom to drive beverage interest inside theaters, Allrecipes noted. Wendy’s has also leaned into the model as well, with Allrecipes reporting that the chain added three exclusive sour Powerade Freestyle flavors in 2025, with bottled versions later planned for retail. Why Coke still leads the cola wars Sales momentum: Based on Coca-Cola’s April 28 Q1 report, revenue rose 12% to $12.5 billion, with 10% organic growth. PepsiCo said on April 16 that revenue rose 8.5%, but organic growth was only 2.6%.Earnings outlook: According to Seeking Alpha, Coca-Cola’s comparable EPS is expected to grow 8% to 9% in 2026. PepsiCo said it expects core constant-currency EPS growth in the mid-single digits.Market value:Companies Market Cap indicated that Coca-Cola’s market cap is about $352 billion, far ahead of PepsiCo’s roughly $189 billion.Share gains: According to Coca-Cola, the company gained value share in total nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverages in Q1.Partnership scale: According to Coca-Cola, its 2026 FIFA World Cup activation covers 48 teams, 104 matches, and 16 venues, extending a partnership that dates back decades.Related: Breakfast sales slump drives another Chapter 11 filing

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When I was a little girl, I loved opening up my mother’s jewelry box to admire and play with those precious rings, necklaces, and bracelets. For me, it was a magical box, hiding beautiful and meticulously designed pieces of jewelry. At the time, I didn’t care if those rings were adorned with precious diamonds or just simple stones; the actual value didn’t matter to me. They were the most valued items in our house. As it happens when we get older, our perception of value completely changes. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry explains in TheLittle Prince, to show adults a beautiful home, you must state its cost. Recent data by Grand View Research reveals that when Americans buy jewelry they aren’t looking for cheap plating, they are heavily investing in diamonds and precious materials.  “The diamond jewelry segment dominated the U.S. jewelry market, accounting for approximately 63.32% of total revenue in 2025, driven by strong consumer demand for premium, high-value jewelry products,” reads the report. A similar shift toward premium and high-value offerings is happening across Asia as well, forcing major jewelry companies such as Swarovski and Pandora to close many of their stores in one of the biggest consumer markets in the world: China. Pandora, Swarovski closing stores in China World-renowned jewelry brands Pandora and Swarovski are losing their popularity and shrinking their presence in China. The Danish company known for its customizable charm bracelets, Pandora, saw its peak in China in 2019, when it ran 240 stores, boasting revenue of 1.97 billion Danish kroner (US$300 million), writes The South China Morning Post.However, over the years, things have changed, and Pandora’s China sales made up only 1% of its global revenue in 2025, down from 9% in 2019, according to data from Tiger Brokers. Related: Retail giant exits U.S. fashion after multi-million-dollar scandalIn August 2025, Pandora confirmed that it plans to double store closures in China from 50 to 100 stores, implementing large-scale layoffs in this market. At the same time, Austrian brand Swarovski, which became globally popular for its precision-cut, high-quality crystal glass crafted to look and refract light like diamonds, has also been downsizing.The 131-year-old accessible luxury jewelry brand operated around 400 stores in China in 2019, marking it its largest market at the time, according to data from Daxue Consulting. However, according to a report by Jeweller Magazine, the brand had around 220 stores in this Asian market in 2024. The data suggests that over the course of 4-5 years, Swarovski has closed around 180 stores in China. 

Pandora and Swarovski are closing stores in China.whitemay / Getty Images

Why are Pandora, Swarovski closing stores in China? Both Pandora and Swarovski are feeling squeezed as consumers in China change their shopping habits, favoring high-value jewelry over more affordable options, while at the same time increasingly buying gold as an investment. “We have observed a divergent trend in Chinese consumer preferences towards high-end luxury with strong heritage or value-preserving products like gold,” said Maggie Xie, associate director at S&P Global Ratings, according to South China Morning Post. “Core materials used by Pandora and Swarovski – silver and crystal glass respectively – are increasingly perceived by Chinese consumers as lacking long-term value and being prone to tarnishing,” Xie said.More Retail:Struggling women’s clothing retailer shutters 171 storesRetail giant launches first new home brand in 5 yearsDiscount retail giant wins as shoppers change how they spendThe report noted that Chinese consumers are shifting their spending toward buying real gold and lab-grown diamonds.In fact, China’s gold consumption recently reached 303.3 metric tons in the first quarter, making a 4.4% increase compared to the same period last year, according to the China Gold Association, as reported by IndexBox. However, the data also revealed a major twist: Shoppers aren’t buying gold to wear it; they are buying it to save it.While sales for wearable gold jewelry dropped by 37.1%, the demand for pure gold bars and coins jumped by a massive 46.4%, reports EnglishNews.CN.  How are brands trying to win over consumers?  Swarovski has firmly embraced factory-grown diamonds under its Swarovski Created Diamonds category (featuring collections like Galaxy, Eternity, and Octagon) since 2018. “Cut for brilliance, the stones featured in the Eternity, Galaxy, and Octagon Collections are identical to their mined counterparts in every way but origin,” reads the description on the Swarovski website. According to Brilliant Earth, lab diamonds are real diamonds, chemically, physically and optically identical to natural diamonds. At the same time, they are much cheaper than natural diamonds, and appeal to consumers looking to spend less or wanting to avoid traditional mining. “In mainland Chinese stores, a 1-carat lab-grown diamond reportedly sells for around 3,500 yuan (US$518), less than one-tenth the price of a comparable natural stone,” according to The Next Web. Pandora, on the other hand, made a huge transition in 2024, when it started making its jewelry with 100% recycled silver and gold to minimize its environmental footprint. Earlier this year, it made yet another significant announcement confirming it will start introducing platinum-plated jewelry across select product lines. The news came amid sharp silver price increases over the past year, writes TheStreet’s Fernanda Tronco. While both brands are working hard to reinvent themselves with lab-grown stones and premium metals, the retail landscape remains hostile, with consumers prioritizing gold bars and coins   over gold necklaces and rings. It remains to be seen how long this survival strategy will last, how many storefronts it will ultimately cost them, and whether these changes will begin to affect the brands’ operations in the United States and other global markets.Related: Las Vegas Strip retail giant closes 14 stores, plans more

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Look at the robotaxi partnership map closely in 2026, and the pattern that keeps emerging is one of constant reshuffling. Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER) and Alphabet’s (GOOG) Waymo confirmed their robotaxi pilot in Phoenix, Arizona, has ended, Reuters reports. The companies framed it not as a failure, but as a graduation.The pilots end, exclusivity deals shift, and new cities are added almost weekly. The Uber and Waymo news fits that pattern, but the reasoning behind it tells you something important about where this industry is actually heading.”Phoenix was our first pilot market with Waymo and was an intentionally limited deployment, reaching just over a dozen vehicles dedicated to the program,” Uber said in a statement.”We learned a lot from that collaboration, which helped us to quickly scale Austin and Atlanta, where hundreds of Waymo AVs are available exclusively on Uber.”The Phoenix-deployed Waymo vehicles are not being retired, but are pivoting to autonomous deliveries through DoorDash — a competitor to Uber Eats. Waymo called the pilot “productive” and said it “paved the way for future expansions and partnerships across the globe.”Also Read: History of Uber: Timeline and FactsWhat the end of Phoenix pilot actually signalsMy read of this announcement is that it is less about Phoenix specifically and more about how both companies are managing their broader relationship.Automotive World reports that Waymo operates a fleet of approximately 4,000 automated vehicles across the U.S. Waymo also reports that today, Waymo’s driverless rides are available exclusively through Uber in just Austin and Atlanta. More Uber:Uber reveals an unexpected problem behind the AI boomUber CEO, COO sends stark message on AI spending in 2026Uber Eats will now deliver more than just food to youIn nine other markets, including Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami, riders access Waymo primarily through its own app, Waymo reports. Uber said it plans to partner with another AV company in Phoenix, though it did not disclose which one.That detail is key. Uber is not exiting Phoenix’s autonomous vehicle market but is diversifying who it works with there. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has been explicit about this strategy. In the company’s Q1 fiscal 2026 earnings call transcript compiled by Investing.com, the CEO touted partnerships spanning from Rivian to Zoox, China’s Pony.AI, Croatia’s Verne, and Waymo. Related: Waymo responds to viral video showing weird vehicle behavior”AV Mobility trips on Uber increased more than 10x year over year, and we are now live in eight cities, with plans to expand to up to 15 by year-end,” Khosrowshahi said, according to Investing.com.Uber’s strategy has been clear from the start: Become the indispensable demand-aggregation platform that every robotaxi operator needs, rather than betting on any single AV developer winning. Tesla remains the one major holdout because its robotaxi service is still operating with just 69 registered vehicles in Texas, a fraction of Waymo’s scale, Benzinga reports.Why this matters for Uber’s businessUber’s Q1 fiscal 2026 results show why the AV partnership strategy carries real financial weight, according to the company’s May 6 earnings release.Gross bookings grew 25% year over year to $53.7 billion. Trips grew 20% to 3.6 billion, driven by Monthly Active Platform Consumers (MAPCs) growth of 17% YoY and monthly Trips per MAPC growth of 3% YoY, according to Uber’s Q1 fiscal 2026 report.Related: Uber, Lyft use AI to charge riders more, CR saysEvery AV trip that runs through Uber’s app, regardless of which company built the car, contributes to that gross bookings figure and reinforces Uber’s positioning as the layer that connects rider demand to autonomous supply.The expansion pipeline beyond Phoenix is accelerating. WeRide and Uber are launching a commercial robotaxi service in Zurich. Nuro, Lucid, and Uber are bringing robotaxis to Houston in 2027. WeRide, Uber, and AVOMO launched in Madrid on June 2. Each new city adds to the thesis that Uber wins, no matter which AV technology ultimately dominates.

Waymo completes more than 500,000 paid trips weekly.John Keeble/Getty Images

The Waymo side of the story is backing the expansionFor Waymo, the Phoenix pilot’s end frees up vehicles for the DoorDash delivery experiment while the company continues its own direct-to-consumer scaling, now live in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando, completing upwards of 500,000 paid trips weekly, Waymo reports.Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted that milestone directly on the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call.I’m pleased to see Waymo surpass 500,000 fully autonomous rides a week.Alphabet funded the significant majority of a $16 billion investment round for Waymo in February 2026, underscoring how central the robotaxi business has become to the parent company’s growth story, even though Waymo itself remains privately held within Alphabet.A June 24 Waymo safety report adds context for why regulators and partners keep expanding access. Across more than 220 million autonomous miles analyzed through March 2026, Waymo vehicles were involved in 94% fewer crashes causing serious or fatal injuries and 82% fewer crashes involving any reported injury compared to human drivers in the same areas. In Atlanta specifically, one of its newest markets, Waymo logged zero serious-injury crashes across 5.4 million autonomous miles, versus an expected 1.2 for human drivers covering the same distance, according to the Waymo report.That safety data is precisely what gives Uber’s multi-partner AV strategy its long-term credibility. This is also what makes Phoenix’s transition look less like an ending and more like both companies moving on to the next phase of a much larger rollout.Related: Waymo brings traffic to a standstill in major American city