Following the broader Material 3 Expressive redesign last week, the Google Phone app is now more widely rolling out calling cards. Once available, you’ll see an “Introducing calling card: Customize how you see your contact when they call you” promo at the top of the Home tab. In the Phone by Google app, this takes you to a “Calling card” page that will list all the ones you’ve added for quick editing. This is accessible at any time from the Phone app’s Settings list. Once you’ve selected a contact, you can take a new picture, open your gallery, or launch Google Photos to make a selection. Besides cropping the image and adjusting the framing, you can customize their name at the top with a carousel of font and color options. After setting, this image will appear on the incoming and in-call screens as a fullscreen image. (Keep in mind the solid bottom sheet for call controls.) Compared to Apple’s implementation or profile pictures in Google Messages, these images are unique to you. Likewise, you don’t get to set how you appear to other people. We’re now seeing this roll out to stable users with version 188 of the Google Phone app. It’s coming alongside the Pixel 10 and ahead of the Material 3 Expressive launch with Android 16 QPR1.
FCA warns of impostor scams: 4,465 reports and 480 victims in H1 2025, with crypto “recovery” and pig‑butchering lures targeting over‑55s
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that it had received nearly 4,500 reports of “fake FCA scams” during the first half of 2025. While the number of reports of these scams has declined over the last two years, data from the regulator shows that the number of people tricked into turning over money has jumped during the same time frame. Between January and the end of June of 2023, the FCA received 6,274 reports, with 275 people handing over money. During the first six months of the following year, the authority got 5,505 reports, with 460 victims. And this year, the FCA logged 4,465 reports and 480 victims. Two-thirds of the reports came from people aged 56 years or older. According to the FCA, one of the most common scams involve fraudsters claiming that the regulator has recovered money from a crypto wallet opened illegally in the victim’s name. There are also “pig butchering” scams, in which fraudsters “fatten up” a victim by establishing a connection, often a romantic one, and then conducting a long-term investment scam. Once the victim has lost money, scammers attempt to defraud victims a second time by pretending to be the FCA aiming to help them to “recover” the money.
Vox AI technology backs multilingual natural‑speech ordering, site‑specific noise adaptation and seamless POS integrations without hardware upgrades for fast‑food chains
Vox AI, the conversational voice AI platform purpose-built for drive-thru and operations automations in QSRs has raised $8.7 million in seed funding to accelerate its global expansion, including the launch of a new office in San Francisco. The Vox AI platform serves as a multilingual voice assistant for QSRs, enabling customers to place drive-thru and mobile orders autonomously, while supporting staff with real-time shift guidance and alerts triggered by restaurant systems. Vox AI’s core product offerings and platform features include: Truly Autonomous AI: Produces highly accurate voice AI that quickly replicates natural human speech and service from day one, with no human-in-the-loop during training or deployment—enabling scalable, consistent performance across multiple locations. Drive-Thru Voice AI Ordering: Handles orders 24/7 in over 90 languages and dialects with high accuracy and speed, ensuring fast-food and QSR patrons can order in their preferred language and style. Real-World Intelligence: Voice AI that continuously self-optimizes, learning from dialects, menu synonyms, ambient noise, and unique, location-specific building acoustics with a conversation-first training pipeline. Seamless Tech Stack Integration: Designed to plug into existing QSR tech stacks without operational disruption. Mobile Voice Ordering Integration: Enables voice-based pre-ordering through QSRs’ mobile apps to reduce or eliminate wait times and streamline pick-up orders. Employee Assist: A hands-free, voice-first operational tool that supports staff with real-time inventory alerts and shift guidance, for example. The first deployments demonstrate that Vox AI’s technology increases ROI by up to 17 times, shortens drive-thru queues, enhances upselling, drives higher customer satisfaction, and frees up restaurant employees to focus on more meaningful tasks.
Rechat launches Figma integration for real estate marketing teams- cuts flyer‑to‑email turnaround, uniting design, MLS content and policy controls for faster, on‑brand real estate marketing at scale
Rechat has introduced a direct integration with collaborative design platform Figma — allowing brokerage marketing teams to create materials in Figma and push them directly into Rechat’s studio for immediate use. The integration is intended to reduce turnaround times in real estate marketing, where producing property flyers, emails, brochures and digital campaigns has traditionally involved multiple steps between designers, developers and technology staff. “It’s the perfect bridge between creativity and execution,” said Shayan Hamidi, CEO of Rechat. “You design it in Figma and it goes live in Rechat the same day, sometimes the same hour. For brokerages, that means faster campaigns, stronger branding, and a better agent experience.” Rechat said the system combines Figma’s design tools with its own features — including multiple listing service data integration, automation and compliance checks. “Speed and consistency are the two biggest challenges in real estate marketing,” said Emil Sedgh, chief technology officer at Rechat. “By connecting Figma directly to Rechat, we have eliminated a major friction point for brokerages. Teams can now move from design approval to agent-ready campaigns in minutes, without sacrificing compliance or brand standards.” The company tested the integration with Macdonald Realty, The Noble Agency and Rennie before launch. “Creating and editing directly in Figma means we can finally work in our own environment, with total control before and after publishing in Rechat,” said Leslie Wen, marketing technology specialist at Macdonald Realty.
OpenAI debuts its most advanced speech‑to‑speech model gpt‑realtime and Realtime API – includes MCP tools, image input, phone calls for low‑latency, single‑model/API customer support agents
OpenAI has released what it calls its “most advanced speech-to-speech model yet.” Dubbed gpt-realtime, the model is better at following complex instructions, calling tools with precision, and producing speech that sounds more natural and expressive. “We trained the model in close collaboration with customers to excel at real-world tasks like customer support, personal assistance and education—aligning the model to how developers build and deploy voice agents,” OpenAI said. OpenAI also said that it has made the Realtime API generally available after introducing it in public beta in October and seeing thousands of developers build with it. The API now has new features that help developers build voice agents. These include supporting remote MCP servers, image inputs and phone calling through Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). These features make voice agents more capable through access to additional tools and context. Unlike traditional pipelines that chain together multiple models across speech-to-text and text-to-speech, the Realtime API processes and generates audio directly through a single model and API. This reduces latency, preserves nuance in speech and produces more natural, expressive responses.
NBA and Lids open their fourth store, featuring on‑site merch customization for fans, “Immersion” and “Experience” zones
The Nation Basketball Association is bringing its retail partnership with Lids to the West Coast with the season around the corner. The NBA and the sports headwear and apparel retailer is set to open a fourth NBA Store at the Universal CityWalk Hollywood shopping and entertainment district in Los Angeles. As part of the league’s long-standing partnership with Lids and Fanatics, Lids will oversee the operations for the NBA Store, creating a unique retail experience for NBA fans. NBA Store CityWalk spans 11,000 sq. ft., and is just a short walk from Universal Studios Hollywood. Fans can shop from a wide selection of official NBA and WNBA merchandise and memorabilia. “We look forward to bringing the NBA Store experience to Universal CityWalk and introducing it to the West Coast for the first time,” said Michael Brady, global head of licensing, commerce & business affairs, NBA. Upon entering the new store, visitors will be welcomed into the “Immersion Zone,” surrounded by powder coated, steel and 24 karat gold installations from artist Victor Solomon. The store will also feature an interactive “Experience Zone” that will play NBA highlights daily. Additionally, fans can take advantage of on-site customization services to personalize jerseys and hats, a signature offering available at select Lids retail locations. NBA Store CityWalk will host an official grand opening weekend event Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 30-31, featuring appearances from NBA and WNBA players, interactive games, giveaways and more. Fans can also enjoy a DJ, photo booth and pop-a-shot competitions, and take photos with the Larry O’Brien Trophy which will be on display throughout the grand opening weekend.
Amazon and Walmart plans to become orchestrated platform moats: Amazon scales AI‑mediated B2B procurement across 8M organizations and $35B gross sales, as Walmart fuses stores and logistics into an open marketplace backbone
The yardstick of retail success is becoming who can best deliver anticipatory and frictionless commerce, not in isolated channels but as orchestrated services. Amazon and Walmart are at the forefront of this push. Amazon is increasingly betting on a future where artificial intelligence intermediates nearly every business transaction, from ordering pens to acquiring fleets. Walmart has come to envision a future where its scale, stores and logistics form the backbone of a more open marketplace that lures sellers with reach and reliability. Amazon Business is becoming a proving ground for Amazon’s AI ambitions. Intelligent agents, or software capable of making decisions and handling transactions, are being deployed to go beyond search-based shopping. These AI systems can anticipate needs, compare supplier contracts and trigger purchases autonomously. For corporate customers, the promise is efficiency; for Amazon, it’s lock-in. If Amazon is positioning itself as the AI-driven enterprise backbone, Walmart is reshaping its physical and digital assets to woo third-party sellers. Long cautious about opening its shelves to outside vendors, Walmart is now experimenting with ways to showcase marketplace sellers directly in stores, piloting physical displays that feature products from its online marketplace partners, blending the digital long tail with the tactile credibility of Walmart’s aisles. While Amazon invests in AI agents and vertical experiments, Walmart is focused on removing friction for sellers and buyers in immediate, tangible ways. Faster delivery, more payment flexibility and in-store visibility all reinforce Walmart’s pitch to help merchants reach millions of shoppers on- and offline. Walmart is also positioning itself as a platform, not just a retailer. Amazon built its marketplace dominance by aggregating third-party sellers and monetizing them through fees, fulfillment services and advertising. Walmart, late to the game, now sees marketplace expansion as the fastest path to digital scale. By using its 4,600 stores as fulfillment nodes and marketing channels, Walmart can offer a hybrid model where third-party sellers benefit from eCommerce reach and brick-and-mortar presence.
Gemini ushers in era of proactive assistants with its million‑token context, multimodal reasoning across text images and code and custom skills acquisition through a developer marketplace
The trajectory of Gemini points toward an ecosystem where proactive AI quietly coordinates tasks across devices, freeing you to focus on creativity instead of repetitive digital chores. Google reports a million-token context window in Gemini 1.5 Pro, giving the assistant enough memory to hold entire projects during a single conversation. This scale lets you share entire business plans, add supporting files, and receive nuanced guidance without losing conversational context. Gemini with its large context model unlocks richer human-machine interactions. It remembers recent screen activity through Chrome integration, summarising articles and flagging action items while you browse. A multimodal core interprets images, text, and code in one dialogue, enriching every AI recommendation with visual cues. The model links each suggestion to credible sources, fostering confidence and enabling immediate verification. These capabilities show how AI collaboration reduces context switching and sustains focus across complex, multi-step initiatives. Gemini can: Translate multilingual signage with instant overlays and spoken guidance; Diagnose mechanical issues as AI highlights misaligned components and recommends repair steps; Capture design inspiration when AI analyses colours, textures, and forms, storing them in organised mood boards; This immersive bridge between physical and digital spheres demonstrates the versatility of modern AI in augmenting human perception without additional hardware. Gemini tracks task completion rates, learns where delays occur, and refines subsequent suggestions, creating a feedback loop where AI continuously adapts to your evolving goals. An assistant grows more valuable when it adapts to niche workflows, so Google enables a skills marketplace where developers package domain expertise into easily installable conversational extensions. Finance teams may add plugins that analyse ledgers, highlight anomalies, and build executive dashboards through streamlined AI workflows. Health coaches can connect wearable sensors, enabling Gemini to recommend exercise routines aligned with biometric trends. Creative leads embed brand guidelines so the assistant drafts posts, scripts, and imagery consistent with approved styles. Strong partner enrolment through AI Studio and Vertex AI shows accelerating market momentum, keeping the core assistant lean while fostering limitless specialist capabilities.
Walmart refactored its ML paltform for stateful multi‑agent orchestration and launched Wibey, a developer super agent that interprets intent, routes to tools and agents, and streamlines workflows
Walmart Inc. is giving its Element machine learning platform a major agentic upgrade and adding “Wibey” a “super agent” for software development to its growing portfolio of semi-autonomous software robots. Wibey is designed to serve up the optimal tools to developers, resolve pipeline problems and generally enhance productivity. Enhancements to Element support autonomous systems with memory, reasoning and the ability to interact with multiple tools and application programming interfaces. The platform has been given a stateful architecture that enables it to track what agents do, say, and intend. This means agents can retain context — not just for a single interaction, but across long-running workflows that span systems and services. A plugin and tool-calling ecosystem allows agents to natively interact with external systems. Element supports standardized communication protocols, including the new Agent-to-Agent and Model Context Protocols, for coordination across agents and applications. API orchestration extends coordination across distributed environments. Walmart said these features combine to enable Element to function as a platform for managing the full lifecycle of intelligent agents — from development and testing to deployment and monitoring. There are also observability tools that let teams track decision paths, reasoning steps and performance metrics. Sravana Karnati, executive vice president of global technology platforms at Walmart, said the changes enable Element to treat agents the same way it has historically handled machine learning models. Developers can register agents in an agent catalog, evaluate their behavior with built-in guardrails, and reuse them across multiple projects. Wibey interprets user intent and routes commands to the appropriate tools, APIs or agents. It provides a unified entry point for executing common tasks by software engineers, architects and product managers. One of Wibey’s core uses strengths is to generate tailored starter kits for software projects. Developers no longer have to search through internal portals for templates or services. Instead, they can use Wibey to generate a customized project framework based on a prompt and preexisting context, cutting down on time spent searching.
Embedded lending experiences become seamless with a best-of-breed orchestration stack that unifies KYC, AML, open banking, and audit trails for real-time risk decisions
The global market for embedded lending is expected to reach $7.2 trillion by 2030, but traditional compliance systems are facing challenges due to false positives in AML alerts. This can lead to delays, frustrated customers, and extra operational strain. Research shows that 32% of lenders see manual income verification as their biggest bottleneck in risk decisioning, while a quarter say document validation is their single highest cost. A robust orchestration layer with a best-of-breed approach can help reduce false positives and connect all risk and compliance checks to improve the borrower experience. This results in faster decisions, fewer customer drop-offs, and an uninterrupted lending experience. False positives in the KYC process can cause delays while compliance teams review the loan application manually. A pause in this process or within the process of transaction monitoring is more likely to cause a customer to abandon their purchase, leading to missed interest, revenue, and potential new-to-bank customers. Quick KYC and AML decisioning is a key part of the embedded lending compliance process, and regulators are tightening their grip on this issue. An integrated orchestration layer can build smarter, faster compliance directly into the customer experience. Effective AML hinges on piecing together up-to-date data from a web of internal and external sources. Modern orchestration layers typically include money laundering risk scoring modules, API connectivity to multiple vendors, and complete audit trails for compliance. The flexibility of the orchestration layer comes down to the lender’s risk appetite, allowing them to balance effective fraud detection with minimising false positives. An effective orchestration layer not only streamlines AML checks but also stitches together all the critical services required to deliver a seamless, compliant lending and customer onboarding experience.