Apple's foldable iPhone day, Europe's $3.5B AI champion & a free AI browser

Apple's 'Surprise and Shine' event is today (10AM PT / ~10:30PM IST) — the biggest iPhone day in years. On the table: the first-ever foldable iPhone (rumored 'iPhone Ultra'), the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, and the first keynote under new CEO John Ternus. My honest take: a v1 foldable at a rumored $2,000+ is a flex, not a default — the Pro is the safe pick, and everything stays a leak until Apple shows it. 📱

The problem

For years the iPhone has felt like an incremental upgrade while Samsung quietly owned the foldable category. With a brand-new CEO taking the stage, the pressure on Apple to prove it can still surprise is at an all-time high.

What changed

At its 'Surprise and Shine' event on September 9 (10AM PT / ~10:30PM IST), Apple is set to unveil its first-ever foldable iPhone (rumored 'iPhone Ultra', a book-style design), the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max on the new A20 Pro chip, plus an Apple Watch Ultra 4 and AirPods 5 — the first keynote led by CEO John Ternus.

The catch

The date and the CEO change are official; every product detail is still leak/rumor until Apple shows it live. A first-gen foldable rumored to start above $2,000 carries real v1 risks — crease durability, battery life in a thinner body, and that price.

What it means for you

If you want a dependable upgrade, the iPhone 18 Pro is the sensible pick. Treat the foldable as wait-and-watch: let reviews stress-test the hinge and battery before spending flagship-plus money.

Mistral just pulled off the biggest funding round in European tech history: €3B (~$3.5B), led by Samsung, at a post-money valuation above €21B (~$24B). Why it matters to you and not just VCs: Mistral is one of the few serious open-weight rivals to OpenAI and Google, so more real competition means better tools, lower prices, and a non-US option that isn't locked to one company. Europe finally has an AI champion with cash. 💶

The problem

The frontier AI race has been an almost entirely US-vs-China story, leaving Europe — and much of the rest of the world — dependent on a handful of American labs for the most capable models.

What changed

Mistral raised €3 billion (~$3.5B) in a Samsung-led Series D at a post-money valuation above €21 billion (~$24B) — the largest equity round in European tech history. It's on track for $1B in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2026 and will spend the money on compute, data centers and its enterprise cloud push.

The catch

A big valuation isn't a better model — Mistral still trails OpenAI and Google on raw benchmarks, and 'Europe's champion' now has Samsung and BlackRock expectations to live up to.

What it means for you

More serious competition means better, cheaper tools and a credible non-US, open-weight option you can even self-host. Worth keeping Mistral's Le Chat on your shortlist next to ChatGPT and Gemini.

Your X (Twitter) feed feels toxic because you skipped one setting: Muted Words. Go to Settings, then Privacy & safety, then Mute and block, then Muted words. You can mute spoilers, engagement-bait keywords, and entire phrases or hashtags — across both Home and notifications, for 24 hours or forever. Two minutes of setup buys you a genuinely calmer, more useful timeline. ✅

The problem

X's default timeline throws spoilers, engagement-bait and repetitive hype at you with no filter, making the feed feel noisy and toxic.

What changed

X has a built-in Muted Words tool (Settings > Privacy & safety > Mute and block > Muted words) that mutes individual keywords, hashtags and entire phrases across both your Home timeline and notifications, for 24 hours or permanently.

The catch

It only catches the exact words you add, so you'll need to top the list up occasionally, and it won't filter images or creative misspellings.

What it means for you

Spend two minutes adding your spoilers, least-favourite buzzwords and hype phrases — you'll feel the difference in your timeline immediately.

Tool of the day: Perplexity Comet — a free, Chromium-based AI browser that does more than search. An AI agent lives in the sidebar and sees the tab you're on: it summarizes any page, compares products across open tabs, fills forms, and runs multi-step tasks for you. It's free on Mac, Windows, Android and iOS. Honest take: it won't replace Chrome for everyone yet, but it's great for research. 🧭

The problem

Regular browsers make you do all the reading, tab-juggling and form-filling yourself, and bolt-on AI features often feel like afterthoughts.

What changed

Perplexity Comet is a free, Chromium-based browser with an AI agent in the sidebar that can see your current tab, summarize any page, compare products across open tabs, fill forms and run multi-step tasks. It's free on macOS, Windows, Android and iOS, with no subscription for core features.

The catch

It's not a full Chrome replacement yet — extension and workflow gaps remain — and an agent that can act on your behalf is something to use thoughtfully with logged-in accounts.

What it means for you

If you do a lot of research or comparison-shopping, install Comet as a second browser and let it summarize and cross-reference tabs for you; keep Chrome for everything else.