- Meta removed a terms clause that experts said could let it scrape publishers' sites for AI training, saying it covered only ads and business products [1].
- Volvo will use Nvidia's Hyperion, Alpamayo and Halos for automated driving, and Waymo won approval to start testing in Toronto [2][3].
- Amazon's Bee wearables start at $74.99, and Qualcomm India says memory costs have pushed up phones below ₹25,000 [4][5].
Published: October 18, 2026 | Category: AI | By Mahesh
Sunday, October 18, 2026 brought a mix of a walked-back data clause, a self-driving partnership, a robotaxi expansion, a new round of AI wearables and a warning on phone prices. Here is what happened across IT and the wider technology world.
Meta removes commercial terms language that raised AI scraping concerns
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) recently updated its commercial terms of use to say it can use content from a business account's domains, web pages and URLs to develop, improve, research and train its products and services [1]. Legal experts interviewed by Nieman Lab said the wording looked like a remarkable provision that could let Meta scrape the website of any publisher with a Meta business account and use the content to train AI models [1]. A Meta spokesperson insisted the updated terms did not change how Meta crawls the web, and The Verge now reports that the provision has been removed [1]. In a statement, Meta said the crawling terms it consolidated applied only to its ads and business products, and that it has clarified this in the terms themselves [1]. TechCrunch notes that Meta won a high-profile copyright case over AI training last year, although other cases against AI companies, including Meta, continue [1]. My reading is that the quick reversal shows how closely publishers watch AI training language in platform terms, though Meta's explanation has not been tested independently.
Volvo widens its Nvidia partnership to automated driving across its range
Volvo said on Thursday it will expand its nearly decade-long partnership with Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA), using three pieces of Nvidia hardware and software to build an automated driving system for urban streets and highways [2]. The pieces are the Hyperion sensor and compute architecture, the Alpamayo driving software stack and the Halos safety evaluation layer [2]. Nvidia's Ali Kani said the stack runs two systems at once, the Alpamayo AI models and classical software that uses machine learning with camera and radar perception, and that the open source Alpamayo software has been downloaded by more than 650,000 developers [2]. Volvo did not disclose the value of the deal or name the first vehicle to use the stack, which its software chief said will debut within the decade [2]. All of Volvo's battery-electric vehicles already use Nvidia's Orin chip, and the expansion carries the approach to plug-in hybrid and gas-powered models [2].
Waymo starts mapping Toronto after Ontario approves its pilot
Waymo, the self-driving unit of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL), is expanding into Canada after receiving approval to join Ontario's automated vehicle pilot program, and said in a blog post on Friday that it will start in Toronto [3]. It is not launching a service yet. Waymo will first drive vehicles manually to create high-definition maps, then test autonomous vehicles on public roads with a human safety operator, and later remove the operators and invite the public to ride [3]. The company runs robotaxi services in 15 US cities and tests in London and Tokyo, compared with three commercial markets two years ago [3]. Toronto is the northernmost and possibly most wintry city it has tried, and Waymo has partnered with Toronto-based Element Fleet Management, which it expects to support hundreds of jobs in fleet maintenance, validation driving, customer service and operations [3]. Co-chief executive Tekedra Mawakana called the move an important milestone in the company's global journey [3].
Amazon's Bee wearables test whether AI devices can win buyers after early flops
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) launched Bee Frontier, which can be worn on the wrist or clipped to clothing, and Bee Eclipse, which attaches magnetically to a phone, and both record conversations and turn them into summaries, reminders and tasks [4]. Frontier costs $74.99 and Eclipse $99.99, with an optional Bee Pro subscription at $11.99 a month for app integrations and a personal assistant [4]. Amazon says audio is processed in real time and deleted afterwards, and a physical button and LED indicator control recording [4]. Experts told Business Standard that earlier devices such as the Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pin struggled to become part of daily routines, and that Humane shut down its consumer services in February 2025 [4].
Counterpoint Research says global shipments of AI glasses rose 263 percent year on year in the first half of 2026, with display-less models making up 96 percent of shipments and Meta holding 94 percent of that segment [4]. For India, Techarc chief analyst Mohammad Faisal Ali Kawoosa and NeoSapien co-founder Dhananjay Yadav said affordability, language support and local use cases will decide adoption, and NeoSapien says its Neo 1 supports more than 140 languages [4]. Both flagged privacy as a barrier, since devices that record conversations may capture people who have not agreed to it [4].
Qualcomm India says memory costs have pushed up phones priced below ₹25,000
Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) India's head of marketing, Sumit Sonal, told Business Standard that memory price inflation has moved the entire segment below ₹25,000 upward [5]. Qualcomm expects features launched on its Snapdragon 8-series to trickle down to the 7-series and 6-series over the next few years, and says smaller AI models could bring agentic AI, meaning systems that carry out multi-step tasks with less user input, to phones with lower-tier chips [5]. Sonal said the company does not want to push these features to cheaper chips too quickly, because phones still need enough processing power, and the software ecosystem and the market need to stabilise first [5].
What to Watch Next
Four things to follow. First, whether Meta's clarified terms satisfy the publishers who raised scraping concerns [1]. Second, which vehicle first carries Volvo's new Nvidia stack, which the company says will arrive within the decade [2]. Third, Waymo's move from manual mapping to supervised testing in Toronto [3]. Fourth, whether Bee's subscription price and privacy design win buyers, given the early struggles of AI wearables [4].
Disclosure: Analysis tools assisted in reviewing documents for this report. All facts, figures and quotations were verified against primary public records.
Sources
- TechCrunch. "Meta removes language that raised scraping and AI training concerns," October 17, 2026. techcrunch.com
- TechCrunch. "Volvo makes a bigger bet on Nvidia for hands-free automated driving," October 15, 2026. techcrunch.com
- TechCrunch. "Waymo's robotaxis are headed to Canada," October 16, 2026. techcrunch.com
- Business Standard. "Can AI wearables win over buyers after early setbacks? Experts weigh in," October 16, 2026. business-standard.com
- Business Standard. "Qualcomm bets on smaller AI models as memory costs push up phone prices," October 17, 2026. business-standard.com
Read More on Depth Grid
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- Volantis $88M Funding: Light-Based AI Chips Explained
- OpenAI Shelved Its Next Model Over Lying. Then Shipped Agents on the Old One Anyway.
- India Has Five Chip Plants and No Fab: What the Count Misses
Article by Mahesh | Depth Grid
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