This Week on Android News Wire: August 24–30, 2026

A genuinely varied week — infrastructure, a fresh Android skin release, an embarrassing gaming bug, a viral mystery app, routine security housekeeping, and a real leap forward for Gemini’s voice assistant. Here’s everything we covered.

 

Google Reportedly Turns to AMD for a Radically Different Kind of AI Chip

Google is reportedly working with AMD on its 10th-generation TPU, a hybrid design that would put CPU cores directly on the same chip package as the AI accelerator — targeting reinforcement learning and agentic AI workloads. Neither company has confirmed it, but the reporting is detailed and consistent across multiple outlets.

 

Nothing OS 5.0 Officially Arrives — Here’s Everything Android 17 Brings to Nothing’s Phones

Nothing’s latest software update began rolling out August 25, built on Android 17 with a native desktop mode, a system-wide Geist Mono font overhaul, deeper lock screen widget customization, and an upgraded Nothing Warp Sharing feature. Three devices — Phone (1), Phone (2), and CMF Phone 1 — are excluded, having already reached their update ceiling.

 

Genshin Impact Is Unplayable on the Brand-New Pixel 11

Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro owners are reporting severe graphical corruption in Genshin Impact, tied to the Tensor G6’s new PowerVR GPU. Google says a fix is coming from HoYoverse, but there’s no confirmed date — and this is nearly the same bug Pixel 10 owners went through with the same game last year.

 

There’s a Mysterious App on Your Phone Called “Android Pulse” — Here’s What It Actually Does

A blank-icon system app suddenly appeared in Play Store updates on millions of devices, alarming users. It’s a legitimate, long-existing Google diagnostic tool that monitors apps and system resources for unusual battery, memory, or CPU behavior — not malware, and not new, just newly visible.

 

Samsung’s August 2026 Security Patch Hits Galaxy S26 With 56 Fixes — Plus a Bonus Repair

Samsung’s monthly security rollout reached the Galaxy S26 series this week, addressing 56 vulnerabilities (38 from Google, 18 Samsung-specific) — and quietly fixing the S26 Ultra’s long-discussed display red-tint issue in the same update.

 

Gemini Live Just Became a Real AI Agent — And It Can Plan Your Whole Week’s Meals

Google integrated Gemini Spark into Gemini Live, turning it from a purely conversational assistant into one that executes multi-step tasks by voice — maintaining an ongoing weekly meal plan and grocery list, managing Gmail hands-free, and delivering a spoken Daily Brief of your day.