US Eyes Intel Stake | X Outage Hits Millions | Google’s Tiny AI | China’s SIM-Size SSD | Microsoft’s Office Push

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US government is reportedly in discussions to take stake in Intel
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• The U.S. government is reportedly discussing acquiring a financial stake in Intel to strengthen U.S.-based chip manufacturing, particularly its delayed Ohio plant.

• The talks follow President Trump’s push for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign over alleged ties to China, and a meeting on August 11 that prompted these discussions.

• Intel has not confirmed the reports but reaffirmed its commitment to supporting American tech manufacturing and working with the administration’s objectives.

X Briefly Goes Down Again: Thousands of Users Report Problems With Site, App
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• Users worldwide reported being unable to access X (formerly Twitter), with issues affecting timelines, posts, and logins.

• Downdetector data showed a massive spike in outage reports, with both web and mobile versions impacted.

• The cause of the outage was not immediately disclosed, and X representatives did not provide an official statement during the downtime.

Google releases pint-size Gemma open AI model
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• Google has launched a compact AI model named Gemma, designed for efficiency and small-scale deployment while retaining competitive capabilities.

• Gemma is aimed at developers needing on-device or resource-limited AI applications, supporting use cases from chatbots to summarization tools.

• Despite its small size, Google claims it delivers strong performance benchmarks while being optimized for cost and speed.

China is about to launch SSDs so small you insert them like a SIM card
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• Chinese tech company Biwin is introducing a “Mini SSD” measuring just 15 × 17 × 1.4 mm, making it smaller than a penny and slightly larger than a micro-SD card.

• The drive offers up to 3,700 MB/s read and 3,400 MB/s write speeds via PCIe 4×2, with capacities of 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB.

• It’s built for a wide range of devices—laptops, tablets, phones, and cameras—with IP68 dust/water resistance and 3-meter drop protection; pricing has not yet been revealed.

Microsoft is getting ready to return to the office
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• Microsoft is set to implement a mandatory office return policy, requiring most employees living within 50 miles of its Redmond campus to work in-office three days per week.

• Some teams may have to be in four or five days a week, with the policy expected to be announced in September and enforced starting late January.

• The change coincides with major campus renovations adding 17 buildings and space for 8,000 more employees, though concerns remain about commuting and desk availability.