Daily Tech & GNSS News Digest - January 12, 2026

The AI infrastructure race continues to reshape both the tech and positioning industries as 2026 gets underway. Apple and Google have struck a landmark AI partnership, while Meta is locking up nuclear power at unprecedented scale. Here’s what’s moving markets today.

Tech News

Google Confirms Multiyear Deal to Power Apple’s Siri

In the biggest tech partnership news of 2026 so far, Alphabet’s Google has confirmed a multiyear deal with Apple to power the iPhone maker’s artificial intelligence technology, including the Siri voice assistant. Bloomberg reports Apple will pay approximately $1 billion per year to utilize Google’s Gemini AI models.

The next generation of Apple Foundation models will be based on Google’s Gemini architecture and cloud infrastructure to power future Apple Intelligence features. This marks a significant shift for Apple, which currently partners with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri. Apple told CNBC it isn’t making changes to the OpenAI agreement, suggesting both partnerships will coexist.

The deal signals growing trust in Google’s accelerating AI agenda and comeback against OpenAI. Google logged its best year since 2009 in 2025 and surpassed Apple in market capitalization last week for the first time since 2019.

Meta Signs Multi-Gigawatt Nuclear Deals for AI Data Centers

Meta Platforms is set to become one of the world’s biggest corporate buyers of nuclear power, striking a series of deals totaling more than 6 gigawatts—enough to power approximately 5 million homes. This makes Meta the largest nuclear buyer among hyperscalers.

The flagship agreement with Vistra will supply over 2,609 MW of zero-carbon power from three nuclear plants to support Meta’s regional AI operations. Power delivery begins late 2026, with additional capacity coming online through 2034. Additional deals with Oklo and other providers round out the nuclear portfolio.

The nuclear push directly addresses AI’s voracious power demands. As data center buildouts accelerate globally, securing reliable carbon-free electricity has become as strategically important as chip supply.

Nvidia Partners with Eli Lilly on $1 Billion AI Pharma Lab

Nvidia announced plans to invest $1 billion over five years in a new lab with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly to accelerate AI adoption in drug discovery and development. The partnership aims to speed up the use of AI across the pharmaceutical industry’s research pipeline.

MiniMax Goes Public in Hong Kong

MiniMax, one of China’s largest generative AI startups, went public in Hong Kong this week, marking another milestone in Asia’s AI IPO wave. The listing follows a string of Chinese AI companies tapping Hong Kong markets despite ongoing US-China tech tensions.

Additional Headlines

Walmart joins Nasdaq 100: The retail giant becomes the newest entrant in the index, with the change taking effect January 20, 2026.
Anthropic healthcare push: The AI company is expanding into healthcare with new tools allowing patients and doctors to access information through conversational interfaces.
Australia social media enforcement: Meta has shut down nearly 550,000 accounts in Australia to comply with the country’s new social media ban for users under 16.

GNSS News

ANELLO Photonics Launches Aerial INS for GPS-Denied Operations

At CES 2026, ANELLO Photonics unveiled the Aerial INS—a compact inertial navigation system built around their Silicon Photonics Optical Gyroscope (SiPhOG) technology with integrated multi-band GNSS receivers.

The system targets demanding aerial platforms including BVLOS drones, maritime VTOL systems, ISR aircraft, and heavy-lift cargo drones. Key specs include heading drift of less than 0.5 degrees per hour and over 98% navigation accuracy without cameras or fiber-optic cables. The dual triple-frequency all-constellation GNSS receivers support RTK/PPP corrections.

What makes this significant is the contested environment capability. The Aerial INS maintains navigation during GNSS jamming, spoofing, or complete signal loss—critical for defense applications and increasingly relevant for commercial operations in congested urban environments. Evaluation units are available now with production shipments beginning Q2 2026.

GPS World’s 2026 Focus: Autonomy and Precision Agriculture

GPS World has outlined its editorial priorities for 2026, with cover stories tackling transportation, defense, autonomous systems, precision agriculture, and complementary PNT (positioning, navigation, timing) technologies.

The convergence of satellite-based sensors, UAVs, ground sensors, and GNSS corrections has made agriculture one of the largest GNSS user segments. Autonomous tractors, sprayers, and combines face far fewer safety concerns than vehicles on public roads—no traffic, accidents, or construction to navigate—making them ideal proving grounds for autonomous technology.

ComNav’s AG502 autosteer system exemplifies the trend, integrating satellite reception, positioning, navigation, and autonomous driving into a single package. Modern farm machinery also incorporates inertial navigation for GNSS outages and lidar/radar/vision systems for obstacle avoidance.

Key Takeaways

AI partnerships reshape Big Tech: The Apple-Google Gemini deal marks a new era of cooperation among tech giants, as companies prioritize AI capability over competitive isolation.
Power is the new bottleneck: Meta’s 6+ gigawatt nuclear commitment underscores that securing carbon-free electricity has become as critical as chip supply in the AI infrastructure race.
GPS-denied navigation is production-ready: ANELLO’s Aerial INS launch signals that commercial-grade inertial navigation for contested environments is moving from R&D to deployment.