Riyadh just became the launchpad for a laptop that wants to end your dependence on the cloud

At LEAP 2026 in Riyadh, HUMAIN and Qualcomm pulled the wraps off a new machine called the Horizon Ultra AI PC. The pitch is refreshingly blunt: run more AI tasks directly on the device, not on some distant server farm.

That’s a meaningful shift. For years, the default assumption has been that serious AI work happens in the cloud. HUMAIN is betting a growing slice of users want that intelligence on their desk, not in a data center.

What’s actually inside the Horizon Ultra?

Under the hood sits Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite chip. It’s a serious piece of silicon, packing an 18-core Oryon CPU, an Adreno GPU, and a Hexagon NPU. Each unit handles different workloads, so tasks get split intelligently rather than hammering a single core.

That architecture is what makes local AI possible. Models run on the device itself, which means your sensitive documents, client records, or proprietary code never have to leave the machine. When a task genuinely exceeds the laptop’s capabilities, it can still reach out to the cloud — but that’s now the exception, not the rule.

HUMAIN CEO Tareq Amin framed it as making intelligence native to the device. Not something you connect to. Something you own.

The real advantage: speed and privacy

Local processing isn’t just about keeping secrets. It’s also about responsiveness. No round trip to a server means faster answers, snappier AI-assisted workflows, and no awkward pauses while your request travels halfway around the world.

For sectors like healthcare, finance, or legal work — where data governance is non-negotiable — that’s a compelling argument. You get the benefits of AI without the compliance headache of shipping data off-site.

Windows first, HUMAIN OS later

The first iteration runs Microsoft Windows. That’s a smart move. It makes the Horizon Ultra instantly familiar to enterprise buyers who need software compatibility on day one.

But HUMAIN isn’t stopping there. The company confirmed its own operating system, HUMAIN OS, will arrive on this same hardware line in 2027. That gives the company time to build a software layer tailored to its vision of on-device intelligence.

Two operating systems on the same hardware is a bold strategy. It says: we want your business now, but we’re building toward something more integrated later.

When can you buy one?

If you’re an enterprise customer, the wait isn’t long. Sales for the Windows version of the Horizon Ultra open September 20, 2026, with AlFalak handling sales and delivery. That’s a tight turnaround from the LEAP debut.

Consumer availability hasn’t been announced yet. The focus is squarely on business buyers first.

A bigger AI puzzle

The Horizon Ultra isn’t a one-off gadget. It’s one piece of HUMAIN’s broader AI strategy, which already spans data centers, cloud infrastructure, models, and applications. This laptop is the company’s attempt to bring that stack down to the personal level.

Think of it this way: if HUMAIN can deliver a device that handles serious AI workloads locally, it changes the economics of enterprise computing. Less bandwidth. Lower latency. More control.

Whether that vision lands depends on execution — and on whether businesses actually prefer local AI over the convenience of the cloud. But with Qualcomm’s silicon and a clear roadmap, the Horizon Ultra is more than a concept. It’s a statement of intent.

For a deeper look at how on-device AI is reshaping hardware choices, check out our analysis of AI PC buying considerations and the broader Qualcomm Snapdragon X series roadmap.

Google’s new trick: Gemini remembers where you put things

Losing your passport is a special kind of panic. You tear through drawers, check the same coat pocket twice, and eventually swear you’ll never misplace it again. Google thinks its assistant can help with that — provided you’re willing to tell it where you stash your stuff.

The company announced a new Gemini location memory feature as part of the September Android Drop. It’s rolling out alongside four other updates, and it’s aimed squarely at people who forget where they keep important documents.

How does the new Gemini Find Hub feature work?

The idea is simple. You tell Gemini something like “I put my passport in the bedroom drawer,” optionally attach a photo, and the assistant saves that location in Find Hub. No tracker tag required. Nothing to pair, charge, or replace batteries in.

Later, when you’ve inevitably forgotten again — and Google seems to be counting on that — you can ask Gemini where you left the item, or open Find Hub and check the “remembered” items tab.

There are a few catches. The feature needs Android 16 or newer. It also only works in countries where both Gemini and Find Hub are available, so not everyone will see it right away.

This is not tracking — it’s just memory

Here’s the important distinction: Gemini isn’t actually tracking your belongings. It’s merely remembering what you told it. That’s it. No real-time location, no pinging, no map showing where your wallet currently sits.

Honestly, I’ve been doing this in the Notes app on my iPhone for years. Write down where I left something, check the note later. Works fine. But Google clearly thinks there’s value in having the assistant handle that recall for you — and tying it into Find Hub means it lives alongside your actual tracker-tagged items.

Motion Assist: fighting carsickness with moving bubbles

The other headline feature in this drop is Motion Assist. It targets the queasy feeling you get from staring at a stationary phone screen while the car moves around you.

The feature overlays small bubbles on your screen that drift along with the vehicle’s motion. The idea is that your eyes get a visual cue that matches what your inner ear is feeling, which can help reduce motion sickness. It’s aimed at passengers who want to read or text without feeling nauseous.

Whether it actually works well remains to be seen, but it’s a thoughtful approach to a very common problem.

Guided vision and other smaller updates

Three smaller additions round out the September Drop. Guided vision is designed for blind and low-vision users. During a Gemini Live session, it narrates whatever your camera sees — reading labels, menus, or other text aloud in real time.

That’s a genuinely useful accessibility feature, and it builds on Google’s existing work with Lookout and other vision tools.

Google Keep inside Messages

Google Keep is also getting deeper integration with Google Messages. You’ll soon be able to open Keep directly inside a conversation thread, letting a group build a shared list without leaving the chat. Planning a trip or a group dinner gets easier when the list and the discussion live in the same place.

Chat themes for customization

Finally, chat themes are arriving. These let you swap in custom backgrounds and colors per conversation, so you can tell at a glance which thread you’re in. It’s a purely cosmetic change, but it adds a layer of personalization that many users have wanted for a while.

When will these Android updates arrive?

Here’s the timing breakdown: Keep in Messages and chat themes are already live as of the announcement. The Gemini location memory feature, Motion Assist, and Guided vision will roll out later this month.

If you’re on a supported device with Android 16, keep an eye on your updates. The September Drop is shaping up to be a mix of practical tools and comfort features — some more useful than others, but all pointing in the same direction.

Google wants its assistant to be more than a search box. It wants Gemini to remember what you forget, help you avoid carsickness, and make your phone a little more accessible. Whether that’s enough to make you switch from your Notes app habit is another question entirely.

The fastest unicorn in Y Combinator history

AfterQuery, an AI training-data startup, has reportedly raised a round that values it at $3.2 billion. That’s a staggering jump from the $300 million valuation it secured just five months ago, when it announced its $30 million Series A in April.

The 10x-plus increase in under six months is remarkable by any standard. According to Y Combinator partner Gustaf Alströmer, it’s the fastest any startup has gone from launch to unicorn status in the accelerator’s entire history. The founders, aged just 22 and 23, were part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2025 cohort — only 18 months ago.

Forbes first reported the round. AfterQuery could not be immediately reached for comment.

What AfterQuery actually does

The San Francisco-based company sits in a fast-growing niche of the AI economy: training data. But unlike rivals that focus on making models answer questions correctly, AfterQuery takes a different approach. It trains models and agents to work the way professionals do — completing tasks by encoding the patterns, decisions, and reasoning of expert practitioners.

Think doctors, lawyers, and other specialists whose workflows get distilled into training signals. The company describes this as teaching AI to perform jobs, not just respond to prompts.

Customers and revenue

In April, AfterQuery said it had reached an annualized revenue run rate of $100 million. It also named marquee customers including Nvidia, Legora, and Korean AI lab Motif Technologies. Working with several of the largest AI labs, the startup has positioned itself as a key supplier in the race to build more capable models.

Following the Mercor and Scale playbook

AfterQuery belongs to a new wave of startups following in the footsteps of Mercor and Scale AI. Those companies built businesses by employing knowledge workers — doctors, lawyers, and other specialists — to refine model outputs. AfterQuery’s twist is that it doesn’t just check answers; it captures the reasoning and decision-making processes of experts so AI can replicate them.

This distinction matters as AI moves from chatbots to autonomous agents that execute multi-step tasks. If an agent is going to file a legal brief or triage a patient, it needs more than factual accuracy — it needs professional judgment.

What this means for the AI training data market

The valuation surge signals something bigger: investors are betting heavily on the infrastructure layer beneath AI models. Training data companies were once seen as commodity services. Now they’re being valued like core technology providers.

AfterQuery’s trajectory — from YC cohort to unicorn in 18 months — will likely attract more founders to the space. It also raises questions about sustainability. Can a company keep growing revenue at this pace? And will the demand for expert-curated training data hold as models become more capable of self-improvement?

For now, the market’s answer is a resounding yes. The $3.2 billion valuation, if confirmed, puts AfterQuery in rarefied air — and makes its young founders two of the most valuable entrepreneurs in the AI world.