Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Snap is taking another shot at smart glasses — this time with Qualcomm chips, on-device AI, and real pressure to deliver.

The reboot follows the abrupt exit of its top Specs exec amid a reported clash with CEO Evan Spiegel, as the company races to beat Meta to the face-worn AI interface. But Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses are already gaining traction; Snap’s Spectacles are still trying to ship.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Snap’s Spectacles get a Qualcomm engine

• Tesla may build a low-priced SUV after all

• Meta bans the ads being used to sue it

• One therapy wipes out 3 autoimmune diseases

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

SNAP

👓 Snap’s Spectacles get a Qualcomm engine

Image source: Snap

The Rundown: Snap is finally inching toward launching its long-delayed AI-powered Spectacles, striking a multi-year Qualcomm chip deal to bring its next-gen AR glasses to consumers later this year after a recent executive shake-up at its Specs unit.

The details:

• The new Spectacles will run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR chips, enabling on-device AI, advanced graphics, and multiuser digital experiences.

• Snap spun out Specs as a separate subsidiary earlier this year to focus on the glasses business after years of fits and starts with the product line.

• In February, Snap abruptly parted ways with Scott Myers, its senior VP of Specs, following a reported clash with CEO Evan Spiegel.

Why it matters: Snap’s decade-old Specs unit is under pressure to finally turn Spectacles into a real consumer platform just as Meta, Apple, and others race to dominate the smart glasses market. If this launch fizzles like past attempts, Snap risks ceding the next hardware frontier to rivals with deeper pockets and tighter ecosystems.

TESLA

🚗 Tesla may build a low-priced SUV after all

Image source: Reve / The Rundown

The Rundown: Tesla is developing a compact electric SUV designed to undercut its own Model 3 on price, Reuters reports — two years after CEO Elon Musk scrapped the $25K "Model 2” and called building cars for human drivers “pointless.”

The details:

• The vehicle would measure about 14 ft., making it significantly shorter than the Model Y’s 15.7 ft., and would be an entirely new design.

• To hit a lower price point, Tesla plans to use a smaller battery pack and a single electric motor, trading range against the Model Y’s 306-to-327-mile rating.

• Sources said production would be based at Tesla’s Shanghai factory, with one source adding that Tesla aims to expand manufacturing to the U.S. and Europe.

• Pricing would land substantially below the entry-level Model 3, which starts at $34K in China and $37K in the U.S.

Why it matters: Tesla’s sales have taken a hit as Chinese EVs flood the sub-$30K segment, a price point the company has never actually reached. A compact SUV would be its most direct answer yet to that pressure, though with no formal approval and only early supplier conversations underway, the timeline remains unclear.

META

⚖️ Meta bans the ads being used to sue it

Image source: Getty / Reve

The Rundown: Meta just removed a wave of Facebook and Instagram ads placed by plaintiffs’ law firms recruiting clients for social media addiction lawsuits, as litigation against the company continues to mount.

The details:

• Meta has pulled campaigns from major national firms targeting teens and parents to join social media addiction lawsuits.

• Meta said it wouldn't “allow trial lawyers to profit from our platforms while simultaneously claiming they are harmful.”

• An LA jury recently awarded $6M against Meta and Google for a woman’s depression; a New Mexico jury fined Meta $375M over child safety failures.

• More than 3,300 addiction-related lawsuits are pending in California state courts, with another 2,400 federal cases centralized there.

Why it matters: The same ad-targeting engine that helped Meta capture attention is now being used to recruit people to sue them. With billions in potential liability on the line and thousands of cases pending, the move shows how fiercely Meta intends to fight a legal battle that could reshape platform accountability for teen mental health.

BIOTECH

💉 One therapy wipes out 3 autoimmune diseases

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown (rendering of a CART-T cell)

The Rundown: For the first time, a single round of experimental CAR-T-cell therapy put all three of a patient’s severe, treatment-resistant autoimmune diseases into lasting remission — a result doctors say they've never seen before.

The details:

• The woman was managing three debilitating autoimmune conditions until a single infusion of T cells effectively rebooted her immune system.

• Doctors hacked a blood-cancer treatment, reprogramming her T cells to hunt down CD19-tagged B cells, the antibody factories gone rogue in her system.

• Within weeks, her blood counts normalized as a fresh population of mostly naïve B cells repopulated her system.

• Fourteen months on, she remains off all medications for the three conditions, with no reported side effects from the therapy itself.

Why it matters: CAR-T-cell therapy has already transformed blood cancer treatment — but repurposing it for autoimmune disease is a newer, bolder bet. A single case isn’t a cure, and larger trials are needed. Still, sustained triple remission without ongoing medication is the kind of outcome researchers rarely dare to predict.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

SpaceX recorded a loss of nearly $5B in 2025 despite generating more than $18.5B in revenue, according to a report by The Information.

Disney’s new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, plans to cut up to 1K jobs, with the company’s recently consolidated marketing department expected to bear the brunt of the layoffs.

Almost half of the U.S. data centers planned to open in 2026 are likely to be delayed or canceled due to power grid limits, equipment shortages, and local opposition.

Apple’s first foldable iPhone remains on track to be unveiled in September 2026 alongside the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, despite earlier rumors of delay, Bloomberg reports.

Spotify is adding new global settings so you can turn off all videos, including music videos, podcast videos, and Canvas loops, and keep Spotify audio-only if you want.

Instagram is rolling out a long‑requested feature that lets users edit their comments shortly after posting, so they no longer need to delete and rewrite them.

Volkswagen will stop building its ID.4 electric SUV at its Tennessee plant and shift the factory to producing the higher-volume, gasoline-powered Atlas SUV instead.

NASA traced the helium leak in Orion’s propulsion system to faulty valves and is now planning a hardware redesign to prevent similar issues on future lunar missions.

The EU has hit Google, Apple, and Meta with more than $7B in antitrust and digital regulation fines since 2024, triggering a clash with the U.S. government.

Startup Radify Metals developed plasma reactors that can refine rare-earth metals, potentially undercutting China’s dominance over the rare-earth supply chain.

Greece plans to ban social media access for children under 15 starting January 1, 2027, as part of new legislation aimed at protecting young people’s mental health.

Finland’s long‑planned Onkalo facility is on the verge of becoming the world’s first operational deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel.

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. A California startup wants to turn satellites into giant mirrors and aim them at Earth after dark, lighting up everything from construction sites to public events.

Reflect Orbital is seeking FCC approval to launch thousands of light-redirecting spacecraft to illuminate paying customers on the ground. But top scientists around the globe warn that “daylight on demand” shouldn’t be up for sale.

In today’s tech rundown:

• This startup plans to light up the night

• Apple’s foldable iPhone hits engineering snag

• Netflix launches ad-free gaming app for kids

• The smart glasses without ‘creepy’ vibes 

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

SPACE

🪩 This startup plans to light up the night

Image source: Reflect Orbital

The Rundown: California startup Reflect Orbital is seeking FCC approval to launch thousands of orbital mirrors that would redirect sunlight for paying customers on Earth after dark — and top scientists are sounding the alarm.

The details:

• Reflect Orbital, founded in 2021 with $35M in funding, is building satellites with large mirrors designed to redirect sunlight onto the Earth’s surface after dark.

• Earendil-1, its demo satellite, would deploy 60-foot mirrors from a 625 km orbit to illuminate 5 km ground targets, with a target launch this year.

• Presidents of four international scientific societies, representing 2,500 researchers in 30+ countries, have sent letters of concern to the FCC over this.

• The company says it has received more than 260K service requests for uses including construction, public events, and a $1.25M Air Force contract.

Why it matters: Critics warn that a single company, with one federal agency’s approval, could reshape the night sky for everyone on Earth. With Reflect Orbital aiming for 50K satellites by 2035, scientists warn of “major adverse health consequences” for humans and massive disruption for hundreds of species.

APPLE

🍎 Apple’s foldable iPhone hits engineering snag

Image source: Lovart / The Rundown

The Rundown: Apple’s rumored foldable iPhone has hit unexpected hinge and display durability snags that could delay its planned 2026 debut, according to a report first broken by Nikkei Asia.

The details:

• Apple’s first foldable iPhone has run into tougher‑than‑expected hinge and display issues in early test production, raising the risk for a delayed launch.

• Suppliers have reportedly been warned that mass production and initial shipments may be pushed back if engineering fixes take longer.

• Earlier reports said that the Cupertino giant plans to anchor a 2026 lineup around the foldable plus two iPhones with bigger screens.

• Apple is experimenting with advanced hinge designs and new materials like liquid‑metal components to tame creasing and stress on the ultra‑thin glass.

Why it matters: Apple hopes its foldable iPhone will jolt a slowing premium smartphone market, but engineering snags show that even its famously controlled hardware machine can struggle when it tries to reinvent the form factor. Samsung Display has meanwhile locked in orders for up to 20M foldable OLED panels.

NETFLIX

🖍️ Netflix launches ad-free gaming app for kids

Image source: Netflix

The Rundown: Netflix is turning its kids’ tab into a training ground for the next generation of streamers with the launch of Netflix Playground, an ad‑free mobile gaming app for kids aged eight and under.

The details:

• The standalone gaming app comes bundled with every Netflix subscription at no extra cost, but requires parental sign-in.

• It launches first in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, the Philippines, and New Zealand on iOS and Android, with global rollout scheduled for April 28.

• Every title in Playground is playable offline, with parental controls in place and no ads, in‑app purchases, or additional fees of any kind.

• At launch, the catalog centers on games based on familiar brands like Peppa Pig, Sesame Street, StoryBots, Dr. Seuss, and coloring or puzzle apps.

Why it matters: Playground is Netflix’s first real hit at Apple Arcade and Amazon Kids+, folding an ad‑free kids’ game bundle into a subscription that rivals still upcharge for. If it hooks young kids on playing inside the same franchises they watch, Netflix tightens its grip on family time.

EVEN REALITIES

👓 Meet the smart glasses without ‘creepy’ vibes

Image source: Even Realities

The Rundown: Chinese upstart Even Realities is taking aim at Meta’s Ray‑Ban smart glasses by selling camera‑free specs that promise all the AI assistance with none of the “creepy lens on your face” surveillance vibes, the Financial Times reports.

The details:

• Even’s $600 G2 glasses skip the front‑facing camera entirely, using a mic and a floating 3D heads-up display for email, maps, and real-time translation.

• The company positions the glasses as a direct foil to Meta’s Ray-Bans, arguing most people don’t want “a camera on face” in everyday use, even if creators do.

• It also launched Even Hub, an app store that turns the G2 into an open platform, with 50+ third‑party apps and an SDK used by 2K developers.

• Meta is meanwhile working to scale its AI glasses production toward 20M pairs a year by 2026 while packing them with camera‑driven Meta AI features.

Why it matters: Smart glasses are having a genuine breakout moment — Meta’s Ray-Ban, Chinese rival Rokid, and a wave of Android XR devices are all competing to build the next iPhone, but one you’d wear. Even is making a different bet: that most people want a quiet AI assistant on their face, not a surveillance device.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

NASA’s Artemis II crew flew the Orion to 252,700 miles from Earth, setting a new record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from the planet.

Elon Musk is reportedly requiring banks and other advisers working on SpaceX’s planned IPO to purchase subscriptions to his Grok AI chatbot service.

Oracle reportedly laid off 30K employees by email as part of a cost-cutting push despite reporting a 95% surge in profit and heavy investment in an AI data center.

Maine is poised to become the first U.S. state to temporarily ban the construction of large new data centers to study their environmental and power-grid impacts.

Amazon and the US Postal Service reached a deal that will cut Amazon’s USPS package deliveries by 20%.

High gas prices in the U.S. are making EVs more attractive again, potentially helping Tesla reverse its recent sales slump, Axios reported.

Apple is again asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review its App Store fight with Epic Games over commission limits.

Scientists built a tiny implant that keeps drug‑producing cells alive for weeks to deliver controlled treatments inside the body.

Satellite startup Impulse Space is partnering with Anduril to develop experimental space-based interceptor tech for Trump’s planned Golden Dome missile defense shield.

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Google is reportedly tying its AI expansion in Texas to a giant gas plant that could belch 4.5M tons of CO₂ a year — more than some U.S. cities.

That’s a jarring turn for the company that spent years evangelizing 24/7 carbon-free energy, especially since this plant appears to have no carbon capture at all. But Google, like the rest of Big Tech, says that AI’s appetite for power is growing faster than the clean grid can supply it.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Google to power Texas AI data center on gas

• Artemis II astronauts head to the moon

• Amazon is coming for Walmart — with robots

• Whoop is now a $10B fitness tracker

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

GOOGLE

😷 Google to power Texas data center on gas

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Google reportedly plans to power a new AI data center in Texas with a gas power plant that could emit about 4.5M tons of CO₂ a year, in what critics say is a major rollback from its earlier 2030 carbon‑free energy goals.

The details:

• Google confirmed it is partnering with Crusoe on the Goodnight data center campus in Texas, where Crusoe has filed for a 933 MW gas plant.

• The data center could cost nearly $30B, and the gas plant could emit roughly 4.5M tons of CO₂ annually — more yearly emissions than San Francisco.

• Unlike Google’s recent gas deal in Illinois, the Goodnight plant reportedly has no carbon capture technology whatsoever.

• Google confirmed the partnership but says no offtake agreement for the gas plant has been signed.

Why it matters: Google built its brand on climate leadership — it pioneered 24/7 carbon-free energy and has signed more than 22 gigawatts of clean energy power purchase agreements. A bare-gas, no-capture plant of this scale is a different animal entirely, but Google says surging AI demand is outpacing the clean energy buildout.

TOGETHER WITH KESTRA

⚒️ Fix your broken automation stack

The Rundown: Kestra is an open-source workflow orchestration platform that replaces scattered scripts and cron jobs with one unified layer. With 26k+ GitHub stars, it’s already trusted by Apple, JPMorgan Chase, Toyota, and BHP for mission-critical workflows.

Do more with Kestra:

• Orchestrate any language, tool, or service

• Deploy on-prem, hybrid, or any cloud

• Build from the UI or code, fully in sync

Explore Kestra.

NASA

🌝 Artemis II astronauts head to the moon

Image source: NASA

The Rundown: NASA’s Artemis II mission has just launched four astronauts into a looping flyby of the Moon, rebooting crewed deep‑space exploration more than half a century after Apollo’s final flight.

The details:

• The Space Launch System mega-rocket lifted off on April 1, sending four astronauts aboard Orion on a 10-day test flight around the Moon and back.

• A roughly six-minute translunar injection burn broke the crew free of Earth orbit — the first time humans have departed Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.

• Updated trajectory data puts the crew’s maximum distance from Earth at 252,021 miles — surpassing the Apollo 13 distance record by 3,366 miles.

• The lunar flyby is scheduled for Monday, April 6, when the crew will photograph areas of the far side never directly seen by human eyes.

Why it matters: What’s learned on this flight is critical to future Artemis missions — NASA is targeting Artemis III for lunar technology demonstrations in 2027 and a crewed surface landing with Artemis IV in 2028. Every telemetry point from this mission could write the rulebook for what comes next. 

AMAZON

🛒 Amazon is coming for Walmart — with robots

Image source: Reve AI / The Rundown

The Rundown: Amazon has been developing a network of massive, robot-heavy hybrid supercenters under an internal initiative called Project Kobe — and leaked documents obtained by Business Insider reveal just how serious the bet is.

The details:

• Each store would clock in at 225K square feet, with nearly half the floor plan dedicated to back-of-house robotics and fulfillment infrastructure.

• AutoStore robotic systems handle warehouse operations; a future in-house platform called Orbital is also in the pipeline.

• An AI tool named Frida is designed to help category managers automate inventory decisions at the local level.

• The first approved site is in Orland Park, Illinois (late 2027 opening), with additional locations in New Jersey and Illinois on the table.

Why it matters: Amazon and Whole Foods hold just 3% of the U.S. grocery market versus Walmart’s 21% — and Project Kobe is Amazon’s most ambitious attempt yet to close that gap, by collapsing the e-commerce fulfillment center and the big-box store into one. If the pilots work, Amazon is prepared to roll the format out at scale.

WHOOP

🏋🏽‍♂️ Whoop is now a $10B fitness tracker

Image source: Whoop

The Rundown: Whoop just closed a massive $575M Series G round that nearly triples its valuation to $10.1B — a sign the market is backing its pivot from elite fitness tracker to full-blown health platform.

The details:

• Diagnostic device maker Abbott and Mayo Clinic joined as strategic investors, alongside athletes Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, and Rory McIlroy.

• The platform already includes FDA-cleared ECG, blood pressure insights, and Advanced Labs blood biomarker analysis, with Whoop promising “more to come.”

• Abbott’s move mirrors Dexcom’s 2024 investment in Oura’s smart ring, a pattern of medtech players buying strategic footholds in consumer biometric platforms.

• Whoop now counts 2.5M members and exited 2025 with a $1.1B annualized bookings run rate, up 103% year over year.

Why it matters: Whoop’s new backers aren't typical venture money — Abbott makes diagnostic devices, Mayo Clinic runs hospitals. Whether that translates into actual regulated products or just credibility remains to be seen. The FDA’s 2025 warning letter to Whoop over its blood pressure claims is also a hint of the hurdles ahead.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

Amazon is in talks to acquire satellite telecoms group Globalstar in a deal worth about $9B, aiming to build a rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet network.

Microsoft will invest about $10B in Japan from 2026 to 2029 to expand AI infrastructure, train 1M tech workers, and deepen cybersecurity cooperation.

Google is now rolling out a feature that lets users in the U.S. change their existing Gmail address without creating a new account.

SpaceX confirmed that one of its Starlink satellites suffered an unexplained anomaly that caused it to break apart into debris fragments in low Earth orbit.

London-based hardware company Nothing is reportedly planning to launch AI-powered smart glasses in 2027 and AI earbuds in 2026.

Amazon will start adding a 3.5% “fuel and logistics” surcharge to fulfillment fees it charges many third‑party sellers, blaming higher fuel costs linked to the Iran war.

China’s cyberspace regulator issued draft rules to tightly control “digital humans,” requiring clear labeling and banning features that could addict children.

The New York Times dropped freelance critic Alex Preston after he admitted using an AI tool that inserted language from a Guardian review into his own book review.

Alexa+ subscribers with Echo Show displays can now link their Uber Eats or Grubhub accounts and order delivery in a natural, back‑and‑forth conversation.

Lucid Motors is recalling more than 4K Gravity SUVs because a supplier improperly welded some of their second-row seat belt anchors.

Chinese researchers developed a new electrolyte for lithium batteries that more than doubles energy density and EV range while still working reliably in extreme cold.

Renewable power made up nearly half of the world’s electricity capacity in 2025, reaching 49.4% after solar additions drove renewable capacity to 5,149 GW.

Newsletter platform Beehiiv is launching podcast hosting so creators can produce podcasts alongside newsletters on one platform, to challenge Patreon and Substack.

China’s CAS Space successfully launched its new Kinetica‑2 Y1 rocket at a cost reportedly comparable to SpaceX’s Falcon 9.

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Forget cryonics. California startup R3 Bio is pitching something even stranger: nonsentient human bodies, grown without brains, as a source of organs, or a vessel for your transplanted brain.

The company just emerged from stealth with longevity and tech investors on board. Bioethicists, however, are not impressed.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Startup that wants to grow you a spare body

• Space solar startup Aetherflux eyes $2B

• Meta tests new paid tier for Instagram

• Uber buys Blacklane to court high-end riders

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

LONGEVITY

🫠 Startup that wants to grow you a spare body

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: A stealth biotech startup called R3 Bio is courting private investors on a provocative premise: grow headless human clones as personalized organ and tissue replacements for wealthy clients, MIT Technology Review reports.

The details:

• The California startup recently emerged from secrecy, saying it raised funding to grow nonsentient monkey “organ sacks” as an alternative to animal testing.

• While only theoretical, R3 Bio argues that removing brain structures prevents consciousness or pain, making its lab-grown bodies a more ethical alternative.

• Founder John Schloendorn also pitched “brainless” human clones, supplying organs or even hosting a transplanted brain for full-body replacement.

• The startup says it has drawn backing from longevity and tech investors, who see enormous market potential in organ replacement and anti-aging medicine.

Why it matters: R3 Bio has already attracted substantial funding from tech investors who are betting on a future market they say is worth hundreds of billions for lab‑grown organs and even full‑body replacement. That cash is colliding with ethical questions over whether brainless body sacks might be taking anti-aging medicine a bit too far.

AETHERFLUX

☀️ Space solar startup Aetherflux eyes $2B

Image source: Aetherflux

The Rundown: Space-based solar startup Aetherflux, co-founded by Robinhood’s Baiju Bhatt, is reportedly raising a $250M–$350M Series B round at a $2B valuation, as it pivots to powering orbital AI data centers.

The details:

• After initially pitching satellite-based power beamed down to Earth, Aetherflux is pivoting to using its solar-plus-laser tech to power data centers in orbit.

• The startup has reportedly raised about $80M to date, including $10M coming directly from Bhatt’s pocket.

• Its approach: compact solar satellites that convert sunlight into infrared laser beams, wirelessly transferring power to nearby orbital AI data centers.

• The company is targeting 2027 for its first satellite launch, with smaller experiments underway as technical and regulatory proofs of concept.

Why it matters: Space-based solar is attracting serious capital, even as rivals like Virtus Solis and Caltech’s SSPP push toward grid-scale terrestrial power. As SpaceX and Nvidia-backed ventures test off-world data centers to ease AI’s energy demands, Aetherflux is betting the bigger opportunity lies in space.

META

💵 Meta tests new paid tier for Instagram

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Meta is reportedly testing a new paid subscription for Instagram called Instagram Plus, a Stories-focused premium tier aimed squarely at everyday users, not just creators.

The details:

• Reports indicate testing is underway in Mexico, Japan, and the Philippines, with prices between $1.07 and $2.20 per month in local currency equivalents.

• Among the features: the ability to view a Story without the poster knowing and see how many people rewatched your own Stories.

• Additional perks include extending Stories for an extra 24 hours and spotlighting one Story per week, pushing it to the front of followers' trays.

• Subscribers can also send animated “Superlikes” on others' Stories and search their viewer lists. But reports say that users will still see ads.

Why it matters: Meta is pushing to make subscription revenue a meaningful part of its business, steadily building out paid tiers across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp as ad dominance alone no longer feels like a safe bet. Instagram Plus is the latest piece of that puzzle, and a test of how much users will pay for some add-on capabilities.

UBER

🥂 Uber buys Blacklane to court high-end riders

Image source: Uber

The Rundown: Uber is acquiring Berlin-based Blacklane, which provides on-demand black-car chauffeur services, as the ride-hail giant pushes deeper into luxury and executive travel.

The details:

• It’s a notable exit for Blacklane, founded in 2011, which has raised $100M from backers including Sixt, Mercedes-Benz, and UAE conglomerate ALFAHIM.

• Blacklane now operates in over 500 cities across more than 60 countries and has become a go-to chauffeur service for top execs.

• Financial terms were not disclosed; the deal is expected to close by the end of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.

• The deal follows the launch of Uber Elite, a high-end service blending chauffeur-driven rides with perks like onboard amenities and 24/7 support.

Why it matters: The move tilts Uber further toward higher-margin premium rides, targeting business travelers and high-spending users. Blacklane’s corporate client base also opens new channels for Uber for Business, Uber’s enterprise division, which generated more than $4B in gross bookings in 2025.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

Meta is preparing to debut two Ray-Ban AI smart glasses models designed for prescription wearers, with styles to be sold through traditional eyewear channels.

Australia is investigating Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Google, and YouTube for allegedly failing to fully enforce the new ban on under‑16s using social media platforms.

Volkswagen unlocked another $1B in funding for Rivian in their joint EV program, bringing VW’s potential total commitment to nearly $5.8B.

Samsung debuted Hearapy, an app that uses a one‑minute blast of a 100Hz bass tone through earbuds to offer a drug‑free way to reduce motion sickness during travel.

Airbnb is rolling out an in-app private car service in partnership with Welcome Pickups, letting guests book rides in 125+ cities across Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

An AI-powered chromosome-testing company in China is using machine learning to dramatically speed up and automate parts of the IVF process to boost success rates.

Meta struck a deal with energy company Entergy to fund 10 natural gas power plants and power its sprawling Hyperion AI data center in Louisiana.

Streaming subscription revenue tripled since 2020 to reach $157B in 2025 and is projected to reach $200B by 2030, driven by price hikes and ad-supported tiers.

Rec Room, the Seattle-based social gaming platform once valued at $3.5B, is shutting down on June 1 after failing to find a path to sustainable profitability.

Match Group agreed to settle a U.S. Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging it illegally shared personal data from millions of OkCupid users with AI firm Clarifai.

Indonesia began enforcing nationwide restrictions that ban children under 16 from having social media accounts, making it the first country in Southeast Asia to do so.

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Elon Musk may be gearing up for the strangest megadeal Wall Street has ever seen: a SpaceX IPO so massive it could put the usual rules of public markets under serious strain.

Behind the scenes, the plan reportedly pairs a sky-high valuation with an unusually large retail allocation, giving everyday traders — and more than a few Musk loyalists — a rare seat on the rocket.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Musk wants to take SpaceX public — his way

• Meta’s new Ray-Ban AI glasses leak via FCC

• Defense startup Shield AI hits $12.7B

• Meta pours $10B into Texas megadata center

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

SPACEX

🚀 Musk wants to take SpaceX public — his way

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Elon Musk is engineering what could be the largest — and strangest — IPO in history, plotting a mid‑June SpaceX listing that may raise tens of billions of dollars, while carving out an unprecedented 30% of shares for retail investors.

The details:

• SpaceX is targeting a mid‑June IPO window, with internal timelines synced to Musk’s birthday and fundraising estimates ranging from about $40B–$75B.

• The company is weighing a valuation of around $1.5T trillion after folding xAI into SpaceX, a move designed to sell investors on orbital AI data centers.

• Instead of the typical banker‑led roadshow, Musk wants investors flown into SpaceX’s campus to tour production lines and possibly watch launches.

• Meanwhile, banks are reportedly confined to narrowly defined “lanes” and a retail tranche that could hit 30% of the float.

Why it matters: The IPO could make SpaceX one of the most valuable public companies on the planet while testing how far markets are willing to go on a Musk growth story. It also flips the IPO script by handing an unusually large slice to retail investors, giving Musk fans front‑row seats to one of the biggest deals of the decade.

META

👓 Meta’s new Ray-Ban AI glasses leak via FCC

Image source: Meta

The Rundown: Meta and EssilorLuxottica are gearing up to launch two new Ray-Ban smart glasses, after fresh FCC filings revealed production-ready hardware with upgraded Wi-Fi 6E connectivity and a new charging case design.

The details:

• New FCC filings confirm the glasses, codenamed Scriber and Blazer, are production hardware, with reports suggesting a launch could come in weeks.

• The Blazer will come in standard and large sizes. Both models keep a portable charging case, with what is predicted to be a significant hardware refresh.

• The filings add support for Wi‑Fi 6/UNII‑4 at 5.9 GHz, a bandwidth upgrade that should boost livestreaming and on‑device Meta AI capabilities.

• Meta is positioning Ray-Ban glasses as its primary AI hardware play, with the line already selling in the millions.

Why it matters: Meta is doubling down on Ray-Ban, pushing new Scriber and Blazer AI glasses toward launch as it scales production of smart specs already selling in the millions. Timing is complicated, with the devices arriving amid privacy and legal backlash over claims that Meta glasses funnel user footage to offshore contractors.

SHIELD AI

✈️ Defense startup Shield AI hits $12.7B

Image source: Shield AI

The Rundown: Shield AI, the San Diego startup building AI pilots for military aircraft, raised $1.5B and more than doubled its valuation to $12.7B — and it already has a contract to prove the technology works in the field.

The details:

• The U.S. Air Force tapped Shield’s Hivemind software to power a program in which autonomous drone “wingmen” fly alongside human combat pilots.

• Hivemind will also run on the Fury autonomous jet built by rival Anduril, which makes its own software stack and is eyeing an $8B raise at a $60B valuation.

• Shield AI is already putting its new funding to work, acquiring Aechelon Technology, whose hyper-detailed simulators train U.S. pilots.

Why it matters: Shield AI’s new $1.5B funding round shows how quickly defense dollars are flowing into AI software capable of steering warplanes, and it sets up a direct rivalry with Anduril as both companies race to own the “brain” of autonomous combat aircraft.

META

🤑 Meta pours $10B into Texas megadata center

Image source: Meta

The Rundown: Meta bumped its planned investment in a new El Paso, Texas, data center from $1.5B to more than $10B — a sevenfold increase — as it races to build the compute backbone for its next generation of AI models.

The details:

• Meta’s investment will grow the facility to 3.1M square feet, up from the originally planned 1.2M, with the site designed to scale to 1 gigawatt of capacity.

• The gigawatt-scale facility is expected to come online in 2028, making it one of Meta’s largest data centers globally.

• At peak construction, approximately 4K workers will be on site, with more than 300 permanent roles once the center is fully operational.

• Meta has also committed to adding over 5K megawatts of clean power to the grid and will work with nonprofits to offset the facility’s water burden.

Why it matters: Meta expects its total capital expenditures in 2026 to land between $115B and $135B, with AI infrastructure at the core — a massive jump from the $72.2B spent last year. Meta is also spending on an astronomical scale to stay in the top tier of foundation-model players, instead of leaning on outside cloud providers.

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NASA is ditching its planned lunar-orbit station and instead redirecting its hardware into a $20B moon base to be built on the surface over the next seven years.

A jury ordered Meta to pay $375M for misleading users about the safety of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp and enabling child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

Apple discontinued the Mac Pro, with no plans for any future Mac Pro hardware, and Mac Studio instead being repositioned as the flagship pro desktop.

Trump plans to appoint Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Jensen Huang to a White House tech panel that will advise on AI policy and other technology issues.

A Los Angeles jury ordered Meta and YouTube to pay a woman $3M for harm caused by their addictive apps she used as a child.

WhatsApp’s upgraded Writing Help uses AI to draft suggested replies from your chats, plus it adds photo touchups, chat transfer, and multi-account support on iOS.

Epstein survivors are suing the Trump administration and Google for exposing their IDs in released case files and for keeping their private info visible in search results.

Netflix raised prices again, increasing its ad-supported plan to $8.99 a month, its standard ad-free plan to $19.99, and its premium tier to $26.99.

Meta is laying off several hundred employees across Reality Labs, Facebook, and other units as it restructures and shifts more investment toward AI.

Japanese lunar startup ispace pushed back its NASA-sponsored moon landing mission to 2030 and plans to shrink its global workforce.

Apple now forces UK users to prove they’re 18 via payment details or ID to keep full iPhone and iCloud access, else stricter safety filters kick in.

An 82-year-old Kentucky farmer turned down a $26M offer from an unnamed AI company to carve out part of her 1,200-acre farm for a data center.

Honda pulled the plug on the two Afeela-branded EVs it was co-developing with Sony, as the Sony Honda Mobility joint venture winds down its EV plans.

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• Read our last Tech newsletter: The deep-sea luxury race is back

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• Today’s AI tool guide: Use Perplexity Computer as a personal shopper

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. China wants to take tourists to sunless depths: a state-backed deep-sea submersible is being built to carry paying passengers 1K meters (3,280 ft.) down into the ocean’s eerie “Midnight Zone.”

Less than two years after OceanGate’s Titan turned deep-sea tourism into a global cautionary tale, China is betting the deep still holds plenty of appeal, at least for anyone rich enough to buy a window seat.

In today’s tech rundown:

• China eyes deep-sea tourism with new sub

• The FCC bans all foreign-made routers

• Alphabet brings drone delivery to the Bay Area

• Sam Altman’s fusion future is getting serious

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

DEEP SEA TECH

🧜🏽‍♀️ China eyes deep-sea tourism with new sub

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: China is developing a deep-sea submersible that can carry paying passengers up to 1K meters (3,280 ft.) deep — a state-backed entry into the ultra-luxury “extreme travel” market that’s been reshaped by the 2023 OceanGate incident.

The details:

• Engineers at the China Ship Scientific Research Centre in Wuxi have finalized the design of a 4-person vessel, with a prototype expected by year-end.

• Commercial dives are targeted before 2030, with a panoramic viewing dome designed to offer sightseeing in what oceanographers call the Midnight Zone.

• At 1K meters, pressure hits at 100x of the surface, demanding zero-tolerance hull engineering, shatter-resistant viewports, and fail-safe life support.

• The OceanGate Titan disaster, which killed five, was attributed to flawed engineering, insufficient testing, and a rejection of industry safety standards.

Why it matters: The deep-sea tourism market didn’t end with OceanGate but rather regrouped. China’s sub joins an elite circuit that’s looking to send the wealthy to the furthest depths. This includes U.S.-based Triton Submarines, which is developing a Titanic-rated vessel, and U-Boat Worx, building underwater cars and “party subs.”

TRADE WARS

🚫 The FCC bans all foreign-made routers 

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: The FCC just added all new foreign-made home routers to its national security “covered” list, effectively banning them from the U.S. market unless manufacturers can obtain a security exemption — a high bar few are expected to clear.

The details:

• Routers already in homes can stay, and already approved foreign models can keep shipping for now, but the pipeline for new foreign hardware is largely shut.

• The move particularly targets Chinese-linked manufacturers after U.S. intelligence tied compromised routers to cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

• TP-Link, the Chinese brand that dominates Amazon’s bestseller list, had already drawn scrutiny following a string of high-profile intrusions.

Why it matters: Coming on the heels of the drone ban, the FCC’s move hands Washington sweeping control over the hardware that carries most U.S. internet traffic. For consumer-router supply chains built around overseas (and especially Chinese) manufacturing, the pressure to reconfigure is now acute.

WING

🪽 Alphabet brings drone delivery to the Bay Area

Image source: Wing

The Rundown: Alphabet’s drone delivery unit Wing is bringing its fleet to the San Francisco Bay Area later this year, partnering with Walmart and DoorDash to offer residential deliveries across one of the country’s most tech-forward markets.

The details:

• Wing says it has already logged more than 750K deliveries across Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Virginia, as well as Australia.

• A national last-mile network is the goal, with Wing pitching its drones as faster and cleaner than delivery vans.

• The Walmart partnership is set to scale to more than 270 stores by 2027, with DoorDash adding consumer reach on the platform side.

• Urban airspace complexity and FAA regulatory constraints remain the biggest variables in how fast Wing and its rivals can actually expand.

Why it matters: After years of suburban pilots, Alphabet is making a direct play for commercial relevance for its moonshot drone program, just as the competitive pressure is heating up. Zipline just snapped up an extra $200M, and Amazon’s Prime Air is rolling out across the U.K. in 2026.

HELION

⚡️ Sam Altman’s fusion future is getting serious

Image source: Helion Energy

The Rundown: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has resigned as chair of Helion Energy, the fusion startup he has backed for a decade, as the company enters early talks on a deal that could supply a significant share of OpenAI’s future electricity needs.

The details:

• Helion and OpenAI are reportedly in early talks about a deal that could give OpenAI rights to 12.5% of Helion’s electricity output if the fusion tech pans out.

• An early framework envisions Helion delivering up to about 5 gigawatts by 2030 and 50 gigawatts by 2035 from thousands of 50-megawatt reactors.

• The company, which counts Altman among its backers, has raised $425M and already holds power agreements with Microsoft and steelmaker Nucor.

• Helion’s system is designed to capture energy directly from expanding plasma via magnetic coils, bypassing steam turbines that most power plants rely on.

Why it matters: Altman is stepping away from the board to remove potential conflicts as Helion pursues a commercial relationship with OpenAI — the same move he made at nuclear startup Oklo. The pattern is deliberate: tie frontier AI’s future to a new generation of low-carbon energy sources that don’t fully exist yet.

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Apple plans to introduce Google‑style search ads in Apple Maps as soon as this summer as part of a broader push to grow its services revenue, Bloomberg reports.

Samsung’s new Galaxy S26 phones can now use their Quick Share feature to send files directly to iPhones, iPads, and Macs via Apple’s AirDrop.

OnlyFans owner Leonid Radvinsky died of cancer at 43 while reportedly in talks to sell a majority stake in the company at a roughly $5.5B valuation.

Prediction platforms Kalshi and Polymarket are tightening trading rules by barring insiders from betting, as senators push to ban sports-style bets on prediction markets.

London fintech firm Revolut posted a record 2025 pretax profit of $2.3B on $6B in revenue, sharply higher than 2024, as it gears up for a big U.S. expansion.

Russia launched 16 Rassvet broadband satellites to low-Earth orbit, marking the start of a Starlink-style domestic internet constellation positioned as a rival to SpaceX.

Nintendo is cutting planned Switch 2 production by more than 30%, trimming this quarter’s output from 6M to 4M consoles after weaker-than-expected demand.

A French Navy officer jogging on the deck of the aircraft carrier used Strava to log his run, inadvertently exposing the warship’s precise location in the Mediterranean.

Sony is close to a $1B deal to sell a majority stake in its home entertainment business, including TVs, to Chinese rival TCL.

Singapore-based super app Grab agreed to buy Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda food-delivery operations in Taiwan for $600M in cash.

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Amazon is reportedly building a phone again — yes, after the Fire Phone fiasco.

A year-old internal team, a veteran Microsoft exec, and a codename that hints at something transformative: the company that torched millions on a smartphone flop is taking another shot at your pocket. The twist? It may not even be trying to compete with the iPhone.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Amazon is making a smartphone again

• Uber and Rivian team up to build 50K robotaxis

• New startup to mine asteroids by bagging them

• CRISPR could make cancer treatment a one-shot deal

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

AMAZON

📱 Amazon is making a smartphone again

Image source: Reve / The Rundown

The Rundown: Amazon is developing a new smartphone, reviving a category it abandoned after its first attempt, the Fire Phone, flopped more than a decade ago, Reuters reports.

The details:

• The device, codenamed “Transformer,” is designed to sync with Alexa and serve as an always-on conduit to Amazon’s services ecosystem.

• The project is reportedly led by a year-old internal group called ZeroOne, headed by J Allard, the former Microsoft exec behind the Zune and Xbox.

• The Fire Phone launched at $649, got reduced to $159, and was killed after 14 months, leaving Amazon with a $170M charge tied largely to unsold inventory.

• Apple and Samsung still own roughly 40% of global sales, and the market is heading for its worst year ever, with shipments expected to drop 13% in 2026.

Why it matters: Amazon is reportedly exploring both a full smartphone and a pared-down dumbphone — with the minimalist Light Phone as reference — suggesting it may be targeting the screen-time backlash as a way into a market Apple and Google have locked up. Either way, it’s a bet that Alexa can finally earn a place in your pocket.

TOGETHER WITH FIN

📅 Join a major Fin product announcement

The Rundown: Join a major product announcement for Fin, the #1 AI Agent for Customer Service, live from Paris. Hear from CPO Paul Adams on how Fin’s latest capabilities help deliver perfect customer experiences.

At the event, you’ll hear:

• How AI Agents help make perfect customer experiences possible

• Deep-dives into how Fin delivers best-in-class AI customer service.

• Real examples of success from companies like Glean.

RSVP now.

UBER & RIVIAN

🚖 Uber and Rivian team up to build 50K robotaxis

Image source: Rivian

The Rundown: Uber is making a $1.25B bet on California EV maker Rivian’s upcoming R2 as a robotaxi platform — a deal that could put up to 50K autonomous SUVs on its network by 2031.

The details:

• Uber is putting up to $1.25B into Rivian in a deal that ties the ride-hailing giant directly to the EV maker’s next-gen R2 platform.

• The first 10K vehicles are slated for San Francisco and Miami in 2028, with the service expanding to about 25 cities across the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

• The R2s autonomy hardware reportedly includes 11 cameras, five radars, one lidar, and Rivian’s in-house RAP1 chip capable of 1,600 TOPS of AI compute.

• Rivian has yet to begin R2 production; the robotaxi variant is slated to be built at the company’s Georgia factory, which is still under construction.

Why it matters: Uber has already partnered with some 25 autonomous vehicle companies, including Waymo and Zoox, but Rivian’s pitch is vertical integration: one company controlling the vehicle, compute, software, and U.S. manufacturing. The stakes are high: the R2 hasn’t rolled off a line, and the deal’s timeline runs to 2031.

TRANSASTRA

☄️ New startup to mine asteroids by bagging them 

Image source: TransAstra / YouTube

The Rundown: A NASA-backed Los Angeles startup thinks the best way to mine an asteroid is to put it in a giant bag. TransAstra is developing an inflatable bag designed to capture small near-Earth asteroids whole, with no landing or drilling required.

The details:

• The idea is to capture a small asteroid, stabilize it, and tow it into a safer orbit where it can be handled more like a resource depot.

• TransAstra says “bag it first” could avoid asteroid mining’s challenges, such as syncing with a rock’s motion and working on a spinning, irregular surface.

• TransAstra says it has already tested pieces of the system in microgravity on the ISS, enough to claim (very) early and partial proof-of-concept.

• An undisclosed customer is funding a feasibility study to capture and relocate a house-sized asteroid weighing around 100 metric tons, according to TransAstra.

Why it matters: Near-Earth asteroids are loaded with water and metals that could presumably fuel and supply deep-space missions — if anyone can actually get to them. TransAstra’s competitors include AstroForge, Karman+, Origin Space, and Asteroid Mining Corporation. The field is small, but the race is on.

BIOTECH

🧬 CRISPR could make cancer treatment a one-shot deal

Image source: Ruslanas Baranauskas / SPL

The Rundown: Researchers just used CRISPR to engineer cancer-fighting immune cells directly inside living mice, marking a major step toward replacing today’s slow, expensive CAR-T manufacturing process with a single injection.

The details:

• CAR-T therapy works by extracting a patient’s T cells, reprogramming and reinfusing them — a costly, time-consuming process that requires chemotherapy.

• Engineering T cells directly in the body would sidestep that process, enabling a single off-the-shelf therapy that could work for many patients.

• The research, published in Nature, is still in mice and remains a proof-of-concept, but points toward a more scalable route for CAR-T-style treatments.

• The researchers added extra safety layers because editing cells directly in the body raises the risk of hitting the wrong cells.

Why it matters: CAR-T therapy has produced remarkable results in blood cancers, but its complexity keeps it out of reach for many patients. Engineering those same cells inside the body — no lab, no chemo prep, and potentially one injection — could change that calculus. The study is still new, and significant hurdles remain before human trials.

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The U.S., Germany, and Canada disrupted four major botnets that infected more than 3M devices worldwide and were used for massive DDoS attacks.

Supermicro’s co-founder was charged with helping smuggle up to $2.5B worth of AI servers equipped with Nvidia GPUs to China.

Apple’s head of home hardware, Brian Lynch, is leaving to join Finnish smart ring maker Oura as its senior vice president of hardware engineering.

Meta launched Creator Fast Track, a 3-month program that pays eligible TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram creators to post on Facebook and grow its creator base.

HSBC is reportedly considering cutting up to 20K jobs over the next few years as it uses AI to reshape middle- and back-office operations.

Jeff Bezos’s space firm Blue Origin is now seeking permission to launch nearly 52K AI-capable satellites as part of a push to build data center infrastructure in space.

Meta is opening a flagship retail store, called Meta Lab, on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, after signing a 10-year lease for a five-story, 15K-square-foot building.

Google is adding a new “advanced flow” for sideloading apps from unverified Android developers, including a 24-hour waiting period as part of its broader verification push.

Amazon is rolling out one-hour and three-hour delivery options in the U.S. for more than 90K items.

Bluesky announced a $100M Series B funding round following the news that CEO Jay Graber stepped down.

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• Read our last Tech newsletter: China greenlights commercial brain implant

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. China has issued the world’s first commercial approval for an invasive brain-computer interface, marking a regulatory breakthrough that rivals Neuralink and Synchron have yet to reach.

The implant pairs a neural chip with a robotic glove, letting paralyzed patients grip objects by thought — and now, by prescription.

In today’s tech rundown:

• China approves world’s first commercial BCI

• Starcloud wants 88K AI satellites in orbit

• New blood test may predict how long you live

• Samsung kills its trifold after three months

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

BCI

🧠 China approves world’s first commercial BCI

Image source: Reve AI / The Rundown

The Rundown: China just approved the world’s first invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) for commercial use, letting Shanghai-based Neuracle Medical Technology bring its neural implant to market ahead of Neuralink and every other rival.

The details:

• The system pairs a brain implant with a robotic glove, enabling adults with spinal cord injuries to grip and hold objects via thought-driven signals.

• It’s narrowly targeted: designed for 18–60-year-olds with stable upper-limb paralysis who retain arm movement but can’t grasp.

• The coin-sized wireless implant sits on the surface of the brain’s outer membrane — above the tissue, not inside it, to reduce damage risk.

• Musk’s Neuralink and Synchron are still in trial or demo mode, while Musk says Neuralink will reach “high-volume production” this year.

Why it matters: China’s approval makes this the first invasive BCI cleared for commercial medical use, while rivals, including Neuralink and Synchron, remain in trials. Beijing designated BCI a national "future industry," weaving it into its economic planning, all while moving faster through regulatory channels than the FDA.

SPACE

🛰️ Starcloud wants 88K AI satellites in orbit

Image source: Starcloud

The Rundown: Nvidia-backed startup Starcloud filed plans to build a mega-constellation of 88K satellites designed to host AI workloads in space rather than expand the world’s already strained data center footprint.

The details:

• Starcloud has asked regulators to approve its “orbital data center,” a satellite network built around AI accelerators and cloud servers in space.

• The Redmond-based startup argues the setup could lower cooling costs, cut latency, and offer a credible alternative to land-based server farms.

• The filing drops Starcloud into direct competition with Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper for a finite slice of orbital real estate.

• A planned fleet of 88K spacecraft would dwarf today’s constellations; SpaceX’s Starlink, currently the world’s largest, has about 10K satellites in orbit.

Why it matters: The proposal lands as governments are still sorting out how much of the sky a single private operator can claim. It also puts a finer point on an ongoing debate — whether the promise of space-based AI is compelling enough to justify packing an already crowded, light-polluted orbit even further.

BIOTECH

🩸 New blood test may predict how long you live

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: A routine blood test may soon do more than flag high cholesterol — it may forecast who is likely to be alive two years from now, thanks to a newly identified RNA signal that outperforms traditional health markers in predicting short‑term survival.

The details:

• Duke researchers found that levels of six tiny RNA fragments (piRNAs) predict whether people over 70 survive the next two years with up to 86% accuracy.

• The team analyzed 828 small RNAs in blood plasma, alongside health indicators from medical records, assessments, and self-reported lifestyle data.

• People who lived longer consistently showed lower levels of the nine piRNAs linked to aging, with six of them forming the strongest survival predictor.

• In computer simulations, adjusting patients’ piRNA levels to optimal ranges pushed predicted two-year survival from roughly 47% to nearly 100%.

Why it matters: A blood test that forecasts short-term survival is still years from clinical use, but piRNAs represent a class of biomarkers standard panels have never captured. Up next, the research team is testing younger people and probing whether common drugs like metformin or GLP-1s can shift the signal.

SAMSUNG

💀 Samsung kills its trifold after three months

Image source: Samsung

The Rundown: Samsung is pulling the plug on its $2,899 Galaxy Z TriFold less than three months after launch, winding down the dual-hinged, 10-inch phone-tablet hybrid in Korea first, then the U.S. as remaining inventory clears.

The details:

• Released in tiny online drops that sold out in minutes, the TriFold functioned more as a proof-of-concept than a mainstream product, Samsung says.

• Samsung reportedly made little to no profit per unit, squeezed by high manufacturing costs and elevated prices for memory and storage components.

• Foldables remain a small fraction of the overall phone market, but one of the few segments still posting growth as traditional slab phones plateau.

• The exit hands Apple a clean opening: when its long-rumored foldable iPhone eventually arrives, it can position itself as the measured, refined alternative.

Why it matters: Samsung killing its TriFold is a reality check for luxury foldables, evidence that even the category’s dominant player can’t sustain a three-hinge gamble in a market this thin. With Huawei shipping more conventional foldables and Apple lining up its first folding iPhone, Samsung is retreating to safer, higher‑volume designs.

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📰 Everything else in tech today

Meta’s stock jumped about 3% after reports that the company is weighing layoffs of 20% or more of its roughly 79K employees to rein in soaring AI infrastructure costs.

Apple is buying longtime Final Cut Pro plug‑in maker MotionVFX in a bid to lock more video creators into its subscription ecosystem and fend off Adobe.

The Trump administration is reportedly set to collect an unprecedented $10B “transaction fee” from investors in the new U.S.-controlled TikTok.

Apple rolled out the AirPods Max 2, a $549 refresh of its over-ear headphones that adds an H2 chip with stronger noise cancellation, USB‑C, and live translation.

Dell Technologies disclosed in its latest annual report that its workforce fell about 10% as of January 2026, shrinking by roughly 11K jobs to around 97K employees.

Angel Protection debuted AI software at SXSW that scans existing security cameras for brandished firearms and delivers a human-verified alert to police in seconds.

More than 10 biotech firms, including AI-powered drug discovery platforms, have filed for Hong Kong IPOs this year.

Geely-backed Zeekr is targeting a 2026 South Korea launch with its premium EV lineup, turning Hyundai and Kia’s turf into the next frontline for China’s EV expansion.

New Peloton CEO Peter Stern, a former Apple exec, is steering the company toward GLP-1 weight-loss drug users and a cheaper, mass-market treadmill lineup.

Amazon is hiking the price of its ad-free Prime Video add‑on in the U.S. from $2.99 to $4.99 a month starting April 10, rebranding the tier as “Prime Video Ultra.”

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Apple is preparing to fold the iPhone — whether or not anyone asked for it. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the device will open into an iPad mini–sized screen and pair luxe hardware with a sleeker design meant to make foldables feel stylish.

If it lands, it could amount to Apple’s most significant iPhone redesign in years — but is that enough to make you part with a fresh $2K?

In today’s tech rundown:

• Apple’s foldable iPhone is basically a tiny iPad

• Rivian delays its ‘Tesla killer’ electric SUV

• Zoom debuts ‘digital twin’ AI avatars

• Anduril ups its space game with ExoAnalytic buy

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

APPLE

🍎 Apple’s foldable iPhone is basically a tiny iPad

Image source: Apple (iPad mini)

The Rundown: Apple’s first foldable iPhone will unfold into a near-iPad mini footprint and run a revamped iOS with split-screen multitasking — the most significant rethink of the iPhone's form and interface in years, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

The details:

• Bloomberg reports that the foldable will open to a 7.8 in. inner display about the size of an iPad mini, with a smaller outer screen closer to a compact iPhone.

• The device will run a tweaked iOS that adds iPad‑style multitasking, including side‑by‑side apps and redesigned layouts for key first‑party apps.

• Gurman says Apple is building a tougher hinge and a “market‑leading” barely‑there crease to outperform Samsung and Google foldables.

• Expect pricing north of $2K; Apple is positioning the iPhone Fold as an ultra-premium, early-adopter product that sits even above the Pro line.

Why it matters: Apple’s foldable iPhone is Apple’s first shot at an ultra‑luxury phone, engineered to outclass rivals on hardware and software in one move. CAD-based leaks point to a wider book-style chassis and dual-camera bump, marking the first real silhouette shift for iPhone hardware in years.

RIVIAN

🚙 Rivian delays its ‘Tesla killer’ electric SUV

Image source: Rivian

The Rundown: EV startup Rivian is pushing back the much-hyped $45K electric R2 SUV until late 2027, choosing to launch a pricier Performance trim first — a margin play that leaves the mass market wide open for rivals.

The details:

• The base R2 Standard, with rear-wheel drive and a projected 275-mile range, slips to late 2027, now starting at $46,495.

• The R2 Performance launches this year at $57,990 — nearly $12K more than the entry model it’s replacing in the queue.

• Rivian is targeting up to 25K R2s on the road by the end of 2026, betting that early adopters will tolerate higher prices to keep the fledgling automaker afloat.

• To cut costs, Rivian is redesigning its stack, bringing more hardware in-house, and absorbing the blow from lost EV tax credits and new import tariffs.

Why it matters: Every month the $46K R2 sits in waiting, Tesla’s Model Y and Chevy’s Equinox EV can solidify their grip on the midrange SUV buyer Rivian is courting. The cash logic is sound — launch high-margin hardware first, fund the cheaper model later — but Rivian still hasn’t proved it can build a mass-market EV on time and on budget.

ZOOM

👯‍♂️ Zoom debuts ‘digital twin’ AI avatars

Image source: Zoom

The Rundown: Zoom is launching an AI-powered productivity suite that embeds generative tools across email, documents, chat, and meetings — and it’s building AI avatars that can show up to calls in your place.

The details:

• With the new AI suite, users can summarize calls, draft follow-ups, and pull content automatically from transcripts and shared files.

• The company is developing customizable AI avatars that can join meetings on behalf of users, engage in conversation, and produce a summary afterward.

• Avatars can mirror your face, expressions, and facial movements to stand in for you in meetings and async video messages when you’re not camera‑ready.

Why it matters: Zoom wants to claw back relevance from Microsoft and Google by turning its video app into a full AI‑first workplace suite, not just a place you drop in for meetings. Its photorealistic avatars could push beyond the more limited avatars in Teams and Meet today — useful for overbooked workers, if your boss is okay with it.

ANDURIL

🛰️ Anduril ups its space game with ExoAnalytic buy

Image source: Anduril

The Rundown: Anduril, Palmer Luckey’s defense startup best known for autonomous drones and AI weapons systems, just snapped up boutique space-surveillance firm ExoAnalytic Solutions, instantly doubling the size of its space unit.

The details:

• The deal brings in a global network of hundreds of ground telescopes that track satellites and missiles, plus more than a hundred space‑domain experts.

• Live orbital data will feed into Lattice, Anduril’s AI battle‑management platform, tightening the loop between what happens in space and how militaries respond.

• Luckey is steering Anduril toward becoming a key space‑intel supplier for the Pentagon, a software‑first rival to legacy contractors’ satellite fleets.

• Anduril, eyeing a $60.5B valuation, is also in the process of raising a $4B round from investors Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.

Why it matters: Anduril’s ExoAnalytic buy gives it a ready‑made space “sensor layer” — 400 telescopes, a hundred-plus specialists, and proven tracking software wired into its space‑defense stack. That lets Anduril sell the Pentagon not just drones, but a full chain from spotting satellites in orbit to steering interceptors at incoming threats.

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Atlassian, the Australian software group, is cutting about 10% of its staff as it restructures to address the competitive threat from generative AI.

Apple is cutting its App Store commission in China from 30% to 25%, a rare concession aimed at easing mounting pressure from local regulators.

YouTube reportedly generated more U.S. ad revenue in 2025 than Disney, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s TV networks combined.

Italian prosecutors asked a court to put Amazon and four current and former executives on trial over alleged tax evasion of about €14B ($16.1B) in Italy.

Substack is adding a built-in recording studio so writers can record, edit, and publish podcasts directly from its platform instead of relying on external audio tools.

Uber is rolling out an invite-only chauffeur service that offers high-end cars, professional drivers, and perks like free phone chargers for top-spending riders.

Honda scrapped its planned upcoming EVs — Honda 0 SUV, 0 Saloon, and electric Acura RSX — for the U.S. market, citing tariffs and slowing EV demand.

Amazon, responding to recent outages blamed on AI-written code, will now require senior engineers to sign off on any AI-assisted software changes before they go live.

The Marine Corps is testing a new full‑body “thermal cloak” over‑garment designed to hide Marines from drones and other sensors by masking their heat signature.

Tinder is rolling out in‑person events and virtual speed‑dating features to pull lapsed users back into its app and make swiping feel more like real‑world dating.

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. This summer, electric air taxis from startups like Archer, Joby, and Beta will hit the skies in federally backed trials, shuttling passengers and cargo across 26 states.

The results could show whether urban air mobility is finally ready for liftoff, or still years away from escaping the hype cycle.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Electric air taxis to take flight in 26 states

• Apple preps high-end ‘Ultra’ line

• Bluesky CEO Jay Graber steps down

• Palmer Luckey’s gaming startup seeks $1B valuation

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

EVTOL

🚀 Electric air taxis to take flight in 26 states

Image source: Beta Technologies

The Rundown: This summer, Americans in 26 states will get their first taste of “flying cars,” as federally backed pilot programs send electric air taxis from startups like Archer, Joby, and Beta skimming over city traffic under tightly controlled FAA trials.

The details:

• Startups including Archer, Joby, Beta, Wisk, Electra, and Reliable Robotics will run passenger, cargo, and emergency flights with state and local partners.

• The three-year program, created by a Trump executive order, lets these aircraft operate under tight supervision before full FAA type certification.

• Officials say the aircraft will be quieter, cleaner, and ultimately cheaper than helicopters, and aimed at cutting congestion and linking smaller cities.

• Beta CEO Kyle Clark said the program will let Beta start flying a year early; its shares jumped nearly 12% Monday, with Archer and Joby stock rising too.

Why it matters: Partnering with state and local governments, flying car startups get a chance to gather real‑world data across dozens of operation scenarios, from Manhattan heliports to routes over the Gulf Coast, access that could boost stock prices and validate their business models — or reveal just how far the tech still has to go.

APPLE

🍎 Apple preps high-end ‘Ultra’ line

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Apple is reportedly getting ready to seriously crank up the luxury dial, prepping a $2,000‑ish foldable iPhone, a touchscreen MacBook Pro, and camera‑toting, AI‑smartened AirPods aimed squarely at the ultra‑high‑end crowd.

The details:

• Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that at least three ‘Ultra’-tier devices are in the pipeline for 2026, including a foldable iPhone with a large inner display.

• The Ultra tier is built around a $2,000‑class foldable iPhone that sits well above today’s Pro models, as well as a higher-priced MacBook Pro.

• Apple is also said to be working on new AirPods with built‑in computer‑vision cameras that can feed visual “intelligence” straight into Siri

• The new MacBook is expected to pair the first touchscreen ever on a Mac with an OLED panel, at a price beyond today’s M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro.

Why it matters: The budget MacBook Neo may have grabbed headlines, but Gurman says Apple’s real play this year is at the other end of the price spectrum. A foldable iPhone, AI-camera AirPods, and a touchscreen OLED MacBook are all expected before year’s end — and none of them will be cheap.

BLUESKY

🪜 Bluesky CEO Jay Graber steps down

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

The Rundown: Bluesky CEO Jay Graber is stepping down to hand longtime tech operator Toni Schneider the reins — just as the Jack Dorsey-founded Twitter alternative finally hits its stride at 40M users, and its first real growing pains.

The details:

• Venture capitalist and ex-Automattic CEO Toni Schneider is taking over as interim CEO while Bluesky’s board searches for a permanent replacement.

• Graber says Bluesky has matured to the point where it needs a seasoned operator focused on scaling and execution.

• Bluesky has grown into a decentralized social network with more than 40M users and an ecosystem of over 500 third-party apps.

• The shake-up lands as Bluesky runs into new state age‑verification rules, forcing it to cut off Mississippi and start checking users’ ages in other states.

Why it matters: Graber became CEO of Bluesky in 2021, as it spun off from Twitter into its own company. As she shifts back toward Bluesky’s underlying AT Protocol — the open social framework she has worked on since the project’s early days —Schneider will have to face a growing wave of age-assurance regulation.

PALMER LUCKEY

🕹️ Palmer Luckey’s gaming startup seeks $1B valuation

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

The Rundown: Palmer Luckey, the Oculus co-founder turned defense-tech billionaire, is now reportedly chasing a $1B valuation for his retro gaming startup ModRetro, betting that there’s serious money in high-end nostalgia hardware.

The details:

• ModRetro’s Chromatic is a handheld built in the mold of the original Game Boy, with support for original GB and GBC cartridges. Price starts at $199.99.

• Luckey has described the Chromatic as the product of “hundreds of irrational decisions” intended to create a worthy tribute to the original Game Boy.

• The Financial Times reports ModRetro is already developing additional hardware, including a device meant to replicate the Nintendo 64.

• Luckey’s defense startup Anduril, whose autonomous weapons vision has been embraced by Trump, is also seeking a new funding round at a $60B valuation.

Why it matters: Luckey is testing whether premium nostalgia gadgets can earn a unicorn valuation in a handheld market already crowded with Analogue, Anbernic, AyaNeo, and a dozen retro rivals. The same engineer perfecting Game Boy clones is also racing firms like Palantir and Shield AI to automate warfare.

QUICK HITS

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Meta AI chief Yann LeCun’s new startup, AMI, raised about $1B to build world-model systems that understand and reason about the physical world.

Apple reportedly delayed the launch of its long‑planned J490 smart home display because the overhauled Siri and on‑device AI assistant are still not ready.

AT&T said it plans to pour more than $250B into U.S. network infrastructure over the next five years.

Lightspeed Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz are backing Nexthop AI, a fast-growing AI data center supplier now valued at about $4.2B.

Uber is rolling out its “Women Drivers” feature nationwide in the U.S., allowing women and teens to request female drivers, expanding a safety-focused pilot.

XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis is offering $3.5M for upbeat sci‑fi films that cast AI as the hero, not the villain.

Apple now produces 25% of all iPhones in India — around 55M units produced in 2025 — as it accelerates a shift away from China to dodge US tariffs.

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi is reportedly exploring vehicle-integrated solar tech to add photovoltaic panels to future EVs and extend their driving range.

Samsung told CNBC that its first AI smart glasses, featuring an eye-level camera that connects to a smartphone for AI processing, are planned for launch later this year.

Startup Cortical Labs is building test data centers in Melbourne and Singapore that swap server racks for “biocomputers” made from lab‑grown human brain cells.

OSHA is investigating the death of a 61-year-old contractor who was fatally pinned between a tractor-trailer and a loading dock at a Rivian warehouse in Illinois.

Bezos-backed EV startup Slate Auto replaced CEO Christine Barman with ex-Amazon VP Peter Faricy, just months before the launch of its first electric truck.

Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund is reportedly close to closing its fourth growth fund with about $6B in commitments.

Nintendo is suing the U.S. government to claw back Trump-era import tariffs that courts have ruled unlawful.

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• Read our last Tech newsletter: Meta sued over Ray-Ban privacy

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses are at the center of a nightmarish privacy lawsuit: a proposed U.S. class action alleges the company let human reviewers access users’ intimate recordings, despite marketing that suggested stronger protections.

The case is raising a simple, unsettling question for smart-glasses users: when the camera is on, who might really be watching?

In today’s tech rundown:

• Meta’s AI glasses hit with privacy suit

• Apple’s $599 MacBook for Chromebook crowd

• Oura acquires gesture-recognition startup

• Science Corp nabs $230M for brain implant

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

META

👓 Meta’s AI glasses hit with privacy suit

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Meta is facing a proposed U.S. class-action lawsuit alleging that its Ray-Ban Meta AI smart glasses secretly routed intimate user videos to low-paid human reviewers, violating the company’s own privacy promises.

The details:

• A proposed U.S. class-action lawsuit accuses Meta and Luxottica of misleading buyers about the privacy protections of Ray-Ban smart glasses.

• Plaintiffs say Meta failed to disclose that contractors and employees could view user recordings, including nudity, sex acts, and people using the bathroom.

• The case follows reports that low-paid reviewers in Kenya were required to watch and label intimate clips as part of Meta’s safety and AI-training pipeline.

• Regulators, including authorities in the U.K., are also probing whether Meta’s data practices for the glasses meet transparency and consent standards.

Why it matters: The complaint says Meta misled customers about this human-review pipeline and put millions at risk of stalking, extortion, and identity theft, while Meta counters that contractors review shared Meta AI content to improve the glasses’ user experience and that this human involvement is disclosed in its policy fine print.

APPLE

🍏 Apple’s $599 MacBook for the Chromebook crowd

Image source: Apple

The Rundown: Apple launched a $599, iPhone-chip-powered MacBook Neo that brings bright colors and bargain pricing to directly challenge low-cost Windows laptops and Chromebooks. It’s set to hit stores on March 11.

The details:

• The Neo uses an iPhone‑class A‑series chip paired with up to 16GB of unified memory and fast NVMe storage, aiming for all‑day battery life.

• Apple is offering the Neo in multiple bright colors, visually positioning it closer to iPads and older plastic MacBooks than its current pro-focused lineup.

• The machine targets students and first-time buyers who currently gravitate toward Chromebooks and cheaper Windows laptops.

• By undercutting traditional MacBook prices, Apple is moving aggressively into a segment long dominated by PC OEMs and Google’s education partners.

Why it matters: Apple is putting real pressure on bargain Windows laptops and Chromebooks with a $599 MacBook that still feels like a “real” Mac. By pairing an iPhone-class chip with a colorful, fanless design and long battery life, the MacBook Neo aims to hook first-time buyers without undercutting its pricier line.

OURA

👊🏼 Oura acquires gesture-recognition startup

Image source: Oura

The Rundown: Smart ring maker Oura just acquired Helsinki-based gesture-recognition startup Doublepoint to fuse voice and micro‑hand movements into its rings, turning the health tracker into a discreet control hub for next‑gen wearable AI.

The details:

• The deal is designed to layer gesture recognition and voice controls on top of Oura’s continuous health sensing to trigger features without screens.

• All of Doublepoint’s team, including its four co-founders, will join Oura, forming a new hub for interaction design inside the Finnish wearable company.

• Oura, valued at $11B, has sold more than 5.5M rings and expects sales to top $1.5B in 2026 as smart ring shipments jumped about 51% last year.

• This is Oura’s fourth recent acquisition, following Sparta Science, Veri, and Proxy, each adding a new layer to what was primarily a sleep tracker.

Why it matters: Oura CEO Tom Hale said gesture controls, paired with voice inputs, could become central to future versions of the ring, though meaningful implementation isn’t happening right away. Still, the acquisition helps Oura defend its smart ring lead in the category, as wearables start moving toward a post-screen interaction model.

SCIENCE CORPORATION

🧠 Science Corp nabs $230M for brain implant

Image source: Science Corp (PRIMA retinal implant)

The Rundown: Neuralink co-founder Max Hodak’s neurotech startup Science Corporation closed a $230M Series C, valuing the company at roughly $1.5B and putting serious fuel behind its bid to restore sight to patients blinded by retinal disease.

The details:

• The funds will accelerate clinical trials and regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Europe for PRIMA, a subretinal chip paired with camera-equipped glasses.

• In early trials with 47 patients, PRIMA has helped people with advanced macular degeneration recognize letters, numbers, and short words.

• Science Corp. is seeking a CE mark in the EU, aiming for mid‑2026 approval with Germany as its first launch market, while it continues talks with the FDA.

Why it matters: Science Corporation’s side projects — from cortical interfaces to organ-preservation tech — show it’s thinking beyond implants to a neurotech platform. That puts it in more direct competition with Neuralink and Precision Neuroscience, which are also racing to own the hardware layer between brains and machines.

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📰 Everything else in tech today

Oracle is reportedly preparing to cut thousands of jobs as it grapples with a cash crunch caused by massive spending on AI data centers and related infrastructure.

A global Amazon outage left tens of thousands of shoppers facing failed payments and checkout glitches, with Downdetector logging around 20K problem reports.

Online retailer Quince is reportedly in talks with investors to raise a new funding round that would more than double its valuation to above $10B.

Microsoft confirmed that its next-gen Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, is a high-performance console that will run both Xbox and PC games.

U.S. defense tech firm Anduril is raising a multibillion-dollar round that could double last year’s $30B valuation to about $60B. 

Researchers built a stable, ultra-bright 300-nanometer OLED pixel using a nano-antenna, enabling full HD displays small enough to fit on a grain of sand.

London-based smartphone maker Nothing launched new phones and headphones in bright colors to counter what its founder calls a “boring” tech market.

Whoop, the maker of connected fitness bands, plans to increase its workforce by about 75% in 2026 by hiring more than 600 people to fuel growth ahead of a likely IPO.

Cluely co-founder and CEO Roy Lee admitted on X that the $7M annual recurring revenue figure he gave TechCrunch last summer was a deliberate lie.

BYD unveiled its Blade Battery 2.0 pack, which can fully charge in just about 10 minutes but only when paired with its new 1.5-megawatt Flash Charging stations.

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Apple’s entry-level iPhone just leveled up, without a price hike.

The iPhone 17e starts at $599 with flagship-grade A19 power, 256GB standard, and MagSafe back on the menu. And with Apple Intelligence built in, it’s the cheapest ticket into the Cupertino giant’s on-device AI push — resetting what “entry-level” even means.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Apple unveils iPhone 17e at $599

• MWC 2026’s wild new hardware

• Ultrahuman’s smart ring eyes U.S. return

• App that warns about nearby smart glasses

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

APPLE

🍎 Apple unveils iPhone 17e at $599

Image source: Apple

The Rundown: Apple’s iPhone 17e is here, and $599 buys more than it used to. The new model, with preorders open on March 4, packs the A19 chip, doubles storage to 256GB, restores MagSafe, and ships with Apple Intelligence built in.

The details:

• The phone restores MagSafe and adds Qi2, boosting wireless charging to 15W, and comes in white, black, and a soft pink color (similar to that of iPhone 15).

• A new 48MP main camera delivers 2x optical‑quality zoom, improved low‑light performance, and Dolby Vision 4K/60 video capture.

• Apple bakes in its on‑device Apple Intelligence suite, enabling features like smarter photo cleanup, call screening, and translation.

• It is also rolling out a refreshed iPad Air alongside the 17e, a modest update built around Apple Intelligence with newer silicon and a longer support window.

Why it matters: Apple is turning its entry phone into the default Apple Intelligence device, pushing flagship‑class silicon, more storage, and modern charging down to $599. That raises the floor for what a midrange phone — and even Apple’s entry‑level iPad — has to deliver, and puts real pressure on Android makers.

MWC

🕹️ MWC 2026’s wild new hardware

Image source: Lenovo / Reve

The Rundown: At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Lenovo’s foldable gaming handheld and Honor’s new Robot Phone showed how hardware makers are betting on new form factors to stand out in a saturated market.

The details:

• Lenovo unveiled the Legion Go Fold, a Windows-based gaming handheld whose foldable 7.7‑inch display can expand into an 11.6‑inch screen.

• Honor debuted its so-called Robot Phone, built around a motorized pop-out gimbal camera that tracks subjects and swivels like a tiny head.

• Xiaomi dropped the 17 Ultra, a Leica-co-engineered triple-camera flagship loaded with oversized sensors and on-device AI processing.

• The show’s wilder fringe included Tecno's magnetically modular ultra-thin concept and bendy phones designed to curl around your wrist.

Why it matters: The mobile industry has a complacency problem: upgrade cycles are slow, and spec bumps aren’t inspiring purchases. MWC’s answer is to make the hardware fun again, and the real story out of Barcelona isn’t any single device but a shared bet that AI‑native form factors are the best shot at boosting demand.

ULTRAHUMAN

👀 Ultrahuman’s smart ring eyes U.S. return

Image source: Ultrahuman

The Rundown: Ultrahuman is betting a redesigned, AI-powered smart ring can claw back the U.S. market — months after a bruising patent battle with Oura got its previous hardware blocked at the border.

The details:

• Priced at $479, the Ring Pro extends battery life to 15 days, pairs a redesigned sensor array with a dual-core processor, and can store 250 days of data.

• The ring ships with a Pro Charger packing 45 days of reserve power and supports Qi wireless charging — a first for the lineup.

• Ultrahuman is seeking U.S. Customs clearance after an ITC patent ruling halted imports, cutting off roughly 45% of its 700K daily active users.

• The company has also launched Jade, a real-time “biointelligence” engine that converts raw biometric data into actionable health guidance.

Why it matters: Smart rings are the sharpest testbed for AI-first wearables, and Ultrahuman is fighting to stay relevant as Oura and Samsung tighten their grip on the U.S market. With the Ring Pro still in regulatory limbo, the company is betting that new hardware and Jade’s real-time coaching will be enough to stand out.

SMART GLASSES

👓 App that warns about nearby smart glasses

Image source: Nearby Glasses

The Rundown: A new Android app called Nearby Glasses scans Bluetooth signals to flag camera-equipped smart glasses nearby — a direct counterpunch to the creeping normalization of what critics are calling “luxury surveillance.”

The details:

• Nearby Glasses scans ambient Bluetooth signals and alerts users when someone in range is wearing camera-equipped smart glasses.

• The app identifies manufacturer-specific Bluetooth signatures from devices, including Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses and Snap’s Spectacles.

• Creator Yves Jeanrenaud, a sociologist, built the app after researching how smart glasses were used in immigration raids and to harass sex workers.

• He told TechCrunch the app is an “act of resistance” against consentless ambient recording and is considering an iOS version.

Why it matters: Smart glasses don’t just record as phones do — they make recording invisible, collapsing the social cues that let people notice, object, or step away, and right now, there’s no legal framework requiring them to announce themselves. As surveillance tech gets sleeker, we’re likely to see more counter-tools like this app.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

SoftBank-backed PayPay reportedly delayed its roughly $10B U.S. IPO amid weakening tech markets and rising geopolitical tensions.

Anthropic’s Claude surged to the No. 1 spot on Apple’s iPhone apps chart in the U.S., riding a wave of publicity after the Pentagon sidelined it from government AI work.

Paramount+ and HBO Max will be combined into a single streaming service once Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closes.

Instagram will soon notify parents who use its supervision tools when their teens repeatedly search for terms related to suicide or self-harm.

Elon Musk’s xAI is redeeming $3B in high-yield bonds at a premium as part of a plan to wipe out about $17.5B in debt tied to xAI and X, ahead of a blockbuster SpaceX IPO.

A U.S. federal court blocked Virginia’s law that would have limited under-16s to one hour a day on social media and required platforms to verify users’ ages.

GSK agreed to buy Canadian biotech 35Pharma for $950M in cash to bolster its pipeline of cardiopulmonary and obesity-related drugs.

MyFitnessPal snapped up Cal AI, the viral teen-built calorie-counting app with over 15M downloads and around $30M in annual revenue.

Chinese AI startup MiniMax more than doubled revenue to $79M in 2025, driven largely by overseas demand for its generative AI models and apps.

Amazon says three of its data centers in the Middle East were damaged by drone strikes tied to the escalating U.S.-Iran conflict, disrupting key AWS cloud services.

Xiaomi launched its new flagship 17 and 17 Ultra smartphones globally, keeping prices flat at $1,079 and $1,619 despite a surge in memory chip costs.

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Netflix just blinked, walking away from its $82.7B bid for Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and streaming crown.

Now Paramount Skydance — bankrolled by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison and run by his son David — wants the whole empire, from HBO Max to CNN. But is handing one family that much media control something regulators can stomach?

In today’s tech rundown:

• Netflix walks away from Warner Bros. deal

• Jack Dorsey replaces Block employees with AI

• Sam Altman’s eyeball scanner nabs Gap deal

• China ready as NASA kills hunt for Martian life

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

NETFLIX

🎬 Netflix walks away from Warner Bros. deal

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Netflix just walked away from its $82.7B deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets, ceding the fight to Paramount Skydance, whose $111B offer for the entire company could reshape the media landscape.

The details:

• Netflix declined to counter Paramount Skydance’s raised bid of $31 per share, calling the new price “no longer financially attractive.”

• Paramount, backed by Larry Ellison’s fortune, aims to absorb the WBD studios, HBO Max, CNN, TBS, TNT, HGTV, and Turner Classic Movies.

• Paramount Skydance agreed to cover the $2.8B termination fee that WBD would owe Netflix if WBD ends Netflix’s deal in favor of Paramount.

• Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos reportedly spent Thursday meeting with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and AG Pam Bondi before pulling the plug.

Why it matters: The deal would hand one family — Oracle founder and Trump ally Ellison and his son David — control over two major Hollywood studios and a sprawling national news footprint. Critics warn that’s exactly the kind of consolidation that can alter the culture pipeline, and antitrust alarms are already ringing.

BLOCK

🪓 Jack Dorsey replaces Block employees with AI

Image source: Block / Reve

The Rundown: Jack Dorsey is slashing nearly half of Block’s workforce — more than 4K jobs — and replacing them with AI tools, a move that sent the payment giant’s stock soaring more than 20% in after-hours trading.

The details:

• Dorsey says the move is driven by AI “intelligence tools” that let smaller, flatter teams run Block’s payments and Cash App businesses.

• Internally, Block has rolled out its Goose AI agent, which execs say saves workers 8–10 hours a week and eliminates 20–25% of manual work.

• The layoffs land alongside strong Q4 numbers: revenue of about $6.25B, gross profit up 24% year over year, and guidance that tops Wall Street’s forecasts.

• Dorsey is also offering a warning: most companies will reach the same conclusion this year as automation starts absorbing more white-collar work.

Why it matters: Dorsey just demonstrated that aggressive AI-driven headcount cuts can be sold to investors as a growth story, not a crisis, with shares jumping more than 20% on the news of more than 4K layoffs. If the market keeps rewarding the math, other CEOs might not need much convincing.

TOOLS FOR HUMANITY

👁️ Sam Altman’s eyeball scanner nabs Gap deal

Image source: Tools for Humanity

The Rundown: Sam Altman’s biometric startup, Tools for Humanity, is expanding where its World ID system can be used, including deals with Gap, Visa, and Tinder, as it tests whether its iris-scanning ID checks can fit into everyday consumer services.

The details:

• A Gap store in San Francisco now hosts one of the company’s Orbs, a volleyball-sized biometric scanner that captures iris data on the spot.

• Visa and Match Group want World ID to underpin payments and dating, from a World‑branded Visa card to Tinder verification trials in Japan.

• The project has signed up tens of millions of users globally, with roughly 18M verified humans, but adoption in North America remains relatively small.

Why it matters: Tools for Humanity has drawn regulatory heat for incentivizing signups with its WLD crypto, and critics warn that if World IDs go mainstream, they could be targets for theft in ways users can’t easily undo, since you can’t change your iris. Still, in the quest to verify “real humans,” big brands seem willing to experiment.

NASA

👽 China ready as NASA kills hunt for Martian life

Image source: NASA / Perseverance Rover

The Rundown: After years of cost overruns, political battles, and failed redesigns, Congress has effectively killed NASA’s Mars Sample Return program — leaving dozens of carefully drilled rock cores stranded on the Red Planet with no plan to retrieve them.

The details:

• MIT Tech Review reports that Perseverance spent years collecting samples from an ancient Martian lakebed — with no current funded plan to retrieve them.

• The mission’s budget swelled toward roughly $11B, provoking years of political backlash and, ultimately, cancellation despite attempts to slim it down.

• China’s Tianwen-3 is now positioned to become the first mission to return Martian material to Earth, targeting a 2028 launch.

• Tianwen-3 is targeting a “grab-and-go” surface collection that would deliver at least 500 grams of rock and soil by 2031.

Why it matters: Tianwen-3’s samples may lack Perseverance’s surgical precision, but the science would still be transformative — and whoever returns the first rocks from Mars writes the history books. If those rocks carry biosignatures, Beijing gets first crack at the most consequential discovery in human history.

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Google struck a roughly $1B deal with Form Energy to install a 300‑megawatt, 30‑gigawatt‑hour iron‑air battery capable of delivering power for 100 hours.

Ford is recalling 4.3M U.S. vehicles to fix a software bug that can disable trailer lights and brakes, with most vehicles getting the repair via an over‑the‑air update.

Oura rolled out its first proprietary AI model for women’s health, using clinician-vetted data to power personalized guidance in its Oura Advisor feature.

eBay is laying off about 800 people — roughly 6% of its global staff — as the e-commerce veteran looks to reinvest in its operating model needs.

A new study finds that Americans now spend slightly more of their listening time on podcasts (40%) than on AM/FM talk radio (39%).

UCLA researchers used CRISPR to delete a “brake” gene in human natural killer cells, boosting their survival and tumor-killing power against solid tumors in mice.

A Harvard-led study finds many employees value remote flexibility so much that they’d give up a quarter of their pay rather than return to fully in‑office work.

Self-driving truck startup Einride raised an oversubscribed $113M PIPE (private investment in public equity) financing to back its SPAC merger and NYSE debut.

Poland is drafting a law that would ban social media for children under 15 and fine platforms that fail to verify users’ ages, setting up a potential clash with U.S. tech firms.

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• Read our last Tech newsletter: Apple goes big on ‘Made in America’

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• Today’s AI tool guide: Create an AI Assistant with its own phone number

• RSVP to our next workshop on March 12: AI Coding Bootcamp pt. 1

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Apple is bringing Mac Mini production to America, to a Foxconn-run Houston line that will handle U.S.-bound units currently made in China and Vietnam.

It’s a sleek little desktop with a big new job: dodge tariffs and blunt geopolitical risk, with the news perfectly timed with Trump’s State of the Union address.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Apple’s ‘Made in America’ plan for Mac Mini

• NASA delayed its moon mission again

• Uber just got into the parking business

• Amazon pumps $12B into data centers

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

APPLE

🍏 Apple’s ‘Made in America’ plan for Mac Mini

Image source: Apple

The Rundown: Apple is bringing Mac Mini production — its lower-volume compact desktop computer — to a Foxconn-run factory in Houston, in a move to shield its hardware supply chain from tariffs and geopolitical risk.

The details:

• Apple is converting a roughly 220K square feet of warehouse space at its existing Houston AI server campus into a dedicated Mac Mini production line.

• The facility will serve U.S. customers exclusively, while factories in China and Vietnam will continue to supply to the rest of the world.

• Apple is positioning the campus as a training ground for advanced domestic manufacturing, building a skilled local workforce to its own exacting standards.

• The move is both a geopolitical hedge and a down payment on Apple’s pledge to invest hundreds of billions in U.S. operations.

Why it matters: By adding a Houston line alongside its China and Vietnam network, Apple gets tariff insulation, supply-chain redundancy, and a clean made-in-America headline — without blowing up the manufacturing machine it’s spent decades tuning. It also isn’t Apple’s first U.S.-built Mac: the Mac Pro has long been assembled in Texas.

NASA

🚀 NASA delayed its moon mission again

Image source: NASA

The Rundown: NASA’s first crewed Artemis flight has slipped again after engineers discovered a problem with helium flowing into the upper stage of the Space Launch System rocket, forcing the agency to abandon a hoped‑for early‑March launch window.

The details:

• The 322‑foot rocket will be rolled off Launch Pad 39B and back into the VAB so technicians can access and repair valves, filters, and plumbing.

• This latest snag comes on top of earlier work to address Orion heat‑shield char issues, hydrogen leaks, and life‑support fixes.

• NASA now says the mission will not fly before April 2026, slipping from a tentative early‑March target and adding more uncertainty to the timeline.

• Artemis II is the program’s first crewed flight, sending four astronauts on a lunar flyby before Artemis III attempts the first Moon landing in 2028.

Why it matters: Artemis II is the first test for eventually landing crews at the Moon’s south pole, and NASA’s 2028 target hinges on proving the whole stack actually works. With doubts hanging over nearly every piece, this flight — and NASA’s reported upcoming briefing — will show whether the Artemis timeline is still remotely realistic.

UBER

🚘 Uber just got into the parking business

Image source: Uber

The Rundown: Uber is acquiring parking-reservation startup SpotHero, folding more than 13K North American garages and lots directly into its app as it aims to pull more commuters and travelers into its ecosystem.

The details:

• The deal gives Uber access to more than 13K parking locations across 400 U.S. and Canadian cities, spanning garages and surface lots.

• Users will be able to reserve and pay for parking inside the Uber app alongside ride-hailing and food delivery — no separate app required.

• Uber says the move is a way to grow its customer base and capture more of the door-to-door journey for drivers and riders.

• The acquisition continues Uber’s push beyond rides into a broader “everything transportation” platform spanning cars, micromobility, and now parking.

Why it matters: Uber is using SpotHero to turn parking into another on-ramp to its ecosystem, capturing more of the door-to-door journey instead of just the ride in between. The move sharpens its move against rivals like Lyft and mobility super-apps abroad like Didi and Gojek, bundling driving, parking, and trips in one place.

AMAZON

💰 Amazon pumps $12B into data centers

Image source: Amazon

The Rundown: While investors push against runaway AI spending, Amazon is plowing ahead with a $12B plan to build new data centers in Louisiana, betting that hyperscale infrastructure will matter more than short-term market jitters.

The details:

• The project is part of a broader capital spending plan that could reach roughly $200B in 2026 as Amazon doubles down on AI and cloud infrastructure.

• State officials say the investment will create hundreds of permanent jobs and thousands of construction roles over the next decade.

• The Louisiana buildout will add a major new load to the regional power grid, intensifying debates over energy use, emissions, and environmental impacts.

• The news lands as Wall Street questions whether big tech’s AI capex spree is overextended and whether data-center growth can keep delivering returns.

Why it matters: The buildout, part of a $200B 2026 capex blitz, will drop power-hungry AI and cloud campuses into Louisiana’s Caddo and Bossier parishes, adding jobs while deepening AWS’s grip on the Gulf South grid just as regulators and locals question how many more server farms the climate can take.

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Tesla sued the California DMV to overturn a ruling that it falsely advertised its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced retirement from Microsoft after nearly four decades, with AI executive Asha Sharma taking over as the CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

X is reportedly testing a “Made with AI” label that users can add to posts with AI-generated content, as regulators push for clearer AI disclosure.

An ex-Apple team launched Acme Weather, an iOS app that surfaces multiple forecast scenarios and playful alerts like rainbow notifications.

Eli Lilly launched a new FDA-approved multi‑dose KwikPen version of its obesity drug Zepbound, delivering a full month of once‑weekly injections in a single device.

China is reportedly turning brain-computer interfaces into its next strategic industry, pouring state money and fast-track approvals into Neuralink-rivaling startups.

Lamborghini scrapped its long-planned electric car, the Lanzador, after CEO Stephan Winkelmann said demand for a battery-only Lambo is “close to zero.”

Amazon opened a 1.1M‑square‑foot, 12‑story campus in north Bengaluru — its second-largest office in Asia — designed to house more than 7K employees.

University of Maryland researchers built “Fartbit,” a wearable hydrogen sensor dubbed a Fitbit for farts, to log people’s gas emissions for a study on gut health.

Paramount Skydance submitted an improved, still-undisclosed bid for Warner Bros. Discovery in an effort to derail the studio’s pending Netflix deal.

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• Read our last Tech newsletter: Zuck vs. Instagram addiction

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. In a first-of-its-kind trial in Los Angeles, Mark Zuckerberg took the stand to defend against claims that Instagram was engineered like a ‘digital casino’ to hook kids.

With emails showing Zuck personally overruled child-safety and mental-health experts, the verdict could set the tone for thousands of similar lawsuits waiting in the wings.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Zuck defends Instagram in landmark trial

• Microsoft turns glass into a 10K-year hard drive

• Feds charge 3 engineers in Google chip theft

• Stanford’s new do-it-all respiratory vaccine

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

META

🎰 Zuck defends Instagram in landmark trial 

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Mark Zuckerberg took the stand to defend Meta in a landmark LA jury trial over social media addiction, rejecting claims that Instagram was deliberately engineered to hook teens and harm their mental health. Plaintiffs argue otherwise.

The details:

• The case centers on a 20-year-old woman who says compulsive use of Instagram and YouTube as a child fueled anxiety and suicidal depression.

• Plaintiffs argue Instagram and YouTube were built as “digital casinos,” using addictive features like filters and infinite scroll to maximize time-on-platform.

• Zuck maintained that Instagram offers positive value and that the plaintiff’s struggles stem from broader life problems, not product design.

• Meta emails show Zuck personally overruled at least 18 mental health and child-safety experts who urged the company to curb beauty filters.

Why it matters: This is the first jury trial to test the wave of social media addiction lawsuits. Attorneys claim Meta and YouTube engineered features to hook “teens and tweens,” while shelving internal warnings about risks. Meanwhile, governments are already moving to restrict or ban social media access for under-16s.

MICROSOFT

💿 Microsoft turns glass into a 10K-year hard drive

Image source: Microsoft Project Silica

The Rundown: Microsoft has etched palm-sized slabs of ordinary glass into data “books” capable of storing 4.8 terabytes — the equivalent of roughly 2M books or 200 4K movies — and projecting their survival for at least 10K years.

The details:

• The glass withstands heat, radiation, water, and demagnetization, making it virtually indestructible by the standards of conventional storage.

• Inside Microsoft’s prototype archive, autonomous robot shuttles climb shelving units, retrieve the requested glass slab, and feed it to decoding systems.

• The write speed, currently a few megabytes per second, targets potential customers including cloud providers, national archives, and media companies.

• Because the glass “books” need no power, they could shrink archive footprints and dramatically cut the energy and hardware cost of storing cold data.

Why it matters: Project Silica could offer a way to lock humanity’s critical digital records into glass that outlasts every hard drive and cloud data center we own today. And unlike more exotic ideas such as DNA storage or 5D crystals, it builds on a familiar material — putting it closer to real-world deployment than most of its competitors.

GOOGLE

🧐 Feds charge 3 engineers in Google chip theft

Image source: Unsplash

The Rundown: U.S. prosecutors indicted three Silicon Valley engineers — including two former Google employees — for allegedly stealing hundreds of confidential files on Pixel processors and other proprietary chip designs.

The details:

• A federal grand jury hit the trio, two Iranian-born sisters and one of their husbands, with 14 felony counts.

• Prosecutors allege the sisters, while employed at Google, secretly copied hundreds of restricted files, including design data for the Tensor chip.

• The trio allegedly moved the stolen documents to third-party messaging channels and personal devices, then on to contacts and storage in Iran.

• All three were arrested in San Jose and made initial court appearances, and if convicted, could face prison sentences of up to 20 years.

Why it matters: The case lands just weeks after a separate conviction of another former Google engineer for stealing AI trade secrets, showing how aggressively U.S. authorities are now pursuing alleged tech espionage tied to strategic chip and AI technologies.

STANFORD

🦠 Stanford’s do-it-all respiratory vaccine 

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Stanford researchers just developed an experimental intranasal vaccine that, in mice, defends the lungs for months against a range of viruses, bacteria, and even allergens — a potential leap toward a single shot that does it all.

The details:

• Three doses of the vaccine, called GLA‑3M‑052‑LS+OVA, dramatically cut coronavirus levels in mouse lungs.

• The vaccine’s broad coverage spans SARS‑CoV‑2 and related coronaviruses to drug-resistant hospital superbugs.

• The secret is in the formula: a triple-adjuvant platform designed to rewire how the immune system responds at the source.

• If it clears human trials, the technology could collapse today’s lineup of separate flu, COVID, and RSV shots into one annual nasal spray.

Why it matters: A single nasal spray guarding against the full spectrum of respiratory threats would fundamentally change vaccination and pandemic preparedness. Rather than endlessly reformulating shots to chase evolving strains, this platform aims to prime the immune system to handle whatever pathogen comes next.

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Amazon just ended Walmart’s 13-year run to claim the No. 1 spot on the Fortune 500 for the first time.

SoftBank plans to spend $33B on a 9.2‑gigawatt natural‑gas power plant on the Ohio‑Kentucky border, potentially to feed data centers tied to its OpenAI partnership.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket reentry from a discarded upper stage left a plume of lithium and other metals in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, a new study found.

Tesla rolled out a new “entry” Cybertruck — a dual‑motor all‑wheel‑drive model starting around $60K — while cutting the high‑end Cyberbeast’s price by $15K.

Ford is developing a $30K midsize electric pickup for 2027, using an F1‑style skunkworks team and bounties to strip out weight, parts, and cost.

A new report finds that almost $1B in U.S. government research funding over the past decade flowed into projects involving Chinese labs, Bloomberg reported.

Thrive Capital closed a new $10B fund — its largest ever and nearly twice the size of its last — aimed at investments in companies such as OpenAI, Stripe, and SpaceX.

Rivian launched a native Apple Watch app that lets owners use their wrist as a digital key to lock or unlock the vehicle, open windows, and adjust cabin temperature.

Meta will shut down its standalone Messenger website in April and redirect users to Facebook’s messages page or the mobile app instead.

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Apple is ditching the keynote stage for a simultaneous “special experience” across New York, London, and Shanghai on March 4 — hands-on, no livestream, no theater.

The format shift tells you everything: there’s no single hero product here. Instead, Apple is unleashing a ‘blitz’ of new Macs, iPads, and at least one wildcard device aimed squarely at the value crowd.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Apple’s ‘special experience’ on March 4

• Waymo’s smarter robotaxi hits the streets

• Ring drops Flock deal after Super Bowl ad

• Electric ferry with the power of 487 Teslas

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

APPLE

🍏 Apple’s ‘special experience’ on March 4 

Image source: Apple

The Rundown: Apple is reportedly ditching the keynote stage show and hosting a March 4 “special experience” event in New York, London, and Shanghai that’s expected to unleash a wave of new Macs, iPads, and a rumored cheaper iPhone.

The details:

• M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros, an M5 MacBook Air, refreshed iPads, and a new Studio Display are all expected.

• The headliner is a sub-$750 MacBook, an A18 Pro-powered, multi-color laptop built on a new cost-cutting aluminum process, with a display under 13 inches.

• The iPhone 17e is expected to gain MagSafe, an A19 chip, and upgraded wireless internals, all at the same price as its predecessor.

• With no live-stream in sight, expect an intimate hands-on showcase rather than a polished Cupertino production.

Why it matters: None of these products alone would justify a traditional Apple keynote — and that’s exactly the point. By staging a multi-city “experience” instead of a slick stage show, Apple is testing another launch format for a product cycle built around volume and value, not any single flagship moment.

WAYMO

🚖 Waymo’s smarter robotaxi hits the streets

Image source: Waymo

The Rundown: Alphabet’s robotaxi company Waymo is finally rolling out its next‑gen robotaxi hardware by seeding a fleet of new “Ojai” vans into San Francisco and LA, where employees and their friends are already getting fully driverless rides.

The details:

• Built by Chinese automaker Zeekr and outfitted with Waymo’s hardware at its Arizona facility, the Ojai is meant to eventually replace the Jaguar I-PACE fleet.

• The sixth-gen Waymo Driver cuts the total sensor count by 42% — down from 29 cameras to 13 — while adding a proprietary 17-megapixel imager.

• Waymo says the hardware is engineered for rain, snow, fog, and hail, with self‑cleaning sensors and algorithms tuned for harsh weather.

• The Driver is designed to bolt onto multiple vehicles, starting with the Ojai and expanding to the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Why it matters: Waymo already operates paid robotaxi services in six U.S. markets and plans to add 20 more cities this year, including London and Tokyo — putting pressure on rivals Tesla and Zoox. Public Ojai rides are expected later in 2026, with a target of 1M autonomous rides per week by year’s end, up from roughly 400K today.

RING

🐶 Ring drops Flock deal after Super Bowl ad

Image source: Ring

The Rundown: Amazon’s Ring is facing backlash after its Super Bowl ad for an AI-powered “Search Party” feature collided with news that the company was partnering with police-tech vendor Flock Safety.​ Days later, Ring walked away from the deal.

The details:

• Ring has killed a planned integration with police-surveillance vendor Flock Safety, saying it would have required too many resources.

• Flock runs a massive AI-powered license-plate and camera network used by thousands of law enforcement agencies nationwide.

• The EFF called the Super Bowl ad a preview of “Ring’s surveillance nightmare,” noting that Amazon already ships facial recognition via its Familiar Faces tool.

• Both ICE and CBP have reportedly accessed Flock’s data as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown — a claim Flock denies.

Why it matters: Ring’s Super Bowl ad showed a lost dog found via connected, AI-assisted neighborhood cameras, prompting renewed privacy debate. Ring says Search Party can’t identify people, though its broader ecosystem includes advanced analytics and public-safety partnerships.

ELECTRIC TRANSPORT

🛳️ Electric ferry with the power of 487 Teslas

Image source: Incat

The Rundown: Australia is about to launch the world’s largest electric ship, a $200M 130-meter Incat-built catamaran packed with 250 tons of batteries and high-speed waterjets, marking a zero-emission leap forward for mass ferry transport.

The details:

• The all-aluminum catamaran carries 2,100 passengers and 225 vehicles on 40 megawatts of battery-electric power — roughly the output of 487 Tesla EVs.

• Buquebus commissioned an LNG-powered vessel in 2020, but as battery costs fell, the operator and Incat renegotiated mid-build to go fully electric.

• Incat just completed full deployment trials of the ship’s Marine Evacuation System, with six 22-meter MES units supported by 13 life rafts.

• The ferry doubles as a floating mall, with more than 25K square feet of retail space carved into its decks for duty-free shopping mid-crossing.

Why it matters: The massive ferry will cover crossings of up to 115 miles on battery power alone, linking Buenos Aires to Uruguay. If it performs at scale, it won’t just be the world’s largest electric vehicle but proof that zero-emission propulsion can handle the loads that commercial shipping still assumes require fossil fuels.

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📰 Everything else in tech today

Meta is reportedly preparing to add a facial recognition feature to its Ray‑Ban smart glasses as soon as this year, letting wearers identify people and pull up info about them.

Defense tech startup Anduril is in talks to raise as much as $8B in new funding at a valuation of around $60B, roughly double its June 2025 valuation.

Chinese AI startup Moonshot, maker of the Kimi chatbot, is seeking a fresh funding round already backed by Alibaba and Tencent, for a valuation of about $10B.

Warner Bros. Discovery is considering reopening sale talks with Paramount even as Netflix remains its formal buyer, setting up a potential renewed bidding war.

Adani Group plans to invest $100B by 2035 to build renewable energy–powered data centers in India, aiming to create a major AI infrastructure hub.

Hong Kong’s police plan to add facial recognition to the city’s public CCTV network as early as this year, starting with high‑traffic shopping malls.

Uber says it will roll out its Uber Eats food‑delivery service to seven additional European countries in 2026, including Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Greece.

Biohacker Bryan Johnson is selling an “Immortals” longevity program for $1M a year, offering three clients a concierge team and 24/7 access to his BryanAI coach.

Danaher is closing in on a roughly $10B acquisition of medical device maker Masimo, in a deal that would add its hospital monitors and wearables to Danaher’s empire.

Russia blocked WhatsApp and is steering its more than 100M users toward the state-backed MAX messaging app, which critics say is designed for surveillance.

Former NPR host David Greene is suing Google, alleging the company effectively stole his voice by training the male narrator in its NotebookLM AI podcast tool.

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Elon Musk is now reshuffling SpaceX’s cosmic priority stack: Mars can wait. The Moon can’t.

He's selling investors on a “self-growing” lunar city within the decade. Perks? Flight windows every 10 days versus 26 months, a two-day commute versus six, and a pivot that conveniently locks Starship deeper into Artemis’s gravitational pull.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Musk wants the moon first, not Mars

• China’s Wegovy-style nasal spray

• Lyft finally launches ride-sharing for teens

• Ferrari taps Jony Ive for its first EV

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

SPACEX

🌝 Musk wants the moon first, not Mars

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Elon Musk just demoted his once‑sacred Mars dream, recasting SpaceX’s mission around a faster, cheaper prize: building a self‑sustaining city on the Moon within a decade.

The details:

• Musk says SpaceX has “shifted focus” from a near‑term Mars settlement to building a “self‑growing” city on the lunar surface.

• He claims a lunar city could be achieved in under 10 years, while a comparable Mars city would likely take more than 20 years.

• The math favors the Moon: launch windows open every 10 days with a two-day transit, versus every 26 months and a six-month journey to reach Mars.

• The pivot aligns with investor briefings and reports of an uncrewed Starship lunar landing target around March 2027.

Why it matters: Musk’s Moon-first shift drops SpaceX squarely into the slipstream of NASA’s Artemis program, which is already counting on Starship as its ride to the lunar surface and eventually a permanent base. Mars isn’t dead — Musk says serious work starts in five to seven years.

BIOTECH

💉 China’s Wegovy-style nasal spray

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: A Chinese biotech firm is reportedly racing to turn Wegovy’s blockbuster weight-loss molecule into a cheaper, needle‑free nasal spray, with global trials slated for completion by 2028.

The details:

• Shanghai Shiling Pharmaceutical is developing a nasal spray that uses semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug Wegovy.

• It promises a cheaper, more user‑friendly format for long‑term weight management in a country with a fast‑growing GLP‑1 market.

• Timing is key: Novo’s core semaglutide patent in China expires in March, and Shiling has already staked out IP before global exclusivity ends in the 2030s.

• Sweden’s Iconovo is already working on a Western intranasal semaglutide, developing an ICOone Nasal obesity spray now in preclinical proof‑of‑concept.

Why it matters: Obesity drugs are fast becoming one of the most valuable drug classes on the planet, and converting semaglutide into a spray could drop the barrier to adoption. If rivals time it right as exclusivity unwinds, they could undercut Novo and Lilly on price — and capture a serious share of the next decade's market.

LYFT

🚘 Lyft finally launches ride-sharing for teens

Image source: Lyft

The Rundown: Ride-hailing company Lyft is rolling out teen accounts that let 13- to 17-year-olds hail rides in more than 200 U.S. cities while parents watch from their phones — pitching it as a way to get screen-addicted Gen Alpha out of the house.

The details:

• Only parents or guardians can create teen profiles and payment methods, and only vetted, highly rated drivers who opt in can be matched with teen riders.

• Safety features include PIN verification, audio recording, Smart Trip Check-In for unusual route changes, and live location tracking for parents.

• Teens are allowed to bring friends along if parents approve in the app, turning Lyft into a quasi-chaperoned way to reach school, jobs, malls, or hangouts.

• The move follows Uber, which launched its own teen accounts in 2024, and Waymo, which offers teen rides via its robotaxi service in Phoenix and LA.

Why it matters: The launch reverses Lyft’s long-standing ban on unaccompanied minors and lands squarely in the middle of a growing debate over Gen Alpha’s lack of independence. Lyft is betting that ride-hailing can become the antidote to screen-induced isolation — a way to get kids out of their rooms and into the world.

EVS

🐎 Ferrari taps Jony Ive for its first EV

Image source: Ferrari

The Rundown: Ferrari just unveiled the Jony Ive–designed interior of the Luce, its first electric supercar, featuring a glass‑and‑aluminum cockpit that rejects the touchscreen-dominated cabins common across modern EVs.

The details:

• Ferrari has named its first fully electric supercar the Luce and unveiled its interior ahead of an exterior reveal planned in Italy this May.

• The cabin was co-designed by Ive and Marc Newson’s LoveFrom studio, mixing retro Ferrari cues with minimalist details like layered OLED displays.

• The Luce uses a glass key made from Corning Gorilla/Fusion5 glass with an E‑Ink display that changes color when docked.

• Underneath the design is a 122 kWh battery feeding four electric motors for more than 1K horsepower, 0–60 mph in 2.5 seconds, and a 330-mile range.

Why it matters: Ferrari is testing whether collectors will spend north of $600K for an electric halo car co-designed by the man behind the iPhone. It drops the Luce straight into the ring with Porsche’s Taycan Turbo GT, Lucid’s Air Sapphire, Tesla’s Model S Plaid, and the new wave of electric hypercars.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

YouTube added an AI feature that lets Premium users generate music playlists from text or voice prompts on iOS and Android.

Instagram is reportedly internally testing “Instants,” a standalone Snapchat‑style app and related Instagram feature for sending disappearing photos and messages.

Decentralized social network Bluesky finally rolled out a long‑requested drafts feature, letting users save unfinished posts to edit and publish later.

Salesforce cut some 1K jobs across teams like marketing, product, data, and AI while reshuffling its top ranks with six new execs replacing five departing leaders.

YouTube megastar MrBeast is buying Gen Z–focused fintech app Step to turn his massive teen fanbase into financial-product customers.

A “March for Billionaires” in San Francisco to protest California’s proposed Billionaire Tax Act reportedly attracted only a few dozen supporters and some onlookers.

A new 50 MW wave energy pilot project is moving into development, aiming to prove that large‑scale ocean wave farms can reliably feed clean power into the grid.

Stellantis is taking a massive $26B hit to unwind ambitious electric‑vehicle plans, cancel several EV models, and shift back toward gasoline and hybrid cars.

Scientists are excited about a new nasal spray bird flu vaccine that triggers a strong immune response in animal tests and could block the virus right away.

New York state lawmakers introduced a bill to impose at least a three‑year moratorium on permits for building and operating new data centers.

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• Read our last Robotics newsletter: Uber to launch robotaxis in 15 cities

• Today’s AI tool guide: Build an AI-powered sales objection handler

• RSVP to our next workshop on Feb. 11: Agentic Workflows Bootcamp pt. 1

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Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. This week, French prosecutors raided X’s Paris offices — an enforcement move that instantly lit up headlines and set off a fresh wave of scrutiny.

Spain is doubling down too, floating a ban on social media for under-16s and criminal liability for executives when illegal content spreads. Washington is pushing back, and it looks like the transatlantic fallout is only just beginning.

In today’s tech rundown:

• Paris raid turns up the heat on X

• Bezos’ $3B bet that cells can age backward

• Boring Company lands first deal outside U.S.

• Big Tech spends millions on data center rebrand

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

X

🚓 Paris raid turns up the heat on X

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: A police raid on X’s Paris offices and a Spanish proposal to target tech chiefs for illegal content on their platforms have jolted a simmering trans‑Atlantic fight over what “free speech” means online, reports The New York Times.

The details:

• French prosecutors raided X’s Paris offices, targeting alleged failures to curb child sexual abuse images and content denying crimes against humanity.

• The raid escalates a months‑long trans‑Atlantic rift over how far governments can go in forcing platforms to police speech and harmful content.

• Spain’s prime minister has proposed banning social media for under‑16s and making tech execs criminally liable if illegal content spreads on their platforms.

• The E.U. has already fined X roughly €120M (~$142M) and opened new probes into Grok-generated sexualized deepfakes of women and children.

Why it matters: The Trump administration has cast Europe’s tougher social‑media rules as an attempt to export censorship and has imposed visa bans on several E.U. digital officials. The dispute over child safety has become a broader test of whether the U.S. or European approach to online speech shapes global platforms.

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BIOTECH

🔬 Bezos’ $3B bet that cells can age backward

Image source: Daniel Oberhaus / Wikimedia Commons

The Rundown: Jeff Bezos and a billionaire brain‑trust are pouring roughly $3B into Altos Labs, a stealthy longevity startup betting that cellular rejuvenation and epigenetic reprogramming could one day make age‑reversal gene therapy real.

The details:

• Bezos and his backers have made Altos one of the most lavishly funded longevity ventures ever, leapfrogging rivals overnight.

• The company is chasing epigenetic reprogramming — using Yamanaka factors to rewind cells' biological clocks without scrambling their identity.

• The moonshot: turn reprogramming breakthroughs into therapies that could actually repair age-damaged tissues across the body.

• Altos has recruited a dream team with pharma vets, stem-cell pioneers, and gene-editing luminaries who’ve traded academia for the startup game.

Why it matters: Altos’ $3B  launch crystallizes Silicon Valley’s push to turn longevity science into a serious biotech business rather than a fringe obsession. With Bezos backing and a star-studded research team, it's one of the boldest — and most expensive — bets yet that aging can be hacked, delayed, or maybe even reversed.

BORING COMPANY

🪏 Boring Company lands first deal outside U.S.

Image source: The Boring Company

The Rundown: Dubai just approved its first international Loop project with Elon Musk’s Boring Company: a $154M, 4-mile EV-only tunnel with four underground stations linking the Dubai International Financial Centre to Dubai Mall.

The details:

• The Loop will run as an EV-only public shuttle using Tesla vehicles operated by Boring Company staff — riders can’t drive their own cars through the tunnels.

• Dubai plans to start construction immediately, with the first phase targeted for completion within about one to two years.

• The route is projected to move roughly 13K passengers per day at launch, with the wider network eventually handling up to 30K daily.

• A full buildout could expand the Loop into a roughly 15-mile network with 19 stations, estimated at $545 million.

Why it matters: Dubai’s Loop is the first international deployment of Musk’s “Teslas in tunnels” transit model and the biggest test yet of whether smaller-bore tunnels can actually compete with conventional metro systems in a major city. Success could validate the still-contentious Music City Loop in Nashville.

AI

💰 Big Tech spends millions on data center rebrand

Image source: Meta

The Rundown: Big tech is spending millions on ads, mailers, and lobbying campaigns to rebrand data centers as job creators and clean‑energy partners as communities across the U.S. push back against their water use, power demand, and subsidies.

The details:

• Tech and utility companies are spending millions on PR to rebrand data centers as clean‑energy assets amid growing local backlash over AI‑driven build‑outs.

• Residents in states like Virginia and Delaware are protesting new projects over concerns about huge electricity demand, water use, and taxpayer subsidies.

• Industry coalitions such as Virginia Connects are funding glossy mailers, billboards, and door‑knocking campaigns touting data centers as job creators.

• Meta has run national TV spots positioning its data‑center work as supporting “American jobs” and clean energy, even as facilities are often highly automated.

Why it matters: Critics note that data centers bring relatively few long‑term jobs for the hefty tax breaks and infrastructure they receive. The fight over new projects is now a live state‑level issue, forcing lawmakers to balance AI-powered growth against mounting community concerns.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

Apple is reportedly winding down its “Mulberry” AI health coach project and will instead fold a pared-back set of features into the existing Health app over time.

Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post is slashing more than 300 newsroom jobs, including its Amazon reporter.

Substack said a security breach discovered this week allowed an intruder to access users’ email addresses, phone numbers, and internal metadata in October.

Peloton’s latest earnings show revenue slipping as its pricey new Cross Training hardware and AI features have yet to spur the upgrade boom the company hoped for.

NASA will let astronauts on the upcoming Crew-12 and Artemis II missions bring personal smartphones for the first time.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX company town of Starbase in South Texas is setting up its own municipal police department.

Uber has been ordered by a federal jury in Phoenix to pay $8.5M to a passenger who said her driver raped her.

Y Combinator reversed course and will again back Canada‑incorporated startups, restoring Canada to its approved list after founder backlash.

Scientists built a new scanner that fuses ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging to create fast, radiation‑free 3D color views of blood vessels and soft tissue.

Google says its Quick Share feature, which already lets Pixel 10 phones send files directly to Apple’s AirDrop, will roll out to “many more” Android devices this year.

COMMUNITY

🎓 Highlights: News, Guides & Events

• Read our last AI newsletter: OpenAI, Anthropic fight on the frontier

• Read our last Tech newsletter: The race to make space babies

• Read our last Robotics newsletter: Cancer-fighting bubble bots

• Today’s AI tool guide: Cut down reporting times with Claude in Excel

• RSVP to our next workshop on Feb. 11: Agentic Workflows Bootcamp pt. 1

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. Mars rovers and moon bases are one thing, but the final frontier of space exploration might just be the delivery room.

A new crop of startups is racing to crack the code on cosmic conception, with one Dutch biotech already lobbing early prototypes into orbit aboard SpaceX rockets.

The science is shaky, the ethics are messy, and nobody’s figured out how to handle a diaper change in zero-g — but that’s not stopping anyone.

In today’s tech rundown:

• The race to make space babies has begun

• Palantir soars amid ICE backlash

• Blue Origin halts space tourism to chase the moon

• India offers Big Tech a 21-year tax break

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

BIOTECH/SPACE

🍼 The race to make space babies has begun

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: A new wave of startups and researchers is racing to test whether humans can safely conceive, carry pregnancies, and raise children beyond Earth — a prerequisite for any permanent lunar or Martian settlement, The Information reports.

The details:

• Space ambitions for moon and Mars bases face an unknown: no one yet knows if pregnancies can safely develop in microgravity and intense radiation.

• Biotech startup SpaceBorn United is developing a mini-IVF lab for embryos in orbit; its first nonhuman prototype launched aboard a SpaceX rocket.

• Early experiments with mouse embryos in orbit show that development might be possible in space, but with higher failure rates and potential DNA damage.

• Ethicists warn that commercial space stations could become a “wild west” for high‑risk human reproduction trials.

Why it matters: These ventures are early and ethically fraught — scientists say we barely understand the health risks of long-duration spaceflight for adults, let alone fetuses. But as SpaceX, Blue Origin, and national space agencies sketch plans for lunar bases and Martian cities, the strange age of space babies looks to be taking shape.

PALANTIR

👁️ Palantir soars amid ICE backlash

Image source: Reve / The Rundown (CEO Alex Karp)

The Rundown: Palantir’s Q4 was a blowout: $1.41B in revenue, up 70% year-over-year, with profits that crushed estimates. It also landed amid nationwide protests over the company’s surveillance work for ICE.

The details:

• Palantir’s U.S. commercial revenue jumped 137% year-over-year; U.S. government revenue rose 66%. Total contract bookings hit $4.3B.

• The Denver-based firm builds data integration and high-resolution surveillance platforms for government agencies and corporate clients.

• The company holds a $30M ICE contract for "ImmigrationOS," designed to track migrants and prioritize deportations.

• Amnesty International warns that Palantir has failed to adequately vet these contracts and may be contributing to serious abuses against migrants.

Why it matters: CEO Alex Karp framed the performance as “an n of 1,” arguing that Palantir is now a category rather than a company. Civil liberties groups and some former employees argue that the more successful Palantir becomes, the more normalized high-res state surveillance will be, from immigration to predictive policing.

BLUE ORIGIN

🚀 Blue Origin halts space tourism to chase the moon

Image source: Daniel Oberhaus / Wikimedia Commons

The Rundown: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is grounding its New Shepard space-tourism rocket for at least two years to accelerate development of its crewed lunar lander and other moon-focused hardware.

The details:

• Blue Origin said it will “pause its New Shepard flights and shift resources to further accelerate development of the company’s human lunar capabilities.”

• The move comes as the Trump administration pressures NASA to land astronauts on the moon before the end of the president’s second term.

• Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said NASA may use Blue Origin’s lander for the Artemis III mission if SpaceX’s Starship is too far behind schedule.

• Since its first crewed flight in July 2021, New Shepard has carried 98 people above the Kármán line on 10-minute suborbital hops.

Why it matters: Blue Origin is grounding its celebrity joyrides to focus on a $3.4B NASA contract for a crewed lunar lander. With SpaceX facing delays on its Starship lander, Bezos sees a window to leapfrog his rival for Artemis-era dominance — and that prize dwarfs anything the tourism business could deliver.

BIG TECH

💰 India offers Big Tech a 21-year tax break

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: India is offering foreign cloud giants a 21‑year tax holiday if they run global AI workloads from Indian data centers, effectively turning the country into a zero‑tax export hub for compute while it races to fix power and water constraints.

The details:

• The budget proposal lets foreign providers pay no corporate tax on revenue from cloud services sold outside India through local data centers until 2047.

• Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have already pledged tens of billions of dollars for new AI hubs and data‑center capacity in India.

• Indian sales must flow through locally taxed resellers, which critics fear will leave domestic cloud firms stuck as low‑margin middlemen.

• The plan also proposes a 15% cost-plus safe harbor for Indian data center operators that provide services to related foreign entities.

Why it matters: India’s zero‑tax offer through 2047 is a bold play to divert AI data‑center investment from hubs like Singapore and the Gulf. But critics say that if it can’t fix unreliable power, steep electricity costs, and severe urban water stress, India risks becoming a place with great tax breaks and nowhere to plug in GPUs.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

Mozilla’s Firefox 148 will add an AI settings panel that lets you flip a switch to block AI features in the browser, or selectively turn off individual tools.

NASA pushed the first crewed Artemis II moon mission back to March after a wet‑dress rehearsal exposed liquid hydrogen leaks in the rocket’s fueling system.

Oracle is reportedly weighing layoffs of 20K to 30K employees and potential asset sales to free up billions in cash to finance a massive expansion of its AI data centers.

Tesla rolled out a new all‑wheel‑drive Model Y variant in the U.S. priced at $41,990, slotting above the cheaper rear‑wheel‑drive “Standard” version.

Swedish startup Candela set a new benchmark for electric ferries after its P‑12 hydrofoil shuttle completed a 160‑nautical‑mile voyage using DC fast chargers.

France is moving ahead with a social media ban for under‑15s, with a key digital minister suggesting that the country might target VPNs next.

Uber is relaunching in Macau, its first new Asian market in years, with in‑app taxi bookings and a premium car service linking the city to Hong Kong.

Amazon’s latest round of 16K corporate layoffs includes about 1,400 jobs in Seattle and 700 in nearby Bellevue, deepening a tech‑sector downturn in the region.

Trump says he had no knowledge of, or role in, the $500M Abu Dhabi investment that bought a 49% stake in his family’s crypto company.

China banned hidden car door handles on new vehicles from 2027, requiring mechanical releases after crashes where flush handles allegedly trapped people inside.

Google delayed the Fitbit‑to‑Google account migration deadline again, giving users until May 19 to move their data (or export it) before old Fitbit logins stop working.

COMMUNITY

🎓 Highlights: News, Guides & Events

• Read our last AI newsletter: xAI joins SpaceX in mega-merger

• Read our last Tech newsletter: Humans head back to the moon

• Read our last Robotics newsletter: Waymo hits record $110B valuation

• Today’s AI tool guide: Prompts, strategies for generating AI Headshots

• RSVP to our next workshop on Feb. 11: Agentic Workflows Bootcamp pt. 1

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, {{ first_name | tech enthusiasts }}. NASA just rolled its massive moon rocket to the launchpad — and four astronauts are now in quarantine, waiting to become the first humans to leave low-Earth orbit in over 50 years.

If all goes well, they’ll fly farther from Earth than anyone in history. The launch window opens up Feb. 8

In today’s tech rundown:

• Artemis II: NASA’s first moon crew in 50 years

• Musk wants to merge his empires

• Apple hits record $144B quarter on iPhone sales

• Tech optimists lobby to deregulate aging

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

SPACE TECH

🌜 Artemis II: NASA’s first moon crew in 50 years

Image source: NASA

The Rundown: NASA’s Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a 10‑day loop around the moon — the first human voyage beyond low‑Earth orbit in more than half a century, and the shakedown cruise for America’s return to deep‑space exploration.

The details: 

• NASA has rolled the Artemis II Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft out to Pad 39B and is running final prelaunch checks at the Kennedy Space Center.

• The four-person crew has entered a 14-day health‑stabilization quarantine to avoid any last‑minute bugs that could delay launch.

• A critical “wet dress rehearsal” on the pad will see teams load more than 700K gallons of supercold propellants into SLS and run a full simulated countdown.

• NASA is currently targeting a launch window that opens Sunday, Feb. 8, with planned fueling of the rocket slated for Monday, Feb. 2.

Why it matters: Artemis II will send the crew on a roughly 10‑day free‑return loop around the moon, flying farther from Earth than any humans in history and validating Orion’s life‑support, navigation, and high‑speed reentry systems. Success would clear the way for Artemis III, the first planned lunar landing of the program.

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ELON MUSK

🚀 Musk wants to merge his empires

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Elon Musk is reportedly exploring a merger that would combine SpaceX with xAI or Tesla — or with both — into one super-conglomerate, potentially ahead of a monster IPO that could value SpaceX at $1.5T.

The details:

• SpaceX is in discussions to merge with xAI ahead of a June 2026 IPO worth up to $50B, cheekily timed to a rare planetary alignment and Musk’s birthday.

• Separately, the space tech giant has discussed the feasibility of a tie-up with Tesla — an idea some investors are pushing.

• Two entities with “merger sub” in their names were established in Nevada on January 21, with SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen listed as an officer.

• SpaceX is targeting an IPO that would value the company at about $1.5T, which would make it the biggest IPO of all time.

Why it matters: Musk has long been criticized for spreading himself too thin across too many companies. A mega-merger would flip that narrative — consolidating rockets, satellites, AI, social media, and possibly EVs into a single publicly traded juggernaut. As one investor put it: “You want to invest in Elon? Here you go. You get all this.”

APPLE

🍎 Apple hits record $144B quarter on iPhone sales

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Apple just posted the biggest quarter in its history — $143.8B in revenue, up 16% year-over-year — driven by what CEO Tim Cook called “simply staggering” iPhone demand.

The details:

• iPhone revenue surged 23% to $85.27B, setting an all-time record across every geographic segment, with the iPhone 17 lineup driving the surge.

• China sales rebounded 38% to $25.5B, with Cook noting Apple set “an all-time record for upgraders in mainland China.”

• Services also hit a record $26.34B (up 14%), and Apple now has more than 2.5B active devices worldwide — the most ever.

• It plans to prioritize premium iPhone launches this year, including its first foldable model and two flagships, while pushing the baseline iPhone 18 to 2027.

Why it matters: Apple’s smartphone business reportedly grew faster than the overall market, gaining share against competitors. But the real signal is in what comes next — Apple is betting its 2026 roadmap on premium-only launches and a foldable phone, doubling down on high-margin hardware at the expense of the mass market.

BIOTECH

♾️ Tech optimists lobby to deregulate aging

Image source: Vitalist Bay Summit (Adam Gries & Bryan Johnson)

The Rundown: A controversial movement called Vitalism is gaining ground in the longevity landscape, and it’s racking up wins. Detailed in the MIT Technology Review, this hardcore faction argues that defeating death should be a top government priority.

The details:

• Founded by Nathan Cheng and Adam Gries, Vitalism treats death itself as humanity’s core problem and calls for a “longevity revolution.”

• Vitalists helped pass Montana’s experimental treatment law and expand New Hampshire’s right-to-try legislation

• The founders are recruiting for six federal positions controlling billions in funding; Harvard and Stanford faculty have spoken at their events.

• Sixteen biotech companies carry the official Vitalist stamp — revocable if they “adopt apologetic narratives that accept aging or death."

Why it matters: Where Bryan Johnson has become longevity’s most visible evangelist, the Vitalists are quietly building infrastructure: a nonprofit foundation, a biotech certification program, and a recruitment pipeline for federal positions. Johnson wants to live forever. These people want the government to help him do it.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

Samsung’s new Galaxy Z TriFold, the first trifold sold in the U.S., launches today for $2,899, making it the most expensive phone on the U.S. market.

U.S. agencies are probing whistleblower claims that Meta staff could read end‑to‑end encrypted WhatsApp chats, undermining the app’s core privacy promise.

Google is joining a $425M round in Tesla cofounder JB Straubel’s Redwood Materials, keeping the battery‑recycling and energy‑storage startup valued near $6B.

Grubhub, now owned by Wonder Group, is scrapping delivery and service fees on all restaurant orders over $50 in a bid to lure customers from DoorDash and Uber Eats.

Amazon announced it is laying off 16K employees across the company, marking the second major round of cuts within three months after 14K jobs were cut in October.

TikTok joined Snap in settling a landmark lawsuit accusing social media platforms of designing harmful, addictive products, while Meta and YouTube will proceed to trial.

Meta’s Reality Labs VR division lost $19.1B on just $2.2B in 2025 revenue, and Zuck says 2026 losses will stay similarly huge as Meta lays off staff and shutters VR projects.

Philippines outsourcing firms are pouring $24M a year into AI and skills training to keep their call‑center workforce competitive as automation and rival hubs close in.

A U.S. jury found former Google engineer Linwei “Leon” Ding guilty of stealing thousands of AI chip trade secrets to benefit China‑linked firms and his own startup.

The Doomsday Clock has been set to a record‑tight 85 seconds to midnight, reflecting soaring nuclear tensions plus mounting AI, climate, and biosecurity risks.

Spotify says it paid out $11B in royalties to the music industry in 2025, a record annual payout that still leaves questions about how much of that money reaches artists.

COMMUNITY

🎓 Highlights: News, Guides & Events

• Read our last AI newsletter: xAI's Grok Imagine climbs the leaderboards

• Read our last Tech newsletter: TikTok USA’s epic meltdown

• Read our last Robotics newsletter: Waabi nabs $1B in Uber robotaxi deal

• Today’s AI tool guide: Build a competitor database with Claude Cowork

• RSVP to our next workshop on Feb. 11: Agentic Workflows Bootcamp pt. 1

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — The Rundown’s editorial team