☕️ Blue Origin lands its rocket's booster for the first time

Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.

In today's Techpresso:

🚀 Blue Origin lands its rocket's booster for the first time

👥 OpenAI is testing ChatGPT group chats

⚠️ Tesla AI boss tells staff 2026 will be the 'hardest year' of their lives

📈 Samsung hikes chip prices 60% as shortage worsens

💰 Apple halves commissions for mini app makers

🚫 Amazon and Microsoft back restricting Nvidia exports to China

🎁 + 17 other news & articles you might like

🔮 + 3 handpicked research papers and tools

FROM OUR PARTNER

• Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin successfully landed the 189-foot-tall booster from its New Glenn mega-rocket on a drone ship, a feat only previously accomplished by competitor SpaceX.
• This successful recovery happened on just the second launch of the New Glenn system, after the first attempt in January ended with the rocket's booster exploding before touchdown.
• While the landing was a key test, the rocket's upper stage continued its main mission to deploy twin spacecraft for a NASA science expedition to the planet Mars.

• OpenAI is testing a new group chat feature in select regions that allows up to 20 Free, Plus, and Team users to collaborate directly inside the ChatGPT application.
• The AI has new social skills for these conversations; you can tag "ChatGPT" to make it respond, and it can react with emojis or use profile photos to create personalized images.
• These chats run on the GPT-5.1 Auto model, but usage limits only apply when the AI replies, not when human participants send their own messages to one another.

• Tesla’s AI chief Ashok Elluswamy told AI teams during a recent all-hands meeting that 2026 will be the “hardest year” of their lives, a warning meant as a rallying cry.
• The AI division faces extremely aggressive timelines for the humanoid robot, Optimus, which is reportedly already lagging far behind its lofty production goals set for this year and has a new lead.
• Pressure is also building to deliver the company's robotaxi, a project whose rollout has been mired in chaos due to glaring issues with its autonomous driving software causing several accidents.

• Since September, Samsung has reportedly increased the prices of its individual memory chips by up to 60 percent, with a contract for 32 GB of DDR5 rising from $149 to $239.
• The price surge is driven by high demand for building new AI-focused data centers, but memory makers are not planning to increase production in case the current demand dries up.
• This memory shortage is expected to worsen in 2026 and could last for a decade, impacting the cost of electronics from smartphones and laptops to various smart appliances.

• Apple has introduced the Mini Apps Partner Program, which halves its commission to 15% on in-app purchases for web-based applications that run inside a larger native app.
• To qualify for the lower fee, developers must add specific Apple technologies like the Advanced Commerce API and the Declared Age Rating API, along with its in-app purchase system.
• The reduced commission is open to any developer, clarifying previous reports of an exclusive deal with Tencent, and applies to digital goods sold inside mini apps on iOS or iPadOS.

• Amazon is now joining Microsoft and the AI startup Anthropic in supporting the GAIN AI Act, a bill aimed at restricting the export of advanced processors from companies like Nvidia.
• The proposed GAIN AI Act would force AI chipmakers to fulfill all domestic orders for advanced processors before they are permitted to supply the same chips to any foreign customers.
• In response, Nvidia argues the GAIN AI Act will restrict global competition for advanced chips and limit the amount of computing power that is available to other countries.

Other news & articles you might like

• Tesla might finally bring CarPlay to its EVs LINK

• Mozilla announces an AI ‘window’ for Firefox LINK

• Starlink rival ‘Project Kuiper’ rebrands to Amazon Leo LINK

• Anthropic uncovers first large-scale AI-orchestrated cyberattack LINK

• Judge Denies Apple, OpenAI Bid to Dismiss Elon Musk’s Antitrust Lawsuit LINK

• Google’s NotebookLM will now do ‘deep research’ LINK

• Tesla is recalling over 10,000 Powerwall 2 batteries due to burn risks LINK

• AI startup Cursor raises $2.3 billion funding round at $29.3 billion valuation LINK

• OpenAI launches GPT-5.1 API with improved coding capabilities and new developer features LINK

• Google’s SIMA 2 agent uses Gemini to reason and act in virtual worlds LINK

• Jack Dorsey Releases Vine Reboot Where AI Content Is Banned LINK

• JP Morgan says Nvidia is gearing up to sell entire AI servers instead of just AI GPUs and components LINK

• Upwork study shows AI agents excel with human partners but fail independently LINK

• Some Rabbit employees say they haven't been paid in months, but R1 maker insists new AI hardware is coming LINK

• US spy satellites built by SpaceX send signals in the “wrong direction” LINK

• Tiny chips hitch a ride on immune cells to sites of inflammation LINK

Trending research and tools

Want to get the latest news differently?