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 you might like
🔮 + 3 handpicked research papers and tools
🚀 Blue Origin lands its rocket's booster for the first time LINK
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 ChatGPT group chats LINK
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 AI boss tells staff 2026 will be the 'hardest year' of their lives LINK
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.
📈 Samsung hikes chip prices 60% as shortage worsens LINK
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 halves commissions for mini app makers LINK
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 and Microsoft back restricting Nvidia exports to China LINK
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 you might like
- Tesla might finally bring CarPlay to its EVsLINK
- Mozilla announces an AI ‘window’ for FirefoxLINK
- Starlink rival ‘Project Kuiper’ rebrands to Amazon LeoLINK
- Anthropic uncovers first large-scale AI-orchestrated cyberattackLINK
- Judge Denies Apple, OpenAI Bid to Dismiss Elon Musk’s Antitrust LawsuitLINK
- Google’s NotebookLM will now do ‘deep research’LINK
- Tesla is recalling over 10,000 Powerwall 2 batteries due to burn risksLINK
- AI startup Cursor raises $2.3 billion funding round at $29.3 billion valuationLINK
- OpenAI launches GPT-5.1 API with improved coding capabilities and new developer featuresLINK
- Google’s SIMA 2 agent uses Gemini to reason and act in virtual worldsLINK
- Jack Dorsey Releases Vine Reboot Where AI Content Is BannedLINK
- JP Morgan says Nvidia is gearing up to sell entire AI servers instead of just AI GPUs and componentsLINK
- Upwork study shows AI agents excel with human partners but fail independentlyLINK
- Some Rabbit employees say they haven't been paid in months, but R1 maker insists new AI hardware is comingLINK
- US spy satellites built by SpaceX send signals in the “wrong direction”LINK
- Tiny chips hitch a ride on immune cells to sites of inflammationLINK
Latest research and tools
dbos-transact-java: a Java library for running long tasks reliably, helping them survive crashes and restarts without losing state or duplicating work.LINK
winamp: a native macOS application that recreates the classic Winamp experience for playing MP3 and FLAC audio files.LINK
Encore: a backend framework that simplifies creating APIs and services by automatically generating the necessary cloud infrastructure directly from the application code.LINK
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