Thomas Ricker

While sales of Tesla cars have suffered greatly since Elon Musk extended his arm and wallet to politics globally, his Starlink and Tesla Energy products have continued to do well. There’s lots of EV competition, but zero alternatives for cheap and fast consumer internet that can be quickly deployed in data dead zones, or whole home battery backup systems with a proven track record and terrific user experience. Although the competitors are quickly gearing up to address the latter.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is surging ahead in the race to cover the planet with fast, low-latency internet beamed down from space. Xi Jinping and Jeff Bezos are just getting started while Europe, to nobody’s surprise, is mired in bureaucracy and woefully behind despite launching its first internet satellites back in 2019.

Google’s yet to say anything official about the Pixel 10, but it was recently caught mid commercial shoot on a Vancouver beach by @MarksGonePublic on X. Separately, Mystic Leaks says we should expect color options for the Pixel 10 to include a black Obsidian, blue, purple Iris, and yellow Limoncello, and the 10 Pro and XL models to come in choice of white Porcelain, black Obsidian, green, and gray Sterling.

US-based miner MP Materials and Saudi Arabia’s Maaden have taken the first step in developing an alternative supply chain for the production of rare-earth magnets — 90 percent of which come from China, which restricted their export in response to Trump’s tariffs. That’s a problem because those magnets are needed for the advanced motors found in everything from EVs, to robots, missiles, spacecraft, drones, and steering wheels.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s recent embrace of the infamously transactional US president has already secured a Huawei AI chip clampdown and a reversal of limits placed on Nvidia’s AI chip exports. Now, according to Reuters, The UAE could be allowed to import 500,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips per year starting in 2025. It’s all part of a US deal to build a massive artificial intelligence campus in the UAE — measuring 10 square miles with 5 gigawatts of power for AI data centers — something that wouldn’t have been allowed previously over concerns that China would gain access to the tech.

Tesla’s Optimus robot has been plagued by fakery since it launched with a dancer in a suit followed by remote manipulation at the cybercab event. So what is this? Generative AI? A man behind the curtain in a mocap suit?