The Download: making drugs in orbit and NASA’s nuclear-powered spacecraft

1 Sam Altman claims Elon Musk tried to seize control of OpenAI
Altman said Musk initially wanted 90% of the equity. (AFP)
+ And that control should go to his children when he dies. (BBC)
+ Altman also accused Musk of twice trying to end its non-profit status. (NPR)
+ Musk’s motivations for the suit are under scrutiny. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Google and SpaceX are in talks to launch data centers into orbit
SpaceX could join Suncatcher, Google’s orbital data center project. (WSJ $)
+ The project’s first launch is slated for early 2027. (Guardian)
+ Anthropic and SpaceX have also discussed orbital data centers. (Wired $)
+ But there are a few hurdles to overcome. (MIT Technology Review) 

3 Jensen Huang has joined Donald Trump’s high-stakes mission to China
Nvidia is lobbying to sell its AI chips in the country. (Bloomberg $)
+ Elon Musk and Tim Cook are also on the trip. (CNBC)
+ But a tech rivalry and distrust have sapped hopes for big deals. (Reuters $)

4 ICE agents have a list of 20 million people on their iPhones, thanks to Palantir
An ICE official said Palantir is speeding up raids and arrests. (404 Media)
+ ICE has also used facial recognition and Paragon spyware. (TechCrunch)

5 Defense tech firm Anduril just doubled its valuation to over $60 billion
In a $5 billion funding round led by Thrive Capital and a16z. (FT $)
Anduril, which makes AI-backed weapons, may go public next year. (NYT $)

6 Meta employees are protesting computer-tracking at work
Flyers posted at offices are urging staff to oppose the program. (Reuters $)
+ Meta plans to track workers’ clicks and keystrokes to train AI. (CNBC)

7 OpenAI is facing another wrongful death lawsuit over ChatGPT medical advice
The chatbot’s tips allegedly led to a teenager’s overdose. (Ars Technica)

8 The Canvas learning platform has paid hackers to delete stolen student data
It caved to ransomware demands after the biggest-ever edtech breach. (BBC)

9 Scientific researchers are thinking twice about using AI
Due to price hikes, usage limitations, and unreliable outputs. (Nature)