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Technology News

  • SpaceX Falcon Heavy to launch Astrobotic Griffin Moon Lander in 2026, CLPS mission slips to mid-2026
    October 28, 2025, 6:34 PM EDT. SpaceX's Falcon Heavy is slated to lift Astrobotic's private Griffin-1 lunar lander on a mission under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The target window has moved to no earlier than July 2026, after a late-2025 deadline slipped. Griffin will carry NASA and commercial payloads, including Astrobotic's CubeRover and Astrolab's FLIP rover, plus the Nippon Travel Agency plaque, the Galactic Library from Nanofiche, and the MoonBox capsule with items from around the world. Assembly and testing continue at Astrobotic's facility, with four propellant tanks awaiting installation and several propulsion and avionics checks underway. The delay highlights the CLPS program's reliance on private lunar delivery, the lessons from Peregrine's 2024 mishap, and evolving plans around VIPER and Blue Origin toward Artemis-era goals.
  • Nvidia Near $5 Trillion Valuation After GTC Announcements and New Partnerships
    October 28, 2025, 6:32 PM EDT. Nvidia is closing in on a record $5 trillion market value after a flurry of announcements at its GTC event. The stock jumped about 5% as the company unveiled a wave of innovations across computing, robotics, vehicles and medicine, and announced partnerships with Uber, Palantir, Nokia and Oracle. CEO Jensen Huang highlighted the company's expanding ecosystem as a hedge against AI bubble fears, while investors eye a projected $3 trillion in capital expenditure to build data centers and AI capabilities. Nvidia's market value stood at about $4.89 trillion the previous day. The report also notes Microsoft's growing stake in OpenAI, underscoring broader AI infrastructure bets that tie chips, software, and cloud providers into a single growth narrative.
  • Super Teacher unveils AI tutor for elementary schools at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
    October 28, 2025, 6:30 PM EDT. Super Teacher, led by former Google PM Tim Novikoff, is building an AI-powered tutoring app for elementary students that costs $15/month (or $10 with annual). The startup aims to democratize access to private tutoring, addressing the high cost that keeps many families left out. About 20,000 families have signed up, and districts in New York, New Jersey, and Hawaii already use the app. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 in San Francisco, Super Teacher earned a Startup Battlefield Top 20 spot. Unlike many edtech tools, its content comes from a deterministic system designed to avoid LLM inaccuracies, and the team views AI tutors as a tool to empower teachers, not replace them. Plans include expanding to more grades and districts.
  • Apple preparing OLED display upgrades for MacBook Air, iPad Air, and iPad mini
    October 28, 2025, 6:26 PM EDT. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman indicates Apple is testing OLED displays for three upcoming devices: the MacBook Air, iPad Air, and iPad mini, with the iPad mini likely leading the switch. OLED would broaden Apple's use beyond iPhone, iPad Pro, and Apple Watch, while Apple Vision Pro uses micro-OLED. A first OLED MacBook Pro is rumored, but Apple reportedly won't shift the line until the M6 Pro/Max family, targeting 2027; the earliest OLED MacBook Air could arrive in 2028. The iPad mini is also said to gain a water-resistant design and a new speaker system that uses vibration tech to eliminate holes. Price implications could place an OLED iPad mini around $599, with potential bumps for the iPad Air as well.
  • What Amazon's Mass Layoffs Reveal About AI, Efficiency, and the Future of Work
    October 28, 2025, 6:24 PM EDT. Amazon is cutting tens of thousands of jobs as it tries to "operate like the world's largest startup," a move echoed by other profitable giants amid high costs, tariffs, and a shaky macro backdrop. The cuts, announced alongside a broader push toward AI-driven productivity, come even as Amazon says AI was not the primary driver of most layoffs (about 14,000). Analysts caution that the AI hype may outpace real gains, even as CEO Andy Jassy warns that the AI-enabled future should transform the workplace. The workforce rebalancing reflects a mix of strategic tightening and uncertainty about efficiency and returns, mirroring actions by UPS, Target, Microsoft, and Meta. Ultimately, the move signals a bet on efficiency and a test of whether AI can deliver durable productivity gains.