Morning Skim
AI
Google's first space-based AI data center is alive in orbit
Google says its Suncatcher prototype, a solar-powered satellite carrying four of its Tensor Processing Units, has reached orbit and is communicating with the ground after launching this month on a SpaceX Falcon 9. The craft generates up to 1 kilowatt and can run a single TPU at a time for about 20 minutes, an early test of putting AI compute in space, with two more satellites planned for 2027.
Why it matters: It is a real-world trial of moving power-hungry AI computation off Earth, where abundant solar power and no land or water limits could reshape where data centers get built.
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TechCrunch
Cracks appear in Big Tech's trillion-dollar AI spending bet
Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft are on track to spend more than $740 billion in capital expenditures this year, but investors are increasingly uneasy about negative free cash flow and rising debt. Google ran $9.1 billion of negative free cash flow in Q3 and Amazon was $42.4 billion negative over the past year, while the four firms plus Oracle raised a combined $326 billion in debt in 2026, triple last year's total.
Why it matters: The figures show the AI buildout is now financed largely by heavy borrowing rather than cash on hand, raising the stakes if the payoff is slow to arrive.
Dive deeper → TechCrunch
Tech
Applebee's app left a database password in plain sight, exposing customer data
A security researcher found a hardcoded database password inside Applebee's Android app, which has more than a million downloads, and used it to reach customer records. Exposed fields included names, email addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, ZIP codes, veteran status and recent login IP addresses; Applebee's says it has so far found no evidence of unauthorized access.
Why it matters: Baking credentials into a shipping app is a basic, avoidable error that can leave millions of loyalty members one download away from a breach.
Dive deeper → TechCrunch
Salesforce buys military logistics AI startup Rune for a reported $375 million
Salesforce has agreed to acquire Rune Technologies, which builds AI software to help the US military forecast supply needs and manage battlefield logistics, for a reported $375 million in cash and stock. The deal expands Salesforce's fast-growing Missionforce defense unit and extends a 2026 acquisition run that already includes Fin for $3.6 billion and Qualified for $1.2 billion.
Why it matters: A mainstream enterprise software giant pushing deeper into battlefield tech shows how aggressively Silicon Valley is now chasing defense contracts.
Dive deeper → TechCrunch
Business
Intel craters about 28%, wiping $12 billion off the US government's stake
Intel's stock fell roughly 28% on Friday after it guided fourth-quarter revenue to $15 billion to $16 billion, below the roughly $17 billion analysts expected, and warned gross margin would slip to 37% from 43%. The sell-off erased about $12 billion of value from the US government's roughly 10% stake, though Intel's shares are still up more than 70% this year; Intel blamed softening PC demand as AI-driven memory costs push up prices.
Why it matters: The plunge is a reality check on Intel's turnaround and a direct hit to taxpayers now that Washington holds an Intel stake.
Dive deeper → TechCrunch
Bank of Japan holds its rate at a 30-year high and hints a hike is near
The Bank of Japan kept its policy rate at 1.25%, its highest since 1995, in an 8-1 vote, with one board member pushing for an increase to 1.5%. For the first time since adopting its 2% target in 2013, the bank said underlying inflation is now generally consistent with that goal and raised its fiscal 2027 inflation forecast to 2.6%, leaving economists expecting a hike as soon as December.
Why it matters: After decades of ultra-loose policy, Japan edging toward tighter money ripples through global bond markets and the yen carry trade.
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CNBC
Science
Fish keep their schools in sync by following one neighbor at a time
In experiments with rummy-nose tetras swimming alongside projected virtual fish, researchers at France's CNRS found that each fish tends to follow a single influential neighbor rather than averaging the whole group, and that leader can change as the school moves. The study, published in PRX Life, tested only visual cues and not the water-sensing lateral line fish also rely on.
Why it matters: It points to a simpler rule for how coordinated animal movement emerges, with lessons for modeling crowds, swarms and robot fleets.
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Phys.org
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS looks older than the Sun itself
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers found that methane from the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS has a deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio far higher than any measured Solar System body, about 13 times that of comet 67P. The chemistry is consistent with its ices forming in an extremely cold environment, possibly in a star system that assembled billions of years before our Sun.
Why it matters: The visitor may be a pristine chemical fossil from another star system, a rare chance to study material that predates the solar system.
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ScienceAlert
World
UN shuts its Somalia political mission after three decades
The United Nations closed its political mission in Somalia on Saturday, ending more than 30 years of UN efforts to help steer the country out of civil war and handing its duties to Somali institutions, UN agencies and a support office for African Union troops. No replacement for its mediation role has been agreed, and the closure comes as international support shrinks and al-Shabab violence continues.
Why it matters: Somalia is taking full ownership of its fragile recovery just as outside help pulls back, a risky test for its still-contested institutions.
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Al Jazeera
US approves a $2.1 billion sale of 500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine
The US State Department approved a possible $2.1 billion sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 interceptors, along with parts and support, to Ukraine, one of Washington's most significant arms moves for Kyiv since January 2025. The missiles still have to be built and likely will not be delivered until early in the 2030s, with Ukraine paying through contributions from Canada, Germany and Norway plus EU loan funds.
Why it matters: It signals long-term Western backing for Ukraine's air defenses, even as the delivery timeline shows how strained missile supplies have become.
Dive deeper → Al Jazeera
Culture
Ministry drops its 17th and final album, closing out 45 years
Industrial pioneers Ministry released Hate to Go (Take Out or Delivery), a 10-track, politically charged record that frontman Al Jourgensen calls the band's last, with former bassist Paul Barker returning for the closing song. Jourgensen, who founded the group 45 years ago, has a Goodbye Europe farewell tour booked to begin in April 2027.
Why it matters: One of the acts that defined industrial metal is bowing out, marking the end of a four-decade run that shaped a whole genre.
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Consequence
My Chemical Romance say a new album is coming in 2027
Frontman Gerard Way told a sold-out Hollywood Bowl crowd on Friday that My Chemical Romance plan to spend 2027 writing and recording a new record, saying the band wants to go make a record next year. It would be their first album since 2010's Danger Days, and Way suggested the group would likely pause touring until 2028.
Why it matters: A new MCR album would be a major moment for a devoted fan base that has waited more than 15 years for fresh studio material.
Dive deeper → Consequence
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