📡 Starship Fixes, WhatsApp for iPad, Apple’s Game Hub
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, May 28. Today we are covering:
Elon Musk: There is an 80 percent chance Starship's engine bay issues are solved
After 15 years, WhatsApp is finally ready for the iPad
Apple to Debut Dedicated Gaming App Within Days of Switch 2's Arrival
Anthropic launches a voice mode for Claude
The Self-Driving Truck Startup That Siphoned Trade Secrets to Chinese
Let’s dive in
Elon Musk: There is an 80 percent chance Starship's engine bay issues are solved
By Eric Berger via Ars Technica
Elon Musk says there's an 80% chance SpaceX has resolved upper-stage engine bay issues on Starship, with improvements focused on bolt tensioning and preventing fuel-oxidizer leaks that led to past explosions.
The company is testing multiple heat shield tile variations during reentry and plans to fly the Raptor 3 engine by year-end, a version that eliminates the need for heat shielding and introduces a radically simplified design.
Musk views Starship’s full reusability as the “holy grail of rocketry” and believes building a Mars transport system is akin to the Union Pacific Railroad, unlocking a “literal world of opportunity” for civilization-building on the Red Planet.
𝕏: With Elon Musk focusing back on SpaceX, I spoke with him this afternoon about the path forward. - Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace)
After 15 years, WhatsApp is finally ready for the iPad
By Jess Weatherbed via The Verge
WhatsApp has finally launched a dedicated iPad app, over 15 years after the service and the first iPad debuted, supporting features like 32-person audio/video calls, screen sharing, and both front and rear cameras.
The app integrates seamlessly with iPadOS multitasking tools—Stage Manager, Split View, and Slide Over—making it easy to chat while browsing or watching content on a larger screen.
Until now, users relied on the web version or desktop apps, but Meta has now delivered a long-requested native experience, hinting at possible future iPad-optimized apps like Instagram.
𝕏: Very impressed with the bezels on Meta’s dream iPad. - Mark Gurman (@markgurman)
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Apple to Debut Dedicated Gaming App Within Days of Switch 2's Arrival
By Mark Gurman via Bloomberg
Apple is launching a dedicated gaming app across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, aiming to strengthen its position in the video game market.
The app will be preinstalled later this year and act as a central hub for launching titles, tracking achievements, leaderboards, and in-game communications.
The move comes just days before the highly anticipated release of Nintendo’s Switch 2, signaling Apple’s intent to compete more aggressively in gaming.
𝕏: NEW: Apple is planning a dedicated app for video games on its devices, seeking to sell gamers and developers on the idea that it’s a leader in the market. - Mark Gurman (@markgurman)
Anthropic launches a voice mode for Claude
By Kyle Wiggers via TechCrunch
Anthropic has launched a beta voice mode for its Claude chatbot on mobile, enabling full spoken conversations in English and powered by the Claude Sonnet 4 model.
The feature allows users to talk about documents and images, switch seamlessly between voice and text, select from five voice options, and view a transcript and summary after conversations.
Voice mode integrates with Google Workspace (for paid users), has usage caps for free users, and follows earlier reports of Anthropic's talks with Amazon and ElevenLabs on advancing voice capabilities.
𝕏: It's (finally) happening! Oh and remind me where is my Alexa+ invite? - Zvi Mowshowitz (@TheZvi)
The Self-Driving Truck Startup That Siphoned Trade Secrets to Chinese
By Heather Somerville via Wall Street Journal
TuSimple Holdings, one of the largest U.S. self-driving truck firms, transferred sensitive data to a Chinese state-owned company just a week after pledging to halt such exchanges with Beijing.
Internal messages show that Foton, a major Chinese commercial truck maker, specifically requested detailed data from TuSimple’s Texas test drives, which an employee admitted was “pretty time consuming.”
The revelation raises serious concerns over national security and intellectual property breaches, directly contradicting TuSimple’s prior assurances to the U.S. government.
𝕏: The Self-Driving Truck Startup That Siphoned Trade Secrets to Chinese Companies: TuSimple shared with Beijing a best-in-class autonomous driving system—and became a prime example of U.S. shortcomings in protecting critical technology - Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ)
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