🕶️ The startup building Trump’s “Golden Dome”

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A few quiet upgrades this week.

Your next Uber in Vegas might show up with no driver. TikTok might play full Apple Music tracks without leaving the app. And Meta is already building chips so it doesn’t have to keep writing checks to Nvidia.

Meanwhile, France’s Alan just hit a €5B valuation proving that in today’s venture market, boring businesses with real margins are back in style.

And in defense tech, Anduril keeps leveling up; now adding space-tracking eyes to help power Trump’s proposed orbital missile shield.

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Six bullets of updates

🚗 Uber users in Vegas can soon hail fully driverless rides via Zoox’s robotaxis, aiming for federal approval this year.
🎵 Apple Music subscribers can now stream full tracks in TikTok without leaving the app, aiming to boost deeper music discovery.
🚀 NASA pushes Starship’s moon landing to 2028 after a critical review was delayed to August over in-orbit refueling challenges .
🤖 Nvidia is investing $2B with Nebius Group to boost global AI cloud infrastructure and scale enterprise AI adoption.
🏢 Exxon is relocating its HQ—and 250 top jobs—from New Jersey to Houston, continuing the trend of major firms moving to Texas .
🖥️ Meta debuts four new AI chips, aiming to boost internal compute power and trim spend on Nvidia hardware as AI workloads surge.

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Alan Health Insurance Startup Achieves Multi-Billion Euro Valuation With Funding

Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash

Apparently, underwriting beats vibes. French health-insurance startup Alan just hits €5B valuation (~$5.83B), up from $4.5B in 2024, via a new funding round.

Step-ups like this, in a regulated, low-churn category, implicate disciplined CAC, pricing power, and a credible path to margin expansion. In a venture market still rationing capital, investors are rewarding operating leverage over narrative.

Expect accelerated product breadth across the employer benefits stack and deeper penetration of larger accounts; the valuation jump since 2024 suggests the playbook is working.

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How your Amazon Returns Fuel a Drug Cartel in Latin America

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Anduril’s Strategic Space Expansion for Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ Defense Initiative

Photo by Fasyah Halim on Unsplash

Anduril is moving from drone fences to orbital pickets. The Palmer Luckey-founded defense shop just buys space tracking outfit ExoAnalytic Solutions to help power President Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile shield.

ExoAnalytic brings a global telescope network and real-time tracking, exactly the eyes a layered defense needs before anything lights up. Feed that into Anduril’s autonomy/command stack and early warning turns into tasking and intercept.

Strategically, it plants Anduril in Space Command’s budget lane while smoothing revenue with service-like contracts. Fewer winner-take-alls, more durable pipelines.

The tell: vertical integration. Own the sensors, own the data, own the kill chain; bets on Golden Dome inevitably favor whoever controls space awareness.

Next moves to watch: launch partnerships, LEO comms, and interceptor tie-ups as Anduril pushes into orbital defense.