Good morning, tech enthusiasts. Netflix is bringing binge culture into the physical realm with Netflix House — two massive entertainment venues opening later this year.

Entry is free; leaving without a Demogorgon latte or Squid Game hoodie is optional. But the question is, can fandom survive outside the algorithm?

In today’s tech rundown:

• Netflix opens immersive fan-based venues

• SpaceX’s near-flawless Starship launch

• Microsoft cracks down on employee protests

• Website builder Framer grabs $2B valuation

• Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

NETFLIX

🎟️ Netflix opens immersive fan-based venues

Image source: Netflix

The Rundown: Netflix is doubling down on its IP empire with Netflix House, revealing fresh details this week about two colossal complexes set to open later this year in Philadelphia and Dallas, with Las Vegas slated for 2027.

The details:

• Netflix House is launching its first two permanent locations in Philadelphia on November 12 and Dallas on December 11.

• The concept transforms over 100K square feet of former department store space into interactive experiences based on Netflix's most popular content.

• Free to enter, the spaces layer arcade games, immersive mini-golf, and VR character experiences around franchises like Stranger Things and Squid Game.

• Netflix says that attractions will be refreshed frequently, ensuring that every visit delivers new adventures, all while doubling as strategic marketing.

Why it matters: Streaming isn’t just about screens anymore — it’s about turning brands into physical worlds where fandom, retail, and leisure blur together. By dropping two massive venues into malls, Netflix is testing whether its carousel of streaming hits can hook people IRL as reliably as it does at home.

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SPACEX

🚀 SpaceX’s near-flawless Starship launch

Image source: SpaceX

The Rundown: SpaceX’s Starship finally blasted off after a streak of fiery failures, firing 33 Raptor engines, soaring to suborbital heights, and nailing a controlled splashdown — a landmark for the world’s biggest, most powerful rocket.

The details:

• Starship’s tenth test flight launched on August 26 from Starbase, Texas, after two days of weather and equipment delays, finally breaking a string of failures.

• The 400-foot rocket, powered by 33 Raptor engines, thundered skyward carrying the world’s most powerful thrust: more than 16M pounds.

• Both stages executed as planned: Super Heavy boosted Starship upward, then descended for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf Coast.

• The Starship upper stage separated cleanly, reached suborbital altitude, and performed a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean as programmed.

Why it matters: For the SpaceX team, cheered on by 1.8M livestream viewers, it was vindication: flight data flowed, boosters returned, and a huge leap in super-heavy orbital reusability. Yet despite the win, doubts remain that Starship will be ready in time for NASA’s Artemis III crewed landing on the moon, slated for 2027.

MICROSOFT

🪧 Microsoft cracks down on employee protests

Image source: No Azure for Apartheid

The Rundown: Microsoft fired four employees after a wave of protests over its contracts with the Israeli military, including high-profile sit-ins at President Brad Smith’s office and encampments at company headquarters.

The details:

• The firings included Nisreen Jaradat and Julius Shan, both heavily involved in organizing the protest for the No Azure for Apartheid movement.

• Advocacy emails sent internally by Jaradat, voicing frustration over Microsoft’s handling of Palestine-related issues, attracted widespread internal attention.

• The protests emerged amid revelations from the Guardian about the Israeli military’s use of Azure for large-scale surveillance of Palestinians.

• Protesters entered and livestreamed from Smith’s office, barricading themselves and refusing to leave until forcibly removed by law enforcement.

Why it matters: Employees, staging protests and circulating mass emails, have put their jobs on the line to criticize the company’s position on Palestine and Gaza. Microsoft has maintained that subsequent firings were not politically motivated, but the result of “serious breaches” of company policy.

FRAMER

🦄 Website builder Framer grabs $2B valuation

Image source: Framer

The Rundown: Dutch startup Framer, the no-code website builder that’s quietly become a darling of high-growth startups, nabbed $100M in Series D funding at a $2B valuation, earning it a rare “double unicorn” status in design tech.

The details:

• Framer boasts over half a million monthly active users and powers sites for startups like Perplexity and enterprise brands like Miro and Scale AI.

• The company allows users to visually design, build, and publish complete, high-performance websites fast with no coding required.

• Its AI feature lets users generate website pages instantly from natural language prompts, further speeding up the design process.

• Framer says the new capital is earmarked for U.S. market acceleration, expanding AI capabilities, and rolling out even more collaboration features.

Why it matters: This double-unicorn milestone comes as website builders heat up, with rivals from Figma to Squarespace and Wix, plus a new crop of vibe coding players like Cursor and Lovable. Framer’s expanding B2B business, targeting $100M in annual recurring revenue next year, could set it apart.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

Anthropic now requires all Claude users to opt in or out of having their conversations used for AI training by September 28.

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is planning an employee share buyback that values the company at over $330B.

Prosecutors are seeking a 15-year prison sentence for tech giant Kakao founder Kim Beom-su for manipulating stock prices during a takeover battle for SM Entertainment.

Frontier, the Google-backed carbon removal consortium, committed $31.3M to purchase 115,211 metric tons of carbon removal credits from startup Planetary.

Google introduced new AI-powered features to Google Translate aimed at helping users learn new languages, taking a page from Duolingo.

Scientists created a one-step process that converts mixed plastic waste into petrol at room temperature and ambient pressure, achieving over 95% efficiency.

Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has reportedly begun testing Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system in the Las Vegas Convention Center tunnels that link to nearby hotels.

University of Queensland researchers achieved a world first by successfully growing fully functioning human skin in the lab.

COMMUNITY

🎓 Highlights: News, Guides & Events

• Read our last AI newsletter: Microsoft’s homegrown AI debut 

• Read our last Tech newsletter: Klarna gets a $14B reality check

• Read our last Robotics newsletter: Nvidia’s palm-sized robot brain

• Today’s AI tool guide: Create an AI agent to handle email support

• RSVP to our next workshop today at 4 PM EST: Essential ChatGPT tips

See you soon,

Rowan, Jennifer, and Joey—The Rundown’s editorial team