Good morning, tech enthusiasts. Just days after SpaceX’s Starship notched its third straight test-flight flop, Elon Musk doubled down on his bold claim: the giant rocket is heading to Mars next year.

Why the rush for 2026? That’s when a rare planetary alignment opens up the shortest route to the Red Planet. But with Starship racking up fiery headlines, the question remains: is this cosmic hype or actually plausible?

In today’s tech rundown:

• Musk eyes 2026 Mars mission despite all odds

• New e-tattoo tracks stress and boredom at work

• Neuralink scores $600M at a $9B valuation

• Perplexity’s tool for crafting apps and reports

• Quick hits on other major news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

SPACEX

🚀 Musk eyes 2026 Mars mission despite all odds

Image source: SpaceX

The Rundown: Mere days after SpaceX’s Starship endured its third straight test-flight setback, Elon Musk says he still anticipates the massive spacecraft will embark on its inaugural uncrewed mission to Mars by the close of next year. 

The details:

• The Starship rocket, at 123 meters tall, is the largest and most powerful ever built, but its development has been marred by multiple high-profile failures.

• Musk’s timeline hinges on overcoming significant technical challenges, especially the need for in-orbit refueling for the months-long voyage.

• Starship plans to carry a simulated crew made up of Tesla’s Optimus robots, with the first human landings targeted for as early as 2029.

• Interestingly, in a video posted online from SpaceX headquarters, Musk also hedged his bets, saying a successful mission in 2026 was only 50% likely.

Why it matters: Although SpaceX had announced that Musk would present the company’s Mars colonization plans in a livestream ahead of Starship’s latest test flight, the webcast never aired as planned. Still, it seems SpaceX remains committed to its Mars plans, despite the immense engineering challenges of deep-space exploration.

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

🩺 New e-tattoo tracks stress and boredom at work

Image source: University of Texas at Austin

The Rundown: Stressed or tired at work? A new “e-tattoo” can track that. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have engineered a wireless electronic e-tattoo that offers real-time monitoring of brain activity and eye movements.

The details:

• Engineered to track cognitive fatigue in high-stakes fields such as air traffic control, the e-tattoo analyzes brain activity in real time.

• By monitoring neural signals, it can accurately detect levels of mental effort and alert users when they are approaching cognitive overload.

• Weighing at 2.5 grams with just 1 mm thick (without the battery), the e-tattoo is exceptionally lightweight and thin.

• It monitors vital health metrics, including ECG, seismocardiogram (SCG), blood oxygen saturation (SpO₂), heart rate, skin temperature, and hydration levels.

Why it matters: Unlike bulky EEG caps or medical monitors, the e-tattoo is ultra-thin, flexible, and can be worn during everyday activities or demanding jobs. It’s still an early-stage tech, requiring further form-factor refinements, but experts think it could open up new possibilities for real-time, continuous tracking of brain and heart health.

NEURALINK

🧠 Neuralink scores $600M at a $9B valuation

Image source: Neuralink

The Rundown: Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface (BCI) startup, Neuralink, has reportedly pulled in $600M in fresh funding, propelling its pre-money valuation to $9B— a dramatic leap from the $5B reported less than a year ago.

The details:

• The round reportedly attracted heavyweight investors, including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Google Ventures.

• Neuralink recently earned the FDA’s “breakthrough device” designation, a critical regulatory milestone that accelerates the path to clinical trials.

• In human trials, the company’s N1 device successfully enabled paralyzed individuals to control digital devices using only their thoughts.

• Neuralink faces competition from Synchron and Precision Neuroscience, which are also advancing BCI technology but with their own different approaches.

Why it matters: Neuralink is now preparing for clinical trials of its “Blindsight” device, aiming to restore vision for the blind. Despite fierce competition, Neuralink’s soaring valuation and high-profile backers highlight the market’s bullish outlook on BCIs—a field that could soon redefine the boundaries between human and machine.

PERPLEXITY

📊 Perplexity’s tool for crafting apps and reports

Image source: Perplexity

The Rundown: Perplexity, the AI-powered search engine taking on Google, just launched Perplexity Labs — a feature designed to transform user prompts into structured applications like dashboards, reports, storyboards, and charts.

The details:

• Labs can autonomously work for 10 minutes or more, leveraging tools like deep web browsing, live code execution, and chart and image generation.

• The platform organizes all generated assets—such as charts, CSVs, images, and code files—into a unified Assets tab accessible via a dedicated App tab.

• It is available on the web, iOS, and Android (Mac and Windows app support coming soon) for Pro users paying $20 per month.

• The launch comes as Perplexity is also said to be in talks to raise $1B in funding at an $18B valuation.

Why it matters: The launch of Labs follows Perplexity’s broader expansion efforts, including the announcement of its Comet web browser and the acquisition of Read.cv. While we’re yet to try it, the move is part of Perplexity’s goal to cover everything from information retrieval to hands-on content creation for enhanced productivity.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

Meta AI says that it now has 1B monthly active users across its apps, doubling the 500M monthly active users reported in September 2024.

Starbase, Texas — home to SpaceX’s launch facilities — reportedly notified some residents that they may forfeit “the right to continue using their properties.”

Apple’s U.S. App Store ecosystem enabled $406B in developer billings and sales in 2024, a figure that has nearly tripled since 2019, when it facilitated $142B.

Chinese technology companies are making moves to secure their AI ambitions amid uncertainty about future access to Nvidia’s chips, according to new reports.

Elon Musk’s xAI has agreed on a $300M deal with Telegram (in principle) to bring its Grok chatbot to more than a billion messaging app users this summer.

The New York Times signed its first AI licensing agreement with Amazon, granting the tech giant permission to use its editorial content to train its AI models.

A new Texas law, which Apple CEO Tim Cook tried to block, now requires Apple and Google to verify the ages of users accessing their app stores.

Tinder is testing a new height preference feature that allows Gold and Premium subscribers to set their desired height range for potential matches.

Xiaomi introduced its new electric sport utility vehicle, the YU7, in 13 showrooms across Beijing as a direct competitor to Tesla's Model Y.

AI startup Grammarly secured a $1B commitment from investment company General Catalyst to bolster its sales and marketing efforts.

Social network X announced a temporary suspension of its encrypted DMs while it works on enhancements to the feature.

COMMUNITY

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