Air taxis to fly in 26 states

PLUS: Apple preps high-end 'Ultra' line

Good morning, tech enthusiasts. This summer, electric air taxis from startups like Archer, Joby, and Beta will hit the skies in federally backed trials, shuttling passengers and cargo across 26 states.

The results could show whether urban air mobility is finally ready for liftoff, or still years away from escaping the hype cycle.

In today’s tech rundown:

  • Electric air taxis to take flight in 26 states

  • Apple preps high-end ‘Ultra’ line

  • Bluesky CEO Jay Graber steps down

  • Palmer Luckey’s gaming startup seeks $1B valuation

  • Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

EVTOL

Image source: Beta Technologies

The Rundown: This summer, Americans in 26 states will get their first taste of “flying cars,” as federally backed pilot programs send electric air taxis from startups like Archer, Joby, and Beta skimming over city traffic under tightly controlled FAA trials.

The details:

  • Startups including Archer, Joby, Beta, Wisk, Electra, and Reliable Robotics will run passenger, cargo, and emergency flights with state and local partners.

  • The three-year program, created by a Trump executive order, lets these aircraft operate under tight supervision before full FAA type certification.

  • Officials say the aircraft will be quieter, cleaner, and ultimately cheaper than helicopters, and aimed at cutting congestion and linking smaller cities.

  • Beta CEO Kyle Clark said the program will let Beta start flying a year early; its shares jumped nearly 12% Monday, with Archer and Joby stock rising too.

Why it matters: Partnering with state and local governments, flying car startups get a chance to gather real‑world data across dozens of operation scenarios, from Manhattan heliports to routes over the Gulf Coast, access that could boost stock prices and validate their business models — or reveal just how far the tech still has to go.

APPLE

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: Apple is reportedly getting ready to seriously crank up the luxury dial, prepping a $2,000‑ish foldable iPhone, a touchscreen MacBook Pro, and camera‑toting, AI‑smartened AirPods aimed squarely at the ultra‑high‑end crowd.

The details:

  • Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that at least three ‘Ultra’-tier devices are in the pipeline for 2026, including a foldable iPhone with a large inner display.

  • The Ultra tier is built around a $2,000‑class foldable iPhone that sits well above today’s Pro models, as well as a higher-priced MacBook Pro.

  • Apple is also said to be working on new AirPods with built‑in computer‑vision cameras that can feed visual “intelligence” straight into Siri

  • The new MacBook is expected to pair the first touchscreen ever on a Mac with an OLED panel, at a price beyond today’s M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro.

Why it matters: The budget MacBook Neo may have grabbed headlines, but Gurman says Apple’s real play this year is at the other end of the price spectrum. A foldable iPhone, AI-camera AirPods, and a touchscreen OLED MacBook are all expected before year’s end — and none of them will be cheap.

BLUESKY

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

The Rundown: Bluesky CEO Jay Graber is stepping down to hand longtime tech operator Toni Schneider the reins — just as the Jack Dorsey-founded Twitter alternative finally hits its stride at 40M users, and its first real growing pains.

The details:

  • Venture capitalist and ex-Automattic CEO Toni Schneider is taking over as interim CEO while Bluesky’s board searches for a permanent replacement.

  • Graber says Bluesky has matured to the point where it needs a seasoned operator focused on scaling and execution.

  • Bluesky has grown into a decentralized social network with more than 40M users and an ecosystem of over 500 third-party apps.

  • The shake-up lands as Bluesky runs into new state age‑verification rules, forcing it to cut off Mississippi and start checking users’ ages in other states.

Why it matters: Graber became CEO of Bluesky in 2021, as it spun off from Twitter into its own company. As she shifts back toward Bluesky’s underlying AT Protocol — the open social framework she has worked on since the project’s early days —Schneider will have to face a growing wave of age-assurance regulation.

PALMER LUCKEY

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

The Rundown: Palmer Luckey, the Oculus co-founder turned defense-tech billionaire, is now reportedly chasing a $1B valuation for his retro gaming startup ModRetro, betting that there’s serious money in high-end nostalgia hardware.

The details:

  • ModRetro’s Chromatic is a handheld built in the mold of the original Game Boy, with support for original GB and GBC cartridges. Price starts at $199.99.

  • Luckey has described the Chromatic as the product of “hundreds of irrational decisions” intended to create a worthy tribute to the original Game Boy.

  • The Financial Times reports ModRetro is already developing additional hardware, including a device meant to replicate the Nintendo 64.

  • Luckey’s defense startup Anduril, whose autonomous weapons vision has been embraced by Trump, is also seeking a new funding round at a $60B valuation.

Why it matters: Luckey is testing whether premium nostalgia gadgets can earn a unicorn valuation in a handheld market already crowded with Analogue, Anbernic, AyaNeo, and a dozen retro rivals. The same engineer perfecting Game Boy clones is also racing firms like Palantir and Shield AI to automate warfare.

QUICK HITS

Meta AI chief Yann LeCun’s new startup, AMI, raised about $1B to build world-model systems that understand and reason about the physical world.

Apple reportedly delayed the launch of its long‑planned J490 smart home display because the overhauled Siri and on‑device AI assistant are still not ready.

AT&T said it plans to pour more than $250B into U.S. network infrastructure over the next five years.

Lightspeed Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz are backing Nexthop AI, a fast-growing AI data center supplier now valued at about $4.2B.

Uber is rolling out its “Women Drivers” feature nationwide in the U.S., allowing women and teens to request female drivers, expanding a safety-focused pilot.

XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis is offering $3.5M for upbeat sci‑fi films that cast AI as the hero, not the villain.

Apple now produces 25% of all iPhones in India — around 55M units produced in 2025 — as it accelerates a shift away from China to dodge US tariffs.

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi is reportedly exploring vehicle-integrated solar tech to add photovoltaic panels to future EVs and extend their driving range.

Samsung told CNBC that its first AI smart glasses, featuring an eye-level camera that connects to a smartphone for AI processing, are planned for launch later this year.

Startup Cortical Labs is building test data centers in Melbourne and Singapore that swap server racks for “biocomputers” made from lab‑grown human brain cells.

OSHA is investigating the death of a 61-year-old contractor who was fatally pinned between a tractor-trailer and a loading dock at a Rivian warehouse in Illinois.

Bezos-backed EV startup Slate Auto replaced CEO Christine Barman with ex-Amazon VP Peter Faricy, just months before the launch of its first electric truck.

Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund is reportedly close to closing its fourth growth fund with about $6B in commitments.

Nintendo is suing the U.S. government to claw back Trump-era import tariffs that courts have ruled unlawful.

COMMUNITY

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

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