Apple's 'thinnest iPhone' debuts today

PLUS: YouTube's NFL starter is a hit

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Jennifer Mossalgue & Rowan Cheung
September 09, 2025

Good morning, tech enthusiasts. Apple’s “awe-dropping” event kicks off today, with the debut of the new iPhone 17 lineup, including an ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air.

But with Siri upgrades and a foldable iPhone still on the horizon, will Apple give enough to woo fans, especially if Trump-era tariffs drive prices higher?

In today’s tech rundown:

  • Apple’s iPhone 17 event kicks off today

  • YouTube’s first NFL livestream is a smash

  • AI startup Cognition is now a $10B player

  • This startup wants to bury nuclear reactors underground

  • Quick hits on other major tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

APPLE

Image source: Apple

The Rundown: Apple’s “awe-dropping” event kicks off today, and all eyes are on the rumored iPhone 17 lineup, including the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air and upgraded Pro models sporting a redesigned camera module and possibly up to 8x optical zoom.

The details:

  • Apple’s event begins at 10 a.m. PT, streamed live on YouTube, Apple’s TV app, and its website, with press invited to Apple Park and the Steve Jobs Theater.

  • The headliner is the iPhone 17 series: iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air (ultra-thin design), iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max (possibly renamed Ultra).

  • The new iPhone 17 Air will be Apple’s slimmest phone yet, with a chassis measuring around 5.5mm.

  • All models are rumored to get 120Hz ProMotion displays, improved durability, and a larger standard screen (6.3 inches for regular and Pro models).

Why it matters: Joining the spotlight are also the Apple Watch Ultra 3, Series 11, SE 3, and the long-rumored AirPods Pro 3. True to Apple tradition, the September showcase is less about surprises and more about sleeker devices, tighter integration, and just enough upgrades to keep the upgrade machine humming.

YOUTUBE

Image source: YouTube

The Rundown: YouTube’s exclusive broadcast of last Friday’s NFL opener — Chargers vs. Chiefs live from São Paulo — pulled in 17.3M global viewers and set a new record for the most-watched live stream in YouTube history.

The details:

  • Google’s streaming platform set a new record when 17.3M average-minute viewers tuned in to watch, streaming globally in more than 230 countries.

  • The game was free to watch, sidestepping cable bundles and paywalls, as YouTube battles for sports rights against Amazon, Apple, and Netflix.

  • Nielsen tracked 16.2M U.S. viewers, and YouTube's numbers added 1.1M more abroad, placing the stream just shy of Netflix’s Christmas NFL doubleheader.

  • The pregame show mashed up NFL vets and YouTube personalities, but some viewers were squirming through a few cringe moments.

Why it matters: YouTube didn’t hit Netflix’s 24M for the Christmas doubleheader, but the stream shows the new rules of the game: tech giants are chasing exclusive sports rights, streaming to millions worldwide, and changing how fans watch football in a cloud-first world. But maybe it needs to fine-tune the pregame show a bit.

COGNITION

Image source: Cognition

The Rundown: Cognition, the AI startup behind the much-hyped coding agent Devin, announced a fresh $400M round just weeks after its Windsurf acquihire, and a valuation at a staggering $10.2B, Bloomberg reports.

The details:

  • While rivals like OpenAI market general-purpose assistants, Cognition has doubled down on a very specific lane: code automation at enterprise scale.

  • Just weeks ago, Cognition completed its high-profile acquisition of Windsurf, a move that instantly doubled its customer base.

  • The company now reports $73M in annual recurring revenue, a solid figure for its size but modest compared to bigger enterprise software players.

  • With fresh funding led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Cognition has locked in contracts with large clients such as Goldman Sachs, Palantir, and Dell.

Why it matters: With this round, Cognition joins the early-stage orbit of heavyweights like Anthropic and OpenAI. But, while those rivals pour resources into sprawling platforms and massive infrastructure, Cognition is doubling down on a single, profitable niche, aiming to prove that laser focus can sometimes beat sheer scale.

DEEP FISSION

The Rundown: Deep Fission, a nuclear startup with an affinity for going literally underground, just pulled off a reverse merger and netted $30M. The company’s gamble: mile-deep holes could make nuclear power cheap, safe, and scalable.

The details:

  • The startup specializes in 15-megawatt small modular reactors designed to be installed a mile underground in 30-inch boreholes.

  • Once buried, the geology acts as a containment system, presumably offering security against everything from meltdowns to sabotage.

  • Deep Fission’s reactors use pressurized water technology, a proven method found in nuclear submarines and many commercial plants.

  • The U.S. Department of Energy selected Deep Fission for the 2026 Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, which streamlines permitting for novel designs.

Why it matters: By burying reactors in boreholes rather than sprawling campuses, Deep Fission could sidestep one of nuclear’s biggest obstacles: the optics and politics of building another Fukushima-size complex above ground. The company has a goal to bring its first pilot reactor online by 2026 and claims it can scale rapidly.

QUICK HITS

French AI startup Mistral landed a €11.7B ($13.8B) valuation in its Series C round after Dutch chip giant ASML led a €1.3B investment for an 11% stake in the company.

OpenAI execs have discussed leaving California due to regulatory pressure over its nonprofit-to-for-profit restructuring, but the company publicly denies relocation plans.

Shares of Nebius soared over 60% in after-hours trading on Monday after the Nvidia chip supplier signed a $19.4B, five-year AI cloud infrastructure deal with Microsoft.

Ant Digital Technologies, the enterprise division of China’s Ant Group, is using blockchain to tokenize more than $8.4B in energy infrastructure, Bloomberg reports.

Meta whistleblowers allege the company suppressed internal research on child safety after the Frances Haugen leaks revealed Instagram’s harms to teens.

Databricks, the San Francisco-based data and AI company, is closing a $1B Series K funding round at a valuation above $100B, backed by Andreessen Horowitz.

Xpeng plans to launch its affordable Mona series electric vehicles internationally, intensifying competition for legacy automakers like BMW and Mercedes.

SpaceX is buying wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar for about $17B to expand its Starlink satellite network and accelerate its global 5G connectivity ambitions.

Nepal lifted its ban on social media after widespread anti-corruption protests, sparked by the ban and led by Gen Z, left at least 19 people dead.

COMMUNITY

That's it for today's tech rundown!

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

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