Ferrari's first EV, designed by Jony Ive

PLUS: U.S.'s $2B quantum deal hits a snag

Good morning, tech enthusiasts. Ferrari once swore it would never go electric — now it’s asking $640K for the privilege.

Co-designed with Jony Ive and Marc Newson’s LoveFrom studio, the Luce packs 1,035 horsepower, seats five, and has the lowest drag coefficient in Ferrari history. It’s built to woo the ultra-wealthy into EVs without losing the look, feel, or the drama of a Ferrari.

In today’s tech rundown:

  • Ferrari’s $640K EV, designed by Jony Ive

  • U.S.’s $2B quantum deal may ‘not be legal’

  • China sends artificial human embryos to space

  • Japan tests hypersonic engine for ultra-fast travel

  • Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Image source: Ferrari

The Rundown: Ferrari just unveiled the Luce, its first electric car and designed in collaboration with Jony Ive and Marc Newson’s LoveFrom studio, marking the Italian automaker’s $640K entry into the EV market.

The details:

  • LoveFrom shaped the design vision from the project’s inception, creating both exterior and interior with the lowest drag coefficient in Ferrari’s history.

  • The Luce features four motors delivering 1,035 horsepower and captures real vibrations from the rear motors rather than using synthesized EV sounds.

  • Interior includes a steering wheel machined from a single piece of aluminum, mechanical buttons, and dials grouped by function.

  • Starting at $640K, the Luce will be Ferrari’s most expensive production model and its first five-seater when it launches in the second half of 2026.

Why it matters: The Luce is Ferrari’s attempt to make the EV feel like a Ferrari first and an electric car second. By pairing LoveFrom’s minimalist design language with analog controls and a hefty price tag, Ferrari is testing whether ultra-luxury buyers will pay for brand mythology in a category often defined by screens, software, and efficiency.

QUANTUM COMPUTING

Image source: IBM (IBM’s 300-mm quantum wafer)

The Rundown: The U.S. is pouring $2B into quantum computing startups and a new IBM-backed “quantum foundry,” but a key lawmaker says the equity-based deals may violate how Congress intended that money to be spent, Ars Technica reports.

The details:

  • The Department of Commerce signed letters of intent with nine companies for around $2B in CHIPS Act incentives.

  • IBM is the biggest beneficiary: $1B in federal incentives and $1B in IBM cash to launch Anderon, billed as the U.S.’s first pure-play quantum chip foundry.

  • Rep. Zoe Lofgren says using CHIPS Act money this way is illegal because Congress intended it for public semiconductor research, not equity-style bets.

  • Lofgren (D-CA) alleged the deals lacked transparency and called the announcement “illegal and troubling on so many levels.”

Why it matters: Commerce frames the $2B package as a bid to secure U.S. leadership in a field with implications for cybersecurity, advanced modeling, and national competitiveness. The controversy is also about whether Washington can move fast enough on strategic tech while still staying inside the legal guardrails Congress set.

BIOTECH

Image source: Images 2.0 / The Rundown

The Rundown: China reportedly became the first country to put artificial human embryos into orbit — stem cell-derived structures sent to the Tiangong space station to probe whether early human development can survive microgravity and radiation.

The details:

  • Two model types were sent: one cultured on uterine cells, one observed inside a microfluidic chip — neither can develop into a fetus.

  • The embryos are housed in an automated, sealed bioreactor that supplies nutrients, controls temperature, and transmits imaging data back to Earth.

  • Scientists are tracking cell division, gene expression, and structural development to see how space conditions alter normal embryogenesis.

  • Prior tests suggested mouse embryos can develop in orbit, but show lower success rates, higher abnormalities, and DNA damage linked to radiation.

Why it matters: “Space reproduction” is shifting from sci-fi to active research, as startups like SpaceBorn United and other programs probe whether life can begin off-Earth. But with higher failure rates, radiation risks, and almost no human data, the push toward space babies is racing ahead of the science, and the ethics needed to govern it.

TRANSPORTATION

Image source: JAXA

The Rundown: Japan just successfully ground-tested a hydrogen ramjet engine capable of Mach 5, a key step toward future ultra-fast passenger jets that could slash Japan–U.S. flight times to around two hours.

The details:

  • The test at JAXA’s Kakuda Space Center put a 2‑meter experimental aircraft in a ramjet facility simulating Mach 5 flight, about 3,300–3,800 mph.

  • At those speeds, air temps hit ~1,000°C, but JAXA says the thermal protection system kept the interior near normal, with electronics functioning throughout.

  • As the next step, the vehicle will be mounted on a sounding rocket for an actual Mach 5 flight test.

  • Researchers say commercial hypersonic service remains decades away, with targets pointing to the 2040s at the earliest.

Why it matters: Hypersonic engines like this could turn long-haul flights into quicker hops, shrinking the Pacific and reshaping how people and goods move around the world. But the tech is still in the lab, with daunting challenges around heat, safety, regulation, cost, and emissions that will likely keep Mach 5 travel grounded for decades.

QUICK HITS

Intuit is reportedly laying off about 3K employees, or 17% of its workforce, to streamline operations and shift more resources into building AI-powered features.

BYD said its Level 2 “God’s Eye” driver-assist and parking tech has cut severe crashes and reduced parking bumps to about 2% of human-driven rates.

Uber is considering raising its rejected $13.4B takeover offer for Delivery Hero after some shareholders signaled they want more than $46 a share for the whole company.

Wix is reportedly planning its biggest layoff to date, cutting about 1K employees — roughly 20% of its workforce — after weak earnings and mounting AI-related costs.

The EU is set to impose a triple‑digit million‑euro antitrust fine on Google under the Digital Markets Act for allegedly favoring its own services in search results.

Utah is pressing ahead with Kevin O’Leary’s 40K‑acre Stratos Project, a proposed off‑grid AI data center critics say will devour power and water.

NASA is restructuring from four mission directorates to two to streamline decision-making for Moon and Mars missions.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has been cleared to resume launches after an FAA-approved investigation traced its recent upper-stage malfunction to a cryogenic leak.

British medical colleges said social media harms children so much that it should be treated like smoking, urging the UK to consider measures such as an under‑16s ban.

COMMUNITY

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

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