The deep-sea luxury race is back

PLUS: U.S. bans foreign-made routers

Good morning, tech enthusiasts. China wants to take tourists to sunless depths: a state-backed deep-sea submersible is being built to carry paying passengers 1K meters (3,280 ft.) down into the ocean’s eerie “Midnight Zone.”

Less than two years after OceanGate’s Titan turned deep-sea tourism into a global cautionary tale, China is betting the deep still holds plenty of appeal, at least for anyone rich enough to buy a window seat.

In today’s tech rundown:

  • China eyes deep-sea tourism with new sub

  • The FCC bans all foreign-made routers

  • Alphabet brings drone delivery to the Bay Area

  • Sam Altman’s fusion future is getting serious

  • Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

DEEP SEA TECH

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: China is developing a deep-sea submersible that can carry paying passengers up to 1K meters (3,280 ft.) deep — a state-backed entry into the ultra-luxury “extreme travel” market that’s been reshaped by the 2023 OceanGate incident.

The details:

  • Engineers at the China Ship Scientific Research Centre in Wuxi have finalized the design of a 4-person vessel, with a prototype expected by year-end.

  • Commercial dives are targeted before 2030, with a panoramic viewing dome designed to offer sightseeing in what oceanographers call the Midnight Zone.

  • At 1K meters, pressure hits at 100x of the surface, demanding zero-tolerance hull engineering, shatter-resistant viewports, and fail-safe life support.

  • The OceanGate Titan disaster, which killed five, was attributed to flawed engineering, insufficient testing, and a rejection of industry safety standards.

Why it matters: The deep-sea tourism market didn’t end with OceanGate but rather regrouped. China’s sub joins an elite circuit that’s looking to send the wealthy to the furthest depths. This includes U.S.-based Triton Submarines, which is developing a Titanic-rated vessel, and U-Boat Worx, building underwater cars and “party subs.”

TRADE WARS

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: The FCC just added all new foreign-made home routers to its national security “covered” list, effectively banning them from the U.S. market unless manufacturers can obtain a security exemption — a high bar few are expected to clear.

The details:

  • Routers already in homes can stay, and already approved foreign models can keep shipping for now, but the pipeline for new foreign hardware is largely shut.

  • The move particularly targets Chinese-linked manufacturers after U.S. intelligence tied compromised routers to cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

  • TP-Link, the Chinese brand that dominates Amazon’s bestseller list, had already drawn scrutiny following a string of high-profile intrusions.

Why it matters: Coming on the heels of the drone ban, the FCC’s move hands Washington sweeping control over the hardware that carries most U.S. internet traffic. For consumer-router supply chains built around overseas (and especially Chinese) manufacturing, the pressure to reconfigure is now acute.

WING

Image source: Wing

The Rundown: Alphabet’s drone delivery unit Wing is bringing its fleet to the San Francisco Bay Area later this year, partnering with Walmart and DoorDash to offer residential deliveries across one of the country’s most tech-forward markets.

The details:

  • Wing says it has already logged more than 750K deliveries across Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Virginia, as well as Australia.

  • A national last-mile network is the goal, with Wing pitching its drones as faster and cleaner than delivery vans.

  • The Walmart partnership is set to scale to more than 270 stores by 2027, with DoorDash adding consumer reach on the platform side.

  • Urban airspace complexity and FAA regulatory constraints remain the biggest variables in how fast Wing and its rivals can actually expand.

Why it matters: After years of suburban pilots, Alphabet is making a direct play for commercial relevance for its moonshot drone program, just as the competitive pressure is heating up. Zipline just snapped up an extra $200M, and Amazon’s Prime Air is rolling out across the U.K. in 2026.

HELION

Image source: Helion Energy

The Rundown: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has resigned as chair of Helion Energy, the fusion startup he has backed for a decade, as the company enters early talks on a deal that could supply a significant share of OpenAI’s future electricity needs.

The details:

  • Helion and OpenAI are reportedly in early talks about a deal that could give OpenAI rights to 12.5% of Helion’s electricity output if the fusion tech pans out.

  • An early framework envisions Helion delivering up to about 5 gigawatts by 2030 and 50 gigawatts by 2035 from thousands of 50-megawatt reactors.

  • The company, which counts Altman among its backers, has raised $425M and already holds power agreements with Microsoft and steelmaker Nucor.

  • Helion’s system is designed to capture energy directly from expanding plasma via magnetic coils, bypassing steam turbines that most power plants rely on.

Why it matters: Altman is stepping away from the board to remove potential conflicts as Helion pursues a commercial relationship with OpenAI — the same move he made at nuclear startup Oklo. The pattern is deliberate: tie frontier AI’s future to a new generation of low-carbon energy sources that don’t fully exist yet.

QUICK HITS

Apple plans to introduce Google‑style search ads in Apple Maps as soon as this summer as part of a broader push to grow its services revenue, Bloomberg reports.

Samsung’s new Galaxy S26 phones can now use their Quick Share feature to send files directly to iPhones, iPads, and Macs via Apple’s AirDrop.

OnlyFans owner Leonid Radvinsky died of cancer at 43 while reportedly in talks to sell a majority stake in the company at a roughly $5.5B valuation.

Prediction platforms Kalshi and Polymarket are tightening trading rules by barring insiders from betting, as senators push to ban sports-style bets on prediction markets.

London fintech firm Revolut posted a record 2025 pretax profit of $2.3B on $6B in revenue, sharply higher than 2024, as it gears up for a big U.S. expansion.

Russia launched 16 Rassvet broadband satellites to low-Earth orbit, marking the start of a Starlink-style domestic internet constellation positioned as a rival to SpaceX.

Nintendo is cutting planned Switch 2 production by more than 30%, trimming this quarter’s output from 6M to 4M consoles after weaker-than-expected demand.

A French Navy officer jogging on the deck of the aircraft carrier used Strava to log his run, inadvertently exposing the warship’s precise location in the Mediterranean.

Sony is close to a $1B deal to sell a majority stake in its home entertainment business, including TVs, to Chinese rival TCL.

Singapore-based super app Grab agreed to buy Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda food-delivery operations in Taiwan for $600M in cash.

COMMUNITY

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

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