THE RUNDOWN

Munich-based Isar Aerospace successfully launched the first fully commercial orbital rocket built and operated entirely in Europe — a milestone the continent's legacy space programmes never pulled off on their own. It's the kind of moment that reshapes how Europe thinks about its place in the new space economy, especially as SpaceX dominates the commercial launch market. After a failed attempt back in March, this second try stuck the landing — figuratively, at least.

The Seattle Times and Newsday have joined the growing queue of news organisations taking OpenAI and Microsoft to court over alleged copyright infringement, claiming their journalism was used to train AI models without permission or payment. This is now a pattern, not an anomaly — publishers are drawing a clear line, and courts will eventually have to draw one too. If you've been following the broader AI and intellectual property debate, this case adds serious weight to the publisher side.

A cargo plane carrying the Amazon logo overran the runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday during landing, ploughing into parked vehicles and injuring multiple people. It's a serious incident that'll put Amazon's air freight logistics under scrutiny — the company has been rapidly expanding its own delivery aviation network, and accidents like this raise questions about fleet management and safety protocols.

The Tesla Cybercab has finally hit public roads, but it's already running into problems that suggest the road to mass robotaxi deployment is bumpier than Elon Musk's presentations made it look. The specifics of the 'snag' are still emerging, but for a vehicle that was supposed to signal Tesla's big autonomous future, early friction isn't a great look. Worth watching how this develops over the coming weeks.

Speaking of autonomous vehicles — Uber's controversial co-founder Travis Kalanick says his new company, Atoms, is moving into the robotaxi space. He's called it 'unfinished business,' which is a pointed reference to the self-driving ambitions Uber ultimately sold off. Whether Atoms can compete with Waymo and Tesla is a massive question, but Kalanick has never been short of ambition or funding connections.

The Fairphone 6 Plus is getting strong reviews as a genuinely competitive midrange Android device — not just something you buy to feel good about your environmental footprint. Fairphone's whole mission has always been repairability and ethical supply chains, and the fact that the phone itself is now 'extremely average' in the best possible way means you don't have to compromise anymore. For Ghanaian and African buyers exploring quality mid-range options, this one's worth knowing about.

Boox has confirmed more details on the Picco, its ultra-compact e-reader that's been teased since July. Specs and pricing are filtering out of IFA, and it looks like a genuine pocket-sized reading device designed to compete with the buzz around the Xtink X4. November is the target window — good timing for holiday gifting if you're into e-ink displays.

Phil Schiller reportedly stepped back from his App Store role because he had real reservations about new Apple CEO John Ternus' plans to squeeze more recurring revenue out of developers. That's a significant internal friction point — Schiller was one of the most influential voices on the App Store's philosophy, and his discomfort signals that Apple's relationship with developers could be heading for another rough patch.

The Anthropic copyright settlement is creating its own drama — authors are speaking out against what they see as publishers and literary agents claiming a disproportionate share of settlement payments that should be going directly to the writers whose work was used. It's a reminder that even when AI companies settle, the money doesn't automatically reach the people most affected.

Researchers have developed remote-controlled cockroaches fitted with electrodes, cameras, and medication-delivery systems, potentially able to navigate disaster zones that are too dangerous or too small for human responders. It sounds like science fiction but the technology is real, and it's a fascinating example of bio-hybrid engineering. Not every breakthrough needs to come in a sleek aluminium chassis.

That's the world of tech on September 7th — rockets, lawsuits, and robo-cockroaches. Big week ahead as more Cybercab details emerge and the Apple developer community digests the Schiller news.