Space Race Acquisition

This episode of Tech Brew Ride Home covers a major development in the satellite internet race, with Amazon announcing a $10.8 billion acquisition of GlobalStar to accelerate its Leo low-Earth orbit network and challenge Elon Musk’s Starlink. The deal, set to close in 2027, includes GlobalStar’s existing satellite infrastructure, spectrum licenses, and its established partnership with Apple to power emergency services on iPhones and Apple Watches. Amazon is falling behind Starlink in satellite deployment—Starlink has over 10,000 satellites and 10 million users—so the acquisition is seen as a strategic move to catch up. Meanwhile, the episode details the federal charges against 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama, accused of attempting to murder Sam Altman with a Molotov cocktail and attacking OpenAI’s offices, with prosecutors treating the act as domestic terrorism due to his anti-AI manifesto and targeting of AI executives. Other stories include OpenAI’s acquihire of fintech startup Hiro Finance, Google’s crackdown on 'back button hijacking' by demoting deceptive sites in search results, and the booming data labeling industry, where startups like Handshake and Merkur are generating over $1 billion in annualized revenue by training AI models. Finally, the episode highlights growing public backlash against data centers, with voters in Festus, Missouri, and Port Washington, Wisconsin, rejecting local council members and passing referendums to restrict future tech infrastructure projects.