Yes, SpaceX has filed its IPO, and NVIDIA had amazing earnings too. But we also have cheap LiDAR that can see around corners.
Starring Tom Merritt and Jenn Cutter
TOM: This is the Daily Tech News for Thursday, May 21, 2026. We tell you what you need to know, give you the important context, and help each other understand.
JENN: Today, yes, we have the SpaceX IPO and NVIDIA earnings, but we will start with a plan for a multi-tool from Flipper that lets you hack around on networks.
I’m Tom Merritt,
I’m Jenn Cutter.
TOM: Let’s start with what you need to know with the big story.
Flipper unveils a Linux-powered networking gadget built for hackers and tinkerers | TechCrunch New Flipper One computing multitool bristles with network, GPIO, and M.2 connectivity — new keychain device is also a fully open Arm Linux computer | Tom’s Hardware New Flipper One Multi-Tool Computer Is Built for Tinkerers | PCMag
TOM: Hacking device-maker Flipper announced the development of the Flipper One, sort of a multitool for hacking. The good kind of hacking and the bad kind of attacking but it’s the kind of tool security pros need to defend systems.
Where the existing Flipper Zero can connect over multiple offline wireless profiles, like Bluetooth, RFID, NFC and such. The new Flipper One goes heavy network with 2x Gigabit Ethernet, USB Ethernet (5 Gbps), and Wi-Fi 6E (2.4/5/6 GHz). It also has a GPIO port and an M.2 port which you can connect a 5G mode, Software Defined Radio module, AI accelerator, SSD or WiFi card to. And ther’s a full size HDMI port.
It will have an eight-core RK3576 chip, a Mali-G52 GPU, an NPU and 8GB of RAM. So you can use it as a Linux PC if you want. There’s also a two-core Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller to power display, buttons, touchpad LEDs and the power subsystem. That way you can still use some of its functions without having to boot up the Linux PC part of the device.
The Flipper OS Linux distro will let you create profiles so you can experiment with different packages and settings without having to swap or flash SD cards. It has its own FlipCTL interface so you can control the device from a D-pad and touchscreen.
If you’re not already thinking of multiple ways you could use this some examples include a TV media box, Signal analyzer, pocket PC, diagnostics tool, cyberdeck, VPN gateway, network auditing and packet and router.
Flipper still needs to add mainline kernel support for NPU functions and bring the Flipper OS and FlipCTL interface from concept to a working OS. Part of the reason of announcing Flipper One right now is to invite excited supporters to join the community and help develop the software. Flipper expects the final device to cost less than $350.
JENN: DTNS is made possible by you the listener. Thanks to Sebastian Werner Tim Deputy Brandon Brooks Jony Hernandez
TOM: There’s more we need to know today, let’s get to the briefs.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Files Publicly for Nasdaq IPO Under Symbol SPCX - Bloomberg Anthropic is paying SpaceX $15 billion per year Exclusive | Mind-Blowing Growth Is About to Propel Anthropic Into Its First Profitable Quarter - WSJ Anthropic says it’s about to have its first profitable quarter | TechCrunch OpenAI May Go Public As Soon As September
JENN: SpaceX filed its paperwork for an Initial Public Offering, or IPO, of stock on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol SPCX.
That means we got some info on the company that has not been officially public before.
SpaceX lost $4.28 billion in Q1 compared to a loss of $528 million last year. Revenue grew from $4 billion last year to $4.69 billion this year.
The losses are driven by spending on data center capacity. However, that is expected to generate revenue as Anthropic is on the hook to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion a month for access to the Colossus data centers through May 2029. SpaceX expects to add more data center customers and is exploring operating data centers in orbit.
Most of its revenue comes from Starlink: subscribers rose from 4.4 million in 2024 to 8.9 million in 2025.
Elon Musk has 85.1% of the voting power, which, even after an IPO, will continue to give him full control. The IPO will deliver about 30% of shares to the retail investors.
The IPO is targeted for June 12th.
In related news, Anthropic can afford to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion a month because it is expecting revenue to double to $10.9 billion in Q2 and record its first operating profit.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is next up with folks telling the New York Times it may file for its IPO soon as well.
Arizona data centers raise Phoenix temperatures by up to 4 degrees – air cooled data centers are creating thermal plumes that exacerbate public health risks and compound heat output in towns and cities | TechRadar Open Compute urges local government to bask in the warm glow of excess datacenter heat
TOM: A study from scientists at Arizona State University recommends that city planners take into account the heat output of data centers when evaluating locations and local impacts. The same way you would for, say, a steel smelting plant.
They measured the air temperature around four facilities in the Phoenix area, ranging from a 36MW center to a 169-MW campus. Thermal plumes raised the temperature an average of 1.3 to 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The peak was 4 degrees.
In some related news, the Open Compute Project, which develops energy-efficient hardware, is developing guidance for communities on ways to use excess heat from data centers for home heating, vegetable growing or pool heating. You can find more at opencompute.org.
Spotify and Universal Music Announce Agreements for Fan-Made Covers Spotify will reserve tickets for top fans of an artists in a bid to drum up engagement | TechCrunch Spotify launches an ElevenLabs-powered audiobook creation tool | TechCrunch Spotify adds AI-powered Q&A and briefing generation features to podcasts | TechCrunch Spotify takes on Google’s NotebookLM with its new app | TechCrunch
JENN: Spotify had several announcements at its investor meeting Wednesday.
Spotify reached an agreement with Universal Music Group that will let users make covers and remixes of songs from UMG artists. The tool will be a paid add-on for Premium users.
A beta in June will invite select English-language authors to try a tool to generate an audiobook that can be distributed on Spotify or elsewhere.
The tool that lets you create a podcast from your own data or prompts will be built into Spotify soon.
And if you qualify as a superfan of an artist, based on an unspecified combination of streams, shares, and other activity, Spotify may reserve two tickets to that artist’s concert ahead of the general public, which superfans can then purchase.
Smartphone-Grade Lidar Sees Around Corners On the Cheap - IEEE Spectrum [Imaging hidden objects with consumer LiDAR via motion-induced sampling | Nature](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10502-x
TOM: A new paper in Nature describes how to use LiDAR to see around corners using off-the-shelf equipment that costs less than US$100.
The system bounces light off reflective surfaces and measures how long it takes to return to create an image of what’s there. The ability to deduce what is out of line of sight using this method has been demonstrated in a lab with $1 million of equipment.
The breakthrough was to take lower-quality data from cheaper sensors and analyze multiple low-quality readings at once. They used a portable lidar system that has 100 pixels combined with a single-photon detector. They created an algorithm that could analyze multiple readings to reconstruct 3D images of static hidden objects and track 3D motion of hidden items.
Future work is to be able to handle unexpected motion better and possibly develop cheaper hardware designed for understanding hidden scenes.
TOM: If you have feedback about anything that gets brought up on the show… Get in touch with us on the socials. @DTNSshow on X, Instagram, Threads!, Blue Sky, and Mastodon. For TikTok and YouTube, you can find us at Daily Tech News Show.
TOM: And now, some quick headlines that are just good to know and might make you look smarter in the future.
Nvidia fails to dazzle investors despite lifting dividends
JENN: NVIDIA reported that revenue grew 85% on the year and data center revenue almost doubled. While NVIDIA spoke in its earnings call about other sources of revenue, investors seem to believe that NVIDIA is about near the peak of what it can make on hyperscalers.
Google is Bringing New Gemini-Powered Ads to its Search Engine
TOM: At its Marketing Live conference on Wednesday, Google announced it will start testing Gemini-generated ads in search. The ads will be marked as sponsored content and could show up as a highlighted answer added on to a query or as relevant details about a product that may meet a need.
AMD Prices Its Ryzen AI Halo PC At $3,999, Unveils Ryzen AI Max 400 Chips
JENN: AMD announced that its Mac-Mini-sized Halo system, which it showed at CES, will start at $3,999 with Ryzen AI Max 300 CPUs, preorders coming in June.
GitHub links repo breach to TanStack npm supply-chain attack
TOM: GitHub identified the TanStack npm supply-chain attack as the source of the compromised VS Code extension that led to malicious access of 3800 internal GitHub repos.
Kansas City Has Bought More Than 4,500 MacBook Neos For Its Students
JENN: Kansas City Public Schools announced it will replace more than 30,000 Windows PCs and Chromebooks with Apple devices, including 4,500 MacBook Neos for 8th graders and up. Younger grades will use existing iPads and MacBook Airs.
ACSI: Samsung edges out Apple in cell phone satisfaction, Apple Watch ties at the top - 9to5Mac
TOM: The American Customer Satisfaction Index shows Samsung nudged ahead of Apple to become the top cell phone brand in the US.
JENN: The US is awarding a total of $2 billion dollars in grants to nine quantum-computing companies to encourage the development of quantum computers. The government will receive minority stakes in the companies, including IBM, Global Foundries, D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, and Infleqtion.
Waymo pauses Atlanta service as its robotaxis keep driving into floods | TechCrunch
TOM: Waymo has added Atlanta to San Antonio as cities where it has paused its autonomous driving service as it works on making sure its cars do not drive through flooded roads.
Exclusive | Netflix Pushes Further Into Live Programming With ‘The Breakfast Club’ - WSJ
JENN: The Breakfast Club will become the first daily live program to stream on Netflix starting June 1st.
James Murdoch Buys New York Mag, Vox Podcast Network in $300 Million Deal : r/DailyTechNewsShow James Murdoch Buys New York Mag, Vox Podcast Network in $300 Million Deal
TOM: Thanks to motang for noting this on the subreddit, James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems has bought most of Vox Media and will merge it with New York Magazine. However, the Eater, Popsugar, SB Nation, The Dodo, and The Verge are not included and will spin off into an independent company.
Apple to Broadcast MLS Match Shot Entirely on iPhone 17 Pro
JENN: And on Saturday, May 23rd, Apple will stream the LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo FC, MLS match using only the iPhone 17 Pro as cameras. The first time an iPhone will be used to shoot an entire major live sporting event.
JENN: We end every episode of DTNS with some shared perspectives. Today Frozen Cusser has some thoughts on Google’s update to the Gemini app’s UI.
TOM: Frozen Cusser writes: Greetings,
… what that update did was very impactful to me and my co-workers.
For more than a year, we were told to “mine gems” for our quick workflows. The new UI has moved those gems from a pin-able side-menu to a few clicks away (and beneath a tall header to create something else). Not only that, they removed the “Send Feedback” option for me to tell them how much I dislike it. This has been really annoying and if I had the ability to switch AI companies at work, I would seriously consider it.
Just a small reminder that UI changes are workflow changes and they have a big impact.
…
Frozen Cusser
JENN: What are you thinking about? Got some insight into a story? Share it with us feedback@dailytechnewsshow.com
TOM: Thanks to Frozen Cusser for contributing to today’s show. And thank YOU for being along for Daily Tech News Show. You can keep us in business, by becoming a patron, atPatreon.com/dtns
