The Morning After: SpaceX gets a surprising new enemy

If events in the last few years have felt like a higher power playing Mad Libs with our lives, then it looks as if it’s running out of options. “SpaceX,” you imagine it pulling out “gets sued by…” and then the sounds of paper rustling until it says, “Cards Against Humanity.” Turns out the silly game jokesters own an acre of land near to SpaceX’s facility in Texas, which the latter has been using for its own purposes.

Cards Against Humanity has filed a lawsuit against SpaceX, alleging the rocket company has been trespassing on land it bought back in 2017. The lawsuit says the previously pristine land has been turned into an ersatz staging ground and parking lot for nearby construction work. It asks for $15 million compensation for the trespass and damage. If successful, it says it’ll share the win with the crowdfunding backers who coughed up to buy the land.

If the higher power in question wants some help with some suggestions, it could do worse than suggesting Engadget’s humble newsletter writers win a billion pounds each on the same day in completely different competitions.

— Dan Cooper

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Microsoft plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant that narrowly avoided disaster

Don’t worry, it’s not using that power for anything good!

Microsoft is bankrolling the partial reactivation of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. Those with short memories may not know it was the site of a 1979 meltdown that helped halt the development of nuclear energy in the US.

Now, I’m not mad the plant is being reactivated, since nuclear offers safe, clean and abundant energy. TMI reactor one remained in operation from 1985 until 2019, so it’s got a healthy track record too. But I am mad at the reason Microsoft’s cutting the check: to power its AI data centers!

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Theater chains will spend $2.2 billion to lure you back to the movies

Anyone for pickleball?

B&B Theatres

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of reasons I rarely visit movie theaters:

1. The cost

2. Not being able to pause the movie to visit the restroom

3. People talking during the movie

4. People checking Facebook on their phone during the movie

5. People making phone calls during the movie

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of things movie chains will do to lure me back:

1. Spend $2.2 billion to install zip wires, pickleball courts and bowling alleys

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OpenAI staffers reportedly ‘taken aback’ by ‘ominous’ logo rebranding

And Sir Jonathan Ive is working with CEO Sam Altman on a secret project.

OpenAI

OpenAI is reportedly ditching its increasingly recognizable hexagonal flower logo in favor of something a bit more sinister. Staff members were apparently shown a stark black O icon that lacks the warmth of the existing identity. At the same time, a new profile of Sir Jonathan Ive reveals the long-rumored partnership between him and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is real. The iPhone designer’s firm, LoveFrom, is working on some sort of AI hardware tool, but that’s all we know right now. Let’s hope it does better than the Humane Pin, the last AI hardware tool cooked up by a storied designer with Apple on their resume.

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