Mission Control Should Call HR

SpaceX loves to talk about pushing the limits. Turns out that includes worker injury rates. At its Starbase facility in Texas, 2024 data shows 4.27 injuries per 100 workers. For context, the space vehicle manufacturing average is 0.7. That’s not a rounding error. That’s nearly six times higher.

Starbase is where Elon Musk's team is building the future of spaceflight. But it’s also where workers are getting hurt at a rate that would make any safety officer lose sleep. The aerospace industry average is around 1.6 injuries per 100 workers. Starbase blows past that. And these aren't paper cuts. In 2024 alone, employees racked up over 3,500 days on restricted duty. Another 656 days were completely lost. Translation? A lot of people were too injured to do their jobs.

This is not just a Starbase thing. SpaceX's West Coast rocket recovery team reported 7.6 injuries per 100 workers. That’s more than nine times the industry average. At other locations, the numbers are still bad. McGregor had 2.48, Bastrop came in at 3.49, Redmond hit 2.89, and even the Hawthorne headquarters clocked in above one.

Former OSHA officials are sounding the alarm. One called Starbase’s injury rate a red flag. Not a caution light. A full stop. And it’s not hard to see why. SpaceX runs on speed. The company is famous for its breakneck development cycles and launch schedules. But when you move that fast, people get hurt. Literally.

This should matter to more than just the people on the factory floor. SpaceX has government contracts. Big ones. With NASA. With the Department of Defense. If you’re a taxpayer, you’re helping fund this. So when safety standards fall off a cliff, it’s not just a workplace issue. It’s a national one.

And look, building rockets is not supposed to be risk free. Everyone gets that. But there’s a difference between a risky mission and a reckless workplace. If your team is constantly getting banged up, maybe the problem isn’t just the job. Maybe it’s how you’re running it.

SpaceX has a lot to be proud of. Starship is ambitious. Reusable rockets are a game changer. But that doesn’t excuse a culture where safety is clearly taking a back seat. Innovation is great. Just not when it comes at the cost of workers' health.

Bottom line? SpaceX is winning the race to Mars. But here on Earth, it might want to slow down and take care of the people building the rockets. Because if you’re breaking records but also breaking people, it’s not really a success story. It’s a warning sign.

Rapid Fire

🟠 Claude Code users woke up Monday to find their access had quietly shrunk. No heads-up, no warning, just a blunt message: “Claude usage limit reached.” For folks on the $200 Max plan—supposedly the Cadillac of Claude subscriptions—that was a slap in the face. One minute you’re shipping code, the next you’re stuck in AI timeout with a vague reset timer and zero explanation. Naturally, people turned to GitHub, where the complaints piled up fast. The gist? “I barely used it and already hit the cap.” Or more bluntly: “You’re either tracking wrong or quietly nerfed my plan.”

Anthropic’s response? A shrug. They confirmed “some users” were having slower experiences and said they were “working on it.” Cool, thanks. Meanwhile, users are stuck, stalled, and wondering what they’re paying for. One developer said he tried switching to other models like Gemini or Kimi, but nothing else holds up to Claude Code. The bigger issue isn’t just the cap—it’s the silence. When people are shelling out $200 a month and building real projects on your tools, you owe them more than a reset timer and radio silence. Transparency isn’t optional when your customers are powering their businesses with your product.

👾 Twitch is testing a new look that feels a lot like TikTok. The streaming giant, owned by Amazon, has quietly started experimenting with vertical video livestreams. The test was announced earlier this year at TwitchCon and is now live with a small number of streamers. According to app researchers, only a few mentions of the feature were found in the code, and Twitch is not saying who exactly is part of the early rollout. If you do see it, you will get a little pop-up saying vertical video is being tested and that you can flip back to the classic view anytime.

What makes this more than just a layout tweak is the plan to let streamers go live in both formats at once. Twitch teamed up with Aitum Vertical and built support into OBS to make dual streaming easy. Mobile viewers will get more options too, like joining Hype Trains or customizing how chat looks on screen without leaving fullscreen. It is a big shift for a platform that built its name on horizontal desktop streams. But Twitch is clearly watching TikTok and YouTube rake in billions with short vertical content and wants a piece of it. The test is small now but Twitch says it will expand later this year.

🔋 Senator Tom Cotton is demanding answers after a report revealed Microsoft has been letting engineers based in China help maintain cloud systems tied to the US military. The twist? These engineers don’t have direct access. Instead, they relay instructions to American “digital escorts” folks with security clearance but often zero technical know how. The escorts punch in commands without really knowing what they’re doing, which is… not exactly a cybersecurity flex. Some are ex military getting paid barely above minimum wage to guard military systems they can’t explain.

The data at stake might not be labeled “classified,” but it’s still serious think military ops, systems tied to life support, and financial infrastructure. It’s the kind of information foreign governments would love to get their hands on. Security experts are calling this setup a dream scenario for spies. Microsoft’s been using it for nearly a decade, quietly, and it helped them land major defense contracts. Now that it’s public, Cotton wants to know how this slipped through the cracks and more importantly, who’s actually keeping America’s digital front lines secure.

Tech Radar

Netflix just made AI history and stirred up some Hollywood nerves in the process. The company confirmed it used generative AI to create a dramatic building collapse scene in El Eternauta, an Argentine sci-fi series about survivors of a toxic snowfall. That one scene? Done ten times faster and for way less money than traditional visual effects. It’s the first time AI-generated footage has made it to screen in a Netflix original. The sequence came together thanks to a team-up with Eyeline Studios, Netflix’s in-house production innovation group. Without AI, they say the shot would’ve been too expensive to even consider.

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos pitched the move as a win for creators, not a threat, saying AI can help make content better, not just cheaper. But let’s be real, the timing’s spicy. After Hollywood's bruising fights over AI in 2023, a major streamer debuting AI footage feels like a flex. Netflix is also looking beyond production. Co-CEO Greg Peters teased voice-powered content searches, imagine saying “Find me an eerie thriller from the 80s” and getting a tailored list. On the surface, it's about efficiency and cool tech. Underneath, it’s a preview of where the entertainment industry might be headed, and not everyone’s excited.

Recently Deployed

Cursor just scooped up Koala, a shiny but short-lived AI startup that raised fifteen million dollars earlier this year and is now calling it quits. This is not about the product. Cursor is not touching Koala's CRM tool. They just want the people. A few of Koala’s top engineers are hopping over to build an enterprise squad inside Cursor. The rest of the company is shutting down in September. So yeah, Cursor basically paid for talent and potential, not code.

This move is part of Cursor’s plan to punch up in the AI coding game. Right now, Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot owns the enterprise space, mostly because they already have deep ties with big companies and the firepower to back it up. Cursor is trying to change that by becoming a full-blown platform companies pay for, not just a tool developers sneak into their workflow. And if picking off smart folks from startups like Koala and Resourcely helps them do that faster, they will keep doing it. The message is clear. Cursor is not playing around. They want to be the Copilot killer.

That’s a wrap. 

The space race is cool. Blasting off is exciting. But maybe let’s keep the factory floors from turning into ER waiting rooms. Between boiling hot AI competition, Twitch verticals, and cloud security guards with no clue what they’re guarding, 2025 is shaping up to be a very strange season of Black Mirror.

We will be back tomorrow with more stories about the tech, politics, and power plays shaping your inbox, your screen, and maybe your commute. In the meantime, keep your seatbelt fastened and maybe don’t skimp on workplace safety. Looking at you, Elon.

Catch you then.