Beyond Tech: Your Weekend Upgrade

The Air Travel Revolution Goes Supersonic... and Electric

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The Tech Buzz
July 25, 2026

WHAT’S INSIDE TODAY:

Feature: The Air Travel Revolution Goes Supersonic… and Electric

Consumer Tech: XPENG flying van; Cybercab Starlink; Samsung AI glasses, Fold devices, & Galaxy Card; 7-inch iPhone; Dell XPS; Philips smart brush

Art/Culture: Anthropic settles; Sony v Udio; Paramount halted; Netflix AI studio; Blomkamp AI film; Avengers trailer

Food/Drink: AI menu backlash; Taylor Farms donation; Clean Plate AI; Uber–Delivery Hero; Gen Z drinking shift

Sports: World Cup 66.4M; halftime stars; MLB bans AI; Apple soccer app; Topgolf expansion; women’s sports bars

Futurism: Colossal mammoth; neural bypass; robot MMA; air taxis; Gritt solar robots

Wellness: AI health surge; Samsung Health AI; Bristol Myers AI; Craneware breach; Tempus cancer deal

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEVANTA

CONSUMER TECH

China Flying Car Van — XPENG ARIDGE Land Craft Carrier, a six-wheeled plug-in hybrid van, deploys detachable A868 flying car with eVOTL tech, seating 2, ~$280K.

Cybercab Starlink V5 — Tesla embedded Starlink V5 antennas in the Cybercab's structure for autonomous fleet management alongside 5G LTE and GPS.

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked — AI-powered smart glasses ft. Gemini AI, 9-hr battery, with Gentle Monster, Warby Parker | Galaxy Card rivals Apple's credit services | Fold Trio the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Fold8, Flip8 with AI, Flex + 6mth Google AI Pro trial. | Galaxy Watch Ultra2 and Watch9 w/AI health tools, AR.

Giant iPhone — Apple tests a 6.96-inch display for future iPhone w/ Pro Max aspect ratio, potentially by 2027. + Apple teams with Klarna on BNPL devices.

Dell XPS Refresh — Dell XPS 14 revives classic with solid build, strong performance, and engaging user experience, designed so appealingly you'll find it hard to put down.

Philips Smart Brush — Philips launches an AI-enabled smart toothbrush offering real-time feedback on brushing techniques, utilizing IoT to personalize dental care.

The Air Travel Revolution Goes Supersonic… and Electric

Two old rules stood in the way of much faster a much faster air travel domestically or abroad. This week, Washington just knocked both of them down. One had kept planes from flying faster than sound over American soil since 1973. The other left small electric aircraft grounded under a pile of paperwork. If the timelines hold, you could feel the difference in how you cross a city or an ocean before 2030. Meanwhile GE and Nasa just tested the first hybrid-electric trans-Atlantic flight.

The Boom Is Back

For 53 years, it was illegal for a passenger jet to break the sound barrier over US land. The ban goes back to the 1960s, when test flights over cities like Oklahoma City rattled windows loose and buried the government in damage complaints. People hated it, and the rule stuck.

The FAA wants to swap the old speed limit for a noise limit. Fly as fast as you like, the logic goes, as long as your sonic boom lands softly, at or below 0.11 pounds per square foot at the ground. Public comment closes 17 August 2026, and final rules are penciled in for mid-2027.

Good news for Boom Supersonic in Colorado, whose Overture jet already has buyers. United Airlines has signed up for as many as 50, hoping to fly them by the end of the decade. Just do not expect a bargain fare. Speed like that gets priced like a luxury, at least at first.

The Hybrid Electric Air Game-Changer

Simultaneously, GE Aerospace just flew the first high-altitude hybrid-electric flight across the Atlantic, in a test plane built with Boeing, Beta Technologies, and NASA. GE is holding a $210B backlog, Boeing's order book sits at $695B, and both have every reason to build engines that drink less. Proponents say the combination of traditional and electric propulsion can be used when needed to help aircraft get higher faster, and contribute to ambitious targets for lower fuel consumption and emissions.

Beating Traffic by Going Over It

Down at rooftop level, electric air taxis got a shortcut of their own. The FAA waved through 8 pilot projects across 26 states, letting companies fly for real before every last approval is signed. Joby Aviation has already run the 7-minute hop from Manhattan to JFK it wants to sell you, a trip that can crawl past an hour by car. More routes are coming, including a Texas web tying together Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston.

I like the idea more than I trust the timing. Neither Joby nor Archer Aviation has full FAA sign-off yet. Joby has passed 4 of 5 certification stages, which sounds close until you remember the last stage is usually the hard one.

China is already well ahead in this, with a number of commercial services in place in major cities. And this year, consumers can even purchase their own personal flying car embedded in a cybertruck-type van. XPENG in China is now selling the EV van with a flying EV car folded into the back for about $280,000, betting the whole market there hits $23B by 2040.

Cheap Fuel Is No Longer a Safe Bet

Timing matters, and right now it favors electricity. With the war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea now closed to Gulf State oil-tanker traffic, the sour crude oil that becomes jet fuel looks shakier and dearer by the week. The U.S. does not produce enough sour crude to meet our current jet fuel and diesel production needs which is a pending crisis for air travel in this country. Suddenly a hybrid plane that runs partly on batteries has a real selling point.

The Pentagon Is Footing the Bill

The former point is also part of the reason the Pentagon is funding this revolution. Air taxis lose money by the bucket and still cannot sell most rides, so they went looking for a customer with deeper pockets. They found the military. Archer built a hybrid aircraft called Thunder with defense firm Anduril, the company started by Palmer Luckey, and it is meant for soldiers and civilians alike. Translation: defense contracts are quietly paying to keep your future taxi alive long enough to reach you.

Read the Fine Print

None of this is a boarding pass yet. The quieter-boom standard is only temporary, the rule on takeoff and landing noise has not been written, and the people who will live under these new flight paths have barely been asked. Europe's air taxi makers keep sliding their launch dates as safety checks bite, proof that a regulator can want something badly and still take years to allow it.

What Washington has done is pick a direction and step on the gas. Whether your first supersonic seat or your first seven-minute sky hop shows up on schedule is the open question, and it is the one I would keep an eye on.

ARTS & CULTURE

Anthropic Settlement — Court approved Anthropic's $1.5B settlement with authors, with only 350 opting out, resolving the major copyright dispute.

Sony Sues Udio — Sony filed an expanded lawsuit against Udio AI for allegedly using 30K songs in gen AI training, protecting music catalog from infringement.

Paramount Deal Halted — Federal judge issued temporary restraining order halting the takeover of Warner Bros. amid antitrust challenge by 12 state AGs.

Netflix Affleck Bet — Netflix invested $587M to acquire Ben Affleck's AI filmmaking startup, enhancing its content production capabilities.

Blomkamp AI Film — Blomkamp partnered with ByteDance to debut short film using text-to-video technology, marking significant step into Hollywood-level AI.

Toronto Festival Stars — Toronto Film Festival announced star-studded program featuring Helen Mirren, Chris Rock, and Seth Rogen, highlighting its 2026 lineup.

Avengers Doomsday — Marvel releases Avengers: Doomsday trailer showcasing returning heroes and new Doctor Doom, set to be major box-office event Dec 18.

FOOD & DRINK TECH:

AI Menu Backlash — A San Fran restaurant faced strong backlash for using AI-generated menu images that appeared unsettling, prompting owners to revert ads.

Taylor Farms Donation — Taylor Farms donated significantly to Trump Group following relaxed regulatory rules, shift that might have prevented potential outbreak.

Clean Plate AI — Clean Plate Innovations uses AI-powered cameras to analyze food waste, helping restaurants, schools, hospitals adjust menus and reduce costs.

Uber Delivery Hero — Uber plans to acquire Delivery Hero in a $14.8B all-stock deal, doubling delivery markets to nearly 100 globally, pending regulatory approval.

Gen Z Drinking Shift — Gen Z, previously at forefront of sobriety movement, now consuming more alcohol, reversing earlier trends and prompting fears of abuse risks.

Spain Wins the Fifa World Cup 2026

SPORTS & TECH DESK:

World Cup Record — 2026 FIFA World Cup final (won by Spain) captivated 66.4M U.S. viewers on Fox and Telemundo, the most-watched soccer match and top non-NFL telecast. The cup involved a $13B logistics plan, boosting global GDP $40.9B.

World Cup Halftime Show — The first ever World Cup final halftime show featured big name artists including Madonna, BTS, Shakira, and Justin Bieber.

MLB Bans AI — MLB banned hitters from using AI chatbots for advice before batting, aiming to maintain the human element in decision-making. It was prompted by the Mets' costly AI program for pitch calls.

Apple Soccer App — Apple enhances its Sports app with new soccer features, offering live match scores, team stats, customizable notifications for enthusiasts.

Topgolf Expansion — Topgolf, majority-owned by Leonard Green & Partners after $1.1B acquisition, plans cost cuts while expanding to 3-5 U.S. and 2-4 new international venues.

Women's Sports Bars — Women's sports bars expanding in U.S. with projected revenue of $2.35B, driven by increased viewership and bars like Jolene in Atlanta.

FUTURISM:

Colossal Mammoth — Colossal Biosciences seeks funding at $20-$30B valuation to resurrect extinct species like woolly mammoth using CRISPR technology.

Neural Breakthrough — Brain-computer interface helps paralyzed man regain arm movement and touch, enabling self-feeding with benefits lasting over two years.

Robot MMA Fight — EngineAI hosted first humanoid MMA fight featuring White Eagle and Matador, sparking viral interest and UN concerns over lethal autonomous weapons.

Air Taxi Push — United States accelerates efforts integrating air taxis and supersonic jets by clearing regulatory and infrastructure hurdles for deployment.

Gritt Solar Robots — Gritt secures $32M developing AI-driven robots attaching to construction equipment, automating and accelerating solar farm assembly.

WELLBEING AND HEALTH TECH:

AI Health Surge — AI agents in patient care attracted $335M investment in the last month, a rapid growth in health-tech ventures and healthcare AI adoption.

Samsung Health AI — New AI Assistant in U.S. beta interprets Galaxy device data on sleep and activity, providing physician-validated personalized insights.

Bristol Myers AI — Bristol Myers Squibb deploys AI SuperPOD on NVIDIA's Vera Rubin, boosting computational biology and drug discovery capabilities.

Craneware Breach — Craneware's SaaS compromise exposes sensitive patient and financial data for thousands of U.S. hospitals, raising HIPAA compliance concerns.

Tempus Cancer Deal — Tempus AI acquires cancer-monitoring firm Personalis for $1.5B, enhancing precision medicine and cancer detection technologies.

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