Key Facts
- Apple Unveils Thinnest iPhone: Apple launched the iPhone Air, its slimmest smartphone ever at just 5.6 mm thick, alongside the iPhone 17 series reuters.com. The iPhone Air packs Apple’s new A19 Pro chip and an eSIM-only design, but uses a single rear camera and faces questions on battery life reuters.com reuters.com. Analysts were pleasantly surprised, with Morgan Stanley noting, “We were more impressed with the look and capabilities of the Air… this could improve iPhone upgrade rates over the next 12 months” reuters.com.
- Meta’s AR Glasses Incoming:Meta is poised to debut new smart glasses with a built-in display at its Connect conference reuters.com. Codenamed “Hypernova” (launch name “Celeste”), the glasses feature a small screen in one lens for notifications and are expected to retail around $800 reuters.com reuters.com. Industry experts are skeptical: “These glasses will be somewhat bulky… pretty expensive. So the volumes are going to be fairly low,” said Jitesh Ubrani of IDC, predicting only a few hundred thousand units in sales reuters.com.
- TikTok Wins a Reprieve: The U.S. and China struck a deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S., averting a ban reuters.com. Under the agreement – similar to plans hashed out earlier this year – TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance will transfer U.S. assets into a new company majority-owned by American investors reuters.com. ByteDance will retain at most a 19.9% stake reuters.com. Oracle and other U.S. firms are set to take significant ownership, and U.S. data will remain on Oracle’s cloud servers reuters.com. “This deal [ensures] proper safeguards for U.S. national security … and seems to meet the Chinese interest,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reuters.com. Final confirmation is expected within 30–45 days, as officials finalize details reuters.com.
- Chip Wars: Nvidia’s China Setback:Nvidia’s new RTX6000D chip – a U.S. export-compliant AI accelerator tailored for China – is seeing lukewarm demand reuters.com. Major Chinese tech firms have largely opted not to order the RTX6000D, finding it overpriced (~¥50,000, or $7,000) for its performance reuters.com. Testing showed it lags far behind Nvidia’s high-end RTX5090, a model banned for China but available on the grey market at less than half the price reuters.com. Many companies are holding out for clarity on Nvidia’s next chips (like the H20 and rumored B30A) once U.S. regulations allow shipments reuters.com. An Nvidia spokesperson acknowledged intense competition and said the company is “offer[ing] the best products we can” reuters.com.
- Microsoft Busts Massive Phishing Ring:Microsoft seized 340 web domains linked to a sprawling phishing-as-a-service platform called “Raccoon0365” reuters.com. The Nigerian-based service, sold via a private Telegram channel, let cybercriminals impersonate brands and steal victims’ Microsoft login credentials reuters.com. Microsoft obtained a U.S. court order to take down the malicious sites, after discovering the service had already stolen at least 5,000 credentials and earned its operators over $100,000 in crypto since launching in mid-2024 reuters.com reuters.com. “Cybercriminals don’t need to be sophisticated to cause widespread harm. Simple tools like Raccoon0365 make cybercrime accessible to virtually anyone, putting millions at risk,” Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit lawyer Steven Masada warned reuters.com.
- Space Cargo Glitch Delays ISS Delivery: A space station resupply mission hit trouble when Northrop Grumman’s first “Cygnus XL” cargo craft suffered a propulsion anomaly en route to the ISS spacepolicyonline.com spacepolicyonline.com. The capsule, carrying 11,000 lbs of experiments and supplies, launched on Sept. 14 via a SpaceX Falcon 9. But on Sept. 16 its main engine shut down too early during orbit-raising burns, forcing NASA to scrub the planned Sept. 17 docking spacepolicyonline.com spacepolicyonline.com. Flight controllers are developing an alternate burn plan and a new arrival date is under review spacepolicyonline.com spacepolicyonline.com. Notably, this debut “XL” Cygnus can haul 33% more cargo than prior models spacepolicyonline.com, so all eyes are on troubleshooting the issue. (All other systems are healthy, NASA says.)
- Auto Tech: Musk’s $1B Bet & Factory Hack Fallout: In a bold show of confidence, Elon Musk bought $1 billion worth of Tesla stock on the open market – his first such purchase since 2020 reuters.com. The Tesla CEO scooped up 2.57 million shares (at ~$372–397 each) just as the company’s board floated a new $1 trillion pay plan for him reuters.com. Musk’s buy sent Tesla stock up ~6% and reassured investors about the EV maker’s direction. One analyst called it “the clearest signal yet that [Musk is] slamming the accelerator on being all-in again… the Tesla-Musk narrative looks firmly back on track” reuters.com. Meanwhile, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has extended a production shutdown at its UK plants to over three weeks as it recovers from a crippling cyberattack reuters.com reuters.com. JLR’s factories – which normally output ~1,000 cars a day – will remain idle until at least Sept. 24, with 33,000 employees affected and many told to stay home reuters.com reuters.com. “We have taken this decision as our forensic investigation of the cyber incident continues… a controlled restart… will take time,” the company said, warning the downtime could hit suppliers and require government support to avert job losses reuters.com reuters.com. In other Tesla news, U.S. regulators opened a safety probe into 174,000 Tesla Model Y SUVs (2021 model year) after door handles failed in multiple cases – sometimes trapping occupants until a window was broken reuters.com reuters.com.
- Biotech Breakthroughs & Blows: Full results from Eli Lilly’s Phase 3 trial of its experimental weight-loss pill (orforglipron) showed patients lost about 12% of body weight on average before progress plateaued by week 72 reuters.com. The daily GLP-1 pill hit its main endpoints and markedly improved cardiovascular metrics (lowering a key inflammation marker by ~47% and improving cholesterol and blood pressure) reuters.com reuters.com. However, the total weight loss was less than seen with weekly injectable drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy reuters.com. High doses also had significant side effects – one-third of patients experienced nausea and 10% had to drop out due to adverse effects reuters.com reuters.com. Investors reacted warily last month when Lilly first flagged the less robust results (shares fell ~14% on the news reuters.com), but analysts note the pill still shows promise for patients who can’t tolerate injections. In other pharma news, AstraZeneca reported that its asthma drug Fasenrafailed to meet the primary goal in a major COPD trial reuters.com, a setback to the company’s hopes of expanding Fasenra’s use for hard-to-treat chronic lung disease.
Consumer Electronics: Slim Phones and Smart Glasses
Apple’s Thinnest iPhone Yet: Apple’s fall product event introduced the iPhone Air, a dramatically slimmed-down iPhone that Apple billed as its biggest design shake-up in eight years reuters.com reuters.com. At just 5.6 mm thick, the iPhone Air is thinner than even its rival Samsung’s 5.8 mm Galaxy S25 Edge reuters.com. Inside the razor-thin chassis, Apple managed to fit its latest A19 Pro processor and claimed “all-day” battery life reuters.com reuters.com. The device carries a single rear camera (a trade-off to achieve the ultra-thin design) and uses an eSIM-only approach – something analysts warned could hurt adoption in markets like China that restrict eSIMs reuters.com reuters.com. Apple priced the Air to be “competitively positioned”, aiming to spark faster upgrade cycles amid stagnant smartphone sales. Analyst Reactions: Pre-event expectations were muted, but the Air earned cautious praise. “We were more impressed with the look and capabilities of the Air than we expected… this could help improve iPhone upgrade rates over the next 12 months,” wrote Morgan Stanley’s team in a note, though they added the eSIM-only feature may limit its appeal in China reuters.com. Still, Apple’s stock dipped after the unveiling, as investors noted the event offered few signs of new AI features or other breakthrough innovations to catch up with competitors reuters.com reuters.com. (Apple has lagged rivals in AI integration, a point of ongoing criticism.) Despite that, Apple enthusiasts at the launch cheered the fresh design, and early hands-on reports highlight the Air’s lightness and sleek feel in hand.
Meta’s AR Glasses with a Display: On the heels of Apple’s hardware news, Meta (Facebook’s parent) is generating buzz with an upcoming smart glasses release. At its annual Connect conference (set for Sept 17), CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to unveil Meta’s first consumer augmented-reality glasses with an integrated display reuters.com. Leaks and analysts suggest the device – internally codenamed “Hypernova” and likely launching as “Celeste” – will feature a small digital display in the right lens that can show basic info like notifications reuters.com. This would make the glasses a step more advanced than Meta’s current Ray-Ban Stories (which have cameras and audio but no displays). Price & Features: The new AR eyewear is rumored to cost around $800 reuters.com reuters.com, far pricier than the $299 entry of the Ray-Ban smart glasses. They will reportedly pair with a wrist-band controller for gesture control reuters.com, and Meta may also roll out an upgraded Ray-Ban line with better cameras and battery life, plus some AI-powered features reuters.com. Meta has sold about 2 million pairs of its existing Ray-Ban smart glasses since 2023 reuters.com – a rare consumer success in the AR/VR space – but that unit has also racked up significant losses for the company reuters.com. Market Reception: Industry watchers are mixed on Hypernova’s prospects. At an estimated ~$800, the glasses will be “much less advanced” than fully immersive AR headsets, yet bulkier and far costlier than camera glasses reuters.com. “These glasses will be somewhat bulky… not the most consumer-friendly design. It’s also going to be pretty expensive. So volumes will be fairly low,” observes Jitesh Ubrani, an IDC research manager, who expects only a few hundred thousand units to sell initially reuters.com. He notes, however, that Meta’s aim is long-term: “This is a step to eventually build a much better mass-market headset,” and seeding the developer ecosystem now is crucial reuters.com. Meta is indeed planning to open the glasses to third-party apps with a new SDK, encouraging devs to create AR features reuters.com. Early reports even suggest a tie-up with luxury eyewear brand Prada for stylish frames that can hide the tech hardware reuters.com. All told, Meta’s move underscores the rising competition in smart glasses – as Big Tech firms jockey to define the next era of wearable computing beyond the smartphone reuters.com.
Semiconductors: Chip Crunch and Trade-Offs
Nvidia’s China-Only AI Chip Disappoints: U.S. chip giant Nvidia hit a snag in China with its latest offering, the RTX6000D GPU. This chip was specially designed to comply with U.S. export curbs – essentially a neutered version of Nvidia’s cutting-edge AI silicon that the U.S. bans from sale to China reuters.com. However, Chinese customers are not flocking to the RTX6000D. Reuters reports the chip has seen only “lukewarm demand” since its September debut, with some big Chinese tech firms deciding not to order any at all reuters.com. Performance vs Price: Sources involved in procurement say the RTX6000D isn’t cost-effective – it’s priced around ¥50,000 (~$7,000) but delivers subpar performance reuters.com. In fact, testing showed it lags behind Nvidia’s more powerful RTX5090 GPU reuters.com, a top-tier model Washington has banned for China. Ironically, that coveted RTX5090 is still readily available on the grey market in China for less than half the RTX6000D’s price reuters.com. Faced with that reality, many Chinese companies appear to be skipping the RTX6000D entirely – either obtaining the better banned chips under the table or delaying purchases. Future Outlook: Chinese tech giants like Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance are also in a holding pattern as they await word on Nvidia’s next moves reuters.com. The U.S. recently granted Nvidia permission to sell its higher-end H20 chips to China (after initially blocking them) reuters.com, but as of mid-September shipments hadn’t resumed. There’s also chatter about a forthcoming “B30A” chip tailored for China reuters.com. Until there’s clarity, firms are reluctant to invest in a handicapped processor. “The market is competitive – we offer the best products we can,” an Nvidia spokesperson said when asked about the RTX6000D’s reception reuters.com, emphasizing that Nvidia must navigate evolving trade rules. The tepid response is a reality check in the U.S.–China tech standoff: even as U.S. sanctions aim to restrict China’s AI computing power, Chinese buyers won’t pay top dollar for inferior substitutes – potentially undercutting the policy’s effect if grey-market workarounds fill the gap.
Chip Investment in Europe: In related news, STMicroelectronics announced a $60 million investment to upgrade its semiconductor plant in Tours, France reuters.com. The move comes amid restructuring of that site; STMicro plans to develop a pilot line there for advanced chip manufacturing techniques reuters.com. While modest in scale, this investment aligns with Europe’s push to boost domestic chip production. It’s part of the broader trend of regional semiconductor strategies, as the EU races to increase its share of global chip output (targeting 20% by 2030) procurementpro.com. Europe has been attracting big projects – including Intel’s planned mega-fab in Germany – with hefty subsidies, but progress has been mixed. (Intel, for instance, cancelled a major Magdeburg fab project in August 2025 amid cost overruns and strategic shifts procurementpro.com procurementpro.com.) Against that backdrop, STMicro’s $60M bet in France is a small but positive sign of tech investment staying on track.
Cybersecurity: Phishing Rings and Ransomware Fallout
Microsoft Disrupts Phishing “Subscription” Service: A sprawling cybercrime network facilitating phishing attacks was taken down this week thanks to legal action by Microsoft. The service, known as “Raccoon0365,” was essentially a phishing-as-a-service platform run out of Nigeria reuters.com. For a subscription fee, it gave would-be attackers all the tools needed to impersonate trusted brands (especially Microsoft’s login pages) and harvest user credentials in bulk reuters.com reuters.com. According to Microsoft, Raccoon0365 operated via an invite-only Telegram channel with over 850 subscribers – a thriving little criminal SaaS community reuters.com. It even offered templates for tax-themed phishing emails; in one two-week span, over 2,300 organizations (mostly in the U.S.) were targeted by such campaigns, often at massive scale reuters.com. Takedown Details: Earlier this month, Microsoft quietly obtained a court order in the U.S. to seize nearly 340 internet domains tied to Raccoon0365 reuters.com reuters.com. On Sept. 16, Microsoft announced it had executed the seizures, effectively disrupting the service’s infrastructure. The operation was a joint effort: Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit partnered with the U.S. Secret Service and even Cloudflare (which helped neutralize the criminals’ hosting) reuters.com reuters.com. Microsoft also identified a Nigerian man, Joshua Ogundipe, as Raccoon0365’s lead operator and has him under investigation reuters.com. Impact: The seized domains were being used to create fake login pages and redirect unsuspecting victims. Microsoft says at least 5,000 sets of user credentials were stolen via Raccoon0365 kits reuters.com. The scheme proved moderately lucrative: it generated over $100,000 in cryptocurrency revenue for the perpetrators since mid-2024 reuters.com. “Cybercriminals don’t need to be sophisticated to cause widespread harm,” Microsoft’s Steven Masada noted, “Simple tools like Raccoon0365 make cybercrime accessible to virtually anyone, putting millions of users at risk.” reuters.com The case highlights the rise of plug-and-play cybercrime services – and shows tech companies increasingly turning to the courts to dismantle them.
Ongoing Fallout from Big Attacks: The ripple effects of earlier cyberattacks are still being felt in the tech world. In the UK, Jaguar Land Rover’s factories remain offline as the automaker continues to recover from a major ransomware attack that struck in early September reuters.com reuters.com. JLR has now extended the production halt until at least Sept. 24 – meaning its three British plants will have been down for over three weeks reuters.com reuters.com. The company said it proactively shut IT systems to contain the attack, but resuming normal operations is proving complex reuters.com reuters.com. JLR’s forensic investigation is ongoing, and the restart will be “controlled” and gradual to ensure the threat is eradicated reuters.com. The work stoppage affects 33,000 employees (many of whom have been idled at home) and halts about 1,000 cars/day of output, hitting JLR’s bottom line and its network of smaller parts suppliers reuters.com reuters.com. The UK government is monitoring the situation; a union has warned that if the outage drags on, jobs could be at risk without some support reuters.com. This incident, along with other high-profile hacks (like recent breaches at luxury brands Gucci/Balenciaga reuters.com), underscores how cyberattacks are disrupting real-world operations across industries – from factories to fashion houses – with weeks of downtime and multi-million-pound losses becoming increasingly common.
Space Technology: Launch Triumphs and Troubles
Starlink Launches Continue: SpaceX notched yet another Starlink satellite launch on Sept. 16, reinforcing its breakneck cadence. A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California carrying 24 Starlink internet satellites into orbit spaceflightnow.com. (SpaceX is averaging well over 100 launches per year at this point, many of them for its ever-growing Starlink constellation.) The mission on the 16th was a success, with all satellites deploying as planned and the Falcon 9 booster safely landing on a droneship at sea. This routine yet relentless launch schedule is cementing SpaceX’s dominance in commercial spaceflight – and drawing some concern from astronomers over night sky clutter.
Cargo Ship Hits a Snag: Not everything went smoothly in orbit, however. A brand-new Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL cargo ship bound for the International Space Station encountered propulsion problems that have delayed its rendezvous spacepolicyonline.com spacepolicyonline.com. The NG-23 Cygnus launched on Sunday, Sept. 14 (courtesy of SpaceX’s Falcon 9, in an unusual bit of collaboration) carrying 11,000 lbs of supplies ranging from science experiments to crew provisions spacepolicyonline.com spacepolicyonline.com. It was scheduled for an early morning ISS docking on Sept. 17. But on Tuesday the 16th, during two engine burns meant to boost it to the station’s orbit, the main engine shut off earlier than planned spacepolicyonline.com. Flight controllers immediately waved off the planned capture. NASA said all other Cygnus systems were functioning normally, and there was no immediate danger – the spacecraft remains stable in orbit – but it cannot reach the ISS until engineers devise an alternate plan to raise its altitude spacepolicyonline.com nasa.gov. Troubleshooting & Impact: As of Sept. 17, NASA and Northrop Grumman teams were working on a fix and reviewing a new rendezvous schedule nasa.gov nasa.gov. The Cygnus XL will loiter in orbit for now. This mission is significant because it’s the first flight of the enhanced “XL” version of Cygnus, which can carry roughly one-third more cargo than prior models spacepolicyonline.com. The setback is a reminder that even “routine” resupply flights can face technical hiccups. Astronaut Jonny Kim, who was prepped to snag Cygnus with the Canadarm2 robotic arm on the 17th, will have to wait a bit longer spacepolicyonline.com nasa.gov. NASA emphasized that the station is well-stocked and the delay poses no risk to ISS operations. The hope is to troubleshoot the propulsion issue and attempt delivery in coming days – if not, contingency plans could see SpaceX or Russia adjust their supply schedules to cover any critical cargo. (As a side note, Blue Origin was poised for a milestone of its own just after this period: on Sept. 18, Jeff Bezos’ company aimed to launch its New Shepard suborbital rocket on its first flight in over a year, after an engine failure grounded it in 2022. A successful return-to-flight would restore Blue Origin’s space tourism and research missions, signaling progress in the space tourism race.)
Telecommunications & Tech Policy: TikTok and Transatlantic Tech Ties
TikTok’s U.S. Survival Deal: After months of uncertainty, the wildly popular app TikTok appears set to continue operating in the United States, thanks to a tentative U.S.–China agreement announced Sept. 16 reuters.com. The deal is a political breakthrough that could resolve a saga stretching back to the Trump administration’s efforts to ban TikTok over data security fears. Under the arrangement, TikTok’s Beijing-based parent ByteDance will spin off TikTok’s U.S. operations into a new company based in the U.S. reuters.com. That new entity will be majority-owned by American investors, including existing ByteDance backers (like SIG, General Atlantic, and KKR) and new U.S. investors such as venture firm Andreessen Horowitz and enterprise tech giant Oracle reuters.com reuters.com. ByteDance itself would hold no more than 19.9% of the U.S. TikTok company reuters.com, relinquishing control. Crucially, TikTok’s data and algorithms for U.S. users are to be managed on Oracle’s cloud servers in the U.S., with content moderation for U.S. audiences conducted domestically as well reuters.com. This structure aims to satisfy U.S. national security concerns that user data could be accessed by the Chinese government. In fact, U.S. officials say the broad terms of this deal have been “essentially done since March” reuters.com – talks had stalled earlier due to unrelated U.S.–China trade tensions (namely, Trump’s tariffs that angered Beijing and temporarily derailed the TikTok deal) reuters.com. Leaders Weigh In: “We have a deal on TikTok… very big companies want to buy it,” President Trump said in a Sept. 16 briefing, celebrating the agreement without detailing specifics reuters.com reuters.com. The White House had actually been facing a Sept. 17 deadline to force TikTok’s sale or shutdown; it extended that deadline to Dec. 16 to give ByteDance 90 more days to finalize the complex spinoff transaction reuters.com. Over in Beijing, officials cautiously welcomed the news – China’s government called the pending deal a “win-win” and said it would “review technology and IP transfers” involved for approval reuters.com. The expectation is that Oracle will not only invest in TikTok but also remain TikTok’s cloud provider, a role it already held under prior arrangements reuters.com reuters.com. Oracle’s stock saw a modest bump (+1.5%) on hopes it will cement itself as a key infrastructure partner for TikTok reuters.com reuters.com. Officials from both countries reached a framework agreement on Sept. 15, and a final sign-off is anticipated following a call between President Trump and President Xi Jinping set for that Friday reuters.com reuters.com. If all goes to plan, TikTok could be operating under its new U.S.-led ownership within 30–45 days reuters.com reuters.com. This outcome allows 170 million American TikTok users to keep making and viewing videos – and crucially lets Trump avoid alienating TikTok’s large U.S. fanbase (including many young voters) ahead of elections reuters.com.
US–UK Tech Investment Pact: In a separate geopolitical development, the United Kingdom and United States unveiled a £31 billion (“$42 billion”) Tech Prosperity Deal to deepen cooperation in advanced tech sectors reuters.com. Announced on Sept. 16 to coincide with President Trump’s state visit to Britain, the pact includes major investment pledges by U.S. tech companies – led by Microsoft and Google – into their UK operations reuters.com. The deal will focus on joint initiatives in quantum computing, civil nuclear energy, and next-generation tech infrastructure, according to officials reuters.com reuters.com. (AI research collaboration was also a component, though notably the agreement frames AI in the context of specific fields like healthcare reuters.com.) UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed the deal as having “the potential to shape the future of millions… and deliver growth and security” in both nations reuters.com. The UK is positioning itself as a hub for innovation with “light-touch regulation” aligned to U.S. norms, in contrast to the stricter EU approach, to attract more investment. This transatlantic tech pact comes as Britain seeks to reinvigorate its economy and tech sector post-Brexit, and as the U.S. looks to shore up allies in the tech race against strategic rivals. The announcement generated optimism about expanded R&D partnerships and market opportunities, though observers note the deal is mostly a statement of intent – its impact will depend on how those billions are actually invested in the coming years.
Automotive Technology: EV Optimism and Cyber Resilience
Musk Doubles Down on Tesla: In a strong vote of confidence, Elon Musk opened his wallet to buy about $1 billion of Tesla stock, signaling his faith in the EV maker’s trajectory reuters.com. A Sept. 15 regulatory filing revealed Musk scooped up 2.57 million Tesla shares on the open market the week prior, paying roughly $372–397 per share reuters.com reuters.com. This is Musk’s first major stock purchase since 2020, and it instantly bolstered market sentiment – Tesla’s stock price jumped ~6% on the news in early trading Monday reuters.com. Musk already was Tesla’s largest shareholder (about a 13% stake before this buy reuters.com); the purchase nudges him closer to the 25% voting power he has said he wants in order to keep Tesla’s strategic direction under his control reuters.com. Timing and Context: The move comes at a pivotal time: Tesla has faced softening EV demand and margin pressures in recent quarters reuters.com, and its stock had been underperforming other Big Tech names this year reuters.com. Musk’s personal attention had also been split (he spent much of the past year in Washington as an advisor and dealing with political issues, raising concern among some investors) reuters.com. But Tesla’s board recently proposed a new compensation plan potentially worth $1 trillion if Musk hits aggressive growth targets – a plan seen as a way to refocus him on Tesla’s future reuters.com. Musk’s stock buy underscores that he’s “all-in” on Tesla’s long-term mission (which includes ambitious projects in vehicle autonomy and robotics). “It’s the clearest signal yet that Musk is slamming the accelerator on being all in again… the Tesla-Musk narrative looks firmly back on track,” said Matt Britzman, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown reuters.com. Indeed, Musk appears reenergized at Tesla, with the company preparing new model launches and ramping up its AI-powered robotaxi efforts (Musk has hinted Tesla’s next-gen platform will enable full self-driving, though experts remain skeptical of the timeline).
JLR’s Cyber Crisis and Factory Tech: While Tesla celebrated investor confidence, Jaguar Land Rover has been grappling with a tech nightmare. In early September, JLR was hit by a severe cyberattack (reportedly ransomware) that forced it to shut down IT systems across its manufacturing network reuters.com. The immediate move was to contain the malware’s spread, but it came at a huge cost: JLR halted production at all three of its UK assembly plants, which together make about 1,000 vehicles a day reuters.com. As of Sept. 16, that shutdown has been extended until at least Sept. 24, totaling over three weeks of lost production reuters.com reuters.com. The company’s 33,000 UK staff have been deeply impacted – many production workers have been sitting idle at home on reduced schedules reuters.com. Recovery Efforts: JLR said in a statement it is conducting a “forensic investigation” into the cyber incident and will only restart operations in phases, “consider[ing] the different stages of the controlled restart… which will take time.” reuters.com The cautious approach indicates the hackers did serious damage to JLR’s network or data. Industry analysts note that modern auto plants are highly digitized (from robotic assembly lines to just-in-time supply logistics), so a cybersecurity breach can literally stop the robots – and recovery is not as simple as turning machines back on. JLR is also assessing knock-on effects to its broader supply chain, which includes hundreds of smaller parts suppliers. The longer the pause, the more those suppliers (and their employees) feel the pinch, raising concerns of layoffs if cash doesn’t flow soon reuters.com. The British government is reportedly in talks with JLR about possible support if needed. This incident highlights the growing overlap of cybersecurity and automotive technology: carmakers must now invest in robust cyber defenses not just for vehicles (to prevent car hacking) but for their production IT, as attacks on manufacturing are on the rise globally.
Regulators Eye Tesla Safety Issues: In other automotive tech news, U.S. safety regulators have opened an investigation into Tesla’s Model Y over a decidedly non-high-tech problem: door handles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Sept. 16 it is probing approximately 174,000 Model Y SUVs (model year 2021) after reports that the electronic door handles can fail to open from outside reuters.com. In at least nine incidents reported to NHTSA, parents exiting the vehicle could not open the rear doors to get their children out, due to the handles malfunctioning reuters.com reuters.com. In four cases, the stuck doors forced the parent to break a window to rescue a child from the back seat reuters.com. Tesla’s Model Y (like other Teslas) has flush electric door handles and also includes interior manual release latches as a backup. But the fact that multiple users weren’t able to quickly open doors in an emergency has prompted safety concerns. NHTSA’s inquiry is a preliminary evaluation; if the issue is confirmed to pose a safety risk, it could lead to a recall of the affected vehicles reuters.com. Tesla did not comment on the probe reuters.com. This is just the latest safety scrutiny for Tesla – the company has faced NHTSA investigations into its Autopilot driver-assistance system in recent years, and in this case the focus is on basic hardware reliability. It serves as a reminder that even as cars become rolling computers, the fundamentals (like a working door latch) remain critical for safety and user experience.
Biotechnology: Weight-Loss Drug Updates and Pharma Trials
Lilly’s Oral Weight-Loss Drug Shows Promise, with Limits: The battle for supremacy in the booming obesity treatment market took a new turn as Eli Lilly released detailed results for its experimental weight-loss pill, orforglipron. Orforglipron is a once-daily oral drug that, like the injectable Wegovy and Mounjaro, targets the GLP-1 hormone pathway to reduce appetite. According to full Phase 3 trial data presented on Sept. 16, patients on orforglipron achieved an average 12% reduction in body weight over 72 weeks of treatment reuters.com. However, most of that weight loss occurred by around one year into the trial – after ~12 months, patients’ weight plateaued instead of continuing to drop reuters.com. Lilly had already revealed in August that the pill met its main efficacy goals, but the flattening of the weight-loss curve is now confirmed and was less impressive than some hoped reuters.com. For comparison, Novo Nordisk’s injectable Wegovy (a weekly GLP-1 shot) produced ~15% weight loss in a shorter 16-month trial, with some patients continuing to lose weight until the end. Health Benefits and Side Effects: On the positive side, orforglipron delivered significant metabolic health benefits. Lilly reported “clinically meaningful improvements” in cardiovascular risk factors – including lowering blood pressure and LDL cholesterol – among those on the drug reuters.com. Notably, a biomarker for systemic inflammation (hsCRP) dropped by 47.7% on the highest dose, indicating the pill might reduce inflammation-related obesity risks reuters.com. And despite concerns about pills and the liver, no serious liver safety issues emerged: elevated liver enzymes were rare and attributable to other causes reuters.com reuters.com. The Achilles’ heel for orforglipron is gastrointestinal side effects – a common trait of GLP-1 drugs. In Lilly’s trial, nausea hit one-third of patients at the highest dose (33.7% reporting nausea, vs 10% on placebo) reuters.com. Other GI symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea were generally mild to moderate, but they caused 10.3% of high-dose patients to discontinue the drug (versus ~2.6% dropouts in the placebo group) reuters.com reuters.com. This dropout rate is slightly higher than what’s been seen with injectables. Analysts say that while an oral weight-loss option is greatly needed (many patients prefer pills over injections), managing side effects will be key to orforglipron’s real-world success. Big Picture: Lilly’s chief scientific officer noted that even a 12% weight loss can substantially improve health for obese patients, and the convenience of a pill could expand treatment to millions who avoid needles. Investors reacted to the news with tempered optimism – Lilly’s stock fell ~1% on Sept. 16, recovering some losses from the earlier disclosure of the plateau effect reuters.com reuters.com. Rival Novo Nordisk, which has its own oral GLP-1 pill in trials, will be parsing these results closely. The data were simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine and discussed at a European diabetes conference reuters.com, underscoring the high interest. Researchers pointed out some differences from an earlier Phase 2 trial (which had shown nearly 15% weight loss in just 36 weeks) – the Phase 3 had a more diverse global patient pool and included more men, which might have contributed to the lower outcome reuters.com. Lilly is expected to file for FDA approval of orforglipron by year-end 2025 reuters.com, potentially making it the first oral GLP-1 agonist in the U.S. indicated for obesity.
AstraZeneca’s Fasenra Falters in COPD: British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca faced a disappointment as its drug Fasenra failed a key trial in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The company announced on Sept. 17 that Fasenra did not meet the primary endpoint in a Phase III study testing it on COPD patients reuters.com. Fasenra (benralizumab) is an injectable biologic that’s already approved to treat severe asthma by targeting eosinophils (a type of white blood cell involved in inflammatory reactions). AstraZeneca had hoped that suppressing eosinophils could also reduce COPD flare-ups in a subset of patients with high eosinophil counts – potentially opening up a huge new use for the drug. But in this large trial, adding Fasenra did not significantly reduce COPD exacerbations compared to placebo, missing the main goal. COPD is notoriously hard to treat, and many other anti-inflammatory drugs have failed in trials for it, so this result, while unfortunate for AZ, was not wholly unexpected by analysts. AstraZeneca did not release detailed numbers in the initial release reuters.com, but said it will analyze the full data to see if any subgroup benefited. The failure likely means AstraZeneca will not pursue regulatory approval of Fasenra for COPD, keeping its use limited to severe asthma for now. This trial result doesn’t affect Fasenra’s existing approvals, but it is a setback for AZ’s respiratory franchise, which faces competition from GlaxoSmithKline’s Nucala and others in the asthma biologics space. On the news, some analysts trimmed forecasts for Fasenra’s future sales since an expansion into COPD now seems off the table. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca has other irons in the fire – including upcoming trial readouts for its next-gen lung cancer therapies – but the COPD miss is a reminder of the challenges in repurposing asthma drugs for broader chronic lung diseases.
Other Notable Developments: U.S. regulators got more active on the pharma oversight front: the FDA sent warning letters to Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and telehealth provider Hims, accusing them of misleading drug advertisements on social media reuters.com reuters.com. The FDA flagged influencer posts that allegedly downplayed the risks of popular weight-loss drugs (like Lilly’s Mounjaro and Novo’s Ozempic) or promoted them for unapproved uses. This is one of the first major enforcement actions related to trendy “#WeightLoss” drug ads on TikTok and Instagram, signaling the FDA is watching the online hype around these medications. Separately, consumer health giant Colgate-Palmolive said it will change the packaging of its toothpaste after the Texas Attorney General raised concerns about how fluoride content was labeled reuters.com. It’s a reminder that even legacy products like toothpaste face scrutiny in the era of heightened regulatory and public health vigilance.
Sources: Key information in this report is drawn from Reuters and other reputable outlets, including direct reports from Reuters (September 15–17, 2025) on tech developments reuters.com reuters.com reuters.com reuters.com reuters.com spacepolicyonline.com reuters.com reuters.com reuters.com reuters.com reuters.com, as well as Reuters-owned media. Quotes from experts and officials are from Reuters interviews and statements reuters.com reuters.com reuters.com. For full details and additional context, see the cited source links throughout this roundup.
