Top stories today:

1. Sam Altman said to pursue controlling stake in SpaceX rival
2. Apple’s UI chief Alan Dye exits for Meta
3. Micron to exit Crucial consumer unit to focus on AI memory chips
4. K2 Space said to raise ~$270M at $3B valuation for satellite buildout
5. U.S. sheds 32K jobs in Nov., most since 2023: ADP report

0. Data and calendar

Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing today’s newsletter (beware of hallucinations):

1. Sam Altman said to pursue controlling stake in SpaceX rival Stoke Space before talks stalled

• Altman reportedly approached Stoke Space over the summer, with discussions accelerating in the fall.

• OpenAI is facing market headwinds as investors cool on its expansive ambitions.

• Earlier this week, OpenAI declared a “code red,” shifting resources to improve ChatGPT amid market-share pressure from Google.

2. Apple’s UI chief Alan Dye exits for Meta

• Dye will oversee design across hardware, software, and AI interfaces at Meta.

• Meta is forming a new design studio around Dye’s hire.

• Dye will report directly to CTO Andrew Bosworth.

• Veteran designer Stephen Lemay will take over Dye’s role at Apple.

• 2015: Dye has led Apple’s user-interface design team.

• Apple’s Jobsian “design is how it works” approach to UI has been signaled by Lemay’s new role.

4. Micron to exit Crucial consumer unit to focus on AI memory chips

Micron shares -2% on Wed. after the announcement: