Tesla's redesigned Roadster has a cold-gas thruster option, but you'll need $250,000 just to reserve it

This is Castilume, your tech briefing for Friday, 16 October. I'm Nova. And joining me, as ever, Atlas.

Five stories today. Every one is confirmed by at least two outlets, and the links are on the episode page.

Next, from the AI desk. Tesla's redesigned Roadster has a cold-gas thruster option, but you'll need $250,000 just to reserve it.

Engadget reports: Tesla has finally unveiled the next-generation Roadster. Elon Musk and the Tesla team introduced the vehicle during an event at the SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas with a stunt. It drove up a C-shaped ramp and stopped in the middle of the part perpendicular to the ground while it was hanging upside-down. Then the vehicle repeated the action and jumped off the ramp from the top and flipped, its thruster system kicking in so it could safely hover to the ground.

Also reported by Digital Trends, Electrek and Pluang.

For a small business here, three questions: can you use it this month, what does it cost, and where does your data go? If the story can't answer those yet, file it and move on.

On to AI. Amazon's Bee launches two new personal AI devices, starting at $75.

Here's what TechCrunch is reporting. Amazon-owned Bee has launched its first new AI devices since its acquisition, including an updated wearable and a credit-card-sized recorder that attaches to smartphones. Amazon's personal AI wearable maker, Bee, is announcing its first new products since being acquired by the retail giant last year. The tech company on Thursday introduced the Bee Frontier, the next generation of its device that can be worn on the wrist or pinned to clothes, along with Bee Eclipse, a credit-card-sized device that magnetically attaches to the back of your smartphone. The latter puts Bee into more direct competition with AI devices like the Plaud Note or Pocket, but at a lower price point, the Bee Frontier is $74.99, compared with $159 for the Plaud Note, or $189 for the Note Pro, or $129 for the Pocket AI device.

CNBC Tech also notes: The $75 Bee Frontier is an upgraded version of Amazon's wearable bracelet, while the $100 Bee Eclipse attaches to a user's smartphone.

The test for a business in the region: is it available here, what does it cost, and who sees your data? No clear answers yet means it's one to watch, not one to buy.

Here's number three. UK Legal Aid Agency: Hackers stole records dating back to 1978.

Per BleepingComputer: The Legal Aid Agency, an executive agency of the UK's Ministry of Justice that manages the country's Public Defender Service, says attackers who breached its IT systems in April 2025 stole records dating back to 1978. The agency employs around 1,250 staff, oversees billions in legal funding, and works with approximately 2,000 providers, including barristers, solicitor firms, and non-profit organizations that deliver civil and criminal legal aid services in England and Wales. The LAA disclosed the cyberattack in early May 2025, warning that payment information for legal aid providers might have been compromised. The threat actors have also stolen legal aid providers' data, including provider contracts, office locations, financial information, contact details, LAA Online Portal credentials, including names and email addresses, and more.

And from The Record: A cyberattack on Britain's Legal Aid Agency stole far older and broader records than the government previously disclosed.

The takeaway: keep your public-facing systems patched and behind a login. That alone blocks most of what's in stories like this.

Story four, security. Online ads weaponised to deliver 'zero-click' spyware, researchers say.

According to The Guardian: Discover-Tech's Controlium software lets clients mass-profile internet users then covertly hack targets, say researchers at University of Toronto According to Citizen Lab, Discover-Tech operates a software platform called Controlium that allows its clients to "mass-profile and deanonymise" internet users then covertly hack targets with third-party spyware. Unlike infections that rely on people interacting with links or files, the spyware requires no interaction from the victim to be installed, making it a new delivery technique, Citizen Lab says. The infections happen without a user's knowledge, and in a matter of seconds, according to Citizen Lab. According to the report, Controlium is able to harvest a user's identity and IP address when the user is shown a seemingly benign custom-created ad, for example, for a digital game or a telecoms service.

The Record adds: Powerful zero-click spyware is infected devices worldwide through targeted ads, new research shows, an alarming development in the spread of surveillance technology.

The practical step: check whether you run the product named in the reports. If you do, read the vendor advisory and patch. If you don't, no action today.

Next, from the startups desk. Elon Musk helps GOP Senate super PAC raise record $273 million.

CNBC Tech reports: Elon Musk gave a record $158 million to the GOP's Senate Leadership Fund, boosting its war chest as Republicans pour money into Texas to defend Ken Paxton. The SLF brought in $272.9 million from July through September, including $209.7 million from donors. Musk's contribution alone also exceeded the Democratic Senate Majority PAC's entire third-quarter fundraising. That super PAC reported raising a record $151 million during the period and ended September with $111.8 million in cash, which the group said was its third-quarter record.

Also reported by The Texas Tribune, CBS News and Bloomberg.

Money raised isn't a product shipped. If you're a buyer, wait until there's something you can try, with a price on it.

That's Castilume for today. The news, then what it means. Sources for every story are on the episode page. I'm Nova.

And I'm Atlas. See you tomorrow!