SpaceX Revises Privacy Policy, Blue Origin Pauses Space Tourism, Justice Department Investigates
SpaceX updated its Starlink privacy policy to allow the use of customer data for AI training, a move that could bolster Elon Musk's AI ambitions, according to Reuters on Friday, January 30, 2026. Meanwhile, Blue Origin announced it is suspending its space tourism flights for at least two years to focus on its lunar lander project, NPR reported. In other news, the Justice Department opened a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, and released more records from its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein.
SpaceX's updated Global Privacy Policy, effective January 15, includes new details stating the company may use customer data for AI training. This revision comes ahead of a planned blockbuster IPO for SpaceX later this year, Reuters reported. SpaceX is also reportedly in talks to merge with Musk's AI company, xAI, a deal first reported by Reuters on Thursday. The IPO could value SpaceX, already the world's most valuable private company, at more than $1 trillion.
Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by Jeff Bezos, is pausing the short flights of its suborbital New Shepard spacecraft, which took paying customers to the edge of space and back, NPR reported on Friday. According to NPR, the company is shifting its focus to helping NASA return humans to the moon. Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft first launched humans in July 2021.
In Minneapolis, the Justice Department opened a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol officers, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday, according to Fortune. "We’re looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks leading up to what happened," Blanche said during a news conference. Blanche did not explain why DOJ decided to open an investigation into Pretti’s killing, but said a similar probe is not warranted in the Jan. 7 death of Renee Good, who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis. He said the Civil Rights Division does not investigate every law enforcement shooting and that there have to be circumstances.
The Justice Department also released more records from its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, resuming disclosures under a law intended to reveal what the government knew about Epstein's sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with rich and powerful people, Fortune reported. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department would be releasing more than 3 million pages of documents in the latest Epstein disclosure, as well as more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The files, posted to the department’s website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release in December. The released records include information concerning some of Epstein's famous associates.
Meanwhile, Amazon MGM Studios released "Melania," a documentary directed by Brett Ratner, focusing on the 20 days prior to her husband's second inauguration, NPR reported.
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