Back in 2021, Audeze invited members of the eCoustics team to a private demonstration of something very different. The company’s engineers had been quietly working on a new electrostatic technology called CRBN, a carbon nanotube based driver design that would ultimately become the foundation for a breakthrough medical imaging headphone system. It was ambitious, complicated, and unlike anything the brand had attempted before.

While COVID sent demand for headphones through the roof as millions of people suddenly found themselves working and listening at home, Audeze kept its focus on the bigger picture. The CRBN technology would eventually lead to two of the most ambitious headphones the company has ever produced, including the Audeze CRBN2 electrostatic headphone.

More than a year ago, I asked eCoustics Headphone Editor Will Jennings a simple question: what is the best headphone in the world? Jennings has listened to more headphones and IEMs than anyone in the industry that I’ve met over the past 28 years. The only people who might rival him are Jude Mansilla and Ethan Opolion from Head‑Fi and CanJam. What separates Will from most enthusiasts is that he truly understands the engineering behind these products. Not just the sound, but the science.

He also knows I have a weakness for electrostatic designs. I’ve owned five pairs of MartinLogan electrostatic loudspeakers going back to 1989.

So when I asked the question, he didn’t hesitate.

“Have you read my review?”

Of course I had. I spent the better part of a morning editing it.

“You already have your answer.”

Big City Lights and the CRBN2

New York City and I have a complicated relationship. The good. The bad. And more than a little ugly. Some of my best moments happened here. Some of the worst too. Most of those were self-inflicted. On myself and others. There isn’t enough biltong in the world for me to flog myself with to make the punishment fit the crime.

Living almost 60 miles away now along the Jersey Shore, I don’t come into Manhattan very often anymore. These days I’m more likely to drive down to Philadelphia, stay local by the ocean, or catch a flight to my place in Florida. New York used to be a regular stop. Now it’s more of an occasional reminder.

But the city has a way of changing your perspective when you look at it from the right angle. Forty five floors above the street, the noise fades and the chaos turns into something else. Lights everywhere. Windows glowing. Traffic moving like veins of electricity through the grid. From up there, the city looks almost calm. Order hiding inside the madness.

Listening to the Audeze CRBN2 at CanJam NYC felt a little like that. The glare disappears. The edges sharpen. Details that were buried down at street level suddenly come into focus. A different kind of illumination. Not brighter. Just clearer. And once you see it that way, it’s hard to go back to the street.

The Audeze booth is always packed. Think Penn Station on St. Patrick’s Day, which I’ve survived once and highly recommend avoiding if you value your sanity. So Chris Boylan and I had to circle back more than once to get time with the new Audeze Maxwell 2 gaming headset and the Audeze CRBN2.

I’ve seen the CRBN and CRBN2 paired with the Linear Tube Audio electrostatic headphone amplifier at other shows, but patience has never been one of my defining character traits. Waiting more than five minutes in a drive thru is already pushing it. I’m probably on a few watch lists at Starbucks, Dunkin, and my local deli.

But then something unexpected happened.

The Simpsons comic book store guy who had been glued to the listening spot like a barnacle on a boat suddenly got up and moved. No warning. No explanation. Maybe he spotted another forum user he wanted to antagonize. Or hug.

Same energy, really.

Lost in the Light

For those familiar with the original Audeze CRBN, the Audeze CRBN2 won’t look radically different at first glance. You still get the aluminum travel case and a pair of white gloves, which feels appropriate for a $5,995 electrostatic headphone. Inside the box are the headphones with the attached cable and a desiccant pack. The headband, suspension system, gimbals, and overall cup shape remain largely the same, although the CRBN2 does show off a bit more gold trim around the cups and hardware.

The first real sign that something has changed is the size of the earcups. They’re larger and deeper than the first model, which contributes to a slight increase in weight. The CRBN2 comes in at 480 grams compared to 470 grams for the original. Not a huge jump, but noticeable on paper. The attached cable is also thicker and retains the same 5 pin DIN connector used with electrostatic energizers.

The driver technology remains the core of what makes these headphones unique. Audeze’s carbon nanotube impregnated diaphragm places the current carrying elements directly inside the membrane itself. Unlike electrostatic designs that rely on coatings that can eventually delaminate, this approach embeds the conductive structure into the diaphragm. The company’s research also suggests that this produces a more uniform diaphragm thickness and therefore more consistent movement across the surface.

The big engineering change is something Audeze calls the Symmetric Linear Acoustic Modulator, or SLAM. It’s a passive acoustic structure designed to improve low frequency performance, specifically in the 10Hz to 50Hz region where electrostatic headphones traditionally struggle. According to Audeze, the system delivers roughly a 6dB increase in output between 20Hz and 30Hz compared to the original CRBN.

And that matters because bass has always been the Achilles’ heel of electrostatic designs. Since their inception, electrostatic headphones and loudspeakers have excelled at transparency, speed, detail, and a massive sense of space. The presentation can feel almost supernatural. But critics have long argued that something is missing. Call it weight. Call it soul.

The sound is often described as ethereal. Beautiful. Haunting even.

But sometimes it feels like there’s no flesh on the bones. Nothing that grabs you by the collar and forces you to feel something. Angst. Joy. Ecstasy. Anger. Fear.

Just light.

The system was not the one I had seen paired with the Audeze CRBN2 at other shows. In previous demos, Audeze often relied on amplification from Linear Tube Audio and a rather serious digital front end from dCS. Neither was in use this time.

Instead, the headphones were driven by the Eksonic Aeras Electrostatic Headphone Amplifier ($7,000). The amplifier is the result of a collaboration between engineers in the United States and Greece, with the company headquartered and manufacturing its products in Athens. It’s a compact but very serious electrostatic energizer designed specifically for demanding headphones like the CRBN2.

The Aeras accepts balanced XLR inputs with an input impedance of 50K x2 and delivers a gain of 1000x. Frequency response is specified from 10Hz to 30kHz with a maximum peak to peak voltage of 1600VAC and a maximum RMS voltage of 1100VAC. Output is handled through a single Stax Pro Bias connector. The amplifier uses four 6S4A vacuum tubes and consumes roughly 100W of power.

Physically, it measures 19 cm x 34.3 cm x 14.2 cm (7.5 x 13.5 x 5.6 inches) and weighs approximately 5.5 kg (12 pounds), making it relatively compact for a tube based electrostatic design.

The digital front end was also different from the typical multi box stacks seen at many CanJam demos. The source was a laptop feeding the $12,000 Imersiv D1 DAC from Millennia Media, which then passed signal to the Eksonic amplifier. Millennia Media, based in California, is best known in the professional recording world for its ultra transparent microphone preamps and mastering grade audio equipment.

Light, Finally With Blood in It

Chris from Audeze left me alone with the rig and I did the only sensible thing. I hit play. First Tool. Then Deadmau5. Closed my eyes.

The first thing that hit me was the bass. Real bass. Through electrostatic headphones. Sub bass information was absolutely there. No, it wasn’t the kind of blunt force slam some dynamic or planar designs deliver, but the mid and upper bass had weight, speed, and definition that made it impossible to ignore. Impactful. Transparent. Lightning fast. Defined. Juicy. Like smoked wings that have been on the grill just long enough to make you forget every other meal you’ve ever had.

Everything I’ve always loved about electrostatics was there. The transparency. The speed. The sense that every tiny detail is floating in its own pocket of air. But now there was texture too. Depth. Emotion. Presence. The kind that makes the music feel alive instead of just technically impressive.

I found myself tapping my fingers on the table while staring straight through the crowd of attendees moving around the room. Hundreds of people. Noise everywhere.

Didn’t matter.

For those few minutes, I was alone with the music.

Switching to vocals changed everything. I could feel Amy in the room. Close enough that it almost felt like her hand was resting against my face. I could practically smell the cheap cigarettes and bad decisions. I probably would have let her kiss me. After she had her shots.

That sense of presence carried through with almost every vocalist I threw at the system. Male. Female. Didn’t matter. They were just there. Standing in front of me like the band had wandered into the room and decided to stay a while. I half expected Elvis Presley to pull up a chair and start talking about Cadillacs and the cost of fame.

And then my mind drifted somewhere else entirely. Upstate New York. Cold air. Used bookstores that smelled like dust and forgotten paperbacks. I remember the way she gripped my fingers as we drove away. My heart was racing so hard I thought the steering wheel might start shaking.

That’s what listening to the Audeze CRBN2 felt like.

Utterly there.

The kind of presence that digs under the ribs and reminds you that some memories never really leave. No matter how painful.

Where to buy: $5,995 at Audeze

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Apple’s MacBook lineup now includes devices designed for both premium users and budget buyers. The new MacBook M4 Air has a lot to offer with its Apple M-series chip, while the new MacBook Neo has focused on usability. Although they belong to the same family, they have been designed for very different users. Let’s compare them.

Design and Display

The MacBook M4 Air retains its signature design profile: a slim, light aluminum unibody that is just as portable as ever. The 13.6-inch display features a bright, colorful Liquid Retina display, perfect for work, play, and all forms of creativity.

The MacBook Neo, meanwhile, takes a more conservative approach with design. Its 13-inch LCD display is not a Retina display, and while it is perfectly suited for everyday use, it is not quite as bright or colorful as the M4 Air.

In simple terms, the MacBook M4 Air focuses on a premium display experience, while the MacBook Neo prioritizes affordability.

Performance and Processor

The major difference between the MacBook M4 Air and the MacBook Neo is the processor. The MacBook M4 Air is powered by the M4 chip, which has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU.

Meanwhile, the MacBook Neo is powered by the A18 Pro chip, which has a 6-core CPU and a 5-core GPU. The MacBook Neo supports everyday activities like web browsing, streaming media, document creation, and online meetings. Therefore, the MacBook M4 Air is suitable for professionals, while the MacBook Neo is suitable for students.

When it comes to memory and storage, the MacBook M4 Air provides more flexibility. The laptop starts with 16GB of unified memory and can be expanded up to 32GB. Storage options range from 256GB to 2TB, which is useful for professionals who need extra space for files and applications.

The MacBook Neo keeps its configuration simpler. It comes with 8GB of memory and storage options of 256GB or 512GB. These specifications help students and casual users manage documents, applications, and media comfortably.

Overall, the MacBook M4 Air handles heavier loads better than the MacBook Neo.

Connectivity and Battery Life

The MacBook M4 Air takes the game to the next level in terms of connectivity. It has two Thunderbolt ports and Apple’s MagSafe charger. The MacBook M4 Air’s Wi-Fi 6E connectivity delivers fast internet speeds.

The MacBook Neo takes a simpler approach. It mainly includes standard USB-C ports and basic wireless connectivity. Some premium connectivity features available on the MacBook Air are not included in this model.

In terms of battery life, both laptops perform well. The MacBook M4 Air can last up to 18 hours on a single charge. The MacBook Neo is designed to last an entire day, though it does not match the MacBook Air’s battery life.

Price Comparison

In terms of price, there is a significant difference between the MacBook Neo and the MacBook M4 Air. While the MacBook M4 Air is priced at approximately Rs 90,068, the MacBook Neo is priced at Rs 69,990. This is the reason why the MacBook Neo is a good option for anyone looking for a budget-friendly computer.

To summarize, the best MacBook for you will depend on your intended use. The MacBook Neo is good for students and new users, while the MacBook M4 Air is good for professionals.

Photo credit: Android Headlines | OnLeaks
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold enters familiar ground, with new CAD renders providing the best look yet at what Google has in mind for its next book-style foldable. These photographs, leaked by a reputable source, OnLeaks, in partnership with Android Headlines, reveal a smartphone that moves forward quietly rather than trying to shake things up with crazy innovation.

Measurements reveal a considerable but mild slimming, with the phone measuring 10.1mm when folded, down from 10.8mm on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, and 4.8mm when unfurled (down from 5.2mm the previous time out), but the height remains constant at 155.2mm and the unfolded width remains at 150.4mm. When folded, the width is approximately 76mm. These little changes improve the phone’s feel in the hand, but it still falls short of the elusive sub-9mm zone claimed by some of its competitors.

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The design remains largely unchanged, with the cover screen featuring a centered hole-punch camera and rounded corners, while the inside display has a top-right hole-punch selfie cam and uniform bezels that help keep things safe when closed. A shiny metal frame replaces the previous models’ matte finish, giving it a cleaner overall appearance. The buttons are in their typical positions, with the power and lock buttons above the volume rocker.

The changes on the back are really catch your eye, as the camera island has been reworked to accommodate the LED flash and microphone in a pill-shaped cutout alongside one lens, giving it a more integrated and modern appearance. The lenses now protrude out in a tiered arrangement rather than lying flat, and the module as a whole appears bigger and sleeker, similar to camera enhancements seen on previous flagships. The backplate remains completely flat, with the Google logo staying securely centered.

The panels are quite similar to last year, with an 8-inch LTPO OLED panel handling the primary unfolding surface with a refresh rate of 1-120Hz, and a 6.4-inch outside OLED running at 120Hz. Don’t expect any size increases or significant panel enhancements.

Performance is a different story, as the Tensor G6 chipset is now in control, developed on a 3nm process that should make it more efficient and snappy, and we may see a transition to a MediaTek modem from the previous Samsung component. RAM is anticipated to remain at 16GB, while storage options range from 256GB to 1TB; the battery is still around 5,000mAh and does not appear to have increased in size. IP68 protection, Qi2 wireless charging, and all of that remains on the table.

The camera hardware is likely to receive the most significant boost; while we don’t know what’s changed beneath the hood just yet, we anticipate a few tweaks borrowed from the non-foldable Pixel siblings, which may help close some of the gaps in areas such as ultrawide performance.

Google often releases its August flagships in late summer, so we can expect the Pixel 11 Pro Fold to follow suit later this year. As for the price, that’s where things get tough, but predictions are that it will cost slightly more than the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, given all of the tariffs and component costs.
[Source]

Gordon Murray’s goal was to create a race car for the track that prioritizes driver connection above all else. This culminated in the GMA T.50s Niki Lauda, a beast of a car that recently demonstrated its capabilities at the Bahrain International Circuit by lapping it faster than any other GT3 race car has ever done.

Dario Franchitti, a development driver and racing veteran with multiple championship victories, set a lap time of 1:53.03 in the closing rounds of testing. This not only broke the GT3 standard by more than seven seconds, but production approval followed immediately, with all 25 examples sold and deliveries expected by mid-2026.

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The engine is a 3.9-liter V12 designed by Cosworth. It’s basically a well made work of art. They experimented with the cylinder heads, camshafts, and intake to see what worked best. They even managed to fit a ram air scoop onto the roof. This yields a whopping 761 horsepower at 11,500 rpm, with 367 lb-ft of torque available around 8,000 rpm. This beast is both a screamer and a lightweight, weighing only 166 kg.

When wet, this beauty weighs just under 900 kilograms. The monocoque, body panels, and the majority of other important pieces are made of carbon fiber. The suspension is equipped with adjustable R53 dampers for compression and rebound, as well as carbon-ceramic brakes and magnesium wheels, to reduce unsprung mass. They were able to get the most out of it by employing slick Michelins specifically designed for circuit work.

They replaced the road car’s manual transmission with an Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox. It’s not that the road car’s manual was horrible, but the paddles on the new one deliver quick, positive changes, and the entire transmission is lighter by about 5 kilograms. It all adds up to shifts that feel F1-like, keeping the driver completely focused on the road ahead.

Then there’s the aerodynamics, with the rear fan reaching 7,000 rpm even at low speeds, pulling air through the underbody and producing a remarkable 2,645 pounds of downforce. Combine that with an aggressive front splitter, dive planes, a rear diffuser, and a fixed wing, and you have a rocket that stays planted at high speeds no matter how soon the driver decides to push the throttle after a corner.

Apple released the PowerBook Duo 230 in October 1992 at a hefty $2,610 ($6,050 today), and what a powerhouse it was. This small laptop, weighing only 4.2 pounds and measuring 1.4 inches by 10.9 by 8.5 inches, fits neatly into a briefcase or bag, eliminating the bulk that made other portables of the time difficult to transport. The reason for its slim appearance is that the internal floppy drive had just been removed totally, and engineers went to town on reducing weight wherever possible, a move that reflected what they had done previously with the PowerBook 100, but on a whole new level.

The real genius was in how it dealt with expansion. Apple included a convenient 156-pin docking connector on the back of the Duo 230. Put it in the full-sized Duo Dock, and it instantly transforms into a full-fledged desktop machine with all the bells and whistles. The dock itself included a 1.4 MB disk drive, additional serial ports, a sound output, an ADB port for keyboards and mice, a DB-15 video connector for connecting to an external monitor, and even NuBus expansion slots. You could add a floating-point unit for faster calculations, extra video RAM, a second internal hard drive, or pretty much anything else you needed to complete the job. This configuration allowed the Duo 230 to act as both a lightweight travel companion on the road and a full-fledged workstation when connected at home or in the workplace.

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Without the dock, the laptop remained light on its feet. You had a single mini-DIN-8 serial port to perform printer or modem chores, and the internal slot accepted a proprietary modem card up to 57.6 kbps (but some variants reached as fast as 14.4 kbps). The base unit did not have any built-in SCSI, ADB, or video interfaces, so docking was required for any real work. The trackball was slightly smaller than on full-size PowerBooks, and the keyboard was roughly 88 percent of a regular desktop layout, but with little effort, you could get used to it.

A 33 MHz Motorola 68030 processor powered the system, with 4 MB of RAM that could be expanded to 24 MB via a single dedicated card slot. Storage comes via an 80 MB or 120 MB hard drive, which was quite generous for 1992. The 9.1-inch Supertwist passive-matrix screen displayed 640 by 400 pixels in four-bit grayscale with 16 shades, which was quite impressive given the limitations of passive displays at the time. The battery life of the nickel-metal hydride pack ranged between two and four hours, which was reasonable for the period.

People who owned this machine frequently used it with the Duo Dock for everyday desk work before removing the laptop and transporting it. Honestly, the design of this thing was extremely ahead of its time; it even predated current docking stations by years, but it all relied on an old-school mechanical connection that provided that reassuring click as you secured it firmly into place. To get the most out of their hardware, some eager owners went so far as to overclock it or add more memory. The support extended from System 7.1 to Mac OS 8.1, therefore the Duo 230 lasted far longer than many expected.

Although Apple discontinued this model in July 1994, its concepts had a long-lasting impact on subsequent laptops. The PowerBook Duo 230 demonstrated how a compact laptop might shrink drastically while still providing desktop-style flexibility, owing to some innovative expansion concepts.

Within the first 24 hours of my daughter’s life, I put a screen in her face.

I know. That’s the opposite of all the research I had highlighted and annotated while my wife was pregnant. But it wasn’t by choice. That screen was the only way my wife could meet our newborn.

As soon as our daughter was born, she was rushed to the NICU, tubes and cords draped across her swaddle while clinicians moved quickly around her. My wife was rolled out of the operating room in the opposite direction to receive intravenous magnesium for suspected preeclampsia.

She couldn’t hold our baby for the first 24 hours of her life. So I held up a phone.

Through FaceTime, my wife met the tiny fighter she had just brought into the world. I still have the screenshot from that moment. When we finally brought our baby home, we tried to avoid screens altogether. We had read the guidance: infants should have little to no screen exposure. But screens were everywhere.

We became parents at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when every new virus variant seemed to appear just as we were finally ready to walk into a grocery store again. So our daughter met grandparents, cousins and friends through screens.

As parents of a premature baby, we watched her like hawks. Every eye movement. Every babble. Every head lift. Our developmental pediatrician warned us about possible delays, so we studied every tiny milestone. Ironically, it was a screen that gave us one of our most reassuring moments.

During the 2020 Summer Olympics, our barely 60-day-old preemie tracked a ping-pong rally across the television. Her head moved side to side, and her tiny eyes followed that tiny ball. Another time, she would instantly stop crying or giggle when the catchy theme song from the ’90s sitcom Smart Guy came on. (Yes, we are those nostalgic millennials rewatching childhood shows.)

Because we weren’t around many other people during lockdown, the sounds and visuals in our home became strange little markers of development.

When our daughter grew into toddlerhood, we cautiously experimented with a few children’s programs.

Our rotation included Ms. Monica’s Circle Time and Ada Twist, Scientist for culturally relevant and playful introductions to phonics, object identification, and scientific thinking. Word Party was great for reinforcing vocabulary and early language exposure.

But we rarely just pressed play. Most of the time, we were watching with her, singing along, repeating sounds and asking questions.

Researchers call this co-viewing: when adults watch and interact with media alongside children. Studies show that when caregivers talk with children during media use, repeating words, asking questions or connecting what’s on screen to real life, children process and remember more of what they see.

In other words, the screen isn’t doing the teaching by itself. Much of the learning happens in the conversation around it.

But I’ll be clear: we have not figured this out. Parenting and technology evolve at about the same pace, and that pace is quick.

We’ve had our share of “Here, take the tablet and sit still while I finish this” moments. And we learned quickly how counterproductive that can be. Because when screen time stretches too long, the cognitive overload monster shows up.

Young children’s brains are still developing the executive functions that regulate attention, emotion and self-control. These skills rely heavily on the prefrontal cortex and develop gradually throughout childhood. Highly stimulating digital media that includes features like fast pacing, constant motion, bright colors, and rapid scene changes can overwhelm children’s brains. Experimental studies have found that exposure to fast-paced media can temporarily disrupt executive function in preschool children.

In other words, the same design features that capture children’s attention can also overstimulate their developing brains. That complexity is part of why pediatric guidance around screen time is evolving.

For years, the conversation focused on how many minutes children spent in front of screens. But newer research suggests the question isn’t just how much screen time children get. A major update in science shows that what also matters is what kind of digital environment surrounds them.

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ updated guidance reflects this shift. Instead of focusing only on minutes, the organization encourages adults to think about children’s digital ecosystems, which are the broader environment of devices, content, digital algorithms, and interactions shaping how children experience media.

Their recommendations still include familiar guidance:

• avoid screen exposure for children under 18 months, except for video calls
• ensure media does not interfere with sleep, physical activity or social interaction
• prioritize high-quality programming
• co-view whenever possible

The updated framework recognizes what many families already know: screens are not disappearing from children’s lives. In fact, they’re becoming ubiquitous earlier in children’s lives. The goal is not to pretend they don’t exist. Guidance from pediatricians suggests we carefully curate how the environments surrounding them influence children’s development.

For my family, that realization started with a phone screen glowing in a hospital room. That moment reminds me that screens themselves are not inherently problematic. What matters is the environment we build around them.

In my next column, I’ll look at how this research is shaping debates over screen use in schools and what educators should consider as states begin regulating instructional technology. In the meantime, let me know what you think about screens in schools.

The new deal ties Google’s CEO to the future of its most ambitious bets, and signals that the board has finally decided they’re bets worth making.

Sundar Pichai has run Google since 2015 and Alphabet since 2019. In that time, the company’s market value has grown from roughly $535 billion to approximately $3.6 trillion. On Friday, Alphabet’s board decided what that performance is worth going forward: a three-year pay package that could reach $692 million, but only if Pichai actually earns it.

The deal was disclosed in an SEC filing and first reported by the Financial Times. Its structure is telling. The headline figure assumes maximum performance across every component.

Most of the value is tied not to Alphabet’s core search and advertising business, but to two subsidiaries that have spent years consuming capital without generating it: Waymo, the autonomous vehicle unit, and Wing, the drone delivery arm.

How the package is built

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The base components are relatively standard for a CEO at Pichai’s level. His salary remains $2 million a year, unchanged since 2020. He will receive $84 million in restricted stock units that vest monthly over three years, contingent on his remaining at the company.

A tranche of performance stock units, with a target value of $126 million, is tied to Alphabet’s total shareholder return relative to companies in the S&P 100; if Alphabet significantly outperforms, that component could reach $252 million. If it underperforms, it pays nothing.

The genuinely new element is the Waymo and Wing incentives. For the first time, Pichai’s pay is directly linked to the per-unit valuation of both subsidiaries. The Waymo component carries a target value of $130 million, with a ceiling of $260 million if the business grows strongly.

The Wing component has a target of $45 million, rising to $90 million at maximum performance. Both awards vest between zero and 200% of their targets, depending on how Alphabet’s compensation committee values each unit over the three years.

In Alphabet’s filing, the board described both subsidiaries as “tackling enormous challenges in autonomous driving and delivery” while making “strong progress.” Waymo, which began as a Google research project in 2009, now operates commercial robotaxi services across ten US markets and has logged more than 200 million autonomous miles. Wing, launched in 2012, has announced plans to expand drone delivery to hundreds of Walmart stores by 2027. Neither is yet profitable.

The maximum figure of $692 million, if achieved, would place Pichai among the highest-paid executives in corporate history. Whether it is achieved depends on outcomes that remain genuinely uncertain: autonomous vehicle regulation, drone airspace policy, competitive pressure from rivals including Tesla’s robotaxi programme, and whether Wing can scale its delivery network at the pace its targets imply. The board’s bet is that the person best positioned to navigate all of that is the one already running the company.