Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Alexis Tsipras visits the White House. The Greek prime minister, who once called Donald Trump’s ideas “evil,” will discuss military cooperation and economic issues with the president. Europe will be watching for any comments from Trump on Greek debt relief. Later, Trump will give a speech on tax reform at the Heritage Foundation.
The US and Japan face off in a robot duel. Eagle Prime, a 12-ton robot from the US company MegaBots, will battle a 6.5-ton rival from Japan’s Suidobashi Heavy Industries. The companies hope the match will pave the way for a billion-dollar robot fighting league.
Earnings reports from Goldman Sachs and Big Blue. Investors will scrutinize Goldman’s trading business after both Citi and JPMorgan delivered poor results last week. IBM is expected to post its 22nd straight quarter of revenue decline.
While you were sleeping
Airbus bought a major stake in Bombardier’s CSeries jet arm. The Airbus buy-in could help Bombardier circumvent huge tariffs recently slapped on the Canadian company after Boeing accused it of selling jets for “absurdly low prices” in the North American market.
The Uber-SoftBank deal could happen next week. Uber has been haggling with the Japanese investment firm over the price of its shares, as SoftBank pushes to buy up to one-fifth of the ride-hailing company. Uber board member Arianna Huffington said the two sides were “very likely” to reach an agreement next week.
The US demanded to see Kobe Steel’s books. Japan’s third-largest steel company said it would comply with the US Justice Department probe into its data-falsification scandal and hand over documents today (paywall). Kobe Steel falsified years of inspection data on metals shipments that went to more than 500 global companies, including Ford, GM, and Boeing.
Toys R Us eyed a Hong Kong IPO for its Asia unit. While the retailer filed for bankruptcy in the US last month, business on the other side of the Pacific has been booming—the company dominates the $20.7 billion Asia-Pacific market for traditional toys and games. A deal could value the unit at $2 billion.
Britain’s ASOS had a fashion-forward year. Neatly sidestepping the woes of high street clothes retailers, the online fashion giant reported pretax profit growth of 145% in the year to August 31. ASOS, beloved by fashion-conscious millennials, said its active customer base has now surged to over 15 million.
Quartz obsession interlude
Keith Collins on the newly discovered wifi bug that lets hackers snoop on your devices. “When major vulnerabilities like this one are announced, the first thing you should do is update your devices. That includes computers, mobile phones, tablets, and routers. To be safe, update your devices immediately and then keep updating them over the next few weeks as companies release new patches. Android and Linux devices are the most susceptible to KRACK, according to Vanhoef.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Adorable robots are still dangerous. People are more likely to trust and divulge data to a super cute machine.
The mid-life crisis is exclusively a first world problem. The middle-aged meltdown was first formally described by US psychologists in 1965 and is the result of too much self-absorption.
North Korea won’t collapse. Despite its crumbling economy, a lack of political institutions (paywall) means there’s no way to channel mass discontent.
Surprising discoveries
Palladium is the new gold. Its value is surging as car companies stock up on a material that’s central to curbing emissions.
Apple’s first big break came because of the spreadsheet. A key selling point of the Apple II was VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet program.
Baby talk is a sophisticated language. Infants respond to the pitch and rhythm of their mother’s coos while ignoring other adult chatter.
Magic mushrooms may help depression. The active ingredient psilocybin dims the areas of the brain that process stress and fear.
House of Cards was used to train Russian fake news agents. They watched the Netflix original for troll fodder.
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