Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today and over the weekend
China courts central and eastern Europe. The 16+1 summit, which includes many EU members, is China’s attempt to bolster its influence with development funds and other investments.
Finland’s Social Democrats make their bid for power. The party is currently leading prime minister Juha Sipila’s Center Party in polls, though some of the country’s many small parties may ultimately decide the outcome in Sunday’s election (paywall).
The UN Security Council discusses Sudan’s coup. Protesters who forced out longtime president Omar al-Bashir refused to obey an army curfew, raising fears of violence between demonstrators, the army, and other security forces and militia.
While you were sleeping
Uber filed a prospectus for a blockbuster IPO. The ride-hailing giant, which has downgraded its price targets after the lackluster public offering of its main rival Lyft, expects “operating expenses to increase significantly in the foreseeable future,” and warned that it may never achieve profitability. Despite lowered expectations, the IPO could still be one of the biggest in recent memory, with a valuation that could exceed $100 billion.
An Israeli spacecraft crash-landed on the moon. The privately funded Beresheet lander suffered an apparent engine failure while attempting a soft landing. The $100 million mission, launched more than a month ago on a SpaceX rocket, was intended to take photos and scientific readings and broadcast them back to Earth.
Julian Assange was arrested in the Ecuadorian embassy, and faces US hacking charges. The Wikileaks founder was stripped of his diplomatic immunity after a dispute with the Ecuadorian government, allowing British police to take him into custody. The charges against him are based on his alleged role in publishing hundreds of thousands of classified US documents obtained by former intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
Panasonic halted its investment in Tesla’s Gigafactories. The company has scrapped plans to boost battery production by 50% at the Nevada factory, due to a shortfall in demand for Tesla’s electric cars. Panasonic, which lost 20 billion yen ($180 million) through its Tesla joint venture last year, also scrapped plans to invest in a factory in Shanghai.
The National Enquirer is up for sale. Billionaire Ron Burkle (paywall)—a buyout specialist whose past acquisitions include supermarkets and sports teams—is in talks with the tabloid’s hedge fund owners, the New York Times reports. They were reportedly spooked by the magazine’s “catch-and-kill” of stories damaging to Donald Trump, and its ugly public feud with Amazon owner Jeff Bezos.
Amazon and Microsoft advanced in a contest for a Pentagon cloud contract. Oracle was left out in the cold when the US military chose its two finalists for the $10 billion project. The company had previously sued the Pentagon over the selection process, which it says was biased to favor Amazon.
Quartz Obsession
Drones are hard at work—even if they won’t bring you pizza. Alphabet is conducting a high-profile consumer delivery trial in Australia, but drones are far more active behind the scenes: inspecting buildings, herding animals, planting trees, and looking for dinosaur bones. In Rwanda, they carry 20% of blood outside the capital. Hover over to the Quartz Obsession.
Membership
Our week-long investigation of the tech IPO boom continues: today, we consider how venture-backed consumer companies have created a few winners and lots of losers and why Zoom may be the true unicorn—a profitable tech startup. Meanwhile, Private Key ponders the implications of China’s proposal to ban bitcoin mining.
Matters of debate
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Hitting climate goals won’t be as costly as we feared. An investment fund with more than a trillion dollars under management says it may only cost 0.5% of global GDP.
Is Amazon really getting its “butt kicked” by third-party sellers? Despite Jeff Bezos’ lament, the company reaps a profit and captures valuable data with every third-party sale.
People don’t care that much about pay cuts. Contrary to conventional wisdom, employers don’t need to keep wages rigid to retain their workers.
Surprising discoveries
Real people are listening to your Alexa commands. Amazon has thousands of employees monitoring what users tell their devices.
T-Mobile will fight for street dance parties. The CEO stepped in to save mobile phone store that was a flashpoint in Washington, DC’s battle over gentrification.
Switzerland thinks coffee is not essential to life. The government won’t stockpile java anymore because it lacks nutritional value.
Amazon is on the hunt for porch pirates. The company helped California law enforcement by baiting packages with active GPS devices.
“Old Town Road” is making country music history. The controversial tune is the first of its genre in 30 years to top the Billboard Hot 100.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, country hits, and the Swiss coffee stockpile to hi@qz.com. Join the next chapter of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was written and edited by Susan Howson and Adam Pasick.