🌍 The big shipping shake-up

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Here’s what you need to know

China’s credit outlook was downgraded. Credit rating agency Moody’s said a slowing economy—along with the ongoing property crisis—was behind the decision to give its outlook for Chinese sovereign bonds a negative rating.

ExxonMobil’s $60 billion deal to buy a Texas oil company faces regulatory scrutiny. The US Federal Trade Commission is investigating the oil giant’s proposed acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, which would be one of the biggest energy mergers in 20 years.

Tesla’s cheapest EV is getting more expensive in the US in 2024. The Model 3 will lose half its federal tax credit, thanks to stricter battery sourcing rules.

This year’s COP has 2,456 fossil fuel lobbyists. That figure, calculated by Kick Big Polluters Out, is a new record.

The big shipping shake-up

It’s a gloomy time for the global shipping industry—collapsing container rates, falling profits and revenue, and rising costs. Meanwhile, manufacturers are trying to diversify supply chains to be less reliant on China.

One country has emerged as a critical node amid the reshaping of global trade flows: Vietnam.

Mary Hui looks at Vietnam’s rising importance, and other ways that the shift of manufacturing out of China is shaking up shipping.

Is Wikipedia foreshadowing its own demise?

English Wikipedia’s ChatGPT page garnered nearly 50 million total visitors so far this year as of Nov. 28, making it more popular than even Taylor Swift and Barbie, according to a report from Wikipedia’s nonprofit host, the Wikimedia Foundation.

No real surprise there, as AI is already the word of the year for some dictionaries. But Wikipedia editors have a particular stake in the game, as AI-generated content by chatbots such as ChatGPT could erode its readers’ trust by creating biased or incorrect content.

Wikipedia’s alive and well for now—the English version has received 84 billion views so far this year. Other hot topics:

• Death—that is, pages of notable deaths around the world
• Cricket—the sport, not the insect
• Oppenheimer—Barbie did pretty well too, but its rival film had viewers looking for more historical facts
• Taylor Swift—naturally!

Laura Bratton rounded up the top 25 English-language Wikipedia articles of 2023.

Quartz’s most popular

😶 A disinformation scholar claims Meta is the reason her time at Harvard was cut short

😠 Disney is not responding well to its first Marvel Studios bomb in 15 years

↪️ OpenAI has delayed its chatbot store to next year, following the Sam Altman drama

🎧 Spotify is ending 2023 with its third and biggest layoffs of the year

✈️ Even with Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines is no match for the big four US carriers

Surprising discoveries

The UK’s best house of 2023 is green. Not in color, but in name and vibe (not to be confused with last year’s winner, which is called the Red House).

Spanish and Italian authorities stopped 260,000 liters (68,000 gallons) of bad olive oil from entering your kitchen. Thank you, Spanish and Italian authorities.

Plush is key this holiday season. Sales are up 4% for plush toys even as toys overall are trending down.

A photographer captured an orange aurora over Scotland. Be impressed, because even witnessing that atmospheric activity isn’t easy to do.

Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” just rocked a lot of Billboard chart records. For one, it had the longest wait ever (65 years) to make the Hot 100 list.

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Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, authentic EVOO, and orange houses to talk@qz.com. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Susan Howson.