Good morning, Quartz readers!
Here’s what you need to know
🇺🇸 What to expect when you’re expecting a first term. Democratic challenger Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump in a fiercely contested US presidential election, a victory that stands to usher in a wave of policy rollbacks and reversals. One of the first steps Biden will take is announcing a coronavirus task force.
🤝 This presidential transition is particularly dangerous. Don’t hold your breath for a Trump-Biden photo op. In the midst of the pandemic, the Trump administration is delaying steps that ensure the business of the US government continues uninterrupted.
🌎 Biden’s big priority: planet Earth. The US president-elect will push for a 180-degree pivot on climate change, and the world is lining up to work with him.
🇮🇳 What the US results mean for India. Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris—whose mother immigrated to the US from India at age 19—may look to maintain the friendly relationship celebrated by Trump and prime minister Narendra Modi.
🇨🇳 Silence from China. Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen has sent an enthusiastic congratulatory note to the Biden campaign, a stark contrast to the conspicuous quiet from Beijing.
What else you need to know
- Myanmar voted. Despite facing accusations of genocide, Aung San Suu Kyi’s governing party is expected to win a second term in an election whose credibility has been questioned because of the disenfranchisement of the Rohingya.
- Turkey ousted its central bank governor. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s firing of Murat Uysal after the lira fell to a record low was followed by the resignation—via Instagram—of finance minister Berat Albayrak.
- Britain launched a cyber operation against anti-vaccine propaganda. GCHQ, the spy agency, will focus on taking down hostile state-linked disinformation.
- The world lost a TV legend. Alex Trebek, the iconic host of US quiz show Jeopardy, died at 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Trebek had hosted Jeopardy since 1984.
What to watch for
Monday: The World Health Assembly begins a weeklong virtual summit—and Taiwan has again not been invited; Brexit negotiations continue; and Libya’s warring factions sit down in Tunisia. Plus: earnings from SoftBank.
Tuesday: Apple unveils the first Macs built with its proprietary chips; a new generation of Xbox goes on sale; and the US Supreme Court hears a case challenging the Affordable Care Act.
Wednesday: The European Central Bank holds its annual forum; the Paris Peace Forum kicks off; and Chinese chipmaker SMIC and tech conglomerate Tencent release earnings.
Thursday: The UK publishes September GDP numbers; the US releases weekly jobless numbers; and the new PlayStation goes on sale.
Friday: G20 finance leaders discuss debt relief for emerging nations, and the euro zone updates its GDP estimate for the quarter ended in September.
Charting Uber’s market cap
On Nov. 3, voters in California agreed to exempt gig companies from a new state labor law that would have upended Uber’s business model. By Nov. 6, the company’s market capitalization had reached $78 billion, an all-time high, surpassing Uber’s $75 billion valuation when it went public in May 2019.
The rebound is a validation of Uber’s decision to go public—even though it posted a loss of $1.09 billion last quarter—but Prop 22 could also set a precedent for how lawmakers approach worker classification. On a call with investors, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that “going forward, you’ll see us more loudly advocate for new laws like Prop 22… It’s a priority for us to work with governments across the US and the world to make this a reality.”
Pop quiz
Which of these is not a Robert Ludlum novel?
- The Bourne Supremacy
- The Prometheus Deception
- The Ambler Warning
- The Momentus Prospectus
- The Sigma Protocol
Answer: (4) Momentus Space was founded in 2017 to develop a “last-mile” transportation system for satellites launched into orbit. The company is expected to go public on the NASDAQ in early 2021 through a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and has filed a prospectus detailing its business model and risk factors. Just one hiccup: Momentus’s Russian founder, Mikhail Kokorich, is not allowed to work with his own company’s technology because of US rules intended to keep advanced space tech away from geopolitical rivals.
Silicon Valley saviors?
Fifteen years ago, climate tech was booming. Then it all cratered. Venture capitalists plowed $25 billion into the clean tech sector and saw more than half of it vanish—by 2011, the sector was in shambles.
How times change. Last year, 60% of VC money went into climate tech, motivated by the same thing that always motivates Silicon Valley: faith in a huge market. But what part does Silicon Valley play in the global energy transition? One answer: deep-pocketed customer. You can learn more about Silicon Valley’s role in mitigating climate change with our latest field guide on climate tech’s second shot.
Surprising discoveries
The British army could have 30,000 robots by the 2030s. That would be about a quarter of the army.
Search “loser” on Twitter… And you might find that Donald Trump is the first result.
…and search for “Jo Baiden” in Japan. The 73-year-old mayor of a small Japanese town has found viral internet fame because the characters of his name sound like that of the US president-elect.
South Korea’s “sparrows” battle a pandemic plastic surge. The volunteers are pecking away at the problem by repurposing over 85,000 bottle caps.
Cargo shipments of botox and cheese are saving airlines. Perishable freight has replaced human travelers onboard passenger jets.
Doomscrolling has a happy cousin. Depending on your politics, you may have been “gleefreshing” your social media feeds for election updates this weekend.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, bottle caps, and armies of robots to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Mary Hui, Tripti Lahiri, Nicolás Rivero, Tim Fernholz.