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Here’s what you need to know
Simone Biles won a bronze medal on her return to competition. The US gymnast had pulled out of earlier Olympic events because of mental health issues, and lost out to two Chinese rivals on the balance beam.
Tencent shares tumbled after Chinese state media criticized its gaming business. The company, reeling financially from a piece that described its Honor of Kings game as “spiritual opium,” might restrict access to minors.
Wuhan is testing its entire population for Covid-19. The apparent epicenter of the original global outbreak has a handful of new locally transmitted infections.
The EU is investigating Facebook. The European Commission is looking at the tech giant’s takeover of customer service software company Kustomer for potential antitrust violations.
The Gates’ divorce is signed and sealed. Neither Bill nor Melinda will receive “spousal support,” and they are dividing property in accordance with a confidential agreement.
What to watch for
“If we would have understood what that structure was, we would have been better able to plug into their decision-making process. We thought we understood it; over time, it had kind of changed.” —NASA human exploration chief Kathy Leuders
Assuming weather and tilting space stations cooperate, NASA will launch the Boeing Starliner today on an uncrewed demonstration flight. Boeing’s path has been turbulent, with its Starliner spacecraft failing to reach the International Space Station during an uncrewed test mission last year.
SpaceX, which took part in the same NASA program, has had a much smoother journey. NASA suggested the disparity could be due to its own overconfidence in Boeing’s systems engineering chops, which led it to focus more of its oversight on the newer firm. But the real difference may lie in how these companies make their spacecraft.
Charting the US housing boom (but not bubble)
The US housing market is red hot, as home prices grow by record amounts. Relatively fresh memories of 2008 are prompting bubble fears, but so far this boom is much different.
Lending standards are higher than they were during the subprime-mortgage crisis, the banking system has been fortified, and the government isn’t pushing the market to make homes available to people who can’t afford them. Moreover, the financial engineering that once turned low-quality housing loans into AAA-rated securities has been short-circuited, and the world’s most influential policymakers no longer believe US housing prices always go up. Of course, the lack of a full-blown crisis may be little consolation to people who are increasingly locked out of a heady housing market.
Spilling the bubble tea
✦ It’s only a bubble if it pops. Seasons change, the economy waxes and wanes, but the amount of money pouring into tech startups just keeps going up—2021 is on pace to be the biggest year for venture capital funding ever. Yet bubble talk is alive and well. Will tech’s fortunes continue to rise? Read the case for and against in our brand new email, The Forecast.
The Forecast and other great emails are only available to Quartz members. If you haven’t yet leveled up, now’s a great time to do so—enjoy 40% off a membership with code QZEMAIL40.
Handpicked Quartz
(👇As always, the first story in this list is paywall-free.)
🚪 Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is the latest in a long list of Olympic defectors
🦶 Foot Locker is breaking into Japan’s sneakerhead culture
📸 In California, even high school athletes can score endorsement deals
🚫 The Chinese internet is canceling Kris Wu after his #MeToo arrest
🚚 Americans should have their trucks and save the climate too
🔥 The Olympics are becoming less sustainable
There’s nearly a full week left of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics! Sign up for our daily Need to Know email to make sure you stay on track.
Surprising discoveries
GETTR is flooded with extremist content. The pro-Trump site’s laissez-faire attitude toward content moderation has opened the gates to terrorist propaganda from Islamic State supporters.
Princess Diana’s wedding cake is up for auction. The 40-year-old cake is expected to fetch more than $400, though the auction house advises against eating it.
A goose was photographed flying upside down. The Bean goose was captured doing something called whiffling, which one expert says may just be the bird showing off.
The White House is assembling an influencer army to get people vaccinated. Twitch streamers, YouTubers, TikTokers, and pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo are involved.
A real-life Spongebob and Patrick were found hanging out at the bottom of the ocean. It’s a sea sponge and a starfish—need we say more?
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, IRL cartoon characters, and show-off waterfowl 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 Hasit Shah, Tim Fernholz, John Detrixhe, Scott Nover, and Susan Howson.