Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Jean-Claude Juncker shows the EU his crystal ball. Drawing from a new white paper, the president of the European Commission will describe a handful of different routes the bloc could take to avoid falling apart altogether, ranging from a full-on federation to a multi-speed Europe. The idea is to have member states choose one by the end of this year.
The Saudi king visits Indonesia with an enormous entourage. King Salman is reportedly bringing at least 1,500 people and over 450 metric tons (500 tons) of luggage on a nine-day trip to the world’s largest majority-Muslim country.
Snap prices its IPO. The owner of Snapchat plans to price 200 million shares after the US stock market closes today, ahead of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. It’s expected to achieve a valuation of between $19.5 billion and $22.3 billion, making it the biggest US tech IPO since Facebook in 2012.
While you were sleeping
Donald Trump toned it down for Congress. In a speech remarkably free of the usual hectoring, the president appealed for political unity. But investors eager for details on tax reform, infrastructure spending, or the repeal of Obamacare were unimpressed by his broad generalizations.
Foxconn eyed Toshiba’s chip business. Toshiba wants to sell part of its memory-chip division to offset its recent multibillion-dollar writedown, brought on largely by tough times at its nuclear business. Foxconn founder Terry Gou—at the ground-breaking for a new $9 billion factory in Guangzhou—confirmed Foxconn was ”sincere” about buying the Toshiba arm.
Travis Kalanick apologized for his rant. The Uber CEO was caught on camera berating and belittling one of the service’s drivers. He posted an apology Tuesday night, saying he must “fundamentally change as a leader and grow up.” Kalanick’s explosion couldn’t have come at a worse time for the company, which has been battered by accusations of a hyper-competitive, sexist work culture.
Australia dodged a recession. The economy rebounded from a bad third quarter to post growth of over 1% in the last three months of 2016, thanks to the global commodity boom, healthy exports, and strong domestic consumption. But it’s not all good news—wages are stagnating.
Zalando surprised investors. Net profit at Europe’s biggest online fashion retailer fell to €60 million ($64 million) in the fourth quarter—from €102 million the same period last year—but it did better than analysts expected, as Europeans shopped up a storm. The Berlin-based company plans to keep expanding and will create an extra 2,000 jobs this year.
Quartz obsession interlude
Echo Huang and Josh Horwitz on the woes of China’s bike-sharing startups: ”The ‘park anywhere’ policy is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand it increases the likelihood that bikes will be found in one’s immediate vicinity. But it also allows riders to park their bikes in remote locations with no nearby foot traffic. As a result, bikes parked along freeways are now a common sight in China.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The need for exponential growth kills innovation. Silicon Valley’s obsession with it is damaging a generation of startups.
The best way to reduce police brutality is to hire more female cops. They’re just as likely to use force, but less likely to use it excessively.
The Singularity will happen within 30 years. Softbank’s CEO says by then a single computer chip will have an IQ of 10,000.
Surprising discoveries
Barcelona wants fewer tourists. The city is contemplating a plan to hike property taxes on short-term rentals and raise costs for day-trippers.
There’s an island that divides its time between France and Spain. The two countries have joint custody of Pheasant Island, near the Basque town of San Sebastian.
There could be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. Humanity’s “throwaway culture” is to blame.
A Chinese tailor won Warren Buffett’s lifelong loyalty. The founder of Dalian Dayang Trands started sending him free suits after a chance encounter.
Netflix is thinking about how to entertain AIs. In 50 years, CEO Reed Hastings isn’t sure if his customers will even be human.
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