☕ TikTok vs. Uncle Sam

Plans for Saudi Arabia’s futuristic city go awry… May 08, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( PRESENTED BY [EnergyX]( Good morning. We’d wish you a Happy Hump Day, but for most of you, the workweek isn’t some hurdle you need to overcome. In a new survey by the Conference Board, nearly 63% of US workers say they’re satisfied with their job, a record high going back to 1987. It’s not a total surprise that people are content with work these days. Wages are rising faster than inflation, the unemployment rate has held below 4% for two years now, and your Gen Z colleagues have finally stopped saying “slay.” —Sam Klebanov, Cassandra Cassidy, Matty Merritt, Adam Epstein, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 16,332.56 -0.10% S&P 5,187.70 +0.13% Dow 38,884.26 +0.08% 10-Year 4.463% -2.6 bps Bitcoin $63,121.48 -0.07% Disney $105.39 -9.52% Data is provided by *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 10:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Stocks did what 5'11" guys do when asked their height and [inched up]( helping the Dow to its longest winning streak of the year. Disney, however, was not where dreams came true, as the Mouse House fell nearly 10% after it spooked investors with weak forecasts, even though it turned its first streaming profit.  TECH [TikTok vs. Uncle Sam is officially happening]( [TikTok logo and the US presidential seal balanced on a scale]( Castro Unlike Drake and Kendrick, TikTok used a 66-page legal complaint instead of diss tracks to escalate its beef with the US government. The app responsible for your embarrassing screen time totals [sued the US]( yesterday over a law that forces it to be sold to a non-Chinese company to avoid a ban. The bipartisan measure, signed by President Biden last month, gives TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, up to 12 months to seal the deal before it gets blocked in the US. In its legal challenge, TikTok called the law “unprecedented” and “unconstitutional,” arguing that it infringes on Americans’ right to free expression under the First Amendment. TikTok’s rebuttal bars TikTok claims a ban would deprive its 170 million US users of a way to consume and transmit hot takes on Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala corset information. It maintains that the government presented no concrete evidence that the app is a threat to national security. Besides, TikTok says selling the company is impossible: - The app under new owners would “not be commercially viable” if Americans were cut off from the global content that makes TikTok what it is. - It’s unrealistic to transfer the source code to new owners in such a short time, and China likely wouldn’t permit the secret algorithm to change hands due to export bans. Legal wonks expect the US to argue that its actions are legitimate due to concerns over China using TikTok to steal Americans’ data or push propaganda. It’s no petty squabble: TikTok already scored legal victories against the Trump administration and the state of Montana over attempts to ban it. But this might be the strongest case against TikTok yet, and given the high stakes, it’ll probably end up in the Supreme Court. Looking ahead: Experts say the lawsuit could [delay any final decision]( on the app’s stateside future until at least 2026.—SK PRESENTED BY ENERGYX [The lithium boom]( [EnergyX]( Did you know it takes 10k iPhone batteries’ worth of lithium to make one EV? With over 350m EVs projected to be sold globally by 2030, demand for lithium will soar. Current extraction methods are too slow and inefficient to keep up. So when [EnergyX]( revealed that their technology could extract 300% more lithium than traditional methods, investors everywhere took note. They’ve inked deals with top lithium producers like POSCO (who’s building a 100k ton/year plant), secured a [$50m strategic investment from GM]( and won a $5m DOE grant. They’ve even acquired a 90k-acre mining asset with ~5.5m tons of lithium. Now, EnergyX is accepting shareholders for a limited time. [Become an EnergyX shareholder here](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [DoorDash logo next to Instacart and Uber Eats logos]Alex Castro Instacart and Uber are teaming up to fight DoorDash. The enemy of my enemy is my food delivery friend. Instacart and Uber—grocery delivery rivals—announced yesterday that they are partnering to better compete with DoorDash in restaurant food delivery. [The deal]( will allow Instacart users to place Uber Eats orders without leaving the app. The companies think the deal will lead to more revenue for Instacart and more access to a suburban customer base for Uber Eats, the Wall Street Journal reported. DoorDash is the leader in US restaurant delivery market share, posting record revenue in Q1. Apple unveiled new iPad models. For the first time since 2022, the tech giant revealed [major updates]( to its line of tablets, with (stop us if you’ve heard this before) an emphasis on artificial intelligence. The new iPad Pro comes with an M4 chip, which Apple says is 50% faster than the M2 chip and can handle AI tasks. The updated iPad Air, meanwhile, now can come with a larger screen and double the storage. Apple is hoping to reinvigorate sales for the slumping tablet, which fell 17% last quarter. The company also announced its [$129 pencil](. Biden condemned the “ferocious surge of antisemitism.” In his speech at a [Holocaust remembrance ceremony]( President Biden criticized US college campus protests that include “antisemitism or hate speech or threats of violence of any kind.” Biden acknowledged Americans’ rights to free speech and peaceful protest but said, “scapegoating and demonizing any minority is a threat to every minority and the very foundation of our democracy.” The president also decried the Oct. 7 atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel. Biden has been criticized by some in his own party for his staunch support of Israel and by Republicans for not going far enough in denouncing the campus protests. REAL ESTATE [Plans for a futuristic city go awry in Saudi Arabia]( [Photo rendering of Saudi Arabia’s Neom project]( In the middle of the desert in Saudi Arabia right now, someone is probably thinking, “Maybe a 105-mile-long skyscraper wasn’t the best idea.” They might be right. Neom, Saudi Arabia’s [planned]( futuristic mega-development, is hitting some bumps on its road to completion. Engineers, architects, and executives face mounting costs and impossible tasks trying to build two skyscrapers, each the length of Delaware and the height of the Empire State Building. What’s going wrong besides “The Line” looking like it was designed by a bad guy in The Incredibles? - Original plans expected 1.5 million residents to move into the first phase of the project by 2030, but according to Neom execs, it’s more likely to be ~200,000. - There are also cost overruns on a planned $38 billion ski resort and construction delays due to a need for more infrastructure for the 100,000 workers on the site. Saudi Arabia’s economy minister [denied]( reports that the kingdom scaled down its plans. It’s more than a really long building. Neom [symbolizes]( Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s bid to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy away from oil and boost tourism. But the cost—which employees estimate will be north of $2 trillion when done—may be too much even for one of the world’s largest oil exporters.—CC TOGETHER WITH HEAR.COM [Hear.com]( Not your grandpa’s hearing device. What happens when you combine German engineering with the world’s most trusted name in hearing care? The biggest breakthrough in hearing technology in 10+ years, that’s what. Meet the Horizon IX hearing aid. Join 385,000+ people hearing better than ever and find out if you qualify for a [45-day no-risk trial](. GAMING [A preview of the preview of the new Nintendo Switch]( [Nintendo Switch, pixelated, with question marks all over it.]( Scialabba No one knows exactly what it will look like or play like, but Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa—the only guy they let toss medium-rare steaks into Wario’s kennel—[confirmed]( that a Nintendo Switch successor will be officially announced by March 2025. A tease for a future product tease might not sound like a big deal, but the Switch is the third-most-popular gaming console in history, selling over 141 million units, which approaches the company’s own Nintendo DS (154 million) and the current record-holder, PlayStation’s PS2 (155 million). Video game fans, used to five-year lifespans of whatever they’re holding, are champing at the bit for a new Switch model after the handheld device’s initial release seven years ago. - Nintendo sold just over 28 million Switches in 2020, when they were selling out at every major retailer during Covid lockdown. - During the last fiscal year that ended in March 2024, that number dropped to 15.7 million. Bottom line: Nintendo’s unique legacy of [tunnel vision innovation]( has had mixed results. The Switch 2 (unofficial name) could follow in the footsteps of the Game Boy Color’s triumphant release nine years after its predecessor. Or it could be a Wii U flop.—MM GRAB BAG [Key performance indicators](#) [New York City]Charly Triballeau/Getty Images Stat: If you walk down the street in New York City and count the first 24 people you see, chances are a) you will get a lot of dirty looks and b) you will have spotted at least one millionaire. That’s according to a [new ranking]( that found NYC to be the richest metro area in the world, with 350,000 millionaires—more than the entire populations of Pittsburgh and Orlando, CNBC [noted](. In total, New Yorkers have more than $3 trillion in wealth—more than the GDP of Canada. Based on wealth per capita, New York is second only to Monaco, the Mediterranean city-state comprised largely of James Bond villains. New York’s millionaires can thank the recent stock market boom for the surge in riches. Quote: “We don’t need to know the details of intercourse.” Acting like the most mature friend at your weekend brunch, Judge Juan Merchan, who’s overseeing former President Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial, made it clear to the courtroom that the...specifics of Trump’s alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels were not germane. Daniels [took the stand]( yesterday, alleging that Trump and his former lawyer Michael Cohen paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about the sexual encounter in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s lawyers argued that Daniels’s testimony was prejudicial and asked for a mistrial, which Merchan rejected. Read: What happened to all the pandemic’s hand sanitizer startups? ([WSJ]( NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [Panera]( is discontinuing its Charged Sips caffeinated drinks after a series of lawsuits alleged the beverages cause health issues. - [The Boy Scouts]( is changing its name to Scouting America to reflect its new priority of inclusion. - [Elizabeth Holmes]( the disgraced Theranos fraudster, had her prison sentence reduced for the second time. She’s now scheduled for release in 2032. - [Israeli forces]( seized the Gaza side of the crucial Rafah border crossing, though US officials said it was not the full-scale invasion many have feared. - [Peloton]( is reportedly being circled by private equity firms for a potential buyout of the enfeebled fitness company. - [Wayve]( a UK AI startup that powers self-driving cars, raised $1 billion in funding from SoftBank, Microsoft, and Nvidia. - [Donald Trump’s]( classified documents trial, originally scheduled to start May 20, was postponed indefinitely by US District Judge Aileen Cannon. RECS [Wednesday to-do list] Explore: AFAR’s 25 [most exciting places]( to visit in 2024. Mow: Celebrate the start of lawn season by learning about [America’s obsession with lawns](. Park smart: Consumer Reports’s in-depth [street parking survival guide](. Feast: [The best hotel breakfast]( in every capital city in the world. Free Excel workshop: Learn everything you need to know about lookup functions and shortcuts in Miss Excel’s [free 60-minute live workshop](. Stack it: Sophisticated wealth building is simple with [M1 Finance](. Their super-intuitive app lets you easily build a custom portfolio with diverse asset classes. Plus, no commission fees. [Get started]( *A note from our paid affiliate partner. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Word Search: Do you consider yourself an expert celebrity-spotter? [Try today’s Word Search]( on Met Gala attendees. Need for Swede Eurovision kicked off yesterday in Sweden—a country that punches above its weight when it comes to pop music. In today’s quiz, name the Swedish musical artist or group described in the clue. - This group was formed by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. - Known professionally by another name, he was born Tim Bergling in Stockholm in 1989. - Their popularity skyrocketed when their single “Lovefool” was included on the soundtrack for the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet. - Call your girlfriend—it’s time you had the talk about this dance-pop superstar. - His single “Save Tonight” secured him a spot on many “One Hit Wonders from the ’90s” lists. - This rhyming pop group originally consisted of four siblings. In albums sold, they’re the third most successful Swedish group of all time. SHARE THE BREW [Share Morning Brew]( with your friends, acquire free Brew swag, and then acquire more friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 [Click to Share]( Or copy & paste your referral link to others: [morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=a905682a]( ANSWER - ABBA - Avicii - The Cardigans - Robyn - Eagle-Eye Cherry - Ace of Base Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: germane, meaning “relevant or fitting.” Thanks to Aaron from Normal, Illinois, for the apt suggestion. Submit another [Word of the Day here](. ✢ A Note From EnergyX This is a paid advertisement for EnergyX’s Regulation A+ offering. Please read the offering circular at [invest.energyx.com/](. ✤ A Note From M1 Finance The opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of M1. They are for informational purposes only and are not a recommendation of an investment strategy or to buy or sell any security in any account. They are also not research reports and are not intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision. Prior to making any investment decision, you are encouraged to consult your personal investment, legal, and tax advisors. Commission-free trading of stocks and ETFs refers to $0 commissions charged by M1 Finance LLC for self-directed brokerage accounts. Other fees may apply, such as regulatory, M1 Plus membership, account closures, and ADR fees. For a complete list of fees, visit M1 Fee Schedule. Written by [Adam Epstein]( Sam Klebanov, [Cassandra Cassidy]( [Matty Merritt]( and [Neal Freyman]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Interested in podcasts? - Check out ours [here]( [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( // [FAQ]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](. View our privacy policy [here](. Copyright © 2024 Morning Brew. All rights reserved. 22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011