🌎 US holds the chips

Plus: DALL-E is coming for animation. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Sign up here]( [Quartz]( September 1, 2022 [View in browser]( Sponsored By Good morning, Quartz readers! Here’s what you need to know The US limited the sale of high-end computer chips to Russia and China. Manufacturers Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices now [need export licenses]( to assess the risk of their products being used for military purposes. Bed Bath & Beyond unveiled its turnaround plan. The struggling retailer announced job cuts, store closures, new financing, [and selling new shares](. No wonder its stock price plummeted. Netflix’s ad-supported tier could launch as soon as Nov. 1. Ad buyers that met with the streamer’s executives reported being quoted ad rates as high as [$65 per 1,000 viewers](, according to the Wall Street Journal. Hawaii shut down its last coal plant. Critics of the move argue it will increase the state’s [dependency on oil](, at least in the short term. August was a bad month for fires in the Amazon forest. The number of blazes recorded in 30 days [topped 2019](, and was the highest since 2010. A UN report said China may be committing crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. The document deems credible allegations of [abuses against the Uyghur minority]( such as torture, forced sterilization, and internment. Sponsor content by T-Mobile for Business Digital workshop alert. Learn how the metaverse can help you attract more customers with Amanda Robinson, Founder of The Digital Gal, Inc. [Register now.]([Advertisement] What to watch for On Friday, the US government will [stop sending out]( free at-home covid tests. The program, which has run for nine months and provided about 600 million free test kits, is being halted because Congress has not approved enough funding. Free testing will also be suspended in schools, shelters, and correctional facilities as the government stockpiles kits in anticipation of a fall covid surge. The White House has also indicated that by year’s end it will [no longer purchase]( covid tests, vaccines, or treatments, leaving their procurement and distribution to the commercial healthcare sector. The suspension of these programs is just the latest example of the US government distancing itself from the pandemic and [putting the responsibility]( of managing it on the public and private sectors. At least a fresh round of covid boosters are on their way, with [15 million doses]( slated to be ready for shipment next week. DALL-E is coming for animation Image: (Adario Strange/Midjourney) Popular tools like OpenAI’s [DALL-E 2]( and [Midjourney]( have stoked an ongoing debate in graphic design circles on [machine-generated content](. Mainly, the question is if it’s art to type “a bird sitting in a tree on a sunny day in the style of Rembrandt” into a system and render an artificial image. Whether you hate generated art or want to emulate Andy Warhol’s factory-like process, there’s no denying, logically, that DALL-E 2 and Midjourney are systems that in the future might be used to [animate artificially generated images](. Need content for a new Superman meets Spider-Man movie? One day you could not only generate the above AI image that Quartz’s Adario Strange got from Midjourney, but also animate it. While the technology sounds cool, it could have far reaching repercussions for animators and special effects artists around the globe, including more than 62,000 working in the US. Who knows best, personal financiers or economists? If you think most economists would agree with the advice in the personal finance book you just bought, think again. A new study finds that economists disagree with personal financiers on [saving](, managing your [financial portfolio](, paying back [debt](, and [home ownership](. Graphic: (Sarah Todd) Why the discrepancy? Well, [as Quartz’s Sarah Todd explains](, it starts with one side paying a little bit more attention to psychology. ✦ Member support helps keep Quartz stories like these free and accessible to all. Sign up today and take [40% off]( when you do! Quartz’s most popular 🤑 [America’s billionaires are twice as rich as previously estimated…]( 🤝 […and its pro-union sentiment is higher than it’s been in 57 years.]( 🔌 [Japanese and South Korean firms are ramping up EV battery investments in the US…]( 🏍 […while electric batteries are fueling the shift from petrol-powered bikes in Kenya.]( 🚀 [NASA has a risky new plan to launch its Moon rocket…]( 🛢 […while any plan to fix Europe’s broken power market will mean breaking it more.]( Sponsor content by T-Mobile for Business Digital workshop alert. Learn how the metaverse can help you attract more customers with Amanda Robinson, Founder of The Digital Gal, Inc. [Register now.]([Advertisement] Surprising discoveries A nursing home in Japan wants to feel more like a nursery. The facility [is recruiting toddlers]( to bring merriment to the octogenarian residents. Genetic engineering could save American chestnuts from extinction. Regulators still [need to weigh in]( on the practice, which isn’t without critics. Humpback whale songs can go viral. The mammals [pass their songs]( from one population to the other, spreading the tunes across thousands of miles. AI software earned the French taxpayer $10 million. A program compared aerial images to land registry databases [to find and fine]( undeclared private swimming pools. There ain’t no party like a Bongo’s Bingo party. In Liverpool, UK, cards with [lots of tiny squares]( on them are the hottest tickets in town. Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, humpback tracks, and Bongo’s Bingo invites to hi@qz.com. Reader support makes Quartz available to all—[become a member](. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Sofia Lotto Persio, Annalisa Merelli, Julia Malleck, and Morgan Haefner. [🌐 View or share this email online.]( [📬 Check out our emails]( [👀 Read Quartz’s latest stories]( [📈 See what stories are trending]( 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104 © 2022 G/O Media Inc. [Unsubscribe](