🌎 New rules for Big Tech

Plus: The challenges facing the UK's new leaders. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Sign up here]( [Quartz]( September 9, 2022 [View in browser]( Sponsored By Good morning, Quartz readers! Here’s what you need to know The White House unveiled new rules for Big Tech. The six principles aim to [increase competition and accountability]( in the industry dominated by Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta. Queen Elizabeth II has died. A Buckingham Palace statement said [she died peacefully]( at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. News that her [70-year reign]( had ended broke first [on Twitter](. Oil companies’ aren’t putting their money where their mouth is. A [surge in ads]( boasting green credentials doesn’t match investment decisions. Meanwhile, more people work in [clean energy jobs]( than in fossil fuels. Ernst & Young is splitting up. The big four firm’s leadership approved [a long-anticipated break up]( of its accounting and consulting businesses. United Airlines went shopping for electric air taxis. The carrier [bought 200 aircrafts]( from Eve Air Mobility, to be delivered by 2026. Clinical trials of a new malaria vaccine showed promising results. It could cut deaths related to the disease [by 70% by 2030](. Sponsor content by iShares Change is accelerating. From clean energy to electric vehicles, the market may be underestimating the opportunities for investors created by permanent change. Last year, EVs commanded 8.3% of the global car market, almost doubling their 2020 share. Now a whole value chain stands to benefit: EV makers, battery and battery material suppliers and tech enablers – and ETFs can be an efficient way to access the potential beneficiaries. (EV-Volumes.com, "Global EV Sales for 2021," 2022) [Learn more]( What to watch for A new day is rising in the UK, bringing with it a double leadership change. King Charles III will assume the throne following Queen Elizabeth II, who [died yesterday]( at the age of 96 after reigning for [70 years](. Meanwhile, Liz Truss [assumed office]( at 10 Downing Street just 48 hours before the Queen’s passing. Neither the new King nor the prime minister have easy jobs ahead. Charles follows arguably the most popular monarch in modern history, and will need to chart his way through accusations of [racism]( and [sexual abuse]( in the royal family, even as calls to modernize or even [scrap the monarchy]( altogether grow. Meanwhile, Truss has inherited a country saddled with the worst economic conditions in decades, rising [labor unrest](, deepening economic inequality, and a party wracked with [scandals](. A time of great challenges is an opportunity to show leadership—both the new monarch and the new prime minister’s legacies will be determined by how they deal with the most pressing issues of our time: social injustice, economic inequity, and climate change. GameStop knows how to meme The quintessential meme stock, GameStop’s stock price has long been untethered to business fundamentals. Here are some interesting numbers from GameStop’s second-quarter results: $1.136 billion: Net sales 4%: Decrease from the same period last year $108.7 million: Losses during the quarter 43%: Increase in losses from the same period last year 10%: Increase in stock price in after-hours trading on Wednesday 🤔 Right as the market closed, GameStop announced a partnership with the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Essentially, GameStop will start carrying FTX gift cards for customers who want to buy a friend or relative cash that they can only use to buy crypto on one specific exchange. Will this actually make GameStop any money? Unlikely. But did they correctly bet that it would [sound cool enough]( to get people excited? For sure. “Brain drain” in an outdated term When it comes to Africa’s tech sector, the phrase “brain drain” [doesn’t really apply]( anymore, so writes Quartz’s east Africa correspondent Faustine Ngila. In part, that’s because work-from-home is the new norm, so you don’t have to move to Silicon Valley or Shenzhen to nab a tech job. Big Tech and startups alike are helping to level-up skills in Africa’s expanding pool of talent. One person making that happen is Andrew Mori, CEO of a Cape Town-based tech training startup called Deimos, who wants to help the continent produce 10 million cloud engineers. ✦ Want to read more fresh takes about industries in Africa and around the globe? Sign up today for a membership, and [take 40% off](, our treat. Quartz’s most popular 📻 [UK radio stations had music lined up for when the Queen died]( 💥 [Not even World War III would let Elon Musk out of his Twitter deal]( 🚲 [E-bikes are about to become an urban status symbol]( 🌿 [ESG investors aren’t all sold on Ethereum’s merge]( 📺 [Africa’s pay TV leader may be pushed to change its subscription model in Nigeria]( 👩‍🍳 [The service economy is keeping the US from slipping into a recession]( Sponsor content by iShares Change is accelerating. From clean energy to electric vehicles, the market may be underestimating the opportunities for investors created by permanent change. Last year, EVs commanded 8.3% of the global car market, almost doubling their 2020 share. Now a whole value chain stands to benefit: EV makers, battery and battery material suppliers and tech enablers – and ETFs can be an efficient way to access the potential beneficiaries. (EV-Volumes.com, "Global EV Sales for 2021," 2022) [Learn more]( Surprising discoveries Lobster fishing is driving North Atlantic right whales to extinction. The gear used to fish the crustaceans [litters the mammals’]( migration routes. Vermeer’s Milkmaid painting could have looked much different. The painter initially drew other elements in the woman’s background, but ultimately [decided less is more]( and left the wall blank. Peppa Pig introduced a same-sex family. In an episode aired on Tuesday in the UK, the cartoon’s eponymous piglet was introduced to her friend [Penny Polar Bear’s mothers.]( A newly discovered protein plays a key role in human reproduction. The protein [contributes to the fusion]( of the sperm and the eggs and could help improve IVF’s chances of success. Cyborg cockroaches powered by tiny solar powers go further in their missions. As the [battery doesn’t run out,]( the remote-controlled creatures are also less likely to go rogue. Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, nightmare bugs, and paintings that never were 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, Julia Malleck, Scott Nover, and Susan Howson. [🌐 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](