🌎 Big Tech doesn’t break a sweat

Plus: The US is going to have to raise taxes. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Sign up here](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Femails%2Fdaily-brief%2F/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/ljhp2xl6WbGK3NYg8I2DGbRq1qTeppirQPYar15hfP0=324) [Quartz](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Femails%2Fdaily-brief%2F1850955425%2Fbig-tech-doesn-t-break-a-sweat%2F/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/_WPhuNNamkq1lclNLsgTMvEUs7Ql6cwTH_FN5nCKd9o=324) October 25, 2023 [View in browser](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Femails%2Fdaily-brief%2F1850955425%2Fbig-tech-doesn-t-break-a-sweat%2F/2/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/AzB0EHUqKnsCky7QMli-d89mOtNcNvftQZe1LURJ_QA=324) %2F%2Fqz.com%2Femails%2Fdaily-brief%2F1850955425%2Fbig-tech-doesn-t-break-a-sweat%2F/3/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/Z2ZsTy8Ri9Ydr0fMJR3JNTi4xaRvTNmn240gyyjyIuw=324 Photo: Reuters (Gonzalo Fuentes) Good morning, Quartz readers! Here’s what you need to know Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet both beat quarterly estimates. Microsoft [saw big growth](%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2023%2F10%2F24%2Fmicrosoft-msft-q1-earnings-report-2024.html/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/1eUj6F8rpFPv2kWhexvcj0R-Y0V4lX_h6ubOZtmkFow=324) in its Azure cloud business, while Alphabet’s revenue growth [returned to double digits](%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2023%2F10%2F24%2Falphabet-googl-earnings-q3-2023.html/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/s2BiKV77aM5PzT0iHgm9zarUpaOSv854Hi2BK7x7sfQ=324), despite a miss on its own cloud business. Manufacturing numbers suggest a recession is on in Germany. Business activity in Europe’s biggest economy [contracted for the fourth month in a row](%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Fmarkets%2Feurope%2Fgerman-business-activity-slump-suggests-recession-well-underway-pmi-2023-10-24%2F/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/KNtg3pfr1ueGILf7xX4Ptq8VnD2t5PxZfEnl9qN_mrs=324) in October. Xi Jinping made his first known visit to China’s central bank in his presidency. The [unprecedented trip](%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Fworld%2Fchina%2Fchinas-xi-makes-first-known-visit-central-bank-sources-2023-10-24%2F/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/VV0qibCE5zR6Kzh8w03DN_3NMSYndgP6NZpYJ4HvleE=324) comes as the country continues to face economic headwinds and a weak consumer market. United Nations chief António Guterres renewed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. He said international laws [have been broken](%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F24%2Fun-chief-says-clear-violations-of-international-humanitarian-law-in-gaza/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/IGu7kl4n4dk5oMrsZzLYh3GCDg74Tx3qoVnkLU9WSLs=324) in the war between Israel and Hamas. The US is going to have to raise taxes If Congress wants to shrink the nation’s $1.7 trillion deficit, it needs to start getting serious about a key part of the equation: Revenue. The timing is particularly pressing. The US government is currently borrowing a lot of money at high interest rates, and rising debt surely doesn’t suit efforts to fight inflation, [decarbonize the economy](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fbiden-s-hydrogen-program-could-rake-in-40-billion-in-p-1850930841%2F%3Futm_source=email%26utm_medium=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US%26utm_content=1850955425/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/CIQ2VUnBeYumtWL4Pk5jil1FuTmJuFW2P35E3kK4XDc=324), or invest in new social benefits. But if you think the reason the US is borrowing so much is because of spending, think again—federal outlays were actually down 2% in 2023. It comes down to falling revenue, and as Quartz’s Tim Fernholz writes, the good news is that [there is space for action](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fthe-us-is-going-to-have-to-raise-taxes-1850950547%2F%3Futm_source=email%26utm_medium=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US%26utm_content=1850955425/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/Ty_bOgadDdWK2cYxAWavB0Rz0nNQQ_tVtAL_Ehl_27w=324). OpenAI is going for a monster valuation $80 billion: Valuation that [OpenAI](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fhow-openai-ushered-in-the-generative-ai-boom-a-brief-h-1850385338%2F%3Futm_source=email%26utm_medium=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US%26utm_content=1850955425/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/RDv8_o9iWfEsT20qqNq7pE3-bdjno4jt3P3L5quWZNg=324) could reach via a potential deal involving employee shares Quartz’s Michelle Cheng charted where that valuation would put OpenAI among the top 20 most valuable startups in the world—[and it’s high](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fopenai-is-set-to-see-its-valuation-at-80-billion-makin-1850950928%2F%3Futm_source=email%26utm_medium=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US%26utm_content=1850955425/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/6KDPuE4g3Rtakd7W2esOR1uR34qGnE7NMrFSkNohNqA=324). Quotable: The purpose-driven business “This idea of a purpose-driven company is a recognition for people that they are buying into things, not just buying things.”—Dev Patnaik, CEO of consulting firm Jump Associates A new scorecard from Jump ranks companies based on how strongly they align with their purpose—a high-level metric that’s the tentpole they use to define what they’re about and how they plan to achieve it. Jump shared with Quartz the overall scores for 16 big businesses, including Google parent Alphabet, Disney, and Starbucks. The results aren’t anything too surprising, but what the firm found about [the link between purpose and stock performance](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fwhere-alphabet-disney-and-other-major-brands-rank-on-1850951861%2F%3Futm_source=email%26utm_medium=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US%26utm_content=1850955425/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/pTbpSHybHQJdLtn0dVymlrQhEEKm_NRhRib5ucrM1ig=324) is striking. Quartz’s most popular 🎧 [When will Spotify leave its loss-making days behind?](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fwhen-will-spotify-leave-its-loss-making-days-behind-1850949746%2F%3Futm_source=email%26utm_medium=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US%26utm_content=1850955425/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/KOi7raM9AEJZvZI6kmHppJ1_pW0FzEEN7ZTzQ9KlVbo=324) 🥃 [A bottle of the “most sought-after Scotch whisky” is being auctioned off by Sotheby’s](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fbottle-of-most-sought-after-scotch-whisky-to-come-under-1850940642%2F%3Futm_source=email%26utm_medium=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US%26utm_content=1850955425/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/jmvkJQhqzTUl-90dMBHa7RVWfhbmmNKbNbRYKwiWBwE=324) 💸 [US takeover deals hit $139 billion in October, the highest since June 2019](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fus-takeover-deals-hit-139-billion-in-october-the-high-1850950954%2F%3Futm_source=email%26utm_medium=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US%26utm_content=1850955425/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/eK003MuGyoPfjmzaqJGaOGOiuv3bh2U0an_tsWgTTr0=324) 🚀 [Varda can’t yet land its space drugs in the US—but what about Australia?](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fvarda-wants-to-land-ritonavir-in-the-us-australia-1850945684%2F%3Futm_source=email%26utm_medium=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US%26utm_content=1850955425/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/Fpjz1rwFQ18-8i-PLRTMcqSsa1-YvyQiTppv8kFdImw=324) 💰 [A 2% tax on the world’s billionaires would raise $250 billion a year](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fa-2-tax-on-the-worlds-billionaires-would-raise-250-bi-1850949254%2F%3Futm_source=email%26utm_medium=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US%26utm_content=1850955425/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/JAU4loM1qxWNphqeUuEtaS3zpTacIbnmuhbdC6pEZoI=324) 👋🏾 [We quit Slack: 5 lessons learned](%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fwe-quit-slack-5-lessons-learned-1850953970%2F%3Futm_source=email%26utm_medium=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US%26utm_content=1850955425/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/RGAnz5eKLBOE0_HYjROMOH4zoxSbgpfHUL9CDeI6ceo=324) Surprising discoveries Homebuyers don’t mind a ghost in the attic. If a home [checks all their boxes](%2F%2Fzillow.mediaroom.com%2F2023-10-24-Nearly-70-of-prospective-buyers-would-buy-a-haunted-house-if-it-checked-all-their-boxes/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/skXhsqICUs7tXE6v2CfBa3AVZHyM_AsP592lZDm1rdc=324), people don’t care if it’s haunted. Americans haven’t been this behind on their car payments since 1994. Interest rate hikes are [making loans more expensive](%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2F2023-10-21%2Fhigh-car-loan-interest-rate-payments-americans-struggle-with-monthly-bills/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/j8iC6SvSW-i1XNTYi1XteMYQ-2TP3c7ZtvNVzPxyhgc=324), and drivers are feeling the pinch. Slack’s new jukebox feature is just the elevator music of remote work. We’re not sure if [smooth jazz](%2F%2Fwww.techradar.com%2Fpro%2Fslack-might-have-just-added-its-most-bizarre-feature-yet-but-some-of-you-will-love-it/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/cykyblMsi94nfOdtSvbIbbjw4jiF2XSDvYE-TXbMElI=324) makes waiting for your coworkers to join the huddle any less awkward. Kendall Jenner’s Meta AI avatar can’t recommend her tequila. It drinks [Don Julio or Patron](%2F%2Fscreenshot-media.com%2Fculture%2Finternet-culture%2Fkendall-jenner-ai-billie-818-tequila%2F/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/r7CX4aZlvQ-b5lGWOPLR4TrxzQHEsLZI3RJSjtDGlIg=324). The world’s oldest dog died. RIP Bobi, [who took 31 trips around the sun](%2F%2Fapnews.com%2Farticle%2Foldest-dog-portugal-bobi-guinness-world-records-91da19230bafd556fdad28edfa96917f/1/0100018b66434a65-48905519-0dd4-44df-843a-e4e766e0b2b4-000000/PA64npRW4oztPadGJrtoZJRuA9gN9BuhqsBo4KxNIu0=324) plus 165 days. 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