The Daily Upside

Healthcare

Moderna Is Still Stuck in Post-COVID Limbo

Photo by Mufid Majnun via Pexels

Moderna walked a tightrope trying to convince shareholders it can both develop a new portfolio of drugs and keep costs down in the process.

2 min read

Today’s Upside

Recent News

Energy

Can We Solve Climate Change by Suing Polluters?

Photo illustration by Connor Lin / The Daily Upside

Climate litigation is rapidly transforming to offer the promise of big victories and big cash prizes for lawyers.

6 min read
Regulation

Regulators Look to Expand Whistleblower Reward Programs

Photo illustration by Connor Lin / The Daily Upside

In its 2023 full-year report, the SEC Office of the Whistleblower said it received 18,354 whistleblower tips, a 49% increase from 2022.

1 min read
Social Media

TikTok to Start Labeling AI-Created Content

Photo via Connor Lin / The Daily Upside

The platform says it plans to identify and label content created by other AI tools, like Adobe’s Firefly and OpenAI’s Dall-E.

2 min read
International Economics

Europe Wants to Fix Its Widening Productivity Gap With the US

Photo by Tiger Lily via Pexels

European productivity has increased only about 20% since 2000, about one-third the rate of the US.

2 min read
Patent Drop

Google Wants to Use Machine Learning to Keep AI Data Unbiased

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

The company’s latest filing adds another solution to several aiming to tackle the ever-present issue of bias at the source.

2 min read
Patent Drop

Honda May Bet on Carbon Removal to Clean its Factories

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Honda may be placing its hopes on carbon capture to reach bold net-zero goals – despite the tech’s high price tag.

2 min read
Consumer

Uber Takes a U-Turn Back to Unprofitability

Photo by Ilya Plekhanov via CC BY-SA 4.0

A $721 million loss from equity investments in other companies pulled the entire company down to an overall loss of $654 million.

1 min read
Electric Vehicles

EV Big Rigs Are Getting Too Expensive for Trucking Customers

Photo by Atomic Taco via CC BY-SA 2.0

EVs cost double to operate, can travel half as far, and require recharging, which isn’t ideal for an industry operating on thin margins.

2 min read
Geopolitics

US Mulls Export Bans on AI Software to China

Photo via Connor Lin / The Daily Upside

The US worries that models like ChatGPT could allow China to launch cyberattacks or even design biological weapons.

2 min read
Patent Drop

IBM’s Coding Companion Patent Adds to the Sea of AI-based Developer Tools

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

A recent IBM patent shows that it may be working on Grammarly for software developers.

2 min read
Consumer

The Private-Equity Takeover Bell Is Tolling for Peloton

Photo via Peloton

At least one PE firm has reportedly spoken with Peloton as it considers going private, but no deal is certain.

1 min read
Banking

UBS Has Left its Credit Suisse Burden Behind

Photo by Ank Kumar via CC BY-SA 4.0

Integration costs related to Credit Suisse were just over $1 billion, well below the $3.75 billion in the two previous quarters combined.

1 min read
Media & Entertainment

Disney’s Streaming Unit is Finally (Sort of) Profitable

Photo by Anthony Quintano via CC BY 2.0

The company’s Disney+ and Hulu platforms eked out $47 million in operating income. Just don’t ask about ESPN+.

2 min read
Inflation & Prices

Renters Are Losing Hope They’ll Ever Own a House

Photo by Aubrey Odom via Unsplash

A New York Fed survey found renters saying their probability of ever owning a home fell to 40.1%, a new low.

2 min read
Consumer

Brick-and-Mortar Stores Start Leaning into Online Shopping

Photo by Hobi Industri via Unsplash

In 2023, roughly 42% of e-commerce orders involved a store acting as a fulfillment hub or a place where consumers can pick up or return items.

1 min read
Blockchain

Robinhood’s Crypto Unit Receives SEC Wells Notice

Photo via Connor Lin / The Daily Upside

The move follows the SEC’s suit against crypto exchange Coinbase for allegedly operating an unregistered securities exchange.

2 min read
Patent Drop

Apple Adds AI Patent as it Preps for AI-powered iPhones

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

“Generative AI could fuel the next big Apple iPhone refresh cycle.”

2 min read
Inflation & Prices

Cocoa Prices Are On a Wild Ride

Photo by Federico Respini via Unsplash

Cocoa prices plunged almost 30% in the past week after a rally that pushed prices nearly 80% higher to start the year.

1 min read
Patent Drop

JPMorgan Chase Patents Take On Unconscious Bias Using AI

Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

JPMorgan Chase is tackling human biases with two recent patents.

2 min read
Markets

Warren Buffett Doesn’t See Much Reason to Deplete Huge Cash Pile

(Photo Credit: Serba Sembilan/Flickr)

Berkshire Hathaway’s legendary investor admitted that he doesn’t have any idea how to put $189 billion of cash to effective use.

2 min read