Good morning and welcome to Wednesday. Full transparency, we ran into a major issue and need your help.

Gmail’s filters flagged yesterday’s newsletter as “malware/spam,” automatically removing it from tens of thousands of inboxes. The reason for this suppression was some link we included in the email – even though we only link to reputable sources – and the powers that be aren’t telling us which one, or why.

How you can help: Please add us to your contacts to ensure we hit your inbox each day, even when this happens. For Gmail users:

• On mobile: In the top right corner of the app hit those 3 dots, click “Move to” then “Primary.”
• On desktop: Back out of this email then drag and drop this email into the “Primary” tab near the top left of your screen.

Apple mail users: Simply tap on our email address at the top of this email and “Add to VIPs.”

Everyone else: Here are some simple instructions for each mailbox provider.

Thank you so much. Y’all are literally the best.🙏❤️

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.49 minutes to read.

“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”

–Aristotle (384 B.C. – 322 B.C.)

The Senate is poised to hold a procedural vote as early as today on the US CHIPS Act, which would allocate $52 billion in subsidies (plus additional tax credits) to attract advanced semiconductor manufacturers to the US.

🏛🗳 Driving the move: While exact details are scarce, the measure is aimed at making America more competitive with China, whose chip industry has grown over the last five years to account for nearly 10% of global sales (up from 4%).

• The bill itself is bipartisan, but Republican critics have said they plan to oppose the CHIPS Act unless Democrats stop trying to pass an unrelated climate and prescription-drug bill along party lines (which suffered a setback last week).

💻🏭 A deeper dive… Some companies within the chip industry itself are also opposed to the bill, voicing concerns that it disproportionately benefits manufacturers like Intel while leaving out companies that focus solely on chip design, like AMD, Qualcomm, or Nvidia.

Other firms are holding multi-billion dollar projects over lawmakers’ heads in an effort to get the CHIPS Act passed.

• Intel indefinitely delayed the groundbreaking ceremony for a planned $20 billion chip-making factory in Ohio last month “due in part to uncertainty around” the legislation.
• Weeks later, Taiwanese chip supplier GlobalWafers announced plans to build a new $5 billion factory in Sherman, TX – but only if the CHIPS Act is ultimately approved.

🌏 The big picture: Taiwan dominates the global foundry market – aka the companies that actually manufacture chips (which are designed by other companies) – with a 66% market share. It houses the world’s largest foundry, TSMC, which counts major firms like Apple, Qualcomm, and Nvidia as its clients.

+Flash poll: Do you think Congress should pass the $52 billion CHIPS Act?

Yes

No

Unsure/other

Amazon filed a lawsuit yesterday against the administrators of what it says are more than 10,000 Facebook groups used specifically to leave fake positive reviews on Amazon products.

⚙️🤩 How it works (allegedly)… Amazon sellers looking for fake reviews often reach out to brokers, who agree to bring in fraudulent reviews for a fee. The brokers then find people – allegedly via these FB groups – who order the sellers’ product and, after a few days, write a 5-star review. The broker then reimburses the seller for the product, sometimes giving them extra cash.

• Many of the FB groups are private, and allegedly require potential members to provide proof they’re an Amazon seller or reviewer in order to be admitted. One
• Amazon said it filed the suit in order to shut down the groups, learn the identities of their leaders, and compel them to return their “ill-gotten gains.” The tech giant also said Facebook has already taken down more than half of the 10,000 groups.
• One of the groups, called “Amazon Product Review,” had more than 43,000 members.

🧠 In the know: Multiple surveys in recent years have shown that 90%+ of Americans say their purchasing decisions are influenced by online reviews.

+Dive deeper… Last year, regulators in the UK opened an investigation into whether Amazon and Google harmed consumers by failing to sufficiently protect them from fake reviews.

Earlier this week, the government of Dubai launched a strategy that aims to turn the city into one the world’s top 10 metaverse economies and a global hub for the metaverse community.

🇦🇪🏆 More deets… The UAE’s capital city, already home to more than 1,000 metaverse and blockchain firms, plans to 5x the number of blockchain companies located there over the next five years. And it has two other explicitly stated goals to reach by the end of the decade:

1. Add $4 billion to the city’s GDP
2. Add 40,000 new “virtual jobs” – though it’s currently unclear what those are or what they entail. (Random question: if a computer empties the trash, does that mean it’s a janitor?🤔)

🇨🇳 Elsewhere: Earlier this month, the city of Shanghai, China, laid out its own strategy to build a metaverse economy worth $52 billion by the end of 2025.

+In the know: VC and private-equity firms spent a combined $57 billion on investments in metaverse companies last year, according to data from McKinsey, while virtual real estate sales in the metaverse surpassed $500 million.

🤯 Did you know?… Investing in startups used to be reserved for only the wealthy and elite, but now because of crowdfunding anyone can invest?📈🥳

Crowdfunding is the easiest way to own a part of a business because:

1. You DON’T have to be an accredited investor
2. Minimum investment amounts are super low

Basically, the door is wide open for you or anyone you know to invest in startups early and get in on the next big company!

And as you probably noticed, one company you can get a slice of early is Piestro.🤖🍕

Their robotic pizza kiosks already have $580M in preorders, including 3,600 units for international chain 800 Degrees Pizza.🔥

• These kiosks reduce labor/real estate costs and result in TRIPLED profit margins for pizzerias, which are currently at an all-time low.

🍕🏆 Pizza is America’s #1 food, with a whopping $46B market size. Piestro aims to take their bite by making units available to restaurants AND by operating their own, selling directly to consumers.

You can still get in on Piestro early to lock in those #gainz, but you only have 8 days!⌛

🍕🏆 Learn more about investing in Piestro.

What happens when you give a university president a Dr. Suess book? One college, two college, new college.

This past June, Boston-based Northeastern University took over the operation of Mills College, a 170-year-old women’s school located near Silicon Valley that was at risk of closing its doors due to $21 million in liabilities.

🎓➕🎓 That’s not all: The previous month, St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia absorbed the crosstown University of the Sciences, and Boston College announced plans to merge with Pine Manor College.

🤔 What’s going on?... As Chee-eee-eese would say, running a school ain’t easy. Colleges may merge for several different reasons: to broaden their enrollment base, diversify programs, expand facilities, create efficiencies of scale – or simply to avoid shutting down over financial issues (as you’ll find out in a sec, “brand-name” universities are thriving. Less-prestigious schools, not so much).

• There have been 95 instances of two colleges merging together over the past four years, compared to 78 mergers over the 18 years before that, per data compiled by consulting group EY Parthenon.
• All told, 95% of mergers occur between universities with less than 5,000 students, and some 80% involve schools located in the same state.

+Dive deeper: There are currently ~1.4 million fewer college students than before the pandemic began, but applications to America’s most selective schools keep increasing in the face of unprecedented competition.

• ☝️ Infrastructure probs: A transformer at the Hoover Dam exploded yesterday, but electricity continued to flow to 1.3 million people in the Southwest; a sinkhole opened up in NYC on Monday, swallowing a local van (which was later safely recovered).

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🐦 Twitter won its motion for an expedited trial against Elon Musk in a bid to force through the $44 billion acquisition; the five-day trial will be held in Delaware this October.
• 🇨🇳 China's holdings of US debt have fallen below $1 trillion for the first time since May 2010, per a new Treasury Department report.
• 🇫🇷 The French government is preparing to purchase a 100% stake in domestic energy giant EDF for $9.7 billion.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⚾ The American League won last night’s MLB All-Star Game by a score of 3-2, clinching victory over the National League for the ninth straight year (and 27th time in the past 34 years).
• 💻 Microsoft launched Viva Engage, a new Facebook-like app inside Teams that encourages social networking at work.
• 📺 Streaming corner: Amazon is rolling out a new Prime Video experience over the next few weeks. | Netflix reported a loss of 970,000 subscribers last quarter, below the 2 million the company previously projected.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🧠 Australian startup Synchron became the first company to implant a brain-computer interface device in a US patient, beating out Elon Musk’s Neuralink.
• 🚁 The UK announced a $325+ million funding package for the aerospace sector that includes plans for the largest automated drone superhighway in the world.
• 🚀🛰 Two private space startups, Relativity Space and Impulse Space, announced joint plans for a commercial trip to Mars in 2024; if successful, they'll beat SpaceX to the red planet.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 🚘📱 Ride-hailing company Didi Global is facing a $1 billion fine from Chinese authorities.
• 🏛️ At least 16 House Democrats were arrested yesterday at an abortion rights protest near the Supreme Court. (From the Left | From the Right)
• 🤔🤯 Ready to expand your horizons AND your mind? Curiosity Weekly is a weekly email guaranteed to get the gears turning with curated links to all things interesting! Subscribe for free.*

*Sponsored post

💬 Quoted… ​​“Ecosystem engineers.”

The European bison – the largest land mammal on the continent – has been reintroduced into the wild in the UK for the first time in thousands of years. 

• The country initially released three bison with the aim of transforming a dense commercial pine forest into a vibrant natural woodland. The animals' natural behavior should spread seeds, fell trees, and open natural paths through the woods.

🏃‍♀️ Stat of the Day: 78% of Americans think we won't be rid of Covid in our lifetimes, according to the latest Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

🤯 Did You Know?... Only an estimated ~5% of residential buildings in the UK are equipped with air-conditioning. The country recorded its highest-ever temp in history yesterday, ~104 degrees Farenheit in eastern England.

📖 Worth a Read: From $25 billion to $167 million: How a major crypto lender collapsed and dragged many investors down with it → (CNBC)

🥱 Your phone case might get the job done – but it lacks a bit of flavor, doesn't it? Perhaps it’s time for something new?🤔

🤩 Get personal… Our friends at Smartish know there’s nothing cooler than what’s cool to you, so they let you personalize your phone case however you want.

⭐ With over 25,000 5-star reviews (the real kind), Smartish products are designed to make your life easier – and their phone cases do just that, with cool features like grippy textured sides, protective corners, and ultra-light construction!👌

Give your phone some flair with Smartish!

Welcome one, welcome all – today is the first time this travel-focused section has ever been published. Quick recap: We’re aiming to crowdsource details about epic trips, then provide the whole playbook for the experience to y’all.

Have a trip you’d like to share? Just fill out this form.

From Athens, GA to San Francisco, CA

🚶‍♂️ Who: Eli G. from Athens, GA.

☀️ Length of trip: Three months.

💬 Quick recap: I used a combination of hitchhiking and couchsurfing to make it across the US for next to nothing on a gap semester during university. I started with a friend, and a cheap bus trip to New Orleans. From there we hitched to Austin, and I stayed there a few months with some hippies. After overstaying my welcome I hit the road and grabbed a ride with an avocado trucker all the way to Los Angeles. Worked my way up the coast to a small farm I stayed at (via WWOFF) and worked at in exchange for food and board. Finally flew home after a month there.

🤔 Anything you wish you would’ve known?... Hitchhiking isn't nearly as scary as popular media would have you think! People are good!

😍 MUST dos: Say "yes" to opportunities. Pack light. Get out of the house and walk around. Keep your grooming and appearance neat. If you wait long enough anywhere, a car will eventually come that will give you a lift. Patience is key.

🙅‍♀️ Must don'ts: Read the room and don't take advantage of kind people's hospitality.

Want to learn more about this trip? Take a look at Eli’s budget breakdown here.

Quick note: We don’t exactly recommend repeating the preceding trip, but thought it to be a fascinating and counterintuitive experience worth sharing.

P.S. Have an epic travel experience you’d like to share? Just fill out this form for a chance to be featured in next Wednesday’s newsletter.

Conservationist Jane Goodall has been working to save our planet since the 1960s. 

She's been named a UN Messenger of Peace and an honorary member of the World Future Council, but has recently garnered another exciting title: Barbie doll.

🎀 Come on, Barbie... The doll is part of Barbie's Inspiring Women Series – more specifically, part of the "Career of the Year Eco-Leadership Team" set, which includes dolls representing a conservation scientist, renewable energy engineer, a chief sustainability officer, and an environmental advocate.🌳

🌊 The best part?... Jane's doll is made of recycled ocean-bound plastics.

Name the 5 highest grossing films of all time, adjusted for inflation.

(keep scrolling for the answers)

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone you think would like the DONUT.

1. Gone with the Wind ($3.75B)
2. Avatar ($3.30B)
3. Titanic ($3.11B)
4. Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope ($3.07B)
5. Avengers: Endgame ($2.83B)

Source → (IMDb)