Good morning. On today’s docket:

• 🚫 Rite-Aid gets banned from using facial recognition
• 🐈 What cats and NASA have in common
• 🛢️ The US is on an oil-producing roll

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 4.98-minute read.

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

“What you resist, persists.”

–Carl Jung (1875-1961)

Rite Aid is banned from using facial recognition technology for the next five years in a first-of-its-kind settlement with the FTC, which found the bankrupt retailer falsely accused thousands of shoppers of criminal activity and unfairly targeted people of color for nearly a decade.

Background: Between 2012 and 2020, Rite Aid introduced face-scanning technology to hundreds of US stores in an attempt to crack down on shoplifting.

But federal regulators said Rite Aid’s system used a flawed and biased database that incorrectly identified thousands of people as possible shoplifters, and was more likely to return false positives in communities with large Black and Asian populations than white ones.

• The FTC also found that you didn’t need a Mission Impossible-style facemask to circumvent the system. Rite Aid didn't regularly monitor or test its facial recognition tech and didn’t tell employees the system could make mistakes, resulting in hundreds of customers being falsely accused of criminal activity – and, in some cases, wrongfully detained by police.

Rite Aid isn’t the only US organization leaning into facial recognition. Other major retail chains currently using the technology to track in-store customers include Albertsons, Apple, H-E-B, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Macy’s, per surveillance advocacy group Fight for the Future. Law enforcement groups are also trending towards Minority Report, with ~2,400 federal, state, and local US agencies (out of 18,000 total) using facial recognition technology from Clearview AI to help with criminal investigations as of 2020.

🏛️📝 Zoom out: There are no federal laws governing the use of facial recognition, leaving states, cities, and counties to regulate it on their own. Since 2019, nearly two dozen state or local governments have restricted use of the technology – though some areas later walked back those laws due to procedural reasons or a spike in violent crime.

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🇺🇸🇻🇪 The US freed an ally of Venezuela’s president in exchange for 10 Americans and a fugitive defense contractor. The deal, which represents the largest release of American prisoners in Venezuela’s history, comes weeks after the US suspended some Venezuelan sanctions in exchange for President Nicolás Maduro agreeing to work toward a free and fair presidential election in 2024. The prisoner swap includes the transfer of a defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard” to American custody, where he’ll stand trial for allegations of bribing dozens of US officers with millions of dollars.

🇨🇦 Canada will require all new automobiles to be zero-emission by 2035. The new plan, announced Tuesday, stipulates that 20% of new vehicles must be fully electric or plug-in hybrids by 2026, a figure that rises to 60% by 2030 and 100% by 2035. Automakers unable to sell enough vehicles can buy credits from other manufacturers who exceed their targets. Proponents say the deal will help Canada reach the goals outlined in the COP28 climate conference, while critics argue it’s unrealistic due to the high cost of EVs and patchwork nature of charging networks.

🇪🇺 EU countries reached a deal to limit migration. Under the new system, EU nations located near high-immigration areas like northern Africa can accelerate screening, asylum assessments, and deportation of migrants. Inland countries will choose between accepting a certain number of refugees based on their GDP, population, and number of irregular border crossings, or paying money into a joint EU fund. The deal follows years of disagreements between member nations after the bloc's old rules collapsed in 2015, when 1+ million people, mainly fleeing war in Syria or Iraq, arrived in the EU without authorization.

Bird, the e-scooter sharing company that was once the fastest startup to ever reach a “unicorn” valuation (>$1 billion), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday.

The move, much like grandma asking about your love life on holidays, doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. The company has experienced a slew of issues since going public via SPAC in 2021.

• Bird shares, which debuted at an implied valuation of $2.3 billion, lost more than 90% of their value in the six months after IPO. The company also admitted to the SEC last year that it had overstated revenue in both 2020 and 2021.
• Founder Travis VanderZanden departed in June, at which point his stake in the company was reportedly worth less than his Miami house.
• Bird was delisted by the New York Stock Exchange in September for failing to maintain a market value above $15 million for 30 consecutive days.

Other so-called micromobility startups are also struggling. Micromobility.com, an e-bike/e-scooter company that also went public via SPAC in 2021, was asked this week by the Nasdaq to delist its shares because they were trading below $1.

The industry’s future doesn’t look too bright, either. E-scooters are becoming increasingly unpopular with citizens, many of whom see them as dangerous and an eyesore. Nearly 90% of voters in Paris supported a ban on e-scooter companies, which took effect in September.

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Earlier this month, NASA engineers gathered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, were fist-pumping and presumably laughing after watching a cat video.

But their reaction wasn’t because of the video’s content – it was because the 15-second clip was successfully sent to Earth from ~19 million miles away, or roughly 80x the distance from Earth to the Moon.

This test comes at a time when sending information through space is about to get especially important. NASA currently uses radio frequency systems to communicate with objects in space.

But this system has its limitations. Radio frequencies struggle to handle the amount of data needed to transmit higher volumes of high-quality images and video over great distances.

The agency is gearing up to return to the Moon, with an eye on traveling to the next human exploration frontier – Mars. And in order to support astronauts on these journeys, higher-data-rate communications capable of sending complex scientific information, high-definition imagery, and video need to be in place.

• The recent test ironically sent the video of the cat playing with a laser via laser communications, which is designed to transmit data up to 100x faster than the current radio systems.
• It took less than two minutes for the ultra-HD video – sent at the test system's maximum rate of 267 Mbps – to reach Earth.

👀 Looking ahead… At the end of June, NASA engineers expect to be able to successfully transmit data 186 million miles. Mars is ~229 million miles away from Earth.

💬 Quoted… “The United States [is] producing more oil than any country in history.”

• In a report published this week, S&P Global Commodity Insights found the US is on track to produce 13.3 million barrels/day of crude oil and condensate during Q4, representing the highest level in recorded history. The recent strength of US output has caused several analysts to downgrade their forecast for oil prices next year, citing an abundance of supply.

📈 Stat of the Day: Monthly payments for child care were 32% higher in September compared to the pre-pandemic average, per a new analysis from the Bank of America Institute.

🤔 Did You Know?... The Campaign for North Africa is a board game published in 1978 that takes up to 10 players an estimated 1,500 hours (or 62 straight days) to complete – or only slightly longer than a game of Monopoly.

📰 Worth a Read: He stole hundreds of iPhones and looted people’s life savings. He told us how → (WSJ)

• 👆 NASA published a new image of the “Christmas Tree Cluster,” a group of young stars located in the Milky Way about 2,500 light-years from Earth.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Monk Manual

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board (S&P: -1.5%; Dow: -1.3%; Nasdaq: -1.5%). | 📦 FedEx cut its 2024 full-year forecast due to soft demand and lower-than-expected sales; the company’s shares closed down 10%. | 🥣 General Mills also downgraded its fiscal 2024 sales forecast amid decreased consumer demand.
• 🚘 Toyota is recalling 1 million US vehicles equipped with malfunctioning airbags that may not deploy.
• 🤝🥃 The US and EU reached a deal to suspend European tariffs on a range of American-made products, including a potential 50% tax on imported whiskey. (Background)

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🗣️📺 Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount held discussions this week about a potential merger, per multiple reports.
• 🏈✍️ The early signing period for Class of 2024 high school football recruits to commit to a college program began yesterday and lasts through tomorrow.
• 🎓 Washington State and Oregon State, the two remaining members of the Pac-12 starting next year, have reportedly agreed to join the Western Coast Conference as affiliate members for 2024-25 in all sports outside of football and baseball.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with RYSE

• 🧑‍🚀🌕 NASA’s Artemis III mission, which represents the first crewed landing mission to the Moon since 1972, will include at least one non-American astronaut, VP Kamala Harris announced yesterday.
• 🔬 Case Western Reserve researchers discovered a novel enzyme that, when blocked, could represent a new treatment for type 2 diabetes, per a new study published in Cell.
• 🤖🎶 Microsoft this week integrated Suno, an AI-backed music creation product focused on creating original tunes with original vocals, into its Microsoft Copilot AI software platform.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 💰 The IRS is waiving a combined ~$1 billion in penalty fees for Americans and US businesses who failed to pay back taxes totaling $100,000 or less in 2020 and 2021.
• 🗽 New York City approved a new law banning the use of solitary confinement in city jails; Mayor Eric Adams has said he’ll veto the measure.
• 🇮🇳🏛️ India suspended 141 members of Parliament from the opposition party on Tuesday for disrupting proceedings as they protested an earlier security breach in the chamber; opposition members frame the move as a power grab by PM Narendra Modi’s party.

CLICKBAIT

• 🧪👀 The science events to watch for in 2024.

Yesterday, we covered how the current edition of Congress is on track to be the most unproductive in modern history, with a total of 24 bills approved so far this year.

❓ Our question to you: How do you feel about the current level of gridlock in Congress?

• ❗ It’s a major issue: 70%
• 🤏 It’s a minor issue: 16%
• 🙅 It’s not an issue at all: 14%

Click here to read more of the best responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 6,711 votes and 403 longform responses.

We bring you the most unusual, off-the-wall and occasionally laugh-out-loud headlines from this week.

• ‘You didn’t just succeed, you Exceled’: Sydney man dubbed the ‘Annihilator’ wins spreadsheet world championship → (The Guardian)
• Woman pretended to be Waffle House worker for hours to steal cash, police say → (FOX5 Atlanta)
• Bronze top hat missing from Abraham Lincoln statue in Kentucky → (Associated Press)
• Book checked out in 1934 finally returned to Massachusetts library → (Fox News)
• Idaho man snaps 63 pencils in 30 seconds → (UPI)

... there was Dorothy Grant's. 

While it may look less-than-impressive compared to the lavish Christmas trees of today, the tiny tree was considered as lavish as they come when Dorothy received it as a gift in the 1920s.

❤️ How lovely are your branches... Dorothy cherished her tree so much that she kept it for 93 years – until she passed away at 101 in 2014. The decoration was then passed down to her daughter, who used the tree for nearly a decade before putting it up for auction this year.

• Auctioneers predicted the tree would go for anywhere between $75-100. They were shocked when it sold for more than $4,000.

Which mountain range, pictured above, separates Spain and France?

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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The Pyrenees