How to trick a Tesla

MARKETS

• Dem debate: On the Las Vegas stage, candidates turned on each other in a fitting preview of Wilder vs. Fury. Mike Bloomberg wasn’t spared in his first debate this election season.
• Fed: The minutes from the Fed’s meeting in January show that central bankers think interest rates are in the right place at the right time. Don’t expect that to change until 2021.

REGULATION

EU Better Shape Up, Big Tech

Yesterday, the EU rolled out plans to develop new restrictions on the largest tech firms.

As in, plans to make rules

As in, no new rules just yet. But by the end of the year, the EU says it will draft legislation to impose tougher limits on major tech firms—meaning the non-European ones.

• Aside from a few success stories like Sweden’s Spotify, Europe has largely missed the tech boat. The EU is anxious about its member states relying on South Korean phones, U.S. social networks and e-commerce, and Chinese wireless networks.

So the European Commission (the EU’s executive arm) outlined a blueprint to both rein in foreign tech firms and nurture homegrown tech champions.

First, the stick

Is for outside companies. And there are actually three.

Stick 1: Artificial intelligence. Users and developers of AI in sensitive fields like health, transportation, and policing could be subjected to new legal requirements.

• Like warm soda, privacy is more valued in Europe than the U.S. That means the use of facial recognition technology for remotely identifying people is generally prohibited in the EU, except in certain cases. The bloc will keep debating whether to allow those exceptions.

Stick 2: Antitrust. The EU is targeting “gatekeeper” companies that stand between other businesses and their customers. Proposed penalties for platforms found guilty of anticompetitive behavior could involve forcing those companies to share data with their smaller rivals.

Stick 3: Content liability. The EU is toying with holding tech platforms responsible for harmful content users post.

• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with officials on Monday. He encouraged them to...not do that, suggesting instead a liability system that splits the difference between newspaper publishers (who can be 100% liable for their content) and telcos (who are 0% liable).

And now the carrot

The EU proposed a boost in spending on homegrown tech firms to $21.6 billion/year in public and private investments.

AUTO

If You Can’t Trick It With Electrical Tape...

It’s not a Tesla. Researchers at McAfee (the same software security firm your dad single-handedly kept in business in the ’90s) managed to trick Tesla vehicles into speeding using...electrical tape.

How they did it: Technicians put a strip of tape on the “3” on a 35 mph speed limit sign, causing a 2016 Tesla Model X and Model S to read the sign as 85 mph and accelerate cruise control accordingly.

Big picture: McAfee adds to the research illustrating how easily machine learning systems used for driverless tech can be duped.

• In 2017, researchers used stickers to trick a computer vision system into thinking a stop sign was a 45 mph sign. Been there.
• Last year, hackers at Tencent caused a Tesla to swerve into the wrong lane by placing stickers on the road.

It’s worth noting McAfee's tests involved Mobileye camera systems Tesla stopped using in 2016. And current Teslas no longer depend on traffic sign recognition.

+ While we’re here: Tesla investors weren’t put off—shares are within spitting distance of $1,000 after a nearly 7% rally yesterday.

WORK

Just Doing My Civic Duty, Sir

If you’re a manager, you know there are certain days you have to cut your team some slack. They’re not going to be at 100% the day after the Super Bowl, July 3rd, or today (Rihanna’s birthday).

At least 383 companies are adding November 3, Election Day. They’ve joined Time to Vote, a nonpartisan coalition of U.S. businesses committing to giving workers...you get it.

• The companies represent over 2 million workers and include JPMorgan, Target, and Lyft.
• Organizers say they hope to recruit 1,000 companies by November.

The idea: Voting is important...and U.S. voters aren’t very good at it. In the 2016 presidential election, only about 60% of eligible voters actually voted, according to the United States Elections Project.

• Yogurt maker Chobani already grants workers three hours of paid time off on Election Day. This year, it will add internal emails, videos, and town halls reminding people to get to that important but smelly middle school basement.

Btw...you can check your registration here.

AVIATION

Unlike Airlines, 2019 Air Travel Stats Were on Time

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation released its annual report on air travel for 2019. Let’s dive in.

On-time arrival rate: 79%, down from 79.2% in 2018.

• Despite operating on island time, Hawaiian Airlines was the most punctual carrier. Frontier was the least.

Cancellations: Airlines canceled 1.9% of scheduled domestic flights last year, all of which interrupted an important family gathering. In 2016, the cancellation rate was 1.2%.

Animals: Carriers reported 11 animal deaths and eight injuries. The good news? Zero animals lost.

Tarmac delays: This is a fun one as long as you weren't on board one of the 302 domestic flights that waited on the tarmac for more than three hours last year.

• The longest tarmac delay was a United flight that spent 5 hours and 32 minutes on the Newark tarmac before taking off for Milan, Italy.

Zoom out: Traveling by airplane is miraculous, but that doesn’t mean it isn't sometimes frustrating.

+ Article soundtrack: Tom Petty’s “Learning To Fly.”

STARTUP

Want to Live Longer? There’s an App for That

It’s called Ikaria, and it’s trying to eliminate those feelings of profound loneliness social media can induce.

Ikaria, which was unveiled Tuesday, is a communication app that wants users to cultivate “richer personal relationships for a happier and longer life.”

• Cofounded by a creator of the anonymous app Secret, Ikaria meets at the intersection of iMessage group chats, mental health content, and personal therapy.
• Instead of likes and follows, it’s focused on interpersonal relationships and safe spaces for people going through similar challenges.

How it makes money: Get ready—no ads. Instead, Ikaria will create “customer relationships” that open up revenue channels like subscriptions or in-app payments for premium content.

• While it’s waiting on those relationships to bloom, Ikaria is in beta living off the $1.5 million it raised in seed funding.

One use case: If Ikaria knows you’re in communication with your mom, it can remind you to call her or send messages that say more than “How do I fold a fitted sheet?”

Now we put it to you, SoftBrew Vision Fund: Would you invest in Ikaria? Vote here.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Groupon and Blue Apron shares tanked 44% and 18%, respectively, as investors questioned the sustainability of their business models.
• Forever 21’s new owners are hoping to keep as many U.S. stores open as possible when the retailer emerges from bankruptcy in the coming weeks.
• Founders Fund, an investment firm led by Peter Thiel and other Silicon Valley heavyweights, has raised $3 billion across two new funds.
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren supporters have formed a super PAC to air her campaign's TV ads ahead of Saturday’s Nevada caucuses.
• Larry Tesler, the influential computer scientist who coined the terms “cut,” “copy,” and “paste,” died Monday.

BABY ARE YOU DOW?

From @JeffMacke on Twitter: Can you fill in the remaining Dow companies? There are 10 empty spots.

BABY ARE YOU DOW ANSWER