đ India delays laptop ban
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Hereâs what you need to know
India delayed its new laptop import restrictions by three months. Apple, HP, and Samsung were scrambling to get a âvalid license for restricted importsâ from New Delhi.
The Austrian constitution may soon include the right to pay in cash. Chancellor Karl Nehammer proposed the amendment after the far-right Freedom Party accused the current government of conspiring to ban cash as a means of tracking its citizens.
Amazonâs cloud revenue is up 12% amid AI demand. The company also reported that Amazon Web Servicesâs operating income generated $5.4 billion, which is down 6% from the same period last year.
 High interest rates are making billion-dollar lottery jackpots more common. These high payouts are a new trendâonly four other jackpots ever hit a billion dollars before the recent spate of windfalls.
What is LK-99?
Is the hot new potentially superconducting material out of South Korea actually a hot new superconducting material?
Weâll know in a week, according to Michael Norman, a physicist and distinguished fellow at the Argonne National Laboratory. Thatâs roughly how long it will take researchers around the world to replicate the material, dubbed LK-99, and assess whether it is actually a superconductor or simply has unusual magnetic capabilities; his own lab is working on it as we speak.
đ Quartzâs Tim Fernholz has everything you need to know about the superconducting material in his latest Space Business newsletter. Never miss an update from the great beyondâsign up to get Space Business weekly.
One big number: 187,000
Number of jobs the US economy added in July
Quartzâs Nate DiCamillo explains that while the countryâs labor market continues to grow at a steady clip, the big booms in jobs numbers are fadingâand that signals a soft landing without a recession may actually happen.
Pop quiz: Sam Altmanâs latest concern
The CEO of OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, is now worried about AIâs influence inâŠ
A. Elections
It could possibly be all of them, but most recently, Altman shared his worries that the technology heâs become the face of could make politics even messier.
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Surprising discoveries
A naturally occurring bacteria can stop the malaria parasite right in a mosquitoâs gut. The discovery was made by accident.
Happiness fuels charity, not the other way around. Thereâs probably a mix of both, but the latter is more prevalent.
Only one song on the Billboard Hot 100 was written by a team of all women last year. It was Kate Bushâs âRunning Up that Hill.â
Bald eagles are helping dairy farmers in Washington state. Theyâre natureâs pest cleaners.
There arenât enough Lindas for the L.I.N.D.A. Club. That wasnât a problem back in 1947, when one in every 18 babies in the US was given the name.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, bald eagles, and your favorite baby name to [email protected]. Reader support makes Quartz available to allâbecome a member. Todayâs Daily Brief was brought to you by M.O.R.G.A.N. Haefner.