🌎 The view from the top

Good morning, Quartz readers!

There won’t be a Daily Brief next Monday, Jan. 15. We’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday.

Here’s what you need to know

A US- and UK-led coalition launched airstrikes against Houthi militant targets in Yemen. The strikes were in response to the rebel force defying an ultimatum to stop attacking ships in the Red Sea.

Microsoft briefly became the world’s most valuable company. It’s riding the wave of generative AI, while Apple—which has since regained the throne—is struggling with slow iPhone sales.

The US Federal Reserve didn’t get a reason to cut interest rates anytime soon. The consumer price index rose more than expected in December, and these are the items driving up grocery bills the most. Separately, a single sentence from WD-40's CFO explains how companies are greasing the wheels for disinflation.

Taiwan will hold its presidential election on Saturday. Globally, results could be pivotal for tense geopolitical relationships, mainly the one between the US and China.

The World Economic Forum starts in Davos on Monday. Follow on-the-ground updates—the big, the small, the bureaucratic—by signing up for our Need to Know: Davos newsletter. It’s free, it’s daily, and it’s back again this year!

CES dispatch: Vertical turntables, folding TVs, and app heroes

CES wraps up today in Las Vegas, and there have been some clear winners and blatant losers launched by companies racing to bring consumers the latest but not-always-greatest tech—you can probably guess where “easily hackable lawn mowers” landed.

Which innovations have caught your eye this week? We’re pretty curious—let us know. Here are four final gadgets to choose from if you’re still undecided:

🎵 A vertical turntable that looks really cool (and connects to Bluetooth)

🎧 Speaking of Bluetooth, this new capability might keep you sane?

📺 A 137-inch (348-cm) TV that folds like a fan

🐇 A pocket-sized app manager that can book you a Lyft without inputting login info

Exports to the US are looking very 2003

Mexico likely just did something it hasn’t done in 20 years: surpass China as the largest exporter to the US.

Data released by the US Census Bureau this week show that very milestone happening in the first 11 months of 2023, and while figures for December won’t be released until Feb. 7, it appears that Mexico is on track to beat China as America’s top source of imports.

It looks like the US’s wish to become less dependent on its geopolitical rival is coming true—except in a few key areas that might always keep the economies tied.

OpenAI’s GPT store already has AI girlfriends

It only took two days for people to break the rules of OpenAI’s GPT store, and of course it had to be for AI girlfriend bots.

A search for “girlfriend” on the new GPT store will populate the site’s results bar with at least eight “girlfriend” AI chatbots, including one called Virtual Sweetheart that would like to know your darkest secrets (no, thank you).

The AI girlfriend bots go against OpenAI’s usage policy, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be a problem. The company is, whether it likes it or not, running headfirst into the Wild West of regulating GPTs.

Quartz’s most popular

🐣 The Twitter CEO ousted by Elon Musk has resurfaced with an AI startup

✈️ What’s happening at Boeing? A timeline of the aircraft maker’s terrible week

🎧 Hindi music listeners are the only group of streamers that just keep growing

🍔 How AI is transforming fast food drive-thru lanes

😶‍🌫️ Binance and other crypto apps disappeared from Apple’s App Store in India

👎 Big tech is sliding down Glassdoor’s ranking of top employers

Surprising discoveries

Remember that crazy powerful radio signal that came from deep space? Astronomers found its origins: A big blob of at least seven tightly-knit galaxies, which isn’t a bad way to describe your friend group.

An app lets businesses charge people up to $10 to use bathrooms. No.

Louisa May Alcott may have another pen name. Clues indicate that several stories written by someone with the last name “Gould” could be her work.

Cancer rates among young people are accelerating, and oncologists are alarmed. The cause is frustratingly hard to pinpoint.

Pro tip: Don’t send live spiders and cockroaches to someone as an intimidation tactic. It’s highly illegal, it’s gross, and it’s just really mean.

Did you know we have two premium weekend emails, too? One gives you analysis on the week’s news, and one provides the best reads from Quartz and elsewhere to get your week started right. Become a member or give membership as a gift!

Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, a tightly-knit group of seven galaxies, and free bathrooms to [email protected]. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner.