Kanye West has agreed to buy Parler, a right-leaning social media app that brands itself as a “free speech”-focused substitute for other social media platforms. The purchase echoes similar moves made by former President Trump and Elon Musk to own social media apps and push back against what they consider overbearing moderation policies that silence conservatives.

What they’re saying:

• West, who now goes by Ye, wrote that conservatives like himself “have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves.”
• George Farmer, the CEO of Parler’s parent company, said that Ye will “never have to fear being removed from social media again.”

That’s a direct callout to Ye being locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts for recent antisemitic posts. Ye tweeted that he would go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” and suggested on Instagram that Diddy was controlled by Jewish people, parroting longstanding antisemitic tropes.

How’d this deal come together? It was brokered by the conservative commentator Candace Owens at Ye’s fashion show in Paris. Owens is Farmer’s wife, and she coordinated with Ye to wear “White Lives Matter” shirts to that show, which drew outrage since the phrase is frequently invoked by white supremacist groups.

So what is Parler?

Parler calls itself an “uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome.” It spiked in popularity following the 2020 presidential election, but found itself in internet no man’s land after it was accused of allowing users to organize the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection on its platform. Parler was booted from Apple’s and Google’s app stores (though it’s now back on both), as well as from Amazon Web Services.

Still, Parler has struggled to regain popularity in 2022, having been downloaded just 90,000 times last month, per Sensor Tower. Twitter, by comparison, had 9 million downloads.

Looking ahead…Elon Musk, who’s pledged to cut back on content moderation at Twitter once he owns it, celebrated Ye’s deal yesterday, with a since-deleted tweet sharing a meme of himself (as Twitter) and Ye (as Parler) joining forces.—NF

Russia attacked Kyiv with “Kamikaze drones.” In the latest escalation in Ukraine, Russia divebombed the capital city with drone strikes aimed at energy and infrastructure targets that killed at least eight people. Unlike other drones, these are designed to destroy themselves by detonating once they lock onto their target (after hovering in the air to search for it). The weapons are believed to be from Iran, and they can slip past air defense systems.

Liz Truss is still the UK prime minister (for now), but her policies are out. Jeremy Hunt, the finance minister Truss installed Friday after sacking his predecessor over the markets’ panicked reaction to her “mini” budget, got to work yesterday canceling almost all of what was left of the budget’s proposed tax cuts after Truss herself nixed some last week. Hunt said the scrapped cuts amounted to $36 billion per year. Truss’s days at the top may still be numbered, though, as members of her own party are now publicly calling for her to resign.

Trump’s hotels charged Secret Service “exorbitant” rates, House committee says. The Trump Organization billed the agency more than $1.4 million for agents’ stays at its hotels while they protected the former president and his family, sometimes asking for as much as $1,185 per night, according to the House Oversight Committee. The documents released by the committee contrast with claims made by Trump and his son Eric, the organization’s executive vice president, that the fees charged to the Secret Service were minimal.

Wild stock market swings and inflation make it hard to know what to do with your money. That’s why your friend who won’t shut up about their portfolio keeps banging on about I bonds—especially since the window to buy them at their sky high interest rate of 9.62% closes soon.

So, what are I bonds? They’re US government-backed bonds with yield rates determined by combining a fixed rate with one based on the consumer price index. This rate calculation happens every six months, and it’s next scheduled for Nov. 1, which explains the rush to lock in the current rate.

How do I get some? There’s only one way to buy, and that’s directly from the US Treasury at this (unfortunately buggy) website.

What’s the catch? Each individual can only buy up to $10,000 worth per year (though Bloomberg has found some workarounds if you’re extra flush). Also, you shouldn’t buy them with money you’ll need soon, as the funds must stay put for a while.

Maybe don’t stress about that deadline: To get the current rate you need to buy by Oct. 28, but even if you don’t, yields are only expected to drop to around 6.47%—that’s still much better than you’ll do with a savings account.—AR

For more personal finance tips sign up for Money Scoop.

If Uber can figure out a way to add a six-dollar fee onto something, it will. In addition to food and people, a new delivery offering has been added to the menu in Toronto: marijuana. Canada legalized cannabis four years ago, and now Uber is ready to cash in.

How it works: You could already order cannabis products through Uber in Ontario, but you have to pick them up yourself. Now, Toronto residents over the age of 19 can order from three local dispensaries through Uber’s app (with help from online cannabis retailer Leafly). An employee at one of the dispensaries will still have to deliver the weed under Ontario law.

It’s a big deal for Uber, making it the first big third-party delivery platform to offer pot like this, according to Leafly. But not so much for Toronto residents. There were already at least 22 dispensaries that deliver in the Toronto area, according to Weedmaps.

Might be awhile before it crosses the border. In 2021, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that the company won’t venture into cannabis delivery in the US until it’s legalized on a federal level, but once the path is clear, “we’re absolutely going to take a look.”—MM

Stat: According to the latest data from the International Federation of Robotics, there are currently 3.5 million industrial robots in the world—that’s more than the population of every US city except New York and Los Angeles. With labor markets tight worldwide, the rise of robots is transforming manufacturing as we know it: Half of all new factory robot installations in 2021 took place in China, a nation that established itself as a manufacturing powerhouse based on its human labor population.

Quote: “The result now is that no one can see where I go because I rent planes when I use private planes.”

LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault is not interested in the rabble knowing where he’s headed. In response to everyone’s new hobby of tracking private jet flights and occasionally giving the folks who use them a hard time on Twitter about their climate impact, the world’s second richest person simply had his fashion conglomerate up and sell its jet.

Read: The rise of the paywalled restaurant. (New York Times)

Hacked? Here’s how to recover your accounts on all the major social media platforms.

Eat like Anthony Bourdain: Plan your next trip with this map of every restaurant he visited around the world.

Is there anything women can’t do? (The answer is no.) Join us for a free leadership workshop tomorrow with Julia Boorstin, author of When Women Lead, at 7pm ET. Register now.

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Brew Mini: “Low-maintenance Halloween costume” (five letters) is your sample clue for today’s Mini. Play it here.

Hoops trivia

To celebrate the start of the NBA season tonight, here’s some hoops trivia: There are only four NBA teams without an “s” at the end of their names. Can you identify all four?

As thousands of people gathered at New York Comic Con, we met with fans to better understand the surprising cost of fandom. Watch here.

️ Quitting is a decision-making skill that’s important to develop. This episode of Business Casual offers tips on how to get better at quitting and the red flags to look out for. Listen here.

How is society handling the pressing issues of health, food, and energy? Experts weighed in at the virtual Emerging Tech Brew Summit. Watch the conversation here.

In one week, you can network with top retail leaders from Baked by Melissa, Kroger, TikTok, and many more. A few tickets remain, so claim yours today.