The Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in a case with the potential to upend the internet…but it looks like the justices would prefer not to. The suit pits Google against the family members of a young woman killed in a terrorist attack, who maintain that YouTube should be held responsible for its algorithm recommending ISIS recruitment videos.

The case has all of Silicon Valley nervous because it asks the court to consider the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, the law that protects Big Tech from liability over users’ posts. The law has even been called the “Magna Carta of the internet.”

Why is Section 230 such a big deal?

It’s just 26 words long, but those words, penned before the founding of Google, have been credited with creating the internet as we know it. They’re what shield Big Tech (and anyone else who runs a website with any user-generated content—even comments or reviews) from being sued into oblivion for what users post.

Given Section 230’s Atlas-like role in holding up the internet, there’s real concern that the not-so-tech-savvy Supreme Court—which has never weighed in on Section 230 before—could issue a ruling with explosive, unintended consequences. Google’s lawyer claimed that a ruling against the company would turn the web into “The Truman Show versus a horror show,” since companies would have to curate content until it’s as bland as a white bread and mayo sandwich or stop moderating at all.

But the justices don’t seem keen to open Pandora’s box:

• Justice Elena Kagan deadpanned that the court isn’t made up of “the nine greatest experts on the internet.”
• Several justices brought up the tech industry’s fears that narrowing the law would lead to a deluge of lawsuits.
• Justice Brett Kavanaugh cautioned that the court should not “crash the digital economy.”

Looking ahead…the court is expected to rule on the case by the end of June. But even if the Supreme Court does leave Section 230 totally intact, Congress might not—it’s got high-profile critics on both sides of the aisle.—AR

Biden and Putin give dueling speeches. Fresh off a surprise visit to Kyiv, President Biden gave a speech in Poland where he vowed “unwavering” support for Ukraine. With the war about to hit its one-year anniversary, Biden has been emphasizing that Western allies will stand with Ukraine for the long haul. Hours before Biden’s speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out at the West and said he was suspending Russia’s participation in its final remaining arms control treaty with the US.

Norfolk Southern told to clean up its mess. The EPA took its most aggressive action yet against the company whose train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in early February. The agency ordered Norfolk Southern to identify and clean up contaminated soil and water, and reimburse the EPA for the cleanup it does on its own. The head of the EPA, Michael Regan, vowed that Norfolk Southern will “pay for cleaning up the mess they created and for the trauma they’ve inflicted on this community.” ​​

Starbucks mixes olive oil with coffee. The chain is rolling out a new line of olive oil-infused coffee drinks in Italy today and will bring them to Southern California this spring. CEO Howard Schultz said he conceived of the idea while watching the locals in Sicily drink olive oil. He started drinking the oil alongside his coffee, and, like a 13-year-old in front of a soda fountain, decided “Why not combine them?” Olive oil coffee may sound like a gimmick, but Schultz called it a “transformational moment” for the company.

The results of the world’s largest four-day workweek trial are in, and folks: Less is more.

After six months, a majority of the participating companies have reported positive results in employee morale, productivity, and retention. And an overwhelming 92% of the businesses will continue the shorter week schedule. All great things to bring up the next time you’re stuck in the elevator with your CEO.

About 2,900 workers across 61 companies took part in the UK study, in which British businesses in industries ranging from marketing to construction agreed to allow employees to work 80% of their usual hours for the same pay (and the same output).

Participating companies and employees reported a range of benefits, including:

• Reduced employee burnout rates (71% reported a decrease)
• High productivity and performance (employers scored both a 7.5/10 over the trial)
• Greater ability to balance responsibilities at work and home (60% said it became easier)

This isn’t the first trial pointing to the potential benefits of a shorter workweek. Around 2,500 workers in Iceland switched to a 35- or 36-hour workweek between 2015 and 2019 and researchers called it a major success. In France, a 35-hour workweek cap has been the law since 2000.—MK

AI tools like ChatGPT are becoming published authors without even having to attempt a braided essay about their parents’ divorce in an undergrad creative writing class. With advanced chatbots at their disposal, side hustlers are flooding Amazon with bot-written e-books and lit mags.

Reuters found more than 200 e-books on Amazon’s Kindle Store that credit ChatGPT as either the author or a coauthor. But because Amazon doesn’t require authors to disclose the extent to which AI helped them write their books, the number could be much higher. One author using bot assistance bragged that he churned out a 119-page novella in less than a day and could produce 300 similar books a year.

Big picture: The publishing industry is grappling with how to respond to the growing popularity of ChatGPT, the author.

Prestigious science-fiction magazine Clarkesworld closed rolling submissions yesterday after it said it received a huge amount of AI-generated submissions. In February alone, it banned nearly 500 bot-authors from submitting again.

AI-cademics is also the Wild West. Springer Nature, the world’s largest academic publisher, said in January that ChatGPT cannot be credited as an author of a paper, but the chatbot can still be used in the writing process—if it’s disclosed.—MM

Stat: You might have thought of the hedge fund industry as a small, exclusive club of Patagonia vests, but a new count by Preqin shows that it’s actually a large—and growing—sector of investing. In fact, there are more hedge funds globally (30,000+) than Burger King locations (more than 18,700), and there are more hedge fund managers than Taco Bell managers, per the FT. The takeaway? We need to build more Taco Bells.

Quote: “This is going to be absolute chaos.”

Amazon’s return-to-office mandate is not going over well with employees. According to Insider, more than 14,000 Amazon employees have joined a Slack channel called “Remote Advocacy” to push back against the company’s recently announced requirement that corporate staff return to the office at least three days a week. Employees have also drafted a petition to Amazon’s leadership team, asking them to rescind the new rule, which is slated to go into effect on May 1.

Read: I was awake during my brain surgery for Parkinson’s. Here’s how it changed my life. (CBC)

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When you hack someone’s Netflix account: At least leave them a nice thank-you note when you’re done bingeing.

Game night: How to win at Monopoly and lose all your friends in the process.

Incredible geography fact: It’s about Greenland and Iceland.

Grooming tip: Here are eight facial hair styles on one face.

Pitch pointers: What separates a subpar pitch from a standout pitch? Leaders from Dell for Startups in collaboration with Intel join Morning Brew’s virtual event to discuss the perfect pitch’s must-have ingredients. Register here.*

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Word Search: How well do you know your state license plates? Find out in today’s Word Search (btw, New Mexico’s is the best).

Two or three?

Today is 2/22/23, and with that three sticking out in a sea of twos, it gave us a little inspiration for trivia.

We’ll give you a clue, and you have to determine whether there are two of those things or three.

1. Brontë sisters
2. Members of The White Stripes
3. Moons of Mars
4. Oscars for Meryl Streep
5. NBA championships for Dwyane Wade
6. Eyes on a green iguana

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