Talk about a spit-take: Seven people on the board of saliva-testing company 23andMe resigned this week, leaving CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki alone at the helm of a company that’s floundering.

Wojcicki, who wrote in a memo to employees that the board’s decision left her “surprised and disappointed,” had been splitting hairs with board members over her desire to take the public company private. She owns 49% of 23andMe and in July offered to buy all remaining shares for $0.40 each, a proposal that the board rejected. In their resignation letter, board members said they were leaving due to her failure to come up with a “fully financed, fully diligenced, actionable proposal” and cited a difference in “strategic direction.”

A fall from grace

It’s been a long time since 23andMe was just a Christmas gift your aunt got for all the cousins and not a company that surprises people by still existing. When it went public in 2021, it was valued at $3.5 billion, but now it’s worth less than $200 million.

What happened? It’s more about what didn’t happen: 23andMe never turned a profit. Its plans to launch a subscription service didn’t pan out, and its current strategy, focused on developing new drugs using its cache of DNA data, isn’t working. With a $0.33 share price, it could soon get kicked off the Nasdaq, which requires a stock price of at least $1.

The future is in the hands of one. Wojcicki said she’s “committed” to taking 23andMe private now that the board is gone. The company said it has enough cash to continue operations for another year. It’s also contending with a class-action lawsuit that will require it to pay out $30 million to victims of a data breach.—CC

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Israel and Hezbollah trade strikes as the possibility of a wider war increases. Shortly after 37 people in Lebanon were killed and thousands of others injured by exploding pagers and walkie-talkies in attacks attributed to Israel, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed retribution and said the aggression amounted to a “declaration of war.” While Nasrallah spoke, two sonic booms echoed across Beirut in an apparent show of force by Israel. Nasrallah said that Hezbollah, which has repeatedly fired rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas, will continue attacking until the war in Gaza ends. Experts are worried that the escalating exchanges of rockets and gunfire between Israel and Hezbollah could pull in their respective allies, the US and Iran.

The UAW is threatening to strike at Ford and Stellantis again. A year after the United Auto Workers went on strike against Ford, Stellantis, and GM over stagnant wages, the union warned two of those automakers that it could stop work again over local contracts. The UAW announced a strike deadline of Sept. 25 at a Ford plant near Detroit and said it plans to hold strike authorization votes at some local unions that cover US Stellantis plants. The group did not announce any plans to strike against General Motors. Last year’s strikes, which won UAW members record wage increases, cost the Big Three automakers billions in lost labor.

⚕️ Overdose deaths in the US are plummeting. According to new public health data, drug-related deaths fell more than 10% in the 12 months ending in April, a massive improvement from double-digit increases seen in recent years, NPR reported. Researchers say that in states with rapid data collection systems, the declines might be even steeper, up to 30%. They attribute the turnaround to the prevalence of naloxone, which can reverse opioid overdoses, as well as other advancements in treatments for fentanyl addiction. There are still 100,000 drug deaths in the US each year.—AE

Olive Garden’s parent company is finally catching on that the best place to enjoy a steaming plate of fettuccine Alfredo is from the comfort of your bed. Darden announced yesterday it is entering an exclusive partnership with Uber for the next two years to deliver its lasagna to customers.

After long resisting third-party delivery apps, Darden said that by May of 2025, diners around the US will be able to order their zuppa through Olive Garden’s app or website and have Uber deliver it. Some locations will pilot the program this year.

The announcement came as Darden reported lackluster quarterly earnings for the restaurant many 12-year-olds consider the height of luxury:

• Same-store sales at Olive Garden fell 2.9% last quarter, more than analyst estimates of 1.8%.
• CEO Rick Cardenas said July was much slower than the company expected, but restaurant traffic did pick up in August thanks to an early start to its Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion (it usually starts in September).

Big picture: Darden reported revenue of $2.76 billion, missing Wall Street estimates of $2.8 billion, but its stock still jumped more than 8% thanks to the Uber collab.—MM

General Motors bets big on this lithium stock. 414,469 tons. That’s how much lithium GM needs per year to meet its 2035 EV target—the reason they led a $50m investment round in EnergyX. Their tech extracts lithium 300% better than conventional methods. Plus, those methods take 12+ months, while EnergyX takes two days. That’s earned 100k+ acres of lithium-rich Chilean land and a $5m DOE grant toward a recently announced US lithium plant. Invest in EnergyX before their raise closes on Oct. 3.

In the astronomy version of being tall at a concert, radio waves from Elon Musk’s constellation of internet metal are increasingly blocking Earth’s “view” of the universe, researchers reported this week.

According to the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), which operates one of the world’s most powerful radio telescopes:

• Starlink’s thousands of low-orbit satellites produce 10 million times more electromagnetic waves than the weakest signal ASTRON’s telescope can detect, effectively blinding some observations.
• Interference has gotten worse since February 2023, when second-generation Starlink satellites ascended.
• The newer model emits 32x more radiation than its predecessor…even though Starlink owner SpaceX made an agreement with the National Science Foundation to limit the second-gen satellites’ maleffects.

This could pose “an existential threat” to Earth-based astronomy, ASTRON’s director told BBC News, especially when it comes to galactic mysteries like black holes, which aren’t visible to the naked eye.

Looking ahead…astronomers say SpaceX has the opportunity to set an industry example by tamping down emissions. Musk is ultimately aiming to get 42,000 of his satellites in orbit. There are already an estimated 6,400 up there, with dozens more second-gens launching every week.—ML

If you have ever felt an urge to zipline into your matinee showing of Meg 2: The Trench, boy do we have the story for you. The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), the group that represents major US movie theater chains like AMC and Regal, announced yesterday that the companies will invest more than $2.2 billion over the next three years to spruce up the nation’s cinemas with better screens, seating, and other upgrades. But they’re not stopping at leather recliners: NATO head Michael O’Leary said they plan to add attractions like pickleball courts, bowling alleys, and ziplines (?) to your moviegoing experience. While many US theaters are in dire need of a makeover, erecting the Aggro Crag from Guts at your local AMC would mark the industry’s most desperate attempt yet to boost ticket sales after it was rocked by the pandemic.—AE

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