Morning Brew - ☕️ Nikola and Tesla

The late 1990s called...
Morning Brew June 10, 2020

Emerging Tech Brew

Roman

Exciting announcement: Morning Brew is hiring another Emerging Tech writer to help produce this newsletter, build out other projects, and deal with my long streams of consciousness via Slack. More info below.  

In today’s edition: 

New energy bulls
📵 IBM & facial recognition
Cloud battles

Ryan Duffy

EV

New Energy Bulls

Nikola Badger

Nikola

The dot-com era called—it wants its stock market speculation back. Today, let’s focus on one small segment of this market frenzy: companies trying to make transportation decarbonization dreams a reality. 

Part of that pack...

...is Nikola, a Phoenix-based company that’s developing electric and hydrogen fuel cell-powered trucks. Last week, the company debuted on the Nasdaq through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company. Here’s the rub: The company forecasts revenues of $0 for 2020 and cash to start flowing in next year. 

Traders...see the next Tesla? On Monday, Nikola’s third day of trading, shares surged 104%. Yesterday, the stock jumped another 20%, then dropped by the same amount before trading was paused for volatility. I got dizzy. 

  • As of this morning, Nikola’s market cap was virtually the same as 117-year-old Ford’s. 

Driving the action: Nikola says non-binding preorders for commercial fleet vehicles have topped $10 billion. And Monday, Founder and Exec. Chairman Trevor Milton announced the company will start taking reservations for the Badger, a fuel cell-powered pickup truck (pictured above). 

Did someone say electric truck? Tesla sales in China jumped by 3x between April and May, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Tesla’s stock hit all-time highs this week, and the company is the world’s second largest automaker by market cap behind Toyota. 

Meanwhile, in private markets

Lilium, a German developer of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, raised $35 million from Baillie Gifford, the largest Tesla investor not named Elon Musk. The deal vaunts Lilium into the unicorn club. 

Bottom line: Nikola and Lilium are in the early innings of a long game, which has high barriers to entry, scaling challenges, and expensive operating costs. Tesla’s already playing the game and successfully bringing products to market.

        

AI

IBM Exits Facial Recognition

surveillance cameras pointing

Francis Scialabba

Activists, researchers, and now a large tech company have drawn the battle lines for facial recognition.

On Monday, IBM said it won’t offer, develop, or research facial recognition. IBM also won’t support technologies used for “mass surveillance, racial profiling, [or] violations of basic human rights and freedoms,” CEO Arvind Krishna wrote to Congress.  

  • The inside take: IBM made a “business” and “ethical” choice, a source told CNBC.
  • The jaded take: The company already fell behind on facial recognition, per former Wired editor Chris Anderson. 

Studies show that facial recognition systems are worse at identifying women and people of color. Even if algorithms edge closer to perfect identification capabilities, critics say the technology could be a tool for widespread surveillance and could potentially perpetuate racial bias. IBM has sidestepped the debate and exerted pressure on other tech companies to clarify their stance. 

Zoom out: On Monday, House Democrats unveiled a policing reform bill that would ban the use of facial recognition in body cameras. The proposal doesn’t go as far as several U.S. cities, which have already banned the use of facial recognition by local government and law enforcement.

        

SPONSORED BY ROMAN

Your Bathroom Cabinet Is Too Full

Roman

The age of overly complicated, badly performing skincare is over. .

Roman makes it convenient to get customized prescription skincare that performs. All you need to do is . You’ll hear back from a licensed physician within 24 hours.

If you’re approved, you’ll get your Roman treatment with free 2-day shipping, plus free follow-ups from your doctor. The compliments you’ll receive on how good your skin looks aren’t included, but they’re implied.

And if you don’t love your Roman treatment, you can cancel within 30 days.

Roman’s celebrating Men’s Health Month, which means we are too. Ring in June with $20 off all Roman treatments through the end of the month.

CLOUD

See You in Cloud Court

Cloud supercomputer; Microsoft announces new AI supercomputer

Francis Scialabba

There’s a neighborhood cloud brawl brewing in Seattle. 

Amazon is suing Brian Hall, a former VP of product marketing for Amazon Web Services, who’s now at Google Cloud. Amazon lawyers say Hall violated his non-compete agreement and could take sensitive trade secrets to a rival. Hall’s lawyers say the non-compete clause is “overbroad, unreasonable, and unenforceable,” and that a colleague assured him it wouldn’t be enforced. 

Two funny details:

1) Hall tweeted “ummm some personal news?” when acknowledging the suit.

2) Google opened its Seattle Cloud campus last October right across the street from Amazon HQ. 

Amazon is the leader in cloud services, but it’s facing strong challenges from Microsoft, Google, and more. Amazon’s lawsuit could have drawbacks for recruiting, making it a less desirable place to work in the eyes of prospective employees. Plus, non-competes are typically not enforceable in California.

        

BITS & BYTES

Global AI talent tracker

MacroPolo

Stat: Just over half of all “top-tier” AI researchers are immigrants or foreign nationals currently working in a different country from where they received undergraduate degrees, according to new analysis from think tank MacroPolo. 

Quote: “The U.S. federal government...historically exercised minimal oversight to safeguard U.S. telecommunications networks against risks posed by Chinese state-owned carriers.”⁠—a bipartisan group of U.S. senators criticizing regulators’ lax oversight of U.S. networks. 

Read: Drawing on regional Baidu search data and satellite imagery of Wuhan hospital parking lots, researchers from Harvard, Boston University, and Boston Children's Hospital suggest the coronavirus “may have” been spreading in the fall of 2019, well before official accounts. The study underscores the importance of alternative data.

SPONSORED BY NOWRX

NowRx

Over $2.8mm in revenue and 4k new customers. Those are the eye-popping Q1 numbers released by NowRx—the startup disrupting the $330 billion retail pharmacy industry. And guess what? You can join the 6000+ investors getting in on this Rx rocketship too—but only until June 19th. Invest in NowRx today.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

  • Reddit named Y Combinator CEO Michael Seibel to its board of directors. 
  • Apple is set to announce a move away from Intel processors in the Mac product line, Bloomberg reports. 
  • Honda has halted production at some factories after being hit by a cyberattack.
  • The ACLU is suing Los Angeles over the city’s scooter data-tracking program. 
  • A South Korean court rejected an arrest warrant for Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong. 
  • Google Meet will soon roll out machine learning-powered noise cancellation.
  • Amazon, Google, and Apple updated their voice assistants to express support for Black Lives Matter.

TRIVIA

This week’s trivia quiz is dedicated to the namesake of Nikola and Tesla. Let’s test your knowledge of Nikola Tesla, the Serbian-American inventor and engineer. 

.

FROM THE CREW

We’re hiring a second Emerging Tech writer who will help me create this newsletter and tackle other big projects. You do need to know the who, what, when, and how of new technologies; you don’t need to be a blockchain evangelist. 

Find the full job description and application . Send it to your friends.

TECH THINGAMABOBS

For checking in on Bob and Doug: A 360-degree tour of the International Space Station. 

For a tech throwback: The BBC writes about decades-old music players, TVs, radios, and speakers that are still working. What device do you have and cherish that fits in this category? Respond and let me know.

SHARE THE BREW

Enjoying the newsletter? Share it with your network to take advantage of our rewards program.

When you reach 5 referrals, we'll send you this Emerging Tech Brew sticker sheet.

Click here to get free swag.

Hit the button below to learn more and access your rewards hub.

Click to Share

Or copy & paste your referral link to others:
morningbrew.com/emerging-tech/r/?kid=303a04a9

Written by @ryanfduffy

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up .

WANT MORE BREW?

  Retail newsletter → Retail Brew

  Business podcast → Business Casual

ADVERTISE // CAREERS // SHOP

Update your email preferences or unsubscribe .
Change your email address .
View our privacy policy .

Copyright ©2020 Morning Brew. All rights reserved.
40 Exchange Pl., Suite #300, New York, NY 10005

Older messages

☕️ It's official

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Welp—we're in a recession June 09, 2020 Read in Browser Daily Brew TOGETHER WITH Betterment Good morning. The stock market is utter madness right now. The rental car company Hertz gained 115%

☕️ Surprise

Saturday, June 6, 2020

Why Reddit's cofounder is resigning from the board... June 06, 2020 Read in Browser Daily Brew TOGETHER WITH Christopher Cloos Good morning. On this 76th anniversary of D-Day, we remember the

☕️ Dustbin

Friday, June 5, 2020

A gamble? June 05, 2020 Emerging Tech Brew TOGETHER WITH Roman Good morning. Civil rights protests have provoked soul-searching in the tech community about its lack of diversity. As I've written

☕️ Hey hey, ho ho

Friday, June 5, 2020

Some apps are seeing major booms during protests... June 05, 2020 Read in Browser Daily Brew SPONSORED BY Fidelity Good morning. Two major updates in the civil rights movement that is sweeping the

☕️ This will only hurt a little

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Evan Spiegel makes a major decision... June 04, 2020 Read in Browser Daily Brew TOGETHER WITH Vanguard Digital Advisor Good morning. For the first day in 52 years, we have good news to share: ESPN

You Might Also Like

AI chatbots keep failing every accuracy test thrown at them

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

PLUS: Why Substack's new subscriber milestone is so significant ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Everything We’ve Written About That’s on Sale at Nordstrom

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Plus: Actually cute plus-size maternity clothes. The Strategist Every product is independently selected by editors. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission.

What A Day: Bad Car-ma

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Elon Musk's politics are sparking a major Tesla backlash, ironically thanks to Trump. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Rohingya refugees just lost half of their food aid. Now what?

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

An interview with Free Rohingya Coalition what happened last week in Asia, Africa and the Americas Hey, this is Sham Jaff, a freelance journalist focused on Asia, Africa and the Americas and your very

Shayne Coplan’s Big Bet Is Paying Off

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

March 11, 2025 THE MONEY GAME Shayne Coplan's Big Bet Is Paying Off By Jen Wieczner Photo: Dina Litovsky At 6 am on Wednesday, November 13, eight FBI agents in black windbreakers burst through the

We need your input.

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Share your insights & receive a 70% off forever. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

We Talkin’ About Practice?

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Nobody Told Me There'd Be Days Like These ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Seattle startup takes eco-friendly aim at recycling clothing 

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Read AI rolls out enterprise search tool | Hard time for hardware ADVERTISEMENT GeekWire SPONSOR MESSAGE: A limited number of table sponsorships are available at the 2025 GeekWire Awards: Secure your

☕ The beauty of it all

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

A conversation with Ulta Beauty's CMO. March 11, 2025 View Online | Sign Up Marketing Brew Presented By Iterable It's Tuesday. Count Kathy Hochul as an ad buyer. The governor of New York is

🤔 What’s in your wallet? A scam.

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Plus, a new streaming deal is the latest gift to Trump from the billionaire CEO and his company — which profits off government contracts. Forward this email to others so they can sign up 🔥 Today on