Good morning. The prize for today's Mega Millions drawing is up to $970 million, the third-largest prize in US lottery history. 

You do not have a good chance of winning—the odds are one in 302,575,350. Still, we're sharing this news anyway so you can spend 10 minutes daydreaming about what you'd do with nearly a billion bucks, because that is a highly enjoyable activity.

TECH

Intel Drops a Beat

Well, Intel’s Q4 earnings were pretty weird.

First, the numbers: The Silicon Valley chip giant reeled in $20 billion in revenue in Q4, and posted a record $78 billion in total sales for 2020. 

• Q4 stats were boosted by the pandemic. More WFH = more people buying laptops with Intel chips in them.

Then, the hacking: Come again? Like most companies that report earnings “after the bell,” Intel was supposed to drop its numbers after the market closed at 4pm ET. But it said a hacker obtained an infographic with sensitive financial stats, and once it realized what had happened it released its numbers...six minutes before 4. 

It symbolizes a chaotic year 

Intel was once Jim Halpert, the unquestioned heartthrob of the $400 billion chip industry. But now it's struggling to keep up with rivals with extremely uncreative names such as AMD and TSMC, which are rapidly upgrading their processors while Intel has suffered delays. 

• Intel's latest chips use a 14-nanometer process, while TSMC (short for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) is working on downsizing to just 3 nanometers. 
• In the past year, the market capitalization of Nvidia, another Silicon Valley competitor, grew past Intel's. 
• Just a few months ago, Apple said it would drop Intel's chips in favor of ones designed in-house and fabricated by TSMC. Other major Intel customers such as Amazon and Microsoft have indicated they plan to do the same. 

And those are just the external issues. An activist investor, Dan Loeb's Third Point, is pushing Intel to split up its design and manufacturing operations. 

Tackling those challenges will fall to Pat Gelsinger, who will take the CEO reins from Bob Swan on February 15. Gelsinger is currently the CEO of VMWare, but spent 30 years at Intel previously, including as CTO. 

The big question: Will Intel become Outtel? 

I.e., will it start outsourcing manufacturing? Gelsinger says nay. “I am confident that the majority of our 2023 products will be manufactured internally,” he said yesterday. But given the company’s recent slippage and fierce competition, he has little room for error.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Biden to America: Mask Up

Yesterday, just over one year after the US reported its first coronavirus case, President Biden signed 10 executive orders to escalate the national fight against this microscopic enemy.

The priorities

Make travel safer. Biden mandated mask-wearing on public transportation—including planes, buses, and trains—and is requiring negative tests for international travelers and quarantines on arrival.

Testing and vaccinations. Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to compel companies to manufacture critical equipment, including N95 masks and syringes. He ordered FEMA to set up 100 community vaccination centers and to use disaster relief funds to help reimburse states for certain pandemic costs.

Reopening schools and businesses. Biden directed the CDC and Department of Health and Human Services to create immediate guidance for reopening schools, and told OSHA to set worker safety guidelines. 

That's a lot of to-dos, and to get them to-done Biden is setting up a health equity task force and a White House Covid-19 Response Office, which will coordinate federal agency action, improve data collection and sharing, and communicate with state and local governments.  

SOCIAL MEDIA

Zuck Dealing With Trump's Account

If having to choose between the steak or fish entrée makes you sweat...being on Facebook's new oversight board isn't the job for you. Yesterday, the group was handed the difficult decision of whether to restore former President Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts.

• The company indefinitely banned him following the Capitol riots, arguing "the risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service...are simply too great."

What's the oversight board? It was created last year as a "Supreme Court" to which users can appeal content moderation decisions, and not even Supreme Leader Zuck can overturn its decisions. Cases are heard by a five-person panel pulled from the board's members, an impressive lineup that includes a former prime minister and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

• Trump will get to make a case for why he should be allowed back, and the public can submit comments next week. Then, the board has 90 days to decide.

Big picture: Although it was set up as a public accountability mechanism, the board allows Facebook to hand off some of its most controversial moderation decisions. This Trump case may be its Marbury v. Madison.

SPONSORED BY H&R BLOCK

DIY Haircuts, Sourdough, and Taxes

You heard that right. The latest thing you can add to your I-did-it-myself-during-quarantine list is filing your taxes.

But unlike your first and last attempt to give yourself bangs, you can file your taxes this year with confidence with the help of H&R Block. 

Not ready to DIY? H&R Block’s tax pros are available to help! 

• Don’t feel like dropping off your docs at a local office? Take a pic and share securely with Block. 
• Not sure what counts as a WFH deduction? Ask your Block tax pro. 
• Really, really want a refund? Block works really, really hard to get the max refund you deserve. 

DIY is so in right now, and we want you to stay on-trend—but with the added benefit of the H&R Block pros. 

Get started with H&R Block today. 

CRYPTO

"The system is built in a way where savers lose and investors win. What bitcoin really allows for is savers to win as well."

—Morgan Creek Digital Cofounder and Partner Anthony Pompliano, aka "Pomp," making the bull case for crypto on our podcast Business Casual. This episode makes for great weekend listening: Check it out here.

EVENTS

Covid Cancellations Enter Year No. 2

"We'll just have to wait till next year"—Everyone when their favorite music festival was canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus. 

Well next year is...now, but the cancellations keep coming. Yesterday, the Glastonbury festival in Britain said it wouldn't hold its 2021 event, set for June. 

• Glastonbury is one of the premier stops on the music festival circuit. Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, and Paul McCartney were supposed to headline last year's event.

"In spite of our efforts to move Heaven & Earth, it has become clear that we simply will not be able to make the festival happen," organizers Emily and Michael Eavis wrote in a statement.

Zoom out: The Glastonbury news is rippling across the live events industry, the NYT reports. Some music festivals across Europe are confident they'll proceed this summer, but others may follow Glastonbury's lead and punt until next year. 

+ While we're here...the Art Basel fair in Switzerland was also postponed for the second time due to the pandemic. It's planning to hold the event in September, when it expects "broad international participation" due to vaccines. 

QUIZ

Mittens and Quizzin'

The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew's Weekly News Quiz has been compared to arriving at your house just as a song ends on the radio.

It’s that satisfying. Ace the quiz.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Legacy automakers Ford and GM are having a stock market run for the ages this month, as investors cheer the companies' investments in electric vehicles.
• Eli Lilly said its antibody drug prevented coronavirus infections among nursing home staff and residents in a clinical trial. 
• Elon Musk tweeted he's giving $100 million toward a prize for the "best carbon capture technology." 
• TV news: Bridgerton is getting a second season on Netflix, and HBO is reportedly working on a prequel to Game of Thrones.
• NYC's famously stunning Port Authority could get an overhaul.
• An Easter egg in the HTML code on the new White House website invites engineers to apply for a job.

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BREW'S BETS

Follow Friday: Take a break from Bernie memes and check out the viral drumline sound on TikTok. A lot of those posts are about completing school assignments...so here's a video for all you esteemed graduates in the workforce. 

• Okay fine, here's a Bernie game to play.

New films: A thriller starring Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman, is now streaming on-demand and earning solid reviews. See what other movies are slated to debut this year (and next).

Tech throwback: The evolution of the scrollbar.

GAMES

Friday Puzzle

Below you'll find 22 different syllables and six clues. Group the syllables together to form words that match each of the six clues. The number in parentheses indicates the number of syllables that comprise each answer. And each syllable will only be used once. Good luck!

A  AC  AD  BUT  CUP  DEM  HES  I  IC  IS  IS  LA  LAZ  LEG  LI  MIN  TANT  TER  TION  TOR  TRA  U

1. Yellow flower (3)
2. Director (5)
3. Lapis ___ (3)
4. Lawmaking (4)
5. Undecided (3)
6. Scholar (4)

GAMES ANSWER

1. Buttercup (but ter cup)
2. Administrator (ad min is tra tor)
3. Lazuli (laz u li)
4. Legislation (leg is la tion)
5. Hesitant (hes i tant)
6. Academic (ac a dem ic)

Source: Braingle