🧻 Pass the Workslop
That’s not coffee, that’s just yesterday’s pot.
Good morning!
American graduates are back in work, more or less. This autumn the New York Fed put unemployment among degree holders aged 22 to 27 at 5.2%, its lowest in more than a year, while the share of them in jobs that never needed the degree rose again, to 42.5%. The entry-level desk has not reopened. Its tasks went to software, and the software's output now has a name, workslop: a document that looks finished and is not. In a single month, 40% of American desk workers received one, at 116 minutes of repair each, about $186 per employee per month, north of $9M a year at a company of 10,000 heads.
The worst hit are professional services and technology, the trades that sold the transformation and are now choking on its exhaust. GoTo, which sells workplace software with AI built in, polled 2,500 employees and IT chiefs. Most of them, 77%, say machine drafts take longer to check than human ones, and 43% admit handing in material they suspected was wrong. Recipients keep score. About half rate the sender less capable and less reliable, 42% less trustworthy. Offices that once judged the product now judge the provenance, and the nose that smells a hollow paragraph also smells whoever waved it through.
Blaming the junior who pastes is comfortable and wrong. Workslop flows down from managers 16% of the time, and 60% of employees feel pressed to use the tools at all: no 24-year-old wrote that mandate. Klarna, the Swedish buy-now-pay-later lender, ran the experiment in public. In 2024 it boasted that an OpenAI-powered assistant did the work of 700 full-time agents. By May 2025 Sebastian Siemiatkowski, its chief executive, was conceding that chasing cost had lowered quality. The humans came back as remote gig workers in an "Uber type of setup", recruited among students and rural users. He called it investing in quality. What came back was a simulacrum of the job: a login, with no senior beside it.
The 24-year-old is not around to blame anyway. By mid-2025, employment of software developers aged 22 to 25 sat nearly 20% below its late-2022 peak, while workers aged 35 to 49 in the same exposed occupations gained 6% to 9%. Craft has always been learned by producing bad work under supervision until it stopped being bad. Firms are sawing off that rung just as the scarce skill becomes judgment: reading a plausible paragraph and knowing it is hollow. Nobody learns that by admiring finished output. Students graduating this year expect $80,004 a year after leaving, against an average start of $56,153. That gap will close on its own. The one between the paragraphs firms can now generate and the people able to tell they are empty has nothing left to close it.
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🗞️ Top Story
- 🇮🇹 Family Ties. Antonio Tajani accuses pro-Russian hackers of targeting not just him but also his family by publishing their private information online, escalating cyber threats amid Italy's backing of Ukraine. (Spiegel)
- 🇵🇱 Red Flag. Six people were killed and 15 injured in Krakow after a gunman with ultranationalist views opened fire in a crowded square, prompting Poland to declare two days of national mourning. (France Info)
- 🇪🇺 Now You See Me. France and other European countries will be officially represented at the Abu Dhabi negotiations on Ukraine, making it harder for the US to cut deals behind their backs. (Le Figaro)
- 🇺🇸 Tough Love Lost. Donald Trump now admits his mass deportation policy was "too harsh" after Republicans suffered a midterm defeat and lost Hispanic support. (Le Monde)
- 🇺🇸 Mixed Messages. Donald Trump’s invitation to UFC head Dana White for the press secretary job blurs the line between political theater and actual cage fighting. (Spiegel)
- 🇧🇷 Safe Space. Jair Bolsonaro claims Donald Trump welcomed him to the US because Trump believes Brazil is no longer a democracy, proving election denial is a global passport. (Washington Post)
- 🇵🇾 Deposit Slip. Santiago Peña, freshly removed as Paraguay’s president, faces pre-trial detention after accusations he steered public funds to a bank where he held interests. (Die Zeit)
- 🇳🇿 Kiwi Swing. New Zealand’s election hangs on 400,000 special votes, many cast by Kiwis living in Australia, leaving the next government in suspense until Nov. 27. (Bloomberg)
- 🇸🇦 Tower Defense. Houthi rebels struck Riyadh's financial district with drones and rockets, damaging Saudi Aramco's landmark tower and sending a message far beyond the skyline. (De Tijd)
- 🇮🇱 Exit Strategy. Gadi Eisenkot pushes to remove Netanyahu, citing urgent concerns from Israel’s closest allies about the government’s credibility and direction. (Washington Post)
- 🇾🇪 Collateral Damage. Saudi-led airstrikes killed 33 people, including 13 children, near Sanaa according to Houthi officials, as Yemen’s war escalates once again. (Le Figaro)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Still Standing. King Charles III led a two-minute silence at the Cenotaph for Remembrance Sunday, as dwindling World War Two veterans and a record nine ex-prime ministers joined the nation in reflection. (BBC)
- 🇬🇧 Algorithm Nation. Rupert Lowe's fringe politics get a global stage as Musk's personal interventions propel him past Macron and Meloni in X view counts. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Confidence Gap. Cornell University’s faculty senate delivered a no-confidence vote against the central administration, criticizing its handling of a campus sexual assault case and demanding leadership change. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Suit Yourself. Donald Trump appeals a Florida judge's dismissal of his $10B libel lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal 🇺🇸, refusing to let the story end quietly. (New York Times)
🏛️ Economy
- 🇪🇺 Eurovision. The race to replace Christine Lagarde as ECB president is now officially between Spain’s Pablo Hernandez de Cos and the Netherlands’ Klaas Knot, with Europe tuning in for the final vote. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇪🇺 Cloud Cover. The ECB may scrutinize how banks finance data centers, as surging AI optimism meets regulatory rain clouds over future credit risks. (Boursier)
- 🇪🇺 Bridget Jones. Five European leaders urge the to deepen ties with the UK, insisting that closer cooperation on clean energy is a win for both sides. (The Guardian)
- 🇷🇺 Ice Route. Russia is shipping pig iron through the Arctic port of Murmansk for the first time in 30 years to avoid Ukrainian strikes in the Black Sea, turning a logistical headache into a new normal. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Trading Places. The hits Cuba with new sanctions targeting oil and electronics, adding Chinese firms Ceiec and Beijing H&C Technologies to the blacklist for the first time. (Spiegel)
- 🇨🇳 Gas Ceiling. China’s falling domestic natural gas prices are dampening demand for costly LNG imports, leaving more cargoes available for Europe and Asia as winter approaches. (Bloomberg)
- 🇯🇵 Cash Splash. Japan’s Ministry of Finance dropped $50B in just one day to shore up the yen, making waves in global currency markets. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇮🇳 Nifty Fifty Shades. As the AI trade cools, foreign funds chase India’s Nifty 50, driving an 8% rally and a $3.6B inflow just four days. (Bloomberg)
- 🇮🇳 Foreign Exchange. Edelweiss boss Rashesh Shah calls for India to drop its equity tax on foreigners, claiming the move would lure back global investors. (Bloomberg)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Support Network. With more than 24M Britons claiming at least one benefit, the latest figures highlight how deeply the welfare state is woven into UK politics and regional divides. (Financial Times)
- 🇬🇧 Mind the Gap. Great British Railways will soon take over the UK network, though insiders say the leap from legislation to functioning trains could be wider than ministers admit. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Fixed Attraction. Nationwide launches a 5.3% fixed-rate savings account for members, outpacing competitors as the Bank of England hikes rates again. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Bid Blocked. The UK government may extend its under-16 social media ban to include eBay 🇺🇸 and Vinted 🇱🇹, treating second-hand shopping sites as potential risks for children. (BBC)
- 🇬🇧 Trust Issues. Most Brits use AI for budgeting or advice, but when it comes to letting an AI assistant run their finances, the answer is still a firm no. (FinExtra)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Rate Expectations. A strong October jobs report puts the spotlight on inflation and market swings as the Federal Reserve weighs a possible December rate hike. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Yield Sign. Treasury bonds' rally hit the brakes after robust jobs data renewed bets on a Fed rate hike, leaving investors with whiplash instead of windfall. (Bloomberg)
🏢 Real Estate
- 🇳🇱 Cloud Nine-One-One. Hundreds of activists stormed the Microsoft 🇺🇸 data center construction site in Amsterdam to protest its energy use, leading to 150 arrests and a very offline afternoon for security. (Spiegel)
- 🇪🇺 Server Unrest. Demonstrators from the "Stop Dirty Data Centres" coalition are targeting Microsoft and other tech giants with coordinated protests, arguing that unchecked data center growth threatens Europe's climate goals and resources. (Boursier)
- 🇺🇸 Exit Strategy. Nearly a third of senior managing directors have left Blackstone 🇺🇸's real estate team as shrinking paychecks and slumping funds push talent to the door. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Monumental Pause. Donald Trump's plan for a 75-meter triumphal arch in Washington hits a wall as Judge Tanya Chutkan orders all work stopped pending a legal review. (Spiegel)
- 🇦🇷 Cloud Atlas. Javier Milei wants to turn Argentina’s windswept Patagonia into a magnet for data centers, betting on vast land, cheap energy, and minimal rules to attract Silicon Valley’s biggest names. (Financial Times)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Drone Alone. Alphabet’s Wing bets $125M on a Texas manufacturing hub, hoping swarms of new drones will put delivery delays in the past. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Loan in Disguise. Companies like Unison promise homeowners easy cash for a share of future property value, though critics say it is just a loan dressed up as something new. (New York Times)
🔗 On-chain
- 🇺🇸 Payback Time. After Democrats swept the midterms, the crypto industry faces investigations into its Trump-era ties and billion-dollar profits, with subpoenas now on the table. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Poll Positioning. A Polymarket user wagered nearly $814K ahead of Times/Siena poll releases, making over $257K in profit and prompting scrutiny over possible insider access. (New York Times)
- 🇰🇵 Talent Acquisition. North Korean hackers posed as recruiters, lured a Binance 🇦🇪 engineer into downloading malware, and walked away with $6.3B in crypto. (Le Monde)
- 🇸🇬 Gone in a Flash. Binance's finance chief Kaiser Ng resigns shortly after hackers stole $6.3B, proving sometimes the quickest exit is not just for the crypto. (TechCrunch)
💱 Listed Markets
- 🇺🇸 Crash Course. Tesla's Cybertruck will exit production in 2027, with Elon Musk admitting the electric pickup's journey was more chaos than conquest. (Les Echos)
- 🇺🇸 Growth Spurt. Moderna 🇺🇸 ups its 2026 forecast, crediting a boost from next-generation vaccines that are starting to catch on in the market. (CNBC)
- 🇺🇸 Chip and Dip. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admits to an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, prompting the board to launch an internal investigation into the scandal. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Split Decision. General Mills is considering spinning off its non-US Häagen-Dazs business, following recent ice cream divestments by rivals like Nestlé and Magnum's parent company. (Les Echos)
- 🇺🇸 Bond Voyage. Meta Platforms 🇺🇸 sold $25B in corporate bonds on Election Day, betting that braving market uncertainty was safer than waiting for clarity. (Bloomberg)
- 🇸🇬 iShelter. Apple saved $2.7B in taxes by routing $50B in profits through Singapore, revealing the city-state as its new favorite tax haven. (Financial Times)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Licence to Bill. Palantir’s NHS deal gets a two-year extension as ministers claim switching providers now would be too disruptive, leaving campaigners to question who really benefits from this “flagship” AI project. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Signal Lost. Virgin Media O2 🇬🇧 prepares for up to a quarter of staff to go and a possible refinancing, all while downplaying its £22B debt and customer exodus. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Grid Expectations. Pacific Power 🇺🇸, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, wants California regulators to approve a $120 monthly rate hike for rural customers to cover wildfire-proofing costs. (Wall Street Journal)
🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)
- Schroders 🇬🇧 has completed the sale of Benchmark Capital 🇬🇧 to Söderberg & Partners 🇸🇪, including Schroders Investment Portfolio Services and the Schroders Investment Solutions business.
- BC Partners 🇬🇧 is seeking to acquire a $50M bankruptcy loan from Public Investment Fund 🇸🇦 to revive LIV Golf 🇺🇸 under a potential “LIV 2.0” league. The bid remains preliminary.
- The French Competition Authority 🇫🇷 authorizes Banijay Gaming 🇫🇷's acquisition of casino operator JOA 🇫🇷, which operates 33 casinos in France.
- Germany 🇩🇪 has agreed with KNDS 🇫🇷🇩🇪's family shareholders to acquire a 50% stake in the armored vehicle manufacturer, pending parliamentary approval and expected closing by year-end.
- Yellow Card 🇺🇸 has acquired Brazilian virtual asset service provider GoMoney 🇧🇷.
- Crusoe 🇺🇸 has sold its unfinished Wyoming data center project to Google 🇺🇸, which plans to invest $17B to develop the campus.
- Fox 🇺🇸 has completed its $22B acquisition of Roku 🇺🇸.
- Matsui 🇯🇵 has completed the acquisition of plastics machinery manufacturer MODITEC 🇫🇷.
🇺🇸 United States
- Snowhawk Partners 🇺🇸 has agreed to make a strategic investment in Telarus 🇺🇸, alongside continued investment from Columbia Capital 🇺🇸. The transaction is expected to close before year-end 2026.
- Curewell Capital 🇺🇸 has agreed to acquire a majority stake in ECA Medical 🇺🇸 from LongueVue Capital 🇺🇸 in a medical-device deal expected to close in Q4 2026.
- Velocity Capital Management 🇺🇸 acquires a stake in LV8 🇺🇸 and Mirage 🇺🇸, creating a combined digital media and marketing platform.
🧳 Private Markets & VC
- 🇬🇧 Bank to the Future. UK digital bank Monzo eyes a fresh funding round at a potential £7.5B valuation, picking up the pieces after Nubank walked away. (FinExtra)
- 🇫🇷 Return to Sender. Shein and Temu saw their French web traffic plunge over 30% in Q3 after a €3 small-parcel tax kicked in, leaving bargain hunters with pricier carts and emptier baskets. (Le Figaro)
- 🇺🇸 Current Affairs. Anthropic has locked in a $3.4B deal for gas-fired generators to power its AI data centers, because artificial intelligence still runs on fossil realities. (CNBC)
- 🇺🇸 Wire Fraud. Abdulrahman Alfozan, accused of planting a listening device at OpenAI 🇺🇸 headquarters, pleaded not guilty in San Francisco federal court and remains in jail. (CNBC)
- 🇺🇸 Out with the Old. Alfred Lin and Pat Grady have closed Sequoia Capital’s London office and unwound Roelof Botha’s reforms, signaling a total break from the past. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Secret Species. Colossal Biosciences accuses former senior executive James Kehler of copying confidential genome-editing data to launch competing startups, proving some things are harder to resurrect than trust. (Financial Times)
Fundraising
- Skydio 🇺🇸 (Drones): $1.2B (Axon)
- CesiumAstro 🇺🇸 (Space): $730M (Janus Henderson)
- EOS-X Space 🇪🇸 (Space): $120M (Global Emerging Markets)
- Future Secure AI 🇦🇺 (AI): $80M
- Humble Robotics 🇺🇸 (Mobility): $51M (Obvious Ventures, Eclipse, Energy Impact Partners)
- Synctera 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $24.5M (Multiplier Capital, Fin Capital, 1st & Main Growth Partners, Diagram, NAventures)
- Vensum Power 🇫🇮 (Energy): €9M (Lifeline Ventures, Larsen & Toubro Group, Eviny Ventures)
- Physicl 🇫🇷 (Robotics): $10M (Inovia Capital)
- Shackleton AI 🇺🇸 (Proptech): $5M (Battery Ventures, Brick & Mortar Ventures, Trust Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Motivate Partners, Thayer Investment Partners, Act One Ventures, Brainstorm Ventures, Silence VC)
- Fathers 🇺🇸 (Beverage): $2M (Robert Irvine)
- MucoLife Therapeutics 🇸🇪 (Healthcare): €91K (Vinnova)
Fund Watch
- Bpifrance 🇫🇷: €75M (Bpifrance Amorçage Industriel 2, industrial startup fund, launched)
- Bpifrance 🇫🇷: launching the Asia Accelerator (18-month export support program)
🧳 Debt
- Berkshire Hathaway 🇺🇸: plans a benchmark yen bond offering in Japan.
- New Energy Metals 🇦🇪: seeking $2B to revive Gabon’s Mabounié rare-earths project with ENFI 🇨🇳.
❌ Failures
- Poundland 🇬🇧: the discount retailer risks 12,000 job losses and 600 store closures.
- Meta France 🇫🇷: voluntary departure plan targets about 100 jobs, nearly one-third of its workforce.
🎯 For a Few More Minutes…
- 🇫🇷 Petal to the Metal. French pimps flood TikTok with flashy videos featuring cash, guns, and promises of luxury, openly recruiting underage girls in plain sight. (Le Parisien)
- 🇫🇷 Toilet Talk. French social media and street protests are embracing open conversations about feces, turning what was once private into a public and even political subject. (Le Monde)
- 🇪🇸 Final Countdown. Spain's conservative leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo threatens to pull the country from hosting the 2030 World Cup if Morocco gets the final, declaring anything less an insult to Spanish football pride. (Le Figaro)
- 🇺🇸 Grade Expectations. PSA dominates the card-grading market, setting prices and standards for Pokémon cards while collectors pay up for that coveted label. (CNBC)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Power Imbalance. UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy says women in media who report abuse are still not protected, warning the industry has failed to change after the Russell Brand case. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Spring Forward. UK trees are blooming six months early due to unusually mild autumn weather, leaving pollinators out of sync and experts worried about long-term impacts. (The Guardian)
- 🇬🇧 Wish You Were Here. Joan Hillman got hundreds of birthday cards for her 101st, including one from an Ohio mayor thanks to a transatlantic town name confusion. (BBC)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇬🇧 Wish You Were Here. Joan Hillman got hundreds of birthday cards for her 101st, including one from an Ohio mayor thanks to a transatlantic town name confusion. (BBC)
