Good morning! Elon Musk showed off Tesla’s future tech last night at the company’s "We, Robot" event. The showstopper was the long-promised Cybercab, a fully automated on-demand taxi with no steering wheel or pedals. Also included were the Art Deco-inspired Robovan and the totally-not-creepy humanoid Optimus robot.

TECH

💔 DOJ moves to break up Google

If the government gets its way, we might all someday tell our grandchildren a wild story about how one massive company used to own Google Search, Chrome, YouTube, Android, Gmail, and Gemini (we’ll see about that last one). They’ll roll their eyes and won’t believe us. But we’ll remember.

A federal judge ruled back in August that Google Search is a monopoly (that is, the only search game in town) that illegally squashes competition. One bit of proof? Google spends $25 billion every year to ensure it’s the default search option on iPhones and other devices.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), led by the attorney general, brought this case against Google to court. That’s how the DOJ enforces various antitrust laws — the laws meant to prevent companies from becoming too dominant in one industry. Once the DOJ won the case and got Google declared a monopoly, the next step was to fix the situation.

• So, this week, the government filed a list of possible remedies. One idea? Forcing Google to sell off some product lines, like Chrome or Android.

• The DOJ’s list also includes other, less intense options., so it won’t necessarily push for the breakup.

If you’re a big Google devotee, fear not. Google’s going to appeal the judge’s ruling to a higher court. But they have to wait for this case to work itself out first. The entire process could take years.

Google slammed the idea (obviously), saying the breakup option goes way beyond what the judge asked for. “Government overreach in a fast-moving industry may have negative unintended consequences for American innovation and America’s consumers.”

• Google's got it coming from every direction. A separate case is going after its ad business, while another takes aim at the Android app store.

The Biden administration has been tough on big companies and big mergers (and big cats) that it views as bad for consumers. The DOJ recently blocked JetBlue's purchase of Spirit "Airlines." And the Kroger-Albertons grocery merger is still hanging in the balance.

• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), one of the major antitrust enforcers, forced a biotech company to sell off a major division. And just won legal permission to try to take down Amazon.

What happens next year? Kamala Harris has implied she’d continue Biden’s crusade. But she's been quieter about Big Tech and many of these antitrust moves are driven by the head of the FTC, Lina Kahn. Typically new presidents clean house and bring in their own people (though that can get awkward when the party’s the same).

• But Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (aka AOC) is ready to throw down if Harris gets elected and cans Khan, a favorite of progressives.

• Donald Trump wasn’t shy about taking on the big boys last time around. And his VP nominee, JD Vance, thinks Kahn is pretty much killing it.

Who knows what the future holds? The feds bailed on breaking up Microsoft after a new president took over in 2001. And, based on the market’s reaction, investors aren’t taking this too seriously. Then again, the biggest company in the world (AT&T) went down in flames in the 1980s on antitrust grounds.

GOVERNMENT

📉 The Bureau of Labor Statistics dropped some new inflation data. The consumer price index (CPI) was up 2.4% last month compared to September 2023. That's down a smidge from 2.5% in August but is a wee bit higher than economists predicted. The CPI tracks the price of various everyday goods and services like eggs (up 40%), butter (up 8%), sugar (up 3%), electricity (up 4%), and car repairs (up 6%).

🌀 The government’s 2025 fiscal year started eleven days ago and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has already spent half of its annual disaster relief cash. President Biden is among those calling for Congress to come back to town to approve more aid cash. FEMA's in good shape for now but other agencies, like the Small Business Administration, are stretched thin. Congress, however, ain't biting.

🍖 The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the meat and egg safety unit of the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Inspectors this week found some super fun listeria in ready-to-eat chicken produced by BrucePac. There have been no confirmed reports of illness from the bad batch but listeria symptoms can take 10 weeks to begin. Because nobody wants to risk colon calamity over a hunk of pre-cooked chicken, 10 million pounds of food from 75 products (not just chicken) have been recalled.

POLITICS

🏛️ Voters poised to make history this year

We're in the home stretch now with just 25 days until Election Day. Control of Congress is up for grabs and we just might make history.

Democrats are stuck defending three Senate seats in states Trump is certain to win... aaand another five in swing states. Since Senate races almost never go the opposite direction of their state's presidential vote these days, Republicans look set to pick up at least the two seats they need to win back control of the upper chamber.

Republicans hold the House right now by a razor-thin four-seat margin. Control there may, ironically, come down to uber-Democratic California, where Republicans have 12 of the state's 52 House seats. Kamala Harris's home-state boost in the Golden State could be just enough to put Democrats over the edge in a few close House races... which could be enough to flip the chamber. We could be looking at both houses of Congress flipping in opposite directions — the first dual-flip in American history.

🗳️ Barack and Bill get to work for Kamala

Back in the presidential race, the potential third presidential debate is officially dead. Instead, CNN invited both candidates to separate town hall events (live, on-stage interviews peppered with audience questions). Harris immediately accepted but Trump has yet to respond.

The two campaigns are racing to win over Latino voters as Democratic support in the demographic sinks. A new poll has Kamala Harris winning just 54% of the group. That compares to 61% for Joe Biden in 2020, 66% for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and 70% for Barack Obama in 2012.

• Both campaigns are also laser-focused on Arizona, where early in-person voting kicked off this week. The two VP nominees were in town on Wednesday. Harris rallied in Phoenix yesterday. Trump will do the same on Sunday.

Kamala Harris supporters are worried about softening support among Black men. Low voter turnout in Detroit could cost her the state of Michigan (and possibly the White House). She's getting an assist from Magic Johnson on that front.

• Over in Pennsylvania, Barack Obama hit the trail for Harris yesterday. He held a rally in Pittsburgh aimed at building support among men.

• Meanwhile, Bill Clinton is campaigning for her among rural voters in Georgia and North Carolina.

Donald Trump pitched a tax deduction for interest on car loans in Detroit yesterday (know your audience). He's also spreading the campaign love around. Trump will hold a rally in the city of Coachella, CA tomorrow and one soon at New York's Madison Square Garden. California and New York may not be swing states, but they are jam-packed with big donors.

• New polls show more voters identifying as Republicans than Democrats, 42% to 40%. That's not much. But it's the biggest lead for Team R at this point in a presidential race since 1992. Democrats led similar surveys by 6%, 7%, and 9% in the previous three elections.

TRIVIA

Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and sister-in-law of JFK, passed away yesterday aged 96. She raised their 11 children, including RFK, Jr., alone after her husband was assassinated while running for president in 1968. She never remarried and lived at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts until her death. Before running for Senate, what position did her husband, Robert F. Kennedy, hold in the administration of President John F. Kennedy?

Hint: It’s currently occupied by Merrick Garland.

BRIEFS

• The FBI arrested a 27-year-old Afghan man in Oklahoma City for planning an Election Day terrorist attack on a large crowd of people.

• Honda is recalling 1.7 million vehicles in the U.S. for possible steering problems. Affected models include many 2022-2025 Acuras, Civis, and CR-Vs.

• The World Bank approved the creation of a fund to support Ukraine. The deal would be backed by interest earned from billions in frozen Russian assets.

• Iran is threatening to target nearby, U.S.-aligned countries that allow Israel to use their airspace for a retaliatory attack against Iranian territory.

• Saudi Arabia lost its unironic bid for a seat on the U.N.'s Human Rights Council. The council investigates abuses around the world and, to put it mildly, Saudi Arabia ain't Brooklyn.

QUOTE

ANSWER

Robert F. Kennedy managed his older (and, it has to be said, more attractive) brother’s winning campaign for the White House in 1960. The following year, President Kennedy made RFK the next U.S. Attorney General.

The guy was running the entire Justice Department at just 35 years old. He was so young that JFK joked, “I can't see that it's wrong to give him a little legal experience before he goes out to practice law.”