Situational awareness: Jack Dorsey, the founder and CEO of Twitter, came clean yesterday about how the "machine learning-based optimization of messaging and micro-targeting" in digital ads erodes our civic discourse.
- Take solace that doesn't happen here at Axios Edge: You're about to read the exact same ad that every other subscriber gets to see.
Also happening, in a very busy week:
- SoftBank's Masa Son did go to Riyadh to speak at "Davos in the Desert," as expected. But almost no one wanted to listen.
- Jho Low, the fugitive Malaysian financier at the heart of the 1MDB scandal, is giving up $1 billion in assets to the U.S. Justice Department.
- Altria and Fidelity have slashed the valuations of their respective stakes in Juul. The company, among other things, is facing a new lawsuit from a former executive who says it knowingly sold 1 million contaminated vape pods this year.
- It looks like Fiat Chrysler, having failed to merge with Renault, is now going to merge with Peugeot instead. How this helps its overcapacity problem in Europe is unclear.
In this week's 1,434 words (< 6 minutes): An angry world, Brexit meltdown, debt consolidation, IMF realpolitik, and much more. As ever, if you got forwarded this email by a friend, you can always sign up free at edge.axios.com.