Daily Pulse: What if Apple Engineers Rebel? No More Free-Ride Moonshots at Google, Starwood Checks In with China's Anbang

What if Apple bows to the FBI, but its employees won't? In the fight over that iPhone, The New York Times asks a potent question. Engineers interviewed said they'd hesitate to cooperate in breaking the security features they conceived, or might even quit their job to avoid doing so. As software engineers with Apple on their profiles and in a sympathetic Silicon Valley, they'd have no trouble finding another job. The Department of Justice's fight against Apple might turn into injunctions against individual engineers in a free speech battle. That's not the kind of PR the DOJ wants to get into. 

“It’s an independent culture and a rebellious one. If the government tries to compel testimony or action from these engineers, good luck with that.”

Jean-Louis Gassée, VC and a former VP at Apple, to The New York Times

Rooms Service: Starwood accepted the 11th-hour, from-left-field takeover bid from China's Anbang Group. The purchase price of about $13.2 billion was only a hair above an offer from Marriott, which until a few days ago thought its deal was in the bag.

Ok you're going to the moon, but how will you monetize it? Alphabet is considering selling Boston Dynamics after coming to the conclusion robots are still years away from commercial viability. Moonshots are all well and good, but Alphabet needs them to have a realistic business plan and at least the prospect of profitability. Bloomberg's Brad Stone and Jack Clark detail internal strife between engineers focused on cool tech with a 10-year horizon and execs demanding an intermediary product they could sell. Google was also concerned that the public isn't ready yet for the "freaky" factor of humanoid robots, ready to take their jobs away. Just imagine those guys at work in an Amazon warehouse... 

Bill Ackman is having a tough week. The activist investor, who has no shortage of advice for other people's companies, risks seeing his own downgraded to junk. S&P warned it may cut its debt rating for Pershing Square Capital Management, the listed arm of Ackman's hedge fund. Ackman has stuck behind drugmaker Valeant, and did again Thursday, as the company erased 90% of its market value since August. Pershing Square lost $1 billion on Tuesday alone. 

Turmoil in Brazil continues. A judge issued an injunction blocking the appointment of former president Lula as chief of staff to current president Dilma Rousseff, just as he was being sworn in. The appointment is seen as an attempt to shield Lula from a corruption investigation. Massive protests continued Thursday and the lower house of Congress launched impeachment proceedings against Rousseff. 

Seaworld is giving in. The marine park is done breeding orcas and phasing out their performance shows: the current generation of captive animals will be the last. As public opinion turned against Seaworld's treatment of animals in the wake of the popular 2013 documentary Blackfish, attendance nosedived and the company had to make a change. Seaworld stock went up nearly 10% on the news Thursday. One captive whale is pregnant and the average lifespan is 50 years, so there will be orcas at Seaworld for a while yet. 

“There’s been a ton of pressure. People today and millennials and moms and dads want vacations with meaning, and they are willing to support organizations that have it.”

Joel Manby, Seaworld CEO

Cover art: Child and orca at Seaworld San Diego, 2005. Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images. 

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