Iran attacks Israel, Bitcoin halving, and AI cheating

Good morning, Quartz readers!

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Here’s what you need to know

Iran’s drone attack on Israel closed airspaces in the Middle East over the weekend. That led airlines like United and American to cancel and divert flights as unrest in the region threatens to expand.

Meanwhile, U.S. airlines are asking the federal government to stop letting so many Chinese flights into America. The Department of Transportation is planning on lifting a weekly cap on China-to-America flights from 35 to 50.

It’s not just planes: U.S. leaders would like to limit China’s access to the country’s electric vehicle market, too. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, for one, is looking for a total ban.

JPMorgan, Citi, and Wells Fargo kicked off bank earnings. Despite beating Wall Street expectations, all three were cautious about geopolitical, economic, and regulatory challenges, and if you asked JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, the economy could still hit a wall.

Uber and Lyft are staying in Minneapolis, at least for now. The ride-sharing services have been fighting with the city over a minimum wage rule that now won’t take effect until July 1.

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What to expect during Bitcoin’s halving, by the digits

Bitcoin can’t be mined uncontrollably — and that is exactly what founder Satoshi Nakamoto wanted when the cryptocurrency was created in 2009.

In mid-April, probably on or before the 19th, the reward miners get for minting new Bitcoin will be cut in half, from 6.25 Bitcoin to 3.125. The halving mimics what miners of, say, gold, might experience: there’s only a finite amount, and that in turn affects its value.

21 million: Maximum limit of Bitcoin that can be mined

4: Years in between each halving event

50: Bitcoin in the first block created by Nakamoto

$0: What Bitcoin in that first block was basically worth

2104: Year the halving will stop

Still have questions about the process? Quartz’s Vinamrata Chaturvedi has the answers.

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One big number: 22 million

Papers that students wrote at least 20% of using AI in the past year

That’s according to a new report from Turnitin, an online plagiarism spotting service for educators. The cheating represented 11% of all the content (200 million papers) that Turnitin analyzed from students around the world.

It may sound like a big problem, but concerns over AI helping students can be overblown. Recent research from Stanford found that the percentage of high school students who cheated on assignments actually dipped in 2023.

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Surprising discoveries

There’s a new $6,000-a-flight airline for dogs. It’s called Bark Air.

Boeing’s stock is in its worst losing streak since 2018. Year-to-date, it’s down almost 35%.

Vision problems could indicate that someone has a higher risk of developing dementia. A new study could predict which patients got Alzheimer’s 12 years before their diagnosis.

Bonobos may be just as aggressive as chimps. Male-on-male fights are more common in the former than the latter, challenging previous assumptions.

A California retail task force uncovered a $300,000 Lego heist. That’s a lot of big, bulky boxes!

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Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, tickets for Bark Air, and legally acquired Legos to [email protected]. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner.

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