What’s going on here?

Chinese coffee chains Luckin and Cotti are expanding into the US – and their famously cheap prices could turn a certain American stalwart green with envy.

What does this mean?

A barista coffee a day is enough to burn a hole in your budget, and that’s before adding copious amounts of syrup or – gasp – ice.

☕️ It’s no wonder Luckin and Cotti won over China’s caffeine addicts by keeping their prices palatable – along with their coffees. The pair are known for crafting novelty flavors, like Luckin’s alcohol-infused latte that sold five million cups in a single day.

🇺🇸 Now, the duo want to spread the buzz in the US. Luckin’s looking to start in New York City, following Cotti’s recent opening of stores there.

💸 Both plan to keep their famous discounts and cheap prices in the US. Case in point: during its stateside launch, Cotti offered first-time customers 99-cent coffee in exchange for downloading its app. Thing is, labor, rent, and payment systems cost more in the US than China – so there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to keep their cups of Joe priced low.

Why should I care?

For markets: Copy and paste.

Chinese firms in general have grabbed big chunks of the market by selling their products at unbeatably low prices – sometimes less than they cost to make. It’s a strategy that burns through cash, leaving the problem of profit for another day.

📦 Temu and Shein are a perfect example: the pair did exactly that to take on Amazon.

The bigger picture: Someone pass the sugar-free sweetener.

Spare a thought for Starbucks. The American firm said this week that it’ll cut prices in China – its biggest market besides the US – to compete with Luckin and Cotti. But at the equivalent of $3.20, a Starbucks Americano may still leave a bitter taste compared to Luckin’s $1.95 one. And now, Starbucks might need to compromise its stateside margins too…

What’s going on here?

The UK just ordered a fancy upscale fleet from Rolls-Royce – not luxury cars, but compact nuclear reactors. And in the current AI energy race, that’s the far more desirable model.

What does this mean?

After a two-year selection process, Britain tapped London-based Rolls-Royce to lead the charge on its small modular reactors (SMRs) – mini nuclear units that are faster and cheaper to build than the big, old-school ones. The first three reactors could be live and powering some three million homes with low-emission energy in less than ten years. The deal is only part of the UK’s broader bet on nuclear: the government also just greenlit $19.2 billion for a full-scale nuclear plant – a plan that’d been stuck on hold for years. The message is clear: Britain wants clean, reliable, home-grown energy – and it’s willing to pay.

Why should I care?

Zooming out: Nuclear energy has a certain glow.

For years, nuclear energy got the cold shoulder from countries like Denmark, Germany, and Spain – but now, it’s being warmly welcomed back in. And for good reason. Together with other renewable sources like solar and wind, nuclear can help countries across Europe improve their energy independence. Not to mention rise to meet AI’s insatiable electricity demands...

The bigger picture: AI wants all the power, but you knew that.

Meta just signed a 20-year nuclear deal to power its thirsty AI data centers, and the rest of Big Tech is racing to do the same. See, all their AI models work nonstop – as do the vast servers that run them. And nuclear is one of the only energy sources that can keep up. Now, if Rolls-Royce can nail its nuclear rollout, the UK could end up with more than just a greener domestic energy profile: it could find itself exporting the infrastructure to power AI.