Good morning, Quartz readers!
Here’s what you need to know
Google and Meta are making billions on Temu’s U.S. push. Executives at the tech giants were taken aback by how much the Chinese e-retailer has spent advertising with them.
Novo Nordisk’s market cap eclipsed Tesla’s. The Ozempic and Wegovy maker has a new weight loss trick up its sleeve: Amycretin, and it’s a pill. As for Tesla, the EV-maker might actually lose money this year… likely about $1 billion alone at its factory in Germany, but that’s related to arson.
Meanwhile, Nvidia insiders are making millions off of the company’s stock rally. One director sold off 200,000 shares for a crisp $170 million this week.
Google is stepping up its cyberdefense efforts. The tech giant just opened its first Asia-Pacific cyberdefense hub as China steps up cyberattacks.
Rivian surprised with not one but two new EVs
In addition to the anticipated R2 SUV ($45,000 starting price) being revealed yesterday, electric car marker Rivian told unsuspecting investors that it’s also going to make R3 and R3X crossover SUVs (both models are currently unpriced, though Rivian said R3 will be even cheaper than R2).
It’s part of Rivian’s bet that cheap(er) new electric SUVs will save its business, and the way the stock market reacted to that strategy could be a sign of smoother roads ahead.
What is going on with New York Community Bank?
And more importantly, should you care if you’re not in a New York Community™?
Yes and no, explains Quartz’s Melvin Backman. The current troubles of the 28th biggest bank in the U.S. aren’t nothing, but they aren’t at the level of, say, Silicon Valley Bank’s famous failure last year.
That said, Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell did a lot of reassuring the public after that collapse and the collapse of Signature Bank, so another public bank failure wouldn’t be good for consumer confidence. Here’s what to know.
Meta’s video ecosystem is going all in on AI
The algorithms, they’re about to get LLM-ified! Facebook and Instagram owner Meta said it’s turning to large language models to run its whole video ecosystem.
The price tag for buying all the chips that will make this possible is costing the social media company billions of dollars. But Meta thinks it’s worth the investment.
More from Quartz
👙 Victoria’s Secret stock had its worst day ever
💊 A weight loss drug more powerful than Ozempic has Novo Nordisk stock at a record high
🐦 Walmart is launching an early morning delivery service to keep up with Target and Amazon
📺 Paramount+ and Max are teasing more price hikes and password crackdowns
🛬 Spirit Airlines fell to a record low as creditors braced for the end
0️⃣ Lyft accidentally put an extra zero in its earnings report. Now shareholders are suing
Surprising discoveries
Adam Sandler was Hollywood’s highest-paid actor last year. His Netflix movies are fan favorites.
Reminder: Smuggling greenhouse gasses into the U.S. is illegal. Plus, there are enough in the air .
Anthropic’s chatbot Claude 3 seemed to know when it was being tested. If you put a random question about pizza amid a lot of other text, Claude might take offense.
Scientists think they found the world’s earliest fossilized forest. The trees that once stood in what is present day Southwest England resembled palms.
Caecilians feed their young milk. The worm-like amphibians also lay eggs.
Did you know we have two premium weekend emails, too? One gives you analysis on the week’s news, and one provides the best reads from Quartz and elsewhere to get your week started right. Become a member or give membership as a gift!
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, pizza tests, and British palms to talk@qz.com. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner and Susan Howson.