Good morning, Quartz readers!
Hereās what you need to know
Elon Musk made a surprise trip to China yesterday. He spoke with Chinese officials about deploying Teslaās Full Self-Driving technology in the country.
Paramount Globalās CEO is expected to be out as early as today. The media companyās board is prepared to fire Bob Bakish as it pushes ahead with its potential Skydance merger.
The Internal Revenue Serviceās free Direct File pilot worked. The service attracted a fair amount of attention ā more than 3.3 million people in the U.S. checked to see if theyād be eligible ā and could have big implications for TurboTax and H&R Block.
AI pushed Google to a $2 trillion market cap. The companyās parent Alphabet crossed the threshold for market capitalization on Friday, thanks to a stock surge powered partly by its work with generative artificial intelligence.
Gyms arenāt sweating over Ozempic
You may think that a class of drugs that has been shown to help users lose 15% to 20% of their body weight may put the fitness industry on edge. But some gyms are actually embracing these slimming medications.
A number of upscale and lifestyle gyms, including Equinox, Life Time Fitness, and Xponential Fitness, have launched programs over the past few months that specifically cater to people who are on or want to take weight loss drugs.
It shouldnāt ābe bad for the fitness industry to have a large population of people getting into better physical shape,ā said Michael Crandall, a personal trainer at E by Equinox at Hudson Yards who piloted and developed the upscale gymās Ozempic protocol. āThe natural progression from weight loss is better physical fitness.ā
Read more about why lifestyle gyms are embracing Ozempic.
Trump Media stock has been on a rollercoaster
In the month since its debut on the Nasdaq, Trump Media & Technology Groupās market value has soared to almost $10 billion, and plunged to below $4 billion. The volatile stock performance has been driven by a āmeme stockā-like frenzy (not unlike what Reddit also saw), and regulatory disclosures that shaved several billions of dollars off of its market cap.
Quartzās Rocio Fabbro looked at just how many ups and downs Trump Media stock saw in a month.
More from Quartz
š A Tesla executive sold $181.5 million worth of stock shortly after quitting
š« Apple and Google pulled several AI apps that advertised deepfake nudes
š Fast-fashion giant Shein is the latest to face the EUās strictest digital regulations
ā Starbucks and its workers union have made āsignificant progressā in contract bargaining
š» Snap stock popped 30% after a sunny first-quarter earnings report
š„ Bird flu traces have been found in cowsā milk. Should we be worried?
Surprising discoveries
Saudi Arabia is building a megacity in the desert. But the massive, sci-fi-esque project isnāt going well at all.
A snow crab heist took place in Pennsylvania. A truck was ransacked, with 100 cases worth $300,000 of the delicacy stolen.
A 44-floor skyscraper in St. Louis sold for $3.5 million dollars. Back in 2006, it went for $205 million.
Using your face and thumb to unlock your phone isnāt as safe as you may think. A recent ruling found police were lawful when they forcibly used a suspectās fingerprint to unlock a phone.
A giant cruise ship was cut in half to make it bigger. It only took two months to make it 50 feet (15 meters) longer.
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Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, megacity blueprints, and uses for downtown skyscrapers to talk@qz.com. Todayās Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner.