🌏 A cheaper OpenAI

Good morning, Quartz readers!

Here’s what you need to know

OpenAI released a smaller, cheaper version of its most powerful AI model. OpenAI’s GPT-4o mini is more than 60% cheaper than GPT-3.5 Turbo.

Nokia lost a third of its profits in a year. That’s because its sales in India plummeted.

Netflix showed its ad strategy is paying off. The streaming giant’s revenue and subscribers soared in the second quarter.

The ex-CEO of Trump Media’s predecessor was sued for M&A lies. U.S. federal regulators said the former executive of Digital World Acquisition lied about his intentions to merge with Trump Media.

U.S. Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance railed against global trade and green energy. Vance spent 36 minutes at the Republican National Convention articulating his problems with foreign labor and what he calls “a green new scam.”

The Bud Light boycott knocked it down to America’s No. 3 beer brand. Anti-trans beer drinkers are still revolting against its ads featuring actress Dylan Mulvaney.

The billion-dollar chip question

Analysts are divided over whether the massive global selloff of chip stocks this week was an ominous foreshadow of what’s to come or a simple overreaction. Quartz journalists reported on Wall Street’s arguments for why chip stocks could bounce back, big — or why they might tank.

Reasons to be (chip)per

1. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company crushed earnings as AI chip demand continues to boom.
2. Jefferies analysts said geopolitical concerns are overblown.
3. Semiconductor stocks have always been subject to volatility, and they usually bounce back from downturns pretty quickly.

Reasons to be not-so-chipper

1. Trump’s RNC speech could rock chip stocks even more than his tough-on-Taiwan comments.
2. Nvidia could suffer if the government tries to ban the U.S.-based firm from selling a chip it specifically designed for the Chinese market — and that will probably happen.

One big number: $3 billion

How much Ford is investing in its enormous Super Duty pickup trucks.

Ford is sidelining some of its EV dreams and going back to its gas-guzzler roots. The American automaker has caved to the whims of truck-lovers and is upping production of its huge Super Duty pickups. Ford said that a Canadian plant, where it had planned to make future electric SUVs, would instead produce the F-1 series pickups that truck-drivers apparently can’t get enough of.

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👓 Meta might buy a stake in Ray-Ban

💸 Mark Cuban says Silicon Valley is backing Trump because he would make their Bitcoin worth more

Surprising discoveries

Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin bought the “finest stegosaurus specimen ever” for $45 million. That’s a record-setting sum in the world of dinosaur collecting.

J.D. Vance is the first major U.S. Republican nominee with facial hair in 75 years. The odds aren’t in bearded mens’ favor — Thomas E. Dewey was the last unshaven party candidate, who ran for president in 1948.

Unsafe levels of E. coli and poop-related threats didn’t stop Paris’ mayor from swimming in the Seine. Mayor Anne Hidalgo tried to show everyone that the notoriously polluted river is clean enough for swimming competitions during the 2024 Olympics, even as protesters threatened to take a poo in the waterway.

Nearly-extinct Cambodian crocodiles are making a comeback. In the largest Siamese crocodile breeding event of this century, 60 eggs hatched in the Cardamom National Park in Cambodia yesterday.

Small towns across the U.S. are cracking down on megamansions. Vacation towns in Massachusetts, New York, and Colorado are putting policies in place to restrict home sizes.

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Our best wishes on a safe start to the day. Send any news, comments, swim trunks, and Crocs to talk@qz.com. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Laura Bratton and Morgan Haefner.