🌏 Harris turns down the crypto crown

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Nvidia turned to Samsung to meet AI chip demand in China. Nvidia will use Samsung’s memory chips in its own AI chips designed for the Chinese market.

Fresh produce at Walmart, Aldi, and Kroger was recalled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Several food items sold at the stores may be contaminated with a bacterium that can cause serious infections.

Southwest Airlines faced new scrutiny after a series of safety issues. The air carrier had two concerning safety incidents this month alone that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is looking into.

Meta axed 63,000 Nigeria-based Instagram accounts that engaged in sextortion. The tech giant said it found a “coordinated network” of scam accounts that targeted adults and minors.

Google committed billions of dollars to self-driving cars. The company said it will invest at least $5 billion in its troubled subsidiary Waymo.

Harris turns down the crypto crown

Kamala Harris won’t be vying for the crypto crown anytime soon. The presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential nominee turned down an offer to speak at the annual Bitcoin conference — where former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump plans to address crowds of blockchain economics enthusiasts.

Trump has reversed his prior stance on crypto and is trying to establish himself as the “crypto candidate” in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. It’s likely a response to the Biden administration’s crackdown on crypto fraud. Though Harris won’t be attending the Bitcoin conference, she’s definitely crypto-curious. Quartz’s Vinamrata Chaturvedi has the story. 

One big number: $21.8 billion

The amount of money Citigroup set aside in the second quarter to cover potential losses from unpaid credit cards and other loans.

Big banks including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are bracing for customers to stop paying off their credit cards as their pandemic-era savings run out. Quartz’s Rocio Fabbro has the story.

Sleep is an elusive and expensive industry

There’s a lot of money to be made in the business of sleep. Take sunrise alarm clocks, fancy mattresses, REM-tracking wearables, and monthly deliveries of melatonin. But should we really be investing this much in hopes of catching a few more Zs?

In the final episode of season 8 of the Quartz Obsession podcast — Sleep: The dreamiest new industry — host Rocio Fabbro consults Dr. Michael Breus, a double board-certified clinical psychologist and clinical sleep specialist, on the questions keeping us up at night.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora

👓 Or, read the transcript

More from Quartz

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💊 CVS thinks AI can handle your prescription questions

💳 Overdue credit card balances have hit a record high

📉 Google’s stock is sinking because of high AI spending and sluggish YouTube performance

📱 Apple’s iPhone of the future is a flip phone

💼 It turns out a lot of return-to-office mandates were meant to make workers quit

Surprising discoveries

Researchers found high levels of cocaine in sharks off the coast of Brazil. Cocaine bears, cocaine cats, cocaine sharks — what’s next?

The cheese snack market is making the dairy industry billions of dollars. Vegans and dairy intolerants will never prevail over cheese lovers.

Another cheesy thing: Cheez-It merchandise sales are popping off. The brand that’s over 100 years old is apparently one of few things that can survive the generational divide between Gen Z and boomers in the U.S.

We can thank two gay computer scientists in the 1950s for foreshadowing ChatGPT. They created the world’s first computer-generated writing, producing letters that read a little strangely, with lines like, “You are my avid fellow feeling.”

New car smells are reaching dangerous levels. Researchers found that the volatile organic compounds emitted by new cars contain alarming levels of formaldehyde and other aldehydes on hot summer days.

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Our best wishes on a safe start to the day. Send any news, comments, cheese sticks, and Cheez-Its to [email protected]. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Laura Bratton and Morgan Haefner.