Good morning, Quartz readers!
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Ozempic might make people eat and drink less. Survey respondents said GLP-1 medications reduced their alcohol intake.
Black Friday was bigger than ever this year. Adobe says online retail sales for the shopping day rose more than 10% to a record $10.8 billion.
Intel’s CEO is out of a job. Pat Gelsinger announced that he will retire as his company struggles to keep up with Nvidia.
The CEO of Stellantis also handed in his resignation papers. Things have gotten so bad at the carmaker that Carlos Tavares is stepping down.
A special investigatory committee said Super Micro Computer did nothing wrong. Now the company can focus on rebuilding its c-suite after a string of departures.
Biden gets chippy with China
America’s AI future can’t happen without computer chips, and neither can China’s. So Joe Biden is spending the waning days of his presidency making sure that the U.S.’s biggest economic rival won’t have the materials needed to assert itself in the rapidly developing technology field.
As part of a steadily escalating computer chip war with China, the Commerce Department just unveiled a new list of restrictions around which entities are allowed to purchase the hardware and software tools used to build semiconductors. Surprise, surprise: That someone is China.
What’s so bad about China building out its AI capabilities? Quartz’s Britney Nguyen dives into America’s rationale for its latest wave of China-facing sanctions in the space.
Workers prepare to slam Volkswagen’s brakes
Amid Volkswagen’s massive financial woes and looming job cuts, its workers are on the verge of their first major strike in years. A series of short-term work stoppages Monday could yield to bigger shutdowns if negotiations don’t prove fruitful.
IG Metall, the union representing the workers, is pressing Volkswagen not to proceed with its plans to close factories while figuring out how to overcome a big drop in demand. The company has rejected that plan, seeking instead to cut costs in ways that would be big and permanent.
How close are Volkswagen workers to walking off the job? Quartz’s William Gavin breaks down where things stand in the labor dispute.
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SURPRISING DISCOVERIES
It’s definitely worth it to hire that workers’ compensation lawyer. One estimate finds that the involvement of an attorney can more than double workplace injury awards.
Someone in England is spreading a bit of holiday jeer. A vandal knocked over the fake headstone used in a 1984 adaption of “A Christmas Carol” that had become a tourist attraction.
India might be luxury’s new China. The CEO of jewelry brand Buglari is looking across the border for a new growth engine.
The publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary has “brain rot” in its thoughts. Oxford University Press named the phrase as its word of the year.
Smarties wasn’t dumb to stick to making one candy for 75 years. The candy company said 2024 is shaping up to be a record year for sales.
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