🌏 Starbucks wants to go fast

Plus: Bill Gates says a 2-day work week is on the way

Image for article titled 🌏 Starbucks wants to go fast
Image: Joe Raedle / Staff (Getty Images)

Good morning, Quartz readers!


Here’s what you need to know

Starbucks wants to slash wait times. The coffee giant is now aiming for 4-minute drive-thru orders and 12-minute mobile orders.

Tesla and Nvidia stocks tumbled on Friday. The rest of the Mag 7 also took a hit after new economic data hinted at potential stagflation.

Advertisement

Elon Musk defended the DOGE “revolution.” Musk and DOGE staffers stood by their mass layoffs in a half-hour interview on Fox News.

Advertisement

Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug is rejected by EU regulators. The health regulator rejected the drug citing risks of brain swelling, despite it already being approved in the U.S. 

Advertisement

The FAA is making it harder to track private jets. The regulator said Friday that private aircraft owners and operators can now request to keep their registration information private.

Trump’s tariffs have Costco and Walmart on edge. Retail giants now have to rethink their strategies in the face of tariffs, supplier pressures, and skittish consumer loyalty.

Advertisement

Will AI lead a 2-day workweek?

Bill Gates suggested that AI might lead to a future where the workweek could be significantly reduced.

Advertisement

Speaking on the The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Gates posed a hypothetical question: “What will jobs look like in the future? Should we work just two or three days a week?”

He added that AI has the potential to solve many global challenges, such as shortages of healthcare professionals and mental health experts. This would inevitably reshape the job market and ultimately transform the way we think about intelligence, he said.

Advertisement

However, this future is far from guaranteed. Tech productivity has, in some instances, actually made employees’ work days longer.

How else does Bill Gates believe AI will transform the world? Quartz’s Francisco Velasquez has the details.

Advertisement

AI War

The AI arms race is underway, with countries including the U.S. and China investing heavily in military AI to attempt to enhance decision-making and automate operations. But for all of its benefits, the new technology is also worrisome to some experts.

Advertisement

“We all probably suffer from automation bias, which is this idea that we are tempted to and often will accept the recommendation, for example, that a large language model spits out, or prediction that one of these systems is making, because we feel as though the system must have more information than we do,” legal scholar and former associate White House counsel Ashley Deeks told Quartz.

And while AI can speed up tasks such as target identification and strategic planning, it is also raising concerns due to its “black box” nature, which makes it hard to understand how decisions are made. This lack of transparency could create challenges for military officers, especially when AI conclusions conflict with human judgment.

Advertisement

What other countries are investing in military AI? Quartz’s Ece Yildirim breaks it down.


More from Quartz

🏡 See inside Jennifer Lopez’s new $17.5 million home

🏦 Inflation to the left, Trump to the right — what’s the Fed to do?

💊 Cheaper Wegovy, 23andMe shutters, and RFK Jr. cuts FDA jobs: Pharma news roundup

Advertisement

🇺🇸 Delaware’s ‘Billionaire’s Bill’; RFK Jr.’s FDA cuts; and Trump’s auto tariffs: Politics Roundup

🛍️ Walmart’s eggless Easter, Old Navy’s AI bet, and Target cuts bonuses: Retail news roundup

Advertisement

🤖 ChatGPT’s image generator, Nvidia’s AI for gamers, and AI chip rules: AI news roundup

🥣 9 grocery store staples that could take a big hit if Republicans cut SNAP funding

Advertisement

🌇 The 5 most socially cohesive cities


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 a membership as a gift!

Advertisement

Our best wishes on a safe start to the day. Send any news, comments, Starbucks, or private planes to talk@qz.com. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Bruce Gil and Harri Weber.