Sunday Reads: Algo tease and no crusts, please

Hi, Quartz members!

This week, we were plagued by questions: How did big tech’s big bet on the metaverse work out? (Not well.) What’s the vibe among American union workers? (Pretty simpatico.) And why are all these robot makers descending on DC? (To tell government types how to survive AI attacks, apparently.)

But it’s Sunday, and you’ve got some reading to do. Here are our favorite Quartz stories from last week, plus one bonus listen to get your day started off right.

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5 reads we liked on Quartz

🥪 Smucker’s nearly $1 billion PB&J business is anything but crusty. J.M. Smucker made a $1 million bet on Uncrustables in 1998. Now, the illustrious and crustless jam-on-bread circles are seeing a massive uptick in demand — from kids and adults alike.

💉And Ozempic users may smoke and drink less. Fast food CEOs have been anxious about the long-term pressure GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound could put on their bottom lines. But now there’s reason to believe that Big Tobacco and Alcohol should fret, too.

🤖 Plus, big banks are using a lot more AI... They’re making rapid progress to turn the burgeoning technology into a mainstay in their business, and one bank is a notable front-runner. Hint: It’s the country’s biggest financial institution.

⛏️ …as Bitcoin profiteers consult the bots... The next frontier, of course, involves some AI, with some experts and industry players arguing that it can make the process much more efficient for miners. But skeptics have some worries.

🧠 … while Salesforce says its AI chatbot won’t hallucinate. Well, probably. It helps that it uses a business’s own data from both spreadsheets and written documents in all the apps they’re stored on rather than the wild wild web.

1 bonus listen

This week on the Quartz Obsession podcast: it’s our season finale!

Bought something you don’t need from an ad? Blame it on the algorithm. Disappointing singles on your dating app? Blame it on the algorithm. Come across a post that hits too close to home? Yep, it’s the algorithm. But what exactly is the algorithm, and when did it start shaping what we stream, shop, and see online?

On the Quartz Obsession finale, staff reporter Bruce Gil tells host Gabriela Riccardi everything you need to know about recommendation algorithms, including how Babylonian tablets came to make the formulas that decide everything you’re served on the internet today. Plus, they reveal what’s on their Instagram Explore pages. Vulnerable! It’s all on The algorithm: Letters of recommendation.

🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora

📃 Read the full transcript here

🐰🕳️ Or pick up our Weekly Obsession email to go further down the rabbit hole

🗓️ What to watch for this week

Here’s what our newsroom will be keeping an eye on:

• Sunday: National Small Business Week starts and kicks off a month of celebrating small business owners in the U.S.
• Monday: Elon Musk is slated to be deposed in a case involving ex-Twitter workers who felt their severance wasn’t handled properly. Paramount reports earnings after the market closes.
• Tuesday: Eli Lilly, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Stellantis all release their earnings before the market opens, while Amazon, AMD, Starbucks, and Super Micro Computer are after the bell. The latest U.S. consumer confidence numbers are also coming out.
• Wednesday: Cruise operator Viking is expected to launch its IPO seeking a $10.8 billion valuation. Before the market opens, Mastercard, Pfizer, CVS, and Kraft Heinz are on deck to share their latest earnings, followed by Qualcomm and DoorDash after the market closes.
• Thursday: Company earnings continue with Novo Nordisk before the bell and Apple and Amgen after close.

Thanks for reading! Here’s to the week ahead, and don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, comments, Babylonian notes, and sales hallucinations. Sunday Reads was brought to you by Morgan Haefner and Gabriela Riccardi.