Hello, Quartz members and welcome to Sunday reads!
This week’s been a scorcher: Wildfires are burning through California, Microsoft and Facebook heated up discussions on how much is too much AI spending, and Nvidia is chipping away at Intel. Boeing may not fall out of the sky as an engineering-savvy new CEO rolls in, while Spirit is making a final bid to stay high in the sky and Fed chair Jerome Powell says a rate cut could be on the table in September.
But it’s Sunday, and time to shift your gaze to some hand-selected reads. Here are our favorite Quartz stories from the week, plus a sneak peek at one story from next week to get your day started.
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5 things we especially liked on Quartz
🛫 That Spirit in the sky doesn’t wanna die. Ever since Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways called off their merger in March, Spirit has been seen as a doomed entity. Shares are down more than 80% for the year as the airline furloughs pilots and delays plane deliveries. In a last-ditch bid to stave off bankruptcy and attract customers, Spirit is becoming more like a normal airline. The airline will now offer five classes of travel from free drinks and a carry-on to paying for all the extras. Melvin Backman has the scoop on how Spirit is trying to avoid death... er, “the place that’s the best.”Â
🍗 Would you like chicken, pasta, or a new contract with that? As United Airlines dithers over a new contract for flight attendants, and a strike looms, Quartz talked with Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants, the union that represents United workers. She spoke about the “disrespect” United’s negotiators have shown her members, and says they are “fired up.” Read more here.
🤖 See what happened when we checked out Meta’s new AI studio. The way Mark Zuckerberg sees it, “just like every business has an email address and a website and a social media account, I think, in the future, every business is going to have an AI.” Quartz’s Laura Bratton visited the alt-universe of Meta AI. It was... interesting. You can read her report here.
🍔 Mickey D’s wants you to forget two-all-beef-patties-special-sauce-lettuce-cheese-pickles-onions-on-a-sesame-seed-bun. The world’s largest burger joint is introducing a new special in an effort get customers to come back to the counter: It’s called the Big Arch, and it includes two beef patties, layered melted cheese, “crispy” toppings, and a slab of McDonald’s tangy sauce, the chain’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said on the firm’s earnings call this week. Francisco Velasquez is in the kitchen.
🌎 You will never stop Elon Musk from remaking the world. Fresh off plans for a cage fight with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the ineffable Elon Musk has let the world know he’s planning to change the way you educate your children. Musk wants to open a school in Bastrop, Texas, near SpaceX, the Boring Co., and X facilities. He wants to call it Ad Astra, Latin for “To the stars.” Quartz’s Bill Gavin took a peek at what’s on the blackboard.
1 sneak peek
Talk about concentration: Almost half of the 500 largest American companies are based in one of only five states. Rocio Fabbro has the inside story on who’s where and why. Visit qz.com on Monday morning for a look.
What we’re watching for this week
- Tuesday: Walmart and Home Depot report earnings
- Wednesday: Eyes will be on what’s now the third-largest company in the U.S., Nvidia, as the chipmaker posts its quarterly results. Rivian and Public Storage are also sharing their earnings.
- Thursday: Expect more financial results from Keurig Dr Pepper, Moderna, and Block (aka Square).
- Friday: Warren Buffett is pivoting from Apple stock ahead of Berkshire Hathaway’s expected earnings release. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery could give investors a peek into its new sports streaming service during its call with investors.
Thanks for reading! Here’s to the week ahead, and don’t hesitate to reach out with comments, questions, feedback, joy, or the name of your favorite McDonald’s menu item. Sunday reads was brought to you by Peter S. Green, Morgan Haefner, and Audrey McNamara.