Sunday Reads: Amazon goes nuclear, Apple gets bitten

Hello, Quartz members, and welcome to Sunday Reads!

Boeing is bleeding cash, Facebook has to go to trial, bank stocks are booming, more rate cuts are coming, Donald Trump’s crypto went splat, and Kamala Harris showed up on Fox News. But it’s Sunday, and time to shift your gaze to some hand-selected reads. Here are some of our favorite Quartz stories from the week, plus a sneak peek at one story coming tomorrow to get your day started.

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5 things we especially liked on Quartz

🔌 Amazon goes for the nuclear option: Jeff Bezos’ tech giant has signed three agreements to build small modular nuclear reactors as it seeks carbon-free energy to run its data centers. Google and Microsoft are also going nuclear. Britney Nguyen has the details.

🏦 Why banks feel they’ve been robbed: Lending for more than they borrow is how banks make money. But the Fed’s rate cut is cutting into banks’ net interest income, and has some worried the salad days are over. Rocio Fabbro opens the vault.

🍎 Huawei takes a bite out of Apple: Since releasing its Mate 60 Pro series, Chinese tech giant Huawei has made a comeback in China’s smartphone market, knocking Apple from its tree. Britney Nguyen gets to the core of the matter.

💔 Can Elon’s money buy Donald’s love? Elon Musk has put $75 million into his America PAC, aimed at spending Donald Trump into the White House. In exchange, he’s got a budding bromance with the former president, who has said he’d consider putting Musk in his government. William Gavin has the receipts.

📈📉 Whose economy was better? Biden’s or Trump’s? Who’s got better numbers? Joe or Donald? There’s been a lot of talk lately, but Deena Zaidi crunched the numbers and stacks the two up in three charts.

One sneak peek

🤖 Everything, everywhere, all at once: Microsoft’s strategy when it comes to AI? Do it all. Microsoft’s latest offerings represent a significant leap forward in personalized AI, integrating voice and vision features that promise to transform how users interact with the technology. Visit qz.com on Monday morning to see what Jackie Snow has to say about Microsoft’s AI push.

What we’re watching this week

• Monday: Central bankers and finance ministers gather in Washington for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group (Oct. 21-26).
• Wednesday: Boeing and Tesla report earnings.
• Thursday: Amazon, American Airlines, and Southwest report earnings.

Thanks for reading! Here’s to the week ahead, and don’t hesitate to reach out with comments, questions, feedback, joy, or plans for your own nuclear power plant. Sunday Reads was brought to you by Peter S. Green and Audrey McNamara.