Good morning, Quartz readers!
Here’s what you need to know
The U.S. is keeping its cards close to the vest to combat Chinese exports. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wouldn’t rule out any measures, including tariffs, to prevent another “China Shock.”
Amazon stock is eyeing a record high after AI bets and layoffs. The retail/tech/everything store’s stock, which at one point was trailing its “Magnificent Seven” tech rivals, is up more than 23% so far this year alone.
TSMC is getting $6.6 billion in CHIPS Act funding to support a chipmaking hub in Phoenix. The chipmaker is already expecting to start production on two facilities in the Arizona city in 2025 and 2028, and will use some of the funding to build a third site focused on producing advanced chips essential for AI development and military technology.
Spirit Airlines is furloughing pilots and delaying aircraft deliveries The move is expected to save $340 million over the next two years while the carrier stares down $1 billion in debt payments.
Neuralink rival Synchron is recruiting patients for a large-scale clinical trial of its brain chip. The startup, backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, has tested its implant on 10 patients, while Elon Musk’s Neuralink implanted its device in its first patient this year.
The two-body economic impact
The sun and the moon are just doing what they do — one’s hanging out where it hangs out while the other circles our planet. But when they overlap, humans spend a lot of money to see it from the best possible vantage point.
In the U.S., the “path of totality” as it’s called, reached from Texas to Maine. The Perryman Group estimated that the economic impact could be more than several billion dollars between direct tourist spending ($1.6 billion) and other knock-on consumption (as much as $6 billion).
We hope you got a (safe) look! But whether you did or didn’t, take a (safe) look at Melvin Backman’s piece on the economic impact of this two-body non-problem, which goes into the methodology used to estimate such big numbers.
What’s Jamie Dimon saying these days?
With 20 years behind him, JPMorgan’s 68-year-old leader is one of the longest-serving Wall Street CEOs around, and his annual letter to shareholders is one that investors and analysts (and Quartz journalists) keep a close eye on.
This year, Dimon gave his opinions on everyone’s favorite subjects:
😬 Interest rates: Dimon’s not convinced the Fed will make cuts. Basically, anything can happen between now and the central bank’s scheduled meetings.
🪖 War: The conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, not to mention looming threats from China, all point to one necessary parth forward, says Dimon: American leadership.
🤖 AI: The transformative power of artificial intelligence could have the same impact as the “printing press, the steam engine, electricity, computing and the Internet, among others.”
We’ve got more info on what Dimon said about all three, plus other topics.
More from Quartz
🚗 Elon Musk said a self-driving Tesla is coming this year. Not everyone is convinced
⭕ Target has launched its new paid membership program as part of Circle Week
😬 The Dow edges up as the market waits for a big inflation report with interest rate cuts in limbo
🎧 Spotify’s new AI playlist tool has been dubbed ‘Spotify’s ChatGPT’
💄 Beauty conglomerate Puig is planning the biggest global IPO of the year
💉 Concerns about Ozempic and reported suicidal thoughts are being probed by an EU regulator
Surprising discoveries
There’s a social media platform that isn’t social at all. You write posts that no one sees, and the likes aren’t real — it sounds really refreshing, actually.
A Concorde raced a solar eclipse in 1973. The humans involved pulled off their time in the moon’s complete shadow for 73 minutes, and you can watch a video all about it.
It took a minute, but people have finally figured out how to involve Apple Vision Pro in porn. It was always going to be just a matter of time (this link is entirely safe for work).
VR headsets have been around since the 19th century. You’ll learn about that and a lot more in episode 3 —VR headsets: We’re practically there — of season 7 of the Quartz Obsession podcast.
🎧 Listen now on Spotify | Apple | Pandora
👓 Or, read the transcript
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Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, shadowy flights, and wholesome VR headset uses to [email protected]. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by William Gavin, Melvin Backman, Britney Nguyen, Bruce Gil, and Susan Howson.