đ Robinhood's rates ride
Good morning, Quartz readers!
Hereâs what you need to know
Robinhood reported its first profitable quarter. It has the Federal Reserveâs regime of soaring interest rates to thank.
CVS beat quarterly revenue expectations but warned it doesnât expect further growth in 2024. The pharmacy chain initiated cost- cutting measures, including job cuts, earlier this week.
Franceâs AFP sued Elon Muskâs X. The news agency claimed X has refused to discuss revenue sharing over articles posted on the platform.
Etsy sought to avert a widespread sellersâ strike. The US platform promised changes to the amount it withholds from sellers as reserve funds after UK users started a boycott.
One big number: $60 billion
Targeted valuation by Armâthe lower end of the range desired, actuallyâfor its Nasdaq IPO this September
The British semiconductor company, owned by Japanese investment giant SoftBank, is hoping that optimism in AI-powered chips will help it achieve one of the largest market debuts in the last couple of years.
Whatâs in a Fitch rating?
Fitch Ratings downgraded US debt from its pristine AAA rating down to an AA+. But, as Quartzâs Nate DiCamillo explains, this wonât affect the US economy much.
Some reasons to help stave off concern:
- For one, debt ratings matter much more for emerging economies
- Most bond traders will keep buying US debt at the same level
- The US Federal Reserve can essentially set the interest rates on US debt, anyway
AI isnât going to win any Grammys just yet
Yesterday, Meta announced it has released three open-sourced generative AI modelsâMusicGen, AudioGen, and EnCodecâthat allow users to generate music and sound effects with only a text prompt.
With its long sequences of data and, you know, heartstring-tugging abilities, music is arguably the most challenging type of audio to create. Meta acknowledged that AI, so far, doesnât quite get it, but urges others to improve upon its models. The music industry will, no doubt, be listening closely.
Michelle Cheng will tell you all about itâand you can give it a try.
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Surprising discoveries
An ancient whale is the new biggest creature on record... Perucetusâfound in Peruâwas certainly huge, certainly slow, and probably a peaceful manatee-esque giant.
..and an ancient jellyfish is the new oldest jellyfish on record. Itâs been a big week for surprising fossils, especially since gelatinous creatures donât exactly fossilize easily.
Gen Zers are realizing theyâre the true fossils. Gen Alphaâs bizarre âSkibidi Toiletâ memes are making the youngs feel like olds.
The heat is reducing working hours. Climate change effects are real, and theyâre affecting small businesses.
âDarkroomcoreâ is the latest dining aesthetic. Hope everyoneâs fine with âPhoneflashlightcore,â as weâll all need to use those to see the menus.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, light-up menus, and fun new fossils to [email protected]. Reader support makes Quartz available to allâbecome a member. Todayâs Daily Brief was brought to you by Sofia Lotto Persio and Susan Howson.