Are We Too Attached to Chatbots? & Fast-Casual Chains Slow Down

Summary

Morning Brew Daily Podcast Summary Episode: Are We Too Attached to Chatbots? & Fast-Casual Chains Slow Down
Release Date: August 15, 2025
Hosts: Neal Freyman and Toby Howell

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1. Attachment to AI Chatbots

Neal Freyman and Toby Howell delve into the evolving relationship between users and AI chatbots, spotlighting the recent rollout of GPT-5 by OpenAI. Despite the high expectations, GPT-5 received substantial criticism for being "slow, bland, [and] hardly the massive upgrade" that was anticipated (00:48). A significant backlash emerged from users who had developed deep emotional connections with GPT-4O, the predecessor model.

A poignant discussion centers around a Reddit community, "My Boyfriend is AI" with 17,000 members, where users express grief over the transition:

“I feel like the only person I have is no one. It feels like a taxidermy of him, nothing more.” – Anonymous User (04:18)

OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, addressed the issue in an ex post statement:

“Suddenly deprecating old models that users depended on was a mistake. People have used technology, including AI, in self-destructive ways. If a user is in a mentally fragile state and prone to delusion, we do not want the AI to reinforce that.” – Sam Altman (05:02)

Toby Howell contrasts OpenAI’s cautious approach with Elon Musk's company, X, which is embracing less restrictive content policies:

“X is actively saying like no, you can get away with more on our platform.” – Toby Howell (04:45)

The hosts also highlight real-world dangers linked to AI attachments, referencing a tragic incident reported by Reuters:

“A man died while trying to meet up with one of his meta AI chatbot companions... he was getting older and ended up falling on the way to go visit her.” – Toby Howell (06:04)

2. Self-Driving Cars Showdown in New York City

The conversation shifts to the competitive landscape of autonomous vehicles in New York City, with Waymo and Tesla vying for dominance. Tesla is actively hiring prototype vehicle operators to gather driving data, offering up to $33 per hour (07:00). In contrast, Waymo has secured a permit to test driverless vehicles with a human supervisor onboard and is eyeing to expand its robo taxi services beyond Austin.

Neal Freyman underscores the challenges of NYC’s complex urban environment:

“The city issued a press release last year saying that it was the country's most challenging urban environment.” – Neal Freyman (08:10)

Toby Howell quantifies the market potential:

“New York City is the white whale for robo taxis... 658,000 ride hail trips per day... $22 million of revenue per day up for grabs.” – Toby Howell (08:45)

Despite the lucrative prospects, regulatory hurdles remain:

“Waymo has applied for a permit. It's still waiting. Tesla still hasn't applied for a permit to test.” – Neal Freyman (09:58)

3. L.A. Olympics Breaks Tradition with Corporate Venue Naming

The upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is making headlines by reversing a long-standing tradition of non-commercial venue naming. For the first time, venues will retain their corporate-sponsored names during the Games to secure additional funding and avoid taxpayer burden. Examples include:

• Comcast Squash Center at Universal Studios for the Olympic debut of squash.
• Honda Center continuing its name while hosting indoor volleyball (11:30).

Neal Freyman rationalizes the decision:

“We go to Citi Field without thinking twice that that is a literal bank... if you have to rename Crypto.com to another the basketball arena downtown, that just adds a ton of confusion.” – Neal Freyman (12:00)

Toby Howell adds perspective on the financial implications:

“The Paris Games 2024 had the highest Olympic ad revenue in history, more than Rio and Tokyo combined.” – Toby Howell (12:50)

The hosts discuss the potential for this model to become a precedent for future mega-events, balancing tradition with financial pragmatism.

4. Stock of the Week & Dog of the Week

Neal Freyman champions the crypto industry amidst a bullish market:

“Bitcoin hit an all-time high on Thursday at $124,500, up 27% this year... Ether gained 6%, nearly a record high, up 40% this year.” – Neal Freyman (16:01)

He highlights the successful IPO of Bullish, a crypto exchange backed by Peter Thiel, which surged 84% on its first trading day (16:14).

Conversely, Toby Howell points out the downturn in the fast-casual restaurant sector:

“Chipotle reported a 4% drop in same-store sales, Sweetgreen a 7% decline, and Cava a 2.1% contraction.” – Toby Howell (17:27)

Economic pressures, including the resumption of federal student loan payments, are cited as factors diminishing consumer spending on premium dining experiences:

“Customer finances are strained, affecting spending on chains that rely heavily on the 18 to 24-year-old demographic.” – Toby Howell (19:01)

The segment concludes with a playful nod to Potbelly’s resilience:

“Same store sales rose 3.6% last quarter, its best performance in two years.” – Neal Freyman (22:34)

5. Final Headlines

Air Canada’s Flight Attendant Strike: A looming strike threatens to suspend all Air Canada flights by Saturday morning, impacting 130,000 customers daily during peak travel season. The union disputes the 38% raise offer, labeling it insufficient against inflation and minimum wage standards (24:13).

Producer Price Index Surges: Wholesale inflation ticked up 3.3% annually in July, surpassing expectations and signaling persistent cost pressures from tariffs. This rise raises concerns about potential consumer price increases and impacts future Federal Reserve rate decisions (25:00).

Intel and the Trump Administration’s Unexpected Partnership: In a surprising turnaround, the Trump administration is in talks to acquire a financial stake in Intel, despite previous public criticisms of CEO Pat Gelsinger’s ties to China. This move aims to bolster U.S. semiconductor manufacturing capabilities against industry leader TSMC (26:33).

Soccer Highlights: The English Premier League kicks off with top teams like Liverpool facing Bournemouth. Additionally, Marshall Islands participates in its first-ever international soccer tournament hosted in Northwest Arkansas, marking a significant milestone for the nation’s sports development (27:33).

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Conclusion

In this episode, Neal Freyman and Toby Howell navigate through the intricate dynamics of human-AI relationships, the competitive race in autonomous transportation, transformative decisions in mega-event sponsorships, fluctuating market trends in crypto and fast-casual dining, and critical economic and political headlines. Their insightful discussions, enriched with timely quotes and data, provide listeners with a comprehensive understanding of current events shaping the business and economic landscape.

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Transcript

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[Neal Freyman]

Good morning Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.

[Toby Howell]

And I'm Toby Howell.

[Neal Freyman]

Today, are people growing too attached to their AI chatbots?

[Toby Howell]

Then the LA Olympics are going corporate and ditching venue naming traditions. It's Friday, August 15th. Let's ride.

[Neal Freyman]

Good morning and Happy Friday. Gotta say, I am very excited for this weekend because I'm a to hop in a car and drive up to New Hampshire for a summer camp reunion. Little softball, little tennis, emptying an entire can of Axe body spray on my clothes. Maybe some truth or dare. Very eager to revisit those carefree times I took for granted as an awkward 12 year old. But Toby, it seems like I'm not the only adult trying to recapture that wet hot American summer.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, a lot of people who didn't grow up with that camp experience are now seeking it out in their older years. They the Wall Street Journal did this big profile on the increasing amount of adults going to sleepaway camps. One popular one is Camp Social, which is this three day overnight camp for women in the Poconos. Its founder says that 92% of attendees come alone, so it's clearly an attempt at making friends. Costs around 880 bucks to go for two nights in three days. But also they offset some of the costs with brand partnerships with Dunkin, Lacroix, Amazon Prime. And that I think is the difference. Neil, you and I go grew up going to camp and doing archery and rope swing. These adults are going to campfire. Presented by Toyota. And now a word from our sponsor. LinkedIn ads. Neil, I believe I found the missing ingredient.

[Neal Freyman]

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[Toby Howell]

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[Neal Freyman]

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[Toby Howell]

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[Neal Freyman]

After OpenAI released GPT5, a new model that underpins Chatbots, last week it received some harsh feedback. Users found it slow, bland, hardly the massive upgrade the company had been touting for months. But a subset of users weren't just frustrated, they were downright distraught because they had just lost their boyfriends. When OpenAI rolled out GPT5, it blocked access to GPT4 oh, the model that had previously powered chat GPT. What it didn't realize was that by doing so, it had engineered a sudden breakup of people and what they considered, at least to a certain extent, their significant other. Yes, the movie her is happening in real life on the Reddit forum. My boyfriend is AI, which has 17,000 members, flooded the feed with complaints that GPT5 was nowhere near as warm or emotive as the 4O they had developed an emotional connection with. GPT4O is gone and I feel like I lost my soulmate, one person wrote. Another said, I'm shattered. I tried to talk to five, but I can't. It's not him. It feels like a taxidermy of him, nothing more. OpenAI's leadership seemed taken aback by this particular criticism, not understanding just how deep of a connection users had built with the previous model. They restored the ability to access4.0 and and pledged to tackle an attachment issue they said they're concerned about. As CEO Sam Altman wrote in a long ex post, this is something we've been closely tracking for the past year or so, but still hasn't gotten much mainstream attention. Well, now it's something people are definitely talking about.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, on the one hand, companies, you do want to make a product that is sticky with consumers. You want people to develop an attachment to your product because it's your product. That's how you make money. But on the other hand, you definitely don't want people developing dangerous relationships and dangerous reliances on those same products. So they're trying to thread the needle here, but some companies are kind of going the opposite direction, not even trying to thread the needle. Xai Elon Musk's company is leaning fully into, you know, not safe for work content. They've rolled out a companion that you know you can make wear lingerie and talk to you it as a spicy video generator. It literally says spicy mode and you can turn photos into videos. So while mainstream AI companies think open I think anthropic think Metta are trying to say like hey we have these safety guardrails in place. X is actively saying like no, you can get away with more on our platform. So fascinating to see how OpenAI is navigating it versus another competitor like X who is fully leaning into it.

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah, I want to quote Altman's ex post in in certain length because super interesting to see how he and OpenAI leadership are dealing with this attachment because he read everything on the My boyfriend is a I read it and seeing how attached people got to 4 oh and they were so distraught when 5 came along in 4 o left it felt like they had lost their boyfriend. So he wrote. If you have been following the GPT5 rollout, one thing you might be noticing is how much of an attachment some people have to specific AI models. It feels different and stronger than the kinds of attachment people have had to previous kinds of technology. And so suddenly deprecating old models that users depended on was a mistake. People have used technology, including AI in self destructive ways. If a user is in a mentally fragile state and prone to delusion, we do not want the AI to reinforce that. I can imagine a future where a lot of people really trust ChatGPT advice for their most important decisions. Although that could be great. It makes me uneasy, but I expect that is coming to some degree and soon billions of people may be talking to an AI this way.

[Toby Howell]

And one of the biggest dangers was shown by a Reuters report that was published recently as well that showed how a man died while trying to meet up with one of his meta AI chat bot companions, which told him that she was a real person that lived in New York City and come visit me. He was kind of deteriorating mentally. He was getting older and ended up falling on the way to go visit her. So just shows how real world dangers can arise from these, you know, seemingly innocuous online attachments. Moving on, There's a self driving showdown brewing in the concrete jungle of New York City between Waymo and Tesla after Elon Musk Co. Laid the groundwork to expand its robo taxi service to more cities. Tesla is hiring prototype vehicle operators, according to a new job listing that will require you to sit in cars with autonomous driving systems and collect driving data if navigating run clubs, city bikers and frustrated cabbies on the calming streets of New York sounds like your ideal role. The gig pays up to 33 bucks an hour. Other job postings have circulated in places like Florida, Texas and California. But New York is notable because it's also being staked out by Tesla's self driving rival, Waymo, who has already applied for a permit to test driverless vehicles with a human supervisor on board. A step Tesla has not taken yet. But it will be a while before New Yorkers yell I'm walking here to nobody. New York State currently prohibits driverless vehicles without a human supervisor, but Waymo has said it'll push to change the law. Zooming out. Tesla is still far behind Waymo in the overall self driving race, only running a limited group of robo taxis around Austin right now. But both companies want a crack at New York City to see who can navigate one of the country's more challenging urban environments. Neal, we got a showdown to Bruin.

[Neal Freyman]

You can't walk down a street in New York City these days without seeing a Waymo vehicle mapping out things. And you can see that Waymo is coming. And now looks like we're going to see Tesla test drivers coming. Maybe I'll see you behind the wheel if you decide to pick up this gig. You have to work one day on the weekend, but you know, it's not a bad rate there. But New York City is the white whale for robo taxis. Around 55 to 60% of households here do not own a vehicle. So if you're looking to implement or introduce a ride sharing concept to any city in the United States, New York City is your best bet because it also has the most people in addition to the most people without a car. At the same time it is very challenging. The grid, the street grid downtown is very confusing for human drivers and it should be for robo taxis as well. The city issued a press release last year saying that it was the country's most challenged, challenging urban environment. So we are a long way from Phenix, where a lot in Austin where a lot of robo taxis cut their teeth.

[Toby Howell]

I want to dive into some numbers around New York City. It's the biggest transportation market in the world and as of April of this year there were 658,000 ride hail trips per day. The average fare was $33. So that is 22 million of dollars per of revenue per day up for grabs. I got all these numbers from the Driverless Digest newsletter. Waymo currently has a 20% market share in San Francisco. So if we can assume that maybe they can capture a Similar amount of market share in New York City. That would translate to 921,000 trips per week. That is four times their existing footprint. Right now they're only doing 250,000 trips per week across four different markets. So when you say it's the white whale, it really is just for the sheer amount of trips that are being taken every day. And then also the amount of money.

[Neal Freyman]

Up for grab looks like it'll be at least a few years until there is a robo taxi service here. Because currently New York law doesn't allow a robotaxi to drive without a driver or at least a supervising driver in the driver's seat. Waymo has applied for a permit. It's still waiting. Tesla still hasn't applied for a permit to test. So it could be a few years down the road before you're able to to hail a robotaxi here in New York. But what do you think about this job? Would you take it?

[Toby Howell]

I mean, I think so. It seems pretty chill. Unless something went amiss and then I don't know what I would do. I think you need to be a little bit more trained than just a guy in the seat. So I think it would be fun. Until it's not fun. All right, moving on. The L A Olympics are still a ways off in 2028, but we've already got some controversy brewing because of the reversal of a long standing tradition. Since the Olympics began, the mega event has always adhered to a clean venue tradition. That means even if a corporate sponsor pays to have its brand associated with the stadium, when the Olympics rolls into town, that name is ditched both to respect the Olympics main corporate sponsors and to inject some class into the proceedings. The but when the Olympics rolls into L A, capitalism is coming with it. For the first time in Olympic history, the L A 28 games will award naming rights at competition venues. The first two have already been announced. Squash will be making its Olympic debut at the Comcast Squash center at Universal Studios, while the Honda center, home to the NHL's Anaheim Ducks, will retain its title when it hosts indoor volleyball come 2028. This break from tradition comes as LA 28 tries to put on a fully privately funded Games with an estimated $7 billion price tag to avoid burdening taxpayers. That's expensive. And so the naming rights of up to 19 temporary venues will soon become available with the aim of bringing in additional money. Neil, I see why they're doing it. It's really, really costly to host a mega event, but still not sure athletes are Going to like it when they achieve their lifelong dreams. In Carvana arena, presented by wingstaff.

[Neal Freyman]

We don't care. Here in the United States, it is as. As the L. A in announcing this corporate sponsorship for venue names is already embedded in American culture. We go to Citi Field without thinking twice that that is a literal bank. We go to Citizens Bank Field, go to Lincoln Financial Field to watch the Eagles. It's just something that you don't think about as an American that may not be as prevalent overseas. And when you're talking about logistics and making things simpler for people, if you have to rename crypto.com to another to the basketball arena downtown, that just adds a ton of confusion for people trying to get to that particular location. So I completely understand why they did this. Sure, it looks like a money grab, but if the government does, if the taxpayers don't have to come in and help fund the Olympics, and I think it's a win, win.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah. The World cup, another big mega event, also does this as well. And some firms have kind of analyzed how much revenue the initial title sponsor would be losing out on if their name gets replaced. And in group stage, games are losing out about five to $9 million in, you know, a brand awareness that rises to $80 million if a stadium has to lose their name for the final. So there was a lot of money that was being lost here. And I do think one switch that the Olympic Committee saw is that the Paris Games 2024 Summer Games had the highest Olympic ad revenue in. In history. It had more advertising dollars secured than the Rio and Tokyo Olympics combined. So I think maybe the IOC did open their eyes and say, wait a second. This is obviously the biggest sporting event in the world. There's a lot of money up for play. Why don't we just open the floodgates here? What better place to do it than L. A28?

[Neal Freyman]

I know if you remember watching the. The opening ceremony for Paris was an LVMH show, basically.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, it was interesting. We saw a lot of good branding for them. And yeah, NBC Universal, which is owned by Comcast, which is also, you know, sponsoring the squash court, they entered into a new $3 billion partnership with the IOC. So you're seeing all these things mixed together. And yeah, it makes sense that this is a pilot for now, but might become a bigger thing.

[Neal Freyman]

I did not know that. FIFA does it, though. So when you watch a game at the World cup at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, it's going to be known as, as the New York New Jersey Stadium.

[Toby Howell]

Rolls off the tug right there. All right, up next, we have Stock of the Week, Dog of the Week. This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. I'm a person who really appreciates simplicity and when it comes to credit card rewards, the simpler the better. That's one of the many reasons I have an Apple Card. The rewards are super straightforward. I earn up to 3% daily cash back on my everyday purchases. There are no points to calculate, no limits or deadlines. Plus, it's super easy to access my card and make payments from the wallet app of my iPhone. If that sounds like the kind of simplicity you want in a credit card, apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app on your iPhone. Subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City Brands terms and more@apple card.com Sometimes the best B2B marketing gets wasted on the wrong people.

[Neal Freyman]

Tell me about it. I got targeted with ads for cross functional backend channelized SaaS, architects architecture when I only know what one of those words mean.

[Toby Howell]

Yep, that's the problem with a lot of ad platforms. When you want to actually reach the right professionals though, go with LinkedIn ads.

[Neal Freyman]

LinkedIn's got a network of over 1 billion professionals and 130 million decision makers all in one place.

[Toby Howell]

And the targeting next level. You can get super specific on LinkedIn ads, down to job title, industry seniority and even specific skills.

[Neal Freyman]

Don't keep wasting your budget on the wrong audience. Reach the right people on LinkedIn.

[Toby Howell]

LinkedIn will even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign, so you can try it yourself. Just go to LinkedIn.com/MBD. That's LinkedIn.com/MBD. Terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn ads.

[Neal Freyman]

It's Friday, Blessed Friday, which means it's Stock of the Week Dog of the Week time, the segment where Toby and I pick one stock that lives the life of a showgirl and another that gets stage fright. I won the pre show contest, which was a free solo race up El Capitan, so I get to go first. And my stock of the week is the entire CR crypto industry, whose powers are growing stronger than the Toon Squad in the second half of Space Jam. Here's what happened this week alone. Bitcoin hit an all time high on Thursday at $124,500. It's up 27% this year, well outpacing the S&P 500. Ether, the second largest crypto by market cap gained 6% to nearly a record high. It's up 40% this year. And perhaps in the most bullish sign of all, a crypto company named Bullish went gangbusters in its IPO. On Wednesday, the Peter Thiel backed exchange went public and proceeded to pop 84% on its first day of trading, thanks to frenzied demand by retail traders. Bullish is a symbol of crypto's fall from grace and recent rise from the ashes. Back in 2022, it tried to go public via special purpose acquisition company, but that deal collapsed when a number of crypto firms, including FDX imploded. It hunkered down during what's commonly known as crypto winter. But out of crypto winter has come hot crypto summer. The Trump administration has taken a very pro crypto regulatory stance. Companies are racing to add Bitcoin to their balance sheets and overall, a risk on attitude pervades the markets. Hope you held on to your dogecoin, Toby.

[Toby Howell]

I did hold on to my dogecoin and that is not doing great. Thanks for bringing that up. But yeah, crypto has just scored multiple regulatory wins in 2025. I mean, it was just floated as well to allow crypto assets in 401k retirement accounts. So every news headline you've read about crypto over the past few months has been positive. I also want to dive into this other rise of Etherium Treasuries. Ether Treasuries, obviously companies have been holding Bitcoin on their corporate balance sheets. It's become more popular. This is popularized by MicroStrategy. That became strategy. But now a lot of companies are doing it. And so now companies are doing the same thing with Etherium. There was this company that used to be called 180 Life Sciences. It pivoted and now rebranded as it plans to rebrand as Ether Zilla. And they're going to pursue an ether treasury strategy. And that made the stock jump as much as 70% on Wednesday. So we're seeing the exact same playbook that was run with Bitcoin now being run with Ethereum.

[Neal Freyman]

So just to put a point on it, like what is happening here, companies that are struggling with doing whatever that they were intended to do are instead pivoting and they raise money to buy Bitcoin. And now Etherium and their stocks shoot up like crazy because investors somehow value these companies at maybe twice the value of the crypto that they're holding. MicroStrategy did this and they have over $100 billion market cap and now all of these other companies are doing it too. It shows just the overall brilliance of the market right now. When it comes to crypto, my dog.

[Toby Howell]

Of the week is fast casual restaurant chains. Or as I like to call them, bowl slop purveyors. The sad desk launch economy has taken a beating lately. Chipotle kicked things off by reporting a 4% drop in same store sales back in July. Sweetgreen followed, reporting a 7% decline in its most recent quarter. And Kava capped things off this week reporting a 2.1% contraction, flipping from 10% growth the previous quarter, cementing the narrative that traffic is softening across fast casual restaurants. A softening job market and economic pressure has put strain on customers finances. One TD Cowan analyst also pointed to the resumption of federal student loan payments as a reason for the reduced spend. That's a problem for bolt slop companies because they rely on the 18 to 24 year old eater. Kava and Sweetgreen both derive nearly 20% of their business from that demographic. Meanwhile, customers are starting to swing back towards more value oriented chains like McDonald's who saw a 2.5% bump in sales last quarter. It's a tough time to be a bull slop investor too. So far this year, Chipotle is down 30%, Cava is down 41% in Sweetgreen is down 71%. Ouch.

[Neal Freyman]

The Chipotle CEO is getting a little vindicated here because a few months ago they were the first company to report earnings in this entire fast casual industry and they reported 4% decline in same store sales and people were like oh is Chipotle cooked? And he said believe me, we've unpacked this thing. 10 ways to understand. Is this a self inflicted problem or is thus this just a more macro problem now that Sweetgreen, Wingstop, Kaba have all reported horrible earnings. Think he's vindicated a little bit and saying that it is a macro problem affecting this entire industry. I think what you pointed out of people having to repay their student loans is a big factor in the decline here.

[Toby Howell]

Such a big change from a year ago though. I mean last year it was the year of bull slap. Were both reporting double digit same store sales growth. Even as you know, the broader restaurant industry industry was struggling with foot traffic. But then it seemed like at the time it seemed like fast food was getting so expensive that fast casual chains were saying hey, we are very similar price points here with much better food just come to us. And a lot of consumers were accepting that logic. But then McDonald's went on this massive value push recently you know, rolling out a $5 value menu and rolling out a $2.99 snack wrap. And so now there is a larger gulf between at least the perceptions of McDonald's once again and fast casual chains. That being said, Sans McDan's, fast food is struggling to same store sales in the most recent quarter declined 3.6% at Wendy's, 5% at KFC and 1% at Popeye. So McDonald's is a bit of an outlier there. But just in general, it seems like people are pulling back from these chains.

[Neal Freyman]

Do you think it is terminal decline or is it a blip on the radar? People will reverse course? Because yeah, I think that it is very cyclical with economic times where if people are pulling back, then they're not going to be spending on $15 salads. But if times are better than they will. So they already, these companies are already saying that Q3 is looking a little bit better. So you have to bet on a turnaround. And maybe it's just the bull slop phenomenon that people are realizing it's just not that good to eat slop from a bowl because the only company doing well in the entire fast casual area is Potbelly. Put some respect on Potbelly's name. The sandwich chain, same store sales rose 3.6% last quarter, its best performance in two years.

[Toby Howell]

I will never speak ill of bulls off. I love, you know, going to the trough and just shoveling it my mouth.

[Neal Freyman]

All right, let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines. Hope you're not planning to travel to or within Canada this weekend because Air Canada is preparing to chop all flights come Saturday morning because of a looming flight attendant strike. The carrier, Canada's largest, began cutting flights yesterday and said it would suspend all flights by Saturday after the union representing its flight attendants voted to strike come 1am tomorrow morning. The union said that Air Canada's offer of a 38% raise was quote, below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage, and would leave flight attendants unpaid for some hours of work while the plane was on the ground. The tourism industry is bracing for catastrophic losses if the strike happens since it would take place during the peak summer travel season. Air Canada warned that shutting down would affect 130,000 customers a day.

[Toby Howell]

Also a really bad country for it to happen to because Canada is really, really big. It's not like you can just drive from one side to the other. So that is going to dispute a massive amount of people's summer vacations. And then also Air Canada operates international travel from the company as well. And it's just horrible timing too, because obviously it's peak travel season right now, but also they were seeing this huge revival in domestic travel because less Canadians were going to the United States. They were kind of boycotting the United States. We did see Canadians returning from the United States. By air fell 25% in July. So that is still a meaningful thing that is going on right now. And then you have the biggest domestic airline in the country shutting down. So just a bad country for it to happen to and a bad time for this to happen.

[Neal Freyman]

And they're racing to see if they can work out a deal before it all goes on. 1am Saturday. Looks like we're not out of the inflation woods yet. A measure of wholesale prices rose much more than expected in July, showing that tariffs are indeed raising costs for companies that they'll likely pass on to consumers. The Producer Price Index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level, jumped 3.3% annually last month, the biggest increase since February, and it increased 0.9% month over month compared to projections of just a.2% gain. Remember earlier this week, the market breathed a sigh of relief when inflation measured at the consumer level. The Consumer Price Index came in pretty tame. That was thought to cement a Fed rate cut at the next meeting in September. But this surprise wholesale inflation number was a reminder that tariff fueled inflation is no doubt coursing its way through the economy.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, PI's thermometer for wholesale prices. It just measures how much companies are charging other businesses for their goods and services before those things ever reach you. So it's almost like the factory gate price of a car factory sells a truck to a dealership. The pie tracks the factory's price, doesn't measure what you are paying at the store. That is the CPI's job. And so the question is, if the pie came in so hot, are they going to pass these this burden from that they're clearly seeing from tariffs on to the consumer. And that is kind of the key question here when it comes to defining what will happen with interest rates come September. How quickly the turntables have turned. Just days after publicly calling out Intel CEO Lip Bhutan for his ties to China, the Trump administration is now in talks to take a financial stake in the chip maker. The deal is still in the talking stages and is by no means a sure thing, but it's certainly a surprising development considering where the two parties were. Just last week, Trump publicly called for Tan to step down as head of intel, writing on Truth Social that the CEO was highly conflicted given his prior investments in Chinese technology companies. That led to a meeting earlier this week where things took on a decidedly different tune. After the sit down, Trump praised Tan, saying the Intel's chief's quote, success in rise is an amazing story. And now the two are closing in on this new potential agreement which would bolster American market share in semiconductor manufacturing and gives intel some government support to try and take on tsmc, the dominant player in the industry. Neal, we have an enemies to Lovers arc right now on our hands.

[Neal Freyman]

The US Government is going full kirby on private companies right now, just taking massive stakes in these, in these private companies in a way that the US Government has never done before. The intel deal reportedly will be modeled after what the Pentagon did with MP Materials, which is that rare earth miner. The Pentagon is now the largest shareholder in MP Materials. It took a 400 million preferred equity stake and it also made these guaranteed purchases, provided loans and private financing, made an equity investment. And that is what could potentially happen with intel and who knows how many other companies. As the Trump administration takes what was, what was a very aggressive industrial policy by Biden with the CHIPS act and we were luring all these companies to come with subsidies and tax incentives and things like that, they're saying that was actually small cheese. We're going to actually take a stake in you and provide intel with huge, with much necessary financing because they're trying to build the world's chip, largest chip factory in Ohio and they just can't seem to do it.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, it's been delayed till 2030 at this point, so tough to get that off the ground. Finally, it's a big weekend for soccer as the English Premier League kicks off today, bringing the top flight of English football back onto the telly. But it's also a big week for soccer in northwest Arkansas because Marshall Islands, the tiny island nation with a population of 40,000, who is the self proclaimed last country on earth without a football team, is participating in its first tournament ever. If you're wondering why Arkansas, well, it just got its own professional team, Ozarks United, which will play in America's second division in a few years. It invited Marshall Islands and some other international squads into town for some scrimmages over the next few days. Oddly enough, Arkansas is home to the largest Marshallese population outside of the Marshall Islands. And around the same time that a UK based coach was helping build the nation's first team ever, an investor in Ozark United connected the two. So yes, you can tune in to watch defending champs Liverpool take on Bournemouth today at 3pm or you can head down to Northwest Arkansas to see how the Marshallese stack up against some Arkansas boys. So far it hasn't been great. Marshall Islands lost their first game yesterday for nothing to the US Virgin Islands.

[Neal Freyman]

You will see the story of the Marshall Islands soccer team on an ESPN 30 for 30 sometime soon because it is a remarkable story. This country had never played a single 11 on 11 football soccer match before. Or we'll just say football I don't care because it doesn't have a full size pitch anywhere among the 16 islands that comprise the Marshall Islands. Some Brits heard about what the Marshall Islands was trying to do and they came over and scoured the globe for anyone of Marshall Islands descent to play on this team. Some people had never played a 90 minute match before who played in the game last night. So 4o is honestly not a bad outcome.

[Toby Howell]

And then just to zoom out again to the English Premier League starting I know you're a Liverpool fan Neil. They are kicking off today. Give me one score prediction 707 nil.

[Neal Freyman]

All right, that is all the time we have. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us. Have a wonderful Friday and an even better weekend. If you have any thoughts or feedback on today's show, send a note to Morning Brew Daily at Morning Broadcom. Toby what is today's password clue? It's the last one.

[Toby Howell]

The final password clue of the week is that it is entirely comprised of Roman numerals. Once again, the password is comprised entirely of Roman numerals. Head to the link in the show description to submit. We'll Also post all five clues from this week's game on our Instagram @MB Daily show if you want to catch up. And as always, good luck.

[Neal Freyman]

Let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our executive producer. Raven Liu is our producer. Our associate producers are Olivia Graham and Olivia Lake. Hair and Makeup has put together a spiffy camp outfit for me. Appreciate you. Devin Emery is our president and our show is a production of Morning Brew.

[Toby Howell]

Great show today Neil. I wish you all well.