
New Ford look & UFC going mainstream?
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Toby Howell
Hey, Fidelity.
Neal Freyman
How can I remember to invest every month?
Fidelity Representative
With the Fidelity app, you can choose a schedule and set up recurring investments in stocks and ETFs.
Toby Howell
Huh. That sounds easier than I thought.
Fidelity Representative
You got this?
Neal Freyman
Yeah, I do. Now, where did I put my keys?
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You will find them where you left them.
Toby Howell
Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC Member nyse, SIPC.
Neal Freyman
Foreign Brew Daily Show I'm Neal Freyman.
Toby Howell
And I'm Toby Howell.
Neal Freyman
Today, Ford is giving up its family heirloom, the assembly line.
Toby Howell
Then Nvidia and AMD can resume exporting their AI chips to China. With a catch. It's Tuesday, August 12th. Let's ride.
Neal Freyman
You know what we haven't done in a minute, Toby? Eat a vegetable bar trivia. Which is why we are bringing it back. Toast to the end of the summer with me. Trivia night next Tuesday, August 19, where you'll be able to meet us, talk to fellow listeners and if you've got a crack squad of a team, win a morning Brew Daily mug. It'll take place in downtown Manhattan. Sorry, out of towners. We will get to you at some point, I promise. But Toby, what are the other details?
Toby Howell
People need to know the details to sign up. It's free. Just head to the link in the show description and bring your friends. You are allowed to add a plus one when you sign up button. But I also recommend tossing the link in your group chat, the smart friend group chat that is to roll up with a squad. If you have no smart friends, bring your dumb ones for the vibes. But yes, can't wait to see you all there. Our third NBD Trivia night in New York City next Tuesday. Sign up at the link in the show description. And now a word from our sponsor, LinkedIn Ads. Neil, I've been getting the wildest ads online lately. I'm getting email after email about a procedure to lengthen your arms.
Neal Freyman
Are you going to do it?
Toby Howell
No. I do not have T. Rex arms, no matter what you or my father says. But the truth is, we are inundated with useless ads like this every day. A big part of that is because marketers are wasting their time and money.
Neal Freyman
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Toby Howell
How dare you. They've got over 130 million decision makers and 10 million C suite execs. AKA the people you need for your business on their platform. Platform target by job title, industry company and more.
Neal Freyman
So try LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn will even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign, so you can try it for yourself. Just go to LinkedIn.com/mbd that's LinkedIn.com/me D terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn ads.
Toby Howell
Everyone knows that President Trump loves to make a deal, but the one he struck with chip makers in video and AMD might be his most controversial yet. Nvidia and AMD both agreed to send 15% of the revenues from AI chip sales in China back to the US government in exchange for earning the licenses to let them sell there in the first place. The agreement covers sales from each company's scaled down versions of their most powerful AI chips, the H20 for Nvidia and the Mi 308 for AMD. It is an unusual quid pro quo agreement, so unusual, in fact, that it's never been done before. The Financial Times talked to export control experts and came to the conclusion that no US Company has ever agreed to pay part of their revenues in order to obtain export licenses. Still, it fits a pattern under the Trump administration where the president often uses penalties like the imposition of a tariff in order to make companies do certain things like beef up domestic investments. Critics of the policy point to the fact that this is playing right into China's hands. If companies can earn the right to export sensitive tech and in exchange for a fee, then where does that slippery slope end? What's next? Letting Lockheed Martin sell F35 to China for a 15% commission? A former National Security Control Advisor Liz Tobin told the Financial Times. But the likes of Nvidia and AMD are happy to make the deal because it grants them access to the lucrative Chinese market again, which Bernstein analysts estimate would have been worth around $23 billion in additional revenue for Nvidia this year. Neil saw a lot of uses of the word unprecedented thrown out when describing this pack.
Neal Freyman
There was certainly an outcry by national security experts who worry that we are sending China the ability to compete with us in AI, where the US has a lead, but it is dwindling by the day. As one business executive posted on X, if the chips are a national security concern, we shouldn't export them at all. If they are not, then we shouldn't be charging US Businesses for making money like some banana republic. That kind of encapsulates a lot of the criticism of this particular deal, but it is a huge win for Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who's been on this Charm offensive on both sides of the Pacific. He's been at the White House a bunch of times. He's been in Beijing a bunch of times in order to persuade both of these governments to allow them to send chips to China whether they're scaled down or not, because at one point it represented 20% of their sales. So Jensen Huang is, you know, looking in the mirror and saying, like, I did a pretty good job here.
Toby Howell
Yeah. Remember, Nvidia made the H20 specifically for, for the Chinese market after Biden actually imposed these very tough export controls. But then in April, Trump administration said that they would ban those very same chips made for China and then reverse course after Jensen Huang had a meeting with him in June. But then no export licenses were forthcoming after that initial agreement. So he went back to the White House, struck this deal. And so it was actually on the same, around the same time that Tim Cook was in the White House as well. So there was a lot of wheeling and dealing with going on there. So now we are in this world where not only are imports getting taxed, exports are suddenly getting taxed, which is kind of uncharted territory.
Neal Freyman
It's uncharted territory. And legal experts are wondering whether it is constitutional because the Constitution expressly forbids taxing exports. So there might be legal challenges coming as there have been with tariffs. Now in video case, this is how Jensen Huang persuaded Trump. He said, when we need to treat these chips or other AI infrastructure like the US Dollar, we need to export it around the world. So we get Chinese AI companies on an American tech stack. And Commerce Secretary Howard Ludnick agreed. He said, we want other countries addicted to American technology. Apparently that persuaded the President along with the potential for billions of dollars in new revenue.
Toby Howell
And then ironically, after all this hubbublu came out yesterday, China issued a notice to a lot of companies saying, avoid using Nvidia H20 processors. We do not want you using them especially for government related processes. So China is almost kind of backing up that viewpoint by saying, hey, we don't actually want you to get addicted to an American tech stack. So that complicates everything further. Everyone thought, oh wow, Nvidia and amd, they just unlock these new revenue streams. Not so if you are a Chinese official.
Neal Freyman
Big picture here. Some economic commentators, like the Wall Street Journal's Greg ap are saying that what we've been seeing over the past few months in the Trump admin is a move toward a, quote, state capitalism model that is a severe break from the way free markets have typically operated in the United States, where President Trump has come in and really imposed his will on the private markets in a way that we just haven't seen in the US Economy. Some recent examples he demanded that Intel's CEO resign. He got this golden share when Nippon Steel took over US Steel, he told Coke to change its formula. He told Walmart to eat the tariffs. He has accrued $1.5 trillion of prom foreign investment that he will direct himself. Economists generally do not like this because when the government picks winners and losers, it's not necessarily an efficient market. Just look at what happened with Intel. The Chips act from the Biden era gave them $8.5 billion and intel has mostly squandered it. So there's an example of when the government intervenes too much in the private markets, you get a lot of inefficiencies and waste. The company that popularized the assembly line is moving on. Ford, whose founder Henry, implemented the first moving ASB line in 1913, announced yesterday sweeping changes to its manufacturing methods as part of a drastic overhaul to its electric vehicle strategy and what exactly called a Model T moment for the company. Ford will invest $5 billion to produce a new family of affordable electric vehicles, beginning with a mid sized pickup truck debuting in 2027 that costs $30,000, $10,000 less than the average price of a new car in the United States. But to make cheaper cars, you need a cheaper production process. And after years of tinkering in a skunks works lab, Ford thinks it's found a worthy successor to the assembly line. 3 assembly lines Ford said it will scrap the traditional single conveyor line into a three branched assembly tree in which teams of employees can make the front, rear and middle parts of the car separately before hitching them together at the end. Combined with a lighter, cutting edge battery design, you get an EV that contains 20% fewer parts and can be produced 15% faster. This universal EV platform, as Ford calls it, will be introduced at its Louisville plant, which will receive a $2 billion makeover to create Ford's cars of the future. Will it work? Not even CEO Jim Farley is sure. There are no guarantees with this project, he said. We're doing so many new things, I can't tell you with 100% uncertainty that this will all go just right. It is a bet. There is a risk, but it is a risk Ford needs to take.
Toby Howell
Yeah. Ford's EV division has been suffering of late. Over the last two and a half years, it's lost $12 billion. It's already lost $2.2 billion in the first half of this year and it's not heading in the right direction. Sales of its electric models have started, have completely stalled out. They fell 12% in the first six months of the year. Its top two EVs, the Ford F150 Lightning and the Mustang Mach E are both falling as well. So this was something that they thought was an existential threat to their business. They need to compete globally with the car companies producing cheap EVs out of China. So they literally went down to the drawing board, rethought their entire process. How do we move away from the single assembly line? Somehow tripling it makes it more efficient. But it is fascinating where they found these efficiency gains.
Neal Freyman
Yeah, they're going to give each worker group a kit, kind of like an IKEA thing that you unpack. And they say this will be a profound state, profound change, change in terms of storage and production layout. It will result in 84% less reaching over the fender, which I guess takes a lot of time, can be dangerous, and 63% less sitting in the vehicle installing parts.
Toby Howell
And then an interesting aspect of this is what does the United Auto Workers think? This is the powerful auto union in the United States. Because this factory, Ford has said, will require less workers. Usually that's something that prompts protests from the United Auto Workers, but instead they have been bought in from the very beginning because one of the big things it does is change the ergonomics of doing this work. Remember, it is hard work making a car. You got to reach in. These are heavy parts. And so the there's less twisting, less turning and hopefully a more safe environment. So even though this is actually reducing the amount of workers, UAW people are on board with it because it makes it safer and it just makes your body under less pressure.
Neal Freyman
And Ford is saying that if this goes well and we sell more cars and we'll open up new plants and create more jobs. And I also final note, I thought this was interesting about the competition, the competitive landscape that Ford thinks it's dealing with. It says its rivals isn't GM or Tesla or any other American or European car. They specifically pointed out China and these low cost Chinese affordable cars that Ford CEO Jim Farley is absolutely worried about. He can't sleep at night. He said he went to China previously and called it the most humbling experience of his career. Their cost, their quality of their vehicles is far superior, superior to what I see in the West. So China, Ford is coming for you. Days after getting sold to Skydance Media, Paramount is looking for a fight, and it may have just found one. Yesterday, the media company announced a deal to stream combat sports giant UFC in the US for seven years, beginning in 2026. It won't come cheap. The deal is worth $7.7 billion in total, or an average of $1.1 billion per year. But it's a sign that under new ownership, Paramount is willing to spend big to aggressively make up ground in the streaming octagon. The UFC deal means that 43 events will stream on Paramount, plus 30 fight nights and 13 marquee lineups, some of which will be simulcast on CBS. And here's the part that's got UFC fans really excited. No more pay per view. Espn, which currently has the UFC rights, put up a double paywall for certain premium matchups. And meaning you had to pay for the streaming service and the specific fight. On top of that, as the president of TKO Group, UFC parent company, put it, the pay per view model is a thing of the past. What's on pay per view anymore? Boxing movies on DirecTV? It's an outdated, antiquated model. So it was paramount to us, forgive the pun, where it's one stop shopping, especially for our younger fans in flyover states. Speaking of TKO Group, they're on a heater as streamers pay up the nose for live sports rights. Its other property, the wrestling promotion. WWE just inked a deal with ESPN worth $1.6 billion to air WrestleMania and other big events. Its stock was up 9% yesterday. Toby, thoughts on this mixed martial art of the deal?
Toby Howell
I think that there is a scarcity of sports properties available right now because Formula One rights are going to get snapped up by Apple. Major League Baseballs don't come up until 2028, so there's not that many, you know, top shelf sporting properties available in Paramount thought that they had to jump. David Ellison, who, you know, leads the Paramount Skydance merger at this point, said that UFC is a unicorn asset that comes up about once a decade. He himself described himself as a UFC fan. So they spent a lot of money on this. I mean, before this deal closed, Paramount's entire market cap was six and a half billion dollars. This UFC deal is worth $7.7 billion. So the literal deal itself is worth more than the entire combined entity. So it's a good media property, though. One of the reasons why UFC events are pretty desirable for streamers is because they take place year round. There is no off season when it comes to fighting. There are 43 live events annually, so that's a pretty desirable property that and that's why you saw them spend so much money to go after it.
Neal Freyman
And David Ellison, who's the CEO of this new company, has said he's also the son of Larry Ellison, Oracle founder. He said you can't cut to grow and has pledged that Paramount will invest meaningfully in content to grow its platforms. We just talked about two weeks ago that it inked a deal with south park that was worth $1.5 billion. It has about 78 million subscribers at the end of June. This is Paramount plus, which is smaller than most of its rivals. Netflix is way ahead with over 300 million, but it is spending to try to get people to sign up for Paramount plus and not have them cancel. Hey, if you can spend $13 a month to get UFC all year round, that is perhaps a compelling proposition for those fans.
Toby Howell
Up next, let's talk about Toby's trends.
Neal Freyman
It's certainly an interesting time to be doing business.
Toby Howell
Tariffs, trade policies and supply chains. Oh my. As a result, cash flow can feel tighter than ever.
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
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Toby Howell
Of Toby's Trends, where I splunk into the recesses of the business world to emerge with a trend you should keep your eye on. And today's trend is all about the four wheeled menaces taking over America's public roads. I'm not talking about anything futuristic like Waymo or Robo taxis. I'm talking about the humble golf cart. According to the Wall Street Journal, suburban dwelling families far from manicured fairways are opting to hop into golf carts to run a quick errand or go for an evening cruise instead of their minivan or SUVs. Tweens love them too, for the freedom they provide. But the rise of the golf cart cavalry has brought with it backlash. Drivers of normal cars say they clog traffic with their slow driving. Reckless teenage drivers make operating a cart on roads an unsafe affair. And laws vary across states when it comes to public road access, max speeds and leaving home without a license plate. Some states have just said screw it, opting to let municipalities set their own rules. Still, it has done little to slow golf carts. Roll carts that can handle the open road instead of just fairways have seen their sales jump in recent years. One sales exec from the cart maker Club Cart said that US Market for that type of beefed up cart is now worth $5 billion, up from 1 billion before the pandemic. Neil, I was talking with you before the show. Suburban golf cart culture was a foreign concept to you, but it's reaching all corners of America. If you weren't whipping a golf cart around as a kid, what the heck were you doing?
Neal Freyman
The New England mine can't comprehend this, I have to say. But then I went down to your neck of the woods in western Florida to this one beach town, and everyone is rocking their golf carts. What was it like? Describe to me what having a golf cart culture was like in a town.
Toby Howell
It really was more like this suburbia. One kid would have a golf cart everyone piled on. I totally get why people are kind of mad at them because, you know, we weren't the most responsible drivers. You're a teenager, of course you're doing some dumb stuff. But also, these are not your grandma's golf cart anymore. These things are street ready. Some of them come with seatbelts, they have headlights, they have turn signals that can cost up to $25,000. And some owners trick them out. One person that the Wall Street Journal article talked to. It had a turquoise frame, white seats, orange rims, four wheel drive in case it snowed. He lives in Gaffney, S.C. and then also a dashboard has a built in refrigerator sound system with 24 speakers that can light up and pulse with the rhythm of the music. So again, if you're thinking just puttering around, these things are basically cars at.
Neal Freyman
This and you can kind of trick them out so they go above the max speed. Like that's not really a huge issue. So if you go to a town hall meeting in your local municipality anytime soon, you know, there's a probably good chance that some resolution around whether we should allow golf carts are coming up. It was just rejected in Norwalk, Connecticut last year. And in a Illinois, a petition to get golf carts on the roads also was rejected. But in so many other municipalities they are being allowed. People are saying it's way more social. It's much easier for us to get around. So, you know, that is the next frontier, I guess in town fights.
Toby Howell
There is certainly backlash though, if you just go on a TikTok and you search up golf carts. There was this one video a guy in Florida posted where he filmed golf carts clogging a road in both directions and he says, we hate you. Get your golf cart off the road and drive a regular car. So there is certainly, obviously there's the danger aspect because if you have kids driving, driving these around like it is a little unsafe. But then also if you are taking up road space from actual cars, people are going to get a little frustrated. So the golf carts are coming for your community. Whether you accept them, that's up to you. Now let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines. President Trump nominated a new commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics yesterday. The economist E.J. antony will replace Erica McIntarfer, who Trump fired at the beginning of the month after a dismal July jobs report accusing her of manipulating the data. Anthony is the chief economist at the conservative leaning Heritage Foundation. He was also a contributor to Project 2025, the policy blueprint designed to set goals for Trump's second term. Anthony has been an outspoken critic of the bls, namely the large revisions to jobs data seen recently. He posted on X last week that there are better ways to collect, process and disseminate data. That is the task for the next BLS commissioner. But economists across the political spectrum have pushed back on the nomination, saying that introducing partisanship to the BLS could hurt the integrity of the agency's data Moving forward. Neil Antony is certainly a controversial pick, but one thing is certain. He enters a job market that is slowing after two sharp downward revisions of May and June job gains.
Neal Freyman
Yeah, even if he doesn't want to acknowledge it. Jessica Rydell, who's the former head economist at the Heritage foundation, which is a conservative think tank that Antony is now the chief economist of, posted on last night. The articles and tweets I've seen him publish are probably the most error filled of any think tank economist right now. I hope we see better at bls. He still has to get confirmed by the Senate where he'll certainly be under fire for his credentials. Whereas Macintar for had 1300 citations with her papers that she's published, Antony is just five years out of grad school. He appears to have published one article and one citation. So his experience appears to be lacking compared to previous commissioners at this particular post. And he is a very much advocate of the MAGA worldview and is not a nonpartisan technocrat which economists and business, businesses and investors want because they want to ensure the integrity of this data. And we'll get the first test. In a few hours, the BLS will release the cpi, the Consumer Price Index Report, which will tell us the inflation numbers for July.
Toby Howell
Cannabis stocks jumped yesterday after President Trump said he's considering downgrading marijuana to a less dangerous drug classification. Companies who are linked to the cannabis industries, like Tilray, Canopy, Aurora and more, saw their share price go nuts after Trump gave this sagging industry a much needed boost. Cannabis is currently classified as a Schedule 1 drug. That puts it next to substances like heroin and lsd. But the reclassification floated by the Trump administration would put it on the same level as Adderall, which gave the sector hope that it could lead to better access to capital from banks and bolster medical research going forward, opening up a broader market in the process. Now, this isn't federal legalization. That's a totally separate issue, but still one of the first positive pieces of news for a sector that is still trading well below the peak it reached in 2021.
Neal Freyman
These companies go nuts. Tilray was up 42%. Kronos Group was up 16%, Canopy Growth up 26%. And these stocks are, you know, trading in the 1 to $2 range. So they are pretty volatile. But you can see that the potential rollback that Trump is floating has boosted their share prices because it would allow them to access things like tax breaks or the banking system or other incentives that they just cut out from right now because of federal regulations. What does Trump think about cannabis? Well, he seems to be a little wishy washy, he told reporters yesterday. You know, for pain and various things I've heard some pretty good things, but for other things I've heard some pretty bad things. And both sides of the pro legalization movement and the anti legalization movement have gotten in his ear with millions of dollars in lobbying. They just held a one million dollar per plate fundraiser at his New Jersey golf course just a few months ago where there are a bunch of CEOs from cannabis companies making their case the world is a scary place, but apparently not scary enough because horror movies are having a record year at the box office. Last weekend, the horror mystery Weapons raked in a spine chilling 42.5 million at North American theaters, adding to the genre's historic haul this year. As of Monday, the share of ticket sales for horror movies in the US this year was 14.4%, up from 9.8% last year and the highest percentage in history. People have flocked to theaters for sinners, 28 years later, final Destination, Bloodlines, and now Weapons. But I am not people because I enjoy sleeping at night. Still, even without my patronage, six horror movies this year have grossed more than $50 million at the global box office. Toby these stats are terrifying to me.
Toby Howell
This is kind of like a young people in spicy food. People just want to feel something. It is fascinating though to see the original horror movies kind of pick up steam here because Sinners, that is an original movie. Actually that was the highest grossing original movie of the 2000s so far. But then you have some sequels like 28 Years Later, Final Destination, Bloodlines. But then you have something like Weapons Again, which is a completely original story. So it looks like audiences are dipping their toes into these original horror flicks. The last time the US had a really big horror year was 2021 and that was again mostly dominated by franchise follow ups. Again, I haven't seen a single one of these movies though, because I'm like you. I watched Jurassic park, the newest one, in theaters. Objectively not a scary movie whatsoever. Full eyes covered, ears covered. I just can't do the tension in a theater setting, so I am not contributing to these record box office numbers for sure.
Neal Freyman
Finally, you probably have missed hearing her name on this podcast, but Taylor Swift Swift announced a new album in her typically calculated way. At 12:12am this morning, August 12, Swift unveiled her 12th studio album called the Life of a Showgirl. It'll be her first record since the Tortured Poets Department, which came out last year and was indeed torturously long and the first since she bought back her master's from private equity firm Shamrock Capital. If you want more details, you won't have to wait long. Swift was also revealed as the surprise guest on the New Heights podcast hosted by her boyfriend Travis Kelsey and his brother Jason. The full episode will premiere on Wednesday night at 7:00pm welcome to the podcasting club, Taylor.
Toby Howell
So the Instagram clip Kind of teasing. This launch has 55 million views already as of 545 this morning. It was posted at midnight, so this is probably going to be one of the most downloaded podcast episodes ever. Also, Neil, I'm already engaged, so you need to find a global pop star to date so she can come on announce her album on our show to boost downloads. Dua Lipa just got married so she's out. So maybe Sabrina Carpenter Just floating it out there, just putting it out there.
Neal Freyman
I think that is all the time we have. Okay, thanks. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us. Have a wonderful Tuesday. 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?
Toby Howell
Today's clue is the passwords middle two letters form a U.S. state abbreviation. The passwords middle two letters form a US state abbreviation. If you missed yesterday's clue, go back and listen to Monday's episode and to submit your answer. Remember, you only get one answer. Go to the Google link in our show notes or on Instagram. And while you're down there, sign up for Trivia, why don't you?
Neal Freyman
Let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our executive producer. Raymond Lu is our producer. Our associate producers are Olivia Graham and Olivia Lake. Hair Makeup is doing donuts and a golf cart. Devin Emery is our president and our show is a production of Morning Brew.
Toby Howell
Great show today, Neil. Let's run it back tomorrow.
Morning Brew Daily Podcast Summary
Episode Title: Ford Overhauls Assembly Line for EVs & UFC is Ditching Pay-Per-View
Host/Authors: Neal Freyman & Toby Howell
Release Date: August 12, 2025
Neal Freyman: "Today, Ford is giving up its family heirloom, the assembly line. Then Nvidia and AMD can resume exporting their AI chips to China. With a catch. It's Tuesday, August 12th. Let's ride." [00:38]
The episode kicks off with Neal and Toby discussing significant shifts in the business landscape, highlighting Ford's strategic changes and the evolving dynamics between major tech companies and China.
Neal Freyman: "You know what we haven't done in a minute, Toby? Eat a vegetable bar trivia. Which is why we are bringing it back." [00:55]
The hosts announce the return of their popular Trivia Night, encouraging listeners to join on August 19 in downtown Manhattan. They emphasize the event's free admission and the opportunity to win Morning Brew Daily merchandise.
Note: Advertisements are omitted from the summary as per instructions.
Toby Howell: "Everyone knows that President Trump loves to make a deal, but the one he struck with chip makers in video and AMD might be his most controversial yet." [02:50]
Nvidia and AMD have agreed to send 15% of their AI chip sales revenue in China back to the U.S. government in exchange for export licenses. This unprecedented quid pro quo, as described by the Financial Times, has stirred significant debate among national security experts and business leaders.
Neal Freyman: "There was certainly an outcry by national security experts who worry that we are sending China the ability to compete with us in AI, where the US has a lead, but it is dwindling by the day." [04:25]
Critics argue that this deal could weaken the U.S.'s strategic advantage in AI technology and question the long-term implications of such agreements. However, Nvidia and AMD view the deal as a lucrative opportunity to regain access to the expansive Chinese market, potentially adding billions in revenue.
Neal Freyman: "If the chips are a national security concern, we shouldn't export them at all. If they are not, then we shouldn't be charging US Businesses for making money like some banana republic." [04:35]
The conversation delves into the complexities of the agreement, highlighting the tension between economic gains and national security.
Neal Freyman: "The company that popularized the assembly line is moving on. Ford... announced yesterday sweeping changes to its manufacturing methods as part of a drastic overhaul to its electric vehicle strategy." [08:07]
Ford is investing $5 billion to develop a new lineup of affordable EVs, starting with a mid-sized pickup truck set to debut in 2027 at $30,000—$10,000 below the U.S. average car price. To achieve cost efficiency, Ford is replacing its traditional single conveyor assembly line with a three-branched assembly tree, enabling faster and more streamlined production.
Neal Freyman: "They're going to give each worker group a kit, kind of like an IKEA thing that you unpack. And they say this will be a profound change in terms of storage and production layout." [10:35]
This innovative approach reduces the number of parts by 20% and accelerates production speed by 15%. The Louisville plant will undergo a $2 billion transformation to accommodate this universal EV platform. Despite the potential benefits, CEO Jim Farley acknowledges the uncertainty of this ambitious project, viewing it as a calculated risk essential for Ford's survival in the competitive EV market.
Toby Howell: "Ford's EV division has been suffering of late. Over the last two and a half years, it's lost $12 billion. It's already lost $2.2 billion in the first half of this year and it's not heading in the right direction." [09:25]
The overhaul aims to counteract declining sales and intense competition from Chinese manufacturers producing cost-effective EVs. The collaboration with the United Auto Workers (UAW) has been surprisingly positive, as the new assembly process enhances workplace safety and ergonomics despite reducing the total workforce.
Toby Howell: "Days after getting sold to Skydance Media, Paramount is looking for a fight, and it may have just found one." [12:00]
Paramount has secured a $7.7 billion, seven-year streaming deal with UFC, beginning in 2026. This agreement will feature 43 live events, 30 fight nights, and 13 marquee matchups, some of which will be simulcast on CBS. A significant aspect of this deal is the discontinuation of the traditional pay-per-view (PPV) model.
Neal Freyman: "On top of that, as the president of TKO Group, UFC parent company, put it, the pay-per-view model is a thing of the past." [13:07]
The move aims to simplify access for UFC fans by integrating events into Paramount Plus subscriptions, eliminating the need for separate PPV purchases. This strategy is designed to attract younger audiences and increase overall viewership.
Toby Howell: "David Ellison... described himself as a UFC fan. So they spent a lot of money on this." [14:51]
Despite the hefty investment, Paramount's market capitalization prior to the deal was significantly lower, underscoring the company's commitment to aggressiveness in the streaming arena. The year-round nature of UFC events makes it a valuable asset for sustained viewer engagement.
Neal Freyman: "David Ellison... has pledged that Paramount will invest meaningfully in content to grow its platforms." [15:18]
This acquisition, along with other content investments like the South Park deal, positions Paramount to compete more effectively against streaming giants by offering exclusive and consistent content.
Toby Howell: "Today's trend is all about the four-wheeled menaces taking over America's public roads. I'm not talking about anything futuristic like Waymo or Robo taxis. I'm talking about the humble golf cart." [15:41]
Suburban families and tweens are increasingly opting for golf carts to run errands or enjoy evening cruises instead of using traditional vehicles. This trend has led to a booming market for street-ready golf carts equipped with features like seatbelts, headlights, and advanced sound systems.
Neal Freyman: "This and you can kind of trick them out so they go above the max speed. Like that's not really a huge issue." [19:49]
However, the proliferation of golf carts on public roads has sparked backlash due to traffic congestion, safety concerns, and inconsistent regulations across states. Some municipalities have restricted access, while others allow local governance to set their own rules. Sales of fortified golf carts have surged, with the market valued at $5 billion, up from $1 billion pre-pandemic.
Toby Howell: "People are saying it's way more social. It's much easier for us to get around." [20:23]
Despite the criticisms, the convenience and social aspects of golf carts continue to drive their popularity, marking a notable shift in American suburban transportation.
a. Nomination of New Commissioner for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Neal Freyman: "President Trump nominated a new commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics yesterday." [20:23]
Economist E.J. Antony, affiliated with the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025, has been nominated to replace Erica McIntarfer. His nomination has raised concerns about potential partisanship influencing the BLS's traditionally nonpartisan data reporting, especially amidst a slowing job market.
Neal Freyman: "Jessica Rydell... posted... probably the most error-filled of any think tank economist right now." [22:07]
Antony's limited experience and staunch MAGA stance have critics worried about the integrity and reliability of future BLS reports, particularly the upcoming Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July.
b. Cannabis Stocks Surge on Potential Reclassification
Toby Howell: "Cannabis stocks jumped yesterday after President Trump said he's considering downgrading marijuana to a less dangerous drug classification." [23:00]
Companies like Tilray, Canopy Growth, and Aurora saw significant stock increases following Trump's hint at reclassifying cannabis from a Schedule 1 to a Schedule 2 drug. This shift could enhance access to capital, encourage medical research, and expand the market without instituting federal legalization.
Neal Freyman: "These companies go nuts. Tilray was up 42%." [23:55]
While this development offers optimism for the cannabis industry, Trump's ambivalent stance and the industry's inherent volatility present ongoing challenges.
c. Horror Movies Achieve Record Box Office Success
Neal Freyman: "Horror movies are having a record year at the box office." [24:14]
With films like Sinners, 28 Years Later, Final Destination, Bloodlines, and Weapons dominating ticket sales, the horror genre has seen a significant uptick, capturing 14.4% of U.S. ticket sales this year—a historic high.
Toby Howell: "It is fascinating to see the original horror movies kind of pick up steam here." [25:42]
The resurgence is driven by both original content and popular franchises, indicating a robust market for horror films despite—or perhaps because of—the broader societal uncertainties.
d. Taylor Swift Announces New Album
Neal Freyman: "Taylor Swift announced a new album in her typically calculated way." [26:37]
Swift unveiled her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, marking her first release since Tortured Poets Department (2024) and following her successful reacquisition of her masters from Shamrock Capital. Additionally, Swift was revealed as a surprise guest on the New Heights podcast, hosted by her boyfriend Travis Kelsey and his brother Jason, which is poised to become one of the most downloaded episodes due to the announcement's viral Instagram teaser garnering 55 million views.
The episode concludes with Neal and Toby reiterating their engagement initiatives, encouraging listener participation in Trivia Night, and teasing upcoming content. They also share the day's password clue, enticing listeners to interact through social media and the show's platforms.
Toby Howell: "Today's clue is the passwords middle two letters form a U.S. state abbreviation." [27:46]
The hosts wrap up with acknowledgments to their production team and a hint at future episodes, maintaining the show's personable and interactive atmosphere.
Key Takeaways:
Tech & International Trade: Nvidia and AMD's unprecedented export deals with China reflect the complex interplay between economic interests and national security concerns under the Trump administration.
Automotive Innovation: Ford's bold restructuring of its assembly line signifies a critical pivot towards affordable EVs, addressing both competitive pressures and operational efficiencies.
Media & Entertainment Shifts: Paramount's acquisition of UFC and the elimination of the pay-per-view model represent a strategic realignment in the streaming wars, aiming to attract a broader and more consistent viewer base.
Emerging Trends in Transportation: The rise of golf carts on public roads highlights a shift in suburban mobility preferences, accompanied by regulatory and safety challenges.
Economic & Cultural Headlines: The nomination of a new BLS commissioner, fluctuations in cannabis stocks due to potential regulatory changes, the horror genre's box office success, and Taylor Swift's album release encapsulate the episode's diverse coverage of current events.
This comprehensive summary encapsulates the pivotal discussions and insights from the August 12, 2025, episode of Morning Brew Daily, offering listeners a thorough overview of the day's most impactful topics.