📬 A smart (?) Apple

Good morning, Quartz readers!

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

There’s election fraud afoot. Betting platform Polymarket is allegedly awash in so-called “wash trades” on the outcome of the presidential race that are skewing its predictive power.

Elon Musk thinks Trumponomics will tank the stock market. The tech billionaire says it’s nothing to worry about, though, just a “temporary hardship.”

Volkswagen is having a tough time turning a profit. Many of the workers it wants to fire are going on strike.

Super Micro Computer has a super major mess on its hands. The company’s auditor, Ernst & Young, resigned amid concerns about the straightness of the server-builder’s books.

Boeing got in trouble for playing dirty with cargo plane soap dispensers. A Department of Defense audit says the C-17 manufacturer overcharged the government for the part by nearly 8,000%.

Just how smart is Apple Intelligence?

Apple just snuck a new contact into millions of iPhones around the world. A decade after U2’s Songs of Innocence lodged itself into the world’s iTunes listings, we now have Apple Intelligence.

The artificial intelligence feature began its rollout this week. Some users, after braving waitlists and iOS upgrades to access it, are let down a bit.

Is Apple Intelligence everything observers hoped for or, does it fall short? Quartz’s Jackie Snow digs into how it’s being received.

A fancy beverage chilled with a different kind of ice

Is it the clarified heirloom tomato water? Or maybe the lemon basil olive oil? What could possibly cause a martini to cost $13,000?

It turns out that the pricey beverage, served by Chicago’s Adalina restaurant, also comes with a nine-carat diamond tennis necklace with 150 diamonds set in 14 karat gold. Plus, it’s made with Clase Azul Mezcal instead of gin.

What kind of person orders a cocktail that expensive? Quartz’s Madeline Fitzgerald spoke with Adalina general manager Colin Hofer to find out.

MORE FROM QUARTZ

💸 These tech giants are the biggest startup vacuums in Silicon Valley

💉 Eli Lilly’s CEO doesn’t mind everyone stealing its GLP-1 thunder

🗄️ Henry Paulson is trying to get Musk to help him into a potential Trump cabinet

↔️ Ray Dalio doesn’t like the idea of a Trump or a Harris White House

🎢 The Trump Media stock roller coaster is diving

🎤 Google got a stock price bump from its AI chatter

SURPRISING DISCOVERIES

The hottest brand in the world is really hot. Lyst index topper Miu Miu grew sales by more than 100% in the last year.

A college football super-fan found all the sport’s worst seats. He’s obsessed with finding obscured views at every major program’s stadium.

Reddit has never been profitable — until now. The newly publicly traded platform just notched its first-ever quarter in the black.

There’s a thriving black market in Bluey dollar-bucks. Australian police recovered 40,000 stolen currency pieces that resell for ten times their nominal value.

The Hollywood dream is getting dimmer and dimmer. One scan of entry-level jobs in Tinsel Town finds that there are 30% fewer of them than in 2023.

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Our best wishes on a safe start to the day. Send any news, comments, awful stadium seats, and spendy soap dispensers to talk@qz.com. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Audrey McNamara.