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Now: News…

Matt Davis — Need2Know Chedditor

Table of Contents

• Big Companies Are Starting to Hire Again

• Chinese AI Chipmaker Soars 466% on Its IPO

• Nvidia and OpenAI Team up on $250B Data Center

• Ford Recalls Half a Million Broncos

• Cracker Barrel CEO Will Step Down

• Poll of the Day: Rebrand Redux

What’s the Stock Market Up To, Eh?

$SPX ( ▲ 0.02% )  $DJI ( ▲ 0.51% )  $NDX ( ▲ 1.59% )  

Companies Mentioned in Today’s Newsletter

 $LTX ( ▼ 2.57% )  $BAH ( ▼ 1.23% )  $RHI ( ▲ 12.61% )  $AAPL ( ▲ 1.17% )  $SFTBY ( ▼ 0.43% )  $OPEAZZX ( ▼ 0.47% )  $NVDA ( ▼ 4.99% )  $F ( ▲ 2.16% )  $CBRL ( ▼ 2.38% )  

Big Companies Are Starting to Hire Again

Remember when AI was supposed to make human workers obsolete, leaving us all free to pursue hobbies? I mean, like, last week. You know?

So, about that. It turns out America's biggest employers, who spent the last year treating new hires as an expensive last resort, are having a bit of an "oops" moment. They are suddenly realizing that their shiny new AI agents need actual, flesh-and-blood humans to work alongside them.

As Sarah Franklin, CEO of human-resources platform Lattice $LTX ( ▼ 2.57% ) , told the Wall Street Journal, “Just because you have coding agents doesn’t mean you’re not hiring engineers.” Companies that froze entry-level hiring under the assumption that AI bots could magically pick up the slack are backpedaling. They have realized they desperately need a younger workforce that is "not calcified in thought"—and, let’s be honest, “more affordable because they are newer to the workforce.”

The hiring reversal is hitting everywhere, from tech to defense. Kristine Martin Anderson, COO of government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton $BAH ( ▼ 1.23% ) , openly confessed to investors, “We actually need to accelerate hiring a bit. We’re a little bit behind right now.” Meanwhile, staffing firms are celebrating. M. Keith Waddell, CEO of Robert Half $RHI ( ▲ 12.61% ) , happily noted that AI’s impact is proving “more benign than some have feared.”

So, what is the grand, multi-billion-dollar corporate strategy for navigating this brave new era? According to Paul Osterman, a professor emeritus at MIT, the consensus is, well… It’s how we all run everything these days: “Do we need more people? Do we need less people? We have no idea. No one has any idea.”

Quote of the Day

Chinese AI Chipmaker Soars 466% on Its IPO

If you thought Western tech companies had a monopoly on eye-watering AI hype, mainland China’s stock market just outdid us all. CXMT, a memory-chip maker founded just a decade ago, debuted on the Shanghai exchange and immediately saw its stock soar by 466%. The company closed its first day with a market capitalization of $484 billion, instantly making it mainland China’s most valuable listed firm.

AI needs Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) chips like a caffeine-addicted coder needs espresso, and prices are skyrocketing. CXMT is China's national champion in this space, and the hype is so intense that even Apple $AAPL ( ▲ 1.17% ) wants in. In fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been actively lobbying President Trump to let them use CXMT's chips in iPhones sold outside the U.S. to bypass skyrocketing costs.

But don't pop the champagne just yet about getting a cheaper iPhone. Tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo poured some cold water on the Apple-CXMT romance, writing in a note, “Given the persistent global memory imbalance, even if Apple’s lobbying succeeds and it buys DRAM from CXMT, that would not materially lower costs or fill the supply gap.” Still, as Kuo pointed out, “Apple has every reason to secure” an additional source to survive this brutal chip shortage.

The funniest part? CXMT openly admits its chips trail Western industry leaders because U.S. export controls block them from getting top-tier equipment. To compensate, they are stacking circuitry in unconventional ways.

Nvidia and OpenAI Team up on $250B Data Center

We’ve all asked a wealthy friend to co-sign a lease, but Nvidia $NVDA ( ▼ 4.99% ) and OpenAI $OPEAZZX ( ▼ 0.47% ) are taking the idea to a whole new, quarter-of-a-trillion-dollar level. In the latest chapter of America’s AI fever dream, Nvidia is in talks to provide a staggering $250 billion financial backstop to help OpenAI lease a massive, 10-gigawatt data center in southern Ohio. The campus is being built on a decommissioned uranium-enrichment site, so we’ll be training chatbots on nuclear wasteland in the near future.

The total project cost could exceed $500 billion once you count the Nvidia chips required to fill the data center. But there’s a tiny, awkward catch: OpenAI is currently an unprofitable private company without an investment-grade credit rating. To bypass this minor detail, Nvidia is stepping in to provide what the industry calls a “credit wrapper.” 

Nvidia, which has already invested $30 billion in OpenAI, is also discussing financing the very chips OpenAI wants to buy from them. While the human power brokers behind the deal, including U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and SoftBank $SFTBY ( ▼ 0.43% ) billionaire Masayoshi Son, have kept their official comments behind closed doors, the only candid voice we have is Nvidia's own legal team. In its annual report, Nvidia soberly warned investors that these wild data-center financing deals “could lower its near-term cash flows and increase its exposure to customer credit risk.”

But who cares about minor balance sheet risks when you have 10 gigawatts of power and backing from the U.S. and Japanese governments?

Song of the Day: BabyQueen, ‘That’s Fine’

Dive into the raw, uninhibited world of Baby Queen’s alt-pop track, "That's Fine," full of rapid-fire, near-spoken-word delivery, which feels like reading a stolen diary entry. So, it’s a lot like this newsletter!

Ford Recalls Half a Million Broncos

If you bought a rugged Ford $F ( ▲ 2.16% ) Bronco to escape into the great outdoors and sit by a cozy campfire, great news! Ford has decided to cut out the middleman. Now, your actual SUV can be the campfire.

In a spectacular display of under-the-hood excitement, Ford is recalling 565,691 Bronco and Bronco Raptor SUVs (specifically model years 2021 through 2026) over a rather pressing engine fire risk. The issue stems from a wiring harness with "insufficient protection" that can lead to exposed wires, short circuits, and…spontaneous combustion.

Because the official report is entirely devoid of colorful quotes from panicked drivers or charismatic executives, we have to rely on the dry, incredibly relaxed statements of the automaker itself. Trying to lower the temperature, Ford officially noted that it is “not aware of any reports of accidents or injuries related to the issue.” Yet.

Which is highly comforting, until you read the official description of how this defect could manifest on your morning commute. In the event of a short circuit, Ford warns that drivers may notice “smoke in the air vents or a warning message on their dashboard,” which will then be casually “followed by flames coming from the passenger’s side of the engine compartment.” 

A bold design choice. To fix the fiery feature, dealerships will install new covers over the wiring free of charge. Bronco owners can search their vehicle identification numbers on NHTSA.gov to see if their ride is currently a ticking barbecue.

Cracker Barrel CEO Will Step Down

Usually, a visit to Cracker Barrel $CBRL ( ▼ 2.38% ) is a relaxed affair involving rocking chairs, “peg games,” and heavy gravy. But behind the scenes, the family-dining giant has recently looked more like a high-stakes corporate warzone.

Julie Masino is stepping down as CEO on August 10. Her roughly three-year tenure was defined by a brutal, folksy culture war. Her crime? Attempting to modernize. When Masino tweaked the restaurant's iconic folksy logo and launched a remodeling plan, social media erupted into a firestorm, drawing fierce criticism from consumers and even President Trump. Activist investor Sardar Biglari quickly launched a proxy battle, vowing to remove her from the company.

To save her job in a shareholder vote last November, Masino had to perform the ultimate corporate U-turn. She completely abandoned her modernization plans, halted the remodels, and put banished fan favorites back on the menu to appease the brand's core customers. It actually worked: The chain began recovering from massive losses in sales, profits, and guests, and shares shot up 35% this summer on a brighter outlook.

But defending chicken-fried steak on the front lines of the culture war is apparently exhausting work. Masino is now handing the reins to David Deno, the former CEO of Outback Steakhouse owner Bloomin’ Brands. Deno, who brings 40 years of restaurant and retail experience, seems ready to lean heavily into nostalgia. Upon his appointment, Deno praised the chain thusly: “Cracker Barrel is a truly iconic American brand, defined by its unique combination of warm country hospitality, timeless appeal, and deep connection with guests across generations.”

Masino will stay on as an advisor until October to help with the transition. As for Deno? He’d better leave the logo alone…

Free Yourself From Advertising Forever!

Should You Check Your 401(k) Today?

👎️ 

Definitely not.

Poll of the Day: Rebrand Redux

Poll of the Day: Back to the Future

We asked: When do you expect the latest round of trade tariffs to lead to the promised resurgence in American manufacturing?

You answered:

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Right after the 60-odd separate trade lawsuits against them wrap up. (14)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Just as soon as the luxury Italian handbag factories open in Ohio. (15)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ When our pathetic small business owners stop suing the government for bankrupting their efforts. (7)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ As soon as we learn to build things without our largest trading partners. (29)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Hey, I approve of these tariffs, buddy. There are more important things than American manufacturing. Like, you know...the price of gas. And groceries. And stuff. Ah...I see what you did there. (8)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Why is there no option here allowing me to support the renewed tariffs with sincerity? Because I do... (8)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Seriously, I think this Graham Platner guy has a shot at a comeback candidacy, sometime, don't you? (3)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Never. Ever. Ever. Ever. (253)
337 Votes via @beehiiv polls

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