Good morning. Based on the number of replies to yesterday’s newsletter, you may have noticed that we’re testing out a slight change to our Hot Corner section.

Readers have been sending in feedback that the previous Hot Corner section – which included a quote + context, stat of the day, random fact, and longer read worth your precious time – is a little too long and interrupts the newsletter’s flow. So we’ve decided to test parsing out the quote + context, usually the longest part of the section, and putting it in a separate, standalone section called “Overheard.”

Have any other feedback you’d like for us to overhear? Just reply to this email.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~5.08-minute read (1,353 words).

P.S. First time reading? Subscribe here for free.

"The best revenge is to be unlike those who performed the injury."

–Marcus Aurelius (121 A.D. – 180 A.D.)

Yesterday, at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple, with the panache of a chef unveiling a slow-cooked proprietary dish, revealed its long-awaited generative AI strategy – a software update called Apple Intelligence.

The overarching idea: Apple is opting not to focus on developing broad artificial intelligence models – outsourcing the massive costs and potential for liabilities to companies like OpenAI and Google – and is instead focused on integrating specific AI features into its products that are useful for the end user (in other words: putting the “i” in “AI”).

Some of the features coming later this year to the iPhone 15 and any Macs/iPads running on the company’s M1 or M2 chip:

• Genmoji: Users will be able to use generative AI to create custom emojis to share – including ones that look just like their friends.
• Writing tools: Functionalities include rewriting existing copy, changing the tone of language, summarizing messages in “TLDR” format, and penning Smart Replies to messages.
• Image generation: Apple Intelligence can create generative photos in three styles – Sketch, Illustration, and Animation – based on a user’s photo library.
• Smart notifications: Devices will be able to prioritize notifications to bring up the most important notes while minimizing less relevant ones.

Siri is also getting an upgrade. Apple’s OG digital assistant will now be able to take action in and across apps, like sending a DONUT article from Apple News to a group thread in Messages😉. Third-party apps will also be able to tap into some of Siri’s enhancements.

Plus, as part of a partnership with OpenAI, Siri will be able to access ChatGPT when needed. Apple’s assistant in this case acts as a consigliare-style go-between, asking users if they want to share their question with ChatGPT and then returning suggestions from the OpenAI chatbot. ChatGPT is also built into the previously mentioned writing tools.

📸 Big picture: Up until now, Apple’s core product suite has lacked generative AI features – while competitors like Microsoft and Google have been full steam ahead integrating AI into their products. Apple stock, which over the past year has lagged behind other Big Tech rivals, closed down ~2% on the day.

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🇪🇺 Results from the EU’s parliamentary elections are trickling in. Early projections show a strong performance for conservative parties in France, Italy, Germany, and other countries – though not enough to win command of the EU parliament itself – while many incumbent centrist, liberal, and Green parties are projected to lose seats. The EU’s foreign and military policies are mainly determined by its 27 individual member states, meaning the results of this election are unlikely to have an immediate impact on major policy decisions, including support for Ukraine.

💥 Israel-Hamas war: Israeli politician Benny Gantz, a member of the country’s three-person war cabinet, resigned from PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s government late Sunday, accusing the PM of mismanaging the war effort and putting his own “political survival” over Israel’s security needs. The move doesn’t immediately threaten Netanyahu’s leadership, though it leaves the PM’s party reliant on its coalition partners – including ultra-Orthodox and conservative parties – to enact its agenda.

🇸🇩 A quarter of Sudan’s population has fled their homes due to ongoing civil war. According to UN figures shared yesterday, more than 10 million Sudanese residents have been internally displaced due to the conflict, while an additional 2+ million people have been driven abroad. Sudan’s civil war, which first broke out last April between two rival factions of the country’s military government, has killed 14,000+ people and pushed millions of residents to the brink of famine.

Drunk millennials may soon have to go back to actual cigarettes. The US government is ramping up its efforts to regulate fruit-flavored, disposable vapes that have flooded the American market in recent years – despite technically being illegal.

Yesterday, the FDA and Justice Department announced a multi-agency task force aimed at cracking down on illegal e-cigarette products, including many popular disposable vape brands.

• The largest such companies are Breeze and Elfbar – two brands the FDA ordered off the market last year, but who still remain the top disposable vape sellers in the US.
• Overall, disposable vapes represent more than 30% of US e-cigarette sales in stores tracked by Nielsen, despite the fact that nearly all such products are technically banned.

If most disposable vapes are illegal, why are they still being sold? Short answer: because up to this point, US regulators were all bark and no bite. The FDA has sent 1,100+ warning letters in recent years to manufacturers, importers, and retailers that handle illegal vape products. But the letters don’t have much heft, since the FDA can't sue bad actors – so many companies simply ignore them.

• The FDA’s multi-agency task force is aiming to turn this dynamic on its head, with officials saying their goal is to strictly prosecute e-cigarette violations armed with the threat of possible felony convictions, criminal fines, and/or product seizures.

👀 Looking ahead… The task force announcement comes two days before a Senate hearing centered around the US government’s lack of enforcement on illegal e-cigarettes.

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“They’re basically coming up with names for each other.”

• What do you call an elephant that never takes a shower? A smellyphant By its name, of course. According to a new study in Nature Ecology & Evolution, wild African elephants appear to be one of the only nonhuman species (that we know of) to address each other using personal “names,” with a unique call for each specific member of their family. The study focused on elephants’ constant, low-frequency rumblings, which make up a majority of their vocalizations and are used in a wide variety of social situations. After using AI tools to analyze hundreds of rumblings that appeared to grab the attention of an individual elephant, researchers were able to identify a rumble’s intended recipient at a far higher rate than random chance – indicating that such vocalizations do in fact represent elephant “names.” The results were also supported by fieldwork that found each individual elephant reacted more strongly to a recording of their “name” than to other calls.

🛒 Stat of the Day: Somewhere, Indiana Jones’ ears just perked up – because new data indicates the era of one-stop shopping for groceries is a relic of the past. The average shopper purchased grocery items at 20.7 unique retailers between March 2023 and February 2024, up 23% from the same months between 2019-20, according to a report from Numerator.

🤔 Did You Know? Ancient Egyptians tested for pregnancy by having potential moms urinate on bags containing wheat and barley. If they sprouted shortly after, it was a sign of pregnancy. When scientists reproduced this ancient pregnancy test in a 1963 study, it turned out to be ~70% accurate.

📰 Worth a Read: The Great AI Challenge: We Test Five Top Bots on Useful, Everyday Skills → (Wall Street Journal)

• ☝️ A landslide in western Wyoming on Saturday wiped out a vital two-lane road connecting the city of Jackson with eastern Idaho, which is used by thousands of local daily commuters.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Slumber

• 💰 US markets rose across the board (S&P: +0.3%; Dow: +0.2%; Nasdaq: +0.4%); the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed at new record highs.
• ✈️ Activist hedge fund Elliott Management has amassed a $1.9 billion stake in Southwest Airlines and is pushing for a new company CEO and chair of the board.
• 🚘 UAW President Shawn Fain is under investigation by an independent federal monitor over allegations that he retaliated against other union leaders.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏀 The WNBA is averaging 1.3 million viewers per game across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and CBS since the season began on May 14th – nearly triple last season’s average of 462,000 viewers.
• 🙅‍♂️ Dan Hurley, coach of the two-time defending national champion UConn men’s basketball team, reportedly turned down a six-year, $70 million offer to become the Los Angeles Lakers’ head coach.
• 🎭 Dick Van Dyke, 98, became the oldest Daytime Emmy winner in history, receiving the honor for his recent guest spot on Days of Our Lives.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Dooeys

• 🧠 An FDA advisory panel unanimously concluded that Eli Lilly's experimental Alzheimer's drug donanemab benefits patients with early stages of the disease, and that its benefits outweigh its risks; the FDA will soon decide whether to approve donanemab.
• 💤 Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods is linked to an increased risk of chronic insomnia, per a new study.
• 💉 A combined flu and Covid vaccine triggered strong immune responses against both viruses in ongoing clinical trials, developer Moderna announced yesterday.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🥵 America’s first heat wave of the year, which caused record-setting temperatures across the Southwest last week, will expand into the central US by Wednesday, per the National Weather Service.
• 🚙 Kia is recalling ~463,000 Telluride SUVs in the US over front seats that could catch fire, warning owners to keep the vehicles outside and away from buildings.
• ⚖️ Hunter Biden's criminal trial on federal gun charges entered the jury deliberations phase yesterday, following the conclusion of closing arguments. (Read more)

CLICKBAIT

• 👽 What could aliens look like?

Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

• 🎓 47% of Americans say the cost of college is worth it only without loans, while 22% say it’s worth it even with loans, and 29% say it’s not worth it at all (2% prefer not to answer). (Read more)
• 🤑 The market currently values Nvidia at over $100 million per each of its ~29,600 employees based on its $3+ trillion market cap – a ratio over 5x higher than any other big tech firm. (Read more)
• 💉 People with tattoos have a 21% higher risk of developing the cancer lymphoma, per a new study focused on Sweden (where 1 in 5 residents are tattooed). (Read more)
• 📊 Gun suicides have outpaced gun homicides in each of the past 25 years, according to the NY Times. (Read more)
• 🎾 Carlos Alcaraz, 21, is the youngest men’s tennis player to win a Grand Slam title on all three surfaces (clay, grass, and hard). (Read more)

Yesterday, we covered how a growing number of US teens and young adults are spurning dating apps and turning to in-person events in order to meet potential romantic partners.

❓ Poll results: Yesterday’s survey was broken down by relationship status, with specific questions for each group.

Married (45% of respondents): How did you meet your partner?

• Online: 13%
• Through friends/family: 30%
• Through work: 18%
• Random encounter: 19%
• Other: 20%

In a relationship but not married (21%): How did you meet your partner?

• Online: 34%
• Through friends/family: 22%
• Through work: 16%
• Random encounter: 16%
• Other: 12%

Single and looking for a partner (11%): Where are you focusing your attention most when searching for a partner?

• Online: 9%
• Offline: 91%

Single and not looking for a partner (16%): If you were to start looking for a partner (if applicable), where would you focus most of your attention?

• Online: 9%
• Offline: 91%

Other (7%): If you were to start looking for a partner (if applicable), where would you focus most of your attention?

• Online: 17%
• Offline: 83%

+Note on sample size: We received 3,712 votes and 403 longform responses.

You're looking at a white stork, a previously extinct-in-the-wild species with an impressive wing span and unique black wing feathers.

🪶 Not just any bird... White storks used to be common in and around the UK, but went nearly extinct ~600 years ago. The only known living white storks were kept in zoos and animal sanctuaries until recently, when a local conservation project began reintroducing them to the wild.

• It appears the project is already bearing fruit, with the Cheshire Wildlife Trust recently spotting this healthy white stork flying over the UK.
• “It was fantastic to witness it circling overhead with its incredible wing span," said observer, Darren Banks. "It was a great sign to see one this far north!"

❓ Trivia: What was Instagram originally called?

🍍 True or False?... Adding salt to pineapple makes it sweeter.

🤔 Riddle Me This: You go at red and stop at green. What am I?

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like the DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize.

Start referring.👇

❓ Trivia: Burbn

🍍 T/F: True, since it reduces bitterness

🤔 Riddle: A watermelon