July 13, 2026

G’day. The noses at Bath & Body Works are on the hunt for the next billion-dollar scent to follow its classic “Japanese Cherry Blossom.” Despite millions of dollars of research and development, the New York Times says, no one knows why some scents take off while others end up in the discount section.

So surely “Pancake and Petrichor” is worth a shot…

—Brendan Cosgrove, Holly Van Leuven, Neal Freyman

In today’s newsletter, we’ll get into:

Apple’s accusations against OpenAI
The death of Sen. Lindsey Graham
“Funflation” making staying home more expensive

Markets: Year-to-Date

Nasdaq

26,281.61

+13.08%

S&P

7,575.39

+10.66%

Dow

52,637.01

+9.52%

10-Year

4.569%

+40.6 bps

Bitcoin

$63,401.53

-27.55%

What does the lawsuit allege?

Apple said “every level” of OpenAI was involved in the scheme, but a lot of the lawsuit centers on Tang Tan, a former Apple VP and OpenAI’s current chief hardware officer, who is accused of getting Apple employees to share company secrets while they interviewed for jobs at OpenAI.

Apple turnover: If Apple employees did leave for OpenAI, the ChatGPT maker gave them advice on how to avoid immediately being removed from the company, so they could stay on for a couple more weeks to access Apple’s internal systems and trade secrets, the suit alleged.

Apple said it has 400+ former employees now working at OpenAI, including engineer Chang Liu, who was named as a defendant in the lawsuit alongside OpenAI, Tan, and io Products, the company founded by former Apple design guru Jony Ive. According to Apple, Liu:

Stole a company laptop.
Continued to obtain internal information from then-Apple employee Alyssa Peng (who also later joined OpenAI).
Messaged Peng, “LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny,” and then downloaded presentations and manufacturing details, Bloomberg reported.

Apple is seeking damages and wants OpenAI to destroy any proprietary materials, saying the startup’s hardware business is “rotten to its core.” (Unclear whether the apple wordplay was intended.)

OpenAI denied the charges. A spokesperson for the startup said it has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets” and that it remains “focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”

Familiar foe: Sam Altman’s longtime rival Elon Musk couldn’t resist getting a shot in after the allegations dropped, calling the OpenAI CEO “Scam Altman” on X. Altman responded by criticizing Musk’s SpaceX and calling him “homeboy” in the process, proving that tech titans are just like us, only with lamer insults.—BC

World

Tour de headlines

Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2022. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

🇺🇸 Lindsey Graham, long-serving US senator from South Carolina, died at 71. Sen. Graham died Saturday night “from a brief and sudden illness,” according to a statement released by his office yesterday morning. He had just returned from a trip to Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said the senator had visited his country 10 times since Russia’s invasion in 2022. He was also a champion of the American–Israeli alliance, and a proponent of the Iran war. President Trump told Meet the Press on Sunday morning that he had spoken with Graham just hours before his death, and that “other than being tired, he was fine.” It was later announced that Graham had died of aortic dissection, according to a preliminary medical report.

🚢 The US and Iran clashed over control of the Strait of Hormuz. The nations exchanged missile strikes this weekend, with the US hitting 140 military targets in strikes on Saturday and dozens more yesterday, and Iran striking US allies in the region over the weekend, including Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, and Bahrain. The latest exchanges were sparked by Iran attacking a Cyprus-flagged container ship in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman. The Associated Press reported that Iran is angry that ships are taking a route through the strait near Oman with the support of US military vessels. Early this morning, the US Central Military Command said, “The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade. Iran does not control it.” The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps responded by saying that the waterway is “our territory.”

🏈 A group led by the Khosla family will buy the Seattle Seahawks. The terms of the deal have not been made public, but league sources told ESPN that the price tag was $9.6 billion, a record for an NFL franchise. In a statement he made on behalf of his family, the venture capitalist Vinod Khosla said, “We are honored to be entrusted as the next stewards of the Seattle Seahawks.” To complete the deal, he will be forced to sell his minority stake in the San Francisco 49ers. Khosla’s wife, Neeru, is expected to be the controlling owner. The team was owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, and his estate has owned it since he died in 2018. Allen left a directive for the trust to eventually sell the team, along with his Portland Trail Blazers NBA franchise, and donate the money to charity.—HVL

sign of the times

Even staying home is getting more expensive

a woman sits on a bed staring out a window

Getty Images

The funflation is coming from inside the house. Consumers have grappled with the cost of entertainment in the wider world costing more for some time now: Price hikes for concerts and sporting events, and the phenomenon known as friendflation, have been well documented. Now, people are getting priced out of amusing themselves at home.

Exclusive data analyzed by PNC Financial Services for CNBC revealed that consumers cut spending on home entertainment in June compared to a year ago, particularly in these categories:

Gaming. Consoles used to be expensive upon release before getting cheaper over time, but tariffs and the demand for memory chips brought about by AI have kept hardware prices elevated.
Streaming. Netflix, Prime Video, Spotify, Crunchyroll, Paramount+, and YouTube Premium are among the platforms that have gotten more expensive recently.

Other at-home pastimes have become pricier:

Home fitness. Peloton, Jazzercise On Demand, and Pvolve have raised the prices for digital subscriptions in the past year.
Anything you plug in. Electricity prices in the US are expected to break a record high this summer.

On the bright side…reading books is still cheap and making a comeback, so maybe we won’t enter a post-literate age after all…—HVL

reader poll

Where have you noticed the effects of funflation most?

Video game software.
Video game hardware.
Jazzercise.
Other streaming subscriptions.
Somewhere else.
Nowhere.

Airport trivia

Last week, Palm Beach International Airport officially changed its name to President Donald J. Trump International Airport. Trump is the first sitting president to get an airport named after him, but eight other commercial airports are named after former presidents. How many can you name? (Neal says four is a good score.)

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Answer

Kennedy in NYC; Bush in Houston; Reagan National (DCA); Ford in Grand Rapids, MI; Lincoln in Springfield, IL; Teddy Roosevelt in Dickinson, ND; Bill Clinton in Little Rock, AR; and Eisenhower in Wichita, KS.

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: petrichor, meaning “the smell of rainfall.” Thanks to Bud Bond from Gilbert, IL, and Charly from the UK, along with the hundreds of other readers who made it rain with this suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.

✳︎ A Note From Chase

Disclosures:

Home lending products provided by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Opportunity.

✳︎ A Note From EnergyX

Energy Exploration Technologies, Inc. (“EnergyX”) has engaged Morning Brew to publish this communication in connection with EnergyX’s ongoing Regulation A offering. Morning Brew has been paid in cash and may receive additional compensation. Morning Brew and/or its affiliates do not currently hold securities of EnergyX.

This compensation and any current or future ownership interest could create a conflict of interest. Please consider this disclosure alongside EnergyX’s offering materials. EnergyX’s Regulation A offering has been qualified by the SEC. Offers and sales may be made only by means of the qualified offering circular. Before investing, carefully review the offering circular, including the risk factors. The offering circular is available at invest.energyx.com.

Comparisons to other companies are for informational purposes only and should not imply similar results. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Market shortfall are forward‑looking estimates and are subject to substantial uncertainty.

Written by Brendan Cosgrove, Holly Van Leuven , and Neal Freyman

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