Friday's Fast Five: Week of 3.1

Elon Musk Sues OpenAI and Sam Altman for Violating the Company’s Principles (The New York Times): Elon Musk sued OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, accusing them of breaching a contract by putting profits and commercial interests in developing artificial intelligence ahead of the public good.

Wendy's debacle is a flashback to Coca-Cola's own failed price-raising bid (Axios): Burger chain Wendy's is in damage-control mode following reports that it would be testing surge pricing — a mostly reviled strategy of raising prices during busy times made famous by Uber. The whole debacle seems very of-the-moment, but actually mirrors another PR crisis from 25 years ago at the Coca-Cola Company.

What Really Goes Into the Fed's Favorite Measure of Inflation?  (Odd Lots - Podcast): On this episode, we speak with Omair Sharif, founder and president of Inflation Insights, as well as Skanda Amarnath, executive director of Employ America. We explore two different measures, the approaches for calculating them, and the weird quirks underneath the surface that makes them all so interesting and controversial.

Here’s why Capital One is buying Discover in the biggest proposed merger of 2024 (CNBC): Capital One’s recently announced $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover Financial is a bid to protect itself against a rising tide of fintech and regulatory threats. The deal, if approved, enables Capital One to leapfrog JPMorgan as the biggest credit card company by loans, and solidifies its position as the third largest by purchase volume.

Can Saudi Arabia Buy Soccer? (GQ): Saudi Arabia is spending an unfathomable fortune to lure the biggest stars of global football (Ronaldo! Benzema! Neymar!) to its upstart league. So GQ ventured to the kingdom to discover what the gambit represents. Is this the future of the world’s most popular sport? The vanguard of sportswashing? Or something way bigger?