September 29, 2026 · 00:08:32

McDonald's AI Pricing, a $518B Anthropic Bet and a Worried Consumer

AI is getting very real, very quickly. McDonald's is using AI to help determine menu prices at individual restaurants, while Anthropic is planning hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure commitments. Meanwhile, U.S. consumer confidence just hit its lowest level since 2014, CarMax reported a surprisingly strong quarter, and scientists may have a new explanation for why the length of an Earth day changes. Today's Drewscast looks at what these stories say about consumers, business, AI and the economy. I’m Derek Drew, and this is Drewscast. What’s happening. Why it matters. What everyone else is missing.