From prodding gently to making straight-up threats, large companies are pulling out all the tricks to get employees back in the office.

On Wednesday, Google warned workers that if they didn’t abide by the company’s three-day in-office requirement, it would be noted in their performance reviews, CNBC reported. Google’s chief people officer told staff via email, “There’s just no substitute for coming together in person,” despite the company famously developing an entire suite of products to, in fact, not come together in person.

Plus, there’s a whole lot of drama at the insurer Farmers Group, the WSJ reported. Last year, its CEO informed employees that WFH was permanent. But a new guy, Raul Vargas, took over the position and last month said actually, never mind. Vargas told staff that in order to foster “collaboration, creativity, and innovation,” workers needed to be back in the office at least three days a week.

Employees revolted

Farmers Group staff raged on an internal communication site, according to the WSJ, saying they’d made huge lifestyle changes (like moving to new cities and ditching their cars), thinking they would get to work from their living rooms forever. Some threatened to quit, and others suggested unionizing.

Return-to-office mandates have not gone over well at other companies, either. Last week, crowds of corporate Amazon workers walked out of the Seattle headquarters to air their grievances with the company, including its demand for in-person work three days a week. Amazon’s response? Thanks for the feedback: See you in the office <3.

If not a threat, maybe a treat?

Salesforce tried a different tactic than Google to get workers to return to HQ. This week, the software giant said it would donate $10 to local nonprofits every day an employee comes into the office between June 12 and June 23. From a PR perspective, at least, the move backfired: It was criticized as emotionally manipulative.

Our idea for CEOs to get workers back in the office: Pivot to AI. According to the NYT, some tech entrepreneurs are returning to San Francisco from their pastoral pandemic getaways because they don’t want to miss out on the AI boom.—MM

VenHub’s 24/7, fully autonomous smart stores are reinventing convenience.

This isn’t another self-checkout system: Customers order from an app, then robots fill the order. And with more than 152k convenience stores in the US generating $652b in sales, increasing efficiency is a huge market opportunity.

VenHub’s robotics and AI can help store owners achieve up to 5x higher margins and open new locations in 98% less time, nearly eliminating real estate and construction overhead. No wonder they’ve racked up $44m in smart-store preorders already.

Now VenHub is checking every box for investors. Using tech to solve an age-old problem? Check. Massive market potential? Check. Customers lining up to buy? Check.

The opportunity to invest in VenHub on the ground floor is open to everybody. You can even get a 15% discount on their share price by investing before June 21. Learn more.

Tesla’s charging network adds another big name. GM CEO Mary Barra said that her company’s electric vehicles will be able to plug into Tesla’s lightning-fast Supercharger network starting next year. Plus, beginning in 2025, all of GM’s freshly made EVs will come with Tesla’s charging hardware. GM’s announcement follows a similar move Ford made last month, and the deal among the three largest US-based automakers essentially guarantees that Tesla’s chargers will be the industry norm moving forward.

SCOTUS hands win to Alabama’s Black voters and bolsters voting rights law. In a surprise decision, the Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that a congressional map created by Alabama’s Republican-controlled legislature likely violated the Voting Rights Act. That map was accused of denying Black Alabamians fair representation because while Black people account for more than 25% of the state’s population, they were the majority in only one of Alabama’s seven congressional districts. The Supreme Court ordered the state to create a new map, but Alabama’s GOP attorney general said he will fight to keep it intact.

The DeSantis campaign published doctored images of Trump and Fauci. AI was expected to play a disruptive role in the 2024 presidential race, and that prediction is already coming true: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s campaign released several images on Twitter that show DeSantis’s rival, Donald Trump, hugging and kissing Dr. Anthony Fauci. Experts say these images were likely generated by AI, perhaps marking the first time a presidential campaign released a digitally rendered image intended to mislead voters and damage an opponent, Semafor reported.

The wildfire smoke that blanketed New York City on Wednesday headed south to the mid-Atlantic that night, suffocating Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC, with historically poor air quality levels yesterday morning.

And, while the worst may be behind most areas of the US for now, the smoke drifting from Canada’s raging wildfires has already won the Monkey Wrench of the Week Award for disrupting plans in parts of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.

Because of the toxic air…

• About 600 flights were delayed due to poor visibility at LaGuardia, Newark Liberty International, and Philadelphia International Airports on Wednesday and Thursday.
• NYC Public Schools—the largest district in the country—went remote yesterday and today, and Washington, DC, public schools canceled all outdoor activities yesterday.
• On Wednesday, Broadway paused some shows, and actress Jodie Comer walked offstage 10 minutes into her one-woman play, Prima Facie, due to difficulties breathing.

Winners of the week: Air purifiers and masks spiked to top spots on Amazon’s bestsellers lists, and the EPA’s air quality app climbed to No. 1 in the App Store’s weather category.

Looking ahead…the US has sent hundreds of firefighters to help battle the blazes in Canada, which stand to worsen now that El Niño has officially begun. In the meantime, experts think that by tomorrow, changing wind patterns will bring relief to all wildfire-smogged states.—ML

Spectacular savings. An Online Savings Account from Discover^® is your ticket to maximizing your savings. You’ll earn interest that’s a whopping 5x* the national savings average, with no pesky monthly fees and no minimum opening deposit. Start saving to the max + get 24/7 US-based customer service.

Learn more at Discover.com and start saving with confidence today. Discover Bank, Member FDIC.

On Sunday, a man in Finland was fined €121,000 (~$130,000) for going ~20 mph over the speed limit.

Before you decide to never rent a car in Helsinki, know two things: 1) it’s really the best way to explore the Lapland countryside and 2) speeding tickets in Finland are calculated based on income.

It’s called the “day fine” system, wherein half of the offender’s daily income is multiplied by a certain number of days, which increases according to the severity of the offense. And the driver hit with the six-figure fine has a fairly large daily income—it was Anders Wiklöf, founder of the multimillion-dollar Wiklöf Holding company and one of Finland’s richest people.

Finland established its day fine system in 1921, and other countries have adopted it since, including Switzerland, which is far from neutral when it comes to the rules of the road. In fact, the Swiss hold the world record for the biggest speeding fine: the equivalent of over $1 million to a man who went Mad Max: Fury Road on his motorcycle.

It could happen here: A bill was introduced in the New York City Council last month that would make parking fines proportional to income in an attempt to alleviate the affordability crisis and recover some of the city’s ~$1 billion of outstanding parking and speeding tickets.—CC

Stat: Whether they’re opting for shroom chocolates or just being hangover-conscious, Gen Z is buying noticeably less alcohol at concerts, Billboard reported. One club owner in Tucson, AZ, told the outlet that at every event aimed at Gen Z, alcohol sales fell by as much as 25% compared to concerts for older folks. While that may be a hopeful sign for society, it’s a sobering development for smaller venues that need to make up lost revenue.

Quote: “That could be the vision of the future of computing, but like, it’s not the one that I want.”

If Mark Zuckerberg is worried about Apple’s new headset treading onto Meta’s turf, he didn’t show it. In an all-hands meeting watched by The Verge, Zuck said that Apple’s tech didn’t contain anything Meta’s engineers hadn’t thought of, and played up how he and Tim Cook think about virtual reality differently. While Meta wants to emphasize social connection and activity, “every demo that [Apple] showed was a person sitting on a couch by themself,” Zuck argued. Plus, he added, Meta’s headset is seven times cheaper than Apple’s.

Read: The dried apricots, the broken lock, and other stories of people losing their minds over free food at work. (Ask a Manager)

The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to making a new friend in your thirties.

It’s that satisfying. Ace the quiz.

Futuristic machinery: This thread shows (very real) infrastructure that looks like sci-fi.

Pizza wrapped: Here’s your 2023 Slice of the Union—a recap of everything you wanted to know about the US pizza industry.

Confused by the news quiz title? Here’s an explanation of the viral meme it references.

Junk-be-gone: Here are some tips on how to stop getting mail.

Superfoods, super easy: Hungry? Thistle has the fully prepped, nutrient-rich, delish meals you crave, delivered to your doorstep and made with seasonality and full-body health in mind. New customers get $100 off their first 4 weeks.*

Money on your mind: Listen to the Money with Katie podcast for tips and tricks on how to master your money, sponsored by Vin Social.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

Jigsaw: Ever been to Arches National Park in Utah? If not, you can travel there in today’s Jigsaw. Complete the puzzle here.

Friday puzzle

How many triangles can you find in this image?

Gain the tools you need to create data dashboards that tell a compelling story. Our Business Dashboards sprint begins July 23—register now.

Tech Brew offers tech news that’s relatable, understandable, and even funny. Subscribe for free today.

Wondering how to utilize the cloud for your business? Check out IT Brew’s guide to choosing the right cloud strategy.