Tokenmaxxing

Good morning. Everybody’s always talking about how AI is stealing jobs. But what about all the jobs it promises to create? Like, ‘computer-age preacher spreading the good AI word.’

Anthropic is hiring an “Applied AI Claude Evangelist” whose job it will be to run demo events, convince startups to adopt Claude products, and generally be “the face of the company.” Pros: it pays up to US$315,000 a year. Cons: you might end up starting a techno-cult. 

Today’s reading time is 6 minutes.

Markets: Canada’s main stock index hit a three-week high yesterday as oil prices rose on the U.S and Iran’s tumultuous peace talks. Meanwhile, the annual U.S. inflation grew to 3.8% in April on higher energy prices — the fastest pace since May 2023 — which caused some investor panic.

Instead of pretending to be really busy when the boss walks by, workers these days are trying to make their AI agents look completely swamped.

Driving the news: Some Amazon workers are reportedly using the company’s in-house AI tool to automate unnecessary tasks to artificially inflate their AI usage — metrics that their superiors are closely monitoring, according to the Financial Times.

Why it matters: Even if it means a hefty token bill, top firms are increasingly putting pressure on workers to maximize their AI usage. At companies like Shopify and Meta, managers have started to factor AI use into performance reviews and even have leaderboards tracking which employees are using the most tokens. 

Our take: The wisdom of this free-wheeling “tokenmaxxing” era is certainly questionable given the murky relationship between token usage and productivity. Eventually, you would expect companies to put a higher emphasis on the quality of the work being produced rather than how many tokens were used to do it. For now, however, “it’s becoming a career risk to not use AI at an accelerated pace, regardless of output quality,” as one software industry expert wrote. —LA

Ottawa chooses initial recipients for AI fund money. AI Minister Evan Solomon announced the 44 Canadian AI projects that will split $66 million from the federal government’s AI Compute Access Fund. The cash is meant to help companies cover compute and scale-up costs, with awards ranging from $100,000 to $5 million. (CBC News) 

TikTok is now a travel app. TikTok is launching a new feature called TikTok GO that will let users book hotels and experiences through integrations with travel services. The idea is that if you see an interesting spot in a video and want to visit, you can book a room without leaving the app. The announcement comes weeks after Uber added hotel booking to its app. (TechCrunch) 

eBay says ‘no thanks’ to GameStop. Online auction site eBay rebuffed an unsolicited US$56 billion takeover offer from GameStop, calling the bid ​”neither credible nor attractive." The offer, and where the money would come from, was highly scrutinized as GameStop is a smaller company than eBay. GameStop could still bring the offer directly to eBay’s shareholders. (Reuters) 

📡 What else is on our radar: 

Communities don’t grow on ambition alone—they grow when the industries behind them are competitive, resilient, and delivering in the real world.

Canada’s forest products sector is one of those quiet heavy lifters. It underpins the materials, supply chains, and nearly 200,000 jobs that keep communities running coast to coast.

Why it matters:

The opportunity:
With more predictable timelines, better-coordinated government approvals, and wider adoption of modern building standards, Canada has a clear path to scale this advantage—driving growth at home while staying competitive globally.

Bottom line: Stronger forest sector → stronger communities → stronger economy. See how: fpac.ca

🤝 Meet Dadrian Coke. He’s the head chef at Chubby’s Jamaican Kitchen, a Michelin-recognized Caribbean restaurant in Toronto that’s frequented by world leaders and pop stars alike. We sat down with Dadrian to chat about what he’s learned from a quarter century in the kitchen, which of his celebrity diners he would most want to have a beer with, and his favourite places to grab a bite in Toronto (outside of his own kitchen). 

Is there one dish from your childhood in Jamaica that has made it onto the Chubby’s menu?

Yes, there is. My mom would always create a little makeshift barbecue when I was a kid at home. So we would grill and she always made sure on a Sunday that rice and peas were there, fried chicken, and jerk chicken. So jerk chicken, jerk pork — we always had that. We would light up our grill, cook, and then sit and have our family meal.

One of the dishes that is on Chubby's menu is that jerk chicken, and it’s one of the top sellers. It drives back to what I used to do as a child, and it still exists today. People crave that feeling or that home taste of a meal. That’s what the jerk chicken brings to people. It brings them right back home to Jamaica.

What’s your favourite place to eat in Toronto?

That’s not hard for me. Of course, I love Jamaican food but I have a soft spot for Thai food because of the level of taste and the depth of the dishes. I love Pai, which is one of the restaurants doing very well in Toronto right now. I love their pad thai. I tend to eat that all the time. I just love how they prepare their meals. Just like Jamaican food, there’s depth to what you’re eating, and I love it.

What is one underrated Jamaican dish that you’d want more Canadians to try?

To be honest, a lot of people tend to dismiss oxtail stew because they think, “Oh, there’s a bone inside,” or “I don’t like oxtail.” But it is one of the best dishes. It is braised and cooked for a long time and it has a lot of unique flavours.

When you taste an oxtail stew, it transitions you from when it was seasoned, to the cooking process, to the spices used in the end product, to how soft and chewy it is and the flavour profile at the end. It is popular, but a lot of people don’t try it. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Read the full Q&A here.

Ben Affleck’s favourite coffee spot is coming back to Canada.

Driving the news: Coffee and doughnut peddler Dunkin’ is re-entering Canada, with franchisor Foodtastic striking a deal with the chain’s owner, Inspire Brands, to develop the brand here. It plans to open hundreds of locations starting either late this year or early next.

Zoom out: The expansion comes at a bumpy time for Canada’s quick-service restaurant sector (industry speak for fast food), which appears to be the victim of the K-shaped economy. A recent Restaurants Canada survey found that year-over-year sales at quick-service joints fell 2% in January, making it the worst-performing restaurant segment. 

Why it matters: The return of Dunkin’ will be an interesting test of Canadian market factors. Is there enough room in an already crowded coffee and doughnut space dominated by Tims, which just announced expansion plans? Also, will Elbows Up sentiments be a hindrance?

Our take: We predict that the novelty factor will lead to strong early numbers for Dunkin’ (especially from the crowd that loves to complain about how Tims has gone downhill). That said, we also foresee a long-term struggle muscling in on already-spoken-for territory.—QH

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📚 27.1%. High school dropout rate for boys in Quebec, according to a new report. The study found male students were falling further behind females in nearly every educational metric, a divide that begins as early as kindergarten. That said, the dropout rate for female students was also alarmingly high, sitting at just under 20%.

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