Banks' rosy results season; AI anecdotes at Macquarie's Australia conference

It was a big week for banks. NAB, Westpac and ANZ posted their half-year earnings this week, projecting a rosy outlook as the RBA struck a far more sombre tone with its latest rate decision. Commonwealth Bank was also in the news after Apple’s submission to a parliamentary inquiry into digital wallets, where the tech giant singled out the bank as being ‘self-serving’.Meanwhile, at the Macquarie Australia Conference, the heads of corporate Australia’s biggest companies all had an AI anecdote.We discuss:The decade-long drama between Apple and CBAWhat the big four bank earnings actually tell us about the economyMichelle Bullock's unusually gloomy rate decision commentaryThe credit boom hiding beneath the cost-of-living conversationWhy every CEO needs a "banger AI anecdote" right nowWisetech's Richard White and his excitement over his non-human workforceQantas, Fortescue and Wesfarmers’ share how they are using AIThe disconnect between investor optimism and economic realityOn The Call is a weekly live conversation with the Capital Brief newsroom on the stories driving the agenda in Australia's centres of power.Host Harshdeep Kaur sits down with Capital Brief's best journalists to dissect what we're watching and why it matters, and answer questions from our subscribers live.Subscribe to join our weekly live discussion on Thursdays at 12pm AEDT: ⁠https://www.capitalbrief.com/on-the-call/⁠Sign up to our free weekly newsletter, The Edition: ⁠https://www.capitalbrief.com/newsletters/the-edition/