• Spirit Airlines ceased operations on Saturday after 34 years.
• The collapse impacted about 17,000 employees.
• "This broke a lot of people's hearts," one former Spirit Airlines employee said.

Yeneshia Thomas was in her Central Florida home when she got a surprising email at about 12:30 a.m. on Saturday: Spirit Airlines was shutting down.

Thomas, 42, first heard the news from her union, but didn't fully believe it. The flight attendant still hoped Spirit Airlines executives would secure a $500 million federal bailout.

"We were all like, 'Nah. Until the company emails us, we don't believe it,'" Thomas said, referring to her and her colleagues.

The bailout negotiations fell apart, and Spirit Airlines announced at 3 a.m. that it would cease operations "effective immediately." It then canceled all its flights.

For Thomas and about 17,000 other employees, it was a gut punch. She had finished her shift hours before the news broke, unaware that it would be her last.

"This broke a lot of people's hearts," she said.

She said some employees were still on the road and had to get back home using other airlines, but that both Spirit and the union have stepped up to help employees navigate the transition.

"It feels like you're in a relationship, and your boyfriend is cheating on you, and everyone is there watching, but you didn't know," Thomas said. "You just heard it on the internet."

Thomas said she received another email on Saturday telling her she was no longer allowed to wear her uniform. She said a colleague who hadn't read the email tried to go through security but was told by a TSA agent to "take your uniform off."

"We're all stunned because we're like, 'What happened?' We were doing good. We were putting out the work. Why didn't anyone say anything?" Thomas said.

Sign of the times

Although employees hadn't gotten official word in advance that Spirit Airlines would shut down over the weekend, Thomas said she saw the signs. Certain routine flights were canceled with little warning on Friday, for example.

Spirit Airlines had navigated turbulent winds in recent years, including two bankruptcies, a failed merger with JetBlue, employee furloughs, layoffs, and pay cuts. The ongoing US and Israeli war on Iran has also sent jet fuel prices skyrocketing, forcing airlines to implement cost-cutting measures.

Thomas was among the Spirit Airlines employees furloughed in December. She returned to her role in March. She also took a pay cut.

"I had hopes that we were going to make it because they called us back," Thomas said.

Despite how it ended, Thomas said she enjoyed her time at Spirit Airlines.

"At the end of the day, we had a big job," Thomas said. "Getting everyone from point A to point B was our biggest goal, which we did in a safe manner and as comfortably as possible."

Thomas said she found her job fulfilling and enjoyed interacting with people from all walks of life.

"The minute they see the uniform, people come up to me, and they say, 'I love Spirit Airlines. I take it all the time and see my grandchildren,'" Thomas said. "That made me feel so good."

She's also built ties with her coworkers as she traveled across the country.

"It's like a big family because you might end up on an airplane with someone that you've never met in your life, but before you leave, you know their whole life," Thomas said.

She said travelers will likely miss the budget-friendly option Spirit offered, especially amid rising ticket prices.

"They're feeling it now," Thomas said. "Someone just messaged me and she said, 'What am I going to do? Now I have to buy a $700 ticket.'"

• Gwen Lee used to work in animation, an industry she is passionate about.
• But the gory things she had to animate made her crave a wholesome creative outlet.
• She started her art side hustle in 2020 and now devotes half her workdays to building it.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lee Tze Gwen, a 32-year-old animator and artist from Singapore. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I've been drawing since I was 10. It's always been a hobby for me, but I found my true calling in animation in the game industry because gaming is my biggest passion.

As an animator, I had to create a lot of gory scenes because that was the nature of the game. I had to make it as believable and cinematic as possible — the stabbings and the explicit scenes.

So after coming home, I felt like I needed something wholesome to escape from all the violence. And during the pandemic, when we were all stuck indoors, I realized that plants help us a lot in maintaining our sanity. So I thought, why not share some greenery with everyone?

That's how Curious Pots, my art side hustle, was born in 2020.

My art style is simple: lots of greens and blues, with a dash of pink and yellow to brighten everyone's mood. My main character, Layla, is a tired corporate worker stuck indoors, who turns to greenery to feel better.

I started with stickers because the sticker business was booming at the time, and have since expanded into stationery, calendars, and a subscription-based snail-mail club.

Snail mail club

Since December, the US tariffs pushed me to start a whole new product: a subscription-based art snail mail club.

My customers in the US had to pay a lot more in taxes after the tariffs kicked in, with some having to pay double the amount for a $25 calendar. It just didn't make sense.

So that's how I thought about a mail club. Because it just contains art prints, letters, and stickers, which can be sent by personal mail that doesn't face a tariff, it was a lot more affordable.

It's priced at 8 Singapore dollars within the country and a bit more for postage abroad. I now have about 80 subscribers.

The idea for the club is that my character, Layla, delivers bouquets of peonies to her friends. I want to make it feel like no matter where you are in the world, just remember that someone in a little nook is looking out for you.

I used to earn about 6,000 Malaysian ringgit, or about $1,500, monthly in my animation job in Malaysia. Now, my Curious Pots side hustle earns more than that.

I recently moved to Singapore because of my family, and have taken advantage of the many art markets and conventions here to set up my booths.

A balance of work and fun

I've left my full-time animation job and now balance my freelance animation work with my art side gig. If I'm tired of animation, I can always go back and draw something for my mail club.

It has become a healing ritual for me. I don't see it as work sometimes because I benefit from it.

The best thing about running a side hustle is the flexibility it offers with your time. You're your own boss. If the business is not working, it's on you to figure out how to improve it. So it's a lot of thought process that goes into building it up, which I find enjoyable.

But I've realized that although I have flexibility in what I design, I do need to listen to the customers.

Sometimes artists like to stick to their individuality a bit too much. But you need to look at what they do well and build on from that, instead of sticking to one idea because you think this is your thing, and you need to persist with it.

Stop doubting, start creating and posting

I knew nothing about social media when I started, but I decided to post a reel a day until my account took off. It takes tenacity and consistency to keep doing it.

But my advice to anyone who wants to start an art business is to stop doubting and start doing.

Perfectionists will always say their work is not ready for the outside world to see. I used to be like that, but you need to push yourself out there to get direct feedback from your audience and see if your work really resonates with people.

• Tye and Chip Pierpont left the US and moved to Chiang Mai to retire.
• The couple first visited Thailand in 2008 to celebrate Tye's 40th birthday and fell in love with the country.
• They own a condo and estimate they spend between $4,000 and $5,000 a month on total expenses.

Tye Pierpont got her first passport a few months before turning 40, and she knew exactly how she wanted to celebrate that milestone: with a trip to Thailand.

She'd never left North America, and Thailand felt exciting.

"Back in 2008, that seemed to me the most exotic, crazy place. I didn't want to go to Paris or Spain. I wanted to go to Thailand," Tye, now 57, told Business Insider.

She and her now-husband, Chip, spent that first trip in the chaotic city streets of Bangkok, the Thai capital, and on the sandy beaches of Phuket. Over the next decade, they kept returning to Thailand for vacations.

They were living a comfortable life in Austin. Tye, who had spent years competing in bodybuilding competitions, was a personal trainer. Chip worked for the US federal government.

Then the pandemic struck, and it got them thinking about their futures.

"Anything could happen, and we'll never get to live our dream," Tye said.

As they reconsidered their plans, they met with a financial advisor, who ran the numbers and told them they could retire earlier than expected.

Their plan had long been to live in Chiang Mai — Thailand's second-largest city — and didn't see a reason to put it off any longer.

In June 2021, they sold their home in Austin and spent the next six months traveling across the US on what Tye called "their farewell tour."

That December, Chip retired at 56 after 34 years of service and qualified for a federal pension. Soon after, they moved to Chiang Mai.

The place they kept coming back to

Thailand has long attracted overseas retirees, in part because of its long-stay visa options, including the retirement visas the couple holds.

Exact figures for American retirees in Chiang Mai are hard to pin down, but at least 7,178 were receiving Social Security benefits there as of December 2024, according to the most recent US government data.

More broadly, foreigners make up a sizable share of Chiang Mai's population. In 2025, Thai civil registration data recorded 160,958 foreign residents in the province, or about 9% of its roughly 1.8 million people.

For many retirees, Chiang Mai offers a middle ground between the intensity of big cities and the quieter coastal life.

"We never have to go to Bangkok, for everything we need is here, from food to clothes to any kind of services," Tye said.

Years before they officially made the move, they had already started putting down roots. In 2019, they bought a condo in Chiang Mai as a vacation home. When they relocated, it became their full-time home.

Tye estimates they spent around 4.5 million Thai baht, or about $138,000, buying the house, and another $37,000 renovating it.

Their home is situated between Chiang Mai's Old City and Nimman, a lively neighborhood known for its cafés and international dining scene.

"It's funny because we did no research and ended up in the place where people who actually had done a lot of research said was the premier spot to be," Chip, 61, told Business Insider.

Early last year, the couple bought the unit next door to theirs. They paid 2.6 million Thai baht and spent about $23,700 on renovations.

"We thought, you know, someday we may want to blow through there and make like a massive apartment," Tye said. For now, they're using it as a rental on Airbnb.

Unlearning the rush

In a typical month, Chip and Tye — who did not keep detailed expense trackers while they lived in the US — estimate they spend between $4,000 and $5,000. When they travel, that figure can go up to $7,000.

"I would say we travel a lot," Tye said. "We drink, not super expensive wine, but pretty nice wine. We have a meal-prep service that makes our dinners. I mean, we want for nothing."

They start most mornings with a light workout either on their Peloton or by running stairs, before they walk to the nearby gym.

That's where they usually have lunch, then either run errands or head home for a nap.

"We are kind of home bodies, but once or twice a week we'll go to dinner at someone's house or go to a restaurant, go to wine tastings," Tye said. "We also play golf on Wednesdays."

Early on, many of the people they met didn't quite feel like their crowd.

Back in Austin, most of their friends were around their age. In Chiang Mai, they found the social scene split between retirees in their 60s and 70s and younger digital nomads in their 20s and 30s.

"So, that first year was tough," Tye said.

They eventually made friends through neighbors in their building. Many were older, and they've grown close over time.

"They aren't as interested in working out," Tye said, laughing. "But they all knew who Bad Bunny was before the Super Bowl, because that's what we have to listen to at my house."

The couple says they're enjoying an unstructured life in retirement.

"For 15 years, everything was exactly timed because of her diet and her competition, and our training. Everything was down to the second," Chip said.

"Schedules just give me PTSD," Tye added.

These days, the only things they schedule and adhere to are doctor appointments. They also follow a piece of advice from a friend: Get one thing done a day, and treat everything else as a bonus.

"We're retired, you know. So what if it takes us longer to get there?" Tye said.

• Tehran has sent Donald Trump a 14-point proposal to end the US-Iran war.
• The president said he would review it, but doubted it would be acceptable.
• Trump also said the US would begin guiding trapped neutral ships out of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has submitted a response to a US plan to end the war between the two countries, and President Donald Trump says he is reviewing it.

Guarantees of non-aggression, the withdrawal of US military forces from the areas surrounding Iran, and the lifting of the naval blockade of Iran's ports are among the 14-point proposal submitted via mediators in Pakistan, according to Tasnim News Agency, a semi-official news agency associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran is also asking for the release of its frozen assets, payment of compensation, removal of sanctions, and ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, as well as a new mechanism for the management of the Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim reported.

Tehran stressed that the issues must be resolved within 30 days and that the focus should shift from extending the ceasefire to "ending the war."

"I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can't imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday.

In a Sunday afternoon post, Trump also said the US would begin guiding neutral ships trapped in the Strait of Hormuz out of the waterway beginning on Monday in what he called a "humanitarian" mission.

Oil prices have surged since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran all but closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world's oil passes.

HFI Research, an investment research firm specializing in energy markets, outlined a grim series of events that could unfold in oil markets as the Iran war wraps up its second month with no peace deal in sight.

Meanwhile, Mark Malek, the chief investment officer at Siebert Financial, told Business Insider he expects a second wave of inflation caused by the Iran war.

"The gas pump is only the opening act. The real household inflation hit comes later, hidden inside everyday products," he said.

• The WHO said three people have died after a viral outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
• The health agency said it has confirmed at least one case of hantavirus among the sick.
• Hantavirus is often contracted from mice and can cause severe respiratory illness.

The World Health Organization said three people have died on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean after a suspected hantavirus outbreak.

The agency said it has confirmed, through laboratory testing, one case of hantavirus and suspects there are five additional cases.

"Of the six affected individuals, three have died and one is currently in intensive care in South Africa," the organization said in a statement on Sunday.

The WHO says that hantavirus infections are usually linked to environmental exposure to the feces or urine of infected rodents, commonly mice.

"While rare, hantavirus may spread between people, and can lead to severe respiratory illness and requires careful patient monitoring, support and response," the organization says.

The WHO did not specify the vessel in its statement, but Agence France-Presse and other outlets have reported that the outbreak occurred on the MV Hondius, a cruise ship currently off the coast of Cape Verde.

The Hondius can carry up to 170 passengers in 80 cabins, according to Oceanwide Expeditions, its Dutch operator. Business Insider has reached out to Oceanwide Expeditions for comment.

The WHO said it's conducting a detailed investigation, including laboratory tests and epidemiological investigations. It's also coordinating with member states and the ship's operators to evacuate two "symptomatic passengers medically."

This is a breaking news story. Please return for updates.

• Spirit Airlines shut down on Saturday after 34 years of service.
• In response, a former passenger launched a grassroots effort called Spirit 2.0.
• He is calling for regular people to rally together to purchase Spirit Airlines.

Spirit Airlines shut down in the early hours of Saturday morning. By that evening, one superfan was already trying to save it.

"We could buy Spirit Airlines," Hunter Peterson, a voice actor who once flew Spirit Airlines for 24 hours straight, said with excitement in an Instagram post.

"This started as a joke and this is rapidly going out of control in the best possible way," he said in another post.

By "we," Peterson meant everyday people, including former employees and passengers. He is calling his movement Spirit 2.0 and is encouraging people to come together to purchase the airline before private equity does.

"Private equity is already circling the wreckage. But before they lock it up, there is a narrow window for something that has never happened in commercial aviation. The passengers, the workers, and the communities Spirit served can take it back," he wrote on the Spirit 2.0 website.

Millions of people have viewed Peterson's social media posts laying out his idea and visited the website, which he says he built in an hour and which, incidentally, keeps crashing.

A banner at the top of the website reads: "The people can own it."

The idea is a page from the Green Bay Packers' playbook. The Packers are the only publicly owned, nonprofit team in the NFL. Rather than a single billionaire owner, the team is owned by 538,967 stockholders.

"No billionaire can move the team. No hedge fund can gut it for parts," Peterson writes on the website, referring to the Packers model. "Spirit 2.0 is that model — applied to aviation, for the first time in American history."

Peterson began accepting non-binding pledges of intent from interested folks. He has received pledges totaling almost $23 million from 36,605 people as of Sunday afternoon. Spirit 2.0 has not collected any actual money yet.

That's a long way from the likely value of the now-defunct airline. Peterson is targeting commitments of $1.7 billion. JetBlue tried to acquire Spirit Airlines in 2022 for about $3.8 billion before antitrust regulators shut it down.

"Register your intent to contribute — starting at $45. No money moves yet. This is your declaration that you want in before the window closes," the website says. "Together we demonstrate the collective will and capital to make a serious bid before private equity locks it up."

Spirit Airlines was known for its ultra-low costs and served passengers across the United States for 34 years.

The airline's collapse came after a tumultuous few years riddled by furloughs, layoffs, merger drama, pay cuts, bankruptcies and — most recently — a failed $500 million federal bailout from the Trump administration. The airline's collapse affects about 17,000 employees, and many passengers were left scrambling to book new flights.

Other airlines jumped at the opportunity to help stranded Spirit Airlines passengers. United Airlines is offering price-capped tickets to travelers who had to cancel their flights at the last minute, and American Airlines is offering capped fares on routes overlapping with Spirit Airlines.

Peterson, who is calling himself the potential new CEO of Spirit Airlines, said he is surprised that what started as a lark has struck a nerve with so many people.

"I'm genuinely crashing out right now," he said in an Instagram post detailing the response he's received so far.

• Jessica Stanton had round-trip tickets from Myrtle Beach to Boston for her undergraduate graduation.
• She stayed up all night trying to find another direct flight after her Spirit flight was canceled.
• She found a one-way flight with American Airlines for $399 a ticket.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jessica Stanton. It has been edited for length and clarity.

On Saturday morning at 2:28 a.m., I had an email from Spirit Airlines informing me that my flight back to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had been canceled.

I had booked round trip tickets for my mom and I with Spirit Airlines in February, from Myrtle Beach to Boston, for my college graduation.

I had booked with Spirit because they were the only airline offering the direct flight we needed that day. At Myrtle Beach's airport, Spirit Airlines was the largest carrier with the most direct flights to Boston.

Each ticket cost me $215

My mom and I got to Boston without any problems. I had my graduation on Friday, May 1, and afterward, had a great celebration with friends.

That evening, back at the hotel, my mom had a text from my stepdad asking if we were stranded.

"What are you talking about?" she asked him. We hadn't heard anything about a change to our flight, which was booked for around noon on Saturday. I checked my email and texts — nothing. The Spirit Airlines app showed that my plane was on time.

While my mom was sleeping, I decided to stay up a while to see if anything came of the worries my stepdad had. Just in case, I started looking at options for other flights we could get back to Myrtle Beach.

At 2:28 a.m., I received an email informing me that all Spirit Airlines flights had been canceled and that we would be refunded automatically.

I started looking for other flights out

As my mom is older and has mobility issues, getting a direct flight was a priority.

Frontier was advertising reduced-price tickets for those stranded due to Spirit cancellations, but they only had flights to Orlando. Southwest had a flight, but it wasn't direct. Delta didn't have any good options.

I called American Airlines after seeing online that they had a direct flight from Boston to Myrtle Beach on Saturday afternoon for $399, and asked whether they would offer a reduced fare for Spirit customers. They told me they couldn't.

Without another option, I had to bite the bullet and buy the tickets. I couldn't believe I had already paid for tickets and was having to spend an extra $800 to get home.

Although I thought about looking for other tickets, I knew that once everyone started waking up (it was still early hours of the morning on Saturday), it would be even harder and more expensive to get tickets.

I worked out that it would probably be cheaper to just get the tickets, instead of paying for another night in a hotel plus extra food if I couldn't secure tickets for Saturday.

We arrived at an empty airport

When my mom woke up, I told her about what had happened, but assured her I had dealt with it and found a solution.

We arrived back in Myrtle Beach to an empty airport because most of the gates there are Spirit Airlines gates. As we walked through the airport, I thought of all the jobs that have been lost. It feels like every six months, thousands of workers at these big companies are losing their jobs. It's really sad.

After getting home and finally getting some sleep, I've noticed that flight prices have gone up and there are fewer flights available. I'm hoping I do get the refund I was promised, but I haven't heard anything yet.

I'm so glad I booked when I did, and feel really grateful I got myself and my mom home.

[Editor's note: American Airlines' website says they are "doing everything we can to support Spirit Airlines customers" and that they have put in place rescue fares on non-stop routes that overlapped with Spirit Airlines.]

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• I've worked in the hospitality industry for more than 20 years.
• Empathy is at the center of what I do, so I'm not worried about AI taking my job away.
• Technology and people can work well together, but one cannot always replace the other.

Right after college, I was like most graduates — broke and desperate for money.

In the early aughts, there was no social media, no algorithms, and certainly no online job postings like there are today. The only way to get leads was through newspaper ads or those physical job boards at career fairs and public places. To get noticed, I printed out a stack of resumes, made a list of the companies I wanted to work for, put on my best professional outfit, and dropped a copy off — in person.

It's almost hard to believe today. Over the last 24 years, I've worked a variety of jobs in the hospitality industry, and while a lot has changed in the world, the personal connection to people, which I believe is needed to excel in this industry, has not.

That's why, while others seem panicked about AI replacing them at work, I'm not nearly as concerned.

Getting my first job took perseverance

To land my first hotel job as a concierge, I kept showing up in person every Monday after lunch for six weeks straight, because that's when the security guard told me the new job postings went up. I figured I'd keep trying until a job opened or they told me never to return.

During my first interview, the human resources manager enthusiastically said, "Your persistence made you stand out. It says a lot about your character and drive." I got the job and learned a valuable lesson that has stuck with me

Training season is never over

My hotel training lasted a month and was split into two parts. During the first two weeks, I dove into the rabbit hole of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, which is a software that helps a business keep track of its customers and interactions with them all in one place. Think of it like a smart digital address book, notebook, reminder system all in one. The second half was all about etiquette, understanding the underlying reasons behind any complaints. That whole experience taught me that technology and the human touch must work together in the hospitality industry.

My training and years of work since then have taught me that it's not enough to just acknowledge a guest — it's about making them feel genuinely seen, heard, and understood. That's something that only a real person can do, and I'm confident that it will be much better than an auto-generated, generic email or voicemail that pretends to mimic human concern.

It always turns physical

My career in the hospitality industry has always been a bit like riding an exhilarating, white-knuckling rollercoaster. From the dizzying heights of working as a concierge to the exhausting lows of being an events planner, each day brought new challenges that I worked hard to overcome.

Over the years, I've dealt with the high-pressure demands of catering to ultra-high-net-worth clients and ensured celebrities felt truly cared for as a VIP attendant. I've planned unforgettable events for corporate clients and everyday folks.

There are always the unexpected issues that required me to think and act fast: diving into dumpsters to retrieve lost jewelry, shipping urgent packages, tracking down deliveries that were lost, printing last-minute presentations, sewing clothes in a pinch, and many more. These aren't tasks AI can handle; they require a person's presence, resourcefulness, and above all, empathy.

I have received letters from guests and companies, thanking me for saving their day — or sometimes, their job. These moments are proof that, with technology as a tool and a person at the heart, we make a powerful team, but the human is always the lead operator.

Tech can't replicate everything

For a time I was hosting curated dinner parties. I wone awards, which was personally reward, especially since some of the recipes I used were from my late grandmother.

Her recipe book is not something AI has access to. Sure, AI can generate multiple fantastic recipes, but could it duplicate the seasoning she taught me to make with my hands from scratch for empanadas? No, I don't think so.

An opportunity to impact, not take over

Managing expectations in hospitality isn't just about following a checklist; it's about listening closely, thinking through challenges, and making choices that are guided by empathy for how guests will feel because of your actions.

Empathy is the key, and so far, technology can't replicate that. Sure, tech can streamline processes and provide valuable information, but it can't replicate the genuine human connection that comes from understanding and responding to someone's needs in person.

The real magic happens when people and technology work together, forming a partnership that elevates the guest experience to something truly special.

• Kat Moore is a 38-year-old teacher living in San Clemente, California.
• Moore and her husband visited Sicily and decided to buy and renovate an apartment.
• Kat says the "adventure" has connected her to her mother, who moved from Cuba to start a new life.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kat Moore. It has been edited for length and clarity.

In 2022, my husband and I visited Sicily for the first time. I fell in love with the island and told my husband I wanted to buy a house there to live in one day. He thought I was insane, but I was adamant.

People in Sicily tend to lead a slower pace of life. In the US, there's a huge emphasis on work as your identity. It's stressful and overwhelming, and I craved a different way of life. A different pace.

Three years later, in March 2025, we were in Sicily for spring break, and I viewed 50 houses to get an idea of what was on offer and how much we'd be spending.

When we saw one of the last places we viewed, an apartment in Ortigia, the historic heart of Sicily, with a balcony overlooking the sea, I just knew — this was the house we'd buy.

I was ready to sell the house I grew up in

I wanted to put in an offer right away, but my husband questioned whether it was a financially sound move. I told him I was ready to sell my mom's house in Miami — the family home I'd grown up in.

I was connected to my mom's house, having held onto it even though my mom had died 14 years prior. She was Cuban and moved to the US during political unrest in Cuba in the 1950s and 1960s. She risked everything to find a better life in the United States, uprooting herself and starting fresh in a place and culture she didn't know.

If there was any reason to sell her house in Miami, buying the apartment in Sicily would be a reason my mom would have approved of. I knew it was the right thing to do.

We put the house in Miami on the market, and it sold within a month. We used the money from the sale of the house to buy the apartment in Sicily at just under $600,000, in June 2025.

It needed a lot of work

The apartment needed a lot of work — a kitchen, new plumbing, electrics, and floors, and decorating throughout. The work alone (without any supplies) would cost about $96,000.

As I spoke Italian, I was able to find local contractors to carry out the work while we returned to California for our jobs. All the work was finished in about six months, with me going back and forth to Sicily at any chance I could to oversee the work done.

As my husband is in the military, he can retire in four years, and our plan would be to move into the apartment full-time then.

Even after he retires, I'd want to keep working. Perhaps I could teach English to locals, Italian to English-speakers, or work alongside local contractors as an interior decorator.

Until we relocate, we are going to rent the apartment out and visit as often as we can.

We also bought an orchard

In December 2025, on one of our trips to Sicily, my husband and I viewed an olive tree orchard. It had always been a dream to own land, and the 16 acres, full of olive, citrus, and nut trees, a small farmhouse, and within view of the apartment, would be the fulfillment of this dream. It came at a relatively low price — only $288,000. We bought it.

Both the apartment and the orchard are investments in our future. We'll live in Sicily soon, and use the land and the apartment to supplement our income.

I get quite emotional when imagining what my mom would think of all this. I haven't lost everything as she did, but I am leaving everything I know to live in a new place, as my mom and the rest of my family did.

I'm chasing my dream, seeing the potential of risk. I know that if my mom were still here, she'd be moving with me — she'd love the adventure. I feel connected to her more than ever as I dream, plan, and commence this adventure. If she could build a life from the foundation up, so can I.

• I've struggled to maintain long-term friendships as people drift away.
• My grandmother has kept the same close friends for over 60 years.
• Her approach taught me to prioritize time, loyalty, and showing up.

Today, loyalty seems hard to find. From people moving away to straight-up ghosting me, I don't have as many long-term friends as I'd hoped to have.

I've read books on friendship, apologized when I'm at fault, and done my best to work things out, but I'm still always left craving community.

My grandmother, on the other hand, is an expert in long-standing friendships. At 91, she has had the same best friends for more than 60 years. All teachers at the same school, they started their careers together and stayed close, even long after they retired.

Loyalty has always been important to me, but as people have faded out of my life or abruptly left without a word, the longevity of her friendships has become increasingly impressive. How many people can say they've been friends with someone for six decades? It's an accomplishment worthy of celebration. We celebrate marriage anniversaries — why not friendship ones?

A while back, I asked my grandmother what the secret to maintaining these relationships is. And while her generation didn't prioritize self-preservation over community as we do now, some solid lessons still stand true.

Make time for each other

Throughout my life, I've seen my grandma invest in her friendships.

She'd host the group at her home for special birthday celebrations or a monthly lunch, or they'd spend hours talking on the phone. They had set appointments with each other, rather than our current tendency to make vague promises to "get together sometime" that we rarely follow through on.

For my grandma's group of friends, these appointments weren't seen as a burden or something to check off a list; instead, they were cherished moments they looked forward to spending together.

Don't put yourself first always

Today, we're so focused on ourselves that we rarely slow down to even assess what someone close to us might need.

My grandma's friends showed that relationships flourish when people are willing to meet each other's needs. Today's culture is very set on putting ourselves first. But only doing what "serves" you often ends up serving no one. This was my grandma's first and foremost advice when I asked why she thinks her friendships have lasted so long. "We put each other first," she said.

When it comes to lasting friendships, sometimes what the other person needs matters more than what we want.

Value each other

My grandma's friendships are strong in part because they truly appreciate each other. When I asked why her friend Clarice stood out to her, she said she simply acted with qualities she finds especially important: honesty and integrity. "It's an honor just to know her," she said.

My friendship goal is to surround myself with people I feel this way about, and to value them so they can say the same of me.

There's a lot we could learn from older generations about friendship. People didn't cut each other off over nothing, and the term "ghosting" was still a blessedly nonexistent concept. But more than anything, people just made time for what matters. No matter what phase of life you're in, friendships require time, effort, and sometimes sacrifice.

I don't know anyone else who has had the same friends for six decades, but I can do my best to strive toward lasting loyalty in my friendships — and maybe one day, I'll be able to look back and see the same people with me now standing by my side in 60 years.

Apple's iPads are excellent tablets, but figuring out which ones are actually the newest isn't always easy. Unlike the iPhone lineup, iPads don't follow a straightforward numbering system, so model names alone won't tell you how recent an iPad really is. And that can be frustrating since somes stores carry older models. That's where this guide helps. We'll walk you through the latest iPads, show you how to identify them, and explain what each one brings to the table.

Right now, the newest iPads are the M4-powered iPad Air models, which arrived in March 2026. Apple's current lineup also includes the M5-powered iPad Pro, the 11th-generation iPad with an A16 chip, and the iPad Mini with the A17 Pro chip. Once you factor in different sizes, you have six iPads to choose from. We've listed them all from newest to oldest to make the comparison easier:

• iPad Air 13-inch, M4 (2026)
• iPad Air 11-inch, M4 (2026)
• iPad Pro 13-inch, M5 (2025)
• iPad Pro 11-inch, M5 (2025)
• iPad: 11th-generation, A16 (2025)
• iPad Mini: 7th-generation, A17 Pro (2024)

Below, you'll find a detailed breakdown of all the newest iPads with info on what makes each one worth considering. And if you're still deciding, our guide to the best iPads features more buying advice.

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The newest iPad Air models

Apple refreshed its iPad Air lineup in March 2026 with new 11-inch and 13-inch models.

This latest generation makes the jump from the brand's M3 chip to its newer M4, which Apple says delivers up to a 30% performance boost. Along with faster overall speeds, the upgraded chip should make a noticeable difference in gaming and creative work, while faster memory bandwidth is designed to better handle AI-driven tasks.

The new iPad Air also offers the same connectivity upgrades as the latest iPad Pro. That includes Apple's C1X modem for quicker cellular performance and the N1 wireless chip, which adds support for WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread.

Prices are unchanged from last year, with the 11-inch model starting at $599 and the 13-inch at $799. The new M4-powered iPad Airs also carry over the same core design and feature set as their predecessors. They still have a Liquid Retina LED display, Touch ID support, a 12MP front camera, and a 12MP rear camera. Both sizes support the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and the newer Apple Pencil Pro, which adds features like a squeeze sensor and gyroscope. Storage options range from 128GB to 1TB.

The 2026 11-inch iPad Air model numbers are A3459 for the WiFi-only edition and A3460 for the WiFi + Cellular option. Meanwhile, the model numbers for the latest 13-inch iPad Air are A3461 for the WiFi edition and A3462 for the WiFi + Cellular model.

The newest iPad Pro models

Apple's latest high-end iPad Pro arrived in October 2025. Both the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models received a major under-the-hood upgrade. Instead of the M4 chip found in the 2024 models, these new Pros run on Apple's M5 processor.

The M5 is the most powerful chip ever used in an iPad, built to deliver noticeable gains in AI and 3D performance over the M4. That makes these tablets a better match for power users who run demanding apps, advanced AI workflows, or high-end games. Apple has also improved memory bandwidth and storage, which should help with smoother multitasking and faster read and write performance.

On the outside, Apple didn't mess with a good thing. The new iPad Pros keep the ultra-thin design of their predecessors, measuring just 5.3mm thick for the 11-inch model and 5.1mm for the 13-inch. Each model also sticks with Apple's Tandem OLED display, introduced on the previous-gen iPad Pros, which offers better contrast and sharper clarity than standard LED screens.

There are a few notable connectivity upgrades, too. The 2025 iPad Pro models with cellular use Apple's C1X modem, which the company says can deliver up to a 50% boost in data performance compared to the M4 versions. Apple has also added its new N1 wireless chip, which supports WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread.

The 2025 iPads are also compatible with Apple's Magic Keyboard, Apple Pencil (USB-C), Apple Pencil Pro, and Smart Folio. Pricing remains the same as the last generation, with the new 11-inch iPad Pro starting at $999, and the 13-inch iPad Pro starting at $1,299.

The latest 11-inch iPad Pro model numbers are A3357 for the standard WiFi model and A3358 for the WiFi + Cellular model. The model numbers for the 13-inch iPad Pros are A3360 for the standard WiFi model and A3361 for the WiFi + Cellular model.

The newest standard iPad

Apple released its newest standard iPad, the 11th-generation iPad, featuring an A16 chipset and an 11-inch screen, in March 2025.

The new entry-level iPad is solely an internal upgrade from its predecessor, the 10th-generation iPad from 2022. Apple says the new tablet's A16 chip is nearly 30% faster than the previous model's A14 Bionic processor. However, the A16 processor is almost three years old, and that does lead to some limitations. Most notably, the 2025 iPad is the sole tablet in Apple's current lineup that's incompatible with Apple Intelligence.

The only other upgrade from the 10th-generation iPad is that Apple increased the base storage of the 11th-generation iPad from 64GB to 128GB, while maintaining the same entry-level price of $349. The company also added a 512GB storage tier, new to the standard iPad.

The 11th-generation iPad retains the same design and features as its predecessor, including Touch ID, USB-C, a landscape-oriented 12MP front camera, a 12MP wide rear camera, and support for the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and first-generation Apple Pencil.

The 11th-generation iPad's model numbers are A3354 for the standard WiFi model and A3355 for the WiFi + Cellular version.

Visit our guide to the 2025 iPad launch for more information.

The newest iPad Mini

Apple released its latest iPad Mini, the seventh-generation iPad Mini (A17 Pro), in October 2024.

Starting at $499, the seventh-generation iPad Mini is a midrange option between the standard iPad and the latest premium iPad Pro and Air models. It's a great pick if you want an iPad that perfectly balances portability and performance.

The latest iPad Mini continues Apple's modern tablet design with narrow borders and flat edges. It features the same 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display as its predecessor, the sixth-generation iPad Mini from 2021.

The seventh-generation iPad Mini is powered by the A17 Pro processor, introduced in the iPhone 15 Pro models, making it the least expensive iPad model that can run Apple Intelligence. The capable processor also runs apps and games quickly and smoothly, whether basic or intensive.

Upgrades from the previous sixth-generation iPad Mini include support for Apple Pencil Pro, though the new tablet has lost its predecessor's support for the second-generation Apple Pencil. The seventh-generation iPad Mini also supports the Apple Pencil (USB-C). Base storage has also been upgraded from 64GB in the previous generation to 128GB, and it is now available in 256GB and 512GB options.

The seventh-generation iPad Mini's model numbers are A2993 for the standard WiFi model and A2995 for the WiFi + Cellular model.

How to figure out which iPad you own

All of Apple's latest iPads share a similar design, making it tricky to tell them apart at a glance. Fortunately, every iPad has a model number that reveals exactly which version and generation it belongs to.

As noted in bold at the end of each section above, an iPad's model number is a short code that begins with a letter and is followed by four digits. For example, "A2995" identifies the WiFi + Cellular version of the seventh-generation iPad Mini.

If you're not sure which iPad you have, you can check by opening the Settings app and navigating to General > About. In the top section, you'll see either the model number (e.g., A2995) or a part number formatted with letters, numbers, and a slash (like XXXXXXX/A). If you see the latter, tap it to reveal the true model number.

Note that specific iPad models support different iterations of the Apple Pencil. For a comprehensive list of Apple styluses and compatible tablets, see our guide to Apple Pencil compatibility.

Will there be new iPads in 2026?

Apple released new iPad Air models in March 2026. Although not confirmed, rumors suggest that additional models are in development for later this year. Most notably, the 2024 iPad Mini is due for an upgrade as it's the oldest model in Apple's current lineup. According to a report by Bloomberg, the next iPad Mini is expected to feature an OLED screen and a more water-resistant design.

Do iPads go on sale often?

Apple almost never discounts iPads on its own website or in its retail stores, but that doesn't mean deals are hard to find. Retailers like Amazon regularly put iPads on sale, often knocking about $50 off the price throughout the year. And during big shopping events like Prime Day or Black Friday, discounts can jump to $150 on select models.

• Since I've been on many cruises as a passenger and employee, I have tips for planning a great trip.
• Before booking a cruise, shop around for different deals and look up the local weather and holidays.
• Carefully review the details of your itinerary and the placement of your cabin before committing.

Between my many trips as a passenger and several years as a cruise-line employee, I've traveled to every continent and been on over 50 sailings.

Throughout all this time at sea, I've picked up tips for planning the perfect cruise vacation. Here are a few things you should consider before booking your next trip.

Take a close look at the itinerary and how it aligns with your ideal vacation before you book.

Obviously, you'll want to book a cruise that stops in places you're interested in. However, you should also pay attention to the ratio of port to sea days in a given itinerary.

For me, the best part of a cruise is being able to see as many places as I can. So, I seek out itineraries that primarily have port days.

Some travelers prefer a cruise that's docked for more than a day in each port, allowing them to really get to experience each stop.

Others prefer an itinerary with fewer stops spaced farther apart, resulting in more peaceful days at sea when you can enjoy the ship's amenities. (On these trips, just make sure the ship has enough onboard activities and perks you're excited about.)

Keep an eye out for holidays and events that may be happening during your trip.

Cruising during the holidays will affect your experience — and there are way more occasions to consider than just ones you celebrate back home.

Before sailing, I always check whether there will be holidays or events happening at each port while I'm there. In some cases, it's really cool to get to participate in local celebrations around the world while on vacation.

However, I've also seen fellow passengers surprised and disappointed when businesses are closed in Sweden on Midsummer Eve or in much of Asia during Lunar New Year.

All in all, doing some research before locking in your cruise dates will help level your expectations.

Before making any plans, look into the arrival and departure times at each port.

Ships offering similar itineraries may have departures and arrivals that differ by hours, and these times should be shown on any booking website.

Pay close attention, since the window of time you have will dictate what you can — and can't — do during that stop.

For example, if you're in Spain and need to be back on board at 4 p.m., it will be difficult to finish the long, late lunch typical of the area. However, if the ship leaves at 10 p.m., you'll have time for a long day of sightseeing before needing to return.

Understand your stateroom preferences and look at a deck plan before making your selection.

The least-expensive rooms are often listed as "guarantee" or GUAR class. For these, the cruise line will assign you a cabin, often within the category you selected, such as interior or balcony. In rare cases, you might get a free upgrade.

This can be a great deal, but if you're sensitive to sounds, smells, or movement, consider paying to choose your own cabin.

Not every room on a ship is created equal, even those within the same class. Across sailings, I've experienced noise from the ship's dance club, cigarette smoke from a nearby smoking area, and the loud winching sound of the anchor at early hours.

Now, I check deck plans online to see what is above, below, and to the sides of whichever stateroom I'd like to book. Online forums for cruisers can also be helpful for finding information about specific cabins or areas of the ship.

Always shop around.

Once you've decided on the cruise you want to book, spend time comparing different offers.

You may find a good deal on the cruise line's website, but a better one could be available through advisors or services like Costco Travel. In some cases, you can score discounted upgrades or extra onboard credit.

Always read the fine print, though, as booking directly through the cruise line may offer different cancellation policies or other protections.

If you have friends who have taken cruises and booked them through travel planners, ask them for a referral. You both may benefit, and a booking agent specializing in cruises may be able to find a deal that you cannot.

Lastly, sign up for email offers with the cruise line you're interested in — perhaps a special discount code will end up in your inbox.

Look ahead at the expected weather at your ports and pack accordingly.

A cruise ship can travel a few hundred miles a day and pass through multiple weather systems. Even if it's sunny when you embark, you may need an umbrella for your first port.

I always look ahead at weather trends before booking a trip so I can get an idea of what to expect at each stop. Then, I check local forecasts again right before I start packing for my cruise.

Regardless of the itinerary, it can often be a little colder and windier at sea than on land, so definitely bring some layers.

Prepare for seasickness, which can ruin even an experienced cruiser's vacation.

No matter how many cruises you've been on or how confident you are about your sea legs, take precautions for dealing with motion sickness before you board.

The seas are constantly changing, and factors like a ship's size and build, or even your stateroom placement, can affect motion and how your body responds to it.

I suggest you prepare by packing anti-nausea medication and ginger chews, which can help with nausea And if seasickness hits, try managing it by eating green apples (which some cruise workers swear by) and soda crackers, keeping your diet simple, and drinking plenty of water.

• I've chosen a lifestyle focused on time freedom over early retirement
• My partner and I keep our monthly expenses under $2,000.
• Prioritizing health and low stress is part of our long-term financial plan.

My weeks are planned around which cafés I'll visit, long lunch breaks, spending time in nature, painting, and going to the spa. I schedule my work around that — not my life around my work.

I rejected both hustle culture and the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement in favor of a solution that lets me work as little as possible so I can have everyday joys.

Working 40-hour workweeks to retire in my 70s and then maybe traveling sounded like I was delaying my life. Working longer hours, investing heavily in a market that can be unpredictable, and maintaining a very frugal lifestyle so I could retire at 40 didn't sound like a good idea to me either. Instead, my slow-FIRE lifestyle means my life is designed around time freedom instead of full financial independence.

I chose a middle path after experiencing burnout and seeing others struggle

Growing up, I saw both my parents work long, stressful weeks (and often weekends), and health and happiness didn't seem to be prioritized.

I followed suit and tried putting in 70-hour weeks in my mid-20s (working two jobs while pursuing my graduate degree), and while I made a lot of money, I didn't have time to spend it.

At 26, I had burned out. I quit my full-time job and found remote work that let me clock a few hours a week while traveling the world. I'm now a freelance writer and researcher. Every job I take, I prioritize freedom over other benefits.

A year later, I met my now partner, another remote worker who wanted to travel. This lifestyle evolved from our values: prioritizing adventure, learning, and health, not status. After seeing young friends get diagnosed with terminal illnesses and recognizing the instability of geopolitics and economics, we decided on a middle path: being financially responsible while living our lives in the present.

I see working less as an investment in my long-term health

Health is really important to my partner and me, and I believe our decision to work less will save us money as we get older. We regularly get 9 hours of sleep, do at least 2 hours of exercise, and eat healthy meals (ones we have time to make) every day.

I'm hoping our daily habits and our overall lower-stress lifestyle lead to fewer medical bills in the future. I see prioritizing our time in this way as preventive medicine.

We keep our monthly expenses low while still enjoying life

As an American, when I see salaries posted at $100,000 ayear, I sometimes wonder if I'm setting myself up for disaster by not chasing a better-paying full-time job.

In reality, so much of the world doesn't make this much, and I spend much less than the average American. For example, this month I'm spending $150 on my portion of the rent (which includes utilities and a weekly house cleaner), $15 on the gym, $8 on a phone plan, about $100 on groceries and eating out, $200 on activities and weekend trips, and $50 for weekly massages. My partner pays about the same, minus the spa. Most months, our bills as a couple don't go above $2,000.

We also save money by being childfree, not drinking alcohol or smoking, and being vegetarians. These choices weren't motivated by money, but they certainly help.

I don't feel any of our lifestyle decisions were solely driven by finances — they were driven by our values of sustainability and freedom, so what may feel like a sacrifice to some feels like a natural decision to us. We save by not buying a lot of material items, owning a house, or making convenience purchases.

Working less has given me a life I didn't know was possible

I recognize this lifestyle was partly born of the unpredictable job market and a sense of an unpredictable future, but choosing to prioritize my free time has made me feel I can regain some control.

I decided that not working a full-time job (at least for now) is the kindest thing I can do for myself: both mentally and physically.

I don't have a fancy job title, a high salary, a retirement fund that would let me stop working at 40, or a closet full of designer clothes. But I can say I'm spending hours every day being happy, and that's a middle path I didn't know existed until I challenged my assumptions about what a good life could look like.

• For the past decade, I've visited Northern Ireland every year with my Northern Irish partner.
• It's a beautiful and underrated country, but first-time visitors often make some mistakes.
• I'd suggest learning about the Troubles before visiting, and choosing less-crowded historical sites.

Northern Ireland is just a short trip across the sea from my home country, Scotland, but it wasn't until I got into a relationship with a Northern Irish man that I finally visited.

Three months into our relationship, we ventured over so that I could meet his family. Since it was my first time visiting, we also saw some of Northern Ireland's most popular hot spots, from the Dark Hedges to Titanic Belfast.

That was a decade ago, and since then I've been a frequent visitor, usually going multiple times a year. I often see first-time tourists making the same mistakes — from paying to see the Giant's Causeway to not having a basic knowledge of the Troubles.

There's more to Northern Ireland than the 'Game of Thrones' filming locations

I'm a fan of HBO's "Game of Thrones," so I've visited a few of the Northern Irish filming locations — including Ballintoy Harbour, which starred as the Iron Islands, and the Dark Hedges, which is part of the Kingsroad.

Visiting these sites might be worth it for major "Game of Thrones" fans, but for most people, I would caution against making them the center of an itinerary.

Not only do they sometimes not live up to expectations — in the show, the Dark Hedges look otherworldly; in reality, I've found them to be overcrowded — but I think there are more interesting places to prioritize.

Not far from the Dark Hedges is one of my favorite places to visit: Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. This 66-foot bridge connects a small island, once used for fishing, to the mainland.

Other nearby places I recommend include Dunluce Castle, the ruins of which are perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and Bushmills Distillery, where people can learn about the whiskey-making process (and try a sample!).

Many people think there's a fee to visit the Giant's Causeway

The Giant's Causeway is one of Northern Ireland's most popular attractions — and for good reason.

Located on the north coast, the Causeway is made up of about 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns, or pieces of hardened lava. It looks like a landscape pulled from legend.

I've heard a lot of tourists assume that they have to pay around 16 pounds (or about $21) to see the Causeway, but the ticket actually just covers parking and entry to the visitor center — neither of which is strictly necessary. Exploring the mystical-looking stones themselves is completely free.

The easiest way to skip the parking fee is to go in the evening once the visitor center is shut (it'll also be far less busy!). There aren't lights down by the sea, so I wouldn't recommend doing this in the winter, but Northern Ireland has long, light summer nights.

Another lesser-known way to snag parking is to stay or eat at the Causeway Hotel, which is next to the visitor center. Of course, a meal or stay at the hotel costs more than the Causeway's parking fee, but if you need accommodation or a meal anyway, it's a great choice. The food is always delicious.

Some visitors don't have a basic understanding of the Troubles

Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (often just called Ireland) share an island, but they're separate countries with a complicated history.

In Northern Ireland, the last 30 years of the 20th century were dominated by the Troubles — the scars of which are still felt today.

In the simplest terms, the Troubles marked a period of violence between Protestants, who wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the UK, and Catholics, who wanted the country to join Ireland.

Belfast offers walking tours that provide some more context about the conflict, but knowing some basics before your trip can help you be a more respectful tourist.

Although the conflict is over, Northern Ireland is still covered in flags and murals that declare a neighborhood or town's political allegiance. I don't recommend bringing this still-sensitive history up to any locals, though.

Tourists sometimes assume Titanic Belfast is about the movie

Titanic Belfast is a museum dedicated to the famous ocean liner that sank in the Atlantic in 1912. While exploring the exhibits, I overheard a few people express confusion about the museum's lack of information about James Cameron's "Titanic".

There is a gallery about popular culture related to the ship — and, of course, it includes the blockbuster movie — but it's far from the museum's focus. I'd say Titanic Belfast is geared more toward history lovers, rather than film buffs.

That said, lovers of the movie will still likely find Titanic Belfast fascinating. The museum stands at the head of the slipway where the Titanic was built, giving a sense of just how huge the ship was. There's also lots of interesting information about what life was like on board.

• My dad and my son bond over watching F1 races whenever they're together.
• My dad invited my son to the Miami Grand Prix for his 8th birthday.
• I prepared by getting noise-canceling headphones for everyone.

I always joke that my dad really wanted a son, but instead he had me, an only daughter.

He made me a huge sports fan. Like him, I love soccer, and we also bonded over watching F1 races.

When my son was born, my dad was over the moon about having an eventual buddy for all his sports adventures. He got my son really into racing, and they watched the F1 together every Sunday.

When my son turned eight, he asked to go to a race with my dad and me. We took him this weekend to the F1 race in Miami, and it was an unforgettable experience, for many reasons.

Getting to the race was straightforward

I was nervous about the logistics of arriving at the circuit in Miami. It was actually pretty straightforward, and we made it right as the parking lots opened at 9:30 a.m.

Getting in was also easy because we were so early. Doors opened at 10 a.m., and we headed straight to our seats to watch the F2 race to warm up for the excitement.

My son wanted some merch as a souvenir, but all the hats were $100 or more, so we skipped — I had purchased last year's caps from eBay for $15 prior the race. One that was designed especially for the race sold out before the end of the day.

Prices were high, but not as much as in other sports

I recently went to see Inter Miami, and I was shocked by the prices of food and beer. At the race, prices were also inflated, but not as high as at the soccer match. For comparison, a beer at Nu Stadium was $20, while at the F1 race, they were $13.

The lines for food were outrageous, and I waited almost an hour for an arepa and some tequeños, which came to $57 after I added a beer. It was worth the wait, because everything was delicious.

To keep my son going throughout the day, I was very lax about ice cream; he could get as much as he wanted. He got two small cups of Dippin' Dots, which cost $7 each, which wasn't as expensive as the same ice cream in an Orlando amusement park the week prior, which came out to $15.

The heat was too much to handle

I'm not a newbie when it comes to heat. I'm from Argentina, grew up in Brazil, and lived in Miami for a year. I always joke that I'm a lizard because I love lying in the sun for hours doing nothing.

That said, the temps at the autodrome reached 99 degrees. Even in the shade, it was impossible not to sweat. My son started getting sleepy despite having a portable fan and about 35 bottles of cold water. By the end of the day, he was lying on me while waiting for the races to begin. It was a pretty long day — we were at the autodrome from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

I took my son to walk around the autodrome and explore different areas, while my dad, who is 81, rested in our shaded seats. If we were to go again, I'd skip the early entrance and arrive closer to noon for the main events, making the day shorter and more manageable for both my dad and my son.

Next time I'm bringing a bag

I read online that only see-through bags were allowed. I tried to buy one on Amazon, but it wouldn't arrive on time. Still, I packed as many things as I could in my pockets.

The absolute musts were portable fans and ear protection for everyone. I purchased McLaren-branded Loops ahead of time — my son's favorite F1 team — and they really came in handy. With the ear protection, you could still hear the roars of the engines every time they went past us. Without them, it was incredibly loud.

The exit was an absolute disaster

While we had so much fun cheering for Franco Colapinto (my fave driver) and Oscar Piastri (my son's fave), leaving the autodrome was absolute chaos.

We took a small van back to our parking lot, which was not that far from the autodrome. On the way in, it took us maybe five minutes to get from our car to the race. On the way out, it took us over an hour, and we didn't even make it to the parking lot.

The van didn't have AC, and eventually the driver asked everyone to get out and walk over because every road leading to the parking lot was gridlocked. Having paid $75 for parking, the end of the day made it feel like it wasn't worth the price.

All in all, my son was so excited to see the race cars in real life. He is already asking when we are going to another race. And my dad was beaming with pride just at the sound of that.

• I'm a mom of three young kids, and we live in Southern California.
• I used to live in New York City and really miss walking everywhere.
• Though it may be easier to load them in the minivan, I prefer to walk whenever possible.

I joke that the hardest part of having three young kids is getting them all into and out of the car.

"If I start loading them up now, I'll be at your house in two hours," I recently joked with my mom, who lives 10 minutes away.

But all kidding aside: It takes a long time to get my 5, 3, and 1-year-old in and out of the minivan. Plus, it's physically demanding. No one is stronger than a toddler who doesn't want to be buckled in.

Part of the struggle comes from the fact that I used to live in New York City, and I loved the walkability. I'd walk to stores, to the movies, to restaurants, and more. Now, I live in Southern California, where driving is way more common. Sure, people walk dogs and go for jogs, but in the suburbs, where everything is so spread out, walking to get somewhere is so inconvenient. Or is it?

Recently, I started putting my kids in the stroller and walking (almost) everywhere. It's one of the best things I've done. I've gotten in shape, gotten my kids outdoors, and best of all, we've made some good memories together.

It was hard to find a home with walkability

At the end of last year, I started seriously looking for a new home. With three kids, I needed something bigger. But beyond size, my top must-have was walkability. I wanted to take my kids on walks to stores, the movies, restaurants, and more — just like I could in New York.

As it turns out, it was a tall order. Most cities across the country zone for residential and commercial buildings, keeping homes in one area, shops in another. In fact, the largest US city without zoning laws is Houston, TX. (Yes, even NYC has zoning laws, though they're different from the rules found in a typical suburb.) Zoning can be great: these laws mean most homeowners don't need to worry about getting a noisy, smelly, potentially hazardous factory moving in next door. But it also means a lot of homes are miles from the closest shopping center.

Sure, some homes here in the 'burbs are closer to shops than others. But even proximity doesn't mean walkability.

I toured a handful of houses that were less than a mile or so from great shops and restaurants, but walking to them would mean going up and down a big hill or walking on the side of a busy street with no sidewalk. Maybe I could handle the trek by myself, but with three kids in tow? It wouldn't be the pleasant family stroll I'd imagined.

Eventually, I found the perfect home right between two shopping centers. I was delighted to find the necessities: a movie theater, Target, Starbucks, and various restaurants all within a mile. We were home.

Walking has perks I didn't expect

While my main motivation for finding a home based on walkability was to spend less time getting in the car, I was pleasantly surprised by the other perks of leaving the minivan at home.

For one thing, in the months since moving, I've gotten in great shape. Not to brag, but pushing a heavy double stroller while carrying a 20-pound baby on my chest has done wonders for my legs and rear end.

It's good exercise for the kids, too. My 5-year-old will bring her scooter, and switch off riding, walking, and relaxing in the stroller. My 3-year-old will bring her tricycle sometimes, too. It's good for them to get out, and even if we're going to McDonald's to get some fries, at least the commute feels healthy. And at night, they sleep well.

But my favorite perk has been one I hadn't anticipated. We're getting more quality time together than ever. When driving, I need to focus on the road. We're all strapped in, facing forward. To entertain myself, I'll put on a podcast or the radio. It's not exactly "together time." When we're walking, my older two spend the whole time chatting with me or each other.

Luckily, my kids like, or at least tolerate, "hoofin' it." Sometimes they get tired, especially if we go to multiple stores. Once, all three kids melted down on our way back from Target, and we had to sit on a shady bench, snacking on the groceries we just purchased, before we could keep going. But generally, they get excited about our walks.

Of course, we still use the car a lot. We can't walk to my mom's house, and both swim and ballet classes are too far. Plus, I decided not to switch my oldest to a new preschool midyear, so until the end of the school year, we're driving a half hour to our old neighborhood every weekday. But we're looking forward to walking to her new, closer school in the fall.

Lately, we've been walking to the donut shop every weekend. One Saturday, when we came outside, we saw our new neighbor friends across the street, a family with two young kids, getting in their car. They were setting out for donuts, too. We shared a laugh about driving such a short route, and I smiled as I pulled my wagon past their house. We beat them there.

• I flew to Omaha for Berkshire Hathaway's first shareholder meeting with Greg Abel as CEO.
• Several attendees cast doubt on the annual gathering's future without Warren Buffett hosting it.
• Many said the meeting has lost some appeal now that Buffett and Charlie Munger are no longer onstage.

I flew to Omaha this week to attend the first Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting in six decades not led by Warren Buffett as CEO.

My conversations with more than 20 shareholders, analysts, and executives pointed to an uncertain future for the iconic gathering now that Buffett has stepped out of the spotlight.

Berkshire's annual bash has been dubbed "Woodstock for Capitalists" because it attracts tens of thousands of people from across the world to Buffett's hometown of Omaha for a weekend of shopping, learning, networking, and more.

Buffett, 95, rocked the business world during last year's meeting when he unexpectedly announced he would retire at the end of the year. His hand-picked successor and the head of Berkshire's non-insurance operations, Greg Abel, took over as CEO on New Year's Day 2026.

Ajay Sharma, 42, a graduate research assistant at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, moonlights as a ride-share worker. While driving me to my hotel on Thursday night, he told me what it was like during last year's meeting.

"For a part-time Uber driver, it was like Christmas coming," he said in a follow-up email.

"I made double the hourly money I usually make," he continued. "I picked up people from hotels 12 miles away from the city center, as all the hotels were full, and there were no places in the restaurants."

Buffett's decision this year to sit in the audience during the weekend's main event, an hourslong Q&A session, and have Abel host it instead, led many to expect a smaller turnout this year.

Sharma said a prospective decline in attendance was a "real concern," as "everyone in the city" benefits from the meeting's "huge economic impact."

I spoke to Alston Li, an 18-year-old college student who'd driven up from Houston to attend the Berkshire meeting for the first time, on Friday outside an investor conference in the Hilton Omaha.

Li said he sensed a "pessimistic" energy in the city, as "the legendary people are passing away" and Buffett could follow soon. Buffett's business partner, Charlie Munger, died at age 99 in late 2023.

I asked Dan Sheridan, the CEO of Berkshire-owned Brooks Running, whether the meeting could remain such a draw once Buffett is gone.

"I don't know," he told me on the floor of the CHI Health Center's exhibit hall, where dozens of Berkshire subsidiaries were selling their wares. "That's the truth. I think it can."

Sheridan said the gathering is more than an opportunity to see Buffett or Abel in person; it serves as an annual "reunion" for many shareholders.

"There's something unique and special about that that I think could live on," he said.

Jeremy Padawer, the president of Squishmallows-maker Jazwares, told me that many "do not appreciate what community means" to some people, pointing to the intense passion and tight bonds that connect certain fandoms. He said there's a "very similar vibe to a show like this" where, for Berkshire acolytes, "this is their universe."

It's unclear how many fewer attendees there were this year. David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland and longtime Berkshire blogger, wrote on X that it "was about 25,000, down from 40,000 last year. "

Tillman Versch, 40, from Germany, is an unofficial tour guide for the Berkshire meeting who organizes book signings and other events throughout the weekend.

I spoke to him at a downtown bar called the Upstream Brewing Company on the night before the meeting.

Versch told me he'd seen a 50% to 70% drop in online traffic for his online meeting guide. He attributed that in part to Abel having a fraction of the public profile and YouTube presence that Buffett has.

He told me that fewer people made the trip to Omaha this year because they weren't willing to fork out as much money to see Abel talk instead of Buffett, who he described as the "Taylor Swift of investing."

Versch also said that violent protests, political tensions, and changes to visa requirements may have also curbed travel to Omaha this year.

Moreover, he said that demand had been "pulled forward" in recent years because people wanted to see Buffett and Munger before it was too late.

On Saturday, the central arena of the CHI Health Center felt significantly less full than it was last year, the 60th anniversary of Buffett's takeover of Berkshire.

Jay Williams, 40, a real estate investor from Florida, told me during a break in the meeting that she'd deliberately slept in that morning as she knew the arena wouldn't be as packed as in previous years.

She recalled that in 2023, "people were sitting in the aisles" because many suspected it would be Munger's last meeting as he was approaching 100.

Despite the smaller turnout, Williams said: "I feel the energy is the same, the networking is still there."

During this year's meeting, Buffett invited Tim Cook to take a bow and then sat for a surprise interview backstage, which was broadcast to the audience.

Abel dug into several Berkshire subsidiaries, including the BNSF Railway, and fielded questions about AI, fossil fuels, his more hands-on management style, and other topics.

After the Q&A, I caught up with Bill Hughes, 41, a financial advisor from Oklahoma, as he browsed the displays in Oriental Trading's booth.

He told me there were "definitely fewer people here" than last year, when an "absolutely insane" number of people descended on Omaha to see Buffett because they feared after Munger's death it "might be their last chance."

"So I don't think it's so much Greg," he said. "I think it's just that it's not Warren and it's not Charlie."

Hughes predicted attendance would "build back up" in future years. He suggested that reintroducing the funny videos featured in past meetings, extending shopping hours, and hotels cutting prices could help.

I later spoke to Brett Gardner, the author of "Buffett's Early Investments," at the Hilton Omaha across the street from the CHI Health Center.

Gardner said that Abel came across well onstage and was funnier than he's been in the past, but it might not be enough to sustain the meeting in the long term.

"I unfortunately think that when Buffett passes, the meeting's going to get much smaller, maybe a couple thousand people," he said, adding that he'd be "very surprised" if it could fill a stadium a decade after Buffett's gone.

• I love traveling with my 9-year-old son.
• It gives us a break from our routine at home, and we also get to see each other in a new way.
• He sees sides of my personality he doesn't get to see at home.

At home, my little family is predictable. We wake up early, walk our dog every afternoon, and eat pizza on Friday nights. I know all of my 9-year-old's moods and habits, but travel breaks routine — and sometimes, that's where the real magic is.

Years ago, on a trip to Lake Tahoe, I realized that traveling with my son is the best way to get to know him. Recently, though, I've realized it's also a great way for him to get to know me.

At home, I nag my little guy to pick up dirty clothes, eat his vegetables, and I probably say "one minute" too many times while I'm at my computer trying to finish an assignment. Vacation mom, on the other hand, eats chocolate for breakfast, pretends to be a shark in the pool, and has plenty of time to linger in gift shops. On vacation, my son gets to see who I am outside the daily grind.

Travel creates space we don't have at home. When we have time to explore and just play without the usual interruptions, my son gets a peek at who I was as a kid.

These small travel habits help us learn about each other on every trip.

We don't overbook

When I'm visiting somewhere new, it's tempting to want to do ALL the things. When I'm with my son, we don't. Sure, I research before we go and roughly plan an itinerary, but we don't overbook.

There's something special about stumbling upon new things together. I've learned that when we plan too much, even if it's things I know he'll enjoy, it can sometimes feel too reminiscent of the hustle and bustle of home. When we build relaxation into the itinerary, like beach days and pool time, it gives us a chance to create our own fun together.

We talk to locals

When we travel, like most people, we end up in conversations with locals. I get to see how my son interacts with new people in new situations, and vice versa. In our day-to-day routine, we often mix with the same people — teachers, friends, and family — so this is a side of him I don't always witness. On vacation, my son also gets to see me in a different light.

On one particular afternoon in Oahu, a waiter noticed my son's drawing pad and struck up a conversation about art. He shared his cool, artistic background, recommended a specific brush pen, and then gave my son a few of his own stunning sketches to take home.

Travel makes the best memories, and moments like this really stick. They can even go so far as to shape how we see the world.

We make our meals an event

I love dining out with my family. Without the distractions of our dog barking at the neighbors, a messy kitchen, and an ever-growing to-do list, time feels like it slows down, just a little, and we get the chance to really talk.

On a recent trip to Salt Lake City, my son and I visited the mountain city's museums, explored pretty gardens, and even hiked at Snowbird, a ski resort that trades snow for wildflowers in the summer. But the most memorable part of our trip was eating wood-fired pizzas on a patio surrounded by cool street art.

Sitting across from him, sans my husband or a kid's color-me-in menu that usually occupies him until the food arrives, I chatted with my little conversationalist. I learned about all his favorite parts of our vacation and a few things he didn't like so much. He asked more questions than usual, probably because he wasn't coloring, and we chatted well after our pizzas were long-gone.

Anthony Bourdain famously noted that you learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together. I've always believed this, but I didn't realize it equally applied to children.

My son is still young, and there's so much more to learn about him and who he will grow up to be. I just hope he'll always want to travel with me.

• Ryan Garrido runs a dropshipping business while living abroad to reduce costs.
• His savings on daily expenses helped him get his business off the ground.
• He said it's worth it, but accepts that there are tradeoffs to living abroad as a business owner.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ryan Garrido, the owner of Dropshipping High Ticket, a dropshipping business that he runs while traveling the world. Garrido, 37, started his company while living overseas. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I think the definition of an entrepreneur is someone who takes risks. In America, you might be thinking, "OK, I have enough to break even. I can pay my rent, I can pay my bills, I can pay for groceries, my gas, and I'll have $20 left over."

But what business are you going to do with $20?

When you have excess funds, you can take risks, and I think that's the common issue with people living in America. There's no room to take risks because there are no additional funds.

Had I tried to have a business in the States, the cost of living might have kept me from taking the leap. So the fact that I was able to not have my daily costs be such a burden — my cost of living is 10% or 20% of my income at this point in Thailand, it's very minimal — allows me to fully invest in the company, to scale up more advertising, and just to do it in the first place.

You also broaden your horizon dramatically when living abroad because you start to see other cultures and how they do things versus how we do things.

I got into dropshipping while traveling the world

Before I moved abroad, I had a sales job in the US — I was doing B2B sales and door-to-door sales in DC. I was recruiting and had a team of guys that I was managing. Then I discovered meditation and wanted to study it full-time, so I left the country to go study full-time in South Korea.

A friend of mine was traveling all over the world, doing speaking events and posting them on Facebook. I messaged him one day and asked what he was doing. He said he did high-ticket dropshipping, and he had a course. I think it was $1,000 at the time, so I bought his course in 2019 and have been running my store since then.

Dropshipping is a business model where you have a website, and when the customer places an order from you, you go to the manufacturer, give the order details to the manufacturer, and the manufacturer ships directly to the customer.

High-ticket dropshipping is items over $700; expensive stuff like saunas, jacuzzis, hot tubs, the list goes on.

I live abroad because the better cost of living helps me invest in my business

I've been in Thailand since December 2025, so I've only been here for four months. I kind of just pop in and stay in a country for one to three months a year.

I make those decisions probably about a month early. I have no roots, so it's easy to go wherever the wind blows whenever I get an itch.

When you bounce around, Thailand is convenient because all the flights are there, and a lot of people are there.

There are two other major perks in Thailand.

One is the currency exchange. I'm earning in US dollars and spending in Thai Baht, so the buying power locally far surpasses what you could get in America for that same dollar.

The other is just the general cost of living and quality of life.

The cost of living is way less, so you can get more with much less spending.

About 14 years ago, I was living in McLean, Virginia. I had a one-bedroom, and I was spending $1,970 a month in rent.

In Thailand, I pay about $1,700 a month, but I'm staying in a two-bedroom hotel suite, about 800 square feet. Every day they clean, there's a gym here, a pool, and all that good stuff.

Convenience is off the chain here. Whatever you want, you can have it delivered by bike in 20 minutes.

There are pros and cons to starting a business abroad, but it was the right decision for me

It takes everything to run a business. It takes your full mental focus, your ability, your full effort, everything.

I live a pretty good life in Bangkok right now, but if I were in the early stages when you're trying to get funding, in my case, I could go all the way down to spending only $100 a week — I'd still be able to live in a studio and it wouldn't be the end of the world. The first time I came here in 2018, my monthly rent was $400.

So now that I have X amount of money to invest in the business, the huge amount of savings here gives you the ability to take a risk.

When you start, you have operating costs. Shopify might be $40 a month, you have other software that could be $80 a month, plus you have to invest in advertising. So when you get started, you have to put $500 to $1,000 into advertising to start generating revenue.

So all in, you're looking at about $2,500. I wouldn't have had that available had my rent not been $400. So I had the liquidity available to take that chance.

To be fair, if I were in America, I could utilize banks better. I could have gone to the bank, gotten a loan, or gotten credit cards. It's easier when you're there in person rather than being abroad — any guy off the street could access $100,000 in funding with a reasonable credit score. Average Americans don't know they have access to this amazing credit market that no other country in the world has access to.

When someone wants to be a digital nomad and thinks, "Well, I want to take advantage of this arbitrage opportunity where my cost of living is less, and I could earn dollars and spend them in other currencies," they should do a lot of research. Don't just jump into it. Get all your ducks in a row.

Running a business abroad isn't always easy. Even getting mail can sometimes be an issue. Your business addresses, your personal addresses, where your driver's license needs to be renewed, that kind of thing can all get complicated.

There are pros and cons everywhere. There is no one-size-fits-all. But for me, it's worth it.

"She will never go for that," I told my husband in 2023 when he suggested that my then-68-year-old mom sell the Hudson, New York, home she had lived in for 45 years and move an hour north to live with us.

After my stepdad died in 2020, she seemed to have a new lease on life. After all, she had been his caretaker for 25 years. She was spending time with friends, redecorating her house, and she seemed to be enjoying life.

Until one day, something changed.

Her normally upbeat demeanor turned sad. She suddenly struggled to get out of bed. Some days, she didn't leave the house.

She was over an hour away from me and her four grandkids, so I took a drive up to my childhood home in Hudson — a small two-bedroom ranch-style house intended to be a "starter home."

During that visit, I had one mission: to convince my mom it was time to pack up her belongings and leave her old life behind to start a new one with us. To my surprise, I barely got the words out before she exclaimed, "Yes, let's do it, I'm ready!"

We already lived in a large house

My immediate family is a big, blended one with three teens, one pre-teen, two dogs, and two cats. Even before my mom moved in, we lived in a large house to accommodate all of us.

Our 2,700-square-foot house was formerly owned by my husband's uncle, who built the large center-hall colonial-style home 15 years ago. He gifted us the house, which sits on 2.5 acres.

Over the next decade, the large house and estate provided plenty of space for our kids to spread out across three upstairs bedrooms. It has four bedrooms in total, plus a den that could double as a bedroom if needed.

But most importantly, in 2023, when it was time for my mom to move in nearly a decade later, we still had the land to expand.

My mom decided to build an addition to our house

My mom's house was in Hudson, which has become a desirable vacation spot for affluent people who can easily drive or take Amtrak up from New York City, sending home values in the area skyrocketing.

While her 1,200-square-foot home was small and only mildly updated, she sold it for $300,000 in cash.

Mom decided to use the profits from selling her home to build a house for herself on our estate. But first, she moved into our guest bedroom as construction on her new home began.

We ran into construction issues almost immediately. Even though we live atop a mountain with neighboring horse farms and more animals than people, we were subject to town regulations that prohibited us from building a separate structure for my mom.

We discussed all the alternative options. One was that Mom would live permanently in the main house with us. We decided against that. She's a pretty independent woman, and she's used to having her own space. We wanted to give her a respite from the daily chaos our home can bring.

We all agreed on the best course of action almost immediately: to build an addition onto our existing home. While we knew this was the more expensive and difficult path, we were excited about the value it would add to the house as a whole.

We began construction of a 900-square-foot addition on our property that met all the town's requirements, and hired a local contractor. We ran into some roadblocks, including the need for Mom to have her own garage to store her car. I had to appear before the zoning board to plead our case, since we already had a three-car garage and they needed to know why we wanted to build another one.

The entire process took a year from start to finish, with the addition being completed in March of 2024. She ended up spending around $200,000.

My mom now has her own space that she loves — and we all benefit

My mother moved into her "side" of the house about a year ago. Her living area is a short walk through our existing garage, and a new mud room on her side.

The kids love having "Nema" around all the time; Mom joins us for meals. I love having an extra person to help with housework, such as grocery shopping and the occasional laundry, and shuttling kids to and from various events and practices — not to mention a built-in babysitter for our little guy, who's now 10. She lovingly refers to him as her "sidekick," and I think it's really special and rare that he gets to spend so much time with his elder family member.

Our two youngest sleep over occasionally on her pullout couch, and they consider it a special treat to stay at Nema's.

On top of the benefits of having my mom under my roof, our house has also increased in value by about $75,000. Unfortunately, the flip side is that our property taxes also went up slightly, and school taxes went up by almost $2,000.

Still, our multigenerational house has been worth it, not only to give mom the forever home she deserves, but also to hopefully pass this home — and all its amazing memories — down to our children one day.

• Warren Buffett was a trailblazer in using media to build a business, Sahil Bloom says.
• The wealth guru said Buffett's letters and annual meeting helped to grow his and Berkshire's brands.
• Bloom spoke to Business Insider about meeting Buffett and why the shareholder gathering is special.

Warren Buffett is a media master, and Berkshire Hathaway's shareholder weekend is one of a kind, says influencer and investor Sahil Bloom.

The author of "The 5 Types of Wealth" and writer of "The Curiosity Chronicle" newsletter spoke to Business Insider's Theron Mohamed in Buffett's hometown of Omaha on Friday, ahead of Berkshire's annual meeting.

Berkshire is "in many ways a media company," the wealth guru said, pointing to Berkshire's yearly gathering and Buffett's famous shareholder letters as an "incredible example of building a brand around media."

Buffett built his brand in part by breaking down complex financial subjects, making them accessible to everyone, Bloom said. The investor has an "insane capacity to aggregate data and information and spit a very clear story out on the other side," he added.

The perception of Buffett as someone "you could have a drink with or have a steak with definitely is part of the deal" too, he said.

Bloom, who has 1.1 million X followers, recalled meeting Buffett for the first time in 2019 and being so starstruck that he couldn't speak. But the Berkshire chairman was "so disarming in his demeanor," asking Bloom questions such as where he had dinner the previous night, that he quickly put Bloom at ease.

The billionaire was "so kind and open and generous with his time," Bloom said.

He shared two key lessons he's taken from studying Buffett: the value of constant learning, and the importance of saying "no" to things outside one's circle of competence.

Bloom said he's intrigued to see how Greg Abel, who succeeded Buffett as Berkshire's CEO at the start of this year, stewards the media side of the company.

He noted that Abel and Berkshire's insurance chief, Ajit Jain, lack the "theatrical flavor" and witty camaraderie that Buffett had with his late business partner, Charlie Munger.

However, Bloom noted that he's spent some time with Abel and found him to be "extremely kind and very present" during conversations, and said he has a "lot of confidence" in his leadership.

Bloom also reflected on the unique appeal of the Berkshire meeting and whether it will continue in the post-Buffett era.

"It's a high density of really smart people that come here for this very short window of time, and you're in a place where there's not a whole lot else to do other than meet people," he said.

Looking around the lobby of the Hilton Omaha, he said there were likely people managing tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars under one roof.

"That's hard to replace," he said. "I hope it continues for that reason."

• This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Big Tech's titans go toe-to-toe

The high-stakes legal battle between Elon Musk and Sam Altman is entering its second week in the courtroom.

My colleague Katherine Li has been on the scene in San Francisco, chronicling the ins and outs of a trial that is pitting two of the most powerful tech titans against each other.

I spoke with Katherine about the atmosphere inside the room and what to expect in the days ahead.

What's the vibe been like in and around the courtroom?

It's clear that the courthouse is working hard to grapple with the immense public interest. I have met a wide array of people while standing in line at the courthouse, including a nonprofit founder and a Hoover Institution researcher. Competition for a chance to sit in the courtroom is extremely fierce, but the overflow room feels different. Comparing notes and helping each other out are commonplace, and so is sharing snacks when the testimony gets too dry.

What's your daily schedule to get to the courthouse?

I've been consistent in arriving in front of the courthouse at around 7 am over the past week, with a fully charged laptop and a Hydro Flask full of coffee. The line is usually long and would snake through the courtyard by 8 am.

The judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, lives up to her reputation. Each day, the session starts on time at 8:30 am sharp, with a short break within two hours, and a longer break closer to 12 pm to allow for lunch. The afternoon sessions always end on time before Rogers' hard cut-off time of 2 pm.

What's the most surprising thing you witnessed from the first week of the trial?

Part of the suspense was whether Altman and Musk would appear in person, given the security risks. Yet as early as jury selection, Altman made a surprise appearance, and Musk followed suit as the trial's first witness the next day. This shows that both billionaires highly value this case and are eager to make a good impression on the jury, many of whom have been candid about their negative perceptions of Musk and AI.

What can we expect to learn next week?

Greg Brockman, one of the early cofounders of OpenAI, is also expected to spend a total of 3 hours on the stand. It's unclear whether Altman will be on the witness stand next week, but he has appeared in court every single day this week for varying lengths of time. Brockman is considered a key witness in the case due to journal entries he wrote that shed light on the period before Musk left the company in 2018.

• William Savitt is representing Sam Altman in Elon Musk's lawsuit trying to dismantle OpenAI.
• Savitt, a top lawyer at Wachtell, went up against Musk before in a dispute over Twitter.
• He was a cab driver, rock band singer, and Supreme Court clerk before becoming a litigator.

When Sam Altman needed someone to beat Elon Musk in court, he hired a lawyer who had done it once before: William Savitt.

Savitt was a natural choice to take the case. For decades, he'd occupied the upper echelons of corporate litigation. He represented Twitter in 2022, suing Musk to force him to go through with his purchase of the platform. His law firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, worked on the complex restructuring of OpenAI's for-profit arm.

Savitt is now leading Altman's and OpenAI's legal team in a blockbuster trial currently unfolding in an Oakland federal courtroom.

Musk alleges Altman scammed him by transforming OpenAI into a corporate behemoth rather than the nonprofit the Tesla CEO originally supported. Savitt's challenge is to show the jury that Musk's real goal is to dismantle OpenAI in an attempt to boost xAI, his own artificial intelligence company.

Though he's the leading litigator at the top law firm in the country and has represented clients like Brad Pitt, Savitt has a relatively low public profile. The trial between Silicon Valley giants has given him his first real turn in the global spotlight.

Mild-mannered, composed, and courteous, Savitt strikes the figure of a highly competent corporate litigator. One might never guess he spent his youth driving a cab and playing in rock bands before clerking for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Like many lawyers, he tries to resolve his clients' disputes quietly. But if the battle reaches the spotlight of a courtroom, he relishes the litigation process.

During a tense cross-examination, when Musk said he didn't read a document about OpenAI's organization and complained about "going into the fine print," Savitt wouldn't let him go.

"It's a four-page document, isn't it, Mr. Musk?" Savitt deadpanned.

Musk and Altman each have a history with Savitt

Wachtell itself has been engaged in a multiyear beef with Musk since 2022, when it helped Twitter sue Musk for trying to pull out of a deal to buy the social media company.

Savitt led the charge. He quickly won a series of crucial court rulings. Facing an almost-certain defeat at trial, Musk agreed to buy Twitter at the previously agreed-upon share price shortly before it was set to begin.

Musk reacted in fury when he discovered Twitter paid Wachtell $90 million in legal fees. The company sued Wachtell for a refund in a case with Musk, accusing the lawyers of "institutionalized corruption" on Twitter, which he's renamed X. The case went to arbitration and was resolved confidentially.

Savitt's relationship with Altman predates Musk's 2024 lawsuit against the OpenAI CEO.

Altman engaged with Wachtell during his brief ouster from the board in November 2023. Savitt told Business Insider in an interview before the trial that he worked with OpenAI on "various matters" earlier that year that he said "remain confidential," declining to comment further. ("bill is awesome!" Altman told Business Insider in an email, also declining to comment further.)

Later, Wachtell's corporate transaction side worked with OpenAI on acquisitions and fundraising, and is reportedly assisting with its preparations for an initial public offering.

When OpenAI transformed its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation — a change that Musk wants the judge to reverse — Wachtell lawyers helped with the complex legal mechanics of the restructuring. Savitt received clearance from the attorneys general of California and Delaware to make the transition happen.

"It's very cool to be a part of something that is world-changing," Savitt said of OpenAI. "It's motivating to be part of a team that is working to create the best products, but is also working to create the best world."

From cab driver to SCOTUS clerk

Well before Savitt climbed the ranks at Wachtell, or even attended Columbia Law School, he was a young man with a guitar, slumming it.

He spent his 20s in the late '80s and early '90s in a series of bands, playing in CBGBs and touring in Philadelphia and Baltimore. To pay the bills, the Philadelphia native and Brown University graduate drove a cab, fact-checked for National Geographic and the Smithsonian magazines, and freelanced for obscure business trade publications.

"We played a lot of the really cool venues in New York, did a little bit of touring, and ultimately never got a record deal, but it was great," Savitt told Business Insider. "I got to sit on stage and sing and play my songs."

In 1990, Savitt took the path of many 20-somethings not sure what to do with their lives: he went to graduate school. Savitt attended Columbia University, studying the history of France's jury system, and later enrolled at its law school.

After law school, Savitt clerked for Judge Pierre Leval on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. Leval — who took senior status in 2002 and remains on the bench — lavished praise on Savitt in an interview as a "brilliant" lawyer. Leval recalled a case from the clerkship where the two were at odds. It involved a domestic worker who sued her employer after falling off a ladder. Savitt supported the employee. Leval ruled in favor of the employer.

"I don't remember much about it except that Bill persistently disagreed with me and long after would remind me about how I got the latter case all wrong," Leval said.

The two, decades later, still laugh about it.

"If there's a principle of law or a point of fact that I think is about to be wrongly decided, I'll fight as hard as I can and as long as I can," Savitt said.

For his next act, Savitt landed in Justice Ginsburg's chambers, clerking for her between 1998 and 1999. He said the Supreme Court term was "relatively collegial" despite the philosophical differences on the bench.

"Justice Ginsburg had a remarkable capacity to reserve judgment, to keep an open mind," Savitt said. "And that's another skill that I try to mimic — because it allows the lawyer no less than the judge to spot weaknesses and opportunities as the facts and the arguments build throughout a case or negotiation."

The view from the top

With a Supreme Court clerkship on your resume, the legal world becomes your proverbial oyster. Savitt wanted to be in New York and at the top.

Even among elite law firms, Wachtell is at the pinnacle. The firm regularly ranks as the most profitable per attorney. Last year, it made $5.09 million per lawyer, almost double the second-place firm, according to The American Lawyer, a trade publication. The firm also remains relatively small. It has only about 260 lawyers, compared to about 1,500 at Paul Weiss and 1,700 at Skadden Arps, two other prominent Wall Street firms.

In his 30-year Wachtell career, Savitt has defended Dell's transition to a private company, defended Sotheby's against an activist investor attack, fended off challenges to numerous mergers and acquisitions of Wachtell clients, and represents Brad Pitt in a still-ongoing dispute with Angelina Jolie over a French winery.

Savitt's expertise extends to the finer points of corporate law — particularly in Delaware, where most public companies choose to incorporate. The Delaware Chancery Court, which Musk has railed against, has become the venue for sophisticated business disputes that are decided by expert chancellor judges rather than juries. (Savitt "knows the law of Delaware like the back of his hand," Leval told BI.)

Delaware's governor hired Savitt personally to represent the state in a lawsuit brought by stockholders who challenged a new law about about corporate transactions. In March, Delaware's top court sided with Savitt and upheld the law's constitutionality.

On one occasion, Savitt represented Tesla's board, including Musk, in a lawsuit from shareholders who said the carmaker overpaid for its acquisition of SolarCity. A Delaware Chancery Court judge cleared Musk of wrongdoing in that case. (Savitt declined to comment for this story on any ongoing or past litigation.)

While working through tough cases, Savitt sometimes strums on the guitars he keeps in his office and mixes songs on his 4-track recording device.

"I still haven't given up on the record yet," he said.

Katherine Li contributed reporting.

• When residents of an Atlanta suburb heard a data center may be coming to town, they pushed back.
• Fayetteville, Georgia, no longer allows new data center construction following local pushback.
• Here's how Jesse Brooks and his neighbors stopped a data center development.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Jesse Brooks, a 35-year-old videographer who lives in Fayetteville, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb. It has been edited for length and clarity.

The Atlanta area is one of several hot spots for data center development, and the town is home to a hyperscale data center under construction by Blackstone portfolio company QTS since 2022. Earlier this year, Crow Holdings put forward a plan to build another large data center in Fayetteville. After residents raised concerns at a planning and zoning meeting, the data center application was denied. The city also passed a moratorium on new data center applications, and data centers are no longer approved land uses in the city.

I first heard about the new proposed data center on one of my town's four general-purpose Facebook groups, where people usually post about roadwork or lost dogs.

At the beginning of the year, someone in the group flagged a letter from the city inviting residents to a late January planning and zoning meeting for a proposed project near their home.

I looked at the agenda and realized there was also a project proposed by CHI/Acquisitions LP, a subsidiary of developer Crow Holdings. Since Crow Holdings was working on other data centers, like one in Texas, and the project was labeled "DC," we realized this was likely another one.

We got our first hyperscale data center in 2022, at the beginning of the boom, but it wasn't until the impact of construction, such as an influx of workers causing traffic, that more residents took notice.

Without any central organization, other Facebook group members and I spent January trying to rally neighbors to show up to the meeting. I even posted on Reddit.

Before the meeting, I also reached out to our local newspapers to make sure they showed up.

I had no clue who would actually show up to our town hall. When I arrived, there were about 100 of us. Nearly every chair in the room was filled.

These meetings are typically an hour long, with the commission going over every project on the docket. The data center discussion began with someone from the city walking through the initial plans, followed by a presentation from a Crow Holdings representative about the project's benefits.

Then came public comment, with each person allotted three minutes. About half the room came up to speak.

People who lived near the proposed development asked questions about what it would do to their property prices. Others asked why the city was approving this when there's so much potential volatility over AI — if the industry experiences a downturn, the center may not be able to sustain clients, and we'll have a massive warehouse doing nothing on the north side of town.

It was at least half an hour of people voicing their concerns and pressing the city to deny an application. A couple of people, including myself, asked the city to place a moratorium on data center development and approvals.

Crow's representative had a chance to rebut our concerns, but the planning commission voted to deny the application.

After the meeting, I spoke to one of the local papers, The Citizen, and told them I was glad the city had voted this way, but that I wanted to make sure that the developers didn't push forward. "I'm hoping that they felt the enormous hostility in the room and chose to take this data center and shove it somewhere else," I told The Citizen.

Data Center Moratorium

Crow appealed the decision in a letter, which it also posted in the city newspapers. They must have seen me as an organizer and instigator, because they quoted me on the first page of their letter. The commission's ruling, in their opinion, was based on "the rule of man instead of the rule of law."

They wrote that while I was the "self-appointed champion of the community," I was not technically a city resident. (Editor's note: The author lives just outside city limits in an unincorporated area, meaning he is a county resident and not formally within the city's jurisdiction.)

We're a very large city, and I live less than half a mile from the city limits, even though I have a Fayetteville address. Their point was that my opinion shouldn't influence the city's business decisions. I'd argue that even without living within city limits, I still do business within there, use city services, and my kid goes to school here.

We were planning to show up at the next meeting, but the day before, they withdrew their appeal.

Since the original hearing, the city enacted a moratorium on new data center applications while it was reviewing its zoning rules. Our city manager was quoted in the local paper about the moratorium, saying that they've heard from the public that we don't want more data centers in our city.

A few weeks after the moratorium was passed, a zoning law amendment completely removed data centers as an approved use of land within the city limits.

Meet your local government

The biggest takeaway for me is how much agency you have in your local government.

Previously, I would see what happened, what got built where, and how it affected me, and then just complain after the fact. I didn't have an understanding of who was responsible for what or how business worked in my city.

Now, I've learned a lot more and seen what getting involved can do, alongside my neighbors.

Everyone should develop the skill of taking advantage of the public information your city and county offer, like making records requests, looking at property maps to see who owns what land, how much they paid for it, and what land they might annex in the future.

It's a very valuable resource, and you do have access to it. You just have to ask.

I haven't gotten involved with any local organizations working on other data center organizing in the area, but I have continued to speak to the people in my life about data centers. I have a cousin who lives near Newnan, the site of the $17 billion Project Sail, who has been talking to me about the development, as well as some friends who live in south Georgia whose cities are quite happy to bring in data centers.

If this is something that interests you as a resident of your city, now is an important time to start thinking about how you can make your voice heard.

• A corporate food service has seen late-night and weekend orders surge, outpacing new user growth.
• The findings suggest these workers are logging more hours, even as some employers say AI boosts efficiency.
• They also echo a popular theory linking spikes in pizza deliveries to government buildings ahead of geopolitical events.

AI is making white-collar work more efficient, proponents of the technology say. Employees' eating habits may tell another story.

When companies such as Atlassian, Block, and Snap, announced mass layoffs earlier this year, they cited one common factor: AI. The technology, they said, has led them to adjust the makeup of their workforces.

Yet data from Sharebite, a corporate meal benefits and delivery platform founded in 2015, suggests AI may be driving some workers to log longer hours — not fewer. The company said the number of client orders placed on Saturdays more than doubled in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2025. Orders placed after 6 pm on weekdays and weekends rose 57% over that time, while overall user growth increased 36%.

The imbalance suggests a disproportionate rise in activity outside traditional work hours — a modern echo of the Pentagon Pizza Theory, the idea that spikes in late-night food orders signal government staff working overtime ahead of major events.

The findings come as many companies have ramped up pressure on workers to adopt AI, including by tying usage to performance reviews that influence raises and promotions.

Sharebite CEO Dilip Rao, a former Wall Street investment banker, told Business Insider he believes there's a connection between the spike in off-hours orders among his clients — several hundred companies of varying sizes mainly in tech and finance — and the AI boom.

"Based on data across our enterprise customer base over the past 12 to 18 months, we're not seeing people work less," he said. "If anything, activity is extending later into the day and into weekends."

Rao's thesis aligns with a growing body of research showing that AI is stretching professionals' workloads. For example, a study published in the Harvard Business Review in February found that employees who use AI take on a broader range of tasks and put in longer hours than those who don't.

Another report released this year by UC Berkeley researchers reached a similar conclusion. Drawing on an eight-month study of workers at a small US tech company, the researchers observed that employees multitasked more, took on broader responsibilities, and worked longer hours — often without being asked.

Likewise, a 2025 report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research linked greater AI exposure to longer work hours and reduced leisure time. The authors said this was primarily because AI complements human labor rather than replacing it.

More work, more food

With the Pentagon Pizza Theory, often credited to a pizza shop owner in the early '90s, federal employees who suddenly order a ton of pies must be working overtime to prep for something important, or so the thinking goes.

Sharebite's food-delivery data may offer similar insights into the impact of AI on workers, Rao said, drawing a link between the surge in evening orders and companies' adoption of the technology.

"This looks much more like a shift in how work gets done than a reduction in work itself," said Rao, adding that the data underscores how essential human talent remains as companies adopt AI.

Workers may be putting in longer hours for reasons other than, or in addition to, AI. In recent years, employers have been prioritizing measurable results over loyalty and raising performance expectations. Those changes, along with cuts to perks and, in some cases, core benefits, reflect a labor market in which workers have less leverage to push back on overtime demands than in the past.

There are a few reasons AI may be pushing workers to expand their workdays. One is that the technology can hallucinate and introduce errors into its output. After using it to write copy, code, or create an image, users need to review the results to ensure accuracy — and correcting mistakes takes additional time.

AI may also be causing workers to spend more time on the job because they're still learning how to integrate it into their workflows, said Neil Thompson, an innovation scholar at MIT's computer science and AI lab.

"Usually there's a transition period where you have to modify the processes the organization has," he said. "Initially, you become less efficient."

• Jennifer and Paul Tessmer-Tuck started buying real estate in 2020 to create another income stream.
• They started with what they already knew: buying a single-family home.
• Over the last five and a half years, they've expanded to 16 properties.

Jennifer Tessmer-Tuck knows how fickle the healthcare industry can be.

The OB-GYN in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area had seen her hospital go through several cycles of layoffs, including one around 2015 that led her to pick up extra shifts so she could save more aggressively in case her own job was ever affected.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, putting even more pressure on the hospital, she took a big pay cut.

"At the senior leadership level, they cut our salaries in half," Tessmer-Tuck, who was vice president of medical affairs at her hospital at the time, told Business Insider.

She and her husband, Paul, an elementary school teacher, had enough money socked away from those earlier years of extra work that the pay cut "wasn't an immediate financial stress," she said. But the situation was becoming clear: She didn't want to keep relying solely on her physician's income.

Starting with what she knew

Tessmer-Tuck had long been interested in real estate as an investment, and 2020, with its historically low interest rates, presented an opportunity to get started.

After doing a deep dive into property investing — enrolling in a real estate course for physicians, reading books, listening to podcasts, and watching seminars — she decided to simplify the process as much as possible. That meant looking for a type of property she already knew how to buy: a single-family home.

Because she and her husband had already bought primary residences, Tessmer-Tuck felt she understood the basics: how to evaluate a house, secure a loan, and close. That made real estate investing, which can seem intimidating, feel much more manageable.

Next, they got specific about what they were looking for. They wanted to self-manage the property, so they focused on homes within a 20-minute drive of their own. They also knew they didn't want to take on a full gut renovation, but were comfortable doing cosmetic upgrades, so they targeted undervalued homes that needed some work.

With those criteria in mind, they used sites like Redfin and Zillow to scout listings and began attending open houses on weekends. Over the course of a few months, Tessmer-Tuck said they toured about 40 homes.

By December 2020, they had closed on their first rental. After completing a light rehab, they started renting it out and profiting.

The cash flow was "nothing crazy" at first, she said. "It was paying off the mortgage, and then we were getting a little bit of money every month."

Over the last five years, the couple's portfolio has grown from one single-family home to 16 properties, which Business Insider verified by reviewing closing documents. They bought a few more single-family homes using traditional financing before moving on to commercial loans and larger multifamily properties.

Their very first property has become a standout performer. After their original tenants moved out, they furnished it and turned it into a midterm rental, which has proven more lucrative than the long-term rental strategy. In 2025, the annual net cash flow was about $28,000, Tessmer-Tuck said.

"That house kind of ended up being the engine for the rest of the properties," she said.

The investments have given Tessmer-Tuck more flexibility in her work. She said she's been able to scale back her clinical schedule and now works two days a week as a physician. The added income and tax benefits from real estate have also made the couple feel more secure as they think about the future.

While the COVID-era pay cut was unsettling for her family's finances, "now, hitting bumps in the road is definitely not as big of a deal," she said.

For aspiring investors, Tessmer-Tuck advises keeping the first step simple.

"It would be okay to start like we started, with just buying a single-family home," she said. "It doesn't have to be a massive commercial building to start with. Start with something that feels comfortable."

• Consumers could soon face a second round of inflation from the Iran war that'll hit more than gas prices.
• Groceries, medicine, clothes, and more will be part of the second wave.
• It will be a "structural repricing of the American household budget," one strategist warned.

Consumers are in for a rude awakening from the what one expert is calling the second wave of inflation caused by the Iran war.

The impact of the war on consumers' wallets has been relatively limited, with inflationary pressures showing up in high gas prices and pricier flights. Market watchers warn that the relative economic calm won't last.

"The gas pump is only the opening act. The real household inflation hit comes later, hidden inside everyday products," Mark Malek, Siebert Financial CIO, said.

Goldman Sachs recently warned that there's an major inflationary pressure brewing in the global economy beyond the oil shock that has dominated headlines.

Petrochemicals, which are the foundation of plastics and other synthetic materials, are derived from oil and natural gases and make up a $5 trillion global market. The chemicals are found in more than 95% of finished products globally. Malek also flagged the role of oil-linked plastics in consumer goods.

"The second wave of inflation arrives with a lag. It shows up gradually in groceries, trash bags, prescriptions, airfare, and tighter monthly budgets," he explained.

Unlike oil futures, which surged at the onset of the war, these price jumps will take time to actually show up in retail prices.

"The cruelest part of the second wave is its timing. These increases do not all arrive on the same day. They trickle in," the strategist said.

"Each one, in isolation, feels manageable. Together, they represent a structural repricing of the American household budget," he warned.

Here's the products in your shopping cart that could be set to get more expensive in the coming months.

Groceries

Grocery shopping is set to get more expensive due to both the food itself and the packaging.

"Virtually everything in that cart arrives in plastic packaging. Think bottles, bags, trays, wraps, pouches, lids," Malek said, adding, "Polymer prices for the resins used in food packaging moved sharply higher in March and are expected to keep climbing through mid-year."

The strategist projected a conservative pass through rate of 4% due to increased plastic prices caused by petrochemical disruptions alone.

Goldman estimated a 3% increase in cost of goods sold for food and a 4% rise for beverages which will take three to nine months to feed through. This projection also only accounts for the impact of the chemicals, not raw materials, logistics and transport, energy, and other costs.

Beyond plastic, aluminum has also seen prices surge as the war disrupts supplies making foods and beverages packaged in cans more expensive.

The war is also expected to fuel inflation in food prices due to disruptions to the fertilizer supply chain due to the blockage in the Strait of Hormuz. This food inflation shock will also be delayed since it's impacting the spring planting season which is underway now.

Personal care and beauty

Personal care and household products are set to see a larger impact than food and beverages since they're all packaged in plastic containers.

Malek expects a 3% to 4% increase to personal care products as well as other household supplies that come in plastic packaging, like laundry detergent, cleaning products, and paper towels.

Products made of plastic with few alternative like trash bags will see the sharpest hike the strategist said.

Goldman calculated a 18% increase in cost of goods sold that will hit in the next three to nine months for personal care items.

Some products could see price hikes sooner as companies get ahead of increased costs.

For example, Unilever, the company behind brands like Dove and Vaseline, told investors it plans to do small price increases often to remain competitive as manufacturing costs rise.

Prescriptions and healthcare

Pharmacy and healthcare spending are exposed on multiple fronts to the inflationary pressures of the war in Iran.

"The adhesives in bandages, the coatings on pills, the plastic in blister packs, the bottles that hold every prescription in America: all petrochemical," Malek laid out.

Not only are prescription medications packaged in plastic, some of the materials themselves that go into pharmaceutical drugs are affected.

The global pharmaceutical trade has been hurt by the war time disruption to commercial shipping, especially since many drugs and pharmaceutical inputs have short shelves lives meaning shipping delays compromise quality.

The increased costs of prescriptions compound healthcare inflation already weighing on consumers.

Clothes and shoes

Shopping will be more expensive as the clothing industry adapts to the war in Iran.

Roughly 60% of all clothing is made from petroleum derived synthetic materials like polyester, nylon, and acrylic, according to the UN, which have been disrupted by the oil shock.

Goldman estimated a 15% jump in cost of goods sold for clothing which will hit retail prices in the next three to six months.

Shoes are even more reliant on petrochemicals than clothes.

Around 70% of materials in a synthetic shoe are petrochemical-based and approximately 30% of those material costs are directly tied to oil prices, analysis from the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America.

These price hikes could come at an especially inopportune time for consumers during the back to school shopping season.

• Samsung's latest AI-powered fridge can identify food, suggest recipes, and update Instacart lists.
• The tech company is weaving AI into more of its appliances, from fridges to ovens.
• The technology is meant to be an AI companion within its appliances.

Your refrigerator is becoming a personal shopper with artificial intelligence.

Samsung is rolling out a new wave of AI features that can recognize your voice, update your shopping list, and keep track of your ingredients. The company is trying to make the future once captured on the big screen a reality by allowing people to talk to their appliances.

The features coming to its new wave of appliances this year include software that can recognize food in your refrigerator, suggest recipes based on what's available, and add any missing ingredients to your Instacart shopping list.

The technology, called Vision AI, captures what's in your fridge so you don't have to manually track it, Michael McDermott, executive vice president of consumer electronics at Samsung, told Business Insider.

The updated refrigerator can identify specific foods, like a can of Coke, using a large language model and display them in a companion app on your phone, so you can check your supply at home while out grocery shopping.

The software update for Samsung's AI-powered fridge, the Bespoke AI Family Hub, was first unveiled at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. Many of its AI features are powered by Google Gemini. Google didn't respond to a request for comment.

These features come at a cost. The AI-powered fridge starts at $2,799, and the smart range starts at $1,349.

The more advanced AI features, like the food recognition improvements, are set to roll out in May.

Samsung's AI-powered oven comes with a camera that can recognize the dishes you place inside and recommend cooking time. It can also record video, for food influencers who want to see it cook up close.

Competitors like LG are also bringing AI into their appliances. LG said that its AI appliances are made to make everyday tasks easier by learning your habits and automating key functions.

Samsung also has its own virtual assistant, Bixby, that it's infusing into appliances. It aims to provide a companion that recognizes specific users for a more tailored experience, McDermott said.

Voice ID, for example, could customize calendars and reminders based on who is speaking.

The goal is to create technology that fades into the background while making your day easier, McDermott said.

• Amy Morin is a psychotherapist who became a widow at 26 years old.
• Using strategies to manage her grief, like the 10-minute rule, she overcame initial daily challenges.
• She shares three tips she used to manage her grief when she had to return to work.

I became a widow at 26. My husband died of a heart attack on the three-year anniversary of the day I lost my mom to a brain aneurysm. Showing up at work in the midst of my grief was one of the most difficult things I've ever done.

I was a psychotherapist. I knew about grief. But knowing about grief didn't make working through it any easier.

I only had two days of official bereavement time, but my physician diagnosed me with acute stress disorder (the precursor to PTSD). That allowed me to tap into short-term disability benefits for almost two months. But when that was up, I had to return to the office. I had a mortgage to pay and clients who were patiently waiting. All they knew was that I had a family emergency.

Those early days back at the office were especially rough, but the whole first year was hard. I was sad, but I had to concentrate. I was anxious, but I had to help other people with their anxiety. I was angry, but I had to stay calm. I was exhausted, but I had to show up.

If I learned anything from my emotional pain, it was that I didn't need to have everything figured out. I just needed to know what I could do right now to get through the next challenge — one step at a time.

I tried plenty of strategies to help me keep showing up and stay professional, even when my life was hard. The strategies I turned to during those early days — which I outline in a new book — not only helped me during my worst days but have helped me thrive as my career has expanded over the years.

Here are three of them.

1. Use the 10-minute rule to get started

The hardest part of a hard day is the beginning. Getting out of bed. Getting in the shower. Getting in the car. On the mornings I doubted if I could even get out the door, I made a deal with myself: just 10 minutes.

I'd spend 10 minutes getting ready. If at the end of the 10-minute mark, I lacked the energy to keep going, I'd quit and call in sick.

Once I started getting ready, I never quit. All I had to do was get over the hurdle of getting started.

Research on behavioral activation — an evidence-based treatment for depression — backs up the idea that engaging in action first can help shift how you feel. In multiple meta-analyses, simply getting people moving through scheduled activities produces significant improvement in mood.

The same trick works for any task you're dreading. Whether you're procrastinating on a report you need to write or struggling to tackle your inbox, commit to 10 minutes and give yourself permission to quit. Once you start, you'll likely be able to keep going.

2. Name what you're feeling before you walk into the room.

Before I walked into the office every day, I'd sit in my car for a minute and silently name what I was carrying. I feel sad. I feel anxious. I feel frustrated. As soon as I put a name to those emotions, I instantly felt a little better.

Naming an emotion is one of the most well-established tools in clinical psychology. Studies show that labeling your emotions reduces their intensity. When you put words to what you're feeling, brain activity shifts away from the regions that drive emotional reactivity and toward the regions that handle reasoning.

I couldn't make the grief go away, but I could name my specific emotion and get a little bit of relief. It also made me think more about how my emotions might affect my decisions that day. If I was sad, I knew to be on the lookout for tendencies to withdraw; if I was anxious, I knew I'd be tempted to shy away from new opportunities. Just knowing those things gave me confidence that I could counter the tendency to let my emotions cloud my judgment.

3. Schedule time to worry so it doesn't flood the workday.

There were a lot of things on my mind during that time in my life. How was I going to pay the bills? What if that noise the furnace is making means it's about to quit? How am I going to get the snow cleared off my roof?

Telling myself not to worry didn't help. So I gave myself 30 minutes at the end of the workday to worry on purpose. When a worry showed up at 10 a.m., I'd tell myself, It's not time to worry about that yet. I'll worry about that later. Then I'd get back to the client in front of me.

This was a strategy I've taught my anxious clients for years. A 2013 study found that people who scheduled a specific 30-minute "worry time" experienced significant decreases in anxiety, less worry, and significantly better sleep. It works because you're not suppressing the worry — you're telling your brain you'll get to it later. Once your brain trusts you're going to address it, it no longer feels the need to keep pinging you about it all day long.

This was one of the most helpful things I did for myself during that stressful time when so many things felt outside my control. Scheduling time to worry about everything helped me stay focused on my clients throughout the day.

What I learned

Showing up at work on your hardest days isn't about feeling strong. It's about having tools that work when you need to hold it together. After all, it's during the hardest times in life — like when you're going through a divorce or an illness — that you often need the pay and the benefits the most.

I certainly didn't feel strong when I had to go back to work. But knowing I had strategies up my sleeve for when I felt like crying at my desk or lacked motivation gave me the confidence I needed to keep showing up. And 20 years later, these are the tools I still reach for — and the ones I share with my clients who are going through their hardest times.

• In today's AI-flooded job market, it can feel harder than ever to land a role.
• Kristina Simmons, a Khosla Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz alum, shares how to stand out.
• Simmons said AI can help candidates with job research, but it shouldn't do everything for them.

AI is rapidly transforming how we apply for jobs. Now that applicants can use the technology to tailor their résumés, mass-apply to hundreds of roles, and bluff their way through an interview, it can feel harder than ever to stand out.

Kristina Simmons, who was a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, then a chief of staff at Vinod Khosla's VC firm Khosla Ventures, and who now runs her own firm, Overwater Ventures, cautioned against relying too much on AI when job hunting.

When she's hiring and interviewing candidates, she looks for people who communicate from the heart. "You can't fake heart. You can't fake grit," she told Business Insider.

Here's how Simmons says candidates can stand out in today's AI-flooded job market.

Become visible to potential employers

If you want a job at a company and the CEO is speaking at an event, going in person and introducing yourself is one way to stand out in a crowded job market, Simmons said. Tell the CEO what role you applied for and why you're interested in it.

Alternatively, if the CEO is on X, one tactic could be replying to one of their posts with an interesting point of view. "Get them to want you, versus the other way around," she said.

Use the tools you have

Simmons is a big believer in using the tools at our disposal — including AI — for a job search.

Simmons said that had AI been around back when she interviewed for A16z, she would've used it to look into the company and the person interviewing her.

She also said AI could help you "chart your course" into the field you want to work in. For example, you could ask it what the most interesting companies are in women's health, allowing it to guide your research into entering that industry.

Use AI to be creative

Candidates could also use AI to make something creative much faster, like a beautifully designed deck about why they're a great candidate.

Or they could come up with interesting ideas about how they'd use AI in the role. "I had a candidate who wanted to join Overwater, and they said, 'Hey, this is how I would use AI across your firm. This is me doing the job before I have it,' and that was an interesting way to use new tools to pitch that they should get a job," Simmons said.

That said, you shouldn't use AI for everything, especially as far as the interview is concerned, Simmons said

"The best part of interviewing is to see that a person is human, and you can't use technology to do that. That shows up in the passion in your interview, the energy that you bring, the tone in which you have the interview. You can't fake that," she said.

Do you have a story to share about your AI-powered job search? Contact this reporter at ccheong@businessinsider.com

• Nursing is among the professions often viewed as insulated from AI's disruption.
• A new report says that AI is starting to change how many nurses work, especially on gig-work apps.
• Apps like ShiftKey and Clipboard Health use AI to manage nurses' schedules and pay.

Nursing is among the professions viewed as least at risk from AI disruption. Not so, says a new report.

The profession is being affected by artificial intelligence, as apps such as Clipboard Health and ShiftKey, where nurses can claim shifts as gig workers, grow, according to an April report by the AI Now Institute, a nonprofit group that researches AI's impacts on society

The apps, which have raised funding over the last few years, use automated systems to match nurses and healthcare establishments, including setting pay rates and monitoring performance metrics.

The apps show that AI's impact on jobs isn't limited to ones where the tech might entirely replace people, said Katie Wells, a senior fellow at the AI Now Institute.

"This is my attempt to push back on the displacement debates," Wells, one of the report's authors, told Business Insider.

Nurses, whose jobs often require physical work, specialized knowledge, and quick thinking when someone's health is on the line, aren't as likely to be immediately displaced by AI as people in other professions might be, according to the report, titled "Uber for Nursing: Part II."

People need healthcare in good economies and bad ones. And the need for nurses is expected to grow as the US population ages. That's led some to point to nursing as a relatively secure job option, especially as AI upends careers in other sectors, such as tech.

Still, the gig-work apps for nursing share parallels with Uber and other established gig-work apps, Wells said. For both groups of apps, algorithms play a prominent role in how users work, from determining pay to handling potential account deactivations, she said.

The report cites one nurse in Georgia, for example, who has used a gig-work nursing app and worked for DoorDash and Uber Eats. The nurse pointed to similarities between the nursing and delivery apps, such as automated systems that screened her applications and pay determined by algorithms.

These apps are gaining traction in part because, like Uber, they offer more flexibility than traditional nursing roles. Nurses can claim one shift at a time, for example. Ride-hailing and delivery drivers often cite flexibility as a benefit of working for apps like Uber.

There have been drawbacks to gig-work apps, too. Many gig workers say they face unpredictable pay rates and declining earnings over time.

The nursing apps could pose similar risks by using AI to manage nurses, AI Now's report said.

Clipboard Health and ShiftKey did not respond to requests for comment.

The apps "reflect a broader turn towards AI in the healthcare industry writ large, as AI systems increasingly mediate the relationship between workers and employers, giving those who control employment decisions more centralized power," the report said.

Do you have a story to share about Uber, DoorDash, or another gig app? Contact this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Cepia Harper recieved $850 a month for two years from an Atlanta basic income program.
• She earned a teaching certification and built savings, but is back to working multiple jobs.
• US cities have run hundreds of programs offering no-strings-attached cash to low-income families.

Cepia Harper starts her day at dawn, commuting to her job as a middle school teacher in Atlanta's morning rush. After lecturing about thesis statements, the 43-year-old grades papers, tidies up her classroom, then clocks into her second shift selling sneakers at Nike from about 6 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The two roles keep Harper financially afloat, especially after her guaranteed basic income program ended two years ago. She was part of Atlanta's cohort of 650 low-income Black women who received $20,400 cash between 2022 and 2024, no strings attached. While the extra money allowed her to build savings and earn a new teaching certification, paying her monthly bills is still a challenge.

Business Insider first spoke with Harper in the summer of 2024. At the time, the single mom of three had begun teaching full time and felt stable enough to quit her part-time retail gigs. Now, she's back to working multiple jobs — but she said life feels much more stable.

"Before basic income, I was pretty much homeless," Harper said in April. "I was able to get a new apartment, substitute teach, and pay my rent because I had that extra income. Later, it led me to get a bigger apartment, and land an even better job."

Over the past decade, cities across America have run hundreds of basic income pilots. Advocates see payments as a potential solution for poverty or a supplement to existing social safety nets like SNAP and Section 8. Tech leaders have even suggested no-strings-attached cash as a means to support the white-collar workforce as AI reshapes the job market. Dozens of families told Business Insider they used the money to afford childcare, pay household bills, fund higher education, and pay off debt.

Most of these pilots study participants' lives immediately before, during, and directly after receiving basic income. Data on the effects of cash aid years later is more limited.

Harper is back to working multiple jobs, but feels more confident in her financial future

Harper qualified for the In Her Hands program — run through nonprofits The Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund and GiveDirectly — because her household income was below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is about $64,000 annually for a family of four. She said the monthly payments of $850 helped her move out of a family member's home and secure her own place. It also helped her afford groceries and activities for her children without stress.

Previous to the program, she had been cobbling together several retail gigs to make ends meet. Her packed schedule and intense hours were hard on the family.

"I've never had it where I could just go home to my own kids, pick them up from practice," she told Business Insider in 2024. "They all play sports, and I could never leave work to go to a game."

Business Insider has heard from dozens of participants across the US who used cash payments to boost their careers. Some working or single parents said that being able to afford childcare allowed them to work toward promotions. Others said they were able to drop multiple, lower-paying roles for one higher-paying full-time job. In Her Hands participants, for example, worked fewer hours but were less likely to be unemployed than the control group.

Harper's story is similar. While she returned to a part-time retail job at Nike last summer — she only needs to work a few nights and some weekend shifts — adding up to about 20 hours a week, to supplement her teaching income. The schedule is predictable. Her two oldest kids are now college age, and her youngest is in high school. For Harper, being able to drop her 17-year-old off at school, attend their events, and eat meals together has been a welcome effect of basic income, even years later.

Since her cash payments stopped, Harper's experience has been mixed. She has faced some short-term setbacks: She was in a bad car accident last year and the cost of a new vehicle is a main reason why she's back working a second job. She is also living with a relative again, which she said is not because of money, but because of an unexpected logistical issue with her previous landlord. Harper hopes to find a new apartment soon.

For the future, however, Harper is feeling more confident than she has in a long time. Because she was able to earn additional teaching credentials, she said her earnings from teaching are thousands of dollars higher than in 2022. She has been able to start saving for emergencies and retirement, as well as help pay for her kids' college visits and prom. Harper said she has also been hired as a temporary consultant for a few different nonprofits, helping them craft basic income programs from a participant perspective. Making the system better for the next person gives her a sense of purpose.

"If you're a person like me — no child support, no food stamps — that money is going to a good cause," she said. "That money helped me get my daughter to college, it helped me keep my kids out of trouble. It's not just a hand out. It can change a person's life."

• In Y Combinator's "Startup School," partner Diana Hu advocated for startups to begin tokenmaxxing.
• "Maximizing token usage, not head count, will be the critical shift," Hu said.
• Tokens measure spending on AI compute. Hu said founders need to be willing to run an "uncomfortably high API bill."

Tokenmaxxing isn't just a trend; it's bona fide advice from Silicon Valley's leading startup accelerator.

In a new episode of Y Combinator's "Startup School," partner Diana Hu instructs founders how to build an AI-native company. Hu was a YC-backed founder herself, building augmented reality company Escher Reality, which was acquired by Niantic.

"Maximizing token usage, not head count, will be the critical shift," Hu said. "The best companies will be the ones that are tokenmaxxing."

Tokens measure the cost of AI computing. The more tokens spent, the more an individual employee or developer has used their AI tools. (Importantly, more tokens doesn't necessarily more impact.) Some companies have built token leaderboards or incentivized tokenmaxxing, the process of spending as many tokens as possible.

Business Insider asked startup leaders about the trend. Some said that tokenmaxxing was a no-brainer; others said that it didn't make sense at their size.

Hu, like her boss Garry Tan, is an unabashed proponent. She described the "tradeoff" between labor and token spending.

"One person with AI tools can be the equivalent of what used to take a large engineering team at a pre-AI company," Hu said. "That means dramatically leaner engineering, design, HR, and admin teams."

Startup founders should "be willing to run an uncomfortably high API bill because it's replacing what would have taken a far more expensive and inflated head count," Hu said.

While Y Combinator's advice to startups may not translate to larger companies (though there are plenty of VCs and voices in the tech world that would argue it should), the instructional video offers an interesting look at the operational values being instilled in the next generation of up-and-coming CEOs.

Hu also voiced support for a three-pronged employee base. There are individual contributors (who build things), the directly responsible individual (who focuses on strategy), and the AI founder (who leads while still building).

It's a similar structure to Jack Dorsey's redesign of Block, his payment processing company. After laying off about 40% of staff, Dorsey announced a new, three-pronged structure to turn Block into a "mini-AGI."

Founders must try the tools for themselves, too. Hu said that leaders should not "outsource" their belief in these AI tools.

"You need to develop it yourself by actually sitting with coding agents and using them until you start to break your own priors about what is now possible to build," Hu said.

• AI labs are recruiting philosophers to shape how chatbots think and behave.
• The idea is to train AI to essentially be good and align with human values.
• But critics warn that some of these hires may be more about optics than influence.

For years, philosophy majors were the butt of jokes about unemployable degrees.

Now, some of them are being recruited by the world's most powerful AI companies to help shape how machines think and behave — with six-figure salary packages.

As AI systems become more powerful and more embedded in everyday life, companies are increasingly grappling with questions around how these systems should behave, what values they reflect, and how much they can be trusted.

That's creating a niche but growing demand for people trained to think through those problems, including philosophers.

"This is definitely a growing trend," future of work expert Ravin Jesuthasan told Business Insider.

"Scrutiny of AI and the decisions it makes/enables is increasing daily, and these roles are pivotal for addressing this challenge," he added.

Small but mighty

A small but growing group of philosophers is already embedded inside AI labs.

Amanda Askell, who has a Ph.D. in philosophy from NYU, is Anthropic's resident philosopher. She writes on her website that her team's role is to train Anthropic's chatbot, Claude, to be more honest and to develop better character traits — essentially, to be good.

Iason Gabriel, who previously taught moral and political philosophy at Oxford University, is Google DeepMind's in-house philosopher and research scientist. He focuses on the ethics of AI and ensuring that AI systems are aligned with human values and goals.

Henry Shevlin, an AI ethicist and professor at the University of Cambridge, is also set to join DeepMind as a philosopher in May.

Workplace experts and recruiters say the shift is real but still early.

"Over the last few months, I have seen more conversation in the market around AI companies hiring people into roles aligned with a philosophy background," Ben Eubanks, chief research officer at human capital advisory firm Lighthouse Research & Advisory, told Business Insider.

He said that the evidence remains largely anecdotal and that the number of roles is still too small to show up clearly in job market data.

Firas Sozan, CEO of Harrison Clarke, a specialized search and venture firm focused on talent in cloud, data, and AI for VC-backed startups, said the hiring push is being driven by a broader concern inside the industry: how much users, businesses, and governments can trust AI systems.

"As AI has grown, there's been a natural emphasis on trust — how do we build layers of governance that allow us to control the technology in a more human way," he told Business Insider.

Still, Sozan cautioned against overstating the trend.

"I wouldn't say it's a trend yet," he said. "The data is still embryonic."

Shaping the AI model

The appeal of philosophers is straightforward.

AI systems have already shown they produce harmful outputs, or behave in unpredictable ways — from coding agents deleting production databases and fabricating results to models attempting blackmail or sabotaging shutdown efforts — raising pressure on companies to ensure they are safe and aligned with human values.

"AI companies now hire them because not all AI development problems are technical," said Annette Zimmermann, an assistant philosophy professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Defining complex concepts and defending value-based arguments are central to AI, and philosophers are trained to do exactly that."

While safety and ethics roles have existed in tech for years, the work is changing.

"Prior corporate ethicists were advisory," said Susanna Schellenberg, a philosophy professor at Rutgers University. "The work at frontier AI labs is different because philosophers help shape the object itself."

Their work now includes writing model specifications, constitutions, and behavioral policies — tasks that Schellenberg said directly shape the AI model, not just comment on it.

From theory to high-paying jobs

The median wage for a philosophy major early in their career was $52,000 and about $80,000 mid-career, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's latest report on labor-market outcomes of college graduates. These median salaries are in line with those of other humanities graduates.

At the top end, AI ethics, safety, and governance roles can command base salaries ranging from $250,000 to $400,000, driven by intense competition for talent, Sozan said.

Some of those roles are already emerging across the industry, but they're often senior and highly specialized.

Blackbaud, for example, is hiring an AI governance specialist with a base pay range of $117,200 to $157,500. The job description calls for expertise in ethics, including candidates with a background in philosophy.

Google DeepMind, meanwhile, is hiring an emerging impacts manager in AI ethics and safety with a base salary of $212,000 to $231,000. It requires at least 5 years of experience in AI ethics and safety within a governance, policy, legal, or research role.

A handful of more junior roles are starting to appear. Sony Research, for instance, recently advertised an AI ethics internship focused on evaluation, guardrails, and responsible AI. The job description calls for candidates pursuing degrees in socio-technical AI, such as ethics and philosophy.

Still, the jobs remain rare. Jesuthasan estimates that most companies are hiring fewer than 10 people into these roles.

Skepticism and limits

The rise of philosophers in AI has been described as a kind of "revenge of the humanities," as companies rediscover the value of critical thinking and ethical reasoning in an AI-driven world.

But not everyone is convinced the shift will yield tangible changes.

About a decade ago, several tech companies set up AI ethics boards and advisory groups to guide how the technology was developed, including Google's internal ethics board tied to its 2014 DeepMind acquisition and Microsoft's Aether committee, created in 2017 to oversee AI research.

Companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and IBM also launched the Partnership on AI in 2016 to address the social and ethical implications of technology.

"What we found is that those boards were often figureheads," Eubanks said, adding that companies often prioritized commercialization over ethical concerns.

Deborah Johnson, a pioneer in computer ethics, said companies may be more interested in signaling responsibility than embracing it.

"My cynical view would be that tech companies just want to 'look' like they are addressing ethics," she said.

Johnson said that the pressures driving AI development, such as speed, competition, and profit, may limit the influence philosophers actually have.

"They are under pressure to get things out quickly," she said. "Taking ethical considerations into account will slow them down."

"Whether they have ethicists or not, I doubt they will listen to anything that will slow them down," she added.

• Ukraine shared a video of drone pilots training with "Grand Theft Auto V."
• The experience doesn't replace real training, but is a good way to relax, officials said.
• Gamers have skills that make them ideal candidates for being drone pilots.

When they're not flying real first-person-view drones, some Ukrainian pilots are training inside "Grand Theft Auto V."

Ukraine has often leveraged video games and simulators to train pilots, helping them build the hand-eye coordination needed for flying FPV drones. The crossover of skillsets has even made gamers ideal candidates for drone pilot jobs. See, mom? Playing video games isn't a waste of time.

Ukraine's defense ministry shared a post showing off training, asking, "Are there any GTA fans here?" Yes, many, but they're trying to figure out if their gaming PC is going to be able to run "Grand Theft Auto VI."

The video shows a pilot flying inside GTA 5 using a drone controller, flying a bomb into vehicles driving on the highway. "It is noted that this is not a replacement for real training, but a great way to relax," Ukraine's defense ministry said in the video.

Ukraine's new pilots go through training at drone schools across the country, learning the ropes in what's become a pivotal role in the war: flying drones that scout Russian positions and movements, strike targets, and blow up tanks and troops.

School leaders recently told Business Insider that the best and brightest students are ones with gaming experience. They've played video games for years, are familiar with controllers and joysticks, and have the hand-eye coordination to match their movements and orientation with what they're seeing on the screen or in goggles.

The benefits of enlisting younger gamers as drone pilots has been noted by Ukraine's drone units as well. In the military's special drone unit, Typhoon, operators are already familiar with equipment like headsets, goggles, and controllers. Gaming has given them better decision-making skills and fast reflexes.

There's even a video game, "Death From Above," that puts players in the position of a Ukrainian FPV drone pilot, prompting the user to fly through the battlefield, find and target enemies, and drop bombs. Anyone can play "Death From Above, which was released in 2024.

While gaming skills can make good pilots, they're not the only things operators need. Pilots also need to have a strong understanding of drone flight and how they can maneuver on their missions. Operators with technical skills gained from engineering are able to tinker with drones, fix them in the field, and build them for specific missions.

And the realities of drone warfare, Ukraine has noted, have life-or-death consequences. There's no restart button when an operator is hit by an enemy drone.

• Sam Altman said he plans to throw a launch party for OpenAI's latest AI model, GPT-5.5.
• He asked the model what it would want for its own celebration — and it gave detailed suggestions.
• Altman said the interaction and answers felt "strange," but he's going to do it.

Sam Altman asked a new model powering ChatGPT what it wants at its party.

Speaking during a fireside chat at Stripe Sessions, the OpenAI CEO described asking GPT-5.5 what it would want for a debut party.

The AI model responded with "a beautiful set of things" it wanted for "the flow of the party," he said, including holding the event on May 5, keeping speeches short, and having its human creators deliver a toast (the AI emphasized it did not want to give a toast itself).

GPT-5.5 also proposed setting up a central place to gather suggestions for GPT 5.6 — and feeding those suggestions back into the model.

"We're going to do it," Altman said. "But it was a strange thing."

He wasn't alone. John Collison, the CEO of the payment processing company, Stripe, said he gave his company's internal agent $20 to spend on anything it wanted on the internet. He said it bought itself an HTTP design from the e-commerce design platform, Gumroad.

"Wow," Altman said in response.

GPT-5.5, released in late April, is OpenAI's latest flagship model. The company says it's designed to handle more complex, multi-step tasks and act more like an autonomous assistant than earlier versions. It's also marketed as generally faster and better at maintaining knowledge about the user.

Those capabilities are already changing how people interact with AI, Altman suggested — from automating work to, in this case, asking a model how it would like to be celebrated.

Altman's party anecdote came after a broader discussion about how increasingly capable AI systems can behave in ways that feel unexpectedly human, including asking for gifts and wanting to buy new tools online. He described such interactions as a "weird emergent behavior."

"There are these things that feel a little strange," he said.

Speaking of strange, OpenAI and Sam Altman have recently jumped into the internet meme conversation about their previous models' obsession with goblins and gremlins. Starting in GPT-5.1, the AI apparently loved to randomly talk about fantastical creatures, leading the company to add multiple lines of coding instructions, directing the system not to mention them unless absolutely relevant to the user's prompt.

"Never talk about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless it is absolutely and unambiguously relevant to the user's query," the source code reads.

On April 27, more than 600 Google employees signed a letter urging CEO Sundar Pichai to prevent the Pentagon from using the company's AI products for classified operations.

Google had spent the previous months building a closer relationship with the US Defense Department after a few frosty years. In 2018, more than 4,000 Googlers sent a letter imploring Pichai to cancel Project Maven, a contract that used Google's AI to analyze drone footage. Google chose not to renew the contract, and drew up a set of company-wide principles that included a pledge not to use its AI for military or surveillance.

The language in the two employee letters — sent eight years apart — was strikingly similar. Both, in six paragraphs, warned of "irreparable damage" to Google's reputation. Both argued that Google would ultimately not be able to control how the Pentagon uses the technology. "We believe that Google should not be in the business of war," the 2018 letter began. "We want to see AI benefit humanity; not to see it being used in inhumane or extremely harmful ways," employees wrote in the letter this past week.

This time, Googlers received a different response, one that marked just how much has changed at the company and across Silicon Valley in the past few years. Google had gone ahead and signed the deal.

Defense is no longer a boogeyman in the tech industry. As the second Trump administration raises defense spending to modernize warfare, tech companies vying for artificial intelligence dominance are clamoring for lucrative government contracts that may define AI's winners and losers. Last year, Google removed its pledge to not use AI for weapons; the company has since ramped up contracts for its AI and cloud products with the Defense and Homeland Security departments and with several governments of US allies. "This is an area we're going to be leaning more into. We're talking with governments about their national security concerns," Tom Lue, Google DeepMind's VP of global affairs, told staff at a town hall in January. On Friday, the Defense Department announced that, in addition to Google, it had completed agreements with six tech companies — Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, SpaceX, and startup Reflection AI — to use their AI for classified projects.

"We are proud to be part of a broad consortium of leading AI labs and technology and cloud companies providing AI services and infrastructure in support of national security," a Google spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider. "We remain committed to the private and public sector consensus that AI should not be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weaponry without appropriate human oversight."

As Google aims to keep pace in the military race, employees say it's grown more militant toward dissent.

Internally, the company has clamped down on political discussions by banning the use of certain topics and words among its workforce in internal message boards, including "ICE" and "genocide." Staff say the freewheeling culture that once defined "Googliness" is long gone as leaders have attempted to quell employee activism.

While many employees approve of the company's embrace of national security — just 600 of the company's nearly 195,000 employees signed the most recent letter — some Googlers say they feel both more vigilant and less powerful to question leadership.

"It's a shame that one of the biggest and brightest tech companies avoided having an honest discussion about this," Andreas Kirsch, a senior researcher at Google DeepMind, tells Business Insider of the company's decision to sign the Pentagon contract this week. He also posted to X: "I personally feel incredibly ashamed right now to be Senior Research Scientist at Google DeepMind."

"If we want to be an ethical company, transparency is a huge part of that," says Varden Wang, an AI engineer at Google. "I would like to see stronger defining principles. For leaders to say: This is what the company values and believes in."

In 2018, Google was perhaps the last Silicon Valley company that still carried the weight of its own mythology. To work at Google was to exhibit ideals of "Googliness." Employees were encouraged to speak up when they were unhappy. Staff would discuss sometimes prickly political topics in email lists. And there was the most sacred mantra: Don't be evil.

"No other company was as high on its own ability to solve the world's problems," says Claire Stapleton, who worked at Google from 2007 to 2019 and was a key organizer of the 2018 employee walkouts over the company's handling of sexual harassment cases.

Pichai and Google cofounder Sergey Brin criticized policies of the first Trump administration. Brin, who called Trump's 2016 election "deeply offensive," was seen protesting Trump's travel ban at San Francisco International Airport in 2017. (In Trump's second term, both men have attended White House dinners, during one of which Trump talked about Brin's "MAGA girlfriend.")

The end of the last decade was a demarcation point at Google. The workforce was riled by internal fracas, including over Project Maven, concerns over a search engine that Google was secretly building for China, and accusations that a senior executive's sexual misconduct had been swept under the rug. In 2018, around 20,000 Googlers walked out following a New York Times report that Google had given Android leader Andy Rubin a $90 million exit package after finding sexual misconduct claims against him to be credible (Rubin denied the allegations). Leadership encouraged the protest. "Sundar sent an email before the walkout saying if you want to participate in this, go for it," says Stapleton.

Soon after, Google's culture of openness began to close. In 2019 — the same year founders Brin and Larry Page stepped away from the company — Google banned political discussions on internal forums and mailing lists, which are now flagged by what is known as the Internal Community Management Team (ICMT). Today, topics such as ICE are off limits, and two employees said that describing the Gaza conflict as a "genocide" is forbidden.

"All throughout last year, we had this tension with the moderation team because we're not allowed to use the word genocide because it's distressing and political, which makes it a little difficult to talk about the implications of your software," says Matthew Tschiegg, a software engineer at Google since 2014.

In an email circulated among an employee resource group in January, employees said their ability to speak openly about hot-button issues was being "increasingly undermined" by Google's internal moderation policies.

"I think we are at a critical point in Google's history," read the email. "Leadership is testing increasingly stringent policing of speech. By not speaking about it we are giving in to a culture of fear which makes it even more difficult for Googlers to 'do the right thing' and 'challenge the status quo'."

Company all-hands events — where employees once would gather over IPAs, discuss the week's achievements, and throw hardballs at leaders — are now more sanitized and filled with corporate speak, employees say. Questions submitted by staff at some of the larger town halls, such as the company's once-weekly, now-monthly "TGIF," are now often summarized using an AI tool, which has a habit of sanding down the edges of more confrontational submissions. One employee said there was recently a question submitted about Google's work with ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of War; at the town hall, the question had been reframed to ask about Google's work with government agencies in general. A Google spokesperson said that the tool can produce AI summarizations when there are a number of similar questions, which allows leaders to address more topics. They said that they've seen Googlers asking more questions since introducing the feature.

An internal document for the AI tool, which was codenamed "Project Saturday" and now named "Ask", states that moderators are also able to reword the text of the questions. Several employees pointed to this as an example of how Google has curbed open speech internally.

"There's been a huge shift where people are relying on external reporting to understand how their work is used," said a Google DeepMind employee.

Several other Google employees echoed that they're increasingly relying on news reporting to learn about internal projects. One particularly volatile flashpoint cited was Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion Google and Amazon deal signed in 2021 to supply the Israeli government with cloud services. After the war in Gaza broke out in 2023, some employees became concerned over how the company might be aiding Israel's military. The tensions came to a head in 2024 when Google fired 50 employees over a sit-in protest.

Tschiegg says a lot of Google employees got re-engaged with activism because of Project Nimbus. "Workers who had been around a long time and believed in that 'don't be evil' motto perceived a lot of potential for violence and misery to come from that contract," he says.

Google says these contracts involve administrative workloads and not its AI being used for military or surveillance purposes. Some inside the company worry that Google might not ultimately be able to enforce those red lines. Last year, The Intercept reported that internal documents showed Google executives acknowledging they would be unable to fully monitor or control how the Israeli government used its technology. Earlier this year, The Washington Post reported a story about a whistleblower who claimed that Google had assisted the Israel Defence Forces in improving its AI's reliability in identifying objects such as drones and soldiers.

"There are so many unanswered questions," says Alex, a software engineer at Google who requested he only be referred to by his first name. He said there had still not been any transparency on Google's work with the Israeli government. "Project Nimbus was signed in 2021 and we only learned about military applications from news sources."

Google's willingness to engage with classified Pentagon work caught some employees in its AI division by surprise. Leaders at DeepMind, the AI lab Google acquired in 2014, were once so worried about such a scenario that they tried — and failed — to create a firewall that would prevent Google using its technology for surveillance or autonomous weapons.

In February, amid a standoff between Anthropic and the Pentagon, more than 100 Google employees working on AI, including some in DeepMind, sent a letter to Jeff Dean, a chief scientist at the company, opposing the use of Google's Gemini for the very applications DeepMind had once feared.

Following news this week that Google had signed a deal with the Pentagon for classified operations, some employees across the company proposed a strike action, but paused for fear of possible retaliation, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Those fears have compounded as layoffs are now the norm across the tech industry. Google cut 12,000 employees in 2023 and has since made numerous cuts across the company. "There's less worker security, the external job landscape is different," says one Google DeepMind employee. Another tells me, "Employee leverage is just a little less clear."

Tshiegg said there has been an effort among organizing employees to communicate with their peers at Amazon, Microsoft, and other tech companies. "We're trying to put our heads together on how to meet this moment. Because frankly, there's a real and impending sense of doom for folks working on these AI tools," he said.

Others are taking a more pragmatic view about tech's relationship with the Pentagon. "In today's world I don't see how an American company can avoid working with the US DOD, independent of what some of its employees feel," says Caesar Sengupta, a vice president at Google from 2009 to 2021. "Whether it is good or bad is a second order point. At the end of the day companies are subject to the pressure of the country they are domiciled in."

On Wednesday, two days after employees made their unsuccessful plea to leadership, Google reported its first-quarter financials. Pichai said AI was "lighting up every part of the business." Anat Ashkenazi, the company's chief financial officer, reeled off the numbers of another blockbuster quarter where profit jumped 81%. The Pentagon contract went unmentioned.

Ashkenazi signed off her prepared statement: "I want to take this opportunity to thank our employees for their contribution to our performance."

Hugh Langley is a senior correspondent at Business Insider where he writes about Google, tech, and wealth.

• Lindsey Hall read her boyfriend's ChatGPT history, which expressed doubts about their relationship.
• She said she couldn't get over reading his unfiltered thoughts about her.
• Her essay about it got backlash online and sparked debate about using AI as an emotional outlet.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Lindsey Hall, a writer and public relations consultant who wrote a viral Substack essay about breaking up with her partner after reading his ChatGPT history. This story had been edited for length and clarity.

I was working late at my boyfriend's house when I grabbed his laptop to use ChatGPT to finish up an email. When I opened it, I looked to the left at the past chats and saw one that said "Relationship issues and uncertainty."

That is verbatim what I saw. So I clicked on it. He was literally dead asleep on my shoulder while I was scrolling through it.

I knew he hated that I had three cats, so I thought that was the reigning conflict of our relationship. I also knew he didn't like some of my past — that I lived in a van, was a nomad, and had a bit of the crunchy, granola lifestyle — but I wasn't aware of the depths to which he didn't like it.

The chat was more negative and judgmental, even a character assassination to some degree, than what I had expected. I really hadn't expected it to be about my physical attraction. That blindsided me. Ultimately, the words I could never really get past that he had written were "I'm just not proud of her… I'm just not proud of her."

ChatGPT essentially responded by saying he should consider ending it. And I don't blame ChatGPT for saying that.

The chat started with "Should I be in love after three and a half months?" And we had been dating about five months when I read it. It's so adrenaline-rushing and so traumatic to see that unfiltered view of yourself through the eyes of someone you think cares about you.

My fight-or-flight response is usually flight, so I left while he was still asleep. He ended up on my doorstep at two in the morning, being like, "What is going on?" I told him, and he knew exactly what I was talking about. He was super apologetic and felt horrible. He said he didn't mean all of it and was only ruminating.

We stayed together another two or three months. I really wanted to get over it, and I tried. I really did. But everything changed after that.

I'm wary of using AI as an emotional outlet

I'm not 100% against AI. I just think using it for work is different than flooding it with your emotional needs.

I knew from the beginning of our relationship that he was already using ChatGPT to some degree, because I could tell some of his texts to me were generated by it. I asked him what made him want to be with me, and the response was so cold, so formal, so ChatGPT.

I just remember being so turned off by that. I figured "to each their own," but it didn't feel genuine. My feeling was, "You couldn't think of five genuine things to say to me?" You're outsourcing thinking emotionally to an LLM, in my opinion.

I had never thought to use AI in that way. I have a therapist and friends I can talk to. After reading his chat, I went through a weird one to two-week period where I started using AI to try to make sense of my feelings about the whole situation.

Then I went back to my journals. I don't trust robots, so I don't trust what an LLM is telling me, so it kind of scared me a little bit. And I really didn't want to become dependent on it.

I worry that chatbots will keep feeding you what you want to hear. I feel like that's what happened with my ex. He was feeding it all this negative stuff about me, none of it was positive, so of course, the conclusion was going to be "you should leave her." And I feel like that's ultimately what he wanted to hear.

I don't think he knew what he felt, and he was unfortunately going to ChatGPT trying to figure it out.

I don't think that he's a terrible person for having thought these things. It's just that I saw them.

I don't regret reading it despite the backlash I got

I had no idea my Substack post about it would trigger so much commentary. I've gotten so much criticism from the manosphere for invading his privacy, which is fine. Yes, I did. I admit that. A lot of women, on the other hand, have said, "This isn't a guy who's questioning how much he loves you. This is a guy who barely tolerates you."

It's also predominantly women who are the ones saying, "It's pathetic to use AI for this kind of stuff. Why can't men just figure it out?" While men have responded, "Because we don't have anyone to talk to." It seems men are increasingly using ChatGPT as an emotional outlet.

I understood some points for advocating the use of AI like this. Therapy in this country is expensive, and not everyone can afford it. Who's to say that you have a good therapist? But if you use AI like this, I think you have to use it with discernment.

I don't necessarily regret reading my ex's chat, because I don't think we ultimately would've lasted anyway. I think I would've stayed far longer than either of us should have, and we would've broken up eventually, and I would've ended up back at square one.

I hope it doesn't happen to many people, but I'm sure it's happening more and more.

Do you have a story to share about how AI is affecting your relationship, or how you or your partner are using AI chatbots? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@businessinsider.com.

Teachers deserve love all 365 days of the year, but Teacher Appreciation Week is an annual reminder to thank the educator in your life. Luckily, tons of brands feel the same way and offer special coupons and discounts for qualified teachers.

Online teacher discounts require verification, usually through platforms like ID.me or SheerID. These ask for details such as your email address and your school of employment to confirm your status. They've been the trusted standard for years, and I've used them myself as a student when scoring exclusive discounts.

Keep scrolling to find some of the best Teacher Appreciation Week discounts, from big apparel brands to school supply must-haves.

Teacher Appreciation Week FAQs

When is Teacher Appreciation Week 2026?

This year, Teacher Appreciation Week runs from May 4 to 8. Some of the above promotions will end after then, but many carry on through the year.

How is teacher status verified for educator discounts?

Verification varies by retailer. In-person, stores often ask for proof of employment, so a school ID will work. Online, several stores use SheerID and ID.me, verification platforms that usually just take your school-specific email to grant you access to the discounts.

What is SheerID?

SheerID is a way for retailers to verify your status as a teacher or student. Typically, this requires your school-issued email. After years of seeing it used by the largest companies and using it ourselves, it's safe. Just be sure to provide your information only when strictly requested, and only follow links issued by the store you're shopping with.

For the latest buying advice updates, follow us on Instagram and WhatsApp

Not a teacher? Check out our guides to the best Madewell coupons, Peacock promo codes, and Skillshare coupons.

• Sam Altman is throwing a party to celebrate OpenAI's GPT-5.5.
• Altman said Elon Musk could come 'if he wants.'
• The two AI leaders have a long-standing feud and are in the middle of a federal legal battle.

After battling it out in court this week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made a surprising, if not full-throated, gesture to his rival, Elon Musk, on Saturday.

OpenAI is planning a small celebration on May 5 for the release of its latest model, GPT-5.5. Altman shared an online form for those interested in attending to RSVP, and said Codex, OpenAI's coding agent, would help the company choose people from the replies.

Registration closed quickly, and Altman later said that he'd plan bigger parties in the future.

It's unlikely Musk threw his name into the ring for one of those limited invites, but Altman said on X that his erstwhile OpenAI cofounder "could come if he wants to."

"The world needs more love," Altman added.

The kindness came days after US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is presiding over their legal fight, warned both tech executives to "control your propensity to use social media to make things worse outside this courtroom."

Musk and Altman have been locked in an ideological battle for years.

The tech moguls cofounded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left in 2018 after disagreements over the company's direction and leadership, particularly around safety.

Since then, Musk has repeatedly criticized OpenAI — especially for what he has characterized as a shift away from an open-source nonprofit mission to one focused on commercialization and profit — while launching his own competing AI company, xAI.

Their rivalry has escalated from public jabs into serious legal disputes. Musk sued OpenAI, Altman, and other cofounders in March 2024 over the company's direction. Musk says OpenAI and its other founders broke their original agreement.

In late April, the dispute moved into a high-profile federal trial in Oakland, where Musk and Altman are now testifying. The proceedings have already grown tense, with Musk clashing with OpenAI's lawyer before the judge stepped in.

The Run for the Roses returns for its 152nd outing. We've compiled everything you need to know about where to watch the Kentucky Derby, including free and global streaming options.

If you don't want to read any further, the Kentucky Derby will take place at approximately 6:57 p.m. ET and last around two minutes. Coverage will kick off earlier in the day, and we recommend tuning in on the early side to make sure you don't miss anything. The event will live stream on services like Peacock, DirecTV, and YouTube TV in the US, Sky Sports and Now Sports in the UK, and for free on Virgin Media 2 in Ireland. You can watch your service from anywhere by using a VPN, like Proton VPN.

*Sling TV's local channel coverage varies by region.

Where to watch the Kentucky Derby in the US

The Kentucky Derby airs on NBC in the US. Coverage will be available through several services, the cheapest of which is Peacock. Peacock Premium subscriptions start at $11 a month for ad-supported coverage, but you can upgrade to ad-free on-demand content and a full NBC live stream for $17 a month with Peacock Premium Plus.

American fans can also catch the action through a live TV streaming package, such as DirecTV or YouTube TV, both of which come with a free trial. YouTube TV's main plan normally costs $83 a month, but new users can get $15 a month off their first five months of service ($75 off in total) for a limited time. DirecTV carries NBC and other local channels in all of its signature plans, along with its MyNews and MySports genre packs, which cost $40 a month and $65 a month, respectively. Right now, new customers can get $20 a month off their first two months of MySports service.

If you don't mind not having a free trial, you can also catch NBC via Sling TV's Select or Blue plans, which cost $25 a month and $51 a month, respectively, when local channels are involved. However, local channel coverage varies by region on Sling, so we urge you to check what's available in your ZIP code before subscribing.

Where to watch the Kentucky Derby in the UK

The Kentucky Derby will be available through Sky Sports in the UK. Viewers can sign up for a Sky TV plan, but there's also an option to live stream Sky Sports coverage through Now Sports. Sky prices vary by plan and contract length. Now Sports offers month-to-month subscriptions, but there's also a single-day pass for £15, which can be useful for one-off events like this.

Where to watch the Kentucky Derby in Ireland

The Kentucky Derby will live stream for free on Virgin Media 2 in Ireland. The Virgin Media player carries loads of sporting events each year, often including several Champions League matches and other Triple Crown races.

How to watch the Kentucky Derby from anywhere

If you're away from the location where your streaming service works when the race kicks off, like Ireland, you can still keep up with your free watch options with the help of a VPN. VPNs, or virtual private networks, are easy-to-use tech tools that let people temporarily alter their virtual locations. They're especially popular services for those looking to keep up with their usual websites and apps while traveling abroad or boost their cybersecurity.

Proton VPN is one of the best VPNs on the market. It's fast, offers a massive selection of international servers, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee if you find that it's not helping you out.

Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Business Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.

• I was in the room when Warren Buffett unexpectedly sat for an interview on Saturday.
• He warned of a "gambling mood" in markets during Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting.
• The legendary investor also underscored the threat posed by nuclear weapons and deepfakes.

I was in the room when Warren Buffett sounded the alarm on "gambling" in markets, nuclear weapons, and deepfakes on Saturday.

During Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, the company's chairman and former CEO joined CNBC's Becky Quick backstage for a surprise interview.

The pair's conversation was broadcast live to a crowd of thousands seated in the CHI Health Center in Buffett's hometown of Omaha.

I had a bird's-eye view of the event from the press box overlooking the stage, and could see the crowd's excitement at the prospect of hearing the business icon speak.

Kartik Rangarajan, 54, a tech worker from Dallas, told me it was a "very good, pleasant surprise" that Buffett sat for an interview, as he was eager to "hear from him directly."

Brett Gardner, the author of "Buffett's Early Investments," told me that he saw lots of people milling around outside the arena for large portions of the Q&A.

But as soon as Buffett started speaking, he said, "everyone just crowded around the TV and it was like, 'We've got to listen to Warren.'"

Buffett, a renowned bargain hunter, has struggled to find deals on stocks and businesses in recent years. He told Quick that today's market is "not an ideal environment" for deploying cash.

The benchmark US stock index, the S&P 500, has surged by 27% over the past year to record highs of above 7,200 points. Berkshire shares have slumped by 8% over the same period.

Berkshire sold a net $8 billion worth of stocks last quarter, boosting its cash pile to a record $380 billion at the end of March.

Addressing the challenging market and Berkshire's ballooning cash reserves, Buffett said the company has the right people and is set up to "pick our spots."

The business icon put his legendary patience into sharp relief when he said that out of the past 60 years, only "five of them have really been juicy."

Buffett, 95, is known to invest only within his "circle of competence." He told Quick that he has not learned about any new industries in the past decade, and doesn't plan to change that.

'Gambling mood'

Buffett described the market as a "church with a casino attached," referring to the divide between speculators and long-term investors focused on company fundamentals.

"The casino's gotten very attractive to people," he said, nodding to the boom in short-term trading and more aggressive use of leverage in recent years.

"If you're buying one-day options, or selling them, that's not investing, that's not speculating, it's gambling," Buffett said.

"We've never had people in a more gambling mood than now."

Buffett couldn't resist taking a shot at the "wonderful trading departments" that practically shut down during crises.

"Just try them out when the market is collapsing," he said, adding that if they do pick up the phone, they'll use any information you give them to "go out and kill you some other way."

"It's really like going to a slaughterhouse," Buffett said. "You don't feel like eating hot dogs for a while."

Rangarajan told me he perceived Buffett's comments "not so much as a grim picture," but as a message to shareholders that he was patiently waiting for opportunities to arise.

From worry to hope

The mood in the arena turned dour as Buffett described the threat posed by countries with nuclear bombs and the risk that something could "fall out of the sky" at any moment.

The investor said it was important to be aware of that danger, but added that it does "no good to worry about it."

Buffett restored the room's good vibes when he joked about his lack of travel in recent years. When Quick asked if he had met the new managers of some of Berkshire's key holdings, he sent ripples of laughter through the audience by quipping: "I haven't met the old managers."

The former Berkshire CEO, who made way for Greg Abel at the start of this year, also sparked chuckles in the crowd when he discussed the perils of marriage.

"But you can make mistakes with people, just look at the divorce rate," he joked.

Along with his late business partner, Charlie Munger, Buffett is known for saying that a person's choice of spouse is one of the most important decisions they'll make in their life.

Buffett briefly commented on the rise of deepfakes and other forms of imitation, calling it a "scary" trend, especially at a time when several countries possess nuclear weapons.

He lifted the crowd's spirits with his final comments. He heralded America's remarkable longevity and lasting appeal as a place to live.

Then he reiterated his faith in the "golden rule," which Quick clarified was the biblical advice to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

"I've never seen anybody unhappy that behaves that way," Buffett said.

Ranganaran, who told me he's been a Berkshire shareholder for over 25 years, noted that Buffett has spoken more about "giving and helping others and being kind" in recent years.

"All of it is a good message for us to take back," he added.

Quick ended the conversation to whoops and applause with the words: "Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway."

• I started letting my toddler help cook to improve his picky eating.
• At first it was messy and frustrating, but he became more engaged with food.
• Cooking together built his confidence and made mealtimes more enjoyable.

I never thought I'd be the kind of parent who lets their child loose in the kitchen but, honestly, it's the best thing I've done.

Like many toddlers, my 4-year-old was always interested in what I was doing, but amidst the daily grind of parenting I just wanted to get chores done as quickly and easily as possible.

I had enough to do without having to worry about little fingers getting caught under a knife or that resigned feeling where letting them "help" somehow creates more mess than what you were trying to clean up in the first place. I had heard of the Montessori school of thought that involving children in shared household chores helps foster independence, but honestly, I just wanted to get through the day without making life harder (or messier) for myself.

Everything changed when my son's fussy eating became too restrictive. He screamed at the sight of food, refusing to touch it, let alone take a bite. A dietician told me I should try to improve his confidence by involving him in cooking tasks. How do you do that when mealtimes are already a mess? Then I started thinking, when is it appropriate to teach him how to cook? If it's introduced out of the blue one day will he completely resist it?

I left home at age 18 barely able to cook toast, that's not what I want for my children.

I started introducing simple cooking tasks

Still unsure, I started small by introducing simple cooking tasks like using cookie cutters to cut shapes into cucumber. And that was the day he started eating cucumber.

It grew from there.

From using knives to cut vegetables (with careful supervision and age appropriate tools), to turning on the oven, he's now cooked all sorts of things. Nothing is off limits, one day he'll be preparing vegetables, the next day we're making sandwiches.

It has not all been smooth sailing. Learning to crack an egg has had its ups and downs — I don't recommend tackling that particular skill unless you've got a few spare. I thought using the food processor would be a hit — but the noise resulted in a lot of crying. I tried using a hand blender instead, but in a moment of chaos the mixture ended up hitting the walls. Sometimes the clear up really does take longer than the actual cooking.

Embracing mess and enjoying the results

Yet despite my initial horror at the mess, it's not the disaster I thought it would be. I had no idea the impact cooking independently would have on him. He has all the boisterous, insatiable energy that 4-year-olds have, a happy and chaotic whirlwind of physical activity.

But when he's cooking his body becomes still and absorbed with concentration. All his energy becomes harnessed into a laser sharp focus. There are some things I tell him are grown up jobs only — moving anything hot, like a frying pan, is for him to watch, but not to do. He is careful not to get too close if there's a spitting pan.

So when he asked me to let him cook dinner I didn't hesitate to say yes, it felt like a natural progression. First of all he helped prepare the vegetables — peeling carrots is one of his favorite tasks. After the carrots he chopped a cucumber with careful precision. Then he measured out the spices into a bowl.

We used a kitchen stool so that he could reach, stirring the mixture around with a wooden spoon. He washed his hands thoroughly in the sink before and after tipping a piece of chicken into the mix. I reminded him which buttons to press to turn the air fryer on.

It seems so simple now, why didn't I realize it before? Like any other skill, it doesn't take long for the eggs to start hitting the bowl rather than the floor. And if there is any mess, we can clear it up together.

When there are constant demands on us to play or entertain, sometimes connection can be found over the simplest of tasks. In the kitchen we have become a team, and there's nothing more satisfying than eating the resulting meal.

• Octogenarian Jacob Watson has opted to "age in place" at his three-bedroom, two-bathroom home.
• He shares it with tenants who spend eight hours weekly helping with chores, like shopping and cooking.
• In exchange, they pay reduced rent. He said it's a win-win: they save money and he gets assistance.

This interview is based on a conversation with Jacob Watson, 84, an ordained interfaith minister, writer, and former grief counselor, from Portland, Maine. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My late wife, Kristine, and I were grief counselors, which inevitably led us to discuss our own arrangements for the end of life.

We decided we wanted to "age in place" and stay in our 2,100-square-foot home, built in 1915.

The downstairs bathroom was converted into a handicapped-accessible bathroom with the intention of us living on the first floor as we got older.

But the "we" never happened. On August 3, 2021, a few days after our 33rd wedding anniversary, Kristine died of a heart attack at 71. It was a terrible shock to me and everyone in the family.

I considered an assisted living facility

After that, I lived alone. However, since I have macular degeneration, my vision has gotten progressively worse. I found it increasingly difficult to see everyday things like the numbers on the stove or microwave.

Three years ago, I began to think, 'I can't do this by myself.' I seriously considered selling the house and moving into an assisted living facility.

I thought it would be a relief to know that someone else was taking care of me and would fix anything that went wrong with the property.

But I got almost physically sick when I visited the facilities. I knew the lifestyle wasn't right for me, and I wouldn't feel independent or stimulated.

Besides, those apartments are in such high demand that I could have been on a waiting list for two years or more.

It dawned on me that, if I wanted to stick to my original plan, I'd need to take a deep breath and ask for help.

I needed help with my eyesight issues

I figured it would be a good idea to have someone live under the same roof who could watch out for me. They could take over the upstairs — which had two bedrooms, a living room, and a full bathroom — and I could live downstairs.

In 2024, I actively started looking for a housemate or two. In return for a reduced rent, they'd do a few things for me, like cooking an evening meal twice a week, going to the grocery store, and occasionally driving me places.

My acquaintances shared the blurb I wrote with their own contacts. The rent would be $1,350 a month, including utilities, in exchange for 8 hours a week of help with my eyesight issues.

It could be anything from assisting me with my Mac to putting out trash and compost for pickup. I also asked for a weekly check-in when we could discuss the division of the chores and other matters.

My first housemate, Karrie, a 50-year-old physiotherapist, whom I met through my massage therapist, arrived in November 2024 and stayed for a one-year lease.

My daughter, Sarah, 56, who lives about 20 minutes away, made a point of coming over to help me interview her. She obviously wanted to know who this person was who was coming to live with her dad.

Then my current helper, Kathleen, 39, who works for a nonprofit, moved here in January 2026. She is due to move out at the end of May, so I'm hoping to find another natural caregiver to replace her.

We don't live in each other's pockets

Both Karrie and Kristine proved to be an excellent match. They're very independent, and out of the house most of the day, either working or socializing.

It definitely helped that we had our own interests and activities. I've always kept busy with my writing, which includes books about grief and meditations, and I have a large network of friends and family.

It wouldn't have worked so well if my housemates and I lived in each other's pockets.

One of the most useful things is being able to compose a grocery list and have someone else shop for me. I also really benefit from being able to share the household cooking.

We have a whiteboard in the communal kitchen to keep track of our weekly dinners. Kathleen often prepares larger meals that last for a couple of days, which is a great idea.

It's been an adjustment to have housemates

There's also something very reassuring about knowing someone is there in an emergency, such as if I have a fall. Our house is old, and I used to think the creaking and groaning of the floorboards were bad.

Now, when I hear them, I think of them as a positive thing because I know I'm not alone.

It's been an adjustment to open my house to other people. But so is aging in general. I feel blessed and grateful to be living this interesting situation as I get older. It feels like a win-win.

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang criticized leaders who stoke fear around AI's impact on the world.
• Huang called the doomerism "ridiculous" and urged industry leaders to rely on facts.
• His criticism appeared directed at tech leaders like Anthropic's Dario Amodei and xAi's Elon Musk.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has had enough of your AI hot takes.

While discussing AI adoption during the "Memos to the President" podcast on Thursday, Huang said industry leaders should "be mindful" of how they talk about the significance of the technology.

At one point, he referred to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's prediction that AI could replace 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs in the coming years.

"These kinds of comments are not helpful," Huang said. "They're made by people who are like me — CEOs. Somehow, because they became CEOs, you adopt a God complex and, before you know it, you know everything."

He added, "I think we have to be careful and really ground ourselves to talking about the facts."

During the interview, Huang also criticized claims that AI could destroy the world.

"Saying nonsensical things, which are not going to happen, that this is an existential threat to humanity, there's 20% chance that it's existential. That's ridiculous," Huang said.

He was likely referring to Elon Musk, who made the claim during a February appearance on "The Joe Rogan" podcast. Musk said humans faced a "20% chance of annihilation" from AI.

Although AI has permeated nearly every layer of the economy, the long-term effects of the technology on the workforce and humanity as a whole are largely unknown.

Some AI supporters believe the tech will make us more efficient, create more jobs, generate wealth, and solve afflictions of all kinds. Others worry it will replace humans in the workforce, isolate us from each other, and ultimately usher in some kind of apocalypse.

A stark example of this uncertainty is the so-called "Saaspocalypse." The idea that AI was bringing about the end times for the once-lucrative software-as-a-service industry was, until recently, accepted logic.

A series of earnings reports this week, however, upended that logic. Atlassian, Twilio, and Five9 all reported strong earnings on Thursday.

• "The Devil Wears Prada 2" beefed up the cameos from the first movie.
• Memorable faces from the world of music, fashion, the internet, and sports all appear in the movie.
• Here are the most memorable cameos.

"The Devil Wears Prada" was all about glamour, down to its star-studded cameos. So it makes sense that the sequel would up the ante with a slew of famous faces.

In "The Devil Wears Prada 2," Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is hired back to the fictional fashion magazine Runway as its features editor, bringing her back into the orbit of the magazine's tyrannical boss Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). Andy is tasked with beefing up Runway's editorial cache, but also finds herself working alongside Miranda to keep Runway afloat in the midst of ownership turmoil that could destroy the brand.

Amid Andy's journey back into the fray are plenty of parties, red carpets, and fashion shows that are filled with big-name celebrities. Here are the most memorable cameos in "The Devil Wears Prada 2."

Lady Gaga

The multi-Grammy winner appears in the movie's third act as a last-minute replacement for John Legend at Runway's big fashion show in Milan. Miranda calls in a favor to get Gaga to perform, but when the two exchange barbs in her dressing room, it's clear they have history and aren't fond of each other.

Donatella Versace

The famed fashion designer shows up in the scene where Andy is trying to track down Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt). Andy finds her old Runway coworker at a cafe with Versace, who grows impatient when Emily steps away for a moment to speak to Andy.

Ciara

The singer is one of the many stars who is featured in the Met Gala scene.

Amelia Dimoldenberg

The "Chicken Shop Date" host can also be seen in the Met Gala sequence.

Paige DeSorbo and Hannah Berner

The "Giggly Squad" podcast hosts and Bravolebrities can be seen in the Met Gala scene.

Ashley Graham

Model Ashley Graham is also there.

Rory McIlroy

Two-time Masters champ, PGA golfer Rory McIlroy, and his wife Erica can be seen chatting with Emily Charlton's boyfriend, Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux), at the gala.

Kara Swisher

The famed tech journalist is part of the elite group who are invited to Miranda's Hamptons get-together.

Jenna Bush Hager

The daughter of former President George W. Bush and "Today" third-hour host also gets the invite.

Karl-Anthony Towns

New York Knicks All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns was also at the Hamptons lunch, where Andy has a brief chat with him. (Hathaway is a loyal Knicks fan.)

Jon Batiste

The Grammy and Oscar-winning musician brings some rhythm to the Hamptons lunch.

Ronny Chieng

Also in the Hamptons scene is this "The Daily Show" correspondent and host.

Tina Brown

Media heavyweight Brown can also be seen at the lunch. Brown is the former editor of Vanity Fair and founding editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast.

Law Roach

The famed stylist of Zendaya and Ariana Grande appears at Runway's big Milan fashion show at the end of the movie.

Heidi Klum

Would it really be a high-fashion event without an appearance from this GOAT?

Naomi Campbell

No, Naomi, the filmmakers wouldn't dare cut you out of that scene either!

• Warren Buffett is no longer Berkshire Hathaway's CEO, but he's still top of mind at its annual meeting.
• As well as a surprise real-life appearance, Buffett also appeared in digital form.
• A deepfake of the legendary investor asked the first question at new CEO Greg Abel's Q&A session.

Warren Buffett is no longer the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, but he's still at its annual conference, in both physical and digital form.

For years at Berkshire meetings, Buffett held lengthy question-and-answer sessions with the company's shareholders, covering everything from the inner workings of its businesses to geopolitics to his favorite foods.

At 2026's shareholder meeting, however, new CEO Greg Abel hosted the annual Q&A, and the first question came from a familiar face.

After concluding a discussion with Berkshire's insurance chief, Ajit Jain, Abel opened the floor up to questions, and beaming around the CHI Health Center was Buffett's likeness, wearing his trademark suit and tie.

"Hi, my name is Warren, from Omaha," said the familiar, gravely voice. "I've recently undergone, let's say, a significant change in role."

"My question is a simple one. I'm 95 years old, I've got nothing but time and Cherry Coke, and I want to know, just so I have something to tell my fellow shareholders, why should they hold their Berkshire shares for the long term?"

A laughing Abel called it a "very astute question" before giving a lengthy answer about the strength of Berkshire's businesses and the importance of its huge cash pile.

"As you've all picked up, that was a deepfake," Abel told the crowd.

"Here's the interesting thing: That was done with zero input from Warren. We were able to obtain that with information that's out there and replicate those actions and that voice," he said.

Abel then went on to use the deepfake Buffett to make a point about the growing risk to businesses of cyberattacks and fake information.

"The reality is that's what we're dealing with when we think about Berkshire and how we have to protect it every day," he said.

Not long before AI Buffett's question, Abel made clear to Berkshire watchers that he's cautious on employing the technology across the company.

"We're not going to do AI for the sake of AI," Abel said, adding that the tech has to be "additive to our businesses."

• Berkshire Hathaway won't be betting the farm on AI, Greg Abel said on Saturday.
• Warren Buffett's successor as CEO said Berkshire would be prudent during the annual meeting.
• The AI boom has divided investors, with some saying it's a bubble and others heralding a revolution.

Warren Buffett is known for not chasing the latest technology trend, preferring to invest within his "circle of competence."

Greg Abel, who succeeded the legendary investor as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO at the start of this year, signaled he's also cautious about jumping on any bandwagon during the company's shareholder meeting on Saturday in Omaha.

Business Insider's Theron Mohamed was watching from the press box of the CHI Health Center in Buffett's hometown when Abel told the crowd that Berkshire wouldn't be going all in on AI.

He struck a very different tone to tech executives such as Tesla's Elon Musk, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, who have committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars to win the AI race.

"We're not going to do AI for the sake of AI," Abel said, adding that the tech has to be "additive to our businesses."

Berkshire's new boss said the conglomerate's subsidiaries would employ AI prudently, in areas where it creates genuine value.

Business Insider spoke to the CEOs of See's Candies, Dairy Queen, Brooks Running, and Jazwares on Friday. They said their companies were embracing AI to different degrees, but were broadly positive about how it can save time and make workers more efficient.

The investment world is divided on the immense buzz around AI.

The likes of "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary and fund manager Ross Gerber have dismissed comparisons to the dot-com bubble, telling Business Insider that the tech is driving measurable productivity gains and generating enormous growth in profits.

In contrast, Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame and veteran investor Jeremy Grantham have warned that AI is a bubble of historic proportions that's bound to burst with devastating effect.

• I struggled with loneliness after my divorce, especially on holidays.
• I built a support system with other single moms who became like family.
• That community changed how I experience motherhood and connection.

After my divorce, I braced for loneliness on holidays, but it hit hardest on Mother's Day.

My first one alone, my best friend from college texted me a photo of her proudly wearing the necklace her son, the same age as my daughter, had cobbled together. Its colored pieces were dotted with pieces of torn felt.

"Isn't it cute?" She wrote.

I felt a lump in my throat instantly. No one was around anymore to remind my kids to acknowledge the day. That day I cried walking to the playground past what felt like swarms of brunching two-parent families drinking mimosas, flowers still in their wrapping nesting amidst gifts on tables.

I dreaded Mother's Day for years

For years after that, I continued to dread Mother's Day, even though within a short time, my children did acknowledge the day with sweet gifts and words. Still, the day always felt hollow for me, a reminder of the partner and family I didn't have. It was a day to get through rather than a celebration of motherhood — I resigned myself to that fact.

That is, until I became part of what my kids call my "single mom club."

It started when I struck up an online correspondence with a few other moms in a similar situation. Before long, our digital support group spilled over into real life. We got together frequently to share copious amounts of wine, comfort, advice, and laughter.

What they have helped me discover is that there are surprising benefits to being a single parent, which one rarely hears about. And now, more than a decade after my divorce, I can honestly say that I am grateful for the experience of parenting alone.

Single motherhood is hard

Don't get me wrong: single parenthood is hard. When one of my daughters is sick at 2 a.m., when both kids melt down simultaneously, when I'm depleted and desperate for a minute of silence, there's no partner to tag in. Every doctor's appointment, every permission slip, every birthday party is my responsibility alone.

Which is why, when married friends sometimes announce that they're "single parenting for the weekend," I bite my tongue.

What I've discovered, however, is that the four-alarm fire that is single parenthood can actually force a more thoughtful approach to building a family and the community around it.

I built a group of single moms

What began as a practical necessity and a hedge against loneliness, my single mom club has become the envy of my married friends. Anyone can ask their neighbor for a cup of sugar, but how many, on half an hour's notice, can ask them for a lesson in Excel or to weigh in on a legal document?

One time, one of our single moms had an impromptu meeting and couldn't find a sitter. Four of us took turns rotating in and out of her house so she could make it. When another mom was hospitalized and terrified, all seven of us showed up at her bedside, some with overnight bags.

I make the most of my free time

My kids both need to see their dad, and I'm fully supportive of that relationship. But it also means I get enforced, and therefore guilt-free, time off to nurture the parts of me that motherhood doesn't feed. Perhaps we should all be doing this.

Last weekend, I spent Saturday morning at a coffee shop working on an article while my kids were with their dad. That afternoon, I met my single mom club for drinks. We spent three hours laughing until we cried, sharing the kind of dark humor about parenting that only other people in the trenches can appreciate. Sunday, I took a yoga class, went to a museum, and read a book in bed without interruption.

I have a home without resentment

I grew up in a home suffused with smoldering resentment. My kids get focused time with both parents, rather than the distracted time I remember from my own childhood. They may not have both of us simultaneously, but they have each of us much closer to our best.

It's impossible to predict the twists and turns that parenthood will take. It's certainly not what I expected. Being a parent is the ultimate exercise in intermittent reinforcement: bursts of grace that feel so hard-won, so fragile and transient. Sometimes, when one of my daughters falls asleep on my lap while I'm reading to her, and I feel her body shift into heaviness, I stay there for a while, inhaling her smooth skin and passionfruit shampoo.

When these things happen, my single mom friends are my witnesses. They may text me hours later: "How did bedtime go?" They remember that my daughter had that big presentation in school and want to know all about it. They ask about the small things that make up my actual life.

If I had to do it all over again, would I choose this path? I'm not sure. I would miss a warm body in bed next to me, and the day-to-day presence of a partner. But I know that what I've built in its stead feels like mine in a way that my marriage never did.

Parenthood is still a wild ride; I still experience all the twists and turns. But I don't carry that hollow feeling anymore. Not because being a single parent has become less complicated (no one with a teenager would ever say that), but because the family I constructed, piece by deliberate piece, turned out to be more solid than all that I took for granted by saying "I do."