• Mayor Zohran Mamdani backed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposed tax on second homes in NYC.
• The tax would impact second homes valued over $5 million.
• Mamdani called out Ken Griffin's $238 million NYC penthouse in a video posted online.

New York City Mayor Mamdani says he's delivering on a core campaign promise: taxing the rich.

On Tuesday, Mamdani backed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal for the state's first-ever tax on ultrawealthy second-home owners.

To make the point, Mamdani singled out one of the most expensive homes in the country — hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin's penthouse, which he bought for $238 million in 2019 — in a video posted online.

"When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich — well, today, we're taxing the rich," Mamdani said in the video.

"This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth over $5 million whose owners do not live full time in the city, like for this penthouse," he added, pointing to the Manhattan skyscraper that Griffin's residence is in.

The proposal has not yet been approved by the state legislature.

Griffin's four-floor condo at 220 Central Park South set a record when he bought it in 2019, said to be the most expensive home ever sold in the US at the time.

The new "pied-à-terre" tax would apply to one- to three-family homes, condos, and co-ops valued at more than $5 million when the owner's primary residence is outside New York City.

The mayor's office says the measure is designed to target billionaires and global elites who use New York real estate as a store of wealth rather than a primary residence.

Griffin, the founder of Citadel, moved his firm's headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022 and has increasingly built out a presence in Florida — a state with no personal income tax, making it a magnet for wealthy Americans seeking lower tax bills. Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin all have homes in Florida.

Business Insider could not reach Griffin for comment.

The mayor's office said it expects that the New York tax would raise at least $500 million annually, with funds earmarked for priorities such as free childcare, cleaner streets, and safer neighborhoods, Mamdani said.

Mamdani framed the policy as a fix for what he called an "unfair system," adding that while all New Yorkers contribute to the city, the wealthiest should shoulder more of the burden.

"As mayor, I believe everyone has a role to play," he said. "And some, a little bit more to give than others."

• Box CEO Aaron Levie told Business Insider that tokenmaxxing was a "fun, novel thing."
• At Box, Levie tracks token spending but doesn't reward the top users. That would lead to "hilarious outcomes," he said.
• Levie said he had other ways of identifying power users of AI agents, like a dedicated Slack channel.

Box CEO Aaron Levie wouldn't be surprised if his engineers set up a tokenmaxxing leaderboard.

"Honestly, they might exist," he told Business Insider. "I just don't know that it's gone super viral across the entire company yet."

Levie wouldn't be against it, per se. He said the trend — in which engineers race against each other to spend as many AI tokens as possible — is a "fun, novel thing" that leads in the right direction. It will push AI agents to their limits, he said, and find the biggest productivity gains.

Token rankings are the new hot-button topic in Big Tech. One Meta employee made a "Claudeonomics" leaderboard with titles like "Token Legend" before it was shut down, The Information reported. OpenAI also has a token leaderboard, according to The New York Times. A token is a measurement of computing that determines how AI use is priced; large language models break words into numerical inputs, treating each token as roughly ¾ of a word.

At the cloud storage company Box, Levie does track token spending, including at the employee level, but "we don't celebrate tokenmaxxing in the same way," he said. "But we are focused entirely on increasing the rate of product velocity and increasing the scope of our product roadmap as our major goal."

He has other ways to discern which of his engineers are AI power users. Box has a Slack channel where people share their best practices for AI coding, Levie said, which already generally correlates with who uses agents the most.

The CEO wants them to use agents, and use them a lot. (Box sells enterprise AI agents.) It won't only be engineers employing agents soon, Levie said; the tech will hit fields like marketing, finance, and law.

"You need to really start to figure out where can you get leverage from this new form of abundance of intelligence," he said. "Tokenmaxxing is the extreme way."

Allocating those agents (and their associated tokens) is another question. 90% of of the economy cannot tokenmaxx like Meta or a VC-fueled startup, Levie said.

"That's the new frontier of things that enterprises have to think about," he said.

Levie had heard several different strategies for token allocation. He described one unnamed company that had "Shark Tank"-style pitches for computing budget. (Levie declined to disclose the name of this company, as it was a Box customer.) Employees must ask for funding, test whether it works, and then scale it up, he said.

Other examples Levie said he had heard gave their most productive fields more powerful models, like Opus 4.6 and GPT 5.4. "You get more efficient and cheaper models down the stack through the organization," he said.

Companies are "heat-seeking missiles" for productivity, he added. They'll find the areas that need the tokens most.

But, no, Levie doesn't plan to create his own corporate leaderboard and give out prizes.

"There'll be a lot of hilarious outcomes that will exist around that idea," he said. "You'll have people spending budgets on completely ridiculous things."

• With the tax deadline behind them, Americans may have a clearer sense of how much they pay in taxes.
• Tax burden measures how much residents of each state pay in taxes in proportion to their income.
• Hawaii and New York have the highest tax burdens, while Alaska and New Hampshire rank lowest.

With tax day behind us, US taxpayers should have a better idea of how much they contribute to their local, state, and federal governments through taxes.

Federal taxes apply nationwide, but local taxes like income, property, sales, and excise taxes — taxes paid by retailers and passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices — can add up differently in each state.

While some states have higher overall tax rates, tax burden measures how taxes compare to personal income in each state, or what share of their income residents of every state pay in taxes.

A WalletHub study ranked all US states by their tax burden on residents. The study used data from the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan DC-based think tank, on property taxes, individual income taxes, and sales and excise taxes as shares of personal income to calculate the tax burden of every US state.

"It's easy to be dismayed at tax time when you see just how much of your income you lose," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the study. "Living in a state with a low tax burden can alleviate some of that stress."

Nine US states have no state income tax in 2026, while others, like California, have individual income tax rates of up to 13.3% according to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research think tank.

Five states also don't have a state sales tax, according to the Tax Foundation. While Alaska residents may still pay up to 7.85% in local sales taxes, the other four states also have no local sales taxes in place.

See how every US state ranks by residents' tax burden, according to WalletHub's report.

50. Alaska

Total tax burden: 4.92%

Property tax burden: 3.32%

Sales and excise tax burden: 1.60%

Income tax burden: 0%

49. New Hampshire

Total tax burden: 5.38%

Property tax burden: 4.33%

Sales and excise tax burden: 0.91%

Income tax burden: 0.13%

While New Hampshire historically taxed dividend and interest income at a 3% rate, the tax was repealed in 2025, adding the state to the list of eight other US states that do not impose a state income tax.

48. Tennessee

Total tax burden: 6.21%

Property tax burden: 1.60%

Sales and excise tax burden: 4.61%

Income tax burden: 0%

47. Florida

Total tax burden: 6.27%

Property tax burden: 2.52%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.74%

Income tax burden: 0%

46. Delaware

Total tax burden: 6.28%

Property tax burden: 1.67%

Sales and excise tax burden: 0.98%

Income tax burden: 3.62%

45. South Dakota

Total tax burden: 6.38%

Property tax burden: 2.32%

Sales and excise tax burden: 4.06%

Income tax burden: 0%

44. Wyoming

Total tax burden: 6.70%

Property tax burden: 3.42%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.28%

Income tax burden: 0%

43. North Dakota

Total tax burden: 7.02%

Property tax burden: 2.23%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.91%

Income tax burden: 0.88%

42. Idaho

Total tax burden: 7.04%

Property tax burden: 1.92%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.29%

Income tax burden: 1.84%

41. Oklahoma

Total tax burden: 7.05%

Property tax burden: 1.78%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.50%

Income tax burden: 1.78%

40. Arizona

Total tax burden: 7.24%

Property tax burden: 1.95%

Sales and excise tax burden: 4.28%

Income tax burden: 1.01%

39. Montana

Total tax burden: 7.29%

Property tax burden: 3.04%

Sales and excise tax burden: 1.20%

Income tax burden: 3.05%

38. South Carolina

Total tax burden: 7.49%

Property tax burden: 2.56%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.07%

Income tax burden: 1.86%

37. Colorado

Total tax burden: 7.56%

Property tax burden: 2.77%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.36%

Income tax burden: 1.43%

36. Texas

Total tax burden: 7.69%

Property tax burden: 3.43%

Sales and excise tax burden: 4.27%

Income tax burden: 0%

35. North Carolina

Total tax burden: 7.81%

Property tax burden: 1.92%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.41%

Income tax burden: 2.49%

34. Missouri

Total tax burden: 7.84%

Property tax burden: 2.35%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.11%

Income tax burden: 2.38%

33. Alabama

Total tax burden: 7.93%

Property tax burden: 1.40%

Sales and excise tax burden: 4.36%

Income tax burden: 2.17%

32. Michigan

Total tax burden: 7.98%

Property tax burden: 2.99%

Sales and excise tax burden: 2.99%

Income tax burden: 2.00%

31. Wisconsin

Total tax burden: 8.12%

Property tax burden: 2.84%

Sales and excise tax burden: 2.89%

Income tax burden: 2.39%

30. Georgia

Total tax burden: 8.15%

Property tax burden: 2.68%

Sales and excise tax burden: 2.97%

Income tax burden: 2.51%

29. Nebraska

Total tax burden: 8.16%

Property tax burden: 3.22%

Sales and excise tax burden: 2.82%

Income tax burden: 2.11%

28. Virginia

Total tax burden: 8.26%

Property tax burden: 2.92%

Sales and excise tax burden: 2.75%

Income tax burden: 2.58%

27. Nevada

Total tax burden: 8.37%

Property tax burden: 2.09%

Sales and excise tax burden: 6.28%

Income tax burden: 0%

26. Arkansas

Total tax burden: 8.44%

Property tax burden: 1.59%

Sales and excise tax burden: 5.04%

Income tax burden: 1.81%

25. Washington

Total tax burden: 8.47%

Property tax burden: 2.47%

Sales and excise tax burden: 5.87%

Income tax burden: 0.13%

24. Pennsylvania

Total tax burden: 8.47%

Property tax burden: 2.59%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.23%

Income tax burden: 2.65%

23. Kentucky

Total tax burden: 8.76%

Property tax burden: 1.95%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.66%

Income tax burden: 3.15%

22. Louisiana

Total tax burden: 8.82%

Property tax burden: 1.84%

Sales and excise tax burden: 5.25%

Income tax burden: 1.73%

21. Massachusetts

Total tax burden: 8.82%

Property tax burden: 3.33%

Sales and excise tax burden: 2.04%

Income tax burden: 3.45%

20. Mississippi

Total tax burden: 8.84%

Property tax burden: 2.59%

Sales and excise tax burden: 4.60%

Income tax burden: 1.65%

19. Utah

Total tax burden: 8.87%

Property tax burden: 2.21%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.73%

Income tax burden: 2.92%

18. West Virginia

Total tax burden: 8.89%

Property tax burden: 2.10%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.92%

Income tax burden: 2.87%

17. Connecticut

Total tax burden: 9.00%

Property tax burden: 3.66%

Sales and excise tax burden: 2.65%

Income tax burden: 2.69%

16. Ohio

Total tax burden: 9.05%

Property tax burden: 2.62%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.88%

Income tax burden: 2.54%

15. Minnesota

Total tax burden: 9.08%

Property tax burden: 2.47%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.27%

Income tax burden: 3.34%

14. Indiana

Total tax burden: 9.12%

Property tax burden: 2.15%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.91%

Income tax burden: 3.05%

13. Kansas

Total tax burden: 9.20%

Property tax burden: 2.92%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.87%

Income tax burden: 2.40%

12. Iowa

Total tax burden: 9.21%

Property tax burden: 3.32%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.53%

Income tax burden: 2.36%

11. California

Total tax burden: 9.24%

Property tax burden: 2.89%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.32%

Income tax burden: 3.03%

10. Rhode Island

Total tax burden: 9.29%

Property tax burden: 3.67%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.47%

Income tax burden: 2.16%

9. Oregon

Total tax burden: 9.46%

Property tax burden: 2.96%

Sales and excise tax burden: 1.74%

Income tax burden: 4.76%

8. New Jersey

Total tax burden: 9.52%

Property tax burden: 4.38%

Sales and excise tax burden: 2.72%

Income tax burden: 2.42%

7. Maryland

Total tax burden: 9.70%

Property tax burden: 2.54%

Sales and excise tax burden: 2.88%

Income tax burden: 4.28%

6. Illinois

Total tax burden: 9.92%

Property tax burden: 3.75%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.77%

Income tax burden: 2.40%

5. Maine

Total tax burden: 10.01%

Property tax burden: 3.95%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.35%

Income tax burden: 2.71%

4. New Mexico

Total tax burden: 10.75%

Property tax burden: 2.22%

Sales and excise tax burden: 6.28%

Income tax burden: 2.25%

3. Vermont

Total tax burden: 11.10%

Property tax burden: 4.89%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.46%

Income tax burden: 2.75%

2. New York

Total tax burden: 12.39%

Property tax burden: 4.22%

Sales and excise tax burden: 3.53%

Income tax burden: 4.65%

1. Hawaii

Total tax burden: 13.30%

Property tax burden: 2.62%

Sales and excise tax burden: 7.48%

Income tax burden: 3.20%

• In 2021, I won the New York City affordable-housing lottery after applying over 50 times.
• My rent-stabilized $2,295 one-bedroom apartment was perfect when it was just me and my dog.
• Almost five years (and one husband and child) later, it feels cramped, but I still can't give it up.

On an otherwise uneventful day in July 2021, I got an email that ended up changing my life.

Two months earlier, I'd applied on New York City's housing lottery website for a chance to live in a newly built apartment complex in a neighborhood I could never afford under normal circumstances.

I didn't think much about it because the system itself is kind of mindless: You fill out your income details one time when first setting up your profile and then simply hit "Apply" whenever a building in your income bracket comes up.

By that point, I'd applied to dozens of buildings and none had ever panned out. My randomly assigned log numbers — which determine the order in which leasing agents contact applicants — were always in the five- or six-digit range. In other words, hopeless.

After all, winning the NYC affordable-housing lottery is a numbers game. In 2024, a Department of Housing Preservation and Development representative told BI that the department receives about 3.5 million applications a year and that, on average, there are 450 applications per rental unit.

I hadn't even bothered to check my log number for this building before I was called for it — it turned out I was number 41. I waved off my then-boyfriend's suggestion that we go to the beach and instead spent the Fourth of July collecting all the documents required to verify my income.

A week later, I was contacted to view an apartment. Three months after that, I was moving into the high-rise building of my dreams.

Through the program, I snagged a one-bedroom apartment in a coveted neighborhood for $2,295

At the time, I was living in a large rent-stabilized one-bedroom in Brooklyn for $1,250 — it was a steal, and I figured I would stay there forever.

So the lottery apartment's rent ($2,295), though supposedly "affordable" for those of us making 130% of the Area Median Income (or "AMI"), made me queasy. Technically, I could afford it, but it meant slashing my disposable income and ability to save.

But when I looked at the details, it was clearly the right move: This would be by far the best neighborhood and nicest apartment I'd ever lived in.

It would also be the first time in my entire life I'd ever had a washer, dryer, and dishwasher in my home, let alone access to building amenities like a pool, coworking spaces, and even an arcade.

My Brooklyn apartment, on the flip side, was in an unkempt pre-war building where the only "amenity" to speak of was a heating pipe that whistled so loudly it sounded like a plane was taking off in my bedroom.

Despite a price that's probably eye-watering to people who live outside the city, the new 800-square-foot apartment was also a great deal for its location.

At the time I signed my lease, the median asking rent for a one-bedroom in that neighborhood was at least $1,000 more.

For 2021 Caralynn, it was perfect. Then, that boyfriend became my husband — and a permanent resident of the apartment — and shortly after, my one-person, one-dog household became three people and one dog when our daughter was born in late 2022.

The apartment still worked for us during the infant stage after we made a few minor modifications and I forced my maximalist self to adopt a minimalist perspective.

But now, with a toddler and a whole lot of toys, things are feeling decidedly less spacious.

Over the years, we've had to get creative with the space

Since my daughter was born, the apartment has gone through every conceivable configuration.

We've trialed dine-in kitchen setups versus separate dining spaces in the living area and tried creating a tiny bedroom for my daughter in my onetime office nook instead of all sharing one bedroom.

My husband and I also once carved out part of the living room as our sleeping space — a pseudo second bedroom — to give our daughter the bedroom, too.

I've spent countless hours researching Murphy beds. The only place we haven't tried putting our couch is on the ceiling.

Still, giving this apartment up for a modicum more space feels foolish. When I moved, it wasn't with the idea that this was the neighborhood where I'd raise my kids, but it's actually one of the most family-friendly areas in the city.

We have great schools, tons of parks, access to multiple subway lines, and even a Trader Joe's practically at our doorstep.

And while the crowded space is occasionally overstimulating for me and my late-diagnosed ADHD, the apartment is still workable.

My toddler, for one, has no interest in personal space and much prefers co-sleeping with us anyway. The wheels are constantly turning in my head about how we can best repurpose the space when she does want her own room, though.

At this time, moving out just doesn't feel like a real option

It's not in the cards right now to move to a two-bedroom in our building or elsewhere in our neighborhood. Because our apartment is rent-stabilized, increases with each lease renewal are capped: Our monthly rent today is just $2,550.

Comparatively, the median market rate for one-bedrooms in our area has soared to over $4,000 a month — and over $6,000 for two-bedrooms.

Sure, we could leave New York City entirely — and we've discussed it — but that would mean giving up all the things we've come to value most, like easy access to endless entertainment and culture.

So, I'm still applying to the affordable-housing lottery here. To date, I've submitted 188 applications.

I've qualified for a number of apartments, but none have panned out, either because they're not much bigger than our current unit or because they're in neighborhoods we don't like as much.

I have no idea whether lightning will strike twice for us and we'll qualify for a bigger, better unit in our neighborhood before our household income exceeds the maximum for our bracket.

For now, I've resigned myself to sitting with two competing feelings: immense gratitude that we've gotten to live relatively affordably in an incredible place for as long as we have, and stress that a time is coming where this won't actually be tenable.

• Indeed CEO Hisayuki "Deko" Idekoba says people are worried about the wrong thing.
• More than AI, Idekoba is concerned about the aging US workforce.
• It's "a way bigger impact than AI today," Idekoba said.

Indeed CEO Hisayuki "Deko" Idekoba says all the concerns about AI are missing a much bigger issue in the labor market.

"Actually, what is happening in all developed countries, including European countries and the US, what is happening is a big demographic change, an aging labor market," Idekoba, who is also CEO of Indeed and Glassdoor's parent company Recruit Holdings, said on Wednesday during Semafor's World Economy Summit.

The struggle to backfill retiring workers "is a way bigger impact than AI impact today," Idekoba said.

Idekoba said Indeed's research found that in the US, there will be 20 million fewer workers over the next 15 years. "That's like 5% less workers," he said. Of that decrease, Indeed estimated that 80% will be due to an aging population, and just 20% to AI-related job displacement.

Western nations, including the United States, Idekoba said, haven't grappled with the reality that the labor market is shrinking at a time when there are already unfilled jobs in high-skilled trades.

He compared the situation to his native Japan. Japan has struggled with a low birth rate for decades, but it has maintained a relatively stable labor force by increasing the number of women in the workforce. Historically, women worked at much lower rates in Japan.

Unlike Japan, the US and many Western countries don't have a similar pool of untapped workers to fall back on.

"In the US, it's happening in Germany, the UK, all of the developed countries, it's gonna be faster," Idekoba said. "That's why what's happening literally is there are so many open positions — construction jobs, plumbers, healthcare jobs, electricians —‚ such fundamentally important jobs, but we don't have a good pipeline."

Idekoba said such shortages will quickly become major headaches for consumers.

"I don't want to wait two months when I find the water leaking," he said. "But that's happening now in the US."

Correction, April 16, 2026 — A previous version of this report misstated the time span Idekoba said for the decline in US workers. It was 15 years.

• Rebecca Minkoff believes work-life balance is a myth for working parents.
• Minkoff, who has four children, restructured her working life to make more time for family.
• She wishes she had received one piece of parenting advice earlier in her career: "only your babies matter."

Work-life balance is a myth that working parents should stop chasing, Rebecca Minkoff told Business Insider.

"I don't believe in balance," the fashion designer and cofounder of the Female Founder Collective, 45, said, adding: "It does not exist. It's never existed for men who want to be parents, or women. Period."

Minkoff, who has four children between the ages of four and 14, said she struggled with trying to do it all while raising her first three kids.

"You're giving a bath to your baby, and I just remember thinking for the first three kids, 'Hurry up, go to bed, I need to get back to work, oh my god.' Just having that feeling in me," she said.

It was especially hard when she was in "build mode" earlier in her career, trying to scale the fashion brand she owned until 2022. "When I scroll through the photos on my phone, I'm like, 'Wow, I only see smiles.' But that felt miserable a lot of the time," she said.

After the birth of her fourth child in February 2022, Minkoff said her mindset shifted.

"I was like, 'Guess what happened when I didn't reply to that email?' Nothing," she said. "Guess what happened on the weekend when I didn't check it? Nothing."

She wishes she realized sooner that 'only your babies matter'

After returning from maternity leave, she began restructuring her work and delegating more, which Minkoff said involved reducing her direct reports from 18 to one. "We took a lot of the detail work out of my job and relied on a creative director to do that, which freed me up a lot," she said.

Now, Minkoff said she aims to finish work at 5 p.m. to spend time with her family and tries to minimize the amount she travels for work.

Looking back, she said she wishes she'd been given one piece of advice: "I wish someone had sat me down and shaken me and been like, 'Only your babies matter, focus on them.'"

Minkoff said her advice won't apply to everyone.

"I don't do this alone," she said. "I have an amazing team, an amazing husband, an amazing babysitter, and amazing parents. There's a machine, and I greatly rely on my team, my cofounder, Ali, for this all to happen."

But, she said, it's important for all working parents to set their own boundaries.

"I think you have to put the guardrails up for yourself and not what some other mom is doing," she said. "Try your best to hold true."

• Allbirds is, for some reason, an AI company now.
• Some people on social media found that more than a little funny.
• The jokes did not disappoint.

Once in a while, something happens in tech land that's prime meme fodder. The latest: A shoe company suddenly — and seemingly inexplicably — pivots to go all in on AI.

Allbirds found itself the subject of many jokes on social media on Wednesday. Investors in the long-beleaguered company, though, had something to celebrate. Its stock price shot through the roof after it rebranded itself as NewBird AI and said it would provide GPU compute-as-a-service.

Have a look at some of these top-tier comedy offerings:

#1 Goodbye to traditional investing logic

#2 Shoe Compute

#3 Corner the market

#4 Straight out of 'The Wolf of Wall Street'

#5 Bubble vibes

#6 Cue the 'Mad Men' pitch

#7 If Allbirds starts a trend

#8 Reinventing the heel

#9 How far could this go?

Allbirds, founded in 2015, quickly rose to fame for its wool sneaker, becoming a Silicon Valley tech bro favorite. Former President Barack Obama was spotted wearing a pair in 2020.

It was a Wall Street darling as well. During the company's trading debut in 2021, its valuation reached $4 billion.

But things started crashing after 2022, when the shoe lost its shine. In 2023, Allbirds posted an annual loss of $101 million, and its shares plummeted 47%.

In the years since, it launched products that flopped, laid off staff, and went through a management shake-up, none of which helped turn things around.

In March, Allbirds announced that American Exchange Group, a New York-based fashion and consumer company, would buy it for $39 million.

After Wednesday's AI pivot, its shares rose by about 582%. They plunged as much as 64% in Thursday's premarket, but pared their decline to trade 24% lower as of 6 a.m. ET.

• My son wasn't initially sure whether his fourth-grade teacher liked him.
• Then, one day, she came to his weekend soccer game, and his face lit up.
• Her support meant everything to him and gave him confidence that I couldn't as his mom.

The day we met my son's fourth-grade teacher in late August 2024, she wasn't the gentle, sweet personality I hoped for when my kids were little. When I'd dropped him at preschool for the first time, I wished for a warm, motherly personality to greet us, one that would hug away tears and calm separation jitters.

But by nine, he was talkative, curious, and stubborn. By now, I knew he needed structure, precise expectations, and someone who would push him to his potential. As she showed him around the classroom, authority radiated from her words. "You two can sit beside one another, but only if you focus," she said to him and his closest friend.

At first, he wasn't sure his teacher liked him

My son excels in math, always solving equations in his head while I search for a calculator. With a craving to learn, he enjoys school, but transitioning into a new school year — and returning after long breaks — typically triggers some angst, initiating an internal voice that tries to convince him school will suddenly become too challenging. So, it was no surprise that initially, he was mildly apprehensive.

"I don't think she likes me," he said one evening in early September after he'd been reprimanded for being chatty. A born negotiator, he exhibits the skills to persuade nearly anyone in his favor — but at the beginning of fourth grade, he learned you can't bargain your way out of every dilemma. It took time for him to adjust to her strong personality after learning words weren't always enough to evade consequences.

She came to his soccer game one day, and I saw his face light up

One Saturday morning, as we were talking about school, he informed me, "She's coming to my soccer game today." I worried he'd be disappointed. "She might be busy," I suggested. "She has her own family."

Before having children, I worked as a speech-language pathologist in an elementary school. I was thrilled to live a couple of towns over; seeing my students on Saturdays wasn't my idea of enjoyment. But as we situated our chairs along the field line, there she was with her own husband and son.

"It's your weekend!" I exclaimed. "You deserve time away from your students." She said she encouraged the students to share the times and locations of games and performances, as she strived to support them all.

When my son spotted her from across the field, his face lit up. That was only the first of numerous games she attended that year. Each time his eyes locked with hers from a distance, his spirit intensified like a light.

Her support gave him confidence that mine couldn't

When I told him how well he played, he responded, "You have to say that. You're my mom." But each time she arrived, my biased pride in him solidified. She didn't have to show up; she chose to.

"Save my number," she said one Friday after calling to check in. "You can call anytime," she insisted, as if my child were as important as her own. In the classroom, she rewarded students for their interests. Discovering my son's curiosity about the presidents, she had him recite them in chronological order to earn a movie for the class; she gave him a moment to shine.

The usual apprehension that had always churned within him before returning to school after long weekends dissolved as the months proceeded. A teacher who shows up when it's not mandated shows she genuinely likes her students and who they are as people; with her on the sidelines, my son felt worthy.

Throughout the year, purchasing pizza with her own money, she organized small group lunches, so every student had the privilege of her attention. On the last day of school, she threw them a party to celebrate the most impactful year my son had at his elementary school.

When fifth grade began in September 2025, I knew he'd miss being in her classroom. "I wish I could be in 4C again," he said on the first day of school. That morning, he stopped by her room to say hi, and every morning thereafter, he's done the same. Beginning each day with her is a comfort he's come to rely on.

At his championship soccer game this past fall — as he was adjusting to a new school year — a familiar voice caught my attention. Again, she filled him with confidence in a way I wasn't capable of.

Last month, as we were wandering through the crowd to find our son after his orchestra concert, there she was amid the masses. "I can't believe you're here," I admitted, tears pooling in my eyes. These children are no longer in her class — they're preparing to move on to middle school — but she continues to emerge when they need her most. A mother herself, she has chosen to show up for our children.

"I hope they never forget me," she said as students shuffled by with their instruments. "You'll be the one they remember," I promised.

Last night, I found a letter my son wrote her at the beginning of fourth grade: "It is very nice of you to go to people's sporting events. You make me feel like everything will be alright."

Because of her, my son knows he's enough.

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

A company announcing layoffs cited AI. How original.

Snap is cutting 16% of its workforce, with CEO Evan Spiegel referencing "rapid advancements" in AI.

It joins the ranks of Block, Atlassian, and a handful of others that have cited the tech as one of the driving reasons behind the layoffs.

We could argue over whether these cuts are actually AI-related. Snap's stock is down 25% this year and more than 90% from its all-time high. That's despite a big surge over the past month. (It's a favorite among teens for messaging, so there's that.)

Regardless of the reason, it doesn't make the layoffs any less real. What's more relevant is how similar all these announcements are feeling, writes BI's Tim Paradis.

Layoff announcements are generally boilerplate, but these layoff-turned-AI-manifestos are all melding together.

It's almost like CEOs are using Mad Libs for their AI layoffs.

So after analyzing a couple, I decided to write my own for the next CEO who makes cuts.

(Feel free to fill it out before reading. You can even email it to me: ddefrancesco@businessinsider.com.)

TEAM/SQUAD/MADE-UP EMPLOYEE NICKNAME,

Today is a SAD ADJECTIVE day for us. We're unfortunately saying goodbye to PERCENTAGE of our staff. This decision wasn't easy to make, but it's one that needed to be done to secure COMPANY NAME'S future.

Before I explain why I made this decision, I want to thank our departing colleagues for their hard work. We're committed to helping you during this difficult transition. SEVERANCE PACKAGE DETAILS. ENOUGH TO AVOID BAD PR. NOT ENOUGH TO KILL YOUR BALANCE SHEET.

So why are we doing this now? Over the last SINGLE-DIGIT NUMBER months, we've seen AI's impact on our business FAST ADVERB evolve from potential to actionable. For example, TEAM IMPACTED BY LAYOFFS handled MULTIPLIER its typical volume of work by leveraging AI.

SMALL ADJECTIVE, AI-enabled teams will be better positioned to meet the ever-changing needs of our clients.

We believe these efficiencies are replicable across our business. They're also necessary to stay ahead in such an AGGRESSIVE ADJECTIVE, AI-first business environment. Today's decision is about making sure we stay on that path.

For those leaving, FINAL GOODBYE AND LOGISTICAL NEXT STEPS. Workers outside the US, INTERNATIONAL DISCLAIMER. (SAME OUTCOME, MORE STEPS.)

For those remaining, I understand this is a lot to process. I appreciate your SEVERAL COMPLIMENTARY ADJECTIVES during this difficult time. Ultimately, I'm confident today's decision, as hard as it is, will position us to build an even POWERFUL ADJECTIVE + COMPANY NAME going forward.

FIRST NAME (DESPITE NEVER PERSONALLY SPEAKING TO MOST OF THESE PEOPLE)

• Recent layoff announcements from tech companies have hit on similar themes about AI and tiny teams.
• Snap is the latest tech firm to announce it's cutting jobs, in part, to account for AI's impact.
• Industry observers say AI isn't yet capable of replacing most jobs entirely.

Different company, similar strategy.

Recent layoff announcements from tech firms Atlassian, Block, and now Snap signal that the tech industry is converging on an approach to shaking up business: Move early, cut deeply, and proceed with fewer people and more AI.

The companies tend to cast the reductions as preventive measures — a way to reset the business before AI forces the issue.

"We have already witnessed small squads leveraging AI tools to drive meaningful progress across several important initiatives," Snap CEO Evan Spiegel wrote in a memo released Wednesday announcing the company would cut about 1,000 workers, or 16% of its employees.

CEOs describing the latest reductions — which amounted to about 10% of workers at Atlassian and nearly half at Block — often present the moves as recalibrations in how much labor is needed and how work gets done, thanks to AI.

That can be a savvy strategy, Dan Kaplan, managing partner and head of the HR practice at the consulting firm ZRG, told Business Insider.

"If you say you're doing a reduction because you're leveraging AI, you look more progressive and smarter," he said.

These cuts are happening while AI isn't yet good enough to replace all that many workers, Kaplan said. Nonetheless, he said, CEOs want to show they are ready for what's to come.

"You sort of have to bet into it without having all of the data," Kaplan said of many CEOs' thinking.

'Changing how we work'

CEOs are showing those bets. In the memo, Mike Cannon-Brookes, Atlassian's CEO, pointed to AI "changing how we work," while Block's Jack Dorsey wrote about "a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company." Spiegel described the need for "a new way of working that is faster and more efficient."

Explanations for recent layoffs at other tech companies, including Meta and Amazon, have variously focused on the need to be more efficient and nimble.

Many also mention the value of small teams and a startup ethos — and making room for AI to take on more work.

The overlapping language isn't surprising, said Melissa Swift, founder and CEO of work consultancy Anthrome Insight. It's tempting for companies to "grab onto this ongoing cultural narrative" about why they're conducting layoffs.

"There is no danger in saying what everybody else is saying," she said.

Snap, Block, and Atlassian didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Layoffs can also help with investors, who tend to reward cost-cutting.

At the same time, AI has become a catch-all explanation for many reductions, when it's likely that several factors could be at play, said Scott Kirsner, CEO of InnoLead, a research firm focused on corporate innovation.

Among them: interest rates, inflation, tariffs, pandemic-era overhiring, and the boom-and-bust cycles that have shaped the tech industry for decades.

"Companies feel like they need a fig leaf to explain any kind of job cuts," Kirsner said.

Broadly, he said, some firms are looking for a combination of AI and job cuts to help alleviate some of the pain of higher costs and "lead them to the future."

Another through-line is that none of the firms framed recent layoffs as warning lights. Of course, leaders always want to instill confidence and avoid alarming investors, yet, to varying degrees, the messaging points to strength rather than economic headwinds.

Atlassian highlighted revenue gains in its cloud business, while Block cited growth in its customer base and improved profitability.

Snap, which has faced pressure from an activist investor, said the layoffs reflect an effort to prioritize investments "most likely to create long-term value" and put the company on a "clearer path to net-income profitability."

Smaller is big right now

Companies making cuts also tend to highlight broader shifts beyond simply letting workers go, including reorganizing teams. For some tech CEOs, the underlying assumption in the post-pandemic era is that their companies have grown too big and that smaller teams will operate more effectively.

While the desire to be more nimble is understandable, especially in a period when the next competitor might be a tiny startup, it's often difficult for larger businesses, Kirsner said.

"It's really easy to talk about 'Let's reorganize into small teams. Let's be more nimble and agile,'" he said. Yet, ultimately, large companies have a lot of bureaucracy that slows them down, Kirsner said.

Beyond moving faster, saving on salaries has an obvious appeal for employers. Compared to some of the things AI can do, he said, "people look pretty expensive."

Yet Kirsner said he hasn't seen much evidence that companies feel compelled to cut workers solely to make room for their hefty spending on AI infrastructure or tokens.

If companies do opt to make a people-for-AI trade, the tech still can't outmatch workers in many cases, Swift of Anthrome Insight said.

"You might be funding that investment through cutting roles," she said, "but it's not because AI can already do the work."

• The booming data center industry faces growing pushback from communities and politicians.
• Industry executives worry that there hasn't been a coordinated response to its image problems.
• As states consider moratoriums, trillions of dollars of development could be at risk.

A swell of backlash against the data center development boom has left the industry struggling to reboot its image.

The mounting opposition over issues such as rising power costs, water usage, and AI's broader impact on the job market and environment could threaten trillions of dollars of projects backed by Big Tech, Wall Street investment giants, and a growing collection of developers.

Large and prominent projects have already become casualties of the blowback. In late March, a Virginia appeals court invalidated a rezoning for Digital Gateway, a planned 22 million square foot data center complex on a rural parcel outside Washington, D.C. — potentially scuttling the mega-project.

"The data center industry has gone too far. They've overpopulated certain jurisdictions, and people don't want them," Chap Petersen, an attorney who represented two nonprofit groups that sued to overturn the rezoning. "Communities are recognizing this is not free money, they impact the standard of living and people's perceptions of their own neighborhood."

Despite increasingly glaring setbacks, the disparate cast of players involved in the data center boom has struggled to unite and mount a coordinated defense.

"The worst business decision these companies can make is to invest billions in infrastructure while ceding the public debate to the loudest voices who will regulate them out of existence," the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Coalition wrote in a statement to Business Insider.

The Washington DC-based advocacy group, which was cofounded late last year by former politicians Kyrsten Sinema, a US senator from Arizona, and Garret Graves, a Louisiana congressman, added that the "industry can't outsource the sales job" — an acknowledgment that it needed to take a more active hand in public relations and politics.

Some industry leaders openly said that, as data centers proliferate around the country, they have failed to win over a public that is increasingly aware and skeptical.

"The data center industry hasn't done a good job of explaining itself," said Ryan Mallory, the CEO of Flexential, a data center developer and operator. "I want to be very vocal about this so people know and understand how valuable these sites are."

The growing threat of regulation

The negative sentiment toward the industry is spilling over into politics.

In March, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez jointly proposed a federal ban on data center development. Several individual states, including Maine, are considering moratoriums.

Legislators in Virginia, which hosts the largest data center market in the country, are examining whether to do away with a lucrative incentive that has saved data center developers billions of dollars in sales taxes on the equipment they install at facilities.

Another data center executive who spoke to Business Insider anonymously because he has projects under public review in various locations around the country, singled out Big Tech companies because he believed the enormity of their development plans had spurred the public's ire and the threat of regulation. He said he has seen them do little to present a rousing, unified message to the public, in part because of the intense competition among them to win the AI race.

"You're trying to get Google and Amazon and Oracle and Meta to all say the same thing and agree," he said. "Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg want to get into a cage fight."

The result, he said, has been a fragmented response that has been insufficient "to combat the abundance of misinformation swirling around."

In the crosshairs of controversy

Once obscure to the wider public, data centers are now in the crosshairs of several leading controversies, including a nationwide affordability crisis.

As facilities have sprawled across the country, they have necessitated costly, large-scale utility infrastructure, including transmission lines and power plants. That, in turn, has driven up electricity prices for some consumers.

"Folks are calling electricity prices like the new price of eggs," said Christie Hicks, an attorney at Earthjustice, an environmental organization that has been critical of data center development. "I don't think that there's anyone who would say, yes, I would like to pay more for my electricity so that I can subsidize some of the wealthiest companies in the world."

Because they provide the heavy computing for AI, data centers have also become emblematic of a technology whose rapid advance has stoked widespread fears about job losses across the economy. Much of the data center boom, meanwhile, has been energized by burning fossil fuels, drawing opposition from environmental groups who say the facilities will contribute significantly to the climate crisis. Some facilities deplete local water resources by consuming millions of gallons a day for cooling.

Major tech companies, along with other leading participants in the building boom, have sought to assuage the criticism. In a recent blog post, "Building Community-First AI Infrastructure," a Microsoft executive said the company won't siphon away water or raise energy prices, will create jobs, provide AI training, and that its facilities will contribute revenue for essential public services like schools and libraries.

"We partner closely with local and state leaders, listen to community needs, and ensure our investments benefit residents," Oracle said in a statement provided to Business Insider. The company has partnered with OpenAI to build tens of billions of dollars of data centers across the country.

QTS, which is owned by the Wall Street investment giant Blackstone and is one of the developers behind the Digital Gateway project, said in a statement that it is "focused on being a transparent, trusted partner to responsibly deliver the infrastructure behind modern digital life."

A matter of national security

In early March, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, OpenAI, and Oracle announced what has been seen as one of their biggest coordinated efforts at publicity, signing an agreement with President Donald Trump in which they pledged that the costs for their power infrastructure "are not passed to American households."

The agreement "shows an awareness that these companies understand they have a public perception issue at least and they're interested in trying to address that," Hicks said.

The data center executive who didn't want to be identified said the industry needed more of that kind of collaborative approach. He pointed to when US semiconductor manufacturers in the 1980s banded together to work on research and design, rally domestic support, and beat back foreign competitors.

He said the industry should launch a similar initiative oriented around the idea that the AI race is a matter of national security and that the US's future economic vitality depends on prevailing over rivals like China.

George P. Bush, the nephew of former president George W. Bush, who operates a public affairs firm in Texas that has assisted data center industry participants navigate development in the state, said that "this overarching competition of technological supremacy" is difficult for "everyday constituents to conceptualize."

He said that even in Texas, which has long been considered a business-friendly state, there were some signs of skepticism. The state has more planned data center development than any market in the country, but Bush said that in private conversations, pubic officials, who he declined to name, who had once championed projects, had now signaled concern to him.

"In 2024, where people would say, 'we want these types of developments'," Bush said. "Those same individuals that I've had personal conversations with now are saying 'hey, wait a second'."

• Allbirds is market's latest meme stock after spiking nearly 600% on Wednesday.
• The company is pivoting from shoes to AI, with plans to provide GPUs as a service.
• If history is any indicator, the market's response will inspire copycats to make similar shifts towards AI.

Everyone loves a good last-ditch reinvention.

Actor Robert Downey Jr. was uninsurable and nearly washed out of Hollywood before "Iron Man" revived his career. Tennis player Andre Agassi looked finished before he shaved his head, embraced his grit, and returned to world No. 1.

But business reinventions are uniquely enthralling. We don't have to wait years to see if the gambits will pay off. We have stock prices to provide real-time feedback.

On Wednesday, direct-to-consumer shoe retailer Allbirds became the newest member of the Last-Minute Reinvention Hall of Fame by announcing a pivot towards being a GPU-as-a-service provider.

The company — which was set to cease operations this month after offloading its footwear assets — will use $50 million of secured financing to purchase those GPUs, which it will then lease to customers. Its new name? NewBird AI.

Investors loved the idea. Allbirds shares spiked nearly 900% at intraday highs, going from $2.49 all the way to more than $24.

Still, as the chart below shows, the company's current market cap of $148 million pales in comparison to the record high of more than $4 billion reached on its IPO day in 2021. Hence the AI-pivot Hail Mary.

Allbirds' move is a bold one, and a complete business-model reset. Unlike CoreWeave — which successfully pivoted from crypto mining with an existing base of GPUs and infrastructure — it's unclear whether Allbirds owns any AI-adjacent assets at all.

Not to mention Allbirds' $50 million in financing is a drop in the bucket compared to CoreWeave's plan to spend tens of billions of capex.

The proposed transformation, which still needs to be approved by vote, slots Allbirds in alongside other Hall of Fame greats like:

• Algorhythm Holdings, the karaoke-machine seller that pivoted to AI-driven trucking logistics and disrupted the whole sector. (February 2026)
• Long Blockchain, a beverage company formerly known as Long Island Iced Tea that created a market frenzy after pivoting towards crypto. (December 2017)
• Any money-hemorrhaging company that tacked "dot com" at the end of their names during the tech bubble. (Late 1990s, early 2000s)

Given Allbirds' immediate stock gains, more struggling companies are likely to try similar moves. Successful reinventions tend to breed copycats, and AI it's today's dominant business trend.

While Wednesday was fun for Allbirds shareholders, the question now is the sustainability of the stock rally. The fact that Allbirds doesn't have a current functioning business, but is now worth $148 million, puts it officially in meme-stock territory. History suggests a re-rating is coming once speculation gives way to actual fundamentals.

Speaking of sustainability, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the irony of this situation: A footwear company that once made being eco-friendly a selling point has done a full 180, and is getting into an industry criticized for its negative environmental impact.

With all that said, I have an announcement: this newsletter will hereby be known as "FirstTrade AI." In addition to writing daily musings, I will be renting a single GPU to myself every day for the foreseeable future, using money from an external investor (my wife).

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a parade of investors lined up at my door that I can't keep waiting.

• John Barr has led Needham Aggressive Growth Fund to an 84% rise since last April.
• Barr's fund outperformed the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 with lesser-known stock picks.
• nLIGHT, Vicor, and Tetra are highlighted as strong performers for future growth.

John Barr's performance over the last year at the helm of the Needham Aggressive Growth Fund (NEAGX) is impressive.

The small-cap-focused fund is up an eye-pooping 84% since last April, smashing the S&P 500's 30% returns and the 43% gain in the small-cap Russell 2000.

Perhaps the most interesting part of those gains is that most of the stocks in Barr's fund, which Morningstar data shows has beaten 99% of similar funds over the last five years, are names not many people have heard of.

And that's the way Barr likes it.

"There's less noise," he told Business Insider. "I think it's just the Mag 7 has captured so much attention from people that there's some really great smaller companies that just don't get covered, they don't get attention."

Here's the fund's top 10 holdings and their weightings, as of December 31, 2025:

• nLIGHT (4.88%)
• Vicor (4.39%)
• Arteris (3.49%)
• Vertiv (3.45%)
• PDF Solutions (3.41%)
• ThredUp (3.17%)
• OilDri (2.54%)
• Genius Sports (2.37%)
• Lincoln Educational Service (2.22%)
• Hammond Power Solutions (2.14%)

You could argue that much of Barr's investing philosophy relies on things flying under the radar — not just the companies themselves, but their new business lines.

He likes to call his holdings "hidden quality compounders," which are defined by three characteristics.

"Hidden" refers to the company already having a solid business model but investing in a new stream of revenue that the market doesn't yet understand. This weighs on the stock's cash flow, making it look unattractive before it starts to boom.

"The overall financials are kind of at a break-even point, so not really attractive to the value guys, nor is it attractive to the growth guys," Barr said. "And we're looking out one year, two years, even five years, for when the new thing will start to contribute, and to hold them with an average 10-year holding period."

Next, he looks at a management team's tenure and mindset. This means investing in founder-led firms or in firms whose executives have been there for many years, signaling a long-term outlook.

And third, Barr looks at how stable the business will remain if its new venture doesn't work out. If it would still be profitable, this limits downside potential, he said.

3 stock picks

Barr, who has managed his fund since 2010, highlighted three stocks in his fund that have these characteristics and that he thinks are set to outperform in the year ahead.

The first is nLIGHT (LASR), a laser producer that he says will benefit from increased government defense needs, as its lasers are used to shoot down drones.

Drone technology "is moving really fast," he said, "and then you have to find a way to counter them, and the lasers are one of them." He added: "Boy, this has gotten people's attention in the last year."

The stock has risen 808% in the last 12 months.

Second is Vicor (VICR), which produces power conversion components. The company has major demand from AI hyperscalers that are using its products in data centers.

"What has really driven the business in the last few months, the last few quarters, is their next generation, which works with AI processors," Barr said.

And third is Tetra (TTI), which produces chemicals for the fracking process. However, one of their new business lines is providing water treatment solutions in the Permian Basin, where new data centers are using large amounts of water.

"Data centers use a lot of water, and if it can be treated and reused, it's a big win for all," he said. "If this does work, then Tetra is very well positioned for it."

• Paul Dietrich applauded Warren Buffett's cash pile and Michael Burry's skepticism of AI stocks.
• The veteran strategist told Business Insider the stock market is "still very overvalued."
• Dietrich predicted stubbornly high fuel prices and touted utilities, domestic energy, and gold.

Warren Buffett's cash hoard will pay off handsomely, and Michael Burry's AI critique is right on the money, Paul Dietrich says.

"Buffett is right to still be keeping a lot of cash," Wedbush's chief investment strategist told Business Insider by email. "Given all the economic turmoil, the market is still very overvalued."

The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high of about 7,023 points on Wednesday, fueled by a sharp rebound in tech stocks.

In his final quarter as Berkshire Hathaway CEO, Buffett and his team grew the company's liquid assets to a record $373 billion as of December 31.

"They will do very well when the market finally bottoms out after the next major bear market," Dietrich said, adding that "when it starts to recover, they will have great buying opportunities."

Buffett famously deployed over $21 billion across five transactions between 2008 and 2009, when credit markets froze up and Berkshire stood virtually alone in being willing and able to put large sums to work.

As for Burry, Dietrich said he subscribes to his Substack and "agrees with all of his analysis of AI funding and accounting."

The investor of "The Big Short" fame has been sounding the alarm on AI stocks, pointing to their heady valuations, slowing growth, inflated earnings, excessive investments, and "give-and-take" deals.

"It is a scandal!" Dietrich said.

Navigating war and AI

Dietrich shared a draft of his next market commentary with Business Insider.

The Wall Street veteran wrote that energy prices are unlikely to materially retreat before next year, given it takes 60 to 90 days for fuel from the region to reach US pumps, there's been widespread damage to Gulf energy facilities, and there are clear signs of inventory pressure and shortages in the oil sector.

Dietrich wrote that he favors investing indirectly in AI via utilities. "I can, at least, understand their financials," he said, adding that public utilities are the "backbone" of supplying the energy that data centers require.

"Where utilities were once seen as a widow and orphans' safe bond-like investment known for steady dividends, they're now viewed as future growth companies powering the AI boom," he wrote.

"Investing in utilities gives exposure to this long-term AI trend without the risks faced by other investors who are ignoring Burry's warnings," he added.

Dietrich wrote that his analysis supports owning domestic energy producers that benefit from higher commodity prices but don't have operations in the Gulf, as well as domestic energy infrastructure as a safer alternative to Gulf assets.

He also struck a bullish tone on gold and hard assets, noting they usually perform well in periods of inflation, geopolitical uncertainty, and currency pressure.

On the other hand, he cautioned investors about fuel-sensitive industries such as airlines and trucking, as stubbornly high energy prices could throttle their profits.

Dietrich flagged the risk of "12 to 24 months of disruption across energy markets, food supply chains, industrial input costs, and global growth."

"The investors who navigate this period best will not be the ones who called the ceasefire date," he wrote.

"They will be the ones who built portfolios capable of absorbing an extended disruption — and who resisted the urge to trade on every headline."

• Snap is leaning into small, AI-powered "squads" to boost speed and output.
• AI proponents say the technology lets fewer workers accomplish more, allowing for flatter hierarchies.
• Risks include weaker talent pipelines, AI-driven bias, and declining worker engagement.

Score another one for tiny teams.

On Wednesday, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel framed plans to slash 1,000 jobs as part of a shift the social-media company started last year toward organizing employees into small, AI-powered "squads." He said the strategy is already playing out as AI cuts repetitive tasks and speeds up execution.

Leaders at several other big companies have recently made similar remarks about the benefits of leaner workforces and the role that AI plays in making small teams highly productive. In some cases, the comments were linked to layoffs.

"It would be disingenuous to pretend AI doesn't change the mix of skills we need or the number of roles required in certain areas. It does," Mike Cannon-Brookes, CEO of software company Atlassian, wrote last month in a securities filing about plans to cut 1,600 jobs.

"We're starting to see projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person," Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg said on a January earnings call with analysts.

The tiny team trend isn't limited to Big Tech. JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon said in his annual letter to shareholders this month that "the real competitive battles" are waged by small, laser-focused teams.

Embracing startup culture

While startup founders have long prioritized scrappiness, the philosophy has been gaining traction among established businesses in recent years due to the AI boom. The technology allows just a few workers, or in some cases individuals, to carry out what previously required large teams, proponents say.

"We're going to see 10-person companies with billion-dollar valuations pretty soon," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicted in February 2024.

Leaner teams reflect a related shift away from middle managers and toward flatter hierarchies. Earlier this month, Block CEO Jack Dorsey described the "most ideal" setup as one where all 6,000 of the payments company's employees report directly to him, while Amazon boss Andy Jassy said that flattening the tech giant's structure has improved its speed.

Benefiting from shrinking teams requires changing how work gets done, said Erik Brynjolfsson, an economics professor at Stanford University.

"The winners won't simply be the leanest organizations," he said. "They'll be the ones that best redesign work so humans and AI complement each other."

Bias, morale, and pipeline problems

Going too small can be dicey, said Matt Poepsel, vice president of talent optimization at the Predictive Index, an HR software company. Workers who rely solely on AI for decision-making might amplify personal biases, he said, whereas groups provide checks and balances.

"AI is programmed to try to keep you using it," said Poepsel. "That's why I refer to it as the silicon sycophant, because it's wired for a very different outcome."

Companies going down the tiny team path also risk hurting morale, which can negatively impact business outcomes, said Alex Lovell, a political psychologist at O.C. Tanner, an employee-recognition software company.

Engagement is driven by interaction with colleagues and leaders, he said, and without that, "inspiration can decay."

Another potential downside is that tiny teams can diminish talent pipelines, said Soumitra Shukla, a research fellow at Harvard Business School. Cutting entry-level roles, for example, can lead to shortages of experienced workers.

"You don't have as many people to promote to seniors," he said.

Further, early-stage professionals may start to question their ability to climb the corporate ladder at companies embracing tiny teams, added Shukla, also a researcher at The Burning Glass Institute, a nonprofit research organization that studies the future of work and learning.

"Junior talent is not going to be junior forever," he said.

• Anthony Scaramucci thinks a US recession is already here.
• Scaramucci criticized Trump's policies, linking them to economic decline and inflation.
• Economists like Mark Zandi and Paul Krugman have also raised concerns about a recession.

Anthony Scaramucci thinks economic pain isn't coming for the US. It's already here.

The former White House communications director added his voice to calls from prominent economists such as Mark Zandi, who have raised concerns about a recession recently, highlighting the fragile state of the economy and the impact of Donald Trump's policies.

"If you're asking me, 'Are we currently in a recession?' I believe, after 37 years on Wall Street, that we already are in one," he told Business Insider in an interview this week.

Since his time in the White House during Trump's first term, Scaramucci has been hosting and appearing on podcasts, weighing in on markets and the broader economy, particularly as they relate to Trump's policies.

Scaramucci said that he thinks the decision to impose a military blockade on the Strait of Hormuz is the right one, but he also revealed several reasons he believes Trump's policies have likely pushed the US economy into the jaws of a recession.

"If you just look at the data for lower and middle income people, [that group] more or less has to stop spending," he said. "And you can get a food shock due to lack of fertilizer, you get a further energy shock."

Scaramucci added that Trump has put the country through "16 months of drama," which has led to rising prices due to high tariffs or the energy crisis stemming from the Iran war. He also doesn't believe the war will end soon, even as Wall Street rallies on the prospect of a near-term conclusion of hostilities.

He said that the latest economic data is lagging the reality on the ground, predicting that future numbers will show that the US economy has experienced no growth for two consecutive quarters since the year started, meeting the technical definition of a recession. That said, the downturn might not be confirmed for months.

"The data is going to come out and [it's] going to tell you that we're in a recession," he said. "Sometime, when they're revising the April-May numbers in October, they'll tell you that we slipped into a recession,"

• The S&P 500 hit a fresh record high on Wednesday as investors looked beyond the Iran war.
• Piper Sandler analysts said the rally is "built on hope rather than evidence."
• The oil shock is still a factor, with Goldman estimating Strait of Hormuz flows down 90%.

The S&P 500 hit a fresh all-time high on Wednesday, with the market all but moving on from the Iran war, but some on Wall Street warn that the oil shock still looms.

The stock market's record-setting rally resumed, with the S&P 500 notching its first-ever close above 7,000 on Wednesday.

"As far as the stock market is concerned, the war is over until further notice," Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, said.

Yet, despite the market's latest move up, the war has not been formally concluded, and the flow of energy and other commodities through the Strait of Hormuz remains highly restricted.

Craig Johnson, Piper Sandler's chief market technician, framed this week's rally as a case of "falling upwards."

"The stock market's ten-day advance appears to be built on hope rather than evidence," he wrote.

Oil is still trading well above prewar levels, but has backed off from recent peaks on de-escalation hopes. Despite the shift in investor sentiment pulling oil prices lower, the Strait of Hormuz is still a critical bottleneck, and damage to oil infrastructure in the region will be long-lasting.

Goldman Sachs analysts said there has not been much of an increase in flows through the Strait of Hormuz yet, with current estimates showing flows are down by 90% from normal levels.

The analysts also noted, "The US blockade of ships going from and to Iranian ports poses downside risks for the remaining Hormuz flows given that Iran-associated tankers have been accounting for most of the recent flows."

The International Energy Agency cut its oil demand outlook on lower supply and higher prices. Oil demand is expected to contract by 80,000 barrels per day, the agency said in its latest release. This would represent the sharpest decline since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IEA has previously said the Iran War oil disruption is worse than three of history's biggest energy shocks combined, and this week, IEA executive director Fatih Birol warned oil prices are "not reflecting the severity of the problem."

WTI crude was trading at roughly $100 per barrel when the IEA chief said prices were disconnected from the reality of the shock, and they've since fallen to about $90.

The primary threat from an oil shock is inflation. A bearish scenario for markets would be one in which inflation remains high enough that the Federal Reserve cannot lower interest rates, or, in a worst-case scenario, is even forced to raise rates.

Gig workers and the companies that pay them often talk about earnings in hourly terms.

That doesn't tell the full story, though.

Unlike full-time employees, gig workers often get paid per task. Many are also juggling multiple gigs or working for apps like Uber or Lyft in addition to other commitments. Pay can also vary significantly depending on which app you choose and your strategy.

Business Insider spoke with a dozen gig workers across the US about their 2025 earnings. We verified the information they provided through documentation, such as 1099 tax forms and earnings statements from the companies. Beyond how much they made, we wanted to know who they were, why they turned to gig work, and how they made it work.

Here's what we heard:

A 63-year-old ride-hailing driver in Phoenix made $65,000 in gross earnings for Uber

The breakdown:

• Uber: $65,000
• Consulting income: $6,000

I started as a rideshare driver in 2018 after getting laid off from my job. The first two years, I worked for Lyft, but I moved to Uber in 2020 after a problem I had with their rental car program. I also needed a few months to recover from COVID.

Uber is a good way to make money here in Arizona during the winter, when the snowbirds come down for the warm weather. During the summers, though, there's less demand for rides, which means more competition among drivers and less pay.

While I made $65,000 from Uber last year, my real income was closer to $40,000 after expenses like gas and car maintenance. This year, I'm trying to start a nonprofit to support disaster relief, but I'm still working for Uber to pay my bills.

I also have a consulting business that helps companies manage international expansion.

A 61-year-old former nurse made $23,000 working for Amazon Flex in Michigan

The breakdown:

• Amazon Flex: $23,000

I had been a nurse for over two decades when I quit in 2016. They were trying to retrain me, and I felt like my boss was hinting that I should leave. So I started trying different kinds of gig work and landed on delivering packages for Amazon Flex.

I have a pension from my old job that paid me $20,000 last year. I also get health insurance through my husband's retirement plan, so Flex is really good for supplementing my income.

We travel a lot, so the flexibility to work as much or as little as I want is great. If I didn't have that fixed income or had to pay more for healthcare, though, it probably wouldn't work out.

A 33-year-old handyman made $37,000 working for Taskrabbit in Arizona

The breakdown:

• Taskrabbit: $37,000
• Handyman business: $41,000

I've always been pretty handy with furniture assembly. The majority of what I do for Taskrabbit is assemble Ikea furniture, though I also see a lot of items from Wayfair and Amazon.

I've found my niche within Ikea's Pax wardrobe system. It can be a stand-alone dresser against a wall or an entire walk-in closet, depending on how it is assembled. I've played around with an in-store tool Ikea offers that lets you customize it, so I've become familiar with this particular piece of furniture.

With Taskrabbit, I set my own schedule. I have a farm and my own handyman business, so I schedule tasks in between those commitments. My time is very limited, and having the ability to pick and choose and create my schedule is so critical.

A 29-year-old in Tennessee made $2,000 delivering for Walmart over the holidays

The breakdown:

• Walmart Spark: $2,000

I was having trouble finding a "real" W-2 job as a graphic designer, so my aunt, who works for Walmart, told me about the Spark delivery service.

I started on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The holidays were busy, especially for grocery orders. This year, so far, has fallen off a bit. I generally work on weekends and on Monday and Wednesday, between noon and 8 pm.

I don't think I'll do grocery delivery until I'm 80, though I've seen plenty of older people doing this work. For now, I enjoy it. I'm actually waiting for a pharmacy order right now.

A 45-year-old Lyft driver in Florida made $6,000 after getting laid off

The breakdown:

• Lyft: $6,000

I started driving for Lyft nine years ago, but stopped after I got a full-time job. Then, last October, I got laid off from my job as a broker in the trucking industry and came back to Lyft. I haven't received severance or applied for unemployment benefits, so I've relied mainly on gig work since then.

The most I can drive in a day is about six hours because of back pain. I've also noticed that the rides pay less than they used to. I used to make almost all of the fare. These days, I'll pick someone up who's paying $48, and I'll get $16 before tip.

My goal is to find another job in the trucking industry. I've had about 10 interviews, but none have panned out.

A 37-year-old DoorDash delivery worker in Texas made $3,000 while taking care of her mom

The breakdown:

• DoorDash: $3,000

I started making restaurant deliveries for DoorDash last May. I'd do it about once a week.

I take care of my mom, and her place is really far out of town, so getting a traditional job wasn't convenient. I don't have a ton of income, but I also don't have a lot of expenses myself, so the job works for me.

A 64-year-old nonprofit leader made $5,000 in Colorado through a ride-hailing cooperative

The breakdown:

• Drivers Cooperative Colorado: $5,000

The bulk of my career has been in the nonprofit sector. In 2024, I left a full-time salary to start a new nonprofit focused on teaching the principles of nonviolence preached by Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

My wife has a full-time job and benefits, and I'm grateful for that solid foundation. Still, I could use some side income, so I started driving for a rideshare cooperative here in the Denver area at the end of 2024.

The flexibility has been great. I've been able to work on my nonprofit in the car while waiting for rides to come in. I've also enjoyed being part of the Cooperative as opposed to the big ride-hailing apps. We aren't focused on profit, and I don't feel like a cog in a machine the way other drivers I know do.

A 40-year-old in Texas made $12,000 on DoorDash while dealing with health issues

The breakdown:

• DoorDash: $12,000

I used to be a professional chauffeur for a wealthy man in the petroleum industry. Unfortunately, I started having autoimmune issues that interfered with that job, so I quit.

On DoorDash, you can make your own schedule. That's super important because I am limited on a daily basis in the amount of work that I can put in for health reasons. That hasn't stopped me from reaching platinum status in the app's worker rewards program, which is the highest rank. Lately, I've been able to work seven days a week.

This year, gas prices have affected how much I have left at the end of the month, though I've downloaded some cash-back apps to help with that.

A 48-year-old in New York City made $25,000 on Uber Eats

The breakdown:

• Uber Eats: $25,000

I joined Uber Eats a few years ago. I mostly deliver on a bike in Queens. The orders here are all from fast-food restaurants, like Wendy's or Burger King.

My pay has gone up and down over the years. I saw a boost in early 2024, when New York City implemented an $18-an-hour minimum wage law. Later, though, some of the apps moved the option to leave a tip until after delivery. After that, tips became a rarity. I got them on a handful of orders each week.

At the start of this year, I saw my earnings go up again after the city started requiring the companies to offer customers the option to tip at checkout.

A 63-year-old retired post office worker made $6,000 through Lyft in Colorado

The breakdown:

• Lyft: $6,000
• Ushering: $6,000

I started driving for Lyft eight years ago. Many of the per-trip payments now aren't as high as they were back then. Publicly, Lyft says its drivers make over $30 an hour, but after my expenses, it's closer to $14 an hour.

I also made $22,000 from my pension last year.

I'm retired, so this is a side gig for me. Between my Lyft earnings, my pension, and working as an usher at concerts in Denver, I do OK.

A 46-year-old in Virginia made $35,000 as an Uber Eats driver

The breakdown:

• Uber Eats: $35,000

I used to work in sales, but business dried up after COVID, so I started doing gig work.

I tried doing rideshare for Uber and deliveries for Walmart through Spark, but these days I just do Uber Eats — everything from delivering a Popeyes order to picking up a few items someone needs at CVS.

The flexible schedule has allowed me to leave the corporate world. I've also been able to become a coach for a local youth baseball team — something that I never would have had time for with my old jobs.

A 58-year-old in Louisiana made $40,000 doing deliveries for Walmart and Uber

The breakdown:

• Walmart Spark: $32,000
• DoorDash: $4,000
• Uber Eats: $4,000

I spent the last 40 years driving 18-wheel trucks. Most recently, I drove cement mixers for construction. I needed something to do in between those jobs, so I signed up for Spark at Walmart.

Over time, it became my main income. I work eight hours a day, six days a week. My best days are Sundays and Mondays, when people need groceries for a week of work or school. I take a lot of deliveries that involve driving out into the country because they tend to tip better.

My car broke down recently, so I started renting one to make deliveries, which has eaten into my take-home pay. I'll probably go back to driving an 18-wheeler.

Do you have a story to share about gig work? 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.

• The Iran war has affected businesses across sectors, from retail to advertising.
• Its impacts are starting to show up in earnings calls.
• Here's what top CEOs and execs are saying about the impact of the Iran war on the business world.

More than six weeks have passed since the Iran war began, and the impact of the conflict on businesses is becoming more evident.

The impacts of surging oil prices, supply chain issues, and lower demand from the Middle East are starting to show up in Q1 earnings.

In some sectors, such as investment banking, executives say business activity is in good shape overall.

However, for industries such as luxury goods, which have a strong retail presence in the Middle East, there are concerns about how the ongoing conflict will affect business.

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said in the company's first-quarter earnings call on April 13 that "the environment for investment banking activity continues to be incredibly robust, particularly M&A activity."

Solomon said that while leaders are "watching what's going on geopolitically," they are also looking at the opportunities that artificial intelligence could bring.

"They are focused on that, and that candidly trumps some of the geopolitical risk," Solomon added.

Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Groupe

The French advertising giant said on its first-quarter earnings call on April 14 that the conflict in the Middle East had led some clients to delay "large transformation capex projects" due to uncertainty over how the situation might unfold.

CEO Arthur Sadoun said on the call that clients had become resilient in navigating uncertainty, after other major events, including COVID, the war in Ukraine, tariffs, and inflation. Publicis said it hadn't seen brands making significant reductions in their marketing budgets in the first quarter.

"They know that if they cut marketing spend, they will lose market share," Sadoun said. "That will be very expensive and very difficult to win back."

Publicis' Middle East and Africa business posted a 5.1% decline in organic revenue in the quarter, with the United Arab Emirates and Israel most affected, the company said.

Cécile Cabanis, CFO of LVMH

LVMH said in its earnings call on April 13 that its first-quarter performance was negatively affected by the war in Iran.

Cécile Cabanis, CFO of the French luxury conglomerate, said that "demand is very much down" in the Middle East, particularly citing lower foot traffic to malls.

Cabanis said Sephora, one of LVMH's companies, has been able to resist this downward trend better because of its large presence in Saudi Arabia, which she said has been "more resilient" during the conflict.

"What we have not seen yet is repatriation. And what we know is that the wealth has not evaporated," Cabanis said.

She added that if the conflict persists and wealthy people leave the region, they will ensure that they are "there to serve the clients."

Armelle Poulou, CFO of Kering

Gucci parent company Kering said during its first-quarter earnings call on April 14 that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East weighed on its traffic and performance.

"Since the end of February, the situation in the region has remained an area of heightened attention for the group," CFO Armelle Poulou said.

It saw an 11% decline in retail revenue in the region during Q1, which dragged on the overall retail segment.

The Middle East accounts for about 5% of the luxury conglomerate's retail revenue, with about 1,100 employees and 79 stores, the company said. Despite some recent disruptions, it said stores are fully open.

Kering is also feeling the impact of the Iran war on sales outside of the Middle East. Its sales were down 7% in Western Europe in Q1, where "trends remain challenging, particularly due to softer tourist flows, notably from Asia and Middle East," Poulou said.

Eric du Halgouët, CFO of Hermes

Luxury brand Hermes said its sales in the Middle East were down 6% during the first quarter as the conflict in Iran kicked off.

The company also saw its sales in France take a hit as it saw a "strong decrease" in Middle East customers shopping for its products.

"The impact of the slowdown because of the Middle East is not significant on profitability," its CFO Eric du Halgouët said during the company's earnings call.

"It remains to be seen whether the events continue for a month or two, but if it's just two months, I think that we can absorb this impact without too many difficulties," he added.

Wendell Huang, CFO of TSMC

Semiconductor powerhouse TSMC reported record profit for the first quarter — but warned that the war in Iran could affect its finances.

Speaking on TSMC's earnings call, CFO Wendell Huang told investors that the prices of certain chemicals and gases the Taiwanese company uses to make chips would likely increase due to the situation in the Middle East.

Huang said that the disruption could impact TSMC's profitability, but told investors the company had sufficient reserves of hydrogen and helium to ride out any shortages.

Helium plays a critical role in semiconductor production. Around one-third of the world's supply is produced by Qatar, and the Iran war has sparked a global shortage of the odorless gas.

• Andrew Hsu, the cofounder and CTO of an AI startup, said the company is rethinking engineer hiring.
• The company has ditched coding screening questions and candidates use agents throughout the process, he said.
• Hsu said he's looking to hire candidates with an "agentic mindset" in addition to foundational skills.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Andrew Hsu, the cofounder and CTO of Speak, an AI-powered language learning app. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm a cofounder at Speak, a growth-stage AI-native startup. We're building an AI language tutor using the power of AI and speech recognition models. The whole company is about 150 people, and we have about 60 engineers.

Coding agents weren't viewed as a central tool for actual software engineering teams until early December of last year. At that point, the models became good enough that 80% of the coding work software engineers had to do could be handled by an agent. Their day-to-day changed from writing code to primarily communicating through coding agents.

Over the past three months, the rate of change has been unbelievable, and the fundamental job of software engineers has totally changed.

We're rethinking how we hire and interview engineers to look for what we call agentic engineering skills, in addition to, many of the skills that we've always looked for in strong software engineers.

We've been deeply rethinking how we do interviews. In the past, engineering has always been the main bottleneck in the product development cycle. The most expensive, high-paid part of the pipeline has changed, and engineering is no longer the bottleneck. We have a much larger capacity now for people who know how to use these coding agents to the maximum extent.

We had a two-week slowdown in individual contributor engineering hiring while we figured out how to evaluate people and how we think about leveling given a young engineer can have more output than a principal engineer. Now we have a new process.

We have not revised our headcount goals for this year. We're not planning to shrink our engineering team; we're just looking for engineers who can work in this new style.

The technical part of the interview

We've never done the LeetCode, algorithmic tech screens that Big Tech companies are known for. We try to do more real-world coding problems.

All the traditional tech screen coding questions are gone entirely, because the models are good enough that they can answer every one of those questions. It's no longer a test of engineering skills.

The more interesting test is: Can you build a feature using Claude Code or OpenAI's Codex? Can you talk through and solve problems and plan and debug through these agents? Can you do it in a way that amplifies your output, while keeping the quality bar high?

We still assign take-home projects to candidates, but they now use coding agents to the maximum extent. We're also retooling the on-site process to incorporate agentic coding in a live room. Then we ask them about what they've built, and why they made certain choices or trade-offs.

An agentic engineering mindset

There's a new agentic engineering skillset that we're testing for, and we only want to hire people who are good at it.

We're looking for engineers who have the agentic mindset. I talk about this internally with a specific framework. "Engineer one" is a software engineer who uses Claude Code or Codex for about 90% of what they do. Fundamentally, though, they're using it to move faster, but nothing has actually changed in their mindset for how they build.

"Engineer two," on the other hand, actually realizes that their job has changed, from working on the implementation of the feature to building the environment and systems to make an AI agent work better. They're building that feedback loop and adding capabilities to the agenda so that it can do all of the work, including verifying the feature that it just built.

It's a very different job, and I think that people who understand the "Engineer two" mindset will be much more productive than "Engineer one." I think that the gap will continue to grow.

The profile that we've seen really succeed in this agentic engineering world is engineers who are extremely proactive and intellectually curious.

We've been pretty lucky, because we've always looked for engineers who are more builders than programmers, and who don't have their identity attached to the beauty of the code and the system, but whether what they're building is actually solving a problem for users.

In the interviews, we want to see that the candidate is — in combination with all the traditional strengths of a human software engineer — all-in on building with agents. We've also placed even more emphasis on traditional skills, like system design and architecture. The higher-level aspects of building a technical system are even more important now.

The entire industry is moving in this direction, and the people with the agentic engineering mindset are going to be the ones who thrive.

• Netflix is getting back to basics after bowing out of the bidding war for Warner Bros.
• The company has raised prices and is looking to expand its ad business.
• An analyst said that "there are fewer cancellations than people expect" when streamers raise prices.

Netflix is in an enviable spot despite losing the Warner Bros. bidding war.

Media analysts are bullish on Netflix's prospects ahead of its first-quarter earnings report on Thursday, as it pivots away from buying HBO by flexing its pricing power and scaling its budding ad business.

This optimism follows what may be a win-win move by the streaming giant: raising prices again.

If customers on Netflix's ad-free plan pay $2 more a month, the streamer reels in more money. Netflix is forecasting revenue growth of up to 14% in 2026, which Wall Street says is achievable.

And if subscribers decide $19.99 a month for the standard plan or $26.99 for premium is too steep, they can trade down to its $8.99 ad tier, which is the same price as the Paramount+ ad plan and less than comparable offerings from Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, and Peacock.

"By leveraging an industry-low priced ad-supported offering, Netflix can aggressively push price on the top end while recapturing users looking to reduce their monthly bill," analyst Robert Fishman of MoffettNathanson wrote in a mid-April note.

While customers may grumble about streaming price hikes, there's reason to think they're unlikely to quit Netflix. The streamer has long had an industry-low cancellation rate, which was 1.7% in the US in February, according to subscription data firm Antenna. Besides, Netflix is a bargain on a dollar-per-consumption-hour basis, UBS researchers wrote last year.

"We think there's more runway than most people believe to increase subscription prices," said Luke Stillman, an analyst at advertising research firm Madison & Wall. "Every time you see subscription prices going up, there are fewer cancellations than people expect, and there's pretty low elasticity to price increases."

A Netflix spokesperson declined to comment ahead of Thursday's earnings.

Ad-ing more subscribers

By hiking prices, Netflix can also reap another less-obvious benefit: growing its ad tier.

The best ad businesses are scaled, meaning advertisers can reach massive, diverse audiences at once. If Netflix can ramp up its ad tier sufficiently, it can command higher ad rates and land bigger brand deals, said Mike Proulx, the marketing research director at Forrester.

Proulx believes that Netflix's latest hikes are "essentially price-pinching" ad-free subscribers, with a goal of "forcing them into their ad tiers, in order to gain that scale" in its ad business.

Some analysts disagree, given that Netflix's ad-tier subscribers are less lucrative than its ad-free customers.

"I think the last thing they really want is to have their happiest customers, the most loyal subscribers, churn down because of a price increase," said Hernan Lopez, who founded media consultancy firm Owl & Co.

Netflix has said it expects to double its ad revenue this year, from $1.5 billion in 2025 to around $3 billion. MoffettNathanson projects that the company will then grow ad revenue to $4.4 billion in 2027, $5.8 billion in 2028, and $7.3 billion in 2029.

Less than four years after launching an ad business, Netflix is pacing to be one of the 20 biggest ad sellers outside China this year, Stillman of Madison & Wall said.

The company said last fall that its ads reached 190 million viewers, though many of those viewers are on shared accounts.

"They're going to continue to take share," Stillman said of Netflix's ad business. "They're also spending more on content than their competition, and we think that that is a big part of gaining further traction."

• Michael Sim is the cofounder of Future Flicks, where he earns $6,000 a month renting out photo booths.
• Sim and his business partner focus on brand activations, earning $4,000-$7,000 total per event.
• He aims to expand into multiple cities, quit his corporate job, and become a seven-figure business.

This as-told-to essay is based on conversations with Michael Sim, a 33-year-old founder in New York. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Four years ago, I started Future Flicks, a photo booth side hustle to bring in extra income. Living in New York, where everything is expensive, relying on a single paycheck wasn't cutting it. My wife works full-time as a pharmacist, and I'm a director of paid search at a media agency.

The idea came while my wife and I were planning our own wedding, and we saw firsthand how expensive the industry can be. Photo booths felt like a fun, relatively simple way to break in, so I partnered with my friend, Jazz Singh, and gave it a shot.

Now I make around $6,000 a month from the business.

The advantage of a photo booth business is its low operating costs

Our main expenses were upfront: equipment, insurance, and software. Once upfront costs were paid off in the first year, about 60-70% of revenue became profit. We rent a storage unit where we store our seven booths now.

After we launched during the 2022 holiday season, I quickly fell in love with it after our first few events. Many of our friends were getting married, which gave us an early batch of leads and supportive first clients.

My wife helps with behind-the-scenes things such as logistics. We built our social media presence and grew through word of mouth, and that momentum quickly snowballed. We got married in 2023 and used our photo booth at our wedding.

I enjoy that the business centers on celebrating joyful moments. Problem-solving clients' needs is deeply rewarding, and the connections and creative work bring a strong sense of personal fulfillment.

We earn $4,000-$7,000 per brand activation

Each event lasts around four to five hours. I don't have to be at every event. Jazz handles most of them, and we also have some drop-off events. On non-event days, I still have tasks as the primary point of contact.

In the first two years, we mostly did weddings, but we leveraged our connections to land our first corporate client a few months after launching. One of the first corporate clients we landed was KITH for its holiday party, and we've continued working with them every year since.

We quickly expanded into brand activations. Breaking into that space was our biggest hurdle. By refining our offerings and introducing more bespoke, experience-driven photo booth concepts, we began to stand out, leading to opportunities with agencies and brands working on product launches and activations.

Nowadays, corporate and brand activations are our main focus

Brands are willing to pay thousands without negotiation, unlike weddings, where pricing is often heavily negotiated. These clients are more focused on whether we can help achieve their goals. An extra $1,000 or $2,000 isn't a major concern, which is why I focus on events that help companies build product awareness.

We're one of the few companies in our area offering a high-angle photo booth experience and vintage booths. Our newest product is an AI photo booth — we recently worked with Garnier to transform guests' photos into custom hair-dye box designs they could take home as gifts.

My goal is to grow 10 to 20% each year, and I aim to replace my 9-to-5

I've worked in digital marketing and media for about 10 years, specializing in Google Ads and SEO, and have advanced to a senior role where I make six figures. I plan to replace my full-time income within the next six to eight months.

My goal is to grow Future Flicks Photobooth into a seven-figure business within five years by building strong industry relationships, scaling with a team and systems, continuing to innovate our offerings, strengthening our brand, and expanding into multiple cities.

• Analysts asked Wall Street leaders about their private credit exposure on earnings calls this week.
• CEOs detailed how much they have at stake, but said they're comfortable with it.
• Jamie Dimon repeated his belief that private credit doesn't pose a systemic risk.

On an earnings call in October, after two high-profile bankruptcies sent the market reeling, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon issued a blunt warning about the health of the credit market: "When you see one cockroach, there's probably more."

Six months later, that now-infamous metaphor has taken on a life of its own amid growing investor jitters over the opaque private credit industry.

When analysts pressed Wall Street executives with questions about the future of private credit on earnings calls this week, the bank leaders generally projected confidence. Despite rising concerns around the asset class, the biggest US banks say their exposure is manageable and unlikely to trigger broader instability.

Dimon said the about $1.8 trillion leveraged private credit market does not pose a systemic risk, a sentiment he also shared in his annual shareholder letter.

"You have to have very large losses in private credit before, at least it looks like, banks are going to get hit," he said on Tuesday's call with analysts. "It doesn't mean you won't feel some stress and strain, and that you might have to do something about it, but I'm not particularly worried about it."

Private credit firms make loans to companies using a mix of their investors' capital and money borrowed from banks.

Anxiety has been mounting over the asset class, particularly over loan quality and potential AI disruption, and some have compared the market climate to that of 2007, just before the Great Recession. Some investment funds have seen higher redemption requests.

Banks from JPMorgan to Citi shared how much they've lent to private credit companies. Together, JPMorgan, Citi, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo have more than $128 billion in exposure to private credit loans, according to their latest earnings presentations.

JPMorgan's exposure to private credit funds is around $50 billion, the bank's CFO Jeremy Barnum said, adding that he is "quite comfortable" with the bank's position because of high-quality underwriting and structural protections.

Other Wall Street leaders sent a similar message — executives at Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America used the word "comfortable" as well when discussing their private credit exposure on calls with analysts this week. The banks estimated that their exposure to the private credit market is $22 billion, $36.2 billion, and $20 billion, respectively, in their first-quarter earnings presentations.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, which both manage clients' private credit investments through their asset management units, did not break out their loan exposure in their earnings presentations.

Ted Pick, Morgan Stanley's CEO, said that the conversation around private credit is evolving and that new lenders have entered the space.

"While it's still a growing class, it's having a learning moment—we'll call it an adolescent moment—where both the lenders and the borrowers are being looked at carefully," he said during a call with analysts on Wednesday. "But the reality is it's credit, and credit is going to broadly perform when the economy is in the kind of good shape it's in right now."

Pick said the industry has strong long-term growth potential and that it's "a question of time and working through economic cycles." Bank of America CFO Alastair Borthwick echoed Dimon's message that the private credit industry doesn't pose a systemic risk on his bank's call with analysts on Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said in an analyst call on Monday that it "continues, with any sort of a medium-term or longer-term view, to be a very, very attractive platform for us." He predicted, however, that there will continue to be "some noise" in the retail space.

• Air New Zealand created a one-of-a-kind bunk bed in economy that will cost $495 to use.
• The "Skynest" can accommodate up to six people and features a curtain, linens, and earplugs.
• It'll be installed on ultra-premium Boeing 787s flying between New York and Auckland from November.

The future of airline economy comfort looks a lot like a hostel dorm — but much more expensive.

Air New Zealand on Tuesday unveiled a one-of-a-kind sleeping option called the "Skynest" that will let economy and premium economy passengers pay extra to sleep in bunk beds on its longest flights.

It offers a taste of business-class comfort without the multi-thousand-dollar price tag, reflecting the industry's push for premium revenue as passengers shell out for more comfort across all cabins.

The two sets of three high bunks will be installed on ultra-premium Boeing 787s. Passengers can book one of two four-hour blocks for $495 per person, on top of the standard coach fare, and will be limited to one session per flight.

Skynest will complement ANZ's "Skycouch" — a row of three coach seats with flippable legrests that create a wide sleeping surface — which is already available on long-haul flights like Auckland to New York, Tokyo, and Shanghai.

"Having two lie-flat options in economy class, I think one is unheard of — now we've got two options," ANZ CEO Nikhil Ravishankar said at an event in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday.

ANZ connects Auckland and the South Pacific to US cities like New York, Houston, Chicago, and Los Angeles. That ultra-long-haul strategy has driven its focus on developing sleep options.

For now, the Skynest will only be on New York flights. Tickets go on sale May 18 for travel beginning in November, though the exact flight dates are still unclear. Qantas also operates the route, but doesn't offer beds in economy.

I was among the reporters invited to preview the Skynest before the tickets went on sale. It looks quite compact from the outside, but it felt cozy once I crawled into the pod.

The curtain's promise of privacy and darkness would make it easy to sleep. And, at 5'3", I fit with room to spare. It reminded me of the capsule hotel I once booked during a long layover in Tokyo.

While four hours likely won't be worth it for many passengers — especially taller ones who may feel snug — I'd pay for the nap on an outbound flight to help with jet lag. I'd stick with a regular coach seat on the return to save money.

Here's how the Skynest will work.

The Skynest will be located in the middle of the plane.

A spokesperson for ANZ said the mid-galley was removed to make space for the Skynest, with only five economy seats in total cut. The aft galley, where meals are stored and heated before service, is now larger.

To start, passengers will be able to choose the exact bunk they want during booking; empty bunks will eventually be bookable on demand at the airport.

It features curtains, power, and a seatbelt.

Each of the six bunks has a black privacy curtain that slides closed. This darkens the space and cuts you off from your up to five neighbors sleeping nearby.

The pod wall stretches far to keep passengers from falling out, but they must also wear the provided seatbelt over the blanket.

Flyers get soft linens and an amenity kit.

The bed stretches about six and a half feet long, and each nest is about two feet wide at the shoulders and roughly 16 inches at the feet.

That's about the length of most business class beds, but in a more confined space. To get in, I had to climb up the steps, lie down on the bed with my head toward the pillow, and then shimmy myself in — not pretty, but manageable.

Each nest comes with a pillow, a light blanket, and an amenity kit with socks, toiletries, earplugs, and an eye mask. The linens were soft and plush, though not business-class quality.

I'd prefer the bottom or middle bunks.

There's a ladder to reach the uppermost bunks, but that could be dicey for some passengers during unexpected turbulence. I'd prioritize the middle or bottom bunks simply for maneuverability.

A spokesperson said the bottom and middle bunks are disability-friendly, adding that ANZ tested them with wheelchair users, but individuals still have to get in and out on their own.

Flyers will eat before or after their block.

All flyers will have their first meal before the first block begins. Flight attendants will gently wake passengers before taking 30 minutes to change the linens.

The second group will then use the nests before the second meal service. A spokesperson said that if turbulence disrupts anyone's session because they can't safely get to the Skynest, passengers will be refunded for the time lost.

You must be 15 or older.

A spokesperson said flyers must be at least 15 to use the Skynest to reduce the risk of younger teens and children climbing or disrupting other customers.

I'd book the Skynest to fight jet lag.

The nearly $500 price tag translates to about $125 per hour per flight, with fixed booking blocks that can't be adjusted. It's not cheap or flexible, but it's less than the up to $600 initially floated by ANZ.

I'm short and don't mind tight spaces, so I know I'd sleep well in the nest — and four hours is enough for me to function.

I'd book it specifically on the outbound to Auckland to help battle the jet lag that comes with crossing 16 time zones.

The Skynest is ANZ's second economy bed.

ANZ pioneered the Skycouch in 2011. It's pricier than the Skynest, often costing over $1,000 one-way, but it's available for the entire flight and can host up to two adults and one child.

Ravishankar said it's particularly popular among families: "I have two young kids, so either mom or dad can take the Skycouch with them," he said. "It's perfect; we've had many family holidays in the Skycouch."

I flew it in 2022 and loved it for one person; I slept more than half the flight.

The Skynest could spread beyond ANZ.

Ravishankar said ANZ and its Star Alliance partners share ideas, including ANZ's patented Skycouch. United recently launched its "Relax Row" version, while Japan's All Nippon Airways has the "COUCHii."

It's unclear if any partners will adopt the Skynest, but Ravishankar said ANZ is "always open to those conversations."

• Instawork is transforming gig work with a new robotics business.
• The company launched Instawork Robotics Lab on Thursday and a robotics certification program.
• Instacore, a wearable camera system, is designed to collect detailed robotics training data.

The race to build intelligent robots is reshaping an unlikely corner of the economy: gig work.

As demand for real-world training data explodes, Instawork, a platform best known for supplying hourly workers to hotels, warehouses and stadiums, is transforming itself into a hardware-enabled robotics business, offering a glimpse of how human labor could evolve alongside machines.

The pivot highlights a gnarly bottleneck in the next chapter of the AI boom. While chatbots and large language models were trained on free data from the internet, there's no equivalent for robots. So the industry is creating its own from scratch, and Instawork is turning gig workers into real-world data generators to feed this voracious demand.

It started about a year ago when CEO Sumir Meghani checked on an Instawork shift that was held up. A group of Pros, as Instawork calls the gig workers on its platform, were stuck outside a warehouse in San Francisco's Mission District. The CEO dug a little deeper and discovered that a robotics company had posted the shift on Instawork's marketplace.

"I was like, 'why does this robotics lab need our people?'" Meghani told me during a recent interview at Instawork's headquarters. "Then, we started seeing more of these robotics shifts posted."

The tasks range from the mundane to the downright strange. Some shifts just require Instawork Pros to move a few robots here and there. Other shifts involve Pros operating robots from remote locations, and even recording themselves while working on tasks such as washing dishes or cleaning a room.

Meghani and his team started calling more of these robotics companies and soon realized there was a huge, new market that Instawork's platform could serve.

"With most great things that happen in business, it kind of happens organically," said Meghani, who recently renamed himself Chief Robot Officer. "Then you go chase it. "

From Instawork to Instacore

On Thursday, the first real fruits of this transformation emerged as the company announced the Instawork Robotics Lab alongside a robotics certification program that has already reached more than 20,000 Pros in its first few weeks. The program has two tracks: robotics and AI data collection, and certified robot technicians who can handle hardware resets, maintenance, and field support in more than 100 markets.

In May, the company plans to release Instacore, a wearable camera system designed in-house to help gig workers record and label their activities in more detail.

Instacore will collect this information and sell it to robotics companies and researchers, helping to train the physical AI models needed to produce robots that can truly understand and operate in the messy, real world.

100,000 year problem

The lack of robot training data is known as the 100,000-year problem, an idea popularized by Ken Goldberg, a UC Berkeley professor and cofounder of Ambi Robotics. Last year, he estimated that at current data-collection rates, a general-­purpose robot, based on a ChatGPT-­sized set of robotics data, will be available in 100,000 years.

"How can we close this 100,000-­year 'data gap'?" he wrote.

The tech industry is responding to the challenge because if robots can be trained to operate well in complex situations, the payoff could be huge. Goldman Sachs forecasts the humanoid robot market could reach $38 billion by 2035, and the global data-collection and labeling market is projected to hit $17 billion by 2030.

Instawork estimates the industry collected roughly 100,000 hours of robotic training data in 2024 and 1 million hours last year. In 2026, it's projected to hit 20 million hours. That's still only 0.04% toward closing the data gap, according to Meghani.

"Humans being humans"

All this has created what Instawork sees as a potent new market: one where skilled human labor is not displaced by robots, but monetized by helping to train the machines, deploy them, keep them running, and ultimately work alongside them.

Instawork, which has raised more than $150 million from investors including Benchmark, Greylock, and Spark Capital, is careful not to name customers. But it says it is already working with leading robotics labs and manufacturers.

The startup says those partners want two main things: better training data and a field workforce that can support robots after deployment. In that sense, Instawork's robotics push is both a data business and a labor business, with software, hardware, and services increasingly fused together.

Instawork plans to send thousands of certified Pros into real kitchens, warehouses, hotels, and other workplaces wearing Instacore, recording how they move, what they touch, and how they adapt when environments change.

The company says the data will be opt-in and anonymized, capturing workflows rather than identities. It is designed to be light enough for a full workday and flexible enough not to interrupt the job itself.

That balance matters because the value of the data depends on workers behaving like humans, not like subjects trapped inside a clunky research rig.

"We don't want to record humans simulating robots. We want humans being humans," said Instawork's robotics lead Aaron Bromberg, a former Amazon technologist who worked on that company's Astro home robot.

"Version zero"

I got a glimpse of this hardware-enabled future at Instawork headquarters on April 10. When I arrived, the place looked like a typical Silicon Valley software office, with a ping pong table, fancy kitchen, and rows of desks with slick computers and programmers tapping away.

I sat in a conference room waiting. Then, Bromberg walked in wearing four cameras strapped to his body along with a small backpack. He called this Instacore "version zero," and said a more streamline "version one" device is scheduled to launch in May.

Bromberg didn't let me take photos of the prototype for competitive reasons. But he walked me through each component in a detailed demo.

• Head camera: A head-mounted camera captures first-person "egocentric" video of tasks, with future versions adding stereo vision to measure depth and distance more precisely.
• Chest camera: A wide-angle chest camera records the broader environment, helping robots learn how tasks vary across real-world settings like different kitchens or lighting conditions. This is crucial because robots sometimes "freeze" in new environments, even if they've been trained to do tasks correctly, Bromberg said.
• Wrist cameras: Two wrist-mounted cameras capture detailed hand movements and finger dexterity, generating fine-grained data on how humans grip, manipulate, and handle objects. At one point, Bromberg grabbed a cup off a desk and showed me crisp, live video footage seen from the underside of his wrist. With that level of detail, Instacore can capture how hard humans are squeezing when they pick stuff up, incredibly valuable data for the AI models that power robots.
• IMU sensors: Each camera has built-in inertial measurement units to track motion, orientation, and acceleration, giving robots crucial spatial awareness data about how tasks are performed. For example, robots need to know to turn their wrists at a certain angle to pick up a bowl, and turn them even more to hold a tray.
• Backpack: A lightweight backpack houses a battery and on-device computing system, enabling all-day recording and local processing before data is brought back to Instawork.
• Instawork app: A companion mobile app guides workers through camera setup and calibration, ensuring consistent, high-quality data capture.

Two circles

The hardware matters because off-the-shelf options were not enough, Bromberg said. Full-body suits and bulky data-capture gear may be ideal for hardcore robotics research, but they are impractical for hourly workers who still need to complete real shifts.

Instawork is uniquely placed to develop a system that meets both needs, Bromberg told me as the Instacore chest camera bobbed below his chin.

With about 10 million Pros on its gig work platform, the startup has access to thousands of different tasks performed by hundreds of thousands of people. That provides the data quality and diversity that the robotics industry yearns.

Meanwhile, the clients hiring Instawork Pros still want tasks completely efficiently, so Instacore must be practical enough to use easily. These constraints produce a system that can operate at scale in most work environments while still collecting detailed data.

Bromberg stopped at this point and drew two circles on the conference room whiteboard. Over one circle, he wrote "robotics" and on the other "human." Where the circles overlapped, he wrote "Instawork."

"Crazy" board meeting

This is a striking evolution for Instawork. The company has historically been known as a software-based marketplace, not a hardware company. Hardware introduces more complexity, more capital needs and more operational risk.

"This is a big strategy bet for us," Bromberg told me.

Bromberg wore an early Instacore device to an Instawork board meeting, part of a pitch to persuade directors and investors that veering into hardware was worth the risk.

Meghani, the CEO, acknowledged the board had reactions ranging from skepticism to enthusiasm when he first presented the move.

"At some point, when we had to spend a bunch of money on hardware, I had to go to the board and let them know," he said. "The board's reaction was probably half 'you're crazy' and half 'This is amazing.'"

Bill Gurley, a leading venture capitalist, was at the board meeting and remembers the pitch. He's unruffled by the strategic pivot. While there's been some investment in data-collection and training equipment, Gurley said this is not a core part of Instawork's future gross profit margins.

That future profitability will be driven, in part, by long-term demand for robotics data and the emergence of new robotics jobs on Instawork's platform, he added. 

"It's impossible to automate without precision data. The real world is messy, not precise. So the training data needs to be a massive super-set," Gurley told me. "It will be a long time before we reach some form of saturation."

Three acts

Instawork's longer-term bet is that physical AI will create a new layer of work rather than simply replace old jobs. The startup sees its Pros not just as shift workers, but as trainers, technicians, and "robot wranglers" in an economy where machines increasingly need human expertise and support to function in the field.

Meghani, the CEO, describes the vision in three acts. Act one is the training data collected by Instawork Pros and the Instacore system. Act two involves supporting robots in the field, creating new "robot wranglers" who can repair, maintain, and troubleshoot machines.

In the final act, Meghani envisions Instawork's marketplace connecting companies with a hybrid workforce that combines human and robotic labor. Right now, Instawork sends 50 human Pros to staff an event at a hotel. In a few years, it might send 30 humans and 10 robots.

If the company is right, the next era of hourly work will not be human versus machine. It will be humans teaching machines how to work in the real world, showing up again when the machines need help, and ultimately working alongside the bots.

"There will be an essential role for skilled professionals in every chapter of this story," Meghani said. "We want to make sure our Pros are there for all of it."

Sign up for BI's Tech Memo newsletter here. Reach out to me via email at abarr@businessinsider.com.

When Eli Goldfine messaged me on X, I thought it was a joke.

He said he wanted to help me with my prediction markets beat. "Prediction markets, AI, the universe. 13yo," his bio read. I didn't immediately spot the statistics reference in his username, @realTomBayes. When I asked him who he was, he replied: "My name's Eli, I am legit 13 years old."

I knew the prediction-market industry skews young; the founder of Polymarket and cofounders of Kalshi are 27, 29, and 29, respectively. Many users are in their 20s, and 18-year-olds can use them in the US. Last fall, Kalshi was briefly in business with a 15-year-old gaming influencer before its legal team concluded that they "can't work with minors rn."

Eli, who spoke to me on a video call from New York's Westchester County with his dad Evan listening in, looks every bit 13. A few days before, he livestreamed an interview with two ex-Kalshi employees about their new prediction markets investment fund, 5c(c) Capital, with his braces sometimes visible. It was the kind of content that business news outlets would love to publish, but a middle schooler with a Substack and a few dozen followers on X got the scoop.

"I guess now I'm slightly more credible," said Eli, noting that his follower count jumped to over 300 in the wake of the interview.

"Will I get an A on my essay?"

Evan, a commercial real-estate developer, said he and his wife, a psychologist, are just along for the ride.

"It's not pushed by us at all," he said. "We're supportive because he's finding it interesting."

Eli said the first prediction market he learned about was Polymarket. He got hands-on experience by creating an account on Manifold, a play-money predictions platform that has been popular with the so-called rationalist movement for years. Eli said one of his early successes came in May, after he created a market where his classmates could bet on who would win student-government elections.

"My school didn't like it," he said. (Evan confirmed this.) "Everyone was just trying to bet their preferred candidate up to 99%. I made a lot of profit there, obviously, by just betting it back."

Eli shared a link to the market with me. He appeared to have roughly tripled the amount he put at risk.

In the months since, Eli bet on and created a wide range of markets, some serious and some not. He read economists like Tyler Cowen and Robin Hanson, an early advocate of prediction markets. The impact of their libertarian-ish thinking is reflected in a market he created on Manifold: "Will I get an A on my essay about an organ market?"

His views are still evolving. While he's excited about the potential in prediction markets, he doesn't see a point for sports markets — "they don't provide any utility whatsoever" — and thinks traditional sportsbooks and state lotteries are exploitative.

Want to hire a 13-year-old intern?

Besides prediction markets, Eli's passion is making and using telescopes. He joins his dad for trips to northern Westchester County, where more stars are visible at night. Last year, for the astronomy magazine ScopeTrader, he interviewed optical designer Al Nagler, who died in November.

On a bookshelf in his room, a well-used Charlie Brown box set and a collection of Calvin & Hobbes books stand next to books on optics and algebra.

Eli told me he does most of his homework on the long drive to school in the mornings. He regularly posts to his Substack, "Bayesian Supercycle," which he launched in January. This week he spoke to staffers at Microsoft Research about one of his projects, a website with tools for testing automated market makers, which provide liquidity on some predictions platforms.

Coming up, he says, he has interviews set with several top forecasters on Metaculus, a long-running predictions site whose users skew towards science and technology enthusiasts.

He said he recently enabled subscriptions at the suggestion of his dad, who has been writing his own Substack, "A Year of Bach," since 2024. Eli said his goal was to get his Substack promoted to other users, not to make money.

Eli ended his interview with the 5c(c) Capital co-founders, Adhi Rajaprabhakaran and Noah Zingler-Sternig, by asking for a summer internship.

"I think we might have to talk to your parents and make sure we're not violating any child labor laws," Rajaprabhakaran said.

Eli said that opportunity didn't work out, but another prediction-markets company already offered him a summer gig. And another firm, Thrive Capital, tried to connect with him through Rajaprabhakaran, Eli said.

He said he hasn't given much thought to high school, college, or a career. For now, he's weighing an invitation to a prediction markets event in Switzerland.

"I'd love to do it, but it depends what my parents say," he wrote to me on Wednesday. "Right now I'm on the bus home from school strategizing about how I will ask them."

• Deloitte US will cut benefits for some workers, according to internal documents seen by Business Insider.
• Parental leave, PTO, and pension plan payments have been pared back for some internal-facing staff.
• The changes are part of a wider overhaul in which the firm has also created new job titles.

Deloitte plans to pare back several core benefits for some of its employees, according to internal documents and a meeting recording seen by Business Insider.

Parental leave, annual PTO, a pension plan, and IVF funding have been reduced or cut for a group of employees who fall under the "Center" talent model, which broadly refers to employees in internal support roles, such as admin, IT support, and finance.

The changes are slated to come into effect on January 1, 2027, according to a document sent to the Center talent model in March.

It is unclear exactly how many employees will be impacted. The Big Four consulting and accounting firm employs about 181,000 people in the US.

The benefit shake-up is part of a wider talent restructuring that Deloitte announced internally in January, and that was first reported by Business Insider. As part of the changes, the firm told employees they would be getting new job titles and created a new class of leader. It also created four new segments within the business: Center, Core, Project, and Domain.

"Deloitte US is modernizing its talent architecture to provide a more tailored experience reflective of our professionals' broad range of skills and the work they do serving our clients," a Deloitte spokesperson told Business Insider.

"Benefits are regularly updated and will be tailored for a small subset of professionals to better align with the marketplace," the spokesperson said.

Companies are reducing costs

Deloitte isn't alone in tightening up workplace policies.

Workers face a difficult corporate outlook in 2026, as the shaky job market has shifted power back to employers. Faced with AI disruption and economic uncertainty, many companies are raising performance expectations and reining in perks.

Deloitte's US head count has grown over the past three years, alongside rising revenue, which reached $35.7 billion for the year ending May 31, 2025 — up 8% compared to the previous financial year.

Like its industry peers, however, Deloitte is facing challenges across both its core business lines — accounting and consulting — largely driven by AI disruption. Major consulting firms are evolving their offerings to drive AI-related business, while redesigning their internal operations and workforces to fit the future landscape.

Deloitte's government business was also hit last year amid the Trump administration's DOGE-related crackdown on consulting contracts.

"We are hearing from a number of clients that they are considering actions to reduce cost, given the ongoing uncertainty in the global economy," Ravin Jesuthasan, a future-of-work expert and the global leader of Mercer's transformation services business, told Business Insider.

They're taking a hard look at the different components of their overall labor cost, and "benefits and perks that are not fully utilized by the workforce are typically top of the list," he said.

Most of the cuts he's seen across the market have focused on tightening travel budgets and scaling back "nice to have" perks, Jesuthasan said.

A harder-edged management culture has taken hold in the corporate world, with strict RTO mandates, mass layoffs, and higher performance expectations placed on workers across the business landscape.

In recent years, Google and Meta have tried to cut costs by dropping perks and restricting work travel, and Amazon has reduced the number of shares it gives employees as part of their compensation.

"Companies have been getting tougher across the board," both by way of layoffs and ramping up workloads, said Peter Cappelli, professor of management and director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton Business School.

"Cuts and squeezing do not seem to be because businesses are in trouble. It seems more like with the job market slack, they feel they can," he added.

What's changing at Deloitte?

From January, all employees in the Center talent model will receive up to eight weeks of paid family leave and 18 to 25 days of PTO, depending on their seniority and tenure, the internal document shows.

They will stop earning additional accruals under Deloitte's pension plan after December 31st, the document said.

The changes also impact the part of Deloitte's Enterprise Solutions team that falls under the Center talent model, documents show.

Paid family leave, including parental leave, will be cut in half from 16 weeks to eight for employees in this group. They will also lose a $50,000 adoption and surrogacy reimbursement, which covers IVF treatment, starting in January.

PTO allowances for this group will decrease by 5-10 days for most employees, depending on seniority and start date. For example, an Enterprise Solutions employee who joined a decade ago will see their PTO drop from 30 days to 20 days in January, the documents show.

PTO for junior-level employees in this group will remain unchanged at either 20 or 18 days, depending on whether they joined before or after 2017.

In addition to PTO, the firm will continue to offer 15 companywide "disconnect days" and holidays, according to the documents.

Employees will retain benefits like medical and dental coverage, well-being subsidy, bereavement leave, and tuition assistance, according to a recording of a February meeting led by Lora Rothe, Deloitte's chief people officer for Enterprise Solutions, seen by Business Insider.

Enterprise Solutions employees will still be eligible for Deloitte's 401(k) savings plan, Rothe said.

One Deloitte worker who has been at the firm for over 10 years and falls into the Center talent model told Business Insider their benefits used to be "amazing" but said the changes felt like a "huge regression."

Do you work at Deloitte? Contact this reporter via email at pthompson@businessinsider.com or Signal at Polly_Thompson.89. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Ryan Roslansky gave grades to traditional career moves. He favors job-hopping over cover letters.
• The LinkedIn CEO said applicants should emphasize skills over traditional credentials in hiring.
• Executives are prioritizing AI capabilities and adaptability amid a cooling job market.

Ryan Roslansky doesn't think much of cover letters.

In a video interview with influencer Hanna Goefft, the LinkedIn CEO graded common career advice. Cover letters got a D, while job-hopping for more money earned an A.

"I think we're beyond like a couple of paragraphs that say 'I'm a good collaborator,'" he said. "It's more about actually showing your work."

His rankings point to a broader shift in hiring: Employers are placing less weight on traditional signals like credentials and elite college degrees.

Instead, they're prioritizing demonstrated skills, adaptability, and visibility — especially as AI reshapes how people work and apply for jobs.

Other executives are also signaling that shift. McKinsey Global Managing Partner Bob Sternfels has said his firm has expanded its searches based on resiliency traits, while former Citadel CTO Umesh Subramanian told Business Insider that he personally calls applicants to test their curiosity.

Their advice comes as the job market cools: Hiring in February fell to levels not seen since the Covid lockdowns.

Roslansky's advice for job seekers reflects that shift. He said applicants must display their AI capabilities and remain transparent.

"You have to be able to show that you can actually use AI to create or build something," he said.

Roslansky's other grades also had some surprises. He gave editing résumés with AI an A, getting an MBA a C, and taking a class in AI a C.

His harshest grade went to 'following your passion.' He pointed to a recent conversation with NYU professor Scott Galloway.

"He told me, 'People who tell you to follow your passion are already rich,'" Roslansky said. "If you can find an intersection of your passion and your skill — what you're good at — that's the spot to be."

Meanwhile, he was most bullish on building a personal brand, saying many people get hired by sharing their knowledge publicly — not just listing skills on a résumé.

Roslansky and LinkedIn didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Donald Trump is giving Americans a fair amount of reasons to drink these days — threatening to obliterate Iran, or flirting with a takeover of Greenland. But the president is, perhaps counterintuitively, also part of why people are laying off the booze. Trump's policies and rhetoric are killing America's buzz.

Americans are drinking less than they have in decades. While a long-term cultural shift toward moderation is very real, the immediate cyclical indicators — meaning the regular ebbs and flows — are all pointing down. And Trump is nudging them in that direction.

The amount of alcoholic beverages consumed across major markets declined by 2% in 2025, according to data from drinks data company IWSR. In the United States, volumes were down by 5%. Consumption of beer, wine, and spirits all fell. (The only bright spot: ready-to-drink cocktails, which are getting more popular.)

A lot of what's going on here isn't about Gen Z being teetotalers or American adults being spooked about alcohol causing cancer — it's about the economic and political environment. People are drinking less because of the ongoing affordability crisis. The Trump administration's aggressive immigration policies have had a chilling effect on Hispanics' consumption. All the tariff whiplash has been far from fun for the alcohol industry. Mounting uncertainty has consumers uneasy and, in turn, taking a break from the bar.

Marten Lodewijks, the president and managing director of IWSR, says the woes for the booze industry is an example of "death by a thousand cuts."

It just so happens that the president of the United States is the one holding the knife.

Americans are forgoing adult beverages for a multitude of reasons, most of which boil down to pressures on their wallets. While the president says the economy is "roaring," the data suggest otherwise. Prices have fallen as Trump promised — they're up by some 25% since 2020, and the most recent inflation data show signs of reacceleration. The war in Iran has pushed average gas prices in the US above $4 a gallon. Consumer sentiment is at a record low. Student loan payments are ramping back up. Healthcare costs are through the roof.

"We are seeing the pressure on affordability escalate," says Nadine Sarwat, an analyst who covers beverages and cannabis at Bernstein.

Tariffs have been a complicated piece of the puzzle. On the corporate side, the will-he-or-won't-he dance around import taxes has made planning and forecasting hard. Large manufacturers have largely managed to eat the varying tariff costs, aware that jerking around prices could turn off wary consumers. But even the Supreme Court striking down many of the president's blanket tariffs hasn't left the industry in the clear. Aluminum tariffs are still in place, which hurt beer brands that need it for their cans. They especially sting now that aluminum prices have skyrocketed, in part due to the Iran war.

"A fair amount of aluminum goes through the Strait of Hormuz, and it is very energy-intensive. So when energy prices go up, aluminum prices go up," says Bart Watson, the president and CEO of the Brewers Association, a trade association that represents craft brewers. Some members have seen the price of their cans increase by 25-30% this year, he says.

Alcohol is recession-resistant, but it's not recession-proof. Drinkers are looking for ways to cut spending, and that Friday six-pack is discretionary-ish. Sarwat says this moment looks different than during, say, the Great Recession, when consumers traded down to cheaper brands and bought bigger pack sizes to get more bang for their buck. Instead, people are sticking to the more premium brand they like, but opting for smaller pack sizes to save money. Or they're grabbing canned cocktails — the aforementioned bright spot for the industry — even if a bottle of wine or vodka may have been the more logical economic choice.

"This cycle is a lot more about cash outlay and perceived value for money as opposed to actual value per unit of alcohol," she says.

Eye-popping prices at bars and restaurants are also prompting people to cut back. A night out with friends used to be a pre-dinner cocktail, a shared bottle of wine with the meal, and a nightcap. Now, everyone gets a single glass of wine with dinner and goes home.

Trump's economy isn't the only thing giving drinkers the heebie jeebies.

ICE crackdowns and tougher immigration enforcement, on top of economic concerns, have had a widespread chilling effect on Hispanic consumers. In January, Constellation Brands CEO William Newlands said on an earnings call that Hispanic consumers were the main reason its beer category was "challenged" as they were being much more careful about their spending. (Constellation's portfolio includes Corona and Modelo.)

"There was just a reduction in foot traffic as Hispanic consumers went to places they felt safe, didn't stretch out and take any risky trips or unnecessary trips, and that's historically a very big beer-drinking cohort," says Dave Williams, an alcohol industry analyst and consultant.

Hispanic consumers have also been more nervous about going to work, leading to reduced income and, in turn, less spending. It does, however, appear they are beginning to revert to the norm. In its April earnings call, Constellation said they're buying again.

The decline in international tourism to the US has taken a bite out of sales for bars and breweries in areas that generally depend on those travelers for traffic. Watson, from the Brewers Association, says Canadians refusing to come south of the border is smarting for some of their members.

"Talk to breweries in Vermont, they'll say, 'Yeah, traffic's down,'" he says. "For the national numbers, does it move them a ton? Probably not, but at the margins and for individual members matters a lot" He adds that "snowbird places," such as California and Florida, have complained of people "just not showing up" this year and last from abroad.

Angry Canadians are hurting America's whiskey industry, too. Many stores up north pulled US-made products off the shelves after Trump started talking about making Canada the 51st state and antagonizing the US's ally, and they haven't put those products back.

"The entire Canadian population basically said, 'No, we're not supporting this industry and this country,'" Lodewijks, from IWSR, says. Anecdotally, he's heard similar things have happened in Germany and France.

To be sure, the Trump administration isn't all bad for the alcohol industry. One important bright spot: The White House's new dietary guidelines, released in January, were pretty ambivalent about alcohol and advised people to "limit" intake without offering specifics. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was even more lenient. At a White House briefing, he said alcohol is a "social lubricant that brings people together," and while ideally people probably wouldn't drink, the health benefits of getting together with friends may mean that the deleterious effects of a few beers come out in the wash. "The implication is don't have it for breakfast," he said.

It may not be a ringing endorsement, Williams says, but the messaging from the White House "didn't make it any worse than it was in the mind of the consumer."

Consumers have a lot weighing on them, and the economy and the world feel increasingly uncertain. This level of uncertainty doesn't usually bode well for alcohol. As a general rule, election years aren't good for booze consumption, and while 2026 may not be a huge election year (though it's not an insignificant one), it is one filled with a lot of unknowns.

"We can all agree that the political situation remains very tumultuous," Lodewijk, putting it lightly, says. The conflict in Iran escalates and de-escalates by the hour. Rising oil prices threaten to put everything from grocery store staples to summer vacations out of reach. In the US and in the world, it's a volatile moment, and much of that volatility is emanating from the Oval Office.

The alcohol industry has a lot of problems right now, and Trump is, indeed, one of them.

Emily Stewart is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.

• Chef Rene Johnson built a million-dollar soul food empire catering to Bay Area power players.
• Using her grandmother's recipes, Blackberry Soul has fed big names like Sergey Brin and Steph Curry.
• Now, Johnson coaches entrepreneurs on how to scale their businesses as she did.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Chef Rene Johnson, the founder of Blackberry Soul Fine Catering and entrepreneur behind Link and Thrive, a mentorship program for business owners. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I didn't even like food as a kid.

What I loved was being with my grandmother, who always made everything from scratch, and the way our family gathered around her food. That's where it started for me — not with cooking, but with connection.

I was her first granddaughter, and I always say she channeled me the most. I cook like her, think like her, have a business mindset like her. Everything I make — the peach cobbler, the red beans and rice, the biscuits — all come from her.

Before I rebuilt my career around her food, I was in the mortgage industry.

I had gotten a job in telephone sales and took to it naturally. When my clients closed on a home, I would gift them a homemade dessert: peach cobbler, pound cake, or banana pudding. That was my way of celebrating them.

When the mortgage industry crashed, I had to figure out what to do with my life. That's when I turned to cooking.

Nobody would have thought that I — a teenage mom without a college degree or formal culinary training — would build a business like this.

My kids were the ones who told me, "Mom, do something with your food." I lived in Georgia for a while and started dropping off meals at barber shops and around the neighborhood, but I couldn't quite get my footing there.

When I came back home to the Bay Area, everything changed. That's when I learned that it's not only about what you do, but also about who you do it with. I tapped into my community, and Blackberry Soul took off.

A broader mindset was key to my growth

At first, I thought I was building a small business, but I knew I had to shift that idea in my head.

I started telling people, "This is not a small business. This is my company." That changed everything: how I showed up, how I hired, how I thought about growing.

A wedding was my first big event. After that, I did a fundraiser for a political event with almost no budget, but everyone important was in the room. They tasted my soul food, and I became the preferred caterer for their events.

At first, I did everything myself, but I was holding on too tightly, trying to control everything. One of my biggest lessons, something I should have done sooner, was learning to let go.

When I finally did build a real crew, that's when the business blew up. As I let other people take over tasks like answering phones or doing the shopping, we grew so much faster than I could have ever imagined.

These days, if I show up to help with an event, sometimes my team will say, "You're not on the schedule. You can go home."

That's when you know you've built something real — when the business can run itself.

Now, Blackberry Soul feeds everyone from our community to major political and business leaders.

We've served thousands of people at once. I've fed 2,500 people at Google, including its cofounder Sergey Brin. I've cooked for Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, and so many others, but it's important to me that we treat every client the same.

Whether we're catering for executives or people in my community, I want them to have the same experience — that same "pop" when they take the first bite. So we cook everything from scratch and don't cut corners.

From solo operator to mentor

These days, my passion has grown bigger than food. I still love cooking, but helping other entrepreneurs is my real focus.

I learned everything the hard way. Nobody taught me how to run a business, how to scale, or build a team. I didn't even know I needed PR in the early days.

After I started really growing, people began coming up to me all the time asking for mentorship.

That's why I created Link and Thrive, my coaching program to teach people how to build their own businesses. Rather than being in the kitchen, I now spend most of my days paying it forward.

I always say: You might know how to make a great hamburger, but do you know how to run a hamburger stand?

That's what we focus on — the day-to-day reality of being an entrepreneur. Building your team, creating customer experiences, and navigating the peaks and valleys.

My goal is to pass along the lessons I learned and show people that success is not just about the work. It's about how you show up, connect, and grow.

• AI firms are shifting from per-user fees to charging for work done.
• Software firms selling "units of labor" instead of seats can tap new budgets, Goldman Sachs says.
• It comes as high costs of building and running AI are pushing companies to rethink product pricing.

Software companies are changing how businesses pay for AI tools in a shift that could reshape business spending.

Instead of charging based on how many employees use a tool, some AI companies are beginning to price products based on the work they perform, according to a Goldman Sachs note published Wednesday.

"Companies are increasingly positioning their AI workflows as selling a unit of labor or a unit of productivity, which allows them to tap into larger deal sizes and new budget allowances," wrote Goldman Sachs analysts, after they met with around 40 companies across software and internet sectors recently.

This lets companies charge based on value, separating profits from the cost of running AI and helping maintain strong margins, they added.

The approach is already showing up in how companies package their products. Salesforce has introduced "agentic work units," while Workday sells credits tied to "units of work."

It comes as the high costs of building and running AI are pushing companies to rethink product pricing. That means software spending could become less predictable for the customers using these services.

Last month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that AI could eventually be sold more like a utility.

"Fundamentally, our business — and I think the business of every other model provider — is going to look like selling tokens," he said, referring to the units AI systems use to process and price data.

"We see a future where intelligence is a utility like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter and use it for whatever they want," Altman added.

More broadly, the software industry is moving away from monthly "per seat" licenses toward usage-based, pay-as-you-go pricing, a trend Business Insider's Alistair Barr reported in April last year.

• Jensen Huang shared Nvidia's strategy of investing broadly in tech companies.
• Huang highlighted Nvidia's history as a lesson against picking winning companies.
• Nvidia has invested significantly in AI labs, biotech, robotics, and self-driving.

Jensen Huang says Nvidia invests in a lot of tech companies, instead of selecting a handful, for a reason.

"There are so many great, amazing foundation model companies, and we try to invest in all of them," he said on an episode of the "Dwarkesh" podcast released on Wednesday. "We don't pick winners. We need to support everyone."

Huang, who cofounded Nvidia in 1993, said that there were two reasons behind this. One, he said its not Nvidia's job to pick winners. Two, the company's history is a lesson.

"When Nvidia first started, there were 60 3D graphics companies," Huang said. "If you would have taken those 60 graphics companies and asked yourself which one was going to make it, Nvidia would be at the top of that list not to make it."

He said that at the time, the company's graphics architecture didn't look promising.

"Everybody would have counted us out," he said. "And here we are. So I have enough humility to recognize that. Don't pick winners."

Nvidia, which is the most valuable company in the world, has heavily invested in companies across the AI stack and related industries, including biotech, robotics, and self-driving. The chipmaker has big stakes in public companies, including CoreWeave, Intel, Synopsys, and Nokia.

Nvidia has also cast its bets wide in the large language model space.

In November, Nvidia committed to investing up to $10 billion in Anthropic to develop Claude. In February, the company announced it invested $30 billion in OpenAI.

In a March conference appearance, Huang said that the investments are likely to be Nvidia's last in the two private companies.

"The reason for that is because they're going to go public," Huang said.

Nvidia is also invested in French frontier lab Mistral AI.

The tech giant has also cut smaller checks to startups such as autonomous driving company Wayve, data labeling firm Scale AI, and Figure AI, which is building humanoid robotics.

• A new Latvian analysis said sanctions forced Russia to spend an extra $130 billion on buying goods.
• It said Russia assesses hundreds of billions of dollars in further economic pain if sanctions continue.
• Some of its export markets have also fallen by 50% after four years of sanctions, the report added.

NATO member Latvia's national security analysts have released a report estimating that Russia has spent an additional $130 billion trying to buy Western goods while being sanctioned.

Published last week by the Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB), the government analysis said the estimate was based on spending from 2022 to 2025, translating to an annual $32.5 billion loss.

That estimated figure is just for imports of Western goods. The international sanctions, imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, also mean the country has lost hundreds of billions from its export markets and assets frozen by Western banks.

The Latvian analysts said their report accounted only for the additional cost of goods eventually bought from alternative sources, and excluded cases where Russia couldn't find substitutes.

They added that intelligence showed that Russian institutions are internally forecasting further losses, "despite Russia's public announcements claiming its economy is successfully adapting to the impact of the Western sanctions."

Latvia, one of the Baltic States, sits on Russia's Western flank and has been one of the most outspoken NATO members against the Kremlin, accusing it of running disinformation campaigns and covert operations to destabilize local politics.

Its analysts wrote, without providing details about their sources, that one Russian forecast warned foreign trade would lose another $136 billion by 2030 solely due to Western sanctions.

Another forecast said a continued loss of trade with Europe would account for about $70 billion of these losses, the analysts added.

"SAB assesses these estimates to be an undercount — the losses are likely much higher," the report said.

The internal estimates don't account for the "entire economic spectrum," it said, such as reduced tax revenues or inflated consumer prices.

A separate internal Russian forecast put its energy sector losses at $216.5 billion over the next five years if "Western pressure increases," the Latvian report added. The oil and gas industries typically account for about 15-20% of Russia's GDP and nearly a third of federal revenues.

The report added that Russia has been struggling to find alternative markets for its exports in some major sectors. For example, Russian iron ore exports had been reduced by 40% from 2021 to 2025, and timber and cellulose exports dropped about 50%, the analysts wrote.

"SAB assesses that the lifting of sanctions will significantly increase the threat posed by Russia not only to Ukraine and Europe, but also globally," the analysts wrote, saying that the Kremlin could be freed up to assist Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and Cuba.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin admonished his top economic officials on Wednesday in a rare public rebuke, saying that the national economy had contracted by 1.8% in January and February.

"This is not only below experts and analysts' expectations, but also below the Government's own forecasts and those of the Central Bank," Putin said, according to the Kremlin's public transcript.

• I built a simple dashboard for my team to replicate planning features like those on Asana.
• In 15 minutes and with the help of AI, I had a workable app without writing a single line of code.
• Doing this as a nontechnical person showed me why some are worried about a "SaaSpocalypse."

Just 15 minutes, from concept to publish. That's how long it took for me to create a basic version of a work management tool like Asana without writing a single line of code.

The idea struck me one weekday when I asked my team: "What annoys you most about our workflow? What's the one thing you want me to change?"

One pain point came up: They weren't a huge fan of the Google Doc I'd been using to track our long-term reporting. So, I thought: I have 15 minutes for a coffee break. Let me see how far I get using vibe coding — the concept of using prompts to create software with AI — on Base44, an app-building platform.

While my dashboard app has far fewer features than Asana, the results impressed me. And it taught me an important lesson about the "SaaSpocalypse," the idea that AI can create products for free that work as well as software products companies would usually sell. Those fears have battered software stocks, with Asana down about 54% this year, and Atlassian, the company behind project management app Trello, down about 59%.

An Asana spokesperson told Business Insider that a productivity dashboard is "a small piece of what companies need to run work effectively, at scale." They added that Asana's tools help coordinate work across "many teams and large departments" — including between humans and AI agents.

My project also gave me other reasons why AI may not mean game over for productivity software companies.

From prompt to publish in minutes

I've used a range of productivity tools, from Notion to Monday.com and Asana. I find all of them useful, particularly Notion's high level of customizability and Asana's flexibility for collaborative teamwork.

They gave me a good idea of what I wanted, so I started off with a simple prompt:

I want to vibe code a slick dashboard for a small team of reporters at Business Insider. I want it to be a slate for enterprise reporting, allowing each user to input their stories to a common dashboard. I also want functionality that lets a user drag and drop entries into a publishing calendar, with daily/weekly/monthly/yearly view toggles.

I plopped this prompt into ChatGPT and asked it to generate a detailed prompt for Base44 and Lovable. These are two of many one-stop shops on the market that let users build and launch the app directly on their platform.

ChatGPT gave me tailor-made prompts for each platform. I refined the prompts by asking for more functionality, then prompted ChatGPT to troubleshoot in advance if the instructions might create any issues on the Lovable and Base44 backends.

After five minutes of planning, I had my detailed prompts locked and loaded.

10 minutes to build

This wasn't my first time using Base44 or Lovable. I'd used vibe-coding platforms to try to code other apps, including one for tracking collectible cards, so there wasn't the same learning curve as a newcomer.

It was extremely easy to get started. All I did was plug my ChatGPT-generated prompt into both platforms. I walked away for five minutes as the platforms' chatbots "thought" their way through my request, figuring out how best to execute it.

When I returned to my laptop with a warm mug of tea, I had two complete prototypes generated on both apps.

I dedicated 5 minutes to ensuring the app was secure, adding login and authorization permissions for each reporter and editor. That's something that's baked into off-the-shelf apps like Asana, and security has caused headaches for other apps built with AI. I also got picky about customizing the dashboard's aesthetics, and spent a minute or so changing the font types and colors on each platform.

It was important that the app allowed me to sort projects by progress and see at a glance all the work each reporter had on their plate. I also wanted a broad calendar view to see which stories I was planning to publish in the next month. And I wanted a repository of works-in-progress.

It was also essential that the app include tabs for a dashboard, a calendar view, and a section for works in progress.

I also asked the vibe-coding apps to make sure all the dashboard data could be downloadable in one click, so my writers have fast, easy access to their complete story slate.

After some back-and-forth prompting, I got all of these features — but I did burn through all my free credits on Lovable before getting the app ready to use. But in under 15 minutes and within the free credit limit, my Base44 dashboard for drafts was ready for launch.

The hype train for vibe coding is real

I'm no coding wizard. I have distinct and embarrassing memories from college of having a minor crisis trying to build a website on Dreamweaver and struggling to build a codebase for my master's thesis. As I see it, vibe coding has opened the door wide for nontechnical people like me to build the bones of simple applications in a short time.

My team and I recently vibe-coded apps on various platforms as an experiment to see how the products stack. We built several apps — including a thumbnail composite-maker, a writing companion, and an AI-powered photo critic. In most cases, we got these apps to a usable state in under 30 minutes.

Those experiences make it easy to see why AI is such a problem for software companies like Asana. In an interview with Business Insider's Alistair Barr, Asana's CEO, Dan Rogers, acknowledged the existential threat that companies like his face. He said this threat also presents a new opportunity for Asana: to go all in on coordinating a workforce in which humans need to work hand in hand with AI.

I'm also hesitant to write these firms off. For many users, Asana's links to email, Slack, and apps like Canva and Zoom remain valuable. That infrastructure, plus things like cybersecurity, is typically baked into off-the-shelf software and lacking in vibe-coded projects. And, obviously, my dashboard doesn't have the capability to track AI agents and their workflows, as Asana plans to do.

"Orchestrating humans and AI is an incredibly complex thing to do — and that complexity is underscored by the fact that many AI-native startups and foundational model providers use Asana to run their own work," the Asana spokesperson said.

Since I made the tool in March, my team's been using it every day, and it's front-and-center during team pow-wows and at our 1:1s. It's safe to say my vibe-coded app meets my basic workflow needs — and for free.

• Artists have never had a reputation for stable paychecks.
• Some Gen Z artists have cracked the code for consistent pay, thanks to their generation's love for snail mail.
• They're sending their art prints to subscribers every month, and bringing in cash.

When I ripped open my first snail-mail art print from Trinity Shiroma, I couldn't help smile.

Out of the envelope fell a beautifully intricate watercolor painting of Casa Battló in Barcelona that doubled as a postcard. It was wrapped in a handwritten letter explaining its architectural significance, and by a black-and-white print of Spanish tiles, meant to be colored in by the receiver.

I've never been big on postcards or snail mail, but holding this piece of art in my hands, I understood the hype.

Shiroma, a 25-year-old architect-turned full time artist in Florida, started her snail mail club in August, sending 5-by-7-inch prints of her artworks to subscribers around the US for $8.88 a month. She now has about 2,400 subscribers and earns about $16,000 a month from the gig.

"When I was working as an architect, this was more a documentation thing of my travels, something just for myself," Shiroma said. "Then people told me that I should start selling them."

She said that she started with commission work, priced above $200 per piece. However, her mail club became a way for her to make her art accessible and "get a steady income instead of going from commission to commission."

Shiroma is one of many Gen Z artists around the world who have figured out a way to guarantee a stable monthly paycheck: subscription-based snail-mail clubs.

The concept is simple: an art print wrapped in a letter from the artist arrives at your doorstep every month you're subscribed. The print often doubles as a postcard, and the artists also include additional interactive elements, such as coloring pages or stickers.

Most are priced under $10 a month, perfect for cost-conscious, analog-loving Gen Zers who like to spend on small luxuries and collectibles. As with all letters, you don't know exactly when it'll land, so recipients get a pleasant surprise from what feels like a pen pal.

Niloofar Abolfathi, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Singapore Management University, said the rise in popularity of snail mail fits a familiar pattern: the reemergence of products once thought obsolete, like film photography.

The hustle of packing hundreds of envelopes

Josephine Simon, like Shiroma, quit her architecture job to pursue art full time in August 2024. The NYC-based artist started her art business with detailed pen sketches of buildings, which took about three to four hours each with fine-tip pens.

She said she quickly felt burnout setting in and tried to find a way to get her art out to more people without painstakingly drawing every piece.

"I was taking 30 commissions a month, which was crazy," Simon said. "I realized if there were a way to get freedom and be able to work for myself, that would be the ultimate goal."

In August, she launched her print club, sending prints of her travel sketches from trips to Greece, Patagonia, Guatemala, and other places.

Simon, 26, now dedicates a week every month to her print club and the other three to working on commissions and other projects.

The most demanding part comes at the very end: packaging by hand for her 400 subscribers.

"It's crazy to be doing this all yourself, but I see it as a nice break from other things I'm doing," she said, adding that her family members sometimes help her out with the packing.

Shiroma said her process takes about a week from start to finish. She dedicates the first four days to making the art and writing the letter.

And the last three days are all about packaging. Her parents help her package 2,000 envelopes, and she handles the other 400.

A smart second stream of income

For Kiki Klassen, a Toronto-based artist, the snail-mail club began as a side hustle in October 2024. Her art prints feature whimsical and colorful illustrations, and her letters center on gratitude and everyday observations.

"I started this side hustle mail club art project as a means of escape because I was working as a barista," Klassen, 28, said. "I didn't like what I was doing, making coffee all day. It was a little bit grueling."

Then she got a job as a social media manager at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Toronto, where she now works four days a week. Klassen said her "Lucky Ducky Mail Club" art side hustle now earns about 10,000 Canadian dollars, or about $7,200, monthly, close to double what she earns at her full-time job.

She said she's too scared to quit her job and go into art full time.

"It's still so new, I'm worried it's all going to go away on a moment's notice," Klassen said. "At this rate, it's only been growing."

Abolfathi, the entrepreneurship professor from SMU, said that creative work often comes with highly variable income, making monthly subscriptions more reliable.

She said subscription models are attractive because they shift the business from a one-off transaction to an ongoing relationship with fans. They also help give customers a "taster," which might convert them into higher spenders.

"It is a low-commitment model that benefits both sides: Artists gain better visibility into demand and more predictable monthly income, while customers make small, manageable commitments in exchange for regular physical mail," Abolfathi said.

The clock is running out

The allure of analog letters is bringing in good money. But the artists Business Insider spoke to say they know they're working on borrowed time before the trend dies down.

Abolfathi said the trend will stay with analog-loving Gen Zers, rather than move to a wider market.

One artist in Australia is already counting her days with her snail mail club.

Alessia Emanuele, a 26-year-old artist in Brisbane, quit her job as a law secretary in 2021 and has been dabbling with creative side gigs since. She now sells ceramics, stationery, stickers, and other merchandise. Her "Cloudy Club" snail-mail club, which she started last year, now has about 1,000 subscribers.

"I think that realistically, the snail mail club might have another year," Emanuele said. She said the space was already oversaturated and would die soon, and she would return to ceramics — her core business — after.

"So I think I'll ride that out till that's sort of done," Emanuele said.

Gwen Lee, a 32-year-old game animator based in Singapore who started a snail mail club in December, said that, in addition to being a source of income, it's "something like self-healing."

Lee's game design work used to contain gruesome illustrations of killings and violence, and she felt heavy after work.

When working on her own art, she chose subject matter that made her feel calm. Her main character, Layla, is always surrounded by lush greenery and pretty pink flowers.

The idea for the club started like that — Layla delivering bouquets of peonies to her friends.

"The idea is that, no matter where you are in the world, just remember that someone in a little nook is looking out for you," Lee said.

• Business Insider brought together some of the buzziest names in AI, media, health, and longevity.
• Speakers, including Axiom Math's Carina Hong and Blumhouse Productions' Jason Blum, talked about AI.
• Here's a glimpse of what it was like at Business Insider's The Long Play.

AI is shaking up every industry, and some of the top players in superintelligence, health, media, and longevity know it.

At San Francisco's Exploratorium on Tuesday evening, Business Insider hosted The Long Play, gathering 150-some industry insiders and executives, including Asana CEO Dan Rogers and the NFL tight end-turned-executive coach Damian Vaughn, to get the inside scoop on how career climbers and companies can thrive in the age of AI.

Will AI replace Hollywood creatives and healthcare clinicians? Who will AI make obsolete first: coders or mathematicians? And what are the broad societal implications of a world where everybody lives longer?

Business Insider spoke to Axiom's Carina Hong, Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions, Midi Health founder Joanna Strober, and entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, the "most-measured man on planet Earth," to get their insights.

A running theme: The tech world — and modern culture overall — rewards speed, scale, and certainty. The speakers showed there's still room for limits, skepticism, and human judgment in the long run.

The night was paired with health-conscious poke bowls, booze (a Johnson no-no), and a quick talk on sex and night-time erections (a Johnson yes-yes).

Here are some of the highlights from The Long Play.

Asana CEO Dan Rogers shared his best career advice and how he uses AI

Asana CEO Dan Rogers said he relies on AI as a "day-to-day companion," using the company's AI teammates to summarize information, consolidate insights, and conduct competitive research.

The tools, he said, are embedded directly into his workflow and used daily.

On career advice, Rogers pointed to a familiar Silicon Valley mantra that he believes still holds up: join a "rocket ship." In a fast-moving tech landscape, he said, workers should focus less on roles and more on companies with breakout potential.

Outside work, Rogers emphasized consistency, calling exercise a non-negotiable. He prioritizes a mix of cardio, strength training, and yoga.

Axiom Math CEO Carina Hong believes that a powerful AI checks its own work

LLMs have been revolutionary for the front-end software engineer, but we're not yet seeing AI taking over systems where safety is a non-negotiable without a human in the loop, Hong, a Rhodes scholar and founder of Axiom Math, said.

The mathematician said the most powerful AI will be the one that can check its own output. Because what good is an LLM that gives us five different answers to the mysteries of our universe, Hong proposed. How could a human check that answer?

"I would say that superintelligence is at its sort of max power when it's verified," she said. "When you know that you can just execute the output like a computer program, and then you get sort of the verifiable signal."

Founders weigh in on the most AI-proof skills

Some of the founders who spoke with Business Insider talked about how human judgment has become all the more valuable in the AI era.

"The simple answer is taste," Talha Khan, CEO of Seda, said, when asked what skill AI has made more important. Khan said the more context and insight you can provide an AI, the better and more unique the output.

Carmen Li, CEO of Silicon Data, said she uses her judgment to discern between a flattering AI and one that's providing an accurate answer.

"Don't make me feel good," she said. "I couldn't care less about that."

Gary Yasuda, the president of Milan Institute, said that various AI tools are like "a board of directors" that needs the correct human direction.

"Everybody has a favorite — different technology, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity — but they all ask their own style of questions because if you don't ask the right probing questions, they're never going to really help you," said Yasuda.

Off-the-shelf AI won't cut it for healthcare

Strober, founder of Midi Health, a virtual health clinic for women, said generic, popular chatbots still face inaccuracies when it comes to questions around patient health.

"We spend a lot of time debunking the things they saw in AI because it doesn't include only the most updated women's health research," she said.

The founder envisions a future when patients can rely on a specialized AI to answer some of their pressing health questions, but Strober's bet is that it won't replace a human anytime soon.

"Honestly, I'm making a bet on the fact that people still want to talk to someone for their care," Strober said. "Other companies are probably going to make a different bet, but we have found that what we are going to be really good at is empathy."

Hollywood isn't competing with AI right now

Blum, whose production company is behind some of the most popular horror franchises and films, doesn't think AI will make movies better.

The producer has experimented with the technology. In 2024, Blumhouse Productions announced a partnership with Meta, producing AI-generated shorts and VR experiences. He was roasted online.

That experience, Blum said, made him confident that AI can't make movies better and that Hollywood isn't competing with it. Instead, AI is competing with user-generated content.

"What it is competing with is scrolling," he said. "On Instagram and doomscrolling, I think there'll be a ton of AI there and you will see that. So I think for once creators have more to worry about than directors and writers."

Grind culture is not a badge of honor

Founders might be skipping booze, but the grind culture persists.

On top of that, some young professionals are swearing off sex and dating, all in the name of "locking in."

Johnson, the popular longevity guru, wants that to stop.

"We have not created a culture of health, and it's hurting everybody," he said.

His message, in short: Have sex, get off your phone, and go to sleep.

No one has a crystal ball

CEOs have long been expected to make institutional forecasts, but it seems these days they're being turned to as an oracle of the future — especially amid the AI boom cycle.

When will AI wipe out the white-collar workforce? What value will money have when humanoid robots take over the world?

Johnson makes his case: Technology has enabled us to advance in our work and our health, but it doesn't make us any better at predicting the future, he said, when asked what it means for the world to have a population that can live longer.

"My personal opinion is nobody has anything intelligent to say about the future," he said. "In fact, when they try to say things, they're revealing their ignorance, not their knowledge."

• Allbirds is pivoting from sustainable footwear to AI compute infrastructure.
• The company plans to be less focused on environmental conservation, according to an SEC filing.
• Allbirds' stock price surged 582% after the company announced it was transitioning to AI.

Allbirds isn't only pivoting to AI — it's pivoting away from its core environmental principles.

Once dubbed the favorite shoemaker of Silicon Valley, Allbirds announced Wednesday it was transitioning from footwear to AI compute infrastructure and becoming NewBird AI.

The company said it planned to buy GPUs, or powerful chips, and become a GPU-as-a-service company. It's also selling off its footwear assets and its original name, meaning Allbirds-branded shoes could continue to be made, under new ownership.

The company partially answered questions about what that might mean for Allbirds' status as a company committed to ESG — environmental, social, and governance principles — in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing said stockholders would vote next month on proposed changes to the company, including removing environmental commitments written into its charter and revoking its status as a public benefit corporation. PBCs are for-profit corporations intended to produce a public benefit and operate responsibly and sustainably.

"The anticipated Electronics Infrastructure Business would be less focused on the public benefit of environmental conservation," the company said.

Allbirds said in the filing that there were risks associated with some of the proposed changes to its charter, including ceasing to operate as a Delaware PBC, which requires the company to "produce a public benefit and operate in a responsible and sustainable manner."

"Eliminating that status could damage our reputation, adversely affect our ability to attract and retain customers, employees and partners, and negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations," the filing said.

If the amended charter is accepted, the company said, it would operate "in the best interests of our stockholders, without balancing the best interests of our stockholders against the public benefit of environmental conservation."

Allbirds did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The transition to AI is an especially striking move for Allbirds, given concerns about the environmental impacts and resource consumption of AI. An investigation by Business Insider found the AI and data center boom is straining power grids and water supplies across the US.

Allbirds was founded as a sustainable footwear company

When Allbirds started out in 2015, sustainability was central. The company touted its shoes, made from what it said were natural, sustainable materials, as better for people and the environment.

In 2016, the company earned its B Corp certification, given to companies that meet specific standards for social and environmental impact. It also became a PBC.

When Allbirds went public in 2021, the company said in an SEC filing that its mission was to "make better things in a better way, through nature — products that people feel good in and feel good about."

"We aim to reverse climate change through better business by empowering people to make better, more conscious decisions for themselves as well as the planet," the company said, adding, "We are proud of the alignment of financial and environmental benefits from our work, and that we are able to serve as a driving force in a new age of sustainable enterprise."

Last year, the company said it had made the "world's first net zero carbon shoe" with its limited edition "M0.0NSHOT Zero," made from "carbon-negative, regenerative wool" sourced from New Zealand.

The company's critics have accused it of greenwashing — that its claims about its positive environmental impact were more marketing than reality.

While Allbirds said in its latest SEC filing that it will be less focused on environmental conservation, it's unclear whether environmental principles will remain part of the company in some capacity.

For now, it looks like the transition might be good for shareholders, if not for business.

Allbirds' stock price was up 582% from the day prior at market close on Wednesday, reversing a yearslong slump.

• Kalshi is facing a fine in Ohio for unlicensed sports betting activities.
• The prediction market operator has been in an Ohio court battle to allow it to operate in the state.
• Kalshi suffered a loss in March, when an Ohio judge ruled its offerings should be regulated.

It's more money, more problems for the online prediction market Kalshi.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission said on Tuesday that it was fining Kalshi $5 million for unlicensed sports betting in the state.

"The Commission takes its regulatory responsibilities to ensure compliance with the law and the integrity of sports gaming in Ohio seriously," the regulators said in a statement. "Kalshi's refusal to stop offering sports gaming in Ohio necessitated the Commission to take action to uphold the requirements of Ohio law. "

This fine comes on the heels of a court loss Kalshi suffered in March. A judge in Ohio's federal court ruled that Kalshi's sports-related prediction market bets should be considered gambling and be regulated by the state.

In April 2025, the commission issued three cease and desist notices — to Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com — directing them to stop offering sports event contracts in the state by April 14, 2025. Kalshi sued Ohio and asked the court to grant an injunction against the casino regulators' attempt to stop it from taking market bets.

Kalshi had asked the court to treat its sports-related market options as swaps, which would designate picks on its platform as a kind of investment.

The presiding judge, District Judge Sarah Morrison, ruled against Kalshi, saying she had an obligation to "avoid absurdity." Swaps, she said, are "understood as a transaction involving financial instruments and measures that traditionally and directly affect commodity prices."

"Currency exchange rates, the weather and energy costs all do that: the number of points scored in the Huskies-Bobcats game does not," the judge said.

Kalshi said in a statement to Business Insider that it's reviewing the gaming commission's fine.

"We are disappointed in this latest development, especially considering our ongoing litigation with Ohio and recent rulings in other courts confirming our right to operate as a federally licensed exchange," a Kalshi spokesperson said.

The company raised $1 billion last month at a $22 billion valuation, according to data provider PitchBook.

Kalshi's expansion across the US is running into a range of state-level resistance. Regulators from Arizona to Nevada say its offerings may amount to unlicensed gambling.

The platform is also set to see more federal oversight from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Its enforcement chief, David Miller, said in March that he's hiring more staff to crack down on insider trading on prediction markets.

• Jimmy Pitaro addressed ESPN staff after Disney's recent layoffs.
• The memo, obtained by Business Insider, said ESPN employees being cut have already been informed.
• Disney's layoffs are the first under its new CEO, Josh D'Amaro.

The top executive at ESPN addressed his staff after the latest round of layoffs at its parent company, Disney.

Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, sent a memo about the cuts to his employees on Wednesday. The memo, obtained by Business Insider, said that all ESPN employees affected by the cuts have already been notified.

"We must continue fostering a more agile and technologically enabled workforce," Pitaro wrote. "While these realities require difficult decisions, that does not lessen how hard it is to say goodbye to colleagues who have dedicated themselves to ESPN."

The layoffs, which began Tuesday, were the first at Disney under new CEO Josh D'Amaro, who took over in March. D'Amaro said in a memo to Disney staff that the layoffs came after the company combined its enterprise marketing and brand teams earlier this year.

Employees being laid off will receive severance pay based on their level and tenure at the company, according to an employee handbook seen by Business Insider.

An ESPN spokesperson declined to comment when reached by Business Insider.

Read Pitaro's memo below:

Team:

As Josh D'Amaro shared, our industry and our businesses are undergoing profound change, and we must continue fostering a more agile and technologically enabled workforce. While these realities require difficult decisions, that does not lessen how hard it is to say goodbye to colleagues who have dedicated themselves to ESPN.

I want you to know that conversations are completed with those whose roles are impacted this week.

To team members who will be leaving, thank you for your contributions — these decisions do not reflect the strength of your work or of the company, but rather our focus on how to best manage our resources to support continued growth. We are here to help you through this transition, and we encourage you to reach out to your leadership or People & Culture (HR) business partner with any questions.

I remain optimistic about our future, even during these tough days. ESPN's foundation is built on strong relationships, perseverance and a commitment to serving sports fans — values that matter particularly in difficult moments. Let's continue to support one another.

Jimmy

• Stefan Pildes, president of the raucous charity event, SantaCon, has been charged with wire fraud.
• Prosecutors allege he used funds raised at the charity event to splurge on a luxury lifestyle.
• Pildes faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The man behind New York City's SantaCon didn't just throw a rowdy annual charity pub crawl — he was a secret scrooge who "ran his own con game," federal prosecutors allege, siphoning millions from an event marketed as a philanthropic fundraiser.

Stefan Pildes, the 50-year-old president of SantaCon, which regularly drew in over 25,000 festively dressed drinkers across New York, was charged with a single count of wire fraud on Wednesday. The charge carries with it a sentence of up to 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

Prosecutors said Pildes marketed SantaCon as a charity event, encouraging attendees to purchase tickets, usually between $10 and $20 each, under the premise that proceeds benefit nonprofit causes, such as The Children's Heart Foundation and Clowns Without Borders. Instead, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York accused him of diverting funds into accounts he controlled and using them for personal expenses, such as a luxury vehicle and concert tickets, rather than donating them.

While prosecutors did not disclose the exact amount Pildes is accused of misusing, they said he used more than half of the roughly $2.7 million generated by SantaCon between 2019 and 2024 for his own benefit. Only a "small fraction" ever reached charity, according to the US Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said in an indictment that the "slush fund" Pildes created was used to splurge on items including extravagant vacations in Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Vail, more than $365,000 in renovations to a lakeside property in New Jersey, a $124,000 lease on a luxury Manhattan apartment, and nearly $3,000 on a birthday dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Manhattan.

An attorney for Pildes has not yet been named in court filings, and Pildes did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Eyewitness News ABC7NY reported Pildes pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday afternoon.

"Pildes allegedly stole Christmas from tens of thousands of victims and deprived local charities of more than one million dollars," FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. said in a statement about the charges. "The FBI continues to root out scrooges that greedily exploit the goodwill of New Yorkers."

SantaCon has long had a fraught reputation in New York City, where the annual holiday bar crawl draws tens of thousands of costumed revelers — and persistent complaints from locals about unruly behavior. Critics have questioned its charitable framing, arguing the event often resembles "a drunken free-for-all" despite being marketed as a fundraiser.

Business Insider in 2023 reported on an investigation by the New York City blog Gothamist, operated by New York Public Radio, which found that large sums of SantaCon's funds had been funneled into crypto and toward groups related to Burning Man.

Gone are the days of needing a convoluted phone plan with a contract full of pitfalls to get cell service. Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) like Visible Wireless do away with unnecessary extras, keeping plans as simple as a monthly subscription service, as you'd expect from your favorite streaming service.

As a longtime paying customer of the brand, I'm happy to report that Visible is as good as it looks. Using Verizon's network, it offers a reliable connection and data that, while deprioritized to Verizon's higher-paying customers, almost never fails. Plans also include sweet perks like high-quality video streaming and global data in select countries, with options starting at $25 a month. With frequent Visible deals available year-round, it's often cheaper than that, too.

I've broken down the details of Visible's offerings, along with firsthand findings from using the service in major cities across the US and abroad. If you're looking to compare it to other options, check out our guide to the best cheap cell phone plans.

Visible plans and prices at a glance

Visible Wireless offers three plans: Visible, Visible Plus, and Visible Plus Pro. Here's how they break down at a glance:

• Visible: The brand's most affordable option starts at $25 a month (often less with a good coupon code). It uses Verizon's 5G and 4G LTE networks to provide unlimited data, talk, and text, and unlimited hot spot use.
• Visible Plus: Starting at $35 a month, Plus includes everything the base plan offers, plus "premium data" and spam call blocking. It also offers twice the hot spot speed.
• Visible Plus Pro: The top tier of Visible plans, Plus Pro, starts at $45 a month and includes everything the other two plans feature, plus an included smartwatch service, even faster hot spot speed, and more.

Topping out at $45 a month for the most feature-packed plan, Visible is still cheaper than a budget traditional service like T-Mobile Essentials (which still requires multiple lines for discounted pricing).

Setup

Getting started with Visible is easy, especially if you're bringing your own device. You'll be limited to phones compatible with Verizon's network, which you can determine using the site's compatibility checker. If it doesn't pass the test, you can trade it in for credit toward a new phone instead.

One of the most attractive aspects of moving to Visible is that you can keep your existing phone number by porting in online or via the app. This involves obtaining relevant information from your previous carrier and handing it off to Visible before obtaining your eSIM. If you prefer a physical SIM card, you can order one online and have it shipped to you. It's a somewhat slower process than the instantaneous nature of an eSIM.

Overall, it's simple and painless. Rather than the lengthy process of signing up with cell carriers in the past, switching to Visible can be done from the comfort of your home in less than 30 minutes. Especially if you go the eSIM route, you'll be operating on Visible data in no time.

Coverage area and reliability

As with every service, I highly recommend checking Visible's coverage map before committing to sign up. Most of the country is covered, but if you live in the chunk of Idaho or inland California that isn't supported, you may want to reconsider. If you happen to know any locals who use Verizon or Visible, asking how they like their service wouldn't hurt, either.

Anecdotally, I've tested Visible Plus Pro around the world. Within the continental US, I've used it in New York City, throughout Southern California, and on a road trip across Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and a bit of Arizona. In all of these locations, I tested it as both a normal cell service (call, text, and data) and as a WiFi hot spot.

As with most services I've tested, there are definitely low-reception areas in locations like mountainous freeways and deep desert. Otherwise, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Visible's connection was stable and often more reliable than those around me with services like AT&T or T-Mobile. The hot spot is truly unlimited and easy to use, allowing me to work remotely on the road.

Customer support

In terms of customer support, Visible's in-app and online support is what you can expect from a typical MVNO or cell service provider. Searching for support first directs you to a help center with a well-stocked library of articles and troubleshooting guides for common snags with activation, account payments, and more.

Initiating a chat first directs you to a digital assistant, but getting to a live agent isn't difficult. The chatbot first tries to direct users to the support articles I mentioned, but after pressing a button to indicate that your problem is outside that scope, it presents an option to speak with a live agent. From there, you'll get an estimated wait time (no more than 10 minutes each time I tried) before reaching a Visible employee.

If you're hoping to catch someone on the phone to chat about your service, Visible is lacking. It only offers instant message support online and via the app, as well as direct messaging via X and Facebook Messenger. In my experience, chat support has been enough to address any of my concerns, but that could be a matter of preference.

International use and Global Pass

International travelers have a lot to gain from Visible, especially the Plus Pro plan. Plus Pro includes calling to over 85 countries, unlimited text to over 200, and data in Mexico and Canada with roaming on. If you're in another country, that's where Global Pass comes in.

Visible Wireless' Global Pass provides international coverage, available for a daily fee or included with your plan. It costs $5 a day with base plans, while Visible Plus users accrue one day a month and Plus Pro users accrue two days a month. These are stored in your account, ready to be used whenever you go abroad.

As a user who heads overseas at least once a year for family reasons and the occasional vacation, the Global Pass feature removes a stressful aspect of travel (phone service) entirely. Rather than coordinating fussy pocket WiFi units or racking up hefty roaming bills, getting coverage is as easy as enabling the Global Pass in-app and continuing as usual.

When abroad, you'll likely notice a different service provider's name listed next to the signal indicator on your smartphone (like Smart in the Philippines). Visible partners with international providers to give its customers international coverage — and while testing it against other travel SIMs, I often found that Visible received priority over other options like Airalo and Holafly.

Free trial

On the very likely chance that you don't have a support system of Verizon and Visible users to survey about coverage in your area, Visible offers a free 15-day trial. This way, you can test the base Visible plan in your area before committing to any sort of payment.

The free trial is only available for compatible, unlocked phones. From there, you'll get a trial number added to your device to test Visible for two weeks. Usable features include unlimited data, talk, and text on Verizon 5G and 4G LTE, plus unlimited hot spot.

Should you sign up for Visible Wireless?

I love Visible Wireless. It simplifies cell coverage and tags on additional features that can really come in handy later. I recommend it to all my local friends and family, especially if they're tired of the pitfalls and contracts of traditional cell service providers. It's the best when offering truly unlimited data, making it a pick in our guide to the best cheap cellphone plans.

The most value comes from Visible Plus Pro, though. If you're shopping only for affordability, the brand's base plan is solid, but its deprioritized 4G and 5G LTE service can be frustrating, depending on your area. Even opting for Visible Plus at an extra $10 a month is a worthwhile upgrade if you can swing it, since it unlocks better data and speeds.

Truly unlimited service is the main draw to Visible, but its extra perks like Global Pass, mobile hot spot, and smartwatch service are irresistible selling points. Countless times, I've served as the WiFi for myself and friends in coffee shops and on trips. I've also found myself as the only person with service when abroad multiple times — at this point, the new challenge is ensuring my phone is juiced up enough to handle all the use it sees throughout the day.

However, if you don't travel much, don't use hot spots, or just have bad Visible and Verizon coverage in your area, you may want to pass on the service. However, as a longtime customer, I'd implore you to at least give the 15-day trial a shot.

See more: Best Visible deals | Best cheap cell phone plans | Mint Mobile review | Tello review | Verizon review | T-Mobile review | Total Wireless plans

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• Director Coerte Voorhees and producer John Voorhees broke down the trailer for their new movie.
• "As Deep as the Grave" stars an artificially generated Val Kilmer.
• The Voorhees said Kilmer has over an hour of screen time in the film.

After decades of trying to get their 1920s historical drama "As Deep as the Grave" off the ground, Coerte and John Voorhees thought they'd finally hit the jackpot: Val Kilmer was on board to star. Then everything changed.

After years of starts and stops due to COVID, Coerte, who is the movie's director, and John, who is producing, got terrible news: Kilmer, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, was now too sick to participate. He died in 2025.

At first, the brothers pressed on, removing Kilmer's role as a Catholic priest from the film. But soon, advancements in artificial intelligence had rapidly improved, and they had another idea. With the approval of Kilmer's two children, Mercedes and Jack, Kilmer was resurrected to deliver an AI-generated performance.

Press got their first glimpse of AI Kilmer on Wednesday when the Voorhees debuted the movie's trailer at CinemaCon, the movie theater convention held yearly in Las Vegas.

The "As Deep as the Grave" trailer features two versions of Kilmer: one that looks close to his appearance when he died at 65, and another that depicts him in his 30s in a flashback scene.

The most astonishing moments of the trailer feature the young Kilmer. Coerte told Business Insider that the trailer's final shot, which is a closeup of Kilmer speaking to a child, took hours of digging through archival footage to feed to the AI. Once the sourcing was done, the actual AI generation for that shot only took 7 minutes.

"You have to make sure the authenticity is coming across, down to the mole on the side of his cheek," Coerte said of the sourcing process. "We just had to be such students of Val Kilmer."

Once the Voorhees saw what AI could do, they didn't just bring Kilmer back into the movie; they beefed up his role. The filmmakers said Kilmer has over an hour of screen time in the movie.

This is not the first time Kilmer and his estate have dabbled in AI. When the star was alive, he approved the use of AI technology to recreate his voice for his role in "Top Gun: Maverick."

The Voorhees praised Kilmer's children for being thoughtful collaborators and keepers of their father's estate.

"Mercedes and Jack have as much creative authority when we give them a suggestion," John said. "It's consent, it's compensation, it's collaboration. You have to do that. What you see on the screen is what the family wants."

The filmmakers said they're grateful that AI technology has evolved enough to help make "As Deep as the Grave" a nuanced tribute to the actor.

"Fortunately, AI has been the biggest ally in this, because it's focused on the emotional experience now," Coerte said.

"As Deep as the Grave" is currently seeking distribution.

• Joshua Gross, a top engineer at Thinking Machines Lab, has rejoined Meta.
• It's the latest in a string of departures from the $12 billion startup's founding team.
• Thinking Machines continues to attract star AI talent and has more than quadrupled its size.

Thinking Machines Lab, the startup founded by ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, has lost another founding member to Meta.

A veteran software engineer, Joshua Gross, built and shipped Thinking Machines Lab's flagship product, Tinker, from "zero-to-one," according to his LinkedIn profile.

He joined Meta Superintelligence Labs last month and now leads engineering teams, according to his LinkedIn profile. Gross had previously worked at OpenAI and Meta (formerly Facebook).

Thinking Machines Lab, which raised a huge $2 billion funding round at a $12 billion valuation last year, has become an AI talent hub. It has faced a wave of poaching from larger tech companies as Silicon Valley's AI talent wars grow hotter than ever.

Meta has now hired five of its founding members, including cofounder Andrew Tulloch. Meanwhile, OpenAI hired the startup's ex-CTO, Barret Zoph, and a top cybersecurity employee, Jolene Parish.

Thinking Machines Lab has had notable wins of its own. It replaced its CTO with Meta's Soumith Chintala, the creator of the open-source AI project PyTorch, and it quietly hired Neal Wu, a coder who won three gold medals in an Olympiad for programming, Business Insider previously reported.

The startup, which is based in San Francisco, has more than quadrupled in size to about 130 staffers since its founding last year, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Meta and Thinking Machines Lab declined to comment.

Have a tip? Contact Charles Rollet via email at crollet@businessinsider.com or on Signal and WhatsApp at 628-282-2811. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Disney began a round of layoffs on Tuesday, the first under new CEO Josh D'Amaro.
• Departing staffers' severance is based on their rank and, in some cases, how long they were at the Mouse House.
• Disney's severance package differs from recent ones offered by other media companies.

Disney is offering severance to employees affected by its latest round of layoffs, the first under new CEO Josh D'Amaro.

Laid-off staffers will receive a severance package based on their level and length of tenure at the company, according to guidelines in Disney's employee handbook, which was viewed by Business Insider.

Here's a summary:

These payouts align with the severance offers received by four employees who were laid off this week and spoke with Business Insider. Two of these people said they also received a prorated bonus, paid vacation days, and continued health coverage for several months.

A Disney spokesperson declined to comment.

How does Disney's offer compare to those from other media companies?

Paramount recently offered two weeks of pay for each year of service to hybrid staffers who didn't want to return to in-person work, two people familiar with the package said.

The Washington Post kept laid-off employees on its payroll from its February 4 layoff date through April 10. It gave four weeks of base pay, plus two weeks a year for staffers who'd worked at the newspaper for more than three years, up to 45 weeks.

NBCUniversal was an outlier among media companies in giving a one-size-fits-all exit offer to employees last fall during its RTO push. NBCU offered employees who didn't want to work in-person eight weeks of pay and continued health coverage for three months.

Disney's layoffs followed the unification of its enterprise marketing and brand teams earlier this year, D'Amaro, the new CEO, said in a memo.

D'Amaro, who took over for previous CEO Bob Iger last month, told staffers that those who would be laid off had "done meaningful work here and care deeply about this company."

"These decisions are not a reflection of their contributions, or of the overall strength of the company," he continued.

Disney's parks business appears set for another strong year, though the company is under pressure to grow streaming profits while keeping the traditional TV business afloat in the age of cord-cutting.

Disney shares rose 0.4% on Wednesday, after a 1.4% gain on Tuesday, as US stocks broadly rose.

• Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle have teamed up for a new ad campaign for the brand's denim shorts.
• In a video shared on social, Sweeney says, "What brand am I wearing? Yeah, that one."
• It's a sly wink at the 2025 "Great Jeans" controversy, and a classic move from Sweeney's PR playbook.

Sydney Sweeney has unveiled her second American Eagle campaign using her now-signature move: a sly wink at the camera.

Nearly nine months after the brand's "Great Jeans" campaign sparked online outrage, Sweeney reunited with American Eagle to promote its new denim shorts collection. The campaign, dubbed "Syd for Short," hit socials and newsstands on Wednesday with a short video starring Sweeney in her element, looking as beautiful and inscrutable as ever.

"What brand am I wearing?" Sweeney asks the camera, positioned mid-frame against a blue-sky backdrop. With a shrug and a cheeky smile, she gives a non-answer to her own question: "Yeah, that one."

The line only makes sense as a reference to Sweeney's existing association with American Eagle. Their 2025 collaboration drew intense backlash for a pun that conflated Sweeney's white, blue-eyed beauty with preferable genetics. Critics described the ad campaign as a "eugenics dog whistle," while fans suggested it was a cheeky double entendre with little deeper meaning. Amid the discourse, American Eagle's stock price soared, and Sweeney's public profile along with it.

Whatever headaches the "Great Jeans" campaign may have caused Sweeney's PR team, the headline-dominating discourse made her more of a household name — as did her refusal to apologize for being at the center of it.

As PR experts told me at the time, Sweeney's reputation for stirring up controversy is likely intentional. Whether she's talking about her "great jeans" or hawking a soap that purports to be made with her actual bathwater, Sweeney has garnered a fan base not just for her acting work, but for her polite refusal to explain the reasoning behind her more controversial choices.

Her responses in a now-infamous November 2025 GQ interview where she addressed the "Great Jeans" campaign were either provocative or oblivious, depending on how you read her delivery.

"I've always believed that I'm not here to tell people what to think. I'm just here to kind of open their eyes to different ideas," she told the magazine.

Two months later, Sweeney told Cosmopolitan that as a person "in the arts," she shouldn't be expected to comment on politics. Instead, she offered a platitude: "I believe we should all love each other and have respect and understanding for one another."

With "Syd for Short," Sweeney takes a page from the same playbook: gesture toward the mess, but don't wade in. Let the fans and critics speculate on your intent.

Those following Sweeney's moves have had plenty to dissect lately. The American Eagle campaign comes days after the season three premiere of "Euphoria," in which Sweeney plays Cassie Howard, a young woman whose humiliating desperation for male attention has made her a lightning rod for thinkpieces since the series debuted in 2019.

The first episode of the new season sees Sweeney's Cassie pursuing a career on OnlyFans dressed as a sexy puppy, complete with floppy ears, a heart-shaped nose, and a cleavage-baring brown corset.

While the internet lit up with debates over everything from the scene's morality to what it says about Cassie's increasingly shallow and fetishized characterization, Sweeney stayed silent.

Or perhaps she'd once again let the brands do the talking: the corset she wears in Cassie's sexy puppy scene is from her own lingerie line.

Fair Harbor, which launched in 2014, makes classically stylish beachwear using modern, environmentally friendly materials. And while it has some West Coast vibes, it's a New York brand inspired by Fire Island off the coast of Long Island All the clothing I tested for Business Insider Reviews from Fair Harbor got high marks for style, performance, comfort, and durability. This includes the Anchor shorts — swim trunks with compression liners, which ranked among the best compression-lined swim trunks we've tested.

Sustainability is a big part of the brand's image. It's a Certified B Corp, meaning it has to adhere to high standards in areas like the materials it uses, supply chain practices, and transparency, among other benchmarks. Good On You, an organization that rates the sustainability of fashion and beauty brands, lists the company as "good" in the area of the environment for using recycled materials and limiting its use of resources to make its clothing.

All the pieces I tested were crafted mainly using recycled polyester made from plastic waste. In some cases, the fabric also included other eco-friendly materials like organic cotton or Tencel, a synthetic cellulose fiber made from wood pulp. I was surprised at the range in the appearance and handfeel of its fabrics that are all mainly made from this recycled polyester, from the heathered look of the One Shorts, which also has a compression liner, to the ultra-soft feel of the Seabreeze Hoodie. I also loved that all of Fair Harbor's various clothing items work well with each other, so you can look put together without having to think too much about it.

Fair Harbor Anchor Swim Short

Fair Harbor's Anchor Shorts are one of the brand's signature products beloved by customers (they have a 4.9 rating based on more than 22,000 reviews) that come in a whopping 22 different colorways, and three inseam lengths, from a contemporary 6-inch for folks (like me) who like to show some leg to a 10-inch, which hits nearer the knee and offers a more conservative look. I found these swim trunks to provide ease of movement in the water when actually swimming and a stylish look for when you get out (and they dry fairly quickly as well).

Fair Harbor One Short

The One Short has a timeless design, comes in two different inseam lengths (6- or 8-inches) for a contemporary feel or something with a bit more coverage, and features a built-in compression liner for added comfort that will get you from the beach to brunch. They're very breathable, have a good bit of stretch, and come in a range of five colors and sizes up to 3XL with a drawstring elastic waist (I'm 6-feet-tall and weigh 175, and the medium size fit me perfectly). They're very adaptable — I've used them for swimming and running, but mostly I wear them as everyday shorts, and in all three cases, they performed well.

Fair Harbor Kismet T-Shirt

The first thing I noticed about the Kismet Tee was the super supple handfeel. The fabric is a blend of organic cotton and recycled polyester that has the right amount of stretch, is breathable, and does a good job of staying crisp-looking without a lot of care. The Kismet Tee comes in 16 colorways, from multi-striped fabrics to nautical-themed graphics and beyond.

Fair Harbor SeaBreeze Hoodie

This is the perfect lightweight hoodie to throw on when the sun goes down, but you're not quite ready to leave the beach. Fair Harbor makes it from recycled polyester and Tencel for a breathable and ultrasoft shirt that comes in five colors, but the Navy Ombre Stripe with its throwback '70s vibes is a standout. The SeaBreeze has become my go-to summer hoodie.

Cons to consider

There aren't many cons to consider here. Everything I tested from Fair Harbor performed extremely well. Be sure to follow Fair Harbor's laundering instructions to keep your clothes looking better longer. The only con I can see is that because the one Short has a built-in liner, you're going to have to wash them more often than if they were simply shorts, but it's a small price to pay for how comfortable they are.

The bottom line

All the Fair Harbor clothing I tested was well designed, worked as advertised, and was both comfortable and stylish, making for products worth the price. Additionally, there were no issues over multiple washes or flaws like loose threads that might hasten the clothing's demise. If you're looking for beach-ready clothes that are stylish, comfortable, and perform well, Fair Harbor is a shining light in a murky sea of fashion.

If you're looking for a no-contract phone plan that still runs on a major network, Total Wireless is one of the more straightforward options to consider. The prepaid carrier offers a small lineup of unlimited plans on Verizon's 5G network, with pricing that's easy to compare at a glance and perks that scale up as you pay more — like additional hot spot data and expanded international features.

Total Wireless plans are best suited for shoppers who want reliable coverage without a long-term commitment, especially families or multi-line households trying to keep monthly costs predictable. Plans include unlimited talk and text, unlimited data, and varying hot spot allowances, plus extras like roaming in Canada and Mexico on select tiers. The brand also offers aggressive pricing for people who bring their own phone, making it appealing if you're switching carriers and don't need a new device.

Below, we'll break down Total Wireless plans and pricing, including what you get at each tier, which plan makes the most sense depending on how much data and hot spot you actually use, and what to watch for before you check out.

Total Wireless plans and pricing

Total Wireless keeps its lineup pretty simple, with three main unlimited prepaid plans that all include unlimited talk/text/data on the Verizon 5G network — no contracts required.

The entry-level option is Total Base 5G Unlimited ($40/line) with 5GB of hot spot and basic international perks (including calling to 85+ countries, texting to 200+ countries, and roaming in Canada/Mexico).

If you want more extras, the mid-tier Total 5G Unlimited ($50/line) bumps you to the fastest data tier, includes 15GB of hot spot, expands international perks (calling to 180 countries and roaming in Canada/Mexico and 30+ additional countries), and adds a fourth line at no extra cost plus a Disney+ Premium promo (listed as 6 months on the plans page).

The top plan, Total 5G+ Unlimited ($60/line), gets Total Wireless' fastest data, upgrades to unlimited hot spot, includes the broader roaming perks, adds a $10 long-distance credit (to 120+ countries), includes the fourth line at no extra cost, and includes Disney+ Premium (ongoing while you stay on the eligible plan).

If you're hoping to save money, the best option is to take advantage of Total's bring-your-own-phone promo. When you bring your own device, you can get one line of Total Base 5G Unlimited (the cheapest plan) with a 5-year price lock guarantee. It's an extremely affordable option, even when compared to other cell service providers.

Total Wireless promotions

Looking to save by switching to Total Wireless? Luckily, the service offers the perfect opportunity to do so. By bringing your own device, you can knock the Total 5G Unlimited plan to $20 a month, guaranteed for at least five years.

If you don't yet have a phone or are considering different offers, here's what else Total Wireless has running right now.

Total Wireless FAQs

What network does Total Wireless use?

Verizon owns Total Wireless and uses the larger provider's cell towers to serve its customers. Verizon is a well-trusted option for coverage, but we recommend checking the Total Wireless coverage map before signing up to make sure you'll be satisfied.

Are Total Wireless phones unlocked?

Phones purchased through Total Wireless are initially locked to Verizon. They can be unlocked, but each device requires a minimum period of active Total Wireless service — unlocking before then incurs a $300 charge, depending on how long you were covered.

Who owns Total Wireless?

Total Wireless is owned by Verizon, the cell service provider that shares its network towers with it.

Where can I buy Total Wireless phones?

If you're looking to buy a device compatible with Total Wireless, you can shop directly from the website for devices locked to the service. Alternatively, you can use an unlocked phone from retailers like Apple or Amazon to use with Total Wireless.

Follow our Instagram page and WhatsApp channel for more deals and buying guides.

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At Insider Reviews, we've tested plenty of essentials for our full Quince review over the years, from workwear basics to leather totes, so we were especially curious to see whether the brand's silk pieces lived up to the hype. For this Quince silk review, we wore and washed a range of items from the brand's washable silk collection — including dresses, separates, and pajamas — to find out whether they're actually worth buying.

Quince's 100% mulberry silk clothing is notably less expensive than similar styles from many other retailers, and the promise of machine-washable silk makes the line even more appealing. If the brand's claims hold up, these pieces could offer an easier, more affordable way to add silk to your wardrobe without the usual dry-cleaning hassle.

After over two years of testing, we found that Quince's silk clothing feels soft, looks polished, and delivers strong value for the price, but durability was inconsistent. Some pieces held up well with repeated wear and washing, while others developed tears at the seams. Overall, we think Quince silk is best for occasional wear, not everyday heavy rotation.

Washable Stretch Silk Tiered Maxi Dress

This dress has become my most-reached-for item of clothing this summer. While elegant enough to dress up with some heels and a clutch for dinner, I mostly pair it with sneakers for an elevated and comfortable daytime look. (The sneaker look works for me because, at 5-foot-7, the dress hits me right above the ankles, but if you're shorter, it may fall closer to the floor.)

I particularly love the tiered A-line silhouette, which is very flattering, and the forgiving elastic high waist. The v-neckline is fairly deep (which I like, because it adds a feminine touch to balance out the baggier silhouette), but I was still able to wear it with a bra. It's not see-through at all. 

On particularly hot days, I did sweat in this dress (usually I pick sleeveless items when I think I may sweat), and the sweat was fairly visible through the silk fabric. That's the only downside I found to this dress. I washed it cold on the delicates cycle and hung it to dry. I steamed it to remove wrinkles (ironing silk is not recommended). Each time I wore the dress after washing, I found it as soft and shiny as before.

100% Washable Silk Slip Dress

This midi length, bias cut slip dress is crafted from mulberry silk with a satin finish. It has adjustable spaghetti straps, and the brand claims the fabric is naturally thermoregulating to help maintain body temperature. It comes in nine colors in sizes XS through XL.

"Trust me, nothing feels better than coming home from a long day of wearing restrictive clothing and putting on this buttery-soft slip. In the summer, this is the ultimate at-home outfit. And it's so incredibly chic to lounge around in a silk slip," says Samantha Crozier, style and beauty editor at Insider Reviews.

Sam's update after a year of wear: Even though it's a flattering, classic style that I washed and wore for about 9 months, the dress finally tore at a corner seam. You're likely to get a lot of use from this dress before you experience the same disappointment. However, its shelf life puts it in the fast-fashion category, so we can't call it a sustainable option.

Sam's update after two years of wear: After getting another silk slip dress to replace the torn one (it's just so dang comfy!), I continued to wear it as a lounge piece and a casual throw-on garment. This kind of frequent wear (with cycles through the washing machine as often as twice a month) isn't what I would recommend anymore. The second slip dress tore in the same spot as the first within a similar timeframe.

I would only recommend buying this dress if you're planning on wearing it to formal occasions or taking it out of the closet a few times a year. Otherwise, I'd recommend getting a similar dress from a brand that specializes in silk or sticking with Quince's cotton or linen dress options.

"I love a gorgeous slip dress, perfect for dressing up or down, depending on my mood. Make it washable, and I'm in love. This silk dress has a nice bias cut down the side seam with extra room in the hips, showing that it was designed with curvier bodies in mind. It hits right below the knee. Adjustable straps helped me position the dress comfortably across my chest. Being in between sizes, I preferred the slightly roomier fit of the 2X to the 1X. The 1X felt too tight and pulled in the back, while the 2X was a little large under the armpits but nothing too noticeable. I'm not wearing shapewear in either of the photos," says Jaclyn Turner, senior home editor, Insider Reviews.

Read more in our full Quince plus size clothing review.

Washable Silk Skirt

A silk skirt is such a versatile wardrobe staple. It pairs well with sneakers and a t-shirt or slouchy sweater for a casual ensemble or can be worn with heels and a matching silky camisole for a dressy evening look. I was super excited to try Quince's version, which comes in an impressive range of nine colors.

This skirt, which hits just below the knees, did not disappoint. I'm currently between a medium and a large in bottoms, and sizing up to a large ended up being the right call. The elastic waistband falls loosely at my hips and the skirt is plenty flowy, so it doesn't show any panty lines.

100% Washable Silk Halter Top

I absolutely love this halter top as a comfortable and breezy option for an evening out. My favorite way to wear it is tucked into ripped jeans and paired with heels. It looks elegant and dressy. I think it would look equally good tucked into a pencil skirt and topped with a cardigan for days in the office. 

Just like the tiered maxi dress, the halter top washed well (in the delicates cycle and hung dry) and remained soft and shiny. The black version isn't see-through at all, although I'm not sure if the lighter champagne color would be (there's also a navy option).

Washable Stretch Silk Notch Collar Blouse

"I'm forever on the hunt for a good button down and I wanted to love the Washable Stretch Silk Blouse. I typically size up in button-down blouses because I have a large chest. Sadly, the silk blouse in a 2X pulled at my chest and around my middle, making me feel a little too self-conscious. The ivory color was also quite sheer, and the slight stretch of the fabric only accentuated the parts that I didn't want to show off more. Ironically, the model in the product photo wears the bottom half of the shirt unbuttoned, as a foreshadowing of my experience, while another model wearing the blouse in wine appears to be swimming in it. If the shirt would fit me right, I think it looks very classy and sophisticated and a great workwear, or day-to-night piece; just the sizing is off, in my opinion," according to Jaclyn Turner, senior home editor, Insider Reviews.

100% Washable Silk Pajama Tee and Pants

With a super roomy silhouette, this cooling pajama set is comfy and elegant for both sleeping and lounging around. You could totally get away with wearing the T-shirt out with a pair of jeans as well. 

One huge benefit of this combo (both pieces available in sizes XS through XL) is the mix and matchability since the top and bottom are sold separately. You can pick different sizes, but you can also interchange the styles (there are also a button up shirts, a tank, or shorts available). The pants, shorts, tee, and tank are available in seven colors (sizes XS through XL), while the button up top only comes in five colors. 

I picked a medium in my top, which fit perfectly. For the bottoms, I picked a large since I often wear large bottoms from other brands and have previously tried other Quince medium sweats, which were snug. The large was very big on me, and I wished I had sized down to a medium. I would recommend sizing down in the bottoms, if you're between sizes. 

I washed these in the gentle cycle and hung them to dry. The smoothness and softness of the fabric did not change due to laundering.

How do you wash washable silk?

As per the instructions on Quince's website, we washed the garments in cold water in the delicates cycle and hung them to dry. We steamed the garments because they wrinkled easily, but this caused no damage.

Is Quince silk real silk?

Yes. Quince's silk clothing is made from 100% mulberry silk, which gives it the smooth, soft feel and glossy finish you'd expect from genuine silk pieces.

Does Quince silk hold up over time?

Our experience was mixed. Some Quince silk pieces stayed soft, shiny, and in good shape after repeated washes, but others eventually tore at the seams after months of regular wear. Based on our testing, durability was not consistent across the line.

Is Quince silk worth it?

Quince silk can be worth it if you want the look and feel of real silk at a more affordable price. We think it makes the most sense for occasional wear or lower-rotation pieces, but we wouldn't count on every style holding up to frequent washing and everyday use.

Cons to consider

If you wear and wash your silk casually, your Quince washable silk may not last you very long. We also found the sizing to be a little inconsistent with this line. While sizing up was a good choice in the halter top and tiered dress, it led us astray for the pajama pants, where sizing down would have fit better. Thankfully, though, Quince has a generous return policy with a full refund on unworn items with the tags on available for 365 days from the purchase date. So, you can feel comfortable to take your best guess at a size and return it if the fit isn't perfect.

The bottom line

We found that Quince's washable silk line looks great, but one piece only lasted nine months before tearing, so we don't qualify it as high-quality. We also found some flaws in the fit of its extended size silk collection.

Quince's silk products are much more affordable than traditional retailers, and you earn extra savings by avoiding dry cleaning. It may be worth a try if you intend to wear it for special events, but everyday wear proved too much for its weak seams.