• OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google met in D.C. on Tuesday to assess Trump's AI model review framework.
• President Donald Trump's administration plans to review AI models for cybersecurity risks.
• The framework challenges Trump's light-touch AI regulation stance amid rapid technology advances.

The AI world is looking to D.C. for clarity.

On Tuesday, staffers from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and other tech companies convened in Washington to review the administration's new framework for reviewing advanced AI models. Now, the rest of the industry eagerly awaits answers on what will be included in the framework — a structured way for President Donald Trump's administration to evaluate AI models' cyber capabilities.

The framework represents a turning point for AI oversight. While Trump's administration has adopted a light-touch regulatory approach, rapid advances in AI models for cybersecurity and hacking are beginning to upend it.

It's an open question how the new process will shape up and affect the release and adoption of new AI models. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that White House officials said at the meeting that the federal government plans to review only certain types of AI models from companies like Anthropic and OpenAI for potential security risks and does not plan to review open-source AI models so far, though these plans could change as the technology advances. Open-source models allow anyone to download or modify the code for free.

An executive order in early June directed officials to develop a "benchmarking process to assess the advanced cyber capabilities of AI models" within 60 days. The deadline has passed.

Here are the major outstanding questions.

How committed is the Trump administration to its stance on AI?

The administration's AI oversight approach has been defined by its light-touch regulatory stance. Its AI Action Plan, released in 2025, said that regulation might end up "paralyzing" the industry, and called on agencies to "dismantle unnecessary regulatory barriers that hinder the private sector."

The executive order in June acknowledged a new reality in which AI models from Anthropic and OpenAI have shown marked improvements in coding, finding cybersecurity exploits, and working on longer-term tasks.

The framework, as sketched in the June order, will require companies to share their AI models with the government for up to 30 days before releasing them to the public, giving the government a head start in assessing their cyber capabilities.

Crucially, Trump's executive order described the framework as "voluntary," though it's an open question how the administration would treat companies that skip the process. Jessica Ji, an analyst at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said it seems like officials are trying to create a "soft compliance regime."

"Ideally, they can say we're not regulating, this is a voluntary program, but all of the companies whose models they think present potential national security risks would comply," she said.

Which AI models will the framework cover?

Regulating AI is tricky. Rules could target the top-tier labs, specific products, or individual AI models. If regulators home in on the models, more questions pop up. Do they base their rules on the models' size, or when they're released, or what they're capable of?

The conversation in D.C. over recent months has turned around the AI models' capabilities because of new developments like Anthropic's Mythos model and OpenAI's security incident with the AI company Hugging Face.

Trump's executive order asked his agencies to develop a definition of the "covered frontier models" that would be vetted by his administration. Chinese open-source and open-weight models, which have sparked furor in the industry recently because of their advanced capabilities, are almost certainly part of the Tuesday conversation, Ji said.

She added that figuring out ways to categorize AI models is a crucial step for the rulemakers.

What authority will the government have over the leading AI juggernauts?

It's unclear so far how the framework will affect the rollout of AI models, especially if it truly feels voluntary to companies. Ji said she's curious whether there will be any clear guidance on what the administration can do if it finds a dangerous capability while testing unreleased technology.

In June, Trump's Commerce Department responded to cybersecurity concerns about an Anthropic model by issuing an export control that barred the company from granting foreign nationals access. Anthropic ended up pulling down all access to the model until it reached a deal with the administration.

Ji said it's unlikely the administration would keep resorting to export controls, though it's unclear what other levers they might pull to intervene in a model release or to pressure a company to change its product.

She said the meeting will provide more clarity on who in the Trump administration makes the decisions around AI oversight and cybersecurity.

"We're trying to figure out who are the new kind of power players, who has influence in the administration on this set of issues, right now," Ji said.

Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at scouncil@businessinsider.com, or over text, Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp at 415-757-8198. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• The number of confirmed cyclosporiasis cases in the US has topped 10,400, health officials said Tuesday.
• People got sick after eating lettuce sold in several states — Michigan and Ohio were especially hard-hit.
• Two maps show the states with the most reported cases and where food has been recalled.

The Midwest remains the hotspot of a major outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection that can trigger weeks of watery diarrhea.

On Tuesday, federal health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 10,468 people across the US have developed laboratory-confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis this summer. Another 12,255 cases are still under investigation. Most of the cases are clustered in a group of states bunched together in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic.

What was previously a five-state outbreak, with most cases reported in Michigan and Ohio, now involves at least nine states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Missouri is also reporting an unusually high number of cyclosporiasis cases this week, though Michigan and Ohio are still leading in case counts.

The CDC said in July that 1,947 cyclosporiasis cases were linked to a specific type of iceberg lettuce distributed by Taylor Farms to Taco Bell locations in the nine states, but that is far from the full extent of the outbreak.

Overall, more than 517 people are known to have been hospitalized this summer with the parasite, which causes watery diarrhea and severe stomach cramps that can last for several weeks.

The first two deaths in the outbreak were reported in Michigan on Monday. The parasite is not usually deadly, but it can lead to severe dehydration, which can be fatal in older adults or people with compromised immune systems.

Cyclospora season in the US typically runs between the beginning of May and the end of August.

Katelyn Jetelina, assistant professor adjunct of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, wrote in her public health newsletter, Your Local Epidemiologist, on August 4 that the share of tests coming back positive is "in a nosedive, which is a great sign."

"It looks like things are slowing down," Jetelina said, though she added the caveat that "the true number of cases and direction remain nearly impossible to know given our fragmented data infrastructure in the US."

It's possible that the US has had several outbreaks running at once, including one suspected to be caused by cilantro in New York.

On July 17, Taylor Farms voluntarily recalled iceberg lettuce from the US that was sourced from central Mexico, as shown below.

Taylor Farms told shoppers who had bought iceberg lettuce distributed June 29th through July 16th in the following states to throw it out: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

However, other foods can't be ruled out.

(As Business Insider's Dan DeFrancesco explained in an edition of the Business Insider Today newsletter, the situation is a little more complex than we get into here.)

Jetelina said iceberg lettuce was recalled in 27 states "due to a combination of the complexity of food distribution networks and continued uncertainty around where people are most impacted."

Already, there are signs that this outbreak is past its peak, with new case numbers dwindling.

"Either the contaminated food works its way out of circulation, or it takes a few weeks, the temperatures get cool, and the parasites no longer mature on produce," Jetelina said.

Why states and the CDC have different case counts

There are a number of potential sources of confusion in this outbreak, including differing state and federal case counts, and how the FDA and Taylor Farms have shared information on the suspected source of infections.

As of July 21, at least 11,276 cases of cyclosporiasis had been reported across 46 states in 2026, according to Georgetown University's Health Security Operations Center, which is tracking state and national-level data. Some state health departments are tallying cases as part of the ongoing outbreak, while others include all cases reported in 2026 in their figures.

How to avoid cyclospora

Cyclospora spreads through contaminated food and water, and symptoms, including watery diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps, can take up to two weeks to show, making it difficult to trace back to a definitive source. The parasite is resistant to disinfectants, and washing food doesn't guarantee its removal, as it is particularly good at sticking to produce.

Health authorities say in order to definitively kill the parasite, consumers should cook foods to at least 158 degrees Fahrenheit. Buying whole heads of lettuce and peeling back the outer layer of leaves rather than choosing pre-washed, bagged, or pre-mixed salads is also a good move, if you are more risk-tolerant.

• US presidents have boarded the Marine One helicopter from the White House South Lawn for decades.
• President Donald Trump said the White House is getting a granite helipad funded by Lockheed Martin.
• Trump said the newer Marine One helicopters are more powerful and can scorch the lawn.

The White House is getting a permanent helipad installed on the South Lawn.

President Donald Trump confirmed to reporters in the Oval Office on July 6 that the White House is getting a granite helipad paid for by Sikorsky Aircraft — a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin — to support the new fleet of helicopters used as Marine One.

A Lockheed Martin spokesperson confirmed the contribution and told Business Insider it was being made to the National Park Service.

Trump said the permanent fixture will help protect the South Lawn's grass.

The newer helicopters from Sikorsky are about "two and a half times more powerful than the old ones," Trump said.

"When you land on the grass, it's not that the grass gets discolored. It gets ripped out," he said.

Trump told reporters that the helipad will bear the White House seal and that Sikorsky will pay for the project. The president said the helipad will cost between $5 million and $6 million.

"Sikorsky is paying for it. You know why? Because they didn't tell us how powerful these helicopters were," Trump said. "And they felt a little bit guilty."

A Sikorsky spokesperson said that the new model for presidential transport — the VH-92A Patriot — delivers "increased performance and reduced maintenance costs and time over the current fleet of presidential helicopters."

Spokespeople for Sikorsky and Lockheed did not say how much the project would cost or how long construction would take.

A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Recent photos show the White House helipad project is still under construction. Trump ordered contractors to redo portions of the work, and crews have dismantled parts of the site, including a nearly 100-foot-wide granite presidential seal, as they rework the landing pad, the Washington Post reported.

While construction continues, Marine One is temporarily using the Ellipse, the park south of the White House, as its landing zone.

Below are photos tracing the history of presidential helicopter landings at the White House and the construction of the new helipad.

Aviation pioneer James Ray landed an autogyro, an aircraft with a spinning rotor on top, on the White House South Lawn for the first time in 1931.

James Ray parked a Pitcairn-Cierva PCA-2 autogyro on the South Lawn as part of an award ceremony, according to the National Air and Space Museum. It was the first recorded instance of a rotary-wing aircraft landing on the lawn.

In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first US president to use helicopter transport from the White House lawn.

The first documented instance of Eisenhower boarding a helicopter from the South Lawn was on July 12, 1957, according to The History Channel.

The Marine Corps website states that helicopter transport helped turn a two-hour motorcade into a seven-minute helicopter ride.

Helicopter transport for the US president to and from the White House South Lawn later became standard operating procedure for short-distance travel.

The White House helicopter transport was named Marine One, a call sign for a Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president.

The fleet is operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One, known as HMX-1 or the Nighthawks.

Marine One has become one of the most visible symbols of presidential travel, next to Air Force One.

Instead of a permanent helipad, White House personnel would place large landing disks on the South Lawn for Marine One helicopters.

The landing targets provide the aircraft with a stable contact point and could reduce turf damage.

The South Lawn is no match for the new Sikorsky aircraft.

In 2024, Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky formally delivered the VH-92A helicopter to the US Marine Corps to replace the older fleet of aircraft used for Marine One.

The government spent $5 billion on the new fleet.

Bloomberg previously reported in 2024 that issues with the VH-92A scorching the South Lawn have delayed the aircraft's ability to transport the president.

Trump says construction of the presidential helipad is underway.

Photos show that the grass on the South Lawn has been removed to make way for the construction of the permanent granite helipad.

"For 50 years, we've been landing helicopters on grass," Trump told reporters in July. "The grass is wet, soggy."

The helipad design features a 100-foot-wide presidential seal.

A massive granite presidential seal was set to be the centerpiece of Trump's helipad project.

The nearly 100-foot-wide design was taking shape on the South Lawn, intended to be embedded into the helipad surface, marking a highly visible presidential emblem at the heart of the landing zone.

The most eye-catching part of the White House helipad project is already being torn apart.

In early August, contractors were photographed removing the roughly 100-foot-wide granite presidential seal.

According to reporting by the Washington Post, the redesign came after Trump questioned the helipad's appearance and the South Lawn's slope.

It's unclear how much the revisions will add to the project's price tag.

Trump has repurposed the Ellipse until the helipad construction is completed

While construction continues on the White House's new helipad, Trump has temporarily shifted Marine One operations to the Ellipse, a park south of the White House.

The Washington Post reported that Trump has pushed to have the helipad finished before China's leader, Xi Jinping, is expected to visit later in September.

The helipad is only one of the construction projects the White House is going through under Trump 2.0.

Other renovation projects pursued under the second Trump administration include the demolition of the East Wing to make room for a 90,000 square-foot White House ballroom.

The project is estimated to cost $400 million.

The administration also hosted a UFC fight at the White House in June, temporarily turning the South Lawn into an arena.

Whether you're restocking your skincare routine or shopping for the latest viral beauty launch, Sephora is one of the first places many shoppers look. The retailer carries a huge selection of makeup, skincare, hair care, fragrance, and beauty tools from top brands like Rare Beauty, Sol de Janeiro, Laneige, Summer Fridays, and Dyson. Before you place an order, it's worth checking for a Sephora promo code to see if you can save at checkout.

Sephora has also earned a spot in many of our beauty recommendations thanks to its wide selection of editor-tested products. From bestselling moisturizers and makeup staples to premium hair tools and fragrances, it's a reliable destination for both everyday favorites and new releases.

While discounts on Sephora's biggest brands may be limited, there are still several ways to cut costs year-round. Beauty Insider perks, gifts with purchase, seasonal sales, and occasional Sephora coupon codes can all help you get more value from your order. We've rounded up the latest Sephora deals and promo codes below to help you save on your next beauty haul.

Today's best Sephora coupons

Previous Sephora promo codes

Are there any other Sephora sales running at the moment?

You can find a full list of current markdowns on the "Sale" page of Sephora's website at any time. As of the time of writing, Sephora is running the following promotions.

• Follow our Instagram page and WhatsApp channel on mobile for more deals, reviews, and shopping guides

How to use Sephora coupon codes

Start by creating or logging in to a Beauty Insider account, then add coupon-eligible items to your basket. On the cart page, you can apply a coupon by pasting the code into the "Promo Code" text box and clicking "Apply." The code will then be applied, or if the code you entered offers multiple free gifts, you'll first be prompted to make your selection. Once the coupon is added, continue to checkout to enter your shipping and billing information.

Can you stack Sephora promo codes?

Sephora does not allow coupons to be stacked together. Only one promo code may be applied per order.

Sephora coupon frequently asked questions

Do I need to join the Beauty Insider program to use Sephora promo codes?

Most Sephora coupons are only valid for Beauty Insider members, so they cannot be used on guest orders. That said, the program is free to join and comes with many perks, including free shipping on all orders, a free birthday gift each year, access to exclusive deals, and more. Learn more and sign up on Sephora's website.

Does Sephora offer free shipping?

Sephora offers free standard shipping on all orders to Beauty Insider members. For orders using guest checkout, Sephora offers free shipping if you spend $50 or more. Learn more about shipping rates and times on Sephora's website.

What is Sephora's return policy?

Sephora allows new or gently used products to be returned for a full refund by mail or in-store within 30 days of the original purchase. Learn more about how to make returns or exchanges on Sephora's website.

Can I use Sephora coupon codes in-store?

Most Sephora promo codes are only eligible for online purchases. However, there may be some exceptions, so be sure to check the specific terms and conditions for the code you want to use.

Score more beauty deals with our roundup of the best Olive & June discount codes.

The dog days of summer are coming to a close, but above-average temperatures may very well persist into September. Until the numbers drop, we can help keep our dogs comfortable and safe with fresh water, cool indoor spaces, and one of my favorite accessories, a dog cooling mat. Many dogs seek out cool surfaces to get relief from the heat, and one of the best dog cooling mats or pads can offer just what they're looking for.

Cooling mats come in several designs, including ice or water-filled mats and pressure-activated gel pads. Over the last two years, we've tested 21 cooling pads, crate mats, and blankets. I tested more than a dozen with my senior beagle, Homer, and freelance reporter Taylor Tobin tested nine with her pit bull mix, Marty McFly. Both of our dogs are ideal testers, since they naturally stretch out on cooler surfaces like tile and hardwood floors when temperatures spike.

Read more about how Insider Reviews tests and evaluates pet products.

Our top picks for the best dog cooling mats and pads

Best overall: Cooler Dog Hydro Cooling Mat - See at Amazon

Best budget: Green Pet Shop Cool Pet Pad - See at Chewy

Best for large dogs: Arf Pets Self-Cooling Gel Pad - See at Chewy

Best for crates: EveryYay Cool Orthopedic Dog Crate Mat - See at Amazon

Best water mat: K&H Pet Products Cool Bed III - See at Chewy

Best for travel: Bedsure Cooling Mat - See at Amazon

Best for the sofa: Lesure Premium Cooling Blanket - See at Amazon

Best overall

Best for: Home use in both shaded and sunny areas, hotter than usual temperatures

Skip this if: You don't have access to a freezer since you'll need to freeze the ice sheet inserts

The Cooler Dog Hydro Cooling Mat can be used indoors or outside and cools longer than any other mat we tested. I left the mat in a 95-degree sunroom, where it stayed cold for 7 hours, far outperforming other cooling mats. In more moderate temperatures, Sabatini's senior pup, Homer, sunbathed on the mat and took a long snooze.

The Hydro Cooling Mat consists of four parts: a machine-washable cover with three interior pockets. The top pocket holds a pre-filled water cushion, the middle pocket holds the included ice sheet, and the bottom pocket houses a heat-repelling, insulated layer. The cover and interior pockets are outfitted with durable velcro closures so you can easily remove the components before washing the mat.

This mat differs from other options in that it only comes in two sizes: mini (18 inches long, 10.5 inches wide, 1.25 inches thick) and regular (23.5 inches long, 18 inches wide, 2 inches thick). If you have a larger dog, you can purchase multiple regular-sized mats and attach them together with snaps along the edges. However, that means you'll pay significantly more. In fact, this is the priciest mat I recommend, at $50 for the regular size.

Two mats were just the right size for Homer, my 45-pound beagle who is built more like a basset hound. The half-inch-thick ice sheets were easy to fold up and place in a top freezer, and I also liked that the covers were easy to clean in the washer and air-dry. Some condensation may form on the cover when it's particularly hot, so make sure it's completely dry before storing it.

This mat also replaces my top pick for the best outdoor mat: the K&H Pet Products Cool Bed III. Once filled with cold water, the Cool Bed III wicks heat away from your dog and maintains a surface temperature similar to the air temperature. It's still a great option, especially if you have a smaller budget or the Hydro Cooling Mat is out of stock.

Best budget

The Green Pet Shop Cool Pet Pad earned high points in all of our tests for excellent indoor cooling. Its cooling powers lie in the pressure-activated gel, which absorbs a dog's body heat for up to three hours.

This mat is a longtime favorite of my pup Homer, and he stretches out on it year-round. As soon as freelance reporter Taylor Tobin unpacked it, her pup Marty didn't hesitate to flop down on it in his preferred resting position: a full-bodied splay. Dogs who prefer a bit of padding may also like the cushioning of the thin, solid gel-filled interior.

In my testing, I measured only 2.8 degrees of heat transfer, considerably less than I observed with most mats. The manufacturer says that after three hours of continuous use, you'll need to "recharge" it by setting it aside for 20 minutes to let the gel regain its cooling properties.

The mat's nylon exterior is super durable, and my dog's nails never left any scratches behind. It's easy to wipe clean, but oily smudges like those from peanut butter may leave faint stains. If that's a concern, machine-washable covers in several pastel colors are sold separately. The manufacturer says they don't impact cooling performance, but I haven't tested one yet.

While the Cool Pet Pad comes in a wide range of sizes, there isn't an option for giant breed dogs.

Read our full review of the Green Pet Shop Cool Pet Pad.

Best for large dogs

If you have a extra-large breed dog or two pups who like to share, the Green Pet Shop Cool Pet Pad might not be big enough for them, or the Hydro Cooling mat might bust your budget. If that's the case, consider the 33-inch-by-55-inch Arf Pets Self-Cooling Gel Pad.

This pad cools just as well as the Green Pet Shop mat and costs less. However, it provides less cushioning and has a more slippery surface, which isn't ideal for dogs prone to instability. Still, it's an excellent choice for many extra-large pups and multi-dog households.

Marty, weighing 55 pounds, had plenty of room to stretch out on this mat. In fact, two Martys could easily fit on it, and Tobin sat on it, too. Although it's a firmer surface than the Cool Pet Pad, she found it comfortable.

The mat stayed in place when Marty ran across it, but his longer nails did slide a bit. So, if your dog is prone to sliding and instability, this isn't a good option for them.

That said, Tobin liked how easy it was to wipe the smooth material clean, and its darker color hides stains well.

Best for crates

Most cooling mats are thin and not ideal for long snoozes in a crate. A thick cooling crate pad with added foam support, however, ups the comfort quotient for pups. The EveryYay mat has a 3-inch egg-crate foam core that molds to a dog's body for extra comfort. Its cover is a cool, silky, mesh-like fabric that provides refreshing relief on hot days. The mat comes in several sizes to fit most dog crates.

Marty tends to be picky about beds, but it took very little persuasion to get him to lie down on the mat and sink into the cushy egg-crate foam. After he lay on it for 30 minutes, the bed's surface temperature increased by 4 degrees. While there was some heat transfer, it remained well below his body temperature. I sat on the bed for 20 minutes and could feel the cooling sensation the entire time.

It's durable and waterproof, and the ability to toss the removable cover in the washer and dryer is a big bonus. If you have an older or arthritic dog who could use a little more support, the Bedsure Cooling Dog Bed comes in a few crate-compatible sizes and is made of the same egg-crate foam, but the channeled cover provides more cushion. I was really impressed by the extra comfort provided by the polyester-filled quilted cover, and it cools just as well as the EveryYay mat.

Best water mat

If your dog loves the great outdoors, the K&H Pet Products Cool Bed III is perfect for chilling outside. The water-filled bed wicks heat away from your dog while maintaining a surface temperature close to the surrounding environment.

In Tobin's testing, its surface temperature rose by only 3.6 degrees after Marty lay on it for half an hour indoors. The directions say to place it in the shade, but I also set it out on a sunny deck where it worked surprisingly well. Outdoors on my deck, sans dog, the surface temperature rose by 3 degrees over an hour.

With a thin foam insert and adjustable firmness (just add more water), the bed has a squishy, pillowy feel. Marty liked to burrow his nose into it. Dogs who like a firmer bed might hesitate, though. The sturdy cover is puncture-resistant, but you should still place it on a smooth surface free of sharp debris.

Filling the bed with water takes several minutes, and it's awkward to move after that. The good news is that you don't have to empty it between uses. If you need to recharge it, leave it inside an air-conditioned space until it cools down. Be sure to read the manufacturer's directions for preventing the foam insert from bunching up when moving it.

Best for travel

The best cooling mat for travel is actually a lightweight, heat-absorbing mat with a nonslip bottom. While it won't cool as effectively as an ice, gel, or water-filled pad, the Bedsure Dog Cooling Mat has a luxurious, silky cover that is very cool to the touch.

Over two weeks of testing, Homer rotated between this mat and the Green Pet Shop Cool Pet Pad. I personally sat on the mat for 10 minutes and found the temperature increased from 75.8 degrees to 84.4 degrees during that time. That said, it returned to room temperature in just five minutes.

The mat is easy to fold, roll, and tuck into small spaces. Should you take your dog on a road trip and find yourself dealing with a jam-packed trunk, it won't take up any valuable vehicular real estate. You can also lay the smaller-sized mats across the back seat or inside a dog car seat. Even more, the mat comes in five sizes that are compatible with many dog crates.

Although the material feels quite delicate, I used a fork to simulate a dog's nails, and the fabric did not snag. It also came out of the washing machine in great shape and air-dried within a few hours.

Best for sofas

If your pup loves to lounge with you on the sofa or in bed, a regular cooling mat won't cut it. Gel mats perform best on hard floors, and our travel pick doesn't cover as much area as the heat-wicking Lesure Pet Cooling Blanket, which comes in sizes up to a twin bed.

Tobin tested it with Marty and was impressed by the fabric's cool feel, its appealing silkiness, and its cute quilted cloud pattern. Marty enjoys being rolled into a blanket burrito, so this blanket was an easy sell. He stayed in his blanket cocoon for a full 30 minutes.

The material's starting temperature was 77.9 degrees, and after, it measured 80.8 degrees. Tobin then draped it over her lap. While some of Marty's residual body heat carried over and diminished the cooling sensation, she still enjoyed the blanket's breathability and the softness of the fabric.

Machine-washing the blanket had no effect on its texture or durability. However, some reviewers say that repeated washes can take a toll on the material quality over time. It's labeled air or line-dry only, but its light weight helps it dry within a few hours.

Our top picks compared

What to look for in the best dog cooling mats

There are a few key things to consider when shopping for a cooling mat, including your dog's size, where you plan to use it, and what materials are best for your specific needs. 

Size: Dr. Sam Meisler, veterinarian and founder of PetWell Clinic, says size is your first priority. You'll want to choose a mat that lets your dog rest its entire body on it so it doesn't hang over the sides. In terms of length and width, leave a bit of extra space so that your dog can remain cool even if it shifts around on the mat. 

Use: My experts say that gel mats, water mats, and cooling blankets all achieve the same goal of wicking heat away from the body, but different types of mats can work better in different contexts. Gel mats are recommended for indoor use only, as extended exposure to outdoor conditions may compromise the gel's effectiveness. Water mats work well both indoors and outdoors. While they require some setup, they don't need recharging and can be used continuously. Blankets are lightweight, portable, and easier to introduce to dogs who don't gravitate toward mats. 

Materials: Meisler and Dr. Karen Shaw Becker, a veterinarian and author of The Forever Dog Life, say that anyone considering a gel mat must ensure it's labeled nontoxic. "Beds that contain gel pose a risk because they're made with a variety of different chemicals that aren't meant for consumption," Becker says. While no dog should ingest large quantities of nontoxic gel, that designation from a reputable, well-known brand indicates that the gel won't present major health concerns if a small amount is consumed. As for the cover materials, I found nylon, vinyl, and polyethylene durable, comfortable, and cool. 

Warranty: K&H Pet Products and Green Pet Shop offer limited warranties, while other brands provide none. Whether a warranty is worth narrowing your pool of potential mats depends on how much you value the peace of mind it offers.

How we tested dog cooling mats

I evaluated every dog cooling mat in this guide with Homer, a 45-pound beagle with a build similar to a basset hound. Freelance reporter Taylor Tobin tried all but my top pick with her trusty accomplice Marty McFly, a 55-pound pit bull mix. We conducted the following tests to compare how each mat measured up to the competition.

Cooling abilities: We first placed our hands on each mat to gauge its coolness, then measured the surface temperature with an infrared thermometer. Next, Taylor had Marty lie on the mat for 30 minutes. Afterward, she measured the temperature again to see whether the mat retained heat from our bodies. For my heat retention tests, I first placed a heating pad on each mat for half an hour, then removed it and recorded the mat's surface temperature at 1, 3, and 5 minutes after removal.

Safety of materials: Before testing, we checked each mat to ensure its materials were labeled nontoxic. Exterior materials like nylon, vinyl, and polyethylene are strong enough to withstand nail scraping and minor chewing. They're also nontoxic unless they're consumed in large quantities.

Comfort: After our dogs settled onto each mat, we assessed how comfortable they seemed. We observed whether they were happy to rest there for an extended time or immediately got back up. We also sat on each mat to evaluate its softness, its moldability to the body, how easy it was to get on and off, and its ability to accommodate bodies in different positions, such as seated and lying down.

Durability: After our dogs spent time on each mat, we examined the materials for wear and tear. We also ran a fork over the surface of each mat 20 times to see if the materials tore or incurred any damage.

Skid resistance: Tobin put Marty on a leash and ran him across each mat 10 times as it was laid on a laminate floor. She observed whether the mats slid on the ground and whether Marty's feet slipped on them.

Ease of cleaning: We smeared a tablespoon of peanut butter and a tablespoon of mud onto each mat, then let them sit for 24 hours before cleaning them according to the manufacturer's instructions. We recorded how long the process took, whether we needed any special equipment or supplies, the overall ease of the experience, and how effectively it removed the mud and peanut butter, along with any organic materials left behind after testing, such as drool and hair.

Meet the expert behind this guide

Lisa Sabatini, senior pets editor: I first bought a cooling mat for one of my dogs in 2018. After adopting Homer and becoming keenly aware of his tendency to overheat, I knew I needed to get another mat and chose the well-reviewed Green Pet Shop Cool Pet Pad. It became one of Homer's go-to resting spots, including during winter months when the radiator gives off too much heat. I've since tested every pick in this guide with Homer, among many other mats.

Dog cooling mats FAQs

Do cooling mats actually work for dogs?

The short answer is yes, but even the best dog cooling mats have their limitations. "By using gel, water, and/or special fabrics, the mats absorb heat from a dog's body, which makes them feel cooler," Meisler says. There are, however, a few caveats that could reduce a cooling mat's effectiveness. Becker says a mat might be a waste of money if your dog doesn't typically use mats or beds. It's also important to remember that a cooling mat is intended to provide added comfort. Proper hydration and a cool environment are the most important things to provide your dog. "If the ambient temperature is excessive, a cooling mat alone is not enough to prevent heat stroke or overheating," says Becker.

Are cooling mats safe for dogs? 

Meisler and Becker agree that cooling mats are generally safe for dogs, but it's important to do your research before ordering a mat. Above all else, Becker says to pay attention to the quality of a mat's construction and the types of materials and coatings. Look for brands that use puncture-resistant materials like nylon, and always choose materials labeled as nontoxic. Most importantly, closely supervise your dog when introducing new items. "If you have a dog that tends to chew or eat their toys and/or bedding, all mats could be a choking or GI obstruction risk," Becker says. If you know your dog is inclined to chew on things, never leave them alone with a cooling mat.

Can dogs sleep on cooling mats overnight? 

Meisler says that while pets can sleep on a cooling mat, it doesn't mean they should. While nothing about the mats themselves makes them unsafe for sleeping, Meisler encourages people to pay attention to their dog's preferences, as they have keen instincts for what makes them feel comfortable and happy. "Just like humans, some dogs may prefer a cooler surface for shorter periods versus a prolonged amount of time," he says. "While prolonged use might be safe, it isn't always advisable or necessary. Dogs regulate their body temperature through various means. It is essential they have access to normal temperatures to prevent muscle stiffness or other issues." Becker says many cooling mats, especially gel-filled ones, have limits on how long they can sustain their cooling properties before needing to be recharged. "Don't assume that the mat will continue to cool your pup past about 4 hours, and never rely on any mat or bed to prevent overheating or heat stroke," she says. Providing your dog with alternative places to rest, like one of the best orthopedic dog beds, is a good idea.

How should cooling mats be stored for maximum longevity?

Always follow a manufacturer's instructions for storing a mat. In general, avoid storing cooling mats in direct sunlight, in high-temperature areas, or in places where they could get wet.

Chewy has become a go-to destination for pet owners looking to stock up on everything from food and treats to toys, grooming supplies, medications, and more. The retailer carries thousands of products for dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles, and small pets, making it easy to order everyday essentials in one place. If you're placing an order, using a Chewy promo code is one of the easiest ways to lower your total at checkout.

Beyond pet supplies, Chewy also offers a growing lineup of healthcare services, including prescription medications through its online pharmacy, telehealth appointments with licensed veterinarians, and Autoship subscriptions that can save you money on recurring deliveries of eligible products.

Chewy regularly updates its lineup of sitewide sales, limited-time promotions, and brand-specific discounts throughout the year. We've gathered the latest Chewy coupon codes and deals below so you can save on pet food, treats, prescriptions, and other essentials before you shop.

Today's best Chewy promo codes

Today's best Chewy pharmacy promo codes

Previous Chewy promo codes

Are there any other Chewy sales running at the moment?

Check out the full list of markdowns and ongoing deals, including the option to shop deals by pet, on Chewy's Today's Deals page. At the time of writing, you can shop for the following deals.

Use Chewy promo codes on these items

If you purchase items we recommend in our pet guides on Chewy's site, you can easily spend enough to earn the free $20 gift card with the code WELCOME. Purchasing one of our top cat treats, the Inaba Churu Chicken Variety, for $32.96, and the ChomChom Pet Hair Remover, one of our favorite pet hair removers we've reviewed, for $24.99, puts the total price of your order over the $49 minimum to use the promo code.

• Follow us on Instagram and WhatsApp for more deals and buying guides

How to use Chewy promo codes

Start by adding coupon-eligible items to your cart. Once on the "Shopping Cart" page, you should see a list of applicable promo codes in the "Available Savings" dropdown box. Apply any of the Chewy promo codes by clicking "Apply," and you should see a checkmark to let you know that the coupon will be applied. From there, continue to checkout to enter your shipping and billing information.

Can you stack Chewy promo codes?

Chewy does allow you to stack promo codes. If multiple promotions apply to your purchase, they will be listed in your cart's "Available Savings" dropdown box. However, certain promotions may not be eligible for stacking, so be sure to check the terms and conditions.

Chewy promo code frequently asked questions

Does Chewy offer discounts for students, teachers, and the military?

As of the time of writing, Chewy does not offer special discounts for students, teachers, or members of the military, so your best bet is to take advantage of their other coupons and deals.

If you're a student or teacher, check out our roundups of the best student discounts and best teacher discounts for more ways to save on your favorite brands.

Can I get pet insurance through Chewy?

Yes, Chewy does offer insurance. Chewy's Care Plus insurance offers its customers four plans at varying price points, including everyday wellness coverage and accident and illness coverage.

Read our full Chewy pet insurance review for more information on plans and pricing.

Does Chewy offer free shipping?

Chewy offers customers free shipping on all orders over $49. For all other orders, shipping costs a flat fee of $4.95 per order.

What is Chewy's return policy?

Chewy allows you to return items for a full refund within 365 days of your original purchase. This policy does not apply to prescription medications. That said, if you received damaged or incorrect medication, Chewy will help you exchange it or provide a refund on a case-by-case basis.

Do I need a vet prescription to get pharmacy products from Chewy?

Yes, you must have a prescription from a licensed vet to order medication from Chewy. Chewy will contact your vet by phone or fax for their authorization before fulfilling your order. This process can take around three business days, so consider the timing when deciding how soon to order.

What are the benefits of choosing Chewy's autoship option?

In addition to not having to remember to reorder pet supplies and prescriptions, shoppers who use autoship can save an extra 5% on select brands for all future autoship orders. There's no additional fee for choosing the autoship option, so it may be worth it if you frequently need to order the same food, medication, or supplies.

Still shopping? Check out our roundup of the best dog subscription boxes.

• Big-name hedge funds were mostly down in July.
• The meltdown of Leopold Aschenbrenner's fund highlighted a chaotic month in markets.
• The S&P 500 index also lost money in July, finishing last month down 0.1%.

A busy July put many big-name hedge funds in the red to start the third quarter.

Izzy Englander's Millennium lost 2.1% last month, a person close to the New York-based manager told Business Insider, pulling the firm's 2026 returns to 8.2%. Steve Cohen's Point72 was down 3.3% in July, a person close to the firm told Business Insider. The losses brought its year-to-date returns to 10.9%.

Asia-based multimanagers Dymon Asia and Pinpoint fell 6.5% and 9%, respectively, last month as stock market jitters in Korea and Japanese economic woes wreaked havoc on the continent's markets. People familiar with the two funds told Business Insider that July's losses left Dymon and Pinpoint with gains of 7.5% and 6.3%, respectively, in 2026.

There was no summer slowdown last month for these funds' legions of traders. Global equity markets struggled thanks to artificial intelligence skepticism, the conflict in Iran that has thrown energy markets into disarray continued, and the new Federal Reserve chairman presided over his first meeting.

But the biggest news was undoubtedly the end-of-the-month meltdown of Situational Awareness, a onetime $45 billion equity investor focused on AI companies. Run by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, the fund lost 67% in July, and margin calls forced the young manager to find a buyer for his public equity book to repay its lenders.

Citadel's purchase of the bulk of the portfolio led to a market rebound, potentially helping salvage many equity-heavy firms' July. The S&P 500 index was down only 0.1% in July, despite news of Citadel's purchase, which sent tech stocks soaring.

The funds mentioned declined to comment.

This story was originally published on August 4 at 9:08 a.m. New figures are added to the table below as they are learned.

• Several stockpicking hedge funds lost money in July.
• Alex Sacerdote's Whale Rock Capital was down more than 20% on the month in its flagship fund.
• Tech stocks somewhat stabilized after Citadel bought Situational Awareness's equity portfolio.

While Leopold Aschenbrenner's 67% loss last month might have had the industry's most severe drawdown in July, plenty of stockpickers focused on cutting-edge companies also suffered.

Alex Sacerdote's Whale Rock Capital was down 21.7% in its flagship fund in July, a person close to the Boston-based manager told Business Insider. The firm had been riding high coming into the month, and July's losses put the fund's gains at 35.1% for the year. That's a sharp decline from the 72.5% return it had through June.

The manager, which turned 20 years old this year, was down 18.8% in its long-only fund last month, the person said. That fund is still up 36.8% in 2026.

July was a tough month for AI and semiconductor stocks. Names like SanDisk, Bloom Energy, and CoreWeave tanked in mid-July amid jitters in Asian markets. Mega-cap stocks like Google and Meta also faced minor sell-offs as investors worry about continued spending on AI.

The $19 billion firm added to its stakes in SanDisk and Bloom Energy in the first quarter, according to regulatory filings.

A spokesperson for Whale Rock declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Philippe Laffont's Coatue Management lost 8.3% in July, paring back gains the firm had made on the year. The tech-focused firm's 2026 gains now stand at 14.3%.

Marshall Wace's long-short fund Eureka, meanwhile, was down 6.9% in July, putting its year-to-date gains at 11.6%.

The firms' results may have been even worse if Citadel had not purchased the bulk of Aschenbrenner's public equity portfolio. Situational Awareness, Aschenbrenner's young fund, had juiced bets on artificial-intelligence-linked companies with borrowed money from bank partners.

The sell-off in many AI stocks forced Aschenbrenner to find a buyer to meet his lenders' margin calls. After news of Citadel's purchase circulated throughout the investment industry, many AI stocks rallied, though not enough to erase the losses from the previous weeks.

SpaceX delivered its first earnings report since going public in June, arriving at a sensitive time for the stock, which has tumbled 15% from the $135 offering price.

SpaceX shares dropped 7% after hours following earnings, which revealed better-than-expected revenue but higher-than-expected AI capex. While overall capex came in slightly below analysts' estimates, AI-related investments totaled $15.8 billion for the quarter, compared with Wall Street's $13.09 billion estimate.

Quarterly revenue came in at $7.8 billion, compared to Wall Street's estimate of $6.81 billion. The company has yet to turn a profit, reporting a net loss of $541 million for the period. Wall Street wasn't expecting a surprise profit.

On a follow-up call with analysts, CEO Elon Musk said SpaceX was expected to hit a $100 billion annualized revenue run rate by the end of the year, and had moved up its internal projection for crossing $1 trillion in overall revenue from 2031 to 2030.

Starlink, its satellite internet business and main moneymaker, reported fewer-than-expected subscribers, reaching 12 million compared to analysts' estimate of 12.19 million.

The report comes two days before a lockup expiration is set to significantly increase the public float, or the amount of stock available to trade. On August 6, insiders and early investors will be allowed to sell nearly a billion shares into the market, or about $106.4 billion worth of stock based on Monday's closing price.

Scroll on for the play-by-play of SpaceX's earnings call with analysts:

That's a wrap! SpaceX's analyst call wraps as stock trades down over 7% after hours.

See you next quarter!

Musk and Shotwell give a 'hint' on the future

Shotwell says SpaceX is deploying technology that could put a "cellular base station on basically the gear that holds the Starlink broadband dish," instead of deploying ground-based cellular systems. That, she says, could save SpaceX a lot of CapEx.

Musk agreed that this was "quite an important point."

Musk dodges question about Cursor acquisition

One analyst asks about the combined work with Cursor. Musk avoided answering, saying he doesn't want to be "jumping the gun" with regulators before the acquisition closes.

"We'll probably make some announcement or discussion of that outside the earnings call," he said.

Musk estimates 10% of SpaceX's compute will feed Grok

The percentage of compute for Grok training will decrease over time, Musk says. He estimates about 10% will go to the company's in-house model. More of that compute will be rented to others, Musk says.

SpaceX sees blood in the mobile water

Shotwell says SpaceX is looking to conquer Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile customers, a market, she says, is worth $600 billion a year.

"I anticipate us to be able to acquire quite a few of their customers," she says.

Musk keeps pushing the goals bar higher

Something Musk likes to do during earnings calls and is doing now is to continue to push the bar of SpaceX's targets. (This is the kind of thing SpaceX employees surely love to hear.)

It's not 10 GW of targeted nameplate compute. It's 20 GW. It's not $100B ARR, but possibly higher. "I think it may be higher than that," Musk says, adding that the $100 billion ARR is "if we did nothing."

Musk says memory is the 'limiting factor'

What's the limiting factor in AI development? Musk points to memory. Memory output is increasing by around 20% a year, he says. "Ask yourself: is the demand increasing by 20% a year? No, the demand is increasing by 200% a year, maybe higher."

The price of memory will increase, Musk says, calling it "Economics 101."

Musk praises Anthropic

While discussing how far AI has come over the past year, Musk is showing some love for Anthropic, one of Grok's biggest competitors (but also a SpaceX compute customer).

He says Anthropic's rollout of Claude 4.5 should be "considered one of the milestones" in the AI industry.

'Intelligence per watt' is increasing

Musk says that intelligence per watt is "increasing rapidly," leading to smaller models "doing more and more amazing things."

Musk says that some competitors can't help their rockets 'blowing up'

In describing the difficulty of the engineering challenges SpaceX faces, Musk takes a thinly veiled swipe at one of the company's rivals, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

"Let me tell you what rockets desperately want to do every flight, they desperately want to blow themselves into tiny pieces, and then the engineering struggle is to convince the rocket not to blow itself into tiny pieces and actually deliver payload to orbit," he says. "But you'll note that, you know, some of our competitors do, in fact, blow their rockets up."

Musk says the struggles, which were likely a reference to Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket explosion in May, do "not mean they're incapable. In fact, I think our competitors are very smart people, but despite being very smart, the rockets still blow up."

Musk sees a 'flight a day' by next year

Musk says SpaceX expects "the cadence of flights to be increasing rapidly." He predicts a "flight a day, possibly more," by next year.

That's a huge ramp-up compared to the past quarter. SpaceX launched 38 rockets in the past quarter, which measures out to a launch every 2 and a half days.

Musk was worried about the superstition surrounding 13

Musk says that he was "a little worried" about Starship's 13th test flight. "I think of Apollo 13," he says. "Things went wrong on that flight." (This one went "incredibly well," he says.)

Musk says SpaceX's $1 trillion in revenue projection has moved up to 2030

Musk says "internal projections" for reaching $1 trillion in revenue have moved up from 2031 to 2030, with a "non-zero" chance the milestone could occur in 2029.

SpaceX is 'very proud' of its capex spending

SpaceX's CFO says he's "very proud" of how SpaceX has been efficient with its spending. He also predicts that spending levels won't significantly increase in the back half of the year.

"I think you should probably think that the next two quarters are very similar to the current quarter from a capex level perspective," Johnsen says.

Musk knows manufacturing on the moon sounds 'super sci-fi' and 'totally nuts'

Musk says that SpaceX will build factories on the moon, where robots will be helpful. "It sounds super sci-fi right now, but it's going to happen," Musk says.

He plans for a "mass accelerator" on the moon, which he says could scale to 1000x Earth's economy.

Musk says SpaceX expects to receive a lot of Nvidia's GPUs

Musk says that SpaceX's "understanding with Nvidia is that we will receive a very significant percentage of their GPUs next year."

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has repeatedly talked about the pent-up demand for the company's advanced chips, meaning the arrangement could be a nice boost for SpaceXAI in the broader generative AI race.

Data centers — it's not rocket science.

Musk says that SpaceX's hardware know-how is being applied to build AI compute infrastructure.

"We're taking a small amount of expertise that we use for rockets and satellites and applying that to commercial data centers," he says.

SpaceX president says Starlink 'has never lost an enterprise customer'

President Gwynne Shotwell is very optimistic about SpaceX's ability to sell Starlink to even more enterprise customers.

"Enterprise revenue is quite sticky," she says. "We have never lost an enterprise customer. They're quite happy with the Starlink capability that we have right now."

Musk adds that SpaceX is "building up a large enterprise sales team" to go out and tout Starlink's capabilities and show just how much they have advanced.

SpaceX expects $100 billion in ARR by year's end.

The company has already signed $6.7 billion in cloud services revenue in the first few weeks of the third quarter, CFO Bret Johnsen says. Including expected revenue from Cursor, SpaceX says it expects to reach a $100 billion annualized revenue run rate by the end of 2026.

The live Q&A has begun! The first question is about enterprise and government contracts

SpaceX shares are still trading down over 6% after hours as the Q&A with Wall Street analysts begins.

President Gwynne Shotwell says that she is "quite bullish" on government contracts for Starlink. Musk chimes in to say that he expects enterprise revenue to "substantially exceed consumer revenue."

The compute market has 'increasingly favorable economics,' CFO says

Johnsen expects "robust demand" for SpaceX's cloud services business. Each agreement has "increasingly favorable economics," he says, and the company expects the "supply-demand imbalance" to continue.

SpaceX CFO lays out 3 areas of investing focus

Bret Johnsen says capital allocation priorities will focus on three areas: Starship development, next-generation Starlink broadband and mobile constellations, and AI compute infrastructure.

"We plan to continue to invest aggressively in the three areas we believe generate the highest long-term returns," he says.

SpaceX is reaping billions for leasing out its AI compute

SpaceX chief financial officer Bret Johnsen says the "initial ramp" from leasing out AI compute at the company's massive Colossus one and two data centers brought in $1.6 billion.

Johnsen says that SpaceX narrowed its net operating loss on AI to $1.3 billion "and turned adjusted EBITDA positive for the segment in the second quarter at $1.1 billion."

SpaceX touts "durable" government revenue

CFO Bret Johnsen says revenue from government contracts is a "durable source of revenue." SpaceX just reported a 108% increase in enterprise and government revenue.

Up next, SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen

SpaceX's chief financial officer, Bret Johnsen, is speaking now. He starts by talking about SpaceX's finances for each segment.

Token consumption 'tripled' with Grok 4.5

Shotwell says token consumption "tripled" following the July release of Grok 4.5.

Customers are picking connecting flights for Starlink internet, Shotwell says

President Gwynne Shotwell shouts out a new agreement with American Airlines, as well as work with Southwest, Virgin Atlantic, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. The customer feedback has been "outstanding," Shotwell says.

She references some customers who are taking shorter connecting flights instead of going direct, "so that they can ensure that they're on a Starlink-activated flight." SpaceX's airline customers had "never seen this in the business before," she says.

Starlink added 1.7 million subscribers while raising prices.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell says the company's Starlink segment had its " best quarter of new customers to date."

The success comes after SpaceX raised prices for almost all Starlink plans.

Up next, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell

SpaceX's president, Gwynne Shotwell, is speaking now. She starts by talking about how many rocket flights took off during the past quarter.

Starmind AI satellites by next year?

Musk says he anticipates Starmind, SpaceX's AI satellites, to launch as soon as next year.

"This is not some sort of far future, distant thing," he says.

Musk says SpaceX is building "exclusively" on Nvidia chips. Nvidia's stock turns green.

Musk says SpaceX has "decided to build exclusively on Nvidia," because it has "the best architecture." Nvidia, which was trading down less than a percent after hours, turned positive after Musk's remarks.

Musk teases new AI models

Grok 4.6 is coming out "probably next week," Musk says, and Grok 4.7 is three or four weeks out. "We expect the cadence of AI development to improve dramatically," he says.

Grok 5 should be out "before the end of this year," Musk says, and will incorporate "all the data that SpaceX has ever produced."

Musk says don't underestimate Starlink

Musk is hyping up SpaceX's cash cow, saying people are "underestimating Starlink," its internet satellite service. He repeats a prediction he's said before: that it will eventually deliver a majority of the world's internet.

Musk says he welcomes competitors

Elon Musk is saying he wants competitors to start building more satellite constellations. "So we do encourage our competitors to copy us, but it's quite difficult to copy something like Starship," he says.

Elon Musk begins with prepared remarks

He shouts out the company's success with Starship, its internet connectivity efforts, and its AI compute capacity building. "It's difficult to explain to most people just the incredible significance of Starship," Musk says.

"On Flight 14 will be our first flight to fly our version three Starlink satellites, our communication satellites, to operational orbit," Musk says. "We will try to actually catch the first and the second stage of Starlink V3 this year, and we could possibly catch the ship as soon as the next flight."

And we're off! SpaceX's analyst call begins.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, CFO Bret Johnsen, and President Gwynne Shotwell are on the call.

SpaceX loves the government and airlines!

SpaceX says it's making a lot more money from enterprise and government contracts — revenues from those agreements are up 108% from a year earlier and 63% from the first quarter.

The company is highlighting recent agreements with American Airlines, Southwest, Virgin Atlantic, Iberia, and Aer Lingus.

SpaceX's AI capex surpassed Wall Street's estimates

SpaceX spent $15.8 billion on AI-related capital expenditures in Q2, surpassing analysts' estimates of $13.09 billion.

SpaceX's report further illustrates the degree to which the company is ramping up its investment in AI. In Q1, SpaceX spent $7.7 billion on AI capex. The difference is even more staggering when you look at just one year ago. SpaceX said in Q2 2025, when the company was still private, it spent $749 million on AI-related capex.

Overall, SpaceX's capex has swelled from over $2.8 billion in Q2 2025 to $18.3 billion in Q2 2026. AI is far and away the biggest reason for the increase.

SpaceX says Starship V3 hit new milestones in two recent test flights

SpaceX says Starship V3 completed two successful test flights in 90 days — bringing SpaceX closer to its goal of full and rapid reusability.

In May, Flight 12 launched from SpaceX's new Starbase pad and deployed modified Starlink satellites.

In July, after the quarter ended, Flight 13 deployed 20 production V3 Starlink satellites and achieved "the softest ever splashdown of Starship," the company says.

SpaceX stock slides after hours, extending to over 6% as Wall Street digests the report.

The stock had closed up nearly 10% during regular trading.

SpaceX's first post-IPO earnings are out — see the key numbers:

• Revenue: $7.8 billion vs. $6.81 billion estimate
• Capital expenditure: $18.37 billion vs. $18.58 billion estimate
• Net loss: $541 million
• AI segment revenue: $2.561 billion vs. $2.08 billion estimate
• Starlink subscribers: 12 million vs. 12.19 million estimate
• Space segment net sales: $962 million vs. $873.7 million estimate
• Connectivity segment revenue: $4.29 billion vs. $3.88 billion estimate

SpaceX's investor forum gets weird

Retail investors have been a major driver of the success of Musk's companies in the stock market, and last week SpaceX launched a forum for shareholders to submit questions ahead of the company's first earnings call.

The online Q&A — built by SpaceX's AI tool, Grok, and seemingly open to anyone to post — quickly went off the rails.

Serious questions about SpaceX's business competed with memes and posts promoting obscure cryptocoins, and the top-voted question on the forum is about the company's Shiba Inu plushie mascot, Asteroid. Hard to see Musk answering that one.

Elon Musk has been a supporter of open models as China-based companies upend the industry

Open models have upended the AI industry. As Washington considers what, if anything, to do about the China-based competition, Musk has put himself squarely in the camp of preserving access.

Musk was one of the first frontier AI CEOs to signal his support for a pro-open source AI alliance led by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Huang helped organize an open letter, signed by companies such as Microsoft, Meta, and Mistral, that defended the use of open models.

"This has my full support," Musk wrote on X. "Jensen is right."

The letter compared open AI models, in which companies release weights that allow users to download and run the models themselves, to the way developers pushed for open software in the 1980s.

After the letter went viral, several other companies and CEOs signaled their support, including OpenAI and Google.

The advocacy came after Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 model's capabilities impressed many in the industry. Subsequent releases, including those from DeepSeek, have placed greater emphasis on the cost efficiency of open-weight models that operate at a fraction of the cost of proprietary competitors like Anthropic's Claude Opus 5 and OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol.

SpaceX spent just over $10 billion on capex in Q1

AI capex spending remains the talk of Wall Street. Tuesday's earnings report will shed further light on how well SpaceXAI is fulfilling its lofty ambitions. SpaceX previously reported spending $10.1 billion on capex in the first three months of 2026. Of that total, $7.7 billion was devoted to AI.

In its pre-IPO prospectus, SpaceX said that it planned "to prioritize growth and investment to capture significant opportunities in AI applications and compute infrastructure." The company estimated that over 90% of its whopping $28.5 trillion total addressable market would be related to AI.

Starship sticks the landing

Elon Musk's most ambitious science fiction-inspired plans — from orbital data centers to colonizing Mars — hinge on the success of Starship.

The 400-foot-tall reusable megarocket is running several years behind schedule and has not always stuck the landing. However, SpaceX's most recent test marked a key milestone when Starship's upper stage achieved a "soft splashdown" in the Indian Ocean.

The flight didn't go entirely to plan, with the rocket's giant booster stage suffering engine failures during landing, causing a harder splashdown. But the otherwise successful launch suggests SpaceX is inching closer to its goal of routinely carrying commercial cargo — and eventually humans — into orbit and beyond.

Investors brace for lock-up impact

The earnings call comes ahead of a huge test for SpaceX's beleaguered stock price. On Thursday, the first tranche of SpaceX shares will exit the lock-up period designed to prevent employees and investors from selling their shares immediately after the IPO.

Around 912 million shares worth over $100 billion will become available to sell, and analysts have warned that a wave of shares hitting the market could send SpaceX's stock price on a very bumpy ride.

Thursday is the first of several scheduled lock-up expiries for SpaceX's shares over the next year. The largest, which takes place a year after the rocket company went public, will see all of Elon Musk's 6.4 billion shares become available to sell.

Morningstar says to keep an eye on Starlink

Nicholas Owens, an equity analyst at Morningstar, said he'll be watching Starlink's revenue and subscriber growth, as it's SpaceX's only profitable business line at the moment.

"Starlink is currently the earnings engine for the company, and it can partially fund the AI expansion plans," Owens said in a July 30 report.

Owens said he's watching for Starlink's subscriber base to grow by 93% in 2026.

In Q1, Starlink brought in an operating profit of $1.19 billion.

Morgan Stanley says SpaceX stock headed for maximum pressure

Analysts at Morgan Stanley said they expect SpaceX to miss on earnings and post a slightly larger-than-expected loss for the quarter.

The bank pointed to the concept of Max Q, or maximum dynamic pressure, which represents the point of a rocket's launch when pressure on the aircraft reaches a peak.

"We believe Max Q is analogous to what SpaceX shares are experiencing heading into its first reported quarter as a company. The dynamic stress on the stock price from an unprecedented amount unlocked shares following 2Q results," a team led by Adam Jonas wrote.

Short sellers have loaded up on bearish SpaceX bets

Betting against Elon Musk has a history of backfiring, but that hasn't stopped short sellers from piling into SpaceX in recent weeks.

Short interest in SpaceX's stock has increased by around a third since mid-July, according to data from financial intelligence firm S3 Partners, hitting an estimated notional value of $26 billion. Matthew Unterman, S3's managing director, told Business Insider that around 35% of the company's float is now sold short.

So far, it's paying off for the short sellers. S3 estimates that they have booked paper profits of over $8 billion since the IPO, as SpaceX's market cap has collapsed by more than $1 trillion since its peak in June.

Expect an overhang for SpaceX stock until "at least" December, Bernstein says

SpaceX's lockup expiration schedule is "unusually complex," analysts at Bernstein wrote on Monday. The company will unlock insider shares at nine distinct points in time, rather than unlocking most insider shares at a single point 180 days following the IPO.

SpaceX shares will likely face pressure until most lockups expire at the end of the year, the firm added.

"We do not attempt to predict how shares will move as expirations come up in succession into December. But, we have found many investors unwilling to buy SpaceX shares in the interim, based on fundamentals, given the lockup overhang that will exist at least into December," analysts wrote.

SpaceX is another capex story for investors

Jay Wood, chief markets strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, says investors will be focused on the forecast for the coming year and beyond. He said that the most pressing item on investors' minds will likely be capex spending, the central theme of Q2 earnings season.

"In particular, look for guidance on spending for Starship, Starlink, AI infrastructure and other long-term initiatives," he said. "It's known that SpaceX will keep investing, the real question is whether management can convince investors those investments will generate meaningful returns without sacrificing the path to profitability and free cash flow."

Woods added that investors hoping to hear CEO Elon Musk address a potential SpaceX and Tesla merger will likely be disappointed.

Expect lofty projections from Elon Musk during the earnings call: Fundstrat

SpaceX's first-ever earnings report has the potential to turn the narrative around for the stock, assuming that CEO Elon Musk talks up his outlook for the company, Hardika Singh, a strategist on Fundstrat's Market Intelligence team, wrote this week.

"If Tesla's earnings calls are any guide, Chief Executive Elon Musk will likely boast about his grandiose ideas and make aggressive projections," Singh wrote. "If he skips that playbook tomorrow because of the recent bloodbath in tech stocks, then that would be a further hit to sentiment."

Musk will likely avoid giving guidance on SpaceX's profitability, she added. The company reported a net $4.9 billion loss in 2025.

Deutsche Bank optimistic lockup expiry won't hammer the stock

Deutsche analyst Edison Yu rates SpaceX stock as a "Buy" and maintains a bullish $255 price target as the company heads into its first earnings report.

In a note to investors, Yu wrote that his team attributes much of the stock's recent volatility to fears about shares flooding the market as staggered lockup periods expire.

"We are optimistic, following the lock-ups coming off, that the stock can stabilize at some level," Yu wrote. "Moreover,announcing a large government/sovereign AI deal would be viewed positively for the stock."

Wall Street expects Q2 revenue of $6.81 billion

Second quarter

• Revenue estimate $6.81 billion (Bloomberg Consensus)
• AI segment operating loss estimate $2.39 billion
• Net loss attributable to holders estimate $2.11 billion
• Loss per share estimate 24c
• Pro forma loss per share estimate 24c
• Starlink subscribers estimate 12.19 million
• Starlink ARPU estimate $65.60
• Adjusted Ebitda estimate $2 billion
• AI segment adjusted EBITDA Loss estimate $15.5 million
• AI segment total revenue estimate $2.08 billion
• Space segment adjusted EBITDA loss estimate $409.9 million
• Space segment net sales estimate $873.7 million
• Connectivity segment adjusted EBITDA estimate $2.41 billion
• Connectivity segment revenue estimate $3.88 billion
• Total Costs & Expenses estimate $8.52 billion
• Capital expenditure estimate $18.58 billion
• AI segment capital expenditure estimate $13.09 billion
• R&D expenses estimate $4.39 billion
• Cash and cash equivalents estimate $93.78 billion
• Total assets estimate $189.49 billion
  

Year

• Capital expenditure estimate $45.52 billion

Source: Bloomberg

A great pair of silk pajamas can make your whole nighttime routine feel more elevated — but not every set is worth the splurge. After testing silk pajama sets and nightgowns from brands like Eberjey, Quince, Lunya, and Clementine, I found that the best silk pajamas for women aren't just beautiful; they also need to feel comfortable, hold up well, and justify their price.

I narrowed my favorites down based on comfort, fit, fabric quality, washability, and value. The picks below include the silk pajamas I'd actually recommend buying, whether you're looking for a classic set, a machine-washable option, or something more luxurious.

I also learned lots of tips — like how to get rid of wrinkles by putting silk in the dryer for a few minutes or how to remove small oil stains with talcum powder — that helped make the process of caring for silk less daunting. 

For more of our sleepwear coverage, see our articles on the best pajamas, the best nightgowns, the best cooling pajamas, and more.

Editor-favorite silk pajamas

What to look for in silk pajamas

Silk is classified according to two units of measurement: momme and grade. While some brands don't publicize the grade of their silk, others — like Eberjey or Clementine— tout the superior momme and grade of their fabrics.

• Momme: Pronounced "mommy," momme has to do with how thick and tightly woven the silk is. They get this number by calculating the weight in pounds of a standard roll of silk, which is 45-inches by 100 yards. If this roll weighs 15-pounds, then the silk is classified as as 15 momme. Quality tends to go up with momme.
• Grade: This fiber measurement has to do with how pure the fabric is. Most of the silk pajamas on this list are grades 4A, 5A, or 6A. 6A is the highest, with long strands, very few impurities, and a shine that lower grades don't have.

How I tested silk pajamas

• Fabric quality: I considered momme weight and silk grade where brands disclosed those details, along with the overall feel, finish, and construction of the fabric.
• Washability: I laundered each pair according to its care instructions, which usually meant a very delicate machine cycle followed by air drying, to see how manageable each set was to care for in real life.
• Durability: I washed every pair at least twice to evaluate long-term performance and noted how well each set held its shape, sheen, softness, and overall appearance after repeated wear and laundering.
• Sleep comfort: I wore each set after showering, during my skincare routine, in bed, and while lounging at home to judge breathability, ease of movement, waistband comfort, seam feel, and overall comfort for sleeping and relaxing.
• Fit notes: Because I wore them in everyday life, I was able to note which styles felt loose versus tailored, whether longer-hemmed pants were easy to walk around in, and which silhouettes would likely work better for petite or taller shoppers.
• Value: I paid close attention to whether a higher price actually translated to better silk, better comfort, better durability, or easier care — and where it didn't.

The best places to buy silk pajamas

Here's a quick overview of silk from popular retailers before I discuss my favorite specific pieces in detail.

Quince makes sets that are a little over $100, which may sound expensive for regular pajamas, but is incredibly budget-friendly for silk. These make for a great starter set, but the material doesn't compare to specialized silk retailers. The silk is 19 momme, but both our testers and I have issues with the thinness, the fact that the silk is matte rather than shiny, and how the pieces can sometimes warp in the wash. The company does not disclose the grade of silk.

Eberjey sets are made from 16 momme, grade 6A silk. Though it's technically a lower momme than Quince, the fabric feels much better and looks much shinier (perhaps because of the 6A fiber grade). Last winter, I practically lived in the Inez set and washed it over a dozen times. Even after all those washes, the fabric still feels and looks luxurious. Plus, they have lots of cute prints and colors.

Clementine is the brand to choose if you want true luxury. They make rich, high-shine silk with a beautifully fluid feel. The company uses material with a whopping 22 momme weight. The mirror-like sheen comes from the 6A grade fibers, which make the pieces move like water. Expect to spend over $300 for a set, but you can also expect to get exactly what you pay for.

Best overall silk pajamas: Eberjey Inez Washable Silk Sets

Eberjey's silk is beautifully billowy and cool to the touch. It's made of 16 momme, grade 6A silk, which is some of the highest quality around. It may seem expensive, but I've found that it's actually a great value for the price.

I absolutely live in the Inez Washable Silk Short Set. It is so light and soft that it feels like silk is floating on my body. I got the printed version in the blue and white Wedgewood pattern (as an antique enthusiast, this little detail made it even more special).

There are two versions of the Inez set. For winter, I love the long sleeve and long pant version, The fabric is still the same luxurious silk, but it comes in tons of fun prints. As I've tested more silk, I've found that the patterned styles tend to be my favorite because they hide the tiny imperfections that come with loving and living in a set.

Both the long-sleeve and the short sleeve versions are the most comfortable pajamas I own. The waistband on these is perfect — loose enough to sit on my hips without digging and perfect for rolling up comfortably (if you, like me, are petite).

I almost have to force myself to wear anything other than these Eberjey sets. The fit is perfect on me, and the fabric is pure luxury. But like all silk, it takes a little bit of effort to launder and de-wrinkle. However, this set makes it all worth it.

See our full Eberjey pajama review to hear more about our non-silk favorites from the brand.

Best budget silk pajamas: Quince Washable Silk Sets

"The top and bottom from Quince cost about $150 together, which makes it one of the most affordable options on this list. But you do sacrifice some quality for a better price. The silk is 19 momme, which isn't bad, but the brand doesn't report the grade of the fabric.

This was my first set, so I remember being floored by the cooling material and the supreme comfort. But over time, I've found that the material warps very slightly in the wash. It's also a more matte silk when I prefer a shinier material. But I've only noticed these flaws as I've gone further on my silk journey — as a starter set, it was a dream.

I love the breezy wide-leg pants with the side slit and oversized tee—it's the kind of set that works year-round. I also like that the pieces are sold separately, so you can mix sizes, colors, or swap in a button-up shirt, tank, and shorts." — Talia Ergas, freelance writer, Insider Reviews

For more on Quince, see our full Quince clothing review.

Other silk products I've tested from the brand: We also did a Quince washable silk review, where you can get the full breakdown of almost all of Quince's silk pieces. I've also reviewed the Quince silk slip dress, one of their hero pieces.

Best luxury silk pajamas: Clementine Organic Silk Pajama Sets

Clementine's fabric is the highest quality on this list. Their Silk Short Pajama Set is made of 22 momme, grade 6A silk. You can feel the weight of the silk and how thick and shiny it is right off the bat. On a blind feel test, I'm sure I could pick out that this is the most expensive choice on this list.

In addition to the fluid silk, this set has lots of other touches of luxury — most notably the mother-of-pearl buttons. It also comes beautifully packaged in a hefty orange box with a dustbag; I highly recommend keeping the box so that you have a protective place to store the set.

But the true creme de la creme is the brand's Organic Silk Long Pajama Set. At $790, it's the most expensive set on this list. But that price is directly reflected in the quality of the material. The silk is thick and shimmering, and the fit of the pajamas is quite literally a cut above the rest.

The set includes the Organic Silk Long Pajama Shirt, which is oversized enough to wear alone as a sleep shirt in warmer months. And the matching pajama pants have a wide leg cut, cute contrast piping down the sides, and slits at the hem. Both of these pieces are made to be worn outside the house as well as in bed. I could easily see myself styling the pants with a pointed-toe heel and oversized sweater. They are a little long for me because I'm five-foot-two, but I can roll them at the waist.

After washing both sets at least five times each, every piece keeps bouncing back to its original shape and feel. The material looks the same as it did the day I got it, which I can't say about the less expensive picks on this list.

The only thing that could make this Clementine set better is a slightly looser waistband, since I prefer more give in a pajama set.

Other silk products I've tested from the brand: Clementine also makes some of the best silk sleep accessories around. I'm a huge fan of their sleep masks, which are a great way to dip your toe into the luxury silk life without paying for a full pajama set. And every night I sleep on their Atelier Medica Organic Silk Pillowcase, which is infused with ingredients like Hyaluronic acid, peptides, and silver ions. The pillowcase is a dream, and I can absolutely feel a difference in my hair since switching over.

Best with unique pieces: Not Just Pajama Silk Off-Shoulder Dress

If you're looking for prints that are anything but basic, you should check out Not Just Pajama. This elegant silk brand has unique garments that go beyond the typical solid colors, pinstripes, and long sleep sets. Some of my favorite whimsical yet elegant designs include a cream set with a green piped Peter Pan collar and another set with an embroidered dachshund on the chest pocket.

My favorite collection is the Museum of Crush, which features patterns and embroidery inspired by Greco-Roman statues. The nightgown I'm wearing above features an artistic depiction of Venus de Milo. Though it's meant to be worn with the design on the back, I've enjoyed wearing it reversed.

The silk itself is 22 momme and wonderfully shiny. It feels gentle against the skin and billows beautifully. As a real nightgown, the fabric feels amazing to sleep in, but the elastic cuffs are a touch tight. By far my favorite thing to do is to wear the dress as an off-the-shoulder gown and pair it with heels to make it a real outfit.

Other silk products I've tested from the brand: The Puppy Edition Checkered Silk Short Set is another standout. Not Just Pajama creates silk pieces that are anything but basic, and this one is another piece that can be repurposed for wearing as a real outfit.

Best silk pajamas for gifting: Petite Plume Silk Sets

The pajamas from Petite Plume are made of 22 momme silk, which is heavy and high quality — but the brand does not disclose the grade.

Above all, these sets are just cute. The exact pink-striped set I'm wearing above isn't available anymore, but you can still get the same set with a bit of lace. Or if you're in love with the stripes, it's still available in a short-sleeved button-down set.

And the long-sleeved set is just as great. I love it in the polka dots, but it also comes in a chic panther print, solid colors, and seasonal limited-edition patterns. This set slightly more tailored than the other picks on this list, with closer-fitting pants and a shirt that is less billowy than others.

I also love how shiny the Petite Plume silk is. The pieces have a glossy finish

The only issue I have with this set, as with the Clementine set above, is the waistband's tightness. I'm of the opinion that sleep shorts should have loose, thin bands with plenty of give. This one is fitted a little more like a non-pajama bottom.

One of my favorite things about this set is how versatile it is. In the summer, I've worn the top with linen pants and a pearl necklace. The shorts are perfect for pairing with a white bikini after the beach.

Other silk products I've tested from the brand: The Silk Cosette Nightgown is so pretty that I wear it as a dress rather than a nightgown.

Best silk pajamas for sleeping: Lunya Washable Silk Cami Pant Set

I first saw Lunya all over Instagram and knew that I had to try their gorgeous silks. But though the pajamas are stunning, my favorite part about testing this brand was discovering smart details about how the garments are designed for comfortable sleeping. 

The top in the Washable Silk Cami Pant Set has a T-shaped back, which I originally didn't love because it caused a bit of an unflattering droop in the neckline. But once I actually wore the pajamas to bed, I realized how brilliant the T-back is. My arms could flail all they wanted with no restricted shoulder movement.

In the same vein, the pants have a slits on the sides that go up to your knees. This gives your legs a bit of breathing room and also frees up their movement. You can kick and toss all you want when you're under the covers. It is so freeing. 

But the slits on the side are not without fail. I ripped some of the stitches at the top of the slit because the pants were a little too long for me, and I tripped. Again, I'm five-foot-one, so this may not be an issue for you, but I do feel like the pajamas were made for someone taller.

Lunya does not report the grades of their silk, but it feels on par with other high-quality picks. 

Best budget silk nightgown: Etam Silk Slip Dress

Etam's silk nightgown is under $100, making it the most affordable choice on this list. The fabric is classified as 16 momme, which is on par with other picks. However, the company does not report the grade of the silk. 

I love the easy-breeziness of this Etam slip-on dress. It's lightweight, has adjustable straps, and is cute enough to wear as a real dress if you accessorize enough. I found myself reaching for this dress all the time on warmer nights since the fabric and thin straps make it a summer sleeping dream. 

Also, this dress has the most color choices of any pick on this list. You can choose from 10 colorways, including more vibrant hues like bright red.  

It doesn't feel as luxurious as some of the higher-priced sets, but that's to be expected. Also, I felt that this piece held onto wrinkles more than other choices, which might have something to do with the grade of the silk. 

For more of our favorite nightgowns, see our article on the best nightgowns.

Best long-sleeved silk set: LilySilk Silk Pajamas

Some silks with a more matte finish are super delicate and get spots on them from the moisturizer and soap that I use in my skincare routine — but that's never happened to me with this set from LilySilk.

Plus, I love the way the sleek fabric feels when I climb into bed at night. The pants' thin waistband is much more comfortable to sleep in than some of the sets with thicker, more restrictive waists. This thin waistband also makes it easier to roll up slightly, which I needed to do with the pants. 

If you're looking for a great gift, this is a perfect set that's ultra-comfortable and luxurious while still being relatively affordable for the quality of silk.

Tips on caring for silk

I've learned a lot about how to care for silk while doing research for this article. Here are my best tips:

• If you can control how much your washer spins, launder your silk on the lowest setting possible. Better yet, use a no-spin setting so that the fabric doesn't get warped.
• Invest in a lay-flat drying rack and never leave your silk outside to dry (the UV rays could discolor it). 
• Using a steamer is always best, but you can put your silk in the dryer for no more than five minutes on a low-heat fluff cycle if you want to reduce wrinkles quickly and easily. 
• Or you can leave your silk in the bathroom while you're in the shower to help remove wrinkles. 
• If you get any oil-based substance on the silk, first treat the spot with talcum powder to draw out the oil. 

FAQs

Why choose silk pajamas over cotton or flannel?

Silk pajamas feel exceptionally smooth against the skin, which many find more comfortable and luxurious than cotton or flannel. Because silk naturally helps regulate temperature, it can keep you cooler in warm weather and still feel cozy on cooler nights.

What should I look for when buying silk pajamas?

Check the silk quality — mulberry silk is often considered the best for softness and durability. Consider the momme weight (a measure of silk fabric density): a range of around 18 to 22 momme is usually ideal for pajamas. Also, pay attention to stitching and construction — well-made seams and hems tend to last longer and prevent snagging.

What should I avoid when buying silk sleepwear?

Avoid pajamas labeled simply "silk-blend" if you want true silk quality. Be cautious of very thin, low-momme silk — it may feel nice initially but often wears out quickly.

How do I pick the right size and fit?

Silk pajamas should feel relaxed, not tight. Since silk drapes differently than cotton, you might want to size up if you prefer looser, more flowy sleepwear. Take note of the sleeve and pant lengths to ensure they're comfortable for bedtime lounging or sleeping.

• The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale ends August 9, with up to 40% off on fall essentials.
• Score luxury deals up to 60% off during Nordstrom's designer clearance, featuring Celine and Miu Miu.
• Discover daily beauty deals with up to 30% off select products during Nordstrom's final sale days.

Somehow, we've shifted into August, and with that, the final days of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, which ends August 9. Whether you've already been shopping the sale or been holding off, there's always that urge to browse one more time before prices go back up. Best-sellers have been restocked, new items have been added, or you may just want one last look. Alongside the best Nordstrom Anniversary Sale deals, there is a massive designer clearance sale with up to 60% off luxury labels like Celine, Miu Miu, and Jacquemus, and many more — but I will caveat that sizing and stock are very limited.

I spent the last few weeks talking about what's worth buying (and skipping) from the N-sale based on my experience as a former employee, and also tracking the restocks. For the uninitiated, what makes this sale so appealing is two-fold: Nordstrom offers up to 40% off items that never go on sale and gives you a chance to shop the latest fall trends and essentials at discounted prices, which then go back up to regular price. In its final days, here are the best deals still available.

Shop all Nordstrom Anniversary deals.

Reader favorites: the most popular Anniversary sale finds

Our reader favorites echo some of our editors' must-haves. We dug into the data on what you're actually buying during the sale, and the tale it tells is this: You're restocking high-quality basics, emphasizing comfort, and investing in high-value beauty sets and accessible luxury staples you'll use every single day. We've also noticed you picking up our favorite work pants and spending smart with these AirWrap dupes.

Best Nordstrom designer clearance

Shop all designer clearance.

Best women's clothing and shoe deals

Shop all women's Anniversary sale deals.

Best men's clothing and shoe deals

Shop all men's Nordstrom Anniversary Sale deals.

Best beauty and skincare deals

The best beauty savings can be found in exclusive bundles and discounts on hair and body tools. The standout beauty deal we're most excited about: $80 of our top red light therapy mask from Therabody. Nordstrom is also hosting daily beauty deals that last just 24 hours only. The remaining days include:

• August 4: Up to 25% off select fragrances, including Maison Marigela, YSL, Lancome, Marc Jacobs, and more.
• August 5: Save up to 30% on select tools from OMNILUX, Dr. Dennis Gross, DERMAFLASH
• August 6: 25% off Armani
• August 7: 25% of Clinique
• August 8: 25% off MAC
• August 9: Up to 30% off select beauty items from Kiehl's, Elemis, Clarins, and in-store beauty samples

Shop all beauty and skincare exclusives.

Best handbags and accessories deals

If you're in the market for your perfect fall bag or a new work tote, the Nordstrom Sale is the perfect launch pad. For upcoming travels, consider sets from top luggage brands like Samsonite, Tumi, and Travelpro.

Shop all accessories deals.

Best home and kitchen deals

The bedding category is my favorite section to shop during the Anniversary Sale, with special pricing that beats what you often find shopping top brands like Sijo, Parachute, and Boll & Branch directly.

Shop all Nordstrom Anniversary home deals.

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale FAQ: Everything you need to know

What type of discounts can you expect at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale?

The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale uniquely positions itself as an opportunity to shop the upcoming season's trends at a temporary discount (usually about 33% off, but as high as 50% off), plus find savings on items that almost never go on sale or are exclusives released just for the event. All departments take part, with options for women, men, and kids.

When is the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale?

The 2026 Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is open to everyone July 18 through August 9. Nordstrom credit card holders could shop as early as July 14, depending on their spending status.

What are the best ways to shop the sale?

The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale deals are available both online and in-store. I suggest adding your favorite items to a wish list so you can easily access them once the sale starts. If an item sells out, you'll also be notified when it comes back in stock. Local stores will also be hosting events such as beauty previews, trunk shows, and giveaways.

Back in the spring, my social feeds became overrun with ads for Archies flip flops. They looked like the perfect Y2K flip flops — slim straps, lightweight foam arch support, and a simple silhouette that wouldn’t hijack an outfit.

I’ll admit: I am their exact target audience. I have high arches, chronic lower back pain, and a strong aversion to any footwear that looks too orthotic.

I continuously clicked on the ads, tempted by their $40 price tag and trendy colors like butter yellow and chocolate brown. While writing our guide to the best flip flops with arch support, I finally got to see if the claims rang true. After wearing them regularly for six weeks, I can confirm that Archies flip flops indeed deserve the hype.

They’re the most supportive and well-designed minimalist flip flop you’ll find

Most supportive flip flops have one major problem: they look supportive. I love wearing my FitFlop RELIEFF Sandals and OluKai 'Ohanas (as seen in our guides to the best walking sandals and arch support flip flops), but both pairs are noticeably chunky.

Here, the arch support isn’t visually obvious or aggressively rigid. I feel it more after I've been walking for more 20 minutes (which is the same point at which cheaper flip flops will start to turn on me).

Archies' closed-cell foam footbeds have contoured to my foot the more I've worn them. They have a raised V-shaped ridge beneath the toes, so my toes don't have to claw at the bottom for grip. Furthermore, the slightly stretchy straps easily fit my slightly wide toe box without any constriction or rubbing.

Lastly, Archies are made using a single-mold construction. If you've ever worn flip flops from Old Navy or Havaianas, you've probably had the thong strap break or pop out from the footbed. Archie’s one-piece mold eliminates these weak points. I wore mine across rocky riverbeds, where my feet slid around and pulled hard on the straps. Other pairs I tried broke under this same pressure, while Archies stayed firmly intact.

They’re still flip flops — and that’s important to remember

Archies are intentionally low-profile, which means there’s limited cushioning between your foot and the ground. I can feel gravel and uneven surfaces underfoot when I wear them. They don’t have great traction over sand, either.

I also wouldn’t wear Archies on an all-day sightseeing trip (instead I’d pack Vivaia's Sport Sandals or the FitFlop RELIEFF sandals).

But Archies aren’t trying to be rugged. They’re supposed to be fashion-forward flip flops that don't wreck your feet — and in this lane, they succeed better than anything else I’ve tested. You can wear them for up to 60 days and Archies still offers a refund (minus shipping).

So — buy or bye?

After wearing my Archies flip flops regularly for six weeks, I can confirm they live up to the hype. They’re not the most supportive flip flops money can buy, nor are they built for marathon sightseeing days.

That said, if you've been looking for a slim, stylish flip flop that won't leave your arches aching after an hour, I haven't found a better option. I like having sandals that slide on easily without sacrificing the support that my feet and lower back demand.

Contact lens-wearing habits differ for everyone and become apparent over time. Some of us wear dailies and need a yearly supply, while others wear contacts ad hoc because we usually rely on glasses. That's why it's far more convenient, and often cheaper, to buy your contacts online.

Our team has researched and tested the best places to buy contacts online with insurance. These sites saved us the money and time it takes to order from an eye doctor's office.

The best places we tested accept most providers and bill your provider directly with the info you provide. If you're shopping for prescription eyewear, we tested the best places to buy glasses online using insurance, too. Don't forget that if you're shopping out-of-network (OON), you can also pay for contacts with money from your FSA/HSA card.

Our top picks compared

When considering the table below, remember that insurance carrier participation can differ according to your specific plan. We recommend you double-check your benefits before you pay.

How to buy contacts online using your insurance

1. Have an up-to-date contact lens prescription. Most expire after one year. If yours is no longer valid, have the retailer contact your eye doctor office directly. Some retailers also offer online vision exams so you can renew it online.*
2. Confirm that the retailer accepts your insurance. The home page should have a very clear directory that lets you look up your provider.
3. Find your preferred brand. Search by brand and add your correct prescription to the order.
4. Enter your insurance information. Some retailers can verify your benefits right at checkout. Others (annoyingly) require you to submit a reimbursement claim after you pay for your lenses.
5. Check for ways to save extra. Many retailers let you combine your vision benefits with manufacturer rebates, annual-supply discounts, promo codes, and FSA/HSA funds.
6. Wait for your prescription to be verified. If you didn't upload a valid prescription, the retailer will confirm with your eye doctor before shipping your lenses.

*Some states don't allow prescription renewals via at-home virtual vision exams. In any case, you'll still need your previous prescription on hand to complete one. See our FAQ section for the full list of states where they're permitted.

Best overall: 1-800 Contacts

Shop for contact lenses at 1-800 Contacts

Originally launched in 1995 via phone (hence the phone number as the brand's name), 1-800 Contacts is one of the oldest and most well-known places to buy contacts.

The brand has since expanded to an online platform and hosts more than 250 brands of contact lenses. Free standard shipping takes 5 to 7 days and is free, but you can also choose to pay extra for expedited (2 to 3 days) or overnight shipping.

The biggest perk about 1-800 Contacts' is probably its price match guarantee. If you find the same brand of contacts cheaper elsewhere, you can contact them for a price adjustment.

There is also a generous return and exchange policy. It accepts opened boxes, costs nothing, has no expiration, and lets you receive a full refund.

If your prescription is expired, you can renew it online with its virtual vision exam that costs $20 granted it's successful. Right now, you can save 30% on your first order of contacts.

Does 1-800 Contacts accept insurance? Yes. 1-800 Contacts accepts HSA, FSA, or vision insurance through 1-800 Contacts, as long as your plan covers the cost of contacts. You can also easily submit reimbursement claims.

Best for alternating between glasses and contacts: GlassesUSA.com

Shop for contact lenses at GlassesUSA

GlassesUSA.com is one of our favorite places to shop for prescription eyewear for its variety of name brands and affordable prices. We love them for contacts for the same reasons, too. You'll find all of the top brands with options for daily, monthly, yearly, and even colored contacts.

GlassesUSA.com also makes it easy to reorder your favorite contacts at whatever frequency is best for you, and with a price match guarantee, free shipping, and free returns, there are no downsides to ordering here (unless you need contact lenses from outside the U.S. — it only ships those domestically).

Though GlassesUSA is not the only retailer on this list that sells both glasses and contacts, it does have the most vast selection of designer and budget frames. Warby Parker has only in-house frames, and Lensabl's list of brands is much more limited.

Right now, you can get 30% off your order with the promo code "CONTACTS30" or a 10-day trial of GlassesUSA.com's Vista Plus contacts for only $9.

Insurance: GlassesUSA.com accepts insurance from this list of major providers. You can also use FSA and HSA dollars to buy prescription eyeglasses, prescription sunglasses, and contact lenses.

Best for using insurance: ContactsDirect

Shop for contact lenses at ContactsDirect

ContactsDirect is one of the biggest contacts suppliers in the US, and its massive selection of available brands ensures you'll find the lenses you need. It accepts most insurance plans and bills your provider directly. If you're out of network, such as with VSP or MetLife plan, ContactsDirect can help submit your reimbursement claims for you.

When shopping online, you can choose to buy individual boxes, 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month supplies depending. These customizable ordering options give you the flexibility to order quantities that make sense for you. 

ContactsDirect does offer a price match guarantee, but only from these retailers: 1800 Contacts, Walgreens, Coastal, Walmart Contacts, and Costco.

Right now you can save 15% on all orders and get free shipping by using the promo code "MYLENSES" at checkout. You can also save 20% on a refill when you sign up to receive email notifications.

Insurance: ContactsDirect accepts FSA, HSA, and a wide variety of in-network insurance providers. If your insurance is out of network, you can contact ContactsDirect to discuss how you can use your benefits.

Best for bundling contact lenses and new frames: Warby Parker

Shop for contacts at Warby Paker

Warby Parker is known for its affordable glasses that are available online and in-store at its many brick-and-mortar locations. You'll find the same shopping experience for its contacts, too.

Warby Parker's budget contact lenses are called Miru Daily (compatible with its retired in-house brand, "Scout"). The lenses are designed to be comfortable and breathable with long-lasting hydration.

Right now, you can get 25% off your first order of any contact lens brand, plus free shipping with no promo code needed. 

You can request a prescription through Warby Parker's Virtual Vision Test or by booking an in-person eye exam at a location nearby.

Insurance: Warby Parker accepts FSA and HSA dollars for contact lenses.

Best drugstore: Walgreens

Shop for contact lenses at Walgreens

You might not think of a chain pharmacy like Walgreens for contacts since they're not for sale in-store, but there are still plenty of options online. 

You'll find top brands and everything from daily and monthly disposable contacts to color contacts and multifocal contacts. One of the biggest benefits of shopping at Walgreens over other retailers is the consistent promo codes. While many places offer price match guarantees, the convenience of getting low prices without having to contact customer service for a price adjustment is important to consider.

Besides free shipping, Walgreens' many promotions make it a good place to consider ordering from. Right now, you can save 20% on all contact orders with the promo code "DEAL20" at checkout.

After you've placed an order, Walgreens will save your previous purchases to make reordering them easy. Walgreens is also the perfect place to shop for care items like contact solutions and lens cases, so you can conveniently get essentials whenever you need them.

Insurance: Walgreens does not accept insurance, but it does accept HSA and FSA dollars on contact lens orders.

Best for affordable generic brand contacts: Hubble

Shop for contact lenses at Hubble

With very few alternatives to expensive name-brand contacts, Hubble is one of the most popular affordable contact lens startups. Unless you're tied to using a very specific brand, Hubble's daily contacts are a great way to save money.

Hubble is also a solid choice if you're a fan of automation since it offers a subscription option. You can get started with a 15-pair trial of Hubble contacts for $1, and after that, the $39 monthly subscription continues to keep prices affordable. If you use a name brand, you can still order them through Hubble, but the main advantage of using Hubble is just how cheap its generic contacts are.

"The drawback of the cheaper generic brand lenses is that I did not find them very durable," says senior associate style editor Gabrielle Chase. "Stick with dailies if you plan to order Hubble contacts."

You can easily cancel or modify your subscription if you don't need more. This is a great feature for people who alternate between glasses and contacts and for whom a typical 30-day supply lasts longer than a month.

Right now, you can save up to 60% on other name-brand contacts for your first order. 

Insurance: If your FSA or HSA card is affiliated with a major credit card, you can use it to purchase contacts. Hubble doesn't deal with insurance companies directly, but you can use the receipt to apply for reimbursement with providers.

Best for bundling contact lenses and reviving old frames: Lensabl

Shop for contact lenses at Lensabl

Lensabl is best known for its replacement eyeglass lens service. Yet it also sells frames and contact lenses, making it the one-stop shop for all of your eyewear needs. Standard shipping on contacts is also free, which is a major bonus.

If you're someone who alternates between glasses and contacts, Lensabl might be the place to shop for you. The site stocks all of the top brands for contact lenses and has options including spherical contacts, toric lenses for astigmatism, and multifocal lenses for presbyopia.

Lensabl does not price-match contacts, but the brand offers an eyewear and contacts renewal plans. If you need to renew your prescription, the partnered Visibly app exam is easy to use from your phone or computer.

Plans start as low as $7.99 per month and include a one-year supply of contacts, one frame including prescription lenses or one prescription lens replacement, credit for an eye exam/contacts fitting or an online vision test for prescription renewal, and up to 25% off additional Lensabl purchases. Note that $7.99 per month is not the standard for plans including contacts.

Insurance: Lensabl accepts Linneo insurance payments online. You can also submit for reimbursement with these insurance providers.

FAQs on buying contact lenses online

Can I buy contacts online with insurance?

Yes, as long as you have a valid prescription and the retailer accepts your insurance. You can submit your insurance at checkout, but in some cases, you will have to pay first and submit a claim to your provider for reimbursement. Even if your insurance isn't accepted directly, you may still be able to use your out-of-network benefits or pay with your FSA/HSA card.

Is it cheaper to buy contacts online?

Almost always. There are more opportunities to save using promo codes, like first-time customer deals or signing up for emails. It's also easier to compare prices online to take advantage of any price match guarantees.

Can I use FSA/HSA dollars to buy contacts?

Yes. Prescription contact lenses are eligible expenses under Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). You can use your FSA/HSA debit card at checkout to pay with pre-tax dollars.

Do I need a prescription to buy contacts online?

Yes. When choosing your lenses, you'll typically upload your prescription, enter your optometrist's information, or authorize the retailer to verify your prescription with your provider. If your prescription has expired, you'll need to renew your prescription.

Can I renew my prescription online?

The following states allow virtual vision tests for prescription renewals: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, and WY.

If you don't see your state listed above, you will have to schedule an in-person examination with your eye doctor.

How much does it cost to buy contacts online?

It depends on your lens brand, type, prescription, how often you wear them, and whether your vision plan covers them. Daily disposables generally cost between $20 and $90 per box, while monthly lenses typically range from $30 to $80 per box. Check whether the retailer offers bulk discounts in case you can save over time. ContactsDirect labels clearly which annual supply packages come with discounts.

When it comes to mobile service, it doesn't get simpler than an MVNO like Visible. The Verizon-backed service is easy to sign up for, with monthly fees not unlike those of a streaming service or a gym membership. It's already affordable, but with a good Visible deal, you can save even more.

Visible's best ongoing offer features $6 off every month with the promo code SAVE6. The coupon can be applied to any of the carrier's plans, meaning Visible now starts at only $19 a month with this ongoing promotion.

Are you not sure which Visible plan to choose? You have three to choose from: Visible, Visible Plus, and Visible Pro Plus, with the latter two included in the ongoing sale. All of them offer unlimited data of varying speeds, plus mobile hot spot functionality, select international calling, and more.

Best deals on Visible phone plans

Visible deals are few and far between, so though a measly $6 off may seem small, it's a substantial saving opportunity on a cell plan we love. Use the promo code SAVE6 to get $6 off any plan for up to a full year.

• Follow our WhatsApp channel and Instagram for more deals and buying guides.

Visible mobile FAQs

Does Visible have a free trial?

Visible offers a free 15-day trial to anyone with a compatible and unlocked smartphone. All you have to do is connect to Wifi and download the Visible app. Once there, you can follow the given steps to get a trial phone number with which you can use Visible's unlimited data, talk, text, and hotspot usage for 15 days. 

You do not need to cancel your current carrier's service to sign up for Visible's free trial. In fact, Visible recommends keeping your service to compare against their own during your free trial.

Visible vs. Visible Plus: What's the difference?

The most significant difference between Visible and Visible Plus is that the latter offers access to Verizon's fastest 5G Ultra Wideband (UW) network, which has faster speeds and better reliability in congested areas. Those benefits only come into play if you can even access them. 5G UW is only available in select markets and requires specific phones. You'll also get broader international calling and texting options, and the "Premium Network Experience" guarantees you full speeds up to 50GB, even during peak traffic hours.

No matter which you pick, both plans offer unlimited everything. That includes talk, text, data, and even a mobile hotspot, a rare concoction for MVNO cell phone service.

How good is Visible phone service?

Our Visible Wireless review found that it offers great overall value for money. The cellular network is top-notch, owing to its piggybacking on Verizon's extensive nationwide 5G network. We like the low monthly prices and the ability to get unlimited data, no matter which plan you're on.

The slow network speeds after exceeding thresholds and experiencing network congestion are annoying, but that's a standard practice most MVNOs use to keep costs down. We also thought Visible's customer support could be better (you only get direct help using its online chat) and would have appreciated even a small discount for having multiple lines.

Is Visible owned by Verizon?

Verizon owns Visible. Unlike T-Mobile's purchases of Metro and Mint Mobile and AT&T's purchase of Cricket Wireless, Verizon built Visible from the ground up. The MVNO launched in 2018 and operates independently under Verizon's supervision.

If you'd like to learn more about the network and how it works in the real world, be sure to check out our in-depth Visible Wireless review.

Still shopping around for other providers? Take a look at our roundup of today's best Mint Mobile deals.

• The Justice Department said OpenAI and a subsidiary discriminated against US workers.
• OpenAI disputes the findings but will pay $3.2 million to settle the claims.
• The Trump administration has sought to crackdown on companies it sees as abusing the visa process.

The Justice Department said OpenAI and one of its subsidiaries discriminated against US workers by unfairly favoring workers with temporary visa status during the hiring process.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced that OpenAI and Statsig, a subsidiary software development company based in Bellevue, Washington, would pay $3.2 million to settle the allegations.

"It is illegal to discriminate against U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement. "This substantial settlement ensures that OpenAI redresses harm and changes its recruitment practices so that U.S. workers receive a fair opportunity for highly sought-after technology positions."

OpenAI said it disagreed with the DOJ's findings, but settled the matter so it could move forward with a program to support employees "requiring immigration support."

"OpenAI's mission is to ensure that AGI benefits all of humanity," an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement. "Fulfilling that mission and maintaining America's leadership in AI requires attracting and retaining the best talent from the United States and around the world.

"While we disagree with the DOJ's findings, we reached this agreement to resolve the matter and move forward with our PERM program, which is critical for employees and candidates requiring immigration support."

The Justice Department said it found "reasonable cause" to believe that both companies made it more difficult for US workers to apply for positions they hoped to fill with foreign workers through Permanent Labor Certification, a process known as PERM.

The Trump administration has sought to crack down on companies it has said are abusing the visa system. The PERM program allows companies to sponsor temporary visa holders for permanent status, but only if they cannot find US workers for the job following a good-faith recruitment effort.

The DOJ said OpenAI and Statsig failed to take several steps critical to the PERM process, including failing to post some jobs on external sites and not advertising the positions on the radio late at night. OpenAI also required applicants for jobs it hoped to fill via PERM recruitment to mail in paper applications, even though it usually allowed electronic applications for other positions, the DOJ said.

In total, the Justice Department said, while there were fewer than 10 positions at issue across both OpenAI and Statsig, "the resolution amount reflects the harm to US workers when they are shut out of applying for lucrative technology jobs."

Of the $3.2 million settlement, OpenAI will pay $1.2 million in civil penalties. The other $2 million is being set aside to establish a fund "to compensate victims of the companies' discriminatory practices."

• Paramount Skydance beat revenue and earnings estimates, but its backers may soon have to pay up.
• The trial for Paramount's proposed merger with WBD won't start until March 2, a federal judge ruled.
• Paramount agreed to pay WBD shareholders about $7 million per day that its deal isn't closed, starting September 30.

David Ellison's Paramount Skydance beat earnings estimates on Tuesday — but the media mogul and his billionaire father may need to get their checkbooks ready.

Paramount is expected to need to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders more than $1 billion in so-called ticking fees after a federal judge set the date for the trial about its merger: March 2.

The Ellisons and Paramount's other financial backers agreed to pay WBD investors $650 million per quarter, which is about $7 million per day, that its merger isn't finalized, starting after September 30.

There are 169 days between October 1 and March 19, which is when Paramount's trial is scheduled to end.

That implies Paramount would owe WBD shareholders about $1.18 billion, unless the company reaches a settlement with the 12 states suing to block its deal.

If Paramount doesn't complete its merger with WBD, it would owe WBD a $7 billion termination fee under the agreement.

A Paramount spokesperson said in a statement that the company would "respect the court's decision" about the trial date.

Second-quarter results were solid

Paramount's second-quarter revenue and earnings came in slightly above the estimates of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg:

• Revenue: $6.91 billion, vs. estimates of $6.89 billion.
• Adjusted EBITDA: $1.099 billion, vs. estimates of $0.93 billion.

Shares were little changed in after-hours trading.

• Lime is adding more scooters and bicycles to places where it already operates.
• It's a move to create more loyal riders, CEO Wayne Ting said.
• Lime's IPO helped it report a profitable second quarter on Tuesday.

Expect to see even more Lime scooters and bikes zooming around major US cities.

Wayne Ting, Lime's CEO, told Business Insider on Tuesday that the company is focused on getting more of its vehicles on the roads where it already operates rather than making a big push to expand to more cities.

Ting made the comments on the same day that Lime reported quarterly earnings results for the first time. Revenue grew 24% to $304 million for the second quarter, and the company posted net income of $295 million, including the benefits of its IPO in July.

Shares of Lime rose about 2% in after-hours trading.

Getting riders to use Lime more frequently will be key to making the company consistently profitable, Ting said.

Lime operates in about 60 US cities. By adding more vehicles to its existing fleets, Ting said, Lime makes it easier for users to find a ride near them.

That's particularly important as Lime grows its paid subscription options, such as LimePass, which offers a discount on the company's usual per-minute rate if riders buy ahead of time.

"You're going to continue to see us invest in our existing markets to grow reliability," he said. "And, by growing reliability, we can also engage our riders more frequently."

Lime's monthly active users grew 22% during its second quarter, topping 5 million for the first time.

Ting said that Lime is "an AI-resilient business," because it sells real-world rides on scooters and bikes. "There's no amount of vibe-coding that is going to get you physical transportation," he said.

Even so, Lime is using AI in its operations, he said.

The company uses a machine-learning algorithm to determine where to position scooters and bikes in each city based on demand, Ting said. The tech allows the company to "optimize revenue or profits," he added.

There's also a benefit for riders, Ting said: They're more likely to find a scooter or bike nearby when they need one.

"Reliability is both the number of bikes and scooters you have, but it's also making sure they're at the right place at the right time," he said.

Do you have a story idea about Lime? 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.

• US stocks are adding to Monday's gains, hitting record highs on hopes for a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz.
• The Dow soared more than 1,000 points, while the S&P 500 advanced 2%.
• Investors were piling into tech shares, with the Nasdaq 100 up almost 3%.

A fresh risk-on rally pushed stocks to records on Tuesday.

US stocks have clawed their way back to records after a volatile rotation in the AI trade sent investors on a roller coaster ride in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 broke through to new highs as traders were encouraged by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's comments that the US and Iran could strike deal to open the Strait of Hormuz this week, leading oil prices to tumble further.

Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Bessent said a deal to reopen the highly important shipping lane could come as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday, with the US and Iran moving "towards a more normalized position" amid the war.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell another 5% below the $80 mark, extending its losses from Monday as optimism for a resolution grew. West Texas Intermediate crude also dropped 5% to trade around $75 a barrel.

The 10-year US Treasury yield, a gauge for long-term interest rate expectations, dropped 5 basis points to trade around 4.62%.

Major indexes soared, with the Dow soaring 1,000 points by Tuesday afternoon.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET closing bell on Tuesday:

• S&P 500: 7,736.52, up 1.79%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 54,085.94, up 1.71% (+907.53 points)
• Nasdaq 100: 29,733.16, up 3.32%

The Nasdaq 100 climbed more than 3% as investors piled into AI and chip names that struggled last month. The index also reclaimed its 50-day moving average, a bullish technical level closely watched by traders.

The hyperscalers were a particular area of focus, with most Magnificent Seven giants climbing during the session. The exception was Amazon, which dipped 2% after notching a $3 trillion valuation for the first-ever time this week.

The market was also cheering a round of solid earnings reports in the tech sector. Palantir shares rocketed 29% higher as the firm reported "otherworldly" commercial revenue, beating estimates. Caterpillar, the data center equipment supplier, also surged 6% after it beat on earnings estimates.

Here were some of the most notable moves in the tech sector:

• Palantir: +29%
• Marvell: +13%
• Intel: +10%
• SpaceX: +9%
• AMD: +8%
• Micron: +8%
• Caterpillar: +6%
• Broadcom: +7%
• IBM: +3%
• Oracle: +3%
• Nvidia: +3%

The recent rebound in large AI spenders may be a sign that the artificial intelligence trade is starting a "long-overdue rebalancing," Bret Kenwell, a US investment and options analyst at eToro, told Business Insider.

"Now, with valuations compressed, sentiment bruised, and massive AI investments beginning to translate into tangible revenue growth, Wall Street may be rethinking its retreat from mega-cap tech," Kenwell said.

"The bull market is reasserting itself through broader participation, falling volatility, and strong rotational activity. While a push to new record highs is bullish, supportive evidence of improving market breadth is needed for short-term momentum to become a sustainable uptrend," Piper Sandler strategists wrote in a note.

Investors also have their eye on SpaceX, which is due for its first-ever earnings report Tuesday after the closing bell. Markets are bracing for a volatile round of trading this week, given that the space exploration firm was not profitable last year and is unlocking its first wave of insider shares on Thursday.

• The US task force for countering drones has unveiled a new marketplace for defensive technologies.
• The shop built by Kaizen Laboratories lets users compare systems, performance data, and prices.
• Ukraine operates a more established combat-technology marketplace called Brave1 Market.

The Pentagon's counter-drone task force and software company Kaizen Laboratories have developed a new online marketplace built to help users find and acquire systems for defending against uncrewed aerial systems.

The "Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Marketplace" is a catalog that military, federal government, and law enforcement personnel can use to assess validated systems, from kinetic weapons to jammers, and submit requests to buy them.

It's an example of the Pentagon's push to make it faster and easier for troops and other government users to acquire commercially developed technology and get it into the field.

Kaizen was awarded a $15 million contract by the Joint Interagency Task Force-401 in May to build and operate the marketplace. The newly unveiled enhanced platform allows users to search systems by requirements, review performance data, compare capabilities and features, and purchase equipment.

Defense officials have said that online shops like the C-UAS Marketplace help bypass traditional weapons acquisition processes that can be slow, fragmented, and difficult for users to navigate. Companies have said the same.

"These are broken, disconnected application layer systems that are preventing real capability from being deployed at the edge as fast as possible, and as we all know, it's presenting a critical readiness problem for the armed forces," said Kaizen CEO Nikhil Reddy.

Reddy told reporters last week that "threats are changing so quickly, but the systems that we actually have, the software layer, the application layer used to discover, evaluate, acquire, procure these systems, is so far behind what it needs to be. And operators are losing time, and in some cases, there's a loss of life if we can't move fast enough."

The US war with Iran has demonstrated the need for cheaper and more prolific counter-UAS weapons and equipment. Both American and allied forces have expended large numbers of expensive munitions shooting down Iranian Shahed drones.

Iran's one-way attack drones, along with waves of missiles, have struck US and partner forces, resulting in both infrastructure damage and casualties. During the opening days of the war, six US soldiers were killed by a drone attack in Kuwait.

These attacks, along with the prevalence of drones in Russia's war against Ukraine, have underscored the need for layered defenses that can defeat these kinds of inexpensive threats without relying primarily on costly missiles.

"Drones are a defining threat of our time," Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, director of JIATF-401, said in a press statement. "The proliferation of small systems and small drones and the threat that they pose both to critical infrastructure and to defense critical assets requires us to move faster in this space."

"In order to address this threat, we are expanding the counter-UAS marketplace to allow us to share best practices and equipment globally," he said.

The new enhanced C-UAS Marketplace features a library of forms and permits, and a planning tool through which users can describe a threat, identify systems that meet their needs and budget, and receive AI-generated recommendations "across all aspects of the kill chain," Reddy said.

The current platform went live two weeks ago and was built from a blank slate in less than nine weeks, he added.

He said that some vendors with approved counter-UAS systems, such as Anduril and AeroVironment, have already put their products on the marketplace. Future vendors can send in product information for the task force's approval. US partners and allies will also be able to use the platform.

"JIATF-401 remains focused on delivering the right counter-UAS capabilities to the right users at the right time," US Army Maj. Mike Hapner, JIATF-401's C-UAS marketplace lead, said in a press statement.

"Our revolutionary marketplace, powered through our partnership with industry, creates a streamlined, trusted pathway for the Joint Force, domestic law enforcement, and our international partners to rapidly discover and acquire validated technologies," he said.

The counter-UAS shop bears some resemblance to Ukraine's combat technology marketplace, the Brave1 Market, an Amazon-style platform for drones and counter-drone capabilities. Local manufacturers post their products on the site, and Ukrainian military units buy them and leave reviews and ratings.

The Ukrainian defense ministry has said the average delivery time for in-stock products has fallen from 10 to 14 days to eight days for front-line troops.

Mint Mobile keeps phone service simple with T-Mobile-powered, contract-free plans you pay for monthly, a lot like a streaming service or gym membership. It's one of the most budget-friendly plans you can choose, and with the frequent Mint Mobile deals you can find, it's even more so.

Luckily for newcomers, Mint's still running its incredible $15 a month deal. For a limited time, any plan, for any length, is only $15 a month — even Unlimited. That brings it down by 50%, which can be locked in for up to a full year.

Keep scrolling to learn how to score these Mint Mobile deals. Be sure to check the coverage map to ensure you're eligible for service, too.

Today's best Mint Mobile plans and deals

Mint Mobile deals aren't rare, but ones as good as its current promotion are. For a limited time, new customers can get any plan, for any time period, for $15 a month. It's an incredible offer, bringing the carrier's top-tier plan down by 50%. I recommend signing up for an annual plan to secure your discounted pricing for a full year.

Also in need of internet? Shoppers can also score a year of Minternet bundled with a year of Unlimited service for only $45 a month ($540 up front). If you're shopping for both internet and cell service, that effectively locks in an intro offer of Minternet pricing plus $5 Unlimited for 12 months.

Still need a phone? The deals above require you to bring your own device, but smartphones are also frequently included in Mint deals. Right now, the best offer knocks $500 off any Samsung Galaxy S26 when you buy it with an annual Unlimited plan. You can save an additional $400 with an eligible trade-in, too.

In addition to unlimited talk and text, all Mint plans include free calling to Canada and Mexico, WiFi calling and texting, and free mobile hotspot access to share your phone's data with other devices. Hotspot data is limited to 10GB on the Unlimited plan, though. 

Mint Mobile home internet deals

Mint Mobile's newly added internet plans — called 5G Home Minternet — are an incredible value for shoppers to take advantage of. New signups can get their first three months for only $40 each, matching the price of a one-year commitment without the longer term. Mint Mobile users can save even more, bringing the price down to just $30 a month.

After the initial three-month period, plans renew at $10 extra, costing $40 or $50 a month. To avoid the price hike, you can sign up for a longer term, such as a six-month or annual plan, which won't increase.

• Follow our WhatsApp channel and Instagram for more deals and buying guides.

Mint Mobile sale on phones

Mint's base plans require you to bring your own device, but you can also save big by buying one directly from the provider. Right now, the retailer is holding a holiday sale featuring hundreds off the entire Samsung Galaxy S25 and Google Pixel 10 lineup when bundled with Unlimited service. It's a great sale, especially if you have an old phone to trade in to save you even more.

Is Mint Mobile good?

Ask most price-savvy wireless service shoppers which company they should consider switching to for the lowest possible monthly phone bill, and Mint Mobile is almost guaranteed to come up. That's for good reason—Mint Mobile offers solid wireless service on the same networks the big names use for a fraction of the cost. Specifically, Mint Mobile runs on T-Mobile's nationwide 5G network and is now owned by that very company.

In our Mint Mobile review, we found that while overall service quality was pretty good, data speeds could be a little slow during peak usage. This affected video call quality enough that you might opt to wait until you're on WiFi for FaceTime action. But at only $15 a month, it is still one of the best values in alternative phone service, and signing up is easy thanks to Mint Mobile's deals targeting new customers.

How Mint Mobile's family plan works

Mint Mobile's "Modern Family" plan diverges from the traditional family plans often touted by other carriers, which typically offer discounts for adding lines. Instead, Mint charges the same rate for each line as it does for the first.

The real benefit of Mint's family plan lies in its centralized management rather than cost savings. Customers can initiate a family plan with at least two lines, each priced according to its data allowance. For instance, a family could opt for a plan that includes one unlimited data line, a 15GB line, and a 5GB line.

How Mint Mobile's unlimited data plan works

One of the Mint Mobile plans offers unlimited data starting at $30 per month (currently discounted to $15), making it one of the more budget-friendly options. Like many in its league, Mint limits the amount of high-speed data you get after hitting a certain threshold—40GB of usage in this case. After that, your speeds are cut down considerably until your cycle refreshes.

Be sure to take a look at our in-depth Mint Mobile review. See how it stacks up against Verizon's MVNO in our guide to Mint vs. Visible.

We've also compiled a roundup of today's best Visible phone plans if you'd like to check out the competition.

• Microsoft is retiring a peer-feedback tool once lauded as a sign of a "kinder, gentler Microsoft."
• The change comes as the company overhauls performance reviews.
• The internal message suggests the tool will be replaced by informal discussions.

Microsoft is retiring a peer-feedback tool as it overhauls employee reviews, according to an internal message viewed by Business Insider.

The tool, called Perspectives, allowed employees to request input on their performance from peers that would be visible to the employee and their managers. Microsoft has been using this tool since 2018.

"The Perspectives tool is being retired," the message says. "Feedback remains an important part of our growth mindset, and we heard from employees and managers that feedback is most valuable when shared through ongoing, in-the-moment conversations rather than formal requests."

The tool is no longer available for new feedback requests, though employees can respond to active requests and export feedback history until September 15, according to the message. The message suggests the tool will be replaced by informal discussions with an employee's peers.

The change comes as Microsoft overhauls its performance review system, simplifying ratings into five categories while making performance distinctions significantly sharper.

At the same time, managers have been instructed to reduce the number of employees in higher-level engineering roles as Microsoft continues flattening parts of the organization, emblematic of a broader hardcore work culture that's spread across Big Tech in the last few years.

The Perspectives tool had replaced the company's previous Feedback Tool, which allowed managers to collect, review, and summarize peer feedback for employees. Perspectives was intended to be "less intimidating," as reported by Quartz in 2022, as a sign of a "kinder, gentler Microsoft."

A Microsoft human resources executive told Quartz at the time that Perspectives deliberately omitted the word "feedback," which she said triggered negative impressions.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at astewart@businessinsider.com or Signal at +1-425-344-8242. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

Ella Langley has quickly become one of country music's fastest-rising stars, thanks to breakout hits like "You Look Like You Love Me" and a string of high-profile tour appearances alongside some of the genre's biggest names. If you're hankering to see her live, read on to learn where to buy Ella Langley tickets, including limited listings for sold-out dates.

An award-winning artist hailing from Alabama, she released her debut album, Hungover, in 2024, which drew fans in with reflective tracks that showcased her fearless honesty as a songwriter. Following the release of her sophomore album Dandelion, she's spending 2026 on her headlining Dandelion Tour while also joining select dates of Morgan Wallen's Still the Problem Tour, bringing her music to arenas, amphitheaters, festivals, and stadiums across North America.

With demand continuing to grow, many of Langley's headline shows have sold quickly, sending fans to the resale market for tickets. I've rounded up everything you need to know about buying Ella Langley tickets, including where to find seats, how resale prices compare, and what to expect on StubHub and Vivid Seats.

Ella Langley 2026 tour schedule

Ella Langley's Dandelion tour kicked off in April at Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. It'll continue on with highlight dates in Austin and Fort Worth, Texas, plus September stops in Newark, Jacksonville, and more.

• August 13, 2026 - Austin, TX at Moody Center ATX
• August 14, 2026 - Corpus Christi, TX at Hilliard Center Arena
• August 15, 2026 - Fort Worth, TX at Dickies Arena
• August 21, 2026 - Springfield, IL at Illinois State Fairgrounds
• August 22, 2026 - North Little Rock, AR at Simmons Bank Arena
• September 10, 2026 - Newark, NJ at Prudential Center
• September 11, 2026 - University Park, PA at Bryce Jordan Center
• September 12, 2026 - Charleston, WV at Charleston Coliseum
• September 17, 2026 - University, MS at SJB Pavilion at Ole Miss
• September 18, 2026 - Athens, GA at Akins Ford Arena
• September 19, 2026 - Jacksonville, FL at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
• September 24, 2026 - Knoxville, TN at Food City Center
• September 25, 2026 - Columbus, OH at Schottenstein Center
• September 26, 2026 - Moline, IL at Vibrant Arena at The MARK
• October 9, 2026 - Tulsa, OK at BOK Center
• October 30, 2026 - Lincoln, NE at Pinnacle Bank Arena

How much are Ella Langley concert tickets?

Ella Langley tickets remain relatively affordable compared with many arena headliners, though prices vary depending on the venue and whether she's headlining or opening for a larger act. On StubHub, the cheapest resale tickets currently start at about $45 before fees for select dates, while the most expensive premium floor and VIP listings climb to more than $2,700 for the highest-demand shows.

Vivid Seats shows a similar range, with entry-level tickets starting at around $48 before fees. Premium seats closest to the stage and VIP inventory top out at approximately $2,800, though most shows are priced well below that. Fans looking for the best deals will generally find lower prices at amphitheater and arena stops, while major markets and dates with limited inventory tend to command the highest resale prices.

See more: Is StubHub legit? | Las Vegas Sphere tickets | Noah Kahan tickets | Zach Bryan tickets | Lorde tickets

Follow our Instagram page and WhatsApp channel for more deals and buying guides.

• Companies including Meta, Amazon, and Visa have said they're trimming staff this year.
• Many firms, like Wix, have cited the rise of AI as a reason they need fewer staff.
• See the list of companies letting workers go in 2026.

More than 40 companies have laid off employees so far in 2026, continuing the trend of significant workforce reductions across a broad range of industries, including tech, media, finance, and retail.

Some, including Block, Coinbase, and Standard Chartered, have cited the impact of artificial intelligence as a key reason for the layoffs.

Target, meanwhile, is shifting resources from its supply chain into stores as part of the new CEO's turnaround strategy to improve the shopping experience and return to growth.

More than 100 other companies have filed legally mandated WARN notices about job cuts to come in 2026, according to WARN Tracker. Some of the cuts are part of previously announced reductions.

The moves come as artificial intelligence, public policy, and broader economic conditions are driving sweeping changes in the business landscape.

A World Economic Forum survey last year found that some 41% of companies worldwide expected to reduce their workforces in the next five years because of the rise of artificial intelligence. The survey also found that jobs in big data, fintech, and AI are expected to double by 2030.

Last year, Business Insider tracked layoffs at around 65 major companies, including Amazon, Meta, Paramount, and Starbucks. In 2026, we'll continue to track additional job cuts based on company announcements, WARN notices, and our own reporting.

Here are the companies with job cuts underway in 2026, listed in alphabetical order.

Amazon is laying off thousands of employees

Amazon said in January that it would eliminate around 16,000 corporate roles globally.

Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology, described the January move in a company memo as part of broader efforts to cut back on bureaucracy inside the company.

The cuts followed mass layoffs from October 2025, when the tech and retail giant shed 14,000 roles.

In May, Amazon's Selling Partner Services team slashed additional jobs as it continued to reshape its organization.

"Following a recent review, we've made the difficult decision to eliminate a relatively small number of roles in our Selling Partner Services team," a spokesperson told Business Insider.

Angi is cutting 350 jobs

Angi, the popular contractor listing site once known as Angie's List, said in January that it was cutting around 350 jobs "to reduce operating expenses and optimize the organizational structure in support of long-term growth." The company also said it's making the cuts "in light of AI-driven efficiency improvements."

In a January 7 SEC filing, Angi said that the cuts would save between $70 million and $80 million in annual spending. The layoffs will cost the company between $22 million and $30 million, according to the filing.

Atlassian is cutting 1,600 employees

Atlassian, the enterprise software company and maker of Confluence, said on March 11 that it will be cutting about 10% of its workforce as it invests in AI to reshape its organization.

CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes said in a statement that about 1,600 employees will be affected by the cuts.

"We fundamentally believe people and AI create the best outcomes. Our approach is not 'AI replaces people,'" Cannon-Brookes said. "But 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."

The company expects to incur $225 million and $236 million in restructuring charges, according to an SEC filing.

British American Tobacco cuts 9,000 jobs

British American Tobacco said it will cut 9,000 jobs by the end of the year, about one-fifth of its workforce. The cuts will not impact the US arm of its business.

"We are building a future-ready organisation that is more agile, cost disciplined and technology enabled," CEO Tadeu Marroco said in the statement.

The company, whose cigarette portfolio includes brands like Lucky Strike and Dunhill, has stepped up its push in recent years into smoke-free alternatives, such as nicotine pouches and vapes.

Citi's job cuts continue this year

Citi will cut more jobs this year as part of its plan to reduce its workforce by 10%, or 20,000 employees.

In a statement on January 13, the bank said that it will continue to reduce head count in 2026.

"These changes reflect adjustments we're making to ensure our staffing levels, locations and expertise align with current business needs," a spokesperson for Citi said.

The plan was detailed in the company's January 2024 earnings report and could save the bank as much as $2.5 billion.

Cloudflare lays off 20% of its global workforce

Cybersecurity company Cloudflare on May 7 said it plans to cut roughly 20% of its global workforce, affecting more than 1,100 employees.

In an internal memo, Cloudflare executives said the company's use of AI has climbed more than 600% over the past three months, and that the rapid shift has forced the company to reconsider its structure.

"We want to be clear that this decision is not a reflection of the individual work or talent of those leaving us," Cloudflare executives wrote in the May 7 memo. "Instead, we are reimagining every internal process, team, and role across the company."

The company's shares fell more than 14% in extended trading following the announcement.

Coinbase is cutting 14% of staff

The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, said in a letter to staff on May 5 that 14% of its staff would be cut, largely because of AI.

"AI is changing how we work. Over the past year, I've watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks," wrote. "The pace of what's possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it's accelerating every day."

Armstrong said this would mean fewer layers and faster decisions in the company. No pure managers, he said — all leaders will now be required to get stuck in and "get their hands dirty."

"AI is bringing a profound shift in how companies operate, and we're reshaping Coinbase to lead in this new era," he added.

Crypto.com laid off 12% of its workforce

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said in March that the company laid off 12% of its workforce, including "roles that do not adapt in our new world."

"Companies that move immediately and pair the best AI tools with top-performers will achieve a level of scale and precision that was previously impossible," Marszalek wrote in a post on X. "This is where we must go."

Dell cut 10% of its workforce

Dell cut its workforce by 10% for the third year in a row, the company said in its annual filing with the SEC.

As of January 31, 2026, the company had 97,000 employees, down 11,000 from the same time last year. The decline includes both layoffs and attrition, Business Insider reported.

eBay is expected to lay off 6% of its employees

eBay is set to eliminate about 800 jobs globally, making up 6% of its workforce. The company told Business Insider that it's taking steps to better align with its strategic priorities.

"We are grateful for the contributions of the employees impacted and are committed to supporting them with care and respect," a company spokesperson said in a statement.

Epic Games is cutting 20% of its workforce

Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, said in March that it would lay off more than 1,000 people — about 20% of its workforce — as engagement with the game declined.

CEO Tim Sweeney said in a memo that the layoffs "aren't related to AI."

"To the extent it improves productivity, we want to have as many awesome developers developing great content and tech as we can," Sweeney said.

Estée Lauder is deepening its cuts, now to as many as 10,000 roles

Estée Lauder said in its May earnings report that it will deepen its previously announced cuts, which are now expected to affect up to 10,000 jobs.

More than two-thirds of the reductions are in cashier and demonstration roles at lower-performing retail and department stores.

Expedia laid off some employees

Expedia confirmed to Business Insider that it had laid off some employees on January 26 and had also posted new job openings. It's unclear how many of its workers were affected by the cuts.

"We are eliminating roles as well as opening some new roles as we remain disciplined about assessing the skills we need for the future," an Expedia Group spokesperson said in a statement. "We are also simplifying our structure and reducing organizational layers to move faster and with more accountability. These are not easy decisions, and we are grateful for the contributions of our colleagues who are impacted."

Freshworks is cutting 11% of staff

The San Mateo, California-based software company said in its early May earnings report that it would cut 11% of its staff in the second quarter. The company had about 4,500 employees at the end of 2025.

The cuts aim "to streamline the Company's organizational efforts and product development process" and increase AI across the company, according to the filing.

On an earnings call, CEO Dennis Woodside said about half the company's code comes from AI.

"Like many other software companies, that is definitely changing how we build products, how fast we can build products, and the amount of people that we need to build products," he said.

The company's stock slumped 35% from May 2025 to May 2026.

General Motors is axing 600 salaried employees

General Motors is cutting 600 salaried employees from its global IT division.

A spokesperson said the layoffs would enable it to "better position the company for the future," by ensuring GM has employees with expertise in AI-native development, data engineering, analytics, cloud engineering, prompt engineering, and AI workflows.

GoPro is laying off 145 employees

On April 7, GoPro said it would lay off about 145 employees as it tries to cut operating costs and restructure operations.

The layoffs make up 23% of its global headcount of 631 employees, the camera maker said in a regulatory filing.

The cuts will start in the second quarter of the year and will largely be completed by the end of 2026. The restructuring is expected to result in a charge of $11.5 million to $15 million.

The company cut about 15% of its staff in August 2024 to cut costs.

Groupon is reducing up to 400 positions globally

Groupon said on May 21 that it would cut up to 400 roles globally as part of a restructuring plan, according to a financial filing. It previously said it planned to rebuild as an "AI-native company."

The cuts are expected to happen by the end of the third quarter of 2026. Groupon is looking to generate $10 million to $12 million in gross savings in 2026.

"Up to half of this year's savings will be reinvested into AI infrastructure, talent density, and the tools and teams building the next version of the company," a spokesperson told Business Insider.

Groupon had 1,734 employees worldwide at the end of 2025, according to its annual report.

Heineken has a multi-year plan to reduce its workforce

Heineken is cutting 5,000 to 6,000 roles over the next two years to boost productivity and bring down costs, according to its latest full-year earnings report.

The company told Business Insider that the divisions and regions where the layoffs are due to take place are yet to be confirmed.

Heineken said in its 2025 report that it faced "subdued consumer sentiment" in the Americas, alongside a "challenging year" for brewers in Europe.

Intuit is laying off 17% of its workforce

Financial software company Intuit announced on May 20 that it would be cutting 17% of its full-time workforce.

The company shared a memo from CEO Sasan Goodarzi to employees that listed five reasons for the culling, including reducing management layers, focusing roles on "high impact work," and closing down two of its offices.

"These changes are a necessary evolution to reduce complexity and architect an organization that operates with the velocity required to fuel our growth engines," Goodarzi wrote in the memo, shared in a blog post on Intuit's website.

Laid-off employees in the US would receive 16 weeks of base pay, plus two additional weeks of pay for every year they have worked at Intuit.

The company said in a May 20 earnings report that restructuring costs from the layoffs would be about $300 million to $340 million.

Kenvue cuts 3.5% of workforce

Consumer healthcare brand Kenvue, which produces Tylenol, plans to cut 3.5% of its staff. Kenvue had about 22,000 employees globally, per its latest annual report.

The company wrote in a mid-February SEC filing that its board aimed to reduce complexity and drive operational efficiencies.

The company's layoffs and restructuring efforts are expected to cost $250 million in 2026, per the filing.

LinkedIn is laying off staff and 'scale back' other investments

LinkedIn CEO Daniel Shapero told employees on May 13 that it was laying off employees, and those in affected roles would receive a calendar invite. The jobs included positions in the Microsoft-owned company's Global Business Organization, marketing, engineering, and product teams.

"We need to reinvent how we work, with agile teams focused on our highest priorities, and by shifting investments toward areas such as infrastructure to fulfill our mission and vision over the long term," Shapero said in the memo.

Shapero also said LinkedIn would "scale back" investments in areas like marketing campaigns, customer events, and underutilized office space.

Lululemon laid off 100 part-time employees at its customer service center

The athleisure giant said it laid off 100 part-time employees to "strengthen the business." The affected roles are in the company's North American contact center.

"After careful consideration, we have made the decision to transition our North America GEC to a full-time employee staffing model. As a result, approximately 100 part-time positions in our GEC have been impacted," a Lululemon spokesperson said.

Meta lays off workers at Reality Labs and other divisions

Meta began laying off employees across multiple teams on March 25, including Reality Labs, Facebook, recruiting, sales, and global operations.

The cuts come as the company ramps up spending on AI infrastructure and talent, alongside broader cost-cutting efforts. Meta said the changes are part of ongoing restructuring to better align teams with company goals, while exploring other roles for affected employees where possible.

Meta first began preparing to slash jobs within its Reality Labs division, the unit responsible for Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse ambitions, in January, three people familiar with the matter told Business Insider at the time.

Two employees said that teams working on virtual reality headsets and Horizon Worlds, the company's VR social network, would be disproportionately affected.

Meta has shifted away from virtual reality in recent years in favor of spending hundreds of billions of dollars on beefing up its AI capabilities.

Nike laid off workers in two rounds

Nike is cutting roughly 1,400 jobs, mostly from tech, as part of a broader push to streamline operations and revive growth.

In a memo to staff on April 23 obtained by Business Insider, Chief Operating Officer Venkatesh Alagirisamy said the layoffs are tied to the company's "win now" turnaround plan, which focuses on improving culture, product, marketing, marketplace strategy, and in-person retail. He described the effort as entering its "final stretch."

This is Nike's second layoff in 2026. Nike said on January 26 that it planned to lay off 775 employees across Tennessee and Mississippi, citing efforts to "streamline" its distribution center operations.

"We are sharpening our supply chain footprint, accelerating the use of advanced technology and automation, and investing in the skills our teams need for the future," Nike said in a statement to Business Insider.

Oracle's headcount fell 13% in a year

Oracle's workforce shrank by roughly 21,000 employees, or 13%, over the past year, bringing its headcount to 141,000 as of May 31, according to a 10-K filing released on June 22.

"The adoption and deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce," Oracle wrote in the filing.

Oracle also disclosed that restructuring costs surged in fiscal 2026. The company spent $1.84 billion on severance and other exit costs, up from $374 million in the prior year.

The reduction in workforce comes as Oracle continues to invest heavily in AI infrastructure.

Papa Johns is restructuring

Papa Johns said it is laying off 7% of its corporate staff amid a broader restructuring.

The pizza chain said it will also close 300 locations in North America through 2027, starting with 200 this year.

"Optimizing our restaurant portfolio and strategically closing underperforming restaurants are among the most impactful actions we can take to improve restaurant profitability and fleet health," Papa Johns CFO Ravi Thanawala said during the company's fourth quarter earnings call on February 26.

Patreon, a creator economy company, laid off 20% of staff in July

Patreon announced layoffs in July.

The creator economy company is laying off 93 employees — roughly 20% of the company — per a memo its CEO, Jack Conte, shared publicly.

Conte wrote that the "market in which we operate has undergone profound change over the last 6 months," and that Patreon needs to cut costs to "remain a stable, dependable rock for our creators."

Pinterest is expected to lay off 15% of its workforce

Pinterest announced a global restructuring plan that includes layoffs affecting less than 15% of its workforce, according to a January securities filing. The cuts come with reductions in office space.

"We are making organizational changes to further deliver on our AI-forward strategy, which includes hiring AI-proficient talent," a Pinterest spokesperson said.

"As a result, we've made the difficult decision to say goodbye to some of our team members. We are grateful for their service and supporting them with separation packages and benefits," they added.

Saks laid off 16% of its corporate staff, among other job cuts

Saks Global, the beleaguered parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman, conducted several rounds of layoffs as it closed stores and trimmed its corporate staff

In April, the company cut about 16% of its corporate staff, representing less than 4% of its total workforce.

"Following the strategic actions we've taken to secure long-term financial stability, sharpen our focus on luxury and full-price selling, optimize our operational footprint, and exit non-core businesses, we are right-sizing our corporate organization to align with our go-forward strategy," a Saks spokesperson told Business Insider.

The cuts followed Saks's closure of dozens of stores and fulfillment centers in the first quarter, resulting in layoffs.

Saks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January.

Sprout Social cut 20% of staff — about 260 employees

Sprout Social — a social media management program — announced on July 15 that it will cut 260 jobs, or about 20% of its workforce.

In a letter about the reduction in force, CEO Ryan Barretto said the cuts were due to rapid industry changes.

"This decision is not a reflection of their talent or commitment," Barrett said. "We made this decision because we believe it was the right one for Sprout's future. Our industry, and software more broadly, is changing quickly, and the way companies need to operate and invest has changed with it."

Affected staff will be offered a 12-week severance package, plus an additional week of pay for every year of tenure, fully-paid health benefits for six months, and a cash payment equal to the value of their equity shares that would have vested in the next 90 days.

Standard Chartered plans to eliminate 15% of corporate functions over the next 4 years

Standard Chartered plans to cut 15% of corporate function roles over the next four years, the company said on May 19.

The bank, headquartered in London, credited AI as a driver for the reductions.

"It is not cost-cutting, but it is replacing, in some cases, lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital that we are putting in," CEO Bill Winters said in a media briefing, Reuters reported.

The company added in a statement: "We are combining the best human talent with AI, investing to support our people into higher-value roles."

T-Mobile cut some jobs

T-Mobile cut some staff in early 2026, though the scope of the layoffs is unclear. Some workers posted on LinkedIn saying they'd been affected by the changes in January.

"As the next step in our evolution, we're making some changes while continuing to hire to ensure we have the right focus, structure, and momentum to keep changing the industry through innovation and our long-standing focus on customers," T-Mobile told Business Insider in a statement.

Tailwind cut 3 of its 4 engineers

Tailwind, a popular web tool, said it cut three of its four engineers in January, citing an AI-driven decline in revenue.

"75% of the people on our engineering team lost their jobs here yesterday because of the brutal impact AI has had on our business," CEO Adam Wathan wrote in a GitHub comment on January 6 that made waves in the tech community.

Target is cutting 500 roles from its distribution and regional offices

Target confirmed to Business Insider in February that it would cut 100 district office roles and 400 supply chain positions. It plans to invest instead in additional labor hours at stores to improve the shopping experience and return to growth.

The store improvement effort is a signature priority of the retailer's new CEO, Michael Fiddelke, who started on February 1.

In November, Fiddelke said the company intends to invest an additional $1 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, an increase of 25% from 2025.

UPS said it will eliminate 30,000 jobs

UPS CEO Brian Dykes told analysts during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call that the company plans to reduce its operational workforce by 30,000 in 2026.

"This will be accomplished through attrition, and we expect to offer a second voluntary separation program for full-time drivers," Dykes said.

He told analysts that the company has identified 24 buildings for closure in the first half of 2026 and will continue to evaluate additional buildings for closure.

Verizon is selling 274 retail stores, affecting about 3,000 workers

Verizon said in July that it would transition 274 retail stores into franchise locations as part of ongoing changes at the telecom giant.

The company said about 2,500 retail workers and 500 corporate roles would be cut, and that typically around 70% of store employees accept jobs under the new franchisees.

The move comes two months after Verizon laid off several hundred corporate employees, or about 1% of its head count, as the company reallocates workers across its overall business.

Walmart said it would cut or relocate 1,000 corporate jobs

Walmart told employees on May 12 that it would cut or relocate about 1,000 corporate jobs to address redundancies and duplicate roles.

Suresh Kumar, Walmart's chief technology and development officer, and Daniel Danker, executive vice president of AI acceleration, product, and design, announced the changes in a memo.

"We've made changes to simplify how the work is organized, make ownership clearer, and better align roles to the work and skills we need going forward," the memo said.

The move follows Walmart's May 2025 decision to cut 1,500 corporate roles as part of an effort to "remove layers and complexity."

The company employed 2.1 million people as of January.

WiseTech is cutting 30% of its workforce

Logistics software maker Wisetech is cutting 2,000 jobs, or 30% of its staff, citing AI-driven efficiency gains.

In a conference call on February 25, CEO Zubin Appoo embraced AI and said that it means more productivity, in less time, and from fewer employees. The Sydney-based company employed about 7,000 people, according to its annual report released in October.

"I am prepared to say this clearly: the era of manually writing code as the core act of engineering is over," Appoo said. AI is "unlocking levels of efficiency gains across WiseTech that were previously out of reach."

Wix CEO said the company is set to cut 20% of its workforce

Wix, which provides website-building software, is reducing its workforce by 20%, the CEO told employees in a memo published on X on May 28.

The Israel-headquartered company employs about 5,300 workers.

CEO Avishai Abrahami cited the "fast evolution of AI capabilities" as a reason for the cuts and said the company needed to become a "faster, leaner, and flatter organization."

Workday is cutting jobs

Workday is cutting about 400 jobs, and said on February 4 that the move will help the enterprise software company redirect resources toward priority areas.

The layoffs will primarily affect customer-facing roles that are "non-revenue generating," Workday said in a regulatory filing.

The cuts represent roughly 2% of its workforce and are expected to result in about $135 million in charges in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in January.

Workday announced a larger round of layoffs about a year ago, citing the need to invest more heavily in strategic areas such as AI. The company reported about 20,600 employees as of late October.

Visa is cutting roughly 7% of its workforce

Global payment technology company Visa confirmed to Business Insider that it's cutting about 2,600 jobs.

That's roughly 7% of the company's employee footprint.

"To capture the opportunities ahead and best position Visa to lead this transformation, we must continue evolving how we work," CEO Ryan McInerney wrote to staff in an internal memo, according to Bloomberg. "AI is also helping to accelerate this evolution and shape the way work gets done at Visa."

Zillow cut 500 employees

Zillow CEO Jeremy Wacksman announced on August 4 that the company was cutting 500 employees as part of "organizational changes."

As of December, Zillow had around 7,000 employees, so the changes are affecting about 7% of its workforce.

"These changes are about ensuring we have a disciplined cost structure and getting more efficient, with the right people in the right positions," Wacksman said in a blog post.

Is your company conducting layoffs? Got a tip?

• A former Apple engineer said OpenAI uses AI "all over the place" in newly released texts.
• OpenAI released the messages as part of its defense against Apple's trade secrets lawsuit.
• Apple has accused OpenAI and former employees of stealing Apple's confidential information.

One notable detail to emerge from the brewing legal battle between Apple and OpenAI isn't about trade secrets at all — it's about workplace culture and internal AI use.

In a series of iMessages released Tuesday as part of OpenAI's public response to Apple's trade secrets lawsuit against it, a former Apple engineer-turned-OpenAI staffer at the center of the case suggested that working at OpenAI was markedly different from working at Apple.

"This place is crazy… hahahah we use Ai all over the place," Chang Liu said in a text message to one of his former Apple colleagues shortly after he left the iPhone maker earlier this year to join ChatGPT creator OpenAI.

Liu, who spent eight years at Apple as a senior system electrical engineer and is named among the defendants in Apple's lawsuit, said in another text made public by OpenAI: "This startup style company is a funny and will be very hard in a couple months😁😁."

The messages offer a rare glimpse into one engineer's inside perspective on Apple, a 50-year-old company, and OpenAI, a decade-old startup, as the tech companies race to build the next generation of AI.

The texts were among a collection of messages and emails that OpenAI published in a blog post titled "Apple is getting this wrong," as it defended itself against the company's lawsuit.

Apple's federal lawsuit accuses OpenAI, along with Liu and Tang Tan — a former Apple employee and current OpenAI hardware chief — of stealing Apple's confidential information.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of "exploiting Apple's confidential information to advance OpenAI's efforts to enter the consumer hardware market."

In the Tuesday blog post, OpenAI slammed Apple's July lawsuit as "careless, aggressive and oddly personal" and said, "We do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets."

"Apple accuses Chang Liu of accessing Apple confidential information after leaving the company, but only now admits that Apple employees reached out to him and asked for his help to locate this information," OpenAI wrote.

Beyond the legal fight, Liu's text messages underscore a seemingly broader contrast between Apple and OpenAI's internal approaches to artificial intelligence.

While Apple executives have publicly described AI as increasingly integrated across the company, they have offered relatively few details about how employees use large language models in their day-to-day work.

On an earnings call last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company sees AI "as one of the most profound technologies of our lifetime," adding, "We are embedding it across our devices and platforms and across the company."

OpenAI execs, on the other hand, have openly detailed how AI is integrated across the business. Former OpenAI chief product officer, Kevin Weil, said on "Lenny's Podcast" last year that company employees use AI "a lot."

"I mean, every one of us is in ChatGPT all the time summarizing docs, using it to help write docs with GPTs that write product specs and things like that — all the stuff that you would imagine," Weil said.

Representatives for OpenAI and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Business Insider on Tuesday.

• Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in July, accusing the AI lab of stealing trade secrets.
• OpenAI has denied wrongdoing. On Monday, the AI firm published a blog post saying the suit was "careless."
• Several voices across tech weighed in on the heavyweight back-and-forth.

OpenAI is clapping back against Apple's lawsuit.

On Monday, the AI company published a blog post titled "Apple is getting this wrong," accusing the iPhone maker of presenting a misleading account of the events behind its trade-secret lawsuit. OpenAI highlighted what it said were errors in Apple's legal correspondence and released messages that it said provided important context about the dispute.

"Apple is one of the greatest companies of all time, and built a reputation for obsessing over the smallest details," the post says. "This careless, aggressive and oddly personal lawsuit sadly doesn't live up to that reputation."

Apple sued OpenAI in July, alleging that the ChatGPT maker benefited from trade secrets taken by former Apple employees. The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that Chang Liu, a veteran Apple engineer, improperly retained and accessed confidential company information after leaving for the AI lab in January.

OpenAI — which is trying to develop its own hardware products — previously denied wrongdoing, saying it is not interested in Apple's secrets.

Monday's post takes the AI lab's defense a step further. It said that Apple employees reached out to Liu after he left for OpenAI in January and said Apple is "failing to properly manage system access when people leave."

Here is what smart people are saying about the post:

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX

Apple is seeking expedited discovery and a preliminary injunction, per Monday court filings. That suggests that the company believes other former employees may have retained or accessed confidential information after joining OpenAI.

Elon Musk, the outspoken Tesla and SpaceX CEO who lost a lawsuit against OpenAI and its leaders earlier this year, reposted screenshots of Apple's latest court filings on Tuesday.

"Can't trust OpenAI," he wrote.

Neil Cybart, Founder of Above Avalon

Neil Cybart, the founder of the independent Apple analysis firm Above Avalon, dismissed OpenAI's response in a post on X.

He described the post as "nonsensical" and accused OpenAI of using the classic "hey, look over there" strategy to draw attention away from Apple's central allegations.

"OpenAI must be really nervous about Apple's trade secret theft lawsuit because this silly attempt at PR spin is nonsensical," Cybart wrote.

Jim Cramer, host of CNBC's "Mad Money"

Jim Cramer, CNBC's host of "Mad Money," also commented on Apple's preliminary injunction in a post on X.

"Gloves off," he wrote.

Todd Dailey, former Apple enterprise marketing manager

Todd Dailey, a former Apple enterprise marketing manager who spent 22 years at the company according to his LinkedIn, said his own departure made OpenAI's statements about Apple's offboarding problems seem plausible.

On X, he wrote that he still had two unreleased Apple prototypes.

"Old Apple wouldn't have let an ex-employee hold a prototype for more than 24 hours and would have sent someone to my door to get it," Dailey wrote.

He said the experience reflected how stretched Apple's employees had become and made it easier to understand how the company's lawyers could have made mistakes in their correspondence with OpenAI.

"I'm not surprised at all that busy, harried lawyers could make this mistake," he wrote.

Harpal Singh, founder of Blimpp

Harpal Singh, the founder of the generative-engine-optimization platform Blimpp, told Business Insider that OpenAI's post was written to directly contradict Apple's account.

That tactic, he said, could affect how journalists, search engines, and AI tools describe the lawsuit.

"OpenAI is not just defending itself in court," Singh said. "It wants to present the narrative that journalists, search engines, and other AI Response Systems will mirror."

• I made Ina Garten's Greek orzo salad for my Greek parents.
• The salad features feta, orzo, chickpeas, kalamata olives, and red bell pepper.
• My parents loved the light and delicious dish, especially for the summer.

When I saw that Ina Garten had a Greek orzo salad, I knew my Greek parents had to try it.

My parents immigrated to the US from Greece in the 1980s, and they made sure to teach me about Greek culture through food. My dad made his delicious pastitsio (like lasagna, but better) every week, and whipped up avgolemono soup whenever one of us was sick. Every Christmas was celebrated with a big pan of baklava, and youvetsi was a dinner staple.

But my parents are always willing to try something new — they tested 15 different "Greek" products from Trader Joe's to see which tasted authentic! So, when I told them Garten had a Greek orzo salad, they were super excited.

Ina Garten's Greek orzo salad is packed with fresh ingredients.

To make Garten's Greek orzo salad, which serves six, you'll need:

• 1 cup of orzo (about 8 ounces)
• 1 cup of canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups of baby arugula
• 4 ounces of Greek feta, ½-inch diced (not crumbled)
• ½ cup of good olive oil
• ½ cup of diced red bell pepper (¼-inch)
• ½ cup of diced red onion (¼-inch)
• ½ cup of kalamata olives, pitted and halved lengthwise
• ¼ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus extra for serving
• 3 tablespoons of capers in brine, drained
• 3 tablespoons of minced fresh dill

Garten's Greek orzo salad, which appears in her cookbook "Go-To Dinners," was inspired by Round Swamp Farm, a third-generation family farm in East Hampton.

"Their prepared food and baked goods are simply outstanding," she writes. "This recipe was inspired by one of their salads; it has all the Greek ingredients that I love — orzo, olives, feta, lemon, and dill."

The first step to making Garten's salad is prepping the orzo.

I brought six cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan.

I added the orzo and one tablespoon of salt to my saucepan.

Once you've added the orzo, Garten says you should return the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for eight to 10 minutes.

You'll know it's ready when the orzo is al dente.

While my orzo cooked, I began cutting my veggies.

I diced the red onion and red bell pepper.

I prepped my chickpeas and capers.

I rinsed and drained the chickpeas and made sure to drain my capers.

I also halved my kalamata olives, minced the dill, and diced my feta cheese.

Garten's Greek orzo salad comes together quickly — the only real work is cutting the herbs and veggies!

It didn't take long to make the dressing.

I just whisked together the lemon juice and olive oil with two teaspoons of salt and one teaspoon of black pepper, and voilà! It was ready.

Once the orzo was ready, I drained and transferred it to a large bowl.

Now I could build the salad.

First, I poured the vinaigrette over the warm pasta.

I made sure to stir it well so the orzo would absorb all that delicious flavor.

Then I added the onion, bell pepper, and chickpeas.

Everything was already looking so colorful.

I topped it off with the dill, olives, capers, and feta, and mixed everything together.

I used two spoons to carefully combine all the ingredients.

I stirred in the arugula just before serving.

Garten says you can enjoy her salad either warm or at room temperature, but hold off on adding the arugula if you're making it the day before — no one likes soggy leaves in their salad!

Once you're ready to serve, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and taste for seasoning.

I should also note that Garten recommends serving this with sliced lemon. My parents didn't love the idea of whole lemon pieces in the salad, so we decided to nix them.

Garten's Greek orzo salad looked fresh and vibrant.

I always love serving a salad full of color, and Garten's Greek orzo salad has plenty.

The pop of red from the bell pepper, the fresh green from the arugula, and the bright purple from the onion all worked together to make a beautiful plate.

My parents looked impressed as I brought the salad to the dinner table. But would it taste as good as it looked?

Garten's Greek orzo salad was super delicious — and now my parents can't stop making it.

The orzo soaks up Mediterranean flavors familiar to any Greek — salty chunks of feta intertwining with the rich kalamata olives, the texture of crisp bell pepper and crunchy red onion dancing together, that pop of fresh lemon brightening every bite. There were so many different components to the salad, but everything was perfectly balanced.

My parents now love whipping up Garten's Greek orzo salad, and I'm not surprised. The dish tastes like something we would've eaten while watching the turquoise waves of the Aegean Sea during our summer trips to Greece.

"Ina must have been Greek in one of her previous lives," my mom declared.

• TikTok is pausing a test of a new dating feature that connected singles in live chat rooms.
• The feature lived in the "hangout" part of the app and was one of several multi-guest live options.
• Livestream blind dates have become popular in China, where TikTok's owner, ByteDance, was founded.

For a brief moment, we looked for love in a hopeless place: TikTok.

TikTok tested a new dating feature over the past week that thrust users into live group chats with other singles.

The tool lived in a section of the app called "hangout" that's tailored toward multi-guest experiences. It invited users who wanted to flirt to join chat rooms with "great people" or "awesome people to meet," according to different versions of the feature viewed by Business Insider.

TikTok's live dating option, which was made available to a subset of users in the US and a few other markets, is now being paused, a company spokesperson said, noting that TikTok often experiments with features that may not be broadly released.

During TikTok's brief dating stint, some of the chat rooms in the category seemed unrelated to courtship. Others viewed by Business Insider got raunchy. A user in one livestream encouraged viewers to comment in order to vibrate a "creator's XXL electric buttplug," for example. Another chat room was looking for lesbians seeking "big beautiful women."

The experience felt like an uncanny hodgepodge of Tinder, Twitch, Clubhouse, and Omegle.

TikTok's community guidelines limit livestream hosting to creators over the age of 18. It won't recommend "restricted content" to people between the ages of 13 and 17, and the company spokesperson said users wouldn't have had dating livestreams recommended to them unless they'd already followed the host creator.

Live dating is one of several experiments happening on TikTok, which regularly tests ways to drive up engagement and expand into new businesses beyond standard short-form videos. The company operates a full-service e-commerce platform and is casting for actors to make its own micro dramas, for instance.

TikTok's push into dating may have been inspired by activity on its sister app in China, Douyin. Livestream blind dates have become increasingly popular in the country, where digital matchmakers host sessions for singles on Douyin and competitor apps like RedNote. Features that take off on Douyin often end up on TikTok next.

Other US social-media platforms are also eyeing dating as a potential new business line.

Facebook launched an entire suite of dating features to compete with apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble. Partiful, a social network for planning events, also launched a dating feature in 2026. Other apps like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and even LinkedIn have sparked romance simply by offering chat features like comments or DMs.

Have a tip? Contact Sydney via email at sbradley@businessinsider.com or Signal at @sydneykbradley.123. Contact Dan at dwhateley@businessinsider.com or Signal at @danwhateley.94. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Hannah Valentine started flipping clothes in high school. It's now her full-time job.
• Her business helped her graduate from college with no student loan debt.
• She's made nearly $50,000 so far this year. She says her strategy has changed a lot over the years.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Hannah Valentine, 25, cofounder of Drop Soda Market, a monthly vintage market. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

I graduated from Lindenwood University with no student loan debt. After scholarships, my tuition cost about $4,000 to $6,000 a semester, and I paid for the final three years of my degree by reselling vintage clothes.

I started selling used clothes on Depop in 2017 as a sophomore in high school. At first, I listed pieces from my own closet that I no longer wore. They sold faster than I expected, so I started buying inventory from thrift stores and reselling it online.

I was already used to shopping secondhand because I was raised thrifting. Even now, after moving into my own apartment, almost everything in it — my couch, coffee table, side tables, entertainment center, and most of my furniture — is secondhand.

Since graduating, I've been able to devote more time to the business, and I've made about $48,000 in gross revenue so far this year.

Today, reselling is my full-time job

I spend about 12 hours a day sourcing vintage inventory, washing and repairing clothes, organizing pop-up markets, creating social media posts, and getting ready for the next event.

I don't rely on Depop the way I used to. About 98% of my income now comes from pop-up vintage markets because I've found they're a better use of my time.

During market season, I usually have one to three pop-up markets every weekend, where I can sell as many as 250 pieces in a day. I typically price clothing between $20 and $30 an item.

I try not to price anything below $20 because I spend time washing, repairing, and restoring many of the pieces before I sell them. Some of the clothes I find have stains, rips, or missing buttons, but I see their potential. I'll sew hems, replace buttons, repair zippers, and patch holes.

I have over 1,000 pieces of inventory at any given time, which I keep in my studio.

It takes up every waking moment, but I love running my own business, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I spend about $1,200 a month on inventory alone

I shop at garage sales, browse Facebook Marketplace, and sometimes get clothing from family friends, but I source most of my inventory from Goodwill Outlet stores.

You never know what you'll find in the bins at Goodwill. Sometimes I come across used diapers and bloody towels, so I always wear gloves. It's not the most glamorous part of the job, but digging through all of it is part of finding the pieces worth saving.

Goodwill charges by weight, which is now about $2.09 a pound. I remember when it cost less than $2 a pound, but like everything else, sourcing inventory has gotten more expensive.

Booth fees, which usually cost between $500 to $800, are my next biggest expense, especially when I travel.

When I drove to a market in Memphis recently, I paid for a booth, gas, a hotel, and enough inventory to stock it, which added up to about $1,000 before I made my first sale.

Every trip is a calculation: Will I break even? How much will I make? Is the drive worth it?

Learning what to buy took time

One of the biggest lessons I've learned is that knowing what will sell isn't something you gain overnight. It's knowledge that comes from spending years looking through racks of clothing.

One of my favorite brands to find is old Forever 21. Most people think of it as a modern fast-fashion retailer, but I love the pieces it made in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I also look for brands like XOXO, Bebe, Juicy Couture, Baby Phat, and Ed Hardy.

One of my best finds came from Facebook Marketplace, where I spotted a blurry listing for a vintage Donnybrook coat priced at $40, in great condition. The coat was especially sought after because Rihanna had worn the same style, so I displayed a photo of her wearing it alongside the coat at my booth. I sold it for $450 at a vintage market in Detroit.

I don't think we need to keep making so many new clothes

I've seen firsthand how much clothing is already out there. At the Goodwill Outlet stores, there are bales of clothes waiting to be put out.

Some people may be intimidated by reselling or think it's something that's gatekept, but I think the opposite: We need more people finding homes for clothes that already exist.

That's why I encourage people to shop secondhand whenever they can. Vintage isn't the only option — there are plenty of secondhand clothes that are practically new — and every purchase helps keep clothing in circulation instead of creating more waste.

AirPods deliver good sound quality, pair seamlessly with Apple devices, and have an iconic, sleek design. But choosing the right AirPods for your needs can be tricky, especially if you're not familiar with the newest models. That's where my team of audio reviewers comes in. We've spent hours testing all of Apple's latest headphones to rank the best AirPods for different needs.

The AirPods Pro 3 are the top AirPods for most people. They're Apple's most advanced earbuds, delivering powerful active noise cancellation (ANC), a secure in-ear fit, and helpful heart rate tracking for workouts. But if you're on a tighter budget, the AirPods 4 are a worthy entry-level option. They cut features like ANC, but still deliver solid performance and are often on sale for $99.

Below, you'll find a full breakdown of every current AirPods model with in-depth impressions based on extensive hands-on testing. We've detailed what sets Apple's headphones apart, to help you choose the best AirPods for your listening style and budget.

Our top picks for the best AirPods

Best overall: AirPods Pro 3 - See at Amazon

Best for an open fit: AirPods 4 with ANC - See at Amazon

Best on a budget: AirPods 4 without ANC - See at Amazon

Best for audiophiles: AirPods Max 2 - See at Amazon

Best overall

The AirPods Pro 3 are Apple's flagship wireless earbuds, and they're our pick for the best AirPods overall. This model offers a few improvements over the older AirPods Pro 2, including stronger noise cancellation, longer battery life, better water resistance, and new heart rate tracking. In nearly every way, the AirPods Pro 3 beat their predecessor and aced our tests.

Although they use the same custom driver as the Pro 2, Apple has refined the design for improved airflow. This results in a wider soundstage and deeper bass. Apple claims the Pro 3's active noise cancellation (ANC) is twice as powerful as before, and our testing confirmed a clear boost. They effectively block engine hum, vacuums, and subway noise — nearly matching the performance of our favorite noise-canceling earbuds, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2.

Like the Pro 2, the AirPods Pro 3 have an in-ear design, but they have a slightly updated shape. You also get five ear-tip sizes, including a new XXS option. However, our reviewer actually preferred the old shape of the Pro 2, as it fit a bit more tightly against their ear. Ultimately, fit varies by ear shape, but most users should be able to get a good seal.

Built-in heart rate tracking is a standout feature that's not available on other AirPods. Each earbud has a sensor that measures your heart rate, providing helpful workout data when paired with an iPhone. This is a great perk for users who don't already own a fitness tracker, such as an Apple Watch. Water resistance also jumps from IP54 to IP57, meaning the AirPods Pro 3 can handle sweat and brief submersion. If you're looking for the best AirPods to use during workouts, the Pro 3 are the buds to get.

Battery life now reaches eight hours with ANC enabled (up from six hours on the Pro 2), although total battery life drops slightly to 24 hours with the case (down from 30 hours). We think the longer single charge is the better tradeoff, but this is something to keep in mind.

The AirPods Pro 3 retain all of the Pro 2's hearing health features, which you won't get on standard AirPods. There's also a Live Translation function (which requires an iPhone with Apple Intelligence). However, that feature is also supported on the AirPods 4 with ANC, AirPods Pro 2, and AirPods Max 2.

Read our full Apple AirPods Pro 3 review.

Check out our guide to the best earbuds.

Best for an open fit

Apple's AirPods 4 are the brand's midrange earbuds. Unlike the AirPods Pro 3, they use a semi-open fit rather than an in-ear seal, which some people find to be more comfortable. You can choose between two versions: one without ANC for $129 and one with ANC and a wireless charging case for $179.

Both options deliver the same core audio performance and design, but the ANC model's noise-canceling feature and wireless charging case are useful perks for those willing to pay the extra money. Though the AirPods Pro 3 have benefits this model lacks, the AirPods 4 with ANC are an excellent midrange alternative, and they're the best AirPods for people who prefer an open fit.

Instead of having silicone tips that plug into your ears to create a full seal, the AirPods 4 ear tips rest just outside your ear canal. Although an in-ear seal allows the AirPods Pro 3 to deliver better sound quality and noise cancellation, some people dislike the constricted feeling of the tips in their ears.

The AirPods 4 offer a more open fit, and Apple has refined the design over previous models to ensure they stay securely in place across a variety of ear shapes. However, opinions remain divided on the comfort of open-ear AirPods, so it ultimately comes down to personal preference and ear size.

During our review, we were impressed by the earbuds' audio quality, which holds up well against other options in this price range. Noise-canceling performance is also solid, which is surprising, given that most open-fit earbuds struggle with ANC. The earbuds' transparency mode is also excellent for when you want to let in outside sound to stay aware of your surroundings. That said, the AirPods Pro 3 outperform the AirPods 4 at blocking out louder distractions, such as an airplane engine.

Read our full Apple AirPods 4 review.

Best on a budget

The standard AirPods 4 without ANC are the cheapest AirPods available. They retail for $129 and are often on sale for $99, cementing them as the best AirPods on a budget.

This model is essentially identical to the more expensive AirPods 4 with ANC, save for two key differences. This option lacks active noise cancellation, so it can't block ambient sounds or pass them through in transparency mode. Additionally, this version features a wired charging case instead of a wireless one.

Beyond those two limitations, the earbuds offer the same open-fit design, solid audio performance, and robust feature set as the more expensive version. This makes the AirPods 4 without ANC a good fit for casual listeners who don't want to pay more for noise cancellation.

For affordable earbud recommendations from other brands, check out our guide to the best budget headphones.

Best for audiophiles

The AirPods Max 2 are Apple's latest over-ear headphones. While other AirPods use an earbud-style design, the Max 2 use large padded cups and a sturdy headband. This over-ear design delivers the most impressive sound quality and noise cancellation in Apple's lineup. They also feature a premium build with metal components, making them ideal for anyone who values high-end style over portability.

The first-generation AirPods Max launched in December 2020, and this second-generation model hit stores in April 2026. The AirPods Max 2 feature the same physical design but incorporate a few small enhancements under the hood. They use Apple's more advanced H2 chip to improve ANC and enable features like Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, and Live Translation, which were missing from the original AirPods Max. Though owners of the first-gen model shouldn't rush to upgrade, the Max 2 are the better headphones.

The AirPods Max 2 also use a new high-dynamic-range amplifier that pairs with the device's custom 40mm drivers. In testing, this resulted in a subtle improvement in sound quality. Our reviewer was especially impressed by their spacious soundstage, and they delivered a more balanced profile than rivals such as the Sony WH-1000XM6 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2.

Noise-canceling performance is also exceptional and improved over the first-gen model. In fact, the AirPods Max 2 essentially matched the ANC power of Bose's industry-leading QC Ultra 2 headphones in our tests.

As with the first-generation model, the main drawbacks here are the headphones' weight and the included case. Though the premium metal design looks great, some people might find the Max 2 a bit heavy on their heads during extended listening. Meanwhile, the case doesn't fully protect the headphones. Instead, it just wraps around the ear cups. If you're looking for something more functional, check out our guide to the best AirPods Max accessories.

The AirPods Max 2 are also pricey, even compared to direct rivals. That said, we're already seeing regular $50 discounts at retailers like Amazon. Ultimately, if you're an Apple fan who wants top-tier sound in an over-ear design — and you're willing to splurge — these are the best AirPods you can buy.

Read our full Apple AirPods Max 2 review.

Check out our guide to the best over-ear headphones.

Apple AirPods, compared

What do AirPods offer that other earbuds don't?

AirPods stand out from other earbuds because of how seamlessly they work with other Apple products. Features like instant pairing, automatic switching between iPhone, iPad, and Mac, hands-free Siri, and Find My support are all tightly integrated at a level most competitors can't match. When paired with a compatible iPhone, certain AirPods also support features you won't find in other earbuds, including hearing health capabilities and Apple's Live Translation. Apple's noise cancellation is also among the most impressive on the market, rivaling top models from Bose and Sony.

How we test AirPods

To test the best AirPods, our audio reviewers evaluated performance across design, fit, sound quality, extra features, and ease of use. We listen to a diverse range of tracks across genres and from various sources, including many of the best music streaming services. For AirPods that support spatial audio, we also listen to Dolby Atmos tracks.

Likewise, if an AirPods model supports noise cancellation, we evaluate that feature in a real-world noisy environment, such as near heavy traffic outside, to test how well it reduces ambient noise. We also sample transparency modes to see how well the AirPods let in surrounding noise naturally.

For this guide, we focused on how each AirPods model compares to other AirPods to determine each model's strengths and weaknesses within Apple's headphones lineup. We also compared them to similar options from competing companies to gauge their performance against the best headphones from other brands.

Meet the expert behind this guide:

Steven Cohen, senior tech editor: I oversee tech buying guides for Business Insider's Reviews team, and I've been covering headphones for over a decade. My writers test earbuds year-round, including every new pair of AirPods Apple releases. I put this guide together based on our hands-on testing to help you figure out which AirPods actually make sense for you. While all of Apple's earbuds share some core features, certain models have advantages depending on how you listen. My goal is to break it all down so you can feel confident you're getting the right AirPods without paying for extras you'll never use.

Learn more about the Reviews team at Business Insider.

What to look for in AirPods

When choosing the right AirPods for your needs, consider price, sound quality, noise cancellation, and design.

Price: Apple's current lineup includes the AirPods 4 ($129), AirPods 4 with ANC ($179), AirPods Pro 3 ($249), and AirPods Max 2 ($549). Discounts are common, especially on the standard AirPods 4, which often dip to just under $100.

Sound quality: For earbuds, the AirPods Pro 3 offer the best overall audio performance. If you prefer over-ear headphones and don't mind paying more, the AirPods Max 2 are Apple's best-sounding option, period. The AirPods 4 sound solid, but their open-fit design leads to some audio leakage.

Noise cancellation: If ANC is a priority for you, consider the AirPods 4 with ANC, AirPods Pro 3, or AirPods Max 2. The Max 2 headphones block out the most noise thanks to their over-ear build, while the Pro 3 earbuds also perform impressively. The AirPods 4 with ANC offer the lightest noise cancellation of the group, but still do a decent job.

Design and fit: The AirPods Pro 3, AirPods 4, and AirPods 4 with ANC are all earbuds. The Pro 3 use an in-ear fit that creates a seal for better sound and stability. An in-ear design is great for performance, but not everyone loves the feel. The AirPods 4 use a semi-open design that sits just outside the ear canal, making them more comfortable for some but less effective for sound quality and ANC. For an entirely different experience, the AirPods Max 2 use an over-ear design with padded cups and a headband. They deliver the strongest performance but aren't nearly as portable as earbuds.

What are the top AirPods alternatives?

Apple's AirPods are popular headphones, but they may not be the ideal choice for all users. This is especially true if you plan to use your earbuds primarily with an Android phone or PC. Thankfully, many brands sell similar headphones that are less rigidly tied to the Apple ecosystem.

Some of our favorite AirPods alternatives include the Beats Fit Pro, Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, and Soundcore Liberty 4 NC. The Beats brand is actually owned by Apple, and the Fit Pro earbuds use the company's H1 chip, just like older AirPods. Meanwhile, the Powerbeats Pro 2 use the H2 chip and have heart rate tracking just like the AirPods Pro 3. Beats headphones also offer a more Android-friendly set of features and an Android app. The Soundcore earbuds are an affordable alternative to AirPods, priced under $100, and feature a stem-like design reminiscent of classic AirPods.

Check out our guide to the best AirPods alternatives for details on all of our picks. For earbuds geared more toward active use, visit our guides to the best running headphones and best headphones for working out.

AirPods FAQs

Do AirPods go on sale?

Although Apple rarely offers direct discounts on AirPods in its online or physical stores, the headphones often receive great deals from other retailers, such as Amazon. In fact, it's rare to find the AirPods 4 selling at full price on Amazon.

Based on typical street prices, we don't recommend paying more than $119 for the AirPods 4, $160 for the AirPods 4 with ANC, $229 for the AirPods Pro 3, or $509 for the AirPods Max 2.

The lowest price we've ever seen the AirPods 4 discounted to was $69; the AirPods 4 with ANC have dropped to $99; the AirPods Pro 3 have been $169; and the AirPods Max 2 have hit $399.

When will new AirPods be released?

Apple doesn't release new AirPods every year. Instead, the brand typically launches new earbuds every two to three years, with each model refreshed on its own schedule. Here's a closer look at when we can expect new versions of each model.

• AirPods: Apple's fourth-generation AirPods launched in September 2024 during the brand's iPhone 16 launch event. The release cycle for new AirPods is typically two to three years, so we don't expect another model until 2026 at the earliest.
• AirPods Pro: Apple released the first-generation AirPods Pro in 2019, followed by the second-generation in 2022 and the third-generation in September 2025. Another brand-new generation model is unlikely to launch this year, but a Bloomberg report indicates that an upgraded model with infrared cameras could be in the works. The cameras would be used to enable more AI functions.
• AirPods Max: Apple released the original AirPods Max in December 2020 and launched a refreshed Max model with USB-C charging and new colors in 2024. A second-generation model hit stores in April 2026.

• 63 movies released by US studios have grossed $1 billion or more at the box office.
• Using data from Box Office Mojo, we compiled a list of the highest-grossing movies worldwide.
• "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" is the latest film to join the elite club.

Don't let anyone tell you differently: Hollywood is powered by the box office.

For over a century, the movie business has entertained people around the globe by creating powerful stories that astound us and make us want to come back for more.

It has led to a collection of titles reaching the rarified $1 billion box office mark during their theatrical run.

This is where Marvel movies, Disney animation, and James Cameron reign supreme.

Here are the movies that have crossed the prized $1 billion mark at the box office, without adjusting for inflation.

Kirsten Acuna and Kim Renfro contributed to previous versions of this story.

63. "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" (2026)

Worldwide gross: $1,052,000,000

2026 is on a roll.

"Brand New Day" marks the fourth movie released in 2026 to cross the $1 billion mark.

Following the events of "No Way Home," which took in over $1.9 billion, Tom Holland returns as Spidey, who this time around must deal with his own inner turmoil as he faces off with New York's toughest villains.

62. "Jurassic World Dominion" (2022)

Worldwide gross: $1,001,978,080

Poor reviews didn't stop people from seeing the third "Jurassic World" outing.

It took over three months, but "Jurassic World Dominion" crossed $1 billion worldwide. The sequel likely crossed the number thanks in part to the original "Jurassic Park" cast returning to the big screen and teaming up with the newer "Jurassic World" cast in this entry.

61. "The Dark Knight" (2008)

Worldwide gross: $1,008,287,756

Back in July of 2008, people began speculating that Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" sequel starring Heath Ledger as the Joker might have the box-office power to set a world record.  "There are even whispers starting whether 'Dark Knight' can beat the incredible worldwide numbers posted by the all-time $1.8 billion benchmark of 'Titanic,'" Deadline reported.

At the time, the film broke several box-office records, including highest-grossing opening weekend, highest Friday midnight showings, and highest-opening day record. "TDK" went on to become the highest-grossing movie of 2008.

The film's successful viral marketing campaign and box-office performance really set the bar for what a superhero movie could be. Many consider it a blueprint for the success of superhero movies that came afterwards. Unfortunately, instead of DC catapulting into the stratosphere from here on out, Marvel took the lead, appearing on this list 10 times compared to DC's four.

60. "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" (2026)

Worldwide gross: $1,011,157,101

"Galaxy" marks the first $1 billion-plus earner of 2026.

Following the hit original, 2023's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," which you'll find further down this list, Nintendo and Universal teamed up for a sequel that expands the Mario Bros. universe.

Now that both "Mario" movies have crossed the $1 billion mark, the franchise is on its way to becoming one of the most lucrative animated series in Hollywood.

59. "Michael" (2026)

Worldwide gross: $1,016,068,388

"Michael," which stars Michael Jackson's nephew Jaafar as the King of Pop, is now the highest-grossing biopic of all time.

58. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012)

Worldwide gross: $1,017,453,991

When Peter Jackson's first "Hobbit" movie crossed the $1 billion mark, it looked like a good indication that the subsequent two sequels would perform equally well, if not better, at the box office.

But neither of the second two "Hobbit" films wound up crossing that box-office landmark. Both "The Desolation of Smaug" and "Battle of the Five Armies" grossed around $960,000,000 each.

57. "Alice In Wonderland" (2010)

Worldwide gross: $1,025,468,216

When Tim Burton's take on the original Disney classic hit $1 billion at the box office in 2010, it was only the sixth ever film to do so. In the years since, more than 20 other films have joined the club — but the sequel to this live-action "Alice In Wonderland" was not among them. 2016's "Alice Through the Looking Glass" grossed over $299 million worldwide. 

56. "Zootopia" (2016)

Worldwide gross: $1,025,521,689

"Zootopia" became a surprise hit for Walt Disney Animation. At the time, it set a record for the biggest animated March opening weekend of all time.

55. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2001)

Worldwide gross: $1,028,496,499

Nineteen years after its initial 2001 release, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" managed to cross the $1 billion mark only after it was given a theatrical re-release in China.

Deadline reported that the movie had grossed $13.6 million over the course of three-days after it was released in theaters with a "remastered 4K 3D" version. It's the second movie in the "Harry Potter" franchise to gross more than $1 billion. 

54. "Finding Dory" (2016)

Worldwide gross: $1,029,266,989

Moviegoers flocked back to theaters in the summer of 2016 for Disney Pixar's "Finding Nemo" sequel. It was the second animated feature of 2016 to pass the $1 billion mark ("Zootopia" is the other).

At the time, the box-office numbers also made "Finding Dory" the fifth highest-grossing animated movie of all time. 

53. "Despicable Me 3" (2017)

Worldwide gross: $1,034,800,131

"Despicable Me 3" was a sleeper hit of 2017. With the return of Gru, Lucy, and of course the Minions, this is the second movie in the franchise to gross over one billion dollars. The introduction of "South Park" co-creator Trey Parker as a new villain was a smart move.

52. "Lilo & Stitch" (2025)

Worldwide gross: $1,038,027,526

Disney's live-action remake genre followed the dud of "Snow White" with this major success.

Along with hitting the billion mark, the movie also broke the Memorial Day opening weekend box office record with $341.7 million worldwide.

51. "Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace" (1999)

Worldwide gross: $1,046,515,409

"The Phantom Menace" was the first "Star Wars" movie to earn $1 billion, thanks to its 3D re-release in theaters 13 years after the original debut. Without that second surge of ticket purchases, the film would have stayed under $1 billion along with the original three movies.

50. "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" (2011)

Worldwide gross: $1,046,721,266

There are four total "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies in the franchise — and two of them have joined the billion-dollar club. "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" sits behind the "Dead Man's Chest" installment of this Disney franchise.

49. "Aladdin" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,054,304,000

Like many of the Disney live-action versions of animated classics, "Aladdin" did very well at the box office. "Aladdin" became one of Disney's record-breaking seven movies to hit $1 billion in 2019.

48. "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (2016)

Worldwide gross: $1,058,684,742

"Rogue One" cemented its place in the "Star Wars" franchise by raking in $1 billion just 39 days after its global release. The spinoff became the fourth and final movie of 2016 to make $1 billion at the box office. All four billion-dollar movies of 2016 were Disney releases.

47. "Moana 2" (2024)

Worldwide gross: $1,059,242,164

In the sequel, Moana and Maui reunite to reconnect the people of the ocean by seeking out a lost island.

46. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006)

Worldwide gross: $1,066,179,747

Back in 2006, when the sequel to Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" hit theaters, it took just three months for the movie to make $1 billion at the box office. At that time, it was the third ever film to do so.

45. "Toy Story 5" (2026)

Worldwide gross: $1,067,037,629

Pixar does it again!

The beloved animation studio released another memorable tale from the "Toy Story" franchise in the summer of 2026. This time, Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of the gang have to face their biggest competition yet: The tablet.

44. "Toy Story 3" (2010)

Worldwide gross: $1,067,316,101

The third movie in the "Toy Story" franchise crossed the $1 billion mark in 2010 and made Disney history as Pixar's highest-grossing film of all time. The success of "Toy Story 3" helped push a fourth movie into Disney's animated movie plan.

43. "Toy Story 4" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,073,841,394

With "Toy Story 4" also crossing this milestone, Disney became the first movie studio to create seven billion-dollar movies in a single year. The movie joined its Disney comrades "Captain Marvel," "Aladdin," "Avengers: Endgame," "The Lion King," "Frozen II," and "The Rise of Skywalker."

CEO Bob Iger recently announced a fifth "Toy Story" movie is in the works.

42. "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,077,022,372

The ninth episode in the "Star Wars" Skywalker saga, "The Rise of Skywalker," crossed the $1 billion mark on Tuesday, January 14.

As reported by Variety, it took this film 28 days to hit this milestone, while "The Force Awakens" did it in 12 days and "The Last Jedi" managed it in 19 days.

41. "Joker" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,078,958,629

This DC comic movie is the first R-rated movie to ever make $1 billion at the box office. Deadline announced the milestone, which came about six weeks after the movie premiered worldwide.

Marvel's "Deadpool" star Ryan Reynolds snarkily congratulated "Joker" on becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.

40. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)

Worldwide gross: $1,085,199,115

Christopher Nolan's follow-up to "The Dark Knight" had became the 13th film in history to reach $1 billion in 2012. This achievement was remarkable, especially given concerns that the movie's success would be dampened after the Aurora theater shooting took place during a midnight screening of the film.

39. "Jurassic Park" (1993)

Worldwide gross: 1,103,096,466

Similar to "The Phantom Menace," a 3D re-release is responsible for putting "Jurassic Park" over the edge and into the $1 billion club. "Jurassic Park" wasn't originally released in China in 1993, according to a report from The Wrap. But the 20th anniversary international re-release included China — and the difference in ticket sales showed.

A few more pandemic re-releases in 2020 and 2022 helped send it up the chart even more.

38. "Transformers: Age of Extinction" (2014)

Worldwide gross: $1,105,261,713

Ah yes, the unstoppable box-office power of the "Transformers" franchise. According to The Wrap, "Age of Extinction" (the fourth movie) was made specifically with international audiences in mind — and it paid off. Almost a third of the total box-office revenue came from China alone.

37. "Skyfall" (2012)

Worldwide gross: $1,108,594,137

At the time of its release, "Skyfall" was Sony's highest-grossing movie worldwide and the first Bond movie to surpass $1 billion at the box office. It became the second highest-grossing film of 2012 (behind "Avengers").

It also helped that Adele recorded a banger of a theme song for the film, which won the Academy Award for best original song.

36. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" (2011)

Worldwide gross: $1,123,794,079

The third "Transformers" movie was Paramount's first film to reach $1 billion at the box office. Similar to "Age of Extinction," the boost in ticket sales came largely from international movie audiences. This was the last "Transformers" movie which starred Shia LaBeouf. 

35. "Captain Marvel" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,131,416,446

And here we begin with the seemingly unstoppable success of Marvel universe movies. Just over three weeks after its release date and record-breaking opening weekend, "Captain Marvel" crossed the billion-dollar mark for global box office sales.

34. "Spider-Man: Far From Home" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,132,723,226

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of this new milestone for the Spider-Man franchise as "Spider-Man: Far From Home" crossed the one-billion mark less than a month after its US premiere on July 2.

33. "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003)

Worldwide gross: $1,139,431,705

People came out in droves for the final installment of Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. After only 10 weeks in theaters, "Return of the King" became the second movie ever in history to make $1 billion ("Titanic" was the first in 1997). The film went on to break an Academy Award record by sweeping all 11 categories for which it was nominated. 

The film's 2021 re-release in theaters during the pandemic in nine markets, including China, helped move it a few spots up this list.

32. "Aquaman" (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1,152,028,393

"Aquaman" became the first DC superhero movie to make $1 billion dollars at the box office. The movie was already breaking records in China before it had opened in the US in early December, and clearly it was all up from there.

A sequel is set for December 2023 with Amber Heard reportedly in a pared-down role.

31. "Captain America: Civil War" (2016)

Worldwide gross: $1,155,046,416

"Captain America: Civil War" was a blockbuster hit in 2016, and the first movie of that year to rake in $1 billion. The wild success of Cap's third outing came from it playing more like an Avengers film thanks to a large superhero roster, including Iron Man, and the introduction of Tom Holland's Spider-Man.

30. "Minions" (2015)

Worldwide gross: $1,159,457,503

The 2015 prequel to "Despicable Me" focused only on the overall-wearing Minions the world had come to love. People clearly appreciated the yellow henchman's standalone film, since neither of the two "Despicable Me" movies have breached $1 billion. 

29. "Iron Man 3" (2013)

Worldwide gross: $1,215,577,205

Tony Stark swept away comic fans with the third movie of his trilogy, "Iron Man 3." It only took 23 days in the box office for the film to hit $1 billion. If anyone doubted the power of Robert Downey Jr.'s  success as Iron Man, this movie, which grossed nearly double of the actor's second solo outing as the character, was the final confirmation of his vital role in Marvel's franchise.

28. "The Fate of the Furious" (2017)

Worldwide gross: $1,236,009,236

In April 2017, the eighth movie in "The Fast and the Furious" franchise joined the billion-dollar club.  Clearly Vin Diesel's creative control of these action-packed movies is paying off along with its diverse cast. This is the second movie from the franchise to make more than $1 billion.

27. "Incredibles 2" (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1,243,225,667

Despite the 14-year gap between the first Pixar original movie "The Incredibles" and its sequel, the critically acclaimed "Incredibles 2" created a new record as fastest animated film to gross $1 billion at the box office.

26. "Beauty and the Beast" (2017)

Worldwide gross: $1,266,115,964

Also in April 2017, Walt Disney Studios announced that its live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast" had officially passed the $1 billion mark for global box-office sales. Its total revenue makes "Beauty and the Beast" the highest-grossing film of 2017.

25. "Frozen" (2013)

Worldwide gross: $1,285,319,131

"Frozen" maintained the top spot for the highest-grossing animated feature of all time until the release of its sequel in 2019. The film joined the billion dollar club in the same week it nabbed two Oscars. 

After its initial release, it became Walt Disney Pictures' third highest-grossing film of all time. According to Deadline, the film earned a profit of over $400 million for Disney.

24. "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1,310,469,037

The second installment in Universal's rebooted "Jurassic Park" trilogy had an impressive opening weekend and then quickly grossed $1 billion after two weeks. 

23. "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" (2017)

Worldwide gross: $1,334,407,706

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" crossed the $1 billion mark just three weeks after its release. This second installment in the new franchise made $500 million in its first weekend alone — though "The Force Awakens" still holds the record for biggest "Star Wars" opening weekend of all time with $529 million.

22. "Deadpool & Wolverine" (2024)

Worldwide gross: $1,338,073,645

The team-up no one thought was possible turned out to be a cash cow.

Along with breaking opening weekend records with its over $440 million take, its worldwide total gross makes it the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.

21. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two" (2011)

Worldwide gross: $1,342,505,340

Following the trend of some other franchises in our top list, the final "Harry Potter" film was the only one of the bunch that raked in $1 billion or more until "Sorcerer's Stone" was given a theatrical release in China.

20. "Black Panther" (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1,349,926,083

"Black Panther" crossed this milestone in just 26 days after breaking the record for best February opening weekend of all time. This movie was the 16th Disney film to gross over one billion dollars. 

19. "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" (2023)

Worldwide gross: $1,360,879,735

Universal Pictures' adaptation of the Nintendo game crossed $1 billion in just 26 days, making it the first film of 2023 to cross the threshold and the studio's seventh-largest film.

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is the fifth film released during the pandemic to hit $1 billion theatrically and the first animated movie to do so.

18. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015)

Worldwide gross: $1,405,018,048

"Transformers," "The Dark Knight," and "Pirates of the Caribbean" are three franchises which each have two movies in the billion dollar club — and you can add "The Avengers" to that list.

The 2015 follow-up ensemble movie added James Spader as the terrifying new villain, and (surprising no one) "Age of Ultron" opened in the number one spot around the world.

17. "Barbie" (2023)

Worldwide gross: $1,447,138,421

Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" has been unstoppable in theaters since its release. Not only did the film earn 2023's highest-grossing domestic opening weekend, but it also contributed to the fourth-largest box-office weekend of all time.

When it crossed the billion-dollar mark in 17 days, Gerwig became the first solo female director to have a movie cross that threshold. Every other $1 billion movie directed by a woman has a male codirector.

"Barbie" is now the highest-grossing movie of 2023.

16. "Frozen II" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,453,683,476

The highly-anticipated sequel to the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, 2013's "Frozen," easily surpassed the box-office gross of its predecessor. "Frozen II" became Disney's sixth (out of seven total) movies to cross $1 billion in 2019 after 24 days.

A third "Frozen" movie is currently in the works.

15. "Avatar: Fire & Ash" (2025)

Worldwide gross: $1,485,999,890

Like the two films before it, James Cameron's third movie in his "Avatar" franchise has hit the billion-dollar milestone.

Movies directed by Cameron show up three more times on this list. No director has had as many billion-dollar-grossing movies as Cameron.

14. "Top Gun: Maverick" (2022)

Worldwide gross: $1,495,696,292

The highest-grossing movie of Tom Cruise's career, the sequel to the 1986 film crossed $1 billion in just 31 days.

13. "Furious 7" (2015)

Worldwide gross: $1,515,342,457

"Furious 7" broke records when it raced past the $1 billion box-office mark in just 17 days. As Entertainment Weekly reported "that makes 'Furious' 7 the fastest live-action film to reach that number." But two other 2015 movies (coming later on our list) eventually bumped it to third place.

This was the last "Fast and Furious" movie to include Paul Walker, which some believe helped boost box-office numbers.

12. "Marvel's The Avengers" (2012)

Worldwide gross: $1,520,538,536

The first "Avengers" movie brought together an all-star cast of comic book heroes — and Marvel's efforts were rewarded at the box office. The film passed $1 billion in ticket sales in just 19 days — which means it's tied for third place in the list of fastest grossing movies alongside "Avatar" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two."

11. "The Lion King" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,662,020,819

"Jurassic World" broke all sorts of records. It bumped "Furious 7" out of the number one spot for fastest movie to make $1 billion when it broke the record in only 13 days. At the time it also stunned box-office analysts with the highest-grossing opening weekend of all time, besting "Marvel's The Avengers," with $208.8 million. Worldwide, it opened to over $500 million, making it the first movie to ever crack that number opening weekend. 

That record didn't last long, however.

10. "Jurassic World" (2015)

Worldwide gross: $1,671,537,444

"Jurassic World" broke all sorts of records. It bumped "Furious 7" out of the number one spot for fastest movie to make $1 billion when it broke the record in only 13 days. At the time it also stunned box-office analysts with the highest-grossing opening weekend of all time, besting "Marvel's The Avengers," with $208.8 million. Worldwide, it opened to over $500 million, making it the first movie to ever crack that number opening weekend. 

That record didn't last long, however.

9. "Inside Out 2" (2024)

Worldwide gross: $1,698,863,816

After relegating titles like "Luca" and "Turning Red" to direct-to-streaming releases during the pandemic, which led to frustration and low morale within the company, Pixar is back on top.

"Inside Out 2" hit the $1 billion global mark in 19 days, the fastest ever for an animated movie. It's also the only movie released in 2024 that has crossed the $1 billion mark.

We wouldn't be shocked if Pixar is already crafting another sequel for Joy, Anxiety, and all of Riley's other feelings.

8. "Zootopia 2" (2025)

Worldwide gross: $1,866,647,950

Some sequels can get hurt at the box office for coming out so long after the original. Not this Disney title.

Released almost a decade after the first "Zootopia" movie, audiences rushed back to watch Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps go on another case.

After opening with a huge $559.5 million global take, making it the biggest global opening for an animated movie ever, it hit the $1 billion mark in just 17 days, becoming the second 2025 release to hit the billion milestone (the other being Disney's "Lilo & Stitch").

7. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (2021)

Worldwide gross: $1,921,426,073

Spider-Man broke the pandemic curse. "No Way Home" became the first film since 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker" to cross $1 billion at the box office. The Tom Holland-starring film crossed $1 billion in just 12 days and become the highest-grossing movie of 2021.

According to Forbes, it's only the fifth film to cross $1 billion without a China release. If it ever does open there, it will likely cross $2 billion. 

6. "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018)

Worldwide gross: $2,052,415,039

The third "Avengers" film broke the all-time world record with a $630 million opening weekend, proving the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise is stronger than ever. By mid-June, "Avengers: Infinity War" became only the fourth movie to ever crack the two-billion dollar ceiling as well.

5. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (2015)

Worldwide gross: $2,071,310,218

The seventh movie in the "Star Wars" franchise broke the "Jurassic World" records when box-office numbers tallied $1 billion after only 12 days. And it didn't stop there — "The Force Awakens" went on rake in more than $2 billion, solidifying its number four spot on our list and becoming the highest-grossing "Star Wars" movie of all time.

4. "Titanic" (1997)

Worldwide gross: $2,264,812,968

More than two decades since its release, James Cameron's "Titanic" is holding steady as one of the biggest box-office hits of all time. The movie made around $1.8 billion during its initial 1997 release and then topped $2 billion after it was rereleased in 3D in honor of the 100-year anniversary of the iconic ship's sinking.

3. "Avatar: The Way of Water" (2022)

Worldwide gross: $2,343,477,301

Two weeks after its premiere in movie theaters, Cameron's first "Avatar" sequel had already grossed more than $1 billion at the box office, a rare feat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It then became the second-fastest movie to cross $2 billion in just 39 days.

While discussing the digital release of "Avatar: The Way of Water," out March 28, producer Jon Landau told Insider he and Cameron wondered if the sequel to the 2009 film would reach the number "Titanic" crossed at the box office.

"I was never nervous that people would lose interest because I didn't think they needed to have interest. I thought we were making a new movie," Landau said when asked if he was nervous that audiences may lose interest in an "Avatar" sequel after waiting more than a decade for it.

"I looked at this almost like an original piece of content that happened to be with known characters in a known world, but we were showing them in a new way. So I was nervous about how the movie would do because when you stop being nervous, you stop caring. But I was never worried," Landau added of the movie's strong box-office performance.

2. "Avengers: Endgame" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $2,799,439,100

Marvel's major endcap to its run of 22 comic-book-based films broke the record for the fastest movie to reach $1 billion dollars in international box-office totals.

On the Sunday of its opening weekend, Disney estimated "Avengers: Endgame" had made $1.2 billion within the first five days of its global debut. 

It became the highest-grossing movie of all time until Disney rereleased "Avatar" in China in 2021.

1. "Avatar" (2009)

Worldwide gross: $2,923,710,708

With close to $3 billion in box-office revenue, Cameron's "Avatar" was miles ahead of other films on the list.

Disney's epic Marvel adventure "Avengers: Endgame" knocked it out of the top spot in the summer of 2019.

However, "Avatar" retook the top spot when Disney (which now owns the rights after the Fox acquisition) rereleased the film in China in spring 2021.

• My in-laws moved next door to us five years ago, and they've been incredibly helpful to our family.
• As nice as it is to have their grandparents steps away, my kids have had to learn boundaries.
• My husband and I have struggled with establishing our own autonomy, but we're working on it.

When my husband and I bought our house in 2019, the real-estate agent knew the house two doors down from us would eventually be up for sale.

My husband and I joked that his parents would buy it when it was.

Two years later, it was listed — and they did (after asking permission from my husband and me, who greenlit their purchase before they even made an offer).

I am fully aware I wouldn't have to look hard to find someone saying you couldn't pay them enough to live next to their in-laws, but I never felt that way and have a good relationship with mine.

My husband and I lived with his parents for 15 months after I graduated from college, and that arrangement gave me no reason to think living two doors down would do more harm than good.

Compared to the 20 feet apart we used to sleep, 200 yards seemed massive. Plus, we knew that it'd be nice to live near family when we eventually had kids of our own.

For the past five years, living in such close proximity has certainly had perks — but it's come with some unique challenges, too.

There are many benefits to having family so close by

My in-laws have devoted hundreds of hours to the care of our home in the form of yardwork (including cutting down entire trees) and house projects. Honestly, they have paid for a lot, too.

We are beyond appreciative for all of the help we get from them, often without having to ask.

They've also helped us avoid extra expenses by caring for our pets when we're away. In the last five years, this has probably saved my husband and me thousands of dollars.

When we're in a tough spot, it's also been great to be able to rely on our in-laws for help with our two children.

Both my husband and I work full-time in corporate jobs, and our kids attend a local day care five days a week. With the staggering tuition comes the inevitable fevers lasting over 24 hours, snotty noses, and stomach viruses out of nowhere.

When one of our kids has to skip day care, we can usually work from home and switch off as needed. There have been a handful of times when we have had in-person meetings or one of us is traveling while a child is home sick, though.

In these instances, being able to get a couple of hours of help from my in-laws in the middle of the workday is crucial to help us meet our deadlines and maintain our sanity.

If either my husband or I is out of town, a grandparent is usually available and more than happy to offer an extra set of hands at bedtime, too.

Between a 5-year-old and a 2½-year-old with different bedtimes, maybe a sleep regression or two, just having someone to sit downstairs to entertain the older one is crucial to getting the little one to sleep without 15 interruptions and an outburst.

Our jobs are demanding, our work schedules can get hectic, and we both live 50 minutes from the office. I don't know how any couple handles having kids and two full-time jobs without family nearby.

My husband and I would not be able to do what we do without the help of his parents.

Plus, my kids are beyond lucky to be able to have such a good relationship with their grandparents. They have their own playroom in their house and can regularly have dinner with them.

For them, I would imagine this setup feels an awful lot like living next door to a candy store.

Still, living next door to family comes with undeniable challenges

When my in-laws bought the house next door, we established a verbal agreement among the four of us, which we jokingly refer to as "The Accords."

The rules are light and mostly for show, but they do help maintain a foundation of healthy boundaries. For example, neither of us can just walk into the other's house. At minimum, you have to knock.

Also in "The Accords" is the understanding that either of us can sell our home and move at any time, no permission required from the other party.

The intent of The Accords is to respect one another.

Some decisions warrant a conversation as an extension of that respect, like me writing this piece, which directly involves and affects them. My husband, in-laws, and I spoke about it in advance, since it's about our relationship. I shared my (very edited) draft with them, too.

Other decisions, like me getting a leg-sleeve tattoo, do not warrant input from extended family, whether they're neighbors or not.

My husband and I have also had to work hard to set boundaries for our children, since they love their grandparents and want to be with them every single day.

We have had five-minute walks end in an hourlong scream-fest because we said we weren't visiting the grandparents that evening.

We've also had to explain to our kids that they can't walk down the street without asking, even if their grandparents are outside or their cars are in the driveway.

Ultimately, finding autonomy and setting boundaries has been important for all of us

My husband and I didn't have much practice establishing our own autonomy before his parents moved in next door. So, finding our rhythm as our own family was a much bigger adjustment than either of us had anticipated.

I've already had to teach my young kids about the limits of property lines and front doors, and the lack of mental capacity (or obligation) on mom's part to manage more schedules than my own family's.

I also had to set a boundary for myself and my kids that I am not going to text or call my in-laws every day to ask if they are home, want to come over, or if the children can go over and play.

It's not my responsibility to track when they will be home or not, as they have their own lives. I have to have faith in my in-laws that, when they are available to see the kids, they will reach out.

Still, I imagine not many children have their grandparents just 150 steps from their home — and my kids don't know life any other way.

As hard as it can be to set boundaries, it's something we've had to learn to do so we can be independent adults and trust our ability to be the best parents for our kids.

• Interior designer Brooke Lang told Business Insider about things she'd never have in her home.
• The designer avoids overly distressed furniture pieces, harsh lighting, and laminate floors.
• She also said acrylic furniture and open kitchen shelving are too impractical.

Home design can be tough when you don't have the knowledge and skills of a professional.

So, for inspo, we asked Brooke Lang, the principal designer at Brooke Lang Design, about the things she would never have in her own home and why.

Here's what the designer, who has over 15 years of experience, said.

Lang avoids shiplap in her space.

The rustic trend, which features wood paneling on interior walls, has some style benefits. However, the designer said, it's overdone and dated.

"It's also impractical — if a piece of shiplap gets damaged, it can be difficult and expensive to fix depending on the extent of the damage," she told BI.

If you want to lean into a more rustic home design, Lang recommends limewash paint, which has a streaky effect.

"Limewash gives you the opportunity to add dimension with different brushstroke patterns that give your walls an old-world, vintage feel," she said.

Matching furniture sets can lack character.

You may want to skip buying the bedroom-set bundle and the coffee table that perfectly matches the TV console. The matchy-matchy design trend can lack character and come off as boring.

"Mismatched, eclectic decor allows for your personal style to really come through in your home's design," the designer said.

It can also save you money in the long run by giving you more flexibility with where to shop.

Don’t go overboard with precious antiques.

Vintage decor can add personality to your home — and typically features better craftsmanship. However, Lang said, too many antiques can make a space feel dated and unlivable.

"I like to integrate vintage items sparingly while mixing and matching with modern decor," she told BI. "It's a great way to keep your favorite one-of-a-kind pieces without dating your space."

Open shelving in the kitchen is usually impractical.

Open kitchen shelving is a trend that's slowly dying out.

"Unless you have uniform plates, glassware, and bowls that are perfectly positioned, open shelving isn't realistic or practical," she said. "It's also an easy way for your kitchen items to collect dust."

If you want to refresh your kitchen, the designer recommends painting or updating the hardware on your existing cabinetry.

Lang said acrylic furniture should stay in the '60s.

"I would never put acrylic furniture in my home," Lang said. "On top of being a trend that should stay in the 1960s, acrylic isn't as durable as other materials, and small cracks or scratches can't be easily repaired."

Whether you're looking for a vintage coffee table or a new set of dining chairs, she recommends choosing wood or marble instead for a more timeless look.

Harsh lighting can make your space feel unwelcoming.

Lang said warm lighting is essential for making your space feel cozy and truly like home.

"Harsh lighting can make your space feel sterile," she said. "So I recommend replacing fluorescent bulbs with soft white or incandescent bulbs, which emit a warm, golden light."

Wall hangings with text and inspirational quotes don't do much for a space.

"Wall hangings and decor featuring inspirational quotes — or really any words at all — is a trend synonymous with the modern-farmhouse look we should collectively leave behind," Lang told BI.

The designer recommends looking for something more original, such as prints of landscapes, vintage oil paintings, or even colorful abstract artwork, to create contrast in a room.

Overly distressed furniture has seen its heyday.

Another modern-farmhouse trend she avoids is distressed furniture.

Some rustic touches are OK, Lang said, but large pieces of furniture with faux wear and tear can overwhelm a space.

For a more modern take, the designer recommends choosing pieces with raw finishes and natural textures, such as jute, bouclé, and linen.

Toss out your paper window shades.

Although paper shades are helpful when you're moving into a new home, Lang said, they aren't great for long-term use.

Fortunately, there are plenty of affordable window treatments you can buy to elevate your space — and some simple ways to make them look more expensive.

"A trick I like to tell my clients is to invest in high-quality curtain rods and rings to make your curtains look higher-end," she added.

Tufted sofas can be way too bulky.

According to Lang, a tufted sofa — typically featuring buttons sewn into diamond or square patterns — is too bulky and can make a space feel crowded.

"Instead, I recommend going for something that is lighter and provides more flow to your living room, such as a sculptural or curved sofa," she told BI.

After all, she said, a properly proportioned couch can make the space feel more inviting and visually pleasing.

Small living-room rugs can make the space feel messy.

Lang said rugs that are too small can make a room feel unbalanced.

"I like to think of a rug as the anchor of a living room," she said. "It's meant to ground the seating area and be the focal point that draws people in."

Her general rule of thumb is that it should either be big enough to fit two legs of each piece of furniture or at least 6 inches wider than the length of the sofa on each side.

The designer also avoids laminate floors in her home.

"If you're lucky enough to purchase a home that has original flooring, absolutely do not replace it with laminate flooring," Lang said.

If the hardwood flooring needs a little love, you can have it refinished.

Lang said refinishing hardwood is a manageable DIY project that will pay off in the long run. It can also add value to your home if you ever want to resell.

This story was originally published in January 2024 and most recently updated on August 4, 2026.

Click to keep reading other things interior designers say they would (or would never) have in their own space.

• Aswath Damodaran, the "Dean of Valuation," sees pain coming for some AI stocks.
• The corporate finance expert said he believed the market had already passed "peak AI."
• He sees a correction unfolding in the next few months, which could hit smaller firms in the space the hardest.

The "Dean of Valuation" has another warning for AI investors.

Aswath Damodaran, a New York University professor who specializes in corporate finance, sees a troubling path ahead for one group of stocks that are part of broader AI trade. Speaking to CNBC on Monday, he issued a warning for the shares of smaller artificial intelligence companies, which he thinks could be hit the hardest in a correction in the broader AI trade.

Damodaran said he believed the market likely hit "peak AI" several months ago, explaining why some AI stocks have sold off sharply in recent weeks as investors rotate into other areas of the market.

Investors spent much of July rushing for the exits in memory and chip stocks. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) is down 36% from its recent peak, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) has fallen 22% from its recent high.

But the true danger lies ahead for smaller players in the AI trade, Damodaran said, as those companies lack the financial buffers needed to weather the coming decline in the AI trade.

"My bet is that we hit peak AI a few months ago, and that there will be more consolidation and correction in the months ahead," Damodaran said. "I think when you see a shakeout in the AI space, it's not so much the Mag Seven we should be watching, but the lesser companies."

AI firms have started to rebound as investors pile back into beaten-down tech stocks. The Dow and S&P 500 hit fresh records this week, thanks largely to a risk-on move as investors rotate back into tech.

The move higher is largely due to FOMO rather than fundamentals, Damodaran said.

"People say, 'Hey, now I have a chance to have an AI company in the space.' I wouldn't put it deeper than that," he said.

Damodaran called hyperscalers — the cluster of tech giants that spend the most on AI — the "most protected" companies in the space, due to abundant cash flow and the ability to carry large amounts of debt. Still, he raised concerns that large AI companies were becoming more indebted while seeing a low return on AI capex.

"Unless they start delivering earnings commensurate with the tens of billions of invested in capex, you're going to see a very different kind of company emerging from the mix," he said. "Nothing wrong with that, but I think investors in these companies are not used to what the risks are of investing in a more capital-intensive company."

Damodaran has regularly warned that some companies in the AI space could be overvalued. In 2023, he warned that Nvidia stock was extremely stretched from a valuation perspective and estimated that the chipmaker's fair value was around half of its share price at the time.

• I'm a personal trainer who loves to meal prep using items from Trader Joe's.
• When I need protein, I reach for Trader Joe's tofu, chicken meatballs, and marinated chickpeas.
• The store's frozen brown rice is my go-to base for grain bowls.

As a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and yoga teacher who also works full-time at a nonprofit, my schedule is packed. Meal prepping is essential as I juggle classes, meetings, and more.

Trader Joe's has been my go-to store for high-protein, nutritious meal prep essentials for more than a decade. Plus, as someone who generally eats a plant-based diet, Trader Joe's has plenty of options.

Here are some of the items that always make the cut when I'm meal-prepping.

Trader Joe's crunchy chili-onion hummus adds a boost of flavor to my meals.

Trader Joe's has a wide selection of hummus, but the crunchy chili-onion flavor is my favorite. This hummus is delightfully creamy, and the pepper adds texture and a spicy kick.

It's great served in a Mediterranean-inspired lunch bowl or scooped up with raw vegetables or crackers.

Tofu is my favorite versatile protein.

My favorite way to prep Trader Joe's firm tofu is to crumble it — no pressing needed.

I toss it with coconut aminos (which is similar to soy sauce) and seasoning, bake it, and then stuff it into pita bread with veggies and hummus for a delicious, plant-based wrap.

Microwaveable frozen brown rice is my go-to base for meal-prep bowls.

I'm all about saving time where I can. Luckily, Trader Joe's frozen brown rice uses a steamer bag to heat up in just three minutes.

I like to pair it with beans, fajita vegetables, salsa, and cheese for a DIY taco bowl — or alongside roasted veggies, hard-boiled eggs, and tahini sauce for a power bowl.

Trader Joe's Guacasalsa perfectly combines the flavors of two popular dips.

If I'm not prepping a sauce at home, I'm buying one with simple ingredients, like Trader Joe's Guacsalsa — made with tomatillo, avocado, jalapenos, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, and salt.

True to its name, it tastes like a cross between guacamole and salsa verde. I love to drizzle this on burrito bowls for extra flavor.

I use frozen gyoza to create a quick soup.

For an easy soup, I like to pop some of Trader Joe's frozen gyoza into the store's miso-ginger broth, along with whatever vegetables I have on hand.

Or, if I'm not meal prepping, I pan-fry them and serve them alongside a homemade soy-sauce-based dip.

Frozen broccoli saves me time and delivers on flavor.

Frozen vegetables are typically packed at peak ripeness and flash frozen within hours, so they deliver the same nutritional benefits as their fresh counterparts.

One of my favorite options to buy is frozen broccoli, which I add to a grain bowl or serve alongside a grilled protein.

I can't get enough of Trader Joe's vegan kale, cashew, and basil pesto.

The ingredients in Trader Joe's vegan pesto are simple but delicious: kale, cashew butter, basil, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Although it's great on pasta, I particularly love it drizzled on grilled vegetables and halloumi, or as a spread on sandwiches.

Coconut milk serves as a creamy base for curries and sauces.

I love making a quick chickpea and spinach curry, and Trader Joe's coconut milk has the perfect creamy texture for the base.

It has a recognizable coconut taste, but it's not strong enough to overpower other ingredients.

I always keep a container of Greek yogurt in my fridge.

Trader Joe's yogurt selection is robust, but my favorite option is the strained thick-and-creamy Greek variety. I think it has a great texture and is easy to customize and use in a variety of meals.

For example, I create post-workout yogurt bowls with berries, granola, cinnamon, and a drizzle of honey. My partner loves to use it as a sour-cream replacement on burrito bowls, too.

Marinated chickpeas create an easy lunch option.

Trader Joe's Greek chickpeas are packed in a parsley and cumin-infused marinade, so they don't require any prep.

They're a great source of protein and fiber and complement any Greek salad or grain bowl.

Trader Joe's chicken meatballs are easy to customize.

Although I generally eat a vegetarian-forward diet, I throw meat in every so often.

I especially love Trader Joe's precooked chicken meatballs, which are packed with 16 grams of protein per serving. Even though they're preseasoned, the flavor isn't overpowering, so they're easy to customize.

Some of my favorite ways to prepare them are simmered in marinara and served over protein pasta, tossed with Buffalo sauce and added to a salad with romaine and crunchy vegetables, or mixed into a stir-fry bowl with a dash of Japanese barbecue sauce.

Curious what's in other shoppers' carts? Keep reading our Trader Joe's diaries.

• Paramount's David Ellison courted President Donald Trump while seeking approval for his WBD deal.
• Trump's Department of Justice approved the Paramount-WBD deal, but some states are suing to stop it.
• Ellison published an op-ed on Tuesday, distancing himself from partisan politics.

Remember David Ellison's warm relationship with President Donald Trump?

The Paramount Skydance CEO seems to wish you wouldn't.

Ellison courted Trump as he sought approval from the Department of Justice for his Warner Bros. Discovery deal. Now, Ellison is facing a lawsuit from 12 Democratic states — and he's looking to distance himself from partisan politics. The deal is on hold as it heads to trial.

"There has been speculation about my politics, my loyalties, my intentions," Ellison wrote in a New York Times opinion piece on Tuesday that defended the deal.

Ellison said his politics are "just like most Americans," with "some views that would be called conservative and others that would be called liberal."

The Paramount CEO also wrote that he has "regularly voted for candidates of both parties." His billionaire father, Larry Ellison, whose wealth backstopped the WBD deal, is a longtime Trump backer. Public records show that the younger Ellison donated over $900,000 to a fund supporting Joe Biden's 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump said in March that David and Larry Ellison are "two great people."

In the op-ed, Ellison downplayed concerns about how the CBS News parent would steward CNN if it took control of WBD.

The new messaging contrasts with the Trump-friendly moves Ellison made in recent months.

They included:

• Hosting a private dinner "honoring the Trump White House," top administration officials, and CBS News correspondents, as Status and The New York Times reported
• Joining Trump at multiple UFC matches, including one on the White House lawn, days after his merger got approved by Trump's DOJ
• Attending Trump's State of the Union address with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, days before WBD accepted Paramount's merger proposal

Ellison also took several actions that critics say were politically motivated, but Paramount has countered were purely for business reasons. They include installing anti-woke editor Bari Weiss as the head of CBS News and canceling the show of renowned Trump critic Stephen Colbert.

"When it comes to our news operations, I do not aspire to lead these companies to bend their newsrooms to my views," Ellison wrote in his op-ed.

Paramount's CEO also made the case for his WBD deal, arguing that the merger would help it compete with tech giants like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple, "whose resources dwarf ours."

The states suing to stop Paramount's WBD acquisition have argued that it will limit competition by giving the combined company too much power over the theatrical distribution of top movies and over the licensing of cable TV channels.

Ellison wrote that a Paramount-WBD would be strong enough to compete with tech giants but can't "dictate what audiences watch or what writers get paid."

• Mohonk Mountain House is a historic all-inclusive resort in New Paltz, New York.
• I booked a two-night stay there in July and made three mistakes.
• I regretted traveling solo and wished I'd brought my own snacks.

Mohonk Mountain House looks more like a castle than an all-inclusive resort. Located in New Paltz, New York, this historic, Victorian-style getaway sits lakeside in the Shawangunk Mountains.

I recently spent two nights at Mohonk Mountain House for a nearby escape from my home in New York City. I stayed in a room with a starting rate of $1,400 a night for double occupancy, though Business Insider received a media rate.

This rate included three meals a day and access to most of the hotel's activities. Alcohol, room service, and additional snacks and beverages incurred additional charges, as did some activities, such as mountain biking, rock climbing, and horseback riding.

It wasn't my first time at an all-inclusive resort, but it was my first time traveling solo to one. I had an amazing stay, but it could have been even better had I avoided these mistakes.

I hadn't had many all-inclusive experiences before this trip.

I'd only been to one all-inclusive resort before my trip to Mohonk Mountain House. It was a family vacation to Mexico several years ago.

I've also taken a couple of cruises, which typically include staterooms, food, and onboard activities in the ticket price. I booked seven-day voyages on Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas in 2022 and Virgin Voyages' Valiant Lady in 2023.

My past experiences gave me an idea of what to expect at Mohonk Mountain House, but they didn't stop me from making some mistakes.

Booking a two-night stay was my first mistake.

Mohonk Mountain House had countless activities — way more than any guest could get through in two nights. Most of them were included in the rate of my stay. There were sports like golf, basketball, and billiards, to name a few, as well as fitness classes, beach swimming, and a maze made of rock formations.

I'm glad I got to learn archery, but I wish I'd had a chance to try out axe-throwing, too. My morning hike was one of my favorite parts of the trip, but I longed for more time to play disc golf, a sport I haven't practiced much since college.

With more time, I would also have gone kayaking and visited the adults-only pool. Next time I take a trip to an all-inclusive resort, I'll stay a few more nights.

Every meal I had was fantastic, but I regretted not packing my own snacks.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were included in my stay at Mohonk Mountain House. From wagyu steak and smoked beef brisket to roasted salmon and steamed clams, there was a wide variety of upscale options. With buffet-style breakfast and lunch and three-course dinners, all the meals were filling too. The hotel also served tea and cookies in the afternoon.

However, filling my days with activities left me craving snacks between meals. Pulling from my past experiences on cruises, I wrongfully assumed there'd be food available throughout the day at the same all-inclusive rate.

If I had done my research before my trip, I would have realized the grab-and-go snack bar wasn't included in the price of the stay, and neither was the room service menu, which offered dishes throughout the day ranging from about $15 to $50. Knowing that, I would have packed some snacks instead.

Going solo was my biggest mistake.

I travel solo most of the time, so I didn't think twice about booking my stay for one. Once at the resort, though, I was surrounded by couples and families. It made sense, considering Mohonk Mountain House has been included in rankings of the country's best all-inclusive resorts for families.

I didn't spot any other half-empty two-tops in the dining room during meals. My archery and fitness classes were comprised of groups of two to four, save for me.

Observing the groups of guests around me made me think about how much fun it would have been to participate in the resort's activities with a companion.

I'm not saying that traveling to an all-inclusive resort alone isn't enjoyable. I had a great time at Mohonk Mountain House by myself. At the same time, I would have loved to have someone to laugh at me when my arrow flew past the target and into the woods, or someone to split entrées with at dinner.

Next time I travel to an all-inclusive resort, I'll bring a friend.

• McDonald's US sales slowed down in the second quarter, the fast food chain said on Tuesday.
• Its latest value menu is one of the big reasons why, CEO Chris Kempczinski said.
• McDonald's rolled out its Under $3 menu while cutting back on digital offers, he said.

McDonald's tried a new value menu. Customers aren't loving it.

The fast-food giant's comparable US sales growth slowed to 0.8% during its second quarter, a slower clip than the 2.5% it reported for the year-ago quarter. The chain also changed leadership of its US business, naming Skye Anderson as president, taking over for Joe Erlinger effective Tuesday.

McDonald's has spent the last couple of years experimenting with its value offerings, including a $5 meal deal. It's one of many restaurant chains, from Chili's to Burger King, that has experimented with more value-focused menus in the last few years as diners deal with the lingering effects of inflation, layoffs, and broad uncertainty about the future.

In April, McDonald's introduced another value menu featuring 10 items that cost less than $3 each, including the Sausage McMuffin and the McDouble.

McDonald's struggled to roll out the new menu to restaurants, CEO Chris Kempczinski said on the company's earnings call on Tuesday.

Between 60% and 65% of McDonald's restaurants adopted the under $3 menu as designed at corporate headquarters, Kempczinski said. Some franchisees used the deal to effectively increase prices on cheaper items by adding them to the menu, he added.

"There's not nearly as much wiggle room that you have when it's a $5 meal deal," Kempczinski said.

At the same time, McDonald's threw a lot of promotions at customers during the second quarter, from the under $3 menu to special offers for the World Cup to KPop Demon Hunters-themed meals — a schedule that was too much for customers, the CEO said.

McDonald's also cut back on digital discounts, which many customrs had come to rely on, he said. "It's something that's valued by our most loyal customers," Kempczinski said.

"That ended up being a bad trade," he added, referring to cutting digital discounts while rolling out the under $3 menu.

Kempczinski did not say how McDonald's plans to handle the value menu going forward, though he did tell analysts on the earnings call that the he would "have a better answer" during the company's investor day later this year. Executives are also meeting with franchisees next month to talk about the value offerings.

"We don't have a strategy problem," Kempczinski said. "We simply didn't execute at the level we needed to in the second quarter."

Do you have a story idea about McDonald's? 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.

• Scott Rubner of Citadel Securities says market turmoil in July was a healthy reset for stocks.
• He says four things show the market in a different position as August kicks off.
• Leverage has moderated, while retail investors' behavior has shifted, Rubner says.

The summer has been volatile for stocks, but turmoil in July didn't derail the bull market. It reset it.

That's according to Scott Rubner of Citadel Securities, who said that market conditions as August trading kicks off look a lot healthier in the aftermath of July's roller coaster ride.

Rubner, who serves as head of equity and derivatives strategy for the firm, wrote that investors have raised a lot of questions about the intense volatility in July, but he sees it as a bullish shift.

"We believe much of the global technical reset is behind us," Rubner wrote. "Importantly, the reset occurred through rotation, deleveraging, and stronger fundamentals, not through a deterioration in the macroeconomic backdrop."

Rubner provided four reasons conditions are likely to stabilize in August, allowing the bull market to continue.

Retail investor behavior has shifted

Trading data has shown a shift in retail trading behavior recently, pointing to the idea that the day-trader crowd has become more selective in what they're holding. Retail investors responded to the July volatility by trimming positions in some high growth tech stocks.

Their moves through the July tech and AI volatility shows that retail traders didn't abandon the market when conditions took a turn. Instead, they helped flush out some of the market's excesses, helping to kickstart a new phase to be driven by earnings and fundamentals, not speculation, Rubner said.

Leverage has moderated

Leverage has been in focus lately, with margin calls in Korea forcing waves of selling by retail investors and as the sale of Situational Awareness' equities portfolio was partly the result of some highly levered bets that had soured. But Rubner notes that high net selling by retail traders, particularly in risky leveraged ETFs, has removed a lot of leverage in the broader system.

"Leveraged ETF assets have declined more than $60 billion from their June peak, removing one of the largest sources of incremental leverage that had fueled the first-half rally," he stated. "The largest reductions have occurred across the market's most crowded themes, with Technology leveraged ETF assets down approximately 40% and Semiconductor assets down nearly 55% over the past month."

The volatility backdrop has evolved

July may have been highly volatile, but Ruber said that it may have been even more intense than it appeared at the index level, due to sharp price swings in single stocks. This made hedging individual stocks and sectors extremely expensive, but in Rubner's view, strength in other corners of the tech trade served to balance out brutal rotatioj out of chip stocks.

"On days when the SOX Index fell more than 3%, SPX declined only 0.8% on average this year versus 2.4% over the last 20 years, while Software has actually been positive on average — the first such occurrence since at least 2001," he stated.

Fundamentals once again in control

While volatility was a market-driving theme in July, Rubner's team maintains that conditions are finally shifting. They see a market in which investors can focus on fundamentals, specifically the positive results coming out of the latest earnings season.

"Consensus expectations for second-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth have increased from 22.4% at the start of the reporting season to approximately 45% today, marking one of the strongest earnings seasons outside of major post-recession recoveries," Rubner said.

He noted that what stands about the earnings strength is not that companies are beating estimates with more frequency, but how much they are beating them by.

• AI is helping brands like ASOS, H&M, and Gap spot supply chain risks early.
• Retailers use AI for transparency into human rights and environmental risks in apparel supply chains.
• New laws require accurate compliance documentation; AI reduces manual work to save significant time.

As the US and Europe tighten their supply chain regulations, apparel retailers face an urgent task: map and trace the many layers of their supply chains to gain full visibility into what's happening — not only at their direct suppliers, but also at their suppliers' suppliers.

Extended producer responsibility in the US and digital product passports in Europe — both of which are being implemented in phases over the coming months — require businesses to submit accurate documents to prove compliance with regulations, said Mark Burstein, the senior vice president for Americas at the software company Inspectorio, which provides an AI-powered supply chain management platform for retailers such as Gap and Mango.

Documentation could include factory audits, purchase orders, or records of water usage or carbon emissions throughout the supply chain, Burstein added.

"Everybody is fully loaded into moving forward with all of this traceability, because the regulations are coming up," Burstein said.

It's a key reason Burstein sees growing interest in AI within apparel supply chains, especially this year, he said. Manually providing documentation could take days or longer; AI is helping to shrink the process time to an hour.

Another reason, Burstein said, is that risk events such as the pandemic, sudden tariff increases, and geopolitical conflicts are becoming more frequent.

Brands like ASOS, H&M, and Gap are turning to AI platforms to unearth the complex layers of their supply chains, where sourcing, tariffs, water use, regulations, weather, and other factors impact how apparel is made and shipped.

"AI helps them bring the hidden risk to the surface a lot faster, before the disruption issue becomes a larger operational problem," Kenchen Bharwani, a fashion consultant at Empire Apparel LLC, a wholesale company specializing in sourcing and managing off-price apparel, told Business Insider.

Spotting risks and delays with AI

Apparel supply chains can be challenging to trace because a single product may have dozens of components from around the world, Burstein said. For a seemingly simple shirt, cotton might be picked in Turkey, sent to China for milling, and cut and sewn in Vietnam before the final product is shipped to the US for sale — not to mention that tags, packaging, and buttons may all be sourced from different locations.

OMJ Clothing, a custom suit maker in Charlotte, North Carolina, sometimes sources from 10 factories at a time and often struggles to keep up with the complex process, said its CEO and cofounder, Brad Rhyne.

In March, Rhyne used the AI model Claude to develop a custom dashboard to trace factory orders and view their current status, creating "a single source of truth CRM," he said.

Before the dashboard, a customer would contact the business to ask about the order status. Only then would OMJ dig in and realize something up the supply chain was delayed, said Rhyne. Now, the CRM pulls factory data into the dashboard so OMJ can proactively see delays before a customer reaches out, and either pivot to find a replacement or update the customer.

"We're able to dig into it before it even becomes an issue," Rhyne said.

Large brands are also using AI traceability tools to spot problems like human rights violations and environmental risks and take "corrective action sooner rather than later," Bharwani said. Vera Bradley uses TrusTrace's AI to monitor Customs and Border Protection's risk databases and screen for forced labor, and Adidas uses the platform alongside the World Resources Institute's Aqueduct tool to identify mills in flood-prone regions, she said.

H&M has reported using AI to identify flood risks and factory closures in Bangladesh and scale back some production in the country. A press contact for H&M told Business Insider that the retailer uses AI to improve supply chain visibility, reduce waste, and help meet its sustainability goals.

Some of the biggest retailers are committed to transparency, Bharwani added. She works with liquidated merchandise and has clients like Target, which publishes its global factory list.

"It's thousands of suppliers that they work with, and it's so detailed," she said, adding that global fashion retailer ASOS, which she doesn't work directly with, has traced its supply chain with AI all the way to the farm level.

Still, this process is an outlier. "ASOS is just the one in a million that manages to get as far as that," Bharwani said. "I don't think a lot of other brands have yet."

Manual work gets automated

Forthcoming regulations will make it essential for apparel retailers to keep tabs on their supply chain to comply with new laws, said Bharwani. US states are implementing extended producer responsibility policies, which hold apparel brands accountable for their products' lifecycle, from production through to after the garment is worn. The challenge: each state's exact policies and deadlines differ.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which came into force in the US in 2022, requires importers to provide documented proof that no forced labor was used. Burstein said retailers previously had their suppliers fill in spreadsheets to manage compliance, but brands have since realized it's "almost impossible to manage this manually," Burstein said.

For retailers selling in Europe, Digital Product Passport rules mandate that brands include a QR code-linked digital record that discloses a product's materials, sustainability data, and traceability information. Textiles are among the priority product groups listed in the organization's rulebook.

In a manual workflow, a brand would need to identify the individual regulations that apply to its product, organize data it's collected on the product, ask suppliers for anything that's missing, review the data for accuracy, and submit reports to regulatory agencies, Burstein said. That process can take at least 30 hours per purchase order.

With AI, agents build the chain of custody, collect documents, and create compliance reports for specific regulations — shrinking the process to about one hour, including human review, he added.

"It's literally manual work, hours and hours and hours, that we're eliminating here," Burstein said.

• BMW is beaming promotional materials for the new "Spider-Man" movie directly into its cars.
• Until August 10, newer BMW cars will show a banner ad for the film, along with a special light show.
• The ad is part of a tie-up between the German automaker and Marvel, which sees BMWs feature in the film.

With great power comes great responsibility, and BMW is using that power to beam "Spider-Man" ads into its cars.

The German auto giant has been showing a banner ad for "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" in cars since late July as part of a brand tie-up with Marvel's latest blockbuster.

The banner reads "Surprise! Spider-Man just dropped into your BMW!" Tapping the ad triggers a full-screen animation that plays across the Control Display, the main center screen, while the car's ambient lighting changes color in sync.

The animation follows a BMW driving through a city street as Spider-Man swings overhead. It closes on Spider-Man dragging the BMW logo down the frame, resolving into the end card: "BMW and SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY EXCLUSIVELY IN CINEMAS."

BMW said the animation will run in around 70 markets until August 10 on suitably equipped vehicles with a production date after July 2020.

Its press release described the campaign as a special surprise for drivers as part of its collaboration with "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," the newest installment in the superhero franchise, starring Tom Holland and Zendaya. Several BMW cars feature in the film, the German automaker said.

Some online were unimpressed by the marketing tactic.

"I'm never buying a BMW," wrote Paul Graham, the cofounder of Y Combinator, in a Tuesday X post reacting to a clip of the in-car ad.

"Wow I can't believe how disappointing that is," one person wrote under footage posted to the r/BMW subreddit the day the campaign began. "Absolutely not," said another.

The clip circulated on X and drew similar criticism.

BMW has a long history of movie tie-ups, having collaborated with Marvel before in films like "Black Widow" and "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." During the 1990s, BMWs were the main cars used in three consecutive "James Bond" films.

Delivering messages directly to in-car displays is not new.

BMW has sent Christmas and New Year animations to the Control Display for several years, using the same mechanism: a banner at startup, a full-screen animation, backing music, and an ambient light show.

However, while the past animations were devoted to Christmas and New Year greetings from the BMW brand itself, this one promotes a third-party product and ends with a title card that includes details about the movie being shown "exclusively in cinemas."

BMW said in an emailed statement to Business Insider that the Festive App, where the Spider-Man animation is shown, is "designed to provide customers with optional themed animations and messages linked to a range of global and local occasions. It is not a form of advertising."

In December 2023, Stephan Durach, the company's senior vice president for connected company development, was asked whether BMW would sell in-car screen space to run commercials. He said he didn't see it happening because the cabin is "a private space."

Much of the criticism of the campaign has cited BMW's previous plans to launch a heated-seat subscription, which would have seen owners charged a monthly fee to switch on hardware already fitted to cars they had bought outright.

The subscription was dropped in 2023 after a backlash, with executives later conceding the rollout had been handled badly.

• I relocated from New York City to Atlanta with my husband and dog in June 2026.
• I'm glad we started prepping early and broke up our drive down south.
• I had some regrets about our movers and how much we spent on supplies, though.

My husband, my dog, and I arrived in Atlanta on a humid June day.

We had spent two days in the car, weeks packing up our life, and months emotionally preparing to leave New York, where we had both lived for nearly a decade. The actual move was among the most daunting aspects of relocating, since we had to transport all of our belongings nearly 1,000 miles away.

Over a month after that sweaty arrival, we're mostly settled into our new home, hanging pictures on our walls and finding walking paths in our neighborhood.

Overall, moving was a success, but there were a few things I would've done differently.

I'm happy we prepped for our move early.

My husband and I knew we would be moving to Atlanta almost a year in advance, and we made the most of the time we had.

We spent the fall and winter knocking things off our New York to-do list, like visiting certain museums and dining at our favorite spots.

Then, when the New Year hit, we officially put ourselves in "prep mode" for our end-of-June move. We didn't want to feel rushed when it was time to actually leave the city. I made a to-do list, breaking down what we needed to get done within the month.

February and March were full of tasks like cleaning out our closets and finalizing our work arrangements, and in April, we decided what furniture we wanted to take with us. By early May, we started packing boxes, giving us nearly two full months to pack.

Because we didn't procrastinate, we were able to stay fairly calm as we packed up the life we had built in New York. There were definitely moments we felt overwhelmed, but splitting the move into clear steps helped us stay organized.

Getting movers helped, but I didn't love the option we selected.

Instead of driving a U-Haul ourselves, we did a "consolidated move," where professional movers loaded our belongings onto a larger truck with other people's stuff headed in the same direction. It cost a little over $4,000. That's pricey, but it would have cost closer to $10,000 if we had our items moved individually.

It seemed like a good deal, especially since my husband didn't have to drive a U-Haul with all our possessions while I drove the rental car with our dog. We also felt good about the company we picked, as it had strong online reviews. The movers were prompt and careful the day they packed up our stuff. Their office said our items would arrive in two to 14 business days, but assured my husband that three to five days was more realistic.

Unfortunately, that estimate was way off. It took 15 business days (24 actual days), and my husband and I were frustrated, to say the least. It was difficult to get an update on the status of our belongings, even after calling and emailing to request information. To make matters worse, when our things finally arrived, our television screen was cracked, and we were only compensated for a small percentage of its value. In the end, the move didn't feel worth the money we spent.

If we could do it again, my husband and I would have rented a U-Haul or gone with a different moving company that was more experienced with interstate moves.

I was happy we didn't pay movers to pack our breakables, though.

The moving package we paid for included professional packing of paintings, mirrors, and our television (so much for that), but it did not include packing our kitchen breakables, which would have cost hundreds of dollars extra.

We were worried about making sure everything was packed securely, and we were determined to do it ourselves to save money.

It was time-consuming, but we pulled it off. In addition to packing paper, foam, and bubble wrap, we used our linens, sweatshirts, and jackets as extra cushioning for our boxes with breakables. It left me with a lot of laundry to do, but only a single mug was broken when our items arrived in Atlanta.

I wish I hadn't taken a full week off to move right away.

Because we did a consolidated move, I knew it wasn't clear when our things would arrive.

Still, I took a week off from work after we drove down, imagining myself spending it unpacking and decorating our new home. That didn't happen because our belongings were delivered later than expected.

During the week off in Atlanta, my husband and I got our new driver's licenses, but it didn't feel like the most efficient use of time. I had already returned to work when our stuff finally arrived, so I unpacked at night and in the early hours of the morning, which wasn't the best way to get settled.

In retrospect, I wish I'd only taken a day or two off that initial week and arranged to take a few days separately when my stuff got to Atlanta.

I don't regret renting a house without touring it in person.

When it was time to house hunt, my husband and I considered flying to Atlanta to look at options in person. We ultimately decided it wouldn't be worth the price of the flights, given that a costly move was approaching.

Instead, we made a detailed dream list for our future home to make sure our priorities were aligned. Then, we became rental app addicts. I constantly checked Zillow and Apartments.com, refreshing multiple times a day to make sure I didn't miss the perfect home.

Finally, we saw a house we loved on Zillow in early May. It ticked nearly all of our boxes based on the photos. After sending a cousin of mine to an open house to make sure it looked similar in real life, we jumped at the chance to rent it.

It was a little nerve-racking to move into a home sight unseen, but it saved us money and gave us peace of mind to secure housing sooner rather than later. We're absolutely in love with the house now that we're settled in.

I wish we hadn't spent so much money on moving materials.

We didn't have a car in New York, and it was challenging to buy moving supplies because we couldn't easily drive to a place like Home Depot. We also couldn't rent plastic bins that snap shut (which would have reduced the amount of tape we needed to buy) because we were moving out of state. I got a few large reusable containers from Amazon, but pricey cardboard boxes made the most sense for our move.

We bought some of our boxes from a Walmart kit, and we purchased additional supplies as needed from a local hardware store. It felt like we were buying boxes and tape up until the day we moved, and the cost added up.

In total, we spent around $500 on moving supplies. Looking back, it may have been financially savvier to buy plastic bins that I could have resold on Facebook Marketplace. Moving is expensive no matter what, but I wish we had found ways to cut costs on supplies.

Having multiple farewell hangs with friends made my relocation easier.

I knew I would miss the friends I made in New York. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that I wouldn't be able to see them whenever I wanted.

I decided that having dedicated goodbye hangs with my close friends would help me process our impending separation.

In June, my husband and I had an official goodbye party at a bar in Brooklyn, chatting and giggling with friends over drinks. Then, we had smaller dinners and meetups with friends for more intimate, sentimental goodbyes. Some of my most cherished final memories of living in New York include reminiscing with my first roommate from the city, laughing with pals I met through my husband, and going to a burger joint I'd always wanted to try with one of my closest friends.

I'm so grateful I took advantage of the time I had with my friends in the weeks before we left. I still miss them dearly, but I don't feel like I wasted any time with them.

In hindsight, we should have hired cleaners for our move-out.

My husband and I rented an apartment in a larger Brooklyn building owned by a management company. The building manager provided us with a detailed list for our move-out procedure, which included cleaning the apartment from top to bottom.

We were good about cleaning our space regularly, but some of the things on the list, like cleaning the oven, inside the refrigerator, and the dishwasher filter, weren't on our regular schedule.

We spent several days cleaning every inch of the apartment, spackling the walls, and scrubbing forgotten corners in the hopes of getting our full security deposit back. Unfortunately, the building only returned a portion, saying we hadn't cleaned the fridge, a cabinet shelf, and the stove well enough. Sigh.

If I could do it over, I would have hired a cleaning company to clean the apartment. We likely would have gotten more of our security deposit back, and we wouldn't have had to spend so much time cleaning on our final days in New York.

I also regret not taking a certain box with us in the car.

We tried to keep our car minimally filled, focusing on essential documents and immediate necessities.

I'm glad the movers handled as much as possible, but I do regret not finding space for a box of kitchen items in the car with us. Because we were without our belongings for three weeks after the move, we relied heavily on takeout and restaurants. It made us feel out of routine, and all the eating out was expensive. We also spent unnecessary money on some basic pans and knives to do a little cooking at home.

It would have saved us time and money if we had packed a box of our kitchen basics in the car.

One of our best decisions was to split our drive to Atlanta over two days.

The drive from New York to Atlanta is about 13 hours. It's doable in one day, but we decided to break it up so our dog would be more comfortable, stopping halfway to stay the night with my in-laws. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we made for the move.

On the Saturday we left the city, my husband and I were emotional. After a fitful night of sleep on an air mattress, we took one last teary-eyed walk through Prospect Park with our pup before we drove off. We teared up again as we rolled out of the city and caught our last glimpse of the Manhattan skyline. By the end of the day, we were emotionally and physically drained.

On Sunday, though, we had a restful night of sleep in a comfortable bed. My husband and I couldn't wait to get to Atlanta and start settling into our house. Because we processed our goodbye to New York on Saturday, we were able to focus on the new life waiting for us in Atlanta, feeling nothing but excitement and anticipation as we pulled into our driveway for the first time.

I'm so glad the two-day drive made space for grief and joy in our departure.

• Chef K is a celebrity private chef and entrepreneur with a social media following.
• She says there is intimacy and heart in the kitchen, and parents can share this with their kids.
• One way to help incorporate new foods is by making them look and feel familiar to children.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Khristianne Uy, known as Chef K. She is a celebrity private chef, entrepreneur, and content creator based in Los Angeles. This piece has been edited for length and clarity.

As a private chef, you really are present in all moments of your client's life. Whether it's happy, joyous holidays, raucous weekends, or Monday mornings, you really get to know somebody.

I've spent years diving into new scenarios, putting on my Chef K cape, and keeping clients — and their families — healthy and sustained.

I try to do the same with the recipes I share on social media. At a recent event, a woman told me her stepchildren had started eating her cooking after she made one of my recipes — and even wanted to invite their friends over for the next meal. That's how I know I've done a good job.

Here are some of my tips for encouraging children to try new foods based on my experiences:

1. I create 'forever' and 'never' lists

Whenever I start working for a family with children, I create a "forever" list and a "never" list: "forever" being foods they are comfortable with, and "never" being foods they don't want to eat.

When a child tries a food, they can add it to their "forever" list or their "never" list. It works. Some of the children will tell me after they try something new: "Chef K, Chef K, forever list!"

I also create three other kinds of lists to help guide my cooking: green, yellow, and red. Red would be unhealthy foods, and yellow would be stuff you'd have maybe three times a week. I try to keep meals within the green and yellow.

2. Start with the foods your family already loves

When I do a consultation for a brand-new client, I go look at their pantry. I see what kinds of foods are the go-tos.

Say they're a mac and cheese family. I'll introduce brown-rice pasta, for instance, instead of eliminating mac and cheese from their diets.

Think about what kind of foods your family already enjoys — is it mostly rice-based or pasta-based? What kind of condiments do you always have in the fridge?

Try to follow that line and introduce new foods or healthier options alongside these.

3. Make the kitchen an inviting place

In my childhood, there was intimacy and heart in the kitchen. When you involve children, they feel a sense of belonging. You can involve them through storytelling.

For example, sometimes, I'll bring it back to my own experiences. I'll say to a kid who doesn't like a particular food that I didn't like it either when I was a kid. I'll reassure them they don't have to either.

I never force someone to try something new, especially a child. You have to be inviting, not intimidating — or else they will never try your food.

I will taste the food in front of them, and sometimes they will ask if they can taste it. They want to be a part of the experience.

4. Make new ingredients familiar to children

When I want a child to try something new, I will try to make it as familiar as possible to them.

A good example is carrot sticks. Nobody wants a carrot stick, especially a child trying it for the first time. So I'll cut the carrot like a french fry, air fry it, and serve it with ketchup.

The child then sees an element of the dish that makes it familiar.

Anything green tends to be an issue with kids — even a speck of Italian seasoning in their pasta. Make up for it by adding extra cheese.

Try to make greens as tasty as possible to get them past the green color. Sometimes, I'll make kale chips, flavor them with nacho cheese, and pair them with a dip.

If you told a child who doesn't like cabbage, "You're gonna have stuffed cabbage tonight," they will turn it down. But if I add that cabbage into a lasagna, it's a different story.

5. Involve children in the cooking process

I give children the ability to decide whether they want to try something new. It's a bit like a bartering exchange. Even with cookies, for instance, I will ask if they want to try a new topping. They'll suggest a topping, and I'll suggest another.

Kids tend to like the simple things: white rice, bread and butter, butter pasta.
If you want a child to become more familiar with sushi, build your own — whatever that is for you. Some of the kids start off only wanting to eat hot dogs. So, hot dog sushi it is.

• Ayana Lage developed delusions and hallucinations after her daughter was born six years ago.
• She believed she was a prophet and the only one who could care for her baby.
• She worked closely with her medical team before deciding to have another child.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ayana Lage, author of "Missing Me: A Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis and the Long Road Back." It has been edited for length and clarity.

A little more than a week after giving birth to my daughter, I sat up in bed. "God is talking to me," I told my husband. I was a prophet and our daughter — who I increasingly thought of as just my daughter—was Jesus.

I was so annoyed that my husband didn't understand the importance of the moment. I was trying to tell him I was a prophet, and he just looked terrified.

I turned to my parents. They are more religious than me, and I thought they would understand. But they looked even more terrified than my husband had. It was frustrating. I was elated, but no one believed me.

I had prepared for postpartum depression, but not psychosis

I was diagnosed with major depression and an anxiety disorder in college. At first, I was hesitant to take medications, but over time, I accepted life with a mental illness. I even became an advocate, writing about my experience.

I knew I was at an increased risk for postpartum depression because of my conditions. I spoke with my psychiatrist and stayed on medications throughout my pregnancy. I was prepared, but also knew that if I experienced a depressive episode, I would be OK. I had been through that before, and I could do it again.

Psychosis didn't even cross my mind.

I felt elated immediately after birth

My daughter was born a month early, via emergency C-section, in the middle of the pandemic. Despite all that, I was elated after birth. I was so energetic and felt things were exactly how they should be. I was in a really, really good place — or so I thought.

Looking back, there were warning signs. I wasn't sleeping. I was on social media constantly, posting erratically. I got into an argument with my grandma.

Within days, I crashed. I would go from euphoria to crying in the fetal position. I didn't want my husband or mother around the baby — I thought I was the only one she was safe with.

My husband reached out to my psychiatrist, who told him that if I got worse, I may need to go to the hospital. He decided I shouldn't be alone with the baby, so he or my mom were always there. Deep down, I started to feel unsettled.

I got to the hospital just in time

The day I declared I was a prophet, my husband began talking about going to the hospital. I didn't want to leave my baby. But then I had a sudden switch: I told him I needed to go to the hospital immediately, or I would die.

Almost as soon as I got to the emergency room, I started having visual hallucinations. The doctors and nurses were strange and cartoonish. Looking back, I think my brain found a way to protect me by asking for help, just before things got very bad.

I was transferred to the psych ward, where I stayed for 17 days. When my husband picked me up, I rode home in the backseat with our daughter. I was heavily medicated, but I remember thinking that maybe I could still have a normal life. I was a mother with her baby — how it should be.

Postpartum psychosis was scary and humbling

At first, I thought I would never have another child. And yet, after being in recovery and working with my medical team, I had my son four years later. My psychiatrist and high-risk OB oversaw my whole pregnancy and checked on me in the hospital postpartum. My family watched me for any signs that something was off.

I experienced some postpartum anxiety with my son, but it was nothing compared to what happened with my first. I remember feeding him a bottle, so grateful I could share those mundane moments with him.

I'm incredibly grateful for the people around me and the care I received. My husband — a white man — was a strong advocate for me throughout. As a Black woman, I may not have had access to the same quality of care without that.

Too often, moms with postpartum psychosis are vilified. Before it happened to me, I would have assumed there was some way to bring myself back to reality or maintain some control. It was very scary and humbling to experience being entirely disconnected from reality, with no way to bring myself back.

• The US State Department rates destinations by safety and security risks.
• Advisories warn travelers about crime, unrest, health risks, and natural disasters.
• Haiti and parts of Venezuela and Colombia remain "Do Not Travel" amid security concerns.

From rising airfare costs to worldwide tensions, travel for Americans is strained this summer.

On July 22, the US State Department issued a worldwide warning to American travelers, citing heightened tensions in the Middle East amid the Iran War and mentioning the potential for unforeseen escalation in other countries.

If you're planning a Caribbean vacation, you should know how safe your destination and the region are before you board your flight.

For some countries in the region, the State Department has issued travel advisories advising Americans to exercise caution when visiting.

The US State Department uses four levels of travel guidance to share with travelers what to expect in each country:

• Level 1: Exercise normal precautions
• Level 2: Exercise increased caution
• Level 3: Reconsider travel
• Level 4: Do not travel

As of August 3, 23 countries around the world are designated "do not travel," mostly because of ongoing armed conflicts.

Across the Caribbean — which we have defined broadly to include every country with a Caribbean coast in South, Central, and North America — levels of safety and resources can vary, and travelers should be aware of the specific conditions in the country or territory they intend to visit.

We reviewed travel advisories and information for every Caribbean country. Here's everything you need to know about your tropical destination before planning your next getaway.

Rebecca Harrington and Michelle Mark contributed to an earlier version of this story.

Anguilla - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

While the US State Department doesn't have any alerts for British territory, it advises travelers to exercise caution when driving, as roads can be in poor condition.

Additionally, it notes that medical facilities on the island fall below US standards.

Antigua and Barbuda - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts set for the popular cruise-ship destination, but it advises travelers on the country information page to be "extremely careful when driving, riding in a vehicle, or crossing roads."

It also notes that medical facilities on the island don't meet US standards, and divers facing decompression illness need to be evacuated from the island as it does not have a hyperbaric chamber.

The agency also says that mosquito-borne diseases like chikungunya, dengue, and Zika are prevalent on the islands.

Aruba - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts for the Dutch island, but warns that "access to quality medical care is limited" and that, in cases of decompression sickness, divers need medical evacuation from the island, as it does not have a decompression chamber.

Mosquito-borne diseases like chikungunya, dengue, and Zika are also prevalent on the island, and the CDC recommends the use of "mosquito repellents and insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets."

While crime isn't a particular concern there, theft is the main offense committed against tourists. The department suggests securing personal property in public areas, hotel rooms, and cars.

The Bahamas - Level 2: Exercise increased caution

The US State Department advises travelers to the island chain to remain cautious, as violent crimes — like armed robberies and sexual assaults — can "occur anywhere in the Bahamas."

It also notes that a majority of crime occurs on the islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama, and warns to stay alert in the "Over the Hill" area in Nassau, south of Shirley Street, where gangs have been reported to have murdered residents. The agency notes that most crimes occur in Nassau and Freeport.

The department also warns about unsafe, unregulated tourist watercraft, such as boat tours, and the potential of sexual assault by Jet Ski operators. US government employees are prohibited from using Jet Skis and watercraft rented from independent operators on New Providence and Paradise islands.

Beach-focused warnings focus on snorkeling safety, shark attacks, and potential sexual assault near Nassau beaches.

It also advises travelers to be wary of weather alerts and notes that the island's hurricane season generally runs from June through November.

Barbados - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department lists Barbados at Level 1 but warns that "crimes of opportunity" and violent crimes occur occasionally, advising travelers to use the same personal security measures as in any major US city.

It also notes that travelers should "exercise extra vigilance at night on party cruises and in the downtown area."

Mosquito-borne diseases, such as chikungunya, dengue, and Zika, are also prevalent.

Belize - Level 2: Exercise increased caution

The US State Department warns of violent crime, including "sexual assault, home invasions, armed robberies, and murder," saying that isolated incidents of violent crime can occur even in tourist areas.

The south side of Belize City is under a Level 3 travel advisory, and the agency advises US citizens to avoid traveling there, as it has historically seen much of the country's violent crime. The area, defined as Haulover Creek Canal and extending south to Fabers Road, "does not overlap with the typical tourism areas," the agency said.

Much of the crime in the city, and in the country, is gang-related, and local police don't have resources to look into serious crimes, so most go "unresolved and unprosecuted," the US State Department wrote.

Diseases like malaria, dengue, Zika, leishmaniasis, and NWS (New World Screwworm) are also prevalent in the country, and medical care, while generally available in urban areas, can be hard to access in rural and remote areas.

The agency also warns that many hotels aren't equipped with carbon monoxide detectors, and that US citizens have died from poisoning from the gas.

Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts set for the Dutch islands, which it assesses as low-crime areas with responsible police sources and a high level of social control within their small populations. The most common crimes are usually "non-violent, financially-motivated, and opportunistic in nature," like pickpocketing and theft of unattended belongings.

US travelers are advised to use caution when driving on the islands, as roads can be "slippery during rainfall," wild animals often cross roads, and in Saba, roads can be steep and have sharp turns.

There is limited access to quality medical care on the islands, and facilities do not always meet US health and service standards.

The CDC also recommends using mosquito repellents and sleeping under insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets.

British Virgin Islands - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts set for the British territory, but notes that drivers should be attentive on the road as "speeding and reckless driving are fairly common." Nighttime drag racing and livestock crossing are also common.

While the British Virgin Islands don't have particularly high crime, crimes of opportunity and violent crimes occur occasionally, and travelers are advised to use the same personal security measures they would in any major US city.

Diseases like chikungunya, dengue, and Zika have also been reported.

Cayman Islands - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts set for the island chain, which is a British territory, and says the islands have "low rates of criminal activity affecting tourists," although crimes like pickpocketing and purse snatchings still happen occasionally.

Zika, chikungunya, and dengue fever are also prevalent, and the CDC recommends the use of insect repellents.

Colombia - Level 3: Reconsider travel

The US State Department warns of crime, terrorism, unrest, kidnapping, and natural disasters throughout Colombia and asks visitors to reconsider travel to the country. Terrorists operate in some areas, and violent crime is possible, the agency says.

Parts of the country are under a Level 4 advisory, with the agency recommending that Americans not travel to Arauca, Cauca (except Popayan), Valle del Cauca (except Cali), and Norte de Santander due to crime and terrorism.

The area within six miles of Colombia's border with Venezuela is also at a Level 4 advisory, and the agency advises avoiding the area altogether to prevent accidental crossings into Venezuela, as the border isn't clearly marked. The department says that Americans should not travel to this region "for any reason," since crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict are common in the area.

Even in public and in affluent neighborhoods, well-organized crime can occur, the agency says.

Dating apps and internet romance scams are also common, and the department advises being cautious when meeting strangers.

Travelers are advised against hailing taxis on the street, and US government employees are prohibited from doing so, as US citizens have been killed during robberies on hailed street taxis.

The agency also advises against participating in ayahuasca "spiritual cleansing" practices using psychedelic drugs illegal in the US, because "people claiming to be shamans or spiritual practitioners are neither licensed nor regulated," and there are risks of robbery, assault, illness, or death while intoxicated.

Adequate healthcare facilities are available throughout the country; the agency warns that healthcare in rural areas may be below US standards, and tap water is not safe to drink in these areas.

Costa Rica - Level 2: Exercise increased caution

The US State Department warns of widespread petty and violent crime, like armed robbery, homicide, and sexual assault, affecting tourists, and recommends increased caution when traveling to Costa Rica. The agency strongly advises against taking public buses due to the threat of pickpocketing.

It also warns of dangerous rip currents in Costa Rica and notes that most beaches lack lifeguards or "warnings about unsafe conditions." In July 2025, "The Cosby Show" star Malcolm-Jamal Warner drowned while visiting the country.

The agency also advises against participation in spiritual ceremonies or rituals involving hallucinogens like ayahuasca or kambo, which are "not regulated by the Costa Rican Ministry of Health and are illegal in the US."

Some travelers have reported tainted alcohol causing serious health issues, the agency added.

Medical care in San José is "usually good." The department warns that quality services outside the city may be limited. Tap water is often unsafe to drink in the country.

Diseases like dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and malaria are prevalent.

Costa Rica is also prone to a variety of natural disasters, including active earthquakes and volcanic zones, with three volcanoes that have become more active in recent years. Tsunamis can also occur after significant earthquakes.

Flash floods and severe landslides are common during the rainy season, from April to October, in the Limon, Puntarenas, and Guanacaste provinces.

Cuba - Level 2: Exercise increased caution

The US State Department advises that travelers maintain an increased level of caution due to crime and an unreliable power grid. Petty crime, including pickpocketing, purse snatching, and car break-ins, is common, and violent crime like armed robbery, murder, and home invasions is also on the rise, the department said.

US law also prohibits tourist travel to Cuba, and travelers must comply with OFAC licensing requirements, which establish different categories for permitted travel, such as educational activities, humanitarian projects, or visiting family.

Travelers should avoid demonstrations, as peaceful assembly and free speech are not protected, and protests can often trigger government responses. The agency also warns that the Cuban government has detained US citizens for activities that are not criminal in the US.

Scams on dating apps and internet romance schemes are common, it added. Internet and phone communication can also be compromised while visiting the island, as "there is no expectation of privacy in Cuba," per the department, which advises the use of VPNs and avoiding connecting to public WiFi networks.

The agency warns that ambulances "are not present throughout the country and can be unreliable where available." The agency recommends travelers bring basic over-the-counter medication, as shortages are widespread throughout the island.

Air quality can be poor on the island, and tap water is not safe to drink. The agency recommends opting for bottled water, asking for drinks without ice, washing hands often, and avoiding uncooked or undercooked food.

Diseases like dengue, chikungunya, COVID-19, Oropouche, hepatitis A, and traveler's diarrhea are prevalent.

Travelers should also be aware that between May and November, the island is vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes.

Curaçao - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts set for the Dutch territory, but notes that nonviolent crimes of opportunity, such as pickpocketing and purse snatching, are common in areas like beaches, hotel lobbies, and cars.

Instances of violent crime, although not common, often take place in more isolated areas of the island, like remote beaches or nature areas, where thefts and assaults have been reported.

Zika, dengue, and chikungunya are prevalent, and the CDC recommends the use of mosquito repellents and insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets.

Dominica - Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts set for Dominica, but notes that crimes of opportunity, violent, and drug-related crime occur occasionally in the Caribbean island.

The department also advises caution when driving, riding in a vehicle, or crossing roads, as roads in the country tend to be in "average to poor condition."

Diseases like chikungunya, dengue, and Zika have been reported on the island.

The agency also warns that medical facilities on the island do not meet US standards, and there is "limited ambulance service."

Dominican Republic - Level 2: Exercise increased caution

The US State Department warns of violent crime, including armed robbery, homicide, and sexual assault in the Dominican Republic. The agency also says that while the country has its own tourist police force and resort areas are generally safer, urban areas like Santo Domingo aren't well policed, and drugs, weapons, and the criminal justice system are concerns throughout the country.

The agency advises against wearing expensive jewelry and warns of dating app or internet romance scams.

While prostitution under certain circumstances is legal in the country, the agency warns US citizens against hiring prostitutes or escort services, as "disagreements over price and claims of mistreatment" can result in police involvement.

Prevalent diseases include dengue, malaria, and tuberculosis, and "public clinics lack basic resources and supplies," the agency said. It also notes that "many US citizens have suffered serious complications or died during cosmetic or other elective surgeries in the Dominican Republic."

The country has the highest road-crash-related mortality rate in the world, the agency says, and travelers should drive with extreme caution or consider hiring a professional driver. Shared buses are available, but they do not always meet US safety standards.

Due to security concerns, the agency advises against using unregulated taxis and buses, as well as hailing taxis off the street.

The island is vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes between May and November, and flooding often occurs without warning during heavy rainfall. The country is also prone to earthquakes.

The agency also warns of life-threatening currents and advises against swimming alone.

El Salvador - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

After years of higher-risk warnings, the US State Department now lists El Salvador at Level 1, citing a dramatic decrease in violent crime and gang activity over the past three years.

The US prohibits government employees from traveling between cities or departments at night and from using public buses due to concerns over infrastructure and criminal activity.

Since 2022, El Salvador has been under a "State of Exception" in response to gang violence, allowing local authorities to arrest anyone suspected of being involved in gang activity — including several US and foreign citizens — and suspending "several constitutional rights," like the right to a fair and speedy trial, the agency notes.

While no alerts are active for the country, the agency suggests exercising caution and warns that common crimes like robbery, car theft, and sexual assault still occur in the country. "Most serious crimes in El Salvador are never solved," the department says.

The country has a police force dedicated to tourists in 19 popular destinations, but the agency advises against remote hikes or hiring guides.

The agency warns of the risks of surfing in the country's Pacific Coast, which has made El Salvador a popular surfing destination. The currents "can be dangerous, even for skilled swimmers," the department said, and the country has limited search-and-rescue capabilities.

El Salvador also has severe penalties for possessing, using, or trafficking illegal drugs, which might include THC and CBD products legally sold in the US.

Natural disasters also occur occasionally in the country, which has several active volcanoes and experiences frequent earthquakes. Flooding and mudslides are common during the rainy season.

LGBTQ+ travelers should be aware that while same-sex sexual relations aren't restricted in the country, there is "widespread discrimination based on sexual orientation," the department said, including by public officials and police, who have been involved in violence against LGBTQ+ individuals.

Quality care is available in San Salvador, but medical care can be limited outside the city, per the agency.

French West Indies - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts set for the French West Indies, which include the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Saint Martin, and Saint Barthélemy. The agency notes that petty street crime, like purse snatching, occurs, and advises against leaving valuables unattended in public areas or visible in cars.

Other recommendations include avoiding wearing expensive jewelry or carrying large amounts of cash, and keeping doors and windows locked at night.

Chikungunya and dengue are prevalent.

Grenada - Level 2: Exercise increased caution

The US State Department warns travelers to exercise an increased level of caution when visiting Grenada due to the risk of crime, noting that "violent crime can occur anywhere" on the island and that Americans have been victims of killings, armed robberies, assaults, burglaries, and rape.

Local authorities might not respond as quickly as they do in the US, the agency adds.

LGBTQ+ travelers should also be aware that local law "criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual activities between men," with up to 10 years imprisonment, the agency says. Although prosecutions are rare, Grenadian society is considered to be "generally intolerant of same-sex sexual conduct," it noted.

During hurricane season, from June 1 to November 30, travelers are advised to monitor local weather and be prepared for potential threats, including earthquakes and tsunamis, since the island is located in a seismic zone.

Visitors should drive slowly and with caution, as the roads are usually narrow and winding and often lack proper signage, according to the agency.

The department also notes that medical care in Grenada is "below US standards" and that dengue is prevalent.

Guatemala - Level 3: Reconsider Travel

The US State Department warns of terrorism and widespread crime, including violent crime like armed robbery, murder, and gang activity, particularly in Guatemala City, Escuintla, Chiquimula, Izabal, and Petén. The agency advises reconsidering travel to the country.

Some areas, including the departments of San Marcos and Huehuetenango, and parts of Guatemala City, like Zone 18 and Villa Nueva, have a travel advisory of Level 4: Do Not Travel due to increased crime and threat of terrorism.

"While tourists are not usually targeted, they can still be victims of opportunistic crime," the agency says, adding that local police — which have a dedicated force to protect tourists in popular destinations — often lack the resources to respond effectively.

Tourists are advised against wearing expensive jewelry or using cellphones in public. Internet romance and dating app scams are common, per the agency, and can often target US citizens.

Road travel after dark is discouraged due to poor lighting and a high accident risk. Public transportation, especially "chicken buses" and unregulated taxis, can be unsafe, the agency said.

Travelers should also avoid swimming in the Pacific Ocean because the currents and undertow can be dangerously strong, and lifeguards aren't always available.

LGBTQ+ travelers should be aware that discrimination and harassment are common throughout the country.

Medical care in Guatemala City is generally adequate, but facilities elsewhere often lack basic supplies.

Diseases like dengue, chikungunya, malaria, and COVID-19 are present, and tap water is unsafe to drink, including ice made from non-potable water.

Haiti - Level 4: Do Not Travel

The US State Department warns of extreme crime, kidnapping, civil unrest, terrorist activity, and a total collapse of public security in the country. The agency emphasizes that it has "extremely limited ability" to provide emergency assistance in Haiti and advises against all travel to the country.

US commercial flights are not currently operating to or from Port-au-Prince due to the substantial threats to travelers.

Since 2024, the country has been in a state of emergency across many districts due to gang violence. Kidnapping is widespread and often violent, with US citizens among the victims, the department said.

Demonstrations and roadblocks are frequent and unpredictable, and clashes between gangs and security forces routinely involve gunfire. The agency notes that stray bullets present a significant threat to visitors, even if they aren't involved with armed conflict.

Road conditions are dangerous, traffic is chaotic, and public transportation is unsafe, according to the agency.

LGBTQ+ individuals and women may face targeted harassment or violence, and consular support is unavailable.

The State Department warns that medical facilities lack basic supplies, emergency response is nearly nonexistent, and essential resources, including water, fuel, and electricity, are severely limited. Diseases like dengue, chikungunya, malaria, cholera, and Zika are prevalent.

The country is also vulnerable to hurricanes during the season from June 1 to November 30, when roads often become impassable.

Honduras - Level 3: Reconsider travel

The US State Department warns of violent crime, including homicide, armed robbery, kidnapping, and gang activity, throughout Honduras. The easternmost department, Gracias a Dios, is a Level 4: Do Not Travel area due to narcotics trafficking, limited security presence, and poor infrastructure.

Since 2022, the country has been under a state of national emergency in response to the high crime rate.

Tourist areas like the Bay Islands and Copan Ruins "have a higher concentration of law enforcement resources," the agency said, but drug-related crimes remain a concern in the region.

Road conditions are hazardous, especially at night, with poor lighting, landslides, and frequent accidents. Carjackings occur along major highways, and the agency warns against using public transportation or hailing taxis on the street.

While no laws prohibit same-sex relationships, LGBTQ+ travelers often face discrimination, and crimes committed against LGBTQ+ individuals often go unpunished. The agency advises LGBTQ+ travelers to "exercise caution, especially when expressing affection in public."

Medical facilities "often do not meet US standards," the agency said. Dengue is widespread, and diseases like chikungunya, malaria, and Zika are prevalent. Tap water is not safe to drink, and air pollution can reach hazardous levels during the dry season.

The country is also vulnerable to hurricanes, heavy rain, and flooding, especially between June and November.

Jamaica - Level 2: Exercise increased caution

The US State Department warns of the widespread risk of violent crime — including armed robbery, sexual assault, and homicide — throughout Jamaica, including in areas frequented by tourists.

The agency advises American citizens to reconsider traveling to high-crime areas.

It also notes that the country has one of the highest homicide rates in the Western Hemisphere. Tourists tend to experience a lower rate of crime than in other parts of the country, the agency said.

Travelers should avoid secluded areas, including at resorts, remain in groups, and avoid displaying valuables.

Road conditions vary widely throughout the island, and nighttime driving can be hazardous.

Emergency response can be slow, and medical care outside major cities is limited, according to the agency.

LGBTQ+ travelers should be aware that same-sex sexual activity between men is criminalized under Jamaican law, with potential prison sentences of up to 10 years, and LGBTQ+ individuals often face discrimination or violence in the country.

Diseases like COVID-19, dengue, chikungunya, and HIV are present, and the CDC recommends the use of mosquito repellents and sleeping under insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets.

Mexico - Level 2: Exercise increased caution

The US State Department warns of terrorism, violent crime, kidnapping, and cartel activity throughout Mexico.

States like Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas are Level 4: Do Not Travel due to extreme violence, roadblocks, and targeted killings. The agency particularly warns against travel to Tamaulipas due to the threat of organized crime activity and kidnapping.

Other states are Level 3: Reconsider Travel, and only the Gulf states of Campeche and Yucatán are Level 1: Exercise normal precautions.

Crimes like armed robbery, extortion, and sexual assault occur in both tourist and non-tourist areas, and the agency notes that "emergency services may be limited or unavailable in remote or rural areas." Travelers should avoid hailing taxis on the street, use only vetted transport, and avoid intercity driving at night due to risks of crime and unreliable road conditions.

Scams, including virtual kidnappings, romance schemes, banking fraud, and timeshare scams, are also common.

The agency also notes that carbon monoxide incidents have resulted in tourist deaths since many hotels and vacation rentals lack detectors.

Mexico is also prone to earthquakes and tsunamis, and hurricanes and tropical storms often take place between May and November.

Medical care is generally good in major cities, but complications are frequent in travelers seeking elective procedures, such as plastic surgery.

Diseases like dengue, chikungunya, malaria, and Zika are present in the country.

Montserrat - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts set for the British territory, but notes that petty crimes and violent crimes still occur occasionally in Montserrat. Travelers are advised to use the level of caution they would in any major US city and stay aware of their surroundings, especially when visiting more isolated areas.

Chikungunya and dengue are present on the island.

Nicaragua - Level 3: Reconsider travel

The US State Department warns of "arbitrary enforcement of laws, risk of wrongful detention, civil unrest, limited healthcare availability," and crime in Nicaragua. The government, which the agency describes as authoritarian, has detained US citizens, restricted entry or exit without explanation, confiscated property, and monitored digital activity.

Violent crime, including sexual assault and armed robbery, occurs, and roadblocks and paramilitary groups can restrict movement and extort travelers. The Nicaraguan government may also monitor social media accounts for content that is "critical of the government, controversial, or that might involve illegal activity," the agency said.

Beaches can have dangerous currents and undertows, and hiking around volcanoes is required to be done with a local guide by law. Travelers should maintain emergency supplies, avoid nighttime travel, and use only licensed taxis recommended by trusted sources such as airports and hotels, due to unsafe conditions on public transportation.

Medical care outside Managua is extremely limited, and even the capital's facilities may lack emergency resources. Ambulance services are unreliable, tap water is not potable, and diseases like dengue, chikungunya, Zika, typhoid fever, pneumonia, leptospirosis, and rabies are present.

The country is prone to earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, landslides, and volcanic eruptions. Travelers should have emergency plans, as remote locations may lack cellphone coverage.

Panama - Level 2: Exercise increased caution

The US State Department advises travelers to exercise increased caution in Panama due to crime and the potential for civil unrest.

Crimes, including theft and residential break-ins, occur, while pickpocketing and purse snatching can happen in tourist areas. Demonstrations over political or economic issues can also disrupt transportation and access to goods and services, and some protests have turned violent.

For those visiting the country, the department suggests avoiding demonstrations and large crowds, staying aware of surroundings, and having a plan in place in case of emergency.

Parts of the country's Darién and "Mosquito Gulf" are under a Level 4: Do Not Travel travel advisory due to human and drug trafficking.

In those regions, the State Department says that US authorities have "limited ability to provide emergency services to US citizens."

Throughout the country, beaches can have large waves and dangerous currents, conditions can change quickly, and few beaches have lifeguards.

The agency also warns that medical treatment can be difficult to access outside major cities.

Saint Kitts and Nevis - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts set for the islands, but notes that petty theft, break-ins, and incidents of violent and drug-related crime occasionally occur. Travelers should use the personal security measures they would in any major US city.

Diseases like chikungunya, dengue, and Zika have been reported on the islands.

Saint Lucia - Level 2: Exercise increased caution

The US State Department warns of violent crime in Saint Lucia, saying that Americans and other foreigners have been victims of armed robbery, assault, burglary, rape, and even killings.

The department also notes that medical facilities on the island "do not meet US standards," and that major roads are in "average to poor condition," so travelers should "be extremely careful when driving."

LGBTQ+ travelers should also be aware that local law criminalizes "consensual same-sex sexual activity" with penalties of up to 10 years in prison, and there is no legislation protecting people from "discrimination based on sexual orientation," per the agency.

Chikungunya, dengue, and Zika are present in the island.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts set for the island chain, but notes that it can be vulnerable to natural disasters.

Located on the north of Saint Vincent, La Soufriere is an active volcano that the agency says "poses a constant threat." In mid-April 2021, it erupted nearly every day, forcing nearby communities to evacuate.

Earthquakes, which are also often associated with volcanic activity, can occur "at any time," the agency said. The islands can be impacted by hurricanes and storms between May and November.

The department also notes that medical facilities fall below US standards, and that since there isn't a hyperbaric chamber on the islands, divers suffering decompression illness require evacuation.

LGBTQ+ travelers should also be aware that local law criminalizes "consensual same-sex sexual activity" with sentences of up to 10 years in prison, and there is no legislation protecting people from "discrimination based on sexual orientation," the agency said.

Diseases like chikungunya, dengue, and Zika are present.

Sint Maarten - Level 1: Exercise normal precautions

The US State Department doesn't have any alerts set for the Netherlands territory. Sint Maarten shares an island with Saint Martin, which is part of the French West Indies.

The agency warns travelers against attempting to experience the "jet blast of approaching and departing aircraft" at the island's Maho Beach, adjacent to the Princess Juliana International Airport. The blast "can result in serious injury or death," per the department.

Crimes of opportunity, such as pickpocketing or petty theft, can also happen, and the department advises against leaving belongings unattended.

The State Department also warns that "access to quality medical care is limited" on the island, and facilities may not always meet US standards.

Diseases like chikungunya, dengue, and Zika are prevalent.

Trinidad and Tobago - Level 3: Reconsider travel

The US State Department warns of violent crime, terrorism, and poor health conditions in Trinidad and Tobago, particularly in parts of Port of Spain. Violent crimes, including murder, assault, robbery, sexual assault, and home invasion, are common, and gang activity is widespread; a significant portion of violent crime is gang-related.

On March 2, the government declared a nationwide state of emergency after a spike in violent activity. Police and defense forces have expanded powers, and procedural rights like bail are suspended for suspected crimes, with restrictions changing with little notice.

There is also a risk of terrorist violence targeting tourist locations, hotels, restaurants, parks, and airports, among others, the agency said.

The agency notes that criminals have used dating apps and social media to lure victims to assaults or robberies, and tourists have been targeted at beaches, waterfalls, and rental homes, especially in Tobago. The agency notes that tourists are particularly vulnerable to pickpocketing and armed assault, which often increases before and during holiday periods.

LGBTQ+ travelers should be aware that "consensual same-sex sexual activity" remains criminalized with a penalty of two to five years in prison, although the law is not being enforced. Targeted violence against LGBTQ+ individuals is also common.

Medical facilities often lack basic resources, ambulance services are limited, and diseases like dengue, chikungunya, Zika, yellow fever, and COVID-19 are present on the island. The CDC recommends the use of mosquito repellents and insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets.

Turks and Caicos Islands - Level 2: Exercise increased caution

The US State Department warns of crime throughout British territory, particularly on Providenciales, where it says police resources may be limited.

Crimes of opportunity, including theft, burglary, and car break-ins, and occasional violent incidents occur. The agency advises US citizens to exercise the level of caution they would in any major US city.

Visitors should avoid walking alone at night, secure valuables, and use only clearly marked taxis.

The islands are also vulnerable to hurricanes from June through November.

Medical care can handle non-life-threatening issues, but serious injuries often require air evacuation.

Venezuela - Level 3: Reconsider Travel

The US State Department advises Americans to reconsider travel to Venezuela due to ongoing safety risks of crime, kidnapping, natural disaster, terrorism, and poor health infrastructure that is "recovering from a state of severe crisis."

After the June 24 double earthquakes in the country, the State Department added a natural disaster warning, telling Americans to be aware of potential aftershocks and the extensive disruptions to transportation, infrastructure, and emergency services in the region.

Violent crime, including homicide, armed robbery, kidnapping, and carjacking, remains a serious risk in the country, the US State Department said, and criminal groups operate in some parts of the country, especially in border areas.

Several states within the country are at a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory, including Amazonas, Apure, Guarico, Tachira, Aragua outside Maracay, rural areas of Bolivar, and the region within 20 miles of Venezuela's border with Colombia.

The agency also advises against using public transport. Traffic jams in Caracas are often exploited by armed motorcycle gangs to rob drivers.

Tap water is often unsafe to drink, even in major cities, and shortages of running water are frequent. Diseases like dengue, Zika, chikungunya, malaria, Chagas disease, measles, travelers' diarrhea, and other infectious illnesses are prevalent.

Those who choose to travel to Venezuela are advised to consider hiring professional security during their stay and develop communication plans with family in case of kidnapping, the State Department said.

• Our family always tries to book budget-friendly stays when we travel.
• For a change, we splurged on a $500-a-night English manor house for a family trip.
• The accommodations exceeded our expectations and gave our family some very special memories.

From the time our three kids were little, our family has always prioritized low-cost travel. We've visited the free museums of New York City, hiked in Yosemite, and enjoyed several lay-on-the-beach vacations in Mexico.

So when our oldest child graduated from high school last year, we felt a "last hurrah" family trip was in order, this time with a larger budget that was a little bit more celebratory.

Our plan? A three-week trip to England.

As the family travel planner, I set out to give us a UK experience we'd never forget. For Anglophiles like us, who love British books, TV, and movies, what could be more unforgettable than a stay at an English country estate?

Looking online, I found what looked like an absolutely lavish option: Severn End, a 15th-century manor house in Worcestershire.

Though the nearly $500-per-night cost was way outside our family's norm (we usually try for the $200-per-night range), my husband and I decided it was worth the splurge. We bit the bullet and booked a five-night stay.

The house was jaw-dropping

Months later, rounding a bend near the little town of Upton, we came upon Severn End in all its Tudor glory. My jaw literally dropped as I took in the three stories of timber-beamed, lattice-windowed, multiple-chimneyed eminence looming over us. Our host, Sir Nicholas, the 8^th baronet of Lechmere (whose family still occupies one wing of the house), showed us how to work the ancient front door, and we were soon inside.

The five of us swirled through the property like in a dream, each marveling at a different room. There was the entry hall with its king-sized brick fireplace and taxidermized animal heads, bedrooms with stately wardrobes and wood paneling, a drawing room equipped for anything from ballroom dancing to a Netflix binge, and — unheard of for most UK vacation rentals — two and a half luxurious bathrooms.

Extensive grounds behind the house welcomed us with walking paths perfect for "taking a turn," as they say in British novels. We settled in to enjoy our little slice of Jane Austen-style heaven.

Our stay was exactly what I wanted it to be

Over the next five days, we wandered the nearby Malvern Hills and poked around in the Cotswolds. But really, we didn't have to stray from Severn End to have a magical, memorable time. The house itself was the vacation.

Staying in a place so unlike anywhere we'd ever been gave us plenty to do. I perused a Lechmere family book detailing the home's 500-year history. My kids played croquet on the back lawn. Each evening in the summer twilight, we enjoyed family walks to the river Severn, where I imagined the characters from "The Wind in the Willows" might sail serenely by. And, of course, we took plenty of selfies with the animal heads.

Our stay gave us something unexpected

Though we had no shortage of activities at our fingertips, our stay at the manor was also a chance to just breathe, something we don't often do in our everyday school-and-work lives.

Since we knew we had paid good money to stay in such luxurious digs, we allowed ourselves to lounge in the house and its grounds, enjoying outdoor meals and sleeping late in our massive mahogany beds. One day, I sat in the bathroom window seat (yes, there was a window seat in the bathroom) and birdwatched. That's not something I get to do much of back at home.

If anyone asks me whether our manor house splurge was worth the cost, I say absolutely. I can't put a price on time with my family that's both tranquil and novel, especially in an environment that turns fantasy into reality. After all, isn't that the point of travel?

• The oldest colleges in each US state are among the most prestigious academic institutions.
• The oldest college in the United States is Harvard University, founded in 1636.
• Meanwhile, the most recent state to get a college for the first time is Alaska.

Some of the United States' colleges are older than America itself — the oldest, Harvard University, was founded in 1636.

Meanwhile, other states took longer to open their first colleges. The most recent state to get its first college is Alaska, whose University of Alaska Fairbanks celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2017.

From Ivy League powerhouses to flagship public universities and lesser-known institutions with centuries of history, the oldest college in each state reflects a different chapter of American higher education.

For this list, we used the earliest founding date claimed by each operating institution, including dates associated with predecessor seminaries, academies, and schools that later became colleges.

Read on to discover the oldest college in every US state and Washington, DC.

ALABAMA: Spring Hill College in Mobile

Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, was founded in 1830 and claims to be Alabama's oldest institution of higher learning.

According to the school's website, it is the first Catholic college in the Southeast United States, the third-oldest Jesuit college, and the fifth-oldest Catholic college in the US.

ALASKA: The University of Alaska Fairbanks in Fairbanks

Founded in 1917, the University of Alaska Fairbanks officially opened its doors to students in 1922, according to the school's website.

In 1935, the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines became the University of Alaska. The school awarded its first Ph.D. in 1955.

ARIZONA: The University of Arizona in Tucson

The University of Arizona dates back to 1885, with enrollment beginning in 1891.

Britannica reported that in 1915, the university consisted of three colleges: letters, arts, and sciences; mines and engineering; and agriculture. Today, there are 20 colleges for students to choose from.

ARKANSAS: University of the Ozarks in Clarksville

The University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas, was founded in 1834 by Cumberland Presbyterian officials. The first classes were held in a two-room log schoolhouse.

The name would eventually change from Cane Hill College to The College of the Ozarks and later The University of the Ozarks. 

In 1957, the University of the Ozarks became the first traditionally white college in Arkansas to admit African American students, according to the school's website.

CALIFORNIA: Santa Clara University in Santa Clara

Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, traces its origins to the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís, which was founded in 1777.

The university itself was established in 1851 as a preparatory school and began offering collegiate courses two years later, in 1853.

Today, it is the oldest operating institution of higher education in California.

COLORADO: The University of Denver in Denver

The University of Denver dates back to 1864, when it was known as the Colorado Seminary.

According to the university's website, it was founded just six years after Denver City was established in what was then the Colorado Territory. The university later opened one of the nation's first business schools.

CONNECTICUT: Yale University in New Haven

Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, is one of America's oldest educational institutions.

Yale University traces its roots to the 1640s, though the Connecticut legislature didn't formally charter the collegiate school until 1701.

Seventeen years later, the institution was renamed Yale College in honor of benefactor Elihu Yale. Today, it ranks among the world's most prestigious universities and is one of the eight Ivy League schools.

DELAWARE: The University of Delaware in Newark

The University of Delaware was founded in 1743, making it one of the oldest educational institutions in the country.

According to the university's website, a separate college opened in 1914 with 58 female students. In 1921, the two colleges merged to become the University of Delaware.

WASHINGTON, DC: Georgetown University in Washington, DC

Georgetown University in Washington, DC, was founded in 1789. It is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher learning in the United States.

Classes officially began in 1792, and enrollment grew to more than 40 students within the school's first year.

FLORIDA: Florida State University in Tallahassee

Florida State University in Tallahassee dates back to 1851, when the state legislature authorized two seminaries of learning.

Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, was chartered first. However, it wasn't founded until 1885, making Florida State University technically the oldest in the state.

GEORGIA: The University of Georgia in Athens

The University of Georgia in Athens became the first university in the country to have a state-supported charter in 1785. Its site in Athens was selected in 1801, and classes began that year.

HAWAII: The University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu

Compared with many of the country's oldest colleges, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is a relatively recent addition.

Founded in Honolulu in 1907, the school was established under the Morrill Act as a land-grant college focused on agriculture and the mechanical arts.

IDAHO: Brigham Young University Idaho in Rexburg

Brigham Young University Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho, was founded in 1888. It started as Bannock Stake Academy and is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The institution officially became known as Brigham Young University-Idaho in August 2001.

ILLINOIS: McKendree University in Lebanon

McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois, was founded in 1828 by pioneer Methodists in the state.

It is the oldest college in Illinois and the oldest in the nation with continuous ties to the United Methodist Church.

INDIANA: Vincennes University in Vincennes

Vincennes University in Vincennes, Indiana, was founded in 1801 as Jefferson Academy, making it the state's oldest institution of higher education.

The university is located in Indiana's oldest city, where many historic buildings remain from the area's early days as a French fur trading post.

IOWA: Loras College in Dubuque

Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, was founded in 1839 as a school intended to educate young men for the priesthood.

Loras College adopted its present name in 1939 and became a coeducational institution in the fall of 1971.

KANSAS: Baker University in Baldwin City

Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, was founded in February 1858, making it the oldest college in the state. The university welcomed its first students later that year and has remained in operation ever since.

KENTUCKY: Transylvania University in Lexington

Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, traces its roots to 1780, making it the oldest college in Kentucky.

Although the university was founded before Kentucky became a state, its first classes weren't held until 1785 in a log cabin near present-day Danville that belonged to one of the institution's first Board of Trustees chairmen.

LOUISIANA: Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport

Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport was founded in 1825, when it was known as the College of Louisiana.

It is the 43rd-oldest college in the United States and, according to the university's website, tuition in the school's early days was just $50 a year, and room, board, and firewood were $7 a month.

MAINE: Bowdoin College in Brunswick

Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, was chartered in 1794, making it one of New England's oldest colleges.

The institution welcomed its first students in 1802 and remained an all-male school for more than 160 years before admitting women for the first time in 1971.

Today, Bowdoin is consistently ranked among the nation's top liberal arts colleges.

MARYLAND: St. John's College in Annapolis

St. John's College traces its roots to The King William's School, which was founded in Annapolis in 1696. Maryland chartered St. John's College in 1784, merging it with the earlier school.

According to the school's website, it is the third-oldest college in the United States, behind Harvard University and the College of William and Mary.

MASSACHUSETTS: Harvard University in Cambridge

Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the oldest college in the entire country — it dates back to 1636, predating the country's founding by nearly 140 years.

The school was named after a young minister named John Harvard, who, according to the university, left his library and half of his estate to the institution upon his death in 1638.

MICHIGAN: The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor

The University of Michigan was founded in 1817 as a preparatory school in Detroit. Britannica reported that the school moved to its present site in Ann Arbor in 1837.

MINNESOTA: University of Minnesota Twin Cities in Minneapolis

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities was established in 1851, seven years before the creation of the state itself in 1858.

Both male and female students received instruction from the school before the school closed during the Civil War. The University of Minnesota reopened in 1867 and was reorganized as a university in 1869.

MISSISSIPPI: Mississippi College in Clinton

Founded in 1826 as Hampstead Academy, Mississippi College is the oldest college in Mississippi.

It is located in Clinton, Mississippi, and was renamed Mississippi Academy in January 1827, when the school began offering classes to both male and female students.

MISSOURI: Saint Louis University in St. Louis

Saint Louis University was founded inside a private residence near the Mississippi River at the request of the Rev. Louis William DuBourg, Catholic Bishop of Louisiana, in 1818.

Not only is Saint Louis University the oldest educational institution of higher learning in Missouri, but it's also the oldest university west of the Mississippi River, according to the school's website.

MONTANA: Rocky Mountain College in Billings

Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana, dates back to 1878 and originally comprised three separate colleges.

In 1947, the schools combined to become Billings Polytechnic Institute, later named Rocky Mountain College.

NEBRASKA: Peru State College in Peru

Peru State College is the oldest college in Nebraska — it was founded in 1867. It was originally established as a teacher-training school, with 60 students attending classes in a single building.

However, the institution has since expanded considerably.

NEVADA: The University of Nevada in Reno

The University of Nevada was founded in 1874 following the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862.

The University's first iteration was located in Elko but has since moved to Reno, Nevada.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Dartmouth College in Hanover

Dartmouth College was founded in 1769. It's the ninth-oldest university in the nation, according to the school, and has been in operation for more than 250 years.

NEW JERSEY: Princeton University in Princeton

Princeton University was chartered in 1746, making it the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States.

Originally founded as the College of New Jersey, the school moved to Princeton in 1756 and officially adopted the name Princeton University in 1896.

NEW MEXICO: New Mexico State University in Las Cruces

New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, was founded in 1888 as the state's first land-grant university, according to the school.

Throughout its history, the university has operated under multiple names, including Las Cruces College and New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. 

NEW YORK: Columbia University in New York

Columbia University is the oldest college in the state of New York. It was founded in 1754 as King's College by a royal charter of King George II of England.

According to the school's website, it is the fifth-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and played a vital role in American history through some of its first students and trustees, namely John Jay, who served as the first chief justice of the United States, and Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury.

NORTH CAROLINA: Salem College in Winston-Salem

Salem College was founded as a girls' school in 1772, four years before the United States declared its independence from Great Britain. It became known as the Salem Female Academy in the mid-19th century and awarded its first bachelor's degrees in 1890.

It remains the oldest educational institution for girls and women in America, according to the college's website.

NORTH DAKOTA: The University of North Dakota in Grand Forks

The University of North Dakota was founded in 1883, six years before North Dakota became recognized as a state. The very first graduating class was coeducational and consisted of six women and two men.

Of them, Dr. Cora Smith King became the first woman to receive a medical license in the state of North Dakota, according to the university's website.

OHIO: Ohio University in Athens

Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, was founded in 1804 after the Ohio legislature approved a new act authorizing its establishment. Ohio University first offered classes in 1809, when the institution operated more similarly to a high school than a college.

In 1822, after Ohio University hired a team of more highly skilled faculty members, the school began to offer a traditional college program.

OKLAHOMA: University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond

The University of Central Oklahoma was founded in 1890.

In November 1891, the very first class of 23 students met in the Epworth League Room inside the unfurnished First Methodist Church, according to the school's website.

OREGON: Willamette University in Salem

Willamette University was established in 1842 as a missionary school.

The university is one of the oldest coeducational colleges in the United States — the very first graduate of the university was a woman, and women were attending the School of Medicine as early as 1877, according to the Willamette University website.

PENNSYLVANIA: The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia

The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia dates back to 1740, when it was established as a charity school that would also house a place of worship for local people in Pennsylvania.

It was the first American institution of higher learning to officially bear the name "university," according to the school.

RHODE ISLAND: Brown University in Providence

Brown University was founded in 1764 as the third college in New England and the seventh in America.

Originally located in Warren, Rhode Island, it was the first Ivy League school to accept students from all religious affiliations.

SOUTH CAROLINA: College of Charleston in Charleston

The College of Charleston was founded in 1770 and officially chartered in 1785. The city of Charleston took control of the college in 1836, making it the first municipal college in the nation.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Augustana University in Sioux Falls

Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, traces its origins to Hillsboro Academy, a school founded in Hillsboro, Illinois, in 1835.

The institution officially became Augustana in 1860, when its first class was held on September 1. It moved to Canton in Dakota Territory in 1884 and eventually to Sioux Falls in 1918.

The University of South Dakota, the oldest public university in the state, was founded in 1862, but Augustana's roots stretch back further.

TENNESSEE: Tusculum University in Tusculum

The school was chartered in 1794 as Greeneville College.

In 1844, the renamed Tusculum Academy officially adopted the name Tusculum College, and in 2018, it became Tusculum University.

TEXAS: Southwestern University in Georgetown

Southwestern University in Georgetown traces its roots to four predecessor institutions, the earliest of which was chartered in 1840, five years after Colonel William B. Travis wrote a letter to the New York Christian Advocate requesting that a Methodist presence be established in Texas, according to the school's website.

The four institutions merged to form the current university in 1873.

It claims to have been the site of many firsts, including the first homecoming on record and the first student literary journal in the state.

UTAH: The University of Utah in Salt Lake City

Originally named the University of Deseret, the University of Utah in Salt Lake City was founded in 1850.

The first term began in November 1850, during which time only male students were admitted. At the start of the second term, both men and women were allowed to attend.

VERMONT: Vermont State University's Castleton campus in Castleton

Vermont State University's Castleton campus traces its origins to the Rutland County Grammar School, founded in 1787.

Castleton University, which sits on a historic 165-acre campus, became part of the newly created Vermont State University in 2023.

VIRGINIA: College of William & Mary in Williamsburg

The College of William & Mary is located in the historic colonial town of Williamsburg, Virginia, and dates back to 1693.

It is the second-oldest institution of higher learning in the US and has a long list of esteemed and influential alumni.

American presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler all studied at William & Mary, as did 16 members of the Continental Congress and four signers of the Declaration of Independence. 

WASHINGTON: The University of Washington in Seattle

The University of Washington in Seattle, originally named the Territorial University of Washington, is the oldest in the state — it was founded in 1861.

In 1867, tuition at UW was just $30, according to the school.

WEST VIRGINIA: Bethany College in Bethany

Bethany College was founded in 1840, though the town of Bethany dates back to 1769.

By the time West Virginia was recognized as a US state in 1863, Bethany College was the only institution of higher learning in the state to offer collegiate degrees, according to the school.

WISCONSIN: Carroll University in Waukesha

Carroll University was chartered in 1846 by the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, two years before Wisconsin became a state. The school was originally established as an academy in 1841 by settlers living in the Wisconsin Territory community of Prairieville.

When the college first opened, the enrollment consisted of five students and two faculty members, Eleazar Root and John W. Sterling, according to the university's website.

WYOMING: The University of Wyoming in Laramie

The University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming, was founded as a land-grant university in 1886. When the school first opened, there were five faculty members and 42 students, according to the university.

Editor's note: This story was first published in October 2018 and most recently updated in August 2026.

• Carla Romagnano's mom moved to Idaho so that Romagnano could take care of her.
• Romagnano said it feels like she has two full-time jobs — her bookkeeping job and caregiving.
• She makes sure her mom gets out of the house, such as having a weekly meal at a restaurant.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Carla Romagnano, who is in her 60s and lives in Idaho with her 84-year-old mom. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

In 2022, my mom had a major fall, and prior to that, she was diagnosed with dementia.

She broke her femur from the fall, and she needed 24-hour care. I knew my dad wouldn't be able to do that for her, so we hired an in-home caregiver for at least a year.

My dad suggested moving to where I live to cut down on caregiving expenses, and because doctors are close by, whether where I live or the next town over. So my dad and I decided we could take care of my mom between us.

My dad died unexpectedly

We put their house on the market. I knew it would sell quickly. Shortly after, my dad died of sepsis, which was just shocking because he was so healthy.

I don't know how I packed that house, but I would get up at 7 a.m. and go to bed at midnight. I had some help, but not a lot. Got rid of what we could, sold what we could, and then moved stuff here on top of me having moved in a few years ago. So then I had to pile that stuff on top of it.

It's been overwhelming, but I promised my dad I wouldn't put her in a home unless it was absolutely necessary, and it's not yet.

It was a little scary because it got just totally placed in my hands. I miss my dad fiercely. We were going to do this together as a team.

When I come home from work, I sit in the driveway to decompress and go into the house because my second job starts. I take care of the needs of my mom, whatever I need to do, take care of my two border collies, and then figure out what's going to go on for the rest of the day. It's two full-time jobs, and I would not wish this on anybody. Caregiving is the hardest job I've ever had.

My mom moved in with me in October 2023

I had to get my mom some home care. She's at risk of falls and uses a walker. She doesn't have the strength to walk on her own.

She likes consistency, and if the caregiver can't be there, then we don't have one that day because it's too overwhelming for her to try to adjust with somebody new.

I sleep on a couch

I sleep outside the bedroom on the couch because if I had a monitor in my bedroom, I wouldn't get to her in time.

When someone has dementia, they sometimes want to do what they want. I had to make sure that if that door opened, my two dogs and I would keep her from setting foot outside the bedroom without assistance.

She has a commode in her bedroom so she can use it to go to the bathroom. If she needs help, she can call me. I'd be right outside the door.

For almost three years, I've been sleeping on the couch just to make sure my mom is safe at night. Whether she tried to leave one time or five times, I'm not going to chance it by being across the hall or down the hall and not be able to get to her in time.

I love my job and have no plans to retire

I've been with a grocery business for 45 years. I was able to transfer when I moved. I'm a bookkeeper, and I also help with hiring.

While I work full time, a caregiver comes to take care of my mom.

Our calendars are full, between anything I need to do for myself and my mom's doctor's appointments. In just one year, I drove 800 miles to take care of doctor visits, prescriptions, and all that. The year before, it was 600. You don't realize that until you actually go over it and see.

My job is my only income. I've been able to maintain it and just hope I can do the same if something happens with my mom. There's no way I can retire right now. I've always wanted to make 50 years with my company, and I find that very feasible. Insurance is good, and people don't realize what a grocery business can do for a family. I've been a union member for my entire career.

After 50 years, it really depends on where my life is and what's going on with my mom. Come tomorrow, you just don't know what's going to happen, especially with her illness. It's really day by day. The time is just flying, honestly.

I go to a caregiving group twice a month

It's a time to talk about changes in whoever we're taking care of and ways to handle it, venting and frustrations, and what we're doing for ourselves. That's the most important thing: taking care of ourselves in order to take care of somebody else.

My mom and I do a lot with family and friends. She likes getting out of the house.

She had lost a ton of weight before she came here. So when she came here, she hardly had any clothes that fit her. So she likes going to thrift shops.

Even if it's to come to the grocery store, I will create things to get her out of the house because she just wants to be mobile. She wants to get out and be around people.

She loves Chinese food, and we go out weekly to a restaurant that I've loved for years. Then, we go out for ice cream.

It's time for her to just enjoy getting out and the food she likes. Sometimes a cousin will come, or my aunt will come by and meet up with us there. Anyone who wants to come can, even my friends have joined us.

For Easter, we sometimes have to put together eight to 12 baskets for children of family and friends. We have a lot of fun doing that or wrapping gifts. She'll help as much as she can. So we try to do projects like that so she does feel useful, but she can't cook anymore. It's too dangerous with the stove.

She can't do laundry because you don't know what she's going to do, whether she overloads the washer or floods the house. There are certain things she can't do, and she feels terrible about it. My mom is still capable of doing some things, not everything.

• After spending most of my working life in or near London, I moved to a town of about 3,000 in Wales.
• I wasn't sure how this move would impact me as a small-business owner, but I saw immediate benefits.
• I've built a supportive community here and been able to prioritize work-life balance.

For most of my working life, I lived in or near London, where I was surrounded by bustling, big-city energy. Lots of the people I knew were focused on climbing the career ladder and earning more money.

My own definition of personal success was also tied to this for a long time — but in 2015, after many years of working for big companies, I decided to follow my dreams and develop my own small chocolate business.

I can't deny that there were benefits to kicking off a new chapter in my career near a major city. It was helpful to have access to business-development support and a varied food scene.

Being near a city meant lots of opportunities, but also a lot more noise and competition. This can inspire some people, but for me, it was also a source of stress. I started craving a different pace of life.

My husband was on the same page, and we began discussing an eventual move to a place we loved: Wales.

I worried about moving, but noticed immediate benefits

The COVID-19 pandemic — and the cancellation of my in-person events — gave us an opportunity to try somewhere new. When we found a beautiful old house in a town with around 3,000 people, the pieces started to fall into place.

However, I was a bit nervous about how this would impact my business, especially as I was moving away from some of the support network and customer base I'd built up.

Moving from London to rural Wales felt like the right choice for my lifestyle, but it was still scary for me as a business owner. Turns out, I didn't need to worry.

Right away, I noticed that many local business owners wanted to work together as a community, rather than directly compete for money and attention. For instance, many of the smaller shop and café owners here communicate so that their products and services complement each other.

I was still a bit concerned about arriving as a newcomer and finding my place in the existing business and wider community, especially without having a physical storefront — but these fears eased early on, when I started chatting with a café owner while grabbing a coffee.

She wanted to offer a premium hot chocolate and asked about my products. This led to her serving one of my blends at her café.

My mental health has improved, too

Being a part of a strong community has been extremely fulfilling as someone who works mostly on my own.

I see so many of the same people in the community on a daily or a weekly basis, and it feels like more people in my town make time to speak with each other regularly — which is quite different from the odd hello or quick dog-walk chats I used to have when living in a busy commuter city.

There are lots of small, day-to-day moments I get to enjoy because of where I live, all of which indirectly impact my work, too. Living somewhere so wild and beautiful really supports my mental health, which is important as a solopreneur.

Previously, my home was close to the rumble of traffic on a major motorway, whereas now I step outside to the sound of birds and views of a sparkling river right across the road.

Sometimes, even just gazing out the window at the sheep and the gentle hills surrounding me can lift my spirits on a busy day.

Most crucially, though, stepping away from London's hustle-style culture has helped me appreciate other meaningful ways to live and work. Sometimes, I'll see someone taking a mid-morning break to swim in the river, or notice that a small shop closes several days a week so the owner can care for their family.

These little things remind me of the importance of work-life balance.

There are some downsides, but I'm still glad I moved here

I don't want to romanticize things too much, as there are some challenges that come with living and working in a small rural town.

Public transit options are more limited, so it can be tricky to get around locally or travel to other places without a car.

From a business perspective, it's not always easy to access networking events or opportunities as they're often in bigger, more central locations. I usually have to travel a bit further for workshops than I did when I lived in the London area, which also means more time out of the office.

Although living in a rural town isn't for everyone, there are so many benefits to being part of a supportive community in such a beautiful location. My small business has definitely benefited from it — and I have, too.

• Seri Kertzner left J.Crew after her first son was born.
• She founded Little Miss Party and later expanded to three brands.
• She says entrepreneurship gave her more flexibility to prioritize her children.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Seri Kertzner, 47, who lives in Florida. She spent a decade working in the corporate fashion industry in New York before founding a trio of event-planning brands: Little Miss Party, The Social Society, and Rev New York. She is also the mother of two teenage boys, ages 16 and 14. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

My love for fashion began with a childhood shopping addiction. I loved clothes, and I dreamed of having a lot of money so I could shop to my heart's content.

That led me to an economics degree and a job in investment after graduating in 1999. When the market crashed a year later, however, I decided to explore other career options.

A Google search of "fashion + New York City + job" led to my role as a financial assistant at Kate Spade. At 22 years old, I moved to New York City with $3 in my pocket.

Over the course of a decade, I worked for Kate Spade, Club Monaco, and then J.Crew — the latter two brands giving me production department experience. It was truly a time to be alive. I got to attend fashion shows, become a fit model, and even help make the Obama girls' coats for their father's presidential inauguration.

Having a baby changed things for me

My world changed when my first son was born in October 2009. After three months of maternity leave, I hired a full-time nanny. But I hated being away from my baby, and I cried at my desk daily.

Jealous of my nanny and distraught over missing opportunities to spend time with my baby, I realized motherhood had become my new passion. And that passion surpassed my love for fashion. So with my husband's support, I decided to make a change.

I became Little Miss Party

I launched the brand with the help of a former J.Crew coworker in 2010. On the outside, my switch to small-event planning might've seemed crazy. But during my fashion days, I was the ultimate party girl. See and be seen was my M.O., and living in a one-bedroom apartment didn't stop me from hosting elaborate dinner and birthday parties. I had a lot to learn, but I was ready for my new career.

Leaving my corporate role brought me instant satisfaction. I got to be with my child; I no longer needed the nanny, and I toted my baby all over the city. Central Park, the MoMA — you name it, and I brought him along.

I did a lot of work from home during the daytime and often had events at night when my baby was sleeping. Things really took off when Little Miss Party was featured in New York Magazine. Thankfully, my husband, family, and babysitters helped me feel like I could do it all.

I was about two and a half years into event planning when my second son arrived in July 2012. Managing my time became more difficult, but I was enjoying my newfound creative freedom as I took on bigger-budget events. Life was chaotic but full of joy.

I was able to expand my business

During the pandemic, my family and I moved to Florida. We thought we'd only be there temporarily, but my husband and I decided our new home brought a better quality of life for our kids. A move away from New York, however, meant I needed to rethink Little Miss Party.

Thankfully, I had passionate and trustworthy employees. I let them rebrand to Rev New York and remained the face of the company while they styled high-budget events in New York.

The Social Society, on the other hand, came to be because I always dreamed of opening a party store that doubled as an event space. I actually have my kids to thank for helping me find a location in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

My life is very chaotic

My life might have been less hectic if I had stuck with the corporate world. But I enjoy my work-hard-party-hard lifestyle.

Running my own businesses puts me in control and allows me to make my kids my top priority. Just last year, for example, I was able to take my son on a last-minute trip to California when his hockey team qualified for nationals — a likely impossibility if I had stayed corporate. I'm very grateful to be there for my kids.

Leaving the corporate fashion world to pursue event planning has given me many things. But regret is not one of them. I'm so grateful for my time in fashion, but mompreneurship — as I like to call it — has treated me well.

Even still, mom guilt is a very real thing. If there's one piece of advice I'd share with other parents, it's to give yourself grace and dream big. I truly believe you can have it all. Pursuing that may come with challenges, sacrifices, and disappointment, but I think doing what you love is important and worth fighting for.

• Arena's CEO says fake AI applicants passed job interviews before vanishing at the hiring stage.
• "This person wasn't real. It was AI," Anastasios Angelopoulos said.
• He said fake candidates are pushing Arena to consider in-person onboarding for new hires.

Arena's CEO says his company has encountered job applicants who seem too good to be true — literally.

Anastasios Angelopoulos said that the AI-model evaluation company he cofounded has interviewed candidates who turned out to be AI rather than real people.

"They're passing all of our technical interviews," Angelopoulos said in an interview on the "20VC" podcast that aired on Monday.

"And then what happens at the end of it? You try to hire them, and it's vaporware," he added, referring to an industry term for a product that never materializes.

He described the applicants as "fake people applying to companies," adding that Arena's engineers had interviewed the candidates and believed they were real.

"This person wasn't real. It was AI," he said.

Angelopoulos did not say how Arena had determined the applicants were AI-generated.

He said he did not know who was behind the bogus applications, but raised the possibility of corporate espionage, cyberattacks, or attempts to access company data and code.

Arena didn't immediately reply to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The rise of fake candidates

Angelopoulos said fake candidates were pushing Arena to consider requiring new hires to complete onboarding in person.

"If you want a laptop, you got to come to the office. We got to go and shake your hand. We got to verify that you're real," Angelopoulos said.

"People are trying to get into all of the American businesses," Angelopoulos added. "We're not the only ones. This is happening everywhere."

It's not the first time US companies have confronted fake job candidates involving AI, although the scale can vary from individual scammers to coordinated nation-state schemes.

In a 2025 alert, the FBI warned that North Korean IT workers had used AI and face-swapping technology in video interviews to conceal their identities and secure remote roles at US companies.

The bureau said some workers then used unlawful access to steal proprietary and sensitive data after obtaining employment with more than 100 US companies.

It urged employers to verify identities during interviews and onboarding — ideally in person — and to continue checks throughout remote workers' employment.

Several tech companies have since moved to block bogus job applications. Coinbase required all workers to come to the US for in-person orientation, while Amazon has used AI to screen and block applications from suspected North Korean agents.

While the exact number of companies facing fake AI job candidates is unclear, Gartner, a technology research and advisory firm, found in a second-quarter 2025 survey of 3,000 job candidates that 6% admitted taking part in interview fraud — either posing as someone else or having someone else pose as them in an interview.

Gartner said it expects one in four candidate profiles worldwide to be fake by 2028.