Living far away from your loved one can be difficult but rewarding. The top long-distance relationship gifts help thoughtfully convey your feelings even when you're not together in person. We've rounded up the best long-distance relationship gift ideas, whether you're looking for a deeply personalized, sentimental present to celebrate a special occasion or a more lighthearted, fun one just to let your partner know you're thinking of them.

A classic reel of your favorite memories

Image 3D Create Your Own Reel Viewer

Go old-school with this retro reel viewfinder, which you can fill with your favorite memories from your time together. You'll get a redemption code included with your viewer, which you can use to add photos for your made-to-order reel.

A question game to build connection and get to know each other better

Let's Get Deep, A Question Card Game for Couples

There's always something to learn about your partner, even if you've been together for years, and "Let's Get Deep" can help prompt those conversations. While you might need to save the "Activity" cards for your next in-person meet-up, the "Ice Breaker," "Deep," and "Deeper" card categories can work well over the phone or video chat.

A tech-friendly way to send reminders of your love

Long-Distance Love Letter Keychain

This set of keychains lets you send digital love notes, doodles, or stickers to each other using a companion app. The latest message will stay on the display until the next one arrives.

A sweet pillow cover for when you can't hug in person

Sufamb Hug This Pillow Until You Can Hug Me Throw Pillow Cover

Sometimes the distance can be hardest when you just want to hug, but this sweet throw pillow cover can help out in the meantime. Just keep in mind that this is a cover, so you'll need to get a throw pillow to stuff it with.

A tasteful personalized compass

Uncommon Goods Personalized Engraved Compass

Show that you'll always find your way back to each other with a personalized engraved brass compass. You can choose between two pre-engraved designs on the front of the compass, and add up to 150 characters or an image inside.

A bracelet that vibrates when your partner is thinking of you

Long Distance Touch Bracelet Set

This bracelet set helps show your love from afar: Simply touch your bracelet, and the other half on your partner's wrist will light up and vibrate to let you know you're thinking of them.

A kit with everything you need to send letters

Rifle Paper Co. Letter Writing Set

Sending a text is well and good, but there's nothing like a handwritten letter. This set includes wax seals, envelopes, stationery, and a pen — the perfect gift to start a new letter-writing tradition.

A classic box of chocolates

La Maison du Chocolat Gestures Gift Box, 16-piece

Nothing sweetens a day and says "I'm thinking of you" like a box of chocolates. This box from La Maison du Chocolat, the pick for gifting in our best chocolates guide, is filled to the brim with delicious bonbons.

An instant love letter

Lovebox Spinning Heart Messenger

Love letters in the mailbox are great, but this unique gift lets you deliver them instantly. After sending them the physical box, you can send your partner special messages via the app, and a large red heart spins on their box to inform them their digital love letter inside is ready to read.

A romantic card game for long-term couples

{THE AND} Long-Term Couples Edition Card Game

There are still plenty of things to learn about each other, even if you've been together for quite some time. You can have these conversations over video chat or the phone.

A custom light to connect your states

Custom Two-State Map Night Light

This customizable night light lets you pick your two states (or countries) and add names and a special message. Plus, you can choose between four different shapes, including a heart.

A reminder of the times you get to hold each other's hands

Hula Home Hand Casting Kit

One of the hardest parts of long-distance relationships is not being able to reach out and hold your partner's hand, but you can immortalize your time together when you're next reunited with a hand casting kit.

A custom search-and-find book with a romantic storyline

Your Super Epic Love Quest Book

Create your very own "Where's Waldo" picture search book with custom characters for you and your partner. The storyline is about two lovers finding each other through time and space — an apt theme for any long-distance couple.

A customized flipbook box of your favorite memories together

Personalized Wooden Photo Flipbook Box

You can store eight to 16 of your favorite photos together in this wooden flipbook. It's an easy, small way to look back on your time together without breaking out your phone or a large scrapbook.

A scratch-off poster of bucket list movies to watch together

Uncommon Goods 100 Movies Scratch Off Poster

The next virtual watch party just became easier with this scratch-off movie poster. Explore 100 iconic films to scratch off your movie night bucket list.

A way to store tiny daily messages for your loved one

SugarHouseGoods Message in a Glass Bottle

Sometimes the best medicine is a note from your loved one. A text can go a long way, but a tiny message in a bottle is a unique way to surprise your partner with more evergreen love notes, which they can crack open as needed.

A heart-shaped locket to hold a loving message

Personalized Message Heart & Arrow Locket

These heart-shaped lockets are large enough to store a customizable piece of paper with up to 160 characters, so you can leave a sweet and personal message for your loved one. The locket come in sterling silver or 14-karat gold vermeil, paired with an adjustable chain.

A musical reminder of the city you met in

Personalized City Skyline LP Record

Just because you're in different cities now doesn't mean you have to forget the place where it all started. You can choose from a variety of city skylines and add in a custom title, subtitle, and five special song names with these upcycled vinyl record artworks.

An art piece with a custom Spotify playlist

CustomAcrylicUS Song Plague

This acrylic art lets your partner scan a custom song code to pull up a playlist you've created of all the tunes that remind you of each other. The art piece comes on a wooden stand, so it doubles as a nice accent on the nightstand.

A set of aesthetically pleasing touch lamps

LuvLink Set of Two Friendship Lamps

Even though you miss them constantly, sometimes a text message here and there doesn't feel like it conveys your emotions. When you touch your lamp, theirs lights up no matter where or how far away they are — a soothing and subtle reminder of your affection that can be placed on their nightstand or desk.

A video message from their favorite celebrity

Cameo Message

Whether you love watching Bravo shows together or they'd be tickled to hear a "happy birthday" from a "Sopranos" actor, Cameo lets you pay talent to record special messages. Prices can really range depending on who you pick, so this can also be a great gift to split amongst friends or family.

A custom care package filled with all of their favorite things

Happy Box Custom Care Package

Build a box filled with special treats — from cozy candles to unique coffee to self-care items — to light up your partner's day. Whether they need a pick-me-up on an ordinary day or a celebratory gift, this custom box will make them feel loved from afar.

Matching bracelets of your names in Morse code

WishANDdesign Couple Name Morse Code Bracelets

If you prefer more subtle displays of your love, you can get these simple bracelets of each other's names in Morse code. You can pick your cord colors and beads for extra customization as well.

Fresh flowers delivered to their door

Urban Stems Flower Delivery

Nothing brightens up a lonely room or says, "Wish I could be there" for special occasions you're missing quite like a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. Urban Stems is one of the best flower delivery services we've tested, with so many different arrangements, perfect for any partner. They have fast shipping, with many options available same-day in major cities, imaginative arrangements, and the option to add on a small trinket like chocolate or a candle, or bigger gestures like Levain cookies or a charcuterie board.

A pair of matching undies

MeUndies Matching Pairs

A pair (or two) of fun, pj-worthy MeUndies makes it so easy to match your bottom half to your better half. Choose from countless colors and designs, including seasonal prints and fandom-inspired wear.

A digital picture frame

Aura Carver Smart Digital Picture Frame

A digital picture frame will brighten their home with a selection of your favorite photos. We love the Aura thanks to its unlimited storage and ease of uploading and sending photos and videos directly to their frame using Aura's app.

A custom, champagne-scented candle to celebrate a special date

Anniversary Map Candle

If you're looking to celebrate your anniversary or another special date, this candle provides a bespoke, olfactory delight. You can input your names, a city, a year, and a specific special date for your custom, hand-poured, champagne-scented candle.

A virtual portrait painting class

Uncommon Goods Couples Portrait Painting Class

Being apart doesn't mean you can't still have date nights. This 90-minute virtual class will walk you and your partner through the process of painting each other's portraits. You'll learn something and take home a memento… or at the very least have a good laugh at each other's artistic "skills."

A controller in their favorite color to play online games together

8BitDo Ultimate 2C Wireless Controller

Playing video games together is a great way to stay connected from anywhere. This inexpensive controller comes in a variety of colors to suit their preferences. Use it to play cooperatively or competitively — your choice! Some of our favorite games for couples include Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes, Split Fiction, It Takes Two, and Blue Prince.

A custom keychain chronicling your distance

Custom Long Distance Love Stainless Steel Keychain

Distance is just a number… which you can engrave on this stainless steel keychain. You can add the exact mileage between the two of you on the front, and, for an extra fee, have a message engraved on the back.

A box of loving to-do dates

Personalized Ticket to Love Box

With this custom love ticket box, you can still have special dates with one another despite the distance.

A sweet reminder every morning

Uncommon Ground The Kissing Mugs

Waking up each morning to a matching mug miles away will bring a smile to each of your faces. Not to mention, you could bring them together whenever you visit one another and capture the picture-perfect kiss.

A candle that smells like a place you both love

Homesick Location Scented Candles

Homesick candles are a team-favorite gift to give for any occasion. Each candle has a unique scent inspired by a different city, state, or experience. Choose one that feels special to both of you and let them bask in that scent for months to come. You can even personalize the vessel with a message for an added heartfelt touch.

A custom puzzle of a treasured moment

JIGGY Personalized Puzzle

Commemorate a favorite memory together with a personalized puzzle until you can make more memories in person. Trouble picking the perfect photo? JIGGY has plenty of beautiful designs made by female artists to choose from, each of which comes with glue to keep the puzzle as wall art once completed.

A custom light box with a sweet message

MagicWoOod LDR Gift Custom Magic Box

This little wooden box projects a message onto a wall when lit. You can customize it with a comforting reminder, inside joke, or anything else that they can look at whenever they need a pick-me-up.

A weighted blanket that feels like a bear hug

Bearaby Weighted Blanket

This weighted blanket from Bearaby is the next best thing to IRL cuddles and hugs. We named this attractive blanket the top pick in our guide to the best weighted blankets. The comforting pressure of a weighted blanket is calming and can even ease insomnia and anxiety. This one is available in several different weights to support a range of body sizes and is the most attractive weighted blanket we've found. 

A pottery kit to do together

Sculpd Double Date Night Bundle

Create something new when you are next together with a DIY craft kit. This kit provides a trio of crafts for two: air-dry clay, a candle-making kit, and paints.

A bar necklace that nods to your LDR

Somethings2Share Long Distance Relationship Bar Pendant Necklace

Bar necklaces are all the rage right now, but you can get extra creative with this one by adding your respective states or countries and a cute arrow in between. It's a lovely way to celebrate what is sometimes a pain: how truly different your locations are.

A photo book of your favorite memories

Chatbooks Classic Photo Books

When you're apart, they're probably scrolling through the memories of your last weekend together on an album on their phone. But, flipping through those memories on real pages feels so much better. Chatbooks makes it easy to do just that; upload photos directly from Instagram, Facebook, Google Photos, or your computer, and Chatbooks will quickly turn them into a high-quality keepsake photo book. 

A flight of mini wines

In Good Taste Wine Flights

A glass of wine can help your partner relax after a long day. In Good Taste flights feature wines from Italy, France, Portugal, Argentina, and more. It will give them something to sip on, and maybe even the opportunity to try something new.

A clock for both of your time zones

ServeWell Personalized Two Time Zone Clock

This two-faced clock can be personalized with any two time zones, so they'll never have to question if it's a good time to call.

A love letter immortalized in a blanket

Personalized Hand-Written Letter Blanket

If love letters feel too fragile, you can gift a more permanent reminder of your love with this personalized blanket. All you have to do is submit your text and choose a font to create a one-of-a-kind, utterly heartfelt present they'll wrap themselves up in all the time.

A game designed to keep each other close

We're Not Really Strangers Card Game

This card game, from the popular Instagram account We're Not Really Strangers, is designed to enhance connections through a series of questions. It's a thoughtful activity you can enjoy with your partner over the phone or video chat.

An easy-to-care-for plant

The Sill Snake Plant Laurentii

Being far from someone you love can be sad. While they can't cure that feeling completely, plants are proven mood-boosters. This plant will help purify the air in their space, increase happiness and creativity, and bring a pop of vibrant color that anyone can appreciate.

A minimalist and sentimental necklace

BabyGold 14K Gold Asymmetrical Multi Initial Necklace

This beautiful and dainty necklace can be personalized with up to 5 letters, so they can always keep you close to their heart.

A weekender bag to make travel easier

Dagne Dover Landon Carryall Bag

An extra-long weekender is exactly what they need when they come visit you. This Dagne Dover bag is ready for any weekend trip, with a shoe bag, water bottle holder, and a laptop sleeve inside.  

An adorable 3D pop-up card

I Lava You Pop-Up Card

If you want to send them a card that won't just live in a drawer, look no further. Lovepop makes 3D cards and paper bouquets you can leave out on full display, so they can get the most out of your message.

A cute book you can fill in

Knock Knock "What I Love About You" Book

This sweet, simple book is full of prompts you can fill out to show how much you really care. It's a great low-budget gift idea that they'll hold on to for years to come (and can flip to anytime they need some extra reassurance).

A gourmet meal from home

Goldbelly Restaurant Meal Kits

If they're missing home, chances are it's about more than just you. Surprise them with their favorite restaurant or hometown meal from Goldbelly, our favorite service for gourmet meals delivered nationwide. Read more in our Goldbelly review.

A scrapbook like the one in "Up"

Our Adventure Book Scrapbook

If one or both of you happens to be a Disney fan, you can't pass on this replica of the scrapbook used in "Up." You can use it to store notes, photos, ticket stubs, and anything else you want to cherish in your relationship.

Custom map artwork

Grafomap Custom Map

Whether it's of the special place you two met or got engaged, this custom map poster keeps that memory alive. It doubles as a great interior piece and a cherished memento to store at home.

A stylish personalized print

Personalized Movie Marquee Photo Print

This artsy print can be customized to include a movie title that represents your love story, along with your names and your anniversary date. Beyond being a cute nod to your relationship, it's a nice way to look forward to the next time you can catch a movie together.

• I followed Bobby Flay's recipe for perfect eggs using crème fraîche.
• I also tried making the recipe with cheaper ingredients like sour cream and Greek yogurt.
• The eggs made with crème fraîche tasted the best, but I'd use sour cream next time.

Scrambled eggs can be a difficult breakfast staple to master, but according to celebrity chef Bobby Flay, you can avoid a rubbery or dry texture by using crème fraîche, a dairy product similar to sour cream.

Since I don't often buy crème fraîche, however, I tried Flay's recipe alongside two two cheaper, similar alternatives — sour cream and Greek yogurt — to see if they would yield similar results. Here's how it went.

First, I made eggs using sour cream

I began with testing out sour cream, which isn't as rich as crème fraîche but offers a similar tangy flavor and texture.

Following the basic steps of Flay's recipe, I put a pat of cold butter and sour cream in a pan. I was careful not to use too much since I wanted enough to moisten the eggs without making them too wet.

Then, I turned the burner to medium-low heat and added two whisked eggs. I constantly stirred the mixture with a rubber spatula, adding black pepper once the eggs began to hold their shape.

I turned the heat off shortly before the eggs looked done to keep the moisture and prevent overcooking, and added the salt. I let the eggs cook for about a minute in the hot pan with the gas burner turned off.

Using sour cream was cost-effective, but the texture wasn't even throughout

The eggs definitely looked smoother than they usually do when I make them, and they smelled buttery and even slightly cheesy.

When I took a bite, they tasted good, too — a little buttery and no tang from the sour cream.

However, despite my constant stirring, I thought they had an uneven texture, as a few bites were slightly rubbery and dry, or a little too wet for my taste.

This ingredient is the cheapest of the three options I tried so, even if the eggs weren't the best, I'd still add a little sour cream if I had it on hand and wanted scrambled eggs.

The Greek yogurt didn't add the same richness as the other ingredients I tested

Next, I followed the same recipe and steps using a similar amount of Greek yogurt, which blended into the eggs seamlessly while cooking.

I knew after the first bite that this ingredient was not a good alternative to Flay's recommended crème fraîche.

The dish looked creamier than the eggs made with sour cream, but the non-fat Greek yogurt created a uniform rubbery texture.

I think one issue is that I accidentally used a yogurt without fat. Because Greek yogurt is so tangy, even more so than sour cream, I think the flavor masked the taste of the butter, salt, and eggs, and resulted in an overall blandness.

The dish also was slightly watery and left a small pool of liquid on my plate.

Finally, I tested Flay's tried-and-true crème fraîche, which pleasantly surprised me

The crème fraîche had the thickest texture of the three, so I expected the eggs to be pretty rich.

I followed the same steps, noticing how effortlessly the crème fraîche melted into the whisked eggs.

This dish with crème fraîche took slightly longer to cook, but the eggs seemed moist and fluffy without looking underdone.

Out of the three recipes, this one resulted in the best flavor and definitely didn't feel undercooked.

When I took a bite, I thought the flavor was amazing. They tasted soft, rich, and buttery and nearly melted in my mouth.

The creamy eggs would work so well with salty, crispy hash browns, roasted veggies, or a really good crusty bread.

The eggs with crème fraîche tasted the best, but I'd use sour cream if I made the recipe again

Though I thought the eggs made with crème fraîche tasted the best, I would use the cheaper alternative, sour cream, if I tried Flay's recipe again.

I don't often have crème fraîche on hand, so it would also be easier to use the sour cream since I usually buy it anyway.

That said, if I wanted a more indulgent version of this breakfast staple, I'd totally add crème fraîche to my grocery list.

This story was originally published on March 5, 2022, and most recently updated on October 26, 2026.

Love Island is back Down Under. We've rounded up everything you need to know about where to watch Love Island Australia, including free and global streaming options.

Sophie Monk returns as host for Season 8, welcoming a new slate of bombshells to the villa. This season will move from Mallorca to Fiji, where Love Island USA is hosted, giving contestants a tropical setting. Keep reading to learn how to tune in around the world, including release dates for different countries.

Where to watch Love Island Australia for free

Love Island Australia is available to stream for free in several countries, although release dates vary by region. New episodes are available for free right now on 9Now in Australia. Season 8 episodes stream on TVNZ, which is free in New Zealand, about a day behind Australia.

In the UK, the free streaming platform ITVX typically acquires new episodes of Love Island Australia a while after they originally air. At the time of writing, there haven't been any updates on the new season, but we'll keep this page up to date with any announcements.

How to watch Love Island Australia from anywhere

If you happen to be away when a new episode drops and don't want to miss out on any of the drama, you can keep up with your usual streaming services, including the free options, from anywhere with the help of a VPN (virtual private network). VPNs are easy-to-use cybersecurity tools that enable you to change your virtual location. They're extra popular among those hoping to keep up with their usual apps and subscriptions while traveling or boost their online security.

Our top VPN pick is NordVPN. It's beginner-friendly and has a hassle-free 30-day money-back guarantee. For a full breakdown of the service, you can check out our NordVPN review. Keep reading to learn how to use a VPN.

Where to watch Love Island Australia in Australia

Love Island Australia streams on 9Now in Australia. The streaming service is free and only requires account creation to get started. New episodes air Monday through Thursday, and 9Now has everything available on demand. The service's catalog includes all past seasons and new Season 8 episodes.

Where to watch Love Island Australia in New Zealand

Love Island Australia is available through TVNZ in New Zealand. New Season 8 episodes become available the day after they air in Australia. New Zealanders just need to create an account on the free streaming service to get started. TVNZ also offers Seasons 3, 5, 6, and 7 on demand.

Where to watch Love Island Australia in the US

In the US, Love Island Australia streams on Hulu. New episodes will drop a couple of days after they first premiere in Australia, beginning October 29 at 3 a.m. ET. Hulu subscriptions start at $12.49 a month for ad-supported service, but you can upgrade to an ad-free viewing experience for $21.49 a month. All past seven seasons are also available on Hulu.

Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Business Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.

• Anthropic's IPO is sparking fresh fears about how markets will handle another colossal new offering.
• Investing pros say a massive IPO could spark outflows from other areas of the AI trade.
• also adds to market concentration risks, and could stoke volatility if priced incorrectly.

The Anthropic IPO excitement is running high, but with the company's S-1 filing has come a question about how markets might react to yet another historic AI offering.

It's similar to a question that cropped up ahead of the SpaceX IPO this summer: can an IPO of such size have a negative impact on the market?

Anthropic submitted its long-awaited IPO filing on Monday, with the AI giant expected to target a $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion valuation when it makes its debut on the Nasdaq in November. The valuation would make Anthropic the largest IPO ever, and it's already unleashing a wave of concern from investing experts about how the market might be able to absorb another historic AI offering, just months after SpaceX's IPO.

Strategists said they're eyeing a handful of risks related to the deal. The main concerns are that the AI titan could spark outflows in other areas of the tech sector, add to the market's already-high concentration risk, and immediately jolt markets upon trading.

The filing also comes at a fraught time for the AI trade, with AI, chip, and neocloud stocks hit by a bearish vibe shift in recent weeks.

The tech trade has faltered since late summer, with the Nasdaq 100 down 6% from its peak in early October.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF is down 24% from its summertime peak, while the Roundhill Neocloud ETF has lost 40% since its mid-August peak.

Here are the risks market pros see from the Anthropic IPO.

1. More tech selling

When SpaceX was getting ready to go public, the fear was that investors could drain liquidity from one part of the market to pour it into SpaceX stock.

That didn't quite play out, but the fear has cropped up again with Anthropic's offering.

The idea is that, given the large amount of stock being issued and extreme demand for it, investors might sell other investments to make room for Anthropic in their portfolios, adding to the pressure already on the tech sector , Thierry Wizman, a division director at Macquarie, told Business Insider.

The selling pressure will likely be most obvious in areas related to AI already under some pressure, such as the chips or neocloud stocks, Wizman said.

The IPO will also drop into investors' laps at a time when incumbent mega-cap tech giants are rushing to raise capital. As the debt market tightens this year, equity capital markets might be the route that companies opt to take. For example, Meta announced a $95 billion wave of stock offerings on Monday to fund its AI projects.

"I don't think it is a coincidence that Meta announced its $95 billion equity financing plan around the same time as Anthropic's IPO plans," Alexander Lis, CIO at investment manager SDV, said. "It seems that companies are increasingly concerned about the market's capacity to absorb the upcoming wave of AI-related equity issuance. Meta may be trying to secure funding ahead of Anthropic, just as Google did before SpaceX."

Investors have likely already started moving funds around, Art Hogan, the chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management, said, adding that he expected a more gradual pressure on inflows in other sectors, as opposed to a sharp sell-off.

Stock issuance is broadly expected to surge in the next year as more companies go public, insider shares get unlocked for sale, and secondary offerings increase. Equity supply rising relative to demand is another factor that could push down equity prices.

"Growing competition for investor capital could become a meaningful headwind for technology stocks," Lis said.

An IPO flop

Hogan said he was more concerned about the risk that bankers price Anthropic's IPO too high, leading shares to drop as trading begins.

That happened in South Korea last week, with the neocloud firm Elice plunging 32% on its first day of trading as investors balked at a high valuation. The drop sparked another round of selling in the neocloud sector, spilling into the chips and broader AI space as well.

SpaceX's IPO rose early on but flailed for months. Shares dropped as much as 32% from their first day of trading through their trough in late July as the hype for the rocket company fizzled out. The stock is still down around 7% from its first-day closing price around $160 a share. The Facebook IPO in 2012 is the poster child for what a rocky IPO could look like, something that investors feared for SpaceX before its debut.

"The follow-on demand for it can actually skew the actual reasonable valuation that it should be trading at. So that would be my biggest concern," Hogan said.

Concentration risks

Finally, Anthropic going public would skew the market even more toward mega-cap tech, adding to concerns that the bull market is a mirage generated by the good fortunes of a few companies.

Bret Kenwell, a US investment and options analyst at eToro, told Business Insider, that, should Anthropic be valued at $1.5 trillion, it would boost the market cap of the 10 largest US companies to over $29 trillion. All of those firms would be associated with the AI trade, as Anthropic would push Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway out of the top-ten category.

The tech sector now accounts for around 40% of the total value of the S&P 500.

"Ten years ago, the market didn't have a $1 trillion US company," Kenwell said.

Kenwell pointed in particular to the high level of scrutiny over how AI firms are financing their growth through debt, a potential catalyst for widespread selling.

"If that scrutiny continues to intensify, valuations across the sector could come under pressure — including companies like Anthropic that are already valued so highly," he said.

The Samsung Q990F is a beast of a soundbar that delivers immersive Dolby Atmos audio in all directions. This multi-piece system is more like a full-fledged home theater in a box than a traditional soundbar, thanks to its included wireless subwoofer and dedicated rear speakers. It not only tops my guide to the best soundbars but also my guide to the best surround sound systems in general.

The Q990F launched in 2025 for $2,000, but over the last few months, it has typically sold for around $1,600. That's already a great price, but right now it's an even better deal. Amazon has the Q990F on sale for $998, via a Samsung-approved seller. The best price this model has ever dropped to was $948, so this is close to the record low.

Samsung also sells a newer version of this soundbar, called the Q990H, but it's pricier (typically about $500 more) and delivers nearly identical performance. Despite being the older model, the Q990F remains my top recommendation for anyone looking to upgrade their TV audio experience. You can learn more in my team's full Samsung Q990F soundbar review.

Why we love the Samsung Q990F soundbar

The Samsung Q990F is my go-to soundbar recommendation for anyone who wants to turn their TV setup into a full-fledged home theater. It offers a hassle-free way to experience true Dolby Atmos surround sound without the added expense of an AV receiver, the space drain of large tower speakers, or the frustration of speaker wires all around your room. You get a 48.5-inch bar, a wireless subwoofer, and two wireless rear speakers all in the box. Together, they create a much more enveloping experience than any stand-alone soundbar.

The Q990F supports 11.1.4 audio channels, with up- and side-firing drivers that spread sound in all directions. The up-firing drivers are especially impressive as they bounce effects off the ceiling, so falling rain and swooping helicopters sound like they're coming from overhead. Many lesser Dolby Atmos soundbars lack up-firing speakers and instead rely on processing to simulate height effects, which is a lot less convincing. When watching movies known for their immersive soundtracks, like "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Dune II," the Q990F fully engulfed our reviewer in a three-dimensional dome of audio.

Samsung also redesigned the subwoofer compared to older models. It's smaller than the one included with previous Q990 systems, so it's easier to place, and it uses a sealed cabinet, which helps keep it from sounding loose or rattly. In our testing, it gave explosions, revving engines, and bass-heavy music plenty of punch, while offering headroom to spare for people who like to turn up the rumble.

The Q990F is packed with useful extras, too. Its two HDMI inputs can pass through 4K/120Hz signals with variable refresh rate, so it’s a particularly nice fit for a PS5 or Xbox Series X setup. It also supports Alexa or Bixby voice control. And if you own a compatible Samsung TV, you can use the Q-Symphony feature to combine your display’s built-in audio with the soundbar to fully use all your speakers.

For those with very tight spaces, a cheaper stand-alone bar, like the Sonos Beam Ultra or Bose Smart Soundbar, will be a better fit, but if you crave genuine surround sound performance in a convenient package, the Q990F is the soundbar system to beat.

Looking for more recommendations? Check out our guide to the best Dolby Atmos soundbars.

• President Donald Trump flew on his new Air Force One for the first time on July 1.
• The VC-25B, a luxury jet valued at around $400 million, was gifted to the US by Qatar.
• The new Air Force One is bigger, faster, more fuel-efficient, and more luxurious than the old one.

Since his first term in the White House, President Donald Trump has displayed a model of a new Air Force One plane on his desk.

On July 1, his long-held vision became a reality when the aircraft the US accepted as a gift from Qatar, designated the VC-25B Bridge, flew as Air Force One for the first time.

Speaking to reporters before boarding the aircraft at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump called it the "best plane ever built."

He later landed in Medora, North Dakota, for the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.

Retrofitted with state-of-the-art protective measures and painted in his favored colors of red, white, and blue, the new presidential plane is bigger, faster, more fuel-efficient, and more luxurious than the outgoing VC-25A fleet, which has served presidents since the 1990s.

It has also been brought in and out of service amid operational mishaps and security concerns, such as when Trump secretly switched to a C-32A to fly back from Turkey in July due to threats from Iran, and when the VC-25B Bridge's emergency slide was accidentally deployed in September.

A senior administration official previously told Business Insider that the VC-25B Bridge is "the greatest presidential plane ever built," and added, "We maintain a consistent posture that ensures a safe, secure, and reliable capability for the President of the United States and routinely evolve the capability as required to maintain that posture."

An Air Force spokesperson told Business Insider, "We do not provide specific details on capabilities or provide comparisons between aircraft."

Here's how Trump's new VC-25B Bridge compares to the old VC-25A.

The old Air Force One was a customized Boeing 747-200B, designated VC-25A, that entered service under President George H.W. Bush.

The first VC-25A, known as SAM 28000, began serving as Air Force One in 1990, and is flying alongside the Qatari-donated plane.

The outgoing Air Force One, a second, identical VC-25A known as SAM 29000, entered service in 1991. It completed its final presidential flight in June 2026.

The VC-25A measures 231 feet and 10 inches long with a wingspan of 195 feet and 8 inches.

The new Air Force One is a customized Boeing 747-8i built in 2012 and previously used as a luxury transport by the Qatari royal family.

The VC-25B Bridge — so called because it is serving as an interim presidential aircraft before Boeing's customized VC-25Bs are delivered starting in 2028 — is larger than the VC-25A at about 250 feet long, with a wingspan of 224 feet and 5 inches.

The old Air Force One featured a light blue and white paint job resembling the design originally chosen by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

Jacqueline Kennedy chose the shades of blue and white for SAM 26000, a Boeing VC-137C that entered service in 1962 under President John F. Kennedy.

The first lady was also responsible for adding the words "United States of America" to the presidential plane.

An American flag was featured on the tail, with the stars facing forward per the US Flag Code.

Trump selected a red, white, and navy blue livery for the new Air Force One and a new waving American flag design on the tail.

The Air Force initially rejected the navy paint color Trump proposed during his first term for the forthcoming VC-25Bs, saying a thermal study found that the darker shade would require additional testing to avoid overheating issues. However, Trump got his preferred colors in his second term. He also reimagined the tail's flag design.

"As you know, we've always gone with a straight little noodle and I never loved that," Trump said of the tail's new waving flag design after touring the plane at Joint Base Andrews on June 19. "Now we have a wavy, beautiful flag. We're waving it proudly because our country is doing so well."

The old Air Force One jet had four General Electric CF6-80C2B1 jet engines, each with 56,700 pounds of thrust.

While traveling at 630 miles per hour, the VC-25A had a range of 7,800 miles without refueling.

The VC-25A is also capable of midair refueling.

The four GEnx-2B engines on the new Air Force One each feature 66,500 pounds of thrust and emit 16 tons less carbon dioxide per trip, the White House said.

The VC-25B Bridge can fly faster and farther than its predecessor, with a range of 8,900 miles at 660 miles per hour.

The VC-25B Bridge is not equipped for in-flight refueling. The forthcoming VC-25B planes that Boeing is building will also not be capable of aerial refueling to cut costs, Air and Space Forces Magazine reported.

The interiors of the old Air Force One largely remained the same through several administrations, with a few cosmetic changes.

Some furniture and decor had been updated under various presidents — for example, President Bill Clinton's Air Force One conference room featured tan leather chairs, while President Barack Obama opted for a darker chocolate brown. However, the plane's beige walls and wood paneling didn't change much throughout its 36 years of service.

Trump's new luxury jet is outfitted with gold light fixtures, reclining massage chairs, and gleaming surfaces throughout.

Trump called the new Air Force One "the world's most luxurious plane." It features a primary bedroom with an en-suite bathroom that includes a walk-in shower, as well as a common area with couches and private office spaces.

The press section is also outfitted with luxurious touches, including reclining massage chairs.

The old VC-25A planes cost $325 million each.

Boeing is building new, customized VC-25Bs to serve as Air Force One, but the $3.9 billion project — which has since increased to more than $5 billion — is behind schedule. The planes were initially scheduled for delivery in 2024, but the timeframe has been pushed to 2028, prompting Trump to seek his own means of acquiring a new presidential jet.

The original contract was fixed-price, so any additional costs must be absorbed by Boeing.

The new presidential jet was a gift from Qatar valued at around $400 million, but the cost of retrofitting it to serve as Air Force One remains classified.

Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink told Congress in June 2025 that retrofitting the new Air Force One would cost less than $400 million, while some lawmakers expressed concerns that it could cost up to $1 billion in taxpayer funds.

In July 2025, The New York Times flagged a $934 million transfer of funds from a nuclear modernization budget to update aging ground-based weapons systems to a classified project, which it reported could be the new Air Force One, since the presidential plane is equipped to order nuclear strikes. The Air Force declined to comment.

• Nothing says fall quite like a hot cup of coffee and a gooey cinnamon roll.
• Yelp released a list of the best cinnamon rolls in every state, according to customer reviews.
• From beloved bakeries to small-town diners, these are the best places to grab a cinnamon roll.

As the weather turns cooler, there are few treats more comforting than a warm cinnamon roll.

Whether you like yours fresh from the oven and dripping with cream cheese frosting, dusted with pecans, or filled with fall flavors like pumpkin and apple, bakeries across the country offer plenty of reasons to slow down and savor the season.

Yelp recently compiled a list of the best cinnamon rolls in every state by identifying businesses in its restaurants and food categories with a high concentration of reviews from Yelp Elite members mentioning “cinnamon rolls,” and then ranking them based on factors such as review volume and ratings.

When available, every business on the list had a passing health score as of August 18, 2026.

Here are the best cinnamon rolls in every state, according to Yelp.

ALABAMA: Lighthouse Bakery in Dauphin Island

What customers say: "The pecan iced cinnamon roll is the best I've had in years! Lots of pecans and icing! Also, the coffee is excellent! We'll be back for lunch today," wrote Yelp user Catherine M.

Learn more about Lighthouse Bakery here.

ALASKA: Snow City Cafe in Anchorage

What customers say: "The cinnamon roll! Did I mention the cinnamon roll? Get the cinnamon roll. This trendy and welcoming café hits all the marks with fresh and flavorful food, wonderful coffee, and a lovely atmosphere," wrote Yelp user Robert M.

Learn more about Snow City Cafe here.

ARIZONA: Rise Up Bakery in Gilbert

What customers say: "My family and I absolutely LOVE Rise-Up Bakery! We got the limited banana Biscoff cinnamon roll, and HOLY COW, it was incredible. Seriously, worth every penny. The other cinnamon rolls are delicious and all very large. The bakery itself is very large, pristine, and the staff is very helpful and attentive. They even gave my little one his own small cinnamon roll on the house, which was so sweet and kind of them. We love coming here for a special treat-highly recommend," wrote Yelp user Aubrey R.

Learn more about Rise Up Bakery here.

ARKANSAS: Calico County Restaurant in Fort Smith

What customers say: "Greeted by a friendly server who actually asked if I wanted a booth or table. What a nice way to start off breakfast. My husband found them online because he was looking for cinnamon rolls for me. They bring you a basket. They are delicious
No gooey icing, thank goodness. Homemade and amazing," wrote Yelp user Pj M.

Learn more about Calico County Restaurant here.

CALIFORNIA: BJ Cinnamon in Folsom

What customers say: "The go-to spot for doughnuts and breakfast sandwiches! We love getting their BLT on a croissant, doughnut holes, and cinnamon rolls. Service is always fast and friendly, and you can taste how fresh everything is. Indoor seating only, and their parking spaces are small but easy to get in and out of," wrote Yelp user Viv H.

Learn more about BJ Cinnamon here.

COLORADO: Cinnamon's Bakery in Estes Park

What customers say: "We stopped at Cinnamon's Bakery on the way to Rocky Mountain National Park. We got to the shop at opening and had many options to choose from! The staff was super sweet and answered my many questions. We got three different flavors to try and loved them all. The location is a bit out of the way, but there is plenty of parking, and it's so worth a detour," wrote Yelp user Chelsey B.

Learn more about Cinnamon's Bakery here.

CONNECTICUT: Kouign Bakery in Wallingford

What customers say: "Nobody does pastries like Kouign! I've worked at multiple coffee shops that have carried their baked goods, and I can never pass up buying them. Insanely delicious, especially the cinnamon buns and croissants," wrote Yelp user Victoria W.

Learn more about Kouign Bakery here.

DELAWARE: The Station in Fenwick Island

What customers say: "The shareable cinnamon roll (five of us split it before our breakfast came out) is insanely delicious. Great breakfast food and a delicious iced latte. Excellent service, extremely friendly staff, and great ambiance! We loved it," wrote Yelp user Tami L.

Learn more about The Station here.

FLORIDA: Knaus Berry Farm in Miami

What customers say: "The shake was delicious as well as the cinnamon bun. It makes sense this place is so highly recommended and loved by the residents," wrote Yelp user Rob M.

Learn more about Knaus Berry Farm here.

GEORGIA: Atlanta Breakfast Club in Atlanta

What customers say: "We started with a cinnamon roll that was so light, soft, and tasty, it just melted in my mouth. We knew right away we had made the right choice," wrote Yelp user Alex L.

Learn more about Atlanta Breakfast Club here.

HAWAII: Papi's Ohana in Lahaina

What customers say: "Excellent. Can't think of anything they can improve on. Totally worth the wait in line. That cinnamon roll was heaven. Can't wait to go back," wrote Yelp user Nicole G.

Learn more about Papi's Ohana here.

IDAHO: Stanley Baking in Stanley

What customers say: "We shared a cinnamon roll too and sampled the pies and brownies at dinner at their sister restaurant at the Sawtooth Hotel. Completely worth the calories," wrote Yelp user Lauren Elizabeth C.

Learn more about Stanley Baking here.

ILLINOIS: Ann Sather Restaurant & Catering in Chicago

What customers say: "The cinnamon rolls definitely lived up to their reputation. They were soft, fresh, and generously topped with icing, making for a delicious treat. After seeing all of the other dishes being served, we'd love to come back for a full meal on a future visit," wrote Yelp user Chelsea M.

Learn more about Ann Sather Restaurant & Catering here.

INDIANA: Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls and Cafe in Nashville

What customers say: "This place completely satisfied our cinnamon roll craving! My husband and I split the Maple Bacon Cinnamon Roll, and it was loaded with flavor — sweet, savory, and absolutely indulgent. It was a bit rich for me personally, but my husband was obsessed and would order it again in a heartbeat," wrote Yelp user Sydney T.

Learn more about Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls and Cafe here.

IOWA: Scenic Route Bakery in Des Moines

What customers say: "Best cinnamon rolls around! Doughy and the cream cheese frosting is AMAZING," wrote Yelp user Kaitlyn W.

Learn more about Scenic Route Bakery here.

KANSAS: Dolce Bakery in Prairie Village

What customers say: "As for bakery items, we had the orange cinnamon roll and a normal cinnamon roll, and they were good as well. They have a fluffy bread texture and the frosting isn't too sweet," wrote Yelp user Rubyanne M.

Learn more about Dolce Bakery here.

KENTUCKY: DV8 Kitchen in Lexington

What customers say: "A fun, quirky little cafe. Staff is super friendly and helpful. The breakfast sandwiches were excellent, but the cinnamon roll was LIFE CHANGING! Definitely worth heading to this gem," wrote Yelp user Kathryn C.

Learn more about DV8 Kitchen here.

LOUISIANA: Levee Baking Co. in New Orleans

What customers say: "From the biscuit sandwich to the rye brownie to the cinnamon roll to the lemon almond danish, each pastry was perfection," wrote Yelp user Lora P.

Learn more about Levee Baking Co. here.

MAINE: Scratch Baking Company in South Portland

What customers say: "The pastries, especially the cinnamon rolls, are just the right amount of sweet. It's takeout-only, but the staff is friendly, and the service is quick. Get there early — things sell out fast," wrote Yelp user Casey J.

Learn more about Scratch Baking Company here.

MARYLAND: Blue Moon Cafe in Baltimore

What customers say: "We started with the cinnamon roll, which was delicious and different. Soft in the middle, but the outer edges were more like a crispy biscuit," wrote Yelp user Nicole E.

Learn more about Blue Moon Cafe here.

MASSACHUSETTS: Yolqueria in Provincetown

What customers say: "Do not sleep on that cinnamon roll. Die and go to an icy heaven with all that icing and cinnamon flavor heated up and shareable for two," wrote Yelp user Eric H.

Learn more about Yolqueria here.

MICHIGAN: Morning Star Cafe in Grand Haven

What customers say: "Absolutely fantastic breakfast spot. We waited for about 15 minutes at 8 a.m. (I thought we would be early, but I guess not lol). We started off with coffee and a cinnamon roll. The coffee was great, and the cinnamon roll was amazing, so gooey, warm, and the frosting was spot on," wrote Yelp user Jill B.

Learn more about Morning Star Cafe here.

MINNESOTA: Isles Bun & Coffee in Minneapolis

What customers say: "The cinnamon bun was massive with tons of very sweet icing. People say the puppy tail is a better ratio, which is true, but even as an icing girlie, something about the cinnamon roll hit different. It was decadent, rich, and almost overpoweringly sweet," wrote Yelp user Lori J.

Learn more about Isles Bun & Coffee here.

MISSISSIPPI: Blue Dog Bistro in Ocean Springs

What customers say: "The food was outstanding. The cinnamon roll skillet is listed as a 'small plate,' but it is massive and perfect for sharing…Honestly, everything we tried was so, so, so good," wrote Yelp user Caty S.

Learn more about Blue Dog Bistro here.

MISSOURI: Russell's on Macklind in Saint Louis

What customers say: "After reading the reviews, I had to come here on a trip to St. Louis. And now I understand why people love this place. The brunch is amazing, and the biscuits and cinnamon roll were two highlights. And I had to get a gooey butter cake to go, which was incredible," wrote Yelp user Jim B.

Learn more about Russell's on Macklind here.

MONTANA: Stella's Kitchen & Bakery in Billings

What customers say: "Heaven in a cinnamon bun. They are HUGE, fresh, and oh-so-tasty. So are all the other desserts and pastries I tried, as well as the entrées. Terrific value, friendly service, and a wonderful place to relax and enjoy," wrote Yelp user Jim G.

Learn more about Stella's Kitchen & Bakery here.

NEBRASKA: Hardy Coffee in Omaha

What customers say: "Be sure to try the cinnamon rolls and scones, which are homemade. They also make their own syrups, some of which rotate seasonally," wrote Yelp user Stephanie A.

Learn more about Hardy Coffee here.

NEVADA: Eggscellent in Las Vegas

What customers say: "Location was clean and everyone was friendly! Food came out fast and was great! I would recommend the cinnamon roll because it came out fast and was nice and hot," wrote Yelp user Angel H.

Learn more about Eggscellent here.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Elephantine Bakery in Portsmouth

What customers say: "I ordered the cinnamon roll and the rosemary focaccia bread. Both were amazing! The cinnamon roll was light and fluffy. I'm not the biggest fan of cream cheese frosting, but it wasn't bad and didn't take away from it at all," wrote Yelp user Samantha A.

Learn more about Elephantine Bakery here.

NEW JERSEY: The Hive in Hoboken

What customers say: "Probably most famously known for their ooey gooey cinnamon buns (that are so coveted a line forms around the block on weekends), but The Hive also serves up great coffee, a cozy space, and a very kid-friendly vibe," wrote Yelp user Katarina L.

Learn more about The Hive here.

NEW MEXICO: Pantry Restaurant in Santa Fe

What customers say: "Our first stop in Albuquerque...if they have been around since the 40s, you know the food must be good. We tried the breakfast burrito, which is a definite 10 out of 10, and the chicken quesadilla, which was also great. The guacamole was really good, too. Got a cinnamon roll to go that took up the size of the to-go box. OMG so yummy," wrote Yelp user Erin G.

Learn more about Pantry Restaurant here.

NEW YORK: Hani's Bakery in New York

What customers say: "I picked up some of their most popular items, including the triple chocolate chunk cookie, a cinnamon bun, and the honey cake. All three were fantastic," wrote Yelp user Sein S.

Learn more about Hani's Bakery here.

NORTH CAROLINA: Louie and Honey's Kitchen in Winston-Salem

What customers say: "It's a bold statement to say I just ate the best cinnamon roll in North Carolina, but honestly... I think I did.
Louie and Honey's Kitchen is flat-out amazing. From the moment you walk in, the vibe is cool and welcoming, with plenty of comfortable seating both indoors and out. The staff was friendly, attentive, and genuinely welcoming. And the baked goods? There were so many incredible-looking options that I already know we'll have to come back and work our way through the menu," wrote Yelp user Lee S.

Learn more about Louie and Honey's Kitchen here.

NORTH DAKOTA: Country Rose Cafe in Dickinson

What customers say: "Stopped here for a great breakfast on our way out of Medora. They have really good caramel cinnamon rolls. Be sure to try them. The staff is really nice, and it was nice and clean. Had a kind of local favorite feel to it," wrote Yelp user Nancy S.

Learn more about Country Rose Cafe here.

OHIO: Brown Bear Bakery in Cincinnati

What customers say: "This place is fantastic. The staff is friendly and warm. They know the products and can answer any questions you have. It's a tight space, so it's best to be mindful of the space and courteous of others. Otherwise, it's a cute little place on a cute street making DELICIOUS pastries. The cinnamon roll had a tangy cream cheese icing with orange zest. It may be the most balanced pastry I've eaten this year," wrote Yelp user Kryssie H.

Learn more about Brown Bear Bakery here.

OKLAHOMA: Harvey Bakery & Kitchen in Oklahoma City

What customers say: "I just walked in randomly to pick up some baked goods. I hadn't been before. I grabbed the Harvey cinnamon rolls, and they were the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had! Also, the Gruyère scones were delicious," wrote Yelp user Crystal W.

Learn more about Harvey Bakery & Kitchen here.

OREGON: Screen Door Eastside in Portland

What customers say: "My go-to is a mixed spread of sweet and savory bites. Got the cinnamon roll for the first time, and it was divine. They have interesting seasonal offerings too, so don't forget to review those while perusing the menu," wrote Yelp user Tiffany V.

Learn more about Screen Door Eastside here.

PENNSYLVANIA: Oram's Donut Shop in Beaver Falls

What customers say: "I really enjoyed the cinnamon rolls. They are not ooey gooey with frosting like typical cinnamon rolls; they're closer to a monkey bread texture, and I like that about them. Not as messy to eat and just as addictive," wrote Yelp user Ainsley E.

Learn more about Oram's Donut Shop here.

RHODE ISLAND: The Village Haven in Forestdale

What customers say: "The meal comes with dinner rolls, their (legendary) cinnamon buns, fresh salad, pasta with sauce, crispy french fries, and of course the juicy chicken," wrote Yelp user Rebecca H.

Learn more about The Village Haven here.

SOUTH CAROLINA: The Devine Cinnamon Roll Deli in Columbia

What customers say: "The banana foster [cinnamon roll] is outstanding, but can't go wrong with a classic cinnamon roll. Pay attention to their grits of the day as it changes," wrote Yelp user Jerrin H.

Learn more about The Devine Cinnamon Roll Deli here.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Baker's Bakery & Cafe in Custer

What customers say: "I got a cinnamon bun to go. It was huge and delicious. I also got a scrambled egg and bacon on a fresh bun. It was great also," wrote Yelp user Beverly M.

Learn more about Baker's Bakery & Cafe here.

TENNESSEE: Crockett's 1875 Breakfast Camp in Gatlinburg

What customers say: "Yummy! The fried cinnamon roll was very good. I had the hash, and it was great. My daughter had the pot roast Benedict, and it might be the best breakfast I've ever tasted. Five stars," wrote Yelp user Lee H.

Learn more about Crockett's 1875 Breakfast Camp here.

TEXAS: Cranky Granny's Sweet Rolls in Pflugerville

What customers say: "I was worried that the cinnamon roll quality would be subpar due to being covered with the toppings, but I was wrong. The cinnamon itself was fresh and soft and probably delish on its own. I recommend checking out this place," wrote Yelp user Tia T.

Learn more about Cranky Granny's Sweet Rolls here.

UTAH: River Rock Roasting Co in La Verkin

What customers say: "The best food for any time of the day. Very quick, coffee is great. The morning line was insane, but they cleared it quickly. Pricing is beyond reasonable. One thing — never leave without a cinnamon roll," wrote Yelp user Christina S.

Learn more about River Rock Roasting Co here.

VERMONT: Sticky Fingers Bakery in West Dover

What customers say: "We got the Danish, a loaf of sourdough, some coffee, and cinnamon rolls. Everything was really good, but the cinnamon rolls were exceptional! Great little bakery," wrote Yelp user Yuval J.

Learn more about Sticky Fingers Bakery here.

VIRGINIA: The Bee & the Biscuit in Virginia Beach

What customers say: "The wait can be very long (we waited 90 minutes on a Sunday morning), but it is worth it because the food is AMAZING! We had the latte flight, cowboy Benedict, and the cinnamon roll. Everything was delicious," wrote Yelp user Leah O.

Learn more about The Bee & the Biscuit here.

WASHINGTON: The Flour Box in Seattle

What customers say: "Getting in line an hour before opening for a good chance of locking down a box [of doughnuts] and their equally delicious cinnamon roll. Flour Box usually sells out around noon," wrote Yelp user Trung V.

Learn more about The Flour Box here.

WEST VIRGINIA: Wardensville Garden Market in Wardensville

What customers say: "When I walked inside, I was impressed by how cute this little bakery was set up. Then I had to try something from here, and I got a cinnamon roll. The cinnamon roll was so good! If you get the chance, I would definitely recommend stopping in and checking this place out," wrote Yelp user Alexa A.

Learn more about Wardensville Garden Market here.

WISCONSIN: Franks Diner in Kenosha

What customers say: "Franks Diner was awesome and such a fun experience. We went for breakfast. There was a 40-minute wait on a Saturday morning, so we walked part of the farmers market, which was a perfect spot and just enough time. I had their Bloody Mary and veggie omelet with a side of bacon, and we split a cinnamon roll. I recommend all of it. The booths on the train car are comfy, and it's just a fun restaurant setting. The staff was fun and attentive. I'd give 10 stars. Highly recommend," wrote Yelp user Ashley H.

Learn more about Franks Diner here.

WYOMING: J's Prairie Rose in Laramie

What customers say: "For a Friday mid-morning, they were still hopping and yet greeted us the moment we walked in. We were directed to a table and had hot coffee almost as quickly as we ordered it! The cinnamon roll was beautiful, but even better, it tasted better than it looked. Warm, fragrant with cinnamon. It melted in our mouths. It's a friendly step back in time with the counters and the conversations. When in Laramie, don't miss it," wrote Yelp user Rebekah A.

Learn more about J's Prairie Rose here.

• The FTC and 20 US states are suing Dollar General over its pricing practices.
• A complaint filed Monday alleges the company repeatedly mislabeled products and overcharged customers.
• US consumers have been particularly concerned about retailers' pricing as digital labels roll out.

Dollar General is facing fresh federal scrutiny over its pricing practices.

The US Federal Trade Commission said Monday it has filed a lawsuit, along with 20 states, accusing the discount retailer of deceptive pricing on its shelves, price tags, and advertisements.

"Dollar General has, for years, repeatedly mislabeled prices, overcharged consumers and failed to correct the issue despite extensive corporate knowledge of the problem," the FTC said in a statement.

The company operates more than 21,000 US stores and typically serves customers in more rural and low-income areas of the country.

The filings say Dollar General has received tens of thousands of complaints from shoppers who said they did not receive an advertised price and that the company failed to adequately address the problem.

As a result, Dollar General received millions of dollars from overcharging customers, the FTC alleged.

Dollar General did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

The action comes less than two weeks after New York Attorney General Letitia James reached a settlement of nearly $1.9 million in food and personal items as a civil penalty for overcharging shoppers in the state. New York did not join the FTC's complaint.

US consumers have been particularly worried about fairness in retail pricing as more stores introduce digital price tags. Both Walmart and Target have issued public statements promising price transparency and consistency online and at the register. Home Depot recently did the same.

• Spark Capital is mentioned more than 50 times in Anthropic's S-1 filing, released Monday.
• The reason Spark gets the most mentions is because partner Yasmin Razavi has a board seat.
• Spark led the $450 million Series C round at a $4.5 billion valuation in May 2023.

Spark Capital's Yasmin Razavi has a reputation for refusing to make gut calls. Her methodical decision to invest in Anthropic is now set to generate one of the biggest fortunes in Silicon Valley history, as Anthropic prepares to IPO.

Many venture firms, including Lightspeed and Menlo Ventures, are major Anthropic investors, but Spark is the only traditional VC firm named in the filing. And it's not just a few mentions. Spark is named more than 50 times.

The reason Spark gets the most ink is because Yasmin Razavi has a board seat after being the first institutional investor in the company, leading the $450 million Series C at a $4.5 billion valuation in May 2023.

This was just six months after ChatGPT was released to the public, and the jury was out on whether a rival like Anthropic could catch up. Many balked at the price, calling it too expensive.

"It was a big leap of faith, but this was the team that built GPT-3," Razavi told Forbes.

The filing says that Spark has invested $777 million in Anthropic across six financings since then, including $75 million in the first pivotal round at $11.22 per share.

Spark was already known for making early bets on Postmates and Discord, but it was the Anthropic investment that transformed the firm's Silicon Valley reputation from a good venture firm to a great one.

Razavi said she has been continuously wowed by CEO Dario Amodei.

"Every year, he puts out outrageous numbers, but somehow they magically become true," Razavi told Forbes. "Dario never misses."

Soon, Amodei will face a greater test: the public markets.

Please send along your tips. Email Ben or Katie anytime or contact them on Signal at benbergman.11 and kroof.26. Sign up for Business Insider's weekly VC Insider newsletter here.

• David Ellison's Skydance is telling staffers to work in the office five days a week.
• Employees who aren't willing to work in person may be eligible for a voluntary buyout.
• Skydance was formed with the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery this month.

Skydance wants employees back in the office five days a week — and staffers who aren't willing to comply may be eligible for a buyout.

CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz informed employees at the media giant about the change on Monday afternoon. They said in a memo that the RTO order applied "across all of Skydance."

"We truly believe this is in the best interest of our company and our people," Ellison and Kreiz wrote in a memo to employees, which was viewed by Business Insider. "We've seen the benefits firsthand at Paramount, and we want every part of Skydance to share in them."

The memo did not mention whether there were any exceptions or say who's eligible for a buyout. It said employees who qualify for a buyout would get an "individual communication with their personalized details and terms, and a window to decide whether to accept this one-time offer."

Skydance was formed earlier this month when Paramount completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. (The company previously went by Paramount Skydance.)

Most WBD employees have been required to work in person three days a week.

Paramount Skydance, for its part, had mandated that staffers in its New York and Los Angeles offices return to work in person five days a week in January. Staffers who weren't willing to work in person were offered a severance package. The company also called hybrid workers back in September for Phase 2 of its RTO policy.

Working in person will lead to employees "communicating openly and collaborating efficiently across every part of the organization," Ellison and Kreiz told staffers in the Monday memo.

"We believe in-person collaboration is vital to our culture and to the success of our business," Ellison and Kreiz said.

Read the full memo from Ellison and Kreiz:

Team,

At Skydance, our goal is to build the next-generation media and entertainment company, powered by creativity and technology. We are creative-first, audience focused, tech-forward and globally scaled. And in a world of endless choice and fierce competition for attention, we don't just want to succeed. We want to win.

To do that, we must be a strong, connected and agile company. Among our business and creative priorities, none matters more than building a strong culture, because it's the foundation of everything we want to achieve. Winning requires us to work as one team: one company, fully aligned. That means communicating openly and collaborating efficiently across every part of the organization.

In-Person Collaboration

We believe in-person collaboration is vital to our culture and to the success of our business. Especially in a creative company like ours, the best ideas come from people in the same room, sharing perspectives, challenging one another and solving problems. Being together isn't just about showing up. It's about inspiring one another, learning and coaching, forming friendships and having the casual conversations that spark something great.

With that in mind, we will adopt a five-day in-office policy across all of Skydance. We truly believe this is in the best interest of our company and our people. We've seen the benefits firsthand at Paramount, and we want every part of Skydance to share in them.

While many of you are already in the office five days a week, we understand this may be a significant change to the daily routines of others. To give you time to plan and adjust, we will take a phased approach by location. You will receive ample notice before changes take effect, and we will work closely with managers to support you through the transition.

Voluntary Buyout Program

As we bring our teams together, we recognize that not everyone will see their future here, and we respect that. To give eligible employees the option to move on in a way that works for them, we are introducing a Voluntary Buyout (VBO) Program. Those who qualify will receive an individual communication with their personalized details and terms, and a window to decide whether to accept this one-time offer.

We recognize this is a significant decision, and we want you to feel informed and supported. If this applies to you, please review your materials carefully and reach out to your leadership or HR representative with any questions. FAQs and other resources are available on the Skydance Integration Hub, and HR support is also available through My Paramount (legacy Paramount employees) or Ask Employee Connection on WBD One (legacy Warner Bros. employees).

Please know we don't take any of this lightly. We are clear about what we're building: a company that tells the stories people around the world love, embraces new ways to connect with audiences, and leads the next era of media and entertainment. We have the talent, the creative firepower and the ambition to do it, and we will get there together.

Thank you for your commitment, and for the creativity and passion you bring to your work every day.

Best,

David and Ynon

• Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics says it would be a mistake for the Fed to hike rates.
• In his view, the bond market has already done the job of tightening financial conditions.
• Raising rates risks running the economy "aground," Zandi said.

The Federal Reserve has just two more meetings left in the year, and markets see at least one of them delivering another rate hike. That would be a mistake, Moody's Analytics' top economist Mark Zandi says.

Zandi said in an X thread on Monday morning that the Fed can skip more hikes, pointing to the bond market as a reason the central bank doesn't have to rush to tighten financial conditions.

"The 10-year Treasury yield is swinging wildly around 5%, and fixed mortgage rates are firmly above an unaffordable 7%," Zandi said. "Corporate bond spreads have also widened. Unless rates recede soon, this will do real damage. Bond investors are already doing the Fed's work for it."

The "work" that Zandi sees the bond market doing is making borrowing costs higher, which is what the Fed aims to do when it tries to cool inflation. Prior to the Fed's September rate increase, Zandi said that he viewed the decision as a "serious mistake" that could prove costly for the US economy.

A month later, the economist is still focused on the threats that further rate hikes could pose at a time when macro and geopolitical uncertainty remains high.

"The Fed is trying to navigate between war-fueled inflation and mounting threats to a fragile economy," he noted. "Raising rates now risks running it aground."

Zandi noted that global oil prices are surging back toward wartime peaks, as tensions with Iran show no signs of easing.

He acknowledged this will mean higher inflation, which will be a key focus of this week's Fed meeting, but he added that rate hikes can't fix the problems with oil supply. They could also ultimately slow the economy.

"Higher oil prices will further undermine real wages and, ultimately, consumer spending, something the Fed shouldn't dismiss," he added.

Zandi has been analyzing the economic toll that the war with Iran has imposed on US households for months. In June 2026, he estimated the war had cost the typical American family an additional $1,000, but since then, gas prices have kept rising, thrusting the cost-of-living issue into the spotlight as the midterm elections loom.

• Ina Garten's new cookbook, "Simply Ina," features many recipes with store-bought ingredients.
• Garten has a skillet pasta with Rao's marinara and a soup featuring refrigerated mashed potatoes.
• But Garten learned that for one particular ingredient, store-bought really isn't fine!

While testing recipes for her newest cookbook, Ina Garten wanted to prove her most famous claim: Sometimes, store-bought really is fine!

"Truly delicious dishes don't require hours of hands-on time in the kitchen," Garten wrote in "Simply Ina," which was released on Tuesday. "They just need a little thought and a few good ingredients."

Garten has a whole list of store-bought ingredients that she trusts, and they feature prominently in the new cookbook. The "Barefoot Contessa" star said she even tested every brand of mashed potatoes — "from boxed flakes to refrigerated prepared potatoes" — to find the best brand. As they say, some heroes don't wear capes.

You'll find a recipe for skillet pasta with Rao's marinara sauce in "Simply Ina," and a potato-leek soup featuring Bob Evans refrigerated mashed potatoes (the winner of Garten's thorough taste test).

But there was one store-bought ingredient that Garten couldn't make work, no matter how hard she tried: prepackaged baking mixes.

A change in philosophy

When Garten first began teaching herself how to cook with the help of Julia Child's seminal cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," she thought that good food "had to be complicated" and that a fantastic meal required fancy techniques and long prep lists.

"After decades of cooking, I've learned something far more important: the best food is often the simplest," she wrote in "Simply Ina."

This lesson seems to be getting lost in cooking videos on social media, where the focus has become throwing in as many ingredients as possible to "create BIG flavor," Garten said.

"It may seem more sophisticated, but for me, it's just confusing," Garten added. "Good food is a little like a gorgeous dress; if the fabric and the cut are beautiful, it doesn't need a lot of sequins, ruffles, and bows."

A simple way forward

Store-bought ingredients play a big part in "Simply Ina," but they're rarely left alone. Garten noted that she uses them to cut down on prep and "jump-start a recipe," like adding slowly cooked garlic and half-and-half to some store-bought mashed potatoes.

Garten admitted, though, that even she couldn't find a way to make prepackaged baking mixes work.

"Baking mixes always taste like baking mixes," Garten said. "Their texture and flavor cannot be masked, even by adding good chocolate and pure vanilla extract."

You'll have to stick to making Garten's delicious cakes from scratch. But as the holidays near, she still has plenty of tricks to save time in the kitchen — like making pecan pie with store-bought crust — so you can spend more time with your family instead.

• China, India, and the US have the largest active armed forces in the world.
• The International Institute for Strategic Studies compiled data about the world's militaries.
• The world's top armies spend hundreds of billions of dollars on defense each year.

The US military may lead the world in budget size and in the ambitions of its warfare technology, but there is one measure by which it is outsized by other nations.

Using data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies' 2026 Military Balance report, Business Insider ranked the top 25 countries by the size of their active armed forces during 2025 and listed their defense budgets that same year.

Active-duty force size is a tally of a country's uniformed troops: airmen, soldiers, sailors, special operators, and Marines.

Armies, in particular, depend on size to gain and occupy ground during armed conflicts.

Militaries can also be a tool of domestic repression. North Korea, for example, is one of the world's most repressive states, led by a dictator who has repeatedly threatened neighboring South Korea — and it also has one of the world's largest militaries.

The number of active-duty military personnel is far from the only factor that matters when comparing military power between countries, but it reflects latent power.

"Numbers have value, but there's a lot more to military capability," Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, DC-based foreign policy and national security think tank, told Business Insider.

IISS, a London-headquartered think tank, counts active armed forces, reservists, and paramilitaries as separate categories in its analysis, showing a fuller picture of each nation's manpower.

Some countries have significantly more reservists than others — Vietnam has the largest number in the world, estimated at 5 million — but the quality and longevity of their expertise can vary between systems.

"When you look at some countries' reserve numbers, you're often looking at people who haven't trained in 10 or 20 years," Cancian said. "It gives you a big number, but their military value is questionable."

Even when accounting for all of a military's manpower, personnel is only one of the factors that can qualify a nation's military strength, which also includes equipment and readiness.

There's also the role of technologies in global warfare, the size and sophistication of air forces and naval fleets, amphibious capabilities for landing assault forces, command-and-control systems, and nuclear forces, all of which shape military power.

Still, comparing global manpower offers insight into how countries prioritize military power.

See how the world's largest militaries stack up in terms of active troop numbers.

25. Iraq

Active armed forces: 193,000

Defense budget: $12.7 billion

24. Morocco

Active armed forces: 196,000

Defense budget: $7.5 billion

23. France

Active armed forces: 204,000

Defense budget: $70 billion

22. Japan

Active armed forces: 247,000

Defense budget: $58.9 billion

21. Saudi Arabia

Active armed forces: 257,000

Defense budget: $72.5 billion

20. Sri Lanka

Active armed forces: 260,000

Defense budget: $1.4 billion

19. Colombia

Active armed forces: 285,000

Defense budget: $8.3 billion

18. Mexico

Active armed forces: 301,000

Defense budget: $11.4 billion

17. Eritrea

Active armed forces: 302,000

Defense budget: Not reported

16. Turkey

Active armed forces: 355,000

Defense budget: $21.5 billion

15. Thailand

Active armed forces: 361,000

Defense budget: $5.8 billion

14. Brazil

Active armed forces: 375,000

Defense budget: $24.2 billion

13. Indonesia

Active armed forces: 434,000

Defense budget: $15 billion

12. Egypt

Active armed forces: 439,000

Defense budget: $2.3 billion

11. Vietnam

Active armed forces: 450,000

Defense budget: $8.4 billion

10. South Korea

Active armed forces: 450,000

Defense budget: $43.8 billion

9. Ethiopia

Active armed forces: 503,000

Defense budget: $484 million

8. Iran

Active armed forces: 610,000

Defense budget: $6.1 billion

7. Pakistan

Active armed forces: 660,000

Defense budget: $10 billion

6. Ukraine

Active armed forces: 677,000

Defense budget: $44.4 billion

5. Russia

Active armed forces: 1,264,000

Defense budget: $161.2 billion

4. North Korea

Active armed forces: 1,280,000

Defense budget: Not reported

3. United States

Active armed forces: 1,340,000

Defense budget: $921 billion

2. India

Active armed forces: 1,501,000

Defense budget: $78.3 billion

1. China

Active armed forces: 2,035,000

Defense budget: $251.3 billion

• The wait is over: Anthropic's public S-1 has finally landed.
• Potential investors — including you — can now look at the financials behind the AI startup's staggering growth.
• The company has beaten rival OpenAI to a public filing, so its IPO will set expectations.

Anthropic is ready for Wall Street.

The company behind Claude filed its public S-1 paperwork on Monday, revealing its plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ANT and setting the stage for an enormous IPO.

Anthropic's filing pulls back the curtain on the financials that have made it one of the fastest-growing startups in history; the company was valued at $965 billion in May. Wall Street and AI experts are poring over its 330-plus pages to parse what it means for Anthropic's IPO.

"We believe that AI is one of the most consequential technologies in human history," Anthropic said in its filing. The company said the technology could accelerate scientific innovation, increase economic growth, and cure diseases. "Anthropic aims to realize these benefits while navigating and preventing the risks that come with a technological revolution this fast and this powerful."

The AI giant disclosed a total net loss of about $42 billion in 2025, with revenue of $4.6 billion. In the first six months of this year ending June 30, Anthropic recorded a staggering net loss of $80.7 billion — nearly double its loss for all of last year. Anthropic attributed much of that loss to an accounting adjustment.

The S-1's release means everyday investors — including you — can now see under the hood. Companies going public in the US are required to file an S-1, which includes a company's vision for its future, recent financial results, major shareholders, and the risks it faces.

Anthropic's 5 biggest customers drive ~25% of its revenue — and are spending more than ever

As recently as 2025, Anthropic lagged well behind rival OpenAI. It generated $1.16 billion in revenue over that year's first six months. Since then, for month after month, Anthropic has won over business customers and bolstered its top line.

From January through June 30 of this year, Anthropic raked in $16.3 billion in revenue. The San Francisco AI lab told investors in mid-October that its third-quarter revenue totaled $16.8 billion, a jump from earlier in the year.

Increased spending from Anthropic's five biggest customers — who drove around 25% of its overall revenue in the first nine months of the year — is fueling that growth. In the three-month period ending September 30, Anthropic said revenue from its five biggest spenders reached a record high. The company said its net revenue retention rate, which the company uses to measure its ability to retain and extract more revenue from its paying customers, reached nearly 900%.

But the fact that such a large portion of revenue is driven from such a small number of customers could prove to be a double-edged sword, Anthropic said, as they could choose to switch AI providers. Anthropic also cautioned that it expects its revenue growth rate to fluctuate and "decline over time."

Roughly 5% to 7% of its revenue in the first nine months of the year came from AI use that violated its usage policies, which includes distillation — the practice of training an AI model using the outputs of a rival's model. Anthropic warned that it's bolstering its ability to detect and crack down on such AI use, which it expects to go down over time, but that doing so could hurt its revenue.

The firm's growth has stunned the industry and added to a frenzy of excitement over AI's economic impact. CEO Dario Amodei quipped in May that the growing demand for his products was "too hard to handle"; the company has raced to secure more computing power to serve customers with its chatbot, coding, and workplace tools.

Those commitments are already titanic. Anthropic expects to spend at least $265.6 billion on cloud, computing, and infrastructure over the coming years on fixed or minimum-guaranteed commitments through June 30, according to the filing. The company also has additional compute agreements that could push the total cost up much higher.

Anthropic's grim risk factors warn of potential 'catastrophic AI-related incident'

In its 90-plus-page risk factors — by far the largest section of the S-1 — Anthropic warned that a potential "catastrophic AI-related incident" could be so damaging that the "insurance industry in the aggregate" may not be able to cover it.

"Harmful incidents involving our models, regardless of fault, could also severely and disproportionately damage our reputation and brand as a safety-focused AI company, leading to loss of customer trust and customer attrition, reduced demand for our models, platform, and applications, and difficulty attracting and retaining talent," Anthropic said.

The company also warned that it may not be able to detect or prevent every harmful use or output from its AI models, leaving the firm vulnerable to reputational damage, regulatory scrutiny, criminal investigations, and costly legal claims.

Anthropic said people at risk of suicide or self-harm, as well as people who have committed violence against others, have used its models despite its safeguards.

A significant share of its traffic comes with "Zero Data Retention" terms, Anthropic said, meaning it keeps only "classifier scores, not prompts or outputs." This can limit the company's ability to detect or investigate misuse and may prevent it from producing records in response to subpoenas or other regulatory matters — which could prompt consequences from regulators.

Additionally, Anthropic cautioned that its ability to build, improve, and run its AI models depends on securing an enormous amount of compute in an increasingly cutthroat market. Failure to do so would mean "we risk falling behind the technological frontier," it wrote.

Anthropic's risk factors also point to mounting nationwide opposition to AI data centers and note that some jurisdictions are considering or have approved moratoriums on the construction of large-scale data centers.

With its data center infrastructure primarily concentrated in the US, Anthropic said this exposes it to "risks associated with regional regulatory changes, power grid constraints or failures, disruptions to network connectivity between facilities, natural disasters, physical attacks—including those motivated by geopolitical events, opposition to AI, and opposition to data center development—and other disruptions that could affect multiple facilities."

Anthropic, which has found itself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, warned in the filing that it could face government scrutiny over its stance on AI policy and safety.

"We have experienced, and may continue to experience, increased visibility and may continue to be subject to heightened scrutiny or the risk of being disproportionately or selectively targeted by particular governmental bodies," the company said, adding the potential blowback could hurt its reputation, drive up costs, trigger investigations or enforcement actions and harm its business.

Dario Amodei's nearly $18 million pay package included $2.7 million for personal security

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei received total compensation valued at nearly $18 million in 2025, while president Daniela Amodei — his sister — received about $16.4 million, per the filing. The largest parts of their packages were stock and options, with grant-date equity values of about $13.3 million each.

The filing reveals Dario Amodei holds about 240.6 million Class A shares, including about 2.8 million shares through options and restricted stock units that are exercisable or vesting within 60 days of the end of September.

The filing lists a 2025 salary of $654,167 for each executive. Their annual base salaries rose to $915,000 in January 2026 and then to $1.38 million in July.

Dario Amodei's package also included about $2.7 million in personal security costs and $97,055 for personal air travel under his security program. Daniela Amodei's package included about $1.3 million in security and transportation costs.

Krishna Rao, Anthropic's CFO, received $706,250 in salary in 2025. His annual base salary rose to $1.25 million in February 2026.

Anthropic wrote that its executive packages reflect its "overall compensation philosophy," including that it "targets the 90th percentile of the AI development market."

Compute deals total hundreds of billions

All told, Anthropic disclosed about $637 billion in compute and infrastructure spend with named companies in the coming years. Other deals, including with AMD, do not specify a fixed amount. Anthropic cautioned that the exact amount may vary depending on the amount of compute delivered, while other deals could push the figure higher. The company also left blank several compute-related figures in its publicly released S-1.

Of that staggering amount, the largest individual arrangement is with Broadcom. Anthropic is set to pay Broadcom roughly $161.2 billion under a five-year master lease to deploy its chips in data centers. The figure does not include interest payments.

In addition to Broadcom, Anthropic outlined its deals with Microsoft, Google, SpaceX, Amazon, Nscale, and Lambda. According to the S-1, Anthropic entered some of these arrangements as recently as this month. Anthropic said it originally entered a deal with Microsoft in November 2025, but modified it in February and again this month. Under that arrangement, Anthropic is set to spend at least $44.9 billion between November 2026 and May 2033 "regardless of actual usage."

The Claude maker's deal with Google could balloon even higher in what Anthropic described as part of existing deals to secure Google's Tensor Processing Units, the tech giant's custom-designed AI chips, to support additional compute between 2028 and 2031. Anthropic estimates those additional payments at between $125 billion and $150 billion, though they would not go exclusively to Google.

Anthropic's deals with Google, SpaceX, and Microsoft are particularly notable as they underline the degree of interdependence among AI and tech companies even as all three push to develop the most cutting-edge AI models.

Anthropic's 7 cofounders have voting control

Anthropic's seven cofounders will retain majority voting control of the company after it goes public. Anthropic will issue one share of Class F common stock to an LLC composed of the seven cofounders, known as the "Founder LLC."

That single share will carry 50.1% of shareholder votes, meaning the seven cofounders will have more voting power than all other shareholders combined. Should any of the cofounders die or become unable to serve in their role, a successor may be admitted to the LLC until 10 years after the public offering is completed.

"We believe that our success depends in part on establishing a capital structure that enables our co-founders, management, and board of directors to focus on strategic initiatives that create lasting value for our stakeholders, rather than facing pressure to prioritize short-term results," the filing reads under the section on voting structure.

Each of the LLC members, referred to in the filing as "Continuing Founders," will get one vote to determine how the Class F common stock will vote. If a majority of the founders can't agree, the Class F stock will "generally be voted proportionately with the votes of our Class A common stock cast on the matter."

A fierce rivalry and race toward IPO

A group of OpenAI alums launched Anthropic in 2021 as a public benefit corporation, meaning the company must balance profits with its mission of "developing and maintaining advanced AI for the long-term benefit of humanity."

Since then, a rivalry has developed between the two companies over top AI research talent, the best model releases, and customers. The virality of ChatGPT had handed OpenAI a lead.

In 2025, after Anthropic released Claude Code, the race began a new phase. AI's coding skills improved, and business customers began pouring money into the technology. Each company's valuation boomed, and this spring, Anthropic's eclipsed OpenAI's.

Despite its staggering growth, the narrative that Anthropic has to provide investors to drum up excitement for its IPO is tricky. The AI industry is still in its early days and faces a backlash over data center construction. The technology's economic implications are still unknown. Anthropic has had a topsy-turvy relationship with the Trump administration. Amodei joined the president for a private dinner in late September after high-profile disagreements.

Plus, Anthropic is contending with cheaper models from Chinese firms, which some developers are using to replace American tools. Leading AI providers are also reckoning with security incidents in which their AI agents have breached outside systems.

Unlike OpenAI, Anthropic is forging ahead with a 2026 IPO as concerns about safety hang over the industry. Amodei has said that frontier AI labs like Anthropic should slow the pace of AI development so that researchers can focus more on safety and alignment.

Anthropic, the first pure-play AI company to publicly file its S-1 in the US, can set expectations with its early stock market performance.

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.

• I live in Las Vegas, and the city often feels like it was designed to take money from tourists.
• ATMs on the Strip often charge steep fees, and parking can be costly if you don't do your research.
• Many things, from toiletries to clothing, tend to be more expensive in the casinos.

Las Vegas is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

And, in a lot of ways, it's designed to take your cash. From the moment you step off the plane, you're greeted with the flashing lights and glitzy promise of easy money topped with a good time. Just put a dollar or 10 into the slot machines, and all your dreams might come true!

I've lived here for almost 20 years, and the first thing you learn as a local is that the house always wins. The second thing you learn is how to make sure it doesn't win everything.

Here are a few things I think tourists should stop wasting money on when they visit Las Vegas.

ATMs on the Strip can have really high fees.

No one should come to Vegas without a plan, and that includes a gambling budget.

It's rare for someone to walk through the winding maze of slot machines and not feel inclined to drop a few dollars. It's like an adult video game that often comes with free drinks.

But the last thing you want is to find yourself in the middle of a gambling streak without any cash. Many casino ATM fees hover around $10 a transaction, but I've also seen worse.

Instead, stop by an ATM or a bank off the Strip. It might seem inconvenient, but between resort fees, room taxes, and inflated prices, the last thing you want is to lose money by simply taking out cash.

You'll probably be paying a premium if you buy a drink at the first bar you see.

In my experience, if the bar is conveniently located, you're probably going to pay too much for the drink. Even inside the casinos, the bars closest to the lobby will often be more expensive than others tucked in the back.

For example, in the same section of a casino, I once found two vendors selling nearly identical frozen cocktails, but the one closer to the action had prices double the other's.

So, before ordering, walk around a bit and see if you can find a better deal.

And if you have the time, play a few dollars at the slots and wait for the cocktail server. Most casinos offer free drinks if you're actively gambling.

Getting advanced tickets for shows is often way pricier than waiting until the day of.

Vegas is known for its broad selection of world-class shows. From Cirque du Soleil to any number of all-star residencies, there's no shortage of killer entertainment on the Strip.

However, that doesn't mean you have to pay full price for tickets. In fact, given how unpredictable a day in Las Vegas can be, waiting until the last minute has its perks.

Kiosks along the Strip often offer unsold, day-of tickets for around half the original price. Plus, several websites and other vendors have similar deals with casinos and entertainment venues.

This requires some flexibility and risk — not all shows have unsold tickets or offer lower prices every day. However, if you don't mind some uncertainty and love a good deal, it's easy enough to find cheap seats not long before a show starts.

Clothes, toiletries, and other essentials tend to cost a lot more on the Strip.

Whether you're looking for designer duds or a toiletry you forgot, you'll be able to find it in Vegas.

There are tons of shops conveniently located near every major casino property and all along the Strip.

However, at a lot of these places, you may find yourself paying a premium for basics and items that aren't that special. For example, I've seen a four-pack of Motrin for $5 and a not-officially-licensed Las Vegas Raiders jacket going for $150.

So, pack your essentials from home whenever possible and be vigilant when you browse. And, if you want to do some shopping during your trip, head just north of the Strip to the Premium Outlets for better deals.

Parking fees can really add up.

For years, casinos didn't charge for parking in their garages — and some still don't. So knowing which ones do can stop you from wasting money.

Additionally, it might seem like renting a car is the way to go to save on rideshare or cab fees. However, if you don't pay attention, you could easily spend way more on parking for a day than on a few rideshare trips.

Before you head to Vegas, definitely research parking garages and do a little math to see if it's even worth having a car.

This story was originally published on January 6, 2024, and most recently updated on October 26, 2026.

• Actors James Van Der Beek, Hayden Panettiere, Robert Duvall, Chuck Norris, Tom Skerritt, and Eva Marie Saint died in 2026.
• So did musicians Dolly Parton and Duncan Sheik.
• Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, activist Gloria Steinem, and NFL Hall of Famer Mike Ditka also died this year.

Below, we look back at the celebrities we lost in 2026, listed in alphabetical order.

Scott Adams, 68

Scott Adams worked at a telephone company in the 1980s. The experience inspired his beloved comic strip, "Dilbert."

By the end of the decade, the character and his satirical office humor began appearing in comic strips.

At its peak, "Dilbert" was syndicated in over 2,000 newspapers. A cartoon series debuted in 1999, running for two seasons.

Adams gained notoriety when he began writing blog posts praising Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential run. In 2023, "Dilbert" was pulled from newspapers across the US following racist comments made by Adams.

Adams died on January 13 from metastatic prostate cancer.

Brad Arnold, 47

The lead singer of 3 Doors Down, Brad Arnold launched the group into fame with the 2000 rock anthem "Kryptonite," which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year.

The success led to other hits like "Loser," "Here Without You," and "When I'm Gone." Arnold's vocal range and lyrics focused on love and love lost, which fueled the group to stardom.

Arnold died on February 7 from a type of kidney cancer.

Afrika Bambaataa, 68

A hip-hop pioneer during the 1970s and 1980s, Lance Taylor, known professionally as Afrika Bambaataa, first gained attention as a DJ in the Bronx.

He signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1981 and released landmark songs like "Jazzy Sensation" and "Planet Rock." He would go on to influence the likes of Queen Latifah and A Tribe Called Quest throughout his career.

Bambaataa founded the hip-hop awareness group, Universal Zulu Nation, in the 1970s to steer kids away from gang life. Bambaataa stepped down as the head of the organization in 2016 after accusations of sexual abuse.

Bambaataa denied all claims.

He died on April 9 due to prostate cancer.

Rob Bass, 59

One of the icons responsible for bringing hip-hop to the mainstream, Rob Bass crafted the iconic track "It Takes Two" alongside DJ E-Z Rock.

The track, released in 1988, reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Songs chart and later went certified platinum. In 1989, it was voted the greatest single of all time by Spin magazine.

Bass died on May 22 following cancer.

Nicholas Brendon, 54

Nicholas Brendon was a television actor, best known for playing Xander Harris in all seven seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

He also starred in "Criminal Minds" and "Kitchen Confidential."

Brendon died in his sleep on March 20 due to natural causes, according to his family's statement.

In 2023, Brendon suffered a heart attack and was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. He also had cauda equina syndrome, which led to several spinal surgeries.

"While it's no secret that Nicholas had struggles in the past, he was on medications and treatment to manage his diagnosis, and he was optimistic about the future at the time of his passing," the statement to The Hollywood Reporter read. "Our family asks for privacy during this time as we grieve his loss and celebrate the life of a man who lived with intensity, imagination, and heart."

Peabo Bryson, 75

Two-time Grammy winner Peabo Bryson is best known for his classic love ballads.

Bryson began releasing music in the late 1970s, but one of his first major hits was opposite Roberta Flack on the 1983 duet, "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love." He continued hit-making a year later with the smash "If Ever You're in My Arms Again," and in 1991, he topped the R&B charts with "Can You Stop the Rain."

Bryson found global stardom with his renditions of two Disney classics. In 1991, he released the pop version of "Beauty and the Beast," alongside Céline Dion, and a year later, he duetted with Regina Belle on "A Whole New World" from the 1992 release of "Aladdin."

Bryson died on June 2. No cause was given.

James Burrows, 85

An 11-time Emmy winner and co-creator of "Cheers," director James Burrows helped shape modern TV comedy through his work on iconic sitcoms including "Will & Grace," "Friends," and "Frasier."

Known for his comedic timing and elaborate blocking, Burrows got his start directing episodes of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Throughout his career, he directed episodes of "Frasier" (winning an Emmy for the pilot episode), "Will & Grace," "Friends," and "The Big Bang Theory." He directed over 50 pilot episodes.

Burrows died on June 19. No cause was given.

Kyle Busch, 41

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Busch was considered one of the greatest racers of all time.

Busch was hospitalized on May 21, before two upcoming races. Hours later, he was pronounced dead.

Busch died from severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis.

Robert Carradine, 71

Robert Carradine was best known for his roles as Lizzie McGuire's dad and as the iconic geek Lewis Skolnick in the 1980s franchise "Revenge of the Nerds."

As a member of Hollywood's famed Carradine family, Robert was destined for an onscreen career.

He received one of his first screen credits starring in his brother David Carradine's popular 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" and went on to land roles in everything from Samuel Fuller's World War II classic "The Big Red One" to the "Lizzie McGuire" series.

Carradine's family shared statements with Deadline that emphasized being open about his struggles with mental illness.

"We are bereft at the loss of this beautiful soul and want to acknowledge Bobby's valiant struggle against his nearly two-decade battle with Bipolar Disorder," Carradine's family said. "We hope his journey can shine a light and encourage addressing the stigma that attaches to mental illness."

Carradine died by suicide on February 23.

If you or someone you know is experiencing depression or has had thoughts of harming themself or taking their own life, get help. In the US, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Help is also available through the Crisis Text Line — just text "HOME" to 741741. The International Association for Suicide Prevention offers resources for those outside the US.

Bud Cort, 77

Most famous for his role as Harold in the 1971 cult-classic "Harold and Maude," Bud Cort became the epitome of 1970s counterculture thanks to his baby-faced looks, wit, and sophisticated persona.

The dark comedy starred Cort as Harold, a man in his 20s who is obsessed with suicide until he meets 79-year-old eccentric Maude (Ruth Gordon).

Before that, Cort scored bit parts in Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H*" (1970) and "Brewster McCloud" (1970).

After "Harold and Maude," Cort worked steadily for the rest of his life, occasionally showing up in hit movies like Michael Mann's "Heat" (1995) and Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004).

Cort died on February 11 following a long illness.

Tim Curry, 80

Curry is best known for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult-classic musical "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," after originating the role in the original stage production.

Over six decades, Curry carved out a niche playing outlandish villains like Rooster Hannigan in the 1982 film "Annie" and Pennywise in the 1990 miniseries "It." Other notable roles include Wadsworth the Butler in "Clue" (1985) and Mr. Hector in "Home Alone 2: Escape from New York."

Curry suffered a major stroke in 2012, which required brain surgery. He said in 2025 that he was "still recovering."

Curry died at his Los Angeles home on August 26. No cause was given.

Eric Dane, 53

Long before becoming one of TV's most recognizable heartthrobs, Eric Dane was building his career with guest roles on series like "Saved by the Bell" and "Married… with Children."

He later gained wider attention with appearances on "Charmed" before landing his breakout role as Dr. Mark "McSteamy" Sloan on "Grey's Anatomy." He most recently starred in HBO's "Euphoria," where he played Cal Jacobs, the father of Jacob Elordi's character, Nate Jacobs.

Dane has two children with his wife, Rebecca Gayheart. In April 2025, the actor said that he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

Dane died on February 19 at age 53, his publicist confirmed in a statement to Business Insider.

"He spent his final days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife, and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world," his publicist said.

Clive Davis, 94

A legend in the music world, Davis was responsible for elevating pop music to unthinkable heights by discovering talents like Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Whitney Houston, and Alicia Keys, to name a few.

Over his 50-year career, along with being an executive behind millions of album sales, he also won five Grammys, including two for Album of the Year ("The Bodyguard" soundtrack and "Supernatural" by Santana).

Davis died on June 22. No cause was given.

Mike Ditka, 86

Mike Ditka was the first tight end ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As a coach for the Chicago Bears, he led the team to its only Super Bowl win to date in 1986.

Ditka's success turned him into a celebrity who showed up in commercials, TV shows, and movies in cameo roles.

One of his most famous was starring opposite Will Ferrell in the 2005 comedy "Kicking and Screaming."

His persona became the long-running "Saturday Night Live" sketch called "Bill Swerski's Superfans," in which cast members dressed up as Ditka and spoke about their love for "Da Bears."

Ditka died on October 9; no cause was given.

Robert Duvall, 95

Robert Duvall starred in a plethora of timeless classics, including "The Godfather," "The Godfather Part II," "Apocalypse Now," "THX 1138," "The Natural," "Days of Thunder," and "The Apostle."

Duvall will be best remembered for starring in three of director Francis Ford Coppola's iconic films: playing Tom Hagen in the first two "Godfather" movies and Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now," in which he delivers one of the most memorable lines in movie history: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

Duvall was lauded for his acting talent, from not saying a word while playing Boo Radley in his first big screen role in the 1962 classic "To Kill a Mockingbird" to his portrayal of a country singer dealing with alcoholism in 1983's "Tender Mercies," which earned him an Oscar.

He died on his ranch in Virginia on February 15. No cause was given.

Brenda Fricker, 81

This Irish actress was a fixture on the stage and screen for six decades. But she's most known for showing up in the "Home Alone" sequel.

As The Pigeon Lady in 1992's "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," Fricker has become a fixture for families during the holiday season for decades (and in 2020 became the subject of a popular meme).

But Fricker's acting talents go beyond playing a spooky wanderer of Central Park.

In 1990, she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Award, as she was given the best supporting actress Oscar that year for her performance in "My Left Foot."

Fricker died on July 16; no cause was given.

Mark Fuhrman, 74

Fuhrman cemented his place in popular culture as one of the lead LAPD detectives on the 1995 murder case of O.J. Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Fuhrman found the famed bloody glove on the Simpson estate, and during the trial, he gained infamy when Simpson's defense team used his past racist language to discredit him as a witness.

Fuhrman retired from the LAPD after the Simpson trial and moved to Idaho, where he wrote true crime books.

Fuhrman died on May 12 of throat cancer.

Valentino Garavani, 93

For over six decades, one name has been synonymous with women's high fashion: Valentino.

The Italian designer launched his fashion business in Rome in 1960 and never looked back. Soon, every star wanted to be seen in his creations. They've been worn by icons like Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Collins, Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana, Sharon Stone, and more.

Though Garavani retired from designing in 2008, his label is still a red carpet staple, as is his famous shade of bright red dubbed "Valentino Red."

Garavani died on January 19. No cause was given.

Donald Gibb, 71

No one defined a bully for a generation more than Gibb's hulking fraternity character Ogre in the "Revenge of the Nerds" movies of the 1980s.

Since the original raunchy comedy was released in 1984, Gibb's intimidating size and loud yells of "NERDS!" have become as memorable as the pocket protectors worn by the movie's geeks.

Gibb went on to star opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in his classic 1988 action movie "Bloodsport." He also landed guest star roles through his career on shows like "Quantum Leap," "Magnum P.I.," "MacGyver," "Night Court," and "Cheers."

Gibb died on May 12 following health complications.

Chad Gilbert, 45

Gilbert was the guitarist and backing vocalist for the punk band New Found Glory.

The band's hit albums include 2002's "Sticks And Stones" and 2004's "Catalyst." Both showed up in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Gilbert died on September 20; no cause was given, but Gilbert told People in April he was battling stage 4 adrenal cancer.

Glen Hansard, 56

Irish singer-songwriter Hansard was the frontman of the rock band The Frames and one-half of the band The Swell Season. But he was perhaps best known for writing and starring in the hit 2007 indie film "Once," in which he and his Swell Season bandmate Markéta Irglová play two struggling musicians who fall in love. The duo won an Oscar for best original song for the film's standout track, "Falling Slowly."

Hansard also embarked on a solo career; his 2015 album, "Didn't He Ramble," was nominated for a Grammy for best folk album.

Hansard died on July 29 in a motorcycle crash in Dublin.

Dennis Haskins, 75

For those who grew up in the '90s, Dennis Haskins was your favorite high school principal, Mr. Belding.

Starring in the hit TV series "Saved By The Bell," Haskins' Belding character traveled the halls trying to be a step ahead of the hijinks inflicted by Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and his friends. But unlike many school principals in pop culture who were mean and seemed to hate kids, Haskins played his authority role with a playful, good-natured style.

He was on the show's full four-season run from 1989 to 1993, and also starred in the spin-off, "Saved By The Bell: The New Class," from 1993 to 2000.

Haskins' other credits include "The Bold and the Beautiful," "Mad Men," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," and "New Girl."

Haskins died on September 27; no cause was given.

Anthony Head, 72

Rising up through the UK stage scene in the 1980s, Head found fame when he was cast as Rupert Giles, who became a father figure to Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy Summers in all seven seasons of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Most recently, he played the bitter former owner of AFC Richmond on "Ted Lasso."

Head's death was announced by his family on June 5. They stated the cause was "complications due to pneumonia."

David Hockney, 88

British painter David Hockney was renowned for his striking portraits and figurative pop art. Many of his best-known paintings, including 1966's "The Splash" and 1972's "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)," were inspired by the bright colors and sun-dappled pools of Los Angeles.

Hockney moved to Los Angeles in the late '60s, and his work became synonymous with the warmth and leisure of Southern California. He was also one of the few popular artists at the time to depict openly gay scenes, and Hockney was outspoken about anti-gay censorship.

Throughout his career, Hockney split time between California, England, and France. He died at his home in London on June 12 at age 88, his publicist confirmed to The New York Times. No cause of death was given.

Jesse Jackson, 84

The Rev. Jesse Jackson was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, a minister, and an activist icon who twice ran for president.

Born on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina, Jackson experienced Jim Crow segregation on public buses and at school firsthand. It would shape the rest of his life.

His fight for civil rights began in the 1960s, when he helped organize protests and demonstrations across the US and worked closely alongside civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

His decadeslong career as a leading civil rights activist included support for modern national movements, such as the push for voting rights, the fight against racism, and a higher minimum wage.

Jackson ran for president twice, both times as a democrat. He placed third for the party's nomination in 1984 and second in 1988. This marked the most successful presidential runs of any Black candidate prior to Barack Obama.

Jackson announced in 2017 that he'd been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In November 2025, Jackson was treated in a Chicago hospital after complications from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurodegenerative condition.

Jackson died on February 17.

Walter Koenig, 90

As the boyish Russian crewman Pavel Chekov on "Star Trek," Walter Koenig left an indelible mark in the minds of sci-fi fans for generations as one of the key crew members of Captain Kirk's ship, the USS Enterprise.

First appearing in the show's second season, Koenig played Chekov in 36 of the 50 episodes that aired in 1967-68 and 1968-69. He also starred in the first seven releases of the movie franchise, from 1979 through 1991.

Koenig died on October 25 of natural causes.

Yayoi Kusama, 97

Kusama was a famed Japanese pop artist who often used polka-dot motifs in her work, initially rising to prominence in Japan in the 1950s.

In 1959, Kusama presented her first solo exhibition in New York: a collection of abstract paintings that an ARTnews review praised as "strong, advanced in concept and realized."

Kusama later branched into sculptures, performances, and immersive installations. She continued to expand her influence and relevance into the social media era, when her mirrored "Infinity Room" installations became Instagram-friendly attractions that inspired many copycats.

Kusama died on August 14 in Tokyo. She was 97.

Bob Mackie, 87

As one of Hollywood's most renowned costume designers, Bob Mackie's eye set the style for decades.

Known as the Sultan of Sequins, the Rajah of Rhinestones, or the Guru of Glitter, a signature of Mackie's work was its use of sparkle, which made everyone from Cher to Elton John to Dolly Parton to Sabrina Carpenter shine on stage.

He also was the costume designer on "The Carol Burnett Show" for all eleven seasons through the 1970s. He won nine Emmys, a Tony Award, and was nominated for three Academy Awards for his work.

Mackie died on September 14; no cause was given.

RJ Mitte, 34

Mitte was best known for playing the son of Bryan Cranston's Walter White in the hit series "Breaking Bad."

Mitte, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was 3 years old, became a disability rights activist after finding fame with "Breaking Bad."

His other credits include the 2021 movie "Triumph," in which he played a high school student with cerebral palsy who tries out for the wrestling team. He also starred in the 2024 thriller "Love Me Dead" opposite Dove Cameron.

Mitte died by suicide on October 12.

Patrick Muldoon, 57

In the 1990s, you couldn't escape the piercing eyes of Patrick Muldoon.

He played Austin Reed on "Days of Our Lives" for most of the decade, and when he wasn't on the soap, he was over on "Melrose Place" playing the villain role of Richard Hart.

If being on two iconic shows wasn't enough, he also showed up on "Saved by the Bell" and had a role in the cult classic movie "Starship Troopers."

Muldoon died on April 19 after a heart attack.

Sam Neill, 78

With a career spanning more than five decades and including countless memorable performances in movies and television, Sam Neill was one of the most versatile actors of his generation,

The New Zealand actor starred opposite Nicole Kidman in the 1989 thriller "Dead Calm," played the loyal first officer opposite Sean Connery in 1990's "The Hunt for Red October," played the lead in John Carpenter's 1994 horror "In the Mouth of Madness," and most recently starred in the hit series "Peaky Blinders."

But Neill is best known for playing the brave and all-dinosaur-knowing Dr. Alan Grant in the "Jurassic Park" franchise.

Neill died on July 13; no cause was given. Neill was battling a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer, but was cancer-free at the time of his death, according to a post on his Instagram account announcing his passing.

Tom Noonan, 74

Standing at a towering 6' 5", Tom Noonan was born to play the bad guy. And he did just that, starring as the villain in movies like "Manhunter," "RoboCop 2," and "Last Action Hero."

But this actor had more to show off. He showcased his comedy chops as Rodney Dangerfield's degenerate gambling friend in the 1983 comedy "Easy Money," and set up the heist for Robert De Niro in Michael Mann's 1995 classic "Heat."

His knack for storytelling also translated behind the camera. Noonan wrote, directed, and starred in the drama "What Happened Was," which won the grand prize at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival.

Noonan died on February 14; no cause was given.

Chuck Norris, 86

Few action stars have Chuck Norris' credentials.

Before he ever stepped in front of a camera, he was a martial arts champion and a black belt in Karate, judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Taekwondo, and Tang Soo Do.

His talents would become known the world over in 1972, when he faced off against Bruce Lee in "The Way of the Dragon."

Through the 1980s, Norris became one of the biggest action stars in the world thanks to movies like "A Force of One," "The Octagon," and the "Delta Force" and "Missing in Action" franchises.

In the 1990s, he took over the small screen, playing the lead in the "Walker, Texas Ranger" TV show, which aired in over 100 countries during its run from 1993 to 2001.

Norris was hospitalized on March 19 in Hawaii and died the following day, according to his family. No cause was given.

Catherine O'Hara, 71

O'Hara, who was best known for her roles in "Beetlejuice" and "Home Alone," got her start in the Canadian comedy scene, appearing in the now-legendary cast of "SCTV."

It would mark the beginning of a fruitful partnership with fellow actor Eugene Levy, who became her frequent costar and collaborator in memorable appearances in Christopher Guest films like "A Mighty Wind" and "Best in Show" and television series like "Schitt's Creek," which earned her an Emmy Award for outstanding lead actress in 2020.

O'Hara's representative confirmed her death to Business Insider on January 30. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed in a death certificate viewed by People that O'Hara died of a pulmonary embolism, with rectal cancer listed as an underlying cause.

Hayden Panettiere, 36

Panettiere began acting as a child, landing one of her earliest major roles as Sarah Roberts on the ABC soap opera "One Life to Live," on which she appeared from 1994 to 1997.

As her career progressed, she became best known for portraying Claire Bennet on "Heroes" and Juliette Barnes on "Nashville."

Over the years, Panettiere had spoken openly about her struggles with alcoholism and postpartum depression. She detailed those experiences in her memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning," which was released in May.

Panettiere died on August 16. A final autopsy report by the Greenville County Coroner's Office ruled her death an accident caused by the toxic effects of fentanyl and other drugs.

Dolly Parton, 80

Parton released her debut album, "Hello, I'm Dolly," in 1967 and went on to pen country hits like "I Will Always Love You" and "Jolene," both of which were released as singles in 1974.

In addition to her music, Parton was beloved for her flamboyant style and her philanthropy. She founded the Dollywood Foundation in 1988, a charitable organization focused on education and community initiatives in her home state of Tennessee. She continued to fund scholarship programs and donate to hospitals, public health initiatives, and disaster relief programs throughout her life.

Parton is known as the best-selling female country music artist of all time. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

Parton's 49th and final solo studio album, "Rockstar," was released in 2023. The tracklist included both original material and covers of classic rock songs, featuring an array of guests like Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sting, Joan Jett, and Parton's goddaughter, Miley Cyrus.

News broke on August 25 that Parton died following unspecified health issues. She was 80.

Vincent Pastore, 80

This character actor found fame appearing in a string of mob movies in the 1990s, like "Goodfellas," "Carlito's Way," and "Men of Respect." But Pastore truly became a star when he was cast in the hit HBO series "The Sopranos."

As Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero, Pastore was part of the main cast for the first two seasons of the show, playing Tony Soprano's mob enforcer-turned-FBI informant. Bonpensiero's shocking death was one of the most famous in the show's history and proved that no one was safe from getting whacked.

Pastore died on August 1. No cause was given.

Valerie Perrine, 82

Perrine found herself cast alongside the biggest stars of the 1970s.

She played the love interest opposite Jeff Bridges in 1973's "The Last American Hero" and Robert Redford in 1979's "The Electric Horseman." She earned an Oscar nomination for starring alongside Dustin Hoffman in 1974's "Lenny."

For most, she'll be remembered best for sharing the screen with Gene Hackman as the secretary to his evil Lex Luthor in 1978's "Superman." She also starred in the sequel. As Ms. Teschmacher, her loyalty to Luthor is questioned when she rescues Superman (Christopher Reeve) after he's chained with Kryptonite.

Perrine died in her home in Beverly Hills on March 23. She was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015.

Richard Riehle, 78

A prolific character actor, Riehle has over 400 screen credits, appearing in everything from "Casino" to "Bridesmaids" over his career.

He's best known for playing the worker in "Office Space" who, after being laid off, wins a large payout from a lawsuit after a suicide attempt.

Other credits include "The Fugitive," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," and "Transformers: Age of Extinction."

Riehle died on October 15; no cause was given.

Sonny Rollins, 95

One of the most influential jazz musicians in history, Rollins recorded more than 60 albums over his seven-decade career.

His live album, "A Night at the Village Vanguard," is considered one of the greatest jazz albums ever made.

Rollins died on May 25; no cause was given.

Eva Marie Saint, 102

An Oscar and Emmy winner, Eva Marie Saint appeared in classic movies in Hollywood history.

She made her film debut starring opposite Marlon Brando in Elia Kazan's 1954 classic "On the Waterfront," which won her the Oscar for best supporting actress. In 1959, she heated up the screen with Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's defining thriller "North by Northwest."

In 1990, she won an Emmy for her work in the miniseries "People Like Us."

Saint died on October 6 of natural causes.

Neil Sedaka, 86

Sedaka is responsible for some of the biggest pop songs of the 1960s and 1970s.

The Brooklyn native wrote over 500 songs, including classic hits like "Laughter in the Rain," "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do," "Bad Blood" and the Captain & Tennille song, "Love Will Keep Us Together."

Sedaka died on February 27; no cause was given.

Gene Shalit, 100

Before there was Rotten Tomatoes or even Siskel & Ebert, movie lovers got their recommendations from Gene Shalit.

The iconic movie critic could be seen sporting his signature look of glasses, bushy hair, and big mustache as a staple on the "Today" show from 1973 to 2010. If he wasn't interviewing the biggest movie stars, he was reviewing movies with incredible puns ("'Ishtar' is Ish-terrible.")

His larger-than-life presence left a mark on pop culture: he was parodied as a Muppet and on countless episodes of "SCTV" and "Saturday Night Live."

Shalit died on June 12; no cause was given.

Duncan Sheik, 56

Sheik found success in the late 1990s with his hit song "Barely Breathing." He later pivoted from alt-rock to a career on Broadway, composing the music for the Tony-winning musical "Spring Awakening." His other stage credits include "American Psycho" (2013) and "The Secret Life of Bees" (2019).

Sheik died on September 17 after a cardiac arrest.

Kiki Shepard, 74

In her 15-year tenure as a co-host on "Showtime at the Apollo," Kiki Shepard was considered royalty at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater.

Known in the building as "Apollo Queen of Fashion" thanks to her dazzling outfits, Shepherd was a fixture on the show from 1987 to 2002.

Throughout her career, Shepard also appeared on TV shows like "Baywatch," "A Different World," "NYPD Blue," and "Grey's Anatomy."

Shepard died on March 16 after suffering a heart attack.

Tom Skerritt, 93

A beloved actor in Hollywood for over six decades, Tom Skerritt appeared in some legendary movies and television.

Robert Altman gave Skerritt his big break when he cast him as the womanizing and sarcastic surgeon Captain "Duke" Forrest in the classic 1970 movie "M*A*S*H." Skerritt followed it up with a string of hits, including Altman's "Thieves Like Us" (1974), "The Turning Point" (1977), and a hilarious cameo in Cheech & Chong's classic debut movie "Up in Smoke" (1978).

Then, Skerritt went sci-fi when Ridley Scott cast him as Captain Arthur Dallas in 1979's "Alien." Skerritt also scored a memorable role as Tom Cruise's flight instructor "Viper" in 1986's "Top Gun."

On the small screen, Skerritt earned an Emmy for playing Sheriff Jimmy Brock on the hit series "Picket Fences," which ran from 1992 to 1996.

Skerritt died on October 21 of natural causes.

Gloria Steinem, 92

An icon in the women's liberation movement of the 1970s, Steinem dedicated most of her life to fighting sexism.

Starting her career as a journalist, she became a columnist for the newly founded New York Magazine in 1968. She cofounded Ms. magazine in 1971, which focused on women's issues. She also helped launch the Women's Action Alliance, which focused on tackling sexism.

Steinem was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.

Steinem died on September 2, according to a post on her social media. No cause was given.

Béla Tarr, 70

Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr became a legend in the arthouse world for his unflinching work featuring several-minute-long takes.

With movies like "Family Nest" (1979) and "The Turin Horse" (2011), Tarr showcased his slow cinema style while focusing on marginalized characters living bleak lives. Tarr pushed the envelope with his style when he made "Sátántangó" in 1994, which had a run time of 450 minutes.

His work influenced several arthouse filmmakers, including Jim Jarmusch and Gus Van Sant's "Death Trilogy" ("Gerry," "Elephant," and "Last Days").

Tarr died on January 6 following a battle with a "long and serious illness."

James Tolkan, 94

You might not recognize the name, but if you're a movie fan, you know the face.

Tolkan's tough-guy persona made a mark on movie history in films like "Top Gun" and the "Back to the Future" franchise.

In "Top Gun," he played Commander Tom "Stinger" Jardian, who famously gives Tom Cruise's character a tongue lashing, saying, "Your ego is writing checks your body can't cash."

In "Back to the Future" and its sequels, he played Principal Strickland, who had zero tolerance for "slackers."

Other credits include "Serpico," "WarGames," "Masters of the Universe," and "Dick Tracy."

Tolkan died on March 26; no cause was given.

Ted Turner, 87

Ted Turner changed the television landscape thanks to his maverick maneuvers to harness the 24-hour news cycle.

After taking over his father's advertising company in the 1960s at the age of 24, Turner embarked on a path to change the media landscape by buying up radio and TV stations around the South. He even bought sports teams including the Atlanta Braves MLB team and the Atlanta Hawks NBA team.

All of that programming would eventually become part of TBS, a "super station" that showed old movies, reruns, and Braves and Hawks games.

Turner then set his sights on the news. He founded CNN, the first 24-hour news channel, in June of 1980.

Over the decades, Turner gained celebrity status, particularly after marrying Jane Fonda, a union that lasted from 1991 to 2001. In 1991, he was named Time's "Man of the Year." He sold his networks to Time Warner for $7.5 billion in 1996.

Turner died on May 6; no cause was given.

Bonnie Tyler, 75

Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler became one of the biggest artists of the 1980s thanks to her legendary power ballads.

Tyler was behind hits like "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "Holding Out for a Hero," which was also featured on the 1984 "Footloose" soundtrack. Both songs were chart-toppers that have since become two of the best-selling singles of all time.

Over her career, Tyler was nominated for three Grammys and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

Tyler died on July 8 in Portugal, where she was being treated for an illness, according to a statement posted on her social media.

James Van Der Beek, 48

Van Der Beek was beloved all over the world for his role as the titular teen Dawson Leery on the WB series "Dawson's Creek."

The series, which ran from 1998 to 2002, turned Van Der Beek into a star and a teen heartthrob. While "Dawson's Creek" was still airing, he'd cement his stardom playing the lead role of high school quarterback "Mox" Moxon in the 1999 coming-of-age drama "Varsity Blues."

Van Der Beek found steady work the rest of his career in movies like "Texas Rangers" and "The Rules of Attraction, and memorably played a fictional version of himself on the TV series "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23," and performed on "Dancing with the Stars" in 2019.

Van Der Beek learned he had stage 3 colon cancer in 2023, and publicly announced his diagnosis in late 2024.

Van Der Beek previously told Business Insider that the news came as a shock, given the subtleness of his symptoms and his efforts to stay as healthy as possible.

"I was doing everything," he said. "I was doing sauna, cold plunge, weightlifting, Pilates. I would dance and also do football training."

Van Der Beek died on February 11.

Bob Weir, 78

Weir was one of the founding members of the Grateful Dead.

The singer-songwriter wrote and/or sang on songs like "Sugar Magnolia," "Playing in the Band," "Truckin,'" "I Need a Miracle," and "The Other One."

After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir went on to form several other bands, including Kingfish, Bobby and the Midnites, RatDog, The Other Ones, and, alongside John Mayer, Dead & Company.

In the summer of 2025, Weir was diagnosed with cancer.

Weir died on January 10.

Victor Willis, 74

Willis was the lead singer of the iconic disco band the Village People.

Along with being the lead vocalist and dressing as the police officer (and sometimes naval officer), Willis was also the cowriter on many of the band's hits, including "In the Navy," "Macho Man," and the song that will keep the Village People in pop culture lore until the end of time, "Y.M.C.A."

Willis left the band to embark on a solo career in 1979, then re-formed the Village People in 2017.

Willis died on June 30 following a "short but aggressive illness," according to the Village People Facebook page.

Frederick Wiseman, 96

For over five decades, Wiseman's brand of non-fiction storytelling put a spotlight on everyday people.

From high schoolers to hospital workers to Air Force cadets training for nuclear war, Wiseman's close to 50-film catalogue is an unvarnished reflection of America over the last half century.

Wiseman died on February 16. No cause was given.

• Sarah J. Maas' sixth "A Court of Thorns and Roses" novel comes out on October 27.
• Book seven will follow on January 12, 2027, as Maas first announced in March 2026.
• Maas has been revealing which characters will tell the story on her social media in recent days.

Sarah J. Maas fans, it's finally time to go back to Prythian.

The sixth "A Court of Thorns and Roses" novel, titled "A Court of Splintered Harmony," will hit bookshelves on October 27 after months of anticipation. It will be quickly followed by book seven, "A Court of Forgotten Melody," on January 12, 2027.

It's been five years since Maas last released an "ACOTAR" book, and the novel is eagerly awaited not only by fans but also by Maas' publisher, Bloomsbury. The company's sales fell 10% for the 2025-2026 fiscal year because Maas didn't release a new book, Publishers Weekly reported.

Both Bloomsbury and Maas have been sharing teasers on social media about "A Court of Splintered Harmony" in the lead-up to its publication, with Maas revealing which characters will be narrating the novel (after asking fans to stop sharing any leaks of book six).

Here's everything we know about "ACOTAR" six so far.

Warning: Some spoilers for Maas' work — including "ACOTAR" and "Crescent City" — ahead.

Maas is releasing the sixth 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' story in multiple volumes

In March 2023, Bloomsbury announced that Maas had signed a deal for three more books with the publisher. At the time, she was already under contract for four titles, including "House of Flame and Shadow," the third installment in her "Crescent City" series, published in January 2024. Readers didn't find out what the next book she would write would be until her March 2026 appearance on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast with Alex Cooper.

She told Cooper she finished the sixth "ACOTAR" book while writing in Montana over the summer of 2025, but she didn't share details about it because of its nontraditional release structure.

"This book's coming out October 27, and then on January 12, like two months later, I can't do math, whatever that is, the next ACOTAR book will be coming out," Maas said. "So there will be two books within, like, a very short span."

As her fans will know, Maas' books are typically split into parts, separating different sections of the story she is telling. However, when it comes to the sixth "ACOTAR" story, Maas said the individual parts became longer than she anticipated as she started writing, with part one coming in at 400 pages at one point.

As she continued writing, Maas decided the parts didn't have to be in a single physical book.

"What if this book was really long?" she said. "What if it took me more than a thousand pages to tell the story that needed to be told, the arc that I wanted to create from start to finish?"

Maas said the story for "ACOTAR" six was ultimately divided into four parts, though it is still one cohesive story. Part one is the novel Bloomsbury will publish on October 27, 2026, and parts two and three will be published together on January 12, 2027. Maas has yet to write or give a publication date for part four, but she told Cooper all three volumes would be published "in a very short time."

"It's meant to be read, ideally, as one massive, massive story as opposed to in a trilogy," she said. "It's not a trilogy. Like, arcs aren't wrapped up."

Maas finally shared some details about the books in August 2026

On August 16, Maas cleared her Instagram of all its posts, changing her profile photo to a black-and-white illustration of a monster and a spider. Then, on August 17, she shared the covers and titles of books six and seven on social media.

The "Splintered Harmony" cover features a pink-and-orange backdrop with a sketched drawing of a monster with teeth and bones, and the subtitle is "The Valkyrie Cycle: Movement I." The Valkyrie were introduced to "ACOTAR" in "A Court of Silver Flames," when Nesta Archeron brought the legendary all-female fighting squad back to life alongside her friends Gwyn and Emerie.

Maas posted the book alongside the tagline, "What was broken will be remade." The blurb shared on booksellers' websites reveals that the Night Court is facing new threats when book six opens: Koschei the Deathless, one of three legendary monster siblings introduced throughout "ACOTAR," and those willing to ally with him to claim the newly freed human lands.

The description also notes that there is tension among the members of the Night Court because of "recent betrayals and revealed truths," which they must work through if they want to defeat Koschei.

"A Court of Splintered Harmony" will be 352 pages and will include three bonus chapters from the "ACOTAR" series. Those bonus chapters were previously published in specific editions of Maas' novels, but they will be in all copies of "ACOSH," as the publisher shared on its social media on September 24. One chapter focuses on Feyre and Rhysand, one on Cassian and Nesta, and one on Azriel's experience on the Winter Solstice that takes place in "A Court of Silver Flames."

Teasers from the new book

In mid-September, Bloomsbury began sharing quotes from "A Court of Splintered Harmony," offering more insight into the novel than the vague blurbs.

It released six quotes in total, and the first, shared on September 17, revealed that at least some of the novel will be told from Lucien Vanserra's perspective.

"Lucien's heart thundered, throat drying out," the quote read. "Maybe this had been a terrible idea."

Lucien has only played a supporting role in the "ACOTAR" books so far, but Maas has been teeing up his expanded role in her books through his unaccepted mating bond with Elain Archeron, Feyre's middle sister, and his connection to Koschei. He serves as an emissary to the human lands for the Night Court in "ACOSF," alongside Jurian and Vassa, a human queen who was sold to Koschei and cursed to turn into a firebird each day. It would be surprising if Vassa — and by extension Lucien — weren't involved in fighting against Koschei in book six.

Likewise, the final quote Bloomsbury shared on October 9 appeared to confirm that Azriel will narrate some of "ACOSH." The quote didn't include his name, but the unnamed narrator was communicating with shadows: "'We are here,' the shadows whispered in his ear. 'We are always here.'"

Azriel is a Shadowsinger in the "ACOTAR" world, with his shadows being described as keeping him company and whispering to him as he serves as the Night Court's spymaster.

No other passage shared by Bloomsbury names a narrator, but interestingly, the quote shared on September 28 asks if it is "possible for mates to…un-mate" if a bond were to "fracture deeply enough" that it cannot be repaired.

Lucien and Elain's mating bond is strained because Elain has yet to accept it, so some fans think the comment is about them. At the end of "House of Flame and Shadow," though, Nesta and Cassian were at odds, so others think the quote hints at tension between the pair (more on that in a minute).

On October 24, Bloomsbury also shared a sneak peek of the map that sits at the front of "A Court of Splintered Harmony." It shows new locations in the Night Court, such as Sangravah, and in the Autumn Court, including the Forest House and the Thorn-Wood. It also offers a look at the faerie realms outside Prythian, such as Vallahan. Koschei's lake is in the other faerie realms, sitting among the open fae lands in front of a mountain range.

Maas chimes in

Maas' Instagram was quiet after she announced the titles of her books, until October 19, when she took to her Instagram story to ask fans not to share leaks of "A Court of Splintered Harmony."

"I know how much you love these books and these characters; I know you've been waiting for a long time to know what comes next," she wrote. "That love for these stories is exactly why I'm requesting that you please, please don't share leaks."

"Nothing about this release is meant to feel like a secret that needs to be found out," Maas went on. "Publishing a book takes time and effort from so many hardworking people to get it into your hands. Throughout this long process, everyone involved has been dedicated to keeping things from being spoiled, but sometimes things happen, and it is beyond disheartening to see out-of-context moments take away from all of you who have waited so patiently."

"All I'm asking for is just a bit more of that patience — until you can get everything in its fullness, the way it's meant to be read," Maas said.

Representatives for Maas did not respond to a request for comment on the Instagram story, and Maas did not specify which images spreading online contained authentic leaks of the book.

However, in the week leading up to the book's release, she posted a short video each day to reveal which of her characters would narrate "A Court of Splintered Harmony." Each video featured a quote from the character set against a sketch of the monster on the novel's cover. The backdrop for the first drop was gray, but it grew progressively darker, revealing stars with each post.

The narrators are:

Feyre

Feyre was the narrator for the first four "ACOTAR" books, telling the story from a first-person perspective. Like books one through four, the passage Maas shared was in the first-person perspective, unlike the other quotes:

"My body wouldn't move. Couldn't move. I could do nothing to help him, nothing at all, and I would die from it, this despair and agony. Please, I tried to beg the darkness, please. Anything. I'd give anything for him to be safe. My life, my territory, my — would you give that too?"

Maas provided no further context about the quote, though fans were quick to point out that the inner monologue seemed like what Feyre would have been thinking when she gave birth to her son, Nyx, as she and the baby almost died because he was born with wings. Rhys also nearly lost his life, as he and Feyre bound their lives together at the end of "A Court of Wings and Ruin." Nesta saved them all by returning her power to the cauldron, but the passage could be a flashback to the scene from Feyre's perspective.

Cassian

Cassian was one of the two narrators of "A Court of Silver Flames," which told his and Nesta's love story. His passage from the new novel appears to show him and Nesta at odds:

"So Cassian let her go. Let her keep walking down the hall, and out the front door. Nesta didn't look back at him. Not once."

It's unclear what they may be fighting about, though Cassian was disapproving of Nesta's actions in "House of Flame and Shadow." Details below.

Nesta

In the quote Maas shared from Nesta, the eldest Archeron sister is drawn to some unnamed power.

"On trembling legs, head spinning, Nesta managed to get to her feet. Maybe whatever called for her over the northern horizon was a siren song, luring her away from what mattered, who mattered. Come, it beckoned, but to where? To what end? More shadows and loneliness and secrets? It would consume her, if she let it."

Lucien

Maas' quote from Lucien was more specific than the one Bloomsbury shared, shedding light on the fire-wielder's frustration with Feyre.

"Lucien ran a hand through his hair. Tamlin had saved him. And then Lucien had rebuilt himself, his life. Only for Feyre to bring it all crumbling down."

Lucien is likely reflecting on Feyre's actions in "ACOWAR," when she brought down the Spring Court after Tamlin made a deal with the King of Hybern to get her back.

Gwyn

Gwyn is haunted by memories of her past in the sneak peek Maas offered from her portion of the novel.

"Gwyn staggered back from the railing, from the darkness, fingers fumbling for the invoking stone in her pocket. It was glowing and warm to the touch in a way that had nothing to do with its proximity to her flesh. You are here, the stone seemed to affirm, you are safe. The past cannot harm you. Gwyn shook her head. She was inclined to disagree."

Gwyn may be in the library where she works, as readers saw her and Nesta fleeing a dark force there in "A Court of Silver Flames."

Mor

At the end of "A Court of Frost and Starlight," Mor set off for Vallahan, another fae realm, to attempt to get the leaders there to sign a new treaty between humans and fae. She appears to be continuing that work in "A Court of Splintered Harmony," based on the teaser Maas shared about Mor, and offering more detail about her power, which is simply referred to as "truth" in "ACOTAR."

"She flexed her hands at her sides, working out the faint trembling in them. It was a fool's errand. She knew it — Rhys and Feyre knew it. Vallahan would know it, too. But she'd try. One last time. Mor sucked in a breath, an ancient, night-kissed power awakening from its slumber deep within her. Different from Rhys's, older."

Azriel

Maas confirmed Azriel was a narrator for the book the day before its release, writing of his Illyrian heritage:

"You are an Illyrian, Azriel — the wind sings through your very blood. You cannot be caged. You cannot be broken. They lock you away because they fear you."

The quote seems to refer to Azriel's childhood, as he spent his early years locked in his father's home, unable to learn to fly.

More clues about 'ACOTAR' 6 narrators

It makes sense that Nesta and Gwyn will be central to Maas' new books since the novels are part of "The Valkyrie Cycle." The Valkyries were a central focus of "A Court of Silver Flames."

The book ushered in a new era for the series, as it was told from Nesta's perspective. Maas again focused on her in "House of Flame and Shadow" in her "Crescent City" series.

The "recent betrayals and revealed truths" mentioned in the description of "A Court of Splintered Harmony" could refer to Nesta's actions in "HOFAS." Specifically, the "revealed truths" may reference the resurrection of the long-forgotten Dusk Court in Prythian, which they discover Rhysand is an heir to, while the "recent betrayal" against the Night Court could be Nesta's lending the Mask of the Dread Trove to Bryce Quinlan, the "Crescent City" protagonist, without Rhysand and Feyre's permission.

Bryce also gave Nesta the sword Gwydion at the end of "HOFAS," telling her she thinks she was meant to have it when she returns the Mask. Nesta shared with Bryce in the same scene that Cassian is the most upset with her of everyone for her actions.

It seems Maas was setting up a continuation of Nesta's story for her next "ACOTAR" story in the scene, which may see her explore her power and connections to the fae of the Dusk Court.

You can read a more detailed breakdown of what to remember from Maas' previous works ahead of "ACOTAR" six here.

Elain's role in future 'ACOTAR' books

One notable character doesn't yet have a confirmed POV in the new novel: Elain Archeron.

In "A Court of Silver Flames," Elain had settled into life at the Night Court, refusing to explore her mating bond with Lucien or her Seer powers. She also seems to have an attraction to Azriel in the text, with the pair almost kissing in his bonus chapter. However, Maas juxtaposes their connection with the ill-fitting aspects of life at the Night Court for Elain during a visit to the Court of Nightmares in "ACOSF."

Maas told Eva Chen during an appearance on "Live Talks Los Angeles" in February 2021 that she planned to write a book from Elain's perspective. She also discussed Elain on "Call Her Daddy" in March 2026, saying Lucien's involvement in bringing Elain to the fae world is a barrier to their relationship. Maas said she was "interested" as a writer in exploring what it meant for someone not to desire to be mated.

It's surprising that Elain is not confirmed to have a POV in "A Court of Splintered Harmony," given Maas' past comments, the brewing tension surrounding Elain, and the fact that both Lucien and Azriel have POVs in the book. Elain may have a surprise chapter in the book, or she could narrate future installments in the series.

Readers will have to wait and see what role Maas plans for Elain to play in the new "ACOTAR" books.

• Verizon's CEO says he assumes SpaceX will flawlessly execute its US ambitions — but he's not worried.
• In order for Starlink to compete, it will still need a lot of land-based infrastructure.
• That building could require SpaceX to spend a half trillion dollars over up to eight years, he said.

In business, as in war, the safest bet is often to avoid underestimating your competitors, even when the odds appear to be in your favor.

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman says he's a student of that philosophy when it comes to Elon Musk's ambitions to develop SpaceX's Starlink into a significant US network player.

"Clearly, the tech and the wireless landscape is rapidly evolving, and we need to rapidly evolve along with that," he said during the company's third-quarter earnings call Monday. "I also operate under the assumption that everything SpaceX says they will do, they will do, and that they will execute flawlessly."

Setting aside Musk's track record of delivering on his eyebrow-raising promises, Schulman said there are significant technical and financial hurdles that Starlink would have to clear to meaningfully compete with established networks like Verizon. But it is possible.

"If they build a terrestrial network, it will basically look and feel like every other network," he said. "I think we should take it quite seriously."

News earlier this month that Starlink had acquired a batch of mobile-friendly low-band spectrum sent the share prices of the major US mobile carriers falling by approximately 10%. Verizon is the only one of the three to partially recover from the drop.

"Their service just can't compete with a terrestrial network in suburban and urban areas, where like 98% of our revenues are," he said of the satellite-based system. "We're somewhere between 100 to 1000 times more efficient than they are."

Building a competitive US network, especially for mobile, would require building as many as 80,000 large cell towers on Earth linked with some combination of satellites and fiber optics, Schulman said.

Schulman estimates that project would cost up to a half trillion dollars over six to eight years, with a minimum of four to six years to actually build out the network.

"Then they need to build retail customer service, back office systems, et cetera., and all of that gets them basically the same network and same capabilities and same cost structure as what we have today," Schulman said.

After the call, Musk responded to the forecast with a post on X: "Will take 2 or 3 years."

The Verizon chief's remarks come less than a week after his AT&T counterpart, John Stankey, brushed off concerns that Starlink's mobile network could pose a threat to his business.

"I wouldn't over-rotate on what I would call one carrier of low band spectrum," he said.

• EasyJet announced a deal with Starlink on Monday.
• It means two of Europe's three major budget airlines have now signed up for Elon Musk's service.
• The move puts pressure on budget titan Ryanair after its CEO feuded with Musk over Starlink.

Elon Musk's Starlink has won its latest customer, a budget airline that could put pressure on one of the WiFi service's biggest critics.

EasyJet announced on Monday that the high-speed WiFi service would be deployed on its airplanes from the first half of next year. The British airline, which carries 100 million passengers a year, hopes to have Starlink installed across its 300-strong fleet by early 2028.

The deal means two of Europe's three biggest budget airlines have committed to Starlink.

Wizz Air, a Hungarian carrier that flies about 70 million passengers a year, signed up in June.

That leaves Ryanair, the continent's largest airline and the world's third-largest, as the only one of Europe's biggest budget carriers without the service.

Its CEO, Michael O'Leary, is well-known for being outspoken and took aim at Starlink earlier this year, leading to a spat with Musk.

"We don't think ‍our ⁠passengers are willing to pay for WiFi for an average ⁠one-hour flight," O'Leary told Reuters in January.

While Starlink is typically offered free to passengers, O'Leary also complained about increased fuel costs due to the aerodynamic drag of a Starlink terminal, installed on the top of airplanes.

Musk responded in an X post, arguing that Ryanair — which carries over 200 million passengers a year — would lose customers to airlines that do have internet access.

Over the next week, the two CEOs called each other idiots while Musk called for O'Leary to be fired and joked about purchasing the airline.

But Ryanair appeared to have the last laugh, using the publicity to launch a "Big 'Idiot' Sale" with 100,000 tickets starting at £16.99, or about $23.

The situation has some parallels with the US's Big Three airlines. While United Airlines has Starlink on almost half of its fleet and American Airlines is starting installations early next year, Delta Air Lines has instead tapped Amazon Leo, beginning in 2028.

This has led Musk to insult Delta's CEO, Ed Bastian, and call for his firing.

But American passengers are wealthier and more interested in premium offerings than their European counterparts. That trend has also prompted US budget airlines to offer comfier seats and package deals.

Adding free amenities for passengers is at odds with the typical no-frills budget-airline business model that relies on extra charges to turn a profit.

However, easyJet and Wizz may see Starlink as a way to gain an edge over Ryanair.

That may not last forever, though. In a January earnings call, O'Leary said, "I think as the WiFi technology improves over the next four or five years, we'll all be offering free WiFi access."

• What makes Anthropic unique is the number of founders with huge stakes and how evenly those stakes are divided.
• One cofounder, little known outside the company, owns more shares than CEO Dario Amodei.
• Each of its cofounders pledged to donate 80% of their personal equity in the company to charity.

It pays to be a founder of Anthropic, and there are seven of them, all of whom soon stand to make tens of billions of dollars.

Anthropic's S-1 shows that its seven cofounders hold enormous stakes in one of the fastest-growing companies in Silicon Valley history. One cofounder, little known outside the company, owns more shares than CEO Dario Amodei.

Large founder allocations are not unusual in Silicon Valley. Snap's Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, for example, retained enough super-voting stock to control about 89% of the voting power after the company's 2017 IPO. What makes Anthropic unique is the number of founders with huge stakes and how evenly those stakes are divided.

The filing does not yet disclose Anthropic's expected IPO price or the number of shares it plans to sell, meaning it's not yet possible to put an exact dollar value on those holdings. The company was valued at $965 billion in May and is expected to be valued at more than $1.5 trillion when it goes public in a few weeks. Anthropic applied to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker "ANT."

Anthropic cofounder and Chief Compute Officer Tom Brown owns about 244 million shares of the AI startup, according to its S-1 filed Monday. That narrowly tops the stakes of Anthropic's six other cofounders, who each own roughly 232 million to 243 million shares.

At a $1.5 trillion valuation, Brown's Anthropic stake could be worth roughly $24 billion.

Brown co-founded Anthropic with the Amodei siblings and four others in January 2021. He now serves as chief compute officer, where he leads the technical organization responsible for "securing, scaling, and effectively using" Anthropic's computing resources, according to the filing.

Brown also played an important role in the technology that led to today's generative-AI boom.

Before Anthropic, he worked at OpenAI, where the S-1 says he led the engineering of GPT-3. Brown and Dario Amodei also co-invented what Anthropic calls "deep RLHF," which the company said was central to transforming base large language models into conversational assistants such as Claude.

After Brown, cofounder Christopher Olah has the next-largest disclosed stake, with about 242.9 million shares, followed by chief science officer Jared Kaplan with 242.4 million and Jack Clark with 242.3 million.

Anthropic president Daniela Amodei beneficially owns 241.4 million shares.

CEO Dario Amodei owns 240.6 million shares and also controls voting proxies over another 4.6 million shares.

The founders' influence will extend far beyond their economic stakes. Immediately before the IPO, Anthropic plans to issue a special Class F share to an LLC controlled by the seven cofounders. That single share will carry 50.1% of Anthropic's total voting power on matters submitted to stockholders generally, including the election of directors other than those selected by Anthropic's Long-Term Benefit Trust.

In another unusual twist, Anthropic says each of its cofounders has pledged to dedicate 80% of their personal equity in the company to philanthropic causes.

Other winners in the IPO include Google and Amazon

Some of Silicon Valley's biggest companies and venture firms also stand to make huge windfalls from Anthropic's public-market debut.

Amazon and Google will each own more than 5% of Anthropic after the IPO conversions, making them two of the company’s largest strategic shareholders. At a $1.5 trillion valuation, they each stand to make more than $75 billion in the offering.

Google has been one of Anthropic's largest strategic backers and owned 14% of the company last year, according to legal filings.

Among traditional venture firms, the filing provides unusually detailed numbers for Spark Capital because Spark partner Yasmin Razavi sits on Anthropic's board and was the first firm to invest when Anthropic was valued at $4.5 billion in 2023. Spark-affiliated funds have invested across at least six Anthropic financings since 2023.

Menlo Ventures led a round in 2024 when Anthropic was valued at about $18 billion. They have now invested over $1.3 billion in the company, also earning them a stake between 1.5% and 2%, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Lightspeed Venture Partners is the largest venture shareholder, owning almost 2% of Anthropic, according to a person familiar with the matter. They led a round at a $61.5 billion valuation in late 2024 and continued to double down.

Iconiq also amassed a large stake by investing $6 billion in the company, according to a person familiar with the matter, giving the firm an ownership stake between 1.5% and 2%.

Bessemer Venture Partners first invested in the Series D in 2024 and continued to write checks in every round since. It has spent around $800 million in Anthropic, making it the firm's largest investment to date. Bessemer has an almost 1% stake in Anthropic, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Other major winners include Coatue, which has invested $4.75 billion, and Sound Ventures, which invested more than $400 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

Other major shareholders include Altimeter, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, Sequoia Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Mubadala and Founders Fund.

Please send along your tips. Email Ben or Katie anytime or contact them on Signal at benbergman.11 and kroof.26. Sign up for Business Insider's weekly VC Insider newsletter here.

• The neocloud panic has rattled a key part of the AI trade lately.
• "Neocloud" encompasses cloud computing providers that primarily focus on AI services.
• The subsector has plunged recently amid broader funding concerns and fears AI investment may slow down.

What the heck is a neocloud?

It's a question you might have asked yourself while parsing headlines about growing investor panic in the space in the last few week.

Concerns have been quietly building in recent months, but only recently escalated to the level of major market risk, resulting in a rout that's spilled over into the AI and chips sectors. The Roundhill Neocloud ETF is now down around 31% since its inception this summer.

The sector briefly sold off again on Monday, spooked by bearish comments from Elon Musk, before reversing course to edge higher.

Here's everything you need to know:

What is a neocloud?

Neocloud is a fancy buzzword for a company that basically provides cloud computing services for AI customers. While other cloud providers, like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, host things like websites and databases, neoclouds focus almost entirely on services related to AI tasks, with the business model built on a model of leasing GPUs and networking capacity to customers for model training and inference.

Many of these companies, including the largest among them—CoreWeave—began life as crypto miners, using high-end GPUs to perform the cryptographic grunt work needed to mint new bitcoins. Until the last few weeks, their stocks had been on a tear in 2026. Nebius, one neocloud darling that has signed multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure deals with Meta and Microsoft, saw its stock price more than double from the start of the year through its peak mid-June. CoreWeave shares surged more than 70% from the start of the year through its May peak.

But the parabolic rally has sputtered. Jitters have been building over the neocloud space all month, with investors still feeling uneasy about the business outlook for these firms, even as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang assured markets last week that neocloud demand was off the charts.

The concerns run in two streams: In one, the idea is that higher rates have choked the market for AI debt, cutting off capital at a time when the industry is still rapidly building. In the other, investors are worried that companies may be spending too much on AI infrastructure, particularly when the final return on investment and the distribution of AI gains remain unclear.

How we got here

October 14: CoreWeave's bonds slip into distressed territory

The fears began percolating in the middle of this month, when the value of CoreWeave bonds fell below 80 cents on the dollar, a level typically associated with distressed companies. The decline reflects several different factors, such as investors pricing in higher risk associated with holding the debt, more debt being issued recently relative to demand, and higher interest rates, which drag bond prices lower.

Venture capitalist Chamath Phalipitiya posted about CoreWeave's bonds on X, including an analysis that theorized that AI is blowing up a private credit bubble.

Elon Musk responded "Yikes," drawing more attention, which ultimately sparked a steep plunge in CoreWeave's stock.

Shares are down 28% in the last two weeks.

October 14: Gartner predicts most neocloud firms will fail by 2030

That same day, the research and advisory firm Gartner also released a report predicting that 80% of neoclouds would stop operating by 2030.

Researchers projected that AI revenue would be "insufficient" to support returns on all AI capex over the following years.

The firm pointed to the $6 trillion in AI investment spending expected between 2027 and 2030. Given the current pace of spending, AI data center owners would need to generate around $8.5 trillion in revenue to cover the capital spending and financing costs, though enterprise and consumer AI data center revenue is forecast to only reach $3.6 trillion by 2030, the firm said.

"Neoclouds will be among the most exposed to the imbalance between revenue and capital spending. Hyperscalers, for example, have massive and highly diversified revenue sources that could plausibly sustain AI investments for years. On the other hand, neoclouds must soon earn returns on AI-optimized IaaS and associated platforms to sustain operations," Gartner wrote, adding that the AI space could see around $4 trillion in asset value write-downs through 2032.

The Roundhill Neocloud ETF plunged 11% in a single day.

More panic wafted over the space that day as DA Davidson analyst Gil Luria said on a podcast that CoreWeave stock could fall to $0 if the AI spending boom falters. The comments drew more attention to AI capex ahead of mega-cap tech earnings.

October 16: Chip stocks lose $1 trillion

A global sell-off ripped through the chip, memory, and neocloud sectors. Weekly losses in the chips sector hit $1 trillion in value.

The losses appeared to be the steepest among neoclouds as concerns about AI debt rose. The Roundhill Neocloud ETF shed another 11%.

October 20: South Korea's Elice flops post-IPO

Elice, an AI cloud and data center operator, flopped after going public on the South Korean market, weighing on sentiment in the broader AI space. Shares of the neocloud firm cratered by 32% on their first day of trading.

October 21: Meta and Tesla report earnings

Meta and Tesla jolted markets after reporting third-quarter earnings. While both AI giants beat on the bottom line, they signaled more spending discipline in their capex guidance, adding to the overall anxiety about AI investment slowing down.

The Roundhill Neocloud ETF dropped another 8% on Thursday as investors took in the results.

October 25: Elon Musk warns of widespread failure among neoclouds

In a post on X, Musk said debt markets had nearly shut off for AI companies that weren't generating "substantial revenue" outside of data centers.

"That means the 200+ neoclouds are going to see guppy-level death and consolidation. Some will make it through, but not many," he wrote on the platform Sunday afternoon.

Neocloud stocks dropped, with the Roundhill Neocloud ETF losing as much as 4% Monday morning before paring the losses. These were the sector's most notable moves:

Musk's comments appear to have sparked another round of "skittish trading," analysts at Jefferies wrote in a note.

JPMorgan said AI debt markets appeared more "discriminating" on AI infrastructure, but brushed off fears that there could be a "broader funding crisis" that impacts the AI sector.

"The credit environment is troubling especially but the consensus, now, seems to be that hyperscalers are fine and that the big players will continue to dominate but that ROI remains positive for smaller players, including neoclouds," strategists on the bank's market intelligence team said. "The biggest concerns are growing debt issuance, interconnected finance arrangements, higher borrowing cost and the ability to deliver compute capacity on-schedule."

• Film producer Tommy Harper is shutting down his micro drama app VeYou after about six months.
• Harper, who sought to build the "HBO" of the genre, said he would still produce for other platforms.
• The micro drama space has shifted as tech giants push in.

The app that wanted to be the "HBO" of micro dramas is shutting down.

Prolific film producer Tommy Harper is shutting down his app, VeYou, after about six months. A message on VeYou said the service would end November 6.

Harper told Business Insider he would continue producing series, distributing them via TikTok's micro-drama app PineDrama, YouTube, and other partners.

Harper, whose credits include "Star Wars" and "Top Gun: Maverick," is one of several Hollywood vets trying to bring their prestige sensibility to micro dramas, the soapy, low-budget series that got their start in China and have exploded in the US.

The move shows how fast the space is changing as Big Tech companies lean in. Micro dramas — also called "verticals" — cost a fraction of a traditional feature-length movie, but apps often lose money because of the high cost of marketing, and VeYou didn't have massive financial backing.

"In the past year, TikTok, Meta, and YouTube all moved hard into short drama," Harper emailed. "When the three biggest attention platforms commit to a format, distribution is decided. The opportunity for an independent company is to be the best supplier to those platforms, not to compete with them for installs. So we're focused where we have the edge: making the shows."

Harper raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding for VeYou from investor S32, a venture firm started by Google Ventures founder Bill Maris, who's also backed 23andMe, Impossible Foods, and Nest. VeYou has made a handful of originals, starting with "Love Under Fire," a romance drama starring Kasey Esser, who wrote the series alongside Harper.

The micro drama market is changing fast

The micro drama space has changed dramatically in recent months.

In the past year, AI-generated characters have increasingly taken their place alongside human actors, and free, ad-supported offerings are competing with the "freemium" apps that had dominated the landscape.

A report by media consultancy Owl & Co. found two-thirds of films released by leading apps in the third quarter of this year outside China were AI-generated, up from 3% in the first quarter.

TikTok's free app PineDrama rolled out in January, and by the third quarter, it accounted for more than half of all micro drama views across 16 leading apps, according to the Owl & Co. report.

Other tech giants have also moved quickly into the space and made themselves bigger viewing destinations for micro dramas.

YouTube released a new feature that allows creators to bundle their short videos in a series of episodes or seasons, designed to be viewed sequentially.

On Meta, the dominant platform used by micro drama apps to acquire customers, some apps are running portions of their films lasting 20 minutes or more as ads to get people to subscribe.

Lori Golden-Stryer, the CEO of RIVR Media, a producing partner for VeYou, said VeYou's films set themselves apart through their scripts, acting, and direction. She said she was encouraged to see its series perform well on TikTok, based on platform data and her company's monitoring.

"People want live characters," she said. "I don't think they want AI. I've seen a lot of different verticals, and I'd like to think ours were a little cut above."

• Having lived in Alaska for over 35 years, I've seen many visitors make the same mistakes.
• Many tourists underestimate Alaska's size and think the state is more drivable than it actually is.
• A lot of visitors don't realize that some attractions and activities are seasonal.

As someone who's lived in Alaska for over 35 years, I see why tourists love traveling here. From the beautiful national parks to opportunities to see the northern lights, the state has something for everyone.

However, as a local, I often see tourists make the same mistakes — like expecting to drive everywhere or forgetting that some activities are seasonal.

These are the six most common mistakes I've seen tourists make when visiting my home state.

Thinking Alaska is small and drivable

I'm always surprised by how many visitors think Alaska is small. In reality, Alaska is so big that if you split it into two states, each half would be bigger than Texas. You can easily spend hours driving from one large community to the next.

However, Alaska has a shockingly limited road network for such a huge state. If we say a community is "off the road system," it means you can't drive there — instead, you'll have to catch a plane or a boat.

Trying to do too much in one trip

People traveling to a new location often feel pressure to visit as many destinations as possible. But if you never take a minute to enjoy just being here, you're missing out on a big chunk of the Alaska experience.

Plus, having a little flex time in your schedule helps accommodate when excessive wind, rain, or rough seas keep you from doing planned activities. I recommend giving yourself two or three days in a community before moving on.

Not learning the local vocabulary

In Alaska, we have a lot of local lingo that can be helpful to know. For example, if someone says they're going outside, they're not just leaving the building — they're leaving the state.

To us, outside means "Outside" with a capital "O," which is anywhere that's not Alaska.

Another thing to remember is that we don't typically use road numbers for our highways (no matter what your GPS tries to tell you). Instead, we use the names of highways.

Forgetting that some attractions and activities are seasonal

Some of the biggest attractions in Alaska are available for only a few months of the year.

Two big ones to keep in mind are bear-viewing season, which typically peaks with the salmon runs in July and August, and aurora-viewing season, which runs from roughly late August to late April.

Missing out on Alaska Native culture

The umbrella term for Alaska's Indigenous people is Alaska Native. Most towns have at least one cultural center where visitors can learn about Alaska Natives in that region.

These facilities are part visitor center and part museum, and they offer a celebration of Native traditions and culture. I always recommend tourists take the time to explore these centers.

Expecting the wildlife — or the weather — to be predictable

Alaska tour guides often field sincere questions like "When are the moose scheduled to show up?" That makes sense in a controlled environment like a zoo, but Alaska's wildlife is, well, wild — so they come and go whenever they like.

Our weather does pretty much the same thing, so if you're determined to hide inside until the rain and wind stop and the sun comes out, you'll miss out on a lot.

Dressing in layers can help visitors stay comfortable, no matter what the weather is doing. I recommend lighter layers in the summer and heavier layers in winter, but a weatherproof outer layer is always a must.

This story was originally published on July 26, 2024 and most recently updated on October 26, 2026.

• Public investors are finally getting a chance to invest in Anthropic.
• But unlike other public companies, Anthropic doesn't want the public's input when it comes to major decisions.
• Instead, Anthropic will be effectively controlled by CEO Dario Amodei and a group of other insiders.

In the next few weeks, public investors will get their chance to buy a piece of Anthropic.

But regular investors will never have a chance to steer the AI giant's decisions: Even though Anthropic is going public, it will essentially remain a private company, controlled by a handful of people with outsized power.

That's not unusual for giant tech companies launched in the past few decades (Larry Page and Sergey Brin have effective control of Google; Mark Zuckerberg has the same at Meta, as does Elon Musk at SpaceX.) It's also something you see at some prominent media companies (Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan have effective control of his two public companies; Larry and David Ellison have the same at Skydance.)

Anthropic's twist on the idea is that control is split between two different groups of insiders. There's a clique of seven founders, including CEO Dario Amodei and his sister, Daniela, who control 50.1% of shareholder voting power. And there's also a trust with the power to appoint four of the company's seven directors.

Put those two together, and you get a corporate constitution designed to keep public investors outside the real decisions. The founders control the outcome of any shareholder vote; the trust controls the board.

In theory, those two groups could end up in conflict on major issues. The trust-appointed directors might, say, vote to replace Amodei with a new CEO. Or the founder group could veto a sale approved by the board.

In reality, there's a lot of overlap between the two groups. For starters, Anthropic created and funds the trust. And Anthropic itself says it has made sure the trust is staffed with people who see the world the same way its executives do: "In practice to date, the Trustees and company executives have collaborated closely on sourcing, interviewing, and selecting Trustees," the company notes in its S-1 filing.

The main takeaway is that there's no way for an individual shareholder, or even institutional shareholders who own significant chunks of Anthropic's equity, to force it to move one way or another.

The upside of arrangements like this are pretty clear, from a founder's perspective: They insulate their founders and managers from investors who might only care about short-term goals.

The downside: These structures insulate founders and managers from investors who might have very good reasons to want the company to change.

A good counter-example to the trend is Twitter, which went public in 2013 without founder control — which is why Elon Musk was able to buy it nearly a decade later.

In Anthropic's case, that aversion to giving public investors a real voice is synced directly to the company's founding thesis — that the AI it is developing is so consequential and potentially dangerous, that it must be controlled by people who care about more than Anthropic's share price.

And for many investors clamoring to get in on Anthropic's IPO, that lack of control — disclosed up front — won't matter. They just want their shares to be worth more over time. Musk's ironclad control of SpaceX didn't put dampen demand for the biggest IPO in history.

But if investors ever want to force Anthropic to do something the Amodeis and their cofounders — or the Anthropic-created trust — don't want it to do, they'll be out of luck. Buyer beware.

• Ukraine has been waiting nearly a month for the US to sign off on crucial missile interceptors, its president says.
• Kyiv said it is specifically waiting for the Pentagon to approve Patriot and NASAMS missiles.
• Ukraine has repeatedly faced low stockpiles of interceptors as it defends against Russian missiles.

Kyiv has been waiting nearly a month for US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to sign off on crucial missile interceptors, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine has been waiting on approval to procure interceptors for its Patriot and NASAMS systems. The former is the country's most reliable defense against Russian ballistic missiles.

The Ukrainian president said that he instructed his team "to raise this with the American side once again. Conversations with other countries are also ongoing."

Most of the interceptors for Ukraine's air defense systems, including its Patriot batteries, are supplied through NATO's Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, in which allies and partners buy weapons from the US and then transfer them to Kyiv.

It is unclear how many interceptors have been held up, or why Hegseth had not signed off on their transfer.

A senior Pentagon official told Business Insider "there has been no change" to department policy "regarding intelligence sharing or any capabilities we are enabling Europeans to provide to Ukraine."

The PURL initiative "continues unaltered," the official added.

Ukraine has faced repeated interceptor shortages, making it difficult to effectively defend against worsening Russian ballistic missile attacks, which, alongside armed jet-powered drones, have hammered Kyiv in a series of deadly bombardments.

The American-made MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system is a key piece of Kyiv's defensive umbrella. Ukrainian officials have urged the US and European allies to send more interceptors — PAC-2 and PAC-3 models in particular. Global munitions stockpiles, however, are under increased strain.

"We are working on several tracks — with the United States, Europe, and other partners that have stocks of PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles," Zelenskyy said Monday in a social media post.

The Iran war has put tremendous stress on munition stockpiles. Col. Yurii Ihnat, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, said on Monday that the Patriot interceptors fired by the US and its Middle East allies during the Iran war could have supported Kyiv's defenses for several years.

The NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) — a joint US-Norwegian project — is another important element of Ukraine's air defense network. It is not designed to engage ballistic missiles like the Patriot, but rather short- and medium-range targets such as aircraft, cruise missiles, and drones.

Zelenskyy's comment comes amid broader tensions between Ukraine and the US, which have escalated in recent weeks.

The Trump administration has publicly denounced Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Russian energy facilities, with Washington blaming Kyiv for high oil and diesel prices. Industry experts, however, have identified the Iran war as a major source of disruption in global markets.

In October, Ukrainian officials reported multiple instances where Kyiv did not receive any advance warning of Russian ballistic missile launches from international partners through usual channels, leaving it little to no time to detect them before impact. The apparent suspension of intelligence sharing was lifted after a few days.

Ukraine also experienced a sudden disruption of its Starshield services, the military-grade version of Starlink, earlier this month, with speed caps affecting drone operations, logistics, and communication, said sources in Kyiv's defense ministry.

On Saturday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara said that monitoring systems had recorded speed recovery for Starshield and Starlink, SpaceX's commercial satellite internet service.

The incident has raised alarms among Ukrainian officials. Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO, accused Kyiv of breaching Starlink's terms of service by using the civilian service for drone strikes and said last weekend that this ultimately led to the disruption. Some of Kyiv's top drone advisors have pushed back on that argument.

• Microsoft is offering buyouts to around 60,000 employees.
• The offers will go out later today, and resemble Microsoft's standard severance offer.
• The buyout offer could help Microsoft cut costs and reshape its workforce for the AI era.

Microsoft is offering buyouts, according to a memo Chief People Officer Amy Coleman sent to employees Monday.

"The Voluntary Exit Offer reflects an important part of how we're evolving our approach to change: creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter," Coleman wrote.

Microsoft's voluntary exit offer is the company's latest attempt to slim its workforce without another round of involuntary cuts. After spending heavily on AI infrastructure and reducing headcount this year, Microsoft is offering remaining employees a chance to leave, testing whether voluntary departures can cut costs.

Eligible employees in the U.S., Canada, India, and the U.K. at level 70, which includes senior leaders at the company, and below, will receive an email later Monday with the terms of the offer. Only some teams are participating, excluding sales organizations, some engineering, and some corporate functions.

Around 60,000 employees — or more than a quarter of the company's workforce — about will be eligible, a spokesperson told Business Insider, and the terms will be similar to Microsoft's standard severance.

The US severance package offered when Microsoft laid off employees earlier this year included a minimum of 60 days of base pay, during which employees will remain on the payroll, and, for most employees, up to a maximum of 39 weeks of base pay, based on seniority and tenure.

Employees at internal levels 64 and below received one week of base pay per six months of service, for example, and employees at levels 65 to 67 will receive two weeks of base pay per six months of service, according to offers reviewed by Business Insider.

Eligible employees will have until early December to decide whether to take the offer and exit at the end of the year, and there are no plans for another buyout at this time, Microsoft's spokesperson said.

The buyout offer follows Microsoft's Voluntary Retirement Program, which offered a retirement buyout to about 9,000 eligible employees based on age and tenure.

About one-third of eligible employees took the buyout, in line with expectations, a person familiar with the turnout told Business Insider in June. That buyout allowed Microsoft to lay off a lower percentage of its workforce compared to last year, the person said at the time.

Read the memo:

Introducing a Voluntary Exit Offer

Today, we're introducing a new Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) to eligible employees within participating organizations. This offer gives eligible employees who may be considering a future outside the company a new choice to make that transition now with support. It also gives participating orgs another way to adapt their workforce to changing needs.

The Voluntary Exit Offer reflects an important part of how we're evolving our approach to change: creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter. This builds on what we learned earlier this year through the Voluntary Retirement Program.

What employees should know

This offer will be available to eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, United Kingdom and United States at level 70 and below. This is a time-limited, voluntary program that gives those who are eligible the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources. Some organizations are providing the Voluntary Exit Offer, and some are not. Participation varies based on each business's priorities, customer commitments, and workforce needs.

Eligible employees will receive an email with a link to their Voluntary Exit Offer details within the next few hours.

Looking ahead

The Voluntary Exit Offer is new for us. We'll learn from it. At the same time, we'll keep helping people focus on the work that matters most, build new skills, and, where it makes sense, find new opportunities across Microsoft. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every team or every employee. These are a few of the ways we're trying to meet different business needs while continuing to create opportunities for our own people to grow and contribute.

My promise is to continue to provide clarity, listen and learn, and keep improving.

Thank you for everything you continue to do for our customers, Microsoft, and for one another.

Amy

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.

• The next two weeks will be huge for markets.
• Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon report earnings this week, with the Fed delivering a policy decision on Wednesday.
• Midterm elections next week will also have potential implications for investors to digest.

Stocks are kicking off a monumental couple of weeks.

On top of Anhtropic's S-1 filing released on Monday morning, the week's pipeline of market-moving events includes financial results from top players in the AI trade, an interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve and how its chairman, Kevin Warsh, sees the economy, and the outcome of the US midterm elections.

The broader market has been fairly flat over the last few months, with the S&P 500 down less than 1.5% since August 4.

But certain pockets of the AI trade have endured a serious de-risking episode in October, sparking concerns of potential turmoil rattling the broader market is it remains heavily dependent on the fortunes of a handful of companies. Rising borrowing costs have fueled fears of a pullback in AI infrastructure spending sending neoclouds and chip stocks tumbling.

Let's take a closer look at what investors will be watching.

AI earnings

Investors will have their eye on big tech earnings over the next couple of weeks as they look for clues about where the AI trade is headed — whether hyperscalers are monetizing their investments, and whether they can expect the big spending to continue.

Here's a calendar of some of the top earnings reports the watch:

Wednesday, October 28:

• Alphabet
• Microsoft

Thursday, October 29

• Amazon

Monday, November 2

• Apple

Tuesday, November 3

• Advanced Micro Devices

"We generally expect tech earnings to come in line with or modestly above expectations, as the bar is rising for tech companies to deliver against a backdrop of increasing questions about the return on investment from their AI spending," said Richard Saperstein, the chief investment officer at Treasury Partners, said.

After consecutive quarters of smashing estimates, many companies pursuing AI have had trouble wowing investors. Meta stock dropped last week after delivering upbeat results and guidance, with Wall Street dismayed by the pace of capex spending and the uncertain results so far to show for it.

Bank of America said in its earnings preview on Monday that the bad vibes in AI are overshadowing strong fundamentals in the space. The wider AI trade and the AI infrastructure trade in particular have sent many of the top tech names tumbling.

"The breadth of positive EPS revisions in Info Tech remains the strongest of any sector (nearly 5x more upward than downward revisions to 2027 EPS MTD), but fears that today's AI boom is paving the way for tomorrow's bust have put the sector on pace for its worst month vs. the S&P 500 since DeepSeek in January 2025."

Fed decision

The US central bank's next meeting kicks off on Tuesday, with the interest rate decision and press conference coming on Wednesday.

As of Monday morning, markets are pricing in a 90% chance that the Fed keeps rates unchanged, but investors still see one more hike by the end of 2026, coming at the December FOMC meeting.

Fed chair Kevin Warsh has so far been loath to give forward guidance about future policy decisions, but investors will be looking for any updates on how he is thinking about the economy.

Since the last meeting, inflation has ticked up to 3.7% year-over-year.

Interest-rate moves can have serious implications for stocks. According to Jeff deGraaf, the founder of Renaissance Macro Research, the Fed's hike in September is part of the reason AI stocks have sold off.

"They raise rates, and that might not matter or seem to matter for non-debt-heavy or even debt issued companies, but it does tend to have an impact at some point in time. And I think that's exactly what you're seeing now," deGraaf said. "The credit markets have kind of found a weak link here with the CoreWeaves of the world and the buildout, and those high rates are having an impact."

Midterm elections

Historically, outcomes of midterm elections have been a mixed bag in terms of the market reaction, and the clearing of uncertainty that builds ahead of the result tends to boost the market either way.

Franklin Templeton recently looked at stock performance in the year after midterm elections under Republican presidents (10 of them since 1954) and found that the S&P 500 has returned an average of 14.9%.

Markets have largely already priced in a Democrat majority in the House of Representatives, according to Steve Sosnick, the chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.

"The question then becomes, to what extent has the market priced in a potential change in Senate leadership," Sosnick told Business Insider on Monda: "But realistically, the president still holds the veto pen."

• My partner lives in a spacious house in rural Colorado, and I live in a condo in Boulder.
• We haven't found a place that fits both of our needs yet, so we're content living 45 minutes apart.
• There are challenges, but we enjoy spending lots of time at each other's homes.

Every weekend, my partner makes the best breakfast: over-medium eggs, handmade tortillas, and fresh hash browns.

We often eat outside thanks to Colorado's bright, sunny days, then we'll walk around the lake, watch some football, and spend the evening roasting marshmallows over the fire pit.

Then, when Sunday night arrives, I get in my car and drive the 45 minutes back to my dream condo to get ready for the week ahead.

My partner and I met at work 13 years ago, and we intend to spend the rest of our lives together, but we still live apart. We know each other's rhythms, quirks, and needs, and have no secrets, just separate addresses.

I often joke that we're in a "middle-distance" relationship. At least we're in the same state, but it's also not always easy or convenient to drop by for dinner.

Living apart lets us each keep a home we love

Both of us are divorced, and we both love the houses we have.

My partner lives in rural northeastern Colorado and bought his home after his divorce. It's bigger than mine, with a huge yard and a custom-designed patio built for entertaining.

His neighborhood isn't exactly walkable, but he's originally from a small town in Texas, so he doesn't mind driving longer distances to get to places he wants to go.

Meanwhile, after my divorce, I moved back into the Boulder condo I had been renting out while married. My unit is smaller than my partner's, but I love its mountain views and proximity to all my favorite places, like my go-to local bakery.

It needed a lot of work when I moved back in, but I invested in new paint and flooring to really make it mine again.

I want to stay close to Boulder, and he wants a big house. The tight, expensive housing market has made it tough to find a new place we both love.

Though we've toured many houses together over the last six months, we haven't been impressed by any of them enough to leave the places we've already made our own.

Our setup isn't as tough as people think

One thing that has made this arrangement easier is that we're used to living out of our suitcases. I'm a professional travel writer, and he works for a company based on the East Coast. We also love to explore new places together whenever we can.

When we are both home in Colorado, we've found a routine that has worked pretty well for us. My partner often spends some weeknights here, where we're close to restaurants, friends, walkable downtown Boulder, and other things to do after work.

Then, I'll go up to his house for quiet, relaxed weekends, and to watch my favorite team on the 100-inch screen (go Raiders!). We also tend to entertain at his bigger house.

Both of us get bored easily, so having a change of scenery and routine keeps life feeling fresh. My 14-year-old pug has adapted, too, and travels with me between places.

To make things easier, I've bought duplicates of staples like deodorant and an electric toothbrush, so I'm not schlepping them (or forgetting them!) every weekend.

That said, there are challenging things about our setup. Packing up every few days can be a hassle, and it can be stressful to land at the airport and decide which house to go to, especially when I miss both my partner and the feeling of being "home."

We always make an effort to overcommunicate our plans and extend understanding whenever one of us just needs to get home to do a load of laundry.

We'll find our dream home eventually

Every day, I'm scrolling listings that meet both our picky criteria and calling up agents for showings, but so far, we haven't loved anything as much as our current homes.

It sounds frustrating, but we both think this is a pretty good problem to have: It gives us more leverage in the homebuying process and means we don't have to settle for something that is only half-right or makes just one of us happy.

We're confident that we'll find a home that fits us both, but in the meantime, navigating the middle-distance has only made our relationship stronger.

• Anthropic filed its S-1 on Monday, revealing the company's internal financials.
• Investors, researchers, and tech onlookers shared their thoughts.
• Some applied S-1 learnings to their own industries, like startups and venture capital.

Anthropic is ready to IPO. Analysts and onlookers are weighing in.

On Monday, the AI lab filed its hotly anticipated S-1 paperwork. The prospectus offered an inside look at Anthropic's financials: a net loss of about $42 billion in 2025 and revenue of $4.6 billion. It plans to trade under the ticker symbol ANT.

The S-1 sets the stage for a blockbuster IPO. Here's what smart people are saying about Anthropic's filing:

Sarah Guo, founder of Conviction

Venture capitalist Sarah Guo opened her X post with a big "CONGRATS" to Anthropic on the S-1 filing.

Guo shared her first takeaways: the inflection in operating profit, the focus on novel discovery, the mismatch between consumption-based revenue and long-term compute obligations, and more.

"I am curious to see how 1) a company with strong mission changes - or doesn't - how it operates under quarterly public inspection and 2) how public opinion may change when retail owns a piece of the upside," Guo wrote.

Gary Marcus, emeritus professor at NYU

Gary Marcus, one of the AI industry's most outspoken critics, wrote on X that Anthropic provided financial statements through June 30 — but omitted a full Q3 update.

He predicted that the company's economics had not improved, and alleged that Anthropic was "trying to skirt the truth."

Earlier this month, Business Insider reported that Anthropic told investors it generated $16.8 billion in third-quarter revenue, up 45% from the prior quarter.

Ann Bordetsky, founder of Elora Capital

Ann Bordetsky was a partner at New Enterprise Associates' technology practice before founding her own firm, Elora Capital. She wrote on X that the S-1 was a "juicy read."

The filing will set "a (high) bar for how capital markets evaluate AI startups," Bordetsky wrote.

Harrison Rolfes, Senior Late-Stage Research Analyst at PitchBook

In a note sent to Business Insider, Harrison Rolfes said Anthropic's filing shows just how fast the company is growing — and just how expensive that growth is.

His main positive highlight: the $11.6 billion in revenue in the second quarter. His big worries: the $321.4 billion in future lease payments that haven't begun yet, and the $265.6 billion in fixed minimum purchase commitments.

"The compute commitments are enormous, and the suppliers are also lenders," Rolfes wrote, pointing to financing arrangements with Google, Amazon, and Broadcom. "The price range, Q3 revenue and the total compute commitment are still blank, so the next amendment should fill in a lot."

Finally, Rolfes said it's important for investors to note that Anthropic's founders retain outsize voting power. Put plainly, "public shareholders won't control the company," he wrote.

Gavin Baker, managing partner at Atreides Management

On X, Gavin Baker wrote that Anthropic's annual recurring revenue has "likely gone vertical," even after the company cut prices on its AI tokens.

"I am shocked, absolutely shocked," he wrote. "$100b plus in year-end ARR looks possible again."

Jacob Bourne, analyst at eMarketer

Jacob Bourne, an analyst at EMARKETER, a sister company to Business Insider, wrote in an email that Anthropic's filing comes as investors are increasingly wary of debt-fueled AI infrastructure projects.

"Anthropic's decision to press ahead is particularly noteworthy given its own warnings about AI risks, signaling a willingness to face heightened public scrutiny," he wrote.

Bourne also said the S-1 comes as the cost of developing frontier models remains "eye-watering." It's all evidence that companies are turning to public markets for fresh investments "to remain at the cutting edge of AI development," he wrote.

SemiAnalysis

SemiAnalysis, the research firm founded by Dylan Patel, posted the "most mind blowing stat" it had seen in the S-1. It cited Anthropic's raised capital, compared to its cash and investments.

Anthropic is "growing at a rapid pace" and "profitable on an operating income basis as of the June quarter," SemiAnalysis wrote.

"This is likely the most efficient scaling of a business in the history of capitalism," the firm wrote.

Brad Gerstner, CEO of Altimeter Capital

Brad Gerstner heaped his praise on Anthropic. He congratulated the team on "another important milestone!"

Altimeter will partner with Anthropic through "major participation in the IPO on top of our existing ownership," Gerstner wrote. He used an American flag and a rocket emoji.

Gerstner's venture capital firm is a longtime investor in Anthropic, co-leading the AI lab's Series H in May.

Matt Murphy, partner at Menlo Ventures

During an interview on CNBC, Matt Murphy, one of Anthropic's earliest investors, said he's increasingly bullish on the AI lab.

"You wait your entire 25-year career to find a technology wave like this," he said. "To be able to have invested in the leader early is just phenomenal."

Vivek Gopalan, partner at 8VC

Vivek Gopalan is an investor at 8VC, the venture capital firm cofounded by Joe Lonsdale. He posted a graph from Anthropic's S-1 showing rising revenue per dollar of compute.

"You need to believe that this is monotonic and increasing," Gopalan wrote.

Dan Shipper, CEO of Every

Dan Shipper had "big news" to share: a joke about Anthropic's ever-present safety focus. He celebrated that the S-1 "doesn't say 'or it might kill / unemploy everyone' in the first paragraph!"

The CEO of Every, an AI agent startup, called it a "win for humanity."

• Chefs and bakers shared tips for how to make store-bought pies look homemade and taste even better. 
• Melting a bit of butter or sprinkling salt on top of a pie can help balance out its sweetness. 
• Decorate your pie with a dusting of powdered sugar, frosted lettering, or a drizzle of caramel. 

Not everyone has time to make a delicious pie from scratch.

Fortunately, some store-bought versions can be pretty delicious — and pass for homemade if you know a few handy tricks.

So, Business Insider spoke with chefs, bakers, and other culinary professionals about their favorite ways to elevate premade pies.

Here are a few of their best tips that you may want to write down before your next neighborhood potluck or holiday dinner.

Create a herbed caramel sauce to add a gourmet touch to a store-bought pie.

Professional baker and winner of TLC's "Cake Boss: Next Great Baker" Dana Herbert, told Business Insider that he recommends adding an herbed caramel sauce to ready-made pies.

"Add some cinnamon, rosemary, thyme, ginger, or cardamom to warm caramel sauce and serve it with the pie," Herbert said. "Even traditionally savory herbs can complement sweet desserts." 

If you're not sure whether a particular herb would pair well with your pie, Herbert recommended closing your eyes and smelling the herb or spice — if you can detect something sweet in the scent, it's probably OK to use.

Use salt to balance the sweetness of certain pie varieties.

Carlo Lamagna, chef and owner of Magna PDX, said that a dose of salt can help tone down the sweetness in syrupy pies. 

"Salt helps accentuate flavors and balances out often overly sweet items," Lamagna said. 

If you don't want to sprinkle pure salt on your dessert, you can opt for crushed salted nuts, like peanuts or cashews, which will still do the trick and add extra texture.

Remove your store-bought pie from its packaging to make it look homemade.

Alexandra Lourdes, co-owner of Saint Honoré Doughnuts and Beignets, told BI that the easiest way to elevate a store-bought pie is to simply remove it from its original packaging. 

"Make sure you take it out of the box it came in," Lourdes said. "If you place it in a new box, add a ribbon, or arrange it on a beautiful cake stand, no one will ever know it's not homemade."

Top cherry or blueberry pies with a dollop of lemon curd.

Lemon can elevate a premade pie, making its flavors feel more complex.

"Make a super tangy lemon curd with lemon juice and plenty of zest," Herbert said. "The sourness will cut through some of the excessive sweetness found in store-bought blueberry and cherry pies." 

If you don't have time to make your own lemon curd, you can buy it from the grocery store. Just stir in a bit of fresh lemon juice to make it taste more homemade.

Serve your pie with a homemade whipped cream.

Chef and sommelier Melissa Smith told BI that serving a premade pie with fresh whipped cream is a great way to make the dessert taste and look gourmet.

All you need to make it is a whisk, heavy cream, and powdered sugar. Consider using a piping bag to add the whipped cream to your pie for a more elegant look. 

Smith said doing so will make your pie look "modern and classy, like something straight out of a magazine."

For bonus points, she recommended garnishing the piped cream with a few flakes of edible gold or a smattering of citrus zest.

A light dusting of powdered sugar is a fast way to dress up your pie.

Instead of making your own fresh whipped cream, you could also just grab a spoonful of powdered sugar. 

"A simple dusting of powdered sugar can really make your pie look more appetizing than if you simply served it bare and straight out of the container," Smith said. 

For a flawless presentation, use a sieve to ensure an even coating of sugar, and a stencil if you want to use it to create clean, clear designs.

Try to add sugar right before serving so it doesn't dissolve.

Melt butter on top of a pie for extra richness.

Kevin Cabrera, corporate executive chef at The Save Mart Companies, told BI that melting a bit of butter on top of a ready-made pie can help give it a homemade richness.  

"Halfway through warming your pie, directly insert thin slices of butter into the venting slits of the pie," Cabrera said. "This will give it a nice, moist flavor."

Adding too much butter might oversaturate the pie and lead to a soggy crust, so start with a tablespoon or two, and add more if necessary.

Melt cheddar cheese onto the crust of your apple pie.

If you feel like taking some culinary risks, Lamagna suggested mixing up a classic store-bought apple pie by adding some sliced or shredded cheese.

"I grew up in the Midwest, so we would always melt a slice of cheddar on the top of apple pies," Lamagna said. "Don't be afraid to experiment with unconventional pairings."

Moderation is key to pulling off cheesy apple pie — don't layer on too much cheese, or you'll end up with an oily, salty crust.

Add homemade lettering on top for a personal touch.

Just because your pie came straight from the grocery store doesn't mean it needs to look generic. 

"I'd add homemade lettering to the pie to make it your own," Lourdes said. "You can also add gold flakes or edible food glitter to make a statement." 

Add your chosen phrase with frosting, or make chocolate letters at home using silicone molds.

Sprinkle bacon bits on top of your pie for a savory kick.

If you love marrying salty and sweet, adding a light dusting of bacon pieces to your pie might be a mouthwatering move. 

"The perfect way to improve an apple or peach pie is to grab your favorite bacon, cook it up, and toss it on the pie," Herbert told BI. 

For a more Southern-inspired dessert, Herbert suggested using bourbon-flavored bacon on a pecan pie. 

Top pie slices with ice cream for a pleasing temperature mix.

If you're serving a pie that's meant to be enjoyed warm, adding a scoop of high-quality ice cream can enhance the taste.

"Hot and cold foods are a dynamic pair," Cabrera said. "After warming it up, serve the pie with a generous scoop of slow-churned ice cream for a delectable dessert." 

Cabrera said that you can't go wrong with vanilla ice cream, but you can also pick a rich chocolate or a fruity sorbet.

Add fresh fruit to cream pies for a vibrant touch.

Liven up drab cream pies by topping them with chopped fresh fruit for added texture and color. 

"Find a fruit that would complement the type of cream pie you purchased," Lamagna said. "Cherries tend to go well with chocolate cream, and coconut works with banana cream."

Other tasty combos include peaches with vanilla cream, raspberries with lime cream, and bananas with peanut-butter cream.

This story was originally published on November 3, 2020, and most recently updated on October 26, 2026.

• After my husband lost his job, we moved across the country and into my mom's one-bedroom apartment.
• My husband, toddler, and I live in her living room, and it's not always easy sharing a small space.
• However, the arrangement has come with lots of benefits and we've been able to get back on our feet.

7:30 p.m. marks the start of my son's bedtime routine.

First, I pull out our pillows and bedding from under the chaise sofa bed, which I share with my son.

Once our makeshift bed is set, I close the curtains separating it from the rest of the one-bedroom apartment. The tiny living room becomes our private oasis.

I can almost forget we're at my mom's place, sleeping on a convertible sofa she'd originally bought for our annual visits, while my 6-foot-3 husband sleeps on his own air mattress on the ground right next to us.

After my husband lost his job, moving in with my mom seemed like the right decision

Squeezing into my mom's small Boston apartment was never the plan.

Right after I graduated from college, I had moved to California to chase my Hollywood dreams of becoming an actor. During my two decades of living on the West Coast, I met my husband, got married, and became a stay-at-home mom.

However, our lives were turned upside down in 2025 when my husband lost his job. For the first time, we really started thinking about moving to Boston, where I had grown up and my family still lived.

I figured it would give us more flexibility with childcare, and a fresh start in a new city might be what we needed.

When I called my mom to tell her about our plans, she was thrilled. She'd been telling us to move to Boston for years, and said we could stay with her in her one-bedroom apartment until we found a new place.

So, we booked one-way tickets to Logan Airport and moved in with my mom.

It's been challenging for all of us to share a one-bedroom apartment

Arriving in Boston was exciting, but the transition to sharing a one-bedroom apartment was trying — we took over the entire living room. The room became cluttered, with our clothes and suitcases spilling into the hallway.

My mom expressed concern about the mess, so we rented a nearby storage unit for most of our belongings. Still, though, the things we need daily seem to take up a lot of space.

Sharing a one-bedroom apartment required an adjustment not just for us, but for her too.

For example, my son's early bedtime closes the living room off to my mom's nightly TV watching. Honestly, it still feels awkward to kick my mom out of her own living room because I have to put my toddler to sleep.

Plus, my mom is an early riser, often getting up at 6:30 a.m. to clean and run errands.

I can hear the sounds of domestic life filtering through the curtains that separate our "room" from the rest of the home. Cupboards opening, dishes being put away, and the smell of morning coffee lingering in the air like a wake-up call.

When tension rises because of our conflicting schedules and differing routines, I've learned to take a breather and step outside with my son to go for a walk or a drive. It often helps to ease the tension and remember this arrangement is only temporary.

However, it's also nice having my mom's support, and my son has gotten to know his abuela in ways that wouldn't have been possible from across the country. She watches him while I take a shower and go to in-person or Zoom job interviews.

Every night, while I'm getting the living room ready for bedtime, he goes into her room and cuddles up next to her while she watches TV.

Even though things aren't perfect, the arrangement is worth it

At first, being back at my mom's house after so many years of independence honestly made me feel like I somehow failed at life. By 40, I thought I'd have a successful career and a home of my own.

Now, though, it's been seven months since we arrived in Boston, and honestly? We're thriving. My husband found work, my son loves his preschool, and I've been able to focus on my career aspirations.

What I've learned through this whole process is that it's OK to lean on family when necessary, and even though we're still hoping to get our own place sooner rather than later, I know moving back to Boston was the right decision for me and my family.

• A version of this story originally appeared in the AI Insider newsletter.
• Sign up for Business Insider's weekly AI Insider newsletter here.

A few weekends ago, my wife left on a business trip with one instruction: fix the Wi-Fi before I get back.

Her Zoom calls kept dropping during important meetings, so I tracked an old Cat 6 ethernet cable from our data closet so I could hardwire her laptop to the interwebs. The only problem? It ended as a raw, cut end, and I had no idea how to terminate it with an ethernet plug.

So I did what I do these days whenever I'm out of my depth: I asked ChatGPT.

I sent it photos at every stage. It told me which tools to buy, showed me how to strip the cable, arrange the eight tiny wires in the right order, and even drew little diagrams when words weren't enough. When I got frustrated, it gave me a pep talk.

My first attempt only delivered about 100 Mbps instead of our 1 Gbps internet connection. ChatGPT guessed two wires were faulty, suggested an inexpensive cable tester, interpreted the flashing lights from a photo, and confirmed the diagnosis. I cut the connector off and started again with a simpler plug it recommended.

The result? Around 850 Mbps.

My only complaint: ChatGPT would occasionally disappear down a rabbit hole with advice that was far more complicated than I needed, so I'd remind it I wasn't rewiring Silicon Valley. I just wanted my wife's Zoom calls to stop dropping.

So far, her video calls have been perfect. Without ChatGPT, there's no chance I'd have pulled this off.

Sign up for the AI Insider newsletter here. Reach out to me via email at abarr@businessinsider.com

• Every state lays claim to at least one famous musician. 
• We considered each artist's popularity, awards, and record sales to compile our list.
• Prince is famously from Minnesota, while Tony Bennett edged out the competition in New York.

Though places like New York and California are known for producing countless celebrities, it turns out there's at least one — in most cases, many more — famous musicians from every US state. 

Business Insider has already identified the most famous band from every state, so we're now focusing on individual singers, songwriters, and performers. This encompasses country pioneers, rappers, jazz cats, pop stars — you name it. Even if they perform(ed) with a backing band, these musicians stand out as the star of the show. 

The list is somewhat subjective, but to help determine the most famous musician from every state, Business Insider looked at each artist's reputation (within their own era), record sales, and awards.

It's also important to note that while most of these people were born in their corresponding state, others were not, but spent a lot of time living there.

Check out which musician took the No. 1 spot in your home state. 

ALABAMA: Hank Williams

Hank Williams, who was born in Mount Olive, Alabama, is widely considered the father of country music and the genre's foremost songwriter. Before the pioneering musician tragically died at 29 years old in 1953, he released a slew of singles that rocketed to the top of the country music charts, including "Kaw-Liga," "Honky Tonk Blues," and "Hey Good Lookin'."

Although his career was cut short, his impressive catalog of songs lives on in the contemporary musical landscape, thanks to covers by artists including James Brown, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Ray Charles.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

ALASKA: Jewel

Although she was born in Payson, Utah, Jewel Kilcher grew up near Homer, Alaska, and is by far the state's most successful musical export. The singer has earned four Grammy nominations and sold more than 30 million records. She's best known for hit songs including "Who Will Save Your Soul" and "You Were Meant for Me."

Jewel, 52, is also known for her yodeling, which she learned from her father, Atz Kilcher, a local musician and star of the reality show "Alaska: The Last Frontier."

ARIZONA: Linda Ronstadt

Hailing from Tucson, Arizona, Linda Ronstadt, 80, is one of America's most successful and versatile singer-songwriters.

Since her Grammy Award-winning breakout album "Heart Like A Wheel" hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and went platinum, she hasn't looked back. Ronstadt has won 11 Grammys from 27 nominations, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, and released numerous hit singles spanning many genres beyond pop, including rock, folk, Latin, and country. 

ARKANSAS: Johnny Cash

There are few musicians in the history of music who are as accomplished and influential as Johnny Cash, who was born in Kingsland, Arkansas.

The Man in Black won 13 Grammys out of 35 nominations and received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Cash died just over a decade later in 2003 at 71.

He saw multiple albums reach the top of the Billboard 200 chart, including "At San Quentin" and "American V: A Hundred Highways," both of which hit No. 1. 

CALIFORNIA: Jerry Garcia

There never was and never will be another musician like Jerry Garcia. While he's best known for his role in the Grateful Dead, he also released dozens of live and studio solo albums.

His spirited guitar solos emitted an energy that could mesmerize entire stadiums of fans while his vocals could rock your socks off just as easily as they could soothe your biggest troubles. 

Garcia wasn't in it for the awards or recognition — he just loved to play. And that genuineness is what contributed to his legacy. He was a working-class kid from San Francisco who changed rock 'n' roll forever. 

In fact, he was so influential that he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as part of the Grateful Dead, in 1994. He died the next year, in 1995, at 53.

COLORADO: John Denver

Thanks to iconic hits like "Rocky Mountain High" and "Take Me Home, Country Roads," John Denver, who died in 1997 at 53, cemented his place in the arena of folk-rock legends — and as the creator of some of the best campfire songs. Denver only won one Grammy from four nominations, but his legacy is unquestionably larger than his awards résumé suggests. 

The singer wasn't actually born in Colorado and spent much of his childhood moving around the US due to his father's job in the Air Force. But he settled in Aspen later in life and adopted his stage name after Denver, the capital of his favorite state, according to his website.

CONNECTICUT: John Mayer

Since his debut album "Room For Squares" in 2001, John Mayer has evolved into one of the most talented singer-songwriters and guitarists in the game — so much so that surviving members of the Grateful Dead tapped him to play lead guitar in their touring spinoff, Dead & Company.

Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mayer, 49, has won seven Grammys out of 19 nominations and continues to please listeners with his soulful solos and gentle croonings — including his most recent single, "Tom and Jerry."

DELAWARE: George Thorogood

With more than 15 million albums sold during a career just shy of five decades, 76-year-old George Thorogood is one of the most accomplished blues-rockers out there.

With mega-hits including "I Drink Alone," "Move It On Over," and of course, "Bad To The Bone," Thorogood and his band, The Destroyers, are known for their gritty tone and catchy riffs. Thorogood was born in Wilmington, Delaware.

FLORIDA: Tom Petty

Some of the most iconic singles populating classic rock radio have been penned by Tom Petty, who died in 2017. From "American Girl" to "Learning to Fly" and "Wildflowers," it seemed as if anything Tom Petty touched turned to gold. Or rather platinum.

Petty's breakout third album, "Damn the Torpedoes," went triple platinum and launched the musician and his band, the Heartbreakers, into superstardom.

Throughout his nearly 40-year career, Petty, born in Gainesville, Florida, won three Grammys out of 18 nominations. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

GEORGIA: James Brown

Dubbed the "Godfather of Soul," James Brown set a new standard of showmanship while simultaneously molding the future of funk, soul, and rap music. Thanks to songs including "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," "I Got You (I Feel Good)," and "It's a Man's Man's World," Brown scored 17 No. 1 hits and sold 50 million records during his career.

Brown won three Grammys out of eight nominations and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the inaugural class of 1986. 

He died in 2006 at 73.

HAWAII: Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole

Honolulu's Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole became the state of Hawaii's first platinum-selling artist in 2005 after the singer's hit 1993 album "Facing Future" sold more than 1 million CDs, according to the Honolulu Star Bulletin.

"Bruddah Iz," who died in 1997 at 38, has posthumously hit 1.6 billion views on YouTube for his iconic rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

The outlet also reported that the medley has spent "a record 541 weeks on the World Digital Song Sales chart, including 332 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 starting in 2011."

IDAHO: Nikki Sixx

Although Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, 67, wasn't born in Idaho, he has revealed that he spent a few formative teenage years living in the state.

Sixx helped Mötley Crüe receive three Grammy nominations, sell over 100 million albums worldwide, and record numerous chart-topping hits, including "Kickstart My Heart" and "Girls, Girls, Girls." 

ILLINOIS: Miles Davis

Miles Davis, who died in 1991 at 65, is one of the most influential and innovative musicians in jazz history.

Born in Alton, Illinois, the trumpeter's landmark 1970 album is an improvisational jazz masterpiece that inspired countless fusion musicians and went platinum.

Albums like "Kind of Blue" and "In a Silent Way" were critically acclaimed and have remained among the best-selling jazz records of all time. Davis won eight Grammys out of 32 nominations, received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award, and 10 of his recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

INDIANA: Michael Jackson

What else can be said about the "King of Pop" that you don't already know? With 13 Grammys out of 38 nominations, a 2001 induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a 2026 biopic that grossed $1 billion worldwide, the wunderkind turned pop legend from Gary, Indiana, reigns supreme as one of the best performers in music history.

Jackson boasts a remarkable arsenal of hits, including "Thriller," "Beat It," and "Billie Jean," but was just as famous for his moonwalking.

Although his legacy has been marred by accusations of sexual abuse (most recently brought to light in the 2019 documentary "Leaving Neverland"), Jackson's music remains incredibly popular around the world, even 17 years after his death in 2009.

IOWA: Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller, founder of the iconic jazz orchestra that bears his name, is a big-band pioneer responsible for dozens of Top 10 hits, including "In The Mood," "Moonlight Serenade," and "Chattanooga Choo Choo."

Miller, born in Clarinda, Iowa, was posthumously awarded the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003, and many of his songs have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. His orchestra still tours and plays his music around the globe nearly 82 years after his death in 1944.

KANSAS: Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge, 65, who is from Leavenworth, Kansas, is known for her LGBTQ+ rights activism as much as she is for her raspy vocals and chart-topping singles.

Her breakthrough 1993 album "Yes I Am," which yielded the single "Come to My Window," peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 and went 6x platinum. To date, Etheridge has been nominated for 15 Grammys and won two.

She was also part of the 2026 class of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

KENTUCKY: Jim James

Jim James of Louisville, Kentucky, fronts the popular rock band My Morning Jacket and is known for his dreamy falsetto and masterful songwriting.

Since the band's debut album in 1999, James, 48, has become one of the most in-demand musicians, collaborating with everyone from The Roots to Elvis Costello and Kermit the Frog. With the Jacket, James has earned three Grammy nominations. He has also released a number of solo albums and collaborations. 

We named My Morning Jacket's "The Waterfall II" the best rock album of 2020. 

LOUISIANA: Louis Armstrong

With a legendary career spanning from the 1920s to the '60s, Louis Armstrong emerged from New Orleans as an integral musician who would influence nearly every era of jazz music.

More importantly, before Armstrong, jazz was largely orchestrated and did not feature much improvisational soloing. The trumpeter made extended solos a mainstay of his performance and changed the landscape of how cats approached jazz standards forever, becoming one of the hottest musicians of the early 1900s in the process.

He's so important to New Orleans that the airport was named after him in 2001 to commemorate what would've been his 100th birthday.

MAINE: Ray LaMontagne

Ray LaMontagne's guitar playing deeply affects listeners, and his intimate lyrics are a gut punch to the soul, evoking the happiest or saddest moments in life. Hits like "You Are The Best Thing" and "Jolene" have helped earn LaMontagne two Grammy nominations and one win.

The 53-year-old singer moved to Maine after high school and worked at a radio station, which is where he heard a Stephen Stills song that inspired him to pursue music.

MARYLAND: Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa is one of the most prolific yet misunderstood composers of the 20th century, releasing 62 albums before his death in 1993. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years later.

Born in Baltimore, Zappa was known for using intricate time signatures, syncopation, and zany (though sometimes offensive) topics in his songs. For Zappa, it wasn't about writing hit singles; it was about getting his genius on tape so that he could enjoy it, and if anyone else did, it was a bonus.

MASSACHUSETTS: James Taylor

There are few singer-songwriters whose careers have been as successful as James Taylor.

The Boston-born musician has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, won six Grammys out of 19 nominations, and has been presented with countless awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Kennedy Center Honors, and a 2000 induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Taylor, 78, broke onto the scene in 1970 with his hit single "Fire and Rain" and went on to release dozens of other original songs and covers that continue to be crowd-pleasers at concerts. 

MICHIGAN: Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder, 76, started his remarkable career as a child prodigy on Motown's Tamla label at age 11. He scored his first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 a year later with the single "Fingertips, Pt. 2," which made him the youngest solo artist to top the chart.

Wonder continued his career, releasing hit album after hit album and winning an incredible 25 Grammys from 75 nominations. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 1989.

Wonder is one of only four artists to win album of the year three times in their career. His discography covers many genres from R&B to funk and blues, and Wonder's use of synthesizers helped launch R&B into new stylistic directions. 

MINNESOTA: Prince

Prince hit the ground running with his 1979 self-titled LP featuring the iconic jam "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which immediately established the singer as a force in the pop/funk realm.

Prince truly proved his genius with the 1984 release of "Purple Rain" — and its accompanying soundtrack — which launched him and his band into superstardom. The "Purple Rain" album sold over 13 million copies, spent 24 weeks at the top of the charts, and produced hits "When Doves Cry," "Purple Rain," and "Take Me with U."

Prince won seven Grammys and was nominated for 38, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 before his death in 2016.

Across his career, he was closely tied to Minnesota, calling the state home for most of his life. His house, Paisley Park in Chanhassen, is open for Prince fans to tour. In fact, when the Super Bowl was played in Minneapolis in 2018, halftime headliner Justin Timberlake paid tribute to the "Let's Go Crazy" singer.

MISSISSIPPI: Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley, better known as the "The King of Rock and Roll," was a transformative figure who played an undeniable role in the trajectory of popular music in the US.

His sex appeal, matched with an electrified catalog of original materials and covers, propelled him to the top of the charts while laying the foundation for the electric blues and rock of the '60s and '70s. He was inducted posthumously into the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 (he died in 1977 at age 42).

Elvis was born and raised in Tupelo, Mississippi, before moving to Memphis, Tennessee, as a teenager. 

MISSOURI: Chuck Berry

Similar to Elvis, Chuck Berry, nicknamed "The Father of Rock and Roll," played an integral part in the proliferation of the electric blues and rock 'n' roll.

His playing and, more importantly, his solos on songs like "Roll Over Beethoven," "Maybellene," and especially "Johnny B. Goode" turned thousands of listeners and guitar players onto this new genre of music, directly setting the course for the future of rock music.

Berry, who was born in St. Louis, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its 1986 inaugural class and has topped many lists of the greatest musicians and guitarists. He died in 2017 at age 90.

MONTANA: Jeff Ament

Pearl Jam bassist and cofounder Jeff Ament, 63, was born in Havre, Montana, but moved to Seattle in the 1980s, where he then met the rest of the guys from Pearl Jam, with whom he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

Ament is recognized for his skill on the upright and fretless bass, in addition to the electric bass. He also played in the band Temple of the Dog and has released three solo albums.

NEBRASKA: Conor Oberst

Bright Eyes front man Conor Oberst, 46, takes the top spot for the state of Nebraska.

The Omaha-born rocker and his band have had notable chart success: In 2005, their album "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200, and their 2007 album "Cassadaga" peaked at No. 4.

After a nine-year hiatus, the band released a new album, "Down In the Weeds, Where the World Once Was," in 2020. Another album, "Five Dices, All Threes," came out in 2024.

NEVADA: Brandon Flowers

Brandon Flowers, 45, lead singer of the Las Vegas band The Killers, has contributed some of the most popular alt-rock tunes of the past 20 years.

Flowers and Co. have had three albums reach No. 1 on Billboard's rock charts — but their legacy, at this point, will be the enduring millennial classic, "Mr. Brightside."

He also has his own solo career, with his latest album "Thrasher" getting released in August 2026.

We listed The Killers' "Imploding the Mirage" as one of the best rock albums of 2020. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Noah Kahan

Noah Kahan, 29, is probably equally associated with Vermont and New Hampshire (and, to some extent, Maine), but we're putting him with the Granite State because he went to high school in Hanover.

Kahan's been nominated for two Grammys, has one of the best-selling albums of 2026 with "The Great Divide," and his signature song, "Stick Season," has been streamed nearly 2 billion times on Spotify.

NEW JERSEY: Frank Sinatra

There are many great musicians from New Jersey, including Frankie Valli, Bruce Springsteen, and Bon Jovi, but Frank Sinatra stands preeminent above all others.

Born in Hoboken, Sinatra went on to sell over 150 million records and win 9 Grammys from 31 nominations.

Hits like "(Theme From) New York, New York," "Fly Me To The Moon," and "You Make Me Feel so Young" were favorites for many generations of Americans and established Sinatra as one of the most prolific singers, performers, and actors of the 20th century before his death in 1998.

NEW MEXICO: Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato, the Disney star turned pop sensation from Albuquerque, New Mexico, has dominated the charts for more than a decade.

She's had multiple albums and singles hit the top of the Billboard charts, including "Give Your Heart a Break" and "Sorry Not Sorry," earning serious airplay. Lovato, 34, has been nominated for two Grammys and, in 2015, launched Be Vocal: Speak Up for Mental Health, an organization that promotes mental health awareness.

NEW YORK: Tony Bennett

Like Sinatra, Bennett became one of the greatest singers and showmen of the 20th century.

Bennett continued to perform well into his nineties before his death in 2023, while hit songs like "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," "The Way You Look Tonight," and "Rags to Riches" have been covered by numerous musicians.

Bennett, who was born in Astoria, Queens, won 19 Grammys out of 41 nominations, received the Kennedy Center Honors, and won a host of other impressive awards. 

NORTH CAROLINA: John Coltrane

John Coltrane is one of the most influential saxophonists and composers in jazz music history. Coltrane's experimentation with free and avant-garde jazz, and with modes and cyclical chord progressions, helped propel the genre into new boundaries.

During his career, Coltrane, who was born in Hamlet, North Carolina, collaborated with many of the genre's best, including Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. In 2016, the jazz icon was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize. He died at age 40 in 1967.

NORTH DAKOTA: Wiz Khalifa

Wiz Khalifa released his debut album in 2006, but didn't truly break into the mainstream until his debut single for Atlantic Records, "Black and Yellow," hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Since then, the 39-year-old rapper (who was born in Minot, North Dakota, before eventually settling in Pittsburgh) has remained one of the most popular, earning 10 Grammy nominations and appearing on some of the hottest songs of the past two decades.

OHIO: Dean Martin

The singer, actor, and comedian Dean Martin was born in Steubenville, Ohio, and got his start singing in nightclubs near his hometown.

Martin quickly outgrew his humble upbringing and went on to become one of America's greatest entertainers, pleasing viewers with his suave croonings for over five decades. He enjoyed a bountiful solo career singing jazz and contemporary standards before becoming the host of his eponymous, iconic variety show. Martin died in 1995 at 78.

OKLAHOMA: Garth Brooks

Garth Brooks is one of the best-selling solo artists of all time with over 162 million album sales. Additionally, he's the only artist to appear on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in five consecutive decades: the '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s, and '20s.

Brooks, 64, has had multiple albums top the Billboard charts, and he has won two Grammys out of 14 nominations. Brooks is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is a graduate of Oklahoma State University. 

OREGON: Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith, to quote another iconic musician, is your favorite artist's favorite artist. The indie legend, who grew up in Portland, Oregon, has been covered by everyone from Frank Ocean to Billie Eilish to Madonna.

His signature song, "Needle in the Hay," has been immortalized on film in Wes Anderson's classic "The Royal Tenenbaums." Pitchfork also named it one of the best songs of the '90s.

Smith was nominated for an Academy Award for the song "Miss Misery," which was used in "Good Will Hunting."

Sadly, he died in 2003. He was just 34.

PENNSYLVANIA: Taylor Swift

What is there to say about Taylor Swift? She's the only artist to ever win album of the year four times at the Grammys — and has won 14 from 58 nominations — and has countless other records to her name. The Eras Tour was a cultural phenomenon and the first tour to gross $1 billion; it eventually surpassed $2 billion.

Swift may have gotten her start in country music and has an association with Nashville, but her roots are in Pennsylvania. She was born in West Reading and lived in PA until she was a teenager.

RHODE ISLAND: araabMUZIK

Abraham Orellana, 37, better known by his stage name araabMUZIK, is a producer and DJ from Providence, Rhode Island, who has worked with rap and hip-hop giants including Cam'ron, ASAP Rocky, and Joe Budden.

He contributed to Jay Electronica's Grammy-nominated 2020 album and has played major festivals, including Coachella and Pitchfork. 

SOUTH CAROLINA: Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker, 60, rose to fame as the singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Hootie and the Blowfish, which produced multiple Top 10 singles and the hit album "Cracked Rear View," which sold over 16 million copies in the US.

Following his stint with Hootie, the Charleston, South Carolina, native has enjoyed a successful solo career, yielding eight studio albums and hit songs like the Grammy Award-winning "Wagon Wheel" (a cover of Old Crow Medicine Show's song) and "Come Back Song." 

SOUTH DAKOTA: Shawn Colvin

Singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin's claim to fame came during the late '80s and '90s when her 1989 album, "Steady On," won a Grammy for best contemporary folk album.

Her fourth studio album, 1996's "A Few Small Repairs," won her another pair of Grammys and produced the chart-topping single "Sunny Came Home." Colvin, 70, was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. 

TENNESSEE: Dolly Parton

As we wrote in our timeline of the singer's impressive career: Parton was "equal parts country megastar, actor, and philanthropist."

Parton released a whopping 49 studio albums, won 10 Grammys out of 55 nominations, and generated millions in revenue for her hometown near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, thanks to her theme park, Dollywood.

Her death in 2026 at age 80 caused such an outpouring of grief around the world that the president ordered the flags to be lowered.

TEXAS: Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson is an absolute legend in the folk and country worlds. He was born in Abbott, Texas, in 1933, and moved back to Austin in 1972. He's lived there ever since.

He's responsible for writing and performing some of the genre's most iconic songs and helping develop the outlaw country subgenre.

Nelson, 93, scored 20 No. 1 and 40 Top 10 hits during his six-decade career. He also won 12 Grammys out of 59 nominations.

UTAH: Dan Reynolds

Dan Reynolds, 39, is the front man of Imagine Dragons, a band with close ties to Salt Lake City. While Reynolds was born and raised in Nevada, he moved to Salt Lake City for college, where he formed the band. They went on to win a Battle of the Bands contest, laying the groundwork for their current success.

Imagine Dragons was the first rock act to have four songs surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify ("Radioactive," "Demons," "Believer," and "Thunder"). They've also won one Grammy from four nominations and are among the best-selling rock acts of the 21st century.

VERMONT: Trey Anastasio

In addition to his work as guitarist and lead vocalist for the Grammy-nominated jam band Phish — which was formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 — Trey Anastasio, 62, has released a score of solo albums and is a member of the band Oysterhead with Primus bassist Les Claypool and The Police drummer Stewart Copeland.

He has also collaborated with the Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews, and Herbie Hancock, and has performed original compositions with orchestras around the country.

VIRGINIA: Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald, known as "The First Lady of Song," was the most popular jazz singer for more than half a century, according to her website, and sold more than 40 million records before her death in 1996.

Known for her scat singing and dynamic range, Fitzgerald, who was born in Newport News, Virginia, worked with many of the great performers of the 20th century, including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Frank Sinatra.

Among other accolades, Fitzgerald won 13 Grammys out of 20 nominations, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and won the National Medal of Arts. 

WASHINGTON: Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix's guitar playing is among the most influential of all time, his albums are consistently ranked among the best in rock history, and his mark on the rock landscape is unforgettable.

For many, Hendrix, who died in 1970 at 27, is the best to ever pick up the guitar, thanks in no small part to the innovations he brought to the instrument, including fuzz distortion and the wah-wah effect. Simply put, there's no denying that Hendrix, who was born in Seattle, is deserving of the most famous spot from Washington state. 

WASHINGTON, DC: Marvin Gaye

Dubbed the "Prince of Motown," Marvin Gaye, who died in 1984, originally burst onto the scene with hits like "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" to become one of the label's brightest stars.

Gaye dropped his biggest album, "What's Going On," in 1971 to critical acclaim. Subsequent albums such as 1973's "Let's Get It On" and 1982's "Midnight Love" yielded chart-topping hits and directly influenced the future of funk and R&B.

Gaye, who was born and raised in DC, won two Grammys out of 12 nominations and posthumously received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. He was also posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

WEST VIRGINIA: Brad Paisley

Since his debut album "Who Needs Pictures" dropped in 1999, Brad Paisley, 53, has found nothing but success, winning three Grammys, two American Music Awards, 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, and 14 Country Music Association Awards.

The Glen Dale, West Virginia, native has had 33 songs reach the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot Country chart, 18 of which were No. 1 hits.

WISCONSIN: Justin Vernon (Bon Iver)

Hailing from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Justin Vernon, 45, is known for his high-reaching falsetto and mix of traditional and boundary-pushing folk/indie rock songwriting.

Vernon has found commercial and critical success as the singer and front man of the indie rock band Bon Iver, which has won two Grammys out of 11 nominations, including best new artist and best alternative music album for the group's self-titled album "Bon Iver, Bon Iver."

WYOMING: Scott Avett

Although his brother Seth was born in North Carolina, the state from which the band The Avett Brothers originates, Scott Avett, 50, was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The Grammy-nominated band Scott helped form is a delightful mix of bluegrass, folk, and indie rock known for its intimate sound and lyrics. The Avett Brothers have released 16 studio albums and EPs, the most recent of which, "The Avett Brothers," dropped in May 2024.

• Dozens gathered in New York for a Nathan Fielder and Elizabeth Holmes look-alike contest.
• A small crowd cheered on the sea of black blazers, blonde buns, and tiny headphones.
• One of the event's winners said she got around 100 Instagram messages urging her to compete.

Washington Square Park on Sunday afternoon looked like a cross between a vigil, a corporate mixer, and a low-budget film set.

It was, in reality, an Elizabeth Holmes and Nathan Fielder lookalike contest, as fandom about the documentary "You Can See Everything" spilled onto the streets. A small crowd cheered on the gaggle of blazer-donning blondes and graying fans wearing tiny headphones. Holmes wannabes milled around, their heavily lined eyes wide and fingers forming the "okay" hand gesture associated with the Theranos founder.

Age was no object: One of the Holmeses appeared to be under 10 in a video on X, though she'd already mastered the founders' characteristic stare.

Maddy West, a New York-based comedian and Fielder fan, organized the event with a friend. The organizers had about a week to set up the event, from the registration to securing the guest judge, Kor Skeete, who starred in an episode of Fielder's series "The Rehearsal." West said more than 200 people responded to a registration form on the event's Partiful invitation.

The prize ultimately went to Joe Sivick and Nicole Travolta, the post on X said. Travolta, an actress and comedian, said she's been doing impressions of Holmes since 2022, and already owned the costume and wig. She said she got around 100 Instagram messages from fans urging her to participate in the contest and mainly went because she thought it would be funny.

"In the world that we're living in, everything is so heavy, and I think if you are choosing to go to something like this, you're doing it to be silly and fun," she said.

Travolta thinks her spoken impression is probably what secured her the win, since everyone looked eerily similar to Holmes. Her eyes were somewhat bloodshot on Monday morning, after keeping them wide open in the sun for hours.

Neither Sivick nor Travolta wanted the $50 cash prize, West said, opting instead to just keep a purse made by a local business.

Both West and Travolta said Sivick's impression was so convincing, they momentarily thought he was Fielder himself.

"When he showed up to the event, I saw him from a distance, and he was wearing sunglasses. At first glance, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, did Nathan Fielder actually show?" West said.

Sunday's contestants aren't the only ones investing in the documentary duo's wardrobe. TikTokers have posted about dressing up as Holmes and Fielder — or Holmes and her "drop of blood," in at least one case — for Halloween.

Fielder's documentary has made waves in the tech and film worlds since it debuted earlier this month. The A24 movie tracks the time the comedian spent with Holmes weeks before she reported to prison for defrauding investors, among other charges. Business Insider's Callie Ahlgrim described it as "part character study, part psychological thriller, part surrealist thought experiment."

"I came out of the movie feeling like I had gone through some sort of vortex, black hole, mind-bending experience," Travolta said, having seen it a week before the contest.

"You Can See Everything" grossed $15 million in its opening weekend after opening in 855 theaters, doubling producers' expectations.

The movie is part of a string of recent releases about wealthy, hubristic tech founders — there's Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Reckoning," Elon Musk in "Musk," Sam Altman in "Artificial," and Sam Bankman-Fried in "The Altruists." The on-screen Silicon Valley backlash has coincided with real-life discontent about the AI buildout, which is becoming a more potent issue for tech leaders and politicians alike.

This story has been updated with comments from event organizer Maddy West and winner Nicole Travolta.

• Shares in neocloud companies are falling over concerns about their levels of debt.
• CoreWeave and Nebius, two major public neoclouds, have seen their stocks drop sharply in recent weeks.
• On Sunday, Elon Musk questioned the sector, saying that "some will make it through, but not many."

Neocloud companies are sliding even lower.

Shares dropped further on Monday after Elon Musk warned that many of them face "guppy-level death."

CoreWeave and Nebius have both fallen more than 30% over the past month, largely due to growing concerns about the debt they've taken on to build more data centers.

Soon after Monday's open, shares in both companies were down a further 4%, while Iren, another publicly traded neocloud, fell 2%.

The declines follow a string of X posts from Musk on Sunday evening questioning the neocloud business model.

"As of the past few weeks, debt markets have almost entirely shut off access to money for any company that doesn't have substantial revenue independent of AI data centers," he said.

"That means the 200+ neoclouds are going to see guppy-level death and consolidation," he added. "Some will make it through, but not many."

Musk said that while SpaceX has closed $40 billion in debt to buy GPUs, his company makes money through Starlink and rocket launches.

Meanwhile, investors are worried that a slowing AI boom could leave debt-heavy neoclouds struggling to service their loans.

After one X user posted arguing that Musk was trying to drive down the share prices of neocloud companies to acquire them, Musk replied: "SpaceX is not buying any neoclouds. Pointless."

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang remains bullish about the sector. "The demand for the neoclouds is off the charts," he told CNBC last Thursday.

Nvidia holds significant stakes in CoreWeave, Nebius, and other cloud-computing companies.

A CoreWeave spokesperson said: "The AI cloud market is not a monolith," and that lenders distinguish between speculative capacity and businesses with contracted revenue and a record of delivery.

They added that the company is "already a market leader operating at scale" with expertise, which it sees as key for opportunities to finance further growth.

A recent Bernstein Research report analyzed thousands of planned US data centers and estimated that only about 35% of the announced capacity will be built.

"Press releases are cheap … concrete is not," Bernstein analysts wrote in a research note.

• As a personal stylist for corporate clients, I've noticed more industries embracing jeans at work.
• I recommend selecting a dark-wash, wide-leg pair that closely resembles trousers.
• To elevate denim even further, I love pairing it with a pointed-toe heel and a simple belt.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the workplace has changed a lot, and so has what we wear to the office. As a personal stylist who works with corporate clients, I've noticed that many industries — though not all — have become more casual, with some embracing jeans as workwear.

Still, there's a fine line between looking casually professional and overly relaxed, even when jeans are part of the dress code.

Here are five easy ways to wear denim at work while still looking polished.

Choose a dark wash with a wide leg that closely resembles trousers.

When it comes to wearing jeans at a 9-to-5, I think a darker wash is always the best place to start, since it closely matches the color of a classic pair of dark trousers. Although black jeans can look professional, I prefer a dark-blue shade, as it still clearly reads as denim.

As for the fit, I love a wide-leg pair rather than a slimmer one because it gives the illusion of trousers while still maintaining a casual feel. This way, the look is still laid-back and comfortable, but the shape and color are more polished and professional.

Regarding the waist, I think individuals with shorter torsos should opt for a mid-to-low-rise jean, whereas those with longer torsos should reach for a higher-waisted alternative.

A textured top instantly elevates jeans.

I love a cozy sweater, but pairing one with jeans can make an entire outfit feel too casual.

To avoid this, I like to pair denim with a top that has some interest. Think texture, beautiful buttons, an interesting collar, or an actual blouse.

If you really want to wear a sweater, I recommend layering it with a cardigan in the same color. Having those two distinct elements instantly makes the denim feel more put-together and gives the outfit more intention.

When it comes to wearing jeans in the workplace, a belt is crucial.

One of the easiest ways to instantly make jeans feel more polished for the office is to add a belt.

I like to think of a belt as the jewelry for your pants. Similar to how a necklace, earrings, or a bracelet can complete an outfit, a belt adds the extra detail that shows careful thought went into the look.

Whether it's a classic leather version with a simple buckle or something with a little more personality, a belt is a great addition that can immediately transform a casual look into corporate attire.

Subtle texture adds a twist to classic denim.

Not all denim worn in the workplace needs to be a traditional solid wash. For example, I think jeans with painted designs, tonal patterns, and interesting finishes and textures — like stitching — add so much more interest to the look.

However, be careful with the styling of textured denim. I recommend keeping the rest of the outfit simple and letting the patterned jeans serve as the focal point.

Footwear can make or break the whole look.

When it comes to selecting the right shoes to wear with jeans, there's a careful balance between looking professional and too casual.

I always recommend wearing a ballet flat, a pointed-toe heel, or a bootie.

If you do want to wear a sneaker, I suggest a low-profile, less bulky option — so it still looks put together with the denim.

• Meta is seeking a major cash injection to fund its AI ambitions.
• The tech giant said on Monday it is looking to raise up to $95 billion from stock offerings.
• Tech firms are spending big on AI infrastructure as they try to win the superintelligence race.

Meta is tapping investors for up to $95 billion to fund its huge AI build-out.

The tech giant said in a Monday filing that it has launched about $35 billion in equity offerings, comprising around $22.5 billion of Class A common stock, and $12.5 billion in depositary shares representing preferred stock.

The parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram also said it was planning a $60 billion at-the-market offering once its Class C shares begin trading in the first quarter of 2027.

In an at-the-market offering, a company sells shares gradually into the market at the prevailing market price, instead of as a large block at a fixed price.

Meta said last week that it would introduce the new share class to help founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg access the liquidity he may need to pay California's proposed wealth tax without having to sell existing shares and erode his voting control over the company.

"AI is creating significant opportunities for Meta across its core business and new products and services," the company said in a press release.

"Meta is investing to expand the infrastructure and compute capacity needed to support these opportunities and to bring personal superintelligence to billions of people and businesses," it added.

Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom have each expressed an interest in buying up to $5 billion of the common stock being offered, but those indications aren't binding, so they might buy more or less, Meta said.

Meta stock swung during Monday's premarket from 2% in the green to 0.4% in the red.

Meta is spending heavily on AI infrastructure as it develops consumer AI products and pursues Mark Zuckerberg’s goal of "personal superintelligence."

The company said it expects to incur $135 billion to $145 billion of capital expenditures this year. It highlighted $97 billion of operating cash flow for the first nine months of this year, and the roughly $82 billion of cash and other liquid assets it held at the end of September.

Meta's revenue jumped by 26% to around $65 billion last quarter, but its operating income shrank by 37% to $13 billion as costs surged from about $31 billion to $52 billion.

• Home sales may be sluggish, but the luxury segment of the market is thriving.
• Sotheby's International Realty highlighted four things motivating luxury homebuyers in 2026.
• Some are buying homes in Milan, while others are moving to San Francisco to take part in the AI boom.

While many Americans are sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the real-estate market to become more affordable, ultrawealthy buyers are still snapping up homes.

Sotheby's International Realty's 2026 Mid-Year luxury outlook survey found that 55% of its real-estate affiliated professionals worldwide who specialize in properties priced at $10 million and above saw an increase in luxury homebuyers in their local markets over the previous 12 months. Respondents also said they expect strong demand for the remainder of 2026.

"The affluent remain engaged and confident in the luxury housing market. They are deliberate but not deterred," Philip A. White Jr., president and CEO of Sotheby's International Realty, said in the brokerage's report.

Here are four trends gaining traction among ultrawealthy homebuyers according to Sotheby's report, from a revival in San Francisco's real estate market to a growing demand for homes that allow buyers to age in place.

Luxury buyers want a home where they can age in place

Americans are increasingly focusing on health and wellness, transforming not only how they live but also what they want in their homes.

Sotheby's International Realty found that luxury buyers — many of whom already invest in products and routines that help them stay healthy — are less likely to downsize or move into senior housing. Instead, they are opting to buy homes that better allow them to age in place.

Sotheby's International Realty's survey shows that nearly 40% of real estate professionals said aging in place is a growing priority among homebuyers.

"Increasing life expectancy, coupled with affluent homebuyers' desire to 'age in place,' is reshaping everything from home design and location choice to how inventory circulates in prime real estate markets," Tammy Fahmi, senior vice president of global servicing and strategy at Sotheby's International Realty, said in the report.

For luxury buyers, a home's ability to support a high quality of life is a top priority. Sotheby's found that they want spa-like amenities, including saunas, cold plunges, and red-light therapy; advanced air and water filtration, and easy access to the outdoors through nearby hiking or walking trails. Those who can afford it are also interested in integrated health-monitoring technology or in-home staff.

2. Miami remains a hot spot for ultrawealthy homebuyers

While home sales are still down across the country, Sotheby's International Realty's report suggests that the luxury end of the real-estate market is doing well.

"There's a little more inventory that has helped keep that property market moving," Lawrence Yun, chief economist and senior vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors, said in Sotheby's report. "The stock market has helped, plus the ability of upper-end homebuyers to pay with cash and not be concerned about mortgage rates."

In the US, several markets continue to attract luxury buyers, especially Miami. In recent years, celebrities and billionaires, including Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, have purchased multimillion-dollar homes in the Miami area.

"The ultra-luxury property market in Miami is on particularly solid ground," Yun said. "They had a little oversupply, but with their infrastructure development and new luxury condominium construction, it's becoming an even bigger city."

3. Ultrawealthy buyers want to live where their money goes further.

Global uncertainty is prompting many people to reconsider both where they invest their money and where they live. For ultra-high net worth individuals, that often means looking to cities that offer stability and greater value.

Among those places, Milan is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for luxury homebuyers, according to a Sotheby's report.

Milan's appeal is also tied to Italy's tax incentives and residency-by-investment program, which provides access to the Schengen Area, which includes countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, and Greece.

"That has attracted a lot of ultra-high-net-worth individuals," Diletta Giorgolo, a global real estate advisor at Italy Sotheby's International Realty, said in the report. "More people were coming to Italy for not only residency, but their fiscal regime. We were always used to international buyers, but they came for second homes. The big difference is that now many are buying primary homes."

4. AI is breathing new life into the Bay Area and reviving its real estate market

As the AI industry booms in the Bay Area, younger affluent buyers who left for cities like New York and Los Angeles are being drawn back by job opportunities.

"San Francisco thrives on innovation and new technology, and now the AI boom is real," Alex Hachiya, a San Francisco-based senior global real estate advisor at Sotheby's International Realty, said in Sotheby's report. "Wealth flooded back into the city in 2025, and we saw 84% more sales of homes priced at $7.5 million and up that year, compared to 2024."

Hachiya said it is typical for younger luxury buyers, many of whom work in tech, are entrepreneurs, or come from family wealth, to buy homes in San Francisco before later purchasing a second property in the suburbs, where they plan to raise their children.

He added that when it comes to homes, these buyers want move-in-ready homes with flexible living spaces and walkable neighborhoods.

• Rick Nott has used AI to save himself a lot of tedious work as a wealth advisor.
• He said new AI products may help other advisors save time too, but they won't replace humans.
• Nott spoke to Business Insider about how he uses the technology to save him time now.

Rick Nott is a senior managing director and private wealth advisor at Santa Monica, California-based Angeles Wealth Management. He spoke to Business Insider about how he uses AI, and why he's excited and afraid when looking at AI-native financial planning platforms. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

When Claude first rolled out its solution for financial advisors, I felt fear and excitement. How complicated will it be? How will it work?

I'm not a software developer, but I have some basic tech skills. LLMs have allowed me to dig into coding, which I'd been avoiding learning because it's a lot of work. I know enough to know what I want, how it should look, and how to check the outputs, and now I can automate more of my process. AI has become the glue between the various systems we use and the different workflows we have.

I've shown some colleagues how I operate. One told me that I basically have another full-time employee's worth of output through the technology, by automating data collection processes and making it easier to analyze my clients' portfolios.

What AI unlocks

I started my career while still in college in the late 2000s doing data reporting work for a wealth firm. Between all of the software advisors use, there's a lot of manual work, typically done in Excel, to connect it together.

Previously, I could only provide balance sheet reporting for clients with more than $100 million because it took so much manual work. Now I can do it with someone with significantly less.

As a family's net worth grows, so does complexity. For many, understanding their overall financial system is their biggest pain point.

Banks and brokerage accounts are the easy part, but trusts, business ownership structures, and private investments, which all report differently and require cash on hand to make capital calls, can take huge amounts of manual work to analyze.

Imagine a wealth advisory business serving 30 families, each holding about 10 private investments. Each investment generates about 10 documents a year, including quarterly reports, capital calls, distribution notices, and tax documents. Each of these 3,000 documents takes a skilled analyst 15 to 30 minutes to analyze and distill into our reports.

That's 750 to 1,500 hours a year, most of it crammed into the few weeks after each quarter closes. With AI, that data is extracted and mapped as it arrives, and one analyst reviews the work instead of a team racing against a deadline.

Our goal is to create a one-page document or report on their phone that's as close to real-time as possible.

There's a lot you can do with all of your data in one place. For example, a two- or three-sentence prompt could expand into a full email to a client, with all relevant and accurate information already populated. You can then personalize that to fit the right tone for your client.

How AI changes the job

AI tools like Claude for financial advisors will be disruptive, and others will gain access to the same connectivity I've built.

I think of it as part of a dynamic that's been going on for years in my industry. Vanguard, ETFs, lower costs, and robo-advisors have all put a squeeze on financial advisors.

But if you believe a lawyer's only job is writing contracts, or a financial advisor's only job is putting together a portfolio, there's a fundamental kind of misunderstanding of what the actual job is.

As long as investing involves human judgment, financial advisors will have a job. AI doesn't improve investment decisions or results.

I tell my clients that my role is to be the architect of their financial operating system, and, as with an actual operating system, a centralized source of data is essential.

When you have a big-picture view of what your family's mission is, you can avoid getting distracted by market noise and news. From there, you can go a layer down to make strategic plans and ask if we're moving in the right direction, and what opportunities we may have. Another layer down, we work with a CPA to save money on taxes.

A full picture of a balance sheet makes it possible to actually know what liquidity you have available. Now I can spend more time developing relationships, the thing that runs our business. I get to know anything and everything about the clients I'm working with and those I'd like to work with.

The future of financial advisors and AI

I have a natural excitement around tech, and watching the Anthropic webinar was incredible. My main concern is that it's not a subscription-based plan; it's token-based, which could lead to surprise bills for users who don't yet know how to manage their token usage.

At small RIAs without the expertise, people will be uploading 100-page PDF documents just to ask basic questions, like the ages of kids in a trust. That will rip through tokens.

We priced it out internally, and we would have to pay significantly more for a token-based plan instead of the subscription-based licenses we have now. Maybe eventually everyone will have to pay for tokens that way, and the cost of tokens is going down.

We learn to do things faster and at lower cost, but in this industry, we do that for a particular reason: to spend more time with the people we serve.

The primary way that our clients give us information is still by talking. There's a significant amount of nuance. You may be able to understand something and infer what's really being said. But note-taking software is still wrong all the time. You have to review it.

Money is emotional, and I seriously question whether AI can replace our need to connect with another human being.

Do I see someone sitting across the table from AI on a speakerphone? Probably not.

• Apple briefly overtook Nvidia as the world's most valuable company on Friday, and remains within striking distance.
• Nvidia is still an AI powerhouse, but Apple offers Big Tech exposure with less AI-trade baggage.
• Sign up for First Trade, Business Insider's daily markets newsletter.

Nvidia has spent months looking like the unassailable most valuable company on earth. It was the first to a $5 trillion market cap. Its chips have become the market's most important product.

But on Friday, Apple briefly overtook the chipmaker as the stock market's top dog, with a market value north of $5.1 trillion. Nvidia quickly reclaimed its throne, but the moment was a reminder that the race is suddenly much tighter than one might think based on news headlines alone.

The chart below shows one reason Apple got close enough to challenge the crown: Nvidia stock took a hit last week, especially from disappointing Meta earnings that rattled the whole sector.

To be clear, Nvidia is still a thriving business that has Wall Street analysts in a near-unanimous bullish trance. It's also hardly doing poorly in the stock market. It remains the second-best performer in the Magnificent Seven this year, outpacing the broader S&P 500.

But it's proved susceptible to the sudden jitters of an increasingly fraught and fragmented AI trade. Just last week investors cycled through a carousel of fears: debt financing, capex that's either too high or too low, and a lack of tangible returns. When you're the hub of the AI wheel, it is hard not to feel bumps in the road.

Ultimately, Nvidia doesn't need to be in trouble for Apple to catch it. It merely needs to stop looking untouchable.

Apple is running its own race

This is not to say Apple's brief crack at the number-one spot was solely due to Nvidia struggles. Apple has quietly put together its own excellent run alongside the AI trade, rather than within it. That's put it close enough to challenge the crown just as Nvidia hits a wobblier patch.

Apple's core fundamentals — a loyal consumer ecosystem, a thriving services business, and one of the market's biggest cash piles — have made it a high-quality play at a time when Wall Street is shifting towards stocks healthy enough to withstand AI pullbacks.

Apple has AI ambitions of its own, but it doesn't need to highlight its revenue-generating power in the same way less diversified companies might. Nor does it need to win the data-center arms race for the stock to keep climbing.

That's made it useful for investors who still want mega-cap tech exposure but are growing wary of being too purely exposed to the AI trade.

For most of the year, the market has treated the biggest AI spenders as the only game in town for Big Tech. Apple's rally is a reminder that investors still have room for a company that can fund its ambitions the old-fashioned way: by selling a lot of products people already want.

• Anthropic and OpenAI may be sucking up all the air when it comes to future IPOs, but there are others to watch, too.
• UBS published a list of 100 privately held tech companies that its analysts are watching ahead of a potential IPO.
• They "represent the next generation of AI & software firms for public tech investors to monitor."

Initial public offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI will mark a new chapter for the market's AI trade, but there are plenty of other tech firms investors should be monitoring for IPO chatter as well.

UBS recently published its list of 100 privately held AI and software companies that its keeping tabs on ahead of potential IPOs next year and beyond.

"These 100 privates represent the next generation of AI & software firms for public tech investors to monitor, highlighting new growth vectors and potential disruption risk for incumbent public software firms," the banks's Karl Keirstead wrote.

Here are 10 0f the most noteworthy tech companies that UBS is eyeing.

Databricks

Databricks, a cloud-based data engineering and analytics platform is high on UBS' list of private tech companies to watch. The bank emphasized the $7 billion in annual recurring revenue it reported in the second quarter, and that it competes with public companies in areas like AI-assisted coding and engineering and agentic applications.

The company has been touted by investors such as Andrew Left, who described it as Palantir's top rival. Databricks is backed by Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, as well as many top names in the venture capital space.

Anduril

Founded by tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, the defense tech firm has been in the headlines recently, largely due to its focus on autonomous military hardware and AI software for the US military.

This has led to a slew of lucrative defense contracts as the US looks to bolster its capabilities amid war with Iran and the Russia-Ukraine war.

"Growth has been supported by major U.S. defense awards, including assuming the lead role in the Army's Integrated Visual Augmentation System program, which has a potential contract ceiling of up to $22bn, and securing a 10-year, $642.2mn-ceiling counter-UAS IDIQ for systems deployed at U.S. Marine Corps installations," Keirstead wrote.

Canva

Canva has emerged as a giant in the graphic design software space for both personal and professional customers. Its AI integration has been praised by users as the company has maneuvers to compete with AI tools from big players like Anthropic.

Keirstead said that his team isn't worried about the graphic design leader being able to compete with larger rivals, particularly given its strong growth statistics.

"Canva ended 2025 with approximately $4B in ARR, 265M+ monthly active users, 31M+ paid users, and roughly 5,000 employees (up from 240M MAUs, 27M paid users, and ~5,000 employees in early 2025)," he said.

Hebbia

This high-profile startup is credited with integrating AI tools into Wall Street workflows by automating financial analysis. The company's head of strategy, a former hedge fund manager, described it as helping eliminate the work that bankers hate doing.

Hebbia operates at the intersection of two high-growth markets: agentic AI for finance and legal AI software.

"Together, these categories imply a core addressable market of approximately $7.2B in 2026, expanding to $46.7B by 2034, before including Hebbia's opportunities in consulting, corporate research, and other knowledge-work functions," UBS said.

Replit

Replit has emerged as a leader in the vibe-coding space, offering a platform that lets users generate a working app or website by entering text-only prompts.

While most leading AI agents offer similar features, UBS maintains that the company can hold its own, citing 7x revenue growth potential based on recent company estimates.

"Replit cites over 500k professional users on the platform today with 'millions' of total users," Keirstead noted. "The company expects to cross $1 billion ARR by the end of 2026."

Instinct

AI-powered personal assistants have suddenly boomed, jump started by Meta's Muse last month. But Instinct has become one of its chief competitors with its agent that perform various tasks and can be addeed to group chats to help coordinate plans and logistics.

UBS estimates that Instinct's total addressable market is likely in the hundreds of billions of dollars, given how many functions the agent can perform, including commerce, communications and travel booking.

Thinking Machines

Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati co-founded this fintech startup in 2025, which has quadrupled in size since its launch, despite losing some talent to Meta. It boasts Nvidia as a strategic investor and has managed to raise $2 billion at a valuation of $12 billion.

"During 2026, the company expanded its research and product portfolio through its NVIDIA and Google Cloud infrastructure agreements, the launch of Inkling and Inkling-Small, and new research programs focused on model customization, human-AI interaction, safety, and reinforcement learning," Keirstead said.

Higgsfield

Higgsfield has been described as seeking to become the "Cursor of video." The AI video generation platform provides a wide-ranging suite of tools that UBS sees as giving it an edge in a fast-growing industry.

"Higgsfield operates at the intersection of generative media, creative software, and digital advertising," Keirstead said. "As brands and enterprises increasingly adopt generative AI workflows, the company is positioned within a large and growing TAM."

Harvey

Legal tech startup Harvey has been at the forefront of the legal industry's AI adoption. The AI-powered legal platform has been quickly growing, making three acquisitions in seven months, viewed as an indication of an industry-wide shift.

UBS noted that Harvey's platform that allows attorneys to automate research, contract analysis and memo drafting, as well as other tasks, is being widely deployed among the AmLaw 10, the US's highest-grossing law firms.

Perplexity

The AI-powered conversational search engine has been making waves in the tech community for years. Perplexity's CEO has said that the company is on track for an IPO in 2028, regardless of what happens with OpenAI and Anthropic's expected offerings.

Perplexity recently passed $750 million in annual recurring revenue, and reported over one hundred million monthly active users across its search engine and AI agents. It is backed by Nvidia, Jeff Bezos and the SoftBank Vision Fund, among others.

• Kate McNeil opened All the Tropes, a romance bookstore, six weeks after quitting her job.
• Despite concerns about market saturation, All the Tropes thrives as a niche community destination.
• Passion, perseverance, and local support helped McNeil launch her business.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kate McNeil, a 41-year-old small-business owner based in Atlanta. It's been edited for length and clarity.

The idea to open a romance bookstore started during COVID.

I joined an online group of fellow romantasy readers, looking to connect with other people who also enjoyed my favorite form of escapism. That group had over 2,000 members, and it was difficult to feel a sense of community. Eventually, it broke off into local chapters.

After COVID, I didn't know of any dedicated space for these same readers to meet in Atlanta. That's how I started the journey to opening the first romance bookstore in my neighborhood. In the two years since I opened, more romance bookstores have opened up, including one less than two miles away.

I thought I'd retire from my teaching job

When I launched All the Tropes bookstore, I was working a job I thought I'd retire from. I taught theater at Decatur High School for six years. My students always came first. I didn't want those kids to feel like I wasn't present or that they didn't have my undivided attention, so the bookstore was a back-burner idea for a few years.

I'd get home from rehearsal at 11 p.m., conduct business research until 2 a.m., then get up at 6 a.m. and go to work the next day and teach.

I took my time to gain a full understanding of the market, but there were still challenges

I learned about dealing with publishing companies and book distributors, connected with local artists to showcase their work, and reached out to local authors. One of the biggest challenges was finding a place for the store.

I knew that I wanted to stay on the east side of Atlanta because I lived in Kirkwood and felt very connected to the community.

In 2024, I found a location a four-minute walk from my home, and I knew it was time to make my idea a reality. In May of that year, I quit my teaching job and prepared to open the bookstore by the end of summer on Romance Bookstore Day.

I had 6 weeks to get the store ready for opening day

I received the keys to the bookstore six weeks before the day I planned to open. The timeline I had for opening day came with a lot of risks. I had cashed in my retirement fund, quit my job, and had a large preorder of "Onyx Storm" before there were bookshelves in the store.

There were many times my friends and I didn't leave the store until 4 a.m. A local artist painted the shop; I printed my merchandise at a local shop in Kirkwood; and I created the fabric wall. There were many nights I had doubts that All the Tropes would come to fruition.

I was a mom with two young kids opening a niche business that, to my knowledge, would be the first in the state, but I was prepared. I had my accounts with publishers, and my branding was complete. Perseverance, my husband, my village of friends, and an invested community got me to opening day.

All the Tropes opened August 17, 2024, on Romance Bookstore Day. In the span of a few months, I went from a passionate high school teacher to the owner and operator of a romance bookstore.

An increase in niche romance bookstores in the city concerns me

Even in a city like Atlanta with several thriving independent bookstores, I wonder about the percentage of residents who read for fun and, more specifically, read romance. While becoming a general indie bookstore would allow me to sell so many other things, I still believe All the Tropes can continue to thrive in a niche market, despite oversaturation.

Unlike a large book retailer, All the Tropes is a destination spot people can come from out of town to visit. Our social presence and promotion of local writers and artists also offer something unique to readers.

All the Tropes could pivot to general fiction, but so far, more stores opening has not impacted store traffic or sales.

4 Things helped me turn my business idea into a reality

All the Tropes continues to thrive because of my original vision of creating a community space for romance book lovers to connect. We now have eight active book clubs and continue to see consistent revenue.

Passion, trusting my gut, therapy, and a supportive group of friends are the reason I was able to turn an idea I brainstormed late at night into a successful niche business ready to grow.

We are now ready for a larger space and to expand our three-person team.

Do you have a unique small business story to share? Email the editor, Manseen Logan, at mlogan@businessinsider.com.

• Peter Kenyon, former CEO of Manchester United and Chelsea, said that feedback is constant and immediate in sports.
• Kenyon, now a board advisor for Atlassian Williams' F1 team, said companies can learn from this approach.
• He also said that feedback isn't always top-down in sports, which is important.

Athletes don’t have the luxury of waiting for an annual review to hear how they performed — and that may be a good thing.

The suspense that comes with anticipating a laundry list of critiques can sometimes be worse than the feedback itself. Plus, the older the feedback, the less relevant it may be.

Peter Kenyon, the former CEO of Manchester United and Chelsea, told Business Insider that given the nature of sports schedules, when something goes wrong, it has to be fixed before the next event, which is often just days away.

"It's not 'let's work for three months to solve the problem,'" Kenyon said. "No, let's solve the problem now because we go again tomorrow."

Kenyon, who now serves as a board advisor for Atlassian Williams F1 team, has worked in the sports industry for nearly 30 years, leading major restructurings during that time. He said the industry has taught him the importance of maintaining a continuous and instantaneous feedback loop.

He said that as soon as drivers finish a session on track, they sit down with engineers to get feedback so they can better their chances of qualifying for a race later that day or the next day.

Kenyon, who oversees the Atlassian Williams F1 team’s commercial and marketing functions, said feedback in high-performing sports environments doesn’t only flow from the top down. Employees are also expected to tell one another when something isn’t working.

That expectation shapes the culture across the industry, he said. It also shows up in the way athletes expect new teammates to meet the same high bar they set themselves.

It's an industry standard off the field too, though. At Manchester United, Kenyon said the receptionist would call out players who failed to greet her when they walked in — a directness that made her valuable.

"The power of that is incredible," Kenyon said about the former employee.

Frequent and candid feedback doesn’t equate to a bullying culture, though, the sports executive said. Kenyon said managing people and delivering performance reviews is difficult, but the best coaches know when to push athletes — and when to build them up.

"It's continual change," Kenyon said. "It's continual strive-for-performance gains."

Corporate workers may not compete in live-streamed competitions, but they face their own high-pressure sprints in a rapidly changing workplace. Some employers are even adapting traditional performance review processes to prioritize continuous feedback and reward top performers.

• Nikita Chernetskii moved to New York City from rural Moldova when he was 18.
• He joined the Army and worked as a combat medic, which gave him a sense of purpose.
• He was worried about affording med school and starting a family.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nikita Chernetskii, a medical school student at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I've wanted to be a doctor since I was a little boy. In Moldova, where I was born and raised, you apply to medical school right after finishing high school. As I was applying for medical schools, my parents won the green card lottery, giving our family the chance to come to the US.

Suddenly, I had a huge choice in front of me. Do I take the chance to go to the US, or keep pursuing my dream? I'd always been raised on the idea that the American dream was alive and well. I was also young and naive: I thought I could just apply to medical school once I got there.

I'll never forget landing at JFK in August with my parents and sister, who was in fourth grade at the time. I'd never seen a building taller than nine stories, and suddenly I was looking at the Manhattan skyline. It was surreal. I can still remember the smell as we left the airport, of hot asphalt and summer in the city.

I felt like I was in limbo, seeing my friends chase their dreams

Living in the US was a shock, to put it mildly. New York was so, so different from the rural area of Moldova where we'd lived. I'd gone to an English-speaking high school, but it was set up according to old Soviet standards. Once I was in the US, I realized that I'd been taught English for people who would never speak English: my grammar was excellent, but my vocabulary was very limited.

I knew life wouldn't wait for my dreams. My dad and I started working as porters, making about $500 a week. Part of the job was taking out the trash to the dumpster, but I was pretty happy doing that. The pay was more than I would ever make in Moldova.

I realized that going to med school in the US wasn't realistic. I didn't have the money and didn't understand how college worked here. That sent me into a period of limbo. I would work and save money just to go visit friends in Moldova. I saw them moving toward their goals, while my life stayed the same. Psychologically, it wasn't the greatest time for me.

Joining the military reaffirmed my desire to be a paramedic

On one of those trips home, a friend suggested I join the military. Within a month, I was marching in basic training. My poor English meant I couldn't always understand the directions. I just ran where the other recruits ran, and hoped it was right.

I scored well enough on my aptitude test to become a medic. The work was so fulfilling to me, and helped me cope with the rushed decision to join the military in what was still a foreign country to me.

I was deployed in Germany when the pandemic hit. I'd work 24-hour shifts, sleep for four hours, and get back to it. That's when others started telling me I should become a doctor. I realized that desire was still burning inside me, and I wouldn't be able to sleep well if I didn't at least try.

I leaned on every connection I had to help get into med school

I used the GI bill to pay for college. While I was there, I was accepted into the New York University internship program that pairs aspiring doctors with faculty. I worked with a trauma surgeon at Bellevue Hospital and knew I wanted to spend my life doing what he did.

When it came time for me to apply to medical schools, I knew I needed to be at NYU. I shook all the trees I could. I had no shame and asked anyone for help. The whole process was so stressful that it was almost a blur to me.

The idea of taking on half a million dollars in debt for medical school was frightening. I think I would have done it, but it would have meant delaying other goals, like having children with my wife.

This year, when I was accepted to NYU's Grossman School of Medicine's three-year, tuition-free medical program, it was surreal. When I dreamed of practicing medicine as a boy, I thought I'd be making $300 a month doing old Soviet techniques. Now, I'm learning cutting-edge science that feels like it's plucked from a sci-fi movie. I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life, and I'm well on my way to my American dream.

• I thought being a good mother meant being fair and treating all of my kids the same way.
• But each of my six kids has different personalities and abilities and needs their own set of rules.
• It can be hard for my kids at times, but I am no longer compelled to make everything even.

For years, I thought being a good mother meant being a fair mother. And being fair, I assumed, meant treating all of my children exactly the same.

With six kids, this seemed especially important. I didn't want anyone keeping score — or, more accurately, I didn't want to give them anything to keep score about. If one child had a certain bedtime at 9:00 p.m., surely the next one should, too. Chores should be divided equally. Consequences should be consistent. Privileges should come at the same ages.

Equal meant fair. Except it didn't.

My thinking evolved

The longer I parented, the harder it became to ignore what was right in front of me: I wasn't raising six versions of the same child. I was raising six completely different people.

One of my children thrives when given independence. Give them a responsibility and some space, and they'll usually rise to the occasion. Another needs more structure, more reminders, and more check-ins. That doesn't make one child more responsible or the other less capable. They simply need different things from me.

The same is true of privileges. I used to think that if one child earned a later curfew at a certain age, every child should automatically receive the same privilege when they reached that age. Now I understand that age isn't the only factor. Trust is built through choices. A child who has consistently demonstrated responsibility may be ready for freedom that a sibling at the same age isn't ready for yet.

Sometimes, I feel guilty

My decisions can be hard to explain when the inevitable "But they got to!" comes flying across the room. And sometimes, if I'm being truthful, the difference has nothing to do with the children at all. My youngest gets more bedtime stories than my oldest did.

That realization could easily become another entry on the endless list of things mothers feel guilty about. But my oldest didn't have the same mother my youngest has. Back then, I was younger, less experienced, and more concerned with getting everything right. I rushed through routines because there was always something else that needed to be done.

Six children later, I understand how quickly those routines disappear. I linger a little longer now.

That doesn't mean I loved my older children less. It means motherhood has changed me. The mother raising my youngest has learned things the mother raising my oldest hadn't learned yet.

I know this is the right way for me to parent

For a while, parenting my children differently felt like admitting I was inconsistent. Now I see it as evidence that I'm paying attention. My 8-year-old, who has always been an early riser, requires more sleep than some of his siblings, so he is the first to go to bed, while his younger siblings stay up a little later. It is unusual from the outside looking in, but it is what best meets his needs.

Fairness doesn't always mean equal chores, identical consequences, or the same privileges at the same ages. Sometimes fairness means giving more guidance to the child who needs it and more independence to the one who is ready for it. It means recognizing that one child may need encouragement while another needs accountability.

My children still notice the differences, of course. They are children. Keeping track of who got what seems practically written into the sibling job description. But I no longer feel compelled to make everything even.

My job isn't to make sure all six of my children receive exactly the same childhood; It's to know each of them well enough to give them the childhood they need. After years of trying so hard to be equal, I've finally realized that might be the fairest thing I can do. I won't always get it right. I'm still learning these six very different people as they grow and change—and trying to grow and change with them. Maybe good parenting was never about getting everything exactly right. Maybe it's simply about paying attention, loving them well, and doing the best I can with the mother I am today.

• Over 10 million student-loan borrowers are behind on payments.
• Some borrowers said they're hopeful the midterms will prompt policy to protect those in default.
• States with closely contested Senate races, like Texas and Ohio, have high rates of nonpayment, per an Urban Institute analysis.

Sarah Bundy has been in and out of default on her student loans for nearly three decades.

She borrowed for college in the mid-1990s, but dropped out as her loan balance became unaffordable. At the time, it was $39,000. Now, it's $60,000.

The 55-year-old is hoping a "blue wave" will pave the way for Democratic legislation to shield borrowers at risk of default.

"At my age, I can never get ahead of this," Bundy said. "So I'm just trying to scooch under the wire as long as I can."

Roughly one of every six adult Americans has federal student loan debt, according to Federal Student Aid. And some 16% of federal and private borrowers were 60 or more days late on their payments in 2026, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute.

Student-loan payments add to the squeeze from groceries and housing in an election increasingly centered on the cost of everyday life. High utility bills and gas prices are an added strain, especially as inflation is outpacing pay hikes.

Economic concerns are also reshaping debates over AI, with politicians reconsidering their support for data centers amid a backlash.

For borrowers, the pressure is particularly acute, and elevated student-loan delinquency rates overlap with some of the country's most competitive races.

Texas and Ohio, home to closely-contested Senate races, both had higher-than-average non-payment rates. In the House, nine battleground districts as identified by the Cook Political Report as of Friday afternoon had worse nonpayment rates than the national average — some 28% of borrowers are delinquent in Texas's 34th District, and 25% in North Carolina's 1st.

Meanwhile, federal student-loan defaults, which typically occur after 270 days of nonpayment, are at a record high. While involuntary collections on defaults, including wage and federal benefit garnishment, have been paused for over a year, Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for legislation to protect borrowers once those consequences resume. Still, even a strong election for Democrats would likely leave them without sufficient numbers to override a presidential veto.

As of June 30, 9.3 million borrowers were in default, and an additional 1.5 million were in late-stage delinquency, according to Federal Student Aid. Roughly 14% of the $1.7 trillion student-debt load in the US is in default, or $234 billion.

Republican lawmakers have expressed support for President Donald Trump's student-loan changes, which they said will help borrowers repay their loans. Sen. Roger Marshall, who is up for reelection in Kansas, previously said that Trump's "big beautiful" spending legislation "made transformational reforms to student loans."

Student-loan borrowers have told Business Insider that they're worried about the consequences of defaulting, primarily through losing a chunk of their paycheck, Social Security payments, and tax refunds. Those concerns are exacerbated by the anticipated higher monthly bills under Trump's repayment overhaul.

"All we can do is keep pushing for every little bit of progress we can get on this," Bundy said.

A student-loan default wave

Luke Helton, a student-loan borrower in Tennessee, previously told Business Insider that the only way he can afford his expected $600 payment increase is by digging into his retirement.

While he voted for Trump because he believed in the administration's campaign promise to put America first, his student loan challenges have him second-guessing his vote.

"They talked a big game about caring about the little people, and they just haven't," Helton said.

The defaulted student-loan portfolio itself is undergoing changes. The Department of Education is moving forward with its plan, announced in March, to transfer defaulted student-loan accounts to the Treasury Department. The transfer will occur in phases, with the most recent step being the launching of a new online portal to help borrowers return to good standing and access default resources.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said that the department "was never intended to serve as the fifth largest bank in America, and that's exactly why we partnered with the Treasury Department to improve the administration of federal student aid programs that millions of American students, families, and borrowers rely on."

Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about the Treasury's capability to manage federal student loans. Over 60 of them pushed to halt the transfer and continue the pause on involuntary collections to continue giving borrowers relief as they navigate Trump's repayment overhaul. Sen. Bernie Sanders also led some of his colleagues in introducing a bill to prevent older borrowers and borrowers with disabilities from facing Social Security garnishment if they default.

Bundy recently went to Washington, DC, to urge New York lawmakers to support Sanders' bill. She's one of the millions of borrowers transitioning off the Biden-era SAVE plan, which offered lower monthly payments. She said she's not sure how she'll afford payments once they resume, and she's worried that she — and millions of other borrowers — could fall behind.

"When these garnishments start back up, it's really going to throw us pretty far back down," Bundy said. "I don't think people realize just how brutal it really is out there."

Have a story to share about student loans? Contact this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.

• Piper Sandler is among the chorus of Wall Street firms highlighting quality stocks.
• The firm said financially healthy companies would outperform amid rising interest rates, oil prices.
• It listed preferred stocks and ETFs to gain exposure to the theme.

Wall Street is high on quality stocks as the AI trade wobbles, with firms like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs recently touting the factor to clients.

Piper Sandler is joining the party, publishing a guide to the quality trade for clients last week in which the firm said that quality stocks are poised for further upside.

"We believe we are in a backdrop today that is conducive to quality themes outperforming," Michael Kantrowitz, the bank's chief investment strategist and head of portfolio strategy, wrote in the note.

The bank has its own definition of quality. It emphasizes high free cash flow yield, high return on equity, return on invested capital, return on assets, and high interest coverage. Those terms are a mouthful, but they're essentially ways of measuring how financially healthy and profitable a company is.

Low debt levels and high dividends — other common tenets of the quality factor — are less important to Piper Sandler.

Quality stocks tend to perform best as the market rolls over from a peak, and the firm said that appears to be part of the cycle that stocks are in.

It said the macro outlook for the broader market is worsening heading into 2027, which should push investors into higher-quality stocks as they seek out more stable companies to lower their portfolio risk.

For example, both short-term and long-term interest rates are rising heading into next year, which has historically been bad for stock performance. Oil prices also remain elevated, the appetite for fiscal spending is low, and housing activity is decelerating.

An advantage of playing the quality factor, as opposed to having sector-specific exposure, is that quality reaches into all corners of the market, Kantrowitz said.

The bank highlighted a couple of ways to gain exposure to the quality theme. The first is through individual stocks via its Macro Select screener.

It screens for return on equity, earnings momentum, free cash flow yield, and a lack of "red flags" in its sell model.

Below, are nine stocks with market capitalizations above $100 billion that are among the top names in the bank's Macro Select model.

Investors can also gain exposure to the quality stocks through exchange-traded funds, or ETFs.

Piper Sandler screened 20 quality-factor ETFs and ranked them based on their profitability, valuation levels, and earnigns momentum.

Below, we've listed the five highest-ranking funds on the list across those three themes.

• Nvidia's sales and marketing leadership is changing as its sales pitch evolves.
• Veterans are retiring, opening the door to internal succession and outside hires.
• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's daughter Madison is also gaining influence.

Nvidia's sales and marketing organizations are seeing a changing of the guard as the AI boom reshapes demands on leadership.

Veterans at Nvidia are retiring, opening the door for longtime employees. And CEO Jensen Huang is tapping talent from outside the company — and outside the chip industry — to meet new challenges.

Nvidia's sales pitch has evolved. It has already convinced companies to choose its chips. To keep growing, it has to convince more businesses to adopt AI. These customers care less about hardware specifications than how Nvidia's AI can be put to work.

Leadership changes are most visible in sales and marketing, said former vice president of corporate marketing Greg Estes, while other areas of the company, such as finance, legal, operations, and software and hardware engineering, have remained relatively stable.

In marketing, Nvidia tapped Google Cloud executive Alison Wagonfeld to become its first chief marketing officer earlier this year, while Microsoft veteran Nick Parker became its new sales chief in August. Neither comes from the chip industry, though both bring years of experience helping businesses adopt software and cloud services.

At the same time, Huang's daughter Madison has gained influence beyond her formal marketing role, two former employees said.

Huang regularly reshapes Nvidia as the business evolves, said Scott Baker, a sales VP who retired in July after 26 years.

"It's truly a battleship spinning on a dime, and everyone gets aligned," he said.

Nvidia did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

A 'deep bench' of younger Nvidia talent

Retirees this year include former sales EVP Jay Puri, VP of enterprise marketing Laura Fay, SVP of enterprise business Shanker Trivedi, and sales VP Kevin Connors.

Fay said Huang doesn't want to lose longtime executives, many of whom he personally recruited. But as they move on, the next generation is getting a chance.

Before leaving in April after 17 years, Trivedi made mentorship part of his mission. He was ready to pass the baton after years of grueling travel and seven-day workweeks.

"Time stops for nobody," the 69-year-old said.

Trivedi said Nvidia has a "deep bench" of younger sales and marketing talent who know its culture, market, and partners inside out, including Raj Mirpuri in AI cloud infrastructure, Kimberly Powell in healthcare, and Kari Briski in AI software.

When he retired, the company divided Trivedi's responsibilities among multiple leaders. As Nvidia's revenue soared during the AI boom, his job had ultimately become too big for one person.

"Better to flatten the structure and gain velocity," he said.

Another Huang is gaining influence

One insider bringing an unconventional background to Nvidia's marketing ranks is Jensen Huang's daughter, Madison Huang.

Madison formerly worked at French luxury conglomerate LVMH in hospitality marketing before joining Nvidia as an MBA intern in 2020. She has quickly ascended to senior director of product marketing for physical AI.

One former employee said Madison's experience working on luxury brands brought a fresh perspective to a marketing team traditionally staffed by semiconductor veterans.

Job titles can be fluid at Nvidia, and a second former employee said Madison's remit extends beyond physical AI marketing. They said she exerts authority across multiple parts of the company and directs teams at all levels on strategy and business decisions.

Madison is also among a small circle of executives known to travel with her father. And their close relationship gives her the ability to anticipate his needs during high-level meetings and appearances, the first former employee said.

"She 'speaks Jensen' very well," the former employee said, "so he doesn't have to explain himself to her."

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at gweiss@businessinsider.com or Signal at @geoffweiss.25. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Micro1 pledged to spend $1 billion on licensing companies' data for AI developers.
• The startup snags Slack messages, Canva files, Google Docs, and as much other data as it can get.
• By selling company data, CEOs have a new revenue stream that popped up this year.

As AI labs go on the hunt for real-world data, Micro1 is throwing everything at getting it for them.

The startup is one in a new class of fast-moving data brokers, gobbling up companies' internal data and packaging it for the likes of OpenAI, Anthropic, and other model developers. The executives who sell their companies' data to Micro1 find themselves suddenly participating in a new sector of the economy, where terabytes of mundane workplace interactions can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Ilya Brotzky, the CEO and cofounder of the recruiting startup VanHack, told Business Insider he was shocked when he filled out a Micro1 survey about his company's data and received a "substantial" offer.

"I didn't believe it, to be honest," he said. "I felt like it was a little too good to be true."

Micro1 says it pays $100,000 to $2 million for a single midsize company's data. It recently announced plans to spend $1 billion on the project over the next year. Brotzky and the other executives Business Insider spoke to for this story wouldn't share the exact amounts their companies received.

For Micro1, the new focus on workplace data matches a broader evolution in the industry, as Business Insider has written about in The AI Data Grab, a series about how tech giants are increasingly turning to workers, users, and the physical world to get data to train AI.

First, AI companies gobbled up text from the internet and corpora of old books. Then they realized that humans grading AI responses could improve their models. And now, companies are using complex simulations, built on real-world data, to improve the tenacity and skill of their AI.

Gartner estimated that spending on AI data is likely to surge from less than $1 billion last year to almost $6.5 billion in 2027. Micro1's chief revenue officer, William Almeida, told Business Insider in September that his company has been explaining to prospective customers why their data is suddenly so valuable for those simulations.

"Every time I talk to companies, I tell them, 'Hey, I see this as a booming business,'" Almeida said.

Slack DMs, Google Docs, Canva files: Micro1 wants all it can get

Micro1 has three ways of working with AI model developers.

First, it can take a company's raw data, transform it to protect privacy, and license it to a lab. In addition, Micro1 provides an in-progress AI agent to companies and gets feedback on how it works. The third route is the simulation: Micro1 takes a company's data up to a certain timestamp, freezes it, and then provides that "environment" to a model developer trying to teach its AI how to work from existing context.

Micro1 pays more for larger, more complex datasets, as well as for data that represents a unique type of work or knowledge. It usually wants to license a company's entire data corpus, so that an AI model can replicate what it would be like to be a human employee.

"The connection, the diversity, the traceability of all of these data points, they matter a lot when you think about model training," Almeida said.

Brotzky also received an offer from AI data startup Mercor to buy his company's data, though he opted for Micro1. Once Brotzky dug into Micro1's privacy process, he said he felt comfortable sharing all the data they requested. That included VanHack's Google suite, Confluence data, Slack messages, and customer relationship management software.

Grant Gooley, the CEO of the marketing agency MyPortal Marketing, also views his deal with Micro1 as an innovation. He has sold internal design files from Figma and Canva, as well as checklists from Monday.com.

"When we were building these processes years ago, I didn't think that we would be using it to support AI learning," Gooley said. "But doing that, it's very fulfilling."

CEOs pitch the deals to their workers

Micro1 and its rivals are full steam ahead. Still, there are open questions. Former and current employees aren't likely to get any compensation from — or a voice in — their work becoming AI fodder. Ifeoma Ajunwa, a law professor at Emory University, previously told Business Insider that data sales are an "ethically gray area."

When pitching to potential customers, Almeida tells them this business is in the early days.

"If you wait too much, you won't get the premium that the first companies are getting," he said.

VanHack's team got a confidence boost from the Micro1 deal, Brotzky said, because of the additional revenue stream it represents

Gooley said he's kept MyPortal Marketing's employees in the loop about the deal with Micro1 and hasn't heard any complaints.

"I told my team that this is something that you're going to tell your grandchildren about one day, because we are literally supporting the future growth of marketing agencies," Gooley said.

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• Toy prices have gone up 8.3% since February due to tariffs, geopolitics, and supply chain issues.
• Local mom-and-pop toy stores across the US spoke to the rise and its impact on their businesses.
• Legacy toymakers also grapple with the impacts, looking toward tariff refunds.

Toy prices are rising fast across the country— and local toy stores are struggling to play along.

At Clever Monsters, a toy store in NYC, co-owner Daniel Orlov said he has to recalculate prices order by order, at times cutting into his own profits to keep them at a reasonable level for his customers. Sometimes, he knows before putting some toys on the shelves that he won't make anything off them.

The struggle results from higher shipping fees, tariffs, and customs charges and reflects a broader inflationary moment in the economy.

Toys have historically gotten less expensive over time, but have seen a spike in prices this year, rising 8.3% in the US between February and September. Year-over-year, toy prices were up 6.6% in September, the highest annualized growth rate since 1988.

Orlov said smaller toy stores like his could be particularly affected by these sharp price spikes. "It especially hurts for small businesses like us because we don't really have a pocket; we had to open up credit lines and take loans — bigger companies have a little pocket of collateral that they can use for a bit."

Tariffs, fuel prices, and supply chain woes

Big geopolitical swings are one factor putting pressure on toy sellers. President Donald Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs have added extra costs, and smaller retailers don't have the financial flexibility to wait for refunds like those from the Supreme Court's invalidation of the "Liberation Day" levies. Meanwhile, the ongoing war in Iran has driven up fuel prices and shipping costs for all manner of goods.

Small toy stores, confronting those problems, are facing smaller profit margins.

Helen Dean, owner and operator of Toy Safari in California for 34 years, said her usual 7 to 8% profit margin has fallen to around 5% in the past year. She cut into her own salary and skipped on hiring the two or three college students she brings on during vacation season to cut costs.

"It was summer by the time I started to see that I was going to have to pay more for the items, and that it was going to come out of my bottom line," Dean said. "For a long time, mass market has gotten favorable pricing from major toy companies, and this problem has only been exacerbated by the tariffs and fuel prices and supply chain issues; everywhere we lose."

It's not just specialty mom-and-pop stores; toymaking giants are also dealing with the tariff back-and-forth and broader inflationary issues. An AlphaSense analysis of company filings and earnings transcripts over the last six months found that legacy toymakers such as Hasbro and Mattel have alluded to cost inflation caused by "tariffs, oil-linked resin and freight, packaging, labor," while also discussing the impact of tariff refunds. However, those large toymakers haven't disclosed any major increases in toy prices over that period.

Hasbro's Q2 earnings report highlighted an $8 million adjusted operating loss in consumer products — its physical toy sector — due to "incremental tariff expense, entertainment-related mix shifts, and normal seasonality." Yet its Q3 earnings report highlighted $55 million in relief from tariff refunds; $48 million of this was attributed to the core toy sector.

The Q3 report also noted that tariffs could "increase our product costs and other costs of doing business, result in higher prices of our products, impact consumer spending," and hurt business revenue.

Mattel's gross margin is still under pressure due to tariffs and inflation. The toy company has also received about $90 million in tariff refunds, said Paul Ruh, Mattel's former chief financial officer, at a conference in September.

Scalpers, TikTok and squishy NeeDohs

High operating costs are not the only thing changing the toy market. First, more adults are participating in "Kidulting," said Jay Berino, store manager at the Lowry Town Center Timbuk Toys in Denver, meaning toys are being bought by older demographics who buy into nostalgia.

"As much as we're a toy store and people hear toy store and think of kids, we sell to a lot to full-blown adults, and that drives a huge chunk of our business," he said. At the same time, viral toys such as NeeDohs, which are sensory fidget and stress-relief toys, have helped bring more people into stores.

Sylvia Edwards, co-owner and CEO of Terra Toys in Austin, said that scalpers try to buy up stock from toy shops to resell it at higher prices — fueling the perception of product scarcity and price gouging.

"We're in a crisis where there's way more demand than there is product available, and so when that happens, people will naturally get greedy and increase the price," Edwards said. To manage the issue, stores like Terra Toys limit bulk purchases.

Orlov from Clever Monsters in NYC said they have also placed a limit on scalpers. "I'm only limiting it because this is the kids' store, and the kids are really excited to get that stuff," he said.

The virality of products such as NeeDohs on TikTok and other platforms helps these stores boost demand at a time when the high cost of living means buyers are not looking to spend much on other classic toys. Parents and kids are willing to spend on hyped products — but for much else, they keep their wallets shut.

"Honestly, the trends have been really saving us in that it drives not just sales, but just foot traffic through the store," Orlov said. "The only thing we can do is just stay on the trends, on what people want, make sure customers are happy, build up relationships with our customers, and sort of have a little monopoly on our area on parents who think toys — 'Oh, we gotta come to Clever Monsters. That's just where you go.'"