• Canva's cofounder said creatives should embrace AI, and it'd be foolish not to do so.
• Cliff Obrecht said designers are reacting to AI as they did to Canva in its early days.
• But Canva helped free designers' time for more "high-value work," he said.

Canva's cofounder and chief operating officer says it's foolish for creatives not to embrace AI.

Cliff Obrecht, who cofounded the design software company with his wife Melanie Perkins, said designers are reacting to AI like they did to Canva in its early days.

"So at Canva, when we launched, a lot of designers said, 'Canva, we hate you. You are ruining our industry. You are like letting everyone design,'" Obrecht said on a Tuesday podcast episode of Masters of Scale.

"And so over time, it didn't take long, within four years, designers didn't feel threatened by Canva," he said, adding that Canva's tools helped designers free up time for "high-value work."

He said he sees "AI as just another step in that evolution," and that it's time for creatives to embrace the new technology.

"Not embracing AI as a creative is, you can see where it's going. It seems folly," he said to the podcast's host, Bob Safian.

Canva first launched AI-powered tools in 2023, with its "Magic" branded tools, which assisted in copywriting and designing. In April, it launched its Visual Suite 2.0, which integrated tools for design, writing, coding, and data visualization.

This comes as creatives from various industries have raised concerns over the last few years about AI killing their jobs.

In 2023, Adobe employees slammed the company after it launched Firefly, an extensive suite of generative AI tools. Adobe employees, whose customer base consists of creatives, said the tool would kill the jobs of some of its customers.

There were also concerns that Adobe could use creators' content to train its AI models, something the company denied in a blog post in 2024.

The AI debate has reached Hollywood. In 2023, more than 11,000 Hollywood film and TV screenwriters went on strike to criticize the use of AI in the film industry and demand more regulation in the field.

However, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the cofounder of DreamWorks, said in an AI conference in December that top Hollywood showrunners and creators are embracing AI and seeing it as a useful resource to their creative processes.

In June, former Disney exec Kevin Mayer said in an Opening Bid podcast that AI could make video and storyline creation more efficient for creatives.

Representatives for Canva did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Ukraine's GUR has released a video of a fixed-wing drone being catapulted into action near Crimea.
• It said its special forces used UJ-26 Bober drones to strike at faraway Russian defenses.
• The $110,000 fixed-wing drones appear to be equipped with thermal cameras and FPV controls.

Ukraine's intelligence directorate (GUR) has released footage of Kyiv's UJ-26 "Bober" drone being launched via catapult to attack Russian air defenses.

The video, published on Tuesday, shows the locally manufactured 8-foot-long loitering munition being slung into the air from a fixed ramp. GUR said its special forces launched the drones to attack targets in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The new launch method allows the fixed-wing Bober to enter combat without landing gear, which would likely improve its range or maneuverability. Traditionally, the Bobers take off from airstrips like traditional aircraft.

Given that the ramp would likely have to be set up in Ukrainian-held territory west of the Dnieper River, the drone would have to travel a minimum of roughly 60 miles to reach Russian targets in Crimea.

The drones also seem to be equipped with thermal cameras in several first-person view clips uploaded by the defense intelligence agency.

One montage appears to show a drone evading a missile and then flying into a $15 million Pantsir S-1 point air defense system. A second drone is also shown flying into the ground next to a Pantsir S-1 as the vehicle crew scrambles for cover.

GUR described the attack as the "successful defeat" of the Pantsir, but did not show footage of the results.

The intelligence agency also said it conducted similar successful attacks on three Russian radar systems — The Niobium-SV, the Pechora-3, and the Provotnik GE — as well as a fourth-generation Su-30 fighter.

It uploaded several first-person view clips of drones approaching these systems with thermal cameras, though many of them can only be seen flying close to their target.

Business Insider could not independently verify the damage caused.

Ukrainian media regularly describe the Niobium-SV as a $100 million system. Earlier Russian estimates from before the full-scale invasion indicated that the Kremlin was acquiring the Niobium-SV in 2016 for about $40 million per unit. However, these may have since been fitted with more expensive upgrades.

Meanwhile, one Bober, which translates to "beaver" in Ukrainian, reportedly costs around $110,000 to manufacture. The propeller drone is meant for long-range attacks and is known to carry the KZ-6 charge, a 6.6-pound demolition explosive designed to break through concrete or armor.

It's yet another example of how the war has increasingly featured cheaper systems being used to attack and, at times, destroy expensive high-end equipment, posing difficult questions for the traditional defense procurement model that heavily prioritized advanced technology.

For example, one of Ukraine's biggest community drone funds, run by activist Serhii Sternenko, reported to donors that its crowdfunded drones have damaged at least 11 Buk surface-to-air missile systems in 2025. The fund often publishes footage of such strikes.

Depending on whether they have the latest upgrades, these defenses can cost Russia between $10 and $100 million each. By comparison, Sternenko's fund said it receives roughly $6 million in donations a month for its entire budget.

• China has pledged to curb aggressive price-cutting to stabilize its economy.
• China's marquee industries, like electric vehicles, are threatened by price wars.
• A senior BYD executive said last month that the EV price war is "not sustainable."

It looks like China has finally recognized how a relentless price war is backfiring on its economy.

At a high-level meeting chaired by Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday, China's top leadership pledged to curb "low-price and disorderly competition among enterprises" and create a "unified national market," according to Xinhua state news agency.

China's acknowledgment of unhealthy competition among its local firms comes amid the West's criticisms over the country's industry overcapacity and cheap exports. These products have undercut domestic industries and have led to factory closures and job losses from the US to Europe.

While Beijing has consistently pushed back against those accusations, the price war is likely taking a toll on its own economy, too. The country remains stuck in a prolonged slump marked by persistent deflationary pressure and depressed consumer confidence.

Beijing has rolled out consumer-focused measures like subsidies for small appliances in an effort to stimulate demand, but it's not enough. Businesses are still cutting prices aggressively to boost sales, fueling a deflationary spiral that depresses wages and threatens broader economic stability.

Now, the Chinese government is stepping in to address challenges on the supply side, Zhiwei Zhang, the president and chief economist of Hong Kong-based Pinpoint Asset Management, wrote in a Tuesday note.

Tuesday's meeting follows a sharply worded editorial in the Communist Party-owned People's Daily on Sunday, which railed against the "involution" of excessive competition that has "distorted" the market and caused "adverse effects on high-quality development."

There were no specific details on how the Chinese government plans to address over-competition. Zhang said he expects measures to be announced in the next few months.

'Not sustainable'

China's moves to stem excessive price wars in its economy came as recent data shows renewed stresses in the world's second-largest economy that has been struggling to recover from an epic property crisis.

An official survey released Monday showed manufacturing activity continued to contract in June, with smaller firms facing "stiff pressure." US tariffs were affecting smaller companies the most, according to a Bank of America analysis on the same day.

"Going forward, with low expectations of further policy support, domestic demand may fail to compensate for the fading external demand," wrote the analysts.

Excessive competition "directly affects employee wage levels, government tax revenue, and future investment confidence, thereby affecting the overall economic development," People's Daily wrote in its editorial.

The editorial pointed to the solar cell industry, highlighting what the paper called a"temporary oversupply." China has been flooding the market with solar cells for years, driving prices so low that some Europeans even started using them as garden fencing.

Tuesday's editorial also singled out the electric vehicle industry, where profit margins declined last year.

Electric vehicle giant BYD has acknowledged the stiff competition that has led to price wars and driven down profits in the industry.

"It's very extreme, tough competition," Stella Li, BYD's executive vice president, told Bloomberg last month. "No, it's not sustainable," she added.

• Idris Elba credits the struggles he faced before Hollywood for shaping his relentless work ethic.
• He says he grew up without much and once worked a "grim" Ford factory job before becoming famous.
• He now considers his career in Hollywood a privilege: "Actually, it's not that hard."

At 52, Idris Elba has made a name for himself as an actor, a producer, and even a DJ who played at Coachella this year. He says he gets his drive from not forgetting what his pre-Hollywood life was like.

During an interview on the "Good Hang with Amy Poehler" podcast published on Tuesday, "The Wire" actor spoke about his career and how the challenges he faced before fame continue to motivate him.

Elba told host Amy Poehler that he didn't find success until he was around 35 and that life before that was often difficult. "There were some very tough times," he said.

Coming from a working-class family, Elba said he grew up without having much "at all," adding that he had spent more of his life being poor than he has been famous or successful.

Part of what drives him is the fear of losing the success he's worked so hard to achieve: "There's part of it which is like, 'I don't want to let this go, so I just keep chucking for it,'" Elba said.

But the main thing that keeps him going is the memory of his pre-Hollywood job, he said. He used to work the "night shift" at the Ford Motor Company in Dagenham, East London.

"That is grim. It's a grim job, all right," Elba said. "Nothing compares to doing that, so when I get an opportunity to come and work with you, to come and work on a set, it doesn't even feel like work."

While it may seem to others that he's working incredibly hard now that he's famous, he doesn't see it that way. "Actually, it's not that hard," he said.

Moreover, his Hollywood career allows him to try his hand at many different things, unlike his factory job.

"You know, in a job like that, I did the same thing every night. Every night for two straight years. My dad did the same job for 25 years, so I consider this a privilege. This ain't work," Elba said.

In a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter promoting his then-partnership with the automobile manufacturer, Elba said he worked at Ford in the '80s because of his dad.

"My dad didn't want me to be a broke actor," Elba told The Hollywood Reporter.

In a 2022 SiriusXM interview, the actor said he also used to work as a security guard at a comedy club in New York City, and even sold weed to some comedians, including Dave Chappelle.

In a 2023 podcast, Elba said that he started going to therapy because he was "an absolute workaholic."

"It's just because I have some unhealthy habits that have really formed. And I work in an industry that I'm rewarded for those unhealthy habits," he said.

Elba isn't the only actor who has spoken about their less-than-glamorous jobs before becoming famous. Christopher Walken used to work in a circus when he was a child, while Nicole Kidman used to be a massage therapist, and Hugh Jackman was a physical education teacher at a high school before getting his big acting break.

Representatives for Elba and Ford did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.

• Corona's parent company said beer sales have dipped because Hispanic customers are cutting back.
• Constellation Brands said its top sales states, with large Hispanic populations, saw subdued spending.
• Customers, both Hispanic and non-Hispanic, had cut back on going out and gathering in groups.

Corona's parent company said its sales have fallen, in part because Hispanic customers aren't buying as much beer.

New York-based Constellation Brands posted its first quarter earnings on Tuesday, reporting $2.23 billion in beer sales in the quarter — a 2% decline from the year before.

The company said its top sales states, particularly "zip codes with larger Hispanic populations," saw subdued spending. Hispanic customers make up about 50% of the company's beer consumer base, Constellation Brands' CEO, Bill Newlands, said in April's earnings call.

Newlands and the company's CFO said in a joint commentary on Tuesday that the company had surveyed a group of its customers, both Hispanic and non-Hispanic. The execs wrote that survey results showed "over 80% of the surveyed Hispanic and non-Hispanic consumers expressed concerns about the socioeconomic environment in the U.S."

The survey results also showed that customers were reducing their group gatherings, both in public and at home, and avoiding shopping at convenience stores and gas stations.

Newlands said in the earlier April earnings call that over half of their Hispanic customers were concerned about immigration changes.

Since the start of President Donald Trump's second term in January, he has cracked down on illegal immigration. In his campaign rally last November, he promised to carry out the "largest deportation program" in American history.

Business owners in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations previously told BI that they saw lower footfall because customers feared Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.

Constellation Brands, which also owns the beer brand Modelo and the wine brand Kim Crawford, saw an overall 6% decline in sales in the latest quarter compared to the year before, with a total revenue of $2.52 billion.

The company's wines and spirits category performed worse than its beer category, with a 28% decrease in net sales in the quarter.

Representatives for Constellation Brands did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Elon Musk said that wielding a chainsaw at CPAC "lacked empathy."
• "Milei gave me the chainsaw backstage and I ran with it," he wrote on X.
• Musk is now in a deadlock with Trump over the president's big spending bill.

Elon Musk said that brandishing a chainsaw onstage in February probably wasn't such a good idea.

Musk — who's been on a tear criticizing President Donald Trump's spending bill — was posting on X about the debt ceiling on Tuesday. That got a response from an X user who criticized Musk for his actions in February.

"Maybe you shouldn't have taken the chainsaw on stage and acted a fool. Maybe you could have gotten more done if you weren't so worried about looking cool," the X user, Jim Spradlin, wrote, responding to one of Musk's Tuesday tweets on government spending.

"Valid point. Milei gave me the chainsaw backstage and I ran with it, but, in retrospect, it lacked empathy," Musk replied, referring to Javier Milei, Argentina's president.

That moment at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February has become an iconic image of Musk's time helming the Department of Government Efficiency.

"President Milei has a gift for me," Musk said onstage at CPAC.

Milei then walked out from backstage and handed the chainsaw to Musk, who lifted it over his head and brandished it briefly while growling.

"This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy," Musk said, chainsaw aloft.

Now, things are different with Trump and Musk. Musk has become one of the most vocal opponents of Trump's "big, beautiful bill."

Musk started criticizing the bill in June, leading to an ugly, public fallout with Trump that seemed to clear up. But he reignited his criticism on Saturday, posting on X that the president's signature tax bill — which would cut an electric vehicle tax credit that has helped Musk's Tesla — "will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country."

"Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future," he wrote.

He also threatened to form a new political party and fund primary opponents to any lawmakers who help pass the spending bill.

In response, Trump has suggested at press events and in a post on Truth Social that DOGE could look into slashing Musk's government contracts.

"I don't know. We'll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? The monster that might have to go back and eat Elon," Trump said at the White House on Tuesday. "Wouldn't that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies."

Musk then wrote on X: "So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now."

Musk and representatives for Milei did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

President Trump's lawsuit against Paramount over edits to a "60 Minutes" interview appears to be resolved after the media giant announced Tuesday night an "in principle" agreement to pay $16 million to settle the legal dispute.

The big picture: "The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret," per an emailed statement from Paramount Global on the deal to settle the suit Trump filed against the parent company of CBS News over the editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with his 2024 election rival, former Vice President Harris.

• "The Company has agreed that in the future, 60 Minutes will release transcripts of interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after such interviews have aired, subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns," according to the statement.
• Paramount said no amount will be paid directly or indirectly to the president or fellow plaintiff Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) under the agreement, but it will go toward their legal fees and costs and Trump's future presidential library.

State of play: Trump alleged in a lawsuit he filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Texas last October that CBS News had engaged in election interference in the way it edited the Harris interview.

• He originally sought $10 billion in damages and later increased his claim against CBS in an amended filing to $20 billion.

Separately, the Federal Communication Commission opened an investigation into whether the Harris interview violated the FCC's "news distortion" rules.

• The FCC and CBS News posted Harris' unedited "60 Minutes" interview was posted in full online in February, as the network maintained it "was not doctored or deceitful" and that it hadn't done anything wrong.

Between the lines: Press freedom groups called Trump's suit "beyond frivolous," but Axios media correspondent Sara Fischer notes the media company has been under pressure to resolve its legal battle with the president as it awaits regulatory approval for a merger between Paramount and Skydance Media.

• Paramount emphasized in its statement that the lawsuit was "completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process" and that it "will abide by the legal process to defend our case."

What they're saying: A spokesperson for Trump's legal team said the president had delivered "another win for the American people" in the settlement "as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit."

• The spokesperson added in the statement, "CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle."

Go deeper: Trump and Noem want CNN prosecuted for Iran, immigration reporting

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

The Pentagon is pausing some shipments to Ukraine of precision munitions that include air defense missiles amid concerns about declining U.S. stockpiles, Politico first reported on Tuesday.

The big picture: "This decision was made to put America's interests first" following a Defense Department review of U.S. military "support and assistance to other countries across the globe," per a statement from White House spokesperson Anna Kelly that was shared with outlets including Axios.

• "The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned — just ask Iran," Kelly added.
• Some Democrats warned halting the weapons shipments could have a devastating impact on Ukraine, as the country faces intense battles with Russia's invading forces — a concern Trump administration officials rejected.

State of play: The U.S. has provided Ukraine with billions of dollars in military assistance since Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of the country in 2022 and former President Biden stepped up efforts to send arms to Kyiv before he left office, leading to some officials to raise concerns about depleted stockpiles.

• Elbridge Colby, Defense Department undersecretary for policy, emphasized in a statement shared with outlets including Axios that the Pentagon "continues to provide the President with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine."
• Colby noted, "At the same time, the Department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving U.S. forces' readiness for Administration defense priorities."
• Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that U.S. service members were "fully equipped to deter against any threat," and that the Senate's passage Tuesday of Trump's big, beautiful bill "ensures that our weapons and defense systems are modernized to protect the homeland against 21st century threats for generations to come."

What they're saying: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a media statement said, "The Pentagon is significantly weakening Ukraine's defense against aerial attacks even as Russia pounds Ukrainian cities night after night, with numerous civilians dead and wounded."

• Ukrainian officials did not immediately respond to the weapons shipments pause.

Go deeper: Russia submits "usual" demands for peace in Ukraine talks

A federal judge in Rhode Island on Tuesday ordered HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to halt his reorganization of federal health agencies, in response to a lawsuit brought by 19 Democratic-led states.

The big picture: Kennedy will not be able to shutter HHS divisions or undertake additional layoffs as the lawsuit moves through the courts.

• "The Executive Branch does not have the authority to order, organize, or implement wholesale changes to the structure and function of the agencies created by Congress," Judge Melissa DuBose, a Biden appointee, wrote in her decision.

The states argued that Kennedy's changes stopped health agencies from carrying out legally required functions, such as food safety inspections and infectious disease prevention.

• Their attorneys general say HHS is violating the Constitution's requirements on separations of power and running afoul of administrative procedure laws.

State of play: Kennedy in March announced that he'd combine HHS's 28 divisions into 15 in a bid to streamline functions and cut costs.

• The plan included placing on administrative leave and eventually firing some 10,000 HHS employees, though some of those employees have been reinstated.
• Fired employees have filed a separate lawsuit arguing that their terminations were based on error-ridden personnel data.

What they're saying: "We stand by our original decision to realign this organization with its core mission and refocus a sprawling bureaucracy that, over time, had become wasteful, inefficient and resistant to change," HHS communications director Andrew Nixon said in an email.

• Nixon said that HHS strongly disagrees with the court ruling and is considering next steps.

• TikTok employees are preparing for possible layoffs on Wednesday morning.
• The company told global e-commerce staff it would announce "organizational and personnel changes."
• The TikTok Shop team has had several rounds of layoffs this year.

TikTok and ByteDance employees are bracing for possible layoffs after the company informed staff it would announce "organizational and personnel changes" early Wednesday morning, according to a memo viewed by Business Insider.

The changes would impact workers in the company's global e-commerce business, TikTok Shop, which has had several rounds of layoffs this year.

"Over the past month, we have assessed how we can best support our evolving Global E-commerce business in alignment with our mission and evolving goals in the market," the company wrote in the memo.

These changes come from "careful analysis of how to create more efficient operating models for the team's long-term growth," the company wrote.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

TikTok's US e-commerce team has been under scrutiny from leadership at its parent company, ByteDance, this year. The division's top executive told staff in a February all-hands call that the country failed to meet its performance goals in 2024. The division has faced new obstacles in 2025 after Trump hiked tariffs on China, where many of TikTok's global sellers are based. Weekly US order volume fell in mid-May compared to mid-April after tariffs went into effect, BI previously reported.

The company has trimmed staff this year through a mix of layoffs and performance reviews, during which TikTok has offered some people a choice between performance-improvement plans or exits with severance. As US team members have left the company, leaders from China and Singapore with experience on TikTok's Chinese sister app, Douyin, have taken their place, staffers previously told BI.

The organizational changes come amid broader uncertainty for TikTok's US team members. The company is negotiating with the Trump administration over a 2024 law that required ByteDance to divest from TikTok's US assets or face a potential ban. Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement of the law through executive orders amid discussions.

The uncertainty is taking its toll on one staffer who received the message Tuesday evening that their team would be impacted by the organizational changes. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to speak about the company, and their identity is known to BI.

"I think for many of us, we just want clarity," the employee said. "These eternal extensions make no sense for anyone who works here. How can we plan our jobs and lives if every 90 days we might get banned or sold?"

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at @danwhateley.94. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

The détente between two of the world's most powerful men did not hold.

After their very public fallout over President Donald Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill in early June, Elon Musk, the former face of DOGE, softened his tone on the president. Musk deleted several posts on X, and Trump also simmered the war of words.

The Tesla CEO restarted his posting spree on X, however, after the Senate narrowly cleared a procedural vote on the spending bill over the weekend. By Tuesday, when the Senate ultimately passed its version of the Big, Beautiful Bill, the feud was back in full swing.

From the president saying that DOGE may need to be unleashed on Musk, to the world's richest man's vow to establish a new political party, here are the key quotes to understand how the past 24 hours (and counting) unfolded.