• Airbus said it delivered 766 commercial aircraft last year.
• That was four short of its target, which had been reduced from 800 over supply-chain constraints.
• It's likely that Airbus delivered about twice as many planes as struggling US rival Boeing.

Airbus delivered 766 aircraft last year, or four short of its target, the European planemaker said on Thursday.

Despite facing its own challenges, the total shows its 2024 was much brighter than Boeing's year. The American planemaker is yet to announce full-year figures, but by the end of November it had delivered 318 jets.

That means Airbus is likely to have delivered about twice as many planes as its rival — matching predictions from Deutsche Bank analysts in a report last week.

The Airbus share price was marginally higher on Friday. The stock rose 14% in 2024, while Boeing stock fell 31% — leaving it the biggest loser in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Delivery figures are a useful measurement of a planemaker's financial success given that both companies are facing huge backlogs. Any delays can also reduce airlines' confidence in placing future orders since they would disrupt their fleet planning.

Airbus said it finished the year with a backlog of 8,658 aircraft, while Boeing's was 5,499 as of the end of November.

Airlines order planes years in advance, but recent supply-chain issues have exacerbated the figures.

In June, Airbus cut its 2024 delivery target from 800 planes to 770, citing "persistent specific supply chain issues mainly in engines, aerostructures, and cabin equipment."

It also delayed plans to increase production of the A320neo family. The following day, its stock dropped as much as 11%.

Like in 2023, Airbus managed to reach its delivery target with a big end-of-year push.

It delivered 123 planes in December, compared to an average of 58 in the preceding 11 months.

"Given the complex and fast-changing environment we continue to operate in, we consider 2024 a good year," said Christian Scherer, CEO of Airbus' commercial aircraft division. "It has been a massive team effort to deliver this 2024 result."

Airbus is set to give guidance for 2025 deliveries when it reports earnings next month. In a report last week, Bank of America analysts said they expect the guidance to be between 800 and 810 planes.

They think Airbus' primary focus will be its integration with Spirit AeroSystems, with the objective of stabilizing fuselage production. Boeing is paying $4.7 billion to buy back most of Spirit's assets.

BofA is bullish on Airbus, naming it one of its 25 stocks for 2025.

Despite its woes, Boeing is still worth about $128 billion — almost the same as Airbus' market cap.

• Natalia Grace Mans spoke about being diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder.
• RAD is a rare condition in which children fail to form healthy relationships with their caregivers.
• Natalia said in "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" that she felt her diagnosis was "understandable."

In "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter," Natalia Grace Mans speaks about being diagnosed with reactive detachment disorder.

Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is a condition in which children do not form healthy relationships with their caregivers. Legal analyst Beth Karas said in episode six of "Natalia Speaks," the second installment of the series, that Natalia was diagnosed with RAD in 2010, while she was living with her then-adoptive parents Michael and Kristine Barnett.

Since then, Natalia — who was first adopted from a Ukrainian orphanage to the United States in 2008 — has lived with multiple families. In 2010, she was adopted by the Barnetts, who came to believe she was an adult and petitioned in court to change her birth year from 2003 to 1989. The Barnetts moved Natalia into an independent apartment in 2012, and in 2013, she met Cynthia Mans and moved in with her family. Antwon and Cynthia Mans adopted Natalia in 2023, but later that year, she left their home to live with Nicole and Vince DePaul, who attempted to adopt her when she was a child, in upstate New York.

In "Natalia Speaks," Natalia said that her diagnosis was "understandable."

"I still don't know the full length of reactive attachment disorder, but I know one thing for me is that I don't like being left," she said in episode four of "The Final Chapter." "I constantly feel like people are just going to walk out of my life."

RAD makes it very hard to connect with others

In episode four of "The Final Chapter," Nicole DePaul speaks to rehabilitation psychologist Melissa Misegadis about Grace's former RAD diagnosis.

"Reactive attachment disorder is what happens when children don't bond to their caregivers," Misegadis said in the show. It's recognized in the DSM-5, the standard classification of mental disorders in the US.

Symptoms include a failure to play with other kids, lack of eye contact, and unexplained fear.

While RAD can resemble a disorganized attachment style, attachment styles are more fluid and describe differences in how people connect in relationships. RAD qualifies as a disorder because of the severity of its symptoms, such as behavior problems.

Childhood abandonment is a huge risk factor

Misegadis wasn't surprised that Grace has RAD. "Individuals with unaddressed trauma like Natalia has, these are behaviors that are coming from years of rejection and trauma," she said in the show.

According to the Mayo Clinic, risk factors for developing RAD include losing a parent early in life (or having a severely neglectful parental figure), spending time in orphanages with no loving adult figures, and cycling through foster homes.

"I constantly feel like people are just going to walk out of my life," Grace said in the show. "I personally can't handle someone leaving me anymore. I can't handle caring about somebody and then they walk away."

Rita Soronen, president and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, previously told Business Insider that international adoptions like Grace's often don't provide much background. As a result, parents who adopt or foster kids can be shocked by RAD symptoms, rehoming their kids in the end.

RAD treatment usually requires therapy

Left untreated, RAD can lead to long-term consequences, like substance abuse disorder, depression, and difficulty forming relationships.

Treatment usually involves therapy, social skills classes, or parenting classes to help caretakers effectively manage their kids' behaviors. Though Natalia declined mental health services during production, producer Shannon Evangelista told The Hollywood Reporter, she told People that started seeing a therapist after she had a panic attack in 2024.

So far, Natalia said she feels "free" living with the DePauls, who initially tried to adopt her in 2003. She says in episode four of "The Final Chapter" that she's "not really talking" to the Mans.

"Did she probably do weird things in the past? Yeah," Nicole DePaul told People. "[But] when you take in a child, you take that child as your own. You don't just get rid of them when they don't fit into your puzzle."

"The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter" is now streaming on Max.

President-elect Donald Trump's transition will be funded entirely by private donors. His unprecedented move to reject federal funds typically allocated to presidential transitions allows him to shield the identity of donors. We explore why this matters in a video collaboration between Politico and Business Insider.

• Tesla might be about to make a huge windfall off its rivals failing to sell enough EVs.
• The US automaker is banding together with rivals like Ford and Toyota to help them meet tough new European emissions rules.
• UBS analysts estimated the move could net Tesla $1 billion in compensation.

Tesla might be about to make a huge windfall on electric cars its rivals aren't selling.

The EV giant is banding together with major competitors, including Ford, Stellantis, and Toyota, to help them meet European emissions targets, in a deal UBS analysts estimated could net the company as much as $1 billion.

European manufacturers face tough emissions targets this year, and could be hit with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of penalties and fines if they fail to comply.

The strict new measures come even as electric vehicle sales across the continent have stagnated, with several countries rolling back subsidies for customers buying EVs.

Carmakers lagging behind on electric vehicle sales have the option to "pool" with rivals to average out their emissions, effectively buying carbon credits from EV heavyweights like Tesla.

Toyota, Ford, Stellantis, and Mazda were among the automakers who have "pooled" with Tesla, according to a European Union filing released on Wednesday, with Mercedes-Benz forming a separate pool with Volvo and EV brand Polestar.

A report from UBS analysts on Wednesday found that Tesla's total compensation for selling credits to its pooled rivals could exceed $1 billion, while Volvo and Polestar could be in line to bank $300 million.

Selling regulatory credits to rivals who are lagging behind on EV sales has been a highly lucrative business for Tesla in recent years, with the company making $739 million from the practice in the third quarter of 2024.

Tesla's regulatory credits business has long been expected to diminish as other automaker's EV efforts pick up speed, but it has remained strong as lacklustre demand for electric vehicles has left many of the company's rivals struggling to meet emission targets.

That could soon change, however.

Incoming US president — and Elon Musk's political ally — Donald Trump has promised to roll back emissions targets and EV regulations once in office. JP Morgan analysts recently warned that removing EV regulations and subsidies could cost Tesla as much as $3.2 billion.

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

• Enterprise AI startup Cohere has launched a new platform called North.
• North allows users to quickly deploy AI agents to execute tasks across various business sectors.
• The company says the platform cuts the time it takes to complete a task by over five-fold.

2025 is shaping up to be the year that AI "agents" go mainstream.

Unlike AI-based chatbots that respond to user queries, agents are AI tools that work autonomously. They can execute tasks and make decisions, and companies are already using them for everything from creating marketing campaigns to recruiting new employees.

Cohere, an AI startup focused on enterprise technology, unveiled North on Thursday — an all-in-one platform combining large language models, multimodal search, and agents to help its customers work more efficiently with AI.

Through North, users can quickly customize and deploy AI agents to find relevant information, conduct research, and execute tasks across various business functions.

The platform could make it easier for a company's finance team, for example, to quickly search through internal data sources and create reports. Its multimodal search function could also help extract information from everything from images to slides to spreadsheets.

AI agents built with North integrate with a company's existing workplace tools and applications. The platform can run in private, allowing organizations to integrate all their sensitive data in one place securely.

"North allows employees to build AI agents tailored to their role to execute complex tasks without ever leaving the platform," a representative for Cohere told Business Insider by email.

The company is now deploying North to a small set of companies in finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure as it continues to refine the platform. There is no set date for when it will make the platform available more widely.

Cohere, launched in 2019 by Aidan Gomez, Ivan Zhang, and Nick Frosst, has quickly grown to rival ChatGPT maker OpenAI and was valued at over $5.5 billion at its Series D funding round announced last July, Bloomberg reported. As of last March, the company had an annualized revenue of $35 million, up from $13 million at the end of 2023.

The company is one of a few AI startups that are building their own large language models from the ground up. Unlike its competitors, it has focused on creating customized solutions for businesses rather than consumer apps or the more nebulous goal of artificial general intelligence.

Its partners include major companies like software company Oracle, IT company Fujitsu, and consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

This year, however, its goal is to "move beyond generic LLMs towards tuned and highly optimized end-to-end solutions that address the specific objectives of a business," Gomez said in a post on LinkedIn outlining the company's objectives for 2025.

• I've been saving for retirement for most of my career and should be on track by retirement age.
• However, I'm not sure I'll ever want to stop working.
• Not only do I love my work as a writer, I also think I'll have a hard time spending my savings.

Some people worry about not having enough money for retirement. For now, at least, I don't feel I have to worry about that. I'm 45 years old, about 20 years away from retirement age, and I've been saving and investing for retirement for most of my career in a steady, disciplined, diversified way.

Especially after making big gains in the stock market over the last few years, I'm actually feeling good about my retirement account balances. If all goes well for the next few decades, I should be in good shape to be on track for retirement. But even if and when I can afford to quit working, I still might not "retire" in any traditional sense.

I'm just not sure what I'd do in retirement — and I love my job

Retirement might sound like paradise, right? No more work! Do whatever you want! But some people struggle to make the emotional adjustment to retirement. Especially if you're used to having a stimulating, rewarding, demanding career that gives you a lot of meaning and connection, the weekdays in retirement might feel empty.

Not everyone is lucky enough to feel this way about their job, but I really love my career as a freelance writer. I love learning new things, meeting new people, and getting paid for doing what I do best. I don't want to feel bored or lonely in retirement. How do you stay busy and grounded without the structure of a career? Do I have to get hobbies or join a gym? Is this all a huge cry for help that I need to get a life?

The point is that retirement planning is not just about money. Even though I might be on track to have my everyday living expenses covered in retirement, I can't envision the day-to-day routine of how I'll fill the hours if I don't have work to keep me busy anymore. Like other would-be retirees, I'll need to think ahead about how I want to live life and what I want to do when I grow up — apparently, that big question never goes away at any age. I can't picture a future without my creative craft of writing, the work that has defined my life and everyday purpose.

I'd have a hard time spending my savings if I wasn't making an income

By the time I've saved up enough money to retire, I might feel uncomfortable spending my savings. Retirement can bring a lot of big, scary expenses like nursing home bills and end-of-life care. Or, on a happier note, I might want to help contribute to my grandchildren's college tuition or keep traveling internationally for as long as possible. Even if I'm 70 years old and in good health, I might still be worried about providing for my 85-year-old "future self" in the event that I have serious health problems and need round-the-clock care.

Feelings like these can make it hard for anyone to splurge in retirement, even for those who can afford to. Though many are putting off retirement due to financial worries, recent research has shown that some retirees actually underspend in retirement — that is, they don't spend as much of their retirement account balances as they could. I might end up being one of those "underspenders" in retirement. What if I can't bear to part with all those big, reassuring numbers in my investment account that I worked so hard to make bigger?

If I do retire in some capacity, I can't ever see myself truly putting work aside. At the very least, I think I'd get a side hustle. I love having income! Even in retirement, I like the idea of making the numbers in my brokerage account bigger.

I want to stay creative, productive, and engaged with life

After leaving his network late-night TV show, David Letterman wasn't ready to officially "retire," and I probably won't be able to either. (Not to compare myself with a legendary comedian like him.) But I like the idea of a Letterman-style retirement: instead of disappearing into oblivion, just keep showing up to do a few meaningful projects. Do what you love without the grind of a full-time job.

I will keep saving for retirement, even if I don't retire in the traditional way. Not everyone gets to keep working for as long as they want to; sometimes retirement gets imposed upon people whether they like it or not. But I'm rethinking the conventional wisdom on what a happy retirement means. I'm not afraid to keep working for many years to come.

• A group including "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary and Frank McCourt has submitted a bid for TikTok.
• They face an uphill battle to buy the app, with owner Bytedance still fighting a looming US ban.
• McCourt previously told BI the deal, which does not include TikTok's algorithm, faces a murky path to success.

"Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary is teaming up with billionaire Frank McCourt on a long shot effort to buy TikTok.

O'Leary and the former Los Angeles Dodgers owner are part of a group called "The People's Bid for TikTok," which said on Thursday it had submitted a bid for the video app to Chinese tech giant Bytedance.

The consortium has an uphill battle to acquire TikTok, despite the app being threatened with a ban in the US if it's not sold by January 19.

Bytedance insists it has no plans to sell the app, which has some 170 million US users, despite President Joe Biden signing a law in April setting a deadline for the app to be sold, or face a ban.

Bytedance is challenging the law in the Supreme Court after losing appeals in lower courts, claiming the potential ban from US app stores is a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech.

The court is due to hear oral arguments in the case on Friday.

President-elect Donald Trump has asked the court to pause the law that would ban TikTok until after his inauguration later this month.

Any deal to buy TikTok is complicated by the fact that TikTok's recommendation algorithm — the key to the app's compulsive scrolling — is likely covered by Chinese export rules prohibiting the sale of sensitive technology without a license.

No clarity

McCourt told Business Insider in December that the group's $20 billion-plus proposal, which would not include the recommendation algorithm, is complicated because "we don't know what ByteDance is selling."

He said that Bytedance had refused to discuss a potential sale, meaning it was "very, very difficult to have precision" over what a deal might look like.

McCourt and O'Leary's vision for the app, which is also backed by the likes of investment firm Guggenheim Securities and World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, includes turning TikTok into a decentralized social media app that gives users more control over their personal data.

The group said they would aim to work closely with incoming president Donald Trump, who has previously expressed support for TikTok and met with the company's CEO last month.

Bytedance did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

• Andrew Lambrecht rented a 2023 Polestar 2 to compare it to his 2021 Tesla Model 3.
• He discovered the Polestar 2 has a premium feel but lacks efficiency and tech compared to Tesla.
• If he were in the market for a new EV, he would choose the Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD.

Last summer, I bought my second used Tesla Model 3, a 2021 Long Range AWD in the low $20,000 range, with incentives. I considered several other options but decided to buy another Model 3 for its engaging driving dynamics, wickedly fast acceleration, solid tech, and reliable powertrain.

I enjoy driving my Model 3, but the market has grown to include many more attractive options than just Tesla, like the Polestar 2, a four-door that arrived in the US in late 2020. It boasts a clean yet muscular design and solid, but not groundbreaking, range, charging, and performance.

The Polestar 2 looks like a good car on paper but flies below the radar. To learn more about the sporty sedan, I rented one from Hertz for a week to test it at $48 per day, which included mandatory airport fees and taxes. For the purpose of this story, Business Insider compensated me for the rental price.

Who is Polestar?

Polestar is a Swedish automotive upstart founded by Volvo and China-based Geely Holding Group in 2017. The electric vehicle maker offers three electric cars: the 2 sedan, the 3 SUV, and the 4 crossover.

Having roots with Volvo, Polestars and Volvos share a lot of components. Volvo recently divested from Polestar, though the two automakers still collaborate on manufacturing and engineering ventures.

Polestar 2: First impressions

When I picked up the Polestar 2, I noticed that my rental was the base version with a 2023 Dual Motor but no added packages besides upgraded 20-inch wheels. That said, all models' exteriors and interiors look virtually the same aside from different trim pieces and a glass roof.

As soon as you enter the Polestar, its Scandinavian vibe is evident. Its muscle car-esque proportions and higher-raked windshield make it feel like you're in a cocoon. A high-sitting center console, standard metal roof, and dark headliner material give the Polestar a sporty, mature, and premium vibe.

It feels well-built. The doors with framed windows produce a solid "thunk" when closing, and the blinker stocks, drive selector, and steering wheel all have a high-end feel.

There are some hard-touch plastics here and there (more than in a Tesla), but elements like the brushed metal door handles redirect your focus. The Polestar 2 feels better built than my older Model 3 but is on par with the refreshed 2024 version. I can see buyers preferring either.

On the road with the Polestar 2

Despite being an AWD electric sedan like the Tesla Model 3, the most noticeable difference is the weight. The Polestar 2 weighs 4,650 pounds — the big battery Model 3 weighs 4,019. 600 pounds is a sizable difference, and you can feel it when taking corners.

Still, the Polestar 2 is a rapid vehicle. With 402 horsepower, it can hustle to 60 in about 4.5 seconds. Unlike the Model 3, you can launch it by pressing your left foot on the brake pedal and right foot on the accelerator, then letting the brake go.

On the road, the Polestar 2 also does an excellent job of minimizing vibrations. While the new Model 3 is much better in this regard, there's a notable difference with my outgoing Model 3.

Another benefit is the added ground clearance and lower plastic cladding. While it's no rugged SUV, the Polestar 2 is capable of light off-roading with 6 inches of ground clearance.

Polestar range and charging

During my final day with the Polestar, I drove through the North Carolina mountains and stopped at a 350-kilowatt EA station outside Asheville. I recorded around 30 minutes to go from 17 to 80% charged. In that time, the charger dispensed 53 kilowatt-hours, which cost $30.91. This charging time is fine but not revolutionary.

The Polestar 2 has a peak charge rate of 150 kilowatts but dropped below the 100-kilowatt threshold by around 55%. The Model 3 has a peak of 250 kilowatts, but it sees a similar drop to the 100-kilowatt mark at around 60% charge. The big difference is its efficiency. The Polestar has a battery similar in capacity to my Model 3, but it can't go as far on a charge.

I recorded an estimated 224 miles of range at 70 miles per hour. My 2021 Model 3 can get around 270 miles within that speed range. Since the Polestar 2 isn't as efficient as the Tesla Model 3, it'll need more energy to travel the same distance, increasing the cost.

I never had any anxiety with the Polestar, as its range was still more than ample for my driving, averaging over 100 miles per day. When I get to campus, I plug in and head to class.

Average tech and missing safety features

Despite having a sticker price above $50,000, the Polestar had virtually no safety features. This one didn't have adaptive cruise control, lane centering assist, or even a blind spot monitor. For comparison, every new Tesla, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, and Toyota EV comes with adaptive cruise control as standard.

Another disappointing area of the Polestar 2 is its lackluster technology. While the Polestar features two crisp displays powered by Google software, the computer chip powering them is an Intel A3900 chip, which debuted in 2016. The result is a display that can be laggy and somewhat unresponsive.

Nevertheless, it's still better than other systems I've used before. The Google-based system effortlessly adds charging stops, telling you what percentage you'll arrive with and how long you'll need to charge, but for a fresh-faced automaker, it trails behind Rivian and Tesla.

Verdict

I liked many things about the Polestar but wouldn't buy a new one. If I were looking at the new market, the updated Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD is the better buy. It offers 363 miles of range, better charging, more standard features, and a lower price tag.

If you're buying used with a budget in the mid to upper-$20,000 range, the Polestar 2 is worth a look. Just due to the sheer number of Teslas on the road, the 2 is refreshing. It drives well, has a decent range, and has an alluring Scandinavian aura.

While the Model 3 started it all, the Polestar is a solid alternative that checks different boxes. There's a lot to like about it, and I will miss my time driving it.

• The Front Man in "Squid Game" is Hwang In-ho, detective Hwang Jun-ho's brother.
• One fan theory suggests that In-ho could be related to another character in the series.
• It's not impossible, but the evidence isn't overwhelming.

In season two of "Squid Game," the game's steward — known as the Front Man, or Hwang In-ho under the mask — enters the game himself. Though he's already related to one other character in the show, a new theory suggests he could be further tied to the games.

In season one, detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun) infiltrated the games in search of his older brother In-ho (Lee Byung-hun). In-ho wasn't a player in the games with Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), however — he was the one running them. But in season two, In-ho infiltrates the games as player 001 using the name Oh Young-il.

In-ho mostly seems to be there to break Gi-hun's spirit, treating him like a comrade until he sabotages Gi-hun's rebellion in the season finale. He's not the first player 001 to betray Gi-hun's trust: In season one, the game's creator Oh Il-nam plays alongside Gi-hun as well before revealing his true identity in the outside world.

One moment in season two has fans thinking that In-ho and Il-nam may be further connected — but it's far from conclusive.

Fans speculate that Il-nam is In-ho's father — because of two lines about milk

In season one, episode three, Gi-hun asks one of the guards distributing snacks to players if he could trade his regular milk for chocolate milk, saying that he's never been able to digest plain milk. The guard refuses, but Il-nam remarks on Gi-hun's preferences.

"I bet your father spanked you a lot when you were young," Il-nam says.

"How did you know?" Gi-hun asks.

"My son was just like you," Il-nam replies.

In season two, episode five, In-ho doesn't drink his plain milk either. After the guards serve the players a similar bread and milk snack, In-ho passes his milk to the pregnant Jun-hee instead of drinking it.

"I don't drink plain milk," he tells her.

The "milk theory" has proliferated on social media platforms like Reddit and X. However, one image in support of the theory being circulated online includes inaccurate dialogue.

The above screenshot, which was also posted to the r/squidgame subreddit, simplifies the dialogue in both scenes. Il-nam never tells Gi-hun, "you are just like my son he couldn't drink milk too," and In-ho never says, "here, I can't drink it anyway."

To be fair, the original dialogue in each respective scene isn't that different — but it is slightly more nuanced.

The 'milk theory' raises some other questions

A twist like this would feel a bit out of character for "Squid Game," particularly given that the show has already pulled a secret-family-member twist with the Front Man already. That doesn't necessarily mean it couldn't happen, but the evidence isn't overwhelming.

First, Il-nam says several times in season one that he has a son, singular. In the season finale, he tells Gi-hun on his deathbed that "long ago, I once lived in a house in an alley just like that one with my wife and son."

However, in season two, we learn that In-ho and Jun-ho are half brothers who share a father because Jun-ho's mother refers to In-ho as her stepson. If Il-nam was In-ho's father, he should be Jun-ho's as well.

That doesn't fully rule out the theory: it's possible that Il-nam abandoned In-ho with Jun-ho's mother, and that he didn't raise Jun-ho or consider him a son. Still, there's not much to go on.

If In-ho were Il-nam's son, the implications would be severe depending on the strength of their relationship as adults and if they knew of the others' existence before In-ho entered the games. At worst, it would mean that Il-nam didn't provide his son the money to save his wife's life, and knowingly let him participate in the games. At best, it would mean that they reunited after In-ho joined, and won, the games in 2015.

Furthermore, Il-nam and In-ho give the same surname, Oh, in the games, but they don't share one in real life. Il-nam tells Gi-hun in the season one finale that he didn't lie about his name in the games, but as far as we know, In-ho is lying about his: In-ho's true last name, which he shares with his brother, is Hwang.

Ultimately, it's not impossible that In-ho is Il-nam's son, but the evidence is far from conclusive. The milk thing is weird, sure — but lactose intolerance does not a paternal relationship make. After that cliffhanger ending, we'll have to wait for season three to see if the show goes any further with this particular thread.

"Squid Game" is streaming on Netflix.

• Microsoft managers use forms to requests retention bonuses for employee they can't afford to lose.
• One such document, viewed by BI includes, a field specific to employees' AI contributions.
• Microsoft AI employees earn a lot more than colleagues, according to payroll data viewed by BI.

Some managers at Microsoft may be trying harder to retain talented employees with AI know-how, according to an internal document viewed by Business Insider.

Microsoft managers use these types of documents to make the case for retention bonuses. Prompts include questions such as "What harm is done if employee leaves Microsoft?"

Managers can request special stock or cash awards to help keep employees who are most important to the company's strategy. One such document viewed by BI includes a separate field specific to employees' contributions in AI.

"In the context of AI transformation as a key priority, please indicate if this individual is critical AI talent and share the risk to the AI initiative/s if talent is not retained," the document asks Microsoft managers.

This question was added to the document recently, according to a person familiar with the situation. It was prepared for a specific, large group inside Microsoft. However, it's unclear if the AI question is being added to similar retention documents in other parts of the company.

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company does not have a central form for special stock and cash award requests, and organizations and teams can choose whether to add different fields, depending on what their strategic priorities are.

Still, the addition of the AI question to this specific document suggests that the AI talent wars may be pushing some parts of Microsoft to do more to prevent poaching by rivals.

Google, OpenAI, Meta, and other tech companies are racing to develop the most powerful AI models and the best generative AI tools, and they need employees who know the technical details of how to craft these products. That's caused bidding wars for some talent, along with multimillion-dollar compensation packages sometimes.

The company has already prioritized AI talent when it comes to compensation.

As of September, average compensation in Microsoft's AI group was about 37% higher than the average for all of the company's US employees. Software engineers working in AI, for example, earned 48% more than the average software engineer at the company, according to a payroll spreadsheet shared with BI.

In 2023, during a leadership crisis at OpenAI, Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott said the software giant would hire hundreds of OpenAI employees and match their current compensation.

He made the announcement in the midst of job cuts and a salary freeze at Microsoft, which made some employees furious.

Are you a Microsoft employee or do you have insight to share? Contact reporter Ashley Stewart via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email ([email protected]). Use a nonwork device.