• "The White Lotus" star Patrick Schwarzenegger says he sometimes wishes he didn't have a famous last name.
• He says people who criticize him for being a nepo baby don't see the work he puts into his career.
• But nepotism isn't only in Hollywood; the business and tech worlds have their fair share of nepo babies, too.

Patrick Schwarzenegger, 31, says a famous last name like his can sometimes be a burden — especially since he's also trying to break into Hollywood.

In an interview with The Times published on Sunday,"The White Lotus" star pushed back against nepotism claims from people who say that he only landed the role on the award-winning HBO show because of his familial ties.

"I know there are people who'll say I only got this role because of who my dad is," Schwarzenegger told The Times. "They're not seeing that I've had 10 years of acting classes, put on school plays every week, worked on my characters for hours on end or the hundreds of rejected auditions I've been on."

Schwarzenegger is the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger, a bodybuilder, actor, and former governor of California, and Maria Shriver, a journalist and niece of former US President John F. Kennedy.

"Of course, it's frustrating and you can get boxed in and you think at that moment, I wish I didn't have my last name. But that's a small moment. I would never trade my life with anyone," Schwarzenegger said.

At the end of the day, he is "very fortunate" to have the life and family that he has, including "the lessons and values" that his famous parents have instilled in him.

Nepotism is everywhere

Nepo babies, or "nepotism babies" have been a hot topic since New York Magazine published a story in 2022 about the famous kids of Hollywood celebrities.

Many nepo babies have criticized the label, saying that it diminishes the work that they put into their careers.

In June, Emma Roberts — Julia Robert's niece — called out the use of the label, saying that people who criticize nepo babies "don't see all the rejection along the way."

Some parents of nepo babies have weighed in on the discourse, too.

In 2023, Tom Hanks — whose son was cast to play his younger self in the film "A Man Called Otto" — said it's no surprise that all four of his kids are in the industry since it's "the family business." He added that if he had been in a different field, "the whole family would be putting in time at some point."

But nepo babies aren't just in Hollywood; The business and tech worlds have their fair share, too.

All five of LVMH chairman and billionaire Bernard Arnault's children work at the company and its brands.

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, the eldest sons of US President Donald Trump, manage the Trump Organization together.

Even regular people who aren't rich or famous use their connections to gain an advantage in the workplace.

A 2023 survey of 2,000 workers conducted by Applied, a recruitment company, showed that 68% of Gen Z workers have used nepotism to land a job offer.

Career coaches previously told Business Insider that it's fine to use your network sometimes.

"Using your network and personal connection to learn information and gain introductions is generally seen as acceptable, even sensible. However, using your network to get unfairly hired into a role you may not be deserving of is generally seen as unacceptable," Hannah Salton, a UK-based career coach and author, said.

Although most reputable companies tend to have fair recruitment processes that don't allow nepotism, in practice, it's often hard to ensure impartial hiring always happens, she said.

A representative for Schwarzenegger did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

• More than one million federal employees replied to DOGE's productivity email.
• That is less than half of the federal government, which employs over 2.4 million people.
• The initial email request was met with confusion, with some agencies telling staff not to respond.

The White House said on Tuesday that less than half of all federal employees responded to an email from the Office of Personnel Management asking them to send in a list of their accomplishments.

"I can announce that we have had more than one million workers who have chosen to participate in this very simple task of, again, sending five bullet points to your direct supervisor or manager, cc'ing OPM," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

"All federal workers should be working at the same pace that President Trump is working and moving," Leavitt added.

The federal government employs more than 2.4 million people.

The Department of Government Efficiency's first deadline for workers to send in bullet-point summaries passed at 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday.

The initial request for responses from all federal workers came via a memo from the OPM on Saturday. DOGE leader Elon Musk said on the same day that failure to respond by the deadline "will be taken as a resignation."

Musk appeared to walk back this ultimatum on Monday. He wrote in an X post that federal workers will be given "another chance" if they have not emailed in their list of accomplishments yet.

"Failure to respond a second time will result in termination," Musk wrote.

The DOGE email request was met with confusion and conflicting guidance across the government.

At least eight agencies, including the Department of Defense, the State Department, and the Department of Health and Human Services, said their workers didn't have to respond to OPM's email.

President Donald Trump has publicly backed Musk and DOGE's move, and on Monday told reporters that he thinks the OPM email request is a "pretty ingenious idea."

"So by asking the question, 'Tell us what you did this week,' what he's doing is saying, 'Are you actually working?'" Trump told reporters. "And then, if you don't answer, you are sort of semi-fired, or you're fired."

Musk first pitched the idea of having a government-efficiency commission to Trump during a livestreamed conversation on X in August. Musk told Trump then that he'd be "happy to help out" with such an effort.

Musk was formally announced as the leader of DOGE in November after Trump won the election.

Last month, the Trump administration gave federal employees from January 28 to February 6 to accept a buyout offer and leave their jobs. A spokesperson for OPM told BI on February 6 that over 40,000 workers have taken the buyout.

Representatives for the White House and DOGE did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Undocumented immigrants age 14 or older must register and provide fingerprints or face a fine or even imprisonment under new Trump administration plans announced Tuesday.

The big picture: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the escalation in the administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants that she vowed the administration would enforce.

Driving the news: Undocumented immigrants will from Tuesday be required to register and create an USCIS online account, per a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services online page.

• The Department of Homeland Security will soon announce a form to complete the registration requirement, according to the post.
• The requirement applies to anyone in the U.S. for 30 days or longer.
• Once a person has registered and been fingerprinted, DHS will issue "evidence of registration," which immigrants over 18 must carry and keep with them at all times, according to USCIS.

Zoom in: Per a DHS statement, penalties will be imposed on undocumented immigrants who:

• Willfully fail to depart the U.S.
• Fail to register with the federal government and be fingerprinted.
• Fail to tell the federal government of changes to their address.

What they're saying: Noem said on Fox News' "Jesse Watters Primetime" Tuesday evening those who follow the requirements "can avoid criminal charges and fines and we will help them relocate right back to their home country."

• The program provides "them an opportunity to come back someday and to be a part of the American dream," but if they don't register, "they're breaking the federal law, which has always been in place," Noem told Fox News' "Jesse Watters.
• "We're just going to start enforcing it to make sure" the undocumented immigrants go "back home," Noem said. "And when they want to be an American, then they can come and visit us again."

Zoom out: Since President Trump declared a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border soon after taking office in January, his administration has unleashed sweeping limits on undocumented immigrants and asylum-seekers.

• DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Trump and Noem were sending a "clear message for those in our country illegally."
• McLaughlin added: "The Trump administration will enforce all our immigration laws — we will not pick and choose which laws we will enforce.  We must know who is in our country for the safety and security of our homeland and all Americans."

Go deeper: Texas, Mississippi have the most detained immigrants

A Trump administration freeze on foreign aid has left nonprofits and volunteers scrambling to fill gaps in funding that have forced layoffs, suspended services and closed doors.

The big picture: But with the future of U.S. foreign assistance uncertain following confusion-inducing stop-work orders, organizers warn that it will likely be impossible to sustain critical services with philanthropic efforts.

• The State Department last month ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign assistance in accordance with a Day 1 executive order from President Trump that called for aid to be paused pending assessments of foreign assistance programs.
• The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development dropped a bomb on the already difficult-to-navigate quagmire, further complicated by the ongoing legal saga over the freeze.
• It has rocked foreign and U.S. contractors, stranded assistance at ports and risked livelihoods — and lives, experts told Axios.

The U.S. is the single largest humanitarian donor in the world. Though foreign assistance accounts for just around 1% of the total federal budget, that's a massive gap for crowdfunding organizations and nonprofits to fill.

Case in point: Nonprofit GlobalGiving, which works with some 6,000 nonprofit partners across 175 countries, recently launched its GlobalGiving Community Aid Fund to assist organizations on the front lines providing assistance amid the U.S. government's freeze.

• CEO Victoria Vrana told Axios that nonprofit partners in at least 75 countries have been impacted. The collateral damages range from having to halt vital services, like providing HIV treatment, to closing doors.
• But "donations can't fill the gap," Vrana stresses.

Friction point: After announcing the freeze, Secretary of State Marco Rubio later announced there would be waivers for "life-saving humanitarian assistance programs."

• But confusion persisted. And a list of exemptions obtained by Reuters showed the majority of waivers went to security and counternarcotics programs, while a limited amount went to humanitarian relief.
• Asked for comment, the White House said Trump returned to D.C. with a "mandate" to "bring about unprecedented change in our federal government to uproot waste, fraud and abuse."
• Rubio in an interview last week acknowledged the freeze has been "disruptive for some programs" but said he thinks it will ensure "every program ... serves the national interest because it makes us stronger or more prosperous or safer."

Yes, but: Even if the flow of funds is restored, organizations that have had to dismiss staff may no longer have the necessary infrastructure to actually provide aid, says Susan Appe, a University at Albany associate professor who researches government-nonprofit relationships.

• Fluctuations in aid are not a new phenomenon, she said — but this was an extreme case with no "responsible exit strategy."
• She noted there are strategies local aid partners can use to try to sustain services, like forming mergers or leaning on local philanthropy or governments to fill public service gaps. Others will have to close doors.

By the numbers: According to globalaidfreeze.com, a site that surveys nonprofits and organizations to gauge impact of the pause, 60% of 725 respondents as of Feb. 20 have had to lay off or furlough staff.

• Among nonprofit respondents, more than 21% say they have only one month of financial resources remaining, according to the site.
• "People have very little time right now," says Cheri-Leigh Erasmus, the co-CEO of Accountability Lab, one of the organizations collaborating on the freeze-tracking site. "And even a 90-day freeze — after 90 days, you don't have an organization left anymore."

What's next: The seismic shifts triggered by the halt may signal the "whole ecosystem of international aid being reshaped," Erasmus says. As actors scramble to find the most important gaps to plug, other sectors in the field may go underfunded.

• Accountability Lab has worked with organizations to identify themselves for potential mergers or strategic partnerships amid the freeze, she noted. Local governments will also likely be forced to think of ways to build resiliency to sustain services without bilateral funding support.
• "We have to try and sustain parts of an ecosystem," Erasmus said. "We're not going to be able to save every organization — that's just a reality of where we are."

Go deeper: Most USAID workers to be fired or placed on leave by late Sunday

• The White House released the name of the DOGE office's acting administrator.
• It is Amy Gleason, a former nurse who has spent decades in the medical records space.
• For weeks, it was unclear who, if anyone, occupied the position.

The White House on Tuesday named Amy Gleason as the acting administrator of the White House DOGE office following weeks of confusion over who was leading the agency.

A White House official confirmed Gleason's role to Business Insider. As of early Tuesday evening, Gleason hadn't publicly commented on the appointment, and her account on X was private. In her bio, she identified herself as a "former COVID response with US Digital Service."

Representatives for the White House, Musk, DOGE, and Gleason did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

Gleason worked in multiple roles at the United States Digital Service, the Obama-era agency that President Donald Trump rebranded as the US DOGE Service, according to her LinkedIn. She served as a Digital Services Expert at the agency from October 2018 to December 2021 and as a Senior Advisor starting in January 2025, according to the LinkedIn page.

Jonathan Kamens, a former USDS engineer who was fired on February 14, and a current USDS employee both told Business Insider that Gleason rejoined the agency between the election and the inauguration.

"From our view, she has been as surprised by things coming out of DOGE as the rest of us," the current employee said. They said that they do not see her as "part of Musk's crew."

Kamens said he was told Gleason was there to help with the transition to the second Trump administration.

Gleason's background stretches into the private sector, too, and even bumps up against the profiles of other White House DOGE Office staffers, per her LinkedIn profile. The page indicates that Gleason worked as the chief product officer at Russell Street Ventures between November 2021 and December 2024, a health industry investment firm founded by Brad Smith, whom BI previously identified as a DOGE employee. Kendall Lindemann, whom BI also identified as working for the DOGE effort, also worked at Russell Street Ventures.

Gleason's path has differed from some of the private sector titans and young engineers involved in the White House DOGE Office. She started out as a nurse, according to a 2022 podcast appearance with the company Syllable. Gleason also said on the podcast she previously cofounded a company to help patients with a chronic disease, sparked by the experience of coordinating care after her daughter was diagnosed with a rare illness.

"The rest of my career is mainly electronic medical records starting as a ER nurse," Gleason said on the podcast.

According to her LinkedIn, Gleason has worked in senior positions at a variety of healthcare companies since the late 1990s.

The Obama White House honored Gleason as a "Champion of Change" for her work in the medical records space.

Though Elon Musk is closely associated with the DOGE office, the White House previously said in a court filing that he is not the group's leader and instead serves as a senior advisor to Trump. BI previously reported that Musk's title was written as "unlisted" in a White House record.

For weeks, the White House had declined to say whether there was a DOGE administrator — let alone name one. Trump created the position on Inauguration Day. He had previously said Elon Musk would lead the DOGE office, though Musk was never named to the position.

On Tuesday, reporters repeatedly pressed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on who was the DOGE administrator. After her briefing concluded, Semafor first reported Gleason's role.

Trump is set to hold his first formal cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where Leavitt said he'll be discussing the DOGE office's work.

Musk is expected to be in attendance. It's unclear if Gleason will be too.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at alicetecotzky.05. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

Jack Newsham contributed to this report.

• OpenAI's former CTO, Mira Murati, debuted her new startup, Thinking Machine Labs, last week.
• The startup is aiming to raise $1 billion at a roughly $9 billion valuation, according to sources familiar with the matter.
• A spokesperson for Murati declined to comment.

Mira Murati's new startup, Thinking Machine Labs, is aiming to raise a $1 billion funding round at a roughly $9 billion valuation, sources familiar with the matter told Business Insider.

The round is still in progress, and details could change. A spokesperson for Murati declined to comment.

A $9 billion valuation is unusually high for a startup less than a year old, but investors have been eager to back AI startups, especially those founded by former OpenAI employees.

Murati previously spent six and a half years at OpenAI, where she served as CTO, working on the development of ChatGPT and other AI research initiatives. She was briefly appointed interim CEO in November 2023 after OpenAI's board abruptly fired Sam Altman, a move that sparked turmoil within the company. After Altman's reinstatement as CEO, Murati resumed her role as CTO.v

What exactly Murati would do after leaving OpenAI last year has been a favorite Silicon Valley parlor game in recent months, with few details until the company emerged from stealth last week.

In a blog post, Murati positioned the startup as an artificial intelligence research and product lab focused on making AI more accessible.

"To bridge the gaps, we're building Thinking Machines Lab to make AI systems more widely understood, customizable and generally capable," Murati wrote.

Murati has recruited a long list of engineers and AI researchers from her former employer, OpenAI, and Meta and Anthropic. Several of Murati's former coworkers, including John Schulman, who co-led the creation of ChatGPT; Jonathan Lachman, formerly the head of special projects at OpenAI; Barret Zoph, co-creator of ChatGPT; and Alexander Kirillov, who worked closely with Murati on ChatGPT's voice mode, are also working at Thinking Machines Lab.

Murati is one of a handful of former OpenAI executives who have gone on to launch their own companies. Former OpenAI chief scientist and cofounder Ilya Sutskever left the company in May 2024 and started Safe Superintelligence Inc. soon after leaving. Dario and Daniela Amodei also worked at OpenAI and founded Anthropic in 2021.

President Trump announced Tuesday the administration plans to offer $5 million "gold cards," which grant individuals permanent U.S. residency.

The big picture: The new system would replace the existing EB-5 program — a system launched in 1990 that offers green cards to individuals who invested in the U.S. — and serve as a route to citizenship, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

• It wasn't immediately clear whether the administration could terminate or change the existing program without congressional approval.

Driving the news: "We're going to be selling a gold card," Trump said, adding that he believes it will bolster the economy.

• "Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card, they'll be wealthy and they'll be successful, and they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people."
• The U.S. could sell 1 million or more of the "gold cards," Trump said.

Between the lines: By potentially eliminating the EB-5 program and replacing it with the so-called "gold card," the new program would effectively let the wealthy buy their way into the U.S. without having to create jobs or build businesses.

• In that sense, it differs from many "Golden Visa" programs around the world, which usually require the purchase of real estate or some other domestic investment. Some do allow residency by charitable donation, or opening a bank account.

Zoom in: The minimum investment needed under the U.S. plan would also be one of the most expensive such programs in the world, per firms that specialize in helping arrange visa deals for the rich.

• The new offer continues an early theme of the Trump administration, which is that money is the way to dispense with the usual rules — as when he promised anyone investing $1 billion in the U.S. would get all their permits expedited.

Flashback: DHS reforming investor visa, despite last-minute Trump doubts

Editor's note: This article was updated to clarify that the EB-5 program was launched in 1990.

White House envoy Steve Witkoff said Tuesday that Israel will send a delegation to Doha or Cairo in the coming days to discuss the next steps of the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal based on principles that the U.S. has agreed to with Israel and Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

The big picture "If these talks go well, I might be going to the region on Sunday," Witkoff said at an American Jewish Committee event in Washington, D.C.

• Witkoff postponed by a few days his trip to the Middle East to discuss with Israel, Qatar and Egypt the possibility of extending the first phase of the deal, a U.S. source told Axios.
• A U.S. source said the reason for delaying Witkoff's trip is the Trump administration's diplomatic efforts on Russia-Ukraine.

Why it matters: The first phase of the hostage deal is expected to end on Saturday. Under the Gaza deal, the ceasefire will continue as long as second phase negotiations are taking place.

• If the first phase of the deal ends, the war in Gaza is likely to resume.

The latest: Hamas and Israel announced on Tuesday that they have reached an understanding that will end the crisis that erupted when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to delay the release of 600 Palestinian prisoners last Saturday.

• The parties agreed that Hamas will return the bodies of four Israeli hostages on Wednesday night — a day ahead of the original plan.
• In return, Israel will release the 600 prisoners and several other prisoners who were supposed to be released thus week. Hamas also agreed not to conduct any public ceremony around the return of the bodies, Israeli officials said.

What they're saying: "We're hopeful that we have the proper time to finish off -- to begin phase two and finish it off and get more hostages released and move the discussion forward," Witkoff said in a Sunday interview on CNN's "State of the Union."

• The White House envoy said he believes Netanyahu is motivated to release more hostages.
• "He also wants to protect the state of Israel. And so he's got a red line. And he said what the red line is. And that is that Hamas cannot be involved in a governing body when this thing is resolved. And so I think he's trying to square the circle on both of those things," Witkoff said.

Driving the news: Netanyahu convened security consultations on Saturday about the way forward in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

• Israeli officials said that despite recommendations from the heads of the security services, Netanyahu delayed the release of the 600 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, citing Hamas violations of the deal.
• The heads of the security services told Netanyahu in the meeting that they recommend making every effort to exhaust the negotiations on the second phase of the deal or on extending its first phase, Israeli officials said.

What they're saying: The White House on Sunday expressed support for Israel's decision to delay the release of the Palestinian prisoners and said President Trump is "prepared to support Israel in whatever course of action it chooses regarding Hamas."

• "Given Hamas' barbaric treatment of the hostages, including the hideous parade of the Bibas children's coffins through the streets of Gaza, Israel's decision to delay the release of prisoners is an appropriate response," White House national security council spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement.

Behind the scenes: Witkoff met on Saturday in Miami with Ron Dermer, the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, who is leading the Israeli negotiations team. It was the second meeting between the pair in 48 hours to discuss the second phase of the hostage deal.

• An Israeli official said Witkoff wanted Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Mahmoud Rashad to also negotiate, but their schedules would not allow it.
• The Israeli official noted that the mediators did not want to speak for Hamas or negotiate for the group and therefore refrained from coming to Miami.
• "The Americans understood that the mediators did not intend to cooperate with the process that Witkoff and Dermer wanted to conduct in Miami and that if they wanted to move forward, the negotiations had to be in the region," the Israeli official said.

Witkoff told CBS' "Face the Nation" that his five-day trip will include stops in Qatar, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information, including the postponement of Witkoff's trip, his comments on Tuesday and Tuesday's announcement by Israel's government and Hamas.

The U.S. vote against a United Nations resolution condemning Russian aggression is becoming another tension point between President Trump and Senate Republicans.

Why it matters: Republicans are bracing to have their party's leader challenge or undercut their core assumption about foreign policy. Some still hold out hope for a war-ending deal.

• "I think we should have voted 'aye'," Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told Axios. "Clearly, Putin's Russia is the aggressor. And the world has been aware of that for over a decade."
• It's Wicker's second rebuke of Trump this month, after he called Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's comments on Ukraine's territorial borders a "rookie mistake."

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) called the vote "unfortunate," while Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) chose the word "shameful."

• "Refusing to acknowledge Russia as the undeniable and unprovoked aggressor is more than an unseemly moral equivalency — it reflects a gross misunderstanding of the nature of negotiations and leverage," Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a Monday statement.

What to watch: Other Republicans — including members of leadership — are choosing their words carefully or avoiding direct answers.

• "I don't know what's all behind that. My assumption is it's part of the negotiation right now," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Axios, adding, "I'm pretty clear about who I think started the war," referring to his past comments on Russia.
• "I've been very clear on the aggressors from the beginning," GOP Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said. He did not answer directly about the U.N. vote, but said he agrees with President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron about finding a way to end the war and "prevent additional Russian aggression."
• Known defense hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is taking a similar line. "I think Russia is the aggressor. I don't care about the U.N. resolution. I care about how this war ends and when it ends," he said.

The big picture: The U.S.' handling of the war in Ukraine has fractured the GOP since its start three years ago, with a growing isolationist wing of the party fighting against continued aid for Ukraine and a quicker end to the war.

• Amazon is set to unveil an AI-enhanced Alexa upgrade that could boost publisher exposure.
• Amazon is negotiating licensing deals with publishers for the new feature, people familiar told BI.
• Some publishers are banking on exposure via Alexa as traffic from other tech platforms has declined.

Amazon is expected to unveil an AI-enhanced upgrade to its Alexa voice tech at an event in New York on Wednesday, and some publishers hope it will lead to broader exposure for their outlets.

As part of the work behind the scenes, Amazon is hammering out licensing deals with publishers to showcase their news and information in the feature, two people familiar with the talks told Business Insider. They asked for anonymity to discuss private deals; their identities are known to BI. Axios previously reported that Amazon had been reaching out to publishers.

Amazon has also held talks with companies such as Uber, Instacart, and Ticketmaster for the feature, BI previously reported.

Under the proposed terms of these new media deals, users of Amazon devices could hear content from a publisher read aloud when they ask Alexa for information on an Echo smart speaker, or see publisher citations with links on the Echo Show, the version with a screen.

Some publishers told BI they hoped the upgrade would be a big improvement over their earlier experience with Amazon's voice assistant. Alexa, which launched in 2014, hasn't lived up to expectations in recent years, as BI has previously reported. Publishers and other companies were encouraged to create Alexa skills, or shortcuts that let users perform tasks like shopping or getting news, but engagement with them was generally poor.

Publishers see an opportunity here, even if smart speakers have underwhelmed as a category. Facebook and Google search have deprioritized news, and publishers are looking for traffic anywhere they can get it. According to Amazon, Alexa is installed on more than 100 million devices, a sizable audience for publishers to get in front of.

One publishing exec told BI that Amazon was paying "good" but not significant money to feature publisher content, but stressed that the biggest benefit was the ability to up their exposure in Amazon's sprawling ecosystem.

AI deals have been a way for publishers to offset declines in audience and advertising while letting AI companies use their content to answer queries and train their tech. OpenAI, for example, has signed deals with companies like News Corp. and Business Insider parent Axel Springer.

• Tracy Block thought that she would own a home and be married by 40.
• Last year, still single, she decided that she wanted to celebrate her 40th birthday with her parents.
• The three of them traveled to Greece and boarded an adults-only Virgin Voyages cruise.

I'm one of those people who prefers to escape on her birthday. I like to take a trip and get out of Dodge. After spending my 30th sipping bubbly at the Veuve Clicquot Champagne house in Reims, France, I knew I had to plan something epic for my 40th.

But my road to 40 was not easy. I spent most of my 30s feeling lost. I'd moved to Colorado from Miami and back, which left me searching for answers. I thought that by this point in my life, I would have a husband and own a home.

During the year leading up, jealousy got the best of me. My social media feeds were plastered with highlights of how others were celebrating their 40th birthdays — spouses throwing fabulous soirees and whisking their partners away to exotic destinations.

After a vent sesh with a close friend, I was reminded not to harp on what I don't have but to focus on what I do: my parents.

So, I went over to their house for dinner and told them that since I didn't have that special someone to share my 40th with, I wanted to spend it with them. Like always, they understood and answered my call with open arms.

When I suggested going to Greece, my dad recommended a cruise because he couldn't imagine lugging bags while island hopping. When I mentioned an adults-only Virgin Voyages, he wasn't convinced, assuming it would be too young for two baby boomers. But despite my parents being in their late 60s, I knew they could still hang with the best of them.

We compared six different cruises — including options from Seabourn and Princess — but Virgin's "Greek Island Glow" seemed like the best fit. My dad did a bit more research and found positive reviews by older adults who'd traveled on the ship and finally caved. I paid $4,400 for an XL Sea Terrace cabin, which included $400 credit on the cruise.

Three days in Athens

Last June, after a champagne toast in the airport lounge, we boarded our flight and awoke in Athens. We immediately hit a walking foodie tour for our first bite of authentic spanakopita and sip of Greek wine. We strolled the Plaka and shopped for olive oil and honey and then toasted to sunset from the rooftop of the Hotel Grande Bretagne with the Acropolis illuminated nearby.

We spent the second day sightseeing in Athens, dropping by the Panathenaic Stadium, watching the changing of the guard at the Presidential Mansion, and enjoying panoramic views from atop Lycabettus Hill.

At dinner, we enjoyed Greek tapas — gigante beans and fava purée became quick favorites — and were served our first taste of sweet, piney Mastiha, a native digestif. There was lots of laughter and many inside jokes were born.

On our final day in Athens, we were ferried to Aegina, part of the Saronic Islands. We explored narrow alleys offering peekaboo marina views. Home to the PDO red pistachio, we went nuts shopping and enjoyed pistachio gelato.

Cruising with my parents

On day four, it was time to greet our home for the next seven nights: The Resilient Lady — quite apropos, all things considered. Once we were checked into our cabins, I surprised my parents with custom-made insulated wine tumblers sporting my birthday theme. At sail away, we clinked some more, and before long, it was party time along the Aegean Sea.

We all made the most of our time on the cruise. I worked out each morning while my parents enjoyed breakfast on their terrace. We sunbathed together. My mom and I got salon blowouts. I splurged on a spa visit. We played trivia and then blackjack in the casino. I made friends over nightcaps and posed at Instagrammable photo spots.

On our first morning, I woke up to a stunning at-sea sunrise just outside Santorini. After we tendered, our private driver took us on a scenic tour of the spectacular cliff-carved homes from atop Oia and whitewashed churches with blue-domed roofing abound.

We also made stops in Rhodes, the largest of the Dodecanese islands, to tour the ruins and windmills, and Bodrum, a town in Turkey, where we strolled the bazaar in the morning and spent the afternoon at the Bodrum EDITION near the Yalikavak Marina.

The big 4-0

On the morning of my 40th birthday in Mykonos, I treated myself to something memorable. Since friends had professional photos of their engagements and newborns, I booked a $250 photo shoot to commemorate the day.

My parents went off to explore Old Town while I strutted in a louder-than-life fuschia dress that stopped multiple tour groups in their tracks — certainly not for the modest.

We spent the afternoon at a posh beach club, lazing in a cabana before heading back to the boat. To my surprise, my parents had worked with the cabin stewards to outfit mine with 40th birthday decorations.

The evening felt special. While the 30-year-old me visiting Mykonos would've planned for an all-nighter at the clubs, we instead ushered in my new decade at an intimate al fresco dinner savoring an incredible sunset. We feasted on the fat of the land, finally tried loukoumades for dessert, and belted "Ya Mas!" over more local vino and Mastiha.

At dinner, it was as if time stood still. In that moment, I was able to set aside what I felt were my personal failures. Instead, I was able to focus on what was right in front of me: the two selfless humans who brought me into this world, out of pure love, and I held on tightly to that feeling.

While our Greek getaway didn't send me Prince Charming or the keys to my dream home, it offered a priceless perspective. It strengthened my ties with my aging parents and gave me gratitude for them in a life where nothing is promised.