Former President Biden told reporters on Friday in Delaware that "all the folks are very optimistic" about successfully treating his prostate cancer.

The big picture: Biden was diagnosed earlier this month with an aggressive form of cancer that had metastasized to his bone.

What he's saying: "The prognosis is good. We're working on everything. It's moving along, and I feel good," he said.

• "The expectation is we're going to be able to beat this. There's no — it's not in any organ, my bones are strong, it hadn't penetrated," he said, per The Washington Post.

Go deeper:

• "Cancer touches us all": Biden shares post after cancer diagnosis
• Biden's cancer diagnosis draws sympathy — and suspicion
• Biden camp pushes back against suspicion over cancer diagnosis timing

• A Russian company said it paid 12 soldiers a combined $195,000 for shooting down an F-16 jet.
• Fores said it presented the soldiers the cash at a ceremony near the Russia-Ukraine border on Thursday.
• Kyiv had long coveted the US-made F-16. It received its first of the jets in 2024.

A Russian oil company said it had awarded a total of 15 million rubles (around $195,000) to Russian soldiers who it credited with downing the first US-made F-16 fighter jet in Ukraine.

In a press release, Fores, a fracking parts manufacturer, said it had presented 12 servicemen with the cash at a ceremony near the Russia-Ukraine border on Thursday.

"Fores fulfilled its earlier promise and paid 15 million rubles to Russian servicemen for destroying the first F-16 fighter jet in the special operation zone," the company said.

The firm announced the bounty system in 2023, promising cash rewards for soldiers who destroyed certain Western-supplied military equipment.

The company said it had so far paid out just over 52 million rubles (around $670,000) for the destruction of the F-16 and an unspecified number of Leopard 2 and Abrams tanks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had long coveted the F-16 as he sought to bolster Ukraine's air defenses, and Kyiv received its first delivery of the jet in the summer of 2024.

Ukraine's forces have so far lost at least three F-16s in combat, with the General Staff confirming the first loss in August last year.

The F-16 has nevertheless seemingly proved a hit over the battlefield.

Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, the US's top general in Europe, told a Senate Armed Services Committee in April that F-16s were flying "every day" in Ukraine and that they had been successful in both air defense and offensive operations.

"They've defeated a large number of cruise missile threats, and they've delivered an awful lot of offensive attacks as well," he said, adding: "Specifically, bombing attacks in the east."

No modern president has done more in his first 130 days than President Trump — only to have much of it undone, at least temporarily, by the courts.

The big picture: Trump is testing the limits of presidential power at every turn, and the courts are just about the only thing standing in his way.

• The inevitable showdowns between Trump and the judiciary are only going to get more intense.

Judges have issued dozens of orders blocking Trump from doing something he wants to do, and the flood seems to grow every day. The headlines are constant: Judge blocks X; Judge freezes Y; Court allows Z to continue.

• This week's ruling against Trump's tariffs — handed down by the usually sleepy Court of International Trade — was one of the biggest shockwaves yet, striking at the centerpiece of his economic agenda and efforts to exert leverage on the world stage.
• That ruling was quickly put on ice, temporarily, by an appeals court. But there will be more tariff litigation, and more litigation on just about everything else.

On education, a federal judge in Boston this week said Trump could not stop Harvard from enrolling international students, at least for now.

• A separate Boston-based judge last week froze Trump's plans to largely eliminate the Department of Education.

That added to an absolute mountain of litigation over Trump's various efforts to gut the federal bureaucracy.

• Courts have stopped or slowed some DOGE-led cuts across the government, the firing of people who serve on independent boards, and the laying off of other government workers.

Immigration has been the most explosive flashpoint of all.

• Every court that's considered Trump's executive order redefining the rules of American citizenship has ruled against it.
• The administration has pointedly refused to bring back the man it wrongly deported to El Salvador, despite even the Supreme Court telling it to "facilitate" his return.
• Judges in lower courts have blocked similar deportations or ordered the government to provide some sort of hearing before deporting people.

Between the lines: To some extent, this is the system working the same way it always works. The big things presidents do, at least in the modern era, end up in court.

• Obamacare was a big thing, done by both the president and Congress. It's been before the Supreme Court no less than three times.
• Forgiving student loans and trying to impose COVID vaccine mandates were, for better or worse, big things President Biden attempted. The Supreme Court said both were too big.

Trump has made no bones about wanting to go as big as possible, all the time, on everything — and to do it mostly through executive action. Everyone knew before this administration began that myriad legal challenges were inevitable. And, well, they were.

• Unlike previous presidents, Trump and his allies have relentlessly attacked judges whose rulings block parts of his agenda.

As these battles progress, Trump will win some and lose some.

• Every single person Trump has tried to fire may not end up fired. But if and when all of those one-off challenges coalesce into a real, big-picture Supreme Court referendum on the president's power to fire federal workers, the smart money says that's a fight Trump will most likely win.
• On the other hand, eliminating birthright citizenship is a long shot. The Justice Department is trying to persuade the Supreme Court that it's been misinterpreting the Constitution for 100 years. That is (a) obviously going to end up in court; and (b) a hard sell.

What's next: Almost none of this — on any issue — has reached the point yet where judges are actually striking down or upholding Trump's policies.

• This is why the headlines you see all use words like "block" or "freeze" or "temporarily." For now, what's being decided is mainly whether Trump can go ahead and enact X or Y policy while the courts figure out whether that policy is legal.

As explosive as these legal battles already are, we haven't even touched the highest-stakes chapters in the ongoing saga of Trump vs. the courts.

• The real showdowns over the president's power — his power to fire people, to override Congress' spending decisions, to deport people without due process, to levy tariffs, to revoke citizens' citizenship — are all still to come.

When Secretary of State Marco Rubio abruptly announced plans Wednesday to cancel the visas of all Chinese students in the U.S., the Trump administration was quick to cast it as a way to root out spies from the communist nation.

• But behind the scenes, what really set off Rubio was the administration's realization that China was withholding precious rare-earth minerals and magnets as a tariff negotiating tool, sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: The decision to target as many as 280,000 Chinese students — and throw another complication into the ongoing trade talks with China — reflects how crucial rare minerals are to the U.S. tech industry.

• It also signaled how angry President Trump was after deciding China was operating in bad faith.

Zoom in: That's what inspired Trump's Truth Social post on Friday: "China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US."

• "So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!"

Zoom in: The materials at issue are crucial for computing and telecom equipment, F-35 fighter jets, drones, submarines and the Joint Direct Attack Munition series of smart bombs.

• The seven minerals include samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium-related items.

Zoom out: Under President Xi Jinping's "Made in China 2025" initiative launched a decade ago, China has come to dominate the mining and processing of these minerals and other precious materials, such as lithium used in batteries.

• The U.S. is the world's second-largest producer of rare-earth minerals but is dwarfed by China, which controls about 70% of mining and roughly 90% of the processing of such minerals globally, according to a Reuters report citing International Energy Agency estimates.

The big picture: Many of China's ruling party elite, including Xi, have sent their children to study in the United States. Targeting those students sends a message to leaders of the Chinese Communist Party.

• Rubio has long been a China hawk. As a senator in 2024, he issued a report, "The World China Made," that warned it could soon have "effective control over strategic supply chains" of the materials.
• He also sounded an alarm about China spying through U.S. educational opportunities.
• "If you're a Chinese spy trying to get into America, you don't really have to cross the border," he told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo in June 2024. "You can just become a graduate student at one of our universities or become a visa employee at one of our tech companies."
• As secretary of state, Rubio has launched several initiatives to monitor and revoke the visas of foreign students.

What they're saying: Education groups criticized Rubio's move. Asian Americans Advancing Justice said that "national security should undeniably be a top priority — but resorting to fearmongering, racial profiling, and xenophobia is never the answer."

• Trump's administration unapologetically sees Chinese students as leverage.
• "This is about national security, trade, our economy," a senior administration official said. "Everything is a negotiation."

The timeline: Trump launched his latest trade and tariff war on April 2, calling it "Liberation Day. Two days later, China required that companies receive export licenses for the seven minerals. The licenses restrict the flow of the minerals out of the country.

• On May 11, the U.S. and China announced a preliminary trade deal. The two sides paused their retaliatory tariffs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer negotiated for the U.S.
• On May 12, when asked by Fox News' Laura Ingraham whether rare-earth export restrictions had been lifted, Greer said: "Yep. The Chinese have agreed to remove those countermeasures."
• But on May 20, CNN confirmed reporting from other publications that China wasn't "getting rid of its controls over rare earths," despite the trade truce.

The reports confirmed what administration officials had encountered in private talks with China: It was playing rare-earth hardball.

• "China cheats. It's what they do," Trump said, according to a White House official briefed on the president's comments in a subsequent meeting with his trade team.
• "The president wasn't happy," the official said. "He was looking for ideas, and Rubio had this idea of Chinese students."
• In a statement to Axios, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Rubio "made this decision in the administration's ongoing effort to protect our homeland from espionage and other hostile actions."

Just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, Rubio announced on X that the "U.S. will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields."

• About that time, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick informed several U.S. companies they needed to limit or stop exporting certain types of software, semiconductor chemicals, machine tools, aviation equipment, butane and ethane, according to Reuters.
• On Thursday, Bessent acknowledged on Fox News that trade negotiations "are a bit stalled."
• On Friday, Trump followed up with his statement blasting China.

Hours later Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller was on CNN, linking Rubio's announcement to the China trade talks.

• China's industrial strategy, he said, "has been to use the student visa program to conduct espionage on America's industrial trade secrets ... our universities, our high-tech research and even our nation's most sensitive and classified projects and programs."
• The extra scrutiny of Chinese visas will protect "the security of America's own engineering, scientific and medical research."

Kash Patel and Dan Bongino spent years torching the American security state for concealing nefarious secrets about Jeffrey Epstein, Jan. 6, the "Russia hoax" and the assassination attempts against President Trump.

• Now they're not only inside the gates, they're in charge of the FBI — and serving a president who distrusts the bureau even more than they do.

The big picture: Patel and Bongino's recent Fox News interviews, and sources familiar with their reception inside the bureau, make clear the difficulties they face in maintaining confidence with three key audiences: their fans, their employees, and the president.

1. Some followers and fellow MAGA media figures who revered Patel and Bongino for pillorying the "Deep State" were aghast by their recent conspiracy-quashing comments, particularly that Epstein really killed himself.

• "People are pissed. They feel like Dan and Kash aren't doing the job, that they're beholden to some unseen powers," MAGA-aligned podcaster Tim Pool said Wednesday, adding that he "largely" still trusts the pair.
• Bongino — who left a lucrative podcasting gig to be Patel's deputy — told "Fox and Friends" he was finding it difficult not to be able to reveal information about ongoing investigations, and to be criticized by those who want to "divorce us from the people."
• He and Patel, who parlayed his reputation as one of Trump 1.0's most aggressive lieutenants into MAGA media stardom, have deep wells of goodwill from the base, despite the impatience for disclosures and deep state arrests.

2. The FBI's 38,000-strong workforce was never going to immediately embrace the idea of a couple of its biggest antagonists calling the shots, but it's been a tumultuous few months.

• Bureau veterans have privately mocked Bongino's emphasis on ideas like adding pull-ups to the fitness test and MMA-style training at Quantico.
• Some have pushed back on more substantive decisions, such as devoting scores of agents to partnering with ICE on immigration-related arrests, at the expense of other investigative priorities.

Patel told Fox News that rank-and-file FBI employees are on board with its mission, they're clearing out the old leadership, and recruiting is at a five-year high.

• FBI spokespeople have pushed back on stories about Patel working remotely from Las Vegas, taking government planes to visit his girlfriend in Nashville, or downsizing the early morning briefings that past directors have taken.

3. While Trump has been publicly supportive, he did say it was "a little bit hard to believe" assertions from Patel and other senior law enforcement figures that there was no wider conspiracy behind the assassination attempts against him.

• Democrats such as Sen. Dick Durbin have claimed that because loyalty to Trump earned Patel and Bongino theirs posts, they'll lack the independence of past directors and simply say what Trump wants to hear or tailor investigations to suit the White House.

What they're saying: "Many of these comments are from the same individuals responsible for the shameful politicization of the FBI in the first place. Their criticisms play no factor as we work to clean up the mess they helped leave behind," FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson told Axios.

• "FBI Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino are doing an incredible job protecting the American people and bringing back law and order, justice and fairness to America," said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields.

Driving the news: Patel and Bongino acknowledged in their recent flurry of interviews that their supporters want them to clean house, lock up Trump antagonists like ex-director James Comey, and reveal more about the malfeasance they and their MAGA media colleagues have long alleged the FBI engaged in — including fomenting the Jan. 6 riot and conspiring against Trump.

• Bongino made a plea for time, suggesting the skullduggery ran so deep that it would take months to uncover.
• He also claimed they had just discovered bags of hidden files from the Comey era, and would be prioritizing cases like the discovery of cocaine in the Biden White House.
• Williamson said Patel and Bongino "have committed to working with Congress to provide the American people the accountable and transparent FBI they deserve," and are "grateful for our interagency partners and the leadership of this administration in that pursuit."

Zoom in: Bongino acknowledged the transition from flamethrower to G-man has been jarring. "Part of you dies a little bit when you see all this stuff from behind the scenes," he said on "Fox and Friends".

• He said a former listener told him "I miss you," and that he replied, "You know, I miss me too." He made clear he hates sitting in his FBI office all day and not being able to "swing back" at his critics.
• "It's difficult for me to not be able to respond like I used to, but there'll be a day, there'll be a day," Bongino said. "I'll be back one day."

Tal Axelrod contributed reporting.

• I realized our family spent $2,500 in one month on food delivery.
• We immediately made changes, including strict rules around delivery and planned dinner alternatives.
• After just a few weeks, our spending is down to less than $400, with more savings to come.

My husband and I don't have many major vices. We don't drink, smoke, or do drugs, but we do have one consistent decadence: ordering takeout and delivery.

The luxury of ordering from any restaurant we want instead of cooking is one that we indulge in regularly. After all, my husband works full time, I handle our home and schooling for our teens, and I live with a chronic illness that zaps the rest of my energy. So, a night free from cooking is always a much-needed win.

However, we recently noticed that our spending had gotten extreme. At the beginning of the year, we were ordering dinner to be delivered several days a week. By March, we were ordering in for lunch most days, too. Come April, I realized we hadn't cooked anything more substantial than frozen pizza in our kitchen since February. Looking at our bank statement, I worked out that all this liberal spending was starting to add up to big bucks.

When I saw the total amount spent, the wasted expenses were sickening. In April alone, we spent $2,500 through a single delivery service. To put that into perspective, our monthly mortgage is only $1,500. We were spending $1,000 more than our house payment on delivered food. The realization was shameful and more than a little embarrassing. Something had to change.

How we got into this mess

Having three teenagers already means accommodating their never-ending appetites, but we also have an issue with pickiness. Two of our three kids are exceedingly choosy about what they will and won't eat, making planning for shared meals more complicated. Ordering food to be delivered seemed like the quick fix to that problem, but it really just created more trouble.

Instead of ordering from one restaurant for everyone, we began ordering from multiple places per day to keep the kids happy. But they began to expect this accommodation regularly, adding more cost to each meal.

The other contributor to our food delivery weakness was the effort needed to cook meals regularly. As I mentioned, my husband works full time as a network operations manager for a local school district. He manages a team of 14 employees and oversees the network for about 70 campuses. It goes without saying that he's pretty tired by the end of the day.

While I don't have a typical 9-5 job, I do write freelance, which can be time-consuming when I'm on deadline. I'm also in charge of education for my two high school students and handle daily after-school pick-up and extracurriculars.

On top of these responsibilities, I also have fibromyalgia, a chronic pain and fatigue disease. Affecting my body and mind, it sometimes minimizes my ability to do something as basic as cook dinner for my family.

We devised new solutions for savings

After I told my husband the truth about our food delivery spending, we devised a plan to eliminate the waste.

First, we talked to our kids about cutting back on food delivery and refocusing on cooking at home. We set new rules around when we could and couldn't order. We eliminated delivery orders for desserts and after-school snacks. We would no longer be allowed to order from multiple places for one meal.

We had to cook dinner on the weekdays, with the exception of Mondays, to accommodate our extracurricular schedule. We could also choose one day during the weekend to order food, as long as we followed the other rules.

To make dinner prep less of a chore, we began planning menus a week out. This allowed the kids to decide on alternatives for days when they didn't like family dinner and helped simplify grocery shopping.

Additionally, we added alternatives such as pre-made meals, salads, sandwiches, and frozen entrées to our fridge and freezer spaces, so having no food at home wouldn't be used as an excuse.

We've only been trying this new spending habit since the start of May, but in the first few weeks, our total spending was under $400. It's a massive improvement over $2,500 a month, and as long as we follow our rules, we're guaranteed to save even more.

• I quit my corporate job to open a laundromat business, which is now worth millions.
• I had to learn to be resilient and how to keep pushing forward when the business gets difficult.
• Success doesn't always come in dollar amounts; you have to discover what it means for you.

When most people think about entrepreneurship, they envision hoodie-clad coders building the next tech unicorn. My startup story? It began with dirty socks and a delivery van.

My unusual passion began in my freshman year of college when I started running a laundry pickup and delivery service called Wake Wash. The business was a success, but when graduation approached, my partners wanted to pursue investment banking. Not wanting to be branded as the embarrassing "laundry guy," I sold Wake Wash for $200,000 and reluctantly joined the corporate world.

Management consulting pleased my parents and offered me great colleagues, but it was soul-crushing work. By late 2015, I had quit to launch 2ULaundry, a business inspired by the surge of on-demand services like Rover and Instacart. I thought, "Someone is going to revolutionize laundry and dry cleaning. Why not me?"

In less than a decade, 2ULaundry has become a multimillion-dollar enterprise. We secured about $33 million in funding and established 29 laundromats nationwide.

Here's what I think all entrepreneurs need to know.

First, you have to ignore shiny object syndrome

I could never have imagined that my embarrassing college side hustle would grow into a nine-figure business. But by rejecting the conventional corporate path and mustering up the courage to forge my own, it did exactly that.

My advice to any aspiring entrepreneurs is to ignore "shiny object syndrome" and think independently. Your idea doesn't have to be the most groundbreaking, but it must solve a genuine problem.

Sometimes, the more "boring" businesses that aren't shiny have more stability.

From there, consider what truly motivates you. Is it developing new skills, creating a side hustle while maintaining your day job, achieving financial independence, being a digital nomad, or building a legacy for your family?

The entrepreneurial landscape offers many opportunities, from franchise ownership to real estate investment to creating digital products. The key is to find a balance between market opportunities, your personal passion, and honesty about your time and financial constraints.

Cultivate resilience and be adaptable

Entrepreneurship resembles a hero's journey filled with late nights, sacrifices, and disappointments. Yet I believe people find greater fulfillment, learning opportunities, and societal impact as business owners than as employees.

Working for myself has provided me with purpose and fulfillment far beyond anything I experienced in the corporate world working for someone else. However, success requires extraordinary resilience. Most aspiring entrepreneurs quit when the going gets tough.

I call this mindset "cockroach mode" — the ability to survive and persist when others quit. This is often the difference between failure and success. The entrepreneurs who are ultimately successful aren't always the most innovative or brilliant; they're the ones who refused to abandon their vision or quit when difficulties arose.

Equally important is the willingness to pivot. With 2ULaundry, we pivoted three to four times. What began as a marketplace connecting customers with gig workers who collected their laundry ended up evolving into a physical laundromat franchise with hundreds of delivery vehicles and locations nationwide.

Redefine success on your own terms

Today's culture worships entrepreneurial celebrities like Warren Buffett, Mark Cuban, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos for their wealth, influence, and success. But the true prize isn't necessarily becoming a billionaire; it's controlling your destiny and building something meaningful.

I'm incredibly grateful I took a chance on myself by leaving my unfulfilling desk job to pursue entrepreneurship.

The entrepreneurial path isn't easy, but it offers unparalleled opportunities for growth and financial independence. Whether your venture becomes a popular local business or a multinational corporation, the courage to bet on yourself and create a life on your own terms will serve you for a lifetime.

Alex Smereczniak is the cofounder and former CEO of 2ULaundry. He's now the cofounder and CEO of Franzy, a platform for franchise discovery and acquisition. Connect on LinkedIn.

Demand for second homes is at its lowest in data going back to 2018, Redfin reports.

Why it matters: Vacation homes are losing their luster.

Homeownership costs have soared, and cities are cracking down on short-term rentals.

• Plus, fewer people can work remotely from their beach house or ski chalet these days.

By the numbers: U.S. homebuyers took out around 86,600 mortgages for second homes last year, per Redfin's analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data.

• That's down roughly 5% from a year earlier and 66% from the pandemic homebuying frenzy.

Zoom in: Demand has particularly cratered in Florida as climate-related housing costs swell.

• Mortgages for second homes fell from the previous year in 30 of the 50 most populous metros, led by Miami (-32%), Orlando (-28%) and Fort Lauderdale (-28%).

The big picture: Home sales are sluggish overall, with many shoppers sidelined by high prices, elevated mortgage rates and economic uncertainty.

• Second-home mortgages represented less than 3% of all mortgage originations in 2024 — a record low, per the real estate site.

Reality check: Even wealthy cash buyers are watching their wallets.

• "They are much more likely to make a lowball offer or request concessions than they used to be," Florida agent Lindsay Garcia said in the report.

The intrigue: Travelers may be cooling on second homes, too.

• Budget-conscious guests appear to be delaying or canceling stays at Airbnbs and other rentals, according to analytics firm AirDNA.

What's next: Skipped getaways, slashed wedding budgets, dropped dinner plans — call this the summer of strategic spending.

• I found out in 2021 that I had diabetes.
• My first concern was what the diagnosis would mean for my on-the-go lifestyle.
• Now I'm the healthiest I've ever been, and I'm calling 2025 the "year of yes."

When I found out I had diabetes in February 2021, I thought it was a death sentence. I was in denial, especially since I ate a healthy diet and exercised.

Still, for months, I felt exhausted and run down to the point where some days it was hard to get out of bed. Part of me was relieved to understand why I was experiencing these symptoms, but I was mostly overwhelmed and scared about the unknowns of how this could change my life.

I knew about type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but like many people, I didn't fully grasp how they're different. And what threw me for a bigger loop: I have the less common type, 1.5.

My diagnosis hasn't slowed me down

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition, while type 2 diabetes is more related to lifestyle factors like obesity and lack of exercise, along with genetics. Type 1.5 diabetes is when your pancreas slowly stops producing insulin in adulthood, usually around age 40, which is what happened in my case.

As you might expect, my social media algorithm has gotten much more health-focused since I've been grappling with my diabetes diagnosis. I've seen hundreds, maybe thousands, of videos offering tips and tricks to manage glucose levels. It can be overwhelming, especially when the diagnosis is still fresh.

One of my primary worries when I was diagnosed was what this would mean for my on-the-go lifestyle. Would I have to slow down? I found out the answer was no. I could still be just as social and fulfilled as ever.

Between *NSYNC reuniting for Dreamworks' Trolls, children's book press tours, new TV projects, and hosting the Christmas tree lighting at The Grove — or even volunteering at the local animal shelter — I've realized diabetes didn't hold me back. It's just something I manage along the way.

Integrating my family into my diabetes management routine has been helpful, too. My husband always asks me if I've packed my insulin before I leave the house, knowing that I can be forgetful in packing my supplies.

My two 3-year-old kids also think it's fun to watch me change my CGM sensor, used to measure glucose levels providing real time readings, and like to see my glucose levels on my phone. I try to explain my diabetes to them in a kid-friendly way. Even though they might not fully understand it yet, I think it's important to be open about it with them.

Fun fact: I've also learned that people with diabetes can still consume sugar. However, they need to manage it carefully. Sure, I can have the birthday cake, but just a few bites. It's about balance, checking my glucose levels, monitoring the way I eat, and portion control. And now I can get away with housing Reese's Peanut Butter Cups on my nightstand in case my glucose levels drop in the middle of the night.

I've figured out my new lifestyle

I feel lucky to have diabetes during a time when it's much easier to manage than it was five years ago. The first time a CGM sent information to a cellphone was in 2015, and since then, they've gotten more accurate and discreet.

At the beginning of my diagnosis, I was constantly pricking my finger to measure my blood sugar. It was incredibly time-consuming and challenging to keep up with.

Now I use a Dexcom G7 continuous glucose monitor (CGM) — which I am now an ambassador for — that has made it easier to manage my diabetes. This small wearable measures my blood glucose and helps me identify factors that maintain my glucose levels, such as incorporating electrolytes and weightlifting.

With the help of doctors, I've figured out what lifestyle adjustments work best for me. I'm increasingly wary of the health information I see on social media, especially if it isn't coming from a licensed professional. Now that I'm blocking out the noise, I'm the healthiest I've ever been and feel confident managing my diabetes.

I'm calling 2025 my "year of yes," which to me means taking every opportunity to travel and experience everything I can. This is a 180 from how I felt in the early days of my diabetes diagnosis.

• Voice AI is already part of restaurants' drive-thru and phone ordering systems.
• Now, some companies are trying to make their AI assistants sound more like real people.
• Domino's, for instance, uses different accents for its AI in different parts of the US.

AI is finding its voice — and using it to take your weeknight pizza order.

Restaurants, including Domino's and Wingstop, have used voice AI assistants for years to chat with customers on the phone and take their orders. Lately, though, they've been finessing those assistants by adding region-specific accents, adjusting their tone, and making other changes that make them more natural for customers to converse with.

"If someone hears a really off-putting, unrelatable voice, they're going to hang up," said Lily Clifford, the CEO and founder of Rime Labs, which developed the text-to-voice model that Domino's and Wingstop use.

Multiple restaurant chains are using voice AI to take customers' orders. But Rime's experience shows that it's not as easy as shoving an AI assistant with a robotic voice in a drive-thru or on one end of a phone line.

Rime develops the text-to-voice technology that Domino's uses for phone ordering. Another company, ConverseNow, provides the AI assistant itself.

When ConverseNow started working with Domino's about five years ago, it used a different voice that many customers didn't want to speak with, said Akshay Kayastha, director of engineering at ConverseNow.

"There was one point where 50% of the people were just saying they just didn't want to talk to it," and asked to be transferred to a human, he said.

Rime's technology has pushed that number closer to 100%, Clifford said. Domino's uses the text-to-voice feature in about 80% of its phone orders in North America, she added.

"It should sound like someone who could work at Domino's and not someone who is a 20th-century American broadcast radio announcer," Clifford said.

To develop its technology, Rime built a recording studio in San Francisco and recorded a variety of people having conversations with a friend or a family member. The goal, Clifford said, was to capture what day-to-day speech sounds like instead of using voice actors reading rehearsed lines.

The resulting technology can use a variety of speech patterns.

Domino's customers who order by phone in Atlanta, for instance, are likely to reach an AI assistant that speaks with a Southern accent. Rime says that it has also developed a voice that speaks using African-American Vernacular English. The voices that Rime uses don't belong to real people, though, Clifford said.

Tone is another area where Rime's technology has improved voice AI, Kayastha said.

One restaurant chain that ConverseNow works with pointed out a problem with an earlier version of the startup's voice AI: It sounded more chipper than most fast-food workers. Rime's technology helped match the tone to the situation, Kayastha said.

"No one in real life speaks so cheerfully at a drive-thru," he said. "You've got to turn it down."

The voice-to-text technology also correctly pronounces specific menu items, such as MeatZZa, a Domino's pizza with pepperoni, ham, Italian sausage, and beef. That's key for restaurants, Clifford said, given all of the unconventional spellings and limited-time offers that appear on their menus.

Domino's has grown its online ordering options lately. Customers can place orders on Domino's website, through its app, or through third-party services like Uber and DoorDash.

But phone orders remain a key part of the pizza chain's business, CEO Russell Weiner said during an earnings call in late 2023.

"We have a large number of our customers coming in on online ordering, but we still need to make sure that the phones are there operationally," Weiner said.

Domino's and Wingstop did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Workers across many industries are worried that their bosses will use AI to replace them. Clifford said that Rime's restaurant clients aren't using its AI voice technology to replace employees, though.

Restaurant workers are often too busy preparing food, helping customers who show up in-store, and completing other tasks to take phone orders, she said. In that sense, voice AI that can field orders is taking a task off their plate.

"If you're at the restaurant making pizzas and wings, you do not want to answer that phone," Clifford said. "You have a million other things to do."