From exclusive items to portion sizes, we wanted to find all the differences between the US and UK Burger King menus in 2024 and see what's changed since 2020. This is "Food Wars."

• Kate Middleton announced she is in remission after her cancer diagnosis.
• On Tuesday, she visited The Royal Marsden Hospital. It's where she received her treatment.
• The Princess of Wales revealed she had cancer in March 2024.

Kate Middleton said she is in remission from cancer.

On Tuesday, the Princess of Wales visited The Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, speaking with patients and sharing that she received treatment at the center after she was diagnosed with cancer in 2024.

In the caption of an Instagram post about the visit, Kate said she was officially in remission.

"It is a relief to now be in remission and I remain focussed on recovery," she said in the post. "As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal. I am however looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead. There is much to look forward to. Thank you to everyone for your continued support."

Kate previously announced she had finished her chemotherapy in September 2024 after revealing she was undergoing treatment for cancer in March.

Kensington Palace didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

• Indeed released its list of the best jobs for the year based on pay and other factors.
• The career site ranked the job list based on the share of postings on its platform.
• Structural engineers, attorneys, and physicians were part of the top 10.

Career site Indeed found that if you're looking for work as a veterinarian, civil engineer, or structural engineer, 2025 could be your year.

Indeed published a list of the best jobs for the year based on growth in job postings, flexibility, and typical salary. To be included in the ranking, jobs needed a median annual salary of at least $75,000, at least 5% of their postings had to have been for hybrid or remote roles, and they had to have had job-posting growth on Indeed of at least 20% between December 2021 and this past December.

"I think we do see a rather large amount of variety on this list, and although they may be somewhat technical or some require more specialized education and training, it's not always a catchall," Gabrielle Davis, a career trends expert at Indeed, said. "There are usually different avenues or different ways to approach some of these different fields as well if you're either interested in breaking out into them or even career changing."

Indeed's post about the results said, "healthcare and engineering endure as dominant sectors." Physicians had a median salary of $225,000, and demand based on Indeed job postings has increased.

"It's kind of showing the need for the workforce to balance both deep technical knowledge and the ability to tackle evolving societal needs," Davis told Business Insider.

While job growth in December was strong, economists who spoke to Business Insider before that data was available think tech job seekers and others may have a hard time finding work this year.

Below are the top 10 best jobs, along with their median posted salaries on Indeed, growth in job postings between December 2021 and this past December, and the share of postings that offer remote or hybrid work. Indeed ranked the jobs by the share of postings on its platform.

10. Structural engineer

Salary: $110,725

Growth in job postings: 127%

Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 18.8%

"I think one of the biggest trends that pop out is that we're seeing this resurgence and really strong representation of more traditional roles like engineers, physicians, attorneys, nurses," Davis said about the results.

Structural engineer is one of the engineering jobs that made the list. Davis said this job plays a "key role in the infrastructure of different cities or buildings, whether it's more on a corporate versus residential area."

9. Fire engineer

Salary: $110,000

Growth in job postings: 136%

Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 12.4%

8. Clinical psychologist

Salary: $118,597

Growth in job postings: 75%

Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 34.6%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said people typically need a doctoral or professional degree for entry into clinical and counseling psychologist jobs. BLS also said there could be different licensing requirements by state to become a psychologist.

"Most psychologists need supervised experience to qualify for licensure, which may include an internship or postdoctoral training," BLS said. "These experiences provide an opportunity for prospective psychologists to use their knowledge in an applied setting."

7. Territory manager

Salary: $80,348

Growth in job postings: 43%

Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 19.9%

Davis said this job typically involves overseeing sales in a specific area or region, and may also help with training workers and guiding customer service.

"They'll often work with different departments to help increase the sales and revenue," Davis said.

6. Attorney

Salary: $145,168

Growth in job postings: 90%

Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 28.6%

This typically high-paying job usually requires several years of law school.

"Newly hired attorneys usually start as associates and work on teams with more experienced lawyers," the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

5. Estimator

Salary: $99,592

Growth in job postings: 51%

Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 6.8%

4. Civil engineer

Salary: $100,872

Growth in job postings: 104%

Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 12.2%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said this job typically requires a bachelor's degree for entry.

"Employers usually prefer to hire graduates of civil engineering programs accredited by ABET," the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. "Some students attend schools that have cooperative-education programs (also known as co-ops); others participate in internships."

3. Physician

Salary: $225,000

Growth in job postings: 76%

Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 5.3%

Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, physicians typically require a doctoral or professional degree, and the typical on-the-job training needed for competency is participating in internships or residency programs.

2. Sales representative

Salary: $182,487

Growth in job postings: 76%

Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 15.7%

"I always consider one of the greatest entry-level point jobs for folks who are either looking to break into more of the corporate world or career changers," Davis said about sales representatives. "I think it's really common to see a lot of folks that might have been teachers in a past life, for example, switching over to sales."

1. Veterinarian

Salary: $139,999

Growth in job postings: 124%

Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 7.3%

The increase in pet ownership is impacting some Americans' spending and could also be partly behind the demand for veterinarians. Davis said this job has seen substantial growth over the past few years, based on Indeed's data.

"Similar to mirroring the aging human population, there's also this growing and aging population for pets as well, which may kind of contribute to some of the different advancements that we're seeing in veterinary medicine and furthering the need for this care," Davis said.

• Could Elon Musk buy TikTok?
• Several reports say that's what Chinese government officials are contemplating.
• It sure seems like a stretch! And there are lots of downsides. But we're in a weird time, where weird deals could become reality.

MuskTok?

I mean, on the one hand — why not? We're already in a world where Mark Zuckerberg is using Donald Trump's election as a reason to change the way Meta maintains its restrooms. (Seriously.)

So why not have Elon Musk swoop in with a deal to buy TikTok from ByteDance, the Chinese company that currently owns it, to get around a law that's meant to ban the service on January 19?

That's what Chinese government officials are pondering, per Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal. The Financial Times, meanwhile, reports that China is merely hoping that Musk will somehow "broker" a solution. (Musk didn't respond to a request for comment from the FT or BI.)

All of the reports convey the sense that all of this is … fluid, at best. All three note that it's unclear how much anyone at TikTok or ByteDance knows about any of this. And Beijing's thoughts about this are "very preliminary and mostly brainstorming," an official tells the FT.

TikTok, for its part, relayed the same statement to me that it provided to other reporters on Monday night: "We can't be expected to comment on pure fiction."

So, it's hard to get too worked up about something that seems like it's in the barely-on-the-drawing-board stage.

Still, we are in a world — again — where barely-there ideas have to be taken at least seriously, if not literally. Ask the residents of Greenland.

So, for the record: Elon Musk makes perfect sense as a TikTok owner. He has the capital, the technical capacity, and the political backing to make it happen.

When I suggested this back in March, I also noted that this would be a terrible idea since Musk's track record at Twitter shows what happens when you give him control of a social media platform — he runs it erratically and scares off users and advertisers.

That's all still true.

My hunch, though, is that, unlike Twitter, TikTok would likely weather Musk's ownership much better simply because of its nature: It's a very big video entertainment service, and even if a meaningful number of users leave because they don't like Musk's ownership, many others would stick around because they like being entertained by videos. The same goes for advertisers.

That is: Even a diminished TikTok would certainly be of use to both Musk and many TikTok constituents. And certainly, many of TikTok's 170 million US users would rather use a Musk-owned TikTok — if they even knew who owned it in the first place — than go without a TikTok at all.

I still have many, many questions about how any of this would work in reality.

Starting with this: The law on this one is quite clear: In order to avoid an effective ban by January 19, TikTok needs a new US owner — or, failing that, Joe Biden, who is still the US president, can provide a one-time, 90-day extension on the ban, if there's "significant" progress on a deal, including a "binding legal agreement" to get something done.

So assuming neither thing happens over the next few days — and the Supreme Court upholds the law, as observers seem to think will happen — what would the plan be? Come back days, weeks, or months later with a new law to reverse the old one — even though the last one had overwhelming support from Congress? But before we get too deep on any of this, let's see what happens in the next few days.

• I've had a Costco executive membership for nearly two decades, and I use it to shop for my family.
• For dinner, we pick up essentials for pasta and pizza nights, plus frozen vegetables.
• I prepare meals using Costco's 10-pound ground-beef tube, which is available by request.

I've been a Costco executive member for about 17 years now, and I rely on the warehouse chain when buying groceries for my family of four.

Our executive membership is a huge help for saving money. Although it costs more than a standard Costco membership, we get an annual 2% back on eligible purchases. For us, it pays for itself and then some every year.

Here are Costco meal staples I buy for prepping dinner for myself, my husband, and our two teens.

Prices may vary by location.

We stock up on Kirkland Signature boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

My family prefers thighs to breasts as they're more flavorful, easier to cook, and often cheaper.

So, we stock up on Kirkland Signature boneless, skinless thighs and freeze whatever we don't use right away.

We often grill them, slather them in mayonnaise to make family-favorite Parmesan-crusted chicken, toss them into soups, or chop them up for stir-fries.

Costco's best-kept-secret is its 10-pound beef tube, which is available by request.

At Costco, we head to the meat counter and ask the butcher if we can buy the 10-pound tube of ground beef.

We prefer this over the smaller package trays on display in the meat section, mostly because of the price. On a recent trip, the tube cost $4.39 a pound — 10 cents cheaper a pound than the other packages of ground beef available.

When I pack this for freezing, I squeeze portions straight from the tube into my vacuum-sealing bags, which is much easier than picking chunks out of the foam trays.

Caesar-salad kits can be an easy dinner base.

We usually pick up a 24-ounce Earthbound Farms organic Caesar-salad kit for $9.

It pairs nicely with grilled chicken or steak and a baguette for a light but pleasing dinner that requires little effort. On a good day, our kids prep the salad and my husband grills the meat we add to it.

I buy and freeze Kirkland Signature shredded mozzarella.

On movie nights, I make homemade pizza. I already prepare my own dough and sauce, so I want my cheese pre-shredded.

I like using Kirkland Signature shredded mozzarella because it's dry enough not to bog down a pizza. I pick up the 5-pound twin pack and break the bags into pizza-night-sized portions that I freeze until I'm ready to use.

Kirkland Signature spinach-and-cheese ravioli is good on its own or in "lasagna."

Kirkland Signature spinach-and-cheese ravioli are handy when I want to toss together ravioli pomodoro in a flash.

These are also good for ravioli "lasagna," where these replace typical noodles as a shortcut to save time and use fewer ingredients.

I like getting packs of Garofalo pasta at Costco.

I love Garofalo tricolor organic pasta and can sometimes get six 1-pound packages for $10 at Costco.

The colors and shapes are fun, and the pasta is delicious. I use the noodles to make all sorts of dinners, from cacio e pepe to pasta Bolognese.

Trident fish sticks are so easy to prepare.

I can get 60 Trident fish sticks for $15 at Costco, and they're super convenient when I don't feel like cooking a full meal.

I pop these babies in the oven, then pair them with frozen fries, peas, and tartar sauce for fish and chips with little-to-no effort.

Kirkland Signature raw, tail-on shrimp is a staple.

We usually pick up a 2-pound bag of Kirkland Signature raw, tail-on shrimp for about $12.

I like to pair the shrimp with fries and roasted vegetables for a low-effort meal. The kids usually mix up cocktail sauce to go with the shrimp, too.

Frozen vegetable mixes are so versatile.

The Kirkland Signature Normandy vegetable mix is hard to beat at $11 for 5 ½ pounds of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. If freezer space is low, I break up the large bag into smaller packages.

Fortunately, frozen vegetables can be used in so many ways.

I put them in soups and pasta primavera. I've also leaned into treating veggies like meat, so I toss them in olive oil and spice rubs and roast them as a side.

We use Lotus Foods organic millet-and-brown-rice ramen noodles often.

Lotus Foods organic millet-and-brown-rice ramen noodles are one of my favorite gluten-free finds at Costco.

We tried them after learning about my daughter's gluten allergy, and I like that the noodles have a texture our whole family enjoys.

We make a lot of soup dishes in the winter and these noodles never disappoint, whether we're using them in khao soi or ramen.

They're a great deal at Costco, too. We pay $9 for 30 ounces of noodles, which works out to 30 cents an ounce. At our local grocery store, these can cost $7 for a 10-ounce package — or 70 cents an ounce.

Kirkland Signature organic quinoa is tasty in a lot of dishes.

My husband has fallen in love with quinoa, which works for me because I hate rice. This grain serves as a nice base for a lot of our meals that typically use the former.

I buy the 4-½- pound bag of Kirkland Signature organic quinoa for $9. It lasts us a while and we've learned this is way cheaper than buying quinoa at our local grocery store.

Click to keep reading Costco diaries like this one.

• Toyota's North American employees have been recalled back to the office starting in September.
• Salaried employees will be required to be in the office from Monday through Thursday.
• Toyota employs more than 64,000 people in North America.

Many of Toyota's North American employees are being recalled back to the office Monday through Thursday starting in September.

Bloomberg first reported on the move. A spokesperson for the Japanese automaker confirmed the news to Business Insider but offered no further details.

Employees will be allowed to work from home on Fridays "subject to business needs," the outlet reported.

Toyota is the latest corporate giant to order employees back to the office. Amazon, AT&T, Boeing, and Salesforce have all recently issued to return to office requirements for their employees.

Toyota employs more than 64,000 people in North America in 14 factories, as well as in design, engineering, and corporate offices.

The automaker sold more than 2.3 million Lexus and Toyota-branded cars, trucks, and SUVs in the US in 2024, up 3.7 percent from 2023.

Are you a Toyota employee affected by the news? If so, reach out to this reporter at [email protected].

• "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" follows Natalia Grace Mans' life.
• Michael and Kristine Barnett adopted her and petitioned a court to re-age her.
• Natalia no longer lives with the Barnetts, who have divorced. Here's what we know about them today.

"The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" explores the complex story of Natalia Grace Mans and the legal saga involving Natalia and her former adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett.

Natalia, a Ukrainian orphan with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, was adopted by the Barnetts, who later abandoned Natalia after claiming she was actually an adult pretending to be a child. The now-divorced couple, who said they believed Natalia to be six years old when they first adopted her in 2010, claimed that Natalia made violent threats against family members — including trying to poison Kristine — and that she had pubic hair and menstrual cycles. Natalia has consistently denied all of the Barnetts' claims regarding her violent behavior and faking her age.

After sending their adopted daughter to a psychiatric hospital, Michael and Kristine became convinced that Natalia was secretly an adult and successfully petitioned in court to change Natalia's age from eight to 22, altering her birth year from 2003 to 1989. The Barnetts then moved Natalia into an independent apartment, first in Westfield, Indiana, in 2012, and then in Lafayette, Indiana, in 2013 and left the country, moving to Canada to support their eldest son's graduate education. In 2019, they faced neglect charges in connection to Natalia's case. Michael was acquitted of the charges in October 2022, and the charges against Kristine were dismissed in March 2023.

"The Curious Case of Natalia Grace" first aired on Investigation Discovery in May 2023 and focused on the Barnett family's perspective. In the second part of the documentary series titled "Natalia Speaks," which aired in January 2024, Natalia told her side of the story. The third installment, titled "The Final Chapter," premiered in January 2025 and focuses on her departure from the Mans family.

In "Natalia Speaks," Natalia alleged that her adoptive mother, Kristine Barnett, abused her as a child and coached her to say that she was older than she actually was. Michael said in a conversation with Natalia featured in the documentary that his ex-wife also manipulated him, and said that Kristine, who didn't participate in the docuseries, was cruel to Natalia.

When reached for comment, Kristine Barnett said in an email to Business Insider that allegations that she "abandoned" or "abused" Natalia were false, maintaining that Natalia was determined to be an adult by parties other than herself and Michael. She said that she had declined to participate in the ID docuseries.

"The 'evidence' presented on the TV show did not go through the courts or any legal standards to be verified as true," she said.

Here's everything we know about where Michael and Kristine Barnett are now.

Michael and Kristine split in 2014

The Barnetts split up long before they made their claims against Natalia public in 2019.

The Lafayette Journal & Courier reported that Michael Barnett left Canada in late 2013 and moved back to Indianapolis. Per court documents accessed by USA Today, Kristine said Michael moved back to Indiana after an unspecified "incident impacting the children" in fall 2013 before filing for divorce from her in February 2014. Their divorce was finalized four years later.

Michael later remarried, he says in the docuseries.

In 2019, the former couple were charged with neglecting Natalia

While Natalia was legally an adult due to the Barnetts re-aging her in court, she was still classified as a dependent of the Barnetts as a result of her disability.

In 2019, Michael and Kristine were charged with neglect of a dependent, Fox 59 reported citing court documents filed in Tippecanoe County in Indiana. According to the Lafayette Journal & Courier in 2022, the couple were specifically charged with neglect of a dependent, neglect of a dependent causing bodily injury, neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury, and conspiracy to neglect a dependent.

Testifying in court against Michael during his trial, Natalia explained how her rare kind of dwarfism can cause skeletal abnormalities and issues with vision and hearing. According to Natalia, she was unable to bathe herself or use a washing machine due to her mobility issues and subsisted mostly on instant noodles, pizza, and peanut butter sandwiches while living on her own in Indiana.

Michael Barnett was acquitted of neglect charges after a jury trial

Per the Journal & Courier, Michael turned himself in to authorities in September 2019, and bonded out. At the time, records indicated that he lived in Indianapolis.

Per the same publication, an October 2019 gag order meant that anyone involved in the case was forbidden from making public comments about the case.

Michael was acquitted of the charges in October 2022. In the documentary series, Natalia says that Michael reached out to her to speak after the gag order was lifted. During the conversation, he said that he and Natalia had "the same monster" in Kristine, but ultimately stormed out of the encounter after Natalia's guardian, Bishop Antwon Mans, asked him to stop swearing.

A lawyer for Michael Barnett declined to comment when reached by Business Insider.

Michael Barnett also appeared in "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter," which premiered in January 2025. He said that he hoped Natalia would be able to "find happiness."

"I'm just trying to move on. I'm gonna do everything I can to not think about it," Michael said in episode one of "The Final Chapter."

Kristine Barnett's neglect charges were dismissed

Kristine turned herself in shortly after Michael in September 2019, according to the Journal & Courier. At the time, her jail records showed that she lived in Bradenton, Florida, though the charges listed an Indianapolis address.

In March 2023, a Tippecanoe County judge signed the order to dismiss the charges against Kristine, per the Journal & Courier, citing "insufficient evidence" at trial to prove the charges in this case beyond a reasonable doubt."

In 2013, Kristine published the book "The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing, Genius, and Autism" about raising her son Jacob. In a January 10 audio space on X, which Kristine sent to BI via email, she said that the allegations against her interfered with her career as a parenting author and consultant.

"I don't know when I'll be back to work. I want to be back to work," Kristine said in the space around the 2:06:00 mark. "I've been waking up every day for the past five years mourning the fact that my work is gone. I hope I get it back."

All four episodes of "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter" are streaming on Max.

• Los Angeles wildfires have burned 40,000 acres, killing 24 and destroying 12,000 structures.
• Goldman Sachs estimates the fires as one of the 20 costliest US natural disasters.
• The firm took stock of the impact the fires will have on US GDP and the labor market.

The devastating wildfires across Los Angeles are sparking concerns about the potential impact on the broader economy.

Early estimates of the total damage rank the wildfire as one of the 20 costliest natural disasters as a share of GDP in US history, according to Goldman Sachs.

Insured losses are expected to reach as high as $30 billion, and AccuWeather estimates the total economic losses from the fire could be as high as $275 billion.

Goldman Sachs took stock of the impact the fires are expected to have on broad readings of the US economy.

The bank estimates that first-quarter GDP growth will decline by 0.2 percentage points, which excludes offsetting effects from a rapid rebuild of communities, which has typically followed past wildfires.

For the January employment report, Goldman Sachs estimates "a modest drag" of 15,000 to 25,000 jobs due to the wildfires because "only about 0.5% of California's population is currently under evacuation order or warning."

For weekly unemployment insurance claims, the bank said it doesn't see a huge uptick driven by the wildfires.

"Timely alternative data have not shown a noticeable pickup in online searches for unemployment benefits since the start of the first," economists at Goldman Sachs said. "As a result, we expect another low initial claims reading on Thursday."

A potential rise in inflation has been a main market concern in recent months, and insurance represents a component of inflation reports.

But Goldman Sachs doesn't expect higher insurance costs driven by the wildfires to impact inflation meaningfully.

"Our insurance equity analysts expect limited spillover to prices outside of California and because the weight of homeowners' insurance in the PCE price index is just 0.1%," Goldman Sachs explained.

Additionally, Jeffrey Mezger, the CEO of homebuilder KB Home, said the resulting rebuild efforts in Los Angeles should not lead to an uptick in inflation related to labor and materials.

"The population is big and the capacity is there to handle a lot. So I don't expect a lot of labor or material pinch," Mezger said in his company's earnings call on Monday.

Goldman Sachs cautioned that with the Eaton and Palisades fires at about 33% and 14% containment as of Monday evening, there remains considerable uncertainty about the ultimate property damages, including insured and uninsured losses.

• Ukraine carried out what it said was its "largest attack" against Russian military facilities.
• The operation early on Tuesday targeted military and energy sites across Russia.
• It marks Ukraine's latest effort to degrade the Kremlin's war machine.

Ukraine said its forces carried out what it described as their "largest attack" of the war against Russia's military facilities on Tuesday, hitting targets — including a key airbase — hundreds of miles across the border.

A Ukrainian military drone unit, the 14th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Regiment, said it attacked infrastructure at the Engels-2 airbase, home to Russia's Tu-95 and Tu-160 bomber aircraft.

The strikes targeted an oil storage facility that supplied fuel for the bombers at Engels, a strategic base located nearly 400 miles into Russia in the Saratov region. It marked the second time in less than a week that Ukraine attacked the site, causing a fire.

"A multi-day complex operation to reduce the enemy's strategic aviation capabilities has been completed," the 14th wrote in a statement.

Closer to home, the Ukrainian military said that it hit a chemical plant in the city of Seltso in Russia's Bryansk region and destroyed two anti-aircraft systems. Kyiv said the Seltso facility produces artillery and rocket ammunition, as well as parts for Kh-59 cruise missiles.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, a branch of the military that was formally established last year, said that drones were used to distract the Russian air defenses before missiles rained down on the site. Kyiv employed the same tactic in an attack on a warehouse last week.

During the huge overnight operation, the Ukrainian military also struck the Saratov Oil Refinery and the Kazanorgsintez Plant, causing fires at the sites. It vowed to continue striking facilities that provide Russia with ammunition, military equipment, and fuel.

Russia's defense ministry said that its forces shot down nearly 150 drones outside the "special military operation" zone, a term Moscow uses to refer to its invasion of Ukraine. It mentioned the attack in Bryansk and said Kyiv fired US-provided tactical ballistic missiles but did not provide any details about the other locations.

Business Insider could not independently verify all the reported details of the operation.

The widespread strikes this week are Ukraine's latest cross-border attacks inside Russia. Kyiv has used missiles and drones to target key military and energy facilities across the country as it looks to degrade Moscow's war machine and complicate its operations nearly three years into the conflict.

The strike campaign highlights Ukraine's long reach and its ability to threaten critical facilities hundreds of miles inside Russia using both locally manufactured and Western-provided weapons.

• Starbucks is extending its free refills policy to non-rewards members with reusable cups.
• Customers at participating stores will be eligible for a top-up of many brewed coffee and teas.
• Starbucks is also reversing its open-door policy, limiting facilities to paying customers and staff.

Starbucks is expanding its free refills policy to all customers at participating stores as part of its new code of conduct, effective January 27.

Non-rewards members at the coffee giant will soon be able to receive refills at no extra cost as long as their beverage is prepared in a clean reusable cup or a for-here utensil. They also must order in-store and within the same visit.

The offer includes hot and iced brewed coffee and tea but excludes flavored iced tea, cold brew, nitro cold brew, iced tea lemonade, and its Refreshers.

Starbucks rewards members were previously the only ones who could get a free top-up of their order. From February 12th, loyal customers will also have to use a reusable cup or a ceramic in-house mug to be eligible for a refill.

The Seattle-headquartered coffee chain said on Monday that it would also reverse its open-door policy.

The policy was first introduced in 2018 after Starbucks faced widespread criticism over an incident in which two men having a business meeting were arrested at a Philadelphia location after they tried to use the restroom without purchasing anything.

The policy lets non-paying guests use store facilities, like bathrooms, indoor communal areas, and patios.

From January 27th, these spaces will only be reserved for staff, customers, and people accompanying those making purchases.

"Implementing a Coffeehouse Code of Conduct is something most retailers already have and is a practical step that helps us prioritize our paying customers who want to sit and enjoy our cafés or need to use the restroom during their visit," Starbucks' representative Jaci Anderson told BI in an emailed statement.

The changes come as new CEO Brian Niccol sets out his vision to make Starbucks cafés places where people want to hang out again.

• Kevin Egan, a former chief sales officer at Atlassian, has joined the venture-capital firm IVP.
• Egan worked in the trenches of Salesforce, Dropbox, and Slack in the early days of the cloud.
• At IVP, Egan will help close investments and assist portfolio companies with their sales strategy.

IVP, a 45-year-old venture-capital firm that has backed Slack, Coinbase, Glean, and Perplexity, is building out its brain trust with the addition of Kevin Egan as a venture partner. Egan stepped down as chief sales officer at Atlassian in August.

Egan is an enterprise sales guru who scaled Salesforce, Slack, and Dropbox in the early days of the cloud. Now he's joining one of the most enduring venture firms on Sand Hill Road to help its startups at an inflection point — they've figured out a product that the market wants and now need to scale it, said Ajay Vashee, a general partner at IVP.

"Kevin was the go-to-market exec that helped to make that happen for us," said Vashee, who worked with Egan at Dropbox as chief financial officer.

Salesforce to Slack

Egan has worked in the trenches of some of the fastest-growing enterprise software companies of the past 25 years. He spent a decade at Salesforce in sales and operations before Dropbox brought him on in 2012.

Dropbox was the king of cloud storage, with 100 million users, but it had yet to push into the business market. Egan won over big clients such as Under Armour and NBCUniversal, helping establish the cash flow Dropbox needed to go public. He left in 2016 amid a flurry of executive departures.

Egan spent the past 3 ½ years at Atlassian, the $63 billion maker of collaboration software like Jira and Trello. That company exploded during the pandemic because of the rapid adoption of cloud services, though growth slowed as software sales cycles broadly became longer and more expensive in a weak economy. Egan said he was able to control churn by getting "closer to the customer" and helping them realize the financial return on their investment.

Following years of softening software spending, the outlook is brightening, Vashee said. Startups such as Jasper, which develops workflow tools for marketing teams, and Superhuman, an email app that drafts replies and summarizes emails, are seeing traction selling into the business market, said Vashee, who's invested in both.

Enterprises are investing in AI tools as they recognize the long-term efficiencies and competitive advantages that software can provide. Recent leaps in the field and the shrinking cost of computing have also amplified their interest.

"What a lot of those companies have realized, and what the broader ecosystem has come to terms with, is that the real opportunity is in the more focused enterprise applications of AI," Vashee said. That has forced some companies to evolve their sales strategy, a task that's squarely in Egan's wheelhouse.

In his new role, Egan will help source and close new investments and work with portfolio companies to strategize how to scale faster and better. He adds to the firm's bench of former operators in venture partner roles, including Tamar Yehoshua, who is also a product leader at the buzzy enterprise search startup Glean.

In addition to Egan, IVP has poached Zeya Young from Andreessen Horowitz and Miloni Madan Presler from Summit Partners, the firm told Business Insider exclusively. Yang focuses on AI, enterprise software, and healthcare companies, while Madan Presler invests in enterprise software and infrastructure companies. The firm is also hiring a partner in its London office.

• Mark Zuckerberg told staff Tuesday that Meta will make "more extensive performance-based cuts."
• Meta plans to cut 5% of its lowest performers, according to a separate memo sent to managers.
• Last week, Meta said it would roll back DEI initiatives and get rid of third-party fact-checkers.

Meta is planning to cut 5% of its lowest performers, Business Insider has learned.

Mark Zuckerberg has told employees he "decided to raise the bar on performance management" and act quickly to "move out low-performers," according to an internal memo seen by BI.

The Meta chief wrote in a post on Workplace, the company's internal forum, that the company will make "more extensive performance-based cuts" during this year's performance review cycle.

Two Meta employees told BI that the company kickstarted its annual performance review process last week by having employees submit their self-reviews, peer reviews, and manager reviews.

Zuckerberg said that impacted employees in the US would be notified on February 10.

In a separate memo seen by BI, Meta's director of people development growth programs, Hillary Champion, told managers that the changes would mean "exiting approximately 5% of our lowest performers."

Meta employed 72,404 people globally as of September 30, 2024, according to its most recent earnings report.

Champion added that employees terminated for performance will '"receive generous severance packages, in line with previous cuts

Meta last week said it would dismantle its DEI-focused team and scrap diversity programs in its hiring process. The company's vice president of human resources, Janelle Gale, said in the memo announcing the changes that the term DEI has "become charged" partly because it is "understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others."

It also made changes to its content moderation policies earlier that week, including getting rid of third-party fact-checkers in favor of a community notes model similar to X.

In March 2023, Meta laid off 10,000 workers — the second wave of cuts at the company in four months — in what Zuckerberg called Meta's "year of efficiency."

Meta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Read the full memo below:

Meta is working on building some of the most important technologies in the world - - AI, glasses as the next computing platform, and the future of social media. This is going to be an intense year, and I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams.

I've decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster. We typically manage out people who aren't meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now we're going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle - - with the intention of backfilling these roles in 2025. We won't manage out everyone who didn't meet expectations for the last period if we're optimistic about their future performance, and for those we do let go we'll provide generous severance in line with what we've provided with previous cuts.

We'll follow up with more guidance for managers ahead of calibrations. People who are impacted will be notified on February 10 -- or later for those outside the US.

Letting people go is never easy. But I'm confident this will strengthen our teams and help us build leading technology to enable the future of human connection.

• This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Come see how good we look! We've redesigned our homepage and boy does it look pretty. Check it out for yourself.

In today's big story, plans for building the country's tallest, most expensive skyscraper show the challenges around the RTO debate.

What's on deck

Markets: The key to understanding who crushed earnings might be the US dollar.

Tech: There's a new person in one of Amazon's most-prized roles.

Business: Businesses are rushing to cash in on Gen Zers looking for booze-free fun.

But first, the cost of doing business.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

Sky is the limit

New York City. A new massive — and expensive — skyscraper. Donald Trump.

Plans for 175 Park Avenue have a little bit of everything. They also represent the challenges that come with Corporate America's continued push to get workers back into the office.

Business Insider's Dan Geiger has a story on how New York developers RXR and TF Cornerstone are hoping to build a 1,575-foot-tall office and hotel tower next to Grand Central Terminal with a little help from the federal government.

The tower, which would be the tallest in the US by roof height, won't come cheap. At an estimated cost of $6.5 billion to construct, it would also be the country's most expensive.

That's a hefty bill to foot in the best of circumstances, let alone when serious questions remain about the market for office space.

However, the developers have a unique workaround, Dan reports. They're hoping work they're planning on doing to the neighboring train terminal and subway station will allow them to tap into federal funding.

That's where the president-elect comes in. The federal money is discretionary and distributed by the US Department of Transportation, meaning the Trump administration will make the final call on whether to reward the developers with the loans.

Coincidentally, the project includes tearing down the Commodore Hotel, a property Trump redeveloped nearly 50 years ago, serving as a career breakthrough for the then-young developer.

Financing commercial real-estate, as difficult as it might be, is only half the battle.

Companies' efforts to get workers back to the office haven't always been well received. Take advertising giant WPP. Thousands of workers have signed a petition calling on the firm to revoke its four-day RTO mandate, writes BI's Polly Thompson.

It's not just causing internal drama, as the company's stock is down more than 8% since announcing the RTO plans. (To be fair, WPP is down more than 15% this year.)

It's those types of headaches investors are trying to avoid, which is one of the reasons why funding new commercial real-estate projects has been such an uphill battle.

However, for those willing to take the risk, there might be opportunity. For the companies that are pushing forward with RTO plans, a common theme is arising: They don't have enough space.

From Amazon to AT&T, the call back to the office has been full of chaos due to a lack of resources to accommodate a workforce that sometimes has grown considerably since before the pandemic.

News brief

Top headlines

• Los Angeles braces for fires to get even worse with 'extremely dangerous' wind forecasts.
• Mark Zuckerberg says he wants more 'masculine energy' at Meta. So, why don't more men use Facebook?
• Blockchain giant Chainalysis acquires stealth AI agent security startup Alterya for over $100 million.
• Jack Smith's final report about January 6 is out. Read it here.
• The S&P 500's postelection rally has now been completely erased.
• A $30 million campaign to free social media from billionaire control is now underway.
• The Lively-Baldoni battle fits into a broader PR trend that can be costly for the media.

• As TikTok ban looms, two other Chinese social apps are surging in popularity.

  ---

  3 things in markets

  

  1. Energy stocks are surging. For the first time in years, energy stocks are outpacing the S&P 500's year-to-date performance. After a difficult few years, the sector is the best in the market thanks to a rebound in oil and gas prices as cold weather hits the US.

  2. So much for 2025's rate cuts. Wall Street is feeling pessimistic about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates this year. A strong December jobs report and fears of Trump policies reigniting inflation have some predicting the central bank will pause its cutting cycle for a while.

  3. The US dollar is bringing main-character energy to earnings season. Morgan Stanley chief US equity strategist Mike Wilson said the greenback's increasing power could be the deciding factor between winners and losers. Companies heavily relying on foreign sales face the biggest risk.

  ---

  3 things in tech

  

  1. Stepping into Andy Jassy's shadow. The Amazon CEO has a new right-hand man, according to an internal organization chart obtained by BI. Alex Dunlap, a 17-year veteran of AWS, will serve as Jassy's "shadow" advisor and join almost every CEO meeting. Former shadow advisors have gone on to huge roles at Amazon — Jassy himself was one.

  2. What new chip export restrictions mean for Nvidia. President Biden introduced last-minute semiconductor regulations, restricting the number of GPUs Nvidia can export to specific countries. Experts break down possible impacts on sales, production, and AI innovation.

  3. Microsoft's new AI group. In an email to employees, CEO Satya Nadella announced Microsoft is forming a new engineering group led by Jay Parikh, Facebook's former head of engineering. The group will build its AI platform and tools, as the company anticipates AI agents fundamentally changing application development.

  ---

  3 things in business

  

1. No booze, no problem. A growing cohort of Gen Zers are opting out of America's drinking culture. For the younger demographic, it's a cheaper and more rewarding way to socialize — and restaurants and clubs are cashing in.

2. Elon Musk's X takes aim at more advertisers. The company plans to add more defendants to its lawsuit against advertisers, according to a new legal filing. The suit accuses some advertisers of illegally conspiring to boycott the platform.

3. Records reveal FTC probe of Publishing.com. The company sells $2,000 courses and tools for publishing AI-generated books, and it's drawn scrutiny for flooding Amazon with AI-generated content. A BI investigation found the FTC received 62 complaints against it, alleging high-pressure sales tactics and difficulties getting refunds.

In other news

• Meet the 'Donald of Dubai' who's betting big on US data centers, has ties to Trump and Musk — and is worth $13 billion.
• Here's why 2025 is shaping up to be the year of altcoins.
• Get ready for more robots.
• Photos show the devastating aftermath of the Los Angeles fires as parts of the city continue to burn.
• 152,000 student-loan borrowers are getting $4.2 billion in debt cancellation through Biden's relief efforts a week before Trump takes office.

• These TikTok alternatives could help you fill the void if the app is banned.

  ---

  What's happening now

• Senate confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of defense.
• Boeing announces Q4 and 2024 deliveries.

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Ella Hopkins, associate editor, in London. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York.

• Rashida Jones has stepped down as president of MSNBC.
• Rebecca Kutler will succeed her as interim president.
• The left-leaning network faces an uncertain future as it heads toward a spinoff and a new Trump era.

MSNBC's president, Rashida Jones, has stepped down, she said in a memo to staff distributed Tuesday and viewed by Business Insider.

The change comes amid ratings struggles for the network and days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

A memo from Mark Lazarus, the chairman of NBCUniversal's media group, said Rebecca Kutler, a senior vice president of content strategy, would become the interim president of the left-leaning news network.

MSNBC is among the NBCUniversal networks, along with CNBC, E!, Oxygen, and others, that its parent company, Comcast, plans to spin off in the coming year. Comcast positioned the move as a way to grow both organically and by acquiring other cable networks.

Jones started in the role in 2021, at the start of the Biden administration. She was the first Black executive to lead a major news network and presided over early ratings successes. The situation has changed recently. Ratings for MSNBC and CNN have fallen since the presidential election in November. Meanwhile, Fox has surged.

Jones said that the decision to step down was hers and that she was asked to stay on for a transitional period.

"I came to this decision over the holidays while reflecting on our remarkable journey and the many successes we've achieved together as a team," she wrote in the memo to MSNBC staff. "This has been the most rewarding chapter of my professional career and I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished, which has been made possible only by you."

Had Jones stayed, she would have reported to a new boss, Lazarus, who was tapped to lead the new company. Cesar Conde will stay on as the NBCUniversal News Group chair but lose the cable network as part of the transition.

MSNBC faces an uncertain future under Trump 2.0. It just brought back its star, Rachel Maddow, five days a week to cover the first 100 days of Trump's new administration. The move could give the network a much-needed ratings boost.

One former MSNBC executive said they felt that running the network was an "impossible situation." They asked for anonymity to protect business relationships; their identity is known to BI.

"Resistance TV is less important," this person said. "The challenge will be how will the network appear more down the middle without losing their audience? The shrinking linear marketplace and rapidly evolving political environment have created a perfect storm."

Here's Lazarus' full memo to MSNBC staff:

All,

As Rashida announced this morning, she has made the decision to step down as president of MSNBC after an extraordinary tenure leading the network.

I first met Rashida in 2018, and since then, I have been impressed by her business successes, exceptional producing skills and sharp editorial instincts.

Rashida has expertly navigated MSNBC through a years-long, unrelenting and unprecedented news cycle, all while driving the network to record viewership and making investments in nonlinear businesses. MSNBC is well-positioned for the future, and I am grateful that she will continue to support us during this transition.

Effective immediately, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Rebecca Kutler as the interim president of MSNBC, reporting directly to me. Rebecca is the ideal leader to guide us through this moment, and I look forward to collaborating with her as we shape our collective future together.

Since joining MSNBC in 2022, Rebecca has been a catalyst for growth across our digital, social, and audio platforms, resulting in across-the-board record audience engagement. She is a highly respected industry veteran with decades of experience in executive producing, news programming, and business development. With Rebecca's track record of driving the development and expansion of several of the network's marquee programs, it's no surprise she was recently promoted to oversee all of dayside.

Please join me in expressing our gratitude to Rashida for her invaluable contributions to MSNBC and in congratulating Rebecca on her well-deserved appointment.

Mark Lazarus

• Daniel Pinto will step down as JPMorgan's president and COO in June and retire at the end of 2026.
• The JPMorgan veteran has long been CEO Jamie Dimon's stand-in in case of an emergency.
• Jennifer Piepszak has been promoted to chief operating officer but doesn't want the CEO role.

Daniel Pinto, long the JPMorgan Chase executive who would stand in for Jamie Dimon as CEO in an emergency, will step down as a top lieutenant.

Pinto is being replaced as chief operating officer by Jennifer Piepszak, currently a co-CEO of JPMorgan's commercial and investment bank.

At first glance, the promotion might appear to vault Piepszak into the lead in the race to succeed Dimon. But she has said she doesn't want the CEO job.

"Jenn has made clear her preference for a senior operating role working closely with Jamie and in support of the top leadership team going forward and does not want to be considered for the CEO position at this time," a bank spokesman, Joseph Evangelisti, said.

"She is deeply committed to the future of the firm and our people and wants to help the company in any way she can," Evangelisti added.

Piepszak will be succeeded at the commercial and investment bank by Doug Petno, currently a cohead of global banking, the bank said on Tuesday. Troy Rohrbaugh, the other co-CEO of the commercial and investment bank, was promoted to that post in a reshuffle a year ago.

Such reshuffles are intended to give the bank's top leadership greater familiarity with its businesses. The latest shake-up comes a day before JPMorgan is set to report its fourth-quarter earnings and may reshape the speculation about who will succeed Dimon, who turns 69 in March.

At the bank's investor day last May, Dimon abandoned his usual answer to the succession question to say that his timeline was "not five years anymore." He has led the bank, America's biggest and most influential, since January 2006.

While his target date may have come more into focus, the identity of who the bank's board will want as his successor remains fuzzy.

Piepszak, who has served as chief financial officer and head of the consumer business among other positions at the bank, had been seen as a leading candidate. Rohrbaugh, Petno, and Marianne Lake, who remains the chief executive of consumer and community banking at JPMorgan, are also considered potential candidates. Those executives, and Mary Erdoes, the chief executive of asset and wealth management at the bank, report directly to Dimon.

In a note on Tuesday, Mike Mayo, a banking analyst with Wells Fargo, wrote that "succession has been a bit murky, and this [the management shakeup] doesn't change it much." Dimon, Mayo said, could remain in the top job for several more years, noting that the CEO has 1.5 million of stock options that vest in mid-2026.

The 'hit by the bus' executive

Dimon has described Pinto as his "hit by the bus" executive. When Dimon had emergency heart surgery in 2020, Pinto and Gordon Smith, then the bank's presidents, ran the bank.

The bank said on Tuesday that Pinto would step down as president and chief operating officer in June and retire at the end of 2026.

It also said John Simmons, the head of commercial banking, would succeed Petno and team up with Filippo Gori as coheads of global banking.

Pinto will remain on through the end of 2026 to help with the transition to Piepszak.

In a press release, Dimon described Pinto as "a first-class person who I am proud to call a friend" and who "has made a truly significant impact on our company for more than 40 years," adding, "I'm thrilled he will continue to support and advise us."

Succession on Wall Street is tricky. Egos can be bruised, talent leaves, tensions flare. Morgan Stanley appeared to have achieved a remarkably smooth transition last year, with Ted Pick succeeding James Gorman as CEO and the two runners-up staying on. But succession drama is more common.

As Mayo, the Wells Fargo analyst, said after the 2024 reshuffle at JPMorgan of a post-Dimon bank, "There are still limited spots at the top of JPM, so there is the risk of departures of other JPM execs who want their shot at the top, too."

• Southwest Airlines is cutting costs.
• It's pausing corporate hiring, summer internships, and a team-building tradition.
• The move comes after a dispute with the activist firm Elliott Investment Management.

Southwest Airlines is pausing corporate hiring to cut costs, a company spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.

The spokesperson said the airline was "pausing all noncontract internal and external hiring."

It's also pausing summer internships. Southwest said it would honor all internship offers already made but would not make new offers.

CNBC first reported the news, citing a memo from CEO Bob Jordan.

"Every single dollar matters as we continue to fight to return to excellent financial performance," he told staffers in the memo.

Southwest said it was also cutting noncore spending, including its staff rallies.

"We are limiting discretionary costs, including holding on the Southwest Rallies for this year, as we focus on reducing costs," the spokesperson told BI.

Southwest Rallies, where senior leaders lay out plans for the year and celebrate accomplishments with staff, have been a team-building tradition since 1985.

"We'll continue to evaluate hiring needs on an ongoing basis to determine when it makes sense for the business to resume hiring," the spokesperson added.

Southwest continues to face pressure from investors over poor financial performance.

The activist fund Elliott Investment Management has been the most prominent voice; in 2024 it called for the airline to replace its CEO and review its business model.

Last July, Southwest said it would ditch its open-seating model and offer some premium-seating options — a departure from its no-frills offering that inspired the budget-airline model.

In October, Southwest and Elliott reached a deal in which Jordan would remain in the top job while Elliott named six directors to the airline's board.

Southwest's stock is up by 13.7% over the past year but down by 40% over the past five years.

• Both luxury trains and around-the-world vacations have been in high demand.
• Railbookers combined both into a 59-day, 12-country itinerary that includes travel on seven luxury trains.
• Railbookers' CEO said the $124,150-per-person trip had a 4,000-person waitlist.

World cruises have been a hot commodity in the luxury travel industry. But if you're prone to seasickness (or don't have more than 100 PTO days to spend), Railbookers has a $124,150 alternative — by luxury rail.

The train-focused tour company's 59-day around-the-world vacation, departing in early September, includes travel on seven high-end trains to more than 20 cities and 12 countries.

Throughout the four-continent trek, globetrotters would go on a safari in India's Ranthambore National Park, cruise the Ganges River, and receive a private tour of the Louvre Museum — all while traveling in bucket-list trains such as Belmond's Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.

It's Railbookers' second year hosting a global itinerary, and travelers rail-y can't get enough.

Luxury trains have been in high demand over the last few years. This itinerary is no different.

Frank Marini, president and CEO of Railbookers Group, told Business Insider that the trip had a 4,000-person waitlist ahead of its launch. (BI could not verify this.)

"The demand was crazy," Andrew Channell, Railbookers' senior vice president of product and operations, told BI. "It's captured the imagination of a lot of people who said, 'I had no idea there was even a luxury train experience you could do there.'"

Some wanted to book the full journey, while others wanted to reserve various legs. Marini said the trip is expected to sell out.

Luxury train enthusiasts will likely recognize several in the itinerary.

The trip starts in Vancouver, Canada, and concludes in Singapore. Guests would travel on seven luxury trains along the way, including three nights touring Scotland on Belmond's Royal Scotsman, two nights sightseeing Italy on the soon-to-debut La Dolce Vita Orient Express, and three nights around South Africa in the renowned Rovos Rail.

Between sleeper trains, guests would spend 32 nights at premium hotels, including Fairmonts in Canada and The Imperial in New Delhi.

The itinerary also requires six flights, five of which aren't included in the price.

Excursions are, however, bundled into the $124,150-per-person cost. These activities include a private tour of Venice, Italy's Saint Mark's Basilica, a sunrise stop at the Taj Mahal, and the chance to see elephants and rhinos in South Africa's Pilanesberg National Park.

A more than $2,000-per-day vacation may not be the cheapest global travel option.

The individual trains on Railbookers' itineraries aren't known to be ultra-affordable.

Three nights on the Royal Scotsman in September (as the itinerary includes) goes for about $22,400 per person.

Similarly, a one-night Venice Simplon-Orient-Express trip from Verona, Italy, to Paris during the late-summer month starts at about $4,730 per person.

Around-the-world vacations have been a hit in the cruise industry.

Several premium cruise lines, such as Regent Seven Seas, offer annual global voyages.

The luxury cruise line's 132-night 2024 and 150-night 2025 world cruises were sold out in record times: three hours for the former and before bookings formally opened for the latter.

About one-third of the travelers who booked the 2025 itinerary — which started at $87,000 per person — were first-time Regent guests, signaling a growing demand for high-end extended itineraries, a spokesperson told BI.

Railbookers' per-day cost may be more than triple that of Regent's, but it's a great express option if you, like many other wealthy travelers, have several luxury trains on your travel bucket list.

• President Joe Biden signed an executive order that aims to speed up AI infrastructure projects.
• It directs the DOD and DOE to lease land to the private sector for building AI data centers.
• The executive order requires developers to build clean energy sources to power their data centers.

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to accelerate the scale-up of AI infrastructure in the US to meet the massive energy and supply needs of the "cutting-edge" technology.

Biden said on Tuesday that the executive order will direct the departments of Defense and Energy to lease federal sites to the private sector for building "frontier AI infrastructure at speed and scale."

According to the White House, private sector access to federal sites for building "gigawatt-scale AI data centers" will be determined by "competitive solicitations" for proposals.

Private companies leasing the land would be required to cover the cost of building and operating the sites, including the build-out of clean energy sources for powering data centers.

Biden, who is serving his final days in office, said the US cannot take its lead in AI for granted. The technology is set to have "profound implications for national security and enormous potential to improve Americans' lives if harnessed responsibly," Biden said.

"That is why today, I am signing an historic Executive Order to accelerate the speed at which we build the next generation of AI infrastructure here in America, in a way that enhances economic competitiveness, national security, AI safety, and clean energy," Biden said.

The move from Biden comes at a critical time for the AI sector.

Industry leaders say progress for leading AI companies — which have invested billions of dollars in the technology — depends on an extraordinary build-out of infrastructure.

Expensive data centers and clean energy supplies are needed to train, host, and run new models sustainably, while chip plants that supply vital computing power are being demanded closer to home after years of reliance on chipmaking facilities overseen in the East by the likes of Taiwan's TSMC.

In September, OpenAI boss Sam Altman wrote in a blog that "if we don't build enough infrastructure, AI will be a very limited resource that wars get fought over, and that becomes mostly a tool for rich people."

Biden addressed the need for the US to become self-sufficient, noting in his statement that "we will not let America be out-built when it comes to the technology that will define our future."

The executive order will likely be a boost for private sector companies that have shown increasing interest in AI infrastructure development over the past few years.

In September, Microsoft and BlackRock announced the creation of a $30 billion megafund designed to drive "significant infrastructure investment" and "enhance American competitiveness in AI." The fund's total investment potential is $100 billion, they said.

SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son, whose company is betting big on AI, also committed in December to investing $100 billion in AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years after meeting President-elect Donald Trump.

• Business Insider asked an etiquette expert about the mistakes people make during job interviews.
• Many people forget to research the company and clean up their social-media pages beforehand.
• Arriving on time and sending a thank-you note are easy ways to make a good impression.

For many, job interviews can be a nerve-racking experience. Even with proper preparation, it's common to struggle with this important step in the hiring process.

To help you avoid common mistakes, Business Insider asked business-etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore about the things candidates should avoid doing during an interview. Here's what she said.

Not coming prepared for the interview

Whitmore told BI that a simple but common mistake candidates make is arriving to the interview unprepared.

"Most people don't do the proper research about the company. We have so many resources to use, including LinkedIn, websites, and social media," she said. "There's no excuse for you to go into an interview and not know about the company and something about who might be interviewing you."

Whitmore also said it's important to ask the interviewer questions tailored specifically to the company.

Dressing too casually or overlooking small details

According to Whitmore, dressing too casually is another common mistake she sees interviewees make.

"Very rarely do we see someone overdressed for a job interview," she said. "They oftentimes don't put a lot of thought into the details, like the color of their belt or that their shoes are matching their outfit."

Whitmore told BI that even when candidates do wear suits, they may overlook other key details, like forgetting to cut off the tags or not cutting open the vents in the back.

"Why would an employer want to hire someone who doesn't pay attention to the details?" Whitmore said.

Forgetting to put their best foot forward on social media

Before stepping into a job interview, it's important to consider how you're presenting yourself online, especially since Whitmore said the first thing an employer will likely do is Google you.

"They'll look at all your social-media pages. They'll look at what you eat, what you drink, what you wear, who you hang out with, what your lifestyle is — and they make judgments," she told BI.

For that reason, Whitmore suggested adjusting your privacy settings and cleaning up your social-media presence to eliminate anything that could be used against you.

Using filler words, profanity, or slang

When in a job interview, Whitmore told BI that candidates should never use inappropriate language, such as profanity, slang, or terminology the employer might not understand.

She also said to be cautious of filler words and phrases such as "like" or "um" to avoid muddling the conversation.

Whitmore suggested recording yourself before the interview or practicing ahead of time to ensure you're speaking clearly and precisely.

Having your camera off during a virtual interview

One mistake to avoid in virtual interviews is refusing to turn on your camera.

Candidates may choose to keep their cameras off for a number of reasons, such as being worried about making eye contact or feeling uncomfortable with face-to-face interaction. However, Whitmore said keeping the camera on is a good idea so the employer can see your facial expressions.

She added that candidates should be wary of what their background looks like and make sure their room appears tidy.

"If you just have to have a blank wall, that's better than a huge distraction. But I definitely recommend that you put a little thought into your background," she said.

Arriving late to the interview

"Showing up late for an interview is a huge no-no," Whitmore said. "I've always said when you're on time, you're still late. You should show up early."

Arriving early ensures you have enough time to find parking or the meeting room. Whitmore added that doing so also allows you to use the restroom and gain your composure before the interview starts.

Not sending a thank-you note

Sending a thank-you note is an important step in the interview process.

"I go overboard. I send a thank-you email and a thank-you note because this is an opportunity for you to get into the employer's eyes at least twice," Whitmore told BI.

Be sure to follow up within 24 hours of the interview and personalize the note.

"Address the person by name. Tell them why you enjoyed the interview and why you would be a good candidate," Whitmore said.

If you're feeling stuck, she suggested writing out a note and using ChatGPT to polish it.

• An Australian ugg-boot company has rebranded as Since 1974 after a legal battle with a US giant.
• Deckers Outdoor Corporation owns the Ugg trademark in more than 130 countries.
• For many Australians, "ugg" is a generic term for sheepskin boots rather than a brand name.

An Australian ugg-boot company has changed its brand for foreign customers following a lengthy legal battle with an American rival.

Ugg Since 1974 is owned by Australian Leather and was sued by Deckers Outdoor Corporation for its use of "ugg."

Now, after almost 10 years since the legal battle began, it's been forced to rebrand as Since 1974 for customers outside Australia.

The American brand Ugg, founded in 1978, was acquired by Deckers Outdoor Corporation in 1995 for $14.6 million. Ugg sells the products most US consumers associate with the term "ugg boots."

But in Australia, "ugg" is more a generic term for a style of sheepskin shoe first popularized by surfers since the 1960s than a brand name.

Dozens of companies in Australia and New Zealand have trademarks containing the word "ugg," which is why many in the region take issue with Deckers' ownership of the trademark in more than 130 countries.

Australian Leather brought a lawsuit to remove a trademark for "ugg" and keep it as a generic term.

"This is not just about me; it is about Australia taking back 'ugg,'" Eddie Oygur, the owner of Australian Leather, told The New York Times in 2021. "The trademark should never have been given in the first place to the US."

But the case was rejected by a federal appeals court that year.

Todd Watts, the owner of Since 1974, announced the rebranding on his TikTok account on Monday.

"We've been proudly making Australian boots for over five decades and three generations, and we also own the trademark here in Australia, New Zealand, where the boots originated, where ugg boots originated," Watts said. "But the Decker lawsuit has made it hard to share our story and our boots with everyone else within the world."

Watts added it was "extremely hard to fight a lawsuit against a multibillion-dollar company, especially as a family-owned Australian-made business."

The video has amassed 2.4 million views and generated passionate responses from some customers. Some said they didn't know there were so many companies making ugg boots, and others said they would order only from Since 1974 now.

"I've been telling everyone to only buy Ugg since 1974 and NOT US Ugg. ❤️" one viewer wrote.

"I always wondered how Uggs were sold so cheaply and now I know why!" wrote another, echoing other viewers' thoughts that Since 74 sold higher-quality products. "Will buy me a pair of Since 74s from now on!"

Watts said in his video that nothing would change except the brand's name.

"Our roots are still the same, our quality is still the same, the product is still the same, and more importantly, our story is still the same," he said. "We are the original, and we will still be the original no matter what our label says on the back of our boots. It isn't just about boots, it's about resilience."

Deckers is valued at $31 billion after its stock soared 70% in the past 12 months. It also owns brands such as Hoka and Teva.

Deckers Outdoor Corporation and Since 74 didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Correction: January 14, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated the year Deckers Outdoor Corporation acquired Ugg. It was 1995, not 2005.