• I spent three days at SXSW, where Hollywood is divided over AI, LA's future, and more.
• Insiders also fretted over Trump's influence and debated YouTube's rise in podcasting.
• Creators may be getting big deals, but they're still fighting for respect.

The contours of the entertainment industry feel like they're being remapped in real time — and that sentiment was reflected at this year's South by Southwest.

I flew to Austin for the festival, where creative folks come together to share knowledge and ideas. Hollywood has been pummeled by strikes, contraction, and tech disruption. SXSW still had its tacos, tequila, and movie stars (Seth Rogen, Blake Lively, and others showed up to promote projects). But festivalgoers told me it felt more muted than in years past, a fitting metaphor for the uncertain state of the industry.

I spent three days talking with filmmakers, media executives, and other insiders to get a temperature check on the TV, film, and the creator economy. Some were riddled with existential angst, while others saw opportunity in the chaos. Here were the biggest topics and debates I heard on the ground.

AI fights are as hot as ever

A few years into the generative AI era, the distinction between good AI and bad AI is coming into sharper focus.

I heard from a few camps. There's the creative community that's embracing AI's good parts (saving time on mindless tasks) while being conscious of its bad parts (job losses and artistic theft). Then there's the debate on the timeline. Some think the film industry is a long way off from being replaced. Others believe full-length movies made with AI actors indistinguishable from the real thing are closer than you think.

There's also a fear among some that Big Tech will set the rules of the game, with the latest example being Amazon adding its controversial music generator Suno to Alexa+.

"These tech companies have more money than anyone's had in the universe, and they're using it to get their way and trample on the rights of others," said entertainment lawyer Gene Salomon, a partner at Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman.

Podcasts: To see or not to see

Podcasting was a big topic at the festival, helped by the fact that YouTube is now a major podcast player.

While there's definitely excitement among podcasters about the growth in the space, not everyone is sure what to make of the shift to video. Podcasters have to decide if putting their show on YouTube in video form is worth the extra production time and expense required.

Even uber-podcaster Megyn Kelly has her doubts, as she expressed on a recent edition of her show, saying, "Can't be in the cam glam all day long — it's just weird."

Advertisers are intrigued because video podcasts offer another way to benefit from the authentic relationship podcasters have with their audiences. However, not all video pods have the high production quality they require. Plus, they'd have to come up with new ad creative and figure out which budget the dollars would come from (video? marketing?).

Some also see the rise of YouTube and worry it'll crowd out established podcast players like Spotify and Apple that have less established ad businesses.

"You'd feel better if there was parity," one audio exec confided to me. They, like some others I spoke with at the festival, asked to remain anonymous to discuss business dealings.

Hollywood's Trump turn

President Donald Trump's presence loomed over the blue enclave and largely liberal Hollywood and creator crowd.

There was simmering worry among some insiders over the partial dismantling of DEI in Hollywood and an embrace of Trump-aligned material. The latest example was Amazon bringing the Trump-starring reality show "The Apprentice" to Prime Video. It follows the streamer paying for a Melania Trump documentary that the first lady will executive-produce.

Hollywood has been exploring making more conservative entertainment for some time, but insiders said the vibe shift had intensified with Trump in office.

One entertainment lawyer told me that some financiers are scrutinizing filmmakers for their political views before deciding to invest.

This person added that they had multiple clients get notes from streamers or networks they felt were designed to avoid attracting the ire of Trump or his allies. In one case, the note was to avoid making a prominent trans character come across as too positive.

"I've never had a president figure so much in decision-making," this person said.

Creators are still fighting for respect

In some ways, it's never been a better time to be a digital creator.

YouTube's rise in the living room has helped legitimize social media talent. Hollywood is finally waking up to it, with top YouTubers like MrBeast and Ms. Rachel getting streamer deals.

But I saw a dichotomy between the attention YouTube lavished on creators at the festival and how some creators really feel.

"Hot Ones" host Sean Evans griped that he still has to fight for recognition from advertisers, despite his YouTube show having become a regular stop for stars including Scarlett Johansson and Margot Robbie.

In one conference room, influencer advocates lamented (to mostly empty chairs) that despite their increased visibility in pop culture, creators still suffer from a lack of job protection, respect as a worker class, and power versus the platform giants.

Go niche or go broad?

There's a long-standing narrative in Hollywood that the monoculture is over.

Few programs can command a massive audience outside of sports. The global streamers haven't produced a new Disney-level franchise, despite spending billions. No one at the festival seemed especially optimistic about the future of the Bond franchise now that it's in Jeff Bezos' hands. Blockbuster movies feel few and far between.

Some industry insiders believe the future lies in going after niche audiences.

It's working for Fox-owned Tubi, which has grown by programming to fandoms as narrow as those who like "comfort horror."

Others want to see Hollywood take more risks.

"To me, great art comes from challenging audiences, and then figuring out how to get audience buy-in," Salomon said.

Hollywood is over. Long live Hollywood.

I've been writing about how Los Angeles' importance to the entertainment industry has been diminished over the years by an exodus of productions and workers to lower-cost places like Atlanta and Miami. The entertainment spending slowdown and devastating LA wildfires have added to its troubles. There's a lot of interest among filmmakers in ditching LA for cheaper, more livable states that offer tax incentives to the industry.

But they also acknowledge that the power center will remain in LA. When it comes to high-stakes functions, like writers' rooms and casting of top roles, the traffic still goes one way.

Producer Britta Erickson said: "Do I see LA coming to people in the Midwest, Cincinnati, for a meeting? Probably not. I don't think it's going to be a major shift."

• Commissioned in 1954, the USS Nautilus was the world's first nuclear-powered submarine.
• It was the first ship to visit the North Pole and participated in the Cuban missile crisis blockade.
• Nautilus is now an exhibit at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut.

On January 17, 1955, the USS Nautilus transmitted a historic message: "Underway on nuclear power."

As the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, Nautilus could remain submerged for two weeks at a time and travel at speeds of over 20 knots, or about 23 miles per hour.

Previously, World War II submarines powered by diesel engines and electric batteries could stay underwater for just 12 to 48 hours at a time. Since their batteries only charged while surfaced, diesel-electric US Navy vessels like the USS Cobia had to move at around 2 or 3 miles per hour to conserve power and hit maximum speeds of 9 knots, or about 10 miles per hour.

Nautilus is now part of the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut. Visitors can walk through the historic nuclear submarine and see how its crew members lived and worked while submerged up to 700 feet below the surface.

I visited the museum in March to tour Nautilus. Take a look inside.

Between 1954 and 1980, the USS Nautilus participated in scientific and military operations around the world.

Nautilus, which was commissioned in 1954, hosted the first-ever underwater legislative meeting when 13 members of Congress rode Nautilus in 1955.

Its nuclear power allowed Nautilus to sail under the polar ice cap and become the first ship to traverse the North Pole in 1958 in an expedition known as Operation Sunshine.

Nautilus also participated in the naval blockade of Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

The submarine is now a museum operated by the US Navy in Groton, Connecticut, a short distance from the shipyard where it was built.

After 26 years of service, Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 and recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1982. It opened to the public as part of the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut, in 1986.

In 2021, Nautilus underwent $36 million of preservation work and reopened in 2022.

The Submarine Force Museum is open Wednesday through Monday and is free to visit.

Measuring 3,400 tons with a length of 319 feet, Nautilus is longer than a football field.

I was amazed by the size of the submarine. As I climbed aboard, the deck provided gorgeous views of the Thames River.

The first stop on my self-guided tour was the forward torpedo room, which featured two torpedo tubes with bronze doors.

Here, crew members loaded torpedoes for firing.

Mannequins depicted crew members working in the forward torpedo room.

After the torpedoes were loaded, the tubes were flooded with water. When the command to fire was issued, high-pressure air from the submarine's ejection pump then forced the water and the torpedoes out of the tubes.

The space also included crew bunks.

Signs on the sink and mirror indicated that they were part of the submarine's original equipment.

Doorways on the USS Nautilus were narrow hatches that sailors had to step through.

Handles on top of the doorways provided a grip to hold on to while stepping through.

The next stop on the tour was the wardroom, which functioned as the living and working space for Nautilus' officers.

Nautilus had a crew of 11 officers and 105 enlisted service members.

A panel of instruments along the wardroom's wall indicated Nautilus' depth and speed.

The officers' meals were served from the officers' pantry next to the wardroom.

Officers ate the same meals as the rest of the crew members, but their food was brought up to the officers' pantry via a dumbwaiter to be reheated and served on Navy china.

Past the wardroom, a hallway led to the officers' quarters.

The walls of the narrow hallway were covered in wood paneling.

The hallway featured a display of an 1892 edition of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," a novel by Jules Verne.

The book was gifted to Nautilus' commanding officer, Commander William R. Anderson, in 1957 by the French Navy's chief of staff, Adm. Henri Nomy. The fictional submarine in the book is also named Nautilus.

The officers' staterooms included sinks, small desks, and storage areas.

Fewer beds in a room indicated a higher rank.

The executive officer's stateroom contained another bunk that folded down.

The executive officer, also known as the "XO," was the ship's second-in-command.

The commanding officer enjoyed the privacy of the ship's only private room.

The commanding officer used the stateroom as a workspace and living quarters.

A crew member known as the yeoman managed all of Nautilus' paperwork from a small office.

The yeoman managed the ship's correspondence and personnel records.

The attack center was Nautilus' battle station.

The attack center contained periscopes to spot enemy ships and the controls to aim and fire torpedoes.

Crew members used a line-of-sight diagram to calculate the range and direction for firing torpedoes.

On the diagram, Nautilus is represented by the bottom ship, and the top ship represents the target.

Torpedoes were fired using this firing panel next to the line-of-sight diagram.

The torpedo firing key, which was used to deploy the torpedoes, was indicated with a blue sign on the firing panel.

An alarm panel in the attack center had various alerts for different emergencies.

The alarms were color-coded for different scenarios:

• Yellow: a fire or casualty
• Red: flooding or a collision
• Green: submerging or emergency surfacing
• Pink: a power plant casualty

A small arms locker contained guns kept under lock and key.

The guns were used for security while the submarine was in port.

The sonar room featured equipment used to listen for and detect other vessels.

Sonar stands for "sound navigation and ranging." Active sonar emitted sound pulses to locate targets, while passive sonar listened for underwater activity.

Nautilus featured the first-ever set of stairs on a submarine.

Before that, ladders were used to climb from one level to another.

In the control room, sailors controlled the ship's depth, tilt, and speed.

Commands were issued in the control room by a crew member known as the diving officer of the watch, who received orders from the attack center.

These levers controlled the flow of water and air in the submarine's main ballast tanks.

When the main ballast tanks filled with water, the submarine would submerge. When filled with air, the submarine would surface.

A crew member worked in the ESM bay, which stands for "electronic surveillance measures."

The ESM bay's instruments could detect other ships' radars.

Nautilus communicated with other ships from the radio room.

The radio room was located just off the control room on the right.

The crew's mess was the largest common space on the submarine.

Here, crew members ate meals, worked, and spent their recreational time.

One of the museum's displays featured a mannequin wearing an oxygen breathing apparatus, or OBA.

Damage control personnel used OBAs if fires broke out on board while submerged. The hoses on the masks could be attached to the submarine's reserve air supply.

The crew's mess also included a lay services box, which crew members used to celebrate religious holidays.

Since there was no Navy chaplain on board the submarine, crew member volunteers conducted services for various faiths with items from the lay services box.

A window in the floor of the crew's mess provided a look into Nautilus' battery well.

Nautilus was mainly powered by its nuclear reactor, but the battery served as an auxiliary source of power in case of an emergency.

Chief petty officers had the privilege of their own private lounge and living area.

Chief petty officers acted as liaisons between officers and crew members. Their living quarters were sometimes known as the "goat locker." There are a few possible explanations for the nickname:

• Chief petty officers used to be in charge of goats that were kept on ships to produce fresh milk
• Chief petty officers were nicknamed "old goats" because they were senior officers who had been in the Navy for a long time

All meals on board Nautilus were cooked in the galley.

A window connected the galley to the scullery, where crew members washed dishes.

The tour ended with more crew bunks.

Nautilus had two crew quarters, one at the front of the submarine and one at the back.

Inside the museum building, I perused exhibits about Nautilus and submarine history, including real working periscopes.

I swiveled the periscope until I could see my car sitting in the museum's parking lot, which was pretty cool.

Nautilus' notable history serves as a reminder of how quickly maritime technology has continued to advance.

Just over 70 years after Nautilus was commissioned as the first nuclear-powered submarine in the world, all of the US Navy's submarines are now nuclear-powered, according to the Department of Defense.

• I usually take a one-hour flight to visit family, but this time I took the 12-hour train ride.
• I worried I was wasting time even though I was saving money, but I don't regret my choice.
• The train ride was a relaxing break from my kids, and I felt refreshed when I visited my family.

I have family in Melbourne, about 450 miles away from me in Adelaide.

It usually takes me an hour by plane to visit them for a quick weekend getaway. I often go alone as bringing my two kids and partner isn't worth the hassle or cost for such a short visit.

However, when booking a flight for a recent trip, I realized my plans coincided with a big event in my hometown. Flight costs were even higher than usual, with the cheapest seats starting at $380 each way.

Instead, I decided to take the cheaper 12-hour Overland train ride from Adelaide to Melbourne. Standard tickets were $145.

I was worried I'd feel restless on the long train ride, and that it'd take time away I could be spending with my kids or extended family.

Full of nerves, I added the business-class upgrade for $100, too, which would give me full meal service and more legroom.

My train journey felt way more relaxing than my plane ones

On the day of my trip, I hugged my little family as I said goodbye and took a cab to the train station.

The train station felt more relaxed than the usual hustle and bustle of the airport. Boarding was fairly quick and easy.

I was assigned a comfy seat next to an oversized window and had plenty of legroom and space for my bag.

Almost straight away, the train attendant offered me a hot drink and asked me to select my meals.

At home, no one asks me what I want to eat — I'm usually the one trying to plan and serve meals to fussy kids. I was in awe as I chose a decadent selection of a hot breakfast, curry, and desserts.

Then, I put my headphones on and relaxed, watching the city pass through my window.

I'm not new to extended travel through the amazing Australian Outback. In fact, we routinely caravan as a family to wild campsites everywhere.

However, there was something special about not needing to carefully watch the road or worry about others. The biggest decision I had to make on the train was whether to have another serving of cake.

As we got closer to Melbourne, I got to just quietly watch the flat desert-like landscapes pass for miles. For the first time in a long while, I was actually feeling relaxed.

Eventually, after almost a full day on the train, I arrived at the Melbourne station around 7 p.m.

I now only had two full days to spend time with my Melbourne extended family, but I felt ready to slow down and appreciate our moments together.

I'll book the 12-hour train ride anytime I get the opportunity

Fortunately, booking the train ride (and an upgrade) was one of the best decisions I made — and doing so gave me a much-needed break for just myself.

I always love visiting family in Melbourne, but my typical itinerary leaves me exhausted.

Usually, I rush to and through the airport, board a short flight, and then get immediately swarmed by more loved ones. The fast-paced journey doesn't allow for much downtime or moments to reflect.

By booking a 12-hour train ride, I was forced to relax and take almost a full day to myself.

It didn't feel like a waste of time at all. In fact, my downtime helped me have better quality time with my Melbourne family and return to my own feeling refreshed as a parent.

Plus, I saved money in the process. Even with the business-class upgrade, my train ticket was far cheaper than the flight.

If you ever get the opportunity to choose the slower travel option, I would highly suggest taking it.

• Sales for Shein and Temu slowed after Trump announced tariffs and de minimis changes.
• Shein's sales growth dropped significantly.
• The de minimis loophole remains open — for now.

Shein and Temu's sales slowed in the weeks after Trump announced tariffs and said he would close the de minimis loophole, February data from Earnest Analytics showed.

Shein seemed to take more of a hit than Temu. Between the weeks that ended February 1 and February 22, its sales growth slowed from 22% year over year to 9.6% year over year.

Temu's sales also decelerated, though at a slower rate, from 15.4% to 14.4%, which Earnest's head of marketing, Michael Maloof, said was in line with its usual weekly fluctuations. Earnest analyzes debit and credit card transactions from millions of US consumers.

By the week of March 1, Shein's sales growth was back up to 21.4% year over year.

The ups and downs demonstrate how closely US consumers are watching the news cycle — and could be a preview of what's to come when the Trump administration ends de minimis shipping for good.

"Nothing materially changed from an import perspective for Temu and Shein during February, and yet customers made fewer transactions during that period," Maloof told Business Insider. "The later recovery suggests this pullback could have been more news-driven than fundamentals-driven."

Representatives for Temu and Shein did not return a request for comment from BI.

The weeks when Shein's sales decelerated coincided with a series of whiplash moves in global trade.

In early February, Trump issued an executive order closing the de minimis loophole while imposing tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. (The administration has since rescinded some of the tariffs on Canada and Mexico). De minimis, also known as Section 321, is a provision of US customs law that allows retailers to import goods duty-free as long as they are valued at less than $800 and sent directly to customers.

The announcement that de minimis shipping would no longer be allowed sent much of the retail world into chaos. While Shein and Temu's use of de minimis brought the provision into the mainstream, many other brands selling directly to consumers also use the loophole to find cost savings.

US Customs and Border Protection said in a January press release that de minimis shipments increased by more than 600% from fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2023, going from 139 million a year to more than 1 billion. More than 1.36 billion shipments were sent via de minimis in fiscal year 2024, according to CBP.

Just a few days after the executive order was issued, Trump issued a follow-up order saying that the loophole would remain open until customs officials could establish a new process for collecting duty on packages sent using the provision.

Logistics experts expect de minimis to go away soon, though the exact timing is still unclear.

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• Lawayne Dacosta is a 36-year-old mom to eight-year-old Londyn White, living in Atlanta.
• The mom and daughter recently scrolled through baby photos and realized they all had filters.
• While Lawayne regrets that she didn't take more unfiltered pictures.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lawayne Dacosta. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My 8-year-old daughter, Londyn, recently had a school project for which she needed a baby photo. They were going to play a guess-that-baby game in class.

We sat down to flick through photos on my phone from when she was a baby and toddler, and there were so many photos that had been filtered on Snapchat — more than the number of unfiltered photos I had of her.

She thought they were funny

The app had been around for a few years, and everyone loved taking funny pictures with it. The flower headband was very in at the time. But I had never used the app much before Londyn was born.

I saved all the photos we had taken, and as we scrolled through them, Londyn particularly loved the one with a "for sale" sign.

"You were trying to sell me?" she asked, joking.

She also thought the one of her with a mustache was hilarious.

There wasn't any part of her that disliked all the filtered photos. She is quite familiar with filters now. It's part of her culture — the funny filters, cutesy ones, colored and monster ones. She and all her friends like to use them for fun.

The one thing she did ask was why there were so many baby pictures.

I used the filters to keep her entertained

During those baby days, we had endless time together. Playing around with the filters gave me something to do with her on what could sometimes be long days. Many photos were clearly taken on the same day, in the same clothes, having fun with all the different filters.

As she got older, I used interactive filters — like she would stick her tongue out, then you'd get a rainbow. It was like a game for us to play together.

The filters were also a way to hide myself and protect her. When I first had her, I wanted people to see her but I didn't want to send her picture out to everyone. Instead, I sent people photos of her with a cute little filter on it.

I rarely did my hair or makeup when she was just born, so the filtered photos gave me a chance to be in photos but cover up a bit. I could mask what I had going on.

I've mainly worked from home while Londyn has been little. She never went to day care, so I entertained her and found fun things to do together. We became so close.

We create content together now that she's older

As my daughter grew older, we continued using technology and apps to have fun and be creative together. We're digital creators together on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube now. I learn so much from her, and she learns so much from me as we are creative together. She knows what she wants to make and leads the way. These are moments of her life I love getting to be part of.

I don't regret taking filtered photos — I had a lot of fun with them and so did my daughter as she got older. It laid a foundation for the fun we'd continue to have with each other.

But I have to admit, I do wish I had taken pictures without filters. Sometimes, I go back through photos and think how cute she looked at a certain stage, but I realize I don't have any photos of her in that stage without filters. It's only a tiny bit of regret.

• An American Eagle passenger has been charged with assault following an incident on a flight last week.
• Asterius Rulamka is accused of hitting another traveler and swinging at a flight attendant.
• He said he traveled to Washington, DC, to speak to Trump, the affidavit said.

A man was charged with assault after hurting a flight attendant and another traveler on a flight last week.

Asterius Rulamka was a passenger on American Eagle Flight 5574 from Wichita to Washington, DC on March 5, an FBI special agent said in an affidavit.

As the flight was on its final descent, Rulamka went to the rear of the aircraft and started talking to one of the flight attendants, per the affidavit.

It adds that he started yelling at the crew member and threatened to "fuck him up" — as several passengers began filming the altercation on their phones.

Rulamka is then said to have noticed this, grabbing a passenger's arms and saying he was "going to fuck him up" as well.

The affidavit alleges he then took the passenger's hat and glasses before repeatedly hitting him, leaving him with bruising and a bloodshot eye.

It adds that the flight attendant got up to help and asked several passengers to get involved too, while another cabin crew member also provided assistance.

At one point, Rulamka swung at the flight attendant, but he managed to dodge him — although he suffered a small cut to his finger and a broken fingernail, per the affidavit.

It says Rulamka then started running up and down the cabin until three passengers and the flight attendants were able to restrain him in a seat for landing.

After the flight arrived at Washington Reagan National Airport, Rulamka said he had come to the capital to speak to President Donald Trump because he was "mad."

The defendant also has pending immigration proceedings.

He was charged with assault by striking, beating, or wounding. If found guilty, he could face a fine or a sentence of up to one year.

Law enforcement responded to "a disruptive customer" when the flight arrived at Regan National, an American Airlines spokesperson told USA Today.

• Inflation cooled more than expected in February.
• The consumer price index rose 2.8% year over year, under the expected 2.9% rate.
• Traders think the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady next week.

Inflation slowed more than expected last month.

The consumer price index, an inflation measure, increased 2.8% year-over-year in February. That's under the forecast of 2.9% and January's rate of 3%.

It's a reversal after four consecutive months of inflation heating up and is a step toward the Fed's target.

"The path to sustainably returning inflation to our target has been bumpy, and we expect that to continue," Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said on Friday at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business 2025 US Monetary Policy Forum.

The index rose 0.2% over the month from January to February. That's below the expected 0.3% and the previous 0.5%. A Bureau of Labor Statistics news release said shelter accounted for almost half of the monthly rise. The shelter index increased 0.3% from a month prior, cooler than January's 0.4%.

While energy prices overall increased in February from a month ago, gas saw a decline over the month after rising 1.8% in January and 4% in December.

"The shelter increase was partially offset by a 4.0-percent decrease in the index for airline fares and a 1.0-percent decline in the index for gasoline," BLS said.

Energy also declined in February from a year ago, with the index dropping by 0.2%. Egg prices increased 58.8% in February from a year prior. The index for food at home, which accounts for groceries, was steady, though. It increased 1.9% year over year again.

Core inflation also slowed. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased 3.1% in February from a year prior, below the forecast of 3.2% and January's 3.3%. It increased 0.2% month over month, under the 0.3% forecast and January's 0.4%.

Stock futures rose following the new CPI report.

One of President Donald Trump's priorities in his second term has been trade, with several rounds of threatening or imposing new tariffs on countries like China, Canada, and Mexico. Economists fear that those could raise prices for US consumers, threatening higher inflation in coming months.

"The focus by the president on tariffs risks reigniting inflation which would be most unfortunate given the progress which has been seen over the past couple of years," Mark Hamrick, Bankrate's senior economic analyst, previously said in a statement to Business Insider.

The Federal Open Market Committee will meet next week to decide whether to change interest rates. Members will likely consider the new consumer price index data and recently published employment figures in their decision-making process. While unemployment has slowly ticked up over the past couple of years, it was still historically low in February, data published Friday showed. Job growth was below expectations in February, and the prime-age labor force participation rate was steady.

Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, told BI on Friday that the Fed will probably still think the labor market is robust and have time to make rate adjustments. However, job cuts happening in the public sector, tariffs' potential impacts on businesses, and other changes could have an effect.

Stahle said the Fed may feel "like their time is running out given how quick a lot of these changes are happening."

CME FedWatch, which estimates predictions for Fed interest rates based on market activity, showed traders expected a 97% chance the Fed will hold rates steady later this month, unchanged from before the report.

"With a lower-than-expected inflation number (both month-over-month and year-over-year), at least the Fed still has the flexibiilty to step in to support a weaker economy, and that would be good news for markets, which have been through the ringer in the past month and a half," Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management, said.

• Leah Wei avoided the gym because she felt exercise was just about achieving a certain body type.
• She realized she was missing out on health benefits, so worked on her relationship with exercise.
• Wei now sees moving daily as an opportunity to have fun and see her friends.

When Leah Wei, a 27-year-old YouTuber based in New York, learned that the body naturally starts to lose muscle mass at age 30, she knew she had to get over her fear of working out.

She had sworn off the gym years before because she had negative associations with exercise, she told Business Insider. These came from growing up seeing images of Victoria's Secret models and magazine covers emblazoned with phrases like "get abs quick."

It felt like exercise was about pushing yourself to look a certain way, Wei said. When she didn't see the aesthetic results fitness influencers promised, it left her feeling bad about her body.

To preserve her self-esteem, Wei decided to abandon exercise and accept her body as it was. "I didn't want to have that relationship with my body, with movement," she said.

But as time went on, she realized that she was missing out on the health benefits of exercise. Her neck and shoulders felt tight from sitting at a screen all day, she felt lethargic in the colder months, and became aware maintaining muscle as you age was important for staying strong and mobile.

In January 2023, Wei decided it was time to give working out another go. But this time she wanted it to be sustainable, and to prioritize how it made her feel, not how it made her look.

Now, she exercises every day, either going to a class or hitting the gym, because she genuinely enjoys it. She shared three ways she makes working out a joy.

1) Reframing 'exercise' as 'movement'

Wei likes to think about exercise as an opportunity to move her body, get away from her laptop, and have fun.

"It's a rebrand to this is just a really fun part of your day and something I love to do," she said.

Rather than having a strict routine or schedule, she decides what kind of movement she'll do each day based on her mood. She's a member of a rock climbing gym that offers a wide range of classes— from classic to aerial yoga and circus skills— and often tries new activities.

Wei likened her new attitude toward working out to going to a playground as a child. "You're never like 'oh I have to go outside to play for recess because it improves my sleep, or increases my metabolism. You're kind of just there because it's fun,'" she said.

Wei also has a gym in her building, where she aims to strength train twice a week with free weights.

2) Marrying movement with socializing

Exercising with a friend makes it even more fun, Wei said, and it helps her to balance different parts of her life.

She convinced three of her friends to join her rock climbing gym and they typically go together at least once a week or bump into each other there. "I think if your friends are all going climbing, it's more motivating for you too," she said.

And it means she gets to exercise and see the people she loves at the same time.

"I'll hit up friends and be like, 'do you wanna go Friday night or Sunday or Saturday morning' and people are usually down," she said.

3) Join a gym you want to spend time in every day

Wei's gym has big windows and a pretty view, which she said has helped her build the habit of going almost daily as it's a space she likes to spend time in.

"If I invest in a space that I think is really welcoming and warm, it makes me want to go there every day," she said.

Studios like this tend to be more expensive than a basic gym, but Wei is happy to spend her money this way.

"I don't care as much about makeup or clothing or purses or whatever but I'm like, this is really worth it for me," she said.

• US military healthcare is unprepared for high numbers of wounded in a potential Pacific conflict.
• The National Disaster Medical System needs revitalization to boost military-civilian medical ties.
• US military experiences in combat casualty care over the past two decades won't translate.

There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to great-power war, but one thing is fairly certain: the casualties would be horrific.

The US military's healthcare system, however, is woefully unprepared to handle the numbers of wounded that could come with large-scale, high-intensity combat against a major military power like China in the Pacific, military health experts told Congress on Tuesday.

"The Military Health System does not have the capacity to care for every casualty," Paul Friedrichs, a retired Air Force general and former Joint Staff Surgeon, said of the high numbers of wounded troops who would stream back to the US from war.

The Pentagon did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment in time for publication.

Getting the US military healthcare system better prepared and developing the much-needed relationships with civilian medical institutions before it's too late is going to be a very heavy lift, Friedrichs and others told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He added that the current challenges are more than it can handle.

"We don't have the capacity to care for the people in peacetime right now," he said, arguing that "to think that somehow we can do this on our own is another mistaken belief."

A healthcare program desperately in need of attention

Friedrichs touted the usefulness of the National Disaster Medical System, originally created to boost national casualty preparedness in the event of large-scale warfare by increasing interoperability between military and civilian medical facilities.

But the program has been overlooked for years and now needs drastic attention as part of a broader national medical effort.

"We're short 300,000 nurses nationally. The projections are we will be short 130,000 doctors by 2035. There is no way that we can do this individually," Freidrichs said.

When the NDMS was originally created in the Cold War era, lawmakers realized that a war effort could not rely solely on the military's healthcare system, Friedrichs said. Rather, it would need to be augmented with the veteran's health administration and civilian partners, including hospitals and academic institutions.

Such partnerships have fallen to the wayside, the panel said.

"We need to put our foot on the gas," echoed retired Air Force Colonel Jeremy W. Cannon, a professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, noting "we don't have five years, 10 years, 20 years. We need the solution really now."

"No one in the DoD truly owns combat casualty care," he added, making it harder for the military to even begin to better prepare.

The US military can't count solely on the systems that supported it in recent wars

That military healthcare experts have expressed such concerns about combat casualty care may come as a surprise to some after two decades of war in the Middle East.

During the height of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, American air supremacy and regional support infrastructure meant troops could often be evacuated for higher-level medical care within the "golden hour" window.

But the logistics of warfare, including triage for the injured, is poised to be dizzyingly complex in the Pacific, especially as the US faces a severe shortage of ships. The US has just two hospital ships that are in need of replacement.

And that's not even factoring in threats posed by enemy activity.

Adding to the complexity is that the military's health system remains siloed in their healthcare operations and training, without a truly meaningful "joint" approach to healthcare, said Friedrichs.

Jointness helps various parts of the military more easily work together, and creates standardization that can make fighting wars and taking care of the wounded easier and more effective.

And the challenges don't stop there. Just 10% of military general surgeons are receiving the patient volume and variety needed to keep their medical skills sharp and prepared for combat injuries. In the absence of active warfare and without sufficient training opportunities to work in facilities like civilian emergency rooms or other surgical facilities, medical skills are becoming rusty.

"We're actively falling into the trap of the peacetime effect," Cannon said, noting that in a Pacific war, the US military could see up to 1,000 troops killed and wounded each day for months, overwhelming the systems in place. Neither the military health system nor the civilian sector could absorb such extreme numbers in their current capacities.

"Many of these patients will have survivable injuries," Cannon said. "Yet one in four will die at the hands of an unprepared system."

• After visiting over 20 countries in the past three years, a few destinations have stolen my heart.
• I'd love to return to Iceland and Banff, Canada, in the winter months.
• In my opinion, Fiji is the epitome of paradise, and was one of the most peaceful places I've been.

Over the past three years, I've had the incredible privilege of traveling to over 20 countries. I've been everywhere from the Arctic Circle to the South Pacific, Europe, and around North America.

Although every trip has had its highlights, a few destinations stand out as truly exceptional places I'd return to without hesitation. These spots captured my heart with their natural beauty, vibrant cultures, and opportunities for exploration and adventure.

If you're seeking inspiration for your next big trip, keep these five unforgettable destinations on your radar.

Udaipur, India, is as luxurious as it is stunning.

India's luxury hospitality industry, spicy delicacies, and bustling streets make it an unforgettable destination. Udaipur, specifically, offers all of this with the surprising addition of beautiful lakeside views.

I stayed at The Leela Palace Udaipur, one of the few hotels on the shore of Lake Pichola. Watching the sunset over the water from my balcony each night was enough to convince me to go back, but Udaipur also offers a mix of history, shopping, and art.

While visiting, I toured the City Palace Museum, escaped the heat at the Saheliyon ki Bari Botanical Gardens, and browsed local businesses and art museums for one-of-a-kind souvenirs.

As a whole, I really enjoyed visiting Iceland.

Witnessing the northern lights isn't the only thing that makes Iceland worth visiting. However, it was a magical moment that made me want to return.

I visited during the summer when there was ample daylight to soak in the scenery. The volcanic, rocky landscapes were truly otherworldly.

While touring the island, I visited the Sky Lagoon geothermal spa, admired Kirkjufell Mountain, crossed the Bridge Between Continents, and explored natural wonders like Kleifarvatn Lake.

Now, I'm itching to go back during winter to hike through ice caves and see the northern lights more clearly.

Fiji is the epitome of paradise.

As soon as I stepped onto this gorgeous, palm-tree-sprinkled land and into the humid yet breezy air, I felt all my worries dissipate.

The salty, azure waters were perfect for swimming, kayaking, and snorkeling, and the white sands and jungle offered ample opportunity for both relaxation and outdoor adventure. Fiji felt far away from everyday life in the best way.

I also loved enjoying Fijian food at a traditional Lovo, which involves cooking meat, fish, and vegetables in a freshly dug "underground oven" made with coals.

Fiji consists of over 300 islands, but I stayed at a private island resort called Wakaya. With jungle landscapes, pristine beaches, and breathtaking sea views, I've never felt so at peace in a destination.

Banff, Canada, is a playground for outdoor adventurers.

In my opinion, there's no better place in North America for outdoor adventurers than Banff, Canada.

Summer in Banff is a playground for hiking, biking, kayaking, and taking in the awe-inspiring mountain landscapes.

I loved my experience in Banff so much that I have another trip booked for this year. This time, I'll be visiting in the winter, which offers a different kind of wonderland.

Banff is a premier ski destination, but outdoor delights abound, with activities like ice skating across frozen lakes, ice climbing along frozen waterfalls, snowshoeing, and, of course, plenty of opportunities for aprés-ski.

Kauai, Hawaii, is truly magical.

From rainforests and vast canyons to scenic beaches, Kauai, Hawaii, offers endless beauty.

During my trip, which was my first big solo adventure, I drove to the top of Waimea Canyon, visited the Kauai Coffee Estate, chatted with friendly locals, and took in the incredible beach and mountain views.

I only scratched the surface of things to do and see, and left the island craving so much more of what it had to offer.

• EV battery maker Northvolt filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday.
• The Swedish company, founded by two ex-Tesla executives, struggled amid stuttering demand for EVs.
• It was widely seen as Europe's hope for an EV battery manufacturer to rival Asian automakers.

Northvolt, the electric vehicle battery maker founded by two former Tesla executives, has reached the end of the road after failing to secure additional funding.

The Swedish company's board announced the bankruptcy on Wednesday, saying that it had "explored all available means to secure a viable financial and operational future for the company."

Northvolt said it faced multiple challenges in recent months that undermined its financial position, including growing capital costs and geopolitical instability, resulting in supply chain disruptions and fluctuating demand.

Despite support from lenders and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, the company failed to achieve the financial conditions required to continue operating.

A Swedish court-appointed trustee will now oversee the sale of the business and its assets.

"This is an incredibly difficult day for everyone at Northvolt," Northvolt's interim chair, Tom Johnstone, said in a statement.

"We set out to build something groundbreaking — to drive real change in the battery, EV, and wider European industry and accelerate the transition to a green and sustainable future."

European setback

Northvolt aimed to become Europe's main EV battery manufacturer and counter the dominance of Chinese rivals such as CATL and BYD.

It was founded in 2016 by Peter Carlsson and Paolo Cerutti and had raised more than $15 billion from investors including Volkswagen, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Baillie Gifford, and Spotify cofounder Daniel Ek.

Northvolt grappled with escalating debts, operational efficiencies, and a reliance on Chinese equipment that hindered its production capabilities.

The bankruptcy affects Northvolt AB and its Swedish subsidiaries.

Northvolt's German and North American businesses are not filing for bankruptcy in their respective jurisdictions, though the court-appointed trustee and company lenders will determine their future.

The collapse comes as European automakers struggle with weak demand for EVs and rising competition from Chinese rivals.

Volkswagen, Europe's largest automaker, is considering closing factories in Germany for the first time and cutting tens of thousands of jobs due to weak EW demand and excess capacity.

Last week, Mercedes-Benz announced staff buyouts and half-salary reductions to improve earnings following a decline in sales in 2024.

Ford, meanwhile, said last November it would cut 4,000 jobs in Europe by the end of 2027.

• Alvaro Munevar Jr. retired at 59 after building a real estate side business.
• Reading business and personal finance books helped him prepare for an early retirement.
• The books gave him insight into strategies like owning index funds and knowing when to quit.

I retired from my tech career in 2024 at the age of 59 after working for over 30 years.

The secret sauce to my early retirement was staying in middle management positions, where I kept reasonable work hours.

I spent my free time learning about how to become financially secure. I threw myself into learning everything I could about money management by reading personal finance books.

Taking inspiration from my research, I built a real estate side business that provided me with the additional income I needed to eventually leave my job.

Here are five key books that helped me on my journey to retiring early.

1. "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki

Robert Kiyosaki's 1997 book taught me how to think differently about my money.

Kiyosaki, a personal finance writer, tells the story of his father, the 'poor dad' — an educator with limited means who followed very basic money thinking.

Meanwhile, the author's wealthy mentor, the 'rich dad,' owned businesses and taught Kiyosaki a more informed approach to building wealth through entrepreneurship.

I found Kiyosaki's definition of assets as things that put money in your pocket like stocks or rental properties, and liabilities as things that detract from your pocket like car loans and clothing, particularly helpful.

The book helped me understand the impact of my own purchasing decisions and the importance of purchasing rental properties as assets that could produce a passive income.

2. "Bogle on Mutual Funds" by John C. Bogle.

This 1993 book by John C. Bogle, the founder of investment advisor The Vanguard Group and the person who popularized the index fund, gave me insight into investing my money.

The book supports owning broad market low-cost index funds, which track the performance of market indexes like the S&P 500, instead of more costly actively managed mutual funds, which involve fund managers buying and selling the financial assets in your portfolio.

Once I understood that most actively managed funds fail to meet and exceed the returns of the S&P 500 over long periods of time, I converted the actively managed funds in my portfolio over to low-cost index funds that Bogle had recommended.

Of course, picking stocks in an attempt to "beat the market" is exhilarating, but much like gambling, very few individual investors can actually succeed in doing so long term.

3. "The Addictive Organization" by Anne Wilson Schaef and Diane Fassel

"The Addictive Organization" presents a telling perspective on what can go wrong in the corporate world, written by Anne Wilson-Schaef, a clinical psychologist, and Diane Fassel, a management consultant in the 1980s.

The book explains how some organizations can demonstrate unhealthy approaches in their work culture that resemble personal addictions. Companies might deny there's a problem with unethical behavior or promote obsessive productivity that burns out employees.

The authors suggest that these addictive management approaches create leaders who leverage more control over their employees and an atmosphere of fear.

Reading the examples in this book made me less inclined to climb the corporate career ladder and spurred my desire to start my own business outside my job.

4. "Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away" by Annie Duke

Reading Annie Duke's 2022 book was a wake-up call that furthered my desire to leave corporate America and retire.

Duke is a former professional poker player with a background in cognitive psychology. Her book explains how to be strategic about quitting and, most importantly, when to quit.

In the prologue, Duke discusses the later boxing career of heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, saying he continued to fight even as he got older and simply did not know when to quit.

This book helped me understand that investing more time into a career that had become less challenging and interesting was a mistake. Also, I realized that you can lose opportunities when you stay in a position too long.

5. "Die with Zero" by Bill Perkins

The book that guided me into the final chapter of my retirement was "Die with Zero," 2020, by Bill Perkins, a hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, and poker player.

It helped me understand the actual utility of money. In it, Perkins reminds us that as we get older, we have less time and energy to enjoy our money.

The value money holds changes as you age. When you're younger, $1 million or $10 million has tremendous value. You can use it to travel, visit new places, explore hobbies, and spend time with others while you are youthful and energetic.

$1 to $10 million doesn't have the same value to you as an 85-year-old. Even if you are still relatively healthy in your eighties, you won't be able to enjoy the same activities that require energy and vitality.

I learned from this book that my money has a higher value to me today than it will when I'm in my 70s or 80s. It made me want to enjoy my wealth earlier while I still can.

Books helped to educate me about personal finances

I'd credit these books with helping me master personal finances and retire before I turned 60. Their publication dates span multiple decades, but I believe that the lessons provide as much value today as when they were written.

By reading these books, I learned how my money should flow, how to build an investing strategy, and why I shouldn't get stuck in a corporate job forever.

• US and Chinese AI advancements took center stage at a major conference on Wednesday in Singapore.
• Salesforce's CEO criticized Big Tech's spending on data centers and AI development.
• Alibaba's cofounder said open-sourced models could spur innovation outside Big Tech companies.

Some of the biggest names in tech and finance talked AI in Singapore on Wednesday, highlighting the hot debate about American and Chinese tech advancements.

At the CNBC conference, Salesforce's CEO, Marc Benioff, said some tech leaders have fallen into a "hypnosis" about the number of data centers and the level of training needed to create AI models. The emergence of seemingly low-cost, high-tech Chinese models like DeepSeek's R1 shows that these investments might not be necessary, he said.

"It has to be rethought. Exactly what are you doing and why are you doing this?" he said of the Big Tech companies spending hundreds of billions of dollars on hardware.

Benioff has been vocal about his dislike of how much capital Big Tech is earmarking for data centers and AI advancement.

During the same panel, Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio said that the US is still winning against China in designing leading chips. But he said China has the upper hand in actually using AI.

"China is behind, but not by a lot, in the best chips," Dalio said.

Joe Tsai, Alibaba's cofounder, said the "so-called DeepSeek moment" is more about the open-source movement than which country has the best AI. Open-source models allow for the free and open sharing of software to anyone for any purpose.

Tsai predicted a rush of development on top of existing open-source models — which won't just benefit Big Tech companies.

With open-source models, "the AI game is not just left to the five richest companies in the world that can afford to invest $50 billion a year," he said.

In January, DeepSeek, a Chinese startup, launched an open-sourced AI model that rattled US tech and AI companies. Third-party tests showed the model outperformed its peers from OpenAI, Meta, and other top developers in some tasks, and the company said it was built for less money.

• Walmart is asking some Spark delivery drivers to verify their identities at a store.
• Gig delivery workers get $15 for verifying their identity in person.
• Some drivers have used Spark accounts to make deliveries under other people's names.

Walmart is asking some of its Spark drivers to prove who they say they are the old-fashioned way — and paying them to do it.

Some drivers for the retailer's delivery service are being asked to bring their driver's license to a Walmart store, where someone from the big box chain will verify their identity in person, according to an in-app message reviewed by Business Insider.

Spark drivers who verify their identity at a store will receive a one-time $15 payment, the email said.

"All drivers in your area will need to complete an in-person identity verification" to keep using the Spark app, according to the message, which directed drivers to a store in Northwest Arkansas, the region home to Walmart's corporate headquarters. The email gave the drivers a deadline of this week to complete the check.

The in-person ID check appears to be Walmart's latest effort to deter people who are using Spark under identities other than their own.

Some Spark drivers appear to shop and deliver for the service using accounts under other people's names, BI previously reported.

Accounts for Spark and other delivery apps are often offered for sale on social media, such as in Facebook groups for gig workers. Some of the posts make a pitch to people who don't have "papers," a reference to not having work authorization in the US, or say that having multiple accounts will allow them to deliver multiple orders at once and make more money.

Some drivers have said that hackers appear to have gotten into their Spark accounts and delivered orders using them. Walmart said last year that hackers accessed 200 Spark accounts, exposing drivers' personal information.

"We're always looking at new and innovative security technology," a Walmart spokesperson said when BI reached out about the requirement. "This is a pilot we are testing in certain markets, and we will evaluate the results before making any longer-term decisions."

Walmart started verifying Spark drivers' identities using a facial recognition feature in the app in late 2023. The tool asked users to take a series of selfies with their smartphones, which Walmart then compared with their ID photo. Spark drivers have to complete the check each time they log into the app, Walmart said last year.

The feature wasn't perfect, though. Some Spark drivers told BI that Walmart kicked them out of their Spark accounts even though their pictures and details matched their licenses. Walmart told BI at the time that the feature "was working as intended."

One Spark driver in Arkansas who completed the in-person verification said that she got a notification in the Spark app about it.

At the store, a Walmart employee took pictures of the driver's photo ID and asked her to take selfies using a company smartphone, she said. The driver asked not to be named in this article as she was not authorized by the company to speak about the matter.

"It really was not a big deal for me," the driver said. "It may be a big deal for somebody else if they're not who they say they are."

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• My mom put money into an investment property, and later gave me the original money and the profit.
• At 23, I used it as a deposit for a home. I loved getting a head start in the real estate market.
• I want my kids to get the same financial head start I did.

I bought my first property in 2009, when I was 23. It was a cute two-bedroom townhouse in a complex on the Gold Coast, in Australia, where I'm originally from.

My circumstances were a bit unusual. As a little girl, I'd almost died after being prescribed a medication that caused me to have a seizure and stop breathing. My mom took legal action and won $20,000 in damages, which she put toward buying an investment property (co-owned by my parents and myself).

When I turned 23, she paid me the original $20,000 plus the profit, which worked out to $40,000 in total. I was able to use it as the deposit for a home. I was the first of my friends to enter the real estate market, and it felt incredible to get a foot up on the property ladder so young.

I had to save to cover the costs, but I still traveled

At the time, I was working full-time as a newspaper journalist, but it wasn't paid very well. I think the most important lesson I learned from buying a property at an early age was how to save and budget, even on a meager income.

I knew that I had to cover the mortgage, water, council rates, electricity, and insurance on the property, so I made sure I set enough money aside each week to do all of those things before I splurged on nice-to-haves. When my friends were buying designer dresses or flashy cars, I told myself that I was working toward building something more important for my future.

Having said that, I still did what I wanted to do, for the most part. When I was 25, I rented out the property and took off overseas for three years. I spent part of that time living in Canada and London, and traveled around North and South America, then Europe and Africa.

Again, my friends were gobsmacked that I could afford to live and travel abroad and still own a property back home in Australia, but I'd learned good savings habits. I worked three hospitality jobs at times in order to reach my earning goals, avoided eating out, and shopped secondhand for clothes. While living in Canada, my partner (who eventually became my husband) and I moved in together, and that helped cut costs.

I'll admit that it wasn't all smooth sailing — there were definitely stressful moments. Once, when I was just about to leave my base in Canada and embark on a three-month trip around South America, my real estate agent emailed to say my tenant had trashed the property.

He had burned cigarette holes in the furniture and caused damage to the walls. I was so stressed about finding new tenants, but the tenant's deposit paid for a lot of the damage, and I had a savings buffer that covered the mortgage repayments while the property was unoccupied. It all worked out in the end.

My partner and I found a fixer-upper for our family, and I sold my first house

When my partner and I eventually returned to Australia, got married, and had our son, we wanted to buy a family home. In 2017, we found a great fixer-upper with a lot of potential in an up-and-coming part of Melbourne called Seaford. The property was about a mile and a half from the beach and close to parks and amenities. It was perfect.

I ended up selling my Gold Coast townhouse, which had appreciated in value by that point, and put the money toward the deposit for our family home. Having that head-start in the property market proved to be an invaluable stepping stone for us, and I am so grateful to my parents, particularly my Mom, for making it happen.

I want my kids to have the same opportunities I did

Now that I have three kids, I'm trying to ensure they have the best chance possible of getting started in real estate from a young age. I recently read a report looking at the disparity of property investment between men and women in Australia, and it made me even more resolute to give my daughters (and, of course, our son) the same head-start that I had.

Two years ago, my kids inherited some money from a close family friend. The money is in a high-interest savings account, and my husband and I contribute to it monthly via direct debit.

I'm also speaking to a financial planner about the best way to invest my kids' inheritance on their behalf and I've explained these options to my older children. My 9-year-old son wants to build a share portfolio, while the 6-year-old thinks her nest egg could finance an impressive Barbie collection. She still doesn't quite understand the concept of saving or wealth-building, but we'll get there.

• Once my kids started getting social invites from their friends, I told them they could say no.
• I also said they can use me as an excuse if they can't say anything else.
• We talk about the reasons they don't want to do things.

When I was in 7^th grade, the girl who lived across the street reluctantly invited me to a birthday sleepover because our mothers were friends. We hadn't really spent time together since elementary school, and I didn't want to go, but my mother said it would be rude not to attend. I dreaded that weekend for a month; it was just as awkward and uncomfortable as I imagined.

That experience has stuck with me as my kids have started navigating social invitations. One of my sons was recently invited to a friend's house, but he wasn't feeling it. He struggled to say no without upsetting his friend, so we discussed some options. In the end, I gave him an easy out: blame me. Tell his friend we had family plans. His look of relief said it all. And, the next time this friend invited him to do something, he was more than happy to go.

My teens know they can use me as an excuse

This isn't the first time I've done this. My teenagers know that they can use me as a scapegoat if they ever need an excuse — to get out of an uncomfortable situation or simply to sidestep an awkward social interaction. Maybe they felt pressured to agree to plans they later regretted, or maybe they're unsure about attending an event but don't want to hurt someone's feelings.

No matter what, I'm happy to take the blame.

I understand the arguments against this kind of parental intervention. Shouldn't kids learn to stand up for themselves? Shouldn't they develop the skills to decline invitations politely but honestly? And yes, in the long run, I want my kids to feel confident in advocating for themselves, whether with teachers, coaches, or friends. But I also recognize that learning to manage social dynamics, especially in adolescence, is tricky.

Learning how to say no gracefully takes time, and while they're still developing that skill, I see no harm in offering them a way out of something they're not prepared to handle on their own.

I teach my kids to be kind

I think most of us have used similar tactics to sidestep an uncomfortable situation regardless of age. At the heart of this is the understanding that not every situation calls for a direct, unfiltered response.

We encourage kids to tell the truth but also teach them about kindness and tact. If my son doesn't want to go to a party, does he really need to tell his friend, "I don't want to hang out with you today"? Of course not. As adults, we wouldn't do that either. We'd soften the rejection, offer an alternative, or, yes, sometimes use a little white lie to make things easier.

That's not to say I encourage dishonesty across the board. My kids know that honesty is non-negotiable when it comes to things like schoolwork, commitments, and personal responsibility. But social situations are often more nuanced. They require a level of diplomacy that teenagers are still figuring out. I'm all for it if giving them an easy, consequence-free excuse helps them navigate tricky situations with less stress.

I want to be their safety net

Beyond helping them avoid discomfort, this strategy also gives them an important safety net. They know that if they ever find themselves in a situation that feels wrong — whether it's peer pressure or just a bad vibe — they can use me as an out. No questions asked. "My mom needs me home" or "My parents won't let me" are built-in escape routes that let them quickly remove themselves from a situation.

At the end of the day, I do think that learning to say no is an important life skill. But it's one that develops over time with experience and confidence. I try to keep the lines of communication open so that we can discuss these situations and their reasons for wanting to say no, which helps me better understand what they're dealing with.

But until my kids are comfortable navigating those situations on their own, I'll be here, offering them an easy out whenever they need it. And if that means taking the blame for a few declined invitations? I'm more than happy to play the bad guy.

• India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, announced a partnership with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
• Ambani's Jio Platforms will bring Starlink's internet services to India, per the partnership.
• This deal comes at a welcome time for Musk.

India's richest man is joining hands with Elon Musk to bring Starlink into the subcontinent.

Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire owner of Indian mega-conglomerate Reliance Industries, announced a partnership with Musk's SpaceX to bring Starlink's internet services to India through its technology subsidiary, Jio Platforms.

In a press release on Wednesday, Jio Platforms said that it would offer Starlink services to customers in India through its retail and online storefronts.

The partnership would increase access connectivity across the subcontinent, even in "most rural and remote regions of India," the release wrote.

"Our collaboration with SpaceX to bring Starlink to India strengthens our commitment and marks a transformative step toward seamless broadband connectivity for all," Mathew Oommen, the CEO of Reliance Jio, said in the release.

Jio Platforms said this agreement will be "subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorizations to sell Starlink in India."

Jio Platforms did not specify when the partnership will be rolled out.

If the partnership goes through, it will give Starlink access to the world's largest consumer market. India is the world's most populous country, with more than 1.4 billion people.

Reliance Jio had 481.8 million subscribers in the country as of 2024, Reliance Industries said in its 2023-2024 annual report. Ambani had a net worth of $87.5 billion at press time on Wednesday, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Representatives for SpaceX and Reliance Industries did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Musk said he's been running his businesses 'with great difficulty'

The deal with Ambani, if confirmed, would be a welcome boost for Musk. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said in an interview with Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, which aired Monday, that running the Department of Government Efficiency along with his companies hasn't been easy.

"With great difficulty," Musk said when asked how he managed his businesses.

Tesla saw a postelection boost after President Donald Trump's victory in November, but the stock has slid by more than 50% from recent highs. Musk's EV company has also seen declining sales in Europe and China.

In January, Tesla said it delivered 1.79 million vehicles last year, a 1% drop from the 1.81 million vehicles it delivered in 2023. This was the first time the company's annual sales declined in more than a decade.

Musk's clashes with European politicians over the Ukraine war have resulted in increased scrutiny over the market dominance of his satellite internet service, Starlink. Musk initially supported Ukraine but has since called for the US to stop sending it military aid.

On Sunday, Poland's foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, wrote in an X post that Poland "will be forced to look for other suppliers" of satellite internet services if SpaceX "proves to be an unreliable provider."

"To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals," Musk wrote on X on Sunday.

"We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip," he added.

• Taco Bell and other chains are leaning into limited-time-offer menu items as a way to experiment.
• These "LTOs" often sell out or are simply removed from menus after their time is up.
• It means fans shouldn't get attached to new items, even the ones everyone seems to be obsessed with.

Fast-food fans are getting breadcrumbed by their favorite new menu items.

At Taco Bell's Live Más Live event earlier this month, the chain announced it will launch twice as many new menu items this year as it did in 2024. Many of these are limited-time offers, or LTOs.

They include:

• Toasted Cheddar Street Chalupa
• Grilled Cheese Burrito with Shredded Beef
• Crispy Chicken Nuggets
• Flamin' Hot Burrito
• Rolled Poblano Quesadilla
• Quesocrisp Taco
• Mountain Dew Baja Midnight

But even if these items prove to be popular, there's no guarantee they'll stick around.

LTOs let chains experiment with trends without investing too heavily

While testing LTOs, brands can keep their year-round menus small, avoiding the commitment and extensive testing of permanent additions.

If the release flops, the chain can quietly phase it out without the hassle of removing a permanent item and having to explain why.

But if it's a hit, the chain can either make it a permanent menu item or bring it back for another limited-time run in the future, roping in fans who've been waiting for it to come back.

"There's only so much that you can learn in the test market, throughout the whole marketing machine behind a line," Taco Bell's chief marketing officer, Taylor Montgomery, told Business Insider about the benefits of releasing limited-time offerings. "You learn really quickly what hits and what doesn't."

Taco Bell's chief food innovation officer, Liz Matthews, told BI that testing some items for short periods of time means the brand can simultaneously be more thoughtful about permanent additions like its Cantina menu.

"We were very intentional with every single ingredient, sauce, and how it would all work on the menu, and we tested it for a long period of time before we launched it," she said. "I think there's a little more freedom when it's a shorter period of time."

Phasing items on and off fast-food menus can increase demand when they inevitably return

Knowing that an item may only be around for a few months — or even a few weeks — can create a sense of urgency for customers.

Seasonal menu items like McDonald's Shamrock Shake, Starbucks' pumpkin-spice latte, and Popeyes' fish sandwich typically return to menus each year and then promptly disappear when the season is over.

Fans of these menu items know and accept this fact, though perhaps begrudgingly. Customers look forward to having them again each year when St. Patrick's Day, fall, or the Lent season rolls around.

There are non-seasonal LTOs, too — Taco Bell's wildly popular Mexican Pizza was originally introduced as an LTO, but it made multiple short-term returns to menus over the years.

In May 2022, the chain reported that demand for Mexican Pizza was seven times higher after its return to menus, resulting in the chain running out of ingredients to make it. In September of that year, it was added to menus as a permanent fixture.

McDonald's has seen similar success with items like its McRib sandwich. The item has popped up on menus — only to promptly disappear again — multiple times over the past few years.

Michael Della Penna, chief strategy officer at marketing at InMarket, told CNN this is a common "playbook" for many quick-service chains.

"Bringing back old favorites like the McRib is one of the tools that they use to drive interest and demand," Della Penna said. "It gets people excited about visiting. It gets people nostalgic when they remember the product and want to try it again."

Diners might feel like they're in a 'situationship' when their favorite new menu item vanishes

When a fan-favorite LTO disappears, customers may feel frustrated or even betrayed by the brand, leading to possible negative feedback online or diehard fans petitioning to bring the item back.

For chains, there's no better sign that they're onto something.

When Taco Bell released its chicken nuggets for a limited time in January, the nuggets sold out, leaving many diners empty-handed. In response, the chain is bringing the nuggets back twice this year, in addition to its host of other LTOs.

"Our goal is to make crispy chicken permanent," Montgomery told BI at Taco Bell's Live Más Live event in March, calling the first release "a big experiment."

Montgomery said that when the chain originally tested the chicken nuggets with consumers, "it tested OK."

"We launched it for four weeks to see how consumers responded to it, and we ran out in half the time," he said. "So, that's why we're bringing crispy chicken back for 21 weeks [in 2025]. And maybe it's permanent in 2026."

Chains know some LTOs aren't meant to last, but that's the fun of it

It's too early to say whether the on-and-off relationship people have had with Taco Bell's chicken nuggets and Flamin' Hot Burrito will have a similar effect as that of the Mexican Pizza or McRib.

However, chain executives are optimistic that LTOs will continue to drive brand excitement and engagement in 2025.

"There are some things that are just fun that we're not necessarily going to put on the menu full time, and we know it going in, and we're OK with that," Matthews said. "We want to bring some fun innovation and have people get excited about it."

Think of limited-time offers as a fun fling — they may not stick around forever, but there's always a chance they'll make a comeback.

So enjoy them while they last, and know that it's rarely a goodbye, just a "see you later."

• Business Insider reviewed a copy of xAI's internal organizational chart.
• Elon Musk's direct reports include Igor Babuschkin, Ross Nordeen, Jimmy Ba, Jared Birchall, and Daniel Rowland.
• The ranks also include former Tesla and Google engineers and Musk's son.

At xAI, Elon Musk has marshaled a workforce that has ballooned by more than 1,000 employees in less than two years as he goes head-to-head with rivals OpenAI and Google.

Business Insider reviewed the company's internal organizational chart to identify and understand the people near the top of the AI venture as of early this year. The chart, which included names, titles, and other information, features former Tesla and Google engineers, Musk's home office manager, and his son.

As CEO, Musk oversees a team of more than 1,200 people. Five employees report directly to the billionaire: xAI founding team members Igor Babuschkin, Ross Nordeen, and Jimmy Ba; longtime Musk aide Jared Birchall; and Daniel Rowland, whose involvement in the company hasn't been previously reported.

A spokesperson for xAI did not respond to a request for comment.

Musk, Ba, Rowland, Birchall, Babuschkin, and Nordeen did not respond to a request for comment.

Here's what we know about Musk's direct reports.

Jimmy Ba

Ba was one of Musk's first hires at xAI. He appeared on a livestream alongside Musk and a handful of other xAI employees when the company unveiled the latest version of Grok in February.

Several of Ba's direct reports joined the company as "Member of Technical Staff" within the past few months, including Pawan Bhandarkar and Satvik Ramaprasad, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

Most xAI employees roll up to Ba, including around 900 AI "tutors," the hourly employees who train the company's chatbot, Grok. These workers report to team leads who are overseen by "human data managers." The majority of tutors work remotely, and some work outside the US.

Outside his work at xAI, Ba is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto. He's part of the Machine Learning Group, faculty from the computer science department who work on various projects involving artificial intelligence. He received his Ph.D. from the school while studying under the Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton, who has been referred to as the "godfather of AI."

Daniel Rowland

Rowland joined xAI nearly a year ago and oversees both of xAI's data centers, according to the organizational chart.

The company built its Memphis data center — which Musk has said is the largest in the world, and which the company has said houses more than 200,000 GPUs — in 122 days, a fraction of the time it typically takes to build such a facility. The company also has two other facilities in Memphis, including a wastewater treatment plant and a site that was announced in March. Musk has said the company plans to scale the site, which he has nicknamed "Colossus," to 2 million GPUs in the coming year.

xAI also quietly set up a data center in Atlanta in December that houses about 12,000 GPUs.

Rowland has a team of a few dozen people, including eight direct reports. In January, two of those employees left Tesla's Dojo project, which is focused on building the carmaker's custom supercomputer, to join the data center project, LinkedIn profiles show.

Brent Mayo, a former SpaceX engineer, also reports to Rowland. Mayo has become the face of xAI in Memphis, where he frequently engages with local officials and serves as the senior manager of site builds and infrastructure. Rowland's other direct reports include Alexander Coppess, Andy Kim, Lee Meyer, and Liz Balke.

Rowland's team is primarily based out of Memphis, but he has one employee listed as a data center technician based in Atlanta.

BI was unable to confirm details of Rowland's professional background. A hardware engineer named Daniel Rowland has worked on Tesla's Dojo supercomputer since 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile and internal documentation reviewed by BI.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

Igor Babuschkin

Babuschkin previously worked at Google DeepMind.

Babuschkin manages the most people directly at xAI, with 29 direct reports. One of his team members includes Kai Musk, Elon Musk's son, according to the chart. Musk is listed in xAI's directory as an "Engineering Intern" on the company's "Engineering Strike Team." His involvement with the company has not been previously reported.

When asked about his position at the company, Kai Musk responded from his xAI email address that "this information is incorrect." He declined to comment further and did not respond to follow-up questions.

Babuschkin also oversees members of the company's "xAI Partner" department, including Marko Elez and Aram Moghaddassi, two people who have been connected to Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

Both previously worked at Musk's X and Neuralink, according to Moghaddassi's LinkedIn profile and an archived version of Elez's LinkedIn profile. Elez was listed as an "active" employee at xAI in February; four days after BI reached out to xAI about his employment, his company email address stopped working.

Other people listed as members of the xAI Partner department under Babuschkin include Aqueel Miqdad and Anton Shevchenko, who both list X as their current employer on LinkedIn.

Jared Birchall

Birchall is listed as an "xAI Partner" on the organizational chart, but he does not report to Babuschkin. His team includes members of the finance, legal, security, and HR teams. His direct reports include Robert Ochoa, the human resources lead; Robert Keele, the legal lead; and Pablo Mendoza, the finance lead.

Birchall, like Rowland, is listed as a remote employee.

The former Morgan Stanley banker also serves as the CEO of Musk's brain chip startup, Neuralink, and he has run Musk's family office for nine years.

Ross Nordeen

Nordeen has no direct reports. He was a technical program manager at Tesla before he joined xAI in 2023, according to an internal Tesla database from December 2021.

Do you work for xAI or one of Musk's companies? Reach out to the reporter using a non-work email and device at [email protected] or via the encrypted messaging platform Signal at 248-894-6012.

• Caitlin Wehniainen has helped place top talent on high-visibility teams at Fortune 1000 companies.
• She said experience, accomplishments, ability to learn, and growth matter more than college names.
• Wehniainen looks for these attributes in various ways on a candidate's résumé.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Caitlin Wehniainen, a staffing and recruitment expert and director of business development at On Cue Hire, based in Boca Raton, Florida. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I've been a recruiter placing candidates in corporate roles in IT, HR, finance, marketing, and other fields. I even started my own staffing and talent firm, On Cue Hire. In my years of recruiting, I've found that the name of the college or school someone attended is rarely a deciding factor when assessing their fit for a position.

In fact, it's rare that I pay attention to a college or school name when evaluating an individual's credentials and ability to perform in any given role. Unless the position I'm hiring for is incredibly niche, most hiring leaders like me care far more about other assets.

Hands-on work experience, accomplishments, aptitude for learning, and growth mean more to me than the name of the college or university a job candidate attended. Here's how I look for those things.

Degree levels and types vary depending on the position

When I'm looking at marketing roles and sales positions, I tend to see many people with marketing and communications-related degrees.

For IT roles, I generally see master's degrees in information systems and computer science. But really, I see a lot of people without degrees building phenomenal careers in skilled trades like technology.

Many of these applicants have developed their skill set from prior jobs or learning at home, where they download the software and teach themselves, tinkering with things as they go.

The more experience a candidate has, the less their degree matters to me

Once an individual has 5 years of experience, the degree becomes less relevant. At that point, the company they worked for matters more.

When hiring, I ask about the prior company. What did you do within that company? What value and contributions did you bring? Answers to these questions become much more important to me than what an applicant studied in school.

Promotions within the same company are a good sign to recruiters

On résumés, I look for visible promotions within the company or organization the candidate worked for. I want candidates who are fundamental contributors within their company.

Often, I'll see someone who has been at the same company for three years and has job titles that go up the ladder. I see that and go, "OK," this company is recognizing this person's talent and is giving them greater responsibility.

All this shows the candidate is highly capable and high performing in their job. They're probably a great professional because they're earning promotions.

Candidates should show recruiters they care about their craft

It's always great to see when someone is continuing their education in their field through furthering their degrees with a master's, Ph.D., etc. This shows they're passionate about their career and care about their craft. They want to learn more about what they're doing.

Certifications also add value to an applicant's candidacy for a role. I like to see applicants reach their long-term goals. For example, I value a candidate for a marketing role who has spent time earning an SEO certification. This means they spend personal time outside work, becoming a stronger professional in their field.

There are only a few instances where school name matters

There can be hundreds of applicants for just one role because LinkedIn and other job boards have one-click application systems. What makes a candidate stand out online is having a phenomenal LinkedIn with professional recommendations from previous hiring leaders or details about any other great project that they've accomplished.

I've worked with Fortune 1000 companies, placing top talent on high-visibility teams. Unless I'm searching for a high-level IT or software architecture role that might prioritize candidates from elite technical institutions like MIT, the school name doesn't typically matter.

If you're a talent recruiter with advice and tips you'd like to share, please email this editor, Manseen Logan, at [email protected].