• Stephen Park described "Friends" as a "toxic environment" when he guest-starred during a recent podcast interview.
• Park guest-starred in seasons two and three of "Friends" and said he heard racist comments on set.
• "Nobody felt the need to correct this or say anything about it. So this is normal behavior."

Despite its reputation as one of the most celebrated sitcoms of all time, one "Friends" guest star said the environment on set was uncomfortable for Asian actors.

"It was at the time, for me, I felt it was kind of a toxic environment," Korean-American actor Stephen Park said on an episode of the "Pod Meets World" a podcast.

Park appeared in a small role as a data-processing colleague of Chandler Bing (the late Matthew Perry) in the season two episode "The One With the Chicken Pox."

He described hearing racist slurs on set while making his second appearance on the show, in season three's "The One With the Ultimate Fighting Champion," which aired in 1997 and also guest-starred James Hong ("Blade Runner," "Mulan," "Everything Everywhere All At Once").

"James Hong was the actor who was also on the episode with me, and [the assistant director] was calling him to the set and you know, essentially saying, 'Where the fuck is the Oriental guy? Get the Oriental guy,'" Park recalled on the podcast.

"This is bigger than this show," Park added. "This isn't the first time that this happened, you know, but this is the environment where this is business as usual in Hollywood in 1997, I guess it was. And nobody felt the need to correct this or say anything about it. So this is normal behavior."

Fed up by the incident, Park wrote a "mission statement" outlining racism in Hollywood and sent it to everyone who'd signed up for his email list.

"Being an Asian-American actor, I continue to struggle to find roles for myself that are not insulting and stereotypical," he wrote at the time, according to archived versions available online.

"I just finished working as a guest star on one of the highest-rated shows on television, which brings me to my next point," Park continued. "Working with the people involved with this show was an extremely painful experience for me. A disturbing lack in generosity of spirit and basic human courtesy, in addition to a racial incident on the set, has forced me to speak out."

Park said the email made a big impression in Hollywood circles — that "it went viral before 'viral' was even a word" — and ended up getting published in several other publications, but ultimately did little to quell his concerns.

"I had become so race-conscious and so angry that I was looking at everything through the lens of race," Park said on the podcast. "I felt like there was no freedom. I didn't feel any freedom. So, I didn't have any idea what I was going to do, but I just decided to drop out. I told everybody, 'I'm not acting anymore.'"

Park's break didn't last forever. He'll next appear alongside Robert Pattinson in Bong Joon-ho's highly anticipated dystopian comedy "Mickey 17."

In recent years, he has also appeared in multiple Wes Anderson films, including 2023's "Asteroid City" and 2021's "The French Dispatch," and Joon-Ho's 2013 thriller "Snowpiercer."

• The biggest cruise lines had a banner 2024 amid booming demand and prices.
• The largest — Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Carnival — saw revenue and passenger growth compared to 2023
• Royal Caribbean saw the most growth of all, welcoming some 8.6 million guests on board.

Every cruise line has benefited from booming demand for vacations at sea, but one company is standing — or floating — above the rest of its competitors: Royal Caribbean Group.

Royal Caribbean isn't the largest of the three most well-known cruise operators. It and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings each oversee three brands, compared to Carnival Corp's eight. As such, in 2025, Carnival is projected to account for 36% of the cruise industry's revenue, followed by Royal Caribbean at 24.8% and Norwegian at 14.1%, according to Cruise Market Watch.

Yet, when it comes to growth from 2023 to 2024 in both revenue and passengers accommodated, Royal Caribbean is the clear winner.

The cruise giant's two competitors saw record revenue in 2024: $25 billion for Carnival (a 15.9% increase from 2023) and $9.5 billion for Norwegian (a 10.9% increase). Similarly, both accommodated about 8% more passengers than the year prior: 13.5 million for Carnival and 2.9 million for Norwegian.

These year-over-year growth spurts are impressive. But they pale compared to Royal Caribbean's 2024 figures: an 18.6% revenue spike to $16.5 billion and a 12% increase in passengers to a record 8.6 million.

It's a sign that the company is increasingly capturing the eager-to-spend cruising market — expected to continue into 2025.

Royal Caribbean started the year with strong bookings and pricing, with plans to debut two new ships and a private resort to further entice potential travelers.

As for demand, "there's no area of weakness," Jason Liberty, the CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, told analysts in late January, a week before it experienced its strongest-ever "wave season" reservation week.

Liberty said its trend-setting private island and two latest and largest cruise ships, Utopia of the Seas and Icon of the Seas, have attracted both first-timers and regulars. Similarly, its cruises in the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand have garnered plenty of demand.

Like Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian have seen a boom in bookings and prices for 2025 — despite having more dry dock days than in 2024, which could negatively impact the number of passengers they accommodate. However, all three companies expect to debut more products this year, including new ships (including one of the world's largest from Royal Caribbean) and resorts.

That is to say, expect the entire mass-market cruise industry to sail into yet another banner year.

• I prefer watching TV shows and movies with the captions turned on. So do 63% of Americans under 30.
• But each streaming app has a slightly different way of turning on captions, which is confusing.
• There is literally nothing else going on in the world more terrible than this, I'm pretty sure.

I can't remember exactly when I started watching TV and movies with captions turned on, but it probably started with a show that had British accents that I — as a boorish American — struggled to understand.

Now, even though I don't need closed captioning, I almost always use it. And I'm not alone — a recent YouGov poll found that 63% of Americans under age 30 prefer watching TV with subtitles turned on.

It's great to be able to understand every nuance and whispered word, but something grinds my gears like no other: Each streaming service seems to have its own way of turning on captions — and it's hard to keep them all straight.

Inevitably, I'll start pushing buttons or sliding my thumb around the Apple TV remote — trying to find the right menu and the magic combination of gestures. Sometimes, this means accidentally pausing my show. Sometimes, it means accidentally turning it off. Sometimes, I manage to actually exit out of the app entirely.

Perhaps I should show you how hard it is to turn on subtitles

I should start with a disclaimer: I'm using an Apple TV set-top box that's connected to my TV. Things may work differently with a Roku or a Google Chromecast. (Using captions on mobile and desktop versions of streaming apps is easier because you don't have to fumble around with a remote control.)

Perhaps it's best if I show you. Allow me to take you on a tour through the annoyingly subtle ways each streamer does captions differently.

Netflix

To add captions on Netflix, there's a speech bubble on the lower right-hand side of the screen that shows up when you start a new show. Or you can swipe up on your remote to pull it onto the screen.

Personally, I find this the easiest and most intuitive way to do captions, but that may be partly because I've used Netflix the longest.

Amazon Prime

For Amazon Prime, you swipe up to open the menu, but BE CAREFUL!

You could easily tap the "Play from the Beginning" button, which will restart your episode. (Nooooooo!) The menu is on the lower left, under "Subtitles."

Click into that, and then tap "On" or "Off," which is confusing because does that mean you want to TURN on captions? Or does it mean that subtitles are already on? And how do you know which way it's toggled? Don't swipe right into "Languages," where you'll see "English [CC]" because that isn't actually the option to turn subtitles on or off — it's the menu to choose subtitles in a different language.

Basically, good luck!!

Disney Plus

On Disney Plus, you swipe down on your remote to access the menu. with Info/Audio/Subtitles.

Then, you choose from a list of languages that have been formatted in paragraph mode rather than a drop-down list. From there, you find "Engish [CC]." (Presuming you're looking for English like I am.)

Max

For Max, you swipe up and tap into the little speech bubble icon at the bottom right.

This will open a menu on the bottom right of the screen.

From there, it's pretty self-explanatory.

Peacock

On Peacock, you swipe up and open up a menu on the bottom left.

Make sure you skip over the "Restart" and "Next Episode" prompts before you scootch right into the "Subtitles and Audio" menu.

Apple TV+

On AppleTV+, or on movies or shows from the iTunes Store, the menu is on the bottom, and in list order.

This is almost identical to Netflix — but with one extra button to minimize the screen on the bottom right.

YouTube TV

Now, let's get to YouTube TV. Look, I'm not a religious person, but I know that hell is real because only Satan himself could have designed the user interface on the YouTube TV app.

First, you swipe down on the remote — but not too quickly, because then it will automatically drop you into a menu with thumbnails for other shows to watch. From that thumbnail menu, you have to swipe lightly back up, but not too far up or you'll get back into the show.

This will put you in the most far left "More to watch" option. From there, you have to scroll to the left several times to finally reach the CC button, which will open a new menu below. If this sounds confusing, IT IS.

Why are captions so hard?

Another disclaimer! I'll be honest: I am only 95% sure these are the right pathways for each app's caption settings. Because although I tested each app while writing this story, I kept messing up and fumbling around — sometimes going back a step or two and getting angrier and angrier as I went.

It is entirely possible that you have to actually swipe left when I said right, or up when I said down. But if I had to try these one more time, it might have actually driven me to madness. And that's sort of my point: This shouldn't be so hard!

You'll have to take my word that I'm capable when it comes to using a remote. I've put in the 10,000 hours of clicking around my TV. I know how to turn off motion smoothing; I've programmed a VCR to record. And yet, I still find captioning incredibly frustrating — and accidentally restart or stop my shows all the time.

Closed captions are a serious matter for some

I should say here something that's obvious, but important: Captioning is an accessibility issue. I am a hearing person who just prefers to use captions, but for someone who needs captions, confusion about how to turn them on could be a real problem.

Meredith Patterson, who's the president of the National Captioning Institute, told me she supports what's become the more ubiquitous use of captions. "We want closed captioning to be 'the norm' regardless of context and are committed to making that a reality," she said.

In the last few years, AI technology has made captioning easier and better than ever — more things can be captioned with fewer errors and latency, and ultimately, Patterson said, that's what matters to the people who need it.

How to improve captioning for everyone

I can imagine why streaming services want to have slightly different functionality. They want to have their own distinct identities. And they're all obviously committed to captioning, which is a good thing. Once you figure out how to work captions on each streaming app, they do work. (None responded to my request for comment on this story.)

But captions are so hard to access! At least for me. And there are some basic functions you want to be consistent when it comes to technology: You expect the privacy policy of a website to be in small print at the bottom; you expect to find customer service at the very top or very bottom of a shopping site; you know where to find notifications in a social app.

For a streaming service, turning on captions should be standard and easy.

Do you have a story to share about using captions on streaming services? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• US job cuts hit the highest level since July 2020, fueled by DOGE's layoffs of federal workers.
• Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported a 245% increase in job cut announcements from February 2024.
• Retail and tech sectors also have also seen significant layoffs amid economic uncertainty.

Monthly job cut announcements in the US surged to their highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic last month, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The job cuts, spearheaded by President Donald Trump's DOGE committee, totaled 172,017 in February, the highest monthly level since July 2020 and the highest total for the month of February since 2009.

The reported job cuts in February represented a 245% increase from the 49,975 job cuts announced in February, and a 103% increase from the 84,638 job cuts announced in February 2024.

"With the impact of the Department of Government Efficiency [DOGE] actions, as well as canceled Government contracts, fear of trade wars, and bankruptcies, job cuts soared in February," said Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President at Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Challenger tracked 62,242 job cuts announced by the federal government last month across 17 different agencies. That's a more than increase from the 151 government job cuts announced in February 2024.

The spike is important for investors, who will be paying close attention to Friday's jobs report, examining whether the DOGE-led job cuts are affecting the economic data.

Challenger's report comes one day after the release of the ADP employment report for February. Private payrolls rose by 77,000, badly missing estimates of 148,000.

It's not just the government announcing job cuts, though. Other areas of the economy that were vulnerable to job cuts include the retail and technology sectors, which announced 38,956 and 14,554 job cuts respectively in February.

The layoffs may keep mounting. Estimates on Wall Street suggest DOGE could cut as many as 300,000 jobs, and Apollo economist Torsten Sløk recently noted that two contractor jobs are tied to every government job. That means total layoffs could quickly approach one million if DOGE follows through with its job cuts.

Meanwhile, economic uncertainty is heightened amid Trump's tariff threats against Mexico and Canada and the growing risk of a recession hitting the economy.

And the job cuts could even lead to voluntary layoffs, according to Challenger.

"When mass layoffs occur, it often leaves remaining staff feeling uneasy and uncertain. The likelihood that many more workers leave voluntarily is high," the firm said.

Economists expect the US economy to have added 170,000 jobs in February, with the unemployment rate remaining at 4.0%.

Stopping aid to Ukraine at a time when Russia's military spending and production is so high could result in a dangerous situation for the West.

• President Donald Trump is rolling back some of his tariffs on Mexico.
• On Thursday, Trump said all Mexican USMCA-compliant goods are exempt from tariffs until April 2nd.
• Trump did not have a similar announcement for Canada.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he's granting a one-month tariff pause to a greater range of Mexican goods, just a day after handing automakers an even more sweeping reprieve.

"After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Agreement is until April 2nd. I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum."

The USMCA, a trade deal negotiated between the US, Mexico, and Canada during Trump's first term as a replacement for the NAFTA trade pact, exempts most goods that are produced in the three signatory countries from most tariffs.

Trump did not immediately announce a similar deal for Canada. Trump spoke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday. Trudeau later said it was a "colorful" conversation.

Trump's newest pause dovetails with the White House's efforts to calm markets. Shares on Wall Street tanked after Trump decided to forge ahead on Tuesday with his latest round of tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China before rebounding on Wednesday as traders appeared to hope that further reduction in tariffs would be forthcoming.

Stocks slid on Thursday, with weakness in tech joining tariff concerns to bring the S&P 500 down as much as 2% in afternoon trading.

The White House has said the first round of tariffs are related to Trump's frustration with the nations failing to do more to stop the spread of fentanyl. Leaders of all three countries have disputed that claim.

The White House said the Big 3 US automakers — General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis — requested the earlier exemption for cars. That exemption applies to Canadian auto imports as well. At the time, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was open to cutting further deals.

Another round of tariffs targeting foreign agricultural goods and other products is set to go into effect on April 2. During his joint address to Congress, Trump mentioned South Korea, India, and the European Union as potential targets to even out what he views as unfair trade relations.

China and Canada immediately responded to Tuesday's announcement with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Mexico was originally set to implement their measures on Sunday.

Beijing has taken particular exception to Trump's actions. China's US embassy wrote on X that it was ready for a "war" of any kind.

• 2024 Mr. Olympia winner Samson Dauda said he once struggled to gain weight and build muscle.
• Eating more home-cooked meals and whole foods helped him gain size and strength to compete.
• His workouts aim to maximize muscle with a mix of high reps and heavy weight in time-saving supersets.

Looking at Samson Dauda, you'd never guess he used to be a skinny kid.

But the winner of the 2024 Mr. Olympia — the most prestigious award in bodybuilding — said he once had a hard time gaining muscle.

"When I was young, I struggled to put on weight. I was one of those guys that could get away with eating everything and I didn't put on a pound," he told Business Insider in an interview on his partnership with energy drink brand Celsius.

Now Dauda weighs in at as much as 330 pounds in the off season as he packs on muscle for competition.

Born in Nigeria, Dauda moved to the UK as a teenager, and started his athletic career in rugby, where a teammate introduced him to bodybuilding. He started competing in 2014.

In 2020, at age 34, he quit his job as a construction worker to focus on bodybuilding full time.

He said two changes to his diet and workout routine have helped him break through muscle-building plateaus: eating heaps of nutritious food, and hitting high-rep, time-saving workouts.

High-rep supersets can boost muscle growth

Dauda said that, as someone who struggled to make gains, his workouts involve as much time under tension as possible to prompt muscle growth.

To do that, his typical routine involves back-to-back sets of exercise that start with a high number of reps at light weight, and then decrease the reps while increasing the weight over time.

The strategy allows him to get the benefits of lifting heavier weights, while also maximizing the time his muscles are working.

"You're putting a lot of strain in the muscle over a long period," Dauda said.

Supersets — performing two exercises one after another without rest — can also be useful for muscle building because it saves time. Switching up the exercise allows you to let one muscle group rest while the other is working, so you don't have to wait between sets.

You need extra calories and nutrients to build muscle

All that work in the gym needs fuel, and Dauda said eating nutrient-dense whole foods instead of processed food improved his gains.

"You have to give your body the building blocks for you to be able to use to build muscle," he said.

For a pro bodybuilder, eating becomes a full-time job.

Dauda said his off-season diet, when he's trying to build muscle, involves 7,500 calories a day, the vast majority of which is whole foods.

"We cook all my meals at home, so we control everything. We know that the quality of food is there and are able to put on quality size with it," he said.

Typical meals include protein sources like eggs, chicken breast, steak, ground beef — research suggests the ideal amount of protein for muscle gains is about 0.7 grams of protein per pound of your body weight daily. Dauda also eats plenty of carbs for energy from foods like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and pasta.

He supplements with whey protein shakes to make sure he's getting enough protein to build muscle. He also relies on caffeine, including Celsius, to keep his energy up in the weeks before a competition, when intense prep can be exhausting and makes it difficult to sleep.

Dauda still gives himself a break, especially right after competition. His favorite post-show meal is pizza, ideally washed down with a big bottle of Coke. But after a few days of indulgence, Dauda is typically happy to go back to his routine of home-cooked healthy meals.

"You are so deprived for weeks and months on end that you have all these things you want to eat," he said. "And after one week you're kind of like, I've had enough, I want to go back to diet food."

• A new virtual try-on startup powered by AI is stirring up buzz in the tech world.
• Doji raised capital late last year in a round led by Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six fund.
• Its fundraising comes as some in tech are betting AI can reinvigorate the consumer startup space.

The tech industry is drooling over a new AI startup. This time, it's in the fashion space.

Doji, a new app that allows users to create AI avatars with their own likeness and virtually try on clothing, launched from stealth in January and has been rolling out access to its private beta.

Techies are loving it.

Early beta testers, including some who work for other hot AI companies like Anthropic, Cursor, and Humane, have been taking to X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn to share screenshots of the AI-generated model versions of themselves wearing designer clothes.

One of Doji's biggest fans: Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian.

"Consumer is fun again thanks to AI," Ohanian said in January about Doji in a post to X, where he's been posting AI-generated fit pics from the beta.

Ohanian is also putting money behind it.

His venture capital firm, Seven Seven Six, invested in Doji, Business Insider has learned. Doji confirmed to BI that it raised an early-stage investment in 2024 from Seven Seven Six and Origins Fund. Doji did not disclose the size of the fundraise.

"Over the years, a lot of folks have tried to nail virtual try-on — the ultimate holy grail for recreating the dressing room experience online," Chris Vanzetta, a partner at Seven Seven Six who led the deal, told BI in a statement. "Powered by their cutting-edge AI technology and incredible taste, Doji has finally brought that experience to consumers with its lifelike virtual avatars."

Building AI for everyday consumers

Doji was cofounded by Dorian Dargan (previously at Meta and Apple) and Jim Winkens (previously at Google DeepMind) in 2024 after the two first met on Twitter in 2022.

The pair are self-professed fashion lovers who, in building Doji, are bringing together their AI and consumer expertise.

"We started it with ourselves as users in mind," Dargan said. "And I think that's one of the reasons why it's being well received, because it's actually designed for people versus just to be technology."

Here's how it works: Users upload several selfies from different angles and two full-body images, then wait about 20 minutes for the app's AI to generate a virtual model.

In the app, users can try on products that the Doji team has curated, as well as import products with shoppable links, Dargan said. Then, if someone wants to buy a product they were virtually trying on, there is a button that brings the user to wherever that product is hosted online.

Consumer has been a sleepy segment of the startup market for years, but AI is pumping energy into the industry and getting some investors excited about opportunities.

"I think the smarter investors are seeing now that most of the value in AI is getting accrued at the application layer," Winkens said. "We are seeing, also outside of us, money flowing into the application layer more and more."

Doji isn't the only virtual try-on startup to raise venture capital recently. Vybe, a browser extension for Safari that lets people virtually try on clothing while online shopping, announced a $4.75 million seed funding round led by Stellation Capital last summer.

Tech workers are driving hype for the app

Jane Manchun Wong, an engineer and tech blogger with access to Doji's beta, told BI that she first learned about the app after seeing people she knew post about it on X.

One feature that made an impression on Wong was the option for Doji to generate potential outfits.

"I don't really like to try out different choices of clothes, so having it be able to pick the clothes for me is really inspiring," Wong told BI.

Karine Hsu, founder and CEO of startup creative agency Slope, who also uses Doji's beta, said she was impressed by the tool's accuracy. There have been a few instances where an item was transposed, or the fit was off, but it has been minor, she said.

Right now, Doji's app includes a curated selection of designer items from brands like Maison Margiela, Diesel, and Rick Owens. Even though Hsu doesn't purchase luxury goods, she said it's been fun to try on things she wouldn't buy herself and explore her personal style with shoes and accessories. She's also used the feature where Doji users can input their own products from across the internet to try on.

"I did find myself inputting athleisure from Alo Yoga and more everyday items so I could see myself in them before purchasing," she said. "I actually ended up going to the store to try on the product again, but it was cool that I had a reference photo that I could compare to."

• When planning a girls' trip to Mexico City, I searched for unique local experiences.
• I found a tour led by locals to Teotihuacán that took you to their home for lunch.
• It taught me more about Mexican culture than any museum or bus tour could have.

When a friend relocated to Mexico City, planning a girls' trip to visit her was a no-brainer.

As a travel writer, I naturally became the trip planner. Although we wanted to explore the city's vibrant culture and history, I also desired to go beyond the traditional tourist haunts.

Teotihuacán's iconic ruins outside the city were a must-see on our list, so I started searching for different ways to experience them.

That's when I found Hugo and Gabriel's tour on Airbnb Experiences.

For about $104 a person, we would visit the ancient Mesoamerican city and have lunch at their grandmother's home just minutes away.

The excursion promised a mix of history, culture, and connection that felt perfect for our group.

With my friends' blessings to do something out of their comfort zones, we booked it.

I seek local connections when I travel, and this tour to a grandma's home near an ancient city delivered

The day began with a visit to Teotihuacán, an ancient Mesoamerican city home to the awe-inspiring Sun and Moon Pyramids.

As incredible as the ruins were, the real magic started when we arrived at Grandma's house.

We were greeted with glasses of refreshing agua de Jamaica (hibiscus water) while the intoxicating aroma of rich, earthy spices, hints of roasted chilies, dark chocolate, toasted nuts, and fragrant herbs quickly drew us inside.

Our guides' family was putting the finishing touches on the plates, which had been prepared for hours — if not days.

Tasting homemade moles while listening to the family's story was heartwarming

Our guides, brothers Hugo and Gabriel, shared how their family business started while we savored the homemade green and red moles — each a grandmother's secret recipe.

They said what first began as a way to offset college costs by driving visitors to the pyramids evolved into something much bigger.

Inspired by their love for history and culture, the brothers told us they studied anthropology to become certified guides.

When they started offering tours, they realized many nearby restaurants felt like overpriced tourist traps. Then, their mom and grandma suggested a simple but life-changing idea: "Why not bring the visitors home? We'll cook for them!"

Now, many members of the family help them share their culture and traditions through food as part of the tour.

After hearing about their experience, our culinary journey only deepened. We were introduced to pulque, a fermented drink crafted from the sap of the maguey plant that dates back thousands of years.

Our guides taught us about the history of the ancient beverage while we got to taste a few varieties and other unique liqueurs.

This tour was one of my favorite experiences in Mexico City

I didn't expect this would become the highlight of my trip, but I'm grateful we booked it.

We got to learn about local cuisine and a local business while sharing a delicious meal, which felt priceless. To me, this experience felt like a celebration of everything that makes Mexican culture so rich and inviting.

It was a beautiful reminder that the best travel experiences aren't just about ticking off landmarks. They're about the connections that reveal the soul of a place — one bite, one story, and one meal at a time.

• The Social Security Administration told workers they couldn't access news or shopping websites.
• It said this move would help protect sensitive information within the agency.
• An employee who received the email told BI it could hinder the agency's work.

As the Trump administration continues to restructure the Social Security Administration, employees at the agency learned on Thursday that they're now prohibited from reading the news on their work computers.

SSA sent an agencywide email informing employees of new restrictions on internet browsing. The email, reviewed by Business Insider, said that starting on Thursday, employees were no longer allowed to access three categories of websites on "government-furnished equipment": online shopping, general news, and sports.

"Employees with a legitimate business should submit an exception" to their supervisor, the email said, adding: "These additional restrictions will help reduce risk and better protect the sensitive information entrusted to us in our many systems."

An SSA spokesperson told BI that "employees should be focused on mission-critical work and serving the American people. Therefore, we implemented additional restrictions to the categories of websites prohibited from government-furnished equipment."

An SSA employee who was granted anonymity to speak freely about their job told BI that there was a staff meeting on Thursday about the latest guidance. During the meeting, they said, employees voiced their concerns that the Microsoft web browser they use automatically reroutes certain homepages to news and sports links.

The employee said that a representative from SSA's headquarters said there should be no issues as long as workers did not "navigate" to a prohibited site.

"Not a comforting thing in this Bolshevik environment," the employee said.

This person added that SSA workers sometimes search online obituaries to "move things along quicker" to help verify information on beneficiaries. "In some cases, surviving family are eligible for benefits but we never receive official notice of death," they said.

This latest guidance "could mean claims being stuck in limbo," the employee said.

Thursday's email followed a notice sent to employees last week offering them voluntary early retirement as part of a "restructuring that will include significant workforce reductions." Five SSA workers told BI that the cuts could increase customer service wait times and delay payments for older Americans and those with disabilities who rely on Social Security benefits.

"Service to the public will undoubtedly suffer. We barely have enough staff now to meet the public's needs," one employee said.

Over the past few weeks, the Trump administration has terminated thousands of federal workers and outlined plans to restructure federal agencies as part of the DOGE office's goal, championed by Elon Musk, to slash government waste. The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo in late February asking all federal agencies to submit reorganization plans by March 13.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at asheffey.97. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Business Insider spoke to professional organizers about the things to get rid of before spring.
• The experts suggest getting rid of unused kitchen appliances and food-storage containers.
• The change in seasons is a great time to organize your closet and donate anything that's unworn.

With spring getting closer, now is a great time to tidy up around the house and get rid of items that are taking up valuable space.

To help make this process easier, Business Insider spoke to three professional organizers about the best things to toss or donate before the season changes. Here's what they said.

It's time to get rid of appliances you don't use.

Although it's fine to hold onto the blender you use to make a daily protein shake, Hope Kerner of All Things Neat by Hope told BI it's important to rethink the trendy kitchen appliances taking up unnecessary space.

"People tend to buy air fryers and giant blenders and panini presses, and if you don't use it, it's just taking up valuable real estate in your cabinets," she said.

It's also a good time to sort through old utensils.

Checking the quality of utensils in the kitchen is not only a good way to free up space but also a smart choice for your safety.

Consider tossing cracked or damaged ones, like wooden spoons or silicone spatulas, which can be difficult to clean and harbor bacteria.

If you have dull knives you don't use anymore, sharpen them or take them out of the kitchen.

"Knives become dull if they're not maintained, and then they become dangerous," Kerner said. "Good cookware and good knives are essential in the kitchen."

Plastic food-storage containers take up a lot of space in cabinets.

Kerner also recommended sorting through the plasticware taking up space in the cabinet.

Although people buy containers of all shapes and sizes, they're often forgotten items left in the back of the cabinet, taking away valuable storage space in the kitchen.

Sort through your clothing before the new season.

Nathalie Navarro of Todo en Orden RD said the change of seasons is the best time to evaluate the clothes in your closet.

Although this can be an emotional process, Navarro said it's important to remain rational while sorting through the racks. For example, it's probably smart to donate a forgotten sweater or jeans that fit a little too tight.

"The questions people need to ask themselves are: If I keep it, will it take up space in my closet? If I get rid of it, do I have the financial means to buy it again? And lastly, do I already have a good replacement for it?" she told BI.

Meghan Cocchiaro of Organized by Meg also emphasized the importance of sorting through your closet to welcome a new season. "Clothing is a great category to go through when seasons change," she said.

As the weather warms up, it's a good idea to organize the garage.

As the seasons change, Cocchiaro told BI it's a good time to tackle organizing the garage.

Getting rid of bulkier items like cardboard boxes and outdoor equipment, as well as duplicates of certain items, can help free up space.

For example, it's unlikely you'll need six rakes, but putting all your gardening equipment in one spot can help you take stock of what you have.

• Software engineering jobs have declined as AI tools have increasingly automated coding tasks.
• Newer entrants in the field are struggling to find jobs and some companies are pausing hiring.
• Some engineers have still found success, and tech executives recommend strong foundational skills.

Working as a software engineer isn't what it used to be — but those working in the industry have some tips for getting ahead in the increasingly crowded job market.

The software engineering industry is going through a major shift driven by the adoption of AI, which has led to fewer job postings, layoffs, and evolving responsibilities for those still working in the field.

In early to mid-2022, there were three times as many software engineering roles listed on Indeed. This chart shows just how much the opportunity landscape has changed.

As AI coding tools like GitHub Copilot or Replit have become more prominent, a large part of the job has become automated. In Salesforce's most recent earnings call, its CEO Marc Benioff said the company is seeing a "30% productivity increase in engineering" and won't "hire any new engineers this year" in the wake of those gains.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in an earnings call in 2024 that over a quarter of the company's code is generated by AI before being checked by employees.

A manager at Microsoft similarly shared that AI reduced 70% of the time he used to spend on coding, although he noted that his daily workload hasn't been reduced. That's because software engineers do more than just code. For newer entrants to the field, though, the opportunities are narrowing, and some have struggled to get the foundational skills needed to move up.

Some recent software engineering grads have said they sent hundreds of job applications with minimal responses. That's led some to pursue a "panic Master's" degree to put off the hunt.

There are ways to be successful in the field

It's not all doom and gloom, though.

Automating coding tasks has increased the demand for developers to leverage their creativity and experience. Here's some of the advice from industry veterans and tech CEOs on how to improve your odds of getting a job in the field — and success stories from those who have done it.

• Consider majoring in AI at one of the growing number of universities offering specialized degree programs in this field. Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pennsylvania, and Dakota State University are just a few of the schools offering Bachelor of Science degrees in artificial intelligence.
• Google's head of research says the basics are more important than ever and advocates for learning to code, especially as there will be opportunities to build upon those foundational skills.
• Instagram's cofounder Mike Krieger said more of the work will revolve around double-checking AI-generated code instead of writing it. Krieger, who is now Anthropic's chief product officer, said the work will evolve to be more about coming up with the right ideas and learning how to delegate correctly to models.
• Google's CEO said the company is looking for "superstar software engineers." He also said those who want an engineering job at the search giant need to be willing to learn and adapt.
• An Nvidia principal architect said young programmers should prioritize writing and math. He also said having an internship every year in college is key to getting an entry-level job.
• One Gen Z software engineer said a comp-sci degree with a focus on AI is one of the best and most valuable degrees at the moment. He added that it's not for everyone though — if you have a short attention span, don't like math, or struggle with commitment issues, it might not be the right fit.
• A software engineer who landed a $300,000 job at Google said he would lead with experience instead of skills if he were to apply again. However, he said he'd keep an "interests" section because it helps break the ice in interviews.
• A software engineer who landed interviews at Meta, Amazon, and Dropbox, and got hired at Microsoft suggests focusing your résumé on technical strengths and being concise. He also suggests making it visually stand out, and clearly communicating responsibilities and results.
• One Google software engineer recommends conveying impact on a résumé in numbers and results. He also said highlighting publications and projects can help if you don't have a lot of professional experience yet.
• A software engineer hired by Oracle said data center experience was mentioned in the hiring process and he was also asked to detail the technical work he previously did. He said an interview he did for a FAANG company was more focused on him being the right personality and fit.
• Three software engineers who landed jobs at Google shared varying résumés, but they all interned at a Big Tech company during college. They also all had at least a 3.6 GPA and studied computer science.
• Four Google software engineers were hired after interning at the tech giant. They suggested starting as early as possible, and applying to internships aimed at underclassmen.

• I'm a junior at the University of California Berkeley, and I live in an off-campus house.
• I share the seven bedrooms and three bathrooms with 11 other female students.
• We're all very social, host events, and hang out in our private backyard.

I'm a junior at the University of California Berkeley, studying political science. I live off-campus in a large house with 11 other female students.

Our single-family home was built in the early 1900s — and you can tell. The windows are single-pained, the door knobs are difficult to turn, and the wooden floors are scratched and tarnished.

I met a girl subletting a room on Facebook Marketplace, and I moved in with her in this strange house. A random house has become my home, and a random group of girls has become my best friends.

I liked how my mom described the place when I first moved in: "It's cozy; it's got character."

Take a look inside to see if you agree.

The house has seven bedrooms — two singles and five doubles.

My 11 housemates and I make do with the limited space we have.

The center of our home is an old, broken piano.

Before I moved in, the housemates allegedly found the piano on the side of the road. They rolled it uphill for multiple blocks.

My housemates play the piano frequently and use it for singing and dancing during parties — even though it's missing some keys.

The busiest place in the house is always the kitchen.

The kitchen is almost always bustling — thanks to the fact that all 12 girls share the space.

It's a sociable spot, with music often playing and conversation flowing.

Every night, the kitchen is cleaned on a rotating cleaning schedule. Dishes are scrubbed and dried, counters are wiped, and floors are swept and mopped. It's a strict system, with a $5 penalty incurred if you miss your night. You'd be surprised how strong of a motivator $5 is in a student house.

We've decorated the walls with student artwork.

The walls of our house are vibrantly decorated. This is thanks to my housemate Kelcey. Her work is posted throughout the space. Some members of the house are featured in her work, too.

The painting in our stairwell, for example, depicts an evening spent with friends in our living room.

The living room couch is where we hang out at night and host events.

Our red couch — which was a Facebook Marketplace find — sags from us piling on top to watch movies and from guests who visit for dinner parties, talent shows, and mini concerts.

We spend most evenings here, watching "Sex and the City" for what must be the ninth time, playing games like Fishbowl, and eating our dinner.

The house has only three bathrooms for 12 girls.

The downstairs bathroom is only used by three girls. It, unfortunately, clogs often.

I share my bathroom with three other girls. It's modern and clean, but I hate our shower. The water pressure is weak, and it takes forever to get hot water.

Five girls share the third bathroom. It seems to be constantly in use.

The backyard is one of my favorite places and is another spot we host events.

The backyard is the calm away from the chaos of our house.

Some days, I spend the morning reading in a chair under the sun. On the weekends, I spend the night talking and cooking out there as we host a barbecue for our friends. The strings of lights are turned on, music is played, and conversation hums.

My bedroom is a former sunroom.

My bedroom is a double. Since it's technically a sunroom, sunlight streams in, and I don't need an alarm clock because I wake up with the sun.

Our room is quiet and peaceful, and from my bed, I can see our backyard. However, there is no direct access to the room, so I have to go through my housemate's room to get to mine.

This can be an inconvenience, but small issues like this are part of student life.

My housemates have helped turn this place into a home.

The house, once strange, has become a comforting, routine place to return to after class.

The house may be now comforting to me, but it's the girls who have made it my home. At one point they were all strangers, but they welcomed me into their lives, and I have never been so grateful.

• Five senators asked the DOJ to probe the advertising tactics of Elon Musk's X.
• They said they were alarmed by reports that X used Musk's political power to sway advertisers.
• Leaders from one advertiser interpreted its dealings with X as an implicit threat, the WSJ previously reported.

A group of Democratic senators have called for a Justice Department probe into whether X has used Elon Musk's political status to pressure companies into advertising on the platform.

Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, Adam Schiff, and Chris Van Hollen wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi to "express alarm about reports that Elon Musk's social media company 'X' (formerly Twitter) is leveraging his influential position in the Trump Administration to extract revenue from advertisers."

"If evidence emerges that Musk is, in fact, using his official role to coerce advertisers or is participating in particular matters in which he has a financial interest, we ask that DOJ investigate the potential violation of federal ethics laws, as the Department should for any other federal employee who appears to be breaking the law," the letter says.

Business Insider viewed a copy of the letter, which The Wall Street Journal earlier reported.

The senators specifically reference an article published last month by the Journal that said X's CEO, Linda Yaccarino, and a lieutenant had pushed IPG to spend more money on X, citing people with knowledge of the talks. The Journal reported that IPG execs had interpreted the message as a reminder that the Trump administration could impede its proposed $13 billion merger with the ad giant Omnicom.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment. IPG declined to comment. The company previously said clients had the ultimate decision-making authority on where they spend their budgets.

The senators also wrote a separate letter to Andrew Ferguson, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, and Omeed Assefi, acting assistant attorney general of the DOJ's antitrust division, urging them to "resist any pressure based on private business interests to manipulate your agenda."

The senators asked the DOJ and FTC to inform them if Musk or his associates attempted to interfere with their antitrust work.

"Every business seeking a merger or acquisition deserves to have their matter reviewed without undue influence from the President or his allies," the letter says.

Ad agencies and consultants have told BI that they're begrudgingly advising clients to spend on X to help avoid political and legal risks.

It's an about-face from the waves of advertisers who fled X over concerns about brand safety, performance, and the return of some banned accounts after Musk took over the platform in 2022.

X has since gone on to sue several big-name advertisers — including Mars, Shell, and Colgate — accusing them of illegally conspiring to boycott the platform through their membership in a now-defunct industry initiative called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media. GARM shut down days after X filed the lawsuit. Its parent organization, a trade body called the World Federation of Advertisers, has said it plans to defend itself against the lawsuit and said it hadn't violated any antitrust laws. The litigation is ongoing.

Read the letters Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, Adam Schiff, and Chris Van Hollen sent to the DOJ and FTC in full below:

• Adidas sells out of Yeezy stock, closing the book on one of its most successful partnerships.
• The partnership ended in 2022 after Ye's antisemitic comments.
• Adidas saw a 12% sales increase in 2024, despite a 2% drop in North America.

The lengthy saga of Adidas and Yeezy is coming to a close.

The sports giant reported its 2024 earnings on Wednesday, where Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden told investors that there are no more Yeezy products in its inventory. Adidas announced plans to sell the remaining 268 million euros, or $289 million, of Yeezy inventory in February 2024.

The company reached its goal in the fourth quarter of 2024, generating around 650 million euros in revenue from Yeezy sales, it reported. The Yeezy brand began in 2015 as a collaboration with Kanye West, known as Ye, but the partnership turned sour and ended in 2022 after a series of antisemitic rants by Ye.

Although Adidas saw a 12% increase in currency-adjusted sales for 2024, its North America region was hit with a 2% decrease in revenue "entirely due to significantly lower sales of Yeezy products," the company reported.

Last year, Ye blasted the German brand in a string of Instagram posts accusing it of selling "fake" Yeezys and not paying him for its sales.

Adidas condemned Ye's "unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous" comments in 2022. A legal battle ensued, and Adidas said in October that it reached an out-of-court settlement with the rapper.

In the aftermath of severing a lucrative relationship, Adidas expected a short-term negative impact on its sales. Gulden took over as CEO in 2023, and Adidas regained its momentum, reporting a 10% increase in currency-neutral revenues across the group in Q3 2024.

"Although we are not yet where we want to be long-term, it was a very successful year that confirmed the strength of the adidas brand," Gulden said in a Wednesday press release.

Meanwhile, Ye remains at the center of controversy. Earlier this year, described himself as a Nazi in a series of posts to X. In February, he appeared in an ad during Super Bowl LIX directing viewers to a website selling only a shirt with a Swastika.

• I stayed in 2 different treehouses during my Washington trip, and the stays reminded me of camping.
• Most treehouse accommodations can be difficult to get in and out of with luggage.
• Treehouses often have less-than-ideal bathroom situations, and stays come with nature-related risks.

When I decided to road trip through Washington state, staying in a treehouse was high on my list of priorities.

The Pacific Northwest is known for its lush scenery and treetop rentals, and I planned to take full advantage of the stellar views.

I booked two very different treehouse Airbnbs: one in Mukilteo that looked out over Puget Sound and a remote two-story house in the woods near Olympia.

Both stays felt oddly similar to camping. Although I was technically indoors, way up high in a tree, I felt immersed in nature and had limited modern conveniences.

My first treehouse was in the backyard of a stunning, million-dollar house in a beautiful neighborhood that looked out over the water.

I booked one night at a bargain price of around $100 and slept with the shades wide open to take in the amazing water views. It was small — the bed was pushed against a wall with barely any room to walk, but worth the drive (it was an hour off my route).

The other treetop villa was a splurge that had been featured in travel blogs. It required a two-night booking (which was a bit more time in a tree than I wanted) and didn't have WiFi, but it had multiple decks and was surrounded by forest.

After having stayed in two different treehouse rentals, though, I feel that they're better in theory than reality for three reasons.

It can be difficult to lug belongings up and down the stairs

Although some extra-fancy treehouses have elevators, I'd argue most will require a bit of a workout to enjoy.

My waterside cabin had very steep stairs, and I was traveling alone with a heavy suitcase, a small cooler, and a backpack. I didn't want to leave my belongings or devices in the car, so everything came up with me, requiring multiple trips.

At the other treehouse, there were three staircases up to the bedroom loft. It was quite a workout for a short stay.

Bathroom options in a treehouse are often less than ideal

Using the bathroom in a treehouse can require thought and planning. However, I don't want to think so hard on vacation when I just need to pee.

In many cases, treehouse accommodations have toilets designed for campers or bathrooms that must be accessed by leaving the treehouse.

In Mukilteo, the bathroom was downstairs, attached to the main house, and it required a key. To me, this felt like a lot to remember when I woke up in the middle of the night after drinking too much water.

At the larger treehouse, the facility was in the tree but had an RV toilet with a flush pedal. It didn't feel very luxurious, and, to be honest, I struggled to fully understand how to operate it.

Given how tricky it can be to install plumbing up a tree, I'd suggest checking the listing before you book and making sure you're OK with whatever the bathroom situation may be.

You're at the mercy of weather and wildlife

Treehouses often come with unmatched views, but the wildlife immersion may have drawbacks.

Although it might feel nice and cozy in a treehouse during a rain or snowstorm, it can become treacherous if you need to leave and the steps are icy or slippery.

Plus, in a treehouse, you're more exposed to the elements, drafts, rain leaks, and wind than you would be at a hotel.

During my stay at the treetop villa, the owner told me that if the wind started blowing, the house would creak and sway. If it got really bad, he warned, I'd need to evacuate, possibly in the middle of the night.

This was a bit more than I'd bargained for, and I ended up leaving a night early.

A treehouse stay also means keeping an eye out for nearby wildlife — owls and bears are prevalent in Washington state — and possums, raccoons, and mice can climb.

Overall, I'm glad I stayed in treehouses — but I wouldn't do it again

My trip to Washington was great, and I have no regrets.

Thankfully, I had no animal run-ins, and the weather was beautiful during both of my stays. Sleeping in the air was kind of fun and peaceful, and I was as close to nature as I'll possibly ever get.

Treehouse stays are cool to try at least once, but I can't say I'd want to regularly incorporate them into my travels. The cons don't quite outweigh the pros for me.

• Entry-level programming roles are increasingly scarce, with junior applicants fielding fierce competition.
• Bryce Adelstein Lelbach, a principal architect at Nvidia, discussed the state of the job market in a podcast interview.
• He said young developers should focus on honing two skills — math and writing.

It's a dog-eat-dog world in the job market for entry-level software engineers — just ask Nvidia principal architect Bryce Adelstein Lelbach.

"I think that it's a very challenging time for young programmers," Lelbach said on a recent episode of the TechBytes podcast.

"We saw, post-Covid, with a little bit of the tech pullback — we saw a lot of tech companies pull back on hiring," he added. "And the reality is that most of the Big Tech companies have the luxury of just hiring senior people, these days."

Mass firings in the wake of the pandemic set loose a flood of mid-to-senior level coders into the job market, who suddenly found themselves competing with junior programmers for positions they were once considered overqualified for.

As AI appears more likely to further shrink the pool of available jobs, Lelbach says there are two skills he'd suggest young programmers prioritize.

The first is writing.

"Especially with the emergence of large language models, it's going to become even more important to be able to communicate your ideas and your thoughts," Lelbach said.

The second — the "timeless field" of pure mathematics.

"While there may be a future where we humans do a lot less programming, the fundamentals that you learn in math are always, I think, going to be relevant," he said. "They're going to be relevant to how we design things and how we build things."

Above all else, Lelbach says practical knowledge remains king.

"I think the best option is to have internships," he said. "If you want to get a job as a software engineer, you need to have internships essentially every year that you're in college."

Despite the temptation to delay entering the workforce by way of a master's degree or Ph.D., Lelbach says that approach can present more problems than solutions. The sheer volume of applicants that now sport post-graduate degrees somewhat dilutes their ability to make anyone stand out, he added.

"I am generally a little bit more skeptical these days of people getting Masters and PhDs because there are so many people who have them now," he said.

For undergraduate seniors who are weighing their options, Lelbach suggests focusing on acquiring as much real-world experience as possible.

An applicant with "time in industry" under their belt might have a fighting chance at slightly higher-level roles, bypassing the entry-level mania entirely.

"If you graduate as a Master's student or a Ph.D. student with no industry experience, you're going to be competing with the pool of people that are looking for more junior positions," Lelbach said. "Versus going and getting, you know, two or four years of industry experience — then you're going to be competing for the more senior jobs."

• A retired Boeing 747 is being turned into a unique dining venue.
• The plane is among a handful of double-deckers that have been repurposed into tourist attractions.
• People can sleep in a 747 engine in Sweden, or rent out an entire 747 for a wedding in England.

You don't need to book a plane ticket to experience one of the most iconic — and quickly disappearing —passenger planes.

In February, Las Vegas entertainment venue AREA15 took delivery of a retired 45-year-old Boeing 747 and plans to convert it into an immersive cocktail and dining experience.

Imagine neon lights, a restaurant, and a dance floor where the passenger cabin once was. Plus, access to the old cockpit and the upper deck via a grand staircase.

"It's going to be like 20 feet up in the air and coming out of the building," AREA15 CEO Winston Fisher told Business Insider. "It's been a significant investment for us, millions and millions of dollars."

The double-decker was once a centerpiece of Burning Man, but it got stuck in the Black Rock playa in 2018 and was decommissioned. It was eventually put into storage until AREA15 bought it in 2022.

Fisher did not disclose an exact opening date or admission price for the 747 but said it would be a place to dine, drink, and party and would be "accessible to the public."

Repurposed 747s can be found around the world

While any large aircraft art piece may catch someone's attention, the 747 is particularly famous.

The quad-engine jet, nicknamed the "Queen of the Skies," was the world's first widebody plane and was launched in the 1960s to support the booming demand for air travel.

Aviation enthusiasts and historians have long hailed it as the catalyst for aircraft innovation and industry growth.

Dozens of carriers worldwide took advantage of the 747's mammoth capacity — which prompted cheaper plane tickets — and some used the upper deck to create luxurious lounges to attract high-paying customers.

However, the iconic 747 is disappearing from the skies as more efficient twin-engine airliners take over. Just four global passenger airlines still fly the plane commercially in 2025.

Most of the dwindling global fleet has gone to the boneyard, but a select few have found new life as tourist attractions in countries around the world.

A UK airport converted an old 747 into a party venue.

British Airways retired its fleet of Boeing 747s in 2020 following the pandemic, but one has been preserved as a flightless "party plane" at England's Cotswold Airport.

Airport CEO Suzannah Harvey bought one of the decades-old jumbos for just £1 ($1.30) and converted it into an event space for things like weddings or birthday parties. The venue opened in 2022.

The rental rate is £12,000 ($15,400) for 24 hours.

The regular hourly rate is £1,000 ($1,285). It's pricey, but the 747 offers myriad amenities.

Guests can enjoy some of the original cabin seats, peer into the cockpit and the upper deck, and enjoy a dance floor and bar.

The renovations cost Cotswold about £500,000 ($642,900).

You can stay in a 747-turned-hotel in Sweden.

One of the more convenient places to spend an overnight layover at Stockholm Arlanda Airport is the "Jumbo Stay" 747.

Located a short bus ride away from the terminal, the hybrid hostel-hotel boasts 33 bedrooms. The nose houses a lounge and kitchen, and a deck is over one of the wings.

The plane first flew for Singapore Airlines in 1976. It also flew for carriers like Pan Am, Cathay Pacific Airways, Garuda Indonesia, and Swedish carrier Transjet before settling at Arlanda in 2009.

Nightly rates range from 450 SEK ($44) to 1,895 SEK ($185).

The cheaper hostel-style dorms are gender specific and come with two or four bunks.

The most unique rooms are located in the wheel well and the four engines. One of the suites is inside the cockpit.

Most guests will share a bathroom, though the suites and select private rooms come with an ensuite toilet and shower.

A 747 was sunk off the coast of Bahrain as an artificial coral reef.

UAE-based Falcon Aircraft Recycling sunk the mammoth plane in 2019 to attract diving tourism in Bahrain, a Middle Eastern island nation in the Persian Gulf.

The company said on its website that it specially modified the wings for the project. Further, it was sunk to specific environmental standards, including removing materials that could be harmful.

The media outlet Arabian Business reported the jet was bought for $100,000 from the UAE, citing government officials.

The plane has attracted divers from more than 50 countries.

Hundreds of divers from around the world have visited the 747-turned-artificial coral reef, which is about 65 feet underwater.

Dive Bahrain managed the sunken 747 site after its opening, but trips closed during the pandemic. The company website appears down.

The Middle Eastern company Scuba Master, which offered a diving excursion to the 747, told BI the tours are still paused and didn't disclose a possible restart date.

If tours resume, the website says dives start at about $93 per person.

Delta Air Lines converted a retired 747 into a museum in Atlanta.

Northwest Airlines first flew the 747 in 1988, and it was transferred to Delta in 2008 after the two airlines merged.

Delta retired the plane in 2015 and converted it into the "747 Experience," which opened as an exhibition in 2017.

It's part of the larger Delta Flight Museum near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and is included in the $15 adult ticket.

Tourists can see the 747's skeleton.

Delta outfitted the plane with educational material about the history of the 747 and its role in the airline's fleet.

Guests can sit in the old DeltaOne cabins in the nose, see the cockpit, and walk over the wing.

Delta also stripped many of the plane's panels to display some of its critical inner systems, such as air conditioning, pressurization, fuel tanks, flight control cables, and miles of wires.

• I tried ChatGPT's Deep Research tool, which can complete complex research tasks in minutes.
• Powered by a version of OpenAI's o3 model, Deep Research acts independently to work through multi-step tasks.
• I used it to research the history of tariffs and their impact on consumer goods pricing.

In an era when we're used to getting answers to AI queries in seconds, I can confidently say OpenAI's Deep Research tool is worth the five to 30-minute wait.

Plus, it's a fascinating look into how AI "thinks" through a complex research assignment and executes it.

Deep Research is an agentic AI tool, which means it can act independently to solve a multi-step task. OpenAI says on its website that the tool "accomplishes in tens of minutes what would take a human many hours," and it's not an exaggeration.

While ChatGPT can provide a thorough report on a topic if you ask for one, it doesn't complete the kind of multi-step research that Deep Research does. That capability isn't relevant to every query, but it is helpful if you want to explore a topic's history or nuances. OpenAI says Deep Research is particularly useful for "niche, non-intuitive information that would require browsing numerous websites."

The AI tool is powered by a version of the coming OpenAI o3 model designed for web browsing and data analysis and uses "reasoning to search, interpret, and analyze massive amounts of text, images, and PDFs on the internet."

OpenAI initially made the AI agent available to Pro users who pay $200 a month but announced its rollout to ChatGPT Plus, Team, Edu, and Enterprise users on February 25. Pro users get 120 Deep Research queries a month, while Plus users have access to 10.

How it works

You can generate a Deep Research report by selecting "deep research" button in the text bar of ChatGPT. Then, you write a prompt, which the assistant will clarify to make sure it's looking for the right information.

For example, I asked it to compile a research report about the history of US trade policy regarding tariffs and the impact they've had on consumer goods pricing. Deep Research responded asking for more information including about the time period and industries I wanted covered, the type of analysis, and the level of detail.

I told it to research the 20th century onward, with a focus on President Donald Trump's first term and the impact on general consumer goods. I also asked it to generate a data-driven economic analysis with tables included.

The AI reiterated my instructions and then went to work.

As the assistant compiles the report — which can take roughly five to 30 minutes depending on the ask — you can check its progress and observe its search process. One of the most interesting parts of this process was seeing how the search evolved as it uncovered new information.

Here, you can see its thought process toward the end of its eight-minute research.

Deep Research searched and analyzed sources and then generated a thorough report on its findings, with in-line citations included throughout the various sections. The middle section was dense, but the conclusion gave a solid summation, and the tables were also insightful.

I spent a fair share of my 10 uses exploring research on any long-term effects of various health trends, like Ozempic usage. It provided thorough overviews and included isolated incidents with limited research, which I found interesting. I also used it to investigate my family's history. It correctly traced the origin of my last name and what I know of my ancestors' history before they immigrated to the US generations ago.

The reports I read were fascinating — and accurate based on the cited links that I checked. It did cite Wikipedia a good amount though. You can see in the screenshot below from the tariff query that Wikipedia was one of the sources used in compiling the report.

OpenAI said in its announcement that the model powering Deep Research achieved a 26.6% score on Humanity's Last Exam, an assessment designed to evaluate AI across various subjects. For context, ChatGPT-4o scored 3.3%.

However, OpenAI added that the tool "can sometimes hallucinate" or "make incorrect inferences," though at a lower rate than other ChatGPT models.

"It may struggle with distinguishing authoritative information from rumors, and currently shows weakness in confidence calibration, often failing to convey uncertainty accurately," OpenAI said in its announcement.

Almost every AI tool I've tried initially impressed me, but most failed to become a part of my routine. Deep Research isn't something I thought I would lose track of using, but I burned through my 10 queries in a matter of days — and found myself wanting more.

I'm not sure if I would pay $20 a month for 10 of these queries, given that feels fairly limited for a paid service. However, if I had specific legal questions or wanted to research medical treatments, I'd likely find it worth the cost.

For now, I'm excited to make the most of my next batch of 10 queries.

• Gloria Steinem, 90, is the first guest on Bobbi Brown's new YouTube series, "I Am Me."
• In Thursday's episode, the 90-year-old activist discussed aging and her choice to skip motherhood.
• Brown told Business Insider that she aims to uplift and inspire women with this video series.

Gloria Steinem wouldn't mind being one of the oldest women in the world.

The writer and activist, 90, recently sat down with Bobbi Brown to appear as the first guest on the beauty legend's new YouTube series "I Am Me," which launched Thursday.

During their discussion, Steinem reflected on her life in the public eye, the evolution of women's empowerment, and her feelings about skipping motherhood and aging.

Regarding the latter topics, the author said she's satisfied in both areas.

When Brown asked Steinem who would carry her legacy, the activist replied, "lots and lots and lots of people" — from modern artists she admires to parents.

Steinem said single mothers, especially, inspire her. She believes a "huge" factor in her success over the years is that she was never responsible for raising children — giving her time to focus solely on herself and her work.

"Any regrets on that?" Brown asked.

"No, no, absolutely not," Steinem said. "I'm not sure why except perhaps because when I was growing up, I was looking after my mother, who was not well. I've noticed that other people who were small people looking after big people don't want to do it again."

She also said she would "maybe" describe herself as a big sister of the women's empowerment movement but would never assign herself the title of its mom.

"I've never been a mother," she said.

On the topic of aging, Steinem said she's comfortable with herself in her ninth decade and is excited to get older.

"I'm 90 years old. Hello?" Steinem said to Brown. "I looked up to find the oldest woman in the world, and I found a woman who's 130, supposedly — so I have a goal."

The activist also said that not working from an office daily spares her "the compulsion" to regularly look in the mirror. When she does, however, she's not surprised or bothered by what she sees.

"I don't care about getting old, except I love it here, and I don't want to leave," Steinem said.

In an email to Business Insider, Brown said that helping women love themselves has always been a core part of her career — from launching her first namesake makeup line to her current beauty venture, Jones Road Beauty.

With this series — produced by the brand with help from JPMorganChase — she wants to take that effort further and show that "success doesn't come easily."

"We all face challenges, no matter how perfect things look on the outside," Brown said. "The message is simple: the best thing you can do is to be yourself."

And she's learning that lesson herself from each guest on her show.

"We all have our struggles and battles with self-doubt," Brown said. "The key is how we rise above the challenges and choose to move forward with vision and confidence. I've learned to look at obstacles as opportunities — and every one of the inspirational women on 'I Am Me' has their own stories of how they got there."