• US special operations forces want new drones for cave and tunnel operations.
• Drones could offer communication and situational awareness benefits over military working dogs.
• US special operators are often at the forefront of working with industry on new technologies.

Fighting inside caves and tunnels is a tough and dangerous mission, even for elite special operations forces.

Drones could help solve key problems operators face, such as communication and threat detection issues, while reducing the risk to human warfighters and military working dogs.

SOCOM, on behalf of SOCCENT, which oversees US special operations forces in the Middle East, said in a recent procurement notice first reported by The War Zone that caves present severe logistical problems for operators. The battlespaces are confined spaces characterized by unpredictable terrain and limited visibility. A narrow passageway can instantly become a kill box.

In the Middle East, both state and non-state actors have used networks of caves and tunnels, complicating military operations against them.

"To mitigate these risks and enhance operational effectiveness, we propose the acquisition and deployment of a dedicated UAS solution," SOCOM said in the request, referring to uncrewed aerial system solutions.

Drones come in a range of sizes, from pocket-size Black Hornet drones to quadcopters and octocopters to large, sophisticated combat and reconnaissance drones like the Reaper. Small UAS solutions have proven tremendously valuable in Ukraine, where some have flown into the open hatches of tanks with precision.

SOCOM is seeking a compact first-person-view drone.

The fast, real-time intelligence provided by drones would not only reduce dangers to operators and dogs but also "significantly improve the safety and efficiency of cave clearing operations, ultimately contributing to mission success and force protection," SOCOM said.

Per the procurement notice, a specific but unnamed company has been identified as the only vendor that can provide the desired platform, training, and capabilities for this drone. SOCOM noted that the model has a compact body enabling it "to operate effectively in confined spaces."

Subterranean and underground operations are daunting. Tunnel warfare has been a key focus in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency efforts, and training for fights in these brutal environments has increased in recent years.

While it's unclear which specific drone model Special Operations Command is hoping to acquire for its forces, the notice is indicative of a larger priority to introduce more drones into operations.

At a symposium last month, special operations leadership and defense industry officials spoke candidly about the need to buy and develop more drones and autonomous systems to help their operators address difficult threats.

When it comes to adapting new technology quickly, SOCOM benefits from a comparatively flexible acquisition process, as well as close relationships with industry partners able to help it rapidly iterate and improve new capabilities.

SOCOM needs cheap solutions for future problems, as well as the problems facing operators right now. There are cheap, commercially available systems that could be updated with new software and hardware components depending on threats, countermeasures, and the needs of the operator. There are also specialized solutions that agile outfits can field quickly.

Rising US defense technology company Anduril Industries, for instance, began its work with SOCOM attempting to solve immediate drone and counter-drone problems operators were facing, Anduril Chief Strategy Officer Chris Brose said at the recent symposium.

For its caves and tunnels problem, SOCOM is seeking an already available solution that could make these missions easier and safer by incorporating emerging technology.

• Gianni Versace was heralded as a genius for his eponymous Versace fashion house.
• His siblings, Donatella and Santo, and niece, Allegra, took over the brand after his murder in 1997.
• Donatella served as Versace's creative director for decades and announced she's stepping down.

The Versaces are one of the most iconic fashion families in history.

Created by Gianni Versace in 1978, the Versace brand saw a meteoric rise to fame under his leadership, blending the world of celebrity and fashion.

When he was murdered in 1997, Gianni's siblings, Donatella and Santo, and his niece, Allegra, shepherded the company into the future, leading it through ups and downs over the next thirty years, including an acquisition by Capri Holdings in 2018.

On Thursday, Donatella announced she is stepping down as creative director, passing the torch to designer Dario Vitale.

Here's what we know about the Versace family's journey through fame, tragedy, and resilience.

Gianni Versace was born in December 1946 in Calabria, Italy.

Gianni had three siblings: Donatella, Santo, and Fortunata. Fortunata died of tetanus when she was just 12, and Donatella was born three years after her elder sister died.

"Sudden death is frequent in my family," Donatella told The New Yorker.

Donatella also told the outlet that their mother, Francesca, was an entrepreneurial seamstress who used the little money she had to start an atelier in Calabria. Gianni grew up watching her work and designed his first dress at age 10, according to WWD.

In 1972, after he graduated from high school, Gianni moved to Milan to work under various designers, one of whom was Mario Valentino.

Today, Donatella is 69, and Santo is 80.

In 1978, Gianni started his own fashion company, Gianni Versace S.p.A.

Donatella moved to Milan to be with Gianni when he founded the company, learning from him and serving as his muse.

She also began helping with clothing design.

Gianni was known for blending the world of celebrity and fashion.

As Anna Wintour told GQ, the designer pioneered the concept of filling the front row with celebrities and industry "it" people at fashion shows. His famous friends, like Elton John and Madonna, always attended his shows.

He also paid top models such as Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, and Cindy Crawford so much that the word "supermodel" was invented just for them.

In 1994, Donatella became the head designer of Versace's Versus line.

Versus was designed to be an experimental line that challenged fashion norms at the time.

The line later saw collaborations from designers Christopher Kane and JW Anderson.

The Versace brand became synonymous with tasteful, sexy luxury wear, reaching its peak in the 1990s.

For instance, the gown Gianni designed for Elizabeth Hurley in the 1990s made her the topic of conversation, helping her acting career take off, as WWD reported.

Versace also became a lifestyle brand as it grew, selling everything from bedsheets to tableware.

Then, on July 15, 1997, Gianni was killed outside his home in Miami during the height of his success.

Gianni was 50 years old when the serial killer Andrew Cunanan shot him at his home. He left behind a massive legacy in the fashion world.

Donatella told Michael Ebert and Sven Michaelsen of Ssense that when she first heard the news that her brother had died, "the world stood still."

Although his murder was a shock, Gianni had a will prepared because he had previously been treated for a rare inner-ear cancer, according to The New Yorker.

The will left Donatella a 20% stake in the fashion company, and she became creative director of Versace.

Santo was president of the company at the time of Gianni's death and later became chairman. He received a 30% stake in the company.

Gianni left the majority of the company to Donatella's then 11-year-old daughter, Allegra Versace Beck.

Donatella told Ssense that Gianni "idolized" her daughter and called her "my little princess."

Because Allegra was so young when she inherited half the company, Donatella was in charge of her shares until she turned 18.

Gianni left Donatella's son, Daniel Beck, his art collection, which included two pieces by Picasso, according to The New Yorker.

Allegra was deeply affected by her uncle's murder.

The New York Post reported that Donatella tried to help Allegra cope with the murder by organizing counseling sessions, but Milan "fashion insiders" told the newspaper that the young girl was "never the same."

The outlet also reported that Allegra felt guilty after Gianni died, telling her mother she should have been by her uncle's side.

In 2007, while Allegra was studying at Brown University, Donatella and Paul Beck — Allegra's father — released a statement addressing their daughter's mental health. They said she had been receiving the best medical care possible for anorexia and was "responding well."

Donatella also struggled after Gianni's death.

During her early years at Versace, critics, including The New Yorker, called Donatella a mere "muse, mascot, and de-facto first lady" to Gianni while he was still alive and running the company.

Donatella said the years after Gianni's death were difficult for her, as she was constantly worried about disappointing Gianni and Versace customers.

She told Ssense that she thought she couldn't handle the pressure and turned to drugs shortly after Gianni's death, developing a cocaine addiction. She said she was in and out of a daze for the following 18 years, which made her even more self-conscious.

To protect herself, Donatella said she created an alter ego. She told Ssense that she created a version of herself that was "cold and aloof, aggressive and scary."

Donatella went to rehab for her addiction in 2004.

She told The New Yorker her children, Allegra and Daniel, along with several other close friends, including Elton John, were the reason she decided to go to rehab in 2004.

Part of Donatella's post-treatment recovery from cocaine addiction was daily morning workouts, according to the outlet.

In 2011, at 24 years old, Allegra accepted her uncle's inheritance and took her seat on Versace's board.

Before she accepted her shares, Allegra told LaRepublica in 2011 that she preferred anonymity and enjoyed living in the US, working for other designers, and attending college.

In her 2018 interview with Ssense, Donatella said her daughter was "highly intelligent and a very keen observer."

"Everyone pays rapt attention whenever she takes the floor at a board meeting — not because she owns half of the company, but because she asks the right questions," Donatella said.

Santo didn't have a passion for fashion like his siblings.

Although Santo serves as the president and co-CEO of Gianni Versace S.p.A., he told The New Yorker in 2007, "I work in fashion because Gianni was a talent."

Otherwise, he said his real passion lies in charity. He said he constantly thinks of the people who are "suffering" and in poverty.

Santo has also been an elected member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic in Calabria since 2008.

Throughout the years, people have tried to document the life of the Versace family in books and television series, but nothing succeeded until the 2018 FX series "American Crime Story."

Ryan Murphy focused on Gianni's killer in season two of his acclaimed "American Crime Story" series.

Although Donatella gave the actor Penelope Cruz her blessing to portray her, she and her whole family did not approve of the season, E! News reported.

Cruz told the outlet that she accepted the role after getting Donatella's blessing in a phone call. She revealed that Donatella said she had nothing to do with the show but that if someone was going to play her, she was glad it was Cruz.

The family stands by its denunciation of the show, saying it's an inaccurate portrayal of their brother's life and his murder. Murphy, the show's executive producer, said he thought his team was being kind to the family through the show's portrayal of them.

In 2014, the Versace family sold 20% of the company to the Blackstone Group.

Donatella told Ssense that right after Gianni was shot, companies came to her asking her to sell them Gianni Versace S.p.A., saying things like, "None of your family will ever have to work again."

But Donatella wouldn't sell. She told Ssense, "My brother would not have wanted me to sell a single office chair. To him, the company was family, and you don't sell family."

However, the family sold some of the company to Blackstone Group in 2014 to help move Gianni Versace S.p.A. forward as a business, according to The Business of Fashion. Then, in 2016, Jonathan Akeroyd stepped in as CEO to overhaul people's perception of the brand, which was not doing well.

Akeroyd proved to be a good addition to the team. Twenty years after Gianni died, Donatella managed to pull off one of the biggest comebacks in the fashion world — so much so that fashion journalists dubbed 2017 "the year of Versace."

Donatella carried on Gianni's legacy in the brand's comeback.

Donatella incorporated her brother's loudest designs, styles, and prints in the 2017 collection. She also brought out the models he featured most to close her spring 2018 line showing in Milan.

The Versace family sold its shares of the company in 2018.

While the Versace family had stayed busy by running the company from every angle — keeping it in the family — they sold all of their shares in the company to Capri Holdings, which also owns Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, in 2018.

John Idol, the chairman and CEO of Capri Holdings, said in a statement after the group acquired Versace that the Italian fashion house "has represented the epitome of Italian fashion luxury." He went on to call the brand timeless.

Michael Kors Holdings — the company's name before the Versace acquisition — purchased Versace for over $2.1 billion.

Donatella remained Versace's chief creative officer, and Santo remained chairman and president. After the sale, the family owned the equivalent of $176 million of Capri Holdings in group stock, per Business of Fashion.

Versace continued to be a staple of the fashion industry after its acquisition, though sales have declined in recent years.

In March 2025, Donatella announced she was stepping down as Versace's creative director.

On Thursday, Donatella took to Instagram to announce she would be stepping down as creative director for Versace and becoming chief brand ambassador instead. Dario Vitale will take over as creative director.

"Championing the next generation of designers has always been important to me," she wrote on her Instagram. "I am thrilled that Dario Vitale will be joining us, and excited to see Versace through new eyes. I want to thank my incredible design team and all the employees at Versace that I have had the privilege of working with for over three decades."

"It has been the greatest honor of my life to carry on my brother Gianni's legacy," Donatella said. "He was the true genius, but I hope I have some of his spirit and tenacity. In my new role as Chief Brand Ambassador, I will remain Versace's most passionate supporter. Versace is in my DNA and always in my heart."

The news comes amid reports Capri Holdings is nearing a deal to sell Versace to Prada, which improved both company's stocks.

• "Golden Bachelorette" star Joan Vassos said she has more time and energy in her 60s to be active.
• She loves energizing hobbies like pickleball and also does strength exercise for longevity.
• Her healthy eating strategy is to get plenty of protein like turkey, and enjoy daily treats too.

At 62, the fun is just getting started for Joan Vassos.

The "Golden Bachelorette" star said that as the years go by, she has more time for what she loves — activities like pickleball, playing with her grandkids, and traveling — and plenty of energy to keep up.

"I feel like I'm living kind of backwards, that I am doing more things and I'm more active at this age than I was when I was younger," Vassos told Business Insider in an interview on her partnership with pain relief brand Aspercreme.

She credits her active lifestyle for helping her look and feel youthful, from lifting weights for strong bones and muscles, to eating enough protein for longevity — with treats like chocolate to look forward to.

"Age is just a number and it shouldn't define what you do and who you are," Vassos said. "When I was growing up, as you became a grandmother, you were expected to slow down and act like a grandmother. And I feel like that is so not true anymore."

Social exercise like pickleball is good for longevity

Vassos said one of the biggest benefits of getting older is that she has more time to do the activities she loves instead of hitting the gym at 5 am before getting the kids to school and heading to work.

She enjoys hiking with friends as well as improving her pickleball game. The trendy sport that can help develop balance, agility, and core strength, all of which are key factors in longevity and healthy aging.

Vassos said her best exercise advice is to make it a group activity, whether you're into pickleball or just taking a walk. In her 30s and 40s, she'd meet up with other moms to take a few laps around the nearby track while her kids were at sports practice.

"I made some of the best friends I ever had during those years and I really looked forward to going," Vassos said. "That social aspect of it is good. It fuels my soul, also the workout is good for you."

She does strength workouts at home

Vassos said resistance training like push-ups, planks, and dumbbell exercise play a major role in keeping her healthy and resilient over time.

"It's important because bone density is a big issue at this age. You need to use weights to help with bone density," she said.

Research suggests lifting weights and other strength workouts can boost longevity, reduce the risk of injuries, and improve quality of life too.

Pulling up a quick YouTube video and using some dumbbells at home can be more convenient and less intimidating than hitting the weight room, Vassos said.

"If I had to get ready every morning and go to a gym, I probably wouldn't do it. But things are easy now. You can turn on your TV, pull up YouTube and you can do any exercise you want," she said.

A high-protein diet fortifies the body

Vassos said her diet is big on protein. It typically includes a lot of lean meats like turkey or rotisserie chicken as an easy, versatile staple for healthy meals.

"I naturally gravitate to protein," she said.

Protein is a crucial nutrient for building and maintaining muscle, and repairing tissue. As people age, muscle mass can decline over time, so it's important for older people, especially women, to get enough protein for longevity.

She has a daily treat like cookies or chocolate

Along with a generally balanced diet, the key to eating well over time is a bit of indulgence, according to Vassos.

"I don't really deny myself anything. I don't drink a lot of wine, but I drink a little bit of wine and when I go to dinner, I will order dessert and share it with somebody," she said.

Her kitchen is always stocked with sweet treats like chocolate or cookies, and enjoying them helps keep her on track for the long-term.

"If I denied myself, I would probably crave a cookie. But if I have a couple cookies a day, it's not going to kill me," Vassos said. "It's about living life and being happy."

• It's performance review season at TikTok, and some staff with low scores have been given a choice.
• They can either go on a performance-improvement plan or leave with severance, employees told BI.
• The company last year asked managers to deliver more low scores during review cycles.

It's review season for US staff at TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, and some employees are getting a choice: PIP or go.

TikTok is offering some employees who received low performance scores the choice of submitting to a performance improvement plan (PIP) or agreeing to leave the company with some severance, according to two e-commerce employees who received the offers verbally and three other current staffers who had heard directly from colleagues about the arrangement. TikTok instructed managers last year to deliver more low scores in reviews.

The employees said the value of the offers, which have also been made in earlier cycles, varied. One offer included one month in which the staffer would stay on payroll without having to work — often referred to as "garden leave" — along with a separate one-month severance payout arranged as part of a mutual separation agreement. The staffers who spoke to Business Insider asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation; their identities are known to BI.

Business Insider was unable to determine how many employees had been given an offer like this as part of this review cycle. A TikTok spokesperson confirmed the company was implementing PIPs but said they did not have information on severance offers. In February, The Information reported that TikTok's CEO Shou Chew had said he wanted to review the company's workforce and remove unnecessary layers.

TikTok and ByteDance are not the only tech companies to offer voluntary exit agreements to staff with low scores. In 2024, Meta began delivering lower ratings to staff as part of a workplace efficiency effort, offering some of those staff a chance to take three months' severance instead of going on a PIP. Other tech companies similarly offer PIPs, which can be tough to recover from no matter where you work. And a push to identify "low performers" has become trendy across the workforce.

Three current TikTok staffers told BI that they felt that accepting a PIP instead of severance was rare at the company because it was very challenging to survive a PIP.

"I have never met somebody who's passed a PIP," one of the staffers said.

The departure agreements arrive at a challenging moment for TikTok. The company's political future in the US is up in the air due to a divest-or-ban law that asked TikTok to find a new owner. In January, President Donald Trump instructed his attorney general not to enforce the law for 75 days, giving TikTok and ByteDance some more time to find a political resolution.

Current and former employees at TikTok told BI that burnout has become common at the company amid political uncertainty and the pressure to perform. Performance evaluations, in particular, have become a point of anxiety.

While TikTok reviews employees twice a year, it sometimes feels like "it's always performance review season," one of the current staffers said. "They'll PIP people, and then they'll hire new people, and then they'll continue this meat grinder of performance reviews."

• Sarah Wynn-Williams's memoir contains details about her experiences working at Facebook, now Meta.
• The Careless People author spoke with BI about how and why she wrote the book.
• Meta has since won a ruling barring Wynn-Williams from promoting the book.

Hours before an arbitrator ruled in Meta's favor, barring Sarah Wynn-Williams from promoting her explosive new tell-all about the company, she sat down for an interview with Business Insider. Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, released Tuesday, is a scathing memoir detailing Wynn-Williams' time at Facebook, now Meta, where she worked in global public policy from 2011 to 2018.

The book seemed to materialize out of nowhere, announced less than a week before its release. And yet, it had all the makings of a bombshell.

Wynn-Williams describes an internal culture built on power, deference, and secrecy, where Mark Zuckerberg's employees allegedly let him win at board games, where executives reportedly bent over backward to court the Chinese government, and where she claims Meta's top policy executive, Joel Kaplan, sexually harassed her. (Meta has denied the allegations about Kaplan, saying an internal investigation found them "misleading" and "unfounded." The company cleared Kaplan in 2017. Meta also published a document stating that some of Wynn-Williams' claims in the book about Meta's China and Myanmar operations were "old news").

Earlier this month, Wynn-Williams also filed a whistleblower complaint with the SEC over Meta's dealings in China, alleging the company misled investors, and went to great lengths to please the Chinese government in a failed attempt to launch Facebook in the country.

"This is all pushed by an employee terminated eight years ago for poor performance. We do not operate our services in China today," a Meta Spokesperson said.

"It is no secret we were once interested in doing so as part of Facebook's effort to connect the world. This was widely reported beginning a decade ago. We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we'd explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019."

After leaving Meta, Wynn-Williams shifted her focus to AI policy, including participating in a dialogue between US and Chinese experts on AI and military risks.

Since its release, Careless People has made headlines and drawn a swift, aggressive response from Meta. Multiple current and former employees, including some featured in the book, have publicly disputed Wynn-Williams' claims, calling them exaggerated or false. The company has gone after her in an unprecedented way, arguing that she violated a nondisparagement agreement and securing an emergency arbitration ruling that restricts her ability to speak publicly about the book.

"This book is a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.

"Sarah Wynn-Williams was fired for poor performance and toxic behavior, and an investigation at the time determined she made misleading and unfounded allegations of harassment. Since then, she has been paid by anti-Facebook activists, and this is simply a continuation of that work," the statement continued. "Whistleblower status protects communications to the government, not disgruntled activists trying to sell books."

When reached for comment about the arbitration ruling, a legal representative for Wynn-Williams said: "Because of an order dated 12 March sought by Meta, Ms Wynn-Williams has been prevented from providing comment."

Flatiron Books, Wynn-William's publisher, provided BI with the following statement: "The arbitration order has no impact on Macmillan. However, we are appalled by Meta's tactics to silence our author through the use of a non-disparagement clause in a severance agreement."

"To be clear", Marlena Bittner, the publisher's director of publicity told BI, "the arbitrator's order makes no reference to the claims within Careless People. The book went through a thorough editing and vetting process, and we remain committed to publishing important books such as this. We will absolutely continue to support and promote it."

Wynn-Williams avoided directly answering some of BI's questions about the company's accusations against her.

Partly driven by the buzz generated by Meta's own attempts to suppress it, Careless People ranked among the top 10 bestsellers on Amazon in the US when this article was published.

Below are excerpts from BI's interview with Wynn-Williams, edited for clarity.

A lot of people were surprised when this book was announced. Why did you keep it under wraps?

Well, if you see the reaction that's happened since, I think that explains the decision. When I decided to tell my story and speak out about all these true experiences that are in the book, I wanted to make sure that the story would be out there.

It seems crazy when we live in a world where Meta is doubling down on freedom of expression and purports to be about supporting free speech. I thought: I want this out in the world—and so that's part of the reason for doing it that way.

You left Facebook in 2018. Why did you decide to release it now, after all these years?

Because I think we're on the cusp of this new era of technology. We're stepping into this AI era, and at a high level, I don't want the mistakes that were made during the social media era to be applied to the AI era.

One of the things that I've worked on since leaving [Meta] is the US-China AI dialogue on AI in weapons. So, I really understand the existential nature of AI. I also understand these people and how decisions are made. That's why, as we go into this new era, we have to do it better. China is such a big part of the story of AI. It's this growing strategic rivalry and how technology is so central to that rivalry.

And yet, this company has been doing things in the shadows for so long with the Chinese Communist Party, and their line is, oh, you know, we tried to get our services [into China] and we told you in 2019 that didn't happen. Have a look at how much of [Meta's] revenue comes from China — it's $18 billion.

(Editor's note: According to Meta's 2024 annual report, the company made $18.35 billion from China, primarily through resellers serving Chinese advertisers targeting global users.) So it seems that everyone is operating under the false notion that Meta is not operating in China when actually, it is fundamental to its current valuation, it's fundamental to its future growth. And we don't talk openly about it at the very time that we're about to enter this new AI era.

What was your process for writing this book? How long did it take you?

The process was off and on. It was something that I felt there was a growing need and importance [for]. It's a memoir; it's my story; and it's a true story that is also underpinned by evidence, and, further to that, underpinned [by my] filing with the SEC.

[My writing process] wasn't a linear thing. There were moments when something would happen, there would be a headline about China, and I'd think, "It would be so different if people knew the truth." Or there'd be a headline about something bad happening with teens using Instagram, and I'd think "Oh God." The story they were telling was departing more and more from the truth and it seemed more and more imperative that the truth was out there.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone has said that your book wasn't fact-checked and that nobody reached out to Meta for comment. Did you get the book fact-checked?

I think Meta's problem is using this to not answer the questions themselves. What I would love is for us not to fall into the distraction. There's a real risk that we talk about things that don't matter. We've got these huge issues like China and I notice they're not providing any detail on that. There are so many smart people who've worked at this company and who are covering this company. Like, we have to do better.

A lot of current and former Meta employees have contested the claims in your book and said that they're fabricated or exaggerated. How do you respond to those statements?

Again, this is another distraction from talking about the things that Meta has done and the hypocrisy around that. It's making the conversation about them and their response, not about the true stories in this book that people need to know.

Have you personally heard from any current or former Meta employees since the book came out?

So many, and it's been so nice. I realize there are some very decent people who have worked at Meta and it's been amazing. The support has been incredible. I am very touched. I am very grateful. There are people who were in the trenches who had lived these stories with me, who were the ones raising eyebrows when stuff was feeling like "Oh, is this really happening?" It means a lot that they recognize the truth of the story and they also see themselves in it and as part of it.

Has Meta changed its ways since you've left? Do you see any difference in the way the company operates or in how senior management thinks about some of the issues that you bring up in the book?

I sit where I sit, but I see exactly the same behavior. I see a company that says it has changed all its accounts for teens, has a big push on that, and yet, hasn't grappled with [questions] like: Are you still gathering information about when teenagers are feeling worthless? What data are you giving to advertisers about 13 to 17-year-olds? Where are you surveilling teens on and off the platform? Go and ask them those specific questions and then see if it's the same company or a different company. See if you get answers that satisfy you.

I think broadly the tech press does continue to ask these questions of Meta.

Do you feel like you get straight answers?

You sometimes do.

That's part of why I wrote this. Use it to ask the questions, and you'll have the truth in your hands. You can go back on each of these things and say, like, "You know, show us the documents, show us the truth."

You worked closely with Mark Zuckerberg. I'm curious what you think about his transformation over the last year where he's trying to look cool and more accessible, wearing chains, and doing mixed martial arts.

Mark Zuckerberg has worn many different costumes and he continues to wear many different costumes. In my time at Facebook, he was cozying up with the Chinese Communist Party. Now he's cozying up with President Trump. It's one of the many costumes, and it's all in service of more power to Mark Zuckerberg — whether it's promoting President Xi and asking him to name your first-born child and learn Mandarin or now this moment [where] it's wrestling and wearing chains. Let's see it for what it is.

What do you make of Meta moving away from fact-checking on its platforms and getting rid of DEI initiatives?

Don't you think it's ironic that they're pivoting away from fact-checking and yet one of your questions to me was all about fact-checking at the behest of the Meta spokesperson? The hypocrisy is so outrageous. People need to read the book, understand the truth, and then say, "No, we know who you are — stop it."

Meta has released a statement saying that you were fired for poor performance and toxic behavior. They've called your allegations "misleading" and "unfounded". They've said that you're being paid by anti-Facebook activists.

They're trying to smear me and convince people not to read the book. People should read the book. The truth is in the book. They can make up their own minds. I stand by everything in the book. It's true, and that's what the focus should be on.

The focus should be on China. It should be on what they're doing with teens. It should be on genocide and Myanmar. These are really serious issues. That's where the discussion needs to be. I can't overstate how much more important each of those things is.

So, just for the record: you're not being paid by anti-Facebook activists, right?

I'm not being paid by anyone!

They're also gearing up to take legal action against Macmillan, your publisher.

It's a surprising choice, to the extent that they're a "freedom of expression" company.

People should be asking questions about their commitment to freedom of expression. People should be asking questions about their principles and their values and their actions, as always, are so different from their words. People need to focus on their actions. Don't get distracted. Look at what they do, not at what they say.

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• Brad Pitt and Damson Idris star as fictional Formula 1 drivers in the upcoming movie "F1."
• The film is directed by Joseph Kosinski and F1 driver Lewis Hamilton served as a producer.
• Pitt spent months training; that's really him driving at 180 mph on actual F1 race tracks.

Formula 1 is getting the Hollywood treatment.

The motorsport's drama on and off the track has inspired a new movie, simply titled "F1," which will hit theaters this summer. It's directed by "Top Gun: Maverick" filmmaker Joseph Kosinski and stars Brad Pitt and Damson Idris as teammates on a fictional 11th team on the grid, known as APXGP.

Whether you're an F1 fan or a cinephile looking for a summer popcorn movie, Kosinski guarantees that the movie will appeal to a wide audience.

"If you don't know anything about Formula 1, I think you're going to like this movie and you might come out wanting to watch some races or maybe even go to a race," he said at a global virtual trailer launch event attended by Business Insider on Tuesday. "You don't need to know anything going in. We'll teach you everything you need to enjoy this story."

Here's everything to know about "F1," from the training the actors underwent to portray race drivers to the real-life F1 stars who may pop up in the film.

The 'F1' cast includes Brad Pitt and Damson Idris as unlikely teammates

Pitt and Idris star as Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce, respectively. The plot is set in motion by Sonny, a washed-up former driver, joining F1 alongside his rookie APXGP teammate Joshua.

Trailers released so far have teased tension between the two drivers, with Sonny being called a "prick" and a "gambling junkie who missed his shot" while Joshua's inexperience leads to frustration.

The film also stars Javier Bardem as Ruben, the owner of APXGP who pairs Sonny and Joshua together because he sees potential, and Kerry Condon as Kate, the team's technical director who appears to be romantically involved with Sonny.

Seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton served as a producer

Lewis Hamilton, one of the most successful F1 drivers of all time, is credited as a producer on the movie and worked alongside the cast and crew to ensure that technical aspects remained true to the motorsport.

"As someone who's dedicated his whole life to this sport, I'm so, so honored to have worked alongside this team of actors and filmmakers," Hamilton said at a global virtual trailer launch event. "This has been such a thrill for me. And I genuinely promise this film delivers on every level."

During the event, Kosinski said that he got hooked on F1 after watching Netflix's docuseries "Drive to Survive."

"I found that it's an incredibly unique sport in that your teammate is also your, in many ways, your greatest competition," he said. "And for me, that makes for a great drama."

The director said that he reached out to Hamilton so he could give real insights into F1, from a technical standpoint and narratively, since the driver has been both a rookie and a veteran in his career.

Hamilton also introduced Kosinski to Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team principal Toto Wolff, who suggested ways to capture the action.

Pitt and Idris are actually driving at high speeds on actual F1 race tracks

The two actors really are behind the wheel of those fast cars in "F1."

Kosinski said they bought real F2 cars and worked with Mercedes AMG and their engineers to build real race cars that could properly hold their camera equipment.

"Every time you see Brad or Damson driving this movie, they're driving on their own in one of these real race cars on a real F1 track," he said.

"Watching Brad drive around speeds over 180 miles an hour was really impressive to see because it's not something you can just learn overnight," Hamilton said.

Filming for "F1" took place during actual Grand Prix weekends in 2023 and 2024, and the crowds that appear in the stands during movie scenes are real fans who were in attendance. The crew had access to the tracks in Great Britain, Las Vegas, Mexico City, and Abu Dhabi, which is where the film ends.

"F1" was also made in collaboration with Formula 1 and the 10 real teams and their drivers. That means that real drivers will appear in the film, though it's unclear how involved they'll be in the plot and whether they'll have speaking lines.

The trailers released so far have shown brief glimpses of F1 drivers like Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Mercedes' George Russell were also seen filming a scene on the podium at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December, where Pitt's character celebrated a victory with a champagne shower.

Kosinski described the process of filming during race weekends as a "traveling circus," trying to squeeze production into small windows of time when they were free to use the track between practice, qualifying, and races.

"We'd get these 10 or 15-minute slots where we'd have to have Brad and Damson ready in the cars, warmed up with hot tyres ready to go, and as soon as practice ended, they would pull out onto the track," he said.

"It was like a live stage play, but in front of hundreds of thousands of people shooting at 180 miles an hour," Kosinski added. "So it was an adrenaline rush every weekend, but what we captured is something you can't fake, you can't stage."

Pitt and Idris spent months training

Specific details about Pitt and Idris' training routines are unknown, but if the actors prepped like real F1 drivers, they likely did reflex and strength training, in addition to learning the ins and outs of the cars.

Kosinski said that Pitt turned out to be a "naturally gifted driver," making the process even easier.

"When you see Brad driving, that's not acting," he added. "He's really concentrating on keeping that car on the track and out of the wall during all those scenes. So that's something that you just can't fake."

The 'F1' release date is June 27

The movie will be released this summer, during the same weekend as the Austrian Grand Prix.

• Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's relationship goes back decades, when their moms introduced them as kids.
• Affleck told BI at the "The Accountant 2" premiere that he doesn't have many close friends.
• "You don't need a million friends. You need a few," Affleck said.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's decadeslong friendship is precious — just ask Affleck.

"It's a beautiful thing," Affleck told reporters at the red carpet premiere of "The Accountant 2" at the SXSW Film & TV Festival Saturday. "You know, I don't have very many — none of us really have very many friends. You don't need a million friends. You need a few. You need good ones."

"I'm really lucky to have had a friend in Matt," he added.

Affleck and Damon's friendship extends back to their childhood, when their moms introduced them as kids in the 1980s. They've come a long way since working as uncredited extras together on the 1989 Kevin Costner movie "Field of Dreams," including winning an Oscar together for writing "Good Will Hunting" in 1998.

It's not just Affleck who's gushed about their friendship. In 2023, Damon reflected on how his bond with Affleck changed after his dad died in 2017, calling his friendship with Affleck one of "the three most significant partnerships" in his life.

In addition to their busy acting careers — Damon can next be seen leading the stacked cast of Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," while Affleck returns for "The Accountant 2" in April — both have thriving behind-the-scenes careers as producers.

In 2022, they founded Artists Equity together, and "The Accountant 2" is one of the films they've produced. It's a far cry from their days sharing a bank account and hoping their power wouldn't get turned off.

"It's been very rewarding to create an opportunity for other people, directors and artists, to kind of be able to take responsibility for and manage and have a more creative say in their projects," Affleck said, adding that "The Accountant 2" director Gavin O'Connor had a strong vision for the film. "We wanted to set him up to succeed, and I feel like this movie, frankly, really validates that approach."

"The Accountant 2" is in theaters April 25.

• I went to Outback Steakhouse to try its Aussie three-course meal deal in the $15 tier.
• I got a baked-potato soup, a Bloomin' burger with a side of broccoli, and a slice of cheesecake.
• With tax, my bill came to just $16.28, which I think is more than worth it for the food I got.

I have no illusions about what to expect when I walk into an Outback Steakhouse.

At the chain, I assume I'll get food that tastes good though probably not great. It's comfort dining: the menu is vast, the calorie count is often pretty high, and the flavors are familiar.

However, at Outback, like at many chain restaurants these days, the food isn't exactly cheap. An appetizer of those famous Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie, for example, will run you about $16, a steakhouse salad $18, and a 13-ounce ribeye nearly $30.

With that in mind, I was skeptical of its limited-time Aussie three-course meal deal, which comes in three tiers: $15, $19, or $22. It's only available for dine-in customers and can vary by location.

On a recent visit to Outback, I went with the $15 meal. Here's how it went.

For my first course, I chose soup instead of a salad.

For my starter, I could choose baked-potato soup, a house salad, or a Caesar salad. (There were also two other soup and two other salad options available for a modest additional fee.)

I went with the baked-potato soup, as I adore potato soups.

Unfortunately, this one was just not that great. I found it to be too salty, too thin, and not quite hot enough when it was served to me.

I appreciated the cheese, green onions, and bacon toppings, but the soup itself let me down.

The burger I chose felt like a high point of the meal deal.

For my entrée, I could choose the Bloomin' Burger or one of three shrimp dishes.

I went with the burger, which cost $15.50 on its own. The fact that my full three-course meal was just $15 illustrates the true savings at play here.

The burger was, as expected, good but not great. It came topped with Outback's signature Bloomin' Onion petals and Bloom sauce, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion.

It was so messy to eat that I quickly reverted to a knife-and-fork approach. Unfortunately, the pickles seemed more like flavorless cucumber coins than anything else.

However, the meat was properly cooked, the lettuce and tomato seemed fresh, and the sauce was tangy and applied liberally without being gratuitous.

Had I paid $15.50 for the burger alone, I'd have been disappointed. For a three-course meal costing slightly less than that price, I was plenty satisfied with the entrée.

I got a side of broccoli with my burger.

Each entrée in this deal comes with a side. In an attempt to balance out the calories of the burger (and the soup and cake), I went with broccoli.

Other side options were fries, a baked potato, mixed veggies, or a small salad.

Unfortunately, I wasn't satisfied. The broccoli seemed so overcooked it was almost mush. I only ate a few pieces in the name of writing a thorough review, not because it was at all tasty.

The meal ended with cheesecake, and I got to choose the sauce.

For the final course, diners get a slice of New York-style cheesecake with either raspberry or chocolate sauce. (Or I could've upgraded to the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under brownie with ice cream for an extra $3).

I went with the chocolate sauce. Overall, the cheesecake was fine, albeit nothing amazing.

It was sweet without being cloyingly so, and the overall flavor was lightly tangy and, of course, creamy. I didn't mind the texture.

Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of cheesecake, so I called in my wife and kids to try it also, and they were all plenty happy with the dessert.

The food wasn't life-changing, but the price was so good.

All in all, I'd order the Aussie three-course meal deal again.

Next time, I'd probably try my luck with a salad and a different side dish. I'd also be open to trying the shrimp entrées that are also available at the $15 price tier.

• Donatella Versace is stepping down as creative director of Versace after 28 years.
• Dario Vitale, former design director of Miu Miu, will take over her role in April.
• Versace has faced challenges with declining revenue and a potential acquisition by Prada.

Donatella Versace is stepping down as chief creative officer of Versace after running the fashion house for nearly 30 years.

On Thursday, Capri Holdings, which owns Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Michael Kors, said that she will transition to the role of chief brand ambassador of Versace in April.

It will be the first time in the brand's history that a non-family member will lead its creative vision.

Dario Vitale, the former design director of Miu Miu, will take her position at the Italian fashion house.

Dario Vitale is taking over as creative director of Versace

Born in 1983 near Naples, Italy, Vitale graduated from Istituto Marangoni in 2006 and worked with Dsquared2 for a year, followed by Bottega Veneta, Vogue reported.

He joined Miu Miu in 2010 as a fashion designer and became the ready-to-wear design director. His departure from the brand was announced in January.

Miu Miu saw impressive growth with Vitale's help, as revenue grew by 97.3% in 2024. It's consistently been named a top brand in recent years, becoming a major trendsetter in everything from ballet flats to underwear as outerwear and the viral micro-miniskirt.

Miu Miu has also been a major factor in helping its parent company, Prada, avoid the luxury slump.

Vitale has remained relatively under the radar compared to his Versace predecessor, having confirmed his latest career move in the bio of his Instagram account, which has zero posts so far.

On Thursday, Versace CEO Emmanuel Gintzburger said, "Vitale is a rare talent who deeply respects the essences and values of Versace," and "his experience and vision will bring a new perspective to the brand."

Addressing his new role, Vitale said, "I am truly honored to join Versace as the Chief Creative Officer and be a part of this special and powerful fashion luxury House created by Gianni and Donatella. The House of Versace has a unique heritage that has spanned decades and has shaped the history of fashion."

"It is a privilege to contribute to the future growth of Versace and its global impact through my vision, expertise, and dedication," Vitale added.

Donatella Versace's legacy

Donatella Versace took over as creative director after her brother Gianni Versace, who founded the fashion house in 1978, died in 1997. In his will, Gianni Versace left his sister a 20% stake in the company.

"It has been the greatest honor of my life to carry on my brother Gianni's legacy," Donatella Versace said in a statement on Thursday.

In her new role as chief brand ambassador, she said she will "remain Versace's most passionate supporter," adding that "Versace is in my DNA and always in my heart."

The designer also confirmed the news on Instagram, posting a montage of iconic Versace moments, which she captioned, "I hope I've made you proud so far."

Versace has been known for its maximalist style, vibrant prints, and, of course, Jennifer Lopez's "jungle dress," which was so iconic that it inspired the creation of Google Images.

"Versace is what it is today because of Donatella Versace," Gintzburger said in his statement on Thursday.

Donatella Versace expanded the fashion house into a globally recognized brand, which was acquired by Capri Holdings in 2018 for about $2.12 billion.

In 2023, Tapestry, which owns Coach and Kate Spade, announced it would acquire Capri Holdings for $8.5 billion, but the Federal Trade Commission blocked the merger in 2024.

Versace has continued to struggle with sales. In February, BI reported that the brand's revenue had dropped 15% compared to the previous year. The CEO of Capri Holdings, John Idol, cited its move toward quiet luxury and fewer entry-level priced goods as reasons for the dip.

Now, Donatella Versace's departure comes amid reports that Prada could buy Versace from Capri Holdings for $1.6 billion.

• The Kia Sorento is a smaller midsize family SUV that comes standard with a third row.
• I recently drove a fully loaded Sorento in X-Line SX Prestige trim.
• I was impressed by the Sorento's peppy driving dynamics, rugged styling, and well-executed tech.

I recently tested a fully loaded Kia Sorento and was impressed by the family SUV's peppy driving, rugged looks and suite of tech features.

The smaller midsize splits the difference between compact crossovers like the Honda CR-V and larger, three-row midsize SUVs like its bigger brother, the Kia Telluride.

The 2025 Sorento starts at $31,990 and is pretty much unchanged from previous years. The most significant update is the use of black instead of silver badging on X-Line trim models.

With fees, my Georgia-made X-Line SX-Prestige test car came out to $48,285.

12 features jumped out to me that helped make the Sorento a great family SUV that's practical, fun to drive, and packed with cool tech.

Hybrid and ICE engine options

Most vehicles offer consumers one or two engine options. The Sorento has four different powertrains, including a hybrid and a plug-in hybrid.

My high-end test car was powered by a 281 horsepower turbocharged engine with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. More value-minded buyers can opt for the entry model's 191 horsepower, naturally aspirated four-cylinder.

The Sorento can also be had as a hybrid with 227 horsepower and as a plug-in hybrid with 261 horsepower and 31 miles of electric range.

My all-wheel-drive, turbocharged test car boasts EPA fuel economy figures of 20 mpg city, 27 mpg highway, and 23 mpg combined, which is pretty standard in this part of the market.

Rugged styling

The Sorento's revised front end, with its squared edges, vertical LED headlights, and rectangular grille, looks bold and rugged. It draws heavily from the brand's flagship Telluride SUV.

Fun to drive

The Sorento's punchy turbocharged engine really shines. Kia's 2.5-liter turbocharged engine and eight-speed DCT combine to make the Sorento surprisingly peppy. Power delivery felt immediate, consistent, and pretty smooth for a turbocharged four-cylinder.

The SUV's responsive steering makes it one of the better-handling midsize SUVs I've driven.

According to Kia, my 4,250-pound test car could accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 7.5 seconds with a top speed of 131 miles per hour.

Sage green leather interior

The sage green leather upholstery in my test car looked great and was a happy break from the traditional black, white, and tan interiors found in my vehicles.

The heated and ventilated power front seats are not only incredibly comfortable, but their quilted design also adds an extra dash of flair to the cabin.

Great infotainment system

Every carmaker has an infotainment system, but few do it well. I find the latest Hyundai/Kia system in the Sorento to be among those few. The system is responsive, easy to navigate, and comes packed with helpful features like built-in vehicle diagnostics and a 360-camera system.

All Sorentos also come with standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration.

Blind spot view monitor

The blindspot view monitor system debuted a few years ago and has been unique to high-end Hyundai and Kia models. The system, which uses side mirror-mounted cameras, activates when the turn signal is used and proved to be a helpful feature

Seatback USB sockets

Most SUVs' second-row power sockets are usually placed low down on the center console facing the rear passenger. The Sorento's USB-C sockets are on the inside of its front seatbacks. This smart design, also found on a couple of other recent Hyundai/Kia SUVs, makes the USB-C sockets easily accessible to both front and rear seat passengers.

Digital rearview mirror

Although digital rearview mirrors are not as rare as they once were, they are still fairly uncommon. The feature is especially useful in family SUVs like the Sorento, as it gives the driver an unobstructed view even when the cabin is packed with cargo and passengers.

Voice memo

I've encountered the voice memo feature on several recent Hyundai/Kia models. It's offbeat and not something I'd necessarily use, but I can certainly see it coming in handy if inspiration strikes while stuck in traffic.

Standard third row

The Sorento's standard third row isn't terribly spacious. In fact, it offers roughly the same legroom as a coach seat on a low-cost airline. However, its mere presence in a smaller, lower-priced midsize SUV and the flexibility it affords owners make it a standout feature.

Smart handsfree liftgate

There are various smart, hands-free power liftgates on the market, but Hyundai/Kia's system is one of the easiest to use. You don't have to kick or swing your leg under the rear bumper. All you have to do is stand two to three feet behind the Sorento while possessing the key fob. After three seconds, the vehicle will beep, and the rear liftgate will automatically open.

Center-locking differential

As with most crossover SUVs, the Sorento's all-wheel-drive system drives the front wheels most of the time and only sends power outback when it needs additional traction. When road conditions are really bad, the Sorento comes with a center-locking differential, activated by pushing a button on the center console, that ensures power is split evenly between the front and rear wheels.

• My family and I moved from Texas to Las Vegas in 2014.
• The major tourist destination has been a surprisingly great place to raise a family.
• Here in Vegas, we have access to great entertainment, outdoor adventures, and a major airport.

Before moving to Las Vegas in 2014, my wife and I had been wrestling with the idea of leaving Texas for a while. We spent 30 years in Beaumont, a small city in the southeast part of the state, and craved a fresh start.

So, we set our sights on Vegas, a place we had vacationed to and enjoyed. It seemed like a bold change, and the city's energy was infectious every time we visited.

Making the move wasn't easy. We didn't have a safety net of friends or family in Vegas, and our two children had to stay behind with their grandparents for a bit to finish their school year. It was an emotional roller coaster for everyone involved.

But now, more than a decade after our move, we can confidently say that our decision to uproot our family was the best thing we've ever done.

Here are just a few of the many reasons we enjoy living in Sin City.

Outdoor adventures are surprisingly easy to find in Vegas

When friends ask about our lives in Vegas, most are surprised at how often we go on outdoor adventures.

Of course, there were plenty of opportunities to get outside in Texas, but very few of the major destinations were near our home.

Here in Vegas, however, we have access to plenty of national forests, state parks, and national parks. For example, in 45 minutes, we can visit Valley of Fire State Park, home to 40,000 acres of bright-red Aztec sandstone.

And in 15 minutes, we can travel to Red Rock Canyon, a gorgeous conservation area with a 13-mile scenic drive, rock climbing, and hiking trails.

Las Vegas is an excellent base for travel

Before our move, I never realized how strategically placed Sin City is for road trips. While living in Beaumont, driving 11 hours west meant we were still in Texas.

Now, we spend lots of time in cities like Phoenix, San Diego, and Los Angeles, all within a few hours' drive from home.

Living close to Harry Reid International Airport has been another incredible convenience, with affordable flights to destinations across the West Coast, Mexico, and Hawaii.

Back in Texas, with only a small regional airport in our immediate area, traveling out of state was a chore. Sure, we could head further east along the Gulf Coast, but it was more of the same landscape.

World-class entertainment is always minutes away

The closest entertainment options in Beaumont were typically a two-hour drive to Houston. Although artists sometimes swung through, we often found ourselves without any viable concert options.

Now that we're in Vegas, however, we're spoiled when it comes to entertainment. When the best musical acts in the world announce a tour, we typically don't have to hope they include our city.

Vegas also has several major-league sports teams and has hosted massive events like the Super Bowl, the Formula 1 Grand Prix, NASCAR races, and rodeo championships.

Away from the Strip, the Las Vegas suburbs have a small-town vibe

When I lived in Texas, I thought a city like Las Vegas would be sensory overload and a terrible place to raise a family.

It's true that if you spend most of your time on the Strip, the crowds, noise, and constant barrage of lights and music can lead to overstimulation.

However, when you step away from those areas, you discover that Las Vegas and its suburbs have small-town charm. For example, throughout the year, we enjoy community Christmas parades, Fourth of July celebrations, and cultural festivals scattered across the city.

We've found it easy to carve out a peaceful but fulfilling life here, a few minutes from one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

It may not be perfect, but for anyone willing to look beyond the bright lights, the city shows itself as a diverse and welcoming community.

• Apple was late to AI. But this past spring, it said it was catching up and promised all kinds of AI features.
• Many of those have yet to materialize, and close Apple watchers are wondering whether Apple will ever deliver them.
• Maybe Apple eventually shrugs this off. But when people like John Gruber, an Apple blogger, are publicly shaming the company, you know something's up.

Do you remember when Apple told the world it was going to bring artificial intelligence to its phones, which would allow them to do all kinds of amazing things?

That was June. And, it turns out, a bunch of the stuff Apple promised was coming has yet to show up, and now may not show up for some time — if ever.

If you're a normal person, you probably don't care about this. But for close Apple watchers and Apple fans, this has become an increasingly big problem: It's making them wonder whether Apple made a distinctly un-Apple-like mistake last year, by showing off stuff it doesn't know how to deliver.

And that has them worrying about the state of Apple itself.

That crisis of faith materialized most prominently on Wednesday, via a blistering post from John Gruber, an influential Apple blogger. The title gets right at it: "Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino."

Gruber's argument boiled down: Apple hasn't shipped the most consequential features it showed off in June — like the ability for the phone to sift through your emails and texts, and to tell you when your mom is arriving at the airport. More worrisome is Gruber's belief that Apple doesn't actually know how to deliver that kind of feature, and that what it showed off in the spring was mere "vaporware" — perhaps the most damning thing you can say about an Apple product.

Even more worrisome: It wasn't just that Apple showed this stuff off at a developer conference — it has been telling normal people that these features are coming soon, via an ad campaign it has now shelved.

Add it all up, Gruber said, and it points to a deep malaise at the company — one he says is ultimately a problem for CEO Tim Cook. If Cook can't figure it out immediately, Gruber argued, "then, I fear, that's all she wrote. The ride is over."

"When mediocrity, excuses, and bulls—t take root, they take over," he said. "A culture of excellence, accountability, and integrity cannot abide the acceptance of any of those things, and will quickly collapse upon itself with the acceptance of all three."

Gruber isn't the only one worried about the state of Apple's AI efforts. Earlier this week, Ben Thompson, an analyst, noted the delays and concluded, "It appears Apple tried to do too much all at once."

These critiques have been building for some time: In November, Marques Brownlee, a hyperpopular tech reviewer, assessed the AI features that Apple had rolled out by then and was unimpressed. "Apple's made this promise that this huge thing is coming," he said. "I think that promise is starting to fade."

I've asked Apple for comment.

Does any of this matter in the real world? Maybe. Apple's stock is down 10% this week, double the decline that the broader Nasdaq has seen. Of course, there are other reasons for investors to be concerned about Apple — namely, the specter of a trade war that could dramatically increase costs for Apple's supply chain, which is highly dependent on China.

That said: A year ago, Google was in the middle of what seemed like an existential crisis as it stumbled through its own AI rollout — you may recall embarrassing "woke" results from its Gemini chatbot or equally embarrassing answers about putting glue on your pizza. But Google kept at it, and for better or worse, Google now gives you AI-generated answers much of the time, whether you want them or not.

It's also possible that Apple can simply sidestep this problem entirely by leaving the AI to companies that spent a gazillion dollars chasing AI and focusing on what Apple does really well: making high-end hardware at scale.

Analysts are excited about new Apple devices — like a newly released desktop PC that's supposed to work really well with the computing demands state-of-the-art AI requires.

"Apple doesn't need to have its own industry-leading AI s—t. Not right now at least. That'd be great if they did, but it's fine if they don't," Gruber told me via email.

"What Apple has are the best platforms to use AI from anyone. Best phone to use ChatGPT is iPhone. Best phone to use Claude or Perplexity is iPhone. ChatGPT has a fantastic native Mac app. Even Google makes a really good Gemini app for iPhone… Apple should be hammering that."

What's a bit strange is that "Apple makes good hardware for other people's AI" was, in fact, a major component of Apple's AI pitch last year, and people like Thompson thought that was quite smart.

"Having an interface for the folks that want to spend billions of dollars to do these huge large language models, to plug in and sort of take it or leave it — it's Apple leveraging their position of being the trusted device in people's lives, and getting everyone to dance to their tune," he told me in the spring.

Could Apple just focus on that version of AI, instead of trying to play catch-up to everyone else? It would be very unlike Apple to pull an about-face and announce that a very big thing they promised was never going to happen. It's also very unlike Apple to get this kind of grief from some of its biggest fans.

• A judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate fired federal probationary employees.
• The judge said the explanation for firing them for performance issues was a "sham" and a "lie."
• The ruling affects employees in the departments of Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and others.

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the jobs of probationary federal employees across multiple agencies, blasting the procedure behind their mass firings as a "sham."

Ruling from the bench in a San Francisco courthouse, US District Judge William Alsup said the Office of Personnel Management — the federal government's human resources department — had no basis for claiming the employees were fired for "performance" issues.

Alsup, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, said the explanation was a "gimmick" to circumvent legal requirements for laying off federal employees.

"It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that's a lie," Alsup said, according to Politico.

The firings were part of President Donald Trump's initiative to shrink the federal workforce, led by the White House's DOGE office.

The White House quickly said it would appeal Alsup's ruling, calling it "an absurd and unconstitutional order."

"A single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch — singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the President's agenda. If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for President themselves."

Alsup previously ruled the OPM "does not have any authority whatsoever, under any statute in the history of the universe" to tell another agency to fire its employees.

His new ruling orders the departments of Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs to offer fired probationary employees their jobs back.

An IRS employee who was terminated in February, and who expects to be reinstated following Alsup's order, told BI that "it's pretty awesome."

"It's relieving to an extent," the employee said. "I have been job-hunting and had an interview yesterday, but obviously you never know when you'll get a job offer."

Another IRS employee was more wary, anxious that Trump would just pursue another way to fire him and believing a private sector job could offer more stability.

"Even without an offer, my initial reaction is extreme stress, concern, and worry," the employee said. "If I get the offer and take the job back, will this happen again? What I used to think was a job with great job security is now not so secure."

Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the union representing the government employees, said the order would save tens of thousands of jobs.

"We are grateful for these employees and the critical work they do, and AFGE will keep fighting until all federal employees who were unjustly and illegally fired are given their jobs back," Kelley said.

Representatives for the Trump administration didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, praised Alsup's ruling and urged the Trump administration to promptly restore the jobs of fired government employees.

"The Trump-Musk Administration must immediately respect the court's decision and reinstate these dedicated civil servants — including nuclear researchers, park rangers, VA health care workers, and more — so they can get back to work on behalf of the American people," Connolly said in a statement.

• Since 2021, student-athletes have been able to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
• Top student-athletes have worked with brands like New Balance, Uber, and Beats by Dre.
• Arch Manning has an estimated NIL value of $6.5 million.

As the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, 18-year-old Duke freshman Cooper Flagg has already earned one of the highest NIL valuations in the country.

Name, image, and likeness deals — or NIL deals for short — have become a billion-dollar industry since they were introduced to amateur sports in 2021, allowing student-athletes the opportunity to make significant amounts of money regardless of whether they have the option to turn pro.

Plus, in May 2024, as part of a major antitrust settlement, the NCAA and its five power conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC) agreed that schools can directly pay their athletes for the first time in college athletics history. The final approval hearing, though, is scheduled for April.

Spencer Wadsworth, the senior vice president of global soccer at Wasserman, a global sports, music, and entertainment company, told Business Insider in August that NIL has helped take the pressure off some athletes to go pro prematurely.

"There are different pressures that each person goes through, and I think knowing that you can still earn some living — technically get paid for your sport — and continue your studies is extremely positive because everyone does have their own journey," he said.

Wadsworth added that NIL can teach athletes good habits when it comes to managing their money by giving them more support, rather than leaving them on their own as professionals.

And the amounts aren't insignificant: Even at the college level, some athletes are valued at millions of dollars.

NIL Valuations are calculated based on an athlete's performance, influence, exposure, and deal data, which are used to create a Roster Value and an NIL Value.

According to media and technology company On3, which uses an algorithm to track and update players' NIL Valuations weekly, most athletes' total NIL Valuations are based on their Roster Value, which is defined as "a calculation of an athlete's respective value to their team," similar to the salary professional athletes receive from their organizations.

Meanwhile, their NIL Value is related to how an athlete's performance, influence, and exposure lead to additional advertising and sponsorships.

Their Roster Value plus their NIL Value creates their total NIL Valuation.

While these student-athletes have built names for themselves through their talents, skills, and social media savvy, some top NIL earners might have had some extra help attracting deals thanks to their legacy-bearing last names.

With valuations starting at $3.3 million, here's a look at the top 10 student-athletes profiting the most from NIL. These figures were accurate as of March 13, 2025.

10. Cade Klubnik — $3.3 million

Clemson University quarterback Cade Klubnik is preparing to enter his fourth season with the Tigers. Last season, he threw for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns and rushed for an additional 463 yards and seven touchdowns.

He finished the season as a Maxwell Award semifinalist, and as a top-10 finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

Per Essentially Sports, head coach Dabo Swinney told reporters that Klubnik is a "veteran leader, very confident. And that can only come from being battle-tested and having the type of experience that he's got from really good success but also some failure as well."

Throughout his career at Clemson, Klubnik has signed NIL deals with brands like EA Sports, Fred Caldwell Chevrolet, Rhoback, and ONIT Athlete. He was also a member of the inaugural "Beats Elite" class of 2023 alongside Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Shedeur Sanders, and others. He has a roster value of $3 million and a total NIL valuation of $3.3 million, per On3.

9. Garrett Nussmeier — $3.6 million

LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is preparing for his fifth season — and second as a starter — with the Tigers. Last season, he threw 337 completions for 4,052 yards and 29 touchdowns and was named MVP of the 2024 Texas Bowl in LSU's 44-31 win over Baylor.

"Building a relationship with all of his receivers is what we're looking for in that, timing, and you know he's got some deep threats," head coach Brian Kelly told reporters on March 12, per LSU Wire.

Kelly added, "I think what we'll see is a quarterback that comes through the spring and just feels really confident with the options that he has."

On3 reported that Nussmeier has a roster value of $3.3 million and a total NIL valuation of $3.6 million thanks in part to deals with brands like Cheez-It, Powerade, EA Sports, Signature Ride, and Bayou Traditions.

Nussmeier is the son of New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier.

8. LaNorris Sellers — $3.7 million

South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers has a roster value of $3.5 million and a total NIL valuation of $3.7 million.

As a redshirt freshman last season, Sellers threw for 2,534 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for an additional 674 yards and seven touchdowns, leading the team to a 9-4 record. Coaches voted him the SEC Freshman of the Year and he was also named the National Freshman Offensive Player of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America, among other accolades.

Throughout his college career, he's signed NIL deals with brands like EA Sports, Palmetto Autographs, Famously Garnet Sports, and Garnet Trust. His most recent NIL deal came from Cheez-It alongside Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer ahead of their Citrus Bowl matchup in December 2024 (Illinois ultimately won the game 21-17).

In a March 2025 interview with On3's Mike Uva, Sellers said "it's going to be an exciting year" with the team's new talent.

"I've been in this system, and I know our system. I know our guys. We've got our timing stuff down. It's all about focusing on the details now," he added.

7. DJ Lagway — $3.8 million

University of Florida quarterback DJ Lagway played in 12 games last season and started seven. In that time, the true freshman threw for 1,915 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed for an additional 101 yards from 50 carries.

On a March 4 episode of the "Outta Pocket with RGIII" podcast, Robert Griffin III said Lagway was "literally the best quarterback" he's ever seen "coming out of high school."

Lagway's NIL portfolio includes deals with Nintendo, Gatorade, Leaf Trading Cards, and Florida Victorious, the Florida Gators Collective. He has a roster value of $3.4 million and a total NIL valuation of $3.8 million.

On the podcast, Lagway shared that NIL has been a blessing, allowing him to take care of himself and his family, but said the end goal is the NFL.

6. AJ Dybantsa — $3.8 million

No. 1 college basketball prospect AJ Dybantsa has chosen to attend BYU in the fall and already has an estimated NIL valuation of more than $3 million.

At 6-foot-9, the 18-year-old helped the USA's U17 National Team win gold at the 2024 U17 FIBA World Cup in Turkey, averaging 14.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.

In December 2024, Dybantsa's business advisor Leonard Armato told CBS Sports that his decision to attend BYU "wasn't a money decision as much as it was a culture fit, a decision for the family, basketball, all those things that should be the determining factors." It was widely reported that Dybantsa had an asking price of about $5 million from schools, but his On3 NIL valuation is reported at $3.8 million with a roster value of $3.3 million

On an episode of ESPN's "First Take," Dybantsa also highlighted head coach Kevin Young, who coached his "favorite player of all time," Kevin Durant.

"I'm trying to get to the NBA and I think it's gonna be the best development program for me," Dybantsa said, per Forbes.

Dybantsa's current NIL portfolio includes Red Bull and Nike, though Armato told CBS Sports that the Nike contract will expire in June.

"His deal will be up before he goes to college and he will be a free agent in the athletic footwear market," Armato said, leaving the door open for a potentially record-breaking deal in the fall.

5. Jeremiah Smith — $4 million

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has a roster value of $3.2 million and a total NIL valuation of $4 million.

In his freshman season with the National Championship-winning Buckeyes, Smith caught for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns, earning him the titles of Big Ten Wide Receiver of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Some of his NIL deals include Nintendo, Red Bull, Lululemon, Battle Sports, American Eagle Outfitters, and the 1870 Society.

4. Livvy Dunne — $4.1 million.

With a combined social-media following of 13.5 million followers, Dunne, 22, is one of the most-followed student-athletes ever, which likely helps brands gravitate toward her.

On3 reported that her portfolio of deals includes American Eagle Outfitters, Too Faced Cosmetics, Leaf Trading Cards, GrubHub, and Nautica. Her most recent deal came earlier in March when she signed with Crocs.

In October 2024, she was ranked No. 31 on Forbes' Top Creators list of the year, finishing above other popular creators like Addison Rae, Nara Smith, and Monet McMichael.

Dunne is competing with LSU in her final year of NCAA eligibility as the team strives for back-to-back national championship titles.

3. Carson Beck — $4.3 million

After spending the last four years at the University of Georgia, quarterback Carson Beck has decided to take his talents to the University of Miami for his final year of NCAA eligibility.

Despite continuing to recover from a UCL injury to his right elbow, Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson told reporters that Beck is already making an impact, Sports Illustrated reported.

"Obviously, it's a unique situation, surely, but his football IQ is really high. You can tell just in meetings and talking football with him, and I think it's important for him to just get injected with the team. Just be around and be around those guys and build rapport," Dawson said.

Prior to injury, Beck finished last season with 3,485 passing yards for 28 touchdowns; he also rushed for 71 yards and an additional touchdown.

On3 reported that Beck has a roster value of $3.9 million and a total NIL valuation of $4.3 million. His NIL portfolio includes deals with Chipotle, Powerade, private jet company Airstar Charter, EA Sports, and Leaf Trading Cards. He was also a member of the second "Beats Elite" class in 2024.

2. Cooper Flagg — $4.8 million

The 6-foot-9 freshman from Newport, Maine, is starting his Duke basketball career strong. Before the season even started, Flagg signed with CAA for NIL representation and inked his first major deal with New Balance.

The brand announced its partnership with Flagg in August, highlighting his status as a five-star prospect who was the only teenager selected to train with the USA Basketball Men's National Team before their gold-medal-winning run in Paris.

So far this season, he's started in every game he's played and averaged 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. Oh, and multiple outlets have already named him the projected No. 1 pick for the 2025 NBA Draft.

Flagg has a roster value of $3.4 million and a total NIL valuation of $4.8 million. In addition to New Balance, some of his other NIL deals include Gatorade and Fanatics.

1. Arch Manning — $6.5 million

Arch Manning comes from a long line of football royalty. His uncles, Peyton and Eli Manning, were Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks in the NFL, and his grandfather, Archie Manning, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

Now, with Quinn Ewers having declared for the NFL Draft, it's Arch's time to shine as the starting quarterback of the Texas Longhorns.

"The thing about Arch is this, from the day he arrived, there's been a real sense of humility about him," head coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters on March 11, Sports Illustrated reported. "If you didn't know his last name and didn't know the face, and just looked at the body of work, the teammate that he is, the work ethic that he has, his commitment to his craft, his commitment to his teammates, this process has been underway for a couple of years."

Last season, Manning started just two games but appeared in nine; he threw for 939 yards and nine touchdowns.

He has a roster value of $4.1 million and a total NIL valuation of $6.5 million, thanks in part to deals with brands like Uber, Red Bull, EA Sports, and Panini America.

• Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes joined forces in 2005 and now run a team of about 100 real-estate agents.
• The team works from NYC to Miami and averaged $4 billion in annual sales over the last four years.
• Eklund and Gomes reflected on the power of social media in real estate and the next hot luxury market.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with luxury real-estate agents Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes, who joined forces in 2005 and shot to fame on Bravo's reality show, "Million Dollar Listing: New York."

Twenty years later, they oversee a team of about 100 agents at Douglas Elliman with Eklund Gomes team CEO Julia Spillman. The team recorded $3.77 billion in sales across New York, California, Florida, and Texas in 2023, the most recent year data is available. Notable past clients include "Sex and the City" actress Sarah Jessica Parker and Hollywood power couple Chrissy Teigen and John Legend.

The conversation with Eklund and Gomes has been edited for length and clarity.

John Gomes: We really are the yin and the yang. There are things that he's really good at that I'm just really bad at, and vice versa. Sometimes I get in my own head and think too much; Fredrik is a doer.

Fredrik Eklund: I want everybody to be on my wavelength. When I get too intense, John can call me out.

Gomes: Early on, before we started, Fredrik would say, "Real estate can be a lonely business. Why don't we do it together?" We get in ruts, and if you don't have someone to help you out, well, then you become a has-been. There are many of them in this industry.

Gomes: I didn't even realize I was in a slump. A couple of months ago, Julia and Fredrik held basically, like, a crisis meeting. They're like, "John, we don't know what's going on. You don't seem like yourself." That heart-to-heart meant everything. It turned me around completely.

Eklund: The biggest fight we've ever had was when I felt like there wasn't enough in his calendar. In retaliation, he completely removed his calendar so I didn't have visibility anymore.

Gomes: I've never liked the idea of having to put every little thing on my calendar. I don't put everything in it, yet somehow I'm busy all day. We had a come-to-Jesus moment and Fredrik eventually said, "Okay, I'm going to release you from the calendar." We had to compromise.

A giant social media platform comes with great power — and great anxiety

Eklund: Social media grew organically over the last 15 years, and it has become really important to the real-estate business. I remember when we first hired an in-house graphic designer, which gave us an opportunity to look different from other teams on social media. That became a powerful moment — when you could post photos of a listing and 100 agents would spread it across the world at the same time.

Eklund: Social media gives me anxiety, to be honest with you. I'm not one of those people who love it. When you have millions of followers, there's pressure to post more and more. Looking into the future, I think it's about becoming more authentic — showing more vulnerability — and less bragging. I feel like that was also the case with reality TV back in the day.

Eklund: I don't want to sound negative, because social media does bring us great success. How else do you get 500,000 or 1 million views on something for free? Globally and instantly, too. But when you have a team of 100 agents and 25 developers, it's hard. How do you keep your social media authentic?

They stay on top of luxury tastes and predict Nashville is the next hot spot

Eklund: I'm from Sweden. I worked in Singapore and Tokyo. I've lived in London in addition to New York. I feel like the world is a smorgasbord, as we say in Swedish. There are so many sandwiches I want to taste, and I don't have enough time.

Gomes: During COVID, Florida went gangbusters and New York slowed down entirely. So if we were only in New York, we would have gone bust, but we were able to hedge. We boomed in Florida, and then that slowed down. It's always the hottest in one market, but that market is not always the hottest, right?

Eklund: Nashville is definitely a luxury market on the rise. I'm studying right now to get my license in Tennessee, as we're seeing a lot of activity down there.

Gomes: Typical buyers are coming from LA. They might have ties to the music industry.

Eklund: Or they're New Yorkers relocating to Tennessee for tax reasons. Not everybody leaving New York wants Miami. Nashville has a real energy around it.

Advice for young brokers: Don't expect success right away

Gomes: Twenty years ago, when we began this whole thing, I never in my wildest imagination thought we'd be here. I never imagined we'd have 100 people who work with us in five different states.

Gomes: All I did was just work every day. Fredrik and I motivated each other. We were hungry, one day at time. One day, we woke up to find we were 38 on the Real Deal's list of top brokers in NYC and thought we were the best thing since sliced bread. It made us more hungry — we wanted to be No. 1. (Editor's note: The Eklund-Gomes team reached No. 1 on Real Deal's most list of top residential brokers in New York City. It most recently ranked third, with $260 million in NYC sales in 2023.)

Gomes: Unfortunately, so many agents look at the leaders of the industry and they want that success right away. They want to do it fast. I think social media hurt young agents in many ways, because they think everything is supposed to happen super quickly. That was never our plan — the business evolved organically.

Eklund: Find a group of people that you have fun with. Find a group of people who you are allowed to criticize and who criticize you and who grow with you. It's very much like a family or a marriage.

Gomes: Don't think too much about the future. Don't lean into fears. Rather, allow it to propel you to success. It will take you very far.

• Jeffrey Allen won $10 million on MrBeast's 'Beast Games' competition.
• The show, hosted by MrBeast, featured thousands of contestants going head to head over 10 episodes.
• Allen said he started estate planning and exploring tax strategies immediately after winning.

Jeffrey Allen auditioned for MrBeast's "Beast Games" as a recently laid-off father of a child with a rare disease. He walked away $10 million richer. In an interview with the "The Iced Coffee Hour" podcast, the winner said it felt "awesome" to receive $10 million, but it was a mix of emotions.

The five-week-long competition show, hosted by YouTube star MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, featured over 2,000 contestants competing in the first round. Allen beat all of them to take home the cash prize in the end.

His immediate next steps included making a few business calls, doing a psych evaluation, and crunching the numbers on how much he'd have to pay in taxes. His first phone calls were to MrBeast's crew to request "some people" sign non-disclosure agreements, while his next call was to an estate planner. He didn't have to call his wife because she was there to witness him win.

"Did it bring me happiness? I'd say, at the time, it kind of brought me stress," Allen said.

The "Beast Games," which include a mix of physically and mentally challenging rounds, had a psychologist on set around the clock, he said. Eliminated contestants were required to have psych evaluations before leaving, and Allen said he also had to talk to a psychologist after winning.

"It was a great conversation," Allen said. However, they warned him of the potential roller coaster of emotions he might feel between the end of filming and the debut of "Beast Games" on Amazon's Prime Video. Allen said they were "spot on" about the excitement, depression, and confusing feelings that came with winning $10 million.

To avoid blowing through the money too quickly, Allen said he talked to investment advisors and some tax experts. MrBeast wired Allen the full prize amount, but how much will be collected by the government depends on how he spends the $10 million in 2025, Allen told the hosts.

It could be as much as over half the California resident's winnings. He's still figuring it out, but said he's eyeing charity donations, investments, and more to get ahead of next year's tax season.

Allen said the "ultimate gift" from winning the show was the peace of mind when he woke up to a wire transfer of $10 million, the largest cash prize in entertainment history, on February 13.

For MrBeast, the show was a big financial loss. In February, the host appeared on the "Diary of a CEO" podcast and said making the show was "not a good financial decision." He said he lost "tens of millions of dollars" in his efforts to make its debut season as good as possible.

• Social Security officials said in court filings that 10 new DOGE staffers are looking for waste.
• Most of them are looking through death records for proof of fraud.
• Elon Musk has said the program is rife with fraud, but the acting SSA head has rebutted those claims.

The Trump administration recently assigned 10 employees linked to the DOGE initiative to the Social Security Administration, where they will hunt for benefits fraud — including the macabre kind.

In affidavits filed Wednesday, two senior officials at the SSA said that at least seven employees either have access to the agency's Death Master File or have duties that "relate to improper payments and death data."

The DOGE staffers are from a hodgepodge of federal agencies, and at least four are engineers. As part of their duties, they've been given access to Americans' personal, non-anonymized data, the agency's chief information officer and a human resources executive said.

The officials said the employees, whose names weren't released, received privacy and ethics training.

The assignments are the latest twist in the White House's crusade against death-related skullduggery. The administration has suggested that "tens of millions" of dead people are claiming Social Security benefits, but the agency's inspector general has conducted audits that suggest it's a much smaller problem than that.

A 2021 audit found that the SSA paid out $298 million to 24,000 dead Americans through December 2019. And while billions of dollars are paid out in error more broadly every year, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the over $1 trillion in annual benefits the agency pays out.

Leland Dudek, the acting head of the SSA, has sought to clarify that information flagged by Musk and the White House isn't evidence of widespread fraud, even as he has defended DOGE's role.

ProPublica reported on Wednesday that Dudek talked candidly about DOGE during a recorded meeting with senior staff members and Social Security advocates.

A person at the meeting asked why he hadn't pushed back more aggressively on Trump's false claims of fraud, and Dudek seemed to suggest there was only so much he could do.

"So we published, for the record, what was actually the numbers there on our website. This is dealing with — have you ever worked with someone who's manic-depressive?" Dudek said on a recording, ProPublica reported.

Retirement policy experts have sounded the alarm for decades about Social Security's inability to provide benefits once its funds run out, which the agency estimated could happen in 2035. The SSA and outside experts have proposed raising taxes or reducing benefit payments to stave that off, but Congress hasn't acted on the proposals.

"Waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long," Harrison Fields, a White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement. "It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it. DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard earned tax dollars on."

The Social Security Administration press office and Katie Miller, an advisor to DOGE, didn't reply to emails seeking comment.

The affidavits filed Wednesday also said that two DOGE employees, one detailed from NASA and the other from the General Services Administration, have access to data on the SSA's workforce or are advising on things like "inefficiencies and areas for improvement."

The American Prospect and the Associated Press have reported that up to 50% of the agency's staff could face layoffs, but the agency has said those reports are false and it's only targeting a 12.3% reduction in head count.

Federal agencies have been ordered to submit workforce-downsizing plans to the Office of Personnel Management by March 13.

Over 99% of the money allocated to the Social Security Administration each year is paid to beneficiaries, with just 0.5% of spending going to "administrative expenses," the agency's website says.

• Most of the world's biggest billionaires have suffered wealth declines this year as stocks have fallen.
• Susquehanna's Jeff Yass bucks the trend with an unmatched $17.2 billion rise due to ByteDance's valuation.
• The poker fan who backed Trump's campaign is now the richest man in finance after Warren Buffett.

Many of the world's wealthiest people have taken heavy blows to their personal fortunes this year as recession fears continue to weigh on stocks. Yet one Wall Street titan has leaped up the rich list, growing his net worth more than anybody else.

Jeff Yass, the cofounder of Susquehanna International Group, has gained an unmatched $17.2 billion in wealth this year as of Wednesday's close, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In contrast, Elon Musk has had $113 billion wiped off his net worth as Tesla stock has tanked 39% this year. Oracle's Larry Ellison, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Dell Technologies' Michael Dell, Alphabet's Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, and Microsoft's Steve Ballmer have each had at least $12 billion of their wealth erased too.

Yass' gain this year has boosted his personal fortune from about $47 billion to $63 billion, ranking him 23rd on the wealth index. He's now the richest man in finance after Warren Buffett, the fourth-biggest gainer with a $13.4 billion rise this year.

The wealth surge for Yass, 66, stems from an early investment in ByteDance. He still owns about 7% of the Chinese social media company behind TikTok. ByteDance intends to repurchase employees' shares at a valuation of about $312 billion, up from $268 billion at the end of 2023, Bloomberg recently reported.

Moreover, ByteDance investors SoftBank, Fidelity, and T. Rowe Price have raised their internal valuation estimates to north of $400 billion. The upshot is Yass' reported stake may have jumped in value by roughly 50% in a little over a year.

Susquehanna is also worth almost $50 billion, and Yass owns upward of 51% of the firm, regulatory filings show. Yass didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Yass is a Republican mega-donor who supported President Donald Trump's campaign. He's benefited from the US leader's decision to extend the deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok and its US operations over national security concerns.

Trump said last year that banning TikTok would make young Americans "go crazy," and he didn't want Mark Zuckerberg's Meta to sweep in and take its place.

Art Dantchik, who cofounded Susquehanna with Yass and is also a ByteDance director, has seen his wealth jump by $6.5 billion to reach almost $17 billion this year, putting him in 122nd place on the rich list.

Yass, 66, is the son of two accountants and graduated as a math major, he says in a video on Susquehanna's YouTube channel. He moved to Las Vegas and spent about 18 months playing poker before becoming an independent options trader. After realizing how lucrative the sector was, he recruited his poker buddies from college to work at his own firm.

Games remain a core part of Susquehanna's culture, according to its website. Employees can take part in board game nights, complete puzzles dotted around the office, and compete in an annual poker tournament. Managers also use strategy games to teach lessons to new employees.

• St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17 every year.
• Irish leaders traditionally visit the White House and gift the president with shamrocks.
• Ireland's prime minister met with Donald Trump amid an escalating trade war.

The White House typically marks St. Patrick's Day with a visit from Irish officials and the exchange of a shamrock.

This year, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office amid an escalating trade war between the US and the European Union.

Photos show how St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated at the White House through the years.

As President John F. Kennedy was America's first Irish-Catholic president, St. Patrick's Day held special meaning for him.

In 1952, Ireland's ambassador to the US, John Hearne, sent President Harry Truman a box of shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day, and a tradition was born.

In 1961, Irish Ambassador Thomas J. Kiernan presented Kennedy with a basket of shamrocks and the Kennedy coat of arms with a family tree showing his Irish ancestry.

Irish Ambassador William Patrick Fay pinned a cluster of shamrocks to President Richard Nixon's lapel in 1969.

The Irish delegation also gifted him with a foot-high Waterford crystal vase engraved with a White House etching.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter received a Waterford crystal vase from Irish foreign minister Garret FitzGerald.

FitzGerald went on to serve as Taoiseach, the prime minister of Ireland, from 1981 to 1982 and from 1982 to 1987.

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan gave FitzGerald a hat embroidered with the words "Very Important Irishman."

Reagan also accepted the traditional shamrock gift.

Reagan was visited by a man dressed as a leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day in 1986.

The leprechaun presented Reagan with a personalized shamrock.

President George H.W. Bush received a bowl of shamrocks from deputy prime minister of Ireland Brian Lenihan in 1990.

The reception took place in the White House Rose Garden.

First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton wore a green dress for St. Patrick's Day in 1995.

President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton posed with Irish Prime Minister John Bruton and his wife, Finola Bruton, in the Grand Foyer of the White House.

President Bill Clinton received a bowl of shamrocks from Prime Minister John Bruton in 1996.

The two men also wore shamrock lapels.

In 2001, President George W. Bush accepted the traditional gift in the Roosevelt Room.

First lady Laura Bush wore a green jacket in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

President Bush, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi were serenaded by the United States Air Force Reserve Pipe Band in 2007.

The group walked down the steps of the House of Representatives on their way to the White House for the shamrock ceremony.

Michelle Obama wore a green Michael Kors dress to the White House St. Patrick's Day reception in 2011.

Obama stood onstage with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny's wife, Fionnuala Kenny.

In 2012, the White House fountain on the South Lawn was dyed green for the occasion.

President Obama also visited a bar and attended a St. Patrick's Day lunch at the Capitol.

First lady Melania Trump wore a green animal-print sheath dress designed by Brandon Maxwell to greet the prime minister of Ireland in 2018.

She paired the dress with Christian Louboutin snakeskin heels.

President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Leo Varadkar wore shamrock lapels on St. Patrick's Day in 2018.

When asked if he would visit Ireland, Trump said, "I would love to visit Ireland soon, I will come, I love it, I have property there, I will go."

President Joe Biden continued Obama's tradition of dyeing the fountain green for his first St. Patrick's Day in the White House.

St. Patrick's Day had special significance since Biden was the first Irish Catholic president since Kennedy. He is known for often quoting Irish poets in his speeches.

In 2021, Biden held a virtual meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, where he accepted the traditional shamrock from afar.

Like many of his predecessors, Biden wore a green tie and shamrock lapel.

Vice President Kamala Harris also held a virtual meeting with Martin.

The meeting went virtual again in 2022 after Martin tested positive for COVID-19.

The Taoiseach was supposed to meet with Biden in person in the Oval Office and attend the yearly St. Patrick's Day Friends of Ireland lunch hosted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Capitol Hill.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was able to meet with Biden in person on St. Patrick's Day in 2023.

Former One Direction member Niall Horan, who is Irish, performed at the Shamrock presentation.

During Trump's second non-consecutive term, Martin visited the White House amid a brewing trade war with the European Union.

During their Oval Office meeting, Trump said that Ireland "took our pharmaceutical companies" and that the European Union "was set up in order to take advantage of the United States." Martin countered Trump, saying that the trade relationship between the two countries is "a two-way street."

The day after Martin's visit, the EU announced tariffs of its own on more than $28 billion worth of US goods. In response, Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on European alcohol and called the European Union "one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States" in a Truth Social post.

• I raised five kids during the 90s, and obviously, the world has changed a lot since.
• My kids didn't have cellphones and we didn't worry about mass shootings in schools.
• Still, I think I have some advice to share now that my kids are raising teens.

Our oldest grandson will start middle school in the fall, and I've always assumed my advice on raising teens would be helpful to his parents, at least somewhat. After all, I raised five children; surely, my hard-earned wisdom would still be relevant.

But to say "times have changed" since my years parenting teenagers would be a huge understatement. The pace of change since the mid-'90s has been stunning.

Still, I think I have some knowledge to share.

So much has changed

When my kids were teenagers, it was pre-9/11, and Blockbuster was still a thing. Facebook wouldn't be invented for another nine years. To communicate online, my kids used AOL Instant Messenger — and on our family PC, with dial-up access. They had to make sure no one in the house was on the phone to chat with their friends.

Meeting their friends at the mall on Friday night was a big deal for my young teens. These get-togethers were dependent on parent drop-offs and pickups — and, without cellphones, we counted on everyone paying attention to the time.

The first mass school shooting wouldn't happen until Columbine in 1999. My teens' school building was unlocked all day, and I could run over to deliver a forgotten lunch or sports bag without elaborate front office check-ins.

Most kids could still look forward to attending college without crushing debt and being able to afford housing.

Life is different for my grandkids

Here's the world my grandkids are navigating in the mid-2020s as they enter their teen years, and it's a far different world than the one of their parents' adolescence.

They can't imagine air travel or attending a concert or other public event without going through security.

In 2024, there were 83 school shootings, and most school districts began active shooter drills in elementary schools. Even little ones know where to hide. Today's teens have lived through COVID, which affected every facet of their lives. My older grandsons were out of school for a year and a half. Their return to in-class education was a real challenge, and the effects of the pandemic will linger for years.

My grandkids have no memory of telephone landlines. While they are hoping to get flip phones in middle school, many of their friends already own smartphones. This makes it easy to arrange rides home but also to be victims of cyberbullying.

The costs of education and housing have skyrocketed in recent years. College tuition has increased 141% in the past 20 years, and housing costs have largely outpaced young adults' future job earnings (161% increase in home prices since 2005).

Here's my advice for raising teens, even in today's age

Keep the lines of communication open. My teens stopped spontaneously sharing their days, and I see that also starting to happen with my grandsons. There's a lot I don't understand, and admitting that to the kids is a good thing. They can be our guides; they're more likely to explain what's going on in their world if they know they won't be shut down with criticism. And when they get those phones, texting will likely become the main way they interact with us — as it is with their parents.

Don't overreact about clothing, hairstyles, tattoos and piercings. My teenagers experimented with piercings of various body parts, a rainbow of hair colors, and several tattoos. These are pretty benign forms of self-expression. The old arguments about their future careers don't resonate as they once did (in many fields, for example, being tattooed is common, and if it becomes an issue, the tattoos can always be covered up or removed later.)

It is vitally important to be honest about mental health, especially if there is a family history of mental illness. Having grown up in a generation where these issues were largely hidden, I decided to be completely open about my bipolar disorder. My children know what to watch for in themselves and to seek help when needed. My grandsons will know that, too. It is encouraging to see the stigma about therapy and medication lessening.

Volunteer with your teenagers. I served many meals to homeless folks and packed countless books for prisoners right alongside my teens. I look forward to continuing the tradition as my grandsons hit their teen years. Encourage them to find a cause that inspires them and to work for positive change. Action is a powerful antidote to hopelessness.

I am so happy to see my grandkids being raised really well. Big challenges are ahead, certainly, but I have faith that we (the kids, their parents, and yes, the grandparents) can overcome them together.