Gustav Söderström, Spotify's co-president, said executives are not allowed to say the word "offline" or "later" in weekly meetings.
Presley Ann/Getty Images for Spotify
A key rule at Spotify's weekly executive meeting: Do not say "We'll take that offline."
"You're not allowed to say the word 'offline' or 'later' — because that person is in the room," said the co-president.
Executives aren't allowed to bring direct reports, either.
Every Tuesday afternoon, Spotify's top brass — all of its vice presidents — pile into a room for a standing three-hour meeting with a key rule.
"You're not allowed to say the word 'offline' or 'later' — because that person is in the room," said Gustav Söderström, Spotify's co-president, on an episode of the "Invest Like The Best" podcast published Tuesday.
At other companies, when conversations get uncomfortable or someone hasn't delivered, people tend to punt the issue. But that's not Spotify's ethos, Söderström, who also leads tech and product, said.
Instead of circling back, people are expected to hash things out.
"It's real-time resolution — very simple in theory but incredibly powerful in practice. Most companies don't do it," he said.
Another rule: No bringing direct reports. Everyone in the room is expected to know the discussion's details.
"I'm trying to literally force the VPs to solve it themselves because I want them to be in the details. So, you're not allowed to bring anyone else in to explain your thing," Söderström said.
"You have to be on top of it enough to explain it to yourself," he added.
Without direct reports coming and going, the same group shows up each week. Over time, it becomes a tight-knit, high-trust team, Söderström said.
Spotify and Söderström did not respond to a request for comment.
Spotify's 'bets' process
The marathon Tuesday sessions are part of what Spotify calls its "bets" process — a structured way of deciding what the company builds next.
Every six months, each VP pitches a bet.
"It's very much like a startup process," Söderström said. "You don't get to use the fact that Gustav or Alex or Daniel may like you. This is like a VC meeting, you have to convince us."
After the pitches, the leaders "stack rank"the 30 to 50 pitches. Teams then allocate resources based on that list and execute what makes the cut over the next six months.
"It's a good mix of bottom-up innovation," Söderström said. Instead of relying on the company's top executives, Spotify brings in ideas from across its leadership and "all the layers below."
"You're going to be much better at delivering something if you were the one who said, 'I can do this,' than if your boss said you can do this," Söderström said.
The company's stock is up nearly 116% in the last year.
"Lets call it like it is: Tesla is going through a crisis and there is one person who can fix it....Musk," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in a memo in March.
"If you agree or disagree with DOGE it misses the point that by Musk spending 110% of his time with DOGE (and not as Tesla CEO) since President Trump got back into the White House this has essentially turned Tesla into a political symbol....and this is a bad thing," Ives added in his note.
2. Musk said he's 'done enough' political spending
"In terms of political spending, I'm going to do a lot less in the future," Musk told Husain. "I think I've done enough."
Musk said while he does not "currently see a reason" for political spending, he said he will start contributing again "if I see a reason to do political spending in the future."
Musk spent at least $277 million backing President Donald Trump and other GOP candidates in last year's elections, making him one of Trump's biggest supporters.
"Elon has done a fantastic job. Look, he's sitting here, and I don't care. I don't need Elon for anything other than I happen to like him," Trump said on April 10.
3. Musk said Tesla robotaxis will be geo-fenced and avoid intersections
"When we deploy the cars in Austin, we are actually going to deploy it not to the entire Austin region but only to the parts of Austin we consider to be the safest. So we will geo-fence it," Musk told Faber.
"It's not going to take intersections unless we are highly confident it's going to do well with that intersection. Or it will just take a route around that intersection," Musk added.
"There's no need because we have a large number of cars. We have millions of cars that will be able to operate autonomously," Musk told Faber.
"And I should say that it's a combination of a Tesla-owned fleet and also enabling Tesla owners to be able to add or subtract their car to the fleet, so that existing Tesla owners will be able to earn money by adding their car to the fleet for autonomous use," Musk added.
"Yeah listen, no one wants to compete against Tesla or Elon, if you can help it," Khosrowshahi said in an interview with technology and media analyst Ben Thompson for his newsletter, Stratechery.
Khosrowshahi told Thompson it would be beneficial for Tesla to offer rides on Uber.
"Then, that Tesla that is both on Uber, and by the way, they could be both on Uber and the network, that is going to create much, much more revenue," Khosrowshahi said.
"Ultimately, we're hoping that my charm and the economic argument gets Tesla to work with us as well. If they want a direct channel, no problem," Khosrowshahi said.
5. Musk said he's not ruling out a merger between Tesla and xAI
When asked if a merger between Tesla and xAI was on the cards, Musk said "anything is possible" though there are "no plans to do so."
"It's not out of the question, but obviously it would require Tesla shareholder support," Musk told Faber on Tuesday.
He said it's important to strike a balance between being in "founder mode" and being a manager.
Hacker said he adapted his leadership style as the company grew to 800 people.
Duolingo's cofounder has a three-part principle for striking the right balance between "founder mode" and having some hierarchy in the company.
"One of my principles is reduce, automate, delegate," said Severin Hacker, who is also the company's chief technology officer. He spoke on an episode of the "20VC" podcast published on Monday.
Hacker cofounded Duolingo in 2011 with Luis von Ahn, his doctoral supervisor at Carnegie Mellon University. The language-learning app has since gone public and employs about 800 people.
Speaking about "reduce," Hacker said that once a month or once a quarter, he thinks about what he needs to do — and what he can drop.
"If you just don't do it, is it the end of the world?" he said.
Once he decides that a task is necessary, he tries to gauge if it can be automated, such as using ChatGPT to write a report or answer a question.
Lastly, he said he delegates what cannot be automated.
"I've handed off most of the day-to-day engineering to our head of engineering," Hacker said. "I'm now a little bit out of the weeds."
He said he's focused on AI and its implications for Duolingo and deciding what the company should invest in.
"I probably spend 80% of my day thinking and acting on this AI question," the CTO said.
The company has doubled down on AI usage in the past year. It uses the technology to generate lessons, and last month, Duolingo's CEO von Ahn made headlines for outlining all the ways he plans to integrate AI at the company, including for hiring and evaluation decisions.
Duolingo's use of AI and growing user base have made it an investor darling. It hit over 46 million daily active users this year, and its stock is up 191% in the past year. Duolingo has expanded its offerings from about 40 languages to math, music, and, recently, chess.
Evolving leadership
Hacker said that his role has changed every year since he cofounded the company.
He added that it's important to find a balance between being in founder mode — Silicon Valley lingo for a leader who is very involved in the company day-to-day — and being a manager, who often delegates and prefers hierarchy.
"At a certain scale, you need to have managers or layers," Hacker said. "The oldest organization in the world, the Catholic Church, that is still around, it's very hierarchical and and I think there's probably some reason for it."
In an interview at Stanford University, the CEO said that he no longer gets into the fine details of every task, not because he doesn't want to, but because it's impossible to micromanage that many people.
"At this point, I also have learned that most of my job is culture carrier, mascot, and just making some of the kind of tough philosophical decisions," von Ahn said.
Jensen Huang criticized US chip export rules that have hurt Nvidia's China market share.
He said export controls have spurred Chinese tech development.
"Our competition in China is really intense," Huang said.
Tech titan Jensen Huang slammed US rules on chip exports to China, which have hit Nvidia's business hard.
In a session with reporters and industry analysts at the Computex Taipei tech conference in Taiwan on Wednesday, Huang said the chipmaker's market share in China has decreased to 50%, down from 95% four years ago.
Huang also said Chinese tech companies have benefited from the crackdown.
"The export control gave them the spirit, the energy, and the government support to accelerate their development. So I think, all in all, the export control is a failure," he said.
The US started taking steps to limit China's use of high-tech chips in 2022. Huang's comments on Wednesday mark an escalation from his previous messaging about the US's controls.
In February, Huang told CNBC, "It's hard to tell whether export control is effective."
In April, Nvidia said the Trump administration tightened rules that effectively banned the sale of the kinds of chips — H20 — Nvidia had created to comply with the Biden administration's export controls. The company said it expected a $5.5 billion charge in first-quarter earnings due to the new restrictions.
About 13% of Nvidia's revenue in the year ending in January came from China and Hong Kong, down from 17% the year before.
"China is where 50% of the world's AI researchers are, and we want AI researchers to build on Nvidia. DeepSeek was built on Nvidia. That's a gift to us, that's a gift to the world," Huang said.
On Wednesday, Huang repeated past compliments for DeepSeek, the AI startup that took global financial markets by surprise in January with a competitive new model, and for tech giant Huawei. He again called the latter, which builds its own chips, "formidable."
"Our competition in China is really intense," Huang said. The CEO also said the US has no monopoly on AI development.
"Power is quite cost-effective in China, and there's plenty of land. So the ban on H20 is not effective," he said.
Huang added that there was no way to further "degrade" the company's current graphics processing unit architecture such that buyers would want it.
Bouts of broad market and tech sell-offs and angst about export controls, among other issues, have depressed investor darling Nvidia's stock recently. The company's shares are up nearly 41% in the past year but flat this year to date.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that the Golden Dome would take three years to complete and cost $175 billion, though the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that its space-based interceptors alone could take between $161 billion and $542 billion to operate over two decades.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Trump has officially unveiled his plan for the Golden Dome missile defense system.
He told reporters on Tuesday that it would likely cost $175 billion and take three years to complete.
Much of the cost is expected to come from an ambitious constellation of space-based interceptors.
President Donald Trump officially announced his plans on Tuesday for a Golden Dome system that focuses on countering potential missile threats from China and Russia.
The plan is ambitious, with the system meant to officially put American anti-missile weapons in space for the first time.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump estimated that the Golden Dome would be completed within three years and cost about $175 billion.
He's requested an initial $25 billion "to help construction get underway" through a tax break bill that Congress is deliberating.
"That's the initial sort of down, deposit," Trump said of the first tranche. "And we have, probably, you're talking about $175 billion total cost when this is completed."
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated in early May that it could cost between $161 billion and $542 billion to launch and operate a full constellation of space-based interceptors — the core aspect of the Golden Dome — for 20 years.
These satellite weapons would be designed to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles from orbit, and the congressional cost projection varies so much because it depends on how many interceptors would be purchased.
That answer would largely rely on how many interceptors the US thinks it needs to counter China and Russia, which Trump outlined in his January executive order as one of the Golden Dome's priorities.
"This design for the Golden Dome will integrate with our existing defense capabilities and should be fully operational before the end of my term," Trump told reporters. "So we'll have it done in about three years."
Overall, the Golden Dome is envisioned as a multi-layered shield, meaning it would mix both space and ground capabilities. Trump initially called it an Iron Dome, inspired by Israel's missile defense, but renamed it in February.
The system would be built to detect enemy strikes before they launch and destroy the missile before it can get in the air. If that fails, it would try to down the missile in mid- or early flight.
A final stopgap would be aimed at intercepting the missile just before it reached its target.
"It will be capable of intercepting missiles launched from the other side of the world," Trump said. "Even if they're launched from space."
Countering China and Russia from space
The president has repeatedly emphasized space warfare as a centerpiece for the Golden Dome. To that end, he also announced that Gen. Michael Guetlein, the Space Force's vice chief of space operations, would lead the project.
Russia was reported last year to be building a nuclear space-based weapon, though it was unclear if this meant the asset was nuclear-armed or nuclear-powered. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, of which Russia is a signatory, prohibits nuclear weapons or "weapons of mass destruction" from being put into space.
Guetlein also mentioned hypersonic missiles, which China has been developing in recent years. In 2021, Beijing startled the US with a successful test of a nuclear-capable missile that uses a hypersonic glide vehicle to travel faster than five times the speed of sound and potentially strike anywhere on the planet.
The missile also demonstrated an ability to exit and drop back into Earth's atmosphere during flight, also known as fractional orbital bombardment. This means that it can be fired from an unexpected direction and be even harder to detect or intercept.
The Golden Dome's focus on countering China and Russia marks a shift from the US's past stated goal for missile defense, which traditionally has been to prevent strikes from rogue states such as North Korea.
Washington's usual strategy for deterring nuclear strikes from Beijing and Moscow, which are designated as peer or near-peer rivals, was instead to rely on American nuclear weapons as a counterthreat.
The Congressional Budget Office has said that if the Golden Dome were to deal with Chinese and Russian missile threats, it would need a much larger constellation of advanced space-based interceptors, thereby driving up the cost.
Speaking on Tuesday, Trump said he was confident he could get Congress to approve the needed money.
"You know, some funding is tough and some is easy," he said. "When we say we're going to save everyone's lives in a crazy world, it seems to be very easy to get."
Meanwhile, China and Russia have jointly condemned the Golden Dome as an "unconstrained, global and multi-tier missile defense system," saying on May 8 that it had a "deeply destabilizing character."
In an interview with Vogue published on Tuesday, the Rhode Skin founder spoke about her childbirth and postpartum experiences. In August, she welcomed her son, Jack Blues, with her husband, Justin Bieber.
Bieber told Vogue that she struggled with postpartum body dysmorphia after giving birth.
"When people talk about 'bouncing back' — back where, because my hips are wider, my boobs are actually bigger than they were before. They did not go back. And great, I'll take it, but it's not the same body that it was before," Bieber said.
She added that she fell into the cycle of looking up mean comments online about her appearance, only to end up feeling even worse about herself.
It took her some time to accept that her body wouldn't look how it used to, she said.
"You're not the same person that you were before. You change head to toe. And I think there was a minute where I kept really hyper-fixating on getting back to what I was. And then I had to go through that acceptance of, I'm not going back. So it's really about how do I want to move forward? Who do I want to be?" Bieber said.
She said people speculating online that she was going through a divorce made it even worse. "I cannot even begin to explain it. It's a crazy life to live," she said.
"Being postpartum is the most sensitive time I've ever gone through in my life, and learning a new version of myself is very difficult," Bieber said.
Postpartum typically refers to the first six to eight weeks after giving birth. During that time, a lot changes in a woman's body. New moms might deal with things like breast engorgement or vaginal bleeding, and some also experience postpartum depression or postpartum anxiety.
Pop Mart has temporarily paused Labubu sales in the UK.
LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images
UK fans of Labubu won't be able to snag the toy in stores for a bit.
The toy's producer, Pop Mart, said it would temporarily pause physical Labubu sales in the UK.
It said this was to "ensure the safety" of people after long lines formed outside UK Pop Mart stores.
Labubu fans in the UK have gone so wild for the toy, its seller has temporarily paused in-store sales.
Pop Mart, the Chinese toymaker behind the viral $85 doll that's taking the world by storm, announced the pause in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
"Due to the increasing demand for our beloved Labubus, we've seen a significant rise in customer turnout on restock days — with long queues forming outside our stores and Roboshops," the toymaker said.
Pop Mart sells products in 16 locations across the UK, including the vending machine-style Roboshops.
"To ensure the safety and comfort of everyone, we will temporarily pause all in-store and roboshop sales of THE MONSTERS plush toys until further notice," Pop Mart added.
Pop Mart said online drops of the toy would continue as usual.
At least a dozen videos on TikTok of Pop Mart's stores in the UK show snaking lines forming at its entrances ahead of product drops.
A video of the Pop Mart in Bullring, a shopping mall in Birmingham, showed a line stretching around the building. Barricades were set up at the start of the line to organize the queue.
This comes as Labubu fever spreads from Asia to the West, with fans queuing for hours to get their hands on the furry plushie with serrated teeth.
Labubus, which come in various designs, are sold in blind boxes, or toys that are not labeled.Customers do not know which design they are getting upon purchase.
Pop Mart staff in Singapore told BI in November that stores are restocked with a few hundred figurines twice a week, but they sell out in minutes.
Labubu and The Monsters toy line was a major cash cow for Pop Mart in 2024. According to the company's annual report, its sales totaled 3.04 billion yuan, or about $426 million, which was 23% of Pop Mart's total revenue.
Representatives for Pop Mart did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Short-term rentals at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri cost nearly twice as much in the summer, a Bankrate study found.
Perry Spring/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Short-term rental prices can surge by over 100% at some vacation hotspots, a Bankrate study found.
The study named 20 places with the biggest rental prices surges, like Augusta, Georgia, and Vail.
Travelers should book early and be flexible to avoid the hikes, a Bankrate data analyst said.
If you're heading to a vacation hotspot this summer, you could be paying a markup of more than 100% for a stay at a short-term rental.
A new study from Bankrate identified 20 vacation hotspots where short-term rental prices surge during their busy season — 10 in the fall and winter and 10 in the spring and summer.
The study used rental data compiled by AirDNA, a vacation rental analytics firm, to determine where rental prices hiked the most in 2024. It also focused on properties that were single-family homes with at least two bedrooms.
Augusta, Georgia, experienced the highest peak season markup, with the average daily rate for short-term rentals spiking 178% in the spring, due to the Masters Tournament. A family previously told Business Insider that renting their home out for Master's week paid their mortgage for the year.
Other locations that spiked in the spring and summer included water destinations, like Long Island, New York, and Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, as well as Bozeman, Montana, which is near Yellowstone National Park. Bozeman also was among the highest markups in the winter due to its skiing.
Places that saw the biggest markups in fall and winter included sport and skiing destinations such as Vail, Avon, and Steamboat Springs in Colorado, as well as Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. The biggest fall or winter markup was 125% in Oxford, Mississippi, which attracts thousands every fall to watch Ole Miss football.
Alex Gailey, a data analyst at Bankrate, told BI the big swings in rental prices at these popular destinations was "eye-popping." She also noted many Americans are saying they still plan to travel this year but that they are trying to be more budget-conscious.
"Flexibility is one of the best ways you can save on travel," Gailey said.
For travelers who do want to visit these hotspots in the busy season, Gailey said it's best to plan ahead of time and book early. Travelers who have flexibility in their travel dates should also use it, as short-term rentals tend to be a lot cheaper during the week than on the weekends.
She also said if you can avoid a busy season visit, you're likely to find better rates visiting these places in the shoulder seasons.
Another option is to stay in an adjacent city that is close by but does not experience the same level of price hike. For instance, staying in Salt Lake City can be a lot more budget-friendly than Park City, where short-term rentals can cost over 103% more on average in the fall or winter season, according to Bankrate.
Gailey also said taking advantage of credit card points and other travel rewards can be a good way to make travel more budget-friendly despite broader economic uncertainty.
Here's the full lists of locations and the average peak season markup for short-term rentals, according to the Bankrate study.
Spring and summer
Short-term rental prices in Augusta, Georgia, surge during Master's week.
Kruck20/Getty Images
1. Augusta, Georgia Maximum average daily rate: $541 Minimum average daily rate: $194 Peak season markup: 178%
2. Long Island, New York Maximum average daily rate: $785 Minimum average daily rate: $362 Peak season markup: 117%
3. Albany/Saratoga Springs, New York Maximum average daily rate: $439 Minimum average daily rate: $224 Peak season markup: 96%
4. Bozeman/Yellowstone National Park Maximum average daily rate: $611 Minimum average daily rate: $313 Peak season markup: 95%
5. Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri Maximum average daily rate: $407 Minimum average daily rate: $212 Peak season markup: 92%
6. Lake Norman, North Carolina Maximum average daily rate: $692 Minimum average daily rate: $364 Peak season markup: 90%
7. Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia Maximum average daily rate: $435 Minimum average daily rate: $231 Peak season markup: 88%
8. Idaho Falls/Rexburg, Idaho Maximum average daily rate: $377 Minimum average daily rate: $201 Peak season markup: 87%
9. Providence, Rhode Island Maximum average daily rate: $388 Minimum average daily rate: $211 Peak season markup: 84%
10. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Maximum average daily rate: $349 Minimum average daily rate: $195 Peak season markup: 79%
Fall and winter
Vail, Colorado, can see short-term rental prices spike by 123% in the winter, the Bankrate study found.
Kruck20/Getty Images
1. Oxford, Mississippi Maximum average daily rate: $635 Minimum average daily rate: $283 Peak season markup: 125%
2. Vail/Avon, Colorado Maximum average daily rate: $946 Minimum average daily rate: $424 Peak season markup: 123%
3. Green Bay, Wisconsin Maximum average daily rate: $457 Minimum average daily rate: $215 Peak season markup: 113%
4. Steamboat Springs, Colorado Maximum average daily rate: $694 Minimum average daily rate: $335 Peak season markup: 107%
5. Ann Arbor, Michigan Maximum average daily rate: $414 Minimum average daily rate: $201 Peak season markup: 105%
6. Park City, Utah Maximum average daily rate: $888 Minimum average daily rate: $436 Peak season markup: 103%
7. Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado Maximum average daily rate: $1,082 Minimum average daily rate: $535 Peak season markup: 102%
8. State College, Pennsylvania Maximum average daily rate: $642 Minimum average daily rate: $315 Peak season markup: 98%
9. Bozeman/Yellowstone National Park, Montana Maximum average daily rate: $611 Minimum average daily rate: $313 Peak season markup: 95%
10. Mammoth Lakes, California Maximum average daily rate: $554 Minimum average daily rate: $303 Peak season markup: 83%
In a media blitz, Elon Musk confirms Tesla's robotaxi rollout in June with a "prudent" approach.
Hamad I Mohammed/REUTERS
In a media blitz, Elon Musk said Tesla would roll out robotaxis in June using a "prudent" approach.
Musk aims for rapid Optimus robot production, predicting one million units a year by 2030.
Investor response remains lukewarm, and Musk has been wrong about his ambitious timelines before.
Elon Musk went on a media blitz to share plans on new robotics benchmarks and reiterate his commitment to Tesla.
The Tesla CEO spoke briefly with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the Microsoft Build conference on Monday, made a remote appearance at Bloomberg's Qatar Economic Forum, and appeared on CNBC twice on Tuesday.
At the Qatar Economic Forum, Musk said he is committed to leading Tesla for at least five more years, and said robotaxis will be rolled out in June as previously planned.
"Yes, no doubt about that at all," Musk said during a video call when asked about his leadership.
Tesla shares remained mostly unchanged after markets closed Tuesday, but they rebounded in May compared to previous months after Musk said he would scale back his involvement with DOGE on April 22. However, Tesla shares are still down in 2025 thus far, following revenue and income declines in Q1.
Representatives for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Here are the main takeaways on robotics from Musk's interviews.
"I think it's prudent for us to start with a small number, confirm that things are going well, and then scale it up proportionate to how well we see it's doing," Musk told CNBC host David Faber.
Musk said they are now testing robotaxis "driving 24/7 with drivers in the cars" with "essentially no interventions," but he prefers caution because it would be "the first introduction of unsupervised full self-driving."
"We want to deliberately take it slow," Musk added. "We could start with 1,000 or 10,000 on day one, but I don't think that would be prudent. So we will start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40."
Musk said that the goal would be to have 1,000 robotaxis within a few months in Austin, before expanding the operation to other cities like Los Angeles and San Antonio.
Though Musk did not directly address BI's reporting that the FDS made a critical error, he said Tesla's robotaxis will be geo-fenced to select areas of Austin. Alphabet's Waymo also limits its autonomous cars to specific zones.
"It's not going to take intersections unless we are highly confident," Musk told Faber. "Or it will just take a route around that intersection."
The future of Optimus
Musk is expecting to scale up the use of humanoid robots quickly.
"We expect to have thousands of Optimus robots working in Tesla factories by the end of this year, beginning this fall," Musk told Faber on CNBC, "And we expect to scale Optimus up faster than any product, I think, in history, to get to millions of units per year as soon as possible."
"I think we feel confident in getting to one million units per year in less than five years, maybe four years. So by 2030, I feel confident in predicting one million Optimus units per year — it might be 2029," Musk added.
Musk told Faber that Optimus will also be the "biggest product ever" with "insatiable" demand because "everyone" would want one.
"It's going to take a lot of compute resources and it'll take time," said Musk when asked what it would take to train a robot, "I think there's certain threshold breakthroughs that we thinkwe can achieve."
In a short conversation with Microsoft CEO Nadella, Musk also reiterated that all kinds of robotics, including robotaxis and the humanoid robot Optimus, need to be "grounded in reality."
"As you mentioned with the car, it needs to drive safely and correctly. The humanoid robot Optimus needs to perform the task that it's being asked to perform," Musk told Nadella.
The market reacts
Musk's media blitz generated a lukewarm response from investors. Tesla shares rose around 0.5% at market closing on Tuesday compared to the day before, but stocks began to dip in the after-hours.
Musk has teased his plan to bring humanoid robots to market for years. In 2021, a dancing actor in a body suit gave us our first look at Optimus, also known as Tesla Bot. By 2022, a rough prototype was up and walking at the company's Artificial Intelligence Day event.
In October 2024, Business Insider's Hasan Chowdhury reported that Tesla's robotics technology has advanced since its early days. Chowdhury reported that Optimus prototypes at last year's Tesla's robotaxi day played rock-paper-scissors with the audience, poured drinks, and danced, though some attendees thought the bots were controlled by human operators.
As far as the timeline goes, Musk said in a post on X last July that Tesla would have "genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production for Tesla internal use next year," and larger-scale production enabling sales to other companies by 2026. Now, midway through 2025, large-scale production has not yet been announced, but in the company's Q1 2025 Update letter, Tesla said it is "on track" for its builds of Optimus on its Fremont pilot production line in 2025, "with wider deployment of bots doing useful work across our factories."
Musk has been wrong about timelines before. In 2018, he acknowledged that he tends to be overly optimistic about when his creations will come to market. In some instances, consumers are still waiting for his promises to come to fruition.
In 2019, Musk said Tesla would deploy over one million robotaxis by the end of 2020. While that hasn't yet materialized, the planned debut of its robotaxi service in Austin later this year gets Tesla a small step closer to that goal.
Still, if Tesla's robotics division manages to deliver on all it has promised with Optimus and its other applications, it'd be a major boon for the company — and its investors. Tesla bull and Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives has predicted that robotaxis will be a game changer for Tesla, and estimated that it could become a $2 trillion company within the next two years. Ives told CNBC on Tuesday that he believes 90% of Tesla's future value lies in its autonomous vehicle software and robotics division.
Google cofounder Sergey Brin played a key role in the development of Google's Gemini AI model.
Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images
Google cofounder Sergey Brin just made a surprise appearance at the company's I/O conference.
Brin said he's back at Google "pretty much every day now," where he's been developing AI products.
Brin also spoke about why Google Glass failed, though he's bullish about Google's new XR glasses.
Google cofounder Sergey Brin made a surprise appearance onstage at the company's flagship I/O developer conference Tuesday, where he explained why he's returned to the tech giant and what he's learned from the failure of Google Glass over a decade ago.
It's the latest sign that Google is going hardcore on AI. Brin has been back at Google to help develop its AI products since 2023 as the search giant races against OpenAI's ChatGPT, and he shared about what he's been up to since returning to the trenches.
Brin wasn't expected to speak at the talk, which Google billed solely as an interview of its DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis. He joked, "I torture people like Demis, who is pretty amazing. He tolerated me crashing this fireside."
In the chat with Hassabis, Brin said he comes into Google "pretty much every day now" to chip in on training the latest models from Gemini. It's something that naturally interests him, the famously technical co-founder said.
"I tend to be pretty deep in the technical details," Brin said. "And that's a luxury I really enjoy, fortunately, because guys like Demis are minding the shop. And that's just where my scientific interest is."
Since returning to Google, Brin also attended last year's I/O, where he fielded reporters' questions about AI.
Learning from Google Glass
At the 2012 Google I/O conference, Brin famously demoed a video in which he wore Google Glass while skydiving to show off the tech giant's previous foray into wearables. This year, he also addressed Google Glass, which it stopped selling a decade ago.
At the Tuesday fireside, Brin said Google Glass's failure stemmed partly from his lack of knowledge about manufacturing and supply chains.
"I just didn't know anything about consumer electronic supply chains, really, and how hard it would be to build that and have it at a reasonable price point," he said.
Brin is far more bullish on Google's latest wearables venture: "XR," or Extended Reality, glasses. At the fireside chat, he said he thinks AI is far more capable now for such a product.
Business Insider was able to snap a picture of the normally reclusive billionaire trying the XR glasses on before the fireside chat, too:
Elon Musk said he won't rule out merging his AI startup with Tesla.
Dado Ruvic/REUTERS
Elon Musk said it's "not out of the question" to merge his AI startup with Tesla if shareholders approve.
xAI, which Musk founded in 2023, acquired X in March in an all-stock purchase.
Tesla shares rose 0.5% but dipped in after-hours Tuesday, remaining around 10% down since January 2.
Elon Musk said on Tuesday that he isn't ruling out merging his AI startup with Tesla.
"Well, I guess anything is possible," Musk told CNBC show host David Faber in a two-part interview, when asked whether Musk would ever consider merging xAI into Tesla as a way to gain more control over the EV company.
"There are no plans to do so," Musk said. "It's not out of the question, but obviously it would require Tesla shareholder support."
Musk launched xAI as a startup in 2023. The company acquired X, his social platform formerly known as Twitter, in an all-stock transaction valuing xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion in March. The AI chatbot Grok was also introduced to X and trained in part on the social media platform's data.
Elon Musk said in the Tuesday interview that Tesla and xAI will continue sourcing AI chips from Nvidia and AMD. He told Faber that xAI has deployed 200,000 GPUs at its Colossus facility in Memphis and plans a 1 million-GPU site nearby, but he did not disclose any specific chip orders.
Based on documents previously viewed by Business Insider, xAI is also spending at least $400 million on building a supercomputer in Memphis, and may encounter difficulties because the city's power grid might not yet be capable of powering a project of that magnitude.
Following the CNBC appearance, Tesla shares saw a 0.5% boost at market closing time compared to the day before, but dipped slightly in after-hours trading.
Though Tesla stocks have been on the rise in May since Musk said he would leave DOGE, the EV company's shares are still at around 10% down compared to where it was on January 2 this year amid struggling Q1 sales and declining confidence in Musk's priorities.
Google announced a partnership with Warby Parker for smart glasses, challenging Meta's Ray-Ban line.
The collaboration includes an investment of up to $150 million, with up to $75 million toward development.
Google's Android XR platform includes see-through headsets and glasses that support AR and AI.
Google is taking aim at Meta's Ray-Ban glasses with a version of its own AI eyewear line, styled by Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.
"We want you to be able to wear glasses that match your personal taste," Google's Android XR lead Shahram Izadi said at Google I/O.
The glasses are part of Google's Android XR platform and are a partnership with Samsung, the company announced at its Google I/O developer conference on Tuesday. The platform includes see-through headsets, as well as glasses that support augmented reality and AI.
Google and Warby Parker plan to launch a series of products, with the first line of smart glasses with multimodal AI set to launch after 2025, an announcement from the lifestyle vision brand said. Android XR will also include Project Moohan, the first Android XR headset device, which will come out later this year.
Google has committed up to $150 million to the partnership, with as much as $75 million going toward product development and commercialization costs, and up to $75 million in equity, the announcement said. Warby Parker's stock is up nearly 15% following the news about the collaboration.
At the event, Izadi said the glasses prototypes "are already being used by trusted testers." The Google VP didn't share further details on availability or pricing. While Gentle Monster defines itself as a luxury eyewear brand, Warby Parker is better known for offering stylish but affordable options.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg projected in January that 2025 could be a "defining year" for the brand's Ray-Ban smart glasses, even if it's not a breakthrough.
Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, which don't yet include AR capabilities, have become one of the company's few mainstream hardware hits. They allow users to take photos, livestream, and access Meta AI via voice.
During the company's latest earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said sales of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses had "tripled" over the past year. Meta's Ray Bans cost between $300 and $500.
Later this year, Meta is expected to release a new version of the Ray-Bans with a built-in display, its first step toward augmented reality in a mass-market product. According to Bloomberg, the upcoming model could cost between $1,000 and $1,400.
Meanwhile, Meta is developing a separate, more ambitious line of AR glasses, internally codenamed "Artemis," which it aims to release by 2027. These are distinct from both the Ray-Bans and "Orion," an early prototype Meta unveiled last year as a preview of its AR ambitions.
Google is taking aim at Orion with its own "Project Aura" glasses, part of its broader Android XR platform. Google's Aura glasses include a built-in camera, microphone, speakers, and in-lens display, and they are already being tested.
Google has been exploring the concept of smart glasses for over a decade, and it's had some flops along the way — like Google Glass, which was discontinued in 2023, after launching in 2013. Last year at I/O, Google teased Project Astra, a vision of what Google Assistant could be like if it could hear and see around you. Google CEO Sundar Pichai hinted that Google was "working on prototypes" for the AI assistant that could be glasses.
Google did a live demo of the Project Aura glasses on Tuesday at I/O, showing how users could message friends, make appointments, ask for directions, and take photos. It also demoed a live language translation, which appeared a bit glitchy in the onstage demonstration, but still offered an impressive first look at what the tech could offer.
Google I/O also included a series of other product rollouts and AI updates, including a conversation version of Search called AI Mode, as well as gen-AI media models like Veo 3, and Imagen 4.
Elon Musk said Tesla's robotaxis will be limited to certain areas of Austin during its launch next month.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Tesla is planning to debut its robotaxi service next month in Austin.
Business Insider tested Tesla's FSD Supervised software ahead of the launch.
Tesla's FSD ran a red light at a complex intersection in San Francisco.
Elon Musk said Tesla's robotaxis will be limited to certain parts of Austin and avoid intersections the company deems unsafe after the CEO was asked on TV about Business Insider's reporting on a critical error made by Tesla's Full Self-Driving Supervised software.
In a May 17 story, two BI reporters took rides in a Waymo and a 2024 Tesla Model 3 equipped with the latest FSD software to compare both companies' autonomous driving technologies. Toward the end of the test, Tesla's FSD ran a red light at a complex intersection in San Francisco.
During a discussion about Tesla's robotaxi launch, which is set for June in Austin, CNBC's David Faber asked Musk about BI's report.
"I guess my question is, is that a concern at all for you in terms of it encountering things that are still sort of a crucial test, and perhaps it fails," Faber said.
Musk said BI's test "made no sense" because it compared Tesla's FSD Supervised, which he said assumes a driver is behind the wheel and ready to take over, rather than FSD Unsupervised.
BI noted in the story that the test compared a piece of Tesla technology that could be different from the software that will power the company's robotaxis. BI reported one of the test's goals was to see how far FSD had come since its beta rollout in 2020.
Musk and a Tesla spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. A Tesla spokesperson also didn't respond to a request for comment to BI's previous story about the driving test on May 17.
In the CNBC interview, Musk didn't address specific details in BI's reporting. However, he said Tesla's robotaxis will be geo-fenced to certain parts of Austin.
Alphabet's Waymo also uses geo-fencing to limit its autonomous cars to certain parts of a given city, including, for the moment, highways.
"When we deploy the cars in Austin, we are actually going to deploy it not to the entire Austin region but only to the parts of Austin we consider to be the safest," Musk said on CNBC. "So we will geo-fence it."
He added: "It's not going to take intersections unless we are highly confident it's going to do well with that intersection. Or it will just take a route around that intersection."
BI's test showed that Waymo appeared to avoid the same intersection where Tesla FSD made the error. Instead, Waymo took BI through a route that was farther and less time-efficient, based on estimated time arrivals provided by Google Maps.
Elon Musk has dismissed a hypothetical Tesla-Uber deal, saying there's "no need" to buy the rideshare app.
VCG/Getty
Elon Musk on Tuesday told CNBC there's "no need" for Tesla to buy Uber.
Tesla owners could one day be able to earn money by lending their car to Tesla's autonomous fleet, he said.
Tesla will debut its invitation-only robotaxi service in Austin next month, BI previously reported.
Elon Musk on Tuesday dismissed a hypothetical Tesla-Uber deal, saying there's "no need" for Tesla to buy the ubiquitous rideshare app.
Musk told CNBC that he envisions a world where, instead of calling an Uber, you can call an autonomous Tesla to get you to your destination without a dedicated driver.
"We have millions of cars that will be able to operate autonomously," Musk told CNBC's David Faber. "And I should say that it's a combination of a Tesla-owned fleet and also enabling Tesla owners to be able to add or subtract their car to the fleet, so that existing Tesla owners will be able to earn money by adding their car to the fleet for autonomous use."
Musk's proposed business model would allow Tesla drivers to rent out their cars for autonomous ride-hailing, "just like" one can rent out a spare bedroom through Airbnb.
Representatives for Tesla and Uber did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
After years of delays, Tesla plans to debut its much-anticipated robotaxi service in Austin next month, Business Insider previously reported. Musk confirmed the plans in the CNBC interview Tuesday.
"We'll start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40," he said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday. "It will probably be at 1,000 within a few months."
Tesla has not yet unveiled the commercial version of its Full Self-Driving software, called FSD Unsupervised. This software will be used in its robotaxi fleet and does not require a driver behind the wheel like its personal vehicles.
When asked by Faber whether Tesla needed to make any improvements or changes to its technology or fleet in order to prepare to launch a large-scale robotaxi service, Musk demurred.
"I don't think we're missing anything," Musk said. "Tesla has all the ingredients necessary to offer a vast self-driving fleet."
Although Uber and Lyft have long bowed out of developing autonomous cars in-house, both companies plan to offer robotaxis on their platforms through partnerships with other self-driving-focused companies.
Uber, for example, already offers Alphabet's Waymo on its app in Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta.
Lyft said it has partnered with companies like May Mobility, Mobileye, and Japan's Marubeni to begin offering autonomous vehicles as soon as summer of 2025.
Kid Cudi will soon be called to testify in Sean "Diddy" Combs' criminal trial.
Theo Wargo/WireImage/Getty
Kid Cudi is soon expected to testify in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex-trafficking trial.
The rapper may take the witness stand as soon as Wednesday afternoon, prosecutors say.
Kid Cudi's 2011 affair with R&B singer Cassie Ventura provoked violent rages from Combs, prosecutors allege.
Rapper Kid Cudi is expected to testify as a government witness in Sean "Diddy" Combs' criminal sex-trafficking trial this week.
Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, may take the witness stand as soon as Wednesday in the Manhattan federal courtroom where the trial is underway.
The "Pursuit of Happiness" rapper briefly dated R&B singer Cassie Ventura, the prosecution's star witness who testified for more than 20 hours last week in the hip-hop mogul's trial.
While on the stand, Ventura testified that the 2011 relationship sent Combs into a violent rage.
She told the eight-man, four-woman jury that Combs threatened to blow up Kid Cudi's car when they were out of the country.
Prosecutors allege that the threat was not an empty one.
The rival's convertible was allegedly firebombed by Combs' underlings using a Molotov cocktail — an arson that Kid Cudi will likely be asked about on the stand.
"Sean wanted Scott's friends to be there to see the car get blown up in the driveway," Ventura testified.
Ventura's 2023 now-settled lawsuit against Combs first suggested that Combs was responsible for the 2012 firebombing.
In addition to the sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges against Combs, prosecutors have accused him and his associates of several other crimes, including arson.
Prosecutors have alleged in court papers that Combs ordered his underlings to torch a vehicle "by slicing open the car's convertible top and dropping a Molotov cocktail inside the interior."
Elon Musk said there could be 1,000 Tesla robotaxis in Austin in mere months.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Elon Musk said there could be 1,000 Tesla robotaxis in Austin in just a few months.
Musk confirmed on Tuesday that he expects the initial Austin fleet to hit the road in June.
He also said the robotaxis will be geo-fenced to certain areas after being asked about a BI article.
Tesla robotaxis are on their way to Austin in June, the company's CEO, Elon Musk, confirmed — and there could be 1,000 of the vehicles on the streets within just a few months.
"We'll start with probably 10 for a week, then increase it to 20, 30, 40," he said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday. "It will probably be at 1,000 within a few months." He's previously said the ramp-up will be quick.
After the Austin rollout, Musk said he plans to expand the robotaxis to other cities, like San Francisco. By the end of 2026, Musk predicted there could be more than 1 million self-driving Teslas in the US.
In 2019, Musk said Tesla could have more than one million robotaxis by year's end, but that deadline came and went with Musk admitting that punctuality is not his "strong suit."
Texas and California, where autonomous Waymo cars are already on the road, have different regulations, and Tesla doesn't have full approval to launch its robotaxis in the Golden State.
"The approval process is very haphazard and sort of state-by-state, and sometimes city-by-city," Musk said. He said on Tuesday that it's crucial to set up nationwide regulations for self-driving cars.
The company also said many teleoperators will be available to help out. In robotaxi-speak, teleoperators typically mean that a remote employee can take over some level of control, usually when the autonomous driver gets stuck. Competitors Waymo and Zoox handle those types of situations slightly differently. It's not clear exactly how much control teleoperators will have during the Austin robotaxi launch.
Representatives from Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Musk said during the interview that Tesla's robotaxis will be geo-fenced to specific parts of the Austin region after CNBC's David Faber pushed the CEO to respond to the outcome of Business Insider's test between Waymo and Tesla's Full Self-Driving Supervised software.
BI compared the companies' two self-driving technologies, and the Tesla ran a red light at a complex intersection in San Francisco.
Musk said BI's test "made no sense" but added that Tesla's robotaxis will avoid certain areas of Austin if the company deems it unsafe.
"We will geo-fence it," Musk said. "It's not going to take intersections unless we are highly confident it's going to do well with that intersection. Or it will just take a route around that intersection."
YouTube creator Michelle Khare spoke at the platform's FYC event in West Hollywood on May 18.
Araya Doheny/Getty Images for YouTube
YouTube is stepping up its efforts to help its creators win an Emmy.
The platform hosted its first "For Your Consideration" event for awards voters on Sunday.
YouTubers like Sean Evans and Michelle Khare are vying for nominations this year.
From "Beast Games" to "Paul American" to Ms. Rachel, Hollywood wants a piece of YouTube.
But the video giant, which stopped making its own original content in 2022, isn't sitting idly by while streamers like Amazon Prime, HBO Max, and Netflix court its creators. Behind the scenes, the company is working to elevate its native content within Hollywood and prove its creators are worthy of the industry's highest honors.
One key component is YouTube's Emmys push. A creator has never won a Primetime Emmy — TV's most prestigious award — in a main, televised category for their show, a YouTube spokesperson said.
While creators have nabbed nominations and wins in the past, the company is pulling out all the PR and marketing stops for a different outcome.
In addition to the cultural cache, a win could sway more ad budgets reserved for premium TV in YouTube's direction, as The Wall Street Journal reported.
For the first time this year, YouTube hosted a "For Your Consideration" event in Los Angeles, escalating its efforts to nab an Emmy for its creators. It's not alone; earlier this month, Amazon pushed YouTube's most popular creator, MrBeast, for Emmy consideration at its own FYC event.
These events convene awards voters — in this case, members of the Television Academy — to screen content and introduce them to prospective nominees. Emmy nominations are set to be announced on July 15.
This year, YouTube is backing three creators who self-submitted for Primetime nominations, including Sean Evans' "Hot Ones" in the Outstanding Talk Series category; Rhett and Link's "Good Mythical Morning" for Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series; and Michelle Khare's "Challenge Accepted" for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special.
YouTube's event, held on Sunday, featured screenings and conversations with each of the creators. There were also themed food trucks — such as the "be your mythical best" bean burger and "Challenge Accepted" fuel bowls — and recreations of each creator's sets for guests to take photos at and tag on social media.
Sean Evans' "Hot Ones" is seeking a nomination in the Outstanding Talk Series category.
Araya Doheny/Getty Images for YouTube
YouTube does not fund individual creators' Emmy submissions or FYC campaigns in their entirety, a spokesperson told Business Insider.
It's providing PR and marketing support, as it did last year. In addition to the event, this support includes drumming up press for the shows, and running billboards timed to the Upfronts and Cannes Lions advertising events, as well as across Los Angeles this summer.
A win for the creator economy at large
Khare, who has 5 million YouTube subscribers, told BI she isn't sure whether her series "Challenge Accepted" would have been greenlit in the traditional studio system. The show sees her try out difficult jobs like FBI hostage negotiation and joining the traveling circus. The challenges can be dangerous and the shoots long.
That's why she said an Emmy nomination would mark a win for the creator economy writ large.
"Anytime a creator in the digital landscape does something, it's paving a new way for everybody exterior to the traditional Hollywood system," she said.
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said in a Hollywood Reporter op-ed that YouTubers deserve Emmys and the Television Academy should consider expanding its categories.
The Emmys "should reflect what viewers are actually watching on their TV screens," he said — a nod to YouTube's growing dominance in the living room.
Many creators "operate as full-fledged studios with writers' rooms, production teams, and genre-defining formats," Angela Courtin, YouTube's VP of marketing for connected TV and creative studio, told BI in a statement. "It is only fitting that their creative achievements be honored alongside Hollywood's most celebrated figures."
In addition to its FYC efforts, YouTube has helped creators get into film festivals, the spokesperson said. Khare had a screening at the Montclair Film Festival last year, and Evans and "Good Mythical Morning" were both at Sundance and SXSW this year.
YouTube's efforts to position its content alongside traditional TV don't stop there. YouTube is also readying a "Shows" feature for its TV app to give episodic content more of a polish. First announced in September and touted at YouTube's Brandcast advertising event, Shows organizes YouTube series into seasons and episodes on dynamic landing pages.
Regina Ventura, mother to star prosecution witness Cassie Ventura, arrives for her own testimony at the Manhattan sex-trafficking and racketeering trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Kylie Cooper/REUTERS
Cassie Ventura's mother was called to the witness stand in Sean "Diddy" Combs' criminal trial.
Regina Ventura described threats Combs allegedly made after her daughter's 2011 affair with Kid Cudi.
"I was yelling and screaming and trying to hit him," she said of confronting the rapper in 2016.
Cassie Ventura's mother told a federal jury in Manhattan that she once screamed at and tried "to hit" her R&B singer daughter's ex, Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Regina Ventura sat wrapped in a large beige shawl as she described physically confronting the hip-hop tycoon during testimony at Combs' sex-trafficking and racketeering trial on Tuesday.
It was August 2016, and the mom of two from Connecticut had been visiting daughter Cassie Ventura in Los Angeles when she learned that Combs had stolen her daughter's cellphone, she told jurors.
Cassie Ventura was upstairs in her 17th-floor apartment, the mom testified, leaving her to call the police and take on Combs outside, in the building's driveway.
"We were arguing about the phone," the mom told jurors. "I wanted the phone back, and he was holding it."
As they argued, Combs' security guard, Damion "D-Roc" Butler, stood between the mom and Combs, she testified, confirming the guard's identity by a photo shown to her by a prosecutor.
"I was yelling. screaming and trying to hit him," to get Combs to give the phone back, the mom testified, her voice quiet and calm throughout her 15 minutes on the stand.
"He did give it back," she told the eight men and four women on Combs' jury.
The elder Ventura also described an incriminating Blackberry text from the couple's 2011 breakup, a message first shown to the jury last week.
In the message, Cassie Ventura tells her mother that Combs threatened her with revenge porn and physical harm out of jealousy over her relationship with rapper Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi.
The message was cc'd to Capricorn Clark, one of Combs' assistants.
"I was physically sick," the mom said of seeing the message.
"The sex tapes threw me," she told jurors. "I knew that he was going to try to hurt my daughter," she said of Combs.
Federal prosecutors say this 2011 Blackberry message from Cassie Ventura to her mother details Sean "Diddy" Combs' alleged threats of revenge porn and physical harm.
Southern District of New York
Combs' jealous threats around Cassie Ventura's 2011 Kid Cudi romance came with a demand for money, jurors heard Tuesday.
Regina Ventura testified that she borrowed against her home of 57 years — Cassie Ventura's childhood home in Connecticut — to pay $20,000 that Combs said he needed for her daughter's unpaid "expenses."
"He was going to need $20,000 to recoup money that he had spent on her because he was angry that she had a relationship with Scott Mescudi," Regina Ventura told jurors.
"I was scared for my daughter's safety," the mom said, when asked why she wired Combs the money.
Combs' bookkeeper emailed her the wiring information, the mom testified, and the money was sent "to the Bad Boy account" from her and her husband's checking account, the mom said.
Combs returned the Ventura family's cash "about four or five days later," she told jurors. Asked what explanation she received for this refund, the mom answered, "None."
Combs' lawyers had fought to keep jurors from hearing about the $20,000 payment.
But prosecutors argued that the testimony helps prove that when Combs felt Cassie Ventura "slipping from the defendant's control," he used physical and financial coercion to keep her from leaving.
"It's continuing to keep Ms. Ventura in his sphere even when she's attempting to leave," prosecutor Emily Johnson told the judge, according to a transcript released later Tuesday, detailing arguments made outside the public's hearing.
Regina Ventura's turn on the stand began with her introducing herself to jurors as "retired," and the mother of two, "Rodrick and Cassandra."
She met Combs in 2006, when her daughter signed with Bad Boy Records, she said. Their 10-record deal only ever resulted in one album.
After she began dating Combs in 2007, Cassie Ventura moved from New York to Los Angeles, and mother and daughter would see each other only twice a year, she told jurors.
"It was harder to get to her," she said.
Her testimony followed more than 20 hours of testimony delivered to the jury by her daughter.
Cassie Ventura took the stand last week while eight months pregnant with her third child with husband Alex Fine. She detailed what she said were years of sexual abuse at the hands of Combs during their 11-year relationship.
The younger Ventura, who prosecutors allege was one of two women that Combs sex-trafficked, has played a key role in the hip-hop mogul's ongoing trial.
Over the course of her four days on the witness stand, Cassie Ventura at times gave tearfully described feeling "worthless" while joining in on the drug-fueled, often dayslong sex performances that Combs dubbed "freak offs."
These sex encounters, which prosecutors say Combs arranged, directed, and often recorded, are at the core of the indictment against Combs.
Combs used "lies, drugs, threats, and violence to force and coerce" Ventura and later an anonymous Jane Doe into the freak offs, prosecutor Emily Johnson told the jury in her opening statements last week.
Both China and Russia have developed hypersonic missiles, and the US is currently working on one.
GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images
Raytheon, a division of RTX, announced its new upgraded radar for hypersonic missile defense.
The company said on Monday it delivered the radar to the US Missile Defense Agency.
Hypersonic weapons are fast with unpredictable flight patterns that challenge current missile defenses.
Raytheon has given the US Missile Defense Agency a new radar, the most advanced of its kind, that it says can support the difficult mission of defending against hypersonic weapons.
The radar is one of the latest examples of how the US is working to strengthen its air defenses against more advanced threats like hypersonic weapons, which are nearly impossible to intercept with current systems.
Raytheon, an RTX Corporation business, announced on Monday the delivery of its first upgraded AN/TPY-2 missile defense radar featuring a Gallium Nitride (GaN) populated array.
These radars are able to detect, track, and discriminate ballistic missiles in multiple phases of flight. The latest upgrade improves the sensitivity and range of the radar and expands its surveillance capabilities.
"The radar also features the latest CX6 high-performance computing software that offers more precise target discrimination and electronic attack protection," Raytheon said in a release.
Some experts have noted the game-changing use of GaN semiconductor technology in enhancing radars, radio frequency sensing, and other communication platforms. Multiple big players in the defense industry have been working on GaN-based capabilities, especially for upgrading sensors and weapons systems.
Last fall, Raytheon began production of the GaN-empowered Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense System (LTAMDS) with the Army, designing it to ultimately replace the current Patriot missile defense system radars.
Raytheon's new version of the AN/TPY-2 is the most advanced it's built, said Sam Deneke, president of Air and Space Defense Systems at Raytheon, per the release. "As demand increases for missile defense of the homeland, the AN/TPY-2 radar is ready to meet the mission."
MiG-31BM supersonic interceptor equipped with a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missile underneath it.
Russian Ministry of Defense/YouTube
US military officials have been pushing for more capabilities to defend against hypersonics for years now. They're daunting weapons due to a hypersonic missile's ability to fly low, fast, and maneuver along unpredictable flight paths that make them far more difficult to intercept than already challenging ballistic missiles that fly the predictable parabolic arcs.
Both China and Russia, key US rivals, possess hypersonic missiles in their arsenals.
US-made air defenses have defeated Russia's advanced Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile, sometimes questionably touted as hypersonic weaponry. But defending against weapons more accurately identified by that name, such as China's DF-17 missile equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle or Russia's Zircon scramjet-powered hypersonic cruise missile, could prove more difficult, though Ukraine has claimed to have defeated the Zircon.
Though the weapons may not be unstoppable, they represent a much more challenging threat, and this technology is continuing to advance.
China's expansion of its missile arsenal has raised concerns about the vulnerability of US forces and strategic allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Washington lawmakers and US military leaders have repeatedly said that American forces lack the active and passive defenses needed to defend against a substantial Chinese missile bombardment that could include hypersonic weapons. But efforts are underway to strengthen these defenses.
Last year, for instance, the US and Japan announced plans to jointly develop a hypersonic missile defense system as part of a Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) Cooperative Development (GCD) Project Arrangement that aims to intercept a hypersonic weapon in its glide phase of flight.
And more recently, the Trump administration began pursuing a new "Iron Dome for America," now called the "Golden Dome," because, as the president said in a January executive order, "the threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States."
Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Lululemon's 2-in-1 maxi dress has become massively popular overnight.
The stretchy garment is more suited for casual outings, unlike the brand's athletic wear.
Some shoppers, however, have argued the dress is overpriced and basic.
It's a gown. It's a skirt. It's $148 and strangely controversial.
I'm talking about the 2-in-1 maxi dress from Lululemon, which, in all fairness, you might not have ever noticed.
The garment is extremely understated and more ideal for a walk on the beach than a workout class. There's a good chance you've scrolled past it while shopping for new leggings on the brand's website.
Fashion fans, however, can't seem to talk about anything other than the stretchy shift right now.
The Lululemon dress worn as a dress (left) and folded into a skirt (right).
Lululemon
Lululemon sells everyday clothes. You just might not have noticed.
At its core, Lululemon is an athletic brand. Its Align leggings brought the company fame, and its sweat-repelling pieces have become massive in different sports communities.
Even its everyday staples, like the belt bags teens carry instead of purses and the ABC joggers professional men wear to the office, can be used for sport.
So, Lululemon's maxi dress might seem like an anomaly. It's designed simply to be worn as part of a cute outfit, not an active ensemble.
"I still can't comprehend how this dress is from Lululemon," one TikToker captioned her video about the garment.
It's really not an outlier, though. Lululemon has been selling maxi dresses and other casual staples for years. They're just sleeper hits.
This specific strapless dress can be worn as a skirt when its top is folded over the hips. It's sold in four colors — light ivory, black, lava cake, and raceway green — and sizes between XXXS and XL.
Many of the sizes are now sold out across colorways, and it's unclear if the brand will restock.
Representatives for Lululemon didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Cute, but costly
As is the nature of the internet, the very existence of the simple dress has been debated. Over the past two weeks, dozens of videos tagged #lululemondress have been posted to TikTok.
Many have raved about its soft texture, saying the dress contours your body and fits like a dream. Its versatility is also a big draw.
Others, however, said its design is way too basic and overpriced, retailing for $148.
Though the dresses are made from a mix of fabrics, including silk and Lenzing Modal, they also contain nylon and Lycra elastane, which some shoppers dislike for being unsustainable and plastic.
"It's not that it's ugly, it's just not $150 type of cute," one TikToker wrote.
"Ok but if you saw it at Walmart, would you buy it??" another TikTok user said.
Some people are so bothered by the dress that they've even compared it to a "thneed," the fictional, trendy garment mentioned in "The Lorax." The comparison has made the dress even more viral, with shoppers debating if Lululemon's garment fits the bill.
I'm here to tell you that comparison is not accurate at all.
After all, Lululemon's dress does not look like a stretched-out sweater, like a thneed does, and it can't be worn as a sock, hat, or sweatshirt, like a thneed can.
Now, is the dress worth $148 of your hard-earned money, or the time and effort it will take to find one in your size right now? That's for you to decide.
