Chris Martin of Coldplay performs at a concert where you should feel free to canoodle in peace.
Robert Okine/Getty Images
You've probably seen the Coldplay "kiss cam" moment that has ricocheted around the internet.
A tech CEO and his head of HR appear to embrace, then look mortified after seeing themselves on cam.
I wish I didn't know anything about any of this — I wish none of us did.
I don't want to know what you did at a Coldplay concert. I don't want to know who you were there with, what the track list was. I don't even want to know you went!
And if it turns out that you were caught on camera in a passionate embrace with a coworker? I mean, sure, I'm curious. I love gossip! But I'm not sure I should know about that. And that goes double if I don't know you in real life.
On Thursday, as I'm sure you know by now, a "kiss cam" video went viral from a Coldplay concert outside Boston on Wednesday night. In the clip, two audience members stand against a railing, the man with his arms around the woman. They look to be in their late 40s or early 50s, fit and attractive, enjoying the musical stylings of arguably Britain's greatest rock act of the 21st century.
As soon as they realize they're on the Jumbotron, the woman turns to hide her face, and the man ducks. You overhear front-man Chris Martin say into the microphone, "Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy."
Yikes!
The clip appeared to show Astronomer CEO Andy Byron embracing the company's head of HR, Kristin Cabot. Neither has commented on the clip.
I'm not sure how people online figured out who these people were. Was it by using a controversial facial-recognition tool like PimEyes? Or was it from someone who knows them in real life who identified them?
The thing is, I don't know these people. (Neither, probably, do you.) I don't know their lives. I have no idea what was really going on. Astronomer execs, board members, and founders haven't returned BI's requests for comment, as my colleagues Madeline Berg and Tim Paradis report.
I can say that the online attention they've received is certainly distressing to them — on top of a situation that may also already be very distressing in other ways.
The issue might have some legs from an HR standpoint: If a company CEO is embracing his head of personnel at a concert, could that raise some issues? Sure! That's for the company and its execs to figure out. But otherwise, who cares? I don't.
I just spent almost every day of the last six weeks watching some of the most depraved people on Earth frolic around in swimwear and occasionally hump under thick duvets on "Love Island." I'm not going to suddenly go morality police to say that two Coldplay-loving consenting adults is the biggest scandal I can imagine.
And, to me, there's a potentially unsettling element of potential surveillance. As 404 Media wrote:
The same technologies used to dox and research this CEO are routinely deployed against the partners of random people who have had messy breakups, attractive security guards, people who look "suspicious" and are caught on Ring cameras by people on Nextdoor, people who dance funny in public, and so on. There has been endless debate about the ethics of doxing cops and ICE agents and Nazis, and there are many times where it makes sense to research people doing harm on behalf of the state or who are doing violent, scary things in to innocent people.
It is another to deploy these technologies against random people you saw on an airplane or who had a messy breakup with an influencer.
Again, we're not sure what happened here or how these people were apparently identified. But I don't think it's any of our business — barring something illegal — what happens at a concert. Could it violate a company's rules? Yes, but then the company can deal with it.
By the way: Why the heck does Coldplay have a kiss cam, anyway?
Donald Trump complains about media companies all the time. He has yet to focus his ire on Netflix, though.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Donald Trump has complained about media companies making movies outside the US.
Netflix just emphasized how much of its production happens in the US.
Coincidence?
Donald Trump, who frequently complains about media companies, doesn't appear to be angry at Netflix at the moment.
Netflix would like to keep it that way.
Which may explain why the company spent a bit of time in its latest earnings report talking up its commitment to making its shows and movies in America.
In the streamer's second quarter earnings report, Netflix officials made a point of emphasizing how much money it has spent making content in the US — $125 billion between 2020 and 2024 — and how much more it plans to spend in the near future — including new production facilities in New Mexico and New Jersey.
But you can check out the language the company used in its shareholder letter for yourself:
As we grow globally, our most significant investment remains in the US, which accounts for the majority of our content spend, workforce and production infrastructure. From 2020-2024, we estimate that we contributed $125 billion to the US economy. Our expansion in Albuquerque, NM—adding four new soundstages to a 108-acre site—and our plan to invest roughly $1B to develop a state-of-the-art production facility (including 12 new soundstages) in Fort Monmouth, NJ, underscore our ongoing commitment to production in the US.
This isn't the first time Netflix has played up its interest in US production. That statement above includes a link to a report spelling out its investment in the US, which was published April 23 — less than a couple weeks before Trump came out with its Hollywood tariff plan.
And Netflix also discussed its US investments in its previous earnings report, which came out on April 17. But the language it used there was much lighter on superlatives, and much less America-centric. Compare and contrast:
While the majority of our content spend and production infrastructure investment is in the US, we now also spend billions of dollars per year making programming abroad. And instead of just licensing local titles, we're now making local shows and films in many countries, commissioned by our local executives, that keep our members happy. And our local slates are improving each year.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, by the way, has said he had a "nice long dinner" with Trump in December at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, prior to Trump's second inauguration. "He said Melania and [son] Barron were big fans," Sarandos said.
The startup at the center of recent online drama stemming from a concert's "kiss cam" has stayed silent as internet commenters flood the company's social media posts with commentary.
Cavan Images/Getty Images/Cavan Images RF
A Coldplay concert "kiss cam" appeared to show Astonomer CEO Andy Byron and head of people Kristin Cabot embracing.
The footage has gone viral on social media.
The company turned off comments on its LinkedIn and X profiles amid the chatter.
A video appearing to show a tech CEO and his head of HR embracing at a Coldplay concert is spreading around social media at the speed of sound.
Meanwhile, the startup at the center of the drama has stayed silent as people online flood the company's social media posts with comments.
The viral clip appears to show Astronomer CEO Andy Byron with his arms wrapped around the company's head of people, Kristin Cabot. It was captured on the concert's "kiss cam" and broadcast to the crowd at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.
Given the pair's reaction — mortified looks, a quick untangling, and a camera dodge — Coldplay's front man, Chris Martin, speculated from the stage that either they are "having an affair or they're just very shy."
Neither Byron nor Cabot has commented on the viral clip.
The executives, the company, its board members, and its founders have not responded to requests for comment from Business Insider. Astronomer turned off the ability to comment on its LinkedIn and X posts after they were bombarded with commentary.
The internet has been anything but quiet.
On X and TikTok, there's been a deluge of commentary about the footage, which has been viewed tens of millions of times. Most have joked about the incident: One user called it "Scandoval for people who can't attach a PDF to an email," while another chimed in, "god forbid you want to viva la vida local."
Flexport's founder, Ryan Petersen, said the board should give Byron a raise for the publicity it generated for the company.
Others have gone further, digging up the pair's LinkedIn pages and YouTube videos featuring Byron to leave comments referencing the viral clip.
Byron's name was the top trending Google search term over the past 24 hours; he was Googled over 2 million times.
There's even money on the line: On Polymarket, more than $35,000 has been committed to predict Byron's chances of remaining CEO, while a separate market about his marital status has a pool of $30,000.
It's unclear whether Astronomer has any policies around office relationships, as some companies do.
Still, "a hard launch of a workplace romantic relationship at a Coldplay concert is not the best way to go about it," Kate Walker, a human resources consultant and executive coach, told BI.
Astronomer, which builds various data management and optimization products, completed a Series D funding round in May that valued the company at $775 million, according to PitchBook.
Byron has been its CEO since July 2023. He previously held C-suite roles at several other software and tech firms.
Last year, he hired Cabot as the company's head of people.
"Kristin's exceptional leadership and deep expertise in talent management, employee engagement, and scaling people strategies will be critical as we continue our rapid trajectory," Byron said in a press release about her hiring last year.
The LinkedIn version of the announcement? It's been taken down.
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa at a press conference on Capitol Hill on September 19, 2023.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The US government spent $5 trillion to stimulate the economy during the pandemic.
Much was lost to fraud, and several bills would extend deadlines to file charges.
A bill involving the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, which BI previously reported on, moved forward Wednesday.
A Senate committee on Wednesday advanced a bill that would give prosecutors more time to bring fraud charges tied to two pandemic-era relief programs — including one that, as Business Insider has reported, awarded millions of dollars to wealthy musicians who used the money on private jets, luxury goods, and parties.
Federal investigators believe at least 6% of the $5 trillion allocated for pandemic relief was routed to fraudsters or people and businesses who didn't qualify. Prosecutors have brought charges over a small fraction of that spending, and could run out of time to bring charges in thousands of cases that were referred to them.
Currently, prosecutors have five years after many fraud-related crimes occur to bring charges. The bill would give them an extra five years to file criminal charges against anyone who defrauded the $28 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund or the $14 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant.
Originally pitched as a lifeline for independent venues and arts groups, the SVOG program ended up awarding billions with limited guardrails, and a Business Insider investigation found that pop stars like Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, and Marshmello used the money for jets, bonuses, and a birthday bash.
Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, who chairs the Small Business Committee that moved the bill forward, told Business Insider that the government should be "going after the people that truly didn't deserve the money."
"What we saw was a lot of celebrities that were gaming the system," she said, "that were able to take those dollars and buy jets and throw fancy parties and do things like that — boost up their wardrobe. That's not what the dollars were for."
The celebrities Business Insider reported on didn't previously reply to comment requests, except for Lil Wayne, who responded to a reporter's questions with an explicit sexual overture. The SBA has defended its fraud controls and said in late 2024 that it was still looking into some grants.
The agency has recently sent out hundreds of letters to SVOG grantees demanding that they repay their grants, according to people in the entertainment industry, but details on which grantees were targeted were not available.
Maggie Clemmons, an agency representative, told BI that the SBA is "continuously fighting to claw back fraudulently-obtained COVID funds, including within the SVOG program" and criticized "inaction" by the Biden administration.
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which cut checks of up to $10 million, has been scrutinized by auditors. Nearly a quarter of funds were awarded without doing enough to verify that grantees were eligible, the Small Business Administration's inspector general said last year, and the agency found that improper payments were "likely" in 53 out of 122 restaurant awards it analyzed.
The bill still needs to pass the Senate and House of Representatives before it becomes law. And even if the statute of limitations to bring charges is extended, whether prosecutors will clear out the backlog of pandemic-fraud cases is an open question. The agency's inspector general has said the SBA should also extend the time period for which grant recipients hold on to their records.
"My hope would be that given the priorities of the Department of Justice, that somewhere in that mix, we have those that will go after the fraudsters," Ernst said. "Fraud is fraud, and our taxpayers really need to know that the federal government takes it seriously."
In 2022, lawmakers similarly extended the deadline to bring fraud charges over the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from five years to 10.
Congress also allocated at least $653 billion to fund extra unemployment benefits during the pandemic. The House of Representatives passed a bill in March to allow more time to prosecute unemployment benefit fraud, but that bill hasn't advanced in the Senate.
Lawmakers worry that military housing funds may again be diverted to domestic operations.
Barracks have been plagued with maintenance issues for years, impacting troop morale and safety.
The Army and Marine Corps are seeking more funding to address barracks and quality of life concerns.
As lawmakers negotiate next year's defense bill, some are sounding alarms over the possibility that funds intended to improve housing for junior troops could instead be diverted to support military operations at home.
In a hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat, pushed to add two stipulations into the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act aimed at safeguarding funding for military barracks and childcare centers. The proposals would have prohibited using the funds for domestic deployments of troops — specifically in support of immigration enforcement — and barred their transfer to border operations.
"This is simply saying that the money that we allocate as Congress for barracks and child development centers and quality of life infrastructure should be used for barracks and child development centers and quality of life infrastructure, not anything else," she said during the hearing.
Both additions were shot down along party lines.
Military barracks, dormitories where unmarried junior troops are housed, have long been plagued by maintenance issues. Many buildings are decades-old and have fallen into disrepair during 20 years of war in the Middle East.
Soldiers with the 173rd Airborne Brigade play a game of pool in the Rhine Ordnance Barracks Deployment Processing Center.
Keith Pannell/US Army
"This is about actually showing our service members that we care about them," Rep. Jill Tokuda, a Democrat from Hawaii, said during the hearing, highlighting instances of barracks rooms overrun by black mold, leaky plumbing, unreliable electrical and A/C systems, and a lack of kitchens.
A 2022 government watchdog report noted how continuously delayed maintenance aggravates problems for the military's buildings around the world, valued at $1.3 trillion overall. In fiscal year 2020, for instance, the DoD's deferred maintenance backlog amounted to over $137 billion, exacerbated by "competing priorities".
The Army sought $2.35 billion last year to address barracks concerns, an over 60% increase in funding from the year prior. The Marine Corps, meanwhile, has undertaken a decade-long, nearly $11 billion refurbishment program.
The US Army Rhine Ordnance Barracks at Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.
Keith Pannell/US Army
"The idea is not to fix it and forget it," Lt. Gen. James Adams, Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources, said of the initiative during a panel at the Modern Day Marine expo in April, explaining that the Corps partly "got ourselves into the position we're in now" by neglecting maintenance.
But the military is facing maintenance woes on other fronts too— one of the Army's biggest bases was forced to dissolve its teams that oversaw preventative housing maintenance last month, amid federal government cuts, according to Military.com. And the Pentagon sought to shift $1 billion intended for Army barracks to finance deployments to the southern border earlier this year.
In a statement provided to Business Insider, Jacobs said that funds approved for barracks issues and childcare centers — which have faced staffing shortages and meager pay — are already a comparatively modest sum, considering the level of disrepair with which some facilities must contend.
"There's not enough money as it is to upgrade and maintain quality of life infrastructure like barracks and child development centers, and address urgent issues like mold and broken heating and A/C units," Jacobs wrote. "None of this money should be diverted for any reason — let alone to terrorize immigrant communities and stifle dissent."
"The fact that a billion dollars in the first six months of this administration was diverted from barracks and quality of life and operations and maintenance to the border is sending the message that we really don't care about your health and wellness," Tokuda said during the hearing, adding that money transfers were equivalent to "essentially guaranteeing that we will ultimately never fix these barracks."
Blake Lively had some good news and bad news from the federal judge in her Manhattan lawsuit against "It Ends With Us" costar Justin Baldoni.
Aeon/GC Images
A judge ordered Blake Lively to turn over 3 years of her business income records to Justin Baldoni.
But in a victory for the actress, the judge blocked Baldoni's demand for details of her net worth.
Thursday's decision is the latest in the ongoing litigation between the "It Ends With Us" costars.
The judge in Blake Lively's ongoing lawsuit against "It Ends With Us" costar Justin Baldoni ordered her to turn over three years of business income records to his lawyers, but blocked his demand for her total net worth.
Thursday's mixed decision — awarding Baldoni some, but not all, of the financial records he has demanded — is the latest development in Lively's December 2024 lawsuit.
Lively alleges Baldoni sexually harassed her on the set and then tried to destroy her reputation through a "sophisticated" press and online attack campaign when she complained.
The judge's most recent decision requires Lively to turn over all of her business income and expense records from January 1, 2022 to present. She must do so by July 25, the judge ruled.
These records are needed for "establishing whether such income and expenses have changed since the events described" in her lawsuit, the judge wrote.
Lively has alleged in court papers that Baldoni's attacks on her reputation depressed the retail sales of her hair care line, Blake Brown, by "56% —78%." She also has a sparkling mixer brand, Betty Buzz.
"Lively must have some basis for stating that she has suffered economic damages," the judge wrote in ordering her to turn over her income records.
The judge spared Lively from having to turn over her last three years of net worth records.
Lively's side had complained that this demand was overbroad and that the records, which could have included details of property values, savings, and investments, would be irrelevant to proving her businesses' lost income.
The judge agreed, writing, "Lively cannot be compelled to produce documents regarding her personal assets and liabilities with no relationship to any alleged loss in income or opportunities resulting from defendants' actions."
Barring some kind of settlement, the case is not scheduled to wrap anytime soon. She is due to be deposed in private by Baldoni's lawyers on July 31. Lawyers for both sides are due in court on October 21 for their next status conference, and a 2026 trial date has yet to be set.
Netflix posted record-setting earnings and revenue for the second quarter on Thursday.
The streamer also raised its revenue forecast for the year.
Analysts are watching the platform's plans to scale through live sports and TV and grow its ads business.
Netflix posted record-setting revenue and earnings for the second quarter, and signaled there's more growth on the horizon.
The streaming giant's revenue rose 15.9% year over year to $11.08 billion, and earnings grew 47% to $7.19 per share. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected quarterly revenue of $11.06 billion and earnings of $7.09 per share.
The company also raised its revenue forecast for 2025 to $44.8 billion to $45.2 billion, in part because of its momentum growing subscribers and its advertising business.
Netflix shares were relatively flat in after-hours trading following the earnings release on Thursday.
Wall Street has long crowned Netflix as the streaming king. The streamer's latest win comes on the heels of releases like "Squid Game," which released its third and final season in late June. Netflix said the season was its sixth biggest ever with 122 million views.
Netflix stopped reporting specific subscriber figures last quarter, which makes it difficult to gauge the platform's user growth.
But estimates from third-party data firm Antenna suggest Netflix's gross monthly subscriber additions in the US have fallen from their peak.
Analysts are focused on how the platform continues to scale through live sports and TV, as well as creator-driven partnerships.
So far, Netflix has announced a return of a Christmas Day NFL game, a September fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford, and a forthcoming reboot of the late-80s hit "Star Search," among other live programming.
The live content serves dual purposes: helping Netflix continue to grow its subscription base and providing ample opportunities for its budding advertising business.
Netflix expects its advertising revenue to double this year, as executives previously outlined on the first-quarter earnings call. The company also plans to introduce interactive ads in the second half of 2025, co-CEO Greg Peters said on Thursday's earnings call.
Nearly half of new Netflix subscribers in the US chose the ad tier from January to May, according to Antenna data.
At $8 a month, Netflix's ad plan is starting to look like a bargain. It's the same as Paramount+'s ad tier and cheaper than comparable plans from Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max. The ad version of Amazon Prime Video costs $15 a month. And Peacock is planning to raise the price of its ad plan to $11 a month, Vulture reported on Thursday.
"We also think that we are an incredible entertainment value — not only compared to traditional entertainment, but if you think about other streaming competitors," Peters said.
Netflix said it also wants to use artificial intelligence to help create ads, content, and content recommendations.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos told analysts that "The Eternaut," an Argentine sci-fi show, has the first generative AI final footage to appear on screen in a Netflix show or movie. The series used generative AI for a sequence where a building collapsed in Buenos Aires.
"That VFX sequence was completed 10 times faster than it could have been completed with visual, traditional VFX tools and workflows," Sarandos said on the earnings call. "Also, the cost of it would just wouldn't have been feasible for a show in that budget."
The Hugo Spritz is front and center among 2025 drink trends.
Scott Suchman/Lisa Cherkasky/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The Hugo Spritz has emerged as the trendy cocktail of the moment and successor to the Aperol Spritz.
The recipe calls for prosecco, club soda, and elderflower liqueur, resulting in a sweet, low-ABV drink.
A foodservice trend analyst said the French-made liqueur lends the Hugo Spritz an escapist appeal.
Last month, while mulling the menu at a trendy restaurant, a suggestion from a friend made me feel woefully out of touch.
"Why don't you get a Hugo Spritz?" the friend asked when I said I was craving a light, summery, and refreshing cocktail.
I asked what that was and was promptly met with a table full of shocked faces. Somehow, I had missed the introduction and gradualtakeover of the the hottest new cocktail.
While the thirst for Hugo Spritz certainly isn't new — the recipe has been gaining momentum online for a few years, achieving fleeting virality in 2023 and capturing the attention of wealthy bar patrons in 2024 — recent data indicates that the Hugo's mainstream crossover moment has officially arrived.
In its 2024 trend report, Yelp found a 1,121% increase in searches for "Hugo Spritz" compared to the previous year. Google search volume for "Hugo Spritz" rose 122% from 2023 to 2024, and analytics show interest is even higher this summer than at this time last year. The use of the hashtag #HugoSpritz has steadily increased on TikTok over the last year, reaching peak popularity in late June and early July. Creators have been sharing their favorite takes on the recipe, gleefully adding sprigs of mint or splashes of lime juice. The trend has even inspired at least one original piano ballad, which features the standout lyric, "Cuckoo for Hugo, baby."
The Hugo Spritz has emerged as the clear successor to its Italian cousin, the Aperol Spritz. The latter enjoyed its own renaissance a few years back, arguably reaching peak popularity in the summer of 2023 — auspiciously fueled by HBO's "The White Lotus," whose celebrated second season was filmed in Sicily and aired in late 2022.
Despite its rise to ubiquity, however, Aperol — an apéritif liqueur with strong notes of orange peel and herbs — remains a polarizing ingredient. While some love its bittersweet flavor, others say it tastes thick and medicinal, akin to cough syrup.
By comparison, the Hugo Spritz is positively dessert-like. As with most spritzes, it's typically made with two parts prosecco and two parts soda water. The defining addition is elderflower liqueur — a sweet, floral spirit with such broad appeal and versatility that it earned the nickname "bartender's ketchup" in the late aughts.
St-Germain has long been considered the leader in the elderflower liqueur market, credited for inspiring a slew of copycats after its launch in 2007. The brand was acquired by Bacardi in 2013, further cementing its dominance.
Emma Fox, Bacardi's Global VP, told me via email that St-Germain has seen a 20% increase in retail sales value in the US since last year and an 11% increase over the last five years. Globally, she said the brand's market share has nearly tripled since 2019.
"We know that demand for St-Germain continues to grow, particularly this summer, as people are looking for more choice and creativity in their spritzes and discovering our lighter, brighter taste," Fox said.
St-Germain is made with hand-picked flowers from elderflower trees that grow in the French Alps. Last year, the brand took advantage of that scenery's aesthetic touchstones in a summer ad campaign featuring "Game of Thrones" star Sophie Turner, which highlighted the Hugo Spritz for its French flair and easy elegance. (The brand reunited with Turner for another campaign launched in May of this year.)
Sophie Turner partnered with St-Germain for a 2024 Hugo Spritz campaign, which emphasized the drink's French connection.
Marc Piasecki/WireImage
Much like how Aperol benefited from its Italian roots and eye-catching cameos in the hands of glamorous onscreen Sicilians, the Hugo Spritz has an aspirational appeal in addition to its tasty flavor profile. In the right context, enjoying an effervescent, European-sourced cocktail can feel like micro-dosing a much-needed getaway.
Paige Leyden, Associate Director of foodservice, flavors, and ingredients reports at Mintel, a market intelligence agency, said she noticed the Hugo Spritz trend gain traction in the US in the wake of the 2024 campaign. She attributed the effect to a combination of celebrity influence and our positive associations with a luxurious French lifestyle.
"Travel is expensive, but there is that level of escapism when you can just go to a nice bar and sit outside and have this drink," Leyden said. "You might not be on the picturesque Mediterranean coast, but you're still kind of emulating that."
Of course, in the age of Instagram and TikTok, the power of a compelling visual cannot be overstated. It's not just that a Hugo Spritz can evoke a picturesque setting, but that the drink itself is picturesque, perfectly engineered for virality.
Leyden said her team's research has found that 54% of consumers like to order drinks they see on social media, whether because they were influenced themselves or because they see the potential to influence others — to communicate their knowledge of trends and prove their own sophistication.
On TikTok, food and drink influencers are already doing their part. "It's the perfect drink: refreshing, lemony, floral gorgeousness," creator Lex Nicoleta recently declared to her hundreds of thousands of followers while sipping a homemade Hugo Spritz. "I just think there's not a chicer drink in the world."
Michael Shvo and partners purchased three Miami Beach hotels in 2019.
Plans to turn them into a luxury destination were never finished, and the site remains empty.
A new buyer is lined up, but Shvo could still match the roughly $275 million offer.
The Raleigh, a prominent condo and hotel project along the glitzy Miami Beach waterfront, could soon change hands after six years of stalled development.
Two people with direct knowledge of sales discussions said Nahla Capital, a New York City-based residential builder, has won a bidding process to purchase the property. One of those people said Nahla agreed to pay around $275 million for the project.
They requested anonymity because the sales discussions are confidential.
Real estate developer Michael Shvo, who acquired in the Art Deco district of Miami Beach in 2019 for roughly $243 million, is attempting to match Nahla's offer and retain control of the project, the two people said. They cited a provision that gives Shvo a first right of refusal on bids. To proceed, he would have to raise fresh capital to pay off his partners in the project and also potentially arrange new debt or extend his current loan.
The Raleigh development consists of three adjacent hotels in the Art Deco district of Miami Beach: the Richmond, the South Seas, and the 80-year-old namesake property, the Raleigh.
Among Shvo's chief financial backers was Bayerische Versorgungskammer, a large German pension system known as BVK that has invested in several US real estate deals with Shvo.
"BVK generally does not comment on market rumors and speculation about transactions," a BVK spokesman wrote in an emailed statement.
A deal could herald a new chapter for the project, which for years has consisted of little more than the derelict remains of the three hotels and a vacant dirt lot.
Shvo has said he would restore and redevelop the hotel properties, build an exclusive beach club and restaurant abutting a famous historic pool at the site, and raise a new ultra-high-end condo tower designed by the star architect Peter Marino.
But aside from preliminary site work, including demolition of existing structures, the development never got off the ground. In January, a team from the commercial real estate brokerage and services firm Newmark was hired by an undisclosed partner in the project to shop it to interested takers, as Business Insider has previously reported.
Aerial shot of Miami Beach
BI
Helping to push a sale is the project's $190 million of debt, which was due to expire on July 16. BH3, the Miami-based commercial lender and developer that provided the loan, recently agreed to a three-month extension to allow the Nahla, or Shvo, to arrange an acquisition, one of the people with knowledge of the deal said.
Holding the property has saddled the current owners with considerable costs. As Business Insider previously reported, the group paid nearly $20 million in interest on the project's loan in 2023 alone and millions of dollars more in taxes, insurance, and other charges.
Core Memory founder Ashlee Vance interviews Palmer Luckey, represented by a Foundation humanoid robot, at the Reindustrialize Summit in Detroit.
Julia Hornstein / BI
Palmer Luckey teased the idea of Auduril manufacturing American-made computers.
Luckey joined the Reindustrialize Summit in Detroit virtually.
The Anduril founder also emphasized the importance of working with partners to build tools.
Palmer Luckey, the founder of Anduril, the defense tech giant that makes weapons and military products, announced that it could produce American-made computers at the Reindustrialize Summit, a conference about modernizing American manufacturing, in Detroit on Thursday.
"This is one of those things where I started talking to companies years ago about this," Luckey said. "I think there's a chance that it's going to be Anduril."
Luckey added that Anduril has held conversations with "everyone you would need to have to do that," including people "on the chip side, on the assembly side, on the manufacturing side."
Anduril doesn't yet make computers, and Luckey isn't completely sold on the effort. He told the crowd: "There are some things Anduril has to do," he said. "There are other things we'd rather have other people do. This is something I'd rather have other people do."
American-made computers aren't a novel concept. PC-maker Dell had several manufacturing plants throughout the US, but in 2009, it closed its North Carolina plant and announced a change to its international manufacturing partner, moving from Ireland to Poland.
Luckey, who addressed the crowd virtually and with a humanoid robot from Foundation, also added that Anduril will not build its own humanoid robot: "We're going to partner with other companies where it makes sense," he said.
Anduril, which was cofounded by Luckey in 2017, makes hardware for the US military, including drones and underwater submersibles, and an AI-powered software platform, Lattice. The company is also working on extended reality headsets and other wearables for the military in a partnership with Meta, which the companies announced in May.
Luckey declined to share what he would name the computer if he were to make it, but hinted that "it's pro-American, and also a gambling reference, but I'll leave it at that."
A Marine faces local protestors while guarding a federal area in Los Angeles, July 12, 2025.
Lance Cpl. Andrew Whistler/US Marine Corps
700 Marines remain in Los Angeles to guard federal buildings while 2000 California National Guard troops are set to depart.
The Marine deployment follows Trump's orders, despite objections from California's governor.
Marines face morale issues and public contempt amid protests against ICE raids in Los Angeles, an official shared.
Half of the 4,000-strong California National Guard force deployed by President Donald Trump to Los Angeles a month ago is returning home, but 700 Marines are set to remain.
As protests quickly quieted, Marines appear to now be guarding buildings that don't require such a forceful presence, leading to a lot of hanging around. Officials say their mission is mainly just "being present."
The Marines, who arrived in LA under Trump's orders amid objections from California's governor, Gavin Newsom, will continue to stand guard at three buildings — the Wilshire Federal Building, which houses the LA FBI and Veterans Affairs offices, a courthouse, and the LA Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters building. US Northern Command confirmed to BI on Wednesday that the mission hasn't changed since the Marines first arrived.
Some of those Marines, recent arrivals who took over for teammates who showed up in June, are suffering a blow to morale, with some feeling the work isn't what they joined the military for, according to a senior Marine official with knowledge of the deployment. The Pentagon did not respond to request for comment.
Such duties are far outside the norm for Marines who do not possess the same legal authorities as National Guard troops, which may conduct law enforcement within the US, though almost always at the request of their state's governor. Active-duty troops, like the Marines in LA, are barred by law from doing so, short of the president invoking the Insurrection Act.
"Their purpose is really just being a presence that is very much out in the open, showcasing kind of who they are, what they do," said the senior Marine official, who spoke to Business Insider on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
A second Marine source confirmed that Marines continue to guard the buildings, adding those stationed at the Wilshire Federal Building are dispersed at vehicle and pedestrian entry points and patrol the building's perimeter, a fairly routine task infantry personnel perform that could be seen as an opportunity to practice the skills in a delicate environment.
A Marine stands behind Homeland Security police in Los Angeles, July 4, 2025.
Cpl. Jaye Townsend/US Marine Corps
"There's nothing going on," said the second Marine of the atmosphere in LA after protests formed last month in response to ICE raids targeting immigrants, often without criminal histories. Other news reports have indicated that the Marines and Guardsmen remaining in LA are fighting boredom and public contempt.
Marines train for a variety of war-related tasks, which do not include anything similar to how Marines are being used in LA, the senior official said. "And I think that certainly has a degree of degradation of morale."
Infantry units like the 7th Marine Regiment in LA are trained in the Corps' most fundamental mission— locating, closing with, and destroying the enemy by a mix of fire and maneuver, Joe Plenzer, a retired Marine infantry officer, told Business Insider last month.
"Beneath the Kevlar, the eye-pro, if you see a face, the face is probably, you know, a little bit of disappointment, a little bit of 'this is not what I signed up for,'" said the senior official. "And by a little bit, I mean a lot of it."
"Let's be honest, too, there's a percentage of our Marines that are coming from backgrounds where their immediate family members are at risk of getting deported from ICE," the senior official said.
US Marines guarding a federal building in Los Angeles, June 15, 2025, appear to be wearing a modified version of velcro patch that normally identifies the wearer's rank, last name, and blood type. The modified patch shows the letters "USMC" in large bold print, possibly an effort to better delineate Marines from the National Guard or law enforcement.
Cpl. Jaye Townsend/US Marine Corps
The service— which has the highest percentage of Hispanic troops compared to the other services, nearly 26% in 2022 — has found itself wrestling with new immigration enforcement policies on multiple fronts. The father of three US Marines, brutally beaten and detained by ICE agents, was released from custody earlier this week following efforts from his sons and other advocates, according to a report from Military.com.
Although active-duty Marines are generally barred from participating in domestic law enforcement, they are permitted to support the civilian agencies. The Marines, though made for a very different mission, appear to be supporting ICE more frequently.
The Pentagon ordered 200 air-support Marines to Floridaearlier this month to assist with administrative oversight at ICE detention centers there. And the Corps appears to be the first and only service with a pilot program in place with ICE at three bases to ostensibly guard against access by foreign personnel, according to Military.com.
Deepening ties with ICE in Florida and at the three bases, as well as the deployment to LA, could be taking a toll on Marines worried about their families, the senior official said. "What do you think that does to them?" they said of Marines who may have family members who immigrated illegally. There could be a notable effect, they suggested, "not only morale, but just like, in terms of their ethics and their values."
"My hope is that they're quickly relieved of being in that position," he continued. "And it's no longer a thing."
There have been 55 movies based on characters from DC Comics.
They range from all-timers like "The Dark Knight" to stinkers like "Catwoman."
The most recent DC film, "Superman," is closer to all-timer status.
Director, writer, and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn's "Superman" is finally out in the world.
Is it any good?
If you listen to critics, the answer is a resounding yes. But you don't have to take it from them; "Superman's" CinemaScore rating (taken from audience members who just walked out of the theater) is an A-minus. Not bad; not bad at all.
Of course, while "Superman" is the first in an all-new DC cinematic universe, it's not the first movie to be based on DC Comics. That honor goes all the way back to 1966's "Batman."
Over the last 59 years, there have been 55 movies based on characters introduced in the pages of DC Comics and its imprints Vertigo Comics, WildStorm, and Paradox Press.
We used Rotten Tomatoes to determine how each DC film has rated with critics, from the universally panned to the beloved classics.
Here's how each DC Comics film stacks up, including "Superman."
"Catwoman" stars Halle Berry as Patience Phillips, aka Catwoman, in an all-new take on the character. Really, her only resemblance to the comics character is that she, well, likes cats.
In this film, Patience gets her powers (which are new from the comics) from the Egyptian goddess Bast, and decides to take down her evil boss, Laurel (Sharon Stone), who has created an antiaging cream with dangerous side effects. It's as silly as it sounds.
Christy Lemire of the Associated Press called the movie a "soulless amalgamation of quick edits, computer images and swooping, nausea-inducing dolly shots."
Steel, aka John Henry Irons, is one of Superman's most famous allies — but you'd never know it from this film, which invents a new backstory for Steel (played, we'll say, woodenly, by Shaquille O'Neal), that sees him don an iron suit to get revenge on his nemesis Nathaniel Burke, played by Judd Nelson of all people.
"Shaq isn't much of an actor, of course, but as with his first starring effort, 'Kazaam,' he's used more for his screen 'presence.' And casting Nelson in the picture helps, since he's always pretty awful," wrote Chris Hicks for Deseret News.
"Batman & Robin" is known to some as a campy classic filled with neon lighting, a suit with Bat-Nipples, and a pun-loving Mr. Freeze played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
However, we can't cosign George Clooney's performance as Bruce Wayne or Batman. He just doesn't have it.
"Of all modern Batmans, George Clooney bears the closest physical resemblance to the comic-book hero, but there isn't much to say about his performance because there isn't much performance to discuss," wrote The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern.
"Jonah Hex" stars Josh Brolin as the titular character, a former Confederate soldier who was left for dead and healed by a Native American tribe, leaving him with the ability to communicate with the dead.
It also stars Megan Fox as Lilah, Jonah's gun-toting love interest, John Malkovich as Jonah's nemesis, Quentin Turnbull, and Michael Fassbender as Turnbull's maniacal right-hand man, Burke.
"It's a loud and subtle-as-a-sledgehammer assault on the senses, though, at 81 minutes, mercifully short," wrote Marc Lee for The Telegraph.
By the time Christopher Reeve was suiting up for his fourth (and final) go-around as Superman, it was clear that it was time to move on from this version of the character.
The actors seem somewhat checked out, the effects weren't getting any better, and the choice to deviate from the comics by pitting Superman against a new villain called Nuclear Man was not a wise one.
"In many sequences, Reeve looks as if he's pink-faced from embarrassment as he flies through the air looking like a cardboard cut-out," wrote The Boston Globe's Michael Blowen.
50. "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (2003)
"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is based on the WildStorm/America's Best Comics series of the same name — originally, these were independent brands from DC Comics, but they were acquired in 1998 by the comics giant, angering "League" creator Alan Moore.
He should've waited until 2003 to see how director Stephen Norrington would butcher his source material to get truly angry, though.
This film takes place in a universe where some of the most iconic characters in fiction (think Dorian Gray, Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, and Tom Sawyer) are part of a team of agents that take down threats such as Professor Moriarty of "Sherlock" fame.
"Destined to go down in the history books as the 'Heaven's Gate' of superhero flicks, this is nothing more and nothing less than an extraordinary waste of time and money," wrote Jamie Russell for the BBC.
Helen Slater stars as Kara Zor-El, the cousin of Kal-El (you might know him better as Superman), who had a very different upbringing than her cousin — instead of being raised on Earth by kindly farmers, she grew up among the remnants of Krypton. After a mishap with a wizard played by Peter O'Toole (!), Kara is sent to Earth and becomes Supergirl.
However, the cheesiness of this movie and Faye Dunaway's performance as the main villain, Selena, make it a tough watch in 2025.
Anna Maria Dell'oso of The Sydney Morning Herald called the film a "disappointingly bland and twitty movie."
Did you even know a comic-book movie starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson, Common, and Margo Martindale was released in 2019?
If you didn't, you're not alone. It made just $16 million on a $38 million budget, per Box Office Mojo.
The film is based on the Vertigo Comics series of the same name. In it, McCarthy, Haddish, and Moss play three mob wives who are suddenly put in a position of power after their husbands are sent to jail, giving them freedom for the first time.
"Moss, somehow, retains her dignity but McCarthy and Haddish are made to look like amateurs. I'm a fan of both women. Get me outta this kitchen," wrote Charlotte O'Sullivan for the London Evening Standard.
For those not familiar, Reynolds plays Hal Jordan, a test pilot who discovers a ring and becomes endowed with the powers of the Green Lantern Corps, an alien police force.
There's a lot wrong with this movie, from the underwhelming villain to the cheesy special effects. Perhaps James Gunn and the DCU will finally get Hal right in "Lanterns" in 2026.
"Even by the standards of the current run of mediocre comic-book movies, this one stands out for its egregious shoddiness," wrote Slate's Dana Stevens.
When the first teaser for "Suicide Squad" came out, people were excited. And then the cast proudly chatted to press about their matching tattoos and the camaraderie they built on set (Jared Leto's method-acting as the Joker notwithstanding).
Unfortunately, the finished product didn't live up to the hype. In a word, this team-up of some of the most iconic comics villains of all time (Harley Quinn played by Margot Robbie, Deadshot played by Will Smith, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, etc.) is cringe.
"For all its cast and crew's inglorious chest-thumping, 'Suicide Squad' is a failed, forced exercise in — of all things! You had one job! —ensemble chemistry," wrote K. Austin Collins for The Ringer.
Instead of making the "Man of Steel" sequel that fans wanted, or introducing a new Batman, as played by Ben Affleck, in his own stand-alone film, the studio chose to smush those two stories together in a nonsensical story that hinges on Batman and Superman's moms having the same name.
"If a filmmaker attempted to combine everything casual moviegoers don't like about superhero franchises, they couldn't come up with a picture as execrable as this one," wrote Jason Bailey for Flavorwire.
The first "Joker," which stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a mentally unstable wannabe comedian who just wants to be loved, made over $1 billion at the box office, was nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards, and Phoenix even won for best actor.
Its long-awaited sequel, which added Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn? Not so much.
It was a bomb, making just $207 million worldwide, and got such negative reviews from critics that it essentially disappeared from culture altogether.
"'Folie à Deux' is a punishingly dull affair. It's a pointless sequel with very little plot. It wastes the talent on screen, and it squanders the genuinely intriguing conceit of its characters breaking into song," wrote Esther Zuckerman for Bloomberg.
A classic move in "Superman" storytelling is to explore the possibility of Superman having a bad day — what would happen if the most powerful being on the planet decided he wasn't so good after all?
That's a compelling concept, if it's done right. In "Superman III," which sees our favorite Kryptonian corrupted by synthetic Kryptonite, it's not.
David Denby of The New Yorker called the film "tedious, labored, and feeble beyond belief."
The last film in the DCEU before James Gunn and Co. took over went out with a whimper, not a bang. While its predecessor made over $1 billion, this film topped out at $439 million.
In "Lost Kingdom," Aquaman (Jason Momoa) is now ruling over the seven seas with his wife Mera (Amber Heard, in a very reduced role from the first film). But when an old enemy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) gets hold of a powerful magical weapon, Aquaman must team up with his formerly villainous half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) to stop him.
"Where 'Aquaman' felt original, 'Lost Kingdom' is stale, void of all originality," wrote Jenny Nulf at the Austin Chronicle.
Infamously, while promoting this movie, Dwayne Johnson warned fans that the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe was about to change. In a way, he was right — just two months after this film's post-credit scene reintroduced Henry Cavill's Superman to the big screen for the first time in years, James Gunn announced he'd be starting from scratch with a new actor playing Superman in his revamped DCU.
But "Black Adam" itself is pretty boring. Johnson stars as Teth-Adam (aka Black Adam), an anti-hero who was bestowed super-powers by ancient Egyptian gods. After he's awakened from a centuries-long slumber, he goes on a mission to stand up for his home country, Kahndaq.
"'Black Adam' is two hours of cinematic soup, the ultimate statement from the god-king of movies that everyone sees but no one remembers," wrote Dylan Roth for the Observer.
This is the first version of "Justice League" released, to be clear — the one directed by Zack Snyder that was then taken over by Joss Whedon, starring Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as the Flash, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg.
The biggest problems with this movie, which sees the most powerful metahumans on Earth unite to defeat an alien called Steppenwolf, are that there's too much going on and the tone is all over the place.
"Perhaps the new Superman is closer to what the fans wanted. But he doesn't really feel like a character anymore. He, like the rest of his movie, feels like a focus group-approved concept," wrote Mashable's Angie Han.
"Batman Forever" was the third installment of WB's first attempt at a "Batman" franchise and the first (and only) outing of Val Kilmer's take on the Caped Crusader.
In this film, Bruce Wayne teams up with Robin (Chris O'Donnell) to take down the new team of the Riddler (Jim Carrey) and Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones). Both Carrey and Jones are absolutely going for it in these roles, and for that alone, it's worth the watch.
"'Batman Forever' is in and out but wins in the end by staying true to its unbridled comic spirit," wrote Peter Travers for Rolling Stone.
"Red 2" is the sequel to 2010's "Red" (coming later on this list). Once again, the film stars Bruce Willis as Frank Moses, a "retired and extremely dangerous" former CIA agent. He gets pulled into another scheme when he's framed for an operation back in the Cold War that involved smuggling bombs into the USSR.
"While we applaud the minds behind 'Red 2' for making a film for adults in a sea of movies for kids and teenage boys, they didn't actually make a good film for adults," wrote IndieWire's Kimber Myers.
Based on the comic character of the same name, Keanu Reeves stars in "Constantine" as the titular exorcist and demon hunter, John Constantine, as he searches for the archangel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton).
Though this film wasn't very beloved by critics or a huge financial success, it certainly has its fans — so much so that, per Deadline, a sequel was announced to be in development in 2022.
"Keanu Reeves is — let me just get this off my chest — very good," wrote Salon's Andrew O'Hehir.
In 2010, the year before Chris Evans would join the MCU as Captain America, he starred in a different comic-book movie — this one based on the Vertigo Comics series "The Losers."
The titular Losers are a group of black-ops soldiers who are sent on the most dangerous missions in the world. In this film, they're sent on a mission to Bolivia to destroy a drug trafficking compound, but are double-crossed by their evil boss, Max (Jason Patric).
"'The Losers' is a ho-hum scraping of the comic-book barrel, which feels particularly needless with both 'The A-Team' and 'The Expendables' on their way," wrote Tim Robey for The Telegraph.
"Shazam! Fury of the Gods" was one of the DCEU movies released after the announcement that an entire universe rehaul was imminent, rendering the events of this movie irrelevant.
It's a sequel to the perfectly lovely 2019 film "Shazam!," but this movie seemingly forgot what was charming about the first one. Zachary Levi (who plays the adult Billy) and Asher Angel (teen Billy) don't seem to be playing characters who have any knowledge of each other.
"The original film left nothing of substance for this superhero sequel," wrote Adam Mullins-Khatib for Chicago Reader.
The sequel to 1982's "Swamp Thing," "The Return of Swamp Thing" leans into every schlocky and campy quality of the original and turns it up to 11.
This time, Swamp Thing (Dick Durock) must rescue a young botanist, Abby Arcane (Heather Locklear), from her evil stepfather Anton (Louis Jordan), who wants to steal her youth.
Lindsay Costello of The Stranger called the movie "one of the most precious gifts ever put to celluloid."
In the 12 years since "Man of Steel" was released, there's been a lot written about what this movie did to the character of Superman, the destruction he wrought (seemingly without a second thought) across both Smallville and Metropolis, Cavill's portrayal of Kal-El, and the controversial characterization of his adopted dad Pa Kent (played in this iteration by Kevin Costner).
In general, we think it's a solid origin story that was hindered by a couple of casting choices, a lack of humor, and an oppressively gray color palette.
"Christliness has always been an element of the Superman myth. But this film's near literal insistence upon it becomes absurd since director Zack Snyder and screenwriter David S. Goyer don't dramatize the analogy, they presume it," wrote Wesley Morris for Grantland.
"Wonder Woman 1984" is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2017's "Wonder Woman," moving our heroine (played by Gal Gadot) from WWI-era Europe to 1980s Washington, DC.
The film also stars Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord, a would-be billionaire who becomes the living embodiment of a genie's lamp when he gets the ability to grant anyone's wishes just by getting near them.
Diana (aka Wonder Woman) has to choose between getting the love of her life, Steve (Chris Pine), back from the dead or having her powers and the ability to save people.
"It's a refreshingly silly and airy adventure focused on the emotions of one character, Wonder Woman (played by Gal Gadot), and a charming end to a tiring year of cinema," wrote David Sims of The Atlantic.
"Swamp Thing" was directed by horror legend Wes Craven, and is his love letter to the creature features of the 1950s such as "The Creature from the Black Lagoon."
It's a pretty standard monster movie anchored by performances by Ray Wise, Dick Durock, Adrienne Barbeau, and Louis Jordan. Alec Holland (Wise), a scientist, is turned into a superhuman monster after an experiment gone wrong. Horror ensues.
Roger Ebert called it "one of those movies that fall somewhere between buried treasures and guilty pleasures."
A lot was riding on "The Flash" before it hit theaters in 2023 after numerous delays. Apparently, Tom Cruise himself was so taken by it that he called director Andy Muschietti for 15 minutes to rave about it, per Variety.
Instead, it ended up being a somewhat garbled mess. Ezra Miller stars as Barry Allen, a young man struck by lightning who develops superspeed. But that's the least of Barry's concerns; he also has a dad who's been falsely imprisoned for murdering his mom. After the events of "Justice League," Barry figures out he can travel back in time and makes the choice to stop his mom from dying.
That small choice sends things into chaos, with Barry getting catapulted into an alternate universe with no other metahumans and the Michael Keaton version of Batman.
"Mad trippy or catastrophic? This DC superhero epic is actually a mix of both, dragged down by exhausting multiverse hopping but flashy fun on the wings of virtuoso Ezra Miller and the grumpy comic perfection of Michael Keaton as a Batman on the ropes," wrote Peter Travers for ABC.
The second-best reviewed Zack Snyder joint on this list is "Watchmen," adapted from the iconic, highly lauded comic of the same name.
In this story, masked crime-fighters have been around for decades (oh, and Richard Nixon is a five-term president at the height of the Cold War) — but they've been outlawed for years.
One such former vigilante, Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) becomes convinced that someone is taking out former heroes one by one, and tries to warn his former team, the Watchmen, that someone might be after them. But the conspiracy goes deeper than any of them could've imagined.
"'Watchmen' isn't boring, but as a fragmented sci-fi doomsday noir, it remains as detached from the viewer as it is from the zeitgeist," wrote Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman.
"Aquaman" stars Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry, a half-human, half-Atlantean hero who is of both land and sea. Over the course of the film, he must learn to accept his birthright as the king of Atlantis — but first, he must defeat Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson).
"Hollywood has given us the greatest, goofiest holiday gift in a long time," wrote Jordan Hoffman for AMNY.
The discourse around "Joker" (Is it about incels? Is it a truly nihilistic piece of art? What is a Joker movie without a Batman?) has almost obfuscated that it's a pretty good movie.
Joaquin Phoenix is almost unrecognizable as Arthur Fleck, a down-on-his-luck wannabe comedian who struggles with telling the difference between reality and delusion. But as his psyche begins to crack, he only becomes more beloved by the disillusioned residents of Gotham.
Wenlei Ma wrote for news.com.au, "'Joker' is a jumble — sometimes brilliant and sometimes trite. Among its flashes of excellence is a self-serious movie that isn't nearly as deep as it thinks it is."
The first (but not last!) animated film on this list is "DC League of Super-Pets," which is essentially the Justice League with cats and dogs (and turtles and guinea pigs and squirrels …).
In the same year he played Black Adam in live-action, Dwayne Johnson also voiced Krypto, Superman's pet dog. Kevin Hart, on the other hand, voiced Ace, Batman's boxer mix, whom the Dark Knight has adopted.
"The Super-Pets aren't the most witty or cutting bunch — and no doubt destined to be plush toys on store shelves soon — but there's little reason to resist the cute," wrote The Guardian's Adrian Horton.
"Red" is a somewhat forgotten movie these days, but it was actually nominated for a Golden Globe in 2010, for best motion picture — musical or comedy.
It's based on the WildStorm comic (a DC imprint) of the same name about a retired CIA agent named Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) who is pulled back into action after another agent, William Cooper (Karl Urban), is tasked with killing him by the vice president, Robert Stanton (Julian McMahon).
"A fast, funny, smart, adult-oriented action-comedy that generates precisely the kind of giddy vibe 'The Expendables' lacked," wrote The Age's Jim Schembri.
The plot of "Superman Returns" completely ignores the events of "Superman III" and "Superman IV," and is instead a semi-reboot, semi-legacy sequel to "Superman II."
This time, though, our hero is played by Brandon Routh, who we'd maintain never got a fair shake at playing Superman. This movie is pretty good! The airplane sequence that kicks off the movie holds up almost 20 years later.
"It's all about heart — not that the spectacle falters; this is the finest popular entertainment since the 'Rings' trilogy closed. Superman doesn't fly — he soars," wrote Ian Nathan for Empire.
"V for Vendetta" is based on the Vertigo Comics series of the same name. It takes place in an alternate version of Great Britain that has been overtaken by a fascist, totalitarian regime. A lone anarchist, known as V (Hugo Weaving) who is never seen without a Guy Fawkes mask, begins planting the seeds of a revolution with the help of a young woman, Evey (Natalie Portman).
Claudia Puig wrote for USA Today, "The dark and stylized 'V for Vendetta' is visually exhilarating, provocative and disturbing."
"Stardust" is based on the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name that was published by DC Comics in 1999.
It's an epic romantasy starring Charlie Cox as Tristan, a young man who wants to collect a fallen star to present to his love, Victoria (Sienna Miller) — but when the fallen star turns out to be a young woman named Yvaine (Claire Danes), Tristan finds himself in a love triangle.
"A stern editor with a sense of dramatic timing could have given this film more tension to go with its random bursts of comedy and big, happy fantasy setpieces, but lacking tautness, it'll have to settle for expansive joy," wrote the AV Club's Tasha Robinson.
Tim Burton's "Batman" took Gotham City's favorite vigilante out of the campy '60s and into the gothic, dark '80s.
The film (which actually isn't really an origin story — it starts off with Bruce Wayne having been Batman for at least six months) stars Michael Keaton as Wayne/Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker, in one of the most entertaining performances of his career.
Newsday's Mike McGrady called the film "one of the most interesting comic-book movies ever made, a movie that vividly illustrates where most of the others have gone wrong."
"Blue Beetle" is a charming little movie about a recent college grad, Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña), who becomes fused with a piece of alien tech known as the Scarab (voiced by Becky G) and becomes a powerful hero known as the Blue Beetle.
"'Blue Beetle' is both scrappy and tailored, poignant and breezily amusing. Pitched from a new angle and guided by talented hands, 'Blue Beetle' is a rarity in these superhero end-times: a genuine pleasure to watch, reviving tired old formula with brio," wrote Richard Lawson for Vanity Fair.
As you might remember, there already was a "Justice League" movie on this list — but it wasn't the director Zack Snyder's complete product, since he had to step away from filming due to personal reasons.
But when fans became aware that Snyder had shot enough footage to make a four-hour cut of the film that was true to his vision, they became obsessed with the #SnyderCut.
Sure, it took years, but "Zack Snyder's Justice League" hit HBO Max in 2021, all 242 minutes of it, after the fans' unrelenting pressure on Warner Bros.
While the general story remains the same, there's much more of every character in Snyder's cut, especially Cyborg (Ray Fisher) who was almost entirely cut out of the theatrical version. And it's a better movie for Fisher's performance, who is the heart of the film.
"It actually succeeds. In more ways than I ever expected," wrote NPR's Eric Deggans.
Margot Robbie's casting as Harley Quinn was far and away the best choice DC ever made. She shines in this movie as a newly empowered version of the Joker's ex-girlfriend who teams up with a few other local female criminals — The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), and Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) — to take down the crime lord Black Mask (Ewan McGregor).
"Kinetic, silly, candy-colored, and hyperviolent, 'Birds of Prey' is a serious treat for fans of comic book films. But it wouldn't work without the equal parts goofy, hilarious, and unhinged performance of its lead," wrote Max Weiss for Baltimore Magazine.
This version of the Caped Crusader is based on the equally campy '60s TV show that aired on ABC for three seasons.
From that iconic theme song, to Adam West's perfectly calibrated performance as an adult man who feels the need to dress up as a bat to fight crime, to all the wild "bat" gadgets (Bat-Shark Repellant, anyone?), this movie is a classic.
"I'd choose Adam West's Batmobile over Michael Keaton's any day," wrote Time Out.
Yup, "Road to Perdition" is a comic movie. The series was published by the DC Comics imprint Paradox Press in the '90s and 2000s.
The Sam Mendes film stars Tom Hanks as Michael Sullivan, an enforcer for the Irish Mob in '30s Illinois. After his family is targeted by a rival mobster, Michael and his son, played by Tyler Hoechlin, are forced to go on the run, killing anyone in their way.
"This is classic albeit somber filmmaking, restrained and all of a piece, by a director who believes film can tell adult stories in an adult manner, who knows the effects he wants and how to get them," wrote the Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan.
"Batman Returns" is a weirder, slimier, grimier, and meaner film than its predecessor — and it's a Christmas movie!
Michael Keaton is once again solid as Batman, but this movie belongs to Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman and Danny DeVito as the Penguin, two portrayals of the characters that live on 33 years later.
"The strange, ambitious character work that comprises 'Batman Returns' is wrapped in the perfunctory framework of a Tim Burton superhero film," wrote Justin Clark for Slant Magazine.
"Batman: The Animated Series" is one of the most iconic and beloved cartoons of all time, so it stands to reason that a theatrical adaptation of the cartoon would work. And it does! Kevin Conroy's vocal performance as Batman/Bruce Wayne will live on forever as the definitive portrayal of the character, and the design of Gotham City is timeless.
The story itself is pretty standard Batman fare, but it's compelling to watch Bruce grapple with the choice to stay a vigilante or give it up for love.
"A fantastic-looking back-to-basics telling of the legend, it totally disregards any attempt at nineties reinvention," wrote Ross Jones for The Guardian.
The most recent DC movie is, of course, 2025's "Superman." It's the first feature film under James Gunn's new DC Universe (and it was also written and directed by Gunn himself).
It introduces audiences to an all-new version of Superman, this time played to perfection by David Corenswet. He's surrounded by an all-time supporting cast, including Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner (a Green Lantern), Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, and Krypto, a really great dog.
"It makes you want to cheer. That's it, that's the secret ingredient that's been missing from so many superhero stories for so long," wrote Glen Weldon of NPR.
We'd call "Batman Begins" the first Batman movie of the modern era. It's directed by Christopher Nolan, and puts Batman (Christian Bale) into the most realistic version of Gotham City we'd seen to date. Plus, Cillian Murphy's portrayal of the Scarecrow still haunts us.
"The psychological realism and the science-fiction villainy don't always mesh seamlessly. But unlike so many superheroic summer spectacles, this one actually has a soul behind the special effects," wrote David Ansen for Newsweek.
Tied with "Batman Begins" is the newest version of the Bat, this time played by Robert Pattinson in one of the most emo roles of his career. Seriously, this Bruce Wayne looks like he's a fully nocturnal animal.
In a change from the rest of his big-screen portrayals, this Batman is equally as much of a detective as he is a brawler — and he certainly does a lot of both.
We also have to pay respects to Zoë Kravitz's Catwoman and Colin Farrell's unrecognizable turn as the Penguin, which led to him getting his own HBO Max show.
"'The Batman'is the Batman movie we deserve, though: overwrought and overlong, but also carefully crafted and exhilarating," wrote Adam Nayman for The Ringer.
Christian Bale wrapped up his time as the Dark Knight in 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises," which picks up eight years after the events of "The Dark Knight," when Batman was shunned by the people of Gotham after he took the fall for killing Harvey Dent.
This movie's lasting legacy is probably its villain, the hulking mass that is Bane (Tom Hardy) and his, we'll say, unique way of speaking.
But a lot happens in this movie. Batman meets Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), he gets his back broken and fully recovers, the city of Gotham is cut off from civilization via a series of bombings, and Batman fakes his own death. Phew.
"[Christopher] Nolan has turned a preposterous character back into a grave myth, the story of a tortured saviour, reluctantly giving his all," wrote The London Evening Standard's David Sexton.
Arguably, this could be considered the first modern superhero movie, the film that set us down the path we're still taking to the movie theaters to this day. It's cheesy, but not overly so, it has an all-time superhero theme composed by John Williams (that's still being used in "Superman" content now), and the casting of Christopher Reeve as Superman remains the best superhero casting of all time, period.
And we didn't even mention Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, who complete a trifecta of A-plus performances in this film.
"Reshaping a comic book adaptation into a modern myth told with wonder, sincerity and soul, 'Superman: The Movie' didn't just make you believe a man could fly, it made you want to," wrote Zaki Hasan for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Not even director David Cronenberg is immune to the comic-book movie craze. In 2005, he adapted the 1997 graphic novel published by Paradox Press (and later Vertigo Comics).
The film stars Viggo Mortensen as Tom, a small-town diner owner with a wife and son. He becomes the center of a media frenzy when he takes out two spree killers who are trying to rob his diner with relative ease — despite his best efforts to stay anonymous, his violent past as a mob hitman comes back to haunt him.
"Cronenberg's masterful, intelligent and gripping meta-thriller leaves us pondering about our enduringly perverse desire for alternative realities, in which surrogate violent alter egos run righteously and preposterously amok," wrote Richard Falcon for Sight & Sound.
With all the shuffling that went on behind the scenes (director Richard Donner was fired 80% of the way through and replaced with Richard Lester), it's a miracle that this movie is watchable, let alone great.
It's carried to greatness largely on the back of Terence Stamp's performance as General Zod, an evil Kryptonian hellbent on taking over Earth and destroying Superman.
"The special effects are spare but spectacular, and the delightfully showy tricks are spaced out by comic ventures into romance, tourism and human drama," wrote Meaghan Morris for The Sydney Morning Herald.
After Lego Batman was such a huge hit in "The Lego Movie," greenlighting a spinoff about his adventures in Gotham City was a no-brainer.
Will Arnett voices this petulant and somewhat callous version of Batman amazingly well. He's joined by an equally stellar voice cast of Michael Cera as Batman, Ralph Fiennes as Bruce's butler Alfred, Zach Galifianakis as the Joker, and Rosario Dawson as Batgirl.
This version of the Batman story gets at the idea, perhaps more than any other Batman story, that Batman and the Joker need each other to survive. It's a toxic relationship, but a relationship nonetheless.
"Everything is still awesome in the irreverent 'Lego Movie' universe!!! All right, maybe not everything. But enough things," wrote Us Weekly's Mara Reinstein.
In between his second and third "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies, James Gunn briefly jumped ship from Marvel to DC (and soon, permanently joined Team DC) to write and direct "The Suicide Squad," a loose sequel to 2016's "Suicide Squad." Confusing titles, we know.
This version of the team is all heart and the epitome of the found family trope that Gunn loves so much. After a fakeout in which almost an entire team is killed, we're introduced to our main characters: Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), and Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior).
"'The Suicide Squad' is relentlessly unapologetic, wacky and weird, violent and bloody, and darkly humorous. It also has so much heart that you may find yourself fighting back tears by its end," wrote Kirsten Acuna for Business Insider.
"Shazam!" was a surprise. It's a somewhat high concept: A young foster kid named Billy Batson is chosen by an ancient wizard to be bestowed with the power of the gods. Now, any time he says "Shazam" he goes from young Asher Angel to the adult Zachary Levi.
However, the strength of this movie is the bond between Billy and his foster siblings, mainly Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer), as they come together and become a true family.
"Once Billy says that magic word and his supersized alter ego appears, the movie goes to its happy place and comfortably embraces its own identity as a light, jocular, modest entertainment," wrote Manohla Dargis for The New York Times.
The best-reviewed animated movie on this list is "Teen Titans Go! To the Movies," the cinematic continuation of the Cartoon Network series that began airing in 2013.
The Teen Titans are exactly what it sounds like: a group of teenage superheroes. This version of the team contains Robin (Scott Menville), Starfire (Hynden Walch), Beast Boy (Greg Cipes), Cyborg (Khary Payton), and Raven (Tara Strong).
In this film, the Teen Titans are upset that no one takes them seriously because they've never had a movie made about them, so they go on a hunt to find an arch-nemesis worthy of the big screen.
Tara Brady of The Irish Times called it "appropriately super."
Wonder Woman is one of the most famous and beloved heroes in the DC universe, but it took 76 years to get Diana, the Amazonian princess of Themiscyra, on the big screen.
Thankfully, she was worth the wait. This movie, put simply, rocks. Chris Pine is dynamite as WWI fighter pilot Steve Trevor, Gal Gadot plays Diana's naivety about the modern world so well, and the rest of the supporting cast is on their A-game, too.
"It's not difficult to see where this route is going, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable to watch. The simple power of love is the cornerstone upon which Wonder Woman is built. If it seems earnest, it's because it is," wrote Karen Han for Slash Film.
There's an argument to be made that "The Dark Knight," the second of the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale trio, is the best super-hero movie ever made.
It blends action with thought-provoking ideas about the nature of good and evil — yes, we know it's cliché at this point, but in 2008, it was hitting different! — and a genuinely starmaking performance of Heath Ledger, who would go on to posthumously win an Oscar for his work as the Joker.
"The haunting and visionary 'Dark Knight' soars on the wings of untamed imagination," wrote Rolling Stone's Peter Travers.
Menlo Ventures partners Amy Wu Martin and Shawn Carolan.
Menlo Ventures
AI adoption is ramping up, opening opportunities for new consumer startups.
Menlo Ventures' recent "State of Consumer AI" report reveals categories the VC firm is eyeing.
Business Insider spoke with two partners at the firm about where Menlo is placing bets.
How can AI actually foster more human connection?
That's a question Menlo Ventures, a venture capital firm that's invested in companies like Uber, Tumblr, and Anthropic, wants to answer.
Connection is one of a handful of "white space opportunities" that Menlo Ventures is eyeing as fertile ground for new startups in consumer AI technology, according to the firm's recent "The State of Consumer AI" report.
Menlo Ventures and Morning Consult surveyed roughly 5,000 US-based adults in April about their feelings around AI and how they've used the tools within the past six months.
"Today, usage is dominated by these generalist AI systems," such as OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini, Menlo Ventures partner Amy Wu Martin told Business Insider. "But we're seeing, starting with specific categories, this move into more specialized apps."
Menlo's research identified five broad categories where specialized AI apps are gaining traction: routine tasks, creative expression, physical and mental health, learning and development, and connection.
Dating, social networking, AI companions, and more
What falls under the connection umbrella?
One niche is dating. Menlo's market map of consumer AI tools highlighted AI-powered matchmaking apps like A16z Speedrun alum Sitch, Keeper, and Ditto. Then there are socialnetworking apps that use AI agents to surface new people to meet, such as Gigi or professional-focused startups like Series or Boardy. Menlo also puts AI companions (think Character AI or Replika) and the turn-yourself-into-a-bot startup Delphi (a Menlo investment) under its connection thesis.
"People are starting to use AI as a bit of a crutch to actually figure out how to interact with people and feel less awkward," Martin said, pointing to examples of how people may use AI to prepare for a date or dinner party.
In addition to dating advice or social coaching, the technology can be a semi-social outlet in itself, enabling users to interact with AI-generated personas.
"The biggest gap in the AI connectivity is multiplayer mode," Martin said, referring to AI that facilitates and participates in group activities.
Social media has largely morphed into entertainment — propelled by the rise of influencers — instead of a place to foster real-life connections. Menlo thinks AI could help bring people together, especially in the still-untapped realm of multiplayer experiences.
"What is the tool that really just helps you be better in your relationships?" Menlo partner Shawn Carolan said. "I don't want more media coming my way. It's almost like the opposite of social media."
But people aren't running en masse to AI for connection just yet.
According to the report, only 14% of participants said they used AI for "staying in touch."
Investors are buzzing about consumer AI
A new crop of startups at the intersection of AI and social networking has stirred buzz with investors.
"We are trying to understand where the puck is going," Martin said. "The next phase, especially consumer, is around these specialized apps."
Menlo Ventures isn't the only firm betting on consumer AI applications.
Amber Atherton, a partner at early-stage consumer fund Patron, recently told BI about wanting to invest in startups that better help people find new relationships and maintain their existing ones.
Beyond connection, Menlo Ventures is also watching spaces like healthcare and wellness, financial management, personalized learning, home-related tasks, and family logistics as opportunities for startups.
Parents, for instance, are AI "power users," according to Menlo's survey.
"Ultimately, consumers are trying to get things done," Martin said.
First, we settled in Atlanta. The bustling business hub seemed rife with career opportunities for both of us. Plus, it was familiar territory for me as I'd lived there a few times and had friends and family nearby.
After two years of living in Atlanta, we weren't sold on the idea of settling there and preferred to explore our options. We wanted more perks of California living — sunshine, beaches, and proximity to theme parks — for a fraction of the cost.
After a wonderful spring-break trip in 2021, we realized we could find all of those things in Orlando. When my then-husband received an offer for his dream job there a year later, we finally made the move to Florida.
Living in Orlando felt like heaven on earth to me, but the honeymoon phase ended after about three years.
Although I love visiting Orlando, living there wasn't all sunshine and rainbows
I love visiting Orlando, but it wasn't ideal for me in the long run.
John Coletti/Getty Images
At first, I really enjoyed living in Orlando.
We had so much entertainment and fun right in our backyard: Our home was less than an hour from the beach, plus less than 30 minutes from Disney World, Universal, and SeaWorld.
Soon, I realized some of the area's not-so-great qualities were dealbreakers in my long-term living plans.
Since Florida is nicknamed the Sunshine State, I didn't think to look much deeper into its year-round forecasts before we moved.
We enjoyed a lot of sun, but in our first year as residents, I was shocked to discover how much it rains in Orlando — even in the summer. The area has a rainy season that lasts months, and rainfall here is higher than the US average.
Worse, though, is living through Florida's infamous hurricane seasons. Orlando is far inland and typically safe from hurricanes, but it isn't always entirely in the clear from the storm's path and local impact.
Orlando gets a lot more rain than I expected.
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The city still gets heavy rains and flooding. In two of the three years we lived in Orlando, several hurricane warnings pushed us to evacuate. Plus, as we're more inland, heavy winds can make the area susceptible to tornadoes.
Although our top-floor apartment was never damaged by storms, we saw our homeowner friends fork out thousands for hurricane-related repairs while dealing with the area's rising insurance costs.
Combined with the rising risk of hurricanes and home prices, this all turned me off from the idea of ever buying a house in Florida.
Even if I didn't own property, it became clear to me that hurricane damages and risks would likely impact all residents one way or another — be it higher rent payments or car insurance rates.
Unfortunately, the Sunshine State's hot, humid, and rainy weather can also make homes especially susceptible to mold. When I began experiencing health issues related to frequent mold exposure, it felt like my final straw.
After three years, I'd had enough of living in Florida, and I was ready to leave, especially since my marriage was ending, too. I can't say living in Orlando played a role in our split, but not having family or a village nearby definitely wasn't great for us.
I moved back to a place where I knew I could settle with ease: Atlanta
I arrived in Orlando a married woman and left as a divorcée, but I'm ready for this exciting new chapter of my life in Atlanta.
carlofranco/Getty Images
Once our divorce was finalized, Atlanta welcomed me back with open arms.
Although the Georgia city experiences its fair share of tropical storms, the weather feels much calmer year-round, and I still get tons of sunshine. I'm closer to my family and friends, and feel comfortable settling down here.
I also like that there are so many thriving people in Atlanta who look like me. There's a reason this city is nicknamed the Black Mecca of the South — and I've seen firsthand its dense population of successful Black professionals and moguls.
I'm excited for my new chapter in Atlanta. It turns out it was the right place for me all along — just at the wrong time.
Although Orlando didn't work out as a permanent residence, it'll always be my home away from home and a go-to vacation spot.
The companion is inspired by "Twilight" and "50 Shades of Grey," Musk said.
Grok already has two companions: an anime girl named Ani and a vulgar red panda named Rudi.
Elon Musk says his Grok chatbot is getting a male companion — and his company looked to two popular romance novels for inspiration.
Musk on Wednesday teased a forthcoming male Grok companion, asking users for their thoughts on what he should be named.
"His personality is inspired by Edward Cullen from Twilight and Christian Grey from 50 Shades," Musk wrote.
When an X user commented that the character should have been inspired by Mr. Darcy, a character from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Musk replied, "We will, of course, have another character inspired by Mr. Darcy."
Grok has already released two AI companions: a flirty female anime character named Ani and a vulgar red panda named Rudi.
A representative for xAI didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Grok was recently criticized for a series of antisemitic posts, including some in which it referred to itself as "MechaHitler," a video game version of Hitler. xAI later apologized for the chatbot's "horrific behavior."
"Deprecated code made @grok susceptible to existing user posts; including when such posts contained extremist views," xAI said.
xAI isn't the only company to experiment with offering various chatbot personas. There's Character.AI, which says it lets users choose from millions of AI characters as conversation partners. Meta started offering chatbot characters featuring the likenesses of celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Kendall Jenner, and Charli D'Amelio, but scrapped them after less than a year.
Time will tell if Grok's companions meet a similar fate.
US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Austyn Riley
A UK Royal Air Force F-35B has been stuck in India for more than a month.
India is not a part of the program, and doesn't have permission to access the jet's advanced tech.
A warfare analyst said: "You really don't want it sitting in a country that isn't cleared to access knowledge about those capabilities."
A UK F-35 stealth fighter jet has been stuck for more than a month in India, a country that isn't part of the program and does not have access to the plane's advanced tech and capabilities.
The stealth fighter landed on June 14 at Thiruvananthapuram airport in the state of Kerala, where it was diverted after it ran into bad weather in the Indian Ocean. An engine issue then prevented the jet from returning to the Royal Navy's flagship carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, the British High Commission in New Delhi said.
Local media reports that the jet is still there but the repair work is underway.
The jet is an F-35B, the short-takeoff/vertical landing variant built with a lift fan for operations on amphibious assault ships, certain aircraft carriers, and limited runways. This version of the fighter is used by the UK, Japan, Italy, and the US.
The fifth-generation aircraft, made by the US defense contractor Lockheed Martin, is one of the most advanced jets in the world, and the US determines who gets access to these planes. India isn't on the list of approved partner countries.
The jet being stuck for so long has raised questions about how this could happen to such a modern jet and concerns about having top tech stranded where it shouldn't be.
Former Australian Army Maj. Gen. Mick Ryan, a warfare strategist, explained to Business Insider that "given the extraordinary capabilities and advanced technologies on these things, you really don't want it sitting in a country that isn't cleared to access knowledge about those capabilities."
An F-35B above a warship.
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force/X
He said he suspects the US is putting pressure on the UK concerning the recovery of the jet. Neither the Pentagon nor the US State Department responded to BI's request for comment. The F-35 Joint Program Office did not immediately respond either.
"I'd say there'd be a lot of diplomatic action in the background with the Indians to ensure that the security of that aircraft is paramount and that there aren't efforts to exploit that aircraft by some who might be tempted to do so," Ryan added.
The US is able to decide a lot about how the jet is used around the world, including restricting its export. It has previously done so with countries that use Russian and Chinese weapon systems, such as Turkey, which was initially part of the program. India has never been a part of the program, though there's been interest.
Christoph Bergs, an airpower analyst at the UK's Royal United Services Institute, told The New York Times this month that "there's lots of secrecy involving military aircraft in general," but it's even more sensitive with the F-35. Even though it's used by many American and partners allies, its tech is carefully guarded.
"You don't want unauthorized access where people can either interfere with the machine, or take very close-up pictures, or even start, you know, messing with the machinery itself," he said.
The jet has been moved to an on-site hangar.
When it was sitting out in the open, there were reports in Indian media that it hadn't been moved due to the UK's distrust. The Royal Navy rejected that in a statement to The Independent, saying it would have been done sooner if the required tools and expertise had been available. When relocating the fighter jet to a hangar became an option, action was taken "to minimise disruptions to the regular airport operations," it said.
The British Royal Navy directed BI to the British defense ministry, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While the British military and experts have attempted to downplay potential trust issues and there have been no indications that India is attempting to access the jet's classified technology, there is, nonetheless, a reason to take security seriously.
A complicated relationship
The advanced combat technology aboard the F-35 stealth fighter is exceptionally sensitive, and the US carefully weighs who gets access to it.
The US and India are not formal allies, but they are strategic partners. India has purchased billions of dollars worth of US defense equipment, and the countries hold military exercises together, with Washington viewing Mumbai as a partner against China.
India, however, also buys a lot of Russian equipment, with Moscow as a major supplier of weapons to Mumbai. India also maintains a relationship with Russia and is a major buyer of Russian oil, complicating ties with the US.
Amid these complexities in the relationship, the US has at times been hesitant to share advanced tech with India. For instance, the previous US administration left it off the list of countries with unrestricted access to US-made microchips.
It's unclear how the new Trump administration will affect ties. India rejected President Donald Trump's claim in June that he had brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan during a conflict in May. But India's government has also publicly praised Trump, in a move seen by some analysts as a bid to avoid heavy tariffs that Trump is putting on much of the world.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
The Trump administration has pledged to deepen its defense partnership with India. Trump said in February that "starting this year, we'll be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars." He added that they were "paving the way" for India to eventually get the F-35.
Whether that goes through remains to be seen. It's uncertain whether F-35s are right for India, which is eager to grow its own defense industry. Also, Russia is offering India an export version of its less expensive Su-57. The Russian jet comes with less red tape but also less capability.
Rescuing the jet
The UK is trying to repair the stranded aircraft to take it out of India. The UK Defence in India, the official X account of UK Defence Adviser in India, Commodore Chris Saunders, posted on July 7 that a team of engineers from the UK had arrived to work on the aircraft
It said repairs were underway on the aircraft, which had been moved to the maintenance hangar. It said "we are grateful for the continued support and collaboration of the Indian authorities."
UPDATE: A team of UK engineers has arrived in India to commence repairs on the UK F35B aircraft. Repairs are underway on the aircraft, which has now been moved to the maintenance hangar. We are grateful for the continued support and collaboration of the Indian authorities. 🇬🇧🤝🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/WD0pmkiLNH
— UK Defence in India🇬🇧🇮🇳 (@UKDefenceIndia) July 7, 2025
India Today reported that UK military personnel were guarding the hangar and that India's security forces were staying outside and at a distance.
The jet likely can't be safely flown right now. The UK Ministry of Defence, in a statement to The Associated Press, rejected speculation that the jet could be partially dismantled and transported in a cargo plane if it can't be fixed by engineers.
Kerala, the destination you'll never want to leave.
For now, the advanced jet is where it is and has become something of a source of humor in India, sparking memes. The tourism department of Kerala shared a cartoon image of the fighter jet on a runway beside some palm trees with a fake five-star review alongside the text "Kerala is such an amazing place, I don't want to leave. Definitely recommend."
Calvin French-Owen, a former member of OpenAI's technical staff who helped launch a series of AI coding tools called Codex, published a lengthy blog post on Tuesday that detailed what happened to him in his year at the company.
His blog offers a rare, first-person account of everyday life at OpenAI — insight that its string of recently departed employeeshaven't provided until now.
He said he left about three weeks ago after starting in May 2024. Prior to OpenAI, he was the cofounder of a customer data platform called Segment, according to his LinkedIn profile. He said he's still figuring out what's next.
French-Owen said that OpenAI has a "bottoms-up" culture, especially in its research departments. This makes the company "very meritocratic," he said, and people are promoted on their ability to generate ideas and execute them. The most competent, he said, weren't great at all-hands presentations or "political maneuvering."
Despite the revelations about CEO Sam Altman's leadership style that surfaced during his brief ousting as CEO in 2023— and subsequent chatter of culture clashes betweenthe company's academic and corporate factions — French-Owen said the company stays true to its nonprofit origins. "The longer you've been there, the more you probably view things through the 'research lab' or 'nonprofit for good' lens," he wrote.
That's not to say the company isn't worried about turning a profit. He said success is mostly measured by the number of subscriptions a new tool or update generates, a key path to profitability.
He also said the company doesn't operate like an institution or a tech giant. It makes decisions quickly, teams are fluid, and it can be "very secretive," he said, so he never knew what others were working on in much detail.
Another hallmark of the fast-paced, startup-like culture is that most communication takes place on Slack. French-Owen said he received about 10 emails during his whole tenure at OpenAI.
But the pace can sometimes backfire. "Everything breaks when you scale that quickly: how to communicate as a company, the reporting structures, how to ship product, how to manage and organize people, the hiring processes, etc," he said.
Hours are long, he said, especially as it comes close to a product launch. Some of OpenAI's engineers told media outlets that they were burned out from working 80 hours a week, and the company gave them a week off earlier this month.
When the launch of Codex neared, French-Owen said he worked from 7 a.m. to midnight most days, and weekends, too.
"The stakes feel really high," he said. "On the one hand, there's the goal of building AGI — which means there is a lot to get right. On the other hand, you're trying to build a product that hundreds of millions of users leverage."
Artificial general intelligence is broadly defined as AI that reasons as well as or better than humans. It's what most leading AI companies are competing to develop first.
Talent is the key to reaching that goal. The biggest tech companies in the world are throwing millions at a handful of top researchers to win the race to AGI.
Meta has been at the forefront of these talent wars. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently hired Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to lead its AI efforts, and has recruited some of the top AI researchers in the world from other companies.
One of the top places Zuckerberg is poaching from is OpenAI. Jason Wei, who worked on OpenAI's o1 and deep research models, and colleague Hyung Won Chung, both left for Meta this week.
Ultimately, French-Owen said there's a chance he'd return to OpenAI.
"It's entirely possible that the quality of the work will draw me back," he said. "It's hard to imagine building anything as impactful as AGI, and LLMs are easily the technological innovation of the decade."
OpenAI did not immediately respond to Business a request for comment from Business Insider.
We spent about three months on a trip through Europe and learned a few lessons the hard way by making mistakes that wasted our time and money.
Mar Yvette
My husband and I spent about three months traveling around the United Kingdom, France, and Spain.
I wish we'd learned how to use local public transit sooner and hadn't rented a car during the trip.
Our trip would've been easier if we'd learned more of the local languages before we left.
No matter how much you plan or how well-traveled you are, you're bound to make a few mistakes. That's what my husband and I realized after our first trip together to Europe last spring.
Despite our best efforts, our almost-three-month adventure in the United Kingdom, France, and Spain included more than a few miscalculations — some of which happened before we even boarded the plane.
Before your next trip to Europe, you may want to learn from our mistakes to save yourself time, money, and stress.
Relying on rideshares and cabs instead of learning how to navigate public transportation right away
Taxis were convenient, but they weren't always cheap.
Mar Yvette
During our first week in London, we used the city's famous black cabs and ride-hailing apps like Bolt and Uber. This cost us hundreds of dollars, and we also wasted a lot of time sitting in traffic.
We eventually figured out how to navigate public transit (with the help of the Citymapper app), and this was a huge time and money saver everywhere we went in Europe. I wish we'd done it sooner.
Not being more skeptical about rental listings
We booked a few rental spaces for our trip and didn't realize until after arriving that we'd been duped by some of the hosts' photos.
Turns out, many of them had been taken in 0.5 zoom, which can make spaces (especially bathrooms) look a lot bigger than they are.
We now scrutinize images on rental sites more closely, ask hosts specific questions about the space, and read all user reviews. Sometimes, we even request more photos.
Renting a car to cross countries
For parts of our trip, I wish we'd just taken the train.
Fotofantastika/Getty Images
Part of the excitement of our European adventure was traveling by plane, train, and automobile.
We loved taking trains, but driving through the south of France and northern Spain was more stressful than idyllic. We weren't prepared to navigate the roads, from the expensive tolls to the confusing signs with symbols we'd never seen before.
Looking back, we shouldn't have rented a car. From now on, when we're abroad, we're sticking to trains and planes.
Packing the wrong shoes and not breaking them in
My husband has an uncommon shoe size, so he packed two pairs of new sneakers. The problem was, he didn't wear them much before the trip.
Turns out, there's a big difference between walking a mile in Santa Monica and 6 to 8 miles a day in Paris and London. If he'd broken them in more, we would've known he needed replacement insoles.
Instead, by the end of our trip, we'd spent hundreds of dollars on moleskin pads and bandages — and my husband's feet were so blistered and bruised that they didn't go back to normal for weeks.
Next time, he's making sure his shoes are effectively tested and broken in before going on a trip that requires a lot of walking.
Hiding our passports in our rental apartment … then forgetting about them
We now travel with packing lists that we double-check.
Mar Yvette
We didn't necessarily want to carry our passports with us while exploring different cities and towns. So, in an effort to keep them safe, we'd hide them in some of our Airbnbs when a safe wasn't available.
However, we forgot to take our passports with us while checking out of one rental in Spain — partly because we were in such a rush to leave.
To avoid making this scary mistake again, we now use a packing checklist and double-check that we have all of our belongings when we check out of an accommodation.
Not learning enough of the local languages before the trip
Though it was easy for us to get by in Spain with my conversational Spanish, it was difficult to communicate in France with our very limited French.
Granted, most locals spoke English, but our lack of language proficiency was particularly distressing when we ended up at a Parisian hospital trying to explain my husband's headache symptoms and understand the doctor's advice. (Thank goodness for Google Translate!)
With so many free language-learning apps and resources out there, we should've brushed up months beforehand instead of waiting until the last minute. That way, we could've navigated each country more comfortably, efficiently, and independently.
Assuming our Platinum Amex would be the only card we'd need
We weren't able to use our Amex card as much as we'd hoped.
Mar Yvette
Getting the Platinum Amex Card was phenomenal for its sign-on bonus points and perks like car-rental insurance, $15 monthly Uber Cash, and no foreign transaction fees.
However, most places we visited in Europe didn't accept American Express cards. Instead, we had to use our other credit cards that charged international fees.
Now, when traveling abroad, we don't rely on Amex alone — we also take at least one Mastercard or Visa that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees.
Booking a monthlong stay in a city we hadn't planned on visiting
Initially, our European adventure wasn't going to include a month in Donostia-San Sebastian, a seaside town in Spain's Basque Country.
But a friend told us about the region, and we figured it'd be fun to visit this renowned gastronomic hub.
It was beautiful — but after 10 days of pintxos (local bite-sized snacks) and promenade walks, we got bored and left.
Knowing we wouldn't get a refund for our rental was difficult, but we determined it was worth the extra cost so we could return to Paris and enjoy a city we truly love.
Next time, we'll follow our instincts and also try a place out for a shorter period of time if we're not sure we'll love it.
Jamie Siminoff is back at Amazon running the Ring business he founded. He's making big changes.
Siminoff recently mandated that staff show how they use AI when applying for promotions.
This applies to Ring and some other Amazon units including Blink and Sidewalk.
To get ahead at Ring and other Amazon smart-home businesses, you'll need to show your AI chops.
Ring founder Jamie Siminoff, who also oversees Amazon's Blink security cameras, Key in-home delivery service, and Sidewalk wireless network, announced on Wednesday that all promotion applications at his RBKS organization must now explain how employees are using AI at work.
Siminoff, who returned to Amazon in April after a 2-year hiatus, said the new policy aims to reward "innovative thinking" and reinforce a culture of speed and efficiency.
"When we combine innovative technology with our missions, we create something truly special," Siminoff wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by Business Insider.
A Ring spokesperson told BI the changes only apply to Amazon's RBKS employees, and not the rest of the company.
The change underscores a growing trend among tech companies to incorporate AI use into their talent-evaluation process.
Shopify announced in April that managers must prove AI couldn't do a job better before hiring anyone new. Microsoft is asking some managers to evaluate employees based on how they use internal AI tools. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, meanwhile, warned last month that AI will reduce the company's workforce because of efficiency gains.
Siminoff, in his email, said employees seeking a promotion must now describe how they have used generative AI or other AI technologies to improve customer experience or increase operational efficiency. They are also asked to cite specific AI projects they've worked on and the measurable impact achieved.
Those in management positions are also required to show how they used AI tools to accomplish "more with less," while reducing or not growing headcount, according to the email.
"In the spirit of Day 1 culture, we will keep learning, iterating and improving this," Siminoff wrote.
OpenAI released a new tool called ChatGPT Agent, which allows ChatGPT users to parse data and create spreadsheets.
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto
OpenAI released ChatGPT Agent on Thursday.
The new agent allows ChatGPT users to parse data and create spreadsheets and slides, among other things.
OpenAI announced the new tool as it navigates an otherwise bumpy summer.
OpenAI released ChatGPT Agenton Thursday.
The company said the new tool can tackle complex tasks "using its own computer."
That includes requests like "look at my calendar and brief me on upcoming client meetings based on recent news" and "plan and buy ingredients to make Japanese breakfast for four," the company said in its announcement.
During a livestream, CEO Sam Altman said the idea for ChatGPT Agent came after OpenAI launched its other agents, Operator and Deep Research. Operator uses its own browser to perform tasks, while Deep Research can do multi-step investigations on the internet.
"It became clear to us that what people really wanted was for us to bring those capabilities together," Altman said. "People wanted a unified agent that could go off, use its own computer, and do real complex tasks for them."
ChatGPT Agent is now available for certain users.
"Starting today, Pro, Plus, and Team users can activate ChatGPT's new agentic capabilities directly through the tools dropdown from the composer by selecting 'agent mode' at any point in any conversation," the company said.
The release is a much-needed distraction from what has been a bumpy summer for the world's premier AI startup, which in March was valued at $300 billion after raising another $40 billion.
OpenAI has faced increased competition from Big Tech giants like Meta, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft recently. Google, for example, hired staffers from AI coding assistant startup Windsurf after its deal with OpenAI collapsed. Meta poached several of OpenAI's top staffers to bolster its own ranks, and Amazon is developing a potentially unflattering film about Altman.
It's also navigating disagreements with its largest investor, Microsoft, and a trademark suit related to its much-hyped acquisition of io, the design company founded by famed Apple designer Jony Ive.
Elon Musk's xAI, meanwhile, released the latest version of its chatbot, Grok, this month. OpenAI, on the other hand, delayed the release of its own new model.
With the release of ChatGPT Agent, OpenAI is reminding everyone that it's still, for now, the leading AI company out there.
ChatGPT Agent will allow users to do all kinds of things, including parsing data and creating spreadsheets and slides, competing directly with Microsoft and Google.
