• Market research company EMARKETER shared its forecast for retail in 2025.
• Chinese apps like TikTok disrupted the e-commerce space, but growth could be hindered in the US.
• Retailers may create more exclusive content for consumers with in-house production studios.

Technology will continue to impact the retail industry in 2025, pushing the boundaries of traditional sales and e-commerce.

Retailers of all sizes are adapting to this fast-changing consumer landscape, which is on the rebound in the United States.

Retail sales rose 0.7% in November compared to the previous month due to increased automobile sales and the success of online retailers, according to the US Census Bureau. A recent boost in personal-care spending could be a signal that US shoppers are now more confident, meaning they're more apt to splurge at e-commerce retailers like Shein or hybrid models like Walmart.

As the industry sets its sights on the coming year, EMARKETER, a research firm owned by Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, published its insights and forecasts.

"As competition intensifies and consumers continue to seek value, retailers will need to double on how to differentiate themselves and offer shoppers what they want, wherever they are," the report said.

From artificial intelligence to retailers like creating production companies, here are five ways the industry will expand and transform in 2025.

Innovative companies will combine generative AI with predictive AI to stimulate business growth

Artificial intelligence has become more prominent in the retail industry, and that trend will only accelerate in 2025. EMARKETER said the way retailers use the technology will become more sophisticated as they leverage both generative and predictive artificial intelligence.

Gen AI is artificial intelligence that can respond to prompts or requests with original content. Predictive AI can help forecast outcomes by recognizing patterns using statistical analysis and machine learning.

"By using the two technologies in tandem, businesses can make faster, more informed decisions," the report said. "They can unlock revenue growth by reducing customer churn, identifying new business opportunities, and forecasting demand — and they can improve profitability by identifying inefficiencies and optimizing operations."

Companies who can harness this technology will win with consumers, EMARKETER said.

The report predicts that companies will be able to make more accurate inventory and assortment planning, which will result in gains in product gross margin. It also says products will arrive on the market faster with less waste and fewer resources.

Americans are enamored with Chinese retailers, but policies and privacy concerns could slow momentum

Several Chinese retailers have dug deep inroads with American consumers in recent years. Cheap products and bullish digital marketing helped brands like Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop thrive.

Shein generated $2 billion in profits in 2023, while Temu's success helped creator Colin Huang become one of the richest men in China. PDD Holdings, Temu's parent company, said it made about $35 billion in revenues in 2023, a 90% increase from 2022. It's unclear how much TikTok Shop has generated since its 2023 launch, but the company said in its 2024 economic report that the app drove $15 billion in revenue for small businesses in the United States. A March Financial Times report, citing three sources, said TikTok Shop facilitated $16 billion in sales in the United States.

Americans are enamored with these brands, but obstacles lay ahead in 2025.

TikTok, for example, could be banned in the United States before the end of January. Congress passed a law in April that gave ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, a January 19 deadline to divest the app or be removed from US app stores, citing security concerns. TikTok asked the US Supreme Court to block the law, arguing it violates the First Amendment rights of Americans who use the app. President-elect Donald Trump has suggested he opposes the ban, but what actions he would take is unclear.

The report said both Shein and Temu, meanwhile, have faced concerns over data privacy, product safety, and copyright infringement. At one point, Temu and Shein sued each other. Shein's parent company, Roadget Business Pte., Ltd., filed a lawsuit against Temu in 2023 that accused it of creating fake Twitter accounts using Shein's name and trademark. Temu later sued Shen, saying the fast-fashion company violated antitrust laws.

A Shein spokesperson said told BI that it "has robust data security policies and practices in line with industry standards, and we are committed to only collecting and using the minimum amount of data needed to fulfill orders. SHEIN stores U.S. customer data within Microsoft's U.S.-based Azure cloud-based solution and within AWS's U.S.-based cloud-based solution."

The spokesperson said Shein "takes product safety very seriously and is dedicated to providing customers with safe and reliable products."

These e-commerce stores also have to compete with powerhouse retailers in the United States, like Amazon, which launched its own Temu-like discount storefront called Haul in November.

Despite the hurdles, EMARKETER says the TikTok Shop will continue to grow, Shein's supply chain model will become more popular, and Temu could expand its offerings into low-cost groceries.

Major retailers like Amazon and Walmart will continue to dominate ad spending while smaller ones struggle

EMARKETER's report said the influx in new retail media networks — a type of advertising platform that lets retailers sell ad space on their channels to third-party brands — won't dent the share of ad spending allocated to Amazon and Walmart.

"Amazon and Walmart combined will gobble up more than 84% of all retail media ad spending in 2025, representing a pervasive and unyielding dominance within the channel," the report said. "The share of ad spending allocated to all other RMNs increased by less than 1 percentage point between 2019 and 2024. While the pie has grown nearly five times larger since 2019, it has also grown significantly more crowded, with more retailers competing for advertiser investment."

The report said most small and midsize retailers don't have a digital footprint big enough to create "meaningful revenues by monetizing their owned and operated digital channels."

"Many are branching into arenas that enable a more scaled reach, including off-site digital channels with the potential to tap into budgets typically reserved for upper-funnel awareness," the report said. "But success off-site or in-store requires a tough-to-stomach investment to fund capabilities, expertise, and technology."

As a result, EMARKETER said advertisers with fewer resources would likely consolidate their retail media network spending across fewer networks, and ad tech platforms would benefit from companies seeking solutions.

Retailers will rely more on media and entertainment content, including in-house production studios

Retailers want to connect with consumers quickly and effectively, leading some to make their own exclusive content. Ulta Beauty launched a "gamified" loyalty program where users compete in in-app games for perks in 2023. That same year, fast food giant Chick-fil-A said it would create a family entertainment app dubbed PLAY to host video series and podcasts.

Companies like Starbucks and LVMH have also created production studios to deliver high-quality video content for their products.

"Many brands and retailers are also using entertainment content to bolster loyalty programs, drive app downloads, and boost engagement," the EMARKETER report said.

The report said more brands will start production studios in 2025 to create episodic content and daily games to engage with consumers. Streaming will be another method retailers will use.

"Brands and retailers will glean consumer insights to better target customers and then eventually sell advertising space around the content powered by first-party data," the report said.

Retailers are leaning into premium loyalty programs and 'partner perks'

Retailers in 2025 will try to make themselves valuable to consumers by partnering with other companies and offering well-rounded subscriptions. For instance, Walmart+ partnered with Paramount+ to allow certain members access to the streaming site. Similarly, Instacart+ members get access to NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock. Amazon Prime members can access Grubhub+ benefits for free.

The EMARKETER report says Walmart could partner with Uber to explore meal delivery and rideshare services. Additionally, quick-service restaurants will be the next frontier for retail partnerships.

"Walmart may expand its partnership with Burger King's parent company, Restaurant Brands International, to bring banners like Popeyes to its membership offerings," the report said. "Target could bolster its Circle 360 membership with Starbucks discounts, as there are already Starbucks Cafes in more than 1,700 Target locations."

• Blake Lively filed a legal complaint against Justin Baldoni, her "It Ends With Us" costar and director.
• Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and a retaliation campaign to damage her reputation.
• A PR expert says Baldoni, who denied the claims, has "an uphill battle" to try to win the lawsuit.

Blake Lively's lawsuit accusing Justin Baldoni, her "It Ends with Us" director and costar, of sexual harassment and retaliation could end in a settlement or play out in a very public trial. Either way, PR and legal experts say Baldoni has an "uphill battle" ahead.

News that Lively filed a complaint on Friday with the California Civil Rights Department sent shockwaves through Hollywood over the weekend. The news came months after rumors of a feud between Lively and Baldoni — then thought to be over creative control — overshadowed the August press cycle for "It Ends with Us," the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel of the same name.

In the legal complaint, obtained by Business Insider, Lively said she attended a meeting during filming with Baldoni and the producer Jamey Heath, who runs Baldoni's company Wayfarer Studios, to address the "hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production of the Film."

In a statement, Bryan Freedman, Baldoni's attorney, called Lively's claims "completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."

Mike Fahey, the founder and CEO of Fahey Communications, told BI that Lively's suit was thoughtful and well timed.

"This is a masterclass in PR," Fahey said. "She and her team brilliantly waited a beat and listened. The Baldoni camp is definitely trying to grasp at straws to try to say that this is Blake's attempt to rehab her reputation."

Experts say Lively's suit was exceptionally detailed, and its timing was smart

In the legal filing, Lively said that after addressing the workplace concerns, all parties agreed to several stipulations, including hiring an intimacy coordinator. Other agreements included "no more mention of Mr. Baldoni or Mr. Heath's previous 'pornography addiction'" to Lively, referenced in the complaint as BL, and "no more showing nude videos or images of women, including producer's wife, to BL and/or her employees."

Lively's complaint alleged that the online backlash she endured over the summer was the result of a "sophisticated press and digital plan in retaliation for Ms. Lively exercising her legally-protected right to speak up about their misconduct on the set, with the additional objective of intimidating her and anyone else from revealing in public what actually occurred."

Camron Dowlatshahi, a partner at MSD Lawyers, a Los Angeles law firm that specializes in entertainment and employment law, told BI that Lively's camp filing the suit so close to the holidays, when Baldoni's team would be more likely to get caught flat-footed, speaks volumes.

"It was pretty strategic to have it this week and still get the benefit of the media attention just for a few days before Justin and his production team really get a chance to hit back immediately," Dowlatshahi said.

Lively's suit was also packed with details, making the case that Baldoni and his team coordinated a smear campaign against her. It included screenshots of messages that Lively's team said showed Baldoni, his publicist, Jennifer Abel, and the crisis-communications specialist Melissa Nathan, whom Baldoni hired over the summer, discussing the strategy to ruin Lively's reputation.

Dowlatshahi said this much detail and evidence in a complaint was rare. "You often don't have the actual text messages all ready to go," he added.

In his response, Freedman, Baldoni's attorney, called Lively's legal complaint "yet another desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions."

Dowlatshahi called this a typical attorney response, though he added that Freedman "did add some color to some of the allegations" beyond the usual boilerplate statement and denial of the claims.

Lively's complaint shed light on the dark side of PR

Lively's 80-page complaint garnered attention for its detailed account of the alleged PR strategy intended to damage her reputation — a facet of the entertainment industry that the average person isn't typically privy to or even aware of.

Fahey said it was common for PR teams to anticipate a worst-case scenario and discuss possible situations. Still, he added, "You do not orchestrate an in-depth plan preparing how you are going to go after someone in the media."

Fahey added that Baldoni's team's alleged plan didn't reflect the PR industry as a whole. "I would feel very confident saying it's not what's happening every single day," he said. "Are there coordinated campaigns? Yes, but I would hope for our society as a whole that people are not spending their time figuring out if they can bury someone for court."

Erik Bernstein, the president of Bernstein Crisis Management, agreed. "This is not the only way to do crisis PR," he said. "Everybody makes their own choice, but I think there are a lot of people in the industry who would be taken aback at the weaponizing of astroturfing here and the general attitude."

While the legal complaint sheds new light on the backlash Lively faced during the "It Ends With Us" press tour, some online still dislike Lively.

"The issue is that the damage that's already been done to Lively isn't going to be undone by this," Bernstein said.

Bernstein said that if Lively were his client, they'd assess how much damage had been done, what steps could be taken to shift public opinion, and how to distill her case into something digestible for her audience, such as sharing a statement with her 45.3 million followers on Instagram or taking her side of the story to a national media platform.

The impact on Baldoni's career and reputation will probably be more severe. Since the news of the suit broke, the actor-director has been dropped by WME, the same agency that reps Lively.

Baldoni will have a hard time rehabbing his reputation in Hollywood, experts say

Dowlatshahi said that because the case was already so high-profile, "I would certainly go on the offensive if I were him, assuming he has some evidence to help himself out."

Bernstein suggested that if Baldoni doesn't have enough evidence to publicly defend himself, the actor should stay silent until the dispute blows over.

"I don't want to over-speculate, but if he doesn't have evidence to really back up to and defend himself, this could drastically alter the course of his career," Fahey said. "This is not some small lawsuit. These allegations are very, very serious. Blake Lively isn't a PA on set. Blake Lively is one of the biggest names in Hollywood."

If Baldoni chooses to settle the case or fight in court, what happens next is up to him. Fahey thinks the dispute isn't looking good for him.

"The case that's already being presented is very damning against Justin Baldoni," Fahey said. "So he already has an uphill battle to try to even win this lawsuit."

Though most cases of this nature settle, Dowlatshahi said there was a chance Lively's complaint against Baldoni would play out publicly, like Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's 2022 defamation trial did.

"If he wants to make this his hill to die on, he'll fight back," Fahey said of Baldoni. "He'll take this to trial, and this could be like a Johnny Depp/Amber Heard-type situation. That is your most-dramatic-case scenario. On the other hand, if Justin wants this to go away quietly, he will settle and let everything go away," he said.

"I think that pride and reputation are what will dictate what happens next."

• Blake Lively filed a legal complaint against her "It Ends with Us" costar, Justin Baldoni.
• Taylor Swift and Hailey Bieber appeared in the complaint.
• Lively's complaint said Baldoni and his team conspired to damage her reputation.

In a new legal complaint, Blake Lively said that her "It Ends with Us" costar, Justin Baldoni, who also directed and produced the film, conspired to damage her reputation and credibility.

The complaint also mentions Taylor Swift and Hailey Bieber.

Lively named Baldoni and six other defendants in her complaint, including the CEO and cofounder of his production studio, Wayfarer Studios. She also named communications crisis manager Melissa Nathan of The Agency Group PR and Baldoni's publicist, Jennifer Abel.

In the complaint, Lively said Baldoni and his team created a "multi-tiered plan" using "social manipulation" to "destroy" her reputation.

"This plan went well beyond standard crisis PR. What Ms. Nathan proposed included a practice known as 'Astroturfing,' which has been defined as 'the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group,'" according to the complaint.

The complaint says that Baldoni and his team discussed controversies around Swift and Bieber as strategic suggestions while conspiring against Lively.

Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, said Lively's complaint was a "desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation."

Baldoni and his team considered leveraging backlash around Swift and the 'weaponization of feminism,' the complaint says

Nathan's communications company shared a "Scenario Planning" document with Baldoni and others that outlined potential strategies "should [Ms. Lively] and her team make her grievances public," the complaint says.

The complaint includes a copy of that document, which Lively's attorneys obtained through a civil subpoena.

The planning document discussed what Baldoni's team could do if Lively's husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, publicly defended her against critics. It included a reference to Swift, who is a friend of Lively. The pair have attended Kansas City Chiefs football games together and have been photographed by paparazzi while hanging out.

"As part of this, our team can also explore planting stories about the weaponization of feminism and how people in BL's circle, like Taylor Swift, have been accused of utilizing these tactics to 'bully' into getting what they want," the planning document says, according to the complaint.

The complaint says Baldoni used a social media post about Bieber and bullying as an example strategy

Lively's complaint also contained screenshots of text message conversations between Baldoni and his team, which were also obtained through a civil subpoena. According to the complaint, Baldoni sent a text message to his publicist, Abel, in early August.

"A few days later, on August 5, 2024, Mr. Baldoni set the narrative for the social media campaign, sending Ms. Abel a screenshot of a thread on X that had accused another female celebrity of bullying women," the complaint said. "Mr. Baldoni stated, 'this is what we would need.'"

The social media post included two pictures of Bieber and insinuated she had bullied other women. That narrative gained traction on social media in 2023 and resulted in widespread backlash against Bieber.

A representative for Lively referred Business Insider to a statement she shared with The New York Times.

"I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted," she said.

Lively also said neither she nor her representatives planted negative stories about Baldoni or Wayfarer Studios.

Baldoni's attorney said the accusations in Lively's complaint were "completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."

Representatives for Bieber and Swift did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• "It Ends with Us" star Blake Lively filed a legal complaint against Justin Baldoni, her costar and the film's director.
• Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, retaliation, and attempting to damage her reputation.
• Baldoni's attorney said the claims made in Lively's lawsuit were "completely false" and "intentionally salacious."

"It Ends with Us" star Blake Lively has filed a legal complaint against the film's director and her costar, Justin Baldoni, for sexual harassment.

Lively and Baldoni dominated entertainment headlines this summer as they promoted "It Ends with Us," a romantic drama based on Colleen Hoover's book. However, much of the attention shifted from the film's premiere to the tension between Lively and Baldoni. Fans online said they noticed the pair's strain during the press tour. By the press tour's end, Lively was navigating a negative backlash.

Lively, who produced the film alongside Baldoni's Wayfarer Studios, played Lily Bloom. Baldoni played Ryle Kincaid and directed the film.

Lively's complaint said Baldoni engaged in sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, inflicted "emotional distress," and conspired to damage her public reputation. It named six other defendants, including Wayfarer Studios CEO Jamey Heath and cofounder Steve Sarowitz. Crisis communications professional Melissa Nathan, publicist Jennifer Abel, and a Texas-based contractor named Jed Wallace were also named.

"Ms. Lively never sought out conflict with Wayfarer, Ms. Baldoni, or Mr. Heath, but instead consistently attempted to speak up for a safe and respectful workplace privately in the hopes of protecting herself, as well as the cast and crew, without jeopardizing a film that she believed could make a difference in people's lives," the complaint says. "In response, Mr. Baldoni, Mr. Heath, and those working for them, sought to destroy Ms. Lively and anyone else who knew the truth."

Here's a breakdown of the five biggest bombshells in Lively's complaint.

At an 'all hands' meeting, Baldoni and others agreed to address the 'hostile work environment'

The complaint says she attended an "all hands" meeting with Baldoni, Heath, and others in January to discuss the "hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production of the film." Her husband, Ryan Reynolds, also attended the meeting.

"Ms. Lively was forced to address concerns about Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath's misconduct with them directly and began doing so months before filming began," the complaint says. "The concerns she raised were not only for herself but for the other female cast and crew, some of whom had also spoken up."

The meeting resulted in a list of behaviors that Baldoni and Heath agreed to stop, including "showing nude videos or images of women, including the producer's wife, to BL and/or her employees."

Other behaviors the men agreed to cease were mentioning their "previous pornography addiction or BL's lack of pornography consumption" and "descriptions of their genitalia," according to the complaint.

The agreed-upon behaviors were compiled into a document that was shared with Wayfarer Studios, which said it found "most of them not only reasonable but also essential for the benefit of all parties involved," according to the complaint.

Baldoni added 'graphic content' to the film without Lively's knowledge, the complaint says

Baldoni added improvised sexual content and nude scenes to "It Ends with Us" in "highly unsettling ways," the complaint says, including an on-camera orgasm, without Lively's knowledge or consent.

"When Ms. Lively objected to these additions, Mr. Baldoni insisted he had added them because he was making the film 'through the female gaze,'" according to the complaint. "Although he agreed to remove the scenes, he made a last-ditch attempt to keep one in which the couple orgasm together on their wedding night, which he said was important to him because he and his partner climax simultaneously during intercourse."

"Mr. Baldoni then intrusively asked Ms. Lively whether she and her husband climax simultaneously during intercourse, which Ms. Lively found invasive and refused to discuss," the complaint says.

The complaint also says Baldoni urged Lively to "simulate full nudity" while filming a scene in which her character gives birth, saying it's "not normal" for women to wear their hospital gowns while giving birth. Although Lively disagreed, the complaint says she compromised and agreed to be nude from below the chest down.

Neither Baldoni nor Heath closed the set before filming the scene, according to the complaint, allowing "non-essential crew to pass through while Ms. Lively was mostly nude with her legs spread wide in stirrups and only a small piece of fabric covering her genitalia."

Heath also showed Lively and her assistant a video of his wife giving birth that Lively initially believed was pornography, the complaint says.

"Ms. Lively was alarmed and asked Mr. Heath if his wife knew he was sharing the video, to which he replied, 'She isn't weird about this stuff,' as if Ms. Lively was weird for not welcoming it," the complaint said.

Lively said Baldoni 'abruptly' shifted away from their agreed-upon marketing strategy

In the complaint, Lively said she and other cast members promoted "It Ends with Us" according to a "Marketing Plan" created by the film's distributor, Sony Pictures Entertainment. That plan encouraged the cast to emphasize her character's "strength and resilience as opposed to describing the film as a story about domestic violence" to avoid talking points that could make the film "feel sad."

Lively said that Baldoni "abruptly pivoted away" from the plan, promoting the domestic violence storyline of the film and what the complaint described as "survivor content."

Consumers criticized Lively's marketing approach during the press tour, which resulted in social media backlash toward her and her brands. Baldoni did not experience the same disapproval from audiences.

"What the public did not know was that Mr. Baldoni and his team did so in an effort to explain why many of the Film's cast and crew had unfollowed Mr. Baldoni on social media and were not appearing with him in public," the complaint said.

Baldoni and his team engaged in 'social manipulation' to 'destroy' her reputation, the complaint says

In the complaint, Lively said Baldoni's decision to switch marketing strategies was the start of a "multi-tiered plan" using "social manipulation" to ultimately "destroy" her public reputation.

Baldoni hired Melissa Nathan, a crisis communications specialist from The Agency Group PR, on July 31 at the suggestion of his publicist, Jennifer Abel.

"What Ms. Nathan proposed included a practice known as 'Astroturfing,' which has been defined as 'the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group," the complaint said.

The complaint includes screenshots of text messages that Lively's attorneys say are between Abel and Nathan. In one, Abel tells Nathan that Baldoni "wants to feel like she can be buried," in a reference to Lively.

In another one, Baldoni sent Abel a screenshot of a social media post about Hailey Bieber facing bullying allegations in 2023.

"This is what we would need," Baldoni wrote in the text message, according to the complaint.

Baldoni and his team would "feed pieces of this manufactured content to unwitting reporters, making content go viral in order to influence public opinion and thereby cause an organic pile-on," the complaint says.

In the following weeks, news outlets published numerous stories about the "backlash" Lively faced from fans online during the film's press tour.

"To safeguard against the risk of Ms. Lively ever revealing the truth about Mr. Baldoni, the Baldoni-Wayfarer team created, planted, amplified, and boosted content designed to eviscerate Ms. Lively's credibility," the complaint said.

Baldoni retaliated against Lively to protect his image as a 'feminist ally,' the complaint says

Baldoni was "desperate to suppress any suggestion that he engaged in inappropriate conduct, much less sexually harassing conduct, because it would entirely undermine his carefully curated public image as a feminist ally," the complaint says.

The document referenced a 2018 TED Talk Baldoni gave entitled "Why I'm Done Being 'Man Enough" and other similar content.

"In sum, Mr. Baldoni has crafted a public image of himself as not just an ally, but also a fierce advocate for women," the complaint says. "Contrary to this image, as set forth in detail above, Mr. Baldoni has spent the last several months and significant resources on his goal of wanting to 'bury' and 'destroy' Ms. Lively for raising concerns about his and his CEO's harassing behavior and other disturbing conduct."

Lively says she hopes her actions help expose the 'sinister' tactics used to keep people quiet

Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, said the complaint's claims were "categorically false."

"It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation, which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions," the statement read.

Freedman's statement called the Lively's claims "completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."

The statement said Wayfarer Studios chose to hire Nathan before the film's marketing campaign "due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production which included her threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met."

Lively shared a statement with The New York Times, saying, "I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted."

Lively told the outlet that neither she nor her representatives ever spread negative information about Baldoni or Wayfarer Studios.

• Boeing is having a rough year.
• The company has faced mechanical problems, lawsuits, a leadership shake-up, and layoffs.
• Here's a breakdown of how Boeing's year has gone from bad to worse.

Boeing has been going through it this year.

From losing a door plug on an Alaska Airlines flight, causing a side panel to blow out in midair, to an exodus of corporate executives, the company has faced a litany of crises in 2024. The company's stock has fallen about 35% this year.

In a message to employees during the company's third-quarter earnings call, Boeing CEO Kely Ortberg said the company was at a "crossroads."

"My mission here is pretty straightforward," she said. "Turn this big ship in the right direction and restore Boeing to the leadership position that we all know and want."

Here's how Boeing's year went from bad to worse.

Emergency on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282

The problems began almost immediately this year when, on January 5, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 lost a door plug midair, blowing a hole in the side of the plane. While no one died in the incident, several passengers were injured, and the pilots were forced to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.

In the aftermath of the incident, the FAA temporarily grounded over 170 of Boeing's 737 Max 9 planes until they could complete safety inspections.

The Justice Department opened an investigation into Boeing shortly after, and the FBI told passengers aboard the flight that they might have been victims of a crime.

Ongoing litigation

Boeing was hit with multiple lawsuits this year.

Passengers from the Alaska Airlines flight filed a class action suit against the company just days after the incident.

"Passengers were shocked and confused, thrust into a waking nightmare unsure if these were their last seconds alive," the lawsuit said.

Boeing's shareholders filed a separate class action suit against the company in January, stating that it had prioritized profit over safety, Reuters reported.

Separately, in July, Boeing struck a plea deal related to two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. If a judge had approved the deal, it would have allowed Boeing to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, avoid a trial, pay a fine of about $244 million, and invest at least $455 million in safety and compliance measures.

Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion in 2021 in a deal with the federal government to avoid prosecution for the crashes, but Justice Department officials said in May that Boeing had violated portions of the deal, putting a trial back on the table. Relatives of the deceased passengers asked a Texas judge in October to throw out the agreement, which they called a "sweetheart" deal. The families have previously called for the company to pay a fine amounting to nearly $25 billion.

In December, the judge rejected the deal. A lawyer representing families who lost people in the 2019 crash told BI that they "anticipate a significant renegotiation of the plea deal that incorporates terms truly commensurate with the gravity of Boeing's crimes."

FAA audit of Boeing's safety procedures

The Federal Aviation Administration commissioned a report into Boeing following the fatal 2018 and 2019 crashes — and the results published in February weren't good news for the company.

The FAA report found 27 insufficient areas in Boeing's safety procedures, including no clear system for employees to report safety concerns, confusing management structures, and poor communication with employees about safety procedures.

The latest statement from the FAA about Boeing's compliance to remedy the safety issues was published in August. It said the agency continues "actively monitoring Boeing's progress in a variety of ways," including regular reviews by FAA experts of Boeing's safety procedures and issuing airworthiness certificates for every newly produced Boeing 737 Max. 

The FAA itself has faced scrutiny for its oversight of Boeing. A report from the Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General in October found the agency's checks were insufficient.

Exodus of Boeing executives

In March, Boeing announced a leadership shake-up.

CEO Dan Calhoun said he would step down. Stan Deal, the CEO of the company's commercial airplanes division, said he would retire. In the same announcement, board chair Larry Kellner announced his plan not to seek reelection.

Stephanie Pope, the company's COO, was promoted to replace Deal shortly after his departure. At the end of July, Kelly Ortberg was named the company's new CEO.

Ted Colbert, who headed Boeing's defense, space, and security division, became the first prominent executive to leave the company after Ortberg took over. Colbert's departure was announced in September.

Stranded astronauts

The aerospace company faced another high-profile problem in June when NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams traveled to the International Space Station on Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spaceship. It marked the first time Boeing flew astronauts to space.

The astronauts left Earth on June 5 and were supposed to return after eight days, but issues with Starliner's thrusters and helium leaks caused delays. NASA and Boeing began troubleshooting the problems to bring Wilmore and Williams back home. However, in late July, the two astronauts were still stuck at the International Space Station.

NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager, Steve Stich, said in a press briefing that month that Elon Musk's SpaceX could bring home the astronauts if needed. After working with Boeing to determine whether the two astronauts could safely return to Earth on Starliner, NASA announced in August that it chose SpaceX to do the job instead.

"Spaceflight is risky," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a press conference. "Even at its safest. Even at its most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe nor routine. So, the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station, and bring the Boeing Starliner home un-crewed, is a result of a commitment to safety."

The decision was a major blow to Boeing, which spent $4.2 billion developing Starliner. Wilmore and Williams' flight was the final step Boeing needed to clear for NASA to certify Starliner for human spaceflight. It highlighted just how far Boeing lags behind its competitor, SpaceX.

Wilmore and Williams are now expected to return to Earth in 2025 on SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship, which launched for the International Space Station in September. The astronauts were initially set to return home in February, but NASA announced they would be delayed until March as SpaceX readies its spaceship.

Union strike

Thousands of unionized Boeing employees walked out in September after contract negotiations broke down.

The strike began despite a promising pay package proposal, which would have raised wages by more than 25% over the contract period for more than 32,000 employees in the Pacific Northwest.

Ultimately, union workers denied the proposal and voted to initiate a strike, which is costing the company about $50 million a day.

Negotiations stalled, with both sides filing National Labor Relations Board violations accusing the other of negotiating in bad faith.

Boeing and union leaders reached a tentative deal on October 19 that included a 35% general wage increase spread over four years and a one-time ratification bonus of $7,000.

However, striking Boeing employees rejected the deal on October 24.

"After 10 years of sacrifice, we still have ground to make up. We hope to resume negotiations promptly," the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said on X.

The 53-day strike ended in early November when workers approved a new contract.

Layoffs

Boeing began furloughs of white-collar workers in mid-September after the strike began. Select employees were required to take one week off every four weeks on a rolling basis.

Ortberg, in a staff memo, also announced that executive leadership would take a "commensurate pay reduction for the duration of the strike," though details of the pay reduction remain unclear.

Layoffs began several weeks later. In mid-October, Boeing announced plans to lay off about 10% of its 170,000-member workforce.

In a memo to employees, Ortberg said Boeing was in a "difficult position" and that "restoring our company requires tough decisions."

The company also delayed production of its 777X twin-engine jet and discontinued production of its 767 cargo plane, the memo noted.

Production delays with the Boeing 777X plane

The experimental 777X is Boeing's newest widebody plane, banking 481 orders from more than a dozen global carriers even though regulators have not yet approved it to fly passengers.

But the aircraft has been riddled with production problems — like supply chain issues, design troubles, and now the ongoing strike — which have already put it five years behind schedule and set Boeing back $1.5 billion.

That hole will likely deepen with the latest entry delay to 2026, further eroding the industry's trust in Boeing's 777X program. It could also push carriers to choose Boeing's European rival Airbus and its already-in-service Airbus A350.

The aircraft is still uncertified but started certification flight testing in July. Testing was halted in August due to a problem with a key part that connects the engine to the aircraft, CNBC reported.

Production troubles with Boeing's 737 MAX aircraft

The FAA announced in January that it would not grant any production expansions of Boeing's MAX aircraft, including the 737 MAX 9, following the emergency on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.

"The Jan. 5 Boeing 737-9 MAX incident must never happen again," the FAA said in a press release said.

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said Boeing would not be cleared to expand production or add additional production lines for the 737 MAX "until we are satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved," according to the press release.

Boeing held a three-hour meeting with the FAA in June to address safety and quality concerns. Afterward, Whitaker spoke at a press conference, where he told a reporter that expanding production of 737 MAX planes was still up in the air.

The FAA told Business Insider, "This is about systemic change, and there's a lot of work to be done. Boeing must meet milestones, and the timing of our decisions will be driven by their ability to do so."

The agency added: "Boeing has delivered a roadmap to change its safety culture, and the FAA will make sure Boeing implements the changes they have outlined. We will not approve production increases beyond the current cap until we're satisfied they've followed through on implementing corrective actions and transforming their safety culture."

Boeing restarted production of the 737 Max in December following the strike's conclusion.

Whistleblowers report problems at Boeing

Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer, testified at an April Senate hearing that the company ignored his reports on safety concerns, that his boss retaliated against him, and that he received threats against his physical safety.

The Senate subcommittee investigating Boeing's safety and quality practices released a 204-page report in June. The report included accounts from several whistleblowers.

Sam Mohawk, a Boeing quality assurance inspector, said the company lost track of hundreds of bad 737 parts and instructed employees to conceal improperly stored plane parts from FAA inspectors.

Another whistleblower, Richard Cuevas, wrote in a June complaint to the FAA that holes were being incorrectly drilled on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner planes.

Money woes

In a sign of how Boeing's problems have hurt its bottom line, the company said in a regulatory filing to the SEC in October that it had entered a $10 billion credit agreement with four major banks: JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Citibank.

The company also filed a prospectus saying it might sell up to $25 billion in securities.

"These are two prudent steps to support the company's access to liquidity," Boeing said in a statement.

While workers were on strike, Bank of America analysts estimated that the work stoppage cost Boeing $50 million a day.

To save money, Ortberg, the company's CEO, instructed top executives to stop flying private jets and instead fly economy on commercial flights.

• Blake Lively has sued her 'It Ends with Us' costar, Justin Baldoni, for sexual harassment.
• Lively said Baldoni, who also directed the film, tried to damage her reputation.
• Baldoni's attorney told BI that Lively sued him to "fix her negative reputation."

Blake Lively is suing her "It Ends with Us" costar, Justin Baldoni, for sexual harassment, retaliation, and coordinating attempts to damage her reputation.

The hype around "It Ends with Us" was intense ahead of the film's August release, but much of the attention focused on the working relationship between its stars, Lively and Baldoni.

Lively played Lily Bloom, and Baldoni played Ryle Kincaid. Baldoni also directed the film, and his company, Wayfarer Studios, produced it.

Lively said in the legal complaint, obtained by Business Insider, that she attended an "all hands" meeting with Baldoni and "It Ends with Us" producer Jamey Heath during filming to address the "hostile work environment that had nearly derailed production of the Film." Lively's husband, Ryan Reynolds, also attended the meeting.

"Ms. Lively was forced to address concerns about Mr. Baldoni and Mr. Heath's misconduct with them directly, and began doing so months before filming began," according to Lively's complanit. "The concerns she raised were not only for herself, but for the other female cast and crew, some of whom had also spoken up."

The meeting ended with all parties agreeing to a code of conduct for on-set behavior, including "no more showing nude videos or images of women, including the producer's wife," to Lively or her employees. The agreement also required "no more mention of Mr. Baldoni or Mr. Heath's previous 'pornography addiction' or BL's lack of pornography consumption to BL or to other crew members."

Lively says in the complaint that another issue arose between her and Baldoni after filming due to differing marketing strategies. Lively adhered to a "marketing plan" that focused on her character's "strength and resilience as opposed to describing the film as a story about domestic violence."

Baldoni, however, "abruptly" switched marketing strategies before the film and focused on the domestic violence aspect, according to the complaint.

During the film's press tour, social media users criticized Lively's lighthearted marketing approach, which led to a wave of backlash. In contrast, fans sided with Baldoni's approach and he emerged relatively unscathed by the fallout.

Lively said in the complaint that Baldoni and his team engaged in "social manipulation" to "destroy" her reputation through a "sophisticated press and digital plan in retaliation for Ms. Lively exercising her legally protected right to speak up about their misconduct on the set, with the additional objective of intimidating her and anyone else from revealing in public what actually occurred."

The complaint included a series of text messages, including some between Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan. Abel is a publicist who worked with Baldoni. Nathan is a crisis communications specialist for The Agency Group PR LLC, which Baldoni retained in early August.

In one message shared with Business Insider by a representative for Lively, Abel wrote to Nathan that Baldoni "wants to feel like she can be buried," referring to Lively.

Bryan Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios, said in a statement that claims made in Lively's complaint were "categorically false."

"It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation, which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film; interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions," the statement said.

The statement added: "These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media."

Freedman's statement said Wayfarer Studios decided to hire Nathan before the film's marketing campaign "due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production which included her threatening to not show up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release, if her demands were not met."

A representative for Lively referred BI to a statement shared with The New York Times on Saturday.

"I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted," the statement said.

She also told the outlet that neither she nor her representatives ever spread negative stories about Baldoni or Wayfarer Studios.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

• Robb Report curated the gift bags for the 82nd annual Golden Globe Awards.
• The selected products and experiences are worth $1 million in total.
• The gift bag includes a private flight and stay in Finland to see the northern lights.

The gift bags offered at the upcoming Golden Globe Awards are, in a word, luxurious.

Hollywood's biggest stars will descend on The Beverly Hilton hotel on January 5, 2025, to attend the 82nd Golden Globes ceremony. Emmy-nominated comedian Nikki Glaser will host the event.

Not every nominee will snag a coveted award that night, but they can at least leave the venue with an impressive swag bag offering 28 products and experiences totaling $1 million. Each celebrity will also walk away with an Atlas Bespoke Weekender Bag.

Lifestyle outlet Robb Report curated this year's selection to encompass a wide breadth of interests, including culinary, beauty, and travel. Robb Report also curated the gift bag for the 2024 Golden Globes, which were valued at $500,000. Robb Report and the Golden Globe Awards are brands under Penske Media Corporation.

Luke Bahrenburg, head of luxury sales at Penske Media Corporation and the president of Robb Report, told the outlet that this year's gift bag is "the pinnacle of luxury."

The gift bag includes more than two dozen offers, but not every participant can take advantage of every offer. Although all 100 participants can opt for a one-night stay in a L'Ermitage Beverly Hills suite worth $1,500, only one can secure a private flight and vacation to Finland to view the northern lights. That trip is valued at $48,000.

The gift bag also advertises a $33,800 five-night vacation and wellness experience at Joali Being in the Maldives. A two-night vacation and whisky experience in Tasmania, Australia, is valued at $4,935.

Other gifts include a $469 LED light therapy face mask and a $2,000 rare bottle of Komos XO tequila. A wine tasting and dinner in Bordeaux, France, cost $272,000.

Representatives for Penske Media Corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• TikTok Shop is now a more popular online retailer than Shein and Sephora among Americans.
• TikTok Shop first launched in September 2023.
• A new consumer trends report found that 45% of surveyed Americans have bought something on TikTok.

TikTok Shop has surpassed retail giants Shein and Sephora in the online battle for US shoppers.

A 2025 consumer trends report by Coefficient Capital and The New Consumer's Dan Frommer analyzed how Americans' spending habits could affect certain brands. The research included 11 surveys of over 3,000 US consumers. The company conducted its most recent survey this month.

TikTok Shop launched in September 2023, making it a relatively new online retailer compared to its peers. However, the consumer trends report said 80% of surveyed Americans who use TikTok at least once a month are aware of TikTok Shop, signaling the retailer's growing reach.

That reach has helped TikTok overtake retailers like Sephora, Shein, and Qurate in US consumer spending for the third financial quarter, according to the trends report.

Sephora and Shein are two popular online retailers in the United States, especially with younger generations like Gen Alpha. Qurate Retail Group owns and operates six retail brands, including QVC. The company sells items online through its brands.

Sephora helped its parent company, LVMH, achieve record-breaking sales in 2023, reaching $10 billion in revenue across North America. Shein made $2 billion in profits that year. Although Qurate's third-quarter earnings report said revenue decreased by 5%, it generated $152 million in operating income.

A March Financial Times report cited three sources who said TikTok had reached $16 billion in sales in the United States. It's unclear how much the TikTok Shop has made since its 2023 launch, but the company said in its 2024 economic report that the app drove $15 billion in revenue for small businesses in the United States.

The consumer trends report said 45% of surveyed Americans purchased "fashion, clothing, and accessories" from TikTok Shop. Beauty and personal care items came second at 44%. Surveyed TikTok users also indicated purchasing electronics, home goods, food, toys, books, and more from the online shop.

TikTok has led the growth of social media shopping apps in the United States in recent years. TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, likely wants to replicate the success of its sister app in China, Douyin, which drives hundreds of billions in sales annually, often through influencer livestreams.

Despite its rising popularity with content creators and shoppers alike, TikTok faces a potential federal ban in the United States next month.

In April, Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The law gives ByteDance until January 19 to divest from TikTok or face a ban in the United States. On December 6, a federal appeals court upheld the ban as constitutional.

Lawmakers worry that the Chinese government could compel the app's Chinese ownership to manipulate content for propaganda or leverage the personal data of millions of Americans.

Ahead of the potential ban, TikTok launched a "limited-time offer " promotion this week, allowing users to earn $50 in TikTok Shop credits to recruit a new user. Users can earn up to $350 in shop credits in total.

Representatives for TikTok, Shein, Sephora, and Qurate did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Universal Orlando Resort's new theme park, Epic Universe, opens in May 2025.
• Disney also announced expansions at its Central Florida theme parks in August.
• An attractions industry expert told BI that Epic Universe's arrival will "chink" Disney's armor.

The competition is ratcheting up in Central Florida, where Universal Orlando Resort has upped the ante on Walt Disney World.

Universal will open Epic Universe, a major expansion first announced in 2019, this May.

The theme park comprises five separate "worlds," including Super Nintendo World and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter's Ministry of Magic.

When Epic Universe opens its doors to these new worlds on May 22, it will mark a major shift for the local tourism industry — especially for its main competitor 15 minutes south down Interstate 4.

Walt Disney World vs. Universal Orlando Resort

Walt Disney World Resort has reigned supreme in Central Florida for decades with four theme parks, two water parks, and related destinations like Disney Springs. Its flagship theme park, Magic Kingdom, recorded more than 17 million visitors in 2023, according to a report published by Themed Entertainment Association, Storyland Studios, and consulting firm AECOM.

The study said Universal's Islands of Adventure welcomed 10 million guests in 2023, while Universal Studios Florida counted over 9 million visitors.

However, Disney isn't resting on its laurels.

Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro unveiled a series of theme park expansions at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, which was held in August. Earlier that summer, members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District's board of supervisors approved a $17 billion development deal with the entertainment maven.

The expansion will include a "land" based on Disney villains and new attractions based on Disney's "Cars" film series. Walt Disney World Resort's expansions will also introduce a new land to Animal Kingdom featuring "Indiana Jones" and "Encanto" attractions. The new land at Hollywood Studios will dive into "Monsters, Inc."

Dennis L. Speigel, the founder of International Theme Park Services, Inc., said the dynamics between Disney and Universal have changed "dramatically" over the past decade.

"What comes into play here is Universal's ability to deliver story, product, and technology," he told Business Insider. "With their movies, content, IP, and technology, it's really an armaments war now in Orlando."

Speigel said his consultation company, which works with theme parks and other entertainment entities, believes Epic Universe could attract a minimum of 6 million guests in its first year.

"Now, in my opinion, Disney is going to get a chink in its armor," Speigel said.

When people travel to Florida for its theme parks, they have several options. They might spend a day at Disney's Magic Kingdom before flitting over to Epcot later in the week. They could explore Universal's Volcano Bay for two days, then visit SeaWorld's Discovery Cove.

Speigel said Epic Universe could reshuffle how guests choose to spend their time and money.

"Epic Universe is going to pull a day out from someplace," he said. "It could be Universal's Island of Adventures. It could be Animal Kingdom. It could be SeaWorld."

However, Spiegel said Universal Orlando Resort will unlikely overtake Disney anytime soon.

"Disney is not going to allow their mantle of dominance to be overturned," he said.

It's all good for Orlando

There is one clear winner in the battle between Universal and Disney: the local economy.

Jakob Wahl, the President of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, told BI the competition between Universal Studios and Walt Disney World is good for Central Florida.

"When you're running and someone's catching up with you, you run faster and try to beat them," he said. "I would say it actually benefits all guests because it helps develop better products."

Speigel agreed, saying, "The rising tide lifts all boats in the tourism industry. I think the length of stay for the tourists in Florida is going to increase dramatically. I think people are going to load another day or a day and a half during their visit because there's more to do."

Walt Disney World said it generated $40 billion in economic impact across the state and over 250,000 jobs in 2022. Epic Universe could generate $11.5 billion in direct and indirect economic benefits to Florida's economy, according to a study conducted for Universal.

"Obviously, there's a lot of direct economic impact, but also a lot of indirect economic impact," Wahl said. "All those people want to eat somewhere. They need a rental car. They want to have activities before or afterward."

Wahl said the new attractions mean the industry is "alive and booming."

"I think the future is bright here for Orlando with everything coming in," he said.

• Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski spoke about AI and the workforce.
• Siemiatkowski said AI "can already do all of the jobs" humans do.
• He said Klarna stopped hiring a year ago despite the company advertising jobs online.

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski is all-in on artificial intelligence at the fintech company.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Siemiatkowski said he's "of the opinion that AI can already do all of the jobs that we as humans do."

"It's just a question of how we apply it and use it," he said.

Klarna is a payment service that offers consumers "buy now, pay later" options. According to its website, the company is connected with more than 575,000 retailers.

The increased attention around AI has raised concerns about how it will affect careers and the workplace. A 2023 report by McKinsey & Company estimated that 12 million American workers will have to change occupations by 2030 as AI technology develops.

During the interview, Siemiatkowski said Klarna stopped hiring last year.

"I think what we've done internally hasn't been reported as widely. We stopped hiring about a year ago, so we were 4,500 and now we're 3,500," Siemiatkowski said. "We have a natural attrition like every tech company. People stay about five years, so 20% leave every year. By not hiring, we're simply shrinking, right?"

Siemiatkowski said his company has told employees that "what's going to happen is the total salary cost of Klarna is going to shrink, but part of the gain of that is going to be seen in your paycheck."

Although Klarna's website is advertising open positions at the time of writing, a spokesperson told Business Insider the company is not "actively recruiting" to expand its workforce. Rather, Klarna is backfilling "some essential roles," primarily in engineering.

• The Pew Research Center surveyed American teenagers about social media and technology.
• Seventeen percent said they used Elon Musk's social media app, X — a steep decline compared to a decade ago.
• More teens use Meta's Instagram, Facebook, and, increasingly, WhatsApp.

American teenagers just don't love X.

It's one of the least used major social media sites among US teenagers, followed only by Reddit and Threads, according to a new study published by the Pew Research Center.

The Washington DC-based think tank surveyed nearly 1,400 teenagers between September and October to collect the data, which showed that 17% of teen respondents said they use X, a six-point decrease from 2022 when 23% of surveyed teenagers said they used the site.

Elon Musk purchased X, formerly Twitter, in 2022.

Representatives for X did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Other popular social media sites also saw a decline in use among teens.

YouTube, owned by Google, attracted the highest percentage of teenage users despite falling from 95% to 90% from 2022 to 2024. ByteDance's TikTok came in second place with 63% of respondents saying they used the app, compared to 67% two years ago.

Snap Inc.'s Snapchat recorded 55%, another slight decline from 59% in 2022.

Instagram, owned by Meta, was used by 61%, about the same as two years ago, while Meta's Facebook also held steady at 32%. Reddit also remained consistent, with 14% of teens saying they used the app, the same as 2022.

Threads, which Meta launched in 2023, was used by 6% of teens.

There was only one social media site that grew in popularity with teens over the past two years: WhatsApp.

The Meta-owned messaging app went from 17% of teens saying they used it in 2022 to 23% this year — overtaking X in teenage users, according to the Pew surveys.

Meta, then Facebook Inc., bought WhatsApp for $22 billion in 2014, an investment that the company says is finally paying off.

On Meta's quarter-three earnings call in November, the company reported a 48% year-over-year increase in non-advertising revenue that was largely attributed to WhatsApp.

The revenue boost was mostly due to the app's product that allows businesses to pay to chat directly with customers.

But WhatsApp is also known to be great for large group chats, which have become increasingly popular with teens.

• Krispy Kreme said in an SEC filing that it's navigating a cybersecurity incident.
• The company is experiencing operational disruptions, including with online orders in the US.
• Krispy Kreme said the related costs will likely impact its "financial condition."

Krispy Kreme said hackers had disrupted operations, including online ordering in certain parts of the United States.

In an SEC filing on Wednesday, Krispy Kreme said it learned of "unauthorized activity on a portion of its information technology systems" in November. Customers can still place orders in person without issue.

Krispy Kreme said the incident has affected — and will likely continue to affect — its business operations until recovery efforts are "complete."

"The expected costs related to the incident, including the loss of revenues from digital sales during the recovery period, fees for our cybersecurity experts and other advisors, and costs to restore any impacted systems, are reasonably likely to have a material impact on the Company's results of operations and financial condition," the filing said.

The company said it is working to address the cybersecurity incident in a statement to Business Insider.

"Upon detecting the unauthorized activity, we immediately began taking steps to investigate, contain, and remediate the incident with the assistance of leading cybersecurity experts and other advisors," the statement said. "We, along with them, continue to work diligently to respond to and mitigate the impact from the incident, including the restoration of online ordering. Our fresh doughnuts are available in our shops as always!"

Krispy Kreme notified federal law enforcement and said an investigation is ongoing.

• Luigi Mangione has been charged with murder in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's killing.
• Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy family, left an online trail before his arrest.
• He founded an app, talked about AI on X, and read the Unabomber Manifesto.

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate charged with murder in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has a vast online trail.

Police arrested Mangione in Pennsylvania on December 9. He initially faced local gun and forgery charges. He's expected to be extradited to New York.

New York court documents show that in addition to one count of murder, he also faces two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a firearm.

Here's what to know about Mangione.

Mangione attended elite schools

Mangione graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020.

He achieved a Bachelor of Science in engineering with a major in computer science and a minor in mathematics. He also received a Master of Science in engineering the same year with a major in computer and information science, a university spokesperson told Business Insider.

Before that, he attended Gilman School, an elite all-boys preparatory school in Baltimore. His yearbook entry, obtained by BI, says he was involved in robotics and Model United Nations.

In his valedictorian speech, Mangione praised classmates for "challenging the world" and thanked parents for sending their children to the fee-paying school, which he described as "far from a small financial investment."

He favorably reviewed the Unabomber Manifesto

On Goodreads, Mangione reviewed Ted Kaczynski's "Industrial Society and Its Future" book, also known as The Unabomber Manifesto, in early 2024. He gave it four out of five stars.

"He was a violent individual — rightfully imprisoned — who maimed innocent people," Mangione wrote. "While these actions tend to be characterized as those of a crazy luddite, however, they are more accurately seen as those of an extreme political revolutionary."

Mangione's review of the manifesto also quoted another online comment about the book, which appears to have originated on Reddit, praising the use of violence "when all other forms of communication fail."

"'Violence never solved anything' is a statement uttered by cowards and predators,'" Mangione quoted.

He founded an app and worked in tech

In 2015, while in high school, Mangione founded a company called AppRoar Studios. AppRoar released an iPhone game called "Pivot Plane" that's no longer available, but a reviewer in 2015 said it was "a fun little arcade game brought to you by 3 high school juniors."

He lived in a co-living space in Hawaii as recently as 2023.

He posed for photos indicating he participated in Greek life at the University of Pennsylvania.

The fraternity chapter represented in his photos couldn't be reached for comment.

A blog post on the University of Pennsylvania's website that was removed on December 9 said he cofounded a video game design club there.

Stephen Lane, a professor of video game design at the Ivy League university who didn't advise the club, told BI that "the fact he took the initiative and started something from nothing, that means at least in the context of Penn, that's a pretty good thing." He added, however, that Thompson's shooting was "obviously not a good thing."

Mangione's LinkedIn page says he worked as a data engineer at the vehicle shopping company TrueCar starting in 2020.

A TrueCar spokesperson told BI that Mangione hadn't worked for the company since 2023.

Online breadcrumbs and roommate say he dealt with back pain

At the top of Mangione's profile on X — formerly Twitter — is a triptych of three images: a photo of himself, smiling, shirtless on a mountain ridge; a Pokémon; and an X-ray with four pins or screws visible in the lower back.

The Pokémon featured in his cover image is Breloom, which has special healing abilities in the games.

Some of the books reviewed on Mangione's Goodreads account are related to health and healing back pain, including "Back Mechanic: The Secrets to a Healthy Spine Your Doctor Isn't Telling You" and "Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery."

R.J. Martin, the founder of the co-living space in Hawaii, told the Honolulu Civil Beat that Mangione had suffered back pain from a misaligned vertebra that was pinching his spinal cord.

Martin told CNN that after leaving Hawaii, Mangione texted him to say he'd undergone surgery and sent him X-rays.

"It looked heinous, with just, giant screws going into his spine," Martin told the outlet.

It's not immediately clear whether the surgery was related to UnitedHealthcare.

Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for the co-living space founder, told The Wall Street Journal that Mangione stopped replying to texts about six months ago and "sort of disappeared."

A YouTube spokesperson said that the platform had terminated Mangione's three accounts, adding that they had not been active for about seven months.

A senior police official told NBC New York on December 12 that Magione was never a UnitedHealthcare client and may have targeted Thompson because of the insurer's large size and outsize power. That same day, The Wall Street Journal reported that a company spokesperson said Magione was not a client.

Mangione was interested in AI

On his X account, Mangione posted and amplified posts about technological advances such as artificial intelligence. He also posted about fitness and healthy living.

He frequently reposted posts by the writer Tim Urban and the commentator Jonathan Haidt about the promise and perils of technology.

He also appeared to be a fan of Michael Pollan, known for his writing about food, ethics, and lab-grown meat.

On Goodreads, he praised Urban's book "What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies," describing it as "one of the most important philosophical texts of the early 21st century."

Urban posted to X on December 9: "Very much not the point of the book."

He was previously accused of trespassing

Before his arrest, Mangione had at least one encounter with the legal system. Hawaiian court records indicate that in 2023, he was accused of entering a forbidden area of a state park.

Mangione appears to have paid a $100 fine to resolve the matter.

Mangione comes from a wealthy and influential Baltimore family

Mangione is one of 37 grandchildren of the late Nick Mangione Sr., a prominent multimillionaire real-estate developer in Baltimore who died in 2008, The Baltimore Banner reported. Nick Mangione Sr. had 10 children, including Louis Mangione, Luigi Mangione's father.

Members of the Mangione family own the Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Maryland, and Hayfields Country Club in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

One of Luigi Mangione's cousins is the Republican Maryland state legislator Nino Mangione, the Associated Press reported.

Representatives for Nino Mangione's office, in a statement to BI, declined to comment on the news of Luigi Mangione's arrest.

"Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione," the statement read. "We only know what we have read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news."

The Mangione family has donated more than $1 million to the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, where all of Nick Mangione Sr.'s grandkids, including Luigi Mangione, were born, the Banner reported.

A public filing from 2022 for the nonprofit Mangione Family Foundation lists Louis Mangione as vice president.

He was arrested while on his laptop at a McDonald's, the police said

When the police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, responded to a McDonald's after a call about a suspicious person, they found Mangione sitting at a table looking at a silver laptop and wearing a blue medical mask, a criminal complaint said.

The complaint said that when asked for identification, Mangione gave police officers a New Jersey driver's license with the name "Mark Rosario."

When an officer asked Mangione whether he'd been to New York recently, he "became quiet and started to shake," the complaint said.

It added that Mangione correctly identified himself after officers told him he could be arrested for lying about his identity.

When asked why he lied, Mangione replied, "I clearly shouldn't have," the complaint said.

His motive is still not known, but police are analyzing his so-called manifesto

An internal NYPD report obtained by The New York Times said Mangione "likely views himself as a hero of sorts who has finally decided to act upon such injustices."

Mangione "appeared to view the targeted killing of the company's highest-ranking representative as a symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and 'power games,' asserting in his note he is the 'first to face it with such brutal honesty,'" according to the NYPD report by the department's Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau, the Times reported.

Moments before the December 10 extradition hearing began, Mangione, handcuffed and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, shouted out to the press as Pennsylvania police escorted him into the courthouse.

Mangione yelled out something partially unintelligible, saying something was "completely out of touch" and "an insult to the American people." He also shouted that something was a "lived experience" as a group of officers led him into the courthouse.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told NBC New York that Mangione had prior knowledge that UnitedHealthcare would be having its annual conference in New York City.

Mangione has retained a high-profile New York attorney

Thomas Dickey emerged as Mangione's attorney in Pennsylvania after his arrest in Altoona on December 9.

During a December 10 hearing at Pennsylvania's Blair County Courthouse, Dickey told the judge that Mangione was contesting his extradition to New York City.

Dickey later told reporters that Mangione would plead not guilty to all the charges in Pennsylvania. During an interview with CNN, Dickey said he expected Mangione to plead not guilty to the second-degree murder charge in New York and that he hadn't seen evidence that authorities "have the right guy."

Karen Friedman Agnifilo will represent Mangione in New York, a representative for Agnifilo Intrater LLP confirmed to Business Insider on Sunday.

Friedman Agnifilo worked as the chief assistant district attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office from 2014 to 2021. She pivoted to private practice in 2021.

Do you know Luigi Mangione? Have a tip? Reach out to [email protected].

• UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4.
• Police arrested Luigi Mangione, who now faces a murder charge for the killing.
• Mangione has hired prominent New York lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo to defend him.

Luigi Mangione, the man police say murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has hired high-profile attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo.

Friedman Agnifilo is married to Marc Agnifilo, lead lawyer defending Sean "Diddy" Combs against federal sex-trafficking charges.

The Combs and Mangione cases will be handled by the same Manhattan law firm, Agnifilo Intrater LLP, and can be expected to dominate legal news headlines in the coming year.

In getting retained, Friedman Agnifilo bested some half-dozen other prominent attorneys who had been interviewed by the Mangione family last week, according to multiple sources who asked not to be named due to their connection with the case.

Friedman Agnifilo last week left her previous law firm, Perry Law, to join her husband's firm as counsel, representatives for both firms told Business Insider.

Friedman Agnifilo had been a CNN commentator as recently as Wednesday, when she suggested that an insanity defense would be Mangione's best bet.

She told journalist Kaitlan Collins, "It looks like to me there might be a 'not guilty by reason of insanity' defense that they're going to be thinking about because the evidence is going to be so overwhelming that he did what he did."

On Friday night, Collins broke the news that Friedman Agnifilo had been hired by the Mangione family.

Friedman Agnifilo worked as the chief assistant district attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for seven years before pivoting to private practice in 2021.

Mangione faces a second-degree murder charge in New York for the fatal December 4 shooting of Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two from Minnesota. That charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

(A charge of first-degree murder is reserved for those accused of killing a law enforcement official or witness of a crime, or for when a murder is committed during the commission of another high-level crime, including robbery, rape, or kidnapping.)

Mangione is fighting extradition to New York City. The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate appeared for a hearing on December 10 at Pennsylvania's Blair County Courthouse, where a lawyer, Thomas Dickey, told the judge that Mangione was contesting his extradition. Police arrested Mangione in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9 on local charges and later arraigned. Mangione made a bail request, which the judge denied during the hearing.

The suspect will remain at Pennsylvania's Huntingdon State Correctional Institution during the extradition proceedings. Dickey told reporters on December 10 that Mangione would plead not guilty to all the charges in Pennsylvania.

In an interview with CNN that evening, Dickey also said that he anticipates Mangione would plead not guilty to the murder charge in New York and that he hadn't seen any evidence that officials in New York "have the right guy."

Mangione also faces four other charges related to the killing of the insurance CEO: two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second-degree, one count of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, and one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third-degree.

A gun found on Mangione matched the three shell casings found at the site of the shooting, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a December 11 press conference.

Tisch added that the suspect's fingerprints also matched those found on a water bottle and snack bar wrapper discarded near the crime scene.

During Mangione's arrest, officers found a three-page handwritten document "that speaks to both his motivation and mindset," Tisch said at a separate press conference on December 9.

An internal NYPD report obtained by The New York Times gave the clearest view of the potential motive yet. Based on the so-called manifesto discovered, Mangione "likely views himself as a hero of sorts who has finally decided to act upon such injustices," the NYPD report said, as reported by the Times.

Mangione "appeared to view the targeted killing of the company's highest-ranking representative as a symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and 'power games,' asserting in his note he is the 'first to face it with such brutal honesty,'" according to the NYPD report by the department's Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau, the Times reported.

In a statement to Business Insider, representatives for Nino Mangione — a Maryland state legislator and a cousin of Mangione's — declined to comment on the news of Mangione's arrest.

"Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione," the statement read. "We only know what we have read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest."

Recognized at a McDonald's

Mangione was eating in an Altoona McDonald's when an employee recognized him from the several surveillance images that authorities released in the aftermath of Thompson's killing and called the police, New York police said at the December 9 press conference.

Altoona police found Mangione in the McDonald's with multiple fake IDs and a US passport, as well as a firearm and a suppressor "both consistent with the weapon used" in the shooting of Thompson in the heart of Manhattan, Tisch, the NYPD commissioner, said.

The gun appeared to be a "ghost gun" that may have been made on a 3-D printer. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at the press conference that such a gun could fire a 9-millimeter round.

A Pennsylvania criminal complaint filed against Mangione said officers found a black 3-D-printed pistol and 3-D-printed silencer inside the suspect's backpack.

When Altoona officers asked Mangione if he had been to New York recently, he "became quiet and started to shake," the criminal complaint said.

Clothing, including a mask, was also recovered "consistent with those worn" by the suspect wanted for Thompson's killing, along with a fake New Jersey ID matching the ID that the murder suspect used to check into a Manhattan hostel before the attack, Tisch said.

Based on the handwritten document that police found on Mangione, according to Kenny, "it does seem that he has some ill will toward corporate America."

During a December 10 interview on NBC's "Today" show, Tisch said the "manifesto" revealed "anti-corporatist sentiment" and "a lot of issues with the healthcare industry."

"But as to like particular, specific motive that'll come out as this investigation continues to unfold over the next weeks and month," the NYPD commissioner said.

NBC News and The New York Times, each citing an unnamed senior law enforcement official, reported that the handwritten document read in part: "These parasites had it coming."

"I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done," it added, according to the reports.

Police believe that Mangione acted alone.

NYPD investigators traveled to Altoona last week to interview Mangione after Altoona officers took him into custody.

Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks said at Mangione's Pennsylvania arraignment that Mangione was carrying $10,000 in cash, including foreign currency, according to the Associated Press.

Mangione disputed the amount in court.

Mangione was active on social media

Mangione posted and amplified posts about technological advances like artificial intelligence on X. He also posted about fitness and healthy living.

He frequently retweeted posts by the writer Tim Urban and commentator Jonathan Haidt about the promise and perils of technology. He also appeared to be a fan of Michael Pollan, known for his writing about food and ethics.

Other deleted social media posts showed support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and expressed skepticism toward both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump.

At the top of his profile was a header image with three images: a photo of himself, smiling, shirtless on a mountain ridge, a Pokemon, and an x-ray with four pins or screws visible in the lower back.

Mangione founded a company called AppRoar Studios in 2015 while still in high school. AppRoar released an iPhone game called Pivot Plane that is no longer available.

The two other cofounders of AppRoar could not be reached for comment.

Mangione's X account has been deactivated. A spokesperson for YouTube said his three accounts on the platform were also terminated, but that they had not been active for about seven months.

A manhunt

Mangione's arrest followed a nearly week-long manhunt.

According to police, Manigone was born and raised in Maryland, and has ties to San Francisco, California. His last known address was in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The New York Post, citing law-enforcement sources, reported that Mangione's mother reported him missing in mid-November.

Law-enforcement sources told ABC News that FBI agents and members of the NYPD spoke to the mother a day before Mangione's arrest, following a tip, and that in the conversation she indicated that the person in the surveillance photos could be her son.

Kenny, the NYPD's chief of detectives, said that Manigone has no prior arrest history in New York and no known arrests in the US.

A Luigi Mangione with a matching birthday and address received a citation for simple trespass for entering a forbidden area of a state park in Hawaii in November 2023. He pleaded no contest and paid a $100 fine.

"For just over five days, our NYPD investigators combed through thousands of hours of video, followed up on hundreds of tips, and processed every bit of forensic evidence — DNA, fingerprints, IP addresses and so much to tighten the net," Tisch said at Monday's press conference announcing the arrest of Manigone.

Thompson was shot multiple times on a Midtown sidewalk as he was walking toward the Hilton hotel. He was steps away from a side entrance to the hotel — where he was set to speak at UnitedHealth Group's investor conference — when a hooded gunman opened fire on him from behind.

The chief executive of the nation's largest health insurer was struck at least once in the back and at least once in the right calf, police said.

Surveillance footage showed the gunman firing his weapon as Thompson, wearing a blue suit jacket, walked several feet in front of him.

The gunman fled the scene, first on foot and then on an electric bike, which he rode into Central Park before ultimately escaping from New York City, police said.

Shell casings and bullets found at the scene had the words "deny," "defend," and "depose" written on them, according to multiple reports citing unnamed sources. BI couldn't independently confirm these details.

In the aftermath of the attack, the NYPD offered a $10,000 reward for tips leading to the gunman's arrest, with the FBI offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

A spokesperson for UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, reacted to news of Manigone's arrest in a statement to BI, saying: "Our hope is that today's apprehension brings some relief to Brian's family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy. We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation. We ask that everyone respect the family's privacy as they mourn."

• A gunman fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4 in New York City.
• The NYPD launched a manhunt but has so far failed to capture the suspect.
• The suspect's evasion has revealed holes in surveillance, but police say it's just a matter of time.

The Manhattan shooting Wednesday of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was captured by a surveillance camera and shared on social media, where the footage racked up hundreds of thousands of views. Authorities later released full-color surveillance images of the gunman, including one that showed him with his mask pulled down and smiling.

Yet, the gunman is still at large after four days despite a citywide manhunt led by the largest metropolitan police force in the country. On Friday, authorities told CNN they believed the gunman had managed to leave the city by bus.

The gunman's ability to evade capture so far has highlighted the limits of surveillance, even in a city like New York, where authorities have access to thousands of cameras that can track millions of people daily.

"You have got to remember, he was running around a city of 9 million people," Joseph Giacolone, a former NYPD Sergeant and professor at the John Jay School of Criminal Justice, told Business Insider. "You know, it's not that easy to pick somebody up the street, especially if they're all buttoned up."

New York City is under constant surveillance by police and residents

After the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, George W. Bush's administration expanded surveillance across the country.

Bush signed the Aviation and Transportation Act that November, creating the Transportation Security Administration. That same year, the Bush administration ushered in the USA Patriot Act, which expanded law enforcement's ability to use surveillance.

The US Congress later created the Department of Homeland Security. The department launched a nationwide campaign — "If You See Something, Say Something" — encouraging citizens to report suspicious activity to law enforcement to prevent terrorism and other criminal acts.

Since then, the emphasis on surveillance and security has spread nationwide, including in New York City, where cameras are now everywhere.

Amnesty International, a human rights organization, said there were over 25,500 surveillance cameras in New York City in a 2022 report. The NYPD has used images from the ubiquitous cameras to track crimes and for use in facial recognition software.

The NYPD's "Facial Identification Section" received 9,850 requests for comparison and returned 2,510 possible matches in 2019 — a roughly 25% match rate. The agency said it's unaware of cases in NYC in which a person was falsely arrested due to a facial recognition match.

This May, New York City Mayor Eric Adams launched a pilot program focused on using technology to increase public safety. The "community-based security camera integration platform" will allow businesses to "voluntarily share information in real-time with the NYPD through existing closed-circuit television cameras," according to a press release.

The emergence of Amazon's Ring cameras and smartphones has added another layer of monitoring. In 2022, the NYPD said it would join and monitor the Neighbors app, where residents share information on crime and safety.

"While the NYPD will not monitor the app around the clock, it will have the capacity to view, post and respond to crime- and safety-related information posted publicly by the users of the app," a press release said.

The NYPD is "processing a tremendous amount of evidence"

Commissioner Jessica Tisch told CNN on Friday that the department had already collected "lots of forensic evidence" and was "processing a tremendous amount of evidence in this case."

She said there is also a "massive camera canvass" of the suspect's movements through the city.

Additionally, a law enforcement official told CNN that investigators found a backpack in Central Park they believe belonged to the suspect but had not officially confirmed where it came from. Authorities took the backpack for tests.

Giacolone told BI that while the shooting suspect has evaded capture for now, it will be difficult for him to elude authorities as they collect more evidence. The NYPD will be looking for what he called "the three horsemen of forensics" to solve the case, which are video surveillance, cellphone records, and internet records.

"I've been on these investigations," Giacolone said. "They know what hole he crawled out of, what hole he went back into. As far as I'm concerned, they already know who he is. They just got to find him."

• Syrian dictator Bashar Assad has resigned and fled his country.
• Rebel forces said they seized control of the capital, Damascus.
• The collapse of Assad's government could have major global implications.

Syrians around the world celebrated as rebels, after more than a decadelong fight, finally toppled the country's longtime leader, Bashar Assad, on Sunday.

The Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday that Assad had resigned from his position as Syrian president and left the country. Russian state news reported that Assad had arrived in Moscow, where he's been granted asylum.

Syrian anti-government forces announced early on Sunday morning that they had advanced into Damascus, Syria's capital.

In a post on social media, rebel commander Hassan Abdul-Ghani said: "We declare Damascus free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad."

"Today 8-12-2024 Syria is officially free," he added in a later post.

Hassan Akkad, who fled Syria in 2015 and is now based in the UK, posted to X, "Syria is free. Syria is free. Syria is free. Syria is free. Syria is free. Syria is free. Syria is free."

World leaders react

President-elect Donald Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday that Assad had "fled his country" after losing Russia's support.

"Assad is gone," Trump wrote. "His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer."

In a press briefing on Sunday, President Joe Biden called the fall of Assad's government "a fundamental act of justice" and "a moment of opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their proud country."

Biden said the US would support Syria's neighbors Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Israel "should any threat arise from Syria during this transition." Biden said the United States would also "maintain our mission against ISIS" inside the country, referring to the terrorist group operating in the region.

The US military conducted at least a dozen airstrikes inside Syria on Sunday, "targeting ISIS camps and ISIS operatives," Biden said.

The United States will also support Syria through the United Nations to create a new government through a process determined by the Syrian people, Biden said.

"The United States will do whatever we can to support them, including through humanitarian relief, to help restore Syria after more than a decade of war and generational brutality by the Assad family," Biden said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a Sunday statement, echoed the president's sentiment, saying the US "will support international efforts to hold the Assad regime and its backers accountable for atrocities and abuses perpetrated against the Syrian people, including the use of chemical weapons and the unjust detention of civilians such as Austin Tice."

The Syrian people, Blinken added, "finally have reason for hope."

Kaja Kallas, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called Assad's resignation "a positive and long-awaited development."

"It also shows the weakness of Assad's backers, Russia and Iran," Kallas said in a statement. "Our priority is to ensure security in the region. I will work with all the constructive partners in Syria and in the region."

Geir Pedersen, the UN's Special Envoy for Syria, said in a statement, "Today marks a watershed moment in Syria's history."

How rebels took control of Aleppo

In late November, the coalition of rebel groups launched a surprise offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which traces its origins to the Al Qaeda terrorist network. It has more recently promoted more moderate views.

The rebels quickly took control of Aleppo, one of Syria's largest cities, Hama, and the strategic city of Homs, which sits at an important crossroads linking Damascus to the coast.

Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of HTS, is a Syrian who fought against US occupation in Iraq with Al Qaeda. He is believed to have cut ties with the terrorist organization in 2016 but is still designated a terrorist by the US, which has placed a $10 million bounty on his head.

Al-Jolani has sought to portray himself as a more moderate leader and promoted messages of religious and ethnic inclusivity as HTS pushed toward Damascus. Still, HTS has a reputation as a hardline Islamist faction.

"This victory, my brothers, is a victory for the entire Islamic nation," Al-Jolani said in a speech to his followers this weekend, per a translation by CNN. "This new triumph, my brothers, marks a new chapter in the history of the region."

What Assad's ousting means for Russia and Iran

The collapse of Assad's government could have significant global implications, especially for Russia and Iran, which have been two of Assad's strongest allies.

Moscow operates two major military facilities in Syria — the Hmeimim airbase and the Tartus naval base — which have given its forces crucial access to the Mediterranean Sea and a base to launch operations into Africa.

Losing access to these bases would scupper many of Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans in the region, Zineb Riboua, a research fellow and program manager at the Hudson Institute's Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, wrote on X: "Without a strong Russian military base in Syria, all of Putin's plans collapse."

While Russia intervened to prop up Assad in 2015, its priorities have since shifted to the war in Ukraine, and it had appeared reluctant to divert any significant resources to help Assad this time around.

On Sunday, Russia's foreign ministry said there was no security threat to its military bases in Syria but that they were on high alert.

For Iran, Syria has been part of an important land corridor stretching from Tehran to Baghdad, Damascus, and Beirut, helping it support key regional proxies such as the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

"For Iran, Syria is absolutely essential in order to maintain its proxy network," Natasha Hall, a senior fellow with the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, previously told Business Insider.

But Tehran, too, has been distracted by its conflict with Israel, while Hezbollah has been left in disarray after Israel killed its longtime leader and wounded thousands of its fighters with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.

In a separate post on TruthSocial on Saturday, Trump called on the United States to stay out of the situation in Syria, writing: "Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!"

This story is being updated as the situation unfolds.

• Some health insurance companies are removing executive bios from their websites.
• The deletions came after the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
• CVS Health and BlueCross Blue Shield are among those who have removed executive bios.

Some health insurance companies have removed executive leadership bios from their websites after the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Thompson died on Wednesday after a gunman shot him outside a Hilton hotel in New York City. Thompson was scheduled to speak at the company's investor conference.

The New York Police Department said the shooting appeared to be "a brazen, targeted attack." Police say the gunman left the scene on foot before using an electric bike. The gunman remains at large.

As of Friday, the "Our leadership" section on UnitedHealthcare's "About Us" page is no longer accessible. Clicking on the link through Google will redirect to the company's homepage. An archive of the page shows that the leadership section was publicly visible as recently as Wednesday.

When asked for comment, a UnitedHealthcare representative pointed Business Insider toward two separate statements published this week regarding Thompson's death. Neither addressed the removal of the leadership page on its website.

UnitedHealthcare's parent company, UnitedHealth Group, appears to have followed suit.

Following links to UnitedHealth Group's "Our Leaders" and "Board of Directors" pages from Google now read "Page Not Found." An archive link shows that the leadership section was visible as recently as Tuesday.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield, another major American health insurance company, also appeared to have removed the executive bio section from its website. An archive link for the company's site shows that its "Our Leadership" section was visible earlier this year. However, it's inaccessible at the time of writing.

Some of Blue Cross and Blue Shield's regional offices, including its Massachusetts branch, have also made their leadership web pages inaccessible to the public.

Clicking on a link to the "Company Leadership" page for the Massachusetts branch through Google will now lead to the message: "You are not authorized to access this page."

Medica, which provides health insurance plans in states like Iowa and Minnesota, confirmed to BI that it had removed its leadership page.

"The safety of Medica employees is our top priority and we have increased security for all of our employees," the statement read. "Although we have received no specific threats related to our campuses, our office buildings will be temporarily closed out of an abundance of caution."

Other companies like CVS Health still have executive leadership bios on their websites but have removed photos. A representative from CVS Health confirmed the decision to BI, but had no additional comment.

Centene also appeared to have removed photos of its top executives. An archive of the "Executive Leadership" page shows that photos were visible in September.

Representatives for UnitedHealth Group, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Citadel CEO Ken Griffin's Stegosaurus fossil will be displayed at the American Museum of Natural History.
• Griffin purchased the fossil — dubbed Apex — for $44.6 million in July.
• The fossil is 150 million years old and nearly 80% complete.

Citadel CEO Ken Griffin's Stegosaurus fossil has found a temporary home at the American Museum of Natural History.

The 150-million-year-old fossil known as "Apex" will be displayed at the Manhattan-based museum starting December 8. It will arrive at the American Museum of Natural History as part of a special loan from Griffin, who purchased it during a Sotheby's auction for $44.6 million in July.

Commercial paleontologist Jason Cooper discovered Apex in May 2022 at Morrison Formation near Dinosaur, Colorado. It is 11.5 feet tall, 27 feet long, and nearly 80% complete. Apex is thought to be the largest and one of the most complete Stegosaurus specimens discovered so far.

Sotheby's, which initially expected the fossil to go for about $6 million, said in a statement that Apex set off a "bidding battle" and was "the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction."

At the time, some paleontologists argued it shouldn't have been privately sold but rather used for educational purposes.

"We are thrilled to have Apex on view at the Museum and grateful to Ken Griffin for his commitment to sharing this magnificent specimen with the public and for partnering with our Museum to do so," Sean M. Decatur, President of the American Museum of Natural History, said in a press release.

The press release said Griffin's decision to loan the fossil will allow scientists in the museum's Division of Paleontology to study it as part of a new research initiative.

A representative for Griffin said he also provided sampling needed for scientific research and funding for educational programming. A postdoctoral fellow will also have the opportunity to research Apex alongside other Stegosaurus specimens.

"Apex offers a unique window into our planet's distant past, and I'm so pleased to partner with the American Museum of Natural History to showcase it at one of our country's preeminent scientific institutions," Griffin said in a statement to Business Insider. "I am grateful that millions of visitors and researchers will now be able to see and learn from this magnificent specimen of the Late Jurassic Period."

He added: "The joy and awe every child feels coloring a Stegosaurus with their crayons will now be brought to life for the millions of people who have the opportunity to see this epic dinosaur in person."

• OpenAI's marketing campaign "Shipmas" ended Friday.
• The campaign included 12 days of product releases, demos, and new features.
• On the final day, OpenAI previewed o3, its most advanced model yet.

OpenAI released new features and products ahead of the holidays, a campaign it called "Shipmas."

The company saved the most exciting news for the final day: a preview of o3, its most advanced model yet, which the company said could be available to the public as soon as the end of January.

Here's everything OpenAI has released so far for "Shipmas."

'Shipmas' Day 1

OpenAI started the promotion with a bang by releasing the full version of its latest reasoning model, o1.

OpenAI previewed o1 in September, describing it as a series of artificial-intelligence models "designed to spend more time thinking before they respond." Until now, only a limited version of these models was available to ChatGPT Plus and Team users.

Now, these users have access to the full capabilities of o1 models, which Altman said are faster, smarter, and easier to use than the preview. They're also multimodal, which means they can process images and texts jointly.

Max Schwarzer, a researcher at OpenAI, said the full version of o1 was updated based on user feedback from the preview version and said it's now more intelligent and accurate.

"We ran a pretty detailed suite of human evaluations for this model, and what we found was that it made major mistakes about 34% less often than o1 preview while thinking fully about 50% faster," he said.

Along with o1, OpenAI unveiled a new tier of ChatGPT called ChatGPT Pro. It's priced at $200 a month and includes unlimited access to the latest version of o1.

'Shipmas' Day 2

On Friday, OpenAI previewed an advancement that allows users to fine-tune o1 on their own datasets. Users can now leverage OpenAI's reinforcement-learning algorithms — which mimic the human trial-and-error learning process — to customize their own models.

The technology will be available to the public next year, allowing anyone from machine-learning engineers to genetic researchers to create domain-specific AI models. OpenAI has already partnered with the Reuters news agency to develop a legal assistant based on o1-mini. It has also partnered with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to develop computational methods for assessing rare genetic diseases.

'Shipmas' Day 3

OpenAI announced on December 9 that its AI video generator Sora was launching to the public.

Sora can generate up to 20-second videos from written instructions. The tool can also complete a scene and extend existing videos by filling in missing frames.

"We want our AIs to be able to understand video and generate video and I think it really will deeply change the way that we use computers," the CEO added.

Rohan Sahai, Sora's product lead, said a product team of about five or six engineers built the product in months.

The company showed off the new product and its various features, including the Explore page, which is a feed of videos shared by the community. It also showed various style presets available like pastel symmetry, film noir, and balloon world.

The team also gave a demo of Sora's Storyboard feature, which lets users organize and edit sequences on a timeline.

Sora is rolling out to the public in the US and many countries around the world. However, Altman said it will be "a while" before the tool rolls out in the UK and most of Europe.

ChatGPT Plus subscribers who pay $20 monthly can get up to 50 generations per month of AI videos that are 5 seconds long with a resolution of 720p. ChatGPT Pro users who pay $200 a month get unlimited generations in the slow queue mode and 500 faster generations, Altman said in the demo. Pro users can generate up to 20-second long videos that are 1080p resolution, without watermarks.

'Shipmas' Day 4

OpenAI announced that it's bringing its collaborative canvas tool to all ChatGPT web users — with some updates.

The company demonstrated the tech in a holiday-themed walkthrough of some of its new capabilities. Canvas is an interface that turns ChatGPT into a writing or coding assistant on a project. OpenAI first launched it to ChatGPT Plus and Team users in October.

Starting Tuesday, canvas will be available to free web users who'll be able to select the tool from a drop-down of options on ChatGPT. The chatbot can load large bodies of text into the separate canvas window that appears next to the ongoing conversation thread.

Canvas can get even more intuitive in its responses with new updates, OpenAI said. To demonstrate, they uploaded an essay about Santa Claus's sleigh and asked ChatGPT to give its editing notes from the perspective of a physics professor.

For writers, it can craft entire bodies of text, make changes based on requests, and add emojis. Coders can run code in canvas to double-check that it's working properly.

'Shipmas' Day 5

OpenAI talked about its integration with Apple for the iPhone, iPad, and macOS.

As part of the iOS 18.2 software update, Apple users can now access ChatGPT directly from Apple's operating systems without an OpenAI account. This new integration allows users to consult ChatGPT through Siri, especially for more complex questions.

They can also use ChatGPT to generate text through Apple's generative AI features, collectively called Apple Intelligence. The first of these features was introduced in October and included tools for proofreading and rewriting text, summarizing messages, and photo-editing features. They can also access ChatGPT through the camera control feature on the iPhone 16 to learn more about objects within the camera's view.

'Shipmas' Day 6

OpenAI launched its highly anticipated video and screensharing capabilities in ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode.

The company originally teased the public with a glimpse of the chatbot's ability to "reason across" vision along with text and audio during OpenAI's Spring Update in May. However, Advanced Voice Mode didn't become available for users until September, and the video capabilities didn't start rolling out until December 12.

In the livestream demonstration on Thursday, ChatGPT helped guide an OpenAI employee through making pour-over coffee. The chatbot gave him feedback on his technique and answered questions about the process. During the Spring Update, OpenAI employees showed off the chatbot's ability to act as a math tutor and interpret emotions based on facial expressions.

Users can access the live video by selecting the Advanced Voice Mode icon in the ChatGPT app and then choosing the video button on the bottom-left of the screen. Users can share their screen with ChatGPT by hitting the drop-down menu and selecting "Share Screen."

'Shipmas' Day 7

For "Shipmas" Day 7, OpenAI introduced Projects, a new way for users to "organize and customize" conversations within ChatGPT. The tool allows users to upload files and notes, store chats, and create custom instructions.

"This has been something we've been hearing from you for a while that you really want to see inside ChatGPT," OpenAI chief product officer Kevin Weil said. "So we can't wait to see what you do with it."

During the live stream demonstration, OpenAI employees showed a number of ways to use the feature, including organizing work presentations, home maintenance tasks, and programming.

The tool started to roll out to Plus, Pro, and Teams users on Friday. The company said in the demonstration it will roll out the tool to free users "as soon as possible."

'Shipmas' Day 8

OpenAI is rolling out ChatGPT search to all logged-in free users on ChatGPT, the company announced during its "Shipmas" livestream on Monday. The company previously launched the feature on October 31 to Plus and Team users, as well as waitlist users.

The new feature is also integrated into Advanced Voice Mode now. On the livestream, OpenAI employees showed off its ability to provide quick search results, search while users talk to ChatGPT, and act as a default search engine.

"What's really unique about ChatGPT search is the conversational nature," OpenAI's search product lead, Adam Fry, said.

The company also said it made Search faster and "better on mobile," including the addition of some new maps experiences. ChatGPT search feature is rolling out globally to all users with an account.

'Shipmas' Day 9

OpenAI launched tools geared toward developers on Tuesday.

It launched o1 out of preview in the API. OpenAI's o1 is its series of AI models designed to reason through complex tasks and solve more challenging problems. Developers have experimented with o1 preview since September to build agentic applications, customer support, and financial analysis, OpenAI employee Michelle Pokrass said.

The company also added some "core features" to o1 that it said developers had been asking for on the API, including function calling, structured outputs, vision inputs, and developer messages.

OpenAI also announced new SDKs and a new flow for getting an API key.

'Shipmas' Day 10

OpenAI is bringing ChatGPT to your phone through phone calls and WhatsApp messages.

"ChatGPT is great but if you don't have a consistent data connection, you might not have the best connection," OpenAI engineer Amadou Crookes said in the livestream. "And so if you have a phone line you can jump right into that experience."

You can add ChatGPT to your contacts or dial the number at 1-800-ChatGPT or 1-800-242-8478. The calling feature is only available for those living in the US. Those outside the US can message ChatGPT on WhatsApp.

OpenAI employees in the live stream demonstrated the calling feature on a range of devices including an iPhone, flip phone, and even a rotary phone. OpenAI product lead Kevin Weil said the feature came out of a hack-week project and was built just a few weeks ago.

'Shipmas' Day 11

OpenAI focused on features for its desktop apps during Thursday's "Shipmas" reveal. Users can now see and automate their work on MacOS desktops with ChatGPT.

Additionally, users can click the "Works With Apps" button, which allows them to work with more coding apps, such as Textmate, BB Edit, PyCharm, and others. The desktop app will support Notion, Quip, and Apple Notes.

Also, the desktop app will have Advanced Voice Mode support.

The update became available for the MacOS desktop on Thursday. OpenAI CPO Kevin Weil said the Windows version is "coming soon."

'Shipmas' Day 12

OpenAI finished its "12 days of Shipmas" campaign by introducing o3, the successor to the o1 model. The company first launched the o1 model in September and advertised its "enhanced reasoning capabilities."

The rollout includes the o3 and 03-mini models. Although "o2" should be the next model number, an OpenAI spokesperson told Bloomberg that it didn't use that name "out of respect' for the British telecommunications company.

Greg Kamradt of Arc Prize, which measures progress toward artificial general intelligence, appeared during the livestream and said o3 did notably better than o1 during tests by ARC-AGI.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said during the livestream that the models are available for public safety testing. He said OpenAI plans to launch the o3 mini model "around the end of January" and the o3 model "shortly after that."

In a post on X on Friday, Weil said the o3 model is a "massive step up from o1 on every one of our hardest benchmarks."

• Disneyland is again offering special pricing for Southern California residents to lure in locals.
• The lower pricing tier — a 3-day, 1 park-per-day ticket for $199 — is available through March.
• The promotion comes as the park faces criticism over its large crowds and long wait times.

Disneyland is bringing back a special ticket pricing tier for Southern California residents to lure in locals, even as the park deals with criticism over its large crowds and long wait times.

The lower pricing tier — available for people who live in select zip codes in California — offers a 3-day, 1 park-per-day ticket for $199 or Park Hopper passes starting at $289. That's compared to 1-day, 1-park tickets, which start at $104 for non-peak dates and can reach over $200 for peak dates like the week of Christmas.

The tickets at the lower pricing tier are now available for reservations from January through March. It is unclear whether the promotion will continue beyond March, but it has been discontinued and reinstated several times since the park stopped offering a lower-price annual pass for Southern California residents.

The promotional rate comes as the Anaheim theme park faces criticism over its large crowds and long wait times. In August, the Disney fan publication Inside The Magic reported wait times at the Princess Pavilion in Fantasyland, where guests can greet actors dressed as their favorite characters, skyrocketed to 300 minutes and that the sheer volume of guests at the park was "beyond manageability."

The company said its California-based theme parks saw increased guest spending and attendance growth at the beginning of 2024 but had less favorable results in the second quarter. By the third quarter, operating income at Disney's domestic parks and experiences was down.

Hugh Johnston, the company's chief financial officer, said Disney's Experiences sector — which includes its theme parks and cruise ships — had a "slight moderation in demand" during the company's third-quarter earnings report. The report said the Experiences sector's operating income decreased 3% to $2.2 billion.

"But overall, I would just call this as a bit of a slowdown that's being more than offset by the Entertainment business," he said.

CEO Bob Iger said the company's Experiences sector rebounded during its latest earnings call in November.

"In domestic, we certainly feel like the consumer is strengthening," Iger said. "As I mentioned earlier, we obviously saw growth in domestic parks and certainly feel very positively about that. And that's our expectation going forward, is a gradual strengthening in the consumer."

Disney recently unveiled a series of new rides for Disneyland. During the D23 event in August, Disney said it is adding new attractions based on Marvel and that the Avengers Campus would be expanding. Disneyland will also build new attractions based on James Cameron's Avatar franchise.