State Department officials told the Trump administration transition team there could be a humanitarian "catastrophe" in Gaza when a new Israeli law barring contact with the UN refugee agency for Palestinians takes effect at the end of the month, three U.S. officials told Axios.

Why it matters: The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is the primary aid agency operating in Gaza. U.S. officials say there's no serious backup plan for providing humanitarian supplies and services to Palestinians.

• After more than a year of war, the UN and other aid organizations warn Gaza is close to uninhabitable. Tens of thousands of houses have been destroyed. Nearly two million Palestinians are displaced and dependent on aid for food, water and medical services.
• The Israeli law will take effect a few days after President-elect Trump's inauguration, when the new administration will be faced with mounting world crises.
• Biden administration officials told Axios they initiated the briefing about UNRWA because they wanted the new administration to be aware of the looming crisis.

Catch up quick: In late October, the Israeli parliament passed two bills that would significantly limit UNRWA's ability to continue operating in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

• The first bill bars UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory, and is most relevant to UNRWA's activity in East Jerusalem. But it also affects the aid agency's operations in the West Bank that are run from Jerusalem.
• The second bill bars any Israeli government official from having contact with UNRWA, and strips all UNRWA workers of their diplomatic privileges and immunity.
• Israel has long opposed UNRWA — and since the war began in Gaza, has claimed some of the agency's staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. UNRWA fired nine staff members following a UN investigation, but has repeatedly denied allegations that the agency has widespread links to Hamas.
• During Trump's first term, his administration gradually cut all U.S. assistance to UNRWA. The Biden administration later resumed U.S. aid to the agency and supported its budget with hundreds of millions of dollars. But Congress passed a law in March that bans the U.S. from funding UNRWA until at least 2025.

What they're saying: UN officials said they're concerned that after the laws come into effect, UNRWA staff won't be able to move between Gaza and Israel, and the agency won't be able to carry out deconfliction arrangements with the IDF. It's also not clear if the IDF will treat the agency's facilities as part of the UN, which can't be targeted by Israeli forces under international law.

• That will put the ability of UNRWA to continue working in Gaza in jeopardy, UN officials said.
• A senior UNRWA emergency officer told The Guardian that social order in the Strip would likely collapse.

Behind the scenes: Last week, State Department officials briefed Joel Rayburn from the Trump transition team on the UNRWA situation, and raised "deep concern" about the new laws' implications for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, U.S. officials said.

• Rayburn, an experienced Middle East expert who is a former U.S. envoy to Syria, is expected to be named the incoming administration's Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs.
• "We wanted them to know what is going to happen 10 days into their presidency," a U.S. official told Axios. "We thought it was the responsible thing to do. It's a catastrophe waiting to happen."

Zoom in: U.S. officials told Axios that neither Israel nor the UN has made any serious plans for what happens next.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres refused over the last two months to engage in a discussion with Israel about alternative UN agencies that could take on some of UNRWA's roles, U.S. and Israeli officials said. A spokesperson for Guterres declined to comment.
• The Israeli government conducted several consultations about the UNRWA issue. But hasn't made any decision about what to do in Gaza after the laws come into force, a senior Israeli official told Axios.
• "Both sides are playing chicken, waiting for some magical solution — and thinking that if they do nothing, it will solve itself out," a U.S. official said. "But it won't."

In a letter to the members of the UN General Assembly in December, Guterres wrote that the cessation of or restrictions on UNRWA activities in Gaza and the West Bank would have "devastating consequences" for Palestinian refugees.

• "There is currently no realistic alternative to UNRWA which could adequately provide the services and assistance required," he wrote.
• UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma told Axios the agency isn't going to shut down its operations on Jan. 31 when the law takes effect.
• "We plan to stay in Gaza and work as long as we can until we can't. It will be a disaster if the bill is implemented," Touma said. "Who is going to do the work?"

• When I decided to start my career as a personal assistant, I didn't expect to learn so much.
• It's a much more intimate job than I expected, and I've become a better listener and communicator.
• I enjoy being relied on for tasks big and small, and taking part in my boss's successes.

Like many people, when I think of the unique relationship between a personal assistant and their employer, the first thing that comes to mind is Miranda Priestly and Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada. And while I've worked with my fair share of Miranda Priestly-types, I've also had the privilege of developing meaningful relationships with others I've worked for as a personal assistant.

When I first made the decision to switch career paths and become a personal assistant, I didn't think I'd learn anything profound. I thought managing someone's life would be easy — scheduling appointments, responding to emails, grocery shopping, making travel arrangements, and being the point of contact for other staff members.

These tasks, while seemingly easy to complete, gave me a glimpse of the person I would be working for and how integral my role in their life would now be. I never expected the deep relationship I'd develop with my employer and what that would teach me about true partnership. A relationship built on mutual trust, understanding, and respect.

Being a personal assistant is a much more intimate job than I expected

They trusted me to handle the most delicate parts of their world, and being relied upon so completely was something I had never experienced before. I had only ever been responsible for myself, but now, I was also responsible for ensuring this person's life ran smoothly. I felt needed and like my contributions added value to the company as a whole, even if that contribution was merely rearranging the day's calendar to allow a last-minute meeting or an urgent doctor's appointment.

In the past, I have worked jobs where the most I knew about my boss was how they took their coffee. I didn't know their allergies, the intricate details of their personal lives, or their favorite place to vacation. Now, that knowledge is merely an extension of my job description. I know every single detail about this person who was once a stranger — their dreams of one day having a big family, their anxiety after a difficult health diagnosis, their determination and ingenuity when starting a new business venture, and even their anger when confronted with bigotry in the professional world.

Being a personal assistant is an unconventional partnership with your employer, one which forgoes typical workplace professionalism because of how closely you need to work together. I have gained so much genuine fulfillment because of how much I love having the opportunity to help someone pursue greatness, care for them when necessary, and ensure that their world continues to spin on its axis.

When my boss was on a business trip abroad, and their transport from the airport to the hotel failed to arrive, I was responsible for ensuring they got to their destination safely. It was this moment that I truly realized how important my role in their life was. I was holding the pieces of their life together and gave them the ability to dedicate their time to their fast-growing company, their family, their friends, and the parts of their life that they'd never had the opportunity to prioritize before.

I feel like my boss's success is my success, too

Many companies preach about fostering a collaborative work environment, but I had no idea what that really meant until I started working with someone so intimately and learned the value of "we" in the workplace. Their wins were my wins because I had played a small role in their success. When I helped organize a networking event for industry professionals, and the company was featured in a prominent publication, or when we secured a $10K brand deal with a well-known beauty conglomerate — these were milestones we achieved together because we had both put in hours upon hours of work. Our shared success had never felt so rewarding because we had done it together, as partners.

For us to succeed individually, we needed to work well together in order to achieve our goals. I believe that my success in this role can be credited to the fact that I didn't work for a Miranda Priestly type, and instead, was seen as the second half of a whole and not merely a job title.

Cementing my role as a meaningful counterpart in this unique partnership allowed me to look at the other relationships in my life and how they have grown because of my career. I am a better communicator and listener, and I am more empathetic, attentive, and adaptable. I know what it takes to be a great partner and how using our individual knowledge and skills can ultimately lead to our mutual success — whether that be in my professional or personal life.

People say life takes a village, but in this case, I think it takes a badass personal assistant.

• An Audible ad has sparked a debate on TikTok over audiobook speed preferences.
• Someone in the ad said that anyone who listens to audiobooks "real fast" is a "psychopath."
• Critics argued the ad's tone was condescending, while others said taking offense was an overreaction.

An Audible advertisement has caused a stir on TikTok, upsetting some fans with the suggestion that there is a right — and wrong — way to listen to audiobooks.

Over the weekend, Audible released an ad promoting its narration speed feature in which celebrities, authors, and audiobook narrators were asked for their thoughts on the ideal listening speed.

Some said they liked to listen at 1.5 or above ("SNL" star Bowen Yang said 1.8). Others, however, were purists and thought the right pace was "the speed at which it was recorded."

But one remark struck a nerve, particularly on BookTok — the community of literary fans on TikTok.

One respondent suggested that she thought people who "go real fast" were akin to being a "psychopath."

While some viewers saw the video as lighthearted fun, others took offense and felt Audible was alienating its audience.

"I listened to your judgmental ad on 2x speed 🙄" one viewer commented. Another asked: "Is this rage bait??"

Some said they found the tone of the ad condescending, especially as consuming audiobooks and other media at a faster speed can be helpful for some people with ADHD.

Sonya Barlow, an author and presenter who has been diagnosed with ADHD, for example, told Vice in a piece about speed-watching movies that she thinks it helps her to focus.

"I'm used to running around. So when I watch TV or listen to podcasts, it's not that I am rushing the show; more that I'm avoiding the silences and long pauses in between, which can slow things down," Barlow said.

Stephanie Mitropoulos, who posts book reviews to her 88,000 followers on TikTok, made a video in response.

"They literally have a clip of someone saying that if you listen over one time speed, you are psychopathic," she said in her video, which amassed more than 300,000 views.

Mitropoulos said her preferred speed was somewhere around 1.85, and she knew of many other people who liked to listen to 1.5x or above.

She said she thought it was "absurd" to make such a flippant comment.

"Why would you even post that? Why would you put that out there? Why are we trying to shame people for listening at the speed that is most comfortable for them?" Mitropoulos said. "I don't spend $16 a month to be called a psychopath."

Many commenters echoed Mitropoulos's views, but others thought it was an overreaction.

In the comments under Auduble's original video, viewers have shared dismay that some were upset by it.

"This is what made people upset?" one person wrote. "This can't be it."

A TikToker called Emma Skies, who has 174,000 followers on her BookTok account, said in a video she feared society was "losing context" and taking the ad too seriously.

"Do we truly think that it's strange or anger-inducing or offensive that when a performer, an audiobook narrator, is asked, Hey, at what speed do you think your performance and your peers' performances are best consumed? And that that performer says, 'the speed at which I performed it'?" Skies said.

She felt the ad was intended as a joke and not meant to mock anyone — especially as Audible was promoting the speed function.

"Nobody cares. They're not going to stop you," she said. "There's a reason that that's an option on Audible."

In a message to Business Insider, Skies said her video was less about Audible and more about "encouraging people to keep in mind the context of any piece of media they see, even silly little ads."

Skies also pointed to Audible's royalty rates, which, at 25%, have been criticized as lower than the industry standard.

Authors who are exclusively linked with Audible benefit from a higher rate of 40% — something Skies also took issue with.

"Audible Exclusives are hoarded not only from other retailers (as one might expect of a retailer exclusive), but also from being available to public libraries because of Amazon's monopolistic business practices," she said.

Amazon and Audible did not respond to requests for comment from BI.

It’s long been rumored that Nvidia is planning to break into the consumer CPU market in 2025, and we may have already had our first look at its new processor.

On Monday at CES, the company unveiled Project Digits, a $3,000 personal AI supercomputer powered by a new GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip. Reuters reports that yesterday Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hinted to investors and analysts that there are bigger plans for the Arm-based CPU within that chip, co-developed with MediaTek.

“You know, obviously we have plans,” Huang said during an investor presentation, referring to the new 20-core desktop CPU, but that he would “wait to tell you” what they are.

Co-developer MediaTek has its own ambitions though, and Huang suggested that it may also bring the CPU to market, independent of Nvidia. “Now they could provide that to us, and they could keep that for themselves and serve the market. And so it was a great win-win,” Huang said.

Image: Nvidia

Project Digits itself isn’t a mass-market product, costing $3,000 and running on a custom Linux system designed specifically for AI developers. But Nvidia’s consumer CPU ambitions have been rumored since October 2023, when Reuters reported that the company, alongside rival AMD, was working on Arm-based chips to launch in 2025.

Qualcomm has currently cornered the market on Arm-based CPUs for Windows PCs, boosted by last year’s launch of the Snapdragon X Elite processors. Those chips provided the sort of performance and power efficiency previously only available with Apple’s MacBooks, and put real pressure on Intel and AMD’s x86 systems.

2024 was the year that Windows on Arm finally achieved its potential, and with increased competition from Nvidia and others, 2025 could mark a turning point in the battle between x86 and Arm.

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., became the second Democrat to co-sponsor the Laken Riley Act, which will get a vote on the Senate floor Friday after passing the House on Tuesday. 

The measure would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest and detain illegal immigrants that have committed theft, burglary or shoplifting until they are deported. Under the bill, states would also have standing to take civil action against members of the federal government who do not enforce immigration law. 

"Arizonans know the real-life consequences of today’s border crisis," Gallego told Fox News Digital in a statement. "We must give law enforcement the means to take action when illegal immigrants break the law, to prevent situations like what occurred to Laken Riley."

"I will continue to fight for the safety of Arizonans by pushing for comprehensive immigration reform and increased border security." 

RFK JR TO MEET WITH SLEW OF DEMS INCLUDING ELIZABETH WARREN, BERNIE SANDERS

The bill was re-introduced in the 119th Congress by Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., in the House and Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., in the Senate. It was named for the 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student who was found dead on the University of Georgia campus in February. Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant, was found guilty on 10 total counts, including felony murder. He initially pleaded not guilty.

He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in November. 

The House passed the bill, 264 to 159, on Tuesday, with 48 Democrats joining Republicans.

TRUMP, GOP SENATORS TO HUDDLE AT CAPITOL, WEIGH STRATEGY ON BUDGET, TAXES AND BORDER

"I’d like to thank Senator Gallego for cosponsoring the bipartisan Laken Riley Act. This commonsense legislation would keep American families safe, and every single senator should support it," Britt said in a statement after Gallego joined the bill. 

The Alabama senator reintroduced the bill in the Senate on Tuesday after first debuting it last year. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., quickly teed the measure up for a floor vote on Friday. 

Britt's bill has the full backing of every Republican in the Senate and is now co-sponsored by Democrat Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Gallego. 

MIDWESTERN STATE SENATOR REVIVES DOGE-ALIGNED BILLS AS GOP PREPARES FOR DC TAKEOVER

Gallego notably voted in favor of the bill in the House last year, one of a few dozen Democrats to do so. 

The Arizona Democrat won the swing state's Senate race in November, taking over the seat vacated by former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., who did not run for re-election. Gallego defeated Trump ally Kari Lake in the election, despite President-elect Donald Trump carrying the battleground state. 

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., revealed to Fox News Digital he would be voting in favor of the measure. The Democrat is up for re-election in Michigan in 2026, another state won by Trump. 

TRANSGENDER BILL BARRING MEN FROM WOMEN'S SPORTS TO GET FLOOR VOTE IN NEWLY GOP-LED SENATE

Republicans will ultimately have a 53-seat majority in the Senate. However, because Sen.-elect Jim Justice of West Virginia delayed his swearing-in, the conference only has a 52-seat majority. 

To overcome the legislative filibuster, the bill needs 60 votes. The measure's fate is thus expected to come down to the votes of a handful of Democrats.

In particular, the vote will put a spotlight on the Georgia Senate delegation, as Riley was a constituent of theirs. All eyes will be on Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., who has his own re-election battle in 2026 in yet another Trump-won state.

Ossoff did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication.

• A software engineer left a FAANG company for Oracle in 2024 due to a cultural mismatch.
• He felt micromanaged and a lack of trust at the FAANG company even though he worked intense hours.
• Oracle offered a structured onboarding process and a collaborative environment, and he plans to stay.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a 27-year-old software engineer at Oracle who previously worked at a FAANG company. The source's name and full employment history are known to Business Insider but are not named to protect their privacy. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

In March 2022, I interviewed with a FAANG company for a software engineering role.

I heard back from my final round within a few days and started about three weeks after signing the offer. I didn't stay at the FAANG company very long because the culture was not a fit for me.

I'm now at Oracle and don't plan on leaving. Here's how my work experiences at both companies compare.

The FAANG company seemed more focused on personality fit during the interview process

After an HR screen and a tech screen, I had a final round of four interviews back-to-back, each lasting 45 minutes. Three interviewers were senior engineers, and one was the hiring manager.

The personality questions were more detailed than the technical questions. They wanted to know if I demonstrated the company's leadership principles, so they asked questions like "Can you tell me about a time you affected change in a company?" and "Can you tell me about a time you went above and beyond for a customer?"

The technical questions were on standard LeetCode and system design. I was asked to whiteboard and design a service similar to Instagram and discuss how I'd engineer it to scale to a billion users.

The FAANG company sought candidates willing to work long hours

The interviewers didn't ask directly how long I was willing to work, but they asked: "Tell me about a time when you had to meet an aggressive deadline." The hiring manager also told me the team I'd be joining was fairly new and wanted to roll out the technology they were developing quickly.

I did notice a few more red flags. Everyone I interviewed with had joined within the past year and a half. Most folks I interviewed with at Oracle had been at the company for four to six years.

One of the senior engineers at the FAANG company said it's fast-paced and has a work-hard culture, so there's a lot of turnover. However, I'd also get to learn a lot and work on features that millions of customers would use, and I was looking forward to that experience.

My Oracle interview process took longer

I interviewed with Oracle in February 2024 and started in March.

The steps were the same, but the Oracle process focused more on technical ability than the FAANG company.

In the final round, I was interviewed by two senior engineers, the hiring manager, and a product manager. The senior engineers and my hiring manager also asked me standard LeetCode and system design questions. My hiring manager asked if I had data center experience, which I didn't. The product manager asked me to go deep into the technical stuff I previously worked on.

The offer negotiation process was pretty similar for both companies

Both times, I had competing offers and asked them to match compensation. They matched it by increasing the amount of vested stock they'd give me, and I got a 10% total compensation increase from both.

Oracle's RSU vesting is spread evenly across four years. At the FAANG company, the four-year stock vest schedule was 5% for year one, 15% for year two, 40% for year three, and 40% for year four.

After my first year at the FAANG company, I received a 3% raise on my base pay. I haven't received a raise at Oracle yet.

I found Oracle's onboarding process to be much more structured

The initial few weeks at both companies were spent getting access to code bases, familiarizing myself with the teams' work, and having a lot of 1:1 meetings.

At Oracle, everyone helped explain the organization's overall mission. The team had an onboarding document that I could follow that outlined expectations.

There was no structure or clear expectations in the first few weeks at the FAANG company. Management also didn't focus much on helping people get onboarded.

My FAANG coworkers seemed very focused on their level of seniority

Almost every single engineer I met in my first week at the FAANG company either asked me a question about how I could help them get a promotion or was very closed off and wouldn't communicate much. One midlevel engineer asked me in our first meeting whether I'd be open to being "mentored" by him so he could use me as a data point to support his coming promotion.

Another engineer I met with told me, "That is between me and my manager," when I asked him about his long-term career goals during our first meeting. I asked my skip-level manager a question about the team, and he told me my question was better suited for a lower-level manager, not him.

At Oracle, everyone was friendly and gave me information and advice on succeeding.

Oracle has a sense of teamwork and collaboration that the FAANG company did not have

In my experience, micromanagement is virtually nonexistent at Oracle. Management and executives allow engineers and other contributors to set their own deadlines and expectations. I felt trusted.

The culture at the FAANG company was one of the most intense I've been part of. My teammates and I regularly worked until late into the night, and there was lots of micromanagement, which is one of the reasons I left. It felt like there was a lack of trust in lower-level employees.

It affected both my mental and physical health. My sleep pattern was chaotic, and I skipped a lot of meals because of the constant stress and anxiety.

Since I left the FAANG company for Oracle, I haven't looked back

The final straw was when the FAANG company asked me to relocate to a different state with three-months notice. I told my manager I'd move but immediately started searching for external jobs.

I got my Oracle offer shortly after. When I finally gave my two weeks' notice at the FAANG company, I felt a huge weight lifted off my chest.

Changing companies improved my mental health, and my stress levels dropped dramatically. I plan to stay at Oracle long-term.

Want to share your Big Tech job experience? Email Lauryn Haas at [email protected].

• Most AI chips are made in Taiwan by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.
• Startups focused on lowering the cost of AI are working with US manufacturers.
• AI chips are being made at fabrication facilities in New York and Arizona.

Attempting to compete with Nvidia is daunting, especially when it comes to manufacturing.

Nvidia and most of its competitors don't produce their own chips. They vie for capacity from the world's most advanced chip fabricator: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Nvidia may largely control which companies get the latest and most powerful computing machines, but TSMC decides how many Nvidia can sell. The relationship between the two companies fascinates the industry.

But the bottom line is that there's no manufacturer better and there's no getting ahead of Nvidia for the types of manufacturing capacity relevant to AI.

Still, a few startups think they can find an advantage amid Nvidia's dominance and the ever-fluctuating dynamics surrounding the island nation of Taiwan by tapping chip fabs in the United States.

Positron AI, founded by Thomas Sohmers in 2023, has designed a chip architecture optimized for transformer models — the kind on which OpenAI's GPT models are built. With faster access to more memory, Sohmers claims Postiron's architecture can compete on performance and price for AI inference, which is the computation needed to produce an answer to a query after a model has been trained.

Positron's system has "woefully less FLOPS" than an Nvidia GPU, Sohmers joked. However, his architecture is intended to compensate for this with efficiency for Positron and its customers.

Smaller fabs are 'hungrier'

Positron's chips are made in Chandler, Arizona, by Intel-owned firm, Altera.

Intel acquired Altera, which specializes in a specific type of programmable chip, in 2015. In 2023, some early Positron employees and advisors came from Altera — bringing relationships and trust. The early partnership has given Positron some small influence over Altera's path and a cheaper, more flexible manufacturing partner.

The cost of AI comes from the chip itself and the power needed to make it work. Cutting costs on the chip means looking away from TSMC, Sohmers says, which currently holds seemingly infinite bargaining power.

"Fundamentally, Positron is trying to provide the best performance per dollar and performance per watt," Sohmers said.

Compared to other industries, AI offers a rare proposition: US production is often cheaper.

"In most other industries, made in the USA actually means that it's going to be more expensive. That's not the case for semiconductors — at least for now," Sohmers said.

Many fabs are eager to enter the AI game, but they don't have the same technical prowess, prestige, or track record, which can make finding customers challenging.

Startups, which often lack the high order volumes that carry market power, are a good fit for these fabs, Sohmers said. These less in-demand fabs offer more favorable terms, too, which Sohmers hopes will keep Positron competitive on price.

"If I have some optionality going with someone that is behind but has the ambition to get ahead, it's always good from a customer or partner perspective," he said, adding, "It gives both leverage."

Taking advantage of US fabs has kept the amount of funding Positron needs within reason and made it easier to scale, Sohmers said.

Positron isn't alone. Fellow Nvidia challenger Groq partners with GlobalFoundries in upstate New York and seeks to make a similar dent in the AI computing market by offering competitive performance at a lower price.

Less inherent trust

It's not all upside though. Some investors have been skeptical, Sohmers said. And as an engineer, not going with the best fab in the world can feel strange.

"You have a lot more faith that TSMC is going to get to a good yield number on a new design pretty quickly and that they have a good level of consistency while, at other fabs, it can be kind of a dice roll," he said.

With a global supply chain, no semiconductor is immune from geopolitical turmoil or the shifting winds of trade policy. So, the advantages of exiting the constantly simmering tension between Taiwan, China, and the US serve as a counterweight to any skepticism.

Positron is also working on sourcing more components and materials in North America, or at least outside China and Taiwan.

Sourcing from Mexico, for example, offers greater safety from geopolitical turmoil. The simpler benefit is that shipping is faster so prototyping can happen quickly.

It's taken a while, but Sohmers said the industry is waking up to the need for more players across the AI space.

"People are finally getting uncomfortable with Nvidia having 90-plus percent market share," he said.

Got a tip or an insight to share? Contact BI's senior reporter Emma Cosgrove at [email protected] or use the secure messaging app Signal: 443-333-9088.