• Notable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts Apple's foldable iPhone could launch in late 2026 and cost over $2000.
• The first foldable iPhone would likely be a luxury offering, balancing Apple's lower-priced models.
• CEO Tim Cook has said "there's a lot of innovation left on the smartphone."

Chatter around the long-rumored foldable iPhone is picking up.

If it turns out to be true, the device sounds expensive — and impressively high-end.

To be clear, Apple hasn't confirmed plans to build a foldable iPhone. However, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities published a note on Wednesday with more details on a foldable iPhone design that he had previously heard about.

Kuo, known for his Apple predictions and supply-chain sourcing, described the mysterious project as a "top-tier iPhone" with a "crease-free inner display" and an expected retail price of over $2000. The device could begin mass production in the last quarter of 2026, Kuo said.

Such a price tag would make it more expensive than any of its predecessors and many MacBook models, but Kuo said the iPhone's "must-have" status would attract a strong demand for a premium device if the quality is up to par. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is currently the priciest smartphone Apple offers starting at $1199.

"A phone with such a high price point affords Apple a true higher-end luxury offering to balance out the push on lower-priced alternatives like the iPhone 16e," Dipanjan Chatterjee, a Forrester analyst, told Business Insider.

Apple is currently facing fierce competition in the smartphone market as Chinese competitors offer lower-cost phones and high-end models with novel form factors.

However, it's important to note that Apple could always change course and not release such a device. It's not unusual for Apple to put significant resources behind big projects and ultimately scrap them. The tech industry buzzed with talks of an Apple Car for years until the tech giant reportedly scrapped the project.

"I definitely believe it's under development. I'm less sure it'll ever see the light of day," Morningstar analyst William Kerwin told BI of the foldable iPhone.

Kuo said the foldable iPhone would bring back Touch ID to potentially replace Face ID, but this time the button would be on the side of the device. It'd have a "book-style design" and a 7.8-inch inner display, he added. Apple is also pursuing a "crease-free" display, according to Kuo — something other phone makers like Samsung are also chasing.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

While both Bloomberg and The Information have reported that Apple is planning foldable screen devices, Kuo's predicted timeline should be taken with a grain of salt. A Kuo note in 2023 said that foldable iPads would hit shelves in 2024, for example, which has yet to materialize.

A bet like a foldable iPhone, in an area where competitors like Samsung and Huawei have already ventured, is a "significant gamble" that could result in a device with low demand, similar to the $3500 Vision Pro, said Jacob Bourne, an analyst at BI sister company EMARKETER.

"Apple's better bet might be to focus on other emerging technologies rather than chasing a form factor that may not maintain its appeal long-term," Bourne told BI.

Rumors of smart glasses, AI-powered home devices, and robotics swirled around Apple in 2024. Apple was late to the artificial intelligence race last year with Apple Intelligence launching months, or years, after competitors' similar software.

CEO Tim Cook told investors that he felt "optimistic" about Apple's product pipeline during its fiscal first-quarter 2025 earnings call.

When asked about the future of the iPhone's form factor and where Apple sees opportunities to innovate, Cook didn't go into detail but hinted that there's more to come.

"I think there's a lot of innovation left on the smartphone," Cook said.

• Adidas sells out of Yeezy stock, closing the book on one of its most successful partnerships.
• The partnership ended in 2022 after Ye's antisemitic comments.
• Adidas saw a 12% sales increase in 2024, despite a 2% drop in North America.

The lengthy saga of Adidas and Yeezy is coming to a close.

The sports giant reported its 2024 earnings on Wednesday, where Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden told investors that there are no more Yeezy products in its inventory. Adidas announced plans to sell the remaining 268 million euros, or $289 million, of Yeezy inventory in February 2024.

The company reached its goal in the fourth quarter of 2024, generating around 650 million euros in revenue from Yeezy sales, it reported. The Yeezy brand began in 2015 as a collaboration with Kanye West, known as Ye, but the partnership turned sour and ended in 2022 after a series of antisemitic rants by Ye.

Although Adidas saw a 12% increase in currency-adjusted sales for 2024, its North America region was hit with a 2% decrease in revenue "entirely due to significantly lower sales of Yeezy products," the company reported.

Last year, Ye blasted the German brand in a string of Instagram posts accusing it of selling "fake" Yeezys and not paying him for its sales.

Adidas condemned Ye's "unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous" comments in 2022. A legal battle ensued, and Adidas said in October that it reached an out-of-court settlement with the rapper.

In the aftermath of severing a lucrative relationship, Adidas expected a short-term negative impact on its sales. Gulden took over as CEO in 2023, and Adidas regained its momentum, reporting a 10% increase in currency-neutral revenues across the group in Q3 2024.

"Although we are not yet where we want to be long-term, it was a very successful year that confirmed the strength of the adidas brand," Gulden said in a Wednesday press release.

Meanwhile, Ye remains at the center of controversy. Earlier this year, described himself as a Nazi in a series of posts to X. In February, he appeared in an ad during Super Bowl LIX directing viewers to a website selling only a shirt with a Swastika.

• If Apple decides to take legal action against the UK, Elon Musk looks likely to support it.
• The UK government is said to have issued a "secret order" for access to user data.
• Musk has been critical of Apple's privacy practices in the past.

In a rare move, Elon Musk appears to be taking Apple's side on a privacy issue.

The tech billionaire behind the Department of Government Efficiency appeared to praise Apple in response to an X post saying the tech firm would push back on a so-called secret order to give the UK government access to users' cloud content. Musk suggested it was good for Apple to pursue legal action against the UK.

Though the tech giant hasn't confirmed a government order or any legal filings, letters between congressmen and the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, have condemned such an order, which would prevent Apple from even acknowledging it.

Not long after reports emerged about the secret order, Apple said it would remove its highest level of security, known as Advanced Data Protection, from UK iPhones.

Enter Musk, with a one-word endorsement rallying behind Apple.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Musk has been vocal about Apple's privacy practices, but not this positively. After Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to Siri in 2024, Musk accused the company of "handing your data over to a third-party." The secret order is said to concern access to data stored in the cloud, not AI.

In June, shortly after Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, Musk posted on X, "The truth is that handing your data over to digital superintelligence (that Apple themselves cannot even build or understand) at the operating system level is insane."

Privacy is a hallmark of Apple products, and the tech giant has said it prioritizes preserving it. It has doubled down on its stance against creating a way for agencies to access users' data.

"As we have said many times before, we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will," Apple previously said in a statement to BI.

• Apple faces challenges from President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods.
• A US 20% tariff on goods from China threatens Apple's vast supply chain in the country.
• The iPhone maker is likely weighing its options to avoid cost impact, analysts said.

Apple managed to avoid some tariffs on goods from China during President Donald Trump's first term. This time around, it's unclear if Apple CEO Tim Cook can get the same carveouts — despite promising investment in US manufacturing and jobs.

Apple is facing a potential financial hit from Trump's tariffs on goods from foreign countries, including China. Trump doubled the tariff on goods from China from 10% to 20%, on top of existing levies, and slapped a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, beginning Tuesday.

Apple, which has a large supply chain network in China, will have to navigate the effects of Trump's executive order. Morningstar estimates that 70% of iPhones are manufactured in China, while S&P Global said it's about 90% in 2025.

The order could also weigh on sales of products in Greater China itself, which represented 17% of revenue last year.

If the tariffs remain as they are, analysts expect Apple to make adjustments to offset the potential financial impact. However, Forrester analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee said the company's plans will "likely be in flux for some time."

He added, "Apple is sorting this all out now."

Consumers can "expect mixed signals," said Jacob Bourne, an analyst at BI's sister company, EMARKETER.

Here are the options that Chatterjee and other analysts who follow Apple say the tech behemoth is considering.

Avoid the tariffs altogether

Cook successfully secured exemptions from the 10% tariff on goods from China during Trump's previous term, and analysts haven't counted him out this time.

Apple has already said it'll add to its US footprint, including pledging a multibillion-dollar investment toward its projects and saying it plans to hire 20,000 people over the next four years. It's partly an attempt to gain exemptions for Apple during this term, Bourne said.

"We're optimistic that Apple's $500 billion investment announcement will help the firm gain an exemption from the tariffs underway," Morningstar analyst William Kerwin said.

If not, it'll have to examine other options.

Bump up the price of iPhones

It's too soon to know Apple's "mitigation strategies" for certain, but increasing the price of consumer goods likely isn't off the table, Chatterjee told BI.

Apple launched a new iPad Air with Apple Intelligence capabilities on the same day the tariffs went into effect. The tablets come with an M3 chip and start at $599 — the same price as its predecessor from 2024.

"I wouldn't expect a knee-jerk reaction from Apple, which is why the iPad Air M3 pricing remains unchanged," Chatterjee said.

The iPhone will be where Apple will make its "toughest decisions," Bourne said. IPhone sales have stumbled in Greater China, and China's government announced plans for retaliatory tariffs on Tuesday, which could hurt them more.

IPhone prices in the US haven't risen since 2020 outside of its Pro Max model going from $1099 to $1199 when the Apple Intelligence-powered iPhone 15 came out, Kerwin said. If gradual price hikes occur, analysts said Apple's best-performing regions and products, like the iPhone, will get a price bump first.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Shift its supply chain out of China

By shifting production to "less tariff disadvantaged locations," Apple would avoid absorbing the cost or placing it on consumers.

It's easier said than done. Apple has fostered deep relationships with Chinese manufacturers over the years. Although it's had some victories in the attempted shift to other countries, it still relies on China for its incomparable scale of operations.

For three years, Apple has shown signs that it's looking to move its supply chain away from China. The tech giant moved some of its iPhone production to India in 2022. In December, Bloomberg reported its plans to begin producing AirPods in India.

However, some experts have said trying to avoid tariffs this time around would be harder, BI previously reported. Trump could target more countries than he did in his first term, and places where businesses shifted their operations to avoid tariffs might not be spared, experts told BI in February.

• Apple is planning something for "this week," according to CEO Tim Cook.
• His X post was concise, but it's a callback to the launch of the first MacBook Air.
• The announcement is likely for the M4 MacBook Air, Bloomberg reported.

Tim Cook is teasing a new Apple launch coming this week.

The CEO kept his Monday X post brief with a simple caption saying, "this week," and a five-second clip. The post stirred up discussions on whether it's a new iPhone, iPad, or something else.

"There's something in the air," the message in the video said.

A big clue may lie in the five-word sentence Cook chose to post. It's a callback to an ad for the first MacBook Air, which was announced in 2008. Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple, famously pulled the laptop out of an envelope to demonstrate its thinness.

Jobs kicked off the announcement with the phrase, "There's something in the air."

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman predicts it's the M4 MacBook Air that'll be announced this week. It would bring a new chip to 13-inch and 15-inch Air models as inventory of the current model winds down, Gurman reported.

As of Monday, Apple lists the M3 and M2 MacBook Air models for $1099 and $999, respectively. The M4 MacBook Pro, which was announced in October, starts at $1599.

If there's a product launch this week, it will follow the February announcement of the iPhone 16E — a more affordable model that's compatible with Apple Intelligence.

• Apple CEO Steve Jobs asked Jony Ive not to dwell on his potential actions posthumously.
• Ive shared insights on their close relationship on the "Desert Island Discs" podcast.
• Ive led Apple's design team, creating iconic products like the iMac and iPhone.

Before he died in 2011, Steve Jobs left iPhone designer Jony Ive with a request.

Ive led Apple's design team to help create the company's most iconic products, and he developed a close relationship with its cofounder along the way. During an appearance on BBC's "Desert Island Discs" podcast, Ive talked about some of his last conversations with Jobs, who had pancreatic cancer.

Jobs had a specific request for after his death: Don't get hung up on what he would've done.

Ive recalled Jobs saying, "When I'm not here, I really don't want you to be thinking 'well, what would Steve do?'"

Yet despite the warning, Ive said he still finds himself asking that exact question. He said he thinks of Jobs' parting wish at each slip-up, and believes Jobs "probably did" want him to wonder what the late Apple CEO would do.

The former chief designer officer sounded choked up while speaking about the 17 missed phone calls he'd received on the day he learned about his best friend's illness. In the years since his death, Ive said the "absurd anecdotes" alleging Jobs was difficult to work with led to a misunderstanding of Jobs' resolve to turn his ideas into a reality.

Ive said he and Jobs ate lunch together "every day of the week," went on family vacations, and had continuous conversations about design.

After Jobs returned to Apple as CEO in 1997, he tasked a young Ive to design a network computer with internet connectivity as the company faced bankruptcy. The "impossible task" resulted in the colorful iMac desktop released in 1999.

Ive led design on the iPhone, iPad, and other products before announcing his departure from Apple in 2019 after 27 years at the company.

• Before OpenAI, Altman was well-known in Silicon Valley as president of Y Combinator.
• The release of ChatGPT in 2022 catapulted Altman to worldwide fame.
• Since then, he's led the charge to turn OpenAI into a for-profit company as its success continues.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had an eventful 2024, and 2025 is shaping up to be just as big.

While the 39-year-old entrepreneur has been a household name in Silicon Valley for years now, the rest of the world has gotten to know him more recently through the success of OpenAI's AI chatbot, ChatGPT, which launched in 2022.

So far, his year has involved Altman's efforts to transform OpenAI into a for-profit company, planning for GPT-4.5 (referred to as Orion) and GPT-5, and battling a lawsuit from OpenAI cofounder Elon Musk. On February 27, Altman announced the release of GPT4.5 to ChatGPT Pro users and API developers.

He's also embarking on a new life journey: fatherhood. Altman, who's married to Oliver Mulherin, announced the birth of his son on February 22.

In April 2024, Altman was added to Forbes' billionaires list. OpenAI launched GPT-4o — its newest large language model —the following month. In June, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference that the tech giant would partner with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to iPhones.

Before the AI boom, Altman spent years as president of startup accelerator Y Combinator. He also owns stakes in Reddit, a nuclear fusion startup known as Helion, and other companies. In his free time, he races sports cars with his husband and preps for the apocalypse.

Here's a look at Altman's life and career so far.

Altman grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and he was a computer whiz from a young age.

He learned how to program and take apart a Macintosh computer when he was 8 years old, according to The New Yorker. He attended John Burroughs School, a private, non-sectarian college-preparatory school in St. Louis.

 

 

He told The New Yorker that having a Mac helped him with his sexuality. Altman came out to his parents when he was 16.

"Growing up gay in the Midwest in the two-thousands was not the most awesome thing," he told The New Yorker. "And finding AOL chat rooms was transformative. Secrets are bad when you're eleven or twelve."

Altman came out as gay to the whole community after a Christian group boycotted an assembly at his school that was about sexuality.

"What Sam did changed the school," his college counselor, Madelyn Gray, told The New Yorker. "It felt like someone had opened up a great big box full of all kinds of kids and let them out into the world."

Altman studied computer science at Stanford University for two years before he and two of his classmates dropped out to work full time on their mobile app.

The app shared a user's location with their friends. Loopt was part of the first group of eight companies at startup accelerator Y Combinator. Each startup got $6,000 per founder, and Loopt was in the same batch as Reddit, according to The Business of Business.

Loopt eventually reached a $175 million valuation, but it didn't garner enough interest, so the founders sold it for $43 million in 2012.

The $43 million sale price was close to how much it had raised from investors, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company was acquired by Green Dot, a banking company known for prepaid cards.

One of Loopt's cofounders, Nick Sivo, and Altman dated for nine years, but they broke up after they sold the company.

After Loopt, Altman founded a venture fund called Hydrazine Capital, and raised $21 million.

 That included a large part of the $5 million he got from Loopt, and an investment from billionaire entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Altman invested 75% of that money into YC companies, and led Reddit's Series B fundraising round.

He told The New Yorker, "you want to invest in messy, somewhat broken companies. You can treat the warts on top, and because of the warts the company will be hugely underpriced."

In 2014, at the age of 28, Altman was chosen by Y Combinator founder Paul Graham to succeed him as president of the startup accelerator.

While he was YC president, Altman taught a lecture series at Stanford called "How to Start a Startup," in the fall of 2014. The next year, Altman was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for venture capital at 29 years old.

After he became YC president, he wanted to let more science and engineering startups into each batch.

He chose a fission and a fusion startup for YC because he wanted to start a nuclear-energy company of his own. He invested his own money in both companies and served on their boards.

Mark Andreessen, cofounder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, said to The New Yorker, "Under Sam, the level of YC's ambition has gone up 10x."

 

He finds interesting — and expensive — ways to spend his free time.

In April (the same month he made Forbes' billionaire list,) Altman was spotted in Napa, California driving an ultra-rare Swedish supercar. The Koenigsegg Regera is seriously fast, able to go from zero to 250 miles per hour in less than 30 seconds. There are only 80 of these cars known to exist, and they can cost up to $4.65 million. 

He once told two YC founders that he likes racing cars and had five, including two McLarens and an old Tesla, according to The New Yorker. He's said he likes racing cars and renting planes to fly all over California.

Separately, he told the founders of the startup Shypmate that "I prep for survival," and warned of either a "lethal synthetic virus," AI attacking humans, or nuclear war.

"I try not to think about it too much," Altman told the founders in 2016. "But I have guns, gold, potassium iodide, antibiotics, batteries, water, gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force, and a big patch of land in Big Sur I can fly to."

Altman's mom is a dermatologist and told The New Yorker, "Sam does keep an awful lot tied up inside. He'll call and say he has a headache—and he'll have Googled it, so there's some cyber-chondria in there, too. I have to reassure him that he doesn't have meningitis or lymphoma, that it's just stress."

Altman has a brother, Jack, who is a cofounder and CEO at Lattice, an employee management platform.

Along with their brother Max, the Altmans launched a fund in 2020 called Apollo that is focused on funding "moonshot" companies. They're startups that are financially risky but could potentially pay off with a breakthrough development.

 

In 2015, Altman cofounded OpenAI with Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX at the time.

Their goal for the non-profit artificial intelligence company was to make sure AI doesn't wipe out humans.

"We discussed what is the best thing we can do to ensure the future is good?" Musk told The New York Times in 2015. "We could sit on the sidelines or we can encourage regulatory oversight, or we could participate with the right structure with people who care deeply about developing A.I. in a way that is safe and is beneficial to humanity."

Some of Silicon Valley's most prominent names pledged $1 billion to OpenAI along with Altman and Musk, including Reid Hoffman, the cofounder of LinkedIn, and Thiel.

After the 2016 election, Altman, who tweeted that he voted against Donald Trump, said he decided to talk to 100 Trump supporters around the US to understand what they did and didn't like about the president.

 He also wanted to know "what would convince them not to vote for him in the future." In a thread on X, formerly Twitter, Altman said he was "voting against Trump because I believe the principles he stands for represent an unacceptable threat to America."

He also said Thiel, who was still working with YC at the time, "is a high profile supporter of Trump" and that "I disagree with this."

But, he said, "YC is not going to fire someone for supporting a major party nominee."

YC and Thiel stopped working together a year later in 2017 for unspecified reasons.

During his interviews, Altman said he "did not expect to talk to so many Muslims, Mexicans, Black people, and women in the course of this project."

He said almost everyone he approached was willing to talk to him, but they also didn't want to share their names in fear of being "targeted by those people in Silicon Valley if they knew I voted for him." Altman said one of the people he talked to in Silicon Valley made him sign a confidentiality agreement before talking because she was scared of losing her job for supporting Trump.

Altman stepped down as YC president in March 2019 to focus on OpenAI. He stayed in a chairman role at the accelerator.

At a StrictlyVC event in 2019, Altman was asked how OpenAI planned to make a profit, and he said the "honest answer is we have no idea."

Altman said OpenAI had "never made any revenue" and that it had "no current plans to make revenue." 

"We have no idea how we may one day generate revenue," he said at the time, according to TechCrunch.

Altman became CEO of OpenAI in May 2019 after it turned away from being a nonprofit company into a "capped profit" corporation.

"We want to increase our ability to raise capital while still serving our mission, and no pre-existing legal structure we know of strikes the right balance," OpenAI said on its blog. "Our solution is to create OpenAI LP as a hybrid of a for-profit and nonprofit — which we are calling a 'capped-profit' company."

OpenAI received a $1 billion investment from Microsoft in 2019.

Altman flew to Seattle to meet with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, where he demonstrated OpenAI's AI models for him, WSJ reported.  The pair announced their business partnership on LinkedIn.

Current and former insiders at OpenAI told Fortune that after Altman took over as CEO, and after the investment from Microsoft, the company started focusing more on developing natural language processing.

Altman and OpenAI's former chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, said the move to focus on large language models was the best way for the company to reach artificial general intelligence, or AGI, a system that has broad human-level cognitive abilities.

 

In 2021, Altman and cofounders Alex Blania and Max Novendstern launched a global cryptocurrency project called Worldcoin.

It wanted to give everyone in the world access to crypto by scanning their iris with an orb. The company was started in 2020, but stopped operating in a few countries in 2022 due to logistics issues, Bloomberg reported. In January, Worldcoin tweeted that it had reached 1 million people and has onboarded over 150,000 first-time crypto users.

Under Altman's tenure as CEO, OpenAI released popular generative AI tools to the public, including DALL-E and ChatGPT.

Both DALL-E and ChatGPT are known as "generative" AI, meaning the bot creates its own artwork and text based on information it is fed.

After ChatGPT was released on November 30, Altman tweeted that it had reached over 1 million users in five days.

ChatGPT was made public so OpenAI could use feedback from users to improve the bot.

A few days after its launch, Altman said that it "is incredibly limited, but good enough at some things to create a misleading impression of greatness." Altman posted that ChatGPT was "great" for "fun creative inspiration," but "not such a good idea" to look up facts.

ChatGPT recently began testing a paid version of ChatGPT called "ChatGPT Professional" that is supposed to give better access to the bot. In December, Altman posted that OpenAI "will have to monetize it somehow at some point; the compute costs are eye-watering."

In January 2023, Microsoft again announced it was making a "multibillion dollar" investment into OpenAI.

Although specifics of the investment were not shared, it is believed it is worth $10 billion. Before Microsoft's investment, other venture capitalists wanted to buy shares from OpenAI employees in a tender offer that valued the company at around $29 billion.

Altman is still interested in nuclear fusion and invested $375 million in Helion Energy in 2022.

"Helion is more than an investment to me," Altman told TechCrunch. "It's the other thing beside OpenAI that I spend a lot of time on. I'm just super excited about what's going to happen there."

He told TechCrunch that he's "happy there's a fusion race," to build a low-cost fusion energy system that can eventually power the Earth.

 

Last year, OpenAI launched its pilot subscription plan for ChatGPT Plus, which costs $20 a month.

People who pay $20 a month for ChatGPT Plus get benefits such as access to the site even when traffic is high, faster responses from the bot, and first access to new features and ChatGPT improvements.

The subscription is only available for people in the US, and OpenAI said it will soon start inviting people on the waitlist to join.

Altman wrote that OpenAI's mission is to make sure AGI "benefits all of humanity.

"If AGI is successfully created, this technology could help us elevate humanity by increasing abundance, turbocharging the global economy, and aiding in the discovery of new scientific knowledge that changes the limits of possibility," Altman wrote on OpenAI's blog.

Despite its potential, Altman said artificial general intelligence comes with "serious risk of misuse, drastic accidents, and societal disruption." But instead of stopping its development, Altman said "society and the developers of AGI have to figure out how to get it right."

Altman went on to share the principles that OpenAI "care about most," including "the benefits of, access to, and governance of AGI to be widely and fairly shared."

Altman said he and OpenAI are "a little bit scared" of AI's potential as it continues to develop.

In an interview with ABC News, Altman said he thinks "people should be happy that we're a little bit scared" of generative AI systems as they develop.

Altman said he doesn't think AI systems should only be developed in a lab.

"You've got to get these products out into the world and make contact with reality, make our mistakes while the stakes are low," he said.

 

 

 

In April 2023, OpenAI announced the option to turn off chat history in ChatGPT so the data can't be used to train and improve its models.

In a blog post, the company said it hoped the option to turn off chat history "provides an easier way to manage your data than our existing opt-out process."

When a user turns off their chat history, new conversations will be kept for 30 days for OpenAI to review them for abuse, then are permanently deleted.

In his first appearance before Congress, Altman told a Senate panel there should be a government agency to grant licenses to companies working on advanced AI.

Altman told lawmakers there should be an agency that grants licenses for companies that are working on AI models "above a certain scale of capabilities." He also said the agency should be able to revoke licenses from companies that don't follow safety rules.

"I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong," Altman said. "And we want to be vocal about that, we want to work with the government to prevent that from happening."

OpenAI launched a ChatGPT app for iPhones and Android users in 2023.

The app, which is free, can answer text-based and spoken questions using Whisper, another OpenAI product that is a speech-recognition model. Users who have a subscription to ChatGPT Plus can also access it through the app.

Altman met with leaders in Europe to discuss AI regulations and said OpenAI has "no plans to leave" the EU, despite his earlier concerns over the EU's proposed AI Act.

At the start of his trip, Altman told reporters in London that he was concerned about the EU's proposed AI Act that focuses on regulating AI and protecting Europeans from AI risks.

"The details really matter," Altman said, according to the Financial Times. "We will try to comply, but if we can't comply, we will cease operating."

However, he shared on X later in the week that OpenAI is "excited to continue to operate here and of course have no plans to leave."

In an October 2023 interview, Altman expressed "deep misgivings" about people befriending AI.

Altman made it clear that he doesn't believe humans should try to be friends with AI in an interview during Wall Street Journal's Tech Live event.

"I personally really have deep misgivings about this vision of the future where everyone is super close to AI friends, and not more so with their human friends," Altman said.

 

On November 17, 2023, OpenAI shocked tech fans by announcing that Altman would no longer be the company's CEO.

In November, the OpenAI board of directors announced that Altman would be stepping down from his role as CEO and leaving the board, "effective immediately."

In a blog post, the board said it "no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI," and added that Altman was "not consistently candid in his communications."

"We are grateful for Sam's many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI," a statement from OpenAI's board says. "At the same time, we believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward."

Altman issued his own statement via a post on X.

"i loved my time at openai. it was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. most of all i loved working with such talented people," Altman wrote.

He added: "will have more to say about what's next later."

But days after the ouster, Sam Altman returned to the helm of OpenAI.

After a chaotic weekend over his firing, Altman and OpenAI announced that he would return to the tech company as CEO.

"We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo," the company wrote on X.

In January 2024, Altman confirmed he married his partner Oliver Mulherin.

Altman is married. The OpenAI CEO wed his partner Mulherin, with photos from the wedding circulating on social media in January 2024.

An attendee of the wedding confirmed to Business Insider that the pictures weren't AI-generated. His husband is an Australian software engineer who previously worked at Meta, according to his LinkedIn profile.

OpenAI launched its text-to-video model Sora.

In February 2024, OpenAI unveiled Sora to the public. The program — named after the Japanese word for "sky" — creates up to 0ne-minute long videos from text prompts. 

"We're teaching AI to understand and simulate the physical world in motion, with the goal of training models that help people solve problems that require real-world interaction," OpenAI wrote in Sora's announcement.

Sora is still in the midst of risk and harm assessments by red teamers, but Altman is already showing off its capabilities on social media, and the company is reportedly shopping the tool around to Hollywood.

Altman and his husband signed the Giving Pledge in 2024.

A few weeks after Forbes declared Altman a billionaire, he and his partner signed the Giving Pledge, vowing to give away most of his fortune.

"We would not be making this pledge if it weren't for the hard work, brilliance, generosity, and dedication to improve the world of many people that built the scaffolding of society that let us get here," the pledge letter read.

They continued: "There is nothing we can do except feel immense gratitude and commit to pay it forward, and do what we can to build the scaffolding up a little higher."

OpenAI introduced GPT-4o in May and demonstrated its capabilities.

During its "Spring Update" on May 13, OpenAI announced GPT-4o, an updated version of its large language model that powers ChatGPT. OpenAI CTO Mira Murati made the announcement, and Altman didn't make an appearance despite actively promoting the event on X. 

Altman might've been absent from the presentation, but the demonstrations of ChatGPT's voice and video capabilities created buzz online. It also led to Altman and his company being called out by actor Scarlett Johansson, who alleged that the OpenAI chatbot Sky's voice sounded "eerily similar" to her own after she declined a partnership.

Altman's post on X referencing a movie in which Johansson voices someone's virtual girlfriend was quickly called into question, and the company soon said that it would not move forward with the voice heard in the demo.

Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI at the Worldwide Developer Conference in June.

After much debate about how it would enter the AI arms race, Apple announced at WWDC 2024 that it would partner with OpenAI to close the gap between it and its rivals.

Although Bloomberg reported that Apple isn't paying OpenAI in cash, the tech titan's solid installed base of over two billion users means more people may use ChatGPT if it comes integrated with Siri. According to the presentation, Siri will be able to handle more complex requests with help from ChatGPT.

Altman was spotted attending WWDC the day the partnership was announced and speaking to high-ranking Apple employees ahead of the keynote. 

Altman might finally get equity as OpenAI considers restructuring.

Altman confirmed reports that OpenAI was planning a corporate restructuring during a talk at Italian Tech Week in September 2024. 

"Our board has been thinking about that for almost a year, independently, as we think about what it takes to get to our next stage," Altman said. "I think this is just about people being ready for new chapters of their lives and a new generation of leadership."

As part of those changes, Altman might finally get equity in OpenAI, which is now worth about $157 billion after it closed its most recent, $6.6 billion funding round. 

In October 2024, Altman weighed in on how close he is to achieving OpenAI's mission.

At OpenAI's developer conference, Dev Day, Altman said o1, OpenAI's latest set of AI models, which it says has "reasoning" abilities, represented a breakthrough toward artificial general intelligence. 

While Altman said he believes AGI — a still hypothetical form of AI that can solve any task a human can — is still a ways away, there will be "very steep" progress over the next two years.

OpenAI announced in January that it'd be involved in a $500 billion project called Stargate.

On January 21, Altman joined Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, President Donald Trump, and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son to announce a partnership to fund a $500 billion investment in US AI. The companies would form Stargate, a project that seeks to build US AI infrastructure and create jobs.

"Together these world-leading technology giants are announcing the formation of Stargate," Trump said, adding: "Put that name down in your books, because I think you're going to hear a lot about it."

He declined a $97.4 billion bid to buy OpenAI from a group led by Elon Musk.

Though the pair founded OpenAI together, Altman's relationship with Musk has become increasingly tense over the years. Musk offered to run OpenAI, but his proposal was rejected, Semafor reported in 2023. He departed OpenAI in 2018 and went on to start xAI.

Since then, they've had heated exchanges, shared words of appreciation, and entered a legal battle. Musk sued Altman and OpenAI in March 2024, alleging the company violated its founding principles.

In an August 2024 lawsuit, Musk claimed he was "deceived" into cofounding OpenAI.

The most recent development in their feud is a $97.4 billion bid to buy the AI company by a group led by Musk. Altman declined, telling Sky News reporters at an AI summit in Paris, "The company is not for sale, neither is the mission."

He announced the birth of his first child in February.

welcome to the world, little guy!

he came early and is going to be in the nicu for awhile. he is doing well and it’s really nice to be in a little bubble taking care of him.

i have never felt such love. pic.twitter.com/wFF2FkKiMU

— Sam Altman (@sama) February 22, 2025

On February 22, Altman announced the birth of his son on social media. Altman said the newborn will be in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, which offers medical treatment after birth, "for awhile."

"i have never felt such love," Altman said in his post.

Days later, OpenAI released GPT-4.5.

Altman introduced the new model in a post on X, where he described it as "the first model that feels like talking to a thoughtful person." He added that the model will be "giant" and "expensive," and Altman said it offers a "different kind of intelligence and there's a magic to it."

OpenAI released GPT-4.5 to pro tier users who pay $200 a month and developers in the API with plans to offer it to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Edu users the following week.

Correction: February 2, 2023 — An earlier version of this story defined AGI incorrectly and listed the incorrect age at which Altman was named president of Y Combinator. AGI in this context stands for artificial general intelligence. Altman became president of Y Combinator at 28, not 31.

• Major companies have been relocating their headquarters to Texas.
• Since 2020, 200 companies, including Tesla and Chevron, have moved HQs to Texas, state data say.
• Gov. Greg Abbott has cited a good regulatory environment, drawing firms from states like California.

Texas has become a hot spot for the corporate operations of major companies across the US.

Since 2020, a growing number of major businesses have moved their headquarters or reincorporated in Texas, flocking from pricier states like California. Many cite the lower cost of living and benefits for corporations as reasons they chose the Lone Star State.

KFC's parent company, Yum! Brands, announced in February that it would move its US headquarters from Louisville, Kentucky, to dual HQs in Plano, Texas, and Irvine, California. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, has announced that all three companies will be headquartered in Texas.

HQ relocations were in an "acceleration period" in 2020 and 2021, the office of Gov. Greg Abbott said, with a total of 121 companies moving to Texas during that time. The number of those that moved from California made up more than half of the relocations.

Since then, the rate has leveled out to be consistent with historical data. A total of 200 companies have moved to Texas since 2020, according to the data from Gov. Abbott. In 2024, 24 companies, including Chevron and SpaceX, announced they would establish an HQ there.

The moves are fueled by the "reasonable regulatory environment," "exceptional quality of life," and the lower cost of operating a business in Texas, Abbott's office said in its report.

Here's a list of companies that have shifted their business operations to Texas.

KFC

Yum! Brands announced in February that it would establish two HQ locations in Texas and California to "foster greater collaboration among brands and employees."

About 100 KFC corporate workers will have to relocate from Louisville, Kentucky, to Texas over six months. The company said it will also ask 90 US-based remote workers to return to the office and relocate to "the campus where their work happens."

Yum! Brands is the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Habit Burger & Grill. The KFC Foundation and Yum! Brands are expected to maintain corporate offices in Kentucky.

The New York Stock Exchange Chicago

On February 12, the New York Stock Exchange announced it would move its Chicago branch to Dallas. NYSE Chicago will be reincorporated to NYSE Texas, "offering companies the opportunity to list their securities" there.

"As the state with the largest number of NYSE listings, representing over $3.7 trillion in market value for our community, Texas is a market leader in fostering a pro-business atmosphere," Lynn Martin, NYSE Group president, said in a press release.

Chevron

Chevron announced in August 2024 that its headquarters would move from San Ramon, California, to Houston before the end of the year.

The energy giant said the relocation would "enable better collaboration and engagement with executives, employees, and business partners."

The oil company had been sued by California, which accused Chevron and other energy giants of downplaying the risks of fossil fuels.

But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted, "WELCOME HOME Chevron! Texas is your true home."

Before the move, Chevron had about 7,000 employees in the Houston area and 2,000 in San Ramon. It said it expects all corporation functions to move to Texas by 2029.

X

Musk announced X's relocation from California to Texas at the same time as SpaceX in July 2024, citing living costs, safety, and political reasons.

He said California laws are "attacking both families and companies" and expressed concerns over the safety of San Francisco. Court filings from September 2024 showed that Musk requested to change X's HQ address from San Francisco to Bastrop, Texas, Forbes reported.

Tesla

Tesla was the first of Musk's companies to move from Silicon Valley to Texas. Musk officially moved Tesla's headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin in 2021, citing the lack of affordable housing in the Bay Area.

"There's a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area," Musk said at the time.

Oracle

Oracle moved its corporate HQ to Austin in 2020, ending its four-decade tenure in Silicon Valley.

The move offered employees "more flexibility about where and how they work," a spokesperson told Business Insider at the time.

Though it's been years since the move, Oracle's California offices employ nearly triple the number of workers than its Texas HQ, Bloomberg reported in 2024.

CBRE

Brokerage giant CBRE moved its HQ from Los Angeles to Dallas in 2020.

It was established in San Francisco over a century ago, though CBRE said it had large operations in North Texas before the official move to Dallas.

According to data from CBRE, Texas led the pack in net gains of Fortune 500 companies relocating between 2018 and 2023.

AECOM

AECOM, a Fortune 500 construction firm, said it would relocate its headquarters from Los Angeles to Dallas in 2021.

The company called Texas a "talent magnet" for consulting and engineering, and CEO Troy Rudd participated in the move to AECOM's existing Texas offices from California.

SpaceX

Musk announced his plans to relocate SpaceX from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas, on X in July 2024.

The move is Musk's response to Gov. Gavin Newsom signing AB 1955, prohibiting schools from enforcing policies that would require parents to be notified about students who may identify as transgender.

"Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas," Musk said in an X post.

Charles Schwab

Financial services company Charles Schwab moved its HQ to Westlake, Texas, in 2021, citing California's high taxes. It was formerly based in San Francisco.

"The costs of doing business here are so much higher than some other place," Chairman and founder Charles Schwab told Forbes.

McKesson

McKesson announced that it'd move its HQ from San Francisco to Las Colinas, Texas, in 2018, with plans to move most jobs from Silicon Valley to Texas and other hub locations by 2021.

Four years after the move, CEO Brian Tyler said the city "was absolutely the right community for McKesson to call home."

"Since making the move to Irving, McKesson has quickly benefited from the deep, diverse talent pool in the Dallas area, the ease of travel, and the very engaged business community," he said.

• Colorado police arrested a woman on suspicion of vandalizing a Tesla dealership.
• The incidents involved Molotov cocktails and messages that seemed to target Elon Musk, AP reported.
• A federal investigation is underway amid nationwide 'Tesla Takedown' protests.

Colorado police arrested a woman on suspicion of being involved in a recent vandalism incident at a Tesla car dealership.

The vandalism is the latest incident amid widespread public protests against Tesla CEO Elon Musk over his work with the Trump administration and DOGE to downsize the federal government.

Law enforcement said they apprehended 40-year-old Lucy Grace Nelson on Monday at the Loveland, Colorado, Tesla dealership after a weekslong investigation of several vandalism incidents on the property.

Nelson is charged with criminal intent to commit a felony, criminal mischief, and using explosives or incendiary devices during a felony, police records say.

Loveland Police Department spokesperson Chris Padgett told Business Insider that local police are working "very closely" with the United States Attorney's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to investigate possible federal charges.

The string of incidents involved graffiti with the words "Nazi cars" painted onto the dealership building, Molotov cocktails thrown at the vehicles, and a message that seemed to be in reference to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, according to court documents viewed by the Associated Press.

Security footage showed a person throwing Molotov cocktails at cars on the dealership's property, targeting at least four cars with a combined worth of $220,000, the AP reported. Police discovered bottles, gasoline, and cloth pieces, which are typically used to create the cocktails, in Nelson's car, according to the report.

Padgett told BI that officials have been investigating the vandalism since January 29. Nelson didn't immediately respond to voicemail request for comment. USAO official Melissa Brand declined to comment on the potential federal charges related to the incident.

In recent days, "Tesla Takedown" protests have taken place across the country, with demonstrators calling for a boycott and gathering in front of Tesla dealerships in various cities. Multiple protests have happened in San Francisco outside of showrooms and locations in the area.

Some protestors chanted, "No hate. No fear. Immigrants are welcome here."

Law enforcement is still investigating a motive in the Loveland dealership incident and whether or not another person may have been involved in the vandalism.

• Apple shareholders rejected a proposal to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
• Its board advised against the proposal, citing business strategy and management concerns.
• This aligns Apple with Costco in opposing the trend of scaling back diversity programs.

Shareholders at Apple have voted to reject a request to cease its diversity, equity, and inclusion moves.

In its proposal to end DEI efforts, the National Center for Public Policy Research said the program "poses litigation, reputational, and financial risks to companies." During Apple's annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday, stockholders voted against the request. The company didn't immediately provide a breakdown of the vote.

Ahead of the meeting, Apple's board recommended that shareholders vote against the "unnecessary" request. The tech giant said the proposal "inappropriately attempts to restrict Apple's ability to manage its own ordinary business operations, people and teams, and business strategies."

The decision stands in contrast to those of the many major companies that have chosen to scale back their programs. The National Center for Public Policy Research cited some of them as examples that Apple shareholders should seek to follow, including Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft.

Instead, Apple is joining companies like Costco in standing behind DEI efforts. Shareholders for the grocery giant overwhelmingly rejected an anti-DEI proposal last month.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January ending DEI programs in the federal government. As the shift becomes more widespread, many major companies are examining their policies.

• Steve Jobs tasked Jony Ive with designing a new computer to save Apple.
• Apple was struggling financially in 1997 and needed a hit product to regain profitability.
• The colorful iMac's design helped Apple sell 800,000 units in 1999.

After Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he looked to designer Jony Ive to help save it from going under.

The first time they met, the late cofounder asked Ive to create a network computer with internet connectivity "literally days" before the company was set to go bankrupt, Ive said on BBC's "Desert Island Discs" podcast.

At the time, Apple was struggling — it took a $150 million investment from rival Microsoft to help the company become profitable again. Apple needed a hit product, and Jobs enlisted a young Ive for the "impossible task." It was the world's first glimpse into Ive's vision for tech design.

"We started work from the first day that we met on what became the iMac," Ive said.

Personal computers didn't yet have a role in most people's lives back then, and many were intimidated by them, he said. Their mission, to focus on making a product "for people," became the philosophy that gave Apple an edge over competitors.

Ive put thought into each detail of the colorful lineup of PCs to make it more approachable for consumers. The handle, for example, was an intentional design choice to give the iMac a recognizable characteristic for those unfamiliar with the power of computing.

"It references immediately and unambiguously your hand, and you understand, therefore, something about this object," Ive said.

The iMac's appearance, like the handle and translucent colors, were better talking points than gigahertz and hard drive capacity, Ive said. The candy-colored PCs were the home run Apple needed. It sold 800,000 iMacs in the five months of its launch in 1999.

"It felt alive; it didn't static; it didn't feel stuck," Ive said.

It debuted with the tagline, "Collect all five."

The iMac has had some major revamps in the decades since it first debuted. Apple moved away from the colorful design in the mid-2000s in favor of minimalist grays and whites, but in 2021, it brought color back to its desktops.

After the success of the iMac, Ive went on to design more of Apple's most iconic products as his friendship with Jobs grew. He led design on the iPhone, iPad, and other products and eventually became the chief design officer. Ive announced his departure from Apple in 2019 after 27 years at the company.

• The latest "White Lotus" season was filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui in Thailand.
• Previous seasons filmed at Four Seasons resorts in Hawaii and Italy led to increased interest.
• Thailand expects a 20% rise in visitors due to the show's influence, the Four Seasons said.

Fictional guests have officially checked in to the "The White Lotus" hotel for the third season of the hit TV series. As the backdrop for vacationers this season, a Four Seasons resort in Thailand is already getting a boost in interest from IRL tourists.

"The White Lotus," an HBO TV show that follows a cast of characters on lavish vacations, was filmed at the Four Season Resort Koh Samui this time round. The resort, on a Thai island, told Business Insider that it's already seeing a jump in interest since the first episode aired on February 16. Its second episode aired in the US on February 23.

A spokesperson for Four Seasons Koh Samui said the hotel is experiencing a surge "in terms of availability checks, searches, and bookings." It's the third time "The White Lotus" has been filmed at a Four Seasons; production previously took place at locations in Hawaii and Italy for the first and second seasons, respectively. Searches for hotels and flights to Sicily from the US increased by over 50% while season two was airing, according to travel booking site Hopper.

The show also filmed at the Anantara Mai Khao Villas hotel in Phuket, a separate Thai island, for some scenes. Representatives for Anantara and HBO didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

"There is also increased interest in Thailand itself as a travel destination, and the Director of Thailand's Tourism Authority has said they expect about 20% rise in tourism as a result of the show," the Four Seasons Koh Samui spokesperson said. They didn't specify over which time period.

The season 3 premiere attracted 4.6 million total viewers in the US between Sunday and Monday, up 90% from the season 2 premiere, HBO said. IMDb included "White Lotus" in its top 10 most-anticipated TV shows set to return in 2025.

In 2021, Cascade Investment, the investment firm for billionaire Bill Gates, bought a controlling stake in the resort chain. He purchased it from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding and paid $2.2 billion in cash. Anantara is owned by Minor Hotels, founded by American businessman William Heinecke.

Four Seasons Maui at Wailea in Hawaii — where season one was shot — told BI that it knows the "White Lotus effect" well. A spokesperson said it experienced a 425% increase in website visits and a 386% increase in availability checks year over year when the show first aired in 2021.

Four years later, it says guests are still asking about the fictional "Pineapple Suite," a redecorated version of the real Lokelani Presidential Suite, which costs $29,000 a night. Starting March 14, the resort said it will offer a "White Lotus" experience to guests for a limited time, offering them cocktails inspired by the series and more.

Three nights in May in a serenity pool villa will cost about $1,363 a night on average for a one-bedroom villa at the Koh Samui resort, according to its website. A four-bedroom residence villa with a pool will run to about $7,866 per night. When BI previously searched its accommodation prices for a May 2024 stay last January, the rates were $1,281 and $7,746, respectively.

• Nike will partner with Kim Kardashian's Skims to launch NikeSkims womenswear brand.
• The collaboration aims to enhance Nike's appeal to female athletes and consumers.
• Like the Jordan brand, NikeSkims is intended to be a long-term partnership.

Nike is extending its brand lineup through a rare partnership with Kim Kardashian's Skims. It's a bet that her star power can have a similar impact as Michael Jordan has on the sportswear giant — for women.

The two companies announced NikeSkims on Tuesday, a line of training apparel, footwear and accessories for women. While Nike regularly partners with athletes and celebrities for limited-edition sportswear, this seems a step up from that typical collaboration.

It's the first time Nike has partnered with an existing external company to create a brand. It's a "win-win" for both companies, Rachel Wolff, retail analyst at Business Insider's sister company EMARKETER, said.

As Nike pushes ahead with its play for appealing to all genders by upping its bets in female athletes, a deal with a womenswear superpower like Skims will fuel its "gender offense," as CEO Elliott Hill called it during a recent earnings call. The long-term deal, which neither company revealed the financial details of, marks the beginning of a womenswear-specific brand intended to exist alongside Jordan, Nike, and Converse.

It does, however, call to mind Nike's biggest partnership yet — with Michael Jordan. In 1984, the popular basketball player inked a deal with Nike for $500,000 a year, plus royalties, Forbes reported. They introduced the world to Air Jordans the following year with the release of the Air Jordan 1 sneaker.

As the sneakers grew in popularity, it extended beyond basketball shoes to include streetwear. Today, Jordan himself has a $3.5 billion net worth, and Nike paid him some $260 million before tax over its past fiscal year, per Forbes.

Forty years later, the Jordan brand is still a revenue driver for the company. It brought in approximately $6.9 billion in wholesale equivalent revenue for fiscal 2024 — about 17% of Nike's total wholesale equivalent sales.

Like it used Jordan's massive popularity decades ago, Kardashian's global influence and more than 350 million Instagram followers will be a valuable boost in visibility for Nike. She cofounded Skims in 2019 as a shapewear brand before expanding into loungewear, and it has boomed in size, reaching a $4 billion valuation in 2023.

"Nike has the opportunity to capitalize on Skims' intense popularity among women consumers, who are an important target audience for the athletic brand, while Skims gets access to a much larger group of consumers as well as Nike's manufacturing capabilities," Wolff said.

Nike representatives directed BI to a press release in response to a request for comment. Skims did not immediately respond.

The two brands have been working on NikeSkims since 2023, the New York Times reported. Skims CEO Jens Grede drew parallels between Skims and Nike in October 2024, but experts seemed hesitant to agree at the time.

While Nike has become a brand that can sell "a lot of things to a lot of people," as BMO analyst Simeon Siegel put it, others have said Skims' proximity to Kardashian could be a problem.

"Skims is not likely to be a 'for everyone' brand because there are going to be people who don't want the association with Kim Kardashian," Matthew Quint, director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School, said in October.

However, it's hard not to think of Kardashian "as the Michael Jordan of influencers," Grede told NYT. Her net worth, as estimated by Forbes before the deal, is $1.7 billion.

NikeSkims is expected to launch this spring with a global expansion planned for 2026. Skims' power to attract consumers was demonstrated in its collaboration with outerwear brand The North Face, which sold out within hours of launching on December 10, Women's Wear Daily reported.

• Apple is rolling back Advanced Data Protection from iPhones in the UK starting Friday.
• Without ADP, Apple and the UK government could decrypt iCloud data.
• The UK had issued a "secret order" for Apple to create a data backdoor, US congressmen warned.

Apple's highest level of security for iCloud data is set to be removed from iPhones in the UK in a rare move for the tech giant known for prioritizing privacy for its users.

Beginning Friday, new users in the UK won't have access to Advanced Data Protection (ADP), a tool that enables end-to-end encryption on devices. By removing it, they'll no longer have the option to make data only viewable by the account holder.

The data stored on iCloud could become accessible to Apple and the UK government. The decision comes after the UK government issued a "secret order" for Apple to create a backdoor to its users' data across the globe, US congressmen said in a letter to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, the Washington Post was first to report.

In a statement to Business Insider, Apple said it was "gravely disappointed" that it had to remove the protections for UK users.

Apple and the UK government could eventually be able to decrypt users' data, including photos, iCloud Drive, notes, and more. The iPhone maker made it clear, however, that the move is not creating a backdoor.

"As we have said many times before, we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will," Apple said.

In the letter from Ron Wyden, a Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Andy Biggs, a Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, Gabbard was urged to stop the order from going through citing Americans' "right to privacy."

The British Home Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

ADP isn't enabled on iPhones by default, and Apple can't help the account holder recover their data once it's turned on. Although this added layer of protection for nine iCloud data categories won't be available in the UK, there are 14 data categories that are encrypted automatically. British users will still have encryption for iCloud Keychain, Health, and FaceTime.

Boosting security with end-to-end encryption is "more urgent than ever before," Apple said. In the statement, the company said it hopes to offer the "highest level of security" to UK users in the future.

• Apple launched the new iPhone 16e on Wednesday.
• It offers the company's new Apple Intelligence technology and costs $599.
• It's an "on-ramp" for consumers to enter the Apple ecosystem, one analyst says.

Apple just put its AI within reach of a lot more people. The move could be what it needs to reinvigorate sales of iPhones after several years of struggles.

The new iPhone 16e — the cheapest of the iPhone 16 lineup — makes Apple Intelligence available for a fraction of the cost of its older cousins.

Apple announced the new device on Wednesday after CEO Tim Cook teased a new "member of the family" in the week leading up to the launch. Starting at $599, the iPhone 16e is half the price of the $1199 iPhone 16 Pro Max.

With pressure on iPhone sales mounting, this launch represents its strategy to "compete more aggressively" with rival entry-level smartphones, Jacob Bourne, an analyst at Business Insider's sister company EMARKETER, said.

"It's about expanding its ecosystem reach at a crucial moment when it's rolling out Apple Intelligence and revamping Siri," Bourne added.

As Apple enters its AI era with Apple Intelligence previously only available on its priciest models, the new iPhone 16e gives more consumers a chance to test the new tech. Although the software has yet to move the needle for iPhone sales, lowering the price would encourage people to hop on the bandwagon, Forrester analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee said.

"Apple's brand of accessible luxury gets a little more accessible for people who don't want to settle for anything less than the real thing," he told BI.

Revenue missed analyst estimates in Apple's first quarter for fiscal year 2025. A more affordable iPhone will be especially crucial in key regions, like India, "where iPhones are out of reach for most people" and Android competition is fierce, Chatterjee said.

Some "leakage" from the sale of pricier models in the iPhone 16 lineup is to be expected, but Chatterjee said he doesn't expect it to "cannibalize the crown jewels" — the Pro and Pro Max models.

"This is about growing its market share, which becomes increasingly vital as Apple shifts toward a services-led growth strategy that depends on exposure," Bourne said.

Apple's services business, which includes paid subscriptions, is performing well. It grew revenue 14% year over year to reach a record $26.3 billion in Q1 FY25. Preorders for the iPhone 16e start Friday and it'll be available for purchase on February 28.

The iPhone 16e is the "on-ramp" for customers who want the status symbol of an iPhone without spending up to $1000, Chatterjee said.

The iPhone 16e has a 6.1-inch display — the same size as the $799 iPhone 16. For hardware, it has Apple's own in-house cellular modem and the A18 processor, and a USB-C charging port.

Last week, the iPhone 14 and SE models were the last phones with the Lightning port available on Apple's website, but it looks like the site has been updated to offer only USB-C compatible models. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that the models were discontinued — signaling the end of an era of new phones without Apple Intelligence or USB-C chargers.

• Jack Ma is the billionaire founder of Alibaba and Ant Group.
• Ma has experienced financial success as well as scrutiny due to his many business ventures.
• He grew up poor and faced multiple job rejections but amassed billions. Here's a look at Ma's life.

Jack Ma, Alibaba and Ant Group founder, has been making moves during the last year after a lengthy hiatus. 

Ma, who disappeared from public view in 2020 and resurfaced in Thailand in January 2023, most recently made news when he appeared at a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping alongside other private business leaders on February 17.

Ma faced a crackdown from Chinese regulators in 2020 that resulted in an antitrust investigation, a suspended IPO, and Ma losing $12 billion of his fortune in just a few months. 

However, Ma quietly made moves throughout 2023, including a teaching gig at Tokyo College, investing in an agrotech startup, and incorporating a pre-packaged food company.

According to Bloomberg, his net worth is now estimated at $39.7 billion. In July 2023, China hit Ant Group with a nearly $1 billion fine, marking the end of its crackdown, The Wall Street Journal reported.

While Ma has had a challenging few years, adversity is nothing new to him. He grew up poor in communist China, failed his university entrance exam twice, and was rejected from dozens of jobs, including one at KFC, before finding success with his third internet company, Alibaba.

Here's how Ma got his start and made his fortune.

Jillian D'Onfro, Charles Clark, and Taylor Nicole Rogers contributed to an earlier version of this post.

The Chinese businessman is 59 years old.

Jack Ma — born Ma Yun — was born on September 10, 1964, in Hangzhou, southeastern China. He has an older brother and a younger sister, USA Today reported.

 

He doesn't come from money.

He and his siblings grew up at a time when communist China was increasingly isolated from the West, and his family didn't have much money when they were young, per 60 Minutes.

Ma was scrawny and often got into fights with classmates. "I was never afraid of opponents who were bigger than I," he recalls in "Alibaba," a book by Liu Shiying and Martha Avery.

As a kid, Ma liked collecting crickets and making them fight, and was able to distinguish the size and type of cricket just by the sound it made, according to USA Today.

When he became a teen, he offered travelers tours of his city in exchange for English lessons. That's how ended up with the nickname Jack, 60 Minutes reported.

 

It took Ma three tries to get into college.

After high school, he applied to go to college — but failed the entrance exam twice. He finally passed on the third try, going on to attend Hangzhou Teachers Institute. At the World Economic Forum in 2016, Ma revealed he has been rejected from Harvard— 10 times.

He graduated in 1988 and started applying to as many jobs as he could.

He received more than a dozen rejections — including from KFC — before being hired as an English teacher at a university. Ma was a natural with his students and loved his job — though he only made $12 a month at a local university.

 

 

 

Ma keeps his family life private, but he's been married for decades.

Ma married Zhang Ying, a teacher he met at school after they graduated in the late 1980s. They have two children — a daughter and a son, according to Bloomberg.

 

Ma got the idea to start an internet company during a trip to America.

Ma had no experience with computers or coding, but he was captivated by the internet when he used it for the first time during a trip to the US in 1995. He had recently started a translation business and made the trip to help a Chinese firm recover a payment.

Ma's first online search was "beer," but he was surprised to find that no Chinese beers turned up in the results. It was then that he decided to found an internet company for China.

 

He founded Alibaba in 1999, and its success was nearly instant.

Though his first two ventures failed, four years later, he gathered 17 of his friends in his apartment and convinced them to invest in his vision for an online marketplace he called "Alibaba." The site allowed exporters to post product listings that customers could buy directly.

Soon, the service started to attract members from all over the world. By October 1999, the company had raised $5 million from Goldman Sachs and $20 million from SoftBank, a Japanese telecom company that also invests in technology companies.

The team remained close-knit and scrappy. "We will make it because we are young and we never, never give up," Ma said to a gathering of employees.

Ma was given the nickname "Crazy Jack" by reporters during his company's mid-2000s rivalry with eBay.

He was known for maintaining a sense of fun at Alibaba. In the early 2000s, when the company decided to start Taobao, its eBay competitor, he had his team do handstands during breaks to keep their energy levels up.

When the company first became profitable, Ma gave each employee a can of Silly String to go wild with.

 

Yahoo invested in Alibaba in 2005.

In 2005, Yahoo invested $1 billion in Alibaba in exchange for about a 40% stake in the company. This was huge for Alibaba — at the time it was trying to beat eBay in China — and it would eventually be an enormous win for Yahoo too, netting it $10 billion in Alibaba's IPO alone, TechCrunch reported.

 

Ma stepped down from his post as CEO in 2013.

Alibaba went public on the New York Stock Exchange on September 19, 2014.

The company's $150 billion IPO was the largest offering for a US-listed company in the history of the NYSE. It also made Ma the richest person in China, with an estimated worth of $25 billion at the time, Bloomberg reported.

"Today what we got is not money. What we got is the trust from the people," Ma told CNBC at the time.

Ma stayed on as chairman at Alibaba until 2019. That year it was reported he 

 

Ma owns stakes in Alibaba and a payment-processing service.

Alibaba reported in 2022 that Ma owned 3.7% of the company both directly and through holding companies, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Ma owns a 10% stake in payment-processing service Alipay, which rebranded to Ant Group in 2014, according the company's prospectus filing in 2020.

 

One of his greatest passions is the environment.

According to Fortune, Ma developed an interest in environmentalism when a member of his wife's family became sick with an illness that Ma suspected was caused by pollution.

He sat on the global board of The Nature Conservancy and spoke during a session of the Clinton Global Initiative in 2015. He was also, according to Fortune, instrumental in funding a 27,000-acre nature reserve in China.

 

The biggest day in the calendar for Alibaba is China's "Singles' Day" — a retaliation to Valentine's Day — which supposedly celebrates the country's singletons.

It's also known as the Global Shopping Festival in Alibaba reports, and it takes place on November 11. In 2021, the e-commerce giant reported nearly $85 million on Singles' Day. Taylor Swift performed at the company's Singles' Day event in 2019.

 

 

Ma appears humble despite his financial success.

Alibaba's success may have made Ma an extremely wealthy man, but he still has some pretty modest hobbies.

"I don't think he has changed much, he is still that old style," Xiao-Ping Chen, a friend of Ma, told USA Today. He likes reading and writing kung fu fiction, playing poker, meditating, and practicing tai chi.

Ma once told employees at a press conference in 2014 that he hoped they use their newfound wealth to become "a batch of genuinely noble people, a batch of people who are able to help others, and who are kind and happy."

Even though Ma has kept his humble hobbies, he has also splurged on a French chateau and a plane for Alibaba.

Ma bought a vineyard and a chateau in Bordeaux, France, in 2016, according to CNBC. And in March 2013, Alibaba spent a reported $49.7 million on a Gulfstream G550, mostly for Ma's use, according to China Daily.

 

 

In 2017, Ma made headlines after meeting President Donald Trump.

Despite Trump's protectionist attitude towards trade, Ma said China and the United States were not about to be drawn into a trade war.

"Give Trump some time. He's open-minded," Ma told a panel at the World Economic Forum in January 2017.

 

Ma is something of a celebrity in China.

Crowds of people show up to listen to him speak. The company also hosts annual talent shows, and Ma is a natural entertainer. At a company anniversary event, he dressed up as a punk rocker for a performance in front of 20,000 Alibaba employees, according to 60 Minutes.

In 2014, Ma told Bloomberg he knew Alibaba had made it big when another customer offered to pay his restaurant bill.

The customer, Ma said in the interview, had left Ma a note that read: "I'm your customer of Alibaba group, I made a lot of money and I know you don't make any money. I'll pay the bill for you.".

 

Ma stepped down as Alibaba's chairman on his 55th birthday and chose a former Alibaba CEO to replace him.

He left the position on September 10, 2019. The company threw him a farewell party in an 80,000-seat stadium in Hangzhou, and Ma performed with other Alibaba executives.

Ma picked Daniel Zhang, who was named the CEO of Alibaba in 2015, to replace him as chairman. According to CNN Business, Ma decided to pivot to full-time philanthropy.

 

When COVID-19 rocked the world, Ma sprung into action.

When the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a halt in March 2020, Ma sourced and shipped N95 face masks and COVID-19 testing kits to over 100 countries dealing with shortages, including the US.

 

In May 2020, SoftBank announced that Ma would resign from the troubled investment fund's board of directors.

"Stepping down from SoftBank Group's Board, I believe, and he said to me actually, was something that he decided on his own," SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said during the firm's earnings announcement.

"That's sad, but we still keep in contact directly, and right before the COVID-19, we met face-to-face every month to have dinner, to talk about businesses, to talk about lives. And we will remain friends for the rest of our life, I believe."

 

In October 2020, Ma made headlines again in relation to Ant Group's highly anticipated IPO.

Ant Group was expected to raise $37 billion with a valuation reportedly surpassing $300 billion. But then, Ma publicly snubbed China's financial regulatory system, calling it "an old people's club."

Soon after, regulators introduced new online lending rules that directly impacted Ant's business.

Officials then said there were "major issues" with Ant's listing, and by November 2020, the IPO was suspended.

It was expected to serve as a "stamp of approval" for disruptors in the traditional banking sector before the new rules changed the IPO's trajectory.

Chinese regulators opened an antitrust investigation into Alibaba in December 2020, yet another crackdown on Ma's empire.

Regulators said they were launching an anti-monopoly investigation into Alibaba and held talks about stricter financial regulations with Ant Group.

As part of the investigation, China's State Administration for Market Regulation looked into the contracts Alibaba asked sellers to sign.

 

Amid the investigation, speculation began on whether Ma was missing in 2021.

In January 2021, Yahoo Finance reported that Ma hadn't been seen publicly in more than two months and had been replaced as a judge on the TV talent show he founded, which raised the question of whether Ma had gone missing.

Ma isn't the first Chinese businessman to disappear from the public eye under such circumstances.

Ma's absence mirrored similar situations where Chinese businessmen had disappeared after battling with regulators.

But multiple sources said that Ma was not missing — he was simply "laying low" amid the government scrutiny and new regulations.

Ma appeared to resurface in Thailand in January 2023.

A post shared by JAY FAI (เจ๊ไฝ)⭐️ (@jayfaibangkok)

Jay Fai restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, posted a photo of Jack Ma on Instagram. The caption read: "Incredibly humble, we are honored to welcome you and your family to Jay Fai's."

His reappearance came as Ant Group said it was streamlining voting rights to prevent any one shareholder from having a controlling vote.

 

His net worth is now estimated at around $30 billion, making him China's seventh-richest person in 2023.

Once China's richest man, Ma's net worth has fallen by more than $20 billion since he disappeared from public view, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In November, Forbes reported that Ma was the seventh richest man in China in 2023 behind businessman Robin Zeng.

 

In May of 2023, Ma accepted a teaching role at Tokyo College.

It's unclear if Ma is still teaching, but he was expected to conduct research on sustainable agriculture and food production. Tokyo College said that Ma would "share his rich experience and pioneering knowledge on entrepreneurship, corporate management and innovation" with students, according to the May announcement.

 

Ma began advising Alibaba in May, and held a meeting of company execs the same month.

In the meeting, Ma suggested cutting out managers at Taobao and Tmall to combat the "very severe" competition the e-commerce platforms face. Other tech giants, particularly those in Silicon Valley, have also gotten rid of middle managers.

China appeared to be nearing an end to its nearly three-year investigation into Ant Group in July.

China's crackdown on technology firms appeared to be coming to an end after regulators issued a $1 billion fine to Ant Group in July, according to WSJ.

 

 

One of Ma's latest business ventures is a China-based agrotech startup.

It appears that while Ma was out of the public eye, he was studying agrotech. As of July 2023, Hangzhou Dajingtou No. 22 Arts and Culture Co., one of Ma's investment-holdings companies, has a 10% stake in 1.8 Meters Marine Technology (Zhejiang) Co, an agrotech startup.

 

Ma incorporated a company called "Hangzhou Ma's Kitchen Food" in November.

Ma's latest company reportedly deals with the sales of pre-packaged food and processing and selling agricultural products. But, Ma hasn't shared much about his desire to move into agriculture.

"I found that a place that does well in agriculture is not necessarily a place with good resources, but a place with unique thinking and people with imagination," he said during a speech to teachers last August.

He added, "The rural areas do need technology, while I think unique thinking and creativity are important as well."

He began buying shares in Alibaba during the fourth quarter of 2023.

Alibaba's stock began to rally in January 2024 after Ma reversed his plans to sell his shares and invested more in the company instead.

Ma spent $50 million on Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares over the last few months of 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported. The tech giant's stock started slipping in November, prompting Ma to rethink his plan of investing in his other business ventures over Alibaba.

Ma's wife acquired three adjoining properties in Singapore for up to $37 million, Business Times reported.

In February 2024, The Business Times reported that Zhang Ying, a Singaporean citizen, bought three properties known as shophouses in the Tanjong Pagar area of Singapore.

The three-story shophouses are reportedly situated on commercial-zoned sites, and this type of real estate is popular in Singapore, according to Bloomberg. The shophouses are said to be nearly done with refurbishments, and at least one story will be a restaurant.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Ma and other prominent business leaders to discuss the country's future.

Ma joined a number of Chinese founders and CEOs in a summit with Xi on February 17. The meeting centered around China's private sector as Xi encouraged leaders from companies like Huawei, DeepSeek, and more to remain ambitious and believe in their country, Reuters reported.

The Alibaba CEO made a rare public appearance to attend the meeting where Xi said the government would work to protect private businesses to help promote China's economy.

Ma previously spoke out against China's crackdown on the tech sector in 2020. This meeting signaled that Xi may be reconsidering the tough restrictions on private companies amid global tariffs from the US.

• Nike is trying to reclaim its sports apparel edge by focusing on performance wear.
• The company previously overcame challenges by boosting product launches.
• Nike will have to "Just Do It Again," analysts said.

Nike should use its own playbook to stage a proper comeback in sports apparel, analysts said.

The company's sales have been slumping, with revenue down 8% in Q2 FY25 from the year prior. It's turned to a new strategy and a new CEO to help recover and drive product innovation. One of its biggest challenges has been competition from brands like Hoka and On.

For help, it should look to its last period of challenges in 2015 to 2018, BMO analyst Simeon Siegel wrote in a February note titled "Just Do It Again." That's when Adidas' Ultra Boost sneakers, which first launched in 2015, threatened Nike's growth in North America.

Spiegel said the company used four strategies to overtake Adidas in incremental revenue dollars: upping product launches, re-elevating the Jordan brand, accelerating demand creation spending, and cleaning up inventory.

Some of those "key shifts" could boost its firepower in reclaiming its position in running now, Spiegel said.

Nike has already said that it will focus on it performance wear for athletes, particularly running. During its Q1FY25 earnings call, CFO Matthew Friend said running has been "one of our toughest fights over the past few years." It trailed behind ASICS, Adidas, Brooks, and Hoka in running-shoe launches in 2024, according to data from BMO.

Back in 2017, Nike responded to the Adidas Ultra Boost with the Epic React, BMO analysts said. But it'll have to be a "fast copier" again to compete with Hoka, Spiegel said in the note.

Hoka is currently driving the trend of ultra-cushioned shoes in the sport, and "although it doesn't sound glamorous, we believe a line-up of Hoka resembling shoes may be exactly what is needed," Spiegel wrote.

"They kind of lost their way in terms of product innovation, and I think Hoka, Brooks, and other players started taking market share," Brian Yarbrough, an analyst at Edward Jones, said.

It looks like Spiegel's advice to increase product launches is already in Nike's sights, with running-shoe Vomero 18 expected on February 27. The company said the Vomero Plus, the Vomero Premium, and the new Structure model will come "later in 2025."

If it can launch good innovative products, consumers may be "willing to trade away out of Hoka, On," and more that have been gaining market share, Yarbrough said.

As for demand creation, Nike reported $1.1 billion in demand creation expenses to investors for Q2 FY25. It paid for a 60-second spot for Super Bowl LIX — its first ad during the event in nearly 30 years. It starred a number of female athletes, including Caitlin Clark and Sha'Carri Richardson.

The investment paid off as it topped other Super Bowl advertisers in engagement actions, a key metric in the business.

However, Nike is going to need products that are "on point with what the consumer wants" to capitalize, Yarbrough said.

• Nike aired its first Super Bowl commercial in 27 years to advertise performance apparel.
• The ad featured female athletes and aligns with CEO Elliott Hill's growth strategy.
• Nike's focus on women's sports aims to curb declining sales and drive innovation, analysts say.

Nike aired its first Super Bowl ad in 27 years on Sunday as the sports giant attempts to attract more athletes to its performance apparel. The stars of the slot: women.

The 60-second "So Win" commercial aired during Super Bowl LIX and featured eight female athletes, delivering a strong message about the perception of women's sports. If you've been keeping up with new CEO Elliott Hill's plans to put Nike back on top, it's not a surprising move.

Hill told investors during the Q2 FY25 earnings call that the brand is "running a gender offense" to drive growth in different sports.

Nike announced last year that it inked a 12-year deal with the NBA, WNBA, and NBA G League to be the exclusive uniform and apparel provider for each league.

As the WNBA grows in popularity, Nike is in a position to capitalize, analysts have said. It deepened its relationship with the league in 2024 with the merchandising agreement.

"Since our league's inception, Nike has committed to a shared vision for girls and women's basketball," WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in October.

Nike "lost focus" on product innovation under former CEO John Donahoe, and the Super Bowl commercial was Hill's way of announcing to the world that this is the beginning of their comeback, Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough told Business Insider.

"They've got the balance sheet and they've got the ability to spend," Yarbrough told BI.

Nike probably spent big. A 30-second spot during the Super Bowl costs advertisers around $7 million; by that math, Nike spent an estimated $14 million to take advantage of the opportunity arising in women's sports, Yarbrough said.

It appears that the bet paid off. The commercial generated 188,000 engagement actions, an important metric for advertisers made up of social media likes or comments. It was the most of any advertiser during the Super Bowl, according to social and consumer intelligence company Meltwater.

A spokesperson for Nike directed BI to a press release in response to a request for comment.

"Women's sport isn't the future, it's right now. We're seeing it in packed arenas, in TV ratings, in the way people are showing up for the game like never before," said WNBA star and Nike athlete Sabrina Ionescu in the press release.

Nike has been struggling to reboot its sales, which dropped 8% year over year to $12.4 billion during the second quarter, the company told investors in December.

With the "So Win" campaign, Nike said it's capturing the "outstanding rise of women athletes" — notably at a time when companies in other industries are rolling back their diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies.

Nike has not publicly commented on its stance on DEI, but appealing to the masses is the way of the business if it wants to sell "a lot of things to a lot of people," BMO analyst Simeon Siegel said.

"It's very important that they can speak to a lot of people and tell powerful storytelling."

• Hermès CEO Axel Dumas discussed the viral Walmart Birkin bag lookalikes.
• Dumas said he was "annoyed" when asked about Birkin dupes.
• Hermès' Birkin bags are luxury status symbols, starting at $10,000.

Hermès CEO Axel Dumas responded to the viral Walmart "Birkin" bags that were a hit with TikTok's dupe enthusiasts last year — and he was kind of mad.

The French luxury brand reported its annual results from 2024 on Friday. During the call, Dumas said he'd give a "corporate answer" to questions about the lookalikes that were sold on Walmart's website through third parties with about $80 price tags.

At first, he said the company had no comment, but then he expanded on his feelings about fakes.

"It's difficult to know what, exactly, to think about it apart from the fact that it irritated me — annoyed me," he said.

The "Wirkins" aren't technically a counterfeit since the sellers aren't marketing them as the real thing, but Dumas said that Hermès takes counterfeiting "very seriously."

It's unclear when vendors began selling the cheaper bags on Walmart's e-commerce site, but a string of viral videos in December pushed them into the spotlight — causing many to flock to purchase one. TikTokers dubbed them "Wirkins" or "Walmès bags."

"Making a copy like this is quite detestable —it's stealing the creative ideas of others," Dumas said.

However, Dumas said he ended up seeing Wirkins as a compliment in a way. Hermès Birkin bags are highly coveted status symbols among the wealthy, with five-figure price tags and long waitlists. The handmade leather bags start at around $10,000.

He said he understood that no one is buying the $80 Wirkin and expecting it to be the real thing, and it was "quite touching" to see people who dreamed of owning a Birkin.

The bags started disappearing from Walmart's marketplace in January following the frenzy they started online. The company previously declined to comment on why they were being taken off of shelves.

• Tulsi Gabbard was urged to challenge the UK's order for Apple data access.
• UK's request could compromise American data security, risking espionage threats, the letter said.
• Apple reportedly faces penalties for disclosing UK's "secret order," raising privacy concerns.

Tulsi Gabbard was sworn in as the Director of National Intelligence on Wednesday, and she's already received a warning from congressmen about the safety of Americans' data.

A letter from Ron Wyden, a Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Andy Biggs, a Republican on the House Judiciary committee, urged Gabbard to demand the UK government retract an order that would grant them access to the cloud content of any Apple user in the world.

The Washington Post was the first to report on the order, which it said was issued in January, and which would allow the British government to view encrypted material. Wyden and Biggs asked Gabbard to push back on the "secret order."

If Apple were to build a backdoor for the UK, the congressmen said, it would undermine Americans' right to privacy, "expose them to espionage by China, Russia, and other adversaries," and threaten government agencies that use Apple products. The tech giant is reportedly not allowed to acknowledge the order.

"The company faces criminal penalties that prevent it from even confirming to the US Congress the accuracy of these press reports," the letter said.

Wyden and Biggs told Gabbard to give the UK an ultimatum: "Back down from this dangerous attack on US cybersecurity, or face serious consequences."

They also asked her office to answer three questions about the Trump administration's awareness of the order and its understanding of the 2018 CLOUD Act, which allows the US to enter bilateral agreements with foreign allies to request data information from companies without going through diplomatic channels.

Business Insider reached out to the British Home Office and the White House for comment. The White House did not immediately respond.

The Home Office provided a statement to BI on Thursday: "We do not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any such notices."

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been a big proponent of data encryption on iOS devices. The tech giant pushed back against the US government's request for a backdoor into iPhone users' personal information.

After a 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Apple was asked by the FBI to provide access to the shooter's data. Cook said that Apple complied with the request, but he stood firmly against building a backdoor to the iPhone.

Cook said it would be "too dangerous to create" such a thing, considering it could fall into the hands of hackers.

"Compromising the security of our personal information can ultimately put our personal safety at risk. That is why encryption has become so important to all of us," Cook wrote in 2016.

Read the full letter sent to Gabbard:

Dear Director Gabbard:

We write to urge you to act decisively to protect the security of Americans' communications from dangerous, shortsighted efforts by the United Kingdom (UK) that will undermine Americans' privacy rights and expose them to espionage by China, Russia and other adversaries.

According to recent press reports, the UK's Home Secretary served Apple with a secret order last month, directing the company to weaken the security of its iCloud backup service to facilitate government spying. This directive reportedly requires the company to weaken the encryption of its iCloud backup service, giving the UK government the "blanket capability" to access customers' encrypted files. This order was reportedly issued under the UK's Investigatory Powers Act 2016, commonly known as the "Snoopers' Charter," which does not require a judge's approval. Apple is reportedly gagged from acknowledging that it received such an order, and the company faces criminal penalties that prevent it from even confirming to the US Congress the accuracy of these press reports.

These reported actions seriously threaten the privacy and security of both the American people and the US government. Apple does not make different versions of its encryption software for each market; Apple customers in the UK use the same software as Americans. If Apple is forced to build a backdoor in its products, that backdoor will end up in Americans' phones, tablets, and computers, undermining the security of Americans' data, as well as of the countless federal, state and local government agencies that entrust sensitive data to Apple products.

The Salt Typhoon hack of US telephone carriers' wiretapping systems last year — in which President Trump and Vice President Vance's calls were tapped by China — provides a perfect example of the dangers of surveillance backdoors. They will inevitably be compromised by sophisticated foreign adversaries and exploited in ways harmful to US national security. As the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI confirmed last November, People's Republic of China (PRC)-affiliated actors were involved in "copying of certain information that was subject to US law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders."

The risk does not just come from wiretapping systems — when sensitive data is stored by third parties, without end-to-end encryption, it is vulnerable to theft when those service providers are hacked. That is exactly what has happened in 2023, when PRC-affiliated hackers broke into Microsoft's systems storing federal agencies' emails. As the Department of Homeland Security's Cyber Safety Review Board documented, the foreign spies "struck the espionage equivalent of gold," enabling them to access "the official email accounts of many of the most senior US government officials managing our country's relationship with the People's Republic of China" and "downloaded approximately 60,000 emails from State Department alone."

After years of senior US government officials — from both Republican and Democratic Administrations — pushing for weaker encryption and surveillance backdoors, it seems that the US government has finally come around to a position we have long argued: strong end-to-end encryption protects national security. Indeed, in the wake of the Salt Typhoon hack, CISA released public guidance which recommended that high-value targets, including Members of Congress, solely use end-to-end encrypted communications tools, like Signal.

While the UK has been a trusted ally, the US government must not permit what is effectively a foreign cyberattack waged through political means. If the UK does not immediately reverse this dangerous effort, we urge you to reevaluate US-UK cybersecurity arrangements and programs as well as US intelligence sharing with the UK. As the UK Parliament's intelligence oversight committee described in a December, 2023 public report, the UK benefits greatly from a "mutual presumption towards unrestricted sharing of [Signals Intelligence]" between the US and UK and that "[t]he weight of advantage in the partnership with the [National Security Agency] is overwhelmingly in [the UK's] favour." The bilateral US-UK relationship must be built on trust. If the UK is secretly undermining one of the foundations of US cybersecurity, that trust has been profoundly breached.

You stated at your confirmation hearing that "backdoors lead down a dangerous path that can undermine Americans' Fourth Amendment rights and civil liberties." And you wrote in response to a written question that "[m]andating mechanisms to bypass encryption or privacy technologies undermines user security, privacy, and trust and poses significant risks of exploitation by malicious actors." We urge you to put those words into action by giving the UK an ultimatum: back down from this dangerous attack on US cybersecurity, or face serious consequences. To inform ongoing Congressional oversight, please also provide us with unclassified answers to the following questions by

March 3, 2025:

1. Was the Trump Administration made aware of this reported order, either by the UK or Apple, prior to the press reports and, if so, when and by whom?

2. What is the Trump Administration's understanding of UK law and the bilateral CLOUD Act agreement with regard to an exception to gag orders for notice to the US government?

3. What is the Trump Administration's understanding of its obligation to inform Congress and the American public about foreign government demands for US companies to weaken the security of their products, pursuant to the CLOUD Act?

Sincerely,

Ron Wydon

Andy Biggs