• Ukraine is on the verge of losing its final town in Kursk, the Russian region it invaded in August.
• Moscow has pushed hard into Kursk in recent weeks, and Putin just visited the region himself.
• Kyiv's loss of its northern pocket comes as the US seeks to get Russia to accept a temporary cease-fire.

Eight months after launching its surprise attack on Russian soil, Ukraine's foothold in Kursk appears to be on its last legs.

As of Wednesday, the town of Sudzha — about five miles from Ukraine's border — remains Kyiv's final significant position in the Russian region.

Ukrainian officials have been painting a bleak picture of its defense.

Roman Kostenko, the secretary of the defense committee in Ukraine's parliament, told local reporters in a Wednesday briefing that Russian troops have entered the town and are trying to cut off Ukrainian supply lines.

"There is information that the Russians have entered a certain part. Fighting continues. The Russians control a certain area there, which is across the river," Kostenko said.

Still, he added that he hadn't received word of a full withdrawal, a decision that Kyiv has also not confirmed.

But the language used by Ukraine's top officials indicates that at least a partial pullback is already underway.

Ukraine's chief commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Wednesday evening that he had ordered Ukrainian troops to move to "more advantageous lines" if necessary.

Sudzha has been "almost completely destroyed" by Russian air strikes, Syrski added.

Both he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have said Kyiv's priority in Kursk now is to "preserve the lives" of Ukrainian troops.

"The Russians are applying maximum pressure on our soldiers," Zelenskyy told reporters on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Russian military bloggers have been posting footage of the fighting in Sudzha, appearing to show Moscow's advance reaching the town's administrative buildings.

The Kremlin's push comes as Russian leader Vladimir Putin visited Kursk for the first time since Ukraine breached the region.

Dressed in military fatigues, he told his troops on Wednesday to clear out the remnants of Ukraine's troops in Kursk, according to state media.

With Ukraine's position in Kursk now dire, it's ousted Dmytro Krasylnykov, the commander of its northern operations.

National broadcaster Suspilne reported that Krasylnikov said an order for his replacement was signed on March 7. Oleksiy Shandar, who was deputy commander of Ukraine's airborne assault forces, is set to take over.

An advantage held for months, now on the verge of collapse

Ukraine launched its surprise Kursk offensive in early August, widely interpreted as a bold effort to both draw Russian resources away from the hard-hit eastern front and to create a bargaining chip for cease-fire negotiations.

Within days, Kyiv's forces seized some 500 square miles of Russian territory and threatened to encroach upon Kursk city itself.

But Moscow's troops rushed to contain the advance, eventually cutting down Ukraine's pocket there to just the land around Sudzha.

If the Kremlin fully retakes Kursk, it would come as President Donald Trump's administration tries to get Russia to accept a temporary cease-fire, which Ukraine has already agreed to.

"We'll take this offer now to the Russians, and we hope that they'll say yes, that they'll say yes to peace," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday. "The ball is now in their court."

Earlier this month, tensions with Washington also prompted the US to roll back some of its intel and weapons support for Ukraine. Shortly after the decision was made, officials in Kyiv told Business Insider's Jake Epstein that the loss of intel hampered Ukraine's ability to defend against Russian missile attacks.

The Washington Post also reported that the move had prevented Ukraine from precisely targeting Russian positions with advanced American artillery systems.

After Kyiv accepted the cease-fire terms, the US said on Monday that it had resumed sharing intel with Ukraine.

• Michelle Obama says her husband Barack Obama's punctuality used to get on her nerves.
• "Barack, you know, he had to adjust to what 'on time' was for me," Obama said on her "IMO" podcast.
• The former first lady previously said she had a bad impression of him when he was late for their first meeting.

Marriage isn't easy — even Michelle Obama used to have a major pet peeve with her husband Barack Obama.

During Wednesday's premiere episode of her podcast "IMO," which she cohosts with her brother Craig Robinson, the former first lady spoke about one of her husband's habits that used to get on her nerves.

"Barack, you know, he had to adjust to what 'on time' was for me," Obama told Robinson.

"Because he was on that island time," Robinson interjected, referring to the former president's Hawaiian roots.

Obama said it bothered her that her husband would often only start getting ready when it was time to leave for their appointments.

"You know, I've got this husband who's like, when it's time to leave, it's 3, he's getting up and going to the bathroom. And I was like, dude, dude, a 3 o'clock departure means you've done all that, you know? It's like, don't start looking for your glasses, you know, at the 3 o'clock departure," she said.

However, he tries to keep himself in check these days, she said.

"But he's improved over 30 years of marriage," she said. She added that her daughters, Malia and Sasha, know to be early if they are doing anything with her.

In 2014, using public data posted on the White House website, The Washington Post reported that the former president was over 35 hours late to his scheduled engagements that year.

In a 2018 interview, Obama shared that she had a bad impression of Barack Obama when they met at a Chicago law firm in 1989 because he was late for their first meeting.

"I was like, is he trifling? The black man's going to be late on the first day? I was like, 'Um,'" Obama told ABC News' Robin Roberts.

Punctuality is often touted as a key to success.

One such business leader who believes in punctuality is Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group.

"If you want to be more productive, then start at the start: get there on time," Branson wrote on LinkedIn in 2015. Not only is it a show of respect to others, it is also a way to effectively manage his day, he said.

"Of course, everything doesn't always go to plan. It isn't always possible to be on time, but it is always possible to try. When I find myself running late, I will often quite literally resort to running," Branson wrote.

Representatives for the Obamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular hours.

• A federal judge ordered Elon Musk and DOGE to produce records and answer questions about their work.
• Musk and DOGE have been given three weeks to comply with the order.
• Musk's government efficiency commission has been hit with nearly two dozen lawsuits.

A federal judge ordered Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to hand over documents and answer questions about their plans to trim federal agencies.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan said in her order on Wednesday that Musk and DOGE have to comply with the discovery request in three weeks.

Under the order, Musk and DOGE must turn over records relating to their plans to cull federal agencies, terminate federal employees, and cancel federal contracts. The discovery requests do not apply to President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order establishing DOGE on January 20, the day he took office.

Last month, 14 Democratic state attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit against Trump, Musk, and DOGE. In their lawsuit, the attorneys general asked the court to "restore constitutional order" and stop Musk "from issuing orders to any person in the Executive Branch outside of DOGE."

"Mr. Musk does not occupy an office of the United States and has not had his nomination for an office confirmed by the Senate. His officer-level actions are thus unconstitutional," the lawsuit argued.

Chutkan denied that request in a ruling issued on February 18, writing that she could not issue a temporary restraining order against Musk and DOGE "without clear evidence of imminent, irreparable harm" to the states.

Nonetheless, Chutkan acknowledged in her ruling that the attorneys general did "legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight."

Musk and DOGE have been hit with nearly two dozen lawsuits since the start of Trump's second term. DOGE's attempts to slash spending by laying off thousands of federal workers and shuttering foreign aid programs have sparked fear and confusion across the government.

This isn't the first time Musk and DOGE have been ordered to turn over records of their work.

On Monday, District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered Musk and DOGE to release some of its records to comply with three Freedom of Information Act requests from a watchdog nonprofit.

In his ruling, Cooper wrote that DOGE was operating with "unusual secrecy" and the "public would be irreparably harmed by an indefinite delay" in responding to the FOIA requests.

When asked about Cooper's ruling, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice told Business Insider on Tuesday that Musk and DOGE "are saving historic amounts of taxpayer money from being spent on unserious bureaucratic pet projects."

"This Department has already been fighting in court to vigorously defend President Trump's agenda and will continue to do so, especially when it comes to waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars," the spokesperson added.

Representatives for DOGE and the DOJ did not respond to requests for comment from BI.

• About 48% of Tesla's market capitalization was wiped out in a matter of months.
• The decline comes amid sagging sales and concerns around leadership, namely its CEO Elon Musk.
• JPMorgan analysts said they couldn't find "anything analogous in the history of the automotive industry."

Tesla has lost so much value in such a short period of time that JPMorgan analysts said they couldn't think of another comparable moment in automotive history.

"We struggle to think of anything analogous in the history of the automotive industry, in which a brand has lost so much value so quickly," they wrote, adding that the closest example was when Japanese and Korean car brands lost sales amid "diplomatic disputes" with China in 2012 and 2017, respectively.

The JPMorgan analysts wrote in a note on Wednesday that those historical cases were "confined to a single market, whereas the decline in Tesla sales in 2025 is not specific to any one nation or geography."

JPMorgan analysts cut their price target on Tesla by about 41% from $230.58 to $135, lowering guidance on vehicle deliveries for the first quarter of 2025 to about 355,000 — an 8% year-over-year decrease from the first quarter of 2024.

Between December and Wednesday after trading hours, Tesla lost nearly 49% of its market cap, seeing its peak value of $1.54 trillion from the end of last year fall to about $777 billion.

This steep drop comes as Tesla experiences a global decline in sales and branding issues stemming from its chief executive's politics.

For a moment, Elon Musk's big bet on Donald Trump seemed to pay off. Tesla was the only EV company to see its stock surge after the president's electoral victory in November. The underlying assumption appeared to be that Musk's company could benefit if the Tesla CEO had the ear of the new administration and guided the White House's efforts to slash government spending. 

Now, that assumption is being challenged in some analysts' latest guidance, which notes a possible headwind in demand due to Musk's work with the Trump administration.

"Mr. Musk's work with the Department of Government Efficiency has proven controversial domestically, and while as many members of the political right may be pleased as those on the left are displeased, the effect on Tesla sales seems nevertheless negative," JPMorgan analysts wrote.

In recent weeks, Tesla showrooms across the US have seen protests and a string of vandalism incidents. President Trump has rushed to Tesla's defense and said he'd consider labeling the perpetrators domestic terrorists.

Outside brand reputation, some analysts are also concerned that Musk's focus on political affairs is again distracting the CEO from his core businesses.

"After all, the simultaneous decline in both Tesla pricing and unit volume expectations did coincide with his takeover of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter," JPMorgan analysts noted.

Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a note on Monday that Tesla shares have fallen due to "sales data, negative brand sentiment, and market de-grossing" but still see a buying opportunity for the company.

"Today, with the stock down 50%, our investor conversations are focused on management distraction, brand degradation, and lost auto sales," analysts said.

A spokesperson for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

Despite the company's losses, Tesla remains the most valuable car company in the world.

Second to Tesla is legacy automaker Toyota, which has a $292 billion market cap.

Morgan Stanley analysts noted several "catalysts" in the company's pipeline, including Tesla's robotaxi, expected to hit Austin roads later this summer, and another demonstration of Optimus, the humanoid robot anticipated before the end of the year.

However, expectations for Tesla's delivery timelines may have to be tempered, given that the CEO has a history of missing his own. deadlines.

• D-Wave on Wednesday announced it had achieved quantum supremacy with its annealing chip.
• Quantum stocks spiked after the news, which suggests quantum machines can outperform classical tech.
• Wednesday's gains helped the industry rebound from a dip spurred by skepticism from Jensen Huang.

Quantum stocks spiked on Wednesday after Canadian company D-Wave said it had achieved the elusive industry benchmark of "quantum supremacy," suggesting its specialized annealing chip can outperform classical computers in certain tasks.

"It's the holy grail for quantum computing. It's what everybody aspires to and is the reason there's so much confusion around quantum supremacy versus quantum advantage versus quantum utility because supremacy — true supremacy — hadn't been achieved yet," Alan Barrett, D-Wave's CEO, told Business Insider. "And so the industry was coming up with terms that were easier to achieve, but this is that demonstration of true supremacy, and we're very excited."

The corresponding market surge — which saw D-Wave's stock spike over 8% by market close and sent other quantum companies like IonQ up over 16% — helped the industry recover from a dip following recent skepticism from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

In January, Huang suggested the industry is at least 20 years away from quantum computing being "very useful," sending quantum stocks tumbling.

While D-Wave's announcement didn't fully claw back the losses that followed Huang's remarks, it sent a jolt through the market and made waves in the industry surrounding the burgeoning technology.

Quantum computing is rapidly evolving, with Big Tech players like IBM and Google racing to scale up the devices enough to be commercially useful. While advancement has long been slowed by deeply technical problems involving error correction and scalability, researchers say cracking the code to unlock quantum computing's potential could help discover new drugs, develop new chemical compounds, or break encryption methods, among other outcomes.

That is why D-Wave's announcement, which follows new quantum chip debuts from Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, is such a big deal. The Canadian company says its annealing quantum computer outperformed one of the world's most powerful classical supercomputers when solving complex simulation calculations related to magnetic materials discovery.

The company says its quantum computer performed a magnetic materials simulation in just minutes — one that would take a classical supercomputer built with GPU clusters nearly one million years and more than the world's annual electricity consumption to solve.

Quantum annealing vs. gate-based approaches

D-Wave's approach is not without its skeptics. The research paper published by the company's researchers in the journal Science stopped short of describing its findings as "quantum supremacy," instead using the milder term "quantum advantage" to outline its findings.

Eric Chitambar, a researcher of quantum information science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said D-Wave's annealing approach has drawbacks — like narrower practical applications and reduced fault tolerance, meaning it's not likely to produce a full-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer.

The narrow scope of the annealing method's potential applications is why the other major players in the quantum space have invested heavily in a gate-based approach. This approach relies on quantum logic gates as the foundation of quantum circuits, similar to how classical logic gates operate for conventional circuits. It has the potential for broader applications despite slower progress in development than the annealing approach.

"But even if they don't have something that is going to be a universal, scalable quantum computer, that doesn't mean there isn't value there," Chitambar said of D-Wave's announcement.

Harley Johnson, the chief executive for Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, told Business Insider that certain types of computers are better at solving specific problems. D-Wave's announcement is a prime example of a narrowly tailored machine proving its utility.

But now that quantum computing is moving beyond proving its commercial value, Johnson said, it's time to focus on maximizing the return on the massive investment that has brought the quantum industry this far.

"The thinking about quantum advantage, or quantum supremacy, needs to take into account the additional information about economic advantage," Johnson said. "What does it cost me to get to a solution on a conventional computer versus on a quantum computer? Can I solve it more cheaply than I could solve it on a conventional computer? I think that's the next really important way to think about quantum advantage."

• Meta won an emergency arbitration decision regarding the book "Careless People."
• The decision, in part, bars Sarah Wynn-Williams from promoting the book.
• A Meta spokesperson said the "false and defamatory book should never have been published."

Meta just scored a win against a new memoir written by a former Facebook executive.

"Careless People," which was published Tuesday, was written by Sarah Wynn-Williams, who worked at Facebook from 2011 to 2017.

Meta on Wednesday shared an emergency arbitrator's decision that bars the author from promoting the book. Her memoir has already generated headlines, including a positive review in The New York Times.

The ruling was issued by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, which is the international division of the American Arbitration Association.

The arbitrator wrote that the decision bars Wynn-Williams from making disparaging comments about Meta or from further publishing the book to the extent she has control over it.

"This ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams' false and defamatory book should never have been published," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider.

At the time of writing, the book was still available for purchase from retailers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Wynn-Williams and the publisher, Macmillan, did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider outside regular business hours.

The book includes vivid descriptions of the leadership styles and behaviors of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, then-chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, and other top leaders.

Wynn-Williams, a former New Zealand diplomat and international lawyer, was a global public policy director at Meta and detailed having close contact with Meta's top brass.

In one part of the book, the writer described how 200 Meta women employees formed a secret Facebook group in 2017 called "Feminist Fight Club." She also included several descriptions of being personally harassed by her superiors.

The writer also detailed Zuckerberg's awkward interactions with world leaders including former US president Barack Obama and China's leader, Xi Jinping.

The author recalled Xi using a 'a human Chinese wall' of soldiers at the 2016 APEC summit in Lima, Peru, to avoid interacting with Zuckerberg. Another section explains an incident when Zuckerberg said he didn't want to talk to then-New Zealand Prime Minister John Key in front of Key.

Meta spokesman Andy Stone called the book "a mix of old claims and false accusations about our executives" and said Wynn-Williams was fired for poor performance and behavior.

• Steven Mnuchin says he doesn't think there will be a recession amid fears and market volatility.
• Consumer confidence is on the decline while stock prices grew more volatile over Trump's tariffs.
• People may be nostalgic for Mnuchin as a force of reassurance during the first Trump administration.

Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday that the market may be "overreacting a bit" to policies rolled out by the new Trump administration — and that he doesn't think there will be a recession.

"I don't think the outlook looks like we're going to have a recession," said Mnuchin on CNBC's "Squawk Box" when addressing recession fears and the recent stock market decline. "I don't think anybody should look at what's a natural, healthy correction of these indexes as indicating that the economy's in trouble."

"The president has always believed in adding tariffs, so I think that's what we're seeing in the market today," he added.

His comments come amid growing concerns over trade tensions and economic uncertainty brought on by President Donald Trump's shifting tariff policy.

Over the past two months, confidence has declined among consumers and small business owners, while the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's GDPNow tracker predicts a contraction in the first quarter. Stock markets have also seen more volatility as the S&P 500 fell 9.4% from its peak in mid-February, and the Nasdaq Composite erased all postelection gains and tumbled below November 2024 levels.

Mnuchin is now running Liberty Strategic Capital and said he won't be joining Trump's cabinet again, but the current recession scare over Trump 2.0 may be making people nostalgic for him.

Business Insider's Emily Stewart points out that Mnuchin was the Wall Street whisperer and a force of reassurance during the first Trump administration, who was credited for keeping people calm about the debt ceiling and for striking a deal with Congress to deliver much-needed economic relief during COVID.

Stewart wrote:

With the markets currently in meltdown mode, largely thanks to Trump, Mnuchin (or a Mnuchin type) is someone many on Wall Street would very much like to have back. They'd like a Mnuchin-esque Money Dad to come tuck them in at night and tell them not to worry about big bad tariffs or a potential recession hiding underneath the bed. In the absence of such a figure, investors are facing a Trump 2.0 who isn't as concerned about their feelings — or, more importantly, holdings — as they'd hoped.

Trump addressed tariffs on Tuesday at a regular meeting of the Business Roundtable, a nonpartisan Washington-based economic advocacy group comprising more than 200 CEOs, like Apple's Tim Cook and JPMorgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon. He said that "hundred of billions of dollars are being invested" because factories are moving back to the US, and warned that tariffs "may go up."

• Critical Role, the nerdworld business giant, started streaming their show in March 2015.
• On March 12, the crew celebrated their 10th anniversary.
• Four of CR's eight cofounders shared what they think has helped the team stay together.

Critical Role started as a birthday present for Liam O'Brien, who wanted to find a friend group to play "Dungeons & Dragons."

More than a decade on, the team of eight runs a sprawling nerdworld business. CR has investments in everything from its main streaming platform to game publishing and animation production.

During a conversation with Business Insider, the crew credited four tips that have kept them from falling out over the years.

1. 'Share your thinking in advance'

Travis Willingham, CR's CEO, said that talking to each other is his top tip to stay in business with one's best friends.

"It is so important not just to communicate how things are moving within a very complicated business but also to share your thinking in advance," Willingham said.

He said that one of the CR team's "biggest advantages" is having eight cofounders.

"We have so many different perspectives. We come from incredibly different walks of life. We have different interests," Willingham said.

"There also has to be a ton of grace in just recognizing that some people have strengths in some areas, there are weaknesses in others, which the team works to support," Willingham said.

2. Someone who's the 'beating heart of the group'

Sam Riegel, a multiple Emmy-award-winning director who helms CR's animation push, said the crew is "stronger than ever."

The group's "secret weapon " is Matthew Mercer, the company's chief creative officer, who Riegel said functions as the team's "beating heart."

"He keeps reminding us over and over to spend time together as friends," Riegel said.

Mercer also often tells the group they need to have fun with what they're doing together while streaming their "Dungeons & Dragons" game live. If the audience likes it, it's a bonus.

"He keeps reminding us of that — and it's a wonderful check-in, and it keeps us grounded," Riegel said.

3. Keep your ego in check

O'Brien, who helms CR's literary production drive, said all eight cofounders are "very hard workers," and "level-headed" decision-makers.

"We manage, for the most part, to keep our egos in check," O'Brien said.

O'Brien said that when there are differences of opinion, the team remembers they have a common goal.

"Those disagreements — when they do come up — they're inconsequential in comparison to the dream that we're building together," O'Brien said.

"We are dangerously close to too many Emmys, though," he joked, referring to Riegel's win record at the annual awards show. "I think we could maybe win one more, but then beyond that, things might start to get dicey."

4. Enjoy each other's company — even during crunch time

Marisha Ray, CR's creative director, said it isn't uncommon for the cofounders to work 80-hour weeks. But they have a "strong foundation" now — and help, from a broader team they've hired over the years.

"A lot of it has been building the building blocks so that we can also take a little bit of time to just enjoy each other's company," Ray said.

She added that the little things matter — like taking time to "enjoy each other's company" — and ensuring they stay friends outside work.

Riegel said what keeps him going is that one thing hasn't changed over 10 years: The crew really likes spending time with each other.

"I just want to hang around my friends and get margaritas with them and be around to experience these events with them and tell stories together," Riegel said. "That's it. Everything else is all extra."

• Ayo Edebiri called Elon Musk an "idiot" on her Instagram story for spreading a fake casting rumor.
• The rumor claimed Edebiri was being eyed for a new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie.
• Musk shared the fake info on X, writing, "Disney sucks." Edebiri said it triggered online attacks.

"The Bear" star Ayo Edebiri has some choice words for DOGE overseer Elon Musk after he helped spread a fake casting rumor last year that she said triggered a slew of attacks against her.

"Just remembering when I got some of the most insane death threats and racial slurs of my life (idk if it's the #1 moment, but for sure top 3) for a fake reboot of a movie I had never even heard of because of this man LMAO," Edebiri wrote on her Instagram story Tuesday night.

"So not only is he double s**g h**l-ing fascist, he's an idiot," she added, alluding to gestures that Musk performed at President Donald Trump's inauguration rally that many interpreted as Nazi salutes; "seig heil," meaning "hail victory" in German, was a rallying cry adopted and popularized by the Nazi party. (After his gesture sparked backlash, Musk told Joe Rogan he is "not a Nazi.")

Edebiri also shared a screenshot of the rumor in question, which was circulated last February by the X account @unlimited_ls, which is dedicated to sharing political news and "social injustice" from a conservative angle.

The rumor claimed that Edebiri was being eyed as a "replacement" for Johnny Depp in a new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie.

Depp last starred as Captain Jack Sparrow in the fifth installment of the franchise, "Dead Men Tell No Tales," released in 2017. He was set to appear in a sixth film, but according to court testimony, plans for "Pirates of the Caribbean 6" were scrapped after Depp's ex-wife, Amber Heard, wrote an op-ed about domestic abuse.

Musk reshared the rumor on his own X account, writing, "Disney sucks." The original post has since been deleted, but Musk's is still live.

The person who runs @unlimited_ls shared a reaction to Edebiri's criticism on Wednesday morning, calling the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor "unhinged."

"Ayo Edebiri waited over a year to address rumors and credible reports circulating in Hollywood from trustworthy sources. And, of course, she attacks Elon Musk," the post reads.

The @unlimited_ls user also clarified that their original post with the unverified rumor was deleted by mistake.

"I never made any claims; I clearly stated 'reportedly' because it was the latest information coming from credible Hollywood sources," they wrote in a follow-up post. "And yes, I am a HUGE fan and supporter of Mr. Musk. He has my loyalty for LIFE, and I don't say that lightly."

The casting rumor about Edebiri was not reported by any reputable trade publications; it seems to have originated with Daniel Richtman, a self-styled Hollywood insider who shared unverified details on his Patreon.

Richtman's blog post was picked up by Comic Book Resources, but the rumor gained more traction in the wake of Musk's repost, finding its way onto film blogs like JoBlo and ComingSoon.net.

After the post by @unlimited_ls went viral, Richtman chimed in to say its framing was disingenuous. "There's no 'Replacing Depp' or anything like that. She's only the 'Type' they're looking at for the lead in one of the planned spinoffs," he wrote.

Outrage over the claim that Edebiri, a Black woman, would be "replacing" Depp, a white man, seemed fueled by the ongoing right-wing backlash to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, also known as "DEI," which are designed to prevent discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, sexuality, or other protected classes.

Many opponents of DEI have conflated antidiscrimination efforts in the workplace and government with Hollywood's recent push for more inclusive casting. Female actors who've joined major movie franchises in the last decade, including Kelly Marie Tran ("The Last Jedi") and Brie Larson ("Captain Marvel"), have recounted similar experiences with sexist and often racist abuse on social media.

Musk has long been a vocal opponent of diversity initiatives in the corporate world, even before the second Trump administration officially launched its anti-DEI campaign.

As Business Insider reported, Musk's DOGE office has recently been working to pause and, in some cases, entirely cut government programs by flagging keywords like "equity," "gender," and "gay."

Representatives for Edebiri and Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Billionaire Leon Black gave more money to Jeffrey Epstein than known, Senate committee says.
• According to the US Senate Finance Committee, he transferred $170 million to Epstein's accounts.
• Black has said he paid the accused sex trafficker for tax advice. Sen. Ron Wyden is skeptical.

Billionaire Leon Black was more responsible for Jeffrey Epstein's vast fortune than previously known, according to a Senate committee investigation.

Black, the billionaire financier and former CEO of Apollo Global Management, transferred $170 million to the Epstien's coffers over the course of five years, US Sen. Ron Wyden said in a letter to the US Justice and Treasury departments this week — not $158 million, as previously reported.

An investigation commissioned by Apollo's board appears to have missed $12 million in transfers, which were discovered by investigators working on the US Senate Finance Committee.

The Apollo investigation, conducted by the law firm Dechert LLP, led to Black's resignation in 2021 from the investment firm he cofounded.

It also wasn't clear why the bank handling the $170 million in transfers didn't raise any flags until months after Epstein's arrest on sex trafficking charges in 2019, Wyden wrote.

"The Bank did not make filings related to the Black and Epstein transactions until seven years after the transactions began in 2013," Wyden wrote. "In fact, the Bank first reported the payments from Black to Epstein more than eight months after Epstein was arrested on charges of sex trafficking involving underage girls."

Wyden, a Democratic lawmaker representing Oregon, asked US Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to hand over documents related to the transfers by March 27, including from the trove of "Epstein documents" that Bondi promised to make public.

Black's relationship with Epstein came under scrutiny amid the accused sex trafficker's 2019 arrest and jail suicide. Epstein left an estate worth around $630 million around the time of his death, some of which has since been paid to compensate his victims.

According to the investigation commissioned by Apollo, Black paid Epstein for financial advice, including strategies that saved him around $600 million in estate and family trust tax payments. Epstein also helped manage issues related to Black's vast artwork collection, his yacht, and private jet, according to the Dechert report. The report also said Epstein and Black had a falling out in 2016 when Epstein believed he deserved more money.

In his letter, Wyden expressed skepticism that the advice from Epstein — who dropped out from college — would be worth anything close to $170 million Black paid over five years.

"For his services Epstein was paid amounts that far exceeded what Black paid other professional advisors involved in his tax and estate planning, which includes some of the most high-priced legal counsel in the nation," Wyden wrote. "At an annualized rate of $23 to $26 million per year, Epstein's compensation was higher than the median CEO pay for Fortune 500 companies."

One of Epstein's accounts that received money from Black, Financial Trust Company Inc., was previously used for Epstein's sex-trafficking operation, according to evidence filed in Ghislaine Maxwell's sex-trafficking trial.

Bank records made public in the trial of Maxwell — who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking girls to Epstein for sex — show that Epstein used the business to pay Maxwell. He transferred $30.7 million to Maxwell in the years they were together. Over $7 million of those funds were spent on a helicopter that accusers said Maxwell used to ferry girls to Epstein's private residence in the US Virgin Islands.

In 2023, Black later paid $62.5 million to settle claims from the US Virgin Islands Attorney General's office related to "how Jeffrey Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the US Virgin Islands," according to a copy of the settlement Wyden made public.

Representatives for Black, Apollo Global Management, and Dechert LLP didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wyden's scrutiny of Black could complicate the Senate confirmation process of the Trump administration's nominees.

President Donald Trump, who was friends with Epstein, selected Black's son, Benjamin Black, to lead the US International Development Finance Corp, also known as the DFC.

According to Reuters, Trump has considered converting the DFC into a sovereign wealth fund, which he said could buy TikTok.

The younger Black has also proposed repurposing funds from USAID, which was gutted by Elon Musk's DOGE initiative, to fund the DFC. Under Black's plan, the DFC would invest in developing nations to advance foreign policy goals rather than spend the money on aid.

• The FCC is seeking advice from the public on what rules it should axe.
• The agency in charge of communications law says it wants to remove "unnecessary regulatory burdens."
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr has previously promised to go after big media companies.

President Donald Trump's FCC chair wants you to weigh in on what rules the agency should "delete, delete, delete."

FCC Chair Brendan Carr on Wednesday announced a notice titled "In re: Delete, Delete, Delete," which asks the public to submit recommendations for what "unnecessary" regulations the agency should eliminate to fulfill Trump's agenda.

The notice references one of Trump's recent executive orders, called "Unleashing prosperity through deregulation," which directs federal agencies to identify 10 regulations that should be phased out for every one new regulation it proposes.

The FCC notice asks for comments on regulations that, for example, have greater costs than benefits, create barriers to entry, impose unequal costs on large and small businesses, are outdated, or "unfairly disadvantage" American businesses.

"We also invite more general comment on rules that should be considered for elimination on other grounds," the notice reads. "Submissions should identify with as much detail and specificity as possible the rule or rules that the commenting party believes should be repealed (or modified) and the rationale for their recommended action."

Though the independent agency — which is in charge of regulating and enforcing communications law — is supposed to be overseen by Congress and protected from direct White House control, Trump signed an executive order in February seeking to expand his power over it and other independent agencies.

"Under President Trump's leadership, the Administration is unleashing a new wave of economic opportunity by ending the regulatory onslaught from Washington," Carr said in a statement shared on X. "For too long, administrative agencies have added new regulatory requirements in excess of their authority or kept lawful regulations in place long after their shelf life had expired."

Carr, who previously served as an FCC commissioner before Trump appointed him as chairman in January, recently said he's investigating Comcast over its embrace of DEI, after promising last fall to go after big media companies.

Carr has also been a vocal defender of SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his companies.

• People all over the United States are receiving text messages from fake toll collectors.
• The FBI has warned about the phishing texts repeatedly over the last year.
• E-ZPass and most other toll agencies do not send texts to non-account holders.

If you are among the few who have so far been spared texts from a fake toll collection agency, just wait — they are almost certainly coming.

The FBI first warned about them in April last year. At the time, the agency said it had received thousands of complaints across at least three states about phishing texts claiming to be from toll road services.

Since then, the texts have only proliferated. Law enforcement agencies across the country have posted repeated warnings about the scam.

It's a relatively easy one to spot, however, because most toll agencies do not send text messages to collect fees. The Toll Roads, a payment service for toll fees in California, said in a December warning that it does not send text messages to non-account holders.

"The Toll Roads is advising drivers to disregard phishing texts being sent to their phones that detail a specific outstanding toll amount or Notice of Toll Evasion," the warning said.

One scam text sent on March 8 and reviewed by Business Insider claimed to be from the toll payment service E-ZPass, which is used in several states.

E-ZPass also does not send text messages to non-account holders, and would never send text messages asking for personal information, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a January consumer warning.

Other toll scam texts reviewed by BI showed phone numbers that originated in countries outside the United States — a telltale sign of fraud. Some of these text messages ask the recipient to respond with a "Y" to activate the link in the message.

In January, the FTC said that the best ways to avoid a fake toll collection text are to not click on any links in the message, check with the agency to ensure any received texts are real, or simply delete the message.

You can report suspected scam messages to the FTC's consumer fraud complaints division at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

• Google Cloud restructured its strategy team to "respond faster" to the market.
• One of the biggest changes has been made to boost sales productivity, per an internal memo.
• Cloud has become a crucial part of Google's business in the AI race.

Google has shaken up its Cloud group yet again, this time consolidating teams in its strategy unit.

Staff in Google Cloud's strategy and operations team were told in February that the reorganization would help the company "respond faster to market demands," according to a memo sent by Google Cloud's Go-To-Market COO Greta Krupetsky and seen by Business Insider. She described the new structure as a "network model" in the memo, which will better support Cloud's various sales teams.

Google has been streamlining many of its internal teams across the company over the past two years in an effort to move faster. Krupetsky said the latest reorg included consolidating its core Business Services into one team led by Google Cloud managing director Abhi Sharma to "help increase sales productivity." A new central "Deal Management" team has also been created under Google Cloud COO Francis deSouza, who joined the company earlier this year.

The unit will include a new "Business Functions - Customer Experience Organization" led by Erez Wohl, managing director at Google Cloud. Wohl's previous strategy and operations functions will now report to Krupetsky.

"We continue to evolve our business to meet our customers' needs and the significant opportunity ahead. We will continue to invest in areas that are critical to our business and ensure our long-term success," a spokesperson told BI in a statement.

The memo mentions a "small number" of roles being cut as part of the reorganization. Those cuts, which BI reported on last month, included some roles being moved to other regions including India and Mexico City, according to an internal employee-crowdsourced document. BI also reviewed several internal job postings for roles within Google Cloud's Go-To-Market Strategy and Operations team based in Mexico City.

Google's Cloud group has become a crucial part of the company's efforts to compete in artificial intelligence. Google Cloud sales hit $11.96 billion in the fourth quarter, up 30% from the previous year, though falling short of analyst expectations. Investors are closely watching Google's Cloud business, which is still smaller than those of rivals Amazon and Microsoft.

Google previously said it plans to spend $75 billion in capital expenditure this year.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at 628-228-1836. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

Former mobster Anthony Ruggiano Jr. rates Mafia scenes in movies and TV shows.

He discusses the portrayal of bust-out schemes in "Goodfellas," starring Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, and Lorraine Bracco, and relates to his own time in witness protection. He explains how wars broke out between New York's Five Families in "The Godfather," starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and James Caan. He separates fact from fiction about truck hijackings in "Donnie Brasco," starring Johnny Depp. He talks about the infamous murder of "Crazy" Joe Gallo in "The Irishman," starring Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. He breaks down how underworld gambling worked in "Killing Them Softly," starring Brad Pitt, Ben Mendelsohn, and Scoot McNairy. He lays out the structure and roles of a Mafia family in "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," starring Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, and Kaitlin Olson. He looks at how mob boss John Gotti is portrayed in "Gotti," starring John Travolta. He details how gangsters turned into informants in "The Sopranos," starring James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, and Michael Imperioli. Finally, he analyzes how the Mafia once controlled New York City's construction business in "The Simpsons."

Anthony Ruggiano Jr. is a former proposed member of the Gambino crime family. He is now a counselor at a drug treatment center in Florida and host of the "Reformed Gangsters" podcast. You can find his podcast on YouTube.

• Repurpose is an eco-friendly brand that offers alternatives to plastics.
• The small business is using AI across the company, including for accounting and marketing.
• This article is part of "How AI Is Changing Everything: Small Business," a series exploring how small businesses are using AI for success.

Known for its plant-based, compostable home and kitchen products, Repurpose has spent the past 15 years building an eco-friendly brand that gives consumers a viable alternative to plastics.

Repurpose says it owns one-third of the compostable-tableware category and its products are sold at 20,000 retailers nationwide. Products include plates, cups, cutlery, and kitchen bags.

To better compete in the crowded consumer-goods market, Repurpose has turned to AI to automate its financial processes, optimize its marketing campaigns, and streamline its employee review process.

A sustainability-minded brand using an energy-intensive technology like artificial intelligence might seem counterintuitive, but in today's business environment, it's virtually unavoidable. AI is now embedded into most of the tools businesses use every day, so for a 21-person company like Repurpose, it's vital to embrace the technology.

"We're a small but mighty company, so we do rely on external partners, and we need to utilize tools and technology to be able to compete in the marketplace with these much larger conventional players," Lauren Gropper, Repurpose's CEO, said, adding that AI has "been really helpful for us to help scale where we don't necessarily have the same financial resources" and that "it's leveled the playing field."

Developing an AI-powered organization

Gropper said Repurpose began using AI last year. The company started experimenting with ChatGPT for marketing and copywriting support. It then incorporated a third-party financial platform to improve its billing processes and streamline external payments to vendors and contractors.

The tool prepopulates vendor information into different fields and autofills invoice data, so Repurpose's four-person finance team doesn't have to input this information manually. Before using AI, Repurpose largely relied on spreadsheets and paper-based processes for financial management. Automating its accounting has eliminated the need for physical signatures and paper checks and documents, which saves time, is better suited for Repurpose's entirely remote-work environment, and better aligns with the company's sustainability mission.

Overall, Repurpose estimates that AI saves its finance team two days a week on accounts payable tasks.

"It's been able to streamline their productivity and give them some time back to do other tasks," Gropper said.

Repurpose also leans on AI for employee reviews. The company uses an AI-enabled review platform with an AI assistant feature, which provides suggestions to help employees expand on the comments they've written in their reviews.

The small business has incorporated several embedded AI tools, but as its use of the technology has grown, so has its awareness of the downsides.

Balancing innovation and impact

"Being a company that is focused on sustainability, we are very conscious of the fact that AI is very resource-heavy, and it's something that we take very seriously," Gropper said.

AI drives automation, but it also requires lots of computing power. Data centers, which underpin AI operations, consume tons of electricity. The International Energy Agency estimates electricity consumption in data centers will double by 2026 from 2022 levels — which would be on par with Japan's current total consumption.

Gropper said Repurpose needs AI tools to function and scale its operations, but the company is educating itself on AI and carefully evaluating external tools to become better stewards of the technology.

"It's threading the needle between wanting to be as innovative as possible and utilizing these amazing tools, but at the same time being conscious of what is the impact and what are we contributing?" she said.

Small businesses that want to leverage AI likely will have to buy, rather than build, their tools. Gropper said her best advice for other small-business owners is to work with technology providers and experiment with generative-AI platforms like ChatGPT to accelerate their artificial intelligence implementation.

"There's just so much available online and so many resources to get started and test prompts," she said. "It's all there for the taking."

• Since the 2016 US presidential election, celebrities have been saying they'd move out of the country.
• More stars made similar comments after Donald Trump won the 2024 election.
• Rosie O'Donnell recently confirmed that she moved to Ireland for political reasons.

The lifestyles of the rich and famous often include mansions in California, penthouses in the big city, and maybe a small pied-à-terre in a foreign country. But as politics becomes an increasingly divisive topic in the United States, some more celebrities are moving out of the country — or saying that they will.

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi moved to England from California in response to the 2024 election results. Rosie O'Donnell — thanks to her Irish grandparents — is in the process of becoming an Irish citizen, citing the current US political climate as her reason for moving in a TikTok video. Other celebrities like Laverne Cox and Cher have vowed to leave the States but haven't yet.

This isn't exactly a new trend. During the 2016 US presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, many stars vocally opposed Trump and threatened to leave America if he won. Now, with Trump's second term underway, celebrities are again considering relocating — not that the Trump administration is too upset.

"Good riddance!" White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers told BI when asked for the administration's response.

Celebrities aren't the only ones exploring a new place to live. Search interest for "move abroad" shows that peak interest occurred in November 2024. Though interest has since cooled off, it's still higher than in previous years.

Bureaucracy.es, an immigration services site that helps Americans moving to Spain with the visa application process, told CNN in December 2024 that it's seen over 300% more clients book consultations since the November election.

Here are 8 celebrities who have moved abroad, or say they will for political reasons.

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi

In late November 2024, TheWrap reported that comedian Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi, left their Montecito home for the Cotswolds, England. The publication said their move to the countryside was triggered by Trump's election and a source said they're "never coming back."

Reps for DeGeneres and de Rossi didn't respond to requests for comment.

Rosie O'Donnell

In a video recently posted on TikTok, Rosie O'Donnell confirmed that she moved from the US to Ireland with her youngest daughter, Dakota. The actor relocated on January 15, days before Trump's inauguration.

"Although I was never someone who thought I would move to another country, that's what I decided would be the best for myself and my 12-year-old child," O'Donnell said in the video.

The talk show host, who has Irish grandparents, said her experience so far has been "pretty wonderful" and she's in the process of getting Irish citizenship.

O'Donnell said that she misses her four other kids and her friends, but will remain in Ireland for the time being.

"I miss many things about life there at home, and I'm trying to find a home here in this beautiful country," she said. "And when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there, in America, that's when we will consider coming back."

Sophie Turner

UK-born actor Sophie Turner moved to America after marrying singer Joe Jonas. The couple first lived together in Los Angeles and later in Miami with their two daughters Willa and Delphine. Turner and Jonas sold their Miami home in August 2023 and news of their plans to divorce broke weeks later.

In an interview with Harper's Bazaar published in October 2024, Turner said that she was homesick while living in the US and struggled with the country's politics. Turner has since moved to West London.

"The gun violence, Roe v Wade being overturned... Everything just kind of piled on," Turner said. "After the Uvalde shooting, I knew it was time to get the fuck out of there."

Barbra Streisand

It was no secret that Barbra Streisand wanted Hillary Clinton to beat Trump in the 2016 election.

"He has no facts," Streisand told Australian "60 Minutes" host Michael Usher in a 2016 interview prior to the election. "I don't know, I can't believe it. I'm either coming to your country, if you'll let me in, or Canada."

Streisand didn't move out of the US, but she did criticize Trump in her 2018 studio album "Walls."

In a 2023 interview with Stephen Colbert, Streisand said that she liked Joe Biden and thought he did a "good job." When asked about the possibility of a second Trump administration, Streisand again said she'd move.

"I can't live in this country if he became president," she said, adding that she'd probably move to England.

Per an Instagram post shared in early January amid the Los Angeles wildfires, it appears that Streisand still lives in Northern California. Reps for Streisand did not reply to a request for comment.

Cher

In November 2016, Page Six reported that Cher threatened to move if Trump was elected.

"I'm gonna have to leave the planet," she reportedly said at a fundraiser for Clinton.

She had a similar stance before Trump officially ran for reelection.

"I almost got an ulcer the last time," she told The Guardian in October 2023. "If he gets in, who knows? This time I will leave [the country]."

However, as of publication, it doesn't appear that Cher has relocated. Reps for Cher did not reply to a request for comment.

Laverne Cox

Days after the 2024 presidential election, "Orange Is the New Black" star Laverne Cox appeared on the podcast "Just for Variety" and spoke about the impact the results would have on the transgender community.

Cox said that she and some friends were considering moving, but no plans have been solidified yet.

"We're doing research on different cities in Europe and in the Caribbean," Cox said.

"I don't want to be in too much fear, but I'm scared," the actor added. "As a public figure, with all my privilege, I'm scared, and I'm particularly scared because I'm a public figure. I feel like I could be targeted."

Lena Dunham

At the 2016 Matrix Awards, "Girls" actor Lena Dunham said that she was serious about moving if Trump won the election.

"I know a lot of people have been threatening to do this, but I really will," Dunham said. "I know a lovely place in Vancouver and I can get my work done from there."

But after the election results, Dunham changed her mind.

"I can survive staying in this country, MY country, to fight and live and use my embarrassment of blessings to do what's right," she wrote in part in a note shared on Instagram.

"It's easy to joke about moving to Canada," she added. "It's harder to see, and to love, the people who fill your mailbox with hate. It's harder to see what needs to be done and do it. It's harder to live, fully and painfully aware of the injustice surrounding us, to cherish and fear your country all at once. But I'm willing to try. Will you try with me?"

Dunham did eventually leave her home in New York and moved to London. However, in an interview with the New Yorker published in July 2024, the actor said the move was prompted by work opportunities.

• AI is streamlining onboarding processes for companies of various sizes.
• At Hitachi and Texans Credit Union, AI saves time and boosts engagement in the new-hire experience.
• This article is part of "AI in Action," a series exploring how companies are implementing AI innovations.

When your organization has nearly 300,000 global employees across the US, Japan, and Europe, many of whom work remotely, how do you manage onboarding new hires?

That scenario presented Hitachi with challenges to keep new employees engaged, but also an opportunity to overhaul its onboarding with an AI digital assistant this past fall.

Hitachi — along with smaller companies like Texans Credit Union — is incorporating AI into onboarding to save time and reduce delays. AI-assisted onboarding is common in tech companies, but it's also important in high-growth firms that are rapidly adding many employees, said Edie Goldberg, the president and founder of the human resources consulting firm E. L. Goldberg & Associates.

On the back end with human resources, artificial intelligence can help arrange paperwork for new hires to sign and trigger notifications to various departments. For employees, AI could take the form of a chatbot available 24/7 to answer new-hire questions in natural language.

"Employees work all over the place in different time zones," Goldberg said. "Something that's going to answer your question when you need it is really helpful."

As HR and tech leaders apply AI to onboarding, the key is to have a clear plan of what problems the technology can solve, metrics for success, and a test-and-learn mentality that spans departments.

Useful AI implementation starts with honest conversations about pain points

Business leaders looking to integrate AI into employee onboarding processes should first identify pain points, Bala Krishnapillai, the vice president and head of the IT group for the Americas at Hitachi, told Business Insider.

While AI applications can certainly improve productivity, the technology is "like a shiny object," Krishnapillai said, adding: "Everyone wants to get into AI." Determining problems can inform research and conversations that lead to selecting or building a way to fulfill a company's specific needs.

At Texans Credit Union, leaders identified a major operational problem: Its logins and system access weren't ready for employees when they started, Jenni Short, the financial institution's chief people officer, said.

"We spent a lot of time making sure that their desk looked nice," Short said. "But, oh, you can't actually log in to the computer."

In September, the firm added robotic process automation to its onboarding, which ensured new hires had access to systems. The process took about six months and started with HR collaborating closely with IT.

"The HR department had five people in it, and no one had the skill set to build or necessarily understand all of the things that we could do," Short said. IT came up with the idea to apply robotic process automation to new hires' logins.

Texans Credit Union's main performance metric for the automation project was the amount of time saved. Before automation, setting up access took 15 to 20 minutes per new hire. Now it takes less than a minute. Managers can also spend less time on administrative work and more time welcoming their hires, and those employees can get acclimated right away.

"Everything is ready for them," Short said, adding that hires could "focus on learning as opposed to trying to figure out how to log in."

Hitachi identified its pain point as process delays. Onboarding employees took 10 to 15 days and involved many manual forms, such as a notice to IT to get the new employee's laptop set up or to facilities to ensure the person had an ID badge and a desk if they worked on-site. New hires' questions weren't answered in real time, which risked the company losing their engagement.

Hitachi uses time reduction as a key performance indicator, Krishnapillai said. The IT department conducted market research and built a private AI system with a custom large language model. Workers fed the model with data from corporate sites, PowerPoint presentations, PDF files, and employment books so that it could accurately answer new hires' questions.

IT then worked with HR to beta test the AI onboarding agents with various departments. Once KPIs and service-level agreements were met, teams scaled the AI for onboarding in October after the roughly six-month process.

The results: saving four days in onboarding and reducing HR staff involvement from 20 hours per new hire to 12 hours, said Krishnapillai.

Customizing AI to match companies' needs

What excites many leaders about AI in onboarding is the ability to customize the technology to their unique needs, Goldberg of E. L. Goldberg & Associates said.

"AI has various flavors," Krishnapillai said, adding that companies could look at their technological maturity to determine where and how to start with AI. One "flavor" is generative AI, such as ChatGPT, which is a relatively simple application to adopt. Agentic AI, which acts autonomously and makes decisions, may be more advanced.

Goldberg said many companies start with automating rudimentary processes, like setting up email or assigning equipment. Automated nudges can notify a new hire or HR if a person hasn't signed a document or completed an assigned training.

"All these little tasks are very routine, and they're just perfect for AI," Goldberg told BI.

Texans Credit Union plans to eventually automate more HR functions, such as assigning a desk or parking space, Short said. Right now, these processes require multiple email interactions to be completed.

Ultimately, Goldberg said, any AI application a company deploys needs to meet predetermined metrics and enhance the new employee's onboarding experience.

"It's not just that it's administratively easier for HR," Goldberg said, adding that the hires should see the benefits of autofilling multiple forms or gaining quick access to FAQs: "It's really in service of creating a better experience for that new employee."

• After spending six months traveling around Europe, I'd be most likely to move to Prague.
• The city's architecture, beauty, history, and walkability made it easy to fall in love with.
• I also loved that there was always something to do in Prague.

Last year, I traveled around Europe for six months, spending quality time in some of the continent's most popular cities, such as London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Zurich.

During this period, I often thought about which European city I'd most like to call home. While I loved my time in many of the cities I visited, my top choice would be Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

Prague's architecture, natural beauty, history, and walkability made it easy to fall in love with. Here's why I'd move there if given the chance.

Prague is incredibly walkable and has great public transportation.

As an American who lives in Colorado, I'm used to hopping in my car to do almost everything. But in Prague, I didn't need a car once. Most of the time, I just walked wherever I needed to go.

Although I'd likely balk at a 45-minute walk in the US, I found myself eagerly putting on my shoes for the same thing in Prague. Why? Because each walk felt like an experience.

The city is home to jaw-dropping architecture, art installations, and green spaces. During every stroll, I'd notice a new statue or hidden detail, like how the city's coat of arms is engraved into every manhole cover.

Though the cobblestone sidewalks did give my feet a workout, they were so picturesque that I didn't mind.

When I needed to venture a little farther, Prague's public transportation was second to none. The iconic trams came frequently, were reliable, and were incredibly charming.

There's so much history to explore.

Another thing I like about Prague is how much history there is to explore. For example, I visited Prague Castle, the world's largest ancient castle.

Visitors can view ancient suits of armor and beautiful artwork and learn about a 1618 historical event when three Catholic officials were thrown from a window of the castle by a mob of angry Protestants.

The event even inspired a new word: defenestration — the act of throwing someone out of a window.

Perhaps the city's most recognizable landmark, however, is the Astronomical Clock. The clock's face not only shows the sun's and moon's relative positions in the sky but also reveals a mechanical procession of the 12 Apostles at the top of every hour.

The city is in a prime location for day trips.

Prague's location in Central Europe makes it an ideal starting point for day trips or weekend getaways. One day, I headed north to visit a few national parks, filming locations for "The Chronicles of Narnia," and the Bastei Bridge rock formation.

Another morning, I took a train to the small city of Pilsen and toured the original Pilsner Urquell brewery (where pilsner beer was invented).

And in September, a five-hour train ride was all that stood between me and Oktoberfest in Munich.

There are always festivals, concerts, or events going on.

While I appreciated the museums and tourist attractions, sometimes I wanted to get more of a local experience. On those days, there were plenty of options to choose from.

From wine tastings and live music to a harvest festival with traditional Czech dancers, I was blown away by the variety of events around the city. One night, I even stumbled upon a Spanish-themed festival along the river, complete with food trucks and dancing.

Every day in Prague offered a new, unexpected joy, and if I could move to a European city permanently, it'd be at the top of my list.

This story was originally published on October 24, 2024, and most recently updated on March 12, 2025.

• Target and Costco have responded in different ways to the changing politics around DEI.
• A recent survey indicated some customer foot traffic and market share shifted from Target to Costco.
• Meanwhile, Walmart — which hasn't made DEI a big part of its brand — has performed consistently.

The backlash to the backlash over DEI is starting to show up at Target and Costco.

While both retailers have long made so-called corporate social responsibility a big part of their brand identities, they responded in remarkably different ways regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in the face of the second Donald Trump presidency.

In January, Target said it was scrapping some of its DEI-related programs, while Costco's shareholders successfully defended the wholesaler's against an activist shareholder proposal.

Now, a survey from the consumer analytics firm Numerator has found customer foot traffic and market share have shifted from Target to Costco, particularly among shoppers who say DEI is important.

In terms of year-over-year visits, the firm said Target saw nearly 5 million fewer shopping trips during the four weeks ending on February 9. By contrast, Costco saw nearly 7.7 million more visits during the same period.

Neither company immediately responded to a request for comment from Business Insider.

While Numerator said the changes "may be linked" to the companies' respective DEI stances, a number of other factors, such as persistently high consumer prices and the availability of eggs, may have contributed to the shifting market share between the two retailers.

Still, the shifts were most pronounced among Black and Hispanic/Latino households — especially during the first week of February. Specifically, Numerator said that Hispanic or Latino households drove more than one-third of Costco's gains, nearly twice the rate that would be expected based on demographic representation alone.

Meanwhile, Walmart — which never made DEI a big part of its brand identity — saw relatively consistent performance during the same four-week window, even though it scaled back some of its DEI efforts late last year.

Additionally, Numerator found that frequent Walmart shoppers were generally less concerned with DEI and social justice issues than frequent Target shoppers.

The numbers suggest that being known for one position and then changing course could push some customers away.

"That kind of seesawing back and forth and saying one thing and doing another, that's what gets brands like Target in trouble," Collage Group's chief insights officer, David Albert, recently told BI.

"We've seen here, especially with Target, is that they've eroded that trust because they're not doing what they say, and they don't say what they do," Albert said.

Numerator also found that more than one-third of consumers in the survey were aware of the February 28 economic blackout, with younger and more diverse households more likely to participate.

• Tesla sales in Australia fell 71% in February compared with the same month last year.
• The drop comes as the country also experienced Tesla-related vandalism incidents.
• European countries and China reported declines in Tesla sales last month.

Tesla sales are sliding in another market.

Elon Musk's automaker sold 1,592 vehicles in Australia last month, down from 5,665 in February 2024 — a 71% decline, per figures from the Electric Vehicle Council.

Rival Polestar also suffered a decline of 11% last month, selling 125 vehicles.

The decline for Tesla comes amid vandalism aimed at Musk. A Tesla store in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, was vandalized with graffiti including "Down with DOGE," news.com.au reported this week.

Tesla and Musk protests have taken place in a number of US cities, with some of them leading to vandalism and arrests. Anti-Tesla boycott attempts have also taken place in Portugal and the UK.

Australia joins a number of European countries reporting declines in Tesla sales. Tesla's February total in Germany fell 76% year-on-year, despite overall EV sales rising about 31%. Tesla sales in the country also fell in January amid Musk's endorsement of the far-right AfD party.

Tesla sales declined more than 40% year-on-year in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden last month, with a 26% slide in France.

Sales of Teslas manufactured in China fell 49% year on year in February to their lowest number since August 2022. Tesla's Chinese rival BYD posted a 90% increase the same month.

Tesla stock has had a rollercoaster ride this year, plunging 15% on Monday before regaining some ground on Wednesday to be about 34% lower this year.

As Tesla grapples with a slumping stock price and declining sales, some investors have expressed concerns that Musk's increased political involvement may be contributing to its struggles. However, some analysts have told BI that stock volatility is normal for the company, and some of the headwinds were expected.

Tesla warned there would be lost production time as plants retool for the Model Y refresh.

The model lineup is aging and increasingly showing up in the used car market. Some potential buyers may also be waiting for Tesla's cheaper EV to arrive later this later.