• The Women's Tennis Association announced maternity benefits for its players.
• The benefits include up to 12 months of paid maternity leave.
• Stars like Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka have pushed for maternity benefits for athletes.

Women's tennis players are now eligible for paid maternal leave, marking a historic moment in the sport's history.

The Women's Tennis Association announced the Maternity Fund Program on Thursday, saying Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund will support the initiative. Eligible WTA players can receive up to 12 months of paid maternity leave.

Victoria Azarenka, a WTA Players' Council Representative and professional tennis player, said the program will help athletes navigate their careers and personal life.

"This marks the beginning of a meaningful shift in how we support women in tennis, making it easier for athletes to pursue both their careers and their aspirations of starting a family," she said in a statement. "Ensuring that programs like this exist has been a personal mission of mine, and I'm excited to see the lasting impact it will have for generations to come."

Navigating that balance can be difficult for tennis players who double as mothers, and some have spoken out about their experience returning to the game after having children.

Here's what they said.

Serena Williams

Serena Williams was a dominating force during her 27-year professional tennis career, winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles and four Olympic gold medals.

Among her accomplishments is winning the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant with her and Alexis Ohanian's first child. Their daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., arrived in 2017.

Williams has discussed her experience navigating motherhood on several occasions, including a 2018 op-ed with CNN, in which Williams said she almost died giving birth to her daughter. Williams delivered Olympia through an emergency C-Section and experienced complications afterward.

"When I finally made it home to my family, I had to spend the first six weeks of motherhood in bed," she wrote.

During a 2018 interview with Time, Williams recounted juggling motherhood while trying to jump back into her career. She told the outlet she breastfed her daughter for eight months, which became a point of contention with her former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who asked she stop nursing.

"It's absolutely hard to take from a guy," Williams said. "He's not a woman, he doesn't understand that connection, that the best time of the day for me was when I tried to feed her. I've spent my whole life making everyone happy, just servicing it seems like everyone. And this is something I wanted to do."

Williams told the outlet she later chose to stop breastfeeding, saying, "I looked at Olympia, and I was like, 'Listen, Mommy needs to get her body back, so Mommy's going to stop now.' We had a really good conversation. We talked it out."

Williams made a quick return to the tennis court, playing in an exhibit match in Abu Dhabi just four months after giving birth but losing to Jelena Ostapenko, according to People. However, she went on to win other matches and the 2020 ASB Classic.

Williams officially retired in 2022 and welcomed her second daughter — Adira River Ohanian — with her husband the following year.

Victoria Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka is a notable figure in professional women's tennis, winning the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013 in addition to scoring two Olympic medals.

Azarenka and her former boyfriend, Billy McKeague, welcomed a son named Leo in 2016. She announced her pregnancy with an X post that July, saying she was "truly inspired by female athletes who return to the very top of their sport after having children, and I plan to do exactly that."

She returned to the court in 2017 and won her first match back, according to BBC. Two years later, the Belarusian athlete told the outlet that she thought getting pregnant would end her career.

"I was scared, it wasn't easy," she told the outlet. "I knew I was going to come back, but my first thought was, 'Oh my god, I'm never going to play tennis again.'"

However, said she felt "stronger" after giving birth.

"I'm sure a lot of women won't be able to relate to me, but I felt so much better after (the pregnancy)," she said. "I felt so much stronger physically, and my body became so much better. I felt like my body finally matured into being a woman."

Azarenka has publicly pushed for parental benefits for Women's Tennis Association players. She and Serena Williams were among those who campaigned to protect the rankings of players who go on maternity leave. The association updated its policies in 2019 about rankings and maternity leave.

She later advocated for maternity pay for Women's Tennis Association members in a 2024 interview with BBC Sports.

"There's a lot more that has to change, and I hope that we are on the right track to do it," Azarenka told the outlet. "I think the important part is to change the financial part of maternity leave. I think that would be a huge win for women in general, so I hope we find the resources to be able to do that. I think that would be incredible."

Azarenka said players with lower rankings could benefit from such a policy.

"I have, I'm guessing, more financial security than some players who may be outside the top 100 and maybe have the same desires and ambitions to have a child and continue to do their job," she said.

Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka was among the wave of Gen Z female tennis players who gained prominence on the international stage. In 2019, she became the first Asian player to be world No. 1 after winning the Australian Open.

Osaka announced she would take a temporary break from professional tennis in 2023, saying she and rapper Cordae were expecting a child.

"One thing I'm looking forward to is for my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone, 'That's my mom,'" she wrote in a statement on X.

The former couple welcomed their daughter, Shai, that year.

She remained adamant about returning to professional tennis in 2024 but told Glamour her comeback wasn't without struggles.

"Having a baby completely destroys your pelvic floor," Osaka told Glamour in 2024. "I was shocked because I couldn't get up out of my bed. I had to roll sideways, and it was a really long process because, for me, my immediate way of thinking is: To rebuild this, I have to do a lot of sit-ups. And I learned that that's totally not what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to do deep pelvic-floor work."

Osaka told Glamour that was one of the reasons she began training just 15 days after giving birth. She also decided not to breastfeed her daughter because of Serena Williams.

"I watched Serena's documentary, and I saw her pumping before she went onto the court to play a match," she said. "I was thinking to myself, This might not be the path for me."

Osaka vocally supported parental pay for Women's Tennis Association players during a 2024 interview with the BBC.

"I think it would definitely be life-changing, and I feel like having a kid shouldn't feel like a punishment," she said. "For most female athletes, I think there's a discussion that your career's going to change dramatically or going to finish because you have a kid, so just appreciating them more and giving more options is something that is very necessary."

Taylor Townsend

Taylor Townsend is a two-time Doubles Grand Slam champion, which includes a title at the 2025 Australian Open.

Townsend told Essence that she welcomed her son AJ in 2021 after learning of her pregnancy the prior year. The news came as a shock to Townsend, who told the outlet she didn't want children.

"One of the things that was shocking was I didn't want kids because I have spent my whole entire life playing tennis. I've been playing tennis since I was four," she said in January.

Townsend said she underwent a C-section during delivery, which affected her recovery and journey back to the tennis court.

"And when I finally got to the place where I could be active, moving my body, the core strengthening was the most important," she said. "But to be honest, I'm still in a place where I'm still working on that, and my core is still not a hundred percent because of the damage that was done with the C-section."

Townsend said the C-section process was "traumatic" for her body.

"So it is just something that I'm going to constantly have to work on basically for the rest of my life because it's something that was just so traumatic for the body," Townsend said. "So, it's a work in progress. It's definitely not anything that's just a one-time thing, but a lot of sit-ups, a lot of crunches, a lot of planks, all the things."

Townsend told the outlet that in the past, women who had children typically retired from their careers.

"And now I feel like we're in a place and in a time where women are having the ability to come back and play into their later years. I've even been playing my best tennis later in my career," she said.

Tatjana Maria

Tatjana Maria has won three singles titles and collected nearly $6 million during her professional tennis career.

Maria is married to and shares two daughters with Charles Edouard Maria, who also serves as her coach. Charlotte was born in 2013, while Cecilia arrived in 2021, according to Sky News.

During a 2022 interview with the Women's Tennis Association, Maria reflected on taking maternity leave twice. She told the association she honed new skills during her first maternity leave and returned to the court four months after giving birth to Charlotte.

However, things were different the second time around.

"Maria says that the major difference coming back the second time was that she made no fundamental changes to her game, consequently didn't practice as much and therefore found it harder to get back in shape," the association said.

Maria jumped back into her career three months after giving birth to Cecilia. She's currently ranked 87th in the Women's Tennis Association.

"I'm kind of proud of myself to reach this point again," Maria said. "When you start coming back after a child, you never know how it will go. I have to say, I have been really lucky with my body. I am not really the person who is injured a lot, so I hope it stays like this. I can play a lot, and I like to play a lot."

• Parenting my teen wasn't hard until I realized I wasn't ready to let her go.
• I got weirdly clingy and was afraid I'd push her away.
• Refocusing on myself helped me look forward to the future and a new version of our relationship.

When my daughter was an adorably cheeky toddler, it seemed every older person I encountered told me, "Wait 'til she's a teen!" before sharing some teenager-related horror story.

I hated all the negativity and refused to believe that a difficult parent-teen connection was inevitable. I worked hard to maintain a healthy relationship, and at 17, my daughter rarely rolls her eyes at me. She still likes to hang out, has a kind boyfriend and an amazing group of friends, and is rocking high school.

I wasn't prepared for the realization that hit me as I waved goodnight to her boyfriend a couple of months ago; I no longer know her best. Instead of sharing her secrets with me, she shares them with him or her besties in the group chat. While she's living her best life, I am coming to terms with the fact that this amazing human is spreading her wings, and my job is to stand back, watch her soar, and be a steady, soft place if she needs to crash land.

I was surprised by my reaction to her growing independence

Having a graduate degree in psychology, I understood this was a normal, healthy part of adolescent individuation, the process that allows teens to fully develop their sense of self and become functioning adults. But nothing prepared me for the messiness of my own emotions. I was horrified to find myself peppering her with questions, barging in on her conversations, and feeling hurt when her dad knew something I didn't. My sadness had me holding on tighter when I was supposed to be letting go.

"The feeling of grief is sometimes surprising to people because they don't see it as grief," explained my neighbor Carla Corral, a licensed clinical psychologist whose oldest daughter is a sophomore in college. "We're not losing somebody, right, to death or illness or the abrupt end of a relationship, but it's grief."

I didn't like the way my grief had me inserting myself into my daughter's life. I felt needy, clingy, and decidedly not cool. I didn't want to push her away or make her feel she needed to care for my feelings. It was time to get hold of myself.

I had to change my behavior or risk pushing her away

I thought back to how exciting life was when I was her age and how eager and capable I felt. Shifting away from my current point of view as a concerned mom helped me see how smart, responsible, and prepared my daughter is. I also turned my attention back on myself and my dreams for the future. I grew up dancing, so I joined a tap class. It's great exercise and so much fun. Instead of gifts for Christmas, I gave my friends a breakfast or lunch date to prioritize connecting one-on-one.

I started journaling again to dump my worries on the page instead of on my daughter. This helped me see some of my concerns as ridiculous and others as important points to discuss before she leaves. I keep reminding myself my job as a parent is shifting, but it's not over. Making my life more about me again allowed those clingy behaviors to fade away, and when they occasionally pop up, I take a deep breath and focus on something I enjoy.

While I soak up the time I have with her — including family movie nights, a spring break trip to visit her top choice university, and long conversations while walking the dog — I'm building a list of things I want to do after she starts college, like visiting friends, volunteering for a local land trust and joining my husband for some of his work travel.

I remind myself I've loved every stage of being a mom, even with the challenges, and I trust I will enjoy parenting a young adult. The part of my job that involved driving her around and making sure her homework was turned in may be done, but I know there are wonderful times ahead for both of us, together and apart.

• In 2023, a breast cancer diagnosis reframed Low Seow Yee's perspective on life.
• She decided to quit her job at a government agency to open Hangout Laundry, a laundromat, in Singapore.
• Laundromats are often touted as a passive income business, but she's hosting parties and making laundry fun again.

When Low Seow Yee went for her routine yearly mammogram in March 2023, she wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary.

But a few weeks later, she received a letter requesting that she come in for a follow-up. A biopsy revealed that she had stage one breast cancer. The next few months passed by in a blur.

Her bosses at the government agency where she worked were empathetic and told her to take as much time as she needed. After two surgeries and over 15 sessions of radiation therapy, Low was cancer-free.

"It was on my first day back at work when I realized, 'Oh no, I really don't want to do this,'" Low, now 46, told Business Insider. She handed in her resignation the following week.

Her medical scare had reframed her perspective on life. She had always been working for people — first in the events and F&B industries early in her career, and then in a marketing role for a government agency — and she wanted to try something new.

"It occurred to me that if I keep on doing this, I don't know — I feel like maybe I'm missing out on some experiences in life," the mother of three said.

From federal employee to small-business owner

In December 2024, Low and her husband opened Hangout Laundry, a 24-hour self-service laundromat in Bedok, a neighborhood in the eastern region of Singapore.

Low was drawn to the idea of starting a laundromat because it was an evergreen business. She also wanted to avoid making laundry feel like a chore.

"The whole idea was that we really want people to kind of look forward to laundry day. It doesn't have to be stuffy or boring," she said.

The air-conditioned interiors are bright and inviting. There's free WiFi and a coffee machine, and tables and chairs are set up where customers can wait.

Low's intention was to create a comfortable space where people could relax or get work done while doing their laundry.

Prices for the washer range between 7 and 12 Singapore dollars, or about $5 and $9. The cost of using the dryer is S$1 every 5 minutes.

While researching the industry, Low said she noticed that laundromats were often touted as a passive income business, which meant owners were not always around to keep an eye on things.

Dirty folding tables, or even a hot and stuffy atmosphere can have a big impact on the customer experience, and she wanted to change that. "I wanted it to be a more social place," she said.

Trusting her gut

Hangout Laundry is tucked away in the corner on the ground floor of a public housing apartment block.

The biggest challenge has been marketing the laundromat since it doesn't receive a lot of foot traffic; the nearest subway station is about a 15-minute walk away.

Everything on the laundromat's website has been optimized for search engines, Low said. That, coupled with getting their regulars to leave reviews, has helped boost their visibility online.

But ultimately, it's the experience that will keep customers coming back — something they feel is enhanced through social interaction. That's why Low and her husband take turns coming in almost every day to get to know their customers and listen to feedback.

Low said trusting her gut also paid off. For instance, she was told it was a bad idea to have a coffee machine in the laundromat, but she went ahead with the idea anyway.

Hot drinks range in price from S$3.30 to S$4.90, and Low said coffee now accounts for 20% of the store's sales.

She added that there are people who come in just for a cup of coffee or to use the desks: "We highly encourage it. I also have kids who want to come and study. I say it's no problem if they just buy a drink."

The average cost of starting a self-service laundromat is not as hefty as many other businesses, Gary Tan, a general manager at Fresh Laundry, a distributor of commercial laundry machines in Singapore, told BI.

Fresh Laundry offers turnkey services to those who want to set up their own laundromats, with entry-level packages starting from S$130,000, he said.

"If we were to include all other miscellaneous licensing and costs that an investor needs to consider, he needs to set aside an estimate of about S$160,000," Tan said, adding that a typical laundromat would take about three years to break even.

Low preferred not to share how much she has invested in or earned from the laundromat.

Making laundry a social activity

In the spirit of making the laundromat a more social space, Low held a Valentine's Day-themed party in February.

"We had a couple of rounds of silly games like blindfolded clothes-folding contests," she said, adding that there were multiple DJs and a pop-up bar that night.

Entry tickets were S$20 with one free drink, but free entry was granted to anyone who came with a load of laundry to wash or dry.

Low's already brainstorming ideas for the laundromat's next event — possibly a "Dungeons and Dragons" night, she says — and for ways to improve the laundry experience.

"Some people want iced coffee, so we're putting in an ice machine. Some people want a library of sorts, so we're thinking about it," Low said.

It's not easy being a small-business owner, but she hopes that it can rub off on her kids, who often come in on weekends to help her out.

"I'm hopeful that my kids can also learn to be a bit more entrepreneurial," Low said. "It would be nice."

• Humanoid robots will compete against humans in a half-marathon in Beijing.
• The event aims to showcase advancements in humanoid robotics and AI.
• Robots must be humanoid without wheels; both remote-controlled and autonomous entries are allowed.

Experienced runners will tell you it takes months to train for a half-marathon, but what if what you're racing against is literally made of steel?

On April 13, humanoid robots are set to compete in the first-ever half-marathon featuring both humans and humanoid robots racing against each other in Beijing. The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, which is hosting the race, announced details for the event on Tuesday.

Robots participating in the race will have a roughly three-and-a-half-hour cutoff time to complete the track, Li Quan, deputy head of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, said at a press conference. The humanoid robots will race against 12,000 human runners, with the top three finishers — human or robot — receiving prizes.

Li said participating robots can receive awards in three categories: race completion, best endurance, and most popular robot. The robots running in the race will run in a separate lane.

"We hope that this event will not only showcase achievements in the humanoid robotics industry but also spark discussions and deepen the public's understanding of robot capabilities, which will help accelerate industry development," Li said.

Humanoid robots are evolving rapidly and becoming a common topic of discussion in the tech world. Some companies like Mercedes-Benz and BMW have partnered with humanoid robot companies to test their robots on factory lines. Last month, Texas-based humanoid robot make Apptronik announced a partnership with a supply chain company to have its humanoid robots eventually build themselves.

Robots entering the competition must be humanoid robots that do not use wheels, China's International Center for Science and Technology Innovation said in a release. Both remote-controlled and fully autonomous robots are eligible for entry.

Li said at the press conference that participating robot teams can change out their robot's batteries or change their robots out in a relay system. Each time a team changes out a robot, they will receive a ten-minute penalty for the race.

Registration for the event opens on March 11, and it is open to companies, research institutions, robot clubs, and universities around the world, the release said.

• SpaceX's Starship spun out of control and fell out of contact just as it reached space Thursday.
• Starship was supposed to deploy mock Starlink satellites and test its structural limits during reentry.
• The FAA grounded flights in southern Florida due to the risk of debris raining down from space.

SpaceX's Starship lost control and started spinning wildly just as it reached space on Thursday, causing major flight disruptions in Florida over the possibility of falling debris.

SpaceX lost contact with Starship and confirmed in a post on X that the spaceship exploded, using its classic euphemism: "a rapid unscheduled disassembly."

That means the ship will likely rain debris down on Earth along its pre-designated flight path. The Federal Aviation Administration closed airspace over southern Florida and issued a ground stop to airports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach.

According to the FAA website, the incident led to delays at Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and even Philadelphia and Newark airports

Starship was flying well until about 20 seconds before it was supposed to cut off its engines, which is a major milestone it has passed on multiple flights and is basically the last step of getting itself into space.

That's when some of the ship's engines suddenly went out early, Huot said, and then it began to spin.

"We have some more to learn about this vehicle," Dan Huot, a SpaceX webcast host, said on the company's livestream of the flight.

This is the second Starship flight in a row to explode as it climbed to space, taking Elon Musk's biggest ambitions another step back.

Eric Berger, a journalist who has written two books about the rocket company, called the incident "a serious setback for SpaceX."

Starship's second space-debris incident

SpaceX said that it "immediately began coordination with safety officials" after the ship lost contact.

The incident comes just a month after a Starship exploded and rained down huge chunks of debris in the Caribbean, causing the FAA to divert aircraft in the area and triggering an investigation.

"We've got some practice at this now," Huot said. "We've got a lot of measures in place like debris-response areas where we coordinate very closely with air-traffic control. We have a lot of measures put before we ever launch a rocket to make sure that we're keeping the public safe. Those worked last time and they're actively in work right now."

After the January flight, SpaceX made upgrades to avoid the fuel leaks and fire in the ship's "attic area" which it pinpointed as the cause of the explosion. The company got reapproval from the FAA and flew again Thursday, only to lose Starship again.

"We will review the data from today's flight test to better understand root cause," SpaceX said in its X post.

The future of SpaceX and the space industry at large is on the line.

Starship's many successes

The Starship-Super Heavy launch system — consisting of the lower-stage Super Heavy booster and upper-stage Starship rocket — promises to be the largest, most powerful, and first-ever fully reusable orbital rocket on Earth.

Its prowess could help cut the cost of spaceflight by an order of magnitude, but not anytime soon if SpaceX can't keep Starship in one piece.

Starship has previously flown to space successfully, landed in the ocean with its engines firing, and seen its Super Heavy booster return to Earth and lower itself into a pair of chopstick-like arms on a landing tower.

On Thursday's flight, just a few minutes before Starship's demise, the booster landed flawlessly again.

As the booster slowed itself from supersonic speed, a thunder-like sonic boom sounded across the Texas coastal plain.

On the livestream shortly before launch, the SpaceX communications manager Chris Gebhardt said those booms are like "a spaceship telling everybody it wants to be reused."

Starship, it seems, isn't making the same declaration.

SpaceX was going to test Starship's limits on the way back

The rocket's successes so far have been promising for SpaceX's plans to recover and reuse both Starship and the Super Heavy booster. SpaceX had hoped Thursday's flight would take things a step further.

The flight had two primary goals: to deploy its first payload of mock Starlink satellites in space and to run experiments in Starship's reentry and descent to Earth. It never got the chance.

The flight was intended to test the limits of Starship's structure on its return to Earth, with some of its protective tiles removed from vulnerable areas for stress testing. By contrast, for the ascent to space, SpaceX had made upgrades to fortify Starship.

Musk founded the company in 2002 with the goal of bringing humans to Mars. Starship is the vehicle that's supposed to make that happen.

Musk has said that, in addition to hauling astronauts and materials to the moon and conducting rapid point-to-point transport on Earth, Starship could carry 1 million people to Mars, along with all the necessary cargo for them to build a city there.

• Costco delivered strong quarterly revenue driven by increased store visits but missed profit expectations.
• CEO Ron Vachris said the company would work to minimize any cost increases from tariffs.
• The company added 1 million new paid memberships and increased renewals to 93% in the US and Canada.

Costco delivered strong quarterly revenue as shoppers turned to the wholesale club to deliver value in the face of high prices elsewhere.

However, the results missed analyst expectations for earnings per share and Costco stock fell by about 1.5% in after-hours trading.

The company reported net sales of more than $62.5 billion for the quarter, up 9.1% from $57.3 billion for the same period last year, driven mostly by increased visits.

During the earnings call Thursday, CEO Ron Vachris said that while it was difficult to predict the impact of tariffs, the company would work to minimize any cost increases for customers. He added that less than one-sixth of Costco products sold in the US are imported from China, Mexico, and Canada.

CFO Gary Millerchip said uncertainty around tariffs led the company to buy additional inventory, leading to increased supply chain costs in the quarter.

Foot traffic data found 2025 was off to a strong start for Costco, with visits up 7.7% — more than double the increase for Walmart and Target.

The company added 1 million new paid memberships, nudging its renewal rate up to 93% in the US and Canada.

Web and app sales and usage also ticked up during its fiscal second quarter, and the company said it logged 43 million visits to its new warehouse inventory tool.

In its call with analysts, Costco leadership didn't field any questions about its DEI stance following its emphatic defense of its diversity and inclusion policies and the resulting scrutiny from a group of Republican attorneys general.

Looking ahead, the company plans to open 12 more US locations, including its 900th warehouse next week, plus two in Canada, and four in other international markets.

Arno Michaelis is a former white nationalist skinhead, lead singer of the neo-Nazi metal band Centurion, and member of Hammerskin Nation, one of the most violent white supremacist gangs in the US.

From 1987 to 1994, Michaelis played a central role in spreading neo-Nazi ideology through music, street violence, and recruitment efforts across the United States and beyond. His band sold over 20,000 copies of its white supremacist albums within six months.

Michaelis provides a rare look inside the world of violent extremism, detailing how white nationalist groups recruit young men, fund their operations, and use propaganda to radicalize followers. He describes the brutality of life inside the movement, the constant state of fear and paranoia, and how his involvement led to addiction, crime, and self-destruction.

After leaving the movement, Michaelis became an anti-hate activist, speaker, and author. He works with Parents for Peace to deradicalize extremists, exposing the tactics used by white nationalist groups and guiding individuals away from the influence of extremism through prevention. He is the author of "My Life After Hate" and "The Gift of Our Wounds," which was cowritten with Pardeep Singh Kaleka, whose father was killed in the Oak Creek Sikh temple shooting.

If you are concerned about someone's extreme beliefs or behaviors, Parents for Peace has a free and confidential helpline at 844-49-PEACE (844-497-3223) or email at [email protected].

If you or someone you know is dealing with substance misuse or mental illness, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Helpline (1-800-662-4357) for 24/7, free, confidential treatment referral and information.

For more:

Instagram: @ArnoMichaelis

Parents for Peace: www.parents4peace.org

Books: https://www.parents4peace.org/our-team/arno-michaelis/

• Goldman Sachs has a grand plan to thin its ranks and cuts costs.
• The plan is codenamed "Project Voyage," Business Insider has learned.
• See what Project Voyage entails — and who stands to be impacted.

Goldman Sachs has a grand plan to thin its ranks and cut costs — and it's codenamed "Project Voyage."

CEO David Solomon has tasked staff with providing the bank with lists of executives who could help save the company money through layoffs or relocations, Business Insider has learned. The plan, which has been nicknamed "Project Voyage," kicked off in the fourth quarter of 2024 and is expected to be rolled out over a number of years, according to a former Goldman employee, who was not authorized to speak to the press and asked to remain anonymous.

The initiative will be rolled out firmwide, affecting divisions including global banking and markets, asset and wealth management, engineering, operations, communications, marketing, and back-office functions, this person said.

A Goldman spokeswoman pointed BI to comments Solomon made in January about "a three-year program" to better manage the bank's expenses.

"As discussed at length on our fourth-quarter earnings call, we're focused on operating the firm effectively and prudently over the long term, managing our business to meet the needs of our clients and re-investing for growth," a Goldman spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

Who could be impacted

Every year, Goldman Sachs cuts as many as 5% of its bottom performers through a process known internally as the Strategic Resource Assessment, or SRA. Employees who routinely fail to comply with Goldman's five-day-per-week office attendance policy, for example, could be vulnerable to a cut through the SRA —particularly if they're found to be underperforming in their job.

This year's SRA, however, will be informed to some degree by "Project Voyage," the ex-Goldman insider said.

The bank's vice presidents — a title that sits between associate and managing directors — will be eyed for cuts in part because Project Voyage has identified this group as too large and costly. As BI reported on Wednesday, Goldman's VP ranks have become so bloated that its VPs have been increasingly reporting to other VPs rather than managing directors. Compensation for client-facing VPs can reach $1 million, including base salary and bonuses, the former employee estimated.

In addition to thinning out bloated parts of the organizational chart, Project Voyage will pinpoint employees who could help save the company money by relocating from Goldman's New York City headquarters, located in lower Manhattan, to lower-cost offices such as Dallas, Texas; and Salt Lake City, Utah, according to people familiar with the program.

The plan also calls for jobs lost through the SRA to be backfilled in lower-cost locations rather than New York, this person said.

Goldman divisional heads are compiling their lists of cuts and relocations through their chief operating teams. On Wall Street, divisional COOs tend to oversee the administrative functions for their teams.

Goldman's office in Dallas is on track to increase from its current headcount of about 4,600 employees to 5,000 by the time it opens a $500 million state-of-the-art campus in 2028. The city's mayor previously authorized $18 million in tax incentives for the firm if it meets that target. The incentives are valid through the end of 2028.

Reed Alexander is a correspondent at Business Insider covering Goldman Sachs and Wall Street banks. He can be reached via email at [email protected], or SMS/the encrypted app Signal at (561) 247-5758.

• Trump says he wants his Cabinet to lead his federal overhaul, not Elon Musk.
• Musk has had broad authority to reshape the government, but Trump now appears to be tightening his leash.
• Lawmakers and judges express concern over DOGE's rapid cuts and unclear leadership.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he wants his Cabinet to lead the overhaul of the federal government, not DOGE's de facto leader, Elon Musk.

"I had a meeting, I said I want the Cabinet members to go first, keep all the people you want, everybody you need," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "It would be better if they were there for two years instead of two weeks, because in two years they'll know the people better. I want them to do the best job they can."

Trump appears to be trimming Musk's mandate after essentially allowing the White House DOGE office unrestrained authority to reshape the federal government. Musk has frequently bragged about all the things he's done as the unofficial leader of DOGE to gut the federal workforce, like offering millions of staffers a buyout, and to reduce government spending, like "feeding USAID into the "wood chipper."

It doesn't mean Trump is upset with Musk. Trump told reporters the billionaire is doing "an amazing job" and rejected the idea that the DOGE office was moving too quickly. At the same time, Trump still wanted his Cabinet to assert more power when it comes to cutting staff.

Although DOGE was originally Musk's idea, now that the task force has an official administrator, Trump is distancing the billionaire from it, at least in some public channels.

"We say the 'scalpel' rather than the 'hatchet,'" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The combination of them, Elon, DOGE, and other great people will be able to do things at a historic level."

Lawyers suing the DOGE office noted Trump's comments during his address to Congress on Tuesday when he twice called Musk the "head" of DOGE. A White House official had previously declared in court that Musk is not leading the DOGE office.

Members of Congress, including some Republicans, have expressed unease with the extent and speed of DOGE's cuts. Some of those lawmakers had received an earful from their constituents when they returned home. Federal judges have also taken issue with some of the DOGE-linked cuts.

Multiple times Justice Department lawyers haven't been able to answer who leads the DOGE office or whether that command structure had changed. These questions still remained after the White House named Amy Gleason as acting administrator of the DOGE office. Trump has blurred that line repeatedly by saying Musk leads DOGE, even though the world's richest man isn't a DOGE office employee.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Instagram has a new app to rival TikTok's editing app CapCut.
• The "Edits" app launches on March 31, and some creators already have access.
• A new tag will appear for videos that are edited in the app.

Instagram's battle with TikTok has entered the video editing realm.

In January, the Meta-owned platform announced it would launch "Edits," a separate app for editing videos, this year. It's a clear move to compete with TikTok parent ByteDance's own editing app, CapCut, which could also stop operating in the US due to a divest-or-ban law.

This week, Instagram began adding a label to some videos with a "Made with Edits" tag on posts. When you click on the tag, it prompts you to pre-download the Edits app, which is slated to launch on March 31. On TikTok, videos edited in CapCut using templates have a similar tag directing users to CapCut.

If a video is edited in the Edits app and someone posts the video to Instagram from Edits, the tag will appear.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Mosseri, Instagram's top executive, posted reels with this tag this week. The "Made with Edits" label will soon appear on more videos as Instagram onboards creators who have been given early access to test the app. One talent manager told BI that one of their creator clients already had access.

Reels made in Edits will also be optimized for higher-resolution video — up to 2K resolution. (Last month, some users spotted this language in the Instagram app when posting reels: "Reels made with Edits are optimized for high-quality playback on Instagram.")

You may be asking: Will this affect how reels perform or are ranked on Instagram?

As of now, Instagram is not giving preferential ranking to reels with the "Made with Edits" tag, the company confirmed to BI.

• Sam Bankman-Fried's crisis PR rep didn't know about his interview with Tucker Carlson.
• The rep, Mark Botnick, resigned from the role on Thursday.
• The crypto scammer is reportedly seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump.

Tucker Carlson's jailhouse interview with Sam Bankman-Fried came as a surprise to everyone — including the crypto scammer's crisis manager.

Mark Botnick, who had represented Bankman-Fried since the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November 2022, resigned from his role on Thursday after learning of the interview.

He told Business Insider that he had no involvement in planning the interview with Carlson, which was posted to social media outlets on Thursday afternoon — Bankman-Fried's 33rd birthday.

"As of today, I no longer represent SBF," Botnick told BI.

Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison sentence after a jury found him guilty in 2023 of an $11 billion fraud and money-laundering scheme through his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.

Botnick is a seasoned public relations operative, having worked on several political campaigns for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He represented Bankman-Fried through the turbulent waves of his criminal case, including when he violated the terms of his bail and was jailed ahead of his trial due to witness tampering.

In recent weeks, Bankman-Fried has gone off-script. He posted messages on X offering advice on the Trump administration's efforts to fire federal employees. Botnick told BI that he was not involved in those X posts and is unsure who posted them on his behalf.

Bankman-Fried's conversations with journalists have gotten him in trouble before. His interviews with The Financial Times, Bloomberg News, and Vox were cited in his criminal trial as evidence of how he misled FTX investors and customers.

Botnick referred additional questions about Bankman-Fried to his criminal appeals attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, who didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

A representative for the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Bankman-Fried is incarcerated, declined to comment on his interview with Carlson. A representative for Carlson's media company didn't respond to a request for comment.

The former crypto mogul — who once had an on-paper net worth of over $26 billion — has been fishing for a pardon from President Donald Trump, Bloomberg News reported.

Trump and Bankman-Fried may have some perceived enemies in common, although Bankman-Fried didn't raise the issue with Carlson, a staunch Trump ally.

The federal judge who oversaw Bankman-Fried's trial and sentenced him, Lewis Kaplan, also oversaw two cases that the writer E. Jean Carroll successfully brought against Trump. Danielle Sassoon, the lead prosecutor in Bankman-Fried's criminal case, resigned as the acting head of the US Attorney's office in the Southern District of New York after refusing a demand from a Trump-appointed Justice Department official to drop charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Carlson raised the question of a potential pardon in the interview.

"If you are not pardoned, how old will you be when you get out?" he asked Bankman-Fried.

Bankman-Fried said he'll be in his late 40s.

During FTX's collapse, in 2022, Bankman-Fried had considered an interview with Carlson, a Fox News host at the time, to "come out as a republican" and rail "against the woke agenda" as a way to restore his reputation, he wrote in a Google Document that became public as part of his criminal case.

"Note: these are all random probably bad ideas that aren't vetted," Bankman-Fried wrote at the top of the document.

• GOP senators got a hold of Elon Musk's cell phone number this week.
• They don't want to talk about it.
• Having a direct line to Musk is a hot commodity in the age of DOGE.

Republican senators just got their hands on Elon Musk's cell phone number, giving them a direct line to the man who's been reshaping the federal bureaucracy at President Donald Trump's behest.

Many of them don't want to talk about it.

"I'm not gonna answer that question, okay? What's your next one?" Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said. "I don't think it's anyone's business."

Business Insider approached half a dozen Republican senators at the Capitol on Thursday to ask them if they've had any text conversations with Musk, or whether they anticipate doing so in the future. Only one — Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina — confirmed CNN's reporting that Musk gave out his number during a lunch with most Senate Republicans on Wednesday.

"I haven't texted with him. I don't have a need to do that," Tillis told BI, adding that if DOGE is "going into any areas where we're looking at potential job impacts or other impacts, I know I can give him a call."

Having the power to call up Musk is a precious commodity in the age of DOGE, with the promise of influencing the man who's been working with a team of lieutenants to shutter whole agencies, access sensitive systems, and choke off streams of federal funding — all without the formal input of Congress. At times, his power has seemed to exceed that of Cabinet secretaries and rival that of Trump himself.

Perhaps that's why some GOP senators don't want to even acknowledge whether they were offered his number.

"I'm not getting into all that. If you have a policy question, I'm happy to answer that," Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky told BI. "That's all I got for you. Sorry."

"I'm not gonna confirm or deny that," Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri told BI. "I've met with him twice in the last two weeks. He's been very accessible."

There's also an awareness of the power that Musk — not just the de facto head of DOGE, but the owner of what may be the world's most important communication platform, X — holds relative to them. And some of them don't hide their own sense of awe at the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.

Sen. Ted Cruz did not confirm or deny that Musk gave out his number on Wednesday. But the Texas Republican said he's had Musk's number for years and that he's a "good friend." When asked what the billionaire businessman is like over text, Cruz launched into a two-and-a-half minute-long disquisition about Musk's brilliance and business acumen.

"If you assume that intelligence is distributed on a bell curve there are roughly 8 billion people on Planet Earth, somebody has to be at the bleeding edge of the bell curve, and his name is Elon," Cruz said. "I have been blessed to know many really smart people. I've never met anyone remotely like Elon Musk."

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin — who said his own hypothetical text communication with Musk would "remain private" — said that he and his colleagues were being coy about having Musk's number because they're "sensitive about people having access" and the potential for "abuse."

Then he also offered some unsolicited praise for Musk.

"I think he's a remarkable individual. He's probably one of the more brilliant, accomplished, effective human beings ever to walk the face of the Earth," Johnson said, adding that he's "very appreciative of the fact that he's willing to devote his very expensive time" to DOGE.

Wednesday's lunch with GOP senators was just one of several meetings that Musk has had with congressional Republicans in the last two weeks. Later that day, he met with a larger group of House Republicans, plus a smaller meeting with the Republicans on the DOGE subcommittee. That's on top of a meeting last Thursday with the Senate DOGE Caucus and a meeting on Tuesday night with House Speaker Mike Johnson.

It comes as some Republicans grow anxious about the lack of congressional input over DOGE's spending decisions, with some urging the White House to send federal spending cuts to Congress in the form of a "recission" bill, as required under the Impoundment Control Act. Sen. Johnson told BI he wanted to see votes on recissions "every few weeks."

For now, it appears that Musk is only giving out his cellphone number to senators. Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, the chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, told BI that Musk didn't read out his number during his meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday night.

"I probably would have been writing it down if he did," Harris said, even as he insisted that he didn't feel slighted. "He's readily available, he's a day-to-day person who's dedicated to bringing the Trump agenda to fruition. So I'm perfectly happy with that. I don't need a phone number."

Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, a Republican DOGE subcommittee member, told BI that he's "not going to comment" on whether he had Musk's number. But he also said he wouldn't be texting him.

"I'm not going to be one of those that bothers him," Burchett said.

• Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt co-authored a paper warning the US about the dangers of an AI Manhattan Project.
• In the paper, Schmidt, Dan Hendrycks, and Alexandr Wang push for a more defensive approach.
• The authors suggest the US sabotage rival projects, rather than advance the AI frontier alone.

Some of the biggest names in AI tech say an AI "Manhattan Project" could have a destabalizing effect on the US, rather than help safeguard it.

The dire warning came from former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Center for AI Safety director Dan Hendrycks, and Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang. They coauthored a policy paper titled "Superintelligence Strategy" published on Wednesday.

In the paper, the tech titans urge the US to stay away from an aggressive push to develop superintelligent AI, or AGI, which the authors say could provoke international retaliation. China, in particular, "would not sit idle" while the US worked to actualize AGI, and "risk a loss of control," they write.

The authors write that circumstances similar to the nuclear arms race that birthed the Manhattan Project — a secretive initiative that ended in the creation of the first atom bomb — have developed around the AI frontier.

In November 2024, for example, a bipartisan congressional committee called for a "Manhattan Project-like" program, dedicated to pumping funds into initiatives that could help the US beat out China in the race to AGI. And just a few days before the authors released their paper, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said the country is already "at the start of a new Manhattan Project."

"The Manhattan Project assumes that rivals will acquiesce to an enduring imbalance or omnicide rather than move to prevent it," the authors write. "What begins as a push for a superweapon and global control risks prompting hostile countermeasures and escalating tensions, thereby undermining the very stability the strategy purports to secure."

It's not just the government subsidizing AI advancements, either, according to Schmidt, Hendrycks, and Wang — private corporations are developing "Manhattan Projects" of their own. Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, has said he loses sleep over the possibility of ending up like Robert Oppenheimer.

"Currently, a similar urgency is evident in the global effort to lead in AI, with investment in AI training doubling every year for nearly the past decade," the authors say. "Several 'AI Manhattan Projects' aiming to eventually build superintelligence are already underway, financed by many of the most powerful corporations in the world."

The authors argue that the US already finds itself operating under conditions similar to mutually assured destruction, which refers to the idea that no nation with nuclear weapons will use its arsenal against another, for fear of retribution. They write that a further effort to control the AI space could provoke retaliation from rival global powers.

Instead, the paper suggests the US could benefit from taking a more defensive approach — sabotaging "destabilizing" AI projects via methods like cyberattacks, rather than rushing to perfect their own.

In order to address "rival states, rogue actors, and the risk of losing control" all at once, the authors put forth a threefold strategy. Deterring via sabotage, restricting access of chips and "weaponizable AI systems" to "rogue actors," and guaranteeing US access to AI chips via domestic manufacturing.

Overall, Schmidt, Hendrycks, and Wang push for balance, rather than what they call the "move fast and break things" strategy. They argue that the US has an opportunity to take a step back from the urgent rush of the arms race, and shift to a more defensive strategy.

"By methodically constraining the most destabilizing moves, states can guide AI toward unprecedented benefits rather than risk it becoming a catalyst of ruin," the authors write.

• Military leaders argue AI has an important role in future warfare.
• There's been a shift in industry collaboration with the Department of Defense on AI and autonomy.
• AI in military tech must adhere to ethical frameworks, Snowpoint Ventures' Doug Philippone said.

Nobody wants "killer robots," so making sure artificial intelligence systems don't go rogue is the "cost of doing business" in military tech, the founder of a venture capital firm said during a Wednesday discussion of AI technology on the battlefield.

"You have to be able to make AI that can work within an ethical framework, period," Doug Philippone, co-founder of Snowpoint Ventures, a venture capital firm that merges tech talent with defense issues, said during the Reagan Institute's National Security Innovation Base Summit.

"I don't think anybody is, you know, trying to have killer robots that are just running around by themselves," he said.

Philippone explained that companies working in the military technology space that are worth making an investment in must have "thought through those problems and work in that ethical environment." He said these aren't limitations on development. Instead, they're requirements.

Autonomous machines tend to cause a certain degree of apprehension, especially when such tech is applied to the DoD's "kill chain." While military leaders maintain that the systems are critical for future warfare, they also pose ethical concerns about what machine autonomy might ultimately mean.

Times are changing

The defense-technology space appears to be experiencing a major shift in perspective. Last month, Google reversed course on a previous pledge against developing AI weapons, prompting criticism from some employees. The move seemed to reflect a greater willingness among more tech companies to work with the Defense Department on these technologies.

Throughout Silicon Valley, "there's been a massive cultural shift from 'no way we're thinking about defending America' to 'let's get in the fight,'" said Thomas Robinson, the Chief Operating Officer of Domino Data Lab, a London-based AI solutions company.

He said at Wednesday's event that "it is just a palpable difference between even a few years ago."

There has been a sharp rise in smaller, more agile defense technology firms, such as Anduril, breaking into areas like uncrewed systems and autonomy, spurring a view among some defense tech leaders that the new Trump administration could create new DoD contract opportunities potentially worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars.

Part of that cultural shift has spurred concerns around "revolving doors" of military officials heading to the venture capital tech realm after retirement, creating possible conflicts of interest.

US military leaders have increasingly prioritized the development of AI capabilities in recent years, with some arguing that whichever side dominates this tech space will be the winner in future conflicts.

Last year, then-Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the US is locked in a technological arms race with China. AI is crucial, he said, and "China is moving forward aggressively."

The Air Force has been experimenting with AI-piloted fighter aircraft, among other AI-enabled tools, as have other elements of the US military and American allies. "We're going to be in a world where decisions will not be made at human speed," Kendall said in January. "They're going to be made at machine speed."

Certain areas of armed conflict, including cyber warfare and electronic warfare, are likely to be dominated by AI technologies that assess events happening at unimaginably fast speeds and unimaginably small dimensions.

AI with guardrails

That makes AI a top investment. During Wednesday's discussion, US congressional representative Ro Khanna of California expressed support for a proposal from 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, which called for shifting 15% of the massive Pentagon budget to advanced and emerging tech.

As the nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth committed to prioritizing new technology, writing that "the Department of Defense budget must focus on lethality and innovation." He said that "technology is changing the battlefield."

But ethical considerations remain key. Last year, senior Pentagon officials, for instance, discussed guardrails put in place to calm fears that it was "building killer robots in the basement."

Understanding exactly how an AI tool's algorithms work will be important for ethical battlefield implementation, Philippone noted, and so will understanding the quality of data being absorbed — otherwise, it's "garbage in, garbage out."

"Whether it's Tyson's Chicken or it's the Department of the Navy, you want to be able to say 'this problem is important," he explained. "What is the data going in?"

"You understand how it flows through the algorithms, and then you understand the output in a way that is auditable, so you can understand how we got there," he said. "And then you codify those rules."

Philippone said the opacity of some AI companies' proprietary knowledge is "BS" and a "black box approach" to technology. He said that companies should instead aim for a more transparent approach to artificial intelligence.

"I call it the glass box," he said. Understanding how the inner workings of a system work can help avoid hacks, he said, "this is really important from an ethics perspective and really understanding the process of your decision in your organization."

"If you can't audit it," he said, "that leaves you susceptible."

• 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.

• "Value," "nostalgia," and "innovation" are the biggest buzzwords for fast-food chains in 2025.
• Boneless, crispy chicken will continue to be a trend this year after multiple new releases in 2024.
• Gen Z consumers are also customizing their orders with fun dipping sauces.

Gen Z is driving fast-food trends with its love of crispy chicken, dipping sauces, and bold, international-inspired flavors.

Seemingly every fast-food chain is trying to win over Gen Z, who have more spending power than previous generations and an estimated $360 billion in disposable income, Rubix Food wrote in its NEXT Flavor Report, which was released in November.

To identify the biggest trends for fast-food menus, especially among the Gen Z crowd, Business Insider spoke to leaders from chains like Wingstop and Taco Bell about their visions for 2025.

We also examined the Rubix report, which collected data on Gen Z cravings through group and one-on-one interviews and social media polls. It analyzed the responses of nearly 16,000 Gen Z consumers between December 2023 and November 2024.

Here are the biggest fast-food trends for 2025, shaped by Gen Z's appetite.

International-inspired flavors are popping up on more menus.

Bold, spicy flavor profiles are expected to be an area of opportunity for fast-food chains in 2025, especially those with an international or Asian-inspired influence.

Wingstop recently launched its new, limited-time-only Sweet Chili Glaze sauce, which the chain described as a "sweet and spicy fusion" of sweet chili, rich hoisin, and red chili sauce.

Wingstop's senior director of culinary, Larry Bellah, told Business Insider that the new sauce was developed in Thailand and Singapore before being launched nationwide in the US.

The menu item reflects a larger trend of Gen Z customers being more open to experimenting with fusion and more diverse flavor profiles.

The Rubix report found that 87% of Gen Z consumers wanted to see more global flavors at chain restaurants, with a special interest in flavors inspired by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cuisines.

Sweet and spicy combinations like hot honey are expected to be a major trend.

Gen Z is bringing the heat, but with a sweet touch.

Wingstop said its hot honey rub is one of its most popular flavors, but it isn't the only chain offering sweet and spicy flavors on menus.

Wendy's told BI that its Spicy Chicken Nuggets are especially popular among Gen Z customers, and Popeyes also launched sweet and spicy boneless wings last year.

It doesn't stop there. Taco Bell announced at its Live Más Live event this month that it is planning to collaborate with Mike's Hot Honey on a new version of its Diablo sauce in the coming year.

KFC also recently partnered with Mike's Hot Honey for a new chicken sandwich, proving that chains are really leaning into all things sweet and spicy in 2025.

Burgers are out, and crispy chicken products like nuggets and tenders are in.

Taco Bell's chief marketing officer, Taylor Montgomery, said it best in a recent interview with BI: "Crispy chicken's hot."

After the chain released chicken nuggets in December, they sold out before some fans were able to try them. However, the chain said nuggets will be returning to menus twice in the coming year.

"Tenders are still really relevant. Nuggets are really relevant," Montgomery said. "But, I think the brands that are winning have a unique point of view and are doing it their way."

He said Taco Bell's offerings will include crispy chicken nuggets and a crispy chicken taco burrito, both of which will be hitting menus this year.

Multiple fast-food chains are leaning into chicken to capture Gen Z's attention.

Raising Cane's — a chain that notably only sells chicken tenders and a few sides like coleslaw and Texas toast — is now one of the fastest-growing fast-food brands in the country.

McDonald's is also poised to bring back its popular chicken strips and chicken "snack wraps" in 2025 after fans have been begging for them for years.

For Gen Z, it's all about the sauce.

From signature sauces like Cane's Sauce and Chick-fil-A sauce to spicy ranch, barbecue, and other varieties, chains are offering dippable, dunkable menu items to complement Gen Z's passion for sauce.

Montgomery described the sauce trend among Gen Z consumers as "permissible exploration."

"You don't have to fully commit to a flavor profile that's different, but you can dunk something into it, or dip something in it," he said. "America's getting more diverse, and our consumers' tastes are changing. I think sauces are enabling that."

Taco Bell's chief food innovation officer, Liz Matthews, added, "Consumers are really looking for adventure on their food, but they want to have kind of a safe adventure. People are really gravitating toward sauces and different flavors from around the world."

Chains like Taco Bell are also betting big on new beverages, from soft drinks to coffee.

At Taco Bell's Live Más Live, the chain identified its beverage menu as an area of focus and opportunity this year.

It highlighted new launches like the new Mountain Dew Baja Midnight, a twist on its Baja Blast soda, and its new Live Más Café concept, which currently operates one location in Chula Vista, California.

Beverages are an area for other chains to experiment with limited-time offerings and niche trends, such as the "dirty soda" trend that popped up over the summer and was subsequently added to Del Taco and Sonic menus.

Nostalgia will continue to influence fast-food menus.

Innovation may be a huge trend for 2025, but so is nostalgia.

In November, Taco Bell leaned into the trend with its "Decades" menu, which featured five previously discontinued items.

The menu included the Tostada from the original 1960s menu, the Green Sauce Burrito from the '70s, the Meximelt from the '80s, the '90s-era Gordita Supreme, and the Caramel Apple Empanada of the 2000s.

"I just love the throwbacks because people have such an emotional connection with it," Matthews told BI. "Our brand is always going to do innovation. And I think we're always going to honor our past. Whether it's bringing something back, or do we make a tweak on something that hasn't been on the menu in a while? I think we're always going to do both."

Taco Bell isn't the only brand that has leaned into nostalgia.

Last year, Wendy's launched a collaboration with Paramount, which owns Nickelodeon, and "SpongeBob SquarePants," to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary with a limited-edition burger inspired by the Krabby Patty and a pineapple-flavored milkshake.

McDonald's also launched limited-edition cups inspired by iconic Happy Meal toys and its viral Grimace-themed shake, which paid homage to the character first introduced in the 1970s.

Wingstop's head chef, Larry Bellah, identified the nostalgia trend as one of his favorites in the industry in a recent conversation with BI, though the chain has yet to lean into it as a brand.

While nostalgia was a major trend in 2024, it's clear that it's not going anywhere.

Fast-food chains are doubling down on value, emphasizing budget-friendly menus and meal deals to attract customers.

Above all, as we enter 2025, every fast-food chain is focused on delivering value to customers.

"Consumers have become more discerning," Moody's Ratings analyst Michael Zuccaro told BI in November. "Value perception is a key driver. This is not just price but also experience-related factors such as convenience, speed, consistency, and accuracy."

Taco Bell's chief financial officer, Neil Manhas, said during the chain's consumer day, held during its Live Más Live event, that value is "critical" for the brand.

The so-called "value wars" are in full swing, as chains like McDonald's, Wendy's, and Dunkin' all lean into meal deals and promotions to keep prices low for customers amid growing inflation and food prices.

"Value wars come and go. We believe that showing up for consumers every single day on value is something we've always done and we always will," Montgomery said. "But, I think, for us, it's about giving consumers more when a lot of the [other chains] sometimes are giving consumers less."

As people tighten their pocketbooks, chains are under more pressure than ever to keep prices low without sacrificing quality.

An instructor at the US Army Mountain Warfare School breaks down every piece of gear a mountain soldier would carry on a cold-weather mission, including tactical gear, mountaineering equipment, and avalanche rescue tools. Sgt. 1st Class Tim McLaughlin explains why each item is integral to the mission of the mountain soldier, who must traverse near-vertical terrain in extreme cold-weather conditions to move troops safely in and out of battle. The US Army trains soldiers for mountain warfare at the Army Mountain Warfare School at Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho, Vermont.

• Blake Lively has sought an enhanced protective order in her legal battle with Justin Baldoni.
• An attorney for Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, suggested Baldoni's camp may leak.
• "There is an insatiable appetite for any information about this case," the lawyer said in court.

Blake Lively's lawyer is trying hard to keep some evidence away from Justin Baldoni and, by proxy, the press.

Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds' lawyer suggested Baldoni and his camp may leak sensitive information amid their ongoing legal fight.

The couples' lawyer, Merly Governksi, raised the alarm Thursday as she made her case to a Manhattan judge about why she believes an enhanced protective order is needed to protect the discovery process in the dueling lawsuits between them and Baldoni.

"There is an insatiable appetite for any information about this case no matter how salacious it is. We've seen even the most benign and routine information become tabloid fodder," Governksi told US District Judge Lewis Liman during a virtual court hearing.

The lawyer said she knows there will be subpoenas to "third parties involving third parties" and "we think that there is a significant chance of irreparable harm if marginally relevant communication with high-profile, third-party individuals who are unrelated to the case were to fall into the wrong hands."

Lively sued Baldoni — her director-costar in "It Ends With Us" — in December, accusing him of sexual harassment on the movie set and of engaging in a retaliatory online smear campaign against her. Other defendants in the lawsuit include Baldoni's production company, Wayfarer Studios, his fellow producers, and his publicists.

Baldoni, who has denied the allegations, then countersued Lively and Reynolds in a defamation complaint. The two cases have been consolidated into one.

Governksi argued on Thursday that a more robust protective order with an "attorneys eyes only" category for confidential and sensitive discovery material is needed in the case to not only protect people not directly involved in the case, but also to keep medical information and the security measures of those involved out of the public eye.

The lawyer said one example that she imagines would be subject to discovery and would pose irreparable harm to disclose would be the specific security measures that Lively and Reynolds "have taken in order to protect themselves and their families from this retaliatory campaign."

"We don't see any reason why the parties themselves need to know the specific details about Mrs. Lively and Mr. Reynolds' security measures that they put in place," Governksi said.

In a letter to the judge last month about the proposed protective order, Lively and Reynolds' attorneys said that Lively, her family members, and others who have spoken out in support of her have already received "violent, profane, sexist, and threatening communications."

Baldoni's attorney, Bryan Freedman, argued during Thursday's court hearing that the judge's protective order is sufficient as it is.

"I think it's rather offensive that anyone would suggest that we would disregard a protective order," Freedman told the judge. "In fact, we're in favor of the court's model protective order. We think it's sufficient to protect the parties."

Freedman called it "nonsense" that Baldoni's legal team would even care about how Lively and Reynolds handled their security.

"No one is interested in what somebody's security is doing," Freedman said.

Governksi said that if that's Freedman's position, he should withdraw the subpoena he served on the celebrity couple's security firm "for all documents and communications concerning Lively and Reynolds and to Lively and Reynolds."

A spokesperson for Lively told Business Insider in a statement after the hearing: "All of the parties agree that there is sensitive information in this case that should be shielded from public disclosure—the Wayfarer Parties' proposed order would do that."

"The dispute is about whether a narrow category of already non-public information should be accessible only to attorneys rather than the parties," the spokesperson said, adding, "This additional protection would ensure that the defendants who have committed to spending $100 million to destroying Ms. Lively and her family do not have access to information that only attorneys need to see."

Baldoni's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment by BI.

• Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto fraudster serving a 25-year sentence, spoke with Tucker Carlson from behind bars.
• Bankman-Fried is bunking near Sean "Diddy" Combs, who is facing sex trafficking charges.
• Bankman-Fried said he's made friends and they play chess.

Sam Bankman-Fried talked life behind bars in a wide-ranging jailhouse interview with Tucker Carlson.

Between crypto chatter and sharing his strategies for making friends in jail, Bankman-Fried also opened up about living alongside Sean "Diddy" Combs in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center where both men are being held.

"He's been kind," Bankman-Fried said of Diddy. The rapper was arrested last year and is awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in late 2023 at a criminal trial that dissected the fall of FTX, his defunct cryptocurrency exchange.

He is serving a 25-year prison sentence.

"I've made some friends," Bankman-Fried told the former Fox News anchor. "It's a weird environment. It's sort of a combination of a few other high profile cases and then a lot of, you know, ex gangsters, alleged ex gangsters."

The interview with Carlson prompted Mark Botnick, Bankman-Fried's media representative, to resign. He told Business Insider he was not aware that Carlson was planning to interview Bankman-Fried and had no involvement with it.

On-camera interviews from prisons and jails are unusual in the United States. The Metropolitan Detention Center, where Bankman-Fried is incarcerated while appealing his criminal conviction, is equipped with video teleconferencing equipment typically used for inmates to communicate with their lawyers. A representative for the jail declined to comment on Bankman-Fried's interview with Carlson but said that video interviews can be arranged with members of the media.

Here's what Bankman-Fried and Carlson talked about:

Hanging out with Sean "Diddy" Combs

Carlson posted a video of the 40-minute interview on social media on Thursday. He called Bankman-Fried and Combs "two of the most famous prisoners in the world," asking Bankman-Fried what it's like living in such close quarters.

"I've only seen one piece of him, which is Diddy in prison. He's been kind to people in the unit. He's been kind to me. It's a position no one wants to be in. Obviously, he doesn't, I don't," Bankman-Fried said. "It's kind of a soul crushing place for the world in general, and what we see are just the people that are around us on the inside rather than who we are on the outside."

Bankman-Fried also said that other inmates have challenged his chess skills.

"They're good at chess. That's one thing I learned," Bankman-Fried told Carlson. "Former armed robbers who don't speak English and probably didn't graduate middle school — a surprising number are surprisingly good at chess."

The unflagging passage of time

Bankman-Fried turned 33 on Thursday but downplayed the milestone to Carlson.

"You're not going to tell Diddy it's your birthday tomorrow? I don't believe you," Tucker joked during the interview, which was apparently filmed Wednesday.

"Someone else might, but I'm not," Bankman-Fried replied.

Bankman-Fried says he expects to be in his late 40s when released from prison — if he's not pardoned first.

When Carlson asked whether he thinks he'll make it that long, the ex-crypto mogul said he didn't know.

Jail economics

In a world with no money — much less cryptocurrency — inmates use muffins as a medium of exchange, Bankman-Fried said.

Bankman-Fried said he hoards muffins as part of the "muffin economy" but doesn't eat them. He sticks to rice and beans and ramen noodles, he said.

"The scale of everything is so diminished in prison, you see people fighting over a single banana," Bankman-Fried said.

Crypto policy under Donald Trump's presidency

Trump has overseen far friendlier crypto policies than former President Joe Biden, having already dropped numerous cases against crypto companies.

Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty of defrauding customers and investors of his cryptocurrency exchange, said less government involvement in individual finances is a good thing.

"If you look at what Trump said going into office, there are a lot of good things," Bankman-Fried said.

But he said that, in order to shift things in the right direction, Trump would have to take on financial regulators.

"Changing the guard helps. But financial regulators — they're big, giant bureaucracies in the federal government," he said.

Having children

Bankman-Fried discussed his effective altruism philosophy with Carlson, explaining that he prioritized actions that did the most good to the most people.

Carlson asked Bankman-Fried where children fit into his worldview.

"Is having children part of your effective altruism philosophy?" Carlson asked Bankman-Fried.

Bankman-Fried responded that he felt like his employees at FTX were his children.

"For five years, I felt like I had 300 children, most days: my employees. Obviously, I couldn't be a father to all of them. But I felt responsible for them."

Carlson took the point further.

"Have any of those 300 employees visited you in jail?" Carlson asked.

Bankman-Fried said that none had.

"Probably ought to have some real kids at some point, don't you think? Because when things go bad, they tend to stick around," Carlson told Bankman-Fried, who is set to spend the next two decades in prison.

• Dolly Parton's husband of 58 years, Carl Dean, died on March 3 at the age of 82.
• Parton thanked those who reached out to pay their respects in her first statement since his death.
• Parton also referenced her hit song, "I Will Always Love You," in her post.

Dolly Parton thanked loved ones and fans for their sympathies on Thursday in her first public statement since announcing the death of Carl Dean, her husband of 58 years.

Dean died on Monday at the age of 82. In an Instagram post announcing his death on March 3, Parton wrote that he would be "laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending."

On Thursday, Parton shared another statement expressing gratitude to those who had reached out to express their condolences.

"This is a love note to family, friends, and fans. Thank you for all the messages, cards, and flowers that you've sent to pay your respects for the loss of my beloved husband Carl," Parton wrote on Instagram. "I can't reach out personally to each of you, but just know it has meant the world to me."

"He is in God's arms now, and I am okay with that. I will always love you," the post continued, referencing Parton's 1973 single that the late Whitney Houston later recorded for the "The Bodyguard" soundtrack.

Throughout their nearly six-decade marriage, Dean remained out of the public eye despite serving as the inspiration behind hits such as "Jolene" and her latest bestselling album, "Rockstar."

Award shows and stages weren't Dean's forte, but the couple did share a love of Taco Bell and Southern cooking, Parton previously told Business Insider.