• OpenAI unveiled Operator, its first AI agent, for ChatGPT Pro subscribers in the US.
• It can complete tasks autonomously, like booking reservations or buying groceries.
• The agent is powered by a new model built in GPT-4o called CUA.

Experts predicted that 2025 would be the year AI agents go mainstream, and OpenAI is delivering on that forecast.

On Thursday, OpenAI unveiled Operator, a system that can use a web browser to do everything from booking travel reservations to buying products.

While chatbots like OpenAI's popular ChatGPT use generative AI to respond to queries, Operator is an agent that performs tasks autonomously.

Operator will be available Thursday in the United States for ChatGPT Pro users, a $200 monthly plan that gives users access to its latest models, including o1. In the coming months, it will also be made available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers, OpenAI's $20 monthly subscription tier, and users in other countries.

During a livestream announcing Operator on Thursday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called the release an "early research preview," adding that it will be refined over the coming months. He said OpenAI will also have more agents to launch in the months ahead.

The interface is similar to ChatGPT, in which users simply prompt Operator with a request, like "book a dinner reservation at 7 p.m." Users can select a specific website through which they want to process the request, like OpenTable in the case of a restaurant reservation, or simply sending the request through a search engine like Google. Operator summarizes its reasoning process in a sidebar so users can quickly identify any step where it might make a mistake, which OpenAI says it's still prone to do.

Operator is powered by CUA, a new model built on GPT-4o, Reiichiro Nakano, a member of the company's technical staff, said in the live stream.

"It's trained to use and control a computer in the same way humans can, by just looking at the screen and using a mouse and keyboard to control it," he said.

The model bypasses the need for APIs, mechanisms that allow software components to communicate with each other, and "unlocks a whole new range of software we can use that was previously inaccessible," Nakano said.

He added that the model removes "one more bottleneck in our path towards AGI."

In a benchmark comparing how AI agents navigate common operating systems, Operator scored 38.1% compared to 72.4% for humans. In another benchmark comparing how AI agents navigate common websites, Operator scored 58.1% compared to 78.2% for humans.

• Trump's order may end remote work for many federal employees.
• Yet, collective bargaining agreements and other factors may affect the return-to-office timeline.
• With only 15% of federal jobs in DC, workers nationwide will be impacted.

If you're a federal employee who works remotely even part of the time, your daily life could soon change.

President Donald Trump's return-to-office order means that the roughly half of federal workers who can sometimes log on from outside the office could spend more time commuting.

Yet how quickly that might play out is unclear, despite Trump's mandate.

Which federal workers will have to go back to the office?

Which federal workers are required back in the office may depend on factors like whether they're covered by a collective bargaining agreement — a contract between an employer and workers — or whether they're eligible for an accommodation to maintain a remote setup. In short, the particulars make the situation difficult to parse for many workers.

"It's a mess," Kristin Alden, an employment attorney in Washington, DC, who often works with federal employees, told Business Insider.

The order also states that it will comply with applicable law.

Vanessa Matsis-McCready, an employment attorney at Engage PEO, which provides HR services, told BI that the wording over applicable law could be an acknowledgment of possible conflicts with collective bargaining agreements. RTO orders that appear to run counter to those could result in workers filing grievances, she said.

Alden said it's unlikely that Trump's order would supersede the collective bargaining agreement for federal workers whose roles are covered by that agreement.

Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, a labor union, told BI that a little over half of federal employees are covered by such agreements.

How will the process work?

For RTO mandates to unfold, she said, agency and department heads will most likely issue an order for workers to come back within a certain period. After that, workers who don't comply will be warned that they're in violation of the policy. They'd then be given time to respond — at least 30 days — before they'd be fired, she said.

It's possible that leaders will show some discretion in how and how quickly they enforce the RTO rules, Alden said.

In the meantime, workers are left wondering what their timeline looks like.

The White House and its supporters could make a big push to propel the RTO effort. In a November op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy wrote that making workers return to the office five days a week "would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome." That effort is part of the Department of Government Efficiency advisory group aimed at slashing federal spending and regulations.

RTO orders won't just affect those in the nation's capital. Only about 15% of all federal jobs are in the Washington, DC, area, according to USAJobs, the government job board.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to BI that Trump signed the order to make the federal government more efficient.

"Study after study shows that employees are more productive, more focused, and more collaborative when working in the office rather than at home," she wrote.

DOGE didn't respond to BI's request for comment.

When will federal workers have to return to office?

Only about half of the 2.28 million civilian federal workers can do their jobs from home. Others, including those providing healthcare to veterans, who staff national parks, or who inspect food supplies, can't work remotely, the government's Office of Management and Budget said in an August report.

Federal workers who can do their jobs remotely and who have an office to report to already spend about 61% of their time working there. According to OMB, 10% of federal employees are fully remote.

Because the wording of Trump's executive order walking back remote work includes the phrase "as soon as practicable," there appears to be some wiggle room for how long it might take for agencies to implement those orders, Matsis-McCready said.

"It signals that we know that there's going to be obstacles that will have to be addressed with this directive," she said.

The mandate requires federal employees in the executive branch, including employees for agencies like the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Labor, to return to the office.

Will there be any accommodations?

Erwin from the National Federation of Federal Employees said that telework is one of the most important concerns for many federal workers outside pay and benefits.

Matsis-McCready said telework, either part time or full-time, can be one allowance granted to a worker who's disabled. There's a process, she said, for how workers can seek these types of adjustments.

Trump's executive order contains the phrase, "agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary." That's another signal there could be some discretion, she said.

Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, wrote in a memo Wednesday that all agency leaders should revise their telework policy by 5 p.m. on Friday to require workers to be at their "duty stations" unless they have a disability, qualifying medical condition, or "other compelling reason certified by the agency head and the employee's supervisor."

One group of federal workers who could be in particular peril, Alden, the DC attorney, said, are those who have had an informal OK — though not an official accommodation — from higher-ups to work remotely because of, say, a medical need.

"Those are the people that I'm most concerned about," she said.

Federal workers should expect some confusion

Donald Kettl, a professor emeritus and former dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, told BI that for a share of those workers who spend part of the time working from home, the change could be enormous. That's especially true, he said, if they joined the government when remote or hybrid setups were commonplace.

Pew Research reports that slightly more than half of the federal government's civilian workforce has been on the job for less than a decade.

Kettl said younger government officials who might have school-age children, for example, could see their lives disrupted.

"For many people, it's going to be very, very, very messy," he said.

Kettl said even things like commutes could get harder as more workers use the roads and rails.

Do you have something to share about your RTO experience? Business Insider would like to hear from you. Email our workplace team from a nonwork device at [email protected] with your story, or to ask for one of our reporter's Signal numbers.

• Nike is aiming for a retail comeback by reducing discounts and focusing on full-price sales.
• CEO Elliott Hill plans to shift away from heavy discounting strategies.
• Nike will prioritize running, basketball, training, football, and sportswear categories.

Nike is trying to make a comeback in the retail space. Its new approach involves offering fewer discounts.

Veteran employee Elliott Hill took over as CEO of the sports giant in October 2024. Hill had left in 2020 after over 30 years at the company, and the Nike he returned to was struggling to regain its former dominance in-store. Sales were also falling.

Nike's plans include walking back some previous business strategies, like offering discounts or shifting its attention away from its relationships with wholesalers.

That will mean fewer markdowns on Nike styles, starting this spring, as the company strives to provide an "elevated" experience for shoppers, Hill said during an interview with Fortune.

Hill told Fortune that Nike has become "too promotional," and it's hurting the business. Nike started the fiscal year with a 50-50 split of full-price and discounted items, he said during the second-quarter 2025 earnings call in December.

"Being premium also means full price. We'll focus on promotions during traditional retail moments, not at the consistent levels we are today," Hill said then.

He told Fortune that discounting is "not great for margin; it's not great for the brand; it's not great for our wholesale partners."

In the months since he became CEO — succeeding John Donahoe — Nike has also made it clear that it's getting back to its roots as an athletic wear brand.

In the future, Nike will prioritize five categories: running, basketball, training, football, and sportswear. Hill told Fortune he'll work to repair relationships with wholesale retailers after Nike distanced itself from them to focus on its direct-to-consumer business.

• Vacations can be a chance to take a break from, not just work, but typical food routines, too.
• That can lead to weight gain, but it's probably water weight, not fat, a dietitian said.
• Weight gained after a vacation is nothing to stress about and is completely normal.

Sometimes the scale can creep up by a few pounds after a trip full of good food and drinks, but it likely won't have a long-term effect on your weight.

Weight gained after a vacation or indulgent weekend is likely caused by water retention, not fat, Kara Mockler, a registered dietitian and training consultant, told Business Insider in 2022.

This can be worrying if you're trying to lose weight, but it's normal after eating more and isn't anything to stress about, Mockler said.

The extra weight usually falls away after you return to your normal diet. In fact, taking a break from your diet while on vacation can even be beneficial in the long run.

Vacation weight gain is often largely water

After a holiday weekend or a vacation, it's normal to see some weight fluctuation. Celebrations and vacations can involve eating foods higher in carbs and salt than your normal diet, and both of these lead to water retention, Mockler said.

"We store carbs as glycogen in our body, and for each gram of glycogen we retain several grams of water right along with it," Mockler said. "Same with salt."

This is why some people feel more bloated after a salty meal.

"So the uptick on the scale after a short period of higher calorie intake is mostly water," Mockler said.

In 2022, actor Rebel Wilson said she gained nearly 7 pounds after a week at an all-inclusive resort.

Personal trainer and fat-loss coach Jordan Syatt estimated that not even a pound of Wilson's holiday weight gain was actually fat.

"When you go on vacation for a weekend, a week, or even two weeks, it's physiologically impossible to gain that much fat," he told BI in 2022. In addition to water weight, the food inside the stomach can actually cause the scale to go up, he added.

A diet break can be beneficial

Eating more food for a short period can give your metabolism a temporary boost due to the energy required to digest it, which is known as the thermic effect of food.

Taking a diet break can also relieve the mental and physical fatigue that can come with prolonged periods in a calorie deficit and lead to greater weight loss.

The key is to get back on track after your vacation ends, Mockler said.

"There's no need to restrict your food or over-exercise, just get back to normal and drink some extra water," she said. "The excess fluid will come off over the next few days, and you'll be right back on track."

• "Call Her Daddy" host Alex Cooper's Unwell Network is moving beyond podcasts.
• A new YouTube channel will host its first short-form series starring BookToker Kierra Lewis.
• Cooper has toured under the Unwell banner and launched an electrolyte drink of the same name.

"Call Her Daddy" host Alex Cooper's Unwell Network is moving beyond podcasts into short-form content with the launch of a new YouTube channel.

The channel is set to debut on February 3 and house Unwell's first original short-form series, "Read It and Weep." The BookTok-focused discussion show will be hosted by creator Kierra Lewis.

Lewis, who has 3 million followers across platforms, will discuss notable books — kicking off with the "Twilight" series — in episodes airing three times monthly.

Unwell Network head Rory Armstrong said in a statement that the channel marks "an exciting new chapter for Unwell, reaffirming our commitment to creating unique, compelling, and impactful content for our ever-growing Gen Z audience."

Unwell launched in 2023 as a subsidiary of Trending, the Gen Z-focused media company cofounded by Cooper and her business partner and husband, media executive Matt Kaplan.

Unwell develops podcasts and has other projects in the works. Its talent roster includes Alix Earle, Madeline Argy, Harry Jowsey, Owen Thiele, Hallie Batchelder, and Grace O'Malley.

It has also acquired existing podcasts, such as the true crime series "Going West" and "Cheers!" hosted by the influencer Avery Woods.

In August, Cooper inked a three-year deal worth a reported $125 million to bring the Unwell slate to SiriusXM.

In addition to its podcasts, Cooped has toured under the Unwell banner. And in December, she unveiled an electrolyte drink called Unwell in partnership with Nestlé.

• A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's order ending birthright citizenship.
• The order was challenged by multiple lawsuits, claiming it violated the 14th Amendment.
• In temporarily halting the order, the Seattle judge called it "blatantly unconstitutional."

A federal judge in Seattle temporarily halted President Donald Trump's controversial executive order denying automatic citizenship for anyone born on US soil, calling the move to end birthright citizenship "blatantly unconstitutional."

"I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that is a constitutional order," US District Judge John Coughenour told the Trump administration's attorneys after hearing arguments Thursday morning, according to multiple news outlets in the courtroom. "It boggles my mind."

"I've been on the bench for over four decades, I can't remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is," the judge added.

The ruling was made in a case brought by four states — Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon. The case is among at least five lawsuits filed this week challenging Trump's birthright citizenship order on the grounds that it violates the 14th Amendment.

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

In the judge's ruling granting a 14-day temporary restraining order, Coughenour wrote, "There is a strong likelihood that Plaintiffs will succeed on the merits of their claims that the Executive Order violates the Fourteenth Amendment and Immigration and Nationality Act."

On Tuesday, attorneys general from a total of 22 states and two cities across the country filed two separate lawsuits in a bid to block the order. A hearing has not yet been held in the first suit, which 18 states and the top law enforcement officers of Washington, DC, and San Francisco had joined.

The lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon argued that the president "has no authority to amend the Constitution or supersede the Citizenship Clause's grant of citizenship to individuals born in the United States. Nor is he empowered by any other constitutional provision or law to determine who shall or shall not be granted United States citizenship at birth."

"United States citizens are entitled to a broad array of rights and benefits as a result of their citizenship," the lawsuit said. "Withholding citizenship or stripping individuals of their citizenship will result in an immediate and irreparable harm to those individuals and to the Plaintiff States."

Trump's order targeting birthright citizenship, titled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," was signed shortly after Trump was sworn into office for a second presidential term on Monday. It was scheduled to take effect 30 days after its signing.

Birthright citizenship is a policy that automatically gives citizenship to anyone born in the US or US territories. Under Trump's executive order, federal agencies would be barred from issuing any documents granting citizenship to US-born children whose parents live in the country illegally, or cases in which the mother was lawfully in the country temporarily — such as a student or tourist — but the father is neither a US citizen or lawful permanent resident.

The ACLU also brought a lawsuit on Monday that said at least 150,000 children would be affected.

Other immigration executive orders Trump signed after he was sworn in included declaring a national emergency, sending the military to the US-Mexico border, shutting down the CBP One app from which immigrants seeking asylum could submit information, and restricting federal funding to sanctuary cities — which have limited cooperation with agents working to deport immigrants in the US illegally.

• Dexter Zhuang achieved Coast FIRE, meaning he doesn't have to continue saving for retirement.
• He determined his 'number' using an online calculator that considers things like age and spending.
• Zhuang used conservative estimates for future expenses and is planning for potential family costs.

Dexter Zhuang doesn't have his eyes set on early retirement. But he likes the peace of mind and career flexibility that comes with financial independence.

That's why "Cosat FIRE," an offshoot of the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement, appealed to him.

Achieving Coast FIRE means you don't have to continue contributing to your retirement accounts — the current amount will grow and compound enough over time to support your retirement goals, allowing you to "coast" into your golden years.

"Coast FIRE is a place where I get more flexibility, but it doesn't mean that I can stop working because I still need to cover my expenses on a day-to-day basis," Zhuang, who quit the corporate world and ultimately took a pay cut to work for himself, told Business Insider. "For me, that's fine. It's motivating, and I can still work on something that I enjoy to pay for those expenses. Anything that's extra, I can continue to invest into retirement or for saving for a family or whatever other saving goals I have."

Calculating his Coast FIRE number

Zhuang determined his Coast FIRE number using an online calculator from WalletBurst. The calculator considers your current age, retirement age, annual spending in retirement, and other factors.

When he first used the calculator in 2023, he was 31 and assumed he'd work well into his 60s.

"I don't see myself as someone who wants to retire early and stop working. The retirement age that I put into the Coast FIRE calculator is 67," said Zhuang, who does freelance consulting for startup CEOs and runs a newsletter called Money Abroad.

As for retirement expenses, he assumed he'd spend $60,000 a year — or, $5,000 a month.

"I used our annual spend while we were living in Singapore as the basis," said Zhuang, who moved to Southeast Asia in 2020 after starting his career in the Bay Area. He doesn't consider Singapore an inexpensive city, though it was cheaper than San Francisco, where his average monthly expenses came out to about $6,500.

"When I moved from San Francisco to Singapore, I ended up with a higher take-home pay due to that lower cost of living," he said, noting that taxes were also "lower for me in Singapore than in San Francisco, in terms of my effective tax rate."

Zhuang says that his average spending has decreased to about $3,500 since moving to Mexico City with his wife in 2024. Still, he prefers to be conservative with his Coast FIRE calculations and is assuming he'll spend $5,000 a month in retirement.

The calculator asks for an annualized investment growth rate. Zhuang, who has 65% of his portfolio invested in stock funds like VTSAX and VOO, assumed 7%. It also asks for an inflation rate — Zhuang used 3% — and a safe withdrawal rate, which he set at 4%.

The last two inputs are your current invested assets and monthly contribution.

Zhuang prefers not to share his exact net worth but said that he earned an average income of $133,000 between 2013 and 2022 and was saving roughly 35% of his income. BI confirmed that he hit his six-figure Coast FIRE number by looking at screenshots of his savings and investment accounts.

Here's an example of what someone in their early 30s expecting to work into their mid-60s may need to save to hit Coast FIRE, using the WalletBurst calculator:

Planning for a more expensive future

Zhuang recognizes that his expenses may change in the future, especially if he and his wife start a family.

"I had achieved the number based on my current spending," he said. "We would like to have a family so, of course, those numbers may change. This is really a number that applies to my current situation versus the family situation. But it does give me more flexibility now."

He's actively saving for kids and other future costs. He keeps about 15% of his portfolio in cash — he prefers high-yield savings accounts and four-week US treasury bills — and those savings do not count as retirement money. He also has a small percentage of his portfolio invested in startups, which he also excludes from his retirement calculation.

"I think about it as safely Coast FIRE-ing," he said.

While he plans to continue growing his newsletter and freelance consulting business, that could also change and lead him to pursue early retirement.

"Maybe I'll hate work at some point," he said. "But for now, I see myself as enjoying it."

• President Donald Trump addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.
• BI's Spriha Srivastava was in the room where CEOs and leaders listened to him speak.
• They laughed but also sat silent as he bashed the EU and indulged in his campaign-trail rhetoric.

If you didn't know President Donald Trump had taken the oath of office three days before, you might have thought his speech at Davos' Congress Hall was a campaign event.

Trump's virtual address on Thursday afternoon drew a massive crowd at the Swiss event, with people lining up outside the 700-seater hall.

As he was introduced, the room erupted in applause. Trump began by congratulating the World Economic Forum on organizing the conference, but he quickly pivoted to his signature "America First" rhetoric. When he discussed limiting "transgender surgeries," a few people around me sighed in disappointment.

A panel of top CEOs from around the world posed questions. When Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman asked about Europe, Trump didn't hold back, voicing his frustration with European regulations. His remarks left many European leaders in the audience stone-faced. The room was silent. Frustration over European regulations has been a recurring theme this year — perhaps Trump's blunt message made that even clearer.

The mood lightened when Trump joked about offering Canada the chance to become the 51st state, with laughter across the room. "He has a way of keeping the crowd engaged," the person next to me said.

The audience laughed when Trump told the WEF president, Børge Brende, that China's leader, Xi Jinping, had phoned him, not the other way around.

But one of the biggest moments came when Ana Botín, the executive chair of Santander, introduced herself by subtly challenging Trump's familiarity with her. "You may not know me as well as the other panelists," she said before adding that Santander's global customer base was larger than that of Bank of America, whose CEO, Brian Moynihan, was onstage with her, or JPMorgan. The audience erupted in laughter, and I heard someone whisper, "Go Europe."

After the speech, a journalist sitting next to me said it was a "missed opportunity" for Trump. "I don't think he said anything we haven't heard before, but he had a real opportunity to engage with leaders here," he said.

One delegate, a woman in a dark-blue suit, said afterward that she'd left the hall at the "transgender surgeries" remark. "I couldn't listen to it," she said.

Trump's speech reminded me how different his style is from the measured, diplomatic tone that usually defines Davos. Whether his message landed the way he intended, however, is another question.

• Erik Buhrow bought a home in Japan for $26,000 while he was still living in the US.
• Buhrow, who grew up in Japan, plans to return at some point when his career is over.
• In the meantime, he plans to rent out his home to the Americans looking to move to Japan.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Erik Buhrow, who bought a house in Japan's Niigata Prefecture through AkiyaMart, a site that helps foreigners buy abandoned Japanese homes known as akiyas. Buhrow, 39, runs a construction business outside Minneapolis.

A lot of people born and raised in Minnesota stay here forever. I've only been here about 10 years.

It can feel like anybody who has any sort of money bought a cabin in northern Minnesota back in the day — when you could. Now, if you want to buy a cabin up north, you're spending $300,000 for a starter shack in the tundra.

Would I rather spend $300,000 on a cabin in northern Minnesota or $30,000 for a cabin in Japan — a country I'm from, I'm accustomed to, and I actually enjoy going to?

I purchased an akiya in Japan this year. I closed on it in July and I did everything remotely over the course of three months.

I did not visit Japan to see the house or do anything. I worked with a real-estate agent who went there and FaceTimed me. Because I'm in construction and I am used to Japan, I was like, "Yeah, I'm willing to pull the trigger without going there."

It's roughly 3,000 square feet and about 150 years old. The Japanese would classify it as eight bedrooms, but I would classify it as six. There are two extra rooms that they would consider bedrooms, but because of their lack of closets, I'm going to call them bonus rooms. There's a two-car garage, one bathroom, and multiple really open living room spaces in an old-school style.

All in with the taxes and the real-estate fees and everything, it was $26,000.

A lot of people say, "The prices are really good, but the insurance and the taxes are going to get you." They don't. My insurance for $200,000 of replacement costs me a little under $500 a year. I actually bought five years' worth of home insurance at once.

My taxes are $183 a year. In Japan, homes over 22 years old are depreciated, so that $183 is just on the land. There's no tax on the house because it's ancient.

I own my home in Burnsville, Minnesota. It's very similar — 3,000 square feet, a garage. I bought it in 2017 for $300,000, and my taxes have gone — from 2017 to now — from $3,000 a year to about $5,000 a year.

I may be a little bit cavalier about the situation. I knew that no matter how bad the house is, it's nothing that I haven't seen. I just felt like, if I don't go visit it, but it's in the location that I want, that's what real estate is about. That's what these houses are really about. You can fix things, you can make the house better or worse, but you can't move it.

I grew up in Japan and long to move back for retirement

I grew up in Japan, so it helped make the decision easier. I grew up on a US military base in Misawa, Japan, in the Aomori Prefecture. My mom was a government teacher, so I lived there for an extended amount of time.

I officially moved to the United States when I went to college. But when I grew up in Japan, I had a huge desire to own property there, but it was always seen as impossible. My mom, my sister, and my brother-in-law, who's half Japanese, just always accepted it as something you can't do — that it's too complicated, or you have to get residency.

I reached out to AkiyaMart for a consultation. They pitched me on being the pilot person for their buyer program. I think it worked out perfectly.

My biggest aim was to be surrounded by the culture of Japan. I grew up on a military base, so I know what it's like to be around foreigners in Japan. Tokyo and Osaka are very tourist-driven, and it can be really difficult to learn the language and truly learn the customs.

The Sea of Japan, or western, side of the country is known for not being very heavily touristed or westernized. The house I bought is on the southern portion of the Tohoku region of Japan. You still get snow, but the architecture as you get further south in Japan gets to be, in my opinion, more beautiful. You have tile roofs and things of that nature. If you go north, you get more flat metal roofs.

Because I'm in construction, I care about home design. So this was a beautiful in-between spot where I could enjoy a southern-style home, but in a snowy northern climate, and also still be close to Tokyo.

The closest city-slash-train stop for the bullet train is 20 minutes away. I can hop on the bullet train and be in Tokyo 90 minutes later.

The prices in that area are lower because it is more remote. It allows you to explore in this adventure of buying a foreign property without having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I plan to rent out my akiya to other Americans weighing moves to Japan

I'm also in the process of buying another akiya property two minutes down the street. The original premise to buy the second home is based on my sister and brother-in-law, who both grew up in Japan.

In the meantime, I'm hoping that I can turn the second home into a long-term-stay place. I can allow people thinking about doing the same thing that I'm doing to stay there one to three months while they try and figure out is this something that might be a fit for them.

Because people are curious and they're interested in living in Japan, but they don't know if it would work. Somebody could go, "Hey, Erik, I want to stay in your house for a month, use your car, use your Wi-Fi, and figure out if this area fits my goals."

Or maybe my renters will want to work remotely in Japan for an extended amount of time.

My life goal would be to retire in Japan. However, because of visas and complications, it's not that easy.

I look at buying the akiyas as a new adventure in life, a new chapter. If you're not continuing to write new chapters in your book, then it gets kind of boring to read.

• I made Ina Garten's chicken pot pie soup, which she developed after seeing it in an airport.
• The soup features peas, carrots, leeks, fennel, pearl onions, and homemade puff pastry croutons. 
• Garten's comforting chicken pot pie soup is one of the best soups I've made this winter.

Winter is all about Barefoot Contessa soups in my home.

I've warmed my family and friends' souls with Ina Garten's chicken chili, winter minestrone, and ravioli en brodo. I'm also a champion of her homemade chicken stock, which is truly liquid gold.

I'm trying to whip up as many soups as possible before this season ends, and nothing sounds more comforting than her chicken pot pie soup.

Here's how it went.

Ina Garten's chicken pot pie soup was inspired by a dish she spotted at an airport.

Garten shares the origin story for chicken pot pie soup in her 2020 cookbook, "Modern Comfort Food."

"This was a little crazy," she writes in the recipe's intro. "I was walking through an airport once and spotted chicken pot pie soup on a restaurant menu. What a good idea!"

"It was actually harder to make than it sounded — my first few attempts just tasted like chicken pot pie filling, not soup," she added. "This one, though, hit all the right comforting notes, with good chicken stock, roasted chicken, and puff pastry croutons."

Garten's chicken pot pie soup is packed with colorful veggies.

To make Garten's soup for a serving of 6, you'll need:

• 3 chicken breasts, skin-on, bone-in (2.5 to 3 pounds total)
• 7 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 5 medium-sized carrots, peeled and chopped or diced
• 3 leeks, white and light-green parts chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 fennel, tops and cores removed, chopped
• 1 cup frozen whole pearl onions
• 1 10-ounce bag frozen peas
• ¾ cup cream sherry
• ¼ cup Wondra flour
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
• 1 piece of Italian Parmesan cheese rind (Garten recommends 2-inch x 3-inch)

The soup is served with easy puff pastry croutons, which only require a few ingredients.

To make 12 croutons for the chicken pot pie soup, you'll need:

• 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, such as Pepperidge Farm, defrosted
• 1 extra-large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon heavy cream for the egg wash
• All-purpose flour
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Before starting my soup, I needed to roast the chicken.

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then placed my three chicken breasts on a sheet pan with the skin side up.

I rubbed the skin of each chicken with olive oil, then generously seasoned them with salt and pepper.

Garten says to roast the chicken for 35 minutes, until the thermometer registers 130 to 140 degrees, then set it aside until the meat is cool enough to handle.

I also prepped my veggies.

I chopped the fennel, tarragon leaves, and carrots and minced my garlic.

Per Garten's instructions, I took extra care with the leeks.

Garten says you should cut off the leeks' dark green leaves at a 45-degree angle. Then, chop the white and light green parts from each leek and wash them well in a bowl of water.

She notes that wet leeks will steam rather than sauté in the soup and recommends drying them in a salad spinner. If you don't have one at home, you can just pat them dry in a paper towel — it did the trick for me.

Once all my veggies were ready, I threw them in a big pot with melted butter.

I melted the butter over medium heat before throwing in the leeks, fennel, and carrots.

I sautéed the veggies over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Garten notes that the leeks should be tender but not browned.

After sautéeing the carrots, leeks, and fennel, I added the garlic and tarragon and cooked everything together for an additional minute.

I sprinkled the flour over my aromatics and let everything cook for two more minutes.

Garten says you should be stirring the pot constantly during this step.

Then, I added half a cup of sherry.

While cooking, I didn't realize that I was using dry sherry instead of cream sherry, which Garten specifies in her recipe. Truthfully, I haven't cooked with sherry much and just grabbed the first bottle I saw at the supermarket.

But the soup still tasted fantastic, so I wouldn't stress too much if dry sherry is all you have on hand.

I also threw in the chicken stock and Parmesan rind.

I seasoned the broth with 4 teaspoons of salt and 1½ teaspoons of pepper.

As I brought the soup to a boil, my kitchen filled with the most incredible smell.

My boyfriend's roommates returned from a trip while we were cooking and immediately came into the kitchen to see what was on the stove.

I then lowered the heat and let my soup simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes.

While the soup was simmering, I removed the meat from the chicken bones and diced it into 1-inch pieces.

As my soup continued to simmer, I made my puff pastry croutons.

I first preheated the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and lined a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Then, I lightly dusted my cutting board with flour and unfolded a sheet of puff pastry on the board. Make sure you've properly thawed your puff pastry beforehand. You can defrost it overnight in your refrigerator or let it sit on the counter for 45 minutes before you whip up the croutons.

I dusted the puff pastry with flour and lightly rolled the sheet to smooth out any folds. You can use a rolling pin for this step, or just use your bottle of sherry!

Whatever rolling tool you pick, just make sure to dust it with some flour so it doesn't stick.

I used a fluted cookie cutter to make 12 croutons.

Garten recommends using star-shaped or fluted round cookie cutters, but next time, I might try dicing the puff pastry instead so I can have bite-sized croutons that are easier to eat with each spoonful.

I placed the croutons on my sheet pan and brushed each top with the egg wash.

I had plenty of dough left over after I cut my 12 croutons, so I made extra — there's no need to waste good puff pastry!

I seasoned each crouton with salt and pepper and then threw my pan into the oven for 10 minutes.

Every oven is different, so I recommend checking on them around the 8-minute mark. You'll know the croutons are ready when they're puffed and golden brown.

While my croutons were baking, I added the chicken, peas, and pearl onions to my soup.

I let the soup simmer, uncovered, for an additional five minutes.

Then, I took my soup off the heat, removed the Parmesan rind, and added another ¼ cup of sherry.

This is also when I added the minced parsley.

I took my croutons out of the oven and served them on top of each bowl of soup, which genuinely resembled chicken pot pie.

I'm truly thankful to whatever airport had chicken pot pie soup on its menu because Garten's recipe is the comfort meal of dreams.

Her homemade chicken stock is so silky, delicious, and rich that I've already come to terms with the fact I'll never be able to use store-bought stock again. All the veggies made each sip deliciously hearty and kept the soup in line with the spirit of pot pie, and I loved how much tender chicken I got with each spoonful. The fluffy and buttery croutons were such a fun and indulgent addition and were even more delicious after soaking up all that broth.

My boyfriend Peter loved this dish so much he declared it's the best soup we've made all winter — and we've made a lot.

Garten's chicken pot pie soup has earned a permanent spot in my soup rotation.

I've discovered a real love for making homemade soups, and this Barefoot Contessa recipe is easily one of my favorites.

While it takes some time and prep, Garten's chicken pot pie soup is worth the extra effort. It's hearty, comforting, and truly soothes every inch of the soul. It's perfect for a nice winter dinner or as a gift to a friend or family member under the weather.

It's the kind of soup that core memories are made from.

• Netflix's political thriller series "The Night Agent" was renewed for season three in October.
• Returning star Gabriel Basso (Peter Sutherland) will be joined by Stephen Moyer and Jennifer Morrison.
• There's no release date yet for season three, but production is underway.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for season two of Netflix's "The Night Agent."

"The Night Agent" is back after almost two years.

The political thriller series stars Gabriel Basso as an FBI agent named Peter Sutherland. After saving the president of the United States at the end of season one, Peter returns for season two as an official night agent for Night Action, an off-the-record counter intelligence program within the FBI.

"The Night Agent," which is Netflix's seventh most popular series of all time, scored an early season three renewal back in October, months before the debut of season two.

"I don't know how long this show will go," creator, showrunner, and executive producer Shawn Ryan told Business Insider. "It obviously had a very successful first season, so I hope it has a long run."

Here's what to expect when "The Night Agent" returns for season three.

The 'Night Agent' season 2 ending leaves a cliffhanger that will spill into next season

Season two of "The Night Agent" introduces two important new characters, a broker who buys and sells intel named Jacob Monroe (Louis Herthum), and Gov. Richard Hagan (Ward Horton), who's running for president of the United States.

The two met eight years prior and struck a deal: Monroe would do some digging to find something to "edge out the competition" for Hagan.

As part of a plot to stop the release of a deadly chemical called KX, Peter steals a case file from the secretary of the United Nations for Monroe in exchange for the location of the mobile lab where the chemical is being manufactured and where Rose is being held hostage.

Monroe then gives the tape to Hagan in order to help secure his presidency.

The stolen tape connects presidential candidate Patrick Knox (Geoffrey Owens) to Foxlgove, a classified chemical weapons program. Knox oversaw Foxglove and the sale of KX to Viktor Bala (Dikran Tulaine), a war criminal who was convicted of using the compound on his own people.

After the news breaks, Knox withdraws from the presidential race with just two weeks until the general election, making Hagan's win basically guaranteed and the demand for an intelligence broker even higher.

To compensate for unknowingly aiding and abetting the swinging of a presidential election, Catherine Weaver (Amanda Warren), Peter's Night Action boss, offers him a new mission: Peter will wait for Monore's next call, do what's asked, gain his trust, and figure out the exact nature of Monroe and Hagan's relationship and expose it.

Ryan told BI that he didn't start season two with the intention that Monroe and Hagan would be crucial to the plot of season three. Instead, that decision came later in the process.

"They were an integral part of season two and the story we were trying to tell there," Ryan said. "And then we just decided that there was more story to tell with Jacob Monroe and that this cliffhanger that we could end on that felt like it was an appropriate end to the season two events, but gave us some runway for our mission in season three with Peter."

New cast members include Stephen Moyer and Jennifer Morrison

Each season of "The Night Agent" typically features Basso with a fresh cast and a new storyline. So far, Netflix has confirmed a handful of actors joining season three.

Jennifer Morrison ("Once Upon a Time"), Stephen Moyer ("True Blood"), David Lyons ("Truth Be Told"), Genesis Rodriguez ("The Umbrella Academy"), and Callum Vinson ("Chucky") will appear as series regulars.

Details about their characters haven't been revealed, but Deadline reported that Moyer will play a hitman, Morrison will star as the first lady, Lyons will portray a former spy, and Rodriguez will play a reporter.

Plus, "How I Met Your Father" star Suraj Sharma will have a recurring role.

'The Night Agent' season 3 release date hasn't been announced

Like past installments, season three will consist of 10 episodes. Production began in Istanbul at the end of 2024, and filming will take place in New York this year.

"We're still working on season three," Ryan told BI. "We have started filming, but we haven't finished writing season three."

With production underway, season three of "The Night Agent" could premiere in 2026.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

• Ellen Davis, a writer, said she was targeted by a fake job scam while seeking remote work.
• The scam involved impersonating HR representatives and requesting personal information, according to screenshots.
• Davis warned others to trust their instincts and be cautious of unusual job processes or requests.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ellen Davis, a New York-based writer. Her identity has been verified, and BI has viewed screenshots from her correspondences. This essay has been edited for length and clarity.

For many, many years, I've worked as a marketing and promotion writer and producer at major networks and companies like People Magazine.

My last role ended a few months ago and I've been actively looking for work. I was primarily going after remote copywriter roles and I was having a hard time getting even a nibble.

Earlier this month, I got a text from a potential job that I had applied for, which seemed a little odd, but I thought, 'Okay, it's a whole new world out there. Technology has changed and maybe this is how representatives are contacting people.'

They said they liked my résumé and thought I would be a great fit.

I wasn't surprised to hear from the company. The name was familiar because I did apply there and I immediately checked the names that they were using on LinkedIn and they were actual HR representatives from the company.

So I started to communicate.

It was a scam

The person texting me told me to contact someone on Google Chat, which also should have been a red flag — but I did it. Her original message said, "We need to hear from you ASAP," and I thought, I'm not going to interview on a weekend. I said I would be available on Monday.

We never had a Zoom call. We never spoke on the phone. She sent me a series of questions asking why I'm the best fit for the job and what my qualifications are.

Things started getting odd when she asked me what my credit score was. I should have ended things right there, but instead, I said, "Honestly, I don't know what my credit score is."

Then she told me what a good job I did and said she was going to present me to the board of directors, which seemed preposterous to me that a copywriter job would go before the board of directors.

At that point, I really started to feel a little odd, so I went on LinkedIn and I wrote messages to the two people from the actual company whose names were used in these fraudulent communications with me.

While I was waiting to hear back from them, the person on Google Chat said the board of directors was very impressed with my credentials and they'd like to hire me as a copywriter. As soon as she said that, she also sent a list of equipment she was going to send to me to be able to do the job, including a 15-inch MacBook, headset, laminator, and printer. As a writer, I thought I would just send a file — why would I have to laminate?

I then saw I had a message on LinkedIn. It was the woman from the actual company who confirmed the Google Chat exchange was a scam and said the company would never contact me via text or Google Chat.

Immediately, I blocked the scammers.

Trust your instincts

The scammers strung me along for at least four or five hours. If I'm going to interview at a company, I research the company. I take pages of notes that I have in front of me when I'm going to go through an interview.

I've heard of this scam before, where they require you to have all this technology in order to perform the job and they send you a check to cover the cost of it and the check turns out to be fraudulent. I have a feeling that's where it was heading.

I'm mortified that I didn't pick up on these signals, but I was eager to move things forward. It was a company that promoted sustainability and I just thought this would have been fascinating work and something that I actually believe in.

I've applied to a few more jobs since, but my heart's a little broken that I fell for this and I definitely don't feel confident at the moment.

There's so much cruelty out there and it can feel like everyone is just trying to separate you from your money and your dignity. We have to protect each other a little bit.

That's why I'm trying to put this out there: If you feel something is wrong, it's likely wrong — very rarely do you get that sense of uncomfortableness in a legitimate interview.

You might be nervous. You might be tense. But if you feel something's wrong, trust your instinct.

• I purchased Virgin Voyages' $250 "A Splash for Your Bash" package to celebrate my 30th birthday.
• Our drinks at the bottomless brunch were good, but we could've bought them for only $25 per person.
• We didn't take advantage of many of the package perks, so this add-on wasn't a great value for us.

My childhood best friend and I always said we would celebrate our 30th birthdays in style. So, to ring in this milestone year, we decided to go big and book a five-day Mayan Sol cruise with Virgin Voyages.

Because this was a big celebration and we hadn't seen each other for a while, I decided to purchase Virgin Voyages' "A Splash for Your Bash" party-planning package as an add-on to our cruise.

The package costs $250 per cabin and includes a bottomless brunch, a dinner party with curated drinks and desserts, and a bottle of Moët & Chandon. It's valued at $375, so I thought it seemed like a great deal.

Here's what I thought of the package.

The bottomless brunch felt a bit underwhelming

We opted to have our bottomless brunch at Razzle Dazzle — a vegetarian-forward restaurant also accessible to Virgin Voyages passengers who didn't purchase the package.

However, as package holders, we got to take advantage of bottomless drinks, including cocktails and rosé, during our meal.

For food, my friend ordered avocado toast and mushroom "tartare," and I opted for a fried-chicken sandwich.

The service and restaurant were fun and vibrant, and the drinks were tasty. However, neither of us enjoyed our meals, as we felt our dishes were bland and overcooked.

Plus, according to the menu, the bottomless drinks would have cost passengers without the package only $25 per person — so, at the end of the day, this perk didn't feel like it was that great of a value.

However, the dinner party at The Wake felt extra special

For the dinner-party portion of our package, we chose to eat at The Wake, Virgin Voyages' take on a steakhouse-meets-fine-dining restaurant. Although all passengers were able to dine here, our package gave us access to specialty beverages and desserts, as well as an upgraded menu.

When we walked in, I was wowed by the beautiful interior design. Our table was decked out with birthday decorations, and a staff member even gave us a Polaroid camera to use as we ate. We were also served sparkling wine upon arrival.

As part of the experience, we had access to premium menu items that passengers without the package could purchase for an additional cost. Although we didn't take advantage of these items, I very much enjoyed my filet mignon, which was cooked to a perfect medium-well temperature. For the wine pairing, I opted for a glass of red, which our server refilled during the meal.

My vegetarian friend wasn't interested in any of the entrée options, but she was perfectly happy ordering all sides, including asparagus, creamed spinach, fries, and a twice-baked potato served with caramelized onions. She also ordered a mix of white and red wines to pair with her food.

I was curious to see what the curated desserts promised in this package would be like, but after we finished our meal, the wait staff cleared our table without asking if we wanted anything else.

Though we didn't take advantage of many of the package perks during dinner, we thought the food we did get was delicious. In fact, our dinner at The Wake was our favorite meal of the trip.

I wish we'd received our bottle of Moët & Chandon sooner

As part of the "A Splash for Your Bash" package, we were excited to receive a bottle of Moët & Chandon — which costs about $45 at most liquor stores — in our cabin. This is considered an upgrade from the complimentary bottle of bubbly passengers without the package receive in their cabin.

However, even after following up with the sailor-services crew, we didn't receive the beverage until the last evening of our five-day trip. The bottle was also delivered without an ice bucket or glasses, and I wished it had been chilled before we got it.

Though this may have been a one-off issue specific to our cruise, we still felt disappointed.

Overall, the 'A Splash for Your Bash' package wasn't that great of a value for us

Overall, we didn't feel the "A Splash for Your Bash" package was a great value for us.

Without the $250 package, we could've paid just a little extra money to get bottomless brunch at Razzle Dazzle or choose from The Wake's wine-pairing menu.

We also didn't end up using every perk we could have, like ordering from the premium menu at The Wake. The Moët & Chandon was a nice perk, though we wish it had been chilled and delivered to our cabin sooner.

Unless you decide to take advantage of all the perks included in "A Splash for Your Bash," I don't think it's worth the money.

• SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has been a champion of AI for years.

• The Japanese conglomerate has invested millions in some of Silicon Valley's biggest tech companies.
• Son joined OpenAI and Oracle to announce a $500 billion joint investment in US AI projects.

Masayoshi Son is the CEO and founder of tech and telecommunications giant SoftBank, and is worth an estimated $16.2 billion.

Through SoftBank and the $100 billion Vision Fund, Son has invested millions in some of Silicon Valley's biggest tech companies, including Uber, Slack, Amazon, Tesla, and Netflix. Softbank was the biggest investor in WeWork, losing more than $4.7 billion after the coworking company's failed IPO. 

In November 2024, SoftBank reported quarterly profit of 1.18 trillion yen, or $7.7 billion at the time. It was the firm's biggest profit in two years; revenue was boosted by Son's big bets on AI.

Over the years, Son has been a big proponent of the tech, and has invested billions, including in OpenAI.

Now, Son's company is partnering with other tech leaders to fund a $500 billion investment in US AI. He joined President Donald Trump, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Oracle CTO Larry Ellison on January 21 to announce Stargate, a project that seeks to build US AI infrastructure and create jobs.

Here's a look at Son's life, career, investments, and real-estate portfolio.

Son was born in 1957 to Korean immigrants on the Japanese island of Kyushu.

The 67-year-old CEO was one of four brothers, and his father worked at restaurants, farms, and fisheries.

In 1972, when he was 16, Son met one of his business idols.

He met McDonald's Japan founder Den Fujita, who encouraged him to go study in the United States. Son took his advice and moved to San Francisco the next year to continue high school, Bloomberg reported.

Son went on to study computer science and economics at the University of California at Berkeley.

Before he was 21 years old, Son sold his first company, a multilingual translator bought by Sharp for about $1 million, according to Bloomberg.

In the 1980s, Son founded SoftBank, a company that today pours billions of dollars of capital into tech startups, including through its Vision Fund.

Through its main investment vehicle, the Vision Fund, SoftBank has invested in major tech companies like Uber, WeWork, DoorDash, and Chinese e-commerce retailer Alibaba.

Son's investment strategies are considered unconventional in Silicon Valley.

The size of Son's $100 billion Vision Fund and its investment strategies have shocked Silicon Valley investors, per Bloomberg. 

In early 2019, Fast Company called Son "the most powerful person in Silicon Valley" for his ambitious vision — and financial means — to transform industries from real estate to food to transportation through his investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Son's talks with Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman helped raise $100 billion for the Vision Fund.

Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, met with Son in 2018, and their talks led to the formation of a solar energy project that seeks to develop more energy storage systems and create more jobs in Saudi Arabia, according to an announcement.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is the SoftBank Vision Fund's largest backer, having contributed $45 billion of the fund's $100 billion bankroll, Bloomberg reported.

The SoftBank CEO is known for paying his executives handsomely — and he's far from the highest-paid person at the company.

Six of SoftBanks' top executives made $83 million combined (9.1 billion yen) in compensation in 2018, while Son's salary rose to about $2.1 million (229 million yen), according to Bloomberg.

"The range of executive salaries in Japan has gone up, but compensation in the billions of yen is still unheard of beyond a handful of global companies," Noriko Watanabe, a partner at Heidrick & Struggles, an executive search company, told Bloomberg in 2019.

The head of SoftBank's Vision Fund made $15 million in 2019 — despite the fund losing billions of dollars — while its COO made more than $19 million, per Reuters. Son himself made just under $2 million.

Son owns millions of dollars worth of property in Tokyo, where SoftBank is headquartered.

In 2013, he spent $326 million on Tokyo's landmark Tiffany Building in the Ginza luxury shopping district, per Reuters. He reportedly sold the building in 2020 for an undisclosed amount.

He also owns a $117.5 million Silicon Valley estate that comes with a 9,000-square-foot house, a 1,117-square-foot pool house, a detached library, a swimming pool, a tennis court, and formal gardens, Forbes wrote in 2013. Son reportedly bought the Woodside, California, property in 2012 from private equity investor Tully Friedman.

Son is married and has at least two children, but he keeps his family life private.

The CEO married Masami Ohno, the daughter of a prominent Japanese doctor, while they were both students at UC Berkeley, The Seoul Times reported. The couple reportedly have two daughters, but little information about the family can be found online.

The SoftBank CEO reportedly has personal relationships with billionaire CEOs and entrepreneurs.

Son has ties to Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Rupert Murdoch, and Tadashi Yanai. He has visited Ellison's Silicon Valley home, where he met Steve Jobs, per Bloomberg.

Yanai sat on SoftBank's board of directors until he stepped down in December 2019.

Son reportedly once had a close relationship with Adam Neumann, the cofounder and former CEO of WeWork, in which SoftBank was once the biggest investor.

Neumann told Business Insider in a 2019 interview that he and his wife, Rebekah, call Son "Yoda," in reference to the "Star Wars" character.

"He is Yoda," Neumann said. "He has the Force with him."

But WeWork's valuation plummeted amid its failed IPO attempt in September 2019. Son reportedly "lost faith" in Neumann and wanted him demoted, the Financial Times reported. A couple of days later, Neumann stepped down as CEO.

SoftBank took control of WeWork in a deal that gave Neumann almost $1.7 billion and required him to step down as chairman of the board. Son later said on an earnings call that he felt "foolish" for investing $18.5 billion into WeWork.

In 2019, SoftBank dumped its nearly 5% stake in chip-maker Nvidia — another stumble.

SoftBank sold its 4.9% stake in Nvidia in 2019 for about $4 billion. If it hadn't, the position might've been worth more than $175 billion today.

In May 2019, SoftBank announced the creation of a second Vision Fund, after having already spent more than half of the first one.

"Various investors from around the world are telling us they definitely want to participate in Vision Fund 2. We will set it up soon," Son said at the beginning of May 2019, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal later reported that Son had trouble raising money for this new fund, a claim SoftBank disputed. 

"While we don't comment on fundraising, much of The Wall Street Journal's reporting on investor sentiment is misleading and even inaccurate," a SoftBank spokesperson told Business Insider in an email in 2019.

In July 2019, the company announced plans for $108 billion worth of investments in its second Vision Fund.

SoftBank confirmed that Apple, Foxconn, and others would invest in the fund, as well as Microsoft for the first time, BI previously reported.

Although Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund was the largest backer of the first Vision Fund, having contributed $45 billion of the fund's $100 billion bankroll, Saudi Arabia was missing from the list of backers for the new fund. Vision Fund 2 has a size of $56 billion as of 2025, according to Pitchbook. Its recent investments include ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

But SoftBank suffered following WeWork's downfall and amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In April 2020, SoftBank said its Vision Fund would suffer a $17 billion annual operating loss.

SoftBank-backed companies including Oyo, Uber, Zume, and WeWork laid off over 29,000 people in 2020. In September that year, SoftBank's market value took a roughly $10 billion hit after The Wall Street Journal reported that it had been making massive, risky investments in tech stocks.

In June 2020, as protests over racial injustice and the death of George Floyd swept the globe, SoftBank announced the launch of a $100 million fund to invest in entrepreneurs of color.

The fund was overseen by SoftBank's chief operating officer Marcelo Claure and two black tech leaders: TaskRabbit CEO Stacy Brown-Philpot and Pindrop cofounder Paul Judge.

"When it comes to diversity, SoftBank absolutely has to do better as an employer, investor, and partner. But we can't just talk — we have to put money behind it, set plans, and hold ourselves accountable," Claure wrote in an email to employees. "This fund will only invest in companies led by founders and entrepreneurs of color."

The announcement came on the ninth day of protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a white police officer, which started in Minneapolis and spread to all 50 states and countries including England, France, Germany, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

Softbank sold its Opportunity Fund to Claure and Judge in 2023.

Despite his company's losses post-pandemic, Son remained optimistic.

On an earnings call in May 2020, Son talked about how the coronavirus created a valley — the "Valley of Coronavirus" as he called it — that some companies would fall into, but other "unicorn" companies would be able to fly out of and succeed.

"Things will probably get worse," Son said in the call, per The New York Times. "But we will keep working hard to survive."

In August 2020, after three quarters of devastating losses, SoftBank finally reported a profit again and proceeded to make investments in Amazon, Tesla, Alphabet, and Netflix.

SoftBank had another tough year in 2022.

SoftBank earned a reputation of writing big checks for cash-burning tech startups, but rising interest rates challenged that strategy as investors became more cautious of such investments in 2022. In an earnings call that year, SoftBank reported a nearly $10 billion in loss on its venture investments for the quarter.

"We have to be in defensive mode," Son said as he announced that subsequent calls would be handled by SoftBank's CFO.

In 2020, Softbank announced that it would sell its UK-based chip designer Arm to Nvidia for $40 billion, but the deal fell through in 2022 amid regulatory pressure. And in May 2023, its tech investment unit reported $32 billion in losses for its full year.

SoftBank sold its Alibaba stake in 2023.

SoftBank first invested $20 million in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2000. It realized a $72 billion gain on its investments in Alibaba over the course of 23 years.

Son reportedly spent recent years unwinding Softbank's stake in the Chinese tech giant, however, amid local government crackdowns on corporates and as the Vision Fund lost billions.

Son's interest in AI began paying off in 2024.

Son took a bold stance on AI in 2023, slamming its doubters at SoftBank's World corporate conference that year. His beliefs started to pay off as AI picked up steam in the tech industry. 

Arm, the chip maker that SoftBank acquired in 2016, aims to put its products in the hands of tech companies to power their GenAI projects.

"Arm is central to our AI shift," CFO Yoshimitsu Goto said in May 2024.

"We have moved from Alibaba, and are focused on leading the AI revolution," Goto said during an earnings presentation in February 2024.

SoftBank invested $500 million in OpenAI in an October 2024 funding round.

The Japanese conglomerate was part of a $6.6 billion funding round with a $500 million investment in the ChatGPT maker. Son's commitment to an AI-powered future began before OpenAI became a household name; SoftBank's second Vision Fund backed the startup.

SoftBank became Nvidia's first customer for its Blackwell chips in November 2024.

The Blackwell chips will be used to create an AI supercomputer in Japan, the companies said in November 2024. Demand for Nvidia's chips has exploded since AI took the tech industry by storm.

"Together we're going to build Japan's largest AI factory," Huang said at the company's AI summit in Tokyo.

The Blackwell chips are expected to ship in the first quarter of 2025.

SoftBank will invest $100 billion into US projects over the next 4 years.

Donald Trump and Son came together in December 2024 to announce the deal, which Trump said will generate 100,000 jobs in the US. The investment will go towards building up the AI infrastructure, Associated Press reported.

Son reportedly pledged $50 billion in investments when Trump was elected in 2016.

Trump announced a $500 billion AI infrastructure investment plan involving SoftBank on January 21.

Son joined OpenAI's Sam Altman, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and Trump to announce the planned private-sector investment. The president said the three companies would work together to boost AI infrastructure in the US in a project they're calling Stargate.

SoftBank's stock rose over 9% in Japan after the announcement.

"Together these world-leading technology giants are announcing the formation of Stargate," Trump said.

He added, "Put that name down in your books, because I think you're going to hear a lot about it."

• Donald Trump took the stage virtually at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.
• He made a series of promises and threats about corporate tax rates, tariffs, and more.
• He also criticized Europe over its lawsuits against Meta and Google.

President Donald Trump is back, and he's making sure the whole world knows it.

Trump's virtual appearance at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was full of promises, along with threats directed at CEOs, banks, and Europe more broadly.

Trump said his message to businesses worldwide was simple: Build in America or pay up.

"If you don't make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply, you will have to pay a tariff," he said.

The president has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, which he said could begin as early as February 1. Trump had proposed a 60% tariff on China during his presidential campaign, but he said earlier this week he was considering a 10% tariff on goods from the country.

Trump said he hopes the tariffs will incentivize both domestic and foreign companies to manufacture goods in the United States because "other nations take advantage of the US." He also sees tariffs as a means to pay down the national debt, lower inflation, and create jobs.

"Under the Trump administration, there will be no better place on earth to create jobs or build factories than right here in the USA," Trump said.

Still, some economists have told BI that tariffs on goods like cars, food products, and medicine could force companies to raise prices for Americans.

For those companies that do end up moving production to US shores, Trump offered a bottom-dollar tax deal of 15%, which he described as the lowest rate of any large country.

"My message to every business in the world is very simple: Make your product in America," Trump said. "We will do the low taxes. We're bringing them down very substantially even from the original Trump tax cuts."

In renegotiating trade deals with China and the EU, Trump said he's not looking for "phenomenal," just "fair."

He also criticized the EU's regulatory enforcement actions against tech giants like Apple, Google, and Meta (who were major donors to his inauguration and whose CEOs were prominent guests), saying the fines are a form of unfair taxation.

"Whether you like them or not, they're American companies, and they shouldn't be doing that," he said.

Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America, asked about how his administration would balance his many executive orders with continuing GDP growth and bringing inflation down.

"I think it's going to actually bring down inflation. It's going to bring up jobs," Trump responded, adding he would work to bring down the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15% if companies make their products in the United States.

"The 15% is about as low as it gets and by far the lowest of a large country," Trump said, adding it would "create a tremendous buzz." He added that he brought the corporate tax rate down from 40% to 21% in his first term.

Trump also said the country will likely return to the one-year deduction if and when the Trump tax plan is approved.

"If the Democrats didn't approve it, I don't know how they can survive with about a 45% tax increase because that's what it would be," he said.

The president also called out big banks, accusing them of discriminating against conservatives.

"Many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank, and that included a place called Bank of America," he said. "I hope you're going to open your banks to conservatives because what you're doing is wrong."

The president also thanked Saudi Arabia for its announcement it would invest $600 billion in the United States, but said he'd ask for more.

"It's also reported today in the papers that Saudi Arabia will be investing at least $600 billion in America. But I'll be asking the Crown Prince, who's a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion. I think they'll do that because we've been very good to them," Trump said.

"I'm also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil."

He said that Saudi Arabia didn't "show a lot of love" by not lowering the price of oil already, which he said would have the added benefit of ending the Russia-Ukraine war "immediately."

"You got to bring down the oil price. You got to end that war," he said. "With oil prices going down, I'll demand that interest rates drop immediately. And likewise, they should be dropping all over the world. Interest rates should follow us."

At that, Steve Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone Group, said: "I'm sure the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia will be really glad you gave this speech today."

• The 2025 Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday.
• Surprises include a best-actor nod for Sebastian Stan and a best-picture nod for "The Substance."
• Snubs include Pamela Anderson for "The Last Showgirl" and the "Challengers" score.

The 2025 Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday, with a lot of love given to titles like "Emilia Pérez" and "Wicked."

But there were some actors and movies that weren't called out.

Below, the Business Insider staff breaks down the three biggest surprises and three most upsetting subs from this year's nominations.

SNUB: Pamela Anderson for 'The Last Showgirl'

Anderson came out of nowhere to wow audiences in 2024 with her performance in "The Last Showgirl" as Shelly, a 57-year-old Vegas showgirl who hits a crossroads when the French-style revue she's performed in for three decades closes its doors.

Mixing a coquettishness reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe with a crushing vulnerability no one knew she could pull off, Anderson delivers the best performance of her career. Sadly, she won't be recognized for it on Hollywood's biggest night.

SNUB: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the 'Challengers' score

Reznor and Ross masterfully captured the messy dynamic between Tashi (Zendaya), Patrick (Josh O'Connor), and Art (Mike Faist) in their pulsating "Challengers" score, while also providing a techno backdrop for all the tennis matches and relationship warfare.

Throbbing tracks like "The Signal," "Brutalizer," and "Match Point" worked perfectly next to the cinematography to yank the audience through the screen and onto the court.

It's impressive for a score to be so engaging while also delivering pure bangers that could fit right in at an underground rave — which might've livened up the Oscars if the academy had been bold enough to recognize Reznor and Ross' work.

SNUB: Marianne Jean-Baptiste for 'Hard Truths'

Jean-Baptiste didn't just give the best female performance of the year in "Hard Truths" — she gave the best performance, period. The angry, depressed Pansy Deacon in "Hard Truths" could have easily become a caricature in the hands of a lesser actor, as the miserable woman lashes out, often in absurd ways, at anyone and everyone who crosses her path. But Jean-Baptiste instilled humanity and even evoked sympathy in the unlikeable character with her layered performance.

She and the director Mike Leigh, who directed Jean-Baptiste to her first Oscar nomination almost 30 years ago in "Secrets & Lies," were tapping into something we never see represented on screen. They both should have been acknowledged for it, but Jean-Baptiste was the more egregious snub, particularly since she swept nearly all the critic and indie awards where she was nominated.

SURPRISE: Yura Borisov for 'Anora'

Borisov plays the sensitive henchman Igor in "Anora" with a disarming calmness opposite the outlandish antics of the movie's lead, Mikey Madison.

His quiet-guy act left a mark on not just audiences but members of the academy.

Borisov's nomination is the first time in almost five decades that a Russian actor has been nominated for an Oscar. The last was Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1977 for "The Turning Point."

SURPRISE: Sebastian Stan for playing Donald Trump in 'The Apprentice'

Though "The Apprentice" got little marketing and most of Hollywood didn't want to touch the movie after its premiere at last year's Cannes Film Festival, Stan's performance as Trump made it to the big dance.

Stan is convincing as a young Trump trying to build his real-estate empire under the tutelage of the lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), getting the mannerisms down and even giving his character a sense of empathy.

SURPRISE: Multiple nominations for 'The Substance'

The academy has historically been reluctant to award Oscars to horror movies. While things have started to look up in recent years — Jordan Peele broke through with "Get Out" — the amount of love "The Substance" got this year is pretty astounding.

Demi Moore was deservedly a lock for best actress with her raw performance as the washed-up celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle. It's thrilling to see her get this recognition for the first time after decades in the business.

It's more surprising, though, that the French director Coralie Fargeat landed first-time nominations for both directing and writing the outrageous body-horror film and that the movie itself got a best-picture nod. It's a watershed moment for the genre.

• I was born and raised in Hawaii. Living here full-time has its pros and cons.
• The islands are filled with adventure and beauty, but the cost of living in Hawaii is high.
• I really feel blessed to live here, but traffic and overtourism are also frustrating issues. 

After growing up in Hawaii and moving to the contiguous US for college, the first thing most people asked me was: "Why would you ever leave Maui?"

My honest answer is that it was always my goal to get off "the rock," the nickname that my friends and I used to call the island. Now that I've returned as an adult, I have a new perspective.

Even though it's not flawless, I feel extremely lucky to call Hawaii home — but I also have a better understanding of why it's not always the picturesque paradise that many imagine.

Here are the six best and six worst things about living in Hawaii.

I can almost always find sunshine on the island, even if it's raining on one side.

Hawaii residents get to enjoy tropical weather virtually year-round. 

Even on a rainy day, you can almost always drive to another part of the island and find a sunny spot. Or you can allow the storm to pass, which it usually does, and wait for a stunning rainbow to appear.

The islands' natural beauty is unlike anything I've seen anywhere else.

My hometown, Lāhainā, is filled with natural wonders like most parts of Hawaii. 

The islands offer endless opportunities to connect with Mother Earth, whether you're looking to lounge on the beach, hike a breathtaking trail, swim at the base of a waterfall, watch the sunset, or smell the tropical flowers (plumerias are my favorite).

Having easy access to so many natural attractions is a dream for outdoor enthusiasts.

Hawaii is a paradise for foodies, with an abundance of tropical fruits and fresh seafood.

With local Hawaii comfort foods like Spam musubis, poke bowls, loco mocos, and chicken-katsu plates, there's no shortage of delicious dishes here.

Grocery stores and farmers markets in Hawaii are usually stocked with fresh tropical fruit, and restaurants here showcase some of the world's best Asian and Pacific Islander cuisine that features line-caught fish and other seafood.

The islands have adventurous activities that appeal to all types of people.

Hawaii has a variety of beaches and hiking trails for people of all skill levels, which makes it easy to curate an experience that matches your desired pace. 

Residents also enjoy some popular tourist attractions like whale-watching excursions, parasailing experiences, and zip-line tours.

As a local, it's a bonus if I know the people who work at the companies that host these activities — and sometimes, I get a discount for being a a Hawaii resident. 

Each island has a strong sense of community, and there are a lot of networking opportunities.

Because I grew up on Maui, I was woven into the fabric of the island's tight-knit community from a young age.

If people don't know me personally, they likely know my family. I often feel an instant bond with other people who were born and raised here.

And with so many people coming to visit the islands, I never know who I might meet. There are always opportunities to make new connections and expand my network.

In general, life on the islands feels slow-paced and relaxed.

The island lifestyle feels much more slow-paced and relaxed, especially compared to the chaotic energy that frequently comes with dwelling in a city.

Locals don't usually rush around, and they seem relatively carefree, which makes for peaceful and restorative environments on the islands.

So, it probably comes as no surprise that I think Hawaii is one of the best places for a staycation.

On the other hand, the cost of living is incredibly high here.

Prices tend to be higher in popular tourist destinations, and that is certainly true in Hawaii, where so many things are imported from the contiguous US.

As a resident, I'm used to paying significantly more for everyday things like milk, gas, and housing than a lot of visitors who are accustomed to paying less at home.

For example, a gallon of milk is often over $8 — and a studio-apartment rental can easily cost over $3,000 a month here. 

The traffic on the islands can completely derail your plans for the day.

The traffic on Honolulu often feels comparable to the traffic in Los Angeles, even though the latter city's population is significantly larger.

This is partially because some areas of the islands have access only to one road, such as Honoapi'ilani Highway, also known as Hawaii Route 30, which connects West Maui with the rest of the island. 

If the road closes because of an accident or a brush fire, you can even get stuck on the wrong side of the island overnight.

Overtourism has ruined some places and experiences for everyone.

Although Hawaii relies on tourism, the many visitors can make living here more difficult. 

Beaches that used to be secrets are now overrun with tourists, and many restaurants have unbearably long lines, making it difficult for locals to visit some of their favorite spots.

On top of that, disrespectful visitors make residents even more disdainful. Though not all tourists misbehave, the ones who do can have a detrimental domino effect on the local community.

The islands can feel small, which can make dating a challenge.

Dating is difficult anywhere, but especially on an island where you consistently see the same people. It doesn't help that many of the additions to the dating pool are transients who are only looking for a casual fling.

Even when you're lucky enough to find a potential match, it comes with risk. If your relationship doesn't work out, it's almost inevitable that you'll eventually run into them on small islands. You may even be connected to the next person they date, too.

It can feel challenging to watch the commercialization of sacred land that was stolen from the Hawaiian people.

Although my lineage is not indigenous to this land, these islands are my home, and I find the commercialization of Hawaiian culture to be heartbreaking. 

For example, Lāhainā, my hometown, used to be the epicenter of the Hawaiian kingdom. Now, it's a major tourist destination filled with shops and restaurants to accommodate visitors.

The sense of isolation that often comes with living on the islands can feel overwhelming.

Being separated from the rest of the world may initially sound liberating, but it can quickly turn into island fever, a phenomenon associated with psychological stress that comes from feeling trapped.

When some people realize that they're on an island in the middle of the ocean, they may begin to long for the freedom of long road trips, changing seasons, and other luxuries that come with living in the contiguous US.

This story was originally published on January 1, 2023, and most recently updated on January 23, 2025.

• You probably didn't see "The Apprentice," a Trump biopic that came out last year — very few people did.
• But now the movie is going to get a boost via two high-profile Academy Award nominations.
• That could be uncomfortable for Trump and Hollywood, which shied away from the movie last year.

Donald Trump didn't want you to see "The Apprentice" last year. And he got his way: The unflattering Trump biopic, which struggled to get to theaters, was a flop when it eventually got there last October.

But now "The Apprentice" is going to get a lot more attention, courtesy of the Oscars: Sebastian Stan just received a best actor nomination for his portrayal of Trump. And Jeremy Strong's take on Roy Cohn, Trump's former attorney and mentor, earned him a best supporting actor nomination.

Like most things on TV, the Academy Awards don't get anything like the attention they used to get in a pre-internet age. But they are still the Academy Awards, and they still draw a bigger audience than just about anything that's not an NFL game. Last year's show drew nearly 20 million TV viewers in the US.

Which means that when this year's show airs on March 2, there's a decent chance that a film the president of the United States tried to stop from being shown — via a cease-and-desist letter — could get a burst of new publicity and exposure. I wonder what Trump and his supporters will think of that.

I also wonder what the people who run Hollywood's biggest studios and streamers — the same people who didn't want to touch "The Apprentice" — will think of that.

"Sebastian and Jeremy took career-defining risks to do this movie. And they f***ing nailed their roles," Gabriel Sherman, the journalist who wrote the movie's screenplay, tells me via email. "It's also satisfying that the Academy is standing up for great art at a time when the culture seems to be chilled by the new political climate."

The backstory behind Apprentice could be its own movie, and it's a hard one to summarize. I'll try here: Mark Rapaport, the producer who financed the movie, ended up clashing with Sherman and director Ali Abbasi, and told them he didn't want it released. (I've asked Rapaport for comment about Thursday's news.) Rapaport is also the son-in-law of billionaire Dan Snyder, who bankrolled Rapaport's production company, and who also donated $1 million to Trump's 2017 inauguration.

The controversy generated attention when the movie debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, but the movie struggled to find a Hollywood distributor — a fact Sherman chalked up to the industry's fear of angering Trump prior to last November's election.

"Trump talks a lot about "weaponization of government," Sherman told me last fall. "This is a very specific case where he has now influenced the corporate and creative decisions of these Hollywood companies to basically chill content that he would object to."

For a longer version of the story, you can listen to me talking to Sherman about the movie on my Channels podcast. And for a medium-sized version, check out excerpts of that chat here.

• Amazon has restarted the green card application process for foreign workers.
• Amazon paused PERM filings in 2023-2024 due to "labor market conditions."
• The change may signal an improving job market, analysts say.

Amazon has resumed the green card application process for foreign workers, a sign of an improving job market.

In an internal note from late 2024, obtained by Business Insider, Amazon told employees that it planned to reopen PERM processing on January 6, 2025. Amazon had suspended all new PERM filings in 2023 and throughout 2024, BI previously reported.

PERM is part of the US Labor Department's permanent labor certification process and is typically the first step towards getting a green card for a foreign worker. The goal is to prove hiring foreign workers won't impact US job seekers's opportunities, wages, or working conditions.

The note didn't explain why Amazon is resuming the PERM process. But, the change potentially reflects Amazon's outlook for a more competitive job market. It also follows Trump's campaign vow to give green cards to every foreign graduate of US colleges.

"We evaluate our PERM program based on market analysis and have been planning to reopen it for the last 9 months," Amazon's spokesperson said in an email to BI.

'Rebound' from the layoffs

Amazon has been making major job cuts since late 2022, laying off at least 27,000 employees. Just last week, Amazon let go about 200 people from its Fashion and Fitness group, BI reported.

Resuming PERM filings indicate Amazon sees a possible "rebound" in the job market, according to Richard Herman, a Cleveland-based immigration lawyer and founder of the Herman Legal Group.

Herman said some companies previously suspended green card filings due to widespread layoffs and the high cost and time of processing PERMs with the Labor Department.

With PERM, companies have to demonstrate that laid-off employees are not qualified for the jobs intended for foreign workers while also notifying US workers laid off within the past 6 months about the anticipated PERM filing. That costs a lot of money and time.

"If employers are reconsidering getting back into the PERM game, it's because their cost/benefit analysis suggests labor market changes favor a more competitive market in some occupations, justifying the costs/time invested in PERM," Herman said.

Tech companies are still laying off employees and applying more stringent performance reviews. But the hiring trend may improve.

HR software maker Karat said in a 2024 report that average hiring targets for software engineer roles among US tech companies were up 12% year-over-year. Stripe laid off 300 employees earlier this week but said it plans to grow its total head count by roughly 1,000 this year, BI previously reported.

"Tech in the Bay Area is definitely hiring more, and so they have a positive view of what's ahead," Bill Hing, an immigration law professor at the University of San Francisco told BI.

Trump effect

President Donald Trump may be another factor.

During his presidential campaign, Trump mentioned that he would like to give green cards to every foreign graduate of US colleges as part of a plan to attract more skilled immigrants.

That has led to a clash between the Elon Musk-led pro-Trump tech leaders and the hardcore MAGA base over the legal immigration of skilled workers.

While it's possible Trump will commit to his proposal, he hasn't publicly addressed it since then, and some believe he could change his mind. Trump's campaign, in fact, clarified last year that his proposal would only apply to the "most thoroughly" vetted foreign students.

Jennifer Gordon, a labor and immigration law professor at Fordham University, told BI that companies may be trying to anticipate Trump's unpredictable behavior in advance.

Given Trump's past hard-line stance against immigration, Gordon said it's possible the new administration could issue a policy pausing skilled labor immigration applications in the future.

"If I was a tech company, I wouldn't be fully confident that he will follow through," Gordon said.

Do you work at Amazon? Got a tip?

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• Season two of "The Night Agent" hits Netflix on Thursday.
• In the new season, Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) tracks down a CIA agent accused of leaking secrets.
• Here's a season 1 recap of key details to remember before watching.

Peter Sutherland has answered the call and is officially a night agent.

By the end of season one of Netflix's political thriller series "The Night Agent," Peter (Gabriel Basso) earns a major promotion from transferring phone calls for the top-secret Night Action program to becoming an agent in the field.

Season two, which premieres Thursday, follows Peter's role as a night agent. After Peter is tasked with tracking down a CIA agent accused of leaking secrets, he and Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan), the former CEO of a tech startup, find themselves tangled up in a sinister plan involving an intelligence broker and a war criminal.

Here's a recap of what happened to Peter and Rose in season one, before diving into season two of "The Night Agent."

Peter and Rose meet after she calls the Night Action line because of a family emergency.

At the start of the series, Peter is an FBI agent who works a lowly job in a windowless room in the White House basement: answering the Night Action phone line and connecting the caller to a night agent.

Night Action is a top-secret investigative program within the FBI, usually involving matters of national security. Most times, the phone never rings and Peter passes the time analyzing confidential reports. But Peter springs into action when a woman named Rose calls Night Action just before her aunt Emma (Simone Kessell) and uncle Henry Campbell (William MacDonald) are hunted down and killed by two assassins.

Rose soon learns that her relatives were actually spies who worked in counterintelligence. Peter is then tasked with protecting Rose, whose life is in danger because she caught a glimpse of one of the assassins' faces. On top of that, Rose overheard her aunt and uncle discussing an investigation into a mole in the White House and something significant set to happen in a few days.

As Peter and Rose go on the run together, unsure of who to trust besides each other, they become closer and strike up a romance.

Peter's dad sold state secrets that led to a breach at the Pentagon.

Eleven years prior to the start of season one of "The Night Agent," Peter Sr. was accused of leaking classified documents that comprised US defense strategies. The breach was traced back to the FBI's counterintelligence division, where his dad was the section chief.

Peter Sr. died in a car crash before he could be charged and was branded as a disgraced intelligence officer. Peter Jr. was a teenager at the time.

In the finale, Peter gets access to his dad's confession tape and finally gets the answers he's been searching for.

He learns that in 2004, Peter Sr. was approached by a foreign agent seeking to undermine American interests. Peter Sr. accepted payment in exchange for information on private contractors, which ultimately led to a breach at the Pentagon.

The confession tape confirms what Peter had suspected all along but hoped wasn't true: his dad was a traitor.

However, there's more to the story. Peter Sr. agreed to work as a double agent for the US in an effort to rectify his error. To stop him from helping the administration, a foreign assassin killed Peter Sr. in a car crash.

Although the public will never know the truth about Peter Sr., Peter gets closure and makes peace with his dad's actions.

Vice President Ashley Redfield and Gordon Wick, the CEO of Turn Lake Industries, were behind the DC metro bombing — not Peter.

"The Night Agent" begins with Peter, who's working for the FBI, saving a train full of people from a bombing on the DC metro a year earlier.

When he notices a suspicious person putting a backpack on the train and finds a bomb inside, Peter pulls the emergency brake and instructs the civilians to exit via the tunnels. He manages to get everyone off the train just as the explosion happens. Although Peter was a hero, he's publicly accused of being behind the metro bombing and vilified, the same way his father was.

Following the incident, Peter accepts a deal to pay his dues and manage the Night Action line until he earns a promotion.

As the season unfolds, it's revealed that Redfield (Christopher Shyer) and Wick (Ben Cotton) orchestrated the bombing.

Their target was Omar Zadar (Adam Tsekhman), a Balkan dissident and leader of the People's Independence Front (PIF). Redfield and Wick attempted to assassinate Zadar via the bomb while he was in the US for a meeting. But because Peter detected the bomb early on the train route, it never made it to its intended destination and Redfield and Wick had to figure out a way to cover up the bombing.

Rose's aunt and uncle were murdered by assassins hired by Wick because they were getting too close to finding out the truth about the metro bombing.

Peter's boss, Diane Farr, was involved in the metro bombing coverup.

Peter reports to two people, Diane Farr (Hong Chau), the White House Chief of Staff, and Jamie Hawkins (Robert Patrick), deputy director of the FBI. Although Peter's career was impeded by what his dad was accused of doing, Farr never judged him based on that. When Rose suggests that Farr could be the White House mole, Peter finds it difficult to accept because he trusts Farr.

But in episode six, Peter has a strange interaction with Farr and realizes that she's connected to the metro bombing.

In a flashback during episode nine, it's revealed that on the day of the bombing, Farr was unwillingly brought in to work with Wick and Redfield and hide their involvement because if Redfield was found to be part of the investigation, it would reflect badly on Farr, President Travers, and the whole administration.

As part of the coverup, Farr chose Peter for Night Action because she planned on using him as the fall guy in case things went sideways.

In the finale, Farr gets shot but survives. Rose then tells her that she's sparing her life, and looks forward to Farr clearing Peter's name and getting sent to prison.

Peter saves President Michelle Travers from an assassination attempt.

To cover up their involvement in the bombing, Redfield and Wick again attempt to assassinate Zadar — plus President Michelle Travers (Kari Matchett) — at a last-minute meeting at Camp David during the finale.

Peter, Rose, and Secret Service agent Chelsea Arrington (Fola Evans-Akingbola) team up to locate the bomb at Camp David and protect POTUS. They narrowly avoid getting in the crosshairs of a bomb, but Redfield and Wick have a contingency plan in place, and pivot to an armed bomb that's on the president's helicopter, Marine One.

When Peter gets a hold of President Travers, he tells her that there's a bomb on the helicopter and that Redfield is trying to kill her. The bomb goes off inside Marine One, but Travers is unscathed thanks to Peter stopping her from getting on the helicopter.

At the end of the season, Peter accepts a job as a night agent and Rose seemingly plans a return to California.

After order is restored, President Travers tells Peter that the Night Action program runs deeper than he can imagine. As a reward for his heroic actions at Camp David, she offers him a job as a night agent.

Then, Peter kisses Rose and says goodbye before boarding a US Air Force plane. Rose tells Peter she won't forget him, and he promises to call her when he can. Once the plane takes off and clears American airspace, Peter unlocks a tablet containing his first Night Action mission briefing.

While Peter is headed to an undisclosed location, the finale doesn't indicate where exactly Rose is going. However, during episode nine, Rose tells Peter that when everything is over, she'd like to return to California and try again in the tech space after learning from her past mistakes.