• Every year, the Grammys celebrate the music industry's top artists and tracks. 
• Record of the year is one of the four biggest Grammy Awards.
• Musicians like Adele, Whitney Houston, and most recently, Kendrick Lamar, have all won this award.

The Grammy Awards honor some of the best songs and music videos of the past year, chosen by members of the Recording Academy.

Among all the awards given out during the show, categories like record of the year, album of the year, and song of the year often generate buzz.

The difference between record of the year and song of the year is that the former refers to "the artist's performance as well as the overall contributions of the producer(s), recording engineer(s) and/or mixer(s) if other than the artist" and the latter "recognizes the songwriter(s)."

Keep reading this list to see every track that won the Grammy for record of the year.

1959: "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)" — Domenico Modugno

Domenico Modugno's popular track was the first winner of the Grammy for record of the year. 

1960: "Mack the Knife" — Bobby Darin

The song was also nominated for best male vocal performance.

1961: "The Theme from 'A Summer Place'" — Percy Faith and His Orchestra

Faith won his first Grammy in 1961. "The Theme from 'A Summer Place'" also earned two nominations for best arrangement and best performance by an orchestra.

1962: "Moon River" — Henry Mancini

At the fourth Grammys, Mancini won awards for record of the year, song of the year, and best arrangement with "Moon River." He won two additional awards for the "Breakfast at Tiffany's" soundtrack.

1963: "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" — Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett won his first of many Grammys in 1963, beginning with the awards for record of the year and best male solo vocal performance for "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

1964: "Days of Wine and Roses" — Henry Mancini

Henry Mancini won three awards at the sixth Grammys for "Days of Wine and Roses": record of the year, song of the year, and best background arrangement (behind vocalist or instrumentalist).

1965: "The Girl From Ipanema" — Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto

In addition to winning record of the year, the two artists also won album of the year and best instrumental jazz performance (small group or soloist with small group) for "Getz/Gilberto." 

1966: "A Taste of Honey" — Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass

"A Taste of Honey" won three awards at the eighth Grammys: record of the year, best non-jazz instrumental performance, and best instrumental arrangement. 

1967: "Strangers in the Night" — Frank Sinatra

Sinatra won three awards that year: record of the year for "Strangers in the Night," album of the year for "A Man and His Music," and best male vocal performance for "Strangers in the Night."

1968: "Up, Up, and Away" — 5th Dimension

"Up, Up, and Away" won four awards at the 10th Grammys: best performance by a vocal group, best contemporary single, best contemporary group performance (vocal or instrumental), and record of the year.  

1969: "Mrs. Robinson" — Simon and Garfunkel

The award-winning track is from the duo's 1968 album "The Graduate."

1970: "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" — 5th Dimension

In addition to winning record of the year, the song also won the Grammy for best contemporary vocal performance by a group.

1971: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" — Simon and Garfunkel

The duo, comprised of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, won record of the year and album of the year.

1972: "It's Too Late" — Carole King

King was a big winner at the 14th Grammys, snagging four total awards: record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, and best female pop vocal performance.  

1973: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta Flack

The original track was actually written by Ewan MacColl and appeared on Flack's "First Take" album.

1974: "Killing Me Softly With His Song" — Roberta Flack

At the 16th Grammys, Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song" won awards for record of the year and best female pop vocal performance.

1975: "I Honestly Love You" — Olivia Newton-John

At the 17th Grammys, Olivia Newton-John's "I Honestly Love You" received awards for record of the year and best female pop vocal performance. 

1976: "Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & Tennille

"Love Will Keep Us Together" was released by American duo Captain & Tennille in 1975. The song won a Grammy for record of the year in 1976 and also received a nomination for best pop vocal performance by a duo, group, or chorus.

1977: "This Masquerade" — George Benson

George Benson won his first Grammy awards in 1977 for record of the year, best pop instrumental performance, and best R&B instrumental performance. 

1978: "Hotel California" — Eagles

In a book written by Marc Eliot, the band discussed the inspiration behind the Grammy award-winning track.

"The concept had to do with taking a look at all the band had gone through, personally and professionally, while it was still happening to them," Don Henley.

1979: "Just the Way You Are" — Billy Joel

"Just the Way You Are" earned Billy Joel two Grammys in 1979 — one for record of the year and one for song of the year. He has five Grammy wins, three Hall of Fame awards, and received the Grammy Legend award in 1991. 

1980: "What A Fool Believes" — The Doobie Brothers

At the 22nd Grammys, The Doobie Brothers won awards for record of the year and best pop vocal performance by a duo, group, or chorus.

1981: "Sailing" — Christopher Cross

In 1981, Christopher Cross received Grammy awards for record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best new artist, and best arrangement accompanying vocalist(s).

Cross was also the first artist in Grammy history to win all four general categories on the same night.

1982: "Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim Carnes

Kim Carnes won a Grammy for record of the year in 1982 with her popular track "Bette Davis Eyes." In 1981, "Bette Davis Eyes " also peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1983: "Rosanna"— Toto

Toto's "Rosanna" won the Grammy for record of the year in 1983. The song also won Grammys for best instrumental arrangement accompanying vocals and best vocal arrangement for two or more voices. 

1984: "Beat It" — Michael Jackson

At the 26th Grammys, Michael Jackson received awards for record of the year, album of the year, best male pop vocal performance, best male rock vocal performance, best male R&B vocal performance, and best rhythm and blues song.

1985: "What's Love Got to Do With It" — Tina Turner

In 1985, Tina Turner received Grammy awards for record of the year, best female pop vocal performance, and best female rock vocal performance.

1986: "We Are the World" — USA For Africa (Various Artists)

"We Are the World" was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones. A new version of the song was also recorded in 2010 to benefit relief efforts following the earthquake in Haiti. 

1987: "Higher Love" — Steve Winwood

At the 29th Grammys, Steve Winwood's "Higher Love" received awards for record of the year and best male pop vocal performance.

1988: "Graceland" — Paul Simon

Paul Simon received his first Grammys in 1969. He also won the award for record of the year.

1989: "Don't Worry Be Happy" — Bobby McFerrin

In 1989, Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy" won Grammys for record of the year, song of the year, and best male pop vocal performance.

1990: "Wind Beneath My Wings" — Bette Midler

Bette Midler won her first Grammy in 1974 for best new artist. In 1990, "Wind Beneath My Wings won the award for record of the year and peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

1991: "Another Day in Paradise" — Phil Collins

Phil Collins received his first award at the 27th Grammys and has scored a total of eight awards over the years. 

1992: "Unforgettable" — Natalie Cole (With Nat "King" Cole)

In addition to winning record of the year, Natalie Cole won Grammys for album of the year and best traditional pop performance.

1993: "Tears in Heaven" — Eric Clapton

At the 35th Grammys, Eric Clapton received awards for record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best male pop vocal performance, best male rock vocal performance, and best rock song.

1994: "I Will Always Love You" — Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" received two Grammys in 1994 — one for record of the year and another for best female pop vocal performance.

1995: "All I Wanna Do" — Sheryl Crow

At the 37th Grammys, Sheryl Crow won her first awards for record of the year, best new artist, and best female pop vocal performance.

1996: "Kiss From a Rose" — Seal

At the 38th Grammys, Seal scored awards for record of the year, song of the year, and best male pop vocal performance. "Kiss From A Rose" also peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995.

1997: "Change the World" — Eric Clapton

Clapton added to his Grammy wins in 1997 when he received awards for record of the year, best male pop vocal performance, and best rock instrumental performance.

1998: "Sunny Came Home" — Shawn Colvin

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Colvin explained that the Grammy award-winning track was inspired by the cover art for her 1996 album, "A Few Small Repairs."

1999: "My Heart Will Go On" (Love Theme From "Titanic") — Céline Dion

Céline Dion's iconic track from "Titanic" earned her two Grammys in 1999 — one for record of the year and another for best female pop vocal performance.

2000: "Smooth" — Santana featuring Rob Thomas

Rob Thomas cowrote "Smooth" after finishing a tour with Matchbox Twenty, and he initially wanted George Michael to sing it.

"Smooth" won awards for record of the year, best pop collaboration with vocals, and song of the year in 2000.

2001: "Beautiful Day" — U2

U2 has accumulated more than 20 Grammys. In 2001, they won three Grammys for record of the year, song of the year, and best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal.

2002: "Walk On" — U2

In addition to winning record of the year in 2002, they also won best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal, best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal, and best rock album.

2003: "Don't Know Why" — Norah Jones

Norah Jones attended her first Grammy Awards show in 2003. That year, Jones won her first five Grammys for record of the year, best pop vocal album of the year, best female pop vocal performance, and album of the year.

2004: "Clocks" — Coldplay

Coldplay won an award for record of the year at the 46th annual Grammys in February 2004.

2005: "Here We Go Again" — Ray Charles and Norah Jones

After winning five Grammys in 2003, Norah Jones returned to the stage in 2005 to receive three more awards. She won awards for record of the year, best female pop vocal performance, and best pop collaboration with vocals.

2006: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" — Green Day

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is from Green Day's "American Idiot" album, which won the award for best rock album at the 47th Grammys.

2007: "Not Ready to Make Nice" — Dixie Chicks

At the 49th Grammys, the Dixie Chicks won awards for record of the year, album of the year, bet country performance by a duo or group with vocal, and best country album.

2008: "Rehab" — Amy Winehouse

"Rehab" is from Amy Winehouse's sophomore album, "Back to Black." In addition to record of the year, the track also won the award for song of the year.

2009: "Please Read the Letter" — Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the recipients of a combined five awards at the 51st Grammys — record of the year, album of the year, best country collaboration with vocals, best pop collaboration with vocals, and best contemporary folk/Americana album.

2010: "Use Somebody" — Kings of Leon

"Use Somebody" won awards for record of the year and best rock performance by a duo or group with vocals at the 52nd Grammy Awards.

2011: "Need You Now" — Lady Antebellum

In addition to winning record of the year, Lady Antebellum also won Grammys for best country performance by a duo or group with vocals, best country album, song of the year, and best country song.

2012: "Rolling in the Deep" — Adele

"Rolling in the Deep" is one of the most-recognized songs from Adele's sophomore album, "21," and also won the award for song of the year at the 54th Grammy Awards.

2013: "Somebody That I Used to Know" — Gotye featuring Kimbra

Gotye and Kimbra's "Somebody That I Used to Know" earned them Grammys for record of the year and best pop duo/group performance in 2013.

2014: "Get Lucky" — Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers

Daft Punk received the award for record of the year in 2014. "Get Lucky" also peaked at  No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013.

2015: "Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) — Sam Smith

"Stay With Me" is from Sam Smith's debut album, 'The Lonely Hour." At the 57th Grammys, Smith won awards for record of the year, song of the year, and best pop vocal album.

2016: "Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars

"Uptown Funk" was released as a single in November 2014, topped the music charts for weeks, and reached diamond status. The hit was also performed at the 2016 Super Bowl halftime show.

2017: "Hello" — Adele

"Hello" was the first track Adele released from her 2015 album, "25," and it smashed plenty of records. The music video also became one of the most-watched on YouTube, with over two billion views.

2018: "24K Magic" — Bruno Mars

At the 60th Grammys, Mars received awards for record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best R&B performance, and best R&B album.

2019: "This Is America" — Childish Gambino

At the 2019 Grammys, Childish Gambino's "This Is America" made history after winning song of the year and record of the year. The wins were also notable because they marked the first time a hip-hop song beat the competition in those major categories. 

2020: "Bad Guy" — Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish made history at the 2020 Grammys, becoming the second person ever to win awards in all four major categories during the same year.

Eilish won five of the six awards she was nominated for at the 62nd Grammys: best pop vocal album, best new artist, song of the year, album of the year, and record of the year. 

2021: "Everything I Wanted" — Billie Eilish

Eilish won the same award again in 2021, this time for the track "Everything I Wanted," which was cowritten by her and her brother Finneas O'Connell‎. 

That year Eilish also won the award for best song written for visual media for the track "No Time to Die," from the James Bond movie of the same name.

2022: "Leave the Door Open" — Silk Sonic

Silk Sonic, the musical duo comprised of Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars, were delighted to take home the award at the 2022 Grammys.

"Leave the Door Open" is from their 2021 studio album titled "An Evening With Silk Sonic."

2023: "About Damn Time" — Lizzo

Lizzo was shocked and overjoyed to win the award for record of the year for her upbeat track "About Damn Time" at the 65th Grammys.

Lizzo dedicated her award to the late legendary musician Prince and said that after his death, she "decided to dedicate my life to making positive music."

2024: "Flowers" — Miley Cyrus

Cyrus' hit song "Flowers" from her album "Endless Summer Vacation" led her to win her first Grammys at the 2024 ceremony, for record of the year and best pop solo performance. 

"This award is amazing. But I really hope that it doesn't change anything because my life was beautiful yesterday. Not everyone in the world will get a Grammy, but everyone in this world is spectacular," she said while accepting the award for record of the year. "So please don't think that this is important, even though it's very important, right guys?"

2025: "Not Like Us" — Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us," aimed at Drake (and named the fourth-best song of 2024 by BI), had a clean sweep at the 2025 Grammys.

In addition to winning record of the year, the track also won song of the year, best rap performance, best rap song, and best music video.

• On a recent trip to India, I went to Starbucks, Domino's, McDonald's, and Burger King.
• I would eat at Domino's and McDonald's more if they had similar menus in the US.
• My Starbucks experience was similar to home, but it felt much more like a sit-down restaurant.

One of my favorite things about traveling is getting to try new foods.

However, I often travel with my kids, who aren't very adventurous eaters. That means I find myself frequenting popular fast-food chains around the world more often than I'd like.

On a recent trip to India, we ended up at Starbucks, Domino's, McDonald's, and Burger King. In a way, seeing how the country adopted these familiar concepts was its own kind of cultural experience.

Here's how the American fast-food chains' locations in India compared to ones we're used to in the US.

The first familiar chain we visited was Starbucks.

On my first morning in India, I desperately needed coffee, and I had a feeling Starbucks would be reliable and easy to navigate.

When I walked in, it looked similar to almost every other location I've been to. The menu had many US standards, with some Indian-inspired drinks and food items mixed in, which I appreciated.

I stuck to the basic latte I usually order at home. However, I was more adventurous when it came to my meal: a delicious masala potato puff.

Sitting down to eat at Starbucks isn't all that familiar to me.

After ordering, I quickly realized there was a key difference between this Starbucks and the one down the street from my house. Instead of waiting around for my name to be called, I was told to take a seat, and my order would be brought out to me.

Drinks were served in mugs and glasses rather than disposable cups, and meals came on dishes rather than in thin wrappers.

I liked that my Starbucks experience in India felt more like a sit-down restaurant than a quick-service coffee shop.

Another notable departure is that the Starbucks I visited in Delhi didn't open as early as I expected.

I assumed the chain accommodated morning caffeine fiends like myself everywhere in the world — many locations in the US open as early as 5 a.m. — but I had to wait for this Starbucks to open at 9 a.m.

Domino's in India surprised me.

I find Domino's locations in the US to be mediocre, but my kids love the chain. I was intrigued when I saw the American pizza place scattered throughout India, and eventually, we stopped at one.

I had a hard time deciding between the peppy paneer, indi tandoor, and cheese volcano. I love cheese, though, so I went for the volcano, which included a huge cup of cheese in the center of a pizza topped with a variety of veggies.

I really enjoyed it — I wish Domino's would bring volcano pizzas to the US.

The tables were turned when it came to who enjoyed Domino's more.

My son ordered a kids' meal (which came with a drink and dessert) and stuck with his normal Margherita pizza.

He said it wasn't as good as Domino's at home because the crust didn't seem the same, but overall, he was happy. Domino's chains near us in the US don't even sell kids' meals, and he liked the novelty.

I wish McDonald's back home had some of the Indian offerings.

My family rarely eats at McDonald's in the US, but we went to two different locations in India. One was in an abandoned mall, and the other was in the upscale Connaught Place shopping area.

The ambiance at each was different, but the Indian-inspired menu was the same.

One of my biggest takeaways was that it felt odd to be at a McDonald's that didn't have hamburgers. Cows are considered sacred in Hinduism, the most common religion in India, so many places don't serve beef.

Instead, the chain had chicken, potato, and veggie burgers. My kids and I shared a few different types, all of which we enjoyed.

My favorite was the McAloo tikki burger, which consisted of a patty made out of potato, peas, and spices topped with a tangy tomato-mayo. I'd go to McDonald's more often if it had something similar back home.

My pizza-loving son tried a McPuff. The pizza puff looked promising, but we ultimately deemed it mediocre.

We got special drinks at McDonald's, too.

My kids and I shared fries and sodas at McDonald's that were nearly identical to what we have in the US. However, we also had the option to add ice cream to our drinks, which was new and exciting.

My daughter really enjoyed her orange soda with vanilla ice cream.

Burger King had all sorts of unexpected menu items.

On our final night, my son and I got takeout from Burger King and met friends who were eating at a nearby KFC. It seemed like an odd last dinner to have in India, but it was convenient and quick.

Similar to McDonald's, Burger King had a menu full of chicken patties and veggie burgers. The chain also served mutton in place of beef.

The menu included some locally inspired dishes, like a paneer wrap, but I was more surprised to see tacos and an extensive selection of desserts for sale.

Our food was flavorful and good.

I was tempted to try the tacos. However, my favorite curry in India was makhani dal, so I decided to try a crispy vegetarian makhani burger. It was very good.

I paired my burger with cheese fries and a side of Fiery Hell Dip, which luckily wasn't as spicy as it sounded.

I'm actually kind of glad my kids have made these fast-food visits a habit.

I wouldn't want to eat every meal at American restaurants when I'm abroad. However, I have to admit occasional visits to familiar chains are fun.

It makes my kids happy, but more than that, I feel like paying attention to the little (or big) differences helps me learn a little more about our destination.

Plus, it's always fun to try specialty items we can't get back at home.

• Sen. Mitch McConnell criticized Trump's across-the-board tariffs in an interview on Sunday.
• He said the tariffs will "drive the cost of everything up" and antagonize US allies.
• "It will be paid for by American consumers," the former Senate GOP leader said.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, fresh off the end of his 18-year tenure as Senate Republican leader, is sounding off against looming tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.

Trump signed executive orders on Saturday that will impose 25% tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada, along with a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. On Monday, Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that the tariffs on the country will be delayed a month.

"It will drive the cost of everything up," McConnell said in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" that aired on Sunday. "In other words, it will be paid for by American consumers."

He also noted that Mexico and Canada are longtime US allies: "Why would you want to get in a fight with your allies over this?"

Trump has said the tariffs are designed to coerce the governments of Mexico, Canada, and China to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.

The tariffs are set to go into effect at midnight on Tuesday morning, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced retaliatory tariffs. Democrats have largely opposed Trump's move, also arguing that it will drive up the cost of consumer goods from those countries.

McConnell, a longtime Trump critic, isn't the only Republican who's criticizing the tariffs.

"Tariffs are simply taxes," Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky wrote on X. "Conservatives once united against new taxes. Taxing trade will mean less trade and higher prices."

McConnell also said that despite his criticism of Trump over tariffs — along with his belief that January 6 is an insurrection for which Trump is responsible — he's likely to be on the same page with the president most of the time.

"I expect to support most of what this administration is trying to accomplish," McConnell said. "So, what happened in the past is irrelevant to me."

• Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mexico could raise average new car prices by $2,700, Jefferies analysts found.
• The levies will hit automakers like GM and Stellantis, which import vehicles from Mexico, especially hard.
• Even Tesla would not be immune, with the company's CFO warning last week tariffs "would have an impact."

Donald Trump's tariff offensive has thrown the auto industry into chaos — and it could make your next car more expensive.

The president announced 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico and a 10% levy on China on Saturday, a move Jefferies analysts warned could add $2,700 to the average price of a new car in the US.

The import taxes sparked global market uncertainty on Monday after all three countries vowed to retaliate. Canada has already done so, saying it will put a 25% tariff on $30 billion of US goods.

While Trump said on Monday the introduction of tariffs on Mexico would be paused for a month, if implemented, they will significantly impact US carmakers.

Lured by low labor costs and cheap parts, automakers have built up their presence in Mexico over the past few decades. Detroit's "big three" of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, as well as foreign powerhouses like Toyota and Nissan, all build vehicles in Mexico to import to the US market.

Even car companies that assemble their vehicles in the US, such as Tesla and Rivian, are likely to face higher costs thanks to the levies extending to vehicle and engine components.

In a note on Sunday, Jefferies analysts estimated that a 25% levy on goods imported from Canada and Mexico would add $43 billion to industry costs, with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis being the most exposed.

Other estimates were equally dire. In a note seen by Business Insider, analysts for research firm Wolfe Research said the average price of a new car may climb by around $3,000.

Patrick Anderson, chief executive of consulting firm Anderson Economic Group, told The New York Times the tariffs could add $10,000 or more to the price of trucks and large vehicles imported from Mexico.

Auto executives have been bracing for the impact of Trump's tariffs ever since the Republican won the presidency for the second time in November.

In an earnings call last week, Tesla's Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said there was "a lot of uncertainty" around the taxes.

"Over the years, we've tried to localize our supply chain in every market, but we are still reliant on parts from across the world for all our businesses. Therefore, the imposition of tariffs, which is very likely, and any will have an impact on our business and profitability," Taneja said.

• USAID, the agency responsible for foreign aid, suddenly shut down its headquarters on Monday.
• DC-based employees received a text alert, seen by BI, instructing them to work remotely.
• Just hours earlier, Elon Musk said he'd discussed shutting down the agency with President Trump.

Employees at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) were told that the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C. would be shut down for the day, according to a text alert seen by Business Insider.

The message went to all USAID workers who have signed up for the agency's emergency notification system. It instructed all employees who report to the DC office— excluding those who perform "essential on-site and building maintenance functions individually contacted by senior leadership"— to work remotely. It did not specify whether and when the office would reopen, and CNN reported that the message also came to employees via email.

Though the instructions in the text come from "the direction of Agency leadership," Elon Musk said he supported shutting down the agency early Monday morning in a conversation on X Spaces, just hours before employees heard of the closure.

"With regards to the USAID stuff, I went over it in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down," Musk said of a conversation he had with President Donald Trump. Musk, who is spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), continued posting about the agency throughout Monday morning, writing on X that "USAID is a criminal organization" and "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper."

On Sunday night, Trump echoed the disdain for the agency, telling reporters it is run by "radical lunatics." He has already ordered a 90-day freeze on foreign aid.

A 15-year veteran employee at USAID told BI that staffers are feeling "nervous, annoyed, sad, anxious, what you'd imagine." BI has verified their identity and employment.

"We wish they would tell us directly what's happening instead of waking up to emails and texts telling us things," they said.

Congress established USAID, the agency responsible for government humanitarian aid, in 1961. The US government is the world's biggest humanitarian donor.

Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in a letter on Sunday that only Congress can merge USAID into the State Department, as it is reported Trump has said he wants to do. In the letter, they also said reports about DOGE personnel accessing USAID headquarters and sensitive data "raises deep concerns."

"No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances." Katie Miller, a DOGE spokeswoman, said in an X post on Sunday.

The agency's website has been shut down, its social media pages deactivated. Retired and former employees are planning a protest at the Capitol on Wednesday, according to a flyer BI has seen making the rounds on personal social media accounts.

Representatives for the White House, USAID, and Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

• Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, reached a deal with Trump to delay tariffs by a month.
• It follows Trump's declaration of a 25% tariff on the country.
• Sheinbaum said she agreed to strengthen border policy to meet Trump's demands.

President Donald Trump's tariffs on Mexico will be delayed by a month after the country agreed to meet some of his border demands.

On Monday, Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum wrote in a post on X that following a "good conversation" with Trump, Mexico will reinforce its border with 10,000 members of the National Guard to prevent drug trafficking into the US.

As a result, Sheinbam wrote that the US would pause tariffs for one month.

Trump confirmed the news in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

"I just spoke with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico," Trump wrote. "It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States. These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country."

On February 1, Trump declared a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada and an additional 10% tariff on China. This marked the beginning of Trump's long-anticipated trade agenda. On his campaign trail, he proposed wide-ranging tariffs on several countries to help achieve his policy goals, including strengthened drug and border policies.

Following Trump's announcement of new tariffs over the weekend, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced 25% retaliatory tariffs on the US, expected to impact about $106 billion worth of US goods, including fruit from Florida and motorcycles from Pennsylvania.

"We need to respond in a way that is appropriate, that is measured but forceful, that meets the moment," Trudeau said on Saturday.

It's unclear at this point if Trudeau and Trump will reach a similar agreement to Mexico. Trump wrote on Truth Social that he is speaking to Trudeau again on Monday afternoon.

Democratic lawmakers criticized Trump's tariffs shortly after they were announced, with many saying they would increase prices for goods Americans rely on. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for example, said in a statement that "Trump's desire for a trade war with Canada and Mexico won't protect jobs, keep Americans safe, or bring down costs for families."

She added that "the President is cracking down more than twice as hard on maple syrup and avocados from Canada and Mexico."

Billionaires and industry leaders have also called on Trump to rethink his tariffs. Mark Cuban, billionaire entrepreneur, wrote on Bluesky: "I apologize to all the people it will cost money and the businesses it will hurt. But it's the only way for tariffs to be seen for what they are."

Trump told reporters on Sunday that Americans would experience "some pain" as a result of his tariffs, but he said that they were in the country's best interest.

• Fidelity's Contrafund valued its stakes in SpaceX at $2.7 billion at the end of 2024, per filings.
• The mutual fund giant first invested in Elon Musk's space company via its 2015 Series G.
• Fidelity invests in startups and large companies via dozens of mutual funds.

SpaceX's valuation is soaring — at least according to one investment giant. Fidelity, which invests in startups and large companies alike via dozens of mutual funds, is now valuing its stakes in Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies at $2.7 billion.

Fudelity's SpaceX stakes — which include Class A and C shares in Fidelity's Contrafund, as well as Series G, H, and N shares — were revealed in a December filing report published by the investment company at the end of January.

Cumulatively, this would make SpaceX the 11th largest holding in the $160 billion Contrafund, ahead of Visa, JPMorgan, and Broadcom. As it stands, SpaceX's Series G shares are the 23rd largest holding in the fund.

Fidelity's Contrafund first invested in SpaceX during its 2015 Series G funding round, which at the time valued the company at $12 billion, according to Wall Street Journal reports. The Contrafund paid $43,239,000 on January 20, 2015 for 558,215 shares, according to an annual report.

At the end of December 2024, the Contrafund valued those same 558,215 Series G shares at $1,032,697,750 — a whopping 2288% return over the span of a decade.

Given SpaceX's $12 billion valuation at the time of its Series G fundraise in 2015, the Contrafund is now signaling SpaceX's valuation to be north of $286 billion — which is larger than Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Chevron, and Salesforce.

In December, SpaceX was valued at $350 billion following a secondary share sale.

2024 was a banner year for Musk, who supported President Donald Trump's reelection and has taken a leadership role in the Trump administration. Musk's social media platform, X, has also provided a lucrative source of training data for his AI startup, xAI, which raised $6 billion in Series C funding in December.

Fidelity's Contrafund has increased the value of its SpaceX stake during this time period: it valued the company's Series G shares at $541.5 million in December 2023, according to an annual filing, and increased the value of those shares 15.5%, to $625 million, in June 2024, according to a semi-annual filing.

With those Series G shares valued at $1,032,697,750 at the end of December 2024, that's a 65% increase from June and a 91% increase year over year.

Representatives for SpaceX and Elon Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

• I'm a seasoned traveler, but I got left behind by a cruise ship with my sister and 18 others.
• We were on an excursion booked through the cruise line but the ship hadn't known to wait for us.
• One passenger quickly called the reception desk, and the ship came back for us.

I've traveled all over the world on ships, from small river cruises to mega-ships with thousands of passengers.

For years, I'd heard horror stories of passengers getting left behind, but I never expected it would happen to me.

However, in November 2023, my cruise ship left me behind on one of the stops.

A group of us didn't make it back to the ship by the time it was supposed to leave

My sister and I were on a river cruise around Thanksgiving and had just stopped in Nuremberg, Germany. We were on a fantastic excursion that we'd booked directly through our cruise line: a bus tour with about 18 other passengers.

When it ended, our bus began heading back to the ship, and we got caught in a major traffic jam. We didn't get back to port until about 30 minutes after the ship was scheduled to leave.

As we arrived, we saw our ship sailing away. I was shocked: Didn't the crew realize 20 of us hadn't checked in from one of the cruise line's own excursions?

Many passengers panicked, but one pulled out a copy of the ship's itinerary and called the phone number on it to tell the reception desk what had happened.

Luckily, the ship wasn't very far from the dock and hadn't meant to leave without us. It turned around and picked us up.

If that passenger hadn't had the ship's reception number readily available and thought to call, we might have been left behind for much longer or had to find our own way to the next port.

The crew hadn't known to wait for us even though we were on an excursion through the ship

I was surprised the ship left without us because when you're on a cruise-organized shore excursion, it is supposed to wait for you to get back, even if you're running late.

It's one of the biggest perks of booking directly through a cruise — the ships don't wait for passengers who miss the departure time if they are on a third-party excursion or on their own.

Once we got back on board, we learned a bit more about how we got left behind. In a way, it was a perfect storm of missteps.

Cruise ships typically require passengers to scan personal ID badges when entering and exiting the boat so they always know who's on board. However, earlier that day, our cruise company organized for our entire ship to board a new one as our current one was unable to pass under a certain bridge.

Our tour group hadn't yet been able to check into the ship to get our new badges, which caused some confusion.

Plus, a few miles before we hit traffic en route to the dock, the local tour guide hired by the cruise line got off our bus for an unknown reason, leaving us with only the driver.

This meant our cruise-appointed guide wasn't aware we'd been delayed and did not notify the ship.

I'll continue booking my excursions directly through the cruise line

Fortunately, the ship was able to come back for us because we'd been on one of its excursions, and it was still close by.

I'm grateful we booked our excursion directly through the cruise line and will continue to do so moving forward.

If we'd been on a third-party excursion that ran late, the ship would've had no obligation to wait for us or come back. We would've likely had to find our way to the next port.

After this experience, I also suggest all cruisers keep the ship's contact information with them whenever they're on land.

• I made Ben & Jerry's two-ingredient bread using four different ice-cream flavors. 
• I enjoyed the vanilla and Chunky Monkey breads and think they'd work great for French toast.
• My Half Baked and Netflix & Chill'd loaves were not as good as the ice cream on its own.

Ben & Jerry's has a recipe for swirled ice-cream bread made with just the company's famous pints and self-rising flour.

The ice-cream brand is not the first to share this recipe, but I was sold. Although the original recipe uses fudge brownie and chocolate-chip-cookie-dough ice cream, I was curious how it would work for other flavors. 

So, I made the sweet loaf with some of my favorite Ben & Jerry's varieties — Half Baked, Chunky Monkey, and Netflix & Chill'd — as well as a basic vanilla from Häagen-Dazs.

First, I gathered my ingredients and melted the ice cream

For the recipes, I bought a 5-pound bag of self-rising flour since each bread requires 3 cups of it. I also purchased eight pints of ice cream as each recipe requires two, and I planned to make four loaves. 

First, I had to let the ice cream melt. Since I only have two loaf pans, I put the Chunky Monkey and Netflix & Chill'd in the fridge to slowly defrost and vanilla and Half Baked on my table to use first. 

I didn't defrost my ingredients in the microwave because it could "change the molecular structure" of the frozen treat and "impact the ice cream bread's texture," according to the recipe.

The vanilla loaf was easy to throw together and could be great for French toast

Once both pints of ice cream melted, I mixed in 3 cups of self-rising flour to make a very thick batter. I then transferred the batter to a loaf pan and popped it in the oven for an hour, per the instructions. 

The vanilla ice-cream bread was nice and sweet, with crisp edges and a soft and spongy middle. 

It was OK on its own, but this bread would be best topped with fresh berries and whipped cream. It also might make a good base for French toast.

The Half Baked bread didn't quite work or taste as good as the pint 

Ben & Jerry's Half Baked flavor blends chocolate and vanilla ice cream with chunks of cookie dough and brownie.

I followed the same technique I did for the vanilla loaf. Stirring the batter was difficult because of the brownie and cookie-dough chunks, so I used my stand mixer. 

The Half Baked loaf was probably my least favorite of the ones I made, even though I love the ice cream.

The chocolate ice cream resulted in a weird overall flavor, and the cookie-dough bites and brownie bits created a strange, chunky texture throughout the middle of the bread. 

The Chunky Monkey loaf didn't taste like banana bread as I expected

Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey flavor has banana ice cream plus chunks of chocolate and walnuts, so I thought it would make a sweet loaf similar to banana bread.

I used my stand mixer for this batter, which was much easier and faster than trying to mix it by hand. This bread took the longest to bake — about an hour and 10 minutes.

Still, it looked great, with crisp edges and a soft, dense interior.

Although it didn't taste like banana bread, it was probably my favorite loaf of the bunch.

I loved the crunch from the walnuts and the thick pieces of chocolate throughout wonderfully paired with the fruit's flavor. This option would be great topped with vanilla ice cream and fresh banana slices.

I'd still prefer to just eat a Chunky Monkey pint of ice cream, but this bread was pretty good.

The Netflix & Chill'd flavor made for a difficult batter and a strange-tasting bread

This flavor features peanut-butter ice cream with swirls of pretzel and fudgy brownie bits. The batter I made with this ice cream was super thick and difficult to combine, even with the stand mixer.

The bread's final texture seemed off as well. Although I liked the slightly crispy exterior, the inside was quite dense.

Pretzel swirls might be great in ice cream, but they didn't taste the same in bread.

This option would likely be better with some added chocolate, but overall, the flavors and textures weren't quite right.

These breads were a fun change of pace, but I'd rather just eat the ice cream from the pint

With just two ingredients, this ice-cream bread is a unique treat that's easy to make. Although some of the loaves were tasty, they weren't nearly as good as just enjoying a bowl of ice cream on its own.

Still, I'd love to try the vanilla and Chunky Monkey options again to turn them into French toast or bread pudding.

This story was originally published on May 28, 2021, and most recently updated on January 31, 2025.

• Taylor Swift has been a staple star at the Grammy Awards since first attending in 2008.
• Many of her best looks on the event's red carpet have been covered in sparkles.
• Some of her earliest Grammys outfits, however, weren't as strong.

Taylor Swift is a Grammy Awards icon.

She's attended the event on and off since 2008 and has 14 trophies to her name. She even became the first artist to win album of the year four times in her career.

Her Grammys fashion is also notable, including everything from floral minidresses to sparkle-covered gowns over the years.

Here's a look at everything she's worn at the annual event, ranked from worst to best.

The sparkling blue gown Taylor Swift wore to the 2010 Grammys wasn't her best.

The Kaufmanfranco gown had lots of potential, with its off-the-shoulder neckline, all-over blue sparkles, and stunning backless bodice.

But excess fabric across its front made the dress look ill-fitting on Swift, ultimately distracting from the gown's other elements.

Swift completed the look with chunky bracelets, statement earrings, and an updo hairstyle.

She wore a black gown in 2009 that was pretty but plain.

Also designed by Kaufmanfranco, the sleeveless dress had a plunging V-neckline, crisscross straps beneath the chest, and a low-back bodice.

The outfit was a daring choice for Swift at the time, and her accessories gave some extra glamour to the look. She wore a pair of dangling earrings and metallic cuffs on one wrist.

But ultimately, the gown's solid dark color and shapeless silhouette made for a dress that wasn't the most memorable.

Swift looked like a princess at her first Grammy Awards in 2008.

She wore a strapless corset gown in a lilac shade with leaf-shaped embroidery across its neckline and a tulle skirt.

It was designed by music executive Scott Borchetta's wife, Sandi Spika Borchetta.

Swift looked stunning in the piece, and it was a great, youthful choice for that era of her career. Still, the dress would have worked better at a prom than on a red carpet.

She made a colorful statement at the 2015 Grammys.

Swift's striking Elie Saab gown was tough to miss on the red carpet. Its blue design featured a sleeveless, double-strap top and a miniskirt wrapped with longer, pleated fabric.

The dress perfectly embodied her "1989" era, especially when paired with vibrant purple heels.

But while the outfit worked great in 2015, its high-low design and nearly neon colors look a bit outdated now.

Her 2024 outfit was more of a musical Easter egg than a fashion statement.

Taylor Swift announced her 11th studio album, "The Tortured Poets Department," at the 2024 Grammys.

For the occasion, she wore a white Schiaparelli gown that nodded to both the project's overall aesthetic and an outfit featured in the "Fortnight" music video, which hadn't been released at the time.

It was strapless with a ruched bodice, dramatic skirt, long train, and thigh-high slit. She accessorized it with simple sandals, long black gloves, and layered necklaces that included a watch choker.

Swift looked stunning as always, and her outfit was undoubtedly fun — her accessories especially.

But her intentionally messy hairstyle clashed with her gown's elegance, and its loose-fitting fabric looked more excessive than dramatic.

She went with a youthful style in 2016 and nailed the look.

Whereas Swift's 2015 dress was representative of its time, her 2016 outfit was fun and fashionable.

She wore a strapless orange top and high-waisted pink skirt, both designed by Versace. The latter piece was especially daring, with a slit that extended to its waistline.

Not only was the two-piece outfit unexpected for Swift, but it was also styled to perfection with diamond jewelry, strappy gold sandals, glam makeup, and a sharp bob hairstyle.

It's no surprise that the look remains iconic among Swifties today.

Swift's 2013 red-carpet outfit was ahead of its time.

She strutted down the red carpet in a white gown designed by J. Mendel. It had a revealing top held together with sparkling straps and a floor-length pleated skirt cut by a thigh-high slit.

The dress itself was timeless, and her silver heels matched perfectly.

Her hairstyle — an updo with a thin braid atop her head — also resembled the styles she would wear years later while promoting her pandemic albums "Folklore" and "Evermore."

Swifties loved the floral dress the superstar wore in 2021, and for good reason.

Oscar de la Renta designed her minidress — the first she'd ever worn on the Grammys red carpet — with a high neckline and long sleeves. It was also covered from top to bottom in fabric flowers.

Swift's choice of shoe — pink sandals with oversize ankle straps — wasn't the strongest, but her dress was so fun and feminine that you'd hardly notice her footwear.

The "Midnights" musician looked like royalty in 2012.

Wearing Zuhair Murad, Swift was a vision in gold. Her short-sleeved gown had a high neckline, a heart-shaped cutout across the chest, and a floor-length skirt with a short train.

It was also covered in intricate sequin patterns, which shined in the lights of flashing cameras and added texture to the stunning piece.

Swift sparkled at the 2014 Grammys in a metallic ensemble.

Her flawless ensemble included a form-fitting metallic gown from Gucci and Jimmy Choo sandals beneath its long skirt.

The dress sparkled in the light thanks to its netted overlay, and her wavy ponytail perfectly complemented her glowing makeup.

Swift undoubtedly had fun with her all-red ensemble this year — and it paid off.

She matched the red carpet in a ruby-colored minidress designed by Vivienne Westwood. The corseted piece had an asymmetrical neckline, a wrapped miniskirt, and all-over sparkles.

Swift wore it with her signature red lipstick, a $1,050 pair of 4.7-inch Casadei heels, and an assortment of ruby jewels from Lorraine Schwartz.

The accessories included statement earrings, two large rings, and a leg chain with a T initial charm and heart-shaped rubies.

The latter piece — which was co-designed by Swift, according to People — seemingly references a line from her song "Guilty as Sin?" in which Swift sings: "What if he's written 'mine' on my upper thigh only in my mind?"

In this case, the T likely represents her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.

Who could forget Swift's bejeweled outfit in 2023?

Designed by Roberto Cavalli, Swift's midnight-blue outfit consisted of a silk long-sleeved crop top and a high-waisted, mermaid-style skirt.

Both handmade pieces were embellished with silver Swarovski crystals to look like "an explosion of stars all over," according to a post on the designer's Instagram page.

The outfit made for one of her strongest fashion moments of 2023.

• Netflix's Bela Bajaria has defended the platform against suggestions it no longer makes prestige TV.
• "Nobody knows what 'prestige TV' actually is," Bajaria said.
• She was speaking via livestream at a Netflix preview event attended by Business Insider.

Netflix's chief content officer has responded to suggestions that the streaming service no longer makes prestige TV.

Speaking via a livestream in Los Angeles for a Netflix preview event attended by Business Insider on Wednesday, Bela Bajaria said she wanted to bust the "myth" that the streamer no longer creates prestige original programming for its subscribers.

"The most annoying thing about this myth — besides the fact that it's not true — is that nobody knows what 'prestige TV' actually is," Bajaria said.

"Is it a critically acclaimed show? Does it win awards? Is it a show audiences love? Is it one that people at your dinner parties in New York and L.A. talk about?"

Bajaria added: "The only thing we do know is that a lot of people who brag about making prestige TV have a very narrow audience. "

Over the years, Netflix has expanded its offerings to include live sporting events and reality shows, which some see as a departure from hit original dramas like "Narcos" and "House of Cards."

But Bajaria said Netflix was "different" from other streaming services and networks because it has "never tried to be famous for just one thing" and so attracts a wide-ranging audience.

The streamer announced in January that it had finished 2024 with more than 300 million paid subscribers worldwide, placing it above rivals such as Apple TV+, Max, and Prime Video.

Bajaria also argued that Netflix was making more critically acclaimed and celebrated shows "than ever," pointing to the fact that the streamer had 107 Emmy and 36 Golden Globe nominations last year.

Bajaria said that this year, the streamer will be bringing viewers a variety of shows "that meet any definition of 'prestige TV."

Such offerings include "Zero Day," a political thriller starring Robert de Niro, Angela Bassett, and Jesse Plemons, which is set to debut on February 20.

Others include "Death By Lightening," a new historical miniseries produced by "Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, "The Beast In Me," a thriller starring Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys, and "Black Rabbit," which will reteam "Ozark" stars Jason Bateman and Laura Linney.

At Wednesday's event, Bajaria also took the opportunity to push back at criticism of "sameness in mainstream culture."

While bringing up a screenshot of a 2024 New York Times video article titled "Is Creativity Dead?," Bajaria said: "I get it. Last year, the 15 highest-grossing films were all sequels, reboots, or spinoffs."

But she added that "there's a whole lot of really interesting, creative work that people don't always see."

"Creativity is not dead — not on Netflix, and not for the creators we work with. They're always coming up with amazing, original ideas we can't stop thinking about."

• Top economists including Paul Krugman criticized Trump's plan to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
• The pair said import taxes would damage trust in the US, while Robert Reich said Trump had ill intent.
• Steve Hanke said Americans pay for tariffs, and they don't increase employment.

Prominent economists including Paul Krugman, Larry Summers, Steve Hanke and Robert Reich have been airing their views on President Donald Trump's plan to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico.

Trump said the plan to impose 25% levies on tariffs on most goods entering the US from its northern and southern neighbors, and a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, could cause "some pain" but would be "worth the price."

They were due to take effect on Tuesday, but Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday they would be delayed by a month following a "good conversation" with Trump.

Damaging trust

Krugman, a winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, said in a Substack post that tariffs threaten global faith in America.

"And even if some of the tariffs prove temporary, the Rubicon has been crossed," he wrote. "We now know that when the United States signs an agreement, on trade or anything else, the president will treat that agreement as a mere suggestion to be ignored whenever he feels like it. That revelation in itself will do huge long-term damage."

The former MIT and Princeton University professor also cautioned the modest slump in stocks on Monday might herald a steeper sell-off. "This market complacency is a self-defeating prophecy: muted market reaction makes it likely that Trump will continue and expand his trade war," Krugman said.

Price pain and economic fallout

Summers, a former US Treasury chief and Harvard University president, said on X the tariffs were "inexplicable and dangerous."

They stand to raise the prices that Americans pay for many things including cars and gas, make US firms less competitive, stymie job creation, increase unemployment, and trigger retaliation from other countries that harms the US economy, he said.

They could also destabilize the Mexican economy, spurring more of its citizens to head for the US border, and lead to other countries viewing the US as a "bad partner" that's willing to "arbitrarily impost tariffs as a form of hostage-taking for leverage," Summers said.

In a follow-up post, Summers said that "bullying doesn't win over time on the playground or in the international arena." He said this "self-inflicted supply shock" was a gift to Chinese leader Xi Jinping and made China look relatively better to the rest of the world.

He added that price hikes could accelerate overall inflation and force the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates instead of cutting them, curbing economic growth.

'Hidden tax'

Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, wrote on X that research shows US consumers and businesses — not foreign exporters — pay virtually the entire cost of tariffs.

"Tariffs = a hidden tax on Americans," wrote the former economic advisor to Ronald Reagan.

Hanke also dismissed the idea of a domestic jobs boom. "The idea that tariffs will increase jobs is nonsense. Manufacturing output in the US is up, but manufacturing jobs have been declining for the last 40 years — tariffs or no tariffs."

He added that tariffs rob Americans of purchasing power.

Moreover, the president's tariffs threaten the entire North American economy and thus growth, inflation, and investor and business confidence across the world, Peel Hunt economists said in a research note.

"Although the US appears strong, momentum is narrowly driven by fiscal excesses and consumer exuberance," senior economist Kallum Pickering and his team wrote. "If tariffs lead to a spike in bond yields that, in turn, prick the US equity market bubble, the need for sudden fiscal discipline and a more cautious consumer could destabilise the upswing."

"Whether it happens through inflation, higher interest rates, or increased future taxes to cover the deficit-financed tax cuts which Trump proposes to offset the import levies, US consumers will pay for tariffs," they added.

Money and power

Reich, who advocated for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during his tenure as labor secretary, said on his Substack that Trump is using tariffs to demonstrate his power and unpredictability.

Reich said Trump's actions tend to be for his own benefit. He dishes out tax cuts and regulatory relief to US executives, and special treatment on trade, energy, and intelligence to foreign oligarchs, in exchange for lucrative business deals, information, campaign funds, and positive publicity, Reich said.

"Trump says he's doing this for American workers," Reich wrote. "Nothing could be farther from the truth. He's doing this for himself and for the world's oligarchy, which, in turn, is busily siphoning off the wealth of the world."

• OpenAI has launched Deep Research, a new ChatGPT tool that automates multi-step internet research.
• The agentic AI tool generates "expert-level" reports and is available to Pro users.
• The launch comes as competition heats up for OpenAI from China's DeepSeek and domestic AI rivals.

OpenAI has launched Deep Research, a tool for automating complex multi-step internet research, as the company continues rolling out new products in the face of competition from Chinese startup DeepSeek.

In a Sunday blog post, OpenAI said Deep Research can operate independently to gather information from the internet to meet a user's research needs, completing tasks in "tens of minutes that would take a human many hours."

The AI agent, which is available for Pro users paying $200 a month, is aimed at professionals in finance, science, policy, and engineering.

Unlike other ChatGPT tools, Deep Research operates independently for five to 30 minutes, adjusting its approach in real time as it gathers information.

Deep Research is powered by a fine-tuned version of OpenAI's o3 reasoning model. The tool autonomously browses the internet, pulls data from multiple sources, and produces fully cited reports, OpenAI said. Mark Chen, OpenAI's chief research officer, called it "something that an analyst or an expert in a field might produce."

According to OpenAI, Deep Research has already achieved a new high score of 26.6% on "Humanity's Last Exam," an AI benchmark of expert-level questions, beating GPT-4's 3.3% score. However, OpenAI cautions the model can still "hallucinate" incorrect facts and can struggle to distinguish between rumor and fact.

In an X post on Sunday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman encouraged users to "try it on your hardest work task that can be solved just by using the internet and see what happens."

On Friday, OpenAI launched o3-mini, a cost-efficient reasoning AI model. The two OpenAI launches come just days after Altman said his company would deliver "much better models" and move more quickly in response to the release of DeepSeek's R1 model.

DeepSeek shook the tech industry and Wall Street last month with a model that appears to match the capabilities of those from OpenAI but seemingly at a lower cost.

Last month, OpenAI rolled out its Operator AI agent, while in December it launched the text-to-video model Sora to the public.

• As a reporter covering longevity and health, I'm skeptical of new products or fads.
• As I've met researchers and doctors around the world, I've picked up a few solid tips.
• Here are my seven favorite longevity tools, including foods and supplements.

As I've spent the past few years reporting on the rise of healthy aging and longevity research worldwide, I've seen the full spectrum of antiaging hacks. Some people spend thousands of dollars on supplements, others go to posh clinics for private, highly tailored services.

None of this is for me. Instead, I've picked up a few simple, cheap longevity habits.

Hearing researchers, doctors, and nutritionists lay out their arguments for why certain activities, foods, and pills were good for my long-term health, I eventually incorporated a few research-backed changes into my routine.

Here are my seven favorite daily longevity tips.

I eat more nuts and seeds than I used to

Nuts and seeds are great sources of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and "healthy" fats. In short, it's all the good stuff that our ultra-processed diets often lack.

At home, I regularly stock different nuts and seeds. I keep a bag of ground flaxseed in the freezer to sprinkle over yogurt, oatmeal, and salads. I also ensure I have chia seeds — a staple for the breakfast balls I often prep in the summertime. And I like having pumpkin seeds around for a midday snack or sprinkled into dinner.

There's one kind of nut in my cupboard that deserves a special shoutout: the walnut.

Walnuts have the highest omega-3 concentration of any nut, which is a big reason Loma Linda cardiologist Gary Fraser puts them on his morning cereal, and why leading nut nutrition expert Joan Sabaté puts them in his daily longevity smoothie. I enjoy walnuts in Greek yogurt or on a lunchtime salad.

I've upped my leafy green intake

Green leaves are rich in nutrients like magnesium, iron, and nitrogen, and they help with digestion and gut health. Greens have also consistently been linked to better long-term brain health and cognition.

Dr. Dean Sherzai, half of the husband-and-wife team known as "The Brain Docs," says if you want to pick out one thing to improve your longevity, "just add green."

Sherzai recommends getting two servings of greens into your diet a day. When I'm doing my grocery shopping, I always add a bag of greens to the haul, whether it's arugula, spinach, or a spring mix.

Tracking my sleep has made some healthy habits stick

I've become one of those people who track their sleep and try to improve their sleep "hygiene" accordingly.

It started in 2024 when I attended a longevity conference in Singapore. It seemed like everyone there was tracking something with a smartwatch or ring. The experts doing some of the most cutting-edge research on how to help people stay fit and sharp into old age were tracking the quality of their sleep.

After a few weeks of using my own smart ring, I started to appreciate the daily insights.

The ring notices, for example, when I drink a beer right before bedtime. That's when my REM sleep (the memory-storing kind) decreases and my nighttime temperature goes up.

Sleep tracking has encouraged me to drink more herbal tea before bed, take more baths in the evenings, and be gentler to myself when I'm premenstrual. All of these changes have added up to slightly better daily sleep scores, as the quality of my sleep has trended upward.

I've committed to more strength training

Any longevity expert worth their salt will tell you the best longevity treatment we have right now is exercise. Some of the most promising research into longevity drugs aims to mimic the many positive effects of exercise.

I used to only do half of the job, though. I loved cardio training and hated weightlifting. My wake-up call came when I suffered a stress fracture from running too hard, too fast, without prioritizing cross-training.

Building muscle through strength training as we age is good for bone health, pain management, and fat burning. In recent years, I've started adding more squats, lunges, and deadlifts into my routine. These are not just helping me get stronger, they're also improving mobility and making me less likely to get injured in the years to come.

A little less butter, a little more olive oil

I've started replacing some of the butter and seed oil in my life with olive oil. This is less about butter being "bad" (though there are plenty of nutrition experts who'd tell you it's not the best choice) and more about the health benefits of olive oil.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is rich in plant compounds called polyphenols, which are great for brain health, heart health, and reducing inflammation.

Nutrition expert Dr. Artemis Simopoulos recommends mixing olive oil 1:1 with butter for a healthier spread on toast. I haven't tried that yet, but I do sometimes replace butter for 100% EVOO on my toast, and I also sub out prepackaged salads and dressings for greens and olive oil.

Berries have become a near-daily treat

Over the past two years I've upped my daily berry intake, simply due to learning more about their health benefits. Berries are so rich in chemical compounds that they're like power fuel for our cells. Plus, they're better for digestion and gut health than anything sweet I might pick out of a vending machine.

I try to stock at least one to two kinds of berries in the fridge when they're in season, including blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

I started taking a supplement. It's not a multivitamin.

Supplements aren't magic pills, but as the name suggests they can help supplement what a person's diet or lifestyle isn't covering. While nutraceutical supplement companies in the US don't have to abide by the same rigorous standards as pharmaceutical drug companies, there are third-party supplement testing outfits that certify some brands.

In longevity circles, people tend to subscribe to a highly personalized version of supplementation. Often, they'll use blood tests and other "biomarkers" like cholesterol, blood pressure, and genetic testing to come up with a daily pill strategy.

About a year ago, on the recommendation of the Miora longevity clinic at Life Time Fitness, I did some bloodwork and started taking magnesium. It's a mineral that most Americans don't get enough of.

The magnesium supplement I buy sets me back about 28 cents per day. It is United States Pharmacopeia (USP) verified, meaning I can be reasonably confident that what's advertised on the label is in the bottle.

I got another blood test recently, and I'm no longer deficient in magnesium. I can't say the difference is obvious, but I have noticed marginal benefits for my muscle relaxation, sleep, and digestion.

• Roboforce raised $10 million in funding to make an AI robotic workforce.
• The startup, founded in 2023, develops robots for manufacturing and outdoor tasks.
• The funding will be used to expand the team, scale robot development, and launch pilot projects.

Robotics startup Roboforce has raised $10 million in an early-stage funding round led by Nobel laureate economist Myron Scholes. Gary Rieschel, who previously spearheaded Softbank's U.S. venture capital group, and Carnegie Mellon University, the alma mater of Roboforce co-founders Leo Ma and Calvin Zhou, also participated in the round.

The Milpitas, Calif.-based startup, which launched in 2023, makes AI-powered robots that carry out manufacturing tasks. The company's robots use artificial intelligence to move themselves and perform duties that require fine motor skills, like screwing in nuts and bolts, with one millimeter of accuracy, Ma told Business Insider.

The robots are also capable of working on physical projects in tough outdoor conditions, like installing solar centers in deserts, he said. They are controlled by an AI model, developed in-house at Roboforce, and some human intervention, though the company intends for the robots to reach full autonomy.

The 15-person company will use the funding to double the size of its team, scale its robot development, and roll out pilot projects with early customers. Currently, Roboforce has a fleet of under ten robots and hopes to reach double digits this year. Veeral Hardev, who runs business development, said the robots will be leased to customers through a subscription model.

Ma previously co-founded and led engineering at Cyngn, an autonomous industrial vehicle company that went public in October 2021. "Building AI robotics is all I do," Ma said. "My heart is in building AI robotics."

Ma, whose parents work in manufacturing, has been interested in automating production since childhood. Over the past decade, he has visited over 200 factories to study industrial automation. "The most tedious, demanding, repetitive, and dangerous work—we really shouldn't have to have a human do it," Ma said.

Ma and Roboforce's co-founder and vice president of engineering, Calvin Zhou, met while they were studying computer science at Carnegie Mellon. Zhou previously worked at Cruise, a self-driving robotaxi subsidiary of General Motors.

A handful of other companies are also developing robots with human-like capabilities. Elon Musk unveiled his robot, Optimus, at Tesla's Robotaxi Day in October 2024. Figure, which raised a $70 million Series A in 2023, builds robots that can complete general tasks autonomously. And Sanctuary AI, another labor market-focused robot startup, is on the market for more funding, The Logic reported on Tuesday.

Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck Roboforce used to raise $10 million.

• We bought a fixer-upper in Canada while living in Australia, then moved our family across the world.
• Living in active construction for years was much more destabilizing than I ever imagined.
• My husband and I spent double our budget, missed time with our kids, and almost lost each other.

In 2017, we were living in Australia with our daughters and planning our move to Canada when I found my dream house on the internet.

From our home in Brisbane, I video-called and emailed a real-estate agent in Toronto, doing my best to juggle our 15-hour time difference.

Within days, I'd signed an online contract to buy the 1913 fixer-upper without ever setting foot in the house or the neighborhood.

My husband and I thought we could handle it, as we'd both lived in a few different countries and had worked with builders to renovate our Brisbane home years earlier.

However, the reality of our situation was far from what I had imagined.

The house needed more work than expected

When we bought the house, it had been divided into four apartments, so we agreed we'd live in it for a year or so while we drew up renovation plans.

However, as soon as our family moved in, we found that the house needed urgent repairs, including fixing its crumbling foundation and replacing its dangerous knob-and-tube wiring.

My husband, an engineer, decided we had to start work right away, and I didn't say no. In an attempt to cut costs, we hired the first person who said they could save us money and get the work done while we lived in the house.

As my husband commuted to his clean, quiet office for work each day, I tried to write and edit from home. Renovations, on top of the international move, were grueling.

No amount of plastic taped over doors kept the dust out of my hair, my nose, or the rest of the house. I dealt with bathroom floods and burst pipes while juggling being the sole parent and project manager since my husband had to travel for work.

My daughters, ages 9 and 11, missed their friends and our Brisbane home, and so did I.

Builders and the pandemic pushed me to a breaking point

By 2020, we had only finished a quarter of the house, and I finally convinced my husband we should move out during remodel. Before we could, though, our area went into lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Living in renovations during the pandemic exacerbated every problem we already had. We were overwhelmed by decisions and financial pressures, and we were far away from friends in a city we didn't know.

Our daughters wrestled with severe mental-health issues, and family conversations spiraled into quarrels and angry silence.

During one late-night argument, my husband collapsed onto the kitchen floor. I should've taken it as a sign we all needed to step back, but I didn't. I became my worst self, and I hated the house.

I reminded myself constantly that we were lucky to even own a home, but it didn't help my panic attacks. After a particularly severe crisis, my doctor prescribed me medication for anxiety.

Years later, we're happy with our home — but the path to get here wasn't glamorous

All in all, it took us five years, over a dozen tradespeople, and two separate contractors to finish the house. We spent more than $1.4 million Canadian dollars (about $973,000.00), which was double our original budget.

It's hard to say if the renovations were worth all of the struggles. What I do know is that we now have a beautiful home and a new perspective.

Looking back, we realized our family took on far too much.

Our daughters were displaced by the move and destabilized by living with builders constantly in our home. And, by spending so much time working on the house, we missed precious growing-up time with them.

During these renovations, I also struggled to feel like an equal in my relationship. By letting my husband (an engineer and the main earner) make the decisions, I put too much pressure on him — and I was angry at myself for not speaking up.

After 20 years of marriage, we're finally talking about what we've learned and what we want our partnership to look like moving forward. I'm becoming more assertive, building my self-confidence, and prioritizing my mental health.

Above all, my husband and I are looking forward to never renovating again.

• In a leaked memo seen by BI, Meta's CTO said 2025 is crucial for the metaverse's success or failure.
• Andrew Bosworth said Meta needed to "drive sales, retention, and engagement" for mixed reality.
• He added Reality Labs planned to launch half a dozen more AI-powered wearable products.

Meta's chief technology officer thinks 2025 could be a make-or-break year for the company's metaverse bets, Business Insider has learned.

Andrew "Boz" Bosworth told staff that this year is the "most critical" to prove the metaverse is either a visionary feat or a "legendary misadventure," according to an internal memo from November viewed by BI.

In a post titled "2025: The Year of Greatness," shared on Meta's internal forum Workplace, Bosworth said the company's Reality Labs division planned to launch half a dozen more AI-powered wearable devices — but did not specify a timeline or provide further details.

"We need to drive sales, retention, and engagement across the board but especially in MR," he wrote, referring to mixed reality. "And Horizon Worlds on mobile absolutely has to break out for our long term plans to have a chance. If you don't feel the weight of history on you then you aren't paying attention.

"This year likely determines whether this entire effort will go down as the work of visionaries or a legendary misadventure."

Bosworth also referred to Steven Levy's book "Insanely Great," which details how the Macintosh computer was created by small teams of one to three people. Later in the memo, Bosworth added that he had seen smaller teams "achieve better results than our more generously funded teams."

Last week, he announced a series of changes in Meta's Reality Labs division, which is responsible for its augmented- and virtual-reality products. As part of the reorganization, the unit that Reality Labs' chief operating officer, Dan Reed, previously led will now be run by Meta's COO, Javier Olivan.

Meta also reshuffled the reporting lines of other Reality Labs executives, who now report to other key figures in Meta's core business, which signals the division has become a bigger priority for the company.

Last week, Meta's Reality Labs unit reported a record $1.08 billion in revenue in its fourth-quarter earnings. However, the mixed-reality-focused division also recorded its biggest-ever quarterly operating loss, $4.97 billion. The division has racked up losses of about $60 billion since 2020.

Meta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment made outside normal working hours.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke about the company's smart glasses last week in an all-hands meeting, during which he told employees to "buckle up" for an "intense year."

The company sold more than 1 million units of its artificial-intelligence-powered smart glasses in 2024, which Zuckerberg said was a "great start" but "not going to move the needle and the business in a core way."

He added that Meta's trajectory this year would give it a good indication of whether smart glasses will become a "long-term grind" and whether, in the near term, AI glasses will become a "really prominent computing platform."

Read the full memo Bosworth sent to employees:

2025: The Year of Greatness

Next year is going to be the most critical year in my 8 years at Reality Labs. We have the best portfolio of products we've ever had in market and are pushing our advantage by launching half a dozen more AI powered wearables. We need to drive sales, retention, and engagement across the board but especially in MR. And Horizon Worlds on mobile absolutely has to break out for our long term plans to have a chance. If you don't feel the weight of history on you then you aren't paying attention. This year likely determines whether this entire effort will go down as the work of visionaries or a legendary misadventure.

I've been re-reading "Insanely Great," Steven Levy's history of the Macintosh computer. If you haven't read it the book chronicles the incredible efforts of individuals working in teams of 1-3 to build a device that more than any other marked the consumer era of personal computing. What I find most fascinating about it is the way that even people who left the program on bad terms (it was not particularly well managed) speak about the work they did there with an immense sense of pride. There was a widespread cultural expectation, set by none other than a young Steve Jobs, that the work needed to be "insanely great."

On paper 2024 was our most successful year to date but we aren't sitting around celebrating because know it isn't enough. We haven't actually made a dent in the world yet. The prize for good work is the opportunity to do great work.

Greatness is our opportunity. We live in an incredible time of technological achievement and have placed ourselves at the center of it with our investments. There is a very good chance most of us will never get a chance like this again.

Greatness is a choice. Many people have been at the precipice of opportunity and failed to achieve. For the most part they failed to even challenge themselves.

You should be doing the best work of your career right now. You should be pushing yourself to grow where needed and doubling down on your strengths. When you look back on this time I want you to feel like you did everything in your power to make the most of it.

You don't need big teams to do great work. In fact, it may make it harder. One trend I've observed the last couple of years is that our smaller teams often go faster and achieve better results than our more generously funded teams. Not only that, they are much happier! In small teams there is no risk of falling into bad habits like design by committee. You should be so focused on results that being in a bunch of docs or meetings is too frustrating to bear.

The path is clear. You don't need to come up with a bunch of new ideas to do this great work. Most people in the organization just need to execute on the work laid out before them to succeed. It is about operational excellence. It is about master craftsmanship. It is about filling our products with "Give A Damn". This is about having pride in our work.

I will close with an Arnold Glasow quote: "Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire." 2025 is the year. Let's be on fire.

Are you a Meta employee? Got insight to share? Contact the reporter Jyoti Mann via Signal at jyotimann.11 or email at [email protected]. Reach out from a nonwork device.

• The US, UK, and EU have imposed a flurry of sanctions on Moscow's "shadow fleet."
• The fleet comprises often aging, uninsured ships that aim to evade sanctions on Russian energy exports.
• Some countries have begun delisting sanctioned Russian shadow tankers.

Russia's "shadow fleet" is running out of options to export oil.

The US, UK, and EU have all levied heavy sanctions on Russian shadow fleet vessels in recent months as part of an effort to hamper Russian oil exports and hinder the country's ability to fund its invasion of Ukraine.

In January, the US Treasury announced sweeping sanctions on 183 Russian-controlled and shadow fleet ships — the latter of which are often aging, uninsured vessels Moscow uses to evade international sanctions. The EU and the UK have together sanctioned more than 140 such vessels.

Russia's shadow fleet has used a number of different tactics to try to evade these sanctions and deliver Russian crude oil while obscuring its source, including turning off automatic identification systems (AIS), providing false positions, and carrying out ship-to-ship transfers.

However, the fleet, which has an estimated 1,300 ships, is now facing another problem — a growing number of registries delisting sanctioned vessels. Between Barbados and Panama alone, more than 100 sanctioned Russian ships are being delisted.

"These ships lose their legal right to operate under those jurisdictions, making them less likely to access international ports or insurance services," Petras Katinas, an energy analyst at the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, told Business Insider.

To enter a port, vessels typically need a valid flag issued by a country's maritime authority, insurance coverage, and a classification society verification, which verifies safety standards.

With more registries cutting ties, Russian shadow tankers are forced to change flags frequently, a practice known as "flag hopping," according to Ami Daniel, CEO of maritime AI firm Windward.

Russia has long used this tactic to evade the G7's $60-per-barrel price cap on its oil, which has been in place since December 2022, with Panama, Liberia, the Marshall Islands, and Malta among the favored flags used by the shadow fleet's vessels.

"This is a Whack-a-Mole game," Daniel said. Russia's shadow fleet vessels will "go to whatever random flag will take them."

Some of the Russian ships previously registered in Barbados have already switched flags to Tanzania and São Tomé and Príncipe to evade sanctions, according to the Equasis marine database.

Nevertheless, the latest sanctions have proven "very effective" in pushing shadow fleet vessels out of commercial operations, Benjamin Hilgenstock, a senior economist at the Kyiv School of Economics, said.

"The buyers of the oil, banks involved in the transactions, and port authorities fear being hit by sanctions themselves if they interact with listed tankers or their cargo," he told BI.

Financial impact

The crackdown on Russia's shadow fleet could have serious financial consequences for Moscow.

Oil exports, alongside gas, are one of the Kremlin's most important sources of cash. Oil and gas revenues accounted for around 30% of Russia's federal budget in 2024, Alexander Novak, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, wrote in Energy Policy last week.

And Western sanctions already appear to be having an effect.

The Kyiv School of Economics said Russian oil export revenues dropped by $1.1 billion to $14.6 billion in November amid US, UK, and EU countermeasures.

"The unified 'triple pressure' strategy raises the risks and costs of violations, prevents sanctions evasion, and reinforces accountability for shipowners and third countries," it said.

Reuters reported last week that sanctions have also triggered a surge in shipping costs, prompting China and India — two of the largest importers of Russian crude — to suspend March purchases of Russian oil.

While those countries "continue to import substantial amounts of Russian oil and raise revenue for the Kremlin, they are also reacting to the stick of the US secondary sanctions," said Gonzalo Saiz Erausquin, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute's Centre for Finance and Security.

Analysts say the West must now expand the list of sanctioned shadow fleet ships to effectively hit Russia's oil revenues, as Moscow will likely be able to mitigate short-term impacts with its schemes to evade such measures.

Erausquin said Western countries should also look to crack down on third-country intermediaries, brokers, and fraudulent registries that allow substantial amounts of Russian crude to be imported.

"We have to make sure that we're making life harder for Russia's shadow fleet," Erausquin said.

• Many fan-favorite stars, including Beyoncé, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter, were Grammys winners.
• Kendrick Lamar took home 5 awards for "Not Like Us," his diss track about Drake.
• Lamar's awards amplify Drake's defeat after their intense rap beef.

Fans are calling Sunday's Grammys one of the best nights for the awards show in years after Beyoncé, Chappell Roan, and Kendrick Lamar won big.

But Lamar's success made Drake, the rapper's biggest rival, the event's biggest loser.

After more than a decade of being snubbed for the top award, Beyoncé finally won the prestigious album of the year for "Cowboy Carter." Rising stars Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, and CharliXCX dazzled with performances of their most popular tracks and each took at least one award.

There was some disagreement about Billie Eilish going home empty-handed, but many fans on social media seemed to think there were no major snubs this year — something of a rarity for an awards show.

Lamar, who had a resurgence in 2024 after beating Drake in a diss track battle and dropping a chart-topping album "GNX," also took home five awards for "Not Like Us," his most popular diss track about Drake. Lamar won the most awards for any artist on Sunday and won in the top categories: song of the year and record of the year.

Although Drake skipped the Grammys this year and was not nominated for any awards against Lamar, the song's success is a further embarrassment for Drake.

The Recording Academy gave five awards to a song that accuses Drake of pedophilic behavior and also played the song during the event, where Beyoncé and Taylor Swift can be seen dancing along.

Drake denied the pedophile allegation in his response song "The Heart Part 6," released in May 2024.

In November 2024, Drake tried to sue Universal Music Group, the record company that owns Lamar's and Drake's labels, accusing it of using illicit methods to boost "Not Like Us." In January, he dropped another lawsuit against Universal that alleged defamation over the song's allegations.

UMG has denied Drake's allegations of boosting "Not Like Us" and of defamation.

Sunday's result is unsurprising because the Recording Academy has always embraced Lamar, who now has 22 Grammys, and famously snubbed Drake, who has only won five times from 55 nominations.

Drake has been critical of the Grammys in recent years, writing in an Instagram story in 2024: "All you incredible artists remember this show isn't the facts it's just the opinion of a group of people who's name are kept a secret 🤫😂 (literally you can google it). Congrats to anybody winning anything for hip hop but this show doesn't dictate shit in our world."

But "Not Like Us" continued success shows that Drake can't lawyer his way out of his rap beef defeat and win back favor with the public.

Drake's year of humiliation is not over. Lamar's next stop is the Super Bowl halftime show on February 9, and fans expect him to perform his diss tracks one last time as a final blow to Drake.

• This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Welcome back! Global markets have been rocked after the Trump administration ordered 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on China, which are set to start on Tuesday. All three countries vowed to retaliate.

Business leaders are urging Trump to reconsider, fearing a global trade war that could wreak havoc on American industries.

In today's big story, last week's DeepSeek drama is a good opportunity for investors to reassess their positions.

What's on deck

Markets: Crypto coins hoping to surge thanks to celebrity endorsements. What could possibly go wrong?

Tech: Meta is showing no signs of slowing down this year.

Business: Trump's deportation plan is set to be big business for private prisons.

But first, some lessons learned.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

Preparing for next time

It was the shock heard around the world until it wasn't.

DeepSeek's arrival hit the market, especially tech stocks, hard and fast. Things eventually stabilized before turning catastrophic, but the episode provided a valuable lesson for investors on the risks that come from a market so heavily focused on one theme.

Business Insider's Matthew Fox unpacked the DeepSeek crash by looking at five investing lessons learned from the saga. His findings include everything from understanding the different layers of AI to the considerations that need to be made for cheap AI's impact on the bond market (Hint: It's a good thing.)

It's an interesting and useful exercise considering there's likely more volatility ahead due to the market's structure: a handful of stocks at record valuations all focused on the same thing dictating where the rest of the market goes.

For some, DeepSeek was the first break in the AI-built dam. "You have a small little chip on the glass. Now they realize, oh, it's not infallible. Maybe I should revise," "Black Swan" author Nassim Taleb said last week.

Others are much less bearish, feeling it was more a product of investors rethinking the already sky-high valuations in the tech sector.

Regardless of where you fall on the AI-belief spectrum, it's not something you can ignore as an investor. With seemingly everyone talking about how the tech will impact their industry, failure to acknowledge feels akin to investing negligence.

So, the key lesson from DeepSeek might be that, for better or for worse, AI rules the roost.

News brief

Top headlines

• Musk says DOGE is working 120 hours a week.
• Robinhood's media arm Sherwood lays off staff as it looks to 'streamline team structure.'
• Jefferies CEO slams 'vitriolic attacks' over young banker's death, and offers support to junior staff. Read the memo.
• RTO mandates have workers looking for alternatives to companies like Amazon and JPMorgan.
• Beyoncé wins album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' at the 2025 Grammys — her first triumph in the awards show's biggest category.

3 things in markets

1. Who's behind the celebrity meme coin scams? Celebrity meme coins are prime targets for classic pump-and-dump schemes, which can leave investors with suddenly worthless tokens. One crypto sleuth tracked down the culprit but was left with a bigger question: Were the celebrities in on it?

2. Trump might need to get out of his own way regarding the Fed. The president has repeatedly demanded the Fed lower interest rates, which Fed Chair Jerome Powell has shrugged off. Though Trump blames Powell for inflation, Wall Street forecasters think the bigger obstacle to lowering it is the president's own trade plans.

3. #noregrets. Okay, well maybe a few — but these four older Americans told BI how they eased into retirement without much they'd change in retrospect. "Do I wish I had more money? Yes, but I would not have done anything different," one said.

3 things in tech

1. Can't stop, won't stop. If the first few weeks of the year are any indication, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is making good on his promise that 2025 will be the company's "year of intensity." It's already made content moderation changes and realigned itself with Trump, and there are shifts in the workforce and AI development still to come.

2. President Trump's proposed US government stake in TikTok could be a legal nightmare. The government owning a piece of a major social app would be new territory — and for it to work, the dealmakers would need to set up editorial guardrails to protect users' First Amendment rights. Still, legal analysts told BI that TikTok's content moderation could create an avalanche of legal challenges and make the app hard to run.

3. The race is on to recreate DeepSeek's market-breaking AI. Companies like Amazon and Microsoft have already adapted versions of the R1 model for their cloud platforms. Many are also attempting to replicate it from the ground up — and putting DeepSeek's claims to the test. As DeepSeek's model continues to gain traction, some cloud service and AI interference providers say they're noticing increased demand for Nvidia H200 chips.

3 things in business

1. The quiet winner of Trump's mass deportation plan. Trump's aggressive stance on immigration has already propelled stock prices in one industry: private prisons. The sector, which was on the outs with the Biden White House, stands to rake in millions more from immigrant detention.

2. Hotels for the homeless. Some US cities are taking part in a bold new experiment: buying and renovating hotels to house the homeless. Affordable converted hotels can be a "lower-barrier-for-entry option" for those struggling to find a home — especially as neighborhoods like Brentwood in Raleigh face threats of urban sprawl and gentrification.

3. Trump issued a series of executive orders aimed at reshaping the American education system. They examine redirecting federal funds to private schools that align with the president's politics, and changing curricula. It's unclear how his plans will be implemented, and the orders will likely face legal challenges. Still, they could have "a chilling effect" on schools, one education expert told BI.

In other news

• Trump's calendar: When tariffs, RTO, buyouts, and a TikTok cut-off are set to go into effect.
• Exxon Mobil CEO says natural gas can meet surging data center demand on a faster timeline than nuclear power.
• The list of CEOs voicing support for their companies' DEI initiatives is growing.

• Mark Zuckerberg said he has no plans to change Meta's hybrid work policy: 'The status quo is fine.'

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What's happening today

• President Trump speaks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, following his tariffs order.
• Court hearing in lawsuit filed by Blake Lively against costar Justin Baldoni.
• Israel and Hamas expected to begin phase two of ceasefire talks.

• Blue Origin New Shepherd rocket launch.

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The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Ella Hopkins, associate editor, in London. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago.