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

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

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

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

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

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

For more:

Instagram: @ArnoMichaelis

Parents for Peace: www.parents4peace.org

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who could be impacted

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then he also offered some unsolicited praise for Musk.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Times are changing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AI with guardrails

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

International-inspired flavors are popping up on more menus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nostalgia will continue to influence fast-food menus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aside from life in prison — where Bankman-Fried said he plays chess with and loses to accused armed robbers and hoards muffins as a form of currency — he discussed his thoughts on foreign aid, crypto, and having children.

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

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

The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on Bankman-Fried's interview.

This story will be updated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Stephen Park described "Friends" as a "toxic environment" when he guest-starred during a recent podcast interview.
• Park guest-starred in seasons two and three of "Friends" and said he heard racist comments on set.
• "Nobody felt the need to correct this or say anything about it. So this is normal behavior."

Despite its reputation as one of the most celebrated sitcoms of all time, one "Friends" guest star said the environment on set was uncomfortable for Asian actors.

"It was at the time, for me, I felt it was kind of a toxic environment," Korean-American actor Stephen Park said on an episode of the "Pod Meets World" a podcast.

Park appeared in a small role as a data-processing colleague of Chandler Bing (the late Matthew Perry) in the season two episode "The One With the Chicken Pox."

He described hearing racist slurs on set while making his second appearance on the show, in season three's "The One With the Ultimate Fighting Champion," which aired in 1997 and also guest-starred James Hong ("Blade Runner," "Mulan," "Everything Everywhere All At Once").

"James Hong was the actor who was also on the episode with me, and [the assistant director] was calling him to the set and you know, essentially saying, 'Where the fuck is the Oriental guy? Get the Oriental guy,'" Park recalled on the podcast.

Park, Hong, and the episode's director, Robby Benson, did not reply to BI's request for comment.

"This is bigger than this show," Park added on the podcast. "This isn't the first time that this happened, you know, but this is the environment where this is business as usual in Hollywood in 1997, I guess it was. And nobody felt the need to correct this or say anything about it. So this is normal behavior."

Fed up by the incident, Park wrote a "mission statement" outlining racism in Hollywood and sent it to everyone who'd signed up for his email list.

"Being an Asian-American actor, I continue to struggle to find roles for myself that are not insulting and stereotypical," he wrote at the time, according to archived versions available online.

"I just finished working as a guest star on one of the highest-rated shows on television, which brings me to my next point," Park continued. "Working with the people involved with this show was an extremely painful experience for me. A disturbing lack in generosity of spirit and basic human courtesy, in addition to a racial incident on the set, has forced me to speak out."

Park said the email made a big impression in Hollywood circles — that "it went viral before 'viral' was even a word" — and ended up getting published in several other publications, but ultimately did little to quell his concerns.

"I had become so race-conscious and so angry that I was looking at everything through the lens of race," Park said on the podcast. "I felt like there was no freedom. I didn't feel any freedom. So, I didn't have any idea what I was going to do, but I just decided to drop out. I told everybody, 'I'm not acting anymore.'"

Park's break didn't last forever. He'll next appear alongside Robert Pattinson in Bong Joon-ho's highly anticipated dystopian comedy "Mickey 17."

In recent years, he has also appeared in multiple Wes Anderson films, including 2023's "Asteroid City" and 2021's "The French Dispatch," and Joon-Ho's 2013 thriller "Snowpiercer."

• The biggest cruise lines had a banner 2024 amid booming demand and prices.
• The largest — Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Carnival — saw revenue and passenger growth compared to 2023
• Royal Caribbean saw the most growth of all, welcoming some 8.6 million guests on board.

Every cruise line has benefited from booming demand for vacations at sea, but one company is standing — or floating — above the rest of its competitors: Royal Caribbean Group.

Royal Caribbean isn't the largest of the three most well-known cruise operators. It and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings each oversee three brands, compared to Carnival Corp's eight. As such, in 2025, Carnival is projected to account for 36% of the cruise industry's revenue, followed by Royal Caribbean at 24.8% and Norwegian at 14.1%, according to Cruise Market Watch.

Yet, when it comes to growth from 2023 to 2024 in both revenue and passengers accommodated, Royal Caribbean is the clear winner.

The cruise giant's two competitors saw record revenue in 2024: $25 billion for Carnival (a 15.9% increase from 2023) and $9.5 billion for Norwegian (a 10.9% increase). Similarly, both accommodated about 8% more passengers than the year prior: 13.5 million for Carnival and 2.9 million for Norwegian.

These year-over-year growth spurts are impressive. But they pale compared to Royal Caribbean's 2024 figures: an 18.6% revenue spike to $16.5 billion and a 12% increase in passengers to a record 8.6 million.

It's a sign that the company is increasingly capturing the eager-to-spend cruising market — expected to continue into 2025.

Royal Caribbean started the year with strong bookings and pricing, with plans to debut two new ships and a private resort to further entice potential travelers.

As for demand, "there's no area of weakness," Jason Liberty, the CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, told analysts in late January, a week before it experienced its strongest-ever "wave season" reservation week.

Liberty said its trend-setting private island and two latest and largest cruise ships, Utopia of the Seas and Icon of the Seas, have attracted both first-timers and regulars. Similarly, its cruises in the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand have garnered plenty of demand.

Like Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian have seen a boom in bookings and prices for 2025 — despite having more dry dock days than in 2024, which could negatively impact the number of passengers they accommodate. However, all three companies expect to debut more products this year, including new ships (including one of the world's largest from Royal Caribbean) and resorts.

That is to say, expect the entire mass-market cruise industry to sail into yet another banner year.

• I prefer watching TV shows and movies with the captions turned on. So do 63% of Americans under 30.
• But each streaming app has a slightly different way of turning on captions, which is confusing.
• There is literally nothing else going on in the world more terrible than this, I'm pretty sure.

I can't remember exactly when I started watching TV and movies with captions turned on, but it probably started with a show that had British accents that I — as a boorish American — struggled to understand.

Now, even though I don't need closed captioning, I almost always use it. And I'm not alone — in a 2023 YouGov survey, 63% of Americans under 30 said they preferred watching TV with subtitles turned on.

It's great to be able to understand every nuance and whispered word, but something grinds my gears like no other: Each streaming service has its own way of turning on captions — and it's hard to keep them all straight.

Inevitably I'll start pushing buttons or sliding my thumb around the Apple TV remote, trying to find the right menu and the magic combination of gestures. Sometimes this means accidentally pausing my show. Sometimes it means accidentally turning it off. Sometimes I manage to actually exit the app entirely.

Perhaps I should show you how hard it is to turn on subtitles

I should start with a disclaimer: I'm using an Apple TV set-top box that's connected to my TV. Things may work differently with a Roku or a Google Chromecast. (Using captions on mobile and desktop versions of streaming apps is easier because you don't have to fumble around with a remote control.)

Perhaps it's best if I show you. Allow me to take you on a tour through the annoyingly different ways streamers do captions.

Netflix

To add captions on Netflix, you have to go to the speech bubble on the lower right-hand side of the screen that shows up when you start a new show. Or you can swipe up on your remote to pull it onto the screen.

Personally, I find this the easiest and most intuitive way to do captions, but that may be partly because I've used Netflix the longest.

Amazon Prime Video

For Amazon Prime Video, you swipe up to open the menu, but BE CAREFUL!

You could easily tap the "play from beginning" button, which will restart your episode. (Nooooooo!) The menu is on the lower left, under "subtitles."

Click that, and then tap "on" or "off," which is confusing, because does that mean you want to TURN on captions? Or does it mean that subtitles are already on? And how do you know which way it's toggled? Don't swipe right into "languages," where you'll see "English [CC]," because that isn't actually the option to turn subtitles on or off — it's the menu to choose subtitles in a different language.

Basically, good luck!!

Disney+

On Disney+, you swipe down on your remote to access the menu with info, audio, and subtitles.

Then you choose from languages that have been formatted as a paragraph rather than a drop-down list. From there, you find "English [CC]" (presuming you're looking for English like I am).

Max

For Max, you swipe up and tap the little speech-bubble icon at the bottom right.

This will open a menu on the bottom right of the screen.

From there, it's pretty self-explanatory.

Peacock

On Peacock, you swipe up and open up a menu on the bottom left.

Make sure you skip over the "restart" and "next episode" prompts before you scootch right into the "subtitles and audio" menu.

Apple TV+

On Apple TV+, or in movies or shows from the iTunes Store, the menu is on the bottom and in list order.

This is almost identical to Netflix — but with one extra button to minimize the screen, on the bottom right.

YouTube TV

Now, let's get to YouTube TV.

Look, I'm not a religious person, but I know that hell is real because only Satan himself could have designed the user interface on the YouTube TV app.

First you swipe down on the remote — but not too quickly, because that will automatically drop you into a menu with thumbnails for other shows to watch. From that thumbnail menu, you have to swipe lightly back up, but not too far up or you'll get back into the show.

This will put you in the "more to watch" option. From there, you have to scroll to the left several times to reach the CC button, which will open a new menu below. If this sounds confusing, IT IS.

Why are captions so hard?

Another disclaimer! I'll be honest: I am only 95% sure these are the right pathways for each app's caption settings. Because though I tested each app while writing this story, I kept messing up and fumbling around — sometimes going back a step or two and getting angrier and angrier as I went.

It is entirely possible that you have to actually swipe left when I said right, or up when I said down. But if I had to try these one more time, it might have actually driven me to madness. And that's sort of my point: This shouldn't be so hard!

You'll have to take my word that I'm capable when it comes to using a remote. I've put in the 10,000 hours of clicking around my TV. I know how to turn off motion smoothing; I've programmed a VCR to record. And yet I still find captioning incredibly frustrating — and accidentally restart or stop my shows all the time.

Closed captions are a serious matter for some

I should say here something that's obvious but important: Captioning is an accessibility issue. I am a hearing person who just prefers to use captions, but for someone who needs captions, confusion about how to turn them on could be a real problem.

Meredith Patterson, who's the president of the National Captioning Institute, told me she supports what has become the more ubiquitous use of captions. "We want closed captioning to be 'the norm' regardless of context and are committed to making that a reality," she said.

In the past few years, AI technology has made captioning easier and better than ever — more things can be captioned with fewer errors and latency. Ultimately, Patterson said, that's what matters to the people who need it.

How to improve captioning for everyone

I can imagine why streaming services want to have slightly different functionality. They want to have their own distinct identities. And they're all obviously committed to captioning, which is a good thing. Once you figure out how to work captions on each streaming app, they do work. (None responded to my request for comment on this story.)

But captions are so hard to access! At least for me. And there are some basic functions you want to be consistent when it comes to technology: You expect a website's privacy policy to be in small print at the bottom; you expect to find customer service at the very top or very bottom of a shopping site; you know where to find notifications in a social app.

For a streaming service, turning on captions should be standard and easy.

Do you have a story to share about using captions on streaming services? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• US job cuts hit the highest level since July 2020, fueled by DOGE's layoffs of federal workers.
• Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported a 245% increase in job cut announcements from February 2024.
• Retail and tech sectors also have also seen significant layoffs amid economic uncertainty.

Monthly job cut announcements in the US surged to their highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic last month, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The job cuts, spearheaded by President Donald Trump's DOGE committee, totaled 172,017 in February, the highest monthly level since July 2020 and the highest total for the month of February since 2009.

The reported job cuts in February represented a 245% increase from the 49,975 job cuts announced in February, and a 103% increase from the 84,638 job cuts announced in February 2024.

"With the impact of the Department of Government Efficiency [DOGE] actions, as well as canceled Government contracts, fear of trade wars, and bankruptcies, job cuts soared in February," said Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President at Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Challenger tracked 62,242 job cuts announced by the federal government last month across 17 different agencies. That's a more than increase from the 151 government job cuts announced in February 2024.

The spike is important for investors, who will be paying close attention to Friday's jobs report, examining whether the DOGE-led job cuts are affecting the economic data.

Challenger's report comes one day after the release of the ADP employment report for February. Private payrolls rose by 77,000, badly missing estimates of 148,000.

It's not just the government announcing job cuts, though. Other areas of the economy that were vulnerable to job cuts include the retail and technology sectors, which announced 38,956 and 14,554 job cuts respectively in February.

The layoffs may keep mounting. Estimates on Wall Street suggest DOGE could cut as many as 300,000 jobs, and Apollo economist Torsten Sløk recently noted that two contractor jobs are tied to every government job. That means total layoffs could quickly approach one million if DOGE follows through with its job cuts.

Meanwhile, economic uncertainty is heightened amid Trump's tariff threats against Mexico and Canada and the growing risk of a recession hitting the economy.

And the job cuts could even lead to voluntary layoffs, according to Challenger.

"When mass layoffs occur, it often leaves remaining staff feeling uneasy and uncertain. The likelihood that many more workers leave voluntarily is high," the firm said.

Economists expect the US economy to have added 170,000 jobs in February, with the unemployment rate remaining at 4.0%.

Stopping aid to Ukraine at a time when Russia's military spending and production is so high could result in a dangerous situation for the West.

• President Donald Trump is rolling back some of his tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
• After initial uncertainty, Trump extended a one-month pause to some Canadian goods as well.
• The pause comes after stocks tanked on Tuesday when the original tariffs took effect.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he's granting a one-month tariffs pause to a range of Mexican and Canadian goods, just days after imposing 25% tariffs on imports from the two neighboring nations.

Trump announced a one-month pause for some Mexican goods on Truth Social. After some uncertainty, he later granted Canada a reprieve as well.

"This is a modification for our tariff regime to protect car manufacturers and American farmers," Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary, told Trump before he signed the executive orders.

As part of the Canadian-related executive order, Trump also reduced the tariff on potash, a key ingredient in fertilizer that the US overwhelmingly imports from Canada. Potash will now be tariffed at 10% as opposed to the initial overall 25% for all goods.

The White House's Thursday reprieves come just a day after Trump handed automakers their own pause.

"After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Agreement is until April 2nd. I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum."

The USMCA, a trade deal negotiated between the US, Mexico, and Canada during Trump's first term as a replacement for the NAFTA trade pact, exempts most goods that are produced in the three signatory countries from most tariffs.

Trump's newest pause dovetails with the White House's efforts to calm markets. Shares on Wall Street tanked after Trump decided to forge ahead on Tuesday with his latest round of tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. Markets rebounded on Wednesday as traders anticipated a reduction in the tariffs would be forthcoming.

Stocks slid on Thursday, with weakness in tech and tariff concerns bringing the S&P 500 down as much as 2% in afternoon trading.

It remains to be seen how Wall Street will respond to the latest pause.

The White House has said the first round of tariffs is based on Trump's frustration with the nations failing to do more to stop the spread of fentanyl. Leaders of all three countries have disputed that claim.

The White House said the Big 3 US automakers — General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis — requested the earlier exemption for cars. That exemption applies to Canadian auto imports as well. At the time, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was open to cutting further deals.

Another round of tariffs targeting foreign agricultural goods and other products is set to go into effect on April 2. During his joint address to Congress, Trump mentioned South Korea, India, and the European Union as potential targets to even out what he views as unfair trade relations.

China and Canada immediately responded to Tuesday's announcement with retaliatory tariffs. Mexico was originally set to implement its measures on Sunday.

Beijing has taken particular exception to Trump's actions. China's US embassy wrote on X that it was ready for a "war" of any kind.