As he grew his retail empire, Walton, an experienced pilot, would often fly in unannounced to check in on a particular store location.

Together, they had four children: Rob, John, Jim, and Alice.

Source: Fortune

Source: Fortune

He retired from Walmart's board at the end of his term in 2024.

The group purchased the NFL team for a $4.65 billion in summer 2022 in a record-breaking sale at the time.

He was 58 years old.

Source: Business Insider

Source: Fortune

Source: Curbed and Ranch Marketing Associates

Source: Curbed

Source: Bloomberg

Source: Fortune

Source: The New Yorker

Source: The Observer

Source: Star-Telegram

Source: WilliamsTrew

The modest, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home overlooks the Brazos River.

Source: Business Insider

Source: Business Insider

Source: Walton Family Foundation

Source: Walton Family Foundation

Source: Walton Family Foundation

Source: SEC filings

Just 15 minutes from the traffic-filled streets of Downtown Jackson, I didn't even hear the hum of a highway as I stepped out of my cab to check in at Hotel Yellowstone.

On a hill above a valley surrounded by mountains, 10 modern buildings with a cabin aesthetic sat between stone paths. A pond in the middle of the property made it feel serene.

There were no voices or pitter-patters of running feet. I only heard chirping birds and wind rustling the leaves of tall trees.

Most hotels I've stayed in have had at least one large pool where clusters of people lounge by the steps while others swim laps or play games. I typically find them chaotic, noisy, and tough to avoid a splash when passing through.

That wasn't the case at Hotel Yellowstone. This resort's pool, called the Negative Edge Pool, was just 4 feet deep and had jets and heating. It was indoors and overlooked a mountain scene with a retractable glass window. Though shallow, the pool was quite long. I thought it was spacious enough for multiple groups to enjoy simultaneously.

Next to the pool, there was a wood sauna. Both were open 24 hours a day, which surprised me since most hotels I've stayed in have had a pool curfew. I imagine this is partly because no children are on the property.

It was instantly clear to me that my room was designed to showcase the views as much as possible when I stepped inside.

The door opened into a short hallway with a bathroom on the left, behind a spacious bedroom and living space. Light poured in from a large window on the left wall and floor-to-ceiling windowed doors to the balcony spanning the back of the room.

Even the bathroom had a sliding door in front of the oversized tub, so I could gaze at the peaks of the Tetons and the valleys below while taking a bath.

"The room layout, windows, wall-to-wall sliding doors, and the beautifully crafted boiserie bathroom door enable guests to fully immerse themselves in the stunning views from every angle of the suite," a hotel representative told BI.

In my experience, hotel restaurants are typically open to the public, so I was surprised to learn that only guests could sit at Olivia's, a fine-dining establishment at Hotel Yellowstone with an eclectic menu and locally sourced ingredients.

When it was time for dinner, I headed to the lobby and walked down a staircase to the restaurant on the first floor. I was mesmerized by the indoor-outdoor feel provided by the vast windows. Below the wood-beamed cathedral ceilings, the wide view of the mountains looked like a painting.

No one else was dining at Olivia's when I stepped inside, so I could sit wherever I wanted. I selected a spot right by the back window and feasted on bao buns in silence.

I returned to Olivia's for some fruit and steel-cut oats in the morning. This time, one other guest, a solo backpacker, sat two tables away from me. It was a far cry from the clattering plates and blending conversations of a typical hotel breakfast, in my experience.

After dinner, I took a peaceful walk back to my room, coated myself in a thick robe, and headed to the balcony. I expected to hear whispers of other guests enjoying the outdoor view, but it was just as silent and peaceful as when I first stepped onto the property.

Sitting in a lounge chair, I noticed a faint flutter of color in the sky and immediately jumped up and leaned on the railing. Purple and green hues danced so subtly that I had to confirm what I thought I was seeing with a long exposure on my camera. And it appears that I was right — I had spotted the northern lights in Wyoming of all places.

Seeing the auroras has been on my bucket list since I knew the phenomenon existed. And no matter where you are in the world, a trip to see the northern lights is never guaranteed. So, I certainly never thought I'd stumble upon them in the US.

I could hardly see them with my eyes alone, and I thought that if the environment hadn't been so free of distractions, I might have missed them.

I'd never seen a moose before having breakfast at Olivia's.

There I was, dining at a table against the back window, when a moose casually walked along the property just outside the restaurant.

I was stunned, but my server was not — they said the moose hangs out regularly and is often seen swimming in the pond and drying off in the flower beds.

After staying there myself, I could see why. The kid-free environment was calm and quiet. I imagine the serene nature of the resort could make wildlife more comfortable in the human setting.

I thought the adults-only element was key to having these surreal moments with nature without sacrificing comfort and luxury.

He earned his bachelor's degree in economics at the University College London before heading to Harvard Business School for his MBA in 2010. 

While a student there, Chew worked for a startup that "was called Facebook," he said in a post on Harvard's Alumni website. Facebook went public in mid-2012.

They are "a couple who often finish each other's sentences," according to the school's alumni page, and have three kids.

He became chief financial officer of the Chinese smartphone giant, which competes with Apple, in 2015. Chew helped secure crucial financing and led the company through its 2018 public listing, which would become one of the nation's largest tech IPOs in history. 

Before joining Xiaomi, Chew also worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs for two years, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He also worked at investment firm DST, founded by billionaire tech investor Yuri Milner, for five years. It was during his time there in 2013 that he led a team that became early investors in ByteDance, as the Business Chief and The Independent reported.

Chew joined ByteDance's C-suite in March 2021, the first person to fill the role of chief financial officer at the media giant.

He was named CEO of TikTok that May at the same time as Vanessa Pappas was named COO. Bytedance founder and former CEO Zhang Yiming said at the time that Chew "brings deep knowledge of the company and industry, having led a team that was among our earliest investors, and having worked in the technology sector for a decade."

That November, it was announced that Chew would leave his role as ByteDance's CFO to focus on running TikTok.

TikTok's former CEO, Kevin Mayer, had left Walt Disney for the position in May 2020 and quit after three months as the company faced pressure from lawmakers over security concerns.

Donald Trump's administration issued executive orders designed to force ByteDance into divesting its TikTok US operations, though nothing ever happened.

President Biden signed an executive order in June 2021 that threw out Trump's proposed bans on the app.

Last year, the Biden administration demanded that TikTok divest its American business from its Chinese parent company or risk being banned in the US. In response, Chew said such a divestment wouldn't solve officials' security concerns about TikTok.

"Some politicians have started talking about banning TikTok," he said. "Now this could take TikTok away from all 150 million of you."

Chew testified before Congress that month about the company's privacy and data security practices.

Wall Street said his testimony didn't do much to help his case to keep TikTok alive in the US, though Chew seemed to win over many TikTok users, with some applauding his efforts and even making flattering fancam edits of him.

The House of Representatives passed a bill on March 13 that would require any company owned by a "foreign adversary" to divest or sell to a US-based company within 180 days to avoid being banned in the US.

Chew put out a video response shortly after, asking users to "make your voices heard" and "protect your constitutional rights" by voicing opposition to lawmakers.

He called the vote "disappointing" and said the company has invested in improving data security and keeping the platform "free from outside manipulation."

"This bill gives more power to a handful of other social media companies," he added. "It will also take billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses. It will put more than 300,000 American jobs at risk."

The Senate also passed the bill, and President Biden signed it into law in April.

In September, a hearing on the potential TikTok ban began in federal appeals court and in December, a three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the law is constitutional.

Trump said in a press conference on the day they met that he has a "warm spot" for TikTok, which he has criticized in the past, because he says it helped him win over young voters in the 2024 election.

Also on the day of their meeting, TikTok asked the Supreme Court to block the law that requires it be sold to avoid a shutdown, arguing that it violates Americans' First Amendment rights.

He's been seen at the Met Gala, and also posted about attending the 2023 Super Bowl and even Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.

His hobbies include playing video games like Clash of Clans and Diablo IV, golfing, and reading about theoretical physics.

His parents were a pediatrician and an artist who Karp has described as hippies, saying they often took him to labor rights demonstrations and anti-Reagan protests when he was young. A 2018 Wall Street Journal profile called Karp a "self-described socialist."

At Stanford, he was classmates with PayPal cofounder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

Karp is fluent in German and speaks French as well.

According to Forbes, he quickly became successful at it and created a London-based firm called Caedmon Group, named after his middle name, investing on behalf of high-net-worth clients.

He decided to launch Palantir, along with Stanford computer science graduates Joe Lonsdale and Stephen Cohen, plus Nathan Gettings, a PayPal engineer. By 2004, Karp joined as CEO.

He often wears brightly colored athletic wear, keeps Tai Chi swords in his offices, and was known to practice martial arts on his Palantir cofounders in the office hallways.

He told Forbes that the only time he isn't thinking about Palantir is "when I'm swimming, practicing Qigong or during sexual activity."

Karp has been known to sometimes work out of a barn in New Hampshire. He has never been married and told Forbes that the idea of starting a family gives him "hives."

Palantir is also pretty secretive. Because of the company's contracts, many employees have government security clearances and receive five-figure bonuses for choosing to live close to the office, according to the Journal.

The company has been criticized for licensing its technology to law enforcement, which has used it for practices like predictive policing and tracking cars' routes using just their license plates.

The company provides software that helps the agency gather, store, and search through data on undocumented immigrants. After employees pressed Karp on ending the company's contracts with ICE, he denied that its technology was being used to separate migrant families.

"The death and pain that is brought to our enemies is mostly, not exclusively, brought by Palantir," he said at a talk in December 2024.

"You may not agree with that and, bless you, don't work here," Karp said in 2023 of tech workers who have qualms about the company's data mining.

It went public via a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2020 at an estimated $20 billion valuation.

"This is a US-driven AI revolution that has taken full hold," he said in an earnings release. "The world will be divided between AI haves and have-nots. At Palantir, we plan to power the winners."

During the subsequent earnings call, he said, "Given how strong our results are, I almost feel like we should just go home."

Responding to criticisms of his leadership, he said, "Instead of going into every meeting saying, 'Oh, yes, Palantir is great, but their fearless leader is batshit crazy, and he might go off to his commune in New Hampshire,' whatever thing we're saying, it's now like, yes, the products are best, and we have great products."

Palantir's stock has since hit an all-time high in December.

Slated for release on February 18, 2025, his book "The Technological Republic" argues that Silicon Valley has become complacent and lost its ambition.

He cowrote the book with Nicholas Zamiska, Palantir's head of corporate affairs and legal counsel to the office of the CEO.

Perhaps the serenity of the adults-only resort overlooking Grand Teton National Park and Snake Valley is to thank. It was the quietest hotel I'd ever been to.

I thought it epitomized cozy mountain luxury.

"The overall design style can be best described as a harmonious blend of tranquility, serenity, and modern sophistication," the representative said of the rooms.

Each accommodation is 600 square feet, sleeps two, and has a private balcony.

Depending on the view, starting rates range between $900 and $1,600 a night. Some rooms offer views of the mountains, while others are positioned toward the valley. Some showcase the pond on the property, and others combine multiple scenes.

I booked a room with views of the Teton Range. BI received a media rate for the one-night stay.

Wide, floor-to-ceiling windows stretched across the back wall and a portion of the left wall.

"The color palette for the walls, furniture, and bathroom was thoughtfully chosen to highlight the surrounding landscape and the unparalleled views of the Teton Mountain range," the hotel representative said.

When I took off my shoes, I felt the soft give of the cushy carpet beneath me.

My room had all the basic amenities you'd expect at a high-end hotel, from an espresso machine to a mini-fridge. A TV hung above a fireplace across from the bed.

I spotted nods to the environment, too. The representative said the floor lamp that resembled antlers came from AntlerWorx, and the furry accent chairs were made from pure New Zealand sheepskin.

"Both pieces showcase natural materials and textures with the Moose Antler lamp serving as a tribute to local wildlife — particularly the seasonal resident moose who frequents the property," they added.

The balcony was my favorite part of the accommodation. The spacious upper deck had two cushioned lounge chairs and a side table.

The view of the valley dotted with herds beneath the Teton range was one of the most epic I'd ever seen.

Unlike most hotel balconies I've experienced, the space was quiet. Not even cars on the highway were audible from the resort. And I didn't hear one voice the entire time I was out there.

I'm not typically one for baths, but the Calacatta marble bathroom was spa-like. While warm water filled the large, free-standing tub, I turned on the floor and towel heaters to ensure top-tier comfort upon exiting the bath.

The bathroom was behind the bed with a sliding door in front of the tub, so I could view the Tetons while bathing.

"The room layout, windows, wall-to-wall sliding doors, and the beautifully crafted boiserie bathroom door enable guests to fully immerse themselves in the stunning views from every angle of the suite," the representative said.

I always look forward to hotel robes, and this one was more comfortable than most. It was made of thick fabric that felt like soft terry cloth.

Once I dried off, I jumped onto the cloud-like king-sized bed that felt endless when I cuddled up in the middle.

I grabbed the tablet on the nightstand with smart controls for the room, from mood lighting and curtains to room service.

With a plan to relax for just a bit, I turned on the TV for one episode of Modern Family.

Minutes later, I was fast asleep.

I woke up as the sun was setting and promptly headed outside in my robe to catch the end of it.

Once it was dark, I saw something I'd never seen before — and never thought I would see in the US — faint streaks of purple and green glided among the stars. I think it was the northern lights.

I could barely see them myself, but once I took a 30-second exposure on my camera, I was pretty sure I was right.

The northern lights were a massive surprise that made my stay even more meaningful. The quiet, peaceful resort made them even more mesmerizing.

Apple's iOS 18.2 software update came out Wednesday and introduced us to Genmoji, custom AI-generated emoji made possible with Apple Intelligence.

You can make a Genmoji inspired by someone you've identified in your photo library or start fresh with instructions describing what you'd like your emoji to look like. If you don't like the initial result, you can keep refining it by tweaking the description. If you're happy with it, you can send it in a text or use it as a sticker or Tapback reaction.

Genmoji is available in iOS 18.2 on all iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Apple's iOS 18.2 software update launched the ChatGPT integration shown off earlier this spring.

Those with an iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, or iPhone 16 can now access ChatGPT through Siri and Writing Tools by saying or typing their inquiries, without having to go back and forth between apps. Users can tell ChatGPT to generate written content in Writing Tools or generate images to go alongside their written content.

OpenAI's AI video generator, Sora, launched to public users this week as part of the company's "12 Days of Shipmas" slate of daily AI announcements.

It can create videos up to 1080p resolution lasting up to 20 seconds from your written prompts or make up for missing frames by completing a scene or extending the length of an existing video.

OpenAI initially made a Sora preview available to some creators, designers, and filmmakers in February, but it's now available to ChatGPT Plus ($20 a month) and Pro users ($200 a month).

ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode can now "see."

First demoed in the spring, ChatGPT can now see through your phone's camera or examine what's on your screen if you need to give the assistant visual context to help answer your questions.

The new video feature is rolling out this week in the latest version of the mobile app to ChatGPT Team and most ChatGPT Plus and Pro users.

Announced on Wednesday, Google Deep Research is Gemini Advanced's new agentic feature that can do deep dives on complex subjects for you.

Ask it a question, and it can browse the web "the way you do," Google said in a blog post. It'll ultimately generate a report you can export to Google Docs that contains key points and links to sources if you want to dig deeper.

Google Deep Research started rolling out this week in English on desktop and mobile web and will be available in the mobile app early next year.

Some of Bezos' favorite books were instrumental to the creation of products and services like the Kindle and Amazon Web Services.

This book on innovation explains how companies can become disruptors. It's one of three books Bezos made his top executives read one summer to map out Amazon's trajectory.

Also on that list was "The Goal," in which Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox examine the theory of constraints from a management perspective.

Buy it here >>

The final book on Bezos' reading list for senior managers, "The Effective Executive" lays out habits of successful executives, like time management and effective decision-making.

This book draws on six years of research from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business that looks into what separates exceptional companies from their competitors. Bezos has said it's his "favorite business book."

Buy it here >>

This Kazuo Ishiguro novel tells of an English butler in wartime England who begins to question his lifelong loyalty to his employer while on a vacation.

Bezos has said of the book, "Before reading it, I didn't think a perfect novel was possible."

Buy it here >>

This book imparts lessons about improving efficiency based on case studies of lean companies across various industries.

Buy it here >>

The Tesla CEO has recommended several AI books, sci-fi novels, and biographies over the years.

One of Musk's most recent picks, this book tackles longtermism, which its author defines as "the view that positively affecting the long-run future is a key moral priority of our time." Musk says the book is a "close match" for his philosophy.

Musk has also recommended several books on artificial intelligence, including this one, which considers questions about the future of intelligent life in a world where machines might become smarter than people.

Buy it here >>

On the subject of AI, Musk said in a 2014 tweet that this book, which examines its risks and potential, is also "worth reading."

Buy it here >>

In this book, MIT professor Max Tegmark writes about ensuring artificial intelligence and technological progress remain beneficial for human life in the future.

Peter Thiel shares lessons he learned founding companies like PayPal and Palantir in this book.

Musk has said of the book, "Thiel has built multiple breakthrough companies, and Zero to One shows how."

Buy it here >>

Musk's reading list isn't without biographies, including this Walter Isaacson book on Albert Einstein as well as Isaacon's biography of Benjamin Franklin. Isaacson more recently published a biography of Musk himself.

Buy it here >>

The Microsoft cofounder usually publishes two lists each year, one in the summer and one at year's end, of his book recommendations.

In his 2022 summer reading list, Gates highlighted this work by Vaclav Smil that explores the fundamental forces underlying today's world, including matters like energy production and globalization.

"If you want a brief but thorough education in numeric thinking about many of the fundamental forces that shape human life, this is the book to read," Gates said of the book.

Ezra Klein argues that the American political system has became polarized around identity to dangerous effect in this book, also on Gates' summer reading list in 2022, that Gates calls "a fascinating look at human psychology."

Gates has said this is "the best business book I've ever read." It compiles 12 articles that originally appeared in The New Yorker about moments of success and failure at companies like General Electric and Xerox.

Buy it here >>

This book investigates the thinking patterns and tendencies that distort people's perceptions of the world. Gates has called it "one of the most educational books I've ever read."

Buy it here >>

David Christian takes on the history of our universe, from the Big Bang to mass globalization, in this book.

Buy it here >>

Elizabeth Kolbert plumbs the history of Earth's mass extinctions in this book, including a sixth extinction, which some scientists warn is already underway.

Buy it here >>

This Archie Brown book examines political leadership throughout the 20th century.

Buy it here >>

One of Gates' most recent book picks comes from the head of Microsoft AI.

Mustafa Suleyman's "The Coming Wave" explores the opportunities and risks posed by scientific breakthroughs like AI and gene editing.

"If you want to understand the rise of AI, this is the best book to read," Gates wrote of the book.

Ott told BI that Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is among the best US airports for layovers thanks to its premium lounges, from Amex Centurion to Delta Sky Club.

"It's one of those places where if you do have a layover and you really need to kill time, there are both top-notch lounges and an airport hotel directly in the terminal," Ott said.

DFW is also home to one of Ott's favorite US airport lounges, Capital One Lounge.

Some of the worst airports for layovers are small regional airports.

"I think there's a just inherent advantage to being a big airport because big airports can attract retail," he said.

As an example, Ott mentioned that he often has connecting flights through Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, which has only two runways.

"I've been there a lot. It's not a fun place to wait for flights," he said. "You have nothing to do."

Those with a tight layover may appreciate that Blue Grass Airport has the shortest walk to the gate in the US at just 0.11 miles.

"I like Seattle-Tacoma Airport because they've done a really good job of cultivating more local stores and Seattle-centric things," Ott said. "If you've got an hour and 45 minutes, it's easy to kill time there."

BI previously reported that the airport's shops pay homage to the Pacific Northwest experience, with stores like Show Pony, Made in Washington, and Discover Puget Sound.

Ott said he'd spent his layovers at the Northwestern airport sifting through records at a music store and sampling Washington state wines at a bar.

"It doesn't feel as sterile and generic as some airports. You actually get a sense of Seattle. It's not just an airport somewhere," Ott said.

No one wants to put their trip on pause over delays and cancellations — especially in a connecting airport.

According to Ott, this may be more likely to happen when flying out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia due to frequent storms. And the fact that it's the busiest airport in the world probably doesn't help; the airport has had mass cancellations in summers and winters due to storms.

"I've had hellacious experiences in Atlanta because of the weather," Ott said. "It's a good airport in the sense that there are lots of flights and places to kill time. It's a bad airport in the sense that it's caught up in more storms than most airports."

Ott added that the airport has plenty of amenities but can be overwhelming to navigate.

"There are so many terminals, and you're taking a tram everywhere. They have some nice stuff in them, but it's a hike," he said.

According to Ott, some airports don't allow passengers to travel between terminals they're not departing from.

Since many travelers don't leave the airport between connecting flights, waiting to board can be a drag for those flying out of terminals with few shops, restaurants, and amenities. Ott told BI that international terminals typically have better amenities than domestic ones.

The terminals are connected at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which is why it's one of the best US airports for layovers.

Domestic travelers "can still go to the international terminal, which has better food, shops, and lounges," he said. "You can kill time at LAX for hours."

LAX's Tom Bradley International Terminal (Terminal B) was updated in 2023. BI previously reported that the terminal has comfy seating — each with its own power ports — a range of food and bar options, and an exceptional Sky Club.

The upgrade included adding a walkway connecting Terminal 3, which also received an upgrade, to Terminal B. The walk takes five to 20 minutes, so there's no need to catch a bus. This is an especially useful perk for those catching an international connecting flight.

"London Heathrow Airport is an atrocious airport for connections — one of the worst in the world, by far," Ott said. Why? Getting from one terminal to another is a journey in itself.

"Some terminals are miles apart, and there is no tram that runs between all of them," he said.

According to the airport's website, getting from one terminal to another can take more than 40 minutes.

For example, Ott said if you land in Terminal 3 with British Airways, you may connect in Terminal 5.

"You have to go through Terminal 3 and take a bus, which can take up to 30 minutes to arrive. Then, you'll take a long bus ride all around the airport to the other side," he said. "And then you may still end up with another tram or bus ride because Terminal 5 has three terminals within it — A, B, and C."

"It's an impossible airport for short connections," Ott added.

"For best, Singapore Changi Airport is just untouchable," Ott said.

Ott added that the best airport for layovers worldwide has a range of shops, hotels, dining, and activities.

"Some of the best local food is at the airport because the famous places in Singapore set up locations there," he said.

While waiting for connecting flights, travelers can access a pool, a movie theater, and a butterfly garden.

The real spectacle, however, is probably the Jewel — a retail and entertainment complex connected to Terminal 1. The Jewel seems like a destination itself with a hedge maze, a topiary walk, and a ropes course. And the centerpiece is the Rain Vortex — the world's largest indoor waterfall spanning seven stories.

"You can spend an hour just looking at that," Ott said of the Rain Vortex. "I would have a layover there any day."

Culdesac sits on the east side of Tempe, a suburb roughly 10 miles from Phoenix, also home to Arizona State University.

During my visit, I met with CEO and cofounder Ryan Johnson. After years of working in the real estate and transportation industries — and traveling to walkable places worldwide — he was inspired to create a neighborhood free of cars.

From New York City to Budapest, Johnson said his travels launched a passion for cities.

"I saw those places and said, 'Wow, this is a much better way to build a city — with thoughtful architecture, great transportation systems,'" he told BI.

Johnson added that developments in the transportation industry, from ride-share apps to public transit systems and electric bikes, have made living car-free possible in places like Arizona.

Johnson, who grew up in Phoenix and currently lives at Culdesac, hasn't had a car in 14 years.

Visitors and delivery drivers can park their cars at Culdesac, but residents cannot.

The company representative told BI that for residents with cars, "it's regulated through their lease agreement that they won't park on-site or on any public streets within 0.25 miles."

Some residents park their cars elsewhere in Tempe, while others, like Johnson, don't have a vehicle. Residents get around on foot, bicycles, electric bikes and scooters. The neighborhood has more than 1,000 bike parking spots.

One Culdesac resident previously told BI that living without a car can be challenging outside the neighborhood, as the surrounding city was built for vehicles.

However, according to the company's website, Culdesac provides residents with a mobility package worth almost $3,000 annually to make transportation easier. It includes a complimentary Valley Metro pass for the light rail that goes through Phoenix and Tempe and discounts on ride-share apps like Lyft and Waymo, a self-driving cab service.

The plaza, located across from the neighborhood light rail stop, is the communal center of Culdesac. It's marked by a sculpture by artist Matthew Salenger that doubles as a canopy.

Thursday nights at Culdesac light up with a public outdoor night market called Little Cholla. The weekly event features live music, local vendors like food trucks, and dancing.

A two-story building in the plaza with giant windows houses the neighborhood fitness center. It has workout classes and is lined with equipment.

From thrifted clothing to unique dishware and candles, there's plenty of local shopping at Culdesac.

According to the company's website, there are more than a dozen micro-retail shops, including a market, a laundromat, a medical spa, an art studio, and a plant shop.

The company representative told BI that the small-business owners at Culdesac are residents, and some even live in their stores thanks to a zoning permit that allows them to do so.

All the stores have kitchens and bathrooms, and some have bedrooms.

In April 2023, Culdesac's Cocina Chiwas opened. It's a family-owned Mexican restaurant serving Chihuahuan cuisine.

It's no secret that the Phoenix area is hot — sometimes dangerously so in the summers. So Culdesac was built to keep pedestrians cool without asphalt — a road material that gets hotter in the sun.

Culdesac intentionally placed the buildings close together to create as much shade as possible.

The buildings' color is also no accident. Culdesac chose white because it reflects sunlight rather than absorbs it.

More than half of the entire property is open, landscaped space.

Culdesac currently has 172 units. More will open in the fall, and the neighborhood will eventually have 760 units.

Studios start at $1,300 a month, one-bedrooms are $1,400, two-bedrooms are $2,100, and three-bedrooms are $2,900 monthly.

Archer's Bike Shop sells manual and electric bikes. And Culdesac residents get complementary services and product discounts.

After my visit to Culdesac, I chatted with Brad Biehl, a 24-year-old resident from Colombus, Ohio. Biehl has lived in the neighborhood for six months. He said one of the best parts of living there is the sense of community.

"We're usually in environments where we walk from our door to our car and from the car into the place," Biehl said. "But here, to go anywhere, I usually pass at least two or three of my neighbors, even when I'm just walking to the light rail right around the corner."

Biehl added that he's optimistic about the future of Culdesac when more residents and retailers come in.

"While there are still not a ton of people here yet, there's way more going on than I would've expected there to be," he told BI. "The number of serendipitous interactions that have taken place with the limited number of residents makes me super excited for what people will experience here."

Peter Thiel cofounded the company that would become Paypal — called Confinity — in 1999 alongside Max Levchin and Luke Nosek. Confinity was launched as a developer of security software for hand-held devices like the PalmPilot, but it later pivoted toward digital money transfers. 

Thiel served as CEO of PayPal until October 2002, when eBay acquired the company for $1.5 billion. Thiel's 3.7% stake was worth a $55 million, according to SEC filings.

Thiel, now a billionaire with a net worth of $15.9 billion, according to Bloomberg, cofounded the big data analysis firm Palantir in 2003. He was the first major outside investor in Facebook and contributed early funding to Yelp and LinkedIn, along with a number of other ventures launched by his PayPal peers. Thiel's also a partner of Founders Fund, a venture capital fund based in San Francisco.

Thiel has also drawn criticism in recent years for his support of President Donald Trump and for secretly funding Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker Media, which resulted in the company shutting down Gawker and selling the company's assets.

After facilitating talks between Trump and now Sen. JD Vance, Thiel gave a record-breaking $15 million to Vance's campaign, the largest donation ever given to a single senate candidate. 

Thiel later told The Atlantic he was taking a break from politics. Business Insider later reported that he served as an FBI informant.

While his and Trump's relationship has reportedly soured, Trump's recent announcement of Vance as his vice president pick has put Thiel back to playing kingmaker.

Max Levchin is sometimes called the "consigliere" of the PayPal Mafia — in "The Godfather," a consigliere is an advisor to the boss.

Levchin made significant contributions to PayPal's anti-fraud efforts. Together with PayPal technical architect David Gausebeck, he helped create the Gausebeck-Levchin test, an early version of a CAPTCHA for commercial applications.

After PayPal was bought by eBay, Levchin founded a media-sharing service called Slide that was later bought by Google. He was also an early investor in Yelp — at one point he was the company's largest shareholder — and he served as chairman of Yelp from its founding in 2004 until July 2015.

He founded fintech company Affirm, which allows consumers to finance online purchases at the point of sale and pay for them over time. Affirm went public in 2021, raising $1.2 billion in its IPO. Levchin is also the chairman of Glow, a fertility-tracking app that helps users improve their odds of conceiving.

After eBay bought PayPal, Howery stayed on as eBay's director of corporate development until 2003. After PayPal's acquisition, he served as cofounder and partner of Founders Fund alongside Peter Thiel.

He was appointed by former President Trump in January 2019 and confirmed in September of that year. He also donated $1 million earlier this year to America PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC created by fellow PayPal mafia member Elon Musk.

Howery is active in several nonprofits and serves as a founding advisor to Kiva, an organization that facilitates loans to low-income entrepreneurs. Kiva was founded in part by Premal Shah, PayPal's former product manager.

Howery is reportedly still good friends with Elon Musk. 

In 1999, Elon Musk founded a payments company called X.com, which merged with Thiel's Confinity in 2000. He briefly served as CEO of PayPal before he was ousted by the board in September 2000 and replaced with Thiel. But as the company's largest shareholder, he still walked away from the PayPal sale to eBay with a cool $165 million.

Perhaps the best-known of all the members of the PayPal mafia now, Musk's estimated net worth is $362 billion.

Since his PayPal days, Musk has moved on to oversee companies like Tesla, SpaceX, the Boring Company, and Neuralink. He also bought Twitter and renamed it X, after buying back the X.com domain name from PayPal. 

Musk, who has been a vocal supporter of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and donated more than $200 million to Republican election efforts, will also co-lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump announced after winning the election.

Nosek was also reportedly the person who clued in Peter Thiel to cryogenic preservation, which Thiel has since invested in heavily.

In 2005, Nosek joined Thiel and Howery as a partner at Founders Fund. In 2017, Nosek left Founders Fund to launch investment firm Gigafund, which helped raise money for SpaceX.

Nosek was also the first institutional investor in SpaceX and is a board member. He also joined the board of ResearchGate, a platform where scientists and researchers can ask questions, follow topics, and review one another's papers.

Botha went to school to be an actuary. He said he never planned to get into tech, but when he saw the opportunity in Silicon Valley, his intuition told him it was where he needed to be.

He started as PayPal's director of corporate development, went on to become vice-president of finance, and later served as CFO.

Botha is now considered one of the top tech investors in the world.

Sequoia Capital has funded tech giants like Apple, Google, YouTube, and Instagram. 

Botha as served on the board at more than a dozen companies, including Square, EventBrite, Weebly, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, as well as 23andMe, which he resigned alongside the rest of the board in September over CEO Anne Wojcicki's proposal to take the company private.

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman served on the board of directors when PayPal was founded.

He eventually joined the company full-time as PayPal's COO. In a New York Times interview, Peter Thiel referred to Hoffman as PayPal's "firefighter in chief," noting that there were many fires that needed putting out in the company's early days.

When PayPal was acquired by eBay, Hoffman was the company's executive vice president.

Hoffman was an early investor in Facebook, Flickr, Care.com, and many more. In 2017 he joined the board of Microsoft.

Hoffman has coauthored several books on startups and professional development. He hosts the "Masters of Scale" podcast, on which he interviews founders about how they launched and scaled their companies, and is a partner at VC firm Greylock Partners. He was an early investor in OpenAI and used to serve on its board, and cofounded Inflection AI.

Hoffman has also recently criticized business leaders, including his fellow PayPal mafia members, for supporting Trump.

Like Hoffman, Sacks also served as COO at PayPal. Previously a management consultant for McKinsey & Company, David Sacks joined PayPal in 1999.

After PayPal was bought by eBay, Sacks produced and financed the box office hit "Thank You For Smoking," which would go on to be nominated for two Golden Globes. In 2006 he founded Geni.com, an online tool for building family trees.

In 2016, Sacks was briefly interim CEO at Zenefits, an HR software firm that was plagued by scandal, including allowing unlicensed brokers to sell insurance to its customers. In 2017, Sacks cofounded the early-stage investment firm Craft Ventures. 

Sacks is a serial entrepreneur and investor, with angel investments in Airbnb, Postmates, Slack, and many more. 

He's also a member of Elon Musk's inner circle and, like the Tesla CEO, is an avid Trump supporter, hosting a fundraiser for the president-elect at his home. Sacks reportedly urged Trump personally to choose Vance as his running mate, whom he was introduced to by fellow Paypal mafia member Thiel.

Trump said in December that he is appointing Sacks as his White House AI and crypto czar.

Karim and Chen were engineers, while Hurley was a web designer.

In 2005, the trio launched the video-sharing platform YouTube. Karim uploaded the platform's very first video, "Me at the zoo," an 18-second clip of Karim in front of the San Diego Zoo's elephant exhibit. It's been viewed over 292 million times.

Karim launched venture fund YVentures in 2008, through which he invested in Palantir, Reddit, Eventbrite, and Airbnb.

Hurley stepped down as CEO of YouTube in 2010. Since then, he's backed education startup Uptime and invested in several sports teams.

Chen invested in actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt's musical collaboration platform HitRecord, which in February secured $6.4 million in Series A funding.

McCormack joined PayPal in 2001, working as an assistant to Peter Thiel as the company prepared for its IPO.

In 2003, McCormack started a restaurant group in San Francisco. In 2008, he joined Thiel Capital and worked there for 5 years.

McCormack partnered up with Thiel again in 2010 to found Valar Ventures, a venture capital fund.

Valar Ventures has invested in technology startups well beyond Silicon Valley, including some in Europe and Canada. In August, Crunchbase reported the firm had closed on a $150 million funding round for a new venture capital fund, Valar Fund V.

McCormack continues to serve as a managing partner of the firm.

Entrepreneur Keith Rabois served as PayPal's executive vice president from 2000 to 2002.

He would go on to join his PayPal colleague Reid Hoffman at LinkedIn as its vice president for business and corporate development from 2005 to 2007. He was an early investor in startups like Square, where he spent two-and-a-half years as COO. 

Rabois is the CEO of OpenStore and has served on the board of directors for Yelp, Xoom, and Reddit.

He was a general partner at Founder's Fund, where he cofounded OpenStore, before returning to Khosla Ventures in early 2024.

Simmons was an engineer and Stoppelman was the vice president of technology after joining PayPal from X.com.

In 2004, the pair came up with the idea for a platform where users could leave recommendations about businesses in their area. They pitched the idea to Levchin, who provided an early investment of $1 million, and Yelp was born.

Simmons served as CTO at Yelp from 2004 until he left the role in 2010. Stoppelman is still CEO of Yelp, and has publicly spoken out in support of political issues like women's reproductive rights.

After leaving PayPal, Selby partnered with Thiel to start Clarium Capital Management.

Selby later helped manage Thiel Capital, the Thiel's family office, and started his own venture capital fund, AZ-VC, where he serves as managing partner. He still serves as managing director at Thiel Capital.

Starting in 2013, Selby began anonymously leaving tips for unsuspecting waitstaff, ranging into the thousands, and signing them "Tips for Jesus." His identity was confirmed by a New York City bartender who served him prior to receiving a $5,000 tip.

McClure served PayPal's director of marketing as for four years beginning in 2001.

According to McClure's LinkedIn, he began a program called the PayPal Developer Network, which consisted of about 300,000 developers that were using PayPal. 

He had a brief stint at Founders Fund before launching 500 Startups, an early stage venture fund. McClure stayed at 500 Startups until June 2017, when he was accused of "inappropriate behavior with women" in a New York Times report and stepped down from his role at the firm, writing an apology post titled "I'm a creep. I'm sorry."

He's since become an investor and owner in a professional sports league for ultimate frisbee and cofounded Practical Venture Capital, according to his LinkedIn.

• Yishan Wong was an engineering manager who later served as CEO of Reddit from 2011 to 2014. He then founded the reforestation company Terraformation in 2020, where he now serves as CEO.
• Jason Portnoy worked in finance at PayPal, and went on to work at Clarium Capital and Palantir. He's now a partner at VC firm Oakhouse Partners. 
• Premal Shah was a product manager at PayPal beginning in 2000, then went on to work at technology nonprofit Kiva. He's now president at financial-services startup Branch. 
• David Gausebeck was a technical architect at PayPal. Now, he serves as chief scientist at 3D modeling company Matterport. He cofounded 3D modeling company Matterport, where he now serves as chief scientist.
• Joe Lonsdale started his career as a finance intern at PayPal before moving into venture capital — he's worked at VC firms Clarium Capital, Formation 8, and 8VC. Lonsdale also cofounded Palantir, and has reportedly contributed to a Trump PAC.
• Eric Jackson was director of marketing at PayPal and went on to write a book about the company called "The PayPal Wars." He's currently the CEO of CapLinked. 

Cache House is in Downtown Jackson, a walkable neighborhood full of boutiques, restaurants, and, in my experience, traffic.

While Hotel Yellowstone is less than 15 minutes north of the bustling square, it's tucked away in a scenic area with expansive properties. I thought it provided a more isolated experience.

I booked a one-night stay at Hotel Yellowstone about a month after it opened. When my cab pulled up, I could tell it was a brand-new establishment.

Between buildings, lush, extravagant landscaping framed a glistening pond that attracted wildlife — from ducks to moose.

I entered a neutral-toned lobby with cathedral ceilings to check into the hotel. The space had an array of cozy seating, from fur seats to cushioned rocking chairs.

"Hotel Yellowstone's design pays homage to the American West while seamlessly blending influences of modern design," a representative of Hotel Yellowstone told Business Insider.

Hills and mountains layered the distant landscape, and a rich, green valley brightened the foreground. It looked like a photograph.

Hotel Yellowstone had nine guest room buildings with four accommodations in each. Each room was 600 square feet and had a private balcony — the main difference between each is the view.

I booked a room with a balcony facing the Teton Range. It had a plush, king-sized bed, a full bathroom, two seating spaces, and glass doors for nonstop views of the mountains.

The accommodation had basic amenities like a TV, a mini fridge, and a fireplace. I used the in-room smart tablet to close the curtains, ignite the fireplace, activate mood lighting, and change the channel.

"The intricate design components pull inspiration from Jackson Hole's history, proximity to national parks, and locale on a wildlife refuge — allowing guests to view Jackson Hole's native animals from the comfort of their suites," the Hotel Yellowstone representative told BI.

The Carrara marble bathroom had floor and towel heaters. A stand-alone rainfall shower was stocked with Byredo toiletries. A large, deep tub sat behind a sliding door, revealing the outdoor views.

At most hotels I've stayed in, the on-site restaurants are open to the public. Still, Hotel Yellowstone's resto, Olivia's, was exclusively for hotel guests.

It was on the lower level of the main building beneath the lobby. As I stepped down the stairs, I spotted an elegant marble bar with couch seating. Just past the bar was a dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows.

Dining at this establishment that locally sources ingredients almost felt like dining outside — without the discomforts of weather and bugs.

The pool — open 24 hours a day, along with the sauna — was made for relaxing. Known as the Negative Edge Pool, it was indoors with retractable glass windows overlooking the valley and surrounding mountains.

To get to Cache House, I went to the Anvil Hotel, which has existed since the 1950s.

In the 1970s, a bunkhouse opened in the basement of the hotel. Then, in 2020, that bunkhouse opened as the "modern, elevated interpretation of the classic European hostel" Cache House, a company representative told BI.

I checked in at the Anvil Hotel, and a staff member walked me around the side of the building and down an outdoor staircase into the basement.

My key card unlocked the door to the hostel.

The door at the bottom of the steps opened into a massive, brightly-lit room with a mix of midcentury modern and old Western pieces and accents.

Cache House hired Brooklyn-based Post Company to give the room a sleek, functional look.

Geometric-patterned blankets were laid over black leather futons with wooden feet. Modern built-ins displayed albums behind a rustic, wooden dining table. Rugs and throws added pops of color to the space.

All Cache House bookings include a private locker for belongings. With just a backpack and a medium-sized duffel bag, there was plenty of space I didn't use.

The shared space had several private stalls with a toilet, sink, and shower. And like at Hotel Yellowstone, the bathrooms were spotless and had complimentary toiletries from a high-end beauty brand,
C.O. Bigelow.

The hostel's midcentury modern style continued into the bunk room, where wooden ladders with gold accents led up and down 50 bunks, ranging from twin- to queen-sized.

Beneath each pair of bunk beds were two storage drawers — one for each bunk.

I pulled the curtain at the top of the ladder to reveal a nook with a queen-sized bed, a reading light, a shelf, an outlet, and a fan.

It was a far cry from my 600-square-foot haven at Hotel Yellowstone, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the bunk felt like a tiny room. The curtain blocked sound and light, giving me all the privacy I needed.

The mattress was a bigger surprise. Although a tad smaller, the Cache House bed was just as comfy and plush as Hotel Yellowstone's. With linen and wool bedding, I slept just as soundly and woke up just as refreshed.

I certainly didn't expect my budget hostel stay to have additional amenities, but since it was centrally located in the walkable downtown area, I thought it didn't need to.

I had dinner nearby and spent the evening strolling around the town square, popping inside various boutiques.

Hotel Yellowstone would be ideal for the retreat seeker who craves serenity in solitude.

An adventurer who wants to stay out all day sampling the food, shopping, and culture of Jackson Hole would likely have a better time at the centrally located Cache House.

They'd save a buck and still get a taste of luxury.

When I mapped out my trip to Scottsdale, I didn't realize how large the town was.

Downtown Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport are quite close together — 15 minutes or less by car, in my experience. However, I couldn't miss seeing the luxurious neighborhoods and fine dining in North Scottsdale.

When I booked my tours and reservations, I didn't realize North Scottsdale was about a 40-minute cab ride from the hub area.

I ended up traveling up and down Scottsdale multiple times a day. Next time, I'll plan to spend one full day in North Scottsdale to avoid wasting time and money on cabs.

For my spring trip to Scottsdale, I expected it to be warm, as the area is known to be throughout the year. So, I packed some cooling, quick-dry attire, like the Under Armour polo above, paired with pants made from a similar material.

It was warmer than I anticipated, and this dark navy outfit made me feel like a magnet to the sun.

The outfit was comfortable in the morning and evening, but I would have packed lighter-colored clothing if I had known I'd be battling 90-degree heat in the afternoons.

I also didn't realize that the heat in Scottsdale would feel drastically drier to me compared to the air I'm used to back home in New York.

I thought I could easily walk around all day in Scottsdale. I planned to spend most daylight hours exploring outdoors and walking from neighborhood to neighborhood. But I got dehydrated easily and ran through my 20-ounce plastic water bottle quickly.

Next time I visit Scottsdale in the spring, I'll pack a larger, insulated water bottle and break up outdoor activities in my itinerary with indoor ones to stay cool and hydrated.

Since I spent two nights in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, I booked one night in each town.

I stayed at the Phoenician in Scottsdale, a 600-acre mega-resort with five pools, a three-story spa, and an 18-hole golf course.

I didn't save enough time in my itinerary for hanging out at the hotel.

I spent most of the day out and about, and by the time I got back to the Phoenician, I was too tired to sit down at the award-winning lobby bar or step into one of the pools.

Before I checked out in the morning, I had just enough time to explore the entire property on foot. I watched others play golf, tennis, and pickleball and longed for another night. This ended up being my biggest regret of the trip because I left feeling like I'd missed out.

After my stay, I realized that a mega-resort is worth the price only if I take advantage of all it has to offer. Since my trip was more about exploring Scottsdale than relaxing, there simply wasn't enough downtime to make it worth booking for just one night.

After getting a preview of the Phoenician's amenities, I'd love to stay again for at least two nights and plan to spend many waking hours there.

There is more to the hype surrounding semaglutide, the active ingredient of the weight loss medication Ozempic, than just its effects.

For those unfamiliar with the antidiabetic medication, pronouncing it can be a challenge.

Pronunciation: sem-ah-GLOO-tide

The transportation secretary and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was one of the Democrats' most articulate spokespeople when he took over the airwaves and tried to appeal to swing voters and moderates for Harris.

He's also been known to spar with Elon Musk online.

Pronunciation: peet BOOD-ih-judge

The name of the fast fashion company Shein is frequently mispronounced as "Sheen." The company is reportedly planning to debut on the London Stock Exchange early next year.

Pronunciation: SHE-in

Vice President Kamala Harris has often seen her name being mispronounced, most recently in the run-up to the November 2024 presidential election.

Her nieces, Amara and Leela, helped set the record straight onstage at the DNC in August.

"It's like a comma in a sentence," explained Amara. "Then you say 'la,' like 'la la la,'" added Leela.

Pronunciation: COM-a-la HAR-iss

Actress Zendaya starred as tennis prodigy Tashi Duncan in "Challengers" and as Chani in "Dune: Part II." Her name is frequently mispronounced "Zen-DIE-a."

Pronunciation: Zen-DAY-a

Pop singer Chappell Roan had a breakout year in 2024.

She has humorously called out those who said [SHA-pel ROW-an] during a live performance, making it clear that it's actually [CHAP-uhl], which sounds like chapel, and [ROHN], which rhymes with tone.

Pronunciation: CHAP-uhl ROHN

SPECULOOS-3b is an Earth-sized exoplanet that orbits a red dwarf that captured global attention in May when astronomers announced its discovery at a distance of 55 light-years.

Pronunciation: SPEK-yuh-lohss three bee

The phryge, the mascot of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, was chosen as a symbol of freedom and to represent allegorical figures of the French Republic.

Pronunciation: FREE-je

The Irish actor rose to prominence for his role in Emerald Fennell's "Saltburn" last year, though Sabrina Carpenter fans will also know him as the pop singer's boyfriend.

Though the letter "G" is often silent in Irish names, Keoghan's last name has a distinct "G" sound.

Pronunciation: BARR-ee key-OH-gin

Shohei Ohtani's dog, a Dutch Kooikerhondje, "threw" the first pitch at a game at Dodger Stadium after the Dodgers' pitcher signed a historic 10-year, $700 million deal with the MLB team.

Pronunciation: COY-ker-HUND-che

The group aimed to create a nonprofit focused on developing artificial intelligence "in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole," according to a statement on OpenAI's website from December 11, 2015.

"It's hard to fathom how much human-level AI could benefit society, and it's equally hard to imagine how much it could damage society if built or used incorrectly," a statement announcing the founding of OpenAI reads.

"As Tesla continues to become more focused on AI, this will eliminate a potential future conflict for Elon," OpenAI said in a blog post at the time, adding that Musk would continue to provide guidance and donations.

With his departure, Musk also backed out of a commitment to provide additional funding to OpenAI, a person involved in the matter told The New Yorker.

"It was very tough," Altman told the magazine of the situation. "I had to reorient a lot of my life and time to make sure we had enough funding."

Semafor reported in 2023 that Musk wanted to run the company on his own in an attempt to beat Google. But when his offer to run the company was rejected, he pulled his funding and left OpenAI's board, the news outlet said.

"I had to focus on solving a painfully large number of engineering & manufacturing problems at Tesla (especially) & SpaceX," he tweeted. "Also, Tesla was competing for some of same people as OpenAI & I didn't agree with some of what OpenAI team wanted to do. Add that all up & it was just better to part ways on good terms."

Two years after his departure, Musk said, "OpenAI should be more open" in response to an MIT Technology Review article reporting that there was a culture of secrecy there, despite OpenAI frequently proclaiming a commitment to transparency.

Musk also added that his "confidence in Dario for safety is not high," referring to Dario Amodei, who led OpenAI's strategy at the time.

"Need to understand more about governance structure & revenue plans going forward. OpenAI was started as open-source & non-profit. Neither are still true," he said.

In November 2022, the chatbot took off and garnered millions of users for its ability to do everything from write essays to craft basic code. 

"OpenAI was created as an open source (which is why I named it "Open" AI), non-profit company to serve as a counterweight to Google, but now it has become a closed source, maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft. Not what I intended at all," he said in a tweet.

Musk repeated this assertion a month later.

"I'm still confused as to how a non-profit to which I donated ~$100M somehow became a $30B market cap for-profit. If this is legal, why doesn't everyone do it?" he tweeted.

The March 2023 letter, which also received signatures from several AI experts, cited concerns about AI's potential risks to humanity.

"Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable," the letter says.

But while he was publicly calling for the pause, Musk was quietly building his own AI competitor, xAI, The New Yorker reported in 2023. He launched the company in March 2023.

"To say a positive thing about Elon, I think he really does care about a good future with AGI," Altman said last year on an episode of the "On With Kara Swisher" podcast, referring to artificial general intelligence.

"I mean, he's a jerk, whatever else you want to say about him — he has a style that is not a style that I'd want to have for myself," Altman told Swisher. "But I think he does really care, and he is feeling very stressed about what the future's going to look like for humanity." 

In response to Musk's claim that OpenAI has turned into "a closed source, maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft," Altman said on the podcast, "Most of that is not true, and I think Elon knows that."

In a March 2023 episode of Lex Fridman's podcast, Altman also said, "Elon is obviously attacking us some on Twitter right now on a few different vectors."

Nonetheless, he called Musk one of his heroes, adding, "I believe he is, understandably so, really stressed about AGI safety."

In a May 2023 talk at University College London, Altman was asked what he's learned from various mentors, Fortune reported. He answered by speaking about Musk.

"Certainly learning from Elon about what is just, like, possible to do and that you don't need to accept that, like, hard R&D and hard technology is not something you ignore, that's been super valuable," he said.

Twitter took aim at posts linking to rival Substack in 2023, forbidding users from retweeting or replying to tweets containing such links, before reversing course. In response to a tweet about the situation, Altman tweeted, "Free speech absolutism on STEROIDS."

Musk has called himself a "free speech absolutist" before and said it's one of the reasons he bought Twitter, now X.

"I would go watch if he and Zuck actually did that," he said at the Bloomberg Technology Summit in June 2023, though he said he doesn't think he would ever challenge Musk in a physical fight.

Altman also repeated several of his previous remarks about Musk's position on AI.

"He really cares about AI safety a lot," Altman said at Bloomberg's summit. "We have differences of opinion on some parts, but we both care about that and he wants to make sure we, the world, have the maximal chance at a good outcome."

Separately, Altman told The New Yorker in August 2023 that Musk has a my-way-or-the highway approach to issues more broadly.

"Elon desperately wants the world to be saved. But only if he can be the one to save it," Altman said.

He first sued OpenAI, Altman, and cofounder Greg Brockman in March, alleging the company's direction in recent years has violated its founding principles.

His lawyers alleged OpenAI "has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world" and is "refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity."

In response, OpenAI called the lawsuit "incoherent" and "contradictory," suggesting Musk was jealous of the company's success without him.

A few months later, Musk withdrew the lawsuit, a day before a judge was set to consider the future of the case in a hearing.

Musk filed a new lawsuit in August against Altman and cofounder Greg Brockman, who recently left the company for three months and returned a couple of days ago.

The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI executives played on Musk's concerns about the existential risks of AI and "assiduously manipulated" him into cofounding the company as a nonprofit. The intent of the company was to focus on building AI safely in an open approach to benefit humanity, the lawsuit says.

The company has since decided to take a for-profit approach.

OpenAI responded to the lawsuit by stating that "Elon's prior emails continue to speak for themselves."

The emails, which were published by OpenAI in March, show correspondence between Musk and OpenAI executives that indicated he supported a pivot to a for-profit model and was open to merging the AI startup with Tesla. 

Musk amended the lawsuit against OpenAI in November to include Microsoft as a defendant. He also named Reid Hoffman, who serves as a Microsoft board member and former OpenAI board member, as a defendant.

The billionaire called OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft a "de facto merger" and accused the two of anti-competitive practices, such as engaging in "lavish compensation." Musk's lawyers said the two companies "possess a nearly 70% share of the generative AI market."

"OpenAI has attempted to starve competitors of AI talent by aggressively recruiting employees with offers of lavish compensation, and is on track to spend $1.5 billion on personnel for just 1,500 employees," lawyers for Musk said in the complaint. 

Musk filed a complaint to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the US District Court for the Northern District of California, arguing that OpenAI and Microsoft exploited his donations to OpenAI as a nonprofit to build a monopoly "specifically targeting xAI." In the filing, Musk's lawyers said OpenAI engaged in anticompetitive behaviors and wrongfully shared information with Microsoft.

If granted by the judge, the injunction could cause issues with OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft and prevent it from becoming a for-profit company.

As President-elect Donald Trump's self-proclaimed "First Buddy," Musk's power and influence on the US economy could increase even further over the next four years. In addition to being a right-hand-man to Trump, he'll lead the new Department of Government Efficiency with biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy.

Musk hasn't been quiet about his disdain for Altman post-election. He dubbed the OpenAI cofounder "Swindly Sam" in an X post on November 15. The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk "despises" Altman, according to people familiar.

Jennifer Gates Nassar, who goes by Jenn, is the oldest of the Gates children at 28 years old.

A decorated equestrian, Gates Nassar started riding horses when she was six. Her father has shelled out millions of dollars to support her passion, including buying a California horse farm for $18 million and acquiring several parcels of land in Wellington, Florida, to build an equestrian facility.

In 2018, Gates Nassar received her undergraduate degree in human biology from Stanford University, where a computer science building was named for her father after he donated $6 million to the project in 1996.

She then attended the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, from which she graduated in May. She will continue at Mt. Sinai for her residency in pediatric research. During medical school, she also completed a Master's in Public Health at Columbia University — perhaps a natural interest given her parents' extensive philanthropic activity in the space.

"Can't believe we've reached this moment, a little girl's childhood aspiration come true," she wrote on Instagram. "It's been a whirlwind of learning, exams, late nights, tears, discipline, and many moments of self-doubt, but the highs certainly outweighed the lows these past 5 years."

In October 2021, she married Egyptian equestrian Nayel Nassar. In February 2023, reports surfaced that they bought a $51 million New York City penthouse with six bedrooms and a plunge pool. The next month, they welcomed their first child, Leila, and in October, Gates Nassar gave birth to their second daughter, Mia.

"I'm over the moon for you, @jenngatesnassar and @nayelnassar—and overjoyed for our whole family," Bill Gates commented on the Instagram post announcing Mia's birth.

In a 2020 interview with the equestrian lifestyle publication Sidelines, Gates Nassar discussed growing up wealthy.

"I was born into a huge situation of privilege," she said. "I think it's about using those opportunities and learning from them to find things that I'm passionate about and hopefully make the world a little bit of a better place."

She recently posted about visiting Kenya, where she learned about childhood health and development in the country.

Rory John Gates, who is in his mid-20s, is Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates' only son and the most private of their children. He maintains private social media accounts, and his sisters and parents rarely post photos of him.

His mother did, however, write an essay about him in 2017. Titled "How I Raised a Feminist Son," she describes as a "great son and a great brother" who "inherited his parents' obsessive love of puzzles."

In 2022, he graduated from the University of Chicago, where, based on a photo posted on Facebook, he appears to have been active in moot court. At the time of his graduation, Jennifer Gates Nassar wrote that he had achieved a double major and master's degree.

Little is publicly known about what the middle Gates child has been up to since he graduated, but a Puck report from last year gave some clues, saying that he is seen as a "rich target for Democratic social-climbers, influence-peddlers, and all variety of money chasers." According to OpenSecrets, his most recent public giving was to Nikki Haley last year.

The same report says he works as a congressional analyst while also completing a doctorate.

Phoebe Gates, 22, is the youngest of the Gates children.

After graduating from high school in 2021, she followed her sister to Stanford. She graduated in June after three years with a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology. Her mom, Melinda French-Gates, delivered the university's commencement address.

In a story that Gates wrote for Nylon about her graduation day, she documented her graduation day, including a party she cohosted that featured speeches from her famous parents and a piggyback ride from her boyfriend Arthur Donald — the grandson of Sir Paul McCartney.

She has long shown an interest in fashion, interning at British Vogue and posting on social media from fashion weeks in Copenhagen, New York, and Paris. Sustainability is often a theme of her content, which highlights vintage and secondhand stores and celebrates designers who don't use real leather and fur.

That has culminated in her cofounding Phia, a sustainable fashion tech platform that launched in beta this fall. The site and its browser extension crawl secondhand marketplaces to find specific items in an effort to help shoppers find deals and prevent waste.

Gates shares her parents' passion for public health. She's attended the UN General Assembly with her mother and spent time in Rwanda with Partners in Health, a nonprofit that has received funding from the Gates Foundation.

Like her mother, Gates often publicly discusses issues of gender equality, including in essays for Vogue and Teen Vogue, at philanthropic gatherings, and on social media, where she frequently posts about reproductive rights.

She's given thousands to Democrats and Democratic causes, including to Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Democratic Party of Montana, per data from OpenSecrets. According to Puck, she receives a "giving allowance" that makes it possible for her to cut the checks.

Perhaps the most public of the Gates children — she's got over 450,000 Instagram followers and a partnership with Tiffany & Co. — she's given glimpses into their upbringing, including strict rules around technology. The siblings were not allowed to use their phones before bed, she told Bustle, and to get around the rule, she created a cardboard decoy.

"I thought I could dupe my dad, and it worked, actually, for a couple nights," she told the outlet earlier this year. "And then my mom came home and was like, 'This is literally a piece of cardboard you're plugging in. You're using your phone in your room.' Oh, my gosh, I remember getting in trouble for that."

It hasn't always been easy being Gates's daughter. In the Netflix documentary "What's Next? The Future With Bill Gates," she said she lost friends because of a conspiracy theory suggesting her father used COVID-19 vaccines to implant microchips into recipients.

"I've even had friends cut me off because of these vaccine rumors," she said.

Bezos founded Amazon from his garage in Bellevue, Washington, in 1994. Decades later, gone are the photoshoots where he's posing with a softcover while looking bookish.

Now, he's gained pounds of muscle and changed his clothing style. He attributes his new look partly to working out with a celebrity personal trainer and changing his diet.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook from his dorm room at Harvard in 2004.

Zuck, who famously wore the same thing every day to save brainpower for more important decisions, has said goodbye to that era. Instead, Zuck can now be seen sporting graphic tees and chain necklaces.

Like Bezos, he's also gotten more fit. Part of Zuckerberg's physical transformation stems from hobbies like Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA fighting.

Dell is another member of the college dropouts-turned-tech founders club. He started his company while still enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin.

While you probably won't catch him rocking a t-shirt to a professional event, he's appeared to prefer to drop the glasses since then.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998. They met as students at Stanford and built Google from a garage they rented from the late Susan Wojcicki, who was later YouTube's CEO.

The photo at left shows Musk in 1999, around the time the "PayPal mafia" was formed.

Musk has said he doesn't care for exercise and "almost never" works out, though he's credited fasting and the weight loss drug Wegovy with his appearance today.

Gates and the late Paul Allen cofounded Microsoft from a garage in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975.

Gates left Microsoft's board in 2020 and today spends more of his time focused on the philanthropic foundation he started with his now-ex-wife, Melinda French Gates.

Half a century later, he's still rocking glasses — with some different frames.

Twitter was founded in 2006. Cofounder Jack Dorsey has been seen with a full beard pretty regularly since departing as CEO and focusing his efforts more on cryptocurrency at Block, formerly Square.

Richard Branson started the Virgin brand in 1970 with a mail-order record business.

At 73 years old today, Branson's day-to-day life still features plenty of exercise, from tennis and cycling to kite-surfing. As such, he's usually sporting a tan.

Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma disappeared from public view in 2020 after criticizing China's financial regulation system.

He resurfaced in Thailand in 2022 and has been teaching as a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo.

Anne Wojcicki cofounded genetic testing company 23andMe in 2006. She is the younger sister of late former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.

Whitney Wolfe Herd co-founded Tinder before founding Bumble in 2014. She stepped down as CEO of the dating app last year.

Herd became the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world on the heels of Bumble's IPO.

The entrepreneur currently serves as executive chairman on Bumble's board of directors.

Evan Spiegel co-founded Snap, which owns services like Snapchat, in 2011. The company's success made him the world's youngest billionaire in 2015, when he was 25.

While he'll often suit up or don a tux when attending a more formal event with his wife, Miranda Kerr, he's often seen in a white or black t-shirt and jeans.

Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph cofounded Netflix in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail service provider before it would become the streaming giant it is today. Hastings gave up the CEO title in January 2023, though he still serves as board chairman.

More recently, you can catch him in snowboarding attire after he bought a ski mountain in Utah.

Altman is best known as the CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, but his first startup was Loopt, a mobile service that allowed for real-time location sharing with friends.

The picture at left shows him in those days, circa 2006. In 2008, he was sporting two polo shirts with a double-popped collar on stage at Apple's WWDC conference. 15 years later, however, he's worn a tuxedo to the White House while continuing to keep it casual during interviews with more casual looks too.

Hinton's research has primarily focused on neural networks, systems that learn skills by analyzing data. In 2018, he won the Turing Award, a prestigious computer science prize, along with fellow researchers Yann LeCun and Yoshua Bengio.

Hinton also worked at Google for over a decade, but quit his role at Google last spring, so he could speak more freely about the rapid development of AI technology, he said. After quitting, he even said that a part of him regrets the role he played in advancing the technology. 

"I console myself with the normal excuse: If I hadn't done it, somebody else would have. It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things," Hinton said previously. 

Hinton has since become an outspoken advocate for AI safety and has called it a more urgent risk than climate change. He's also signed a statement about pausing AI developments for six months. 

Yoshua Bengio also earned the "godfather of AI" nickname after winning the Turing Award with Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun.

Bengio's research primarily focuses on artificial neural networks, deep learning, and machine learning. In 2022, Bengio became the computer scientist with the highest h-index — a metric for evaluating the cumulative impact of an author's scholarly output — in the world, according to his website. 

In addition to his academic work, Bengio also co-founded Element AI, a startup that develops AI software solutions for businesses that was acquired by the cloud company ServiceNow in 2020. 

Bengio has expressed concern about the rapid development of AI. He was one of 33,000 people who signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause on AI development. Hinton, Open AI CEO Sam Altman, and Elon Musk also signed the letter.

"Today's systems are not anywhere close to posing an existential risk," he previously said. "But in one, two, five years? There is too much uncertainty."

When that time comes, though, Bengio warns that we should also be wary of humans who have control of the technology.

Some people with "a lot of power" may want to replace humanity with machines, Bengio said at the One Young World Summit in Montreal. "Having systems that know more than most people can be dangerous in the wrong hands and create more instability at a geopolitical level, for example, or terrorism."

Altman was already a well-known name in Silicon Valley long before, having served as the president of the startup accelerator Y-Combinator 

While Altman has advocated for the benefits of AI, calling it the most tremendous "leap forward in quality of life for people" he's also spoken candidly about the risks it poses to humanity. He's testified before Congress to discuss AI regulation.

Altman has also said he loses sleep over the potential dangers of ChatGPT.

LeCun is professor at New York University, and also joined Meta in 2013, where he's now the Chief AI Scientist. At Meta, he has pioneered research on training machines to make predictions based on videos of everyday events as a way to enable them with a form of common sense. The idea being that humans learn an incredible amount about the world based on passive observation. He's has also published more than 180 technical papers and book chapters on topics ranging from machine learning to computer vision to neural networks, according to personal website.

LeCun has remained relatively mellow about societal risks of AI in comparison to his fellow godfathers. He's previously said that concerns that the technology could pose a threat to humanity are "preposterously ridiculous". He's also contended that AI, like ChatGPT, that's been trained on large language models still isn't as smart as dogs or cats.

Li's research focuses on machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, and cognitively-inspired AI, according to her biography on Stanford's website.

She may be best known for establishing ImageNet — a large visual database that was designed for research in visual object recognition — and the corresponding ImageNet challenge, in which software programs compete to correctly classify objects.  Over the years, she's also been affiliated with major tech companies including Google — where she was a VP and chief scientist for AI and machine learning — and Twitter (now X), where she was on the board of directors from 2020 until Elon Musk's takeover in 2022. 

Russell published Human Compatible in 2019, where he explored questions of how humans and machines could co-exist, as machines become smarter by the day. Russell contended that the answer was in designing machines that were uncertain about human preferences, so they wouldn't pursue their own goals above those of humans. 

He's also the author of foundational texts in the field, including the widely used textbook "Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach," which he co-wrote with former UC-Berkeley faculty member Peter Norvig. 

Russell has spoken openly about what the rapid development of AI systems means for society as a whole. Last June, he also warned that AI tools like ChatGPT were "starting to hit a brick wall" in terms of how much text there was left for them to ingest. He also said that the advancements in AI could spell the end of the traditional classroom. 

He spent several in the early 2000s directing the company's core search algorithms group and later moved into a role as the director of research where he oversaw teams on machine translation, speech recognition, and computer vision. 

Norvig has also rotated through several academic institutions over the years as a former faculty member at UC-Berkeley, former professor at the University of Southern California, and now, a fellow at Stanford's center for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. 

Norvig told BI by email that "AI research is at a very exciting moment, when we are beginning to see models that can perform well (but not perfectly) on a wide variety of general tasks." At the same time "there is a danger that these powerful AI models can be used maliciously by unscrupulous people to spread disinformation rather than information. An important area of current research is to defend against such attacks," he said. 

Gebru was a research scientist and the technical co-lead of Google's Ethical Artificial Intelligence team where she published groundbreaking research on biases in machine learning.

But her research also spun into a larger controversy that she's said ultimately led to her being let go from Google in 2020. Google didn't comment at the time.

Gebru founded the Distributed AI Research Institute in 2021 which bills itself as a "space for independent, community-rooted AI research, free from Big Tech's pervasive influence."

She's also warned that AI gold rush will mean companies may neglect implementing necessary guardrails around the technology. "Unless there is external pressure to do something different, companies are not just going to self-regulate," Gebru previously said. "We need regulation and we need something better than just a profit motive."

The endeavor lead to the Google Cat Project: A milestone in deep learning research in which a massive neural network was trained to detect YouTube videos of cats.

Ng also served as the chief scientist at Chinese technology company Baidu where drove AI strategy. Over the course of his career, he's authored more than 200 research papers on topics ranging from machine learning to robotics, according to his personal website. 

Beyond his own research, Ng has pioneered developments in online education. He co-founded Coursera along with computer scientist Daphne Koller in 2012, and five years later, founded the education technology company DeepLearning.AI, which has created AI programs on Coursera.  

"I think AI does have risk. There is bias, fairness, concentration of power, amplifying toxic speech, generating toxic speech, job displacement. There are real risks," he told Bloomberg Technology last May. However, he said he's not convinced that AI will pose some sort of existential risk to humanity — it's more likely to be part of the solution. "If you want humanity to survive and thrive for the next thousand years, I would much rather make AI go faster to help us solve these problems rather than slow AI down," Ng told Bloomberg. 

Koller told BI by email that insitro is applying AI and machine learning to advance understanding of "human disease biology and identify meaningful therapeutic interventions." And before founding insitro, Koller was the chief computing officer at Calico, Google's life-extension spinoff. Koller is a decorated academic, a MacArthur Fellow, and author of more than 300 publications with an h-index of over 145, according to her biography from the Broad Institute, and co-founder of Coursera.  

In Koller's view the biggest risks that AI development pose to society are "the expected reduction in demand for certain job categories; the further fraying of "truth" due to the increasing challenge in being able to distinguish real from fake; and the way in which AI enables people to do bad things."

At the same time, she said the benefits are too many and too large to note. "AI will accelerate science, personalize education, help identify new therapeutic interventions, and many more," Koller wrote by email.

Amodei co-founded Anthropic along with six other OpenAI employees, including her brother Dario Amodei. They left, in part, because Dario — OpenAI's lead safety researcher at the time — was concerned that OpenAI's deal with Microsoft would force it to release products too quickly, and without proper guardrails. 

At Anthropic, Amodei is focused on ensuring trust and safety. The company's chatbot Claude bills itself as an easier-to-use alternative that OpenAI's ChatGPT, and is already being implemented by companies like Quora and Notion. Anthropic relies on what it calls a "Triple H" framework in its research. That stands for Helpful, Honest, and Harmless. That means it relies on human input when training its models, including constitutional AI, in which a customer outlines basic principles on how AI should operate. 

"We all have to simultaneously be looking at the problems of today and really thinking about how to make tractable progress on them while also having an eye on the future of problems that are coming down the pike," Amodei previously told BI.

Hassabis, a former child chess prodigy who studied at Cambridge and University College London, was nicknamed the "superhero of artificial intelligence" by The Guardian back in 2016. 

After a handful of research stints, and a venture in videogames, he founded DeepMind in 2010. He sold the AI lab to Google in 2014 for £400 million where he's worked on algorithms to tackle issues in healthcare, climate change, and also launched a research unit dedicated to the understanding the ethical and social impact of AI in 2017, according to DeepMind's website. 

Hassabis has said the promise of artificial general intelligence — a theoretical concept that sees AI matching the cognitive abilities of humans — is around the corner. "I think we'll have very capable, very general systems in the next few years," Hassabis said previously, adding that he didn't see why AI progress would slow down anytime soon. He added, however, that developing AGI should be executed in a "in a cautious manner using the scientific method." 

The startup, which claims to create "a personal AI for everyone," most recently raised $1.3 billion in funding last June, according to PitchBook. 

Its chatbot, Pi, which stands for personal intelligence, is trained on large language models similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT or Bard. Pi, however, is designed to be more conversational, and offer emotional support. Suleyman previously described it as a "neutral listener" that can respond to real-life problems. 

"Many people feel like they just want to be heard, and they just want a tool that reflects back what they said to demonstrate they have actually been heard," Suleyman previously said. 

Crawford is also the senior principal researcher at Microsoft, and the author of Atlas of AI, a book that draws upon the breadth of her research to uncover how AI is shaping society. 

Crawford remains both optimistic and cautious about the state of AI development. She told BI by email she's excited about the people she works with across the world "who are committed to more sustainable, consent-based, and equitable approaches to using generative AI."

She added, however, that "if we don't approach AI development with care and caution, and without the right regulatory safeguards, it could produce extreme concentrations of power, with dangerously anti-democratic effects."

Mitchell has published more than 100 papers over the course of her career, according to her website, and spearheaded AI projects across various big tech companies including Microsoft and Google. 

In late 2020, Mitchell and Timnit Gebru — then the co-lead of Google's ethical artificial intelligence — published a paper on the dangers of large language models. The paper spurred disagreements between the researchers and Google's management and ultimately lead to Gebru's departure from the company in December 2020. Mitchell was terminated by Google just two months later, in February 2021

Now, at Hugging Face — an open-source data science and machine learning platform that was founded in 2016 — she's thinking about how to democratize access to the tools necessary to building and deploying large-scale AI models.  

In an interview with Morning Brew, where Mitchell explained what it means to design responsible AI, she said, "I started on my path toward working on what's now called AI in 2004, specifically with an interest in aligning AI closer to human behavior. Over time, that's evolved to become less about mimicking humans and more about accounting for human behavior and working with humans in assistive and augmentative ways."

Credo AI is a platform that helps companies make sure they're in compliance with the growing body of regulations around AI usage. In a statement to BI, Singh said that by automating the systems that shape our lives, AI has the capacity "free us to realize our potential in every area where it's implemented."

At the same time, she contends that algorithms right now lack the human judgement that's necessary to adapt to a changing world. "As we integrate AI into civilization's fundamental infrastructure, these tradeoffs take on existential implications," Singh wrote. "As we forge ahead, the responsibility to harmonize human values and ingenuity with algorithmic precision is non-negotiable. Responsible AI governance is paramount."

Socher believes we have ways to go before AI development hits its peak or matches anything close to human intelligence.

One bottleneck in large language models is their tendency to hallucinate — a phenomenon where they convincingly spit out factual errors as truth. But by forcing them to translate questions into code — essential "program" responses instead of verbalizing them — we can "give them so much more fuel for the next few years in terms of what they can do," Socher said. 

But that's just a short-term goal. Socher contends that we are years from anything close to the industry's ambitious bid to create artificial general intelligence. Socher defines it as "a form of intelligence that can "learn like humans" and "visually have the same motor intelligence, and visual intelligence, language intelligence, and logical intelligence as some of the most logical people," and it could take as little as 10 years, but as much as 200 years to get there. 

And if we really want to move the needle toward AGI, Socher said humans might need to let go of the reins, and their own motives to turn a profit, and build AI that can set its own goals.

"I think it's an important part of intelligence to not just robotically, mechanically, do the same thing over and over that you're told to do. I think we would not call an entity very intelligent if all it can do is exactly what is programmed as its goal," he told BI. 

The $23 million listing quickly went viral thanks to its litany of amenities. 

The estate encompasses 120,000 square feet of living space spread across eight separate structures, including a main house, a clubhouse, a spa, a pool cabana, two guest houses, and two car barns.

The main residence is a 25,000-square-foot house designed in the colonial style. It was originally constructed in the 1980s.

Wallack and his family stayed at the estate's guest home in 2022 after he hit it off with Michael "Mick" Kittredge III.

As an expert in rezoning, Wallack said the Kittredge family asked him what he thought they should do with the property. 

"Instead of looking for one billionaire to buy this mansion, let's take all the land underneath it and build 700 homes and allow regular people to live here and use your father's mansion as the social club," Wallack said he told the family.

If approved, Wallack's plan would allow people 55 and older to buy individual units on the property, where they would have full access to amenities like an onsite restaurant, cafe, tennis and pickleball courts, and a beauty parlor. 

Wallack said the community would be comprised of 25% of units at affordable housing costs and 75% of units at market rate. 

Someone making $84,000 a year would pay about $1,875 a month for an affordable unit, Wallack said.

Wallack serves as the development manager representing the Michael Kittredge trust. 

Wallack is working to garner more community support.

The house features 11 fireplaces, including in some of the bathrooms.

Wallack said his project would turn some of those tennis courts into pickleball courts for senior residents. 

The indoor tennis court also doubles as a concert venue, which has hosted such bands as The Doobie Brothers, as well as KC and The Sunshine Band.

In the summer of 2015, I took a two-week-long road trip for the first time. Before heading out for the journey from Austin, Texas, to Napa Valley, California, and back, I headed to the grocery store and loaded up the cart with ingredients for meals I could make in the car — sliced bread, deli meats, cheeses, peanut butter, and jelly. And I couldn't forget pickles, mayo, tomatoes, and avocados to make the sandwiches more dynamic.

I imagined staying healthy by skipping fast-food joints to lather and stack these ingredients into custom delights.

But it looked better in my head.

Creating sandwiches on the road was stressful, and making a mess was all too easy. My hands shook as I spread mayo in a moving car. And resealing meats and cheeses to be airtight wasn't as simple as the packages claimed.

By the time I could eat my sandwiches, my hands and parts of the passenger seat were sticky. Since that trip, I have only packed ready-made "meals" for road trips, like protein bars and shakes.

For snacks, I stick to dry items like trail mix that aren't coated in dusty flavors.

If you're anything like me, caffeine on a road trip is a must.

However, I've taken off for several trips without my own source of energy handy. When this happens, I end up spending an additional $10-$20 per day at coffee shops.

Recently, I've avoided additional stops and expenses by packing MiO, a water flavor enhancer with vitamins and caffeine.

Adding caffeine to my water instead of downing a coffee also helps me stay hydrated.

Many of my road trip experiences took place in college, when energy was high and funds were tight.

My friends and I often prioritized covering as much ground as possible with the little bit of cash we had. This meant we spent 12 to 14 hours on the road some days.

Many of these hours were fun, but once the sun went down, so did the energy. Without a view or a sense of place in those later hours, it felt like we could have been driving anywhere.

In my experience, the nighttime road hours feel twice as long as the daylight hours. I would avoid spending more than two hours on the road after dark.

After a long day on the road, the last thing anyone wants to do is pitch a tent — especially in the dark.

In July 2017, I took a two-and-a-half-week road trip to national parks and monuments in Texas, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.

The budget was extra tight, so we camped or slept in the car every night.

I remember arriving at our campsite outside Zion National Park in Utah. I don't remember how many hours we'd been on the road, but only the stars lit up the sky when I got out of the car.

I wanted to simply lie down and look up, but I had a shelter to pitch. Assembling a tent in the dark is challenging. Even with the car lights on for help, finding the right pieces to connect was difficult.

I'm not sure how long it took to pitch the tent that night, but I went to bed thinking I wouldn't put myself in the same situation again.

As a cusp millennial, I love to play the game of not using my phone to find food or rest stops and just relying on signs in the present moment.

Well, I used to love it.

The problem with this game is that I'm not only relying on signs to tell me what's coming up but also relying on my attention span, which can be shorter than a sentence.

So, how do you lose this game? You miss the sign that says, "This is the last gas station for 100 miles." I've done it more than once, and it sucks. I've never gotten stuck, but I've gotten close.

My best advice is to find other road games to pass the time and keep your phone handy.

When road-tripping from Austin, where I lived in college, the first and last days of a trip will likely just be getting in and out of Texas — Austin is in the middle of the gigantic state.

Because of this, my road trips in college were rushed. I'd travel as far as Oregon and visit as many as six national parks in less than three weeks.

I'm grateful that I've been able to experience so many different natural landscapes and environments around the US, but I don't feel like I've spent enough time in any of them to truly take in each setting.

Now, as an adult, I embrace slow travel.

When I take a road trip unrelated to work, I pick one or two places and stay awhile.