Israel launched 200 warplanes on some of Iran's core nuclear and missile programs in what's been dubbed the "Rising Lion" operation. Iran quickly retaliated by sending 100 drones into Israel, which the Israel Defense Forces said were mostly intercepted.

• Israel targeted nuclear and military sites in Iran in airstrikes early Friday morning.
• The strikes are a major escalation that threatens to expand into a wider regional conflict.
• These are five key questions in the wake of Israel's air war.

Israel's widespread airstrikes on Iran effectively damaged the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which officials said was a primary goal.

The strikes hit over 100 targets, including Iran's air defense systems, missile launchers, and senior military leadership.

Now, all eyes are on Tehran's response and the specter of a wider conflict. And there are questions over whether the US will get pulled into the fight.

Here are some main questions stemming from the attacks.

How has Iran responded?

Iran initially responded to the attack by firing 100 drones at Israel on Friday, which the Israel Defense Forces said were mostly intercepted.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel "should anticipate a severe punishment" in response to the strikes, and that Iran "won't let them go unpunished."

Hours later, the IDF said Iran had launched "dozens" of missiles at Israel in what appeared to be several waves. The military said its air defenses were actively intercepting threats, and video footage captured several impacts.

"The Iranian response might be delayed or split into multiple phases," said Matthew Savill, the director of military sciences at the UK-based Royal United Services Institute think tank.

"But their main weapon will be ballistic missiles," he added, "which have the best chance of inflicting damage on Israel, whereas drone and cruise missile attacks will face more extensive Israeli defences."

It is not unprecedented for Iran to launch powerful weapons at Israel; Tehran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at its foe in April and October last year. However, those strikes were mostly intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the US.

Beyond direct strikes, another way that Iran could retaliate is through the so-called "Axis of Resistance," a vast network of militias it is aligned with throughout the region, including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis.

Israel has been battling these forces, and Hamas in Gaza, since the October 7, 2023, attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long advocated for destroying Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran claims is for civilian purposes.

The US, however, has been trying to reach a new deal with Iran (and has threatened violence if a deal isn't done). The strikes could derail those efforts and even goad Iran into racing to build a nuclear arsenal.

Could this trigger a wider conflict?

Israel's strikes threaten to spark a wider regional conflict, analysts at London's Chatham House think tank warned Friday.

"Far from being a preventive action, this strike risks triggering a broader regional escalation and may inadvertently bolster the Islamic Republic's domestic and international legitimacy," Sanam Vakil, Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa program director, said.

Last year, Tehran reportedly threatened to target Gulf state oil facilities if they allowed Israel access to their airspace for strikes against Iran. It's unclear what routes Israeli aircraft used in the attacks, but there's been speculation Israel could exploit the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria to get its aircraft directly over Iraq for strikes.

Russia is also a close ally of Iran, and the two have increased their defense cooperation since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

However, Nikita Smagin, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment, said in December that the Kremlin is unlikely to come to Iran's direct aid in order to avoid direct confrontations with Israel and the US.

Will the US be pulled into a fight?

The US has helped arm and defend Israel, notably in the wake of Hamas' October 7 attacks. The world will be watching to see how President Donald Trump responds.

Trump has sought to broker a new nuclear deal with Iran, and in the wake of the Israeli attacks overnight, warned of "even more brutal" strikes from Israel if Iran refuses a new agreement.

Last year, the US Navy helped shoot down Iranian missiles fired at Israel in two major attacks, and it has rotated multiple aircraft carriers and many warships into the region since 2023, in a show of support for Israel and to deter its enemies, including Iran.

The US and other NATO countries have also defended international shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden from attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen.

What forces does the US have in the region?

The US has a substantial military presence in the Middle East, including naval forces, ground troops, and strike aircraft.

A Navy spokesperson told BI that the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group — consisting of an aircraft carrier, a cruiser, and three destroyers — is in the Arabian Sea.

There are also three American destroyers in the Red Sea and another in the Eastern Mediterranean.

All of these warships, and the carrier's dozens of embarked aircraft, are capable of carrying out air defense missions to defeat incoming drones and missiles.

Were the strikes effective?

IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Israel's strikes "significantly harmed" Iran's main uranium enrichment site at Natanz.

"For many years, the people of the Iranian regime made an effort to obtain nuclear arms in this facility," he said, adding that the site "has the necessary infrastructure to enrich uranium to a military grade."

The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed the site was struck, but the extent of the damage remains unverified.

Satellite imagery appeared to show significant damage at the surface level.

There was also a report Friday that Israel had struck Fordow, a nuclear fuel enrichment site guarded deep under a mountain.

The IDF said that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Hossein Salami and other senior military commanders were also killed in targeted strikes.

• Steve Jobs' notes and emails were published for the 20th anniversary of his Stanford commencement speech.
• The speech emphasized themes of intuition, morality, and personal growth.
• Here's what his newly released drafts and notes from other speeches said.

A trove of newly released emails from Steve Jobs shows how the late Apple cofounder prepared for one of his most memorable speeches.

Jobs addressed Stanford University graduates at the university's commencement ceremony on June 12, 2005. Twenty years later, the Steve Jobs Archive published notes and emails he wrote to himself while drafting the speech, along with a high-definition recording of the commencement address.

His Stanford address became famous for its inspirational life lessons, which could apply to college graduates, entrepreneurs, or dropouts like himself. Jobs used his own stories to drive home his points. A recording of the speech published on YouTube in 2008 has 46 million views.

The published correspondence showed Jobs had been working on the speech for at least six months before delivering it.

His early ideas included points about diet, meditation, and encouraging students to focus on their "inner world." Jobs was introduced to Zen Buddhism and meditation in the 1970s.

Jobs wrote down several anecdotes in emails to himself before settling on his final choices for the speech.

In a May 1 draft, Jobs wrote, "Try to always surround yourself with people smarter than you." They can come from different walks of life. He pointed to a "terribly old" engineer he'd hired at Apple not long after it started, who was a "genius." (The engineer was in his 40s at the time, while Jobs was 50 when he delivered the speech.)

Jobs ultimately chose three other personal stories. The first was about "connecting the dots," the second covered "love and loss," and the third was about death.

From the oldest email published, however, Jobs had his opener locked in.

"This is the closest I've ever come to graduating from college," he wrote.

Jobs drew on an earlier commencement address and mused on parenting in his notes

The Stanford speech echoed Jobs' commencement address almost 10 years earlier.

In 1996, Jobs spoke to the graduating class of Palo Alto High School. Both speeches discussed intuition, morality, and following one's passions.

While the 1996 speech focused on the students, Jobs also thought about the parents in the crowd. Scribbled at the bottom of a printout of the speech, he jotted down some thoughts on parenting.

"They tell you that you will love your kids," the handwritten notes read, "never mention that you will fall in love with them."

He also wrote that "every injury or setback parents feel 10x" and that they will always see their children as they were at ages 5, 6, or 7.

The speech concluded by encouraging the high school students to live their lives with as few regrets as possible.

In the Stanford address, Jobs also implored the students to find what they love and live each day like it was their last, telling the story of his first bout of cancer. The Apple cofounder died of pancreatic cancer in 2011 at the age of 56. Once he devised an ending for the Stanford commencement, it stuck.

"'Stay hungry. Stay foolish.' And I have always wished that for myself," he said.

Jobs stuck to the script — that he made a point to write himself down to his "thank you very much."

• When my mom suggested sending me to overnight camp, I was hesitant, as I had never been away from my parents.
• I was hesitant about going, but once there, I loved every minute.
• Now I'm a mom of four and feel guilty I can't give my kids the same experience.

I spent several summers lazing at home, watching movies with my family, and swinging with abandon at the playground with my friends.

Eventually, my mother suggested sending me to an overnight camp. I had never been away from my parents for more than a night, and the camp, about a four-hour ride from home, seemed impossibly far away. Even going for just one session meant a very long month away from home, which seemed like an eternity to me at age 11.

Yet, I was flattered that my parents considered me old enough and mature enough to have lived away from them for so long. If they thought I was up for the challenge, I was determined to prove them right.

Now I'm a mom of four, and my kids don't have the same experience, even though I loved it.

I was hesitant about going to sleepaway camp

As I counted the days until my departure, I started to worry. I am shy by nature and worried about making friends. I worried about how I would sleep in a room full of girls and whether I would like the food.

I thought a bad counselor could ruin my summer and hoped for someone more like a cool older sister to hang out with rather than a teacher hell-bent on keeping campers in line. Desperate to fit in, I hoped I had packed the right kinds of clothes and a swimsuit. Although I wouldn't have admitted it then, I was worried about missing my family and being homesick.

I loved every minute

After an uncertain first few days, I settled into overnight camp. I swam with friends, played volleyball with my counselor, and got a lead role in the end-of-camp show. We ran feral through the mountains and woods, playing capture the flag and enjoying being surrounded by the majesty of tall trees and chirping birds - a far cry from the endless concrete and loud sounds of the city where most of us lived.

Nights were magical. After the sun went down, we huddled around a campfire, singing camp songs and telling ghost stories that got progressively scarier until one of the girls asked us to stop. We made s'mores and roasted hot dogs under the stars, whose sparkle was overpowered by streetlamps at home. These nights sparked a fascination with the sky and space that lingers today. After we returned to our beds, my bunkmates and I stayed up talking and laughing. Our counselor shushed us, who told us she needed her beauty sleep.

After my first year of camp, I wanted to return for the full eight weeks camp was open. The school year became a countdown to the day I returned to the mountains and saw my camp family again. For the next few years, until I aged out, I went to an overnight camp for the entire summer and loved it.

I learned lifelong skills

At camp, I learned skills I've carried throughout my life. Living with a dozen girls in a cramped bunk was great preparation for living in a dorm at college. Camp was the first place I was responsible for keeping my clothes folded and organized. I had to learn how to get along with all kinds of personalities, and there was no escape. I learned the value of unstructured time and how much I enjoyed being in nature.

These experiences helped me immensely as I transitioned to adulthood.

Sometimes I feel guilty that my kids aren't getting the same experience

As much as I loved spending the entire summer at overnight camp, with one exception during the pandemic, my kids don't go to traditional camps.

Sometimes, I feel selfish making this decision, but I love the unscheduled, unhurried summer days. Plus, I prefer to spend our summer budget on travel, which I enjoy too.

My kids' summers are action-packed and fun. They get experiences I couldn't have dreamed of as a child, like zipping around Rome on a Vespa and traveling to Warsaw to see Taylor Swift's Eras tour. Still, I sometimes wonder if I am doing the right thing.

It didn't occur to me that my parents wanted a break

It wasn't until I became a parent myself that I realized my parents may have sent me to overnight camp to get a break.

With a deep understanding that can only come from experience, I understood that the motivation to send me to camp all summer may have been because of the exhaustion many parents feel trying to parent, work, and run a home, often without a meaningful break.

At first, I was mildly hurt by this realization. But then I smiled and silently congratulated my parents for coming up with a solution that gave all of us summers we loved.

• For an overnight train in Europe, I booked the cheapest accommodation: a seat in a seating carriage.
• Operated by OBB Nightjet, the carriage seat cost $40 for a 12-hour ride from Berlin to Vienna.
• I felt so cramped and uncomfortable that I got zero sleep. And I'll never do it again.

Have you ever been so tired that it made you cry? I can remember a time when my body and mind were so exhausted that I could almost hear each limb begging me to fall asleep. My eyes watered as I failed them and the sun rose above Vienna.

This was back in October 2022, during a two-week backpacking trip through four European countries by rail. I was on an overnight train ride from Berlin, Germany, to Vienna, Austria, operated by the Austrian Federal Railway's OBB Nightjet. I'd regrettably booked the cheapest accommodation for $40.

Nightjet trains have sleeper cars with bunks of three, four, or six and seating carriages. I booked the latter; they're cabins with six regular assigned seats that deeply recline. Some routes have private cabins, but mine didn't.

I was no stranger to overnight trains — I've spent 140 hours on them from the US to Europe. On most rides, I've booked private cabins where I had an enclosed room to myself.

With bumpy tracks and stiff beds, I think it's hard enough to sleep on a train in a private room. But those nights were a breeze compared to my experience in a sleeper carriage for six.

The cabin felt too crowded for comfort

When I boarded the train in Berlin, dimly lit corridors opened to these small enclosed cabins with two sets of three seats facing each other inside. I immediately thought the room was cramped and lacked enough legroom for each traveler.

During my 12-hour leg of the journey, three travelers were already there when I boarded, and two others arrived within the first few hours.

I thought the seat looked slightly wider than a typical train coach seat. It had two cushions and could recline, but not far enough to be completely flat. When reclining it all the way, the gap between the seat back and the bottom of the seat made it tough to get comfortable. I didn't see any pillows or sheets provided for guests, either.

A representative for OBB Nightjet told Business Insider that pillows and sheets are only provided for guests in the bunk-style sleeping cars because the seating carriage is not recommended for long-haul trips.

The room lacked some key amenities

While there were no pillows or blankets, the seats had some amenities. Each came with a small table that slid out from the armrest. It was large enough to fit my ticket and phone, but not much else. There were also outlets in the carriage, but not enough for everyone. Passengers had to take turns charging their phones with the two outlets available.

An OBB Nightjet representative told BI the cars were updated in 2023 and have more outlets.

I couldn't sleep at all

Although seats were assigned, I quickly noticed that other passengers were moving around the car to find less-crowded rooms. I followed suit and switched to a different cabin with only two other people. But I knew that someone boarding at one of the many overnight stops could kick me out at any time if I were in their assigned seat.

Even in a less-crowded cabin, I couldn't get comfortable — especially knowing that someone might wake me up to move. I ended up staying awake until the morning.

My train arrived in Vienna at 7 a.m., and I was so exhausted that I ran around town looking for any hotel that would take me in so early in the morning. Splurging on a hotel room upon arrival for a few hours of sleep made me feel like the cheapest ticket on an overnight train ultimately wasn't worth it. And my exhaustion from lack of sleep made my time in the Austrian city less enjoyable.

"The quality of travel depends not only on the carriages, but also on the route," OBB Nightjet wrote in a statement to BI. "We recommend the sleeper or couchette car for night travel. There is enough space to stretch out. Seated carriages are recommended for shorter journeys."

A year later, I took another Nightjet ride on a train with private cabins. I booked a room from Venice to Vienna and fell asleep easily without shedding a tear.

• Alfredo Linares moved to Mexico with his wife Raegan Klein due to deportation fears in the U.S.
• The couple left Los Angeles with $20,000 in debt after closing their Japanese barbecue pop-up restaurant.
• After several months of instability, the two are finally finding some footing in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.

When Raegan Klein and Alfredo Linares married last summer, their dream felt straightforward and simple: start a Japanese barbecue pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles and live happily ever after.

But all of that changed in the fall when President Donald Trump, who had promised mass deportations on the campaign trail, won reelection.

Linares, who had worked his way up in fine dining to become a cook in a Michelin Star restaurant, arrived in the US as a teenager at 19 with his family and has lived here illegally ever since. Klein, a US citizen, was stricken with worry that at any moment, her husband could be arrested and deported.

"I really didn't feel safe," Klein said. "Every morning I would wake up saying, 'If we don't go and something happens to him, I'll never be able to forgive myself.' "

In March, the couple moved from Culver City to Linare's birth country of Mexico in hopes of improving their chances of building a future together.

"I lived in the shadows for 20 years," Linares said. "I'm 38 years old, so I don't think I have 10 more years of living in the shadows when I'm trying to build a business and grow as a family, as an entrepreneur."

Going into debt to move to Mexico

The couple received around $10,000 in cash from their parents as a wedding gift. They had originally hoped to use the money to hire a lawyer to help Linares gain citizenship, but they wrestled with the best way to use the money to secure a future together.

"Do we really go ahead and gamble and trust this administration with this $10,000 that our parents gave us for our wedding gifts, or do we use that $10,000 to move to Mexico?" Klein said of their dilemma.

But even the wedding gift wasn't enough to help them break even and start fresh in Mexico. The pair took on debt to start their Japanese barbecue business last spring. While they tried to get it off the ground, their bills ballooned to over $20,000. They raised over $4,000 online through GoFundMe to help them with their relocation.

Since the move, they've attempted to find jobs in hospitality, but because Linares doesn't have an identification card and Klein doesn't have work authorization as a temporary resident, it's been difficult to pay the bills.

"We're not earning an income," Klein said. "We have all of that stress and try to keep our credit card in a reasonable place and keep ourselves on a budget."

Adjusting to life in a new country

The biggest hurdle for them has been navigating the deluge of paperwork and bureaucracy in a new country.

"I'm very Americanized," Linares said. "Yes, I'm Mexican, but I haven't been here for 20 years. It's totally different from the Mexico I left."

From needing a physical copy of a birth certificate to struggling to establish Linares' permanent residence, it's been hard for him to get an ID card when they were first living in Airbnbs in Mexico City.

"I need my ID, but I cannot have an ID because I don't have a home address. And I can't get a home address because I don't have a job, because I don't have an ID," Linares said of the frustrating situation.

Now they are renting an apartment in Puerto Vallarta in the state of Jalisco, where they've been finally settling in over the past three weeks.

"I feel like myself a little bit more," Klein said of the stability. "I'm realizing that this is where we live, this is our home. We're not on vacation."

Klein is now able to see past the trials of the past few months and look toward the future with more hope. They've since brought down their rescue dog Dolly Love from Los Angeles to live with them in Mexico.

"I do believe we made the right choice," Klein said. "I do believe that there's opportunity here. I do believe in my husband and his talents and his skills."

The move to Mexico has tested their relationship and challenged them in many different ways, but Linares said the core of their bond hasn't been shaken.

They keep a routine of checking in with each other over coffee every morning. "She makes things easier, and it's because of the communication that we have," Linares said of his wife.

For more than two decades, Danny Boyle has been plagued by one question: What would happen after a zombie apocalypse?

The famed director's 2002 movie "28 Days Later" broke conventions of the zombie genre and helped launch a digital video moviemaking revolution in the early 2000s. But as years and then decades passed — and Boyle went on to earn a best director Oscar for "Slumdog Millionaire," do a Steve Jobs movie, and make a "Trainspotting" sequel — he could never crack a continuation of his original "28 Days."

Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland missed out on the sequel, 2007's "28 Weeks Later," because they had already committed to making the sci-fi thriller "Sunshine." And pitching their own continuation around Hollywood never got any traction. Maybe it would be one of those things that would never come to fruition.

It wasn't until the British Film Institute invited him to do a Q&A at a "28 Days Later" 20th anniversary screening in 2022 that Boyle realized just how much audiences appreciated the film.

"I showed up and it was a packed theater," Boyle told Business Insider during a recent trip to New York City. "I was shocked. You could feel the audience's energy watching it. I texted Alex after, and I told him there's still an appetite for this. So he then came up with an idea."

Garland's idea would become "28 Years Later," which opens in theaters June 20. The film focuses in on a small island community in England that's learned to survive in relative isolation 28 years after the country was ravaged by the Rage Virus. But when Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his 12-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams) venture to the mainland, they discover new mutations of the virus and survivors with their own fearsome methods for staying alive.

Though the "28 Years Later" cast is entirely new — and there are no glimpses of original "28 Days" star Cillian Murphy, despite the rumors — Boyle is just getting started. He's also a producer on a sequel set for release in January, "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple," which was shot by director Nia DaCosta ("Candyman") right after "28 Years" wrapped. And Boyle will return to direct a third movie, which will indeed star "28 Days Later" star Cillian Murphy. That is, if Sony will greenlight it.

So how did Boyle crack the code to continuing his zombie franchise? His trick is to think limited, not expansive. Though he has big aspirations for a trilogy, it all came about by keeping "28 Years Later" as grounded as possible.

"I love limitations, because I can bash against it and that gives energy and inventiveness," Boyle said with a wide smile. "So the third movie is in many ways an original film."

For the latest edition of Business Insider's Director's Chair series, Boyle discusses returning to the zombie genre, how he used Cillian Murphy as leverage to pursue his other creative ideas, and if he'd ever take on another James Bond movie.

Business Insider: Take me back to that "28 Days Later" 20th anniversary BFI screening. Where was your head at then about doing a third movie?

Danny Boyle: By that point, Alex had developed one script, which we decided not to do: weaponizing the virus, a traditional type of sequel. It was a good script, but we just didn't get any traction. After the BFI screening, he came up with the idea of confining the story to an island, and that was a really good decision.

How much of the COVID pandemic influenced how you wanted the characters to navigate the Rage Virus 28 years later?

It would be that people would become accustomed. You can take risks and know when the back off them. There's a kid in this movie who has no knowledge of the virus — it has been passed on to him; he's never seen any of it. This is his first trip to the mainland. He's heard stories.

You can see that the kids draw pictures of the stories they've been told. They have mythologized the virus. So we talked about all that. And then we delve into the culture before the apocalypse, and it's distorted. How reliable is it? We don't know. But that's an element that goes into the second film, "The Bone Temple."

The visuals have always been a hallmark of your filmography, but especially this franchise. "28 Days Later" ushered digital cameras into the mainstream. Now with this movie, you're shooting with iPhones. It's been done a lot on the indie side with filmmakers like Sean Baker and Steven Soderbergh, but I believe this is the first time camera phones have been used at the studio level. Why did you want to do that?

I felt an obligation to take the spirit of the first movie, but be aware that the technology has moved on so much. Phones now shoot at 4K, which is what a lot of cameras shoot at anyway. And the advantage of using the phones is we were able to be very lightweight.

Also, some of the locations we were shooting hadn't been disturbed for many years. It's an area of England called Northumberland, its sister county is Yorkshire, which is agriculture and manicured. In order to go there with a crew, you have to be light, so having iPhone cameras was good for that. We used a lot of drones, which had different camera lenses; we used a specific Panasonic camera for the night vision footage.

But the iPhone gave us a light touch and allowed us to use these rigs, which I'd been trying to use for a while. It's a poor man's bullet time. But you don't have to go to it, you can carry it. 

So now, instead of laying down dolly track and having all this gear in these very preserved locations, all you need to retrace are footsteps. 

That's right. 

How did you sell Sony on all of this?

[Laughs.] Um. I can't remember. 

Come on.

I will do and say anything to get the film made. There is a terrible side to directors where you will promise [studios] stuff and you don't mean it. They are nervous. They're a corporation. And you have to massage the vision. 

So what was the promise you gave that you weren't going to fulfill?

Cillian Murphy. 

What better promise could you make? That's quite a deflection of any technical concerns; they soon forget. Yeah, we nakedly used that to get our own way. But Sony knew what they were inheriting.

Did Nia DaCosta shoot "The Bone Temple" right after you wrapped on "28 Years"?

Pretty much. She visited the "28 Years" set a couple of times, but yeah, she was prepping her own film, she had her own cinematographer, and though she inherited the sets and some of the characters, she also had her own cast for a substantial part of it.

And she gets a bit of Cillian at the end. All I can say is you have to wait for Cillian, but hopefully he will help us get the third film financed. 

So where are things with the third movie?

We still need the money. I mean, we'll see how we do with "28 Years Later." It's so close to release that nobody wants to say anything; they just don't know what it's going to do. And I respect that. It's a lot of money, so we'll see. 

If there is a third movie, would you want to direct it?

Oh, yes. That's the idea. 

You famously walked off the last James Bond movie. Would you ever give Bond another try now that the regime has changed and Amazon is fully controlling it?

That ship has sailed. The thing I regret about that is the script was really good. John Hodge is a wonderful writer, and I don't think they appreciated how good that script was, and because they didn't, we moved on, and that's the way it should be. Whatever happens with Bond going forward now is what it will be. 

As someone who has done a Beatles movie with "Yesterday," what's your take on Sony's ambitious plan for four Beatles movies?

[Sony chairman] Tom Rothman — who I fight with a lot, and who I love very dearly — I do tip my hat to him, because that is backing a visionary filmmaker in Sam Mendes with a hard, big investment. That's a lot of vision to say, here ya go, there's four films. And they are all going to get released around the same time. 

All in one month! Just from the perspective of a director, would that scare you?

Sam clearly has an appetite to handle it all. I don't know what his vision is, but he's got terrific actors. I worked with Harris Dickinson, who is a wonderful actor, so he's got himself a very special cast. 90% of anything is casting; if you get it right, you're almost there. So I admire it. 

Now, one of the things we found, and they will have this issue, is that people don't know The Beatles' music. We just did a workshop on "Yesterday" and its long-term plans — like, should there be a stage production one day? We did a workshop with a bunch of actors, and lots of them just didn't know the songs. They are in their 20s or 30s, so why would they? They all can recite from memory something from Taylor Swift or Harry Styles, but The Beatles? So, we'll see.

This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

"28 Years Later" opens in theaters June 20.

• An AI-generated ad for Kalshi, where you can bet on real-world events, aired during an NBA Finals game.
• PJ Accetturo, a self-described AI filmmaker, described his process for creating the ad.
• Here's how he used Google's Gemini chatbot and Veo 3 video generator to make the "most unhinged" ad.

A farmer floating in a pool of eggs. An alien chugging beer. An older man, draped in an American flag, screaming, "Indiana gonna win baby." The chaotic scenes are all part of a new AI-generated ad from sports betting marketplace Kalshi, which aired Wednesday during Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

"The world's gone mad, trade it," the commercial's tagline read, following the 30-second collection of surreal scenes.

In a recent thread on X, the ad's director explained how he made the clip for just $2,000.

"Kalshi hired me to make the most unhinged NBA Finals commercial possible," PJ Accetturo, a self-described AI filmmaker, wrote on Wednesday. "Network TV actually approved this GTA-style madness."

Accetturo said he made the ad using Veo 3, Google's latest AI video generator. A Kalshi spokesperson confirmed to BI that the company hired Accetturo to make the ad and that it was generated entirely using Veo 3.

"Kalshi asked me to create a spot about people betting on various markets, including the NBA Finals," Accetturo wrote on X. "I said the best Veo 3 content is crazy people doing crazy things while showcasing your brand. They love GTA VI. I grew up in Florida. This idea wrote itself."

He said that he started by writing a rough script, turned to Gemini to generate a shot list and prompts, pasted it into Veo 3, and made the finishing touches in editing software.

To write the script, he said he asked Kalshi's team for pieces of dialogue they wanted to include, then thought up "10 wild characters in unhinged situations to say them." Accetturo said that he got help from Gemini and ChatGPT for coming up with ideas and working them into a script.

A screenshot he posted of this stage of his process showed dialogue like "Indiana gonna win baby" and "I'm all in on OKC" alongside characters like "rizzed out grandpa headed to the club" and "old lady in front of pickup truck that says 'fresh manatee' in a cooler behind her."

Accetturo said he then asked Gemini to turn every shot description into a Veo 3 prompt.

"I always tell it to return 5 prompts at a time—any more than that and the quality starts to slip," he wrote on X. "Each prompt should fully describe the scene as if Veo 3 has no context of the shot before or after it. Re-describe the setting, the character, and the tone every time to maintain consistency."

Accetturo said it took 300 to 400 generations to get 15 usable clips.

"We were not specifically looking for an AI video at first, but after getting quotes from production companies that were in the six or seven figure range with timelines that didn't fit our needs, we decided to experiment, and that's when we made the decision to go with AI and hire PJ," the Kalshi spokesperson told BI. "Given the success of this first ad, we are absolutely planning on doing more with AI."

The spokesperson said the video went from idea to live ad in three days, cost roughly $2,000 to make, and is on track to finish with 20 million impressions across mediums.

Accetturo told BI that he was "paid very well for the project" and now makes a "lot more as an AI director" than he did for live action contracts, which often involved weeks of work before and after the shoot compared to the few days the Kalshi ad required.

"The client got an insane ad for a great rate on a blistering timeline, and I got paid really well, while working in my underwear," he said.

• This post originally appeared in the BI Tech Memo newsletter.
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This is the space where I usually try an AI tool. This week, though, I'm featuring an experience shared by a Tech Memo reader who got in touch after last week's installment about AI coding services such as Replit, Cursor, and Bolt.new.

This person worked at Google for more than two decades, so they know their software! They recently tried out Replit, following Google CEO Sundar Pichai saying he's been messing around with this tool.

"Like Sundar, I've also tried Replit to test out a cat purring app I had (lol). I poked around on some other options, but I liked Replit because it took the query and really built an app for you (even on the free test version). So based on a query alone and answering some questions (e.g., do you want people to be able to log in and save their cat?), you had an app. And it would work! You could launch it if you were really interested and happy with it.

"The limitations came with fine-tuning the app from there, as it seemed to get confused (and use up your credits) if you asked it for changes, e.g., change how the cat looked. It also was a pretty rough product; ultimately, if you wanted more than a proof of concept, you'd probably want to delve into the software code and change things yourself versus relying on queries.

"Over time, I think they'll fine-tune these things and I love how it makes it easy to prototype ideas. It really lowers the upfront cost of testing ideas."

Thank you, dear reader, for getting in touch. I have also been messing around with an AI coding tool. I chose Bolt.new, partly because I recently met the cofounder of the startup behind this service, Stackblitz's Eric Simons (another Tech Memo reader, btw). Next week, I'll share some thoughts about Bolt. I've been building something with my daughter Tessa and we can't wait to show you!

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WWDC was a bit of a bust. Apple's Liquid Glass design overhaul was criticized on social media because it makes some iPhone notifications hard to read. A few jokers on X even shared a screenshot of YouTube's play button obstructing the "Gl" in a thumbnail for an Apple Liquid Glass promo. Need I say more?

The more serious question hanging over this year's WWDC was not answered. When will Siri get the AI upgrade it desperately needs? Software chief Craig Federighi delivered the bad news: It's still not ready. That knocked roughly $75 billion off Apple's market value. The stock recovered a bit, but it's still badly lagging behind rivals this month.

Google, OpenAI, and other tech companies are launching powerful new AI models and products at a breakneck pace. Apple is running out of time to prove it's a real player in this important field. Analyst Dan Ives is usually bullish, but even he's concerned. "They have a tight window to figure this out," Ives wrote, after calling this year's WWDC a "yawner."

AI is complex, expensive, and takes a long time to get right. Apple was late to start building the needed foundational technology, such as data centers, training data pipelines, and homegrown AI chips. By contrast, Google began laying its AI groundwork decades ago. It bought DeepMind in 2014, and this AI lab shapes Google's models in profound ways today.

When I was at Google I/O last month, one or two insiders whispered a phrase. They cautiously described an "intelligence gap" that could open up between the iPhone and other smartphones. Many Android phones already feature Google's Gemini chatbot, which is far more capable than Siri. If Apple's AI upgrade takes too long, this intelligence gap could widen so much that some iPhone users might consider switching.

At I/O, these insiders only whispered this idea. That's because it will take something pretty dramatic to get people to give up their iPhones. This device has become a utility that we can't live without — even for the few days (weeks?) it might take to get used to an Android replacement.

Still, if Apple doesn't get its AI house in order soon, this intelligence gap will keep growing, and things could get really siri-ous.

• June 13 is a Friday.
• Traditionally, Friday the 13th is considered a "cursed" date, but it doesn't have to be.
• President Johnson signed an executive order preventing gender discrimination on October 13, 1967.

Friday the 13th has a long history of freaking people out.

When this day rolls around, people buy and travel less. In fact, the global economy is estimated to lose as much as $900 million every time a Friday lands on the 13th.

However, the Dutch Center for Insurance Statistics reported in 2008 that Friday the 13th is actually statistically safer than other Fridays — there are fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft on these days.

If that doesn't convince you, keep scrolling to learn about some positive events that took place on a Friday the 13th.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed an executive order preventing gender discrimination in the government.

While Title VII officially prevented discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, and sex for private employers, it wasn't until Executive Order 11375 that discrimination based on gender was illegal for the federal government and federal contractors.

President Johnson signed the order, which was officially titled Amending Executive Order No. 11246, Relating to Equal Employment Opportunity, on October 13, 1967.

Malta became a republic.

The tiny Mediterranean country of Malta first became independent of the British in 1964, but officially became a republic on December 13, 1974.

Even though it's small, Malta is an underrated place to visit.

Evelyn "Pinky" Kilgare-Brier became the first certified female pilot instructor.

According to the National Museum of the US Air Force, Kilgare-Brier became the first woman to receive an airplane instructor's license on October 13, 1939.

She was an important figure for women in aviation. She also flew non-combat missions during World War II, and after the war she owned and operated her own private airport, according to her obituary in the Los Angeles Times.

The Olympics officially returned to their home country.

The 2004 Summer Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, the country where they started, both in ancient and modern times. The opening ceremony took place on August 13.

It was the largest Olympic Games at the time, with 201 countries participating. Michael Phelps also won his first Olympic medal and broke his first record in Athens.

The queens of the '90s, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, were born.

The Olsen twins were born on June 13, 1986.

They famously got their start on "Full House" and went on to create an empire: books, videos, perfume, clothing lines, and much more.

"Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" premiered on Friday, October 13, 2023.

Taylor Swift was born on December 13, 1989 — her birthday landed on Friday the 13th last year — and she has repeatedly said that 13 is her favorite number. She even used to perform with "13" drawn on her hand.

As part of her 13 agenda, her blockbuster concert film "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" premiered in theaters on Friday, October 13, 2023. It went on to become the highest-grossing concert film of all time after grossing $261 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

The first scientifically recognized dinosaur eggs were discovered.

Roy Chapman Andrews discovered the first dinosaur eggs at a dig in Mongolia on July 13, 1923, according to the American Museum of Natural History.

Scientifically, this was huge for the field of paleontology, confirming that dinosaurs laid eggs. The museum was so impressed that Andrews went on to become its director from 1935 to 1942.

The famous Hollywood sign was dedicated.

The Hollywood sign is an iconic piece of California culture. But when it was officially dedicated on July 13, 1923, it wasn't even supposed to last for more than two years.

Originally, the sign was installed to promote a new subdivision in the Hollywood Hills.

"Super Mario Bros." was released.

"Super Mario Bros.," one of the most iconic video games in history, was released on September 13, 1985, exclusively in Japan, per The Verge.

Since then, Mario has been in approximately 170 games, including wildly successful spin-offs like "Mario Kart," "Mario Party," and "Paper Mario."

A "significant amount" of water was found on the Moon.

A lunar space station has long been the subject of science fiction novels, but on November 13, 2009, that dream took one step closer to reality when NASA announced they found water on the Moon.

How much is a "significant amount"? According to NASA's Anthony Colaprete, around a dozen 2-gallon bucketfuls.

Black Sabbath released their debut album and invented heavy metal.

The 69th best debut album of all time, at least according to Rolling Stone, Black Sabbath's self-titled album was released on February 13, 1970.

The album is widely regarded as having created the genre of heavy metal, with instant classics like "NIB." and "The Wizard."

Actor Steve Buscemi was born.

Steve Buscemi was born on December 13, 1957 — yes, he shares a birthday with Taylor Swift. Buscemi might be famous as an actor, but he also has a lesser-known second career: a New York City firefighter.

Buscemi became an NYC firefighter at age 18. He eventually left the service to pursue acting, but in the aftermath of 9/11, Buscemi helped with rescue efforts and worked 12-hour shifts sifting through the rubble.

"Friday the 13th Part III" was released.

Of the iconic "Friday the 13th" movie saga, "Part III" was the first to actually open on Friday the 13th (August 13, 1982), the first to experiment with 3D, and the first appearance of Jason's mask.

Even though the movie was critically panned, the movie made over $36 million against a $2.3 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.

Friday the 13th is always the last day before the weekend.

If all else fails to convince you that Friday the 13th isn't a cursed date, just remember this: It's the last day of the workweek. Fridays are the best!

• Ye appeared at Manhattan court to support Sean "Diddy" Combs at his sex-trafficking trial.
• But the rapper was not allowed in the main courtroom where Combs is on trial.
• Combs' trial is in its fifth week, with the prosecution expected to rest next week.

Ye, the embattled rapper formerly known as Kanye West, showed up Friday at Manhattan federal court to support Sean "Diddy" Combs at his criminal sex-trafficking trial.

Ye made the surprise appearance at the courthouse shortly after 11 a.m. on Friday. The "Jesus Walks" rapper, though, never actually made it into the 26th-floor courtroom where Combs' trial is unfolding.

He instead sat in the front row of an overflow room on the courthouse's 23rd floor after he was denied entry into the main courtroom where the trial is taking place, courthouse sources told Business Insider.

One source told BI that Ye was not on Combs' list of approved family members or friends.

"He did not wait in line like everybody else from the public," the court source said. "No one gets special treatment."

Courthouse staff opened an overflow room where Ye and Christian Combs, one of Combs' children, were able to watch the proceedings on a screen, a court source said. Ye's bodyguard and another Combs supporter also sat with them, according to the source.

Ye, who wore an outfit of all-white denim, listened to about half an hour of testimony before he left. At the time, Jonathan Perez, a former personal assistant for Combs, was on the witness stand.

Milo Yiannopoulos, who has been a spokesman for Ye, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Combs' sex-trafficking and racketeering trial is now in its fifth week.

The prosecution is expected to rest its case next week before Combs' defense will present its side to the eight-man, four-woman jury.

During jury selection, potential jurors were quizzed about their knowledge of other celebrities who may have had some connection to the case.

The list included Ye. During the trial, he's only been mentioned once, in passing, by another one of Combs' assistants.

Kid Cudi, another celebrity listed on the juror questionnaire, testified earlier in the trial about a dispute with Combs involving Cassie Ventura.

Ventura, a singer who was signed to Combs' record label and dated him for around a decade, testified at the start of the trial that Combs abused her and coerced her into participating in elaborate sex performances called "freak offs."

On Thursday, another accuser in the case, who used the pseudonym Jane, testified that she attended a sex performance hosted by another rapper.

The rapper wasn't named in the case, but Combs' lawyer described him as "an icon in the music industry" and as someone who was "very close with Combs" and had collaborated with him professionally.

Jane testified that she attended the sex performance as part of a trip to Las Vegas in January 2024 to celebrate the unnamed rapper's girlfriend's birthday.

According to Jane, that rapper flirted with her while they watched another man and woman have sex in a hotel room.

"He said something along the lines of that he thought I was beautiful, and he always wanted to blank me," Jane said Thursday, censoring herself in the courtroom.

• We asked jewelers and stylists which jewelry trends are in this summer and which are out.
• They said funky versions of everyday staples and colorful gemstones are in this season.
• Meanwhile, they said, overly delicate stacks and matchy-matchy sets are starting to be less popular.

Summer is almost here, and it's the perfect time to give your jewelry box a second look.

Even timeless pieces can start to feel a little stale, and this season is all about subtle updates that make your everyday staples feel fresh again.

To help you figure out what's in and what's out, Business Insider asked professional jewelers and stylists to share the trends worth wearing this summer — and which pieces you may want to put away for now.

Colorful gemstones are having a moment.

Expect to see more vibrant stones this season, especially in spring and summer when many want cheerful and expressive accessories, said Tiffany Tram, third-generation jeweler and cofounder of LoveLetter.

Tram told BI that vibrant stones can add a "fun" pop of color to a look and colorful jewelry pieces can feel extra personal if you choose ones with your birthstone or the birthstone of someone special.

Try to style these pieces with soft shades and clean lines so your gemstones do the talking, she added.

Give your modern staples a twist.

Everyday basics like hoop and tennis bracelets are being reimagined with asymmetry, unexpected silhouettes, and mixed metals, Olivia Landau, founder, CEO, and fourth-generation jeweler of The Clear Cut, told BI.

She said classic styles "with more personality" are really popular right now and can elevate simple looks.

For example, Landau said, traditional studs and hoops are being swapped for ear cuffs, chunky huggies, and styles with more sculptural or angular shapes.

Layered looks are still going strong.

Capsule Closet stylist Michelle Barrett said we'll be seeing a lot of people mixing finishes and styles this season.

For example, pairing delicate chains with chunky styles and silver bracelets with gold ones.

"This trend is versatile and allows for personalization, letting you combine sentimental pieces with newer finds for a curated, effortless vibe," she told BI.

The brooch is back, and it's more versatile than ever.

Nothing says cool quite like a brooch, Kendra Sharpe, stylist and founder of Kendra Sharpe Styling + Creative, told BI.

She said we'll likely be seeing people thrift brooches and style them to match the vibe of their outfits this summer.

They come in so many styles and designs that there's one for just about any look.

To start, look for summery brooches, like ones shaped like sea creatures or shells, and play with pinning them on bags, jackets, or tops.

On the other hand, dainty jewelry is taking a backseat.

Dainty pieces will never go out of style — but, for now, you may want to save these staples for work or formal events.

This summer is all about chunkier styles that add personality to an outfit without sacrificing polish, Sharpe said.

Sculptural bangles, oversized dome rings, and bold hoops are on trend right now, Tram added. These chunkier pieces can give looks a touch of timeless luxury while having more visual impact than dainty pieces.

Trade in flashy watches for more refined styles.

Sharpe recommends skipping oversized, attention-grabbing watch styles this summer and reaching for classic timepieces instead.

Look for sleek metal bands, minimalist faces, and designs that feel timeless rather than trendy, she said.

Logos are out, and personalization is in.

Branded nameplate necklaces and accessories with logos are continuing to fall out of favor this year for many, Tram said.

Instead, Landau added, she's seeing shoppers gravitate toward custom name pendants or jewelry pieces engraved with phrases or adorned with initials.

"It's not just a trend — it's a shift in how people shop for jewelry," Landau told BI. More consumers want to invest in pieces with meaning.

Replace matching sets with unique jewelry combinations.

Several experts we spoke to said wearing a perfectly coordinated necklace, bracelet, and earring set can feel dated.

After all, Barret said, mixing metals, textures, and styles for a more personal touch is trending right now.

Instead, Landau told BI, people should focus on curating unique jewelry "pieces that work together but aren't too coordinated."