• Sam Altman says OpenAI's GPT-5 is its most advanced model yet.
• It doesn't quite meet what he defines as true AGI, however.
• AGI is broadly defined as AI that can reason like humans. It's OpenAI's ultimate goal.

Sam Altman says OpenAI has yet to crack AGI.

The OpenAI CEO said that while the highly anticipated GPT-5, which launched Thursday, is a major advancement, it isn't what he considers artificial general intelligence, a still theoretical threshold where AI can reason like humans.

Developing AGI that benefits all of humanity is OpenAI's core mission.

"This is clearly a model that is generally intelligent, although I think in the way that most of us define AGI, we're still missing something quite important, or many things quite important," Altman told reporters during a press call on Wednesday before the release of GPT-5.

One of those missing elements, Altman said, is the model's ability to learn on its own.

"One big one is, you know, this is not a model that continuously learns as it's deployed from the new things it finds, which is something that to me feels like AGI. But the level of intelligence here, the level of capability, it feels like a huge improvement," he said.

The exact definition of AGI and how far away the world-changing technology might be are topics of much debate in the AI industry.

Some AI leaders, like Meta's chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, have said we may still be "decades" away.

Altman said that looking back at OpenAI's previous releases, GPT-5 is still a step in the right direction.

"If I could go back five years before GPT-3, and you told me we have this now, I'd be like, that's a significant fraction of the way to something very AGI-like," he said on Wednesday's call.

In an earlier blog post, Altman wrote that he and OpenAI's cofounders "started OpenAI almost nine years ago because we believed that AGI was possible, and that it could be the most impactful technology in human history."

While AGI remains the company's mission, Altman says OpenAI is already looking beyond it to superintelligence, a still theoretical advancement in which artificial intelligence can reason far beyond human capability.

"Superintelligent tools could massively accelerate scientific discovery and innovation well beyond what we are capable of doing on our own, and in turn massively increase abundance and prosperity," Altman wrote in January.

• I spent two nights at the Sheraton Fallsview Hotel on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.
• Upgraded guest rooms with views of the falls come with floor-to-ceiling windows.
• For $500 a night, I had some of the best views of Niagara Falls of my entire trip — right from bed.

I'll never forget stepping into Canada. In August 2022, I walked over the Rainbow Bridge, stopping briefly in the middle to watch and listen to the roaring Niagara Falls on my left.

Just 10 minutes later, I was standing in front of the Sheraton Fallsview Hotel, stoked to see the epic force of nature flow from my bedroom for the next two nights.

For $500 a night, I had prime views of the falls from the moment I woke up to the second I fell asleep. It was definitely worth the price.

The Sheraton Fallsview is a popular hotel that faces Niagara Falls on the Canadian side, making it an exceptional place to stay if you want to enjoy front-row views at every turn.

According to Tripadvisor, Niagara Falls, Ontario, has more than 200 hotels ranging from one to four stars.

The Sheraton Fallsview, part of the Marriott Bonvoy hotel collection, is a four-star hotel. Rooms range from an interior view starting at $150 to guest rooms and suites with views of the falls, which cost between about $190 and $425, according to a recent search for bookings a month in advance.

My room was more expensive since I visited in the summer during the high tourism season.

I chose the Sheraton Fallsview because of its reputation as the best hotel for prime views of all three falls.

Since my entire trip was about seeing Niagara Falls, I decided to upgrade to a premium 258-square-foot Fallsview room with a direct view for my two-night stay.

From my room, I saw the American Falls on the left, Bridal Veil Falls in the middle, and Horseshoe Falls, the U-shaped falls on the right.

The lobby was similar to other hotels I've been in. There was plenty of seating for guests waiting to check in or out.

Although I didn't get a chance to use them, the hotel had some great amenities, such as a spa, gym, and rooftop pool.

My room came with floor-to-ceiling windows and a door — though there was no actual balcony to go out on. It just offered a better glimpse of Niagara Falls.

When I opened the door, I could hear the water crashing down.

It was relaxing to watch the falls from my comfortable queen-sized bed.

There were nightstands with lamps on either side of the bed. Between the bed and the window was a sitting area with a couch, chair, and coffee table.

Each morning, I hopped out of bed and opened the door to get ready to the sounds of the falls. I thought it was a peaceful way to start the day.

To the left of the main room, the bathroom had a rainfall shower head.

The bathroom also had a lit vanity and a second shower head.

After the sun went down, I enjoyed spectacular views that I didn't expect.

At night, the Niagara Falls Illumination board projected color-changing lights onto the water from the Illumination Tower and the Table Rock Centre rooftop, according to Niagara Parks.

At 10 p.m., the lights were coupled with a fireworks display.

The fireworks show runs every night at 10 p.m. from late May to early October, according to Niagara Falls Live.

Seeing the fireworks show from my bed was a happy surprise, and I thought it made the nightly $500 price worth it. I would book it again, as long as it's fireworks season. If not, I'd try another hotel with a different view of the falls.

Sharon Stone spoke to Business Insider about working with Robert De Niro on the set of "Casino." She reflected on his uncanny ability to challenge and provoke her as an actor.

• Spain said it will not buy the US-designed F-35 and is looking at European-made options.
• Some US allies have expressed doubt over the jet as a result of Trump.
• Europe's defense industry is growing and has seen opportunities to capitalize on the moment.

NATO ally Spain has decided against buying the US-designed F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, opting instead to invest in European-made aircraft for its air force.

Spain's decision comes after several NATO members publicly questioned their commitment to the jet, made by Lockheed Martin, amid concerns about President Donald Trump's attitude toward the alliance. Antagonism from the White House has rattled several American allies, though there were no firm decisions made concerning the F-35.

"This makes those thoughts or ideas concrete," said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Here's a country that really has changed its view about a future procurement."

Asked about Spain's decision, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson told Business Insider: "Foreign military sales are government-to-government transactions, and this matter is best addressed by the US or Spanish government."

A spokesperson for the Spanish defense ministry said on Wednesday that the country was no longer considering the F-35 for its new fighter jet acquisitions. The official did not give a reason but told Politico that "the Spanish option involves the current Eurofighter and the FCAS in the future."

The ministry directed Business Insider to the Spanish air force, which did not respond when reached for comment.

The reported ministry statements, however, confirmed an earlier report from Spain's El País newspaper, citing government sources that said any plans to pursue the F-35 had been shelved and preliminary contacts that had been started were suspended indefinitely.

Richard Aboulafia, an aviation expert and the managing director of US consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, told Business Insider that Spain's decision fits with "the broader European objective of sovereignty and self-sufficiency."

The Eurofighter Typhoon under consideration is a fourth-generation, multi-role combat aircraft made by a consortium of European companies: Airbus, BAE Systems, and Leonardo. And the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) is an initiative from France, Germany, and Spain to create a sixth-generation jet, with an operational rollout planned for 2040.

Aboulafia noted that Spain has a personal interest, including in job creation, with the FCAS.

Spain has wavered on the F-35 in recent years, sometimes leaning more toward other fighter types or extending the life of older aircraft. Its recent decision speaks to its new focus on European-made military technologies and comes at a time of anxiety among allies, including Madrid, over their relationship with the US.

A focus on European jets

Spain's government said this year that 87% of the more than $12 billion it was increasing its defense spending by would go to Spanish companies. El País reported that this commitment was incompatible with any plans to buy fighter jets that were made in the US.

Interest has been growing in building out Europe's defense industrial base and buying more homegrown gear. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said in March, "We must buy more" European weapons.

Part of this drive is Trump, whose rhetoric has created new tensions between the US and its longtime allies. He excluded European allies from peace talks over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, criticized the NATO alliance, and has threatened to annex a European territory. He also said last year that he would "encourage" Russia to attack any NATO member that doesn't spend enough on defense. And the tariffs have been another source of tension.

There's a growing wariness among US allies and partners when it comes to weapons technology.

Canada's defense minister said that his country was reviewing its contract for F-35s and looking at "other alternatives," the chairman of Denmark's parliamentary defense committee said he regrets choosing the F-35 for his country, and Portugal's defense minister said his country was unsure about plans to move to the F-35, pointing to uncertainties in US reliability as an ally.

And politicians across all of Switzerland's political parties also said this week that the country should withdraw or reconsider the planned purchase of 36 F-35As due to the tariffs Trump put on the country.

European fighter jet makers have pounced at the opportunity: Eric Trappier, CEO of France's Dassault Aviation, which makes the Mirage and Rafale aircraft, said in March that the company was ready for countries concerned about the F-35 to adopt its Rafale fighter.

But despite some of the remarks on the F-35, a widespread shift might not happen. Pivoting to a new type of aircraft would be a huge undertaking for countries that are already committed, and the F-35 is considered a particularly good jet.

Aboulafia described the Eurofighter as "equal or better" to the F-35 as an air vehicle, but said the F-35 "has the better mission equipment package by a wide margin." The F-35 is an advanced fifth-generation fighter aircraft. Furthermore, production levels may be a factor. Far fewer Eurofighters are made each year, and FCAS production has not yet begun.

Aboulafia said that he believes Europe could build enough fighter jets to cover the demand if it brought all its available models, from Gripens to Rafales, to the table.

There are limitations, though. Relying solely on European capabilities means that countries would have to make decisions and potential changes to their force structure.

Spain's navy, for example, has an aircraft carrier that is currently equipped with an air wing of aging Harrier jump jets set to retire. The F-35B could serve in that role, but the Eurofighters and other European jets can't. So there would need to be a change.

Cancian said that he expects "more reliance on European suppliers, both because of concerns that the United States might not be reliable and the fact that the Europeans are now investing a lot in their defense industrial base, so there's more to choose from and it's maybe more competitive — or will be more."

The downside, however, is that if US allies don't pick the F-35, the interoperability with other countries will take a hit. "Since the F-35 is used by so many, including the United States, that makes it easier for other countries to operate with countries that have the same equipment."

For now, many NATO members are committed to the F-35: The defense ministries of the UK, Australia, Denmark, and the Netherlands told BI earlier this year that they were unwavering.

And Trump hardening his stance against Russia in recent weeks may dull some countries' worries about the relationship, Aboulafia speculated, but there continue to be rifts.

Spain is experiencing a very particular tension with the US. Spain is the lowest defense spender in NATO as a proportion of its GDP, at 1.28% in 2024 per NATO estimates. It also requested an exemption to NATO members' proposal to bring defense spending to 5% of GDP. The alliance leaders agreed to the 5% in June, but Spain maintains that increasing its spending to 2.1% is sufficient.

Trump called Spain's position "very unfair" to other members and threatened trade ramifications, without giving any details.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez earlier this year said it had become obvious "only Europe will know how to protect Europe" from now on.

• OpenAI released GPT-5 on Thursday, the latest AI model powering ChatGPT.
• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called it a "significant step" on the path to AGI.
• OpenAI said GPT-5 is faster and multimodal, and will be free for all users.

After weeks of relentless hype, GPT-5 is finally here.

OpenAI officially released the highly anticipated new model on Thursday. It's the latest version of ChatGPT, the company's flagship chatbot, and the most widely used AI model on the market.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called it a "major upgrade" and "a significant step along the path of AGI" in a conference call with journalists on Wednesday. He said that after using GPT-5, going back to GPT-4 was "miserable."

OpenAI says the model will be available for free for everyone and that users will no longer need to switch between previous models for different tasks. GPT-5 will switch automatically, the company said, depending on the kind of request and its complexity. GPT-5 will be available in standard, mini, and nano versions. Paid users will have higher usage limits.

Altman said GPT-5 was also the company's fastest model yet.

"One of the things I had been pushing the team on was like, 'Hey, we need to make it way, way faster,'" Altman said. "And I now have this experience of like, 'Are you sure you thought enough?'"

The team said GPT-5 will have improved capabilities for vibe coding, the latest craze in Silicon Valley.

OpenAI has been teasing this next iteration of ChatGPT for over a year, but has ramped up the chatter in the last few days and weeks. On Sunday, Altman shared a screenshot of GPT-5 on X, asking the model to recommend the "most thought-provoking" TV show about AI.

In July, Altman said that "GPT-5 is smarter than us in almost every way." Speaking to podcaster Theo Von, Altman said he asked GPT-5 a question he "didn't quite understand" and it "answered it perfectly," making him feel "useless relative to the AI."

The OpenAI CEO also likened GPT-5's development to the Manhattan Project, the US government's effort to build the atomic bomb during World War II, and said that it made him feel nervous.

"There are moments in the history of science, where you have a group of scientists look at their creation and just say, you know: 'What have we done?'" Altman said.

OpenAI's last notable model launch was GPT-4.5 in February, which Altman described at the time as "the first model that feels like talking to a thoughtful person."

The release of GPT-5 has faced several delays, with the timeline shifting from mid-2024 to mid-2025, to August.

During that time, the number of ChatGPT users has continued to grow. In April, Altman said ChatGPT had 500 million weekly active users. OpenAI said on Thursday that ChatGPT is now on track to hit 700 million weekly active users "this week."

• Uber and Tesla are offering ride-hailing trips in self-driving cars in some cities.
• Getting dinner delivered in an autonomous vehicle is a little harder, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said.
• Robotaxis need an "end-to-end" system to make deliveries feasible, Xu said.

Don't expect a robotaxi to deliver your DoorDash order anytime soon.

Autonomous cars are already shuttling riders around some US cities thanks to a partnership between Uber and Waymo, as well as Tesla's own robotaxi offering. They function much like traditional ride-hailing trips: You request a ride through an app and then get in the car once it arrives.

Using AVs to deliver restaurant food and other goods, though, "is actually very different from doing autonomous passenger driving or robotaxis," DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said on the company's earnings call on Wednesday.

"The passenger can walk in and walk out of the car, even if the drop-off or pickup locations aren't perfect," Xu said. Deliveries, by contrast, require a more precise hand-off between the restaurant and the vehicle, requiring companies like DoorDash "to solve for the end-to-end system," he said.

"That's probably the single biggest learning we've had," Xu said on Wednesday.

In April, DoorDash said that it had started making some deliveries in Chicago and Los Angeles with wheeled robots that can navigate sidewalks designed by startup Coco Robotics. DoorDash and Coco previously worked on a pilot program using the robots to make deliveries in Finland through Wolt, DoorDash's international arm.

Xu added that DoorDash's experiments with autonomous delivery "have gone great" and that autonomous delivery is "something we're very excited about."

Riding in an autonomous vehicle is already an option for some ride-hailing users. In June, Tesla launched a limited version of its robotaxi service in Austin with Tesla safety employees in the passenger seat, and has since expanded to San Francisco with safety employees in the driver's seat.

Uber offers fully autonomous rides in Waymos in Atlanta and Austin and has plans to add more self-driving vehicles to its network next year through a partnership with EV-maker Lucid and self-driving technology startup Nuro.

For DoorDash, the challenge is moving burgers, groceries, and other stuff from stores to customers' homes. Many of those items can be delivered in smaller, autonomous vehicles, Xu has said.

"You don't need a 4,000-pound vehicle to deliver a one- or two-pound item or package," Xu said on an earnings call in May.

Do you have a story to share about gig work? Contact this reporter at [email protected] or 808-854-4501.

• Madeline Sideras and Greg Johnston got married in Los Angeles in July 2023.
• They pulled off a 125-guest wedding for $25,000.
• Thrift stores, Facebook Marketplace, and skipping some expected wedding moves made it happen.

Anyone who has gotten married or even just been to a wedding recently will tell you it's expensive.

Some couples are trying to cut costs for their weddings wherever they can, eloping or forgoing elaborate bachelorette parties.

When Madeline Sideras and Greg Johnston tied the knot in 2023, they had to be creative to stay within their $25,000 budget.

Madeline Sideras knew she didn't want a long engagement when Greg Johnston proposed in January 2023.

Sideras, 31, is a model and content creator based in Los Angeles. She set her wedding date to Johnston, a 28-year-old tech recruiter, for July 13, 2023, just six months after he popped the question.

Sideras had always wanted a summer wedding and didn't want to wait a year and a half to get married.

"The engagement process can be very stressful, and I just wanted to do it as quickly as possible," she said. "Six months felt like enough time for me."

The couple had their hearts set on a backyard wedding with a budget of $25,000.

"I love the movie 'Father of the Bride,'" Sideras told Business Insider of her vision for her "casual and celebratory" wedding. "I think that's such a sweet movie, and I love that aesthetic. I just wanted a backyard wedding."

Sideras and Johnston planned to invite between 125 and 150 people to the wedding, but they wanted to keep their budget at $25,000, to which Sideras' parents contributed.

According to The Knot, the average cost of a wedding in California is over $39,000, but Sideras didn't want to go into debt paying for their event.

"You have to cut it off somewhere," Sideras said.

Finding an affordable venue was step one for the couple.

Although she wanted a backyard wedding, Sideras didn't have a backyard in Los Angeles for the event, as she lives in an apartment.

She first searched Vrbo and Airbnb for homes she could rent for the weekend of the wedding, but she couldn't find a rental property that allowed for large events.

Then, she stumbled upon the Bissell House in Pasadena after hours of searching online. The venue has since closed, but it had the spacious backyard Sideras was looking for, as well as a beautiful interior.

"As soon as we got there, I could tell, 'This is it,'" Sideras said. "The Bissell House had so many antiques and beautiful furniture, and the wallpaper and everything inside. It was like the perfect grandma shabby chic house."

Sideras rented the house for $10,000 for three days and two nights, using it as lodging for her and Johnston's families over the weekend. The couple also hosted their rehearsal dinner at the Bissell House, so they didn't have to pay for an additional venue.

Sideras wanted the decor to feel effortless.

As she focused on the backyard wedding aesthetic, Sideras hopped on Pinterest to make a vision board for her wedding.

"I knew I wanted long tables with dinner party vibes. That was one of the first photos I pinned," she said. "And then I saw mismatched plates and linens. I love anything in life that can be mismatched."

She decided she wanted mismatched dishware, linens, and vases, but she quickly discovered that renting from an event company would be out of her budget when the first vendor she contacted told her it would cost $5,000 for dishware alone.

Sideras decided to thrift mismatching dishware for the wedding instead of renting it.

Sideras, her mom, and her aunt all love thrifting. They frequently text each other photos of their bargain finds. When she realized thrifted dishware would be the most economical choice for her wedding, Sideras recruited the pair to help.

They scoured thrift stores and buy nothing groups, using a mood board Sideras made as guidance for what to find. They ended up sourcing around 130 dinner, dessert plates, and wine glasses, sticking to a maximum budget of $1 per item.

"It was so fun for my mom, my aunt, and me to constantly be texting each other like, 'I just got these five plates' or 'just got this set of 10 plates from my buy nothing group,'" Sideras said.

Sideras' mom brought many of the plates from her home in Indiana to the wedding, and the others lived at the bride's apartment until the event.

Sideras found cloth napkins on a secondhand website.

For her napkins, Sideras turned to Maxsold, which allows users to bid for items online that they can go pick up in person.

She bought pink cloth napkins through the site and found some additional napkins at thrift stores. At the wedding, they were arranged to look like flowers atop mismatched gingham tablecloths, which Sedaris bought from a wholesale site.

Thrift shopping saved Sideras thousands on place settings.

"We spent under $500 for every single place setting that we got," she said. "I ended up keeping 12 plates or so, and I sold some or gave some away."

She also saved money by arranging her own flowers.

"I feel like everyone knows flowers are an insane cost for weddings," Sideras said. "I would have loved to spend thousands of dollars on florals because they're beautiful, but unfortunately, it was just not in the budget."

Sideras said one of her bridesmaids, who was also getting married in 2023, used the Los Angeles Flower Market for her wedding flowers, which inspired Sideras to do the same.

"We just went the day before, and I didn't really have a vision, to be honest," she said. "Since it was a backyard wedding, I felt like it didn't need to be fancy white roses or anything like that."

She got advice from her friends on how many flowers she would need to make floral arrangements for the tables and her bridesmaids' bouquets, as well as guidance on which flowers would best withstand the July heat. She spent around $400.

"Three or four of us went to the flower market to pick them up, and then we brought them back to the apartment and arranged them all," she said. "It probably took an afternoon."

She paid someone to arrange her own bouquet, though.

Kelly Jean Ross arranged Sideras' $250 bouquet, which featured an array of pink and white flowers.

"I paid someone to make my own bouquet because I knew that would be in a majority of the photos, and she did amazing," Sideras said. "I was so happy that I spent money on that."

She also rented tables and chairs from Facebook Marketplace instead of an event company.

"Table and chair rentals — that's another insanely expensive cost," Sideras said, telling Business Insider that she was quoted a minimum of $5,000 for table and chair rentals from an event company in town.

"I ended up going on Facebook Marketplace," she said.

Sideras rented folding tables and wooden chairs from two small businesses she found on the site. It cost a few dollars per table and $1 per chair, so they didn't add much to the budget.

They got their dance floor from Facebook Marketplace as well.

Sideras found a black-and-white checked dance floor on Facebook Marketplace for the event. She and Johnston didn't invest in a formal DJ, either.

"My husband has a few friends who work in the music industry, so he just had one friend who was manning the speakers," she said. They also used an app that seamlessly transitions from song to song for the dancing portion of the evening.

"It was awesome, and we were able to play Justin Bieber and all the songs that DJs never play," she said.

They also borrowed some decor from friends of friends.

From helping her source decor to setting up the wedding on the day of the event, Sideras' community was integral in making the wedding come together without breaking the bank.

For instance, Sideras' friend Ashlyn Rudy served as her wedding coordinator. During the rehearsal dinner, Rudy noticed the reception area getting dark as the night went on, and she immediately sprang into action.

"She had a friend who was a lighting person, so she's like, 'I'm going to get some lights,'" Sideras said.

By the wedding day, they had plenty of string lights to keep the reception space bright, and Sideras didn't have to do any extra work.

Sideras and Johnston also saved money by forgoing things, like ceremony decor.

The couple didn't add flowers or an archway to the ceremony space, and they reused the same chairs they used for dinner for guests.

They also didn't have much signage for the wedding. They just had a welcome sign made by a friend at the front entrance.

Stationery costs can add up, and keeping it as simple as possible helped the couple save money.

A thrifted wedding dress helped Sideras cut costs, too.

Sideras wanted different wedding dresses for her ceremony and reception, setting a budget of $1,000 for both. She pictured herself in a vintage gown with puff sleeves and a tea-length skirt for the ceremony.

"My mom and I went to so many places, and no one really had one," she said.

Eventually, she contacted a now-closed vintage store called The Gorky, asking if they had anything like what she was imagining. By chance, the store had a $400 dress in the back of its stockroom that fit the bill.

"A staffer sent me a photo, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I think this is it,'" Sedaris said. "It didn't have puff sleeves yet, but it had sleeves that could become puff sleeves."

She went with her mom to the store to try it on, and the gown fit perfectly. It was meant to be.

A poofy veil completed the look.

The Gorky recommended a seamstress to Sideras, who created the puffy sleeves of her dreams.

Sideras was also a fan of a voluminous veil she had seen photos of, but she didn't want to spend $600 on the accessory.

She asked her tailor if she could make a similar veil, and she was able to for just $100.

Sideras got her second dress from Anthropologie, allowing her to stick to her budget.

Skipping a traditional caterer helped the couple save money.

Catering is often the most expensive aspect of a wedding, as feeding over 100 people a three-course meal can be costly.

Sideras and Johnston found a workaround, having pizza from La Pizzeria Co. at the nuptials instead of a more formal meal.

"It was between tacos and pizza because we love both of those," Sideras said. "I just emailed a whole bunch of different pizza places that did catering, and I went with the cheapest one."

"They were amazing, and it was just a flat fee for the amount of people," she said of La Pizzeria Co. "There was also salad and other little things included."

They also just served wine and beer from coolers, so they didn't have to pay for a bartender. Not every wedding venue allows that, but it's a great way to save if you have the option.

Sideras' sister-in-law made the couple a small wedding cake for photos.

Wedding cakes can cost hundreds — if not thousands — of dollars, which was also out of budget for Sideras and Johnston.

"I knew I wanted just a simple strawberry shortcake-style cake for us to cut into," Sideras said, adding that she didn't "want it to look overly professional." Her sister-in-law ended up making the cake for them.

"I think she just made a box cake and decorated it cute, and that was perfect," she said.

They turned to Costco for cake for the rest of their guests.

Because she didn't want to pay for an expensive wedding cake, Sideras bought a few sheet cakes from Costco instead.

Her aunt picked them up, decorated them with strawberries, and displayed pieces on some of the thrifted plates Sedaris bought.

"That was really sweet, and no one even knew that it was Costco cake because it was already cut up," she said. "It turns out Costco cake is a hit."

Sideras and Johnston's biggest "splurge" was their photographer.

Sideras tapped photographer Bliss Katherine, whom she had previously worked with as a model.

"I always just kind of knew that I wanted her to be our photographer," Sideras said. "I've worked with so many photographers, so that was really, really important to me."

"The photos are insane, so that was the best use of our money," she added.

Sideras said setting expectations with yourself about the wedding is key to sticking to a budget.

"You have to pick one or two things that are important to you, and then the rest you just have to let go," she said. "I would have loved to have a live band, but that would have been very expensive."

Likewise, she thinks it can be helpful to approach the wedding as just an event when searching for rentals, as some retailers can charge a premium for wedding items.

"Don't be afraid to ask for discounts for things, too," she said. "What's the worst they're going to say? No?"

She also recommends using the resources you have in your community, especially if you live in a pricier market like Los Angeles, and trying not to put too much pressure on the event.

"I think I'm a pretty chill person, so I was never really that stressed," she said.

Looking back, Sideras said her wedding day feels like "a dream."

"It felt incredible," Sideras said of her wedding day. "We have so many people tell us to this day, 'Oh my gosh, that was my favorite wedding I've been to.'"

"It was so calm and relaxed and just felt so us," she added. "It was so special, and I will love it forever."

• Critic aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes rates movie reviews from 0% to 100% and averages the scores.
• These are all the movies that have received a 0% score.
• They include movies like the mob biopic "Gotti" and Ice Cube's "War of the Worlds."

Filmmakers often hope their movies will have such an impact that they're talked about for years to come. But sometimes that's accomplished for all the wrong reasons. 

The "Tomatometer" on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes gives films and TV shows an average score from 0% to 100% based on critic reviews. While a rare few films with only glowing reviews can maintain a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, there are a few titles that have a 0%.

Those that earned that unfortunate distinction include films from legends like John Travolta ("Gotti") and Eddie Murphy ("A Thousand Words"), while others star Oscar winners like Halle Berry ("Dark Tide"). And then there are the movies that no one should be surprised have a 0% score, like the Dennis Rodman action movie "Simon Sez" and, most recently, Ice Cube's 2025 version of "War of the Worlds."

Here are the 39 movies on Rotten Tomatoes with a 0% score.

Scores below are at time of publication and subject to change.

"Bolero" (1984)

What it's about: Directed by her husband, John, Bo Derek plays a 23-year-old who wants to lose her virginity, which leads her to Morocco. Critics didn't just hate this movie, it has since been regarded as one of the worst movies ever made.

What a critic thought: "The real future of 'Bolero' is in home cassette rentals, where your fast forward and instant replay controls will supply the editing job the movie so desperately needs." — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol" (1987)

What it's about: In this chapter of the iconic comedy franchise, the misfit Police Academy graduates are tasked with training civilian volunteers.

What a critic thought: "'4' isn't even a film; it's more like a long trailer, a collection of scenes without sense." — Richard Harrington, The Washington Post

"Problem Child" (1990)

What it's about: An adopted child makes life a living hell for his good-natured father (played by John Ritter).

What a critic thought: "Sound funny? The filmmakers here think so. They've jacked this loud, lame shrieker of a movie up to the highest decibels, both aural and visual, and rammed it in our faces with almost numbing aplomb." — Michael Wilmington, Los Angeles Times

"Highlander 2: The Quickening" (1991)

What it's about: In the sequel to the popular fantasy movie, Christopher Lambert returns as Highlander Connor MacLeod who tries to save the world by solving its ozone layer problem. Yes, that's the plot.

What a critic thought: "'Highlander 2: The Quickening' is the most hilariously incomprehensible movie I've seen in many a long day — a movie almost awesome in its badness." — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"Return to the Blue Lagoon" (1991)

What it's about: It's pretty much the same plot as the 1980 original starring Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins. But instead of those two attractive people stranded on an island and falling in love, it's another pair of attractive people: Milla Jovovich and Brian Krause.

What a critic thought: "A textbook example of a disaster that amazingly manages not only to contain bad acting and an appalling script, but also some of the most unconvincing love scenes ever committed to film. " — Joanna Berry, RadioTimes

"Folks!" (1992)

What it's about: Tom Selleck (with no mustache) plays a self-absorbed guy who takes in his parents after their home burns down.

What a critic thought: "The film's appeal will depend largely on whether you feel like laughing at senile dementia and automobile accidents." — Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times

"Look Who's Talking Now!" (1993)

What it's about: In the final movie in the "Look Who's Talking" franchise we now follow the inner thoughts of the family's dogs, voiced by Danny DeVito and Diane Keaton.

What a critic thought: "A crude and mawkish film in which dogs attempt to communicate with Kirstie Alley and John Travolta." — Rita Kempley, The Washington Post

"Wagons East!" (1994)

What it's about: This comedy set in the 1860s follows a group of settlers who are fed up with the West and hire a cowboy (John Candy) to lead them back East.

What a critic thought: "Although a comedy rife in lively characters, 'Wagons East!' affords star John Candy one of the poorest, drabbest, and thoroughly unfunniest roles of his career." — Roger Hurlburt, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

"Simon Sez" (1999)

What it's about: Former basketball great Dennis Rodman was so big back in the late 1990s he got his own movie. He plays a spy who tries to save the world.

What a critic thought: "Dennis Rodman may be a great rebounder, but as a pop-culture icon, he's a one-trick pony." — Nathan Rabin, AV Club

"3 Strikes" (2000)

What it's about: In this comedy, Rob (Brian Hooks) tries to change his life — with two strikes against him, he's one away from going back to prison.

What a critic thought: "Relies much too heavily on multiple repetitions of gags that aren't especially funny the first time around." — Joe Leydon, Variety

"Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever" (2002)

What it's about: Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu play agents at different agencies who are to take out one another but instead learn they have to team up to defeat a bigger enemy. With 118 reviews of the movie in Rotten Tomatoes, it has the distinction of being the 0% movie with the most reviews filed.

What a critic thought: "'Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever' looks like a video-game promo, has a story that plays like the fifth episode of a struggling syndicated action show, and feels like a headache waiting to happen." Keith Phipps, AV Club

"Derailed" (2002)

What it's about: Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a NATO operative who is the only one who can stop an out-of-control train that's carrying hostages and bio-weapons.

What a critic thought: "An overblown annoyance." — David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

"Killing Me Softly" (2002)

What it's about: Heather Graham plays a woman who throws away a loving relationship to run off with a mountain climber (Joseph Fiennes).

What a critic thought: "With miscast leads, banal dialogue and an absurdly overblown climax, 'Killing Me Softly' belongs firmly in the so-bad-it's-good camp." — Neil Smith, BBC

"Merci Docteur Rey" (2002)

What it's about: A comedy that revolves around a guy who witnessed a murder.

What a critic thought: "A limp, smirky lark." — Jessica Winter, Time Out

"Pinocchio" (2002)

What it's about: Five years after winning the best actor Oscar for "Life Is Beautiful," Roberto Benigni writes, directs, and plays the lead in this live-action retelling of the classic fairy tale.

What a critic thought: "What can one say about a balding 50-year-old actor playing an innocent boy carved from a log?" — Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle

"National Lampoon's Gold Diggers" (2003)

What it's about: Two buddies marry elderly sisters thinking they will inherit their family fortune.

What a critic thought: "So stupefyingly hideous that after watching it, you'll need to bathe in 10 gallons of disinfectant, get a full-body scrub and shampoo with vinegar to remove the scummy residue that remains." — Jen Chaney, The Washington Post

"Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2" (2004)

What it's about: A group of talking babies, who are also geniuses, stop a media mogul trying to cash in on baby talk.

What a critic thought: "Why? Seriously, why? Why would anyone make a sequel to Baby Geniuses, a 1999 film whose existence, from its title on down, appeared to be a cruel joke about the gullibility of the lowest common denominator?" — Nathan Rabin, AV Club

"Constellation" (2005)

What it's about: An estranged family must confront their past when coming together to celebrate the life of a loved one who has recently passed away.

What a critic thought: "Neither the camera nor the script can focus." — Scott Brown, Entertainment Weekly

"Redline" (2007)

What it's about: A mechanic, who also moonlights as the lead singer of a hot unsigned band, gets sucked into the world of illegal drag racing.

What a critic thought: "It's hard to say whether gleaming automobiles or women's bodies are given the more fetishlike treatment in this vanity production." — Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter

"Scar" (2007)

What it's about: A girl who thought the serial killer who tormented her years ago was dead finds out he's still around and is looking for her.

What a critic thought: "To make a 3-D 'torture porn' movie is at best opportunist; to make one with flat, boring torture scenes is unforgivable." — Nigel Floyd, Time Out

"One Missed Call" (2008)

What it's about: In this horror, people start receiving voicemails from their future selves with details of their upcoming deaths.

What a critic thought: "The direction is uninspired, acting is lifeless, and the script borders on the inept. A PG-13 rating means that it's short on shocks, too." Richard James Havis, The Hollywood Reporter

"Homecoming" (2009)

What it's about: Mischa Barton plays a scorned ex-girlfriend who seeks revenge when her former boyfriend shows up with a new girlfriend at their school's homecoming.

What a critic thought: "Neither trashy nor self-consciously funny enough to make its genre-trapped ludicrousness sing." — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

"Stolen" (2009)

What it's about: Jon Hamm plays a detective who is dealing with the loss of his son while trying to solve a case.

What a critic thought: "Plays like a middling episode of 'Law & Order: SVU,' drawn out an extra half-hour and embellished with pretentious literary and cinematic flourishes." — Stephen Holden, The New York Times

"Transylmania" (2009)

What it's about: Comedy about a group of college kids who while doing a semester abroad in Romania find themselves encountering hard parties and vampires.

What a critic thought: "If your idea of a good time is laughing with repulsion at a humpbacked Romanian n----- with a torture-loving midget dad, or tittering every time a bong appears, a darkened theater awaits you." — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

"The Nutcracker in 3D" (2010)

What it's about: Set in 1920s Vienna, a young girl (Elle Fanning) receives a doll on Christmas Eve that leads to a night of magic.

What a critic thought: "This non-balletic adaptation by the Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky is something gnarled and stunted and wrong, something that should never have been allowed to see the light of day." Dana Stevens, Slate

"Dark Tide" (2012)

What it's about: Halle Berry plays a shark expert who, after one of her divers is killed by a shark, finds her business hurting and struggles to get back in the water.

What a critic thought: "The sharks themselves are the only ones to emerge with credit from this." — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

"A Thousand Words" (2012)

What it's about: Eddie Murphy stars as Jack McCall, a literary agent who after hustling a spiritual guru finds a Bodhi tree in his yard and learns when all the leaves fall off the tree will die, as well as himself.

What a critic thought: "Does Eddie Murphy actually have any range, or is it just an illusion created by a few early edgy roles and, later, a lot of CGI makeup and fat suits?" — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture

"The Ridiculous 6" (2015)

What it's about: Marking Adam Sandler's first Netflix movie, he plays a Western outlaw who discovers he has five half brothers.

What a critic thought: "It's a lazy pastiche of westerns and western spoofs, replete with lazy, racist jokes that can't just be waved away with a waft of the irony card. Woeful." — Brad Newsome, Sydney Morning Herald

"Cabin Fever" (2016)

What it's about: This remake of Eli Roth's 2002 horror movie follows a group of friends who embark on a cabin in the woods and encounter a flesh-eating disease.

What a critic thought: "This dud sets a new standard for the term 'pointless remake.'" — Geoff Berkshire, Variety

"Dark Crimes" (2016)

What it's about: Jim Carrey stars in this thriller about how a crime novel could be the clues needed to solve a recent murder.

What a critic thought: "It's very rare for a film to pretty much have no redeeming features about it, but 'Dark Crimes' is essentially impossible to recommend beyond those who have a morbid curiosity." — Andrew Gaudion, The Hollywood News

"The Disappointments Room" (2016)

What it's about: Kate Beckinsale stars in this thriller in which she plays a mother who unwittingly releases unspeakable horrors when opening the door to a room in the house she just moved into.

What a critic thought: "There simply isn't enough freshness in the script to warrant another journey inside a dark old house." — Stephen Faber, The Hollywood Reporter

"Max Steel" (2016)

What it's about: A teenager named Max teams with his alien friend, named Steel, to create — you guessed it — Max Steel.

What a critic thought: "A spectacle without the spectacle, an autumnal, amorphous blockbuster that just sits there, suspended in mid-air, as you soak in its ceaseless banality." — Sam Fragoso, The Wrap

"Precious Cargo" (2016)

What it's about: Bruce Willis and Mark-Paul Gosselaar star in this caper about a crime boss who double-crosses a thief.

What a critic thought: "The stupid plot, dismal dialogue, moral turpitude and dispiriting torpor of this movie makes watching it utterly pointless." — Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun

"Stratton" (2017)

What it's about: Dominic Cooper plays a British commando who takes out a deadly terrorist cell.

What a critic thought: "A pretty unremarkable caper: a by-the-numbers movie about a macho-maverick-man doing macho-maverick-man things." — Charlotte Harrison, Den of Geek

"Gotti" (2018)

What it's about: John Travolta plays John Gotti in his biopic about the infamous New York City crime boss.

What a critic thought: "Starring in this mobster biopic that deserves to get whacked is an offer Travolta should have refused. Insane testimonials from Gotti supporters at the end are as close as this s---show will ever get to good reviews." — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"London Fields" (2018)

What it's about: Amber Heard stars in this thriller in which she has an affair with three men, one of whom she knows will be her murderer.

What a critic thought: "Quite simply, horrendous — a trashy, tortured misfire from beginning to end." — Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times

"John Henry" (2020)

What it's about: Terry Crews stars as the title character who must reconcile with his past to help two immigrant kids trying to escape the gang life of Los Angeles.

What a critic thought: "Flashes of craft can't make up for the director's easy default to gore over story." — Lisa Kennedy, Variety

"The Last Days of American Crime" (2020)

What it's about: This Netflix crime thriller is set in a future where the government has come up with a signal that makes it impossible for anyone to knowingly commit unlawful acts.

What a critic thought: "Don't care about story, characters or words, but love violence? Even you will be disappointed." — Johnny Oleksinski, The New York Post

"The War of the Worlds" (2025)

What it's about: The latest movie adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic went straight to Amazon Prime, and when you see it, you'll understand why.

Ice Cube plays a Homeland Security officer who, while searching for a hacker, suddenly has to deal with a sudden alien invasion.

What's different from the other "War of the Worlds" movies is this is told in "screenlife," a storytelling method made popular with the 2018 movie "Searching," in which the entire story is told visually through a computer, tablet, or smartphone screen. (And yes, there are plenty of Amazon product placements.)

What a critic thought: "Even with a Prime subscription, you have to sit through two minutes of ads to watch 90 more of what amounts to a feature-length commercial for all things Amazon." — Peter Debruge, Variety

• Disney announced this week that it would fully integrate Hulu into Disney+.
• Disney had been deemphasizing Hulu in recent months, as Business Insider previously reported.
• Three Disney streaming employees said they weren't worried about any imminent layoffs.

Disney employees are cheering the company's move to fold Hulu into Disney+ in 2026.

In interviews with Business Insider, employees said they're hopeful the tie-up will speed tech advancements and improve quality.

An employee familiar with the business side of Disney's streaming business said a unified app built on a single tech platform could help "with product quality, innovation, and maintenance."

A software engineer said the move could strengthen Disney's brand and standing in a crowded marketplace, and the new tech platform may improve its content recommendations.

It could also make the ad business run smoother.

Last week, Disney moved to a unified ad server for Disney+ and Hulu, as Business Insider first reported.

"Everything going through one ad server makes a lot less work for everyone involved when it comes to getting ad campaigns live," an ads employee previously said.

Disney didn't respond to requests for comment.

Business Insider previously reported that the company was increasingly emphasizing Disney+ over Hulu.

MoffettNathanson's Robert Fishman said last month that more deeply integrating Hulu into Disney+ could save the Mouse House roughly $3 billion by eliminating "duplicative technology and administrative costs."

CEO Bob Iger confirmed on the earnings call Wednesday that Disney now has one ad server and is building a single platform. But Iger didn't address Fishman's second point about "administrative costs," which could mean eliminating duplicate roles.

Three Disney streaming employees said they weren't worried about imminent layoffs, though.

"They already ran one round of layoffs this year" in the streaming division, a second software engineer said. "They usually don't double up in a year."

On the contrary, the first software engineer said, "Every team I work with is over-tasked and looking to add more people."

• AI is transforming Y Combinator, with younger founders and heightened expectations.
• Cohorts are dominated by AI, and the accelerator is incorporating it into internal tools.
• Some startups being similar "enriches the competitive landscape," a YC spokesperson said.

Y Combinator founders are getting younger and are expected to move faster than ever because of AI, recent participants told Business Insider.

Each tenet of the startup incubator's latest requests for startups described companies with AI at their core, and roughly 70 of the 143 startups in the spring batch were focused on agentic AI.

AI is "deep within YC," one founder who recently completed the program and asked not to be identified to speak freely told Business Insider. Cohorts are dominated by AI companies, and the accelerator's internal Bookface platform is increasingly recommending AI tools for founders, they said.

Akash Sharma, the CEO of AI startup Vellum, who was part of the Winter 2023 class, said YC has incorporated helpful AI tools into its Work at a Startup recruitment platform, including candidate matching and personalized outreach text.

Mentors within the program encourage founders to use AI in their workflows and automate rather than hire to keep teams lean, said Cekura founder Sidhant Kabra, who participated in the Fall 2024 cohort. Participants also get early access to beta AI tools from tech giants, such as OpenAI, he said.

The startup world's AI obsession is hardly exclusive to YC, but it's accelerated the program's cadence, some participants said.

In expediting every step in the startup pipeline from vibe coding to R&D to marketing, AI has also ratcheted up expectations that founders should have fully realized products or more customers with bigger contracts by Demo Day, Kabra said.

YC CEO Garry Tan told CNBC earlier this year that revenue for YC batches was growing at an average of 10% week-over-week.

In the past, a founder might be pre-product market fit or have a few users or design partners, Kabra said. Now, "within three months, you're able to close enterprise contracts over $100k," he said. "That's a big change."

Increasingly younger cohorts

Expectations are climbing as the program has become shorter, the first founder who recently completed the program told Business Insider. YC pivoted from a biannual to a quarterly schedule last fall — a move CEO Garry Tan told Bloomberg at the time would result in smaller batches and additional Demo Days.

Founders spoke glowingly of YC, calling the experience transformative, but the pace can have drawbacks.

In optimizing for Demo Day, some participants may not always be making the best long-term decisions for their companies, Kabra said, such as signing lots of customers too fast or ones at a discounted rate.

"If you weren't in YC, you would make different choices," the first founder told Business Insider, saying Demo Day serves as a proof-of-concept. "After Demo Day, there's a classic YC slump — and then you readjust and start building for the long term."

"AI is enabling founders to move faster, and we're here to help them harness that momentum not just for Demo Day, but to build enduring, world-changing companies," a YC spokesperson told Business Insider.

The AI boom has also resulted in increasingly younger cohorts.

YC General Partner Pete Koomen told The New York Times that the median age of YC participants was 24, down from 30 in 2022. Venture capitalist Gabriel Jarrosson wrote on LinkedIn that the number of accepted applicants between ages 18 and 22 was up 110% year-over-year.

Younger entrepreneurs are less entrenched in their ideas and have grown up with AI, founders told Business Insider.

YC is "actively encouraging younger people to come into the fold," Sharma said. He added that YC's public-facing recruitment materials emphasize being a builder above all else. "All you need to do is be able to build good products, and YC will take care of the rest."

Ultimately, the saturation of AI companies within YC has sparked criticism that many of its startups are similar. "You hear the phrase AI agent so much and you're like, my mind is going insane," the first founder said.

But the competition is motivating, Kabra said, given that execution is paramount and consolidation amid the AI gold rush is inevitable.

While many of its startups "may explore similar areas," the YC spokesperson said, that "encourages open-source progress, which in turn, enriches the competitive landscape, gives consumers more choice, and reflects our abundance-oriented view of the future."

• Donald Trump has proposed and implemented a slew of tariffs in an effort to achieve his policy aims.
• Some tariffs started right away; others changed or remained on pause to allow for negotiations.
• With a big deadline finally here, we looked at where Trump's trade plans stand and what they mean for you.

The big day is here: More of President Donald Trump's so-called Liberation Day tariffs are going into effect after many of his proposals were paused or rolled back.

All the back-and-forth makes it difficult to keep track of where they all stand and how they might influence prices.

On a broad scale, the price jumps economists and companies have predicted are slowly trickling into US economic data; the year-over-year inflation rate climbed to 2.7% in June, up from 2.4% the month prior, as more companies raised prices in response to tariff threats.

Nike, for example, said it would raise prices to offset an expected $1 billion in additional tariff costs in the coming year, and Shein and Temu said they would start adjusting prices in April due to tariff changes.

Trump has said the long-term benefits of tariffs will be worth some short-term pain. The tariffs' stated goals include raising revenue for the US government, righting trade imbalances, and achieving other policy goals, such as cracking down on drugs and border policy.

Here's where it all stands now that the bulk of Trump's big tariffs are finally in place.

Tariffs already in place

25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum started in March

A 25% tariff on all imported steel and aluminum has been in effect since March. Trump's trade deal with the UK, however, reduced tariff rates on British steel, aluminum, and cars in exchange for the UK buying $10 billion worth of Boeing planes, among other things.

25%-35% tariff on some goods from Mexico and Canada started in March

Trump's tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada that are not compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement are meant to compel those countries to combat drug trafficking and strengthen border control. Exempted goods include those with complex supply chains, like cars and car parts. In addition, energy imports from Canada have a 10% tariff.

Trump raised the tariff rate on Canadian goods not compliant with USMCA to 35% on August 1, saying that the country has failed to effectively crack down on drug trafficking.

10% baseline tariff on most imports started in April

The 10% baseline tariff Trump announced on April 2 remains in effect for most countries. A slew of major brands have already said they would be raising prices, citing the tariffs in place or anticipation of more to come. One Republican business owner previously told Business Insider that he had started adding a "tariff tax" on his bikes, expecting that producing electric bikes would be 10% more expensive.

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said at a press conference in early May that Trump was "determined to continue with that 10% baseline tariff" as part of any deal he might strike with other countries.

"Reciprocal" tariffs that vary by country

After months of postponements and negotiations with countries, Trump rolled out a host of new tariffs on August 7, with the highest rates including 50% on Brazil, 40% on Myanmar and Switzerland, and 39% on Iraq.

"IT'S MIDNIGHT!!! BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TARIFFS ARE NOW FLOWING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

While India's tariff rate now stands at 25%, Trump said that it will rise to 50% later this month for "directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil," according to his executive order.

Postponed tariffs

Tariffs on China were lowered for 90 days

After a lot of back-and-forth over whether China and the US would engage in trade talks, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in Geneva in May that the US and China had reached an agreement to "substantially" lower tariffs. Bessent said Trump's 145% tariff on Chinese goods would decrease to 30% for 90 days. China, in turn, said it would lower its tariffs on American goods to 10% from 125% over the same time period.

US Customs and Border Protection had previously exempted smartphones, computers, and other technology to minimize price increases on those products in the US. The most significant price impact from tariffs will most likely be felt on other goods imported from China, especially toys and vehicle parts.

Other tariffs floated by Trump

Lumber

On March 1, Trump directed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to investigate US lumber imports and determine whether any imports threatened national security. Tariffs were recommended as a possibility to mitigate any threats.

Alcohol

Responding to a plan from the European Union to place tariffs on American whiskey, Trump wrote on a March 13 Truth Social post that the US would place 200% tariffs on wine, Champagne, and other alcoholic products coming out of the EU.

Pharmaceutical products

In April, Trump told reporters that he would impose tariffs on imported pharmaceutical products at levels "you haven't really seen before" and would announce the measures in "the near future."

Semiconductors

Trump said during an event on Wednesday that he is planning a 100% tariff on semiconductors unless businesses commit to investing in and building their products in the US.

"If you have made a commitment to build or are in the process of building, as many are, there is no tariff. If, for some reason, you say you are building and you don't build, we go back and add it up, it accumulates, and we will charge you at a later date. You have to pay," Trump said.

The US Army announced it will invest $36 billion over the next five years to modernize its force, with a heavy emphasis on drone technology.

Graham Flanagan, Business Insider's chief video correspondent, went inside a combat training exercise with the Army's 2nd Cavalry Regiment in southern Germany, where soldiers are learning to assemble, operate, and fly drones used for both reconnaissance and attack capabilities.

The 2CR drone pilots train at the Drone Innovation Cell in Vilseck, Germany, before heading to a training area in the Bavarian countryside to deploy the technology in a training event known as STX Lanes, which stands for "situational training exercise."

• As a mom and professional meal planner, I rely on one-pot recipes for easy, customizable dinners.
• I keep the ingredients simple and affordable, with each meal costing under $25.
• Some of my favorite meals to make are creamy pesto pasta and Italian-style orzo.

As a professional meal planner and busy mom, I rely on simple one-pot dinners to get flavorful, satisfying meals on the table quickly.

I especially love these recipes because they're easy to customize. For example, I'm vegan but my family isn't, and these dishes can easily be adapted to suit different dietary preferences.

These four quick and easy dinners take less than 30 minutes to make and are perfect for busy weeknights when I want something homemade, nutritious, and stress-free.

At under $25 per meal, they're also budget-friendly and require only a handful of ingredients.

My family can't get enough of this taco soup

Ingredients: one onion, 12 ounces of vegan (or regular) ground beef, 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning, 3 cups of vegan broth, a 28-ounce jar of salsa, a 4-ounce can of diced green chiles, a can of black beans, a can of pinto beans, 1 tablespoon of olive oil

This one-pot soup delivers all the flavor of taco night with none of the fuss.

I start by sautéing the chopped onion in olive oil. Then, I add the vegan beef and taco seasoning and cook until browned.

Next, I stir in the broth, salsa, and green chiles. I drain and rinse the cans of beans and add them to the pot. Once the mixture comes to a boil, I reduce the heat and let it simmer until slightly thickened.

I like to serve it with a DIY topping bar so everyone can customize their bowl. At my house, dairy-free sour cream, lime wedges, avocado, taco sauce, and chopped cilantro are always in the mix.

I'm always amazed by how easy this creamy pesto pasta is

Ingredients: 1 pound of penne pasta, a 24-ounce jar of marinara sauce, 1 cup of pesto, ½ cup of drained sun-dried tomatoes, 8 ounces of vegan cream cheese, ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese, 1 cup of basil leaves, kosher salt, black pepper

I've made this creamy, dairy-free pesto pasta dozens of times, and it still surprises me how flavorful and effortless it is.

I start by boiling the pasta according to the directions on the bag. While that's on the stove, I chop the sun-dried tomatoes.

Once the pasta is cooked and drained, I return it to the pot and stir in the marinara sauce, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and vegan cream cheese until everything is smooth and creamy.

To finish, I season to taste with salt and pepper, then top with vegan Parmesan and torn basil.

My family can't get enough of this comforting, colorful dish.

This stir-fry is flavorful and packed with protein

Ingredients: one carrot, two cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 14 ounces of firm tofu, a bag of cauliflower rice, 1 cup of mushrooms, 1 cup of cooked edamame, six green onions, ½ cup chopped peanuts, a head of butter lettuce, stir-fry sauce

Stir-fry is one of my go-to meals because it's easy to customize, and this one delivers big flavor with minimal effort.

I start by sautéing the diced carrots and minced garlic in sesame oil. Then, I crumble in the tofu and cook it until it's golden and crispy.

Next, I stir in the cauliflower rice, sliced mushrooms, and cooked, shelled edamame. I finish with a generous drizzle of my favorite store-bought stir-fry sauce (any teriyaki-style blend works great).

To serve, I top it with sliced green onions and chopped nuts. We love eating it straight from the bowl — or spooning it into lettuce leaves for a nutritious, protein-packed wrap.

This Italian-style Orzo tastes like it came from a restaurant

Ingredients: half of an onion, two cloves of garlic, a jar of marinated bell peppers, a can of artichoke hearts, 1 cup of sun-dried tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of capers, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, 1 cup of orzo, 14 ounces of bruschetta, a can of cannellini beans, 2 cups of vegetable broth, 3 cups of baby spinach leaves, ½ cup of vegan ricotta, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 ½ tablespoons of Italian seasoning, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, fresh basil leaves

This is my favorite way to elevate a simple orzo dish. Everything comes together in one skillet before finishing in the oven — and the result is impressive.

While the oven preheats to 400°F, I chop the onions, bell peppers, and artichoke hearts. I mince the garlic and cut the sun-dried tomatoes into thin slices.

Then, I add all the veggies to a pan with capers and Italian seasoning, and sauté the mixture in olive oil for about 5 minutes.

Next, I stir in the uncooked orzo, tomato paste, bruschetta, drained beans, and broth. Once it comes to a simmer, I transfer the skillet to the oven and bake the dish for 10 to 15 minutes.

To finish, I stir in the spinach and vegan ricotta, and top it off with fresh basil.

The final result is a hearty comfort meal that's totally restaurant-worthy.

• Quant funds were stung by a weekslong drawdown starting in June.
• Funds run by Qube, Man Group, and Engineers Gate lost money.
• The last week of July was a turning point, though, as funds recovered some losses.

Quant hedge funds might have finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

After weeks of minor losses that one fund executive described as a "long, slow bleed," systematic funds ended July with a strong week, according to a note sent by Morgan Stanley to clients after trading last Thursday.

The note stated that July's final week clawed back roughly 30% of quant losses for the month, "softening the blow for what's otherwise been a strong year." A note from Goldman Sachs' prime brokerage unit said stock-picking quants ended July down 2%, bringing the average fund's annual return to less than 10%.

This figure still bests the average hedge fund and the S&P 500 over the same timeframe, but the summer slowdown put the brakes on what had been shaping up to be a great year.

At London-based Qube Research & Technologies, the fast-growing quant firm fell 4.5% in its flagship fund in July, a person close to the firm told Business Insider, clawing back some losses in the last week of July. The fund is still up more than 13% for the year.

Engineers Gate, the $4 billion manager, ended May up 12%, but lost more than 4% in July, a person close to the firm said. Its 2025 returns now sit at 7.1% through July after a strong close to the month.

Man Group's multistrategy quant strategy, AHL Dimension, lost more than 3% in July, the firm's website shows. The strategy is down close to 9% on the year. Walleye's quant group was the worst performer of the firm's four strategies in July, the firm told investors in a recent update, but was still positive thanks to Asian strategies offsetting losses in the US.

The managers declined to comment.

Since the start of June, a combination of factors, including a momentum sell-off and crowded trades, have stung quant managers. Still, many in the industry were anticipating a significant bounce-back once things reverted.

"We think strong hands should be levering up into this headwind," a mid-July note from former Bridgewater investment committee member and Dark Forest Technologies founder Jacob Kline read.

• I started making sourdough bread six years ago and have since fallen in love with the hobby.
• Initially, I didn't realize how often the sourdough starter had to be fed.
• I also didn't know I could use the discard to make other treats like flatbreads and muffins.

Seven years ago, I started making my own sourdough bread.

In addition to being a relaxing hobby that's taught me the importance of patience, making bread also keeps me from spending ridiculous amounts of money on loaves from the grocery store.

But baking sourdough is pretty different from other types of bread. This is partially because sourdough requires a starter — a fermented mixture of flour and water that creates its own yeast and bacteria.

The process of creating a starter, and eventually bread, isn't foolproof and can take beginners a little while to grasp.

Here are five things I wish I'd known before making sourdough bread for the first time.

You have to feed your sourdough starter like a pet

To keep your sourdough starter active, you have to feed it using flour and water. Until I inherited my first starter, though, I didn't realize I'd have to create a feeding schedule for it.

If you leave your starter on the counter, you'll want to feed it once every 12 to 24 hours. If you keep it in the refrigerator, however, you can feed it less, typically about once a week. This schedule will also vary depending on how often you bake.

If you need a break from feeding your starter, you can preserve it in a few ways

When I first started making sourdough, I didn't realize I could store my starter for a while without feeding it.

Turns out, you can leave it in the freezer for up to one year. Another more reliable, long-term storage option is to dehydrate your sourdough starter.

This would've been good to know when I let mine go bad because I went on a work trip and couldn't find a friend to feed it for me.

A starter can be brought back to life

Even if your sourdough starter looks grim, it's still possible to bring it back to life.

When this happens to mine, I feed it filtered water and flour and give it a few days to see if it starts to form bubbles.

It may take a while to get the cultures moving again, especially if the starter has been freeze-dried or dehydrated. When it bubbles up and doubles in size, you'll know you have a pillowy, healthy starter to bake with.

You don't have to get rid of your discard

I didn't realize until far into the process that sourdough discard can be used for other recipes. I figured the term indicated the runoff's value.

You can either compost your discard or use it in other recipes like flatbreads, pastries, rolls, waffles, muffins, and more.

When making sourdough, patience is key

Throughout the process, it's important to remember that fermentation takes time. Living cultures need the ideal environment to engage, grow, and develop a strong and active formula.

Your sourdough hobby won't satisfy any need for instant gratification. The starter will test your patience, indulge your mad scientist alter ego, and encourage a certain level of imagination in the kitchen.

This story was originally published on March 13, 2025, and most recently updated on August 7, 2025.

• Katie Miller, once the communications lead for DOGE, is ending her full-time work with Elon Musk.
• Miller is launching her own podcast for conservative women.
• The podcast will air weekly and feature people "across the political spectrum."

Goodbye, Elon Musk. Hello, conservative women.

Katie Miller, a former face of DOGE-world and Musk aide, posted a video on X on Thursday morning announcing that she's starting the "Katie Miller Podcast" aimed at conservative women. She's ending her full-time work with Musk to launch the venture.

"For years I've seen that there isn't a place for conservative women to gather online," Miller said from her plant-lined living room. "There isn't a place for a mom like me, mom of three young kids — four, three, and almost two — and a wife, and trying to do a career, eat healthy, work out."

Miller said the podcast will focus on lifestyle, news, and gossip, and that she plans to talk to people "across the political spectrum," business leaders, and celebrities. It will air weekly on Mondays.

The only mention of Musk comes more than halfway through the short video, when Miller talks about her career in communications and government.

"Most recently, I'm concluding my time working full-time for Elon Musk," she said. Miller was at Musk's side during the height of his DOGE-era, and served as the venture's spokesperson.

Both Miller and Musk left their government work in May, and she continued working for the former face of DOGE in the private sector. As recently as last month, Miller was sending out communications for xAI, one of Musk's companies. Miller and Musk did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment.

Miller is married to Stephen Miller, the White House's deputy chief of staff. Musk and President Donald Trump had a high-profile falling out in June over the president's "Big Beautiful Bill."

On X, Miller has posted about popular lifestyle themes in conservative circles, including falling birth rates and whole foods, a prominent part of the Make America Healthy Again ethos.

• As the rich get richer, their yachts get longer … and when it comes to boats, the bigger the better.
• Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg have spent nine figures on megayachts in recent years.
• These are the biggest yachts owned by tech billionaires.

If you are a billionaire, you're going to need a bigger boat — or at least want a bigger boat.

Superyachts are an increasingly requisite status symbol for billionaires, providing highly secluded leisure and networking sites. They are — more so than real estate — the single most expensive asset you can own.

"It's a bit of a celebration of your success in life, of wealth," Giovanna Vitelli, the chair of the Azimut Benetti Group, one of the biggest producers of superyachts, told Business Insider.

As a marker of wealth, unofficial yachting rules say the bigger the richer. A 50-meter vessel is likely to be owned by a billionaire. Over 100 meters long? The owner probably has at least a couple of billion.

The richest tech billionaires, like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, have gone bigger. Their palaces at sea are decked out with amenities like gyms, spas, pools, nightclubs, and movie theaters. Chartering a yacht of this size for a week typically costs upward of $1 million.

A look at these megayachts — broadly defined as over 70 meters long, mostly custom-built, and often costing nine figures — offers a glimpse into how the world's richest live.

Here are the largest yachts owned by tech billionaires — or at least those we know about.

In an industry ruled by discretion, deciphering who owns what is an exercise in stringing together many clues. There are likely yachts that have not been publicly recorded or registered. Evan Spiegel, for example, is rumored to own the 94-meter megayacht Bliss. Sometimes, it seems, money can buy privacy.

Sergey Brin: Dragonfly

Google cofounder Sergey Brin has a flotilla of yachts, boats, and water toys known as the "Fly Fleet." The latest addition is his largest vessel yet.

At 142 meters long, Dragonfly was delivered in December 2024.

Built by the prestigious German shipyard Lürssen, Dragonfly has been lauded for its design, which earned it the 2025 Yacht Style award in its length class.

It comes equipped with a full suite of amenities, including a glass-bottomed pool, cinema, spa, gym, business deck with a home office, and a helicopter hangar.

The superyacht is Brin's second of the same name. The former Dragonfly was about half the length of the new one, at 73 meters long. It was listed for sale last year with an asking price of $30 million. It has since been renamed Capricorn.

Brin's fleet also includes Butterfly, a 38-meter-long yacht. Often moored in the Bay Area, its crew members spend their downtime kitesurfing and teaching swimming lessons to local kids.

The rest of the armada, which requires a team of 50 full-time employees, consists of a smaller boat named Firefly, Jet Skis, foil boards, dinghies, and kiteboards.

Jeff Bezos: Koru and Abeona

Bezos' $500 million megayacht, the 127-meter Koru, made a splash when it was delivered in 2023.

The sailing yacht is hard to miss thanks to its massive size and unique design. It also travels with Abeona, its 75-meter support vessel, in tow.

"I heard back in 2018 or something that somebody had ordered a classic sailing yacht," one superyacht aficionado told Business Insider. "You order 125 meters, that's not really going to be classic. But it is. I think it's pretty cool."

The yacht has hosted several of Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos' famous friends for various occasions, including an engagement party that drew Bill Gates and Leonardo DiCaprio on board and a pre-wedding foam party to celebrate Sánchez Bezos' son's birthday.

Before its completion, Koru made headlines for drawing the ire of some Dutch people, who vowed to hurl eggs at it after it was announced that a historic bridge in Rotterdam might be taken apart to allow the Oceanco-built boat through. (The shipyard made alternative plans, and an egg crisis was averted.)

The yacht has since been criticized for the liberal use of teak on its decks and interiors. The wood has gained a reputation for its connection to Myanmar, a country with a checkered human rights record.

In 2024, Oceanco was fined for violating the European Timber Regulation and not properly tracing the teak used to craft some of Koru's furniture and interiors.

"Oceanco deeply regrets these oversights," and never intended to violate the regulations, a company spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider. "We have enhanced our due diligence processes to ensure this does not occur again."

Mark Zuckerberg: Launchpad

Following months of rumors, Zuckerberg debuted Launchpad in 2024. The 118-meter superyacht was originally designed for a sanctioned Russian businessman.

The ship made its maiden voyage in March 2024, going from Gibraltar to St. Maarten and mooring in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It has since visited Panama for Zuckerberg's 40th birthday and spent summers in the Mediterranean.

Little is known about its interior, but photos show a large swimming pool and helipad, and its shipyard, Feadship, has written about its "fully enclosed pod-like observation lounge" and two helipads.

Its price has been kept under wraps, but a yacht of that size would typically cost nine figures.

Eric Schmidt: Whisper

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt purchased Kismet, a 95-meter-long superyacht formerly owned by the Jacksonville Jaguars' billionaire owner Shahid Khan, in 2023, and renamed the Lürssen-built vessel Whisper.

He'd originally agreed to purchase the Alfa Nero, the yacht of a sanctioned Russian oligarch, for $67 million in an auction conducted by Antigua and Barbuda. But he backed out of the deal following legal issues over its true ownership.

The ship can accommodate 12 guests and a crew of 28, according to Moran Yacht & Ship, which oversaw its construction. It features a master deck with a private jacuzzi, full-service spa, lap pool, movie theater, and outdoor fireplace.

While its final sale price was not public, it was listed for 149 million euros, or about $158 million at the time of the sale.

Schmidt charters the yacht for about $1.4 million a week — an opportunity his fellow billionaire, Magic Johnson, has taken advantage of. In the summer of 2025, he posted videos and photos from a weekslong Mediterranean vacation aboard Whisper, including workouts in the outdoor gym and a toga party with the crew.

Barry Diller: Eos

Billionaire Barry Diller, the chairman of digital media company IAC, co-owns the megayacht Eos with his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, who is immortalized by a figurehead sculpture by Anh Duong.

One of the largest private sailing yachts in the world, the three-masted Lürssen schooner measures 93 meters long. It took three years to build before being delivered to Diller in 2009, and little has been revealed about its interior and features since then.

The power couple has hosted many celebrities on the Eos, which spends its summers crisscrossing the Mediterranean and New Year's Eve in St. Barts. Over the years, guests have included Oprah Winfrey, Emma Thompson, Anderson Cooper, and Bezos, leading some to believe it provided inspiration for his Koru.

Jim Clark: Athena

Netscape founder Jim Clark purchased the 90-meter sailing yacht Athena in 2004.

"I could easily have built a 50- or 60-meter motor yacht that would have had the same space as Athena, but I was never really interested in building a motor yacht," he told Boat International in 2016. "To my eye, she's one of the most gorgeous large sailing yachts, maybe the most gorgeous large sailing yacht in the world."

Athena has room for 10 guests and 21 crew members.

"If I was forced to change something, I would convert the office on the lower deck into a children's room," he said.

The former Stanford professor tried to sell it at various points — listing it for $95 million in 2012, $69 million in 2016, and $59 million in 2017 — but it has yet to change hands.

Larry Ellison: Musashi

Oracle founder Larry Ellison has owned several superyachts over the years, including the Katana, the Ronin, and the Rising Sun, which he sold to fellow billionaire David Geffen.

He purchased his current boat, Musashi, in 2011 for a reported $160 million from custom-yacht giant Feadship.

Named after a famous samurai warrior, the 88-meter-long yacht has both Japanese and Art Deco-inspired design elements. It also boasts amenities such as an elevator, swimming pool, beauty salon, gym, and basketball court.

Ellison is known for his extravagant spending — private islands, jets, a tennis tournament — and yachting is among his favorite and most expensive hobbies. He took up racing them in the 1990s and financed the America's Cup-winning BMW Oracle Racing team.

Laurene Powell Jobs: Venus

Steve Jobs' widow, investor and philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, inherited a nearly finished 78-meter yacht named Venus when the Apple cofounder died in 2011.

After spending years vacationing on Ellison's yachts — Venus and Musashi come from the same shipyard, Feadship — Jobs wanted one for himself. He designed Venus with French starchitect and decorator Philippe Starck, and it was worth $130 million at completion.

"Venus comes from the philosophy of minimum," Starck said of its design. "The elegance of the minimum, approaching dematerialization."

Jobs and Starck began working together in 2007, the designer told Vanity Fair, and held monthly meetings over four years. Venus was delivered in 2012 to Jobs' specification: six identical cabins, a design to ensure spaces of absolute silence, and the most up-to-date technology.

"There will never again be a boat of that quality again. Because never again will two madmen come together to accomplish such a task," Starck told the magazine. "It was not a yacht that Steve and I were constructing, we were embarked on a philosophical action, implemented according to a quasi-religious process. We formed a single brain with four lobes."

Charles Simonyi: Norn

Early Microsoft employee Charles Simonyi has purchased two megayachts from the German shipyard Lürssen: the 90-meter Norn and 71-meter Skat.

Delivered in 2023, Norn is full of luxe features, including an outdoor cinema and a pool floor that lifts to become a light-up dancefloor. It shares a militaristic style with Skat, which Simonyi sold in 2021 after listing it for 56.5 million euros.

"The yacht is to be home away from my home in Seattle, and its style should match the style of the house, adapted for the practicalities of the sea," Simonyi once said of Skat.

Sindhu Sundar contributed to an earlier version of this story.

Correction: May 6, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated Giovanna Vitelli's title. She is the chair of the Azimut Benetti Group, not a vice president.

• The job market appears to be cooling, yet there are still ways you can elevate your career.
• Workers can consider developing their AI skills to stay competitive, an exec told BI.
• Volunteering and side hustles could add to your skills and expand your career opportunities.

The job market might be weakening, but that doesn't mean your career has has to.

There are steps you can take to level up your work — and that might be more important than ever.

It's not just that some companies are being slower to hire. Workers tend to hold greater responsibility for the shape of their careers than they did five to 10 years ago, when employers often played a bigger role, Lisa Walker, a managing partner at the executive search firm DHR Global, told Business Insider.

"You have to be vigilant about managing your own career," she said.

Here are three ways you can level up your career, according to workplace experts.

Get better with AI

Sean Barry, the vice president of talent acquisition at Allstate, told Business Insider that workers should try to become more proficient in artificial intelligence.

He said the technology will place a premium on new skills for many people. Creating appropriate prompts for generative AI wasn't something many people talked about just a few years ago, Barry said.

"It's critically important now," he said, adding that workers who are better at this will likely get ahead in their careers.

One way to improve your AI skills is simply to use it. Start by trying out chatbots and seeing what works.

It's become a cliché to say that AI won't replace you, but someone who knows how to use it will. Yet, there are areas where AI might replace humans, which is why a better understanding of how AI works can be beneficial.

That's advice Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has given: If you're worried that AI will take your job, get better with the technology.

Kiki Leutner is cofounder of SeeTalent.ai, which is developing tests run by AI that would simulate tasks associated with a job to help the hiring process. She told Business Insider that, traditionally, employers tended to use such tests for more senior roles only where it was worth the money and effort. Or, Leutner said, a company might give a software developer a coding task to measure proficiency.

Leutner said GenAI can let employers test far more job seekers and across a broader range of roles than would otherwise be practical. Plus, she said, AI-run assessments can collect insights that previously were difficult to capture, such as how someone might interact with others.

Success in such areas often involves the soft skills employers say they're seeking, and that some bosses sometimes say too many workers lack.

Share your skills by volunteering

You might feel too busy at work, yet carving out some time to help others can help you, too. A study from the University of Oxford found that volunteering proved more effective in boosting worker well-being than other interventions.

It's especially beneficial if it involves using your skills to assist others, according to Leila Saad. She is the founder of Catalyst Lane, a consulting and operations strategy firm. Previously, she was CEO of Common Impact, a nonprofit that connects companies and their workers with other nonprofits.

While head of Common Impact, Saad told Business Insider that many nonprofits lack the resources to meet all of their operational needs. So, when workers with that expertise can help, it benefits both the organization and the worker, she said.

"It feels good to give back skills you've honed over your entire career," she said.

That often trumps something like showing up for a one-off event like painting a school or planting trees, Saad said.

Beyond that, she said, workers — and their employers — can benefit if the employee might develop additional skills through volunteering.

Jennifer Schielke, the CEO of the staffing firm Summit Group Solutions and the author of the book "Leading for Impact," previously told Business Insider that volunteering — even after something traumatic like a job loss — can help those newly out of work gain perspective.

"If you have time to volunteer, go do it," she said. "Go get some encouragement by sitting alongside someone who has it worse than you do."

Consider starting a side hustle

Side hustles get a lot of attention when they're lucrative, yet there can be other benefits. They can be limited to weekend jobs, so workers' weekdays aren't too full. In other cases, side hustles might relieve burnout.

They can also make workers feel empowered.

Daniel Zhao, the lead economist at Glassdoor, told Business Insider that workers in some industries might feel stuck in their 9-to-5 roles because of lackluster hiring. That might be one reason more workers are picking up side hustles.

"Workers are much more willing to experiment nowadays," Zhao said. He pointed to rates of entrepreneurship, which he said "skyrocketed" during the pandemic.

Zhao said it's good news that entrepreneurship rates remain elevated following a "fairly weak" 2010s and said it indicates America's entrepreneurial spirit has recovered.

"Not only is that an opportunity for people to supplement their income on the side, but it also opens up new opportunities, new ideas, new technologies that can potentially boost the economy in the long run," he said.

An earlier version of this story appeared on November 30, 2024.

Do you have a story to share about your career or your job search? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• Katy Perry has traveled across the country, overseas, and to space this year.
• She's also been wearing daring fashion for each appearance, from leather corsets to sparkling gowns.
• So far, four of those outfits have been stunning, and four have missed the mark.

Katy Perry has been everywhere this year — almost literally.

She's traveled across the country to promote her Lifetimes tour, made a few overseas appearances, and, of course, briefly flew to space with Blue Origin.

All the while, she's been sporting her signature daring fashion.

From sparkling gowns to leather costumes, here's a look at the best and worst outfits she's worn in 2025 so far.

On tour, Katy Perry wore a sculptured set that looked like a work of art.

The costume included two statement pieces: pink underwear decorated with maroon metal, and an off-the-shoulder top encrusted with hanging crystals.

Fashion designer Zaldy created the stunning outfit, which also featured a plunging neckline. Perry completed the look with silver thigh-high boots.

She took the complete opposite approach to fashion at Paris Couture Week.

She was photographed outside the Balenciaga runway show in July while wearing a long-sleeved, blazer-style minidress. It had an off-the-shoulder neckline, a deep, V-shaped plunge, and a buttoned bodice.

Unfortunately, the simple dress was paired with equally simple accessories — metal-rimmed glasses and black pumps.

Some jewelry, a purse, and a more unique hairstyle could've greatly benefited the outfit.

The singer looked striking in silver at the Breakthrough Prize ceremony, but her dress had a few issues.

Gaurav Gupta designed her sequinned number for the April event. It had an asymmetrical bodice, deep chest cutouts, a floor-length skirt, and a head covering.

Though its silver color suited her, the gown's skin-colored mesh was visible beneath its daring chest piece and distracted from the outfit.

Its skirt was also an awkward length — not dramatic enough to create a train, and not short enough to show her shoes.

She wore her best look of the year at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in March.

Perry walked the red carpet in a shimmering Miss Sohee gown. The strapless piece was covered in small, square pieces with a pearl finish and even smaller sequins in between.

The gown fit her perfectly and made her one of the night's best-dressed stars. Her updo hairstyle and shimmering body makeup also complemented the gown.

The leather ensemble she wore to the SiriusXM Studios in February didn't make sense.

While promoting her Lifetimes tour, Perry was photographed wearing a brown getup from the London-based brand KNWLS.

It featured a leather corset with a zippered shawl on top, matching sleeves, and leg straps over gray bike shorts. She completed the look with square-toed boots.

Ultimately, Perry's ensemble had too much going on. There were too many pieces to make the look cohesive, and its contrasting colors didn't work together.

The same goes for the black-and-white look she donned at the 2025 Invictus Games.

The pop star hit the stage that day in a multi-layered outfit and statement shoes.

She wore a white corset beneath a running vest, gray shorts over suspender tights, and thigh-high white boots with shin and knee pads. She also wore fingerless gloves.

Perry may have been aiming to look athletic for the sporting event, but the high heels of her boots didn't match the outfit's casual aesthetic.

The ensemble also might have looked better without a few layers, like the stockings and gloves.

Perry kept things simple and fun for the FireAid benefit concert in January.

She hit the stage wearing a brown skirt with a deep slit, thigh-high boots in brown, and a black T-shirt from a Los Angeles fire department. The latter was altered to feature a small corset.

The outfit was casual, meaningful, and still fit for a celebrity with its fun details.

She also rocked a traditional leather look that month.

Perry was photographed arriving at the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" studio in January wearing leather pants from Area.

The $1,795 trousers had slits across each leg that were studded with gold pieces, matching Perry's $1,195 strapless top.

The outfit was chic and simple, but still had an edge and looked luxurious.

• It's easy to make mistakes when you're trying to make your home look high-end.
• Luxury interior designer Bilal Rehman said small furniture and cluttered spaces can look cheap.
• Rehman also advised against sacrificing aesthetics for comfort when decorating a luxury space.

If I've learned anything from watching Architectural Digest home tours, it's that everyone wants a luxury home.

Figuring out how to create that high-end feel is easier said than done, though, particularly if you're working with a tight budget or small space. Some people inadvertently make their spaces look second-rate when they aim for a luxury look.

Bilal Rehman, a luxury interior designer, told Business Insider about the most common ways he sees people make their homes look cheap — and how to avoid the mistakes in your own home. 

Luxury interior designer Bilal Rehman has gone viral for his decor takes.

Rehman owns Bilal Rehman Studio, a luxury design studio based in Houston, Texas.

Rehman designs for people of all incomes, but he got his start in luxury decor, specializing in high-end spaces.

"I have an appreciation for the world of luxury because of the attention to detail and the craftsmanship," he told BI of why he likes to work in luxury homes. 

Rehman turned his expertise into a viral sensation with his TikTok account, where he shares his home decor advice and has amassed millions of views on his videos. 

He spoke to BI about one of the most popular topics on his TikTok, sharing ways people miss opportunities to make their spaces look luxurious in almost every room of their homes.

Buying furniture that's the wrong size for your space quickly makes it look cheap, Rehman said.

"I think the No. 1 thing that they do is that they don't use the proper scale of furniture or accessories or rugs in their space," Rehman said when asked how people most often make their homes look cheap.

If you don't have much floor space, it might be your instinct to fill your home with small pieces, but Rehman said that may actually make your space look less put together.

"People think that just because you're in an apartment, you have to buy small-scale furniture, and that's not true," he said. "Go buy the big couch, buy the big rug, buy the coffee table that's oversized because what people don't realize is that scale makes your space feel bigger."

Rehman said your space will look more luxurious if you fill it with a handful of statement pieces rather than too many small pieces.

"There's a fine art of not cramming your space with too much stuff and underdoing it to where all the furniture feels like it's miniature," Rehman said. 

Kitchens can look cheap when they aren't cohesive.

Rehman said kitchens often look "cluttered" and cheap when you fill your cabinets with flatware, dinnerware, and glassware that don't match, particularly if you have open cabinetry.

"It doesn't look cohesive or expensive. It starts to look like you went and dug through a bargain bin to find all these pieces, but for the same price, you could buy a really beautiful matching set of mugs or plates or appliances to elevate your space," Rehman said. 

He also advised people to think about aesthetics as well as function for any item that will live on their countertops, pointing to Smeg toasters as an example.

"There are cheaper alternatives, of course, but Smeg is a great player in the game of taking something utilitarian and making it artistic," he added. "I have a chrome Smeg toaster on my countertop and I love it. It's just so pretty to look at, and it's taking something so basic and making it elevated."

A cluttered bathroom can look really low-end.

It can be natural to fill your bathroom counters with products, but Rehman told BI that not having more sophisticated storage can make your space feel cheap. 

"Do not have all your products on the countertop," Rehman said. "Especially if you're dealing with a smaller bathroom, that empty visual space is your friend that makes your bathroom feel high-end."

He said to prioritize putting out items you use daily, and find other storage solutions for things you use less often.

"It makes it feel bigger. It makes it feel cleaner. And honestly, when everything is organized, it's so much easier to get ready in the morning and get ready at nighttime when you know where everything is," Rehman said. "When you're dealing with a bathroom, really be intentional on what's out and what's hidden and put away."

And if you don't have much storage space, remember to invest in functional items with aesthetic appeal, like coordinating soap-bottle sets or a nice toothbrush holder.

Rehman also thinks traditional bath mats don't create a luxurious look.

Rehman said thinking strategically about your choice of bath mat can make a huge difference in your home, particularly if you have limited space in your bathroom. 

"Don't buy a whole bunch of different bath mats, like the small bath mats meant to go in front of the toilet or the shower or the sink," Rehman advised. "Instead, try to get a large-scale rug or a large-scale runner that creates this unified piece in your bathroom and makes it feel clean and simple."

If you're hesitant about putting a real rug in your bathroom, Rehman said to remember that there are plenty of water-friendly rugs on the market.

"Just get a cool rug from Ruggable and throw it in your washing machine every couple of weeks," he added. "That looks so much better in the end than all these mismatched mats that are moving all over the place."

Rehman thinks matching bedroom sets can look cheap.

Matching bedroom sets might seem like the easiest solution to making your room look cohesive, but Rehman said it's rare for the set to look as good in your home as it does in the store.

"It looks so good when you walk into a store, and everything matches because they set it up in a certain way, but the second you take it home and you put it in your bedroom, it literally just looks like you went to a big-box store, picked up that room, and dropped it into your house," Rehman said.

"It has no personality, it doesn't look collected, it doesn't look designer, it doesn't feel high-end at all," he said. "Instead of doing that, the same money that you're spending on that, spend it on mismatched pieces that are cohesive."

Rehman said it's a better idea to find pieces that complement each other, as this will make the space look more intentional.

It's also a big mistake to forget to decorate the exterior of your home, according to Rehman.

Rehman advised people to approach decorating the outside of their homes just as they do their interiors.

"Don't be afraid to accessorize your outdoor space," he said, pointing to items like rugs and layered looks. "Put art on your brick on the outside of your house."

"You're going to walk outside, and there's going to be a seamless flow from the inside to the out," Rehman said. "It just makes your space feel so much grander and so much more put together."

He said investing in pieces that complement the natural colors of your environment can help make the space feel even more cohesive and chic.

And most importantly, remember that comfort and aesthetics can go hand in hand.

Of course, the furniture you choose for your home, especially pieces like couches and beds, should be comfortable, but Rehman said it's just as important to prioritize its appearance.

"When people are going to buy furniture, they focus so heavily on the comfort and they don't focus on the style," he said. "They end up buying this big, bubbly couch that has lots of padding, and it has a built-in cupholder and USB chargers. That's great for maybe a movie room, but in your main living room, where you're entertaining, you want to feel sexy, and you want to have people over, and you want to create different moods."

Rehman said there are so many affordable, comfortable pieces with aesthetic appeal that he doesn't understand why people wouldn't pick prettier pieces whenever possible.

"In today's market, there's been so much innovation with the world of design and furniture that finding things that are stylish and comfortable is so much easier than it was five years ago," he said. "Just take that little extra step and go find things that are the best of both worlds."