Author: openjargon

• The power grid is too old and simple for the growth of extreme weather, EVs, and renewable energy.
• Chattanooga's utility built a $280 million smart grid, creating $2.7 billion in economic value.
• This article is part of "Transforming Business: Infrastructure," a series exploring the advancements reshaping US infrastructure.

It pays to be smart and Chattanooga, Tennessee, has put a whole new meaning to the phrase. The city is home to one of the nation's most advanced power grids.

The local utility, called EPB of Chattanooga, spent $280 million to refurbish its power system with smart technologies to make a "smart grid."

In its first 10 years, the project generated $2.7 billion worth of economic value, according to an EPB-funded study. That's not a bad return on investment.

The US grid needs its own internet

Smart grids like this offer a cleaner, safer, and more efficient future with lower electric bills and fewer blackouts — which is great because the way our energy system has operated for the past century isn't going to cut it for the next one.

In most places, energy starts with a giant coal-fired power plant. From there, transmission lines zip the electricity to a substation, which lowers the voltage and pumps it into distribution lines to homes and businesses.

Electricity flows one way, from the power plant to your home, and it doesn't do much else. It's simple — and that was fine for a long time. But it's becoming a problem as the climate crisis complicates our energy supply.

Increasingly extreme weather events are battering our electrical infrastructure and causing outages that cost American businesses an estimated $150 billion a year, according to the US Department of Energy.

Meanwhile, climate solutions put their own pressure on the grid. Wind farms and solar panels feed energy into the system inconsistently, making it harder to pace supply with the day-to-day fluxes of electricity use.

Renewables also complicate things by sheer numbers — rather than from 12,000 power plants, in just a few decades, the US could be drawing its power from 1 million dispersed sources, from hydropower dams to rooftop solar panels.

At the same time, electrification, including the rise of electric vehicles, is increasing demand.

To cope, experts say, the grid needs its own internet, stat. They're calling for a digitized "smart grid."

"It's imperative," Kevin Schneider, the chief engineer studying power systems at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, told Business Insider.

Without smart technologies, the grid will be inefficient, leading to economic losses and slowing the transition to clean energy. An outdated grid could also fall victim to more and more blackouts.

"If people are really asleep at the wheel, and we keep pushing further, eventually you can get to the hyperbole of a third-world power system," Schneider said.

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave US energy infrastructure a C-minus grade in 2021, citing poor reliability and increasing threats from severe weather.

But a Chattanooga-like transformation nationwide could save us all money, reduce carbon emissions, and prevent blackouts.

What is a smart grid?

A key job of any power grid is to balance electricity supply and demand. Too much power could damage the system. Not enough could leave some people in the dark.

A smart grid automates this balancing act using a system of meters, sensors, controllers, and computers.

Smart grids can also help businesses, factory operators, or homeowners make better-informed decisions about when and how to use energy, whether they want to save money, reduce emissions, or both.

"It can send information along with electricity," Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist studying smart grids at the University of Texas at Austin, told BI.

For example, "it can control a fleet of air conditioners and maybe can turn them off for 15 minutes at a time" to optimize energy costs, he said.

How Chattanooga made its grid smart

EPB of Chattanooga first needed a system to communicate with all the smart devices it would install. It couldn't make significant upgrades to its system without it.

"Everything that you looked to do, the limitation was communications," David Wade, the CEO of EPB of Chattanooga, told BI.

Fiber optics would do the trick — and allow EPB to start offering TV, internet, and phone services.

With the prospect of revenue and a mission as a public utility to improve quality of life, the EPB board of directors approved a plan in 2008.

With $169 million from a municipal bond issue for the project, workers started digging trenches and climbing poles to lay new fiber optic cables across Hamilton County.

The project was supposed to take 10 years, but a $111.5 million grant from the Department of Energy accelerated the process, basically cutting time to completion in half. The utility finished building its smart grid in 2012.

In just four years, EPB had laid its fiber-optic network and linked it to more than 180,000 smart meters in customers' homes and businesses. It also installed about 1,200 automated smart switches, which open or close the flow of power in response to automated software or remote commands from human operators.

The smart switches can rapidly reroute energy around fallen power lines that would otherwise cause a blackout. That means the system self-heals, restoring power in seconds.

As a result, EPB has reported a 55% annual decrease in outage minutes, or about 19 million outage minutes a year.

Previously, dispatchers had to drive to each switch to manually open or close it.

"It's making the same decisions that we were making as dispatchers and humans, only probably making them a multitude of times faster," Wade said.

In the following decade, EPB spent another $115.5 million expanding its smart grid to new housing and commercial developments.

Smart grids are more efficient

Because the smart grid automates the balance of supply and demand — helping ensure there's no more energy in the system than people are using at different times of the day — it's more efficient.

That reduces energy waste and emissions.

In the EPB-funded study period, 2014 to 2020, the EPB grid emitted 8,300 fewer tons of CO2 than it would have if it weren't smart. That's almost as much as Taylor Swift's private jet emitted in the first half of 2022.

Those carbon savings came partly from reduced energy use and partly because of reduced truck miles since dispatchers no longer had to drive to every switch for every outage.

It's not just blackouts. On a larger scale, a smarter grid could adapt better to the surge of renewables.

For example, take the Pacific Intertie — a highway of transmission lines that carry hydropower from the Columbia River all the way down to Southern California. The system may need to send power in the other direction more often as solar energy proliferates in the state's south.

"We had a cold snap up north. It was relatively sunny down south, and suddenly power was flowing the other direction," Schneider said.

Having software and automated equipment to handle that process could make it much more efficient and help the system quickly adapt to unforeseen changes.

In other words, a smart grid is designed to do more than one thing.

"We're going to start to see more things like that, where the system was designed to do X, and we're seeing ABCDEFG," Schneider said.

Smart grids can bring huge economic benefits

Even Congress knows the nation needs a smart grid. In 2007, it directed the Department of Energy to start doling out grants to make it happen.

That's the program that gave EPB a boost, and it has spent billions on smart-grid infrastructure nationwide.

It seems like the kick start worked. In 2020, the department estimated that smart-grid investments would rise to $16.4 billion annually by 2026 — compared with about $6.4 billion in 2018.

Though a smart grid requires a big up-front investment, it can save a lot of money down the line.

The study of EPB's smart grid, for instance, valued the benefits to each Hamilton County resident at about $646 a year in the project's first 10 years.

That's because the project created more than 9,500 jobs, helped attract new businesses with cost-efficient energy and high-speed internet, and kept customers' electric bills lower than they would have been without the smart grid, the study found. Each household saved about $93 a year on electricity bills.

Add it all up, and the smart grid with its fiber-optic internet provided $2.7 billion worth of economic value in its first 10 years, the study found.

The future of our power system

In an ideal future, each new wave of grid technology could integrate seamlessly into the smart system. Large-scale energy storage could provide backup to power communities when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing enough.

Someday, smart appliances in your home could weigh your personal schedule against peak electricity demand and pricing, as well as timing for minimal carbon emissions, to calculate the perfect time to wash your dishes or heat your house. That could translate into major savings on your electricity bill and your carbon footprint.

"I think tomorrow's grid really becomes: How do you take that massive proliferation of devices and optimize those for the good of the whole?" Wade said.

We're still far from that world, but some utilities are rising to the occasion. Nationwide, there are hundreds of microgrids — small, local areas that can operate independently of the larger grid if needed.

In the case of a major blackout, they can lock themselves out of the larger grid and rely on their own solar panels or backup batteries. Microgrids are key to a larger smart grid and unprecedented energy resilience.

Chattanooga is testing a microgrid around its police- and fire-department headquarters.

"Today, we are much better positioned than any utility I know of in adding distributed assets to the grid and creating microgrids," Wade said.

He added: "It'll get smarter."

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• Top Gear recently tested the Tesla Cybertruck's camping accessories.
• There's a software update for sensors that will hopefully prevent smashed fingers, as well as a sleek new cooler.
• The "Cybertent," which is integrated into the truck bed, sells for about $3,000.

The Top Gear crew took the Cybertruck camping and got an early look at some upcoming features, as well as a glimpse at a new, stainless steel place for owners of the electric pickup to store their ice-cold drinks.

The video shows Top Gear editor in chief Jack Rix testing out the "frunk," the front storage space under the Cybertruck's hood.

The frunk's sharp edges have been cause for concern, especially with some viral videos showing that the closing hood was capable of slicing through carrots — and possibly, misplaced fingers.

Cybertruck owners can breathe a little easier, though, since the vehicle is apparently getting a software update to improve the sensor, Rix said.

Using a banana as a test, Rix showed the automatic sensors quickly sensed the foreign object and swung up without any injury to the finger-shaped fruit.

Rix also showed off the "Cybercooler," which is exactly what it sounds like: a portable cooler "that looks a little bit like a Cybertruck."

Don't feel bad if you've never heard of the Cybercooler. It hasn't been released — or even mentioned before — by Tesla. (Promotional images for the Cybertruck show nondescript, regular coolers).

As Rix noted, the cooler shown in the video is a "one-of-one" prototype.

"Please excuse some of the slightly scruffy edges," he said; though, if the prototype was chipped or dented in any way, it wasn't visible to the camera.

The video showed Rix and another person carrying the cooler out of the frunk. It looks slightly wider than the average camping cooler, though it's unclear how spacious it is inside.

In the video, Rix said the Cybercooler would be "very useful" for offroading and "smashing around in the desert."

"Full of ice and full of beers — I mean, water," he joked.

Though designed for the "frunk," there doesn't seem to be any reason the cooler can't be carried in the bed of the Cybertruck. That may be helpful for drivers who need flexible storage arrangements, especially given some concerns about the lack of space in the frunk.

The cooler was included in the video as part of Cybertruck's "Basecamp" line of camping accessories.

It's not clear how much the Cybercooler will end up costing; the Cybertent, which extends out from the bed of the electric pickup, is currently on sale for approximately $3,000.

"It is, let's face it, an obscene amount of money," Rix said in the video, though he acknowledged its "high-end design."

Unlike other vehicular camping accessories, which are typically mounted and exposed, the Cybertent is designed to fit under the tonneau cover. Rix noted that "tent mode" will level out the suspension and open up the cover and can be activated remotely.

"It's a really clever piece of integration," he said. "And if you've got money to burn, well, I'll be ticking that box."

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The best cheap cell phone plans offer all of the following criteria without compromise — dependable coverage, fast service speeds, and as much data as you need at affordable prices. Usually, affordable plans come from mobile virtual network operators (or MVNOs) and standalone budget-friendly carriers, and choosing the plan for you will come down to your budget and priorities.

Among the best cheap cell phone plans, it's hard to beat our top pick, US Mobile's Unlimited Starter plan with 35GB of data on either Verizon's or T-Mobile's networks starting at $29/month for a single line, or $23/month with an annual payment. If you want to extend your savings further, we recommend Tello Mobile's Build Your Own plan, which can cost as low as $5/month. 

Our top picks for the best cheap phone plans

Best overall: US Mobile (Unlimited Starter plan) – See at US Mobile

Best true budget plan: Tello Mobile (Build Your Own plan) – See at Tello

Best unlimited plan: Visible Wireless (Visible+ plan) – See at Visible

Best international plan: US Mobile (Unlimited Premium plan) – See at US Mobile

Best overall

US Mobile's Unlimited Starter plan for $29/month is the gold standard in MVNO and budget-friendly plans. It easily meets and exceeds expectations as a value-forward plan with superior and unique features that directly benefit you, the customer.

Like many budget-friendly carriers, US Mobile operates on a major carrier's network. In this regard, US Mobile is unique. Where you typically only have access to one major carrier's network, US Mobile offers the choice between Verizon's or T-Mobile's full network, including their fast high-band 5G networks. You can even switch networks as often as twice a month, so you can try which works best for you for everyday use, whether for coverage or data speeds or for a particular scenario, like traveling. 

Worthy of note, US Mobile's names for Verizon's and T-Mobile's networks are "Warp" and "GSM," respectively. Only the Warp network comes with premium prioritized data, whereas the GSM network includes deprioritized data. However, we can't say we've felt much of an impact from deprioritization in our testing of the GSM or T-Mobile's network, nor can we really tell, as there's no indication or notification specifying as much. 

Whichever network you pick, US Mobile's Unlimited Starter plan price stays the same even if you switch. 

The Unlimited Starter plan's 35GB of high-speed data should be more than enough for the vast majority of users. If you do end up using more than 35GB, US Mobile reduces your data speeds to 1Mbps until the end of the billing cycle, which is significantly faster and more usable than the reduced speeds on other carriers that vary between dubiously slow 40 and 256Kbps speeds. 

To be sure, some carriers like Visible don't reduce speeds at all, no matter how much data you use. Instead, they offer deprioritized data that can potentially slow down without warning when the host network is experiencing congestion. That's a great proposition, but we feel the option to pick which host network works for you, as well as other benefits listed here, are more valuable.

US Mobile offers multi-line discounts, which is also unique among budget-friendly carriers and ideal for families or groups.

You get even more value with the annual payment option, which reduces US Mobile's Unlimited Starter monthly price to $23/month ($276 for the year). And to top it all off, taxes and fees are included, so the price you see advertised is the price you pay. 

Read our full US Mobile review. 

Best true budget plan

The varied plans from Tello Mobile are the cheapest options we can recommend, and they offer the most customization.

With Tello's Build Your Own plan, in particular, you can adjust the minutes and data allotment for each line on your account, making it a great choice to cover the basics for kids, grandparents, students, or anyone who uses a minimum amount of data or is simply on a budget.

As you build your plan, you choose your monthly data amount (from no data to 1GB, 2GB, 5GB, 10GB, 15GB, or unlimited) and your monthly minutes (none, 100, 300, 500, or unlimited), the combination of which adds up to $5/month at the cheapest and $25/month at the most expensive. 

The Build Your Own plan is particularly enticing if you want to specify a data allotment on a per-line basis — for example, setting data limits for a kid who just got their first phone while allowing them unlimited minutes. 

Read our full Tello Mobile review.

Best unlimited plan

For truly unlimited data and extensive coverage, Verizon's budget-friendly carrier, Visible Wireless, has an excellent option with its Visible+ plan at $45/month. 

While the Visible+ plan has the highest price point of all the MVNOs we've included in this list, it provides by far the most high-speed monthly data and the closest approximation to "unlimited" data, as it guarantees 50GB of premium prioritized data while your phone is connected to Verizon's basic 5G and LTE networks before you experience any form of data speed deprioritization. The Visible+ plan also offers unlimited premium prioritized data while your phone is connected to Verizon's fast high-band 5G "Ultra Wideband" network. 

By offering deprioritized data after using up to 50GB of data, you shouldn't notice a difference in data speeds or usability unless you're in an area experiencing heavy network traffic at the specific time you're using your phone. Even if your data is actively being deprioritized, you may not even notice.

For those who use a lot of data and call for a truly unlimited plan, that's an enticing proposition, as some MVNOs and budget-friendly carriers dramatically reduce speeds to frankly unusable speeds until the next billing cycle if you exceed your plan's allotted data. 

The Visible+ plan also provides extended coverage with 5G "Ultra Wideband" areas, though Verizon's standard coverage (and the Visible base plan's coverage) is already very good. Before signing up, check Visible's coverage map to ensure you're covered.  

Visible recently updated its plans with an annual payment option (versus the standard monthly payment option) that reduces the Visible+ plan's price from $45/month to $33/month (totaling $395/year), which is incredible value and should be considered if making an annual payment is an option. 

Read our full Visible Wireless review.

Best international plan

It's surprising that so many budget-oriented carriers and plans have any international features at all, and some have pretty decent ones, too. However, none have anything quite as comprehensive as US Mobile's Unlimited Premium plan. Just make sure to pick or switch to US Mobile's "GSM" network before you set off, as the "Warp" network doesn't include nearly as many international features. 

With US Mobile's Unlimited Premium plan, you get unlimited calling and texting from the US to over 200 countries. If you're traveling abroad to one of the 180 supported countries, you get 5GB or 10GB of data and 500 or 1,000 minutes and texts, depending on the country. (Unfortunately, US Mobile doesn't make it abundantly clear which countries support how much data or how many minutes and texts.)

If the premium price tag is out of reach, US Mobile's Unlimited Starter plan has similar international features with reduced minutes, texts, and data that might still be enough for your needs — 1GB of data and 150 minutes/texts.

No doubt, at $50/month, US Mobile's Unlimited Premium plan is on the pricier side when thinking about "cheap" cell phone plans, but keep in mind that US Mobile offers an annual payment option that reduces the price to $37.50/month (totaling $450/year).

Alternatively, if you don't need as much domestic data as the Unlimited Premium plan offers in a typical month, you can sign up for US Mobile's Unlimited Starter plan on a monthly basis, so you pay less when you're at home and only upgrade to the Unlimited Premium plan for the month(s) you're traveling. 

Read our full US Mobile review. 

How we test cell phone plans

In our testing, we spend at least a week with a specific plan from a phone carrier, often longer, and primarily assess the quality of the plan and carrier by the following criteria:

• Plan offerings and flexibility: We consider the pricing and features included in a carrier's range of plans and assess its flexibility in allowing you to switch out of or between plans. 
• Coverage area: For MVNOs, we note the approximate coverage area provided by the network or networks backing a budget carrier and evaluate whether particular locations consistently match their purported coverage type (e.g., 5G or 4G/LTE). 
• Service reliability and speeds: In consistent testing locations, we assess the reliability of phone and video calls, note how fast videos and apps load over cellular data, and, with MVNOs, mark any apparent effects of deprioritization on service speeds.  
• Customer support: We make a holistic assessment of a carrier's customer support system and online (or in-person) user experience for setup, use, and troubleshooting. 

We also take into account secondary considerations such as ongoing discounts and any other notable perks or outstanding features.

What to look for in a cheap cell phone plan

If you aren't in the market for the best cell phone plans from major carriers, you have no shortage of options for spending less on a phone plan, as affordable carriers have proliferated in recent years. 

The best cheap cell phone plan for you will primarily reflect your needs for monthly data and minutes, the constraints of your budget, and the coverage of your local area by the network or networks backing a particular plan. 

We set a few baseline criteria in choosing plans for this guide, in that all the plans listed above cost no more than $50/month and, as with most MVNO plans, do not require a contract.

Before signing up for a service, take a granular look at the coverage map that an MVNO should make readily accessible on their website — marking the US network range of its backing carrier — and appraise the coverage of your location to ensure dependable service.

Best overall

Mint Mobile's prepaid plans for three, six, or 12 months offer affordable options for customers to easily manage all lines on their plan in one place and adjust their data allotments at any time. 

Your best point of entry into the Mint Mobile landscape is its current new customer promotion that sets its three-month plans at the following reduced rates: $15/month for 5GB, $20/month for 15GB, $25/month for 20GB, and $30/month for "unlimited" data, which includes 40GB of high-speed data (subject to deprioritization in congested areas), with slower speeds once you've hit that cap.

The overall experience as a customer is what makes Mint Mobile stand out among the competition. Its user-friendly setup and app experience, readily accessible support and FAQs, and easy-to-understand language make it an easy recommendation in addition to the price point.

However, after your promotional three months are up, any of Mint's 12-month plans will provide the most savings, as the monthly price and data remain the same as the three-month plans. All are great deals; in particular, the 5GB ($15/month) and 15GB ($20/month) plans are well-priced considering the competition.

Consider your data usage patterns before signing up, but know that you can change your plan at any time with no added cost with Mint's excellent app or website.

Read our full Mint Mobile review. 

Best true budget plan

The varied plans from Tello Mobile are the cheapest options we can recommend, and they offer the most customization.

With Tello's Build Your Own plan, in particular, you can adjust the minutes and data allotment for each line on your account, making it a great choice to cover the basics for a teen, grandparent, student, or anyone who uses a minimum amount of data or is simply on a budget.

As you build your plan, you choose your monthly data amount (from no data to 500MB, 1GB, 2GB, 5GB, 10GB, or unlimited) and your monthly minutes (none, 100, 300, 500, or unlimited), the combination of which adds up to $5/month at the cheapest and $29/month at the most expensive. 

The Build Your Own plan is particularly nice if you want to specify a data allotment per line — for example, setting data limits for a teen who just got their first phone while allowing them unlimited minutes. 

Read our full Tello Mobile review.

Best unlimited plan

For high-speed data and extensive coverage, Verizon has your back with Visible Wireless. Our top pick for a budget unlimited plan is Visible's upgraded Visible+ plan, available (until February 14) at a promotional rate of $35/month for up to two years — a $10 monthly discount from its typical $45/month rate.

While the Visible+ plan has the highest price point of all the MVNOs we've included in this list, even with its current promotion, it also provides by far the most high-speed monthly data and the closest approximation to "unlimited" data, as it guarantees 50GB of high-speed data before you experience any form of deprioritization.

Most of the nominally "unlimited" plans from MVNOs — including Visible's base unlimited plan ($25/month) — offer data subject to deprioritization at any time behind the higher-paying customers of the MVNO's backing network. If you're in an area with a lot of network congestion, you could encounter deprioritized speeds at any time on such an "unlimited" plan, but you won't see any deprioritization within your monthly allotment of  50GB of high-speed data on the Visible+ plan.

The Visible+ plan also provides extended coverage with 5G "Ultra Wideband" areas, though Verizon's standard coverage (and the Visible base plan's coverage) is already very good. Before signing up, check Visible's coverage map to ensure you're covered.  

Read our full Visible Wireless review.

Best international plan

Google Fi Wireless has three plans at different pay tiers, each offering access to coverage provided by T-Mobile and basic benefits like VPN usage and select smartwatch compatibility. 

The low-tier Flexible plan allows for pay-what-you-use monthly data at $10/GB plus a base monthly rate of $20 per phone line. That's expensive compared to other MNVOs on this list, and Google Fi doesn't come especially recommended if you don't need international features.  

If you need international features, though, Google Fi's Flexible plan includes international roaming for the same price as domestic data usage at $10/GB, so you won't have to worry about being charged an exorbitant price while using your phone internationally. Even if you use more data while you're away, a feature called Bill Protection, unique to the Flexible plan, caps your monthly cost at $80 for a single line to prevent excessive fees from overages. 

Google Fi also offers free texting from the US to over 200 destinations and while traveling internationally.

Given that you have a "Designed for Fi" device (like a Google Pixel phone or a range of other Android phones featured in their list of compatible devices), you might be a great match for Google Fi, particularly if you frequently travel overseas.

Read our full Google Fi Wireless review. 

How we test cell phone plans

In our testing, we spend at least a week with a specific plan from a phone carrier, often longer, and primarily assess the quality of the plan and carrier by the following criteria:

• Plan offerings and flexibility: We consider the pricing and features included in a carrier's range of plans and assess its flexibility in allowing you to switch out of or between plans. 
• Coverage area: For MVNOs, we note the approximate coverage area provided by the network or networks backing a budget carrier and evaluate whether particular locations consistently match their purported coverage type (e.g., 5G or 4G/LTE). 
• Service reliability and speeds: In consistent testing locations, we assess the reliability of phone and video calls, note how fast videos and apps load over cellular data, and, with MVNOs, mark any apparent effects of deprioritization on service speeds.  
• Customer support: We make a holistic assessment of a carrier's customer support system and online (or in-person) user experience for setup, use, and troubleshooting. 

We also take into account secondary considerations such as ongoing discounts and any other notable perks or outstanding features.

What to look for in a cheap cell phone plan

If you aren't in the market for the best cell phone plans from major carriers, you have no shortage of options for spending less monthly on a phone plan, as affordable carriers have proliferated in recent years. 

The best cheap cell phone plan for you will primarily reflect your needs for monthly data and minutes, the constraints of your budget, and the coverage of your local area by the network or networks backing a particular plan. 

We set a few baseline criteria in choosing plans for this guide, in that all the plans listed above cost less than $50/month and, as with most MVNO plans, do not require a contract.

Before signing up for a service, take a granular look at the coverage map that an MVNO should make readily accessible on their website — marking the US network range of its backing carrier — and appraise the coverage of your location to ensure dependable service.

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• A Washington Post investigation revealed US forces mistakenly killed a civilian in a drone strike.
• The strike, conducted in Syria in 2023, was intended to hit an al-Qaeda operative.
• Central Command maintains the strike complied with the law of armed conflict.

A Washington Post investigation revealed Thursday that US forces killed a shepherd in a drone strike after mistaking him for a top al-Qaeda official.

"On May 3, 2023, the United States conducted a unilateral counterterrorism air strike in Northwest Syria targeting a senior Al Qaeda leader," US Central Command said in statement on Thursday, almost a year after the incident. "The investigation determined U.S. forces misidentified the intended Al Qaeda target and that a civilian, Mr. Lufti Hasan Masto (Masto), was struck and killed instead."

The Washington Post began its investigation in May 2023 following the fatal strike, calling into question the identity of the al-Qaeda operative who US officials said had been slain. A month later, the US military began its own investigation into the incident.

Central Command said its investigation revealed that there were "several issues" with the operation but did not explain exactly how it failed to identify its target.

Masto, a shepherd, was 56 years old and living in the Syrian town of Qorqanya. On the day he died, an American Predator drone tracked him down and fired Hellfire missile, which landed behind his home.

According to Central Command's investigation, the strike was conducted in compliance with Central Command and Department of Defense policies, as well as the law of armed conflict.

A defense official told The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity that the American drone strike was botched due to the decision-making and accuracy, or "confirmation bias and insufficient red teaming" issues among personnel.

The Washington Posted determined that it's still unclear who the intended target was and whether anyone will be held accountable for the inaccurate strike.

Central Command said in its statement Thursday that it "acknowledges and regrets the civilian harm that resulted from the airstrike," adding that CENTCOM takes "all reports of civilian harm caused by U.S. military operations seriously and continue to employ thorough and deliberate targeting and strike processes to minimize civilian harm."

This isn't a first. The US military has made other similar mistakes in the past, such as when it initially celebrated eliminating an imminent threat with a fatal drone strike during the Afghanistan withdrawal only to discover later that it actually killed an aid worker and nine others, including seven children.

A New York Times investigation first brought that deadly incident to light. None of the service members involved in that strike were punished. Civilians have, on many occasions, been collateral damage in the wars in the Middle East.

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• 404 Media has been reporting on the proliferation of AI spam images like "Shrimp Jesus" for a few months now.
• The culmination is a kind of "zombie internet" – fake people posting fake stuff.
•  So why isn't Facebook putting a stop to it? Here's my take.

404 Media has been pulling the thread of the great mystery of "What the heck is going on with all this AI image spam on Facebook?" Over the last few months, they've reported on various versions of AI people doing chainsaw carvings, children showing off bicycles made of vegetables, old people blowing out birthday cakes, dying or mutilated children, and my personal favorite: Shrimp Jesus.

Finally, Jason Koebler presents his theory of what all this AI engagement bait spam means:

I think we should not view Facebook's AI spam through the lens of the "Dead Internet." The platform has become something worse than bots talking to bots. It is bots talking to bots, bots talking to bots at the direction of humans, humans talking to humans, humans talking to bots, humans arguing about a fake thing made by a bot, humans talking to no one without knowing it, hijacked human accounts turned into bots, humans worried that the other humans they're talking to are bots, hybrid human/bot accounts, the end of a shared reality, and, at the center of all of this: One of the most valuable companies on the planet enabling this shitshow because its human executives and shareholders have too much money riding on the mass adoption of a reality-breaking technology to do anything about it. 

Read more from 404 Media: Facebook's AI Spam Isn't the 'Dead Internet': It's the Zombie Internet

My take: The weird and sometimes unsettling nature of AI images is fascinating, but underneath the phenomenon of these AI-powered pages proliferating, there appears to be a classic case of traditional engagement bait. The AI stuff builds up a page's following — and that can be profitable for the page owner.

The question I'm left with is why is Facebook allowing this? 404 Media's report notes that occasionally, Meta will take action against certain pages, but only in really specific cases — like with a hacked account and when it removed AI-generated images of disfigured children. Those probably ran afoul of some other existing content guidelines.

I have a few theories about why Facebook is (for now) allowing this kind of AI image spam:

• It's an election year, and Facebook has bigger content-moderation issues to deal with.

• The images themselves are mostly benign, and the individual images don't run afoul of content guidelines. Shrimp Jesus is absurd, and things like it may ruin the Facebook experience in the long run, but for now, it's not really an issue of violating the content rules.

• Engagement bait isn't necessarily a banned tactic, either. Nothing says you can't post lots of engaging content to trick boomers (and others) into commenting. There are ways to violate the rules with certain spam tactics, but maybe these AI-fueled accounts aren't crossing the line.

• Facebook will start to detect and label some AI-generated images, but there's no rule that says you can't post something just because it's AI-generated. (When I asked about how they're handling these, a rep for Meta pointed me to their announcement of this policy.)

• (404 Media's theory): Meta is so invested in AI that it wants us to get used to seeing AI images, and so they're willing to let it go.

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• Israel has never been impressed with the US-made Patriot air defense system.
• In 1991, it failed to intercept nearly all of the Iraqi Scud missiles fired at Israeli cities.
• Israel may not need the Patriots, but Ukraine is pleading for more. 

Israel has never been satisfied with its version of the Patriot air defense system that Ukraine views as essential to its survival.

This creates a bizarre split screen where Ukraine was all but pleading for more Patriot missiles to defend its cities and forces on Monday even as Israel began to shut down its older Patriot batteries, a move that came less than a month after it battled an unprecedented missile barrage from Iran.

Israel and Ukraine's experience with the Patriots could not have been more different. Israel first used Patriots in combat in 1991 against approximately 40 Scud ballistic missiles that Iraq fired at its cities. While the bombardments did not kill large numbers of people, Israel was disappointed with the Patriot's pitiful performance, with officials estimating it shot down only one or possibly even zero Scuds.

Israel wouldn't use the Patriot in combat again until the 2010s when it shot down drones and a Su-24 bomber coming from Syria. By then, the Patriot had become a very different system. Its early failures, including against Iraqi Scuds, led to an extensive system upgrade and missiles with an active radar seeker that directly strike the target to destroy it with kinetic energy. These newer "hit-to-kill" missiles, the PAC-3, are estimated to cost around $4 million each. Their less sophisticated PAC-2 predecessor, on the other hand, are proximity-fusing missiles that explode near incoming missiles to eliminate them.

Since receiving its Patriots, with both PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptor missiles, in early 2023, Ukraine has successfully used them to shoot down Russia's Kinzhal missile, which Russia touted as an unstoppable hypersonic weapon, and, early this year, moved at least one launcher near the front lines and shot down a dozen of Russia's best fighter jets.

The Patriot is only part of Israel's missile shield that's been heavily tested by Iran and its proxies in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attacks. Israel has other options that are cheaper or built inside its country.

"Israel has long been looking for a more advanced and more indigenous system to supplement or replace the Patriot, not only given its service history but also the supply chain that it requires," Ryan Bohl, a senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at the risk intelligence company RANE, told Business Insider.

"That this comes not long after Iran's barrage of missiles against Israel isn't a huge surprise with that ongoing trend," Bohl said. "I think Israel views the Patriot as out of date and too expensive to keep up with given the breakthroughs that were demonstrated during that barrage by newer systems."

Federico Borsari, a defense expert at the Center for European Policy Analysis, also believes Israel's development of more advanced anti-missile systems weighed heavily on its decision to retire the Patriot.

"Israel's decision to retire its Patriot PAC-2 fire units is in line with the process of modernization and progressive enhancement of its air defense architecture with more advanced capabilities, in particular Iron Dome and David's Sling," Borsari told BI.

"The latter's Stunner missile, in particular, has a longer engagement range against aerodynamic threats (up to 300 km according to publicly available specifications) compared to the 160 km of the PAC-2's GEM-T missiles," Borsari said. "The two systems have a similar engagement range for ballistic threats, although David's Slings maximum range capability is likely higher than the Patriot's PAC-3 missiles."

The CEPA analyst noted that David's Sling truck-mounted ELM-2084 radar adds "maneuverability and rapid redeployment" advantages.

"David's Sling interceptors are also designed to counter saturation, multi-threat attacks like the recent one launched by Iran, thanks to their integration with the shorter-range Iron Dome," Borsari said.

Bohl pointed out the David's Sling is effective for intercepting "low-flying attacks and/or tracking enemy projectiles."

He also noted that the Stunner missile is significantly cheaper and, therefore, more cost-effective than its Patriot counterpart.

Israel previously refused a US request for its vintage Hawk missiles, long in storage and out of service, for Ukraine.

Analysts believe that might not necessarily be the case with the Patriots.

"I think it remains entirely possible that Israel countenances a potential transfer of these Patriots back to the United States and hence on to Ukraine from there," Bohl said. "Certainly, from the Israeli perspective, they would consider this fair play, as Russia's war in Ukraine has helped to dry up the much-needed 155 mm ammunition that Israel itself has required."

If the Patriots don't ultimately end up in Ukraine, it's not inconceivable they could be transferred to a regional country. Jordan requested the US deploy a Patriot missile on its soil in October and helped intercept the Iranian barrage on April 13.

"Transferring these Patriots to other third-party countries like Jordan or even Gulf Arab allies like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, or even Saudi Arabia, I think is also in the cards as the United States looks to bolster air defenses region-wide," Bohl said.

Borsari argues it is crucial for the US and the European countries to acquire the Israeli PAC-2 batteries for Ukraine.

"While not sufficient to cover the entire front, they would significantly enhance Ukraine's air defense as Russia increases its terrorist attacks against Ukrainian cities," Borsari said. "While Israel has so far resisted calls to provide Ukraine with military support, pressure from the US and others could allow for this transfer."

"Handing over to Jordan is also possible, although, given the circumstances, Western countries would and should prioritize Ukraine."

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• Mexico native Rogelio Villarreal Jasso said he purchased diamond-and-gold Cartier earrings online for $13.
• He said the cheap price resulted from a website glitch, and Cartier attempted to cancel his order.
• But after contacting Mexico's federal consumer protection agency, Jasso received his jewelry.

Rogelio Villarreal Jasso got extremely lucky when he found heavily discounted Cartier earrings online.

He was even more fortunate when he was allowed to keep the two pairs he purchased.

On December 1, 2023, the Mexico native noticed an Instagram advertisement for gold-and-diamond Cartier earrings priced at 232 pesos, or about $13, he told Business Insider.

The earrings — in Cartier's Clash style — originally retailed for 232,000 pesos, or about $13,675, so Jasso said he ordered two pairs.

But then Cartier tried to intervene, he said.

Jasso told BI he received a call from the luxury jewelry brand days later and was told that his order would be canceled because the online price wasn't correct.

He said Cartier apologized and offered to send him Champagne and a card holder — which he refused. Cartier did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

Instead, Jasso said he reviewed the terms and conditions of Cartier's Mexico site, where he found that the brand directs customers to the Office of the Federal Prosecutor for the Consumer if they have issues with orders.

According to The New York Times, he filed a complaint with the federal consumer protection agency, citing one of the country's consumer protection laws, which states that a supplier can be taken to court if the terms and conditions of a given purchase aren't upheld.

The agency did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

The Times reported that the complaint led to the agency contacting Cartier to mediate an agreement. Though the agency declined to share details with the publication while the case was ongoing, Jasso told the Times that a meeting was scheduled for next week.

But it wasn't necessary. After being contacted by the agency, Cartier seemingly took matters into its own hands and settled the issue by sending Jasso his order.

At the end of April, he shared photos of a Cartier package on X featuring two wrapped boxes with the brand's signature wax seals inside.

Now, he said, the earrings are officially his — much to the dismay of Mexican senator Lilly Téllez, who accused Jasso of taking advantage of Cartier and argued that he shouldn't have done so "even if the law supports you."

"It is more important to be honorable than to have Cartier earrings," she wrote.

As the Times reported, consumer complaints against businesses that change product prices are common in Mexico, which is likely the root of the senator's frustration.

But Jasso is thrilled about his purchase.

He told BI that he plans to keep one pair for himself solely as a memory of this experience and has decided to give the other to his mother because "she really deserves it."

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• Many influencers seek out talent managers to help them grow their brands and make more money.
• Business Insider is seeking nominations for rising stars in influencer talent management. 
• Please submit your nominations by Thursday, May 9 through this form or below.

Not all influencers build brands solely on their own.

After gaining thousands of followers on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, some creators turn to talent-management agencies for help negotiating deals or launching ambitious initiatives.

While some managers have rosters of clients from various categories, such as education, fashion, and healthcare, others are focused on specific criteria, like exclusively representing creators from diverse backgrounds or those with smaller audiences.

"You generally see slightly more equity in influencer pay when a creator reaches a certain follower tier and is able to secure a management team equipped to help them secure higher-paying, higher-quality brand deals," Brittany Bright, founder of The Influencer League, previously told Business Insider.

Some talent managers have recently come into the spotlight in the past few years, representing some of the most sought-after influencers or helping their clients execute particularly successful partnerships. Some are also helping brainstorm solutions to looming issues in the industry, such as the potential TikTok ban, or figuring out how to grow their audiences on newer platforms like Threads, which just introduced cash bonuses for creators. These managers might not be as well established as their more experienced counterparts, but they're introducing fresh ideas that are making their talent stand out.

BI is seeking nominations for this year's rising stars in talent management. Nominees must have no more than three years of experience in the creator economy, work for an established talent-management agency,  be based out of the US or the UK, and have contributed to their talent's success in a meaningful manner, as determined by BI's team.

Please submit your nominations by Thursday, May 9 through this form or below.

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• Kirra Dickinson, 28, ditched corporate life in 2022 for her mental health and to create content. 
• She chose to "descend the corporate ladder," a phrase a millennial comedian coined on TikTok. 
• A career coach says it's common among millennials and Gen Zers uninspired by their career paths.

Despite years of believing it was the only path, a Los Angeles-based millennial decided against climbing the corporate ladder. Now, she's happier than ever.

Kirra Dickinson, a 27-year-old content creator and manifestation coach, told Business Insider she spent years in technology research after graduating from UC Berkeley. Growing up, she felt "a lot of pressure" to get a traditional job to support herself and her family financially.

So, that's exactly what she did post-college. Her first job was as a design strategist for Fidelity in Boston before she pivoted to UX research. Eventually, she said she landed a job at Salesforce in Southern California.

When Dickinson was 26 and "reaching a peak" in her career, she found herself completely uninspired with work, to the point it was affecting her mental health.

"All I was thinking of is, 'Oh my gosh, this is going to suck. And I really don't want to do this. I really don't want to work with these people,'" she said.

At the same time, Dickinson was building a following on social media, posting lifestyle content, reviews, and tutorials, and getting a few brand deals here and there.

In 2022, she took a leap. "I was like, 'If I can pay my bills, that's fine. I have enough in savings and reserve investments. So we're just going to do an experiment and are going to quit corporate for a year," she said. "'If I don't like it, I can always come back.'"

Uninspiring leadership and the gig economy are drawing young professionals away from the corporate ladder

Dickinson is among many young professionals disillusioned by corporate life and the lack of work-life balance it can sometimes entail.

Octavia Goredema, a career coach and author of the book "Prep, Push, Pivot: Essential Career Strategies for Underrepresented Women" told BI she's increasingly noticing millennials and Gen Zers gravitating to the gig economy outside their 9-to-5 jobs, contributing to a general lack of ambition to climb the corporate ladder.

"Maybe they're investing, maybe they're working on a venture with friends on the weekends, maybe there's another skill that they have that they monetize in some way," Goredema said.

She also often hears younger clients say they don't want to become managers because it looks more stressful than it's worth.

"When they look above them at the roles that they could move into, in theory, they don't see anything that looks appealing," she said, adding that usually, it's because company leaders appear visibly under pressure and under-supported.

Anti-corporate ladder sentiment is also rife on social media. On April 7, New York-based comedian Aaron Yin posted a TikTok describing his career ambitions — or lack thereof.

In the video, which has over 1.1 million views, Yin said he is electing to "descend the corporate ladder" to better his health.

While he acknowledged some people aspire to be managers and to get "chewed out" by a CEO, he said he isn't one of them.

Yin said he doesn't want to be promoted or make more money because the added stress would mean spending more on "therapy and food."

Yin did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. However, his video prompted a surge of comments from users who said they, too, have chosen not to climb the corporate ladder to prioritize their happiness.

Like some commentators on Yin's video, Dickinson said she felt "relieved" after ditching the corporate ladder.

Not only that — she said she wound up making more money than her Salesforce salary after signing a deal with modeling agency NEXT, dedicating her time to coaching clients on manifestation, and launching a podcast.

"It is hard to walk away from that security," Dickinson said, referring to the corporate world. Still, she has no regrets about doing so to ride the "roller coaster" of an untraditional career path.

"It keeps things fresh," Dickinson said.

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• Applications to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program are paused through July.
• It's a result of the program's transition away from servicer MOHELA to several federal servicers.
• During this time, borrowers can still submit applications, but they will not be processed.

Some student-loan borrowers hoping for debt relief might have to wait a few months.

Beginning on May 1, the Education Department placed a pause on any processing of applications to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after ten years of qualifying payments.

This pause is happening to allow PSLF accounts to be transferred away from student-loan company MOHELA, which was previously the sole servicer tasked with managing the program. During this transition, several different companies will assume management over PSLF accounts, but borrowers will be able to check their PSLF status directly through studentaid.gov rather than through one of the servicers.

The transition is expected to be completed in July, after which borrowers will regain access to their account information. In the meantime, though, while borrowers can still submit PSLF applications, they will not be processed until the pause ends, and they will also be unable to access their PSLF history on MOHELA's portal.

Payments are also still due for borrowers during this period.

This transition is part of the Education Department's efforts to make the student-loan repayment system easier for borrowers to access. As Business Insider previously reported, many borrowers in PSLF have encountered challenges with MOHELA, including inaccurate payment counts toward PSLF, and strained servicer resources meant it was difficult for borrowers to get ahold of customer service.

The department has worked over the past few years to update borrowers' accounts and bring them closer to forgiveness — or discharge their loans if they met their qualifying payments — and the web streamlining is intended to improve the user experience on the front end.

Most recently, the department canceled $300 million in student debt for 4,600 PSLF borrowers, bringing the total debt relief through PSLF to $62.8 billion for 876,000 borrowers.

Still, it remains to be seen how effectively this transition will be completed. Additionally, BI first reported on Monday that MOHELA requested that over a million borrowers be transitioned from its portfolio to other servicers in the hopes that it could provide better service with a lighter load.

The Education Department agreed, and impacted borrowers have started receiving notices from MOHELA and their new servicer informing them of the change. In the meantime, the department has vowed to enforce oversight over servicers to ensure they are continuing to fulfill their contractual obligations to borrowers.

"The Department takes very seriously its responsibility to oversee servicers and ensure borrowers have a smooth and successful repayment experience," Federal Student Aid said in a recent blog post. "We will continue to monitor performance, communicate with servicers and borrowers, and take corrective action where needed."

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