Author: openjargon

• There's no love lost between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. 
• The CEOs have been feuding since 2016, when a SpaceX explosion destroyed a Facebook satellite.
• Here's a history of their feud.

For nearly eight years, two of tech's biggest names — Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg — have been caught up in a feud, clashing over topics like artificial intelligence and rockets.

The two men have been griping about each other behind closed doors for years, according to The Wall Street Journal. But the tech moguls haven't exactly kept their rivalry a secret from the public, either.

When a rocket from Musk's SpaceX exploded and destroyed a satellite from Zuckerberg's Facebook in 2016, Zuckerberg issued a heated statement, saying he was "deeply disappointed" about SpaceX's failure. And when Facebook became embroiled in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Musk publicly deleted his companies' Facebook pages, tweeting that the company gave him "the willies."

In June 2023, the two men threatened to make their fight physical and face each other in a cage match.

The two billionaires are among the richest people on the planet, placing them in an elite circle, even by Silicon Valley standards. Even though both work in artificial intelligence and social media, and their companies have partnered in the past, it seems there's no love lost between Musk and Zuckerberg.

Here's where their feud began and everything that's happened since.

The Musk-Zuckerberg feud dates back to at least 2016, when a SpaceX rocket explosion destroyed a Facebook satellite.

In September 2016, SpaceX was testing its Falcon 9 rocket at a launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Shortly after 9 a.m. the rocket exploded, destroying Facebook's AMOS-6 satellite, which was supposed to ride the rocket into space.

The satellite was part of Facebook's Internet.org project to deliver internet connectivity to the developing world, and it would have been Facebook's first satellite in orbit.

Zuckerberg seemed openly frustrated that the launch failed, writing on Facebook that he was "deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX's launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent."

Two years later, Musk addressed the failed launch in a post on Twitter to the reporter Kerry Flynn.

"Yeah, my fault for being an idiot," Musk said. "We did give them a free launch to make up for it, and I think they had some insurance."

In 2017, Zuckerberg criticized Musk's attitude toward artificial intelligence, which seemed to get a rise out of Musk.

During a Facebook Live broadcast, a viewer asked Zuckerberg for his thoughts on Musk's anxieties around AI.

"I have pretty strong opinions on this," Zuckerberg said. "With AI especially, I'm really optimistic, and I think that people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios … I don't understand it. It's really negative, and in some ways, I actually think it's pretty irresponsible."

Musk, who has repeatedly called for regulation and caution when it comes to new AI technology, shot back on Twitter.

"I've talked to Mark about this," he said in response to a tweet about Zuckerberg's comments. "His understanding of the subject is limited."

In 2018, following Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal, Musk made a public show of deleting SpaceX and Tesla's Facebook pages.

After the WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton tweeted, "It is time. #deletefacebook," Musk responded, "What's Facebook?"

A fan responded to Musk's tweet asking whether he'd delete the SpaceX Facebook page, to which Musk responded, "I didn't realize there was one. Will do."

After another fan pointed out that Tesla had a Facebook page too, Musk tweeted that it "looks lame anyway."

Soon after, both the SpaceX and Tesla pages disappeared from Facebook. Musk said it wasn't a "political statement" and that he just found Facebook unsettling.

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2018

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

 

Musk continued his campaign against Facebook in early 2020.

 

In response to a tweet from the actor Sacha Baron Cohen, which called for more regulation of Facebook, Musk urged people once again to delete the app.

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2020

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

 

Following the riot at the US Capitol in 2021, Musk used Twitter to share memes linking the riots to Facebook.

On the evening of the rampage in Washington, Musk tweeted, "This is called the domino effect," along with an image of dominoes, with the first one labeled "a website to rate women on campus," a reference to Facebook's inception at Harvard University. The last domino referenced the rioters.

Musk also criticized Facebook's data-sharing practices, tweeting another meme about Facebook that mentioned the company "spying" on users following the announcement by Facebook-owned WhatsApp that it would start forcing users to share their personal data with the platform.

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2021

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Musk tweeted that people should "use Signal," an encrypted messaging app. His tweet was retweeted by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, another tech executive who has sparred with Zuckerberg.

Last year, Musk criticized Zuckerberg's ironclad control of Meta.

The Tesla CEO compared Zuckerberg's control of Meta to a monarchy during an interview at the TED conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Facebook's parent company changed its name to Meta in October 2021.)

The interviewer, Chris Anderson, asked Musk whether his status as the richest man and one of Twitter's top influencers could pose a conflict of interest if he bought the platform. Musk used the opportunity to take a swipe at his rival.  

"As for media sort of ownership, I mean, you've got Mark Zuckerberg owning Facebook and Instagram and WhatsApp, and with a share ownership structure that will have Mark Zuckerberg the 14th still controlling those entities," Musk said. 

He went on to say that he "won't have that at Twitter."

Tensions appeared to get even higher between the two CEOs after Musk bought Twitter.

In December, Meta first brainstormed ideas for a Twitter competitor in order to capitalize on  Musk's chaotic Twitter takeover, according to a report from The New York Times. The company confirmed to Platformer in March that it's working on its own text-based social network, codenamed "Project 92."

Earlier this month, Meta's chief product officer, Chris Cox, appeared to mock Musk and Twitter by saying in an all-hands meeting that it the site will be "a platform that is sanely run."

Musk hasn't taken kindly to the news that Zuckerberg is creating an X competitor.

The billionaire taunted Zuckerberg on X, formerly Twitter, about his rival text-based social media platform.

"I'm sure Earth can't wait to be exclusively under Zuck's thumb with no other options," Musk posted in June.

Later writing: "Zuck my" with a tongue emoji.

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2023

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

 

 

Zuckerberg offered some rare praise for Musk and his plans for X in June 2023.

On an episode of "The Lex Fridman Podcast," the Meta CEO praised Musk's "push early on to make Twitter a lot leaner."

"I think that those were generally good changes," Zuckerberg said on the podcast.

When the Tesla CEO took over X, he more than halved the company's workforce. Zuckerberg has taken similar cost cutting measures at Meta, initiating a series of layoffs and dubbing 2023 the "year of efficiency."

 

The two men have reportedly been grumbling about each other in private for years.

People who have heard each man's private comments about the feud told The Wall Street Journal in a report published last June that Zuckerberg had long yearned for the public recognition Musk has received over the years as a tech pioneer and that Musk has fretted over Zuckerberg's early success with Facebook.

The two men appeared to agree to settle some of their differences in a cage match last June.

Last June, Musk said he'd be "up for a cage match" with Zuckerberg. 

The X owner brought up the idea after X users cautioned him to be careful dissing Zuckerberg since he knows jiu-jitsu.

It's unclear whether Musk was joking about the offer to fight the Meta CEO in a cage match. He said via X, "If this is real, I will do it," but later appeared to poke fun at his own fighting skills.

Zuckerberg appears to be taking the idea of a match seriously. After Musk first posted on X that he would be  "up for a cage fight," the Meta CEO posted a screenshot of the post on Instagram with the words "Send me location," and a Meta spokesperson later told The Verge that Zuckerberg is not joking about the offer.

Only time will tell if the two CEOs will duke it out in person.

Some people have already begun placing odds on the fight. Business Insider's Hasan Chowdhury reported that Musk's chances of beating Zuckerberg are slim. 39-year-old Zuckerberg has been trained in MMA fighting and even won some medals at a jiu-jitsu competition in May 2023.

Zuckerberg said he was ready to fight since the day Musk challenged him.

Zuckerberg said in a Threads post in August 2023 that he was "ready to fight since the day Elon challenged" him. 

"If he ever agrees on an actual date, you'll hear it from me," Zuckerberg said in the post. "Until then, please assume anything he says has not been agreed on."

Musk posted on X two days later that "Zuck is a chicken."

"He can't eat at chic fil a because that would be cannibalism," he wrote in a separate post on the same day.

 

A day after Zuckerberg's 40th birthday, Musk revived the cage-match proposal in a post on X.

Musk's gift to Zuckerberg for his 40th birthday was a challenge to fight him, once again.

"If only Zuckerberg were as tough (sigh). I've offered to fight him any place, any time, any rules, but all I hear is crickets," Musk said in an X post on May 15.

Musk's post was in response to a satirical news story about a face-off between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Meta and xAI are now competing against each other to partner with Character.AI

Character.AI is a platform with AI celebrity personas and characters that act as chatbots. Meta has already added a similar feature to its platforms, with celebrity chatbots voiced by big names like Kendall Jenner and MrBeast available.

The Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup was valued at $1 billion last year and according to a Financial Times report from May 24, Meta and xAI have held exploratory talks with Character.AI about working together. No deal has been reached yet with either company, the report said. 

Both companies are heavily investing in AI as the race to scale capabilities heats up. Both Meta and X offer AI chatbots on their social media platforms. 

Zuckerberg has expressed plans to spend "aggressively" on AI and said Meta's mission is to build artificial general intelligence, a level of AI that could outperform humans. 

Meanwhile, xAI announced on May 26 that it raised $6 billion in funding. Recent reports also indicate Musk is planning to build a supercomputer, the "gigafactory of compute," to train the latest version of Grok.

 

• Saudi Arabia is raising debt to plug holes in its finances, Bloomberg reported.
• Riyadh has pressed ahead with big spending projects as part of an economic diversification drive.
• It now needs to cover a $21 billion fiscal shortfall, per the outlet.

Saudi Arabia plans to raise money by selling bonds as it presses ahead with massive spending projects, Bloomberg reported.

The kingdom will issue dollar-denominated three, six, and 10-year sukuk notes as part of an effort to plug a fiscal shortfall that's expected to hit $21 billion by the end of the year, the outlet reported citing an unnamed source.

Riyadh previously sold $12 billion of sovereign debt in January, while planned desert megacity Neom has also reportedly mulled issuing Islamic bonds in a bid to raise more cash.

Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and French bank BNP Paribas will coordinate the bond sale, according to Bloomberg.

The latest bond sale comes as Saudi Arabia presses ahead with Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan that seeks to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

As part of the massive spending project, the kingdom plans to build Neom, which could ultimately cost as much as $1.5 trillion. It's also poured billions of dollars into sports, luring soccer stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Neymar to play in the local Saudi Pro League and backing the breakaway LIV Golf tournament.

In February, The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia had started borrowing to help fund Neom and other Vision 2030 "gigaprojects."

Tim Callen, a visiting fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute think tank in Washington, estimated that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the PIF, would need to raise another $270 billion if it wanted to fully realize its ambitions.

• Adam Neumann is giving up on plans to re-acquire WeWork.
• He called a different bankruptcy plan that cut him out "unrealistic and unlikely to succeed."
• That deal includes $450 million in equity funding and plans to wipe away billions of debt.

Adam Neumann is abandoning his plans to re-acquire WeWork.

Last month, the company announced a separate plan to emerge from bankruptcy that cut him out of its future.

Now, Neumann is stepping away.

And the entrepreneur told Business Insider he's not exactly hopeful about the company's new path.

"For several months, we tried to work constructively with WeWork to create a strategy that would allow it to thrive," Neumann said in a statement. "Instead, the company looks to be emerging from bankruptcy with a plan that appears unrealistic and unlikely to succeed."

The New York Times' Dealbook was the first to report that Neumann was throwing in the towel.

A representative for Neumann previously told Business Insider he'd submitted a bid of about $650 million.

The deal WeWork chose includes $450 million in equity funding and plans to wipe away billions in debt.

Neumann stepped down as head of WeWork in 2019 after the company's failed IPO. In November 2023, WeWork filed for bankruptcy.

• Poland unveiled a plan for new defenses along its borders with Russia and Belarus.
• Poland and other European NATO members are warning that Russia could launch an attack.
• An image showed a wall, barbed wire, anti-tank obstacles and vegetation.

A NATO country unveiled a new plan for its border intended to defend against attacks coming from Russia.

Poland's defense ministry on Monday touted its "east shield," an operation to strengthen its eastern border with Russia and Belarus.

It said the effort would be the largest defensive effort on NATO's eastern flank since World War II ended in 1945.

A diagram released as part of a policy document showed one segment of the planned "border zone."

It featured at least eight distinct types of defense:

• A permanent fence
• Barbed wire
• An anti-tank ditch
• A field of anti-tank obstacles (known as hedgehogs)
• Mines
• Another ditch
• A layer of vegetation

Officials also stated plans for increasing warning and tracking systems and anti-drone systems as well as preparing forward operating bases.

The Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army, General Wiesław Kukuła, said the project would strengthen Poland's resistance, limit the mobility of enemy troops, and protect Polish soldiers and civilians.

The Russia-Poland border is with Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave to its north. It also shares a frontier with Belarus, a dictatorship considered a Russian puppet state that has aided Russia with the invasion.

Further south, it borders Ukraine, where Russia has been executing a full-scale invasion since 2022.

The plan said not all border areas would be fortified to maximum strength — but did not give a detailed breakdown. Poland has around 140 miles of border with Russia and around 250 miles with Belarus.

It said the "east shield" plan will cover 435 miles of border in total.

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland's defense minister, said work on the defenses would start this year and end by 2028.

Poland's deputy prime minister estimated the cost at $2.56 billion.

The project is being done in cooperation with the nearby Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, which Poland is working with to increase security in the region.

All four countries used to be dominated by the Soviet Union and have been outspoken about the prospect of Russia attacking again.

Poland and the Baltics have been Ukraine's most forthright allies, advocating for more dramatic responses than most Western countries.

Poland spends a higher percentage of its GDP on defense than any other NATO member, including the US.

Warnings Russia could attack

Poland is one of many European NATO members that warning that Russia may attack elsewhere in Europe if it is not defeated in Ukraine. Because of NATO's collective defense clause, that would likely also bring the US into a wider war.

The head of Poland's national security agency said at the end of last year that Russia could attack NATO countries within three years — by 2026.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also said in March that Europe was in a "pre-war era" and needed to prepare urgently.

Other Russian neighbors are boosting their borders

Other countries near Russia are also increasing their border defenses.

Baltic countries also plan big fortifications on their borders with Russia and Belarus, including bunkers.

Six NATO countries — Poland, Finland, Norway, and the three Baltic states — are also reportedly planning a "drone wall" to defend against Russia.

Poland already has a border wall between it and Belarus, built by its previous government last year to prevent migration.

Poland and its neighbors say Russia is targeting them by sending migrants across their borders and by launching cyberattacks, describing the actions as Russian efforts to destabilize Europe.

• Waze is Google's traffic and navigation app that uses driver-supplied data to map your routes.
• Waze provides realtime updates on traffic and route hazards like accidents, speed cameras, and more.
• Waze was acquired by Google in 2013, and in 2023 merged into a new Google Geo division.

Waze is a free, Google-owned GPS app that provides you with up-to-date navigation and traffic information for any trip. While it's most dynamic when connected to your cellular service, the app has offline capabilities, granting you access to directions without reception.

The company acquired Waze in 2013, when Larry Page was Google's CEO. Google paid about $1.3 billion for the navigation app, but Waze's former CEO has criticized Google's management of the product. 

Multiple rounds of Google layoffs have impacted Waze, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, following its merger with Google Maps into a Google Geo division. Google Geo also includes Google Earth and Google Street View.

Is Waze better than Google Maps?

Like Google or Apple Maps, the most basic way to use Waze is by getting turn-by-turn directions. You can, for example, choose the quickest route, avoid tolls, or share your drive and ETA — something that can be especially helpful when meeting up with a group.

Waze stands apart from other GPS tools because of how unusually socially focused it is for a GPS tool. Not only does the app let you see the other Wazers on the road with you, but it provides two different chat options.

Waze and Google Maps share many similarities, but Waze is known for being car-focused with real-time updates on conditions and fastest routes. Google Maps, meanwhile, is a more traditional navigation app, but it offers options for walking, driving, biking, and public transportation. It also has features like Google Street View, which offers 360-degree visuals of locations.

New Waze features

Today, Waze has even more socially focused updates to help drivers keep safe on the road. Thanks to insights from local Waze drivers, these new updates will help drivers get information about navigating the roads, finding parking, and more.

These updates are set to roll out in 2024 globally on Android and iOS.

Navigating tricky roundabouts 

Knowing how to navigate a roundabout can be confusing, especially if you're a new driver in an unfamiliar area. 

With Waze's new update, thanks to their community members, drivers can clearly see when to enter, which lane to choose, and where to exit, so you never miss your turn.

Emergency vehicle alerts

Now, drivers can be alerted in advance when emergency vehicles like ambulances are approaching or stopped along your route.

Waze drivers will be notified and can adjust their driving accordingly — keeping you and first responders safe. 

Speed limit alerts

No one enjoys getting a costly speeding ticket. With Waze's speed limit alerts, drivers can slow down and safely adjust to the changing road conditions.

Waze will alert you when a speed limit is about to decrease along your route, giving you ample time to slow down and adjust to the new speed. 

Local hazard alerts

Driving in a new city or town can be daunting, especially if you're new to driving. 

Whilst the Waze app already features alerts to hazards such as potholes, railroad crossings, or bad weather, Wazers will also receive early warning signs for new hazards like sharp curves, speed bumps, and toll booths. 

Stress-free parking reservations

Waze is expanding its parking features to deliver stress-free parking for Wazers. 

The new app feature offers detailed information about parking, including cost, coverage, wheelchair accessibility, valet options, and the availability of EV charging stations. Wazers will even be able to reserve a parking space from the Waze app to save you time.

• Telecoms giant T-Mobile is buying US Cellular's wireless operations for $4.4 billion.
• The regional carrier has been up for sale since last year and mostly services rural customers.
• T-Mobile also recently finalized the acquisition of Ryan Reynolds-backed Mint Mobile.

T-Mobile has struck a deal to buy "substantially all" of US Cellular's wireless operations for around $4.4 billion.

The telecoms giant said on Tuesday it had agreed a deal that will see it take on the Chicago-based wireless provider's customers and stores.

T-Mobile will acquire US Cellular's wireless operations and around 30% of its spectrum assets. The company will also extend its leases on 600 US Cellular towers and sign long-term leases on around 2,100 more.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that T-Mobile rival Verizon was also in talks to buy parts of US Cellular. The regional carrier has been up for sale since last year amid a declining customer base and underwhelming revenues.

The deal, which is expected to close in mid-2025 and includes up to $2 billion of assumed debt, brings yet more consolidation to the US wireless industry.

Earlier this month, T-Mobile finalized a $1.35 billion deal to acquire the parent company of Mint Mobile, a deal which saw actor and Mint Mobile part-owner Ryan Reynolds take home around $300 million.

T-Mobile and US Cellular said the deal, which will face an antitrust review, will help deliver lower prices and provide faster wireless speeds to US Cellular's customers, who live in primarily rural areas.

• Elon Musk is rehiring some of the Tesla Supercharger staff he fired in April, Bloomberg reported.
• He made similar moves in the early days of his Twitter takeover in 2022.
• The billionaire CEO's firing and hiring practices have drawn criticism and lawsuits.

Elon Musk appears to be trigger-happy when it comes to firing his employees.

Tesla is rehiring some of the nearly 500 Supercharger staff members Musk fired in April as a cost-saving measure amid challenging times at the EV company, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.

Sound familiar? That's because he's done this before.

Six months after he took over Twitter in 2022 and swiftly reduced head count by about 90%, Musk said he would try to rehire some of the people he laid off, expressing some regret over his decision.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Musk told CNBC's David Faber in May 2023. "So there's no question that some of the people who were let go probably shouldn't have been let go."

This fire-and-rehire tactic has been suggested to be a deliberate gambit by Musk.

In an interview with Lex Fridman, Walter Isaacson, Musk's biographer, said the mass layoffs at Twitter were part of Musk's "delete-delete-delete" approach to managing his companies. The author said the CEO believed "if you don't end up adding back 20% of what you deleted, then you didn't delete enough in the first round because you were too timid."

Since founding his first company in the late '90s, Musk has risen to become one of the most prominent entrepreneurs of the 21st century — and arguably one of the busiest. On top of Tesla and X, Musk also runs SpaceX, Neuralink, AI startup xAI, and an underground tunnel company. His business ventures have made him one of the richest men in the world.

Still, that doesn't mean Musk is particularly good at running those companies, critics say.

"Organizations can be poorly run and still be financially viable," Alec Levenson, a senior research scientist at the University of Southern California Marshall Center for Effective Organizations, told Business Insider.

"If you have good enough margins, if you have strong enough loyalty from your customers, then you can still have good financial results," Levenson added. "But I guarantee you the results would be that much better if the management practice is improved and you can do it without hurting the bottom line."

A culture of distrust

The billionaire's hiring and firing practices at his companies have been criticized before and, in some cases, accused of being illegal.

At Tesla, Musk told his employees that he would personally approve all new hires, according to an email obtained by Business Insider.

Human resources experts said the action is not only an inefficient use of the CEO's time but also signals distrust to employees responsible for hiring personnel.

"To have one of the most successful entrepreneurs and someone who's running two very important organizations get down into the weeds like that is the worst use of his time," Levenson said of Musk's role at X and Tesla. "What that says is that you don't trust anybody that's sitting in management — all the layers between you and them."

Musk is also known to have fired employees who disagreed with his decisions.

Weeks after his takeover of Twitter, now known as X, Musk had a team look through the company's internal messages to find employees who appeared to be insubordinate and later fired those workers, The New York Times reported.

Several ex-employees who previously spoke with Business Insider's Kali Hays also said they felt they were fired because of their thoughts on Musk.

A similar incident occurred at SpaceX when a group of employees were fired shortly after they sent an open letter in 2022 to the company's leadership, calling Musk's behavior "a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us."

The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Musk, accusing the SpaceX CEO of unlawfully firing the employees.

Levenson told BI that one way to address employee concerns or disagreements, at least within the company, is to establish open lines of communication for employees to express any internal issues.

In March, the NLRB also accused Musk's SpaceX of forcing fired or laid-off employees to sign illegal severance agreements that barred them from speaking against the company or joining class-action lawsuits.

Musk's management practices have also been challenged in court.

Former janitors at Twitter's New York office sued Musk in June 2023, claiming they are owed "hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages."

Other former Twitter employees and executives have sued Musk, accusing him of unpaid severance pay.

"This is the Musk playbook: to keep the money he owes other people and force them to sue him," according to a lawsuit filed by four former Twitter executives. "Even in defeat, Musk can impose delay, hassle, and expense on others less able to afford it."

Spokespeople for Musk, Tesla, X, and SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• China unveiled robot dogs with machine guns that could replace soldiers.
• The robots can navigate obstacles and fire at targets.
• The move aligns with China's increased military budget and global shift toward robotic warfare.

China has showcased robot dogs capable of firing machine guns in the latest display of its military prowess.

The remote-controlled robots were unveiled during a military training exercise conducted by China and Cambodia earlier this month.

According to a video shared by state broadcaster CCTV, the battery-operated robodogs can function independently for between two and four hours and are capable of moving forward and backward, lying down, and jumping.

They can also plan routes, approach targets, and avoid obstacles, the video said. One of the robots shown in the video was fitted with a rifle to shoot targets, according to CCTV.

Chen Wei, a Chinese soldier, told CCTV that the robot dogs will "serve as a new member in urban combat operations" and can replace the role of human soldiers in identifying and striking targets.

The robot dogs appeared to be supplied by the Chinese manufacturer Unitree, Axios said. The robot dogs on Unitree's website cost between $2,800 and $100,000.

This isn't the first time China has shown off a gun-toting robot dog. Back in 2022, Business Insider reported that China had developed a robot dog that carried a machine gun and could be deployed via drone.

It's just the latest sign of China's growing military capabilities.

China's military recently undertook two-day large-scale drills around Taiwan. As BI previously reported, the drills were used to test China's ability to carry out an assault.

Speaking at a Taiwan policy meeting in February, Wang Huning, the Chinese Communist Party's fourth-ranked leader, said that China planned to "resolutely combat" any sign of Taiwan independence in 2024, Reuters reported.

This comes after China's military spending for this year was estimated to rise to 1.67 trillion yuan, or $231 billion — the biggest increase in five years, Bloomberg reported in March.

Smart machinery is becoming more commonplace for militaries worldwide.

"Living fighters will gradually begin to be replaced by their robotic 'brothers' who can act faster, more accurately, and more selectively than people," Vitaly Davydov, deputy director of Russia's Advanced Research Foundation, said in an interview with RIA cited by Forbes in April 2020.

Meanwhile, the US military is using "non-weaponized" robots supplied by Boston Dynamics. According to its website, the company specializes in robots that can remotely inspect hazardous environments, conduct rescue missions, and perform other logistics operations.

China's Ministry of National Defense and Unitree did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Gen Z is reviving Golden Goose sneakers, valued for their shabby chic design.
• Critics question the appeal of the distressed look, but fans love their comfort and style.
• Golden Goose's popularity is rising, with the company valued at €3.3 billion ahead of its IPO.

Golden Goose sneakers were condemned as "cheugy" a few years ago. But Gen Z is bringing them back.

Young people have developed a taste for the shabby chic design of purposefully dirty-looking Golden Goose shoes, which can set them back $500 or more.

On Net-A-Porter, the most expensive Golden Goose shoe costs just over $1,000, while the cheapest is $420.

On Golden Goose's official site, prices go up to $2,350, though customers on social media have reported even higher sums when they go for custom designs.

The brand was founded in 2000 by Italian designers Francesca Rinaldo and Alessandro Gallo. They launched their sneakers in 2007 with the Super-Star model.

According to the fashion retailer Coggles, the beaten-up look is supposed "to demonstrate a nonchalant attitude rather than an unkempt aesthetic."

Interest in Golden Goose sneakers was bubbling among Zoomers last summer and seems to have boomed in 2024.

Other brands, including Balenciaga, Gucci, and Adidas, have dabbled in the distressed sneaker trend, though Golden Goose seems to have cornered the market with hundreds of designs and achieved mass appeal in a way that others haven't.

On TikTok, Golden Gooses are trending, with young consumers loving the aesthetic. Enthusiasts say they are the comfiest shoes they've ever worn, with some describing an addiction to the brand they just can't shake.

Critics say buying Golden Goose sneakers must be a "social experiment" because they can't understand a desire to buy anything that's so dirty and beaten up.

But those who get it just "get it," fans say in response — once a devotee, always a devotee.

Some Golden Goose disciples say they've been questioned about why they would buy dirty shoes, particularly for hundreds of dollars.

But the cool factor seems to lie in their lack of concern. Golden Gooses are becoming a status symbol among young women and men.

In 2024, Panda Dunks are out, and Super-Stars are in.

This is reflected in sales. Net revenues rose 18% in 2023 compared to a year earlier, according to the fashion retail outlet Drapers. Bloomberg recently valued the company at €3.3 billion and reported that it will likely go public in Milan this week. BI has contacted Golden Goose for comment.

Business Insider reported that Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and Hilary Duff are among the shoes' fans. This could factor into investor estimates of the company's valuation being 11 times this year's forecasted earnings.

In December, Golden Goose's CEO, Silvio Campara, told the Financial Times that the company's customers were largely young people and that 80% could be defined as Gen Z or millennials.

Parents aren't as thrilled, though. In one recent TikTok, posted by content creator Sydney Schiffer, she recorded her dad calling her "insane" when he learned how much her Golden Gooses had cost.

"The youth of today," he exclaimed. "It boggles my friggin' mind, there's a company that literally makes sneakers look old and worn?"

When Schiffer's mom noted ripped jeans are in style too, her father asked: "Why don't you just buy my old sneakers?"

Schiffer explained herself in a follow-up video, saying she agreed her love of Golden Goose shoes was irrational because she thought they were "ugly for the longest time."

"Especially for the price, the price is like, makes me want to throw up," she said.

However, when she saw one particular pair, she fell in love.

Schiffer showed off her new sneakers, which were characteristically scuffed and a nude-ish grey color — akin to old sneakers that have been stuffed into multiple suitcases and trudged through dirt over years' worth of vacations.

But, she said, they were the most comfortable shoes she'd ever worn, and they go with every outfit.

"They come dirty, so I don't care when I get them dirty," she said. "These last a lifetime. You don't have to clean them because as they get dirty, they just look more and more like a Golden Goose sneaker."

For this reason, they are good value and she will get her money's worth, Schiffer added.

"Especially by the time I'm 50, and I'm still wearing these."

• Nikeeta Sriram accused Nicholas Jarzabek of turning her $1.675 million home into an illegal Airbnb.
• Jarzabek told BI he plans to countersue his landlord for libel.
• He claims Sriram knew about the subletting and went on to disparage him, leading to death threats.

The tenant of a $1.675 million Los Angeles home, whose owner accused him of turning it into an illegal Airbnb, insists he did nothing wrong.

Nicholas Jarzabek, who also goes by the stage name Nick Diver, now plans to countersue his landlord Nikeeta Sriram, accusing her of libel, among other claims.

"I am not a nightmare tenant. I have never been a nightmare tenant," Jarzabek said in a letter provided to Business Insider by email.

In the letter, he claimed not only that Sriram had stained his reputation, but also that he sublet the property with her knowledge.

The Los Angeles Times reported on a lawsuit filed by 31-year-old Nikeeta Sriram, seeking to kick out Jarzabek and take back the home.

In an interview with the newspaper she called Jarzabek a "nightmare," the term he rejected in his email.

Sriram said she rented her Mid-Wilshire property to Jarzabek in March 2022. It consists of a main house and a separate one-bedroom house in the yard.

According to the lawsuit, reviewed by the Times, Jarzabek initially paid his rent on time and made no repair requests.

However, The Times reported that in December 2023, Sriram discovered her home listed on Airbnb, which she claimed violated the terms of their lease.

As part of the lawsuit, Sriram subpoenaed Airbnb records, which showed that over 16 months between 2022 and 2023, the listing generated $215,954, about $13,500 a month, according to the Times.

Sriram filed for eviction through the Los Angeles Superior Court and sent a cease-and-desist letter to Jarzabek's attorney, the outlet reported.

Jarzabek showed BI a draft of a civil lawsuit where he counters Sriram's claims. He said he plans to file it this week.

In the document, he alleges that Sriram only initiated eviction proceedings when she asked him to leave early and he refused.

He denied breaching the lease's terms, claiming he paid rent on time every month up until eviction proceedings began.

In a letter provided to Business Insider, Jarzabek claimed that earlier in the lease Sriram "didn't care what I did with the properties as long as I paid the rent."

He stated that Sriram knew he was single and had rented him two separate houses, seeming to imply it was obvious he would do something else with the excess space.

"Sriram knew I had guests and knew I sublet," he said. He also claimed she had not expressed any concerns for a year and a half until she wanted to break the lease, which he says was due to continue to September 2024.

Jarzabek's draft lawsuit claims Sriram made "false, misleading, nonfactual, and unfounded" statements about him in the Times article.

He claims the article led to "public hatred, contempt, and ridicule," including threats by people to beat up and kill him and says he is seeking damages of $14,000.

Sriram did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.