Author: openjargon

• An airport worker fell out of an Airbus A320 in Indonesia.
• A video of the incident shows staff breaking safety rules by removing the airstairs with the door open.
• The airline, TransNusa, has reportedly opened an investigation into the incident. 

A video shows the frightening moment an airport worker fell out of an Airbus A320.

The man is seen looking back at the plane, apparently talking to the crew on board, as other staff move the airstairs away from the plane, which sports the livery of Indonesian airline Transnusa.

He appeared to presume the stairs were still there. He stepped backward out of the open door and fell to the tarmac.

The video shows a clear lapse in following safety rules. Ground workers are not supposed to move the airstairs while a plane's door is still open.

Details of the incident are sparse.

Citing an unnamed source, Airlive.net reported that the worker wasn't seriously injured and received immediate treatment.

Newsflare reported that the incident occurred on Tuesday in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and that the worker had just finished pre-flight checks. The flight departed 50 minutes late, it added.

TransNusa has started an investigation into the incident, per Newsflare.

The airstairs bear the logo of JAS Airport Services, a company that provides ground-handling services to airports and airlines in Indonesia.

TransNusa is a small regional airline first founded in 2005. It stopped operations in 2020 due to the pandemic but was relaunched in 2022.

TransNusa and JAS Airport Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• Call center workers might not have to deal with angry customers for too much longer.
• SoftBank plans on using AI to make angry calls sound less aggressive.
• The Japanese firm is seeking to turn a customer's voice "into a calm conversational tone" with AI.

Complaints to call center workers are about to sound a lot less angry, and they have artificial intelligence to thank.

SoftBank Corp, the telecoms arm of the Japanese conglomerate led by billionaire Masayoshi Son, is apparently preparing to test AI software that softens the tone of furious callers in a bid to reduce the stress faced by customer service workers.

The company, one of Japan's largest telecoms operators, said it's seeking to test the technology both internally and externally with a view to commercialization in 2026, per comments first reported by Reuters.

"We are working on the development of a solution that can convert the customer's voice into a calm conversational tone and deliver it to our workers using AI-enabled emotion recognition and voice processing technology," SoftBank said.

"With this solution, we aim to maintain good relationships with customers through sound communication while ensuring the psychological welfare of our workers."

The developments are likely to be welcomed news for call center workers. Since the release of ChatGPT, there has been rising fears a that AI could displace customer service jobs.

Those fears have escalated following the unveiling this week of OpenAI's new model, GPT-4o. Thanks to its voice feature and ability to "reason across audio, vision, and text in real time," GPT-4o offers more humanlike interactions with users.

But the prospect that AI could turn a shouty rant into a more serene interaction will reinforce the belief of those who believe AI is more likely to improve the lot of workers, rather than steal their jobs.

SoftBank, which is making a fresh effort to invest in AI initiatives, says on its website that it sees AI as a path to a "happier future for all."

Call center workers will feel happier if they're no longer on the wrong end of a rant.

• Microsoft is offering relocation to hundreds of China-based employees.
• The offer has been made to machine learning and cloud workers, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• The report comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing over a range of issues.

Microsoft is reportedly asking up to 800 China-based employees if they'd consider leaving the country as tensions between the US and China grow.

The company is offering workers involved in machine learning or cloud work transfers to countries like the US, Ireland, and Australia, sources told The Wall Street Journal.

Representatives for Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

A spokesperson told the Journal that internal opportunities were a normal part of business, and Microsoft remained committed to its operations in China.

The report comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing over issues including AI chips. The Biden administration is considering new rules that would require US tech companies to have licenses before handing over access to AI chips to Chinese customers, per the Journal.

There have been concerns harsher rules could escalate a fight with Beijing over the vital chips.

Chinese officials have also been asking domestic tech giants to buy locally-made AI chips instead of Nvidia's, The Information reported this week.

Major tech companies like Alibaba, Baidu, TikTok parent company ByteDance, and Tencent were told to cut spending on foreign-made chips like Nvidia's, the outlet reported, citing unnamed sources.

The move is a blow for Nvidia, which sees China as a critical market and key revenue generator.

Other tech companies have also been caught up in geopolitical tensions.

Apple has been having a rough ride in the key Chinese market, with iPhone sales taking a beating from local suppliers. The iPhone maker also appears to be working to diversify its supply chains away from China.

Beijing has been cracking down on officials' use of iPhones. Chinese officials across at least eight provinces had been told to stop using Apple devices, Bloomberg previously reported. 

• Neuralink's brain-chip implant malfunctioned in its first human patient weeks after it was inserted.
• Wires retracted from the patient's brain, which impacted its effectiveness, but it was later fixed. 
• Reuters reported the company knew of the risks that wires could retract from the brain years before.

Neuralink was aware of the risks of its brain-chip implant malfunctioning in its first human patient years before it was inserted, Reuters reported.

Noland Arbaugh received the implant in January, but things didn't go to plan. Weeks after the procedure, some of the device's wires pulled away from his brain, the company said last week.

A Reuters report, which cites five unnamed sources, said Neuralink knew the wires could retract from its device after it carried out tests on animals. Neuralink decided the device didn't need to be reconfigured as it believed the risk of the wires retracting was low, the report said.

Elon Musk's company carried out experiments on animals, including monkeys, before it got approval last May from the US Food and Drug Administration to conduct human trials. It's starting by testing the implant, called "The Link," on people with paralysis to enable them to control devices using their thoughts.

The Link has more than 1,000 electrodes and at least 64 wires or "threads," each thinner than a strand of human hair, some of which pulled out of position.

That caused the impact to be less effective, which resulted in a weaker control of Arbaugh's ability to move a cursor around a computer screen, Neuralink said last week.

The neurotech firm even considered removing the implant from Arbaugh altogether, The Wall Street Journal reported, but Neuralink later made adjustments that improved its functionality, the blog said.

Arbaugh was paralyzed below the shoulders after a diving accident in 2016, and since receiving the implant he's been able to control his laptop while lying in bed, browse the web, and play computer games.

In the blog post last week, he said, "[The Link] has helped me reconnect with the world, my friends, and my family. It's given me the ability to do things on my own again without needing my family at all hours of the day and night."

The company also plans to implant 10 of its devices in other human patients by the end of this year, the Journal reported.

Neuralink didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, made outside typical working hours.

Do you work at Neuralink? Got a tip? Contact the reporter at jmann@businessinsider.com or reach out on Signal @jyotimann.11

• Australia's richest woman has demanded an unflattering painting of her be taken down.
• The portrait, by Vincent Namatjira, shows mining magnate Gina Rinehart with a double chin.
• The National Gallery of Australia and Namatjira have both rejected Rinehart's request.

Australia's richest woman wants a portrait of her taken down from the country's national gallery, outlets including the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Both mining magnate Gina Rinehart and associates at her company, Hancock Prospecting, have made multiple approaches to the gallery with the demand, the newspaper reported.

The painting is by Vincent Namatjira, a First Nations artist who, according to the National Gallery of Australia has "established himself in the past decade as a celebrated portraitist and a satirical chronicler of Australian identity."

The portrait of Rinehart is part of a career-survey exhibition titled "Vincent Namatjira: Australia in colour."

It is one of 20 other paintings depicting Rinehart alongside Australian and international figures including Queen Elizabeth II, Jimi Hendrix, and the artist himself. All are painted in Namatjira's distinctive distorted style.

Rinehart, who is worth more than $22 billion and is in 84th place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is depicted in shades of mottled pink with a double chin.

She reportedly approached the gallery director personally to ask for the portrait to be removed. According to the Herald, Hancock Prospecting has said the gallery is "doing the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party" by showing her in an unflattering light.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The gallery "welcomes the public having a dialog" about its displays, it said in a statement shared with Business Insider.

The gallery also shared a statement from the artist, who said that he emphasizes painting wealthy and powerful people who have influenced Australia "whether for bad or for good."

"People don't have to like my paintings, but I hope they take the time to look and think, 'why has this Aboriginal bloke painted these powerful people?'" Namatjira wrote. "'What is he trying to say?'"

"Some people might not like it, other people might find it funny, but I hope people look beneath the surface and see the serious side too."

The episode illustrates a rare exception to billionaires' power and influence — this time in the name of artistic freedom. In the meantime, the flurry of attention has arguably brought more viewers to Rinehart's portrait than ever anticipated — a classic example of the "Streisand effect."

Rinehart made her fortune turning around her father's ailing mining company. She is politically outspoken, advocating for lower taxes and looser regulation and last year showed up at former President Donald Trump's presidential campaign launch.

Rinehart is listed on the National Gallery of Australia's "friends" list as having contributed between $4,999 and $9,999 Australian dollars, or a minimum of about $3,300.

Multiple elite swimmers, who are sponsored by Rinehart, have also called for the painting to be taken down, per the Herald.

The exhibition closes on July 21 in Canberra.

• Biden raised tariffs on China's green tech, but spared graphite for two years.
• China dominates global graphite supply, which is vital for EV batteries.
• Sila CEO said the delay harms investment in the US battery supply chain.

President Joe Biden this week hiked tariffs on China's massive green-tech sector, which includes electric vehicles, batteries, solar cells, and certain critical minerals, touting them as a way to protect American workers.

But Gene Berdichevsky saw a gaping hole. The White House decided to delay by two years tariffs on graphite, a key metal in EV lithium-ion batteries that helps them store energy. China mines and processes the vast majority of the world's supply, according to federal US data.

"If our policy is that China is not playing on a level playing field, so we're going to use tools to level them, then we should do it in a way that actually has the outcome we want — which is to develop domestic battery supply chains," Berdichevsky said Tuesday during dinner with reporters in Washington, DC.

Berdichevsky is the CEO of Sila, a next-generation battery materials startup that uses silicon instead of graphite. The company's technology makes lithium-ion batteries lighter than what's on the market today, and the firm says it helps store 20% more energy, or up to 100 extra miles for some EVs. Berdichevsky, an early employee at Tesla, said he saw a future where EVs could recharge in 10 minutes, which would rival a stop at the gas station.

Sila opened a factory last year in Moses Lake, Washington, with help from a $100 million grant from the US Department of Energy. The company aims to make enough battery materials to power 200,000 EVs by 2026, and Mercedes-Benz is already a customer.

Manufacturing a new technology in the US is challenging for a number of reasons. In Sila's case, it needs to scale big enough to meet the demand of large automakers, Berdichevsky said. That requires billions of dollars, but it's hard to raise funds between the venture-capital and private-equity stages — a gap he described as the "missing middle." In addition, the US is slow to transform its infrastructure, including power grids and EV charging, which would drive demand for homegrown green tech. Meanwhile, there's the risk that another company copies the technology and tries to compete.

Now, the White House is sending a disappointing signal to Sila's investors by exempting Chinese graphite from tariffs and other policies designed to shift automakers away from sourcing batteries and critical minerals from China, Berdichevsky said.

He added that if the White House slapped tariffs on graphite, "the market would react and go, 'Oh, there's this new technology that can replace graphite that's made in the US — let me go and invest in that.'"

New trade barriers would make EVs sold in the US more expensive, Berdichevsky added. But it would send a strong signal "to get the hell out of Chinese graphite right now, not two years from now or longer."

The White House didn't return a request for comment. But a senior Biden administration official said during a call with reporters that some tariffs would kick in in 2026 to allow battery supply chains to transition. Domestic production is beginning to come online but not quickly enough to minimize market disruption.

An analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund found that enough US battery production had been announced to supply all the EVs expected to be sold in 2030. However, those batteries can still source graphite from China until at least 2027 under the Biden administration's policy.

Beyond graphite, other tariffs that Biden slapped on China's green tech are mostly symbolic. Existing tariffs already keep Chinese EVs out of the US market, while cheap solar panels are mainly arriving from Southeast Asia to circumvent trade barriers. But steeper taxes on batteries this year could affect US automakers such as Ford and Tesla, which import from China.

• Disneyland performers in California say they have to deal with painful costumes and low pay.
• The claims surfaced in a video by More Perfect Union as part of a unionization push.
• California performers are voting to join the Actors' Equity Association.

Performers at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, say they are made to wear painful costumes, receive inadequate pay, and face challenges with inflexible management.

Three workers made these claims in a video published on the labor movement platform More Perfect Union as part of a campaign by park employees to unionize.

In February, cast members announced their intent to unionize with the Actors' Equity Association, also known as Equity, to form a group called Magic United.

While Walt Disney World performers in Florida have long enjoyed union representation, their counterparts in California, particularly those within the Characters and Parades departments, are now voting on whether to follow suit.

In the video shared on Wednesday, three performers detailed their grievances about working for Disneyland.

Mai Vao, a character performer and a California Adventure host, described how she has to go through "three hours of hair and makeup, wearing prosthetics," four days a week, for her job.

She said she regularly had to wear 18mm sclera and black contact lenses, which she claimed "created a gray stain around my iris."

Courtney Griffith, a parade performer, said in the video that she sustained an injury from wearing her costume — a dress with a giant cape that pulled backward on her shoulders.

Her injury, she said, was "the type of pain where you instantly start crying."

Griffith said that most of her colleagues have a permanent injury: "The magic starts to fade away, and you're just left with not being able to pay my rent, permanent injuries, and management who doesn't value or respect you."

Adam Hefner, a superhero performer and safety leader for seven years, said in the video that there "isn't any incentive, financially, to put your body at risk.'"

He said that often performers work hard "while living in your car because you can't pay rent."

For others, Hefner said they face drives home of up to two hours to "be able to live with three roommates, and then turn around eight hours after and head back because you've been scheduled for a shift."

Griffith also complained about shifts and management's inflexible attendance policy. She said she has to work six days a week for six weeks straight to earn one day off.

Griffith claimed that performers with school or other jobs in the morning are sometimes told to leave their other commitments early to attend rehearsals that start prior to their scheduled shift times.

Vao said in the video that it's hard to do a good job when they feel underappreciated: "It's really, really hard to make magic for guests when you're deeply unhappy inside."

Disneyland Resorts did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Results on unionization are expected to be announced on Saturday.

• Many are concerned about how AI will change wars. 
• Anduril founder Palmer Luckey believes the technology will lead to better decision-making and fewer blunders.
• Putin wouldn't have invaded Ukraine when he did if AI had helped him strategize, Luckey told Bloomberg.

AI has been compared to the next atomic bomb and sparked fears about the future of warfare.

But Anduril founder Palmer Luckey believes the technology will improve war for everyone.

"AI is going to be a tool to put all the cards on the table for everyone," Luckey told Bloomberg's Emily Chang in the latest episode of "The Circuit."

"My hope is that you're going to have dictators who make better decisions because even they have better information from AI."

Pointing to the example of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Luckey said that had the Russian leader used AI to better understand what would happen he wouldn't have launched his attack when he did.

"I don't think he would've launched this invasion in Ukraine if he would've understood what was actually going to happen," Luckey said.

"Remember, they believed this was like a three-day special operation they were going to roll in. It was going to be over very, very quickly.

"If he had had a better understanding of what he had and what they had, I think he probably would not have made the play."

Luckey's defense tech startup, Anduril, owns an AI-powered solution to solve just those kinds of problems for the US military and its allies.

On top of a range of flashy autonomous drones and vehicles, the foundation of Anduril is its proprietary AI-powered software system, named Lattice.

Lattice acts as a command center for a human operator to control a network of autonomous devices that can go out into the line of danger and conduct surveillance or other missions.

It's with this kind of software, rather than heavy military machinery, that the Anduril founder still believes the US has an advantage over other nations, he told Chang.

"Using software to make decisions twice as fast or ten times as fast is a capability I don't think our adversaries are close to copying," said Luckey.

Anduril is fast cementing itself as one of the leading companies providing the US military with futuristic technology.

In April, the Air Force selected the LA-headquartered startup over legacy firms Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrup Grumman for a major modernization contract.

• A Utah-based millennial was laid off shortly after he received a concerning health diagnosis.
• He's had little luck in his search for a remote job over the past year.
• He thinks ghost jobs and scammers have made his search more challenging. 

In April 2023, Felipe Martins was recovering from knee replacement surgery when his surgeon called and said he needed to see him immediately.

Tests had identified a non-cancerous tumor in his knee, the 36-year-old told Business Insider via email. If it started to spread, his leg might have to be amputated, and the several months he spent in physical therapy for his knee replacement would be all for nothing.

At the time, Martins was working in Utah for the sales department of a tech company, a position he'd held for roughly nine years. He'd kept working while undergoing physical therapy, and he planned to do the same while receiving any necessary treatment related to his diagnosis.

But on May 1, Martins got a call from someone he didn't know who worked for his employer. They said they needed to schedule a meeting with him for that afternoon to discuss something.

It wasn't good news. Martins, along with a few others in his department, was laid off. He would be given one month of severance pay.

"You see memes on the internet saying that companies are not loyal," he said. "And I thought 'Sure, but my company actually likes and respects me. I'm valued.' No. I wasn't."

In the 12 months since his layoff, Martins said he's been actively looking and applying for jobs but hasn't had much luck. He thinks several factors could be working against him, including layoffs in the tech industry, his focus on remote roles, being transparent with employers about his health condition, and the prevalence of "ghost jobs" — listings on job platforms that companies are no longer actively hiring for.

While the "constant rejection" has been discouraging, Martins said he plans to keep trying.

Most American men who want a job have one — the male unemployment rate is low compared to past decades. But Martins is among the men who have struggled to find work recently — or have stopped looking entirely. In 1950, about 97% of American men between the ages of 25 and 54 had a job or were actively looking for work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As of April, that figure had fallen to about 89%.

One of several potential explanations for this decline is that, in recent decades, health issues have kept many men out of the workforce. In a 2022 analysis of Census data by the San Francisco Fed, nearly 40% of US men between age 25 and 54 cited disability or illness as the reason they weren't working. As a result, more men have turned to Social Security disability benefits to help them get by.

In recent years, the rise of remote work and historically high job openings have helped more people with health issues find employment. In 2023, nearly 23% of Americans with a disability were employed — the largest share on record since data collection began in 2008, according to the BLS.

But remote jobs aren't as common as they used to be — and there's competition to land one.

The share of US remote job postings on LinkedIn fell from over 20% in April 2022 to about 10% in December 2023. Despite the decline, LinkedIn said remote roles accounted for 46% of all applications in December.

Martins shared how he's responded to his layoff and the challenges he's faced during his job search.

Ghost jobs and scammers have made the job search more frustrating

When Martins was laid off, he said it wasn't the loss of income he was primarily focused on.

"I needed to get through this meeting so I could learn how to continue being insured once the month ended," he said, referring to the meeting where he learned he lost his job. "I didn't have time to cry and collect myself."

When he learned he could retain health insurance through COBRA for $800 a month, he set to work on the paperwork almost immediately to make sure it would be processed quickly — and he wouldn't be "left hanging" without insurance if a necessary procedure arose, he said.

While the cost is hard to stomach, he thinks it's worth it given his health concerns — he said he could retain the coverage for up to three years. Thankfully, his tumor hasn't spread and he hasn't needed surgery. Martins said he gets a checkup every few weeks to check monitor its status.

But without a job, he's had to deal with some financial stresses.

Martins said he'd saved up a fair bit of money and collected unemployment benefits for a while, both of which helped him pay the bills. He's also planning to move to Washington to live with his parents, who want to be closer to him as he navigates his health challenges. This will also save him money on housing.

In part due to his upcoming move, Martins said he's focused his job search on remote roles. He said he hopes to find a job that would allow him to continue his physical therapy and take some time off for treatment if necessary.

But his search has been difficult so far, in part because layoffs across the tech industry have heightened the competition for a limited number of jobs, he said.

When Martins does come across job postings, he doesn't always know if they're real. He thinks he's encountered a lot of ghost jobs.

"There are some firms on LinkedIn that are always advertising the same position and have been for almost a year now," he said. "I've applied to these positions at least half a dozen times now."

Martins also thinks some job postings he sees are created by "scammers."

For example, he said he recently got an email from a company with a website domain name that was the name of a real company, followed by the word "jobs." However, the real company's website had a different domain name, and the quality of the site made Martins suspicious.

Using the Whois lookup tool, he discovered that the suspicious website had been created on April 18th.

"I got an email from the scammer on April 19th, so they certainly didn't waste time going after people," he said.

Martins said the "company plus jobs" domain name format is common in his experience with scammers. He added that recruiters who can't answer basic questions about a role and pay that seems too good to be true are all potential red flags.

"They hook you in, throw out a huge pay rate, and hope people are too blown away imagining themselves making bank to ask questions," he said.

Business Insider has spoken with several people who said they were nearly duped into sending scammers money. The Federal Trade Commission has more information about job scams and how to avoid them.

Lastly, Martins said he sometimes wonders how much his health issues, which he discloses to potential employers, are working against him in his job search.

"Maybe I'm being a bit too honest about my condition, and no one wants someone like me," he said.

Despite these challenges, Martins said he plans to continue his job search and explore some in-person roles once he gets to Washington.

"There's no harm in continuing to try," he said. "What's the worst that can happen? Your résumé ends up in the recycle bin."

Are you a man who's not looking for work or has struggled to find a job? Are you willing to share your story? If so, reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.

• MrBeast has broken the influencer curse of rapid growth followed by swift cancellation.
• He's no stranger to controversy, but his exponential growth hasn't been tempered by it.
• His success shows a power shift, with the value of creators being recognized.

There's a familiar pattern in the world of people who skyrocket to fame on the internet.

Often, a period of massive success is followed by a nosedive in popularity, followers, or both.

Sometimes, this is because the creator is "canceled" for perceived wrongful behavior. Other times, the influencer doesn't evolve over time, and their audience loses interest.

MrBeast seems to have broken that mold. He's been a content creator since 2012, and although he's no stranger to controversy, his exponential growth hasn't been tempered.

Some attribute it to dumb luck, but others think Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson has changed content creation forever and set a new standard for what content creators can aspire to.

Amazon vs. MrBeast

Donaldson, YouTube's biggest star, is on track to have the most-subscribed channel in the world, steadily creeping up on Indian music label T-Series at 258 million subscriptions.

He also recently signed a deal with Amazon Prime to host a competition show called "Beast Games" on the streaming service.

Importantly, he is changing how influencers are viewed by traditional media.

There's been tension between influencers and traditional media for some time, with huge internet stars getting ignored when they show up to red-carpet events and complaints when YouTubers or TikTokers attend events such as the Met Gala. There has long been an attitude that those who won their fame online aren't as worthy as those who found it via more conventional routes.

Donaldson's business success may show how this power balance is beginning to shift.

Jamie Nudelman, a social media growth expert at the digital marketing consultancy Viral Marketing Stars, told Business Insider that Donaldson has become "more powerful than traditional media."

He added that Amazon Prime and other entertainment platforms have two options: "Try to beat him or win alongside him."

"Truthfully, Amazon Prime needs MrBeast more than MrBeast needs Amazon Prime," he said.

Donaldson is far from the first successful YouTuber, with many now mainstream creators starting off on the platform, including Justin Bieber, Liza Koshy, and Bo Burnham.

"It's quite likely that MrBeast had many more 'mainstream' offers before this, but he waited for the right opportunity," Rachel Pedersen, a social media and marketing coach, told BI.

"It does seem that we're entering a time where mainstream media is looking for fresh content to grace their platforms."

The cancel curse

Influencers have risen and fallen since their genesis.

Notably, there was Dramageddon in 2018, where a vicious feud left YouTube's beauty community in tatters and set the stage for more wars in the coming years (Dramageddon 2.0 and Karmageddon) that led to audiences seeing some then-beloved creators, including James Charles, Shane Dawson, and Jeffree Star, in a different light.

Many influencers have tried and failed to continue successful businesses once their star has faded. Jaclyn Hill, for example, recently closed down her cosmetics brand, and the once-reigning "Brit Crew" is now rarely heard from.

Nudelman said Donaldson differs from these cautionary tales because he doesn't seem to be changed by money or the pursuit of materialistic possessions.

"You don't see MrBeast wearing gold chains or buying a luxury mansion," he said. "MrBeast wakes up in the office and has a desk where he works and does the same things every day."

It's not all praise. Donaldson has an unusual setup with his business, calling employees "friends of friends." He has also faced allegations of a toxic workplace and has been accused of being a "white savior" by some who believe he is exploiting some of the people in his videos for views — specifically, those who were given cataract surgery or access to clean water in several African countries.

Donaldson has referenced his critics in social media posts, saying that despite his desire to use his money "to help people" and promising to give all his wealth away before he died, he was still branded as "bad." He hasn't responded directly about his work culture, but a spokesperson told Time that safety on set was "incredibly important and taken very seriously."

Nobody is safe from cancellation, with influencers increasingly facing backlash for not just the things they have done, but their political and ethical beliefs too. Internet celebrities appear more approachable than traditional ones, experts previously told BI, leading to "parasocial relationships" and more sensitivity around their actions.

It may be that Donaldson's time is on the horizon. But, Nudelman said, it seems unlikely. Donaldson is tough to criticize because he puts all his money back into his content, which enables him to help more people.

"He's still charitable during his controversy, which is hard to hate on," he said.

Changing the media landscape

Most people are not cut out for content creation full-time, said Pedersen. Donaldson has said this himself, suggesting people underestimate what it takes.

Working with friends and people who he trusts seems to help with Donaldson's longevity, Pedersen added.

"His primary focus is philanthropy, which brings joy to the giver and the receiver," she said. "And he has stayed true to his patient, humble, consistent roots."

His content has also changed significantly since the early days when he played games and performed challenges in his bedroom (like counting to 100,000 in one sitting).

"Most content creators ride on a trend and then get stuck in it," Nudelman said. "MrBeast adjusted his strategy and content because he knows what worked back then, doesn't work today."

Liz Germain, a YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers and an influencer marketing expert, told BI Donaldson has always been a bit introverted, which has helped him keep his eye on his long-term vision.

"His vision drove him to keep going, even when it wasn't working — and that's a big secret a lot of new creators have yet to grasp," she said.

Germain added that Donaldson obsesses over his content and analytics, making improvements to every video. Recently, he said he wanted to slow down his content and move away from the over-the-top, fast-paced genre he became known for.

Donaldson can experiment like this because his reach and impact "is infinitely bigger than the Super Bowl, and it's not going anywhere any time soon," Germain said. He's everywhere on the internet, soon to be on TV, and even in grocery store aisles.

"The man has changed the entire media landscape," she said. "More importantly, he's proven that it's not only possible to build a successful brand based on placing charitable giving at the forefront, but that it's also extremely profitable when you do it with heart."