Author: openjargon

• China's EV upstarts appear to be plotting world domination. 
• They are targeting developing markets like Brazil and Indonesia as the US and Europe impose tariffs.
• Experts told BI that Western car giants run the risk of ceding the rest of the world to China.

When Ford closed its factory at Camaçari in the Brazilian state of Bahia in 2021, it ended a century of manufacturing in Brazil.

The Detroit automaker has always been closely associated with Brazil's car industry, the sixth largest in the world.

Now, Camaçari is under new management.

Chinese EV giant and Tesla rival BYD has swept into the huge complex and is transforming it into a manufacturing center for its electric cars to capitalize on surging demand for Chinese-made EVs in Brazil.

It's a pattern being repeated all over the world. Chinese EV firms are expanding rapidly in developing markets like Brazil, Mexico, and Southeast Asia, even as governments in the US and Europe try to shut them out with tariffs and trade barriers.

Data compiled by technology intelligence firm ABI Research for Business Insider suggests that Chinese automakers already dominate many of these markets.

Chinese carmakers accounted for 88% of the EV market in Brazil and 70% in Thailand in Q1, according to ABI Research figures. BYD, alone, which is China's largest EV company, accounted for 71% and 45% of EV sales during that time in those respective markets.

The EV markets in many of these countries are small now, but they're growing rapidly.

That's a problem for legacy automakers like Ford and current combustion-vehicle market leaders like Toyota and Volkswagen, who may struggle to compete with Chinese players and risk being left behind as developing markets shift toward EVs.

This is because Chinese automakers are known for their ability to build electric cars for less than their foreign competitors.

Western governments are taking steps to protect their markets, with Joe Biden imposing sweeping tariffs on Chinese automakers and the EU passing its own measures.

But those barriers do little to protect legacy automakers in developing markets, with experts telling Business Insider they faced the prospect of being lapped by the Chinese upstarts.

"By erecting a wall around the EU or the US, you're effectively ceding the rest of the world to China," Bill Russo, the CEO of Shanghai-based automotive strategy firm Automobility, told BI.

Sam Fiorani, vice president at consultancy AutoForecast Solutions, agreed, pointing out that the ability to build more affordable vehicles gave Chinese EV makers a crucial edge in many of these markets.

"A lot of these markets are underdeveloped, and the Chinese brands are bringing in relatively inexpensive vehicles, which is exactly what those countries need at the moment," he said.

Brazil

Chinese firms are already the EV market leaders in Brazil, and they appear set to capitalize on the rapidly growing market for electric vehicles in the country.

EV sales in Brazil were up 145% in the first three months of the year, according to the Brazilian Electric Vehicle Association, with BYD and rival Great Wall Motors leading the pack.

Like the US and EU, Brazil has imposed tariffs on all imported EVs, which are expected to hit 35% in 2026.

However, unlike the European and US governments, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has proven more open to China, offering incentives and financial support for foreign manufacturers willing to invest in green technology in Brazil.

Great Wall and BYD have both pledged to build factories in the country. BYD estimates that its Camaçari complex will be able to churn out 150,000 vehicles per year once it opens, while Great Wall's site near São Paulo could eventually produce 100,000 vehicles annually.

Business Insider contacted BYD for details on its expansion plans but didn't hear back.

One of the reasons that BYD can sell its cars so cheaply is that many of the components and parts used to build its cars are manufactured in-house — and BYD is seemingly trying to recreate that integrated supply chain in Brazil, reportedly holding talks about taking over one of the country's lithium producers.

"Investing now in developing markets like Brazil comes with some risk," said Marcel Martin, Brazil managing director at the International Council on Clean Transportation think tank, pointing to the still relatively uncertain outlook for Brazil's developing EV market.

"But for firms like BYD, the reward can be bigger, because if they assume the leadership in these markets it will be hard for other automakers to compete," he said.

Mexico

When it comes to Chinese plans for global EV domination, nowhere worries the US quite like Mexico.

America's southern neighbor has a free trade agreement with the US, and reports suggesting BYD, MG, and Chery were all examining plans to build factories in the country caused alarm among US officials last year.

Some US lawmakers have warned that Mexico could serve as a "backdoor" for Chinese EV companies, and US trade representative Katherine Tai recently hinted at additional penalties for Chinese firms that try this tactic.

But Mexico is also a big market in its own right, and Chinese automakers are hungry for a slice.

BYD recently unveiled the hybrid "Shark," the company's first pickup truck, which is set to go on sale in Mexico for $54,000.

Mexico's EV market is still nascent, but the government wants 50% of new car sales to be electric by 2030. Total automobile exports from China jumped by nearly a third in the first four months of 2024, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association, reported by Reuters —suggesting consumers are more than open to Chinese vehicles.

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia has traditionally been dominated by Japanese automakers, who have had success selling smaller, cheaper vehicles.

However, Chinese EV companies are now breathing down the necks of Toyota, Honda, and Mitsubishi, largely thanks to their ability to outcompete just about everyone on cost.

Thailand, which saw EV sales rise by 400% in 2023, has quickly become one of BYD's most important international markets. The Southeast Asian nation accounted for 20% of BYD's international sales in Q3 last year, according to research firm Counterpoint, and the Chinese automaker is due to open a new factory in Thailand later this year.

Other markets in this region are also seeing rapid EV growth, with electric car registrations tripling in Malaysia in 2023 and EVs hitting 15% market share in Vietnam, according to the International Energy Agency.

Meanwhile, Indonesia aims to boost EV sales by rolling out a range of tax incentives and is wooing Elon Musk to build a Tesla factory in the country.

Musk may have to get moving, however. BYD has announced plans to build a $1.3 billion factory in Indonesia's West Java province. Earlier this year, it also unveiled its new models coming to the country.

"The Chinese have taken significant share in Southeast Asia with exports. They're also planning local production in Thailand, in the Philippines, and other places in the region," Bill Russo of Shanghai-based automotive strategy firm Automobility told BI.

"If the Japanese are nervous about losing China, they're even more nervous about losing the global south," he added.

Australia

In Australia, BYD is going head-to-head with Tesla in a fast-growing EV market.

Tesla accounts for over half of Australia's EV market but BYD, which entered the Australian market in 2022, is catching up fast, hitting 14% market share in March, according to data from Australia's Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

BYD posted record sales in the country in May and is adding two SUVs and a pickup truck to its EV lineup this year.

Unlike Europe and the US, Australia has no tariffs on foreign EVs, and the country's left-leaning government, which came to power in 2022, has outlined its push to increase the supply of affordable and accessible EVs.

Other Chinese EV firms are also making inroads into the continent, with SAIC Motor planning to launch three new models this year and Hangzhou-based startup Leapmotor, which specializes in affordable EVs, labeling Australia a priority market.

That expansion has not been without controversy, however. Australian Senator and shadow cyber-security minister James Paterson said earlier this year that Chinese EVs pose a growing cybersecurity risk.

One Chinese EV played a vital role when flash floods hit the Australian state of Queensland earlier this year, however, powering an 11-year-old's dialysis machine after local electricity supplies were knocked out by the storm.

India

India has proved a tough nut to crack for foreign EV giants.

The world's most populous nation had some of the highest taxes on imported vehicles before it lowered them for certain vehicles in March.

The new rules require automakers to spend at least $500 million on local investment and build their cars within India within three years— something Tesla is now reportedly considering doing.

The geopolitical tension between India and China has traditionally made India wary of Chinese EV companies, but experts told BI that this is likely to change in the coming years.

"Chinese companies are already looking at building local plants in order to take advantage of that growing market," Fiorani, vice president of AutoForecast Solutions, told BI.

"It's just a matter of time before companies like BYD, SAIC, and Great Wall actually become volume players in that region," he added.

BYD launched its third EV for the Indian market, the $49,000 Seal, in March. It has ambitious plans to control 40% of India's EV market by 2030.

Rival SAIC Motors has partnered with India's JSW Group to introduce a high-end electric sports car, "Cyberster," to India.

"India is still a little wary of the Chinese market," said Dylan Khoo, an analyst at ABI Research. "But India is also happy to adopt China's own model, and make Chinese firms work with local automakers to gain access to the market."

Europe

Europe is another market being eyed by Chinese EV manufacturers as they expand abroad.

Once again, BYD is leading the way. The Warren Buffett-backed automaker is already building one European factory in Hungary and is reportedly considering a second.

BYD is also planning to release its $10,000 Seagull in Europe within the next few years, with executives estimating it will cost around 20,000 euros — or $21,000 — in this region.

Rivals, including Xpeng and battery-swapping pioneer Nio, are also expanding their presence on the continent.

Nio plans to launch a cheaper sub-brand in Europe in 2025, dubbed "Firefly," and Xpeng has begun selling its G9 and the G6 electric SUVs in France, Spain, and Portugal in recent months.

Some Chinese carmakers are even joining forces with European rivals, with Stellantis partnering with Chinese firm Leapmotor to sell its EVs in Europe.

Chinese expansion in Europe may have become more difficult, however, after the European Union followed America's lead and imposed new tariffs on China-made electric vehicles.

Fiorani and Russo told BI that tariffs such as those introduced in Europe and the US might slow the entry of Chinese EVs into Western markets, but ultimately, they would not stop them.

"Right now, tariffs are focused on vehicles built in China. Once those vehicles have a production hub in Mexico or South Korea or Brazil, it becomes more difficult," said Fiorani.

He said that building plants in Brazil and Europe would allow Chinese firms to circumvent trade walls and continue their global expansion.

"The Chinese manufacturers are very entrepreneurial and they will find a way around any barriers that are set for them," Fiorani added.

Russo, meanwhile, told BI that far from holding back China's EV giants, trade barriers would only accelerate their global takeover.

"When you impose a tariff, it actually accelerates the movements of both the supply chain and the carmakers to go global even faster," he said.

"Tariffs will accelerate their move to go to the unaligned regions, which are the emerging markets," he said.

• Most people in the US snack, but lots of snack foods are ultra-processed.
• Ultra-processed foods have been linked to health conditions like cancer.
• A dietitian shared four healthy, tasty snacks she likes instead of ultra-processed foods.

A dietitian shared three healthy snacks she enjoys as tasty alternatives to ultra-processed foods with Business Insider.

Research suggests about 20% of the calories Americans consume comes from snacks, and 90% eat between one and three snacks each day. Snacks are often ultra-processed, meaning they're made using methods and ingredients that you can't easily recreate at home. UPFs have been linked to conditions including cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, anxiety, depression, and sleep problems, leading experts to urge people to cut down as much as possible.

New York-based registered dietitian Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, said that UPFs are "convenient, cheap, and super common" and that eating them occasionally is "inevitable." But, when it comes to satisfying cravings for ultra-processed snacks, it's up to us as consumers to make informed choices about which ones we choose, she said.

Here are some of her favorite snack swaps that help her avoid UPFs.

Granola bars

Storebought granola bars are sometimes marketed as healthy but often contain added sugar and preservatives.

Beckerman recommends Kate's Real Food Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Bars instead. They are made from whole foods and contain fiber from dried fruit, oats, rice crisps, and flaxseed, which is important for digestion and gut health.

Registered dietitian Taylor Grasso previously told BI that granola bars tend to be mostly carbohydrates, so eating them with a source of protein — such as Greek yogurt — can help stabilize blood sugar levels and keep you feeling satisfied for longer.

Chocolate bars

Beckerman likes Nelly's Organic chocolate bars because they have a short ingredient list, meaning they contain fewer additives than ultra-processed chocolate bars.

They also contain potassium, which can help to prevent high blood pressure, she said. This is because it can reduce the effects of sodium, according to the American Heart Association.

Candy

Justin's Chocolate Candy Pieces "reign supreme" over other candies, Beckerman said.

"Because these chocolate candy pieces are made from peanuts, they contain heart-healthy fats, making them an actually satisfying and filling treat unlike most other chocolate candies out there," she said.

The candy pieces are made with dark chocolate, which contains antioxidants that can help to lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

• The federal government has discharged student loans for thousands of defrauded borrowers.
• However, private borrowers who attended the same schools are still trying to get relief from Navient.
• BI spoke to 5 of them who struggled to access Navient's new debt relief process.

Raised in Venezuela, Leandro Pucci moved to the US when he was 27 years old — and he wanted to get started on his education right away.

After struggling with residency complications, he finally enrolled at an Art Institute campus in California. It was the early 2000s, and digital media was really taking off; he thought it was the perfect opportunity to launch a career in the field.

However, the Art Institute was far from what it seemed on paper. According to findings over the past decade by a group of state attorneys general, the for-profit chain misrepresented the value of its programs and forced students to take on unaffordable debt. For example, they found that the schools advertised that over 80% of graduates land jobs within six months of graduation, which was not always the case. All remaining campuses shut down in September 2023.

While President Joe Biden's Education Department discharged federal student loans for thousands of Art Institute attendees, many more still hold debt that a private loan company, Navient, hasn't relieved.

For Pucci, it's nearly $60,000.

"I basically work for Navient. Every paycheck I get goes to Navient," Pucci, 59, told BI. "The stress has been really killing me. I feel so defeated. I feel trapped, and this has been so traumatic, especially the last couple of months, it's been really, really difficult."

While defrauded borrowers like Pucci are eligible to apply for relief from private lenders, Navient's application for the relief is not yet publicly available. Even if a borrower manages to get the application, it can take hours to fill out and still result in a denial.

The larger issue at play extends far beyond Navient. As millions of Americans struggle with student-debt loads, with some of them being forced to make payments on loans for schools accused of fraud that did not deliver on their promises. While the Education Department has taken a range of steps to cancel student debt for borrowers who went to schools it found guilty of fraud, those with private loans do not qualify for the same relief. The lender, instead, can decide how it wants to craft a relief process, if at all.

Relief is 'still in its early stages'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants answers. In April, she sent an inquiry to Navient about the process and its responsibility to discharge fraudulent loans under a consumer protection tool known as the Holder Rule. A Navient spokesperson referred BI to excerpts from the company's response to Warren, which stated that the discharge process is "still in its early stages."

"As part of this enhanced process, we have started to communicate to borrowers who may qualify. As the process continues to roll out, we expect that more borrowers will submit applications, leading to increased levels of cancellation," the company told Warren.

Navient said that it increased its reserves by $35 million in anticipation of relieving debt for defrauded borrowers, and it's "committed to addressing valid school misconduct claims" to fulfill its responsibility under the Holder Rule.

The company also told Warren that "in light of the circumstances of some private loan borrowers who attended certain for-profit colleges … particularly those borrowers who suffered a negative impact from school closures or false promises," it would be appropriate to develop a discharge process similar to that of the federal government for defrauded borrowers.

While Navient promises that more borrowers will gain access to relief through the new application, the lack of clarity surrounding the timeline can impose a financial burden on those borrowers.

Pucci said he obtained an application after filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in April, and just two weeks later, he received a denial from Navient. It stated that while Navient "carefully considers a variety of factors in determining whether a private loan should be discharged based on school misconduct," Pucci did not meet the requirements. Since then, he's filed another complaint with the CFPB but has yet to get a clear reason as to why he was denied.

The CFPB's Private Education Loan Ombudsman Julia Barnard told BI in a statement that "for years, my office has heard from frustrated victims of predatory schools who are now struggling to get their private lender to cancel their fraudulent loans."

"A key measure of a relief process is whether qualifying borrowers get their fraudulent loans cancelled," Barnard said. "My office (and the CFPB more generally) is watching to make sure that student borrowers get appropriate relief and we will step in to help where we can."

Pucci said he cannot afford to pay off his private loans for much longer, but he doesn't know what else he can do aside from wait and hope that Navient will eventually give him the same relief the government already did.

"I made my decisions. I took my responsibility," Pucci said. "But all the investments I need to do for my own business are impossible. I can forget about buying anything anymore because of how much I have to pay Navient."

'I've spent so much time feeling so alone and isolated'

Theresa Christman's story is similar to Pucci's. The now 40-year-old attended the for-profit International Academy of Design and Technology, which was included in the 2022 Sweet v. Cardona settlement that discharged student loans for federal borrowers who attended a long list of schools. However, she still has about $22,000 in private student loans serviced by Navient that she can't shake.

"That $400 a month payment was hard, especially when I couldn't afford to eat or pay my bills for a really long time," Christman told BI. She said she had to forgo car insurance, live on food stamps, and drop out of school so she could work full time. "I was still only bringing in $11 an hour, and I was in California, which is not cheap. So it was hard."

After filing a complaint with the CFPB, Christman said she received the school misconduct discharge application from Navient — but due to the lengthy application and the amount of proof required, she hasn't had the time to put it together yet.

"For each section, I am writing pages and pages and pages for each answer. So it's taking me a really long time to do," Christman said. "I don't want to give Navient any reason to deny my claim."

The Project on Predatory Student Lending — an advocacy group working to help defrauded borrowers — launched an awareness campaign earlier in June to make borrowers aware of Navient's discharge application, including an example of the blank 12-page application borrowers are required to complete.

Eileen Connor, director of PPSL, told BI that the process "is really opaque" for borrowers, and it's forcing them to jump through unnecessary hurdles to get relief.

In contrast to Navient's process, most federal borrowers "haven't had to apply at all because the department has said that they have enough information in their possession to know that there was a widespread pattern that impacted, in some cases, everybody who went to the school," Connor said. "So I don't really know why that wouldn't be the same for these loans."

The lack of clarity going forward has left Christman in a limbo state, not knowing where she'll land once she submits her application.

"I've spent so much time feeling so alone and isolated," she said. "The financial aspect has been absolutely devastating, but it's also affected my mental health so much."

'I can finally breathe again'

For some borrowers, the time spent on the application paid off.

Victoria Linssen, 59, and Jennifer Nave, 60, attended the for-profit Brooks Institute and DeVry University, respectively. Both received federal relief through the Sweet v. Cardona settlement and then struggled to be free of their private debt through Navient.

Earlier this year, Linssen received the school misconduct discharge application.

"I just slowly but surely made my way through it. I would say it took me somewhere between eight and 12 hours to fill it out," Linssen said.

"You almost need to be your own attorney to understand how to figure it out," she added. "There's a huge amount of confusion and misunderstanding about what needs to be included, and some students aren't properly following the directions and are getting declined."

But Linssen's efforts paid off — she got $70,000 in private loans discharged in May.

"I will never fully recover from what happened to me. When I left Brooks, I was in so much debt that I didn't want to get married. I was in deep humiliation and shame at the decisions that I had made that put me in so much debt," she said.

PPSL encourages borrowers who are denied relief through Navient to continue filing complaints with the CFPB. Connor also emphasized the importance of strengthening consumer protection laws not just for Navient but for the private lending industry as a whole, given that there are "different rules when talking about the federal government versus a private actor."

Linssen can now finally start to see a future that doesn't include any student debt.

"I am only just now in the place where I can finally breathe again and start feeling like a normal human being and start planning for the future," she said. "I have that tiny, tiny spotlight of hope at the end of a really long tunnel that I may be able to retire or have a life again."

While Nave also eventually got her private loans relieved after filing complaints with the CFPB, she doesn't understand why it has to be this way.

"It feels like I'm trying to prove to them something they already know," Nave said. "It took me seven hours to fill out, and it's very confusing, so many students are afraid of answering these questions because they're not exactly sure what is being asked."

On June 14, Nave was shocked to see her efforts paid off — Navient effectively discharged her remaining balance after over a decade of payments.

Nick Eucker, 38, hasn't been so lucky. Eucker attended the Brooks Institute and graduated with a bachelor's degree in commercial photography in 2008. While he was fortunate to find employment in the field, he wasn't making as much as he was promised — so he struggled to manage his student-loan payments while also juggling rent and other basic necessities, calling it "a huge financial burden.'"

As has been the case with many other borrowers, Eucker received a school misconduct discharge application after filing a complaint with the CFPB. He submitted his application — over 200 pages — to Navient in early May, and in June, he received a denial. The reason was the exact same as the one Pucci received: "You do not meet the requirements for discharge based on misconduct by your school."

While Navient said it's committed to ensuring all borrowers who qualify for relief receive it, it did not comment on the specific criteria it uses to evaluate borrowers' applications — rather saying that it will continue to evaluate and update the process as it makes sense. But it's leaving borrowers like Eucker and Pucci without any information on how to proceed, keeping them saddled with debt they're struggling to afford.

"You get your hopes up, and it seems like this program might actually work. But then I got that letter that said I didn't qualify, and it ruined my entire day," Eucker said. "It's this big letdown, once again."

• Russian officials have started discussing a future 6th-generation fighter aircraft.
• But Russia has struggled to operate its 5th-gen fighter, the Su-57 that's been absent from Ukraine.
• "This is an illusion," an expert on Russia's defense industry told BI.

Even as Russia's air force struggles to make a difference in Ukraine, the service and the country's aviation industry are discussing a next-generation fighter that will be deployed by 2050.

Not coincidentally, the discussion comes as the US Air Force hints that it may drop its plan for a sixth-generation fighter, a piloted air superiority fighter that will operate with drones. But experts consider the idea of a next-generation Russian fighter to be sheer fantasy at a time when it's struggling to operate its fifth-generation stealth fighters.

"This is an illusion," Pavel Luzin, an expert on the Russian defense industry, told Business Insider. "People in the government may even believe that it is possible, but it is not. It is absolute emptiness. Of course, the Russian design bureaus are imitating some research and development activity in this field and getting money for this imitation, but there is nothing serious."

Nonetheless, the topic is being discussed in Russian media, regime-controlled outlets that often try to stir nationalism by boasting about the superiority of Russian weapons. "Currently, we are thinking about the concept of a sixth-generation aircraft, conducting search research, exchanging views with military specialists," Evgeny Fedosov, scientific director of the State Research Institute of Aviation Systems, wrote in a column for the state-owned TASS news agency. "Such an aircraft should appear sometime by 2050, but already now it is necessary to understand what the armed conflicts of the future will be like."

Discussing cutting-edge aircraft seems almost surreal for Russia, whose air force has enough problems using its current warplanes in Ukraine. Russian airpower has played a marginal role in the Ukraine war, despite superior numbers and technology versus Ukraine's dwindling number of old Soviet-era jets. Russian airpower has mostly relied on fourth-generation aircraft such as the Su-30, Su-35 and Su-27, which are upgraded designs dating back to the 1980s. Russia's fifth-generation fighter, the Su-57, has been conspicuous by its absence in Ukraine. With only a dozen or so built, the Su-57 only recently made news when one or two were damaged by Ukrainian drone strikes on their airbases.

Yet Russia is one of the world's top aviation powers, with a massive research and manufacturing base left over from Soviet days. With America pursuing — if tentatively — its Next Generation Air Dominance project, and China developing a future jet, it would be peculiar if Russia wasn't contemplating its next fighter.

Like other nations, Russia must grapple with fundamental design questions. Does it make sense to build a manned fighter, with all the bulk, complexity and survivability that a human in the cockpit requires? Or opt for an AI-controlled aircraft, or perhaps a team where a manned jet works with drones? What sort of stealth features will it have, and will it be armed with traditional cannon and missiles, or laser weapons?

In November 2023, a senior Russian aviation official said that no decision had been made as to whether a sixth-generation fighter would be manned or unmanned. "Two years ago, a round table was organized at the Army on the issues of creating sixth-generation aviation complexes," Sergei Korotkov, a top designer at the state-owned United Aircraft Corporation, told TASS. "Both the military and institutes involved in aircraft construction were invited to the round table; specialists from the Moscow Institute and the United Aircraft Corporation were present. The result was that we, in fact, didn't agree."

Korotkov seemed certain that a next-generation jet would operate as a team with drones. He also said that the "further direction of long-term development of aviation technology is to increase flight performance, the ability to adapt with other combat control and engagement systems, high maneuverability, versatility, optimal piloting, and multi-mode use of the power plant."

Interestingly, Fedosov, the science director at the State Research Institute of Aviation Systems, suggested that modern jets are becoming too complex and expensive. "To go further according to the logic of complication is a vicious practice," he wrote. "And the larger and heavier the plane, the more expensive it is."

These are tough questions for any nation. But Russia must also confront issues that other nations don't. It would have to develop a cutting-edge jet while fighting an intense war in Ukraine that sucks up resources, and while international sanctions restrict imports of vital electronic components a future fighter will need.

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

• The free version of ChatGPT can now search for job listings.
• Job seekers can use the AI assistant to act as a personal recruiter.
• Sharing your CV and being exact can help the bot find relevant job opportunities.

ChatGPT just might be a job seeker's best friend.

Job seekers have already praised the bot for its convincing cover letters and ability to spruce up a CV — but a new update means the AI assistant can also do your job hunting for you.

Equipped with GPT-4o, the free version of the bot can now access the internet and trawl through job listings.

I decided to ask ChatGPT to look for jobs for me, and it came back with some pretty good results. The bot found six roles that matched my experience and location, even offering me tips on who to connect with at each company.

Here's how to get ChatGPT to act as your personal recruiter.

1. Be exact and give ChatGPT a persona

Telling ChatGPT what persona to take on has been shown to improve results.

Jason Gulya, an AI council chair at Berkeley College, previously told Business Insider that the bot works best when you assign it a persona, such as a specific job role.

Experts have suggested that beginning prompts with instructions such as "act as a professor" or "act as a marketing professional" followed by a description of the desired outcome improves its responses.

In this case, I told the bot to act as my "personal recruiter and go job hunting for me."

I also specifically asked it to search online for journalist jobs in London that I could apply for.

I also cautioned the bot to ensure the listings were still open and asked it to provide full links to its referenced roles to check the results.

2. Share your CV

It's important to share your qualifications with the bot so it can cross-reference your experience with the job requirements.

I included my CV in my first prompt, highlighting my most relevant experience. I also specified that ChatGPT should only send job roles I was qualified for.

3. Ask for clarification

Like any product that uses AI, ChatGPT can still hallucinate.

Hallucinations happen when AI-powered bots convincingly present factual errors as truth. Experts warn that this phenomenon could spread misinformation.

While most of the jobs ChatGPT provided were correct, it still made a few errors. In the case of one job, it misstated the salary, while in an earlier test, it invented a job entirely.

If you notice something amiss, it's worth asking the bot to check its own answers. I also asked it to share links to easily check my details.

4. Advice for next steps

After finding a job, ChatGPT can also help job seekers through the application process.

Not only can the bot help with cover letters and tailoring a CV, it can also identify relevant people to contact about the role and draft a message.

The chatbot can also help manage expectations by analyzing job seekers' qualifications for various roles.

ChatGPT provided me with a 600-word analysis of how strong a candidate I was for one role. It cross-referenced my experience with the job requirements, offering me a clear conclusion about the likelihood of landing an interview and sharing three tips to increase my chances.

And just in case you're wondering, I didn't actually apply for any of these jobs.

• Mark Zuckerberg sported a $1,150 Balmain t-shirt on vacation in Ibiza with his wife.
• The Meta CEO has been shifting from his classic gray t-shirts and hoodies to more stylish outfits.
• The internet is warming up to his more fashionable rebrand.

Mark Zuckerberg — CEO, chairman, up-and-coming fashion icon?

The Facebook cofounder was recently spotted sporting a $1,150 Balmain t-shirt while vacationing in Ibiza, Spain, with his wife, Pricilla Chan, People reported.

Available on the Balmain website and Saks Fifth Avenue, the cotton and wool short sleeve crewneck is embossed with the brand's name and logo prominently, giving Zuckerberg a true hypebeast appearance. It's loud — and a switch-up from the quiet luxury shirts he's traditionally worn, where you'd be hard-pressed to spot a logo.

The knit designer shirt was also paired with reflective sunglasses, dark blue shorts, and a hint of stubble.

The Meta CEO lately has been veering away from his classic tech bro uniform of the past decade, from jackets over sweatshirts to even a new gold chain that went viral.

"Zuck with the chain?? Unstoppable," one person wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

It's not just fans that have taken notice of his more casual and adventurous (well, for a tech boss) outfits. Even Instagram head Adam Mosseri recently said on a podcast that, "I'm totally into it. I think clothes are fun, so I'm very supportive."

While Zuck dips his toe into more fashionable wear, the fresher style is also working as a gentle rebrand from his heavily meme-ed robotic mannerisms. A stylist previously told Business Insider that shift could be part of a strategy to "make him approachable and show that he's a fun guy."

And it seems to be working.

After branching out to pieces ranging from a dragonfly-embellished suit to a gold, tiger-printed shirt, another person took to X to write, "Zuck's personal stylist and PR team are doing the lord's work."

• OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever left his company in May after a failed attempt to oust Sam Altman.
• He announced on June 19 that he would start a new AI project called "Safe Superintellgence Inc."
• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Sutskever's past work sparked the "big bang of deep learning."

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had high praise for Ilya Sutskever, the OpenAI cofounder who left his company after a chaotic attempt to oust its chief executive, Sam Altman.

During a commencement speech on June 14 at the California Institute of Technology, the Nvidia cofounder name-dropped Sutskever and two other renowned computer scientists for their pioneering work on a convolutional neural network (CNN) called AlexNet, which is a program that can conduct image recognition.

The CNN relied on Nvidia's graphics processing units or GPUs — the very chips that turned the tech company into a multi-trillion dollar company amid the AI boom — to successfully recognize more than a million high-resolution images in 2012, according to the research paper on AlexNet. The model was designed by Alex Krizhevksy, Geoffrey E. Hinton, and Sutskever.

"Geoff Hinton, Alex Krizhevsky, and Ilya Sutskever used Nvidia CUDA GPUs to train AlexNet and shocked the computer vision community by winning the 2012 ImageNet challenge," Jensen said, referring to the challenge, in which teams of researchers compete to see which one of their programs can most accurately recognize images. "This was the big moment, the big bang of deep learning. A pivotal moment that marked the beginning of AI revolution."

A 2017 article from Quartz attributed the 2012 competition as the "single event" that sparked the artificial intelligence boom as AlexNet swept its competitors.

"Well, I endorse his comment, that's all I can say :)" Krizhevsky said in a brief email to Business Insider.

Sutskever and Hinton did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside business hours.

Three years after AlexNet, Sutskever started OpenAI with Altman, Elon Musk, and a team of researchers.

His tenure as OpenAI's chief scientist ended in May, six months after he and the company's board members pushed to oust Altman in November.

Business Insider reported that his role in the chaotic attempt to remove Altman clouded his future at OpenAI. Sutskever later said he regretted his decision to support Altman's dismissal.

In June, a month after he announced that he would leave the company he cofounded, Sutskever said he was starting a new artificial intelligence venture: Super Safeintelligence Inc., a research lab.

The lab stated in a release that Super Safeintelligence Inc. has "one goal and one product: a safe superintelligence."

A spokesperson for Super Safeintelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside business hours.

• Maye Musk, the mother of Elon Musk, is really popular in China.
• The model and dietician is also singing Tesla's praises while in China.
• Meanwhile Tesla car sales and its market share in China are lagging.

Maye Musk, Elon Musk's mom, is a celebrity in her own right.

The 76-year-old model, dietician, and parent of one of the richest men on Earth has 1.5 million Instagram followers and has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, among others.

But you know who really loves Maye Musk? China.

A new report in The Wall Street Journal details just how much.

"Chinese people like women whose image is elegant and sophisticated," Nadira Aisikaer, a Chinese makeup artist who said she was starstruck when she did Musk's makeup last year, told the outlet. "Western celebrities who are too sexy or bold can't get far in China."

Altman Peng, a professor at the University of Warwick in the UK, told the Journal Musk was the "perfect idol" for Chinese women who want to have it all — a career and kids — and stay hot while doing it.

Musk's 2019 memoir was a bestseller in China, and she's become something of an influencer for Chinese brands, according to the Journal, which reported that after she posted on Chinese social-media about a $200 massage waistband, over 140,000 of them sold.

Musk has also been talking up her billionaire son's work while visiting China. On May 12, Musk posted a photo on Instagram, which is blocked in China, with the location marked Shanghai, of flowers Elon Musk sent her for Mother's Day. She also shared photos of Teslas that she had presumably taken while visiting China.

"People love their Teslas everywhere I go. How do you like these Tesla colors? They are having fun with them in China," she wrote in the caption.

Musk also said she got the flowers after doing a TV interview that included admiration for Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory.

The EV maker is dealing with lagging sales in China, the world's largest car market, despite earlier years of growth, amid increased competition from Chinese makers.

Tesla car sales in China were down 18% in April from a year prior, BI previously reported. Also in April Bloomberg reported that Tesla's share of the Chinese auto market fell from 10% to 7.5% over a year.

But Elon Musk isn't giving up China without a fight. He made a visit to the country in April, and BI's Nora Naughton previously reported that Elon Musk appeared to be sending in reinforcement to shore up its business in China.

Maybe his mom can help.

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

• A Southwest Airlines flight dropped to just 525 feet above the ground on Wednesday.
• The incident prompted an altitude warning and an FAA investigation.
• A Southwest flight dropped dangerously low off the coast of Hawaii in April. 

A Southwest Airlines flight dropped dangerously low over an Oklahoma town while preparing to land on Wednesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Southwest Flight 4069 after the aircraft descended to just 525 feet above the ground, the agency said this week.

"After an automated warning sounded, an air traffic controller alerted the crew of Southwest Airlines Flight 4069 that the aircraft had descended to a low altitude nine miles away from Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City," the FAA said in a statement.

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

The plane was just above Yukon, Oklahoma, when its altitude prompted an alert, according to flight radar data, which shows the incident occurred right after midnight on Wednesday.

An air controller at the airport issued an altitude alert to the plane's crew, asking if the pilot was "good," according to CNN.

The Boeing 737-800 jet quickly adjusted and momentarily re-ascended before landing safely at the airport.

A spokesperson for Southwest told Business Insider said the airline is following its "robust" safety management system and has been in contact with the FAA in an effort to "understand and address any irregularities with the aircraft's approach to the airport."

"Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees," the spokesperson said.

In April, a Southwest flight nearly crashed into the ocean after a pilot accidentally sent the plane into a dive off the coast of Hawaii. A less experienced pilot caused the plane to plummet from an altitude of 1,000 feet to just 400 feet above the Pacific Ocean in a matter of seconds amid bad weather, according to a recent Bloomberg report.