Category: Business

• Artists are angry at Meta for using their Instagram and Facebook photos to train AI models.
• They fear Instagram's Emu could replicate their copyrighted artworks, threatening their jobs.
• Some artists are moving to Cara, which gained 600,000 users in a week but has had issues.

Some artists are angry that Meta is using their photos on Instagram and Facebook to train its artificial intelligence models.

A trio of artists told Business Insider they're worried that Instagram's text-to-image generator Emu will produce images emulating their style, which means that artists will play a role in endangering their jobs.

"It is already difficult to make a living as an artist, and these practices feel exploitative," Christina Kent, a San Francisco-based fine artist, told Business Insider.

Some artists are moving to Cara, a social media platform designed for artists.

Cara, launched in 2023, doesn't train any AI models on its users' content, and it has an automatic feature that prevents others from scraping art on the platform. Cara founder Jingna Zhang is a Singaporean photographer whose work was plagiarized by a Luxembourg-based artist in 2022. She recently won an appeal regarding the photograph in a Luxembourg court.

Cara gained over 600,000 users in the first week of June and has moved to the top of App Store rankings, according to a TechCrunch report last week. The app's spike in sign-ups came after Meta's chief product officer, Chris Cox, said last month that the company uses publicly available photos and text from Instagram and Facebook to train Emu, and after European users were notified that their posts will be used to train AI, unless they opt out, in late June.

"Artists who are choosing to leave for Cara are doing it out of outrage and disagreement" with Meta's AI policy, said Meridian Culpepper, an animation artist in Los Angeles.

Losing hard-earned followings

Professional artists said they have issues with Instagram beyond AI, including that they feel forced to buy ads to be seen. But giving up the platform completely won't be easy.

"Instagram has been important to me as an artist — it's how I started my art career," Kent, who has nearly 75,000 followers, told BI.

She said that it allowed her to connect with art collectors from around the world and helped her transition to painting full-time.

Kent said she doesn't like how Meta is taking artists' creative work and profiting from it.

"Despite these concerns, I feel like I have to keep my Instagram for now, since that is where my collectors are," Kent said.

Culpepper, the Los Angeles-based animation artist, said she's sticking around because tech giants like Meta set an example for others in the industry.

"I am staying on Instagram because I see the value in fighting for that choice," said Culpepper. "I'm not going to delete my account and run away. I want to stay and see the issue resolved."

Not just an artist's problem

Opting out can be a hassle. Meta asks users to go through several steps and fill out a form that asks them to provide proof that their private photos or personal details show up in Meta's AI model, along with the relevant prompts used to get the results.

And filling out the form and providing "evidence" is not a guarantee that accounts will be excluded from scraping.

"We don't automatically fulfill requests sent using this form. We review them consistent with your local laws," text above the form reads.

Some artists said governments should give users the right to opt out.

"I'm also quite upset that Singapore doesn't have the option for people here to opt out of Instagram and Facebook using our pictures and artworks for their AI," said Noah Smith, a Singapore-based animation student who said he is on Instagram and Cara.

Far from perfect

Artists, including Kent in San Francisco, said they're using platforms like Cara to hedge against the whims of any one platform.

"The past few years have shown me that I can't build a business that is dependent on one platform. Instagram can take my audience away with a simple change of the algorithm," Kent said.

Along with opening an account on Cara, she has also started a YouTube channel to share more long-form content.

Switching platforms comes with its own headaches — the spike in new Cara users led to a series of app crashes last week.

"The app has been slow this week with all of the new traffic, and I haven't been able to post much," said Kent. "It also erroneously flagged one of my paintings as AI-generated, and I haven't been able to resolve that yet."

Meta and Cara did not respond to BI's requests for comment. Cara's founder told the Washington Post that the free app was still in development.

• Becky Martin grew up surrounded by kids and didn't think she could balance her career and motherhood.
• She changed her mind after getting married but had a miscarriage at 27.
• The couple agreed that not having children was the right decision.

We decided we were going to do it all — the house, the business, the backyard — all we needed was a kid.

For most of my life, I didn't want children. I spent my teens babysitting cousins and knew from a young age that parenthood was far from sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows.

But there was no denying that I was great with kids, so starting a career as a child and youth worker after graduating from college was a natural progression. Back then, when I thought about parenthood, I couldn't imagine balancing my career — centered on working with kids — while still being an ever-present mom. The two could not coexist in my mind, so I happily chose my job.

But fast forward 7 years, after meeting my now husband. We had dated, married, lived overseas, started a business together, and just moved into our first house. I felt a baby would complete the perfect picture.

Falling in love changed my views on parenthood

A fantasy of parenthood with my favorite person in the world flooded my brain, and I suddenly felt confident I could balance both.

After just a few months of trying, at 27, I was pregnant. After 12 weeks I miscarried.

The grief I felt from the loss popped that prism-colored bubble of fantasy as easily as if it had never existed. We considered trying again and even discussed adoption, but one day I suggested: "What if we just don't have any?"

It took us two years to come to the conclusion that we didn't want to be parents. We talked at length and gave ourselves time and space to make a decision without pressure. In the end, we were certain, and my husband decided to get a vasectomy.

It's been 18 years, and I have no regrets

Many factors went into the final decision. The first was that I had no desire to give up my career and be a full-time mom. We knew that if we decided to be parents, our future would be cemented. It meant establishing ourselves in one location to consider education, medical care, family, and community support.

While before our loss, we were excited, later, it felt like we would be limiting ourselves. Another factor we weighed in was the state of our world. I loved children too much to bring them into this mess.

Not one second has passed when I feel glad that we lost our child. My husband and I still talk about what they might have looked like — would they have had my curly hair or the height of my husband? This year, they would have turned 18. We would have loved them and our life with them with devotion and enjoyed sending them off into the world of adulthood with support.

But that life didn't happen, and we designed a new one together. We moved overseas to teach English for 7 years. During that time we traveled, healed, and explored what we as a couple wanted for the future. When we got tired of living overseas, we packed up our three cats and moved back to Canada.

Upon returning, we tried a few new jobs and moved two more times over three years until we found a city with more extracurricular activities for people living child-free.

Since deciding not to have children, most of our choices have been based not on money or opportunities for a child but on our mental well-being, job exploration, and learning. We have become stronger, bolder, and more confident in the unknown.

In a loving way, tinged with grief and sadness, we can thank the child who made us parents for just a little while because, without their entry and exit, we would not have seen the world from a very different perspective.

Got a personal essay about living abroad or parenting that you want to share? Get in touch with the editor: akarplus@businessinsider.com.

• Apple's WWDC event unveiled AI features that should make some startups nervous.
• Apple has a history of making a particular app or service seem irrelevant by building a rival feature into iPhones or Macs.
• Apple Intelligence may challenge startups like Grammarly, Midjourney, and password storage apps.

When Apple launches something new, it can put other startups on notice.

That was certainly the case during Apple's WWDC event this week, during which CEO Tim Cook and other executives detailed a host of AI features coming to iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

Shortly after, the internet started buzzing about what this could mean for startups that offer similar services.

"How many startups did Apple kill in one hour of their Apple Intelligence event?" one TikTok user said in a viral post. "Let's count."

It's not necessarily a death sentence if Apple positions itself in competition with an app or service.

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston famously declined to sell his company to Apple. Houston previously told Business Insider that Steve Jobs told him he thought Dropbox was a feature, not a product, and said something to the effect of: "Alright, well I guess we're gonna have to go kill you."

Dropbox, which continues to compete with iCloud, survived and went public. It's currently valued at over $7 billion.

But there are plenty of examples of Apple bringing the heat by incorporating a feature into its devices similar to one a startup or smaller company offers.

Remember flashlight apps? There's little need to download a third-party app after Apple baked the flashlight into iOS 7 years ago. There's also the once-popular annotation app Skitch, which eventually sold itself to Evernote. Apple introduced its own markup tool on Macs.

With the updates announced at WWDC, Apple Intelligence will be able to rewrite, proofread, and summarize text in apps. It will also have an image-generating tool and a revamped Siri with advanced language understanding and text capabilities.

Other highlights included a new Passwords app that lets users store and access passwords and a whiteboard-like Math Notes tool for solving algebraic equations and creating graphs from text.

So who should be getting nervous now?

Those watching Apple's keynote were quick to chime in on social media about who could wind up on Apple's potential kill list, including Grammarly, Midjourney, Humane's AI Pin, and 1Password. AI math or calculator startups, journaling apps, and other organizational apps could also be vulnerable to replacement with some of the new updates.

But a Grammarly spokesperson told Business Insider that it welcomes Apple to the space where it's "been operating for over 15 years."

"Whenever new entrants come into our market, the reality is that we see increased demand for Grammarly," a company spokesperson said. "We are focused on continuing to innovate our OS-agnostic enterprise-grade AI communications service that works across over 500,000 apps and websites."

Erik Noyes, who teaches about AI entrepreneurship at Babson College, said Apple's new AI features aren't "a huge deal" to the startup world at large. Noyes said WWDC might impact immediately adjacent startups in the space, but Apple Intelligence won't make a dent in AI startups at large.

The companies have a few months before Apple Intelligence comes to the market. Even then, the new system will only be available on the latest software, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.

But it's likely been a tense week for many startups, as they realized that Apple is coming to town and ready to eat their lunch.

• Elon Musk withdrew his lawsuit against OpenAI and two of its cofounders this week. 
• The Tesla CEO sued the AI startup in March, alleging the company had abandoned its nonprofit mission.
• Musk cofounded OpenAI along with Sam Altman and Greg Brockman in 2015. 

Elon Musk dropped his lawsuit against OpenAI and two of its cofounders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, on Tuesday, CNBC reported. 

The Tesla CEO's lawsuit withdrawal comes one day before a judge was set to consider the future of the case during a hearing in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Musk sued the hotshot startup and two of its co-founders in March, accusing Altman and Brockman of betraying OpenAI's initial mission to benefit humanity.

In the suit, Musk criticized OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft, saying the AI company had jeopardized its nonprofit mission in favor of maximizing profits for Microsoft.

Altman, Brockman, and Musk founded OpenAI in December 2015 as a nonprofit research lab. Musk left the company in 2018.

Contract law experts told Business Insider at the time the suit was filed that Musk's case appeared weak, casting doubt on the billionaire's claims of breach of contract given the absence of any written contract between Musk and Altman.

OpenAI responded to the suit by calling it "incoherent" and "contradictory," suggesting Musk was jealous of the company's success without him.

Since suing the company, Musk has continued to stoke the flames of his feud with Altman, frequently slamming OpenAI on X.

Lawyers for Altman, OpenAI, and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

This story is breaking. Please check back for updates.

There's a scary version of AI where AI takes your job and/or destroys the planet. Then there's the version that's much more chill: AI as a personal assistant who helps you with your tasks — remembers things for you, finds stuff for you, helps you create presentations for work.

The kinder, gentler version is the one Apple showed off yesterday, though we won't really know how it works till it goes live later this year. Right now, all we have to go on is Apple's pre-recorded demo video.

One thing we can say at the moment: This is astonishingly similar to a vision of AI that Apple has been promoting for decades.

Check out this video Apple produced in 1987, showing off a theoretical "Knowledge Navigator" — a computer that lets you do lots of things you couldn't do back then. Most notably, it lets you converse with a digital, bow-tied "agent" that remembers things for you, finds stuff for you, and helps you create work presentations.

This one comes to us via New York's excellent John Herrman, who notes the similarities between the digital agent and Apple's description of Siri, which it launched in 2011. And then Herrman connects Siri with the demo Apple showed off this week and suggests that "Apple Intelligence" might really be called "Siri, but this time it works." You should read John's entire piece.

• Johnny Depp revealed he beat Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, and Michael Jackson out for the titular role in "Edward Scissorhands."
• The revelation comes from an untitled Tim Burton docuseries that world premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
• Depp's casting led to a decades-long collaboration with Burton on multiple iconic films.

Johnny Depp had some stiff competition to land his now-iconic role in Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands."

In an untitled docuseries on Burton that world premiered at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, Depp, 61, said that Tom Hanks and Michael Jackson were among the stars who contacted Burton to be considered for the title role in the 1990 hit gothic tale about an unfinished artificial teen who has scissor blades for hands.

Depp said in the docuseries even Tom Cruise "was not far away from actually playing Edward Scissorhands — true story," according to People.

At the time Burton — who was coming off hits "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" and "Beetlejuice" — was casting the role, Depp was a teen idol known for his work on the TV show "21 Jump Street." At the time, he thought his chances of landing the role were slim.

"He's never going to cast me when everyone in Hollywood is after the part," Depp recalled in the docuseries.

"Tim's really juggling because he's getting hit by his agent, the studio, everybody," Depp continued. "So I called my agent after reading the script and said, 'Please cancel the meeting, I'm not going.' She said, 'Are you fucking nuts?'"

Depp said he "finally gave in" and agreed to meet Burton, and the rest is history: they started a collaboration that continued for decades with films like 1994's "Ed Wood," 1999's "Sleepy Hallow," the 2005 "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" remake," and 2010's "Alice in Wonderland."

• On a recent road trip across the American West, I made a stop at The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town. 
• The ghost town is part of the mining town of Haynes, Arizona.
• Today, visitors can explore an impressive collection of old buildings, antiques, and automobiles. 

I will never turn down a visit to a ghost town.

Whether exploring an abandoned castle in the Australian jungle or opening the door to an old miner's cabin in my home state of Colorado, the deserted destinations feel like traveling back in time.

So, on a road trip across the American West in the fall of 2023, I had a few ghost towns I was eager to visit.

Some were deserted — like an abandoned water park in the desert of California. Others were bustling with tourists eager to dive into history.

On that latter list was The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town, a former mining town where visitors can explore a handful of abandoned buildings, mining machinery, and antiques.

Jerome, Arizona's charming downtown drew me in, but The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town, a site with abandoned buildings, antiques, and automobiles, was what enticed me to stay.

The ghost town is dotted with old buildings. Some are original to the site, while others came from nearby towns.

It's only a 5-minute drive from downtown Jerome, but the abandoned mining town is technically located in the town of Haynes, Arizona.

I knew I was getting close to the ghost town when I spotted dozens of old abandoned vehicles.

After driving up the dirt road, I arrived at the site's entrance and paid $12 for my ticket.

I was handed a brochure with the town's history and map. A few paragraphs on Gold King Mine's past wasn't enough, so I tracked down Jay Harshman, the self-proclaimed "main guy."

Harshman told me he grew up in the region. After a stint in the corporate world, he returned to central Arizona and has worked at the ghost town for the past two years.

Harshman is a jack of all trades. He tinkers with old machinery, takes care of the property's farm animals, cuts wood, restores old buildings, and shares the town's history with anyone willing to listen.

"There's a lot that we do every day, and every day is not the same," he told me. "That's why I fell in love with it."

Harshman said the old mining town of Haynes was active between 1890 and 1938. While gold, silver, iron, and platinum could be found in the mines, its main commodity was copper.

Haynes was small, Harshman said. The average population was 300, with a height of 504 residents. On the other hand, Jerome had an average population of 2,000 and reached 15,000 people during the same period.

As we walked through the ghost town, Harshman said the area where we stood wasn't where people lived. It was where the mining happened.

Above us, on the side of the mountain, was where 305 structures and the town of Haynes formerly stood.

Today, The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town are filled with structures, old vehicles, machinery, and antiques, but Harshman said not all of it was original to Haynes.

A mine's elevator shaft and headframe were part of the original town, he said.

A nearby boarding house was also an original Haynes building, as are the assay office and jail bars that can be spotted in the ghost town.

These structures, and so many more, exist at the site today thanks to a man named Don Robertson, Harshman said.

Robertson grew up in Iowa and came out to the West in the 1960s. According to Harshman, he fell in love with Wild West culture and started collecting things.

When Robertson had gathered too much, Harshman said he searched for a place to store his collection.

That's when he found The Gold King Mine.

Robertson came to Haynes in 1978 and made a 100-year leasing deal with the two corporations that continue to own the land today.

Robertson brought his belongings and, in 1982, opened it up to visitors.

"His whole purpose of revitalizing this town was to show people what kind of things people were working with and living with back in the day," Harshman said.

Beyond an automobile collection and antiques, Robertson also preserved historical buildings from nearby towns.

The outhouse, for example, came from Wickenburg, Arizona.

Visitors can step inside a schoolhouse moved from Perkinsville, Arizona, which is filled with its original desks.

In another area of the ghost town is a dentist's office. Harshman said it was where Jerome's first dentists, Joseph and Raymond Pecharich, worked. Inside, the chair, equipment, and paperwork are all part of the original building.

Elsewhere, a service station was relocated from Cottonwood, Arizona, once known as Clemenceau.

And there is a shoe repair store from Wickenburg, Arizona.

Today, Harshman is continuing Robertson's mission by helping restore Ma's Kitchen, which was named by Robertson. Its original frame and floors were once part of a communal kitchen for miners in Haynes.

Harshman took me inside, where I spotted an old pie safe, a vintage telephone, and a decades-old jar of vaporizing ointment.

As we continued to explore the property, I spotted more old automobiles and interesting antiques.

I walked by farm ducks, said hello to friendly goats named Bonnie and Clyde, and overheard visitors amazed by the items in each building.

"A lot of people are cooped up in apartments or cities, especially people our age, and don't know what half this stuff does or that everything here was used for purpose," Harshman said. "Nothing is a prop."

I agreed. Walking through The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town felt like stepping back in time — an experience I don't often encounter in my normal city life.

• Nancy Strong, 89, from Dallas, has visited no fewer than 92 countries worldwide.
• She's been a travel agent for 50 years and says experiencing other cultures enriches your soul.
• This month, Strong — who turns 90 in August — will fly to London for the 35th time in her life.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nancy Strong. It has been edited for length and clarity.

When I did the math with my granddaughter, Jennifer, I was amazed to learn I'd visited 92 countries.

I've been to five continents and scores of capital cities. On June 15, I'm flying to London from my home in Dallas for the 35th time.

I've stayed in luxury hotels and camped in the boonies

My life has been a global adventure with too many memories to count. I've taken a donkey through the ancient ruins of Petra in Jordan, walked along The Great Wall of China, and ventured into the deepest jungles of Vietnam.

I've stayed in the best hotels and camped in the most basic settings. I've flown in economy, first class, and everything in between and met people living in remote villages in the Far East, even European palaces.

My first visit abroad was to Canada with my parents at 11. The next was to accompany my financier husband on a business trip to Paris in 1966 at the age of 32.

But I only caught the travel bug after working for a travel agency in Dallas in the fall of 1974. I hand-delivered airline tickets to corporate offices for $2 an hour. But, after five months, I struck out on my own after my three male bosses said I had to make their coffee.

My travels mix business with pleasure

My agency — which is still going after nearly 50 years — catered to top business executives such as bankers and lawyers. I booked first-class tickets and five-star hotels. I didn't want to recommend anywhere I hadn't stayed myself. I'd get to know the general managers who went the extra mile for my guests.

The stamps on my passport took up all the pages. Over the years, I went to countries as large as Australia and as small as Lithuania. I sailed on the Great Barrier Reef, toured the Taj Mahal in India, and visited the Berlin Wall.

One of my favorite continents is Africa. Once, on a safari in Kenya, we got a flat tire. But, lo and behold, a lion was feeding her cubs right next to the vehicle. The driver got out, and a man with a rifle stood sentry to protect us all. I never in my life saw anybody change a flat tire so fast.

I wish more people had the opportunity to travel

Many moments have taken my breath away. I've watched wildebeests migrate and monks pray in front of Buddha. I danced the tango in Argentina and drank wine in Tuscany.

Travel has taught me so much. It's opened my mind and rounded my character. I visited churches, synagogues, and temples. I saw people from different cultures and religions happily going about their lives. There would be world peace if everyone was able to travel and see how alike we are.

I'm 90 in August. My husband, Asa — to whom I've been married for 70 years — is 94. I don't want to leave him for too long, but it's not slowing me down. In May, I went to Paris to see Taylor Swift with some family and friends. Jennifer and I are hoping to catch another of her concerts when we're in London this month.

I've always joked that I've been everywhere but Antarctica. But I've just been invited on a cruise to see the penguins. I don't enjoy cold weather. But I never say never.

Do you have an interesting story about travel that you'd like to share with Business Insider? Please send details to jridley@businessinsider.com.

• Phil Coley moved from the UK to France with his wife after renovating a $29 four-bedroom house.
• Their children were born in France in 2021 and 2023.
• Coley, 55, shared his impressions of the country. He told Business Insider there are few negatives.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Phil Coley. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My wife, Kristi, and I were inspired to move to France after watching a documentary about British people who'd relocated there.

At the time, we rented a two-bedroom home in a sought-after area with high real estate prices. We realized we couldn't afford the type of place we wanted because it would have cost around $260K.

So, in 2017, we bought a four-bedroom fixer-upper in the north-west of France for $29K. Kristi, 38, lived in a tent during the start of the renovations, and I visited every two months to help. I fully transferred in 2020.

We're in a rural location close to Limoges, which has an airport. It's served by a low-cost airline, and, depending on the time of year, we can fly back to the UK for just $29 round trip.

Our family — we have two kids, Alicia, 3, and 18-month-old Haydn — is very happy. Meanwhile, the price of our property — now that it's renovated — has increased to between $215K and $260K. But, finances aside, we can't imagine going back to the UK.

Here are three pros and just one con about ex-pat life in France.

The French are friendly — but you need to make an effort with their language

It's important to try at least to speak some French, even if you get it wrong. In my experience, French people appreciate visitors and ex-pats who try to communicate and respect the culture.

Some ex-pats do themselves no favors by thinking, "Everyone speaks English, so why bother?"

It can be hard to understand colloquialisms and the local patois. But, if we trip up, it usually ends with a laugh.

Family comes first

The French don't live to work. They believe spending as much time as possible with family is essential.

In August, everything pretty much shuts down. Workplaces close — apart from essential services — and people go on vacation en masse.

It's usually four weeks of lovely weather, and the campgrounds, hotels, and B&Bs are often full. One of the most popular types of vacation is touring around in an RV. Practically every town and village has a motorhome stopover spot.

You stay there for free. The idea is that people will buy something from the local stores, and it will generate business.

Kids start school at 3

The education system in France is superior. There are public schools for 3-year-olds, who must be potty trained at that age. The authorities believe adamantly in early education.

Alicia goes to school between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. No academics, and formal classes don't start until the children are 7.

It's well-known that the French love their cuisine. Alicia is served a healthy, four-course lunch at school. It's far more convenient for parents, and she loves it.

There's a lot of bureaucracy

The French like everyone to have a job. It's one of the reasons that a large proportion of the population works in the public sector.

The downside is that you will never deal with one person. They'll say they must pass things on to a colleague, then another colleague, and so on.

Filling out paperwork for a driver's license or passport is laborious and involves a lot of red tape.

Personally, I've also found that some people dislike online forms and email for official applications. Sometimes, they prefer handwritten or typed paperwork you must print out before sending it.

You can wait months for an answer but keep being fobbed off. Eventually, they will say they've lost the forms. And you have to start all over again.

Do you have an interesting story about living away from your native country that you'd like to share with Business Insider? Please send details to jridley@businessinsider.com.

• Automakers and their suppliers have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in EVs.
• Demand for EVs has slowed over the past year while consumer interest in hybrids has soared.
• Kia says hybrids are an opportunity to get hesitant EV buyers into electrification. 

In recent years, global automakers and their suppliers have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in developing new electric vehicles and the infrastructure to build and support them.

However, even as the automotive industry marches toward the inevitable point of full electrification, demand for EVs has slowed over the past year while interest in hybrids has soared.

Hybrids, with their excellent efficiency and lower cost, offer consumers a range-anxiety-free alternative to help bridge the gap between internal combustion and EVs, Steve Kosowski, the manager for Long Range Planning and Strategy at Kia Motors America, told Business Insider in a recent interview.

While EV sales fell in the first quarter of 2024 by more than 15% compared to the previous three months — their first drop since 2020 — hybrid sales are booming.

Traditional hybrids, with lower price points and limited all-electric range, saw a 45.7% sales uptick from January to March, while plug-ins, which are pricier but can go upwards of 60 miles on batteries, grew a whopping 69.7%, according to figures from PWC.

As a result, some automakers have postponed their plans to abandon internal combustion engines completely.

This development would seemingly threaten Kia, which has launched about half a dozen new BEVs in recent years, including the stylish EV3 SUV this May.

But Kia sees hybrids as an opportunity to get potential BEV buyers in the door.

"If you look at resistance in the market to buying an EV, number one is price and then it's range and (charging) infrastructure, " Kosowski said. "But if you look at hybrids and PHEVs, the resistance because of price is much much lower."

"The last time I looked, transaction prices for EVs and plug-in hybrids were in the same area, which signals to me that consumers want to electrify and are willing to pay for it," he added."

With range anxiety a non-issue, hybrids, especially those of the plug-in variety, allow people who are hesitant to fully electrify a way to ease into it.

Hybrids accounted for about 8.4% of the total market during the first quarter of 2024.

But if you look at the largest and arguably most important segment these days, compact SUVs, hybrids account for nearly one-fifth of sales, Kosowski said.

This places added importance on the need to have hybrid options available for sale.

Fortunately for Kia, the company hedged its strategy and has no fewer than half a dozen hybrids and PHEVs currently on sale in the US, including the Niro Hybrid and Sportage PHEV compact SUVs.

"As an automaker, you take a step back from this, and you go, it makes so much more sense to proliferate hybrids within your lineup," he said.

For Kia, building hybrids instead of EVs affects its bottom line beyond the revenue it generates. EVs cost substantially more to build than ICE and hybrid vehicles.

According to Kosowski, who has spent the past two decades with Kia, the material cost of a typical ICE car is half of the sticker price. The cost of materials to build an EV is 50% more than that.

"This is the 800-pound gorilla in the room for the industry," he added. "The thing about EVs is their material cost is so high that the margin for everybody gets squeezed until it becomes negative."

The popularity is a surprising turn of events from hybrids. Until recentlythey were maligned by consumers for being substantially more expensive and complex than a fully ICE vehicle and by environmentalists for not being as eco-friendly as a full BEV.

However, hybrids' day in the sun is likely to be temporary due to increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

"EV sales can only go up. These cars are coming because every automaker has to sell in order to meet zero-emissions vehicle production (ZEV) regulations, and greenhouse has rules," Kosowski said.