Category: Business

• OpenAI released a statement Friday on its safety efforts for Voice Engine, its text-to-speech model.
• Voice Engine generates natural-sounding speech that some fear could be used for deepfakes.
• The technology has raised concerns among lawmakers.

For the second time in a matter of months, OpenAI has found itself explaining its text-to-audio tool, reminding everyone that it is not, and may never be, widely available.

"It's important that people around the world understand where this technology is headed, whether we ultimately deploy it widely ourselves or not," the company said in a statement posted to its website on Friday. "Which is why we want to explain how the model works, how we use it for research and education, and how we are implementing our safety measures around it.

Late last year, OpenAI shared its Voice Engine, which relies on text inputs and 15-second audio clips of human voices to "generate natural-sounding speech that closely resembles the original speaker," with a small group of users outside the company. The tool can create voices that sound convincingly human in several languages.

At the time, the company said it was choosing to preview the technology but not widely release it to "bolster societal resilience" against the threat of "ever more convincing generative models."

As part of those efforts, OpenAI said it was actively working on phasing out voice-based authentication for accessing bank accounts, exploring policies to protect the use of individual's voices in AI, educating the public on the risks of AI, and accelerating development on tracking audiovisual content so users know whether they're interacting with real or synthetic content.

But despite such efforts, fear of the technology persists.

President Joe Biden's AI chief, Bruce Reed, once said that voice cloning is the one thing that keeps him up at night. And The Federal Trade Commission said in March that scammers were using AI to elevate their work, using voice cloning tools that make it harder to distinguish between AI-generated voices and human ones.

In its updated statement on Friday, OpenAI sought to assuage those worries.

"We continue to engage with US and international partners from across government, media, entertainment, education, civil society, and beyond to ensure we are incorporating their feedback as we build," the company said.

It also noted that once Voice Engine is equipped with its latest model, GPT4o, it'll also pose new threats. Internally, the company said it's "actively red-teaming GPT-4o to identify and address both known and unforeseen risks across various fields such as social psychology, bias and fairness, and misinformation."

The bigger question, of course, is what will happen when the technology is widely released. And it looks like OpenAI might be bracing itself, too.

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

• Bliss Caribbean Restaurant opened in Missouri in May.
• Women must be 30 and men 35 to dine at the restaurant.
• The owners said the age policy helps "maintain a sophisticated environment."

A Missouri restaurant has a strict age policy that excludes anyone under 30 to "ensure a grown and sexy atmosphere."

Bliss Caribbean Restaurant opened its doors to diners in St. Louis County in May. The restaurant announced that month on its social media that it had an age requirement for customers.

"As a Black-owned business, Bliss Caribbean Restaurant is dedicated to providing North County with an upscale dining experience," a Facebook post read. "To ensure a grown and sexy atmosphere, we require all guests to be 30 or older for women and 35 or older for men. This policy helps us maintain a sophisticated environment, uphold our standards, and support the sustainability of our unique ambiance."

The announcement sparked conversation on social media, prompting the staff to discuss the policy with local news outlet KSDK. Erica Rhodes, the assistant manager, said the restaurant is meant to be a haven for customers looking for a relaxed, mature experience.

"The restaurant is just something for the older people to come do, have a happy hour, come get some good food, and not have to worry about some of the young folks who bring some of that drama," Rhodes said.

She added: 'I would tell those younger ones to come patronize the business once you turn 30 or 35 because we're going to be here for a while."

Marvin Pate, who owns Bliss Caribbean Restaurant with his wife, acknowledged that the policy has generated some criticism.

"Of course, we have been getting a little backlash because of our policy, but that's OK, we're sticking to our code," Pate told the outlet.

Pate said the response to the policy has been mostly positive, which the restaurant mentioned in a June 3 Facebook post.

"We're proud to keep our space grown and sexy, creating a vibe that's both sophisticated and safe," the post read. "Big thanks for the love and support that got us here!"

Representatives for Bliss Caribbean Restaurant did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Narendra Modi begins third term as India's prime minister after election victory.
• Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party won 240 seats, forming a coalition for a parliamentary majority.
• The swearing-in was held at Rashtrapati Bhavan with regional leaders and high security in New Delhi.

Narendra Modi has been sworn in for a third term as India's prime minister after winning the election but losing a parliamentary majority on Friday.

Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 240 seats, well short of the 272 required for a majority and far fewer than the record 303 it won in the 2019 election.

Modi, 73, has been forced to form a coalition government as leader of the BJP-led National Democratic Coalition, which together controls 293 seats. The coalition includes several smaller regional parties.

The swearing-in ceremony took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the Indian president in New Delhi. It was attended by thousands of guests, including the heads of neighboring Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Two of India's richest industrialists, Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, were present, as was the Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.

Tight security was in place in New Delhi with more than 2,500 police officers deployed around the venue and a no-fly zone declared.

Analysts predict that dependence on coalition parties will likely curtail some of the authoritarian leanings of Modi's previous governance, forcing the prime minister to engage in consensus politics.

Gautam Nair, an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard, said that Modi's nationalist message had stopped resonating with voters.

"This election, even if Prime Minister Modi retains power, shows the power of India's democracy," said Rossow.

Here are some of the best pictures from India's historic weekend.

Thousands of people gathered in front of the Presidential Palace

Modi took the oath of office as the country's Prime Minister

Modi signs after taking the oath of office

Modi bowed to the crowd after being sworn in

Fans helped to cool down the onlookers in the Delhi heat

Foreign leaders of neighboring states came to congratulate Modi

Fans of Modi drew pictures of the prime minister to celebrate his third term

Celebrations took place across India over the weekend

• A personality hire is someone who succeeds because of their soft skills.
• AI is thriving on hype (and fear) — and people who are good at creating hype are succeeding.
• Hype men and women and personality hires aren't bad things. In fact, they're necessary.

Of all the world-altering things possible in our new AI era, one decidedly old-fashioned thing is not going anywhere: the personality hire.

A "personality hire" is someone who contributes to a team with soft skills like their dazzling charm. There's a connotation that personality hires might not actually be good at their jobs, that they're just fun to have around the office. But they arguably serve an incredibly important function in the health of an organization.

In the field of AI, it's useful to lightly stretch the definition of "personality hire" to include someone who is really, really good at selling themselves, a product, or simply the idea of AI as this all-powerful entity that will completely change everything about life as we know it, for better or worse (hopefully, for the better if you heed their advice).

They're hype men (or women), you might say. This is because a lot of what's going on with AI right now is hype.

ChatGPT's chief knows how to get his way

The greatest of all these, of course, is Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. This week, Bloomberg Businessweek reported on Altman's rise within Silicon Valley, starting from founding a mediocre social networking app at age 19 to becoming the head of the most exciting company in tech.

Altman founded Loopt, a pre-smartphone social location app in 2007. He charmed and networked with important tech and venture-capital power players, and was personally tapped to be Paul Graham's successor at Y Combinator at age 29. He was a savvy and successful investor (even still, he has personal investments in more than 400 companies, some of which do business with OpenAI, according to The Wall Street Journal, which has raised some eyebrows about conflict of interest) and convinced deep-pocketed friends Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel, and Elon Musk (now a frenemy) to fund OpenAI as a nonprofit.

By many accounts, Altman is charismatic, good with people, and even better at getting his way. "Altman's biggest strength is figuring out who can help him the most, then dazzling them," someone who worked with Altman told Bloomberg on the Foundering podcast.

Altman is perhaps the most successful personality hire of all time.

This isn't totally groundbreaking (or even insulting to him). Being a successful CEO or a tech founder requires a certain personality type. This doesn't necessarily mean being fun at cocktail parties: Mark Zuckerberg is a ruthless businessperson but, until recently, seemed to have the charisma of a shingles outbreak. It takes Big Personality Hire Energy to muster the straight-faced ambition to say that you need to raise $7 trillion (yes, trillion) dollars.

Altman's talents as an operator also nearly cost him his job. This past November, when Altman was temporarily fired by the board of OpenAI, it was because some board members found him too smooth an operator and distrusted him. That Altman returned as CEO with a new board speaks to his ability to rally powerful allies like Satya Nadella of Microsoft, although he still has rough waters ahead internally.

Sam Altman isn't AI's only 'personality hire'

And then there's Leopold Aschenbrenner, a newly emerged hypeman of AI doomerism. Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI employee who was reportedly fired for leaking a memo he wrote to the board about safety concerns, published a 165-page manifesto warning about the dangers of unchecked AI. It contains some questionable charts, comparisons to the building of the atomic bomb, and links to a Minecraft video on YouTube.

I don't know if AI will lead to the extinction of the human race or if he's full of smoke. (I sure hope it's not the end of the human race!) Aschenbrenner's warnings have been taken both credulously and skeptically, and I am not in a position to guess how likely it is that we'll soon be in a nuclear war with China over data centers, as he suggests. But there's something about his verbose proclamations that ring to me as hype.

Max Read on Substack has a very astute assessment of the manifesto and how the hyperbole of AI doomerism might be, in some cases, self-serving hype:

What I do know is that the Silicon Valley investor class has become quite contemptuous of Effective Altruism (the school of thought that drove the Future Fund), and highly skeptical and suspicious of the associated focus on existential risk or "x-risk" now that it seems to be a retardant on their ambitions. On the other hand, that same class is quite hawkish on China and bullish on national security businesses and the military-industrial complex. If I were a young and ambitious person whose career so far was largely in "A.I. safety" and other E.A.-associated fields, I might attempt to re-frame my experience and interests as more national-security oriented. And if I were really trying to suck up to reactionary venture capitalists I might also imply that I was unjustly fired over unfair charges of racism by a devious H.R. drone.

While the specifics of this C.V. are credibility-building among Aschenbrenner's target audience (investors and founders in whose companies he'd like to invest, as well as dupes on Twitter who will boost his profile), just as important is the image he fits: Young, prodigious, confident, fast-talking, able to speak fluidly on a range of subjects from geopolitics to epidemiology to chip design. If Aschenbrenner weren't a Zoomer I'd call him a millennial ambition psycho; certainly, he shares with the Ivy League sociopaths of my generation a cloying, manic self-assurance that somehow scans as "genius" to the credulous and the powerful and as "extremely annoying bullshit" to literally anyone else.

And then, tragically, there is the sad tale of the Humane AI Pin. Humane's founders were former Apple employees, incredibly stylish dressers, and produced incredibly cool demo videos that made the product seem amazing. They raised $240 million from investors, including Sam Altman.

When it first started taking preorders, I wrote about how I thought the AI Pin looked awesome and I wanted one — even if I could see how it might be slightly impractical. It was futuristic, fun, and made by really cool and edgy people — the ultimate AI hypesters.

Even with the hype, the AI Pin has flopped

Of course, the AI Pin has been a failure so far. Early reviews were dreadful, sales were far lower than projections, and the company was criticized for launching a half-baked product. This week, they announced a recall on the chargers because there was a danger they could catch on fire. I don't want to laugh (I will not suggest that you just squeeze the AI out of it like Juicero) because I think it's genuinely a huge bummer. I'd love for an ambitious new kind of hardware device to be successful; I'm rooting for that to happen out there in the world because I love cool new gadgets. But this clearly just wasn't it.

At this moment, in June of 2024, everyone knows AI is a "big deal," but most people don't know exactly what that will really mean or look like. This leaves the door wide open for hype purveyors to sell people on its magic and power — or play to their worst fears.

This isn't necessarily bad — hype can be useful just like personality hires in a workplace are useful. And the most beautiful part of all of this? A personality hire is the most human thing — something AI could never replace.

• A study found that implementing a global universal basic income could boost global GDP by 130%.
• Funding a global UBI with a carbon tax would also promote sustainability, the study's authors say.
• Basic income programs gained traction post-pandemic to address high unemployment.

Some might say a universal basic income is wishful thinking, but one study suggests it could have staggering impacts on the global economy.

Researchers behind the newly published study, called "Utilizing basic income to create a sustainable, poverty-free tomorrow," outlined how universal basic income could provide a "two-pronged solution to both environmental sustainability and social resilience" that could grow the global GDP from 39% up to 130%.

Basic income pilots gained popularity after the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused record-high unemployment — nearly 15% — in the United States in early 2020.

Most American programs are guaranteed basic income pilots, which provide a specific demographic of people with a set amount of cash with no strings attached for a predetermined time period. A universal basic income program, or UBI, would provide regular cash payments to everyone.

Rashid Sumaila, the study's primary author at the University of British Columbia, found that a UBI funded by carbon taxes on a global scale would be costly upfront but pay off in spades.

The study said that it could cost a third of global GDP to operate, but would result in an overall increase of the global GDP by as much as 130%.

"I must concede that the US may be the last place to engage with our proposal for all sorts of reasons," Sumaila told Business Insider. "But the situation may not persist forever as there are indications that Gen Z and millennials seem to care relatively more about tackling both climate change and inequality than older Americans."

Basic income pilots in America have met with opposition from conservative lawmakers. One representative in Iowa, which moved to ban such programs, called it "socialism on steroids." In other parts of the world, however, the idea enjoys wide political support. South Africa is on track to be the first country to adopt a universal basic income.

Sumaila and the study's other co-authors focused on funding this global UBI plan through a carbon tax "because of the global push to reduce carbon emissions to reach sustainability goals," the study says. They found that a carbon tax could generate trillions annually, depending on the scale of the flat tax.

"In theory, it is a beautiful idea to use basic income to help people, sustain nature, and boost the economy. It also seems possible to raise a big chunk of the funds needed to do this by taxing C02 emitters, degraders of biodiversity, overfishers, deforesters, plastic polluters, oil spillers, and the agricultural sector," Sumaila told Business Insider.

• Recent photos appeared online showing a US-provided Abrams tank with cages to protect against drones.
• Both sides of the war in Ukraine have been welding cages onto their battle tanks.
• With drones reshaping modern warfare, tanks will need to adapt to survive on future battlefields.

The heavily armored M1 Abrams tank is widely regarded as one of the best and toughest tanks in Ukraine today, but even it can't ride out without cages to shield it from drones.

The overwhelming presence of drones, including ones that fly into military vehicles and explode or burst into flames, has become a defining element of the war in Ukraine, and both sides are working quickly to adapt to this growing threat.

Battle tanks and other armored vehicles, including US-provided Abrams and Bradleys, other Western tanks like the German Leopard, and top Russian tanks like the T-90M, have at times fallen prey to one-way attack drones. In many cases, elite weapons worth millions are being taken out by systems worth only a few hundred dollars.

What started as unusual has become commonplace. Main battle tanks often sport large, welded "cope cages" to stop exploding drones from taking them out. Some have looked crude and ineffective, but more recent models have appeared sturdier, more refined.

The growing consensus is that these cages and defenses like them aren't going anywhere because unmanned systems like those seen in Ukraine are the future of warfare.

"It's absolutely here to stay," Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said.

"The idea has been around for a little while," he said, calling attention to the US employing cages around its Strykers in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect against enemy rocket-propelled grenades. And now," with the ubiquity of drones, it has gained momentum, and I think is now a permanent part of armored vehicles," he added.

Photos shared online last month showed a US-supplied M1A1 Abrams tank with improvised cages.

Like previously documented examples, the cages look to be built around the sides and top of the turret, giving the tank an exterior defense to protect it from exploding unmanned aerial vehicles, particularly small first-person-view drones.

The recent pictures suggest that even the Abrams, considered the best tank Ukraine's received from its Western allies, needs some extra help to stop drones and other anti-tank weapons, but that's not necessarily a shocking development.

Mick Ryan, a retired Australian major general and strategist following trends in warfare, said that "it shouldn't be surprising that we see a drone cage on an Abrams, just like we see a drone cage on every other tank at this point." He added that when he saw the pictures, he thought, "Well, of course that would happen."

The "Ukrainians," Ryan said, "are smart, they're adaptive, and they're coming up with better ways to protect themselves and maintain combat power." The Ukrainians, notably, aren't the only ones that are adapting, though. The Russians are as well, fielding things like the so-called "turtle tank."

Images of Ukrainian and Russian tanks and armored vehicles with cages have been seen more frequently as first-person-view drone attacks have become more prevalent. Some pictures online back in June 2023 showed a Russian MT-LB and a T-72B tank with a large counter-UAV screen. A video from July captured a Ukrainian M109L SPH with extensive anti-drone cage armor.

And as exploding drones continue to threaten just about anything that moves on the battlefield, the world has seen T-64s, additional T-72s, T-80s, T-90s rocking cages, as well as some Western tanks. In some cases, both sides have also employed electronic warfare devices to jam or disrupt incoming drones. That, too, has come to be considered an important part of the counter-drone fight.

Some cages have appeared more sophisticated than others and proven more effective in combat. Early models looked to only cover specific areas of the vehicles — the top, for example, while the sides and rears were exposed. These cages have also been seen in other conflicts, such as Israel's war in Gaza.

Ukraine's new Abrams tank cage looks like it could be more purposefully designed to add another layer of protection and potentially increase the survivability of the crew.

It's unsurprising to see the designs get better, as both sides seek to innovate and keep their vehicles and crews in battle. "It's been happening throughout the war, they've been responding," Ryan said. "I look at these kind of adaptations, and they're interim steps as we figure out different ways to counter the drone threat."

The netting-like cages that Ukraine and Russia are putting on their tanks and armor appear to be a last-ditch effort against anti-tank missiles and artillery as well. Russia, notably, employed cages before the widespread use of drones to stop US-provided Javelin weapons.

But right now, the drones are by far the greatest threat, and the effects on the battlefield in Ukraine are changing the way many militaries are thinking about warfare.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the US military was able to adapt to the threat of improvised explosive devices that ravaged the underbellies of vehicles. Now, learning from drone usage in Ukraine to improve the coming Abrams and future Bradley replacement is vital.

Cancian explained that because drones, as well as anti-tank weapons, are going to be a growing and enduring presence in war, cages or protective features similar to them are going to become a permanent part of a vehicle's equipment.

"In the future," he explained, "you'll see either tanks will have it already incorporated, or there will be a standard kit you put on."

• Private messaging app Fizz suspended a Vermont high school from using its app after an outcry.
• The app allows students to share anonymous posts and is meant to be "uplifting."
• But students shared posts mocking each other instead.

Fizz touts itself as a private messaging app meant to be a judge-free zone for Gen Z to connect. But a high school in Vermont had a much different experience.

The app became available to the 1,300 students at Champlain Valley Union High School this May. Within weeks, an outcry from parents and faculty forced Fizz to "temporarily" remove access, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"It was really chaotic. You started to feel like you couldn't trust anyone," one student, Lio Miller, 15, told the outlet.

Miller is part of the school's Dungeons & Dragons club. One student shared a picture of the club from the yearbook and called them "nasty." Another student said that Fizz was advertised to them as a "gossip app."

Fizz allows students at colleges and high schools to post anonymous messages on a private news feed. The app is introduced to campuses by students who register with Fizz and become ambassadors. Fizz is not affiliated with any educational institutions.

To gain access, students must use an email address associated with their school.

Two former Stanford students, Ashton Cofer and Teddy Solomon, launched the app in 2021 after noticing students struggling to connect during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's now available at more than 240 colleges.

"By the end of the Fall Quarter, over 80% of Stanford undergraduates had made Fizz their one-stop shop for campus life, including memes, events, meeting classmates, commerce, and just a place to speak their mind," the app's website says.

When Champlain Valley Union High School students downloaded the app, the messages were initially innocuous. But that didn't last long.

The Journal reported that students uploaded pictures of their peers to mock their looks and disabilities. Some posts speculated about students' sexual orientation, while others shared photos that suggested underage drinking or smoking.

Some posts also targeted faculty members, including Principal Adam Bunting, the outlet said.

Bunting told the Journal that students began reporting Fizz to administrators within hours of its launch. He described students arriving at the guidance counselors' office in tears and having to convince one upset senior to finish the school year.

"I was shocked and dismayed by how quickly the app created harm," he said, adding that some posts were written about him.

Fizz isn't the first anonymous messaging app to rattle schools. Yik Yak launched in 2013 and found early success, but it became bogged down by instances of cyberbullying and harassment.

An April 2023 study by the McKinsey Health Institute found that more Gen Z respondents felt social media had a negative impact on their mental health compared to other generations.

Fizz's website said the app is meant to be an "uplifting digital space for GenZ." It has strict guidelines against bullying and harassment.

Solomon told the Journal that the Champlain Valley Union High School incident was an anomaly. He said 90% of high school and college users indicated that the app fostered inclusivity, leading to feeling connected.

"What happened at Vermont was an outlier," he said.

Fizz echoed its anti-bullying sentiment in a statement to Business Insider.

"To confirm, we suspended the Champlain Valley Union Fizz community after working directly with school administrators," the statement read. "Our mission is to combat loneliness for Gen Z, and we have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying on Fizz."

A Champlain Valley Union High School representative did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• US customers want more affordable EVs. 
• They might soon get their wish, with a host of cheaper electric models coming in the next few years.
• Chevy and Volvo are launching new EVs, and Ford and Tesla are also hinting at cheaper models.

EVs have an affordability problem.

Demand for electric vehicles has slowed in recent months amid a lack of cheaper options, and carmakers are now scrambling to develop more affordable EVs.

According to Edmunds data, the average transaction price of an EV in 2023 was $61,702 versus $47,450 for other vehicles.

That affordability gap seems to be deterring would-be EV buyers, with some opting to go for hybrid vehicles instead, which are typically cheaper than fully electric vehicles.

Luckily for these consumers, the next few years should see a range of more affordable electric vehicles released. Big hitters like Tesla and Ford are teasing the release of cheaper models to join the likes of Nissan and Mini, who already offer lower-cost options.

Here are some other new affordable EV options coming soon:

Volvo EX30

The Volvo EX30 is set to hit US shores this summer — and it will boast a competitive $35,000 price tag.

The EX30 has an estimated 275-mile range and can go from zero to 60 mph in under four seconds.

One Volvo sales manager described it as a "game-changer," telling Reuters that his dealership had already taken deposits for every EX30 they expect to receive.

Volvo's latest offering also has a stylish design and a high-tech interior — as Business Insider found when we got an early look last year.

Kia EV3

Kia and its South Korean parent company, Hyundai, have seen US sales surge this year as they cash in on demand for more affordable EVs.

Kia is planning to take advantage of that with the EV3, a compact electric SUV with 373 miles of range and can charge from 10% to 80% in 31 minutes.

Deliveries of the EV3 are expected to begin in Korea and Europe later this year, with the EV reportedly expected to cost around $35,000.

US customers will have to wait a little longer, however — a company spokesperson confirmed to BI that the EV3 will be coming to the US, but did not say when it will go on sale.

Chevy Equinox and Bolt

Chevy, the GM sub-brand, aims to release a new lineup of electric models over the coming years.

The company has set its target on more affordable EVs, too. Chevy's $43,295 Equinox EV went on sale in May. It also has a $35,000 version of the 319-mile range electric crossover coming later this year — which could sell for less than $30,000 with the $7,500 federal tax credit for US-made EVs.

Chevy also plans to relaunch the Chevy Bolt, formerly America's cheapest EV, after it halted its production last December.

The automaker has said the new Bolt will be available next year and will be the "most affordable" EV on the market — suggesting a sticker price below $30,000.

VW ID. 2all

German automaker VW abandoned plans to build affordable EVs with European rival Renault last month, and is planning to go solo.

In May, the company said it plans to produce EVs priced at around 20,000 euros ($22,000) by 2027.

In a step toward that, VW revealed its ID. 2all battery-powered hatchback last year. When it enters production in 2026, it expects it to cost 25,000 euros ($27,000) or less.

US customers hoping to buy one will be disappointed, however. A VW spokesperson told BI at the time that it has no plans to bring this model to the US right now.

Rivian R3

Rivian founder RJ Scaringe pulled off a Steve Jobs-style "one more thing" when he unveiled two new affordable EVs in March.

The Tesla rival announced its R2 SUV, which is expected to start at $45,000 when deliveries begin in early 2026 — a big upgrade on the R1S, which currently starts at $75,900.

That lower sticker price will allow Rivian to compete with Tesla in the mass market.

However, it was the R3 — which Scaringe also unveiled in March — that turned heads.

Few details have been revealed about the new vehicle, but the company confirmed the R3 would cost less than the R2, and that deliveries will start sometime after 2026.

• Leviathan Productions enlists "Fauda" creators for "October 7th" film on Noam Tibon's rescue.
• The film covers Noam Tibon's daring rescue during Hamas' attack on Tibon's family's kibbutz.
• Noam Tibon, armed only with a handgun, saved his family and others, gaining global attention.

Leviathan Productions has tapped Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz, who created the hit Israeli political thriller series, "Fauda," to write the script for a new film titled "October 7th," say reports.

The film will recount the true story of Noam Tibon, a retired Israeli general who gained international attention when he rescued his family from Hamas gunmen during an attack on Nahal Oz, their kibbutz in southern Israel, on October 7, 2023, Deadline reported.

Hamas launched an assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip, resulting in nearly 1,200 deaths, primarily among Israeli citizens.

Noam's son, award-winning journalist Amir Tibon, was sheltering in their kibbutz in southern Israel from Hamas gunfire with his wife and their two daughters.

He described the gunfire as "the most chilling noise" he had ever heard.

Amir rang his parents. His father, who had spent his military career in counterterrorism, replied, "Trust me, I will come. This is my profession; nobody can stop me," per NBC Nightly News.

Amir's parents set off, driving south from Tel Aviv to help as best as they could.

Armed only with a handgun, Noam battled Palestinian gunmen along the way and rescued survivors of the music festival massacre. He also helped wounded Israeli soldiers, his son said.

Amir told The Atlantic, "After 10 hours, we hear a large bang on the window, and we hear the voice of my father. Galia, my oldest daughter, says, 'Saba higea' — 'Grandfather is here.' And that's when we all just start crying. And that's when we knew that we were safe."

Tibon's heroics made waves on social media, with some users likening Tibon to Liam Neeson from the film "Taken." Neeson's character, Bryan Mills, rescues his teenage daughter from human trafficking kidnappers.

Many compared Tibon's comment, "This is my profession, nobody can stop me," to the oft-quoted line from Mills to one of his daughter's captors: "What I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you."

Noam and Amir Tibon will contribute as consultants to the project.

• The Walmart heirs' combined net worth is over $293 billion, according to Bloomberg.
• In public, the Waltons live relatively modest lifestyles despite their wealth. 
• Here's how they spend their fortune.

The combined wealth of the Walmart heirs — which includes founder Sam Walton's children, Rob, Jim, and Alice, as well as his grandson Lukas — is more than $293 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

While some have worked in the family business — whether that's serving on the company board or working to manage the family's wealth — others chose to pursue areas of personal passion.

Sam Walton, the original man behind the company that now encompasses both Walmart and Sam's Club, set his family up for financial success when he divided the ownership before he died.

He wasn't a man of flashy luxury, but you can see how his children are living a slightly more lavish life now. Here's a look at how the Walton family empire spends its money: 

Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962.

He married Helen Robson on Valentine's Day in 1942.

Together, they had four children: Rob, John, Jim, and Alice.

By the time Sam died in 1992, he had set up the company ownership in a way that minimized the estate taxes anyone on the receiving end would have to pay.

Source: Fortune

He set up his ownership of Walmart's stock in a family partnership — each of his children held 20% of Walton Enterprises, while he and Helen each held 10%. Helen inherited Sam's 10% tax-free when he died.

Source: Fortune

Samuel Robson "Rob" Walton is the oldest Walton child. He is 79 years old.

He served as chairman of Walmart from 1992 until 2015 and remained on the board after.

He's stepping down from the board at the end of his current term in 2024.

Rob made a splash in 2022 by leading an ownership group to buy the Denver Broncos.

The group purchased the NFL team for a $4.65 billion in summer 2022 in a record-breaking sale at the time.

Rob has purchased a house in Paradise Valley, Arizona, near the base of Camelback Mountain.

In the past, protesters have rallied outside of his Arizona home to advocate for better wages and benefits for Walmart workers.

Besides real estate, Rob has a large collection of vintage cars.

In 2013, he ran his Daytona Coupe, which was worth $15 million at the time, off the tracks and wrecked it. The car was one of only five ever made.

Sam Walton's second-oldest child, John Walton, died in a plane crash in 2005.

He was 58 years old.

He was married to Christy Walton and had one son, Lukas.

John left about 17% of his wealth to his wife, and he gave the rest to charity and to his son.

Source: Business Insider

John served in Vietnam as a Green Beret. When he returned from the war he held a series of jobs — like the Walmart company pilot, a crop duster, and the owner a few yachting companies — before becoming a Walmart board member.

Source: Fortune

In 2013, Christy decided to sell their Jackson Hole mansion. She also sold the family's ranch for an undisclosed price in 2016 after listing it for $100 million in 2011.

Source: Curbed and Ranch Marketing Associates

The 8,606-square-foot home was put on the market for $12.5 million.

Source: Curbed

James "Jim" Walton is the youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He is 75 years old.

He is chairman of the board of the family's Arvest Bank Group. One of the state's largest banks today, Arvest Bank has assets totaling more than $27 billion.

Source: Bloomberg

He also served on the Walmart board, starting in 2005 to fill the vacancy after his brother John died. Jim Walton's son, Steuart, took over his father's seat on the board in 2016.

Now, he presides over Walton Enterprises — the private company that deals with the investments and finances of the Walton family only — from modest offices in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Source: Fortune

The youngest of founder Sam Walton's children, Alice Walton is worth $86.3 billion, according to Bloomberg. She has been divorced twice and has no children. She is 74 years old.

Alice has never taken an active role in running the family business.

Instead, she became a patron of the arts, which she fell in love with at a young age.

When she was 10, she bought her first work of art: a reproduction of Picasso's "Blue Nude" for about $2, she told The New Yorker.

Source: The New Yorker

She has an immense private art collection, with original works from Andy Warhol and Georgia O'Keeffe. Alice opened a museum in Bentonville called Crystal Bridges in 2011 to house her $500 million private art collection.

When it opened, Crystal Bridges had four times the endowment of the famous Whitney Museum in New York.

The collection includes a Georgia O'Keeffe painting that Alice spent $44.4 million on in 2014 — the biggest sale for a woman's piece of art in history.

Source: The Observer

Alice also breeds horses.

Her Millsap, Texas, property, Rocking W Ranch, sold to the Three Amigos Investment Group of Kermit, Texas, in September 2017 for an undisclosed amount.

Source: Star-Telegram

It had an initial asking price of $19.75 million, which was reduced to $16.5 million. The working ranch had over 250 acres of pasture and outbuildings for cattle and horses.

Source: WilliamsTrew

Her other, 4,416-acre Texas ranch was previously listed at a reduced price of $22 million.

The modest, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home overlooks the Brazos River.

Alice also bought a two-floor condo on New York's Park Ave. for $25 million in 2014.

Source: Business Insider

It has more than 52 large windows overlooking Central Park plus a media room, a winding staircase, and more than 6,000 total square feet of space.

Source: Business Insider

In January 2016, Alice donated 3.7 million of her Walmart shares — worth about $225 million at the time — to the family's nonprofit, the Walton Family Foundation.

Sam and Helen started the foundation as a way to teach their children how to give back and how to work together.

The charity awards millions of dollars in grants to causes that align with the foundation's values.

The foundation awarded $566.5 million in grants in 2022, according to its website.

The foundation has three main areas of focus:

The foundation's focus on education was led by John. His brother Jim said John was really interested in being able to give parents choices when it came to their child's schooling.

Source: Walton Family Foundation

Rob spearheaded the foundation's venture into environmental protection. One of the first grants they gave helped develop a sustainable fisheries label.

Source: Walton Family Foundation

A commitment to the family's home of Arkansas is another large part of the foundation. The website says this area of focus is about "advancing our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta."

Source: Walton Family Foundation

Walmart Inc., which owns Walmart and Sam's Club, is the largest retailer in the US in terms of revenue.

 In fiscal year 2023, Walmart reported $648.1 billion in revenue.

When Walmart has a good quarter, the Waltons make hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends.

Even though the Walton family is raking in billions as a result of the company's success, they remain relatively under-the-radar in terms of flashing their wealth — much like their patriarch, Sam, did in the early years.

Source: Fortune

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