• Trump's 7-man, 5-woman jury will have only the verdict sheet with them in the deliberations room.
• They must check the boxes for "Not Guilty" or "Guilty" on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
• They will not have a copy of the judge's hour-long, spoken instructions on the underlying law.

After four weeks of testimony by nearly two dozen witnesses — plus hundreds of exhibits and eight hours of closing arguments — the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president now has a deliberating jury.

Donald Trump's potential criminal record rests in the hands of seven men and five women, a majority white-collar group that includes three men with finance backgrounds and two men who are lawyers.

Jurors listened intently for just over an hour Wednesday morning — with several taking brief notes — as the judge described the law to them before sending them to a deliberations room adjacent to the courtroom.

Jurors had to surrender their cellphones to the safe-keeping of court officers before beginning their work.

"I'm going to ask you to step out now and begin your deliberations," New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan told the jury as parting words at 11:28 a.m.

Two jurors — a man who works as a security engineer, and a woman who works as a software engineer — volunteered to learn to operate the laptop on which they can view trial exhibits while deliberating.

The laptop contains no other data and is not connected to the internet.

Finally, six alternates — five women and one man — were asked to wait in a separate room. "There might be a need for you at some point in the deliberations," the judge told them.

Here are the documents that will guide the Trump jury's decisions in New York's historic hush-money trial.

The verdict sheet

The verdict sheet is the only document the jurors will have with them in the deliberations room. It instructs them to check "Not Guilty" or "Guilty" on each of 34 counts of a single charge: falsifying business records in the first degree.

The court staff has promised to give us a blank copy of the verdict sheet. We'll update this post once we have it.

Each of the 34 counts pertains to a different invoice, check, and ledger entry that Trump allegedly caused to be entered into the Trump Organization's business records throughout 2017, his first year in office.

Falsifying business records in the first degree

Prosecutors say Trump caused 34 business records to be falsified as part of an illegal conspiracy to influence the 2016 election.

The records, prosecutors say, disguised the true purpose of $130,000 in "legal fee" reimbursements paid throughout 2017 to Trump's then-lawyer, Michael Cohen.

In reality, Cohen was being secretly reimbursed for his hush-money outlay to Stormy Daniels, a payment that silenced the porn star just 11 days before the 2016 election, prosecutors allege.

Merchan read to jurors from the standard jury charge for felony falsifying business records.

The jury charge

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan spent more than an hour Wednesday morning speaking to jurors, slowly describing to them the laws that will underpin their verdict.

Read the judge's "jury charge" here.

During the charge, Merchan warned jurors to be on guard against any "implicit bias" about groups of people and the defendant himself.

They were also reminded that prosecutors bear the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and that they must consider only testimony, exhibits, and attorney stipulations in reaching a verdict — not the potential for punishment.

"The defendant is not required to prove that he is not guilty," he reminded jurors. "The defendant is not required to prove or disprove anything."

Finally, the jurors were instructed on the underlying laws, and their definitions.

Key among these laws is section 17-152 of the New York election law. Business Insider described this important but rarely-used state election-conspiracy law last month.

To convict, jurors must find that Trump falsified business records to conceal an attempt to violate 17-152.

And to find that Trump attempted to violate 17-152, jurors must find he attempted to commit any of three additional underlying offenses. These are the federal election campaign-finance law, an additional New York business-falsification law, and a violation of tax laws on either a city, state or federal level.

The judge told jurors that they could not take a written copy of the charge with them to the deliberations room.

"You may however request I read them back to you in whole, or in part, as many times as you wish," he told them. "And I will be happy to do so."

The defense lawyers, prosecutors, and Trump himself were instructed not to leave the courthouse during deliberations.

Trump sat still during the judge's instructions, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes, leaving his hands in his lap. On at least one occasion, he appeared to stretch in his seat.

Once Merchan sent the jurors to the deliberation room, Trump appeared relaxed — even jovial — joking with his son, Donald Trump, Jr., as he left the courtroom to await his verdict.

Once in the hallway, he huddled with his aides outside the courtroom for three minutes before walking up to the cameras and complaining about the judge.

• Some products feel like they've been around forever, but they're actually fairly recent inventions.
• Sliced bread, a kitchen staple, has been around for fewer than 100 years. 
• It's tough to imagine life without the MacBook and iPhone, but they've only been around 20 years.

Certain products have become integral to our daily lives — it seems like there was never a time that we lived without them. 

However, even some that seem as old as time have been created fairly recently. Sliced bread was put on the market for the first time in 1928, after a Missouri-based jeweler, Otto Rohwedder, invented the bread slicer. 

More than a third of the US population, 136 million people, were iPhone users in 2023, and the company has a particularly strong hold on Gen Z: Research released by Piper Sandler in October found 87% of teenagers surveyed said they had an iPhone, and 88% of them anticipated getting an iPhone as their next phone, too.

However, the product was brought on the market just 17 years ago. 

Take a look at all the products that haven't been around for as long as you would think.

A pantry staple today, sliced bread was first sold in 1928.

The first loaf of automatically sliced bread was produced by Otto Rohwedder in Chillicothe, Missouri, in July 1928, according to History.com. Rohwedder was a jeweler, and faced criticism by bakers for his idea; they thought that sliced bread would go stale too quickly.

Cans with pull-tab tops became popular after being patented by Ermal Fraze in 1977. He had designed the mechanism about a decade earlier.

According to Slate, the pull-tab top on cans became standard after removable tops were deemed a health hazard — they could be accidentally swallowed or cut people's feet on beaches.

Post-it Notes were introduced around the world in 1980.

Arthur Fry was a new product development researcher at 3M when he learned of the adhesive microspheres that his colleague Spencer Silver had developed, according to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, of which Fry is a member.

He then coated the adhesive to paper and the Post-it Note was created.

Sriracha hot sauce is also a relatively new product. It was first put on the market in 1980.

Huy Fong Foods founder David Tran created Sriracha in 1980.

Sriracha is the eighth-most-popular hot sauce in the United States, according to 2023 data from Instacart. But before a worldwide Sriracha shortage, it was in the No.2 spot, per Instacart data shared by AllRecipes.

Battery-operated car keys have only been around since the 1980s. Before, each car door had to be locked and unlocked with a traditional key.

Car and Driver reported that one of the earliest iterations of a remote-entry locking system could be found in the 1983 AMC-Renault Alliance. Then, in 1987, Cadillac released the Allante car key, and by the early 1990s, the device was more widespread.

Though inline skates have been around since the 19th century, rollerblades were first sold by their teenage inventor, Scott Olson, in 1981.

Olson was 19, living in Waconia, Minnesota, and dreamed of joining the NHL when he saw a pair of inline skates in a sports catalog and thought they'd help him train. Even though they were not a popular item at the time, he knew immediately they had potential — they just needed some updates to appeal to a broader audience.

He told Marketplace he didn't invent the concept, only the product. "The inline skate started back before roller skates were even invented, back in the early 1800s," Olson said.

The Coca-Cola company was founded in 1892, but Diet Coke wasn't for sale until 1982.

Diet Coke was unveiled on July 8, 1982, and introduced in the United States on August 9, according to the company. It quickly overtook sales from the brand's previous diet cola, Tab. 

Built-in GPS for cars was first unveiled in 1990 by Mazda in Japan, but it took a decade before it was widely available in American cars.

Though there were earlier models of map guidance tools introduced as early as 1930, the Mazda 1990 model was the first that had a true GPS built in to a commercially available car. It took another 10 years after its release to become available in the United States, Popular Mechanics reported. The US military had to allow for its commercial usage, since they had launched the GPS satellites.

Though many households have them now, Sony PlayStations have only been around since 1994.

PlayStations revolutionized gaming, with graphics that were far more advanced than anything else on the market at the time.

Starbucks' famous Frappuccinos have only been available since 1995. Vanilla Bean and Strawberry Creme flavors were introduced in 2002.

Dina Campion, a Starbucks employee, helped launch the Frappuccino.

She told Starbucks, "It was the summer of 1993, and Los Angeles is very hot in the summer. We noticed there were some smaller coffee shops that did some sort of blended coffee beverage. A couple of store managers and I felt there was a huge opportunity for Starbucks."

It has certainly paid off for the chain.

In August 2023, Starbucks said 75% of its drink sales the previous quarter were for cold drinks, QSR reported. Even over the winter — between January and March 2024 — cold drinks accounted for 63% of drink sales, Starbucks reported in April.

In 2021, an employee told Business Insider that Starbucks was becoming a "frappuccino factory."

Though it's now become a household staple, Febreze was first introduced in 1996.

Febreze was invented by Procter & Gamble. The Washington Post reported Febreze and other similar sprays have ingredients called cyclodextrins that can actually trap odor molecules.

A popular item on the McDonald's menu now, the McFlurry was only introduced in 1997, two years after it was invented by a franchisee.

The McFlurry was invented by a Canadian franchisee, Ron McLellan, at his McDonald's in Bathurst, New Brunswick. 

"I never expected that my creation would circle the globe with countries mixing together their own unique flavours," McLellan told CTV News in 2015.

You might see them in almost every house now, but plasma flat-screen TVs were first sold by Panasonic in the 1990s.

Flat-screen TV technology was pioneered by two University of Illinois professors, Donald Bitzer and Gene Slottow, and a graduate student, Robert Willson, according to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

However, their model was not suitable for commercial use, and it wasn't until the 1990s that Panasonic engineer, Larry Weber, invented the modern flat screen we see in homes today.

Though they may seem like old technology now, DVDs were created in Japan in 1996 and first sold in the United States in 1997.

In 1997, Warner announced its first 30 DVD titles, which included "Blade Runner," "Casablanca," and "Twister," Variety reported.

The popular soft drink Sierra Mist has only been available since 1999, when it was launched by Pepsi.

Sierra Mist was rebranded to Mist TWST in 2015. A Pepsi spokesperson told AdAge, "We are working to highlight the lemon-lime credentials of the product."

The Universal Serial Bus (USB), also known as a flash drive, was first sold by IBM in 2000.

The first IBM USB was called the DiskOnKey, and held just 8 megabytes. However, within 10 years, the drive's storage capacity increased to 256 gigabytes.

Popular with both kids and adults, Razor scooters went on the market in 2000.

Razor scooters were invented by Wim Ouboter, a banker and amateur craftsman living in Zurich, Switzerland. He spoke to CityLabs in 2018 about how he came up with the idea.

"The problem is, if you're a big guy and you're riding such a small scooter, people will look at you weird. So you have to make it collapsible in order to bring it into a bar afterwards," he said.

The Toyota Prius, the first mass-produced hybrid car, was released internationally in 2000.

The car was first introduced in Japan in 1997. Today, Toyota is up to its fifth generation Prius.

Though you may see them in many public bathrooms today, Xlerator hand dryers have only been around since 2002.

Excel Dryer released the Xlerator in 2002, and they were marketed as being able to dry hands in about 10 to 15 seconds, much faster than other dryers at the time, which took about a minute.

The first camera phone was released in 2000.

Samsung's phone with a built-in camera, the SCH-V200, was released in South Korea in June 2000. Its camera was capable of taking 20 photos, but had to be hooked up to a computer for users to access them, per Digital Trends.

McGriddles are another relatively recent item on the McDonald's menu. They became available in 2003.

The McMuffin was introduced in 1972 and was McDonald's only breakfast sandwich until the McGriddle was released. 

Android phones were only introduced in 2003.

In 2022, the number of iPhone users in the US overtook Android users for the first time. Globally, however, the Android operating system is far more popular, according to StatCounter data.

Take 5 candy bars were first introduced by Hershey in 2004. Their popularity helped boost the company's profits 8% that year.

In 2019, Hershey announced Reese's was taking over the Take 5 bar, and it became the Reese's Take 5 bar. The company revealed that Reese's peanut butter had been an ingredient in the Take 5 bar since its 2004 launch.

Though energy drinks are ubiquitous today, the popular 5-hour Energy only went on the market in 2004.

The drink, created by American businessman Manoj Bhargava, made $1 billion in retail sales in its first eight years, Forbes reported.

Taco Bell's CrunchWrap Supreme is also relatively new. It was introduced in 2005.

After its launch in 2005, the CrunchWrap Supreme became Taco Bell's most successful product introduction. It was added to their permanent menu in 2006.

Stride gum has only been around since 2007.

Stride is made by Kraft and is marketed as "The Ridiculously Long Lasting Gum."

Though Apple is now one of the world's top laptop retailers, MacBooks were released relatively recently, in 2006.

Though MacBooks are popular, Windows still takes the lion's share of laptop sales.

Similarly, more than a third of Americans own an iPhone, but the devices have only been around since 2007.

There are more than 130 million iPhone users in the United States, accounting for nearly half of all smartphone users in the country, per Statista.

Krave cereal was released in the United States by Kellogg's just 12 years ago, in 2012.

Krave was first released in the United Kingdom in 2010 and came in six different varieties: chocolate hazelnut, milk chocolate, totally chocolatey, chocolate caramel, chocolate, and double chocolate.

Amazon Alexa was first released in 2014, but only for Prime members. It became available for general users in 2015.

Alexa long led the way in voice-assistant technology but has slipped into third place in the US in recent years. Google Assistant is pacing for 88.8 million users in the US in 2024, followed by Siri with 84.2 million, per 2022 Insider Intelligence data. Meanwhile, Alexa has a projected 75.6 million users this year.

Amazon is working on an upgraded version of Alexa, slated for a summer release.

• Reebok was once one of the NBA's leading brands.
• Legends of the game like Allen Iverson, Dominique Wilkins, and Shaquille O'Neal all sported Reeboks.
• The brand has now partnered with O'Neal to try to regain its status in the sport.

In the 1990s, Reebok was one of basketball's leading brands.

From Dee Brown's iconic slamdunk contest win in his Reebok Pumps to Allen Iverson's first signature sneaker, the "Question Mid," the brand was once at the center of the sport.

But fast-forward to 2024, and Reebok finds itself a long way behind the likes of Nike, Adidas, and Jordan.

The company has now embarked on a big push to change that, however.

In October 2023, former LA Lakers star and hall-of-famer Shaquille O'Neal, 52, was announced as the president of Reebok's basketball operations.

O'Neal, who originally signed with Reebok as a rookie in 1992, is leading the brand's return to the court alongside fellow NBA legend Allen Iverson, who joined the company as the vice president of basketball.

"Listen, we're getting back into basketball," O'Neal said at Reebok's annual brand summit in March, The New York Times reported. "Everyone needs to be 100 percent in on this, because I'm 100 percent in on this."

"I'm not doing this because this is a hobby. I'm doing this because we have a rightful place in basketball," he added.

Despite Reebok's success in the '90s, sales had begun to fall by the turn of the century, and the company was eventually acquired by Adidas for $3.8 billion in 2006.

But Reebok's fortunes did not fare much better under the German company's ownership, which moved the brand away from both basketball and ice hockey.

"Adidas really mismanaged the brand," Matt Powell, a footwear industry analyst and senior advisor with BCE Consulting, told The Times.

Following repeated calls from investors to offload the brand, Reebok was eventually sold to US-based Authentic Brands Group in 2021 for around $2.5 billion.

With O'Neal and Iverson on board, the company now hopes to regain its spot among basketball's elite and challenge the sport's top brands.

But the former stars will have their work cut out — in 2023, Nike reported gross revenue of around $51 billion, while Adidas pulled in roughly $23 billion. Reebok's annual revenue was just $2.3 billion.

As part of its strategy, Reebok is planning to launch a new basketball line in 2025. However, the company will be facing tough market conditions.

Sporting goods companies have faced lower demand while struggling with high inventories in the US, with Adidas reporting its first annual loss in more than 30 years in March and Nike announcing plans to cut around 2% of roles — over 1,600 jobs — in February.

The industry is hoping that the 2024 Paris Olympics and two major soccer tournaments — the Copa América and the UEFA European Championship — will help boost sales this summer.

O'Neal, at least, seems to know what's at stake for Reebok.

"If this doesn't work, everyone's leaving," he told The Times.

• OpenAI's board was as surprised as the public by ChatGPT's 2022 release, a former member claims.
• Helen Toner says the board was "not informed in advance" and actually learned about it on Twitter.
• She says CEO Sam Altman had been "withholding" and "misrepresenting" information with them.

The release of ChatGPT took the world by surprise back in 2022 — and a former OpenAI board member claims that was the case for the company's board of directors, too.

On November 30, 2022, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman tweeted a link to the chatbot, writing, "Today we launched ChatGPT. Try talking with it here." But Helen Toner said the board wasn't given a heads-up about the release and, in fact, learned about it from Twitter (now X).

"For years, Sam had made it really difficult for the board to actually do that job by withholding information, misrepresenting things that were happening at the company, in some cases outright lying to the board," she said in an interview with Bilawal Sidhu on "The TED AI Show" that aired Tuesday.

Toner said one example was the ChatGPT release, where "the board was not informed in advance."

In November 2023, Altman was briefly ousted, with OpenAI's board at the time saying a review showed he "was not consistently candid in his communications with the board."

But OpenAI reinstated Altman as CEO less than a week later after facing internal and external pressure. Nearly all of the company's staff had threatened to quit after Altman's firing, and Microsoft said it would hire Altman to lead an AI team.

Toner resigned from her role as an OpenAI board member a week after Altman returned as CEO.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, though current OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor said in a statement to the podcast, "We are disappointed that Ms. Toner continues to revisit these issues."

An independent review of Altman's firing "concluded that the prior board's decision was not based on concerns regarding product safety or security, the pace of development, OpenAI's finances, or its statements to investors, customers, or business partners," Taylor added in his statement to the podcast.

• Tech bosses are getting noticed for their style in 2024.
• As the weather heats up, tech workers should consider updating their wardrobes as well.
• Fashion experts suggested brighter colors and more accessories to make an impression this summer.

Tech's top players are switching over to their summer styles — and workers should follow suit if they want to dress to impress.

Whether accessorizing more like Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos or opting for sporty outfits like Bill Gates and Sergey Brin, there are more ways to express personal style than the stereotypical tech uniform of jeans and a t-shirt.

Unlike finance workers — who typically have to keep it a bit more professional — the tech industry is known for its looser dress code and emphasis on an open work culture (though that's shifting in recent years).

Still, tech workers have begun hiring stylists to help them dress better for work. Some pay tens of thousands to improve their look, but others aren't so quick to give up their beloved t-shirts, stylists told The San Francisco Standard.

"If you can get them to try something new, and they get a compliment from someone soon thereafter, that makes it much easier for them to continue updating their wardrobe," image consultant Eddie Hernandez told SF Standard.  

With Meta and others calling their workers back into the office over the past year, employees will have to update their wardrobes for in-person work.

Here's what fashion experts believe tech workers should be wearing this summer.

Ditch the grey tones for colors

No more black, white, or grey.

Hernandez told the SF Standard that he's discouraging clients from going for the drab shades "that are dominant in SF," and asking them to reach for colorful options instead in 2024.

As the temperature heats up, workers might want to put their shackets away and go for the more typical techy t-shirt.

For his clients who want more luxurious options, Hernandez recommended the $80 Niels Standard t-shirt from Norse Project. Entry level employees who want to save money can shop similar styles at Uniqlo and Abercrombie & Fitch for cheaper.

It looks like Gates got the memo and opted for sporty, breathable shorts and Adidas sneakers while off-duty at Zuckerberg's 40th birthday.

Find chic ways to stay cool

Wearing jean shorts and a tank top to work might not go over well — even at the most laid-back tech firms.

Save that for the weekend, and instead, find ways to stay cool during your commute and still look fashionable around the office. In its round-up of summer office outfits, Cosmopolitan included mostly maxi dresses, wide-leg jumpsuits, and light-weight dress shirts.

Loose, breathable clothes catch the wind and keep your body cool while also adhering to a corporate dress code.

Don't be afraid of accessorizing

Tech workers can take notes from Zuckerberg on how jewelry can elevate their look. The Meta CEO has been the subject of viral memes since adding a necklace to his outfits.

"Heading into the summer season, I can see the entry-level tech crowd wearing something clean and understated," Carol Altieri, COO of Bob's Watches told Business Insider.

Altieri suggested a Rolex Explorer for a high-earner starting their watch collection if they want a "clean, low-profile look." The timepiece starts at around $7,000.

To pair with the watch, jewelry brand Ritani told BI that tennis bracelets and necklaces are trendy ways to elevate an outfit.

Ria Papasifakis, vice president of e-commerce at Ritani, said that X CEO Linda Yaccarino is an example of the trend of wearing white gold accessories and putting on chunky bracelets.

"We like to call it the 'powerhouse' look," Papasifakis told BI.

• Singapore Airlines' deadly flight turbulence was so bad the plane dropped 178 feet in four seconds.
• Investigators say the G-forces in the plane caused passengers to fly out of their seats. 
• The turbulence over Myanmar led to one death and over a hundred injuries, some severe.

The turbulence on the deadly Singapore Airlines flight last week was so severe that the plane dropped 178 feet in just four seconds, investigators say.

Officials from Singapore's Transport Safety Investigation Bureau released a new report on Wednesday revealing what happened on board the May 20-21 flight from London to Singapore, where turbulence was so bad that it killed one passenger and injured over a hundred.

The report details just how suddenly the plane experienced a catastrophic drop, one of the worst turbulence incidents in recent history.

While flying over Myanmar, the plane most likely passed over an area of developing bad weather that caused light turbulence and "slight vibration" for about 20 seconds, according to the report.

The report says an upward air draft caused an uncontrolled altitude and speed increase. In response, the pilots pulled the plane back down in an attempt to reach 37,000 feet and engaged the plane's speed brakes, the investigators found.

The plane then experienced — in just 4.6 seconds — a rapid change from positive to negative G force and back again, causing passengers who weren't wearing their seatbelts to fly out of their seats and then get slammed back down again, according to the report.

During those few seconds, the plane fell a total of 178 feet, the report found. After that drop, the pilots were able to quickly stabilize the aircraft, investigators said.

The entire incident, from slightly rough air to deadly turbulence, lasted just one minute and two seconds, according to the report.

In that short time, a 73-year-old British passenger was killed, and more than a hundred other people on board were hurt, including several with paralysis, skull and back trauma, and brain injuries, The Associated Press reported.

Once the pilots learned that passengers were injured, they diverted the flight to Bangkok, according to the investigators' report. The flight didn't hit any more turbulence before it landed safely.

Singapore's transportation bureau said it's still investigating the turbulence. Singapore Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• MrBeast is set to surpass T-Series as the most subscribed YouTube channel globally.
• He warned fans against hateful behavior, emphasizing it's not a country vs. country battle.
• Donaldson's rise symbolizes a win for all creators who have questioned their future on YouTube.

Things have come full circle for MrBeast, who is on his way to being crowned the owner of the biggest YouTube channel in the world.

In 2019, he was buying up billboards in support of his friend and fellow YouTuber Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie. Now, at 262 million subscribers, he's just four million subs behind the channel of T-Series, the Indian music label, and is on track to take over and snatch the top spot in a few weeks.

But he's warned his fans not to get too aggressive as the competition heats up.

In a recent interview with journalist and YouTuber Jon Youshaei, MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, asked if he had a message for T-Series.

Donaldson said he wanted to make it "very clear" that his fans shouldn't see this as "this country versus that country."

He also warned against anyone becoming hateful.

Back in 2019, the race between T-Series and PewDiePie (real name Felix Kjellberg) to get to 100 million subscribers was eagerly viewed across the platform, but the contest was also marred with controversy.

Some of Kjellberg's fans were accused of racism toward T-Series and its supporters, and Kjellberg himself was criticized for some of the lyrics in his diss track "bitch lasagna" containing offensive stereotypes of Indian people.

Donaldson said he didn't think PewDiePie was responsible for all the controversy, but he said some people in 2019 "got a little racist."

"So I'm very cognizant of it, which is why I'm not leaning into it too hard," he said.

He said he has a huge fan base in India, so this shouldn't be seen as "India vs. America."

"I just want to be the most subscribed-to channel," he said.

Donaldson referenced how the victory would be big for himself and all the other creators who long for the old days of YouTube and have voiced concerns over the platform's direction for some time.

"Yes, I have a lot of people helping me, but at the end of the day, I started this channel, I've been doing it for 14 years," he said.

While it is thriving from a business standpoint, many long-standing creators are questioning their future on YouTube, citing burnout, a trend toward consumerism, and the platform's constant changes as reasons they might soon leave.

Donaldson taking the top spot would be a win for all independent creators, he said.

"YouTube runs in my freaking blood," Donaldson said.

"You know what I mean? And so I do think there's a little bit of symbolism, that it's nice that a creator, a homeborn YouTube creator, is the most subscribed-to channel."

Still, it is important to "draw the lines in the sand," Donaldson added.

"I need to make it clear: I love India. I have fans in India. You guys are awesome, and it has nothing to do with that," he said. "A lot of idiots will just start tweeting, 'India sucks. Go crush 'em, Jimmy.' And I'm like, OK, just so you know, it's where a lot of my audience is, but OK."

• Nikki Haley wrote 'finish them' on an artillery shell during a visit to Israel, a photo shows.
• A picture shared by Danny Danon showed Haley signing the shell over Memorial Day Weekend.
• Haley also criticized Joe Biden for temporarily cutting off weapons to Israel, per The Guardian.

Nikki Haley wrote "finish them" on an Israeli artillery shell during a recent visit to Israel.

Danny Danon, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, shared a post on X on Tuesday featuring four photos of Haley and himself during her visit to Israel over Memorial Day Weekend, including one of her kneeling and writing on an artillery shell.

"Finish them! This is what my friend, the former ambassador, Nikki Haley, wrote today on a shell during a visit to an artillery outpost at the northern border," Danon said.

Haley was the US Ambassador to the UN under the Trump administration between 2017 and 2018, which overlapped with Danon's time as Israel's Permanent Representative to the UN.

Haley was touring parts of Israel, including Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Hamas militants killed one in four people during the terrorist attacks of October 7.

"What happened on October 7 is pure evil and can never be forgotten," she said, per the Jewish News Syndicate.

At least 1,189 people were killed during Hamas' attacks, and 252 were taken hostage.

Israel launched offensives against Gaza in the aftermath of those attacks, which have killed at least 35,000 Palestinians as of May 20, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry, shared by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

During her trip, Haley also criticized President Joe Biden for his momentarily withholding aid to Israel.

"The sure way to not help Israel is to withhold weapons," she said, per The Guardian, adding: "America needs to do whatever Israel needs and stop telling them how to fight this war."

In an interview with CNN earlier this month, Biden said he would cut off Israel from offensive weapons if it went ahead with an assault on Rafah.

But on Tuesday, the White House said the assault hadn't violated Biden's previous warnings against launching a large-scale assault targeting population centers.

Haley dropped out of the US presidential race in March.

• The Chinese automaker BYD briefly eclipsed Tesla as the world's top seller of electric vehicles.
• Even though it doesn't have access to the US market, BYD's affordable EVs are popular in China.
• Here's how a little-known Chinese brand proved it could go toe-to-toe with an industry giant.

BYD may not be a household name in America, but it recently made itself known in a big way.

For a brief moment earlier this year, the Chinese automaker unseated Tesla as the world's top seller of electric cars.

Even though you won't see a BYD car in America (yet), the company has built an affordable brand that's popular in China and elsewhere.

It also just announced a Cybertruck competitor, the BYD Shark, along with a hybrid powertrain that allows its sedans to travel up to 1,250 miles without stopping.

Here's the story of the company that proved it could outsell Elon Musk.

BYD doesn't stand for anything — officially.

Wang Chuanfu and a cousin founded BYD in 1995. Then a 29-year-old government researcher, Wang came from a family of rice farmers. He earned a university scholarship and eventually moved to the Special Economic Zone in Shenzhen to start his new company.

The "YD" in the name came from Yadi, the village in Shenzhen where the company originally was, one South Korean newspaper reported. The "B" was added later as a promotional tool, the report said. Wang has said in interviews that, taken together, the BYD name doesn't stand for anything in particular.

It was only later that Wang derived the slogan "Build Your Dreams." The company has also acquired another nickname: "Bring Your Dollars."

The company was originally a cellphone-battery manufacturer.

The company's original business wasn't cars. It was cellphone batteries. BYD challenged the established Japanese suppliers Toyota and Sony by providing a cheaper alternative. By 2002, companies such as Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung were all using BYD batteries.

They started making cars in 2003.

BYD moved into the car business after buying Xi'an Tsinchuan, a failing state-owned automaker that was then an arm of the defense contractor Norinco, the South China Morning Post reported.

The company launched its first car in 2005. The BYD F3 was a compact sedan that resembled the Toyota Corolla. It sold for as little as 40,000 yuan, or about $5,850.

Warren Buffett was a key early booster.

The billionaire investor Warren Buffett was one of the high-profile names who took an interest in BYD early on. Looking to invest in China's booming car market, Buffett toured BYD's headquarters.

The Wall Street Journal reported that while the Berkshire Hathaway tycoon was there, Wang took a sip of battery fluid to prove how clean his batteries were. Buffett was so impressed by the experience that he offered to buy 25% of the company.

Wang declined that offer, but Buffett was not deterred. Berkshire Hathaway acquired a 10% stake in BYD — for $232 million — in 2008.

Their first electric car drew scorn from Elon Musk.

The company debuted its first fully electric vehicle, the E6, in 2010. Benefiting from Chinese government subsidies, it was able to compete with its Japanese counterparts.

But not everyone was impressed. Tesla CEO Elon Musk laughed in a 2011 interview when asked whether he considered BYD a serious rival to Tesla.

"Have you seen their car?" he said. "I don't think they make a good product. I don't think it's particularly attractive. The technology is not very strong."

BYD's hybrid cars turned it into a titan of Chinese automakers.

BYD established itself as one of the top automakers for hybrid vehicles in China in the 2010s. Its most popular offering was the Qin, introduced in 2012, which became one of the best-selling cars in China.

That wasn't the only offering that propelled BYD to prominence, however. The company also released the Tang, a hybrid SUV, and partnered with Daimler AG (now Mercedes-Benz) to make its Denza line.

BYD took the EV crown from Tesla — briefly.

Even though most of its sales in the fourth quarter of 2023 came from the Chinese market, BYD made headlines across the globe when it seemingly did the impossible — it unseated Tesla as the world's top seller of electric cars.

The Chinese automaker rode the EV wave on the back of its new Seagull, which debuted for 73,000 yuan, or about $10,000, as well as its Song, Qin Plus, Dolphin, Yuan Plus, and Han EVs.

Tesla reclaimed the crown in the first quarter of 2024, though both companies saw steep declines in their sales.

BYD's Shark takes aim at Tesla's Cybertruck

The Shark, unveiled on Tuesday, is the latest model offered by BYD.

It's a midsize hybrid pickup truck, and the cabin's design fuses outdoor functionality with modern style and durability.

The truck has more than 430 horsepower, or 170 less than Tesla's all-wheel-drive Cybertruc. BYD says it can accelerate from zero to 100 kilometers an hour, or about 62 miles an hour, in roughly 5.7 seconds. The vehicle has five seats and a maximum towing capacity of 2,500 kilograms, which is just more than 5,500 pounds. That's about half of the Cybertruck's towing capability.

Designed for everyday trips and off-road driving, the Shark has three terrain modes: sand, mud, and snow.

It also has built-in features to make camping and off-roading more accessible. The vehicle offers bidirectional charging, according to BYD's site.

While the Shark isn't in direct competition with the Cybertruck as a hybrid model that doesn't sell in the US, it may entice EV fans looking for a more traditional pickup design. It's also priced competitively at about $53,451, which is lower than Cybertruck's $60,990 starting price tag.

Don't expect to see a BYD car on American roads anytime soon.

For a time, it looked as if we were just a few years away from getting Chinese electric cars in the United States. A BYD executive said as much in 2017, and the company even hired Leonardo DiCaprio as a brand ambassador for English-speaking customers.

Since then, BYD has expanded overseas. The Chinese automaker is planning a factory in Mexico — alarming US officials — and even created its own shipping fleet in a bid to cut down on export costs.

But the company says it has abandoned its plans of selling its EVs to Americans. Analysts have pointed to geopolitical tensions and trade barriers between the two countries, as well as the slumping demand for EVs in the United States.

BYD is launching a new hybrid powertrain system on two midsize sedans — and it can drive 1,250 miles without charging or stopping to fill up for gas.

BYD is upgrading its hybrid powertrain system.

The company announced that the upgraded powertrains will launch in two of sedans, one of which will be the BYD Seal 06, Bloomberg reported. Both models will reportedly be under 100,000 yuan, according to the company.

Hybrids make up the majority of BYD vehicles sold, according to a Reuters report. The new upgrade gives them a competitive edge against rivals like Toyota and Volkswagon, which mostly sell fuel-powered vehicles.

The powertrain system translates to about 81 miles per gallon at full charge, which is over triple the US fuel economy average for 2022 cars. That's also close to 500 more miles of range than a hybrid 2023 Lexus ES, which was the longest-range hybrid in the Kelley Blue Book's list last year.

Additional reporting by Graham Rapier.

• Tesla is offering a potential Gigafactory tour with Elon Musk to shareholders who vote in its annual meeting.
• 15 investors will be chosen at random for the tour, Tesla said.
• The vote will address proposals regarding Musk's pay plan and moving Tesla's incorporation to Texas.

Tesla is offering shareholders the opportunity to tour its Texas Gigafactory alongside Elon Musk and the designer of the Cybertruck Franz von Holzhausen — there's just one catch.

To qualify for a possible invite to the tour, investors must cast their vote on Musk's pay package.

Tesla announced the tour promotion on Tuesday. The company will select 15 shareholders at random for the event, which will take place the day before the annual shareholder meeting on June 12 and will include a tour of the Cybertruck and Model Y production lines at the Gigafactory.

To enter into the raffle, Tesla investors must submit proof that they've held a stake in the company as of April 15, as well as show evidence that they voted on the proposals for the upcoming meeting. The deadline to apply for the opportunity is June 7.

"You should only submit proof that you voted, not how you voted," according to Tesla's website. "You do not need to vote for or against any proposals to be eligible for entry."

Ahead of the annual meeting for investors, shareholders will be asked to vote on a number of proposals, including a proposal to reinstate Musk's pay package, which was struck down by a Delaware judge earlier this year. The company is also asking investors to vote on a proposal to move the company's state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas, and a separate proposal to reelect Tesla board members Kimbal Musk and James Murdoch.

Over the past few weeks, Tesla has pulled out all the stops to encourage investors to vote for the proposals, particularly Musk's pay package, which was valued at around $55 billion before it was voided in January. The company has argued the compensation plan is "critical to the future success of Tesla" and has even paid for a handful of advertisements promoting the pay plan.

Meanwhile, some investors have urged others to vote against the proposals. On May 21, a group of shareholders filed a letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission calling for investors to vote against both Musk's pay package and the proposal to reelect Murdoch and Kimbal Musk. Separately, proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis said in a report on Saturday that the pay plan was "excessive" and presented investors with "uncertain benefits and additional risk."

Are you a Tesla investor, do you work for the company, or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email and device at gkay@businessinsider.com or 248-894-6012