• While rehearsing for the Eras tour, Taylor Swift wore the $185 posture-correcting Forme Power Bra.
• The bra is designed to "immediately improve upper body alignment" and fix your posture.
• Beth Linker, author of "Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America," is skeptical of such products.

It appears that even global pop stars may have a hard time standing up straight.

In Taylor Swift's profile for TIME's 2023 Person of the Year, photos revealed that she wore the Forme Power Bra while rehearsing for the Eras Tour last year. This is a sports bra designed by an orthopedic surgeon to help improve body alignment.

It comes with a hefty price tag but, at least, for Business Insider's senior editor Conz Preti, it's worth it. "I love this bra so much," Preti said after wearing it for nine months to help prevent her shoulders from hunching forward too much when playing tennis.

For $185, wearers should feel their upper body alignment "immediately improve" as the bra "activates and supports key muscle groups, helping guide the body into proper alignment naturally, without any discomfort," according to Forme's website.

This bra isn't the only posture-fixing product on the market. In fact, there's an entire industry built around posture-enhancing devices and fitness programs, totaling $1.25 billion spent annually worldwide, Beth Linker reported in her new book "Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America."

If you find that one of these products works for you, then go ahead and use it, Linker said. But otherwise, she advised against shopping for a quick solution because you risk wasting money and injuring yourself while using a product that may not be right for you.

Linker is an author, medical historian, and former physical therapist. In "Slouch," she takes readers on a journey through the history of our societal obsession with good posture. From her point of view, trying to fix posture with pricey, one-step products isn't the best approach.

"The kind of bra that Taylor is wearing is incredibly expensive," Linker told BI. Companies can get away with marking up products like this by promising that they'll fix posture, she said, but she's not convinced they'll work for everyone. Forme didn't respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Why she's skeptical

Linker considers posture-fixing products like Taylor Swift's bra to be "one-size-fits-all solutions." They're designed to work for everybody, and that's where Linker takes issue.

These products don't account for the unique, individual physiological characteristics, lifestyle choices, and injuries that could be contributing to a person's "bad" posture.

A quick Google search for "posture-fixing products" yields countless results, ranging in price from a few bucks to a few hundred dollars. For example, you can buy a $16 harness-like posture corrector that uses compression to align the spine, kind of like Swift's bra. Or, you can opt for a bigger purchase, like this $349 "posture pump" that inflates when you lie down on it to align, decompress, and lubricate the spine, according to posturepump.com.

Before purchasing one of these products, Linker recommended asking yourself whether your posture really needs fixing in the first place.

The idea that slouching is bad for your health and well-being isn't grounded in science, but rather decades of "cultural shaming," which Linker outlines in her book. She explains the history and stigma against "bad" posture in the US.

"What I show in the book is that there have been a few studies that indicate that there isn't solid scientific evidence to show that a person who slouches more is more likely to have back pain," she said.

However, if you are experiencing pain or discomfort and think improving your spinal alignment will help, here are some things you can do.

The right way to care for your spine

Linker recommended consulting a doctor, physical therapist, or body-work professional before beginning to work on your posture. That way, they can expertly assess your unique needs and help you achieve your specific goals safely.

"Each person's back pain is individualistic," she said.

Incorporating movement into your daily routine is also a great way to reduce back pain and create better spinal alignment, Linker said, especially for those who sit for long hours during the work week. It's important to get up from your desk, walk around, stretch, and make sure you're not sitting in the same position for too long.

For example, she always keeps a standing desk handy not because standing is necessarily "better" than sitting, but because it gives her the option of changing positions throughout the day.

She also suggests practicing yoga or pilates. These types of exercise stretch and strengthen the muscles throughout the entire body, and can foster healthy alignment.

The bottom line: be skeptical of one-size-fits-all products that promise to "fix" your posture, Linker said. Instead, seek professional advice, move your body, and don't obsess over achieving perfect posture.

• An ex-personal assistant accused in the Gokada CEO's 2020 murder is on trial in NYC.
• Tyrese Haspil was in the throes of  "extreme emotional disturbance," his lawyer told jurors Friday.
• Jurors then heard the 911 call of a cousin who discovered Fahim Saleh's remains in his apartment.

A Manhattan jury on Friday heard the harrowing 911 call of a woman who discovered the dismembered body of her cousin, Gokada ride-share CEO Fahim Saleh.

"Oh my God. Oh my God," the woman cries in the 911 call, after finding Saleh's torso facing up in a pool of blood on his living room floor.

"Is he breathing?" the operator asks, to which the woman sobs, "No! His head is missing, his arms are missing, and his legs are missing!"

Saleh, a Bangladeshi-American, was an admired international entrepreneur who had made millions through Gokada, his Nigeria-based motorbike ride-share and delivery service.

Manhattan prosecutors say the tech entrepreneur was murdered and sawed into pieces in July, 2020 by Tyrese Haspil, his embezzling former personal assistant, who acted after weeks of planning.

Security footage — undisputed by the defense — shows Haspil shocking his victim from behind with a Taser as the elevator doors open into Saleh's seventh-floor condominium.

"There was quite a struggle," prosecutor Linda Ford told jurors of Saleh's death by multiple stab wounds.

The defense concedes that Haspil, 25, stole from and then killed and dismembered his ex-boss.

But Haspil suffered an extreme emotional disturbance during the weeks it took to plan, execute, and try to cover up the killing, defense lawyer Sam Roberts told jurors in opening statements Friday.

That "disturbance" lay latent after Haspil's traumatic childhood — and was then triggered by the thought of losing his girlfriend, Marine Chavaux, who was soon to return to her native France, Roberts said.

Realizing that his $400,000 embezzlement had been discovered, but desperate to lavish more gifts on Chavaux in time for her 22nd birthday, a "disturbed" Haspil believed his only options were "suicide or homicide," Roberts told jurors.

Selling this defense may prove a tall order. Prosecutors say Haspil had purchased his Taser a full month before the murder and spent the three days after the murder methodically dismembering his victim and shopping with his victim's credit card at luxury retail stores.

Also on Friday, jurors saw photos of a shopping bag from Christian Louboutin that police recovered from the $18,000-a-month Airbnb where Haspil was arrested.

If the jury believes Haspil's defense, he'd be guilty of manslaughter instead of murder, and would face as little as five years in prison.

The 911 tape

"Miss? Miss? Who's the ambulance for?" the 911 operator asks Saleh's cousin in the recording played Friday.

Prosecutors have referred to the cousin only as "Person 1" in court papers. Business Insider is withholding her name for privacy.

"Fahim Saleh!" she answers between gasps.

"For who?" the operator asks, unable to understand her.

"Fahim Saleh!" the cousin shouts again. "Oh my God. Oh my God."

"Miss, OK, take a deep breath," the operator can be heard telling her.

"His body!" the cousin sobs. "His body is dismembered!"

This is the point where the operator, apparently having trouble understanding, asks if the patient is breathing, and the cousin tells her that Saleh's head, arms, and legs are missing.

"They like — I can't — they like, they cut it off," the cousin sobs.

"Who cut it off?" asked the operator, who has meanwhile dispatched first responders to the scene.

"I don't know!" the cousin gasps. "I just came to check in on him."

"It's just you there, right?" the operator asks.

"I left because honestly it looked — there's just like black garbage bags everywhere," the cousin answers.

Prosecutors told jurors that these bags held Saleh's head and limbs.

"There was an electric saw next to his body," the cousin then tells the operator.

"OK, they're already on their way," the operator says. "OK? Just stay on the line with me. OK? Just try to take deep breaths," she says, before adding — apparently still confused — "So he's passed away though, correct?"

"His head is not there anymore!" the cousin exclaims, breaking into fresh sobs.

"His head is cut off?" asks the now shocked-sounding operator. "Yes," the cousin tells her. "His head is not here."

"They're coming. They're coming," the 911 operator consoles the cousin. "Do you want to wait outside?"

"I can wait inside the lobby," the cousin answers. "Honestly, what if they come back and take his body?"

Extreme-emotional-disturbance defenses are usually reserved for sudden acts of violence, though there are exceptions.

In 2014, wealthy Manhattan socialite Gigi Jordan was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter, not murder, after poisoning her eight-year-old autistic son. Her lawyers argued she acted under extreme emotional distress as she planned and executed the boy's death.

The prosecution case against Haspil continues next week.

• NASA and Boeing are proceeding with a space launch after discovering a helium leak.
• Starliner's maiden voyage will carry two US astronauts.
• Boeing VP Mark Nappi said the design vulnerability was "not a safety of flight issue."

NASA and Boeing said a helium leak in its Starliner spacecraft is "stable" and won't prevent two astronauts from launching into space next week in a mission more than a decade in the making.

NASA and Boeing execs said the cause of a leak in Starliner's propulsion system had been identified in a press conference on Friday, and it was safe to fly.

A previous launch attempt was scrubbed on May 6 hours before takeoff due to a separate issue — after which the "small" leak was discovered on a flange on one of Starliner's thrusters, NASA program manager Steve Stich said during the press conference.

Days after it was discovered, "we proved to ourselves that the leak was stable," added Boeing VP Mark Nappi.

He said the design vulnerability was "very remote" and "not a safety of flight issue."

"We can handle up to four more leaks," Stich said, "and we can handle this particular leak if that leak rate were to grow even up to 100 times."

Now, Boeing's Starliner is set to take NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) on June 1 and then back after a one-week stay.

There are backup launch opportunities on June 2, June 5, and June 6.

Boeing is playing catch-up with SpaceX, whose Dragon spacecraft has been transporting astronauts to and from the ISS since 2020. Starliner's maiden voyage comes amid ongoing scrutiny of Boeing's safety culture around its separate passenger plane division.

The Starliner previously encountered issues on uncrewed test flights in 2019 and 2021.

A Boeing spokesperson referred Business Insider to Friday's press conference. NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI

• Google is giving users bad, AI-generated answers. Again.
• In February, when this happened before, Google shelved the faulty AI product behind the results.
• But this time feels different — Google has basically committed to this idea as the future of the company.

Step 1: Google rolls out a new, AI-powered search product.

Step 2: Users quickly find the product's flaws, and point them out with social media posts, which become news stories.

Step 3: Google admits that its new, AI-powered search product is fundamentally flawed, and puts it on ice.

Yup, we've seen this drill before. Back in February, Google was shamed into shelving an image-generating feature for its AI chatbot.

Now we are two steps into the same process: Google is widely rolling out its "AI Overview" feature, which replaces its usual answer to search queries — a list of links to sites where you might find the actual answer you want — with an AI-generated answer that tries to summarize the content on those sites. And people are finding examples of Google generating answers that are wrong, and sometimes comically bad.

Which is why colleague Katie Notopoulos constructed, and then ate, a pizza made with glue. (Bless you, Katie! This is truly heroic stuff, and I hope you spend your hazard pay wisely. (We do get hazard pay, right?))

So here's the two trillion-dollar question: Is Google going to have to backtrack on this one, too?

No, says Google, which argues that the dumb answers it has been generating are few and far between. And that most people don't know or care about search answers that tell people how many rocks to eat. Or that you should stare into the sun for 5 to 15 minutes — unless you have darker skin, in which case you can go for twice as long.

And Google also notes that it is quickly swatting down Bad Answers as they crop up. Particularly ones where someone smart enough to use a phone but stupid enough to follow those answers could harm themselves.

Here's the formal version of that answer, via Google comms person Lara Levin:

"The vast majority of AI Overviews provide high quality information, with links to dig deeper on the web. Many of the examples we've seen have been uncommon queries, and we've also seen examples that were doctored or that we couldn't reproduce. We conducted extensive testing before launching this new experience, and as with other features we've launched in Search, we appreciate the feedback. We're taking swift action where appropriate under our content policies, and using these examples to develop broader improvements to our systems, some of which have already started to roll out."

OK.

But like I've said. We've seen a version of this story before. What happens if people keep finding Bad Answers on Google, and Google can't whac-a-mole them fast enough? And, crucially — what if regular people, people who don't spend time reading or talking about tech news, start to hear about Google's Bad And Potentially Dangerous Answers?

Because that would be a really, really big problem. Google does a lot of different things, but the reason it's worth more than $2 trillion is still because of its two core products — search, and the ads that it generates alongside search results. And if people — normal people — lose confidence in Google as a search/answer machine …

Well, that would be a real problem.

Privately, Googlers are doubling down on the notion that these Bad Answers really are fringe problems. And that, unlike its "woke Google" problem from a few months ago — where there really was a problem with the model Google was using to create images — they say that's not the case here. Google never gets things 100% correct (they say even more quietly) because, in the end, it's still just relying on what people publish on the internet. It's just that some people are paying a lot more attention right now because there's a new thing to pay attention to.

I'm willing to believe that answer: I've been seeing Google's AI answers in my search results for about a month, and they're generally fine.

But not every time.

And the thing that's very different between the old Google results and the new ones is the responsibility and authority Google is shouldering. In the past, Google was telling you somebody else could answer your question. Now Google is answering your question.

It's the difference between me handing you a map and me giving you directions that will send your car barreling over a cliff.

You could argue, as my 15-year-old son does (we are weird people so we talk about this stuff at home) that Google shouldn't be replacing its perfectly fine olde-timey search results with AI-generated answers. If people wanted AI-generated answers, they'd go to ChatGPT, right?

But of course, people going to ChatGPT is what Google is worried about. Which is why it's making this major pivot — to disrupt itself before ChatGPT or other AI engines do.

You can argue that it's moving too fast, or too sloppily, or whatever. But it's hard to imagine Google walking this one back now.

• Fisker initiated another round of layoffs on Wednesday, multiple sources told Business Insider.
• The company has gone through a series of cuts and warned it might go out of business.
• Henrik Fisker has said the company is in talks with other automakers regarding a potential acquisition.

Embattled EV startup Fisker kicked off another round of layoffs on Wednesday, four sources with knowledge of the issue told Business Insider.

Fisker has made multiple cuts to its workforce over the last few months. In February, Fisker CEO Henrik announced plans to cut 15% of its staff. Most recently, Fisker sent a round of layoff notices on April 29.

The series of cuts are designed to eventually bring the workforce down to a skeleton crew of only "mission critical" staff, one Fisker employee with knowledge of the issue said.

The total number of employees impacted by this latest staff reduction wasn't clear. A spokesperson for Fisker declined to comment.

Fisker has warned multiple times over the past few months that the company might go out of business within the year. On April 29, the company sent out notices to staff in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, warning employees that they might be laid off in two months if the company is not able to find a buyer or additional funding.

That same month, Fisker had told workers in an all-hands meeting that it was in talks with four automakers regarding a potential buyout.

Last week, Fisker's CEO told staff in a companywide meeting that the company had reached out to other automakers in addition to the initial four regarding an acquisition.

"I do hope we're closing in on something serious here in weeks rather than months," Henrik Fisker said at the time.

In March, Business Insider first reported that Fisker had delivered over 6,000 of its all-electric SUV, the Fisker Ocean, since its launch. A year prior, the company said it had "approximately 65,000" reservations for the vehicle ahead of its US launch in June 2023, but the company has faced negative reviews and cancellations since its launch.

Do you work for Fisker or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email at gkay@insider.com