• My friends and I traveled together through Southeast Asia in our 20s.
• We just took another trip together, this time to Bhutan, nearly two decades later. 
• Though much has changed, our friendships are still strong. 

I walked around Singapore Changi Airport feeling like a kid at summer camp for the first time. It was my first trip away from my family in a decade.

"Will I be OK?" I wondered. "What if I feel homesick and want to go home to my children and husband?"

I sat down and checked my backpack for the 10th time to make sure my passport and wallet were still inside. Then, I took a deep breath and wondered why I felt so anxious.

An earlier version of me used to travel alone all the time when I was in my 20s, filled with a naïve optimism that everything would work out. Yet there I was, at 39, feeling completely out of my depth.

I connected to WiFi, and my phone lit up with a message. I felt a rush of relief as I remembered I wasn't alone on the other side of the world. Three of my college friends were heading to Bhutan with me.

They had just touched down from Brisbane and wanted to know where to meet up. "See you at the gate," I wrote, and started making my way through the terminal.

Suddenly, I heard my college bestie call out my name. "Millllllls," she yelled. It was like a scene from a bad romcom, as she came sprinting along the travelator and tackled me. We laughed and hugged, then made our way to the other women.

Three of us are moms who ditched our husbands at home with the kids. The fourth friend decided to join us literally a couple of weeks before the trip, much to our delight.

We've all had vastly different life experiences, but we share an enduring bond — the kind that's formed during those early foundational years and lasts the ages. We met at college and traveled through Cambodia and Vietnam together in our early 20s.

Over the next eight nights, we had the time of our lives in Bhutan. It had been almost 20 years since the four of us had traveled together, but somehow, we picked up right where we left off. Another friend also joined along the way, and she fit in perfectly with the group.

During the holiday, I had so many revelations. The main one was how much I love traveling with girlfriends at different life stages.

We laughed more than I thought possible

There were times when we laughed so much that we cried, starting with our layover in Kathmandu on the way to Bhutan. I had woken up to go to the toilet, and when I reappeared in our twin room, my friend thought I was an intruder. She let out a blood-curdling scream that shook the walls. "It's me, Carmen," I said, then we both collapsed in a fit of hysterics, laughing until our stomachs ached.

Another time, we talked about something serious in a restaurant when the only other patron let out an almighty belch. We all looked at each other, then keeled over with laughter.

But the funniest moment of all was when our somewhat conservative Bhutanese guide took us to a hot spring in Gasa and appeared in his very tight undies. Up until that point, he had been wearing his traditional robe, known as a gho.

We were all sitting in the hot springs nearby as he took a 10-minute shower, meticulously scrubbing every inch of his hair and body. My friend piped up something like, "Queue 'Mysterious Girl' by Peter Andre," and we all lost it. It was so immature, but all of us were enjoying ourselves.

We had the best conversations

Another thing I loved was our deep and varied conversations. Nothing had been off limits during our trip together around Southeast Asia, and the same was true during this trip.

We talked about old relationships and current ones; parenting and puberty; religion and life after death. We discussed the merits of early sex education and the importance of teaching our sons about consent.

Sometimes, we chatted about lighter topics like eyelash curlers and brands of face cream, but I enjoyed those conversations, too. Often, we told stories about our earlier trip together, and through shared experiences, we briefly re-lived our youth.

We embraced the comfortable silences

Part of what I found incredible was how easy and familiar it felt to travel with these friends despite such a long gap between holidays.

There were times when we would embrace the comfortable silences while hiking in the mountains, enjoying the silent companionship rather than filling the void with constant chatter.

The silences never felt awkward, but instead offered opportunities for thoughtfulness and reflection, leading to a deeper sense of connection between us.

We rallied together and enjoyed the sisterhood

There's nothing quite like the bond of female friendship, and I really felt the solidarity of sisterhood during our trip. When women come together, they empower one another to be stronger and offer a tremendous well of emotional support.

When one of my friends began her cycle earlier than anticipated on a remote hike, we all rallied together and pooled our sanitary pads to get her through.

When I had a moment of height-induced panic on a hike, my friends reassured me I would be OK and encouraged me to keep going.

When another friend ended up in tears because her daughter had received some bad news, we hugged her and tried to support her through it.

There were so many beautiful moments of connection like these that I will hold in my heart in years to come.

So, what's next for our traveling girl squad? We all lead very busy lives, and most of us live in different areas of Australia and the world (our fifth friend is based in Hong Kong). It's hard to know when exactly we might have the opportunity to connect again for another overseas adventure.

However, one thing's for sure. The memories of our trip will sustain us until we meet again — and there will be a next time, even if it's another decade in the making.

• Dell introduced a new hybrid work policy to get workers back to the office in February. 
• Nearly half the company's full-time US staff have chosen to stay remote, data seen by BI shows.
• 11 Dell employees explained why they've given up the chance of promotion to keep working from home.

Remote working is the new norm for many white-collar workers, but their bosses still aren't on board.

Rather than accept the shift in working culture, some employers have resorted to strict mandates and punitive policies to get employees back in the office.

Dell has been trying its best to do the same.

In February, the tech giant introduced a return-to-office mandate, telling workers to formally classify themselves as either hybrid or remote.

Those who chose remote are no longer eligible for promotion or able to change roles. Meanwhile, hybrid workers must come into the office 39 days a quarter, roughly three days a week, and their attendance is monitored using a color-coded system.

Several months after this RTO policy was announced, it appears it hasn't worked.

Close to 50% of Dell's full-time workers in the US have opted to stay remote, according to internal data on the entire full-time workforce seen by Business Insider.

Unless they agree to change their classification, those US Dell workers are now ineligible for promotion.

The data showed that around a third of international staff chose to stay remote.

Dell did not answer specific questions from BI regarding the data, but said it believes "in-person connections paired with a flexible approach are critical to drive innovation and value differentiation."

The data seen by BI isn't available to all Dell employees, but many confirmed anecdotally that half or more of their team had opted to stay remote.

"My team is spread out around the world. Almost 90% of the team did the same as in our case there was no real advantage going to the office," one worker said.

Eleven employees from sales, tech support, engineering, and HR departments spoke to BI to explain why they opted for remote work despite losing their shot at career progression. All the employees asked to remain anonymous as they are not permitted to speak to the media.

The benefits of WFH

For several Dell employees, the personal and financial benefits of working remotely were too good to give up.

"I benefited a lot from being WFH since 2020 and had a lot of personal growth. I'm not willing to give that up if I don't have to," one employee told BI.

The staffer explained that prior to COVID-19, their life "was basically home and work," and there was little time for anything else.

Like many who started working remotely during the pandemic, the Dell worker said working from home gave them more time to spend with family, exploring hobbies, and meeting friends outside the workplace.

"The more time I have to spend in the office, the less time, money, and personal space I have for all of that. I can do my job just as well from home and have all of those personal benefits as well,' they said.

"With the salary that we are receiving, a return to the office would leave a huge hole in our budget," said another employee, citing the cost of commuting and meals at work.

Some workers have 'no office to return to'

Some staff said they had no choice but to classify as remote because offices nearby had been shut down or were too far away to commute to.

"Dell closed down the facility in 2020 that I worked at, so I have no office to return to," one worker explained.

But with teams spread across multiple states and time zones, some of those who did live near an office felt it was pointless to show up.

"The particular work I'm doing now means I don't really have a 'team,' and the people I work with most are at different sites," one employee told BI.

Another staffer on a global team said their schedule required the flexibility of working from home: "I am not going to work eight hours in a Dell office and then come home and work three more hours in meetings with my folks in India or Malaysia."

The staffer said there had been no response from HR about how the new policy had restricted the team.

Several of BI's sources said their colleagues who opted for hybrid work have described near-empty offices in some locations.

"My meetings are now with people in different conference rooms across the country by themselves," a remote employee told BI.

"The reality of this thing is dumb."

Another staffer told BI that some had questioned the logic behind the new policy in a company town hall and was told by COO Jeff Clark that working in an office can allow staff to spread knowledge among each other.

Clark did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

'A meaningless threat'

Several senior employees told BI that because they had already moved up the ranks, there was really no more promotion Dell could give them.

"I've got nothing left to get promoted to unless I want to get into management," said one senior engineer.

A more junior employee pointed out that, regardless of the policy, promotion opportunities have felt limited in recent years.

"I know a few people who probably would have been deterred from staying remote due to the threat of the possibility of promotion, but since there haven't been any opportunities, they saw it as a meaningless threat."

In its latest full year results, Dell reported annual revenue of $88.4 billion, a 14% decline from 2023 and below pre-pandemic earnings. In the first quarter of its 2025 financial year, the company reported $22.2 billion in revenue, up 6% from the same quarter the previous year.

As the reality of Dell's new working culture has set in, several employees told BI they were looking to leave the company.

"Every mom that I talk to at Dell says that they are looking for other jobs because they need the remote work," said one employee.

Another said he was looking for new jobs and would "jump ship" as soon as he found something. Almost everyone he knew at the company, other than very junior employees, was doing the same thing.

"Before this whole fiasco, I wouldn't have considered going somewhere else," he added. "Being a second-class citizen doesn't leave you any career opportunities."

Are you a worker at Dell or another company pushing staff back to the office? Contact this reporter at pthompson@businessinsider.com

• Law enforcement worldwide teamed up recently to fight cybercrime. 
• "Operation Endgame" led to four arrests and the dismantling of 100 malicious servers globally.
• Cybersecurity experts called the sting an important step, but said its just a start. 

In what's been billed as a first-of-its-kind operation, law enforcement agencies around the world recently banded together to take down major cyber criminal infrastructure that officials said targeted multitudes of victims and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages globally.

Over a couple of days in late May, "Operation Endgame" led to the arrests of four people in Ukraine and Armenia, the dismantling of more than 100 malicious computer servers worldwide, and the seizure of over 2,000 domains, according law enforcement in the US and Europe.

One of the main suspects raked in at least $70 million in cryptocurrency by "renting out criminal infrastructure sites to deploy ransomware" according to Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union that conducted the operation along with other agencies, including the FBI.

Cybersecurity experts told Business Insider that the takedown is a pivotal step forward in the ongoing war against cybercrime. However, they said, the fight can't end here, as cybercrime is one of the biggest threats facing humanity.

"It's not like this is going to solve the problem, but it's a great step in addressing it," said Adam Wandt, a cybercrime investigations expert and a public policy professor at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

'Largest ever operation against botnets'

Europol called the sting the "largest ever operation against botnets, which play a major role in the deployment of ransomware."

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement that the agency "used joint and sequenced actions to run a first-of-its-kind international operation and debilitate the criminal infrastructure of multiple malware services."

As part of the operation, the law enforcement agencies shut down at least four malware groups or "droppers" known as "IcedID," "Smokeloader," "Pikabot," and "Bumblebee."

According to the FBI, these droppers, designed to install malware onto computer systems, "infected millions of computers and claimed countless victims around the world and throughout the United States, including a hospital network, which not only cost millions of dollars but alarmingly put people's lives at risk due to the compromised critical care online system."

"This is taking down computer servers, which are affecting all of us," said Wandt, who explained that the hackers behind the botnets are "going for money, and they don't care who they go for or how they get it."

"This could be my grandmother sitting at home, this could be a large bank. It doesn't matter," he said.

Wandt and other experts said the takedown of 100 malicious servers is a small number when compared to the vast number of servers that run botnets around the globe but that it's nonetheless important.

"That doesn't mean that it was a small number in the amount of fraud that it was committing," said Wandt.

Ransomware 'wreaking havoc around the world'

Tracy Beth Mitrano, a cybersecurity policy expert and a visiting professor of information science at Cornell University, called "Operation Endgame" a "significant step," but said "it's not significant in terms of the total scope of the problem."

"Ransomware has just been wreaking havoc around the world," Mitrano said. "It's been ripping through the United States."

Mitrano emphasized the importance of the US working with other countries around the world to combat cybercrime and called for international law, treaties, and agreements "to establish rules of the road in cyberspace."

"The war will not be won until there are international laws and standards that bring countries together," said Mitrano.

Mitrano said "Operation Endgame," is a "very important first step, but we have to keep going."

"Cyber insecurity is one of the biggest threats we face on the globe today," she said.

Thomas Holt, a cybersecurity expert and professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University, said the coordinated effort of countries around the globe working to fight cybercrime as was done in "Operation Endgame" is "absolutely necessary."

"Cybercrime is such a distributed problem," he said, noting that cybercriminals can target "anyone anywhere with relative ease, and the likelihood of detection is really, really low."

So any attempt at cracking down on cybercrime is a positive, Holt said.

"It's a net gain in terms of complicating networks or forcing short-term behavioral change on the market and the actors," said Holt. "It may not create these long-term sustained drop-offs, but it at least provides a short-term benefit."

Holt said he does not believe cybercrime will ever be stopped, "But what I think we can do is produce complexities for the offender, making it harder for them to actually engage in an offense like running a botnet."

The "biggest problem" in the malware world, according to Holt, is that there is always a different iteration of malware on the horizon.

"Over the last decade, it has been ransomware primarily, but there's going to be an eventual pivot away from ransomware to something else," he said. "We don't know exactly what that something else is yet."

And artificial intelligence "will certainly simplify the process" for cyberattackers, said Holt.

Cybercriminals "don't have the same degree of difficulty or barriers to entry that we had in the 80s, the 90s, and even the early 2000s," Holt said.

"Now it's flattened to a point where as long as you have money, you can buy personal data, you buy credit card numbers, rent out denial of service attacks on demand or botnets," he said. "So you don't even need to know what you're doing. You just need to have a cursory understanding and dollars in your pocket."

In a press release announcing the results of "Operation Endgame" last month, Wray, the FBI director, vowed, "The fight against borderless cybercrime does not end here, and the FBI is committed to tackling this ever-evolving threat."

• Silversea Cruises' new Silver Ray embarked on its maiden voyage in mid-June.
• The ship's most luxurious 1,324-square-foot Otium Suites have amenities like a private hot tub and library.
• The cabin starts at $17,000 per person in 2024, and it's mostly sold out for the year.

Silversea is one of the highest-end cruise lines on the market. So, as you can imagine, its new ship's most expensive suites are luxurious.

Like, really luxurious. And really expensive.

Silversea's new Silver Ray departed on its maiden voyage in mid-June. As is expected of Royal Caribbean Group's ritziest brand, the cruise line's 12th ship is outfitted with 364 of some of the most sumptuous suites at sea, the smallest of which already have a balcony, marble bathroom, and on-demand caviar.

Not too shabby, right?

Well, after seeing Silver Ray's most glamorous 1,324-square-foot Otium Suites, you could find yourself scoffing at its other accommodations.

Its balcony alone is larger than the ship's smallest suites. And its cost is more than three times that of the cheapest option.

In 2024, Silver Ray's Otium Suites start at $17,000 per person for a seven-day roundtrip cruise from Venice, Italy.

It's a steep price compared to the itinerary's least expensive $4,850 per person suite (there's an even cheaper category, but it's sold out for the sailing).

Despite the cost, Silver Ray's two Otium Suites are almost completely booked through 2024.

Upon entering, you're immediately greeted with the library and dining room — spaces you'd be hard-pressed to find in a typical cruise cabin.

Forgot a book? The reading nook is perfectly stocked for travelers interested in learning about bicycle brand Brompton ("The Brompton" by Will Butler-Adams and Dan Davies) and British microchip maker Arm ("The Everything Blueprint: The Microchip Design that Changed the World" by James Ashton).

Or, grab one of the neatly packaged games, such as tic-tac-toe and dominoes.

The dining table would be perfect for churning out a quick round of backgammon.

If you enjoy playing with a side of snacks, the fresh fruit bowl might do. Otherwise, you could call your butler for complimentary caviar or foie gras.

If it looks like a long game, brewing one of the bar's espresso pods or teas might be a good idea. Or, help yourself to some liquor, stocked according to the guests' preferences.

The dining table opens onto a living room with sprawling ocean views.

The couch can convert into a bed to sleep an additional guest. There's certainly ample room for three travelers, after all.

Take note of the chessboard and fresh-cut flowers, small touches that are, again, uncommon in the average suite.

If just one TV isn’t enough, you’re in luck. There’s another one in the bedroom.

It's also where you'll find the vanity, walk-in closet, and sizable bathroom — decorated with marble, of course.

Silver Ray’s cheapest suites have a dual vanity bathroom with a shower.

To out-luxe these cheaper accommodations, the Otium Suite comes with both a shower and a bathtub.

No need to worry about full privacy. The toilet is behind another closed door.

All of the ship's suites have balconies. None are as large as Otium's.

There's no need to hit the pool deck when your 431-square-foot balcony has a private hot tub, lounge chairs, and an outdoor dining table.

To compare, Silver Ray's smallest suites come with a 53-square-foot balcony. Size does matter, after all.

A private hot tub is included in the suite, which starts at $2,430 per person and day.

Hey, at least the cost includes a $399 spa treatment per person, too. Maybe a luxurious massage would help melt away the stress of the payment.

• Reddit's traffic is up 39% year over year this month, according to Similarweb.
• That's a huge increase for a platform that's been around for almost 20 years.
• Reddit's big boost is likely from Google traffic. Huh!

Have you seen more Reddit results in your Google searches lately? Or maybe you're one of the savvy people who is adding "reddit" to the end of your searches for things like "best air conditioner reddit" or "disney fastpast worth it reddit."

You're not alone. Way, way, not alone.

Reddit's traffic has surged in the last few months, largely because of its increased prominence in Google search results. In April, Business Insider's Hugh Langley reported how Reddit is "taking over" Google search results, in large part because of a recent decision at Google to prioritize "helpful content," aka forum posts (Quora, the question-and-answer site, also has seen a big bump in traffic).

Google denied at the time that the boost to Reddit had anything to do with its $60 million deal to license Reddit data for use in Google's AI products.

The Wall Street Journal also noted this week that Reddit traffic is way up, boosted in part by people adding "reddit" to their Google search queries.

Similiarweb, a data analytics firm, reports that Reddit's traffic surged 39% in May year-over-year — which is a HUGE increase. Way, way bigger than the other social media companies, which saw moderate increases or even decreases (sorry, Facebook).

According to Similarweb, the big driver of Reddit traffic is indeed organic search, aka Google. Reddit.com had about 834.5 million direct visits in April (this means people typed reddit.com into their browser), but 1.3 billion visits came from Google search results.

Look at this chart of Reddit's global traffic for the last five years. For a company that has been around for almost 20 years, the sharp increase to the far right is, to use a data science term, banoodles:

There's a few ways to make sense of this. One is that Reddit is a highly useful source of information from real humans, and people love it.

Another explanation is that Google's search results are so borked that people, desperate for a better search experience, are narrowing their queries to Reddit's archives.

A third, less appealing option is that shady people are using Reddit as a dirty SEO trick, spamming smaller subreddits with with SEO-friendly affiliate links — and causing a moderation headache.

It could be a combination of all three! Either way, Reddit is a traffic juggernaut now. Huh!

• Marcia Naomi Berger is a psychotherapist in San Rafael, California.
• This is an adapted excerpt from her memoir, "The Bipolar Therapist: A Journey from Madness to Love and Meaning."
• In the book, she discusses shame, stigma, and her experience with inpatient treatment. 

A year after my first psychiatric hospitalization in Queens, New York, I returned to my job at an alcoholism treatment center in San Francisco. A year later, in 1975, I had a second manic episode, which landed me in Langley Porter Hospital.

The ward's common area looked like a large, L-shaped living room with couches, chairs, coffee tables, a ping-pong table, and a large bin with arts and crafts supplies. Inside it, I saw yarn and knitting needles, among other supplies. The room's walls were in pale, pastel tones; the furnishings were clean and in good condition.

Patients wore their own clothes and seemed mentally clear. All this felt good, yet I was shocked to be there. I wanted to work, see friends, and get my life back.

I first met Henry when I was a patient myself

I played ping-pong with Henry, a stocky, lively patient around my age. He cracked jokes as he slammed back my shots. The score was close to even.

"Hey, where'd you learn to play so well?" he asked.

"My father taught me when I was a kid." I pictured how Dad's eyes would light up when I surprised him with a good slam or shot back one of his.

Henry sent a high one my way, and I smashed it back. His mouth dropped open when the ball grazed the table's edge and landed at his feet.

"Hey, I could learn some tricks from you," he said.

"Just lucky." I was having so much fun I almost forgot where I was.

"This your first time here?"

"Yeah, but I was at another place last year. It was awful. Langley Porter's a palace compared with that snake pit." My stomach tightened at the thought of Elmhurst; then I relaxed

again in the game's rhythm.

He nodded. "I've been in worse too. This place is one of the better ones. It's like — smaller, more personal. Nicer atmosphere, if you know what I mean."

"Hey, you could write a tourist guidebook for the mentally ill and compare the facilities." We both laughed. I continued, "You could rate them, give them a different number of

stars or diamonds for service, appearance, etcetera."

"Yeah, I could compare the doctors, the food, the furniture, the buildings — "

"The patients, visiting policies, bathrooms," I added.

He laughed louder. "Ha, ha! Hey, you crack me up. What did you say your name was?"

"Marcia." I surprised him with a slam, but he lobbed it back. He caught me off guard; I missed, and he won the game.

Later, I took yarn from the bin and knitted a pillow cover in earth tones, like the pillow I'd given Doreen during my recent manic spree at work. The wool against my skin and the repetitive clicking of the knitting needles soothed me. I looked forward to finishing the pillow and sleeping with it at home soon.

Conversation flowed easily between patients. No one seemed too heavily medicated. It felt like a comfortable dormitory. Whatever happened to me that got me there seemed over.

Six months later, I had another manic episode and started taking medication that stabilized me. Yet, it was too late for me to regain the respect of some coworkers, which made for a toxic work environment.

None of my coworkers knew I'd been a psychiatric inpatient

Ironically, I was recruited to my next job as a senior psychiatric social worker in San Francisco General Hospital's psychiatric ward, where my colleagues respected me.

Not wanting to be stigmatized, I told no one there that I'd been a psychiatric inpatient elsewhere. But something happened that almost blew my cover.

A new patient caught my attention one day as I went to the ward's conference room. He looked vaguely familiar.

"Hey!" he called out. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

I looked at him and felt a sinking feeling in my gut. "Langley Porter, that's it," he called out and laughed. "Langley Porter. Hey, how 'bout that?"

It was Henry!

No one was in earshot. Wishing I could disappear, I looked at him blankly, like he was mistaken.

I worried my cover would be blown

"Yeah! I remember you. Don't you remember me?" he smiled. Was he accusing or just being friendly? Too off-balance to know, I stood frozen in place.

"Ping-pong! I remember," he said loudly. "Don't you?"

"No," I lied, shrugging my shoulders and avoiding his eyes. I sensed he saw through me, and I rushed off.

I was relieved when they didn't assign Henry to my team. But I felt uneasy, like a potential blackmail victim, until his discharge.

Studiously, I avoided him, quivering inside, wondering, Did he tell anyone?

In time, I forgot about Henry — until he was readmitted.

"Hi there," he said at that time. I heard, "I can ruin you."

I wanted to say, please don't tell, but I was still pretending I'd never seen him before. Then I saw his name on my list of patients on the large whiteboard that paired patients with their primary therapists. No, no, no!

I'd become friendly with Barbara, a psychology intern in her forties on a different team. I considered her mature and trustworthy.

Hoping she wouldn't ask why, and with knots in my stomach, I told Barbara privately that I wasn't comfortable being Henry's therapist.

"I'll take him," she said, like it was no big deal.

"Thank you," I gasped, touched by her easy generosity.

I still wondered if Henry had revealed my secret. Could someone in a psychotic state exercise discretion? Had he relished saying: She's as crazy as the rest of us?

Did Barbara know? Did everyone?

After his discharge, I waited for the proverbial other shoe to drop, for the next time he'd show up on the ward. But I never saw him again.

Excerpted from The Bipolar Therapist: A Journey from Madness to Love and Meaning by Marcia Naomi Berger. Copyright 2024, Marcia Naomi Berger. Published by Bitachon Press.

• OceanGate's Titan submersible imploded a year ago, killing all five on board.
• The investigation into the implosion is dragging on and will miss the 12-month deadline.
• There's currently no projected completion date for the investigation, the US Coast Guard told BI.

On June 18, 2023, OceanGate's Titan submersible imploded while heading to the wreckage of the Titanic. All five on board died.

A year later, investigators say that finding answers to what happened is "complex" and will take longer than anticipated.

In a statement on Friday, the US Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigations, or MBI, said it was continuing to actively investigate the factors that led to the implosion.

However, the statement acknowledged that the original 12-month timeline for the investigation had not been met.

In an email to BI, a Coast Guard spokesperson said the investigation is still in the fact-finding phase, where the agency is "gathering all relevant evidence and information."

The MBI said that the reasons for the delay included the need to contract two salvage missions to secure evidence and the extensive forensic testing being carried out.

"The investigation into the implosion of the Titan submersible is a complex and ongoing effort," said the MBI's chair, Jason Neubauer, in the statement.

Neubauer added: "We are working closely with our domestic and international partners to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the incident."

The US Coast Guard convened the MBI into the submersible's loss last year to determine the cause and whether any misconduct was involved.

It was also set up to investigate whether evidence indicated any criminal acts and to decide if new laws or regulations were needed.

"The MBI is committed to ensuring that we fully understand the factors that led to this tragedy in order to prevent similar occurrences in the future," Neubauer said.

On June 22, 2023, the Coast Guard concluded that the missing submersible had likely imploded, attributing it to a "catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber" on the seafloor.

Investigators found major pieces of debris, and months later, the Coast Guard said it recovered "presumed human remains."

Among the dead was Stockton Rush, CEO of the now-defunct OceanGate.

In a statement on Tuesday, OceanGate, which ceased all operations, said it expressed "our deepest condolences" to those affected by the tragedy, adding that it's continuing to cooperate with authorities in their investigations.

A June 2023 memorandum convening the MBI stipulated that if the 12-month deadline for the investigative report could not be met, a written explanation for the delay and a new expected completion date should be provided.

However, the Coast Guard spokesperson told BI that there is currently no projected completion date.

They added that the latter part of the fact-finding phase would include a public hearing, for which the MBI would provide at least 60 days' notice.

The Titan implosion raised concerns about deep-sea exploration in general.

Despite this, billionaire Larry Connor told The Wall Street Journal in May that he and Patrick Lahey, the CEO of Titan Submarines, plan to travel down to the Titanic wreck site to prove it can be done safely.

• Generative AI chatbots are guilty of spreading dangerous disinformation, a new report found.
• NewsGuard audited 10 AI chatbots and found they spread Russian propaganda one-third of the time.
• AI's apparent propensity for disinformation is concerning ahead of the 2024 election. 

Your favorite AI chatbot likely isn't immune to the powers of Russian propaganda, a new report found.

The world's leading generative AI chatbots are fueling disinformation and citing Moscow-funded fake news sources as fact more than 30% of the time, according to a recent NewsGuard audit.

The report's findings come ahead of the 2024 election, as the risk of disinformation and its influences is increasingly exacerbated in both the US and abroad.

A US intelligence assessment from October 2023 found that Russia is using spies, social media, and state-sanctioned media to attack democratic elections around the world. The assessment specifically cited the success of Russia's propaganda operations ahead of the 2020 US election.

OpenAI's models have already been used by foreign influence campaigns, according to a recent OpenAI report.

The NewsGuard report, which was first reported by Axios, found that AI chatbots are spreading false narratives linked to American fugitive John Mark Dougan, who has been linked to a network of Russian propaganda websites that, at first glance, appear to be local news outlets.

Dougan, who was previously a Florida deputy sheriff, fled to Moscow after being investigated for wiretapping and extortion. Mainstream media outlets, including The New York Times, have extensively covered Dougan and his disinformation empire — reporting that AI chatbots should be easily able to access online.

NewsGuard tested 10 AI chatbots, including OpenAI's ChatGPT-4; You.com's Smart Assistant, xAI's Grok, Inflection's Pi, Mistral's le Chat, Microsoft's Copilot, Meta AI, Anthropic's Claude, Google's Gemini, and Perplexity's answer engine.

A spokesperson for Google said the company is working "constantly" to improve Gemini's responses and prevent harmful content from generating.

"Our teams are reviewing this report and have already taken action on several responses," the statement said.

None of the other companies immediately responded to a request for comment from Business Insider.

NewsGuard proposed 570 total prompts, issuing each chatbot 57 prompts each. The prompts were based on 19 popular disinformation narratives, including lies about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to the report.

The audit tested each narrative in three different ways: prompting the chatbot in a "neutral" manner, asking the model a "leading question," and posing a "malign actor" prompt purposefully meant to garner disinformation.

Of the 570 AI responses, 152 contained explicit disinformation, the study found. Twenty-nine responses repeated disinformation with a caveat or warning attached, according to NewsGuard, and 389 responses contained no disinformation, either because the chatbot refused to answer or debunked the falsehoods.

The bots "convincingly repeated" fabricated narratives and false facts linked to Russian propaganda outlets nearly one-third of the time — a concerning statistic, especially as more and more people turn to AI models to get their information and answers.

NewsGuard chose not to provide the scores for each individual chatbot because the issue was "pervasive across the entire AI industry."

Business Insider's Adam Rogers has written about generative AI's propensity for lying, dubbing ChatGPT a "robot con artist." Technology researchers told BI earlier this year that malicious actors could tamper with generative AI datasets for as little as $60.

Meanwhile, deepfakes of former President Donald Trump and edited videos of President Joe Biden have already circulated online ahead of the election, and experts fear the problem will only get worse as November draws nearer.

Several new startups, however, are attempting to fight AI-based misinformation, creating deepfake detection and content moderation tools.

• Tourists have been flocking to US national parks in droves in recent years. 
• The growing interest comes as some Americans are moving away from cities to be close to nature. 
• But as more visitors crowd into national parks, some behave badly and disrespect the environment.

Getting out in nature has never been so hot.

In 2023, the National Park Service (NPS) recorded over 325.5 million recreational visits to the 63 parks in the United States, 13 million more than the previous year.  

The surge in national park tourism is partially a return to prepandemic levels of domestic travel — the number of visits in 2023 was about 2 million shy of 2019's. But the interest in the parks is also occurring as some people of varying ages and socioeconomic backgrounds are ditching cities for less densely populated areas, which have greater access to nature — and, often, lower taxes.

While getting closer to nature may be in vogue nowadays, not everyone who visits a national park will follow the rules, some of which are in place to keep people away from life-threatening dangers.

From close encounters with wild animals to mishandling historic artifacts, here are five incidents involving badly behaved tourists in national parks so far this year.

Two people who visited Canyonlands in March were accused of stealing artifacts from an old cowboy campsite.

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On March 23, what appeared to be a man and a woman visiting Canyonlands National Park in Utah were spotted entering Cave Spring Cowboy Camp.

According to the NPS, the camp was used by cowboys from the 19th century to the late 20th century, when cattle ranching was still prohibited in national parks.

The historical site has various items and furniture once used by cowboys — some of which, the NPS said, were tampered with and stolen by the individuals in March.

"The individuals entered a signed-as-closed area, removed artifacts from a cabinet, and handled historic harnesses in a manner that had potential to damage them," the NPS said in a May 15 press release.

In the release and on Instagram, the NPS shared still images of the perpetrators and called on the public to help identify them.

The NPS did not immediately respond to BI's request for an update on the case and whether the individuals have been identified.

In the Everglades, a group of tourists — including at least one child — were filmed getting close to a feeding crocodile in April.

In April, the social-media account Tourons of National Parks re-shared a video taken by an Everglades National Park tourist named Alyssa. It shows a group of tourists standing a few feet away from an alligator crossing a path with what appears to be a turtle snapped between its teeth.

At least one child was among the tourists, the video shows.

In another video of the encounter shared on her personal Instagram account, the person who captured the incident said the people in the video were "extremely close."

"Just isn't worth getting attacked and the alligator having to suffer because you refuse to take 5 steps back," she added.

The NPS recommends keeping a safe distance from alligators in the Everglades, roughly between 15 and 20 feet, which is farther than what appeared to be the case here.

In April, a man was charged with drunkenly harassing a herd of bison in Yellowstone.

According to the NPS, park officials responded to a report in April that the 40-year-old man from Idaho drunkenly harassed a herd of bison in Yellowstone and received minor injuries in the process.

In the press release, the NPS said the individual kicked one of the bison in the leg. He was ultimately charged and arrested in connection to the incident, which included being under the influence "to a degree that may endanger oneself" and "disturbing wildlife."

The incident was the first involving bison in a national park this year. But the man can count himself lucky his injuries were minor.

In early June, the NPS reported an 83-year-old South Carolina woman was gored and lifted a foot off the ground by a bison in Yellowstone National Park, leaving her with serious injuries.

The NPS advises that visitors stay at least 25 years away from bison.

A herd of bison charged at another group of tourists in Yellowstone.

In a video captured by Yellowstone tourist Adella Gonzalez and shared by Storyful, a herd of bison is filmed meandering along calmly until a group of tourists walk by, seemingly prompting them to charge, USA Today reports.

In the video, taken in May, a person is heard saying, "I don't think that is very wise," just as the herd began to charge.

"We noticed tourists getting very close to the bison," Gonzalez told Storyful, and then the animals "began to get agitated and started running."

Besides putting your own life at risk, getting too close to bison can also endanger the animals themselves. In 2023, a bison calf had to be euthanized after a park visitor lifted it out of a river, causing it to be rejected by its herd.

In a statement shared on X, the NPS said it wouldn't have been able to quarantine the calf and that it did not make the decision lightly.

"We made the choice we did not because we are lazy, uncaring, or inexpert in our understanding of bison biology," the statement read. "We made the choice we did because national parks preserve natural processes."

In June, a man was sentenced to a week in jail after trespassing dangerously close to a thermal geyser in Yellowstone National Park.

On June 13, the NPS shared a press release that a 21-year-old man from Washington received a weeklong jail sentence for venturing dangerously close to a steam vent of Yellowstone National Park's Steamboat Geyser, the world's tallest active geyser.

The man, who was caught on camera in April, hopped over a fence separating the geyser's steam vent from an observation point and got within 15 to 20 feet of it. According to the NPS website, the Steamboat Geyser erupts unpredictably, shooting hydrothermal water and steam that can cause severe burns up to 300 feet high.

After a Yellowstone National Park law enforcement officer arrived at the scene, the man told them he had gotten as close as he did to take photos.

In addition to jail time, the man was barred from visiting Yellowstone for two years and ordered to pay a $1,500 fine.

The magistrate judge presiding over the case told the court that she hoped the sentence would prevent other visitors from figuratively — and literally — following in the man's footsteps.

"She expressed her concern that the defendant's actions were seen by the people around him, and they might have thought it was okay to do the same thing," the press release noted. "And if every visitor to YNP disobeyed the rules, the park would be destroyed, and no one would be able to enjoy it."

• The Denver Basic Income Project helped participants secure housing and full-time jobs.
• The pilot program provided direct cash payments to over 800 Coloradans experiencing homelessness.
• Results showed 45% of participants secured housing, while $589,214 was saved in public service costs.

Jarun Laws lived in his car in a restaurant parking lot near downtown Denver. He worked there as a cook until 2020, making about $400 a month. That was barely enough to cover his car payments and child support — and not even close to what he would need for rent.

The 51-year-old occasionally spent part of his paycheck on weekend stays at a cheap hotel, where he could spend time with his children. He struggled to afford food, clothes, and medicine — and he had been experiencing homelessness for nearly a decade.

That changed when Laws enrolled in The Denver Basic Income Project. The pilot program allowed Laws to secure a temporary apartment with furniture, spend more time with his children, and find a better-paying job.

"I had questioned myself: if I was going to be a good father to my children because I was suffering," Laws previously told Business Insider. "When I got accepted, it changed my life."

Denver's basic income pilot — which first started payments in fall 2022 — focused on over 800 Coloradans experiencing homelessness, including people living in cars, temporary shelters, the outdoors, or other non-fixed living situations. Participants like Laws were given direct cash payments, no strings attached, and could spend the money on whatever they needed.

Denver released the project's one-year report on June 18, showing that 45% of participants secured their own house or apartment after receiving basic income for 10 months. They also experienced fewer emergency room visits, nights spent in a hospital or a temporary shelter, and jail stays. The report estimates that this reduction in public service use saved the city $589,214.

Denver's program initially lasted one year and was extended in January for another six months. Participants were sorted into random groups: one received $1,000 a month for a year; another got $6,500 upfront, followed by $500 a month; and a third got $50 a month as a control group.

The city of Denver, the Colorado Trust, and an anonymous foundation funded the project and has already provided more than $9.4 million to participants.

Basic income programs like Denver's have become a popular strategy to reduce poverty in US cities. Compared to traditional social services like SNAP or Medicaid, basic income allows participants to spend the money where they need it most.

"What is fundamentally different about our approach is the way that we start from a place of trust," Mark Donovan, the project founder and executive director, said at a Tuesday press conference.

Denver's basic income project helped participants secure housing and jobs

Denver's report found that basic income primarily helped participants pay for immediate expenses — like transportation, hygiene, clothes, and groceries. Affording recurring bills like rent, healthcare, or debt payments was also a top priority for most families. Participants in each payment group reported increased financial stability and reduced reliance on emergency financial assistance programs.

Basic income puts low-income families on "an equal playing field," Nick Pacheco, participant engagement coordinator, said at a press conference. He said the cash payments also help participants get the training and resources they need to establish careers.

Individuals who received the lump sum or $1,000 a month payments were more likely to find a stable, full-time job than before they received basic income.

"It's freedom," Pacheco said. "It's freedom from poverty and not being able to reach your goals."

Participating households also experienced improved mental health and could spend more time with family and friends. Parents were able to better support their children and grandchildren.

These results echo those from the six-month report, which found fewer participants were sleeping on the street, experiencing food insecurity, and feeling unsafe.

Still, participants' financial outcomes varied based on their payment group. Participants who received the lump sum $6,500 payment in addition to $500 a month could better build savings and make major life changes like signing a new lease or buying a car.

Many families told researchers that they're anxious about paying bills after the basic income payments end. Some worry they could lose their housing again.

Laws, for example, had to go back to living in his car after his payments stopped.

Being able to pay bills alleviated participants' financial stress

Denver participants have told BI that basic income was the financial safety net they needed.

Moriah Rodriguez, 38, was working as a youth developer for Denver Public Schools when she got hit by a car and suffered a traumatic brain injury. She lived in public housing with her kids, all of whom have intellectual disabilities, though they were displaced shortly after.

She received monthly Social Security payments, just enough to care for her kids. While staying with a friend, she learned about the pilot program.

Rodriguez used the payments to fix her truck, transport her kids to school and work, buy new clothing, and secure a lifelong public housing voucher. She also used some of the money to pay $400 for rent, $500 on gas, $100 on hygiene, and $100 on her credit card bill. In addition to returning to school to get her GED, she brought her credit score into the 700s.

"The program gave me more time to focus on their education and their mental health," Rodriguez said, referring to her children, and added that the program's extension was another lifeline. "I had the space to get them tested and get them diagnosed and connected with the support they need."

Similarly, Dia Broncucia, 53, and Justin Searls, 45, could also afford essentials like an apartment, a new car, and mental health resources through basic income. They had previously lived in a temporary shelter but could secure a studio apartment for $1,300 a month, along with clothing, hygiene products, and furniture.

Broncucia and Searls said last October that though they had some uncertainties about their future, they felt much stronger and less stressed because of basic income.

"Starting with nothing and then being able to receive a lump sum of money and then get our payments once a month is why we were able to get on track and stay on track," Broncucia previously told BI.

Basic income pilots can provide poverty solutions

As the basic income pilot continues to be successful in cities like Denver, local leaders and economic security experts are looking to translate pilots into policy. States like California and New Mexico are already proposing basic income programs in the state legislature.

"The lessons from those pilots are infusing the whole ecosystem of support," Teri Olle, director for Economic Security California, a branch of the nonprofit Economic Security Project, previously told BI. "People are really seeing the power of those pilots, and the power of giving people money and trusting them."

Denver leaders also hope to extend the city's basic income for a third year. The project is currently raising the millions of dollars necessary to continue efforts in Colorado.

Donovan said he's paying close attention to results from basic income programs across the country. It's a "really exciting time in the movement," he said.

"If we're able to move people into housing and out of homelessness at a lower cost and generate better long-term outcomes, why wouldn't we try to expand and build upon that?" Donovan said.

Have you benefited from a guaranteed basic income program? Are you willing to share how you spent the money? Reach out to these reporters at allisonkelly@businessinsider.com and nsheidlower@businessinsider.com