A boy sitting on the shoulders of a visitor observes several vehicles, including the Bradley IFV.
Contributor/Getty Images
Russia's monthlong open-air exhibition features more than 30 vehicles captured in the Ukraine war.
Many of them are NATO-made, including the US Bradley and Abrams, as well as the German Leopard 2.
The variety of vehicles also shows the sheer diversity of weaponry that Ukraine is using on the battlefield.
Russia launched an exhibition on Wednesday showcasing more than 30 military vehicles it's captured from Ukraine since the invasion began, in an open-air "trophy" display gloating over its seized NATO equipment.
The exhibition was packed with visitors on opening day, which coincides with Russia's International Workers' Day. It is being held for a month at Moscow's Victory Park.
Photos of the "Trophies of the Russian Army" exhibition show equipment from over a dozen countries, giving a glimpse of the sheer diversity of weaponry used by Ukraine's forces since 2022.
Not all of them were recently obtained. Some vehicles, including American-made ones, were already displayed in an earlier exhibition in August.
Dutch-based open-source outlet Oryx reported that Ukraine has deployed more than 5,640 vehicles, about 1,000 of which were captured during the war.
A special focus of the exhibition was an Abrams M101 battle tank, a heavy tank-buster with a track record of punching through Soviet armor.
A US Abrams tank was put on display for Moscow residents to see in an open-air exhibition featuring equipment from nearly a dozen NATO countries.
Russian Ministry of Defense
Reuters reported that the wrecked Abrams tank has been a favorite for Russian state media, with one TV correspondent saying it's not been the "wonder weapon" that the US thinks it is.
"But that was all nonsense — look at this — all of its reputation has been destroyed," he said, per a translation by the wire.
Ukraine received 31 of these from the Pentagon, five of which were lost in battle.
A special focus for the show was a US Abrams M101 battle tank. Ukraine received 31 of these from the Pentagon, five of which were lost in battle.
Contributor/Getty Images
The US on April 26 said Ukraine is withdrawing its Abrams tanks from the front lines, over concerns that they were being undermined by drone attacks.
Russia also displayed an American M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle.
A Bradley IFV with a mounted dummy.
Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images
Ukraine was given 186 Bradleys, which are armed with a 25mm gun that can fire 300 rounds per minute.
Around 63 Bradleys were captured or damaged by October 2023, though some have been repaired and returned to service, per Dutch open-source outlet Oryx.
Other US equipment showcased included a Humvee (with a Slovenian TAM-150 in the background)…
A Humvee with a cracked windshield on display in Moscow.
Russia also showed off an M777 Howitzer, a prominent artillery piece used widely on the Ukrainian front.
Visitors take photos of an American M777 Howitzer.
Russian Ministry of Defense
Kyiv says the towed artillery units have been key to staving off the Russian advance, but a lack of ammunition in recent months has severely affected the weapon's effectiveness on the battlefield.
Another highlight of the exhibition was a German Leopard 2A6 tank.
Visitors take a selfie at the "Trophies of the Russian Army" open-air exhibition, which paraded an array of Western-made military hardware captured by Russian troops.
Contributor/Getty Images
Ukraine has received several dozen Leopard 2 tanks from several countries, including Portugal, Canada, Poland, and the Netherlands. At least 18 were delivered by Germany.
A captured Marder, a German-made infantry fighting vehicle, was also put on display.
A captured infantry fighting vehicle made by Germany.
Ulf Mauder/picture alliance via Getty Images
The Marder has been in service since 1971. It was notably used by Ukrainian forces to breach Russian lines and defenses during their counteroffensive.
Vehicles from the UK were also featured, like the Husky…
A man snaps a photo of a Husky with bullet holes in its windshield.
Contributor/Getty Images
Some of the vehicles can be seen displayed with a NATO symbol. Russia continues to amplify its rhetoric that NATO's supplying of weapons to Ukraine essentially constitutes a war between the treaty organization and Moscow.
… a Saxon AT-105…
A Saxon AT-105 seized by Russia.
Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images
Dubbed, the "battle-taxi," the Saxon is a 4×4 vehicle that's low-cost and armored. Ukraine has been using these since before the start of the war.
… and the Mastiff, a heavily armored six-wheel drive vehicle that can typically carry eight troops.
Sweden donated 50 of these armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine when the war began.
… a Finnish Patria Pasi armored personnel carrier…
A Finnish Patria Pasi APC sits in front of an information placard.
Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images
It's not immediately clear how many of these are deployed by Ukraine, but around 10 of them have been reported to be lost in combat in Ukraine, per Oryx.
… and the lightweight French AMX-10 RC fighting vehicle.
A French AMX-10 RC tank with a seemingly fresh paint job is shown off on Victory Park.
Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images
The AMX-10 RC, generally considered a scouting vehicle, is sometimes also seen as a tank. They entered service in Ukraine in mid-2023 and are typically meant to provide fire support and push through weaknesses in the front lines.
However, they were reported to have performed poorly when used at the front of columns in Ukraine's counteroffensive. Oryx reports that at least four such vehicles have been lost in combat.
Non-NATO weapons were also on display. Like this Australian Bushmaster Protected Mobility vehicle…
A visitor takes a selfie in front of an Australian Bushmaster PMV, the left-most vehicle.
Contributor/Getty Images
Australia has sent around 120 Bushmasters to Ukraine, and around 12 were reported by Oryx to be destroyed or damaged. In the first year of the war, Ukrainian troops said they were using the four-wheel drives as infantry fighting vehicles because they didn't have enough of the latter to go around.
… what Russia indicates is a Czech BMP-2…
A BMP-2 fighting vehicle from Czechia.
Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images
The BMP-2 is a Soviet amphibious infantry fighting vehicle that was typically produced in the 1980s.
… and South African Mamba 4×4 armored personnel carriers.
South African Mamba MK2 EE, likely donated from Estonia.
An array of smaller arms from countries like Bulgaria, Israel, and Czechia were also spotted at the exhibition.
Mines and grenades from various NATO countries on display.
Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images
Russia showed off everything from mines to grenades to scopes at the Victory Park exhibition.
Russia has long sought to portray the war in Ukraine as a battle against NATO itself, and it's telling that the exhibition is being held at Victory Park, which commemorates World War II.
A billboard with a masked Russian soldier.
Contributor/Getty Images
The opening also comes as the US approved a $61 billion tranche of long-awaited aid to Ukraine, which Kyiv repeatedly said is vital to its fight against Russia.
Moscow has decried it as insignificant to the war's outcome, saying Russia is starting to win the war and the renewed inflow of US aid won't make a difference.
Meanwhile, international observers and Western authorities say Russia has been taking heavy casualties since the war began, at one point in the winter suffering a reported 1,000 losses per day.
But reports by think tanks like the Royal United Services Institute say Moscow can likely sustain these losses for years as it boosts its recruitment drive and production capacities.
Job seekers should negotiate offers as companies expect it and they are invested in the candidate.
Negotiating base pay is tough but other components like signing bonus, guaranteed bonus, and remote work can be negotiated.
Negotiations should make you feel a little uncomfortable, indicating you've pushed enough and can meet in the middle.
As a 40-plus-year veteran of the corporate world and the former VP of HR at Microsoft, I've seen a lot of people successfully negotiate their job offers.
Yet, many people are reluctant to negotiate. They feel like the offer is a "take it or leave it" proposition. They should think again. Even in a tight market, some negotiation is common and doesn't have to be adversarial.
As with many things in the working world, it helps to look from the other side of the table.
They want you
The most important thing to understand in the job hunt is that by the time you see an offer, they want you.
The hiring team has seen dozens or hundreds of résumés. They've interviewed several people, often through many hours each. They've discussed, even argued, over the last couple of candidates and decided on you.
They are now invested in you. Just as you're thinking how cool it would be to have the job, they are thinking how great it would be to have someone in the role. You should use that.
They expect it
When they present an offer, they don't expect you to just say, "Yep, sure," and sign it. Almost no one does that, especially not at more senior levels.
At the very least, people read it overnight and think about the offer. They discuss it with their families or their confidants. Make sure it's the right thing to do. Companies want you to do that, so you'll be all in when you do commit.
But almost everyone says, "This is great, but…," and so begins a bit of negotiation. They expect it.
In fact, the company has counted on it. They've made the offer a little slimmer than they expect to end up because they know there will be movement.
You're not insulting them by negotiating. It's what happens.
Your stock is highest before you join a company
The very best time to discuss your value to the company is at this very moment, before they actually know you.
Once you've been there, they have seen you in action. They will have performance information, peer feedback, and results. They know all your highs and your lows.
Now, all they have is anticipation, and this anticipation has been building ever since you nailed the interviews.
Your stock is never higher than this moment, so use it.
It's not all about base pay
When most people think about negotiating a job offer, they often think about base pay, or the salary or hourly rate. They think that's the place to negotiate.
While there might be a small bit of room to negotiate the pay, it helps to think from the other side of the table.
Salary is tough for the company to negotiate because base pay is forever. Pay is continuous for years on end, and it virtually never goes down, even if the business goes up or down.
Pay is also the basis for future raises. If they agree to some larger number today, that only compounds in the future.
That's why they have salary bands for almost every job, numbers they need to fall into, and numbers they use for many people. Setting you outside of that range creates a fairness problem.
You might have a little room to negotiate base pay. Especially at the senior-most jobs where the pay bands are quite wide.
But for most people, salary is not a great negotiating point. If you feel strongly, maybe push back a little, but the dealmaking will be hard.
10 things you should negotiate
Fortunately, there are many other places to negotiate. Here are some ideas, though some may or not apply to your situation.
1. Signing bonus
The standard go-to negotiating point is the signing bonus. "This change is tough on me or my family. Can you bridge the gap?" Maybe request 10% of your annual base as a one-time payment right away. Companies like these because they are one-time, not recurring, costs.
2. Guaranteed bonus
If the company uses bonuses, push for a guaranteed first bonus. A given amount is fixed right now, but payable at bonus time. Again, this is a one-time cost to the company.
3. Higher commissions
If you're in a commission-based role, negotiating that number is very akin to a salary number, and it's often hard to argue. But perhaps you can push for different cliffs (where the number changes) or bonuses.
4. More remote work
If you like working remotely and can excel at it, try advocating for more remote work. Maybe fewer in-office days. This can be a fairness issue, but you'll never have more leverage than right now.
5. Better relocation
If relocation is part of the package, push there — maybe full coverage, not just a stipend. Maybe extended temporary housing. Some companies will even use a service to buy your current house.
6. Spousal benefits
It's not uncommon, especially with married couples, to ask for some kind of job assistance for their partner. Perhaps résumé assistance, job counseling, a headhunter, or some other benefit. It often helps to close the deal.
7. More paid time off (PTO)
If the company hasn't already jumped on the "unlimited PTO" train, and vacation is important to you, try asking for more there. There is an equity issue with your peers, but it's worth a shot.
8. Company equity
Stock or stock options are a very common negotiating point, especially with more senior people. There is a whole world of options (pun intended), but this is a frequent deal point.
9. Healthcare
Often, healthcare benefits are seen as a take-it-or-leave-it package. But if you have some extenuating circumstances, perhaps a family member with health challenges, see if there's room for more benefits. Companies, especially larger ones, often have some flexibility here.
10. Creative compensation
With senior roles, you can often get creative in the compensation. Perhaps agree to some incentive structure. If you're brought in to solve a specific problem, you have a specific bonus if you solve that problem by a specified date. The options here are endless; I've even seen this with mid-level roles.
There are so many options to negotiate; there's almost no excuse not to. And again, now — before you actually start the job — is the best time to do it.
It will hurt
If you're at all like me, negotiations are not fun. I'm more than a little conflict-averse, and negotiating feels like torture.
I try to remember something I once heard: if your counteroffer doesn't make you feel a little guilty — like you've gone a little too far — you haven't pushed enough.
Remember, they'll come back somewhere in the middle. Right where you're both happy.
So negotiate that job offer, and get what you deserve.
Chris Williams is the former VP of HR at Microsoft. He's an executive-level advisor and consultant with more than 40 years of experience leading and building teams.
Four Google executives will receive 200% performance-based stock payouts in 2023.
This comes amid layoffs and a turbulent year for the company.
Google's senior VP and chief business officer each got $35 million in stock for 2023.
Google parent company Alphabet paid four of its executives tens of millions of dollars in stock payouts for 2023, based on the company's public-markets performance.
President and chief financial officer Ruth Porat, along with senior VP Prabhakar Raghavan, chief business officer Philipp Schindler, and legal chief Kent Walker, have been awarded the company's maximum number of performance-based stock units, Google said in a regulatory filing last week.
Base salaries for the four executives remained $1 million last year, and they each received a $1.5 million bonus. The executives were also granted millions of dollars' worth of performance and restricted stock units, which vest at different times and depend on the execs sticking around.
The executives' stock-based compensation can range from 0% to 200% of the target number of shares, based on Google's performance relative to the S&P 100.
A 200% stock payout raised the total stock value for Porat and Walker's 2023 compensation to $23 million each. Raghavan and Schindler were compensated $35 million each in stock value, according to the filing.
The executives' compensation was approved in early February after a tumultuous year for the company.
The tech giant axed 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce through last year, and warned it would lay off more workers in 2024.
"We have ambitious goals and will be investing in our big priorities this year. The reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices," CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in an internal memo in January.
The layoffs and the slashing of key projects have hurt sentiment within the company, BI reported in January. The company's leadership received strong backlash from some of its employees, who publicly aired their exasperations regarding layoffs on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Rep. Lauren Boebert sparred with pro-Palestinian protesters at George Washington University on May 1, 2024.
Allison Bailey/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Rep. Lauren Boebert went to George Washington University on Wednesday.
The Colorado Republican sparred with pro-Palestinian protesters at the university.
Protesters chanted "Beetlejuice," referring to the musical she got kicked out of after fondling her date.
Rep. Lauren Boebert's attempt to engage with pro-Palestinian protesters at George Washington University on Wednesday didn't go very well.
The Colorado Republican was hit with chants of "Beetlejuice" when she arrived on campus. This was likely a reference to an incident in September when Boebert got kicked out of the "Beetlejuice" musical after she and her date were seen fondling each other.
But the hostile reception didn't deter Boebert from making her stance known to protesters.
"This is America, and that shit needs to come down," Boebert told protesters as she tried to remove a Palestinian flag that was draped over a statue of George Washington.
Boebert later threatened to cut the university's funding if the protesters weren't stopped.
"If they don't want to do something to address this? Well, then kiss your federal funding goodbye," Boebert said while using a loudhailer.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) said at the presser if the University doesn’t do anything, GW can “kiss their federal funding goodbye” @gwhatchetpic.twitter.com/78x5sE8506
Johnson's and Boebert's calls to crack down on protesters expose a growing rift between the GOP and American colleges over their handling of protests on campus.
A US Abrams tank was put on display for Moscow residents to see in an open-air exhibition featuring equipment from nearly a dozen NATO countries.
Russian Ministry of Defense
Russia is using an open-air exhibition to boast about its "trophies" from the war in Ukraine.
The exhibition featured more than 30 NATO vehicles taken from Ukrainian forces, like an Abrams tank.
Russia has sought to portray NATO's supplying of Ukraine with arms as an act of war.
Russia launched an open-air exhibition on Monday showing off more than 30 North Atlantic Treaty Organization vehicles that it captured from Ukraine.
Among the seized assets on display were a US-made Abrams tank, a German Leopard tank, a British Husky support vehicle, and dozens of vehicles from countries like France, Sweden, and Australia.
Photos of the opening showed visitors snapping selfies with an M1A1 Abrams main battle tank, its nose gun pointed toward the ground, and armor visibly burned and cracked.
"Our victory is inevitable. No Western military equipment will change the situation on the battlefield," the Russian Defense Ministry wrote in a Telegram post announcing the exhibition.
Reuters reported that state media placed special emphasis on the captured Abrams tank, which TV hosts said wasn't the "wonder weapon" touted by the US.
"But that was all nonsense — look at this — all of its reputation has been destroyed," a state reporter said, per Reuters' translation.
Visitors look at a M1A1 Abrams main battle tank, made in the USA, and captured in Ukraine, at the Trophies of Russian Army exhibition, while celebrating the International Worker's Day, at the Poklonnaya Hill, May 1, 2024, in Moscow, Russia.
Contributor/Getty Images
The exhibition, named "Trophies of the Russian Army," is being held for a month at Victory Park, a memorial dedicated to the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II.
A range of other military assets was present, including a Ukrainian T-72A tank, a US Bradley fighting vehicle, a French AMX-10 RC fighting vehicle, and an M777 Howitzer.
Smaller arms, such as American mortars, German mines, and an Israeli launcher, were also flaunted.
The BBC's Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, wrote that he saw a "long line of German armor" when visiting the exhibition, including a sign saying: "History is repeating itself."
Russia has sought to cast its invasion of Ukraine as a defense of its sovereignty against NATO. It repeatedly says that Western equipment sent to Ukraine means that nations like the US are already at war with Russia.
The exhibition also comes as the Pentagon withdraws its Abrams tanks from the front lines in Ukraine due to concerns about Russian drone attacks. The US has given 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, and five have been reported lost in combat.
Each costs around $10 million, and the US tanks were once seen as a key tool for Kyiv's attempted retaking of its invaded lands. However, the widespread use of drones on the battlefield has undermined the Abrams' effectiveness because the tanks are more easily detected and attacked.
The US has recently confirmed another $61 billion in aid for Ukraine, resupplying its forces with vital ammunition and arms to resist a grinding but advancing Russian push on the eastern front.
In response, Russia's representatives have said that the Kremlin has already gained the upper hand in the war and that the new tranche of aid "will not change this dynamic."
Maya Rudolph says she overworked herself while trying to run the production company she cofounded in 2018.
In an interview with Town and Country Magazine about her career, Rudolph shared why she chose to step back from Animal Pictures, the company she cofounded with Natasha Lyonne and Danielle Renfrew Behrens.
In between running the company and starring in different shows, the workload caught up to her.
"But more and more I was starting to feel like there weren't enough hours in the day," Rudolph told Town and Country Magazine. "It takes a lot to create a show, and it's great to be able to create it, but then to actually show up and be on the set every day, it's, 'All right, then I don't have time for this, this, and this…'"
She added that she didn't use to "have a choice" when she was younger, but things have changed.
"I used to not have a choice, and so I did it, because that's what you did. You exhausted yourself. You ended up in bed, comatose, because you left it all on the dance floor or whatever. But when you're taking care of children, that's not really an option," Rudolph said.
Rudolph shares four children with her partner, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.
Although she still enjoyed what she did at work, the pace was too much for her to handle, she added: "I like working, but I don't like killing myself."
Animal Pictures is behind shows such as Netflix's "Russian Doll" — starring Lyonne — and Apple TV+ comedy "Loot," which stars Rudolph.
Rudolph left Animal Pictures as a partner last year, per The Wrap. "Moving forward, Natasha will operate under the name Animal Pictures while Maya will produce independently," a statement obtained by the outlet read.
A representative for Rudolph did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.
Burnout can affect anyone. A Gallup survey found that US employees felt more detached from their employers in 2023 than four years ago.
The World Health Organization defines burnout as "a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed." It includes feelings of exhaustion or cynicism about one's job, as well as reduced professional efficacy.
Some ways to manage burnout include setting boundaries, prioritizing tasks effectively as well as communicating your needs to your manager.
The US needs to assemble its own naval coalition, retired US Navy Adm. James Stavridis said.
This, he said, is necessary if the US wants to match up to China's growing naval fleet.
Stavridis said the US could bring in its treaty allies like Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines.
The US needs to build a coalition of allies if it hopes to stand a chance against China's fast-growing navy, says retired US Navy Adm. James Stavridis.
"Today, China's fleet of at least 350 warships outnumbers America's of 290," Stavridis, a former NATO commander, wrote in a Bloomberg op-ed on Wednesday.
"Given the global demands on the US fleet and the fact that any combat in the South China Sea would take place in the shadow of the Chinese mainland — in effect, a massive and unsinkable aircraft carrier — the US must pursue a coalition strategy to balance the numbers," he added.
In his op-ed, Stavridis said the US could start by corralling its treaty allies — Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand. The US, Stavridis wrote, could also partner with friendly nations like Singapore, Vietnam, and India.
The coalition could "come together for major maritime exercises in the South China Sea," Stavridis suggested in his op-ed.
China has claimed sovereignty over the hotly contested South China Sea. The country has ignored competing claims by the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Vietnam, violating international law.
"The Chinese, when operating in their figurative backyard, pose a formidable naval challenge to the US and its Pacific allies, partners, and friends," Stavridis wrote. "Standing up to them and deterring further aggression is a team sport."
"We have a lot more experience, but quantity has a quality on its own. We need to build more warships. We need to think about a US Navy that approaches 350 ships," Stavridis said.
The US Naval Institute said in a report in 2021 that China has the world's largest navy, with over 355 vessels in its fleet. In comparison, the US only has 296 ships, according to a 2021 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Then, in July, leaked US Navy intelligence revealed that China's shipbuilding capacity was 232 times greater than the US's.
The US expects China to grow its fleet to 400 ships by 2025 and 440 ships by 2030, per the Pentagon's 2022 annual report on China's military development.
"One of China's largest shipyards has more capacity than all US shipyards combined," David Sacks, fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told BI last month. "We have to maintain ships as well as, obviously, build new platforms, and we don't have the workers or the facilities to do that."
Tesla interns say their offers were revoked less than a month before they were set to start.
Two would-be interns posted on LinkedIn on Wednesday saying they had internships rescinded.
The move comes as Tesla continues to make further cuts after slashing 10% of its staff last month.
Tesla revoked summer internships less than a month before the new interns were set to start, leaving ambitious college kids scrambling for new professional plans, students say.
Two students who said they were would-be Tesla interns posted on LinkedIn on Wednesday saying they had offers rescinded just three weeks before they were set to join the EV company. It is not clear how many offers have been rescinded.
Joshua Schreiber, a student at Miami University, said in a LinkedIn post that he received an email from Tesla about flight information, but less than three hours later, his internship was "gone."
"Yes, it sucks my start date was 3 weeks away. Yes, it sucks I spent thousands on housing," he wrote. "Yes, it sucks to experience this in college."
"Still, my favorite quote continues to be 'We're not the product of our circumstance, but a product of our response,'" Schreiber wrote, saying he was "optimistic" and open to new roles.
Meanwhile, Brook Gura, a communications student at the University of Texas at Austin, shared a similar story, saying she received a call on Tuesday telling her the internship offer had been rescinded. Gura chalked it up to Tesla's recent layoffs.
Diana Rosenberg, a technical lead at Tesla, also blamed the layoffs in a LinkedIn post, saying she was "deeply sad" to lose a prospective intern on her team and was asking her professional network to help.
"Please make our loss your gain," Rosenberg said.
Business Insider reached out to Tesla, Schreiber, Gura, and Rosenberg for comment.
Tesla hires more than 3,000 college students each year for internships, the company said in a 2022 impact report.
Content creator Golloria George criticized Youthforia's darkest foundation shade.
Golloria George
Beauty brand Youthforia is facing backlash for selling a dark foundation shade comparable to "tar."
The brand was previously criticized for its foundation range being too light for deeper complexions.
Youthforia has not commented on its new shade or the online criticism.
When content creator Golloria George reviewed Youthforia's Date Night Foundation in September 2023, she highlighted two major problems with the range's darkest shade.
First, the beauty influencer noted that the product — and the rest of its then-15-count shade range — was too light for people with deep complexions like hers, which Youthforia CEO Fiona Co Chan apologized for at the time.
Second, George said the shade was advertised to look much darker on its packaging and in online photos than it applied in real life.
So, when Youthforia launched 10 new makeup shades in March, George gave the new darkest option — shade 600 — a chance.
But this time, Youthforia's foundation looked too dark, almost like "tar in a bottle," according to George. She proved her point by applying the brand's foundation on one side of her face and solid-black face paint on the other to show how similar they were.
She also tried Youthforia's foundation in its second-darkest shade, number 590, which was drastically lighter in tone and also didn't match her complexion.
"When we say that we want you guys to make shades for us, we don't mean to go to the lab and ask for minstrel-show black," the influencer said in her TikTok review shared on Monday, referencing 1800s theater productions in which actors wore blackface and perpetuated racist stereotypes. "What we mean is to take the browns that you have made, create undertones, and do what you need to do in the lab so it's a darker shade of brown."
Representatives for George and Youthforia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The California-based beauty brand was founded in 2021 and rose to fame after appearing on a 2023 episode of "Shark Tank," during which Mark Cuban invested in the brand.
The company also became popular on TikTok after its color-changing blush went viral in September of last year, and its products are now sold at Ulta Beauty. The beauty chain did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
Widespread beauty backlash
Following George's video, beauty fans and creators across the internet have criticized Youthforia and its attempt to make its foundation range more inclusive.
"Unfollowing because of that malicious attempt at placating black consumers," one person wrote on the brand's Instagram page, where comments are now limited.
Beauty YouTuber Jackie Aina also commented "deep heavy spiritual sigh" on George's review, and TikToker and cosmetic developer The Lipstick Lesbian called it a "master class in what not to do when trying to be inclusive." Meanwhile, Javon Ford, a cosmetic chemist, explained the formulation of different shades in the line and said the darkest one was made with "pure black pigment."
George posted another TikTok videoon Wednesday, which she captioned: "It's biologically impossible to be PURE black. there is no pigment in this foundation other than pure BLACK oxide. this was not a mistake."
Weeks before George's TikTok review, Youthforia shared a video about its struggles to find someone to model shade 600 of its foundation.
"We held a casting call open to the public, but didn't have any attendees who showed up that were within the 600 shade range, which is what led to this journey to find a 600 model!" the brand wrote on Instagram.
So, Youthforia "street cast" two men and shared a video montage of their impromptu photo shoot.
While some people praised the brand's efforts in the comment section, other beauty fans didn't believe their skin tones matched the makeup either.
"Hi! I don't think it matched them that well. Shade 600 seems to have no undertone, but it looks like they had more of a red undertone. In my opinion, I think there should be 2 or 3 shades between 590 and 600! 💚💜" one person wrote in response to the video.
Youthforia has yet to comment on this latest controversy publicly, and its founder has seemingly made her Instagram account private.
Beauty brands have widely been working toward becoming more inclusive in recent years.
Specifically, Rihanna's Fenty Beauty changed the game with its massive foundation range — it now boasts 51 shades — and the foundation from Halsey's brand About Face has become a new favorite. It offers 45 diverse shades.
Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet reported earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations. AI's impact on their cloud divisions may be fueling that growth.
Execs credit some of the gains to their AI efforts, which they say help boost cloud revenue.
These cloud providers see AI as a key growth opportunity despite concerns around hype.
Some of the biggest tech companies are spending big on AI, which appears to be boding well for their cloud businesses.
Over the last two weeks, major cloud providers Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet have reported quarterly earnings that exceeded Wall Street's expectations. That's partly because their investments in AI appeared to have bolstered revenue in their cloud divisions, which are made up of data servers that customers use to power and train their AI models. Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet's shares also climbed after earnings were reported, evidence that doubling down on their AI strategies seems to be paying off.
"AI contributed to an acceleration of growth at those companies' cloud businesses," D.A. Davidson Companies analyst Gil Luria told Business Insider regarding Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet. "These three hyperscalers are seeing significant customer demand and are investing to meet that demand."
Take Amazon Web Services, the e-commerce giant's cloud segment, which reeled in net sales of $25 billion in its first quarter— a 17% increase compared to last year during the same period, according to Amazon's latest earnings.
Part of that growth, Amazon execs say, has come from its latest AI efforts. Last September, Amazon unveiled Bedrock, a suite of large language models that AWS customers can fine-tune for their business needs. Two months later, Amazon released Q, its generative AI assistant, to select users, which is now generally available to AWS customers as of this week. On top of that, the tech giant has bet billions on Anthropic, the startup behind the AI chatbot Claude.
"We see considerable momentum on the AI front where we've accumulated a multibillion-dollar revenue run rate already," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said on the company's latest investors call. AWS is now seeing a $100 billion annual run rate, per its earnings.
AWS' competitors are in the same boat.Microsoft Cloud generated $35.1 billion in revenue — up 23% year-over-year — that CEO Satya Nadella credits partly to investments into AI tools like Microsoft Copilot. AI, he said in the company's earnings release, is "orchestrating a new era of AI transformation" and is "driving business outcomes across every role and industry."
"The number of Azure AI customers continues to grow, and average spend continues to increase," CEO Nadella said on Microsoft's first quarter earnings call.
Similarly, Google Cloud reported sales of $9.6 billion — a 28% jump from last year during the same timeframe, according to Alphabet's latest earnings. Ruth Porat, Alphabet's chief financial officer, said on the most recent investor call that the numbers reflect "an increasing contribution from AI." After all, Google Cloud now comes with generative AI services through Gemini, a family of large language models the search giant launched in December 2023 that competes with OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Still, critics may wonder if these tech giants' gains may be short-lived, as some business leaders question whether the AI industry is overhyped. Research firm Capital Economics predicted in late April that the so-called AI-fueled stock market bubble will burst in 2026, which the company claims could weigh down equity valuations.
But Luria, the D.A. Davidson Companies analyst, doesn't think that's likely to happen.
"While some stocks may be getting ahead of themselves, AI is very much real and not hype," he told BI.
The cloud providers seem to agree that AI is not going anywhere. CEO Jassy detailed a plan in his annual letter to shareholders in April on how Amazon will make AI its next big focus. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said on Alphabet's latest earnings call that the company is well "positioned for the next wave of AI innovation and the opportunity ahead." Microsoft recently announced it will invest $1.7 billion into expanding cloud services and AI across Indonesia over the next four years.
While the biggest players in tech may still be at the beginning of their generative AI journeys, some execs remain optimistic that the gains from AI will continue to be critical to their growth — at least for now.
"It's still relatively early days in generative AI and, more broadly, the cloud space, and we see sizable opportunity for growth," Amazon CEO Jassy said.
Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet didn't immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider before publication.