Layoffs at Google have reportedly hit Flutter, Dart, and Python teams.
A Google representative confirmed layoffs to TechCrunch but did not disclose the specifics.
One product manager working on Flutter and Dart said the layoffs "affected a LOT of teams."
Google layoffs are still rolling through the company.
Flutter, Dart, and Python are among those affected by the latest layoffs, according to media reports and employee social media posts.
Google confirmed the layoffs to TechCrunch but did not specify which teams, roles, or how many employees were let go. A representative told the outlet the layoffs were not company-wide and that employees affected could apply for other open roles.
A Google representative told Business Insider: "As we've said, we're responsibly investing in our company's biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead. To best position us for these opportunities, throughout the second half of 2023 and into 2024, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, remove layers and align their resources to their biggest product priorities.
"Through this, we're simplifying our structures to give employees more opportunity to work on our most innovative and important advances and our biggest company priorities, while reducing bureaucracy and layers."
The layoffs hit the key developer teams just weeks before Google's annual I/O developer conference being held on May 14 and 15.
One product manager working on Flutter and Dart said in an X post the layoffs were decided at least "a couple of layers above our team and affected a LOT of teams. Lots of good folks got bad news, and lots of great projects lost people."
Its GDP rose by a better-than-expected 6.5% in the first quarter, data published on Tuesday showed.
Exports of AI-related tech such as semiconductors were one of the key growth drivers.
The ChatGPT-fueled artificial intelligence boom has helped Taiwan's economy expand more than expected.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 6.5% in the first three months of the year compared with the same quarter in 2023, the statistics bureau said on Tuesday.
That's the fastest expansion rate in nearly three years and ahead of the 6% figure economists polled by Bloomberg were expecting.
The AI craze has been one of the key drivers of growth for Taiwan over the past year.
Its overall exports jumped just under 19% in March, with sales of AI-related hardware soaring more than 400%.
"The pace of growth may not always show an out-sized surprise, like March's, but we believe Taiwan's export demand will continue to get a meaningful boost from both AI-related investments and ongoing strength in [the] US economy," Bansi Madhavani, an economist at Australia's ANZ Banking Group, previously told Bloomberg.
Taiwan is one of the world's biggest manufacturers of the microchips needed to power large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.
According to data from Citi, Taiwan's TSMC produces 90% of the world's most advanced processor chips. The AI craze of the past year and a half has led to skyrocketing demand for these types of semiconductors and helped make TSMC the world's ninth most-valuable company worth almost $720 billion.
Strong consumer spending also boosted Taiwan's growth in the first three months of the year, the statistics bureau said, with tourism, food and beverages, and the stock market all enjoying bounce-back quarters.
Economists have warned that growth could slow over the rest of 2024, with Taipei estimating that GDP will be up 3.4% by year-end. That chimes with sluggish forecasts from TSMC and Intel, with both warning in recent weeks of a potential slowdown in semiconductor demand.
The Taiwan Stock Exchange closed 0.5% lower on Tuesday as traders fretted that the AI rally might have peaked, while the New Taiwan dollar fell 0.4% against the US greenback, per data from Refinitiv.
Investors will be looking for updates on the company's cloud-computing business, as well as plans for AI.
The company's stock is up 19% in 2024 so far, more than double the S&P 500.
Amazon will report first-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the closing bell.
Investors will be watching for updates on the company's cloud-computing business, as well as for insights into how Amazon plans to use artificial intelligence.
Amazon's stock was down 19% year-to-date through Monday's close, handily outpacing the the S&P 500's 8% gain.
Amazon's consensus first-quarter net sales estimate is $142.59 billion
1st quarter
Net sales estimate: $142.59 billion
Online stores net sales estimate: $54.77 billion
Physical Stores net sales estimate: $5.08 billion
Third-Party Seller Services net sales estimate: $34.63 billion
Subscription Services net sales estimate: $10.83 billion
AWS net sales estimate: $24.11 billion
North America net sales estimate: $85.55 billion
International net sales estimate: $32.47 billion
Third-party seller services net sales excluding F/X estimate: +15.8%
Subscription services net sales excluding F/X estimate: +12.1%
Amazon Web Services net sales excluding F/X estimate: +14.5%
Trump was found in contempt Thursday for nine violations of his hush-money trial gag order.
Trump was fined $9,000, the maximum allowed by law; no mention was made of a punishment of jail.
The judge contempt order came in response to Trump's online attacks on witnesses and jurors.
Donald Trump is in contempt of court and must pay a $9,000 fine for repeatedly violating his gag order, the judge presiding over the Manhattan hush-money trial ruled on Thursday.
Trump still faces a potential additional contempt finding — along with more fines and, though less likely, a short stint in jail — for four additional alleged violations from last week. A hearing on those four most recent alleged violations has been scheduled for Thursday.
In these latest violations, Trump again disparaged jurors, Cohen, and another key prosecution witness — former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker — in on-camera statements from Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Prosecutors have alleged a total of 14 gag violations, all from April. Tuesday's $9,000 fine represents $1,000 for nine violations, the maximum for contempt set by New York law, which also sets a 30-day maximum term of jail for each violation.
Merchan found Trump in contempt outside the jury's hearing on Tuesday, before the start of direct testimony by the trial's third witness, Gary Farro, a former banker for Michael Cohen.
The judge did not reprimand or warn Trump in any way in issuing the contempt finding, saying merely, "the court finds the people have met their burden" of proving contempt.
Prosecutor Christopher Conroy had called Trump's a threat to the trial, now in its second week.
Other witnesses, beyond Cohen and Daniels, see these posts and are also intimidated, the prosecutor said last week, calling it "sort of the undertow effect."
"The defendant is having his day in court," Conroy had argued. "Unfortunately," the prosecutor added, "he is doing everything he can to undermine this process."
Defense lawyer Todd Blanche had countered in court last Tuesday that Trump had been "trying to comply" with the gag order.
The order, issued April 1, bars Trump from making statements about jurors, witnesses, and certain trial staff and their family members, if those statements could influence the trial.
"President Trump is being very careful," Blanche had added in arguments Tuesday.
It was at this point that Merchan lashed into Blanche.
"You're losing all credibility with the court," Merchan told the lawyer, his voice frustrated.
This is a breaking story; please check back for developments.
The pandemic housing boom is yesterday's news, along with the intense buying competition it fueled, subdued by a relentless increase in mortgage rates. It means two things for prospective homebuyers: First, more sellers are likely to slash listing prices to attract buyers. Second, buyers now hold an advantage over sellers.
In states such as Florida and Texas, where an influx of buyers seeking relatively affordable homes and larger living spaces has led to more new home construction than anywhere else in the US, several metros in March saw the highest shares of price drops and the softest median sale-price growth compared with elsewhere in the country, according to a new report from Redfin.
Eric Auciello, a Redfin sales manager from Florida, said the price cuts were partly a result of home sellers facing stiff competition from home builders who were offering concessions — such as money for home repairs or mortgage-rate buydowns — to sweeten their deals.
"My advice to sellers is to price your home fairly; the comps from six months ago don't exist now," Auciello said in the Redfin report. "And if you're a buyer, know that the odds of getting an offer accepted below market value are pretty high."
With builders and sellers competing for buyers' attention by offering concessions and slashing prices, there's a growing possibility that homebuyers previously unable to afford a home may now have an opportunity to purchase one this year — and it may already be happening. According to Census Bureau data, new home sales for March 2024 were at 693,000, which is 8.8% above the revised February rate, and 8.3% above the March 2023 estimate.
To calculate which metros have the highest share of sellers reducing list prices, Redfin analyzed home-price data from 85 US metros with populations of at least 750,000.
Notably, not all of these metros have experienced median sale-price declines; instead, many have observed a softening in price growth. Below are the 10 metros with the largest share of price drops in March, according to Redfin — with a three-way tie to start us off.
8. (tie) Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida.
Joe Daniel Price/Getty Images
Percentage of listings with price cuts: 33%
Median sale price in March: $315,000
8. (tie) San Antonio
San Antonio.
Sean Pavone/Getty Images
Percentage of listings with price cuts: 33%
Median sale price in March: $269,000
8. (tie) Houston
Houston.
John Coletti/Getty Images
Percentage of listings with price cuts: 33%
Median sale price in March: $339,000
7. Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon.
James Bentley Photography/Shutterstock
Percentage of listings with price cuts: 34%
Median sale price in March: $498,750
6. Orlando
Orlando.
Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images
Percentage of listings with price cuts: 35%
Median sale price in March: $395,000
5. Denver
Downtown Denver.
Kevin Ruck/Shutterstock
Percentage of listings with price cuts: 37%
Median sale price in March: $600,000
4. Cape Coral, Florida
Cape Coral, Florida.
Jeffrey Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Castro said cabins for its upcoming winter itineraries in the Caribbean are "off to a very healthy start" and are being booked earlier than usual. Its upcoming Kaia is shown in a render.
The all-inclusive vessel, which Emerald calls a "yacht," would accommodate up to 128 people.
Emerald, known for river cruises, has been investing more in its ocean-based business.
Over the last few years, the mass-market cruise industry's larger-than-life mega-ships — outfitted with loud waterparks and more dining options than you could eat in a week — have dominated the spotlight.
But in the ultra-luxury cruise market, it's been the opposite. The smaller and more exclusive the vessel, the better. So much so that Emerald Cruises' next ocean-based ship, launching in 2026, plans to accommodate no more than 128 travelers.
It's a far cry from Royal Caribbean's new 7,600-guest cruise liner. And the price difference is just as steep: almost $250 per night on Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas versus more than $720 per night on the upcoming ultra-luxury Emerald Kaia.
"When people think of cruising now, they automatically think of these large ships," Robert Castro, the vice president of marketing for Scenic Group, Emerald's parent company, told Business Insider. "There's a market for that, but we're in a unique position."
If you’re familiar with river cruises, Emerald might ring a bell.
Emerald launched Emerald Sakara in 2023.
Scenic Group
The cruise line, owned by Scenic Group, only offered river cruises for its first nine years.
But lately, its biggest growth and investments have been in oceans, not rivers.
In 2022 and 2023, the Switzerland-based company launched its first two ocean cruise ships, which it calls "yachts." Each accommodates a maximum of 100 guests. And so far, they've been hits, with the cruise line experiencing record-high bookings in 2023.
Yes, the ships look like yachts. And yes, they're marketed as such.
Emerald's travelers, who fall in the "40 plus" age range, skew younger than the guests with its sister cruise line, Scenic. Its upcoming ship, Kaia, is shown in a rendering.
Scenic Group
But because Emerald's vessels operate group itineraries, they still technically count as cruise ships, albeit really nice ones.
So instead of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a week to charter a yacht, as is traditional with these high-end vessels, travelers can spend less than $800 a day for a traditional cruise on said yacht-like ship.
While it's not nearly as exclusive, it sure is a hell of a lot cheaper, "bringing the charter yacht experience to reach for people who would never even imagine," Castro said.
Emerald’s upcoming 393-foot-long, 128-guest Kaia would be perfect for fans of small, high-end ships.
About 88% of Kaia's, shown in a render, 64 cabins would be suites with balconies. The other eight would be non-suite staterooms up to 247 square feet.
Scenic Group
The 64-cabin Emerald Kaia would have a larger guest capacity than its two predecessors but would still be tiny compared to most cruise ships, including some of the most luxurious ones.
Even Four Season's upcoming vessel — with fares up to $350,000 a week — would have a larger guest capacity of up to 222 people. However, it would be almost 290 feet longer than Emerald Kaia.
Like traditional cruise ships, Kaia would have amenities like a spa, two lounges, and three dining options.
Compared to Emerald's previous two ships, Kaia, shown in a render, would have a larger top deck, gym, and marina. Its ceilings would also be 10 feet tall — a foot taller than its predecessors.
Scenic Group
The top deck would also have a cabana and bar-lined pool, one of three swimming holes on the ship.
But unlike its mass-market competitors, Kaia would have an open-air marina that would give travelers direct access to the water.
The marina, shown in a render, would have an interior lounge and water toys like stand-up paddleboards and water scooters.
Scenic Group
Water platforms are typically only common on yacht-marketed ships, such as Emerald's, Ritz-Carlton's, and, someday, Four Seasons'.
This means guests on the upcoming Kaia could dip in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Aegean seas — as is included in its 2026 and 2027 itineraries — without disembarking the ship.
Unlike the industry's biggest vessels, Kaia, shown in a render, could fit into ports most mega-ships can't go.
Scenic Group
According to the cruise line, Emerald Kaia's future itineraries include an 11-day sailing from Cyprus to Greece and a 20-day one from Seychelles to Kenya.
Its cheapest itinerary is currently an eight-day roundtrip Seychelles vacation in 2027, starting at $5,055 per person.
As an all-inclusive cruise line, amenities like alcohol, WiFi, and excursions would be included in the base fare. However, unlike all-inclusive competitor Regent Seven Seas, guests must pay for their flights to and from the ship.
To compare, itineraries of the same length on Regent's Seven Seas Grandeur and Ritz-Carlton's Ilma would be $36 cheaper and $120 more expensive, respectively, per day.
Emerald Kaia, shown in a render, would accommodate 128 guests and 92 crew.
Scenic Group
But the fares aren't stopping travelers from gravitating toward Emerald. Before it unveiled Kaia, its parent company announced a record number of bookings in January — up 67% compared to its previous record in January 2020.
Castro said about 20% to 35% of its guests are American, typically well-acquainted with luxury travel.
The rest of Emerald's travelers are typically Canadian, European, Australian, and British. Emerald Kaia is shown in a render.
Scenic Group
The company's goal has been to increase its number of American customers. So far, it's working and is now "on track to be Emerald's No. 1 market," Castro told BI.
The new vessel is being built at a great time for the cruise line.
Castro said cabins for its upcoming winter itineraries in the Caribbean are "off to a very healthy start" and are being booked earlier than usual. Its upcoming Kaia is shown in a render.
Scenic Group
Strong demand, compounded by a small fleet of small ships, has led to fewer available cabins for its upcoming summer Mediterranean cruises.
Several of these sailings are now fully reserved. The cheapest remaining fares start at $4,570 per person for an eight-day November sailing from Athens, Greece, to Dubrovnik, Croatia.
It's great news for Emerald as it considers a future with more ocean "yachts." "The sooner we fill the ships, the sooner we start building new ones," Castro said.
Milan Novak and his wife moved from Florida to Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, a decade ago.
Milan Novak
Milan Novak moved from Florida's Atlantic Coast to rural Arkansas, citing the quiet of small-town life.
Novak's transition to rural life was made difficult by limited job opportunities.
He recently retired and loves the slow pace of life, though he said there's very little to do.
Milan Novak, 67, decided over a decade ago that Florida's Atlantic Coast wasn't right anymore for him. So he decided to move from his city of 24,000 along the beach to a town of just 900 in rural Arkansas.
It took him years to adjust to the pace of life and to live on a limited income due to a lack of jobs in his new home. Still, he's valued the quiet of his community and the simplicity of life in a small town.
"I had no idea what the hell we were going to run into once we moved here," Novak told Business Insider. "We knew nothing of the area."
While many older Americans continue moving to Florida, some have told BI that Florida has lost its feeling of "paradise." Some have cited rising home and insurance prices as motivations for leaving, despite acknowledging they'll never find weather as consistently good. One couple who recently moved to rural Missouri said they moved due to a population influx and political changes, seeking a lower cost of living.
Leaving Florida and settling in Arkansas
Novak was born in New Jersey but moved to Florida at 19. When he first moved, he said his small town had one traffic light and plenty of farmland, though he noticed more strip malls began to open up with worsening traffic.
His father opened a small beer and wine bar, though it didn't pull in enough to support the whole family, so Novak worked at a gas station in town. He ended up working at a car dealership, building his way up to service manager at two Chrysler Dodge stores.
Novak lived in Edgewater, about 20 miles south of Daytona Beach on Florida's east coast. He bought his house in the early 2000s for $181,000. He said the area became more touristy and commercialized, contributing to "ungodly" traffic, and he suspected it would be challenging to make ends meet as his area became more expensive.
"If I had a little more income by retirement age, I may have been able to stick it out, but I doubt it," Novak said.
Eventually, he quit the car business in 2009 — though not after being persuaded back in for another two years — and wanted to shift to something entirely different. He knew he would retire within the next decade, and he wanted to start life anew in a different part of the country, even if it meant not having a job lined up.
His wife wanted to sell his 4,000-square-foot Florida home, as their kids had moved out, and he and his wife wanted to downsize.
They put the house up for sale in 2011, though nobody wanted to buy it. He said they "practically gave it away" in 2012 for $185,000.
They decided to look in the South Central US to be closer to family. They looked into Willow Springs, a rural city in Missouri's Ozark Mountains, though every property they found was between 10 and 20 acres. Realtors also told them the area had a drug problem, though they thought the beauty of the Ozarks would be calming as he approached retirement, especially after decades of working with cars.
Milan Novak bought his small home for $38,000 a decade ago in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas.
Milan Novak
He stumbled upon a home in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, and within a week, he signed an offer. The about 1,000-square-foot, two-story home was just $38,000 with an acre of land, on which they built a barn and workshop. They moved in six months later.
"We just knew we bought a house three miles down a gravel road in the middle of nowhere," he said. "I knew we didn't have internet, and everything was dial-up at the time."
Adjusting to rural life
He knew moving from coastal Florida would come with colder temperatures. In his first two months, he got a foot of snow, followed by another two feet over the next two months. Eventually, they invested in changing their heating system and installing different doors.
"This house was very poorly insulated, and I went through a full tank of propane in less than a month in December," Novak said. "I was like, oh my god, did I make the right move? This is unbelievable, and at this rate, I can't afford to keep this house."
He bought two four-wheelers for himself and his wife to ride around in, as many roads near him are dirt. One day, he took a ride to a creek and introduced himself to a group of locals. The group already knew him and his wife as "the two people from Florida who have got to be on the witness protection program because nobody moves from Florida to Mammoth Spring."
Milan Novak bought a four-wheeler, which he uses to get around his area.
Milan Novak
Fulton County, where he lives, is a dry county, which he said was an interesting transition, though many who drive by his house carry alcohol.
Without a job set up, Novak said the first few years were difficult, as the only jobs in his area paid minimum wage — which was $6.25 when he first moved. He worked for a few years at local restaurants to afford his living costs.
He worked the night shift at Walmart before going back into the car business as a salesman, which he hated. His neighbor successfully ran for county judge and got him a job as his assistant, though he soon after retired as his back issues worsened. He was able to collect Social Security at 62 while his wife took a job as an administrative assistant for a flooring company, which supplied them with health insurance.
"There is no work around here; it's all rural. If you don't have a farm, you're not eating," Novak said. "We struggled for many years until now, and we're doing good."
Now, in addition to "soaking in the quiet," he does woodworking projects and maintains his property. He said there's always something to fix or tend to, especially with having three dogs and five cats.
It keeps him busy, though he said there's little to do in his area — there isn't even a grocery store, convenience store, or gas station near him. There are a handful of restaurants in the downtown, some of which get foot traffic from tourists visiting the spring. There's a small state park near him with beautiful trails, though he acknowledged it often doesn't compare to the beach.
"In the bank, there's a picture of Main Street back in 1914, and you'd swear you're looking at the same picture now," Novak said.
He has no intention of moving, though he said his property is worth about $150,000 now, more than triple what he bought it for. His goal is just to live peacefully and try to stay healthy and active.
"I can't make any long plans, and I'd be lucky if we're all here tomorrow," Novak said.
Have you recently moved to a new state or left the United States for a new country? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.
The Walmart-owned warehouse club says it has helped get shoppers out the door 23% faster.
Earlier this month, Amazon pulled Just Walk Out from its larger grocery stores in favor of smart carts.
Sam's Club's new verification tech, which ditches physical receipt checks for an AI-powered scan of shoppers' carts, has now been rolled out to more than 120 locations across the US.
The Walmart-owned warehouse club told Business Insider that more than half of customers at locations with the tech use the option to pay and go, helping all the store's shoppers get out the door 23% faster.
First unveiled in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, the futuristic gantries were tested at a handful of Sam's Clubs before rolling out more widely. The locations currently using the tech are in Texas, the Southwest, and parts of the South and Midwest, Sam's Club told BI, with more stores in the South and Midwest coming soon.
The tech taps into the Sam's Club app's Scan and Go feature, allowing shoppers to ring up their orders themselves as they fill their cart and pay in the app.
Shoppers then roll their carts through the big blue gateway where an array of cameras takes pictures of the products and compares them to the order — all without having to stop for the traditional physical receipt check by an associate.
"Both exit technology and Scan & Go are driving new levels of convenience and raising member satisfaction among members," Sam's Club chief product officer Todd Garner said in a statement. "What distinguishes Sam's Club from our competitors is our ability to seamlessly deploy this technology at scale across our nearly 600 clubs nationwide. Whether it's a single item or a cartful, we're revolutionizing the checkout experience."
Earlier this month, The Information reported that Amazon was pulling its Just Walk Out technology from its larger grocery stores, including Fresh and Whole Foods, in favor of sensor-packed Dash Carts.
Amazon said it would continue to deploy the friction-free JWO system in smaller-format locations.
"It's one thing to enable this easy kind of exit tech in a small-footprint store for a handful of items," Sam's Club US's chief merchant, Megan Crozier, said in the company's CES presentation in January. "But we're doing it at scale."
Sam's Club says it still plans to deploy the big blue gates to all of its 599 US locations by the end of the year.
Do you work at Walmart or Sam's Club? Contact Dominick Reuter via email or text/call/Signal at 646-768-4750. Responses will be kept confidential, and Business Insider strongly recommends using a personal email and a non-work device when reaching out.
A rocket carrying China's second module for its Tiangong space station lifts off from Wenchang spaceport in southern China on July 24, 2022.
-CNS/AFP via Getty Images
China is intensifying its bid to supplant the US as a major space power.
It is "moving at breathtaking speed," according to the US Space Force commander.
China could use its control of space to target US satellites.
After a meeting with Japanese and South Korean officials in Tokyo on Friday, US Space Force commander Gen. Stephen Whiting warned about a growing threat.
China, he said, is "moving at breathtaking speed in space," and is developing a range of weapons that threaten America's space supremacy, reported Stars and Stripes.
"They're also using space to make their terrestrial forces — their army, their navy, their marine corps, their air force — more precise, more lethal, and more far-ranging," he added.
It's one of a series of warnings from top US military officials in recent months about the growing threat in space posed by China.
There is a very real risk, they say, that the US could soon lose its status as the world's dominant space power.
"We are at a pivotal moment in history," Troy Meink, principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, which builds and operates the US fleet of spy satellites, said at a recent event in Colorado, as quoted by Space.com.
"For the first time in decades, US leadership in space and space technology is being challenged," Meink added. "Our competitors are actively seeking ways to threaten our capabilities, and we see this every day."
They echo comments by Gen. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations at United States Space Force, last year warned against taking US space supremacy for granted.
"I'm worried about a far more subtle form of complacency. One that grows out of the comfort of continuity, the comfort of our expertise, the comfort of our successes. What we have done and how we have done it has worked and worked well, but I fear we think it will work well forever," he said.
Space today is "far more contested and US access to space capabilities is not a given," Saltzman said.
US satellites under threat
In recent years, China has developed a sophisticated military program in space, where for decades, the US has been the dominant force.
Space is where military analysts believe the first shots could be fired in a war between major powers, with the crucial satellite systems that control military and civilian communications as the target.
China has created technology capable of targeting US satellites, as well as for better monitoring Earth and developing coordination between land, sea, air, and space operations.
At a congressional hearing in February, Whiting said that China is also developing a "hypersonic glide vehicle" and other weapons capable of evading air defense systems and satellite warnings.
Dominic Chiu, an analyst with the Eurasia Group, told Business Insider that plans for space warfare were at the heart of China's recent military reorganization.
"China's leadership believes elements such as space and cyber will play a bigger role, and that making them more operationally efficient is crucial to preparedness and success," he said.
Air Force Lieutenant General Gregory Guillot (L) and US Space Force Lieutenant General Stephen Whiting (R) on July 26, 2023.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/Getty Images
The plans place China's aerospace units directly under the control of central command and mirror the US' creation of a Space Force under former President Donald Trump in 2018, said Chiu.
One of the main fronts in the rivalry is the race to the moon, and US officials are warning that China, under the guise of scientific research, could be planning on seizing control of regions of the lunar surface as part of its plans for military dominance.
With the Artemis mission, the US is planning on sending astronauts to the moon for the first time in 50 years. But China has its own moon landing program, and US lawmakers at a congressional hearing in January warned that delays to NASA's plans to get astronauts to the lunar surface by 2022 mean that China could get there first.
"The country that lands first will have the ability to set a precedent for whether future lunar activities are conducted with openness and transparency or in a more restricted manner," said Rep. Frank Lucas, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir, commander of US Space Forces Indo-Pacific, told a conference in March that China could be planning to use its presence on the moon as part of covert plans to target US satellites.
"As in other domains, the US is the established power, and China is seeking to catch and, if possible, overtake it, using its race to the moon to increase funding," Graeme Thompson, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, told BI.
The US and allies monitor 'deep space' for threats
The US and its allies are responding to the threat by developing plans to monitor areas of space that China is seeking to dominate for potential threats.
In December, the AUKUS alliance, which comprises the US, Australia, and the UK, said it would develop radars to monitor threats in "deep space," around 22,000 miles from Earth.
"Both the US and China view outer space along with cyberspace as new and interlinked military domains, and both feature in US, UK, and Australian collaboration under the AUKUS agreement," said Thompson.
According to reports, the Pentagon is intensifying its bid to develop technology capable of countering China's plans to take out US satellites.
Tory Bruno, chief executive of United Launch Alliance, told NBC News that engineers are developing maneuverable satellites that could move out of the way of Chinese satellites that are fitted with robotic arms to take them out of orbit.
The stakes in the race for the dominance of space could not be higher, say experts. Whoever wins will not just have control over the moon, but will likely be the top power on Earth. And through complacency, America may fast lose its advantage, say critics.
"The truth is, whoever controls the space domain will dominate the future global economy," wrote analyst Arthur Herman for the conservative-leaning Hudson Institute in February.
"If America was the preeminent space power from Presidents John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan, we've let our edge slip away, while China and Russia aim to displace us all together."
SEC rules require publicly traded companies to disclose their workers' median annual pay.
Here's the median wage for workers at 19 retail companies, from lowest to highest.
Retail workers' hourly wages have increased substantially in the last several years as major employers like Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, and more have plowed billions of dollars into pay increases in a bid to get people to join — and stay.
Ever since Amazon set its minimum wage at $15 in 2018, more retailers have followed suit by offering starting wages that are more than double the national minimum of $7.25. The Federal minimum was last set in 2009.
But hourly wages are just one part of the pay equation. An employee's earnings also depend greatly on how many hours they work. That can vary considerably, especially in seasonal segments.
So, to get a picture of what the typical worker makes in a year at various retail brands, Business Insider used AlphaSense to find the data in the most recent proxy filings that publicly traded companies must file with the US Securities Exchange Commission.
Rules following the financial crisis of 2008 require public companies to calculate their median worker's annual salary to compare it to the CEO's compensation.
"Median" refers to the middle-most value in an ordered list. In terms of compensation, that means about half of a company's workers earn more and half earn less than its "median employee."
Scroll through below to see where 19 of the largest companies rank, from lowest to highest annual pay.
19. Gap: $7,573
Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins/Business Insider
The 2023 calculation is up from $7,348 in 2021, and the company says its typical median employee would be a part-time sales associate in Canada who did not work the full year.
18. TJX: $13,884*
Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider
TJX Companies — which include TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and others — increased its median pay in 2022 from 2018's level of $11,243.
*2022 figure as 2023 Proxy Statement not yet filed.
17. Starbucks: $14,209
Starbucks customers can use their own cups for mobile orders
Starbucks
Starbucks says its median figure is calculated from its global workforce of baristas, which causes it to be lower than it might be for only its US employees. Still, the company considers its median employee a part-time barista in the United States.
16. Ulta: $14,998*
Ann Matica/Insider
Ulta identifies its median employee by ranking all 52,929 associates from high to low by total cash compensation and selecting the middlemost one. Its 2018 median was $27,235, but was calculated at that time including the value of employer-paid healthcare benefits.
*2022 figure as 2023 Proxy Statement not yet filed.
15. McDonald's: $15,802
Reuters
The burger giant's median is more than double the 2018 level of $7,017, and it says the 2023 median worker is a restaurant crew employee located in Poland.
13. Chipotle: $16,595
Chipotle worker at assembly line
Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
Chipotle's median worker is an hourly part-time employee who works roughly 24 hours per week at one of its restaurants in Florida.
13. Foot Locker: $20,168
Bethany Biron/Business Insider
The shoe retailer's pay is up from 2018's median of $8,554, and the company says its median worker in 2023 averaged 27 hours per week in a store in Madrid, Spain.
12. Advance Auto Parts: $23,923
Mark Stehle/AP
Advance Auto Parts includes all team members in their analysis of the median employee, including part-time, full-time, and seasonal team members. The 2023 level is up from $18,460 in 2018.
11. Target: $26,696
A Target store employee
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Target annualizes the pay of all full- and part-time employees, but takes only the actual earnings of seasonal and temporary workers to find the median for the whole workforce. The company says its median team member is employed part-time.
10. Walmart: $27,642
Walmart store managers will see a pay increase starting in February.
Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images
Walmart is the largest private employer in the world with 2.1 million workers around the world, of which 1.6 million are based in the US. The company uses statistical sampling to identify a group of associates paid within a range of .5% of the company's median earnings amount, and then chooses the median compensated associate from that group. Its 2023 median was up more than 40% from $19,177 in 2018.
9. Kroger: $28,644
Rogelio V. Solis/AP Images
Kroger owns 19 grocery brands; its median employee is a part-time associate in the US Southeast.
8. Albertson's: $31,781*
Geri Lavrov/Getty Images
Albertson's owns 15 grocery store companies and says its median worker is a full-time hourly employee.
*2022 figure as 2023 Proxy Statement not yet filed.
7. Best Buy: $32,197*
A sales associate processes the purchase of a hard drive at a Best Buy store after doors opened at 5 a.m. on Black Friday, Nov. 26, 2021, in Lone Tree, Colo.
David Zalubowski/AP
Best Buy employs roughly 95,000 workers, mostly in the US and Canada. The median employee was identified by annualizing the earnings of all part- and full-time workers except for the CEO.
*2022 figure as 2023 Proxy Statement not yet filed.
6. Lowe's: $32,626
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Lowe's includes full-time and part-time employees to determine the median employee and considers actual base salary, bonus or commission paid, and any overtime. Its 2023 rate is up roughly 36% from the 2018 level of $23,905.
5. Macy's: $34,438
Macy's.
Noam Galai/Getty Images
More than half of Macy's workforce consists of part-time or seasonal employees, and the company estimates its median based on all employees other than the CEO. The 2023 median is more than double 2018's median of $13,810.
4. Home Depot: $35,131
Jose Ulloa Jr. works in a Home Depot store on May 17, 2016 in Miami, Florida
Joe Raedle/Getty
Home Depot bases its data on its total workforce and says the median-paid associate was an hourly employee in the US. The 2023 median is up 66% from $21,095 in 2018.
3. Nordstrom: $35,636
Nordstrom released a collection of clothing and accessories from Something Navy in 2017.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Nordstrom includes full-time, part-time seasonal, and temporary employees to identify the median employee and says roughly half of its workforce is part-time or seasonal. The 2023 median is up 18% from $30,105 in 2018.
2. Amazon: $36,274
Sandy Huffaker/Reuters
When calculating its median compensation, Amazon considers all full-time, part-time, and temporary employees worldwide, excluding CEO Andy Jassy. When considering only US full-time employees, the median annual compensation was $45,613.
1. Costco: $50,202
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Costco employs roughly 300,00 workers worldwide, of which about 198,000 are based in the US. The company's calculations include full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees, and use a combination of salary, bonus, equity compensation, and other measurable benefits paid during the year.